Ani Agah Mu!!!!
Bagu!!!! Ha ha, all the different languages make it fun to connect with everyone around here. I actually just ran into an Indonesian Boy on the bus and he asked me if I had ever been to Indonesia. Ha ha, he was expecting No....So when I said Yes he was uber surprised. Good times.
Another week in the working world. It has been a crazy week too. One of our Investigators passed away. Remember that little old Iban Grandma Sindu? Well her lungs eventually got too full of liquid and her body quit on her. She passed away in the Hospital last week, soon after I sent my last email. It was tough to stomach, and even harder for her family. The next couple days we made frequent visits out to their Kampung to see them and check on how they were doing, and we got to see how the Ibans do their funerals. They lay the body out one some blankets and cover her up with blankets up to her neck, and have candles around her. All the women and some of the men sit inside in a HUGE circle that goes around the whole room, and people will come in and worship, wail, or pray over the body. The rest of the men are outside smoking and drinking. For Sindu's it was especially hard because she wasn't baptized into a Christian Church yet, and this "lack of religion" led other religious leaders to tell everyone that Sindu was a lost soul. They actually stopped us from dedicating her grave because the Head of the Kampung told us "Angan!" (Dont!) because she didn't have a religion yet, and so we were not suppose to pray over her. Talk about a hopeless message. Her family was heartbroken, but when we spoke with them later, we reminded them of the Spirit World, and that Sindu does live, and that they will get to see her again. They started to smile again. :D Its crazy to think about all the other churches around here, and how their messages are so....hopeless I guess you can say. Makes you really appreciate the true church :D
So those events kinda threw a wrench into our planning for the week, but we are still pressing on. We had over 50 people at Church on Sunday too!!! It was soo awesome to have the little building packed with all sorts of different people who are all in different stages of growth. Many New investigators, a couple recent converts, and old time converts. It is so great to see the Church growing :D
One of the people to come to Church was a 21 year old named Kevin. His family is pretty strong Roman Catholic and they only really go so their kids can learn, but Kevin is VERY, VERY Intelligent and sees that his parents church is "not all there". We weren't sure where his desire was when we first started teaching him, but we somehow knew that he was the key to his family. His mom was concerned for him because he has not yet been baptized. So when we started teaching him Kevin was really in favor of his Agency. Good :D But as we started teaching him more, he really grasped onto the restored truths that we were teaching, and the Spirit really played a huge role in opening his heart. When he came to church with his family (except his dad) his mom asked me to show them where the bathroom was in the middle of sacrament, so I took their two younger boys to show them where the bathroom was. A few minutes later, Kevin came out and we waited for his brothers. He then turned and saw the painting of Christ Coming out of Heaven with all of the angels surrounding him. He just stood there, staring at the picture. After a few minutes he told me "I've seen this picture before, in a dream I had." I asked him "When did you have the dream?" "Two Years ago." He went on to relate how he saw everything excatly as it was in the painting, and how that picture alone in our church made him feel the truths that we were teaching. He told me "This is the most free sunday I've had." :D
The gospel is true, and the path to Freedom lies in the same path that Christ walked. I know this without a doubt :D
I love you all so much,
Elder Kampenhout
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