February 29, 2016--Hi again

Mamaku yang sangat ku sayangi dan kasihi, 
(My mama my very dear and beloved)

This week was a fun one! We are seeing so many miracles. Right now, one of our investigators, Mbak D, really wants to get baptized. We invited her to be baptized on Monday and we all cried when she said she wanted to. She's from a muslim background, and her family is all super strong muslims. She is afraid to tell her parents but before she will be allowed to be baptized she must get written permission from her parents and interview with President Donald. Right now she is attending a catholic high school here in Magelang, but her family is in a little village a few hours away. She has a great testimony and we have been praying so much for her parents hearts to be softened. She hasn't told them at all that she is learning about Christianity. We have great hopes for her, it's clear that God has been preparing her to receive His restored Gospel. Please keep her in your prayers.

One sad thing that's happening is that Sister Y, who got baptized on the 24th of January, will be moving to Jakarta this week because of some family issues. She will be kind of close to some of the wards in the Jakarta area, so we are going to get her address and send it on over to the Elders in Jakarta. But Sister Y's daughter-in-law is learning right now and she came to church yesterday! It was her second time at church and she liked it a lot. She comes from a muslim background as well. To try to help her, we took her to the house of a new member who was just baptized (who was also muslim before). We talked about a testimony and what that is and how we get one and how we hold on to one. It was a great discussion and I think it helped her to understand.

One of the coolest things that I was thinking about this week: It is the most amazing experience to see someone who didn't know anything about God's true nature and His love for us to begin to pray to Him in sincerity. Sometimes my prayers can become rote things because I'm so used to it--we would pray all the time at home. But for someone who doesn't know about prayer, or is just learning about it, it can be a real act of faith to pray for the first time. But it's so powerful. I love the Spirit that comes when someone prays in faith for the first time. Wow it's awesome :)

This week I have continued my studies of the Book of Mormon. I started from the beginning again, and every time Jesus Christ is mentioned (using his name or a title or pronoun) I have been underlining it. In 1 Nephi alone, He is referenced some 600 times. It averages more than 10 times a page. It's really strengthening my testimony that Jesus Christ is really at the center of the Book of Mormon and that it truly represents another testament of Him. I want to be able to know Him so well and be so close to Him that if I saw Him, I would immediately recognize Him.

Elder Vandyarto and I have some cool traditions together. We found this cool store that sells milk and we've gone there pretty much every day this week (sometimes twice a day). It's called Susu Rawa Seneng, which is Javanese for "Happy Swamp Milk". We talk to the owner who is Catholic and she said sometime we can share a message with them. Her son is in college and he's nice too. Another tradition we have is buying KAG. (Pronounced Kah-Ah-Geh). It's short for Kulit Ayam Goreng. We buy it raw from the supermarket and then take it home, put some spices on it and then fry it up and eat it with ketchup and rice for breakfast. Good stuff! Do you know if you can buy Kulit Ayam in America?   (kulit ayam = chicken skin....eewwww...)

One last thing is just that the members here in Magelang are so awesome! We have been working together with them a lot and they help us out so much. They support us a ton and are always available to help fellowship. It's so awesome, we love working with them :) The work is going great and we are trying our best to follow the Lord. I love you guys a ton and am glad to hear everything is going good. I hope that you have fun at Cantus tour and playing with all the cousins down in Utah.

Love you so much momma!!!

XXOOXXOOXXOOXXOOXXOO

Elder Paskett