Walk With Jesus, Dude: Hati-hati!

I'm never sure if these are the longest or shortest weeks of my life. Either way it's great.

My companion and I have become much closer lately as we're both working to make this more than a companionship, but a friendship also. As we're working to gain this love for each other it's becoming more natural to work together and it seems that it's easier to teach in unison and have the spirit with us at all times. I love my companion!

My testimony of Joseph Smith has really grown this week and I'm so excited about it! I've never doubted that Joseph Smith was a prophet, or that he restored the church and translated the Book of Mormon, but I think it's always been in that stage of being a seed that was a little malnourished. This week one of our class substitutes gave a lesson about Joseph Smith, among other things, and showed us how we can relate to him in our own lives and in our own experiences. I had been reading from JSH and D&C a lot that week, but there was such a difference as a read from those books the next couple of days; the spirit was so strong and all I wanted to do was read more from those books!

On that Sunday we watched the Joseph Smith movie and my testimony of all that he did grew even more. That night as I was thinking I realized that, while I have never been attacked by the adversary the way JS was in the Sacred Grove, there have been many times in my life where I've had the concept of that part of the story in my life. When Joseph Smith said that the adversary seemed to be aware, at a very early point in his life, that he would be a disturber and an annoyer to his kingdom, I realized that applies to me and to all of us here. We are here to do the Lord's work and that's the last thing he wants. But the Lord knows how he will try us and He has the ultimate power and will always be the strength that we need. Just like God was able to save Joseph Smith in the grove when he prayed for help, God will save us as we pray.

This gospel is divine, and I'm so grateful that it is my life!

I was also reading in Isaiah today, trying to go over the scriptures that the angel Moroni quoted to JS, and I read chp. 11:8 where it talks about the child being able to put their hand of the poisonous animal's den and not be stung. I always figured that was another way of say that all the animals would be nice and friendly when Christ returned, but once I looked at the notes on that chapter and saw that the animal in question was a serpent, I realized that it was an analogy for how Satan will be bound when Christ comes. We know that Satan will be bound during that time because we will be so rightious that he will have no power to tempt us, we will be as little children in innocence, in faith, and because of that the serpent will have no more power to bruise our heel. It's also a fulfillment of the prophecy given to Adam and Eve in the garden when they are told that, while the serpent will have power to bruise their heel, through God we will have the ultimate power to crush his head. How cool, ya??

I'm lovin' it!

As for my language mistake of the week: Our investigator, Wyndy, was saying a beautiful prayer and I had the thought to tell her how wonderful it was when she closed. Now prayer, doa, and sin, dosa, are very, very similar. So when she finished the prayer I said, "Wyndy, kamu dosa-dosa adala bagus," or, "Wyndy, your sins are wonderful!" Needless to say it was a little difficult to reign everyone in from their laughing as I repeated, "tidak, tidak! Kamu DOA, bukan dosa!" Haha, it was great.

(Photos will be added on Sunday!)