In just two days plus a few odd hours we will be talking voice-to-voice across oceans! Though I am sure even the few hours we have to talk won't possibly be enough time to cover the smallest news we have to share, I'm going to bet it will be enough to at least cover this last week and so focus this email on only one recent experience that I think might be all the more better for the writing of it than merely retelling (I've always been a sad sort of out-loud story-smith, anyway).
I have yet to tell you much about Bandung other than that it is lovely and of good-report and praiseworthy; I am still a bit in love with the tree-lined avenues and daily rain, so my original review remains the same. What I've failed to tell you is that Bandung deserves the same praises Church-wise—the chapel is a beautiful little building nestled among tidy greenery in a peaceful corner of the city, the members (though few) are close-knit and welcoming, and our Sunday meetings are Spirit-filled and sanctifying, a true gathering of Saints. And yet even after all that, the Cabang Bandung has got an even greater claim to fame: Bandung was the first ever branch of the Gereja Yesus Kristus Dari Orang-Orang Suci Zaman Akhir in Indonesia; the first branch, the first chapel, the first congregation. This little branch is the mustard seed, the miracle, and last Friday I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with the man who had the faith to begin it all: Brother Bambang, the first member in all of Indonesia.
Sister Atmi and I visited him in his home that afternoon to share a Christmas message; age has now slowed his health and altogether diminished his physical ability to make the weekly trip to Church and so we were his Sacrament Meeting substitute. It was the first time I'd met the man, and I liked him from the very beginning—though it took him quite some time to reach the door after our knocking, he swung it open wide to usher us into his little living space where he'd already prepared a plate of biscuits and two glasses of honeyed-water for the occasion. He was in pajamas (a classic British cut) and barefooted, his white hair carefully combed behind his ears and his eyes magnified three times too big behind bifocals in thick, black rims. The image of it all alone could have sold me, but it's what he said that made it real.
For the first half hour it was simply the lesson we came prepared with and the usual conversation. He told us about his early life, meeting the missionaries, his miraculous conversion (which I will relate more fully when time allows) and, pulling a photo album off an obviously sacred shelf in his small library, the time he was invited to Salt Lake City for the 1976 April General Conference—and to meet President Spencer W. Kimball. He passed the album to us as he spoke, recalling every detail from what he was wearing to the time on the clock to the pattern on Sister Kimball's blouse, each sentence told ever-so slowly but at the strongest register his voice could muster. He remembered arriving at the airport, greeted by an Apostle. He remembered his first moment in the office of a prophet, when President Kimball stood up as he entered the room and announced "Brother Bambang. You are a wonderful person, and I love you."
He did not have to testify then of a living prophet, of a priesthood restored or latter-day scripture; we felt it all throughout the room. He said those words twice more, obviously feeling again the magnitude of that moment so long ago. "You are a wonderful person, and I love you."
He then resumed the retelling, commenting on the talks given that conference and the time he had to spend with the Elders (now husbands and fathers) that had baptized him, and then closed with his final meeting with the Prophet, just as he was about to return home. "Here is what President Kimball told me, all those years ago," he said, voice wavering. "'The Church is True, all over the world,' he said." There was a long pause as the Spirit confirmed the testimony he repeated, and then he began again, this time looking us both in the eyes with a new solidarity to his voice. "And to that I add: The Church is True, all over the world—even in Indonesia. It is true from Banda Aceh to Jayapura, and it cannot, cannot be destroyed."
I have to say, up until that moment I was having my doubts. Not about the Church, nor about the Restored Gospel, or any of the principles or doctrine that have been given us through divine revelation—never anywhere close. But about this work in Indonesia, I have wavered. I imagine there are those who, when hearing there's even a mission here in the world's most Muslim nation, react in much the same way that Ammon's countrymen did in Alma 26:23. I myself at times have smiled to hear the call to prayer sung from the minarets even as I walk the streets with Book of Mormon in hand, intent on convincing these people that there is a Christ; that He lives; that we, too, may live—in full joy and glory—if only we will turn to Him. There is something of a backwards feeling to it all, at times.
But no. There is no doubt, there is no fear—family, the Church is True, even in Indonesia. From Banda Aceh to Jayapura we will continue to preach and sing praises because even though we have no contacts, even though we have no investigators, even though we have no single person here yet interested in what we have to say, we are never alone. If there is one thing I have learned more entirely in these last six months of my mission it is this: Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World, and what's more, He loves us. He knows us. He wants us happy. He wants us whole. And because this is not always immediately possible, He will be with us every smallest second of the way to that glory. I have felt Him here in this work, and what's more, I have felt Him here in my life—and I know He is constantly with, and watching over, yours. He is the reason this Church is true; because it is His Church, and it will march on ever onward from Palmyra to Pakistan, from Salt Lake City to Senegal and everywhere in between. Even in Indonesia.
I am grateful everyday and this Christmas especially that a Truth so incredible is mine; mine to keep—and mine to share. Inilah kesaksianku: bahwa Dia hidup, dan selama Dia hidup saya akan menyanyi, memuji, berseru dengan sukacita terus. Gereja adalah benar, dan saya tahu bahwa Yesus Kristus sendiri adalah kepalanya. Bahwa kita hari ini dipimpin oleh nabi yang hidup, di bawah petunjuk Tuhan serta para-malaikatNya. Saya tahu bahwa karena Dia telah turun dibawah segala hal, kita semua dapat mengatasi segala hal. Dengan sepenuh hati saya merasa kebenaran ini, dan saya bersaksi mengenaninya.
Dia hidup! Dan Gereja ini, itu benar. Bahkan di Indonesia.
love and Christmas wishes,
Sister E.
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