Family and Friends!

Sorry I don't have too much time this week, but it has been fantastic here!

Rainy season is starting up so it's pretty crazy! The streets flood in a manner of minutes and then the rain will suddenly stop too. It's crazy. It's so beautful here and the people are even more beautiful. They are all so kind, patient, and hard working. I learn so much from them.

This week we visited a member family who lived kind of far away from church. We talked to his family and they are incredible! He used to be really poor and said he had an ugly home. He saved up $200 dollars here and then it all got stolen! He was so sad and thought to get mad at first, but instead, he prayed for the people that stole his money. He prayed that they would have enough money for food and clothing. His wife was scared that they wouldn't be able to get through the week. But they had exceedingly strong faith and prayed often. Then that month, the Lord blessed them with enough money to buy a car! Then they bought a car! And now they live in a bigger better house and have two beautiful little kids. They are so kind to us and the Lord has blessed them so much. The members here in Indonesia are incredible and have great faith. I love them so much. This family knows that because they go to church and pay tithing, the Lord blesses them with more. Before, they paid maybe 20 cents for tithing, but now, they pay more than his old pay check in tithing! He is so blessed for his good works and his faith. I am so grateful to the Lord and I am constantly blessed here. He is always with us missionaries and we are working hard to fulfill our mission and bring others unto Him. I love this work and I am so grateful for being born into this gospel.

Enjoy conference this week!

Elder Litster

 Hello everyone!

This week has been great! It seems like everyone has been having birthdays so we celebrated birthdays with the Branch President and a member in the ward. But we also went to a funeral which was really sad. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for eternal families. We are so blessed to know God's plan for us.

We have a bunch of investigators here in Manado. Two of them we contacted on my first day here. I gave Om T a Book of Mormon and he has been reading everyday! He already loves it and reads it day and night. The BOM has power and it changes people's lives all the time! If you want your life to go better, read the Book of Mormon. I promise it will bless your life. The other investigator we met on the plane. She lives so far away from us, so we visit her once a week or so. She really took the first lesson well and the spirit was strong in her home that day. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share the gospel.

Today Elder Taulu went to Jakarta for some leadership training. He's staying there for 3 days so I am going to be with the other two missionaries. It's going to be crazy because three foreigners in Manado is rare and everybody gives us funny looks. I am excited to work with them. They are great missionaries and I always pray that we can help the Manado branch and the people of Manado come unto Christ. This gospel is true. I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Restoration and I am so happy to share it with the Indonesians here in Manado!

Hello from Manado! 

Manado is truly amazing! The people, the food, the different language, and my new companion are all awesome! It is so beautiful here and tropical. It is paradise! The people are so kind and loving here. Manado is this city on the tip of the island Sulawesi. It is really close to the Philippines. Everybody is Christian here for the most part and there are churches on every street corner! This week we went to a member's house to visit them who lived pretty close to a volcano! I saw it go off too! It was so cool! The volcano is active and so is the member. haha On p day we went to a waterfall! It is so amazing here in Manado! It's really hard to describe Indonesia. The people are so great, the traffic is crazy, but perfect, the angkot/taxis play loud music and have flashing lights, the ocean and all the islands are beautiful, and everyone is poor and happy. It's a great place to live and everybody is so patient, loving, and hardworking.

My companion is fantastic! He always serves me and works so hard! I want to be as good of a missionary as he is someday. We work hard every day, but we have fun. Missionary work is so awesome. This last week, we invited some investigators to church and they came! I was so happy to see them there! The branch here is so cool! The building is right next to the ocean and the ocean is so beautiful. 

Every time I bear my testimony, I always get a reconfirmation that this church is true. I challenge you to bear your testimony more often about the simple truths that you cherish. I am so grateful for the spirit. The spirit has led my companionship so many times here in Manado already. We can do nothing without the God head and I truly believe this. I am so grateful for God's hand in my life. 

Love

Elder Litster

Selamat pagi!

I made it to Indonesia! It is so awesome here and crazier than I ever thought! The culture is so different and the people are so nice and friendly.

President and Sister Donald picked us up from the airport. We got temporary companions that we will have for 5 days when we got to the mission home and split off to different areas around Jakarta. Elder Hall and I were blessed to stay in the mission home and be with the APs. They are so cool! The mission home is so nice and the ward here is so great.

President Donald assigned me to the Manado area. It is the furthest area from the mission home and is on the North East tip of the island Sulawesi. It is full of Christian people and I am excited to meet my companion there. Elder M and I have done a lot of contacting on the bus and it is really fun. There are so many people who are searching for the true gospel. One day we traveled 4 hours and visited a family in western Jakarta and they are so awesome! They are recent converts and are preparing to go to the temple. They were so kind to us and fed us sate and rice afterwards. At the end of the lesson, they told me that they had a friend in Manado that I should contact and gave me a referral! I am excited to go and find him and share the gospel!

I don't have much time, but I want to say that I am so grateful that I am able to be a missionary here in Indonesia. The people are so awesome here and I love them so much already. I know that this gospel is true and that through Jesus Christ, we can find true happiness in this life. I am so grateful for this opportunity and I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of this missionary work. I love you all and thanks for your support and love!

Elder Litster

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you would like to contact me, please send it to:           isaac.litster@myldsmail.net
Thank you!

9/5/13

Selamat Pagi! 

How is everyone? I am so grateful for everyone and their love and support. We got our travel plans last week! We are going through LAX, then Hong Kong, China, and then to Indonesia. It should be about a 33 hour flight! We have about 5 days left until we head out. We are leaving on the 10th and we will be going to the most populous Muslim country by plane on 9-11. I still remember when I was in first grade watching the twin towers. I feel so blessed to live in this country. I am grateful for the opportunity to go and help people in another country that does not have all the same freedoms we do. 

I have decided that the best way for skinny people to gain weight is to go to the MTC. I have easily gained 20 pounds or more now here. If we did not have gym every day, I would have definitely gained more. Gym has been awesome! We have been playing soccer every day now. We always play world cup and have a great time. The field is always super muddy and we just play barefoot and slip and fall in the mud. It is great to be muddy and dirty for a change because we are always in our missionary attire trying to look our best. We are representatives of Jesus Christ and we must behave and dress in a way that respects and honors His name at all times.

I got my picture with an Elder that got here from Pleasant Grove, Utah. I do not know his name, but we call him Elder Tinggi. Tinngi means tall. He is 7 foot 3 and is a skyscraper!  We hosted new Elders again this week. I was able to see one of my good friends and host him! It was Sam Johnston! I was really surprised because he was supposed to go to the South Africa MTC. I guess his visa did not come in time and he will be in the states for a couple weeks till his visa comes.

This week during the devotional, I was able to develop a stronger testimony about our Heavenly Father. Elder Evans of the 70 spoke along with his wife. They have strong testimonies of this gospel. My testimony is growing stronger and stronger each day. I have been working on having greater faith and charity towards others. I really like the scripture about faith and the mustard seed. I feel so blessed to be born into this church and knowing that God has a plan for me. The Plan of Salvation is so wonderful and perfect. I know God loves me and answers my prayers. He is always helping me. As it says in Jacob 5, the Lord is laboring with his servants in the vineyard. I know this to be true. I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the Atonement is real.

Love,

Elder Litster

Halo! Apa kabar?

This week went by so fast! Each day I get more and more excited to go to Indonesia and teach the people there. I met an Indonesian lady was a member last week and had the opportunity to teach her. She talks so fast! She taught us a lot of slang and was really fun to talk to. 

I had a really cool experience this week. I've always wanted to shake an apostle's hand and I prayed to get the opportunity. Two weeks ago we had Elder Scott speak, but I wasn't able to meet him or talk to him because there are so many missionaries. He gave an amazing talk and the spirit was so strong. This week, Elder Holland was walking around West Campus and visited his grandson. He was in the building next door to me and we were hoping to meet him. I was hoping this was my chance, but it didn't happen. I was bummed because apostles only come once in a while to the MTC, and I guess it wasn't important for me to shake an apostle's hand. To my surprise this week, the Tuesdaydevotional speaker was Elder Neil L. Anderson. He taught us about love and sacrifice. He has very strong testimony and I could feel it in his words. After the meeting, it was announced that it was raining and that there was too much lightning and that we cannot walk home. This was a great blessing to me. Elder Anderson got up and started to walk around the auditorium shaking everyone's hands on the bottom floor. then he came over to the upper deck and I was lucky enough to be on the first row and shake his hand. I happened to be the last Elder on my row he could reach. Heavenly Father answers prayers. I was so grateful for that experience and I know the Lord loves us and will bless us. I love the MTC and feel so blessed to be here. 

I am really grateful to everyone who sent me a letter or a package. It strengthens me and I'll do my best to write back!

Thank you so much for your love and support.

Elder Isaac Litster

August 22, 2013

Hello family and friends!

Life in the MTC has been getting better and better! I'm over halfway done now and time is just flying by so fast. I am so grateful to family and friends who mailed me and for their love and support. I am always so happy to hear from you all, and I'll do my best to write back!

So a few things happened this week. One of my mock investigators is a Korean girl from a small town just outside of Seoul. It's fun to think I'm teaching a Korean. Turns out, almost all of the kids in my district had Korean friends growing up and know a couple Korean words! My companion and I are getting along better than ever. We are working hard and the language is gradually coming along. I said this before, but he honestly has the gift of tongues and it is definitely a great blessing from the Lord. I really love him and his example of hard work and diligence. 

I was able to see Elder Zach Tubbs and Elder Jordan Hicks today! Elder Tubbs is from my old ward before I moved and Elder Hicks is from my new ward. They are going to the same mission! It was really good to see both of them and they are loving it here. They were leaving to Minneapolis the next day so I was lucky to see them before they left. I was also able to see some more of my friends from back home at the Tuesday devotional. I added some pictures of them for you all to see. 

The other day an Elder in my district got really sick and was throwing up constantly. He asked for a blessing and I had the honor of participating. I was so happy to be able to magnify my Melchizedek priesthood and was able to anoint the oil on his head. One of the other Elder's gave a powerful blessing after. I felt the presence of the Lord's power in the room. The spirit was strong and we were united more as a district that day. The next day, the sick Elder was all better and he was able to exercise and work. I testify that through priesthood, we are able to be blessed and that through it, we are able to see the Lord's power manifested unto us. I feel so blessed to be around these great Elders and Sisters in my district. We are united and are doing our best. I pray that we will always be worthy of the sacred privilege of having the priesthood. I also pray that we will have strong faith in it's power. 

The Lord has blessed me a lot the past 3 weeks. I gained about 15 pounds here at the MTC! Crazy! I was pretty happy about that. All the Elder's gained about 10-15, but the sister's only gained maybe 4 pounds at the most.  We are guaranteed to lose the weight in Indonesia, so I might as well gain as much weight as I can, right? I've The food is really great here and I've been doing my best to work out with one of the other Elder's in my apartment every day so I don't get too chubby. 

I'm loving it here and I know this is the Lord's work! 

Love,

Elder Litster

We try to stay healthy and eat cherries once in a while.

Where we study at West Campus

Halo! 

The MTC has been incredible! I am learning so much and have had the greatest experiences already! The Lord is with His missionaries and I know He is because of His remarkable Spirit that I have felt here. 

Although I am not in the main MTC Campus, West Campus (Wyview Complex) is probably ten times better! We are outside all of the time and the area is beautiful! The West Campus is really fun and has a great atmosphere. Everybody knows each other and we all get along well. West Campus is starting to get really busy because they are shipping down some of the Main MTC Elders and Sisters. We are supposedly going to have more here at West than at Main I hear! There are so many unused apartments that need to be filled. 

On Tuesday, we had a very special devotional. Elder Richard G. Scott spoke and there was an incredible spirit. he spoke about prayer and it was very powerful. He also invoked a blessing upon all of the missionaries that we would receive the gift of tongues according to our faith. The Spirit was so strong and he stopped and said that he could feel his wife's presence in the room. The broadcast was very special. it was the first time a devotional was broadcast to every single MTC in the world! My faith was strengthened and my desire to serve increased. I know prayer has power in it. I know that we can pray to the Lord like we talk to our parents. He is listening and He wants us to talk to Him. I was reading in 2 Nephi and it says that the evil spirit teacheth a man not to pray. We must pray always to Heavenly Father, even if we don't want to, feel tired, or feel like we have prayed enough times. He is always listening and loves us. 

So there is this cool thing called DearElder.com. If you would like to write me, please use dearelder. It sends mail in one day and is a better way to contact and communicate with me. It's absolutely free, is like writing an email, and I would love to hear from you! Here's the address!

Elder Isaac Litster

Indo-Jak SEP 10 Unit 831

2023 North 900 East 

Provo, Utah 84602

Thanks again for your love and support and may God be with you!

Love,

Elder Litster

"I think there is an angel that photo-bombed our picture!"

Elder Honda with his model shot. He actually did do some modeling for his school. He is from Perth, Australia.

Hello everyone!

       Today marks the first day here at the MTC. The Spirit here is incredible! There is this light coat of the Spirit painted over us here. I can feel the Spirit constantly and so can my companions. It's been amazing to feel like this all of the time. I know that everyone who have experienced the MTC has felt this same way too.  My companion's name is Elder Parker David Hall. He is from Layton, Utah. He is an awesome Elder who is hard working. He literally has the gift of tongues and it astounds me every day. He is a good example to me and keeps me working hard. The language is coming along and we have been teaching almost everyday in Indonesian.  I reckon we have the coolest zone in the MTC here at West Campus. My zone consists of the Indonesia, Malaysia ,Armenian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, and Madagascar missions. Our Indo district is the smallest of them all though. The apartment is awesome. It has couches, a fridge, desks, a bathroom and two big bedrooms. The Elders that my companion and I share a dorm with are awesome. One is from Bountiful, Utah and the other is from Hamilton, New Zealand. It's been really fun here. We also have an Elder from Perth, Australia who has the exact same birthday as me!  He is also half Asian. I uploaded a picture with all of the half Asians in my zone, of course. It's been really cool to see where everyone is from and where they are serving in the world. My Zone President is Elder and Sister Parrish from American Fork! It was cool to know they love American Fork and know a lot of people around there. At the devotional on Tuesday I was able to meet up and see all the Elders in the main campus. It was great to see all of them and how they are doing! I'm loving it here at West Campus and we get a lot of freedom. We walk a lot outside and we can even go out to main campus, the temple, and Brigham's Landing out in the public to buy food and hang out on P-days. I guess we came here at the perfect time because the new bookstore and cafeteria just opened. The food here is fantastic and we can eat as much as we want! Mom, I sent a picture of the red potatoes I eat here almost every single day. I know you'll be happy that I'm eating them because they "cure cancer" right? Haha I am hoping to gain a little weight here before I go out to Indonesia and lose it all. I've learned so much here at the MTC. I also saw Steven! My cousin Kristy's friend! He was translating for a Korean girl who just got baptized due to being taught by the MTC missionaries! It was good to see a familiar face, even if it was my cousin's friend!

         The first day I got here they sent us out to teach investigators that are members and also nonmembers. We teach with a group of 30 or so each investigator. I sat there quitely and 2 of the 3 investigators called me out. The first was a Japanese guy who said I looked like I could be Japanese. The second was a man who was from Mexico. He was really harsh and critical of us. He had a child that was born 4 weeks early that I could sense he worried about. He told us that he can't trust us and believe what we say because we don't understand him and his situation. I think he was a real investigator. He was seriously angry. Then he stood up and looked at me and called me out saying, "why are you so quiet?" I told him I was just listening to him with the other missionaries. He asked me what I was thinking about. A,,l of a sudden, I was completely overwhelmed by the Spirit stronger than I have every felt before. I related to him a story about when I was born five weeks early and then I bore my testimony that God loves us and that God will extend his hand and provide miracles and comfort if we trust in Him. It touched the man's heart. He was crying real hard and so was I. I was really surprised that that happened the first day and that the Spirit could actually feel that strong. I want to bear testimony that a missionary's purpose is to invite others to Christ. I felt that as I taught this Hispanic man. I know that the gospel is true and that we need to bring others unto Christ. Missionary work is so important and it is one of the greatest things we can do. I love the gospel and I know the church is true.

Love,

Elder Isaac Litster

Going up the escalator in the airport, ready to go

Waving goodbye

This was our last view of Isaac. He practically ran down the stairs! He's anxious to get out there and serve!

Opening Mission Call

Isaac on March 14th, 2013, opening his mission call. Notice every single face in this picture is priceless!