Thursday, November 2 – was a day for studying Bahasa Indonesian. I started as soon as I woke up and pretty much continued with doing something with the language until 2:15 when we finished our lesson with sister Tippets. Much of the time was looking up the meaning of words that Mary found in the first discussion plan that she did not know. If I had made the list it would have been much longer. Luckily we have the English version to use along side the Indonesian version so at least I have a starting place to try and figure out what it means. I am sure I am absorbing more and more of the language but it is still frustrating at times. Mainly it comes when I find I can not translate words I should know.
Mary spent much of her time running around doing errands. I am afraid that December 4th is going to rush up on us before we even notice. It is hard to imagine that in just about a month we will be set-apart as missionaries. Personally I could pack up and get on a plane today. But that may be because I would like to just leave without needing to worry about all the details that still need to be worked out.
We got another nice letter from the Leishmans telling us more about house and car rentals. I guess we will spend the first week or so finding an apartment, getting a car and driver, and stocking up with food, etc. It will be something like when we first got married. I can still picture the two cart loads of groceries that totaled an amazing $100. Today I would bet the same load would cost $500.
In the evening I had a group leadership meeting. I am going to miss working with Gordon and Steve. We have been a good team for the last three or four months. Gordon indicated that he had been considering a replacement for me. As we went through the list of the older members of the ward and their illnesses. Steve Gibson asked – “Is this what we have to look forward to?”
One funny thing did happen this morning – Friday. I was reading the Deseret News and came across a heading that started “Meningitis.” Since so many Indonesian words start with ‘me,’ for just a brief second I found myself trying to figure out what the word meant in English. When I told Mary about the experience she had a good laugh. I guess the Indonesian lessons are having some effect on my mind.