08 February 2007 – Thursday

I guess it was too much to expect two normal days in a row. The alarm went off at 5:30 and I turned it off and rolled over for another hour’s sleep. When I finally got up I had no desire at all to go to the gym. Actually all I could think of was how much the area around my mouth hurt. It seems that I must have gotten the juice from some of the chilies I was cutting on my hands and then I wiped my mouth. Yesterday it was just starting to blister but this morning it is really bad. Thankfully it looks worse than it feels but it is definitely not a fun thing. I will have Mary take a picture so we can send it to our kids.

I was just getting going when my cell rang and it was Elder Subandriyo asking me to write another article about the kitchen and include some pictures. So I spent well over an hour on that. This meant I had no time for reading Kitab Mormon. I think the article is pretty good but doubt if it will get printed the way it is written.

Why I say that is because when we got into the office, there was an e-mail directing us to an article on LDS.org that is a well edited version of what I had written on Monday. It does include all of my pictures. No byline of course but it was nice to see my story out there for everyone to read.

We spent the morning catching up on e-mail and getting ready for our English classes tonight. We made a list of things that we need to get accomplished at Sinopati. What I thought was interesting was that after I decided to work on learning patience, almost everything we need to do is to find out why something is not done when or how it should.

I got a call from someone at the Toyota dealership saying the reason I do not have my license is because the police station that is supposed to be processing it was flooded and no one was working there. Who knows when that will get straightened out. I am sure that $20 in the right hands would do wonders in getting it done.  But I am going to be patient – or at least try to be.

I did forget one thing that happened before we left the apartment. I was at the computer and a Skype call came through from the Mitchells. I tried to answer it but I could not hear anything. I tried everything I could think of and then I remembered that I had put the sound on mute last night – by the time I had things worked out it was too late to get back to them. I was bummed.

About noon we left for Sinopati and of course when we got there everyone was out for lunch. Eventually most people showed up but it turned out very few things got done. Another chance to practice patience.

To make a long day short, we went to Tangeran’s district meeting. They have a difficult area and usually have a lot of reasons why the work is not going well. We are trying to get them to come up with new ideas on how to get things moving. I am thinking that the President take the missionaries out of the area for a couple of months so the members realize that they need to support them. As we were sitting there I wondered if we need to spend some of our time going around with them – at least we could visit members.

We started English class right at 6:00 and other than the 6 elders we only had 2 people there. But I am determined that the classes will not wait until people get there. Actually my class did have to wait because there were no children there at all. At 6:10 three came and then at about 6:25 Agus’ family came. We learned about colors and time. I do not think it was great but the children seem to have had a good time.

The trip home went faster than I expected – the traffic is back to normal and that means slow. But Sam took some back streets and got around the main jams.

The good news of the day is that the apartment seems to have closed today. That means Mike no longer has to keep hounding the renters for money. Now if we can get Herb Bergman to put in the furnace, things will be much better.

I am feeling my age tonight – I do not know if it is because it has been a long and busy day or if the rash on my lips is starting to bug me – or perhaps both. Anyway I look forward to crawling into bed and getting some sleep.

Patience Elder Pier – Patience.

07 Febraury 2007 – Wednesday

I woke at 5 and did the gym thing. Still losing a little weight each day. I would have thought as much as I have been sweating each day at the kitchen, I would be down two or three pounds a day. But of course I replace it as fast as I can. I have come to appreciate clean water – even warm clean water.

Mary sounds terrible this morning but says she feels much better. I am going to go into the office at 10:00 and she will join me after lunch. We have a meeting with Agus and Lukito today at 1 to try and settle what we are going to do about CW over the next couple of months. I think that any plans beyond that is just speculation.

My skin does not like Indonesia. Last night when I got home I realized I have some kind of rash around my lips. At first I thought they were cold sores but I think that I am reacting to the garlic chiles and onion that I have been getting on my hands each day. I probably then wipe my mouth with them or with a rag that are covered with the juices. It is probably just luck I do not have sores all over my face. They are annoying but I am sure they are not fatal. Otherwise I am hot but in good shape.

We listened to Elder Bednar’s CES fireside talk about reading and pondering the scriptures. As I listened I realized I have not done that in a long time – that is search and absorb a subject. Also he made the point that most of our choices are not between good and evil but between two goods. As he said this I wondered if I was going to the office because I really do need to get some ERS work done or so I did not have to go out and get sweaty working in the kitchen. My guess it is a combination of both.

When I left for the office, Mary stayed home to wait and see if the air conditioner repair person would come. I spent the morning fighting with the printer and trying to find some charts that seem to have disappeared in one of the computers. I did manage to come up with and agenda for our meeting at 1 and some activities for my English class on Thursday. About the time I was getting everything wrapped up, Mary arrived by taxi. We are getting brave enough that we felt it safe for her to come by herself.

Agus arrived right at one – Lukito had called to say he would not be at the meeting because he had to take care of his flooded house. I told him that I hoped things would quickly dry out. I do not think he has been flooded before.

The meeting went well. We decided that a month was about as far we could plan in advance for CW. There were just too many things that are likely to come up for us to plan any further into the future. Agus is very effective. He always gets things done, has many good ideas, and even with his cancer he seems to keep a cheerful outlook.

After he left, we headed for So Go market to buy our luxury items. We ran into Sister Jensen just as she was checking out. She said that the President was going crazy with everything that is going on and his getting ready to head for Hong Kong for the big Area meeting. She said that he would come back invigorated enough to make it through the next 5 months.

When we got home we were very tired but did not take naps. I spent some time on the computer d/l Total Recorder and Real Player so I can record some music from the web. However I did not spend any time actually listening to music. Instead I started my program of trying to study from PMG or the scriptures for an hour each evening.

I read the chapter on developing Christ like attributes and decided I really needed to work on gaining the attributes of Patience and Charity. I spent a good hour on reading and thinking about Patience. I studied what the scriptures say about this attribute and then started putting the thoughts together. One thing I soon decided was that I can not really have any one attribute alone. I can not have really have patience with out faith, hope and charity. I can not really have any of those without having virtue. One of the special thing about Christ was that he had developed all of these attributes and so he was able to very close to His Father. As we develop Christ like attitude it allows us to draw close to Christ and our Father in Heaven. As we do this we are at peace and it is easy for us to have patience.

It is not going to be easy for me to develop patience and charity – especially not patience. But I am sure that if I truly desire that attribute and try my best to achieve it, the Lord will help me. I believe that only by developing patience will I really be able to help the Indonesian people and at the same time help myself.