14 February 2007 – Wednesday – Valentine Day

I slept well – waking only once. My mouth is getting much better and my cold seems to be progressing in my usual manner. Which means I should be much better by the time we fly out on Saturday.

I spent my personal time reading from Book of Mormon Stories. I am using them to learn words but I really need to start trying to speak phrases – even if they are simple and wrong. It is the only way I am going to gain enough confidence to try and talk to members in Indonesian.

Talked briefly with Tom – Kelli Ann had her hair cut to her shoulders. At first I thought she had cut it herself but she had the beautician cut it. I guess Shauna was rather surprised when she saw it. Her little girl is growing up.

We read from Kitab Mormon – I am not sure how much this is helping to learn Indonesian. What is said and how they say it does not have much in common with everyday conversation. I now know how the Indonesians who learn grammar and vocabulary but not how to talk to others feel when they come to English class.

Just as we were leaving, Elder Subandriyo called and asked if I was coming in. He said that they were busy doing hygiene kits and there were some Moslem sisters helping. So when we got to the chapel, I started taking pictures so that I could use them in an article. There was someone from a newspaper or magazine already there taking notes. Mary and I pitched in and either I sweated out some of my sickness or I am going to be dead tomorrow.

I went on one distribution run and must say that it was much better than the ones to flooded areas. At least the destination was different. We unloaded in a small shop area – Indonesian shops that is there version of a strip mall – and a cart took them down narrow streets to where they would be distributed. The district chairman was not there so we could not hand any out to people – I want to find out how this ‘district chairman’ thing works. I was surprised at how neat the small family homes seemed – at least from the outside. The ‘street’ was about 3 feet wide with the usual water gutters running along them. What made the streets seem so nice was all the plants lining them. They may not have a lot of money but they still find enough to buy plants to give the outside of their home some individuality and beauty.

Just as we were getting ready to leave the shop area it started to rain – actually to pour. It still amazes me how much water can come down so quickly. It went from a rather nice day to water running everywhere in a minute. Soon water was pouring off roofs and running down in rivers to the street. After 10 minutes of trying to wait out the storm, someone got us some umbrellas so we could get to the cars. We only drove about 300 yards and we were out of the storm which was still pouring behind us. It was like two different worlds.

When we got back to the chapel I thought about going back to the apartment, but there was lots of work going on and they needed to load for another delivery so I helped with that. There was so much to go that we filled three cars and if I had gone, Elder Petersen would have had to stay back. Since he is the Country Director I made myself scarce so he could go.

While we were finishing up the loading, the Moslem group – which was larger than I realized – left. Instead of going to the office and sitting down until Sam came back with our car, I went up and helped the now greatly reduced crew make kits. I got really good at wrapping crackers in a towel while John’s wife did the rest. We got so that we were producing as much or more than the larger groups.

By the time Sam came back I was soaking again – hopefully I sweated out the cold – and I had him bring me back to the apartment. I tried to take a nap but had just dropped off – or so it seemed  – when Mary came home. I had made the mistake of dropping the inside latch so she could not get in without waking me.

I spent part of the night reading from BofM stories in Indonesian. I hope that I will learn some more vocabulary this way and remember the easy words that keep repeating themselves. I went back and read the story I did this morning to see how many words I remembered. I only had to look up 2 or 3. I do not think I really know the words so that I can use them in speaking, but I know what they mean when I see them.