02 March 2007 – Friday

Unfortunately I am back to the waking up before 5 schedule that I thought I had managed to break. It is not a bad thing because it means I am up in plenty of time to go to the gym. However I would prefer to sleep until the alarm goes off at 5:30. When I went down the gym was not open so I walks and jogged for a mile on the track. The temperature was still cool – at least for Jakarta – and so it was rather nice to exercise outside. After that I went to the gym, did some sit-ups and spent a little time on the bike before coming back to the apartment.

I spent much of the morning writing in this journal and then Mary and I read from Kitab Mormon. We read for well over an hour and I thought it went well. I am not sure how much my vocabulary is increasing and how much is because I know the story that is being told. But at least by continuing to read words are starting to be familiar enough that often I can read it without needing to stop and think about what the word means. However it is a long ways from reading it as Indonesian and not Indonesian that I translate into English.

We got a letter from sister Roberts and she told about Bob saying in a class that one of her relatives taught that his parents were in Indonesia. It is a small world. We look forward to meeting the Roberts in a few weeks. They have been re-assigned to Solo from Sumatra – it will be a completely different mission for them there. Sister Roberts sounds like a dynamo and I am sure she will do a great work in Solo. I also think they will be a great help in getting PEF going there.

We had a rather busy day and a quiet night. Sam picked us up and we went to the office to get the other computer. Hendra had called and asked us to bring it in so it’s software could be updated. From there we headed to Jakarta Raya where we met with the district. It was a good meeting where I gave the spiritual thought about the spirit. That lead right into elder Decker’s lesson about what we needed to do to have the spirit with us. It was a good discussion and everyone joined in.

Next up was a visit with our investigator. Mary and I felt that elder Decker should not try to teach about the apostasy because that could lead to a disagreement. But he really felt that he needed to and since he would be doing most of the talking we said OK. That was a mistake on our part – we should have been more positive in our suggestion.

The best part of the visit that Rudy told us of a spiritual experience that he had about 20 years ago. He was very ill and one night he saw a vision of the savior. As he told it he got goose-bumps and the spirit was very strong. He does not tell it often because he feels it is special. My telling of the experience in the sacred grove made him feel he could share it with us. I identified that feeling that he has when he tells the story to be the spirit. I hoped that elder Decker would build on that but he went back to trying to explain the apostasy. That only led to an intellectual discussion in which it seems Rudy could not believe that the Lord would give power to a young church when the Catholic church had been around for such a long time. I kept praying for the spirit to be there but it ended in a negative way.

As we drove the elders to the bus stop, elder Decker was unhappy with the way it went and I think he was blaming himself for not listening to us. I told him it was just a minor set back that he needed to be patient. We will give Rudy a chance to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I think if we build on his own spiritual experience that after some time we can get him to honestly seek an answer through prayer. I just wish I knew enough Indonesian to join in.

We had to come back to the apartment to get some paperwork we needed to fax to the branches that should come to the Career Workshop in Yogyakarta next weekend. Mary had forgotten about them but Agus folowed up and so we got them off.

Dinner was KFC – it is just easier than cooking at the end of a day. We watched a movie on TV and then read the Kitab Mormon for another hour.

I am rather unhappy with myself this evening because I did not try harder to convince elder Decker about how to teach Rudy. The spirit told me what to do and what not to do but I did not follow it. Or at least I did not feel strongly enough about it to insist that is what we should do. I should have suggested that we pray about our visit. But what is past is past and now we must look to the future and perhaps it was a good thing. Maybe it was necessary for elder Decker to learn that he can not sell the gospel but needs to let the spirit do that. Or maybe I needed a lesson on following the spirit. I am sure that in the long run it can be an positive experience for us and for Rudy. Patience – I am being am being given many chances to learn to have more.

In the Kitab Mormon we are reading about the need for opposition in all things. What a powerful idea – that it is something that just exists for the whole universe to exist. Even for God to exist there has to be opposition. It is a prime law of existence. What we have control over is which side we choose to follow – what we hold to be important. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is our or should be our guiding light – as the 121st section of the D&C says it can be our ‘constant companion’ and if it is ‘the doctrines of the Priesthood will distill upon thy soul like the dews from Heaven.’ What a great promise.

God does live as does His Son Jesus Christ. Christ did bleed in the garden and take upon Him my sins so I could be free from Spiritual death. He did die on the cross and was resurrected so that all men could be free from Physical Death. Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus Christ in the grove and he was the instrument through which Christ church and His gospel was restored to the earth. I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt because I was in the grove and was told that it was true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that when we read it we can feel the love of God for us. I know that Gordon B. Hinckley is God’s living prophet on the earth today. That he leads the Chruch through revelation from Jesus Christ. I know that the Priesthood is the power to act in God’s name. That through it’s power and ordinances we can prepare to return to the presence of God the Father and be an Eternal Family. I know Mary and I have been called by a prophet to serve here in Indonesia. To be a light to everyone we meet and to help the saints here grow in strength and knowledge. I know this because the spirit has told me personally that all of this is true and I share it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.