09 March 2007 – Friday

I did not wake until 6 so no exercising this morning. Normal morning with us finally finishing chapter 9 in 2nd Nephi. I spent a good part of my morning writing up a proposal paper to go along with the Employment Resource Survey I had developed a couple of days ago. Elder Subandriyo needed to show to Elder Anderson of the Area Presidency.

We did not go into the office but went straight to the mission home and had a good District Meeting with Jakarta Raya. The zone leaders were working with them so it was a party of 8 instead of the usual 6. Elder Tuutau was leaving for home and we got to say goodbye and have a picture taken. He is going to be an asset wherever he is. After the meeting I took everyone down to BYU and treated them for lunch – the total came out to just under $7. I really enjoy the food at BYU and Mary at least likes it.

After lunch we headed off to the main postoffice to see if we could get our lost package that was being held up because that dangerous drug Benadryl was in the box. What we experienced was our first hands on taste of bribery in Indonesia. We were informed that for 200,000R the usual testing could be waved – of course no receipt would be given for this service. This was in addition to the 126,000R custom fee – for which we would get a receipt. So after about an hour – that seemed like all day – and the paying of about $40 – we got our package. One thing I must say about bribery in Indonesia – it is very well organized and efficient.

Another interesting thing is all the documentation, stamps and signatures that must go on any official documents. I think that there were four stamps, three signatures, and copies of Mary’s kita and passport attached to the paperwork.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow. We got home and Mary took a nap while I answered the rest of Shane’s questions. Then we had a very light dinner, read 2nd Nephi, chapter 10, watched some TV, took one of our very expensive Benadryl tablets and went to bed.