05 May 2007 – Saturday

It was back to normal today. Slept well, woke too early, and had a normal morning. We had time to read a full hour in Kitab Mormon – this is becoming more and more enjoyable because we not only are learning to read Indonesian but we are also learning more about the Book of Mormon. We are finding things that we have read over a number of times that seem to have a different meaning when you digesting it word for word.

We went to the office and I caught up with some of the e-mail. I also wrote the April ERSC history report and sent it off to Hong Kong. We still need to do the ones that include number. One of the great pieces of news is that we actually got a report about employment from the districts. They were a little light in information and I am sure they did not cover each branch, but it is a start.

Mary spent the time working on her lesson tomorrow at Tangerang 2. She is putting part of it into Indonesian so the young women can have something to take home with them. She has spent a lot of time on this lesson – I am sure she will do great.

At 2 we went to SoGo to stock up on groceries and baked goods. We should really stay away from there but it is the only place where I can get fresh squeezed orange juice which is what I have for breakfast about 5 of the 7 days of the week. So while we are there it seems a waste not to buy a few goodies at BreadTalk.  Anyway that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

By the time we got home both of us were very tired so we snacked on some of the things that we bought and took naps. Besides eating, reading Kitab Mormon, and catching up some of this journal, the rest of the day was very quiet. Mary of course continued to work on her report and I started reading Elder Hollands talk in Indonesian. Just the first two paragraphs produced a nice stack of flip cards – I am going back to using them to try and increase my vocabulary. Which I tried to learn on and off during the evening.

This mission experience is different from what I expected. It is not filled with great spiritual experiences each day. Or perhaps it is and it just seems so normal for it to be that way, that it no longer stands out. I know that when we were serving in the MTC it got to a point where it took something out of the ordinary to make an impression. The ordinary spiritual events that were taking place all around us seemed ordinary and we probably would have been surprised if nothing spiritual happened.

An example is today. I opened the church mail site and there were the two reports about employment. The first ones we have ever received. It means that the district specialists contacted their branch specialists and then sent in the report. That may not seem like anything special but the fact is that as far as I can tell that has not been done before. Before this if there was any figures they came because the senior missionaries either contacted the branches or found out that someone had a new job or a new business. I know that is what we did for three months. Basically we released those who had the responsibility for doing this work. Once we decided that was not the correct way to do this, trained those we are responsible for, and told them when we expected the report, behold the Lords’ way of doing things started working.

I remember reading in the Welfare manual one day and it quoted the D&C where when the Lord revealed his plan for helping the poor, He told the church that it should be done in His own way. But how often do we think we know better than the Lord and do it in our own way. I know I have been guilty of that in the past and I am sure I will do it in the future – but hopefully not as often.

I would imagine there are times when the Lord looks down on our efforts and thinks ‘Why does my son Bill not learn that the correct and easy way to get things done in My Church is to do it My way. Not because I want any glory but so he and those he is working with can enjoy all the blessings that I would like them to have.”