The famous ant that Mary had to have – it is about 2 feet tall – and so we had it wrapped so we could carry it on the airplane. The other one is a picture of a Muslim wedding that the Kanes went to. Very traditional and according to the Kanes the most beautiful wedding they ever attended outside a temple sealing.
23 May 2007 – Wednesday

When to bed late and slept in this morning. It felt good.

Yesterday we got pictures from Cindy and a great letter from Tyler. I find it hard to believe that Taylor and Tyler are getting ready to graduate from high school. It seems like yesterday that they were born. I will always remember hearing Taylor, long before we got to see her. She was born with a good set of lungs – as we all know! And Tyler is learning to drive Arthur – I remember buying Arthur for Cindy so she could get around in Provo while going to BYU.

Unfortunately Mary has caught some kind of bug that keeps her attached to the kamar kecil. Sam says that every missionary gets it twice so you might as well get them out of the way so you can enjoy the rest of the mission. I am not sure Mary would agree with him at this point. Hopefully it is a passing thing – no pun intended – and she will soon be feeling 100% again.

We continue to read from Kitab Mormon – each day is a revelation of some kind. I find things that are new and exciting – after 50 years in the Church I continue to find new things that make it exciting and helps me grow. I think one of the reasons the Prophets keep reminding us to read the scriptures is that it is a way to bring new light into our lives and keep the Gospel new to us. As I have often said – when I was young I thought I knew all the answers. As I grow older I am just starting to know the questions.

Mary decided not to go to work today – we were worried that we would get caught in a traffic jam at the wrong time. So she stayed home to work on TOEFL and other things and I went to the office. On the way we stopped and dropped off some printing that we needed done. I will have to take a picture of our favorite copy shop – it is not Kinkos. I doubt if any piece of equipment in the shop is under 5 years old – and that is the new pieces. But the cost is less than a penny a sheet so it is hard to complain about the equipment.

I spent most of my time in the office working on e-mail. I did have Sam call one of our patrons about a job I found in the paper today. I try to keep an eye open for those jobs that I think some one who has contacted me might be an opportunity for them.

Agus and Lukito came in about 12:30 and we had our monthly ERS meeting. We made all our plans for the workshops over the next month or so. We will not be going to any of them for at least a month – the English class will take care of that. We talked about the need for more information about placements so we can make a fuller report. This is going to take some time to get through to them, but hopefully by the time we leave there will be some real progress.

While this was going on Sam took the seamstress over to the apartment to give Mary her new things and to take orders for others. She is going to end up with a great wardrobe. She was disappointed in the dress she got and sent it back to be re-worked. Mary thinks she does some things – blouses and skirts – better than others – dresses and jackets.

After the meeting I closed up the office and we went to the mall to buy some books for the English class and to get some printer cartridges refilled. One of the biggest office expenses we have is printer cartridges and paper – I would guess we do a lot more copying than the Leishmans. The mall was not crowded but busy – it is always busy. I meant to take some pictures to show what a middle class mall looked like, but I of course got busy looking at things and forgot.

The evening at home was quite normal. Mary seems to be getting better and that must be a real relief to her – I know it is to me because I was starting to worry. I had lunch off the street – way too much food – so I was not very hungry. I settled for a bowl of rice with green beans – not that different from what I had for lunch. We struggled through two pages of Kitab Mormon – we had a very hard time working out what was going on. It was one of those sections where things are compared one to another and Indonesian is not really good for that. Especially not deep theology and philosophy. I am becoming impressed with the words that are used in the Book of Mormon. We have decided that while the thoughts are complicated in English and Indonesia, they were simple – that is they did not take many symbols -  in Reformed Egyptian and that is why they were used.

While Mary watched a movie and crocheted, I wrote in my journal and caught up with some of the news – I also watched the movie in bits and pieces which did not take a lot from it because the plot was not all that difficult. As it ended I decided that I had seen it before but it obviously did not make a big impression.

I continue to try to increase my Indonesian vocabulary. I know that it is increasing and more and more words are sticking in my mind, but at other times I find myself forgetting simple words that I should know because they are used all the time. Depat, dengan, and datang (can/able – with – to come) are three words that I have struggled with for months – I can usually remember two of the three but often I have to stop and think really hard what they mean.

When I finally learn this language I am going to do all I can to never forget it. Once we get home I plan to listen, read and try to speak Indonesian as much as I can. Maybe I can help out at the MTC. There is no use wasting all this effort after we are released from here.