28 May 2007

28 May 2007 – Monday –

We had a good day – for the kind of day it was. Mornings are pretty regular around here – we take care of things, read Kitab Mormon and then get ready for the day. Today I did some laundry and neaten the apartment for the later cleaning.

We spent 4 hours inspecting the missionary’s houses. Actually we spent 30 minutes doing the inspecting, 30 minutes shopping and 3 hours creeping through Jakarta’s traffic. The houses were both well kept – at least for missionaries – and we spent most of our time talking to the missionaries. Checking up on their health, how they were getting along, etc. I hope elder Samosir learns enough English or I learn enough Indonesian so I can get to know him better. I think he is a neat young man and hope that he can get a good education and a good job. He could develop into a strong PH leader – which is what the church needs here.

Before we went to the first home we stopped at Ranch Market and bought a few things. Ranch Market is a real upscale market for rich folks – they sometimes have items we can not get anywhere else. My big purchase was a pot of mums to bring a little color to the living room.

After visiting the last place we started home. Mary mentioned that she was getting hungry and would like to find a bakery. As usual Sam came through with not only a BreadTalk but also a shop that fixed the glasses she messed up when she took the fall. While Mary was getting her glasses fixed I walked around the mall and found that it was basically a food mall with some shops that were all expensive. I saw more ‘bulais’ – us white guys – in 10 minutes than I usually see in a week. We found out from Sam that we were in an area where lots of ex-pats live behind big walls and lots of guards. I would guess that it is a good location if you provide the right kind of food and entertainment. The BreadTalk was much smaller than the one at SoGo but had pretty much the same items. The bakery was very small with the bakers almost stepping on each other to get things prepared. But it had lots of business so I imagine it makes money.

The trip home took forever – which is the theme of the day. The main problem was that there were too many turns, cross streets and stop lights. I have not figured out how they set stop lights in Indonesia – they seem to have long reds and short greens. Now I know this means that if you are going the other way it should be long greens and short reds but that is not how it works. Usually there are at least three streets feeding in to a light and sometimes as many as five. So that means that you have to wait through as many as 4 other greens before yours come around again.

Once we were back to the apartment we finished picking up before the maid came . While she was here I took a nap – I have not been sleeping well but even when I sleep well a nap is nice.

The evening was basically studying Indonesian, reading in the Kitab Mormon and the D&C. I found the 6th section of the D&C very comforting and filled with wisdom. In 6:7 it expands on Jacob 2 where it says ‘seek ye first the Kingdom of God’ – here it says ‘Seek not riches, but for wisdom, and behold the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall ye be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich. 6:12 reminds us ‘Trifle not with sacred things.’ I really like 6:33 – ‘Fear not to do good.’ How often are we afraid to open our mouths and tell other about the gospel because we are afraid ‘to do good.’ Or how many years did we sit at home instead of going on a mission because we were afraid ‘to do good.’  This is closely followed by the council ‘Look to me in every thought, doubt not, fear not.’ One of the great blessings of a mission is the chance to spend so much time studying the scriptures. I hope that when we return home we will continue to do this.



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