A display at one of the schools – this could be at any school in the U.S. The Deyhles at the two ceremonies and at Taman Safari.  The twin daughters do not like any sized animalsso they got no closer than 10 feet to the elephants but they were really good sports about it. The Davises and Mary in our lobby – they are going to be great missionaries.

24 August 2007 – Friday

I tossed and turned a little more during the night, the couch is not as comfortable as the bed. But I was always able to go back to sleep. I did not get in my exercises – we had to leave early to pick up the Dahlyes and get them up to Bogor for a couple of ceremonies at schools.

We made sure the Davises were ready for their move to the Peterson’s house. We enjoyed having them here but I am sure that both couples will feel more comfortable when they have more space.

We picked up the Dahlyes – I am sure I am spelling that wrong – at their hotel. Brother and Sister Dahlye and their twin 20 year old daughters. We had a good time getting to know a little more about them. One of their daughters is majoring in Art History and knows Marion Wardle. She is writing her master’s thesis on an English artist I did not know at all but want to find out about. Unfortunately my mind went blank when it came to remembering the British artists of the 80’s so I could not carry on a very intelligent conversation. The other daughter has graduated and is a nanny. She seems to be a little embarrassed by her choice of occupations but it seems to be what she really enjoys so I told her that was the important thing.

We got to Bogor way early and had time to drive around the botanical gardens and the Presidential summer palace. The two programs – actually there were three – went very well. The first was at a very up-scale school that teaches almost exclusively in English. Except for the color of the faces on the children, it could have been in America or Australia. The program was short and then we toured the school. I had a chance to talk to one of the teachers who was Indonesian, born in Germany, grew up in Canada and Australia. He teaches ITC – they have two large computer labs – and says that he really enjoys the work. I also spent some time talking to the very quiet director who stayed in the background. He started the school 13 years ago with just kindergarten and 1st grade and it did so well that he got investors and built a very nice school which he hopes to expand into a full high school.

We had a second ceremony there  when one of the other schools who received some of the books sent a delegation to say thanks to give the family a couple of gifts. One was a wonderful drawing of the brother and sister Dahyle done by the students and nicely framed. I think the family was deeply touched.

We then went to a much more humble school where they put on a very nice program that all the students participated in. It was outside but since we were in Bogor it was not really hot. We also toured this school and the Dahyles tried to shake as many hands as they could. Brother Dahyles message to the children is learn English – as much as they can.  During the day we got to find out more about their foundation and what it and other programs they are a part of is doing in South America and Asia. I think they are a perfect example of Jacob 2 that says that as long as we seek for riches to help others, that the Lord will bless us.

After the ceremonies were over we took them up to Taman Safari. The young ladies were not thrilled because neither of them like animals at all – not even cats and dogs. But the parents wanted to see it so we drove up and gave them a quick trip through the main zoo. I think they were impressed – at least until a zebra almost scared sister Dahyle to death by sticking its head into her face unexpectedly. But they fed the animals carrots and bananas and ohed and awed at the right times. We stopped at the activities area long enough for everyone to use the restroom and get their picture taken with the elephants. We were going to eat there but the restaurant was out of noodles and rice so we decided to look elsewhere for lunch. I am glad we did because Sam stopped at a more traditional restaurant near to Bogor and we had a wonderful late lunch. The hit of the meal was the best chicken sate with peanut sauce that we have ever had. Nothing but white meat chicken and a subtle sauce that did added flavor without overpowering the chicken. Elder Dahyle paid the bill that with a generous tip came to under $20 for 7 people.

The traffic back to Jakarta was heavy at time but we made good time and dropped the family off at their hotel. I really am glad we got to meet them and look forward to seeing them again in Utah after our mission.

We went to the mission home to see that the Davises got moved OK and to pick up our extra key from them. While I visited with them, Mary talked to sister Ahtin about the program for the tomorrow’s funeral. When she joined us she said that we had been invited to stay and have dinner with the Davises and the Marchants. I mentioned that we had just had a huge meal just 3 hours before and that she needed to be at the chapel to practice at 6:30. But she felt we should stay. So we did and had a nice if brief visit. I told the President about our day with the Dahyles and seemed pleased that we let them see Taman Safari.

They dropped me off at the apartment and then went to the church. Sam would be leaving to help escort the sister Subandriyo’s body home and Mary got a ride home with sister Penny and her husband after the practice. I was dead tired – I have been for a couple of days – and fell asleep. Mary woke me when she got home but I went right back to sleep on the couch. About 10 I woke up long enough to go to bed where I read from the A&P for a short time for turning off the light.

I do not know where this day fits into our calling as missionaries. I learned a lot about what is available in Indonesia through the Dahyle’s foundation. I think they now have a better idea about Indonesia – they certainly know that it is not a dangerous place to visit. I got some good ideas on how to work with the less actives – the Dahyles have an assignment to help a couple of Latino wards in Salt Lake and have helped them greatly to grow. We met a lovely family who we may be able to help Indonesia even more in the future.  I know that even though we did not seem to much more than go around in the car and visit schools, a zoo and a restaurant, that it was exhausting.

We got a nice letter from Brian and he posted a comment on our blog. It seems he did not know that we had one. I am not sure that I mentioned that the Taylors – who left for Solo early this morning, had read our blog before they came. It seems that if you put Indonesia into the search engine, it comes up. I guess I should be careful about what I write here, but I really do not want to edit it to make it sound like the mission is a spiritual feast every minute of each day. But I also do not want people to think that taken as a whole we are having a great spiritual experience that we want to keep enjoying as long as we are healthy enough to do so