This is the Barat Zone missionaries plus Elder and Sister Welch. Elders Pagalla, Merrill and Decker will all be going home soon. They are fine missionaries and will be leaders in the church in the years to come. The last picture is the first camping display that we have seen in Indonesia. I expected the prices to be inexpensive but they were quite high. I have yet to find a real outdoor store.
03 September 2007 – Monday
Slept in this morning – no exercise. We read from the Kitab Mormon but only for about 45 minutes and then we had to get ready for Zone Conference.
Zone Conference is always good because we get to see the senior couples. Our numbers are somewhat reduced because the Walkers will not come in until Wednesday. But the Kanes got to meet the Davises and that was good. The morning meeting centered on keeping healthy. Elder Doctor – as the president calls him – is the area doctor and gave us tips on how to avoid illness and also what to do if we got ill. Much of this was covered in the MTC, but it is always good to hear it again. One thing I enjoyed about him was that he kept it simple. He mentioned that if we get a cold there was nothing much we could do but blunt the symptoms and let the body take care of itself.
Elder Roper gave a good presentation about the Muslim religion. He pointed out the basic teachings, how some of them were like ours, and where we differed. I found out that there is a group of Muslims that are very modern – almost secular – and very educated. The president suggested we help out there with English classes so they could go to the US to study. He felt that this would give us contact with educated people and also help with the US – Muslim relationships.
I think the elders and sisters look forward to Zone Conference so they can eat all the good food that the Marchant’s cook prepares. She cooks for 50 and after the missionaries have had their first round, the president carefully invites everyone else in the building to fill up. Today it included a sister who had come to the office to see us so we could help her with her price list. After we ate, Mary and Sam helped her. Sam had to actually finish up because we needed to get back to the conference.
The afternoon session was concentrated on ideas to help the missionaries get out of their comfort zones and try new ideas for finding investigators. To try and find more educated investigators by visiting Universities, teaching English, etc. Mary told the missionaries that they could help us by visiting Universities and doing one of our surveys. In this way they had a good reason for visiting and at the same time help PEF find good schools. Elder Cowan got excited about this idea so I gave him four survey sheets so he could get started. The president had mentioned to me that he wanted the missionaries to seek families and more educated people as investigators. His vision is to strengthen the church in Indonesia with leaders and families.
It brought to my mind the story of the native Chilean missionaries who decided that they were going to concentrate on families because there was a great need for leaders. Their American companions did not think that was a good idea but the natives said that it was their country and the only way the church would be strong was to baptize families. So with great faith and hard work that is what they did and of course today the church in Chile is very strong and continues to grow.
By the time the Conference was over, I was very tired. We stayed around a while and talked to the Davises and Kanes, but I was truly glad to get back to the apartment. As tired as I was I could not take a nap but Mary managed one. Later we read from the Kitab Mormon – finishing Mosiah and starting into Alma. The reign of the Judges seems to have been doomed from the start – at least there was contention almost from the start. Nehor’s preaching was very close to that of Satan – don’t worry God will take care of you no matter what you do. But there is no indication that he was influenced by him.
Sometime during the day, president Marchant told me about his call to Elder Packer to report about the funeral for Dita Subandriyo. During the conversation, the president mentioned that Dita’s brother who had been allowed to leave his mission in Atlanta to accompany his father home and to attend the funeral a month before his mission was over wondered if he could finish his mission here in Indonesia and the president wondered who he should ask if that was OK. Elder Packer told him consider it asked and answered, so Elder Subandriyo is finishing his mission by serving in Malang. When I heard this I was touched by the spirit of this young missionary who felt that he needed to finish the time he was called to serve. He certainly is a product of a home where the Gospel and Priesthood is honored.