This is an ‘almost good’ picture of a motorcycle load. I often miss great shots of motorcycle loads because they whip by quickly or are covered by other motorcycles or vehicles. This was a great load of different sized boxes. Mary bought some batik print material at the big sale they are having just down the street. The sale is actually on the 8th but she got to buy it today and pick it up tomorrow.

07 September 2007 – Friday

Happy birthday Cindy…at least here in Indonesia.  The alarm went off early so I spent some time trying to read the Liahona. Then I did my walk/run but the gym was not open when I had finished so I just came in. The number of folks out exercising in the morning keeps increasing. For the first few days after I started again, there was either one or none. Today by the time I stopped there were five of us out there. Some walking, some walking/jogging as I do, and some jog all the way.

It was very warm and humid this morning. Not a breath of wind. When it is like that it is hard for me to stay with it, but today I did. I am looking forward to when the weather starts to change to the wet season. We read from the Kitab Mormon – Alma is out it the cities preaching the word.

I spent some time editing the few pictures I have taken over the last couple of days. I have decided I must put names on the pictures as soon as I download them from the camera. It is just too hard to go back and do 100 of them.

We went into the office and I spent my time trying to find information about scholarships. I am sure there are lots of them out there somewhere and we just have to find them. I found some good ones from Singapore and got the name of a woman who is supposed to know about other scholarships. I will call her on Monday.

Sam took me to the sub-district office to find out about PPMK loans. The chairman was not in – he probably is hardly ever in. But the secretaries contacted the counsel – I am guessing this is a lawyer – and we have an appointment at 8 p.m. on Monday at his house. Hopefully he can give me all the information I need on this loan program so our members can get capital for their business start up. I am going to ask him if these loans are available outside of Jakarta.

We made an appointment to go see a family where the husband was laid off from his very good job because of his age. He has not been able to find another job and I keep looking for jobs he might apply for. His branch is worried about him because he has stopped coming to church and gave me an assignment to visit him. I took a job opening I found in the latest job paper but I also wanted to pick his brain about resumes, other HR directors he might know, and anything else he might be able to help us with.

We had a great visit and he had some good ideas. I asked him to please put them in writing and give it to me on Sunday at church. He said he would try but it might not be until Tuesday. I would like to hire him for about 3 hours a week to come into the office and help contact people. I am sure he knows a lot of folks who we could establish contact with and use as job resources.

Another positive thing about today was that I got a message from Mr Woo up in Semarang and I sent an e-mail to the Bennetts to tell Sam to contact him. Sam sent me a couple of SMS saying thanks and that he would let me know how things turns out. Hopefully he will get a good job from that.

After we got home from our visiting, I went to the gym and did my other exercises. At 4:30 there is not many people exercising so it there is no wait for equipment.

A real Indonesian rain storm has moved in. A couple of the lighting strikes were almost on top of us. I would have not been surprised to see one of the tall building being split in two. The rain pours down and the wind is continually shifting. I can not imagine what it must be like to be trying to get home tonight. Friday is bad enough but under every bridge there will be a huge build up of motorcycles waiting out the storm. This means one or two lanes will be completely blocked with all the cars trying to get around them. I am just glad to be in our cosy apartment right now.

We ordered up some dinner – actually their phone was out so I had to go down to order it but then they did deliver. Mary finished her cross-stitch piece and it looks great. We then read from the Kitab Mormon where Alma gets thrown out of Ammonihah but is ordered to go back. Amulek seem to me to be a very special man. He has a lot to lose but when the angel of the Lord appears to him he does exactly as he is told. And then he follows Alma out to preach to a people he knows very well is not interested in the church – in fact they are violently opposed to it.

It has been a really good day. We have made some positive advancements as far as finding resources for scholarships and hopefully start-up loans for businesses. Hopefully we have help a brother to have something useful to do and give him some hope. Hope is one of the things that the people really need here. They need to know there is a chance for them to break the circle of poverty that has gripped so many families for so many years.

 

It is always nice to find a new floral arrangement waiting for us in the lobby – this is the latest. My perfect BYU lunch – I am going to have to find tempe in the US.

06 September 2007 – Thursday

Normal morning – I was able to increase my number of sit-ups and reps. Weight is not moving.  We read from Kitab Mormon and then I tried – without success – to take a short nap before we headed out for a busy day.

We went to the office and worked on English class material. I left a book I needed at home, so I made some changes for tonight. Agus sent in his report so tomorrow we should be able to get it sent to Hong Kong. A couple of letters to the Bennetts getting the details of the Self – employment Workshop settled. I am not sure how we got mixed up but hopefully it is now OK. I would hate to send Agus there and find no one coming.

We then headed for the mission home where we talked to the Walkers – they seem to be settling in quickly – and the Hashs. Sam got us lunch from BYU. It really is the best place to eat. The cucumbers, carrots and green beans were cooked perfectly and the tempe was just spicy enough to be interesting. Mary had their excellent soup. While Mary taught her English class – only two students and Sam – and the Walkers went to immigration, I found a comfortable chair and tried to keep from falling asleep.

About the time Mary was through the Walkers came back and they followed us to Sogo. While Mary shopped, I helped them find the things they needed. I also stayed around incase elder Walker did not have enough money to pay for all they bought. It turned out he had enough and 100,000 R left over – that is about $11. I think they will do fine. Elder Walker asked about a couple of programs that they learned about in the MTC and I explained that I did not think they were approved for Indonesia but that he should check with elder Kane and elder Subandriyo about them.  The Davises put a down-payment on an apartment and are looking at cars. They still need a full time driver and may have to use a couple of part time drivers until a full time one shows up. It is too bad that there are no returned missionaries who could move to Bangdung to help them.

While I went to the Tangerang district meeting, Mary gave Catherine her piano lesson. Elder Peate translated for me so I knew pretty much what was going on. I made a few suggestions and encouraged them to do what president Marchant requested and try to find and teach better educated people. I told them the story about the native Chilean missionaries deciding to only teach and baptize families so that they would have strong priesthood leaders in the years to come. And that through their faith they were able to accomplish this so today the church in Chile is very strong and continues to grow.

My English class was a little disorganized because of the things I had left home. But it turned out that everyone got to participate and they seem to enjoy the activities. We had bought 3 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to give out after the class. As I was getting them out of the car I found four of the young men who usually go to Mary’s class playing ball instead. I told them that it was too bad that they did not go to class because now they would not get to have any donuts. Everyone seemed to enjoy the donuts – elder Cowan managed to find room for three of them. Elder Tuxworth told me that he thought there were only two or three KK outlets in Australia.

By the time we get home, we are both too tired to read from the Kitab Mormon. Instead I read from the Liahona – I read to see if I can understand what is written more than to get information or inspiration. I find that just picking up anything written in Indonesian and trying to figure out what it says is a good way to see how I am doing in learning the written language. Most of the time it reminds me of how much I do not know, but sometimes I a greatly pleased to find that I can read enough to understand what is going on. Now if I can just start doing that with the spoken language before we are released it will be great.

One of the great blessings – among many – that we have as a senior couple is to meet with and feel the spirit of the young missionaries. It is too bad we can not communicate well with the Indonesian missionaries because I believe they have a special spirit. I think of elder Hadi Suyatmo who always is smiling, sings with great joy, teaches by the spirit, and seems to be always prepared. I would love to be able to sit down and get to know him better. (I did find out last night that he is one of 8 children and his hobbies are singing and dancing.)  It is impossible to explain how blessed we are to be here. I can not imagine being anywhere else at this time. Couples who do not take advantage of their opportunities of serving as senior missionaries really do not understand what they are missing. The Lord knows his children and sends them where not only will they do the most good for others, but they will do the most good for themselves and their families.

 

Two signs for Ahli Gigi  – False Teeth – makers. Their signs are much more fun than regular dentists.

05 September 2007 – Wednesday

I was late getting out to exercise but I decided I would put in the full hour. After walking around the track, I went to the gym and found that a lot more people start coming after 6:10 or so. I am glad that I get out early and do not have to fight the crowd.

Today is our P-day but we will spend at least part of it picking up the new senior couple – the Walkers – at the airport and get them settled in their apartment. They should have very little problem becoming comfortable. They have their own home, car and driver so there is no wasted time. I look forward to meeting them.

We read from the Kitab Mormon about the continuing saga of the reign of the Judges. I would not say that it was a good time for the church. The Kitab Mormon warns through example about pride being a great enemy of righteousness. How failing to share our abundance with those who are less fortunate is one of man’s great failings. I have often mentioned that one of the things that the bible keeps reminding Israel and then the church about is their failure to take care of the poor. If you do not put Jesus and Others before Yourself – you can not have JOY. But it is also obvious that you are important if there is to be joy. The Lord would remind the church some two thousand years later in the D&C – “Many are called but few are chosen – because they have set their hearts so much upon the things of this world.” Some things never change.

Mary read about a craft store that is on our way to a number of places and so today we left early enough that we could stop in. From the looks of things it will not be around much longer. They do not even turn on the lights – we thought it was closed when we drove into the lot. Mary bought a couple of things, but our trip was cut short because we had to make an unexpected trip to the chapel. The lady who sews clothes had brought some things for us without calling first.

After clearing that up we headed to the airport to pick up the Walkers. We waited at the gate they were supposed to come out but they were re-routed to another gate and we only found them after they had called the office and the office called Sam. They were glad to find us and we them.

They are from Cedar Hills and have owned a number of businesses. One was a short-lived wilderness program that we had heard of but never did business with. We took them to their house – they live on the mission home grounds – where they met the Davises who were still moving out to the guest room in the mission home. President Marchant calls it the Mission Hotel and he is not far from the fact. At least that is the case for the last month to five weeks.

I went looking for the brother Diaz who does the immigration work but he was not in so they will probably not get their KITAs going until tomorrow. I stopped in and told Elder Subandriyo about the Walkers getting in and then we talked for about 10 minutes. He was very surprised to find out that I am 69 – he thought I was in my mid-50’s – I told him he was kind. We then talked about what kind of business we had before we came on our mission and about retirement, etc. Later he dropped in and met the Walkers.

We had to leave so we could be back in time for the cleaning lady. I had laundry and dishes to do and then I studied some Indonesian. We read another hour from the Kitab Mormon. Alma is out preaching to his people. I have been struck recently about how often the prophets in the Kitab Mormon remind the people of how the Lord has blessed their ancestors. This is the same thing that Paul and others in the New Testament do so often. To ‘stir up to rememberance’ the ways of the Lord. Of course we do the same thing when we talk about the early days of the church, the pioneers, etc. They are stories of testimony and grace. We need to do this with our families. To share those times when the Lord has blessed us – has answered our prayers – have comforted us. I am sure we did not do this enough with our children – nor did we bear our testimonies enough. Hopefully our going on this mission will make up for some of that.