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.