Elder Christensen bearing his testimony with Hendra translating. The Sunday Night dinner bunch – minus office missionaries – Walkers, Piers, Marchants, Christensens, Davises, and brother Meeks.

16 September 2007 – Sunday

I had a great night’s sleep and did not miss exercising at all. We read for about a half hour from the Kitab Mormon before Sam picked us up. We then got the Christensens and headed for Jakarta Raya where Sam dropped us off and headed for his own branch.

We were among the first ones there – even the elders did not get there before us. Soon after we arrived, President and sister Marchant pulled up with the President driving. I think he will soon be driving on Sundays and when the traffic is not too heavy. Also the president did not wear a suit coat – he wore a long sleeve shirt and tie. So I guess the standard for senior missionaries has changed.

It was a good set of meetings, we are hearing more and more words but we still seldom can put a complete thought together. Lukito interpreted for us and elder Erickson helped the Christensens. The highlight of the sacrament meeting was when President Marchant asked elder Christensen to bear his testimony. It certainly surprised him but he recovered nicely.

The four of us caught a taxi back to our apartment and then the Christensens continued on to their hotel so we could all get a rest before heading over the mission home for dinner. We read from the Kitab Mormon and rested.

Dinner at the mission home is rather like a family get-together. The president and sister Marchant like to cook and when we got there, we helped out where needed. The Walkers, the Davises, the Marchants, all the office elders and elder Whitmore, and a member who the president heard about that was stranded in Jakarta after all his papers were stolen, plus us were there for dinner – 14 I think. We had a great dinner with lots of good conversation. Elder and sister Walker talked about their experience helping the people in Sumatra who were affected by the earthquakes.

They told of how they were led by the spirit to areas that needed help. How people seem to just show up or were found who had the information or help they needed to have a successful program. They ended up giving out 500 plus food packages that should feed a family for at least 2 weeks. They had the experience of eating off the street, seeing areas and conditions that most of us will never see, and above all feeling that the Lord was guiding them in their work. They also worked from morning well into the night and did not falter. They are a lot tougher than they look. You could feel their spirit as they told us about the things they had seen and how it had touched them.

Sam had used the car while we were at dinner to take the Selatan branch president to the hospital to visit the member that Sam and Ari had taken there last night. Later we found out that she had died before they got there. He then came back to the mission home and waited for us.

After we got home, we read from the Kitab Mormon and then immediately crashed for the night. I do not know why I have been so tired the last couple of nights but I certainly have been.