I love this picture of the cart before the horse…the colors of the load, the bright turquoise wheels – it just seems to work. This shed is just across the fence from the Solo chapel. I thought the design, the rust and the feeling made taking the picture worthwhile. Mary training sister Endang. The last picture is an early morning view from our room. It shows how clear the air is in Solo – so different from Jakarta.

07 October 2007 – Sunday

We had a pleasant morning, except for a problem with the hot water. It seems they had worked on the hot water pipes or had a break in the hot water pipes during the night and so when we went to shower the water had lots of dirt in it. Mary did not notice it until after she had showered and saw the black water in the bottom of the tub. I decided it had probably been cleaned out when she took her shower so I went ahead with mine. When I looked at the towel I used to dry off, I found it covered in black dirt. I did not want to think about what I had used to wash with. I am glad I kept my mouth shut. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the residue in the tub – it was gross.

We packed up most of our things and then had a nice breakfast with Lukito. After that we pretty much finished out packing before heading off to the conference session. When we got to the location, we found all the missionaries – including couples – in lines greeting people. I joined the line and shook hands with lots of members.

The conference session was good. There was lots of singing, elder and sister Barnard spoke, the translators need improvement, but did quite well. Vita was the best translator but ran into a problem when sister Marchant used a different talk that Vita thought she would. There was three choirs that sang, including a primary choir that sang before the meeting started.

When the meeting was over we said goodbye to all the couples and took pedicabs back to the hotel. We finished packing and then had lunch with Lukito. The hotel van took us to the airport. Lukito was scheduled to be on Lion Air with president and sister Marchant. We were on Garuda which left an hour earlier. However the Lion Air flight was delayed 2 hours and they were all able to get on the flight with us. I had a good talk with the president while waiting for our flight, he has a wonderful vision of the church and missionary work in Indonesia.

I had a good experience on the plane. I sat next to a young woman and started a conversation. I found she spoke excellent English and so I talked to her about where she learned it. To make a long story short, I ended up giving her an English Book of Mormon, a pass-along card, showed her Moroni 10:3-5, and got her card so the missionaries can take her a Kitab Mormon. She has a great job with a multi-national insurance company. If nothing else she now knows about the church and maybe it will lead somewhere. The Lord does provide if we are willing to try.

We took the Marchants to the mission home and then made it to our apartment. Sam kept the car so he could pick up our students when they come in. He seems to have just about everything ready at their apartments so we should be set for tomorrow.