14 October 2007 – Sunday

This was a great Sunday. We studied the Kitab Mormon in the morning and then went to the chapel to watch conference. Once again the main part of the audience for the English version were missionaries and our class, but there were a couple of the English branch families there.

Each talk had something for me. I must admit that I could not get into one of the talks and even wrote down that it was boring, but then I remembered another speaker warning us about just this thing and so I quickly repented and soon I heard the one point in his talk that I needed to hear. It reminded me of my battle with pride – the learning of men – and the need to be humble so that I can take advantage of the tender mercies the Lord extends to me.

I will not write about conference at this time because there was too much to absorb. I am going to write up my notes and ponder them. Also we will watch and listen to the talks over the next few weeks. I think we will use some of the talks in our class.

After the conference we came home and read from the Kitab Mormon – we are about 100 pages from the end – and then took naps. It is great to have time to take a nap – something we do not get to do enough when teaching the English class. After that we watched the Priesthood Meeting together. Elder Hallstrom – the one of the Bicardi Rum Cake fame – is the area president and will be at our Zone Conference in a couple of weeks. Again lots of notes to be re-read and typed up. We finished up the day reading once more from the Kitab Mormon – we find reading what is basically the Sermon on the Mount – difficult. We should be able to translate it with ease but it does not work that way for us. Before turning off the light I again read from Elder Holland’s talk about this being the greatest Dispensation from the Liahona.

13 October 2007 – Saturday

It seems that I do not have much desire to write in this journal during an IEC. I am not sure if it is because the class takes so much energy or because there is not much new going on during that time. What ever it is, I do not make time to sit down and write.

This morning I got up and decided I really needed to exercise. But as I started to prepare to go to the gym I realized that due to the holiday, the gym would not be open. For some reason I did not even think of just going down and walk/jog for a half hour. I guess I did not really want to exercise. However I did not go back to bed. I got out the Liahona and started reading an article by Elder Holland. I was rather surprised about how much of it I could read without looking up words. So maybe all the reading and work is starting to pay off. I am still determined that before we leave, I will learn Indonesian to a point where I can read just about anything. Anyway that is what I keep asking the Lord to help me with.

We went to the church and Mary taught the class for an hour before it was time for conference to start. We all went into the English version – they also have Korean and of course Indonesian. The only people there was our class and missionaries – including president and sister Marchant.

After the morning session, we came home and spent the day watching the DVDs of conference and reading from the Kitab Mormon. I took lots of notes from the conference and will put them in some kind of order and put them in this journal.

10 October 2007 – Wednesday

The class went well today but we did have to make a quick adjustment. Just as we were finishing the afternoon class and the young people were about to leave for Joel’s place, he called and said he could not make it – he was in a meeting that was never going to end. Later he called again to apologize and we talked some about the class. He feels they are a sharper class than the first one. I guess we are too close to them to really see this.

I am worried about one of the young ladies – actually two of them but for different reasons. One does not seem to be able to keep up with the work. She is really struggling with the vocabulary. I worry about the other one because I am afraid she is struggling with being away from her family in strange living conditions. Hopefully the other young women will grow closer to her. The young men seem to be all doing well. They are all returned missionaries and have pretty good English. Everyone needs to be better about not using Indonesian when they are not in class. I am just going to keep working on this, I really feel it is one of the most important parts of the class experience. If they can master the reflex of dropping back into the comfort of their own language, they will be able to move ahead much quicker.

Mary and I read from the Kitab Mormon both in the morning and evening. This continues to be one of my favorite things to do each day. I still have too much trouble with words I should know, but I can read about 95%.

09 October 2007 – Tuesday

I slept very well last night but woke at 5:00. Gym, breakfast, and reading the Kitab Mormon. Not for an hour because we have to leave by 8:15 to get to the chapel in time to start classes. We stop along the way and pick up the printing, then we run into a traffic jam, but we still make it in time.

The first full day goes well. We push them hard today. I start by getting a commitment from them that they would only speak English – especially at their home. I tell them I am going to do it just as they asked for commitments as missionaries and that I would be very disappointed if they did not keep the commitment.

We give them a test for the first part of the day. After lunch I took over because Mary was supposed to have an English class at the office. Just before she is to leave, she got a call saying there would be no class. So she works on other lesson plans while I teach the students grammar, TH sound, and the vocabulary. The students are very far apart in abilities. One of the young ladies probably should not be in the class but we will try to help her with individual teaching.

We are finished right at 4:30 and Sam takes off with them to Joel’s home and Mary and I catch a taxi home.

During the morning class, elder Subandriyo came to class and welcomed them. He taught them the importance of gaining as many skills as they can. Also he spoke to them about the need for English if they want to get a good job. After he left I told them how this class came into being. How it was through the inspiration of elder Subandriyo and other experience I had after starting my mission. The interesting part is that elder Subandriyo does not remember at all his part in the process but he was the catalyst that got me thinking and praying.

So we are off and running with our second class. Hopefully we have learned a lot from the first class and this one will be better. We are trying hard to cover all the things they will need to pass the Michigan test. We are giving them more vocabulary and working more on grammar. While it is important that they can understand and speak English, it is not as important for the Michigan test as reading, vocabulary and grammar. With the Lord’s help – which we certainly need and receive in abundance – we will help these young people enjoy a better life both for their families and in the church.

08 October 2007 – Monday

I got up and went to the gym – it is really an enjoyable experience and if I ever figure out how to keep my mind occupied I would spend more time exercising. Regular morning with Kitab Mormon and such.

When we got into the car, Sam said some of the young ladies had already arrived and were now on their way to Bogor to visit some friends. We dropped Mary off at the office and then went to do a number of chores. First to the mission home to take some packages that sister Mongan asked us to bring to friends in Jakarta, pick up a few things, and ask elder and sister Walker to teach some of our classes. Next we went to Sogo to get some orange juice – my breakfast – but found that they did not have any. Also we tried to buy a new ink cartridge for our broken printer but again without success. After that failure, we went to Carrefore where we got the print cartridge and all the other things we needed for the students.

It was then back to the mission office to drop off the cartridge so Hendra could find out for sure the printer was broken – it was and he will get it fixed. We had lunch from BYU and I had a great talk with Soewigno about his businesses. He is very successful at what he does and has built two houses with the profit. He uses one to live in and for his store. The other one is a warehouse and a restaurant. I learned all about making meat balls and the rest of the business. I also talked to elder Subandriyo about the IEC and invited him to come and speak to the students tomorrow. We decided to raise the daily food budget to R20000. The Walkers agreed to teach two afternoons a week.

When we finally got back to the office, I called Joel and he said president Smith was getting people to help with the class and the evenings. I called the president and he gave me the names of five families who were willing to help. This means we should have each evening covered and most of the afternoons.

We then came back to the apartment to rest up before starting the class at 6 p.m. We read from the Kitab Mormon before taking our naps.

Everyone was waiting for us when we got back to the chapel, so we got started early. The students seem to all have fair to good English. Daisy even used the word siblings when introducing herself. That is a word that is not well known in Indonesia. We gave out the supplies, went through what was expected, gave them a pep talk about studying, speaking only English, etc. I tried to get across the importance of doing their best in this class and then continuing to study after it finishes.

We had Sam go get KFC and after eating that we called it a day and sent them home to rest. We came home and read from the Kitab Mormon before going to bed. It is a humbling experience to have the responsibility to teach these young members. I feel developing this program was one of the important reasons we were sent here to Indonesia and Jakarta. Hopefully the Lord’s trust in us will not be shown to have been misplaced. We certainly need all of His help to succeed.

 

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.

Entertaining an active young man. Sister Marchant with elder Porter at dinner. Sister Roberts will shoot me if she ever sees this blog…she is a great missionary and lots of fun.

The sun is up here in Solo before 5 a.m. – I guess it rises over Surabaya even earlier. I almost got up the will power to go to the gym, but the fact that the only way there is to tramp through the lobby in my gym outfit cooled my desire and it did not take much more for me just to turn over and go back to sleep.

While I was working on this journal, I got a Skype message from Lukito. He made it to the airport and will call when he gets to the hotel. Breakfast and reading from the Kitab Mormon made up the morning.  Later Lukito came up and we went over some things for the meeting today. We will get together for lunch and then go over the chapel.

Basically the training is a bust. Only one specialist comes to the meeting so he and sister Endang get a lot of personal attention. Mary and I sit there without really knowing what is going on but it seemed to me that they were not doing much talking about training. It turned out they were discussing why the church did not use the money that goes to non-LDS through LDS Charities for the members. It is a re-occurring question here. Things like why do we build new houses on Sumatra for non-members instead of for members in Solo. Telling them that it is the Lord’s way, does not always satisfy their feelings.

After that meeting we meet and greet until it is time to go to the general adult meeting of the district conference. They have translators but other than Vita they are only fair and for some reason my headphones keep cutting in and out. I was impressed by the talk of the first counselor and the president of the district. Although some of their words got lost in translation, their love and spirit came through clearly. Unfortunately there was a problem with president Marchant’s video presentation so about ½ of the translation could not be read. It was on how members can influence their neighbors and help them to find the gospel. It was the story of four or five converts and why they joined the church.

I had the interesting experience of entertaining the young son of the district president. For some reason he thought I would be a great person to play with so he came and visited me a couple of times. I ended up picking him up and holding him. At least this kept him from running all over the chapel – something he was doing for most of the time I was not holding him. Sister Roberts told me later that it was strange that he went to me and let me pick him up. It seems he does not do that with most people. I guess he liked my wrinkles and gray hair.

After the meeting we headed back to the hotel where all the missionaries – senior and young – enjoyed the buffet. The president arranged a special meal for all of us. The missionaries ate their fill – all the desserts disappeared and so did a lot of ice cream. We had a good time talking to other couples and the missionaries we knew. President Marchant took the opportunity to make a contact and I supplied him with a pass-along card. Never leave home without one.

After stuffing ourselves, we said goodbye to everyone and headed up to our room. We then read from the Kitab Mormon before going to bed. The day was good because of the company and the spirit that I felt, but I do not feel good about the main purpose of our trip not being fulfilled. We did not really get a chance to train sister Endang on what we put on the computer and we did not get to train most of the branch specialists about the importance of their callings. Hopefully sister Endang can train them in the months to come.

 

The Solo missionaries and us at the Robert’s house. Bougainvilleas are everywhere. The first shot is at the airport, the second was taken at the Solo building looking at the neighbors. The last one is one at the Barnard’s house that not only has three colors on one bush but actually has two colors on one bloom – something we had not seen before.

05 October 2007 – Friday

Up at 3 a.m. to get ready for trip to Solo. Everything goes well and we even have a room ready when we arrive at the hotel at 8:00 a.m. We settle in, read from the Kitab Mormon, and rest some before Elder Roberts picks us up.

The Roberts’ house is amazing. Not only is it huge it is first class all the way. Even the garage has a beautiful tile floor. The one thing it does not have is air-conditioning except in one room. We have a good time talking to the Roberts before the elders start arriving for district meeting. They have invited all the missionaries in the district for lunch and the meeting to celebrate Elder Porter’s release next week.

The Roberts are doing a great job in their branches. They mention that they made 75 visits last month. They are working hard at getting people back to church. Elder Roberts mentioned they could use some help with their English classes and I suggested that they use either the one used at the MTC or the one that was developed by a missionary couple for teaching English as an international couple that we supplied on a CD at the couple’s conference. They could not find their copy so we will send them another.

It was good to see Elder Thiemann again – he is DL and may end up ZL after elder Porter has left. The number of missionaries are shrinking – there are two new ones coming in next week – so the president has a lot of shuffling to do. We had a great meal with Sloppy Joes and lots of other things. Then they held the DM – half in English and half in Indonesian. They seem to be having some success in Solo – they had 2 baptisms last week – but they do not seem to have many good investigators. Elder Porter gave a lesson on the thought that we must always put God above all. If we do this he can bless us and we will have joy in this life and insure joy through Eternal Life.

After the meeting it was picture taking time. Trying to get a dozen missionaries – and the seniors were not that much better than the young missionaries – to pose for a ‘serious’ picture is like herding rabbits.

After that we joined the Barnards and we went to their house. A lot smaller that the Roberts but perfect for them. They only have one air-conditioner but the house is small enough that it keeps it cool. They also leave it on all the time.

The Barnards are teaching Family History and how to use a computer. They tell us that only two families in the branch has computers. It shows that each senior couple has different talents and use them to help the members in different ways.

They then took us over to their chapel and showed us the ERS office – which is really a cabinet with a computer and printer. I guess the copy machine that we are sharing with CES is in the CES office. Hopefully sister Endang can use it when needed. Mary put some forms on the computer that Sister Endang can use for Workshops, etc.

The Barnards then took us back to the hotel and went on to teach one of their classes. We found that the Marchants had not yet arrived and decided that they had a later flight than we had heard. We read some more from the Kitab Mormon and I took a short nap. Earlier we talked to the Roberts and Barnards about getting together for dinner and inviting the Marchants. It worked out that sister Roberts did not feel good – sister Barnard told us that she has been having some problems – so the Marchants, Barnards and Piers walked to our favorite Chinese restaurant here in Solo.

I think the Barnards were a little worried about where we were going but once the food started arriving they dug right in. They especially liked the black pepper beef – it was my favorite also. There was a ton of food – more than we needed so the Barnards took the left-overs home for their driver’s family. During the meal, the president talked about cutting back the length of the block meetings to two hours. It is an interesting thought but I am not sure it will fly with the Area Presidency, but it shows that president Marchant is looking for ways to increase the activity of the members and empowering leaders. We spent about 90 minutes at dinner and everyone had a good time.

Just as we were about to get up and leave, a large rat ran out into the middle of the dining room, took one look at the crowd and ran away again. I am not sure that the Barnards and Marchants will be excited to go back again. I did notice that a man sitting right where the rat stopped, did not even blink an eye at its appearance. Since we just watched Ratatouille, I decided perhaps the rat was really the chef and he was just out checking how everyone was enjoying their food.

Back at the hotel Mary and I read once again from the Kitab Mormon. By the time we were done I was really tired and so my attempt to read did not last long before turning off the light on a good day.

04 October 2007 – Thursday

Regular morning with exercise, etc. and reading from the Kitab Mormon. The destruction of another Lamanite army, the start of the Gadianton robbers, and the unusual experiences of the group that moved Northward to get away from the contentions that were starting among the Nephites.

At the office for a while to get some things ready for English Class and to try and get the copier to work. Got the first done but the copier is kaput for now. We later took it into the mission office to have Hendra take a look at it. Hopefully we will have it back for the IEC. Mary practice the piano. I called all the couples in Central Java and asked what I could bring them from Jakarta.

At the mission home I picked up what I could and ordered the rest. It is easy for us to bring their supplies with us when we come in for training. I ate from BYU and heard that Elder Walker went down there and asked them to give him what Elder Pier orders. Elder Walker is a brave soul – as is Sister Walker. After lunch Mary taught her English class for the staff.

I talked with Elder Subandriyo about PEF and he showed me the latest letter from the lawyers – of course there are a few more changes of the changes so I imagine it will go back to bank and they will suggest a couple of changes to the changes of the changes…etc. But sooner or later PEF will be approved and we will move forward.

After Mary’s lesson we headed for Tangerang. We stopped by the mall there and visited the office supply store to find the poster board Mary has been wanting. She found out from sister Autin that it would probably be in rolls and so it was. She also bought a large piece of styrofoam for tacking out her crocheting. After that we bought some donuts for the missionaries and students.

The district meeting was OK – even with a translator we do not get very involved in what is going on. Elder Peate is a good translator but the real inter-play is lost. The work remains slow in Tangerang and it does not seem to going anywhere. But the missionaries continue to work hard and have hopes for the future. I imagine there are many parts of the world where the work is slow and the missionaries must have patience.

It seemed like we would just have the missionaries and Sam at our English class, but Agus’ family arrived and then some of the seminary class came. So we ended up with about our normal mix. I introduced some new opposites and we played the matching game – since we started a little late, this took most of the time. The donuts and cookies we brought were enjoyed by all. Due to the IE class we will not be back for a month.

When we got back to the apartment we packed for our trip to Solo tomorrow.

03 October 2007 – Wednesday

I woke at about 5:30 and hardly even thought about going to the gym. Since it is P-day, I can do that later. I just enjoyed the warm comfort of the bed for another 15 minutes before getting up. The morning has passed quickly with me doing nothing more than catching up and posting this journal and having breakfast.

We read from the Kitab Mormon with Moroni’s scathing letter to Pahoran and of course Pahoran’s gentle letter back. Eveyone tends to use Moroni and his Title of Liberty in talks, but to me the real hero here is Pahoran. He gets a letter questioning his very being and instead of reacting, he acts with the love and kindness that only the greatest leaders can master. He shows almost all the Christlike attributes that are listed in PMG – including patience, hope, faith, etc. We probably have enough Moroni’s in the kingdom, what we need is more Pahoran. A man of action and courage, but also one who thinks before he acts.

We go to work so Mary can practice the piano and make some copies she needs for her English class. The practicing goes well, but the copier for some reason will not acknowledge the black print cartridge so we will probably need to get it repaired. Of course this happens just before we are about to start an Intensive English Class where we use tons of copies. Hopefully it will not take long to fix it.

We decide to get two of the jobs available papers and post one in the hall for people to read. We keep hoping that members will realize we are a good source for employment help and will start coming in more often. All we really need is their resumes so we know what they are looking for.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the apartment and other P-day activities. I went down and worked out some in the gym. By the afternoon the air-conditioners have got the temperature down to something pleasant – that is different from the morning.

We both got our hair cut…they like short hair here in Indonesia. Something to do with the heat I guess. I am beginning to like the shorter hair style. I am not ready for a buzz yet but who knows what will happen next year.

We read for a couple more hours from the Kitab Mormon – we finished Alma and are now into Helaman – we have less than 200 pages to go. Before going to bed I read from 2nd Nephi and was happy to find that I can read it quite well.

We got an e-mail from our neighbor Lauren Anderson that told us that Brian seems to have a dog at the house – and that it barks. Hopefully he will not upset the neighbors. Lisa wrote that Bob was going down and shut off the sprinklers. I asked him to also shut down the cooler and replace the filters in the heater. I do not imagine anyone will clean up the plants this fall – it will be a mess come spring.