16 December 2007 – Sunday 

It was a long day but it contained a couple of very special experiences.  

We left the apartment at 8:30 and attended the Jakarta Raya meetings. For some reason a lot of people were late getting to the chapel so the meeting started over 10 minutes late. This is very unusual. But it was the start of an unusual day. Today was one of the first times that all the speakers did not have the same theme – our friend Lukito even mentioned this when he started to give his talk. It was so unusual that after hearing the first talk he asked the branch president if he had the right theme for his talk. That drew a laugh. Another unusual thing was that Elder and Sister Davis and the sisters and elders from Bangdung came to the sacrament meeting – I figured that we had between 15% and 20% of all the missionaries in Indonesia in the meeting. They left after Sacrament to continue towards their home city. Oh I forgot to mention that two of the new elders that came in on Tues or Weds are now assigned to Jakarta Raya. Elder Corcoran seems to already have pretty good language skills and elder Moreno will be fine. 

There was a visitor that did not speak enough English for us to communicate but seemed to want to stay near us when we went to the Gospel Principles class. He was dressed in a traditional sarong which is not worn much anywhere we have been. We are not sure any of the elders really found out much about him.  

The PH lesson was on being member missionaries and I contributed a couple of times. As it was ending I felt inspired to give them a challenge that they committed to. I said we always talk about being member missionaries but seldom do anything about it. I suggested that a special gift to some of their neighbors that before Christmas they give two referrals to the missionaries and even better yet that they go with the missionaries to the two referrals. Many of them committed to this and we will see how it works. I am going to try to do it also so that when I go back in two weeks I can tell them about my experiences.  

As soon as the meetings were over we hurried to the Tangerang chapel to be part of the baptism of two sisters. They are both from the Romunba Family that we home teach. Agnus and her 8 year old daughter Cindy. President and sister Marchant were there – it is the first baptisms in the Tangerang area for the better part of two years. It has been even longer since they baptized anyone in T 1. President Sujud performed the baptisms without fault.  After the baptisms, Mary played the interlude music so we could all sing Christmas carols. I gave the closing prayer.  

It is always special to be part of a baptism. I was struck at how simple the ordinance of baptism really is – there is no pomp – no chanting – no beautiful robes. Just two people dressed in white, a few words spoken by the power and authority of the Priesthood, and then immersion. But what a change takes place in the few moments when the candidate is under the water. They come up out of the water as a ‘fellow saint in the household of God.’ They have gone through the ‘strait gate’ and their feet are firmly planted on the ‘narrow path that leadeth to Eternal Life.’ They are now ‘one of the few that find it.’ They are now eligible to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And all of this happens in that moment of change. It truly is special to witness this great event in the life of these two daughters of God.After the meeting president Sujud asked if we could run the Romunba family home. It seems Agus who usually takes them had to leave early. This made a complication because I had already told President Marchant that we would give them a ride because Ari had dropped them off early that morning so he could go to his own branch. But when I told the president the problem he said they would catch a taxi.  

As we drove to their home I could see why it was so hard for them to get to church. It took us a little over an hour – not helped by needing to go past a stadium where a major soccer match was about to start. We could not imagine what it must be like to take public transportation. Not to mention the expense for the whole family when they have so little. This is one of the main reasons they will have a chapel out in that direction some day. 

After dropping them off we headed to the mission home where we were to meet the Marchants, the Walkers and a dozen missionaries to go to what we thought would be a very nice Christmas program at the university owned by the Sinambela family – that is the one that the Jensens were adopted into and where Mary taught for a few months.  

I must say that I did not find it a very enjoyable evening. I felt that we were on display as ‘bulais’ to enhance the position of the Sinambelas and the University. We were treated very well. Fed what to most Indonesians was a very excellent dinner but to me was much too spicy and uninteresting. We were led into the room by the Sinambelas through crossed swords of the navy contingent. We got to sit on the side near the stage where everyone could see us. And we got to perform a song – which was not on the program. If it was not for the long and very loud sermon that went on way too long. Followed by a poorly edited film that really made little sense and again was much too loud. And finally there was a MC for the last part of the program that sang and spoke way too loud. This took up about 90 minutes that just was not needed.  

However as I sit and think about it, we did get a chance to sing and for the people to feel our spirit. President Marchant got to give a short talk about families. I met a teacher from the University who wants some help with his class. And Mary got to see her four English students who came up and gave her lots of hugs and kisses and said they wanted to start up the class again. They also said they wanted to come to our church. So as I look back I see how the Lord did not let us waste our time but provided an opportunity for us to shine our lights before a large crowd of people. I also met the head of the Organization of Chruches in Indonesia – I asked him if we were part of that organization and he said not yet. I am going to suggest to the president he look into becoming a part of it. It might give us more good contacts in the government and among other churches. I must learn to be patient and trust in the Lord and his wisdom. 

After the program ended we walked down 7 flights of stairs – there were just too many people trying to use too few elevators – and headed home. We dropped off the sisters at their apartment and finally made it home about 10:30 having been gone for over 14 hours. Strangely enough neither of us went right to bed. But when I did at about 11:30 I do not think my eyes stayed open for over 3 minutes.