The district and the Barnards, Elder Barnard with Try (pronounced Tree) and Mary watching Sister Barnard explain a game.

29 February 2008 – Friday

Happy Leap Year Birthday – Dave Berry must be about 16 or 17 by now.

I am proud of myself – I got up and went to the gym this morning. After breakfast we read from the Kitab Mormon and then I worked on pictures and this journal. I even worked in a 15 minute nap before we had to get ready to be picked up by the Barnards.

We with them to their District Meeting where we were able to distribute mail. I interviewed a young man for the next Intensive English Class. He is marginal but I think he will be OK. It turned out that one of the missionaries in the district is about to be released and he may also want to come to our class. He is from the Selatan branch so it will be easy for him. The District Meeting was a little long but they seem to be working hard. They have a number of problems with some of their investigators that will need to be worked out before they are baptized. They have also had problems with a couple of the missionary’s health.

The Barnards and ourselves came back to the hotel for lunch. Elder Barnard was not feeling 100% and needed to get on line to check for an e-mail from their daughter who is a doctor to know what he should take. It seems that much of the internet service in Indonesia has been down all morning but the one at the hotel is fine. So I took him up to our room and he was able to access his mail and then get a prescription which hopefully will clear everything up. It is no fun to be sick at any time but on a mission and away from home seem even worse.

During and after lunch we talked about the HS English class – mainly to find what is working and what is not. The Barnards – like all the couples – are very positive about the program and what it has and will accomplish among the youth.

While the Barnards ran some errands we came up to our room. I worked on this journal and the photos I had taken yesterday. I also managed a very short nap.

The evening went very well. Mary and I held a meeting with three of the four Branch Employment Specialists, Sister Endang, the District Counselor in charge of Employment, and one of the branch presidents. We went through the responsibilities of the Branch Employment Specialists including that they should be attending all the Branch Welfare Meetings. I tried to empower them to go and one of the participants asked the District Council member to suggest to the District Presidency to teach the branch presidents that they should make sure that their branch specialist is invited and comes. We also went through the report form and what they should be reporting. I think Sister Endang was very happy that we held the meeting so everyone understood her calling and why the reports are important. We also gave out the Indonesian version of the “25 Rules for a Successful Small Business.”

After that meeting we went to the Barnards High School English class. They asked me to talk and I was prompted to speak to each student and ask them some questions that they could answer. It let them know that I cared and gave me a connection so that they relaxed. It worked so well that a young woman – the only one in the class – that did not want to give the opening prayer
volunteered to give the closing prayer. Mary also spoke to them and told them she would like to adopt them all. She also bore her testimony about the program. We found that the Barnards are a great teaching team. They are well prepared, have good connections with their students, and above all really care about them. The class works together well and seem to want to help each other when they can not answer a question. It is a wonderful feeling to share this class even for one hour.

Our evening reading from the Kitab Mormon was the last 4 pages of the book of Jacob. Other than the scripture on ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God’ and that being rich is not evil if you do righteous things with your wealth, and Jacob’s semi-lament about the lives of those who left Jerusalem near the end of chapter 7, I am still not a big fan of Jacob.