On the busy road from Solo to Semarang hazards such as a handcart full of grass is just one of the strange hazards you might meet. Mary found a friendly water buffalo but decided it would not fit in any of our suitcases. This roll of insulation was not heavy but made a nice picture. I was surprised to see it because I did not realize they ever insulated anything in Indonesia.

01 March 2008 – Saturday

Today’s scripture to ponder: “But behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in their time of affliction.” Alma 55:31

We had a good morning. After breakfast we packed our bags and then read from the Kitab Mormon – we read Enos and Jarom. Now we are just relaxing until it is time to catch our ride to Semarang with President Tatok.

The drive to Semarang was an experience – not necessarily a good one. The trip takes 2 ½ to 3 hours over a road that in many areas really needs to be scraped down to the base and rebuilt. I was in the very back and it was often like a very bumpy roller coaster ride. An over 2 hour E-ride is not very relaxing. I did sleep a little but not much. I was definitely happy to get to the Bennett’s home.

As always the Bennett’s were great hosts. I do not know two more hospitable people. We had our up-stairs room and quickly settled in. Sister Bennett quickly whipped out some left-overs for us to eat. Unfortunately we just got started when Mary swallowed something wrong and for the next hour was in misery. So much so that when it was time to leave for English class she just did not feel up to it at all. So I went with the Tatoks and Mary stayed to recover.

When we got to the chapel I was happy to see Elders Cowen ( who I insist on calling Cohen for some strange reason) and Collings. They both have great smiles and we had worked with them in Tangerang or Raya.

The Bennetts had a good turn out of 9 or 10 students and they do very well about letting the young people do most of the talking. They had an activity where the students go to ‘stores’ and ‘buy’ items. Then they stand in front of the class and tell what they bought and how much it cost in US money. They did very well. Most of them could recite the first four Articles of Faith. As with all class, their abilities varied widely but the Bennetts have done a good job working with them all.

After class and some visiting, we went back to their house with Edler Bennett driving. Once there we sat around and talked about a number of things that they are finding challenging. Also we talked about the class and Mary went through some of the additions to their HS activity book. Mary went off to bed fairly early and I stayed up and talked.

Even with the long drive, it was a good day. The smiles on the faces of the students make any effort worthwhile. Truly this is an inspired program that will develop real future leaders for the Church.