We shot this because the sign on the bus says “Department of Public Works – Secretary General.” So if Bob worked in Jakarta, he would ride in this bus.

This motorcycle load does not look like much from the back, but notice the variety and how neat each section is. From the side you see even more variety with each in its own neat section. The person who packed this load was truly an artist.

04 March 2008 – Tuesday

Today’s scripture to ponder: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” D&C 88:63

As I pondered today’s scripture, I tended to focus on the part that says “seek me diligently and ye will find me.” As in all of this scripture it seems to say that the Lord is always available to us and the only thing that keeps us from him is our own desire, unwillingness, or lack of diligence that keeps Him from us.

Elsewhere the scriptures often says that the Lord’s arm is always extended to us. Even when we are not keeping the commandments or even fighting against His work. Then there is all the scriptures that warn us about choosing to do evil instead of good and the consequences of this action. Yet almost all of them end with ‘except they repent.’ So even when we are in the deepest of pits, as soon as we are willing to truly repent and come unto Him, we can be lifted out and restored to His presence.

So when I do not have the Holy Ghost with me, it is because I am not diligently seeking the Lord. I am not knocking and I am not trying to draw near Him. It is my choice, my actions, and my decisions that keep me from the promises in the last two verses of  D&C 121.

I woke just before 6:00 and arrived at the gym while the attendant was still opening the door. I had a good 30 minute workout. Back at the apartment I got ready for the day, worked on this journal and posted to the blog. The family blogs have been quiet the last few days. I guess it is hard to find the time to update them. I know it is easy to not find time to write and post things. There are times when I almost have to force myself to sit down and do it. As Marie Seimars said about 50 years ago – ‘If you do not have time to do something, you really did not want to do it badly enough.’ Since that time I have never really been able to use the excuse ‘I did not have time’ very well. I of course do but immediately know that it is lame.

We read from the Kitab Mormon – continuing in King Benjamin’s speech to his people. I can still remember sitting in my car outside El Camino College reading those words and feeling the spirit. I had been a member only a few weeks and found that the words and concepts about Christ that he taught were just what I needed to know.

Today we have regular office hours but before we got started we called and talked to Cindy and Tom’s family. We used a special phone number that the Bennetts gave us for cheap rates. The only problem is that we have to do it from the office because it only works through certain providers and the one at the apartment is not it. It was good to talk to some of the family and we plan to talk to a couple of them a week. It would not be necessary if Skype worked better.

I then got busy and sent out a lot of e-mails. I needed to get some help from the couples to make the workshops more successful in Central Java. I am surprised at how many e-mails we get and need to answer. And with the new idea of sending group SMS through Skype we will be able to reach more of our specialists. Mary as usual worked on English. She keeps collecting games to use. The kids really enjoy them and if used correctly will help them speak English.

The best thing we heard to day was from the Roberts in Solo. Sister Roberts said that on Sunday 6 of their HS English class got up and bore their testimony in English! You could hear the excitement in her voice and she said the branch members were also proud of their youth. Hopefully the program will continue to grow and develop as the months go by. Maybe we wil come back in a year and see how the class is doing.

In the afternoon we headed over to the Mission Office so Mary could teach her English lesson. While she was doing that Sam and I went to Grand Lucky to buy some things we can not get elsewhere. It is really close being an American style supermarket except in America you usually do not find live fish in tanks at the meat department.

We got back before Mary had finished so I talked to President Marchant about a number of things that he was interested in. He mentioned that they had 10 baptisms in February and 6 of them were men! That is great because usually most converts are women and children. I really think he is on the right course in asking the missionaries to try and search out those who are better educated and have good jobs. That is the kind of leadership they need here to help those who have shouldered most of the work for the last 30 years.

I also talked to Diaz who finally found out why he could not get a Visa to the US. If he had known that in October or November we could have fixed it so he could go to Sun Valley. I suggested he write a letter to the man who had hired him and explain what the problem was and thank him for his patience. Also that he would make sure he got the experience he needed so he could come next year. I told Elder Subandriyo about the Robert’s success and he suggested they write up a short piece to put on the mission website. I will send them a message to that effect.

After all of that we went to Sogo to stock up on many things we were out of. We ended up spending much too much on food today but we should be good for the rest of the month except for fill-ins of things we use everyday.

When we got home Mary did not feel well and I finally convinced her to lay down and take a nap. I worked on this journal and got it posted.

The Piers and the Christensens with Elder Subandriyo outside his home.

Mary and the street where Elder Subandriyo lives. Notice the width of the street – it is for motorcycles and pedestrians only. Also notice all the plants. The Indonesian people love plants and give them plenty of TLC.

Sisters Sadimin and Findlay with two young women investigators at Elder Subandriyo’s house for FHE. Sister Findlay has been out about 3 weeks and seem quite comfortable with the language. It is amazing how quickly the young missionaries develop enough vocabulary to communicate much of the time with the people.

Elder Subandriyo, his lovely wife Sister Stephie. They could represent the heart and soul of the Church in Indonesia and we have met many couples with the same testimonies and attitudes. Sister Christensen is a very funny lady – she also is addicted to Walls Magnum Ice Cream bars. I do not know what she is going to do when she gets back to the states in a couple of months and can not find any. We have truly enjoyed our acquaintance with the Subandriyos and the Christensens. We have shared an special experience over the last 14 plus months.

This is the Walkers. They are the Country Humanitarian Directors for Indonesia. They are wonderful folks. Within two weeks of landing in Indonesia, they found themselves on Sumatra arranging aid to the earthquake victims. They have already done yeoman service here and they have another year to go. They are also very good at eating Chinese food.