The first picture is sister Hash with the Roberts. Next is Mary with the Walkers and Sister Marchant. As you can see we ate well at the mission home. We often laugh at how often President and Sister Marchant have overnight guests in the mission home and how often they have guests for lunch and dinner – we call it the Mission Hotel. The third picture from left to right – The Roberts who are serving in Solo, Us, and the Hashes who are serving in Malang. This is probably the last picture of us together in Indonesia. If we get together again it will probably be in Utah.
17 March 2008 – Monday
We had a great surprise this morning. Jim and Kristy called on Skype. We did not have our camera so we could see and hear them but we could only chat with them. It worked well and there was no drop out. I think I will buy another camera today and a separate mike and see it that works – I am thinking that the camera we got is not good. It is too bad I have taken 18 months or so to figure that out. Olivia is really speaking clearly and we got to hear her sing a couple of songs.
We read from the Kitab Mormon before leaving for the mission home so we can get out Visas renewed. We thought we were to leave at 10 but of course there were some problems and we did not leave for Immigration until 1:00. But we had a nice visit with Hashes and the Roberts – especially Elder Roberts who I really enjoy talking to because he has had a very interesting life. Mary, and sisters Hash, Roberts and Walker started crocheting baby caps – it looked like a real knitting circle. The Marchants were nice enough to fix us all lunch.
Diaz – the expediter – is a really good man. He works very hard to see that things go smoothly at Immigration. Today he started at 7:30 but he could not get things ready until just before lunch hour and that is why we had to go at 1:00. Once we got there it took less than 10 minutes to get the paperwork signed. We said goodbye to the Roberts and Hashes for probably the last time before we head home. Actually we will probably see the Hashes when they leave in May.
On the way home we stopped at Carrefour to see if we could get a camera and microphone that worked better for Skyping. We bought a cheap camera and separate mike. Back at the apartment I hooked things up and found that the camera worked well but the mike did not. I fiddled with it for a long time with no results. I will try again tomorrow.
The rest of the day was rather laid back. We did read from the Kitab Mormon for a couple of hours and I read from Psalms and the Gospel of John but it seemed the day just slipped away. It seems anytime we break our regular routine we are not able or perhaps willing to make alternate plans.