Elders Prause and Manullang with the two newest members of Tangerang 2 branch.
Mary playing for the baptism service. Unless elder or sister Reber play, they are going to miss Mary.
Our good friend Agus working with the men of the T2 choir. He is a very talented man who is willing to do what is needed in the Lord’s vineyard.
06 April 2008 – Sunday
178 years ago a small group of men, women and children gathered together to organize Christ’s true church on earth for the first time in many centuries. Today millions of people will gather throughout the world to listen to General Conference and hear the Lord’s Prophet and His Apostles speak. I wonder how many of those people who were at that first meeting believed that this would really happen?
I woke a little early and studied Indonesian before getting up for the day. When Mary woke up I checked to see if we had captured the Saturday Conference sessions. It turned out that Mary stayed awake until the new member of the Quorum of the 12 was announced but I still wanted to listen to the special Solemn Assembly to sustain the new President of the Church.
Listening to the Solemn Assembly was a very special experience for me. As President Uchtdorf asked for the High Priests to stand and sustain the leaders of the Church. I did and proudly raised my hand to support the Lord’s Prophet Thomas S. Monson and then the rest of the general authorities. Later the whole membership to stand and each time I stood and raised my hand I felt the spirit testifying that I was sustaining His choices. Although I was 12,000 miles and 7 hours away, according to man’s reckoning, from the actual sustaining it felt like I was there in the Conference Center with the other 20 thousand plus members as it was taking place. Spiritually I felt that there was no difference. I also think that next week when it shown here, the same feeling will be there for me and all those who stand and show their support. The sustaining will be recorded in heaven and in each heart.
We went to the Tangerang branches because there were two convert baptisms scheduled in T2. We went to T2’s sacrament and testimony meeting. We were surprised to find the Walkers there. They came just for the sacrament and then left to deliver 3 wheelchairs at a ceremony at another Christian church. When it came time for sharing testimonies I felt like I should go up but never did. I fought against the pricks as Paul did.
However when I had a second chance during T1’s meeting I did. I shared my thoughts about the sustaining of a new President of the High Priesthood and how although I was miles and hours away from the actual event, I felt like I was there. I mentioned that they should feel the same way when they sustain him next week. I saw some of the members agreeing with me and after the meeting they came up and thanked me. I then bore a simple testimony and sat down. Elder Cheney did the translating for me.
After that sacrament meeting T2 held their baptism service. Mary played for it and I was one of the witnesses. A woman and her 10 year old daughter was baptized. Her husband is having a hard time giving up smoking and was not there because he had to work. It is too bad that he missed it because I think he would have felt the spirit because it was strong. Elder Manullang and Elder Prause each got to do one of the baptisms.
T2 then held a choir practice but before that they had lunch for everyone. This makes sense because the members would be there from 8 a.m. until about 4 p.m. and then some would have an hour or more travel to get home. Our good friend Agus Kusmarmanto is leading the choir and asked us to stay and comment on a part of one song that they will sing in English. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago their pronunciation is great but they decided to end the song with just the sopranos and it did not work. Mary suggested adding the other sisters and that was better but it still need work.
When we got home, we read from the Kitab Mormon and then settled in to a quiet evening. We listened to a conference and was surprised to find that President Monson did not speak on Saturday. I worked on my Indonesian – and I do mean it was work. The talks by the Apostles tend to be hard to translate both ways. But if I am ever going to learn the vocabulary I must continue to try. Mary continues to make infant caps. The district is trying to make 1000 of them and then will give them to hospitals in the different areas.
We watched a movie called ‘The Golden Compass’ that I thought was OK but really never came together. There were too many characters and plots running around so no one really gets developed. Nichol Kidman had a part as evil stepmother kind of character. She played it almost like an ice princess but from time to time she showed a softer tone. They had it end so they could have a sequel but it must have been very expensive to make and did not do well at the box office. Or at least not as well enough to recoup the cost.