Mary and the button store – there are three aisle of buttons stretching for perhaps 40 feet each and everywhere there are shelves full of boxes of buttons. If you can not find the button you want here, it probably is not made. Mary restrained herself and only bought three styles or sizes.

A precious load -notice that there is only one helmet and it is only a liner. The next picture shows a load of grass much like the one that beat us through the traffic a couple of weeks ago. It is on a cart with one man up front who runs down one side of the underpass to get momentum and then tries to keep it going up the other. The last picture is one Mary has been trying to get for a long time so Bob could see it. It is the Jakarta version of the Department of Public Works.
08 April 2008 – Tuesday

Studied Indonesian before having a  good workout at the gym. I am trying to push myself to become more physically and spiritually fit. One of the great blessings of a mission is that the Lord provides time for me to do this. How well I do is up to me. As the Book of Mormon often reminds me – I have been given the right to act and not just be acted upon. It also reminds me that the consequences of my action are directly governed by Eternal Laws.

I had an appointment to get my hearing checked so we wandered around until we found the office. I was immediately struck by the quality of the office itself. When I went into see Mr Anton – the technician – I could see that they were using very modern equipment and computer programs. When we were finished with the test I found out that while my hearing was not perfect it was quite good for my age.

I then got to try a number of hearing aids and was surprised at how much it increased my ability to hear. At least in the office environment. When I tried them in both ears, I was not impressed. It sounded like I had a speaker in my head and it even broadcast my own voice. When I heard the cost I was ready to say ‘forget’ it but then I tried just one ear and that worked much better and of course halved the cost. I made an appointment to come back on Friday to give my decision.

From there we went to Mayestik – which is the big area that has lots of shops dealing in retail sales of material and other things needed in making clothing, etc. Mary took me to a button store that had an amazing selection, Just guessing I would say they had 100,000 choices and that might be really low when you consider all the different sizes that were available. I took some pictures but they do not start to do justice to the store and it’s selection.

Our next stop was dropping the boxes we packed yesterday off at the Wiser’s for shipping. They have a very nice home and since it is an embassy home, they have an Indonesian police or military guard at all times. The Wisers are leaving in July to go back to Washington D.C. as their next tour of duty. The English branch is going to miss them. We had a nice talk with sister Wiser about their family and the experiences that they have had. I did not realize that they had to move every 3 years.

We then went to Sogo and did our shopping for the week. We should not have to go back on Thursday unless we come up with something special we need. They young lady at the orange juice machine knows what I want without me asking. I am going to miss this fresh orange juice. Hopefully by now there are ones in the US.

Then it was time to go the mission office so Mary could teach her English class. I had time to talk to the President and others while she taught. We picked up the Church News and DVDs of the conference – including the PH session. That is another blessing of being a missionary. I forgot to mention that by this morning all the conference session – except the PH – was available on demand via the web. How amazing all this is. Modern technology opens the way to great spiritual blessings but at the same time opens the way to great temptations to sin. As in all things the choice of how we use it is ours.

Back at the apartment, we had a normal evening. We read a couple of more times from the Kitab Mormon – we are over 3/4 the way through now. Mary worked on caps and English. I listened to more of the conference. We will start watching conference tomorrow.

We got at least one employment report but the rest of the country is very quiet. We also got in a success story that I will need to re-write tomorrow or Thursday before sending it in. Looking back we did not do much in the way of missionary work. But some days are like that but the Lord seems to always touch us in some way to let us know we are about his work.

07 April 2008 – Monday

The morning was very normal but the rest was pretty much not. We had a good Skype talk with the Rebers and hopefully answered some of their questions. They are moving ahead with their language, learning computer skills, and getting ready in general. Sister Reber asked about working with orphanages and other humanitarian efforts. They will touch a part of the work that we did not get involved in. Each couple is called for a purpose, they will find what their calling.

We went to the office with the intention of a number of things but due to the fact that we could not get on the net. After two hours we gave up and came back to the apartment. This allowed Sam to go do some of the things he needed to do to prepare for his wedding.

We read two more hours from the Kitab Mormon, listened to conference talks, and packed three large boxes of things so brother Wiser can mail them for us. This opportunity to have them sent through his office is a real blessing for us. This means we can ship home almost everything we bought for a reasonable cost. The Lord does watch over his missionaries.  Mary continued to make caps and I continued to try to learn Indonesian. We also were able to talk to Tom’s family – William seems to like to get on Skype and talk to us. Hopefully some day we will understand what he is saying.

 

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.

 

This is the Indonesian version of a gasoline tanker truck. He has enough capital to buy a large amount of gas and then goes around selling it to smaller retailers or to other customers. It may not look like much but it will provide a decent – for Indonesia – income for his family. They are big on monuments here. They can be found everywhere and are usually well kept up. Funeral processions are not unusual but this was the first one we have seen where each vehicle had a wreath attached to the grill. The procession was quite long and all the flowers made it more impressive.

05 April 2008 – Saturday

If the rest of the day goes as well as this morning has, it is going to be a very good day.

My personal reading for the morning was President Eyring’s conference talk – or at least part of it – in Indonesian. I also went to the gym and had breakfast. When I checked Skype I found that the Rebers were on line so I rang them and we had a nice talk for about 30 minutes. They had some questions and we tried to answer them. They have started with their language lessons and I think they will do well. Sister Tippetts is their teacher and she said nice things about us. I told them that they needed to practice talking to each other because that is where made our mistake.

After hanging up – the connection was perfect for the whole 30 minutes – we read from the Kitab Mormon. While we were reading Sam came and we started moving a four drawer file full of English material out of the apartment and over to the office. Sam took the first load with the drawers over and we continued to read. When he came back we took the body and I went with him. Once there we put it in the office and loaded the drawers back in. It is not the nicest looking cabinet but it will let us have all the English material in one room. The new file cabinet gives us more drawer space but also another flat area to stack boxes, etc.

I worked on writing up the information that we got yesterday about the Job Training centers. I sent what we had learned to Elder Subandriyo along with some thought about how to get the information out to the branches. I then put a copy in our Area Book so the Rebers can continue with it. I also worked on vocabulary and then I tried to work on President Mak’s project but for some reason I could not come up with much new to write. I guess I need to do more thinking and praying before I try again.

We had a young lady come in so we could write up a resume or her. We had done one for her sister a few months ago and she suggested us to her sister. Since neither could speak much English, Sam had to do most of the work. It went much quicker than usual and they left happy.

Mary got the last of our PEF information posted and then worked on English stuff. It turned out that there was some Seminary event at 1:00 so her HS class did not start until 2 but she had 3 of her 4 students which has not been happening lately.

While she taught her class I watched a couple of programs on BYU TV including an interesting one on photographs of Brigham Young that were collected as part of research project to find all photos of him and research when they were taken and by who. One thing that the commentator mentioned was that until he was in his 60s he did not grow a beard. And the pictures with the long beard that we so often see he only grew and wore for about 9 months. I guess people think that he looks more prophetic with the longer beard. It was an enjoyable story.

During the evening we read the Kitab Mormon and while Mary crocheted more little caps, I worked on this journal and then continue with studying Indonesian. For the most part I have been reading and re-reading President Eyring’s talk about keeping a record of the way the Lord touches our life each day. I know that it is very important but I hesitate to record all of them. The problem I find is that many of them are very personal and I feel uncomfortable in relating them. I realize that perhaps sometime in the future one of our descendants may have their testimony strengthened by my sharing but it still difficult to put them down to be shared.

For some reason I was very tired and so by 9:00 I was turning off the lights. But before doing that, I set the computer to record Saturday’s Conference.

05 April 2008 – Saturday

Morning Musing

Today I stepped on the scales and saw that those last 10 pounds I really want to get rid of were still there. As I thought about those stubborn pounds and realized that to lose them I either had to work much harder – that is put in an extra 15 to 20 minutes of exercise each day -or eat less – that is give up those rich snacks that I so love to have during the day – or a combination of both. Then I got to thinking about how hard it is to lose that last 10 pounds of worldliness that keeps me from becoming the Son of God I say I really want to be.

Just like the body fat the worldly fat can only disappear if I work harder each day in the Lord’s vineyard or stop snacking on things of the world that are so hard to give up. Things like watching TV or reading a book instead of going out and visiting some one who needs help or playing with children or grandchildren. It may be going to an R rated movie because it sounds so good but knowing that it is not going to increase my spirituality.  I of course could go on and on but the blunt truth speaks for itself – the scales tell the story. Both the physical and spiritual scales I step on most days tell the blunt truth – those 10 pounds need to come off if I am to be what I say I want to be.

 

These are the great missionaries that we have district meeting with each Friday – at least this is the current ones. The young missionaries change on a fairly regular basis. The Walkers are the Country Directors for LDS Charities and we are nominally under them. They are amazing folks who are great examples of how the Lord puts people in just the right place at the right time and then lets them go to work.

04 April 2008 – Friday – Tender Mercies

16 months ago we walked through the doors of the MTC to begin this fabulous experience. We truly had no idea of what really lay ahead of us and if someone had told us I doubt if we would have believed them. It is one of those things that you can not share with those who have not ‘been there and done that.’

Also today – it is 4 A.M. in Provo – is Brian’s 30th birthday. It does not seem possible that our ‘little boy’ hit the big 3 – 0!

As the day went on it seemed the Lord was going to make it a truly special day. The morning went well with a good workout, breakfast and reading from the Kitab Mormon. I used my personal study time to continue to try to read from the Liahona – the time passes very quickly because I have to be very focused when translating the Indonesian.

Sam picked us up and we stopped to get the copies of “25 Rules” we were having printed. They were perfect and I am sure the folks in Solo are going to appreciate them.

From there we went to the ‘Departmen Tenaga Kerja Dan Transmigrasi’ – that is RI’s department of work and transmigration – to see if we could find someone who could get us a complete listing of the training facilities on Java. They have this great program where for very little cost – free if you can convince them you are poor enough – they will teach you a trade skill that will provide you with a liveable wage. We had visited one of them earlier and were quite impressed.

The building was huge but the information desk sent us across the parking lot to the 7th floor of one wing. When we got off the elevator we were in a hallway with no signs anywhere. So we stuck our head into the first office we came to and asked the three people there for the office of the director of the training program, Abdul Wahab Bangkona.

As only the Lord could do, he was one of the three people in the office. However it was not his office at all, he was just visiting! His offices had been moved a month ago and the information desk was not up to date. He graciously took us through a maze of hallways and down some stairs to his office – at least an office as it seems they were still moving in and his office was not finished.

We then spent the better part of an hour getting to know him, learning about the program, telling him about our assignment, and in the end getting a complete list of training schools through all of Indonesia. We were able to do this without a translator because he spoke quite good English. During the time we were with him we found that he only returned from visiting Central Java last night. If we had gone in yesterday as we first thought to do he would not have been available. We left as good friends and he asked us to please write if we had any other questions. Truly the Lord blessed us as we ‘went and did what the Lord commanded.” I believe we now have enough to put forward a program that we can send to each branch president letting them know about the training school in their areas.

From there we hurried to the mission home where we shared another district meeting with the Walkers and the young missionaries. They alternated between English and Indonesian with Elder Burr being our interpreter. They concentrated on how they could use the Book of Mormon to over come some of the problems they were having with current investigators.

I should mention here that Elder Burr has replaced Elder Smith as one of the office elders and Elder Thiemann has replaced Elder Teng as one of the Assistants to the President. I was very happy to hear from Elder Bastian that he is actually starting to feel better. He has soldiered through months of headaches that nothing seemed to touch. Mary gave him some Aleve and that seems to may have been what has helped him the most.

After DM, we had lunch in the mission home. Even though they was not there, President and Sister Marchant had arranged for a great meal to be served. It was made better by our sitting around the table and talking to the other missionaries.  Continuing the successful day, I had a long list of things to accomplish at the mission office and every one of them got done.

I need to add a note here that while we were driving to our first meeting and then to the mission office, I read and re-read a talk by Elder Bednar about the need for the members to come to class prepared to participate and not just to be taught. He also pointed out that the teacher needs to allow the members of the class to act and not just be acted upon. I had read it before but this time it seemed to speak to me and my need to be better prepared to contribute to the class – not just from my knowledge but by actually studying the material, searching the scriptures, and praying for the Spirit to be with me.

After lunch and getting everything else done, we went to Sogo for some shopping and of course BreadTalk for some goodies. Back at our apartment we read about 5 pages from the Kitab Mormon. Mary then tried to nap and I went down to have my haircut and pickup our cleaning. It is so convenient to have all of these services right in the complex. The rest of the evening just flowed by with dinner, posting on the blog, and reading from the Kitab Mormon. We hit a couple of sections that seemed to be translated into Indonesian by someone other than whoever did most of the translation. They used words that do not appear often and some case not at all anywhere else. But that is just an excuse – after reading it four times we really should know what it says.

I am thankful for this day and the many tender mercies the Lord showed to us. He truly blesses his missionaries.

Steak anyone? L to R – Elder Herman, Prause, Cheney and Manullang with Anni, Sam and Mary in the background. The Tangerang gang – I mean district – together together – L to R – Elder Prause, Manullang, Cheney, Herman. This is a left over picture from Monday’s trip to the fabric mall. The picture does not do justice to the rainbow of colors, but the size and weight of the load is evident.

03 April 2008 – Thursday

Normal morning including personal study – I continue to work on Indonesian – and reading from the Kitab Mormon.

At the office Mary prepares for her English class and I fight the internet connection until it starts to work. I am afraid my patience was a little thin today. I finally get it to hold and go about handling e-mail, etc. While we were working, Agus came by and told us that there would not be an English class today at the mission office. So we finished up what we were doing and had Sam drive us back to the apartment to eat lunch and read from the Kitab Mormon before heading for Tangerang.

We had a great night at Tangerang but I was sorry to see Elder Worwood had already left for Bogor to be Elder Vatcher’s companion. We got to again meet Elder Herman who we got to meet with for a couple of weeks and then he was sent to Surabaya. He is now Elder Cheney’s companion. There is a lot of moving around going on and this was Elder Manullang’s last DL here. He will be moving to Solo on Monday.

We had a good DM – they have a number of baptisms lined up including two on Sunday just before Elder Manullang leaves. It is a good way to end his time in Tangerang. It is also nice for Elder Prause who is his companion and will be staying here.

Agus and Cathern’s children came to English class along with one of the Elder’s investigators. I had them play ‘Fruit and Vegetable’ Bingo and then we went through some opposites. The younger children and the investigator were helped in all of this by the missionaries. I think they had a good time and learned some things. Just before we left I asked them to repeat a couple of the Articles of Faith and they got 2 of the first 3. That was encouraging.

We closed up the chapel and Mary and I treated the Elders to Warung Steak. We were able to give a good meal to 8 of us for just under $20. The elders were still finishing up when we took our leave for the long trip home.

All in all it was a good day with some chances to gain spiritual strength, to serve others, read and ponder the scriptures, and to share a meal with four fine elders. Add to that finding out where to go to get information we need for one of Elder Subandriyo’s projects and it was a fruitful day indeed.

My day ends much as it started – reading conference talks in Indonesian.

 

No we did not go to the fabric store today – these pictures come from our Monday trip. Loads of fabrics are carried, pushed, and driven everywhere. Some loads -like the ones pictured are huge and we are amazed that they can be carried at all. As you know carefully packed fabric is not light. But these folks do this many times a day, 6 days a week.

02 April 2008 – Wednesday

We woke much too early and while Mary tried to go back to sleep I walked/jogged a mile and then went to the gym to finish off my exercise for the day. Back at the apartment I worked on the journal before having breakfast and then reading from the Kitab Mormon.

Since it was P-day there was laundry to do and we needed to neaten the house before the cleaning lady came. We went back to the company we had used before and this time they sent us a great housekeeper who spent 4 hours deep cleaning most of the house. It really, really needed it. While she was finishing up I managed to catch a much needed short nap.

Later I was thinking about yesterday and remembered becoming enthralled with the April issue of the Ensign and decided to write some comments on the articles.

We read again from the Kitab Mormon – we have passed the 2/3 mark and should finish before the end of April. It is still really hard to translate some of the sections correctly or at least to get them to agree with the English version. Part of this is because it does not translate exactly but some of it is because we mistake words or the sequence of the words.

The other day I was talking to Sam about spoken Indonesian and he said that they shorten many words when speaking that are used in full when writing. I continue to gain respect for Indonesians who have learned to speak English.

Mary spent much of the day crocheting baby caps – she now has done 10.

The April Ensign –

I am not sure if this is just a great issue or if I was more prepared to read it, but I found the April 2008 Ensign to be wonderful. Besides inspiring stories, I learned something about the calling of a new president that I did not know before. On page 17 under ‘When the Prophet Dies,’ it says that the complete Quorum of the 12 vote to see if they should reorganize the First Presidency or whether the Quorum should preside over the Church. Of course the only time I can think when that might happen is if the Senior Apostle was so sick or mentally disabled that he could not lead. However it does show that the Lord has a way to make sure that the Church always has strong leadership.

I really enjoyed the article on Elder Cook. Obviously he was well prepared by the Lord to serve at this time. The next article on ‘Finding Answers from Conference’ with stories from some Saints on how the conference helped them make decisions that changed their lives. The one about the couple who thought they would stay home for a while after serving 3 missions in 6 years especially struck me. I must confess the thought of waiting a year instead of 6 months between missions has crept into my mind but this reinforced the need to go right back out while we are healthy. However I do not think Mary will let me sell the house so we have only a condo to maintain.

The article that struck me most was the one on tutoring in Washington D.C. The effect on the students and the tutors are amazing. It made me think about tutoring in South Provo where there seems to be a need among the schools there. It would give me a chance to keep my hand in teaching English or reading or something until we leave again.

‘The Joy of Nurturing Children’,’ By Divine Design,’ ‘My Journal, My Testimony,’
and ‘In the Path of the Tornado’ all held my interest and gave me things to think about. So I devoured the Ensign and was truly spiritually fed. Later I will go back and read some of the articles again to see what I missed the first time. It is great that no matter where in the world the Saints reside, they can have this wonderful information come into their home each month.

I am always looking for big or unusual motorcycle loads. So when I saw this one with just a very small file securely strapped to the seat, I decided it was my minimalist load. Another load of flowers is not really new but this one had the tallest flowers wrapped up for protection while the rest was just blowing in the wind – that is something I have not seen before. The Walls delivery man on a two wheel bike is not often seen. Usually they have a three wheeler with the coolers in front. Walls ice cream is one of the many things I will miss.

1 April 2008 – Tuesday

It is a new month and in America this would be April Fools day – which will not start there for another couple of hours. I had a good workout this morning. I am determined to arrive home both physically and spiritually healthier than when I left. I look forward to seeing how my tests come back when we get our physicals.

We read from the Kitab Mormon – this morning it was the exchange of letters between Moroni and the king of the Lamanites. Moroni might have been a great military leader but his diplomatic skills – especially when it came to writing letters – could have used some help.

We have our regular shift at the Employment office. The internet connection comes and goes until I call Hendra to complain. I found out later he called Speedy and raised Cain. It worked as it became steady and true for the rest of the day.

I wrote a number of e-mails – one to make it official that the IEC was cancelled, talked to Tom on Skype – Kelli is getting big, and ended up calling Bishop Pletsch to see if he got my e-mail about wanting to speak on the 8th of June so the family could come. Once I got through with the e-mail and getting the internet working, I started in on more vocabulary for those who are preparing for the Michigan test. About 40% of the test is about vocabulary so it is very important. 40% more is about reading comprehension and the last 20% is grammar. We can do quite a bit about the first two in a month or so, but we have had less luck on the last because they often ask things that even native English speakers have to really think about. Mary worked on her English class stuff and then posted the latest Workshop enrollment.

Sam got lunch for me – the first time I have eaten street food in a couple of weeks. Mary had a tuna sandwich. I am going to miss eating off the street – some of the best meals I have had are those and none cost over 80 cents – today’s was 60 cents.

One of the e-mails I sent was an April Fools that said we were extending for 3 months so we could help train the couple that is replacing us. The Christensens wrote and said they were not sure if it was a April Fools joke or not. Just a minute ago Jim wrote to say that I got him good but Kristy did notice my April Fools P.S. at the bottom.

We went to the mission home so Mary could teach her English class. While she was doing that I got to read the latest Church News and talk to President Marchant for a while about missionary work. He is worried about the lack of couples that are being called to Indonesia. They are very important everywhere but especially in Central Java because of the HS English class.

Elder Walker was really busy. The wheelchair order finally came in so he was arranging to have them delivered to different locations for distribution. They were supposed to be here last September but some paperwork problems delayed them 6 months. Elder Walker is an amazing man – he is really focused on helping the people of Indonesia in as many ways as he can and does not take no for an answer when he thinks the project is vital. I do not know why I am surprised – after all the Lord knew what kind of man Elder Walker was when he had him sent here as Country Director. Like the stripling warriors, Elder Walker does not doubt so the Lord continues to sustain him.

Sam worked with Diaz on his passport so they can go to the Philippines to be sealed. Early today I wrote a letter of recommendation for Sam saying that he was my employee. It seems you can not get a passport if you are not employed. After Mary was finished with her class, we headed back to the apartment.

Late afternoon and evening flies by – We read from the Kitab Mormon about the first battle of Moroni’s 2000 warriors. When I read about their trust in the Lord and how they had been taught by their mothers never to doubt, I can feel their strength. Elder Kane sent out a request for help on getting on Skype so I called him and got him up and running. Amazingly enough our connection held for both video and audio – strange how it comes and goes. I forgot to ask him how he liked his new Mac.