30 April 2008 – Wednesday

Happy birthday to me. Wow I made it to 70 and feel great. I celebrated by going to the gym and doing 70 sit-ups, 35 good minutes on the bike, and a light upper body workout. Even the scales were kind to me today.

When I got back to the apartment there was a wonderful birthday greeting on Olivia’s blog. A picture from the middle of 2006 when we were visiting Chicago. We read from the A&P – we struggle with some of it, but most we come close. Both the KM and A&P really need a new translation. Hopefully sometime in the next decade this will happen.

I have been listening to Elder Scott’s conference talks. I thought it would be interesting to listen to a series of talks by one apostle or member of the presidency to see if there is a theme that runs through them from year to year. Right now I am listening to a talk on “Peace of Conscience” – “Peace of Mind.”

We had a quiet day – at least once the air-conditioner men and the maid service left. We went to the market to get some last minute things Mary needed. We both got haircuts at our local salon. One of the nicest things was that the office elders called and sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone. I got a call from the Pages in the English branch. They are in the need for some household help – a nanny and a housekeeper. Later maybe a driver. I called Elder Subandriyo and Hendra to let them know there was some openings. We are hoping that a woman we worked with might be interested in one or the other.

I started a major project of separating out the pictures we want to have made into good copies. I managed to make it to the first of the year. Of course I am working backwards so that is only 4 months – 12 – 13 more to go.

Well the other couples ran into a real Jakarta traffic jam. It is now 7:15 and they are not here. They probably left the mission home at about 5:30 for what is usually a 20 – 25 minute drive most of the time. This time it may take 2 – 3 hours for them to get here – if they get here.

We read more from the A&P and since then I have been listening to classical music on the computer. It is a 4 hour program and it will be interesting to see how much I get to hear before our guest arrive.

I also can not get to AOL to find out if any of the kids have sent birthday wishes.

The other couples got here between 7:45 and 8:00. The President said that next time we got to come to Sinapoti!  We had a nice dinner together. Everyone seemed to love the meat loag. Some said they had not had any since they came on their mission and some said it was one of their favorite foods. One couple brought fresh fruit – including Bandung pineapples, another brought bread and dessert. There was also a wonderful potato dish and bread. For dessert we had brownies with ice cream and whipped cream. All in all it was a great meal.

We all sat around and talked about our missions and much they meant to us. It was a special birthday because even though I could not spend it with my family, I was able to spend it with my ‘mission’ family.  Mary gave me a ceramic turtle and the Kanes gave me a nice small Indonesian doll. So all in all it was a special birthday that I probably will always remember.