11 March 2008 – Tuesday

Before going to the gym this morning, I tried to read from the PH manual in Indonesian and found it tough going. This humbled me because in the past I have found that I could usually read church related things fairly well. But obviously I need to continue to have the Lord’s help in reading and learning the language. I think this struggle with Bahasa helps me to be a better English teacher. It also reinforces my idea that we need to continue to stress learning vocabulary at every level to our students. We also need to stress this need to the couples who are teaching so that they include some vocabulary learning in each of their lessons.

I should mention that I am also trying to learn from a 2nd grade lesson manual. This is even more humbling than the PH manual. I have to look up about 25% of the words and still I am not sure I am really understanding what is being said and asked. I do not remember 2nd grade being this hard – of course that was some 62 years ago.

We read from the Kitab Mormon – we are finishing up Mosiah with the king explaining why he does not want the people to select a new king. Although he puts forward a good case, I am not sure a king would have done any worse than the Judges did. They could not keep the peace and did not seem to have a standing army or police force to maintain it.

We got to see a couple of great pictures of Jim and Kristy on their blog. We are jealous that they have seen Wicked. From everything I have read it is a great musical. We also realized that we forgot to wish them happy anniversary.

Sam is feeling better today and so we are back to having a driver. At the office, Mary worked on her English class and I went through the computer files cleaning them up, organizing, and leaving notes behind that might help the next couple. Speaking of them we heard from the Christensens that the call has been extended to replace us but since they have not had a chance to reply, we do not know anything else.

As usual we went to the mission office so Mary could teach her English class to the staff. While she was doing this, I went down to the conference room, read the latest Church News and then read some of the D&C in Indonesian. I can usually get 95% of the Ajaran dan Perjanjian unless it drops into Isaiah type writing.

After the class we did our weekly shopping and stocked up on a lot of things that are not always available. Of course we also stopped at BreadTalk for some goodies. Throughout the day I took pictures of street scenes and traffic in Jakarta. Interesting scenes that we see everyday and often do not really notice. Jakarta – and Indonesia in general – is full of color and contrasts that can not truly be caught by any camera.

My evening was spent working on the backlog of pictures, writing a few e-mails, and our usual reading from the Kitab Mormon. One funny thing came up – it seems that I really liked November 2007 because I had 1 Nov 07 follow 30 Nov 2007 when I marked where we were in the Kitab Mormon reading. That would not have been so bad if I had not continue to write the wrong month for 8 days before switching over to December.

10 March 2008 – Monday

Due to being awake during the night, I slept in a bit and did not go to the gym. I spent the morning doing normal things such as personal study, writing in this journal, and generally catching up with the world. We read from the Kitab Mormon – continuing in the later parts of Mosiah. I called Sam and found that he still had not recovered from his illness so we could not out visiting today as we had planned.

Instead we caught a taxi to the office where we spent three hours working on getting the files in order. Mainly we are working on the different English classes. But before this Mary sent in our rather late Employment Report for the month. We never did get anything from Central Java but Lukito came through with his this morning. Included with his report was the news that he had more income in the first two months of this year than he had all last year. I believe it is because he has never put business before the work of the kingdom. As I have often written in these pages, if I call him for help, he puts everything aside to do what is needed. Add to this the fact that he never seems to let the trials of the world get him down, and I think you have a perfect example of a Christ centered life.

After getting the filing under control, we returned to the apartment. After lunch we read another hour from the Kitab Mormon and then I went to the gym to make up for the missed session this morning. There were a few folks using the gym – mainly older women – but almost all of them were on the treadmills so I had the rest of the equipment to myself.

I continue to read from the Liahona in Indonesian but I think it would be better if I read with Mary because when we read together we complement each other – to be truthful she needs less help from me than I do from her. Mary is working on making more knitted baby caps. It is a good thing to do when we do not have much to do. Not having Sam to drive us probably gives us too much free time.

After dinner we read from the Kitab Mormon for the third time. At least the extra time give us a chance to read more. Also it gives me more time to edit and caption the thousands of pictures we have taken over the last 15 months.

It was a great day on the family blogs. We got to see a lot of wonderful pictures of our grandchildren. I looked at a picture of Rachel and it struck me how much she has grown since we left on our mission. I still think of her as being Kelli’s age. Krista has also grown into a young woman over the last months.

This shows a couple of the pots we bought but will not bring home. The big one is about 12″x24″ and cost us $8. The flower arrangement cost about $2. The original modern painting cost $2 and we might bring it home.

While looking through some of the family’s blogs I came across this picture of Rachel and did a double take. She has really grown while we were gone – good going Rach!

Speaking of grandchildren, I am not sure that we want to come back to this group! Cindy labeled the picture ‘goofy’ and I think that fits it well.

09 March 2008 – Sunday

Sam called early to tell us that he was very sick and from his voice I would say that was an understatement. Without a driver we decided to take a cab to Jakarta Raya. Actually I suggested we go to the English branch but Mary thought we should visit one of the other branches and I agreed that she was right. It is too easy to go to the English branch and they are not our assignment.

With some help from us, the taxi driver made good time to the chapel and so we got to greet most of the members as they arrived. Elders Thiemann and Suseno are serving there and I always enjoy talking to Elder Thiemann who we have known since he was in the MTC. He agreed to be our translator for the meetings.

All the meetings went well. President Anthony was the main speaker in Sacrament meeting and he spoke on the Atonement of Christ. Lukito’s wife also spoke on the same subject and quoted a lot of scripture. She is an older woman with an Indonesian smile and lots of energy. You can see where Lukito gets all of his drive.

In Gospel Principles there was an investigator and a number of newer members. Elder Suseno taught the lesson on Faith in Jesus Christ. We ended up touching on all the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. The investigator had a number of questions and seemed very interested in the answers. Near the end of the class I told him that 50 years ago I was an investigator and that it was not until I sincerely prayed about the truthfulness of what the missionaries were teaching that I came to know the Church was true. I also bore testimony of the Book of Mormon. I could feel the spirit bearing witness and I hope that he could also.

PH was on lesson 4 and 5 in The Teachings of Joseph Smith and tied the coming forth of the Book of Mormon to Repentance. Although I followed along in the English manual I did not make any comments. It was a rather straight forward lesson and there was not many questions. The investigator sat in on PH but did not say much – I hope he understood what was being taught. Especially about the importance of repentance and the role of the Book of Mormon in the Church.

We had a quick taxi ride back to the apartment where we had lunch and I took a nice nap before we read again from the Kitab Mormon. We finished up with the Lord leading Ammon and the people of King Limhi back to Zarahemla.

We got a call from Elder Walker saying that President and Sister Marchant’s plane was delayed and they would be late. We agreed on 6:30 as the time for dinner. When we got to the mission home, we found that they still were not there but we did get to meet the Baldwins from Snowflake Arizona who are the Humanitarian directors for our part of Asia. They will be here for a whole week.

When it was evident that the Marchants were not going to be home any time soon, we sat down to dinner with the Baldwins, the Walkers, the office elders and the A.P.s. It was a very nice dinner of beef stroganoff, steamed veggies, salad, rolls and lots of fruit. We learned that the Baldwins were almost the same age as we are – his birthday is exactly one month before mine. They would have been out on a mission earlier but he was stake president and the brethern did now want to release him. Since they seem very healthy, I would not be surprised if they go out again. He is a CPA and I think he said that his son-in-law is running their business while they are serving. We told them something about our work with English classes and shared some of our plans for the future.

Soon after 8:00 we left with the Baldwins to see them safely to their hotel. As we walked out we saw the Marchants getting out of a taxi. This surprised us because Elder Walker had been trying to call them for some time to see where they were. The Baldwins and them had a quick introduction and will meet again tomorrow. We took advantage of having a taxi right there and piled in for the trip to their hotel. Unfortunately when Mary said ‘Marriott’ the driver thought she said ‘Meridian’ and took us there instead. Luckily it was not too far from the Marriott so it only added about 15 minutes to our bidding the Baldwins good night.

So ended a good Sunday with a couple of spiritual experiences, reading from the scriptures – I also read the latest Church News – and meeting another missionary couple. Not to mention talking to the members of Jakarta Raya where a large part of the people have excellent English. The only sour note of the day was that Sam was sick. When I called him in the evening, Annie answered and said that they were at the hospital where the doctors said that he had food poisoning. He thinks he got it from the fish they served at District Meeting. I am glad that neither of had any. I told Annie to tell Sam that we would not need him tomorrow and to rest and get well.

08 March 2008 – Saturday

I find it interesting how hard it is to get myself up to go to the gym. I run through all kinds of excuses to stay in bed a little longer. But then I remember that the Lord probably would not be telling me this and so I get up and go. Although I was the first to the gym this morning, I was surprised how many came in after me. Usually on Saturday I am finishing up when the next patron comes in. But today there was a steady stream coming in.

We read from the Kitab Mormon by finishing up Abinadi’s story and starting in with Alma establishing the Church a the Waters of Mormon.

We spent much of the day at the chapel and I spent most of the time there trying to organize the Intensive English Class files. I also sent out e-mails to members of the English branch who has helped us in the past with the IEC and asked for their support for the April one. We can not have a real effective class without their help. I filled in the time with reading from 1st Corinthians. I went on line and found a good commentary but it did not add anything to my study. It is interesting that Paul in Corinthians 1:19 – “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” I am afraid that I through much of my life I was one of those who thought having knowledge was being wise.

Mary had only one young man come to her HS English class. I joined them for a couple of games. One was unscrambling the 13th Article of Faith. I am ashamed and humbled to say that I came in a distant last. Obviously I need to brush up on my Articles of Faith.

Sam was sick in the morning and got sicker as the day went on. He spent all his time on the couch sleeping or in the bathroom. Annie came and took care of him but after the English class he took us home and I told him to go home and get some rest. We gave him some medicine which we hope will get him to feeling better.

We read again from the Kitab Mormon, rested and had dinner before catching a taxi and returning to the chapel so Mary could play for the choir. The size of the choir seems to be shrinking. Some I am sure are taking advantage of the three day holiday and of course Sam and Annie were not there. But as I listened to them practice I thought they sounded great. They will sing for the English branch next week.

While they practiced I continued to work on the filing. I can only do so much until Mary is available to help make decisions about what to keep and how to file what we do keep. We have accumulated a lot of lessons and other material over the last three classes. I also had a visitor – brother Pohlman who recently returned from BYUH and is trying to find a job. We had a long talk about a number of subjects and his plans for the future.

After choir practice we caught a taxi – we are getting really good at this – and came back to the apartment. It was rather late so I curled up with the special section on President Hinckley and then 1st Corinthians before turning off the light on a busy if not overly productive day in the mission field.

Charlotte and Olivia in yellow caps and white outfit at the same age. It is amazing how much alike they appear when you hide Charlotte’s hair.

Mary and sister Kane knitting baby caps. There is a tremendous need for these in Indonesia and in other 3rd world countries. It saves many lives and is easy to do – at least if you can knit it is. It is the kind of project any RS anywhere in the world could do. I just read an article on the Church website about an 80 something man who has made over 700 quilts for humanitarian services.

I am pretty sure this is a 2 meter piece of downspout. I was going to crop the picture but thought the background is quite interesting.

07 March 2008 – Friday

Today’s scripture to ponder: “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.” Proverbs 1:5&6

I am afraid that today is going to be Saturday for me. I woke thinking it was and it continues to feel that way. Maybe it is because there will be a District RS meeting all day so we will be at the chapel much of the day.

My morning study was Proverbs 1. This is one of my favorite chapters in the old testament. When we get home I am going to start studying the scriptures more closely and one of the first is going to be Proverbs. Like most wisdom literature it is not easy reading but there is great insight into what it means to be wise in the ways of the Lord. I think it fits well in with the idea of developing Christ like attributes because Christ certainly is the example of what it means to know what God wants us to do and then doing it.

Our reading it the Kitab Mormon today was in Mosiah where Abinadi is preaching to the people of King Noah. It is interesting that the priests seem to really think that they are doing the right thing and can not understand what is upsetting Abinadi and the Lord. We all justify what we do as being right for us. We like King Noah and his priests distance ourselves from the spirit and then deny the power thereof.

Today was an assortment of District meetings held at the chapel. We went in early because Mary was hoping that her seamstress would come in before the RS meeting started. But of course she came in late so Mary missed some of the instruction. While she was making arrangement to have a whole lot of things sewn, I worked on some e-mail. After she had returned to the RS meeting I started through the files so that we could clean them up for the next couple to use.

Hani Louhannapessy came in to see me and I talked to him about the Michigan test and convinced him that he should really study for the next two months so he can take it again at the end of April. I gave him a pile of homework and told him we should meet regularly. I would really like him to go to BYU Hawaii because he has strong family ties here and I am sure he would come back after graduation.

In the afternoon the sisters knitted caps for newborns and since I could not go any further with sorting until Mary was around to make some decisions, I had Sam run me back to the apartment so I could have lunch and take a nap to get rid of a headache that started earlier this morning.

When Mary got home we read again from the Kitab Mormon – continuing in Mosiah. I spent some time working on putting captions on pictures going all the way back to the start of our mission. I certainly wish I had done it at the time because it going to take all three months to get this done. I am also editing and enhancing some of the pictures.

After dinner I continued to work on the photographs until it was time to read again. I like it when we read three times a day. I think it helps me to keep the spirit and of course it helps with learning Indonesian. What is interesting is that we seem to forget the same words each time but at least the number of them are going down.

My scripture reading for the evening was the Proverbs 1-6 and from 1st Corinthians 1-3. I found it interesting that both contain about the same words of wisdom. Proverbs 3:5 – “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” In 1 Cor 2:13 – “Which things we speak not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” The Lord and the prophets continually remind us that seeking learning is good if we do it for the purpose of building up the kingdom. But all too often we become caught up in pride because of our knowledge and forget why we sought it in the first place.

This is the first floral arrangement that we have seen on a motorcycle in quite some time. Maybe it is not practical during rainy season?

The elders of the Tangerang district and sister Rosilla about to play a version of Go Fish to help them learn English. Going from left to right around the circle is elders Hadi Suyatmo, Prause, Thiemann, Cheney, Manullang and Worwood.

Another version of Go Fish, only this time it is at the grocery store where you get to choose the fish you want for dinner and the butchers catch it and prepare it while you wait. Usually most of the tanks are full but it seems that fish was a popular choice today so only a couple of tanks were in use.

06 March 2008 – Thursday

Today’s scripture to ponder: “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they lead to gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” 2 Timothy 2:23-24.

As I read this last night, I decided that it would be my scripture for today. I wish I had lived this idea more fully. Especially the parts about avoiding strifes and being patient. I am glad I have eternity to work on these ideas – I am afraid it may take that long for them to truly sink in.

I had a good workout at the gym this morning. I am usually the first one there so I have my choice of equipment. It also lets me choose what to watch on the TV while I am on the exercise bike. If I can find something that I am interested in, it makes the time go by quickly.

Our reading from the Kitab Mormon this morning was in Mosiah where Ammon tells what a seer is and King Zenif give an account of his life in the land of Nephi-Lehi. It seems the only real mistake Zenif made was to pass the kingdom on to Noah. It goes to show that sometimes we just overlook the weaknesses of our children.

We went into the office and we both worked on our English lessons for the day. Since we have missed a number of lessons this year, I developed one that was a lot of fun but also taught a lot. Unfortunately Kathlin called and said her family would not be there. It turns out tomorrow is a holiday and so we did not have anyone show up for the class. But at least I have a great lesson for next week.

We went to the mission office where Mary taught English while Sam and I went shopping. I took a picture of the fresh fish tanks at Grand Lucky – they do like their fish fresh here. Of course there is a long aisle of cases of fish on beds of ice.

Back at the mission home, I was invited to have lunch with the Marchants and the Davises. Since I had already eaten, I just had some fruit and joined in the talking. The Davises were in Jakarta to have their KIDAs renewed but it turned out that someone at Immigration had lost the paper work and so they could not get it done. The Davises have had really bad luck when it comes to losing things. They lost the money for their car in the banking system for 3 or 4 weeks.

Then it was on to Tangerang and the District Meeting. Elder Manullang and Elder Prause got there early and let us in. Elder Cheney and Elder Worwood joined us a little later. DM went really well. Since everyone – including Elder Manullang – could speak English they were nice enough to hold it in English. We get a lot more out of this way and are better able to participate. We told about what we were doing in Central Java with the English classes and later Elder Manullang had us practice our contacting – I am afraid we were not very good.

Towards the end of the meeting Elder Thiemann and Elder Hadi Suyatmo, the Zone Leaders came in – they had been stuck in traffic – and gave some good ideas on how to improve our contacting.

Since there was no one there for English class, Sister Pier asked the elders to play a game of Go Fish that she developed for teaching English using an idea that we got from the Barnards last week. They had a great time and just as we were about to leave an inactive sister came in and so they decided to play it again. We told them that we were going home and we would pick up the cards later.

The trip home took two hours because the toll road was packed with people trying to get out of town for the three day weekend. I had enough sense to sleep through about half of it but Mary, Sam and Annie got to experience the whole thing. Speaking of those two it seems they will get married sometime in late April and Sam will go to school here in Jakarta. We are happy for them. Since the traffic was so slow, Mary was able to snap a series of pictures of a building that has neon lights around the windows that goes through an interesting color sequence. So even dark clouds sometimes have a small amount of silver lining. That sounds like a good theme for a talk or lesson on how we experience the world.

After going to bed I read again from 1 Timothy and then started another of Paul’s letters, 1 Thessalonians. As I read 3:12 “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” It brought to mind the scripture from yesterday about teaching our children to love one another. Also I thought of D&C 121:45 that starts “Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith….” It seems that the last week has been filled with reminders to me that I need to show more love for everyone.

This is the series of pictures that Mary took in about a 45 second span of a office building that has neon lights around each of its windows that changes color as it cycles through a sequence. It is quite spectacular and we have seen nothing like it.

These are two pictures of the load that was so heavy it lifted the front wheel off the ground. Unfortunately the best shot of that has my reflection blurring it. The clear shot shows the load – notice the black bag between the seat and the front wheel. We could not figure where the driver was going to sit and we were past it before he got on. The load is a good 4 feet wide so it overhangs each side about 2 feet.

The last shot is the road leading to the mall that is in the background. It does not really show all the activity that goes on. I shot it at a time when it was peaceful. We were still about 15 minutes from the mall at this time.

05 March 2008 – Wednesday

Today’s scripture to ponder: “But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.” Mosiah 4:15

I had one of those nights where I woke at about 3:00 and never really fell back into a sound sleep. Luckily today is P-day and I should be able to get some sleep during the day. Before reading from the Kitab Mormon I finished yesterday’s journal and after reading I posted it and some pictures that I took yesterday.

I used my personal study time to ponder today’s scripture. There is a lot to think about in this scripture – both as parents and as fellow Saints. I found a talk by H. Burke Peterson from 1974 that pretty well summed up my thoughts – things that I should have done more of when our children were young – the emphasis is mine – and I hope our children are doing now with their children.

“The most effective examples a child will ever have— for bad or for good —are his own parents. Few of us realize how very pliable and teachable children are in their primary years of life. How quick they are to pick up parental habits and traits and teachings!

May I suggest that as parents we must require more of ourselves. May I suggest that we give more of ourselves, that we give more good experiences to our children, experiences that are love-producing and family-solidifying. Whether the times we give are measured in minutes or hours is not as important as what we do in them. It may be five minutes at a child’s bedside each night or a fifteen-minute walk in the evening. It may be a day in the hills or a three-minute phone call from the office at midday. It may be a clever love note to a little girl or a night out to a ball game with a boy. It can even be the experience of a family home evening. It can even be the experience of a family learning to pray together and reading the scriptures together and fasting together.”

For our P-day activity I agreed to take Mary to a huge fabric/clothing mall that had been recommended to us by the Kanes. It was truly insane from the moment we got within a couple of kilometers. Due to the number of cars, angkats, and people, the traffic just crawled along. After we finally got inside the 15 floors of goods it was not possible to take any picture that would even start to represent the vast amount of goods. I think that each floor has 8 to 10 aisle that are perhaps 500 feet long and every square inch that is not narrow aisles is jam packed with soft goods.

We concentrated on one floor that was 90% fabrics. Mary had a wonderful time (even I enjoyed it but I am not sure about Sam) and came home with material for at least 6 blouses, 3 skirts, and 2 temple dresses. I got enough material for one tie. We also were able to get some gifts for the folks at home. The trip home was much quicker.

To give you an idea about how bad Jakarta traffic can be at times. Today we could not catch up with a huge handcart filled with cut grass and pushed by a single man that I wanted to get a picture of. We followed that cart for at least 3 kilometers and only got close to it once. But in the long run it got to where it turned off the main road and was 100 yards away before we came to the same place and I could take a clear picture.

In the evening we read from the Kitab Mormon, listened to some programs on KBYU TV – including Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. While I was listening, I wrote about today in this journal. Mary worked on English ideas. Before turning off the lights, I read Paul’s letters to Timothy. They are certainly full of good counsel for all members of Christ’s Church. I thought about those who left Paul when he was in prison in Rome. What were their thoughts and what became of them. That would make a good story to tell. It reminded me of those who left the Prophet Joseph when he was in Liberty jail. Some like W.W. Phelps repented and came back while others such as most of the Whitmers did not. What would I have done when threatened with prison or death? I doubt that anyone can be sure until actually faced with the situation.

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.