10 November 2007 – Saturday

I got in almost an hour on PMG before heading down to the gym for an hour. So I managed to exercise both my spirit and my body and all before 7:00! It is interesting that both studying Indonesian and working my muscles bring some temporary pain – How could I forget THAT word? & Do I have to do two more? – but hopefully long term gains.

I spend the rest of the morning on this journal, reading the Kitab Mormon with Mary, and doing some more vocabulary in context exercises. The time goes by quickly and we take a taxi over to the chapel. Sam is using the car to drive out to see his folks and later go on a date.

We have one client – Wawang from our English class – it is almost good that there were not more because we did not have Sam to help with translation. It takes almost 2 hours to get a person set up on Jobsdb and run them through how to use it and then apply for a few jobs. Mary did most of it because of the typing needed.

I spent most of the time cleaning up the office by putting away a lot of the things we used for the English class. For some I found storage space and for a large part I just got it all together in a single box so we can go through and organize it later this week. I also worked on the vocabulary exercises. Mary wants me to do some that are specific to her business class. Later in the day I decided I needed to do easier ones for beginners.

Just about the time we were packing up to come home, President and sister Lee dropped in to chat. We spent about a half hour with them – I gave sister Lee a vocabulary book to take home – and then caught a cab back to the apartment. We caught a ‘Silver Bird’ taxi – this is an upscale version of the ‘Blue Bird’ that we usually use. The strange thing about this is that while all Blue Birds are blue, all Silver Birds are black. Silver Birds are a little more expensive but are bigger and nicer – also the drivers usually speaks much better English. Our driver was great and we taught him Volcano, eruption and lava. He learned English so he could drive the better taxi and talk to his riders. He had learned from reading English books. So even if you drive a taxi, it is important that you speak English for the best jobs and tips.

Until Mary left for choir practice, we spent most of the day reading Kitab Mormon, napping, and such. Off and on I read from PMG Ind. I am reading are re-reading the part on the Kitab Mormon. Both to learn the language but also to understand the message the bretheren are trying to get across to us as missionaries.

Anak-krakatau erupting – the picture that is everywhere

Digitally saturated

Special effects … I have found playing with some pictures is a lot of fun.

09 November 2007 – Friday

I managed to sleep in until after 5:00 which was great. Yesterday I was up for 18 plus hours without a nap – I tried to take one but the phone rang. Today is a true day off – or at least that is how it planned. I went to the gym for almost an hour. If the adage that ‘no pain, no gain’ is true – I must be gaining. The truth is that I enjoy the workout – except for the sweating which I could definitely do without.

I should mention that I have started once more to keep a study journal – I am not sure how long I will keep it up but I find that unless I write down my thoughts soon after I get them, that they just disappear. Of course PMG points this out very early on, so I am trying to be obedient. It is a way to focus my thoughts on what I am reading and hopefully this will wedge it into my mind so I can use it in the future.

Although the Intensive English Class has ended both Mary and I are still working on finding new things to use in the class. I do not remember this happening at the end of the last class. We were just glad to get it over with. Some of what Mary is doing is for her twice a week classes at the mission office – she is really trying to tailor that class to the needs of the students. Elder Subandriyo wants the to be able to handle business correspondence and phone calls.

We read from the Kitab Mormon – we are in the first part of 2nd Nephi where Lehi is worrying about his wayward sons and has just started to bless Jacob. We found ourselves struggling through only 3 pages in an hour – for some reason this section is difficult for us to translate properly. It is almost like the writer has changed styles – in this case it has moved from Nephi speaking to Lehi’s words. There is no doubt that there are different ‘voices’ in the Book of Mormon. Reading it in another language really brings this home.

We really are having a lazy day – naps, lunch, some studying, and some writing causes the day to float by. It almost feels decadent. We read another hour in the Kitab Mormon and then I spend time writing more ‘vocabulary in context’ reviews. Each review takes over an hour and then they have to be reviewed. I am using excerpts from newspapers and the Church new site so that it is modern and often used words that they will hopefully learn.

I talked to Daisy about her interview and it seems she may have a job in brother Tobings pre-school. I did not know he had one but he seems to have a wide range of businesses. Daisy was proud to tell me that she did the whole 90 minute interview in English! Yeah for Daisy. If I heard correctly, she is going to have a 3 day trial and then they can decide if she wants the job and if so what job she will have. I hope it is in administration because that is what she is best at.

We read a final hour in the Kitab Mormon – we are making up for some of the time we lost during the last week. Lehi finished his blessings and ‘grew old’ and died. We are now to the point where the Nephites will leave the original settlement and start out on their own.

I finish four pages – eight exercises – of vocabulary in context. As I was finishing the last of them, I realized that they may be too difficult for some of the students and so I am going to write some that are easier and contain better clues as to the meaning of the words.

It was a good day. There was lots of time to rest, but there was also lots of time to read from the Kitab Mormon, PMG and to write a number of exercises for our English classes. Of course the best news was Daisy’s interview and possible job. What a blessing it is to be on a mission – to touch the lives of people we would never have met if it was not for this calling. To be able to answer the question – ‘have you done any good in the world today’ in a positive way almost every day. But service in any way is so important for our welfare as well as the welfare of others. In the kingdom, no pain, no gain is just as true as it is when exercising.

I should mention that Anak Krakatau erupted on Thursday and no one wrote to ask if we are OK. I told Mary that we have been out long enough that our children are not as concerned about us as at first. Either that or they know where the volcano is located and know we are safe.

08 November 2007 – Thursday

I woke much too early but I still had a great morning. Since we did not have any place we had to be until 1:00, I spent almost a full hour at the gym. Then I worked on the blog while drinking my breakfast of orange juice. We than read from the Kitab Mormon until Sam arrived to deliver Mary’s clip board which had her lesson for her 1:00 English class at the mission office. While he was here we made a snap decision to go in so I could try to read a member to get an interview for Daisy. So in 10 minutes we went from a full rest to out the door.

At the office I tried to call the brother but they said he was not in. I then sent him another e-mail asking him to either write me at our personal e-mail address or to call me on my hand phone. I then spent a couple of hours working on ‘vocabulary in context’ examples. While I was doing that Mary went to the Family History office and learned all about the new consolidated search program. Later when we talked about it she said it was great and looks forward to using it.

We went to the mission office and it was still without electricity. All they had was a generator that supplied enough for a few lights, the computers in the finance office, and a couple of fans. Sam got us lunch off the street and we enjoyed that until it was time for Mary to teach her class.

She had to hold it in the dinning area because the usual room was without lights. I sat and read from the Kitab Mormon for most of the hour. I am happy with how much I can read without looking up words or reading the English translation. At times Mary’s class got really noisy and I later told them that they were having much too much fun for really learning English.

We then came home to an afternoon of relaxation. Mary was very tired and took a nap. I read the Kitab Mormon section of PMG. This is my second time through and there are still words I do not know. But that is OK – as long as the number of them go down each time. We later read together from the Kitab Mormon and even Isaiah is becoming easier. I don’t look forward with excitement to all those in 2nd Nephi but I also do not look forward with dread.

Cindy and Krista posted comments on our blog. I was especially happy to read Krista’s and I sent her an answer. She is going to all grown up when we get home.

I am still working on Vocabulary in Context exercises. I am enjoying trying to come up with short excerpts of articles that have words that the students might actually use. Hopefully I can tie this in with a vocabulary list that they can study. But the real reason for the exercises is so they can develop a feeling or technique for figuring out the meaning of unknown words by examing the words around them.

I feel great – brother Johnson Tobing sent me an e-mail setting an interview tomorrow for Daisy. I called Sam to make sure I had the correct number for Daisy and found that she was sitting next to him. It seems that those students from this class that decided to stay in Jakarta will stay close friends. That is good. If Daisy gets this job, I have been told that Wawang will move in with Sam and Ari and Daisy will take the other room in the apartment building.

We read for one more hour from the Kitab Mormon and finish 1st Nephi and I read from the Book of Mormon before turning off the light. It has been a good day and much busier than we expected.

Here is the whole gang on after the last class we taught on Tuesday November 6th. I told them I wanted one with them being serious and one for fun. I am afraid Wawang did not understand the difference. From left to right – Rudi, Puji, Ronald, Daisy, Femmy and Wawang.

We all made it – or that is what the certificates say. President Marchant with Femmy and Ronald after presenting them with their certificates.

Daisy and my favorite missionary companion handling the music for the graduation.

07 November 2007 – Wednesday

It is the last day of classes for this IEC. We are torn between feeling sad that we will not be teaching these fine young people any longer and the relief of not needing to prepare and give the lesson each day. I do not think we taught them the idiom ‘Bitter Sweet.’

The only activities of the day are opening exercises with their last reports – well for some their next-to-last report or talk since some will speak tonight at graduation – and the taking of the Michigan Test. Mary handled most of the opening exercises and I took over for the test. Which meant I got to sit for 75 minutes reading the Ensign and the Kitab Mormon. After the test we bid them goodbye until tonight. Sam then took us to Carrefore for a few things we needed for refreshments and then we came home.

We expected that our cleaning lady would show up at 1:00 but she did not. We are thinking she will be here at 4:00 which means she will only have an hour before we must leave for the church. We need to write down the date and time when she is to next come. She never did come. So we spent the afternoon reading from the Kitab Mormon, PMG, cleaning the apartment and taking naps.

The graduation went well and we had the Marchants, the walkers and their drivers as guests. It is too bad some of the English branch does not come, but they give us lots of help during the month so that is good. We had the students write thank you notes to all those who helped in any way. President Marchant gave a nice talk about how with hard work he overcame some early learning problems to be successful in school and life. He said they could do the same with English. Daisy had earlier talked about how it was up to them to continue to improve their English. The President handed out the certificates of completion and we took pictures of him with each student. We then had our refreshments and – after more pictures – we had everyone out the door by 7:30.

By the time we got home we were both exhausted. I think as much mentally and spiritually as physically. We kind of numbly watched something on TV – I think it was Law and Order – and then went to bed. I read some from PMG before turning off the light.

It was a good day with lots of blessings and tender mercies.  Hopefully some of the students did well enough in the Michigan Test that they will continue to work towards going to BYUH. Rudi mentioned that his boss wanted him to thank us for teaching him English. During the afternoon Daisy was called to be a part-time Family History Missionary where ever she ends up living. I am most worried about Wawang who is staying in Jakarta on the hopes that we will be able to help him find a job. I am not sure that is a good idea, but we will help him as much as we can. Puji knows just what she wants to do. Rudi will probably go back to working in construction and hopefully get more education. Femmy will become a famous hairstylist. Ronald will be a solid member of the church and hopefully find a young lady to marry. I certainly hope he gets this job in Bandung. It has been a good, if tiring, month for us. We have been blessed with good health, inspiration, and happiness. I think we also learned more about what is needed in this program so the next one will be even better.

I love this motorcycle shot. I call it ‘Indonesian Limo’ because of the partition between the driver and the passenger. The hole is so the passenger can tell the driver where to go, etc. The next picture is me with Edward Jung, a branch president in Korea. Over the next 7 months, I should get to know him better. We really do keep Sam busy. Here he is collapsed on the couch in the foyer when he should be in class.

06 November 2007 – Tuesday

I slept in until 5 which felt good. Normal morning from there on including reading from MIN. I hit a section with a lot of new words and thoughts. I had a good exercise session at the gym. We read some from the Kitab Mormon – the build the boat and get ready to sail.

When we get to the office we get the second printer working. As we are waiting for class time, we start talking about their test scores and we realize that the main problem is vocabulary. We did a lot more on vocabulary this time but we just do not have time to give them more than 300 or so new words. But I realized that we can spend more time working on recognizing vocabulary by context. So next class we will start them from day one with exercises working on that area. Hopefully that will help. Each class we hold we learn a little more and hopefully the next class will be better. As they say, live and learn.

I started the class while Mary worked on some material for her class for the office staff. After opening exercises and going through the words of the song, I gave them a little pep talk based on a thought that came to me this morning. I likened our class to an aircraft carrier and each of them as a plane. We can catapult them so they can get up to flying speed, but once they leave us in a couple of days it is like the airplane that drops off the end of the carrier. If they keep up the speed they can sour as high as they want into the air of English. But if they decide to cut the power – that is stop using their English and building it up – they will plunge into the sea. So their success or failure is up to them, because we have done all we can to get them going.

We kept them together for a couple of hours and then broke into two parts. Our group went through vocabulary and some vocabulary in context exercises and then called it a morning. Then everyone piled into our car and we went to the mission home. Mary to teach an English class, me to keep busy while she taught, and the students to go to the Walkers for their afternoon lesson.

While we were eating lunch, Mary remembered that the lesson was at three and not one – we went though this last week but we both forgot again. So we decided to go to SoGo. That worked well and we got back in plenty of time.

While Mary taught her lesson, I talked to president Marchant and he invited us to have dinner with them and the Wassons a Family History couple from Bankok. Because of the traffic, the Wassons were an hour late getting back to the mission home so we got to sit around and just talk to the Marchants. After the Wassons got there – they are staying in the mission home – we had a lovely dinner with lots of conversation. When it was over, we excused ourselves and caught a taxi back to the apartment. We kind of broke a rule and took a non-BlueBird cab home. We got a little worried when he took a way we did not know but Mary soon figured out we were going the right way. It turned out his way seemed faster than the way Sam usually takes so I gave him a nice tip.

Our students were busy all this time with the Walkers. They had a short lesson and then watched two of the ‘The Work and the Glory’ books. I have decided I am going to read those when we get back. Maybe they are on CD and we can listen while we drive all over the country seeing our children and grandchildren. Anyway I gave Sam enough money to take them all to the Steak House for dinner – a whole $20 investment. They also had some shopping they wanted to do so it worked out well.

By the time we got home it was late and we were tired so we did not read from the Kitab Mormon. I did do some studying from PMG before turning off the lights.

05 November 2007 – Monday

I am getting use to getting up early and studying before going down to the gym. I also enjoy exercising so the first part of the morning moves right along. When I got back to the apartment, I found a great letter from Jim. It was good to hear from him. His new job requires him to read and answer a lot of e-mail as well as supervising a crew in IT. That combined with Pier Central blog with all the pictures of Olivia made for a good morning for parents and grandparents. Then we read for a short time from the Kitab Mormon. When the IEC is over we will go back to our normal hour in the morning.

I almost forgot about Lukito coming through again. He called just as I was coming in from the gym. He will do the Career Workshop for the soon to be released missionaries at 1:00 p.m. So I called elder Tucksworth and told him it was on. Then later I called the president and told him things were set.

I had an appointment at an airport hotel for 11:00 a.m. So soon after we got to the chapel, I had to leave. First Sam and I dropped the equipment that Lukito would need off at the mission office and checked with elder Rowberry that everyone knew when they should be there. From there we drove to the airport and after getting well lost we found the right hotel.

Edward Jung – his first name is actually Jae Hyun but he chose Edward because of the Prince of Wales – is a new Overseas Sales General Manager for a Korean company that produces a machine that processes rice by using scanning cameras and cost $100,000 US. He contacted us looking for someone to run a service center in Jakarta. But this is down the line and so we spent most of our time talking about the Church and his call as branch president. He has a strong testimony and a believer in prayer. I hope things work out for him because it would be great for him and some of our members here. The traffic back looked really bad so I went to sleep and was surprised when I woke up to find us going in the parking lot of the church only an hour after we had left the airport.

While I was sitting in the car or at the hotel, my poor wife was teaching the IEC. When I got back Sam went to get us some lunch and I started in on printing things we needed for the afternoon. Later, while Mary was back teaching the whole group minus Ronald who was in Bandung for a job interview. I answered a ton of e-mail – I got a little taste of what Jim does every day. We did not get the one I wanted that would set up an interview for Daisy. Hopefully it will come tomorrow.

Back at the apartment, we read from the Kitab Mormon and had dinner. Then I worked on this journal and we watched the new Amazing Race. We are hooked on this program and we hope the Lord will understand. As I have been doing lately, I read from MIN in bed. There are lots of words or phrases I do not know. It is a good experience – not only in learning Indonesian but in studying the Gospel.

04 November 2007 – Sunday

It has been an unusual Sunday for us. We went to the Tangerang branches and went to both sacrament meetings. We got to meet everyone in both branches by joining the missionaries in the meet and greet line. As usual when we are there, Mary played for T1. President Gjarot introduced me to brother Tandiman, his father-in-law. He is 83 years old and was one of the first Indonesian baptized back in 1970. His children and grandchildren are now leaders in the church. His wife is a lovely lady who gives piano lessons in their home. Brother Tandiman – who was mission president there – still does translation. It was a pleasure to get to know them better.

Before we left we had decided that we would only stay through T2’s Sunday School so Sam could make it back in time to go to an important meeting at his branch. When it turned out that none of the investigators that the elders in T2 expected, we decided that we would not stay for SS but let Sam get back for his PH meeting. So we found our self back in the apartment about noon.

It does not seem possible that almost 8 hours have passed. We both took naps and broke our fast. After that I read some from PMG and we read from the Kitab Mormon for going on 2 hours. We did watch one movie on TV – “Something New” which neither of us had ever heard of before. It was a good, if predictable, movie.

We were about to go to bed when I got a call from my good friend elder Tuxworth asking when he should be in the mission home for the Career Workshop. I told him I did not know anything about it, but I would find out and let him know. I then called President Marchant and found that they had scheduled one for a number of the missionaries who are about to be released. I told him I would check with Lukito about it but that we might need to postpone it. We then had a nice talk for about a half hour about some things on his and my mind. I think at times he feels a need to just talk out some of his thoughts and has found me to be a good listener. One thing always comes through – his love for the missionaries and for the people of Indonesia. He also understands the great sacrifices that PH leaders here make to fulfil their calls.

When I got off the phone I sent an SMS to Lukito asking him to call as soon as he could. Knowing him, if it is at all possible he will be there to teach. By then my mind was so awake that I could not go to sleep so I turned to reading from PMG until I became tired and could sleep.

Looking back on the day, I am grateful to the Lord for sharing the morning with the Tangerang members but also the missionaries that serve there. They have become good friends. It was especially good to see elder Cheney who has been in Medan for 4 or 5 months. There is one of the new elders – his name escapes me – in T1 and I spent some time encouraging him about the language. He has a very positive attitude and I think he will do well. Elder Peate is a gem – one of the best missionaries I have known here. Come to think of it there are a lot of great missionaries serving here – both Indonesian and Bulai. But some are a step above and have the ability to pull others up. I am sure he will soon be a district and then zone leader.

Another pair of tender moments was when president Sujud and Agus gave their testimonies. President Sujud made a joke about his size. He said that the primary will be happy to have someone their size as their branch president. Agus told about his call and how inadequate he felt for the responsibility. I could feel their strength and humility as they bore their testimonies about the gospel and the church. I have a real soft spot in my heart for president Paul of T1. He has very few priesthood members to work with. Yet the branch seems to function well and he always has a smile. But at times when I look at him up on the stand I can see the concern he has for the members of his branch. Many of them are single women and older people. The burdens of some of the branch presidents are heavy at time but they seem to stay positive and do what they can do.

Mary teaching class – she is doing a great job organizing and teaching this group.

This is another ‘Things go better with Coke’ gas station. I want to take another shot of this from the back where the men will not be in the way.

03 November 2007

I am learning to enjoy waking up occasionally at 4 a.m. This morning it gave me a chance to read a couple of pages in MI – PMG in Indonesian. Then I went down and exercised for an half an hour. Long enough to keep fit but not long enough to really get tired. The normal morning activities followed. This included reading from the Kitab Mormon about Nephi’s continuing experience of learning about the coming of Christ and the problems that would come to his seed in the promised land.

We had a very busy day. Mary ended up teaching almost all the class while Sam and I took care of a woman that the sisters brought in for help with a job. It took about 2 ½ hours to get her registered and to have her send in some applications for jobs. While we were at it, I may have found a job for another member – at least there is a chance. After the patron went home, I took over the class and Mary made resumes for Ronald and Daisy. I sent Daisy’s to brother Tobing and hopefully she will get an interview this week. While I was doing that, I felt the need to send her resume to the HR director at Marriott. I hope that she will get an interview. She is so sharp it is frightening – she wants to become what in America would be called a Certified Public Accountant. So we not only taught an Intensive English Class all day, we also did our Employment calling.

After the afternoon class we came home, rested for a half an hour before starting to get ready for the class to come over for dinner. We taught the young ladies how to make French Toast and then fed them all they could eat of it and fruit. I am not sure it was their favorite meal, but I know that Wawang, Ronald, Daisy, Sam and Puji really dug in.

After dinner we sat around for a short time and I asked them about their dreams. What they really wanted to become, to do, etc. After a while I think we found out a lot about them. We gave them a pep talk on how it was up to them to succeed in accomplishing their dream. That they could be come almost anything if they were willing to work at it hard enough. I am not sure how much this English class will help them achieve their dreams but hopefully the confidence they gain will help.

After the students left, we cleaned up before reading from the Kitab Mormon. We were both tired so it was not too long before we headed off to bed. I then decided it was too early to go to sleep so I spent some time reading from the A&P which is Indonesian for D&C. I find that the A&P is usually easy to read because the concepts are simple and many words are the same as used in the Kitab Mormon. I read A&P 75 where the elders are being sent out on missions to proclaim the Gospel to the world. The Lord sent out 10 pair of missionaries who went out for 2 to 6 months. Today there are 25,000 or more pairs out proclaiming the Gospel for 18 – 24 months. I wonder how many of those elders had any idea of what kind of tradition they were setting. It is wonderful to be part of that great program and be able to ‘labor with thy might’ in missionary service.

Just about the time I was about to turn off the lights, I got a call from a Korean brother who is in town for his company and wants to meet with me in hopes of finding someone in the Church who can become their Indonesian agent. We plan to meet with him on Monday.