Entertaining an active young man. Sister Marchant with elder Porter at dinner. Sister Roberts will shoot me if she ever sees this blog…she is a great missionary and lots of fun.

The sun is up here in Solo before 5 a.m. – I guess it rises over Surabaya even earlier. I almost got up the will power to go to the gym, but the fact that the only way there is to tramp through the lobby in my gym outfit cooled my desire and it did not take much more for me just to turn over and go back to sleep.

While I was working on this journal, I got a Skype message from Lukito. He made it to the airport and will call when he gets to the hotel. Breakfast and reading from the Kitab Mormon made up the morning.  Later Lukito came up and we went over some things for the meeting today. We will get together for lunch and then go over the chapel.

Basically the training is a bust. Only one specialist comes to the meeting so he and sister Endang get a lot of personal attention. Mary and I sit there without really knowing what is going on but it seemed to me that they were not doing much talking about training. It turned out they were discussing why the church did not use the money that goes to non-LDS through LDS Charities for the members. It is a re-occurring question here. Things like why do we build new houses on Sumatra for non-members instead of for members in Solo. Telling them that it is the Lord’s way, does not always satisfy their feelings.

After that meeting we meet and greet until it is time to go to the general adult meeting of the district conference. They have translators but other than Vita they are only fair and for some reason my headphones keep cutting in and out. I was impressed by the talk of the first counselor and the president of the district. Although some of their words got lost in translation, their love and spirit came through clearly. Unfortunately there was a problem with president Marchant’s video presentation so about ½ of the translation could not be read. It was on how members can influence their neighbors and help them to find the gospel. It was the story of four or five converts and why they joined the church.

I had the interesting experience of entertaining the young son of the district president. For some reason he thought I would be a great person to play with so he came and visited me a couple of times. I ended up picking him up and holding him. At least this kept him from running all over the chapel – something he was doing for most of the time I was not holding him. Sister Roberts told me later that it was strange that he went to me and let me pick him up. It seems he does not do that with most people. I guess he liked my wrinkles and gray hair.

After the meeting we headed back to the hotel where all the missionaries – senior and young – enjoyed the buffet. The president arranged a special meal for all of us. The missionaries ate their fill – all the desserts disappeared and so did a lot of ice cream. We had a good time talking to other couples and the missionaries we knew. President Marchant took the opportunity to make a contact and I supplied him with a pass-along card. Never leave home without one.

After stuffing ourselves, we said goodbye to everyone and headed up to our room. We then read from the Kitab Mormon before going to bed. The day was good because of the company and the spirit that I felt, but I do not feel good about the main purpose of our trip not being fulfilled. We did not really get a chance to train sister Endang on what we put on the computer and we did not get to train most of the branch specialists about the importance of their callings. Hopefully sister Endang can train them in the months to come.

 

The Solo missionaries and us at the Robert’s house. Bougainvilleas are everywhere. The first shot is at the airport, the second was taken at the Solo building looking at the neighbors. The last one is one at the Barnard’s house that not only has three colors on one bush but actually has two colors on one bloom – something we had not seen before.

05 October 2007 – Friday

Up at 3 a.m. to get ready for trip to Solo. Everything goes well and we even have a room ready when we arrive at the hotel at 8:00 a.m. We settle in, read from the Kitab Mormon, and rest some before Elder Roberts picks us up.

The Roberts’ house is amazing. Not only is it huge it is first class all the way. Even the garage has a beautiful tile floor. The one thing it does not have is air-conditioning except in one room. We have a good time talking to the Roberts before the elders start arriving for district meeting. They have invited all the missionaries in the district for lunch and the meeting to celebrate Elder Porter’s release next week.

The Roberts are doing a great job in their branches. They mention that they made 75 visits last month. They are working hard at getting people back to church. Elder Roberts mentioned they could use some help with their English classes and I suggested that they use either the one used at the MTC or the one that was developed by a missionary couple for teaching English as an international couple that we supplied on a CD at the couple’s conference. They could not find their copy so we will send them another.

It was good to see Elder Thiemann again – he is DL and may end up ZL after elder Porter has left. The number of missionaries are shrinking – there are two new ones coming in next week – so the president has a lot of shuffling to do. We had a great meal with Sloppy Joes and lots of other things. Then they held the DM – half in English and half in Indonesian. They seem to be having some success in Solo – they had 2 baptisms last week – but they do not seem to have many good investigators. Elder Porter gave a lesson on the thought that we must always put God above all. If we do this he can bless us and we will have joy in this life and insure joy through Eternal Life.

After the meeting it was picture taking time. Trying to get a dozen missionaries – and the seniors were not that much better than the young missionaries – to pose for a ‘serious’ picture is like herding rabbits.

After that we joined the Barnards and we went to their house. A lot smaller that the Roberts but perfect for them. They only have one air-conditioner but the house is small enough that it keeps it cool. They also leave it on all the time.

The Barnards are teaching Family History and how to use a computer. They tell us that only two families in the branch has computers. It shows that each senior couple has different talents and use them to help the members in different ways.

They then took us over to their chapel and showed us the ERS office – which is really a cabinet with a computer and printer. I guess the copy machine that we are sharing with CES is in the CES office. Hopefully sister Endang can use it when needed. Mary put some forms on the computer that Sister Endang can use for Workshops, etc.

The Barnards then took us back to the hotel and went on to teach one of their classes. We found that the Marchants had not yet arrived and decided that they had a later flight than we had heard. We read some more from the Kitab Mormon and I took a short nap. Earlier we talked to the Roberts and Barnards about getting together for dinner and inviting the Marchants. It worked out that sister Roberts did not feel good – sister Barnard told us that she has been having some problems – so the Marchants, Barnards and Piers walked to our favorite Chinese restaurant here in Solo.

I think the Barnards were a little worried about where we were going but once the food started arriving they dug right in. They especially liked the black pepper beef – it was my favorite also. There was a ton of food – more than we needed so the Barnards took the left-overs home for their driver’s family. During the meal, the president talked about cutting back the length of the block meetings to two hours. It is an interesting thought but I am not sure it will fly with the Area Presidency, but it shows that president Marchant is looking for ways to increase the activity of the members and empowering leaders. We spent about 90 minutes at dinner and everyone had a good time.

Just as we were about to get up and leave, a large rat ran out into the middle of the dining room, took one look at the crowd and ran away again. I am not sure that the Barnards and Marchants will be excited to go back again. I did notice that a man sitting right where the rat stopped, did not even blink an eye at its appearance. Since we just watched Ratatouille, I decided perhaps the rat was really the chef and he was just out checking how everyone was enjoying their food.

Back at the hotel Mary and I read once again from the Kitab Mormon. By the time we were done I was really tired and so my attempt to read did not last long before turning off the light on a good day.

04 October 2007 – Thursday

Regular morning with exercise, etc. and reading from the Kitab Mormon. The destruction of another Lamanite army, the start of the Gadianton robbers, and the unusual experiences of the group that moved Northward to get away from the contentions that were starting among the Nephites.

At the office for a while to get some things ready for English Class and to try and get the copier to work. Got the first done but the copier is kaput for now. We later took it into the mission office to have Hendra take a look at it. Hopefully we will have it back for the IEC. Mary practice the piano. I called all the couples in Central Java and asked what I could bring them from Jakarta.

At the mission home I picked up what I could and ordered the rest. It is easy for us to bring their supplies with us when we come in for training. I ate from BYU and heard that Elder Walker went down there and asked them to give him what Elder Pier orders. Elder Walker is a brave soul – as is Sister Walker. After lunch Mary taught her English class for the staff.

I talked with Elder Subandriyo about PEF and he showed me the latest letter from the lawyers – of course there are a few more changes of the changes so I imagine it will go back to bank and they will suggest a couple of changes to the changes of the changes…etc. But sooner or later PEF will be approved and we will move forward.

After Mary’s lesson we headed for Tangerang. We stopped by the mall there and visited the office supply store to find the poster board Mary has been wanting. She found out from sister Autin that it would probably be in rolls and so it was. She also bought a large piece of styrofoam for tacking out her crocheting. After that we bought some donuts for the missionaries and students.

The district meeting was OK – even with a translator we do not get very involved in what is going on. Elder Peate is a good translator but the real inter-play is lost. The work remains slow in Tangerang and it does not seem to going anywhere. But the missionaries continue to work hard and have hopes for the future. I imagine there are many parts of the world where the work is slow and the missionaries must have patience.

It seemed like we would just have the missionaries and Sam at our English class, but Agus’ family arrived and then some of the seminary class came. So we ended up with about our normal mix. I introduced some new opposites and we played the matching game – since we started a little late, this took most of the time. The donuts and cookies we brought were enjoyed by all. Due to the IE class we will not be back for a month.

When we got back to the apartment we packed for our trip to Solo tomorrow.

03 October 2007 – Wednesday

I woke at about 5:30 and hardly even thought about going to the gym. Since it is P-day, I can do that later. I just enjoyed the warm comfort of the bed for another 15 minutes before getting up. The morning has passed quickly with me doing nothing more than catching up and posting this journal and having breakfast.

We read from the Kitab Mormon with Moroni’s scathing letter to Pahoran and of course Pahoran’s gentle letter back. Eveyone tends to use Moroni and his Title of Liberty in talks, but to me the real hero here is Pahoran. He gets a letter questioning his very being and instead of reacting, he acts with the love and kindness that only the greatest leaders can master. He shows almost all the Christlike attributes that are listed in PMG – including patience, hope, faith, etc. We probably have enough Moroni’s in the kingdom, what we need is more Pahoran. A man of action and courage, but also one who thinks before he acts.

We go to work so Mary can practice the piano and make some copies she needs for her English class. The practicing goes well, but the copier for some reason will not acknowledge the black print cartridge so we will probably need to get it repaired. Of course this happens just before we are about to start an Intensive English Class where we use tons of copies. Hopefully it will not take long to fix it.

We decide to get two of the jobs available papers and post one in the hall for people to read. We keep hoping that members will realize we are a good source for employment help and will start coming in more often. All we really need is their resumes so we know what they are looking for.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the apartment and other P-day activities. I went down and worked out some in the gym. By the afternoon the air-conditioners have got the temperature down to something pleasant – that is different from the morning.

We both got our hair cut…they like short hair here in Indonesia. Something to do with the heat I guess. I am beginning to like the shorter hair style. I am not ready for a buzz yet but who knows what will happen next year.

We read for a couple more hours from the Kitab Mormon – we finished Alma and are now into Helaman – we have less than 200 pages to go. Before going to bed I read from 2nd Nephi and was happy to find that I can read it quite well.

We got an e-mail from our neighbor Lauren Anderson that told us that Brian seems to have a dog at the house – and that it barks. Hopefully he will not upset the neighbors. Lisa wrote that Bob was going down and shut off the sprinklers. I asked him to also shut down the cooler and replace the filters in the heater. I do not imagine anyone will clean up the plants this fall – it will be a mess come spring.

 

I think this is the largest load of boxes we have seen on a motorcycle. If you look closely you will see that the rider can not straighten up his head. Also notice how close to the road the load sits. That back box can not be over 8 inches off the ground. I have often wondered how often one of these loads gets dumped.

02 October 2007 – Tuesday

When we woke this morning there was a surprise in our e-mail. Sister Janice Creer sent us all the weekly up-dates she has written since they arrived in Ireland to lead the Dublin Mission. It was very interesting to read from the first week to now as they learned and adjusted to their new calling. They are a great and loving couple who will preside over that mission in just the way sent them there to do. Now if we could just get in contact with the Barretts we would know how all the senior couples from Edgemont 11 are doing.

This morning we were reading Helaman’s account of how, against all odds, they captured the city of Manti. The part that touched me was where he writes in 58:11 that after the Lord assured them, brought peace to their souls, and ‘granted us great faith,’ they decided to stop worrying about the odds and just go out and attack the city.

I thought of how we sometimes look at the fact that we are in a country that is 90% Muslim and less that 3% Christian and get a littlel discouraged as to what effect we can have on such a large country. But then we remember that it is the Lord’s work and faith, patience and hard work anything can be accomplished. Like Helaman and his people, we stop worrying and go out and do our work. hopefully touching and changing Indonesia one person at a time.

At the office we did our usual things – today mainly getting some things ready for the IEC and catching up some e-mails. Mary worked on Workshop rolls and practiced the piano. I helped Mary with copying she needed for her English at the mission office. It was a quiet time, but it went by quite fast.

Sam and I dropped Mary off at the mission home and headed for SoGo to get some things we need at home and to look for some posterboard for mounting Mary’s music. We ran into some terrible traffic jams and it took us almost 2 hours to do what should have taken 45 minutes at the most. And thus is Jakarta.

When we finally got back to the mission office I talked to president Marchant for a while. He asked for some things to give to the new leader of East Timor to help introduce him to the Church. I forgot to write that the president got a real sunburn the last time he went to Sumatra and so for the last few days he has been peeling. Hopefully he will at least get a good tan out of the experience.

I also did not mention that Elder Davis has been really sick for the best part of a week. It had to do with the problem that kept them from going to Micronesia as originally called. Hopefully it will not be a re-occurring problem for him. They still have not received their money and are living out of a suitcase for a month. I could not stand that …and didn’t when we were face with that same kind of problem.

Back at the apartment, we ate dinner and read from the Kitab Mormon. I ended up falling asleep on the couch before staggering to bed. Some days are like that.

I shot the motorcycle load because it was so neat looking – something you do not see everyday – and when I went to crop it, I noticed that I got a bonus of a second motorcycle load in the background. The other picture is also an accident. I was trying to get a picture of the huge orange sun that was about to disappear, but missed it completely. But I got a scene that looks so pastoral that I could not throw it away. The funny thing is that it was taken with a traffic jam and large buildings all around us but almost none of that is caught in the picture.

1 October 2007 – Monday

I forgot to mention that we got e-mail from McKay and Gentry – it is great to hear from them. Gentry has a rather heavy schedule at school and I am excited that she is taking film making. I think it will give her a chance to use her artistic side.

Today is the start of a new – and busy – month for us. They seem to be racing by much too quickly. It does not seem possible that we have been on our mission for almost 10 months. I think the fact that the lengths of the day and the weather hardly changes here makes it hard to tell what time of the year it is. They have already had snow in Utah and the leaves must be changing.

I went to the gym this morning. I am only doing enough to get the blood circulating well and not enough to lose any weight. But that is OK – I feel very good and I am trying to watch what I eat each day. After that I spent most of the morning writing in this journal and going through pictures. I also tried to read an Indonesian ‘Franklin’ book and found it is still difficult for me.

A few days ago I was reading President Monson’s talk about the effect of our personal influence on others. He recounted the story of his SS teacher who taught an unruly group of young people – including himself – by building a great relationship of trust. By being interested in them and sharing with them her own memories, hopes and dreams. How she moved them to give the money they had saved for months to the family of a class member who had recently lost the father. As I read the story I thought of all the young people who I have had the opportunity to teach and wonder how many of them I touched in some way and hoped that at least some of them remember what I taught, even if they do not remember who taught them.

The Lord gives us great opportunities and responsibilities to teach his children – of all ages. Hopefully we teach by the spirit and with a desire to show the glory of God and not to show off our own supposed knowledge and wisdom.

We did not read from the Kitab Mormon this morning. We had to leave early so Mary could attend the staff meeting at the mission office and go over how to improve their English. While she did that I had a chance to talk to Elder Walker for a short time about some of what he did in his life. Then I met with Jemmy Mongan about the couple’s conference – he is still trying to get a really good price at the Media Group hotel – it is supposed to be one of the best on Bali. I spent some time with brother Tandiman talking about scholarships and how we might get the information out to the members. I really think this is something CES should do because they see the young people all the time and know them well.

Mary ended up spending a couple of hours in her meeting and then we went to Carrefore and bought all of the supplies we will need for the Intensive English Class. Sam also found a place for them to stay so we are almost ready. Hopefully some of the English branch will volunteer to help teach. If not we will be fried by the time the month is over.

After all our shopping we went to the office where I had Sam get me some lunch – way too much lunch. Soon after we were finished with that, Elder and Sister Burr from Hong Kong came to the office and we spent something over an hour talking about PEF. I am afraid I did not make a good impression when I told them I would get excited about PEF when it was finally approved and the banking was all set up. But once we got past that we had a nice visit – mainly talking about how we grew up being poor but never knowing it and I had some questions about problems that pop up regularly. After they left we did some more work and then headed home.

We caught up our reading of the Kitab Mormon by getting in a little over two hours. We are excited about how well we are reading the scriptures. Often after we have read together, I will re-read the same section or perhaps another section just to see how well I do without Mary’s help. It allows me to write down the words that I still do not know and study them.

 

The Theme posters for T1 and T2 Primary program

30 September 2007 – Sunday

What a difference a week makes. It does not seem possible that it was only a week ago that I had the worst day I have had in Indonesia. Today has been a complete turn around. We went to the Tangerang branches so there was not time for the Kitab Mormon reading.

We had the opportunity to see two versions of the Primary Sacrament Meeting presentation today. Mary got to be in the first one – T1. Almost as soon as we arrived she was asked to play a song that they did not have any recording to use. She also got to play prelude and the opening and sacrament hymn. Their program was great with all the children participating and the teachers and leaders joining in for the songs. They have a good sized primary with a fair balance between boys and girls. The theme of the year is “I will follow Him in faith.”  We found that elder Cowan is leaving for Bekasi on Monday. We will see him at Zone Meetings and perhaps he will show up here again. He is going to be a very good missionary because he is committed to serving the best he can.

T2 branch had the children do everything without any help from the teachers. All the songs were sung with only children voices and it worked. Most of the time two children would come up and read the thought or scripture together and then sing. The only problem came when it was  the Sunbeams turn. Four lovely little girls whose chins did not always clear the rail of the stand, looked out with big eyes and closed mouths during their song, so we got a piano solo and it was great. I think every adult in the room was smiling at those big eyes and beautiful faces.

After the T1 meeting a man came up and said that he had talked to me yesterday about employment opportunities. I had a senior moment until he gave me enough clues so I realized that he was the man with the company that produces flexible pipe and is looking for some people to do promotion selling. Lukito had given me his card on Thursday and I had Sam post the job on the board at the Selatan branch.

We went to T2’s other meetings. The elders had 2 investigators at their GP class. Elder Wiryanto did not call on me to read and Elder Peate translated for us. The combined meeting was different. First the Primary discussed what the different ages were being taught and then President Gjarot spoke about family finances and staying out of debt.

I had two mission related experiences with T2. Before the meeting I spoke for a short time with president Gjarot about what was the best specialties ITC students should take while in school at BYUH. He pointed out that there are thousands of graduates with a general programming, web page background. He suggested they specialize in oil, CAD-CAM, or medical software. That there was a great need for all of those. He came up with Palm Oil production as a growing field.

After the block I happened to go out the back of the room – the exit furthest from the stairs down to the foyer – and struck up a conversation with a man I thought I knew. It turned out I was wrong as usual – I did not know him – but it turned out he is an important person in a business that always had need of good employees. So I took his card and now have another good contact for sources of jobs. The Lord blessed me and hopefully some of the saints today. PMG tells us to open our mouths – I guess I should ask more people what they do.

We spent the afternoon reading – 10 pages of Kitab Mormon, studying Indonesian and resting. I kept going back and reading from the Liahona. The words used there are much more up to date than those in the Kitab Mormon and more conversational. So there are many words which I do not know – often 4 or 5 in a paragraph. But I have the English version and my dictionary to help so it is a good mental exercise.

 

There is a motorcycle somewhere under those birdcages.  Mary with our new door bell – knock and it shall be opened unto you…

29 September 2007 – Saturday

A good morning but not unusual morning. We continue to read in the Kitab Mormon and I struggled through part of a Liahona article. After we are through the KM, I think we will change to reading articles and talks because they provide more words that we can use everyday. The translations are done by the office and so they use common Indonesian words of today. Maybe what will do is read the KM in the morning and articles at night.

We kept fairly busy at the office. Mainly starting to work on the Intensive English Class – there is plenty to do to get ready for it. We were visited by a new to Indonesia Dutch member – sister Kaufman – who’s husband is attached to their embassy. He is not a member but she seems to want to be active. They have one child and another on the way. They are looking for a nanny and a cook. We have a young woman in mind – she is not a member but her brother and other of her family are and perhaps this might help to get her to hear and accept the gospel.

Sam made some more calls to our PEF folks and then Mary entered what he found out. It took much longer than expected – there was something wrong with the program or our access to it. Just about a half hour before we were finished at the office a young lady showed up. She is from Canada and is here to work for English First – a high quality English school. She is an active member and showed up to take part in the Selatan branch Young Adult activities. She is staying with a group of teachers who are party folks and she does not want to be part of that.

After our office hours we came home and Mary got some rest because she is going to have a practice tonight. Before she laid down we read another hour from the Kitab Mormon. I am really enjoying this time through. We ordered in pizza – yeah I know but it is good and I put the left overs right into the fridge. While I ate I continued to work my way through the Liahona article on YW standards and ‘For the Strength of the Youth’ pamphlet.

Sam picked up Mary and took her to the chapel. She thought the rehearsal was scheduled for 6:30 but it turned out it will start at 7:30. She is not going to be home anytime soon. But she has a computer there and so she can work on genealogy or English class while she is waiting. I am going back to the Liahona and review the words I do not know.

28 September 2007 – Friday

Another great day of our mission. Regular morning with exercise and reading the Kitab Mormon before leaving for the mission office for a wonderful district meeting. They held it all in English so we were able to participate in everything. Elder Rowberry conducted and elder Roper gave the lesson. They have a few good progressive investigators and Jakarta Raya is hoping for a couple of baptisms in October. Unfortunately sister Hinckley and sister Sadimin were not feeling well but that does not seem to keep them from serving each day. They just work through their illnesses.

After the meeting we headed off to SoGo for our weekly shopping before going to the office. At the office Mary worked on the workshop information we got yesterday at the meeting. I worked at getting some information about the Intensive English Class out to the participants. Hopefully it will not cause them to cancel when they read what is expected. Mary also practiced what she is going to play for the choir on Saturday. She is not happy with the score she has but we can not find anyone in Jakarta that sells sheet music of choral works. There must be someplace but no one seems to know where.

We then came home where I spent the rest of the day reading Indonesian – talks from the Liahona and Kitab Mormon – writing in this journal, and writing some e-mail. We got a nice letter from Gordon Creer telling a little about how their mission was going. He mentioned that the number of Saints in his mission has not gone up in a couple of decades. I guess that in some ways the work here is easier than it is there – and it is an 95% Christian country. I will tell the missionaries to be glad they are in a fertile missionary country. Gary Carlson wrote about a program that Bill Barrett wrote before he went to Wisconsin that shows the relationships of everyone in the ward. It turns out that Gary and Mary are distant cousins. Mary worked on genealogy, did some cross-stitch, and read from the Kitab Mormon.

 

This motorcycle load does not look all that impressive but when you consider that he is carrying about 700 kilos of rice it is rather amazing. We would use a half ton pickup for that kind of load. I thought this cart was an interesting study of color and content. The gentleman was happy to pose for me. He will push this cart through the streets of the city day after day hoping to sell enough to feed himself and his family.

27 September 2007 – Thursday

A good day and I managed to last until the end so I guess I am well again. I kept my exercising to a half hour but pushed it quite a bit. A very normal morning and we read from the Kitab Mormon. As Mary was reading I lost where she was and could not figure out why and then I remembered that my copy of the Kitab Mormon has a duplicate section in the middle. Exactly the same thing happened the last time we reading. We both broke up laughing about it.

We went to work where I sent out some letters about the coming Intensive English class and also some e-mails to some of the BYUH students telling them about planning to do internships during their Junior and Senior years. It was fun to write to Sara Lee because I know her. Mary worked on the workshop participants lists for the districts – hopefully before we leave we will have trained the branch specialists to follow up on them.

From the office we went to the mission office and had lunch from BYU. I talked to elder Subandriyo about the IEC and told him we only needed one more participant. I mentioned that perhaps Elder Mongula from Bogor might want to join. Earlier I had remembered him and called Elder Kane and asked him to see if elder M would like to join. About 30 minutes after talking to elder S, I got a SMS from elder Mongula asking if he could join the class. This means we now have a full class of 6 and the Lord did provide. Strangely enough I have not been stressed about filling the class – at least not after I found that Central Java would provide 4 of them.

I also had an interesting talk with brother Tandiman about scholarships. It turned out that once they started looking they found there were many of them available to the needy good student but that the school must start the application. We talked about how we needed to let those who were about to graduate from jr. high school about this opportunity and tell them what they need to do in high school to stand out so they will be recommended. I really think that CES in Indonesia is the way to achieve this goal – it will take time, perhaps 10 – 20 years, but if we do not get started it will never be achieved.  Mary taught her English class to the staff. Those who need it most do not usually attend. While she did that I read the latest Church News and tried to sleep a little.

We left right from the mission office to Tangerang because we had an ERS meeting at 4. The meeting went well – Lukito and Agus makes our callings possible and effective. I have no idea how we would do it without them. Lukito will do the training at Solo next Saturday and then stay until conference is over on Sunday. District meeting was good – the work is still really slow in Tangerang. They do not act discouraged but it must be hard on them to not see any success week after week.

My English class was not much. Agus and Catherine did not come up with their children so I kept it simple and almost immediately went to the match game which they really enjoy. I am afraid that they do not practice much English outside the hour a week with us. That is not the way to learn English very well.

The day ended with a quick trip back to the apartment and we were soon headed for bed. Thursdays are busy for us but it feels good to work.