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.

Nothing spectacular about this load but since it is all water, it must have weighed quite a bit. Notice the two cases between his legs. That can not be comfortable.

02 November 2007
I was tempted to roll over this morning but I got up and went to the gym. I think it is going to be that kind of day, because when we started to read the Kitab Mormon my mind just did not want to function. Unfortunately Mary was about the same so it took us way too long to read just one page. Hopefully we will wake up before we start teaching our classes.

We got all the computers and one printer up and running again. Now we just need our good printer back. I started the class and then created three vocabulary reviews. Those take a lot of time but we should be able to use them from now on. Between now and January when we are to hold the next one, I hope to make reviews for all three of the vocabulary books so we can use any of them or any chapters. I think the students are burning out a little – my group was not nearly as prepared as usual. I decided to back off on the homework and hope that they recover by tomorrow.

About 1:00 Lukito showed up to give a short career workshop to Ronald and Daisy. Mainly he had them develop a Me-statement and a Power-statement. Then he taught them how to use them in interviews. Hopefully this will give them confidence to do well. While they were having their workshop the rest of the class left to go to the Walkers for their afternoon class, dinner and hopefully some more study. When the other two were done I gave them money to get a taxi to the Walkers.

Lukito stayed long enough to call all of his specialist and come up with a report for October. I spoke to Agus and he said that there were no new hires in all the rest of Indonesia. I find this very hard to believe but I am not going to call all the specialists to find out for sure.

Just a word about our friend Lukito. He is a wonderful LDS who puts the work in the Kingdom first. I have never called him for help – even last minute help – and not have him arrange his life so he could do what was asked. He always has a positive attitude and a quick smile. His moto is “Don’t worry. Be happy.” He seems to live that moto each day. He is very much a business man and seem to be always keeping a number of balls in the air at once. So I am not sure how he is able to quickly change what he has planned to serve the Lord when asked. There are few people – and most of the time I am not one of them – who are willing to drop everything and do what needs to be done.

After locking up the chapel and grounds, we caught a taxi home. We had our Friday date night which included bringing in pizza and watching Amazing Race on TV. We read in the Kitab Mormon for over an hour – it went much better than this morning. We are in 1 Nephi where Nephi is getting his desire to know what his father saw and heard. His faith and diligence are so great that nothing is held back.

Mary worked on some things for our English class and I wrote in this journal and organized a few pictures. Before going to bed I read some for PMG. It was a good day and it went fast. When you serve the Lord and his children He truly pours out blessings upon you. That is one thing I have certainly learned on this mission.

I did not have a good night. I woke at 1:30 and did not go back to sleep until after 4:00. About 2:30 I gave up and started reading from PMG – Indonesian. When I am reading Indonesian and trying to figure out the translation, time goes by fast. But unfortunately it did not make me sleepy. Finally sometime after 4:00 I managed to go back to sleep until 6:00.

We continue to read from the Kitab Mormon. I am not sure we are any faster than the last time but I think we are doing a better job translating. Few words stop us and we can take the time to work out the correct word order, who is the subject, and when it is happening. It is encouraging.

It is P-day so we only had a morning IE class but we got a lot done. We are less than a week from graduation and so we are trying hard to get them prepared to take the Michigan test next Wednesday. I am working on reading comprehension and inferences. I also worked on some grammar that I thought might show up. Hopefully we are teaching what they need. They are a great group and have amazing talent.

We got some good news. Ronald has an interview next Monday for a job in Bandung. I called Lukito and he will come in tomorrow to work with Ronald about interview techniques. Hopefully between that and the confidence he has gained over the last month will prepare him for a great interview. I plan to write a letter of recommendation for him. I found something out about Daisy. She can memorize very quickly. Today she took about a minute to memorize the vocabulary words we were going over. She is much like Vita only with out her outward vitality. But she never complains and works very hard. I really hope she make at least 72 – 75 on the Michigan test. I also hope Rudi shows a big increase on this test.

As soon as the morning classes were over we headed for the mission office while they went home to do washing, cleaning up, and I would guess some sleeping. They will go to president Smith’s house tonight. We got some great news at the office. All of our burned out equipment is back up and running except for our big printer. It will be ready tomorrow – we hope. It would have been much easier if we had had it during the month but at least we will be all together by the weekend.

We all ate from BYU – Mary had soup and ayam sate. I had my usual rice, potatoes, and tempe – no cucumbers today. After lunch Mary went in to teach her English class and I just hung around talking to people such as Elder Roper, Hendra, and brother Tandiman. I also had a nice conversation with elder Walker. He and his wife are great people and have been a lot of help to us during this month.

After the mission office we went to SoGo for our fix of orange juice and BreadTalk. We also got the fixings for French Toast and other things for dinner on Saturday. We are going to have the students over and teach them how to make French Toast. I think only Daisy has ever had it before.

On the way home it rained like mad. I thought it would cause a real mess but instead it cut down on the traffic. First it took most of the motorcycles off the street. It also stopped pedestrian traffic so going past Carrefore was a snap. I think it also made some folks postpone their traveling until it slow down or stopped. In any case instead of taking the hour that Sam thought it would be, we got home in 25 minutes.

At home we read a couple of times from the Kitab Mormon. We got the brothers back to their father’s tent and then back from Jerusalem for the second time with the family of Ishmael. Laman and Lemuel would make a great case study of people who can not really make up their minds on what they want or are willing to do. Their seemingly true repentance on the journey back to camp after their second trip holds up for a while and then as Nephi says they forget all that the Lord has done, the angels and miracles they have seen, and all the other examples and signs they have been shown. They just will not give up their worldliness and trust in the Lord.

If these guys crash, they will have more than 7 years bad luck. I like the one on the right that makes it look like the driver is looking backwards. The other makes it look like they are about to run into a tree.

While we were waiting for a light this man with his trash cart stopped in front of us. He could not get up on the sidewalk because we were blocking the driveway. After a while the policeman walked over and started giving him some suggestions about other routes he might take, but the old gentleman had been around too long for the police to cause him any concern. He knew which way he was going to go and that was that. The young policeman gave up with a smile and let him do it his way.

On our way to the store we stopped where I could take a picture of the soon to be pouring sky. None of these pictures captured the real beauty of the sky but I played with the original on the left and came up with these other versions of what it looked like. I think the far right one is close. The one below is my favorites – it reminds me of Utah in the winter. I think it would make a great puzzle.

 

We really work our students. This is what they do during lunch hour. I thought Sam had died, but he came back for the afternoon class. I love the one with the sister sleeping on four chairs – whatever works I guess.

31 October 2007 – Wednesday

Another month in my life comes to an end. I really slept in today and so did not go to the gym. I must say that it felt great. I spent part of the morning catching up on posting to the blog. I did not realize that I was three days behind. Olivia’s blog had great pictures of her and her parents. She is growing up fast. Kristy looks good – and pregnant.

We started reading the Kitab Mormon for the third time. We have decided to not set any goal to how long we will take. It is better to just read, learn and enjoy. When we get home we need to read it together in English and ponder and discuss what we read. I wish I could say that most of what we read sticks in my mind, but that would not be true. I have never been able to hold most of the thousands of books I have read over my lifetime in my memory. The old saying of in one ear and out the other seems to be my motto.

Thinking back on what we read this morning, I feel that Lehi fits nicely into the kind of person that sister Hallstrom suggested we be. That is when he heard the prophets, he went out and prayed for his people. Thinking of others as so many of the people in the Book of Mormon. Then when he was given his duties, he went out and did them with all his strength. He had that “fire in his bones” that sister Hallstrom talked about. Even though he was mocked and threatened with death he continued to speak out. He fulfilled his calling – his mission – with all of his heart, mind, might and strength until he was released by the Lord. He was an example for his son Nephi as hopefully we will be for our children and grandchildren.

We had a good day of teaching. They young people are working hard – most of them stay up until midnight studying and doing homework. They do not complain but at lunch time many of them take naps. I really hope that the effort they and us make is worth what they learn. I often think that we are not the people who should be doing this. But the Lord puts here at this time so I have faith that this is for His purpose.

After the afternoon class was over, we hurried back to the apartment before the cleaning lady showed up. We were happy to see Mugi when she come. She had come back to Jakarta with a case of typhus, which is why she did not come last week. We have no idea how old Mugi is – she could be anywhere from early 20’s to mid-30’s. She has a great smile and personality. We just wish we could speak to her better.

Over the course of the night we read two more times from the Kitab Mormon. We got to where Nephi and his brothers had been chased from Laban’s house leaving their valuables behind. I wonder which side I would have been on if I was with them at this time. I can understand Laman and Lemuel’s point. It reminded me of David and Goliath. The host of Israel is afraid of the mighty warrior, and here is David not only willing, but as sister Hallstrom just reminded me, he was so eager that he ran towards Goliath.

I doubt if I ever will have to face a choice such as that, but how often am I so eager to go home teaching, or to the temple, or to church, or to PEC, etc,  that I can not wait to get out the door. I am more likely to be excited about going to a show, going shopping, or going out to eat.

I am continuing to study in the Indonesian PMG. Some sections I can go through quickly without looking up more than one or two words. Then I hit a part that looks like Greek to me – three or four words in a row look new. But I trust that the more I read the more I will learn. I can read far more words today than the first time I tried this 7 months ago. So there is hope.

I had a nice Skype chat with the Christensens’ in Hong Kong this evening. They asked me if we had our new computer and I said I was waiting for approval from brother Burr. They told me that he had given the request to them and they had sent an e-mail giving approval if there was money in the budget. It turned out Mary had read the letter but I had completely missed it. So now we can go forth and get a new computer and monitor. Yeah!

As I was walking back from the bank, I came across these two children and their dad and I asked if I could take a picture. You could see the pride in the father’s eye as I paid attention to his children. Later I watched them drive away. The little girl sitting behind her dad holding on to his jacket.

Everyone needs a job and salt. This man is seen delivering and selling it in a traditional market.

When you stop for gas, there are people who are allowed to try and sell you their goods. This man is selling crepes, but with little success.

This is a fruit snack salesman. There are many of them on the streets but this man’s cart is either new or he really takes care of it. We would not dare eat from a cart like this.

This is the elder’s choir that sang in Zone Conference. From left to right – Elders Louhannapessy, Rowberry, Teng, unknown, Roper, Cowan. They did a good job and Mary played for them.

30 October 2007 – Tuesday

I got up and went to the gym before anyone else was up. By the time I got back Mary was up and dressed. I quickly showed and dressed before the Kanes got moving. We read from the Kitab Mormon for a short time before Mary had breakfast with the Kanes. Earlier I had my usual orange juice and banana breakfast. We got a nice letter from McKay and I answered it. She seems to be quite busy at school. She is in a choir and is going out for a play. I wrote her an answer.

We head off for the zone conference and when we get there I figure out I left the office keys back at the apartment so Sam and I have to go back. He does a great job of getting us there and back just before 8:30. When I get into the office something smells wrong but I am a little late in getting up to the meeting that – I found out later – was supposed to start with a half hour of meditation to get spiritually prepared for the conference. Without knowing it, that is what I do by reading from PMG – some of the time in Indonesian. Mary played for the conference including a half hour of prelude music.

Elder Hallstrom asked all the missionaries to come up and shake hands. To the young missionaries he gave a piece of counsel. President and sister Marchant also greeted us. As I shook hands with them, I received more testimony that they were called of God to lead this mission at this time.

The five hours of meetings went rather fast. I enjoyed the lessons taught by Elder Hallstrom and wrote lots of notes in my ledger. I was very impressed with sister Hallstrom’s talks – she gave one in the first half and one in the second. In both of them she used the scriptures to make her point. Now many speakers read the scriptures when giving a talk but she wove the scriptures into hers like a true artist would weave material. She used Jeremiah 20:7-9 and Alma 48:7-9 for her second talk. My favorite thought from her was “Do you have fire in your bones” for your mission.

Elder Hallstrom did more training than teaching. I got two great quotes from him that take a lot of thought. “Are we messengers worthy of our message.” “We mistake activity in the church as being the same as activity in the gospel.”  When he spoke about ‘vain repetitions.” He pointed out that this does not mean we can not ask the same thing in each of our prayers if we are sincere. What makes repetitions vain is that they are just words without any real meaning.

The real high point for me was near the end when some of the missionaries went up and bore their testimony. Elder Hallstrom said that he was in a meeting where 12 prophets and seers gave their testimonies in a total of 12 minutes. So the testimonies that were given were short and powerful. Elder Whitmore started it and it just kept going – about 2/3 of them touched me deeply. What power there is in personal testimonies – especially those of serving missionaries. I was sorry to have them stopped so Elder Hallstrom could share his testimony.

While the conference was going on some other interesting things were happening that had impact on Mary and I. The main one was that there seems to have been a power surge in the building that fried a number of our pieces of equipment. We lost our last printer, one computer and a monitor. Luckily for us it seems that happened was that anything that was on with a power supply or a converter was zapped. So all that we should need is to replace the converters on printer and the monitor and they will be OK. Hopefully when they replace the power supply in the computer it also will work fine. Personally all I really care about is that we do not lose all the info on the hard drive. We have not backed it up – something we will do very quickly. But until they are fixed we have only one computer and no printer at our office. Surprisingly after the first shock, I did not become excited about the problem. I guess I am learning a little more about patience. I guess it helped that the conference was on and I really had to attend so I left it to Ari to get the damaged piece to Hendra at the office.

After the conference we came back to the apartment and we have spent the evening finishing the Kitab Mormon – we made it in 100 days which is 20 less than we had set for our goal. The time is not what is important – what is important is that we were able to become closer to the book and also that we continue to improve our ability to read Indonesian. At least the Indonesian used in the Kitab Mormon.

I spent much of the rest of the time we had catching up this journal and reviewing my conference notes. I also downloaded, titled, and edited the pictures from the last two days. I will read more from PMG before finally turning off the lights.