Everywhere there are bougainvillea blooming – except on our deck where we have this big bush of leaves and not even one flower. Mary and sister Kane with one of the orphans at the Muslim orphanage we visited to see their mushroom project.

15 July 2007 – Minggu

I slept much better than I expected and did not wake until almost 5. I took the computer out to the living room so Mary could sleep and I could write my talk. Since most of it was well established in my head or in notes I had been making over the last few days. The main problem is keeping it short enough but still getting the points across – this is why I wish I could speak the language. It will be interesting and probably stressing to see how it comes out.

Sam dropped us off at the branch and then headed for his branch. We were happy to see the Lees there. They are a great couple and have good English skills. President Lee was to be the last speaker. I talked to Hendra about who would translate for me and he said he would ask Lukito – if he came. As we sat on the stand waiting for the meeting to start I noticed how few people there were in attendance. Then just before the meeting started and for a little time after that they streamed in. I do not know if they had all been down in the foyer or if they just arrived but it reminded me of home and ‘Mormon Time.’ Brother Leo brought a family of bulais from Salt Lake to sacrament meeting. They seemed like a great family – one son on a mission and another hoping to get his call in a week.

There were four speakers and the second sister who spoke took at least 20 minutes. I decided that I needed to cut my talk way back or president Lee would not have any time. So I cut out all but the idea the danger of ‘dwindling’ in unbelief. The problem was when it came time to translate ‘dwindle’ Lukito could not translate it…we got a good laugh as we tried to work it out. Also since I was winging the talk, he could not get anything from my notes. So I entertained even if I did not teach much. However in thinking about it, I would guess that more folks listened carefully to my talk than others since they wondered what would come next. I ended by bearing my testimony in Bahasa and I think I did a fairly good job. Sister Lee was translating for Mary and I thought I saw a spiritual look in her eyes – but perhaps she was tearing up from laughter.

The elders had a full house in their Gospel Principles class. One investigator and four or five new or inactive members. One of the sisters had been baptized in Bandung back in the 70’s but had become inactive. She saw them on the street and stopped to say hello and said she would come to church. I forgot to bring the English version of the manual so we did not follow much of the lesson but since it was on the law of chastity we had a pretty good idea of what was being said.

PH was good – it was on worshiping things of this earth instead of God. I mentioned that not all modern idols are evil – such as those who put their calling in the kingdom before their family or those who do not go on a mission because they can not leave their kids and grandkids. They do not understand that the best way they could show love for them would be to be an example for them.

After the meeting we walked out to the street and a cab immediately pulled up. He was a really nice young man but he had no idea where Puri Casablanca might be. But we have made the trip enough now to know how to direct him so it took a little longer – he was hesitant along the way – we got home in good time.

Once at home I broke my fast and thank the Lord for his help with my talk. Then I ate lunch and took a nap – which stretched to almost 3 hours. I guess I was exhausted. Which is strange since I slept well last night. After I woke up I helped Mary clean up the house for when the sisters come tonight for dinner. We then read from the Kitab Mormon – I will be glad when Ether is over. We are in the battle section and to me it is a waste of good plates.

We called the sisters to check that they were coming and it turned out that they were running really late and had to cancel. So instead of having hot dogs, French fries, and fruit salad we will have chicken, French fries and veggies from the place downstairs. Mary said it was a great sacrifice but she guessed it was OK.

While we were at Jakarta Raya, president Anthony gave me a letter from a mother who wrote that her son was coming to Indonesia in early August and would like to have some info about what to see in Indonesia. I wrote him and her that we would be happy to help. She wrote back but I have not heard from him yet. He has been in Taiwan for a year and is going to Singapore, Bali and then here. Either he has a lot of money or he is living on the beach. It will be interesting to get to know more about him. He served his mission in the Philippines so he should be used to roughing it.

I am having a strange evening. I seem to have a nagging little headache – something that is occurring much too often this month and can not concentrate on anything for very long. I have tried reading from the D&C and the Kitab Mormon but after 10 minutes I am through. I can not even get interested in TV. What interests me most is going to bed…but after a 3 hour nap that seems ridiculous.

I finally found something that needed to be done and that I could stick with – I put titles on all the pictures we have taken in July and then started on June. I realized that if we do not do this, we will not remember where they were taken. And certainly none of our children or grandchildren who may someday look through them will know. Anyway this kept me occupied until about 9:30 when I went to bed and read from the D&C and then Harry Potter.

 

14 July 2007 – Sabtu

I woke at about 3:30 and could not ever really go back to sleep. I spent most of the time thinking about my talk for tomorrow. I have it pretty much worked out in my mind and so it should not be too hard to put it down on paper. I am going to do it in English so I only need half the time because the interpretation takes the other half.

After I finally gave up with trying to sleep, I tried to write an outline but it did not seem to want to come out. Strange how that works at times. I will try again later today. I posted all my journal so it is up to date. I also put in a lot of pictures from our trip this week.

We read from the Kitab Mormon – soon we will be in Moroni and headed for the finish. Except for one section of one verse we did quite well today.

We went to the office where there is going to be all kinds of things going on. I worked on a letter to Elder Cook about getting special approval for Indonesia and the PEF so that we could get some loans out this year. Elder Subandriyo and President Marchant need to sign off on it. Later the sisters brought in an investigator and Sam helped him get set up on JobsDB. He has a good skill and so hopefully we will find him a job.

While Sam finished up him, Mary took the Michigan test and I was the monitor. There were two others taking the test. It was good to be able to read the test and see what the questions were like. Mary finished in about 40 minutes – the test allows 75. I read through it – a young man who was supposed to take the test did not show up until it was over so I had his to read. It was interesting to see the kind of grammar questions they asked and the level of vocabulary. The vocabulary was pretty easy and I thought the grammar was fair. However the reading skills section was pretty difficult.

After the test was over we had to sit around and wait for brother Tandiman to finish with Seminary graduation so I could turn the tests over to him. I was filling in for him as monitor and money collector. We did have a chance to talk to the Kanes for a few minutes and at least say hello to President Marchant and Elder Subandriyo – as well as most branch presidents.

We caught a cab home – Sam was staying to take part in the missionary reunion festivities. A lot of native missionaries from the past were showing up by the time we left. We caught a cab almost as soon as we stepped out on the curb and the traffic was light so less than 15 minutes after we closed up the office we were in our apartment.

I thought I would catch a nap but instead I found myself watching the 4th Harry Potter movie. The least favorite of the four but it prepares us for the movie that soon comes out here. It ended at about the time we needed to get ready to go the wedding.

Sam had Johan Salim with him so we made a party of 4. We got there way early – especially since the bride and group did not come into the hall until almost 7:30. But there were some members that we knew and Sam introduced us to his real mother and father. Later the Tandiman’s showed up with all of their family so we had a nice Mormon contingent. The wedding and reception cost about $50,000 – in the US it would have been easily $250,000. The flowers alone would have run $20K or more in the US. The hotel was one of the best in Jakarta.

There was all kinds of food in great abundance. After the opening celebration – most of which we watched from afar, we had some fruit and creme puffs before going up and meeting the bridal family. One thing that is different is how fast people go through the line – 200 or more went through in 15 – 20 minutes.  After that we had some more substantial food, including mahi-mahi. There was probably 40 different dishes plus fruit, salad and desserts. And anytime you finished a plate you just put it down and it disappeared.

After most of the line was done, I went up and took a picture of the bride and groom. Then I struck up a conversation with the photographer by commenting on his camera. He spoke good English so we had a good time talking about photography. I told him I enjoyed his pictures of the engaged couple – especially one where they were blowing bubbles. He gave me points for being about to talk about composition and lighting. I had just enough knowledge to appear to know more than I do. I should have given him a pass-a-long card.

The taxi ride home took less than 15 minutes and the driver was a really nice fellow who tried to speak English. I think he knew more than he let on. I gave him a big tip and it still only came to $3.00. I commented to Mary that I think this was the first time we ever came home with absolutely nothing in our hands – not even her purse. Usually we look like we are going on a long trip.

I should be writing my talk but I think I will put it off until tomorrow morning. My brain is about fried – I have been awake for over 18 hours.

So here are some pictures from our resent trip to Bogor and the ocean. The first two are easy to understand. The next two are pictures of cloves drying-they are spread out everywhere there is a flat place that gets sun. The next picture is a river guides take out point. In the spring – that is during rainy season – the river is all 3 and 4 rapids. It must be a wild ride. The next three pictures were taken at an orphanage. Indonesians are very clean – when you see a dirty Indonesian you know that they do not have any access to any kind of water because most Indonesians take two showers or baths a day. This is the first really chubby child I have seen here. The woman in the beautiful dress and big hat was in the nice village that we visited to see the water project. I am sorry that I did not notice that her face was so much in the shade. She had a wonderful smile.

13 July 2007 – Jumat

Friday the 13th but no one here makes much of that. Hopefully it will not be a day with any problems. I woke at just about 5 and studied Indonesian – I tried to read Elder Holland’s talk from conference but I have already forgot many of the words. Normal morning – after our showers I put in a load of clothes.

While we were reading the Kitab Mormon my cellphone (handphone here) went off and when I tried to answer it all I heard was ‘Elder Pier’ and then it cut off. My new phone does not seem to have a program for re-calling the last incoming call so I was not sure who it might be but I decided it was probably brother Tandiman calling about today’s meeting at 10:00 so I called him. It turned out it was not him but he told me that the meeting had been re-scheduled to 9:00 he had tried to call me last night and when he could not reach me he sent me an e-mail but to the office account which I can not read here. Since it was already 8:30, I called Sam and asked if he could come right away and that if he took a motorcycle taxi I would pay. About 10 minutes later he was at the door and we were out of the apartment by 8:45. The traffic was not bad so we were only 5 minutes late and none of the others were really ready. I guess I will never know who called at 8:30 and hung-up after saying “Elder Pier.” It is hard for me to believe that the Lord felt the meeting was important enough to have one of the three Nephites call, but who knows.

The meeting included Elder Subandriyo, president Marchant, brother Tandiman and us. All three of those men had or were presidents of the Indonesian mission. We did not take long in the meeting to come up with a champion  – Sister Endang from Solo – and how much we thought that would be loaned the first and second year. We then discussed what needed to be done and we came up with meeting with the youth in central Java the last part of July and August. Brother Tandiman is going to write an information sheet for PEF applicants. I am going to write up the information needed by Hong Kong and a request for quick action on getting clearance so we can get people in school in January or before. Elder Subandriyo and President Marchant will sign off on that and we hope to have it cleared before the end of the month.

We then waited until district meeting that started just after 11. We recited D&C 4 in Indonesian and English at a pace that allowed the couples to keep up even in Indonesian. It felt good. We then all reported our missions – the couples took much longer than needed. That includes us but we had a lot to talk about with PEF, English, ERS, and looking for something for older people to do. President and Sister Marchant came in and that also added to the meeting. I believe they will attend if they are available. I am not sure what the office elders think about this but I think it is great.

After the meeting we went to SoGo and got groceries and of course BreadTalk. Mary found a new bread that is a rolled bread that is filled with blueberry jam. I am sure it is highly nutritional. Then it was back to the apartment where Mary rested and I wrote this until it was time for her to go to her English class at the university. She feels obligated to go because one of her students wrote saying how much she missed having the class. I am staying home to work on the things that we need for PEF and to start on my talk for Sunday. I double checked with Hendra and they really do want me to talk on the Great Apostasy. I will really need the Lord’s help to come up with something that is different that might keep the members awake.

Mary got to the university to find that there would be no class because her students were busy. I told her that she should just forget about trying to hold a class there. Not long after she got home there was a letter from one of the students telling her how sorry she was for not being there and pleading that she come next week and she would make sure that all three students would be there.

We then watched ‘Ocean’s 13′ which I thought was pretty lame. There was just not enough action and while some of the dialogue was OK, it was not as good as the first two. And the idea that you could get one tunnel digging machine into the Las Vegas underground is hard to swallow, but the idea that you can get two – one of which you import from Europe in a couple of days – is plain impossible. So while I am all for suspending belief at times while watching movies, I think giving it up completely is too much of a good thing.

We ordered in our Friday date night pizza – dinner and a show is still going strong even in Indonesia and tried to find something on TV to watch. There was nothing so Mary crocheted and I am not sure what I did until it was time to read the Kitab Mormon. We are now within 30 pages of finishing.

I see from Cindy’s blog that Tyler now has a driver’s license – that means at least two of our grandchildren may be out on the streets of SL. That is a scary thought – even if we are in Jakarta.

12 July 2007 – Kamis

I slept like a rock last night. I do not think I woke even once. We did our usual morning things. I had orange juice and a banana for breakfast. It still amazes me how quickly the mornings shoot by. We read from the Kitab Mormon – we are under 40 pages from the end. We had a number of letters come in while we were gone. I answered one from Eko who was one of our students. He is not doing well but I told him to get out and find some kind of job.

We spent four hours in the office catching up e-mail, planning our English class for the evening and other mission related tasks that seem to have built up while we were gone. Mary had made tuna sandwiches but I decided I wanted an Indonesian meal so I had Sam buy he and I lunch. It was really good – I still am careful about red peppers but enjoy some of the spicy flavor.

After we closed our office we went to the mission office. We picked up our and the Tangerang elder’s mail, spoke to Elder Subandriyo about a number of things including having a PEF meeting tomorrow morning, and dropped an English grammar book off for the president to approve.

The drive to the Tangerang chapel was helped by the fact that I dropped off to sleep for about half of it. I wish I could do that more often. Really what I should do during the travel time is study, but I am not disciplined enough to do that very often. May before we are released I will learn to do that more often.

District meeting was one of the best I have been in. Since I think I said about the same thing about last Friday’s meeting, maybe I am just getting use to it. However I think the fact that most of it was done in English or using texts I could follow helps it not be boring. We shared some good spiritual thoughts about teaching and the need to call upon the spirit more often to know what the people need to hear and adjust our teaching to their needs. Even elder Wight, who I consider one of the best missionaries we have met, commented on the fact that he felt that often he had been so concerned about getting across the message, he did not think about if it was appropriate or not.

No one was there at 6 for our class but Agus and his children showed up at 6:20 but I think they were only there so Catherin could go to the CostCo like store next door. So we talked for a while and then we left for home without teaching any English. I think the only way we will build up the English class is to find some way to get the members excited about coming. Obviously they do not think it worth their time.

The trip home went very quickly and that was nice. I spent much of the evening catching up this journal for the last three days and then we read from the Kitab Mormon. What I have not been doing is reading from the D&C on a regular basis.

11 July 2007 – Rabu

I woke many times during the night but always went back to sleep so I was well rested. I got a little reading from the D&C in before the house came alive. I also walked around a few blocks. We had breakfast and then I made sandwiches for lunch while Mary cut up apples. We were out of the house before 7:30.

Even though we spent 6 to 7 of the next 11 hours in a car it was a super day. First we went to see a water project that had just been finished. This meant we toured through a nicest village I have seen since we were here and Elder Kane it was the same for him. We walked through the village and the surrounding hillsides looking at identical distribution points – that is the places where the villagers hook up pipes to get water to their homes. Each distribution point provides water to 6 to 10 families and there were about 20 of them in this part of the project. This means some 150 families now have fresh, clean water for the first time in their lives.

It seemed to be a very prosperous village with stone or concrete walks around most of it. The women and children looked healthy and as always very friendly. The men were either at work or stayed in the house. There were rice paddies, lots of fish ponds, and the villagers were drying cloves about anywhere there was a piece of flat ground. They seemed to have lots of goats – which are kept in small pens that stand about five feet off the ground. My guess is it keeps them from straying and getting killed by wild animals or snakes. Whatever the reason it is strange to walk by a pen and find a goat looking straight into your face.

The village had electricity and many of them had TV. We felt it was interesting that there were families who could not seem to afford to run pipe to their homes at the cost of about $15 US but they had TVs going. I guess it all depends on what you value most.

I enjoyed most of the walking and Mary was a real champ about keep up with most of it. But there were a couple of times where I suggested she wait for us to come back because the walk was going to be mostly up hill. She made lots of friends while we were away. The only problem I had was that I started sweating and just could not stop. If I had thought to bring a small towel or two with me it would have been fine but I could not get the moisture off fast enough.

After touring the water project we went to a bamboo cabin built right next to a river and had lunch. It was beautiful and peaceful and after an hour I came close to stopping sweating but not entirely. We told Taufik – the native engineer who oversees the project and knows how to wine and dine the money folks – about the store we use to own. He was greatly surprised when we told him we sold 2 men tents that sold for up to $600. He was very interested and asked us to get him a catalog.

After lunch we left Taufik and his group – he has a good size crew that oversees all the work – and headed for the ocean which was about 30 minutes away. This was the first time we saw a real beach and ocean that looked like the ones at Redondo and Hawaii. It stretches for miles and miles and during the week there are very few people. There are only a couple of hotels and they did not seem to have much in the way of customers. We walked the beach and Mary got wet up to her knees. She also collect seashells from the Indian Ocean. I just walked along the beach and looked at the waves crashing into rocks and felt like I was back in California. The sky was clear, there was the breeze that always seems to come in the afternoon, and there were a few people enjoying the beach. This is an area this is almost untouched by foreign visitors – but I am sure that will change some time in the future. The town is one of the neatest and quietest we have seen. Beautiful bougainvillea planted along the wide, clean streets. It looks as if some one laid out the town for a busy future time. Very wise in my estimation.

The trip home took the best part of 2 hours. During our time in the car we talked about our missions, our families, our pasts, and Indonesia. It would have much more comfortable if there had been a second back seat so we could spread out some. But it still was a nice day.

Sam was waiting for us when we got back to the Kanes. Sister Kane insisted we have some bread and cheese to tide us over for the trip home. There are no nicer people in the world than the Kanes – we are so glad that we have had the chance to get to know them so well. They are doing an excellent job in their area.

The trip home was much easier and quicker than I expected. It took only about an hour so we got home before ‘On the Lot’ started. I am not sure why we like this program. Most of the movies are not very good but the average quality is getting better as the number of directors gets smaller. It has to be an expensive program to produce and I do not think we will see a second season.

After it was over we read from the Kitab Mormon. Mary actually had us stop a little early because she was so tired. Unfortunately she had twisted her knee – fortunately it was almost at the end of our trip to the beach so while she suffered, it did not cause any inconvenience.

So our two day working vacation came to an end. I doubt if we will do that very often but it was good to do it this time.

10 July 2007 – Selasa

We woke early, packed, ate breakfast, read for a short time from Kitab Mormon and then left for Bogor to spend the Tuesday and Wednesday with the Kanes.

On Tuesday we visited two mushroom projects run by orphanages – one which was functioning and one that was getting started. The one that was functioning was not doing so at any great rate. It seemed to me that they were bagging product only because we were coming by. According to the man running the program they harvest about 2 kilos of mushrooms at a time and use it in the kitchen. This is not a very good production from something that cost $600 to start.

As we drove along Elder Kane told me that the large mushroom project that we had seen 6 weeks ago was only producing $80 in profits a month. This means they are not getting 20% of the potential from it. So it must be sitting unused for 80% of the time. Either that or they are producing bad product that does not germinate. It shows again that few of the people are motivated to be fully productive. Which is why Indonesian labor has one of the lowest productivity rates in the world.

After seeing the last project, we went to the gong factory. After seeing the ‘factory’ I was convinced that they did not produce the large gongs there and if they produced any gongs at that factory it was small ones because they had no molds for large gongs. Elder Kane agrees with me about that – the factory is all for show. My guess is that there is a large factory somewhere with more modern equipment that turns out the large gongs. We went to the show room and sounded a lot of gongs and bid on one but they would not match my price so we left.

After doing some shopping for office supplies and food to make lunch for tomorrow we went back to their house to drop off the perishables and other foods. Then we went to a ceramic store that again must cater to tourists because everything was greatly overpriced. But the ladies found some 50% off stuff they could not pass up. While they shopped I sat outside and took pictures and played with a dog that seemed to belong there.

Then it was time for dinner and the Kanes took us to their favorite pizza place. I had BBQ chicken pizza and while it was not as good as Pier 49’s BBQ chicken pizza, it was still quite good. Their driver dropped us off at their house and headed to his home. We basically had time to change over to the Kanes car before leaving for the Rotary Club meeting. It was not what I expected. There were only 3 people besides us when it started and three other joined us as it moved along. Elder Kane says that is about normal for a meeting, but they get a lot done.

The president is a retired Dutch pilot and he showed lots of pictures of airplane accidents. Way too many of them for my taste and with very little useful commentary. When that was over they talked about a couple of things and called it a night.

We went back to the house where Sister Kane made some great dessert crepes and we played a couple of games before heading off to bed. Mary and I read for about ½ hour before turning off the lights.

I can not say that it was a great spiritual day, but seeing the mushroom projects made me cautious about getting too excited about the prospect of this being the answer to helping the poor. Hopefully the oriental plant project will be more viable. But in no case will it work unless the people involved are willing to work hard each day.  Also talking to the Kanes about what they are doing with their English class and in their branch was informative. It gave me some ideas on what we could do. So while it was not the most spiritually productive day of our mission it was certainly worth experiencing.

We just spent two days visiting our friends in Bogor, Elder and Sister Kane. They are Humanitarian missionaries and we visited some of their projects with them. We traipsed around in the mountains visiting water projects which supply running water to homes in small villages which before always had to bring water to their homes in small buckets. It was very interesting to see cloves spread out on canvas tarps or in wicked baskets drying in the sun. Also I got to see a rice mill in action while the others were hiking up a very steep trail to see another portion of a water project. When we were finished we ate lunch in a small cottage (all built of bamboo) beside a spectacular river and I walked across a suspension bridge to a small group camping area on an island in the middle of the river. After lunch someone told us the seashore was only 10 kilometers away so we drove down to the beach. We took lots of beautiful pictures and I waded in the surf and collected a handful of small shells. When I get home I can add them to the shells I have collected from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. (Not a valuable collection, but one with memories.) During the trip we saw tea plantations, teakwood trees, rice paddies, cloves and rice being dried in the sun, rubber trees, papaya trees,  banana trees, coconut trees and palm oil trees–quite a variety of agriculture.

09 July 2007 – Senin

I was up soon after 5 and tried to read a talk by elder Packard – it was rather frustrating because there were words I should know but just could not understand. But I keep plugging along hoping that the gift of tongues will someday kick in.

We had a nice – if often interrupted – Skype call from Cindy. It is always great to hear from the children. Cindy pointed out that we talk or hear from her much more than when we were living at home. She is of course correct. Later we read from the Kitab Mormon – it went much better than my earlier studying. After that I wrote our report to the president. Now it almost time for me to leave with Sam to go to visit the T2 elder’s apartment. We were going to T1 but they are heading to the mission office so we will get them next week.

Since we have plans for the evening, we decided I would do the apartment inspection and Mary would stay home so the cleaning lady could come. It takes about an hour to get to the T2 apartment and almost all the way is driving through one kampung – a group of houses that is kind of like a small town – after another. Each seems to have it’s own market which slows everything down. In the US driving the same distance would probably take 20 minutes or less.

There are only two elders in the house and it was new just a couple of years ago. Now it is OK but there are mold spots on the ceiling, the yard is terrible – there is supposed to be someone who comes around and takes care of it but whoever it is does not do a very good job – and of course the paint is like chalk so it can not be cleaned. The elders seem do a good job keeping it as clean as they can. Their desks are not very neat but I am not the one to complain about that.

After our hour drive back, Sam dropped me off and I had some lunch and then tried to take a nap before we left to pick up the Petersons and go to the Jakarta fair. I did not have any luck at this.

The fair was OK but mainly it was like any fair with lots of people trying to sell things. If there was a horticulture area or an animal area we did not get there. The biggest spaces were taken up by the large motorcycle companies. Sam was very excited about seeing the new Yamaha cycles. The one he wants costs $3000 – about what he makes in 18 months.

So we walked around looking mainly at crafts. There were some really nice things and a lot of junk. They have lots of gadgets, health products, and of course food for sale. We ended up buying a wooden duck, a nice piece of petrified wood, a dress and a couple of necklaces for Mary and a Nativity set. After about 2 ½ hours we were all walked and talked out. So we headed home. We stopped at the Mall and ate at the only BurgerKing in Indonesia. It was the best burger I have had since we got here. A Whopper como sells for $3.90 US – about what an Indonesian worker will make in a day – and the place was busy. Just across the courtyard was an Indonesian copy of without any business. This is true of many businesses where there is a US based company and a native business.

However when it comes to Krispy Kreme and JoCo it is exactly the opposite. JoCo is always busy with lots of people sitting around drinking coffee or other drinks and eating donuts while Krispy Kreme has to offer buy one get two free to get any business. The difference is JoCo makes donuts with toppings that are tailored to the Indonesian taste while KK tries to sell the same ones that work in the US. Also JoCo has lots of nice booths or tables where friends can sit around and eat and eat in a quirt softer lighted area. KK has their standard booths with bright lights. JoCo lays their donuts out in a 30 foot long glass counter with great lighting so people can walk along and choose what they want. It is hard to pass up any of them. KK has all theirs in case that does not make any of them look interesting – mainly because they are not. It is a classic case of selling what the people want in the most appealing way and therefore becoming a success.

By the time we got home we were beat and so any thought of packing for our two day trip to Bogor was long gone from our minds. We did read from the Kitab Mormon but not for the full hour. While we were out I got a call from Hong Kong about PEF. I need to put together some figures and send them in and hopefully something will get done. Perhaps the fact there is a new mission president will help. I will not be able to do this until we get home on Thursday.

08 July 2007 – Minggu

I had a hard time getting started this morning. I woke about 5 but crawled back into bed. I did a little studying of Indonesian but we did not read from the Kitab Mormon. I would like to use the excuse that we have to leave at 7:15 to make it to Jakarta Raya for an 8 a.m. meeting. Or that since I woke with an annoying headache I was afraid that reading would cause it to hurt more. But the truth is neither of us seemed to want to read this morning.

We went to Tangerang 1 sacrament meeting. Mary played the piano and Elder Wight translated for us so we had a good idea of what was going on. I try very hard to hear the words, even if I can not translate them. Sometimes the speaker talks slow enough that I can hear most of them as words but one sister spoke so fast I don’t think I ‘heard’ 1 out of 20. All the speakers gave talks on missionary work.

After the 1st sacrament meeting we decided to stay in the chapel and talk to the people who were streaming in for T2’s branch conference. I very glad that we did because I met a member who hires translators for Dodge Philips. They have to go live on an island but they get all their housing paid for and a decent wage. Add to this a chance to work for a multi-national company that has a pension plan and it looks like a good job. I told him I would try to find some resumes for him.

I would have loved to have been able to understand the talks in branch conference. President Gjarot and president Mack spoke. I could feel the strength of president Mack’s words even if I could not understand them. The branch choir – led by our friend Agus – was excellent. As good or better than most ward choirs back in the states – at least those we have heard. I could feel their faith as they sung.

After that meeting the other meetings were hard to sit through. However I must say that the Gospel Principles class was really well taught by elder (we can not remember his name.) He went well beyond the material. There was a family who has just moved here from Melang where they were baptized about 4 months ago. One of their daughters has not joined. They all seemed quite interested and will make a great addition to the branch.

While we were there I spoke to the branch presidents about giving us lists of less actives they would like us to work with. President Paul thought I said active and gave me a great list of those but when I told him I wanted less actives he said he would get back to me later. So now we will wait for the three presidents to get us their lists. I feel good about this and think that it is important.

In the evening we got great letters from two of our students. I am including them here so that they will become part of my journal. It is wonderful to see the fruits of our labors. It gives me great hope for future classes.

From our best student – Vita
Thanks 4 the email,n4 missing me….today is my b’day….n im so happy received ur email. Sorry i can’t answer ur email soon, i was very busy n didn’t have time 2 go to Warnet. I have a good news 4 u…..central java distric,called me as coordinator 4 distric translater…..hehehe im so happy…even little bit nervous….ough not just little bit, very nervous.
And yesterday, we had distric meeting with president n sister merchant, anna n i translated for sister merchant,sis.barnard,sis.roberts,sis.bennet,in relief society meeting.
And this morning in sacrament meeting i translated 4 sis.merchant who gave talk.
Well….i miss the class….unbelieveble, when i was in jakarta, i had homesick n now i miss the class…..n i miss both of u………hehehe
There is one sister from new york who stay in jogja for study, n he learn to speak in indonesia. So we decided to help each other,i speak in english to her,n she speaks in indonesia to me. And we correct each other. Well i like that, i have partner to exercise my english.
And i found a program in english on radio,even just 1 hour in a day, but i can improve my listening….. i also watch news program in english on tv…..well i do the best i can to keep practise my english.
Well….i miss u , and thank you……

From Jin-young the 16 year old Korean who probably had the best improvement in understanding what she read and heard.

Hello,
This is Jin Young.
How are you!
Sorry I should have sent an e-mail but I couldn’t use internet last week.
Anyway, I’m doing well.
I’m trying to speak English at home, and my mom wants to learn from me.
Especially she will teach relief society lesson with Sister Kim who is the other Korean.
So I’m helping her. And our family is trying to memorize The Articles of Faith in English and we will read the book of Mormon in English together.
I am really thankful for your teaching and everything.
English program was really good for me.
Through the opportunity, when I speak English I can have confidence and I can understand YW and Sunday school lessons easier.
Thank you thank you thank you very much.

Later in the evening I got a call from Elder Kane who is putting together a committee to look into the viability of some horticultural projects to aid our single mothers and older families. It was my idea but he certainly is the one to head it up. I am not even going to be on the committee. But I think that the Lord is behind all of this. Hopefully something can be found to aid our poorer members to live better lives and provide good educations for their children.

We read for an hour from the Kitab Mormon – we are into Ether where the brother of Jared is getting some light for the ships. I stayed up rather late watching a special on the new Harry Potter movie. I am pretty sure that we will go see that in a real movie theater and not just buy a DVD – which probably is already available here.