(L-R) Elders Laki and Prause – they are the missionaries serving Tangerang 2 at this time. The motorcycle picture shows what happens when you are wearing a rain poncho and going fast. It looked like he should be lifting off. This is our good friend Hani who was in our third IEC and hopefully will find that BYUH is for him.

04 May 2008 – Sunday

After being awake for a few hours in the middle of the night, I slept until 6:15 and had to rather hurry to get ready to go to Tangerang this morning. Since we were taking a cab and we were not sure that we would get one who we could communicate with, we decided to leave a little early.

It turned out that the Lord truly blessed us with a taxi driver who spoke excellent English and was more than happy to take the toll roads – the only way we knew how get to Tangerang. We had plenty of time to talk to him. We found that he had only been driving taxi for two months but that he had driven before. As we talked I was inspired to ask if he would be interested in becoming a driver for a couple. He said he was definitely interested. So he gave us his name and phone number so that I could have brother Page call him if he decided he did need a driver.

We also were able to discuss why were in Indonesia and gave him a pass along card and then a Kitab Mormon. It seemed to me that the Lord had placed us together. The chances of this particular driver being the next one up when it was our turn for a taxi is very slim. If he had been one taxi earlier or one later we would have never met. Hopefully Andi will get a job with the Pages and he and his family will be able to receive the gospel. The Pages will be good examples for him.

When we arrived at Tangerang, Mary mentioned to him that we would be needing a taxi at 1:00 and if he wanted to be at the chapel at that time we would love to have him take us back. He said he would be there.

We were so early that the chapel was not open and there was one other couple there. Interestingly enough they had seen us at Jakarta Raya just the week before when I spoke. They were visiting from Solo. Luckily the Elders arrived soon after that – earlier than they usually come which was another tender mercy. They opened the chapel and we spent the next 25 minutes meeting and greeting the members of T2 as they arrived. Most of them – including the branch presidency – did not get there until about 10 minutes before the meeting started so it was a good thing the missionaries came. When the branch mission leader – Ari Lopes – arrived and met the couple who was visiting from Solo he found that when he was on his mission he had baptized the sister. They both rejoiced in their meeting.

Since the usual pianist did not get there before the meeting started they asked Mary to play for Sacrament meeting. The Lord has really used her talent. When it came time for bearing testimony there no one came to the stand and I felt the need to bear my testimony. So I gave it in English while President Gjarot translated. As I sat down I felt that I should have trusted the Lord and tried to bear it in Indonesian. I will get another chance when we speak in both Tangerang sacrament meetings on the fourth Sunday – just a week before we head home.

After T2’s sacrament meeting we waited downstairs and met the T1 members as they arrived. Elder Herman and Elder Djarkodi were expecting an investigator family who are from the Philippines to come and was very disappointed when the meeting started without them. Mary as usual played for T1’s sacrament meeting.

Elder Herman translated for us and was very happy when the family walked in late. The husband – brother Bautista – speaks Indonesian so he could translate for his wife who speaks English but not Indonesian. Elder Herman taught the missionary discussion on the Principles of the Gospel instead of a regular lesson from the manual. I added a few points and bore my testimony of the truth of the gospel while sharing some of my experiences as an investigator. After the class I talked to brother Bautista about his business and found that it employees 35,000 Indonesians with lots of starting jobs for those without any skills. That and others things about the company makes me think that it may be a great opportunity for members of the Church.

Just before church ended it started pouring down rain so we were very glad that our new friend Andi was waiting for us and we did not have to go looking for a taxi. We had a good discussion about different things. I found that he has to work two 20 hours day and then gets one off. So he basically lives in his taxi for two days at a time. He earns about $15 a day – under $1 an hour. But that is a good income for a person who does not have some special education or skill.

I also got a response from President Paul about a nanny for the Pages, so I called brother Page and gave him the contact numbers for that sister and Andi as a driver. Now I need to find a cook-housekeeper for them. But at least I am able to offer some jobs for those who are looking for them.

I had a number of small things that needed doing that seemed to eat up the rest of the day. It is amazing how fast the time flies by when I am busy. I did manage to work in a short nap that felt really good. We managed to read from the A&P – I like it because most sections are quite different and so there is a lot of new words to use and patterns to figure out.

By the time for bed came, I could see many ways that the Lord blessed me today. Meeting Andi and brother Bautista so I could share the Gospel with them and in turn receive some blessings from them. The opportunity to bear my testimony. I forgot to mention that we were invited to speak in both Tangerang branches on the 4th Sunday. It will be our last time to attend the two branches where we have established many friendships. The opportunity to read and study the scriptures. It has been a wonderful Sunday here in Indonesia.

 

The graduates (L-R) Trevor Wiser, Jin-young Park, Tyler Orton.  The very delicious cake they cut and shared with the rest of us. Mary enjoying the party – out of the picture is Joel Guttormsen.

03 April 2008 – Saturday

Slept well and woke in time to study a little Indonesian and then head for the gym for a 30 minute workout. I am going to miss having a fully equipped gym less then 5 minutes walking distance away.

We had our normal morning. We got a nice letter from BYUH about the DLP saying that Hani is one of the most diligent of the students. I guess that means that most of the students are a little overwhelmed by the first weeks work. He should be coming in today and this compliment may give him a little push to do even better.

After breakfast we read from the A&P and then took a taxi to the office. Hani was already there and I spent the next three hours working with him so he could get caught up with his work on the DLP. He is a very sharp young man and I certainly hope that he can qualify for BYUH. Mary worked on English and started putting her computer files in order. When no one from her English class showed up, she took over and helped Hani with reading comprehension. We kept busy so the time rather flew by.

After office hours we returned to the apartment and rested before going back to office to meet Elder and Sister Walker who have offered us a ride to the English Branch graduation party for three of their young people. When the Walkers arrived the elders who were going with us were in a meeting so we waited for a half hour so they would have enough time to have a good meeting.

While we were waiting Elder Walker and I had a nice talk about what he planned to do after the Kane and us left. Not having a missionary couple in Bogor is going to make some things very difficult for the Humanitarian program.

The graduation party was at the Ortons. He works for Mobil and they have been in Indonesia for 7 years. They have a big and beautiful home. Sister Orton has taught early morning seminary in her home for 4 years. It is close to the International school where the students go. They are a fun and generous couple. Their son Tyler was one of the graduates. The others were Trevor Wiser and our own Jin-young Park who was in our first Intensive English class.

To make a long party short, there was lots of good talk, good food – a Mongolian BBQ, and a nice presentation where the fathers gave a short talk about their child and then the rest of the people present could say something. I told about how Jin-young endured difficult living conditions to take part in our class. I think I embarrassed her. After that we had dessert and then headed home. We had a great time and the elders certainly ate their fill.

When we got home we read again from the A&P before heading off to bed. The Lord blessed us with a good internet connection so Hani could do his necessary work. We had the blessing of good friends from the English branch and with the missionaries. We also got to know some of the English branch better. We probably will never see any of them after we leave Indonesia – a number of families are also leaving in the next couple of months – but I imagine we will remember them as an important part of our mission experience.

 

More pictures from Zone Conference. While feeding the spirit is an important part of Zone Conference, feeding the body is also well taken care of. For many of the missionaries, Zone Conference gives them a chance to eat their fill of a variety of foods they do not often see, let alone eat. As you can see Mary is enjoying her’s with Sister Coleman and Sadimin. Next is Elder Hunter. We really did not know Elder Hunter until he was transferred into the office. I am glad we had the opportunity to work with him for the last 6 weeks of our mission. He is a dynamic Elder who as you can see would rather talk than eat. I would love to see him and Elder Roper work together. That would really be a high energy pair of missionaries. Elder Kusumarmanto is on the left and is the son of the country ERS director Agus who we work closely with. Elder Smith has recently been transferred from the office back to the field. Before leaving he had prepared the excellent slide show of Indonesia that we saw yesterday. As I have mentioned a number of times in this journal, working with the Sisters and Elders is truly one of the great blessings of a mission.

02 May 2008 – Friday

Although we are certainly happy that Sam and Anny are being sealed in the temple and having a wonderful honeymoon doing temple work, until he gets back we are limited in what we can do. But that will end in a few days and we will catch up with our visits.

Normal morning except we left a little late for the office. We read from the A&P – struggling at times but it is a good learning experience for us. It also shows vividly that they were not translated by the same person or persons as the Kitab Mormon. The choice of words is often quite different as is how they express thoughts that are non easily translated into Bahasa.

At the office I spent the first part of my time working with Hani and his distance learning class. It seemed rather difficult to me but I suppose that is part of the idea. This is to help them become more proficient in English and so they first must find out where they are. I told him he could come in tomorrow and work on it some more. As long as he keeps a positive attitude, I think he will be fine. I wrote a letter to sister Bunker about Hani and some thoughts I had with the program.

Mary worked mainly on English and cleaning up the filing and papers that are still everywhere. I continued with the vocabulary lessons. Hopefully I will finish them before we are released. The time seemed to fly by. Unfortunately no one came in for help with a job.

I did get a message from Hendra saying that President Anthony suggested we contact Maria Sandra about the job. That will not work because she does not know enough English and certainly do not know enough Indonesian to tell her about it. In the evening I thought of Lukito and I had him call her. It turned out that was a good move because he found that she has been sick in bed for 3 days. When he told me I suggested that he call her home teacher and branch president so they knew. Hopefully they can help or send help for her.

We continued to read from the A&P – because they use bigger type and more spacing, there is a lot less to read per page than in the Kitab Mormon. On the other hand the words and concepts are different so it slows us down.

I must confess I did not study as much as I either could or should today. I hope that does not mean I am getting trunky. I did listen to more conference talks and we watched the video of Elder Subandriyo’s talk at BYUH last month. He is a fine speaker and even though English is not his first language, he spoke clearly and made few mistakes. Sister Stephie, his wife, gave her testimony and if was easy to see that she was very sad when she talked about their daughter and her death. But she bore a strong testimony and gave a positive message.

The Lord continues to bless us with good health, friends, family and many opportunities to serve. Hopefully we will be able to continue to serve Him and our Heavenly Father through serving our fellow beings. Both at home and where ever the Lord needs us next.

The couples, the Zone and us with Elders Thiemann and Roper. We have known Elder Thiemann and Roper longer than any other Indonesian missionaries because we first met them when they were in the MTC. Sister Tippetts was their evening teacher and our language teacher.

01 May 2008 – Thursday

A good day! We had one of those mornings when we could not get on some sites so we were not able to check our mail until we got to the office. However we were able to visit Cindy’s blog and see more of the places they visited in France. It sounds and looks like they had a great adventure. It is nice that they got off by themselves for a few days. We also read from the A&P – it is really a learning experience.

Today was Zone Conference so it was a day for learning and sharing. We went early so we could check our mail. I count it a blessing that the internet work well at the office. We could check our mail and read. I got a birthday greeting from Ed – it was still April 30 in the U.S.

I got a couple of opportunities to speak in Zone Conference. First the President asked me to talk about challenging the missionaries to spend the time to get to know the area right around their houses. I got some help from the sisters. They had gone to the local Arti and got the names and addresses of all the Christians in the area. It not only gave them 70 plus leads, they also got to tell the Arti about their purpose and let him know that they were there to serve. I mentioned to the missionaries that they had to show their love to the people before they would listen to their message. I told them that they could not fake love and concern, they had to develop a true love to be successful. If they do that, their light will shine and people will want to be like them.

Later all of the missionaries who would go home before the next Zone Conference bore their testimony. We were happy to see Elder Rigby before he heads home. We had the pleasure to serve with him for a number of months before he transferred to Manado for the last 5 months. Mary and I and the Kanes got to share our testimony. Since I already had a chance to speak, I just bore my testimony. I hope that each missionary could feel the spirit as I did as I bore it. In looking at them, it seemed that many of them could. Our personal testimonies are powerful things if they are based on the testimony of the Holy Ghost to us. I know I do not bear mine often enough. I was impressed with Elder Kanes testimony that he gave completely in Indonesian.

Since it was the last time we would probably see some of the missionaries, I took lots of pictures. During our time at home, I hope to make a number of slide shows with commentary about the experiences we had and the people we met. That reminds me that part of the program today included two slide shows. One by Elder Smith about Indonesia that was sent to the Indonesian Mission Reunion in SL before April Conference. Another one was about some Saints in Solo who have small businesses or other work. It showed their humble homes and how hard they worked for a small amount of money. Yet they were active in the church and happy to be working. It was done with great love, but I wish that the same idea could be done more professionally and more time was spent on perhaps fewer examples. I think this is a powerful message that needs to be told.

It brought to mind the book we bought about the small business people in Jakarta. It tells the stories of about a dozen people and what they do to make a living. Everything from trash men to sex girls are shown and their stories are very interesting. Many of the men work and live in Jakarta while their families live in the villages. Some only see their families 2 or 3 times a month.

I find myself listening to and reading more conference talks. Some resonate more than others and when they do they are powerful testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel. They also often remind me of things that I need to work on as well as the blessings that come from keeping the commandments.

30 April 2008 – Wednesday

Happy birthday to me. Wow I made it to 70 and feel great. I celebrated by going to the gym and doing 70 sit-ups, 35 good minutes on the bike, and a light upper body workout. Even the scales were kind to me today.

When I got back to the apartment there was a wonderful birthday greeting on Olivia’s blog. A picture from the middle of 2006 when we were visiting Chicago. We read from the A&P – we struggle with some of it, but most we come close. Both the KM and A&P really need a new translation. Hopefully sometime in the next decade this will happen.

I have been listening to Elder Scott’s conference talks. I thought it would be interesting to listen to a series of talks by one apostle or member of the presidency to see if there is a theme that runs through them from year to year. Right now I am listening to a talk on “Peace of Conscience” – “Peace of Mind.”

We had a quiet day – at least once the air-conditioner men and the maid service left. We went to the market to get some last minute things Mary needed. We both got haircuts at our local salon. One of the nicest things was that the office elders called and sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone. I got a call from the Pages in the English branch. They are in the need for some household help – a nanny and a housekeeper. Later maybe a driver. I called Elder Subandriyo and Hendra to let them know there was some openings. We are hoping that a woman we worked with might be interested in one or the other.

I started a major project of separating out the pictures we want to have made into good copies. I managed to make it to the first of the year. Of course I am working backwards so that is only 4 months – 12 – 13 more to go.

Well the other couples ran into a real Jakarta traffic jam. It is now 7:15 and they are not here. They probably left the mission home at about 5:30 for what is usually a 20 – 25 minute drive most of the time. This time it may take 2 – 3 hours for them to get here – if they get here.

We read more from the A&P and since then I have been listening to classical music on the computer. It is a 4 hour program and it will be interesting to see how much I get to hear before our guest arrive.

I also can not get to AOL to find out if any of the kids have sent birthday wishes.

The other couples got here between 7:45 and 8:00. The President said that next time we got to come to Sinapoti!  We had a nice dinner together. Everyone seemed to love the meat loag. Some said they had not had any since they came on their mission and some said it was one of their favorite foods. One couple brought fresh fruit – including Bandung pineapples, another brought bread and dessert. There was also a wonderful potato dish and bread. For dessert we had brownies with ice cream and whipped cream. All in all it was a great meal.

We all sat around and talked about our missions and much they meant to us. It was a special birthday because even though I could not spend it with my family, I was able to spend it with my ‘mission’ family.  Mary gave me a ceramic turtle and the Kanes gave me a nice small Indonesian doll. So all in all it was a special birthday that I probably will always remember.

 

Mary and sister Utami – her husband is the tailor who makes all of Mary’s clothes and my ties. Sister Stephie and her fellow Family History worker sister in the FH Center. They do a mighty work in helping anyone who comes in with their genealogy.

29 April 2008 – Tuesday

We started in reading Ajaran dan Perjanjian – from now on A&P. We found that we knew most of the words and usually came close to what was being said. We are not worrying if we use the exact words but are trying to get the meaning of the verses.

Today the net allowed me to post pictures to the blog so I got busy and caught up most of those I wanted to post. We were happy to get an e-mail from Cindy saying they made it back safely from France and the first of our packages showed up.

Listening to Elder Holland’s talk on member missionary work. A senior sign in the MTC  “Let’s lengthen our suffle!” It is strange how I happen to go to the April 2001 conference talks where a number of the speakers spoke on missionary work and Elder Hales spoke directly for the need for couple missionaries. After listening to the talks I printed them so I could review them later.

Sam and Anny showed up at the door right on time so we were at the office by 10:00. We spent 2 productive hours – I worked on vocabulary exercises and Mary worked on Elder Subandriyo’s article and English. But at about noon the internet stopped working so we decided to do our shopping before going to the mission office.

When we got to the mission office we visited with a number of people before Mary started her class. I gave president Sujud the pictures of the choir, talked to Elder Subandriyo about a couple of things. He thanked Mary for her review of his article.

While I was talking to President Marchant I brought up my challenge to the Tangerang 1 missionaries to get to know the people in their neighborhood. He asked me to take some time in Zone Conference to talk about it and perhaps do some role playing. That will teach me to open my mouth. But truly I think it is a good missionary tool and a chance to ‘let our light shine.’ I also will take the time to talk a little about studying English.

Another experience of our visit was being able to help Elder Thiemann with a phone number. He need to call a young man who just that day had been called to serve his mission. Luckily I had put our branch lists in Mary’s bag and the number there was current. Another tender mercy from the Lord.

Hendra told me that he had the computer for Elder Barnard packed up and it would go out tomorrow. He had promised me and I had promised Elder B that it would go by the 30th. This is our old computer and will be used in the Family History Resource Center in Solo. One more thing I can cross off the list of things to do.

When we got back to our apartment, we read once more from the A&P – but this time we had some struggle. The translation does not seem to be as good as the one for the Kitab Mormon – which is not all that good – so it does not translate back into English very well. I would guess as we get use to the different style and word use, we will be able to do better. At least it is a change for us and that is probably good.
For some reason I have been thinking about what I wanted to say in my report of our mission. I don’t want to preach, I want to tell stories about people and the gospel in their lives. I want to tell about senior couples who have made a difference. I want to tell them that it is hard to consider our mission a sacrifice.

I just spent about 30 minutes going back and reading from this journal. It is strange to read things I had forgotten – like the VanDongens have been gone for 10 months and yet it seems like they just left. But that means the Davises have been here close to 10 months and it seems like they just got here. Time really flies when you are on a mission. However it also seems like we have been here for years – that is we are so comfortable here that it does not seem possible we have only been here about 16 months.

 

A sign in a hotel public restroom – notice the middle no-no!  Mary’s baby cap collection and she is working on more. This is the fruit stand that we pass almost every day on our way to the office. I did not notice the owner looking at me as I took the picture. He is there 6 days a week from 9:30 a.m. until he sells out his stock. As I have mentioned before he had the corner to himself for about the 8 months we were here but then another fruit seller set up just to the left in this picture. They both seem to do well.

28 April 2008 – Monday

I had another opportunity to enjoy the quiet hours of the morning. This time I did not even bother to try and go back to sleep. I just turned on the lights and started reading. It only took about 90 minutes before I was able to turn them back off and go to sleep.

We had a different Monday because Sam was not available – in fact after tomorrow, we will not have Sam or a car for over a week. We spent the morning around the apartment. I caught up the journal and tried to post pictures but the site or our connection would not cooperate so I had to give up. Mary crocheted more baby caps – she is trying hard to use up all the yarn so she can feel like she is finished.

We read from the Kitab Mormon in the morning and finished it for the fourth time in the evening. This time it took 68 days – the last time it took 100 days – but this time we did not read all of it in English. We only read the English when we were not sure of our translation. I figure that we have basically read the Book of Mormon 11 times on our mission. We now will turn to the D&C which should not take over 40 days. We will pick up the Kitab Mormon after we get home.

We had a really short Skype call with Jim and his family. William loves to see himself on the computer screen. He is really getting big.

We had lunch and then took a taxi to the office. I got a lot done. I sent out reminders about the need for getting started on reports, encouraged some of the young people to join the Distance Learning pilot – so far no one has signed up, asked the couples to look over the proposal for a Scholarship program that Elder Subandriyo suggested we start, worked on some vocabulary exercises and spent 45 minutes or so chatting with the Gibbons about ERS here and elsewhere.

The Gibbons sound like a great couple. They served a senior mission in Mongolia and now 18 months later they are in Hong Kong. They mentioned that there is a great need for missionary couples throughout Asia. It seems that there is a special need for CES couples. Maybe the Lord will send us back to fill part of that need. We really would like to serve a proselyting mission in an English speaking mission, but the Lord knows where we can do the most good so we will go where we are called. They served a senior mission in Mongolia and now 18 months later they are in Hong Kong. During that 18 months they served a part time service mission.

Three hours just flew by. Unfortunately we did not have anyone come in or call about a job. I did get a call from President Marchant about our average auto expense. I guess the Church is surveying mission costs.

Mary worked hard on finishing up the game pieces for the English classes. She has put in many, many hours working on this project. We can only hope that some couples come so the classes can continue in Central Java. But I must be patient and remember that the Lord is in charge. We have done what we were inspired to do, the rest we must leave in the Lord’s hands.

I got a call from brother Looky from Tangerang 2 asking for my pictures of the choir singing at District Conference and when we got home I sent them to him. I also have downloaded them to a memory stick so I can give them to President Sujud – it includes a couple of movies.

We also got a call from Elder Subandriyo who wanted Mary to look through and correct an article that is to go into the Liahona. She was able to do that when we got home. Unfortunately she can not send the corrections until tomorrow when we can open the file in the latest Word.

As I write about our day, I realize how many small blessings we received. Being able to sit down together for 1 to 3 hours a day and read from the scriptures, being able help in the work of the kingdom in so many ways that we never even thought about being part of missionary work, and of course having the spirit to guide us.

Herman Liunokas Kollo – the newest member of Jakarta Raya branch and his sister. Elder Suseno, Brother Herman, his sister, Elder Thiemann, Elder Cheney

27 April 2008 – Sunday

My Sunday started at 1 a.m. and for the next three hours I alternated between trying to get back to sleep and working on my talk. I do not think I do my best work at that hour of the morning but it at least gave me something to do. Every time I turned off the lights I would think about the talk. Finally at about 4 I think I managed to go to sleep but I am not sure. I woke again at 6:00 and it did not seem like I had rested at all.

I immediately got up and started putting more of what I had thought about into a talk. By the time I had finished I thought I had a pretty good outline that I could make into a 5 minute or a 25 minute talk. I was concerned that I would fall asleep on the stand or while speaking – or at least while it was being translated.

We read for about 30 minutes from the Kitab Mormon before Anny and Sam showed up to take us to Jakarta Raya. When we ran into a blocked off main highway, I hoped it was not a sign of what was in store. I had a vision of us not getting there on time. However Sam found a back way to the church and we not only were on time but got there before the elders.

Actually there were a lot of missionaries at the meeting – six elders and two sisters. The sisters thought one of their investigators was coming but he or she stood them up. The Zone Leaders showed up because there was a baptism after the block. In the last 6 weeks we have had the opportunity to see a number of baptisms. The great thing about this one is it is a man – they do not have a lot of those. There was one more small problem. Both Mary and I left our name tags at the apartment. Everyone had a good laugh and acted like they did not know our names.

I asked Lukito to translate for me and I gave him what I had printed out. It would not be a great help for him but it was better than nothing. It turned out that it was good that I had prepared for a longer talk. There was only one other speaker – Sister Anna – and she only took about 6 or her 10 minutes. So I had 25 minutes and I took 27. I felt that I got the message that I was trying to make across. I know that the spirit was there because I could feel it. When I recounted one of my personal experiences, Lukito got so choked up that he had to stop and regain his composure. The only thing that I was unhappy with was how poorly I read the scriptures in Indonesian. Of course after the meeting was over everyone told me how good it was and Mary said that it worked so I was pleased. Certainly the Lord blessed me with lots of good ideas and support. I just rather wished that some of it had not taken place so early this morning.

The Gospel Principles and PH lessons were enjoyable. We had good translators and I participated in each of the classes. Brother Herman and his sister was in the GP class and they seemed to be quite interested. In PH I noticed that brother Herman carefully followed the scriptures. Unfortunately they did not have copies of the conference talk for each member – I really think that would be a good thing to do for the 4th week lesson. If they gave them out a week ahead of time so people could come prepared to participate.

After the block there was a snack for everyone before the baptismal service. Herman Liunokas Kollo became the newest member of the Jakarta Raya branch. Elder Suseno got to baptize him and it took three tries to get him completely immersed. The last time Elder Suseno took no chances and really put him under. But brother Herman did not complain or hesitate at all. I need to suggest to the elders that they teach the candidate to bend their knees so it is easier to get them down and up.

Back at the apartment, I had some lunch and then took a much needed nap. Since then I have spent almost all of my time catching up this journal and working on pictures that I had taken over the last couple of day. Tomorrow I will try to post all the missing journal pages and pictures. Maybe it will inspire the rest of the family to post more often on their blogs.

I just realized why President Eyring said that we should take some time each day to think how the Lord has touched out lives that day. It is because we become so use to having the blessings and experiences of the Gospel in our lives that they just seem normal. When that happens it is very easy to not thank the Lord for his tender mercies. If I am not careful I forget how patient He is with me. I do not recognize how he has watched over and protected us these last 17 months. But if I take the time to ponder the day and search for the evidence of His touch and His love, it is always there.

 

The pair of puppets that we bought at the fair. The Kanes admiring the floral arrangement in the foyer of our apartment. Us with the happy but exhausted couple.

26 April 2008 – Saturday

A very busy day but not all of it was involved in missionary work. I woke early and went to the gym. Later when Elder Kane was up we sat in the living room, talked about our missions and our plans for the future. The Kanes do not plan to go on another mission for a couple of years. But who knows how they will feel once they get home. Mary prepared a very nice breakfast that was well received by all of us.

We went with the Kanes to the Craft Fair and in 2 hours managed to buy everything we needed or could afford. We then left the Kanes with the Smith’s and headed home. I had a lot to do on my talk and this journal. We were also in need of naps. I managed to get a lot done – including going through the pictures from the last couple of days and getting them captioned. We also read from the Kitab Mormon. When the Kanes came home we showed each others our treasures. After that it was time to change into our suits so we could go to Sam and Anny’s reception in style.

We got to the reception after 6 and the couple was supposed to show up at 6:30. It is a custom here to have the bride and groom make a grand entrance on a red carpet so they do not come until after most of the guests arrive. Of course the guests know this and so most of them do not come until well after the start date. In this case they bridal party got stuck in a really bad traffic jam and even with a police escort they did not get to the reception until about 7:30.

But I used the time wisely. We greeted the guests and then I went to the office where I let Elder Herman and Laki use the phone to call one of their investigators who must come to church tomorrow if he is to be baptized the following Sunday. They ran into a major problem when they found that the family that usually brings him had moved during the week. It will be interesting to see if he makes it.

I also got the special vocabulary words for Titan. That took longer than it should because I managed to hide one of the lists and it took a couple of searches to find it. I also talked to him about the pilot program – I certainly hope he signs up for it.

Once the bride and groom showed up things got moving along. Anny looked beautiful in her gown. Sam looked scared to death but handsome. The couple moved down the red carpet and up to the cultural hall. Once they and their parents were on the stage, there was talks by the fathers and then Mary was asked to give an opening prayer – something she was not prepared to do. There were some words of wisdom from President Smith – he also did not know he was on the program. The cake was then cut – I do not think wedding cakes are much in demand here – and they fed pieces to each other. Then I was called on to give the closing prayer – also unexpected. It seems that somehow part of the program did not quite get out to those who would participate.
Then there was a line to congratulate the parents and couple. We got nice thanks from both fathers for the help we had been in getting Sam and Anny to the alter.

We were near the front so when we went down to get some food, the line was not too bad. We cheated and took our dinners back to the office where we had a flat surface to put our plates. When I went back for seconds on the fruit, I found the Davises just getting their food and invited them back to the office to eat. So while they ate we talked about some of our mission experiences and about English classes. They are going to teach two English classes in a university and the elders are going to go with them.

The Davises are a typical senior couple. That is they have good health reasons for not going on a mission. In fact Elder Davises is serious enough that they had to change from going to Guam because there was no decent medical services anywhere near by. Sister Davies troops along on two bad knees. They of course have left children and grandchildren. They had a number of problems after they got here. But none of this stopped them and they do not complain. They are only interested in the positive things that they are doing and the service they are giving. It is too bad that more couples are not willing to get out of their comfort zone and serve missions.

After dinner we said goodbye to Sam and Anny and started to head out to the street to catch a taxi home. We were almost to the gate when we heard Elder Bastian asking for Mary. It turned out that he and Elder Hunter were going to sing a duet and needed a piano player who knew the hymns. So we hurried back and Mary played for them. Then once again we went out into a light rain and in just a minute was blessed with a Blue Bird taxi stopping for us.

Once we were back at the apartment I started did some more work on my talk. I have accumulated way too much information for a 12 minute talk. I will have to prune it down tomorrow morning before going to Church.

So it was a day of fun, service and good companionship. The Lord truly blesses us in many small ways and also some very large ones. Our health has been wonderful, we have learned so much, and we have had the chance to become involved in a number of programs that may help the Saints in Indonesia for many years to come.

I want to put in one thought. One part of our calling was to be shadow leaders to three branches. But instead of teaching the branch leadership anything, I have instead learned from them. They face problems well beyond anything I faced in my 8 years of being bishop. And they do it without complaining and almost always with a smile. The numbers here may be small but the spirit is huge. They truly give themselves to the Lord. It has been a privilege to serve and learn from them.

 

The colorful children’s choir at the dedication of the new school. From left to right – Elder Burr, Bastian, Elder Subandriyo, Dr Shihab, Elder Thiemann, Hunter and Agus the service center director of physical facilities. The view from Dr Shihab’s country villa. It was a gorgeous day with a lovely breeze passing through the mostly open villa.

25 April 2008 – Friday

We were up and out early because we had to be at the mission home before 7:00 so a group of us could leave together for the hills above Bogor where we would be guests at a ceremony for opening a new school – Cayaha Hati – and clinic that was sponsored by Dr. Shihab’s wife and sisters. We went with Elder Subandriyo and Agus while elders Bastian, Thiemann, Hunter and Burr went with Swento in the President’s car. We met up with the Kanes above Bogor and then all traveled in a convoy to the school.

It is in a rather remote but beautiful but poor area. The clinic and school will bring hope to the villages around. I had the privilege of sitting next to Dr. Shihab and so got to know a little more about the school and clinic. It turns out that he was there representing his wife who is very sick with a thyroid problem and is in Singapore. He flew back from there to be at the ceremony. There were a lot of important people there from Jakarta and Singapore – I never really got to know any of them.

I really enjoyed the program. There was a children’s choir that reminded me of the Primary choir we saw on Sunday at District conference only the girls were dressed much fancier. There was a section of the lawn set aside for mothers of the children and it when I went to take pictures they were all smiles.

But I learned a lot about Muslims and how close their ideas are to ours. One woman read from some book “Those who walk along the path of goodness are close to God.” and “God is there for us and those who call upon God will be saved.” I am going to use that in my talk on Sunday. I also tried to listen carefully to a young man – perhaps a Iman – sing scripture from the Koran. I noticed that he chose the verses carefully and said a little prayer before singing each verse. I have no idea what he was saying but it was obviously very important to him. I imagine the short prayer that he whispered was something like “There is only one God and Mohammed is his Prophet.”

Later in Dr. Shihab’s comments he talked about the importance of loving everyone and loving God. He talked about the problems facing parents and children today and they were the same that any LDS parent would worry about. He also spoke of the dreams of the parents for their children and once again they were in line with ours. So while we do not share the same religion, we share the same love for God and for our children. They see the same needs and face the same problems in a world where religious beliefs and values ae under constant attack by those who feel that they are more enlightened. Unfortunately the light they seek is the light of the world and not the light that comes from God.

After the ceremony we were all invited to the good Dr. Shihab’s country villa which was only 5 minutes away. It is a lovely little place that is mainly wide open and with a view to die for. He later told me that he and his wife often came up after a difficult day or for the weekend to just get away from the influence of Jakarta.

We enjoyed a delicious meal where all the food was not at all spicy except for the one thing that I felt was sure to be safe – a fruit dish. Luckily I did not take much and only tasted a little before finding that it lit up the mouth.

The missionaries and Elder Subandriyo had opportunities to speak to a lot of people. I met one man who runs a company that employs lots of people and is always looking for machinists. Since one of the courses that the Job Training program offers is learning to be a machinist, I am hoping that we can find someone to take the course in Tangerang, Bandung or Bogor and maybe get a job there. I will send him an e-mail tomorrow.

On the way back to Jakarta we hit a real traffic jam. It is a two lane road and a very large truck broke down on our side. Luckily for us there was not much traffic going down the hill so we were only delayed about 15 – 20 minutes. But the uphill traffic – mostly trucks – was backed up for miles. All the way down the hill and onto the toll road. I do not know how they will get a tow truck up there to move the obstruction, but until they do it is going to be a royal mess. At least there was one policeman there letting vehicles through on a rotation basis. As we were going along two more on a motorcycle seemed to be heading up to help.

Once at the apartment, I started working on the pictures I took today. Elder Subandriyo wanted a few to send to Elder Packer as an attachment to an e-mail telling him about the ceremony and the fact that Dr. Shihab’s wife was in the hospial. Elder Packer and them are good friends and Dr. Shihab has spoken at BYU a couple of times. We got to go to one of them – I believe in October 2006 – before we went into the MTC.

Sam came about 5:00 to pick up the car so he can use it tonight and Mary had him take her to the chapel so she could practice the piano. She is going to play for sister Penni and will also give the closing prayer. I stayed at the apartment so I could catch up this journal. The program starts at 7:00 so I will leave here about 6:15 or so.

Once again I was struck by the simplicity of the actual LDS wedding ceremony. The only ‘ceremonial’ part is the exchange of rings which is not really a part of ceremony. There is no ‘with this I do thee wed’ or anything like that. When President Smith told Sam he could now kiss his bride be kissed her on the forehead and looked embarrassed even to do that. Most of the people at the ceremony were missionaries and from the English branch. I was surprised that hardly anyone from the Selatan branch – including his room mates came. Hopefully there will be a lot more people tomorrow evening.

The Kanes came home with us to spend the night. Tomorrow we will head off for another swing through the Jakarta Craft Fair. The Kanes are wonderful friends and I hope we will stay in touch for many years to come.