Refuge from the Storm

 This week was a huge turning point for us. We found a real focus and purpose for our being in Indonesia and it has helped fuel our momentum immensely. We've found a purpose on the M part of our MLS assignment and with the members we can communicate directly with, sans translators. With the Bishop and 1st counselor of the Jakarta 3rd ward being out of the country for a few weeks, and the EQ president who moved away last week so there was a vacancy in Priesthood leadership, we received a distress call from one of the refugee members for help with a problem. It kick- started our reaching out to the refugee members in earnest. We made appointments to meet a few of them in their homes. Each Sunday we see them at church, we talk briefly and share a few pleasant words in passing but we don't really know their stories. Why are they here in Indonesia and what are some of the heartaches of their pasts they never talk about? How did they come to learn of Jesus Christ and his restored gospel? What are their conversion stories? These were the things we wanted to learn by having more time with them. Now that we've met with a handful of them, I wish I could convey all of the amazing and harrowing details of their lives to you but for their safety, it's best their names, countries of origin, etc, not be shared. Not that this blog has a wide readership, but it's always best to err on the side of caution. Just becoming and being a Christian is enough of an endangerment for their lives in their countries. For some, it's the reason they had to get out. Others found Christianity and the church and the missionaries once they came here after fleeing for other harrowing reasons. Some still have wives and children, and parents and siblings back home. Now you may be thinking, wow, that's really tough for them to be away from their family for a couple of years like us. Try for 8 years and for some, over a decade! They can't work here, the single ones can't marry without complicating their cases. So they are just stuck in their progress. But they are all so intelligent, so resourceful, and creative and happy! You would be inspired to know them and you'd feel honored to be in their presence. The other thing that would grab you by your heartstrings is their absolute faith in Jesus Christ. They are TRULY converted to Him and tell varying stories of how he appeared to them in dreams offering them water when they were in a desert. They see His teachings as being the way of peace. They bear testimony of The Book of Mormon and how reading from it daily has been their anchor of hope and keeps them going without despair through these many years of trial. They all express hope. Many of them have sponsors and a goal and dream of relocating to America and Canada. They simply wait patiently for their cases to be reviewed and to receive interviews so their dream can become a reality. Until then, our church helps them with rent and food, also we offer a ward family and a sense of belonging. I've mentioned before how this English speaking ward is a real United Nations of members from several countries but that's not my favorite metaphor any more as it's this supporting organization that has largely ignored them and kept them waiting for years. I think what we have in this ward is more aptly called Zion, being of one heart and one mind although there are still great discrepancies in the haves and have nots. We're working on it though.  Someday, there will be no poor among the people of Zion. I've shared with them my dream about being together with them in Zion in a future day. Even the countries they dream about coming to are presently not the Promised Land anymore. But you don't want to squash their dreams of a better life by telling them things aren't so rosy in our country either. But at least they could work and marry and enjoy other personal freedoms. Just today we talked to one young man who was arrested here for sleeping at his friend's house. Can you imagine? 

So our plan in each case was to meet them where they live and take them out to eat and talk over lunch. Our first visit was to a man and his son that come regularly each week. He had spoken in church and I was so moved with his talk, he was first on our list. We hired an English speaking Bluebird driver to take us to their home and wait while we then took them out to eat. Imagine our first surprise when we learned he has a wife too and a darling little baby daughter! She is also a member! We had no idea!

               

He kept telling our driver he didn't need to stay. They knew of the best restaurant and they would take us there. We were so confused by this arrangement and the sudden change of plans. But all along when they learned we were coming, they had been planning our arrival with a huge meal.

It is extremely humbling to have a refugee family prepare you one of the most delicious meals you've ever eaten in your life. We learned they run an online restaurant out of their home and are able to make a small income with that. It is their custom and generous nature to feed their guests and they were lavish with their spread for us. The chicken, beef kebabs and the rice with some kind of currants were absolutely divine. Their food is not overly spicy and has sweetness along with the savory flavor so our taste buds were in heaven! Their darling little daughter was a bit wary of us at first but we didn't push ourselves on her and gave her time to warm up to us.

When they brought out the homemade chocolate ice cream (be still my heart) and cake for dessert and let us feed her, she instantly became our best friend. What a blessing to us who are new grandparents but haven't been able to love on our own grandsons yet. 

After dinner, Elder Dunlap introduced to them the idea of dedicating their home with a priesthood blessing so it could be a holy space where the Spirit could constantly dwell. Rob instructed the father on the beginning verbage and gave him ideas using D & C 109, the dedicatory prayer on the Kirtland Temple as a template, then the father pronounced the blessing in his native tongue. We couldn't understand the words but we felt the Spirit in rich abundance. It felt as holy as a temple. The wife and I bonded too as she wept and shared tears of losing a previous baby daughter and how the Lord had blessed her with another daughter and what a joy she's been to them. She told me of a dream where Jesus Christ was offering her water in his hands and she was so very thirsty, she just drank and drank. These people know Jesus is the Christ!! This is not part of their cultural upbringing. It amazes us and strengthens our testimonies of Jesus Christ too.

We also offered to teach them more English, using the English Connect program the church has developed.  Although I enjoy the classes we've taught in group settings in India, Timor-Leste, and now with the missionaries here in Indonesia, this one-on-one teaching with her is my absolute favorite experience so far. Elder Rob is teaching the men, and I'm teaching the women in individual tutoring sessions. More than just helping them with English, it is deepening our bonds of friendship with them by becoming involved in their lives. These are friends now we want to keep forever. This I feel is where we'll make our deepest impact here and where we have been deeply impacted and changed for the better. 

                  Hearts knit together in love

Our other two visits this week were with two single men (or so we thought).  Come to find out one has a wife and 2 daughters but not living with him in Indonesia. The other brother lived in a part of Jakarta that didn't have too many restaurants but it had a Pizza Hut so we ate pizza and salad on the one table in the waiting area with ice cream cones afterwards from the Indomart next door. You would've thought we had treated him to the most lavish meal of all time. How I wish we could've done more, but we sent him home with all the leftovers. His faith and hope in Christ was a beautiful thing to witness. He bears no anger or malice in his one room meager situation where he eats and sleeps on the floor. He has the purest heart.

          A pauper's meal for a prince of a man

                 Friendship is the sweetest treat

Our next friend said he had the means to meet us at the mission office near a large fancy mall. We went to eat at the Thai restaurant we went to for my birthday but there was a 30 minute wait. I had seen a Korean restaurant across the street and he said he had never eaten Korean food so I suggested going there since we could eat right away. This place turned out to be catered to the wealthy Korean business man, apparently as that's all we saw. It was very very fancy and quite spendy but we ordered a ton of food and ate to our hearts content. This friend just kept saying he was grateful for everything, for the bottles the clean water came in, for the chefs that cooked the delicious food, for the chairs we ate on and for us, his new friends. His gratitude for everything was his key to his happiness in his situation. He acknowledged Christ as the Prince of Peace and said he was so grateful to have found His true gospel. He says it is the greatest honor of his life to bless the Sacrament with the priesthood he holds. 

                          Food and more food

                                        BFFs

       Can't you see the light in his countenance? 

You can't be around people like this without feeling more happy, more grateful, and more blessed yourself. They gave more back to us than we could've possibly given them. And so we will continue to befriend them and care about them and tutor them in English. They already have sponsors and people committed to helping them once they get to their new homes someday, but we will add our widow's mite to their causes and daily prayers and anything else we can offer them. To them we are the richest people in the world because we have freedom. How we take that blessing for granted.  But we all freely partake of the blessings of the gospel together and consider it our greatest wealth. Now because of them, we can honestly say, we are so very grateful to be serving in Indonesia.

"The Savior knows how it feels to be a refugee—He was one. As a young child, Jesus and His family fled to Egypt to escape the murderous swords of Herod. And at various points in His ministry, Jesus found Himself threatened and His life in danger. Perhaps, then, it is all the more remarkable to us that He repeatedly taught us to love one another, to love as He loves, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Truly, “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” and to “look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer.

This moment does not define them, but our response will help define us."

Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles "Refuge from the Storm April 2016

Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Nephi 9: 50

P.S.

The last memory of this week we want to remember is saying farewell to our dear mission leaders, The Tandimans, who we've come to love even after just 2 months. They had to vacate the mission home and spend their last night in a hotel. They invited the 3 senior couples living in Jakarta and our office manager to their Last Supper at another wonderfully fancy restaurant.

  Levesques, Sister Tandiman and the Kusus

      The kindest President and Dhika, our asst. 

 Afterwards, we had a farewell devotional where the entire mission gathered online to say goodbye and bear testimony and express gratitude. Then they were presented with a Book of Remembrance and performed a strange ritual of cutting off a tie and a scarf that is some long-standing tradition in the mission. (We hope we can sneak away without doing that, I can't part with any of my scarfs!) Goodbye Tandimans! We love you and thank you for taking such good care of us! 

     Don't forget us, we'll always remember you.

                           Big-hearted leaders

For a going away token, we sang them a light-hearted medley of songs after the devotional that we had hardly practiced so it was very rough, to the tune of Candyman, and Dey-O:

 "Who can lead a mission, bilingually at that? 

Keep it running smoothly without throwing in the hat? The Tandimans...the Tandimans can. The Tandimans can 'cause they lead us all with love and made us all feel good...

Day-O, one more day one more day one more day.... Daylight comes and you gotta go home. Come Sister Tandiman, time to pack your bags up, daylight comes and you gotta go home. Come Presdent Tandiman, time to take your badge off, daylight comes and you gotta go home home. Day O Day O.......

God be with you til we meet again! 

Our personal Miracle Moment

 In the IJM, (the Indonesia Jakarta Mission) every Tuesday through Saturday, we meet as a whole mission on Zoom for a Morning Prayer Meeting, in Bahasa it's called Doa Pagi. Missionaries take turns giving spiritual thoughts and challenges and sharing their daily Miracle Moments. It's quite inspiring to hear them all. Because we are praying for them and looking for them, the Lord delivers! We had a particularly wonderful miracle happen to us this week that I can't wait to share in detail with you. But before I do, I want to say thank you for all of your kind birthday wishes! This was my 2nd birthday in the mission field. I am feeling my age at 62. 

Not quite ready to be put out to pasture but definitely aware of diminishing capabilities.

 Last year it fell on the Saturday of District Conference which was fun because just being with so many members of Coimbatore branches made it very happy. This year it fell on a P-day Monday, so in many ways it was just a ho-hum day of doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, you know, the mundane sort of stuff. But the 17th was also a MAJOR holiday for the Muslim community. It was commemorating Abraham's willingness and faith in God to sacrifice Isaac. We thought that was a pretty cool reason for a holiday. The downside was that there was non stop singing all through the night before 'til about Midnight and then it started up again at 4:30am. If only they celebrated the sacredness of sleep, we could live with the all day singing! But they don't. Sleep deprivation must be part of the sacrifice. The upside was that there was hardly anyone on the streets or in the shops and for such a crowded busy city, the serenity was a very welcome contrast from the usual bustle. 

 We were going to meet with the Kusumarmantos and President Bodi, the 1st Counselor of the Mission and over the Medan Branch last Saturday and discuss the needs of the branch together but he was out of town so they asked if we could meet on Monday right when he got back. Well......sure! We didn't want to delay the meeting, no matter the reason of a birthday. But we thought maybe we could at least combine a meeting with eating out. So without mentioning it was my birthday, we asked them if they wanted to go out to eat while we waited for President Bodi to get home from the airport. They said, "Have you ever had Oxtail Soup?" Frankly we hadn't although we've heard many Americans say it's delicious so we said, "Sure, why not?" Let's make this birthday one to remember! They drove us to their favorite place but sadly it was closed for the holiday. Aw, shucks. And I actually had psyched myself up to try something new. We then suggested Plan B- Thai food. we knew of a place back in the mall by the mission home and we said we'd treat. They were game so we contacted Pres Bodi to meet us there too. He got there in plenty of time to order. We ate family style and it was great food, lovely ambience, and very sweet company. Plus we utilized the time to talk about our assignment and brainstorm ideas. Thank goodness Elder K speaks good English. He and Google Translate are our godsends.

                           The Thais that bind

My new favorite beverage. Coconut water, sipped in a shaved shell.

After our meeting, we said good bye to our sweet Indonesian comrades. Secretly, all I really wanted for my birthday was... (c'mon all you Parker girls, one guess) a chocolate malt but a chocolate milk shake would suffice. (me singing "Oh, Those Bengalore Juicy Days.") The problem is getting regular ice cream here has proven to be somewhat elusive. 

         First there's ice cream served with tea. Also there's also a whole other store in the mall that offers coffee infused ice cream. 

And if that doesn't beat all, there's even

 ice cream with a liquor component. 

Gah!! Where does a girl go in Indonesia that wants ice cream without breaking the Word of Wisdom?!

We Googled to find the nearest ice cream shop and we walked a good mile to get to this one.

Finally, an ice cream shop that doesn't require repentance! 

We actually enjoyed the long walk there because of the strangely quiet streets and sidewalks. Thank you, Jakarta, for staying home on my birthday and for not closing the only truly honest ice cream store for miles. Hah! It turned out to be gelato, false advertising Dishonest Spoon!  But no harm no foul,  it was absolutely delicious nonetheless and we loved having the place nearly to ourselves. A Jakarta missionary birthday just doesn't get any better than that. 

Now! For our missionary miracle story.

I'd heard about another cemetery for Indonesian soldiers in the city quite a ways from our apartment so we hailed a taxi to take us there. It was a huge sprawling area where official commemoration services are held. Not your everyday quaint cemetery. 

We had to sign in and there were security officers everywhere even though we were the only people there that day. Using the wonder of Google Translate technology, we read the rules.

We met the first requirements anyway, dress neatly and be poor.  ✔️The list of prohibitions were extensive; no flip flops, ✔️ no creating a comfort or saying the vow, ⁉️ makes scratches, !? smoking, wearing sunglasses. So far so good.✔️ But there it was- take pictures. Nooo! All this  for nothing. Ah rats. Well... It was picturesque and serene and we had a good visit with our personalized security officer who made sure we weren't making scratches or creating a comfort. He did allow us to take a few standardized tourist photos although I was looking longingly at all the rows and rows of gravestones with a symbolic helmet on each one. Sorry Jakarta war heroes, it's just not your time.

                 We'll get back to you someday

           Standard tourist photo, nothing more

 

So onto Plan B- We'd been wanting to return to the other War Memorial Cemetery because the whole Netherlands portion was closed to the public the 2 times before we were there for renovations. We went in a different entrance this time and learned this wasn't just a war cemetery.

        Hope you'll take a minute to read this

We learned it wasn't only for war soldiers, but for Indonesian civilians as well who had been put in concentration camps. We had no idea. We first went into the chapel and wandered through a reflection pool area and down  hallways with several shelves of urns of ashes. 

                          The loneliest church

Then we went outside to the rows and rows of white crosses. Rob found him a bench to write letters on while I started snapping away. We had the place to ourselves except one caretaker. No sooner had I started taking photos when the air filled with the eeriest sound I've ever heard. I tried to capture it on video but the audio really doesn't do it justice. 

(I originally had a 30 second video here. I tried to replace it with a longer one. It wouldn't format here so please find the video at the end of the blog and insert it here to fit the narrative.)

Oooooh. The low drone of voices sounded to me like the moaning of the spirits of the dead rising up out of the ground, trapped in their prison and personal hells. You could hear every prayer chanter in the city all at once for miles coming from every direction. It was akin to the background music of the cemetery scene in It's a Wonderful Life. Let your imagination expand the sound I'm describing. Very other worldly. We should've expected the Lord was merely setting the stage for something extraordinary. About a half hour later, a young man and woman came into the cemetery and were taking photos by the flag pavilion. It seemed an odd place for young people to be so I said hello and fortunately for me, the young man spoke English back. Rob wandered over too and we struck up a conversation with them. I showed him what I was doing there with Billiongraves and I asked the same of him. "Why are you here?" He shared the saddest story. He said "My grandfather is buried here somewhere. It says so but I can't find him. I've never met him. I was born on his birthday so I feel a strong connection to him. My father was a little boy and it was during the war. Grandpa told my dad one day that he was going to go out but not to worry, he'd be right back. But he never came back. Ever." It made me so sad to hear this story and the loss that family must have felt to never know what happened to him and why he never came back. With this new added knowledge, we too wondered if his grandfather was captured and put in a concentration camp. The unknown story always leaves a large gaping hole in people's hearts. We told this young man that we firmly believe we live after this life and that we'll see our loved ones again and there's a way family relationships can be sealed forever and that's the work I was involved in, so that people could find their departed relatives. We told him the Spirit World is very close. He said he absolutely believed that too. I told him to tell me his grandfather's name and I would look for it. He told me to look for the last name Hendrick van Bergen which seemed a very strange name for an Indonesian grandpa but the Dutch occupied Indonesia for years and who knows why he'd have a Dutch name?  I wrote it down and got his WhatsApp # so I could call him if I found it. We took some pictures together and they wandered around a little longer then they left.   

                          A Kkijhee Sandwich

 If you knew Suchi like we know Suchi

Well, I was more motivated than ever to find this one gravemarker for this fine young man. I did not want to give up til I found his grandfather. But now it was going on a couple of hours and our water was gone and we were both sweating profusely in the afternoon heat. I had taken over 1000 photos. One looked slightly promising so I sent it to him.

Ah rats. I was a little sad to think we couldn't give him a reason for our meeting.  As consolation, we could tell him where he WASN'T buried, at least. And I could honestly admit I gave it all the effort I could muster for one day. And I'd be more motivated than ever to come back and look again, right? So resignedly, we're walking out to the exit, past another section.  Don't ask me why, but I casually glanced back behind me as we're walking away. And there it was. I knew by the matching birthdate this was really him.

So of course, we felt insanely happy at what had just transpired, we glided out to the street higher than kites and in a state of utter astonishment. This young man now had the whereabouts of his grandfather's grave that he had been searching for and his family could come and pay respects and pray with the hope of a future reunion with his grandpa that he felt so close to but had never met.  There's no explanation why I happened to glance back when I did at just the exact time we were passing by his grave to notice it in that split second moment. It was divinely timed and orchestrated. If we had spent all day at the other cemetery, this lovely little miracle would not have happened. 

So now we needed to rejoice and celebrate together! Kkijhee invited us to join him at Kasablanca Mall for a meal of "comfort food" he insisted on paying for.  We took a tuk tuk 🛺 for auld lang syne to the nearby mall to get there quicker than walking. They don't allow them on the big city streets so this was our first time in Indonesia to ride in one. It brought back a whole flood of happy memories of this whole Southeast Asian experience. 

Oh Indonesia, Oh India, Oh Timor- Leste. 

We love you and your humble people! 

Drive on, little tuk tuk! 

So now we have some unlikely new young friends, forged by a miracle. We never know the end of these miracle stories but it's enough for now to know that they happen, that the Lord loved this young man enough to help him find his grandfather's grave through us and that it meant the world to him. We find sheer joy being instruments in the Lord's hand to bring people and families together, thus bringing happiness and joy into the lives of the children of God. 

"Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and resurrection--Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, whether they be good or evil are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then it shall come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from from all care and sorrow. "

Alma 40:11-12

 

Voices from the dust 

Down Time

 This may be my shortest blog ever. I can usually gauge the length by how many photos I took in the week and if it wasn't for a few pics from Sunday, I'd have nothin' much to show for the week. I hope the reader will bear with more written content and less visuals this time.

We experienced one mini-miracle of being in the right place at the right time. While wandering the buffet breakfast on Sunday morning, we ran into a woman called Pip, traveling with her 21 year old niece who lives with her. They are Australian but the aunt works as a consulate in Indonesia for the Australian government and was in Manado for professional reasons. They saw our badges and approached us. Come to find out they are both members of the church but Pip hasn't been to church in 20 years. Niece Claudia's family is active but when asked what she does while living with her aunt in Indonesia, the answer was "gaming." Pip was aware that there was a branch of the church in Manado. We told them we were headed there to church in an hour and asked them to join us. I think more for Claudia's sake she said yes so we shared a cab so we could direct them there, though they probably could've gotten there just fine with Google Map's help. We just didn't want them to talk themselves out of coming!  Pip speaks Bahasa so she probably understood more of the meetings than we did. The Branch President had asked us to speak and so we had both prepared messages, seeking the Spirit in what we felt the Lord wanted them to hear. My topic came to me like a bolt when I woke up at 2:00 am so I went with it.  As it was, they had two other speakers talk ahead of us and a 4-verse interlude song that seemed to go on forever so I started to speak at 13 minutes to the hour and slashed my talk to bare minimum shreds, giving Elder Dunlap time to share the shortest impromptu talk ever recorded about the importance of exactness in starting on time and ending on time, tying it in with exactness in obedience, all in a two minute sound byte. Ah well, so much for the "great impact" of visiting senior missionaries, leaving the branch with wisdom and challenges to work on. It was what it was.

             The Manado Branch Relief Society 

                     Zooming in on the Aussies

The Monday morning before our departure, we ate with Irda and Salim and one of their star pupils of the orphanage they sponsor who's gone on to get a college degree and now teaches at the orphanage. The Elders had expressed interest in volunteering at the orphanage to play games and sports with the students so we told them of their willingness to continue our association with them. They seemed pleased that we wanted to be of service. I wish we could see the big picture of any of our efforts but usually we don't. 

                      People meet for a reason                

                                                Salim is an American born in Washington DC, who converted to Islam when he married Irda. Such is the influence of women on the hearts of men.

We hope in small and simple ways, we are building bridges of friendship and understanding between religions and ideologies.

We took one last walk along the shoreline before we headed to the airport. Christian churches abound in Manado. We were surprised to find a Buddhist temple .                

And could this actually be a Jewish synagogue?

                              Our guess is no 

Truth be known, we came back to Jakarta in pretty low spirits. Between Rob's sickness and concern over Luke our grandson, we weren't on the top of our game. Never was the language barrier more obvious to us, that try as we might to compensate with other strengths, we are definitely hampered by our inability to understand the Indonesians in meetings and in one on one conversations, which we feel is the one thing we offer; the ability to not TALK so much to them but just to LISTEN to them and what needs they are expressing to us. The young missionaries were so awesome in translating for us in official capacities but couldn't be there for every conversation, unfortunately. The expense to get us there and feed and house us for 5 days seemed hardly cost effective and not much bang for the buck to our thrifty sensibilities. We expressed a few of these sentiments to our wonderful and understanding president when we returned to report. "Are you sure we're the right people for this job? We feel woefully inadequate." He proposed an awesome solution. The Kusumarmantos are a newly called MLS senior couple and get this, they are Indonesian and speak Bahasa! What a bonus! Language barrier solved! We are very excited to work together with them in visiting the outlying branches. They are the personification of meekness. Their inherent strengths are the missing ingredient we know we lack and maybe combined we can make an actual impact.

The Tandimans and Kusumarmantos 

 

On our return, we also started receiving some of the reimbursements due us from way back to Timor-Leste days. For the first time in our lives we are millionaires. Hah! Lest you think we've robbed a bank, 16,000 rupiah equal $1.00. 100,000 rupiah is $6.12 so it only looks like a tremendous wad o' cash. 

Quite the fanfare 

So what are we doing these days in Jakarta to feel like missionaries? Well.. let's see, I've been given a new assignment to teach English Connect 1 to the missionaries who still need the basics. I love that. I'm still transcribing gravestones like mad. I've decided to become even more of a digital missionary during these slower periods, sharing church content to the Indonesian friends we've made on WhatsApp. We've been taught it's the way modern missionary work is being conducted that gets results. We'll give it a go and see if we can reap a harvest or plant a few seeds. Fortunately, I do know how to use the share icon. Rob had a great "guys day out" with Freddy, sans wives. Freddy recently was reactivated and then baptized his son. His wife is in Korea, her native country so the timing was good for him.

 Rob sure keeps us eating healthy too. He's turned over another new leaf since his last bout with his belly and is cooking us many soups with greens, the equivalent of, we're not sure we'll find in the States. They are abundant here and so cheap. Now that we can control what we eat and when we eat, we have embraced daily fasting as par for the course. It's been our only secret to health that the Lord has taught us. When we close our eating window, he can then open up His window of heaven to shower down blessings. Yes, food can be our best medicine but it's when we stop eating that he designed our bodies to repair itself on the cellular level. 

And one of the true blessings of slower times is the blessing we've been given to study the scriptures in greater depth than we ever have before. Sometimes word by word. I will cherish this mission forever for that! We treasure the conversations and discussions that the principles found in the scriptures elicit. Our testimonies have grown and so has our faith in Jesus Christ's promises to his covenant children that are so sure. We can trust Him with our lives! We've had so many "aha" moments and newer understandings come to us. It's startling how many paradigm shifts of insights we've had these past 20 months. It is nothing short of astounding. When would we ever find the time for that if not while serving a mission? 

Additionally, we feel even more closeness in our marriage than we had before we started. Oh yes, we have had to work through many of our issues and trigger points. You just can't afford to stay out of sorts for very long doing the Lord's work so bad moods have to be fixed pronto, especially the ones you keep having over and over. You figure out what tender nerves are being  touched and why they sting so bad. Then with that awareness of why we react the way we do in certain situations, we can take those things to the Lord in prayer and repent of them and ask for help in changing them. One thing we know for sure, we are works in progress but we've come a long ways in changing things about ourselves others might not see. When Elder Rasband spoke of the need for senior missionaries, we have learned from experience, that missions don't need us as much as we need the experience of a mission. Even at this age, we have so much to learn about ourselves and overcome. We are our best converts to the Gospel of Jesus Christ from our mission. 

Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon the word which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted. 

2 Nephi 9:51

Abrupt Trajectory Changes

 Mission life usually proceeds on an even keel but this week had some heartbreaking lows alternating with some compensating highs. 

We returned to Manado for a 5 day stay on a different airline than our first time. For the flight meal, we were given a chocolate paste-filled bun and a cup of water. You could buy instant ramen for extra, which out of hunger, we did. Best cup o' noodles ever! No sooner had we landed then a slew of texts came into our phones all at once, with some distressing news about our grandson, Luke who had had a freak accident. He was being held by a sibling when, trying to escape, he suddenly squirmed out of their grasp. As he was falling to the ground head first he was caught by the foot which broke his femur lengthwise.

                              Poor little guy

They determined it was serious enough that he needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital so they made the arduous 3 hour drive in the night with a screaming infant. He went into manipulation surgery the next morning to try and align the ends of the bone. It went well but he will spend the next 4-6 weeks in a cast that goes around his hips and down his one leg.

Diapering and keeping a leg/hip cast dry with a 7 month old will be an ongoing challenge.

With our constant prayers in his behalf occupying our minds, the news that he had weathered the sedation and manipulation to get the bones to meet, we breathed a sigh of relief and then tried to focus on the present task at hand. On the opposite end our accomodations spectrum, we were put up in a 5-star hotel with beautiful views and a deluxe breakfast buffet. Compared to our economy flight, we suddenly felt rocketed to GA status. Hopefully it all evens out in the end. 

Our hotel window view of the ocean.

Every morning during breakfast, we've had a local musical group serenade us with Kolingtan music on these marimba-like instruments. It feels like we're on a cruise. What a festive way to start our day!

Gotta love the hats

All the time we thought they were playing local songs indigenous to the culture, we started noticing the melodies of some well-known classic rock tunes. How sneaky of them. See if you can pick this one out.

Leave your guesses in the comments!

I got to do a guest ad lib session with them the next day. All I could think to play was Joy to the World, not the 3 Dog Night's version either.

I've finally made my first woman Muslim friend during breakfast while we were both listening to the music. She and her husband do humanitarian work at an orphanage here in Manado so we shared with them the work our church does too. It was so nice to talk with her and find our common ground. People are so very much alike really so it wasn't hard at all. 

This is Irdi

Posting her picture reminded me of something completely out of the norm. I will share with you the most interesting ritual I observed in the airport. Some of you will find it unremarkable. (Sorry, this is completely out of sequence too.) While we waited for our flight out of Jakarta, the windows were all glass and through a courtyard I had this perfect view of what was going on in the next concourse over.  All these people were there in white robes, at first I was thinking they were waiting for a flight too and were a group going somewhere all together in their matching choir uniforms but then it occurred to me, oh, it was a Musholla or prayer room. I watched a man come to this changing area with a sink. This washing area was smack dab in front of me but perhaps his windows were tinted and he didn't notice me looking at him from across the way. He washed himself before I looked up and really started taking notice of him. He began to wrap himself tightly in a white robe under his armpits and then he put on a sash to hold it up. Nexr he had a shawl that he draped over his shoulders with the long side going over his left shoulder. Last of all he put on a cap. Then he went behind a partition so I could only see the top half of his body. He would disappear behind it, I imagine he was prostrating himself in prayer, then he would come back up and make several different gestures with his arms. It was completely fascinating to me and I felt like I was getting an inside glimpse of some sacred rituals in their Muslim faith, like being a fly on the wall. Rob was napping on the couch and missed the whole thing. Those with eyes to see...

For 4 days we've been booked solidly with activities, meetings, and visits arranged by the branch president and the 4 missionaries assigned to Manado. Elders Midgely and Seppings hail from England and Australia. We've been in Accent Heaven just listening to them talk. Speak on Elders! They do a fabulous job of translating for us. 

In looks, they remind us of my nephew Aaron and Gary Sinese

Along with darling American Elder Thompson and Indonesian Elder Panjaitan, we've had the genuine experience of going on ministering visits to some of the member's homes and meeting some of the people they are teaching.

Sister Helda in front surrounded by  ministering sisters and brothers

Next, a member family with 6 adorable kids plus all the neighbor kids too. I wanted to proxy hold that little one somethin' fierce!

This is recent convert Marc who's older than he looks. He is on fire and wants to serve a mission

That night they held a Family Home Evening at a member's home to celebrate the return of their own missionary, Elder Satali. There was talks and testimony,  laughter and merriment, and dancing, literally in the streets! This branch really knows how to feel the joy of the moment. They love to laugh simply for laughter's sake which is so good for the soul. There was also a scrumptious pot luck and we ate heartily. We finally had to cover our plates with a napkin so the ladies would stop heaping food on our plates. We'd been warned they'd do that but one caught us off guard and swiftly piled on some fishy noodles.  We couldn't eat another bite and had to sneak our uneaten food into the kitchen.

                           Blurry action shots

Happy line dancing ad infinitum

The next evening we were scheduled to do a leadership training meeting. Beforehand, we took the 4 elders out to lunch at a hybrid American-Manadonese restaurant. Now it might have been the huge breakfast buffet, (Rob claims the spicy potato salad was what started it all ) or the pot luck dinner with the members the night before or the lunch with the Elders, or a combination of everything  but suddenly his stomach revolted and said NO MORE FOOD. It's time to vacate the premises! But we had to be on our game for our main purpose of the visit-- The evening  leadership training.

Elder Rob in clench mode

Unsuspecting leaders listening to Elder Midgely's brilliant translating while Elder Dunlap is beginning to squirm. 

 Once the closing prayer was said at our training meeting, he bolted for the bathroom only to find no toilet paper and no water in the bidet. This is the reality of Southeast Asia and nothing surprises us now. We carry a roll with us for just such emergencies. He put on a brave face but he was so sick to his stomach. He asked the elders for a priesthood blessing for the Lord's aid in a quick healing but also to give them the opportunity to practice administering those blessings to others. It was a rough night for him. All day he has been sleeping and laying very low in the hotel room, giving me time to write this blog. No breakfast buffet today for him, no lunch or dinner either. I did something I've never done before in my whole life and ordered in room service. Sadly, we are missing out on Bible Class and outdoor volleyball with the members. You can well imagine they are a lively branch with so many fun activities planned during our visit and we're sorry to miss them but we've been asked to speak in church tomorrow so we want to be back on top of this roller coaster ride of a week. Let's hope we can just coast into Monday when we board the plane for home and this time, we'll pass on the complimentary bun. 

"Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first"

Alma. 60:23

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump."

1 Corinthians 5:7