So much need, so much potential

Time to get out the Indonesian visa again. 

Who is this alien lizard lady with wide set eyes? (I think they had to stretch my photo)

We spent the bulk of this week traveling to Medan and being with the Kusumarmantos, who are the dearest, sweetest, kindest couple you'll ever know, 

and then with our darling full-time elders and super sweet Medan branch members. Here it is Saturday night and I'm just beginning to download the photos to my American phone. This one's going to have to be sloppy photo journalism with not much commentary as we really want to get to bed!  

An essential matter of business that first night was to celebrate Elder Villenueva's birthday with ice cream and have them orient us to the city. 

           Nothin' lights us up like ice cream

                   So reminiscent of the Indian 

                          Stripling Warriors 

We woke up the next morning and looked out of our nice hotel window. So this is Medan. 

                     A glimpse of the back side

Medan is another predominantly Christian city on the north tip of the island of Sumatra. Our two lovable (and English speaking) elders Penaflor and Hardy had planned 2 full days of visits for us. After breakfast with the Kusus... 

          Decisions  decisions for toast spread...

                   Srikaya or Chocolate Jam?

we sped off to Sister Helga's to invite her to come back to church. We tried to resolve her every concern and  relieve her worries about returning to fellowship. Sometimes people just get out of the habit and it's hard to kick-start it back into gear. After a good discussion of Alma's discourse on not delaying the day of our repentance, she promised she would come to church to take the Sacrament. Tomorrow will tell. 

We have one thing in common, we both like doing laundry. It's her livelihood and my favorite chore. 

I promised her I'd be her friend and sit with her at church.

                   Every member needs a friend, a calling, and to be nourished by the Good Word

Next, a long drive out to the country to visit 9 year old Jennifer who was recently baptized and her older sister. (I just realized she is the 2nd 9-year old Jennifer of our mission, the first was in Coimbatore.) They live with their aging grandparents and so many dogs we couldn't count them all. There was a new batch of puppies too, with unopened eyes, squeaking amidst the squalor.

 They put a blanket on the ground for us to sit on 

          We talked about the Word of Wisdom

Jennifer's little angel brother smiled the entire visit. We gave him a little picture of Jesus with the Children to look at. He smiled even more!

Then to end the visit, we walked a ways in the rain to the closest store to buy them a few essentials

    Sadly there weren't many nutritious options

Next stop- to the church for English class. Only Oscar and Tetty showed. Tetty is a member and is so much fun to be around! She perpetuates happiness with her constant laughter and optimism. We invited them both out for pizza at El's Kitchen but only Tetty took us up on the offer. This was stone oven pizza and the best we'd ever tasted in 20 months. A member's husband owns and runs it. What an unexpected treat!

                          An insta-friend too

Next day the Kusus invited us to go to an orphanage run by another wonderful sister in the branch. First we went to a Costco-type warehouse store to buy food for them that was so empty, we nearly had the store to ourselves. Not sure if it just hasn't caught on yet but it was Twilight Zone episode #23

                  Where's all the customers?

During this unique mission of ours, we'd never seen the inside of an orphanage before or seen any actual orphans. We visited the outside of one in Chennai but weren't allowed inside. We were incredibly impressed with these children's bright countenances and their complete orderliness and self-discipline. The young boys all cheerfully helped to unload the car. They sang us a little gratitude song and chanted a group prayer together that touched our hearts. It was tempting to want to take the whole lot of them home with us. One boy's name was Boy.

             The saintly member who runs it

              May we adopt them all, please?

              But how could we possibly choose?

                    Everyone lending a hand

We had a little downtime before meeting some members to purchase food and snacks for our dance party later in the afternoon and there just happened to be a cemetery in walking distance between the church building and our hotel. I only photographed a few rows before I realized I had a thousand burrs on my dress and pantaloons. Elder D came to my rescue and we picked them off me for a good long while. 

                     This small sample x's 100

And a high price was paid. When will I learn?

The Elders had planned a fun dance party for the branch. The kids from the orphanage showed up and were just as orderly at church as they were at home. Not a single moment of running around cresting mayhem in typical kid fashion, yet they danced and participated and wow, can they sing too! Maybe all American and Indian kids should spend a little time at Sister Martisa's orphanage! They were absolute angels. 

Elder Saputra had the easy job of looking after them.

I visited with some of the widow ladies of the branch. The one in the middle is an investigator who comes to English class. 

                        Our Primary Colors

                      More member visits

             Brother Robert with Elder Robert

Elder got a rare opportunity to take a short spin on a bike. 

               "Gotta hit the open road, Dottie"

  And sit on a motorcycle carriage, just for                                               pretend.

We loved meeting the members at church.

        Widow Sister Julia and her great kids. They had just returned from FSU and were on fire for the Gospel! So many bore their testimonies. This branch has so much potential in the rising generation. 

 I found my first lady with a load on her head in Indonesia. In Medan.

                Their loads are heavy here too. 

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27