Minggu 27 - Relief Society Birthday Party and lots of visits

On Monday we took a P-day and did laundry and rested.  That evening we went with Elders Costner and Suwarsid to Toyo and Roni's.  Their mother, Ibu Merry, is now being taught.  She committed to baptism tonight.  Right now we are looking at Easter Sunday.  We just new she would eventually start taking the lessons as she sat through all the lessons with her son's before they were baptized and after.  She just needs to be able to find someone to take care of her business on Sunday mornings so she can come to church.  She has a place where the people who collect recycle stuff off the streets take it.  Then she packages it up and sells it to bigger comapanies.  She has been a widow for 12 years, and raised her boys herself.  She can be a little intimidating but she has done a great job with her boys are her business.
Tuesday we spent some time at the Church and then went with Elders Sutarno and Davies to visit Ajai(a thirteen year old member) and the only member in his family.  We then went to visit Nico.  His Sister is preparing to go on a mission but none of the rest of the family is active.  They used to be and the dad we the Branch President at one time.  Old habits are so easy to fall back into if you aren't diligent all the time.  He is the only one that was never baptized.  He has a baptism date of the 30th.  We actually had a good visit with his parents which has never happened before.  We then went to visit the Segalas.  The young boys, all primary age, are the only members.  Dad comes some of the time but has been struggling with a smoking problem for years and has tried to stop but hasn't been able to yet.  We read out of the scripture stories with the boys.
Wednesday Dani and Jayson had our new granddaughter legally adopted.  We are so thrilled.  She is so pretty and we are excited to have her as our granddaughter.  Again we spent some time at the church and then we went with Elders Sutarno and Davies to visit Abdi, who is our young mens president.  He is in his late 20's and has a tumor in his abdomen.  They can't afford chemo and are trying traditional medicine.  It is quite big.  I was never that big when I was expecting a baby.  He is the only member in his family and is a return missionary.  He has a wonderful attitude and the youth all love him.  We really enjoy visiting with him.
Thursday we just spent the afternoon at the church and went home in the early evening.
Friday morning we stopped by the Elders house because their water pump had quit working.  Elder checked it and asked them to find out if it was covered by their landlord.  We then went to Church for District meeting.  I made banana bread to take.  Bananas are very prolific here but they are quite small.  We had lunch at the church after our meeting and then we went with Elders Sutarno and Davies to an appointment with a muslim man.  Other Elders have met with him and he says he just likes to introduce all of his christian friends to the missionaries if they are doing some searching.  He is a great referral source.  I think the Elders ended up with at least 5 people who said they would like to listen to more.  It was quite an interesting experience.  They mesquitos were terrible there though.  We were all eaten alive.
Saturday I went to an appointment with the Sisters and our driver who gave them the referral.  While I did that Elder Tucker spent some time at the Elders house trying to fix their water pump.  Then he had a meeting with Pres. Rico and Pres. Meyer(2nd counselor in Mission Presidency).  I taught English myself with the Bule missionaries help as Elder Tucker was still in his meeting.  He finished about the time we finished with English.  We then ran to the store so I could get some bread for church Sunday(I always bring some incase they don't get it for the Sacrement) and a few other things.  I got mayonnaise in a bag.  It is about half the price of it in a jar.  Elder Tucker and Elders Costner and Suwarsid went to Ace to get something for the pump while I did that.  Ace is upstairs from the grocery store.  We then went with the Elders to teach Ibu Merry again.  She is great.  Then we got some dinner with the Elders and went to their house so Elder Tucker could finish the water pump.  It only took about 10 min.

Today we rode in the ankot and also went to pick up Pres. Meyer from his hotel in it.  I had the spiritual thought in Relief Society.  When I do this I type what I want to say into google translate and then write it down in Indonesian.  After church we had our Relief Society Birthday celebration.  They had a brief history of Relief Society and some testimonys and the Branch President spoke for a short time.  Then we played a game I was asked to come up with.  I just found questions about the history of Relief Society and we made 2 teams and they tried to answer the questions.  Then we had a cake and sang Happy Birthday and also had a food box with rice, 1/2 an egg, some potato squares and a little beef and peanuts.  We are taking it easy this afternoon and evening.

 I could get used to the minimalist decorations.  Our lunch under the white board.  It says Happy Birthday Relief Society that is 172.

 The birthday cake with number candles to make 172.

 Most of the Sisters who were there.  I think in total there were 17 with the Sister missionaries.  Sister Ezra, Myself, Sister Mendrofa, Sister Manullong, Sister Effa, Sister Sinaga, Kak Desma, Kak Yanti (gets baptized next week), Sister Imelda, Sister Kiki and Sister Teng(she has a son who lives in Utah).

The Relief Society Presidency(at least those who are still active)

Minggu 26 Amazing things can happen

Last Sunday we were hoping to break 60 at church as we had encouraged the missionaries to let everyone know that it would be Elder Murphy's and Sister Jibson's last Sunday in Medan.  We were just amazed as we saw the people who came to church.  The Mendrofa parents even came and it is the first time since we have been here.  They have a son who is a missionary right now on Java.  A sister came who lives about 5 1/2 hours away.  She makes it about 1 or 2 times a year.  She would be very active if she lived closer.  She always pays her tithing when she comes.  We ended up with 71 people in attendance.  After church we went with Pres. Rico to his home for a quick lunch and then with him and his wife to visit a family, the Herefas, that we have visited before a few times.  They had been friends before they stopped coming to church.  Which was over a year ago.  While we were there (they live about 40 minutes to an hour away depending on traffic, etc.) we they said it was cost that kept them from coming, so we challenged them to try and come at least once a month.  We think it is more than cost but they haven't been forth coming.  They agreed to come once a month at least.  We then spent the evening at home.
Monday was transfers so we ended up getting up early and driving all of the missionaries to the airport and then we took Elder Costner and Sister Hasibuan to breakfast and we ran some errands with them and came back to the apartment for awhile.  We then split up and I went with Sister Hasibuan to finish a few things in her house and Elder Tucker and Elder Costner went to the Church to do a few things. We all spent some tie at the church so  the missionaries could look at their email and send in their reports..  We then were taken back to the Sisters apartment so we would be there when her new companion arrived.  Sister Believe her new companion showed up and shortly after Elder Tucker came to get me.  We then ran an errand or two and went to the Elders house so Elder Costner could meet his new companion.  The other two new Elders were not getting in until late that night..  We then went home for the evening.
Tuesday we went to the Church about noon.  It had been raining pretty hard that morning.  The Sisters were there teaching a lesson.  The Elders showed up so we were able to really meet all three of the new Elders.  Elder Suwarsid (Bekasi),  Elder Sutarno (Solo) and Elder Davies (England).  Sister Believe (Manado).  The Elders took off to learn about the area some and we took the Sisters after another appointment at the church to go look for rain ponchos since neither Sister had one.  Sister Hasibuan has been using mine but I will want it back because it is a good one and I may need it myself.  Didn't find any so they will keep looking.  We took them back to the church so they could go to an appointment and we headed home.
Wednesday we found out Sister Hasibuan had been hit by a motorcycle the night before and her one wheel was bent and the brake not quite right so we took her bike and the Sisters to the bike shop to get it fixed.  We then took the Sisters to their appointments.  We went to visit Sis. Ezra, Cindy, Ibu Futi and Ibu Nermauli.  The first two are recent members and the other two are investigators that we have met before.  We then took the Sisters to get the bike and took them home.  We then got home about 6:30.
On Thursday we spent the afternoon at the church and then went to the store to buy some food.  It is hard getting to much because we don't ever know when we will be home to eat and our freezer is very, very small and doesn't hold much. 
On Friday we had District meeting.  Elder Costner, our district leader flew to Jakarta Thursday for a zone leader meeting and came back late Friday night. We had District meeting with out him.  We then did lunch again from the padang place.  We then took the one Elder and meet the other two at the bike shop so they could pick up a bike.  We then ran a few errands, getting a phone cable and a few other things.  We then went to the mall for some of the errands and bought a few movies.  They sell them for a dollar a disc.  I got Mr. Poppers Penguins for 10,000rp or less than a dollar.  We then went home. 
Saturday we went to the church about noon.  We had BLM(Branch mission leader meeting) at about 2:30.  We then taught English.  We only had about 2 students plus 2 missionaries.  The Sisters taught 3 young girls.  Our numbers haven't gone back up since we had to cancel the one class due to us going up to Sinabung.  We should be getting a written curriculum soon that the Area Presidents wife put together.  I have been winging it with what I can find on the internet.  It will be good to follow a basic schedule and then just keep repeating it.  We then took all the missionaries out to dinner so they could have pork.  Not a lot of places in Indonesia that it can be found.  We all got bebeka except Sister Believe who is vegetarian.  The Missionaries all left to go to appointments and we went to the mall to pick up some fruit so Elder could make a drink for the missionaries tomorrow since invited them for dinner.  We drove around the parkir and found no parking places.  It was packed so we decided it wasn't worth it and we just went home.

At the place that has good pork.  Elder Sutarno, Elder Davies, Sister Believe, Sister Hasibuan, Elder Costner, Elder Surwarsid and Sister Tucker

Sundays we get to church about 45 minutes early to get everything turned on and ready.  Yesterday I was finishing up something and I looked out the window and saw the Herefa family, minus dad, walking down the road by the church to the front gate.  I called to Elder to let him know and we both had tears in our eyes.  Also Sister Mendrofa came to church again this week.  I think she really missed it and decided working on Sunday during Church just wasn't worth it.  We also had a baptism.  Desma, a girl who lives in the same kost as Ruf and Fenny was baptized by her boyfriend who is the son of the other councilor in the Branch Presidency.  To watch the ripple effect is wonderful and we can finally see that our work of visiting these inactives really does make a difference in their lives.  Ruf was inactive as we mentioned in an earlier post and we finally got in to see her and she has been coming ever since and her kost mate (Fenny) was baptized about a month ago and now Desma.  Elder created a message list on his phone of all the numbers we have of members from the branch list and also and email list and so when anything is going on, like a visit from Mission President or a branch activity he always sends a message to these lists.  A lot of these people have not had contact with the church since they stopped coming and nobody has gone looking for them.  We want them to know that we care and we need them and want them to come back and haven't forgotten about them.  Even if it is just making contact for starters.  We had 62 at church today.  We need to average 80 for a year and they can get their own building.  That is what we have been tasked with by the Mission President.  Also we found out that one of our new missionaries had brought Agus's mission call with him but didn't know him so didn't say anything until Sunday when he brought it to church.  Unfortunately he had to work.  Elder Costner texted him and told him we had it.  We then invited him over for dinner with the missionaries.  He calls us his step parents.  His mom is the one who's funeral we went to in November and he said his dad is dead.  He does have a step dad who is the father of his sister.  Anyway he came over and we all got to be there when he opened his call.  He is going to stay in Indonesia.  He reports to the MTC in Manilla on May 9th.  We are so excited for him.  Tinngi should get his call in the next couple of weeks.

 Sister Hasibuan, Desma and Sister Believe

 Fadlin, Sister Hasibuan, Desma and Sister Believe

 Ruf, Sister Hasibuan, Fadlin, Desma, Sister Believe and Fenny(the three kost mates)

 Agus opening his mission call to Indonesia

 As we were getting ready to eat at our apartment.  Nine people gets a little crowded but we still have fun.

Rebecca We, Our branch presidents daughter.  Sister Emma his wife calls me Grandma Tucker.  Every time I see them she goes, say hi to Grandma Tucker or listen to Grandma Tucker, do what she says.  She helps me get my baby fix since I miss my own grandbabies,  all 22 as of this coming Wednesday.

We love you all.  This is a marvelous work and we love it.  We need more couples.  President told us just this morning that at this point it doesn't even look like he will be getting a replacement couple for his office couple that is supposed to go home in June let alone for any of the rest of us when we leave.  We have two couples leaving in June and 1 in August.  That will only leave us, the Manado couple and the Welfare, Humanitarian couple.  These other two couples came in August but they are only here for 18 months so they both have less than a year left.

Minggu 25

Monday we stayed home all day and night, studying and resting.  It was nice to just relax.

Tuesday we met with  our language coach at 7.  We did go with the Elders to see Jonathan and while there did a little studying with Stanley.  The others we hoped to see but were not able to were, Alos, who has been having tests at University, and we were also unable to meet with Rorot, who has been at his village for the past 2 months.  Had dinner at the Coffee Box this evening, it was pretty good.  It is hard to come home anywhere between 6:30 and 9:00pm and then have to think about making dinner.  If it was just me I probably wouldn't bother.

Wednesday we had our meeting with our tutor at 7.  With transfers coming up this next Monday, there haven't been a lot of opportunities to work with the younger missionaries today.

Thursday, we checked out the Elders apartment this morning, and took the extra bike they have been using for parts, and worked on it trying to put it back together into a serviceable bike.  So Elder is storing it in the upstairs caged in outside patio while he works on it.  The rear gear shifter is from another bike, and does not fit very well, so it may not actually work on this bike, but we will give it a try.

Friday we had DDM in the morning, went out to lunch for Padang with the missionaries, it really wasn't any better eating it at the "restaurant" than it is eating it wrapped up to go.  Transported an investigator of the Sister's and all her worldly possessions (all fit in the very back of the van), we used the argument that we were taking her to meet with the person who is friend-shipping her and the sisters were going to spend some time teaching them, so we could use our car to transport her.  We then picked the Elders up and headed to an appointment to do a baptismal interview, we parked in a different place and some of the kids found us from last time, that took us until about 8 pm that night, on the way home ate dinner in the Chinese Complex near the Mendrofa's, food was so so, and the price was high.  Dropped off the young missionaries, and headed home.  

Saturday,  Got to the building by 12:30 after picking up some cash at the ATM, so we could pay our driver in a couple of days. Did some computer work upstairs, then visited with Chaterine Hutapea for a little while, and pulled the information together to set her up on LDS.org, but had BML at 2:30.  Taught English for a couple of hours, Leo, Jimmy and Chaterine were the only ones there.  Encouraged Leo and Jimmy to come to church tomorrow, they had been investigators a long time ago, and have been taking English classes ever since.  We then got a call from the sisters, asking if we could pick them up at the bike shop, as their bikes were not ready when they got there, and needed to get out to the Mandella area.  Picked them up and hit a lot of traffic on our way out, once there we met with an investigator with a flashlight and they were having a blackout.  Then back to pick up the sister's bike, at 8pm went to Koki Sunda, it was the best meal I have had since we got to Indonesia, my mouth, lips and tongue didn't stop burning until about 30 minutes after we finished eating.  Lots of fruit/vegatables with a sweet & hot sambal sauce, also had Sate Chicken with fried tofu, and a nice fruit drink, plus a resturant where we could eat inside and sit in fairly normal chairs (okay there were no chairs, but you sat on the floor, and the your legs dangled in a pit, but the table was at the proper level for eating at).  We went to celebrate the transfer of Sister Jibson (Malang) & Elder Murphy (Yogjakarta).  The 6 of us managed to eat all we could have wanted, and the total cost was Rp284,500. ($24).  Finished eating at about 10, and got home a little later.  We will really miss these two missionaries as they have been with us since we got to Medan.  New missionaries to get to know, though.

 Our dinner at Kopi Sunda.  We had fun and it was good food.  Nice to actually eat in a completely indoor place with non plastic seats and tables.

Dinner at the apartment for the missionaries before Sister Jibson and Elder Murphy were transferred

Minggu 24 - We are a side show

This week has been really slow compared to the last few that were really busy so Monday we decided to take an official P-day and not because we were taking the missionaries some where.  We did laundry and just spent time at home.  In the late afternoon we did go to the church to do a few things on the computer.  We then went grocery shopping and went home.
On Tuesday we spent the afternoon at the Church just puttering and trying to accomplish something.
Wednesday we spent some time at the church and then we went with the Elders to two of their appointments.  We then stopped by a Brothers home to see if he was there.  He wasn't.  The power was out so our next appointment cancelled so we took the Elders to dinner.
Thursday we spent the afternoon at the Church again.  A young man that the Elders had given a Book of Mormon to stopped by the Church with some questions so we visited with him after Elder called the young Elders to come to the Church.  We then all met with him and tried to answer his questions.  We then went home because the apartment called that we had a package and they closed at 5pm.  They called at about 4:40, so we packed up quickly and headed home.  We had our driver let Elder off at the Lobby so he could get to the office quicker and I went and had our driver park in the basement and then went to help get the package.  It was from the distribution center at the mission home with the things we had ordered about 3 months ago.  While we were driving home Sarah a college student called and wanted to know if we could meet her at the church so she could use the computer to pay her PEF loan.  We of course said yes, so we headed back as soon as we took care of our boxes.  Our first anything having to do with PEF since we have been here.  She will let us know next month when she is ready to pay again and I will help her set up an automatic withdrawel each month which is what she wants.
Friday we had district meeting and then we all got lunch like we usually do.  Then we went with the Sisters to visit Sis. Ezra.  She is struggling right now and says she is mad at God because she tries to do what is right and bad things keep happening to her.  Like, 2 Sunday's ago she came to church and when she went home almost all of her pigs (she raises them to sell to restuarants) we sick and then died.  And other things like that.  We gave her what comfort we could and let her know that we loved her and cared about her.  We then took the Sisters to another appointment but we did not go in because she was feeling a little pressured by other friends.  We waited in the car which our driver happened to park on a busy bridge.  It would shake every time a car or truck drove over it which was almost constantly.  There were alot of kids walking home from school and they would stop and laugh and talk to us.  They wanted to use their English that they all learn in school.  Some would leave and bring back more.  At one time we probably had up to 20 kids at the windows laughing and giggling.  Then we went back to the church for an appointment but she was an hour late so by 7:45 we left and let the young missionaries wait for her.  We had to stop at the store to get a few things we still needed to feed the missionaries on Sunday.  They wanted it again before Sister Jibson and Elder Murphy get transferred the beginning of March.

 

Elder took this picture from the window of the car.  These are just some of the many children that came to visit at our car windows.

Saturday we got to the church about noon and the cleaning had already been done by Sister Novita.  She is so good about always being there to make sure things are cleaned and set up for church each week.  She is also a PEF recipient and I think she feels it is one way to help give back, besides making her payments and having a calling.  She would like to serve a mission but she is the only member and her family is not happy about it and always give her a hard time.  She was baptized against their will because she was over 18 but here family wishes are so important.  We had 5 young girls show up and hour early for English so I taught them until the other English class was supposed to start and then I sent them on their way.  We had only two students show up and we think it is a carry over from last week when we had to cancel class because we all had gone up to deliver the humanitarian supplies near the volcano.  So we just visited and had them speak in English.
Sunday was interesting.  We had alot of regulars not there but we had 15 visitors.  Our numbers still can't break 60.  We have gotten so close a few times.  We then had Branch council and then the Presidency finished up some of their business and Pres. Rico drove us home.  We then got ready for the missionaries to come to dinner.  We did tacos, enchiladas, tortilla chips, refried beans and rice.  We made corn and flour tortillas to use and found some canned pinto beans at the store.  They were a bit pricey but we don't buy them often.  We then shared pictures using my computer since transfers are coming up.

Minggu 23 - Mt. Leuser National Park (Jungle) and Humanitarian Project

So we had a very busy week.  Monday we took the Missionaries to Bukit Lawang to see the Orangutans in the jungle. We left early in the morning and drove for 3 hours to get there.  We hired 2 guides for 3 hours and they took us into the jungle to the orangutans.  It is advertised as an easy hike in the jungle.  Don't believe them.  It was quite difficult.  They tell you to use the trees and vines to help you climb but before you grab them make sure you look for spiders and snakes.  We actually ended up being gone for about 5 hours.  We were all very tired by the time we got back to the car.  We did see some orangutans up pretty darn close.  It was a good but tiring day.

 This is a map of where we went.  We crossed the river on one of the bridges and then hiked up into the protected area of the jungle.

 To get to the Jungle we had to climb this stairs for a long way.  It took us about 20 minutes just to get up all of the stairs.

 This is a rubber tree.  Our guides explained how they got the rubber.

 Elder found a vine to swing on.

 One of the monkeys we saw and fed.

 One of our guides showing us the size of ants in the jungle

 An Orangutan with her baby

After the hike.  I was glad to have just made it back on my own.  My back was hurting quite a lot by the end of the hike with so much up and down and climbing over limbs, etc.

Tuesday, I made a cake for Elder Murphy's 20th birthday.  We then went to the church and spent the bulk of the day.  As is tradition here, the Birthday person (Elder Murphy) took us all out to dinner along with Agus.  We then went to the park so the Sisters could continue what is also a tradition in Indonesia.  They get the birthday person with eggs, flour and water.  It was pretty messy.  We then went back to the church and they missionaries cleaned up a little and we ate cake.

 Everyone ended up with flour, water and egg on them.

Elder Murphy, the birthday boy, back at the church.

Wednesday, the Lucherini's flew into Medan to help organize the Humanitarian project.  They are our Mission Humanitarian and Welfare Couple.  They were here until Sunday to see the project to completion.  We spent the day at the church accepting supplies that another helper from the Mission Office (church headquarters for Indonesia) had spent the day finding and having delivered to us.  Monday the church sign half came down due to wind and it was already loose so Elder had taken it to get welded.  He put it back up today.  That night we had a Branch council meeting to decide how we were going to proceed with in the time frame we had.  We then fed everyone either nasi goreng or mie goreng. 

 Elder putting the sign back up

The church as they started delivering all of the supplies that had been bought.  Elder Lucherini and Bro. Manalu looking at everything.

Thursday, I went over to the hotel that the Lucherini's were staying at and Sister Lucherini and I went swimming for about an hour.  It is such a treat to have another older adult to visit with.  We then went to the church and got set up for when the members showed up to help put hygiene kits together.  We had a pretty good turn out and the worked hard and got it all done it about 3 hours.  We put together 1000 kits.  We then feed everyone pizza and we cleaned up and went home.

 Branch members putting kits together.

Friday, Sister Lucherini came over to our apartment so we could make heart shaped sugar cookies for our Branch party that night.  We spent the morning making cookies and visiting and then we went to the church to help put labels on the buckets they had purchased and get everything packaged and ready to put in trucks the next morning.  The power went out about 1pm and didn't come back on until they were cleaning up after the party.  We then had our Valentines party.  It was a lot of fun.  Lots of games and lots of youth.  We went to a bakery and bought pastries for everyone to eat in the morning.

 The missionaries and Agus after we finished with everything but loading on to trucks.  In the back corner are some of the kits that were put together.

 Because the power was out they played most of the games out side where there was a little breeze

Saturday, we met at the church at 7:30 and the trucks and most of the people showed up about 8am.  We loaded three big trucks to the brim.  We then took three vehicles and drove with the trucks up the mountain.  We left about 10 or 10:30 and got back to the church by about 5:30.  We delivered everything to the main command post up where the evacuation sites are.  On our way home we saw where they were selling bats.  They are eaten here but are pretty expensive.  When we got back to the Church we still had to get it set up for church the next day.  We were so tired when we got home we just had grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.

 Some of those who were there to help load the trucks.  This is the last one.  We had three about this size.

 On the way up the mountain at one point they have all of these places you can stop and get things to eat and look into the jungle going into the valley.  There are also lots of monkeys down there that you can watch.

 This is everyone who drove up the mountain.  We had members of the Branch and the missionaries and those from Jakarta.  We had just presented everything to the powers that be.

 These are some of the bats that we saw on our way down the mountain.

Sunday, we took a taxi to church to give our driver a break.  Elder Tucker was asked by the Mission President to present Tinggi's name to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.  He was also able to ordain him to the office of an Elder.  His mission papers should go in this week.  Pres. Rico brought us home and we are enjoying a quiet Sunday evening.

Minggu 22 - Bali

Monday we left our apartment at 5am a headed for the airport to catch a 7:50 flight to Jakarta.  It usually takes about an hour to get there, I don't think the taxi driver ever used the brake until we got there, so it only took about 35 - 40 minutes, it helped that there was no traffic, but he probably averaged 65 mph, the speedometer was usually around 110 kph, sometimes a little more or less.  We had plenty of time to wait for our plane.  We visited with the young adult that sat next to Sister Tucker for a while about the church, and gave her some contact information.  Took a taxi from the Jakarta Airport to the Mission Office.  Checked on a couple of things we had ordered that have never shown up in Medan while we were there.  And helped the Humanitarian Mission Couple put together the request to the Area Presidency for assistance in Sinabung, for the volcano evacuees.  We hit the send button while I was still sitting there.  Then Sister Tucker went to go get her hair cut, she hasn't been willing to try anyone here in Medan, neither has the one Bule missionary that came here with us.  Elder wishes 4 weeks ago he would have refused to go see the barber, his hair is just starting to lay down again, after he took it down to about a 1/4 inch on the top.  We went to a mall near the mission home, and got some Indonesian basket work, and also a box of chocolate to use the small tin as a cookie cutter for Valentine's day.  Had sandwiches for dinner and read some that evening, the Donalds had already left for Bali, as President had business with the Branch over the weekend.

Tuesday, we went to the airport again to catch the plane for Bali, met up with the Lucherini's and Lisk's at our gate.  Checked into our room at the Novetel Resort in Nusa Dusa, Bali about noon, very nice resort, we ended up in a 2 bedroom suit, with kitchen, dining room and living room with 2 patios all on the ground floor, a lot better than our apartment in Medan and at least twice the size.  Since we got there about noon a group of us got together to eat in the outside dining area near the pool for lunch.  Elder Tucker then played ping-pong and Sister Tucker joined him and went swimming, then we got together and walked to a restaurant for dinner somewhere near the resort complex.  We arranged for drivers to take us on a tour tomorrow morning.

This is a statue we saw walking to dinner the first night

 At dinner the first night, Welshes, Lisks, Donalds, Williams and Lucherini's

Wednesday,  After a devotional this morning, we met our drivers and went to Ubud. We went to a Batik shop (Elder bought a nice art piece with tropical fish as the theme), then off to a silver smith shop (Sister bought a pendent for a chain and earrings to match), and a wood carving shop.  Then we had lunch, and finally went to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, in Padangtegal, Ubud, Bali.  Apparently many of the "Sacred Monkey" have handlers and they train them to take something from you and you end up paying to get it back.  Sister Tucker had one jump on her purse and back trying to get it but between the two of us we held on and the monkey gave up first. Then headed back to the hotel and got ready to dinner,  we were going down to the beach to have sea food for dinner.  When they said go to the beach, they meant "the beach", we walked through the cooking area of the restaurant that had a few tables set up, and out onto the beach and down to about the water's edge, where they had a lot of tables set up.  Had a variety of sea food, Snapper, Grouper, Dory Fish, and a few others I can't remember, then also got some shrimp prawns and squid, with some rice and vegetables.  We went swimming for a short time to relax then headed in for the night.

Working on silver pendents

Some of the wood carvings we saw.  Very intricate



At Lunch

Sisters Donald, Lucherini, me and Welsh

At a Hindu temple with the monkeys

Dinner on the beach. Shows how close we were to the water.

At the beach with everyone including the Kusamemanto's

Thursday  we got up fairly early to catch a shuttle to the marina, to take a catamaran trip to Lembongan Island, winds were not very favorable in the morning, they put up one sail, and used the prop the whole way.  Took about 2 hours for us to get there, a good distance was along the south east coast of Bali, heading east and north to the Island, where the cruise line has a club house.  Elder went out and played in the ocean for a while then at about noon we all headed out on the skiff to the reef area to snorkel for about an hour, there were quite a few fish, a lot that Elder recognized from the saltwater stores for his aquarium.  We had a good lunch provided as part of the package,  went swimming in the ocean and pool.   Then we went on a tour of local village, and Elder almost bought a chambered Nautilus shell 8 inches in diameter for $12.50 but he was trying for $10 so didn't buy it.  Elder didn't think it was a local shell anyway.  They also showed us how they harvest and dry seaweed and talked about what it is used for.  We headed back to Bali late in the afternoon, and used the sails most of the way with the prop to assist,  I would guess we made in back in an hour and twenty minutes or so.  For dinner we all ate in the open dining area at the resort.  That night three of the couples went swimming for an hour and a half, it was the ones that are still in their 50's, Donalds, Lucherines and us.  Didn't really swim just relaxed in the water and visited.

Rick on the catameran

boat in the bay over the seaweed beds.

On our way back to the catamaran after a busy day

Friday we headed to the airport and back to Jakarta.  While waiting for the plane, we got an email approving the Humanitarian Aid Project for Sinabung.  So we will have a lot of work after we get back.  The plane leaving Bali changed schedules, and we had to leave 2 hours earlier than planned originally.  So now we have a 5 hour layover in Jakarta.  Elder spent a lot of time reading in Indonesian, and managed to leave his Alpha-link (little handheld computer dictionary) sitting on a table in the Jakarta airport.  We got home at about 11:30 PM.  As we unpacked we also discovered that we (Elder) lost about $100, He had slipped the pouch we keep extra cash in off his belt, and stuck it in his pocket.  He was tired of pulling it out to get money.  It must have come out sometime when he was getting something else out of the pocket.  But he thinks the best story is that one of the monkeys on Wednesday pulled it out of his pocket while trying to keep them from running off with Sister Tucker's purse (He at least thinks it's a good story).

Saturday we cleaned the church,. Sister Tucker taught English, with the young missionaries help.  Elder took off with our driver and picked up Bro. Kiki, the previous Branch President, who was home for semester break to go visit a couple of addresses that we had been unable to locate.  Managed to visit with one of the members, another was not at home, and the last had moved but we got some information to help us track him down.  As we drove around I was also able to pick his brain about some of the other members we were having difficulty locating.  Oh Yeah, still no running water in the church, 2 weeks now, Elder opened the line and he don't think there was any coming from the government.  It's a good thing we didn't drain the font, after last Sunday's baptism, at least we have been able to use that water where it is needed.

Sunday we had a ward council meeting to discuss the service project the is to be done this week.  It is going to be a busy week with the Lucherini's here and getting the project done on time.

Congratulations to Dani & Jayson on the court date being set for the adoption of Lynette.

Minggu 21

This week had Elder Murphy with us again.  He was here from Monday morning until Wednesday night.  This should be the last time we have an Elder stay with us since we are supposed to go back up to 4 Elders and 2 Sisters by the end of February.
Monday, Elder Murphy & Costner came by at 7am so they could use internet for email home, Elder Costner is headed to Jakarta for meetings, at about 8:30am Sister Jibson and Hasibuan came over, we had German Pancakes and Sister Jibson made crepes for breakfast, the sisters stayed forever okay about 4 in the afternoon (nothing better to do on this preparation day).  They were making invitations for the Valentines party.  We went out that evening and checked on some of the people who live or lived on the street the church is on, based on when they were all baptized it looks like they all joined about the same time and did so shortly after the church moved into the building.  We did confirm that several of them still are living there, the others we got leads as to where they might have moved.
Tuesday,  we met with our tutor again today, had a good study session with him, and provided some direction on what we wanted to try and study.  Elder Tucker climbed up on the roof to check the water level in the tank at the church, water is not flowing in at a very high rate, and it is almost empty.  Elder Tucker and Elder Murphy installed the air fresheners President Rico bought in the church building, also since we had the ladder out we also cleaned air conditioning vents, we installed the air fresheners near the AC so they could move the scent around the rooms better.  About 4pm we went to visit Bro Simanjuntak, we were 20 min late, and he was just leaving on a borrowed motor, as the motor on his transportation is not running,  he was headed off to get some parts to see if he could repair it himself.  So we visited with his wife for about an hour, she normally does not visit with the missionaries, she even discourages her husband from participating (it's not usually a problem for her as he works from 5pm until about 3am each night repairing flat tires).  Our visit with her went very well she agreed to read an article from the Conference issue of the Liahona.  Went out to the car to get it and didn't have it with us, so we said we would get it to her later.  Then headed over to the Sagala'a, none of the kids who are members were home so we headed to the church to pick up a copy of the Liahona for the Simanjuntaks.  Then again tried the Sagalas, and were able to visit with Kristian but none of the other children.  From there we headed home sometime after 7pm.
Wednesday,  Went to the church for an appointment who didn't show up, Elder Tucker and Elder Murphy dropped Sister Tucker off at the apartment and then we went to PMI again, after getting an email asking if we could provide updated information on the situation with the volcano eruption.  With the flooding in Jakarta and Manado, they have not sent our request into Hong Kong for approval,  so this was our third update for then, hopefully they will get it sent in this time.  After our visit with the PMI we stopped at a little street vender and got something to eat, there was fried banana (it was mixed up with a dough, and then fried and reminded me of a apple fritter only with banana), goreng minced vegetables (green onion, carrot and not sure what else, mixed in a batter and fried (this was pretty crunchy, and was also pretty good)  Fried tofu that was stuffed with who knows what, then dipped in a patter and fried.  And finally an egg roll also filled with something.  Everything except the Banana were eaten with panas.  Then we visited with Jonathan Hutapea, and also stopped by to check on Rorot who was still not at home.  We also stopped at the Lims and confirmed they had moved back to a Tangerang which is just east of Jakaarta.  Then we took Elder Murphy home just as Elder Costner was opening the door to their house.

This is some of the goreng that we had

Thursday, Threw a couple of loads in the laundry, since we could hook up the washer again, can't actually close the bathroom door all the way when the laundry is hooked up, as it drains into the shower, and gets its water from the same valve as the toilet.  Studied and did some things around the church building during the day. Got office supplies and did some computer work that afternoon.  That evening started filling the font from the water tank, hopping that we keep getting water through the night.  
Friday, Checked the font, about 9 inches of water in the font, all we got was what was in the tank and there is nothing coming into the tank. Attended DDM for a couple of hours, then started filling the font for Sundays baptism, by filling about 10 small trash containers and ~5 gallon water jugs at the Elders house.  Each trip added about 2.5 inches to the depth of the water in the font, and each trip took about 1 hour to make.  Made three trips today.  That evening we had a FHE activity where members and guests were invited to attend.  The missionaries attempted to answer their questions with information from Preach My Gospel.  There were about 24 members, and 2 guests there, they were young men from our English class.
Saturday, Started at 9:30am filling font, (only lost about 1/2 inch overnight) made 4 trips, and think we are okay.  Sister Tucker and I then went out to visit Sister Teng for the Chinese New Year.  Her youngest son was in town for a week visiting.  We enjoyed some Chinese snack food, and a sweet and sour candy, which I can only describe as interesting.  It was a sweet hard candy with an area of exposes salty/sour that was like a rough felt it wasn't until the end that I realized it was a fruit of some kind, because the pit was still in the center.  We gave some to the young missionaries and they were less than impressed.  Sister Tucker was never willing to try it.  So Elder Tucker has 8 pieces or so that should last him a long time.  We also got the recipe for a bean drink we have enjoyed a couple of times, we asked Sister Teng to invite Sister Tucker over some time when she is making it, so she can actually see the process and quantities, the recipe we got is in Indonesian of course.  Back to the church for a meeting and then teach English.  We had about 8 young adult students, and 3 pre teens, so we split into two groups, letting the young elders take the 3 preteens. 
Sunday we had Church and then had a baptism.  Fenny is the young adult who was baptized.  We then had the Missionaries over for dinner.  We made chicken parmesean and Sister Tucker made brownies.  When they left we gave them the things from our fridge that would not last until we got back from Bali.

 Fenny with the Missionaries and her kost (boarding house) mate who introduced her to the Church