Week 46 Photos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELDER GREENWAY!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Here are Monique, Yvonne and Widap.  They brought Elder Greenway a new batik shirt for P-Days!

The full-time Elders and Sister got permission to come to the Greenway apartment for a movie - "Tangled" won!!!  Then we had tacos for lunch and sent them on their way full and excited to get back to work!!

On Saturday we went to the Soepomo building to have a SnickerDoodle Activity with the Solo 1st Ward.

The children rolled the cookie dough into balls and coated them with cinnamon sugar.  Then with the help of Mr Easy Bake [oven] and the church's oven we got them all baked and ready for eating!

This little guy gave Sister Greenway's SnickerDoodles the thumbs-up!!!

The Sisters have been teaching up in Ngnadirojo.  Here are Sisters Neis and Blake with Kini (L) and Markini (R).  You can see the joy of the Gospel in their faces!!!  The Sisters gave them the Conference Issue of the Liahona and asked if they would read it.  "Of course, Sister,we want to learn what the prophet teaches!"

Finally, remember the huge pile of PVC pipe for the water project?  (No? belive me, it was HUGE!) Well, Margono, the owner of the house that has been headquarters for the Ampel/Ngadirojp water project, has returned that space to its previous state ... a vegetable garden.  And he's got his irrigation ready to go!

Week 46

Selamat Siang Keluarga Kami mengasihih banyak dan Teman baik!!!!

WADU! Minggu ini lalu sibuk sekali!!!! (WOW! This past week very busy !!!!) But first I always need to tell you how wonderful it is to get your emails. Missionaries love mail, and we are no different. We especially love to see our grandchildren on Skype. WADU, WADU!!! This will be an important week for Jackson Greenway, Matt and Tanya's almost 4 year old son. He has already had a great birthday party with 31 in attendance!!!! So we are anxious to see him tomorrow on his big day. Jackson is well known in Solo, from his picture. They call him "rascal". Then the next day it is Emily's husband, Ty's birthday and he'll be 29 (that is a lie, but I'll never tell). He hasn't had his party, but I know he can't WAIT to have a big dose of F U N!! He is such a party animal. I hope Emily is realistic, and just plans a service project. They would both probably like to be with me on Aug. 1, which is our Districts Prep. Day, and the Missionaries have chosen to go to Merapi, the active volcano, and hike and go to the visitors center, etc. So since we are part of the District and transportation, we will be with them!

Tomorrow we will be taking Sisters Blake and Neis, and Elders Tessers and Go, and heading to Boyalali. We now have around 8 investigators in this beautiful little town. The surrounding country-side is where the current water project is finishing up. We have also just delivered 23 wheelchairs to those in need in Boyalali. This area is ripe and ready for the Gospel. We all can feel it. So each week we work a little harder to see it grow. We leave around 9:30 a.m. and get home around 4 p.m. We don't want to rush the missionaries, we want them to take their time and find the best of the best to teach. So far it has all been referral driven, but who knows??? Last Monday was great, first we dropped off the Elders downtown, then they dropped off Elder Greenway and I at the wheelchair distribution, then Bono drove the Sisters to Ampel and waited. Then we just reversed the process, except the Elders had taught a few lessons, and had taken an Angkota (tiny bus) out of town toward Solo about 5 kilometers. So we fetched them there and headed to Raja Chicken for lunch. Good day!

Tuesday was the craziest day! First there was Piano prep. (planning out all the piano lessons for each student...takes about 3 hrs.), then we baked a cake (see why later), then we headed to piano lessons. It was a slow day. I had a few that didn't show up, and the Sisters had come to help for an hour, so I was disappointed. Then about 4:30 p.m. WHAM! In a space of 10 minutes I had 6 new students walk in!!! All of the pianos were full, and I had to tell one mother and son to come back in about 15 minutes. Then I gave a crash course in beginning piano to the Sisters, and WALA! I now have 35 piano students, 22 on Tuesdays between 3 and 6:30 p.m. It was a mad house. Thank heavens I had come prepared for a few new students, and then made it stretch.

After piano we and the Knorpps headed to Solo Square for yummy frozen yogurt and birthday cake. It was Widap's birthday. We had all the Caturs; Bishop, Irma, Monique, Yvonne, Eden, Ayo, and Gramma. Also, Joko, Yua, Agus, Frisca, Yuli, Widaup and the Knorpps. Then Farida and Fransesca, Pres. Ipung and wife, Dewi came along. They were headed to a movie, but Elder Greenway insisted on buying them ice cream anyway. And for the grand finale, Ayo (about 3 yrs old) threw up pretty spectacularly!!!!! Tooooo much excitement.... (or maybe it was the cake?) Rather an exciting day, I'd say!

Wednesday, we celebrated Elder Greenway's and Elder Fisher's birthday (and Prep. day) by having all the missionaries in our district to our apt. for a movie and tacos. Last week that had been voted #1 on the Prep. day activities. So Elder Mokodompis got permission, and after much deliberation and voting, "Tangled" was voted in, and so while they watched the movie, Elder Greenway and I prepared the fixin's for tacos. Now you can't buy tortillas here (you can in Jakarta, but not Solo) so we made homemade. Yummy!!!!!! Each Elder or Sister had to roll out their own tortilla and then Elder Greenway was the flipper. We also had watermelon and punch. It was so fun to watch the Indonesian Elders watch that movie. Well, it is fun to watch anyone watch that movie! Soooo fun! Then everyone went off to work, including us. We set off to visit Bono's elderly mother. She fed us (we were so full of tacos) Martabak! You make an unsweetened crepe, then you chop green onion, and mix with beaten egg. You can add cooked chicken here, if you like. Then you lay out the crepe, put a spoonful of the onion/egg mixture and fold the crepe like an envelope and seal the last fold with egg. Then you drop it in hot oil and turn from time to time until golden and crispy. MMMmmmm. We were sad we had to leave, but we did have a quiet set of piano lessons, not at all like the day before.

On Elder Greenway's birthday, we took the Knorpps to open their bank accounts, a process in Indonesia that takes literally 3 hours. We were at BCA (bank) from 10 - 1 p.m. It was the same when Grovers took us the first time. Then we were off to A&W (yes that is right, A & W) for a hamburger, fries, and root beer floats. The Knorpps treated us for Elder Greenway's Birthday! That was soooooooo nice. The Knorpps needed to pick up a few more things after, so then we quickly headed home so that a group of young people could drop by and surprise Elder Greenway with a song and a present! I gave Elder Greenway a bucket. Now before you remind me that my father always gave my mother a new shovel for Mother's day, Elder Greenway had told me he wanted a bucket that could squeeze out the water from the mop. So on one of our journeys to Lotta Mart (a Cosco wanna be) I saw it and it was the last one. Sis. Knorpp was so nice to pretend to buy it for herself and keep it until the right moment. He was so overcome when he saw it, he took a picture of it.

Friday we attended DDM, always a wonderful way to start a Friday, and then we went to have keys to everything made for the Knorpps. Finally, after such a crazy, busy week.... we got to do what we love to do best. We went to introduce the Knorpps to Brother Mulyono, a wonderful old character from Solo 2. He was delightful as usual. However we found out he has not been to the temple. So we put him on our Home Teaching list, and will start seeing him every month. I told him if he would get himself prepared to go to the temple in Manilla, I would see what the Mission President would say about our going with him. (He laughed... but I was thinking serious thoughts). His wife went with all the Solo Pioneers, but he was not ready, and now she is gone. Elder Greenway invited him to church, and expressed how important he was to the Lord. So there you go! He needs to get to the temple.

Then we were off again to Raja Chicken, (they have the best Mie Ayam) and then GOSPEL ENGLISH. We have so much fun with that group of people. They are absolutely wonderful. Bishop Awik is such a character. He reminds me of Ty, sort of quiet, but there is a definite twinkle in his eye. We hope they all don't speak so well they decide to stop! We just wish everyone could see them at work. Sooooooooooooooo smart.!!!!!!

So, that was the week that was.... everything zooming by so quickly. The Knorpps are wonderful, and they are going to be so busy. They will be traveling a bunch, but it is great to have them around. They are grasping things quickly. Sara, did we tell you they were from Meridian, Idaho. We think we did. Anyway, time is flying! We feel there is tons to be done. We really want to make sure we do all the Lord sent us here to do. We have made dear friends. They hug us, they share their babies, they call me Gramma, they care for us, they share their lives, they look for us, they help us with our work, and they bring us GREAT joy.

Yesterday we made cookies with the Solo1 primary. We taught them all to say "Snickerdoodle". Then we sang primary songs. Sister Kellis, we did "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", my way.... faster and faster, and then mute, with actions. OH! SO! FUN!!! We also did "Do As I'm Doing" turning in circles... what a sight! We think we are having entirely to much fun here. No one said a mission was this fun!!!!! I think the Lord wants us all to be happy. This is a happy people. We know the Lord loves them dearly. We pray you may all find joy in the Gospel, and happiness with those you love and serve. "Men are that they might have joy..."

Happily,
Elder dan Sister Greenway

Week 45 Photos 2

This photo needs to stand alone.  Sister Greenway is teaching piano to an extremely talented 13-year-old, Muslim girl by the name of Billo (Be low).  She also has other talents!  Here is a traditional Javanese style pastel"painting" of her piano teacher: Sister Greenway.

Week 45 Photos 1

Sisters Blake and Neis at a warung outside the Kapatihan Building. Enjoying Es Dengan (fresh, cold coconut drink).

On Saturday 7/21/12 we hosted Sloppy Joe and Movie Night. Sister Greenway made 8 lbs of sloppy joe, about 4 ltrs of punch and 4 bags of casava chips and they slicked it all up!!! Even without sambal (hot sauce) many had multiple sandwiches. Maycen had four!!! Here is Sister Greenway, Elder Mocodompis and Tian sampling the fare.

Here are some of the YSAs: Frisca, Ari, Rianti, and Yuli.

Here are a few more. (Back to front / left to right) Meicen, Titis, Aster, Yuli 2; Fransisca, ?, Farida, Mudji; Monique, Widap.. You may recognize a few from previous photos.

On the front row are Agus (Bishop Catur's brother) and his "fiance" Yua, beside him.

The group from another angle. The missionaries came by for some eats and then were off. We told them they could stay if they brought an investigator or less-active...alas, it was not to be, though they thought they had a few, those few turned out to be no shows!

(L to R) Widap, Monique, Yuli, Joko (Widap's brother), and Rianti. That's Elders Jameson and Tesser in the back.

Week 45

To our dearest family and equally loved friends!

Every week on this mission is inspiring, each one brings new experiences, some trials, and countless blessings.  We have had a truly inspiring week compacted into the last two days.  Last night we held a YSA activity at the church.  It was advertised as a Sloppy Joe, & Movie Night.  We had prepared 8 times my usual sloppy joe recipe.  In other words, we used about 8 lbs of ground beef to prepare the sloppy joes.  We took 54 buns, and 4 bags of cassava chips (yum), and lots of punch.  You see, we have a rules in the mission that if the full time missionaries want to participate in a YSA function, they must bring a less active YSA or an investigator.  Now the missionaries were pumped for this and so if we had all the missionaries attend with an investigator..... right there would be thirty people.  As it turned out, we had a total of 20 people attend (which was a little disappointing) however those 20 people ate every last crumb of food.  Some had 4 sloppy joe burgers.   We were happy that they were happy.

But regardless of attendance, the film "17 Miracles" set the tone for the night.  It certainly made me ponder and be grateful for my heritage.  I have often remarked that everything I have or am I owe to Henrich & Anna Hanson, John and Sarah Williams, Owen & Ann Rowe, & Christen and Martha Christensen; and in some cases to their parents.  Nearly all of these wonderful family members joined the Church in Europe, and all felt the call "to gather to Zion".  All gave up everything.... family, homes, belongings, culture,..... to board a ship, ride a train (if they were lucky), or to pull a handcart and walk across those plains to Utah.  Every thing I hold most dear goes back to their decision to gather.  I think of them often, and I realized long ago that I will see them someday.  I realized that I never wanted to be ashamed to face them, I never wanted to be the "weak link" in the mighty chain they forged.  "17 Miracles" brings all those feelings very close to your heart. Elder Greenway's family joined the Church when he was just 14, and he reveres the missionary who brought the Gospel to his family.  R.H. Larsen is from Snowflake, Ariz. and came from the same pioneer stock..  We reminded these fine youth that from these pioneers came brave young missionaries that came to Indonesia long ago, and brought the Gospel to this land.  We reminded them of their heritage, of their own pioneers, and made sure they could relate to the sacrifice.  They are amazing youth, and the night ended with a strong Spirit.

We have told you before about Farida.  Her family are devout Muslim, and she came in contact with the Church through the offered English Courses.  The Grovers worked with her with tremendous dedication.  She was baptized in February and has enrolled in UVU's ESL courses in Utah.  She will live with the Grovers to start and then grow from there.  She leaves for the U.S. on August 7.  As we have mentioned, her family was not happy with her decision to convert.  But she has remained a devoted daughter, and has been very patient with them.  When she told them she was leaving, they thought she was just wishfully thinking.  She has tried, but they don't believe her.  We have kept her Passport and Visa at our apartment for safe keeping.  Well, after the movie last night, she suddenly felt overwhelmed at leaving her little sister and older brother.  Elder Greenway, Francesca ( her dear friend that Farida brought into the Church), Farida and I stood in the parking lot of the Sopomo Building and had a good cry.  What a young, courageous pioneer!  She has become endeared to many in the Church here.  She is an amazing missionary, and friend.  She is good to the elderly, the children, and the other members her age.  She radiates goodness, and while we are sad that she is leaving, she is going to do something she has dreamed of since she was a child.  Francesca will graduate from college in August and return to Jakarta to her family.  Wow, so many will miss them!

On Friday we fetched the Knorpps, a new Meridian, Idaho Sr. Couple, from the Solo airport.  It seems like a minute ago that Grovers were there to meet us.  We got them at about 10:30 a.m. drove straight to DDM because I had been assigned the lesson for District meeting.  We have all had a busy weekend.  However, we couldn't wait to take them to Church today.  Elder Greenway and I love these people so very much, and we were anxious to "show off"  our Indonesian family.  We attended Kapatihan until 11:00 a.m., then Bono took us to the Sopomo building so that Knorpps to see the Family History Center, (that is their assignment).  Then we dashed back to Kapatihan by 1:00 p.m. for the baptism of Bambang, and Arum (8).  Bambang is 13 and when we first arrived we taught his father and mother, and they returned to activity.  But Bambang held out.  We'll credit Elder Xiong for encouraging Bambang to make a good choice.  They really worked well together and became good friends.  Elder Xiong was just transferred to Semarang and missed the baptism.

One really funny event of this past week happened at "piano korsus" on Tuesday.  I have been working with a Muslim girl named Billo (beelo) for the past few months.  Her friends Bimo and Fafa take lessons, also.  Billo is the 13 year old with the marvelous singing voice I have mentioned.  Just lately she won a gold medal at an All Indonesia Arts Festival.  In other words she took the whole contest in vocal performance.  She is currently working on  a Grieg piece on the piano, "Wedding Day at Trolhaegan" that is somewhat difficult, about 15 pages long.  She is just starting it and doing well.  Anyway!  Last week she walked into  lessons with a beautifully framed Javanese painting SHE had done with pastels, and it is a "Javanese" me, sitting at the piano, here in Indonesia.  It is a hoot.  I have the typical Javanese mask looking face with the huge smile.  My hair is black and in a traditional Javanese style, I am as round as I am in real life, and everything else, including the piano looks very Indonesian.  I LOVED IT!  She had done it for me, and that made it priceless.  She is as good in Indonesian Traditional Art as she is a singer.  Elder Greenway will send a picture, but I doubt if it will do it justice.  What a treasure.....

Elder Greenway and I will be very busy during this next week with some interesting happenings.  Besides running to Ampel with the Sister missionaries, stopping in Boyalali to work with the wheel-chair project, having the Missionaries to our apartment for a movie on their P-day and making tacos together, (this was their idea and we were surprised the President "okayed" it);  we will also be celebrating Elder Greenway's birthday on Thursday!  He will be 29....... give or take a few years.  I will tell you what I am giving him next week, just in case he reads this. It is Widap's birthday on the 24th and we are going for ice cream with Bishop Caturs family, and of course our sweet Widap, for her special day.  Then there will be piano, and of course all of the visiting we didn't get done this week.  We are grateful the Knorpps are here, and we are anxious to have them see beautiful Java Tangah, and meet our wonderful members.

We of course, are always thinking of you.  We miss and love you, and we love to hear about your families.  We are praying that the drought will soon end, for most of you.  We are grateful for your good lives, for the kind people you are.  There is truly "peace in righteous doing".  We love the added peace you bring to our life. Have a great week, and give our grandkids big hugs from us.  We would love to see them via Skype!

Take care of each other!

Dad and Mom, Elder and Sister!!!

Week 44 Photos 1

This weeks photo tour is going to be a mixed bag.  Here are the YW getting ready for Solo 2 Ward Conference.  They and the YM were going to be singing, and true to form, the young men all wore white shirts and lavender ties and the young women were in white blouses, dark skirts with a shear, lavender scarf/tie. Their singing was beautiful!!!

We have been finding and visiting members throughout Solo.  We had a little time before Gospel English Class, and Lili lives near the Kapatihan building, so we dropped by.  Her home is very humble.  She has a significant scoliosis but walks to church every week and whenever there are other activities.

I took this picture the last time we were at Ngadirojo.  We had been watching this excavation, wondering what it was.  At first, it looked like top soil was being harvested.  Eventually, however, it became apparent that this hill was being removed by one or two fellows to allow for a home to be built.  I have point out again -- this was all done by hand!!!

And while I'm on the subject of work.  This fellow is the city's typical garbage hauler.  They go around the neighborhoods, collecting the garbage which is taken to collection points around the city where scavenger workers separate out recyclables, and things of "value"  These collection points are then cleaned out periodically by other workers who then load the remaining material into large, open trucks for transport somewhere.  Many times you will see people burning trash in the gutters, curbs, and canals.

Here is a somewhat typical street light in Ngadirojo.

And here is how it is turned on and off by the residents.

I am continually fascinated by banana trees.  Here is a flower emerging from the trunk.

And here is a banana flower fully emerged with fruit beginning to form.  The flower is also harvested and cooked like a vegetable.

And finally, here is good Bono.  In the letter we mentioned that all packages had to be sewn into a plastic "burlap" material.  Bono got tired of waiting for the "Wrapper Dude" to finish a wooden crate he was making from scrap material, and wrapped our package himself.  It still cost us rp 5,000 for materials (used).

Week 44

To our family and friends sweltering in the US, from two old missionaries basking in paradise,

Hellooo!!!! We have heard things are pretty hot up there, and we have really felt for you. Our Sara's air conditioner broke down, people have been living at the community pools, and garden's are suffering. Sister Grover once told me that she thought we would get used to the constant heat here, and like everything else she promised, we have. Today we walked home from church at noon, and hardly broke a sweat. We have wondered, perhaps, if they are having a "milder" dry season than usual. But since there is only two seasons - rainy or not rainy - temperature usually is pretty consistent. We have been enjoying each lovely day. Yesterday was my father’s birthday. He has been gone for 27 years, and he would have been 94, but I am stuck remembering him in his 40's and 50's. What a character! Grumbly, impatient, and stern. But also generous, industrious, and tidy. I am glad he taught me how to work, as a youngster it was not in my nature.

Today was Solo 2nd Ward's ward conference. The Uskup (bishop) of that ward is Uskup Catur. He is a great bishop and has a remarkable family. We learned this week that his son, Elder Putra (who is a missionary in Salt Lake City) is going to my niece's ward. Laurel wrote us an email to tell us he shared his testimony last Sunday, and told that he was from Indonesia. So, of course, she spoke to him, and the connection was made. I explained to Laurel that putra is "son" in Indonesian, and that since they usually don't have last names, they get to chose a last name for their mission. So he became Elder Putra, at home he would be called Brother Ricko, which is one of his given names. We shared Laurel's email with his family and his mother was thrilled. Just one more person to look after him.

Well, at Solo 2nd Ward Conference, the Primary sang the prelude, and during the meeting the YM & YW and their leaders sang two songs. We just can't explain to you what this is like. Elder Jameson, who is from Missouri and was sitting next to us, remarked that he wished he had a video of their performance. They were all sitting on the first two rows, YW on the front row- YM behind them, and when it was time for them to sing they stood together and the YW turned and filed around to stand in front of the podium. Then the boys followed and stood behind the girls. They wore white blouses and shirts, dark skirts or trousers, and the girls each had an orchid, gauzy, long scarf wrap around their necks and tied in front. The young men each wore a orchid tie. They sang "I Love to Read the Holy Scriptures" with solos, and a sweet, soprano humming interlude. Then they sang a song about testimony, softly, then growing with a tender YM & YW solo at the end. WOW!!!! WADU(wow, in Indonesian!)!!!! It was amazing, extremely powerful, and Elder and I were reduced to blubbering masses by the end.

We are getting so we somewhat understand the speakers. Bishop Catur spoke about families, & the importance of obeying the commandments. He used D&C 130:20 and (one of my very favorites) Mosiah 2:41. Then Pres. Budi spoke about who we are. He used a story about King Louis XVI, who as a child was tempted to misbehave. He said that he must always remember he was to be a King, and behave accordingly. Pres. Budi reminded us we can all become Kings, and Queens for eternity... and we must always remember to live our lives to attain that goal. It was a very remarkable meeting.
Thursday we were invited to a member's home, along with Elder Jameson and Elder Mokodompis.

As we rode along, Elder Jameson told us that his mother was from Utah and his father from Missouri. When his parents married, his father was not a member. However, when their oldest daughter turned 8 she asked her father to baptize her, so he changed his life and did just that! He is the only member of a fairly rowdy Missourian family. Elder Mokodompis' grandparents joined the church in 1980 and their family was baptized. However, all of the children fell away but his mother. Then she married and all of her children were baptized, but Elder Mokodompis is the only active child. They both feel they have a lot of work to do.

Now, you must also know, that the family we were visiting consists of a husband and wife who are members, and all the rest are Muslim, and don't know that our members are members! So, the Elders, including Greenway, all wore batik shirts and no one wore name tags. Elder Jameson did not like the parameters of the visit and called the Mission President who basically told him to lighten up. So off we went. While the Elderly Father-in-law was present we just talked of Indonesia and life in general. Elder Jameson was not allowed to speak Indonesian because that would create questions. He kept slipping up.... FINALLY the elderly gent took a walk and we were able to give a short lesson on the family to the husband. There are also uncles and aunts and nieces living there, so the wife stayed away. Then the husband wanted to take our pictures, so we walked to the neighboring rice field and took pictures.

Strange was the word of the day. But, that was the wish of the poor fellow, and who are we to deny him a visit. We also visited a new member with the Elders, and then Bono took us to see his house. It is very nice, and he was so proud, and we love him so much, he is simply an amazing man. We had asked many times to go and finally we were all in the right place.

We had also mailed a Christmas package on Thursday as an experiment. Now you might ask, "So what?" Well we arrived at the Kantor Pos (post office) at about 1:15 p.m. We walk up to counter, and waited with others for a while. Finally, a young man came up and gave us papers to fill out. When that was done, he told us we would have to go to the customs office. We walked to the customs office and the customs officer told us that usually they want to see what is in the package, but since we were dumb bules (white people, and we don't know that he said that exactly, but that was the theme of our talk) he wouldn't make us open it this time, but next time not to seal it before they got a peek. Then they sent us outside, and around the corner, to get it sewn up in plastic gunny sack material.

Now, you understand that if we were Mormon crooks, and had contraband CTR rings in that box, we just walked out of that customs office to the public parking area and around the corner to get our just inspected box sewn up. What would happen if we had other Mormon crooks outside waiting to exchange one box with another????????????????? Anyway, we waited while the sewing dude was actually making a crate for mailing a lady's big wooden fish. Well, finally Bono had had it, and picked up the plastic and started sewing our package into it. Then we went back inside to the original guy and he weighed it and fussed and added up numbers and charged us about 350,000 to mail it. (That is in rupiah, which is $35) When we got back into the car it was 2:30 p.m. and so don't be surprised if you get zilch for Christmas from us.

We have also been out looking for less active YSAs, (we have found out that they have all moved, or are married, or both). Well, not all, and that is what keeps us looking. We are having a YSA activity on the 21st.... Sloppy Joes, and "17 Miracles" movie. We have three of the four wards whittled down to 3 or 4 missing in each ward, 3 or 4 we are actively working with for each ward, 30 or so married in each ward (which sends them to the Ward Council, and the Rescue Program). Our Gospel English class has grown by two, and they hardly speak any English, so we will meet with them early for a while. We had a review game last week and were thrilled at the progress of the class. Two of my new piano students are also in the English class. They are Lina and Antok, and the Grovers took us to their wedding when we first arrived. They are fun and wonderful, (I think I use those adjectives a lot with these people!).

Our Boyalali contacts are having a lesson tonight, with the Sisters and Moko, for their husbands and families. Pray for them..... we would really like a Branch in Boyalali! And finally, we are expecting our new "Missi Couple" this week sometime. The Knorpps arrive and we are so excited to introduce them to Solo. We are going over our brains, and thinking of all the marvelous instruction the Grovers gave to us. We hope we can be patient "trainers", we were treated so well.

Speaking of patience, we feel that is the word of the day. It is so much smarter to be patient than to be sorry later. Patience is a rare gift. Bono has it in bundles! I am never sorry when I choose to exercise patience, but I am always sorry when I choose differently. We are so grateful for the patience of family and friends for us and for each other. How wonderful to recognize the talents of others, and to put aside our differences. How Christlike. We love you all and hope you have a chance to cool down a bit.

Love to all from heaven,
Elder dan (and in Indonesia) Sister Greenway

Week 43 Photos 3

After we returned from Bandugan on Juli 4, we prepared for Zone Conference to be held Juli 5.  Here are some photos of that get together with the missionaries from Central Java, Surakarta Stake.  In this first picture are Elder and Sister Barnard from Tasmania.  They were in Solo a couple of years ago, so this is their 2nd mission.  They are assigned to Jogja.

From Left to right are Sister Barnard, Elder Heiner and Sister Heiner (Asia Area physician - from Price, Utah!).  Then Sister Tandiman, Sister Neis and Sister Blake.  The Heiners were here to make a health presentation to the missionaries and to visit area Rumah Sakits (Hospitals) to make agreements to treat the missionaries if needed.  Sadly, but fortunately for her, Sister Tandiman neede the services of a hospital in Jogja the next day when she was struck from behind by a motor cycle with those large baskets, while she was on her bicycle.  She broke her arm and had to have surgery on Monday 9 Juli.!!!

Here is Sister Treyes, from the Philippines.  She came out with Sister Neis (from Canada)  She was excited to hear that Katie was serving in her home country!

Finally, here is the Zone photo.  The Heiners were out with Bono, visiting a hospital in Solo.

Week 43 Photos 2

Here is Sister Greenway with Aster.  She is just an outstanding young women.  She is waiting for a missionary who is currently serving a mission in Indonesia, Elder Martoyo.  She's contemplating a mission, too.  What is really interesting, is that two young people will somehow decide that they are boyfriend and girlfriend (yes they "date" but it is not always obvious that they like each other), and then the are "Boyfriend and girlfriend" until they get married.  And that could be years!  In other words, she is waiting for Martoyo, but they may wait until she completes a mission and he is into or done with school.

OK - when we were asked to go and present at the Youth Conference, we were told that we would stay at a nearby hotel.  They almost insisted because it would be nicer.  Well, when we got to the resort, President Budi showed us a room (like the first room at the resort by the office) and asked us if it would be alright.  We said fine!  After ensuring in his own mind that we really were "fine," we settled in.  Now, because we were told that we were going to stay at a hotel, we weren't told to bring towels or soap (and also, our own toilet paper).  We were able to go into town and purchase those items, so no problem.

Anyway, here are some photos.  This is the bathroom.  We did have instant hot water (that's the unit on the wall above the "tub.")  A European toilet.  You'll not the "tub" has a ladle floating in it.  Well, we had to bathe Indonesian style because the water was absolutely scalding hot, so we warmed up the tub water, then bathed in the middle of the floor and poured water from the ladle over us to get wet and to rinse.  This is how the average Indonesian bathes, except, typically no water heater.  If the toilet had been a squatter, the ladle and tub water would double as the flusher for the toilet

Here is our main bed room.  The beds were just wooden platforms with 4 or 5"  foam mattresses (Serta is making some in-roads into Indonesia, but not here, yet.), pillows, a bed sheet, and wool blankets.

Week 43 Photos 1‏

On Tuesday, Juli 3, we started out at the Soepomo Chapel to load the kids from Solo onto a bus that would take them to Bandungan (for youth conference).  A village in the mountains to the north of Semarang, which is on the coast.

Here is the Kristen resort that we stayed at.  It is called: "Elika"

The sign says: " Youth Conference of the Surakarta Stake"  Dates: 3-5 July, 2012  Elika Resort (wisma=Public building) Bandugan (city), Semarang (county), Jawa Tengah (central Java)  Then D&C 38:43.

Here are the kids getting ready for their first meeting after they arrived and had lunch.

This is Bimo.  He and his sister, Fafa, are Muslim and they take piano from Sister Greenway.  Their parents attend the free English classes offered at the Soepomo building.

Here are a few of the Stake Youth Leaders.  From R to L, that's Ari (Stake YMP), then Widap (Solo 2 YSA rep), Purwantari (Stake YWP), Dina (newly baptized and just there to chaperone and be with church members), Ratmini (an adult leader for Jebres Ward), Aster (counselor YW), Sister Greenway.

Here is our new Stake President, he's about 35 years old and his name is Budi Susanto.

Week 43

Dear Fantabulous "Friends, Neighbors, and Countrymen..... Lend me your 'eyes' !"

The above greeting was very July 4th sounding, even if it is Shakespeare! I hope you had a wonderful holiday! We forgot it was July 4th until it was July 5th, then we remembered!!!! We were a tad bit busy on the 4th, and I'll bet you were too! We would love to hear how all of you spent your 4th of July! I hope it was a "blast".

It has become our "normal" to spend our Mondays in Boyalali. The Sisters are teaching two wonderful women from the village of Ampel. They are accepting the Gospel, and they want us to come to speak at their church. We are not so sure their "pastor" would appreciate our visit, so we'll wait for an official invitation. But they do want us to come and teach their husbands, and family. THAT we can do. We do not have a ward anywhere near Ampel, and that has been a great concern to us, and , on a lesser basis, to them. So, we have decided to plead our case to Pres. Groberg. I'll tell you more about that later.

Tuesday morning we left for the other side of the island to stay with the youth at a resort near Semarang. The youth were on a bus. We drove with Aster, Farida, and Francesca because Francesca gets car sick. They all slept most of the way. This "resort" was in the mountains about an hour outside of Semarang, in a beautiful little village. The entire Youth Conference was held in that one spot. Last month, at a planning meeting, the Stake Pres. told us we could not stay there because it wasn't nice enough. We told him it was fine, but he said no, that there was a hotel next door, and that we would stay there. So we packed accordingly.

When we arrived Tuesday, he asked if we could stay at the resort and we said, "SURE!". So he showed us the room, and really it wasn't too bad. It had 2 beds, a sink, an Indonesian shower (a tiled, small, square, deep basin with water in it, that is poured over you using a small "bucket", while standing over the floor drain), and absolutely best, it had a European toilet that flushed! So it was fine..... however, everyone else had been told to bring a towel and soap. We also did not bring toilet paper, (they use a little squirter thing). So, after a while, Bono drove us around until we found a place that had towels, soap, and T.P. It was a wonderful conference! We told you that the Young Single Adults planned this whole thing. They were great! We had about 90 youth, and 20 YSAs, and maybe 10 old people like us. The youth are like youth everywhere- they talked, sang, had fun, yelled, played, learned, and were beautiful. Dear Elder Greenway and I did our 2 hours on Wednesday, and then had to leave.

The week before we found out we had Zone Conference on Thursday, the 5th, and that the Mission President , his wife, the Area Doctor, and his wife, and a translator needed to be "picked up" at the Samerang Airport Wednesday morning. So dear, wonderful Bono got up earlier than the chickens, and drove from the resort to the airport (over 2 hrs) then back to the resort. We all at lunch with the youth, President Groberg gave them a quick message, and then we loaded up our car, and a second car (we added Francesca and Farida so they wouldn't have to go by bus the next day) and headed back to Solo for Zone Conference the next day. Poor, poor, poor pooooooor Bono..... Driving in Indonesia is like driving in Zion Canyon with the road under massive construction, and with a zillion tourists bumper to bumper... only then you have to add 200 gadzillion motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars..... 365 days, every day of the year.

Oh yes! About the "new branch" in Boyalali. I talked to the Mission President on the way home. (I had planned this to get him ready so that when the Sisters pleaded their case he would know how earnest they were). We talked for almost an hour in the car, and Whoopee! He agreed that something needs to be done. So he gave us (the Sisters and us) some assignments, and he is going to look into an Indonesian Senior Couple to go to Boyalali with some Elders. We all have our work to do, but if there is a will there's a way!!!!!!!

Thursday we spent in Zone Conference. It was a real boost. The President gave a great lesson. He reminded us that "our purpose (as missionaries) is to help others find their purpose." He quoted Dallin Oaks: "We are not called as missionaries to increase the membership of the church. But to teach and bring repentance, baptism, and eventually a celestial life with our Father in Heaven." He talked about setting gol - gol (Indonesian for goals).

We love being surrounded by the Elders and Sisters. The only Sisters we have in our Zone right now are Sisters Blake (from Texas, Neis (Nice - from Canada), Treyes from the Philippines, and Tandiman from Jakarta. Tandiman and Treyes are in Jogja right now. The day after zone conference Sister Tandiman was on her bike when a "motor" (their name for motorcycle) with two large baskets attached (we have sent pictures of this) zoomed by and the basket whacked her right off of her bike. She flew and broke her right arm in the landing. She is having surgery on Monday to fix the break. We are so grateful that it was only her right arm. We have seen amputations and other severe injuries from "motor" accidents. Often the driver of the motor doesn't even realize he has hit someone, as was this case.

After Zone Conference -- Pres. and Sister Groberg, the Area Doctor-Elder and Sister Heiner (from PRICE Paula!), Elder and Sister Barnard (from Tasmania), and Elder Greenway and I -- all went out to dinner at Adem Ayam. We enjoyed some interesting Javanese fare. When I looked around the table I had to smile at the food. Whodathunk we would ever eat pickled eggs that were brown, fish soup with bones and all, cooked jack fruit that looks like pot roast (Sis. Grover warned us about that one), spicy!!!! Chewy something-or-other, corn and crab chowder, and as always..... rice. But the company was fantastic, so there ya go.

Friday was DDM. The Elders were worried about their English classes. So we suggested they announce the classes in church. However! we said... If you get people there, then you better prepare the kind of classes they will return to!!!!!! We had a talk about being good teachers, and they were pumped. Then Elder Greenway and I visited with wonderful Indonesians all afternoon in their homes. Finally, we spent a fantastic hour and a half in Gospel English. We put the words - 1. Who? 2. What? 3.When 4. Where? 5. How? 6. Why? - on the board and had them roll the dice. Whatever number came up, they had to use that word and ask a question about the church. For instance - if they roll a 2 they could ask, "What time does your church begin?" We had them in teams, and it was so fun. They did so well, so of course we were very proud. Then we gave them opportunities to read their favorite scriptures in English. Wow! It was a very good day.

Finally, Saturday was P. day, or preparation day. Yea! We did a ton of laundry, and went to the store. We walk through the adjoining mall to get to our grocery store. Yesterday they were having a "cat auction" in the Mall. Now, I think I should tell you that in the entire time we have been going to people's homes we have seen two house cats. All other cats are outdoor mousers, and they a scrawny, mangled, messy looking animals usually with half a tail, a broken - mended tail, or no tail. Yesterday, these cats were HUGE!!!!!!! mostly Persian cats, that were fat! Some of them were the size of bobcats. Seriously! We could not get over it! If you could see the emaciated cats outside. The chickens weigh more than the cats! We laughed all the way back to our apartment.

What a week. You can see that we didn't even miss the fireworks! But we always miss being with you, our beloved family, and dear friends. We love this work, we love these people, we love our Father in Heaven, we are so grateful to the Savior, and we can't imagine being anywhere else right now!!!!! We hope that many of you will soon be off on a similar adventure as a Senior Couple. We can only stay 23 months, so the beginning of August we'll begin our march toward home!! Can you believe it?! We feel like we have so much more that can be done. So we will continue the race to the finish line every day so grateful to be in the race at all.

Bless you all!
Elder and Sister Greenway

P.S.
Holy Cow!!!!! I forgot the most important thing that happened in Indonesia all week! I have two Muslim piano students. Bimo 13, and his sister Fafa 12, and since they were letting the 13 years old go to Youth Conference, I asked the young Elders to help me ask Bimo's parents if he could go to Youth Conference! Then we met with Bimo and explained what Youth Conference is, the rules, who goes, what happens, etc.! We only did this the Saturday before, so we gave him overnight to think about it, and HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He decided to go! So needless to say, I kept an eye on him the whole time I was there, and the kids were so great to him, and now I can't wait to talk to him. I just thought you'd want to know. Oh, and I have 29 piano students now, 4 new this past week, all adults.

Week 42 Photos 2

If you go back in time, to an earlier picture of this storage yard, you'll remember all of the PVC pipe that was ready for use.  This is all that remains!

As we headed for Jenawi, we came upon this MCK that was having a water pipe repaired by the village repair crew.

Since replacement parts are not readily available, these fellows figured out if they squirted some PVC glue inside the cut pipe and set it afire, they could soften the white PVC and preserve the grey PVC.

And repair complete.

We then proceded up to Lawu where we hiked a short distance up to the water distribution tank.  In Ampel, we fed 5" pipe into the reservoirs, and 4" out of them to smaller cement tanks or poly tanks, eventually down to 3/4" to the homes and MCKs.  At this part of Jenawi they took off from the tank with 3/4" to their destinations.  If it appears to be a bit foggy, your wrong!  We're in clouds that are gathered around the mountain tops.

Collection and distribution.

Clear, fresh, cold mountain water!   ENJOY!!!

Oh, and I can't forget the requisite ...  "Hey Mr. ????  Photo????"  Elder Henrie was a little taken aback.  Elder Healy was thinking, "Oh yeah, I remember this stuff!"  And Elder Greenway is thinking, "Someday one of these fellows will be trying to remember, 'Who the blazes are these guys and why am I in the picture!!!???!!!'"

This is a 200 cubic meter reservoir above the village of Jenawi.  Remember, the tank above Ampel was 100 cubic meters.

Week 42 Photos 1

OK - We mentioned in our Week 42 letter that we ate at a restaurant just on the Ampel side of Boyolali.  It is a fairly nice place and the food is good.  It was crowded when we arrived, so they put us in a Javanese open dining area and our waiter stood by as we looked over the menu and eventually ordered.  Melanie ordered Gorame (a type of fish) Bakar (grilled), and Cap Cay (Chop Chy) a mix of stir-fried vegetables.  I ordered Nasi Goreng (Naussy Gorang) (fried rice).


Gorame Bakar

Nasi Goreng & Cap Cay

On Saturday we made Snicker Doodles for the Primary of the Solo I Ward.  Melanie made the dough before-hand and the kids made doughballs and rolled them in cinnamon sugar and Ron baked them in the church oven and our Mr. Easy Bake stove top oven.

Sister "Julia Childs" Greenway teaches her cookie-making class.

More instruction - "I'm sorry Moms, but this is a kids activity!"

Batch one oven one.

Batch two, oven two! (Mr. Easy Bake stove top oven)