Week 83

Finally!!!!

We just finished a bowl of Split Pea Soup (we found cans of Campbell's at Hyper-mart and were thrilled) and a toasted cheese sandwich. Elder has a fever and is laying down, it is only Saturday night, BUT... this week is Conference Weekend for us so we watched sessions 1 and 2 and the Priesthood session today!!! Tomorrow we will watch sessions 3 and 4 and then we have Stake Choir practice at 4:30 and that leaves little time for letter writing. Now you have all watched Conference, so we do not need to talk about that, however I must say that I so enjoyed every bit of it, and can't wait for tomorrow! I also found out today that John and Lynn were in charge of the Lancaster Stake Roadshows!!! Wow!!! That's some real deja vu! I was so glad it was them... and I KNOW they did a great job, because Sister Knarr told me so.

Now, about this past week. Well, Monday was certainly interesting... We have been running down for a swim many mornings about 6 a.m. We normally swim for an hour. Not only is it good exercise, but it is also good missionary work. We now have a number of new friends who come about 6:45, so we visit a while before we get out of the pool. They have almost zip English, but I am getting so I can almost understand a conversation if they speak slow enough. Well, back to Monday, we had gone for the swim, and Elder and Sister Knorpp often are at the gym while we are swimming so we had talked to them and then around 7:10 we returned to the apartment. I hopped in the shower while Elder fixed his breakfast. After the shower, I gathered up my things and turned the knob on the bathroom door and CLICK! So I turned the knob again and the knob was no longer connected to the plunger that goes into the frame, BUT the plunger was still in the frame. So I knocked on the door, which by the way was misty because our bathroom fan is totally useless meaning the inside of the bathroom was hot and muggy WITH NO WINDOW and no way out. When I knocked Elder DID hear me, and bless his heart, he never laughed or even teased me. He knows I hate hot, he knows I hate muggy, and he knows I don't do well when I can't get out!!!! So he remained very calm and for about 15 minutes he and I tried to figure out the knob mechanism. It was quite and doorknob! We kept saying, "This knob was put into the door, we should be able to get it out!" Then he told me he thought maybe he'd go down to get help from maintenance. From everything we have ever told you about Indonesians and speed, do you think I would go for that!!!? I kept thinking, that means I'll have to spend all day in the bathroom and sleep in the tub that night.

So, the next best thing was Elder Knorpp! Now, we have Elder Greenway and Elder Knorrp on the outside, and Sister Greenway (not exactly modest) on the inside. It reminded me of a "how many missionaries does it take to fix a doorknob" joke. To make this long story short, about a half and hour later they had finally SAWED through some stubborn piece of metal, and then the doorknob fell out... but the plunger remained in place. Elder Knorrp had to take a pair of needle-nosed pliers and pick it to death. Then WAHLA!!!! I was free at last!!!... but not until Elder Knorpp graciously slipped back to his own apartment. We now have a washcloth stuffed into the hole where the doorknob should be, and a towel thrown over the top of the door to wedge it closed. I don't even know if we'll ever replace the knob..........Phhhewwww!!

Tuesday we showed our English Class "Fox in Socks" on power-point. What an absolute crack up!! We had each student take a turn reading, so they all had to figure out the "Sue sews crows socks" and "tweatle beatle battles in a bottle with a paddle on a poodle eating noodles". Sooo fun. We even had Elder Mortoyo, who just stepped in to see what we were doing, read through it. They loved that! Then Wednesday we worked on contractions. Now they can put contractions together really well, ie. can not to can't, but then they each had to come a choose a card that had 'will not, or did not' etc. on it and say the correct contraction, then use it in a sentence. We'll (contraction) need to work on this again. Thursday we worked on there, their, they're, and there's. I had written a paragraph on the board (Elder was out with the Missionaries teaching) using one of those four in a sentence. Then we talked about each one, it's meaning, how it works in a sentence, the differences. Then I would write a sentence and each member came up a fill in the blank with the appropriate word. All but 3 or so really understood. So a some point we will review that also.

We have also started in earnest to work on Banjasari's Ward Roster. After about eight hours total of work we have found 4 dead people, about 15 "move long ago, far away, Sister", about 10 "oh he married Muslim change church, Sister", 4 or so ??????(they seemed to have disappeared), angnd 2 that we would like the Missionaries to go see. Sssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

And that is just page #1 of 4 pages. We shouldn't be surprised, it was the same with Solo 1. However there is an up side, we do meet with many good members and their neighbors, we get to be right down in the neighborhoods, and we get to see Bono maneuver the very narrow alleyways they call streets.

Fast forward.... It is now 8 p.m. Sunday evening. Elder ended up quite sick, high fever, running to the bathroom, etc. So we watched Conference in our apartment. But, I did run to choir practice. Have I told you lately how wonderful the youth of Solo Wards participate and learn. We have about 65 singers! They have learned these songs with heart and soul. You would be amazed at "This is the Christ". They sing soft, then strong, singing parts, then holding long notes. Just amazing!!!!!

Then they sing "When He Comes Again" with a sweetness and love for the Savior that is just calm and oh so full of Spirit. I am soooooooooo proud of them. Today they sat through 4 hours of conference AT THEIR BUILDINGS, then came and practiced another 2 hours with me. I just love them so much. I will miss being with them terribly. This will be the last choir I get to be with here. Oh so sad.

These are Heavenly Father's choice youth. I know he has saved them for these days, and I know he sent some of the very best to Indonesia. I love them, I love Him for the opportunity to be with them. Joyous blessings!.........

Gratefully,

Elder and Sister Greenway