Week 98

Hello to our ever diligent family and friends, (either that or you are gluttons for punishment!)

 

This week was Elder Greenway's birthday! I will tell you about that in a minute, BUT I think I failed to mention it in last week's letter!!!  Poor guy, however as you will see, he didn't feel slighted at all.   I also failed to mention that during the week all you "Utahns" would celebrate the 24th of July.  I must tell you, so you won't think the rest of the world is unappreciative, that the CARLISLE WARD had a "pioneer day" picnic on Saturday the 26th!!!!!  However, what would July be without Jackson's birthday (30th) or Ty's birthday (31st)?!?  Matt and Tanya tell us that Jackson (who will be 5) wants a Super Hero birthday party. He is such a great boy that I can imagine all Super Heroes attending!  Emily tell us her husband, Ty (age-less) wants a great big party with the WHoooooole ward attending, plus some of the neighbors, and co-workers, and maybe even some people he doesn't know!  Ty LOVES parties!!!! (this is such a lie, that I may get struck down BEFORE I can finish this letter).  Happy Birthday!!!! Jackson and Ty.

 

On July 19, at DDM, the missionaries expressed a desire to watch the Missionary Fireside that was broadcast in June.  We offered to show it for them at the church, but they all voted to have it at our apartment.  So the Knorpps brought some watermelon, and I made dessert and then we ordered 10 pizzas from Papa Rons.  BUT, before the feast we spent 2 glorious hours watching that inspiring broadcast.  I truly hope you have all watched it.  It changes you life!  Please, my children, take the time to watch it online.  Of course, it helps if you have 12 full time missionaries, full of the missionary spirit, crowded into your tiny apartment watching it with you.

 

Tuesday we went home teaching to Bro. Mulyono's.  This was our last visit to his home...  We talked and laughed and he taught us and we taught him, and then he prayed.  What a joy to have spent 2 years going to his home every month.  After Bro. Mulyono's we went to Kepatihan for piano lessons.  Widap and Yos came to observe.  I am teaching this next week, and then they will take over.  We ended Tuesday with English.  We found "Goldilocks and The Three Bears" and "The Three Little Pigs" in simple play form on the internet, and had them perform the plays for each other.  They read the scripts, but we asked them to act the parts.  They were great, especially the "not by the hairs of my chiny chin chin" parts squeaked out by Alsia, Erika, and Novi.

 

Wednesday was a wonderful day.  We met Elders Norris and Taulu at the Kepatihan building about 10 a.m. and they went with us to find lost sheep.  We found 4 dead people, many "moved, married, and Muslim"... but we also stopped along the way and contacted 3 "neighbors" who would like the missionaries to come back to their homes.  The greatest event of the day was in the very beginning.  The Elders have been visiting at the Slamet Widodo home.  He is Sister Wiji's son.  Every week Sister Wiji brings her grandchildren to church.  Her son does not come, his wife has come before but is not usually there.  Every week Sister Wiji crowds 4 or 5 of the 6 children in a becuk (baychuck) and sees that they are there. On Wednesday we went to see the family with the Elders.  Brother Widodo was not there, nor Sister Wiji, but Sister Widodo was there with 3 of her children.  They live in very humble surroundings, but she asked us to come in, Elder Taulu dragged two mattresses together on the floor, and we sat and visited.  I gave the lesson, and Elder Taulu translated, and we talked about the things that bring happiness.  We told her that the things that will bring true joy are taught at church.  We asked if she would come with us on Sunday, and she finally admitted that the reason she does not come is she has no shoes!!!  SIDELINE: When we came on our mission I had purchased 3 pair of "closed toe" shoes because those were the required shoes.  However, when we got here we found that the requirement was more for the young Sister missionaries because they ride bikes.  So I bought a couple of pair of sandals here, and I have never had the other shoes on.  So this morning we took the shoes and picked up Sister Widodo and her children.  Alas! the shoes were too big, BUT the sandals I had on were the best fit.  So she now has a pair of black sandals to wear to church!  At church she let me hold her 3 month old baby girl, (who promptly spit up on me) so our joy was complete.  She said she would come next week.  Maybe if we all pray about it, Slamet will come too!!  Wednesday, after searching for lost sheep, we took the Elders to Raja Ayam for lunch, then we went to piano at Supomo around 2 pm.

 

Thursday we took Sisters Situmorang and Jibson to Boyalali to visit Kini and Markini, our Ampel ladies.  Oh My............. That was a difficult farewell.  We keep feeling like parts of us drop off and are left behind.  We will always pray for the Church to come to Boyalali.  I really can't say more than that.  It was a very hard day...

 

HOWEVER, at 6 p.m. the Solo 2 Ward had a Missionary Fireside/Going Away Party for Agus, Arif, and Elder and I!  It was really lovely!  They had Bro. Agus (the past District President and father of Arif) speak, then Agus, Arif, and Elder and I each shared testimony, then the ginormous Solo 2 Youth Choir sang (okay this is when the tears really started flowing), Uskup Catur spoke (he and Elder are having a contest who can cry the most), and then the Stake President.  Amazing, right?!?  But wait!  Then we all went outside and they had a party, AND THEY HAD ALL MY PIANO STUDENTS FROM SUPOMO PERFORM!!!!!! I had no idea, but it was so wonderful.  Then Didi, Dandi, and Devara, sibling piano students, sang a song they had written about stretching your talents. "Sister Greenway, want you to help yourself... Sister Greenway want you to succeed" is part of the chorus.  Elder was taking pictures and dancing with the Bishop's wife, and teasing all the kids. What a day!!! 

 

Then Friday!!!!  Happy Birthday Elder Greenway!  We woke up to the phone ringing, and it was the Kepatihan Elders singing a Happy Birthday, then the Sisters called, then the Skype started going from family at home, WOW!  He is loved.  Everyone, EVERYONE! knew it was his birthday.  We started with DDM, and we celebrated by taking do-nuts and the Elders all sang again.  Then we zoomed over to the Supomo building because I had been asked to show the Solo 1 Relief Society how to make cookies.  Elder helped Frisca (yes we are still trying to get Frisca on her mission, New Zealand MTC is out because of visa difficulties, and Provo MTC is in...so Elder is now helping her to get her visa there), and I baked cookies with help from the Sister Missionary assistants. The meeting was suppose to start at 3:30, however this is Indonesia so it started after 4:00.  Then they had a lesson, and THEN we baked cookies in my Easy Bake Oven.  Actually we did Banana Oatmeal cookies, and the no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.  I had to make cookies out of ingredients you can get here, so no brown sugar.  Anyway, by the time we were done it was 6:00 p.m. which would not have been a problem, EXCEPT!!! the Jebres Ward was giving us a going-away party that started at 6:30!  So we went looking like drowned, sweaty rats, but we had a great time.  They had someone from each auxiliary talk to us, and they presented Elder with the Traditional Birthday "cake" for "special honored dignitaries", which is yellow rice pressed into a cone shape, with cabes(hot peppers) and other delicacies on the side.  Then they sang, and the youth sang us sad departing songs, with drums and guitars.  They had us speak and then Uskup Awik spoke.... My oh my, they are not making this easy! 

 

When we got our missionary call, my children were all concerned because they knew that I don't do "hot" very well.  This call is a testimony to the words,"I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord".  He knew what a blessing this call would be to our lives.  He knew how much we would gain from knowing the Indonesian people.  We certainly have been blessed.  Thank you for helping us through... we love you all.

 

Elder and Sister Greenway. 

This is out of place, but it wouldn't fit with the other photos.  This is Uskup Awik's family including his mother and father.  L to R: Lut, Javi, Uskup Awik, Indah, and Haryono.  you can also seed Ratmini and her husband, Maryono in the background.

 

 

Week 98 Photos

We started off the week by having the Solo missionaries to our apartment to view the missionary broadcast that was originally presented in June.  We had two copies, one in English and the other in Indonesian.  We presented the English and the Indonesian missionaries viewed theirs in the Knorpp's apartment.

And of course, we concluded with lunch.  This time the Knorpp's and we bought  pizza from Papa Ron's.  Plus watermelon and cookies and ice cream.

 

 

On Thursday, July 25th, Solo 2nd Ward had a missionary fireside for Joshua Arif and Agus, who will be entering the Manila, Philippine MTC on August 2, and our departure from the mission on 11 August.  Everyone participates in the entertainment so here we are dancing as Monique and Gilang serenade us.

 

Even Uskup Catur and his wife Irma, gave it a go!

 

Then we surprised everyone when I danced with Irma.

 

I took the opportunity to get some families together.  There is an large, extended family of an older, pioneer couple - Tukiman.  Here is Tukiman's one son,  Sarwono and his wife, Sulastri, and two daughters, Alicia and Erika.

 

Here we are with Didit's family, wife, Imah; Didi, Devara, and Dandi.

 

Here is Lilly.

 

This is one of Sister Greenway's premier piano students, Yos, with his family.  Dad: Surawan.

Mom: Titik and his brother: Rama.

 

And finally, I had to include our past District President, Agus with his family - L to R: Endah, Rindu, Beauty, Agus Sutadi, Jonathan, Joshua Arif, and Joseph.

 

Sister Diah, Bono's wife, the R.S. President forever, had Sister Greenway present cookie making.  She did two kinds,: bake and no-bake.  Here is the group from Solo 1st Ward.

 

Sister Situmorang acted as translator, and was really helpful with the preparation.

 

Jebres Ward had a farewell party for us, and they also celebrated my birthday.  Here is a special Javanese traditional "cake" for the Special Guest!

 

We were also given going farewell and birthday presents.  A becak and a bicycle.  Really cool!!!

 

Then we were entertained!  I'm sorry, I don't remember all of the children's names but you can pick out Enso, Moses, Luki, Lala, Xavi, and Javi.  That's Sister Desi, the RS President.

 

We were sung to by the Jebres and Banjasari Elders.  Elders Norris, M. Johnson, Taulu, and Gil.



Week 97

Phew! 

 

This week began as normally as we ever have a week, but as the week progressed, things became a little more emotional.

 

We went out Monday looking for lost sheep.  We didn't find any, but we did visit the homes of the newly called Indonesian Missionaries.  We started with Ezra Maryono.   Maryono is actually his father's only name.  Ezra had planned to be Elder Maryono on his mission.  However, the name on his passport is Garnett Ezra, so the Area Presidency decided he will be Elder Ezra on his mission.  He is so excited, he doesn't really care.  On top of being called to Australia, he his going to the Provo MTC rather than the New Zealand MTC so he is really happy!!!  He leaves in November.  Agus and Arif (Joshua) who have been called to Indonesia were also supposed to go in November.  However, (this is a lengthy explanation) the MTC in the Philippines does not have an instructor for the Indonesian missionaries.  So, every time Indonesian Missionaries attend that MTC the Mission must send along an instructor for our missionaries.  The duration is 3 weeks, so someone who understands the Indonesian Mission, and mission work in general would need to give up 3 weeks of their life to teach.  So our native missionaries go in groups.  Sometimes a missionary will have already served 4 months of their mission before they are able to go to the MTC or the temple there.  Okay, well Agus and Arif found out that the Mission found a teacher, BUT she will be going to BYU-H soon, so they are going to squeeze an MTC group in before she goes.  So instead of going in November, they will be going  to  the MTC August 2nd, and then begin their missions right after! These lucky Missionaries will be taught by Sister Vanessa Tandiman, who just finished HER mission a couple of months ago.  She is one of the choicest women we have ever known, and she is only 22.  She speaks English without a hint of an  accent, and she is a delightful, and beautiful Indonesian young woman.  So we visited with Agus and Arif and their families, and also with Frisca and her mother.  We are still waiting for Aster's call.  It will probably come about the time we leave.

 

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday teaching piano, going to Kantor Pos (that takes some time), and teaching English.  Elder taught English class on Tuesday.  He called it "Apa Kabar", or What's the News.  He interviewed each youth by asking questions about their lives.  They had to answer him in English.  We found out much about their hobbies, their families, what they liked about school, and what they wanted to do with their lives.  He was a good teacher, and they did well speaking.  We try to get them to converse in English.   On Thursday, we sat crowded around a table and played "parlor games".  We had to explain what a parlor was first.  Then we played "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar".  That game is played to a rhythm, so if you are off rhythm then the game stops.  They were very shaky at first, but finally they got the words straight, and the beat, and then we went round and round the table.  They really enjoyed the game, they laughed, and then they wanted to speed up the beat.  WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Next we played "The Minister's Cat...".  It also goes to a rhythm, and they had to come up with adjectives to describe the "minister's cat", in alphabetical order.  So, "the minister's cat is an awful cat, the minister's cat is a black cat, etc., all the while keeping the rhythm.  Whoa!  This was some work, but in the end they had it.  Then we ate corn chips and salsa.  They ate most of the "hot" salsa, and left the medium alone.

 

It was Thursday when things changed.  We had decided to take a day and pick up a few things we want to take home.  WE BOUGHT A BIG GONG!!!!!!!!!  It is so wonderful.  I wanted the biggest one that would fit in our suitcase.  They have a gong factory outside Solo.  But this one is an antique!  You should hear it "gong"!!!  I want it so I can call my grandkids in for lunch!  However, as we were shopping we got a call from the President.  They are not going to replace us.  He feels the Stake members need to stand up and be more responsible.  He is right.  They are capable of doing everything we are doing for them and more.  They have strong testimonies, a knowledge of the Gospel, and they are even beginning to grasp Home and Visiting Teaching.  The Spirit is strong with them because of their humility and love of the Savior.  That wasn't the problem....it was telling Bono he would be out of a job.  We didn't tell him that day, because every time we thought about it, we became blubbering messes.  So we finished up our day, did English (see above) and then quietly went back to our apartment to mourn.  My way of mourning was to start packing in earnest.  We will need to give so much away, office supplies, a printer, and some appliances.  One missionary apartment needs a new 'fridge, and the Samarang Elders need a washer, etc.  We must close up the apartment, everything out and gone, instead of leaving it to the next Senior Couple.  

 

On Friday, I made brownies for DDM, and as we pulled into the courtyard of the Building, Elder told Bono the good news...  He was okay about it!  He said this gives him time to plan, and was all smiles. We told him he was our good friend, and we were worried.  He said, "No worries!"  He has always wanted to open a bakery, and maybe this is the opportunity.  We told him he should sale spudnuts!  However, Elder and I blubbered our way into DDM, and all the missionaries suddenly became our grandsons, and granddaughters, and were very kind. 

 

Saturday night we attended a birthday party for Uskup Catur's 9 year old son, Eden.  Elder has pictures.  The Sister missionaries, their investigator (Nuni), and the Greenways, all rode in the Knorpp's car, along with their driver and his 2 little girls.  (They don't do seatbelts here).  It is so hard to think things like.... this probably the last time we will go to the Catur's, etc.  I know that is morbid, but that's the reality.  I will not go on about how much we love these people.  You have all heard it a zillion times, but there it is.  Our joy in their culture, and their goodness is immeasurable.  (siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...)

 

Our grandson, William, tells us he is coming to the airport in his "secret identity".  Seems like he has a pretend mustache and now he has a "secret identity" and a "regular identity".  We're thinking they will all have secret identities!  A lot changes in 2 years.  Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love you all, soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

 

Gramma and Grampa Split Presonalitied Greenway

Week 97 Photos

On Saturday we went to Uskup Catur's home to celebrate his son's 9th birthday.  This is Eden.

 

 Here is the Jatmiko family.  Their son, Ricko is Elder Putra in the Salt Lake City Mission.  From L to R is:  Moniquer, Asnibar (Irma's mother), Yvone, Eden, Irma, Eyo, Uskup Catur.

 
The food starting with es buah (iced fruit drink) and rainbow cake.  That's Sister Budi serving.



Next come the soto - a king of vegetable soup with chicken broth added as it is served.

Then the main course from L to R:  greens with cabe (chili peppers), sapi (beef) meat balls, chicken hearts and livers with cabe, and mei (noodles).  All served with nasi putih (white rice) of course!

Looking out over the back yard at the party.

 Her is Agus, Catur's brother with his wife, Yua and their 1 month old, Helaman.

 



 This is Purwono (Franky) who drives for the Knorpps and is trying to finish his thesis for English.  He's holding Sydney, his middle daughter.  He has Karen, Sydney, and Paris.

 

 This is Sister Situmorang and Nuni, and investigator whom they brought with them to the party.  She is the niece of a less-active member.



 

 At the end of the day, Karen and Sydney were at the end of their day, too.  Sister Knorpp has kind of adopted Franky's girls.

 

I thought I'd end with this shot.  Bono couldn't drive us to the party because he and Diah were helping with a service project at the Soepomo building.  The members were digging the grass and weeds from between the paving stones - by hand!  The little guy in the center is my buddy - Rifiro.  Whenever he sees me he gives me a high-five and a thumbs-up!!!  The little boy in the orange hat has younger twin brothers.  I'm sorry, I forget his name.

 

 

Week 96

Oh my, but what a wonderful, delightful week.

 

Just before we came on our mission, someone actually snuck into our yard in Carlisle one night and dug up 3 full grown white flowered hostas.  Now, if they had knocked at my front door and asked for a slice of those hostas I would have said sure.  I love to share perennials, and our sweet Ms. Miczo who lived across the street for years shared tons of perennials with me before she passed away.  She probably gave me those white flowered hostas.  Well, anyway, I had to divided and replant some variegated hostas (because I was in a hurry, we were leaving after all) and so when I left that part of our yard looked a little sparse.  There were some other trouble spots I had been nursing along.  So this week dear, dear Ty took pictures and sent to me.  #1 was a picture of the hosta.  WOW!!!  They are all blooming, and looked so beautiful.  #2 was a picture of our "gully" where I had put an 8 inch stick of spirea bush along with a bunch of day lily bulbs, and WHOA!  I have a 3 ft spirea bush and many beautiful orange day lilies.  #3 was a picture of our loaded down blackberry bushes with ripening blackberries.  Ty apologized for eating them before we get home.  I figure he's earned them.  I know this has nothing to do with the Indonesian mission, but it reminded me that with some work and a little faith tremendous results can "flower" forth!

 

Which makes me think of Eni.  Eni and her daughter were at church today.  Eni is one of the less active Elder and I went looking for a month or so ago.  She was the woman who was baptized when she was 11 because a neighboring family was baptized.  She had hardly been to church since.  The family moved away, and she became "lost".  Years later she moved, with her daughter, into a new kampung and Uskup Suparno and his wife Ida (EEda) also live there.  I don't know exactly how they came to talk about the church, but Ida has visited Eni for years and they became good friends.  So when we went to the kampung looking for Eni, we asked if Ida knew her and......  We visited with Eni and asked if we could have the missionaries come and visit her.  She agreed, and so we sent Sister Hutcheson and Sister Manullang.  They have both been transferred and now the new Sister Missionaries are going, AND TODAY SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!!  It made our day...    Banjasari Ward had asked me 2 weeks ago if I would speak today in church on missionary work.  I was determined to do it in Indonesian.  So over time I would write some and then have Aster (from the Jebres Ward) go over it.  Honestly, I enjoyed writing that talk.  There were some words like "judgement" that she knew a more common word than I, or that agar means "in order to" rather than the usual "to" word.  So today I nervously gave that talk, and most of the talk was about how we should love others enough to share the Gospel with them, and find those who need our help that have already been baptized.  I was grateful to let Eni "know" we loved her enough to find her.  I never really said that, but I hope she felt it from all 4 talks given. They were all about Missionary Work, 1 by Sister Jibson, one by Elder Norris, and one by the high councilman. I could hear Elder Watson translating for Elder G. and he was saying in English what I was trying to say in Indonesian.  I was very glad.....

 

After Banjasari Ward we rode with President Ipung to Soepomo building for Solo 2 Konferensi Lingkungkan(ward conference in Indonesian).  The youth had been asked to sing during the conference, and when we asked what they were singing they kept telling us it was a surprise!  Solo 2 is the largest of the 4 Solo Wards, and they have quite a youth group.  With leaders, probably a little more than 20 members.  So this was quite a choir, and they had included the Solo 2 Missionaries.  Oh.... but what they sang.  They sang the arrangement of "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go"/ "Olive Tree" that I had arranged for the October Stake Conference last year.  When you are the Choir Director it is really hard to know how a song sounds to everyone else.  You are too worried about doing things right.  So to sit today and listen to this choir sing those songs with all the louds and softs, and harmonies just the way I had imagined....MAGNIFICENT.  It also helps that most of the singers are in our English Class, and so added to the beautiful songs was all the love we feel for those youth.  Elder and I were making puddles.

 

Now to make the whole day MORE WONDERFUL!!!!!!  Ezra, Aster's brother, Ratmini's son, and one of my piano students, got his Mission Call today to SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA!!!!  Our dear friends, Molly and Tom, are the "office couple" in the Sydney mission.  Elder and Sister Feil, you will love this young man.  He is a righteous, humble, smart young man.  Elder G. is going to have to hurry to get his Visa going before we go.  Australia, and especially New Zealand (where they have the MTC), are tough Visa's to push through. We also found out that Frisca, the Sister whose visa has taken forever for Elder to work out, FINALLY has her visa and has her date, August 15, to fly off to Melbourne, Australia for her mission.  Solo will soon have a missionary is SLC, Elder Putra, and 2 missionaries in Australia.  There is another missionary in Canada from Jogja, which is in our Stake.  These young people have pretty good English, and will be such a blessing for Indonesia when they return home.  We are waiting for 3 more calls from the Solo Wards.  Aster's is one of them.

 

Also, this week, we were asked to speak at the Surakarta Youth Conference for about and hour.  We left Solo at 5:45 a.m., picked up Aster (who needed a ride up and back), and headed toward Merapi our friendly, active Volcano.  We got there about 9 a.m., gave our presentation, stayed while the Stake President spoke, then headed home to arrive in Solo about 2 p.m.  We had been asked to speak on the power of good friends.  We showed them the old seminary video "Putting on the Whole Armor or God"  (which they had not seen), and then we talked about how friends can get us to remove our armor.  Elder has a picture of our "Armor Guy", and as they talked we removed his armor.  Each piece of Armor has the names assigned from Ephesians 6.  So as we removed the armor we talked about what was lost.  Then Elder talked about the power of good friends, and the power of being a good friend.  Then we decided to show them "Spiritual Crocodiles" because they hadn't seen that either.  That is such an impressive way to warn them about the "crocodiles" that lurk in everyone's life.  They were attentive and responsive, and we really felt honored they had asked us.  Besides, it was just plain fun!!!!!

 

Those are the highlights of our week.  We have enjoyed talking to some of our children via Skype.  We taught English and piano, and simply enjoyed being with our loving friends here in Solo.  Tomorrow we will go looking for more "lost sheep" from Banjasari.  We have a list of names we need to locate or not, before we can leave.  We don't want some spirit at some heavenly future time asking us why we didn't get the job done.  So little time.... so much joy.

 

Elder and Sister Mad Hatter!

Week 96 Photos

The really big news was Sister Greenway speaking on missionary work in the Bajasari Ward today, but because I can't take photos in the chapel, especially during Sacrament Meeting, I decided to show Youth Conference and everyday scenery.
Here is the Stake President (Preseden Pasak) Budi Susanto, speaking to the youth.  A&P 87:8 is Anjaran dan Perjanjian (Doctrine and Covenants) 87:8.

Here is Sister Greenway's Whole Armor of God guy.  We presented the church produced videos, "The Whole Armor of God" and "Spiritual Crocodiles."  Sister G. spoke about the importance of wearing and maintaining one "armor" and I spoke about the importance of good friends ... having them and being one.

Some of the greatest youth in the Church!!!!

By the way, the conference was held in Jogjakarta (Jogja) on the slopes of Mt. Merapi.  No, that's not a cloud you see at the top ....

Oh, and the mountain like to BURP !!!!  a lot!!!!!

Here is a masjid (mosque) near Prambanan (the ancient Hindu Temple) near Jogja.

And another masjid between Jogja and Klaten on the way to Jogja.

Here is the Penabur Protestant Church in Solo.  G.P.I.B. (Gereja Protesten ... something ... something)

You'll see these around Solo - Welcoming visitors to the Kota (city).  These are on Jalan Slamet Riyadi near to the Grand Mall and our apartment.

Here is a roadside Rattan Furniture manufacturing facility and store.

And you will see tailor shops and mobile artisans.  His machine is leg powered and he specializes in "Levi's."  He will make and repair your jeans.

Week 95

"The Time Is Far Spent,'tuk mengabarkan berita Injil di laut..."

 

CRAZY!!! That's all I've got to say.  We are found again with hampers o'er flowing, and poor Bono working everyday... But, ya gotta know WE LOVE IT!  I guess it's been a bit crazy in Carlisle, too.  Emily goes to the gastroenterologist on the 26th of July.  We are really praying this is something easily taken care of!  She, Ty, and kids and John, Lynn, and kids spent this past Saturday workin' on the ol' homestead.  Ty and John found a gianormous wasp's nest under the deck in the eaves.  Now, Adam and Matt, I'll give you one guess what happened..... YUP!!!!  Somehow, (probably with SOMEONE using a baseball bat), they upset those 100,000 wasps and were soon thereafter running for their lives.  The score: John 2 stings....Ty 1 sting.  AFTER the attack they found the wasp killer in the garage and took vengeance upon those over protective wasps.  John, where were your brothers (or should I say brother since we all know that Matt is totally useless in a bee attack)and their baseball mitts when you needed them???  Oh ya, for Adam's sake we should say "been there, done that"!  We are grateful that they were willing to put their lives on the line to spruce up the old place.  We are grateful that Lynn went through the toys and threw out the broken leftovers.  We are grateful that Emily ran all over Carlisle to get supplies for the "clean-out" and that she kept us apprised of headlines as they occurred!  We even offered to let them order pizza on us...we didn't really get a response... they probably thought "PIZZA!  Heck, we were thinking Red Robin"!  Whatever, we are really, truly, tremendously appreciative for all the work done, and it is worth a Red Robin run.

 

Friday we journeyed to the train station to fetch our new Mission President and his wife.  They had been here less than a week and were here to do their second Zone Conference!  We got there a little early.  We had been texting all morning to find out when the 6 missionaries were coming from Jogja, and how they were coming.  So, as we pull up to the station we get a call that they are all there!  So we STUFF the 6 missionaries and their luggage into our car and send them to the Kepatihan building to wait for interviews with the President.  We give them some money and tell them to get a famous coconut drink from the Warung in front of the building.  Then the Knorpps come, and get President and Sister Donald and take them to their hotel while we drop the APs at the Soepomo apartment.  Then we go to Kepatihan to make sure everyone got there.  Well, they are starving, so we took them all to Raja Ayam and we all have lunch; Sister Baantjer (Price, Ut.), Sister Situmorang (Jakarta), Sister Manullang (Jakarta), Sister Sheffield (South Ogden, brand new), Sister Suryani (Magetan), Elder Wiradi (?) and Elder Wood (South Ogden, brand new). Sister Sheffield and Elder Wood are from the same ward in South Ogden and got their calls within a month of each other.  Soon, President and Sister Donald, and Elder and Sister Knorpp come.  President starts interviews, Elder stays to make sure the missionaries don't do anything crazy, and Sister Donald and Sister Knorpp and I come to show Sister Donald where we live, and to visit for a while.  We all meet again at 3:30 because ALL of the missionaries are going to play "foosball" (soccer), and they are all going in the 3 Senior couple's cars.  President Donald wanted to go a see such a sight, so we go to the rec-center, and watch for a while, then we take the President to their hotel, and we go home.  The Missionaries went to Sambal Solo to eat after the foosball.  That means that everything they ate ranked an 11 out of 10 on the spicy scale.

 

Saturday was Zone Conference which is always a great experience.  That lasts from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., but we had to get all the missionaries back to the train stations and bus stations, and then the President still had interviews. Then we ran to the hotel.  I'm sure they were exhausted.  We also were asleep by 10, but awakened at 11:30 when our bathroom started to rain!  It rained for about a minute from the light fixtures and fan and a new crack in the ceiling, and then stopped.  We found a maintenance man and he came and looked and said "we'll check it tomorrow".  How very Indonesian....

 

Today, Sunday, was testimony meeting.  We got the President and Sister to Church, and introduced them around.  We attended Solo 1, and then President had a meeting with the Stake President, so Sister Donald attended Solo 2 with us.  They were ready to leave about 11:30, so we loaded up the car and headed to our apartment at Paragon, which was ON FIRE!!!  It really was the kitchen at one of the restaurants (which evidently has done this before), but it was very smoky.  All in all it was very exiting!!!  We had the Knorpps and the Donalds and the APs and the Greenways for lunch, AND we managed to do this without setting fire to anything.  This tiny apartment has seen a number of dinner parties.  Between Sister Knorpp and I, we had not had a minute.  So we just had tuna salad, egg salad, and ham sandwiches, with watermelon and pineapple, chips and dessert.  The President and the 2 APs went with some of the Elders after lunch, and Sister Donald just now left the apartment with the President to get to the airport.  We had a great visit!  Busy weekend, but wonderful.

 

Thursday evening for English we played UNO with our students.  But of course, it was not just UNO!  We gave them each 10 pieces of candy, and told them we were playing English UNO, which means NO ONE is allowed to speak Indonesian.  If they did, then the others can take a piece of candy.  WELL...!!!  The first time sweet little Ayu just happened to say "merah" (red), the 2 quietest of all the girls SCREAMED and LUNGED at poor Ayu.  Here eyes nearly popped out... and that's how it went the rest of the night!  In the end, Lisa and Erika the newly named "Shark Sisters" each had 19 pieces of candy.  Some of the others only had 2! (I evened things up...) It was soooooooooo fun. 

 

Wednesday and Tuesday were piano, but we also had English Tuesday evening.  We worked on "across from, behind, next to, between, around the corner from, and we taught them Kitty Corner from".  We drew a "city" with two main roads, and all the various necessary buildings...school, bank, library, hotel, post office, etc., on 4 sheets of paper all taped together and then we would call out 2 buildings and they had to say "The bank is around the corner from the library" or whatever.  They always astound us at how smart they are. 

 

Monday we had the Solo District at our apartment for a lesson on "Using Family History to teach the Gospel".  The Knorpps presented a wonderful lesson and then the Elders and Sisters ate Sloppy Joe (made with 9 packages of ground beef- about 9 lbs., canned tomatoes, etc.), a large bowl full of chips, two water melons, 3 cans of olives, one sheet cake sized Wacky Cake, with Ice Cream, and chocolate sauce, and 6 liters of punch.  They ate every single bit!  Oh, and since we ran out of Sloppy Joe from my huge slow cooker, we also made up 3 cans of tuna salad.  It is such an experience to watch them eat.  Like a giant vacuum cleaner. 

 

Now that is all the temporal stuff.  We also had a tremendous impromptu discussion with some of the Elders about "keys" and the power and authority that comes with them.  We heard from many missionaries and our youth share testimony today about their love and belief in the Savior.  We were loved by the missionaries who are all so appreciative for what we do, and today in testimony meeting (because I think we will be at Kepatihan next fast and testimony Sunday) we share our testimonies at the Soepomo Wards.  I had Sister Situmorang (reluctantly) translate for me at Solo 1.  She is the only member of the Church in her family, and a very intelligent, spiritual missionary.  Elder had Yos (reluctantly) translate for him in Solo 2.  Yos is one of our youth, just barely 17, and he was absolutely amazing.  Not everyone can translate.  It is really difficult.  Elder Watson is very good (he did most of the translating at Zone Conference), and there have been others, but Yos ranks right up there.  It was a tear jerker, because we love him soooooooooo much.

 

Okay, so we are done complaining about coming home.  Adam and Amy's sweet Cecily asked her mother if she could write me a Thank You note.  Her mother asked her why she wanted to do that.  Cecily said to thank Gramma for coming home.  It must be time.

 

We love you all, and we especially love our wise Grandchildren!

 

Elder and Sister G.

Week 95 Photos

This week was an adventure as per our letter.  However, the big event was PLD or ZC (Zone Conference) for those of the English language persuasion.  On Friday, the transporting of missionaries began.  After getting the Jogja Elders and Sisters from the train and sending the President and his wife off to their hotel with the Knorpps, we had six very hungry missionaries and three "yeah, lunch would be great" transporters. So it was off to Raja Ayam.  Going around the table starting on the left is Bono, Sister Suryani, Sister Manullang, Sister Sheffield, Sister Baantjer, Sister Greenway, Elder Wood, and Elder Wiradi.

 



After lunch we all began gathering at the Kepatihan Building for the first of the interviews with our new president.  The Sisters went first and then we transported them to their hotel and then back to Kepatihan for zone futsal.



 



 

OK, so you want to know what futsal is .... Well, its soccer, and the local missionaries had arranged an indoor field for their game.



On Saturday morning it was time to get down to business.  Here are the missionaries who translated the proceedings for the bahasa Indonesia challenged.  (L to R) Elder Lopis, Elder Mulia and Sister Situmorang.

Here is the Jawa Tengah (Central Java) Zone Leader, Elder Sumanungkalit conducting with President Christopher Donald and Sister Donald sharing the dais.

 

During the morning break, the elders and sisters enjoyed fresh, baked roti pisang (banana bread) and raisin-spice bread, compliments of Sister Greenway.

At lunch, there was the iconic Ayam Bekar (baked chicken from Pak John's).  And ya know, you can't be serious all of the time!  (L to R) Elder Wijaya, Elder Dalilis, Elder Suharjono, Elder Wiyadi, Elder Taulu, Elder Simanungkalit and Elder Yarkasi (front).

 

Here are a few shots of some of the new and older missionaries.  Elder Dalilis (Philippines) and Elder Suharjono (Indonesia).

 

Elder Wood (Ogden, Utah) and Elder Wiradi (Indonesia).

 

Sister Baantjer (Price, Utah) and Sister Manullang (Sumatra).

 

And Sister Suryani (Indonesia) and Sister Sheffield (Ogden, Utah).

 

ZONE JAWA TENGAH

Left to Right - Back to Front

Elder Dalilis, Elder Mulia, Elder Suharjono, Elder Taulu, Elder Wiradi, Elder Wijaya.

Elder Lopis, Elder Watson, Elder Costner, Elder Johnson, Elder Wood, Elder McCleary, Elder Norris, Elder Simanungkalit.

Elder Gil, Elder Lee, Sister Baantjer, Sister Manullang, Sister Situmorang, Sister Jibson, Sister Suryani, Elder Yarkasi, Elder Kester.

Elder & Sister Greenway, Elder & Sister Barnard, President & Sister Donald, Elder & Sister Knorpp.