First Week in Indonesia: Jakarta

 Our first flight left Salt Lake City at 7:20 p.m. on Monday, Mach 26.  We arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday, March 28 at 1 p.m.  It wasn’t all travel; with Indonesia being 13 hours ahead, we simply lost a day.  We went through Hong Kong which seems longer than the Taiwan  route we had take before, but we didn’t have to reclaim luggage in Hong Kong.  Carry-on baggage did have to be re-scanned but we had a decent layover.

Nobody checked the luggage when we went through customs in Jakarta.  Senior missionaries don't get transferred like young missionaries; they generally stay in one place the entire mission. So I opted for lighter-weight soft sided luggage including the rolling duffel bag we had taken to Iceland filled with camping supplies.

Presiden Subandriyo and Sister Steffi picked us up—and promptly dropped the Presiden off at the domestic side for a flight elsewhere in the mission.  We went to the mission office and met Elder and Sister Jensen, the incredibly competent office couple who made us feel welcome and provided all sorts of advice and information.  Sister Steffi prepared a welcome meal that was so bounteous that the service center staff were also invited to help finish the food. 

For the first few nights, we stayed in another apartment in the same building as the Jensens.  It was so wonderful to take a warm shower and climb into clean American-style sheets.  Sanford went to the grocery store with the Jensens and brought back breakfast food. 

View from temporary lodging in Jakarta

 On Thursday morning we went to a clinic to have our Japanese Encephalitis immunizations.  In Indonesia we were able to take the Imojev vaccine, which is better than the version available in the US for several reasons:  It is good for 5 years (rather than 3), only requires one injection and has fewer reactions.  It also cost only a fraction of the inferior vaccine available stateside.  We were grateful to our mission president for making that option available.

On Friday morning we attended a baptism, which was such a great reminder of why we are here.  The brother being baptized is a refugee from another country and he talked about seeking for the truth of Christianity.  As a plus, both the bishop and the dad in the host family (the baptism was in their swimming pool) remembered our daughter and son-in-law from their time In Indonesia. 

Still rainy season here.

Friday night we went to observe English lessons taught by the young elders at one of the local chapels.  Although we had been to that location in 2015, we couldn’t quite remember the exact directions and the taxi driver was not very helpful.  This is one of the chapels that is built in an industrial park in order to avoid problems with obtaining neighborhood approval.  The elders were very enthusiastic and the sisters in the class were charming.  But we had a hard time getting a taxi back home, found ourselves crossing one of the biggest streets in Jakarta without a light to help us, and were super-relieved when a taxi pulled up.  We enjoyed talking with the driver, and were embarrassed that we underpaid because I am not yet accustomed to the money:  10,000 rupiah is just 75 cents, so one easily is dealing with hundreds of thousands and it gets confusing, particularly in the dark without the color-coding as a confirmation of the numbers.  We were so glad that we were chatting outside for a bit and he came over to us so that we could make it right. 

Saturday was all about getting a local phone number so that Colleen can begin her work with missionary health care needs.   This proved to have many requirements that we did not anticipate; for starters, they wouldn't sell us a SIM card without an identity card or passport, so we had to go back to the apartment for the passports.  Then many other steps.  

Sunday we went to the local congregation that we had attended with our daughter and her husband back in 2015.  Some people remembered us!  We got to show them pictures of the baby that wasn't yet born then.  People were very complimentary of our son-in-law, and one lady explained, "He was one of us."  

At the baptism, I had noticed a young sister missionary who had been companions with a returned missionary who helped with our language training.  I sent her a picture of the sister, and her response was humbling:

"I love Indonesia with all my heart—take care of it for me!"