Swimming and Sisters

Last Sunday when we got ready to leave the church building after meetings, our driver (who is off duty on Sunday) offered us a ride home.  He happens to own an angkot, one of the busses that one sees all over in Indonesia.  He had family in town visiting, and brought the young people along using this vehicle, so we got a free ride home out of the rain.  On the left, you can see that the thin red padded seat goes clear to the back.  A lot of people can squeeze in without seat belts.


The rain had stopped falling by that afternoon, by the time we went to visit one of the pioneer families in Medan and the building that used to be our church here, before the current building.  The lady who lives there was kind enough to let us take a picture.

On Monday we did laundry and errands and cleaning; Elder Porter got a haircut.

The Young Women had planned a waterpark activity for weeks.  But it was raining on Tuesday morning and I did not have much hope.  The YW president said that we would meet at church at 10, decide then what to do.  It was still raining when we got there, and some of the girls did not attend.  But seven of them did, and by the time we reached the park, it was lovely weather.  The girls had a good time.  That woman in the back in red and blue is the Young Women president.  And yes, that is how people dress to go swimming in Indonesia.  The muslim women add a waterproof scarf over the head.  My 1-piece USAmerican swimsuit would be shocking, so I wear it covered by a t-shirt and capris.

On Thursday we went up to kampung Aloha and showed a member family how to make "Martabak Bule." Martabaks are an Indonesian thing, but Elder Porter has made them at home for years, not quite the same but a sweet treat.  When a grandchild spends the night, they get to make a martabak and choose what to include.  One of the teenagers in this family had warned us that she did not like anything sweet, so she made it plain and we had brought some spicy mayonnaise that she liked as a topping.  Everyone else chose chocolate sprinkles, peanuts and some included bananas.  We also turned it into and English class by putting labels on various objects.  The can of milk on the table still has a "milk" card attached, and we had tags for the knife, bowl, plate, stove, pan, etc.  (Our children are probably rolling their eyes now because we had our own kitchen labelled like that when we were trying to learn Portuguese before moving to Brasil).

We are glad to have sister missionaries in Medan!  On Thursday I had lunch with a new convert and the sisters.  On Saturday we visited this sister on the right who had an emergency appendectomy a week ago and seems to be recovering well.  The sister in the middle is from the USA but of Chinese heritage so they both fit in very well.