Hari Natal and the Week Between

On Sunday, December 23, Sister Porter had the opportunity to teach the Young Women.  Because of the proximity to the holiday, she threw away the manual and taught about four ways our church is  different from other Christian faiths, although we all celebrate Christmas at the same time.  These included our lack of crucifixes (we celebrate the living Christ) and the prophecies of Christ's birth in the Book of Mormon.  We gave each girl a gift bag with an orange, a chocolate bar and a Hello Kitty pencil.  They all opened the oranges immediately and the room smelled heavenly (or like Florida?).


We promised the mission president's wife that we would organize the gift exchange for missionaries in Medan.  We ended up doing this on the morning of Christmas Day.  Most of the missionaries were calling their folks Christmas morning, which was Christmas Eve in the states, although the sisters had made their calls the day before.  We put a missionary in each bedroom with the platform of their choice (Facebook, Hangouts, Skype).  We were happy that the wifi for which we pay so much held up to multiple video calls at the same time.

We also served breakfast:  hash browns, pancakes, eggs, grapes, apples, watermelon, rolls with Smuckers jam (grape and apricot).  After everyone was done eating and calling, we did the gift exchange, which was fun.  I got a sarong that I would love to have made into a skirt.

After the gifts, we showed them the video of Taking Root: The Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Indonesia a presentation by BYU professor Chad Emmett, who had served back at the same time as Elder Porter's first mission.

Then Sister Porter excused herself to take a nap, as she had not been sleeping well (we found out why later in the week).

That afternoon we visited a new convert, Sister Leni.  She is the only member of our church in her family, but they are all Christian.

Some of the young elders gave her this great necklace.  She is a great cook, and we had a good time.

On Thursday, we had to cancel some commitments because Sister Porter realized she had a horrible urinary tract infection.  We walked over to the nearby hospital's walk-in clinic, and because it was the second infection in as many months, the doctor suggested doing a test this time.  That would take more than an hour, so Elder Porter left and Sister Porter managed through the language and confusion to get the test results and medications and cross the busy street to walk home.  She also stayed at the apartment on Friday.  She had a lot of lesson prep for English classes in the new year.

Forgot to mention that Mother's Day is December 22 here in Indonesia.  It makes sense, since Maria is the most perfect mother to celebrate, and it means people only have to pulang (return home) once to honor their mother and celebrate Christmas.

We saw this advertisement at the mall, where we got several photos printed for people.  Even young people seem to like having a paper photo in their hand.

For many years, Sister Porter's siblings have enjoyed a tradition of getting together for a few days the day after Christmas (Boxing Day).  This year they went to Phoenix/Scottsdale Arizona and were kind enough to send a video.  They did some hiking which Sister Porter would have loved...but Medan is where we need to be right now.

Selamat Natal! Christmas Celebrations

The Big Event of the week was our branch Christmas Party.  Everyone was working on it, and we were expecting 120 people, when average Sunday attendance is only around 70.  We had made flyers for the missionaries to hand out, and had delivered some ourselves.

But that wasn't the only thing going on.  All the male missionaries had the opportunity to help a church member family paint their house as a service project.

Sister Porter did not go along because she was busy with the sisters in the hospital.  The young missionary who was hospitalized recovered from dengue fever enough to have her surgery for appendicitis on Monday.  It was scheduled for 10:30 a.m., and the hospital has wifi, so Sister Porter brought them two computers so that they could email their families as usual.  While they were emailing, Sister Porter finally got her flu shot (we had tried earlier but our nearby hospital didn't have the quadrivalent vaccine).

As she was leaving the apartment, the healthy sister who was staying with her companion called and asked for breakfast.  Hmmn.  It was our P-day and the pantry was bare; no eggs and no fruit.  We packed some cereal and I made a grilled cheese sandwich.  But here is the thing:  on the elevator, the Indonesians were holding their noses from the stench of the sandwich.  Seriously?  We had brought some durian fruit home a few days earlier, and that was okay, but grilled cheese was too stinky?

Throughout the week Sister Porter brought several meals to those sisters, including lots of veggies, french fries when the recovering sister was craving them, and a round of pizza.  We also did their laundry.  One afternoon Sister Porter stayed at the hospital with the recovering sister while the companion and a member went out teaching.

Our branch party was supposed to start at 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 20.  They have an expression in Indonesian, jam karet, which means "rubber time."  The event began more than an hour later.

Sister Onting was released from the hospital on Thursday afternoon, and it made quite a stir when she entered the church.

The sashes that the MCs are wearing are Ulos, a sign of respect in the Batak tribal tradition.  These sashes are worn at funerals, weddings and other special events.  They didn't wear them all night, but it was good to see local culture incorporated into the program.

The program included a lot of music (both congregational singing and amazing ensembles and solos), some spiritual thoughts, much involvement from the children and youth, and a drama:  a condensed version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Elder Porter had the lead in the drama.  This is Pak Scrooge taking time from counting money to tell Bob Cratchit that he can't have the day off for Christmas.  Before the action started, he was smelling and caressing the money. It's hard memorizing lines at our age, and we worked a lot on the cues.

 This is Jacob Marley.  Actually our wonderful driver.  He did a great job.

 This is the ghost of Christmas past, played by one of the Young Women.  Elder Porter is wearing his sarong under the bathrobe.

 The climax of the party was the arrival of Santa Claus.  They invited all the kids under 12 to come up to the stage, and Santa handed out bags of treats.  Santa was also played by a missionary.  He was very gracious with his time and stayed in costume while a lot of people took pictures with him.

Dinner was a fancy box dinner, handed out as people left, which saved on mess in the chapel.


During the week we were also spending time looking at potential church buildings.  On Saturday afternoon, we had the chance to get into a house that might work out, so that made us late arriving to a Batak church service to which we had been invited by the mother of one of our members.

We went to the Christmas service, ate quickly, and had to leave by 9:30 p.m. because we both had assignments to prepare (Sanford was speaking in sacrament meeting, and Colleen was teaching the young women).  So we gave our prize drawing tickets to our friend.  She got a new stove!  She said it was Sister Porter's ticket, but we assured her that she should have it.

Merry Christmas to all!

Holidays and Hospitals

On Monday, we were shopping at Lotte (and so happy that they had the banana bread loaves that we love!).  But they also had a great deal on folding travel mattresses, and we bought two of those for the missionaries to have on hand  for visitors.  We knew that the zone leaders were arriving that night, to spend a few days here training our young missionaries and we thought they might like something to sleep on other than the floor.  This picture was taken at our Tuesday district meeting, because it was an epic event:  12 full-time missionaries in that room in Medan.  Unfortunately, the excellent photographer Elder Porter is not himself in the photo.


We found out that the building that we thought the congregation would be moving into in a few months had just been leased to someone else.  So we spent much of our time this week driving around looking at buildings, measuring and phoning and thinking about possibilities.  As it happened, our mission president was coming this weekend, so he had the opportunity to visit some of the buildings with us.


Last Sunday, Sister Porter had to handle the Young Women meeting, because our wonderful YW president went home after sacrament meeting to check on her daughter.  The daughter ended up being hospitalized, and we went to visit on Wednesday. Thankfully, she is much better now.

On Wednesday, that sister missionary with whom Sister Porter had spent time last weekend got sick again.  They went to the hospital, and she was admitted.  Her stomach pain was diagnosed as appendicitis after a CT scan (yes, a high quality hospital for our missionaries!), but she also had dengue fever that had to be resolved first.  The mission president and his wife went straight to her bedside from the airport when they arrived, and allowed the missionary to call her mom in another country using their phone that has an international plan.

She will be having that surgery on Monday.  We have been trying to support them in whatever is needed, doing her laundry, transporting the companion, bringing food for the companion.  I asked the mission president to bring an extra mission phone from Jakarta, so that when they are apart they can stay in contact.  Usually it is one phone per companionship, but the healthy missionary is allowed to leave occasionally.

Our city has a high percentage of Christians, and the school semester ended on December 15.  So we weren't sure what attendance at our English classes would be like.  Ultimately, we decided to take a 3-week break, with the last lesson on December 14.  I also wrote a series of lessons about USAmerican holidays, first holidays in general (Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mardi Gras, etc.) and then the final lesson about Winter Holidays.  It was a balance because I wanted to be neutral and yet say CHRISTmas, so we compromised by singing Rudolph and inviting people to our branch holiday party three times during the lesson:)

Over the last six weeks, we had been teaching a great group of kids at an after-school program.  They invited us to their end-of-year holiday program.  It was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. on Friday so we thought it would surely be over by 6 and we could make it to teach our last English class at church by 7 p.m.

Well, it was a bit late starting, and there were so many activities involved...in this picture, the ministers on the left are lighting a candelabra, and then we all had little candles to light and wave as we sang a song of praise and rejoicing.

Elder Porter was invited to give the main sermon and he worked very hard all week on it.  Because we had taught the children for six weeks, we kind of knew their level and aimed the khotbah to them.  He prepared slides, with pictures of the Christmas story, and talked about the various witnesses of the divine mission of Jesus Christ.  The theme was about growing in Christ, and he brought a plant that was wilted to use as an object lesson.  It was very powerful, but only lasted for about 15 minutes, and they had asked him to speak for 30 minutes.

Sister Porter was sitting with the teachers, who were trying to hush the fidgeting kids, so the brevity seemed a great blessing to them.  But there were also adults in the room by then, and it may have seemed inappropriate to them to cut it short.  We are not sure.

But it was well after 6 p.m. when we left.  They gave us Christmas presents:  Wonderful holiday batik outfits that fit!  They also gave us boxed dinners, and brought a third one out when they saw our driver.  They were a great group, wonderful to work with.

And we were so glad to be there, and to capture a bit of the children's performances on video.  Because the reason we started our involvement with that group was three children from our church in the program, whose mom works in Hong Kong.  And unfortunately, her flight home for the holidays did not arrive until the next day!

Miraculously, we walked into church for our English lesson there a few minutes early.  The traffic that time of night can be bad, but we are grateful for the blessing that allowed us to do all that was needed that evening.

On Saturday we picked up the Mission President and his wife from the hospital, where they had the chance to talk with a doctor about that sister missionary's treatment plan.  We looked at a half-dozen possible buildings, and the four of us enjoyed a quiet lunch together at the Fountain restaurant near our apartment.

During lunch, Sister Mackay mentioned that she needed to find some gift bags for their presents to the missionaries.  Sister Porter remembered that we had some red/green printed bags left over from our anniversary party.  It turned out that the red/green in the print was flowers, but they were enough for the purpose, and she was grateful not to have to worry about shopping.

That night we were delighted to attend the baptism of a sweet sister who also attends our English classes.  At the last minute, the branch mission leader asked Sister Porter if she could bear her testimony toward the end of the program.  It wasn't very polished, but I was able to share some thoughts.  I focused on her, and didn't worry about the audience and it was okay.  Cukup, we would say.

After the baptismal service, all of the missionaries walked down the street to the Holy Cow restaurant.  This was a gift from the mission president to all of us.  We enjoyed the steaks, but it was more meat than we eat in a sitting here, and sadly Elder Porter woke up with galloping diarrhea, but probably not from the meat which he thought was "very yummy".  Oh well, another day in Indonesia.

First Week of December

On Monday morning we were headed to a car that would take us to the train station, then a train to the airport, a flight to Jakarta, and a taxi to our hotel.  As Sister Porter rolled her suitcase down the ramp to the street, she noticed this interesting beetle, but did not mention it because they were in a hurry.  But of course Elder (Dr.) Porter saw it and took the time to examine it.

And here is the interesting point:  I thought it was monochrome silvery metallic.  But up close, it was much more complex and interesting.  My first impression was not quite accurate.  That principle applies to a lot of things in life.

Our trips to Jakarta give us an opportunity to sample various cuisine.  I found a Lebanesse restaurant only a short walk from our hotel.  It was great but we ate too much, considering that the meal started with a piece of incredible blueberry cheesecake.

Trips to Jakarta also give me a chance to be treated by a chiropractor.  Mine is located quite near the mission home, and is the president of the Indonesian chiropractors organization.  He is a native Indonesian, but went to an international school as a youngster and then chiropractic training in Australia.  He speaks perfect English with an American accent.

When we first started talking about a mission to Indonesia, I told the mission president that Medan would be fine, because there were three chiropractic clinics.  But all have closed.  In 2016, an Indonesian woman died after chiropractic treatment, causing a great deal of concern.  All expat chiropractors have been eliminated (the best one in Medan was Canadian).  A while back I saw a sign in Medan something about chiropractic school...and my chiropractor confirmed that indeed, they just enrolled the first class at a school in Jakarta that trains all the health professions.  It is a 5-year program so hopefully in five years it will be easier to find a chiropractor.

We had a very uplifting zone conference, including a visit from Elder Meurs of the Area Presidency.

They brought in professional translators because of the general authority.  Good exercises on teaching.

Our flight arrived back in Medan in time to make our Wednesday afternoon English class.


On Thursday we found out that the contract on our new church building had fallen through.  So we spent time scoping out new buildings and updating the status of those on the previous list.

That afternoon we had our last session with a great group of kids at an after-school program.  We brought fancy colored pencils as a going-away present.  But they each had to ask for one, in English.

On Friday, Elder Porter was preparing a talk that he would give the next day at the 4th Internasiional Conference on Biological Sciences and Biotechnology.  One of the brethren in our congregation is faculty at a local university, and invited him.

Sister Porter left for a while to help the new elders to purchase and deliver their desks, a carefully orchestrated dance that involved our credit card and multiple Grab cars.  One of the Grab drivers helped us lift the boxes, and he was gratefully tipped accordingly.

Elder (Dr.) Porter spent all day Saturday at the conference, and met an entomologist who works with mosquitos.

He had barely arrived home when the young sisters called and said that one was sick, could Sister Porter come and stay with her so that the other sister in the companionship could make an teaching appointment, going out with a member?

Sister Porter left in a hurry.  The young sister was warm, clammy and a bit disoriented.  Another car to the sister's house, which was the right move because the sister fell asleep within minutes.  She was much better the next day.

Getting Ready

This week we spent some time getting ready for Christmas:  Elder Porter is playing Scrooge in the branch Christmas play, and has been trying to learn his lines.  We have been planning for our English classes for the rest of the year:  Since we will be in Jakarta next week, I had to plan the lessons and create handouts for six lessons, for the next two weeks.  I also want to prepare lessons about the holidays for the last week.  We also had to prepare for the trip to Jakarta.  Our return flight had been shifted some, so I had to convert the Powerpoint for Wednesday's lesson into pictures so that the sister missionaries can teach it if we are delayed.  They are flying home on Tuesday night, but I have a chiropractor appointment right after zone conference ends, so we can't return until the next morning. (And we are NOT flying Lion Air....)

On our Monday Preparation Day, we were able to do all our errands on foot, without needing a car. 

We needed to go to the klinik at the hospital across the river, to get some prescriptions renewed.  We went to our local grocery store.  And we went out to supper at a nearby restaurant that is supposed to be one of the best seafood restaurants in town.  We also found a good papaya at a fruit market near the restaurant.



On Tuesday, we went up to the port city of Belawan, to visit a couple whose adult son joined the church some years ago, before moving to a city in the south of our Island, perhaps 14 hours by car/bus (and no train or air connections).  He still lives within our branch boundaries, because our branch includes the entire island of Sumatra, as well as several of the major islands nearby.  We were wondering if their son and his family might be coming home for the Christmas holiday?  But he is not.  However, another son who lives in Java was visiting and had lots of questions about our church.  We enjoy talking with the parents because we have a lot in common; they had seven children and now have grandchildren as well.

On Tuesday, we did NOT have our usual district meeting because some new missionaries were flying in.  We are getting a new companionship of elders!  That means 10 of us:  6 elders, 2 sisters, 1 senior couple.

On Wednesday, we had district meeting and then used our car and credit cards to help the new elders get stuff for their house:  bicycles, mattresses, wardrobes, chairs, a blender.  Unfortunately, we returned to the parking garage below the mall to find a burst sewer pipe splattering right near our car.

They had covered the car with plastic and we made it out of the parking garage without too much of the flood.

On Friday, we picked up one of the Young Women from school and headed out of town to make a ministering visit to a sister who has a new house that is more than an hour away.  That couple have three children and the air out there is definitely clearer.  But it is a very long way from church.

We were heading back to town around lunch time, and we offered to take my companion to lunch.  When we asked about preferences, first she said it was up to us, but then mentioned that she had never been to KFC.  Yeah, that's the same fried chicken chain as in the states, except they serve rice and hot sauce here.  As we were finishing eating, we realized that Elder Porter and I needed to head in different directions, so I took her back to church in a"Go" car.  I asked her if she was kenyang, or satisfied, and her enthusiastic response was, "Banget!  Serius."

Friday night one of the young church members who did not attend our English class that night apparently ducked in long enough to take and post a photo of the class to his Facebook.  The picture did not include us because the new television is mounted on the wall under the stairway; we stand on either side.

The next few Friday classes are about houses.  The course that we are using recommended singing "Home on the Range."  I decided to use Our House from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  Good examples of future tense, imperative mood and antonymns.  But it was hard to explain the concept of "evening sunshine" shining through a window, because most places in Indonesia the sun sets shortly after 6 p.m.

Saturday was the birthday of our wonderful Relief Society President, who also spends her Saturdays teaching Seminary, then Institute.  We brought a cake.