The Saddest Week Ever

Last Saturday when we dropped off food to some families, we also picked up one sister.  The same sister who had a baby early by C-section a month ago.  Her breathing problems had not resolved after the birth, there were some issues with the insurance paperwork, but the branch president told us to get her to the hospital on Saturday. 

So we loaded her in our car and went to a nearby hospital, then pulled over and waited.  Sure enough, we were asked to bring the car back only 10 minutes later.  They said she needed to be admitted, but did not have a room availale, so we had to go to another hospital.  Once she was settled, the Relief Society President stayed with her while we took the dad home to care for his toddler and feed their newborn baby.

Various members of the branch visited her on Sunday, but her family did not arrive.  In Indonesia, when someone is in the hospital, they typically have many family members staying with them, bringing food and talking to the staff.  It is typical to see a sleeping mat next to the hospital bed, and visitors may include children and elderly.

On Monday, we had to get up early to go to the airport and pick up church staff from Jakarta who were there (again!) to find a new building for the church.  Of course they wanted lunch at a barbecue pork place (pork is rare in Jakarta since Muslims do not eat it) but then they went back to their hotel for a meeting via internet.  Their hotel was not far from the hospital, so we visited with the sister again.  The branch had a planned schedule for visits to her the next day. 

Sadly, it was the last time we saw her alive.  We woke up Tuesday morning to messages about her death about 2:30 that morning.  It was so devastating.  

We called our driver, handled a few urgent tasks, and made it to their house by 10 a.m.  In Indonesia, the body is always brought to the home, and the funeral held there.  Some members had already arrived, bringing a doctor with them to use formalin, an embalming solution.  (This isn't always the case in Indonesia, and when funerals are held on the third day, the smell can make Sister Porter queasy.)  

This is an action shot of a relative holding her baby while the doctor is running the formalin in the background.  

The family had really cleaned up that room and put down a nice plastic rug.  They also rented a bunch of plastic chairs.

After many people had arrived and the doctor had finished, we held a "penghiburan," service of comfort.  Some hymns, prayers and a sermon by one of the brothers in the branch.

That is her husband on the right.

Some of us who had been there a while went outside for a bit, to allow others to enter and to get a breath of fresh air.  The church members gathered together to discuss future plans.  At first the family had wanted a funeral that same afternoon, but then decided to wait until the next day to allow more friends and family to gather.

Sister Porter looked around at the group of wonderful saints, and started counting.  Yes, they would all fit in the car.  Would it be appropriate to take them to lunch?  It can be so scary to know what is acceptable in a different culture.  Would they be horrified if we suggested it?  Elder Porter offered and they were all delighted, recommending a pork barbecue place around the corner.  The young women's president is serving up and passing around the rice, and there are plates of pork, fish and veggies being passed around.  The conversation was animated, and they seemed to enjoy the break from the stress of the death.  And then they noticed the television!  The national election commission announced the election results a day early. Jokowi was re-elected!  Most of them were happy about that result, but warned us to stay home because of possible demonstrations.  We promised to be careful but we had work to do.  

The church members had decided to hold another program of comfort that night around 7 p.m. So that afternoon Elder and Sister Porter stopped by the church to pick up a bunch of hymnals and the portable sound system that we bought at the start of the year to facilitate a larger Sunday School class, and set it to charge.  It can work on an internal battery for up to 2 hours.  Since the home of the deceased is on a busy street with significant traffic noise, the microphone really helped.  

That is the sound system at the bottom.  Some more friends including church members arrived during the course of the afternoon and the body was now draped with beautiful white lace.  The mural on the wall in the back is painted; it is of the nearby island of Nias, from where the families who live in this building originate.  A lady to the right of the mural who is wearing a red sash, which is an ulos, a mark of respect from the Batak tribe.

On Wednesday, the day of the funeral, Elder and Sister Porter brought more hymnbooks and several people to the home of the deceased.  But Sister Porter had to leave as the service began, because that was time for our English class, most students are not members of our church, and we didn't have a way to cancel.  

We did other work during the week.  There was a district meeting, we made plans for a public affairs activity, we visited a sister whose cell phone had not been working, we hired her to make baskets for us and took her out for lunch.  

But nothing was as important as supporting the family during this dark time. And her temple work needs to be done because, like most members until a temple is built in Indonesia, she had not yet been to the temple to be sealed for all eternity.  We look forward to that day.  

Goal accomplished!

This week, Sister Porter finally finished reading the Book of Mormon in Indonesian.  What she really did was listen to the English audio (via Mormon Channel) while reading the Indonesian.  Since English is often faster, this means a lot of stopping and replaying.  And I mark the words that I don't know, moving them into Anki flashcards, for studying later.

As far as studying, I am still back in Helaman.  Not sure whether to read the book again, or try the New Testament?

For months, I have been doing the reading first thing in the day, while walking. At our old apartment, this was walking on the treadmill.  This building doesn't have a fitness room, but I go up to the roof and walk around there.  On Tuesday, I woke up sick...and then angry that anything would stop me finishing.  So while I missed early morning, I went up in the late afternoon.

 Last week a group of us went to visit a sister in the hospital.  She has had pulmonary issues for some time, and the air quality in town in thedays leading up to her distress did not help.

Her son is getting married in a few weeks, here in Medan, so hopefully she will be recovered and can enjoy the big day.

We are so happy that one of the young adults in the branch is preparing for a mission.  It was a lot of effort finding a klinik that would do the physical, but Sister Porter remembered that the Kimia Farma pharmacy near our old apartment also had a klinik.  That turned out to be the most reasonable price and easy to get in.

When it came to the dental exam, a dentist who is a member of the branch donated her time for the exam, but it was clear that the wisdom teeth needed to be removed--and one was horizontal..

That required specialist training, and apparently Dr. Rico did a great job, because the patient was doing well.  Of course Elder Porter enjoyed buying him ice cream, twice.

While Elder Porter was taking the young man to dentist visits Sister Porter stayed home to catch up on ironing and cooking.  Projects included poaching a bunch of chicken tenders, that were sliced thin and frozen.  It can then be used for quick sandwiches, or other recipes.

For example, we put some in broccoli puff, that had to be made in a rice cooker since we don't have an oven, and with a white sauce and fresh sauteed mushrooms since no condensed soup.

Of course this week we spent a lot of time driving around looking for a new building for the church.

It is the Muslim holy season of Ramadan.  Of course they fast during the day, and we have to be careful not to walk down the street eating an ice cream cone, etc.  But there are other wonderful traditions, including cleaning up the graves of deceased family members, and giving food to the poor.  Our Relief Society president has a friend who wanted to donate some food, and we helped make the deliveries to some folks in our branch.

This mango was a gift from the sister missionaries, thanking us for helping get their house in better shape.  Ironically, it is the same variety of green mango that gave Elder Porter such a bad allergic reaction a year ago.  So Sister Porter did all the carrying and peeling and slicing, to avoid him being exposed to the skin/oil.

We had two baptisms today, and the sister missionaries were wonderfully thorough about cleaning the font and changing the filters during the filling process.  Elder Porter had tracked down and set up a filtration system that works at reasonable price and not too much hassle.  This was the cleanest font water ever in Medan!

Weird Weather and Bad News

Last Sunday, church attendance was a bit light because many people were cleaning up flooding in their homes due to heavy rain on Saturday evening.  On top of the storm, there was also a high tide predicted in coastal areas on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, we visited an investigator in Belawan, the port city to the north of Medan.  With the tide in, we were up to our knees on a street where we usually park the car.  As we walked, we had to be careful to stay on the road and not trip into the drainage ditches on either side, which were even deeper.  The house we visited had a good outer wall around it that functions as a dike for normal tides. But water regularly leaks into the yard and we noticed water marks on the walls where past storms went over the outer wall.  Not being sure what the needs in the home were, but we brought them a watermelon. (Video of the flood at the bottom.)

This week we made two trips to the airport to pick up new young missionaries, which prevented a missionary from being alone.  One of the elders is a nurse, with a graduate degree in health and nutrition and some healed wounds from a stint in his country's army.  Another is an American who completed two years at Annapolis before taking a leave of absence; when he finishes his mission he'll be returning to the US Naval Academy.

On Wednesday, we came home after English class and a few errands, and kept looking outside to see if our driver would make it home on his motorcycle.  We think he made it home before the rain hit,  but the roiling clouds were ominous.  We'd never seen weather quite like this, with clear sky out at the horizon but angry dark clouds above it all, darkening the sky early.

On Saturday evening, Sister Porter went up to the roof to read scriptures, and was shocked at this sunset view.  Was that a bright space ship emerging from the clouds?  The "hat" at the left was quite blue with a bit of purple.  How strange!

Elder Porter said it had something to do with ice crystals.

We also got some Bad News from Jakarta.  After looking at 40 possible buildings and being turned down by owners, etc., we had a building that we were hoping would be approved.  The team in Jakarta was positive, but when it was evaluated by the area office in Hong Kong, it was turned down.  We were pretty discouraged.  The current building is only rented through the end of June, and the electricity goes out at least once each Sunday and also during English classes.  Our church sometimes rents hotel meeting rooms for Sunday worship, but in reality we have activities several times each week so we need a building of our own.

However, one good thing:  Phil's family called for Mother's Day and we had a nice chat.

Welcoming May!

The month of May is pronounced the same in Indonesian, but spelled differently:  Mei.

We spent our Monday preparation-day morning at the sisters' house.  They had reported that their air conditioner, which they only have in the bedroom, was not working well.  Elder Porter cleaned the filter, but that did not really help, so he arranged for a tukang to come in and perform service.  We had to provide a ladder, so there was a lot of back-and-forth picking one up from church.  The window itself had been covered by thin plastic to block out warm air from outside, but the plastic had become rotten and was ripped in places. The plastic cover had been mended with layers of plastic bags and tape.  We removed all that (it shattered and made a mess) and replaced it with a new covering.  Sister Porter figured out that a vinyl shower curtain liner from Ace was the best and most cost-effective covering; Elder Porter tacked it into place. The visit took a while because the service man cleaned the coils both outside and inside, as well as recharging the coolant. The price was reasonable and it worked really well afterward. :-)  It was good timing because the sister trainers arrived two days later on Wednesday.

We took a photo of our district on Tuesday, the last day of April, and are glad we did, because four of the young missionaries were transferred and one is headed home.

May 1 is International Workers Day but we decided to hold English class anyway.  Sometimes people who would like to come but must work can show up on such holidays. The turnout was fine, considering.


Elder Porter caught the cold Sister Porter had the week before and had a rough couple of days.  Like Sister Porter's trajectory, it seemed to get better, then got worse again :-(

Sister Porter is still going up and down the steps and swimming twice a week for exercise.  But there is no clock and the pool and she kept losing count of laps :-( So she made this elastic bracelet.  She moves a bead over after each lap to keep track.  It works pretty well.


Thursday was such fun.  When Sister Porter phoned Sister Harefa earlier in the week to arrange a visit on Thursday, Sister Harefa responded that it would be her birthday.  Sister Porter quickly responded, "Saya tahu!  Saya mau membawa kue.  Boleh?"

She agreed that we could bring cake, which turned out to be from our favorite Clover Bakeshoppe.



Then we wanted to stop by and visit a friend who has a new job as a waitress at a rooftop place with a stunning view. 

She has taken contracts in Malaysia before, so we are delighted that she was able to find a job in town.  But she works until 2 a.m. on Sunday morning and church starts at 10 a.m.  So it is really hard to make Sunday meetings.

On Saturday we visited a friend who has been ill for some weeks.  He missed the Easter program, so we played a few short videos on a laptop, with external speakers. One was the last days of Christ and His resurrection; a second was people around the world saying what the resurrection means to them.   Both of the films were translated into Indonesian and the brother and his wife seemed to appreciate the message.

On Sunday we had a wonderful surprise!  A young missionary who had gone home a year ago, about the same time that we arrived in Indonesia, returned with his parents.  What a joy for them to see people he had baptized, still attending church.  And to see the branch grow.  He is from North Carolina, so the family is used to the heat. I tried to talk the parents into coming back as a misi couple  :-)