Many Meals

Our meals with a meaning began on Monday.  For P-day we went out for lunch at a certain restaurant at the Sun Plaza mall.  A waitresses there is a friend of ours who is also a new convert to our faith and a student in our English classes.  So we go there now and then.  We also went to see Toy Story 4.  (Yes, senior missionaries are allowed to see movies.)

On Tuesday, Sister Porter left early for District Meeting and stopped by the Clover Bakeshoppe, which we (and the missionaries) think have the best cakes in town. We always try to do cakes for their birthdays and brownies when people head home.  This is his first birthday in the mission field, and he ended up getting two cakes.  A new member also brought a cake for him the next day.

On Wednesday, we had dinner at McDonalds because it was near the park where the missionaries and young members play Ultimate Frisbee and also make contacts with people hanging out there.  The weather was perfect and we chatted for a bit with people wanting to practice their English.


On Thursday, we had plans to bring a US American dinner to our friends, who had all three children away at the youth conference.  We had been looking forward to it all week.  But Wednesday night, we found out that staff from church offices in Jakarta would be arriving on Thursday to look at a proposed new building for the church.  So we had to cancel.  We went to dinner the the Lima (5) Rooftops Bar since it was near the new building and a friend works there.  It is very luxurious and expensive by Medan standards, and has a great view of the city, including the night market.  Our branch executive secretary expressed interest in coming to see the building, so we sent a motorcycle to collect him from church and treated him to dinner as well.  We walked from the restaurant to the new church building to get a sense of the neighborhood.

On the way back, our young friend mentioned that his mom was working nearby.  We were happy to hear that because she had been working on the far side of town, where we rarely go.  On Friday, for dinner we went to the restaurant where she works, 7 days a week, from noon to midnight.  She as happy to see us and was able to take a few minutes to visit.  She also had three children away at the youth conference this week.

Our Friday night English Lesson was about US American holidays.  Sister Porter wrote a lesson about the holidays and the colors associated with each holiday.  It was a lot of fun and we sang "Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer."

On Saturday, Sister Porter accompanied the young sister missionaries to visit a young woman that they had been teaching off and on for some time.  Sister Porter had met the mom before, and it was a chance to reconnect.

She is from the Batak tribe, and taught us how to make one of their traditional fish dishes, for which they are famous.  Including using the torch ginger flower plant that I haven't quite figured out how to cook.

She is an amazing cook.  We all helped clean onions, cut beans, etc.  She worked in the garlic and peppers in the blender WITHOUT A LID – and not a drop went astray.  I was so impressed.

Of course the stew was served over rice, with fruit (pineapple!) as a dessert.  The sister missionaries washed the dishes.

After that incredible meal, we returned to church where Elder and Sister Porter gave an English lesson, attended a baptism, and then sat to wait for the youth to return.  They were supposed to arrive at 7:30 p.m. and it was after 9:30 p.m. before the first car pulled up. We arranged for rides home for several of the youth, and our driver took his own children home before returning our car to the apartment and going home on his motorcycle.

Of course today's Sunday service consisted of the youth telling stories of the conference and sharing their testimonies of Jesus Christ and the gospel.

We found ourselves with a few minutes free in the afternoon one day this week, and went to a favorite store that sells stuff from all over Indonesia.  We were astonished at how well this woman could play this uniquely Indonesian wooden instrument, and struck by her choice of songs after noticing our name tags.  Do any of the grandchildren recognize the song?  Email us if you know.