Visiting family

When our daughter first told us that her husband was headed to Bali for two weeks, we didn't seriously consider going for a visit.  It is two islands over, and we didn't want to take time off....

But it has been over 15 months since we saw any family, and it is always such a pleasure to speak English for a change.  It was a lot of work preparing to leave;  for example, converting Wednesday's English class to a picture file so that the young elders could easily teach for us.

We found some fairly convenient flights on Garuda Airlines.  Garuda is a partner with Delta, so we'll get Delta Sky Miles for the trip.  We flew from Medan late Sunday afternoon after attending our Sabbath meetings, including ward correlation.  And upon arrival in Bali, we spent the first night at the Amnaya Kuta Resort, which is only 15 minutes or so from the airport.  They have relaxing ambience, an excellent gym and wonderful breakfast, then our driver picked us up at 10 a.m. to go up to the city of Ubud where Karl was staying.

entrance to resort

We made the car arrangements through Sihol, the Bali Go-To Guy, who is originally from Medan but now works in Bali.  (We had recommended his services to Karl, who had spent the previous Saturday with him, and was very positive about the tour provided.)

Karl was staying at a lovely resort.  We had
a quick lunch there, then drove Karl into town for his language lesson.  While he was at class, we visited a jewelry factory and store, and yes we bought a little pendant.  Then a batik store, and we bought a few gifts and a skirt for Sister Porter. 



By then, it was time to head back and pick up Karl.  He had found a wonderful place for barbecued pork.  It was one of the best meals we had enjoyed in Indonesia.  Then we walked around downtown Ubud for a bit before returning to the resort.

The resort was pleasant, with a beautiful woven ceiling and a private infinity pool out the back.

On Tuesday, Elder Porter and Karl headed out for a day of hiking Mt. Batur.  It is a large caldera, perhaps the same size as Mt. Bromo in Java, but Mt. Batur (the peak to the left) overlooks a lake that fills part of the caldera.  Whereas many people leave before sunrise, they opted to leave the resort at 7:15 a.m. after a great breakfast, and start hiking around 9 a.m.  It was overcast much of the day so not unbearably hot.  They soaked in a natural hot springs for a bit after the hike.

Elder Porter was a bit sore going down stairs for the next few days, but did well.
Sister Porter did not hike as we only brought one set of hiking poles to Indonesia.  She spent two hours at the gym, working on her back and prepared English classes.

That night we had a simple dinner at the resort restaurant, and got to bed early.  The next morning we enjoyed breakfast (they had pork bacon upon request!), and Sihol picked us up by 8:30 a.m.  Since our flight was not until 1:30 p.m., that gave us time to stop by Denpasar, which is the capital city for the province that covers Bali.  There are many government offices, and we visited the museum, which had a good overview of artifacts from prehistoric through the early years of Bali, and cultural evolution.  The museum recognized our residency permit (KITAS) and allowed us to pay the lower entrance fee for Indonesians.

Then while Elder Porter visited a pura (Hindu temple), Sister Porter walked around the adjacent Lapangan (park), which included a monument to those who fought for Indonesian independence in the 1940s.  The statues are draped with white brilliant white cloth.  A lot of statues in public and in shrines are dressed in cloth in Bali, and I wondered if it was the inspiration for that tradition in Brandon Sanderson's WARBREAKER.


We were back to work on Thursday, and on Saturday the branch held a fireside about temple work.  It was an effort making sure that the slides had an accurate and appropriate translation from the original English version. 

During his presentation, Elder Porter mentioned that Sister Porter prays every day for a temple in Indonesia and there were a lot of amens from the congregation.  There are so many good people who have a temple recommend but cannot get a passport so that the can travel to Manila or Hong Kong.

When we have a temple here in Indonesia, it will make a huge difference in the lives of the Indonesian saints.