First Week in Indonesia: Jakarta

 Our first flight left Salt Lake City at 7:20 p.m. on Monday, Mach 26.  We arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday, March 28 at 1 p.m.  It wasn’t all travel; with Indonesia being 13 hours ahead, we simply lost a day.  We went through Hong Kong which seems longer than the Taiwan  route we had take before, but we didn’t have to reclaim luggage in Hong Kong.  Carry-on baggage did have to be re-scanned but we had a decent layover.

Nobody checked the luggage when we went through customs in Jakarta.  Senior missionaries don't get transferred like young missionaries; they generally stay in one place the entire mission. So I opted for lighter-weight soft sided luggage including the rolling duffel bag we had taken to Iceland filled with camping supplies.

Presiden Subandriyo and Sister Steffi picked us up—and promptly dropped the Presiden off at the domestic side for a flight elsewhere in the mission.  We went to the mission office and met Elder and Sister Jensen, the incredibly competent office couple who made us feel welcome and provided all sorts of advice and information.  Sister Steffi prepared a welcome meal that was so bounteous that the service center staff were also invited to help finish the food. 

For the first few nights, we stayed in another apartment in the same building as the Jensens.  It was so wonderful to take a warm shower and climb into clean American-style sheets.  Sanford went to the grocery store with the Jensens and brought back breakfast food. 

View from temporary lodging in Jakarta

 On Thursday morning we went to a clinic to have our Japanese Encephalitis immunizations.  In Indonesia we were able to take the Imojev vaccine, which is better than the version available in the US for several reasons:  It is good for 5 years (rather than 3), only requires one injection and has fewer reactions.  It also cost only a fraction of the inferior vaccine available stateside.  We were grateful to our mission president for making that option available.

On Friday morning we attended a baptism, which was such a great reminder of why we are here.  The brother being baptized is a refugee from another country and he talked about seeking for the truth of Christianity.  As a plus, both the bishop and the dad in the host family (the baptism was in their swimming pool) remembered our daughter and son-in-law from their time In Indonesia. 

Still rainy season here.

Friday night we went to observe English lessons taught by the young elders at one of the local chapels.  Although we had been to that location in 2015, we couldn’t quite remember the exact directions and the taxi driver was not very helpful.  This is one of the chapels that is built in an industrial park in order to avoid problems with obtaining neighborhood approval.  The elders were very enthusiastic and the sisters in the class were charming.  But we had a hard time getting a taxi back home, found ourselves crossing one of the biggest streets in Jakarta without a light to help us, and were super-relieved when a taxi pulled up.  We enjoyed talking with the driver, and were embarrassed that we underpaid because I am not yet accustomed to the money:  10,000 rupiah is just 75 cents, so one easily is dealing with hundreds of thousands and it gets confusing, particularly in the dark without the color-coding as a confirmation of the numbers.  We were so glad that we were chatting outside for a bit and he came over to us so that we could make it right. 

Saturday was all about getting a local phone number so that Colleen can begin her work with missionary health care needs.   This proved to have many requirements that we did not anticipate; for starters, they wouldn't sell us a SIM card without an identity card or passport, so we had to go back to the apartment for the passports.  Then many other steps.  

Sunday we went to the local congregation that we had attended with our daughter and her husband back in 2015.  Some people remembered us!  We got to show them pictures of the baby that wasn't yet born then.  People were very complimentary of our son-in-law, and one lady explained, "He was one of us."  

At the baptism, I had noticed a young sister missionary who had been companions with a returned missionary who helped with our language training.  I sent her a picture of the sister, and her response was humbling:

"I love Indonesia with all my heart—take care of it for me!"

MTC Part 2

view from our room

Our housing at the MTC included a simple hotel-style room with a functional shower/bathroom but no television.  Our room had a great view of the temple and the mountains, which brought great joy whenever we looked out.  There was a well equipped gym in the basement of our building, which also houses the bookstore and infirmary.



At the MTC cafeteria, there are no special meals for seniors.  The same foods that the young missionaries enjoy are available, and the unlimited and varied food offerings can be too much, even though they also have sensible things like a wrap bar.  A real treat was the legendary BYU mint nut brownies:  We had planned to walk down to the Creamery for one, but they showed up for dessert at dinner a few nights.  And we couldn't eat even one together--so rich and sweet.  Another special MTC signature dish breakfast is a sausage on a stick covered with a pancake.  In this case it was a chocolate chip pancake.

One of the great things about being out in Utah was the chance to visit with family and friends who we don't see often due to so many miles away. This picture is in front of the famous mural where Jesus Christ commissions his disciples to take the Good News of the Gospel to all the world.  We are with our online tutor, who has been working with us on the Indonesian language since October.  We had dinner with one of the missionaries who served during Sanford's first mission and met with us during our tutoring.  We visited some of Sanford's cousins on both side of the family, including Sunday dinner with Dixon and Susan Woodbury.  We enjoyed time at the Bean Museum with the insect collection curator, who had been on the insect collecting trip when Sanfored and I first met.


The night before we were scheduled to leave for Indonesia, it started snowing.  I had been fearing such cold weather all week, but it was not horribly cold until then, although we were wearing gloves and jackets whle locals were jogging in short-sleeved shirts.  We had a snowy walk down to the Bean Museum.  Then Sanford got his last hepatitis immunization, and we walked across the MTC to work with the young missionaries who are training in Indonesian.  There are 7 elders and 4 sisters, and they are coming along well.  We did role-playing with them.

After that we boxed up our cold-weather gear and mailed it back to Florida before catching the shuttle to the airport.