Joey and Brenden's Visit or Hope You Will Come To Visit Too

This is the tale of the visit from Elder and Sister Jeffery's son Joey and his friend Brenden.
Early morning we met Joey and Brenden at the Jogjakarta airport.  It had been a long and flight (all told about 40 hours) and hunger was upon them.  A stop at a curbside "warung" fit the bill with local cuisine appropriately served on banana leaves.

With several hours available we stopped at Joey's favorite venue, the zoo.  We had to wait a bit to get in as the employees celebrated Indonesian Independence day.  Here they show friendship to one another as the line moved along and everyone shook hands.  

Finally the animals said hello.
Joey is a bit of a Doctor Dolittle and at least the snake was
 eager to greet him. Likewise the wallaby, one of
Joey's favorite animals.  A few Indonesian natives
came along too, the crocodile and Komodo Dragon

Next stop was a Jogya ward activity.  Rousing good fun with games and our boys were the victors.

We hurried back to Magelang as we hosted
a party of our own.  Bayu was in charge
of the games which were surprisingly familiar.
 So with our added experience won again.
 

Elder Tufanga set up a grill to roast
the hot dogs Joey and Brenden had
imported from the states for us.

Visited Borobudur.  One of the great wonders of the ancient world that sits in our own little city.
Our dear friend Brother Supriyono gave  us the tour again.  He has been a tour guide and has helped with the
restoration of this Buddhist temple.  The stories he tells of the Buddha facade carvings and how they put this monument back together are amazing.

Next stop was the hydroponic gardens and restaurant for the biology boys.

Along with the hot dogs, Joey and Brenden brought some delicious cheddar cheese.
We shared some with Jessica and then took her to the beach.

She is terrified of the water so their accomplishment of the day was to help her as she enjoyed ankle deep waves.
Okay the boys made it into deeper water.

Lots more sights and friends to be made.  Of course we have to take pictures!!!!!!!!!

Evening concluded at Koko Joni's Italian Restaurant.  The Mac and Cheese was delicious this time too.

Elen, her daughter and grandchildren came by for a visit.  They brought some black rice to enjoy so the boys had one of
Sister Jeffery's favorite treats.  We talked about getting a net for Joey to use to catch insects.  He is taking an entomology class and he was eager to get started on his requisite insect collection.  Elen knew were to get a net.  With a little fabric, a few stitches and duct tape, we did a little improvising to make the fishing net into a butterfly net.  Ready to hunt.

We took off for a hike up Gunung Tidar (Tidar Mountain).  It is a large park in the center of town that is a sizable hill.  Beautiful and a place for lots of butterflies.

We finally managed to find the monkeys and play with them for a while too.

We took a trip to Wonosobo for the foreign missionaries (Tufaga and Tubbs) to present their documents to the immigration officials.  While we were in the area we visited the area of Dieng with its Hindu temple ruins.  It is a collection of volcanoes and there is a cauldron with sulfur smelling, boiling pits.  The one below advertises its ability to boil eggs.  Since Sister Jeffery thinks eggs smell and taste like sulfur anyway, that was quite appropriate. 

Brenden posed for the volcano shot with the fields of tobacco behind him.  All over the mountain they were harvesting the crop, placing the leaves in drying racks and transporting them in piles off to warehouses.  So sad that tobacco is one of their high profit crops.  We would rather see tomatoes.  

A trip to the pasar showed that we still had some fruit and vegetable production going on.

The missionaries were willing to go on splits with Joey and Brenden.  Cycling on the left side of the road is a double take and the hills of Magelang are a work out for any of us.  But the boys had moments of reminiscing their mission as Joey and Brenden were mission companions in the West Virginia Mission a few years ago.  Instead of bearing their testimonies in Spanish they used a translator to share their love for the Savior and His Gospel.

We travel to Jogya each week and of course this time Joey and Branden came along.  We stop and deliver the sacrament to a man who has suffered from a stroke.  Brenden played the piano keyboard and Joey sang for us.  The spirit joined us for a beautiful moment of remembering the sacrifices of Jesus Christ and the covenants we have made to follow Him.

Next was a visit to a Moslem school sharing an English lesson with the students.

A quick stop at the chapel to check
out the training program
the Church Humanitarian
Aid program is involved with.
The church will be placing a
thousand wheel chairs in
Indonesia in the next few months.

Institute class required a bit more translation but was great again of course.  Great students, great spirit, great class.

We traveled to Solo to see the Java Man museum.  The remains of this Homo Erectus man are preserved and explained at a beautiful UNESCO museum here.  Joey enjoyed talking to little girls, and other visitors until he became sick.  Brenden held down the fort as Joey found every bench in the building.

We met the missionaries and split up to meet people while shopping on Jalan Marlioboro.  We had a few discussions as souvenirs were acquired. In the picture below we can see Joey as he was trying to figure out where to buy a large stone ring.  They are very popular here and was a purchase befitting the batik shirts .

Brenden made a new friend during English class.  Wisnu took Brenden under his wing to show off the town.  They took off on Wisnu's motorcycle and caught sunrise over Borobudur and the chicken church, sorry no photo.  They had some time to talk and Brenden hopes Wisnu will enjoy visits with the missionaries when he is back in the states.  

We hopped on to the angkut to visit Ari's family.  It was Yeriko's birthday and a cake delivery was in order.  Besides we were still on a bug hunt and the open fields around the area held some potential.  

Meeting new people in the town square or at a parade.  Lots of talk even through the language barriers.

As the end of the trip drew nigh they said good byes to new friends

 farewell to the sate

so long to their favorite desserts . . .

adios to the bugs that Joey left behind . . .

and we will see you later, 
to the senior missionary couple that loves them dearly.

As a postscript to the tale, we must include the adventures of seeing the city of Solo.  Solo is located about an hour east of the train station, (station kereta api) in Jogya where they boarded.  The problem was the train they were scheduled to ride was heading west to Jakarta.  Yes, they had boarded the wrong train.  But instead of traveling all the way to the end of the island, they disembarked in Solo and called.  Solo is the city were Elder Jeffery began serving as a missionary in Indonesia 40 years ago.   People that he met, taught and baptized still love him and took care of his wayward boys.  The train station is close to the church and they enjoyed the Sabbath day with the saints instead of on the train all day.  They boarded the evening train to Jakarta to be met by the forgiving Sadiono family who rearranged their schedule to pick them up at 3;00 a.m.  The last day of their trip was spent at the Taman Safari in Bogor petting giraffes, holding lion and tiger cubs.  So the trip began with a zoo and ended with a zoo. 

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