Game About Life in Indonesia

We held another cottage meeting, now called Malam Kebersamaan, at our place with 7 branch member, 6 missionaries and 14 visitors.  Elder and Sister Jeffery didn't do so well at the game "Never have I ever."  We've just done to many predictable things.  After group games and spiritual thought we dismissed for light refreshments.  Our one hour activity lasted 2 and a half, but that's okay.  Deborah gathered the Young Women around her to enjoy the evening.  But as it progressed Sister Jeffery found some YW Personal Progress books in the house and Deborah had them all setting goals.  Of course none of them has been baptized yet, but they feel a need to grow in spirituality.  Set good goals and work towards improving, that's progress.

Ezra, Melani, Arin, Dian, Deborah

Magelang had a baptism of an older woman, Sugesti.  She wasn't able to get into the pool by herself, so 4 men helped.  Including Kelik who, without regard to his own needs, stepped right into the water.  His shoes and pants dried eventually, but his cellphone is a casualty of Kelik's compassionate nature.  He and the baptizer, Elder Vandyarto, are two of the most compassionate men we know. 

Sister Jeffery and Anis wait for clothes to get changed after the baptism. 

Elizabeth Endang Supriyadi had a dream of an elderly gentleman baptizing her who just couldn't seem to get the words right.  She told that to the sister missionaries who taught her when asked who should baptize her.  She chose the oldest missionary in the Yogyakarta to perform the ordinance.  Without prior knowledge of the dream, Elder Jeffery, did perform the ordinance.  He practiced the wording until it was smooth, but when he was actually in the water, it took him about 6 times to get the wording of the ordinance right.  Neither he nor Sister Endang were ruffled though, it was a peaceful experience.

English class with Sister Jeffery is still a family experience and lottsa fun.  Largely due to the efforts of Elder Paskett and Kelik, shown here.

PLD is a chance for the all the missionaries from Central Java to gather for enriching activities.  We were asked to play a trivia game and here Sister Xiao tries to answer questions posed by Sister Jeffery.  Below President Donald introduced us to the incoming mission president, Paul Rowley, and his wife.  We will miss our Aussie leader who is so responsive to our needs and everything a good mission president can be.  Mel worked with Elder Rowley 41 years ago, so we know he will be a fine replacement though.

The Yogyakarta Ward also held a cottage meeting, oops, Malam Kebersamaan, in the home of Sister Hesti.  Spiritual thoughts, games, and food too, but at this one the Bishop played the guitar and Elder Jeffery got to speak about prior such experiences.  Attendance here was over 60 people, but only one of them was a nonmember.  We've been trying to meet this particular woman since she married Chandra last year.  Successful activity.  She's the pregnant one in the photo below.

President Ariyanto found a new fan in Bantul, a suburb south of Yogya.  Sister Basuki joined her daughter to watch Sister Jeffery's video about Magelang's Primary.

Kris loves her new little baby.  The brown spot on the baby's head is traditional medication for infants.

This was the most crowded we've seen the train from Solo to Yogyakarta.  We take it home because it's faster than a car, but the missionaries who came later had to wait for the next one an hour later as this one was too full.

Sister Jeffery made a cake for Deborah to celebrate her birthday.  Since we didn't get candles, they decided to blow out the smokin' hot knife.  Deborah has since moved to Solo for work and we miss her a lot.  We liked to tell her that she's a critical part of our Magelang Branch, but she will be a benefit to the Church wherever she lands.

Sister Jeffery decided she needed to get some stairs into her regiment to prepare to hike a mountain. So we hiked to the top of Bukit Tidar. She made it to the top with out stopping and called it an accomplishment.  We braved the monkeys, who stole some of our fruit.   There we met Andrea and his friend.  He expressed immediate interest in us and our message.  The missionaries in Semarang have arranged to meet with him and help him learn more.

The wider part of the shadow at the top is Elder Jeffery taking the photo.  We also took this hike with our other senior missionary couples, but none of them wanted to climb the obelisk, go figure?

Perhaps this should have been the opening photo.  Sister Julie Jeffery turned 60 this past month.  We went to dinner at a nice  steak restaurant in the countryside close to Magelang.  The tenderloin was thick enough to make it red rare and tender.  Sister Jeffery remembered her daddy, Frank Neilson, who taught her to like it rare and shares her birthday.  He's been gone to the next world for some 31 years now.

Jogya Insitute was rearranged with table so Sister Jeffery could put the students to work writing letters to pioneers.  It was hard getting all the stories into the lesson, because we have so many great ancestors who were indeed pioneers.

Pday May 2 was a day to celebrate Ammon's birthday and we did that by hiking a volcano, Mt Merbabu.  The climb up took 6 hours, but it was beautiful as you can see.  The hike down was only 3 but brutal on Sister Jeffery's feet.  Enjoy the pics! 

Our good Sister Xiao succumbed to Dengue Fever, just like we reported happened to our friends Indra and Timotius last month.  Hospital stays can be a problem for a companionship who's required to be together all the time.  The patient gets fed, but the companion doesn't.  We left Sister Baird to watch over Sister Xiao at the hospital while we took Sister Stringham to the grocery store.  While standing in line Elder Jeffery visited with the woman in red below, then introduced her to Sisters Jeffery and Stringham.  After her companion is healthy, Sister Stringham has been invited to visit with a message.

The missionaries in Magelang live quite a bit north of the city center, so they have located a new residence.  Okay the bathroom will need an upgrade, but they are excited.  President Ariyanto likes the view too.  On a cloudless day they will be able to see Mt Sumbing, the volcano in the picture above.

Our most time consuming effort for the past several months has been preparing for a Single Adult Conference held last week in Kaliurang (northern suburb of Yogyakarta).  Here we pose with friends mostly from Medan, a city in Sumatra, 2500 kilometers  (1553 miles) away.  Timotius and Ayu are from Jogya though.  But Maria, Sarah, and 3 others aren't.

Another senior missionary couple, the Hansens, were asked to teach the Singles to square dance.  Instead they went to Solo a week ahead of time and taught Brother Didit and his wife how to do it.  Then the Didits taught the Singles who had a great time.  This was one of 5 workshops that were conducted simultaneously with the Game About Life that we presented.  

Kristiano was one of the organizers of the event which had 206 attendees.  The pictures below are from the Game About Life, which is a game developed by the Dallas LDS Employment Director for youth to experience together.  Players are brought into the Game, presented with a card telling them of their high school experience then set loose to find jobs, buy cars, buy houses, get married, have children, and experience the hardships and joys that Life has to offer.  It was a lot of work for us, but hopefully all who participated not only had fun, but learned some lessons of life in time to make a difference.  As we organized things we too gained a greater appreciation of the way that living in accordance with Divine guidance has given us advantages in this life and even joy. 

Hendrik was our banker.  Along with the sister below. 

Our friend who gave each couple a die.  Lots of life in this game was random.  The challenge of the game was to best deal with the problems that came as they rolled their way through life.  Perhaps that is a lot like real life too. 

Brother Nonne above was a child when Elder Jeffery worked with his father in Jakarta in 1975.  One of the over 60 workers who filled the roles needed to make the game work.  

Lia and Cesar were bankers and game rovers helping people through the Paydays and Life's trial squares.

Our first district leader when we arrived, Elder Widigdo came back as a "civilian" to play the Game with this young lady from Medan.

Our ward mission leader from Jogya, Revi enjoyed the Game too.

Sadiyono's son, formerly Elder Sadiyono, Dhika.

Riko, Bishop Catur and Irma's son, was supposed to be the co committee chair for this event but he moved a few months ago to Jakarta where he has a job flying airplanes for Garuda.

Solo leaders ________ and Kustadi served as our Tax refunder and Judge.  Divorce in this Game is messy and I hear that it's pretty messy in real life too.

Dwi Ariyanto who kept the committee working together and made the whole event possible.  He and Bayu wait for players to make to to this point in the Game.  A single player takes over 2 hours from start to finish, so they had a good wait until players arrive at the 5th payday out of 6.  The man on the right is Bayu, son of Budiatmi who Elders Jeffery and Bailey taught and baptized in 1974.

Liz is a Canadian who teaches English to children in Surabaya.  She decided to accompany her Mormon friend to the conference.  Agus was paired up with Liz to experience Life. 

Irma too was a baby when Elders Jeffery and Bailey taught the Sadiyono family in 1974 Solo.  Her children were hanging out with her as she gave everyone who asked a "memory stamp" so they wouldn't forget.

Busy looking for blessing cards to deal with the problem at hand is one of our favorite former missionaries, Sister Manuru, from Tangerang Ward in Jakarta.

President Donald actually moved up the release dates a few day for some of the missionaries so they could attend the Conference.  Here Sister _________ and Elder _________ got paired up for the Game About Life. 

Rio.

Sister Manuru's "husband" looks a little skeptical here.

Three Uskups here playing bishop are President Budi of the Surakarta Stake presidency, Uskup Siyanto, and Brother Nanang.

A car dealer in real life, Bishop Catur got the chance to teach his trade to his daughter as he sold cars to players in the Game

Riky Mak directs the Self Reliance efforts of the Church throughout Indonesia, so it was only fitting that he help players get educational degrees and find jobs in the Game.  Mahar and former Magelang missionary, Elder Sutadi helped him.

Bayu helped players spin to receive money for their High School savings.

Friska is helping new players who are single, get 'married" and proceed in the Game.

Sister's Jeffery and Baird ponder the fun everyone seems to be having playing the Game About Life.

Elder Siaha, now David, another former Magelang missionary, was paired up with Becca, who lives with her family in a suburb of Jakarta.

Riky Mak announced the high score/ winners of the Game, Bela and her husband below.  Brother Mak also helped the players understand the principles taught by the Game.  Get a good education, use debt wisely, pay tithing, get married, have children, invest in happy memories, count your blessings, enjoy Life.  He's an expert on the Perpetual Education fund and employment options. But he also brought in the Spiritual aspects too and this portion of the Conference ended with a beautiful spirit.

One big event was a black, red, and white Prom Night.  Here the men on one side of the room dance alone for a minute then were encouraged to mingle with the women.  We seniors headed home before the dancing started in earnest.

Saturday Sister Jeffery celebrated the successful conference with Deir (in the red) the Conference committee chairperson, President Budi's wife, Widap, Ambar, and Friska.

Saturday afternoon we returned to Magelang to climb Bukit Tidar with the senior couples, then went to dinner together at Sister Berta Susanto's restaraunt and hydroponic gardens in Mundilan.  A beautiful spot, good friends, cool evening and tasty food fresh from the garden.  Left to right : Jeffery, Jeffery, Jerry Hansen, Irene Hansen, Berta, Joko Suranto, Baird, Robert Baird.  Someone said it was the best Indonesian meal they'd had yet.