Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Our new mission president arrived yesterday. President Christopher and Sister Lucinda Donald from Australia will be volunteering their time as the spiritual leaders of the 90 some missionaries within the Jakarta Indonesia Mission for the next three years. We had the pleasure of having them join us for lunch today and were able to get to know them better. We enjoyed hearing about the great experiences that they had in Provo at the Missionary Training Center while preparing to serve here in Indonesia. They shared with us how touched they were to see so many young men and women together, ready to serve missions. Everywhere they went, people shared with them stories about where their son or daughter had served. They even dined free at a restaurant courtesy of the owner of the restaurant as a thank you for their service. They had so much good to say about their time in Provo. There, they were trained with 172 other mission presidents who are beginning their three year period of service. There were an unprecedented 58 new missions created this past year after President Thomas S. Monson announced the lowering of the age requirement for missionaries to 18 for young men and 19 for young women. Now there are a total of 405 missions in our church and an expected 85,000 missionaries will be serving by next fall.

You have probably seen our missionaries. Young men wearing white shirts and ties, young women wearing skirts and blouses, older couples, all wearing a black name badge with the name of our church on it. Sometimes they ride bikes (hopefully wearing helmets). Sometimes they travel by cars or on public transportation. Sometimes they walk and knock on your doors trying to share our beliefs. In Indonesia, we are not allowed to share our beliefs unless someone asks. We are careful to abide by the laws of the country in which we serve.

Sometimes it might be frightening to let strangers into your house, or you might be too busy to listen to someone that approaches you with our message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

In a missionary conference that took place last Sunday in Provo, Elder L. Tom Perry said "Mormon missionaries will be starting to use social media and other internet tools as part or their teaching efforts. Because of the changing forms of communications, missionaries will be using Mormon.org, Facebook, blogs and e-mail more often. Lay members of our church are also encouraged to do so."

“Clearly the missionaries and mission presidents have answered the Lord’s call,” Elder Perry said. “Now He is calling us as members to serve alongside them and Him in this great work. Just as missionaries must adapt to a changing world, members must also change the way they think."

Elder Perry said "This new wave of missionaries will do the same things missionaries have always done: follow the Savior and preach His restored gospel. However, in an increasing digital world the work must change to coordinate with a digital age.The message (the missionaries) will share is that of the atonement of Christ, The Book of Mormon and living prophets, … the same message I shared as a young missionary,” he said.

We are serving as missionaries in Indonesia because a Prophet of God has called us. We hope that those reading this blog will do as we have done and want to share the teachings of our Savior, or if you do not know yet about our church, please take a few moments of your time to visit www.mormon.org.

ELDER AND SISTER HEALY, ELDER AND SISTER LISK, AND SISTER AND PRESIDENT DONALD

Sunday, June 23, 2013

WHO YOU GONNA CALL? THE BOGOR WARD

It was our great privilege to join with the Bogor ward on Saturday for their ward initiated local service project.

In Indonesia garbage is picked up by garbage men, then placed in what looks like a handcart. Oftentimes the garbage men are seen with old rickety wooden carts overflowing with garbage, walking through the streets barefoot.

The local leader (RW) of the Bogor community (500 families) near the church was asked what kind of service could be performed for his neighborhood by our Bogor church leaders. The RW suggested that perhaps they could use some more garbage trolleys. New metal garbage trolleys were purchased using the humanitarian funds from the church. Members came together to clean up the neighborhoods near the church and then with the permission of the local families fogging for mosquitos took place. The day we did the fogging there were two local leaders (RTs) , that were actually sick with dengue fever. Dengue fever is caused by daytime mosquitos. We have had members and missionaries afflicted with dengue and it is a miserable disease to have with no real cure. Rather, an individual is just treated with palliative care until they are better. The best way to avoid getting the disease is to avoid being bitten by mosquitos, thus the reason for fogging. Hopefully with the fogging the mosquito problem will be decreased significantly in this community.

We were so grateful to see the efforts of the local members along with community leaders (primarily Muslim) working together to solve a problem. We believe through service, friendships can be made, religious barriers can be torn down and a greater love for our neighbors can occur.

SUJUD- WITH THE NEW "MOSQUITO BUSTER MACHINE"

BOGOR WARD-READY TO WORK

IT WAS LIKE A PIONEER TREK THROUGH THE STREETS OF BOGOR, LOTS OF HEADS TURNED

GARBAGE MAN WITH TROLLEY

BISHOP ROELAND, SURAHMAN (RW) AND BOGOR WARD MEMBER

MEMBERS WORKING

CHILDREN'S RIDES FOR THE INDONESIANS

BISHOP ROELAND ADDRESSING COMMUNITY LEADERS

REPLACING THIS GARBAGE TROLLEY

LOCAL SHOE REPAIR MAN, HAVE WHEELS, WILL TRAVEL

EILEEN TRYING TO FIT IN WITH THE LOCALS

IBU SELLING BREAKFAST

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SEWING MACHINE ON WHEELS?

CHICKENS ARE IN ABUNDANCE HERE-LENDS ITSELF TO A LOT OF JOKES ABOUT WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

ELDER CLEANING OUT GUTTERS TO HELP WATER RUN FASTER

THE WOMEN LEFT THEIR SMALL CHILDREN TO WORK

BLAST THOSE MOSQUITOS OUT OF HERE!

RUN!

SHE MAY HAVE LOOKED FRIGHTENED, BUT IT WASN'T THAT BAD.

LOCAL UNIT DEVELOPED HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS

One of our major tasks as missionaries has been to administer the distribution of humanitarian aid (funds) of our church in Indonesia. That task has three major objectives. While no project seems to fit all three objectives perfectly, they provide the goals we hope to achieve.

First, help the poor and the needy. We have been admonished to “impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief.” While the definition of poor may be relative, we can always find someone around us who has less than we have – someone to share with.

Second, provide meaningful opportunities for our church members to render service. When Christ said, “Come follow me” it was an invitation not only to follow Him literally but to follow His example in what we do and say. Rendering service was one of the major themes of our Savior’s life. While the effects of helping the poor and needy may be of temporal benefit to the recipient, it is of eternal benefit to the giver. It is indeed better to give than receive. We should remember the words of King Benjamin when he said that, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”

And third, “Bring the Church out of obscurity.” While notoriety and credit for good works are not the primary reasons for rendering service, the Lord himself told us to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. I also like how Isaiah puts it, “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday.”

Our efforts, and those of our predecessors, to identify opportunities to assist, involve local members to participate in rendering service and maintain relationships after the projects are over have been a challenge. As foreigners we will rarely see the needs of those around us or be able to maintain long-term relationships built by rendering service as well as the local people can. It is also true that you are a lot more motivated to render service in a project you had a stake in developing, than one thrust upon you. For these reasons we have invited the local congregations (wards and branches) of our church to develop and administer part of our humanitarian funds. The following are four examples of projects that are or have recently been worked on.

The Surakarta (aka Solo) wards have chosen to renovate a public toilet and washing facility. This facility is located near one of our chapels.

The Manado branch paved 50 meters of narrow, previously dirt, road/walkway between a main road and three schools.

The Bogor ward has purchasing four hand-pulled garbage wagons for the local public works authority. They are also picking up litter and spraying for mosquitoes. Dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes, has afflicted several of the members and missionaries during our time here.

The Jogjakarta (aka Jogja) ward is building a metal roof for a local public meeting facility. This facility is a 40 square meter, open sided pavilion common in Central and Eastern Java. It is used for a kindergarten run by neighborhood women and for social gatherings for women and the elderly.

We are very grateful for all the work that our members have gone to in identifying, planning and executing these projects. Our hope is that this practice of member initiated humanitarian projects will continue after we leave.

MCK BEFORE PROJECT

CLEAN NEW TOLIET READY TO USE

PRESIDENT BUDI (R) AFTER RENOVATION

PLAQUE COMMEMORATING WALKWAY TO SCHOOL IN MANADO

SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH PRESIDENT LANG (R) ON WALKWAY IN MANADO

BOGOR WARD READY TO DO CLEANUP AND FOGGING PROJECT

BISHOP ROELAND LEE TALKING WITH COMMUNITY LEADERS

FOGGING TO GET THE MOSQUITOS OUT OF THERE

SAYING GOODBYE TO THE GROBERGS

This past Friday Russell and I prepared huge amounts of food for the missionaries in our district in order that we could have a going away party for President and Sister Groberg. The Grobergs have served in Indonesia faithfully for the last three years supervising the labors of all the junior young men and women (usually ages 19-22), and the senior missionary couples such as ourselves. During most of our mission the number of missionaries has been in the range of about 90 people. Considering the needs of so many individuals, and the huge amount of land space that Indonesia covers, the Grobergs have had a huge job. We have developed a great deal of respect for all they are required to do. They do it with patience and love. They sleep very little, complain seldom, entertain a lot, have missed a lot of family events back home, and do this all in a volunteer capacity.

For our party we received a little peek into what it must be like to have the Grobergs schedule. Initially we planned for 18 missionaries that are in our district, however some new missionaries came in 2 weeks earlier than expected so they were there also. None of the new arrivals had received their luggage, so wash needed to be done and they couldn’t be dispersed throughout the mission. We learned in the MTC "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." Good motto to follow. The morning of the luncheon we learned that there would be 24 missioanries to feed.

We had chicken parmesan, spaghetti, salad with ranch, baguettes, watermelon, papaya, chocolate cake (made by Sister Lisk) and ice cream. I don’t think anyone left hungry. In answer to a question Sister Beaman and I used to ask ourselves, “was every dish used in that kitchen”? Nope, there are so many pots and pans in that kitchen we couldn't possibly use them all, yet we were doing dishes for a long time afterwards.

Some of the missionaries paid tribute to President and Sister Groberg. A hand-made card was made by one of the Elders and signed by all missionaries.

A few weeks ago we were asked to give a tribute at our couples conference to the Grobergs. I would like to include that tribute now.

Dear President and Sister Groberg,

We are sure you are more than ready to go home and see your family again. But before you do, we want to thank you for your service as our mission leaders and to the people here in Indonesia. As we thought about some of the qualities that you have displayed we came up with several that we thought were reminders to us of our time spent with you as fellow missionaries.

Dedication - President Groberg gave up his medical practice to come serve as mission president. Sister Healy can tell when she talks with him that he truly loves medicine. He not only came to Indonesia to serve for the three years now, but also throughout the years working with Perinasia with NRT. Sister Groberg has given up the opportunity to be with her 7 new grandchildren, including her daughter’s firstborn. That is something every mother wants to share with her daughter.

Energetic - You both seem to have unlimited energy. We will never forget the day that you showed up at our apartment for dinner sopping wet, with a huge smile on your faces. You were so excited that you had navigated the traffic in the dark, and walked to our place. You have been able to accommodate missionaries through late night and early morning departures, host numerous guests at your home, constantly feeding them, without every complaining.

Persistence - We will never forget your persistence in trying to save the life of the little girl that drowned at our pool. Thank you for your example.

Frugal - We thought Sister Healy was the person that got most excited about a good deal, and then she met Sister Groberg. Ever cost conscious you both are aware of spending the Lord’s money and use it wisely.

Patient – Sister Groberg has spent many hours waiting for President as he has performed his calling, yet she always has a smile on her face. President has somehow learned to be patient with all the problems that come along with serving as mission president without ever complaining. His duties are heavy and his hours are long. Elder Healy believes that President is the most patient man he has ever met.

Longsuffering - Who else would laugh when her feet were covered with pus infected mosquito bites, an automatic dishwasher that never worked for three years, or a home that was pulled apart during refurbishment because it was important to get ready for the next mission president? We wonder why these things were not fixed before now but we have never heard one word of complaint by you.

Love the Lord - Jesus said, “If ye love me feed my Sheep.” That is exactly what you have been doing for the last three years. Thank you for the excellent talks you have given in zone conference. Thank you for the direction you have given to the missionaries. Thank you for making doctors appointments for Sister Healy and showing up at the hospital at a moment’s notice to help us.

We love you both and wish you the best as you move forth in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Sister and Elder Healy