Sister Miller is such a great companion to have. Some days she says she thinks I am losing it and some days I think she is losing it. But I have evidence. I know she is definitely “not” Elder Miller and I know she does have another pair of shoes just like the ones she is wearing. This is only the evidence that we are trying to think of others and not ourselves. She keeps the young missionaries laughing as they are the ones that seem to notice our funny things. Usually we don’t do them on the same day thankfully.
Each week we love the people we are serving with even more. I guess that is a natural product of service. Since arriving in Indonesia we have not only seen terrible poverty but we also have been to two funerals and seen many who have suffered strokes as a consequence of diabetes. It seems that most of the victims of this decease are the men; usually in their forties and early fifties and often with young families. I think the poverty contributes to the diabetes as for many rice is about the only thing they can afford to eat and white rice turns into sugar in the body. Virtually everything else that is eaten that is cooked is fried. This picture of the grocery store where we live shows an entire row of cooking oil. It doesn’t show that also scattered throughout the store are towers of special promotions for more cooking oil. One of the reasons for this is that very few people have an oven and certainly not a microwave but most have a propane cooktop. We have a nice apartment and all we have to cook with is a gas burner and a rice cooker. All of the warungs, or small outdoor food stands, fry virtually everything they sell. Most of this food is very inexpensive and many people eat food every day from the warungs. If they earn a bit of money that day it buys that days food. Because the healthcare system is poor and most people cannot afford it, diabetes often goes untreated until it is too late.
This week we attended the funeral for the father of one of the young missionaries from Indonesia. His Father has battled the terrible effects of diabetes for many years. The elder, shown in the center of the photo is a wonderful missionary and is currently serving on an island almost at the bottom of the Philippines. He flew home for the funeral and the day after, Sister Miller an I went to their home and together with the two oldest sons, were able to provide some measure of comfort and support to their large family; including the grandmother that also lives with them. The family culture in this country often revolves around supporting the grandparents when they are old and unable to work. Their is no social safety net so if you have not saved for retirement most people continue to work until they are unable to work anymore. Many of the older women take care of grandchildren and often prepare food that is sold during the day on the streets by the parents .
We are highly motivated to use this time to become more healthy ourselves. We try to get to the fitness room at our residence most days and I can honestly say that I have not worked out this hard since High School Football days. Sister Miller looks great and we have the energy to work until eight o’clock each night.
Last night the Bishop of the local ward was so kind to invite many of the less active members and several who are not yet members to their home for a “family home evening”. Sister Miller and I taught the lesson. We put a picture of Jesus Christ at one end of the room and a picture of a family at the other end then gave everyone a paper foot step and asked what they might do this week that would move them closer to the Savior. As they shared their proposed actions we made a pathway of following the footsteps that will lead us back. As it turned out the steps didn’t get us all of the way to the picture which was a great opportunity to remind us that if we have done all that we can do and still come short, the Savior will come to us with open arms.
We are so very blessed to be in his service and to have nothing but this work to occupy our minds and our time. We pray the Lord will bless each of you in the many wonderful things you are doing with your lives and in your families.
Love, Elder and Sister Miller
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