Week 6: "People Believe In God!'

This week we attended the ground breaking ceremony of a new Stake Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Solo.  This is an 18 month project which will include a cultural hall that will seat 900 people and a large chapel.  When the new construction is completed on adjacent property of the old chapel, the old church will then be remodeled and redesigned with additional classrooms and offices.  The ceremony was attended by many Muslim community leaders, Christian leaders, and the contractors and project superintendent.   It was an opportunity to see a faith filled community share the enthusiasm for this beautiful new planned building project.  Someone leaned over to me and said,  ”The wonderful thing about the country of Indonesia is that from the people who live in the Gongs to the President of the Country everyone believes in God, people do not drink alcohol and nobody has a gun."   We had a moment of silence at the beginning of the meeting so all faiths could share their personal form of prayer.  There was a unifying ceremony with food called Nasi Tumpeng a yellow rice beautiful food shared that was very interesting.  This is served when something special is to occur. Tumpeng is a way of serving rice and its side dishes in cone form, it is also called “rice cone”.  The stake president served the community leaders.  

We had a great Zone Conference of the Jawatenga Zone. President Rowley and his wife flew to Solo and there were 26 of us together being instructed on best practices of missionary work.  It was a great day.

We teach in many different areas and everywhere we go we meet people we love

We are so blessed to meet and sing and pray with wonderful families

“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever, and who so is found possessed of it at the last day it shall be well with him.”  Moroni 7:47  “Let us examine our lives and determine to follow the Savior’s example by being kind, loving, and charitable.  And as we do so, we will be in a better position to call down the powers of heaven for ourselves, for our families, and for our fellow travelers in this sometimes difficult journey back to our heavenly home”  Pres. Thomas S. Monson April 2017

Love, Elder and Sister Miller

Week 5: Rural Indonesia

Visiting outside of Solo

Foreclosure in the rural countryside 

Yummy CHicken heads! 

Baby brother sound asleep as this family travels. This is a typical view!

Delivery of rugs 

This sweet woman on her bike wanted to help our driver find the home we were looking for

Mom and I visited the home of this great family that have been members of the church for thirty years but are just coming back into activity. They are beginning to save money to go to the temple. They also have an 18 year old son we will help prepare for a mission. 

Drying laundry is an individual's choice that has many styles

Elder Miller stopped to look at the banana tree 

Our driver was trying to avoid the Billy Goats Gruff! 

After a month of seeing the band every Saturday, they have become our good friends

Preparing materials to teach "Learn English Now" for the Solo community at the Immigration Department. This is a service to the Indonesian community. The class has 19 modules and will take 8 months for Elder Miller and me to teach (2X/week). This is the print shop that copied our materials. 

January 21, 2018. Rural Indonesia. This week we taught outside the city of Solo and it was "post card" beautiful. The sister missionaries taught a lesson for us and they translate for us. 

Week 4: Humble...In Every Way

Sister Miller and I switched roles this week, I will update all of you, and she will write the report to our mission President. 

      Even though we have only been in Indonesia for a few weeks, the people and culture has already changed us in profound ways.  Most of the people we are getting to know are so very humble...in every way.  They love each other and even though they have little of their own they organize their “gongs”, or neighborhoods, so that they can know each other’s needs and offer support. 

Relief Society (women's organization) in the Lingkungan Jebres or Jebres ward

     This week we went to the 40day ceremony for the family of a man that was killed in a car accident early in December.  The small home was filled with people all sitting on the floor and again the streets were lined with friends and neighbors, all offering their support.  

     Sister Miller is organizing to teach beginning piano lessons to many of the children and adults that want to learn. A US foundation will give a keyboard to those who complete the requirements.  The young  missionaries are teaching English classes and we will try to help them by getting some well organized material for them and teaching them how to use it.   The older people speak Javanese and the younger ones that are able to go to good schools are exposed to some English. Many parents want their children to learn to speak English. 

     As much as we can we are visiting the homes of church members that for many reasons have stopped coming.  We are trying to remind them of what they felt when they first joined the church and reacquaint them with the wonderful members. It is so interesting how open and friendly other young Christian men and women are to us and us to them. It is almost like we are drawn to each other in this mostly Muslim country, although we also love the beautiful Muslim people.  

All of our love to each of you, our dear friends and family. 

Elder and Sister Miller

I'm not sure where the bodies went but we have a wide selection of heads and feet

Week 3 in Indonesia: Service & Funeral

We are amazed at the service and continuous work and study evidenced by the young missionaries, ages 18-20 boys “Elders" and the 19-21 year old girls, “Sisters” that serve with us here in Solo.  Many come from Indonesia others from all over the  world.  They  learn the Indonesian language fluently,   They pray for strength from God, ride their bikes through torrential rain storms everyday and arrive soaking wet to invite Christians to learn about our faith. They smile and love the people.  They are so incredible in their outreach and obedience to missionary rules and learning to be great examples of leadership. Parents… they are guided and watched over by our Mission President Rowley.  

We assisted Sister missionaries and Elders teach lessons, helped the Elders teach an English class,  attended institute a religious study class and are making new friends.  We went on our first visit to a very humble Indonesian local family that we supported with love at a difficult time for them.  They offered us hot chocolate and the most delicious Indonesian pancake delicacy, Martabak Manis!  Driving we noticed a huge billboard (see picture)  which reads "Terrorism is the enemy of religion, enemy of the country and enemy together".  What a wonderful message to the people.  Most Javanese are Muslim. 

We bought OPPO Smart phones this week that opened up language ability with Google Translate.  We are studying hard learning the language.  It is difficult to “teach two old dogs new tricks” ha ha!  It was complicated to buy a phone as an immigrant here in Indonesia. We also are still waiting for the internet.  The internet requires not only our official visa documentation, registration photo ID cards and passports but also the ID of an Indonesian sponsor.

We attended a Muslim funeral.  A LDS  woman with a 19 year old daughter and 14 year old son from a local congregation married to a Muslim man.  The father was 44 years old and had a massive stroke on Wednesday.  We learned about him on Thursday evening and  went to the ICU on Friday to support the family.   He was unconscious.  We prayed with the wife and met his Muslim parents.  He died late Friday night.  We had an amazing cultural experience  attending the funeral of this family man.  Javanese Muslim burial rituals normally  should take place as soon as possible, held within 24 hours of death.  We arrived at noon on Saturday.  We went to the gong (the street where they live) and at the time of the ceremony there were 200+ friends lining the 12 foot wide street on which they live.  (see short video)  Some Muslim women offered to shake Elder Miller’s hand, however, there are those who willl not touch the hand of a man so they touch their heart or put their hands together and bow their heads which is beautiful to experience.  It was very hot, I have a little cloth fan that was given to me by the Mission Presidents wife and I used it!  Muslim funerals are an important ritual that takes the spirit of the deceased into the afterworld.  

The body was placed in the families home.  The corpse had been washed and wrapped in white linen.  It is important that the wrapping  be done correctly so the deceased looks presentable to the angels that escort him to heaven. The Kafan is a simple and modest white cloth they wrap the body in. The orifices of his nose were plugged with clean white cloth.  He looked handsome.  A person on the street spoke in Javanese with a microphone so everyone that lined the streets of the gong could hear.  He thanked people for coming and spoke a Javanese prayer then in Arabic.  In conclusion the Imam aligned himself outside the family home with the body and prayed in Arabic. The Javanese believe in continuing ties with the dead and especially ties between parents and children.  Slametans (remembrances) are held at intervals after death at three days, seven days, 40 and 100 day;  the first and second anniversary date of passing  and 1000 days after the death.  This marks the point when the body has completely decayed to dust.  We did not attend the burial it was far away.

Saturday evening we attended the baptism of a young wife.  They were married 3 months ago.  Three generations of a Mormon family at the chapel.  The beautiful little elderly matriarch of this family is an Indonesian pioneer of the LDS faith. This grandmother was baptized in the 1970’s by Elder Funk who is now the Area President for Asia.  (see picture)  The Sisters taught her the lessons about our faith.  She made the decision to be baptized.  She looked beautiful.  Her baptismal dress was simple with little clear beads sewn in a simple design placed conservatively on the sleeves and pockets etc. 

We invite all of you to read the Book of Mormon.  The power from the words if you ask with the desire to know can help you come to know the book is true.   We promise you can come to know that Jesus Christ has restored his church on the earth.    Love Elder and Sister Miller

Week 2 : The Cultural Center of Indonesia

"We have been in Indonesia since Dec 20.  The cultural center of Indonesia here we are living  in the Central Java the city of Solo.  We have a driver who drives us where we must go because the traffic is bumper to bumper at all times with literally hundreds of skooters in and out and between each car.  Our apartment is considered high standards for the country.  We are very blessed.  The weather is very warm and humid and each day there has been a torrential downpour for just a few moments.  Our service in this country is to reach out to those members of our faith who are here and assist them in any way that is appropriate and especially to invite  those who for some reason are not attending worship meetings.  We especially are focused on the rising generation.  

We have not seen one other American in Solo since our move in date of Dec 22.  The families around us in this central location are beautiful.  Beautiful women you can imagine clothed in hijab.  Even many of the tiniest baby girls wear these beautiful head pieces with jewels and sparkles and the most beautiful faces.  We each smile at each other and the spirit of love prevails amongst each of us and this people.  There are Muslim families everywhere and many children.  We see many pregnant women with their families and they dress in batik cloth which are gorgeous.  There is also outside the place where we live much poverty.  We will begin to visit different areas in the coming weeks.  We hope to share the spirit of love with Christian families and the invitation to come unto Christ with those who have found happiness within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  There are many young children members of our faith and we hope to increase the desire for them to serve missions, friends come to church and assist the young missionaries serving in this area to teach those people who are investigating our faith.

There are many fried noodles, ramen type noodles, rice with spices and sauces.  Fried  tofu is abundant and other soy products.  There is much chicken (Ayam) The open market is unbelievable to see the produce and beans and fruit. There are banana trees everywhere.

We are intense about studying the Bahasa Indonesia language. We must be able to communicate with the wonderful people and speak their language. We are trying very hard. Elder Miller and I are learning by situations…we study and write out what we think we will need to communicate in situations we are determined to speak the language!!

Bean strips with corn and bags of brown sugar. 

Traditional Batik fabric

A family in our church

Brown sugar and soy/corn patties found in an open market

Notice the traditional makeup for this beautiful  bride we met in Solo. 

 Margo singing Christmas carols in a church women's choir.

We invite each of you to find faith in our Savior Jesus Christ.  We have shared in many holiday parties at the four wards here in Solo.  The children teenagers and adults sing and dance and love each other.  Everyone in the congregation participates  and there is an outpouring of love in the celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ.  All sing hymns  with enthusiasm.   We love each of you and look forward to sharing the mission experience in Indonesia.  Love, Elder and Sister Miller