As each week starts out I always wonder what it is going to bring. Last week Dad had it all scheduled out what we were going to be doing. Dad got busy working and Elder Subandriyo told him that they were closing out on the projects in Aceh. That is where the tsunami was. He said that we would be going to represent LDS Charities. He came and told me that all was canceled for the week because we would be leaving on Tues to go to Aceh. We had Brother and Sister Palmer here from Singapoe. They are the Public Relations couple for the Asia Area. We had a meeting with the Public Relations people here on Monday afternoon. The Public Relations committee here are trying to set up a Family Day with the First Lady and they want to use this Family Home Evening Manual. The Palmers brought us 600 little beanie hats and some with booties to give to some hospitals for the little preemie babies. Then we had dinner at the Pres. house. We served cake and ice cream and they all sang Happy Birthday to Dad.

The Islamic Relief Group picked us up at the airport in Aceh and took us to the Hotel. We stayed at a really nice place called the Oasis. They had a great restaurant and we got some good American food. So Dad did get a good birthday dinner. We got a good sleep too.

The Oasis Hotel

On Wed morning the Islamic Relief group picked us up at 9:00 they took us to one of the schools which was to be gifted to the people of Aceh. LDSC provided the money and the Islamic Relief have been building these 10 schools. We arrived and were greeted in grand style. 2 dancers greeted us and they had one umbrella which they used to shade Dad as took him to his seat.

They brought us all a little box of cakes and treats. They had a welcoming dance and then speeches. Dad had to give a speech and then he went with them to sign all the papers and then he went on a tour with all of the big Whigs. They then drove us around to see all of the schools. As they drove us through these areas they told us that everything in this large area had literally been destroyed including all of the vegation including trees. He said you would see bathtubs floating around stoves and refrigerators everything. There are all kinds of buildings, houses and the trees are really large. It is almost hard to believe it really happened. We went back to their office where they fixed us a nice Indonesia lunch. Thank heavens for rice!!! We then went for a five hour ride to Biruem. We drove through the mountains and it was so beautiful. the scenery all along the way was just incredible. We have no chance to see anything other than what they take us too. We did see the ocean once from a distance. Rice fields, banana plantations, coconuts. We arrived at a very bad hotel. The room was just that. The bathroom there was a sink and a toilet. a hose for a shower, but not division for it. The water just run on the floor of the bathroom. We were very close to a Mosque so we heard the call for prayer at 4 am for about a half an hour. Other than that we had a pretty good sleep.

The next day we were taken on a tour of a small medical clinic. It was nice, but not great. We went to a larger place which was their hospital. LDSC paid for these and another small clinic. They took us on a tour of the hospital because the Governor was coming to this ceremony, but he was late. The Governor arrived and there was a special dance for him. It was really fun to see all the pomp and display that was put on for the Governor. They had name tags on all the seats for the special guests. Dad sat on the front roll with the Governor and I sat behind with the Palmers. They called it the peasant seats. Dad gave another speech and he signed more papers then he helped the Governor cut the ribbon for the hospital and took a tour with him.
Dad with the governor

Dad's Speech & Girl Who Translated

We then took the 5 hour trip back to Aceh and were able to be in the nice hotel again. We flew to Medan to meet with a Dr there about doing some cleft palate surgeries. He wasn't interested when he found out that we were not going to pay for the whole surgery. We finally got back to Jakarta and since it was so late we took a taxi to our home. On Sat. we got up at 4 am and left at 5 am so we could be in Sukabumi before 8 am when they took the stitches out of those little children that had the surgeries the week before. I was astounded at the change in these little kids. There were some happy little kids. We went into the room and watched them remove the stitches. They didn't have enough help to hold these little kids down that were kicking and screaming as they were taking them out. So I started to help hold them. The administrator which we had met last week and was quite a jovial type guy came into the room where I was helping. He asked me if I had any medical experience in this area. I told him only the experience of having 9 kids. He really laughed. It was quite the experience. We left there and got home about 4:30.

The Delivery Room

For Thanksgiving we will not be doing what we had planned. We have to go to a closing for a water project up in Borgor. Of course they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so this was not even considered when they set the date. So we will be going there both Thurs and Fri. No matter what, we are grateful for the many blessings we have in our lives, for the opportunity to be in Indonesia (who would have ever guessed we'd be here?), for our wonderful families who we miss and send kisses and hugs to, for our special friends who are so good to keep us informed about happenings in their lives, for a warm home, for good food and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We hope you will all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember all that you have. If you feel any of your lives are sad or lacking, please come join us and you will see how much you really do have - We truly are a blessed people!