October 1st, 2017

Dad and the Indonesian Badminton Team

Most of you have already seen Dads picture with the Indonesian Badminton team. Dad looks happy in his element. Dad has also sent me an email with the work Mom and him have done this week. After a bit of editing(sorry dad:) here is their activity for the week...Just to make our entrance with a never to be forgotten "Bang", Mom & I arrived at our 1st appearance of the weekly Badminton night in full color. I stepped out of the SUV with my brand new badminton racquet hidden behind my Head tennis "stick" all eyes were on us. Friday nights the guys play badminton outside & the ladies "Exercise" inside to YouTube videos. On the parking lot are lines painted for badminton. The portable net stands are set in place, ready to welcome them, IN MY WORDS, "Cabang Dua Warriors". When you look good at the pictures, you recognize that most players battle on flip-flops and bare feet. Not everyone can afford racquets so they are shared out of a bag with a variety of not too gentle used racquets. The feather "birds" are well used as well. All that does not hamper the fabulous atmosphere for a second. Then they noticed me walk up in the dark night with the tennis racquet. Nobody noticed the hidden badminton racquet. Loud applause & spontaneous loud laughter. Most players had never before in their lives handled a tennis racquet. After the sound barrier breaking LOL was settled I showed my badminton racquet that was instantly claimed by the young energetic & very popular Zone Leader Elder...........a farm boy from Idaho who speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia. Then the moment arrived for me to enter the combat zone with my tennis racquet ready. Long story short (thanks to my excellent partner), we won two games in a row; 21 - 18 & 21-17.The ladies exercise inside. However, it must be mentioned they all bring tons of Indonesian snacks filled with lots of "Gulah" (sugar). As soon there is a break in the exercise routine, packs are ripped open, lids are tossed off & snacks are attacked with explosive energy. After stopping exercise, the Ladies join the men outside, sit some distance away on the wall from the parking lot to the lawn & with laughter support the players hoping for some hilariously laugh creating miss shots or great points. All kinds of snacks are offered to the players. Since there is only 1 court & a dozen players there is ample time to join the proverbial snacking of the ladies. You think sugar is sweet, Indonesian Gulah is beyond measure.

Front row from left to right:Br. Peter Bushi from India, Br Derek Au from Hong Kong, 2 Missionaries, Sister Robin Rowley, Elder Paul Rowley Jakarta Indonesia Mission President, 2 Senior Couple Missionaries, 4 Sister Missionaries.

Sister Schmid sitting on the stairs talking to lady members of the 

"Cabang Dua Surabaya" (2nd Branch Surabaya)

Mom is incredibly loved by the ladies and has already proven to be very helpful in getting members to recognize and appreciate why she is here: Family History coupled to proselyting. The language barrier is not a problem, some ladies speak broken English & translate for her since listening to the super rapid speaking people is still a bit of a problem. The night ends with hugs and slapping hands together. Yesterday Saturday 30th of September. The Ladies from all over the Surabaya District came together to watch & listen to the Women's Conference videotapes with Indonesian subtitles. The first thing the men remembered was ......you guessed it: "The Tennis Racquet." The presentation was Presided over by our very well respected and loved Mission President Elder & Sister Rowley, who made a "pit stop" here after a well-attended Mid Java Zone conference. Boxed Indonesian food, fresh drinking water &............ yep, the enormously popular snacks loaded with Indonesian "Gulah".Today, 1 October 2017, our branch, Cabang Dua (2) Surabaya made an important step forward in the combination approach attracting Family History participants to Investigators. Our goal to get the Young Women (YW) & Young Men (YM) involved first today. There is a variety of "Thought" behind this process. One of them is that the young people are more "Electronic Technical" skilled. The 1 finger handling the keyboard is non-existent. The photos show the 1st Three YW spearheading the effort. Assisted at times by Brother Nestor Sunglao, a very well skilled Family History authority & enthusiast in our Branch. Aubrey ( the very lovely, well skilled & able Teacher), Cindy & Sabna the very keen & enthusiastic students learning to input their 4 generations into FamilySearch. For Mom and me, just watching these three young women working together with Christlike love for one another was historic & will eternally be remembered. We are so proud of these Young Women. They are sure to invite friends to join and perpetually become teachers in the not too distant future. We have lots of hope in the future here & I am realizing a blessing pronounced upon me during my setting apart by President Keith Cannon, where I was called to involve women during my Mission in Indonesia & specifically young women. A very emotional moment with a picture attached.