Happy New Year to all our friends and family!

We are "Looking Forward to the Future". for us it means we are excited to have started 2018 in the Indonesia, Surabaya District mission field. We can also look back at this past year when we initiated our 2 year Senior Couple Mission. It has already proven to be quite an adventure. 

Going back some 54 years when this companionship actually started. Two independent minded, strong willed & enthusiastic young people looking forward to creating a bright future for themselves "coincidentally" boarded a ship to go to a far away from their comfort zone place. Both for different reasons. They met a couple of days after boarding in Holland, sailing to Australia, not knowing much about, or speaking the unique Aussie English. Fourteen days later at a "pit stop" in Singapore they decided to get engaged to be married. Most passengers & crew stunned. "Are you serious?". "That's never going to work !" The overall response and more chuckles, giggles & even cynical laughter. Half a year later they married in a simple ceremony at the Courthouse, accompanied by two recently made friends. A sort of "elope" wedding. No presents, no honeymoon trip. Back to work the next day. They rented a garage, converted to bungalow. From day one with the desire, commitment & hope, like all newly weds, to build a strong relationship that was going to withstand all road blocks, critics & alike. For better or worse. Very much in love with each other.

After some years, the strong bond between the two gravitated to the "Original Seven". Adding five children. A strong Family build on the principle motto & sound basis of becoming Survivors first. Mostly due to both their experiences early in life surviving WW II concentration camps in Indonesia. Both matured individually & as a Family. One of the two, she, becoming the most efficient "Domestic Engineer". Micro managing everything & all. Getting up before everyone else to make sure everything was maintained in methodical order & well organized. Being completely dedicated to her five children. Knowing & remembering where every penny to be spend was spent. Knowing off heart  from the start when, where & what preventive medicine "shots" were taken. When a child made an attempt to leave the room, she sensed without questioning it the reason from the moment the child got up.( "Hawk Eye" at all times) Then never missed an opportunity to make a momentary correction or give an assignment like: "Tidy up your room after you found that color pencil, will ya!" Often the child turned around in amazement, wondering how she knew not even asking what it planned todo. Her domestic life was based on: "It's all about them, so I have to know everything about them."

Her partner & companion, he,  out to becoming a respected & recognized expert in his professional field of Athletics and Tennis. Success based on having positive visions for & about every single person he taught and coached. Developing his own unique system. Always finding positives, small specks of daylight of opportunity. Specifically dedicated & committed to the youth in sports. There were no losers, only winners. Creating inspiration & motivating encouragements for those who would never receive "External Recognition" for their skills. Several times disregarding options that could have made him wealthy. Choosing for less lucrative options because he preferred the environment, management and people & in the majority of instances, were therefor  easier to work with. His approach also based on: "It is all about them". 

*** fast forward to some 55 years later. Eventually the "Original Seven" split up.  Family ( capital F) went their own way. Plotting out their own futures. The two original two companions became "Empty Nesters". However they tried to find ways to keep all "Original Seven" to live close together. Including moving to an area where it was most possible that they stayed close together. Leaving another lucrative business opportunity behind. Family first. Fear of The Family splitting up due to two children studying abroad and potentially staying there after graduation initiated the moving all permanently to the USA. Not an easy proposition due to emigration policies. Result:  Enjoying a developing extended Family. Apart from the 5 children, now 4 daughters in law, 18 grandchildren & thus far, 1 great grandchild. All with inherited characteristics & personalities of being very independent individuals.

*** Finally the two original companions had time to get up late, relax, spend the days enjoying the fruits of their labor, Family friends and acquaintances. Why would we break away from our comfort zone into an uncertain future adventure? There could be no good reason right?  Could it be in search for a re-start of the unique start of many years ago? Together again as companions all by ourselves in a foreign country ? Again not being able to speak the local language? Was it a longing like a line in a country song of way back: "Together Again" ( Buck Owens, I think). Could it become a repeat shocker like the one when they were engaged to be married a long time ago?. 

Ignoring all that & more, we both, in tandem, decided to serve a Senior Couple Mission. We received our calling to labor in the country of our birth. Both completely ignorant to what  was going to become of it. Perhaps it would be an adventure like the one way back then. Including a foreign language they had not spoken for seventy some years.

We soon realized it would be a time of both working in the exact same environment. Also realizing that working in two complete different places and environments had caused us individually to separate as a couple through our separate  "daytime" activities to quite an alarming extend. Including from understanding each other's "turf" had been, for the most part "worlds" very far apart. Both our "Daily Activity Worlds" also slowly caused us to drift apart as individuals as well, while our Common Ground, *** The Family *** stayed as strong as ever.***

The Family had survived brilliantly all the attacks, storms & forces to split us up over the years. Realizing full well that over the years neither this Family was spared vicious attacks to falter.

To date it has shown clearly already that literally, mentally & emotionally being a few feet away from each other 24/7/365 x 2 was not an easy proposition at all. But worth it of every sincere effort. Every day: We leave our apartment together. Spend the whole day together. Come home together. Have to be patient with one another together all the time. Not just at convenient moments. Anger has no place among missionaries. When present, have to be taken care of instantly, swiftly. The first few weeks we felt completely "Held Hostage" by each other. It is slowly developing into a great working relationship on a 50/50 basis. When we do our MILT activities every day, we have worked out a "Plan" & daily schedule that is starting to come together very well: "When one is engaged in a communication with an investigator, the other literally steps back quietly." Then the "switch" takes place. The quiet one opens up, the other backs off. We take turns already smoothly.

" H E B A T " ( Great, awesome, exciting etc.) Are we tired when we come home? You bet ya! Every day.Sometimes even experience the great feeling of "Exhaustion". 

The other side of this coin; Get out, take a walk by ourselves is over until the end of June 2019. Give up? The only option we both accept is and has always been  a Family motto: "We are going to give it our all to make this work". Part of it is that I have to, among others, eliminate completely to push my partner into aggressively exercising my way. My companion has to, among others, completely eliminate micro managing me like she so brilliantly has done with the "Fab-5". It is a daily effort to becoming a "Fabulous Two". 

It is also  making sure that we do not stress out under the pressure that we, most of the time enjoy.  Will we be victorious. We shall see when & after we return home. The result of getting stressed into a "Burn Out" stage will be unlikely. Why? We meet and are daily among the people of Indonesia, Surabaya and Cabang Dua. They certainly are the most friendly, humble & happy with, in many cases, no apparent worldly possessions. We love Indonesia, the Indonesian people, the members of cabang2, We love the young full-time Missionaries who are giving up so much more than we do & who teach us so much. It includes the local Church leaders, as well as our Mission President & his wife. We love the customs, the traditions & not to forget..... the food & cuisine here.

Coincidence we are in Surabaya? Think again. 

Elder & Sister Schmid.