Branch Outing

Had a branch activity on Saturday...fishing and paddle boating :). Had a great time until my companion lost his front tooth!!

The fishing pond...continually being stocked with fish as they were being reeled in

Elder Murphy and Elder Hasibuan in a paddle boat

We were also in one but have no pictoral evidence :)

Elder Barrus fishing

Bromo

We had a great zone trip last week, visiting the volcano Bromo and an unbelievable waterfall!  We left Sunday at 11pm and traveled four+ hours to the base of Bromo.  We were high in the mountains having traveled over narrow, twisting roads.  At that point we had to transfer to jeeps for the next hour or so to navigate the terrain.  It was raining, dark, freezing (no car heaters in Indonesia) and you could not see the dirt road through the jeep window...but we made it:). The purpose of traveling through the night is to make sure you are at the top of Bromo to watch the sunrise.  We were there, but because of the rain and clouds  there was NO sunrise to be seen...the sky just got lighter!!  But it was all worth it!!

Jeeps lined up along road at Bromo

Misleading...right behind us is a steep drop off...steep!!  The volcano behind us is really quite a distance away

Descending after trying to see the sunrise

Steps to a Buddhist temple at the base of several volcanos

Looking down into the crater of a volcano...we hiked up hundreds of stairs to get here :)

Hiking up to waterfall

Coming towards the waterfall

Some of the elders climbed to a ledge near the waterfall ... Hard to describe!  They are actually up really high...it was scary!

Worth the hike!

Morning Routine

Ever wonder how our day begins?   Probably not, but here goes...

Up around 6 am

Most days head to the fitness room for a 45 minute workout

Elder Anderson swims for 30 minutes

Back to apartment for breakfast, showers, study and prayer, and off for the day!

Delivering rice to the local authorities to be distributed to the poor during Ramadan 

Youth Conference

We had the opportunity to present a session at our District Youth Conference in Bantu this week.  We talked about "For the Strength of the Youth"... dressed one of the YM in the armor of God to introduce the topic....played Standards Bingo....and actually felt cold!  Bantu is up on the mountains...beautiful, lush greenery.  Three senior couples helped with the conference ...since there were no hotel rooms available, we had to rent a villa!!  Darn!!

District Youth and their Leaders

Playing Standards Bingo

Helping youth with Family History

Elder and Sister Anderson, Elder and Sister Knorpp, Elder and Sister Williams in front of our villa

Villa pool and side yard

View from the front porch

P-Day Feast

The elders invited us to come to the church on P-Day so they could cook for us...what a treat!

We arrived at 9:00 am and ate at 3:00 pm!  We were starving but the meal was definitely worth waiting  for!

Trying to get the propane hooked up and working

Success!!

Fresh fish....

Shopping with Elder Mocodompis and Elder Hasibuan

Cutting cabbage...

Mincing  garlic

Part of the feast

More of the feast...

Ready to eat!