Family History in Central Java, Cool Places and New Friends

 

This week we visited the cities of Solo and Jogja in Central Java to write a story for the Indonesian Newsroom about family history. Didiet Nugraha, standing on the far right, is the father of the two young people on the left, Dandy and Devara. He is standing in the palace in Solo pointing to his ancestor. Most people here do not have a family name for reasons dating back to colonial times. The fact that this family has the information to link them to royalty, just a few generations back, has resulted in many generations of geneology and hundreds of family names that they would not have otherwise.

The man on the far right of this picture is Teguh Siswanto. He is also fired up about family history however, he is the more common case in Indonesia of having no family name and no written records other than the ones he has gathered by talking to living relatives. The Family History missionaries pictured with him are Elder and Sister Draper. They showed him, and members of his ward, how to download the Family Tree smartphone app and enter the information that he has gathered. They also showed him how to attach memories such as pictures and stories that enrich his family history.

An interesting sideline is that, as Elder Draper and I were meeting with these families, we discovered that we both have an important relationship to the family in the top picture, the Nugraha family. It turns out that 40 some years ago Elder Draper taught the gospel to the grandfather of Didiet Nurgaha and I taught the gospel to the grandfather of his wife, Ima, with my companion Elder van der Vlis. It was a pretty cool moment for all of us.

We also had some very special experiences visiting with the family of Brother and Sister Soeratman, who have long since graduated from mortality, but whose children and grandchildren have remained our close friends over the years. They offered to take us to the graves of their royal ancestors in the mountains near Solo. After driving about 25 kilometers we then walked up to the gravesites. No pictures were taken of the actual graves because they are sacred to the Javanese people. The pictures above were taken at a covered pavilion near the parking lot where we enjoyed some refreshments, and walking on the path that led to the graves. We visited the graves of Mangkunegoro I and III who are direct ancestors of this family. We felt it a great privilege to visit the graves of these people who figure prominently in the history of Indonesia. 

Central Java is rich in historical sites so while we were there we took a p-day and visited the Prambanan Hindu temple with the Drapers which was constructed in the 9th century. 

The girls with Sister Lambson were visiting with their school class and enjoyed talking to her and taking selfies with an American.

Here is another group of students visiting Prambanan that were so happy when we asked if they would take a picture with us. We absolutely love the youth of Indonesia. Even though we are old fogies they seem to enjoy talking to us and taking pictures. They are by and large very friendly, helpful and polite.

We stopped at this viewpoint that overlooks mount Merapi, an active volcano. By the time we got there the peak was shrouded in clouds but you can see the slopes in the picture on right.

The Uber equivalent over here is called Grab. This young man was so excited to be our driver because he was expecting a call to set up a job interview for a Cruise ship and this was an opportunity to practice English with authentic English speakers. We took this picture at the Jogja airport when we got out of his car. There have been many moments like this where we suddenly made new friends and we love it.