Visit to a very special friend and lovely woman

 

I am not sure if many will really understand this post. Perhaps only those who know the history of the Church in Indonesia. If you are curious you can ask me to explain when you meet me after we return home and I will be happy to tell you the whole story. For now let me just say that I had a remarkable opportunity this week that I honestly did not think I would have on this mission. We were invited to pay a visit to a beautiful woman whose family has been a friend of the Church for many years. Her name is Ibu Shinta Wahid and she is the widow of former Indonesian President, Aburrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). Cheri was not feeling well so she was not able to come. I went with Elder Subiantoro, Sister Nugraheni, Sister Abbott, Sister and President Tandiman and Brother Poliman. This was just a friendly visit without any particular purpose except to visit a friend. Ibu Shinta is charming and delightful woman with a keen sense of humor and easy laugh. She spent about 1 hour visiting with us. She was interested to learn about our missions and how long we have been in Indonesia, where we are from and so on. We talked about her visits to Utah with her husband many years ago. Her visit to BYU left a strong impression and she also told of attending a rodeo. She is still involved in a number of social causes in Indonesia and her four daughters are also very active in politics and social causes. Without making a long explanation I would just like to say that this is a woman who lives close to God. Her husband also was a spritual man who made made fast friends with President Gordon B. Hinckley when he visited Salt Lake for eye surgery. Because of the friendship of Abdurrahman Wahid towards the Church we were able to develop a strong working relationship with the government of Indonesia particularly in humanitarian and disaster relief matters. He helped us to restart the visas for foriegn missionaries serving in Indonesia after a spell of about 10 years of only local missionaries being able to serve here. It was such a great privilege for me to spend this time in her presence and be a part of this visit. As I said, it may be hard for many of you to understand but this short visit with Ibu Shinta was a very special experience and one of the true highlights of our mission.  

President and Sister Tandiman almost always greet the new missionaries at the airport but President Tandiman is traveling today so Cheri and I had the rare opportunity to pick up Elder and Sister Furgo from St. George. They are excited to begin thier mission as office missionaries. Sister Furgo is half Indonesian and half Dutch. She was born in Holland and has never been here so it is a wonderful opportunity for her to learn more about her roots and family heritage.


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