Couples' Mission Conference

When we had been in Surabaya a couple of weeks, we boarded the train to Solo.  That was a little nerve-wracking, but a cute Indonesian porter saw us sitting in the waiting area and came to take us and our luggage to the train.  He even helped us locate our seats and said our tip wasn't enough.  Oh well, what's another couple dollars?

We enjoyed our 4-hour train ride, but the car was not air conditioned and got hotter as the trip wore on.  The scenery was spectacular.  We played, "Ticket to  Ride" the last hour, thinking a train game on the train ride to be appropriate. The Grovers met our train and took us to the church building where we waited for the Jakarta missionaries to arrive. We had instruction mixed with meals and a hotel stay. We even got in a little shopping where they demonstrate and sell hand-made batiks. We bought matching batik (not hand made) shirts and wore them on the hike the third day.

Demonstrating hand-made batik.  It takes 3 weeks to
complete a 3 meter piece that sells for $120.

Our 2nd day was spent at the closing ceremony of the water project that the Church had completed. The Grovers had been overseeing the project in Jenawi, in the mountains outside of Solo, Central Java.

                   
Part of the closing ceremonies included a large feast for the dignitaries, including us (yum yum). They had some very interesting music and dancers that reminded us that we were no longer in Kansas!

                           

The water project brought clean water to the community and built several latrines in the area.

The children were watching the comic dance.

Notice the name of the Church in each latrine and on the water tank.

  On the third day of the conference, we hiked 3 km to the water source.  It was a beautiful area to hike through and we thoroughly enjoyed it!  

There were gardens all along the route, each as carefully laid out as this one.

We found this beautiful spider and its web along the trail.

Left to right: Elder and Sister Greenway (Ron and Melanie from Pennsylvania),
Sister Beaman, Elder and Sister Seiter (that's us!), and Elder Beaman (from Kentucky)