August 17 on August 17

Wednesday was Independence Day here in Indonesia. I spent much of the day with my branch at the church where we had a number of festivities.

While it lacked the flare of an evening rodeo with fireworks, it was still pretty fun.

There were contests. First, we had to use chopsticks to move snacks from one paper cup to another.Second, we had to guess the number of catfish minnows in a bucket.124 would be the correct number. This little guy may have killed one or two of the off before the day was out.

Third, we ate shrimp crackers hanging from strings. It is much more difficult than it sounds. Fortunately the crackers were flavored like corn rather than shrimp.

Fourth, the kids had a pin the tail on the elephant game. Finally, we played soccer blindfolded while wearing motorcycle helmets.Yes, in the 95 degree heat, I was wandering around blindfolded with a motorcycle helmet on. I imagine that I was just stumbling around in circles behind the church to the delight of all onlookers.

Apparently the danger was real enough to warrant the helmet...

Anyways, I had a blast. The branch family here is quite close, and it was fun to spend time with them. Here are some random shots I took at the event: Sister missionaries helping prepare fruit.A little accompaniment as we were getting ready. More music. Indonesians are really much more musical than Thais... or Americans. Singing, guitar, piano. Music happens almost everywhere. This little kid draws me pictures of dinosaurs in church... sometimes. Only when he's being good. He also likes to steal my cell phone and play games on it. I don't allow that during sacrament meeting, much to his displeasure. If we had a High Priests group, this would be it. I think we have four or five former branch presidents in this picture.Finally, here we are during clean up. I had been mopping the tile floors outside the church. Then the sisters walked all over them with their muddy feet after doing the dishes... Oh well. Didn't hurt me to mop again.