JAY AND LAVONA RICHARDSON MISSIONARY SERVICE IN THE JAKARTA INDONESIA MISSION
July 2003-January 2005
Joseph Smith who was an instrument in the hands of the Lord in restoring HIs Church here upon the earth was told that his name would be known all over the world. In Bogor, Indonesia where we served our mission there is a plaque with his quote that says,
“A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world anxious to bless the whole human race.”
We experienced this love in Indonesia where we served for eighteen months as humanitarian missionaries in the Indonesia Jakarta Mission. We have seen love expressed by the members of the Church in the Bogor Branch where we were privileged to serve , in the love of a Bapak in the Darussalam Orphanage, in Ibu Faisal, a devout Muslim who gives her all in helping others, in a sewing teacher who devotes her time to teach children that have no opportunity for an education, in Roeland and Lily who were always there just wanting to help make people’s lives better, in our branch leaders and their dedication and devotion and in the lives of the wonderful people in Indonesia who have so little and yet give so much. . We saw that love expressed as we worked with the members in their callings as branch and district leaders and interacted with the other missionaries.
During our missionary service The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been established in Indonesia for about thirty years and had three districts. All but two of the twenty one branches were located on the Island of Java where we served. We were assigned to the Bogor Branch where about a hundred people attended and also a little group in Jasinga about two hours up in the foothills of Mount Salak for four families didn’t have the resources to be able to meet with the larger group. We learned so much from the wonderful members of the Church in Indonesia who are strong and committed since they live in a nation which was 85% Muslim. We provided shadow leadership and learned so much from the dedication and testimonies of the great leaders. Elder Richardson was also blessed to baptize Hartika and Acay who are wonderful people whom we introduced the gospel to and first met through our English classes. These members and converts are now eternal friends. We were able to help two different families prepare and go to the temple with is a great sacrifice because they had so far to go to the Hong Kong Temple.
Edi Rochadi was our driver and translator and such a help to us in our various activities. While we were serving our mission he married Lisa, his eternal sweetheart. What a thrill for us to help them go to the Hong Kong Temple to seal their marriage. They later had two children who we are privileged to have named for us- Jay and Lavona. We think of them as our grandchildren and are thrilled to correspond with them through e-mail several times a week.
We were privileged to have a wide variety of activities that we were involved with. We were welfare missionaries and were able to write up projects to help orphanages, children’s operations and hospitals. While we were there we were privileged to receive a container about the size of a railroad car of medical equipments which we sorted and gave out to hospitals, nursing homes, and wherever we found a need. People would ask who we were and why we were there and we told them we were in Indonesia to bless people’s lives and help them have a better life. It didn’t matter what religion or race t hat they were. We told them that the people from America loved them. We had in our home the Latter Day Charity Warehouse and had handmade quilts, used clothing, new born kits, school kits, and other items to give out. Jay retired from dentistry and so was able to help with some dental health fairs all over the Java Island for those people who couldn’t afford to see a dentist. Doctor Richardson taught a functional orthodontic technique to the faculty members at the University of Indonesia and the Dr. Maestopo Dental School which was well received and provided lots of good results in the patients he worked with. I taught conversation English to the dental school professor s. We made lots of good friends.
One of our last projects was a Neonatal Resuscitation project where we had two doctors f from America come and train the doctors in Indonesia on how to help newborn babies breathe. Indonesia had a high infant mortality so this training was well received. The doctors were trained one day and then were able to train a group of midwives the next day in both Bogor and Bandung It was a blessing for us to be involved with this great project and the lives it helps save.
We tried to not just give a “man a fish” but teach him to fish so that he could bless his family. We taught English at five different locations and also set up computers in our home for a computer school. We organized sewing schools and fish horticulture schools so that people could learn a vocation that could bless their lives. We made many friends through our English classes taught by us who were “native speakers”. We were also privileged to visit every branch of the Church in West Java where Doctor Richardson taught a disease prevention class.
We had two favorite projects. One was children’s operations where we were able to work with doctors who donated their time to give surgeries to children who had life threatening diseases. Dahlan and Risky and the others that we helped now have the opportunity for a new life.
We delivered a hundred wheelchairs to mostly children and had some life changing experiences. Many of those needing wheelchairs were unable to come to us so we went to them sometimes taking three to seven hours to travel to where we had arranged with our contact person to deliver the wheelchair. We witnessed love of the caregivers as fifteen year old Sadin’s mother carried him on her back up to where we were delivering wheelchairs because she couldn’t wait for us to get to her. Maryati cried as her brother placed her in her wheelchair after being in bed unable to move for five years and we all cried. Us, a thirty-five year old father with no legs who had to crawl on the floor was able to have his five children around him and hold his youngest on his lap for the first time after being placed in a wheelchair. Another wheelchair we took to ten year old Ellis. When we arrived at the village where she lived no one knew her. She had been kept in her home because she had no legs but now her father said that he world see that she attended school. Fourteen year old Ani crawled up the street to meet us and we had our wheelchair ceremony right on the street since we were in such remote area where there was no traffic.
There is hardly a day goes by but what I think of these wonderful friends we made in Indonesia. I am grateful for the leadership skills the leaders of the church taught us and for their testimonies and dedication to living the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I know that in Indonesia the work that we were engaged in is the work of the Lord. We felt His hands in so many miracles that we were able to witness. I was grateful to have a wonderful missionary companion. We enjoyed so much working and sharing together our love for our mission and the people we worked with. We are blessed with a wonderful posterity. We have thirteen children with eleven living children. We lost two sons as infants who are with their Dad. My missionary companion Jay passed away eight years ago. Nine of our children that are married were married in the temple giving us sixty seven grandchildren and sixty three great grandchildren. Our five sons and one daughter served missions and now we have thirty one grandchildren that have served missions with more to come, all twenty four of our children that are married were married in the temple and up to now thirty eight of our grandchildren have received their temple endowments. We feel so blessed
I have a testimony that we have a Father in Heaven who knows and cares for each one of us and is mindful of his children in the Isles of the Sea and their special needs. I am grateful for Christ and His atonement making life as eternal families possible. I bear my testimony that we were representatives of His Church restored in these latter days and that we have a living prophet who direct His church here upon the earth. I am grateful to belong to a church that reaches out to all people to better their lives. I know that happiness is found through losing ourselves in serving others. I am so grateful for the opportunities that Jay and I had as we served together in Indonesia. My prayer is that for the rest of my life I can show by the life I live my love for the gospel and our wonderful friends in Indonesia.
Lavona F. Richardson
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