One-Sixth.

This email, of course, was meant to be written yesterday. But that was before all power decided to die in our little corner of Tebet Jakarta Selatan, and so here we are on Thursday. I'm sorry for any panic that might have caused but no, I'm not buried under the rubble of earthquake or lost among the slums of the city. Hopefully a few photos will make up for it all.

My dear family:::

Our Golden Compass moment has arrived di luar biru, and SisLily is already moved to Malang. It happened so quickly, all in the space of 48 hours—the phone call, the general panic, the hurried packing and planning. There is a very real chance we won't ever see each other until the very last days of our mission, and while we've long known this day would come, the surprise that accompanied it was a little unexpected. We'd prepared for this, right? Apparently not enough—waving her taxi off yesterday morning was just as traumatic as leaving you all at the MTC. Luckily we had a good hour to practice Apparating after our morning run Tuesday, and when that didn't quite work out (perhaps Less Developed Magic accompanies a Less Developed Country?) we hurriedly made up a Portkey set to send us wherever the other one was within Indonesia. 

So here we are, the Breaking of the Fellowship—though there's some good to report, too, as one of our original members has returned. Elder Greenwell's been transferred to Jakarta Raya, which means a District Meeting every Friday with both him and Nixon in attendance. And though even two of them couldn't quite make up for SisLily's absence, I am glad to have Greenwell back. He's just a stellar missionary, a really top-notch thinker and good friend; having him around keeps me working hard, too.

In other news, the stress of separation manifested itself in me finally giving into temptation and cuddling a small kitten on my way home last night—though really it couldn't be helped. This particular cat has been following me around for days now, along the streets close to our home, very clearly without a mother or any siblings to speak of. And there he was, crying from a corner of the deserted play park, and there I was, secretly crying from the corners of my weak heart, and so there you go. Sister Katam was horrified, Sister Sumarno laughed and shook her head, and the wee little black thing shushed his mewlings and curled up in my cupped hands (yes, they are that small). And we took a few quiet minutes to mourn together before going our own separate ways, the kitten to his corner and I straight home and to the nearest hand sanitizer.

It was so worth it.

Also took all the Sisters to dinner in honor of my lovely Mother on the occasion of her birthday, which then actually turned into a farewell of sorts for Sister Lily as we'd just gotten the transfer call. Pictures to follow, though I haven't got those on CD yet. Just know that you are very loved and very appreciated, as we did this all in your name. Beautiful FHE, as well.

But Family! One month! Three months total! That's one-sixth of my mission (I've become very aware of fractions since becoming a missionary; I assume this mathematical inclination is temporary) and while part of me is rejoicing at the milestone, most of me knows it's only the beginning. I have moments, of course, where I can stop and honestly tell myself there's nothing I'd rather be doing, that I love the country, the people, the work and the language. But those are still only moments and I need to work harder for more of them. I'm sorry my emails haven't been the uplifting praises of most missionaries, that I haven't yet reached any solid way to write details about my investigators or contacts or more missionary experiences in general, but I  . . . I will have to work up to that. Bear with me while I grow.

Though this morning, I opened to Alma 39 to begin my Book of Mormon Study, where I found a note from SisLily, directing me to the New Testament. It's something of a tradition with the both of us, leaving post-its in hidden places to find at random—some funny, some serious, some downright ridiculous—and she must have snuck this one in before I woke up early yesterday to see her off. Romans 8:18, it said. And I'm holding to that.

love you, miss you. so. so. much.

E.