Squatty toliets!

Hello,

We hope all our family and friends are doing great after this spring break for many.

The week here started out as normal (if there is any such thing on a mission!), but then Saturday was our trip to Melaka in Malaysia. It was advertised as a Makan-makan tour. Well, we found out that Makan-makan means eating tour! We met at 6:30 A.M and left for Melaka. Once through immigration, we stopped at a Hawker (outdoor food courts)stand for breakfast. Now, since we were in Malaysia, everything was in either Malay or Mandarin. Sister Chen, who invited us was sick, so she gave her ticket to Georgina. I'm sure she told Georgina to take care of both us and the Howarths. She was so sweet. We ordered "Roti Prada" (it's like a tortilla dough rolled out - then they break an egg over it and smear it around - with bare hands- fold it over several times and then grill it.) It's pretty good. Georgina felt sorry for us I think and went to the Chinese stand and bought us each a "me chung kueh" which was a thick pancake folded over with some peanut butter and chopped peanuts in the middle. It was really good too.

We then stopped at a local vendor store to buy local foods - of course we didn't know what anything was - but they had samples and we found some small pineapple cakes that were really good. We then went on to Melaka - about 1 1/2 hours. The drive was beautiful. There are miles and miles of palm tree orchards - used for palm oil. As soon as we reached Melaka we went to a restaurant for a Nyonya lunch. While some of it is really "hot" it was good. For dessert they serve Chendol which is shaved ice with coconut milk, a brown sugar mixture, black beans, and some sort of a shredded green bean. It was better than we expected. We were a little worried about the ice, but so far we haven't gotten sick (all water has to be boiled in Malaysia). From there we visited Christ's Church - built in the 1700's by the Dutch. We were only given 5 minutes there. Well, we walked around the square and took photos at the fountain with the Howarths and then came around to the front and our group was gone! We had no idea where we were or where they were. Georgina, who was with us, was so upset that she had lost the group and didn't take care of us. Well after a phone call to the tour's home office, we finnaly found them. The tour director was not happy at all with us!! They had all walked to another store for more Chendol. We had the choice of original or Durian Chendol. Durian is a fruit that smells awful!!! and then leaves a horrible taste in your mouth (or at least they say). The locals love it! Georgina had the Durian and did it smell - but she thought it was great.

We then started our walking tour which took us by a very old Chinese Temple, but the guide only gave us less than a minute to look at it. We were then on our way to Jonker street, which is a narrow street of vendors with great bargains (at least so we were told). It started pouring down rain about that time and we had to walk back to the bus. Even with umbrellas, everyone was wet. We then went to a restaurant for chicken rice balls. These are ping-pong sized balls of rice with a little chicken in it that they squeeze together. Then back in the bus to head to dinner about 1 1/2 hrs away. There we had a traditional Malay dinner which was good with nothing too unusual. They eat a lot of rice, shrimp, fish and a little bit of chicken.

From there we headed home and got back about 10:45 p.m. The hardest part of the day were the bathrooms. All they seem to have in Malaysia are "squatties" with no toilet paper. Toni Howarth and I had no choice but to use them when you are gone for a full day! Not fun! None of the others who were with us (2 buses of about 40 each) had any problem using them (we were the only "whites"). I think the others were laughing at us!

Then this morning we left again for Malaysia to go to Church in Jahor Bahru. We took one of the Stake High Counslors with us (he usually rides the bus, MRT, and taxi to church). We made it thru both immigrations without any problems but then about a mile into JB (we were feeling good as we had found the right road), a policman on a motorcycle pulled us over. He said that we didn't have a sticker on our window (registration) to drive in Malaysia (the first we've ever heard of that!). He was threatening to take Dave to jail and fine him $3,000. We were having a really hard time understanding him as he spoke very poor English but we did understand "jail" and "$3000 dollars"! He told us to follow him to the police station - along with another van he had pulled over - a Malaysian van with no registration. He took us up and down streets and back to the same street we started on. In the meantime, the man with us, Brother Allen, was on the phone to one of the other High Counselors, who used to be the Stake President (Brother Woo) and is a native Singaporian. The policeman then pulled us over again and again repeated the story about jail and the money. We let Brother Woo talk to the policeman and then to Dave. I'm not sure what he told the policeman, but he told Dave to tell him that we didn't have any money. The policeman then smiled and told us to leave Malaysia and go back to Singapore immediately and let us go. We think he was just trying to get us to offer him money! But, we think it was an answer to all our prayers! At any rate we left (Brother Allen took a taxi from the border back to church). Dave was really worried that he was going to be jailed (probably all of us!). Since the van we drive is registered as a private bus owned by a company (the Church) we may have to get a permit - but it's the first any of us have heard about it. So another adventure in Malaysia!! And to think we could just be sitting home getting old!

In spite of everything, we feel very blessed to be serving a mission for the Lord. We are learning to love the people here and in Malaysia. The other Senior couples we have met are amazing and the young Elders and Sisters are fantastic. How we love and admire them for their service to the Lord. What great examples they are to us.

Well we need to close. We are going to the airport to pick up the Mission President and the AP's. They have been in Eastern Malaysia for conferences with the other missionaries all week. It will be good to have them back
With our love for each of you,

Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, friends)


Bicyle carriages (everywhere in Melaka).


Hawker stand where we at breakfast in Yong Peng.


Dave & I at the Fountain in front of Christ Church in Melaka.

MARCH 21, 2011

Did you read our weekly letter.  The "squatty" toilets are awful!  They are about 3 inches off the floor.  The floor is always wet and gross.  They have no toilet paper, just a hose that I guess you are supposed to wash off with.  How the women there stay dry is a mystery!  Sister Howarth (Toni) and I took kleenex with us.  We just decided we'd pretend we were out camping in the wilds!  You'd think toilets would be something the women would insist on in this day and age.  Also, none of the restrooms had any soap to wash your hands!  Yuk!  At least we took hand sanitizer with us.

I don't think any of the women here use hairspray.  I have only been able to find a couple of kinds and they don't hold well at all.  I still have part of a can that we brought from home.  Janice, could you check with the post office and see if you can mail hairspray or if aerosols are forbidden.  I also need some other products.  I may have you take money out of our account and go shopping for me!  They have really expensive stores in some of the malls, but it's mostly facial products and perfumes. 

I don't know how people here eat the foods they eat.  Brother Allen (he's here working for 5 years) was laughing about a sign in one of the malls advertising pig gut soup.  He said after about a week they changed it - he said someone must have told them how unappealing that was to foreigners!

Any time you get chicken, it is cut so funny.  For instance a chicken leg is cut crosswise into about 5 our 6 pieces.  They fry it in small piece  They serve it bone, skin and all.  You don't get much meat.  They don't serve boneless chicken breasts anywhere that we've seen.  Lot's of fish is served - heads, eyeballs and all!

Well I need to close.  We get up about 5 every morning so we can walk before we go to the office.  Our office jobs are very busy and we never get it all done.  I have about 90 baptisms waiting to be entered.  I spend a lot of my time making plane and hotel reservations.  I probably made about 25 of them today  - lots of travel in this mission!

I love all of you!!!

Mom

A baptism in Singapore of a Muslim woman.

Hello from Singapore,

This has been a fairly uneventful week. A lot of work and little time for play! But, then that is supposed to be what a mission is like. We have had a lot of rain this week. It has seemed to have changed from the afternoon to the late night/early morning. We tried to take a P-day on Wednesday (the P-day for our mission). We worked in the office in the morning and then decided to go to Sentosa Island (a huge tourist attraction). We walked across the causeway (the second time we've tried this) and as soon as we reached the other side, it started pouring down rain! We'll try again one of these days - we may never find out what Sentosa is like!

We went to Jahor Bahru (JB) for church this morning with the Howarths. We actually made it there without getting lost! It takes us about 7 hours to go there, back and to church. Going across the borders is what takes the longest. We're never sure what Malaysia may do. They do not like Christians coming into their country. We can no longer take supplies of Bibles or Book of Mormons across with us. All supplies are being sent by courier. Today was Fast & Testimony meeting. The meeting was conducted in English and the songs were in English, but everything else was in Malay, Chinese or Ibon. At least Sunday School and Relief were in English (they were taught by Senior Missionaries). The spirit is still the same though. They are wonderful people. We took photos of the families 2 weeks ago and had copies made (a way for us to learn their names). They were so excited to get photos of themselves! What humble and sweet people!

One of the hi-lights of this week was a baptism here in Singapore of a Muslim woman. The Elders don't teach muslims, but she found a phamplet that had been left in a food court by an older man. She called the number on it and asked to find out more. After taking the lessons, she wanted to be baptized. We don't baptize Muslims as it creates too many problems for them, but she was insistant. After getting permission from her husband and going through a lot of loops, she was baptized. The first muslim to be baptized here in Singapore - it took a lot of courage for her, but she said she knew the gospel was true and that it was something she had to do. She had a hard time with the white baptismal jump suit. It was the first time as an adult that she had worn anything with short sleeves! She is a special lady!

We were so sorry to hear about the earthquake in Japan. It didn't affect us here at all. Singapore doesn't have any known earthquake faults, but if one were to hit Sumatra, Indonesia, it could cause a tsumani here. We are very close to the sea, but have a big hill across the street from us. We were glad to hear that all the missionaries in Japan are safe and accounted for! Our prayers are with the people of Japan.

Well, we will close for now. Hopefully we will have more to share next week after our trip to Malaka, Malaysia. It used to be a Portugese settlement
and has a lot of historic places to visit.

We miss you all and pray for all of you. We love being missionaries and having the privilege of working with such wonderful young men and women that are sacrificing 18 months to 2 years of their lives to serving Jesus Christ. They are all awesome and so kind and appreciative.

With love,

Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa)

Enjoy these pictures of the Botanical Gardens

We might become vegetarians!

Hi all,

We are settling in to a routine and are feeling fairly comfortable in our beautiful new country. Every day is about the same temperature wise - 80's and 90's with high humidity. It has been raining almost every afternoon. It pours for a short while and then is sunny again. We love the rain though as it cools things down for a little while and keeps things so green and fresh.

Our hours are long at the office, but we work with such wonderful people. One of my main jobs is arranging transportation for the President, his wife and AP's (assistants to the president), and all the visa runs for the Elders and Sisters coming and going from Malaysia to keep their visa's up-to-date. Also, entering all the baptisms. That has been quite an eye opener. Many of the Malaysians take on the first name of their fathers as their last names, some don't know their actual birthdates, and most of their addresses are not at all what we are used to. One this week was "go up the hill 1 1/2 mile and then.... - well you get the picture. Dave is doing all the finances for the mission, which is a huge job. The transportation alone amounts to 30-40,000 per month. It is really an expensive mission. Rents on apartments run upwards of 3,000 Singapore dollars which is about 2,500 in American dollars.

We went to a post office the other day and had to go through a Swiss meat market to get to it. We were so excited to see "American" meats and the prices didn't seem bad at all until we figured out what it cost per pound. Chicken breasts were over $13.50 per pound! A large roast was $98.00. We might become vegatarians!

Today was Stake Conference so we didn't go to Malaysia. Many of the Jahor Bahru members came here. It was just like a Stake Conference at home - it was wonderful. Our Stake President, President Lai is such a spiritual giant. He is only about 5 foot 3 and weighs almost nothing, but he is one of the sweetest and most spiritual men you could ever meet. He really got stern with the people on living the commandments. Yesterday in Stake Priesthood meeting, he talked on Home Teaching (almost non-existant here). He said that if you didn't want to go Home Teaching alone to call Brother & Sister Garrett or Brother & Sister Howarth (the other senior couple here) and that they would go with you and that no one would turn them away! We'll see if we get any calls. While the men were in Priesthood meeting, Sister Howarth and I rode the MRT (underground transportation) to Chinatown. It was so fun to see the different culture. If you don't like being crammed in like sardines, the MRT is not for you! It is really an efficient,fast, and cheap mode of transportation though - and very clean and safe. The Howarth's are a public relations couple and work with government officials in advancing the Church here, in Malaysia, and Indonesia. Last night the Gregory's from Jahor Bahru in Malaysia spent the night. We love hearing of the other couple's adventures (it really makes us glad to be in Singapore).

We feel so blessed to be here and to associate on a daily basis with such wonderful young men and women sacrificing so much to come on missions and to serve the Lord. We had three sisters go home this week. Two of them had parents come to pick them up - how proud they were of their daughters. They had no idea though of the trials and hardships their daughters had been through!! The sisters were glad to see their parents but so sad at leaving the people they love so much in Malaysia. So many of the Malaysians have so little, but are so humble and loving.

We think often of our family and friends in the US. We miss all of you, but are enjoying our new "family" in Singapore. It's wonderful to know the Church is the same no matter where in the world you go and that no matter what language it is taught in, the Spirit testifies to the heart of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

With our love and prayers,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Dave and Glonda, Elder & Sister Garrett



President & Sister Clark with 3 returning home Sisters


Dave by ocean at a Park on our way home Friday night.

Glonda by ocean at a Park on our way home Friday night.


Tree and crypt(?) in the corner of our backyard.