We got to meet Elder Bednar!

Hi Everyone,
I’m typing this on the bus coming back from Kuala Lumpur, where we had an incredible time. We left Sunday afternoon after having picked a new Senior Couple up at the airport at 1:15 a.m.. They are the Winters from AZ. They got home a year ago from serving a Mission in Germany. They will be going to East Malaysia to replace one of the Senior couples who went home last month. After we arrived in KL, we found the bus stop was only about 2 blocks from the twin towers. They are the tallest twin towers in the world. So we took off walking pulling all our luggage. The view of them all lit up was beautiful. The young Elders and Sisters that were with us had so much fun taking pictures! We then put the sisters in a taxi for where they were staying and one of the Elders, who had previously served in KL took us by foot, subway and bus to our hotel. It would have been so much easier in a taxi, but he was so excited to get us there without paying for a taxi. The next morning, we took a WILD ride in KL traffic to the chapel where we were meeting. All the missionaries from Singapore, West Malalysia, and Sabah in East Malaysia were able to come as it was combined with a West Malalysia zone conference. There were about 65 total. We met with Elder & Sister Bednar (he is one of our Apostles) for 3 hrs. Elder and Sister Pratt, the General Authority for this part of Asia was also there. He then based almost all his remarks on one verse in the Doctrine and Covenants - Section 88:122. He asked for comments and questions for almost 3 hours. He also kidded back and forth with his wife. He also told us seniors something that he made us all promise not to tell our families or it would be all over the internet by morning! I’ll have to tell you when we get home! I also found out another reason I like him so much. He said he has zero musical talent and can’t carry a tune at all. He said his wife is always telling him, “David, you shouldn’t sing so loud.” Since I also have zero musical ability, I can relate to him. It was a very spiritual meeting and the spirit was so strong there. He also explained to our young missionaries that when they go home their mission is not over. They are to be a missionary for the rest of their lives and to keep in contact with their converts. He also told them that they have a responsibility to keep up the dress standards when they get home. He then left at lunch time to go meet with government officials. They are trying to get the government in Malaysia to recognize our church. On Saturday he was in Indonesia and organized the first stake in that country. He promised that someday the church in Malaysia would have several stakes and to know that we (those in attendance) were part of the history of the Church in Malaysia.
Elder Tabiar (the young elder who stayed with us for a week and a half was able to go with us to KL (even though he isn’t in the zone that was meeting). He then flew home from there today (Tuesday). We are sad to see him go. He is such a remarkable young man. After a colonoscopy and an endoscopy last week – along with some biopsies, the doctor said he had some kind of a bacterial infection. He put him on some broad spectrum antibiotics that he’s hoping will kill the unidentifiable bacteria he has. The doctor said he has only seen this kind of bacteria in one other native Malaysian – usually it is only in non-native people. For some reason, it has only been the native Missionaries that have had stomach problems – the American missionaries seem to do fine.
We will have the Winters with us until Friday. The Smiths are also in for a visa run, so they will be with us until Friday also. Then we will have a break before we have more company. While we really enjoy having the Senior couples here, we will be glad to get back to a somewhat normal routine and once again be able to go on our morning walks.
The last couple of days has strengthened our testimonies of the gospel even more. We are so thrilled to be serving a mission for our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and for the experiences we are having.
We love and pray for you.
Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, friends & relatives)

In the mall next to the hotel the next day.

More waiting for Elder Bednar.

Senior breakfast next morning in hotel.

2nd from the left is John Clark's grandson (FC).

Reading scriptures while waiting.

Elder and Sister Bednar arriving - Sister Clark.

Two of our favorite Elders - Tabiar & Rathnayke

Twin towers in Kuala Lumpur

Fountain in front of the Twin Towers

Elder and Sister Garrett

Waiting for Elder Bednar

Rambutan - Hairy Fruit - Good!!

June 5, 2011

This has been a fairly quiet week (if there is such a thing on a mission!).  We haven't had any company this week, but we will in the coming week.  We have three missionaries going home this week so they will be with us Tuesday night.  We went to Jahor Bahru for Church again today.  School is out in Singapore for a month and I think everyone was leaving town for Malaysia.  It took us 2 1/2 hrs. to get across the border this morning.  Last week coming back from JB (Jahor Bahru) was a little scary.  They held us up coming back into Singapore for about 15 minutes and really questioned us about why we were in Singapore and how long we were going to be here, etc.  They made phone calls while we waited - not sure why.  They finally let us go, but we thought maybe they weren't going to let us back into Singapore!  Today though, outside of heavy traffic, they didn't question us at all.  One of our young Elders also got held up and taken into a room to be interrogated last week before he was finally allowed to enter Singapore - we're not  sure what was going on.

The school year in Singapore includes a month off in June, and a month and a half off in Nov/Dec.  The kids study all the time.  You can go into McDonalds late at night and it is filled with school kids studying.  All kids here wear uniforms and they look great.  We have only seen a handful of boys with earrings or tattoos (and I think they were foreigners).  We have yet to hear anyone swear (at least in English).  The kids are very respectful and will offer us their seats on the MRT, although we usually refuse.  When we look around the MRT probably about 90% are either on Ipods or cell phones!

 

A couple of more thoughts from the meeting with Elder Bednar:

 

He said he loves to meet with new converts as he travels.  He always asks them why they joined the church.  They almost always say that when they met with the young missionaries that they butchered the language, and talked about strange things such as the gold plates and living prophets.  He then asks them why they kept meeting with them and they all say, because the feeling was so good when we met with them.  The Holy Ghost was witnessing to them the truthfulness of the gospel.  He also said that we need to act – not just to pray for something and then do nothing.  He mentioned how we are always praying in our meetings that those who aren’t there will come next week.  He said instead of praying for them, we need to get up and go get them and bring them to church!

The Chinese people here are very reserved and private and don’t like their space invaded, but the Chinese members of the church are very gregarious and fun to be around.  We are still, however, trying to get them to talk to us as we walk.  We are getting to know one Chinese lady who has lived here for 30 years and walks about the same time as we do each morning. We are learning some interesting things about the neighborhood from her.

 

We are still staying busy in the office every day and working long hours – when they say that Senior Missionaries can take rest periods, it’s not true here!  But we love working in the office.  Many of the young missionaries come in each day and we get to talk to them.  They teach almost all their investigators in the office and we get to meet them also.  We did apartment inspections for the missionaries in Singapore this last week.  The apartments of the Elders were passable, but the Sister’s apartment was spotless!  We spent a couple of nights before the inspections making cookies and brownies to take to them – which they loved.  Hopefully, with cookies, we hope they will look forward to our next visit.

 

Well we need to go, but know that we pray for all of you each day and miss you, but love our mission and the people of Singapore and JB.  We love hearing from you and hearing about your families and what is going on in your lives.

 

Until next week,

 

Elder and Sister Garrett (Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, friends)

Interesting facts about Singapore

Hi All,

We didn't get a letter sent out last week due to a lack of time, but all is well in our Mission. We had 4 new sisters come in week before last along with their trainers. They were staying with us. We had to move them into a new apartment and get all their mattresses, bedding, chairs, etc for them. It was fun to be around Sisters and help. This week we had the Brown's come in. They are Family History missionaries from Kuala Lumpur. They came in on Tuesday and left yesterday. We really enjoyed having them here except we didn't get to spend much time with them. They are having great success in teaching the youth in the various areas to do family history work on the computer - the youth learn much faster than their parents!

Thursday night we picked up a young Elder from East Malaysia. He is a native of East Malaysia serving in his native country. He has been having severe intestinal problems. We brought him in to see a doctor in Singapore. The doctor is doing a colonoscopy tomorrow on him. We certainly hope he finds the problem. I guess this has been a recuring problem since he was 18. His mission name is Elder Tabiar (his real name is one no one can pronounce). He is a remarkable young man. Due to their poverty and his having to work to help support his family, he was unable to go to school. After he and one sister and one brother (he has seven siblings) joined the church, he decided he wanted to serve a mission. He taught himself to read and to speak English (although he is limited in his English). He has also taught himself to play the piano and does great at it. He can't read any notes, but plays by ear. He has the cutest smile and will not stay down due to his condition. He didn't want to come to Singapore to see the doctor. He wanted to keep working in his area and never complained even though he was so sick. He's had the option to stay with some of the local Elders who speak Malay, but he has wanted to stay here with us. He starts his colonoscopy "preparation" first thing in the morning. We sure hope the doctor can find out what is wrong.

Next weekend we are going to Kuala Lumpur for a Zone Conference and to meet with Elder Bednar. All missionaries from Singapore and West Malaysia will be attending except for one of our office Elders who was denied entrance into West Malaysia and probably Elder Tabiar. We pick up a new Senior Couple coming into the mission at 1:15 am Sunday morning and then leave after church Sunday afternoon by bus to KL. We will return on Tuesday evening. The Smith's are coming in for a visa run and will be at our house Monday - Friday. It will be a busy week for us!

Our 53rd anniversary was Tuesday so we took an evening and went with the Howarth's to see "The Lion King". It is on tour here and was wonderfu! If it comes to your area, it is definitely worth the money to go see it. Senior Missionaries do get to do some things the young Missionaries don't get to do!

We had a baptism yesterday here in Singapore and we have another one this evening so missionary work is moving along in Singapore, although not as fast as in Malaysia.

Some interesting facts we've learned about Singapore:
There are 40,000+ cabs
There are hundreds if not thousands of buses (we often wait for anywhere from 1 - 7 buses to pass to get out of our driveway).
The MRT (underground subway) system is wonderful. You can get almost anywhere in the city on one. They are clean, fast and safe.
The crime rate is extremely low as the punishment for any crime is swift and severe. The paper told of one person who was caught dealing a small amount of drugs and was given the death penalty.
Singapore is known as the "fine" city, as there are fines for anything from chewing gum, spitting on the street, jay walking, to throwing down trash. Cameras are everywhere!
The skyline is made up of giant cranes and building is going on everywhere.
90-95% of the residents live in high rise apartments - most government owned.
New land is constantly being reclaimed in the ocean surrounding Singapore - as there is no more available land. A lot of land has been set aside for natural areas however.
Parents are paid $25,000 to have a child as the birthrate is so low.
We have some rain almost everyday - we love rain and cloudy days as it cools things off.
Singapore is a beautiful, clean, modern and economically sound country/city.

We love serving the Lord in our small way here and feel very blessed to be able to be in Singapore. Missionary work is wonderful! We do, however, miss family and friends back home, but the time is flying by.

We love each of you!

Dave and Glonda (Elder & Sister Garrett)

Flower's from kids for Mother's Day.

Singapore River

Singapore River

Singapore skyline at dusk.

Elder and Sister Howarth

Singapore spanning 3 buildings.

Elder and Sister Brown

Marina Bay Sands Hotel in background

Singapore skyline at dusk.

On Singapore river night of The Lion King.

Elder Brown and Elder Tabiar doing family history.

Sister Orien's adventure

Hi all,

This brings to close a busy week and the start of an even busier one. We made 7 trips to the airport - one at 4 o'clock in the morning. We had two missionaries who "died" (ended their 2 year mission) this week. They were both so full of mixed emotions. They don't want to leave the people they have grown to love during the previous two years, but at the same time they are anxious to see their families. They were great missionaries and it is always sad to see them leave. This week we have a sister leaving and 4 new sisters arriving - along with their trainers, so we will be making more trips to the airport. They will all be staying with us so we will have a house full of girls! In fact they may be staying with us for awhile. We have had a short time to try to find a new apartment for the 4 staying in Singapore (up to this time Singapore has only had Elders) - but a house full of Sisters will be easier than a house of Elders! - or at least maybe a little cleaner!

Salt Lake decided to automate the support cards for the young missionaries. Dave spent all week e-mailing and leaving messages for SLC to get in touch with us (the 14 hour time difference makes it difficult). They had the support payments at far more than any of our missionaries receive. The Elders were excited - more money! The problem with our mission is that Singapore Elders receive more money than those in Malaysia and even those receive varying amounts depending on their area and transportation. Luckily they took us off the automation the day before it was to go into effect - back to the drawing board for our mission! Dave was really stressed over it. (Just a note. All missionaries pay their own way - but it is the same for all areas of the world. This way some missionaries don't have to pay less if they serve in an inexpensive area, while those in more expensive areas would pay a lot more.)

The Oriens left Tuesday after getting the okay from her doctor, although he gave her strict orders to not use her new knee very much until the swelling goes down (caused by walking far too much!). We have really missed them as they were a lot of fun to have here. Here is an excerpt from the e-mail I got from her on Wednesday. It is really funny but could have been a real disaster!

We just returned to Bintulu today from my knee surgery. The trip was fine with one almost catastrophic exception...It all started with breakfast at McDonalds at the airport in Singapore...one last American meal before we headed back to the land of chopped chicken and rice for most meals. Because we lingered a bit too long over our Sausage McMuffins with Egg we had to hustle to get to the gate. Since my new knee does not allow me to hustle Elder Orien thought it would be a great idea for me to ride on the luggage cart and he could wheel me along much faster. All went well and we were almost to the gate except for the mistake of getting on the gliding walkway with me standing on the cart. The problem came when it was time to exit the walkway. The small wheels on the front of the cart couldn't get up over the small hump at the end so we stopped but the walkway didn't. It kept pushing and pushing and toppled me off the cart in a heap with Elder Orien and Elder Hill (who was on our flight to Bintulu) right on top of me and the cart stuck in between all of us. It hurt but was so funny we couldn't stop laughing. My new knee twisted a bit and has hurt all day, the old knee lost a bunch of skin and ripped a hole in my nice new white pressure stockings and I twisted my wrist a bit so it hurts. Elder Orien lost the skin in stripes off his arm and bruised his backside and tore his pants. Elder Hill said his backside hurts too but we are all pretty much okay and will be fine. The worst was that our pride was wounded badly.... never-the-less we still can't wait to see a rewind of that scene in the movie of our life. It must have looked so funny to see these silly Americans unable to exit a gliding walkway. We got lots of wide eyed stares and many concerned offers of help to get us untangled and off that incessantly moving walkway. I took a wheelchair after that and it turned out to be a huge plus. Wheelchair people get a personal guided tour through the airport to their destination, and in KL that is something!, plus it opted us out of all the lines and red tape at security, immigration, luggage, etc. I think I'll take the wheelchair every time from now on! And for anyone who doesn't know it, the medical care in Singapore truly is first class. We didn't call it a hospital, we called it a hotel.
When she called me she said the people on the walkway behind them were having to walk backwards to keep from falling on top of them. You would have to know Sister Orien to fully appreciate her story. She is such a fun person and has had so many things happen to her. One time fairly recently she was at an Ibon's house. They always serve you a drink and the water they use is very questionable. When they weren't looking she decided to toss the drink over her shoulder into the jungle. The only problem was there was a small palm tree behind her and the leaves had sharp spines. It cut all her fingers and she stood there with blood dripping from them trying not to be noticed!
One of the blessings of a Senior Mission is the friendship you develop with other Senior couples who also leave family and friends to serve the Lord. You develop an immediate bond with each other. Next week we have a family history couple coming in for a visa run who will be staying with us. We met them briefly in Jahor Bahru this morning as they were there giving classes. They were the last couple that we hadn't met.
We have been working such long hours lately that we decided to take some P-day (preparation day) time this week. Thursday morning we, with the Howarths, went to the Jurong Bird Park. What an wonderful place. They had hundreds of different kinds of tropical birds. The bird shows were amazing. We really enjoyed ourselves but went back to the office and worked until late that night. Luckily it was a morning without rain.
Today is Labor Day in Singapore. I think everyone left to go to Malaysia. When we left for JB to attend church, we thought we had allowed ample time to get there. It took us two hours to get through immigration. The lines were horrible! Coming home was a little better - only 1 1/2 hours. We are getting to know the people there and really enjoy the branch. They are such sweet, humble people who don't have much in the way of material goods, but are so happy and kind. They make the 7-8 hour trip each week worthwhile.
Serving a Senior Mission is a great opportunity. You can have experiences that you never even dreamed of as you live in a different culture with different climates and challenges. Some is hard, but the blessings are enormous! What a privilege it is to serve our Heavenly Father in Singapore. There is a sign in our office that reads, "Serving a Senior Mission sure beats staying at home and watching your birth certificate expire!" I'm sure all our young Elders & Sisters would say that serving a mission is such a great experience for them too. - they have experiences you could not even imagine and they love it!
We think of all of you at home often - especially family. How we miss them, but we know they will be blessed.
We love and miss all of you and our prayers and thoughts are with you.
Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, friends, & relatives)



May 6, 2011

Hi,

I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers today from all of you for Mother's Day.  They are absolutely beautiful. It was so thoughtful of you.  I had forgotten that Sunday was even Mother's Day. This has been such a busy week, with one of the Sisters going home and four new ones arriving (plus their trainers). We had an outgoing dinner Tuesday night and an Incoming dinner Wednesday night.  We had to find a new apartment for them (actually the office elders did - but Dad had to handle the legal and financial part). After our 2nd trip to the airport this morning we went with the office elders to get them new mattress, sheets, pillows, bedspreads, etc., took them to the apartment and picked up the keys.  We then had to go back and get some work done at the office and then go back to our house to pick up the 4 remaining sisters and take them to their new apartment. It has been early mornings and late nights all this week. All the girls stayed here with us. It was fun, but a lot of work. What accomplished young women they are. One worked in Africa with an orphanage for 2 months, and one taught for 4 months in China. They are all in demanding majors in school or have already graduated. They are really great gals. The two that left this morning ( with their trainers) will be in for a shock through as they serve in East Malaysia!

With everything going on, I forgot Scott's birthday! I thought about it the day before and the day of his birthday, but things got so hectic, I forgot to call.  I am so sorry!  David let Scott know that is it not because we don't love him, just forgetfulness.

Hopefully tomorrow we can get the house put back together as we have a couple coming in on Tuesday to stay for 4 days on a visa run.  Then we have a week's break before a new couple arrives (at 1:15 in the morning) an another couple comes in for dental work for a week. We are supposed to  go to Kuala Lumpur on the 23-24 to meet with Elder Bednar (all the missionaries in Singapore and West Malaysia). There are rumors though that he might not be coming as his trip includes Indonesia and they have been having bombs planted all over the place (luckily they have found them before they went off). I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Well I do need to go, but again, thanks so much for the flowers. It was so thoughtful of you. I love all of you so much. We think of all of you daily and miss each of you so much. We keep the calendar up with all of your pictures (thanks Beckie), it makes me think of each of you and to know what a beautiful family we have! I am so proud of all of you and want to be with each of you eternally! Happy Mother's Day to each of you (the mother's) too! You are each incredible!

With all my love,

Mom