Hello from Singapore,
This has been a fairly uneventful week, at least until yesterday. President Clark was in town for the first Saturday in months. He had a kidney stone attack last night and was in so much pain. Dave and the office elders went to the hospital to give him a blessing. The pain medication he was given worked wonders and he was able to go home. He will see a urologist tomorrow for tests. Hopefully he will recover quickly.
This is going to be a busy week. Last November one of our Elders in East Malaysia was hit head-on on his bicycle as he went around a corner by a driver going the wrong way on a one way street. He was severly inured, with multiple broken bones, a head injury, his aorta was spurting blood, and other internal injuries. There were so many miracles involved after that. There was a doctor who lived across the street from where the accident happened, and police and an ambulance were within a couple of blocks of the accident. He was in the emergency room being treated within 15 minutes. His companion was amazing. He immediately contacted the President and the closest senior couple. The president and Sister Clark checked his record and found that he had o positive blood (rare). They went through all the records and found that only 3 people in the entire mission had that type blood and two of them were in the emergency ward at the time (his companion and one other Elder). The third one was one of the Senior Elders about 2 hours away (and this is in a mission where Elders are spread over a huge area). This young man was not expected to live. He was given a blessing immediately and his care was amazing - especially for Malaysia (this happened in West Malaysia). The Clarks got on the next plane and were able to get there relatively fast. There were many other miracles over the next couple of weeks in the hospital. There was always a Priesthood holder with him 24 hrs a day watching out for him. He was able to fly home after about a month. He has been recouperating ever since. He wanted to come back to finish his mission, but no one thought there was even a small chance that he would be sent back to the Singapore Mission. They said that if he were to go back out it would have to be in the US where he could receive all the care he needed. Well, we were notified last week that he is now well enough to be sent back out and he is coming back to this mission. He will be kept in Singapore - not Malaysia, but what a miracle that he is able to return (he had only been here about a month when the accident happened). All the Singapore zone will meet him at the airport on Tuesday with banners, etc. to welcome him back! Since this happened before we arrived, we are anxious to meet him. He is going to be serving as one of the office elders so we will be working closely with him. (The sad part is that Elder Brodie is being transferred out to make room for him!).
On Wednesday, we have a zone conference and will have Elder Perkins, the Area President and Elder Osgutherope, the General Sunday School President, visiting with all of us in a meeting from two to four and then holding a fireside for the entire stake at 6 p.m. Everyone is excited as it is always such a blessing to hear from visitors from Salt Lake and Hong Kong.
Two of our local Sisters had a convert baptism today at 4:30 and we told them we would be there. After church in JB today the Gregory's had us and Brother Allen (the High Councilman who often goes with us to JB) over for lunch. We left in what we thought was plenty of time to get back, but it took us 3 hours to get back to Singapore (only 1 hr to get there). The traffic at immigration was a nightmare! This week is also a holiday. The Muslims end Ramadan on Tuesday, which is another holiday here (they celebrate everyones holiday) - it is Hari Raya Pussa. It ends their month of fasting from sunup to sundown. In Malaysia the Muslims are fined $2000 if they are caught eating during the day. The times of the fast is calculated down to the minute! Also, the Chinese have been celebrating all month something regarding ghosts. They have little alters along the streets where they light fires and burn pictures of food, paper money, etc for the ghosts! Everyone here is very entrenched in traditions!
We have been having some interesting food at the Ho's (our institute teacher) for the past several weeks. We always have a dessert (Chinese). They are very interesting to say the least. Nothing even remotely resembling American desserts. We have had a sweet black bean soup, a sweet potato soup, yam cake (compressed and steamed rice), and then this last week we had a bean curd and ginko nut soup! All the soups are made with a sugar water broth. We can hardly wait to see what we will have this week! The Chinese in the class all love them! We'll take our American desserts any day! We think they are doing this in our honor so we can experience their culture - it is very sweet of them. All the people we have met here have been so kind to us and we love them.
The Lord is blessing us to have the energy and abilities to keep up with all we have to do each week. We are all promised that when we are called to serve, we will be blessed to be able to do the work. The Lord is certainly blessing and qualifying us to be able to complete the responsibilities we have been given. Plus working with all the young Elders and Sisters is keeping us young! As a plaque in our office states "It is better to serve a senior mission than to stay home and watch your birth certificate expire".
That is it for this week from beautiful Singapore. Remember, we love each of you and always keep you in our prayers. We love hearing from you. We apologize that we are not always able to answer your e-mails, but we appreciate them so much.
With love,
Elder and Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, relatives and friends)
We don't mind sleeping with the geckos
Hello from Singapore,
This once again has been a sad week as we said good-by to six missionaries returning to their homes. As we listened to their parting testimonies and experiences we never cease to be amazed at how missions have changed their lives for the better - how unselfish and caring they all are. They also shared some of the funny things that happened to them on their missions and funny they were! In spite of their hard work they also manage to have a lot of fun. One of the stories involved two of them when they were companions. The bus they were riding in ran over a big python snake. The bus driver stopped and everyone got off to see the snake. It was still alive but with a big flattened area in the middle where the bus tires had run over it. They decided that it would be good to take to one of their Ibon families (they eat snake meat). They were trying to smash it's head with a big rock to kill it. After many tries they succeeded and put it in a big bag and took it home (it was about 9 feet long). They decided it would make a good prop to scare the other set of Elders that lived with them. They rigged up wire on the body and laid the snake out in the entry way to their apartment. When the other Elders returned home, they hid and pulled the wires - it worked! The other Elders were scared to death! After many good laughs with it, they took it to an Ibon family who skinned it and gave the skin to the Elders. They also enjoyed a great snake meal!
All the Elders love to take souvenirs home with them - the favorite being large swords, knives and blow guns. It's always fun watching them get these thru security when they leave!
We also had a young man come in from East Malaysia who is going to the US to serve his mission in the South Salt Lake City Mission. He arrived Monday afternoon, was set apart by the Mission President, had his Patriarchal Blessing from the Stake Patriarch and then we took him to the airport. He was scared to death. He didn't want to leave us to go through the gate to go to the airplane - he kept hugging Dave good-bye! He comes from a small Kampung (village) in E. Malaysia. The English he knows he learned from the American missionaries serving in his area (and it is pretty good). He flew to Tokoyo for a 7 hr layover and then from there to SLC. Three of our returned Elders who live in the SL area (and know him) will pick him up at the airport, take him to the Temple and then to the MTC. What an experience he is going to have! He was an absolute delight to get to know - even if for such a short time - a remarkable young man.
The rest of the week was office work as normal (BUSY). Today was again spent in Jahor Bahru in church. One sacrament service in English and one in English with one of the missionaries translating it into Malay. Both branches are growing each week since they were split into two branches. The people in these branches are wonderful and always make us feel so welcome.
The other night Dave went up to our room and found a gecko on one of our walls. He tried to catch it and after chasing it around he lost it under our bed. I decided that we have really become "Singaporeans" as it was not a big deal and we just went to bed as normal without giving it another thought! That wouldn't have been the case a couple of months ago! We take an institute class from one of the local members in the ward in front of our home. His wife recently had both feet operated on so for the past 3 weeks we have been meeting in their home. They decided that it would be fun to give the "American's" a taste of good Chinese treats! The first week it was a black bean soup (dessert). The next week it was a sweet potato soup (also a dessert) and this last Thursday it was a Yam cake. Northing ever turns out to be what you think it will be. The soups were ok, but not something we would ever want to fix ourselves. The yam cake sounded like it would be better, but it is not at all what it sounds like. They cook rice until it is a paste and then mix in pieces of sausage, yams, cucumbers and who knows what else. They then squash it all into a solid mass, put it in a loaf pan and steam it. They slice it and have it with hot sauce! She said she is famous for her yam cake! The others there loved it, but Dave and I had a hard time choking it down! Hopefully this next week will be without treats! Even though the class is in English and the teacher speaks good English, some of the other members' English leaves a lot to be desired. One of the members was telling about one of his experiences for probably a couple of minutes and we only understood maybe 3 or 4 words out of all he said! They speak so fast and with such an accent that it is as hard to understand as it would be if they were speaking Chinese - I guess he was speaking what they call "Singlish".
The work of the Lord is really going forth here and in Malaysia. There have been many baptisms and our Elders and Sister work so hard at spreading the gospel. The people here have no preconceived ideas and are willing to listen in increasing numbers to the missionaries. We are not allowed to teach muslims or even talk at all to them about the gospel, however they are very friendly and kind (unless they are in immigration!). We couldn't even get them to smile today. It is probably because Ramadan is going on for the entire month. During this time the muslims fast from sunup to sundown. In Malaysia if the muslims are caught eating during the day time they can be arrested! This does tend to make them less cordial.
As we continue to serve here in Singapore we feel very blessed to be able to serve our Heavenly Father, even in this small way. Being able to be around our young Elders and Sisters so much keeps us feeling young. Their testimonies are so strong and it is a privilege to watch how they love serving their Heavenly Father and how hard they work to bring the gospel into peoples lives. How they all love the ones they serve! We are so grateful for the two grandsons we now have serving the Lord in Indiana and one in the MTC going to Chili. We know they love (or will love) the ones they serve too!
Until next week, remember that we love all of you and pray for you daily.
Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, realatives and friends)
This once again has been a sad week as we said good-by to six missionaries returning to their homes. As we listened to their parting testimonies and experiences we never cease to be amazed at how missions have changed their lives for the better - how unselfish and caring they all are. They also shared some of the funny things that happened to them on their missions and funny they were! In spite of their hard work they also manage to have a lot of fun. One of the stories involved two of them when they were companions. The bus they were riding in ran over a big python snake. The bus driver stopped and everyone got off to see the snake. It was still alive but with a big flattened area in the middle where the bus tires had run over it. They decided that it would be good to take to one of their Ibon families (they eat snake meat). They were trying to smash it's head with a big rock to kill it. After many tries they succeeded and put it in a big bag and took it home (it was about 9 feet long). They decided it would make a good prop to scare the other set of Elders that lived with them. They rigged up wire on the body and laid the snake out in the entry way to their apartment. When the other Elders returned home, they hid and pulled the wires - it worked! The other Elders were scared to death! After many good laughs with it, they took it to an Ibon family who skinned it and gave the skin to the Elders. They also enjoyed a great snake meal!
All the Elders love to take souvenirs home with them - the favorite being large swords, knives and blow guns. It's always fun watching them get these thru security when they leave!
We also had a young man come in from East Malaysia who is going to the US to serve his mission in the South Salt Lake City Mission. He arrived Monday afternoon, was set apart by the Mission President, had his Patriarchal Blessing from the Stake Patriarch and then we took him to the airport. He was scared to death. He didn't want to leave us to go through the gate to go to the airplane - he kept hugging Dave good-bye! He comes from a small Kampung (village) in E. Malaysia. The English he knows he learned from the American missionaries serving in his area (and it is pretty good). He flew to Tokoyo for a 7 hr layover and then from there to SLC. Three of our returned Elders who live in the SL area (and know him) will pick him up at the airport, take him to the Temple and then to the MTC. What an experience he is going to have! He was an absolute delight to get to know - even if for such a short time - a remarkable young man.
The rest of the week was office work as normal (BUSY). Today was again spent in Jahor Bahru in church. One sacrament service in English and one in English with one of the missionaries translating it into Malay. Both branches are growing each week since they were split into two branches. The people in these branches are wonderful and always make us feel so welcome.
The other night Dave went up to our room and found a gecko on one of our walls. He tried to catch it and after chasing it around he lost it under our bed. I decided that we have really become "Singaporeans" as it was not a big deal and we just went to bed as normal without giving it another thought! That wouldn't have been the case a couple of months ago! We take an institute class from one of the local members in the ward in front of our home. His wife recently had both feet operated on so for the past 3 weeks we have been meeting in their home. They decided that it would be fun to give the "American's" a taste of good Chinese treats! The first week it was a black bean soup (dessert). The next week it was a sweet potato soup (also a dessert) and this last Thursday it was a Yam cake. Northing ever turns out to be what you think it will be. The soups were ok, but not something we would ever want to fix ourselves. The yam cake sounded like it would be better, but it is not at all what it sounds like. They cook rice until it is a paste and then mix in pieces of sausage, yams, cucumbers and who knows what else. They then squash it all into a solid mass, put it in a loaf pan and steam it. They slice it and have it with hot sauce! She said she is famous for her yam cake! The others there loved it, but Dave and I had a hard time choking it down! Hopefully this next week will be without treats! Even though the class is in English and the teacher speaks good English, some of the other members' English leaves a lot to be desired. One of the members was telling about one of his experiences for probably a couple of minutes and we only understood maybe 3 or 4 words out of all he said! They speak so fast and with such an accent that it is as hard to understand as it would be if they were speaking Chinese - I guess he was speaking what they call "Singlish".
The work of the Lord is really going forth here and in Malaysia. There have been many baptisms and our Elders and Sister work so hard at spreading the gospel. The people here have no preconceived ideas and are willing to listen in increasing numbers to the missionaries. We are not allowed to teach muslims or even talk at all to them about the gospel, however they are very friendly and kind (unless they are in immigration!). We couldn't even get them to smile today. It is probably because Ramadan is going on for the entire month. During this time the muslims fast from sunup to sundown. In Malaysia if the muslims are caught eating during the day time they can be arrested! This does tend to make them less cordial.
As we continue to serve here in Singapore we feel very blessed to be able to serve our Heavenly Father, even in this small way. Being able to be around our young Elders and Sisters so much keeps us feeling young. Their testimonies are so strong and it is a privilege to watch how they love serving their Heavenly Father and how hard they work to bring the gospel into peoples lives. How they all love the ones they serve! We are so grateful for the two grandsons we now have serving the Lord in Indiana and one in the MTC going to Chili. We know they love (or will love) the ones they serve too!
Until next week, remember that we love all of you and pray for you daily.
Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, realatives and friends)
Bull frog soup vs. chili dogs!
Hello,
This last couple of weeks has been fairly routine -which is great after the couple of prior weeks! There never is a dull day though!
The 9th of August was Singapore's National Day. No one worked that day (except for us). The local branch in front of our home invited us to an early morning sunrise testimony meeting at a park. We really enjoyed it and sharing in the testimonies of some of the local saints. We found out from one of the couples there that their son is serving in the Manila Mission and knows our grandson (JJ who served there also). It is such a small world! They also have a son serving a Chinese mission in Birmingham, England!
This week the first Senior Missionary couple from Malaysia enters the Manila MTC and will be serving in East Malaysia. We are excited to have them. We also have a young Elder from East Malaysia coming in tomorrow to fly to the Provo MTC. He will be serving in South Salt Lake. He will be traveling to Tokyo (with a 7 hr. layover) and then to SLC. Three of our returned missionaries will pick him up and take him to the Temple and then to the MTC. He has never been out of East Malaysia so he is in for quite the adventure! We understand that he is an amazing young man.
Tomorrow also means the arrival of six of our missionaries who have completed their mission and will be returning home on Tuesday morning (a 3 a.m. airport run). It is so hard to see these young men leave. They have served here so valiantly! What marvelous futures they have. We will have a dinner for them tomorrow night at the President's home and they will share their testimonies with us. Three of them have their parents coming so it will be a great evening. The last set of missionaries that went home also had some of their parents pick them up and then visit some of the areas they served in. The parents said nothing in their letters prepared them for the places they visited. Some of the homes without electricity, running water, or any furniture (you sit on the floor to eat). Many are built on stilts with water underneath that contains raw sewage! It was quite the eye opener for them. Their missionaries loved the people
though and the people loved them!
Yesterday after cleaning and shopping, Dave and I rode the MRT to Chinatown. It was a wonderful place to visit. I can't imagine that China would be any different. We enjoyed looking in all the little stores at all the Chinese goods. There were blocks of little restaurants, but we could find nothing familiar. We saw places selling Crockadile soup, live bull frog soup, snail dishes, etc. We rode the MRT back to the Harbor Front and had an American Chili dog! We then visited a Hindu temple that we see on the way to the office each day so we decided to visit it and take photos. It was very ornate and quite beautiful.
The muslims are in the middle of Ramadan. They fast from sunup to sundown. so many of their places are closed during the day. We went to JB this morning to church. There was almost no traffic at Imagration so we arrived early. Yesterday a great Indian family was baptized. The two branches in JB now have people speaking Chinese, Malay, Ibon and Tamal! It's quite the mixture. I taught Relief Society in English but I'm not sure how many could understand me. The people are all so loving and kind though. We really enjoy going there.
Serving the Lord brings so many blessings in to our life. We have two grandsons now serving missions, one in Indiana (Garrett Kovach) and one just entered the MTC and will be going to Conception, Chili (Scott Garrett). Another grandson will be leaving on his mission (Tanner Kahl) before we get home. He turns 19 in March. We also have a granddaughter getting married in the Denver Temple in November (Holly Kovach) and three grandchildren starting college (Kadie Kovach, Tanner Kahl, and Lindsay Guthrie). Debbie and Bret's second son, Travis, and his wife, Laura and their two children are moving to Hawaii this month. We've had two new great-grandchildren born. A second child for Brittany and Jake (David and Debbie's daughter) and a second child for Brandon and Karie (Debbie & Brets son). Lot's of changes in our family.
Well we need to go and the news is fairly sparse this week, which is a good thing. We love all of you and pray for you daily. We welcome your prayers in our behalf.
We love serving the Lord here in Singapore!
Elder and Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, relatives and friends)
Scene from Chinatown.
Early morning on National Day with Clementi Ward.
Hindu Temple (at least we think it is Hindu).
Another view of Hindu Temple.
Ornate figures on Hindu Temple.
Dave at park by Temple.
Glonda at park by Temple.
Spider in a tree by Temple, it was HUGE! (gross!!!)
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