The Singapore Zoo

Hello from Singapore,

We can't believe another week has gone by! The time is going so fast. We decided we would take part of our p-day this week (preparation day). For the young Elders and Sisters this is on Wednesday each week. We went to the Singapore zoo, which is one of the best in the world. It is a beautiful zoo in a jungle setting. They don't have cages - just moats around each enclosure. It was hot, but all the shade makes it tolerable! The most entertaining thing of all were the orangutans. They were mostly sleeping when we first walked up. One woke up and started posing for everyone. We'll attach a photo of him. He was quite the ham! Another one had a piece of metal stripping and was digging a hole with it. I guess he wasn't making enough headway as he got a big mouth full of water and spit it in the hole to make digging easier. They are smart animals and the highlight of the day for us. We really enjoyed the morning. That afternoon, we returned to the office to catch up on our responsibilities (they don't take a p-day).

On Thursday the Office Elders plus one of the Chinese speaking Elders wanted to take us to lunch in Little India (of course we paid!). Little India is an interesting place. It is blocks of small stores and restaurants - mostly family run. It is full of shoppers and a lot of fun to visit. We ate at a vegetarian restaurant. Most of the people there were eating with their hands, however we all ate with forks and spoons.! We have discovered that we really like Indian food as long as it isn't too spicy.

On Thursday we picked the Mission President and his wife up at the airport at noon. That afternoon he had to take a class that is required to keep his Dental license current (he is a dentist). We dropped him off and returned to the office only to find our computers were dead along with our phones. They are putting a new MRT (subway) line in across the street from the Mission Office and they cut the lines. We were without internet or phones for two days while they spliced everything back together! How we depend on computers!

Saturday we went to a baptism in the Chinese ward. The entire baptism was conducted in Chinese - even the hymns. The ones that didn't speak Chinese (many of the Elder and Sisters, President and Sister Clark, and us) sang in English. It was beautiful hearing the two languages combined in one hymn! Today, we went to JB. I taught Relief Society. It is so different teaching here. While most of the Sister's speak English a couple only speak Chinese and one only Tamil. They are all pretty shy about participating in the lesson. The lesson was on the post-mortal world. For some it was the first lesson they had on this. It is very humbling to teach these sweet sisters. They are all so appreciative. We are learing to love them more and more each week! In Priesthood, the father of the Indian family that was recently baptized was ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood today. What a great addition this family is becoming to the branch! Andy, the father, is eagerly learning the gospel teachings. As soon as there is enough active Priesthood holders in the two JB branches, it will be put under the Mission instead of the Singapore Stake. We are all looking forward to that day. Two of the missionaries in JB had their bicycles stolen this week. There have been several stolen in Malaysia recently. At least these missionaries weren't beaten up and robbed when theirs were stolen like the one in East Malaysia last week!

We have a new Senior Couple coming in this week. They are the Hodder's and are from Canada. The Mission President and his wife will be in Hong Kong for the annual Mission President's Seminar, so we will pick the Hodder's up and keep them overnight and then send them off to East Malaysia the next day! We are looking forward to meeting them.

We are thinking a lot about America this week with 9/11 in all the news - even the headlines of the papers here are talking about it. Evidently terrorism is even a threat here! They found information that the Orchard MRT stop was a target last year (the stop we go to several times a week for lunch), but the ones involved were arrested. I guess that is why we sometimes see armed solders walking around. The Orchard MRT is a mass of people all the time! We do feel very safe here though! We can't let threats stop our daily activity. We are praying, though, that the threats received in the US are only threats and that nothing happens.

As we work so closely with our young Elders and Sisters here, it makes us even more appreciative of our two grandsons now serving missions - Garrett (Kovach) in Indiana and Scott (Garrett) in the MTC preparing to go to Conception, Chili. We see on a daily basis the dedication these young men and women have to teaching others the gospel and how much they love serving their Heavenly Father. We see their testimonies and their love of the people they serve here in Singapore and Malaysia grow on a daily basis. We see the ones here in Singapore daily, the ones in JB weekly, and the rest of them at least once every 3 months (but we talk to them often on the phone). What great young people they are and what great examples they are to us!!!! I'm sure none of them would consider these two years as a sacrifice but only as a blessing in their lives.

How grateful we are for family and friends. We love and pray for all of you.

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

(Note: Picture to come as my computer doesn't download the pic that was attached. When David gets home from his trip I will pull and post it off from his computer! Thanks for your patience. deb)