Young mother and her baby, Mackenzie, whose husband was killed in an accident.
Hello,
This was a great week. The best part was the wedding of our oldest granddaughter, Holly and her new husband, Colin. They were married in the Denver Temple (we were sad we couldn't be there, but so proud that they were worthy to be sealed to each other for eternity in the Temple) on Friday morning and then had their reception that night in Fort Collins (our Saturday morning). Our son-in-law, Bret, set up his I-pad to Skype with us. We were able to visit with Holly and Colin and see how beautiful she looked! We met Colin's parents for the first time, were able to visit with all our grandchildren and great-grandchildren that were there, meet a niece's daughter for the first time, see our newest great-granddaughter for the first time and talk with many friends! We also were able to watch Holly and her dad dance, Holly and Colin dance - plus others. We watched the bouquet toss, the garter throw, and the cutting of the cake. We also saw them when they left!! Technology is amazing to be able to watch it live half way around the world - almost as good as being there!
This week also was the going-away dinner for one of our young Sisters - Sister Howard. She has been an amazing missionary. Her parents and sister came to pick her up. At the dinner we discovered that her sister was in the same ward as our granddaughter, Holly, at BYU during their freshman year. It is really a small world! We also had a Zone conference for the Singapore and Jahor Bahru missionaries. It was a great day of instruction. The Gregory's came and stayed with us from Tuesday evening until Saturday morning. They picked their daughter and her husband up Tuesday night and spent the week sightseeing with them. We love having them here. They will be back over for a coupe of days this week as the JB missionaries are coming over to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of us here in Singapore. We were shopping with Sister Clark (Mission President's wife) this week and we actually found frozen turkeys that were 18-20 pounds for $54 each - a real bargain!! We each bought one and will both cook one for Thanksgiving. We will have a total of about 25 people for Thanksgiving - less than at home, but most of them will be hungry missionaries!!
We just received permission from Hong Kong to put the JB and the Masai branches (both in Jahor Bahru) under the Mission instead of the Singapore Stake. JB has kind of been the step-child of Singapore. It has been hard for the Singapore leaders to go over there and it is difficult for the JB leaders to come to Singapore. Under President Clark we really expect it to grow. He will now be in charge of 10 districts plus 115 missionaries!! We don't know how he does it. The Masai branch will also be in a new meeting house starting next week. We aren't sure yet as to which branch we will be assigned. We love the people in both branches although almost everything in the Masai branch is in Malay! There are 8 missionaries assigned to JB now to help it grow - all 8 are fantastic missionaries. I taught Relief Society in the JB branch today. I found out that one of the young mothers with an 8 month old little girl lost her husband 2 months ago in an accident. She has such an amazing attitude about it. She said she knows there is a purpose for it and that she will be with him eternally as they were married in the Temple. She served a mission in SLC on Temple Square and then half of the mission in New York. Between her and her companion they spoke 9 languages! She also attended BYU Hawaii and BYU Provo. She is planning on going back to BYU. She wants to become a lawyer so she can support her young daughter.
We just got back from picking the President, Sister Clark and AP's up from the airport. Their plane was about an hour late due to a big rainstorm here (it is still raining cats and dogs and thundering and lightening). We were entertained during the wait by a huge group of people at the airport to welcome a college team home that won the "seagames" - even though we don't know what that is! They kept practicing their yells and beating drums. As luck would have it, they came out of the baggage check area the same time as the President and his group - what a welcome home for them!
Well that is pretty much the news for this week. Our mission is going so fast. It is hard to believe that we have been out 10 months already. We feel so blessed to be serving the Lord here in Singapore and for the opportunity of serving with such a great Mission President and all the fantastic young Elders and Sisters!! They greatly bless our lives each day.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
With our love and prayers,
Elder and Sister Garrett, Mom & Dad, grandma & grandpa, relatives and friends
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