Elder and Sister Garrett in Singapore!: 2012

Final newsletter-Saying Goodbye

(if you click on each picture you can view the poem and pictures better)

# 29 - Singapore Mission Seniors Newsletter - April/May

2012

As President Clark and I leave the Singa-pore Mission, we feel so many competing emotions.

We are so grateful for being blessed with wonderful children at home who have cared for our complicated home affairs in addition to their own busy young family responsibili-ties. Three years is a long time for grandchil-dren to be loved from afar. Our family has been 100% supportive in our efforts to serve, but now they are eager to have us back again. Our 7 year old granddaughter is excited for the trip from Utah to Oregon, so that she can be at the airport to greet us when we get off of the plane. She told her mom, “We’re going to go to the airport and get grandma (and grandpa too) and BRING HER HOME!!!!”

As our heart is drawn toward our patiently waiting family at home, it also is beginning to ache for the “mission family” that we are leaving behind. From the day we stepped off of the plane in Singapore, and met our first Assistants at the airport, there was an instant love that filled our hearts for our mis-sionaries. We left 3 children, 3 children-in-law and three grandchildren at home, but we gained a huge family of missionary sons and daughters and “best friend” senior missionaries. So many of the local members have filled the role of the “angels round about us to bear us up”. We look out over congrega-tions and see faces that will forever be etched in our hearts, as we remember experiences shared and challenges faced together as we have strived to “build the Kingdom of God” in this part of the Lord’s vineyard

President Terrence and Sister Laraine Clark

We Will Truly Miss You

This is a picture of a special plaque cre-ated and given to us by Elder Moody’s parents. Building the Kingdom, it’s what we do. We invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the re-stored Gospel through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repent-ance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. When all is said and done, if we have been able to assist our investiga-tors and new members along the path of conversion to the Gospel instead of simply conversion to the Church, then we have fulfilled that missionary purpose. When one is truly converted to the Gospel, inactivity is nearly impossible to occur.

True conversion to the Gospel begins with Primary children who learn the beginnings of leadership as they participate in leading music, prayers, giving talks and bearing testimonies during Primary time. They learn that the Gospel is happiness, joy and fun. We visit that child and family if they miss a week at church, so that they know they are loved and missed. As children advance into Young Wom-en and Young Men, then they continue to develop their leadership and testimonies. They may partici-pate in lessons, teach lessons, and hold presidency callings in their classes and quorums. They par-ticipate in family history and firmly establish that pathway to the Temple, which they started in Prima-ry. Taking a leading role in the Youth Family History Initiative, they gain a stronger sense of self worth and leadership empowerment, as they gain and expand upon technology skills beyond what most of the adult branch members possess. By the time they enter Young Adulthood, they are prepared to take on the leadership roles in their congregations. They won’t run away into inactivity when given a calling – they have been serving in this aspect of the Gospel culture nearly all of their life. When they are released to serve in another calling, they will understand that they are NOT being “fired” and will continue to serve in whatever area to which they are called.

It is common to be “converted to the church” at first. That is what is so special about our senior cou-ples, you are the experts that the Lord has brought in to help our First Generation adult members get onto the pathway of lifelong “conversion to the Gospel”. You spend hours and hours in teaching and in Member and Leader Support. You don’t walk in front of them (“do it all for them”) or behind them, (refuse to get involved, let them carry it out alone). But we have seen wonderful examples of those of you who have worked right alongside of them, encouraging them to carry out their responsibilities, yet being there to offer a hand when needed.

We will be holding reunion get-togethers in the Salt Lake area around most General Conference times for the next few years. We hope that you will join with us in celebrating the joys and memories that we have shared together these past three years. If you pass near to Portland, Oregon during your jour-neys and wanderings, please stop by to see us.

May the Lord continue to bless you and protect you and pour out His Spirit upon you and the precious people in this part of his Kingdom on Earth.

All of our love and deepest gratitude,

Please keep in touch – our home contact information:

Terry and Laraine Clark

31460 S.W. Isle Way Lane

West Linn, Oregon 97068

503-656-0661

Terry – clarkdmd@msn.com

Laraine – clarkRNC@gmail.com

PS I am also attaching my special “mother’s day flowers” that the kids sent me this year. The white flowers were ar-ranged such that they resembled our pre-cious young dog who died of cancer just before the halfway mark in our mis-sion. You can see by the card that they were starting to get ready and anxious for our return home.

The last newsletter spotlighted Elder and Sister Garrett. Here are the pictures and words a little easier to see:

The Garrett's! Holding down the fort!

"I love the response Elder Garrett always gives when you ask how he is... "Excellent, but I'll get better."

"Elder Garrett is the Manliest man alive, have you ever heard the story about how he met Sister Garrett?!!!!!!"

"Sister Garrett is very kind and loves to put up with our shenanigans."

"She is so kind and so sweet and positive, just nice to be with"

------------------------------

Writing a poem about them, the Garretts,

Shouldn't be hard or take too much time.

The difficult part of writing the stanzas,

Is finding the words with their last name to rhyme.

They've been in the office, where all have addressed them

With problems and questions, they hardly could bear it.

When challenges rose or a question unanswered,

We know the procedure, just call up a Garrett.

Apartments and bills and a thousand things running,

Who can explain what to do and declare it,

We love J.P. Morgan when money is in it,

And who puts it there, of course, Elder Garrett.

Who runs her own airline, at least it would seem?

My plane schedule's wrong, oh, who could repair it?

Air Asia, Malaysia, Singapore, Silk Air,

She's magic with changes, our own Sister Garrett.

The Pasir House welcomes, the food is so great,

The recipes sterling, the cake, I love carrot,

The company's wonderful, we'll always cherish

The evenings with Elder and Sister Garrett.

And then there's the van, to the airport and back,

A new couple soon will inherit.

They picked us up green and helped us get settled,

Now the van will deliver the Garretts.

The best part of them, our dear office couple,

Are testimonies strong and we've heard them share it.

Our lives are enriched, we'll always remember

the humble companions Elder & Sister Garrett.

We love you!!!!

We will be in Colorado in 10 days!

Hello all,

This may be our last letter before we leave for home. We leave for the US a week from Tuesday. Where has the time gone? It seems as though we just arrived. Our lives have been so blessed these last 18 months. We have met some incredible people and have seen and heard of many miracles. We have been privileged to have so many of both the Sr. Missionaries and the young missionaries stay in our home as they arrived and others as they leave for home and to be associated with the young missionaries each day. What a blessing it has been to get to know all of them. We may have met them as strangers, but they left as special friends. We will always share a special bond with each other. This has been a hard week as we miss our beloved Mission President and his wife - the Clark's. What a pleasure it was to serve with them and to learn from them. They will always have a special place in our hearts!

Today was our last day in the Masai and Johor Bahru branches. It was hard telling them all good-bye as we most likely will never see them again in this life. Many of the children gave us big hugs as we left - they are all so cute and we love them all. How we will miss them!! We took Elder Jenkins and Valentine with us so Elder Jenkins can finish teaching a family that he was teaching before he was transferred to Singapore (he is a Chinese speaking Elder). Elder Valentine's parents were divorced when he was 5 years old (his mother is from Taiwan and they were living there). His father took him and his 3 siblings back to the US. He eventually married and Elder Valentine's step-mother raised them as her own (along with 5 children she had from a previous marriage). Elder Valentine's father died of cancer 5 years ago, but his step-mother has continued raising them. He hasn't seen his biological mother since he was 5 years old and had lost all track of her. Today in the JB Branch there was a lady visiting from Taiwan. As he visited with her, he found out that she knows of his mother. When she returns home she will contact his mother and hopefully they can be reconnected with each other. What were the chances of meeting someone in Malaysia that knows your mother in Taiwan! A real miracle.

We found out this week that the new office couple, the Jensen's from St. George, will not arrive until the 24th of July - one week after we leave. We will be writing a lot of notes this week and trying to train the office Elders as much as we can on the things we do so they can in turn, train the Jensens. The Jensens can always e-mail us with questions.

The Ho couple from the local ward took us and 3 others to dinner Friday night. They wanted us to have a traditional Chinese dinner before we left. It was sooo good. The best Chinese food we have had - I guess you just have to know where to go. Tomorrow we are going to lunch with the Stake President, President Lai. He jokes that he is taking us to a resturant that only serves durian (a horrible smelling fruit that Singaporians love). He is such a wonderful and humble man. We will really miss him. Tuesday night we are going to the Woo's for dinner along with the new Mission President and his wife. Everyone has been so kind to us.

It seems so strange to think that we will be in Colorado in 10 days! It will be so hard to leave, but we will always be grateful for the wonderful opportunity of serving the Lord in this wonderful part of the world. We are so anxious to see our family, but it is so hard to leave people here behind. Someday, if we are all faithful to the gospel, we can all be reunited in the Celestial Kingdom - what a joyous day that will be.

We will be speaking in our Ward in Colorado on the 22nd of July - we look forward to seeing many of you at that time. We are, in spite of having a hard time leaving here, so excited to see our family and friends!

We love you all,

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

Dinner with the Ho's and friends.

Pres. John and his family (Pres. of Masai Branch), such a wonderful family.

Saying goodbye to President Clark and Sister Clark

Hello all,

As we approach the end of our Mission we seem to get busier and busier. This last couple of weeks has been incredibly busy, emotionally draining,physically exhausting, but absolutely wonderful. We had 18 couples here for our Senior Conference (a total of 6 couples stayed with us - Monday to Saturday) - it was so much work planning, coordinating, and carrying out all the activities, but it was wonderful having everyone together! It was the last time we will see almost all of them. There were many tears as we parted company. What fantastic couples - we love them all! It is amazing that so many are willing to sacrifice 18 months of their lives, at their own expense, to serve our Heavenly Father and the people of the Singapore Mission.

This last week has found us making numerous trips to the airport - 3 of the trips leaving at 3:30 a.m. I think we got about 3-4 hours of sleep each night. We had 3 missionaries leaving for home, 6 new missionaries arriving, our new Mission President and his wife arriving, and our loved Mission President and his wife leaving. What an emotional roller-coaster! We had the arrival dinner for the new missionaries at our house on Wednesday night as the Clark's had to move out of the Mission home Wednesday morning so they can get it ready for the new President. We had the 3 new Sister Missionaries and their trainers stay with us Wednesday and Thursday nights. We cooked breakfast for the 6 new missionaries, their trainers, the AP's and the Clarks on Thursday morning. They did training at the chapel in front of our house. We then fed them lunch and took some to the airport and the bus station that night. We took others early the next morning. The new President (Mains) and his wife arrived Saturday at 5:10 a.m. They are very nice, but we haven't spent much time with them yet. We had a departure dinner that the Singapore/JB zone planned for the Clark's on Saturday night (of course they wanted to know if we would fix the food!). It was such an emotional meeting for the Clark's - how the missionaries love them. Then we took the Clarks to the airport at 3:30 a.m. for their flight home this morning. It was so hard to say good-bye to them (they have served for 3 years). They have become such special friends and we will always cherish the time we spent together.

We came home from the airport and slept for a few hours before attending Church at 1 p.m. We had a young man who just finished his mission in Washington DC fly in yesterday to be released by the Mission President (he is from Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia). We took him to the airport this afternoon for his 5:40 p.m. flight. Somehow he managed to miss his flight even though we had him there 1 1/2 hrs. early. We then went back to the airport to pick him up and bring him back home with us. I booked another flight for him tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully we won't have anyone else staying with us before we leave on the 17th!

Serving a Senior Mission is wonderful though. We have met so many amazing people that we would never had know had we stayed home. The missionaries are wonderful and treat us like their grandparents! Where else could you have so many grandchildren that love and respect you!

We had a special experience this week. Our grandson Tanner (Susan & Todd's oldest son) left for his mission in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday (for 2 years). We were able to Skype with them as President McClure set him apart as a full-time missionary. After he was set apart he was hugging everyone that was there and he also hugged the computer (us). Technology is wonderful. Even though you are away from your family, you can still share in many special experiences.

We are so excited to see our family and friends when we return on the 17th of July, but it will be so hard to leave here. Time has gone way to fast! We read a statement recently that said "Don't cry because you are leaving, but smile because you have been there." We will certainly smile with sadness as we remember our time spent here and the people we have met and learned to love so much.

With our love,

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

New missionaries/trainers singing special songs just for us.

Three departing Elders Pendleton, Moody and Whinham.

Clark's at the airport-before tears.

Singapore/JB Zone farewell for Pres. & Sis. Clark.

Saying good-bye will be so hard

Hello all,

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers!

Last week found us sending home 12 Elders/Sisters - it was really sad. How we love these young missionaries! They are wonderful. To a person, they were all really sad to leave - they loved serving the Lord and loved the people here. We also had two new couples arrive. The Gledhills who had been serving for over a year in Mongolia. Mongolia refused to renew their visas so they will finish their mission serving in East Malaysia. We also had the Howell's arrive. They are our new Humanitarian couple who will be serving in West Malaysia (living in Kuala Lumpur). They will mostly deal with handing out hundreds of wheelchairs and helping with clean water projects. We spent yesterday getting the house ready for this coming week - our Sr. Conference. Five of the couples will be staying with us - the first one arriving tomorrow and the last one leaving on Saturday. We will have 40+ here for dinner Wednesday night and then our meetings all day on Thursday will be at the Stake Center (we are still in charge of the food though). Then next week we get 6 new missionaries in and 3 more leave. Also, President & Sister Clark leave on the 1st of July and the new President and his wife (the Mains) arrive on the 30th of June.

We just received word today that they have finally found a new couple to replace us - it looks like we will be able to leave on the 17th afterall! We don't know for sure when they will arrive. They enter the MTC on the 9th of July. President Clark has asked that the date be moved ahead a few days so they can arrive here on the 12th so we can train them. We have such mixed emotions. We are so anxious to go home and see our family and friends but it will be really hard to leave our friends and grandchildren (missionaries) here. This past 17 months has been an incredible experience. We have made so many new friends and had so many people of different nationalities and customs, come into our lives that had we stayed home, we would have missed getting to know - especially the Sr. couples that have become a part of our lives.

We had an interesting experience going to JB last week. On the way over there the border was packed with cars. It took us 3 hrs. to get there and we were one hour late to Sacrament Meeting. Then on the way home we decided to go home via the other crossing (kind of out in the middle of nowhere). We were so proud of ourselves as we drove right up to the immigration booth on the Malaysia side - then drove across the causeway to the Singapore side without any traffic and right up to the booth there. Unfortunately, I guess the Singapore agent was bored. She looked at all the "chops" on our passport and said wait a minute. When she returned, she had us park the car and go into the immigration office. There we were questioned as to why we didn't have work passes, etc. We tried to explain that we didn't qualify as we didn't get paid and in fact paid our own way. They just didn't seem to understand the concept of "volunteers"! Well after a while (when we convinced them we were leaving Singapore in July) they stamped our passport and let us go. Today, we had no problems at all!

This week we will give talks at our Sr. Conference and then speak in JB next Sunday during Sacrament Meeting. It may be our last Sunday there as we don't know what the new Mission President will want us to do as far as using his car on Sundays. Saying good-bye to the wonderful people there will be so hard.

Our "skype" phone rang at 6 a.m. this morning and it was our grandson, Tanner (Susan & Todd's son). He leaves on his mission for Sao Paulo, Brazil in 10 days. He finally received his visa yesterday as well as his missionary badge. He was excited for us to see it. How we will miss him. We will have 3 grandsons on their missions when we return home - Garrett Kovach in Indiana, and Scott Garrett in Conception, Chile and Tanner in Brazil. We will miss them, but the missionaries learn so much on their missions and are so happy to be serving their Heavenly Father.

Well we need to close. We are leaving for the airport to pick up President & Sister Clark. They only have one one trip next week and that is the end of their traveling before they return home. It will be so hard to say good-bye to them. President Clark has taught us so much.

With our love and prayers,

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

Botanical gardens with E/S Howell.

Crowds at China Town with E/S Howell.

The 12 Elders & Sisters with Pres/Sis. Clark night before departure.

4:30 a.m. departure to USA from Singapore.

16 1/2 months and counting

Hello from Singapore,

We've had a little bit of a lull this past couple of weeks. We just had one new couple arrive (Elder and Sister Vaughan from Virginia) and one Elder from Malaysia leave on his mission. We had the Vaughans here for 3 days and the Elder for 1 day. The Vaughans will be serving in Bintulu, East Malaysia and the Elder leaving (from Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia) will be serving in Canada. He is from a very poor family. He quit school when he was 15 to help earn money to support his family. He taught himself English and speaks pretty good English. He doesn't quite understand the difference between "he, him" and "she, her" though. He would be talking about his mother and refer to "him" and speaking of his dad and refer to him as "her". It was a little hard to follow. He is really going to be in cultural shock for awhile though - as well as freeze this winter.

We also had one of our Sister Missionaries here in Singapore have her appendix out this week. She was really in pain overnight but didn't want to wake anyone up. Her biggest worry was appointments that she couldn't keep for a couple of days.

Next week will be the start of an extremely busy time until we go home. We have 15 Elders/Sisters going home on the 12th, a new Sr. Couple arriving on the 12th, the Senior Conference on the 20th and the 21st (most are coming in early and staying a couple of extra days), speaking in Church on the 24th, new missionaries arriving on the 28th, the new Mission President and his wife arriving on the 30th, the Clark's leaving on the 1st of July, and then we leave on the 17th of July (still no replacemet couple though!).

We are starting to go through some of the things we have collected over the last 16 1/2 months and deciding what we should keep, what to throw away, what to mail home, etc. We also have to get the house ready for the new couple (if we get one!!!)

We went to JB for church today. Attendance is really down in the branches over there due to Gawai (a huge holiday in the Iban culture). This is a several week long celebration in which every one goes home to their "long houses" to celebrate with their families with parties, etc. It really plays havoc with church attendance. Also, due to Gawai and school being out, the lines were horrible at immigration. We left home at 7 this morning and didn't get back home until 4 p.m. Elder Garrett (Dave) was exhausted driving in crazy traffic, and waiting in long lines at the borders. It's helping him to develop patience though!

We also finished reading the Book of Mormon. We were asked by President Clark as a mission to read the Book of Mormon in 53 days. It was a great experience to all be reading the same thing at the same time.

Well we need to close and get ready to go the airport to pick President Clark up (our normal Sunday night routine).

We love our mission and serving our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ - even in our small way. We pray for everyone daily and miss you all.

Love,

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

Elder Oaks and the Singapore Zone - Singapore and JB, (along with some other Sr. Couples that came to see him).

Waiting in line at immigration.

Looking across the causeway over to JB in Malaysia.

Palau Ubin

Hello from Singapore,

We've finally found time to sit down and write our "weekly" letter. This has been a busy couple of weeks (not that they all aren't). We had missionaries leave, a zone conference, a visit by the Area Medical Advisor and his wife, and a visit by General Authorities.

First we had the grandson of Brother & Sister Clark from Ft. Collins leave along with one of our previous Office Elders. It is always so hard to see these young men finish their missions and leave. There are tears on this end and great joy on the part of their families! How these young men grow and develop in the gospel. It is so hard for them to leave the people they have learned to love and serve unselfishly. They also develop great leadership qualities and abilities above anything they could have learned at home. They also became fluent in Malay and learned to eat some very strange food.

This week we had our last Zone conference with Singapore and Johor Bahru (while we are here). Elder & Sister Beard came over Tuesday night and then the Elder's early Wednesday morning. We all went to a small island (Palau Ubin) about 3/4 of a mile off of Singapore for a zone activity. You go by "bumboats". They are ancient and you're not sure they are going to hold together, but we all made it safely. The island is like singapore was 30 or 40 years ago. It is very primitive, but beautiful. All the young Elders and Sisters and President Clark rented bicycles to ride on the roads and trails. The Beard's and us either walked or went by "taxi" to see the island. We have attached some photos. We only had two "accidents" with the young Elders crashing - but nothing too serious - only cuts and bruises. We saw a few families of wild pigs, lots of stray dogs, and a huge monitor lizard. We were on 3 "bumboats" on the way back. They were racing each other to see who could reach the shore first (although we don't know if the drivers knew that or not!). It was a fun day, especially being around all the young missionaries.

On Thursday we had our Zone Conference all day. It is always a great learning experience along with being a very spiritual meeting. What wonderful missionaries we have and how much they love their mission and President & Sister Clark. It was also the Clark's last Zone Conference here. It was a very emotional zone conference. President Clark is an absolutely amazing teacher.

We had 4 General Authorities that were due to arrive at 11:45 on Friday morning. Elder Dallin H. Oaks (apostle) and Elder Donald Hallstrom (President of the 1st Seventies Quorum) and their wives were not able to make their flight from the US so they were delayed 12 hours. Elder Kent Watson (of the Area Presidency) and Bishop Dean Davies (of the Presiding Bishopric) and their wives arrived from Hong Kong and the Philippines. I was supposed to drive the wives along with the Stake President's wife, Sister Clark, and the wife of the Area Seventy to the Singapore Flyer on Saturday morning. I was so nervous about it as I have not driven much here in Singapore. I drove the route once so I wouldn't get lost (which is so easy to do in Singapore). Because of the delayed flight however, the trip to the Flyer was cancelled. I felt sorry for them, but was very releaved to not have to take them. We did get to go the Marriott to inspect their rooms and leave gifts for them. Friday night we had an open house for all the District Presidencies from all of Malaysia at the Clarks. The Watson's and the Davies attended that. They are all so nice and their wives are so sweet. Saturday they had a leadership meeting for all the Priesthood leaders with the 4 General Authorities for 4 hours. The women leaders met with their wives for 2 hours. Then from 6 -7:30 there was a general meeting for everyone from Singapore and JB. It was absolutely packed (even an hour before the meeting started). The other 2 chapels at the Stake Center were also packed (it was televised to those chapels). There are 3 chapels on the property. After the meeting the General Authorities came to the Mission Office to meet all the missionaries. Elder Oaks and Elder Hallstrom both spoke for a few minutes and then shook hands with all the missionaries, including the Sr. Missionaires. Elder Hallstrom asked Elder Garrett where he was from. When he said Ft. Collins, Elder Hallstrom wanted to know if we knew President McClure and Elder Rhodes. He said to tell them hello - so "Hello, President McClure!". We were so busy putting together fruit trays, banana bread, pumpkin bread, etc., water and fruit juices for them. We also had Elder and Sister Smith, our Public Affairs couple, from Kuala Lumpur stay with us from Thursday thru this afternoon. We love having them here! We also had the Beards from JB here from Tuesday until Saturday night - not much sleep, but a wonderful week.

Also, when the Area Medical Advisor and his wife were here for 3 days, we had to make appointments for them with Doctors and Hospitals. They also took part in our zone conference trying to teach our missionaries to eat healthy (probably a lost cause). It took hours to get all the apppointments scheduled! You never know what you may have to do as an office couple! Everything from making appointments with doctors and hospitals, to putting together fruit trays, baking deserts, inspecting rooms, buying gifts, driving people back and forth to the airport, etc - all in a days work in the Singapore Mission! Not to mention our normal daily duties - which always keep us really busy! But we love every minute of it! We have found that we can do really hard things and enjoy doing them. We are truly blessed to be here on our mission.

We received our tickets home last week for the 17th of July, although we haven't been notified of a replacement couple yet. We can't believe how fast the time is going.

With our love and prayers,

Elder & Sister Garrett,Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Relatives and Friends

Some of the kids who sit on our laps in JB.

These are all the Elders/Sisters in Singapore.

On the Island of Pulau Ubin.

Small pond on Pulau Ubin.

Wild pigs on Pulau Ubin.

Elder's getting ready to ride.

Seashore at Pulau Ubin.

Typical house on the beach-- Pulau Ubin.

Lunch at Pulau Ubin with Pres. Clark.

Beach at Pulau Ubin.

Sister's getting ready to bike ride.

Racing back on bumboat.

Other "racing bumboat".

Typical dogs on Pulau Ubin.

Just leaving on the bumboat.

Photo with Bishop & Sister Davies.

Picture with Elder & Sister Watson.

Indian lady on the dock at Pulau Ubin.

Elder Thee goes home and Carrie comes for a visit

Hello all,

Well we survived the 18 missionaries staying with us. After washing 18 sets of sheets, and 18 +++ towels, we finally got back to normal. The Gregory's arrived early on Friday while we were still at the office and they made up all the beds for us (8 beds - the rest were just mattresses) and finished up the wash! How grateful we were. They then left back to the US the next morning. How we hated to see them go!!

We thought we would have a quiet couple of weeks, however that never happens - not in the life of a Senior Missionary! We had to make 3 trips to JB this week taking Elders over there to catch buses - twice at rush hour! What a mess! The third trip was in the afternoon and it was a breeze compared to the other times.

We are picking 2 young men up at the airport tomorrow afternoon coming in to be set apart by President Clark before they fly to Provo to the Missionary Training Center there. They are both from Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia and have never been away from home or flown on a plane. It will be quite an adjustment for them from a Kampung (village) on the island of Borneo to SLC. One will be serving in NY and the other in Dallas, TX. We will take them to get their Patriarchal Blessing and then to our house for dinner. President Clark doesn't fly in until 9:30 p.m. so he can't set them apart as missionaries until about 11. We will then take them to our place and then to the airport at 3:30 a.m.

On Wednesday we pick up the new couple, the Brady's, who will be serving in East Malaysia (Mukah). They will only be here one day before they fly out. We may have another couple staying with us for a month. They are serving in Sri Lanka and are having visa issues and have to leave for a month. We don't know for sure yet, but hopefully they can work it out.

Our oldest grandson's wife (Carrie) is coming at the end of April for a few days. The company she works for is sending her to Penang, West Malaysia for 2 weeks and she will come by here on her way back home. We are so excited to have her visit. We can't wait to show her around. We will try to take a couple of days away from the office so we can spend the time with her.

It is such a small world. We have the granddaughter of friends from California (the Pinkston's) serving in our mission and the grandson of friends from our ward in Colorado (the Johnson's) serving here too. Then last week one of our office Elders got on the MRT (subway)and sat down next to an American. They started talking and found out that he had worked with his dad in Houston, Texas. What are the chances of meeting someone in a city of over 5 million people that had worked with your dad half way around the world! It truly is a small world!

The missionary work is going great here in our mission. There are many baptisms each week as our missionaries work so hard in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with their brothers and sisters in this part of the world. How they all love the people of Malaysia and Singapore! The people are wonderful.

By the time we return home in July, 3 of our grandsons will also be serving missions. One in Indiana, one in Brazil, and one in Chile. Serving a mission is such a great opportunity for them and they grow up so much during their 2 years of serving others - as we witness every day with the missionaries here. How we love our missionaries!

We love each of you too! You are always in our thoughts and prayers.

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

The attached photos are of the 3 Elder's and 1 Sister that just returned home and the group of 9 Elders and 2 Sisters that just arrived.

May 2, 2012

Hello all,

Well it's been about 3 weeks since we have had a chance to write our last letter. It seems that the closer we get to going home, the busier we are getting. We had one of our new Elders (Elder Thee) get sick on the bus ride to his area in Penang, Malaysia. He was hospitalized for several days up there and then we brought him to Singapore to get him treated. We took him to 3 different doctors (a GI doctor, a neurologist, and an internist) and none of them could figure out what was wrong with him. He couldn't eat anything and could drink very little (we almost had to force him to drink) as anything caused him stomach pains. His legs were so weak he could hardly walk. He lost 35-40 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks. He is a big guy (has a scholarship as a tackle for college football). His companion had to return to his area and we couldn't stay home with him, so the decision was made to send him home to Hawaii until he gets well. I had an email from his mother this morning and the doctors there still haven't figured it out- they all think it is some kind of bug! Hopefully he will return soon. He is such a great guy. He never once complained and his companion was amazing with him. Elder Thee's father was the first member baptized in West Malaysia (Penang). He then left and went to BYU Hawaii and married a girl from Arizona. They have lived in Hawaii ever since and Elder Thee was born there. He was so excited to be serving in Penang where his father is from and to be able to teach the gospel to his relatives.

We had two more missionaries come in from East Malaysia on their way to London to the MTC there. They are twin sisters. It was the first time they had ever been away from their home and they were so scared but also excited! They kept hugging us and not wanting to leave. After passing thru security, they kept looking back to see if we were still there. We had to motion to them as to which way to go! What sweet girls. One will be serving in North London and the other in South London. They left at 12:30am and then we took Elder Thee to the airport at 3:30am for his 6am flight back to the U.S.

Our oldest Grandson's (Brandon) wife (Carrie) came to visit us this last weekend. She had been in Penang for two weeks working. She arrived Thursday night so we took Friday and Saturday off from the office and Sunday afternoon to show her around Singapore. We visited the zoo, China Town, Sentosa beaches, the botanical gardens, Bugis (discount shopping stalls), Little India, one of the really nice expensive malls, the top of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, a walk along the beach, the top of Mt. Faber (the tallest mountain in Singapore), a boat ride down the Singapore river, and lot fo rides on the MRT (subway). It was so much fun to show her around this beautiful country! It was unusually hot the 3 days she was here. We were dripping wet most of the time. Of course, the day after she left it cooled off some (not that it ever gets cool).

We have another couple coming to stay with us in a week and a half for a Zone Conference and then staying for a special conference where we will have a General Authority from SLC visiting the region on the 18th and 19th. They won't tell us who it is yet for security reasons, but the rumor has it that it will be Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Whoever it is, it will be wonderful.

Serving a mission here in Singapore has been such a wonderful experience and we are grateful everyday that we have this opportunity and that our health allows us to serve. The people are wonderful and we have learned to love them so much - but we still miss our family and friends.

We pray for you all daily.

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