Elder and Sister Garrett in Singapore!: May 2012

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