Elder and Sister Garrett in Singapore!: 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)