Elder and Sister Garrett in Singapore!

An extremely busy week and Dad was in the hospital.

Greetings from Singapore!

This has been an EXTREMELY busy week. We sent 16 Elders and one Sister home on Wednesday morning at 5:50 a.m. and then at 12:50 p.m. we greeted 18 new Elders and one Sister. Many of the 19 trainers also came in at about the same time, so we had quite the group at the airport. One man came over and said he was impressed at how many different nationalities there were and yet everyone was hugging each other, etc. He couldn't believe that they all got along so well.
We PACKED all their luggage into our mission van, the service center station wagon and the President's car. Dave drove the van, I drove the station wagon (with a bike strapped on the top, and the office elders drove the Presidents car. All the missionaries rode the MRT to Little India for lunch (the President loves to have them experience eating with their hands on their first day in
Singapore - if only their mothers could see them!) All the new Elders and
their trainers stayed in a hotel that night and the one Sister stayed with our local Sisters. Our Office Elders and the Sisters cooked all the food here at our house for the Welcome Dinner on Wednesday night and for lunch on Thursday and then transported it to the Stake Center. They were great, but
our kitchen needed some major cleaning afterwards!
While at the airport at 4 a.m. to send the old Missionaries off, one of the security people at the Delta check-in came over to Dave and me and opened her wallet to show us a picture of Christ with the name of our Church on it. She wanted to know if we were all members of this Church. A missionary in the past had given it to her. She has been so impressed with our young missionaries. While we were talking to her another worker came over and he started talking to us about the Church and our great young men! What an impression they make on others! We were so sad to see the Missionaries leave, but we have great new ones too. The new ones have no idea what great adventures they will have! Most went to their new areas on Thursday night and the rest left by noon on Friday. We can't even remember how many trips we made to the airport and back! By Friday night we were exhausted, but it was a great week. Saturday morning we cleaned house all morning then went back to the office to get some work completed and Saturday night we went to a Baptism for a Chinese lady and her mother. We are having so many Chinese join the Church.
The young lady has such great English with a definite British accent. She sounds like Julie Andrews. We don't know where she got that accent. She went to New York to major in Asian Studies, but I'mwe're sure she didn't pick it up there.
When we had the open house for the beautiful new chapel here in Singapore we received over 300 referrals from people who visited and now want to talk to the missionaries. The missionaries are meeting with a lot of them - most are Chinese. The Chinese people are so interested in the Gospel!
We transported a bike to JB this morning for one of our Elders who was transferred. We were nervous about it, but had no trouble at all except in getting the immigration officer to understand the word bicycle (it was tied to the top of the car in a box). We have been attending both branches in JB. The new "Masai" branch is really small and it is almost all in Malay and Ibon, but the people are great. Sometimes though we have more trouble understanding people who speak English (Singlish).
　
One of our American Sisters serving in East Malaysia has been really sick (she was diagnosed with TyphoidI) but we are really not sure what it is. It is a month now and she is still not feeling good at all. We are flying her in tomorrow to see a specialist here in Singapore. She will be staying here with us until we find out what is going on with her. The medical care in Malaysia leaves a lot to be desired. We have been really blessed that so few of our missionaries get sick - injuries are more common (luckily non have been serious).
We're sure that there were other things that we wanted to share, but are too tired to think! It is a wonderful kind of tired though. Anytime you are serving the Lord you are blessed. We are so fortunate that our health allows us to serve our Heavenly Father here in Singapore and to share in the experiences of our Young Missionaries. How we love all of them!
　
Well that is it for this week. We pray for all of you daily and miss you.
Elder and Sister Garrett (mom and dad, grandma & grandpa, friends and relatives)

Some of the outgoing missionaries in the van.

Outgoing missionaries with some of their parents.

Us with outgoing sister (one of the hardest working ones in the mission).

Singapore sister with outgoing sister.

New missionaries retrieving luggage.

New missionaries upon arrival at the Singapore Airport (one came in the next day from the Manila MTC).

August 3, 2011

Hello,
I just wanted to let you know that Dad is in the hospital overnight. He had a major dizzy spell this morning after he got out of the shower. He started seeing double, got dizzy, nauseated, and broke out in a cold sweat. He came in and layed on the bed and then got up to go the bathroom to throw up and fell.
It took a while before he was able to get up (he threw up several times while on the floor). He then was able to get on the bed and after about a half hour was feeling better. He then got up and insisted on going to the office. I worried about him all the way there, but he insisted he was ok. As soon as we got to the office I called a cardioligist that others have used. He said to meet him at the hospital (his office is in the same building). President and Sister Clark were on their way in to the office to take Sister Jensen (one of our young sisters from East Malaysia who was here for tests). He insisted that we go by MRT as he didn't want the President to know he didn't feel good! We have to walk a couple of blocks to the MRT ride it one stop and then walk a couple of more blocks or so to the hospital. I could just see him having another dizzy spell on the MRT, but we made it there without any problems. The doctor came right in and checked him, and while Dad was feeling good and wanted to leave the doctor said that there was a possibility that it could be a precurser to a stroke so he wanted him to stay overnight. He called in a Neurologist and they did a MRI on his head. It turned out just fine - no clogged arteries, but they still wanted to observe him overnight. The last time I talked to Dad (about
9:00) the cardiologist still hadn't been in. Hopefully he will be released in the morning - you know how much he likes hospitals!!

President Clark and the AP's came in and gave him a blessing. They (President & Sister Clark and the AP's) left for Miri in E. Malaysia this evening. I feel very isolated here. I am the only Senior missionary here and know very few people here in Singapore! The office Elders have checked on me a couple of times though (they are wonderful). The Gregory's came over for a P day today and went to Sentosa Island (a resort area) and left their car here. They came by this evening to pick it up.

Hopefully everything is fine with Dad. I just wanted to let you know so you can keep him in your prayers. I'll let you know how he is doing.

I guess you all heard that Scott got his mission call to Concepcion, Chili. He reports to the MTC on the 10th of August - one week!!

Well I need to try to get some sleep. I love all of you so much!!

Debbie, did Laura leave? I can't believe they are actually leaving. I hope it works out for them. It will be hard for them with no family around.

Love,

Mom

Terra Cotta Warriers & an Indian Wedding

Hello,

Well this has been a BUSY couple of weeks. We'll start with the Indian wedding we went to two weeks ago. It was definitely a cultural experience! The hall it was in was beautifully decorated. There was a LOT of ceremony performed with the bride and groom separately by a man we called a "genie" (by the way he was dressed - or Dave said straight out of Indiana Jones). We don't have any idea what was going on, but it was interesting. The music was VERY loud through the whole ceremony with the same beat the whole time. The ceremonies went on for at least 2 hours which even included a small fire on stage as part of the ceremony (Dave wanted to ask if they had a fire permit!). There were no microphones so we couldn't hear anything and often couldn't see anything due to the family on stage. After they were finally married, they served a great Indian buffet. We left at about 10 p.m. and didn't make it back home until almost 1 a.m. due to the traffic at the border. But it was a lot of fun and almost the whole branch came out to support them.

We went to the Asian museum with the Howarth's and President & Sister Clark to see some of the Terra Cotta Warriers on loan from China. China has uncovered several pits with the soldiers in them. One pit alone has over 6,000 life size warriers in it along with horses and chariots. No one seems to know the purpose of them. Each one is different. It was fascinating. One of the interesting things at the museum was a display of gold plates that were ancient Chinese scriptures!

This last week was our first ever Senior Conference. Since everyone has to come into Singapore every 90 days to renew their Visas we decided to bring everyone in at the same time. We had 5 couples plus a single sister staying with us, the Clarks had a single sister (President Clarks mother) and one couple, one stayed in a hotel (by choice) and the rest were housed at members homes. We had the ones staying until Thursday or Friday. The first couple arrived last Sunday. It was a LOT of work planning the menus, buying the food, booking tickets, getting the house ready, etc., etc. We had everyone here Monday night for a spaghetti dinner (34 seniors) and then the actual conference was held on Tuesday at the Stake Center. We bought the food, but the Office Elders, the Sisters, and the AP's (Assistants to the President) prepared all the food on Tuesday and then served and cleaned up. They were wonderful. We also invited several Senior Couples from the Singapore Stake to the Tuesday night dinner hoping to inspire them to serve a Senior Mission! All day on Tuesday, we had each person share highlights from their areas of service. What an incredible group of Seniors! The spirit was so strong at our meetings. Wednesday the re were no meetings but everyone (4 couples left Wednesday) was free to do what they wanted. We had to be at the office to get caught up and several had doctor appointments while the rest explored Singapore. Wednesday night we all went to the Singapore river and had dinner and then went on a boat ride down the river (through the downtown area). We had the boat to ourselves. It was a beautiful night and everyone had a great time. Everyone gets along so well and we have so much fun together!

Friday morning one of our couples returned home after finishing their mission. How we all hated to see them leave. They made such a difference in so many lives in Kuching (East Malaysia). We had to leave at 3:30 a.m. to get them to the airport for their flight back to Utah. Then at 6:30 a.m. we went to the airport again to take the President and Sister Clark and the AP's for their trip, and then back to the airport again at 11:30 to take 2 couples to the airport!! We were up until at least midnight every night that week visiting with the other couples (we don't have the same rules as the young missionaries). Needless to say, we were exhausted but it was a wonderful week.

The Howarths will be staying with us starting tomorrow for three days and then on Tueseday, their replacements fly in. Their replacements will be stationed in Kuala Lumpur - not Singapore. The Howarths are released on the 26th. Their three children fly in this week and they will be going to Bali in Indonesia for a few days. How we hate to see them leave. We have become such good friends. It will be lonely here without them.

On the 27th we have 17 Missionaries returning home at 5:50 a.m. and then at 12 noon we have 19 new Missionaries arriving from the US! The logistics of getting the ones in for their final interviews with the President (over a 3 day period) and getting the trainers in for the 19 new missionaries is staggering! Transportation alone is a huge problem. We hate to see the old ones leave. You really get attached to them - especially the ones who have been serving in Singapore. Both of the AP's are leaving. We are happy for them though. Their parents will be so happy to see them and to see the growth that has taken place in their sons and daughters during their missions. The experiences most of these missionaries have had is incredible. They are truly "choice spirits". Our new group coming in is also an incredible group. Almost all are Eagle Scouts, 5 of them speak and write Arabic, and several speak several languages - one speaks 5 languages! Most of them excelled in academics and sports. I think we get the "cream of the crop" in our mission - although I am sure most missions feel the same way!

Today in Jahor Bahru, the Branch was split into two Branches. It is exciting as it will help both branches to grow. Even though it was split geographically, it will probably end up with the Chinese going to one Branch and the Malay and Ibons going to the other one. Until a new building is ready, they will both meet in the same building. We don't know which branch we will be assigned to, but for a while we will probably be attending both. Hopefully we will still see the Gregory's each week! The Church in Malaysia is so new that there are many struggles, but the people are true Pioneers and as their children grow, the Church will become stronger and stronger. We feel blessed to be a small part of the growth in this remarkable part of the world!

We love each of you and are thankful for your prayers on our behalf. We love all of you and pray for you daily.

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

Dinner along River Walk

"6th" of July picnic

Scene along River Walk

Elder Erickson and President Clark

"6th" of July Picnic

Senior group on River Boat

Photo from River Boat

Old and new architecture

More river boats

Merlion - Symbol of Singapore

Ancient Chinese Scriptures on gold plates.

Terra Cotta Warrior

Terra Cotta Warriors

1st Quarterly Senior Conference

Elder "Sugi" one of our favorites

Bride in one of her outfits

Bride, attendant and "genie"

Groom washing his father's feet

Bride and Groom

Bride washing father's feet

Entrance at Indian Wedding

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Hello all,

We hope this letter finds everyone doing great. We are having such a marvelous time - not that it's easy, but there are so many wonderful things that happen on a daily basis that we feel so blessed to be a part of. One of the highlights of this week was the open house and dedication of the newest chapel in Singapore. It is beautiful. The two wards assigned to the building have been meeting in a shop lot chapel and now they have a beautiful 3 story Chapel. It has lawns around it, which is really unusual in Singapore. There were a lot of non-members at the open house. People in the area of the new Chapel were really curious about this beautiful church. All the different orginazations set up a room of displays. Our Elders/Sisters here in Singapore worked all week getting ready. They did a wonderful job. They also had two baptisms this week and are hoping to have more as a result of the open house. They had many dignataries from Sinapore attend a special meeting at 7 p.m. They presented 40 new wheelchairs to them from the Humanitarium division of the Church.

This morning Dave spoke in the Jahor Bahru branch. He spoke on The Family: A Proclamation to the World. He did a wonderful job. Speaking on the importance of a strong family living the standards of the Church was a great subject to speak on and one that is very special to us. As the family is under attack more and more these days, it is even more important than ever to have a strong family that lives the values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At church today, a new couple came. They have a 42 foot sailing yacht that they have been sailing all over Asia. They spend about a year in each port and then move on. They have been doing this for 4 years so far and expect to keep it up for many years to come! They are from Australia - we love their accent. Next Sunday one of the men in the JB Ward is marrying an Indian woman (she attends the Ward, but is not a member). She has invited everyone to the wedding. She said they are planning on 1,000 people and will have a traditional Indian (from India) wedding. She changes dresses twice during the ceremony! They will have traditional Indian food. She insists we all come. If we can get the Office Elders to pick up the President and AP's from the airport we will probably go. The Gregory's want us to come spend the afternoon with them and then we will all go together. It might be a real cultural experience!

The Missionary work is going great in Singapore. The Elders/Sisters teach almost all their lessons in the Mission Office so we have a constant stream of visitors each day. It is wonderful. What a great group of missionaries we have here in Singapore. In the past it has been Malaysia that has most of the missionary work going on, but the ones here are really working hard at spreading the gospel. China may not allow missionaries into China, but the Chinese are joining the Church all over the world.

We ran out of pages in our passports this week since we go back and forth to Malaysia so often. We had to go to the American Embassy to get new pages added to our books. Before we go home, I'm sure we will have to get new passports! Going back and forth has been incident free the last few weeks - let's hope it stays that way!

Well that is our week, not too exciting, but very rewarding. We hope each of you are doing great. We think of you often and wish that we could share our experiences with you. We appreciate your prayers in our behalf. We love all of you!

Take care,

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

The attached photo is of 10 of our 12 Missionaries in Singapore putting packets together for the open house - what a grea!t group

July 4, 2011

Hi there,

We just wanted to wish you a happy 4th - one of our favorite holidays. However, today was a regular day here for us. We celebrated by going to McDonalds for lunch. It was a busy day at the office, lots of visa runners. Tonight we picked up the Clarks and AP's at the airport. We haven't had a chance to send out our letter, but will try to soon. We have to get up really early tomorrow, but we just wanted to let you know we miss all of you and will be thinking about you as you watch fireworks!

Love,

Mom & Dad

Father's Day!

Hi All,

We will make this short as we have a new couple here with us and we need to get back downstairs to visit with them. They arrived at 12:45 a.m. Saturday morning. After a few short hours of sleep, we took them to the Botanical Gardens. They loved it, but I think we wore them out. She had here knee replaced 4 months ago and it started bothering her from all the walking. Plus, the humidity was really getting to them. Maybe we are starting to adjust as it didn't seem too bad to us. They are the Nielsons from Utah. He taught math in the Alpine school district for 35 years. They now run a horse boarding ranch. The haven't served a mission before but worked at an orphanage in Haiti for 6 months and taught English in China for a year. They are the parents of 10 children! We do have them beat in the number of grandchildren though. At last, Dave is not the oldest Senior Elder in the mission! Elder Nielson is 6 months older! I have one Sister who is about 6 months older than me and another one who is 14 years older than me! I guess you are never to old to serve!

We have our new office Elder and he is great, but we still miss Elder Ulrich. At church today in Jahor Bahru, Dave was asked to speak next Sunday on The Family: A Proclamation to The World. It should be an easy subject for him - he loves speaking about the family. You have to keep the talks really basic in JB though.

For Father's Day today he received an e-mail containing Father's Day greetings from almost everyone in our family. He said it was the best Father's Day gift he has ever received - it made him realize how much everyone loves him! We sure miss everyone and miss the family gathering we would have had today to celebrate all the Father's birthdays. Happy Father's Day to all the men who are fathers or future fathers! We are so busy most of the time that we forget what day it even is! What better way to spend our "senior days" though than serving the Lord.

We love and miss all of you and pray for all of you daily.

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, family and friends

The Neilsons at the Botanical Gardens in Singapore.

Gecko on the fence outside of our kitchen.

Dragonfly at the Botanical Gardens.

Shanty town in Malaysia close to our chapel.

Couple having wedding pictures taken in the Botanical Gardens.

Newton Circus

Hello from Singapore,

We hope this finds everyone doing great. It's hard to believe that we've been on our mission for almost 5 months. The time is already flying by. We love Singapore - we never have to think about putting on a sweater or jacket as it is always hot! We just have to worry about having an umbrella with us and it rains almost every day. It is so beautiful here though. All the roadways are landscaped beautifully and the city is exceptionally clean. There is, however, construction almost everywhere you drive. Dave is becoming a "Singaporean" driver. Just cut in front of everyone and hope for the best! So far, so good! To get to the office we have to go around a giant round-a-bout. They call it Newton Circus - aptly named as it is a circus. There are 8 roads that come into it - all packed with cars, buses, taxis, motorcycles, trucks and bicylists. There are four lanes with everyone trying to get into a different lane all the way around! We always feel it a miracle when we make it through safely!

This morning we went to church in Jahor Bahru. We made it through immigration without any problems and arrived almost an hour early. We left at the same time last week and were a half hour late! You never know what to expect. The branch seems to have the attendance going down - it is a real concern. No one is quite sure why, except the leadership in the Branch is really lacking and there seems to be a disconnect between the Chinese, Malay, and Iban members. The people are all so friendly to us though. We went over to the Gregory's (the missionary couple in JB), with the Howarths and Bro. Allen (the high councilman) for lunch. . The Gregory's are a fun couple to be with and love to have other Americans that they can understand to visit with. Today there were talks in Chinese, Malay and English - all the Iban's had gone back to their "longhouses" for their Iban holiday.

This has been a sad week for us. One of our Office Elders, who has been such a huge help to us since we arrived, has been sick and is being sent home on Tuesday. We have a Doctor (missionary) from Hong Kong who is flying in tomorrow to accompany him home. The missionary has been out about 18 months and will be released honorably from his mission. How we hate to see him go. We will get a new Office Elder tomorrow. In about 5 weeks we will be having 17 missionaries returning home and the next day 18 new missionaries arriving. It's going to be crazy. Our two AP's will also be leaving so it's going to be different in the office. They also closed the Service Center for this area two weeks ago (except for two who will be leaving soon for Hong Kong). Everyone is leaving us!!

We love our mission and being in the service of the Lord in these latter days. We love the people here and in Malaysia. We have yet to hear a swear word from anyone (at least that we understood). People are exceptionally polite and everyone is well groomed and neat. You rarely see anyone with long hair (men), with tattoos, baggy pants, and women smoking. The hardest thing for us is adjusting to the food and the way dishes are washed in the "hawker" stands. We ate at one last week with the President and AP's. The owner's son (about 12 yrs. old) was washing dishes in front of the stand in dirty, cold, soapy water and then dipping them in rinse water inside the stand. We couldn't see if it was clean or not - but definitely cold! The owner then dished our food up on the dishes! You never hear of anyone getting sick though.

Well we need to close. We are going to the airport to pick the President, his wife and the AP's up from their latest trip (they have one trip each week). I don't know how the President keeps up his pace. He is definitely blessed - along with his wife and AP's (Assistant's to the President - young Missionaries). That is why Mission Presidents are now all under the age of 60! We pray for you daily and miss associating with each of you, but we also know that the Lord needs us here at this time in our lives.

We love hearing from you when you have time to answer.

Elder and Sister Garrett, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, relatives and friends

We got to meet Elder Bednar!

Hi Everyone,
I’m typing this on the bus coming back from Kuala Lumpur, where we had an incredible time. We left Sunday afternoon after having picked a new Senior Couple up at the airport at 1:15 a.m.. They are the Winters from AZ. They got home a year ago from serving a Mission in Germany. They will be going to East Malaysia to replace one of the Senior couples who went home last month. After we arrived in KL, we found the bus stop was only about 2 blocks from the twin towers. They are the tallest twin towers in the world. So we took off walking pulling all our luggage. The view of them all lit up was beautiful. The young Elders and Sisters that were with us had so much fun taking pictures! We then put the sisters in a taxi for where they were staying and one of the Elders, who had previously served in KL took us by foot, subway and bus to our hotel. It would have been so much easier in a taxi, but he was so excited to get us there without paying for a taxi. The next morning, we took a WILD ride in KL traffic to the chapel where we were meeting. All the missionaries from Singapore, West Malalysia, and Sabah in East Malaysia were able to come as it was combined with a West Malalysia zone conference. There were about 65 total. We met with Elder & Sister Bednar (he is one of our Apostles) for 3 hrs. Elder and Sister Pratt, the General Authority for this part of Asia was also there. He then based almost all his remarks on one verse in the Doctrine and Covenants - Section 88:122. He asked for comments and questions for almost 3 hours. He also kidded back and forth with his wife. He also told us seniors something that he made us all promise not to tell our families or it would be all over the internet by morning! I’ll have to tell you when we get home! I also found out another reason I like him so much. He said he has zero musical talent and can’t carry a tune at all. He said his wife is always telling him, “David, you shouldn’t sing so loud.” Since I also have zero musical ability, I can relate to him. It was a very spiritual meeting and the spirit was so strong there. He also explained to our young missionaries that when they go home their mission is not over. They are to be a missionary for the rest of their lives and to keep in contact with their converts. He also told them that they have a responsibility to keep up the dress standards when they get home. He then left at lunch time to go meet with government officials. They are trying to get the government in Malaysia to recognize our church. On Saturday he was in Indonesia and organized the first stake in that country. He promised that someday the church in Malaysia would have several stakes and to know that we (those in attendance) were part of the history of the Church in Malaysia.
Elder Tabiar (the young elder who stayed with us for a week and a half was able to go with us to KL (even though he isn’t in the zone that was meeting). He then flew home from there today (Tuesday). We are sad to see him go. He is such a remarkable young man. After a colonoscopy and an endoscopy last week – along with some biopsies, the doctor said he had some kind of a bacterial infection. He put him on some broad spectrum antibiotics that he’s hoping will kill the unidentifiable bacteria he has. The doctor said he has only seen this kind of bacteria in one other native Malaysian – usually it is only in non-native people. For some reason, it has only been the native Missionaries that have had stomach problems – the American missionaries seem to do fine.
We will have the Winters with us until Friday. The Smiths are also in for a visa run, so they will be with us until Friday also. Then we will have a break before we have more company. While we really enjoy having the Senior couples here, we will be glad to get back to a somewhat normal routine and once again be able to go on our morning walks.
The last couple of days has strengthened our testimonies of the gospel even more. We are so thrilled to be serving a mission for our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and for the experiences we are having.
We love and pray for you.
Elder & Sister Garrett (mom & dad, grandma & grandpa, friends & relatives)

In the mall next to the hotel the next day.

More waiting for Elder Bednar.

Senior breakfast next morning in hotel.

2nd from the left is John Clark's grandson (FC).

Reading scriptures while waiting.

Elder and Sister Bednar arriving - Sister Clark.

Two of our favorite Elders - Tabiar & Rathnayke

Twin towers in Kuala Lumpur

Fountain in front of the Twin Towers

Elder and Sister Garrett

Waiting for Elder Bednar

Rambutan - Hairy Fruit - Good!!

June 5, 2011

This has been a fairly quiet week (if there is such a thing on a mission!). We haven't had any company this week, but we will in the coming week. We have three missionaries going home this week so they will be with us Tuesday night. We went to Jahor Bahru for Church again today. School is out in Singapore for a month and I think everyone was leaving town for Malaysia. It took us 2 1/2 hrs. to get across the border this morning. Last week coming back from JB (Jahor Bahru) was a little scary. They held us up coming back into Singapore for about 15 minutes and really questioned us about why we were in Singapore and how long we were going to be here, etc. They made phone calls while we waited - not sure why. They finally let us go, but we thought maybe they weren't going to let us back into Singapore! Today though, outside of heavy traffic, they didn't question us at all. One of our young Elders also got held up and taken into a room to be interrogated last week before he was finally allowed to enter Singapore - we're not sure what was going on.

The school year in Singapore includes a month off in June, and a month and a half off in Nov/Dec. The kids study all the time. You can go into McDonalds late at night and it is filled with school kids studying. All kids here wear uniforms and they look great. We have only seen a handful of boys with earrings or tattoos (and I think they were foreigners). We have yet to hear anyone swear (at least in English). The kids are very respectful and will offer us their seats on the MRT, although we usually refuse. When we look around the MRT probably about 90% are either on Ipods or cell phones!

A couple of more thoughts from the meeting with Elder Bednar:

He said he loves to meet with new converts as he travels. He always asks them why they joined the church. They almost always say that when they met with the young missionaries that they butchered the language, and talked about strange things such as the gold plates and living prophets. He then asks them why they kept meeting with them and they all say, because the feeling was so good when we met with them. The Holy Ghost was witnessing to them the truthfulness of the gospel. He also said that we need to act – not just to pray for something and then do nothing. He mentioned how we are always praying in our meetings that those who aren’t there will come next week. He said instead of praying for them, we need to get up and go get them and bring them to church!

The Chinese people here are very reserved and private and don’t like their space invaded, but the Chinese members of the church are very gregarious and fun to be around. We are still, however, trying to get them to talk to us as we walk. We are getting to know one Chinese lady who has lived here for 30 years and walks about the same time as we do each morning. We are learning some interesting things about the neighborhood from her.

We are still staying busy in the office every day and working long hours – when they say that Senior Missionaries can take rest periods, it’s not true here! But we love working in the office. Many of the young missionaries come in each day and we get to talk to them. They teach almost all their investigators in the office and we get to meet them also. We did apartment inspections for the missionaries in Singapore this last week. The apartments of the Elders were passable, but the Sister’s apartment was spotless! We spent a couple of nights before the inspections making cookies and brownies to take to them – which they loved. Hopefully, with cookies, we hope they will look forward to our next visit.

Well we need to go, but know that we pray for all of you each day and miss you, but love our mission and the people of Singapore and JB. We love hearing from you and hearing about your families and what is going on in your lives.

Until next week,

Elder and Sister Garrett (Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, friends)

Interesting facts about Singapore

Hi All,

We didn't get a letter sent out last week due to a lack of time, but all is well in our Mission. We had 4 new sisters come in week before last along with their trainers. They were staying with us. We had to move them into a new apartment and get all their mattresses, bedding, chairs, etc for them. It was fun to be around Sisters and help. This week we had the Brown's come in. They are Family History missionaries from Kuala Lumpur. They came in on Tuesday and left yesterday. We really enjoyed having them here except we didn't get to spend much time with them. They are having great success in teaching the youth in the various areas to do family history work on the computer - the youth learn much faster than their parents!

Thursday night we picked up a young Elder from East Malaysia. He is a native of East Malaysia serving in his native country. He has been having severe intestinal problems. We brought him in to see a doctor in Singapore. The doctor is doing a colonoscopy tomorrow on him. We certainly hope he finds the problem. I guess this has been a recuring problem since he was 18. His mission name is Elder Tabiar (his real name is one no one can pronounce). He is a remarkable young man. Due to their poverty and his having to work to help support his family, he was unable to go to school. After he and one sister and one brother (he has seven siblings) joined the church, he decided he wanted to serve a mission. He taught himself to read and to speak English (although he is limited in his English). He has also taught himself to play the piano and does great at it. He can't read any notes, but plays by ear. He has the cutest smile and will not stay down due to his condition. He didn't want to come to Singapore to see the doctor. He wanted to keep working in his area and never complained even though he was so sick. He's had the option to stay with some of the local Elders who speak Malay, but he has wanted to stay here with us. He starts his colonoscopy "preparation" first thing in the morning. We sure hope the doctor can find out what is wrong.

Next weekend we are going to Kuala Lumpur for a Zone Conference and to meet with Elder Bednar. All missionaries from Singapore and West Malaysia will be attending except for one of our office Elders who was denied entrance into West Malaysia and probably Elder Tabiar. We pick up a new Senior Couple coming into the mission at 1:15 am Sunday morning and then leave after church Sunday afternoon by bus to KL. We will return on Tuesday evening. The Smith's are coming in for a visa run and will be at our house Monday - Friday. It will be a busy week for us!

Our 53rd anniversary was Tuesday so we took an evening and went with the Howarth's to see "The Lion King". It is on tour here and was wonderfu! If it comes to your area, it is definitely worth the money to go see it. Senior Missionaries do get to do some things the young Missionaries don't get to do!

We had a baptism yesterday here in Singapore and we have another one this evening so missionary work is moving along in Singapore, although not as fast as in Malaysia.

Some interesting facts we've learned about Singapore:
There are 40,000+ cabs
There are hundreds if not thousands of buses (we often wait for anywhere from 1 - 7 buses to pass to get out of our driveway).
The MRT (underground subway) system is wonderful. You can get almost anywhere in the city on one. They are clean, fast and safe.
The crime rate is extremely low as the punishment for any crime is swift and severe. The paper told of one person who was caught dealing a small amount of drugs and was given the death penalty.
Singapore is known as the "fine" city, as there are fines for anything from chewing gum, spitting on the street, jay walking, to throwing down trash. Cameras are everywhere!
The skyline is made up of giant cranes and building is going on everywhere.
90-95% of the residents live in high rise apartments - most government owned.
New land is constantly being reclaimed in the ocean surrounding Singapore - as there is no more available land. A lot of land has been set aside for natural areas however.
Parents are paid $25,000 to have a child as the birthrate is so low.
We have some rain almost everyday - we love rain and cloudy days as it cools things off.
Singapore is a beautiful, clean, modern and economically sound country/city.

We love serving the Lord in our small way here and feel very blessed to be able to be in Singapore. Missionary work is wonderful! We do, however, miss family and friends back home, but the time is flying by.

We love each of you!

Dave and Glonda (Elder & Sister Garrett)