On the same day that we took the tour of the bird park, we also signed up to take a tour of the city of Singapore.  We began with a boat ride up and down the Singapore River.  This is where the city of Singapore all began, with its shipping and importing and exporting of goods back in the late 1800's. 






 The city skyline is quite an awesome sight.  The skyscrapers are everywhere and just behind this scene, there are hundreds of old "shop lots" from years ago.  Steps lead right up to the side of the shop lots and people would pull their ships right up to the steps and drop off their goods.  Our tour guide told us that the only thing that Singapore can claim that they actually make is "babies".  They have no other natural resources and Singapore exists through its shipping.  It is the largest shipping capital in Southeast Asia.

 At this point on our tour, my camera ran out of battery power and I had to begin using my cell phone to take the pictures.  They still turned out just fine.  The first picture above is the world famous "Singapore Flyer"  Each of the sections holds 28 people and we never got around to getting on it and taking the ride.  They say you have to see Singapore at night on this giant ferris wheel.  The other picture above is the unique architecture all around Singapore.

 This is the famous "Merlion".  It is the symbol of Singapore and you see it on all the TV shows and logos and everywhere.  The Merlion has the head of a lion, which symbolizes the strength and courage of Singaporeans, and the body of a mermaid, because they began as a shipping port and always remember their history and roots.  It is quite a large statue that shoots water out of its mouth 24/7.  The second picture is another skyline picture of Singapore.

 This final picture of our boat tour is a famous hotel with three separate towers.  The unique part of the hotel is a giant ship that the owner built on the top of the three towers.  You can pay $25 sing dollars and go up and take a tour of the ship, which we did not do.  We are told that the ship has all kinds of gardens and trees and swimming pools and luxury resort items for those that can afford such things.  The second picture, on the right, is a wall hanging in a "gem" and precious stone factory that we visited next, after the boat tour.  They had hundreds of jade and diamond and all kinds of valuable stones that were carved by hand into amazing pictures and figurines.  Everything had a price on it, from thousands and thousands of Sing Dollars to the tiniest little figurine of little animals for only S$25.  Everything in this picture is made out of various precious stones that were carved to create the picture.

 As we ended our afternoon tour, we were taken to an Indian Temple.  It was so gorgeous and ornamented with animals and life size figures all around the various roofs of the temple.  At this point on our tour, our feet were killing us and couldn't wait to get back into the tour bus with the air conditioning and the soft seats.  The tour driver told us all sorts of interesting stories.  Just 12 years ago, the government decided to help their people have more children, so they took all singles names and placed them in a computer program.  Then they matched people up and offered them the opportunity to marry, if they chose.  If they married and had a child within the first year, they were given S$18,000 sing dollars.  Needless to say, lots of kids came into the world during this period of time.

This is a sign in all the elevators in our hotel.  We thought it was so funny to see that "durian" is not allowed in the hotel.  The durian fruit, which we tried a few months ago, tastes terrible, but many people love it.  It has a very bad smell to it and I thought it tasted and smelled like "an oil change".  Whenever we walk into the front of all the stores, during the durian season which happens to be right now, you get that strong gross smell of the fruit.  I have to actually hold my nose as I walk by.  Everyone tells us that you have to try eating durian about 3 times and then you'll like it.  One was enough for me and I'll have to get up the nerve to try number two.
The amazing part of our 6 days in Singapore happened as we went back into Malaysia.  Last time, 3 months ago, we were detained and had a very difficult time getting back into Malaysia.  This time, Linda and I fasted on Wednesday and we have prayed, over the past few weeks, that the Lord would allow us to come back through immigration, into Malaysia, "without incident".  Those were the exact words that we used in our prayers.  As we came up to the window and the taxi driver handed our passports to the sweet Muslim sister, she stamped them without ever even looking up at us and passed the passports back to the driver and we continued on to our apartment.  Heavenly Father and His Holy Son, Jesus Christ, answered our prayers with exactness and love.  We passed through the borders "without incident" and we are ever grateful for His "tender mercies".  We love serving the good people of Malaysia and know we must "trust in the Lord with all our hearts" and "He shall direct our paths".  We know this to be true.
We just got word that one of our sweet elders in Kuching (East Malaysia) was hit by a car and died. His name is Elder Wiberg from Roy, Utah.  He was hit on Friday, after flying back from Zone Conference, while riding his bike.  He broke his leg, shoulder and wrist and was in a coma.  He passed away on Sunday evening.  Everyone here is so saddened and pray for his family.  We know that he was just transferred again to another assignment on the other side of the veil. 

 As part of our visa run to Singapore, we decided to do some tours this time and enjoy of few days of relaxation.  We began by taking a tour of the Jurong Bird Park.  We went with 2 other senior couples and had a wonderful morning together.
This is a picture of the entrance to the park itself.  Through the entire path, gorgeous orchids are growing up both sides and across the trees in purples and whites and yellows.  It was so beautiful, and we didn't even enter the bird park yet.

The cost of things in Singapore are much higher than in Malaysia.  It cost us S$35 (Sing Dollars) per person to go into the park.  Sing Dollars are very close to US Dollars, where the currency in Malaysia (ringgit) is three to one.  One RM (ringgit) is about $.33 cents in American dollars.  We took all six missionaries and both of us out to eat today and it cost me RM 50, which is really only $16.50 for 8 people to eat a very large meal.
We do love living in Malaysia.

 We saw thousands of different colors and kinds of birds through the entire morning.  It was really quite fun to walk all the paths and see so many birds.  You could take pictures with these parrots, but no one wanted to spend the money to hold one of them.

 The flamingos were everywhere and had such bright colors to them.  We just sat there and watched how they walked with their knees turning backwards.  Everything is backwards here, the birds, the driving, the escalators, and the the whole country itself.  We went with Elder and Sister Allen to the park, who have been out on their mission for just one week.  We were also with Elder and Sister Crookston, who were originally assigned to India and then got transferred to the Singapore Mission. 

 This crane just sat there and we had to do a few retakes to see if it was real or not.  It never moved.  Finally, he moved his head and walked away.  At this point in the walking tour, Elder Allen was just dripping with sweat.  It was close to 95 degrees this day and I guess I'm getting use to it.  I told him he would adjust in a few weeks and this would seem normal to him.  I sweat around my collar, but everything else stays dry.  Maybe I am getting use to it.  One Sept. 1, we will begin our sixth month already.

 There was a very beautiful water fall and that only added to the 100% humidity that we were already experiencing.  This is the only picture I could sneak in of Linda.  She really hates to have her picture taken.  She kept moving to the side and I had to snap a quick picture before she moved right out of the picture frame.  She is so cute.

 Here is the beautiful "iguana bird".  Not really, but it was quite neat to see sitting on the rock.  There were other lizards in the park as we walked along the trails.  Seeing this iguana brought back memories for us when we had our own iguana years and years ago.  His name was "Gus".  We had him downstairs and fed him greens.  Later he became so frisky and he could swish his tail and cut open your arm if you weren't careful.  We eventually had to get rid of him.

 Again, the flamingos were a beautiful sight.  There were so graceful in their appearance and walking about.  The tour placards that we read along the way told us that flamingos are really pure white.  It is what they eat that turns their bodies a pink coloring.  I loved to just stand there and watch their necks as they drank up the water.  At this point in the tour, we were hurrying back to the front entrance, where we found some air conditioning.

The tour ended with a large display of parrots right next to the flamingos.  They were making quite a lot of noise as we passed by.  Elder and Sister Allen were dripping wet at this stage of the tour and couldn't wait to get back into the tour bus and have a bit of air conditioning blowing on them.  We then left for our next afternoon tour, after we went to a chicken place for some lunch.  It was a very worthwhile sightseeing tour at this bird park.

 An amazing historic time for the sweet people of Malaysia.  The Book of Mormon just arrived in August of 2013 in "bahasa Melayu" (language of Malay).  It is the greatest honor to actually be here in the country of Malaysia, in the Singapore Mission, and hold our very own copy of the Book in Mormon in Malay.  We have been using the Book of Mormon in Indonesian for many years here in Malaysia and it's a much larger book and the Iban and Malaysian people have a difficult time reading it and understanding it. 

 Just as the scriptures prophecy, that every nation, tongue and people will hear the gospel in their own language, it has come to pass in this humble country. We had the privilege of taking the first 3 copies to our bahasa speaking families and they were so excited and thrilled.  They held it to their breasts and hugged it and we all went around the room and bore testimonies of the great importance of the Book of Mormon.  I was able to share my testimony in bahasa.  What a wonderful blessing.

 

This is the picture on August 20, 2013, with the entire Singapore and West Malaysian areas, holding a copy of the Malay Book of Mormon.  We are sitting next to Pres. and Sister Mains in the front row.  All the seniors got to sit in chairs. There is also another picture similar to this one with all the elders, sister and senior couples from East Malaysia.  Their conference was on Aug. 22nd.  We are so honored and amazed to live in the day and actually be right here in Malaysia when this sacred volume came to the people and we got the opportunity to give them out and share the message of the Book of Mormon.

 On Thursday night, August 15, 2013, we were invited to 2 homes for Family Home Evening.  Notice that Monday's are not always FHE here in Malaysia.  It is whenever you can get everyone together.  Anyway,  we went to Brother Jimmy and Sister Minang's outside gathering.  Good food and lots of mosquitoes.  This picture is the 2nd home.  We visited Sister Madeline's home with her new baby girl.  The FHE was for a missionary that went home back in May, Elder Rasmussen.  He is in the orange striped shirt and his mom is standing in the background with the white pants on. 

 This is Sister Madeline's little girl.  Back in May, Sister Madeline asked me to give her a blessing, since she was sick through much of her pregnancy.  Then, in August, she delivered prematurely.  The baby was only 4 1/2 pounds and the cord was wrapped around her neck.  I gave another blessing to Sister Madeline and through her, blessed her little girl, since the baby was in ICU and no one could enter.  She came home a few weeks later and is doing fine.  Now Sister Madeline has 4 daughters. 

 THIS IS OUR FIRST BAPTISM!  I interviewed Sister Vennesa for her baptism, as District President.  She read the questions in bahasa as I read them to her in English.  She did well.  Then, I asked her who she wanted to baptize her.  She said that she prayed about it for some time and Heavenly Father told her that I was suppose to do the baptism.  I was shocked.  Senior couples very rarely get to perform any baptism while serving on a mission.  It was a great honor.

This is Sister Vennesa's family.  Her mom in the orange, her husband next to her, and little Eddie in my arms.  As a younger teenager, Sister Vennesa was kidnapped, raped and got pregnant.  All by herself, she brought Eddie into the world.  Later, she married Brother Mike and now, she is expecting another baby.  Brother Mike is taking the missionary lessons, but has a few things to overcome yet.  He is a great young man.  President Joe, the 1st Counselor in the Masai Branch Presidency, is Sister Vennesa's brother.  Sister Vennesa was the one that introduced all her family to the church and is the last one to get baptized.  What a wonderful Sabbath day!

 On Saturday evening, August 3rd, we held a Food Storage Fireside.  This is Elder and Sister Howell, who are Humanitarian Missionaries in the Singapore Mission.  They travel around the mission and give presentations on food storage.
They are from the South Jordan, Utah area and are serving for 18 months.  They have already been out for some time and will shortly end their mission.







This is the sealing machine, the mylar bags and a box of oxygen absorbers to put in the bags.  Our job was to promote the fireside and get all the necessary equipment like bowls, scissors and, of course, the treats for after the meeting.  

 We were given all the white buckets (50 of them), the sealing machine, 100 mylar bags and hundreds of oxygen absorbers, at no cost to our JB District.  The Howell's used their humanitarian funds and the church supplies everything for the members.  Now, we have to keep all this equipment somewhere in the district office or in our own apartment.  On the table are bags of rice (beras) ready to be placed in the mylar bags and sealed for the members.

 Here are some of our faithful members.  My sweetheart is upfront, then behind her is Sister Norma, the District R.S. President.  By her is Sister Julia with her daughter.  Behind Sister Norma is Brother Ng, who will be sustained tomorrow to be the 2nd Counselor in the JB Branch Presidency.  He and his wife just got back from the Hong Kong Temple, where they were sealed a few months ago.  Along side of Brother Ng is my wonderful, faithful counselor in the JB District, President Hong Min Tan.
(wearing the glasses)

 Our turnout, for the fireside at 7 PM, was about one person, Sister Norma.  Then, around 7:20 PM, we get a lot more people coming with their dry goods in bags to be sealed.  Brother Jimmy is in the white shirt with blue stripes.  He is receiving the Melchezidek Priesthood tomorrow and his wife, (in the same row) Sister Minang, are going to the Manila Temple to be sealed in December.  We hope to go with them.

Everyone gathered around the sealing machine, very interested in how it works.  We began with Sister Julia's dry goods, placing about 8 cups of rice in each mylar bag.  Then Linda placed 2 oxygen absorbers into the bag and Elder Howell began sealing them up.  When we looked at our 4 mylar bags, which we sealed last night, the oxygen absorbers take out all the oxygen in the bag and they are rock solid.  It was quite amazing.

 We were very excited to see Brother Michael, with his wife and 2 children, come out with their dry goods.  Brother Michael is an investigator, taking the lessons from the elders.  His one little boy in his arms is quite adorable and the other little guy, about 4 years old, is a real "pistol".
It was great to have some non members at our fireside.  We hope the word spreads about this machine.  We get to keep it and use it for members and non members alike, anytime they need it.

 Everybody got into the act of food storage and sealing up their dry goods.  Sister Julia brought rice and noodles, Sister Alan brought just rice, and Sister Minang brought all sorts of things.  She had some rice, then some macaroni, then some small green lentils and even some round homemade treat that looked like small wagon wheels.

This is a great picture of the line up for the sealing machine.  Sister Kuari, Brother Michael's isteri (wife), stood in line with her green bags from home filled with dry goods.  Presley, in the striped shirt, came with his sister, and brought a package of sandwich cookies.  He was so excited to seal them up, until he got to the machine and was told that only dry goods could be sealed and cookies didn't qualify as "dry goods".  He laughed and handed them out to everyone.

 Along with the sealing machine, the mylar bags and the oxygen absorbers, we had delivered to our apartment 50 white buckets and 50 lids.  The members were more excited about getting a white bucket than about sealing up food.  A white bucket like this could be used for washing dishes, or for bathing or lots of other things than sitting around your home holding some rice.  We fear that the members will take this food home and open the bags within a week and not store for long term.

 I'm there, helping Sister Julia and Sister Minang, to put some macaroni in one of the mylar bags to seal.  Sister Julia, in the green, will be called tomorrow as the new Young Women's President of the Masai Branch, and Sister Minang, in white, will be called as the new Relief Society President tomorrow in Masai.  They are both such faithful sisters in the kingdom.

 Just look how intently I am working on sealing the mylar bags.  You have to hold them, just the right way, to make a permanent seal.  If you get a wrinkle in the mylar bag, it allows air into the bag and then it doesn't seal completely.  The machine comes with this cute little foot pedal.  You get the bag in place, then step on the foot pedal, and wait for the sealing to take place.  It takes a few seconds and then you pull the bag off the machine and the members write on the outside of the bag the date and the item stored.

 Here is my beautiful bride, helping everyone get their mylar bags ready for me to seal.  Four different brethren took turns doing the sealing, so we could all have a chance to learn how and so others would learn how to run the machine when the senior couple is no longer here.  Elder Howell started to show us, then I took over, then Brother Ng wanted to try his hand at it and finally Brother Jimmy got involved.  It isn't that difficult to do.  We will probably turn the machine over to the District R.S., who will keep it very busy between the two branches.

 At one point in the evening, the sealing machine stopped working.  The Howell's told us that they could seal approximately 100 bags.  We had just finished about 8 mylar bags and the bar, that comes down to seal the bag, stopped dropping when stepping on the foot pedal.  We are all intently searching for the solution to fix it.  So I turned off the machine for a few seconds, said a quick prayer, and turned it back on again.  It started to work immediately.  Elder Howell read the directions after that, where it stated to just turn off the machine for 3 seconds and turn it back on again if it causes problems.

Here is the best picture of all.  We only sealed 8 buckets of food to store, but it is the first time in Malaysia that food storage (using mylar bags) has ever happened.  The most sacred part of the evening took place right after this picture was taken.  Everyone moved away from the buckets and then began gathering up their kids and belongings to go home.  No one touched their buckets.  The amazing faith of these Saints in Malaysia is unbelievable.  Every person who brought dry goods to store thought that they were told by their prophet to give up some food to the church and store it in these bags.  They did not know that they were going to take it home with them.  Every person, who came to our fireside, are very poor and have very little in way of food or clothing or homes or belongings.  They get by day to day and just make ends meet.  But their prophet of God, Thomas S. Monson, told them to bring food to this fireside and store it.  They obediently gave of their own food, believing that Heavenly Father will take care of them, no matter what.   What great faith and courage and love of God, to give the only food they had to the church.  The fireside was a great hit, with some non members attending and lots of participation from both branches.  But I will never forget the faith of these current day pioneers, willing to give their all for the building up of the kingdom of God.  I pray to someday be as faithful.