We've been a little negligent on the blog - we think we'll blame it on Carrie Lyn & Jeff who have been here visiting. We did enjoy having them come - they were here for 6 days. They dealt very well with jet lag and didn't get much recovery time, because there were so many places we wanted to go. They accompanied us on our missionary tasks; English class on Saturday night, Masai branch FHE get together on Sunday night, piano lesson on Friday - met many of the members here, a new member's birthday celebration, also the SOS phone call from the elders who wanted to know if we could pay their electricity bill immediately so it wouldn't get turned off that day and then we'd get reimbursed thru the mission. They were able to meet the 4 elders here and help us find the electricity company main office to pay the bill. They helped with the Seminary class end of year social and did the local 'Pocho Pocho' dance at some members' Ebon home. . There were two baptisms planned for the week-end they were here, but they were cancelled. Oh well. They ate roti with us at the corner stand, went to our favorite Chinese restaurant and out by the ocean to look for monkeys. There wasn't enough time to do everything we'd like. But the members here loved them and they all wanted them to come to their house- unable to do it all but they enjoyed getting a taste of 'senior missionary life.' We spent their last 3 days in Singapore doing 'touristy' kind of things. Now it seems like a dream that they were even here. I didn't cry when they left - I'm quite proud of that - but that's partly because Danna Lee and Adam will be here in 3 weeks and we'll get to have family again. CL brought me a new dress and a couple of new skirts and some tops sent by my sister- what a treat.

We had 17 new elders come in to the mission last week. Four more have been assigned here - so we now have 8 elders here. 4 are assigned to the JB branch and 4 to the Masai branch. Two of them are Mandarin speaking - everyone is quite happy about that. We've been helping them find a new place to live, out by the new church building. We think we found one, Garald is going with them this afternoon to get the rental agreement and work out final details. The 8 of them are in one house here now and that is pretty crowded. They'll be very happy to spread out. With 8 elders for district meeting now on Tuesdays, we're thinking of only fixing lunch once a month. May break that news to them tomorrow. The new Masai building is a shop lot that is being renovated and we're all anxious for it to be completed. But Bro. Norman from the Singapore office, who was in charge of the building, has been moved to China. Now it's under the direction of a very nice man who is in Jakarta, named Hagus - so we don't see him very often. He says he needs to depend on us to make sure everything is going okay. As if we know anything about construction here. So we go to the site occasionally and walk through and look like we know what we're doing. Hagus also gave us a list of things to purchase locally- oh my - everything from pianos and sofas, to framing pictures, to nursery tables, clocks, filing cabinets, etc. We're just barely learning our way around a grocery store here, so we're a little nervous about the 'list.' We'll muddle through - we hope.
Unfortunately Garald was not feeling well their last few days here in Singapore. Part of the time he stayed behind and this day he sat on the beach while the rest of us played. We've had such excellent health here - it was too bad that the 'gambu' hit when they were here.

Children love their picture taken and I just couldn't resist this little group on the side of the road one day. They were happy to pose. Cute!
One of our 'recently activated' members took us to visit this relative last week. The mom on the sofa is holding one of her twin boys. She speaks a little English and with Sister Norma as our translator we were able to make an appointment for the elders to teach. Some of the children on the floor are hers and some are her... grandchildren. That's right.
CL & Jeff adapted to 'floor sitting' quite readily. They understood the English speaking Chinese much better than we did - and accepted and ate whatever was served. They were great. I think the members wanted to trade us for them. The Bird Park in Singapore. Garald was home sick. But we had a great day. Yes.. those are live birds above our heads. We also went to China Town, Arab Street and Sentosa resort in one day. Mastered riding the MRT and also used taxis. We're quite proud of ourselves - yes we were lost some - but not for very long. Saw two bird shows, one dolphin show and went to the Night Zoo Safari. But our favorite was going to the Lion King Show at the Marina Bay Sands Theater on the Singapore Harbor. Had to pinch myself frequently - is this for real? It was.