We arrived in Singapore Thursday afternoon and went to the beautiful new stake center where we met with the Mission President, President Bryan Skelton and the Service Center Manager, Norman Chia. We had a productive session with them talking about how to involve all of the leadership couples in the mission--there are 18 couples--in employment services in each branch where they labor.
After meeting the them, Norman took us out to the harbor where the government is building a large reservoir to capture the fresh water when it rains and prevent flooding by discharging it into the ocean. The facility also has the capability to take the salinity out of the ocean water to make it potable. As the picture shows, the harbor was teeming with shipping activity as far as the eye could see.
We are standing on top of the large building that houses the intake-outlet pumps. The lawn is a large grass area on top of the building. The fresh water reservoir is to the right and we are looking toward the harbor with the city in the background.
We flew out of the Singapore airport on Friday. They had a beautiful orchid garden in the common area of the airport with pools and fountains and colorful fish. We thought that the ambience of the airport reflected the beauty of Singapore. It is indeed a beautiful city.
We are on our way to teach the Career Workshop at the Kuala Lumpur branch. This intersection gave a good view of the twin towers, a famous landmark in KL.
This is the group who were in the Career Workshop. The workshop lasted almost all day and we had a good time with this group. Everyone was Chinese except for the one fellow from Nigeria. The interesting thing about Malaysia is that almost everyone speaks good English. The members of the Church all speak very good English. In that regard, it is very unlike Hong Kong. Singapore is the same way. You never need to wonder if you will get a taxi driver who can't understand you. They all do in these two countries.
Here is Mom teaching. She is full of enthusiasm and established an immediate rapport. We had a miracle with the young man with his head down. He is dislexic and started the day without looking up and refusing to be involved at all. By the end of the day, he was smiling, had his head up and was willing to participate and be a part of the class. It was an inspiring change for everyone who was there who knows him. Many expressions were made about the change that occurred in him.
Kuala Lumpur in the evening.
On Sunday after church, the senior couples prepare dinner for the young missionaries and each other. We had a few others invited as well. The young man to the right of Kathy is the miracle from our workshop the day before. He wanted to sit by us and he carried on a pretty good conversation. The meal was great! We had roast beef and baked potatoes and gravy and veggies, plus a tasty desert. And the young elders kept the conversation lively.
On Monday, Chuan and Choi Chen Kee, who have become great friends, spent the day with us taking us on a slow tour to the airport. We stopped at Putrajaya, the newly built government city. It is very beautiful and modern with millions of dollars poured into it by the government, which is a Muslum government. Part of what reflects the dominant government is the building of the fourth largest mosque in the country in this city.
Even though Kathy and Choi Chen were required to wear hooded robes to visit the mosque, they still didn't pass muster as true Muslims. The tour guide looks like the real deal while they look like dressed up Mormons.
We stopped at the memorial for the soldiers who gave their lives in the two world wars and the war for independence. The big memorial is a close likeness of the monument of the allied forces taking Iwo Jima. The flag is much like the continental flag of the United States in that they have the red and white stripes and then there is a unique yellow crescent moon and a large star in a blue field--some obvious differences, but you almost do a double take when you first see in flying in the wind above the Iwo Jima look alike monument.
Saturday, May 16, Elder Halverson and I went to the Peak and started our hike on the Hong Kong Trail. Stage one starts at the peak and heads north around the peak and then west to the west end of the island. The day was cloudy and visibility wasn't good, but the temperatures weren't too hot and there was a fine breeze.
We are standing on the west point of Hong Kong Island. This picture was taken from an old pillbox that was used for defense purposes during World War II. Years ago without the haze, they could have seen the mainland easily from this point, as well as the South China sea.
Cyberport is a relatively new part of Hong Kong. The buildings are now and the place was named for the technology center that is here.
This is another shot taken toward Cyberport and the islands in the South China sea. We are looking south from the island.
We have walked around the west and southern ridges of the island and are approaching Aberdeen Harbor.
This is Aberdeen harbor. You can see the fishing junks in the harbor and it is a different view than the pictures we took while riding one of the junks in the same harbor a few months ago with the senior couples. This is also the end of stage two of the Hong Kong Trail. We started at about 8:30 a.m. at the Peak and finished in Aberdeen at 12:30.
Today Elder Halverson, Elder Bench and I decided to hike stages three and four of the Hong Kong Trail. It was raining lightly as we left the apartment. We caught the bus and went to Aberdeen and hiked to the trail where we finished last week. The day was heavily clouded and it rained almost the whole time we were out.
Stage three is heavily wooded and had beautiful scenes. I ruined this one but we were having a good time.
This is one of the many gorges that fills with water when it rains. Today it was just starting to flow with run-off.
We are a long way from Aberdeen and this is a shot of Deep Water Bay. Today's two stages covered a distance of just over 13 kilometers as the crow flies.
Elder Halverson and Elder Bench seeking refuge from the rain under one cover. We decided that we were about as wet with the rain as we would have been from sweat if the sun had been out and it was a whole lot cooler. We finished stage four at Park Place.
