Hey hey orang yang saya sayang,
It's safe to say I'm a little city slicker now. People have told me I look Singaporean. I've gotten pretty good at waving down buses, and I know the MRT (metro) like the back of my hand. Singapore is basically one big mall, we're bombarded by lights and noise and advertisements everywhere we go, but it sure is a beautiful city. It's really fun talking to people on the public transportation, they look so tired because people here work all the time, but as soon as I start talking to them they light up. And I love saying hi to people as I pass them, everywhere I go. Sometimes, sure, they're too busy or too in a hurry to acknowledge me, but most of the time, they smile back. It never gets old.
Oh and no worries, I've used my Malay at least once a day here.
But let me start back at my trip into Singapore last week, the theme of my email last week was supposed to be about love. So I, along with a group of other missionaries, hopped on a plane from Kuching to Singapore, either to transfer to Singapore, JB, or to pick up their trainee. I sat by Elder Hirschi on the plane, his eyes were bloodshot. "I didn't sleep at all last night. I didn't realize I had so much stuff from being in Kuching for 9 months." I think we tried talking to each other, but he fell asleep. And then I think I might have fallen asleep too? Just so you know, missionaries never sleep during transfers. I didn't sleep for like three days, there was too much stuff to do. Oh and I was also sick, I don't know from what. We landed in Singapore, and ran into the Asisters, who where there to pick up the new missionaries, who where landing half an hour after us. Sister Terhani said, "Get out of here, the new missionaries can't see you!" but Elder Toney had to stay since he was the new AP. Elder Capener and I said, "Ha, you have to babysit the new kids!"
I accidentally lost the other Sisters we were traveling with, I think they hopped the MRT. I looked at Sister Terhani and said, "Well, should I pull an MTC solo sister?" and she said that was fine. Elder Capener and Elder Hirschi got us a cab, and at the Newton Chapel, we waited around for a little bit to see when training on how to train would start. We waited in the chapel. I played piano, Elder Hirschi fell asleep, and Elder Capener kind of sat there. President Mains walked in and said hi to us. I laughed when he woke Elder Hirschi up and Elder Hirschi did his best to straighten up and act like he wasn't just asleep, in the chapel, in his P-day clothes. We asked President when we were supposed to be at the chapel, and he said, "Our meeting's not for another 3 hours. We'll see you here at 6." He left, and I turned to the Elders, and said, "Did President basically just dare us to go on an adventure?" The Elders looked at each other, and then at me again, and said, "I think he did."
We hopped on the MRT and went to Marina Bay, and looked at all of the sights, like the Sands Hotel, and the Sands Mall, and the Supertree Grove, the Merlion statue. The best view of the Singapore skyline is from Marina Bay. The three of us vowed that one day, we would pay the S$20 to go to the top of the Sands Hotel, check out the infinity pool, and maybe play some frisbee at the park up there. We said goodbye to Elder Hirschi because he needed to catch a bus to JB, and had our training on how to be trained. I loved it, the biggest thing I learned was to love. There wasn't really a whole lot more to it. Sister Black and I went to the Thomson Hotel, the same hotel I stayed in the first night in the field. That night, I called the Masai elders in JB because I had a referral for them. I called, and Elder Jackson picked up the phone! I was stoked because I haven't talked to him since we got to the field. I asked him how is area was, and he said, "I'm not going to lie, it's a little scary at times." (JB is one of those areas that's a little sketch, but I want to serve there so bad. It's currently closed to sisters.) I told him not to be scared because fear is the absence of faith. Then I asked, "Are you happy?" and he said, "Yeah, I'm happy."
I couldn't sleep at all that night because I was sick. The next morning, Sister Black and I woke up the new sisters, all thirteen of them, and had to cart them back to the chapel. I pretended like I wasn't sick, and did my best to be a good example to them and try to contact people on the bus. I met the coolest guy named Javier, who's an architect from Madrid. I got his contact info and told him if he ever misses his family, he's welcome to come to church with us so it still feels like he has a family. All of the new sisters thought I was so hebat, but I was just kind of winging it...
We somehow managed to get all of the sisters breakfast, and when we got to the chapel, I felt like I wanted to die. I asked Elder Capener, Elder Lambert, and Elder Daw (all from my MTC group) if they could give me a blessing. I know I had the energy to get through the week because of it. The rest of the week was kind of a blur. At the new missionary orientation, I bore my testimony and talked about how obedience brings miracles, and how love changes everything. (I got to bear my testimony a lot this week). I met Sister Hansen, and in keeping with tradition, we got our greenies Indian food at Little India. Sister Nielson showed us where our investigators lived, because she got transferred to 1st ward, but she was previously in 3rd ward. I hope I get to serve with her one of these transfers, her Malay is legit, and it was fun teaching with her in pass-off lessons. She said I was sudah pandai missionary, and sudah fasih bahasa Melayu, which was so sweet of her. We met with Keith, who said he wasn't sure if he wanted to get baptized anymore, which stung.
Then, the rest of the week, Sister Hansen and I followed up with people, found other cool people to teach, and went about missionary work. It's different here, in Singapore, if you have two appointments a day, that's a good day. We spend so much time traveling. A lot of the time, I miss Miri, where we would have 4, 5, 6 appointments a day. I didn't realize I would miss teaching (or Malay) so much, but I do. It's okay, because as I talk to people on the MRT, and on the buses, I can still teach little bits of truth. When people ask me what I'm doing here, I say, "I thought you'd never ask. I love telling people I've been saved by Jesus Christ.
We had a miracle with Keith, at our last lesson, I asked him to read talks from general conference, and in the middle of the week, he texted us and told us he read a really weird article about the church (you know, one of those anti-ones that mixes in truths with lies). Sister Hansen was really bummed, but I just said, "Reading anti articles? Rookie mistake." I texted him back a quote from Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, "I'm not asking you to pretend to have faith you do not have, I am asking you to act on the faith you DO have." He texted me back another quote from conference. Then, at our lesson on Saturday, he said, "I realized from listening to conference that those questions I had before don't matter right now. I want to get baptized. Before the end of the year."
Anyway, I love all the Christmas decorations all over the city. Love (and Christmas) is all around. One of our less actives told me she gets so weary of seeing so many people, so many crowds all the time. I love it, I just see beautiful people everywhere.
On the plane ride from Miri to Kuching, I closed my eyes and said a prayer to God, asking Him if my work, my sacrifice in Miri was acceptable. I felt at peace, I got the confirmation that my work there was done. I hope at the end of my mission, I can say the same prayer for all of my areas and feel the same way.
Well, my time is up. Til we meet again. We're off to play some ultimate frisbee at the beach.
-Sister Wynn
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