Ben's Birthday, Ben's Dentist Appointment, Thanksgiving, and Decorating

We have been up to a lot lately. I had my gallbladder removed on November 1 after finding out it was infected and causing me severe pain. I have been off for four weeks, and have enjoyed every minute. Marty was great. He keeps me grounded when I think the world is coming to an end since I have no pay check and lots of bills coming in: ER visit, surgery, dental bills (more on that later), no paycheck. In fact, I've been having to pay my work $250 per payperiod just to maintain my health insurance. Oh, and I got rear ended and paid my $500 deductible to have my car fixed while my insurance dukes it out with the other driver.

On the bright side, I have a wonderful husband and 2 energetic little boys who I love dearly. I have a busy calling, and am able to work with the BEST bishop in the church. He is just super humble and gentle. The BEST.

We celebrated Ben's birthday week November 7. It was fun. The highlight: taking the little darlings to Chuck E. Cheese:




I took with boys to their semiannual dental checkup. Jacob is a card-carrying member of the "no cavities" club. Ben, on the other hand, is the reason silver has sky-rocketed on the market. Because of some faulty dental work he had 6 months ago at a different dentists, he had 2 old cavities that weren't properly filled. They continued to decay, and he now has 2 silver teeth. They are called his "sparkly" teeth. He had to get Valium prior to the dental work. Here is a video of him 5 minutes after sedation. HILARIOUS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISYg9nCxbuc

We had a small Thanksgiving. Just us, Kellie, and Marty's cousin from BYU Idaho. Her name is Cassie, and Jacob loves her. She was quite delightful with the boys, and played UNO and went on numerous bike rides with the kiddies.


We have always used an artificial tree each year for Christmas. This year I wanted a real one with real Christmas tree smell. We found the cutest Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We had such fun decorating it. If you look closely, you will see where Ben helped hang the ornaments and helped decorate the nativity scene.





Last night, we decorated gingerbread houses with Jodi, Don, Jordie, Jacie, Dave and Danna. We had a lot of fun. The kids, namely Ben and Jacie, had fun piping the icing directly into their mouths. If you'll notice, Danna has a brace on her torso. This is what she wears keep her back positioned while it heals since having rods placed a few months ago. Happy Holidays!

THANKSGVING IN MALAYSIA

This is the picture of Satisfaction!!!!! We had just finished eating our Thanksgiving day dinner when I looked around to see if the Elders needed anything else when this is the picture that I saw. They had just finished their desserts.

We had the missionaries and our Katie Bug over for dinner. Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that are not celebrated here in Malaysia. They do understand what it is and why we celebrate this day. Last Thanksgiving we had the missionaries and David Choong. David ate my whole chocolate cake by himself last year---soooo I did not invite him this year. I actually did not invite him last year, but he came with the missionaries. We love David--he has been a great help to us. We have learned that when the church members hear that you are cooking and inviting some people, they just might pop in also!!!!

This year I wanted to have a traditional American Thanksgiving meal for our missionaries. Turkeys(the gobbly kind!!!) are hard to find here in East Malaysia. You can find most things in West Malaysia, especially in KL. I found a frozen Butterball turkey in Hong Seng Coldstorage. It looked as though it had been in the freezer for about 10 years!!!! I'm not kidding!! So we had our usual chicken instead. The Malaysians do not waste anything. They keep it until someone buys it!!! Many stores have items that have been obsolete in the US for years. E. Larson and I love to go in hardware stores here, because we see items that even the Chinese haven't seen for a century!!

Oh well, back to Thanksgiving dinner. I fixed chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing(Sis. Brown brought me a box of corn meal from US last month!!), sweet potato casserole, fresh green beans, seven layer salad, jello-cranberry salad(Thanks to my girls for the REAL jello!!), sweet potato pies, pumpkin pies, and chocolate cake!!!! Understand why the missionaries were laid out on the floor??? It was good even if I do say so myself. I have never made a pie crust before in my life. It's so easy to buy good pie crusts back home, so why waste my time doing that? Well, guess what else you can't buy in East Malaysia. PIE CRUSTS!! Thanks to our Jenny, we had the most delicious pie crusts. She shared with me the most delicious recipe. Also, if you can't find pie crusts, guess what else you can't find? Yep that's right---PIE PANS!!!!! I finally found some disposable tins that substituted for pie pans. Who cares what they looked like, they were delicious. I forgot to tell you that the pumpkin and cranberry sauce that I used had been left by the missionary sister before us. They were still in date. I have a feeling that they had been sent to her or she picked them up in Singapore, because they are not to be found on the Island of Borneo!!!

The best part of Thanksgiving was to watch our young missionaries laugh, enjoy their meal, and then head out to teach the Gospel. I'm so thankful for them and wish that I could let their parents know just how fabulous they are. We had our regular Tuesday District meeting with them today and then went to lunch before they went to teach new investigators. They are such great examples for E. Larson and me. I took the last seven pieces of pie for them to eat today. I would share my last bite of food with them any day!!!

I'm also grateful for my wonderful family members whom I miss more and more the closer we are to coming home. I'm thankful for friends around the world. (I can say that now) We really miss our Ward in Concord, our wonderful Bishop, home teacher, and the best Southern friends anywhere!!! We're so thankful for the terrific new friends that we have made on our mission--fellow missionaries and fellow saints.

I'm especially thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves me, a Savior who made it possible for me to live with family again some day, the Gospel that enriches my life every day, and love that makes me happy and content. Thanks you, Family and Friends!!!

WE LOVE YOU

DAD & MOM

WHEELCHAIR ASSESSMENT TRAINING WITH THE BROWNS

These are the receipients of the chairs and the participants who came for the assessment training. The green shirts were amazing!! The assessed 31 recepients and we gave chairs to 27 of them. Everyone who receives a LDS Wheelchairs must now havwe this assessment done before they can receive a chair.

This program is from the WHO. This is at the closing ceremony which Dad conducted. The lady on the right was our guest and a government official. She spoke on behalf of the government to accept our chairs!!

This was E. Brown's team that did the assessment on this man. The chubby man in the green shirt behind him was so funny. Elders Brown and Larson nicknamed him "Chubby Checker".

This was S. Brown's team who did the assessment for this young man. The young American girl in the picture is Ashley who is doing volunteer work for a year in Malaysia. She is sponsored by the Luthern Church. The young man at her left is Farest(?) He was in a motorcycle accident about 10 years ago. He used to work for Cheshire Homes, but now has his own business. He was our translator.

This man is Joseph Liew and he is a former engineer. So humble and appreciative of his new wheelchair!! He lives in Cheshire Homes. They are our partner in the KK wheelchair project. This was Dad's team herre who did the assessment for Joseph.

Meet the Browns. This is Kim and Gaye Brown from Kaysville, Utah. They have been to Malaysia to visit with us before. They came visit with us in KK and Kuching. They were sent to discuss with our partners the possibility of doing a wheelchair assessment project for this year. They came here on November 6 and spent two weeks here and in Kuching. Also with them was another PT guy named Alan Nybol. He is from Utah also. The Browns live two blocks from where Kellie works. We so enjoyed their visit. They actually brought me some grits and corn meal. YEA!!!!!

GARY AND JUNE'S WEDDING

These are our next door neighbors, Gary and June. I really love them because they have been so helpful and nice to Dad and me while we have been here. They have actually been married since March 19, 2011. June is from a Chinese family and so is Gary's Mom. The Chinese wait many months after marriage to have their wedding reception. They have worked a long time to have a BIG reception. This was held at Le Meridien Hotel downtown KK. It's a beautiful 5 star hotel. We were served a delicious 10 course meal. There was a live band and there were about 350 people there. I noticed some "Datuks" there. I had seen their names in the paper. Datuk is and honorary title, sort of like the English "Sir". In this picture, you can see that June is a little thing and Gary is a big boy!! The lady on the bottom right of this picture is Gary's Mom. June changed dresses about three times during the evening!! I took lots of pictures, but they were terrible because my flash was on and with the bright lights, the pictures were blurred. I salvaged these few. They were so sweet and asked Dad(Pastor Elder Larson!!) to ask a blessing on the marriage and the food!!

Our 10 course meal started at 8:15 and ended at 11:15!!!! I was so tired of eating all night. We had lovely people who sat at our table and I just followed their example of how to eat the Chinese foods. It was fun!! I'm getting pretty good with chopsticks!!!

This is Gary and his Dad who is of Indian descent. I feel really safe living beside Gary and June. I know that they will help us if we ever need them. They have their own business-- a security company. They install systems in homes, autos, businesses, etc. They work really hard six days a week. They get up at about 4:30 every morning and are back home at about 6:30 in the evening. They are very independent and industrious.

WE LOVE GARY AND JUNE!!!

QUICK TRIP-KUCHING-------BRANCH ACTIVITY

This is Kylie and we met her on our last trip to Kuching. We have two projects going in Kuching--one is fresh water and the other is wheelchairs. We stayed at our favorite little hotel while there. It's called Telang Usan. It's older and hidden from the rest of the touristy places, but is close enough to the water front to walk. We actually met Kylie at the hotel. She was staying there also. She is from Brisbane, Australia, she's a project manager, and this was her first vacation alone. She has had a little heartbreak and took the trip by herself to recoup. We kept bumping into her on the waterfront where we were shopping in all of the little tourist boutiques. We just decided to have lunch together and so enjoyed her company. She invited us to Brisbane to visit and we invited her to stay with us in North Carolina if she ever comes to the states. The world is certainly full of Heavenly Father's wonderful children.

After lunch with Kylie, we decided to look for E. Larson's favorite dessert--fried bananas!! Some local people directed us to a kedai near the Chinese temple. The temple was beautiful and I took a few pictures. But to our chagrin, no bananas.

We got back to KK late Thursday night and prepared for the first KKII Branch Activity!!
The YW were in charge and we did it just like a FHE. It was so fun. We learned to play a new game that Sis. Maylin, YW pres., taught us. She said that they played this in her village when she was a child. We had about 30 people there and they really enjoyed the fun , fellowship, and food!!!

This is part of the game called "Good Police, Bad Person". All we needed was two neckties and the fun began!!

The winners of the last game got to pick the closing song and sing for everyone. The losers of the game got to wash dishes!!! Just like home. In this picture, standing next to me is our new sister missionary, Sister Gopinath. She is brand new!! She is from the great state of Tennessee. GO SOUTH!!! We now have eight missionaries in KK!! They are wonderful, dedicated young men and women.

I surely hope that our children are teaching our grandchildren EVERY DAY to serve a mission. Service to the Lord is the most rewarding and will bring our children and grandchildren the most happiness that they will ever have on this earth!! The gospel is true and Jesus is the Christ, the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know these things with all of my heart.

Love you more every minute!!

MOM & DAD

SENIOR CONFERENCE IN SINGAPORE

We have had our Second Senior Missionary Conference in Singapore!! What an enlightening experience and also a lot of fun. We went a few days early and stayed at the Pasir Panjang House this time. Our friends, Barry and Linda Johnson, came early also because E. Larson needed to help them with their wheelchair project. They are the Humanitarian couple in West Malaysia. We have come to love them greatly. We arrived in Singapore on Tuesday evening

and they worked on their projects most of the day. Later in the day we went to the Asian Civilization Museum for a special exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors. They had about one hundred artifacts from Shaanxi province in China. Before we went into the exhibition, we had a drink at an outdoor restaurant at the museum. I had a strawberry milkshake and it was just that--milk with some strawberry flavoring, shaken up!! NO Ice Cream!!! On well........ The exhibition was awesome!! I would love to see all of these warriors in China. To think how old they are and they were only discovered in 1974 outside Xi'an.

The museum is located on the Singapore River in the city. Afterwards, we walked along the river and made some goofy pictures with some of the bronze statues along the river walk.

E. Larson wanted me to sit on this fellow's lap. I'm so happy that he is bronze!!! After this, we found a Mexican restaurant. YEA!!!! Haven't had any since we left the states. It was so yummy. We sat at a table right on the waterfront and were able to sit and chat. The Johnsons and we usually take the MRT, but this time we just took cabs--easier and faster.

The next day we went to some places with the Smiths who are the new Public Relations seniors for the mission. They are stationed in KL. They were so fun and I loved getting to know them. E/S Brown also in KL went with us. We all bought these special made Nativity scenes. They are being made for us and we will pick them up when we return to Singapore in January. They are made of ground cinnamon and some paste. Next we took the Smiths and Browns to Mustapha's in Little India. They had never been and wanted to buy some things that they could not find anywhere else. The streets of Little India were decorated as far as the eye could see. The Indian holiday, Deepavali, is celebrated on October 26. That's one thing I love about Malaysia and Singapore. They are so diverse, so many cultures, and so many holidays!!!

This is one of our new missionary couples, the Hodders. They are from Canada. They are simply just delightful!!! We loved getting acquainted with them. The Hodders and the other couples from Sarawak(the other state in East Malaysia) decided to take a trip to Kuching for a few days on their way to the conference in Singapore. President Clark granted permission and they left. They invited us to go, but we have been 3 times and are going back tomorrow. We have vision and wheelchair projects there. They had such a fun time that they decided to perform a silly little skit for our senior conference. The picture below is one of them performing for the rest of us. Lots of laughs!!

The next day was our 13 hour long conference. It was all a discussion format. So helpful and informative. There was so much knowledge and information in that one room!! For dinner that evening, we had a special surprise in that Elder Subandriyo, one of the Area Seventy, came unexpected and had dinner and spoke to us. He is such a nice man. We had the privelege of spending a whole day with him when he came to KK.

Sebastion picked us up at the airport when we returned and I asked him for a picture of him with his BYU hat that E. Larson gave him for Christmas. He is very proud of his new taxi!!

Senior missions are just the best!!! I would love to serve another one again. It's the best that I have ever felt in my life. So rewarding and so humbling. I would wish this experience for all of our children one day. We can skype with our grandchildren and watch them grow. Jakey is now old enough that he skypes with us on his own sometimes. We love it--he's getting so big. I miss my sisters and brother, but I will see them soon also.

I love the Savior, his Plan of Salvation, and His blessings to us!!

DAD/MOM

OTHER SEPTEMBER ACTIVITIES

This picture was taken one Saturday morning at a lovely park here in KK. Our neighbor, Debbie and her daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, wanted to take us for a walk in the park and breakfast. The man in the yellow shirt is our new friend, Max. I met Max at the hospital here in KK. He was born and reared on the island of Borneo--in Kudat, near the Tip of Borneo. E. Larson was having a sonogram at the hospital, and while I was waiting, I talked to Max. Such an interesting fellow. He knows everyone!!! Really!! There are lots of prominent Chinese people her in KK and he knows most of them. We are now teaching Debbie and her daughters about the gospel. We have had two discussions with them and they went to church with us last Sunday!!! The Elders are actually doing most of the teaching and we contribute and fellowship.

This is a picture of some of the members of the Likas Bay Rotary Club. They invited E. Larson to speak to them at their regular Wednesday night meeting at Pacific Sutera Hotel and restaurant. The gentleman standing beside me is Mr. Ling. We met him when we ordered medical optical equipment for a vision project we're doing in Tawau. His company is here in KK. He wanted to introduce us to his club and have E. Larson introduce LDS Charities to the club. Afterwards they invited us to dinner and had the opportunity to visit and talk with them. So nice and friendly!! We hope to be able to work with them on humanitarian projects in the future.

This was S. Hite's farewell at the airport. She is now back home in Raleigh, N. C. I miss her because of her positive energy and her unique laugh!! In the middle is Pris. Francis, president of KK1 Branch. He is my friend and such a good man. He doesn't come to tell all missionaries goodbye, but he does come for some.
I baked her a bag of chocolate chip cookies to eat on the way home.

Sis. Helen, with her arms around my neck, is in KK2 Branch and she is Kate's new counselor in Relief Society. She has 5 children and they are good kids. She is the mother of baby Yee(if you remember pictures). She is a gifted seamstress and makes clothes for companies here in Malaysia. She helped us order about 75 shirts for Wheelchair Assessment Training for KK and Kuching in November. E. Larson wanted us to take her out to dinner one evening. She understands English, but will not speak it with us. This is her daughter Amy, her mom's translator, with us and our Katie. We had a lovely evening and it was fun to watch this hardworking sister laugh and enjoy herself.

We love you with all our hearts and pray for your happiness every day

DAD & MOM