In the Rice Paddy, Halloween, and More

Before I get into this week's blog, I need to share a few more pictures from last week. We received the Zone Conference photos after the new week started. Here they are.

West Zone - Singapore Mission

East Zone - Singapore Mission
This is, of course, the best-looking zone!

This should brighten anyone's day! You probably had no idea I could play the piano this well. There is a member in the Chinese Branch that loves to take pictures of the missionaries and insert their photo into an app that he has that creates a little video. Here's his most recent creation.

Monday morning our district travelled out to Rantau Panjang to help Sister Mina plant rice. Sister Mina is the wife of President Gara, Sibu Branch 1 President. He's missed some Sunday attendance because they were planting rice on Sunday. I told the young missionaries to tell them we would come out and help so they could could come to church on Sunday. The rest of the rice was planted so there shouldn't be any problem this Sunday. This rice should be ready to harvest in about four months.

A good view of the rice field

Rice waiting to be planted 

Sister Mina cutting off the tops of the rice prior to planting 

The rice plants have been trimmed and are now ready to be planted.

Punching holes and planting the rice

How to plant rice in one easy lesson!

After the morning's rice planting
Elders S, T, P, O, President Gara, Elders J & S,
Sister & Elder Bodell

Nature's own fence

A nearby banana tree.

Tuesday evening we attended the traditional Chinese Branch Halloween FHE. It was a little bit of déjà vu. The decorations were the same as last year, most of which we supplied. They also got their wigs out. Last year was enough for me, but the Elders got into them, literally. 😃 We had a short lesson lesson, played some games, and ate dinner. It was a fun evening! I'm glad we have the opportunity to associate with the Chinese Branch. They are fun, cordial people.

Candy Toss

Ready to bob for apples

Bobbing for apples 

Elder S got his!

Happy Haunting! Elders J, S, and T

Halloween FHE Fun

Thursday we spend quite a bit of time with the Elders getting their bikes serviced. The bike situation has become a pain in the neck, especially with a lack of communication between individual missionaries, the bike service department, mostly stemming from a language barrier. This took up most of the afternoon. There were exchanges today as well. The exchanges continued until Saturday evening.

President Simmons (Mission President) and his wife arrived Friday afternoon. We picked them up at the airport; then took them to their hotel. We picked the up later for dinner at a little restaurant called Ladoree. It's one of our favorites. After dinner we dropped them off at the church where they started their interviews with the missionaries and a few members.

Saturday got a little hectic . . . Picked up two Elders in the morning from the airport for new missionary training at 12:30. Some shopping for an early dinner for the missionaries attending the training. Back to the church in the early afternoon (4:00 PM) to prepare for the dinner at 4:45 PM. Took a pair of missionaries and bike to bus depot at 5:00 PM for their return trip. Returned to church at 5:30 PM to pick up a set of missionaries to take back to the airport for their return trip. Returned to church (6:30 PM) to pick up an Elder and accompany him on a discussion with some investigators who are on date for baptism in December. Returned to church about 8:30 PM. Returned the mission president and his wife back to their hotel about 9:30 PM. Yes, I felt like I'd been driving all day! It was good to get home and hit the bed.

Sunday was a nice day. The Primary kids in Branch 2 sang in Sacrament meeting. Choir practice went well. We taught them the first verse of Silent Night in German. They loved it! We went over several other Christmas songs. It's so fun to watch their enthusiasm and desires to learn to sing as a choir and not a congregation. There was a warm spirit there today.

Sunday evening we went with Elders O&S to visit Sister Bintang and family. It's always a treat to visit them.