Hiking, Contrasts, New Grandson, Zone Conference, District Conference

I'm a little behind again! So sorry! I didn't finish last week's blog, and I'm almost not getting this one done. Busy! Busy! Busy!

We started this week off with a little hiking with the Elders. We once again climbed to the highest point in Sibu. It's a little bukit, or hill. This is the second time we've been there. These Elders had never been so it was fun for them to get out and do something different.

Jungle Boat 

The Foot Bridge

The Elders

Up Close and Personal
Elders C, R, T, LW, M and A

It's still a lot of stairs!

High on a Mountain Top! Well, not exactly, but the highest point in Sibu.
Elders T, C, LW, A, M, R, and Sister Bodell

Sibu is a city of contrasts; tall and short, wealthy and poor, cement and greenery. I snapped a couple of photos this week of some of those contrasts. I need to photograph all the plants in our yard. They're not something you'll find back home.

The Wisma Sayan – the tallest structure in Sibu in contrast with the surrounding buildings.
We've been told it's the tallest building in the state of Sarawak.

One of the many plants in our yard. The yellow flowers are gorgeous!

A picture just doesn't do them justice.

We received a new addition to our family this week. Our son, Josh, and his wife, Amber, were blessed with a healthy baby boy. Ezra Stephen entered this world on January 14. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21 inches long. We were able to FaceTime with Josh and Amber and get a good look at our newest grandson. Both Amber and Ezra are doing well. We are so happy about that.

Amber and Ezra

Josh and Ezra

Shhh! Let me sleep!

I'm sitting in our hotel room in Singapore, getting ready to write this week's blog, and noticed that I didn't finish last week's and get it posted. So sorry about that. I hope you can wade through this one. It will be a little longer than I'd like.

This is our last Zone Conference. We haven't done a lot of sight-seeing this time except to go to China Town and do some shopping. We've eaten at a great Mexican restaurant called Muchos twice this trip. We presented our departing testimonies at the Senior Couples session of Conference. Yep, we lost it, but pulled through. I threw a slide presentation together, but it's too big to be viewed here. I didn't have a lot of focused time to do it, but it got the point across. I do have a few photos from our week. (And yes, Lindsey, of course I did!)

Elder Bodell, Elder Slider, Sister Bodell, Sister Slider, Sister Evensen,
Sister & Elder Patterson, Elder Evensen,  Elder Kane, Sister Hammer, Sister Kane, Elder Hammer

Sister and Elder Bodell in China Town 

One of many China Town Stores decked out for Chinese New Year

Assorted Sausages

A real social community . . . if you're connected on your phone!

Elder Bodell and Elder Orr
Tree of Life - the end of a scripture treasure hunt 

Unofficial photo of the East Malaysia missionaries at Zone Conference

The weekend brought District Conference. It was a great teaching opportunity for the members. We were involved with teaching and training. Sister Bodell taught the Primary leaders and teachers along with Sister Simmons, the mission president's wife. I worked with the branch clerks and executive secretaries. That was the afternoon session. I also taught a lesson on how to conduct Family Home Evening, and Home Teaching in the evening session. Brother Gaadong and family demonstrated how to have FHE. David Kong and Jackson Saga demonstrated how to share a message with the family when they came by during FHE. It all worked out well. Sorry no pictures from that. We're not supposed to take pictures in the chapel. Besides, I was standing at the pulpit while the demonstrations were taking place. 

And, of course, we were involved with the choir Saturday night and Sunday morning. It is now Sunday morning, and we're getting ready to leave for Conference. This afternoon we're flying to KL (Kuala Lumpor) as we begin our journey to the Manila Temple with Brother Merang, his family, and Brother Jubang. We have been looking forward to this trip for a year now, ever since the family was baptized. Hopefully a report will be coming in next week's blog.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. We look forward to seeing you soon!