"why is it called a botanical garden? i don't know...botany? oh! that's with the botan!"

I'm in Singapore! I still can't believe it. I never ever thought I'd be serving here. While flying here I was thinking of the different places in Malaysia where I could possibly be born (start my mission) but I never ever thought of Singapore because I thought it wasn't even an option. We have four sisters opening it for the sisters right now. My companion, Sister Howard, and I are serving in the Expat Ward, and Sisters Wong and Ferguson are in the Woodlands Ward. It's pretty sick but waaay hard because we're basically white-washing it. We NEED people to teach! The days are so long when you have to just be looking all day. And you would never think this...but white people are mean. We're specifically looking for expats. And they all look at us like we carry the plague. I've really never had people be so rude to me in my life. It's hilarious. There's a huge fashion show going on here in Singapore right now, so lots of Europeans are here and yeah...so much fun! :)

We are super lucky, because even though we haven't found any new people to teach yet, we're walking into a few investigators who are accepting and loving the gospel already. Michelle is from China and she is on date to be baptized next Saturday. Sister Howard and I will get to teach her a few more times before that to make sure she understands the amazing blessings she has coming her way. She is so sweet and has such strong faith. She shows it all the time, so it's just about helping her to recognize that her faith is strong enough. We also have Benjamin. He doesn't have a date yet, but he's great. We are hoping to ask him to be baptized and put him on date this Friday when we meet with him. I am also so excited for Caroline. She is from Pennsylvania and happened to run into the elders a few weeks ago, about the same time that she found out her grandma was about to pass away. She found so much comfort in the message they had for her, that hope that God has a plan for us and that she will see her grandma again. Now Sister Howard and I have the privilege of teaching the lessons to her. She's a dance major doing an internship here till August, so we're really excited to get to know her.

This city is INSANE. There is a huge mall on every corner. Yet you can go running and occasionally see monkeys in the trees. It's something like 26x17 miles, with about 4 million people. There are so many different cultures. We live a few stops away from Little India and Chinatown. Everything is written in English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil. SO many people speak Chinese! It's such an easy way to get them to open up a little bit. You start talking to them and they won't even look at you. Bust out the Mandarin and look who wants to be friends all of a sudden! So, I'm definitely trying to brush up on that.

With all of the craziness going on everywhere, it is definitely hard to find people. Everyone is too busy to listen to just a short message and it can be very discouraging. But I'm learning that it really is worth it. Last night we sat in on a lesson with Alison, another sweet investigator who is from Singapore. She is on date to be baptized June 4th. We were sitting in the park on the grass, teaching her the 3rd lesson, the gospel of Jesus Christ, as the sun was setting. I got to teach her about the importance of enduring to the end in all that God has commanded us. The Spirit was so strong and I knew that what I was telling her was true. If I can have more opportunities to testify like that, it will all be so so worth it.

Since we are in the expat ward, we're really trying to get the members involved in the work. Our time is much better spent teaching than finding, because finding is so difficult. We're trying to help the members understand what a blessing it would be in their lives and the lives of their friends if they could share this amazing gospel with them. So please please please, give the missionaries referrals! Today! Right now! Think of someone in your life who could benefit from the message that Jesus Christs' gospel has been restored. We have a living prophet to guide us. You should be thinking of a lot of people. I'm pretty sure that would benefit just about anyone. So go ahead, call the missionaries now :)

I'm going to go to the botanical gardens now. Something to do with the botan. I hope you all have a lovely day!

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI