Staying at the future Temple Site in Singapore, P-day with the Seniors, and a Visit to Penang

Some of the missionaries from the Singapore mission or Indonesia may remember this building which will be demolished very soon to make way for the Singapore Temple. This is the Pasir Panjang Church Building in Singapore. It is actually an old colonial two story mansion converted into a church building. Many of the past missionaries have stayed in the missionary quarters behind this building which is shown below.
This week Sister Lambson and I, along with Elder and Sister Stephens, made a visa run to Singapore and stayed overnight in this building. Elder Stephens can still remember it from the 70s but I'm afraid I can't although I probably stayed here for a few nights. This site will be closed very soon for demolition. 
This is the inside of the old missionary quarters. Elder and Sister Stephens are at the table on the right and a young trio of Elders are studying together. These pictures probably don't mean much to many of you but for those of us who came here in the early days of the Church in South Asia these pictures bring back some very sacred and fond memories. The next time I come to this site there will be a magnificent temple standing here and everything will be new.
Newton Food Centre (which used to be called Newton Circus in the old days) is only about a block away from the Bukit Timah Church in Singapore. After our meeting Sister Lambson and I walked over and got a dish of famous Singapore Chilli Crab from a hawker stall.
Sister Lambson eating chilli crab and chatting with some korean tourists.

Newton Food Centre is still in the same location it was in 1975 when I ate there as a missionary but it is soooo different now. All cleaned up and modern. In the old days it was just amazing. The hawkers would all turn up in the evenings with their huge woks and cooking supplies and you could buy all kinds of delicacies from the diverse people that live here, Indian, Malay and Chinese. Of course everything is also much more expensive now but it is still a great multicultural experience to visit this historic place.
There is an Asian Elephant preserve not far from where we life in Kuala Lumpur so on P-day last week we took a drive out to see it with our fellow senior missionaries.

For my 67th birthday Cheri arranged a little two night trip to Penang. Penang is an island off just off the coast of the Malay Peninsula. Here are a few pictures in case you are interested.

























 

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