Brother Lee and Sister Donny's Family

We went with Elder Peterson and Elder Crossland to a family in the Sentosa Branch.  It was the night of celebration of James 7th birthday.  Brother Lee and Sister Donny have four children.  Christina, Tini, Allan and James.  They live in a "wooden house".  I believe we would call them squatters in America.  They have come to  the city for work leaving the Kompon ( their native village).  They find a bare piece of land and build a structure for the family to live in.  Brother Lee works with cement for a living.  He has made his home nicer by adding a cement floor and a wall about 3 feet up to construct his home on.

When they went home to the Kampon for a holiday, someone broke into their home and stoled their generator and lights.

Their home has a small room for a kitchen, combination room for eating, gathering and sleeping and an outside room where we left our shoes.


Brother Lee's family have not been out to church for a while so the elders invited us to come visit with them.  They prepared a large meal for us.  Gave us their best dishes.  Dressed in their nicest clothes.  The elder thought they may have bought new clothes for our visit.

When we ate dinner we had James' birthday cake first.  Great way to start any meal.  The food was very good.  They served us warm milo (Chocolate drink).  They gave us their best.  They were very eager for us to eat and have seconds.  We sat on the floor, eating by a candle and a small battery lantern.  They spoke Malay to the elders and they translated for us.  They seemed to very honored to have us in their home.  They welcomed us with open arms.  I felt humbled and honored to be in their home.

We prepared little bags of candy for each child and gave the daughters, who were seminary age, a card with a quote from President Monsons talking about the blessings of attending Seminary.  We invited them to come to Seminary and asked the whole family to come to church on Sunday.

It was a special experience for Elder Boyter and myself.  We are eager to get out with more of the members in the area.

After we left we found out that the branch seminary class would not be held that week because of a death in the branch that the branch members were going to the home to show respect to the family.  So Elder Boyter and I went back out to Bro. Lee and Sister Donny's home to let the girls know that seminary would not be held.  We took a thank you card and a watermelon with us.  It was a great way to let them know about seminary and re-invite them to church.

We went to church in the Sentosa branch today for Mother's Day and Bro. Lee and Sister Donny were there with their children.  In fact the elders had visited and invited 3 other less active families to church this Sunday and they were all there.

As we sang the songs in Malay there was such a feeling of warmth in the branch.  It felt like a celebration of joy.  The girls told me they will be at seminary on Friday.  We introduced them to their seminary teacher and they know many of the other girls in seminary.

We will attend Seminary on Friday to welcome them.