Wedding Event of the Year 2013

Brother Lebanon and Sister Molly's daughter, Lucia Molyna. and her husband, Victor Lim, had their wedding reception last night at the Borneo Convention Centre in Kuching.  Brother Lebanon and Sister Molly are strong members of the church in Kuching and also influential members of society.  He is a successful business man.  We enjoy them a great deal.

In Malaysia a couple goes to the government and is registered and then they are considered married.  They can then do their tribal traditions, wedding receptions or marriages after that.  Muslims by law can have more than one wife but Christians or other faiths cannot.

Lucia's wedding reception was probably the social event of the year.  There were over 600 people at the wedding reception.  Below is the menu for the 8 course dinner.  The fish lips soup was very good.  We found it taste a lot like onion soup.  We were told by our fellow table companions that the lips are taken from a fish that has big lips.  We were taught to add a little vinegar to the soup to soften the taste of the fish flavor.  It tasted good with or without the vinegar.  Brent even ate two little marinated Japanese octopuses

 Elder Boyter took pictures of their wedding album.  They are both students majoring in law.

 I had great time meeting women from all nationalities.  The three women on the left are from Kuala Lanpur and had on beautiful sarees.  They take 6 yards of fabric and do pleats here and there, tuck it in here and there and end up with beautiful dresses.  We took an instant liking to each other.

This is one of the sisters from the Kuching District.  Her dress was beautiful.  The picture does not do it justice.

 Here are three girls from the church.  Allana is on the left.  She is preparing for a mission.  Her sister, Natasha is in the middle and her friend Fornia is on the right.  They are all piano students at church and are involved in Seminary and Institute.

 Brother Lebanon and Sister Molly are from the Bidayuh Tribe.  These women are wearing the traditional costume and performed the traditional dance of the Bidayuh Tribe.

Here is the stage for the reception.  There was a live band to the right of the stage.  We were sitting right next to the band.  Brother Lebanon situated 9 sets of missionaries throughout the crowd at different tables.  The Muslims were put at different tables than the missionaries.  It is against the law to teach the Muslims about the Gospel.  We were told "I'm feeding them, you teach them", to the rest of the crowd.  So we came prepared to give out "pass along cards".  We brought the cards of the temple and shared with our table about Lucia and Victor's plans to go to the temple in a year and about being sealed together as families for time and all eternity.

 Lucia and Victor in the native Bidayuh costumes.  Lucia is Bidayuh like her parents but Victor is Chinese.  He looks like he could be part of the tribe.

 These pictures were taken earlier and are in front of the Kuching District Center

Here we are with our table companions.  Brother Lebanon and Sister Molly (parents of the bride) are beside us.  The two men sitting are dear friends and former business partners in pharmaceuticals with Brother Lebanon.

Here we are with Victor and Lucia as we were leaving.  They asked Elder Boyter to give the opening prayer with a blessing on the food and a blessing for them.  It was a beautiful prayer.  They are planning to go to the temple in a year.  The nearest temple is in Manila, Philippines.