Disruptions and Expectations

My last blog post was about the transportation system in Singapore. Hopefully it's not related, but this past week Singapore had one of their biggest train disruptions in their history. It started on Wednesday when a train that had been in service for 35 years had a mechanical error. When they tried to remove it from the tracks it damaged key components including the power rail.  This led to part of one of the busiest train lines in Singapore being closed down for the past five days and counting.  Fortunately for us it isn’t a line we use very often, but we have experienced a lot more people using our line as a result.  In Singapore they call this a "disruption," and since I am always interested in words and their use, I looked up the meaning.

Disruption: disturbance or problems which interrupt an event, activity, or process.

As is often the case with disruptions in our lives, there comes a struggle between the way we expect things to happen and the fact they don’t always happen that way. I often talk with missionaries about expectations. One of my go-to sections from Adjusting to Missionary Life invites missionaries to examine their expectations.  When life is disrupted, it can be a really helpful question to ask yourself “What has happened to my expectations in this situation and how can I cope with the change?”

This past month has had a series of disruptions to our regular activities and processes as well.  Many of those disruptions have been pleasant and welcomed, while some have not.  Some of those disruptions met or exceeded our expectations, while some were a little disappointing.  Here are a few glimpses of happenings for us:

We had a delightful opportunity to meet with all of the Singapore Mission senior missionaries for a couple of days of fun and sharing.  (In previous posts we have shared some pictures from this experience). It was one that exceeded expectations!  It was amazing to spend time with these missionaries and talk about the many incredible things that they are doing.  To name a few:

• humanitarian projects in East Malaysia ranging from homes for disabled people to helping small villages pipe in clean water

• communication specialists writing stories about the happenings in the church in Malaysia

• supporting numerous interfaith activities

• keeping the missionaries functioning in travel, finance, supplies, apartment, and administrative assistants

• working with family history and helping people access the temple patron assistant fund

• coordinating the seminary and institute teaching

• keeping the missionaries alive as health advisors

• supporting locals wards and branches

We loved hearing the miracles happening for the senior missionaries and sharing in laughter with them as well!

The next week we had another wonderful disruption that has exceeded expectations: the visit of Emily, Whitney, and Sage.  We spent several days catching some of the tourist parts of Singapore. We visited Chinatown, several hawker centers to try different foods, and Gardens by the Bay. I loved being able to show them where we live, shop, and work and having them meet some of the Young Adults and missionaries that we have come to love.  Sage's network extends to Singapore as well and of course she has a friend in our YSA Ward that she knew from her days in Provo. He helped guide us in finally trying Singapore specialties of chili crab and BBQ stingray.  (I opted out on those as my stomach doesn’t like the chili oils they use in these types of foods.)

This past week also contained a couple of disruptions with my physical health that were on the disappointing side...not meeting my expectations.  I had some sniffles start on Tuesday morning and by Tuesday night I was worn out. I had to cancel part of my meetings on Wednesday and did the remainder from home.  Gratefully, I had enough strength to meet with one of the missionaries who will finish their mission this week.  This particular missionary is one I have worked with for many months and I will really miss our visits and my chance to interact and support. Then Sunday morning we were on our way out the door when I got hit with something stomach-wise.  I thought I could get to church but ended up getting off the train halfway there and turning around to come home.  I’ll spare you further details as it wasn’t pretty, but it was a rough 12 hours or so. Overall both Sean and I have had excellent health on our mission so these disruptions were unexpected and difficult!

One other disruption coming our way is that we are looking for a new apartment.  The lease on our current apartment runs out in mid-December and we should be moving closer to the church offices where we work.  We haven’t loved the commute from where we are, but we have grown to love our little community and are well adjusted to the stores and places to eat in the area.  The young missionaries move to new areas every few months and they generally appreciate the changes. In fact I remember enjoying that during my junior mission in Ecuador.  As I have gotten older however I am definitely more a creature of habit, so this will be an interesting disruption for the last five months of our mission.

Finally one thing that always exceeds my expectations in Singapore is the plants, trees, and shrubs that blossom at different times. I am always fascinated by what is currently blossoming and I can’t resist taking pictures when I see something new and beautiful. This week I also received some unexpected beauty from a sweet sister from Myanmar: a crocheted bundle of lilies.  I’m very thankful for the unexpected beauty of the earth that reminds me often of God’s love for all of us, and for the love of others in sharing!  May your week be filled with many pleasant disruptions, and may your expectations be exceeded in many wonderful ways.

P.S. After this post "went to press", our Mission President sent out a link to this 8-minute video from Sister Jennifer Kearon from a BYU Devotional this week. It fits so perfectly with this post, I just had to include it!

Other Photos:

1-2: Stake Youth/Old folks activity. Yes, there was karaoke!

3: Sean loves his Institute class, shown here studying the life and lessons of Wilford Woodruff

4: A wonderful evening with three amazing women from Myanmar and two of our great missionaries.

5: Ah we do miss the weather back home! No fall weather here :)

6: A powerful concept taught be our mission president in the last two zone conferences. The time variable is the hard one - it's all in the Lord's hand!

7: The beautiful crocheted flowers mentioned in the post.