Week #70: Vranish! – October 7, 2017 – October 13, 2017 (Miri)

Sister Vranes and Sister Cloud

The beginning of the week was a bit slow. Sister Cloud was sick in the middle. Then she had a missionary leadership training. She is a sister training leader. It was good to go out with the Miri 2 sisters again. We had a good time. I was impressed and amazed by their love and dedication. We went into town to meet one of my recent converts, and took the bus. We got a bit lost while walking for a while. I'm a bit directionally impaired and I had no idea where we were when the bus stopped. We walked a long ways, got soaking wet, and had 2 small umbrellas between 3 people (mind you these sisters are both about 5'10"). At times, we were jogging to make the time. In the end, our appointment canceled. The sisters didn't once complain. They seemed to see it was an adventure and we loved it. In It sure created some great memories. 

Saturday we tried to contact most of the day. We went to an area and started walking around the neighborhood for 2 hours. Many of the people there weren't super friendly. They said they were Christian already or Buddhist, big surprise in Malaysia. Not. For some background, Malaysia is like Utah in that it has a religious place of worship at every corner. The difference, unlike Utah, not all of them are Mormon chapels. There are Hindu and Buddhist temples everywhere, a Christian church around the corner, and shrines every which way we turn. There's a lot of diversity here. Anyway, we walked for at least an hour and a half by the time we stopped to know where to go. We prayed and opened The Book of Mormon. We read two verses. The verses talked about secret combinations. We joked for a little bit about the "secret combinations" in our branch, but there wasn't really anything to go off of. Then we saw a family coming out of their home. We decided to give the area one more try. We walked down to find an uncle washing a car and his two grandsons (one older, about 15-20, and the other younger, about 3 years old). The uncle was Christian and was trying to give us advice, but it wasn't going anywhere. Sister Cloud was very courageous and asked to meet the grandson, which we found out he was 18. The uncle happily obliged, told his grandson to talk with us, and went inside. We taught a quick, powerful, first lesson. He got a phone call in the middle and walked off. We silently prayed for him to return, which he did! We were amazed! In the end, he didn't want, but it gave us the boost and courage we needed. We counted it as a miracle. It was good practice, and we were much more confident. Miracles continued to pour out that day as we met our investigators, and even ate delicious vietnamese food for free. 

Tracting

Yesterday, in church, we taught a lesson about family history. As I was preparing for this lesson, I started reading some stories I brought with me about my family. One autobiography I read was my great-great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Willey. He was one of the ancestors who crossed the plains with the Mormon pioneers. I learned that he lived, knew, and served with the Prophet Joseph Smith. I'd been learning a lot about the pioneers. Last week and for this week for p-day, we watched The Work and The Glory, all three movies, and 17 Miracles. These movies give a great perspective on the pioneers and what they had to go through. It really brought a lot of appreciation in my life for them. If you haven't watched these movies, I would highly recommend them. Then you can start to understand the things these early saints went through. It also gave me a greater love, respect, and appreciation for the people I am serving now. Pioneers are the first people to lead the way. The Mormon Pioneers in the 1800's went through so much hardship. The members in Malaysia are the pioneers of this country. They are paving the way. I have such a profound respect for them and their trials. 

Another thing I discovered while doing my family history was where my ancestors are from. On my mom's side, I was told they were English and Irish. On my dad's side, I thought I was English and Scottish. Growing up, I visited a lot of graves with my parents. On my dad's side, there were graves that had the last name Vranish. I had assumed it was something that was changed when they emmigrated from Scotland. As I looked at my family tree, I learned my dad is second or third generation Croatian. That explains why "V" is in the alphabet (it's not in the Scottish alphabet). It depends on who the first one to emigrate from Croatia is (his dad or grandfather). I don't know now, but I am excited to learn when I come home. Many people, like my dad, in Malaysia, are second and third generation. Many of them are from China. As we were teaching, we have members from Philippines. One member, a Filipino, shared how his grandmother is a Japanese refugee from WWII that settled in the Philippines. There are so many cool stories, and rich history in finding your family. I invite you today to learn a story from a family member and write it down. You'll be surprised by your history.