Sisters Vranes and Durham

Week #43 – Singapore, Lost Luggage, and Birthdays, Oh My!: May 2, 2017 – May 8, 2017

This week was Zone Conference in Singapore! Singapore was lots of fun and I got to see 2 of my mamas (trainers) who are still alive in the mission (still on their missions). Sister Clark and I went to a Swedish Bakery where I got to eat my first Swedish pastries. Swedish food is sooo good! For Conference, we focused a lot on planning and preparing, and it was superb! I officially have 5 pages front and back of notes from this conference. I learned a lot about goals and plans through the General Conference talk "Return and Receive" in the recent conference by Elder M. Russell Ballard. There was one video, however, that was phenomenal. It is called "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. It was a BYU devotional given in July 12, 2011, and is a must see. This devotional helps us understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and what it really means to receive His grace. He continues to relate grace to one who is learning piano. In this analogy, it was so easy to understand grace and what we must do to receive it. I cannot put into words how great this video was, and I invite all of you to watch it.

Returning home from Singapore, we had a layover in KL. Our flight was delayed 30 minutes and we thought we were going to miss our flight. Thankfully, we didn't. My bag, however, missed the flight. The whole time, I had been thinking how weird it would be and what I would do if my bag didn't make it. I was thinking of a few of the missionaries we had run into that had missing bags, and it just came to mind that mine might not make it. Well, we arrived at 5 pm, after 30 minutes of flying in circles in the air because of the bad, rainy weather, and sure enough, it wasn't there. The airline said they would ship my bag, but were very confused about our address (because we live in a mall). We ended up staying until it arrived at 9 pm. 

Sister Clark at the Swedish bakery.

Another thing that happened this week was a party. On Sunday night, we were invited to a members' home to help her with a Mother's Day service project for the Relief Society. She was making lots of food and I couldn't figure out why. She said some members from the Branch Presidency were coming over to meet a less active member in her home. Turns out she invited a lot of members from the Branch to celebrate my birthday! It was so sweet of them and they really tried to make me feel at home and part of their Branch family. I haven't been here long, but these amazing members know how to make missionaries feel at home. It was so sweet of them! I also got a delicious yam cake! It's healthy and delicious! Two things you wouldn't think would go together, but Aunty Josie knows how to bake! :)

Manicures