Sinjapo

So we went and returned from singapore. at the beginning of the week i was feeling a little more congested than usual, then Tuesday night i broke into cold sweats, and had trouble sleeping, but when i woke up i didnt have a temp or anything. and i wasnt about to let anything keep me from enjoying me last conference in singapore. the schedule went a little like this: wed morning we fly to kuching to catch a 1040 flight to singapore. arrive in singapore at `230, and then have the day to do whatever we want until 7pm. we went bowling and ate. nothing too exciting. 7-9pm was our zone activity, where we just had a training on family history. thurs 930am-5pm was zone conference. then we had time to go get dinner, and then had a zone meeting 7-9pm. then we went out and explored singapore a little for the new guys. friday at 140 fly to KL, then back to bintulu at 430. arrive home at about 7pm friday. pretty fun and a lot of traveling. 

so i thought i got over my sickness while in singapore, but i was wrong whensaturday morning i was a little worse, with the addition of coughing to a very stuffed nose and a slightly sore throat. now im pretty healthy, plenty of energy. im still just a bit coughy. so i may not go out tonight in order to avoid coughin all over my members haha. but nothing serious in the slightest. 

so not a whole lot of missionary work done this week, but this being my alst zone conference, i think i may have just stepped onto the time accelerator, and i feel like i'll be home in no time. all missionaries who will go home before the next zone conf gave departing testimonies. that was what really put it onto perspective for me and the other guys in my group. we all felt like it wasnt long ago when we were watching the departing missionaries give their testimonies at our FIRST zone conference! so ya thats how thats going.

FYI my official release date will be Jan 16th. i havent recieved my flight plans yet, but i imagine they will come within a couple weeks, both to you and me. 

the news from you guys about the massive typhoon was the first any of us had heard about it, so thats pretty surprising. basically the Philippines and Indonesia form a perfect shield around malaysia, so there havent really ever been any natural disasters in malysia.. but it would be so scary to be serving over there.. its good to hear that no missionaries were hurt or killed. they probly pulled them all to safe locations well ahead of time. even we have a pretty set emergency procedure, so im sure in a place like the philippines they have a good system. 

so awesome to hear about your friend Rachel. in our zone meeting, a member from singapore shared his conversion story with us, and it basically innvolves a lifetime of having associations with members throughout his whole life, and eventually he just decided that he was "running into" them too many times for it to be a coincidence. The Lord really does prepare His children, and sometimes it takes longer than others. I know that whether or not Rachel joins the church, she will always value the relationships she has/had with members. keep loving her and being that example of lvoe and happiness that you always are mom! 

i got my package and transported it home with no problem. i have to admit that i didnt have the patience to wait to open the wrapped presents haha, and opened everything basically right away hahahah. the key item, the gold bond powder, is perfect. everything else is jsut a fun bonus. the little toys will make perfect gifts to give to members!

i really dont need anything else, so dont worry about it. save all your pampering for when i get back! :D

welp. thats it.

love you all!

Elder Giblette