1st transfer

Salamat Momma !

No but that letter made me very jealous to see "sent from my iPad" at the bottom ... ahaha.

This week hasn't been as exciting as last week , but still pretty good. First to answer your questions:

1. I got the package! Thank you so much for it , seriously. That peanut butter has been a lifeline this past week , but that's probably not good for me- ha. Also that watch is amazing. Such a good looking watch , but I'm too scared to wear it just yet! Not only do I get called mayaman already (rich) because I'm American , but I don't want to scuff it up. So I think I'm going to save it as a one year present for myself , ha. Next October I'll start wearing it. But for now I still have both Brandon's old Skagens so I'm happy. But everything in that package was awesome , and it's going to last me a long time. Also that tape was hysterical , but I have to request no more for a while because it made me truunnkkyy ahaha. Not in a bad way , but just in like a gahh that would be awesome to be home right now talking to everyone. I was explaining to E. Lefler that what happens is that when we're all together we eat like a big meal and then just sit around after and somehow naturally tangent into dozens and dozens of different stories. Which different parts of the story seem to change every time! ha. But I loved the tape and everything , and thank you so much Dad for that watch.

2. Yes yes we have a fridge. Every missionary does. It's just people in the lowlands of the mission (everywhere other than Baguio because Baguio is on a big hill) are pretty poor , so a fridge is a pricy expense for a lot of people that can get by without it. But yeah we have one.

3. I WOULD be washing my clothes by hand but we have what's called a Tagalaba. Which is someone who we pay to wash our clothes twice a week. Costs 1000 Pesos a month , but if you don't have one then you spend about half your P-Day grinding your knuckles trying to clean your clothes , ha.

4. You guys should contact any way you want - but never stop with the emails. It takes about 2 - 3 weeks for a DearElder to get here so they are a bit dated by the time I read it , ha. But I love getting them. Also can you please tell Debbie thank you so much for all her DearElders and stuff. I don't have her email address on me , but she still sends me DearElders which is so so nice of her!

5. PICTURES! I'm sending my memory card home [which will be full!] with Elder Lefler. Because his family just moved to Orem , so Callie can just go pick it up from him so much easier , and this way it won't take over a month to get home! So I figured you guys would be happy about that. I could post pictures on the computer but there's two problems with that. 1- internet cafe's are not always trusted , and soo many are riddled with viruses. And if you're not careful you can so easily get a virus on your camera which can either delete all the software on the camera , break it , or erase your memory card. So I don't want to risk that until I find a place I know is very trustworthy. And second is that with emails I can only send like 3 or 4 most at a time , and it takes a while to upload on slow internet. So I figured with a full memory card that'd be good for a while.

6. And yes - I'm very big to these people , hahaa.


OKAY! About my week. Unfortunately there's not too too much to say but I'll add a few funny and noteworthy points. Tuesday- We had district meeting then I went on splits with Elder Miller whose my zone leader in my area. This guy is so so funny , and he's from Idaho Falls so he's only 20 minutes outside Rexburg. And he'll probably be up at BYUI when I get back so I'd love to look him up when I'm back. But what happened was we're in my area , so more or less I'm leading us around , and we get to a less active family to teach a lesson. Their house is mostly raised up and they have this little " deck-like" landing where we taught and then you walk down these steep wooden stairs to get back down to the dirt. So after we teach we walk back down the stairs. I walk first , Elder Miller behind me. Elder Miller is a pretty heavy guy. I turn around after I got downstairs because I heard something and I look back and see Elder Miller having broken through the second and third step on the stairs and dropped like 5 feet down to the ground. The people were freaking out and he just is laughing hysterically and I'm laughing hysterically because neither of us can believe what just happened. Are you serious?! He just busted through their stairs because no Filipino is as large as him. So he tries to take out money from his pocket and give to them to fix the stairs , but they won't take it. So we just walk off just so so confused at what just happened and still laughing so hard trying to calm down. But in an instance like that it takes a miracle to stop laughing. So that was the first highlight.

I think I picked up your package Wednesday , Mom , and so that was so awesome to get. Oh - and thank you so much for those ties. I bought one from a store , my mission president gave me two , and I bought like 6 or 7 from the zone leaders so I'm pretty well stocked now. So thank you so much. Or maybe I got that on Friday. I really can't remember. This week has just been so hectic because Elder Lefler is the District Leader and so he has to do all the baptismal interviews for the district. So we were in Bayambang and San Carlos like half the week it felt like. But we still got a lot of lessons in and extended another baptismal date yesterday , but she said she wants a sure testimony of the book of mormon before she accepts , and I was glad to hear that. Without a strong backing with testimony and member friends and what not , inactivity eventually seeps in.

- Hey can you ask June for me if she's gotten my letter yet? I sent it like my second week here , so it really should have gotten to her already. Pretty crazy to think that we're sending and receiving stuff across the world.


-- Anyways there wasn't too many highlights this week , I'm sorry. Everything was pretty average and ordinary. Oh mom - ha , it's funny you said that about John 3:16 because I really don't like that verse anymore , hahah. During EVERY SINGLE LESSON in the mtc my companion would use that verse. I swear he had nothing else because he would randomly say it at the strangest times. And we had many a talk as to why he used that verse when we were talking about something completely different. And obviously , follow the spirit when you teach ... but there's a difference between being in tune to the spirit and just winging it. So after hearing that verse literally , I'm not kidding , twice or three times a day for 2 months straight ... I don't exactly run to it every time I can , ha. Not to mention my faith in the Book of Mormon and love for it exceeds that of the Bible by a lot. Maybe that's not the best thing , but after the Nicene Creed and all this I just love how unaltered the BoM is. I was reading in 3 Nephi 11 the other day and had what felt like a pretty revelatory moment. I found between verses 3 and 8 , 6 or 7 points of extremely extremely important doctrine. And that amazed me. Just so few verses and such simple words have the most profound meaning in our lives. Anyways , go read them and let me know what you find.

Also! You didn't send me your guys' favorite scriptures like I asked. Do it! It's gotta be in the BoM though.

Alright well. My companion leaves for Baguio tomorrow , then takes off with his batch a few days later. Elder Miller left today so I'm paired with the other zone leader until Friday when I get my new companion. It'll almost definitely be a Filipino and I'm pretty excited about that. Elder Lefler was a nice guy but I didn't really learn any language from him.. ha. So it'll be fun to be with Elder Podzikowski for the rest of the week. He's from Orem , too. Lotta mormons in utah! But new transfer starts on Monday. That's so weird to think that a transfer is already over , but at the same time it kind of feels like it. I've been in Malimpec for a while , but at the same time not at all. Again.. time is so irrelevant on a mission that it's almost confusing. I'll probably be there for one or two more transfers , which means 1 1/2 or 3 more months. Oh man , I cannot even imagine what it will be like going home , haha. Even if I went home now it would be the strangest strangest thing ever. But I'm no where near ready yet. Maybe in 21 months... maybe.


Alright , I think that's all from me this week. Sorry that my week was pretty average , but not every week can be exciting - ha. I love this work Mom and Dad , and wouldn't trade it for anything. I'll catch you guys next week!

Love,
Elder White