Don't have too too much time left , sorreh. Got a lot of emails , but that was awesome .. keep it up.
Note to Andrea: thank you so much for all the apple and dark knight info you sent - especially the dark knight info , that was awesome. But please please send that stuff in Dear Elders , Andrea. I love getting Dear Elders because I get them and read them during the week and don't have to sprint through it. But thanks so much for it.
Mom: thank you for checking the stuff - a good book about the second coming and stuff may be by David Ridges , the guy that wrote those The Book of Mormon Made Easier books. He's got one named 50 signs of the times and the second coming. I'm sure that one is great. Also I would loove a book about the life of Joseph Smith or The Bio of President Hinckley. But if they're heavy books , don't worry about it. I just love reading here. We have probably about 50 Liahonas in our apartment and I've read them all. Not to mention the bio of President Monson and the Believing Christ book you sent me.
To Grandma: Thank you so so much for that biography of President Monson! That has been the second best book I've read on my mission (Book of Mormon takes first , ha) And seriously deepened my testimony of him.
Email Time!
Wait .. first. How is Erik and Dave Hutch and Trevor Taylor doing? And can I please get the addresses of Sister Taylor and Garrett's MTC Address? Thank ya.
Okay , email.
This week was gooood. We got back from the SM last week during another storm , so work is always hard. I think my whole mission the most lessons I've got on a Monday after Pday was three. It is near impossible to get lessons here once the sun goes down ... most people don't have electricity so they sleep , or if they do they don't want visitors. So 6 - 9 is very very difficult to get lessons in. It was kind of a weak week , too. We got 21 investigator lessons , but the past three weeks we've gotten like 25 , 26 , and 27 .. so I was kinda bummed , ha. But this week was harder , and now that it's rainy season ... it rains. Which makes everything harder. Lessons usually get cut in half on those days because people are either not home or don't want visitors , ha. Especially when we're soaking wet. So we've had to get creative.
I'm sorry , this week really really wasn't interesting. Ha. I'm not sure what to write. We did have one awesome thing though ... a baptismmmm. We got real lucky with her , though. Because we've now given away one investigator to another area that eventually got baptized , we're giving another one away (Billy ... the amazing elect kid) in a week when he's one sunday shy of being able to be baptized here , and then two sisters who will probably be baptized in another area , too. So that's four baptisms that we will have given away to other elders. Kind of sad it's not us , but you're also just insanely stoked for them to be baptized. So we got lucky with Julie Pearl (her name..). She's 15 and got taught mostly in the Manila Mission , then came to live here for vacation with family for a couple months. We didn't think she'd be allowed to be baptized here , because it's only temporary , but we got the green light and so we Elder Salde baptized her on Saturday. It was way way awesome. Not to mention the family she was staying with is my favorite family here , ha , and they fed us almost every time we taught her. And they cook ... reaallly good. Like I'm a fan of the food here , but they do steak & onions and other stuff , too. So... happy times. So anyways her baptism was on Saturday and it was a pretty crazy day. We phoned the Tayug Elders to get to the chapel at 11 and start filling up the font because there's no font or chapel in our area , so we go to theirs , and when we get there at 1:30 ... the font has maybe 4 inches of water. So we're just like come onnnn , lazy lazy. So we're running everywhere trying to find hoses to add extra water sources to the font. Once we ran out of hose lines we then start running outside and filling up buckets and stuff from pipes outside to fill it up faster , ha. Within 45'ish minutes we got it filled. The baptism was way good , and the branch turn out was way good too - that's usually something hard to get. So then Sunday me and Elder Salde joined as Brother William (first counselor in branch pres) confirmed her , and maaannnn that was awesome. I've confirmed twice now , but I felt the spirit a lot stronger while he said it and I just listened , ha. It was way way awesome.
So that was my weeeek. Week 4 now , which means 2.5 more weeks until we know whose being transferred where. From our district it's probably only Elder Salde transferring. Also I've got exchanges with the district leader on Tuesday , then we have a Tri-Zone Conference on Thursday which I'll write about next week.
Sorry , really , for such a short email - but nothing really exciting happened this week. Just a lot of rain , ha. It always starts off way sunny - so it tricks you. Yesterday it went from gorgeous outside to thundering and pounding rain within like seconds. The last appointment we went to last night my companion and the priest that came with us had umbrellas , but I didn't - ha. I was sooaakkkeeddd. The family was way nice though , like towel towel! It's a bummer that we're giving away so many awesome referrals pretty soon to other areas , because our area will then take a dive with investigators. Next transfer will be interesting to see who we find. I always think we've gone everywhere , and then we find an amazing investigator at a house we pass 20x a day but never think to stop. It's funny how a mission works like that.
Other than that , I'm doing gooood. The language really is not a problem anymore , which is awesome , I continue to learn like crazy every day but all fears and what not are now gone. Companionship is good , we have rocky moments but for the most part he's been a really good companion. My health is good , still got love handles ... but I've since stopped drinking the water here , ha. Umm what else. That's it I think?
Just try and include a little something going on in the world in ya emaiillsss ... I'm in a bubble here , but I still want to know about the world I'm living in! Haha. This mission is going by waaaay too fast though. I hit 7 months on Friday and it kind've freaked me out. I still feel so so so new , but at the end of this transfer I'll almost be 1/3 done with the mission. That's gross. Time has a way of moving faster than you'd like. We'll see what the future brings , though.
So please , momma , just get me those addresses ... and I think that's it! OH! Also please take a picture of the Manhatten temple (from outside) next time you go and send it to me (through email). I wanna print it out.
Okay , iyan lang.
Love you all , stay safe , healthy , good , yaddayadda
-Elder White
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Another great week!
The email is a bit late today because we just had a zone activity a little bit ago. But I'll write about that later on. And I really want to post some pictures right now , but I forgot my cord , and my friend (Elder Halvorsen from Washington [hahaha mom]) has a card reader for memory cards but it's not working for some reason. So next time I guess. Okay I guess questions first.
Questions:
1. Pictures. Some of the missionary mom's (MM) have said that they have an account with snapfish or picassa where their son downloads his camera right into the account and then they are able to see the pictures and do what they want with them. Is that a possibility with you? I'm sure you've got a ton of pictures that we haven't seen.
- I apologize , but all other sites besides this one mail site is BAWAL which means not allowed.
2. Do you know an Elder Gilliland from Arizona or Elder Halvorsen from Washington state. Their mom's are on MM's.
- Yeah Elder Halvorsen , I just hung out with a him for a long time this morning , great guy.
3. Don't forget to answer the above questions regarding package contents and length of time for packages, dearelders, June's letters.
- I think it takes a solid 2 or 3 weeks to get to the Phils and then another week or two to get to me.
- Package:
--cliff bars
--books on the second coming and the book of revelations that are GOOD
--little things from like the byu bookstore that make the scriptures easier. it's hard to describe but little cards and stuff like they used to hand out in seminary. Just little shortcuts like the book of mormon at a glance and just little stuff like that. I like that stuff a lot
--maybe the biography of president hinckley , but maybe not. It's probably heavy and expensive.
--a book of joseph smith's life THATS GOOD if it's not heavy or expensive
--other than that ... it's up to you!
4. Is it getting hot?
- ahahaha I'm in the Philippines! of course it's hot!
5. When is your next transfer? Do you think you or your companion will be transferred?
- Next transfer date is June 16. I highly doubt I'll get transferred , my companion will probably 80% chance get transferred. He's been here 3 transfers now , that's about right for a transfer.
One last piece of info. I saw Sis Gibson last night and she said that there are only 76 missionaries in the entire country of Cambodia and half are native. Garrett is pretty nervous.
- Tell Garrett to please not be nervous. Did you give him that letter? A mission and learning the language is only harder when you fight it. Tell him to become Cambodian and it'll be the most amazing experience of his life. A lot of missionaries here really fight the culture and the work , their attitude , and their experience suffer so much. Don't bring america to cambodia. He'll fall in love with the country before he even steps foot in it. And the language comes. For everyone. No matter how hard it is. Tell him to always remember he's called of God which means he's got the stuff to make it. Garrett is such a smart guy , there is not a reason in the world to worry. I've seen elders who struggled so much in the MTC which the language just flourish like crazy in the field. And it does not matter even how well you communicate , I promise promise promise that the spirit speaks so much louder. I can testify to that because of my first transfer. I couldn't hardly speak and I got the note from the convert , not my companion who did like 85% of the teaching. I promise he'll be so fine. Also the MTC which prepare him like no other. Alma 7:15 ... Humayo and huwag matakot!
...also I got all the emails about Japan and stuff , but none yet with coin tricks. Also news on the Dark Knight? When I logged onto the comp here I saw some news about it on Yahoo , but obviously I can't read it so I had to click out quick. Send news please!!
Here are things I wrote down this week to not forget:
1. Is there any way to get an original STYLE book of mormon? Like the kind Joseph Smith printed at first? Obviously not an original copy , but just the style. That'd be so awesome if they still made those.
2. Can I please get a Line of Authority Chart of my priesthood if you can find one? I would just love to know who ordained Grandpa to his office and who ordained that person!
Okay my week:
So we've got this investigator whose from Manila province that came up to vacation for a couple months. She had been taught down in her area and then came up having almost qualified for baptisms. Well we taught her a few times because she was staying at her relatives place , who are members , and then we were like wait ... can we give her an IBD (Investigator w/ a Baptismal Date ... [not Irretable Bowel Syndrome...Andrea]) and so we asked our District Leader and he was like yeah , go for it. Just gotta transfer the records right away when she leaves. So we're like whaaat okay. So now we have a baptism on this upcoming saturday , haha. We didn't do much to progress her , but it's kind of a trade off for Billy Nalos - the elect na elect investigator of ours.
So here's something really weird that happend this week. We go to this calenderia (kiind of like a restaurant .. I explaind on the phone) that a member owns a few times a week for lunch because they don't let us pay. So as I'm sitting waiting for food I usually read a book - that's one way I finished the bio of President Monson so quick. And so I was reading their book " Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II " which , ya know , are just those feel-good books with good stories for teens and stuff. And I read this one story and was like ah good story. I look at the author ... and I nearly jumped out of the chair. I was so surprised because it was someone in my high school! I re read the short story and was like oh my gosh this is a perfect description of her! Everything was spot on to how she dressed and her personality and stuff. I was like I can't believe I'm in the Philippines reading a story that a girl in my grade back home wrote. Buuuuuuuuuut. I then turn to the back with the information about authors. Turns out , for one ... the book was written in 1998. She would've been 7 or 8. And two , the author was from Canada. I'm still in shock though that someone with the exact same name is the exact same person living somewhere else. It was very very spooky.
Also I donno why , but I had the thought this week about the time we were down south somewhere and bought those marshmello guns. And then Trevor realized soon it was better to wet down the marshmello first with his saliva and then spit at people ,ahahahaha. I'll leave this one up for family cross examination and reminiscing. I just thought about it very randomly the other day and it crackd me up. I probably looked weird just breaking out into random laughter.
So this week was good. We got like 26 investigator lessons in , which is quiite a lot. But only 5 investigators showed up for church. It was way good though , that's the highest we've had since I've been here. So the work is really picking up. But when their chapel is finished and opens up ... of man this work is going to through the roof. Unfortunately a lot of our investigators will be leaving for school soon , but we've planted really good seeds in them that'll help them grow.
So let me spend the majority now talking about today. Well yesterday (sunday) it rained and lightening'ed and thundered really hard in our area. So when we finally came home we texted the zone leaders to see if the zone activity was still going on .. it was. So we had to be in Rosales at 5AM , which meant leaving the house at 3:30 to catch a 3:40 bus to get there by 4:30. The next bus left too late. So I set the alarm for 3am , but ended up waking up at 2:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. So I've been up since 2:30 AM now ... fun. Anyways , we get to Rosales at 4:15 AM .... waaay early. So we just peruse the dead streets , find a bakery open , eat some breakfast then head back to the church. Wait a while , finally elders from our zone start showing up. Two by two they come until FINALLY the zone leaders show up at 6AM.
(the power just shut off here for a few minutes because there's another storm outside)
So then Elder Podzikowsky , who does polynesian dancing back home , did a fire knife dance where he literally just spun a long knife/sword thing on fire crazy fast for a while. It was pretty amazing. And then we took off for the Zone Activity. Which was hiking. Most of us were pretty stoked to go , some weren't of course , but we were as a zone so it was way fun. Take a jeepney and tryke to the place and finally get going. The americans walk a lot faster than the pinoys so it was way fun finally being able to just speak english for a while and laugh with other americans in my zone. After like 25 minutes of walking on just a cement road , through actually really awesome rice fields and stuff , we get to the "resort" . Ahahaha , resort has a different meaning here. But it did have a dirty pool , so that qualifies. I thought that was the hiking , and was pretty bummed. We all kind of thought that was it and were like geeze , sweet hike. Then they were like nope - starts there. So we get to the side of this mountain'ish thing and start hiking. It's way easy for the first couple minutes and we're like oh this'll be alright after all , and then it instantly turned into a vertical rock climb/hike! It was awweeesssoommmeee
(the power just kicked off again. thank goodness for auto save)
So at points it was like kind of dangerous , haha , but it was way fun. There was no guide , obviously , so we just followed the path we made. Eventually we get to the top and it was such an amazing view. We could see pretty much everyone's area (which is way far) and just everything around. Such a cool view. Then we sit around for a long time waiting for the rest of the zone to get to the top. It took about 30 - 40 minutes in all , but some elders are very very big so I was amazed they made it up. But the zone leaders and everyone makes it up and we sit down and then Elder Podz (because he goes home soon) just wanted to bear his testimony and stuff and invited others as well. So it ends up as a testimony meeting of just our zone and was sooo strong. Like the spirit was amazing. A couple elders shared really powerful testimonies of their life and stuff and almost all of us went. So after we sang Called to Serve and headed back down. Going down was craaazy hahaha. We pretty much got down in like 15 minutes jumping from rocks hahaha. We probably went waaay too fast , but it was a lot of fun. Once to the bottom we wait around for everyone , then head to different apartments to shower (our apartment was way too far so we showered at Elder Halvorsen's apartment) and now we're at the SM. So that's why today the email is so late , I'm sorry. But I got soooooooo burned , ahahah. I wish I could show you the picture. I'll email it next week along with other shots of the day. It was such an awesome day and the mountain was way hard to climb but obviously you can pull some great mission symmetry out of that.
I had another thought the other day , Mom , that since you liked the last letter I'll probably put in another letter to you - it'd just be easier. Also it's funny you mention Dad's house because that's what it's about. Also can you get me the addresses of Brandon , Trevor , and Courtney? Also Garrett's MTC Address , Trevor Taylor's parents address , anddd I think that's it for now. Please email Travis or his parents and tell him another letter is on the way but I never got his letter!
..I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton , as usual , but that's all I can think of right now. I love you all and pray about you all the time!
Catch you next week!
-Elder White
Questions:
1. Pictures. Some of the missionary mom's (MM) have said that they have an account with snapfish or picassa where their son downloads his camera right into the account and then they are able to see the pictures and do what they want with them. Is that a possibility with you? I'm sure you've got a ton of pictures that we haven't seen.
- I apologize , but all other sites besides this one mail site is BAWAL which means not allowed.
2. Do you know an Elder Gilliland from Arizona or Elder Halvorsen from Washington state. Their mom's are on MM's.
- Yeah Elder Halvorsen , I just hung out with a him for a long time this morning , great guy.
3. Don't forget to answer the above questions regarding package contents and length of time for packages, dearelders, June's letters.
- I think it takes a solid 2 or 3 weeks to get to the Phils and then another week or two to get to me.
- Package:
--cliff bars
--books on the second coming and the book of revelations that are GOOD
--little things from like the byu bookstore that make the scriptures easier. it's hard to describe but little cards and stuff like they used to hand out in seminary. Just little shortcuts like the book of mormon at a glance and just little stuff like that. I like that stuff a lot
--maybe the biography of president hinckley , but maybe not. It's probably heavy and expensive.
--a book of joseph smith's life THATS GOOD if it's not heavy or expensive
--other than that ... it's up to you!
4. Is it getting hot?
- ahahaha I'm in the Philippines! of course it's hot!
5. When is your next transfer? Do you think you or your companion will be transferred?
- Next transfer date is June 16. I highly doubt I'll get transferred , my companion will probably 80% chance get transferred. He's been here 3 transfers now , that's about right for a transfer.
One last piece of info. I saw Sis Gibson last night and she said that there are only 76 missionaries in the entire country of Cambodia and half are native. Garrett is pretty nervous.
- Tell Garrett to please not be nervous. Did you give him that letter? A mission and learning the language is only harder when you fight it. Tell him to become Cambodian and it'll be the most amazing experience of his life. A lot of missionaries here really fight the culture and the work , their attitude , and their experience suffer so much. Don't bring america to cambodia. He'll fall in love with the country before he even steps foot in it. And the language comes. For everyone. No matter how hard it is. Tell him to always remember he's called of God which means he's got the stuff to make it. Garrett is such a smart guy , there is not a reason in the world to worry. I've seen elders who struggled so much in the MTC which the language just flourish like crazy in the field. And it does not matter even how well you communicate , I promise promise promise that the spirit speaks so much louder. I can testify to that because of my first transfer. I couldn't hardly speak and I got the note from the convert , not my companion who did like 85% of the teaching. I promise he'll be so fine. Also the MTC which prepare him like no other. Alma 7:15 ... Humayo and huwag matakot!
...also I got all the emails about Japan and stuff , but none yet with coin tricks. Also news on the Dark Knight? When I logged onto the comp here I saw some news about it on Yahoo , but obviously I can't read it so I had to click out quick. Send news please!!
Here are things I wrote down this week to not forget:
1. Is there any way to get an original STYLE book of mormon? Like the kind Joseph Smith printed at first? Obviously not an original copy , but just the style. That'd be so awesome if they still made those.
2. Can I please get a Line of Authority Chart of my priesthood if you can find one? I would just love to know who ordained Grandpa to his office and who ordained that person!
Okay my week:
So we've got this investigator whose from Manila province that came up to vacation for a couple months. She had been taught down in her area and then came up having almost qualified for baptisms. Well we taught her a few times because she was staying at her relatives place , who are members , and then we were like wait ... can we give her an IBD (Investigator w/ a Baptismal Date ... [not Irretable Bowel Syndrome...Andrea]) and so we asked our District Leader and he was like yeah , go for it. Just gotta transfer the records right away when she leaves. So we're like whaaat okay. So now we have a baptism on this upcoming saturday , haha. We didn't do much to progress her , but it's kind of a trade off for Billy Nalos - the elect na elect investigator of ours.
So here's something really weird that happend this week. We go to this calenderia (kiind of like a restaurant .. I explaind on the phone) that a member owns a few times a week for lunch because they don't let us pay. So as I'm sitting waiting for food I usually read a book - that's one way I finished the bio of President Monson so quick. And so I was reading their book " Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II " which , ya know , are just those feel-good books with good stories for teens and stuff. And I read this one story and was like ah good story. I look at the author ... and I nearly jumped out of the chair. I was so surprised because it was someone in my high school! I re read the short story and was like oh my gosh this is a perfect description of her! Everything was spot on to how she dressed and her personality and stuff. I was like I can't believe I'm in the Philippines reading a story that a girl in my grade back home wrote. Buuuuuuuuuut. I then turn to the back with the information about authors. Turns out , for one ... the book was written in 1998. She would've been 7 or 8. And two , the author was from Canada. I'm still in shock though that someone with the exact same name is the exact same person living somewhere else. It was very very spooky.
Also I donno why , but I had the thought this week about the time we were down south somewhere and bought those marshmello guns. And then Trevor realized soon it was better to wet down the marshmello first with his saliva and then spit at people ,ahahahaha. I'll leave this one up for family cross examination and reminiscing. I just thought about it very randomly the other day and it crackd me up. I probably looked weird just breaking out into random laughter.
So this week was good. We got like 26 investigator lessons in , which is quiite a lot. But only 5 investigators showed up for church. It was way good though , that's the highest we've had since I've been here. So the work is really picking up. But when their chapel is finished and opens up ... of man this work is going to through the roof. Unfortunately a lot of our investigators will be leaving for school soon , but we've planted really good seeds in them that'll help them grow.
So let me spend the majority now talking about today. Well yesterday (sunday) it rained and lightening'ed and thundered really hard in our area. So when we finally came home we texted the zone leaders to see if the zone activity was still going on .. it was. So we had to be in Rosales at 5AM , which meant leaving the house at 3:30 to catch a 3:40 bus to get there by 4:30. The next bus left too late. So I set the alarm for 3am , but ended up waking up at 2:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. So I've been up since 2:30 AM now ... fun. Anyways , we get to Rosales at 4:15 AM .... waaay early. So we just peruse the dead streets , find a bakery open , eat some breakfast then head back to the church. Wait a while , finally elders from our zone start showing up. Two by two they come until FINALLY the zone leaders show up at 6AM.
(the power just shut off here for a few minutes because there's another storm outside)
So then Elder Podzikowsky , who does polynesian dancing back home , did a fire knife dance where he literally just spun a long knife/sword thing on fire crazy fast for a while. It was pretty amazing. And then we took off for the Zone Activity. Which was hiking. Most of us were pretty stoked to go , some weren't of course , but we were as a zone so it was way fun. Take a jeepney and tryke to the place and finally get going. The americans walk a lot faster than the pinoys so it was way fun finally being able to just speak english for a while and laugh with other americans in my zone. After like 25 minutes of walking on just a cement road , through actually really awesome rice fields and stuff , we get to the "resort" . Ahahaha , resort has a different meaning here. But it did have a dirty pool , so that qualifies. I thought that was the hiking , and was pretty bummed. We all kind of thought that was it and were like geeze , sweet hike. Then they were like nope - starts there. So we get to the side of this mountain'ish thing and start hiking. It's way easy for the first couple minutes and we're like oh this'll be alright after all , and then it instantly turned into a vertical rock climb/hike! It was awweeesssoommmeee
(the power just kicked off again. thank goodness for auto save)
So at points it was like kind of dangerous , haha , but it was way fun. There was no guide , obviously , so we just followed the path we made. Eventually we get to the top and it was such an amazing view. We could see pretty much everyone's area (which is way far) and just everything around. Such a cool view. Then we sit around for a long time waiting for the rest of the zone to get to the top. It took about 30 - 40 minutes in all , but some elders are very very big so I was amazed they made it up. But the zone leaders and everyone makes it up and we sit down and then Elder Podz (because he goes home soon) just wanted to bear his testimony and stuff and invited others as well. So it ends up as a testimony meeting of just our zone and was sooo strong. Like the spirit was amazing. A couple elders shared really powerful testimonies of their life and stuff and almost all of us went. So after we sang Called to Serve and headed back down. Going down was craaazy hahaha. We pretty much got down in like 15 minutes jumping from rocks hahaha. We probably went waaay too fast , but it was a lot of fun. Once to the bottom we wait around for everyone , then head to different apartments to shower (our apartment was way too far so we showered at Elder Halvorsen's apartment) and now we're at the SM. So that's why today the email is so late , I'm sorry. But I got soooooooo burned , ahahah. I wish I could show you the picture. I'll email it next week along with other shots of the day. It was such an awesome day and the mountain was way hard to climb but obviously you can pull some great mission symmetry out of that.
I had another thought the other day , Mom , that since you liked the last letter I'll probably put in another letter to you - it'd just be easier. Also it's funny you mention Dad's house because that's what it's about. Also can you get me the addresses of Brandon , Trevor , and Courtney? Also Garrett's MTC Address , Trevor Taylor's parents address , anddd I think that's it for now. Please email Travis or his parents and tell him another letter is on the way but I never got his letter!
..I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton , as usual , but that's all I can think of right now. I love you all and pray about you all the time!
Catch you next week!
-Elder White
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Family Email
I saw a shirt earlier that said :
Father And Mother I Love You
I thought it was kind of funny. How you guys doing. That was fun talking to you guys last week - and I thought I was gonna be way trunky when I got off , but actually it made me like more stoked to be a missionary , haha I don't know why. It was storming pretty hard that night , though , so when we went out later my umbrella like broke haha. It was way fun , though , and just a mini-baguio (again baguio means storm). That's way awesome that Taylor is home now. It still blows my mind that he's already done. Literally , I feel like I just started reading his emails last summer. Even that feels too long ago. Crazy crazy how fast a mission really is. My zone leader that's been with me for all my transfers so far goes home after this transfer , dang that was fast. So yeah. That's what monday was - talking to you guys then working for a few hours in a storm , haha. Tuesday I met my new district andddd it's not as good as the old one , but there's an elder from Las Vegas named Elder Austin ... kind of weird. But the new district leader is nice and it'll be a pretty quick transfer I think. Week one is already down , dang. Oh! Also Elder Faber is now working in the office , ahaha. In the mission there's two office elders that basically just record stats and help supply the mission with things they need. They proselyte from like 5-9 on days they have time ... kind of a crummy position. But they do get a car , so I guess that's a plus. Also ... we have no support today so I had to withdraw from personal again , I'm sorry. I seriously hate withdrawing but I don't know what's wrong with President Perkins (a senior couple man whose in charge of support for us and getting it from JP Morgan). But there seems to be a problem every single week. So I had 11 pesos and my companion had none ... so just to get home I had to withdraw. So I'm really sorry. So tuesday after district meeting I went on splits with Elder Podzikowski (he's the zone leader that transferred with me to Rosales Zone , so he's been one of my ZLs for all 4 transfers) in his area , which is more of a city. And it is very utah like. Including the McDo , 7/11 , and mall. P.S - Question to Brandon and Courtney. Is there a " Jollybee " restaurant in NYC? That's like a the Pilipino version of McDo and they say there is one ... but I don't believe. Anyways , his area is pretty sweet and his apartment is way cool. He's also become one of my really good friends out here on a mission , just because we've worked together for 4 transfers and probably if you combine all the days we've gone on splits and been companions because both of our old companions went home together .. it's probly been like half a transfer worth of days. He's from Orem , UT(I asked him about Taylor , but it didn't ring a bell) and does polynesian dancing and stuff with knives. Yep... there's a little bio about someone you'll probly never meet. Anyways , then we came home and I worked back in my area. This week was pretty good work , got about 25 investigator lessons again and we keep finding new investigators. Okkaayyy , let me tell you about Billy Nalos before I forget. This is probably the most elect investigator I will ever find on my mission. Like ... literally. We found him through a referral given by a member. The member referred us to a house , we find the house , teach a lesson ... they weren't that interested but invited us to come back . We come back a few days later , and billy joins because his house in the front of the compound and he just wanted to listen. Come back a third time and the former people weren't interested but Billy wanted to hear more. Come back a 4th time and teach him and literally his spirit just slapped me in the face. I have felt a stronger spirit before , but never never never that quickly ... it was ridiculous. He just like testified to us for 10 minutes how he knew everything was true. He's so astig. Literally. And he wants us to come back like every day , every time we teach he just testifies how he knows it's true , he keeps every commitment , and he came to church on sunday. Oh and on Friday he asked if he could be baptized. Too good to be true , eh? Yeah... kind of. In the Philippines , retention is a huge problem. So because of that , an investigator must come to church 4 consecutive times before they can be baptized. Billy will be in San Quintin for 3 sundays until he returns to school in Baguio. Of course I'm sad to give him up to other missionaries , but I'm so happy for this guy. I feel like he's a future apostle , ha. Oh , and he's 17. Just such such such a strong spirit. And besides him we picked up a few other investigators that are awesome that we'll have to give as referrals soon too , haha. We literally plant the seeds and grow the faith here ... and give them up just in time to be harvested. It's sad on one part , but at the same time an awesome feeling. These people are so amazing. Earlier , we just came from a home where they invited us over to bless the home. Now here in the Philippines that means party. ahaha. So we get there and there's like 50 people. In a small home. But... it was a really really really nice house. Although small. My companion says the house probably costs about 800,000 which issss a little less than 20,000$ . Anyways , we go into a bedroom and stand in a circle to say a prayer .. and I'm waiting for the father to start and after like 10 seconds they look at me and are like Elder White... sige na... which is like okay go ahead. I was like whaaaaat , when did you tell me I was giving the blessing. I kind of figured since it's the father's house... he should bless. So Mom and Dad ... I just blessed someone else's house ahahaha. That seems way funny to me. Then we came directly here. Oh , and there was a ton of food. When pilipinos do anything , they must have food. That's like the driving force of this nation. Seriously , if people weren't so obsessed with chicken there would be no raising chickens. If there was no raising chickens there would be no growing corn. Because corn is grown to feed the chickens , not people. If there was no corn growing , about 1/2 of the economy would shut down. This nation runs because people love chicken. Ahahaha. I love the philippines. Hmmm what else. My companion went on Facebook last monday , so we had a discussion about that... that was fun. Um , don't send a package for a while so I make a list of certain things. I know I want cliff bars , teeth whitening stuff , a book on the second coming + the book of revelations. And maybe the biography of President Hinckley. I just finished President Monson's biography that Grandma sent me at Christmas and it's such an awesome book. I finished it in a little less than a week ... not sure how I did that when I've only got time to read during meals and about 30 minutes at night. But his life is hysterical and amazing. Also he has some of the best quotes I've ever heard. What were a few of them ... I forget , I wrote em down. Don't want to misquote. But he's led an amazing life. Bishop at 21 , Stake Presidency at 27 , Mission president at 31 , Apostle at 36. Wow. He's just a really really exemplary person and it seriously strengthened my testimony of him. All the work he did in helping to open upEast Germany was pretty amazing , too. So I'm gonna write Grandma a letter pretty soon thanking her. Ha , there's a million things I remember literally right after I sign off every week ... so I'm trying to think now. Mom- Trevor HAS the jersey. It's white. it's got thin red lines running horizontally and it's the old America Soccer Jersey , from like 2006. I don't think I can get any more specific than that , haha. Umm , just write me dearelders , emails , letters , anything. I love news! Send me anything big that happens in the world ... I'm just curious. Whose winning the race for next president? How's obama doing? Anything. Maybe that's it , haha Love you all, -Elder White
Oh P.S
Saturday they had their Jubilee celebration for the 50 years the church has been in the philippines. It was pretty hysterical and sometimes inappropriate ... haha. Anyways here are some pictures too. 1. My best friend in the Philippines , her name is Bon Bon and is 2 or 3 I think. 2. Their celebration on Saturday 3. The construction of the church in the area when I first got her. It's more advanced now after a couple months and should bedone in July or early August.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Hmmm.
It was okay.
So Tuesday - regular day.
Wednesday- Transfer Awarenesssss.
Two Elders from our district got transferred , our district leader and an elder from Santa Maria. Also they're opening up an area so we're adding two more elders to our district. It was pretty predictable the transfers , my companion really only had like a 50% shot of being transferred at best , so he's here for another transfer. That's perfectly fine with me , really , we get along just fine. And although he's not always the most excited - that's why we're companions. So after district meeting we went to Mang Inasal as usual (all you can eat rice with a little bit of chicken) which we ubos. Always. ubos means like... finish? Anyways , then came home. Lessons this week were pretty good , got 30 in this week which I think is tied for my most. 13 Other Lessons (means just us as missionaries , no members) and 12 member present (obvious) and 5 Recent Convert or Less-Active. So we worked pretty dang hard , despite having so so many lessons fall through. But the members hate my companion , haha , but I'll talk about that in a minute. So Thursday we spent a good portion making a set plan for the entire transfer of how we were going to work with the members because they've got this huge church coming soon , it'll be finished in july , and they've only got like 85 active members. For most of them the calling is a burden and they need to start finding joy in their membership and understanding their importance in missionary work. So that's what we're going to try and help them with this transfer , helping them enjoy being a member - ha. But Friday and Saturday were pretty normal , more lessons. We've actually got one investigator whose like 18 and crazy crazy smart. He studies up in Baguio and before our second lesson to him we were following up his reading and he was like oh yeah I read it. Then he was like well then I read it a few more times to really understand it , then I read a bit further and we were like whaaaat. That's unheard of , ya'll. So we're pretty stoked about him. The only problem is that we think he goes back to Baguio pretty soon , so at least we'll be giving the elders up there a pretty dang good referral.
So maybe I'll just talk about yesterday (sunday). Church was good , as usual , and we had a couple investigators there. But after church we had PEC and MCM. During MCM things were incredibly tense because all the member leaders were there , and most of them really do not like my companion. Haha. They don't like his attitude and think he's disobedient and stuff. So as we're presenting the progress record like no one is saying or commenting anything ... it was like silent. And these past two weeks we've had almost nobody working with us for lessons and have had to get creative in getting member present lessons. They're just boycotting us because they really don't like my companion. So after the meeting the first counselor gets up and is like , alright. Now we're going to evaluate the relationship between the members and the missionaries. And I was like yeeessssss fiiiinnaaallllyyyyy. I've been trying to mend things for the past two weeks , but my companion didn't want to change , and the leaders did not want to change. Actually the branch president and counselors didn't have a problem , it was just the branch mission leader (that's a problem) young women's president and young men's president. All like 23 , 24 , 25. So then basically they vented about him and stuff and he about them and they got everything out and we finally found some common ground and came up with a solution to start over , haha. So feelings are much better and everyone feels better. We'll see how this transfer goes. Pretty appropriate timing , and pretty inspired if you ask me because we just planned last Thursday how to change things with the members and it's the very last day of the old transfer. Today is the first day of the new one.
So after church we went on splits and I headed to an appointment that's about 4KMs away , so it's a way fun walk , with the branch mission leader. Taught them there and then headed back and met back up with my companion for a few more appointments.
That was pretty much my week. Not too exciting , except for sunday , haha. I don't really have too to omuch to say , sorry , but I'll be calling before too long so I think you can forgive me!
It was okay.
So Tuesday - regular day.
Wednesday- Transfer Awarenesssss.
Two Elders from our district got transferred , our district leader and an elder from Santa Maria. Also they're opening up an area so we're adding two more elders to our district. It was pretty predictable the transfers , my companion really only had like a 50% shot of being transferred at best , so he's here for another transfer. That's perfectly fine with me , really , we get along just fine. And although he's not always the most excited - that's why we're companions. So after district meeting we went to Mang Inasal as usual (all you can eat rice with a little bit of chicken) which we ubos. Always. ubos means like... finish? Anyways , then came home. Lessons this week were pretty good , got 30 in this week which I think is tied for my most. 13 Other Lessons (means just us as missionaries , no members) and 12 member present (obvious) and 5 Recent Convert or Less-Active. So we worked pretty dang hard , despite having so so many lessons fall through. But the members hate my companion , haha , but I'll talk about that in a minute. So Thursday we spent a good portion making a set plan for the entire transfer of how we were going to work with the members because they've got this huge church coming soon , it'll be finished in july , and they've only got like 85 active members. For most of them the calling is a burden and they need to start finding joy in their membership and understanding their importance in missionary work. So that's what we're going to try and help them with this transfer , helping them enjoy being a member - ha. But Friday and Saturday were pretty normal , more lessons. We've actually got one investigator whose like 18 and crazy crazy smart. He studies up in Baguio and before our second lesson to him we were following up his reading and he was like oh yeah I read it. Then he was like well then I read it a few more times to really understand it , then I read a bit further and we were like whaaaat. That's unheard of , ya'll. So we're pretty stoked about him. The only problem is that we think he goes back to Baguio pretty soon , so at least we'll be giving the elders up there a pretty dang good referral.
So maybe I'll just talk about yesterday (sunday). Church was good , as usual , and we had a couple investigators there. But after church we had PEC and MCM. During MCM things were incredibly tense because all the member leaders were there , and most of them really do not like my companion. Haha. They don't like his attitude and think he's disobedient and stuff. So as we're presenting the progress record like no one is saying or commenting anything ... it was like silent. And these past two weeks we've had almost nobody working with us for lessons and have had to get creative in getting member present lessons. They're just boycotting us because they really don't like my companion. So after the meeting the first counselor gets up and is like , alright. Now we're going to evaluate the relationship between the members and the missionaries. And I was like yeeessssss fiiiinnaaallllyyyyy. I've been trying to mend things for the past two weeks , but my companion didn't want to change , and the leaders did not want to change. Actually the branch president and counselors didn't have a problem , it was just the branch mission leader (that's a problem) young women's president and young men's president. All like 23 , 24 , 25. So then basically they vented about him and stuff and he about them and they got everything out and we finally found some common ground and came up with a solution to start over , haha. So feelings are much better and everyone feels better. We'll see how this transfer goes. Pretty appropriate timing , and pretty inspired if you ask me because we just planned last Thursday how to change things with the members and it's the very last day of the old transfer. Today is the first day of the new one.
So after church we went on splits and I headed to an appointment that's about 4KMs away , so it's a way fun walk , with the branch mission leader. Taught them there and then headed back and met back up with my companion for a few more appointments.
That was pretty much my week. Not too exciting , except for sunday , haha. I don't really have too to omuch to say , sorry , but I'll be calling before too long so I think you can forgive me!
Monday, May 2, 2011
OSAMA IS DEAD?! ...I'd completely forgot about him , but go America!
That is pretty insane. I haven't thought about that guy in a very long time but that's awesome that he's now in a place where he has no hope for progression and will eventually end up in a very very special place filled with the worst of the worst.
Anyways. I've got a few things written down that I want to mention before I forget them.
1. I need Trevor Taylor's address and the area code for Norwalk. I want to reply to the letter Alex sent me and I think his address is 11 Norden Place , Norwalk ... but I don't know the zip code.... scratch that. Just found it on the maps section of Lds.org. Oh , but I do still need Trevor Taylor's address.
2. PLEASE SEND COIN TRICKS TO ME!!! Through email and then through the mail if you want. I need them for little kids.
3. Please send a jersey of the USA jersey that I asked for!! Ask trevor about his , he'll know. It's the white one with very thin ride stripes running horizontally. I want to make a jersey of it , so please send through email!
4. Please send news about the new batman movie. Rumors or facts , I'm very curious. Andrea that means you.
Questions:
So.... have you been transferred?
- Nope I didn't get transferred! (I mean maybe... transfers are told to us this wednesday, but President told me no)
But really, how old is she and is she pretty.
- I think she's 14 or 15 and... how does dad put it... homely? ahahahaha.
Where are you -- describe in detail.
- I'm still in San Quintin!! You can probably look it up on google maps mom! Gotta get with this whole technology craze , the internet is a great source of information , aha. But San Quintin is pretty cool. It reminds me a lot of utah. Mountains in the distance , paved roads everywhere except for the dirt paths to a lot of houses. Everyones poor , of course , but mostly sweet. It's pretty bukid (farm) which means a lot of the men work on the farms harvesting corn and rice. I'll attach a few pictures I have.
Where are you living -- describe in detail.
- I'm still in the same house. It's pretty dang nice , for filipino standards , and definitely compared to my last place. It's got everything we need and tile floors. No complaints.
Who is you new companion -- describe in detail.
- Still Elder Salde , but he could be transferred. I reeeaaaallllyyyy want to train , haha. But I'm only 4 months into the field so that probably won't come (if at all) for another 6 or 8 months. He's good , for the most part. No real problems , he's just trunky haha. Despite having a whole year left. But there's a reason for every companion that we have , and my strengths are his weaknesses and my weaknesses are his strengths. For instance my BRT (build relationship of trust [with investigators]) is lacking because I'm obviously not as good at tagalog as him and I'm pretty shy for the most part. So he's way good at that. And he gets trunky a lot so I'm there to keep us out until 9 and get us out the door and keep us working , so it's a great balance. The mission loses it's luster for a lot of elders , so being new everything is still so exciting to me always. I love talking to everyone all the time (Despite being shy .. ha) and just love seeing the fruits of the labor. So , really , for the most part we work well together.
What is the ward like -- describe in detail.
- BRANCH. not ward. We have a tiny meeting house and it's next to impossible to get investigators to come because it's far enough for it to not be convenient ... so .... and without a real church and having massive temple-like structures that the Iglesia ni Cristo's have - we lose our validity in the eyes of many. But the church is being built here now and should be done in a couple months. They book it with the construction. Speaking of construction... I think it would shock you how they build things here , Dad , ha. It seems wrong to me and I don't even know the first thing about building. Though on-site mixing of cement is always a classy touch. But I'll talk more about the branch later.
What is the area like - describe in detail.
- I already told you about the area! I like it a lot , I love all my areas!
PMG L3. What are your thoughts? I don't even know what that lesson is. Are you glad you learned it in the MTC?
- You should have a Preach My Gospel , momma , what are you doing without one!? Seriously though , the insights and things you'll learn from PMG will greatly greatly greatly enhance your personal study mom. Don't be shy about using alternate sources. But Lesson 3 (unless you mean the full chapter 3 of PMG) is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's basically just 5 principles of Faith , Repentance , Baptism , Gift of the Holy Ghost , and Endure to the End. It's not that big of a deal to not teach it in the MTC. I don't remember even spending much time on it in the MTC. Lesson one and two are the main lessons with the most doctrine. Lesson three is just the doctrine of Jesus Christ and of course is incredibly important , but doesn't necessarily need to be taught in the MTC. Ideally a missionary should study those out and create their own way of teaching.
Anyways. My week.
So we got punted more times than I care to count this week. As I've explained before that means lessons that have fallen through. Tuesday , Wednesday , Thursday , and Friday I think we taught like 2 investigator lessons each day. It was ridiculous. Got a bunch of RCLA lessons but we were bummed that we were lacking on the investigator lessons. So we had to get really creative and ended up with 14 new investigators which is always good. But here's the big news I guess. First off , I didn't get transferred as I said before. I emailed President Jensen about the situation and he called me on Tuesday to tell me what to do. He's such a funny guy , I love that he's a mission president. He's like I'm so sorry , but you're going to have to get used to this. Being 19 , white , and a missionary is going to cause you a lot of trouble with girls on a mission , ahah. But he told me to tell the Branch President to talk to the girl and explain the situation and just do my best to avoid her and not make it a problem and stuff. So I did what he said , the Branch President then talked with the girl and now there's no problems. Though every time I've seen her now she kind of runs away , aha. But it's okay - I much prefer this turn out than having to be transferred.
Now here's the other news. My branch like hates my companion. We got some mysterious texts on Thursday calling us lazy and stuff and all this other junk. So we're like what the heck is this? (also it pourreeddd that day. I loved it) So we later talk to the Branch President , then later that night to a member whose like 20 or 21 and he told us it was this return missionary girl whose like 26 or 27 and is border line insane. And they're actually all mad at my companion , but not me.. aha , but since we're companions we're in the same boat here. But she's going all neehor or zeezrom or whoever that anti christ is in the beginning of alma and rallying up so many people against my companion. So now they refuse to work with us and stuff because they don't like his attitude and think he should be more excited about his mission and stuff. I mean , given he's pretty trunky , but the way to solve that is not to boycott working with the missionaries and stuff. It's just a mess that I'm trying to solve and my companion really doesn't care about and just says he hates the branch and stuff. So it'll probly solve itself when he gets transferred.
So that's the big news. But yesterday was awesome. Oh Saturday too. Saturday we had the jubilee for the philippines broadcast where a few leaders were in Manila for the celebration of the church being in the philippines for 50 years. It was a way awesome broadcast and for some reason the spirit hit me so hard when they talked about temples and showed a small clip of them. Then sunday we had an area conference broadcast and when we came home I went on splits with Brother Deguzman again. whose that 26 yr old RM that just got off his mission last july and was an AP. He's soooo good to work with. Literally like my ideal companion , haha. So I loved going on splits with him and it was just so fun to hear stories and stuff from his mission and about his companions and what not. Also we trecked out so far to teach this one family i nthe middle of no where who turned out to be so interested and such an awesome family. And there was one moment that literally made my whole week. It was hearing this little kid in the middle of no where yell "Thomas S. Monson!" after we taught him about prophets and the prophet today. I was beaming , haha , it was such like a perfect moment of why I love my mission.
Okay I gotta go cuz I'm literally out of time. But here's something awesome I got out of my personal study the other day. I read 2 Nephi 3:1 and had the most interesting insight pop into my head about the miracle of prayers. I'll write more about it in a personal letter or something next week!
I'm sorry but I've got to go now. I'm so short on time this week. I'll write a personal letter home though for ya mom
-LOVE YOU ALL!!!
-eLDER White!
That is pretty insane. I haven't thought about that guy in a very long time but that's awesome that he's now in a place where he has no hope for progression and will eventually end up in a very very special place filled with the worst of the worst.
Anyways. I've got a few things written down that I want to mention before I forget them.
1. I need Trevor Taylor's address and the area code for Norwalk. I want to reply to the letter Alex sent me and I think his address is 11 Norden Place , Norwalk ... but I don't know the zip code.... scratch that. Just found it on the maps section of Lds.org. Oh , but I do still need Trevor Taylor's address.
2. PLEASE SEND COIN TRICKS TO ME!!! Through email and then through the mail if you want. I need them for little kids.
3. Please send a jersey of the USA jersey that I asked for!! Ask trevor about his , he'll know. It's the white one with very thin ride stripes running horizontally. I want to make a jersey of it , so please send through email!
4. Please send news about the new batman movie. Rumors or facts , I'm very curious. Andrea that means you.
Questions:
So.... have you been transferred?
- Nope I didn't get transferred! (I mean maybe... transfers are told to us this wednesday, but President told me no)
But really, how old is she and is she pretty.
- I think she's 14 or 15 and... how does dad put it... homely? ahahahaha.
Where are you -- describe in detail.
- I'm still in San Quintin!! You can probably look it up on google maps mom! Gotta get with this whole technology craze , the internet is a great source of information , aha. But San Quintin is pretty cool. It reminds me a lot of utah. Mountains in the distance , paved roads everywhere except for the dirt paths to a lot of houses. Everyones poor , of course , but mostly sweet. It's pretty bukid (farm) which means a lot of the men work on the farms harvesting corn and rice. I'll attach a few pictures I have.
Where are you living -- describe in detail.
- I'm still in the same house. It's pretty dang nice , for filipino standards , and definitely compared to my last place. It's got everything we need and tile floors. No complaints.
Who is you new companion -- describe in detail.
- Still Elder Salde , but he could be transferred. I reeeaaaallllyyyy want to train , haha. But I'm only 4 months into the field so that probably won't come (if at all) for another 6 or 8 months. He's good , for the most part. No real problems , he's just trunky haha. Despite having a whole year left. But there's a reason for every companion that we have , and my strengths are his weaknesses and my weaknesses are his strengths. For instance my BRT (build relationship of trust [with investigators]) is lacking because I'm obviously not as good at tagalog as him and I'm pretty shy for the most part. So he's way good at that. And he gets trunky a lot so I'm there to keep us out until 9 and get us out the door and keep us working , so it's a great balance. The mission loses it's luster for a lot of elders , so being new everything is still so exciting to me always. I love talking to everyone all the time (Despite being shy .. ha) and just love seeing the fruits of the labor. So , really , for the most part we work well together.
What is the ward like -- describe in detail.
- BRANCH. not ward. We have a tiny meeting house and it's next to impossible to get investigators to come because it's far enough for it to not be convenient ... so .... and without a real church and having massive temple-like structures that the Iglesia ni Cristo's have - we lose our validity in the eyes of many. But the church is being built here now and should be done in a couple months. They book it with the construction. Speaking of construction... I think it would shock you how they build things here , Dad , ha. It seems wrong to me and I don't even know the first thing about building. Though on-site mixing of cement is always a classy touch. But I'll talk more about the branch later.
What is the area like - describe in detail.
- I already told you about the area! I like it a lot , I love all my areas!
PMG L3. What are your thoughts? I don't even know what that lesson is. Are you glad you learned it in the MTC?
- You should have a Preach My Gospel , momma , what are you doing without one!? Seriously though , the insights and things you'll learn from PMG will greatly greatly greatly enhance your personal study mom. Don't be shy about using alternate sources. But Lesson 3 (unless you mean the full chapter 3 of PMG) is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's basically just 5 principles of Faith , Repentance , Baptism , Gift of the Holy Ghost , and Endure to the End. It's not that big of a deal to not teach it in the MTC. I don't remember even spending much time on it in the MTC. Lesson one and two are the main lessons with the most doctrine. Lesson three is just the doctrine of Jesus Christ and of course is incredibly important , but doesn't necessarily need to be taught in the MTC. Ideally a missionary should study those out and create their own way of teaching.
Anyways. My week.
So we got punted more times than I care to count this week. As I've explained before that means lessons that have fallen through. Tuesday , Wednesday , Thursday , and Friday I think we taught like 2 investigator lessons each day. It was ridiculous. Got a bunch of RCLA lessons but we were bummed that we were lacking on the investigator lessons. So we had to get really creative and ended up with 14 new investigators which is always good. But here's the big news I guess. First off , I didn't get transferred as I said before. I emailed President Jensen about the situation and he called me on Tuesday to tell me what to do. He's such a funny guy , I love that he's a mission president. He's like I'm so sorry , but you're going to have to get used to this. Being 19 , white , and a missionary is going to cause you a lot of trouble with girls on a mission , ahah. But he told me to tell the Branch President to talk to the girl and explain the situation and just do my best to avoid her and not make it a problem and stuff. So I did what he said , the Branch President then talked with the girl and now there's no problems. Though every time I've seen her now she kind of runs away , aha. But it's okay - I much prefer this turn out than having to be transferred.
Now here's the other news. My branch like hates my companion. We got some mysterious texts on Thursday calling us lazy and stuff and all this other junk. So we're like what the heck is this? (also it pourreeddd that day. I loved it) So we later talk to the Branch President , then later that night to a member whose like 20 or 21 and he told us it was this return missionary girl whose like 26 or 27 and is border line insane. And they're actually all mad at my companion , but not me.. aha , but since we're companions we're in the same boat here. But she's going all neehor or zeezrom or whoever that anti christ is in the beginning of alma and rallying up so many people against my companion. So now they refuse to work with us and stuff because they don't like his attitude and think he should be more excited about his mission and stuff. I mean , given he's pretty trunky , but the way to solve that is not to boycott working with the missionaries and stuff. It's just a mess that I'm trying to solve and my companion really doesn't care about and just says he hates the branch and stuff. So it'll probly solve itself when he gets transferred.
So that's the big news. But yesterday was awesome. Oh Saturday too. Saturday we had the jubilee for the philippines broadcast where a few leaders were in Manila for the celebration of the church being in the philippines for 50 years. It was a way awesome broadcast and for some reason the spirit hit me so hard when they talked about temples and showed a small clip of them. Then sunday we had an area conference broadcast and when we came home I went on splits with Brother Deguzman again. whose that 26 yr old RM that just got off his mission last july and was an AP. He's soooo good to work with. Literally like my ideal companion , haha. So I loved going on splits with him and it was just so fun to hear stories and stuff from his mission and about his companions and what not. Also we trecked out so far to teach this one family i nthe middle of no where who turned out to be so interested and such an awesome family. And there was one moment that literally made my whole week. It was hearing this little kid in the middle of no where yell "Thomas S. Monson!" after we taught him about prophets and the prophet today. I was beaming , haha , it was such like a perfect moment of why I love my mission.
Okay I gotta go cuz I'm literally out of time. But here's something awesome I got out of my personal study the other day. I read 2 Nephi 3:1 and had the most interesting insight pop into my head about the miracle of prayers. I'll write more about it in a personal letter or something next week!
I'm sorry but I've got to go now. I'm so short on time this week. I'll write a personal letter home though for ya mom
-LOVE YOU ALL!!!
-eLDER White!
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