fast week

Hello family! How’s everyone doing. This has been a relatively fast week. We’re in Malasiqui right now and just ate a lot … at Mang Inasal again. Rice is a death food. So let’s talk about a couple things before I forget. Apparently American Idol is over? People here are talking about it so much because they are livid [is that the correct word?] because Jessica Sanchez lost to .. Phillip Phillips [is that really his name?]. They think he only won because he’s American and Jessica Sanchez is a Filipina [pretty sure she was born in the states… at least that’s what it sounds like] and so they’re taking the loss pretty personally , haha. It’s a funny thing because they love EVERYTHING Filipino but they have so little national pride. But any Filipino that becomes famous they automatically love. Unfortunately you can count the number of famous Filipinos on one hand. So yeah … I’ve been hearing about that from so many members lately , haha. Right now I’m trying to do all this college stuff … but super slow computers are a bit of a problem when trying to work through not knowing your own password for three years ago , haha. I never imagined it’d be this difficult to go back through all this stuff. I got an email for Cameron today actually ! If you remember him. He’s at BYU Provo right now and likes it a lot more he says , haha. I’m excited to go back to the Idaho , though , if only for one semester. I’m trying to convince Elder Mayes to transfer to Provo or Idaho. Anyways , I guess I’ll talk about my week a bit. Monday – last time I wrote – was a really good day , and the camera is reeaallllyy nice , haha. Later that night we taught two fun lessons to people that always enjoy our visits , so we love Mondays. Tuesday we had a zone gathering in Dagupan so we met as a zone and broke off for our district meetings. My district is Elder Tan and his companion Elder Dela Paz. So it’s fun to have him in my district meeting again. Elder Tan is just a really respectful person so it’s nice to have him there. After the district meeting and zone gathering we had exchanges in which I went with Elder Tan to our area here in Malasiqui. It was fun working with him again. He’s really refined himself as a missionary over the past few months and teaches really well. It’s funny how when you’re with a companion it’s hard to see their good side because you think there’s so many bad , but hindsight is 20/20 and it was just all good working with him again. Wednesday we went to Sta. Barbara to exchange back , then came home and went straight to work. Taught back to back to back lessons without any punts , so that was awesome. Picked up a few new investigators , including the children of a woman we just helped come back to church. So those kids have come three weeks straight with their mom whose come 6 weeks straight , so they’ll probably be baptized pretty soon. One’s 9 and one’s 12 I think , both boys. Also this other woman and her kids now promised to come to church after months of us working with her. She’s still pretty young , about 34 , and is really nice. She was just hesitant for the longest time. But we finally got the relief society to  visit her and now she wants to come back! Haha , members do this work so much better than we do. So that was a joy. Another family has the mom about to go to Hong Kong for work so we’re pretty she won’t … that really hurts families here , everyone wants to go abroad for work because the pay is better. Then we taught our recent convert whose super firm. Thursday was weekly planning , my companion doesn’t enjoy it too much , haha. It’s a long time to be at the desk. 7 – 8 [personal study] 8 – 10 [companion study] 10 – 11 [language study] break for lunch 12 – 2 or 3 [weekly planning] so by the time we’re done we’re ready to sprint out the door .. being in the house is miserable. It’s so hot , haha. But work that day was good. We ate dinner at a really old woman’s house , whose one of my favorite people. I tell her she’s my “nanay” [means mom but also like older womanly figure that watches over you]   [btw I can’t budge with this college stuff , it keeps telling me it’s unavailable]   So it was fun eating at her tiiinnnyy house and she can hardly see. She fed us corned tuna … but we appreciated it , haha. After it started to pour so hard. Elder Blancia’s umbrella is broken , so we were stuck sharing my small little thing as we crossed a football field size bukid [farm] that was pure mud and water. By the time we go to the other side … we were a bit wet .. and muddy… The Macaranas family took care of us and gave us hot chocolate really fast , haha.   Friday we went to the church to set up for the baptism on Saturday and make the program. I got the program made and went to fill up the font but they were cleaning so they said they’d do it for us. We gladly accepted. Work was then good that day. Saturday …. So busy. The zone leaders had a couple IBDs so we had to go to Dagupan in the morning so I could interview them. Very strong testimonies and converts. Afterwards we sprint back home , I get my clothes and we head to the baptism. Get there just in time to finish up some last minute stuff. The two being baptized show up , we change , take pictures , then start the service. It was a really good service , and it was really fun baptizing again , haha. I hadn’t done it for over a year now. It’s fun to watch my companions baptize … but it’s more fun to actually do it. I was all smiles. But … I’m always super slow at changing , haha , it’s so hard in tiny stalls and with a lot to take care of. By the time I got back they were waiting to begin the latter portion of it. After the baptism we then sprinted to a FHE. Got there about an hour late [Filipino time] but there were so many of us that were late that it didn’t matter , haha. Had a really good Branch Home Evening and everyone was super happy. The next day , church … soooooooo many less actives. We were ecstatic. So many came out. The branch is helping so much and it’s reaping the rewards. At least half were less actives , so much fellow shipping … just a really awesome day. Work afterwards was really good as well and our last lesson was with some recent converts in which the husband is now the young men’s president. Shared a good message with them then they fed us … really good food. Waited in the rain for a while to finally get picked up by a tricycle and got a ride home.   THAT’S ALL FOR THIS WEEK! I’m in a rush now. Gotta go. Love you all , write me tons of letters!

Heyo

Heyo family! This is another rushed email seeing as I just did more college stuff for a while only to find out that I can't do anything until I get my password figured out , ha. But at least things are rolling in the right direction. Right now I'm in Dagupan and we'll be heading back to our area pretty soon. It's been a pretty good week. Tuesday was district meeting , our last one for the transfer , and it was a simple workshop and then we headed home right after to work. A kid in our branch whose about to head off for his mission in 3 weeks came and worked with us. When my companion was Elder Danao he never really talked to us , but me and Elder Blancia are way friendly to him so he likes us and wants to come and work with us now , which is good, ha. We had a really good day of work , and despite him not yet being a mission he bears a really really good testimony. Bearing a good testimony isn't the easiest thing at first , but he just knows how to do it powerfully and doesn't overdo it at all. One of our lessons was to our IBD and a part-member family. We talked about noticing the blessings in our lives and wow , that was an incredibly strong spirit. One of the strongest I've felt my whole mission during a lesson. It was just palpable and evident on everyone's face. That's just a different experience when you can literally see the Spirit working in people. Towards the end of the lesson I was going to ask them the difference they were feeling now as opposed to earlier when we were just joking around with them a bit before we started the lesson , but even before I could my companion jumped in and bore testimony about what he was feeling. Then the wife [about 30] said she felt it and so did the husband [not yet a member , 34] said he felt it really strong. It was just a really good lesson. As my companion continued on the wife left to go outside because she started crying. It was a really really good feeling. It's a testimony in itself how hard it is to notice the Spirit if it's noisy or something. Because in their house it's a tiny little cement box with no lights , but super duper quiet. Had it been just slightly noisy there's no way we would have been able to notice it. So that was a really good day. Wednesday we also worked really fast and the day started off with a suppeerrrr loud and obnoxious lesson to these people whose house we wanted to rent. They were just really loud and joking around and not serious so even when we were teaching [and they really wanted to listen ... their personalities are just not serious] about spiritual things there was just nothing there. It was literally night and day with what happened in that Tuesday lesson. So leaving that lesson I was pretty .. ticked off .. haha because they were just giving me a headache. But after that we taught 4 straight lessons that were really good and got a number of people promising to come to church that before had not been making much progress , so that ended up being a great day. Thursday I woke up with a sore through and a runny nose .. we started our weekly planning but instantly had to address some companioship things because my companion is .. kind of a child .. but we're working through it. He's just not adjusting to the whole "I'm no longer a regular member , but now a missionary" thing. It's okay though ... we're working through it , ha. Friday I woke up with an even worse cold , which peaked at a 101.5 temperature during the day , but we still went out to work because we had a number of important lessons. It started raining and thundering pretty soon after we left , but despite the little amount of work we got done it was still a good day. Saturday was nutss. In the morning we tried looking for a house. We ask and ask and ask ... and nothing. Nobody has anything to rent. We get some tips about a barangay with supposedly [a lot of great houses for rent] ... nothing. All tiny bamboo houses , haha , and nothing even close to mission standards. After that we track down the keys for the church so our IBD can be interviewed. We go pick him up and the family whose going to bring us there is like still changing and getting ready , we get to the church about 15 minutes late , but he's interviewed by the zone leader - passes - then we race back for a family home evening [branch home evening , really] at a less actives place. We're like an hour late! [we were at the interview which took forever]. We show up and everyone is waiting on us , hahaha. There was like 25 of them. We get there and the first counselor is like , okay do you have a program. I'm like what ?? Why do I have to make the program [I don't actually say that , just thought it] So I make one up super quick , I give the message , then we play a bunch of games and it was really good bonding for a lot of less actives that were there. The next day at church most of them came! It was awesome. We had a toonnn of less actives at church and some really good meetings. Afterwards the highlight of the night was sharing a message at our branch president's house and him saying how we were the first missionaries to share a message with them since they were baptized [2006]. We're taking our last appointment every Sunday night to visit a different leader. Today we went bowling [8 of us] and Elder Bolen is now in my zone again. So we have a longgg bowling rivalry. Stupidly we played 6 games [my arm is dead] and he beat me 4 - 2. Nottt my best games! Anyways those are my updates for this week. How did you like the wood carving mom and dad? And I understand about the whole money thing , that's super expensive. The older kids should pay their own way!! ha. But to be honest I really wanted to come home with my batch and see you guys in New York for the first time , but I'll think about it. If money is tight then I'd rather not be selfish. But I'll ponder on it this week. Love you all. I'm still relatively healthy , ha. MY stomach is growing larger! -Elder White

A good week.

Hey , so I've gotta write this super fast because I don't have much time but that college stuff took forever. Anyways this week has been pretty fast and pretty good. We has two different exchanges , one with the Calasiao Elders and one with the Zone Leaders. Tuesday was our district meeting and exchange with the Calasaio Elders. Our zone is suffering from zone obedience problems , so our zone leaders gave a really good workshop on monday about our nametags and obedience and stuff and I just expounded on it with my workshop on Tuesday about understanding the Atonement. I've come to understand that that is my favorite part about the Gospel. The atonement is absolutely incredible and I don't come close to understanding it. But Preach My Gospel has a great line in which is says "As you understanding of the Atonement is grows your desire to share the Gospel will increase." So all we did was really focus on the Atonement and our callings and how that event can affect our missions , our obedience , and our humility. It was a pretty strong spirit and was more of a testimony meeting than district meeting. That's the problem sometimes with district meetings , they're so focused on role plays and teaching skills and stuff that they often never focus on the really important part of remembering our purpose as missionaries and refortifying the reasons why we are here on the mission. Afterwards I went with Elder Frischknecht again in their area and we had a pretty good day of work. It's funny how different the people in his area are from the people in mine despite being only 30 minutes away. It's just a large difference between bukid and not so bukid. The next day we went to Mang Inasal [a restaurant you will be eating at] and they love us hahaha. They always love missionaries. Basically it's an ulam and unlimited rice , again I think I've explained this before , and you get waaay full. A reason my belly is getting big. We then had a few days of good work , but I always feel like we never have any time and we're always a few days behind schedule. But it's always rewarding teaching these less actives and helping to build their faith enough to do the hard things. I am amazed at their faith. They save money to get to church despite hardly having anything to eat. I want to pay for their way to church haha but I can't do it. They'd always be relying on the missionaries and doing the opposite of faith. But I really do love these people and besides giving money feel like I would do anything for them to return. We plan as well as we can for our lessons and try and make them as spiritual as possible so that the money never becomes a real problem. Thursday was our weekly planning and we sprinted to get a lot done that day - ended up with 7 lessons despite not getting to work until like 2 or 3. We just worked fast , and Elder Blancia is really starting to see the blessings of urgency [something Dad taught me but I never listened , haha]. As you pick up the pace and are urgent in your work you get so much more done and the blessings come faster. Lazy walking or long lessons does not make for a more spiritual moment. Anyways that was a good day. Later that night we get home and zone leaders call saying we've got exchanges the next day. So Friday we get to their apartment and there waiting for me is a beauutttifffuulll ........................................... package!!!!! THank you so much mom. It was awesome , haha. I've given away a few of the rings and food already so you're blessing the lives of many filipinos. Thank you for the generosity. Not to mention the two books on the atonement [especially the infinite atonement!] are amazing and I'm on chapter 6 of the infinite atonement. I read one chapter of the Golgotha book that I had heard before [about pres kimball's interpretation of Peter's denial] and I love it as well. Both authors write brilliantly and it's a really fun read. I love Elder Talmage but even doctrine gets boring sometimes when it's presented in a style such as his. Then again maybe I've still got some maturing to do before I fully appreciate his works. Anyways , thank you so much. I loved the letter and THAT QUOTE! I had heard that before and asked Bishop Keller about that before I left. I can't remember what his response was though. But thank you so much for sending that , I've been looking for that my entire mission. You certainly are in tune momma! So thank you again for that amazing package. Okay so our exchanges were pretty good. This is the third time now I've gone with Elder Pernecita and I love working with him. He always picks me to work with , haha , we just get a long really well and are similar in a lot of ways. He is so bold in his teaching and he's one of the only missionaries that I've gone on exchanges with that I always learn so much. Anyways we had a good day and at the end of the day a [decently wealthy] couple treated us to a really good FIL-MEX restaurant. We sprinted home and got in the door within 30 seconds of curfew , haha. The next day [saturday] we came home to end exchanges and it was Cesar's baptism! He was about an hour late , hahaha , but we forgave him and it was a really good service. I let Elder Blancia baptize , being his first baptism , [cesar was a bit upset , haha] , but he did a great job and I was proud of him as his tatay! [dad] After that we headed to work but got poured on as the rainy season is just setting in. We visited an old slightly blind woman that lives alone and I call her my mom haha , she loves us and loves the visits. I like old people , they're super sweet. Anyways it was her birthday so we were happy to visit. She lives pretty much alone and can't see very much. We then taught the Macaranas family and shared a mother's day message. SUNDAY! A great day. So many came out to church including our partmember family we've been teaching forever! He finally came and it took so much for them to get there [they are not well off] but it's a couple in their 30s with two little boys and sister is a less active but brother is our investigator with a baptismal date. His date is June 9 and hopefully will continue. They had a mother's day program with the primary during sacrament meeting and my companion sang a solo during a little presentation , haha. He sang a mix of I am a child of God and Families can be together. He's got a really good voice. After that a few of the branch missionaries came to work with us and we ended the day with a dinner appointment with the second counselor. We haven't gone shopping in two weeks because of having no money , haha , so we're relying heavy on members feeding us. That's whats awesome about filipinos , they LOVE feeding you. Nothing a bigger compliment than eating a lot because you love their food. They're awesome people. ANYWAYS , today we're just in Malasiqui and starving so we're gonna go search for some food. Good news: I'm not being transferred so I'll probably be here until late June! That means about 2 or 3 more baptisms coming up woot woot! Also any news on the package I sent home? Or the package to Elder Maure? Let me get the scoop on those things. Okay , I gotta go but love you all! -Elder White

I would send pictures but internet here is super slow

Heyo

Questions First:
How's your week been? 
- pretty fast
In a new apartment yet?
- not yet , still working it out
Are you still with 3 other filipino elders? 
- yep
How is your ward and how was your service project?  What did you do?  
- it's a branch , and pretty good. I'll talk about it later
Did you take pictures of the festival where you handed out the water and everyone was dressed like a woman?  :)  I hope so. 
 - only a few , and got a few pictures from my zone leader
Does Tanner write you a letter each week or do you get the one he sends to his parents?  Do you write him individually or just the one you write to us and have included him with it.
- we just send family letters to eachother
How long will you be a trainer for?  
- um I could transfer next week or in late june. probably late june
How is your health?
- goo0o0d
How are your shoes and clothes and garments holding up?
- go0o0od
Who is your favorite missionary so far on your mission and why?
- probably Elder Mayes , we're very similar and get along really well. Elder Esling and Elder Harrison are a couple of my favorites as well ... and Elder Bolen
What is the most interesting/funny thing you saw this week?
- Our zone activity earlier. weeeiirrrdd dances , haha. part of a game
What is the strangest thing you saw this week?
- 
What is the worst food you've eaten?

Enough with the questions!  But one last very important question..............

THE PHONE CALL THIS NEXT WEEKEND!  WILL YOU BE CALLING ON YOUR SUNDAY (MOTHER'S DAY) OR ON MINE (WHICH IS YOUR MONDAY)?  HOW LONG DO YOU GET TO TALK FOR?  AND WHAT TIME WILL YOU CALL?  I'M NOT SURE IF YOU'RE 12 OR 13 HOURS AHEAD OF US.  
- It's one hour as always , and you guys should call me at around 6AM my time tomorrow. So I'm not sure , maybe look online if we're 12 or 13 hours ahead right now. If that doesn't work then call at like 10AM my time. Again TOMORROW . We can call anyday in May. My number is 09163106149... tack on the country code numbers and stuff as well - that's just my basic cell number.

Just got back from a zone activity. I'd send some pictures but I didn't bring my card reader and to borrow one to use from the internet shop would cost 20 pesos ... and I love you all but that's not going to happen , ha. It was pretty fun , we went to members beach house in the Zone Leaders' area and played some guys and ate seafood. We were supposed to go fishing but didn't have poles or something? I donno it was pretty [malabo] .. unclear .. what the problem was. It was still a pretty fun day and got some good pictures. Before we went we had a zone companionship study and we discussed being disciples of Christ and humility and obedience and stuff ... and soon as we left the chapel I think half the zone forgot what we had just discussed , ha. Unfortunate. Anyways I'll talk about my week a bit.

Me and Elder Blancia are still doing pretty good. He's a hard little worker , but he goes into these mood swings all the time - that's the only bad thing. I never have any idea what's making him so quiet and he won't say a word. It's a very filipino attitude. They hate opening up and what they'll do instead is just keep everything to themselves and show you with their actions that their hurt or something ... but will never tell you why. It's a form of retreat or sulking called "pagtatampo" in tagalog. But other than that we're doing great .. I just gotta get him to open up more often. It's funny how much I see Dad in what I say and how I act with him , haha. Because as a trainer you honestly feel like a father ... it's weird but it's true. I want him to be a really good missionary so I try and give him the best example and encourage him to be obediant as well and stuff , haha. The other night we were cleaning the house before our apartment checks and I heard myself saying a lot of things Dad used to say to me whenever he needed my help with stuff , hahaha. "I just need your help with this for now" "I can't do this by myself" "Just give me 10 minutes more" and some others , haha. It's a funny experience.

This past week has gone by pretty dang fast. Monday was work after Pday , Tuesday we had a CSP [community service project] for the National Day of Service ... I took like 2 pictures , ha , it wasn't that exciting. At first there was only like 8 of us , then a lot more members came. We cleaned the canals on the sides of the street for 2 barangays for about 3 or 4 hours. It was okay , and the funniest things about filipinos is when they see an American they assume he's never done physical work before. They say things like 'life is so hard here , or we just have to look for work everyday to live' and stuff like that ... but I was doing like 10 times the work they were during the activity , hahaha. They were a bit surprised. Also clean here ... isn't really that clean so they'd move off to like a new area and I'd be like uhh are we gonna finish this? hahah. Again ... seeing a lot of Dad in myself. 

So that Tuesday we had district meeting as well and afterwards I went on exchanges with Elder Frishknecht in their area of Calasiao. It's a really good area and has a good balance of small town and bukid - I like those kinds of areas , that was how San Quintin was. It's got a good amount of intelligence. Anyways the exchanges were okay , and he's a half filipino/half german born and raised in Utah. Nice kid , but lacks a lot of confidence. But he speask okay , still pretty new ... so I did most of the talking. It's fun to remember how that was like though. That does kind of feel like a long time ago ,haha. Wait ... that exchange was on Friday , I'm sorry. Hahahah. Tuesday Elder Pernecita came to work with me in our area. My area was his second area so he was excited to see all the old members he knew. They were all like why are you back? hahaha. But they're all super nice. He's a pretty incredibly missionary and is very refined in his teaching and all around obedience and stuff. Very good missionary and representative of Christ. We talked for a while that night about a lot of stuff , and he gave a lot of good advice. Small guy , but teaches very boldly. Also he goes home next month ... crazy. I met him in Bayamband in my first area , then again in my second area. So this is the third time we've been in the same zone. So fast forward to Saturday - we close our exchanges and head back to Malasiqui to meet up with Elder Blancia and Elder Palu. Head to the church and wait for our investigator whose about to get interviewed for his baptism. Malasiqui 1 also had two interviews , so we wait .. and wait ... and our investigators show up and all the other missionaries ... but we're still waiting for Malasiqui 1 elders. Finally after 45 minutes of waiting they show up after having eaten and stuff first ... geeze. The interview went well , our investigator passed so he'll be baptized on Saturday. Sunday was also a pretty good day but as we were greeting all the members we saw that our investigator wasn't there [the one who got interviewed , he's about 55] and we're like where is he ... asking his family and stuff and they give all these excuses why they couldn't go pick him up. So I ask my branch president if we can send someone fast to go get him , and he's like "Mike [19 year old about to go on a mission to Cebu] go get him" ... and off he races about 14 KMs down the road , gets Cesar , and whips back right in time for the sacrament , hahaha. This branch needs some work done internally. But all in all it was a pretty good week. 

Now we're in Dagupan about to head home. I'm excited to hear from you guys tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice! Also I'm so sorry about what's happened to Telie , they're usually in my prayers [fatigue at 10 at night has my head losing thoughts sometimes] but I'll make sure I focus more on it. Trials suck...stink.. :\ 

Love you all,
-Elder A White