Week 2

Hello This keyboard's A is not responding so if I am missing a lot of A's , please forgive me. You'll just have to put them in. Right now we're in... Rosales! Remember when I was assigned in San Quintin and we were here like every other week. I'm now bck at the old computer shop here at the SM. Just bought a new tie , new pants and that's all. I was very very happy about all the emails this week. Shout out to Michaela for the first email ever , haha , and Caitlin as well along with the rest of you. No email from Andrea ... just thought the family should know in case she's dead in LA. The Philippines is still pretty sweet. My diet's not working , as usual , and the mission is sweet. I love the Urdaneta city and there is a SMALL chance that we could be moving to Urdaneta next transfer to take over half of the assistants' area.. but nothing is sure yet and odds are we won't. But Binalonan is still pretty cool and we've had a bit of a different week. By the way mosquitos are aplenty and abiting. There's been a few outbreaks of Dengue Fever around here because they say the mosquitos hve evolved and can now lay eggs and breed in running wter as well as standing wter. Haha fun fun. Anyways this has been my week. Tuesday - attended the district meeting of Elder Abarte in Asingan. Super far away but a good meeting. By the time we got back we only had time for a few lessons. Wednesday we had Zone Leaders Council with the mission president in which the 18 of us zone leaders with the assistants and the mission president discuss what it is we can do to improve our zones and stuff. It was a good meeting and President Monahan is a brilliant brilliant teacher. He just has that Elder Holland ability. It's such a natural thing that I don't think you can learn it. So he schooled us a bit and we had an open discussion then had a couple workshops , then lunch , then headed home. It's alwys so fun to see so many old friends like Elder Shill , Esling , Mayes , Azores , Evert , and a lot of others. It's interesting to see everyone grow up in the mission. Thursday we had weekly planning then spent the rest of the day tracking down all the Less Actives we could on our membership list. It was so hard because their addresses are so vague. So we basiclly tracted while we tried to find these people and were actully able to teach a couple lessons to some people willing to listen. Everyone here believes in God but have like all simultaneously reached the point where they know more than you and know that it doesn't matter where you pray just as along as you do , haha. They're good folk. Later tht night we got invited to eat at a member's home that had the best chocolate cake I've hd my whole mission. I was kind of astounded. Friday morning and fternoon we worked in the farthest part of our are but I love it. It's another municipality but relatively beutiful nd the people are so much more receptive. We had a member show us around so we found a lot of less active and some new investigators. Later that night we booked it to the mission office to go on exchnges with Elder Elix and Nieman , the office elders. I worked with Elder Elix in their area and later that night we returned to their house which they share with the APs and oh my gosh it's a palace. Ridiculous. So so nice. I'll send pictures on of these dys. Anyways it was nice to shre the house with Elder Mayes and Tolman and Elder Elix is a really good guy. Sturdy we ended exhnges nd came home , hit up MCM , then after just n hour or two sprinted to Villasis to give a workshop to their ward about Hometeaching and Visiting Teaching. It was really good and we organized them into roleplays. It was funny having adults roleplay as we watched. Yesterday was Sundy and me nd my compnion both gave talks. Mine was about rescuing the one , an area focus here. No one's doing it , ha. That's pretty much all the news for now. Out of time , as usual. Time is whipping by but I still don't feel like I'll ever actully go home haha. I still think it's a joke. Health is good! masaya pa rin , guwapo pa rin! -Elder White NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

New Mission President

Family and others creepin! How's it going. I'm doing pretty well. Watching mormon.org videos as usual about a mom who likes quilting .. now the video is getting sadder .. something about a little boy dying. Ahh .. this is sad now. Anyways , haha , I'm doing good. Happy , healthy. ...this video is greatly distracting me. And kind of depressing , haha. So we're here in Urdaneta again. It's always been one of my favorite cities because he's kind of big and really clean. Our area is only 20 minutes away , so that's fortunate. I guess I'll just run you through this week. Tuesday we had our zone gathering and district meetings. After all their district meetings we gathered together as a zone and discussed our zone focus' and what me and Elder Bermejo have in mind for them for this upcoming transfer. What it is to emphasize and so on. We've got a pretty sweet zone , including Elder Iray [past companion] Elder Nieman [past kabahay] Elder Mayes and Elder Tolman [assistants] and many many others. Later that day we taught some lessons and nothing too exciting happened. The next day , Wednesday , was the spiritual highlight of the week. We had a tri-zone conference in Urdaneta to meet the new mission president [oh also we had run into them in the grocery store last monday after I emailed. haha , super super kind and really funny.] So me and Elder Bermejo were in charge of getting the chapel ready for the conference. It started at 11 and immediately we were just slapped with a spiritual meeting. After singing and stuff Sister Monahan got up to bear her testimony and oh man does she have a strong spirit. I have no idea why but it was just a solemn moment. So powerful. Afterwards while we were like trying to recover from just the few words she shared President Monahan got up and delivered a sermon by the Spirit , completely without notes or anything , on prayer. Just whatever came to his mind. He's an incredible speaker and gave a terrific address. Along with that he introduced himself and gave us a bit of a background. After that we had like a 20 minute question and answer thing where we could ask a lot of personal and family questions to get to know them. So all in all we pieced together that he's from Arizona , served in the Air Force Band back after high school and was transferred to the Philippines where he met Sister Monahan who was the daughter of a colonel or something. Sister Monahan had always been a member but President Monahan was a recent convert of only a few months when they met. They were then married legally in Baguio [there was no temple yet in the Philippines and they couldn't get permission to leave the country] and then I forget where they were sealed , Salt Lake City maybe. Since then he studied law and BYU and has practiced and taught law. Written a couple books I think and a number of gospel articles and many poems. If you can track down his name I'd google it and see what he's published , he's so intelligent. Also he was a stake president before receiving the call. He said a number of things during his opening talk that I loved including "the way I live my life I expect and deserve to receive revelation" and "never ask a question unless you know the answer" those were the opening two things I liked. After the question and answer portion he then taught US the doctrine of Christ. I'm telling you he's brilliant. His opening portion was on FAITH vs. COMPLIANCE. In referring to our obedience and struck home with so many missionaries. Faith is related to obedience and when we use loop holes in the mission but still obey the rules we're no longer exercising faith but simply complying. Meaning we no longer love the reason for the commandment or law nor who gave it. It was so powerful. Not to mention he quoted from memory a number of scriptures and expounded in a way no one had ever thought of. Hahaha honestly it felt like we were being schooled by an Apostle. Then he went through the rest of the Doctrine of Christ and closed. Wow ... it's hard to describe how good it was. Best of all he is strict , haha. There's so much that missionaries get away with here in the mission , but President Monahan basically has a three strike system. He calls it his trust boxes. The first trust box is large and you can move around where ever within. The second box gets smaller when you leave the first box. And when you leave the second box you get the third , which is an airplane ticket home haha. He's awesome. The last thing I loved that he said was about self-control and obedience.  "The more control from within , the less control from without" . I think that's all I can say about that meeting ... just so good. Not to mention he hugged every missionary on the way in ahaha. He's so so nice and way funny , but knows when the be serious. I will miss Sister and President Jensen so much because they still feel like my parents here , but we're very lucky the have the Monahans. After the meeting we were invited , along with the assistants and a few others , to have lunch with the Monahan's at shakeys. Apparently there are Shakey's in america because Pres. Monahan used to eat there all the time in Texas he said.  Anyways that was the highlight of the week. Thursday was okay , Friday we had exchanges which were okay , Saturday we gave a workshop and held a training meeting for all the ward mission leaders in the Urdaneta Stake. Sunday was good church and now it's Monday. I'm out of time now or I'd write more , but that's really all worth knowing for this week. We're really happy to have them here. Last note - please tell me whose gotten letters lately , because I sent one home to be given to Bishop Keller but no mention so far so I don't know if it's arrived. Also - please tell Travis to email me and he owes me a letter ASAP. Haha please annoy him every time to you see him!  Love you all, -Elder Austin White  NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Ayo

Crazy week. How are you all doing? I'm good. I'm in a new area and I'll talk about that it a minute. No questions, Mom? Okay. So here's been my week - but before that let me tell that story about Sister Austria that I mentioned last week. So she's this woman that has a few young kids and husband is in Saudi right now for work. She's been a member since she was a little kid and loves the church but went inactive a few years back. Her husband was taught as well and should have been baptized but was offended by the missionaries back in the day. So when we first met Sister Austria she had no desire to come back.. so we visited her about once a week but not much progression , but was relatively kind. So we were pressuring the relief society to visit her forever and finally they did. Once we went back after they visited her she said 'Elders ... I think I want to come back' ubt she still had a long way to go. Finally we invited her to a family home evening we were holding down the road. That day was a baptism in the bayan or .. town?market? I don't know what bayan is in english. Anyways we were late to the family home evening and when we got there Sister Gatus [the member whose house it was at] was like 'Elders Sis. Austria just left' so we sprinted down the road after her and finally catch up with her. Apologize for being late and turn her around. That night Elder Blancia gives a family home evening message about family prayer and then the rest of the evening we played games and stuff. She had such a good experience. But the better part was the message. She admitted to us about a week or two letter what the impact of the message was. She said she like couldn't sleep that night because she kept thinking about it and it made her want to change so many things in her family. After that time she came to church for the first time in years and had such a good experience. Now she's come again and has plans to be going to the temple and when her husband gets back eventually get him baptized and make their way to family sealing. She's one of the miracles I saw in Malasiqui and I was so happy every time we were able to teach her. I sent a picture to you mom of the picture at her house but I'm not sure if it went through. I'll try again later or next week. So that's Sister Austria. P.S Mom -- how's Franco's package?? So here's my week: Tuesday was a regular day. Wednesday we found out the transfers- at first Elder Azores [my zone leader] made me think I wasn't transferring but I eventually got it out of him , haha. There was a few of us. So that night we head home to work and I told a few members and we ate dinner at the Torio family. A really poor but super awesome family whose son is our Branch Mission Leader and we're helping him prepare to get on a mission. He should be leaving within a couple months followed by his sister. They also had me try eating a raw egg , haha , it's not that bad actually and I might try it but breakfast this transfer. Thursday we wake up and head to the church to get everything ready for the baptism that night. We clean it and finally get it filled [took a while to figure out their many valves] and then leave .. but we were afraid that the drain was still open because we had no idea where the valve was for the drain. We drop the key off at our BML and head to the area. Eat lunch with Jerry Centeno [the guy that does my wash and is super cool] he feeds us way good food , get some other stuff done and before we know it's time to head back to the chapel for the baptism! Dang time is fast. So we race back to the bayan , buy the chicken we had planned for the baptism as the food , print out the programs , xerox them , run to the church, ... and find that the water is gone. hahaha. So we got it refilled , start the baptism and all goes swell. I was so so happy to see Saldy get baptized. He's a 34 year old husband of a member and after 4 months he finally was able to get baptized. He's the number one person in my mission that I've seen change so drastically. The Gospel can do anything and penetrate anyone. He's amazing. Afterwards we had a small dinner with the fried chicken we bought for everyone and they brought rice and pancit [noodles]. Then we head home and I pack until like 12:30. The next day the jeep rolls around to take us to transfers. While we're waiting outside as usual I get a mysterious tap on my shoulder and they lead a few of us into a classroom where we're given a short orientation by President Jensen and asked to be zone leaders. I then learned that my new companion is Elder Bermejo. And now I'm in.... Urdaneta! Binalonan , actually , but we're over the Urdaneta Zone. It's an awesome zone that I've wanted to be in for a long time , not to mention this is where the site for the soon to come temple is. So before I leave I plan to check out the site. So we had a fun transfer meeting in which for the first time in 3 years President Jensen's computer failed which always is projected onto a screen for the Baguio Mission Song. His response was 'I suppose this means it's time to go home'. So we tried to sing from memory and it was very funny. Very few of us had it memorized but it was a really fun but different experience for the last transfer meeting for the Jensens. After the meeting we round up our zone and head home. Take them all to their new areas and I see my new area. It's way cool and my companion is amazing. Super super super nice , 27 , and goes home next month. He's pilipino and from southern philippines. Anyways the next day ... was crazy. After studies and an MCM with the ward we get a call saying we need to head to Urdaneta for a baptism , that Elder Nieman was supposed to baptize the convert of the sisters but he's sick and can't do it. So we sprint over , and were a little early so we bought some pandesal and while we were buying this guy walks up and asks how he can get into our church [like become a member or something] so we talk to him for a little bit and then were like hey , we'll give you a tour real quick if you've got time and he's like okay. [Let's get something straight , this dude was like 65+ and I thought a little crazy... but not really , just old]. So we meet him at the church give him a tour of the sacrament hall and then he starts like doing magic , hahahah , apparently that's his job. So we took him into a classroom and tried to teach him lesson one but after reading 5 words in the pamphlet he starts debating tagalog grammar with us complaining how it should say WE not YOU when referring to whose father or Father in Heaven is! hahaha. I was blown away. We try and get control of the situation , but to no avail. But he was super nice. We had invited him to the baptism , but he had to rush to take off. So later on we have the baptism and it went really well. Elder Bermejo baptized and I got to see Elder Tolman and Mayes. The next day , Sunday , was my first Sunday in the ward. An awesome ward with some really great members. But after church [there's our ward and branch that share the building] we get called in by the branch president of the branch who shows us a letter some missionary had written them that had been assigned there a few months earlier. It was super harsh and way way out of line. I'll explain more I suppose when I get home , not too proper to do so through email. So that's something fun we've now got to handle. A branch with 500 members , only 30 in attendance , many apostasizing , and a missionary writing ridiculous letters. Good thing they came to us first. What else. Afterwards [fast sunday] we worked and I was feeling so so weak , I have no idea why. Finally later that night when we get home we eat really fast after planning and immediately my stomach starts to hurt and I pass out. My companion wakes me up a bit later for prayer and to change out of my clothes and take my contacts out. After that I crash again , once more feeling super sick. But today I woke up feeling relatively okay. No idea why I felt like that. ALSO! Our apartment [kind of crappy , but okay] has a hot water shower and heater ... spoiled. I don't want to get too used to it , but I used it this morning and felt like I was back in Baguio. ALSO! Since this is likely my last area I'll be exercising and dieting , I promise. Hahah. My companion is awesome and will help. Oh also , I got Andrea's package last friday - SHOUT OUT! - thanks so much Andrea , despite that candy being one giant mass by the time it got to me. I enjoyed the contents. So that's all I got! I'm out of time and hope you enjoy the length of this letter. Love you all! WRITE ME LETTERS AND DEARELDERS AND EMAILS ! Order the other kids to do so as well. THANK YOU -Elder A White   p.s - the new mission president is here. We'll meet him on wednesday NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.