Family!
Questions first:
1. have you heard what track you're on?
- I just checked once again , and after following a few things I learned that they won't send it out till after the deadline and the deadline is Oct 1. So hopefully by Monday next week I'll have a response. Maybe I'll just be signing up for classes back home , but hopefully not.
2. have you been taking malaria pills because the doctor prescribed some for dad and I but I don't think we need to take them.
- Haha no
3. I'm assuming that you don't want me to go back up to school with you and get you settled. Is that right? I'll be flying out of a different airport depending on your decision. And don't worry about hurting my feelings. I want to know what YOU want to do.
- Haha no I would not like you taking me up there , but thank you for the offer. I'm 21 now :)
4. can you please ask Pres Monahan for the name of the driver that Pres Jensen mentioned in his letter. He said he is a member of the church and we can hire him to drive us around.
- I just forwarded you the email that Sis. Engels sent me. I'm pretty sure he's based out of Manila , though. You can talk to him but I think it would be easier to base it out of Baguio. Depends on his rates , I guess.
5. Do you have any idea what time you'll be meeting us at the temple because I need to know if we will be going back up to Baguio that day. And will we take a bus? Is that do-able for us? Does it take 6 hrs? I'd love to be able to go up to Baguio on Wedn so that we have 2 full days in Baguio and area for you to show us around and meet people. Do we need more than 2 days? If you want me to let you know what else I'm thinking about doing while we're there just let me know.
- I was thinking around 3 - 4 Wednesday. I'll be at the temple first with my batch and then we've got some things we'd be doing together like going out to eat and exploring Manila a tad. Then I wanted to meet up with you guys and do a session then just stay in Manila for the night. Then maybe Thursday morning head up to Baguio and start things. The only things I wanted to do in Baguio was see The Banaue Rice Terraces and let you meet Nanay. Then on Sunday go to church there. Other than that it's all up to you guys.
6. Bro Edwards said that they already have Travis' ticket for xmas - it's a roundtrip. (I'm sorry) Do you think you can drive back out together next summer? Maybe you'll be going to BYU Provo then too and rooming together :) And since that's the case we will go out to Utah but we can't go until Dec 30 because I remembered that Remington's wedding and reception is on the 29th and I want and need to be here for that.
- Yeah we can do it next summer hopefully if it works out. And you're the boss of all the flights and stuff , Mom. Whatever you wanna do it's okay with me
--------
Okay , tapos na.
We've had a pretty good week and yes .. we are here in Urdaneta. We're sharing a ward with the assistants and just split their area. So we've been on exchanges with Elder Mayes and Tolman for the past three days. Also .. we live in the big house , ha. It's the largest and nicest house in the mission ... comparable to the mission home. There's 6 of us in the house and 5 are Americans..insane.
This past week has just been spent saying goodbye to so many people and setting up our area for the next missionaries to come in. We spent 10:30 - 2:30 last Thursday just updating every record we have , making other records , making new forms , cleaning , and setting up everything missionary-related that the new missionaries would need. There is so much paper work in the mission .. you'd never expect it. But we had a great last few days in Binalonan and got a bunch of pictures. I'll just show them I think when I get home - it's a bit of a hastle to email them. But we've gotten pretty close to a few families and we got fed a ton. Also I gave one my books to the Fabia family who we will probably stop by and see when we come back. I hope , by the way , you guys are ready to eat [besides dad] .. because we will get fed a ton. Filipinos LOVE food and LOVE feeding people. So .. don't try and reject , haha. Especially when it looks weird , or strangely cooked , or unsanitary. You must eat, ha. I've been warning some people about my family , haha , and how I don't know how their reactions to foods will be - but I think that's expected. Stuff like Sinigang and adobo and fried is really normal .. it's when you get into the bamboo shoots , and gaabi , and snails , and stuff like that that your stomach might ... queeze a bit. You gotta be used to it.
So those were our last few days in Binalonan. Friday was transfer day , and I suppose I'll explain a little bit about what we do on transfer day. After packing all Thursday night we wake up friday and make sure the house is presentable to hand off to new missionaries. The jeepney shows up at the house around 9 [a member in the stake is hired to drive a jeepney around and drive all the missionaries in the zone[stake] to the transfer point. For some missionaries that's like a 2 - 3 hour ride .. ours was 15 minutes. So me and Elder Hyatt get aboard and go and pick up all the missionaries. We arrive at the transfer point [stake center in Urdaneta] and there you get to talk to all the misisonaries transferring or attending. It's a lot of fun to see old friends / batchmates again. After a little while we're called in and the zone leaders all have a short meeting with the assistants and mission president. Then we all go into the chapel and the transfer meeting begins. New trainers/trainees/areas are announced and then president gives a message. The meeting is ajourned and everyone floods outside to move luggage to new jeeps and to get supplies [such as books of mormon] and heads to their new zones. In Urdaneta we had 5 new missionaries! So we ate real quick at macdo then dropped everyone off. Finally we get home at our new abodes and wait for the APs to come pick us up. From there I went with Elder Tolman to see part of our new area as Elder Hyatt went with Elder Mayes. On Saturday it was Elder Mayes and I , and then yesterday I worked with Elder Tolman again.
It's been a blur for the past three days being dropped into a brand new place , but we've had a blast meeting all the members and investigators and the ward is super organized [it should be ... it's the stake ward of the soon to come temple] so we're enjoying the help of the members.
Today , actually , we've had to take care of some missionary problems that have going on in the mission and that has now entered our zone. So we just got back from interviewing two missionaries. I'll talk more about that in person , I suppose if you ask , but it's a horrible thing to have to do. Disobedience on a mission is just lack of understanding to me :\ .. oh well , we do our best.
So that's all I've got for right now , I think? I hope you're all doing well and I do miss you all. It is strange to think this is my last transfer , but I still don't feel it.
To june , caitlin , rachel , and everyone else ... write me letters still! You still have two weeks to get letters out.
Okay , love you all
..bye!
-Elder A White
Monday, September 24, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
heyo
Family family family
How are things..
I've had a pretty awesome week but last Monday was a nightmare. I didn't know it until Tuesday. So last Monday when I was emailing I realized my memory card to my camera was being obnoxious so I asked the people if they could take a virus off and they were like yeah it's easy , just 50 pesos ... so I ask them to do it. I do some over stuff , print out pictures , then get the memory card right before I leave. Have a pretty awesome day .. come home , get some lessons in , then get to eat at the Fabia's home for my birthday. They cooked me snails , sting ray , eel , frog , and pinakbet [a veggie dish that's super sour] .. haha sound delicious? It was pretty good but even after almost 2 years here it still takes adjusting. Frog is pretty good , it honestly [no cheesiness] tastes a lot like chicken .. just a stronger taste. sting ray tasted like a tasty fish and snails isn't all that good. So later that night we ate cake a member had bought us and ice cream I had bought at the house - so it was a really good day. Tuesday... I wake up and realize [as I'm checking my camera] that all my pictures of my memory card had been wiped ... I was a little shocked. Realizing then that when I had asked them to take the virus off they had! ... and all of my pictures for the paste 4 months of my mission. So later that day before going to district meeting we booked it to the internet shop to see what they did. I didn't get mad at them I promised .. but I politely asked them to reverse what they did. Long story short ... they got back only about 85% of the pictures a few are still corrupted. I'm pretty upset about all of it , but at least I got a lot back. Looking on the bright side I guess.
Anyways this past week of work was okay. Tuesday - nothing too memorable. But wednesday was pretty awesome. We headed to the stake center early to get things ready because we had a tri-zone conference with Elder Ardern from the area presidency. At 8:45 the six of us zone leaders had a meeting with Elder Ardern and President Monahan in which Elder Ardern just taught us for about an hour different principles of leadership and pointed stuff out in the scriptures. It was a really cool experience to have a very small meeting with him and get applicable advice to our different zones. He's an incredibly nice guy and I was having so much fun with his accent .. he's from New Zealand ... he sounds exactly like they do on Flight of the Conchords! After that meeting we had the main conference in which a couple missionaries spoke , President and Sister Monahan gave messages , and then Sister and Elder Ardern spoke. It was a really good meeting and we walked away having taken a lot out.
ALSO! Thank you so much , Mom , for the surprise package. Had callie not slipped last week I would not have expected that one was coming! haha. So that was awesome to get , thanks so much again.
Wednesday was another good day , but nothing special , same with Thursday and Friday but Saturday was a rare and really really awesome day.
So first we have MCM in the morning , then get fed randomly right after because they had some youth activity and wouldn't let us leave the building till we ate a little. Then we hop on a jeep for Laoac and I sit next to some woman from Mindanao and I think she was muslim because she wasn't too fond of America and kept mentioning something that America did about some movie coming out making fun of Mohammed? I didn't get a full story but maybe eventually I will. So then we get off and teach the Gabe family which is a bunch of less actives that are returning and investigators we're teaching. They're awesome and we had a super strange experience as we watched the Restoration DVD outside on a laptop as so many people crowded around and watched haha. That was cool , though , and then we headed to our furthest investigators that are progressing amazingly. Sister Cacho can't wait to be baptized and brother has changed so so much. He came to church last week and had an amazing experience. So we've seen a huge change in their demeanor and we're stoked for them. Brother also fixed my umbrella and absolutely would NOT take payment , ha. We get to our next appointment , they say come back in a little bit , so we go visit the crazy american guy - Bro. Bunner. Luckily it was his birthday the next day so we get fed , but he was still crazy. So then we go back to our earlier appointment and the 16 year old that is our main investigator there [his whole family are members except him and he can't wait to be baptized as well] wasn't there ... he was doing a project at a friend's house. But over the past few lessons his aunt and uncle have started to warm up to us [despite being super active in their church] so they insisted we still come in. So we get in and have a quick companion discussion wondering what we're going to teach because our plan was not fitting for just them. So it just pops into my head to teach about Christ , Elder Hyatt thinks of 3 Nephi 17 so we go with it. We taught 19 - 22 and at first it was just okay .. but then as we get towards the latter end of the lesson suddenly this feeling just comes over me .. impossible to describe. But it just starts growing and growing and growing as Elder Hyatt is speaking. And I look at the aunt and uncle and the aunt's eyes are just locked on us and the kids just suddenly started quieting down [ theres 5 little kids running around ] and the most peaceful feeling just envelopes the room. He stops talking and I just ask them what they felt and the aunt bears testimony of us being sent from God and loving what we teach and what not. We bore testimony , committed , what not , and left. But as soon as we got outside Elder Hyatt turns to me and goes did you feel that ... oh man. It was so so strong and every one of us felt that. I've only had that feeling about 3 times on my mission .. I mean that strong. But the lesson was so inspired despite being a last second change. It was just such a crucial lesson for them and these two are changing so much as well. After we left we look up at the sky and it just turns this amazing color as the sunset starts coming in , a rainbow lights up , and some other weird stuff happens ... haha I donno it was just an amazing few minutes even after the lesson.
So to wrap it up , this has been an area of miracles as well. This transfer has been incredible and I'm sad to leave the area. We'll be in Urdaneta by Friday and in a new area .. but I know it's what the Lord wants for us. I'm happy to leave Binalonan so progressing for the next elders.
By the way .. yesterday .. we had 5 investigators from the Gabe family alone come to church. They're amazing.
So I think that's all I've got for this week.
I love you all... I still have a long time left so I'm happy about that.
Thanks again for the awesome birthday!
-Elder A White
How are things..
I've had a pretty awesome week but last Monday was a nightmare. I didn't know it until Tuesday. So last Monday when I was emailing I realized my memory card to my camera was being obnoxious so I asked the people if they could take a virus off and they were like yeah it's easy , just 50 pesos ... so I ask them to do it. I do some over stuff , print out pictures , then get the memory card right before I leave. Have a pretty awesome day .. come home , get some lessons in , then get to eat at the Fabia's home for my birthday. They cooked me snails , sting ray , eel , frog , and pinakbet [a veggie dish that's super sour] .. haha sound delicious? It was pretty good but even after almost 2 years here it still takes adjusting. Frog is pretty good , it honestly [no cheesiness] tastes a lot like chicken .. just a stronger taste. sting ray tasted like a tasty fish and snails isn't all that good. So later that night we ate cake a member had bought us and ice cream I had bought at the house - so it was a really good day. Tuesday... I wake up and realize [as I'm checking my camera] that all my pictures of my memory card had been wiped ... I was a little shocked. Realizing then that when I had asked them to take the virus off they had! ... and all of my pictures for the paste 4 months of my mission. So later that day before going to district meeting we booked it to the internet shop to see what they did. I didn't get mad at them I promised .. but I politely asked them to reverse what they did. Long story short ... they got back only about 85% of the pictures a few are still corrupted. I'm pretty upset about all of it , but at least I got a lot back. Looking on the bright side I guess.
Anyways this past week of work was okay. Tuesday - nothing too memorable. But wednesday was pretty awesome. We headed to the stake center early to get things ready because we had a tri-zone conference with Elder Ardern from the area presidency. At 8:45 the six of us zone leaders had a meeting with Elder Ardern and President Monahan in which Elder Ardern just taught us for about an hour different principles of leadership and pointed stuff out in the scriptures. It was a really cool experience to have a very small meeting with him and get applicable advice to our different zones. He's an incredibly nice guy and I was having so much fun with his accent .. he's from New Zealand ... he sounds exactly like they do on Flight of the Conchords! After that meeting we had the main conference in which a couple missionaries spoke , President and Sister Monahan gave messages , and then Sister and Elder Ardern spoke. It was a really good meeting and we walked away having taken a lot out.
ALSO! Thank you so much , Mom , for the surprise package. Had callie not slipped last week I would not have expected that one was coming! haha. So that was awesome to get , thanks so much again.
Wednesday was another good day , but nothing special , same with Thursday and Friday but Saturday was a rare and really really awesome day.
So first we have MCM in the morning , then get fed randomly right after because they had some youth activity and wouldn't let us leave the building till we ate a little. Then we hop on a jeep for Laoac and I sit next to some woman from Mindanao and I think she was muslim because she wasn't too fond of America and kept mentioning something that America did about some movie coming out making fun of Mohammed? I didn't get a full story but maybe eventually I will. So then we get off and teach the Gabe family which is a bunch of less actives that are returning and investigators we're teaching. They're awesome and we had a super strange experience as we watched the Restoration DVD outside on a laptop as so many people crowded around and watched haha. That was cool , though , and then we headed to our furthest investigators that are progressing amazingly. Sister Cacho can't wait to be baptized and brother has changed so so much. He came to church last week and had an amazing experience. So we've seen a huge change in their demeanor and we're stoked for them. Brother also fixed my umbrella and absolutely would NOT take payment , ha. We get to our next appointment , they say come back in a little bit , so we go visit the crazy american guy - Bro. Bunner. Luckily it was his birthday the next day so we get fed , but he was still crazy. So then we go back to our earlier appointment and the 16 year old that is our main investigator there [his whole family are members except him and he can't wait to be baptized as well] wasn't there ... he was doing a project at a friend's house. But over the past few lessons his aunt and uncle have started to warm up to us [despite being super active in their church] so they insisted we still come in. So we get in and have a quick companion discussion wondering what we're going to teach because our plan was not fitting for just them. So it just pops into my head to teach about Christ , Elder Hyatt thinks of 3 Nephi 17 so we go with it. We taught 19 - 22 and at first it was just okay .. but then as we get towards the latter end of the lesson suddenly this feeling just comes over me .. impossible to describe. But it just starts growing and growing and growing as Elder Hyatt is speaking. And I look at the aunt and uncle and the aunt's eyes are just locked on us and the kids just suddenly started quieting down [ theres 5 little kids running around ] and the most peaceful feeling just envelopes the room. He stops talking and I just ask them what they felt and the aunt bears testimony of us being sent from God and loving what we teach and what not. We bore testimony , committed , what not , and left. But as soon as we got outside Elder Hyatt turns to me and goes did you feel that ... oh man. It was so so strong and every one of us felt that. I've only had that feeling about 3 times on my mission .. I mean that strong. But the lesson was so inspired despite being a last second change. It was just such a crucial lesson for them and these two are changing so much as well. After we left we look up at the sky and it just turns this amazing color as the sunset starts coming in , a rainbow lights up , and some other weird stuff happens ... haha I donno it was just an amazing few minutes even after the lesson.
So to wrap it up , this has been an area of miracles as well. This transfer has been incredible and I'm sad to leave the area. We'll be in Urdaneta by Friday and in a new area .. but I know it's what the Lord wants for us. I'm happy to leave Binalonan so progressing for the next elders.
By the way .. yesterday .. we had 5 investigators from the Gabe family alone come to church. They're amazing.
So I think that's all I've got for this week.
I love you all... I still have a long time left so I'm happy about that.
Thanks again for the awesome birthday!
-Elder A White
Monday, September 10, 2012
Birthday
Hello.
It's my birthday.
I'm 21.
And it's been an awesome day.
Ha , honestly it's been a really really good day. For starters may I please thank all of those emails today? It was a bit shocking to log on and see 27 new emails ... hahah. But I'm grateful for all the love. It's been a strange day but I'll get to describing that in a bit. We've had a pretty fast week filled with lots of fun and a lott of firsts. It's funny that even this long into my mission there are still so many things that I've not yet tried or done. So last Monday , after emailing , me and Elder Hyatt got something made that I'll show you guys when I see you , hahah. We were pretty excited. Later that night we had a pretty sweet lesson with this guy that came up to us when he was drunk and is now reading the Book of Mormon like a champion .. we're trying to get his family involved as well but his wife isn't yet open. Hahaha also later that night we went to this house of a less active woman to try and share a lesson and her little grandson [whose maybe 4 or 5] comes out. This kid is pretty rude ,ha , and so he's giving us directions as he immediately says she's not there [as parents always send their kids out to do [to lie]] and so we ask him where his grandma is and he's giving us these ridiculous directions and waving his arms around to point pretend directions .. so we test him and ask him if she's near the river and he just goes 'yes' then we ask him if she's under the river and he says 'yes' so at that point we couldn't take anymore and just left. Filipino kids are hysterical and it's so obvious when they're lying.
Tuesday we had another zone gathering as we're practicing this song for our zone conference in a couple days when Elder Ardern comes. So we're the zone assigned to sing ... and we cannot song... so it's a challenge. You all know how bad my voice is - multiply that by 20. So after that we went on exchanges and I went with Elder De Jesus in their area. It was pretty good, but unfortunately nothing too too memorable. [side note- there's a pepsi drink here called pepsi pogi. 'pogi' means handsome. It's delicious and it makes you more handsome.]
The next day we switched back and had a full day of good work in Laoac [our favorite part of the area which is also the furthest]. Something awesome happened as we were leaving the Cacho family [we're teaching a young husband and wife] .. the wife is super elect and always goes to church , but the husband is really smart but still not all for it. As it gets to the end of the lesson we committed them to be baptized. The wife is all for it without the question but the husband not exactly , so the wife pulls an amazing card - haha - she tests his .. manhood? And goes okay , well I guess I'll just go to church on Sunday so I'll just call my dad to come pick me up. So obviously what runs through the husbands mind is how he is now offended as his manlihood is questioned and the wife wants to instead call her father , so he responds with 'no , we're going together. I'll find a way , but we'll go.' hahaha. She just looks at us beaming and goes 'Elders! the answer to my prayers!' It was a good moment and they did end up coming and had a great experience. Also after that we watched the restoration video with another family and it was a really powerful lesson as these devout born agains requested a copy.
So besides lessons we've had a really good week in that we keep finding new people and I think it's time to tell you ... I will be transferred next transfer. We found out about a month ago and it's certain now. President Monahan wants us back in the center of Urdaneta to have better access to the zone and to strengthen the stake ward ... so we'll be in Urdaneta 3rd Ward next transfer with the Assistants. Also ... will be staying in the nicest house in the mission. Nicknamed and revered by all 'the big house' ... it's huge. But I'm a bit bummed. We've got so many good things coming through Binalonan that we'll be leaving a great area for the next missionaries. Nevertheless ... not mine will but thine be done. So I think what I'll talk about most is Sunday. We had a really good church service with so so many less actives and 4 investigators. Really good classes and.. and member had bought me , Saturday , a huge cake for my birthday haha. So we got that as well .. waiting to eat it later. Then after church we had a couple members come work with us: a recent RM and the high priests group leader. So we had some really good lessons , but the second less active we went to was interesting. First we find her house and discover that it's this enormous white house we had been admiring for a month now. We always wondered who lived there ... Sister Tink after all - a member and wife of an Australian[o]. So first... she serves us cranberry juice ... which I haven't tasted since the MTC. Wow. Next ... she serves us duriyan. ...get scared because you will be trying this in a couple months. I will make you it eat. Everyone LOVES this fruit. It's a legend here for being unique to the Philippines and so delicious. I have never tasted anything quite disgusting as this. It was like rotten cheese with the worst smell. Elder Hyatt pretended to like it , but gave up as well. Hahaha. They were all ripping on us. Later that night we taught a few good lessons and got fed at the Fabia family [who looove us... maybe it's beacuse we're two americans.]
So now we're on to today. We woke up at 6 , went to the stake center by 8 , and did a zone jeopardy again. Then we practiced the song , then watched a church movie while we ate cake that Sister Monahan had baked for the zone and I bought ice cream. Now I'm here! I was so so happy , honestly , with all the emails and hopefully more come. REmember I don't handwritten letters if you write emails [but handwritten are always welcome!]
Okay , so that's all I've got today.
Mom- Me and Cody were going to live at Nauvoo House.
Love you all.. and I'll drink a root beer today. :)
-Elder Austin White
It's my birthday.
I'm 21.
And it's been an awesome day.
Ha , honestly it's been a really really good day. For starters may I please thank all of those emails today? It was a bit shocking to log on and see 27 new emails ... hahah. But I'm grateful for all the love. It's been a strange day but I'll get to describing that in a bit. We've had a pretty fast week filled with lots of fun and a lott of firsts. It's funny that even this long into my mission there are still so many things that I've not yet tried or done. So last Monday , after emailing , me and Elder Hyatt got something made that I'll show you guys when I see you , hahah. We were pretty excited. Later that night we had a pretty sweet lesson with this guy that came up to us when he was drunk and is now reading the Book of Mormon like a champion .. we're trying to get his family involved as well but his wife isn't yet open. Hahaha also later that night we went to this house of a less active woman to try and share a lesson and her little grandson [whose maybe 4 or 5] comes out. This kid is pretty rude ,ha , and so he's giving us directions as he immediately says she's not there [as parents always send their kids out to do [to lie]] and so we ask him where his grandma is and he's giving us these ridiculous directions and waving his arms around to point pretend directions .. so we test him and ask him if she's near the river and he just goes 'yes' then we ask him if she's under the river and he says 'yes' so at that point we couldn't take anymore and just left. Filipino kids are hysterical and it's so obvious when they're lying.
Tuesday we had another zone gathering as we're practicing this song for our zone conference in a couple days when Elder Ardern comes. So we're the zone assigned to sing ... and we cannot song... so it's a challenge. You all know how bad my voice is - multiply that by 20. So after that we went on exchanges and I went with Elder De Jesus in their area. It was pretty good, but unfortunately nothing too too memorable. [side note- there's a pepsi drink here called pepsi pogi. 'pogi' means handsome. It's delicious and it makes you more handsome.]
The next day we switched back and had a full day of good work in Laoac [our favorite part of the area which is also the furthest]. Something awesome happened as we were leaving the Cacho family [we're teaching a young husband and wife] .. the wife is super elect and always goes to church , but the husband is really smart but still not all for it. As it gets to the end of the lesson we committed them to be baptized. The wife is all for it without the question but the husband not exactly , so the wife pulls an amazing card - haha - she tests his .. manhood? And goes okay , well I guess I'll just go to church on Sunday so I'll just call my dad to come pick me up. So obviously what runs through the husbands mind is how he is now offended as his manlihood is questioned and the wife wants to instead call her father , so he responds with 'no , we're going together. I'll find a way , but we'll go.' hahaha. She just looks at us beaming and goes 'Elders! the answer to my prayers!' It was a good moment and they did end up coming and had a great experience. Also after that we watched the restoration video with another family and it was a really powerful lesson as these devout born agains requested a copy.
So besides lessons we've had a really good week in that we keep finding new people and I think it's time to tell you ... I will be transferred next transfer. We found out about a month ago and it's certain now. President Monahan wants us back in the center of Urdaneta to have better access to the zone and to strengthen the stake ward ... so we'll be in Urdaneta 3rd Ward next transfer with the Assistants. Also ... will be staying in the nicest house in the mission. Nicknamed and revered by all 'the big house' ... it's huge. But I'm a bit bummed. We've got so many good things coming through Binalonan that we'll be leaving a great area for the next missionaries. Nevertheless ... not mine will but thine be done. So I think what I'll talk about most is Sunday. We had a really good church service with so so many less actives and 4 investigators. Really good classes and.. and member had bought me , Saturday , a huge cake for my birthday haha. So we got that as well .. waiting to eat it later. Then after church we had a couple members come work with us: a recent RM and the high priests group leader. So we had some really good lessons , but the second less active we went to was interesting. First we find her house and discover that it's this enormous white house we had been admiring for a month now. We always wondered who lived there ... Sister Tink after all - a member and wife of an Australian[o]. So first... she serves us cranberry juice ... which I haven't tasted since the MTC. Wow. Next ... she serves us duriyan. ...get scared because you will be trying this in a couple months. I will make you it eat. Everyone LOVES this fruit. It's a legend here for being unique to the Philippines and so delicious. I have never tasted anything quite disgusting as this. It was like rotten cheese with the worst smell. Elder Hyatt pretended to like it , but gave up as well. Hahaha. They were all ripping on us. Later that night we taught a few good lessons and got fed at the Fabia family [who looove us... maybe it's beacuse we're two americans.]
So now we're on to today. We woke up at 6 , went to the stake center by 8 , and did a zone jeopardy again. Then we practiced the song , then watched a church movie while we ate cake that Sister Monahan had baked for the zone and I bought ice cream. Now I'm here! I was so so happy , honestly , with all the emails and hopefully more come. REmember I don't handwritten letters if you write emails [but handwritten are always welcome!]
Okay , so that's all I've got today.
Mom- Me and Cody were going to live at Nauvoo House.
Love you all.. and I'll drink a root beer today. :)
-Elder Austin White
Monday, September 3, 2012
Heyo
School just got out so I just got swarmed by these 12 - 16 year old kids running in the play computer games. So much money is wasted on that.
Anyways we're here in our area emailing real fast because we've got a bunch of stuff that we've gotta get done today. It's been a pretty fast week and not too too much has happened.
As usual , questions first:
Where is your companion from?
- Wisconsin.......cheeeese.
What is Cody's dad's name?
- Eric
Have you heard what track you're on yet?
If you register for classes next month it seems like you should know by now. Anything I can do for you?
- Nothing yet
Did you ever hear from Franco whether or not he got that package form me?
- I thought I said last week that he got it? if not , then yeah he was really grateful.
So I've had a pretty fast week. I still don't feel the time , which is good , and we're too busy with so much stuff that we really don't even have time to feel it. But having an american companion does make you talk about american things for often .. which I suppose reflects home. So i'd be lying if I said it wasn't in my head a bit. Also he loves Arrested Development and a bunch of other things like that so we quote when we have down time , ha. So far these three weeks have blown by and the area is progressing every day. We keep finding new people and so many that are willing to come back if you just show some effort. The problem with the area in the past was that it was the last area of the last two elders .. so they weren't trunky .. but didn't really want to change the schedule. So not many were coming back nor progressing because they weren't finding. We've stressed finding like crazy and it's happening. Despite focusing on less active we keep finding new investigators that come out of no where and express a desire to be taught. It's really been miracle after miracle.
There's a main part of the email that I'd like to get to , but before that I guess I'll talk about my week real quick.
Monday- Pday at SM .. it was okay. Got an expensive haircut that was one of the worst of my mission.. I've learned my lesson [by expensive I mean 2.50$] Then went out and worked in which we got a few good lessons in
Tuesday- District meetings + zone gathering in which we practiced a song that our zone will sing for the zone conference when Elder Ardern visits. The only problem ... hardly anyone can sing. Including myself. It'll be interesting singing I Need Thee Every Hour in tagalog for a 70. Also had exchanges afterwards with Elder Carr in their area. He's very strange but I like his style. Makes me laugh. Also I now know how to solve a rubiks cube ...
Wednesday- Nothing special , but did teach a super powerful lesson to a long time less active... hopefully she'll start moving.
Thursday- More finding
Friday- Leadership Trainging Meeting with the district and zone leaders. Got to see a lot of friends and eat a lot of PB&J sandwiches ... awesome. Also got awesome letters! One from caitlin and one from Nanay in Baguio. Nanay is stoked to meet all of you as well as her kids and we can stay at their apartment complex if you'd like? A hotel would be a little nicer , but it's totally fine by me. Still good conditions. I could get in touch about the prices but I'm positive it'd be a lott cheaper that a hotel, seeing as she'd give a discount I'm sure. If you're trying to save money I think it's the way to go. But yeah , I'm excited to see nanay. Also one of her "daughters" [long story] got baptized!! None of them were allowed to get baptized for the longest time , but they're so excited for her.
Also I was thinking it might be easiest to bus up to baguio from manila , rent a car up there , then bus back down when we go back to manila? That just seems easiest. Also I could probably get a license , maybe , before I leave.
Okay so we've had a pretty ordinary week of being really busy. But what I wanted to say is just how now that I'm reflecting on my mission a bit , I see a huge pattern the Lord has thrown me.
The first half of my mission I was working as hard as possible [still am , but now I'm smarter and nicer about it ,ha] and just literally trying to do everything I possibly could. I was super super obedient [still am] but could not tolerate disobedience in the least. But it was so frustrating ... I wasn't seeing hardly any fruit. I would come into my areas and all I would do for 2 or 3 or 4 transfers was plant. And then right as I transfered they would harvest and get the baptisms [if there were any]. I would get really upset sometimes wondering why my mission was so difficult and why nothing seemed to be working. All these disobedient missionaries were finding elect families and doing hardly any work .. and here I was working my tail off and seemingly getting nothing in return. That ended when I left Baguio. As soon as I got to Damortis and until now I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle. And it's so interesting that it all happened literally in the second half of my mission.
I'm not sure exactly why I was being prepared for so long , but since that time my mission has literally rotated 180 degrees and I've been so blessed. I've seen so many things happened that should not have ... so many rescued that declared they would not come back ... so many baptized that seemed so unlikely ... a mission is incredible. It proves so many things , but most of all I see the Spirit working in abundance. It's all we need to get by. Especially in missionary work. No amount of preparation nor ability replaces humility and the presence of the Spirit in a lesson. I've been so lucky to see these things happen that it strengthens my trust in the Lord each and every day.
That's all I really want to say for this week. Kind of boring , sorry.
I'll let you guys handle the details for the most part and I'll just be surprised when you get here :)
Love you all,
-Elder A White
School just got out so I just got swarmed by these 12 - 16 year old kids running in the play computer games. So much money is wasted on that.
Anyways we're here in our area emailing real fast because we've got a bunch of stuff that we've gotta get done today. It's been a pretty fast week and not too too much has happened.
As usual , questions first:
Where is your companion from?
- Wisconsin.......cheeeese.
What is Cody's dad's name?
- Eric
Have you heard what track you're on yet?
If you register for classes next month it seems like you should know by now. Anything I can do for you?
- Nothing yet
Did you ever hear from Franco whether or not he got that package form me?
- I thought I said last week that he got it? if not , then yeah he was really grateful.
So I've had a pretty fast week. I still don't feel the time , which is good , and we're too busy with so much stuff that we really don't even have time to feel it. But having an american companion does make you talk about american things for often .. which I suppose reflects home. So i'd be lying if I said it wasn't in my head a bit. Also he loves Arrested Development and a bunch of other things like that so we quote when we have down time , ha. So far these three weeks have blown by and the area is progressing every day. We keep finding new people and so many that are willing to come back if you just show some effort. The problem with the area in the past was that it was the last area of the last two elders .. so they weren't trunky .. but didn't really want to change the schedule. So not many were coming back nor progressing because they weren't finding. We've stressed finding like crazy and it's happening. Despite focusing on less active we keep finding new investigators that come out of no where and express a desire to be taught. It's really been miracle after miracle.
There's a main part of the email that I'd like to get to , but before that I guess I'll talk about my week real quick.
Monday- Pday at SM .. it was okay. Got an expensive haircut that was one of the worst of my mission.. I've learned my lesson [by expensive I mean 2.50$] Then went out and worked in which we got a few good lessons in
Tuesday- District meetings + zone gathering in which we practiced a song that our zone will sing for the zone conference when Elder Ardern visits. The only problem ... hardly anyone can sing. Including myself. It'll be interesting singing I Need Thee Every Hour in tagalog for a 70. Also had exchanges afterwards with Elder Carr in their area. He's very strange but I like his style. Makes me laugh. Also I now know how to solve a rubiks cube ...
Wednesday- Nothing special , but did teach a super powerful lesson to a long time less active... hopefully she'll start moving.
Thursday- More finding
Friday- Leadership Trainging Meeting with the district and zone leaders. Got to see a lot of friends and eat a lot of PB&J sandwiches ... awesome. Also got awesome letters! One from caitlin and one from Nanay in Baguio. Nanay is stoked to meet all of you as well as her kids and we can stay at their apartment complex if you'd like? A hotel would be a little nicer , but it's totally fine by me. Still good conditions. I could get in touch about the prices but I'm positive it'd be a lott cheaper that a hotel, seeing as she'd give a discount I'm sure. If you're trying to save money I think it's the way to go. But yeah , I'm excited to see nanay. Also one of her "daughters" [long story] got baptized!! None of them were allowed to get baptized for the longest time , but they're so excited for her.
Also I was thinking it might be easiest to bus up to baguio from manila , rent a car up there , then bus back down when we go back to manila? That just seems easiest. Also I could probably get a license , maybe , before I leave.
Okay so we've had a pretty ordinary week of being really busy. But what I wanted to say is just how now that I'm reflecting on my mission a bit , I see a huge pattern the Lord has thrown me.
The first half of my mission I was working as hard as possible [still am , but now I'm smarter and nicer about it ,ha] and just literally trying to do everything I possibly could. I was super super obedient [still am] but could not tolerate disobedience in the least. But it was so frustrating ... I wasn't seeing hardly any fruit. I would come into my areas and all I would do for 2 or 3 or 4 transfers was plant. And then right as I transfered they would harvest and get the baptisms [if there were any]. I would get really upset sometimes wondering why my mission was so difficult and why nothing seemed to be working. All these disobedient missionaries were finding elect families and doing hardly any work .. and here I was working my tail off and seemingly getting nothing in return. That ended when I left Baguio. As soon as I got to Damortis and until now I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle. And it's so interesting that it all happened literally in the second half of my mission.
I'm not sure exactly why I was being prepared for so long , but since that time my mission has literally rotated 180 degrees and I've been so blessed. I've seen so many things happened that should not have ... so many rescued that declared they would not come back ... so many baptized that seemed so unlikely ... a mission is incredible. It proves so many things , but most of all I see the Spirit working in abundance. It's all we need to get by. Especially in missionary work. No amount of preparation nor ability replaces humility and the presence of the Spirit in a lesson. I've been so lucky to see these things happen that it strengthens my trust in the Lord each and every day.
That's all I really want to say for this week. Kind of boring , sorry.
I'll let you guys handle the details for the most part and I'll just be surprised when you get here :)
Love you all,
-Elder A White
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