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
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