Family!!
Second to last email .. weird. Sorry I didn't email yesterday , I was at the career workshop all day so I didn't get a chance to email. Basically we had to wake up at 6 , get ready , go pick up the sisters , drop Sister Urbano off with Urdaneta 2 sisters , then Elder Mayes , Hyatt , Nieman , and Elix dropped me and Elder Tolman and Sister Garnace off in Dagupan for the workshop. It's this really nice 4th floor of a building that's called the ERC [I'm pretty sure we have them in the states as well] .. anyways we basically sat for 8 - 9 hours [with a 1 hr lunch break] learning how to make "power statements" and "me statements" and talking about ourselves and how to present ourselves for interviews and what now. I'm not going to say it wasn't helpful .. but having said that ... a very big waste of time. Then again I might just draw upon that vast wealth of knowledge when I'm interviewing to be a billionaire.
So that was my monday. After that we took a bus home and talked about how weird it'll be to board that same bus again in a week. I like my batch a lot and it's always so fun to see them [oh yeah - that career workshop was for all the leaving batch , so there's 15 of us] After we got home the 4 of us [me , Elder Mayes , Hyatt , and Tolman] ran to a family home evening in which they fed us one of my favorite ulams that I'll be cooking a lot when I get home called 'Bicol Express' . After that we squeezed in one more lesson before 9. Now I'm here at the office emailing because my companion has already emailed and so I get to use the email computers.
QUESTIONS NOW:
1. Do you want me to buy you some garments before you come home? I don't know if they sell them at the Manila temple, but if they do they probably don't carry all the same selections of fabric because it's always hot there. If you want me to buy you some I need the size for your bottoms. I assume you wear a large top. But there are quite a few fabric options so maybe you'd rather wait and get some when you're home and you can decide. Let me know...
- They have plenty of garments here in Manila we can buy. 1 Pair of garments is about ... 60 - 70 cents. So depends on you guys , what you'd rather do. We can load up on like 10 pairs here or just buy them back home. If you want to buy them back home my waste is a SHORT - MEDIUM and I like the mesh bottoms. The top I wear a dri lux or cotton and I'm a medium.
2. Do you want me to buy you a pair of jeans because I don't think you have many clothes left here. Don't stress because you will get my credit card and be able to shop as soon as you get home but I thought you might want one pair to put on. I know it probably won't be the exact style you want but one pair? What size?
- Um .. no - if we want we can buy a pair here , everything is a lot cheaper! yay!
3. I got an email back from Cody's mom early in the week and she said that she couldn't think about housing yet because Cody was coming home "tomorrow" -- so he's just home this past week. I started filling out your application but I need Cody's birthdate to put him down as a roommate for you. She said in her email that she didn't know what track he had yet. I'll get in touch with her again tomorrow and hopefully she or Cody will respond. When I talked to the person at The Ridge Apt's they said they still had quite a lot of rooms available so I haven't been too worried. If I don't hear back from her this week I'm going to go ahead and sign you up without Cody because I don't want to leave town not having done that.
- I don't think this was a question.
4. I heard from a friend today at Stake Conference that transferring to BYU Provo has just gotten much easier (apparently it was nearly impossible before) because of the new mission ages and the gap it's leaving. Good news for you. Get A's this next semester and you should probably be able to get in.
- Yay!
5. You can leave your big suitcases in Urdaneta when you leave for the temple because we will be back on Thurs to meet your mission president and Sis Engels. Can you please tell them that we are leaving Manila on Thur about 9 am and will go to Urdaneta. Hopefully we will be able to meet them. After that you can take us to wherever you want. We have hotel reservations in Baguio for Thurs, Fri and Sat night and will go wherever you want to those days. I have a little something for the Monahan's and for the Engels'. Sis Engels has been so wonderful in her communications to me --
- Okay - I won't tell them. They're actually standing right next to me.
6. Make sure you get all the details for where (I know the temple but where) and when we meet you. I can't believe I'm even writing about this.......
- Um I'll write again next Monday , but I'm thinking about 3 or 4ish Manila Time we'd meet up on the temple grounds. It's pretty small , so it'll be easy. Plan for 3 , though , I guess.
7. Was there anything you wanted me to do for you?
- Nothing! Just bring that Infinite Atonement [with my name on it :) !] besides that I'll just see you in a week.
So I've actually gotta get going pretty quick here because I shouldn't be on here for that long. My companion is just hanging out and we still have to go grocery shopping , but it's been ... a fast ... week. As always. We've got a baptism this saturday , which we're excited for and we had an amazing day last Sunday , actually , which I guess I'll talk about.
So here in Urdaneta the time blocks are backwards , so Elders Quorum is first , then Sunday School , then Sacrament. So after Sunday School all we had was 2 investigators and a less active that we had expected to come out of a ton. So we were a bit bummed , but we go outside to wait for the investigators that we prayed would be coming. Elder Hyatt then comes up and goes did you know that Sister Gascon is here? We were so stoked because their family is awesome but they live super far away from the church and we didn't honestly expect any of them to come. But sister came and that's a huge step for the rest of them to return! So then I'm waiting outside for a few minutes as sacrament is about to start. So I kind of just bowed my head and said a silent prayer hoping they would come. Elder Hyatt then walks out and we go inside , kind of upset all the ones we had hoped for didn't come. As we walk in we then see one of our investigators sitting down on the back pew! There was Sister Ramirez! hahaha. We didn't even see her slip in , she must have attended relief society and sunday school and we just didn't see her , she just looked like a member. So we sit down next to her [she's this pretty wealthy woman from Canada that we met on the street and we didn't think she was very interested but it was really inspired how we met her and she came to general conference last week! and this week again!] So as we were singing the opening hymn our other three investigators came in ! Elder Hyatt got up and sat next to them during the meeting and I sat next to Sister Ramirez. It was just such a funny experience because I felt like I was sitting next to you , Mom! She's this like upper - 40s and really quiet and like I said .. kind of wealthy .. and it was so funny just sharing a hymn book and singing like she was any other member. At the end of the meeting she just stands up and says 'thank you' and leaves. I couldn't hardly catch her. But we expect big things from her. So that was the little miracle I saw last sunday. It was really awesome to have 6 investigators there and progressing. This area has been really good , though really fast.
So I think that's all I have time to write about for this week. The rest will have to wait for questions in person. I love you all , look forward to writing again next monday and look forward to seeing you all in my country!!
Hope you're up for a lot of food!!!
Love you all,
-Elder Austin White
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