Friday, November 29, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving! A Great Week!

11-25-13

We had an awesome week with a lot of little miracles!   I'm sure I'll be ready to explode by the end of Thursday, but hopefully, I'll be really hungry after the turkey bowl!  It's going to be interesting being away from home for Thanksgiving, but I'm glad I get to have it on my mission with the Makasini's! :)  That's good that you're tired/exhausted because that means you're working hard and giving it all you got!  (I think that's suppose to make me feel better?-haha)  Elder Jones is great!  We just live in a single bedroom apartment by ourselves-no other missionaries.  For Christmas....um maybe some g's and an SD memory card and some guitar tab music.  The Target here is just a regular Target.  What?  Brittney is going to use my room?  She is getting married?  When did all this happen?  Why is she up in Idaho?  Man, everyone is getting married!  Well, this week was really good!  We got 25 lessons, which is awesome.  I haven't got 25 lessons for awhile.  We usually average 16-18 a week, but this week was really great.  We accomplished all our goals for the week or went above!  So, it was great!  On Thursday, we had 8 people we taught, which is probably the most I've taught in a single day!  It was crazy awesome!!!!  Semisi's baptism is coming up pretty soon on the 14th of December-which is really exciting!!!!!  It rained a lot this week, as well.  It rained almost all day Wednesday and Thursday and a little bit on Tuesday.  But, Rain or Shine, We Do This All the Time!!!! Hoorah for Israel!!!!!!  Haha.  We had a great week!  We'll see how it goes this week since it's Thanksgiving week.  Hopefully, everyone doesn't leave!  But, it should be good!  Well, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and a good week!

Love ya,
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley

Enjoying his Mission!

11-18-13

I don't know why your email didn't come through and I looked for it, but it wasn't there.  The reason we didn't email on Monday was because the library was closed for Veteran's day.  On my last pictures I was trying to climb the tree while waiting for some other missionaries.  In the other picture, my comp was in the bathroom, so i turned off all the lights and got the Nerf gun and hid in the cabinet, that was TINY!  So, basically, he was looking for me and when he opened the cabinet, I scared him and unloaded on him with the Nerf gun.  It was pretty funny!  They would like us to switch to messenger bags, but my backpack works just fine and the other Elders that got messenger bags say they don't like them especially on bikes.  So, I'm alright.  You got snow?  It's going to be super weird with no snow this year. :/ -but kinda nice!  I don't have to shovel or bike in it-haha.  They say it takes someone on average 7 positive experiences with the church before they become interested or joining.  This week was pretty good.  We had Zone Conference, so we heard from President Watkins and talked about how we could improve as missionaries and become more productive/successful.  Then, on saturday, we went up to the temple and took some less actives to the visitors center while some of the returning to activity members did baptisms for the dead, which was cool since we have been working with one that went in while we were at the visitors center.  I'll send a picture of Tikki Makasini and his wife, Peggy.  Oh, and we also contacted a guy on the street named Jacob on Friday night and called him the next day and set up an appointment with him Saturday night and went to went and got Five guys and taught him.  It was a good discussion for the most part till the end when he kinda was bashing with us, which was frustrating.  We tried to get in contact with him again, but no answer yet.  Oh well, we'll see what happens with him.  Training is going good.  My trainee is awesome and we get along really well.  he knows his scriptures, but is still learning how to teach the discussions, so sometimes it feels like I'm talking the whole lesson with investigators, but he is getting there.  He will be a great missionary!  Things here are good.  One of our investigators set up a baptismal date for the 14 of December, so that's exciting!!  Other than that, the week has been pretty good and the Makasini's invited us over for Thanksgiving!  YES!!!!  Wahoo, I'm excited!  Anyways, I hope all goes well for ya this week!  Love ya!

Elder Whaley


Bro. Makasini, Elder Jones, Elder Whaley, and
Sis. Makasini at the Oakland temple.



Oakland Temple
California Sunset

Sunday, November 17, 2013

All is Well!

11-12-13

(Apparently, my email didn't go through-arggg)  I don't know if you emailed me or not, but this week was a pretty good week.  We got quite a few lessons where we struggled the week before.  So, we picked it up.  Our Zone is going for 60 baptisms for the year, so we need 20 more to reach that goal by the end of December, but we are working with 3-4 people and a few of them we think we can get baptized by then!  But, things with training are going good!  Elder Jones is a great missionary!  He knows his scriptures, which is awesome.  Here's some pics...I made the Plan of Salvation with spray paint!

Love ya,
Elder Whaley

Turning into a tree hugger?  Who knows!
Climbing the tree waiting for other missionaries.

Spray paint Plan of Salvation

Maybe he needs some alone time?????
Hiding from companion and then blasting him with
his Nerf gun!


Shad's attack on his companion.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

It's a boy!!!!!!

11-4-13

Dang, it's snowing?!  That's crazy!  Well, my companion came in on Halloween.  His name is Elder Jones from Springvill, UT.  He says he knows the Taylors: Keegan, Courtney, and Lance.  He is an 18 year old missionary.  He reminds me a lot of Austin, which is weird and cool.  I'm sure we'll do great together.  It should be interesting to train someone.  Hopefully, I don't corrupt him haha-jk.  This week wasn't all that great.  We had transfers Tuesday and I went to another area for a couple of days waiting for my kid, so the work in our area was super slow because of all the crazy moving missionaries around for transfers.  This upcoming week is looking good so far, so that's good.  Halloween stunk.  We had lunch at 3, after I picked up Elder Jones, then our dinner fed us at 4 since they couldn't do it later, so we were super full, then we tried visiting people, but no one was home because everyone was trick or treating....Halloween stinks-haha.  On the way down to pick up our kids, me and another Elder were driving down and a Mazda Miata was going about 100 mph on the highway and almost hit us, then he slowed down next to us and threw a water bottle at our car, but good thing he stunk at it since he missed...that was interesting.  Things are going good, other than that.  We'll see how this week pans out.  I can't think of anything for Christmas right now.  Hopefully, you guys have a great week!

Love ya,
Ofa atu,
Elder Whaley