12-9-14
So for Christmas, we are just having a mission breakfast with a gift exchange and a mission talent show, but I can't remember what day that is going to be. A group of us are trying to do something for it, but this is the last week of transfers and the next transfer will be 7 weeks long. We'll see what happens. That'd be great if I could send some things with Sr. Allen. The only thing I can think of that you could do for me for school and future stuff is look at scholarships/financial aide for USU and FAFSA, jobs in Rexburg and Logan, and housing in Logan. That's the only thing I can think of for now, though. No, I don't want to go to BYUI. I'm just planning on working till school starts at USU in the fall. It sounds like you had a good week along with a good trip to Salt Latke! That's good! We got to watch the Christmas devotional, for the most part of what we could hear over kids-haha. It was pretty good for the most part. Nothing really happened this last week. Just going around trying to find people to teach, figure out the new ward boundaries, and get things rolling int he new ward-so it will take some time! Other than that, things are going pretty good. Elder Strauss' birthday is this Friday, the 12th, so we'll probably end up doing something for that! Hopefully, we'll find some people to teach! Well, I hope you guys have another great week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Using His Sewing Skills!
12-2-14
It sounds like you guys have been busy! It is so stinking cold there-oh man! Vanessa is lucky! The USU trip is Super Fun and she gets to watch the BYU game-go Aggies! That is awesome that Dad was able to make it to everything this week and enjoy the holidays! Really? You got another dog? Pretty cool, I guess....but you took away another missionary's dog! I know how he feels! JK Sister Whitman is new in our ward with the boundary changes recently, but she's funny and very sweet! It was fun putting up the Christmas lights for her! Last week was great-especially with Thanksgiving! Oh man, soooo much food! We had 4 dinners! I haven't eaten that much since the Tongan and Samoan wards-haha. I felt like I was going to pop by the end of the night! It was all really good food! Our fridge is packed with left overs-it's awesome! Yesterday we helped set up for the Christmas creche like I did last year, so we were doing that all day. It looks pretty cool! Ya, I think just money for Christmas is fine so I can get protein and send stuff home! Maybe some homemade buttermilk cookies, but NO CANDY!!!!!! I'm sick of candy! Oh ya, this last week I got to use my sewing skills since I ripped my pants twice-haha. They're fixed now, so pretty fun stuff! Well, I hope you have a great week this week and all goes well! Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
* We got a phone call from a lady in Shad's mission who called to tell us what a wonderful missionary he is! Her name was Sr. Whitman. She said that 4 of them came over to help she and her husband put up Christmas lights since they're getting older. She told us that Shad is serious about missionary work, but he also knows when to have fun and that she really enjoyed having him over. I guess she fed them all her Thanksgiving leftovers and she said they had a hearty appetite!-big surprise!
It sounds like you guys have been busy! It is so stinking cold there-oh man! Vanessa is lucky! The USU trip is Super Fun and she gets to watch the BYU game-go Aggies! That is awesome that Dad was able to make it to everything this week and enjoy the holidays! Really? You got another dog? Pretty cool, I guess....but you took away another missionary's dog! I know how he feels! JK Sister Whitman is new in our ward with the boundary changes recently, but she's funny and very sweet! It was fun putting up the Christmas lights for her! Last week was great-especially with Thanksgiving! Oh man, soooo much food! We had 4 dinners! I haven't eaten that much since the Tongan and Samoan wards-haha. I felt like I was going to pop by the end of the night! It was all really good food! Our fridge is packed with left overs-it's awesome! Yesterday we helped set up for the Christmas creche like I did last year, so we were doing that all day. It looks pretty cool! Ya, I think just money for Christmas is fine so I can get protein and send stuff home! Maybe some homemade buttermilk cookies, but NO CANDY!!!!!! I'm sick of candy! Oh ya, this last week I got to use my sewing skills since I ripped my pants twice-haha. They're fixed now, so pretty fun stuff! Well, I hope you have a great week this week and all goes well! Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
* We got a phone call from a lady in Shad's mission who called to tell us what a wonderful missionary he is! Her name was Sr. Whitman. She said that 4 of them came over to help she and her husband put up Christmas lights since they're getting older. She told us that Shad is serious about missionary work, but he also knows when to have fun and that she really enjoyed having him over. I guess she fed them all her Thanksgiving leftovers and she said they had a hearty appetite!-big surprise!
Always Something To Be Grateful For!
11-24-14
Wow! It sounds like you had an interesting week with lots of fun-filled things-haha! That should be fun going over to Uncle Kim's and Aunt Denise's for Thanksgiving! So Vanessa's turning 18 huh? Scary! She thinks that she'll be more mature? Haha-oh man! That's good that you have been looking for things to be grateful for each day! There is always something to be grateful for not matter the situation, even though it might be tough. Well, I hope things go well for you this week. This week was alright. We didn't get to see a lot of people, but I was still able to meet more ward members, even though the new boundaries and the new ward in the stake made everything interesting and kinda confusing. So, it's been an interesting last 2 weeks trying to get to know the area, then having it change and trying to figure out who is all in our ward still and what work we still have and don't have. There have been a couple of families who have invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, but we usually just go house hopping since some families have their dinner at different times-haha. Wahoo! Get big!!!! That last picture you saw was at transfer meeting after the Haka we did. We do have a couple of Tongan families in the ward, but the area seems pretty good. I'm still lost trying to figure things out, especially with all the changes. They told us we should be getting Facebook at the end of the November or beginning of December, but no word on that and supposedly iPads by the end of the year, but no word on that, either. We'll see what happens, but I'm not looking forward to it too much, but I don't really care. Our mission president is pretty good, but I don't really see him or talk to him too much, so still getting to know him and how he works But, so far so good! Ya, Elder Bednar was awesome! Such a great talk! Well, I hope all goes well for ya this next week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
Wow! It sounds like you had an interesting week with lots of fun-filled things-haha! That should be fun going over to Uncle Kim's and Aunt Denise's for Thanksgiving! So Vanessa's turning 18 huh? Scary! She thinks that she'll be more mature? Haha-oh man! That's good that you have been looking for things to be grateful for each day! There is always something to be grateful for not matter the situation, even though it might be tough. Well, I hope things go well for you this week. This week was alright. We didn't get to see a lot of people, but I was still able to meet more ward members, even though the new boundaries and the new ward in the stake made everything interesting and kinda confusing. So, it's been an interesting last 2 weeks trying to get to know the area, then having it change and trying to figure out who is all in our ward still and what work we still have and don't have. There have been a couple of families who have invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, but we usually just go house hopping since some families have their dinner at different times-haha. Wahoo! Get big!!!! That last picture you saw was at transfer meeting after the Haka we did. We do have a couple of Tongan families in the ward, but the area seems pretty good. I'm still lost trying to figure things out, especially with all the changes. They told us we should be getting Facebook at the end of the November or beginning of December, but no word on that and supposedly iPads by the end of the year, but no word on that, either. We'll see what happens, but I'm not looking forward to it too much, but I don't really care. Our mission president is pretty good, but I don't really see him or talk to him too much, so still getting to know him and how he works But, so far so good! Ya, Elder Bednar was awesome! Such a great talk! Well, I hope all goes well for ya this next week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Visit from Elder Bednar
11-17-14
So, I got transferred to the Heritage Oaks Ward, but as of last night, it's the Cuesta Park Ward. I got in-zone transferred, so I am in the same Stake and still see the same missionaries basically. The Stake realigned all the ward boundaries in the Stake to make a new ward, so that meeting happened last night. We might be covering 2 wards, but not sure yet. It seems like a pretty good place. I just replaced Elder Jones, the one I trained, and everyone loves him here, which is awesome to see. My new companion is Elder Strauss from Virginia. I knew him from the Menlo Park Zone, but he is great. It will be fun-haha. He's a goofy kid! This week was interesting. I got transferred Tuesday and went around and visited some families, then went to 2 funerals on Wednesday and Thursday-those were interesting, but pretty good, even though I didn't know them. Then, Saturday, we went up to the Oakland temple and went into the tri-Stake Center and had Elder Bednar talk to us! It was really good! It was different from other general authorities that come and talk to us. He told us not to take notes on what he said, but on what we learn from the Spirit, because the church has a culture of taking notes and never using them again and that it is a stupid culture-haha. It was pretty funny. He was very straight forward and very direct with his comments to us, but I liked how he presented everything. He had us read 3 talks beforehand and basically most of the time he asked what we learned and someone would stand up and say what they learned and he would ask a follow-up question on how they learned that or why that stood out to them and then sometimes go off of that and share his thoughts. The other half of the meeting was us asking him questions. It was pretty interesting and pretty cool! I think his main focus that I got from it is to be an agent and not an object. So basically, Ether 12:6. We combined with the Oakland San Francisco mission so there were a lot of missionaries there. I saw Stetson Bradshaw there-it was awesome to see him!!!!!!
I was thinking about just calling home for Christmas this time, but we'll see. It sounds like you had a crazy week with the flu. I hope everyone gets feeling better! Ya, it's been getting cold here, too. It's in the 60s and 70s-haha. I can't believe Thanksgiving and Vanessa's birthday are so close. It feels like I just emailed yesterday. This week flew by so fast!!!! Well, I hope you have a great week this week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley
So, I got transferred to the Heritage Oaks Ward, but as of last night, it's the Cuesta Park Ward. I got in-zone transferred, so I am in the same Stake and still see the same missionaries basically. The Stake realigned all the ward boundaries in the Stake to make a new ward, so that meeting happened last night. We might be covering 2 wards, but not sure yet. It seems like a pretty good place. I just replaced Elder Jones, the one I trained, and everyone loves him here, which is awesome to see. My new companion is Elder Strauss from Virginia. I knew him from the Menlo Park Zone, but he is great. It will be fun-haha. He's a goofy kid! This week was interesting. I got transferred Tuesday and went around and visited some families, then went to 2 funerals on Wednesday and Thursday-those were interesting, but pretty good, even though I didn't know them. Then, Saturday, we went up to the Oakland temple and went into the tri-Stake Center and had Elder Bednar talk to us! It was really good! It was different from other general authorities that come and talk to us. He told us not to take notes on what he said, but on what we learn from the Spirit, because the church has a culture of taking notes and never using them again and that it is a stupid culture-haha. It was pretty funny. He was very straight forward and very direct with his comments to us, but I liked how he presented everything. He had us read 3 talks beforehand and basically most of the time he asked what we learned and someone would stand up and say what they learned and he would ask a follow-up question on how they learned that or why that stood out to them and then sometimes go off of that and share his thoughts. The other half of the meeting was us asking him questions. It was pretty interesting and pretty cool! I think his main focus that I got from it is to be an agent and not an object. So basically, Ether 12:6. We combined with the Oakland San Francisco mission so there were a lot of missionaries there. I saw Stetson Bradshaw there-it was awesome to see him!!!!!!
I was thinking about just calling home for Christmas this time, but we'll see. It sounds like you had a crazy week with the flu. I hope everyone gets feeling better! Ya, it's been getting cold here, too. It's in the 60s and 70s-haha. I can't believe Thanksgiving and Vanessa's birthday are so close. It feels like I just emailed yesterday. This week flew by so fast!!!! Well, I hope you have a great week this week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley
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| Elder Whaley and Elder Bradshaw, both from Sugar City |
Getting Ready to Transfer
11-10-14
A lot of things have been going on. I got called Saturday night telling me I was getting transferred and Elder Christensen is training. We'll see what happens-I have no clue! I don't know when my release date is, but I'm not worried about it now! This week was pretty good. We were able to see quite a few people. It was pretty good. The Misa Alifua twins in our ward, got baptized and it was a good baptism! Then, basically, I just spent time saying good bye to people. It stinks not knowing where you're going until transfer meeting. Other than that, nothing else really happened this week. it sounds like you have a busy week ahead of you. Hopefully, it all goes well. I think I would just like money for Christmas. That way I can either buy food or things I need or protein. Man, I can't believe it's already almost Christmas. Sorry so short. Love ya!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley
A lot of things have been going on. I got called Saturday night telling me I was getting transferred and Elder Christensen is training. We'll see what happens-I have no clue! I don't know when my release date is, but I'm not worried about it now! This week was pretty good. We were able to see quite a few people. It was pretty good. The Misa Alifua twins in our ward, got baptized and it was a good baptism! Then, basically, I just spent time saying good bye to people. It stinks not knowing where you're going until transfer meeting. Other than that, nothing else really happened this week. it sounds like you have a busy week ahead of you. Hopefully, it all goes well. I think I would just like money for Christmas. That way I can either buy food or things I need or protein. Man, I can't believe it's already almost Christmas. Sorry so short. Love ya!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Missionary Work Going Up and Down
11-4-14
Fall is here! It is in the 70s mostly with a nice cool breeze. It rained last week, so that was good! This area needs it. I'm glad you survived Halloween-haha. That's great that you were able to go visit/help grandma! We didn't really do anything for Halloween. We basically did service all day, then went to a member's house for dinner and then went home since we had to be home by 7, which was kinda lame, but oh well! That's good they had a good turn out at the Trunk or Treat! Oh the yummy scones! It sounds like you had a good FHE planned. I'll try to write down what I'm thankful for. I still need to try to write in my journal. I did good for a while, but then haven't done it lately. Transfers are coming up. Transfer calls are Saturday night and transfer meeting is Tuesday, so we'll see what happens. I have no clue what is going to happen!
This last week was a pretty good week! We were able to see quite a few people we haven't seen for a while, so that was good. We had a lesson last night with a guy we contacted last night and he seems pretty prepared! It's exciting! We went to Santa Cruz yesterday. It was lots of fun and definitely needed-haha. It was nice to be on the beach! Towards the end of p-day our golden investigator sent an eight page text basically dropping us because her husband isn't on board with the idea. She was saying that she is going to raise her kids close to the standards of the church because she sees good in it. Man, it really stinks! She is sooo prepared, but I guess it's just not the right time or something! Ahhh man! I believe she will get baptized in the future for sure! But, it still is a big bummer!!!! :( On the bright side, Scott passed the sacrament on Sunday, so that was awesome! It was great to see! The work is going well, but it's kinda going up and down right now, so sometimes it's frustrating. Other times it's definitely worth it! Hey-I got a call last night from Sister McFarland-haha. Don't worry so much-I'm fine! You worry too much. I always email, even though it's not always on Mondays! Hopefully, you have a great week. Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
Fall is here! It is in the 70s mostly with a nice cool breeze. It rained last week, so that was good! This area needs it. I'm glad you survived Halloween-haha. That's great that you were able to go visit/help grandma! We didn't really do anything for Halloween. We basically did service all day, then went to a member's house for dinner and then went home since we had to be home by 7, which was kinda lame, but oh well! That's good they had a good turn out at the Trunk or Treat! Oh the yummy scones! It sounds like you had a good FHE planned. I'll try to write down what I'm thankful for. I still need to try to write in my journal. I did good for a while, but then haven't done it lately. Transfers are coming up. Transfer calls are Saturday night and transfer meeting is Tuesday, so we'll see what happens. I have no clue what is going to happen!
This last week was a pretty good week! We were able to see quite a few people we haven't seen for a while, so that was good. We had a lesson last night with a guy we contacted last night and he seems pretty prepared! It's exciting! We went to Santa Cruz yesterday. It was lots of fun and definitely needed-haha. It was nice to be on the beach! Towards the end of p-day our golden investigator sent an eight page text basically dropping us because her husband isn't on board with the idea. She was saying that she is going to raise her kids close to the standards of the church because she sees good in it. Man, it really stinks! She is sooo prepared, but I guess it's just not the right time or something! Ahhh man! I believe she will get baptized in the future for sure! But, it still is a big bummer!!!! :( On the bright side, Scott passed the sacrament on Sunday, so that was awesome! It was great to see! The work is going well, but it's kinda going up and down right now, so sometimes it's frustrating. Other times it's definitely worth it! Hey-I got a call last night from Sister McFarland-haha. Don't worry so much-I'm fine! You worry too much. I always email, even though it's not always on Mondays! Hopefully, you have a great week. Love ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
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| A sand sculpture at Santa Cruz |
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| Elder Whaley at Santa Cruz |
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| Elder Whaley at Santa Cruz |
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| Elder Christensen and Elder Whaley at Santa Cruz |
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| Elder Whaley at Santa Cruz |
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| Elder Whaley soaking up some rays at Santa Cruz |
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| P-day at Santa Cruz |
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Elder Whaley's Clever Costume!
10-27-14
Our two investigators are doing alright. We weren't able to meet with them this week, so we'll see if we can catch up with them this week. The work is about the same, but it's getting darker earlier, so not many people answer their doors when it gets dark or let us in, so it's kinda hard to find people to visit at nights. This week was pretty good. Last Tuesday we played rugby on p-day. It was so much fun, but I haven't been so sore like that for a while. We might play again today! This week we were able to get in with a couple less actives who we haven't been able to get ahold of for a while. They're both cool, just busy most of the time. We stopped by a former investigator last night to see if we could start coming by again. He wasn't too interested, but said we could come by, so we'll see how it goes. Then on Saturday night, our ward had the trunk or treat and I handed out some potatoes and glowsticks, thanks for those by the way! It was fun because I made an awesome costume! It was legit-hahah! I was stoked about it! Then, on Sunday, Scott got the Aaronic priesthood, so he's doing really well! It's awesome to watch him progress in the church! That's kinda how our week went! Lots of fun! I hope all goes well for ya and you have a great week! Love Ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
Our two investigators are doing alright. We weren't able to meet with them this week, so we'll see if we can catch up with them this week. The work is about the same, but it's getting darker earlier, so not many people answer their doors when it gets dark or let us in, so it's kinda hard to find people to visit at nights. This week was pretty good. Last Tuesday we played rugby on p-day. It was so much fun, but I haven't been so sore like that for a while. We might play again today! This week we were able to get in with a couple less actives who we haven't been able to get ahold of for a while. They're both cool, just busy most of the time. We stopped by a former investigator last night to see if we could start coming by again. He wasn't too interested, but said we could come by, so we'll see how it goes. Then on Saturday night, our ward had the trunk or treat and I handed out some potatoes and glowsticks, thanks for those by the way! It was fun because I made an awesome costume! It was legit-hahah! I was stoked about it! Then, on Sunday, Scott got the Aaronic priesthood, so he's doing really well! It's awesome to watch him progress in the church! That's kinda how our week went! Lots of fun! I hope all goes well for ya and you have a great week! Love Ya!
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
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| Elder Whaley's costume |
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| Elder Whaley's clever costume for the Trunk or Treat. |
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| Loading up the costume to take to the Trunk or Treat. Elder Christensen hanging on. |
Just Plugging Along Working Hard
10-20-14
I really hate people telling me how much time I have left, it's zooming by too fast!!! I enjoyed the things in the package and enjoyed getting fat from it-haha jk! So Landon said for me not to get married before he gets home huh? Hopefully, that won't happen too fast...but ya never know! Don't you miss being in the primary and having to deal with the primary program mom? Haha. Tell Chase that I'm either going to get a pig or borrow his and take it for walks for him-haha! (Shad's cousin has a small pig and took it for a walk at the park and it really attracted the women). I'll probably hand out spuds for Halloween, just for fun. Brother Stewart tried climbing to the top of the Tetons? That is super cool! That would be an intense hike!
This week was all right. It's getting darker earlier, so not too many people answer their door after dark so it makes it tougher to get into homes at night, but the work is going pretty good. We picked up 2 new investigators, so we'll see how they pan out and what happens. It's really exciting! Today we had a mission tour with Elder Pino, from the 70, come and speak to us! It was really good. He talked to us about not campaign ourselves to others and ways we can help hasten the work in the best mission in the world. It was a little different, though, since he spoke in Spanish and he had a missionary translate for him. Quite interesting, but still good! Other than that, nothing too exciting. Just trying to visit people and work hard! I hope you have a great week and all goes well for ya!
Love ya,
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
I really hate people telling me how much time I have left, it's zooming by too fast!!! I enjoyed the things in the package and enjoyed getting fat from it-haha jk! So Landon said for me not to get married before he gets home huh? Hopefully, that won't happen too fast...but ya never know! Don't you miss being in the primary and having to deal with the primary program mom? Haha. Tell Chase that I'm either going to get a pig or borrow his and take it for walks for him-haha! (Shad's cousin has a small pig and took it for a walk at the park and it really attracted the women). I'll probably hand out spuds for Halloween, just for fun. Brother Stewart tried climbing to the top of the Tetons? That is super cool! That would be an intense hike!
This week was all right. It's getting darker earlier, so not too many people answer their door after dark so it makes it tougher to get into homes at night, but the work is going pretty good. We picked up 2 new investigators, so we'll see how they pan out and what happens. It's really exciting! Today we had a mission tour with Elder Pino, from the 70, come and speak to us! It was really good. He talked to us about not campaign ourselves to others and ways we can help hasten the work in the best mission in the world. It was a little different, though, since he spoke in Spanish and he had a missionary translate for him. Quite interesting, but still good! Other than that, nothing too exciting. Just trying to visit people and work hard! I hope you have a great week and all goes well for ya!
Love ya,
Ofa Atu!
Elder Whaley
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| Elder Shad Whaley in front of the 49ers football stadium |
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| Elder Shad Whaley serving at "Our Daily Bread" handing out food |
Sunday, October 19, 2014
An Awesome Week!
10-13-14
Man, Fall here is great! The weather is perfect! It's warm and we'll have a cool crisp breeze about in the 70s, which is super nice! Especially for biking! Elder Christensen is thinking that I might get transferred on the next transfer just like you are predicting. It would really stink, but I would rather get transferred this next one instead of my last one! Ya, Meet the Mormons was super good! We saw it on Thursday morning with President Mella. You'll definitely have to go see it! A member was telling us it was in the top ten for the box office when it opened, so that was pretty cool! I definitely think there will be some good that comes from it, as well! I got the package and it was great! I opened it and it was all candy and my comp just laughed because we're trying to work out and not eat too much junk food-haha. So, maybe for future reference, send protein powder or money that I could start sending stuff home or to buy protein powder -haha. But, the package was GREAT!!!! I loved it!!!!! I'm not sure if we can go to a 49ers game, but we'll see. I really want to, though! Man, I wish I could have been there to watch the great and glorious game of USU beating BYU-haha! Dang, Landon had his farewell? That's crazy, but good that he's heading out!!! That's good that you were able to help that lady out in the ward!
This week was Awesome! On Tuesday, we had Zone training meeting and that was pretty good. Then, Wednesday, we went up to the temple and did a session-which was great. We were up there most of the day. We rode up with Bro. Makasini and it was good to see and talk to him and see how people are doing-so that was good! Then, we ate at their house afterwards-you know how I love food! On Thursday, we watched meet the Mormons with a couple of other zones and it was a super great movie and president had a screening version and had video of study groups that were mostly nonmembers saying that they would recommend it to friends and that they would be nicer to missionaries that come to their door. On Saturday we had Scott's baptism and that went well. There was only a couple of people that showed up, but it was sill good! This week was awesome! Hopefully, you have an awesome week, as well! Hope all goes well! Thanks for your support!
Love ya,
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Man, Fall here is great! The weather is perfect! It's warm and we'll have a cool crisp breeze about in the 70s, which is super nice! Especially for biking! Elder Christensen is thinking that I might get transferred on the next transfer just like you are predicting. It would really stink, but I would rather get transferred this next one instead of my last one! Ya, Meet the Mormons was super good! We saw it on Thursday morning with President Mella. You'll definitely have to go see it! A member was telling us it was in the top ten for the box office when it opened, so that was pretty cool! I definitely think there will be some good that comes from it, as well! I got the package and it was great! I opened it and it was all candy and my comp just laughed because we're trying to work out and not eat too much junk food-haha. So, maybe for future reference, send protein powder or money that I could start sending stuff home or to buy protein powder -haha. But, the package was GREAT!!!! I loved it!!!!! I'm not sure if we can go to a 49ers game, but we'll see. I really want to, though! Man, I wish I could have been there to watch the great and glorious game of USU beating BYU-haha! Dang, Landon had his farewell? That's crazy, but good that he's heading out!!! That's good that you were able to help that lady out in the ward!
This week was Awesome! On Tuesday, we had Zone training meeting and that was pretty good. Then, Wednesday, we went up to the temple and did a session-which was great. We were up there most of the day. We rode up with Bro. Makasini and it was good to see and talk to him and see how people are doing-so that was good! Then, we ate at their house afterwards-you know how I love food! On Thursday, we watched meet the Mormons with a couple of other zones and it was a super great movie and president had a screening version and had video of study groups that were mostly nonmembers saying that they would recommend it to friends and that they would be nicer to missionaries that come to their door. On Saturday we had Scott's baptism and that went well. There was only a couple of people that showed up, but it was sill good! This week was awesome! Hopefully, you have an awesome week, as well! Hope all goes well! Thanks for your support!
Love ya,
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
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| Look toward the temple |
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| Elder at the temple |
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| Elder Whaley and Elder Christensen |
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| Elder Whaley |
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| Elder Whaley, Scott, and Elder Christensen |
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| Fixing a bike? |
Sunday, October 12, 2014
He's BACK!!!!!
10-6-14
So, as you know, it was transfers week this last week and Elder Moody didn't move too far. He's still in the same Zone with Elder Racule. My new companion is an awesome, super good missionary from Utah. I think we'll get along just great! His name is Elder Christensen! Yup, you're right, the same one from Morgan Hill!!!! It's pretty crazy! It's kinda rare getting the same comp twice, especially with all the English missionaries that are here, so we were both surprised at transfer meeting on Tuesday. We just laughed and basically said I can't believe this happened-what are the odds? It's all good! I'm curious what president has in store for me for my last 2 transfers after this. At this point, it seems like anything could happen. I'm sure I'll enjoy it! Everything is on schedule for Scott's baptism for Saturday. He just needs to be interviewed by the Zone leaders on Thursday and it will be set. I think everything will work out fine!
Conference was great! I noticed there were quite a few talks that were the same subject, but all in all it was really good! I enjoyed it! I can't wait to the get the Ensign and read and pick up on the things I may have missed and on new things! We haven't watched "Meet the Mormons" yet. We get to watch it this Thursday, so we'll see how it is. I've seen a trailer and it looks pretty cool! You asked about how often I pray. I don't know how many times I pray a day. I just know it varies day to day, but it's quite a bit. I liked the parable of the hike that you shared. It's so true and it's a good theory of the mission! This week was pretty good. We were able to watch Conference and meet with a couple of investigators, but we didn't hit our goal on lessons because of transfers and Conference. We still worked hard and it felt like we visited tons of people this last week. We still did pretty good considering it was transfer week and Conference. We only missed our goal by a couple. While contacting this week, we were actually able to teach some good lessons to people that were somewhat interested, so that was really cool. Usually people just blow us off when we try talking to them, so hopefully, one of them becomes really interested and want to learn more! Another good point of the week not related to missionary work is that I heard Utah State beat BYU!!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!! I thought I would just throw that in there-haha! Well, I hope you all have a great week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
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| Zone brunch between Conference sessions |
I LOVE MY MISSION!!!!!!!
9-29-14
Things are going well. Scott is progressing well. He is still on track for the 11th of October! The other investigators we'll just have to play be ear I guess. :/ FHE was super fun! My eye is fine...all good! It's p-day-it's all good! (We received a picture and it looked like he had a black eye, but we don't know what happened). I'm getting a new companion which is always exciting and nerve racking, but I'm exited to see what happens. Hopefully, someone good-haha! I don't want to really come home, but it has to happen some time! I love everything about my mission-the people, the members, the area, the work, and the other missionaries. Man, they just had an outgoing fireside for the missionaries leaving...and it stinks. There are some missionaries I have gotten close with and it's weird and stinks to watch them go. It's going to be weird not seeing them around! :( I'll still see some of them after the mission since some are going to BYUI and USU, so I look forward to seeing them again! Thant's good that you were able to go to the General Women's Conference. It sounds like it was really good! I would love to read Elder Holland's talk that you were telling me about. I'm super excited for General Conference! It's always super good! We also get to go to the temple next week-wahoo!!!! I love going up to the Oakland temple!
This week was not the best. We only had about 11 lessons. We had a lot of people not home or cancel on us! Hopefully, all goes well this next week and we're able to blow it out of the water! Since I know the area and will be taking over, I will probably change some things up this next week! Hopefully, it works! Other than that, the work is going well and I'm loving it!!!!! Hopefully, you all have a great week! Love ya!
OFA ATU
Elder Whaley
Things are going well. Scott is progressing well. He is still on track for the 11th of October! The other investigators we'll just have to play be ear I guess. :/ FHE was super fun! My eye is fine...all good! It's p-day-it's all good! (We received a picture and it looked like he had a black eye, but we don't know what happened). I'm getting a new companion which is always exciting and nerve racking, but I'm exited to see what happens. Hopefully, someone good-haha! I don't want to really come home, but it has to happen some time! I love everything about my mission-the people, the members, the area, the work, and the other missionaries. Man, they just had an outgoing fireside for the missionaries leaving...and it stinks. There are some missionaries I have gotten close with and it's weird and stinks to watch them go. It's going to be weird not seeing them around! :( I'll still see some of them after the mission since some are going to BYUI and USU, so I look forward to seeing them again! Thant's good that you were able to go to the General Women's Conference. It sounds like it was really good! I would love to read Elder Holland's talk that you were telling me about. I'm super excited for General Conference! It's always super good! We also get to go to the temple next week-wahoo!!!! I love going up to the Oakland temple!
This week was not the best. We only had about 11 lessons. We had a lot of people not home or cancel on us! Hopefully, all goes well this next week and we're able to blow it out of the water! Since I know the area and will be taking over, I will probably change some things up this next week! Hopefully, it works! Other than that, the work is going well and I'm loving it!!!!! Hopefully, you all have a great week! Love ya!
OFA ATU
Elder Whaley
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Wouldn't want to come home early!
9-24-14
So, first things first. The reason you didn't get an email till now is because Monday we went to Santa Cruz, and yesterday we were too busy to email. So, I guess you get one today! :) You asked why we go to the wine walks. It's not the best place to contact, but it was at the park we usually contact at and there's a lot of booths set up like a fair for people to buy things, so not everyone was drinking, but there was still a lot. But hey, everyone needs a chance to hear the gospel. You never know who is prepared! Our investigators are doing all right. One is on track to be baptized in October, the other one has addictions to work on, so we'll see what happens there. Today we tried to set up an appointment with our 3rd investigator, but she wants to study things out on her own and if she has questions, she said she will contact us. She was like super solid at first, but she is good at reading the material and all, so we'll see how she rolls out. Transfers are coming up. Thursday is leadership calls and Saturday is transfer calls, so we'll see what happens. Elder Moody thinks he's getting moved, which I could see happening. He's been here for about 6 months. I would love to go back to the Poly program, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen-haha. That's cool that you talked to Thomas' mom. Ya, he told me he was thinking about coming home a little early for school, but that's interesting. I guess he's needed for that full time. His president also receives revelation for the missionaries, too, so who knows what's in store for him. I wouldn't want to come home early (sorry) haha. Vanessa told me she was royalty. That's super cool!
This last week was all right. We didn't hit our goal on lessons, but we were able to meet with all of our investigators and help them out. We also did quite a bit of service (but I am definitely not complaining on that one). Hopefully, the rest of this week goes better. So, on Monday, we went to Santa Cruz and played on the beach. We played volleyball, rugby, and sat around and talked. It was a lot of fun! Then, later that night, we went to the Ve'e's. They used to be in our ward, but now they're in the Samoan branch. They had FHE with the Samoan sisters and invited us over. It was a lot of fun. We had a talent show for FHE, but sadly, they made a rule, no recording. But it was funny and cool-a really good night! I did outer space spray painting and they seemed to enjoy it. The other people danced the hula or a Samoan dance, or sang to a song-it was really cool! The main reason they did a talent show was because it was going to be sister Kapu's last time there for FHE and she helped bring brother Ve'e, along with sister Tauti, into the church last month. It was a special FHE that I'm glad we were able to be a part of! So far this week, we haven't had a whole lot of lessons, but mostly service. Hopefully, we can find some more people to teach! Well, I hope you are having a good week and have a great rest of the week! Love ya!
OFA ATU!
Elder WHaley
So, first things first. The reason you didn't get an email till now is because Monday we went to Santa Cruz, and yesterday we were too busy to email. So, I guess you get one today! :) You asked why we go to the wine walks. It's not the best place to contact, but it was at the park we usually contact at and there's a lot of booths set up like a fair for people to buy things, so not everyone was drinking, but there was still a lot. But hey, everyone needs a chance to hear the gospel. You never know who is prepared! Our investigators are doing all right. One is on track to be baptized in October, the other one has addictions to work on, so we'll see what happens there. Today we tried to set up an appointment with our 3rd investigator, but she wants to study things out on her own and if she has questions, she said she will contact us. She was like super solid at first, but she is good at reading the material and all, so we'll see how she rolls out. Transfers are coming up. Thursday is leadership calls and Saturday is transfer calls, so we'll see what happens. Elder Moody thinks he's getting moved, which I could see happening. He's been here for about 6 months. I would love to go back to the Poly program, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen-haha. That's cool that you talked to Thomas' mom. Ya, he told me he was thinking about coming home a little early for school, but that's interesting. I guess he's needed for that full time. His president also receives revelation for the missionaries, too, so who knows what's in store for him. I wouldn't want to come home early (sorry) haha. Vanessa told me she was royalty. That's super cool!
This last week was all right. We didn't hit our goal on lessons, but we were able to meet with all of our investigators and help them out. We also did quite a bit of service (but I am definitely not complaining on that one). Hopefully, the rest of this week goes better. So, on Monday, we went to Santa Cruz and played on the beach. We played volleyball, rugby, and sat around and talked. It was a lot of fun! Then, later that night, we went to the Ve'e's. They used to be in our ward, but now they're in the Samoan branch. They had FHE with the Samoan sisters and invited us over. It was a lot of fun. We had a talent show for FHE, but sadly, they made a rule, no recording. But it was funny and cool-a really good night! I did outer space spray painting and they seemed to enjoy it. The other people danced the hula or a Samoan dance, or sang to a song-it was really cool! The main reason they did a talent show was because it was going to be sister Kapu's last time there for FHE and she helped bring brother Ve'e, along with sister Tauti, into the church last month. It was a special FHE that I'm glad we were able to be a part of! So far this week, we haven't had a whole lot of lessons, but mostly service. Hopefully, we can find some more people to teach! Well, I hope you are having a good week and have a great rest of the week! Love ya!
OFA ATU!
Elder WHaley
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Working hard!
9-15-14
So, this week was a little slow. The first couple of days, we were on bike and I borrowed another Elder's bike, but it was too small, but at least it worked-haha. We mostly were doing things like updating the area book and going through papers and basically doing paper work...no fun! Thursday was Elder Moody's birthday, so the McFarland's had us over and we had dinner and celebrated his birthday. Then, we went on splits later that night. On Friday, we were going around doing service and trying to get things done, but not a whole lot of luck. So, we were behind on our goal for lessons and other things, so Saturday was busy trying to catch up. It was great, though, because we were working all day, it was a good feeling! We had 5 or 6 lessons that day-two of them were our investigators, so it was a good day! Sunday was a good day, as well. Church was really good. They talked about tithing in Sacrament and the blessings of it, then they talked about fasting in Sunday school. After church, we went to the Yuen's for lunch-like we do every Sunday, then we went to a wine walk to go contacting in the park. There was a lot of people, but no one was interested. Everyone was too busy drinking! Oh well. We stopped by a couple of other members' homes before we came back and we hit our lesson goal! It was awesome! So, hopefully, this week runs smoother and we don't have to try and play catch up! You asked about the Haka. They taught us the Haka a couple of times before. It was fun! How cool that you were able to go to lunch with all those Missionary Mommas! I can't believe that Jordan is home!!!!! It seems like everyone is starting to come home...eh scary!!!! :/ Keep safe and be smart! Thanks for being such a great example and for all the great things you taught me-even though I didn't like some of them at the time! Haha! Love ya!
OFA ATU,
Elder Whaley
So, this week was a little slow. The first couple of days, we were on bike and I borrowed another Elder's bike, but it was too small, but at least it worked-haha. We mostly were doing things like updating the area book and going through papers and basically doing paper work...no fun! Thursday was Elder Moody's birthday, so the McFarland's had us over and we had dinner and celebrated his birthday. Then, we went on splits later that night. On Friday, we were going around doing service and trying to get things done, but not a whole lot of luck. So, we were behind on our goal for lessons and other things, so Saturday was busy trying to catch up. It was great, though, because we were working all day, it was a good feeling! We had 5 or 6 lessons that day-two of them were our investigators, so it was a good day! Sunday was a good day, as well. Church was really good. They talked about tithing in Sacrament and the blessings of it, then they talked about fasting in Sunday school. After church, we went to the Yuen's for lunch-like we do every Sunday, then we went to a wine walk to go contacting in the park. There was a lot of people, but no one was interested. Everyone was too busy drinking! Oh well. We stopped by a couple of other members' homes before we came back and we hit our lesson goal! It was awesome! So, hopefully, this week runs smoother and we don't have to try and play catch up! You asked about the Haka. They taught us the Haka a couple of times before. It was fun! How cool that you were able to go to lunch with all those Missionary Mommas! I can't believe that Jordan is home!!!!! It seems like everyone is starting to come home...eh scary!!!! :/ Keep safe and be smart! Thanks for being such a great example and for all the great things you taught me-even though I didn't like some of them at the time! Haha! Love ya!
OFA ATU,
Elder Whaley
God Works in Mysterious Ways
9-8-14
Last week was great! The other missionaries handed over their investigator because he is staying in our area, so we get to teach him! All of your prayers help-thank you so much!!!!! I'm sorry to hear about Aunt Jana passing away-that's so tough. Good thing for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. This week was a pretty good week...a little slow, but good. We met with all 3 of our investigators and we had interviews with President Mella. They were a kinda get to know ya, then an actual interview, so it was alright. We meet with Carrie this week and you can totally tell she has been prepared-it's awesome! She wants it to be a family thing, so if she wants to be baptized, she wants her husband to be there, as well. We haven't met him yet, but hopefully he's been prepared, as well! We'll see how that goes, but it looks promising! We also met with Joseph and talked to him a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and that went alright. We might have to go back over some things with him and see what he remembers from last time. We also met with Scott on Saturday and shared the Restoration with him and invited him to be baptized and he said YES!!!! Wahoo!!!! We set a baptismal date for October 4th, but it might get bumped since it's General Conference weekend, but at least he said yes! We are still going to meet up with him and finish the lessons.
On Saturday, the ward had a luau! It was a lot of fun. We participated in the Haka. It was a lot of fun and a good experience, with quite a few non-members there along with some less actives-so it was good! Yesterday was a good day since we had church, but none of our investigators came, though. We had lunch with the Yuens, Super awesome family. We then went contacting at Santa Clara university, and they were having a wine walk or something like that, so a lot of people drinking, it was very interesting talking to people especially a couple of gay guys who were drunk and hitting' on us....eeehhhh bleh! Man, those were one of those moments I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life and violated!!!! Yuck! So, that was interesting! After that, we went to dinner and on the way back from dinner, a piece of my frame broke on my bike! It stinks (but don't worry about it. I'm going to borrow another bike). So while we were waiting for the Zone leaders to come pick us up, we talked to a lady in a pizza place, since my comp had to use the bathroom. I talked to her about the gospel and she said she would be interested and also gave us one of her friend's number! It was pretty cool! I guess God works in mysterious ways sometimes. If my bike hadn't broken and if he didn't need to go to the bathroom, we wouldn't have talked with her...awesome! Tonight, we are meeting with a potential investigator that some members are bringing to their house for us. I'm excited to see what happens! Hopefully, it goes well! Well, I hope you guys have a great week this week! Love ya!
OFA ATU!
Elder Whaley
Last week was great! The other missionaries handed over their investigator because he is staying in our area, so we get to teach him! All of your prayers help-thank you so much!!!!! I'm sorry to hear about Aunt Jana passing away-that's so tough. Good thing for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. This week was a pretty good week...a little slow, but good. We met with all 3 of our investigators and we had interviews with President Mella. They were a kinda get to know ya, then an actual interview, so it was alright. We meet with Carrie this week and you can totally tell she has been prepared-it's awesome! She wants it to be a family thing, so if she wants to be baptized, she wants her husband to be there, as well. We haven't met him yet, but hopefully he's been prepared, as well! We'll see how that goes, but it looks promising! We also met with Joseph and talked to him a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and that went alright. We might have to go back over some things with him and see what he remembers from last time. We also met with Scott on Saturday and shared the Restoration with him and invited him to be baptized and he said YES!!!! Wahoo!!!! We set a baptismal date for October 4th, but it might get bumped since it's General Conference weekend, but at least he said yes! We are still going to meet up with him and finish the lessons.
On Saturday, the ward had a luau! It was a lot of fun. We participated in the Haka. It was a lot of fun and a good experience, with quite a few non-members there along with some less actives-so it was good! Yesterday was a good day since we had church, but none of our investigators came, though. We had lunch with the Yuens, Super awesome family. We then went contacting at Santa Clara university, and they were having a wine walk or something like that, so a lot of people drinking, it was very interesting talking to people especially a couple of gay guys who were drunk and hitting' on us....eeehhhh bleh! Man, those were one of those moments I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life and violated!!!! Yuck! So, that was interesting! After that, we went to dinner and on the way back from dinner, a piece of my frame broke on my bike! It stinks (but don't worry about it. I'm going to borrow another bike). So while we were waiting for the Zone leaders to come pick us up, we talked to a lady in a pizza place, since my comp had to use the bathroom. I talked to her about the gospel and she said she would be interested and also gave us one of her friend's number! It was pretty cool! I guess God works in mysterious ways sometimes. If my bike hadn't broken and if he didn't need to go to the bathroom, we wouldn't have talked with her...awesome! Tonight, we are meeting with a potential investigator that some members are bringing to their house for us. I'm excited to see what happens! Hopefully, it goes well! Well, I hope you guys have a great week this week! Love ya!
OFA ATU!
Elder Whaley
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| Elder Moody and Elder Whaley at ward Luau |
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| Elder Whaley Luau face art |
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Blessings!!!!!
9-1-14
Everything is going great!!! The first part of the week was kinda slow, but the end was great! We did quite a bit of service through the week almost everyday during the weekdays and we tried visiting people that were far away since we had the car, but nothing really came of it. So Thursday, we gave the car to another set of elders to use, so we were on bikes. We did a lot of riding this weekend, but it was all worth it! We will meet with Scott, the one who called us the previous Sunday, and we met with him Friday and he is now our new investigator that we will be meeting with! That was awesome! Then, as we got done with that lesson in the morning, we got a referral from the mission office through our phone and Carrie was referred by a friend in Salt Lake. We rode to the other end of our area and she was home and we talked briefly with her and she wants to know more and she seems so prepared-it's awesome. She's a super nice lady! So, that's another investigator-Wahoo!!! Then, after that, we caught another referral we were trying to catch after that and were able to meet with her and she wants to come back to church and get back into the swing of things, so that was pretty cool! Then, the next day we basically helped people move all day and sometimes it stinks being the biggest guy because then I get volunteered to carry all the really heavy stuff, and awkward things. Oh well-I'm alright with it, I guess. I'll just get stronger and more blessings right? Another set of elders called us during one of the moves and handed over an investigator of their's who has a baptismal but in December since he has to work on somethings. So, hopefully, we can help him overcome those things and hopefully move it up! So, basically, we got 2 new investigators on Friday and 1 on Saturday. Wahoo-3 new investigators in 2 days! Today the stake had a labor day breakfast that we went to and we had a member come up to us saying they invited one of their old neighbors to take the lessons and he said yes! Wahoo-another potential investigator.....BLESSINGS!!!!! Things are going well!
We just came back from the Samoan branch labor day bbq! Lots of fun!!! Football, rugby, volleyball, and lots of food!!!! Man, I miss the branch, but I like this area! Do you know how hard it is to play tug o war with a bunch of Samoans? My hands kill! I am definitely super tired now-especially being back on bikes! It's always a good feeling at the end of the day to just crash onto the bed and knock out after a good long day of hard work! I'm excited to see how this week goes. Oh, I almost forgot-2 of our investigators came to church on Sunday as well! It was pretty legit! It's always tricky getting people to church. I'm looking forward to the rest of this transfer!
To answer your questions, yes I see the McFarland's quite a bit, since he is the ward mission leader. Nope, I don't need anything. I just got some new pants today since I blew mine out from moving....rrrriiiippp-dang it! That's so cool that you got to go to the open house in Ogden.
You mentioned the guys talk about following up. Yes, following up is important so people keep commitments and don't fall through the cracks. Preach My Gospel is definitely very helpful and I've heard a lot of it applies to life even after the mission with everyday things. It's an amazing book. Tell Aunt Lezlee I don't want to come back yet!!!! I'm not ready! Stop reminding me-I was still thinking I had 6 months......till now! :( Hopefully, you have another great week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Everything is going great!!! The first part of the week was kinda slow, but the end was great! We did quite a bit of service through the week almost everyday during the weekdays and we tried visiting people that were far away since we had the car, but nothing really came of it. So Thursday, we gave the car to another set of elders to use, so we were on bikes. We did a lot of riding this weekend, but it was all worth it! We will meet with Scott, the one who called us the previous Sunday, and we met with him Friday and he is now our new investigator that we will be meeting with! That was awesome! Then, as we got done with that lesson in the morning, we got a referral from the mission office through our phone and Carrie was referred by a friend in Salt Lake. We rode to the other end of our area and she was home and we talked briefly with her and she wants to know more and she seems so prepared-it's awesome. She's a super nice lady! So, that's another investigator-Wahoo!!! Then, after that, we caught another referral we were trying to catch after that and were able to meet with her and she wants to come back to church and get back into the swing of things, so that was pretty cool! Then, the next day we basically helped people move all day and sometimes it stinks being the biggest guy because then I get volunteered to carry all the really heavy stuff, and awkward things. Oh well-I'm alright with it, I guess. I'll just get stronger and more blessings right? Another set of elders called us during one of the moves and handed over an investigator of their's who has a baptismal but in December since he has to work on somethings. So, hopefully, we can help him overcome those things and hopefully move it up! So, basically, we got 2 new investigators on Friday and 1 on Saturday. Wahoo-3 new investigators in 2 days! Today the stake had a labor day breakfast that we went to and we had a member come up to us saying they invited one of their old neighbors to take the lessons and he said yes! Wahoo-another potential investigator.....BLESSINGS!!!!! Things are going well!
We just came back from the Samoan branch labor day bbq! Lots of fun!!! Football, rugby, volleyball, and lots of food!!!! Man, I miss the branch, but I like this area! Do you know how hard it is to play tug o war with a bunch of Samoans? My hands kill! I am definitely super tired now-especially being back on bikes! It's always a good feeling at the end of the day to just crash onto the bed and knock out after a good long day of hard work! I'm excited to see how this week goes. Oh, I almost forgot-2 of our investigators came to church on Sunday as well! It was pretty legit! It's always tricky getting people to church. I'm looking forward to the rest of this transfer!
To answer your questions, yes I see the McFarland's quite a bit, since he is the ward mission leader. Nope, I don't need anything. I just got some new pants today since I blew mine out from moving....rrrriiiippp-dang it! That's so cool that you got to go to the open house in Ogden.
You mentioned the guys talk about following up. Yes, following up is important so people keep commitments and don't fall through the cracks. Preach My Gospel is definitely very helpful and I've heard a lot of it applies to life even after the mission with everyday things. It's an amazing book. Tell Aunt Lezlee I don't want to come back yet!!!! I'm not ready! Stop reminding me-I was still thinking I had 6 months......till now! :( Hopefully, you have another great week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Random phone call and earthquake
8-25-14
Ya, we had an earthquake!!! The bookshelves tipped over making a mess. Stuff was everywhere in our apartment. The bunk bed almost tipped over and there were car alarms going off and it was crazy! Wow-I can't believe all the people coming home already and those that are getting married. Landon emailed me about his mission call. I can't believe he's going to India-it's super awesome!!!!! The video that you saw from our mission was a good video, but it was made a while ago and our district leader didn't make a video with us, so we didn't have a part in it. That's neat that you communicated with Elder McAllister's mom. He is an awesome guy that is legit. I almost got him to come to USU, which he was going to, but then switched to UVU since they have his major....dang it. I still can't believe he's home already! How fun that you guys did the slip n slide with all those families.
This week was pretty good! We had quite a few lessons and did quite a bit of service and a lot of biking. Yesterday we got a call from a random number and he was asking for the previous missionaries that served here and he wants to start studying again on Friday, so we'll see what happens. It was really cool! We also helped out with a baptism on Saturday for Lance Ve'e, who his wife is in our ward, so we would always go visit them. Sisters Kapu and Tauti, the Samoan sisters, taught him and he got baptized yesterday. It was awesome to help out! They are both amazing missionaries and they go home at the end of this transfer. They were fun to serve around when I was in the Samoan branch. Both are hard working missionaries. They almost had a baptism every week for 6 weeks-it was pretty cool! This week was good and we'll see how this next week is going to go hopefully! Actually, about the earthquake, it happened, but it was like at 3 in the morning and we slept through it! I was so mad. I wanted to experience one! We didn't find out we had an earthquake until we got to church...so all the stuff from the first of this email was a joke-haha. I'm so funny! Well, I hope you guys have a grey week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Ya, we had an earthquake!!! The bookshelves tipped over making a mess. Stuff was everywhere in our apartment. The bunk bed almost tipped over and there were car alarms going off and it was crazy! Wow-I can't believe all the people coming home already and those that are getting married. Landon emailed me about his mission call. I can't believe he's going to India-it's super awesome!!!!! The video that you saw from our mission was a good video, but it was made a while ago and our district leader didn't make a video with us, so we didn't have a part in it. That's neat that you communicated with Elder McAllister's mom. He is an awesome guy that is legit. I almost got him to come to USU, which he was going to, but then switched to UVU since they have his major....dang it. I still can't believe he's home already! How fun that you guys did the slip n slide with all those families.
This week was pretty good! We had quite a few lessons and did quite a bit of service and a lot of biking. Yesterday we got a call from a random number and he was asking for the previous missionaries that served here and he wants to start studying again on Friday, so we'll see what happens. It was really cool! We also helped out with a baptism on Saturday for Lance Ve'e, who his wife is in our ward, so we would always go visit them. Sisters Kapu and Tauti, the Samoan sisters, taught him and he got baptized yesterday. It was awesome to help out! They are both amazing missionaries and they go home at the end of this transfer. They were fun to serve around when I was in the Samoan branch. Both are hard working missionaries. They almost had a baptism every week for 6 weeks-it was pretty cool! This week was good and we'll see how this next week is going to go hopefully! Actually, about the earthquake, it happened, but it was like at 3 in the morning and we slept through it! I was so mad. I wanted to experience one! We didn't find out we had an earthquake until we got to church...so all the stuff from the first of this email was a joke-haha. I'm so funny! Well, I hope you guys have a grey week! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Saturday, August 23, 2014
At a Brick Wall
8-18-14
I got the "Jump" package-Thank you so much!!!!! We hit our goal for lessons this week, but we are still working on finding people. It's been tough looking for people, I feel like we are at a brick wall, but we just got a part member list of the ward, so we'll see if that helps out with finding people. So, Tyler is home? Man, that's crazy! We just went to the outgoing fireside last night and all the sisters that I came out with, are going home along with a lot of Elders I got close with....man it stinks. That means my time is coming sooner and sooner! Flip!!! Last night was weird...mixed emotions....but some really great testimonies! I also saw people from previous wards like the Makasini's, Mama Smith, and some other people-ah man, I miss those guys so much!!! It was great to see them! They were all asking when I was coming back-I wish! That would be a dream come true!!! I talked with Leimana and Carla is going through a temple prep class since her year mark is coming up for her baptism from when Elder Dalton and I taught her! So, hopefully, next month I will be going to the temple! I'm super excited and pumped. I hope all goes well! It was a super good night last night! But, now I really want to go back to Redwood City-haha! But, I really like it here, too! Oh Man! There was a couple of youth I got to see last night. One was leaving to Japan on Wednesday and another one is working on his papers. It's so great to see people you work with progress like that in the gospel! It's FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!! I love it! We had dinner with the Tukuafus' and it was awesome! They are such an awesome family and very missionary minded. Will is always sharing the gospel in the locker room with him team mates and supposedly, he's working on one guy that could possibly be interested in the future! As we were leaving, he didn't give us tickets, but he gave us some headphones and food! He is a super cool funny guy! I'm fine on the pants. I patched them up and they're good! I was just wondering if the place we bought them at replace them. Don't worry about it, I'm good! Transfers are happening Tuesday, but both my companion and I are staying. Hopefully we can push the work forward! Thank you for all you do!!!! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
I got the "Jump" package-Thank you so much!!!!! We hit our goal for lessons this week, but we are still working on finding people. It's been tough looking for people, I feel like we are at a brick wall, but we just got a part member list of the ward, so we'll see if that helps out with finding people. So, Tyler is home? Man, that's crazy! We just went to the outgoing fireside last night and all the sisters that I came out with, are going home along with a lot of Elders I got close with....man it stinks. That means my time is coming sooner and sooner! Flip!!! Last night was weird...mixed emotions....but some really great testimonies! I also saw people from previous wards like the Makasini's, Mama Smith, and some other people-ah man, I miss those guys so much!!! It was great to see them! They were all asking when I was coming back-I wish! That would be a dream come true!!! I talked with Leimana and Carla is going through a temple prep class since her year mark is coming up for her baptism from when Elder Dalton and I taught her! So, hopefully, next month I will be going to the temple! I'm super excited and pumped. I hope all goes well! It was a super good night last night! But, now I really want to go back to Redwood City-haha! But, I really like it here, too! Oh Man! There was a couple of youth I got to see last night. One was leaving to Japan on Wednesday and another one is working on his papers. It's so great to see people you work with progress like that in the gospel! It's FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!! I love it! We had dinner with the Tukuafus' and it was awesome! They are such an awesome family and very missionary minded. Will is always sharing the gospel in the locker room with him team mates and supposedly, he's working on one guy that could possibly be interested in the future! As we were leaving, he didn't give us tickets, but he gave us some headphones and food! He is a super cool funny guy! I'm fine on the pants. I patched them up and they're good! I was just wondering if the place we bought them at replace them. Don't worry about it, I'm good! Transfers are happening Tuesday, but both my companion and I are staying. Hopefully we can push the work forward! Thank you for all you do!!!! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
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| Elder Dalton, Will Tukuafu (a 49ers football player in their ward) and Elder Whaley |
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| Picking out their new bikes? |
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Working hard to Find Investigators!
8-12-14
Everything is going well. We did a lot of service this week-about 15 hours, and spent a lot of time going out contacting and going through referrals, but no luck yet with finding new investigators! We just got a part member list this last Sunday, so hopefully, that will help us out! We'll be on bikes this week, so we won't be able to get from place to place as quick. We'll see how it works out! This is the last week of the transfer. It's crazy how fast time goes. A lot of missionaries I've served with are going home this transfer along with the sisters I came in with!!! Super crazy!!! I heard Tyler Thueson is coming home, as well??? Wow! Time flies!!! The next couple transfers, a lot of missionaries I've worked with and gotten close with will go home, it's going to be weird! This week was alright. Just a lot of drop byes with no one home, but hopefully, this week will be better. Something I'm excited for this week is that the Tukuafus signed up for dinner (he's the football player for the 49ers). Wahoo!!! Hopefully, I can practice my little bit of Tongan that I know with him. Hopefully, it works out!
Sunday was a really good day! I really enjoyed church! It was kinda interesting since most of it was about families and how to have successful families, but it was really good. The reason why I didn't email yesterday was because we were in Santa Cruz on the beach playing beach volleyball and just relaxin! It was nice and enjoyable! It was good to see some missionaries that I haven't seen in a while! And some that are about to go home! It was a good day! It sounds like you had a fun at the Family reunion. Don't feel bad that the girls had to buy their own school clothes-it build character-haha.
This last week I was reading in this months Ensign and it was really good! I woke up around 2 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I read the whole thing and it was really good. You should read it. I think you would like some of the talks in there. Today, during district meeting, we were talking about the priesthood and the Spirit and blessings came up. Sometimes our prayers and blessing don't come true because the Lord has something else in store for us and somethings are just set in stone for us to go through and nothing is permanent-not even this life. All the hardships are for our benefit to learn and grow and we don't have to worry about it in the life to come! It was a really good meeting today! Well, I hope you have a great week! Love ya! Keep the faith and the strength! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Everything is going well. We did a lot of service this week-about 15 hours, and spent a lot of time going out contacting and going through referrals, but no luck yet with finding new investigators! We just got a part member list this last Sunday, so hopefully, that will help us out! We'll be on bikes this week, so we won't be able to get from place to place as quick. We'll see how it works out! This is the last week of the transfer. It's crazy how fast time goes. A lot of missionaries I've served with are going home this transfer along with the sisters I came in with!!! Super crazy!!! I heard Tyler Thueson is coming home, as well??? Wow! Time flies!!! The next couple transfers, a lot of missionaries I've worked with and gotten close with will go home, it's going to be weird! This week was alright. Just a lot of drop byes with no one home, but hopefully, this week will be better. Something I'm excited for this week is that the Tukuafus signed up for dinner (he's the football player for the 49ers). Wahoo!!! Hopefully, I can practice my little bit of Tongan that I know with him. Hopefully, it works out!
Sunday was a really good day! I really enjoyed church! It was kinda interesting since most of it was about families and how to have successful families, but it was really good. The reason why I didn't email yesterday was because we were in Santa Cruz on the beach playing beach volleyball and just relaxin! It was nice and enjoyable! It was good to see some missionaries that I haven't seen in a while! And some that are about to go home! It was a good day! It sounds like you had a fun at the Family reunion. Don't feel bad that the girls had to buy their own school clothes-it build character-haha.
This last week I was reading in this months Ensign and it was really good! I woke up around 2 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I read the whole thing and it was really good. You should read it. I think you would like some of the talks in there. Today, during district meeting, we were talking about the priesthood and the Spirit and blessings came up. Sometimes our prayers and blessing don't come true because the Lord has something else in store for us and somethings are just set in stone for us to go through and nothing is permanent-not even this life. All the hardships are for our benefit to learn and grow and we don't have to worry about it in the life to come! It was a really good meeting today! Well, I hope you have a great week! Love ya! Keep the faith and the strength! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
18 months down!!!!
8-4-14
WHY!!!!!! Why? I don't need that!!!! (I had reminded him that he's been out 18 months) Ahhh-it's going by too fast! Dinner last night at the McFarland's was awesome and delicious and yes, I ate a lot-haha....it was good! The pictures she sent you were at a baptism and I got a cupcake to the face. I wasn't too happy since I was in my suit! But it's whatever. I cut my own hair and it's going to get cut soon....I know, I know! (I was asking him who cut his hair and that I noticed it was starting to look a little long). We tried to go back and visit Salvador, but he didn't want to talk to us, so basically, he dropped us. :/ So, I guess he just wasn't ready or it wasn't his time! We had dinner with a family, the Merrifields. They went to BYUI and they're super cool. Brother Merrifield got up yesterday and gave his testimony and gave us some props for coming over and bringing the spirit into his home and also mentioned that we eat a lot-haha. It was pretty funny, but he's a cool guy! The members want to help, but this ward has a lot of people moving in and out, so it's kinda hard sometimes because they don't know a whole lot of people to invite. You can tell that they actually want to help, though. I have only met Tukuafu once, but he's busy with camps and practices, so we haven't been over. A lot of the time he usually sneaks in and out of church on Sundays, so he's busy. There is only the 2 of us that live in our apartment. My companion and I get along fine. He's just different from previous companions-short and a military brat-haha. It's just a different background to work with, but things are going well! I have been lucky to have good comps so far. I think I had only one and he wasn't so bad either, so I'm lucky. I think I just get crappy roommates sometimes-haha. I am the senior companion. We are just looking for people to teach since our last investigator dropped us. So, we are in the process of finding right now, so it's been tricky to get lessons, but it's going good. If you could pray for us to find investigators, that would be great!!!!!
Man, it sounds like quite a journey with everything going on at home! Hopefully, things get better! I really hope that medicine will help Dad! But, like they say, it will get worse before it gets better! There's always a light at the end of the tunnel! Keep the faith and continue pushing forward! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
WHY!!!!!! Why? I don't need that!!!! (I had reminded him that he's been out 18 months) Ahhh-it's going by too fast! Dinner last night at the McFarland's was awesome and delicious and yes, I ate a lot-haha....it was good! The pictures she sent you were at a baptism and I got a cupcake to the face. I wasn't too happy since I was in my suit! But it's whatever. I cut my own hair and it's going to get cut soon....I know, I know! (I was asking him who cut his hair and that I noticed it was starting to look a little long). We tried to go back and visit Salvador, but he didn't want to talk to us, so basically, he dropped us. :/ So, I guess he just wasn't ready or it wasn't his time! We had dinner with a family, the Merrifields. They went to BYUI and they're super cool. Brother Merrifield got up yesterday and gave his testimony and gave us some props for coming over and bringing the spirit into his home and also mentioned that we eat a lot-haha. It was pretty funny, but he's a cool guy! The members want to help, but this ward has a lot of people moving in and out, so it's kinda hard sometimes because they don't know a whole lot of people to invite. You can tell that they actually want to help, though. I have only met Tukuafu once, but he's busy with camps and practices, so we haven't been over. A lot of the time he usually sneaks in and out of church on Sundays, so he's busy. There is only the 2 of us that live in our apartment. My companion and I get along fine. He's just different from previous companions-short and a military brat-haha. It's just a different background to work with, but things are going well! I have been lucky to have good comps so far. I think I had only one and he wasn't so bad either, so I'm lucky. I think I just get crappy roommates sometimes-haha. I am the senior companion. We are just looking for people to teach since our last investigator dropped us. So, we are in the process of finding right now, so it's been tricky to get lessons, but it's going good. If you could pray for us to find investigators, that would be great!!!!!
Man, it sounds like quite a journey with everything going on at home! Hopefully, things get better! I really hope that medicine will help Dad! But, like they say, it will get worse before it gets better! There's always a light at the end of the tunnel! Keep the faith and continue pushing forward! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
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| Elder Whaley doesn't look too happy! |
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| Giving the spiritual thought to a family! |
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| Spray painted shirt (since they can't burn them) |
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Getting Kicked Out!
7-28-14
Ya, Golfland was lots of fun...and it was the same laser tag system that they had in Logan at Fun Park! Yes, this area is awesome. I'm just trying to get to know the area and the members. It's a big area and ward. It sounds like they might split it soon, so we'll see what happens! We have one investigator we were working with. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and it went pretty well through most of the lesson until almost the end. When we mentioned that his mom was worried about him and his habits, he flipped and said he was leaving and that we needed to go! Dang it! So, basically, we got kicked out. We'll give him some space and see what happens! His name is Salvador, so pray for him. Thank you for sharing that information from your reading. I will definitely keep that in mind! We have actually had quite a few lessons cancel and one that the Sisters stole! (I had shared about a mission president that challenged the missionaries he was over to not get discouraged when appointments cancel on them or are a "no show". He challenged them to look around and open their mouth and they had a lot of miracles happen by doing that.) Hopefully, you guys have a great week this week and things go better and you're able to get things done! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
Ya, Golfland was lots of fun...and it was the same laser tag system that they had in Logan at Fun Park! Yes, this area is awesome. I'm just trying to get to know the area and the members. It's a big area and ward. It sounds like they might split it soon, so we'll see what happens! We have one investigator we were working with. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and it went pretty well through most of the lesson until almost the end. When we mentioned that his mom was worried about him and his habits, he flipped and said he was leaving and that we needed to go! Dang it! So, basically, we got kicked out. We'll give him some space and see what happens! His name is Salvador, so pray for him. Thank you for sharing that information from your reading. I will definitely keep that in mind! We have actually had quite a few lessons cancel and one that the Sisters stole! (I had shared about a mission president that challenged the missionaries he was over to not get discouraged when appointments cancel on them or are a "no show". He challenged them to look around and open their mouth and they had a lot of miracles happen by doing that.) Hopefully, you guys have a great week this week and things go better and you're able to get things done! Love ya!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
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| Golfland Lazer Tag |
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Working/Playing hard!!!!
7-21-14
Wow! It sounds like a lot has happened this last week! A member was telling me that Rexburg flooded, but man, seeing the pics-that's crazy!!!! Hopefully, things get figured out with Dad and hopefully, you guys have a better week this week! Today we went and did our activity first, so that's why I'm on here later. Some member owns a place called Golfland, so we went there this morning. We did laser taggin'-it was super fun and free for us- so that was nice! We were there from about 11 to 2. It was a lot of fun and they had a laser maze. Basically, it's trying to go through lasers like on spy movies. It was a lot of fun, but I'm too big and my feet are too big. I didn't do too well-haha! This week was pretty good. We had a lot of lessons drop, so we only had 10 lessons by Saturday. We kicked it up on Sunday to try to meet our goal of 20 for the week. We got 8 or 9 lessons on Sunday, I think. It was a crazy busy day, but we were able to hit 19 lessons, so it was good! Hopefully, people follow through this week! My bike is doing good, the brakes just needed to be adjusted so it's fine. Nothing interesting or exciting really happened this week, at least that I can remember! Hey, keep up studying the scriptures! Don't ever say you don't have enough faith EVER AGAIN!!!!! That's a bunch of crap and not true!!! It's just another trial that will make you stronger! You guys are always in my prayers and I really hope things really do get better for you!!!! Hopefully, you have a great week! I love ya guys!
OFA ATU,
Elder Whaley
Wow! It sounds like a lot has happened this last week! A member was telling me that Rexburg flooded, but man, seeing the pics-that's crazy!!!! Hopefully, things get figured out with Dad and hopefully, you guys have a better week this week! Today we went and did our activity first, so that's why I'm on here later. Some member owns a place called Golfland, so we went there this morning. We did laser taggin'-it was super fun and free for us- so that was nice! We were there from about 11 to 2. It was a lot of fun and they had a laser maze. Basically, it's trying to go through lasers like on spy movies. It was a lot of fun, but I'm too big and my feet are too big. I didn't do too well-haha! This week was pretty good. We had a lot of lessons drop, so we only had 10 lessons by Saturday. We kicked it up on Sunday to try to meet our goal of 20 for the week. We got 8 or 9 lessons on Sunday, I think. It was a crazy busy day, but we were able to hit 19 lessons, so it was good! Hopefully, people follow through this week! My bike is doing good, the brakes just needed to be adjusted so it's fine. Nothing interesting or exciting really happened this week, at least that I can remember! Hey, keep up studying the scriptures! Don't ever say you don't have enough faith EVER AGAIN!!!!! That's a bunch of crap and not true!!! It's just another trial that will make you stronger! You guys are always in my prayers and I really hope things really do get better for you!!!! Hopefully, you have a great week! I love ya guys!
OFA ATU,
Elder Whaley
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Adjusting to the New Area
7-14-14
Well, the new area that I've been transferred to is right above my first area-pretty crazy! My new companion is elder Moody from North Carolina and he has short man syndrome-haha. He even admits to it-haha. He is definitely different from past companions. He has been out either 8 or 9 months. I am in a car share area, but it's mostly bike. We bike 2 weeks and have a car for a week, then repeat. You had asked why Elder Racule had a beard in some of the pictures that I sent. He had skin irritation from shaving, so the doctors said he needed to grow it out so he had permission to. The new area seems pretty nice, even though I have only been here for a couple of days. Man, I can't believe how much I miss the other wards, the Poly wards. It was so different and weird going back to a palangi ward (I'm guessing this means an English ward)! There was definitely a different spirit about it. Man, I miss the people from my last area a lot! It's super weird! Something cool is that Will Tukuafu (a player for the 49ers) is in our ward. Also, the 49ers stadium, the new one, is in our area. Our area is HUGE! Our area alone covers everyone else's area combined, basically. On Wednesday, it took us an hour and a half to ride to dinner-it was a crazy long bike ride, but wasn't too bad. This week has just been quite a bit of biking around. Elder Moody has been here for 2 transfers, but still gets lost...oh man! We have 1 investigator and are looking for more! Hopefully, the work picks up in this area. We'll see. My comp has been telling me that the ward might split soon, so we'll see what happens with that. There is Stake conference in August, I think, so maybe it will happen then. Our new mission president seems great, I just have to get to know him better. He seems like a great guy! I'm not sure if I'll die here or not since I only have 5 transfers left. Man, that is a scary thought that I don't like!!!!! Well, I hope you have a great week. Love ya!
Ofa Lahi Atu,
elder Whaley
Well, the new area that I've been transferred to is right above my first area-pretty crazy! My new companion is elder Moody from North Carolina and he has short man syndrome-haha. He even admits to it-haha. He is definitely different from past companions. He has been out either 8 or 9 months. I am in a car share area, but it's mostly bike. We bike 2 weeks and have a car for a week, then repeat. You had asked why Elder Racule had a beard in some of the pictures that I sent. He had skin irritation from shaving, so the doctors said he needed to grow it out so he had permission to. The new area seems pretty nice, even though I have only been here for a couple of days. Man, I can't believe how much I miss the other wards, the Poly wards. It was so different and weird going back to a palangi ward (I'm guessing this means an English ward)! There was definitely a different spirit about it. Man, I miss the people from my last area a lot! It's super weird! Something cool is that Will Tukuafu (a player for the 49ers) is in our ward. Also, the 49ers stadium, the new one, is in our area. Our area is HUGE! Our area alone covers everyone else's area combined, basically. On Wednesday, it took us an hour and a half to ride to dinner-it was a crazy long bike ride, but wasn't too bad. This week has just been quite a bit of biking around. Elder Moody has been here for 2 transfers, but still gets lost...oh man! We have 1 investigator and are looking for more! Hopefully, the work picks up in this area. We'll see. My comp has been telling me that the ward might split soon, so we'll see what happens with that. There is Stake conference in August, I think, so maybe it will happen then. Our new mission president seems great, I just have to get to know him better. He seems like a great guy! I'm not sure if I'll die here or not since I only have 5 transfers left. Man, that is a scary thought that I don't like!!!!! Well, I hope you have a great week. Love ya!
Ofa Lahi Atu,
elder Whaley
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| Elder Whaley and Elder Moody by the new stadium-they look hot! |
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Getting Transferred!
7-7-14
NOOOOooooooooo....I'm getting transferred!..DANG IT!!!!! The thing is, Elder Racule is getting transferred, as well! It's crazy! I don't know what's going to happen! We'll see on Tuesday!...Dang it!!! That stinks right as I was getting to know the members, man they are great!
On Friday, the Samoan branch had an activity. We played football and volleyball almost all day! It was super fun! One of the best 4th of July's ever. Man, I was so tired after-especially running around in the sun and eating all day-haha. Then, we went to Sister Drova's, a lady in the Moorepark ward that I worked with in my first area, and watched fireworks from her house. It was a really good day! I loved it. On Saturday, we just went around and did service and tried visiting people, but a lot of people were gone. We had dinner with the Misa'alefuas. They're an awesome family and so nice to us! They have a son on a mission, too, and when we go over there, we just go in and they call us their sons-haha-it's awesome! Love that family! Sunday was good. We were at church from 9 to about 5:30. It was a long day, but we had a meeting with all the Poly missionaries in the morning, then went to the Tongan ward. We then went to the Samoan branch and had a super awesome testimony meeting there. It went for an hour and a half! There weren't any gaps. There were people lined up to speak! It was awesome! You could feel the Spirit really strong! Man, it was a great meeting! Last week was really good! Man, I loved serving in this area! I hate that I'm getting moved! It's just part of the work......it happens, but we'll see what the Lord has in store for me! I don't really want to go back to the English program-haha! It sounds like things went well in Utah and hopefully, those tests will help out! I hope you guys enjoy your summer and have fun. Love you guys!!!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley
NOOOOooooooooo....I'm getting transferred!..DANG IT!!!!! The thing is, Elder Racule is getting transferred, as well! It's crazy! I don't know what's going to happen! We'll see on Tuesday!...Dang it!!! That stinks right as I was getting to know the members, man they are great!
On Friday, the Samoan branch had an activity. We played football and volleyball almost all day! It was super fun! One of the best 4th of July's ever. Man, I was so tired after-especially running around in the sun and eating all day-haha. Then, we went to Sister Drova's, a lady in the Moorepark ward that I worked with in my first area, and watched fireworks from her house. It was a really good day! I loved it. On Saturday, we just went around and did service and tried visiting people, but a lot of people were gone. We had dinner with the Misa'alefuas. They're an awesome family and so nice to us! They have a son on a mission, too, and when we go over there, we just go in and they call us their sons-haha-it's awesome! Love that family! Sunday was good. We were at church from 9 to about 5:30. It was a long day, but we had a meeting with all the Poly missionaries in the morning, then went to the Tongan ward. We then went to the Samoan branch and had a super awesome testimony meeting there. It went for an hour and a half! There weren't any gaps. There were people lined up to speak! It was awesome! You could feel the Spirit really strong! Man, it was a great meeting! Last week was really good! Man, I loved serving in this area! I hate that I'm getting moved! It's just part of the work......it happens, but we'll see what the Lord has in store for me! I don't really want to go back to the English program-haha! It sounds like things went well in Utah and hopefully, those tests will help out! I hope you guys enjoy your summer and have fun. Love you guys!!!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Whaley
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