2-10-14
I got the year "Hump Day" package! It was great! The shirt fit well! I was not expecting that! Thank you! I forgot to look what size of white shirt I wear-oops-sorry! I got a couple of shirts from President on Saturday because we had a mission wide conference and Elder Cook came and talked to us! It was really good!!!! He left an apostolic blessing on us and the mission! It was Legit!!!! Then, after Elder Cook left, President had us stay there and turned it into one big Zone Conference, so it was good! I got to see Elder Jones and Elder Porter along with most of the other missionaries in my last Zone. The Tongan sisters gave me a Lava Lava! Wahoo!!!! Nothing new or exciting this week. The work here is pretty slow and we're trying to find people to teach. But, it's a good area. It sounds like you had a good week this week and hopefully, it goes well this week for you, too! Love ya!
Elder Whaley
Sunday, February 16, 2014
One Year Mark!!!
2-3-14
Ahhhhh noooo, it can't already be a year!!!!! It's going by too fast! It needs to slow down! I have learned lots! So much, I don't want to put it down-it will take too long! haha. Mama Smith is such a funny lady. Ya, you will probably be hearing from her quite a bit, I'm guessing. We helped her with a couple of things around the house and she told me how you told her that you were thinking I'd be sad to not be able to watch the Super Bowl! I'm fine with it! The good thing is, the Seahawks pulled it off! Someone told us the score and that was awesome! Yeah Seahawks! I enjoyed the birthday package-thank you sooo much! I used the decorations to make a mess of other missionaries cars-haha-so it was great!! Things are going good here. The work is slow so we are trying to find new people to teach and that's always a little rough. I haven't taken any pics since I've been here, though, so I don't have any for you. We have an Elder that we live with that is testing my patience. I think I might have to resort to pulling the scene from The Best 2 Years on him where they hog tie him-haha. It would be funny. Man, how I noticed how much I hate being told what to do!!!!!! He is one of those elders that is so strict that he makes up meanings to rules or makes up his own rules! He constantly tells us what to do and he just likes listening to himself talk and he's one of those that are like look at me, I'm more obedient than you, you're doing this wrong, you can't do that. I guess I just need to stop praying to gain more patience because now it's getting tested! I'll have to look to see what size of shirt I wear. President banned playing with fire and we are not supposed to burn shirts for our year mark, but one of my shirts is already ripped from the washer, so it's going to get burnt anyways! Hahah! We'll see! Hopefully, all goes well for you this week! Love ya!
Elder Whaley
Ahhhhh noooo, it can't already be a year!!!!! It's going by too fast! It needs to slow down! I have learned lots! So much, I don't want to put it down-it will take too long! haha. Mama Smith is such a funny lady. Ya, you will probably be hearing from her quite a bit, I'm guessing. We helped her with a couple of things around the house and she told me how you told her that you were thinking I'd be sad to not be able to watch the Super Bowl! I'm fine with it! The good thing is, the Seahawks pulled it off! Someone told us the score and that was awesome! Yeah Seahawks! I enjoyed the birthday package-thank you sooo much! I used the decorations to make a mess of other missionaries cars-haha-so it was great!! Things are going good here. The work is slow so we are trying to find new people to teach and that's always a little rough. I haven't taken any pics since I've been here, though, so I don't have any for you. We have an Elder that we live with that is testing my patience. I think I might have to resort to pulling the scene from The Best 2 Years on him where they hog tie him-haha. It would be funny. Man, how I noticed how much I hate being told what to do!!!!!! He is one of those elders that is so strict that he makes up meanings to rules or makes up his own rules! He constantly tells us what to do and he just likes listening to himself talk and he's one of those that are like look at me, I'm more obedient than you, you're doing this wrong, you can't do that. I guess I just need to stop praying to gain more patience because now it's getting tested! I'll have to look to see what size of shirt I wear. President banned playing with fire and we are not supposed to burn shirts for our year mark, but one of my shirts is already ripped from the washer, so it's going to get burnt anyways! Hahah! We'll see! Hopefully, all goes well for you this week! Love ya!
Elder Whaley
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| Someone give Elder Whaley a haircut!!!! Hump Daaaaay! |
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Adjusting to New Area
1-27-14
It's going well in my new area. Morgan Hill is more spread out and more country, so that's nice and I enjoy not being in the compact city. Most of the people that live here are retired and rich, so the work is a lot slower than Redwood City and....THERE'S NO POLYS!!!!!!!!....which stinks!!!!!!! Man, I'm kinda homesick for Redwood City!!! It's all white older people and a lot of interesting people. So you talked to Momma Smith huh? Yes, she is quite the character, but she is AWESOME!!!! She made me a football blanket along with a football cooking apron and football bag and stove grabbers-so it was pretty cool. (A sister in Shad's mission, Momma Smith, called us on Saturday, Jan. 25th, and was so complimentary about Shad and thanked us for sharing him with them. She really loves the missionaries and makes them all blankets and takes good care of them.) Supposedly, there is a less active in our ward who is the 2nd most decorated WW2 vet and they made a movie of him called, "The Frog Man." I'm not sure I quite believe him and he was telling us he doesn't have to pay taxes because it is illegal and he won in court on that. He also said that his son that lives with him, doesn't have to register his car of have a license because of the freedom to travel law or something like that. He supposedly challenged it in court and won. There are definitely some interesting people that I've met here so far. For the most part, I like it here. We are living with 2 other Elders, as well, and I think it will be fine. I can't believe that Vanessa crashed the car. I knew that was going to happen sooner or later....oh man. That's the only thing she told me. She said she crashed and went on a date with J. At least they're alright. You asked if there's anything I need.....I need some more shirts. The washer ripped up one today and my other ones are turning gray-haha. I also finally have a WALMART!!! No more Target-yeah!!!!! Well, we'll see how things go this transfer! Hopefully, all goes well for you this week. Love ya!
Elder Whaley
It's going well in my new area. Morgan Hill is more spread out and more country, so that's nice and I enjoy not being in the compact city. Most of the people that live here are retired and rich, so the work is a lot slower than Redwood City and....THERE'S NO POLYS!!!!!!!!....which stinks!!!!!!! Man, I'm kinda homesick for Redwood City!!! It's all white older people and a lot of interesting people. So you talked to Momma Smith huh? Yes, she is quite the character, but she is AWESOME!!!! She made me a football blanket along with a football cooking apron and football bag and stove grabbers-so it was pretty cool. (A sister in Shad's mission, Momma Smith, called us on Saturday, Jan. 25th, and was so complimentary about Shad and thanked us for sharing him with them. She really loves the missionaries and makes them all blankets and takes good care of them.) Supposedly, there is a less active in our ward who is the 2nd most decorated WW2 vet and they made a movie of him called, "The Frog Man." I'm not sure I quite believe him and he was telling us he doesn't have to pay taxes because it is illegal and he won in court on that. He also said that his son that lives with him, doesn't have to register his car of have a license because of the freedom to travel law or something like that. He supposedly challenged it in court and won. There are definitely some interesting people that I've met here so far. For the most part, I like it here. We are living with 2 other Elders, as well, and I think it will be fine. I can't believe that Vanessa crashed the car. I knew that was going to happen sooner or later....oh man. That's the only thing she told me. She said she crashed and went on a date with J. At least they're alright. You asked if there's anything I need.....I need some more shirts. The washer ripped up one today and my other ones are turning gray-haha. I also finally have a WALMART!!! No more Target-yeah!!!!! Well, we'll see how things go this transfer! Hopefully, all goes well for you this week. Love ya!
Elder Whaley
Birthday and Transfer
1-21-14
Well, I did get transferred and I don't have a lot of time right now since we need to be working, but the library was closed yesterday since it was a holiday. I got transferred to Morgan Hill. It seems like a pretty nice area, but all I have done is drive to the apartment and unpacked. I have heard good things about this area, so I'm excited, but the other half of me is broken since I had to leave Redwood City, which stinks. I guess this is where the Lord needs me and I asked my companion, Elder Christensen, if there are any Polys and he said maybe like one or two.....NOOOOOOO! Dang it! What I have seen so far is that it's less crowded and everything is more spread out-that's awesome! Elder Porter, my MTC companion, took my spot with Elder Jones! That lucky son of a gun!!!! Man this Stinks! But it's exciting at the same time!!! Ahhhhhh, stupid feelings!!!!!! I was so mad when they called me on Saturday night...... worst birthday present ever! haha. There was a lot of people getting transferred in our zone and it really stunk! Sunday night we had a Zone testimony meeting and that was amazing to hear -especially the people that were leaving, but it stunk at the same time. It felt like my heart was ready to pop or explode saying good bye to these awesome missionaries along with feeling the Spirit so strongly!!!!! MAN, why did I have to get transferred??????? Hopefully, I enjoy my next area as well here in Morgan Hill! Sitting in Sacrament on Sunday was good, but it stunk because I knew I wouldn't be able to see the members that I have grown to know and love next week. It was a super weird sad feeling!!!!! Saturday was good! We played slaughter ball at the Stake Center early in the morning with most of the missionaries in the Zone! Then, we went and did service for a couple of hours. After that, we went to a place called Stacks and got Oreo pancakes that some people told us about! They were really good! Later that night, we went to Applebee's with Tiki Makasisni and his family and they didn't even know it was my birthday until the end of dinner. They were mad at me, but it was fun! On Friday, the other Makasini's caught me off guard at dinner. They totally acted like they usually do and played it really well until they came in with a cake and candles. I was definitely not expecting that! It was pretty cool! Thanks for contacting them! Yes, Semisi finally got baptized. I was able to baptize him. It was an awesome experience!!!! It was great! After 6 months of working with him! But other than all of the transfer stuff, I had a lot of fun and worked hard this last week! Man, I'm going to miss that area!!!! Yesterday was really fun. We woke up early and went hiking again up in the Los Altos Hills and might have possibly gotten poison oak or ivy. :/ Then, we got the Zone together and had a bbq at a park and played football and ultimate Frisbee! It was lots of fun. Then we went to the Stake Center after that and played slaughter ball for awhile, then shot hoops and I was able to dunk it a couple of times-it was awesome! Hopefully, you guys have a great week this week and all goes well. Love ya and I LOVE this work!!!!!!
ofa atu
Elder Whaley
"Horah for Israel"
Well, I did get transferred and I don't have a lot of time right now since we need to be working, but the library was closed yesterday since it was a holiday. I got transferred to Morgan Hill. It seems like a pretty nice area, but all I have done is drive to the apartment and unpacked. I have heard good things about this area, so I'm excited, but the other half of me is broken since I had to leave Redwood City, which stinks. I guess this is where the Lord needs me and I asked my companion, Elder Christensen, if there are any Polys and he said maybe like one or two.....NOOOOOOO! Dang it! What I have seen so far is that it's less crowded and everything is more spread out-that's awesome! Elder Porter, my MTC companion, took my spot with Elder Jones! That lucky son of a gun!!!! Man this Stinks! But it's exciting at the same time!!! Ahhhhhh, stupid feelings!!!!!! I was so mad when they called me on Saturday night...... worst birthday present ever! haha. There was a lot of people getting transferred in our zone and it really stunk! Sunday night we had a Zone testimony meeting and that was amazing to hear -especially the people that were leaving, but it stunk at the same time. It felt like my heart was ready to pop or explode saying good bye to these awesome missionaries along with feeling the Spirit so strongly!!!!! MAN, why did I have to get transferred??????? Hopefully, I enjoy my next area as well here in Morgan Hill! Sitting in Sacrament on Sunday was good, but it stunk because I knew I wouldn't be able to see the members that I have grown to know and love next week. It was a super weird sad feeling!!!!! Saturday was good! We played slaughter ball at the Stake Center early in the morning with most of the missionaries in the Zone! Then, we went and did service for a couple of hours. After that, we went to a place called Stacks and got Oreo pancakes that some people told us about! They were really good! Later that night, we went to Applebee's with Tiki Makasisni and his family and they didn't even know it was my birthday until the end of dinner. They were mad at me, but it was fun! On Friday, the other Makasini's caught me off guard at dinner. They totally acted like they usually do and played it really well until they came in with a cake and candles. I was definitely not expecting that! It was pretty cool! Thanks for contacting them! Yes, Semisi finally got baptized. I was able to baptize him. It was an awesome experience!!!! It was great! After 6 months of working with him! But other than all of the transfer stuff, I had a lot of fun and worked hard this last week! Man, I'm going to miss that area!!!! Yesterday was really fun. We woke up early and went hiking again up in the Los Altos Hills and might have possibly gotten poison oak or ivy. :/ Then, we got the Zone together and had a bbq at a park and played football and ultimate Frisbee! It was lots of fun. Then we went to the Stake Center after that and played slaughter ball for awhile, then shot hoops and I was able to dunk it a couple of times-it was awesome! Hopefully, you guys have a great week this week and all goes well. Love ya and I LOVE this work!!!!!!
ofa atu
Elder Whaley
"Horah for Israel"
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| Elder Whaley, Semisi, and Elder Jones at Semisi's baptism |
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| Shad's birthday $ from the birthday box. |
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| Birthday cake made by the Makasini's. |
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Great Week!
1-13-14
Mom,
I got the birthday package! Thank you so much! Things are going good and the work is picking back up from the holidays. We worked hard this week to try to get it back up and passed quite a few of our goals and got over 20 lessons, which is awesome!!! Semisi is getting baptized Wednesday at 5- FINALLY!!!!! It's been like pullin' teeth and trying to catch him over the past 6 months, but finally everything is set for Wednesday! WAHOO!! We are working with the same people that I told you on christmas and we were able to meet up with most of them this last week, so that was good! We're hoping to have another great week! This morning was pretty fun. We got up and went hiking and went off the beaten trail for a couple of hours, got to be in the forested area for awhile, and got scratched up and all that fun stuff -since we are always in the city! Hopefully, non of us get poison ivy or oak since it's up there! But, it was fun! I'm excited to enjoy the rest of my P-day! This last week, I went on exchanges with our district leader's companion in their area! It was a lot of fun. Elder Strauss (from Virginia) went and did service up in the Los Altos hills pulling weeds, then later that night we were contacting on University, which is like a little strip mall. We ate at Cheesecake Factory and after that, when we were contacting, we got offered dinner by 3 other members and then one of them bought us ice cream. It was a pretty fun day! So, this week has definitely been good. I'm worried because transfers are next Tuesday and I've been here for 4 transfers now and so I might be getting moved but I reeeeeaaaaallllyyyy don't want to leave this area!!!!!!! If I do, it will stink and I'll be really mad!!! We'll see what happens!! But, other than that, we had a really good week! Hopefully, you guys have a great week, too! It sounds like the new ward theme is awesome! Hopefully, all goes well for you all this week! Love ya!
OFA ATU
Elder Whaley
Mom,
I got the birthday package! Thank you so much! Things are going good and the work is picking back up from the holidays. We worked hard this week to try to get it back up and passed quite a few of our goals and got over 20 lessons, which is awesome!!! Semisi is getting baptized Wednesday at 5- FINALLY!!!!! It's been like pullin' teeth and trying to catch him over the past 6 months, but finally everything is set for Wednesday! WAHOO!! We are working with the same people that I told you on christmas and we were able to meet up with most of them this last week, so that was good! We're hoping to have another great week! This morning was pretty fun. We got up and went hiking and went off the beaten trail for a couple of hours, got to be in the forested area for awhile, and got scratched up and all that fun stuff -since we are always in the city! Hopefully, non of us get poison ivy or oak since it's up there! But, it was fun! I'm excited to enjoy the rest of my P-day! This last week, I went on exchanges with our district leader's companion in their area! It was a lot of fun. Elder Strauss (from Virginia) went and did service up in the Los Altos hills pulling weeds, then later that night we were contacting on University, which is like a little strip mall. We ate at Cheesecake Factory and after that, when we were contacting, we got offered dinner by 3 other members and then one of them bought us ice cream. It was a pretty fun day! So, this week has definitely been good. I'm worried because transfers are next Tuesday and I've been here for 4 transfers now and so I might be getting moved but I reeeeeaaaaallllyyyy don't want to leave this area!!!!!!! If I do, it will stink and I'll be really mad!!! We'll see what happens!! But, other than that, we had a really good week! Hopefully, you guys have a great week, too! It sounds like the new ward theme is awesome! Hopefully, all goes well for you all this week! Love ya!
OFA ATU
Elder Whaley
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| Birthday countdown from family! Birthday present from the Powell's. |
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| Elder Whaley |
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| Elder Whaley |
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| Add caption |
Sunday, January 12, 2014
11 months out!!!!!
1-6-13
What? Today is 11 months out? I didn't even realize that!!!! It's gone by way too fast!! DANG!!! My nose is alright I think. The black eye has gone away and is tender still and it looks straight. When I got hit, there was a bump, but I set it back supposedly, but it looks straight. :/ It sounds like a lot of things happened over Christmas break. Our ward switched to 9:30 and a lot of people showed up late. It looked pretty empty right before we started, but it gradually filled up as the meeting kept going on. This last week was alright. It was still slow because of the holidays, so I'm glad they're over so we can hopefully get the momentum going again and teach people! I got sick of people being out of town and not being able to meet because of the holidays! Hopefully, this week goes a lot better. Nothing new or exciting except we found out that president Watkins and his wife are going to be going around inspecting apartments thoroughly, interviewing us, and other things the next few weeks. We need to clean-haha. We'll see how that goes! Hopefully, all is going well at home. Love ya guys. Have a great week!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
What? Today is 11 months out? I didn't even realize that!!!! It's gone by way too fast!! DANG!!! My nose is alright I think. The black eye has gone away and is tender still and it looks straight. When I got hit, there was a bump, but I set it back supposedly, but it looks straight. :/ It sounds like a lot of things happened over Christmas break. Our ward switched to 9:30 and a lot of people showed up late. It looked pretty empty right before we started, but it gradually filled up as the meeting kept going on. This last week was alright. It was still slow because of the holidays, so I'm glad they're over so we can hopefully get the momentum going again and teach people! I got sick of people being out of town and not being able to meet because of the holidays! Hopefully, this week goes a lot better. Nothing new or exciting except we found out that president Watkins and his wife are going to be going around inspecting apartments thoroughly, interviewing us, and other things the next few weeks. We need to clean-haha. We'll see how that goes! Hopefully, all is going well at home. Love ya guys. Have a great week!
Ofa Atu
Elder Whaley
12-30-13
It was good to talk to you on Christmas. I forgot all the questions I was going to ask, sorry. How did you get all the pictures of the people for the Christmas message? That was probably my FAVORITE thing!!!! It was awesome! I still need to take a pic of it still. This week was super slow with Christmas. We were really low on lessons, but we did a lot of street contacting and found 2 potential investigators, so we'll see how they pan out. Even though it was slow, it was lots of fun this week. right after I talked with you guys, later that night we went to the church for a Zone gift exchange and while we were waiting for people, we played basketball and it got pretty intense...and now I have a black eye! Wahoo!...an elbow to the face always feels good! Hopefully, my nose is ok as well. haha
Oh, the joys of mission life! But, it's all good. Yesterday was good. Elder Dalton came back and visited, so I got to see him with his little beard-man that guy! We had to give talks in Sacrament which went pretty well I thought. It sounds like you guys are having fun on your Christmas break. Hopefully, all goes well for you, especially staying home with Whitney and Vanessa-haha. Love ya!
Elder Whaley
Of a Atu
It was good to talk to you on Christmas. I forgot all the questions I was going to ask, sorry. How did you get all the pictures of the people for the Christmas message? That was probably my FAVORITE thing!!!! It was awesome! I still need to take a pic of it still. This week was super slow with Christmas. We were really low on lessons, but we did a lot of street contacting and found 2 potential investigators, so we'll see how they pan out. Even though it was slow, it was lots of fun this week. right after I talked with you guys, later that night we went to the church for a Zone gift exchange and while we were waiting for people, we played basketball and it got pretty intense...and now I have a black eye! Wahoo!...an elbow to the face always feels good! Hopefully, my nose is ok as well. haha
Oh, the joys of mission life! But, it's all good. Yesterday was good. Elder Dalton came back and visited, so I got to see him with his little beard-man that guy! We had to give talks in Sacrament which went pretty well I thought. It sounds like you guys are having fun on your Christmas break. Hopefully, all goes well for you, especially staying home with Whitney and Vanessa-haha. Love ya!
Elder Whaley
Of a Atu
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| Shad's stocking with one thing in it (who knows where everything else is). |
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| His gifts before opened. |
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| Zone Christmas exchange? |
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| Putting something frozen on the black eye. |
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| A fun gingerbread man for the Elders |
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