Dear family and everyone else,
I forgot to mention last week that we had our stake conference (my last one too on my mission). It was really good. One of the stake presidency really knows how to conduct a spiritual meeting. It was probably the best one I have ever attended. We also had our first ward party. It was the getting to know you games since a lot of people don't really know each other. They quickly put this together so everyone can get to know each other. The question's (categories) to sort through to get to different parts of the room went a little quickly, but it was still fun. We invited our investigator family, the Hernandez's, but they couldn't make it. What happened was they got there 45 minutes early and no one was there. We also misheard and thought that the party was in the ward building, but when we got there, we found of that is was the north building where the stake center is--probably because that gym is a lot bigger. Either way, the 2 buildings reside right next to each other.
Last night, we had a follow up visit with the Hernandez family. We brought one of Bishop Wooley's sons and Brother Falke with us down to Hilmar to see them. We practiced the plan of salvation lesson with them, or at least an overview of what we will teach and for them to testify of what they know to be true. Isaac and his brothers had a great time getting to know Brother Wooley. He also told them what they were doing for Wednesday activities. They were going to watch wrestling since that's what a lot of the boy's like doing for a sport. That sparked the kid's interest along with camping in the snow, so we are getting a lot of fellowship really fast. This is getting good.
Tuesday was a big surprise for all the missionaries around the world. A year ago there was a world wide missionary training from the missionary council. After a year, they wanted to follow up and focus on a few key factors that affect missionary work greatly. They also announced a change in the missionary schedule, so instead of having studies from 8:00-10:00, they are now pushed back a half an hour, and they moved planning to the morning instead of the evening. Also, they cut lunch to 1/2 an hour instead of an hour. I'm not sure how to think about that, but I guess we can work around that, so instead of cooking food in the day, we just fix it at night and it's ready to reheat the next day fixing the timing problem. I guess headquarters has been really concerned about missionaries effectively planning. Most people are not evening people to plan. We are usually tired, and tiredness affects how we feel the spirit in planning, so in the morning, we start out fresh, and we are ready to plan out our day so we are ready to study or at least know what to study for our investigators or potential one's. Also, for Preparation Day, they cut out 3/4 of studies to make only 1/2 of personal study so we can have more time to get things done on Monday's. That caused a great roar throughout all the missions, so today is a happy day.
Wednesday, we were able to help out the sister missionaries with a service opportunity that was presented to them. It was moving stuff from a tiny storage unit to a bigger one so they can more easily access all the files that they needed. The filing cabinets were super heavy, so we pulled out the drawers one by one so we could more easily move them down the row of units. At the end, we were able to share a piece of information with one of the wonderful ladies that works for the refugee assistance company. We were able to talk about the name of Elder which means teacher and how the priesthood organization works. She thought it was cool but she quickly needed to get to her next destination, so we left her with a "Light The world" card. Maybe one day, that seed we planted will blossom and other missionaries will to come teach her and harvest by baptism.
As for the pictures that I sent, the cake was shared after District meeting with the 2 districts that were at the church building. It was a sister's b-day on Saturday, and Elder Elegre's b-day on Tuesday, so we celebrated with lots of cake, pudding cake, lunch, and happiness with many missionaries. I even celebrated my 2 year mark. Not every missionary gets to pass their 2 year mark while still on their mission. That's about it for this week. Love you all.
Sincerely,
Elder White
Tyler's 2 year anniversary cake!
I forgot to mention last week that we had our stake conference (my last one too on my mission). It was really good. One of the stake presidency really knows how to conduct a spiritual meeting. It was probably the best one I have ever attended. We also had our first ward party. It was the getting to know you games since a lot of people don't really know each other. They quickly put this together so everyone can get to know each other. The question's (categories) to sort through to get to different parts of the room went a little quickly, but it was still fun. We invited our investigator family, the Hernandez's, but they couldn't make it. What happened was they got there 45 minutes early and no one was there. We also misheard and thought that the party was in the ward building, but when we got there, we found of that is was the north building where the stake center is--probably because that gym is a lot bigger. Either way, the 2 buildings reside right next to each other.
Last night, we had a follow up visit with the Hernandez family. We brought one of Bishop Wooley's sons and Brother Falke with us down to Hilmar to see them. We practiced the plan of salvation lesson with them, or at least an overview of what we will teach and for them to testify of what they know to be true. Isaac and his brothers had a great time getting to know Brother Wooley. He also told them what they were doing for Wednesday activities. They were going to watch wrestling since that's what a lot of the boy's like doing for a sport. That sparked the kid's interest along with camping in the snow, so we are getting a lot of fellowship really fast. This is getting good.
Tuesday was a big surprise for all the missionaries around the world. A year ago there was a world wide missionary training from the missionary council. After a year, they wanted to follow up and focus on a few key factors that affect missionary work greatly. They also announced a change in the missionary schedule, so instead of having studies from 8:00-10:00, they are now pushed back a half an hour, and they moved planning to the morning instead of the evening. Also, they cut lunch to 1/2 an hour instead of an hour. I'm not sure how to think about that, but I guess we can work around that, so instead of cooking food in the day, we just fix it at night and it's ready to reheat the next day fixing the timing problem. I guess headquarters has been really concerned about missionaries effectively planning. Most people are not evening people to plan. We are usually tired, and tiredness affects how we feel the spirit in planning, so in the morning, we start out fresh, and we are ready to plan out our day so we are ready to study or at least know what to study for our investigators or potential one's. Also, for Preparation Day, they cut out 3/4 of studies to make only 1/2 of personal study so we can have more time to get things done on Monday's. That caused a great roar throughout all the missions, so today is a happy day.
Wednesday, we were able to help out the sister missionaries with a service opportunity that was presented to them. It was moving stuff from a tiny storage unit to a bigger one so they can more easily access all the files that they needed. The filing cabinets were super heavy, so we pulled out the drawers one by one so we could more easily move them down the row of units. At the end, we were able to share a piece of information with one of the wonderful ladies that works for the refugee assistance company. We were able to talk about the name of Elder which means teacher and how the priesthood organization works. She thought it was cool but she quickly needed to get to her next destination, so we left her with a "Light The world" card. Maybe one day, that seed we planted will blossom and other missionaries will to come teach her and harvest by baptism.
As for the pictures that I sent, the cake was shared after District meeting with the 2 districts that were at the church building. It was a sister's b-day on Saturday, and Elder Elegre's b-day on Tuesday, so we celebrated with lots of cake, pudding cake, lunch, and happiness with many missionaries. I even celebrated my 2 year mark. Not every missionary gets to pass their 2 year mark while still on their mission. That's about it for this week. Love you all.
Sincerely,
Elder White
Tyler's 2 year anniversary cake!