P.S. I also found some more space tape at CVS Pharmacy, and I decided to finish taping my bike to make it look cool and one color. Did I mention that all my former companions are home now? Well, they are. Elder Shepherd is all I've got and the friends who are in the mission.
 
Dear family and everyone else,
     What a wonderful, but extremely hot week we had this week. On Saturday, we were able to move Marcia Baker in the Jones' house. Marcia had enough with all the harassment from her renter, her roommate, his homeless friends, and her ex. It felt like an Ammon experience where we got her out of a situation where she can reside in a land that she can be protected, nurtured with the good word of God, and harvest her blessings by accepting the restored gospel. What peace, what serenity our Lord and Savior has for his son's and daughter's. The lord is bound to what we say, but whenever we break our promise with our Father in Heaven, he can't promise any blessings for us.  D&C 82. We, just like Ammon, truly love our convert. We prayed as he prayed, praying on their behalf from fear of loosing our fruits, and the lord directed their path. Now she is kept safe from the storm of life, able to grow.
     We also had another special Zone Conference where President wanted to council with both parts of the mission discussing how we can best retain what we learned and put it into effect. He also discussed with us the resolve of the mission goal for baptisms per missionary per month for the next 12 months. The mission, and President Palmer, came to the conclusion that 4 was the correct number. He also reconciled that we should sustain his decision and pray for the strength that we can fulfill this goal that we have set. Right now, our mission with the rest of the western area of the United States, are baptizing on average 2 per missionary per month for a year. President feels, along with some others, that this mission can increase dramatically soon. I can feel that, but it's the faith and diligence that counts in completing something such as this.
     I was also able to finally meet my 2nd cousin, Elder Brown, at the special meeting. He seemed pretty cool, and also very chill just like Elder Shepherd. It definitely was not a long enough meeting with him. There will be other opportunities as well. I might have also met another distant relative, but I do not know yet. His name is Elder Booth, also serving in the Lodi stake in Galt. It's going to be awhile before I ever figure out if I am related to that Booth on my mom's side of the family. Oh the wonderful blessing that I received that stated that I would be able to give knowledge to the family of Adam. I see that happen all the time, both in missionary work, and finding my own family out here in California.
     On Thursday, we went on splits with the Elders Quorum president and his companion so they could go talk to more people. It went well. I went with Brother McGuire, the president. He's cool--has been a member for 3 years now, converted from Catholic. He felt the influence his wife had on him by just living the light of the gospel. We didn't get a whole lot of teaching done, but we did fulfill the tasks that were asked by each of the members we stopped by.
     We also went to Stake Conference here in Manteca Stake, both the adult session, and the Sunday morning. It was okay. I got bored half way through the 2nd one. The one thing I did get out of it was to 1. Have the spirit in your life, and 2. Understand how it feels and how it works. There was a funny story that a mother told about her 3 year old daughter. One day, she was very teary eyed and said, "Mommy, you know that warm tingly feeling from the spirit. Well, I feel the spirit." The mom was cool about it. Another night, about midnight, the daughter gets up super excited and wakes up her mom and says, "Mommy, I feel the spirit and it's in my hand." The mom realizes in her half dazed state that her daughter slept on her arm and was saying that she felt that warm tingly feeling that we sometimes say to kids is how the spirit feels. Her arm actually went numb, so the mother clarified and sent her off to bed. The point was, children too can feel the spirit no matter how young they are or how much they really understand about gospel principles. Children want to feel the spirit. Simple as that.
That's about all the fun things this week, have a great week everyone.
Sincerely,
Elder White

  Elder Brown and Elder White  2nd cousins both serving in the Modesto,CA Mission
                                                              got to meet each other

                                   Tyler says,"  I finished decorating my bike!"

Dear family and everyone else,
     We had a wonderful 7 hour long Zone Conference on Friday. We started at 9:00, and we didn't finish until about 4:00. Though it was long and tiring at the end, it was wonderful hearing from Elder and Sister Evans and President and Sister Palmer. Sister Palmer gave a good short speech of what it means to be a missionary. Elder Evans had so much to say and to train on, one of them being him expounding upon our missionary goal which is to 1. preach repentance, and 2. baptize converts. Step one could mean different things. It doesn't always have to be declaring repentance to non-members. It can also be for family, friends, members, and less active's. Repentance is for all. He also told us to refocus our efforts on proselyting. Since the wave of missionaries has come and now is receding, they want us to pull away from doing too much service and do what we have been called to do, which is to find, teach, and baptize.
     Apparently, we received word last night, that we will be having a, "Special Zone Conference" at the mission office Tuesday with Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca Zones. I thought nothing too big about it until this morning when I was more awake. I realized, LODI! That's where my 2nd cousin is, so...I guess I will get to see him after all and his trainer Elder Campbell. This will be interesting what President Palmer has to say to us. Maybe Elder Evans will be there again because he still had some unfinished business to take care of. Oh, and an exchange with Hidden Lake that night as well. I will be in my area with Elder Guernsey. We will also be teaching a less active family he just found called the Browning's. I was hoping she was related to somebody in Utah since I knew some Browning's back in West Jordan, but I guess not. I bet Elder Guernsey will be super excited to see Marcia again on this exchange.
     On Tuesday, we went to one of our investigators named Sally Molenari to see how see's doing since last week. She's getting better from whatever she had, due to being old and having a weak immune system. Her son Tyler seems to be creating a heck/ **** out of her household, so she asked us for a blessing that she can continue to maintain her health and that she might be supported in her trial in trying to clean up his act while waiting to become a member of the church. She just can't seem to find the time or health to make it to church. She loved the blessing.
     We also found out that Marcia Baker will be moving into the Jones' house this weekend, so she doesn't have to worry about all the homeless people showing up to her door, or Ken her roommate, or even her apartment manager kicking her out. She will finally find her peace that she desperately deserves to have. The Lord blesses those who follow him in his good timing. The Lord is bound when we keep our end of our promises and covenants.
     We also taught Secret Gonzalez again on Wednesday at Sister Smith's house. It was a good visit. We talked about some of the plan of salvation, and we plan on finishing that one this week. We also taught Dirwin and his brother Melvin/Alex some more from the Child Book of Mormon up until about Lehi's dream and them getting their own spouses.
     Thursday, we totally just got a randomly new investigator. His name is Corey Scheeringa. He is from a part member family, and his wife decided she wanted to start getting active again in the church. He referred himself because he truly wanted to learn more about the church. What happened was their 7 year old daughter started getting sick or inflamed,  so they drove her to the hospital in Oakland and they found through her blood tests that her anti-bodies were attacking her own body. After a little while, the wife asked for a blessing from a member. A few hours after the priesthood blessing, the girl was miraculously healed. Corey witnessed this, and  it sparked his testimony in the power of the priesthood. They visited the Oakland Temple visitor's center, and like I said, he referred himself. We taught him the restoration, and we focused on the priesthood. We asked him if he wanted the priesthood, and he said yes. We promised that as he reads the Book of Mormon, he will find that it is true and that Joseph Smith restored the church and priesthood authority back onto the earth. It was a wonderful visit. We plan on seeing him again on Thursday.
     Lastly, last night, we sat down with Maria Tagal while her husband worked on the T.V. sound system. She read up until Nephi  chapter 5. We were both surprised how far she read from our last visit. We expected the worst,  but she came out to be pretty good. We talked about Lehi's family's travels and travails in the wilderness. We also showed from Ezekiel 37 that the Book of Judah (Bible), and the Book of Joseph/Ephraim (The Book of Mormon), would come together into one book. She was slightly puzzled, but we got the understanding through. She then thought that was interesting and that she would pray more about the matter as she continues to read.
That's about it for you all.  Have a great week.
Sincerely,
Elder White

Note: Just figured out that the new missionary is Elder Lopiano.  His trainer is Elder Chambers. They reside in Tracy. I have provided a picture of them for you all.

Dear family and everyone else,
     Sadly, I did not meet Elder Brown, my 2nd cousin, after all. Apparently we had 3 elders (2 English, 1 Spanish) come in and a sister or so, and we got an Elder. However, I forgot his name, so I will let you know next week. Elder Brown, I heard, got placed in Lodi 1st and 2nd ward with Elder Campbell. If you remember what he looks like, he has red hair, round glasses, skinny, tall, and in the March 3rd picture of the zone meeting.  He is sitting 2nd to right in between Elders Bean, and Laubman. To add to this almost sad tale, on Friday, we will be having a Zone Conference with Elder Evans and his wife (which this is good news), and Lodi Stake will not be part of that gathering as I had hoped for, so it's going to be awhile before I ever get to meet Elder Brown. Oh well.
     Funny thing about this transfer is that my new district is only 6 missionaries big. 4 Elders, and 2 sisters. All but 2 are from my MTC district. It's really funny because we are going to say goodbye to Sister Smith, and Sister Clifton at the end of this transfer when they get to go home a little early due to the mass extension. Then, it will be just me and Elder Ashton left of our transfer (except for Sister Neeley. She gets to go with us.) I'm already impressed with my new co-District Leaders. They had a good training on Alma 36 about repentance and what we can do better in using all of our resources given to us including the pictures in our scriptures.
     Last night,  Elder Shepherd and I helped out again with Brother Nate in going into Tracy with Missionary Preparation Class. It felt like I was back in the good old days of the MTC learning everyone I can from a knowledge fire hose. They also did a role play after learning about a potential investigator through the New York Times interviews with random New York City citizens. They gave their views on their spirituality and how they grow within their own church's. It gave some interesting insight to a life of a person on the other side of the country. The learners then applied what they learned and made a quick lesson plan through studies and planning and then went into a breakout session and taught each other in separate rooms of the doctrine of the restoration. Next month, they will practice on the plan of salvation.
     We haven't had any investigators come to church since Marcia, but we are slowly working through it. Marcia on Sunday was trying to get to church but already forgot how to get there. She literately drove for 1 hour 1/2 looking for it. Oh the life of a 74 year old. She said she stopped at a fire station to ask, "Where the Mormon Church is"? They said it was off of Austin Rd. when really, it was off of Northland, so she drove close to that road but didn't get to the T, and drove all the way down to Ripon and back, so, we are definitely going to help her find the church better. She forgot her phone, so she couldn't call us. I think I will draw out an easy to read map for her.
     On Tuesday, we helped a little bit with transfers for the YSA. Elder Conway went to Stockton to work, and Elder Rubisch went to Crows Landing my old area to work.  While there, we said our hi's and bye's to some old friends like Elder Torres. This is his last transfer before he goes home. We went in their car to be dropped off at Stockton, then Elder Shepherd and I drove the car to the mission office to park it. Then we went back to Manteca with Brother Cortez all in the early morning, sothat was a great adventure. Stockton looked nice in one part, but it's also very deceiving too.
     For the Garcia/Lopez kids, we started moving in their records from the Spanish ward so we can better help them since they don't speak Spanish much. They live right around the corner from the Bishop, so they know them pretty well. We also gave them a Child's Book of Mormon to read and better understand, and we read the first chapter together. We will be seeing them this Wednesday. As for the Tagal's, they seem to not want to come to church though Bob said he would. Nothing yet. We are also trying to get them to read the Book of Mormon much more than what they are now. We just need to continue to find more better investigators is what. Giovanni, he's still very busy, but we at least give him information every once in a while. That's about it this week.
Have a great week everyone,
Elder White
                                                        Elder White and Elder Torres

                            Elder Chambers and the new missionary, Elder Lopiano

     Another update on who is coming into the zone: Elder Nielsen(Spanish), my last zone leader, is coming in, and Elder Chambers is going into Tracy to train (most likely Elder Brown), so...I will most likely be able to meet my 2nd cousin after all on Wednesday at the Stake Presidency dinner. Oh and Elder Ashton and Elder Gurnsey are going to be my new district leaders.
 
Dear family and everyone else,
     I am pleased to announce that Elder Shepherd and I will be staying together for another transfer, soI probably won't be seeing Elder Brown any time soon unless I see him at a Zone Conference that the mission is having on the 16th and 17th with Elder Evans and his wife. Elder Ashton (who came out with me), is coming into the zone all the way in Tracy. He just got released from being a Zone leader in Modesto and will be a co-district leader with Elder Guernsey, so that will be interesting. Elder Shepherd was totally right that Elder Guernsey would be the next district leader. I just wonder if Elder Ashton will be my district leader, then we can go on an exchange together and see how each of us have grown in our missionary work. The YSA elders are also being doubled out. The Ripon sisters are going to work their ward along with YSA which covers-Ripon, Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy, and Mountain House. That's as much news as I know so far. On Wednesday, we will be eating dinner with another member of the Stake Presidency up in the foot hills of the western side of the valley.
     This week, we have been working with the Darby's,  a less active-part member family. They are wanting to come back to church soon. They just don't know when yet. Tonight we will be helping their son in family night practice a job interview that he will be having tomorrow morning, so this will be good practice for him, and a mind awakening for us all. Soon enough, we will have discussion about the Book of Mormon and what different doctrines it has to offer to the whole world and for their family.
     With Marcia, we went over the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ with one of her friends that sometimes stops by to help out with things. Her friend was okay  sitting in with the discussion, and we then gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read. Someday, the spiritual touch-point we left with her will awaken her feelings inside to fully investigate the church again after many years ago.
     Next, the Spanish Sisters introduced us to the Garcia/Lopez family with their member kids. The parents aren't married and have lived together for at least 18 years, but that's for the Spanish Sisters to handle since they only speak Spanish. The kids...not so much. That's why we were introduced to them in the first place. So, when we start fellow-shipping them into the ward, they might just come back to church.
     Giovanni is still a work in progress.  We haven't seen him for a week, and when we finally got there, after a week's worth of intense study of the plan of salvation, we gave him a copy of a talk about "Adam, The Archangel," along with many scriptures that support the plan through the Bible, Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. He was eager to learn more. He's just super busy all the time. We will definitely call/text him for appointments in the evening since that's what he likes the best.
     On Wednesday night, I made a strawberry smoothie, which was really good. It had me think of home back in the strawberry seasons we would have and make smoothies for days, so I definitely didn't miss out. Thursday, after zone/ district meeting, we went out to Wendy's and I had chicken nuggets. Well, I ate too much and when I got home, I fell asleep for 2 hours and then...sick!!! I emptied out my digestive system for 2 days. It was awful. I'm all better now, so we didn't get a whole lot done after Thursday due to that experience.
     On Saturday, we had dinner with the Dye's. I made sure I brought over my fan chart to compare with his, and guess what? He is my 4th cousin through Mary Maiden Peek and Richard Dye, my 3rd great grandparents.  That was an exciting experience. I was blessed to show information about the family of Adam, and here it is. I'm finding my lost tribes of family.
This is what was exciting for this week,
Love you all,
Elder White
 
                                          Strawberry Smoothie--I didn't miss out!

                                Congratulations, Kayleigh!  I got your mail.