New Area

1-27-14

I have been transferred to Port Charlotte.  My new area is great!  I am on full car, and the people here are awesome!  I feel like a new missionary again since i don't know the people or the area at all, but I hope that I can learn quickly.  We just had Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday, so I didn't get to meet too many members, but I met quite a few at the Ward's talent show on Friday night.  There are a lot of older members and they are all so great!  A lot of them are really willing to work with us and help us, unlike the last ward where everyone is young and in school or at work or just always has something in the way.  One of the older couples even gave us each $65 in gift cards to Burger King and Chick-Fil-A.  Our ward mission leader is great, too!  He is completely on board and works hard to help us get lessons.  In my last area, the most lessons we ever taught in a week was 13, now in this area we reach about 20 or so.  People are home and willing to let us talk with them for the most part.  I'm loving it so far.
My companion is Elder Fisher and he is from Las Vegas.  He has been out for 14 months and he is 20 years old.  Just like all of my other companions, he is super big into things like football and other school sports.  I don't think I will ever get a companion that likes anything but school sports.  Oh well.  He is a great missionary and he is our District Leader.  He and I get along great.  He loves to cook and so I haven't cooked a single meal since I've been here.  He cooks and I just wash the dishes. Like me, he is super clean, so we never have any messes, and I have been having really great studies in the morning since it's just the two of us and not 4 Elders that distract each other.
For family scripture study, there are tons of scriptures that I use when we teach lessons.  Maybe something that you guys could do is pick a section or a doctrinal topic out of Preach My Gospel to read and look up all of the suggested scriptures that go with it.  Whenever i study out of there, or choose a topic to study from the Bible Dictionary, I learn a lot more.  If you are all studying the Book of Mormon right now, read, "The Keystone of our Religion" by President Ezra Taft Benson.  That should help everyone understand why studying the scriptures is so great.
Saturday, we had a mission training where Elder Kapishka of the 70 and Elder Thompson of the 70 came and talked to us.  Everyone thought that the training was going to be about us all getting iPads, but it wasn't. We are suppose to be getting those soon, though.  But, the training was so cool and it was all just focused on being exactly obedient like President Cusick has been telling us all the time.  Sunday was Stake Conference and there were 48 Stakes throughout Florida and Georgia involved in a broadcast with Elder Russell M. Nelson.  It was good.  We just watched it from our church building.
Well, I hope all is going well at home and that everyone is getting along.  Let me know if there is anything I can do for you.  Love you!

Love,
Elder A. Whaley