Loving his Mission!

7-16-13

Hello,

I'm doing great!  I just really needed to get out of the MTC.  It's beautiful down here and I love it.  The humidity is not that bad.  I don't know why everyone was exaggerating it so much.  The storms are weird though.  It will rain for like 10 seconds full down pour, then be sunny right after.  The rain will be warm then cold.  It will be raining on one side of the road, but not the other.  It's just weird.  I have been out in my new area in Vanderbilt beach near Naples for a week now.  My trainer's name is Braden Lott and he is from Idaho Falls.  He has been out for 13 months and he is really awesome.  It's kind of weird though, because he and I are super similar in our personalities and thoughts.  He is a great trainer.  We have had plenty of opportunities to go out tracting and providing various forms of service.  I really love the area, everyone says that it's the nicest area in the whole mission, and it really isn't too bad with all the humidity.  I'll have to take some more pictures of the area and send them to you soon.  I am a lot less stressed and I am really enjoying working and having 3 hours in the morning for study time.  I am learning so much and am so excited about teaching and learning even more.  I have already had a bunch of neat experiences being out here, and we have already got a family committed to baptism.  We are just going to teach them and get them ready.  There is also another man who is planning on baptism and we're teaching him as well.  We have gone tracting, and one man let us in his home to give his family the Savior's peace and blessing.  He seemed interested and he was very nice, so we're going to go back and talk to him some more.  A lot of the people down here are from Rexburg and Idaho Falls because they are all in some Anesthesia program for school.  I don't recognize any of them, though.  The Elders who were living at our apartment before us, went home and left their "graveyard" of junk for us.  It's nice, though, because I got a bunch of free stuff that I needed like some lights for my bike, a chain lock, some extra clothes, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff.  Anyway, it's great to hear from you, and I'll send some pictures next time.  You'll be jealous when you see the area, cause it's awesome.  Love you!

Love,
Elder A. Whaley

*There is another Elder Whaley out here and our apartment has a pool (that we can't use), a gym, and a raquetball court.  So we are pretty spoiled.