Ninja Status!

12-15-14

This last week was really great for us.  We had our mission Christmas party and we still got a lot of work done.
The party was on Wednesday at Bradenton beach.  It ended up being pretty windy and cold all day, so we couldn't do much of anything except kick a soccer ball around and throw a football.  Later in the evening, we had an ugly sweater contest and sang some Christmas songs.  It's crazy to think that it's been an entire year since the last Christmas party that we had.
As of right now, there are three of our investigators who are planning on getting baptized this Saturday. Their names are: Ellis, Ressie, and Julie.  Ellis has already had his baptismal interview and is ready to go, and the other two are going to be having their interviews Wednesday.
A fun experience that I had two weeks ago that I forgot to tell you about, was us breaking into our apartment because we locked ourselves out.  We tried to pick the lock with a card at first, but it didn't work, so I had Elder Dardon lift me up onto our balcony so I could climb up it and try to get through our sliding glass door.  The door ended up being locked, but I had an "idea" to move the door in a circular motion to try and unlatch the lock.  After about two minutes of doing this, the door unlocked and I got in.  Now I am Ninja Status!

Love,
Elder A. Whaley

Elders at Christmas party on Bradenton  beach

Elder Chamberlain and Elder Whaley

Elder Whaley 5th from the left.  Christmas
party at Bradenton beach.

The Work is Moving Along!

12-8-14

Hello,

We had a really great week of work this last week.  We were on bikes, but we got a lot of members to come out and work with us a lot.  One of the members that comes out with us, almost on a daily basis, is Amos.  He loves missionary work and he always brings us some food or takes us out to eat whenever he comes with us.
As of right now, we have eight people that we have baptismal dates set for, and I think that a lot of them will follow through.  There is already a couple of them that I think we are going to have to drop soon, but that is still a lot more people preparing for baptism than I have had throughout the rest of my mission at any one point in time!
Our ward had a Christmas party this last Saturday night and it was really fun.  Some of the members did special musical numbers and they had a little nativity scene at the end of the party.  The weather here has been really nice lately, around 65-75 degrees.
Yesterday was the first fast and testimony meeting that I have been to in this ward and it was amazing!  It was very spiritual and uplifting!
Tomorrow we have our mission Christmas party at Bradenton beach  We are going to have some training and spend the rest of the day hanging out with other missionaries and playing some games.  It should be a lot of fun.  I will get to see Elder Swallow again, as well, as well as Elder Barnett.  All of my other past companions are dead - haha!

Love,
Elder A. Whaley

Short but Sweet!

12-1-14

Well, sorry but this week's email is going to be pretty short because we don't really have p-day today. We have two hours to do our shopping and email because Thanksgiving counted as our p-day for this week.  A lot happened though, especially this last weekend.  On Saturday, we picked up three new investigators and set baptismal dates for all of them.  So now, we have a total of five individuals who are preparing for baptism before the end of December, and we are going to hopefully set two more dates today for the beginning of January with some other investigators.  We are kind of concerned for two of them who have dates, though, for the 20th of this month.  They are both really excited to be baptized and are living most of the standards that they need to, but they don't remember a lot of the things that we teach them.  So, we are focusing on helping them understand the very basics of what they need to know in order to be ready and trying to think of ways that we can teach them that will help them more easily remember what it is that they are taught.


Love you,
Elder A. Whaley

Understanding the Restoration

11-24-14

For Thanksgiving,  we just go to any member's home who has invited us to come over and have lunch or dinner with them, and for the rest of the day, we are out working and trying to see if there is anyone that we can teach.
The area is pretty great!  Right now we are just trying to increase our teaching pool because we only have a handful of investigators right now.  Last week was extremely slow for us because it actually got pretty cold for a couple of days and no one was outside.  Elder Dardon is a great companion to work with.  One thing that we are trying to work on is our planning.  He is not use to filling out a full day of plans and back up plans, so we are trying to be more through and effective with that.  I really can't think of anything that I need out here.  Life is pretty simple as a missionary.  We don't use a whole lot of things.  After Christmas I am going to be starting my "6 months to sexy" though, so maybe if you want to include some healthy recipes you could do that.
This last week was pretty slow for us out here.  The weather dropped down to about 50 degrees for a couple of days and so no one was outside to talk to.  We have been trying to work a lot more with members to try and find people that we could teach, and we have gotten quite a few referrals, but not too many new investigators.  Of the investigators that we have though, two of them are preparing for baptism.  One of them will be on the 6th of December and the other on the 20th of December.  They both want to be baptized, but we are just trying to make sure that they fully understand what they need to in order to receive the ordinance.
One thing that I asked myself a lot this last week is "why is the restoration so hard for people to grasp and understand?".  Haha.  There are so many people that we teach out here that simply just don't grasp the concept of that lesson.  Our message is definitely unique to the world because it is something completely different from what a lot of people have grown up understanding about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I learned yesterday that people driving in Florida do not know how to follow directions very well.  We helped out with parking for a church event that was being held for the community at a local church of another faith, and there were hundreds of people that showed up.  Pretty much no one parked where we directed them to go and they all just sort of did their own thing.  Even though it was a little chaotic, it worked out.
Have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love,
Elder A. Whaley

Making Ice Cream!

11-17-14

Sebring is a really great area!  Elder Dardon and I had a busy week of work and service and I am learning the area a little bit at a time.  We got to use the car this week, so we were able to make it to all of our appointments clear out on the outskirts of our area.  We are currently working with two investigators who are planning on getting baptized at the beginning of December and we are doing a lot of personal finding outside of that to increase our teaching pool.
This Saturday we got to help out at the local agricultural center where the annual "Week of the Family" was being held.  It's to promote safe and healthy families.  We were in charge of making and serving ice cream that was made by a tractor.  It made enough in 20 minutes to serve about 300 people.  I know that there are a lot of tractors back in Idaho, so someone should make one of these back home because it is pretty sweet.
Yesterday I was asked by our ward mission leader to give a talk in Sacrament about missionary work and how doing missionary work can strengthen our own testimonies of the Gospel.  I talked a little bit about my personal missionary experience and what blessings I have been able to see from it, and how every member can have those same great blessing through sharing the gospel by simple means.

Here's the answers to all your questions, Mom:

1-The area is going great!  When way everything is set up makes it a little difficult to get around to our appointments and we are on car chase, so it's hard to find rides sometimes.
2-Elder Dardon is cool.  We don't have too much in common as far as interests and hobbies, but we each watched and can quote a ton of dumb movies and tv shows like: Spongebob, Hot Rod, Chowder, Psych, etc....
3-We could probably fish off of the pier, but we haven't yet.
4-Yes, the lake is pretty big.
5-This area is a lot more rural and southern than my other areas.  The town is pretty old.
6-I don't know if this area is big on car racing or not. (I had heard it was)
7-Yes, we are bedding in the living room.
8-Yes, we have places like Walmart and Wendy's.
9-Yes, I got your Halloween package and THANK YOU for that!  I forgot to include it in my email when I got it!
10- Ideas for Christmas: missionary work of course (Not sure what this means)
11-If you can figure out a way to make Skype work with Shad and the whole family on at the same time, then I'm up for it.

Love ya,
Elder A. Whaley

Elder Whaley serving up tractor-made
ice cream!  Looks yummy!

The ice cream before the tractor ride!

Elder Whaley, Elder Dardon, and the Sisters by
the ice cream tractor

Transferred to Sebring and Loving It!!!!

11-10-14

This last week has been really fun and exciting for me.  The last few days that I spent in Port Charlotte were pretty busy with Elder Swallow and I teaching people and saying my goodbyes before I left.  Thursday morning was the day of transfers and we had a member take us up there.  Elder Swallow's new companion is Elder Morris.  I don't know anything about him, except that he is about the same height as Elder Swallow.  I'm sure that they will do great together.  My new companion is Elder Dardon from PenValley, California.  He has been out on his mission for 4 months and is twenty years old.  I am his second companion and will be the senior companion.  We are serving in Sebring, out on the East edge of our mission in the middle of nowhere, and I love it!!!  It is a very unique and different place.  A lot more rural than my last two areas.  There is a rich area and a ghetto area and all sorts of areas in between.  The ward seems to be very supportive of our investigators and those that we are working with and our ward mission leader does a great job.  Our area is on car share and we were biking this last week.  It seems like there will be some temporal problems of working in the area and finding out the best way to get around, but I am excited to see what we can do here.  We live on the second floor of our apartment and it is pretty small, but we have an awesome view over a lake (Jackson Lake) right outside of our window.  The only downside is that we don't get to go paragliding or boating like everyone else around us.
I had to wear a jacket for the first time ever in Florida yesterday.  It was about 55 degrees and pouring rain while biking.  I told myself that I would never wear a jacket while serving in Florida, but I had to give in yesterday.
My new address is: 1015 Lakeview Dr. #21, Sebring, FL 33870

Love,
Elder A. Whaley

Transfers (Elder Dardon and Elder Whaley in the middle)

Elder Whaley and Elder Dardon

The view from their apartment deck

Their living room/bedroom

Lake Jackson outside the window

Their study area with the lake view

Getting Transferred

11-3-14

So, I'm finally going to be getting transferred after 10 months of serving here in Port Charlotte.  We got the email notifying us Saturday night.  I am pretty excited to go to a new area and get to know some new people, but I will definitely miss this area.  I feel bad that I am already leaving Elder Swallow, as well.  We are just about to finish this week in the training program and he doesn't like the fact that I'm leaving.  I know how he feels though, because I always hate having my companion leave and taking over the area.  Right now I am just making sure that he knows everything he needs to to take over the area.  He is convinced that he is going to end up with an elder in the mission named Elder Butt.  Haha.  Our transfer meeting will be held Thursday in the morning and I will know then who my new companion is and where I will be going.
This last Sunday was nice because I got to take the opportunity to offer the opening prayer for Sacrament and bear my testimony.  They announced that I would be leaving this next week and I had a lot of the members thank me for what I have done in this area and commented on how long I have been here.  I will let you know where I end up next week and who I will be serving with.  Love you!

Love,
Elder A. Whaley

Elder Whaley and Elder Swallow.
Elder Whaley's last night in Port Charlotte.