Jan 12

Well it was a bitter sweet week.

I will talk about the sweet first, then proceed with the bitter. The lord blessed us amazingly this week. Headquarters sent us 11 referrals mainly all bible referrals. That means 11 people saw the churches commercial and called and requested us to bring them their free bible. Well from there we took adavantage of that, and ended up getting 13 new investigators this week. It was insane! We found 2 familys and lots of other people that really could go far! So we were pretty excited about that. Also we gave our Zone conference Instruction, which i think went pretty good. Thats a huge burden taken from us. The zone improved from last week, the ward mission leader in this ward is coming out with us and putting the hammer down on members to do the work, and so things are really starting to come together.

Now for the bitter part of the week. Well my companion still has been depressed, hardly talks to me, didnt help me write the zone conference instruction, so i wrote the whole thing... etc. But hes come to a conclusion as to why hes so unhappy. He called president Rawson a few days ago and is planning to meet with him tomorrow. The problem he is having is that hes not worthy to be out here. He told me that he has a past transgression he didnt repent for before coming out. Hes been out 9 months and has kind of just faked is way through it. Hes been with disobediant companions so hes felt fine and not depressed. Untill he was called to be zone leader, more was required of him, and without the spirit to help him, he hasnt been able to handle it. So he thinks hes going to be sent home. Its been a rough week for him, lots of tears, and prayers. But he recognizes that whatever happens is for the best, and that if they let him stay hes going to work so hard! If they send him home hes going to work towards coming back. Either way these 9 months have been good for him because hes gained a testimony about the gospel. Hes is just finally decided to take the consequences for his actions. So thats kind of the rough part of the week. But whatever comes of tomorrow will be for the best. I hope he stays, but i know right now something has to change hes not happy at all.

So thats been my week. Like a rollercoaster it has had its ups and downs, but i remain to stay optimistic!
Im excited to be zone leader in this sweet area, and i will continue to work hard tell my time is up reguardless of the circumstances!

So a little more about my area. Its funny because our ward im in is sooo small. Its probably the size of a branch. The first week i got here a lady from Detroit went up there and bore her testimony on a experience that she had. She told us of a friend she had, that casted a voodoo charm on her, which she then prayed and jesus came to her and put 3 fingers on her chest, and told her to annoit herself with oil and she will be healed. Anyways it was a pretty crazy story. Those are the kind of testimonys you never here in Utah haha.
Our area like I said covers half Detroit half suberbs much like Ferndale did. We get the 2nd most referrals in the mission, which im so excited for! It really is a humble area. I see a lot of good things happening here. The cool thing is i may finish my mission here. President Rawson is trying to leave missionarys in their areas for 6-8 months. So this could be my last area. Although that would be crazy, that would be a long time to be zone leader for.

Hey about the remodeling... i wish i was there too. I miss doing that stuff. When i get home we will have to do some kind of project to fill that big whole in the back yard haha.
Hmm i cant really think of anything else. So i love you guys and hope you have a good week. Dont worry about me and my companion things will work out, whatever the lord has in store will be for the best. I will let you know what ends up happening next week.
Love- Elder whipple