Ohana 16 May 2011

Dear Family,

I suppose I have already reported about Tuesday and my temple trip, so I will go on ahead in the week.

On Friday we have an activity called Ohana which means family in Tongan or something. A ton of people including investigators showed up, and everyone had a really fun time. We played a bunch of simple games like duck duck goose and musical chairs, and then the missionaries put on a talent show. Elders Dawson, Estrada and I danced Shakira's "Waka waka" and won the competition. We painted our faces and made ribbon skirts out of pom poms. The stake president spoke after the show and gave a really good message about missionary work. He had all of us stand up front and thanked us for putting on the activity and for everything we do here. We all felt pretty good. We were really nervous at first that the activity was going to be a disaster because no one showed up at 6 when it was supposed to start, but everyone started showing up at 7.

On Saturday we had a service project early in the morning to clean the stake center. Most of it involved cleaning up the mess from the activity we put on the night before. I really miss vacuums and the convenience in cleaning they provide. I was in charge of white boards and the stage.

We have changes coming up this Wednesday. I am almost positive that I am staying here. It is likely that my companion will leave, but he could also stay.

The "rescue" ended this week and was really successful. We have met a lot of the less active members in the ward and also nonmembers. Even though the activity is over, the members are still really animated about visiting their friends and others in the ward.

Love,

Elder Whiting