TRAINING IN FARMERSVILLE

I guess Hermana Whitney was too busy to write a letter this week as she got sent to a new area training a brand new missionary. But we did receive this nice email from her mission president:

It is with great pleasure I am writing to inform you that Sister Whitney has been called to serve as a trainer in the California Fresno Mission. We deem this to be the most important leadership calling in this mission because of the significant and lasting effect it will have on a newly arrived missionary to our mission. Consequently, under inspiration from the Lord, we choose our trainers before we select any other leadership positions each transfer. Only the most prepared, diligent, obedient, humble, and best teachers are called to this position in order that our new missionaries become powerful missionaries and trainers themselves in as short a time as possible. This calling has an initial 12-week (two-transfers) assignment during which trainers remain with their newly arrived missionary companion.

I must share with you that when trainers met their trainee companions for the first time this past week, there was an incredible confirmation of the Spirit that they are called to be together and the area they are assigned to has been chosen by the Lord as well. Attached is a picture of Sister Whitney and her trainee, Sister Fjord. As they consecrate and dedicate themselves to missionary service, they will be led to those who are prepared to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Whitney and her companion are blessing our lives and the lives of members and non-members in their areas. I trust that you will feel blessed by their service as well.

Thank you for supporting Sister Whitney with your prayers, love and sacrifice. As she consecrates herself in the calling to be an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, she is becoming a true disciple of Him whom she has been called to serve. It is nearly impossible to replicate the spiritual growth experienced on a mission and its lasting effects lay the foundation for their next best two or four, or ten or fifty-years as she becomes a wife, mother, and servant in the Lord’s kingdom.

With much love and appreciation,

Bart P. Mackay
President

California Fresno Mission​

Also a member of her new area sent us a text with these pics from their stake family discovery day… (texts with pictures of your missionary make your day!!)

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THE EAGLE HAS LEFT THE NEST

PPL SOS IT’S TRANSFER WEEK!!!!!!!! Can y’all believe it has been 6 weeks already??????????? YA me either. BUT here’s the 411-  The #dreamteam is parting ways!!! She’s the elote to my chile and imma miss her more than words can describe!!!!!!!!!!! But YA pretty much opening up an area called “Farmersville” (s/o to all my rednecks) and I am gonna train a new missionary there!!!! YEET!!!!!! Lemme tell ya how that went…

We were at our Missionary Leadership Council Meeting (for Sister Training leaders and Zone Leaders) and during lunch because I am nosey I’m all like “Hey Presidnet Mackay can we like get hints on transfers or no??” He was all like “see me in my office after” LOL We weren’t in trouble but he GENUINLY FELT SO BAD about breaking us up and taking me from LOS BANOS  that he wanted to tell us before we even got transfer calls!!!!!! Pretty much a tender mercy because I needed that time to reflect, process, and prepare for what is coming next. I have left a piece of my heart in every area I go and I always think it will get easier, but it doesn’t!

As I have reflected about the experiences I have had here, the people I have met, the companions I have had, and the miracles I have seen I just feel extremely humbled and blessed. TO be honest,  my WHOLE mission I have NEVER wanted to train- I don’t know if you knew that or not. I had the BEST trainer ever and I know how much a missionary’s trainer influences the rest of their mission. It is a very big and sacred responsibility and I am nervous, among other emotions, but nothing is stronger than my desire to serve the Lord. SO I’M JUST GOING TO DO WHAT THE LORD WANTS ME TO DO- They call that Faith Right????!!!!! It will be gr8!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!! SOS PLS KEEP ME IN UR PRAYERS!!!!!! Also sorry!!!!!! No photos this week!!!! Next week tho 4 sure!!!!!!!

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE, LOS BANOS
Hermana Whitney

 

***PICS THAT WERE TEXTED HOME TODAY FROM SOMEONE. NOTHING MAKES A MOM’S DAY MORE THAN RECEIVING PICS OF MY FAV MISSIONARY! ❤️

THE BOOK OF MORMON- read it!

Another FABULOUS week here in Los Banos/Mercy Springs. What a privilege and a blessing it was to view conference this past weekend! I received SO much inspiration, and I am SO excited to study the individual messages in greater depth and detail! I would encourage each of you to seek the individual council that Heavenly Father has for you in these inspired talks!
We got to go to Madera again this week and do some studies, and work in the Valentine/Madera Sisters area. It truly is such a blessing to work closely with these awesome Sisters.
My miracle of the week was our lesson with Jeorge yesterday. He is living with his Girlfriend (a less active member coming back) and has been taking the lessons. Our original appointment for 7 fell through, so we set up a time to go meet with them. As we pondered what to share, a general conference address from last April came to mind. It’s titled “To Investigators and Friends of the church”. THIS TALK IS BOMB!!!! 2 all MY MISSIONARY FRIENDS SOS PLZ SHARE W/ UR INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!! We showed the video, we followed up to see if they had read in the Book of Mormon, and they read a chapter together! He said “It was crazy! The things it was talking about are going on in the world today, and I didn’t want to stop reading”! The Book of Mormon has SO much power, and the sooner we can get our investigators to realize that, the better off we will ALL be! How much do you prize the Book of Mormon?!

LOVE Y’ALL #BESTFANZEVER

HERMANA WHITNEY

 

Ball is life

HEY I HAVE NO TIME TO WRITE ABOUT ALLLLL OF THE MIRACLES I HAVE SEEN DIS WEEK BUT I HAD 2 SEND HOME THIS LIL MIRACLE!!!!!!

ON EXCHANGES( lol I WENT 2 A YSA WARD, MORE ABT THT FUN TIME NXT WEEK) I FOUND THIS LIL GEM AT THE CHURCH NEXT TO OUR CHURCH BUILDING!!!!!!!!!

JUST A CASUAL REMINDER TO ALL THAT BALL IS LIFE. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THE GOSPEL IS LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO WOWOWOWOWOWO WASNT THE WOMEN’S General Broadcast LIT!!!!!!!! It always gets me PUMPED for general conference!!!!!!!!!!

WISHING U PEACE AND BLESSINGS FROM FRE$NO CALIFORNIA
Hermana Whitney

PICS FROM A RECENT MISSION LEADERS COUNCIL

I AM A SERVANT OF CHRIST

HOLY COW I AM BERRY SORRY TO ALL MY FANZ!!!!!!!!!! We have been SO busy this week! Wow where do I even start?!?!?!?

I went on exchanges with Sister Balls and I always learn SO much from exchanges and I feel very privileged to be working around such amazing Sisters!
Sister Malpica went to one of her old investigators baptisms this week and so I got the opportunity to go on splits for most of the day Friday! I went with Sister Tuitupo. She is preparing to leave on her mission to Australia in October and it was SO cool to see her face light up as she felt the joy of sharing her testimony with others. We got in the car after a lesson and she said something along the lines of “Wow, you really are living the dream, aren’t you?” . Yes!! I AM!! I love being a missionary SO much!
So last Preparation day our mission President asked us to give a training in front of everyone at Zone Conference!!!! TALK ABOUT NERVOUS WRECK!!!!! I’m just like “ok Sister Whitney, try not 2 say anything undignified”!!!! LOL these missionaries had better come prepared so that the SPIRIT can teach them bc I am thinking they might not get anything from me haah!!!! But preparing for this training has been such a special experience for me! The Holy Ghost has taught me SO much of what I need to be doing better! We are supposed to talk about how to build relationships with the members! So, something that we did was ask the members for help and also the recently returned missionaries from our ward. Their responses were super insightful and the one thing that really touched me was something our assistant ward mission leader said ” People join the church because of what they feel. The same principle applies to member trust. The members will remember you because of how you made them feel”. I’m pretty lucky to be serving in SUCH an awesome ward. These members are easy to love!#LOSBANOS5EVER

Here is a scripture I cam across in my studies this week that I lOVED!!!
Galations 1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”

We are ALL disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so, we can LIVE for him. I hope this week that each of you will take advantage of the wonderful opportunities around you to share your testimony with others!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! THX FOR THE LOVE AND THE PRAYERS!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Whitney

BODA Y BAUTISMO

HEYYYY PARTY PEOPLE!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT IS ALREADY PREPARATION DAY AGAIN!!!!!! I know. Me either.

OK WE HAD SUUUCCHHHH A BUSY WEEK-
ON WEDS and THUR we were up in Fresno helping all the new missionaries that came in!!! IT WAS CHAOS!  THERE WERE 22 NEW MISSIONARIES!!! So much fun! Very exciting stuff! We stayed the night at the mission home and helped get the sisters settled in #justgirlythings
FRIDAY we were BACK up in Fresno (MINDYOU this is like an HOUR AND A HALF DRIVE) for MLC so needless to say we were EXHAUSTED! But it was supa good! Sister Malpica and I both received some much needed revelation on what we need to do better to help the Sisters in our stewardship and also how to help our area!
SATURDAY… ALRIGHT HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK RIGHT HERE PPL!!!!! TBH it is SUPER stressful to plan weddings!!!!! I KNOW that I do not want to be a wedding planner that’s fo sure!!!! But, as we were preparing for the Tapia’s wedding/baptism the Lord blessed us with MANY tender mercies and 1 in particular I’d like to share-
Leading up to the baptism things were going well, and then Saturday came. Little things, that seemed pretty significant at the time, continued to go wrong. One in particular was that NO ONE had answered/responded to the texts and calls we sent out previously to ask someone to play the piano. We were waiting for this information so we could put it on the program. 30 minutes to the wedding and still no response, so we went ahead and made the programs without that information. In between the baptism and wedding the Elders from Livingston came to do the baptismal interlude and one of them said” Is there anyone to play the piano? If not, I’d be happy to play”.  I WAS SO HAPPY I ALMOST STARTED CRYING!!! HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS WHAT’S UP!!!!!!! It might not even sound like alot BUT that was such a miracle for me this week!!!!
The miracle I am most grateful for is the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ! I know he is beside me EVERY step of the way on this journey and I am thankful for my mission and the experiences I have had that allow me to understand and feel what HE did for me a little more each day! I LOVE YOU ALL! I FEEL YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS! THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU! HAVE A FABULOUS WEEK

PEACE LOVE BAPTIZE
HERMANA WHITNEY!

 

PS… A few pics from last zone conference

LOS BANOS 5EVER

OK PPL NOT SUPER LOTS OF TIME TODAY. Lemme just say tho that this week WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
We went to the Church Vineyard and picked grapes!! It was GRAPE (like “GREAT”get it) !!!!!! Ya manual labor is NOT mah thing but it was fun while it lasted haha!
GOT TRANSFER CALLS AND YA GIRL IS STILL REPPIN LB!!!! At this rate I’m gonna stay in LB til the day I die!!!!!!!! But honestly tho I would be SO okay with that! Ever since I got here I have wanted to finish my mission here! I ALSO GET TO KEEP MY CUTE LIL SPICY LATINA COMPANERA HNA MALPICA!!!!!!!!!!! #blessed
I got food poisoning this week from some sketch chinese place that all the Tongan members like to take us to called “#1 Chinese Buffet”. BUT I WASN’T GONNA LET THAT STOP ME!!! The Lord blessed me with enough strength to get through the day and that is a MIRACLE!!!!!
We got asked to go welcome all the new missionaries in the upcoming week in Fresno so that will be AWESOME!!!!!!
ALRIGHT THAT IS ALL FOR THIS WEEK!!!! Please enjoy these pics of dirty sweaty me and also grapes!!!!!!

FISHER OF MEN

WASSUP PPL!!!!!!

THIS WEEK WAS FABULOUS!!!!!! Literally So busy tho like idk where to even begin!!!
Monday- We had district meeting and then had FHE at Oliver (our Ward Mission Leader house and he FINALLY TOLD them he was going on a mission!!!!!!! I always knew he would! He has changed SO much!!  Berry excited for him!
Tuesday- We got to do some family history with Barbara and Oceria. Berry fun. We found out that I am very much white!!!!! Whitney LITERALLY means “white island” Literally can’t get Whiter than this haha!!!!!!
Wednesday- We had exchanges and I was with Sister Dixon. I LOVE EXCHANGES BC I LEARN SOO STINKING MUCH!!!! She was like ” I don’t even think of u as my Sister Training Leader” and I was like “oh ya I keep forgetting about that”. I just work hard and love the ppl and so does Sister Dixon! Needless to say we got along gr8!!!! Not to mention, she laughed at my jokes!
Thursday- after we exchanged back we drove to chowchilla and did splits with the Sisters there bc one of them is super Sick so that was FUN! Let’s just say I’m very blessed I haven’t gotten sick on my mission yet (knock on wood) (jk bc that’s superstitious) but I WOULD TOTALLY GO NUTS being at home all day!!!! I know MOM I HAVE CHANGED ALOT LOL!!!
Friday-We found out that the Tapia’s were not married so we had to push back their d8 but ALL IS WELL!!!! It is the Lord’s timing not mine!!!!!
Saturday WE WERE IN MERCED ALL DAY GETTING OUR CAR FIXED… LITERALLY ALL DAY!  IT WAS THE WORST- glad I don’t have 2 bike tho lol!!!!!!
ok I don’t even have time to do Sunday oh well!!!!! srry peeps!!!! 2 much fun!!!

I gave Christain my old name tag and he was pretending 2 b me!!!!! He said “someone get me a grandma dress” lol

Fisher of men!!!!!!!!