Elder White: 

To understand my title, “I Tested Positive for Being Saved,”  I will have to explain a bit about my week. Now that I am in the Cape Henry Ward, in Virginia Beach, we go on exchanges with the Assistants to the Mission President. While we were on exchange with Elder Snow, one of the AP's, we were with a member from Atlanta, Georgia, who loves gospel music. . . You haven't heard gospel until you've met this guy. The songs he had were ridiculous. In one song, the singer randomly started singing about AIDS and testing positive for AIDS, and still singing about Jesus, too, which was rather strange, but then sang, "I want someone to stand up, and put their hands to the sky and testify, and say, ‘I tested positive, for being saved!’." Elder Snow and I were dying of laughter in the backseat. The member driving us kept asking us what was so funny--he just couldn't understand why we thought that was so funny. The music people listen to out here is all over the map, and I would argue that some of what I hear people blasting in their cars driving down the road does not qualify as music, but maybe I am just biased. 

         Elder Talbot is my new companion and he's really great. He's from Ogden, Utah and has been out only one transfer less than I have. While we were talking to this man on the street, in the middle of our conversation, a handful of F-18's from the Naval air station flew over, so the guy didn't hear anything we said--then right at that moment when the jets passed, Elder Talbot says to the man, "So, yeah, that’s the secret to happiness in life!" as if our conversation had continued uninterrupted. The man just stood there and looked confused, "Wait, what?! What is the secret?" he still wasn't very interested, but it was funny. 

         Going back to earlier in the week, my last days in Hampton couldn't have been better. The last day I was in Hampton we had Alberto, and the Hamblins come to our lesson and dinner with Maria. The Hamblins are an incredible family in Hampton from Panama who happen to be black. He was the previous bishop of the Hampton Ward. Maria cooked us all Carne Asada tacos that were so good. Maria knows how to make real Mexican food (She is really from Mexico, so that's not all that surprising). After dinner we taught her about serving and learning in the Church, which was the last lesson we had to teach her. She just has to be interviewed for her baptism and she is good to go. On Wednesday, at transfers, Sister Weed asked how I felt about being transferred and I told her how disappointed I was to miss Maria's baptism, and then Elder Beeston walked up and said, "Sister Weed, we know that you could get Elder White permission to go to the baptism. We know that's in your jurisdiction."  Sister Weed informed us that the request was not in her jurisdiction, but Elder Beeston told her, "Come on, Sister Weed, we all know how this works. We know you can make it happen!"  Later Wednesday night I got a text from President Weed, "...if you and Elder Talbot are available on that day, I would like to take you to the baptism with me, and I had decided to make the invitation this past Monday, long before Sister Weed's arm-twisting today!)."  So I will get to go to Maria's baptism after all, and President Weed is taking us too( ! which means potential dinner with the mission president).

         So far I like it here in Virginia Beach. It's strange though, they have terrible traffic here. I guess they are just trying to get me used to it for when I am back driving in Seattle in 5 months. People here are strange and not nearly as nice as in North Carolina, but it's okay.  I still love them, but it does make me miss NC. Until next time y'all have a blessed week now!

 

--Elder White