iPads...

iPads.... It's been a crazy week! We had our meeting on Tuesday with Elder Schwitzer of the seventy. It was really good. We didn't learn any of the technical stuff, but they really focused on the vision of how to use technology to further the work of salvation. It was 4 hours and really good. We then had our zone training meeting on Thursday for 3 1/2 hours. It was my first long meeting to conduct as a zone leader. It wasn't too bad. My back was killing me after standing for so long though. We got the iPads that day and handed them out. We didn't set them upuntil Friday morning though. Friday was fun. The iPads needed to be set up and needed wifi to do it. We were told to go to our zone building district by district to set them up. The zone building is a chapel. Each district had an hour and a half to get it all configured. Elder Hauata and I went first before anyone to set ours up so that we could help others when they came. So we went and were there untilhelping missionaries set up their iPads. It was a long day. There were only a few problems that came up, eventually we got the, all figured out. We now have access to lds tools, gospel library, and lds pamphlets. The lds pamphlets are awesome! They are like the pamphlets we have now but with a few better pictures and they are interactive. The iPads we have are the iPad mini 2. All missionaries will be able to keep the iPads at the end of the mission. Except.... Those missionaries who are going home on or before theSeptember 9th transfer. So basically I am just using a loaner from the mission. Also international missionaries will use a loaner. So now we are trying to adjust to using this technology in our work. It's a lot different for sure. We are taking it one step at a time. There are three phases to introduce them. The first is just using things like gospel library etc. Next we will get an app that will allow us to have our area books and planners in digital form. The third phase is using social media. So things like Facebook and Skype. We will see if that happens before I leave. Only 6 months. It's scary. There's a lot of small things I'm excited for as well, there's a lot though and it's hard to explain. I just wish I would have had more time to adjust. I can't believe transfers are basically two weeks away! It has flown by this time. Maybe it seems shorter since last transfer was 8 weeks. I'm not sure. Either way. It's right around the corner. Elder Koo's companion was sick on Saturday and so was mine so they both stayed home together and Elder Koo and I got to work together in both areas. It was amazing. It was so fun to be with him again. It felt like I never left. I really enjoyed it. He's grown a lot. He's going to be a senior companion for sure next transfer. It's really weird. I have an iPad right now. Well, that's about it for the week. By the way, I will be able to see emails throughout the week now, I just won't be able to respond until Monday. Well, I hope all is well. Have a great week! Love you all! -Elder McKinney