¡Buenos Dias!
What a crazy week.. Let´s begin with a story.
A day or two before last p-day, I caught a ball weird in Gym and it hurt my hand. I didn´t think it was a big deal, and other than a little twinge now and again it didn´t really bother me, so I just moved on. Last p-day we ended up leaving the lab and running late, so we hurried to get on to our next scheduled thing. I began to write the letters later that night but, as usual, became distracted and moved on, figuring that I´d finish them the next day in between gym and breakfast(Monday Gym is at 6:30). Sure enough, I screw my hand up at gym and am told that I´m not allowed to use it for anything major. I try to take notes in class, and by the time I get back each night it kills. Then on Tuesday night, our Branch President asks us to turn in the white books to the section on communicating with family, where it says that we are only to respond to letters on p-day. Moral of the story: Putting off things that we have scheduled to do increases the chance that they will not get done.
PLEASE don´t let that mean that I only get letters on P-day; merely realize that I will not be able to respond until Fridays unless we end up having more free time, or until I arrive in the mission field and my new Mission President allows exceptions, whichever occurs first. Therefore, I dub the hours of 3-5:30 PM as my letter responding time, and it is now in my planner. :P
In other news, the Provo Temple is open again! I was able to attend a session for the first time in a month and some days this morning, and I am SO grateful for the blessing that is. I feel so much better when I have the opportunity to attend- and the best advice I can give anyone who needs guidance is to go to the grounds at least once a week, even if you can´t perform ordinance work. The Temple of God is a place set apart from the world for the edification and sanctification of man, and the energy and spirit of the Temple will benefit anyone who goes.
The language is going well. I can now understand easily 90%-97% of every class, depending on the teacher and the subjects we discuss. I have begun reading almost exclusively from the scriptures and PMG in Spanish, with the English versions sitting out for the words I still have to learn. I am able to communicate extremely well with the missionaries from Latin/South America that are here to learn English, as well as the Spanish-speaking workers here on campus. The MTC is also currently remodeling/refinishing two buildings, and there are some construction workers who are from Mexico that speak almost only Spanish that I talk to most days. They help me with a lot of the intricacies of Spanish that are difficult to learn in a book, and little rules of thumb to help.
Had the opportunity to meet an Elder who is going to Philadelphia who is from a ward in my mission; ESTÉ FUE SUPER BACAN! He taught us a lot of the intricacies of speaking Español de Chillenos, and a lot of fun things to look for while we are down there. Another good friend of mine, Elder Nicoll, is staying just a few doors down from me and one of his roomates came back early from a study abroad program in Santiago to leave for his mission, and shared many things as well. Double checking between the two of them and Hmno. Verdugo on the language, It was a very educational and cool experience.
Heard that there was major flooding in North Dakota- We don´t have any access to the internet other than LDS-owned and themed sites, nor any access to news sources, so any information that I get about the world I get through your letters. Please share more information about this and other events, particularly in Chile. I´d love to go in educated on what´s going on.
My hand is starting to hurt again, so I won´t type too much more, but I want to bear testimony once again of the absolute veracity of this Gospel and this Church. I BEG you all to read the Book of Mormon, not because it is my duty to(in fact, not once have I been told here to bear my testimony to you, or try to proselyte in my letters) but because it WILL bless your life immensely. If you have already read it, or if you are just jumping around in it, Begin to read it from the beginning, including the introduction and testimonies. The first missionaries left the presses with just the first sixteen pages of the Book of Mormon because they knew how powerful of a spirit it contains- and I extend a challenge to you, that I will do for myself as well.
Here is my challenge:
I challenge you to read the explanation, introduction, testimonies, and the first 16 pages of the Book of Mormon. Do it in one week or less, following this pattern:
1. Begin each session of reading by praying to God, asking Him to show you if what you read is true and how it can help you, and ending in the name of Jesus Christ.
2. Read slowly and carefully, thinking about each line. Do not rush through it; instead, read to understand and search it out in your mind and in your heart.
3. Close again with prayer, asking Him to help you know what was most important for you and to help you find if it is true.
4. Take 3-5 minutes and write down your thoughts, feelings, and impressions.
Here are a few things that I promise you will happen:
1. You will find out for yourself if the Book of Mormon is true and of God.(Spoiler alert: it is.)
2. I PROMISE that you will find at least one answer to a problem or question that is in your life right now, especially if you ask God to help you find an answer specifically for that need/desire.
3. You will KNOW, without any doubt, that God is there; that He loves you; and that He is very aware of you and your needs and He wants to help you.
My dear family and friends, I think of you often. I pray for you often as well. The blessings of pure knowledge and eternal life are at your fingertips. Remember who you are, and that you are more than some nebulous being of light- YOU ARE GOD´S CHILD, and an HEIR TO HIS GLORY. I love you all dearly.
Te Amamos-
A Dios, Con Dios.
-Elder Alton D. Wheelhouse
P.S. Please write... Your letters really improve my day. ;)
P.P.S. I realized that I didn't say what is wrong with my hand. I didn't break it, although we feared that for a while.. after the X-rays got back, we realized that it was just bruised cartilage or something like that, with inflammation caused by repeated abuse around the base of the bones in my hand and up into the middle of the back of my hand. As long as I don't move my fingers a lot, try to grab/hold stuff, bend it backwards, or catch things it doesn't bug me too bad.. So basically I just can't use my right hand(whaddya know, that's what they told me too! :P)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Long but worth it! Week 4, Day 24
¡Hola!
What a crazy week! It has gone by SO quickly, and there has been so much to do. I wish that I´d been able to write everybody this week, but I´ll be sending out some letters and pictures to those of you that wrote me last week. Gracias por su paciencia.
Had the wonderful opportunity to meet a Sister Garibaldo (har-ee-BALL-dough) from Panama. She has only been speaking English for about three weeks, other than a very small amount that she was able to understand when she arrived here. She leaves tomorrow for the Salt Lake City South mission, and we were able to have an excellent conversation. It was amazing to me how much she had learned, and how much I had learned as well. She complimented my pronunciation, and taught us some new cultural words.
Also prepared an acapella piece with a few of the other Elders (Elders Loomis, Patterson, and Holmes) and auditioned for a fireside. They said that they loved it and were impressed that we were able to produce the sound that we did, but that they wanted me to write a piano part to make our key change more solid and that if we did they would put it into a devotional soon. It was so much fun! I also realized that I forgot two very important things from my previous letters, notably my first letter. First, my official (tentative(but in reality set(as long as I´m healthy and know the language))) date of departure is August 29.
The code immediately following my mission code is my departure date (08/29). I might have put down the wrong date originally. I would love to have mail, as the only day of the week I have e-mail is Friday and I don´t have enough time to respond to everyone; plus, I really love to hear from all of you and what is going on in your lives(again, I´ll finish responding to the 3 letters I received as soon as I´m done writing this).
The other HUGE thing that happened was our initial devotional. It was a musical devotional with the talented concert violinist Jenny Oaks Baker, daughter of Dallin H. Oaks. She brought such a powerful musical testimony to the table, and even expressed those things that I feel most strongly about music, particularly that it is the perfect expression of testimony and a gift to God every time we write or perform.
At any rate, this week´s devotional was awesome. An ex-mission president and his wife came and talked to us, and he sang while she played as part of a special musical number, namely ¨Where Love Is¨in Español. How beautiful of a language! I loved it even more in Spanish than English- and pending me finding the lyrics, I intend to memorize it. She talked about serving cheerfully and he about the role of the Book of Mormon in conversion. What a wonderful Devotional! Afterwards, the MTC Presidency took a panoramic picture of all of the missionaries. I don´t know if it will be published anywhere, but if any of you have a chance to see it, I will be on the right side, 5 railings up next to the aisle.
Two of our Elders, Elder Lund and Elder Stout, left for Guatemala this week. It was sad to see them go, but SO exciting to know that they are on their way. They will be in the Guatemala CCM for 6 weeks, and then going to their mission area. Our new DL is Elder Binks, and it is fun to watch him learning how to lead.
We lost our two progressive investigators, Carlos and Luis. The teachers have decided to only allow us to teach each investigator for 3 lessons, so it is a great encouragement to get them to commit faster. We have one new investigator, Jorgé, and we will be meeting our other new investigator on Sabado. We were able to commit Carlos to baptism and to bring his family to the rest of the discussions, so that was good; however, Luis still struggled to find his testimony. Fortunately, our first meeting with Jorgé was very strong, and I know that he will be able to be converted quickly. We meet with him again on Monday.
There are two questions that I have received via email that I want to address in this general email, both to be entertaining and to be a witness of what I am learning.
The first is the question of, ¨What do I do in my free time?¨ The answer is rather simple: ¨Free time? What is this free time you speak of?¨
Our days at the MTC are VERY structured. Every moment is filled with something that has been pre-scheduled, and when it isn´t there are plenty of housekeeping and homework items to do, such as cleaning the residence hall, shower, eat, use the restroom, drop off mail, go to the store, Gospel study to answer the questions of our investigators, and language study to learn new vocab that we didn´t know and review what we forgot. Essentially in a standard day I have approximately 20-35 minutes total that I can use to write in my journal, reply to letters, de-stress, or practice music; but that time is spread out into 3-5 minute increments, with about 10 or 15 at the end of the night. I also have to coordinate with my companion and my district to make sure that nothing that I need to do conflicts with what my companion needs to do, so that everybody can get done what they need to get done. In essence, that means that some days I give up most of my free time so that everybody can benefit. It is a VERY fulfilling and happy existence. ^_^
The other question that I received is, ¨What is ´Obedience With Exactness´?¨
To me, Obediencia con Exactítud can mean many things; but essentially, it means that when I am given a commandment I do what I am asked to completely, not because I fear retribution or condemnation, but because I want to obey. It also means that I find out why the commandment is what it is, and learn to apply and live that deeper principle.
For example:
Let´s assume that I am asked to enter only through one door into the lunchroom, and exit only through the other door. I come to the exit doors one day and my stomach rumbles as I view the horde of missionaries trying to enter the main doors. At that moment, I am presented with a choice. I can either (a) walk the additional 100 feet to the other doors, that EVERYONE is trying to jam through at once, costing me an additional minute or two, or (b) I can enter the exit only doors, allowing me to skip all of the lines and get to food faster. The fact of the matter is, entering through the Exit doors has no real immediate significance to my salvation. However, the man who understands the principle of Obedience With Exactness also realizes the deeper principles at work. Every person in that line has waited patiently to get in, and it would be unfair to them. Also, if I were to enter through the exit with my bag and scriptures and companion in tow, it creates congestion for those who are trying to leave, who may be in a rush. Thirdly, the workers who are providing the food need to keep track of the number of missionaries in order to be paid appropriately, and to know how much food to order; I may make it harder on them because they won´t be able to account accurately.
Most importantly, however, is the commitment that I have made.
Every Sunday as we take the sacrament we commit to take upon ourselves the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We also promise that we will remember Him in all things, driving us to be obedient to ALL of God´s commandments, that we may always have the Spirit to guide us. ANY act of disobedience drives the Spirit away, however temporarily and no matter how good our excuse may be. If we are to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we must be willing to bring honor to that name, and respect His absolute obedience and perfection by striving to be as He is.
Let´s take it one more step.
Every morning, I get out of bed and pray. I ask God to grant me with blessings, some of the most important right now being the Gift of Tongues and the Guidance of the Spirit (When we go out into the world, we are commanded in D&C 42 that ´If [we] have not the Spirit, [we] SHALL NOT TEACH.´). I am also promised that as a worthy representative of Christ, all things that I ask for in His name shall be fulfilled. When I put on my nametag, it is a reminder for me that I have been set apart from the things of this world. I have been called to leave behind every lust, every fruitless desire, everything that is worldly in nature, and to be a LITERAL PROXY REPRESENTATIVE of JESUS, the Savior of this world and the CHRIST. This means that it is as if any sin that I commit, He commits. Christ is perfect, and without blemish. His Atonement is a gift to those of us who are not without blemish, that we may come to Him and be made whole. His Atonement was not for Himself; and HE WHO IS WITHOUT BLEMISH SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DEFEND HIMSELF TO THE FATHER. I act under Christ´s name and in His authority as the Supreme Creator of this world. It does not matter if the commandment that I have been given seems pointless or without profit; I am called to follow, and to teach others the path to perfection.
By no means am I saying that I go through each day perfectly. I often get distracted, and unfortunately sometimes I still do stupid things. However, the beauty of the Atonement of Christ is that it allows us to learn to become Gods through being Human- and as long as I live an Honorable life, going to bed better than I was when I got up and seeking forgiveness for those mistakes, Christ takes care of the rest. So, when those easy choices come into my life, I desire with my whole heart to listen and obey. Through Obedience With Exactness, the miracles and blessings that we read of in the Scriptures become not only possible, but EASY; and as the desires of my heart become more righteous God has promised that ALL THINGS that I desire are mine, when I ask and act in the name of the brother I represent. In essence, Obedience With Exactness is bringing into line the things that I want to match with what God wants, no more, no less.
I want deperately for all of you to know that I love you. I pray for you in EVERY prayer, asking God to bring you the happiness and joy that you all need. I testify of and reaffirm the covenants that you make with Him, especially of His desire for you to be filled with His Spirit and His Love. DO NOT BE ASHAMED of the power that you bear. Use what you have been given to it´s fulness. I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ that as you search for Him in your times of struggle that He will be there and answer you, and that as you obey what He asks you will be blessed beyond what you ask for. I know this from my own life; it is an absolute miracle through the Grace of God that I am even sitting here in the MTC. Without God, I am nothing; BUT WITH HIM, I AM BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE. I pray that you will feel a portion of the love, peace, and joy that I am as I write this. May you be with God, and God with you.
Te amamos.
¡A Dios, Con Dios!
-Elder Alton D. A. Wheelhouse
P.S. Sorry for the length, I had important things to say. :P
P.P.S. I still would like to receive a Chilean flag... Anybody wanna send us one? :)
What a crazy week! It has gone by SO quickly, and there has been so much to do. I wish that I´d been able to write everybody this week, but I´ll be sending out some letters and pictures to those of you that wrote me last week. Gracias por su paciencia.
Had the wonderful opportunity to meet a Sister Garibaldo (har-ee-BALL-dough) from Panama. She has only been speaking English for about three weeks, other than a very small amount that she was able to understand when she arrived here. She leaves tomorrow for the Salt Lake City South mission, and we were able to have an excellent conversation. It was amazing to me how much she had learned, and how much I had learned as well. She complimented my pronunciation, and taught us some new cultural words.
Also prepared an acapella piece with a few of the other Elders (Elders Loomis, Patterson, and Holmes) and auditioned for a fireside. They said that they loved it and were impressed that we were able to produce the sound that we did, but that they wanted me to write a piano part to make our key change more solid and that if we did they would put it into a devotional soon. It was so much fun! I also realized that I forgot two very important things from my previous letters, notably my first letter. First, my official (tentative(but in reality set(as long as I´m healthy and know the language))) date of departure is August 29.
The code immediately following my mission code is my departure date (08/29). I might have put down the wrong date originally. I would love to have mail, as the only day of the week I have e-mail is Friday and I don´t have enough time to respond to everyone; plus, I really love to hear from all of you and what is going on in your lives(again, I´ll finish responding to the 3 letters I received as soon as I´m done writing this).
The other HUGE thing that happened was our initial devotional. It was a musical devotional with the talented concert violinist Jenny Oaks Baker, daughter of Dallin H. Oaks. She brought such a powerful musical testimony to the table, and even expressed those things that I feel most strongly about music, particularly that it is the perfect expression of testimony and a gift to God every time we write or perform.
At any rate, this week´s devotional was awesome. An ex-mission president and his wife came and talked to us, and he sang while she played as part of a special musical number, namely ¨Where Love Is¨in Español. How beautiful of a language! I loved it even more in Spanish than English- and pending me finding the lyrics, I intend to memorize it. She talked about serving cheerfully and he about the role of the Book of Mormon in conversion. What a wonderful Devotional! Afterwards, the MTC Presidency took a panoramic picture of all of the missionaries. I don´t know if it will be published anywhere, but if any of you have a chance to see it, I will be on the right side, 5 railings up next to the aisle.
Two of our Elders, Elder Lund and Elder Stout, left for Guatemala this week. It was sad to see them go, but SO exciting to know that they are on their way. They will be in the Guatemala CCM for 6 weeks, and then going to their mission area. Our new DL is Elder Binks, and it is fun to watch him learning how to lead.
We lost our two progressive investigators, Carlos and Luis. The teachers have decided to only allow us to teach each investigator for 3 lessons, so it is a great encouragement to get them to commit faster. We have one new investigator, Jorgé, and we will be meeting our other new investigator on Sabado. We were able to commit Carlos to baptism and to bring his family to the rest of the discussions, so that was good; however, Luis still struggled to find his testimony. Fortunately, our first meeting with Jorgé was very strong, and I know that he will be able to be converted quickly. We meet with him again on Monday.
There are two questions that I have received via email that I want to address in this general email, both to be entertaining and to be a witness of what I am learning.
The first is the question of, ¨What do I do in my free time?¨ The answer is rather simple: ¨Free time? What is this free time you speak of?¨
Our days at the MTC are VERY structured. Every moment is filled with something that has been pre-scheduled, and when it isn´t there are plenty of housekeeping and homework items to do, such as cleaning the residence hall, shower, eat, use the restroom, drop off mail, go to the store, Gospel study to answer the questions of our investigators, and language study to learn new vocab that we didn´t know and review what we forgot. Essentially in a standard day I have approximately 20-35 minutes total that I can use to write in my journal, reply to letters, de-stress, or practice music; but that time is spread out into 3-5 minute increments, with about 10 or 15 at the end of the night. I also have to coordinate with my companion and my district to make sure that nothing that I need to do conflicts with what my companion needs to do, so that everybody can get done what they need to get done. In essence, that means that some days I give up most of my free time so that everybody can benefit. It is a VERY fulfilling and happy existence. ^_^
The other question that I received is, ¨What is ´Obedience With Exactness´?¨
To me, Obediencia con Exactítud can mean many things; but essentially, it means that when I am given a commandment I do what I am asked to completely, not because I fear retribution or condemnation, but because I want to obey. It also means that I find out why the commandment is what it is, and learn to apply and live that deeper principle.
For example:
Let´s assume that I am asked to enter only through one door into the lunchroom, and exit only through the other door. I come to the exit doors one day and my stomach rumbles as I view the horde of missionaries trying to enter the main doors. At that moment, I am presented with a choice. I can either (a) walk the additional 100 feet to the other doors, that EVERYONE is trying to jam through at once, costing me an additional minute or two, or (b) I can enter the exit only doors, allowing me to skip all of the lines and get to food faster. The fact of the matter is, entering through the Exit doors has no real immediate significance to my salvation. However, the man who understands the principle of Obedience With Exactness also realizes the deeper principles at work. Every person in that line has waited patiently to get in, and it would be unfair to them. Also, if I were to enter through the exit with my bag and scriptures and companion in tow, it creates congestion for those who are trying to leave, who may be in a rush. Thirdly, the workers who are providing the food need to keep track of the number of missionaries in order to be paid appropriately, and to know how much food to order; I may make it harder on them because they won´t be able to account accurately.
Most importantly, however, is the commitment that I have made.
Every Sunday as we take the sacrament we commit to take upon ourselves the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We also promise that we will remember Him in all things, driving us to be obedient to ALL of God´s commandments, that we may always have the Spirit to guide us. ANY act of disobedience drives the Spirit away, however temporarily and no matter how good our excuse may be. If we are to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we must be willing to bring honor to that name, and respect His absolute obedience and perfection by striving to be as He is.
Let´s take it one more step.
Every morning, I get out of bed and pray. I ask God to grant me with blessings, some of the most important right now being the Gift of Tongues and the Guidance of the Spirit (When we go out into the world, we are commanded in D&C 42 that ´If [we] have not the Spirit, [we] SHALL NOT TEACH.´). I am also promised that as a worthy representative of Christ, all things that I ask for in His name shall be fulfilled. When I put on my nametag, it is a reminder for me that I have been set apart from the things of this world. I have been called to leave behind every lust, every fruitless desire, everything that is worldly in nature, and to be a LITERAL PROXY REPRESENTATIVE of JESUS, the Savior of this world and the CHRIST. This means that it is as if any sin that I commit, He commits. Christ is perfect, and without blemish. His Atonement is a gift to those of us who are not without blemish, that we may come to Him and be made whole. His Atonement was not for Himself; and HE WHO IS WITHOUT BLEMISH SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DEFEND HIMSELF TO THE FATHER. I act under Christ´s name and in His authority as the Supreme Creator of this world. It does not matter if the commandment that I have been given seems pointless or without profit; I am called to follow, and to teach others the path to perfection.
By no means am I saying that I go through each day perfectly. I often get distracted, and unfortunately sometimes I still do stupid things. However, the beauty of the Atonement of Christ is that it allows us to learn to become Gods through being Human- and as long as I live an Honorable life, going to bed better than I was when I got up and seeking forgiveness for those mistakes, Christ takes care of the rest. So, when those easy choices come into my life, I desire with my whole heart to listen and obey. Through Obedience With Exactness, the miracles and blessings that we read of in the Scriptures become not only possible, but EASY; and as the desires of my heart become more righteous God has promised that ALL THINGS that I desire are mine, when I ask and act in the name of the brother I represent. In essence, Obedience With Exactness is bringing into line the things that I want to match with what God wants, no more, no less.
I want deperately for all of you to know that I love you. I pray for you in EVERY prayer, asking God to bring you the happiness and joy that you all need. I testify of and reaffirm the covenants that you make with Him, especially of His desire for you to be filled with His Spirit and His Love. DO NOT BE ASHAMED of the power that you bear. Use what you have been given to it´s fulness. I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ that as you search for Him in your times of struggle that He will be there and answer you, and that as you obey what He asks you will be blessed beyond what you ask for. I know this from my own life; it is an absolute miracle through the Grace of God that I am even sitting here in the MTC. Without God, I am nothing; BUT WITH HIM, I AM BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE. I pray that you will feel a portion of the love, peace, and joy that I am as I write this. May you be with God, and God with you.
Te amamos.
¡A Dios, Con Dios!
-Elder Alton D. A. Wheelhouse
P.S. Sorry for the length, I had important things to say. :P
P.P.S. I still would like to receive a Chilean flag... Anybody wanna send us one? :)
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Week 3
¿Qué tal?
Hey everyone! I hope life is well for you. What a week! I am so blessed to be able to be here.
First, the winner of last week´s contest is Megan Hawkes!
Her correct answer for the average size of a Rapa Nui Head is as follows:
Total weight: 13.78 tons (12.5 metric tons)
Height: 13.29 feet (4.05 meters)
Width at Base: 5.25 feet (1.6 meters)
Width at Head: 4.86 feet (1.48 meters)
My, what big heads they have!
At any rate, this week progressed wonderfully as usual. Much learning and many opportunities to grow. I was able to get together with 3 other guys from the district and create a beautiful arrangement of Nearer My God to Thee. We hope to perform soon, but I´ll probably write a different arrangement of a less-used song.
Our progressive investigators, Luíz and Carlos(our new investigator) are coming along fairly well. In our first meeting with Carlos, we were able to speak for the entire 20 minutes in fluent spanish without turning to each other even once. Although we only understood about 95% of it, WE UNDERSTOOD 95% OF IT, and what we didn´t understand we were able to restate and clarify through appropriate questions. Unfortunately, the next day our meeting with Luíz did not go as well, but I know that we will be able to figure it out with patience, faith, and the Holy Ghost.
Mi Compañero, Elder Loomis, is struggling somewhat with things. When we went into our meeting with Luíz, we´d agreed that he was going to take the lead. He did not prepare ahead, however, even singing English Hymns up to 5 minutes before we entered the room. He hasn´t made the connection yet that our ability to teach and have the Spirit with us is directly dependant upon our willingness to obey the commandments, prepare ahead, and invite Him to be with us BEFORE we begin to teach. The experience was unfortunately so devoid of the Spirit that his Español regressed farther back than he´d ever spoken before, and it was even difficult for me to find words. Please, pray for him. I have talked with our DL and our Branch President about the situation, but for the time being the Spirit says that I need to wait for him to ask for help. I care about him, and I hope that that is sooner than later.
What a blessing it is to be Obedient with Exactness. Many Elders here get that, but some do not. I read a wonderful quote from the recent mission president seminar here at the MTC. It was from Elder Bednar, and it says something to the effect of:
"As we serve, we do not represent our families, our friends, our branches, our stakes, our communities or our nations. We represent Him."
The name that I wear over my heart is the name of Christ. I am so blessed to have His power and name to go before me. I pray that I do not do anything that he would not do while I am His literal direct representative. He should not have to defend His own name to God- something to think about as we renew our covenants and take His name upon ourselves.
I will be sending home pictures within the next few days! I am excited to share. I don´t have many, but hopefully you´ll enjoy what you see.
I love you all! A Dios, Con Dios.
Te Querido-
-Elder Wheelhouse
P.S. I have decided that I will accept two winners for each question, one by email and one by regular mail/dearelder.com <http://dearelder.com> . That means FOUR CHANCES TO WIN!!! :P
Té Amo!
Hey everyone! I hope life is well for you. What a week! I am so blessed to be able to be here.
First, the winner of last week´s contest is Megan Hawkes!
Her correct answer for the average size of a Rapa Nui Head is as follows:
Total weight: 13.78 tons (12.5 metric tons)
Height: 13.29 feet (4.05 meters)
Width at Base: 5.25 feet (1.6 meters)
Width at Head: 4.86 feet (1.48 meters)
My, what big heads they have!
At any rate, this week progressed wonderfully as usual. Much learning and many opportunities to grow. I was able to get together with 3 other guys from the district and create a beautiful arrangement of Nearer My God to Thee. We hope to perform soon, but I´ll probably write a different arrangement of a less-used song.
Our progressive investigators, Luíz and Carlos(our new investigator) are coming along fairly well. In our first meeting with Carlos, we were able to speak for the entire 20 minutes in fluent spanish without turning to each other even once. Although we only understood about 95% of it, WE UNDERSTOOD 95% OF IT, and what we didn´t understand we were able to restate and clarify through appropriate questions. Unfortunately, the next day our meeting with Luíz did not go as well, but I know that we will be able to figure it out with patience, faith, and the Holy Ghost.
Mi Compañero, Elder Loomis, is struggling somewhat with things. When we went into our meeting with Luíz, we´d agreed that he was going to take the lead. He did not prepare ahead, however, even singing English Hymns up to 5 minutes before we entered the room. He hasn´t made the connection yet that our ability to teach and have the Spirit with us is directly dependant upon our willingness to obey the commandments, prepare ahead, and invite Him to be with us BEFORE we begin to teach. The experience was unfortunately so devoid of the Spirit that his Español regressed farther back than he´d ever spoken before, and it was even difficult for me to find words. Please, pray for him. I have talked with our DL and our Branch President about the situation, but for the time being the Spirit says that I need to wait for him to ask for help. I care about him, and I hope that that is sooner than later.
What a blessing it is to be Obedient with Exactness. Many Elders here get that, but some do not. I read a wonderful quote from the recent mission president seminar here at the MTC. It was from Elder Bednar, and it says something to the effect of:
"As we serve, we do not represent our families, our friends, our branches, our stakes, our communities or our nations. We represent Him."
The name that I wear over my heart is the name of Christ. I am so blessed to have His power and name to go before me. I pray that I do not do anything that he would not do while I am His literal direct representative. He should not have to defend His own name to God- something to think about as we renew our covenants and take His name upon ourselves.
I will be sending home pictures within the next few days! I am excited to share. I don´t have many, but hopefully you´ll enjoy what you see.
I love you all! A Dios, Con Dios.
Te Querido-
-Elder Wheelhouse
P.S. I have decided that I will accept two winners for each question, one by email and one by regular mail/dearelder.com <http://dearelder.com> . That means FOUR CHANCES TO WIN!!! :P
Té Amo!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Week 2, Day 10
¡Buenos Dias!
I hope that you are all well. What an amazing week! I have been blessed with so many lessons and so many miracles that I am almost too full to share.. But if I have to, I will. ;)
Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to meet an elder who is from Tahiti. He spoke no english whatsoever, and I clearly don´t speak Tahitian, but in a miracle we were able to communicate. He is preparing to serve in a Spanish speaking mission, and through el Don de lenguas we were able to communicate perfectly! Even words that I did not know became suddenly clear and we were able to talk about his home and his experiences here so far. I pray that he will have an excellent mission.
So far, I know of 18 elders currently here that I knew prior to me coming, and I have seen approximately 15 of them. What a blessing to see so many courageous, righteous young men that have blessed my life SO much going off into the world to serve the Lord. I thank God every day for letting me serve and be among such amazing people.
The sisters in our district woke up the other morning to discover that they had been bitten by bedbugs! It took them all day to dryclean their clothes and deep clean their room, and after 24 hours of intense cleaning and careful inspection of all of their bags and materials were moved to another residence hall. No one is quite sure where the bugs came from, but fortunately most of the floor was empty, so they relocated the sisters and are deep cleaning the level.
One of our elders, Elder Binks, had two wonderful events this week. His sister arrived on Wednesday, going to serve in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were very excited to meet her and have been teasing him to no end about setting up Elder Lund (our District Leader) with her when they are home. Who knows?
Elder Binks´ birthday was also on Thursday. He turned 19, so we changed his name from ´Baby Binks´ and acknowledged that he is officially a man, amidst pools of fake tears. It is interesting to think that we may have the youngest missionary in the entire CCM(MTC), and Elder Stout is preparing to be harassed next week for his 20th birthday.
Mi compañero, Elder Loomis, and I have grown much closer. We still are very different and don´t always agree, but we love and serve each other diligently. The miracle that I have been praying for, backed up by your prayers, occurred in a letter that he got the other day. One of his closest friends is not a member, but apparently texted Elder Loomis´ phone just before his parents shut it off, and has decided to be baptized and to begin receiving the lessons in order to do so! How great is our God, that he is aware of our needs before we are! Elder Loomis´ resolve has been greatly strengthened, especially considering that he told us in the first lesson that asking someone to prepare to be baptized right off the bat was a bad idea, stating that this same friend would not if he asked, even though he had a desire for good. I know that any person that has a desire for good and a desire to follow God will be willing to find something out for themselves in the pursuit of enlightenment.
Ran into mi primo, Hermana Barker, in the caféteria the other day. How wonderful to see her, even though I could only shake her hand. I hope to introduce her to one of my teachers here, Hermano Verdugo. He returned from his mission four months ago in Argentina, and we discovered that he recently broke up with his girlfriend. I know it will most likely come to nothing, but I will try all the same... :P
We taught our first lessons of the training this week· all in Spanish! What a shock to struggle to express truths that are so dear to me! There is however, one very deep and personal thing that I am learning how to do that I wish to share with you· I am learning to simplify. It sounds so simple, and many of you are laughing inwardly right now I am sure, but for me it is something that I have always struggled to do, and struggled to learn. It is interesting how the Lord has had to take away my vocabulary to teach me that Gospel truths don´t have to be so complex to be spiritual. Even if I can only reduce it to one sentence with 6 or 7 words, it doesn´t make it any less true or impactful when said with the Spirit of God behind it.
That being said, I KNOW THAT WHAT I AM DOING IS RIGHT.
In case you haven´t noticed, our P·days have been moved to Fridays. I will log on to send my weekly update and print out emails at around 9 or 10 in the morning, then I will be online to respond and accept other emails live between 2:45 and 3:45, depending on the amount of people in the laundry room. Please note that I am only allowed to email family, so if you want me to respond to anything that you write I need your address. The rules may change in the mission field in Chile, but for now I am blessed to obey the rules of the MTC. I see the immediate blessings and strengths that are granted to me, and I would not trade them for anything. OBEDIÉNCIA CON EXACTITUD!
We are having a little friendly competition between the elders. An elder in a neighboring district received 16 letters in one night! While I don´t condone betting or flaunting one´s blessings and resources, we have decided to keep it clean by competing between rooms and districts. The room with the most letters on Friday, July 15 gets drinks. As I mentioned, Elder Stout´s birthday is next week, so the other room in our district has an advantage. I need you all to log on to Dear Elder next week, on friday morning, and shoot me a letter. I agreed to compete because I have also desired to hear more from all of you, and gain more addresses for my address book.
I do not have most of your addresses, just email addresses, which I cannot respond to or send things to after this email. PLEASE send me mail or your address so that I may write you! I have a huge box of envelopes and stamps, and I hope to write as many people as write me.
A Dios, Con Dios!
Te Amo.
-Elder Wheelhouse
P.S. I will also be starting weekly fun facts and trivia searches. Because I do not have access to conventional research resources, however, I will be going off of memory. Please forgive me if I mess up a fact or figure. This week's research challenge is based upon an exciting piece of news I discovered: Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is a part of my mission! Here is the Challenge:
Discover the approximate weight and dimensions of a Rapa Nui Head. The first person to send me the correct answer via email with their mailing address will receive a copy of my testimony (EN ESPAÑOL!) and a sweet gospel picture from the CCM Missionary Store!
P.P.S. You may have noticed this week's letter is a LOT longer than last week's. This is because we only have a half hour to access email each P-day, meaning that if we write on myldsmail.net <http://myldsmail.net> , we only have 30 minutes to read and respond; but a resourceful elder tipped us off that the LDS.org site has a journal entry program. :D Hooray for Gospel Resources that let me write longer letters!
P.P.P.S. We are in dire need of a Chilèan flag for our room. PLEASE SOMEBODY (or everybody) send us a(many) flag(s)!
P.P.P.P.S. (Wow I really should have just written another email) I am beginning to learn the Cello, and I'm writing music for out district and zone to perform right now. :P
I hope that you are all well. What an amazing week! I have been blessed with so many lessons and so many miracles that I am almost too full to share.. But if I have to, I will. ;)
Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to meet an elder who is from Tahiti. He spoke no english whatsoever, and I clearly don´t speak Tahitian, but in a miracle we were able to communicate. He is preparing to serve in a Spanish speaking mission, and through el Don de lenguas we were able to communicate perfectly! Even words that I did not know became suddenly clear and we were able to talk about his home and his experiences here so far. I pray that he will have an excellent mission.
So far, I know of 18 elders currently here that I knew prior to me coming, and I have seen approximately 15 of them. What a blessing to see so many courageous, righteous young men that have blessed my life SO much going off into the world to serve the Lord. I thank God every day for letting me serve and be among such amazing people.
The sisters in our district woke up the other morning to discover that they had been bitten by bedbugs! It took them all day to dryclean their clothes and deep clean their room, and after 24 hours of intense cleaning and careful inspection of all of their bags and materials were moved to another residence hall. No one is quite sure where the bugs came from, but fortunately most of the floor was empty, so they relocated the sisters and are deep cleaning the level.
One of our elders, Elder Binks, had two wonderful events this week. His sister arrived on Wednesday, going to serve in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were very excited to meet her and have been teasing him to no end about setting up Elder Lund (our District Leader) with her when they are home. Who knows?
Elder Binks´ birthday was also on Thursday. He turned 19, so we changed his name from ´Baby Binks´ and acknowledged that he is officially a man, amidst pools of fake tears. It is interesting to think that we may have the youngest missionary in the entire CCM(MTC), and Elder Stout is preparing to be harassed next week for his 20th birthday.
Mi compañero, Elder Loomis, and I have grown much closer. We still are very different and don´t always agree, but we love and serve each other diligently. The miracle that I have been praying for, backed up by your prayers, occurred in a letter that he got the other day. One of his closest friends is not a member, but apparently texted Elder Loomis´ phone just before his parents shut it off, and has decided to be baptized and to begin receiving the lessons in order to do so! How great is our God, that he is aware of our needs before we are! Elder Loomis´ resolve has been greatly strengthened, especially considering that he told us in the first lesson that asking someone to prepare to be baptized right off the bat was a bad idea, stating that this same friend would not if he asked, even though he had a desire for good. I know that any person that has a desire for good and a desire to follow God will be willing to find something out for themselves in the pursuit of enlightenment.
Ran into mi primo, Hermana Barker, in the caféteria the other day. How wonderful to see her, even though I could only shake her hand. I hope to introduce her to one of my teachers here, Hermano Verdugo. He returned from his mission four months ago in Argentina, and we discovered that he recently broke up with his girlfriend. I know it will most likely come to nothing, but I will try all the same... :P
We taught our first lessons of the training this week· all in Spanish! What a shock to struggle to express truths that are so dear to me! There is however, one very deep and personal thing that I am learning how to do that I wish to share with you· I am learning to simplify. It sounds so simple, and many of you are laughing inwardly right now I am sure, but for me it is something that I have always struggled to do, and struggled to learn. It is interesting how the Lord has had to take away my vocabulary to teach me that Gospel truths don´t have to be so complex to be spiritual. Even if I can only reduce it to one sentence with 6 or 7 words, it doesn´t make it any less true or impactful when said with the Spirit of God behind it.
That being said, I KNOW THAT WHAT I AM DOING IS RIGHT.
In case you haven´t noticed, our P·days have been moved to Fridays. I will log on to send my weekly update and print out emails at around 9 or 10 in the morning, then I will be online to respond and accept other emails live between 2:45 and 3:45, depending on the amount of people in the laundry room. Please note that I am only allowed to email family, so if you want me to respond to anything that you write I need your address. The rules may change in the mission field in Chile, but for now I am blessed to obey the rules of the MTC. I see the immediate blessings and strengths that are granted to me, and I would not trade them for anything. OBEDIÉNCIA CON EXACTITUD!
We are having a little friendly competition between the elders. An elder in a neighboring district received 16 letters in one night! While I don´t condone betting or flaunting one´s blessings and resources, we have decided to keep it clean by competing between rooms and districts. The room with the most letters on Friday, July 15 gets drinks. As I mentioned, Elder Stout´s birthday is next week, so the other room in our district has an advantage. I need you all to log on to Dear Elder next week, on friday morning, and shoot me a letter. I agreed to compete because I have also desired to hear more from all of you, and gain more addresses for my address book.
I do not have most of your addresses, just email addresses, which I cannot respond to or send things to after this email. PLEASE send me mail or your address so that I may write you! I have a huge box of envelopes and stamps, and I hope to write as many people as write me.
A Dios, Con Dios!
Te Amo.
-Elder Wheelhouse
P.S. I will also be starting weekly fun facts and trivia searches. Because I do not have access to conventional research resources, however, I will be going off of memory. Please forgive me if I mess up a fact or figure. This week's research challenge is based upon an exciting piece of news I discovered: Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is a part of my mission! Here is the Challenge:
Discover the approximate weight and dimensions of a Rapa Nui Head. The first person to send me the correct answer via email with their mailing address will receive a copy of my testimony (EN ESPAÑOL!) and a sweet gospel picture from the CCM Missionary Store!
P.P.S. You may have noticed this week's letter is a LOT longer than last week's. This is because we only have a half hour to access email each P-day, meaning that if we write on myldsmail.net <http://myldsmail.net> , we only have 30 minutes to read and respond; but a resourceful elder tipped us off that the LDS.org site has a journal entry program. :D Hooray for Gospel Resources that let me write longer letters!
P.P.P.S. We are in dire need of a Chilèan flag for our room. PLEASE SOMEBODY (or everybody) send us a(many) flag(s)!
P.P.P.P.S. (Wow I really should have just written another email) I am beginning to learn the Cello, and I'm writing music for out district and zone to perform right now. :P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
