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? :)