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