Week Six

¿Qué tal?

What an interesting week. MANY MANY blessings, but some struggles too. We´ll get to those later.

Finally got over being sick at the beginning of the week. Did I talk about that? I don´t remember. When you gather 2600 missionaries into tight classrooms all day and everybody shakes hands, apparently you can catch a cold or the flu easier. Who´da thunk? My companion, myself, two Hermanas and one other Elder pushed through it with us and now we´re better! Thank goodness for the blessings of priesthood power and guidance in our tribulations.

Elder Loomis´birthday is today! We´ve enjoyed a rather wonderful morning, culminating in our trip to the Temple. I am so blessed to feel that peace and hope each week; I testify of the healing power of the temple.

Spanish has been getting better, and what the Lord allows me to say surprises me more and more each day! There are even some times when I slip into Spanish without thinking now because I say things so much.

My hand has started feeling better, and I´m able to do a lot more with it now. The doctor has still advised me not to use it to play sports or do anything other than writing until I leave so that it has sufficient time to be restored and strengthened. I think it´s awesome that the church has such skilled and inspired doctors to look out for us.

We performed ¨Nearer My God To Thee¨in sacrament meeting, and everyone loved it. I felt the presence of angels as we weaved a tapestry of testimony that is so near to my heart, and I have never heard a collection of amateur at best singers come together and be recording worthy. I tried to record us with a tape recorder afterwards, but the quality simply didn´t do it justice, so you´ll just have to imagine Vocal Point and Eclipse mixed, but in a sacrament meeting. BEAUTIFUL.

I got called down to the doctor´s office the other day for a followup on my hand and the doctor who was performing the followup asked me to stay and talk to him afterwards. He noted my medical history and some of the muscle aches that I´d had when I was sick and we talked for 45 minutes about my health. The doctors have decided to re-review my medical history and research specialists in my mission to see if they want to change my assignment.

He noted that my current health seemed to be well enough and that as long as I felt that I´d be able to walk at least 6 miles without complications that it shouldn´t be a problem for me to go out; however, he is concerned about what would happen if something did begin to happen. He said that it is unlikely that I´ll need to be transferred, because Santiago actually has some of the best medical care in the field, but advised me on some procedures if I begin to have problems wherever I end up.

I know that I was called to this mission for a reason. There is no way that the Lord would perform such great miracles in my life for nothing, nor that he would call me to Santiago via revelation unless this was the training that I needed. I will go wherever he wants me to go, and I accept that perhaps I simply needed the experience of the group that I´ve had in the MTC to best prepare me for the field I end up in. However, if this is simply a matter of my faith, willingness to ask Him for it, and humility to accept help from others, I don´t want my inaction to be the stumbling block that qualifies me for a different work.

At this time, I ask that you all pray for me to end up where is best for me, and if it be possible, the Chile Santiago North Mission.

I have turned it over to the Lord now, and I will wait patiently for His answer. I am meeting with the doctors again to make sure that I understand everything correctly and that they understand everything as well; I am also meeting with President Sonne, the President over missionary reviews, to make sure that he knows the desires of my heart and the miracles that have gotten me here. I will continue to work forward with faith, and I know that the Lord will bless me to be where I will be most effective.

Our lives are not without trials. God never intended it to be any other way. He allows trials in our lives, some self-inflicted and some not, because we have the great ability and opportunity to grow and learn from these experiences. It is meet that we should know sadness, so that we can appreciate greater joy. I find such solace in the testimony I have gained from my experiences in getting here; and while it is certainly difficult for me to wonder about this conclusion, I testify that God has never left me. NEVER. I know that these things are a small moment in my life, and that the blessings of my faith and the good desires of my heart will be rewarded a hundred times over. Time and time again, difficult things in my life have always led to a greater joy and a deeper understanding of my purpose; why would this be any different?

I testify of the redeeming and healing power of Christ. It is amazing to me that I can feel such peace and joy in the middle of something that is so hard. I know with all of my heart that this is a part of His plan, and that the blessings that will follow are far greater than any blessing I would receive otherwise. For the first time in my life, I have truly felt a thankfulness for a trial as it is happening. Not for the sake of the trial, but because it is a testimony to me that God knows what He is doing and what is most needed in my life. I do not know the end, but I see the next step- and for the first time, that is enough! What a great blessing to be able to feel my faith and my testimony grow! The Lord would not give me the commandment to go and serve a mission unless he prepared a way to acheive it, and he did. So too is the call to Chile. I do not know how or when or where, but I know that God Himself will allow me to bless those people, whether in person or through someone else.

THANK YOU for your love and support. THANK YOU for your prayers on my behalf. THANK YOU for your sacrifices, your time, your energy, your patience, your respect, and your blessings. God WILL see this through.

A Dios, Con Dios.
TO GOD, WITH GOD.

-Elder Wheelhouse

P.S. After I wrote this all out and began to transfer it over to email, I received an email from my dear Grandma Susan. As a part of her email, she shared a scripture that she felt she should share. It is in Phillipians 4:11-13. Read it.

P.P.S. We'll make this week's challenge relate. What is the situation when Paul wrote this scripture? Tell me the story. The first one to do so receives a picture of my companion and I with our testimonies.