Date: January 03, 2011
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #8
January 3, 2011
¡Feliz Año Nuevo Todos!
I´m in the second year of my mission now! Haha. I´ll start off with what we did for New Years. At about 8:00 at night, we went to the church and help set up some more for a dinner that they were having. So Elder Haney and I, with Elders Stephen and Hughes (from Llano, in our branch) got permission to join in the dinner. it started at 10:00 and had a good amount of people. The salad was lettuce with artichoke and tuna with shrimp on top, then the main course was chicken with chop suey and rice and potatoes, then good ol´fruit cocktail and cream to finish it off. Then we all cleared the cultural hall of the tables and chairs and watched the fireworks in Valparaiso on a projector at midnight. Then the district had a dance afterwards and us elders left. We stayed at the zone leaders pension again. Chileans are crazy on New Years! There were random fires on the streets and fires on the hill under the cross and loud music playing out of every other house. We fell asleep at about 1:00, then when we woke up in the morning at 7:00, the music was still going! Crazy! Then we walked to the church to do weekly planning and the streets were basically empty and there were still a few house with music going and only a couple drunk guys passed out in the sidewalks. Then for lunch on the 1st, we had it at Alexis´ house (1st counselor who speaks English because he served in the Philippines) and I had an assortment of tacos; I made fish with palta (basically guacamole), fish with beef, beef, and chicken with beef. It was a delicious lunch!
Alright, now for some spiritual experiences that I had. This week taught Hugo and Patricia, a family we found last week and the husband (Hugo) isn´t a member. After talking with him, we found out that he goes with her to church when they go, and he even went to church when he was out of town because he knew that she would go! So we taught them and set a baptismal date for the 29th, which happened to be his birthday! Then the next lesson, she came out with a picture of them two in front of the Santiago temple. I got hit with an impression "The next time they go there, they will be in white and going through", and I set it as a goal for me, to get him baptized then through the temple so the family can be sealed. He read the assignment we gave him and some questions which we were able to answer, and then after watching "Together Forever" he was basically begging for scriptures about the Plan of Salvation. We are teaching them tonight, so we´ll see how his reading went!
Ignacio, the young man we´ve been teaching read and like what he read! Then when we watched The Restoration, his eyes teared up a little bit and he said that he believes that it truly happened. And we set a baptismal date for the 22nd! His only doubt is the church that he goes to now and what the pastor says about us. But, when he truly prays about what we are teaching him, he will receive an answer of his own and not need to got to anyone for an answer, but have his own knowledge.
On another note, we taught Tomas and Nevenka this week and tried to set a Baptismal date with her. She said she has a desire to. But they need to get married first! So when we tried to set a date for baptism and for them to take out a date to get married, Tomas said "There´s another way you can get baptized, move out!" trying to joke, but she didn´t take it that way and started to cry! So, we weren’t able to set a date. But we know that when we are finally able to bring a young member couple with us to teach, they will be able to testify about how living the gospel has helped their relationship and Tomas will finally want to get married (she already has the desire to).
Well, that was the highlight of my week. I hope everyone enjoyed New Years, sounds like in Colorado it was a white one! Here, it was a hot one! Love and miss you all! Make this New Year better than the last!
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Monday, January 17, 2011
Coquimbo Letter #7
Date: December 27, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #7
December 27, 2010
¡Hola!
First off, I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas! I spent Chirstmas Eve at Alexis´ house, and had dinner and we watched Mr. Kruger´s Christmas then were able to stay later because they open presents at midnight. Alexis (the first counselor who speaks English) got the elders towels with Chile stuff on it. Then we spent the night at the Zone Leader´s sleeping on the floor, I didn´t sleep very well ha! Then we went over to the branch president´s house at helped him set up a pool, then watched the kids play their xbox with Kinect (awesome!) and then had grilled meat and chicken for lunch with delicious ice cream. Then played LDS Monopoly and talked with the family! It was a nice Christmas!
On Wednesday, we had the Christmas conference of the Northern zones. It went from 8:30 to 6:00, but was really fun! We had a lesson on Joseph Smith, practices, a Christmas musical program, then watched the movie The Nativity, which was really cool and really spiritual, especially for a non-lds made movie.
Yesterday we had two really great lessons. One was with a man, about 18 years old, named Ignacio. We knocked his door about a week ago and he accepted a Book of Mormon. Then when we came back a few days later, we seemed really distraught about not reading, so we read with him. The next lesson he read and liked what he read! Then yesterday we watched the Restoration, and he had tears in his eyes afterwards. He believes that what he saw is true and will continue to read and pray. Afterwards, Elder Haney and I were talking about it and decided the next lesson, based on if he reads and prays, we´re going to set a baptismal date. I could still feel the Spirit strongly even after the lesson
Then the other lesson was to a member´s husband. We were talking with her about her husband and what impedes him from joining the church, then we were like, hey is he here? Go get him! Then she came back with a picture of them in front of the temple, and I got hit with an impression of "Next time they go there, they will be in white and going inside". Then as we were talking to him, we found out that he even went to church when he was away for work! His doubts were on Joseph Smith. So we were able to comfort his doubts more and committed him to read and to really sincerely pray about it and to know if he was a true prophet of God. Then we set a date for him to get baptized! And I believe that if he does what we ask him to do and we do all that we can, he will get baptized and they will go to the temple. The Spirit was extremely strongly felt by everyone in the lesson, which made it a great lesson.
Our next lesson with the great couple Tomas and Nevenka will be about the need for them to get married so that she can get baptized and they can got through the temple. They came to church yesterday and still have a strong desire to participate in the church, they just need to take out a date to get married! Their only doubt is last time they were going to, they got in a lot of arguments, but when we bring a younger member family, that doubt will go away and their faith will increase!
I love this work and I have truly begun to see miracles everyday in the lives of those who we teach. This gospel is a gospel of happiness and living it to the fullest, I am able to testify of that happiness and share it with the people of Chile. This transfer will be different than the last, of that I know, because we saw what we could have done better, and now we have begun to see the miracles of the work.
I hope all is well in the US and each one of you is able to find an opportunity to serve someone in need!
Con Mucho Amor
-Elder Whittle
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #7
December 27, 2010
¡Hola!
First off, I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas! I spent Chirstmas Eve at Alexis´ house, and had dinner and we watched Mr. Kruger´s Christmas then were able to stay later because they open presents at midnight. Alexis (the first counselor who speaks English) got the elders towels with Chile stuff on it. Then we spent the night at the Zone Leader´s sleeping on the floor, I didn´t sleep very well ha! Then we went over to the branch president´s house at helped him set up a pool, then watched the kids play their xbox with Kinect (awesome!) and then had grilled meat and chicken for lunch with delicious ice cream. Then played LDS Monopoly and talked with the family! It was a nice Christmas!
On Wednesday, we had the Christmas conference of the Northern zones. It went from 8:30 to 6:00, but was really fun! We had a lesson on Joseph Smith, practices, a Christmas musical program, then watched the movie The Nativity, which was really cool and really spiritual, especially for a non-lds made movie.
Yesterday we had two really great lessons. One was with a man, about 18 years old, named Ignacio. We knocked his door about a week ago and he accepted a Book of Mormon. Then when we came back a few days later, we seemed really distraught about not reading, so we read with him. The next lesson he read and liked what he read! Then yesterday we watched the Restoration, and he had tears in his eyes afterwards. He believes that what he saw is true and will continue to read and pray. Afterwards, Elder Haney and I were talking about it and decided the next lesson, based on if he reads and prays, we´re going to set a baptismal date. I could still feel the Spirit strongly even after the lesson
Then the other lesson was to a member´s husband. We were talking with her about her husband and what impedes him from joining the church, then we were like, hey is he here? Go get him! Then she came back with a picture of them in front of the temple, and I got hit with an impression of "Next time they go there, they will be in white and going inside". Then as we were talking to him, we found out that he even went to church when he was away for work! His doubts were on Joseph Smith. So we were able to comfort his doubts more and committed him to read and to really sincerely pray about it and to know if he was a true prophet of God. Then we set a date for him to get baptized! And I believe that if he does what we ask him to do and we do all that we can, he will get baptized and they will go to the temple. The Spirit was extremely strongly felt by everyone in the lesson, which made it a great lesson.
Our next lesson with the great couple Tomas and Nevenka will be about the need for them to get married so that she can get baptized and they can got through the temple. They came to church yesterday and still have a strong desire to participate in the church, they just need to take out a date to get married! Their only doubt is last time they were going to, they got in a lot of arguments, but when we bring a younger member family, that doubt will go away and their faith will increase!
I love this work and I have truly begun to see miracles everyday in the lives of those who we teach. This gospel is a gospel of happiness and living it to the fullest, I am able to testify of that happiness and share it with the people of Chile. This transfer will be different than the last, of that I know, because we saw what we could have done better, and now we have begun to see the miracles of the work.
I hope all is well in the US and each one of you is able to find an opportunity to serve someone in need!
Con Mucho Amor
-Elder Whittle
Coquimbo Letter #6
Date: December 20, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #6
December 20, 2010
Hola!
It seems like a lot of great things are happening in the emails I get! That´s awesome to hear that Ryan is back out!
Well, we found out on Saturday if we´re transferring or not, and I´m stay in La Cantera with my trainer Elder Haney for another change! I was okay with it as we still have a lot of work to do in our area. I just hope we´re able to find a pension so that there´s not 6 of us in one apartment.
This week we have had to drop a lot of investigators because they weren´t progressing and didn´t have a desire to learn more. This was a little hard, but alright because now we can dedicate more time back to finding. Here´s how my week went..
On Monday of last week I forgot to mention that in the morning I ate a red chili pepper. Get it? I ate a Chili in Chile! Ha! Then that night we had a Family Home Evening with Jasmina at a member´s house. She sure does like to talk a lot, but loves the activities we do in the church! (She was the one with attended last week).
Then on Tuesday, we figured out that it would take an hour and 15 minutes to walk from our area to our pension! But we did a lot of tracting on that day because all of our lessons fell through.
On Wednesday, we were told by an investigator with a baptismal date that she doesn´t really have a desire to change because of how others would view her. It was a sad lesson, but we know that in a time down the road, she´ll be ready. Then we taught Jim and Lorena. Jim is the retired Marine from New York who has lived here for about a year because he retired with his Chilean wife and they decided to move down here. He doesn´t speak any Spanish, so we taught again in English. It´s so weird teaching in English, but it´s also a nice break from the Spanish 24/7. They are really nice and she reads a lot and always has questions about what she reads, like we answered why Nephi was commanded to kill Laban for here. He doesn´t like reading, but promised that he will with his wife now and try to work on his Spanish. We talked about Baptism and he said "I guess I never really thought about baptism before". I think they´ll have a date next lesson, after the holiday season!
On Thursday we ate lunch at Jasmina and Ricardo´s house. It was a fun lunch and nice to eat with investigators and afterwards we were able to teach a lesson. They accepted to be baptized, but then said I don´t know how long it´ll be till I’m ready, so we didn´t set a date. Then we were told by a potential investigator that her husband didn´t want her sharing with us. The men are always the hard ones to get! That night, Elder Petersen found another Rincon, or Brown Recluse. That makes two so far!
Friday was a day of service. We moved dirt from a field to a backyard in a wheelbarrow with a flat tire up a hill in the morning, which was quite the workout! Then help a less-active pour rocks around his backyard. Tomas works at the jail and his wife, Nevenka, at the daycare and are really nice and have the desire to attend church, get married, and she has a desire to be baptized! Tomas said that working at the jail, he goes to work then doesn´t know when he´ll get off. Could be a day, could be a month. It´s interesting to see the difference.
Then Saturday was a day of finding new investigators. We have lessons set up with the ones we found this whole week, so we shall see how they go!
Yesterday, we went to Tomas and Nevenka´s house to pick them up, but they weren´t there! So we went to church and then they came in after the Sacrament. It was a total surprise as we thought they weren´t coming. But they did and loved it. It was a nice surprise! Jasmina wasn´t able to attend though because she was in Santiago.
Well, that was my week! This change will be different than the last because we don´t have to start from scratch and we have realized what we need to change to make these next 6 weeks successful. I hope all is going well and you all are enjoy the Christmas time. It´s completely different here because they´re on their summer break and its sunny and hot! But it helps me focus on the Spiritual side of Christmas. On that note, Merry Christmas from Chile!
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #6
December 20, 2010
Hola!
It seems like a lot of great things are happening in the emails I get! That´s awesome to hear that Ryan is back out!
Well, we found out on Saturday if we´re transferring or not, and I´m stay in La Cantera with my trainer Elder Haney for another change! I was okay with it as we still have a lot of work to do in our area. I just hope we´re able to find a pension so that there´s not 6 of us in one apartment.
This week we have had to drop a lot of investigators because they weren´t progressing and didn´t have a desire to learn more. This was a little hard, but alright because now we can dedicate more time back to finding. Here´s how my week went..
On Monday of last week I forgot to mention that in the morning I ate a red chili pepper. Get it? I ate a Chili in Chile! Ha! Then that night we had a Family Home Evening with Jasmina at a member´s house. She sure does like to talk a lot, but loves the activities we do in the church! (She was the one with attended last week).
Then on Tuesday, we figured out that it would take an hour and 15 minutes to walk from our area to our pension! But we did a lot of tracting on that day because all of our lessons fell through.
On Wednesday, we were told by an investigator with a baptismal date that she doesn´t really have a desire to change because of how others would view her. It was a sad lesson, but we know that in a time down the road, she´ll be ready. Then we taught Jim and Lorena. Jim is the retired Marine from New York who has lived here for about a year because he retired with his Chilean wife and they decided to move down here. He doesn´t speak any Spanish, so we taught again in English. It´s so weird teaching in English, but it´s also a nice break from the Spanish 24/7. They are really nice and she reads a lot and always has questions about what she reads, like we answered why Nephi was commanded to kill Laban for here. He doesn´t like reading, but promised that he will with his wife now and try to work on his Spanish. We talked about Baptism and he said "I guess I never really thought about baptism before". I think they´ll have a date next lesson, after the holiday season!
On Thursday we ate lunch at Jasmina and Ricardo´s house. It was a fun lunch and nice to eat with investigators and afterwards we were able to teach a lesson. They accepted to be baptized, but then said I don´t know how long it´ll be till I’m ready, so we didn´t set a date. Then we were told by a potential investigator that her husband didn´t want her sharing with us. The men are always the hard ones to get! That night, Elder Petersen found another Rincon, or Brown Recluse. That makes two so far!
Friday was a day of service. We moved dirt from a field to a backyard in a wheelbarrow with a flat tire up a hill in the morning, which was quite the workout! Then help a less-active pour rocks around his backyard. Tomas works at the jail and his wife, Nevenka, at the daycare and are really nice and have the desire to attend church, get married, and she has a desire to be baptized! Tomas said that working at the jail, he goes to work then doesn´t know when he´ll get off. Could be a day, could be a month. It´s interesting to see the difference.
Then Saturday was a day of finding new investigators. We have lessons set up with the ones we found this whole week, so we shall see how they go!
Yesterday, we went to Tomas and Nevenka´s house to pick them up, but they weren´t there! So we went to church and then they came in after the Sacrament. It was a total surprise as we thought they weren´t coming. But they did and loved it. It was a nice surprise! Jasmina wasn´t able to attend though because she was in Santiago.
Well, that was my week! This change will be different than the last because we don´t have to start from scratch and we have realized what we need to change to make these next 6 weeks successful. I hope all is going well and you all are enjoy the Christmas time. It´s completely different here because they´re on their summer break and its sunny and hot! But it helps me focus on the Spiritual side of Christmas. On that note, Merry Christmas from Chile!
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Coquimbo Letter #5
Date: December 13, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Coquimbo #5
December 13, 2010
¡Hola!
We had a good week this week!
On Tuesday morning we went to a Daycare to finish painting the fences for the service that we had done for the past two weeks. But when we got there, it was locked and no one was there! Turns out that the workers there went on strike because they were getting paid enough. False hope!
We are still searching for a new pension, but its super hard to find one to rent yearly because its the beginning of summer here, so all the apartments are doing by day so they can get more money. Looks like I’ll finish out the change in the same pension with 6 Elders total. It is fun at times!
On Wednesday, at lunch, the kids were playing Wii Resort. Friends and Family, you remember playing that all the time? It reminded me of that and made me Trunkie! We also met a less-active, who was in the Chilean Air Force! So we talked about planes and the Air force, it was nice to find someone with the same interests. He also made us Completos, hot dogs with avocado, mayo, tomato, mustard. Yum!
On Thursday, I went on interchanges with on of the Zone leaders, Elder Sebreros, who is in his last change. It was an awesome experience, in which I learned a lot. I learned that you have to listen with real intent to both your companion and to the investigator in order to be able to listen to the Spirit and follow it´s guidance in what to say. We taught Jasmina and Ricardo. Jasmina talks a lot and reminds me of like a nana figure in movies or something. We taught a great lesson about Keeping the Sabbath day holy and she promised that she would go to church! Teaching them is always enjoyable.
On Friday, we taught a really nice lady and her two daughters about the Sabbath Day. We cleared up some doubts and went over what they read. Carola (the mom) doesn’t see the need to change, but has a want to. But it was a very spiritual lesson and we set a baptismal date for January. If I stay in the area for next change, it´ll be great for bringing them closer to the Gospel and making their first covenant with the Lord!
Saturday was a great day. We gave a tour of the Church to Jasmina and Ricardo, and they loved it. Jasmina expressed how she felt more at peace there than she had ever really felt. The genealogy person was there and taught them about it, in which they are very interested. Jasmina said "I want to baptize my dad!". She was really happy with the doctrine of doing ordinances for the dead. Then we had a talent show, in which they came. The missionaries act was horrible! We can´t sing! We all sung parts of songs, then were like, oh wait, you don´t all speak English! Then sung the mission song. They laughed, so I guess it was all good.
Sunday was great! Jasmina came to church, and stayed for the whole three hours. She said she loved every bit of it! Even though the kids next to her were loud the whole sacrament meeting, she said that she could feel the Spirit super strong, and even started to tear up a little! It was an awesome experience.
Well, that was my week! Oh, I ate a whole plain avocado at lunch yesterday. Still don´t like them plain and by themselves, but I am starting to get used to them. The things you have to get used to on the mission!
I hope everyone’s week went well and that you all were able to enjoy the moments. Make every week better than the one before!
¡Con Mucho, Mucho Amor!
-Elder Whittle
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Coquimbo #5
December 13, 2010
¡Hola!
We had a good week this week!
On Tuesday morning we went to a Daycare to finish painting the fences for the service that we had done for the past two weeks. But when we got there, it was locked and no one was there! Turns out that the workers there went on strike because they were getting paid enough. False hope!
We are still searching for a new pension, but its super hard to find one to rent yearly because its the beginning of summer here, so all the apartments are doing by day so they can get more money. Looks like I’ll finish out the change in the same pension with 6 Elders total. It is fun at times!
On Wednesday, at lunch, the kids were playing Wii Resort. Friends and Family, you remember playing that all the time? It reminded me of that and made me Trunkie! We also met a less-active, who was in the Chilean Air Force! So we talked about planes and the Air force, it was nice to find someone with the same interests. He also made us Completos, hot dogs with avocado, mayo, tomato, mustard. Yum!
On Thursday, I went on interchanges with on of the Zone leaders, Elder Sebreros, who is in his last change. It was an awesome experience, in which I learned a lot. I learned that you have to listen with real intent to both your companion and to the investigator in order to be able to listen to the Spirit and follow it´s guidance in what to say. We taught Jasmina and Ricardo. Jasmina talks a lot and reminds me of like a nana figure in movies or something. We taught a great lesson about Keeping the Sabbath day holy and she promised that she would go to church! Teaching them is always enjoyable.
On Friday, we taught a really nice lady and her two daughters about the Sabbath Day. We cleared up some doubts and went over what they read. Carola (the mom) doesn’t see the need to change, but has a want to. But it was a very spiritual lesson and we set a baptismal date for January. If I stay in the area for next change, it´ll be great for bringing them closer to the Gospel and making their first covenant with the Lord!
Saturday was a great day. We gave a tour of the Church to Jasmina and Ricardo, and they loved it. Jasmina expressed how she felt more at peace there than she had ever really felt. The genealogy person was there and taught them about it, in which they are very interested. Jasmina said "I want to baptize my dad!". She was really happy with the doctrine of doing ordinances for the dead. Then we had a talent show, in which they came. The missionaries act was horrible! We can´t sing! We all sung parts of songs, then were like, oh wait, you don´t all speak English! Then sung the mission song. They laughed, so I guess it was all good.
Sunday was great! Jasmina came to church, and stayed for the whole three hours. She said she loved every bit of it! Even though the kids next to her were loud the whole sacrament meeting, she said that she could feel the Spirit super strong, and even started to tear up a little! It was an awesome experience.
Well, that was my week! Oh, I ate a whole plain avocado at lunch yesterday. Still don´t like them plain and by themselves, but I am starting to get used to them. The things you have to get used to on the mission!
I hope everyone’s week went well and that you all were able to enjoy the moments. Make every week better than the one before!
¡Con Mucho, Mucho Amor!
-Elder Whittle
Coquimbo Letter #4
Date: December 06, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #4
Dec 6, 2010
Hola Todos!
This week has been a difficult one. None of our investigators attended church yesterday, and we didn’t find as many news as we have been. I hurt my knee for a good 3 days, but it healed itself. I slipped on a pile of rocks and my leg slipped out from under me and into the pile of rocks. Its better now! But, some of the people that we did find have expressed a true desire to hear the Gospel. I always say to myself, "You won’t receive a witness until after the trial of your faith". That scripture has kept me going this week. Tomorrow is always a new day!
A couple days ago I did interchanges, and stayed in my area. It was quite the experience not following Elder Hanye around because he knows exactly where we´re going and speaks a lot of Spanish. Elder Buffum, who is only one change older than me, joined me in La Cantera. I pushed my Spanish, as well as him, all day because we did not know very much Spanish. But I improved a lot from that experience! Elder Buffum is hilarious, he always jokes with everyone, but they’re like kinda serious jokes, but leave us laughing.
Because of Fast Sunday, we did the fast from lunch to lunch (because lunches are the big meals of the day). We started it with another awesome meal. A BBQ with delicious steak, and corn and potatoes. I ate so much! But, we forgot to drink a lot of water before, so the whole rest of the day we were dying of thirst. Then yesterday, we ended the fast with another huge a delicious meal, meat, fried rice, french fries, and ice cream to finish it off. We had the last one with Hno. Mosso and his family. He his an awesome counselor, who is so animated about the work and when we teach with him, the lesson always goes super well because of his strong testimony that supports it.
Also this week, we found a couple from the U.S. The husband is a retired marine and his wife is Chilean, so they decided to move back here to retire. We taught a lesson in Spanglish because he didn´t know Spanish, but she knew English pretty well. I couldn´t say the first vision in English! It was a nice break to the day however because that day was a rough one.
Another thing that I have noticed about Chile is that everyone uses gas, so gas trucks drive through the streets ringing a bell and people come out and exchange the gas. It pretty different! As is seeing the coast everyday!
I keep all of you in my prayers, as I miss all of you a lot! But this work is the work of God, and I know that it is what I should be doing. I hope all is well in every aspect of life! Thanks for your advice. Mom, I´m pretty sure I use all of all of your guys´ prayers. I hope that you´re able to use mine, because I pray a lot for the family!!!
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #4
Dec 6, 2010
Hola Todos!
This week has been a difficult one. None of our investigators attended church yesterday, and we didn’t find as many news as we have been. I hurt my knee for a good 3 days, but it healed itself. I slipped on a pile of rocks and my leg slipped out from under me and into the pile of rocks. Its better now! But, some of the people that we did find have expressed a true desire to hear the Gospel. I always say to myself, "You won’t receive a witness until after the trial of your faith". That scripture has kept me going this week. Tomorrow is always a new day!
A couple days ago I did interchanges, and stayed in my area. It was quite the experience not following Elder Hanye around because he knows exactly where we´re going and speaks a lot of Spanish. Elder Buffum, who is only one change older than me, joined me in La Cantera. I pushed my Spanish, as well as him, all day because we did not know very much Spanish. But I improved a lot from that experience! Elder Buffum is hilarious, he always jokes with everyone, but they’re like kinda serious jokes, but leave us laughing.
Because of Fast Sunday, we did the fast from lunch to lunch (because lunches are the big meals of the day). We started it with another awesome meal. A BBQ with delicious steak, and corn and potatoes. I ate so much! But, we forgot to drink a lot of water before, so the whole rest of the day we were dying of thirst. Then yesterday, we ended the fast with another huge a delicious meal, meat, fried rice, french fries, and ice cream to finish it off. We had the last one with Hno. Mosso and his family. He his an awesome counselor, who is so animated about the work and when we teach with him, the lesson always goes super well because of his strong testimony that supports it.
Also this week, we found a couple from the U.S. The husband is a retired marine and his wife is Chilean, so they decided to move back here to retire. We taught a lesson in Spanglish because he didn´t know Spanish, but she knew English pretty well. I couldn´t say the first vision in English! It was a nice break to the day however because that day was a rough one.
Another thing that I have noticed about Chile is that everyone uses gas, so gas trucks drive through the streets ringing a bell and people come out and exchange the gas. It pretty different! As is seeing the coast everyday!
I keep all of you in my prayers, as I miss all of you a lot! But this work is the work of God, and I know that it is what I should be doing. I hope all is well in every aspect of life! Thanks for your advice. Mom, I´m pretty sure I use all of all of your guys´ prayers. I hope that you´re able to use mine, because I pray a lot for the family!!!
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Coquimbo Letter #3
Date: November 29, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Hola!
This week has definitely had its ups and downs. Sounds like the missionaries of the family all got sick! After Monday, I was able to work, but there were days that I would have a sharp pain throughout the day and not be able to concentrate fully. Also, my companion had stomach pains off and on throughout the week. I think I´m just getting used to the missionary life in Chile.
This week I went on interchanges with the Zone Leader, Elder Heap, in his area. We didn´t knock one door because he had appointments for the whole day, because they had a good ¨pool¨ of progressing investigators. We also brought a member to every lesson. I learned the importance of bringing members to lessons. I think some investigators think that the missionaries are the only members of the church, but bringing them to lessons breaks the ice for them when they come to church and they are able to realize that the members are normal people. The members are also able to give a strong testimony and help the investigator understand it from a non-missionary point of view. So those of you who are members, help out with the missionary work in your ward
We are still building the ¨pool¨ of progressing investigators. It´s hard with opening up a new area, we spend a lot of time finding, then teaching, then trying to figure out how to get them to progress. We didn´t have any attend church this week, but we found 11 new investigators. Opening up a new area as my first area is tough! We found a family while knocking the house next door. A 19 year old, gangster looking guy was walking over and Elder Haney says Do you live here? He replied that he does, so my companion asks Want to hear a message about Jesus Christ?, not really expecting that he did. But he said Yeah, come on in! So we taught him the first lesson, and about halfway through, his mom and brother walk in a join in. The mom said at the end that she wanted her family to be able to be together and have more unity here on earth. I know that through this Gospel it is possible to have an eternal and unified family. It´s awesome sharing that with others!
Not too many awesome stories this week, but I have a feeling that next week there will be! Thank you all for the support that I feel every day. I push through the hard and rough days because I know that the next day will be a new day. The mission is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I´m slowly and at the same time quickly learning that it is also the best thing I have ever done.
I miss every single one of you and love you too! I hope all is well and life is good!
Con Amor!
-Elder Whittle
P.S. Don´t foget to email!
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Hola!
This week has definitely had its ups and downs. Sounds like the missionaries of the family all got sick! After Monday, I was able to work, but there were days that I would have a sharp pain throughout the day and not be able to concentrate fully. Also, my companion had stomach pains off and on throughout the week. I think I´m just getting used to the missionary life in Chile.
This week I went on interchanges with the Zone Leader, Elder Heap, in his area. We didn´t knock one door because he had appointments for the whole day, because they had a good ¨pool¨ of progressing investigators. We also brought a member to every lesson. I learned the importance of bringing members to lessons. I think some investigators think that the missionaries are the only members of the church, but bringing them to lessons breaks the ice for them when they come to church and they are able to realize that the members are normal people. The members are also able to give a strong testimony and help the investigator understand it from a non-missionary point of view. So those of you who are members, help out with the missionary work in your ward
We are still building the ¨pool¨ of progressing investigators. It´s hard with opening up a new area, we spend a lot of time finding, then teaching, then trying to figure out how to get them to progress. We didn´t have any attend church this week, but we found 11 new investigators. Opening up a new area as my first area is tough! We found a family while knocking the house next door. A 19 year old, gangster looking guy was walking over and Elder Haney says Do you live here? He replied that he does, so my companion asks Want to hear a message about Jesus Christ?, not really expecting that he did. But he said Yeah, come on in! So we taught him the first lesson, and about halfway through, his mom and brother walk in a join in. The mom said at the end that she wanted her family to be able to be together and have more unity here on earth. I know that through this Gospel it is possible to have an eternal and unified family. It´s awesome sharing that with others!
Not too many awesome stories this week, but I have a feeling that next week there will be! Thank you all for the support that I feel every day. I push through the hard and rough days because I know that the next day will be a new day. The mission is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I´m slowly and at the same time quickly learning that it is also the best thing I have ever done.
I miss every single one of you and love you too! I hope all is well and life is good!
Con Amor!
-Elder Whittle
P.S. Don´t foget to email!
Coquimbo Letter #2
Date: November 22, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #2
November 22, 2010
Hola Todos!
This week has been quite the week. To start off, I´m sick right now! I’ts really annoying being sick as a missionary, but I haven’t thrown up today! Alright, now on to the less gross stuff. For lunch the other day, I ate fish, and it wasn’t too bad! And I´ve had a lot of Palta, or avocado, which I’m starting to get used to. I guess they grow some good stuff here!
On Tuesday, the 2nd counselor took us around a we taught his less active sister an awesome lesson and met another less active family, who is awesome. Teaching with Hno. Mosso is really fun because he’s super helpful and super animated. As are the rest of the members! They have a family home evening with us on every Wednesday and they bring the investigator. Always makes for a fun night!
Yesterday we taught a lady and a family who are really awesome and set baptismal dates with both! The lessons were awesome, and say the first vision brings in the Spirit so much. The people are really receptive here when we teach, which makes the teaching so much easier. One lady who we taught after she saw us next door when she was stepping out for a smoke, said at the end of the lesson that even though I can´t speak very well, the message that I bring across is touching and is what matters. That gave me a lot of confidence in the Lord helping me out in the moments where I need Him.
The Spanish is coming slowly, but is coming. Having a "gringo" companion is helpful because I can ask him what word mean that I write down. We live with an Elder Salerno from Argentina, who is crazy, and is really funny when he speaks English, but he´s patient with me when i try to talk to him which really helps!
I went on my first interchange this week, which was interesting switching companions and being in a different area and pension. But it was fun! I was companions with Elder Buffum, a convert from Rhode Island who is hilarious with his sense of humor. We found two great people and taught them wonderful lessons, as well as read the Book of Mormon with a less active 12 year old.
Oh, on Friday, the other elders in our ward had a baptism and I got to be a witness and sing while they were getting ready after. I realized how long its been since I’ve been at one and they´re so spiritual! I can´t wait to go to another one.
One thing that I´ve realized that really helps the people feel the spirit in they´re homes is singing. We sing all the time and when tracting, we ask if we can just sing a hymn, which works really well because its short and it leaves the option open to set up an appointment. I´ll have a beautiful voice when I get back from all the singing! Haha.
****Send me emails while I’m up here in Coquimbo because they take forever to get to Chile then we only get the mail brought up once every few weeks when the Assistants come up. Although I think that I can really only email family, so friends, email my mom and she´ll forward. Mom, Email Me :) ************
I hope that everyone´s week went well! Here´s a scripture for you. "Pourque ninguna cosa es imposible para Dios."
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Dad- I sent you one too, just to remind mom ;)
Nicole- I just got your DearElder! Thanks for that awesome spiritual boost that I needed!
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Caleb’s Coquimbo #2
November 22, 2010
Hola Todos!
This week has been quite the week. To start off, I´m sick right now! I’ts really annoying being sick as a missionary, but I haven’t thrown up today! Alright, now on to the less gross stuff. For lunch the other day, I ate fish, and it wasn’t too bad! And I´ve had a lot of Palta, or avocado, which I’m starting to get used to. I guess they grow some good stuff here!
On Tuesday, the 2nd counselor took us around a we taught his less active sister an awesome lesson and met another less active family, who is awesome. Teaching with Hno. Mosso is really fun because he’s super helpful and super animated. As are the rest of the members! They have a family home evening with us on every Wednesday and they bring the investigator. Always makes for a fun night!
Yesterday we taught a lady and a family who are really awesome and set baptismal dates with both! The lessons were awesome, and say the first vision brings in the Spirit so much. The people are really receptive here when we teach, which makes the teaching so much easier. One lady who we taught after she saw us next door when she was stepping out for a smoke, said at the end of the lesson that even though I can´t speak very well, the message that I bring across is touching and is what matters. That gave me a lot of confidence in the Lord helping me out in the moments where I need Him.
The Spanish is coming slowly, but is coming. Having a "gringo" companion is helpful because I can ask him what word mean that I write down. We live with an Elder Salerno from Argentina, who is crazy, and is really funny when he speaks English, but he´s patient with me when i try to talk to him which really helps!
I went on my first interchange this week, which was interesting switching companions and being in a different area and pension. But it was fun! I was companions with Elder Buffum, a convert from Rhode Island who is hilarious with his sense of humor. We found two great people and taught them wonderful lessons, as well as read the Book of Mormon with a less active 12 year old.
Oh, on Friday, the other elders in our ward had a baptism and I got to be a witness and sing while they were getting ready after. I realized how long its been since I’ve been at one and they´re so spiritual! I can´t wait to go to another one.
One thing that I´ve realized that really helps the people feel the spirit in they´re homes is singing. We sing all the time and when tracting, we ask if we can just sing a hymn, which works really well because its short and it leaves the option open to set up an appointment. I´ll have a beautiful voice when I get back from all the singing! Haha.
****Send me emails while I’m up here in Coquimbo because they take forever to get to Chile then we only get the mail brought up once every few weeks when the Assistants come up. Although I think that I can really only email family, so friends, email my mom and she´ll forward. Mom, Email Me :) ************
I hope that everyone´s week went well! Here´s a scripture for you. "Pourque ninguna cosa es imposible para Dios."
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Whittle
Dad- I sent you one too, just to remind mom ;)
Nicole- I just got your DearElder! Thanks for that awesome spiritual boost that I needed!
Coquimbo Letter #1
Date: November 15, 2010
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Hooooooola!
I´m in Chile now! So this might be a longer email (and because I don´t only have 30 minutes!)
So, on Monday, I flew out at 2 in the afternoon, and got into Georgia at about 745 pm. Our next flight took off at 820, so we booked it off the plane, went clear over to the other side of the Atlanta airport, and barely made our flight. On the flight to Georgia, I talked with a lady who majored in Aerospace Engineering (but is in residential development) and has her multi instrument license (private pilot). Then we had an 11 hour or so flight to Chile. I slept, talked, and read. Then we got off, went through customs and immigration, then I met my mission president after! They are really nice and loving. Then we took an hour and a half drive to Viña del Mar. It’s kinda funny to see little huts on the way with satellite dishes on them. Some parts of the scenery reminded me of Oregon, and others like California or Florida. We stopped at an outlook in the middle of Valpariso and Viña. I took some pictures that I’ll hopefully be able to send. It’s really packed and right on the coast! Then we went to a clock made out of flowers, and were sent off in different directions in groups of 4 to find the mission home. We go lucky and found a study abroad study from northern Colorado (she had the sweatshirt) and she was going that way. Then, once we got there, we were taught on finances, health, the mission, and ate some good empanadas. Then we went in the yard and had to find our trainer in the group of the. I found mine right off the bat. Elder Haney from Boise, Idaho (he´s pretty sure he knows Tyler´s wife from high school!). He´s a funny guy and has a year in the mission. We get along well and he helps a lot with the Spanish. I´m learning, I can understand a lot, but talking isn´t so hot. But that´s okay because I know I’ll get it with time. Then we went to the mission office. There I found out that I was going up to the northern part of the mission. We took a 7 hour bus ride north. So I didn´t end up getting to our pension(where we live) till like 130 Wednesday morning.
I´ll talk about where I live. So, we live about a 10 min drive from out area, which is about 10 minute drive to the church from our area. We are looking for a new place to live, but it’s a bit difficult. The apartment has 6 elders including us two. We sleep on the floor (still on a mattress though), and our ¨desk¨ is a round plastic one with two other elders. It’s a tight fit, but we make it work! Since we have lunch in the same place as the church, we go from the place, to the church area, to our area, then back to our place. It’s costly to take that many Collectivos (like a taxi, but only one route), but we get more in the middle of the month, depending on how much we spend. There is graffiti everywhere, as well as dogs, everywhere! I think all the dogs in the streets is what surprised me the most. I guess it’s nothing like Valpariso though, as my companion says. It’s crazy! Oh, there´s an Elder from Argentina that lives in the same apartment, and he is hilarious!! He jokes around a lot and does really funny things haha.
I´m in Coquimbo, and opening up a new area! Coquimbo is also on a beach, and has the famous giant Cross on top of a hill when the Pope came here. Our area has a little bit of everything, a lot of richer houses and some in bad shape. But Elder Haney said the whole area is much richer than where he was is Valpariso. So, opening a new area, we have no Area Book, no ward (branch) list, no nothing! So these past days, we´ve been doing a lot of finding. Story time!... We found this woman while knocking doors, who wondered why there were some many churches. So we set up an appointment to come back the next day. When we went to teach, her friend joined in. We taught the first lesson, but didn´t have a Book of Mormon to give! After the great and spiritual lesson, we invited them to come to church the next day. She said yes. So at Church, we were greeting people, and she came! Church was good, they talked about the temple and the new missionaries gave introductions, I did get lost a lot in the Spanish though! We had an appointment with her at 430, so when we went, she of course had a lot of questions about church. So we answered them, helped her with English, then taught the 3rd lesson (The Gospel) to her and her friend. They were really receptive, and in the lesson, we extended the commitment to them to get baptized and gave them a Book of Mormon to read and pray. They accepted!!!! It’s so awesome to have a date set from the first week. We got 11 new investigators these few days, and the members are super helpful and excited about the work! This is a great area to start off my mission! Hard, but good!!
Another event that happened was that I got my ring stolen from me. So I’ve already been robbed of something. It’s okay though, it really didn´t have much sentimental value, but I’ll miss playing with it!
Oh, here, breakfast isn’t really too big, and they basically don´t have dinner, but lunch is huge and it’s usually at 130. It’s usually soup and bread, the main course, then they really like fruit cocktail with cream for dessert. I´m always hungry though! The members feed us lunch, and its a good way to get to know them, they´re so nice!
Hmm.. I think that about sums up the week as best as I can remember!
¨
I miss every single one of you, and hope that life is well for you! Thank you for your love in my life! Remember to love everyone and to be happy!!! =D
Con Amor,
Elder Whittle
P.S. I´m pretty sure that the mail service is really slow here. So use DearElder and I´ll be able to respond to it through this email. Or you can send my mom an email and she can forward it here.
Dad= How was Santiago? How was the trip? I bet it was a different experience.
Darbie= That´s awesome that you´re in a play! You´ll have to let me know how it goes.
Wess= I definitely took time to enjoy the MTC, it prepared me for here! And thanks for the advice.
Jarred= Man, it does sound like you had crazy week! I hope your labs and midterms went well. School sounds crazy! Although here can get pretty hectic too. You welcome for reminding you haha!
Grandma= Thanks for that awesome story! I hope I can help my investigators build a strong testimony like that.
Area: Coquimbo, Chile
Companion: Elder Haney
Hooooooola!
I´m in Chile now! So this might be a longer email (and because I don´t only have 30 minutes!)
So, on Monday, I flew out at 2 in the afternoon, and got into Georgia at about 745 pm. Our next flight took off at 820, so we booked it off the plane, went clear over to the other side of the Atlanta airport, and barely made our flight. On the flight to Georgia, I talked with a lady who majored in Aerospace Engineering (but is in residential development) and has her multi instrument license (private pilot). Then we had an 11 hour or so flight to Chile. I slept, talked, and read. Then we got off, went through customs and immigration, then I met my mission president after! They are really nice and loving. Then we took an hour and a half drive to Viña del Mar. It’s kinda funny to see little huts on the way with satellite dishes on them. Some parts of the scenery reminded me of Oregon, and others like California or Florida. We stopped at an outlook in the middle of Valpariso and Viña. I took some pictures that I’ll hopefully be able to send. It’s really packed and right on the coast! Then we went to a clock made out of flowers, and were sent off in different directions in groups of 4 to find the mission home. We go lucky and found a study abroad study from northern Colorado (she had the sweatshirt) and she was going that way. Then, once we got there, we were taught on finances, health, the mission, and ate some good empanadas. Then we went in the yard and had to find our trainer in the group of the. I found mine right off the bat. Elder Haney from Boise, Idaho (he´s pretty sure he knows Tyler´s wife from high school!). He´s a funny guy and has a year in the mission. We get along well and he helps a lot with the Spanish. I´m learning, I can understand a lot, but talking isn´t so hot. But that´s okay because I know I’ll get it with time. Then we went to the mission office. There I found out that I was going up to the northern part of the mission. We took a 7 hour bus ride north. So I didn´t end up getting to our pension(where we live) till like 130 Wednesday morning.
I´ll talk about where I live. So, we live about a 10 min drive from out area, which is about 10 minute drive to the church from our area. We are looking for a new place to live, but it’s a bit difficult. The apartment has 6 elders including us two. We sleep on the floor (still on a mattress though), and our ¨desk¨ is a round plastic one with two other elders. It’s a tight fit, but we make it work! Since we have lunch in the same place as the church, we go from the place, to the church area, to our area, then back to our place. It’s costly to take that many Collectivos (like a taxi, but only one route), but we get more in the middle of the month, depending on how much we spend. There is graffiti everywhere, as well as dogs, everywhere! I think all the dogs in the streets is what surprised me the most. I guess it’s nothing like Valpariso though, as my companion says. It’s crazy! Oh, there´s an Elder from Argentina that lives in the same apartment, and he is hilarious!! He jokes around a lot and does really funny things haha.
I´m in Coquimbo, and opening up a new area! Coquimbo is also on a beach, and has the famous giant Cross on top of a hill when the Pope came here. Our area has a little bit of everything, a lot of richer houses and some in bad shape. But Elder Haney said the whole area is much richer than where he was is Valpariso. So, opening a new area, we have no Area Book, no ward (branch) list, no nothing! So these past days, we´ve been doing a lot of finding. Story time!... We found this woman while knocking doors, who wondered why there were some many churches. So we set up an appointment to come back the next day. When we went to teach, her friend joined in. We taught the first lesson, but didn´t have a Book of Mormon to give! After the great and spiritual lesson, we invited them to come to church the next day. She said yes. So at Church, we were greeting people, and she came! Church was good, they talked about the temple and the new missionaries gave introductions, I did get lost a lot in the Spanish though! We had an appointment with her at 430, so when we went, she of course had a lot of questions about church. So we answered them, helped her with English, then taught the 3rd lesson (The Gospel) to her and her friend. They were really receptive, and in the lesson, we extended the commitment to them to get baptized and gave them a Book of Mormon to read and pray. They accepted!!!! It’s so awesome to have a date set from the first week. We got 11 new investigators these few days, and the members are super helpful and excited about the work! This is a great area to start off my mission! Hard, but good!!
Another event that happened was that I got my ring stolen from me. So I’ve already been robbed of something. It’s okay though, it really didn´t have much sentimental value, but I’ll miss playing with it!
Oh, here, breakfast isn’t really too big, and they basically don´t have dinner, but lunch is huge and it’s usually at 130. It’s usually soup and bread, the main course, then they really like fruit cocktail with cream for dessert. I´m always hungry though! The members feed us lunch, and its a good way to get to know them, they´re so nice!
Hmm.. I think that about sums up the week as best as I can remember!
¨
I miss every single one of you, and hope that life is well for you! Thank you for your love in my life! Remember to love everyone and to be happy!!! =D
Con Amor,
Elder Whittle
P.S. I´m pretty sure that the mail service is really slow here. So use DearElder and I´ll be able to respond to it through this email. Or you can send my mom an email and she can forward it here.
Dad= How was Santiago? How was the trip? I bet it was a different experience.
Darbie= That´s awesome that you´re in a play! You´ll have to let me know how it goes.
Wess= I definitely took time to enjoy the MTC, it prepared me for here! And thanks for the advice.
Jarred= Man, it does sound like you had crazy week! I hope your labs and midterms went well. School sounds crazy! Although here can get pretty hectic too. You welcome for reminding you haha!
Grandma= Thanks for that awesome story! I hope I can help my investigators build a strong testimony like that.
MTC Letter #9
Companion: Elders Mortensen and Alston
Nov 5, 2010
Hola!!!
I'll start off with my flight plans for Monday! I have to be at the Travel Office at 10:00, then we bus up to Salt Lake City. My Delta flight leaves at 1:58, and then arrives in Atlanta, GA at 7:40 pm (their time, 3 hours ahead?). Then a 40 minute layover (not much of one) till the flight leaves at 8:25 pm. I arrive in Santiago, Chile (about 70 miles away from Viña del Mar) at 7:50 am the next morning. Lots of flying! But I'm excited because I like flying and I can sleep, read, and study Spanish! Its coming up really quick!
This week went by really fast. We had a heath meeting on Monday, and a Mission Language Study meeting on Thursday, then we have a Departure Devotional on Sunday! Oh and we had another Apostle come on Tuesday night! M. Russell Ballard. That's 3 in a row! I guess it's only happened one other time in the past 3 years. Guess they really wanted to speak to us missionaries. His talk was directed towards being a master communicator, knowing how to speak to people's hearts and how to share the wonderful message we have about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That devotional was a great one to have before I leave, as I really needed that help to be able to talk to everyone about what can sometimes be an awkward subject.
This week, my good friend, Elder Pilcher, had a couple rough days. And through some experiences, I realized that praying for others sincerely can really make a difference, especially when you are praying for someone else. I want everyone who reads this email to know that I pray for you each night and thank our Heavenly Father of what blessings each of you have been in my life. I feel the love every day that you have for me and I thank you for that every day. It helps me get through the hard times, and I know it will once I get to Chile. Thank you :)
I started reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard this week. It really is a great book about our church and our beliefs and "search for happiness". I urge everyone reading this to read it. For those who are a member of the church, it will help you understand some things you may not know, or maybe just confirm your faith in it. For those who are not, it will bring you to a greater understanding of our church and why I'm out here for two years serving. The book is really written to help bring understanding to those who are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the introduction says so. So if your looking for a good book to read, read this one!
Hopefully everyone has my address for Chile. If not, it's on the missionary site my mom set up, so ask her if you forgot the link!
Mom/Dad- Nice Spanish there :) You'll have to let me know how that book is so I can know so history as well! Dad, can I get either a copy, or a card for our health insurance in case I need it down there. Maybe with the first letter or something, not a big rush because I don't plan on getting hurt that soon! Good luck with the Pueblo Half! That brings back some good, and not so good, memories! The package was great, and we still have a lot of candy to eat from it! I should be calling home between like 11:30 and 1:30. So send a DearElder by tomorrow with maybe a more specific time for you guys. I Love You all!!!!
Grandpa Jim- Thanks for that DearElder! I love hearing from you. I'm glad your birthday went well!! Seems like your staying healthy :) I hope life continues to treat you well Grandpa. I love you and tell Sally I love her as well!
I hope life is going well for everyone. I love hearing from you! Stay strong and confident in all you do!
Con Amor,
Elder Whittle :)
Nov 5, 2010
Hola!!!
I'll start off with my flight plans for Monday! I have to be at the Travel Office at 10:00, then we bus up to Salt Lake City. My Delta flight leaves at 1:58, and then arrives in Atlanta, GA at 7:40 pm (their time, 3 hours ahead?). Then a 40 minute layover (not much of one) till the flight leaves at 8:25 pm. I arrive in Santiago, Chile (about 70 miles away from Viña del Mar) at 7:50 am the next morning. Lots of flying! But I'm excited because I like flying and I can sleep, read, and study Spanish! Its coming up really quick!
This week went by really fast. We had a heath meeting on Monday, and a Mission Language Study meeting on Thursday, then we have a Departure Devotional on Sunday! Oh and we had another Apostle come on Tuesday night! M. Russell Ballard. That's 3 in a row! I guess it's only happened one other time in the past 3 years. Guess they really wanted to speak to us missionaries. His talk was directed towards being a master communicator, knowing how to speak to people's hearts and how to share the wonderful message we have about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That devotional was a great one to have before I leave, as I really needed that help to be able to talk to everyone about what can sometimes be an awkward subject.
This week, my good friend, Elder Pilcher, had a couple rough days. And through some experiences, I realized that praying for others sincerely can really make a difference, especially when you are praying for someone else. I want everyone who reads this email to know that I pray for you each night and thank our Heavenly Father of what blessings each of you have been in my life. I feel the love every day that you have for me and I thank you for that every day. It helps me get through the hard times, and I know it will once I get to Chile. Thank you :)
I started reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard this week. It really is a great book about our church and our beliefs and "search for happiness". I urge everyone reading this to read it. For those who are a member of the church, it will help you understand some things you may not know, or maybe just confirm your faith in it. For those who are not, it will bring you to a greater understanding of our church and why I'm out here for two years serving. The book is really written to help bring understanding to those who are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the introduction says so. So if your looking for a good book to read, read this one!
Hopefully everyone has my address for Chile. If not, it's on the missionary site my mom set up, so ask her if you forgot the link!
Mom/Dad- Nice Spanish there :) You'll have to let me know how that book is so I can know so history as well! Dad, can I get either a copy, or a card for our health insurance in case I need it down there. Maybe with the first letter or something, not a big rush because I don't plan on getting hurt that soon! Good luck with the Pueblo Half! That brings back some good, and not so good, memories! The package was great, and we still have a lot of candy to eat from it! I should be calling home between like 11:30 and 1:30. So send a DearElder by tomorrow with maybe a more specific time for you guys. I Love You all!!!!
Grandpa Jim- Thanks for that DearElder! I love hearing from you. I'm glad your birthday went well!! Seems like your staying healthy :) I hope life continues to treat you well Grandpa. I love you and tell Sally I love her as well!
I hope life is going well for everyone. I love hearing from you! Stay strong and confident in all you do!
Con Amor,
Elder Whittle :)
MTC Letter #8
Oct 29, 2010
Hola!!!!!!!
Este semana ha sido muy interesante. The highlight of it was.. Getting our Travel plans!!!!!! We leave at like 2 in the afternoon on the 8th, fly to Atlanta, Georgia, have a 40 minute layover, then an 11 hour flight to Santiago, Chile (about 70 miles away from Viña del Mar). So we'll get in at about 8ish the next morning. I'll put more specific travel plans next week. Family, I'll probably end up calling at the Salt Lake Airport because I don't have much time in Georgia. Its crazy how quickly the MTC has gone, now that I look back on it.
On Tuesday, we had another Apostle for the devotional! Richard G. Scott! It was really cool. He talked about how to learn the Spirit and to keep it in our lives and how to recognize the promptings. He even typed up his points, and the MTC handed a copy to everyone. I read one every day, and it definitely helps me throughout the day. He also talked on how amazing the sisters are for being out here, and not being urged to go on one, but they still do. He also bore his testimony, as an apostle of the Lord, about Jesus Christ and his love for us. The feeling that came over me was awesome, I knew that what he was saying was coming from the heart and that he loves his Savior will all his being. He said that he had promised the Lord that nothing would put a dent in his testimony of the things he knew. The passing of his wife a couple of years ago didn't even come close to doing that, because he knew that she is in a better place, and that he would see her again. I love being taught by apostles because they know what to say to help guide and comfort our lives.
On Sunday, we had a great sacrament meeting. Our Branch President gave a wonderful talk and testimony about missionary work and how we are doing the Lord's work, and that the Holy Ghost is our guide to the people and in the lessons. And the leaving district sang a beautiful song that made me tear up a little. They sung that song that combines As Sisters In Zion and the other young men's song (I can't remember what it is!). It was amazing and I’ll miss that district a lot.
Another big event was that I finished the Book of Mormon (first time in my life)! After marking and studying it diligently, I've come to know that basically every verse testifies that Jesus is the Christ and that it can guide almost every aspect of our lives. Elder Pilcher and I started to put tabs in our Spanish scriptures by going back through our English ones and putting them into categories such as prayer or faith, then putting a tab on the page. It was really cool finding more scriptures, and time flew by when we'd do this.
The weeks are really starting to pick up and fly by. It's as if the ball was rolling, then slowed way down, and now its picking up speed more and more. I'm so excited to go to Chile. Only 10 more days!
Oh, cool fact, I guess 1 in every 10 person in Chile is LDS, but only 1 in 100 is active. Guess we'll be bringing back a lot of less-active members!
Dad- Got the package, thanks!! England sounds super fun. I never thought you'd be travelling the world, but now you are! And that's awesome to hear about your old boss, I hope he does come back! The weather here got cold and in snowed the other day! It was a nice changed and I love the snow so much! Judy hasn't written me, you should call her and see if she remembers :P But that is a hilarious story, that's definitely Jarred's mom haha. That's sweet that you'll be in Chile. You'll have to tell me what you thought!
Mom- Thanks for the email. It's cool to see how their missions are going (Jace and Ethan).
Hope everyone's week was great and that next week is even better!
Love,
-Elder Whittle :)
Hola!!!!!!!
Este semana ha sido muy interesante. The highlight of it was.. Getting our Travel plans!!!!!! We leave at like 2 in the afternoon on the 8th, fly to Atlanta, Georgia, have a 40 minute layover, then an 11 hour flight to Santiago, Chile (about 70 miles away from Viña del Mar). So we'll get in at about 8ish the next morning. I'll put more specific travel plans next week. Family, I'll probably end up calling at the Salt Lake Airport because I don't have much time in Georgia. Its crazy how quickly the MTC has gone, now that I look back on it.
On Tuesday, we had another Apostle for the devotional! Richard G. Scott! It was really cool. He talked about how to learn the Spirit and to keep it in our lives and how to recognize the promptings. He even typed up his points, and the MTC handed a copy to everyone. I read one every day, and it definitely helps me throughout the day. He also talked on how amazing the sisters are for being out here, and not being urged to go on one, but they still do. He also bore his testimony, as an apostle of the Lord, about Jesus Christ and his love for us. The feeling that came over me was awesome, I knew that what he was saying was coming from the heart and that he loves his Savior will all his being. He said that he had promised the Lord that nothing would put a dent in his testimony of the things he knew. The passing of his wife a couple of years ago didn't even come close to doing that, because he knew that she is in a better place, and that he would see her again. I love being taught by apostles because they know what to say to help guide and comfort our lives.
On Sunday, we had a great sacrament meeting. Our Branch President gave a wonderful talk and testimony about missionary work and how we are doing the Lord's work, and that the Holy Ghost is our guide to the people and in the lessons. And the leaving district sang a beautiful song that made me tear up a little. They sung that song that combines As Sisters In Zion and the other young men's song (I can't remember what it is!). It was amazing and I’ll miss that district a lot.
Another big event was that I finished the Book of Mormon (first time in my life)! After marking and studying it diligently, I've come to know that basically every verse testifies that Jesus is the Christ and that it can guide almost every aspect of our lives. Elder Pilcher and I started to put tabs in our Spanish scriptures by going back through our English ones and putting them into categories such as prayer or faith, then putting a tab on the page. It was really cool finding more scriptures, and time flew by when we'd do this.
The weeks are really starting to pick up and fly by. It's as if the ball was rolling, then slowed way down, and now its picking up speed more and more. I'm so excited to go to Chile. Only 10 more days!
Oh, cool fact, I guess 1 in every 10 person in Chile is LDS, but only 1 in 100 is active. Guess we'll be bringing back a lot of less-active members!
Dad- Got the package, thanks!! England sounds super fun. I never thought you'd be travelling the world, but now you are! And that's awesome to hear about your old boss, I hope he does come back! The weather here got cold and in snowed the other day! It was a nice changed and I love the snow so much! Judy hasn't written me, you should call her and see if she remembers :P But that is a hilarious story, that's definitely Jarred's mom haha. That's sweet that you'll be in Chile. You'll have to tell me what you thought!
Mom- Thanks for the email. It's cool to see how their missions are going (Jace and Ethan).
Hope everyone's week was great and that next week is even better!
Love,
-Elder Whittle :)
MTC Letter #7
Friday, October 22, 2010
Hola!!
Como estan? Estoy muy bein. Mi semana fue muy interesante!
My companion, Elder Alston, broke his thumb playing soccer on Saturday! So that made for an interesting week. On Monday, we went to the Health Clinic here, and they sent us down a block to Urgent Care for an X-Ray. It was weird just walking out of the MTC and going down the street! The X-Ray showed a fracture that went across the bottom bone of the thumb. So he got a soft brace for it, and set up an appointment with a hand specialist for Thursday. Thursday came around and we hopped on the MTC shuttle and they took us to another Health Plaza where the Hand Specialist was in Provo. There we found out that the bone had fractured where the ligament attached, but not all the ligament was disattatched, so they put it in a cast for it to heal back. He's here for an extra two weeks now!
The TRC last week went well. We "ate at a restaurant" and taught the entire first lesson in Spanish. Tonight we "go shopping" and teach someone without a Christian background, all in Spanish. It's crazy how much I've learned in the past 6 weeks. 2 Weeks from Monday I'll be leaving to Chile! Our Progressive Investigator was awesome this week. Felt the Spirit super strongly guiding our lesson, and afterwards, she got out of character (which you're not really supposed to do) and said she loves getting taught by us and that we're her favorite Elders! Awesome! We've learned all the tenses in Spanish, so now its just review and learning more verbs and vocab, and using the language! Elder Alston has even slept talked in Spanish, it was funny.
We had Elder Russell M. Nelson at our devotional on Tuesday. It was an awesome one! His wife talked about how when a missionary was giving his farewell talk, he said that he's "going to battle for the Lord for 2 years". This hit me, because I really am going to battle (in a Spiritual sense) against the opposition of the world. The countless doors that will be slammed in my face will be nothing when compared to even just teaching one investigator. It got me all pumped up to go!
I see Elder Mace (my first Companion) almost every day, which is a nice reminder of him setting the example of what kind of missionary I want to be. I do miss being his companion, but the things he taught me will last my whole mission. Hopefully I'll be able to see him in Chile!
I'm also becoming good friends with Elder Pilcher (from my district). We are able to talk a lot, and we talked about how it's hard to become true friends with some companions because it doesn't start out as "unconditional love", but more because you have to. But, as this companionship has taught me, as long as you see only the good in others, that unconditional love starts to develop and less things "bug you".
Daphnie- Thanks for the DearElder! You have been crazy busy!! That's awesome how great you've been at cross country. Just keep at it and when we do a triathlon together, you might beat me :P It's crazy to think that you'll be able to drive soon, you're getting too old! When you said "follow in your footsteps and go on a mission", I had just been talking to Elder Pilcher about how I didn't realize how my cousins and sisters looked up to my till I went on my mission. It brought a huge smile when I saw that. It's hard, but it's worth it :)
Bro. Ford- Thank's for the reply! I definitely have realized how huge the blessing of the Spirit is here. And I see why you loved the MTC so much! Puerto Vallarta sounds awesome! I have a pretty big golfer as a companion, who was on scholarship at BYU-H for Golf. We talk about it a lot. I hope the trip was a blast!
Grandpa Jim- Thanks for the update! It seems like life keeps your busy, which is a good thing!
Mom- I like letters from DearElder better than emails. I only have 30 min on here, so DearElder is always better! So send the other missionaries through that. My email is this! :P I think I have enough cash, but I use my card every now and then, so money on that would be for things not specific to my mission so don’t use all of it :P LOVE YOU!!!
Hope everything is well with you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Whittle
Hola!!
Como estan? Estoy muy bein. Mi semana fue muy interesante!
My companion, Elder Alston, broke his thumb playing soccer on Saturday! So that made for an interesting week. On Monday, we went to the Health Clinic here, and they sent us down a block to Urgent Care for an X-Ray. It was weird just walking out of the MTC and going down the street! The X-Ray showed a fracture that went across the bottom bone of the thumb. So he got a soft brace for it, and set up an appointment with a hand specialist for Thursday. Thursday came around and we hopped on the MTC shuttle and they took us to another Health Plaza where the Hand Specialist was in Provo. There we found out that the bone had fractured where the ligament attached, but not all the ligament was disattatched, so they put it in a cast for it to heal back. He's here for an extra two weeks now!
The TRC last week went well. We "ate at a restaurant" and taught the entire first lesson in Spanish. Tonight we "go shopping" and teach someone without a Christian background, all in Spanish. It's crazy how much I've learned in the past 6 weeks. 2 Weeks from Monday I'll be leaving to Chile! Our Progressive Investigator was awesome this week. Felt the Spirit super strongly guiding our lesson, and afterwards, she got out of character (which you're not really supposed to do) and said she loves getting taught by us and that we're her favorite Elders! Awesome! We've learned all the tenses in Spanish, so now its just review and learning more verbs and vocab, and using the language! Elder Alston has even slept talked in Spanish, it was funny.
We had Elder Russell M. Nelson at our devotional on Tuesday. It was an awesome one! His wife talked about how when a missionary was giving his farewell talk, he said that he's "going to battle for the Lord for 2 years". This hit me, because I really am going to battle (in a Spiritual sense) against the opposition of the world. The countless doors that will be slammed in my face will be nothing when compared to even just teaching one investigator. It got me all pumped up to go!
I see Elder Mace (my first Companion) almost every day, which is a nice reminder of him setting the example of what kind of missionary I want to be. I do miss being his companion, but the things he taught me will last my whole mission. Hopefully I'll be able to see him in Chile!
I'm also becoming good friends with Elder Pilcher (from my district). We are able to talk a lot, and we talked about how it's hard to become true friends with some companions because it doesn't start out as "unconditional love", but more because you have to. But, as this companionship has taught me, as long as you see only the good in others, that unconditional love starts to develop and less things "bug you".
Daphnie- Thanks for the DearElder! You have been crazy busy!! That's awesome how great you've been at cross country. Just keep at it and when we do a triathlon together, you might beat me :P It's crazy to think that you'll be able to drive soon, you're getting too old! When you said "follow in your footsteps and go on a mission", I had just been talking to Elder Pilcher about how I didn't realize how my cousins and sisters looked up to my till I went on my mission. It brought a huge smile when I saw that. It's hard, but it's worth it :)
Bro. Ford- Thank's for the reply! I definitely have realized how huge the blessing of the Spirit is here. And I see why you loved the MTC so much! Puerto Vallarta sounds awesome! I have a pretty big golfer as a companion, who was on scholarship at BYU-H for Golf. We talk about it a lot. I hope the trip was a blast!
Grandpa Jim- Thanks for the update! It seems like life keeps your busy, which is a good thing!
Mom- I like letters from DearElder better than emails. I only have 30 min on here, so DearElder is always better! So send the other missionaries through that. My email is this! :P I think I have enough cash, but I use my card every now and then, so money on that would be for things not specific to my mission so don’t use all of it :P LOVE YOU!!!
Hope everything is well with you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Whittle
MTC Letter #6
Oct. 15, 2010
Hola!
This week has been pretty normal again. These scheduled weeks without being able to “get out” are hard! But, I just keep focused on the now, and just remember that if I stay focused the days go much faster! This upcoming week marks the 2/3 of the way done with the MTC. It’s crazy to think that I’ll be in Chile in around 3 weeks. It still feels like I just got here.
I’ve started becoming friends with more of our zone and they are funny Elders. It’s good to be able to make friends here, as it makes not being with my friends at home much easier (Friends, you still beat them of course :)). Elder Ah Mu is 22 and worked for the government as part of explosion removal (or like that nature, don’t know the exact term). I play volleyball with him almost every day. Elder Jensen went to Utah State. I had seen him a few times from the friends on the floor under us. Elder Fuller is just a funny elder and always makes everyone laugh. Those are a few of the elders I’ve become better friends with. As for those in my district, I’m really good friends with them. Elder Chaparro is from Smithfield, Utah, and I’ll probably be seeing him at Utah State when I get back! He’s a funny elder as well and is always helpful. Elder Pilcher is from California and is really diligent. We’ve been able to share stories from home and help each other out with missing home and such. Elder Belliston is from American Fork and is a good leader and diligent. Elder Williams is from Heraman, Utah (south Salt Lake) and has the goofiest personality. He always does things that are hilarious and make everyone laugh. My companion, Elder Mortensen, is a good elder and a convert of around 2 years. I love helping him out with Spanish and such. We work well together. Elder Alston, my other companion, is funny as well. Sometimes a little too sarcastic, but he has a good heart. I help him to get up so that we are on time for personal study and he helps me a lot with Spanish. So, that’s the people I’m around, basically 24/7.
Our TRC last week went well. We taught the Plan of Salvation really well as a companionship. But the best experience of the week would have to be with our progressive investigator. Progressive investigators are teachers who don’t give you feedback after a lesson, and you go back as much as possible to teach them more. Basically exactly like an actual investigator. Super helpful for the field. Her investigator name is Stephanie. Her story is that she had Mormon friends in high school and liked being around them, but fell away after they left for college. She had gotten a Book of Mormon, but her mom threw it away. So when we taught a lesson, we focused a lot on the Book of Mormon. The lesson was awesome and super spiritual. When I bore my testimony (a few times) about it, I had never felt the Spirit so strongly than in that room. I knew that we followed the promptings of the Spirit in that lesson and it was awesome.
We left her with a commitment to read Moroni 10 and pray about the Book of Mormon. Afterwards, she came out of character (which you’re really not supposed to do) and said, “Elders, you hit that spot on. That was exactly what she needed to hear.” So cool!
Dad – Thanks for the DearElder, I got it at a good time. I’m glad that the funeral went well. I wish that I could have been there. Your talk was really great and reading it made me feel like I was there. That’s awesome that your co-worker was able to do that! (He raced in Kona, Hawaii in the Ironman in memory of Greg Whittle, Brad’s brother that died in a car accident the week prior to the race.) It’s starting to get cooler here, finally. I didn’t like the heat!
Mom – How was Kona?! You lucky duck! How did Kirill and Trista’s athletes do? I hope that you had fun and that the family is doing well! Oh and make sure you forward the emails when you get back, thanks!
Trinette – I’m glad you got the letter! Thanks for the reply :) And Happy Birthday!! I’m glad that you were spoiled :)
I hope life is going well for everyone! Remember to be optimistic and stay happy in everything you do. Love and miss you all!!
Love,
-Elder Whittle
Hola!
This week has been pretty normal again. These scheduled weeks without being able to “get out” are hard! But, I just keep focused on the now, and just remember that if I stay focused the days go much faster! This upcoming week marks the 2/3 of the way done with the MTC. It’s crazy to think that I’ll be in Chile in around 3 weeks. It still feels like I just got here.
I’ve started becoming friends with more of our zone and they are funny Elders. It’s good to be able to make friends here, as it makes not being with my friends at home much easier (Friends, you still beat them of course :)). Elder Ah Mu is 22 and worked for the government as part of explosion removal (or like that nature, don’t know the exact term). I play volleyball with him almost every day. Elder Jensen went to Utah State. I had seen him a few times from the friends on the floor under us. Elder Fuller is just a funny elder and always makes everyone laugh. Those are a few of the elders I’ve become better friends with. As for those in my district, I’m really good friends with them. Elder Chaparro is from Smithfield, Utah, and I’ll probably be seeing him at Utah State when I get back! He’s a funny elder as well and is always helpful. Elder Pilcher is from California and is really diligent. We’ve been able to share stories from home and help each other out with missing home and such. Elder Belliston is from American Fork and is a good leader and diligent. Elder Williams is from Heraman, Utah (south Salt Lake) and has the goofiest personality. He always does things that are hilarious and make everyone laugh. My companion, Elder Mortensen, is a good elder and a convert of around 2 years. I love helping him out with Spanish and such. We work well together. Elder Alston, my other companion, is funny as well. Sometimes a little too sarcastic, but he has a good heart. I help him to get up so that we are on time for personal study and he helps me a lot with Spanish. So, that’s the people I’m around, basically 24/7.
Our TRC last week went well. We taught the Plan of Salvation really well as a companionship. But the best experience of the week would have to be with our progressive investigator. Progressive investigators are teachers who don’t give you feedback after a lesson, and you go back as much as possible to teach them more. Basically exactly like an actual investigator. Super helpful for the field. Her investigator name is Stephanie. Her story is that she had Mormon friends in high school and liked being around them, but fell away after they left for college. She had gotten a Book of Mormon, but her mom threw it away. So when we taught a lesson, we focused a lot on the Book of Mormon. The lesson was awesome and super spiritual. When I bore my testimony (a few times) about it, I had never felt the Spirit so strongly than in that room. I knew that we followed the promptings of the Spirit in that lesson and it was awesome.
We left her with a commitment to read Moroni 10 and pray about the Book of Mormon. Afterwards, she came out of character (which you’re really not supposed to do) and said, “Elders, you hit that spot on. That was exactly what she needed to hear.” So cool!
Dad – Thanks for the DearElder, I got it at a good time. I’m glad that the funeral went well. I wish that I could have been there. Your talk was really great and reading it made me feel like I was there. That’s awesome that your co-worker was able to do that! (He raced in Kona, Hawaii in the Ironman in memory of Greg Whittle, Brad’s brother that died in a car accident the week prior to the race.) It’s starting to get cooler here, finally. I didn’t like the heat!
Mom – How was Kona?! You lucky duck! How did Kirill and Trista’s athletes do? I hope that you had fun and that the family is doing well! Oh and make sure you forward the emails when you get back, thanks!
Trinette – I’m glad you got the letter! Thanks for the reply :) And Happy Birthday!! I’m glad that you were spoiled :)
I hope life is going well for everyone! Remember to be optimistic and stay happy in everything you do. Love and miss you all!!
Love,
-Elder Whittle
MTC Letter #5
Oct 8, 2010
Hola Todos!
Guess what? Today marks the halfway point for the MTC! It's downhill from here! (For the MTC at least).
General Conference this past weekend was awesome! I realized how often the apostles say "missionaries", and whenever I heard it, I though "Hey! That's me!" It made Conference much more personal. I took so many notes! (Contrary to before, Mom and Dad :P I should've paid this much attention before!). I hope everyone who was able to watch it was able to apply some principles to their lives.
This week I've realized how hard being extremely patient is. One of my companions wakes up late, and takes his time getting ready, when he knows we'll be late. So when my other companion and I are waiting at the door to leave with our backpacks on and everything, it becomes really hard to have patience. But, those times where I've realized that I'm being really impatient, I try to calm myself down and when I do, I feel much more at peace, and happier. So I urge everyone to try their hardest to stay patient and "keep your cool". You'll be able to feel better and relax more with them. After all, I'm with him 24/7 so I need to stay patient. It makes life better!
Life at the MTC is back to the same good ol' schedule. It started to get cooler a few days ago and I love it! I was tired of walking outside and burning up. The other night, I rained and hailed like crazy! It was really cool, the lightning and thunder was awesome. Ha.
Being able to go to the Temple every Friday is the best. It’s a nice "escape" from the world. The peace I feel there I can't feel anywhere else. I'll definitely miss it in the mission field!
The last TRC went well, we were supposed to teach the Plan of Salvation, but I don't think the "investigator" knew the task. He said he didn't know how to pray, and didn't know much about the Book of Mormon. So we ended up teaching him how to pray, about the Book of Mormon, and about the Restoration. It went really well and felt more realistic because he didn't follow a set task. When we asked him to pray at the end, he prayed like he was an actual investigator. It was an awesome glimpse into what I would experience in the field because I felt so happy for the investigator and felt a sense of joy for him. It was awesome!
Well, I hope life is well for everyone. Always remember to stay happy and optimistic about everything in life, your life will be much happier, I guarantee it!
Love and Miss you all!
-Elder Whittle
P.S. In my address, the CHI-VDM 1110 is actually CHI-VDM 1108. It's the departure date, so the original was wrong.
Hola Todos!
Guess what? Today marks the halfway point for the MTC! It's downhill from here! (For the MTC at least).
General Conference this past weekend was awesome! I realized how often the apostles say "missionaries", and whenever I heard it, I though "Hey! That's me!" It made Conference much more personal. I took so many notes! (Contrary to before, Mom and Dad :P I should've paid this much attention before!). I hope everyone who was able to watch it was able to apply some principles to their lives.
This week I've realized how hard being extremely patient is. One of my companions wakes up late, and takes his time getting ready, when he knows we'll be late. So when my other companion and I are waiting at the door to leave with our backpacks on and everything, it becomes really hard to have patience. But, those times where I've realized that I'm being really impatient, I try to calm myself down and when I do, I feel much more at peace, and happier. So I urge everyone to try their hardest to stay patient and "keep your cool". You'll be able to feel better and relax more with them. After all, I'm with him 24/7 so I need to stay patient. It makes life better!
Life at the MTC is back to the same good ol' schedule. It started to get cooler a few days ago and I love it! I was tired of walking outside and burning up. The other night, I rained and hailed like crazy! It was really cool, the lightning and thunder was awesome. Ha.
Being able to go to the Temple every Friday is the best. It’s a nice "escape" from the world. The peace I feel there I can't feel anywhere else. I'll definitely miss it in the mission field!
The last TRC went well, we were supposed to teach the Plan of Salvation, but I don't think the "investigator" knew the task. He said he didn't know how to pray, and didn't know much about the Book of Mormon. So we ended up teaching him how to pray, about the Book of Mormon, and about the Restoration. It went really well and felt more realistic because he didn't follow a set task. When we asked him to pray at the end, he prayed like he was an actual investigator. It was an awesome glimpse into what I would experience in the field because I felt so happy for the investigator and felt a sense of joy for him. It was awesome!
Well, I hope life is well for everyone. Always remember to stay happy and optimistic about everything in life, your life will be much happier, I guarantee it!
Love and Miss you all!
-Elder Whittle
P.S. In my address, the CHI-VDM 1110 is actually CHI-VDM 1108. It's the departure date, so the original was wrong.
MTC Letter #4
October 1, 2010
Hola!
This week has been pretty uneventful. Normal schedule. Normal meals. Nothing super exciting, besides being here!
The TRC (training resource center) went well last week! We actually taught my teacher's brother in law, which was funny. The Spanish went okay, and the lesson went really well. We worked well as a trio companionship. The scriptures are such a useful teaching tool as it backs up the doctrine that we teach. I find something new every time that I continue my reading that I can apply to my life.
The devotional on Tuesday was given by L Whitney Clayton from the Presidency of the Seventy. He gave a great talk, as used a lot of stories and experiences to show how much this church has grown from the beginning of this church in the 1820-1830's. We've gone from a few hundred to between 14 and 15 million members in 190 years. This is the most any church has grown in the shortest amount of time. Because it's the true Church! I get reaffirmation everyday of this here. And it's awesome to be able to serve for it.
This week has been a bit harder for me. I think it's because the times where I am not really doing much, the thoughts enter my mind of how much longer I have here and how hard sometimes the work is. But, as I realized that these thoughts are entering my mind, I try my best to quickly get back to studying Spanish, or studying the Gospel. I just need to learn to keep busy in order for time to fly by! I encourage everyone to stay busy in order for time to fly!
I'm so excited for General Conference this weekend. Hearing the word of the Apostles is always awesome! I think my favorite apostle is Elder Holland because of how powerful his talks are. One thing that I was encouraged to do, and I encourage all those watching to do, is to write down questions that you want answered by General Conference. I was promised that if we do so, they will be answered. We shall find out!
Mom- Congrats on the car! It sounds awesome! I can't wait to see it.
Josh and Nick- Remember how you were confused on how we see the Godhead? I have the answer for you. Watch this talk and Elder Holland will answer the question. Go to new.lds.org ->then scroll down to General Conference->then Conferences->then 2007->then watch "the only true god..." talk. Let me know what you think!
I hope everyone is well and I'm loving the letters!
Con Mucha Amor,
Elder Whittle
Hola!
This week has been pretty uneventful. Normal schedule. Normal meals. Nothing super exciting, besides being here!
The TRC (training resource center) went well last week! We actually taught my teacher's brother in law, which was funny. The Spanish went okay, and the lesson went really well. We worked well as a trio companionship. The scriptures are such a useful teaching tool as it backs up the doctrine that we teach. I find something new every time that I continue my reading that I can apply to my life.
The devotional on Tuesday was given by L Whitney Clayton from the Presidency of the Seventy. He gave a great talk, as used a lot of stories and experiences to show how much this church has grown from the beginning of this church in the 1820-1830's. We've gone from a few hundred to between 14 and 15 million members in 190 years. This is the most any church has grown in the shortest amount of time. Because it's the true Church! I get reaffirmation everyday of this here. And it's awesome to be able to serve for it.
This week has been a bit harder for me. I think it's because the times where I am not really doing much, the thoughts enter my mind of how much longer I have here and how hard sometimes the work is. But, as I realized that these thoughts are entering my mind, I try my best to quickly get back to studying Spanish, or studying the Gospel. I just need to learn to keep busy in order for time to fly by! I encourage everyone to stay busy in order for time to fly!
I'm so excited for General Conference this weekend. Hearing the word of the Apostles is always awesome! I think my favorite apostle is Elder Holland because of how powerful his talks are. One thing that I was encouraged to do, and I encourage all those watching to do, is to write down questions that you want answered by General Conference. I was promised that if we do so, they will be answered. We shall find out!
Mom- Congrats on the car! It sounds awesome! I can't wait to see it.
Josh and Nick- Remember how you were confused on how we see the Godhead? I have the answer for you. Watch this talk and Elder Holland will answer the question. Go to new.lds.org ->then scroll down to General Conference->then Conferences->then 2007->then watch "the only true god..." talk. Let me know what you think!
I hope everyone is well and I'm loving the letters!
Con Mucha Amor,
Elder Whittle
MTC Letter #3
September 24, 2010
Buenos Dias!
This past week has been a great week! On last Friday, we had our first TRC (Teaching Resource Center). It consisted of going to 3 rooms and contacting the people in it in Spanish, then teaching the first lesson in English to the last person we contacted. The contacting went pretty good for the Spanish we knew. And the lesson went great! After only being in the companionship for a few days, we worked really well teaching the lesson. And at the end, I got this overwhelming feeling, after committing him to read the Book of Mormon, to extend the Baptisimal commitment! I did, and the guy leaned forward and extended his hand and said "Good Job". He was a return missionary and said if you are able to teach the first lesson well enough to where they can feel the Spirit strong enough to feel excited about learning more and have enough strength to extend the baptismal commitment (which would be on a later date of course after teaching more lessons), then you are an outstanding missionary. This got me so excited to go out into the field!
On Tuesday, we had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy come and talk to us at the devotional. It was a great experience with most of the 2700 missionaries all in the gym, and during the hymns, I just got an overwhelming feeling of happiness and joy because of how awesome it was! Elder Paul V. Johnson gave a good talk about learning spiritual truths. I took a lot of notes because there was a lot of useful advice!
A member of our Branch Presidency talked with us during our district meeting on Sunday. He completely blew my mind! He knew so much about the history of the Bible, the Church, the history of a lot of Religions, just about everything! He basically solidified the need for a Restoration of the Gospel, with historical facts and events. Did you know that the Book of Revelations was written in 65 AD and that John was written in 90 Ad? So Revelations isn't the last book written! Or that any chapel built before 1311 has a font in it for "submersion" baptisms? Crazy! I will be learning a lot from him.
Everything is going great!
Mom- Thanks for having Julie drop off the delicious treats! And yep, I got the first package and the IBC Rootbeer was gone by the next day. I can get stamps here, but I don't want to pay for them :P On the subject of money, I'll need to get one more shot right before I leave, and it costs around 80 dollars I think. I'm pretty sure I can just use my card, so just a heads up! Ah, too bad about waiting for a new car. But at least the family has a car! Tell everyone I say Good Luck on the run! I've been running a little here, as well as playing basketball and soccer and softball and volleyball to stay sorta fit!
To The Francis's and the McCrary's- I love you all and hope that all is going well! :)
Grandpa Jim- I'm loving the DearElders I get! I hope all is going well as well, and that you're ready some good books! :)
Con mucho amor!
-Elder Whittle
P.S. Everyone who reads this, use DearElder.com, It's awesome!!
Buenos Dias!
This past week has been a great week! On last Friday, we had our first TRC (Teaching Resource Center). It consisted of going to 3 rooms and contacting the people in it in Spanish, then teaching the first lesson in English to the last person we contacted. The contacting went pretty good for the Spanish we knew. And the lesson went great! After only being in the companionship for a few days, we worked really well teaching the lesson. And at the end, I got this overwhelming feeling, after committing him to read the Book of Mormon, to extend the Baptisimal commitment! I did, and the guy leaned forward and extended his hand and said "Good Job". He was a return missionary and said if you are able to teach the first lesson well enough to where they can feel the Spirit strong enough to feel excited about learning more and have enough strength to extend the baptismal commitment (which would be on a later date of course after teaching more lessons), then you are an outstanding missionary. This got me so excited to go out into the field!
On Tuesday, we had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy come and talk to us at the devotional. It was a great experience with most of the 2700 missionaries all in the gym, and during the hymns, I just got an overwhelming feeling of happiness and joy because of how awesome it was! Elder Paul V. Johnson gave a good talk about learning spiritual truths. I took a lot of notes because there was a lot of useful advice!
A member of our Branch Presidency talked with us during our district meeting on Sunday. He completely blew my mind! He knew so much about the history of the Bible, the Church, the history of a lot of Religions, just about everything! He basically solidified the need for a Restoration of the Gospel, with historical facts and events. Did you know that the Book of Revelations was written in 65 AD and that John was written in 90 Ad? So Revelations isn't the last book written! Or that any chapel built before 1311 has a font in it for "submersion" baptisms? Crazy! I will be learning a lot from him.
Everything is going great!
Mom- Thanks for having Julie drop off the delicious treats! And yep, I got the first package and the IBC Rootbeer was gone by the next day. I can get stamps here, but I don't want to pay for them :P On the subject of money, I'll need to get one more shot right before I leave, and it costs around 80 dollars I think. I'm pretty sure I can just use my card, so just a heads up! Ah, too bad about waiting for a new car. But at least the family has a car! Tell everyone I say Good Luck on the run! I've been running a little here, as well as playing basketball and soccer and softball and volleyball to stay sorta fit!
To The Francis's and the McCrary's- I love you all and hope that all is going well! :)
Grandpa Jim- I'm loving the DearElders I get! I hope all is going well as well, and that you're ready some good books! :)
Con mucho amor!
-Elder Whittle
P.S. Everyone who reads this, use DearElder.com, It's awesome!!
MTC Letter #1
September 11, 2010
Hola mi familia!
I'm doing awesome! Being here is such a great experience. I know this is where I'm supposed to be at this time in my life.The other Elders are such good people to be around as they help me grow in the gospel.
The first few days have been intense. Lots of class, and definiantely a lot of Spanish. I know more than I would ever think I have in only 3 days. I have learned how to pray in Spanish, say the days of the week, and how to say some gospel doctrines. Let me tell you, I know that the gift of tongues is a true blessing, as I have definately recieved it here.
My companion, Elder Mace, is an awesome Elder! He's from Orem, and worked at the MTC during college, so he knows his way around. This is very helpful because I still don't know where most of the buildings are. He took 10 years of Spanish, so we work a lot of our Spanish during companion study, and he helps me out a lot. We have this goal now, only to speak Spanish from 6:30 am, till lunch at noon. This helps me with spanish a lot! He is also very in tune with the spirit. He always brings it into the lessons and studies, a huge help to help us learn. I am truly grateful for having such a wonderful companion her at the MTC!
A really cool experience that I had is that, on the first dinner, we sat across from an Elder who was from France! I talked with him, in French, and when he talked to my companion, I was able to translate for him. It was awesome!
My two teachers, Hermano Koons and Hermana Bailey are really good teachers. They teach Spanish, Preach My Gospel, and the missionary work to us in their own unique way. Hermano Koons got back from serving in Mexico 4 weeks ago, and Hermana Bailey served in Chile a few years ago. They have helped me learn a lot, both spiritually and with the language.
The food here is like dining hall food, but it's food! And its a huge dining hall. There were 507 new elders on Wednesday, and about 2500 total missionaries.
I hope Nicole and Mom are feeling better! I'm feeling great, just tired! Make sure to tell everyone about DearElder, its awesome!
I wake up at 6:00 in the morning, then get ready and have personal study. Then breakfast, and back to personal study. Then either class or companion study. Then lunch, and back to the classroom. Every now and then there's large group meetings, or other orientations (right now at least). Then dinner, and gym afterwards. Gym after dinner is bad for my stomache, but still fun! We played soccer last night, I scored a goal! Then it's back to the classroom, then planning, and back to the room till 10:30, when its lights out! That's what my schedule has been so far at least. Next week we'll have the same schedule till week 8 (yes, here for 8, not 6) so the next email, i'll send you that schedule!
I love you guys and hope all is well! I pray for you every night and morning, and I hope you know that I know that this Church is true and I am so excited to share it with the people of Chile when I go there in 2 months. I know this work is what needs to be done to bring the happiness of the gospel to the other nations, as it says in the scriptures.
Love,
Elder Whittle
P.S. Jarred- I found the surprise in the journal and it made me laugh for like 5 minutes! In the next DearElder, send me your guys' address to I can send a letter there!
Hola mi familia!
I'm doing awesome! Being here is such a great experience. I know this is where I'm supposed to be at this time in my life.The other Elders are such good people to be around as they help me grow in the gospel.
The first few days have been intense. Lots of class, and definiantely a lot of Spanish. I know more than I would ever think I have in only 3 days. I have learned how to pray in Spanish, say the days of the week, and how to say some gospel doctrines. Let me tell you, I know that the gift of tongues is a true blessing, as I have definately recieved it here.
My companion, Elder Mace, is an awesome Elder! He's from Orem, and worked at the MTC during college, so he knows his way around. This is very helpful because I still don't know where most of the buildings are. He took 10 years of Spanish, so we work a lot of our Spanish during companion study, and he helps me out a lot. We have this goal now, only to speak Spanish from 6:30 am, till lunch at noon. This helps me with spanish a lot! He is also very in tune with the spirit. He always brings it into the lessons and studies, a huge help to help us learn. I am truly grateful for having such a wonderful companion her at the MTC!
A really cool experience that I had is that, on the first dinner, we sat across from an Elder who was from France! I talked with him, in French, and when he talked to my companion, I was able to translate for him. It was awesome!
My two teachers, Hermano Koons and Hermana Bailey are really good teachers. They teach Spanish, Preach My Gospel, and the missionary work to us in their own unique way. Hermano Koons got back from serving in Mexico 4 weeks ago, and Hermana Bailey served in Chile a few years ago. They have helped me learn a lot, both spiritually and with the language.
The food here is like dining hall food, but it's food! And its a huge dining hall. There were 507 new elders on Wednesday, and about 2500 total missionaries.
I hope Nicole and Mom are feeling better! I'm feeling great, just tired! Make sure to tell everyone about DearElder, its awesome!
I wake up at 6:00 in the morning, then get ready and have personal study. Then breakfast, and back to personal study. Then either class or companion study. Then lunch, and back to the classroom. Every now and then there's large group meetings, or other orientations (right now at least). Then dinner, and gym afterwards. Gym after dinner is bad for my stomache, but still fun! We played soccer last night, I scored a goal! Then it's back to the classroom, then planning, and back to the room till 10:30, when its lights out! That's what my schedule has been so far at least. Next week we'll have the same schedule till week 8 (yes, here for 8, not 6) so the next email, i'll send you that schedule!
I love you guys and hope all is well! I pray for you every night and morning, and I hope you know that I know that this Church is true and I am so excited to share it with the people of Chile when I go there in 2 months. I know this work is what needs to be done to bring the happiness of the gospel to the other nations, as it says in the scriptures.
Love,
Elder Whittle
P.S. Jarred- I found the surprise in the journal and it made me laugh for like 5 minutes! In the next DearElder, send me your guys' address to I can send a letter there!
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