26 October 2009

Today is pday again, but this week the keyboard has all the letters. Yes!

I’m glad the talk from Cleon Skousen was interesting and helped the family have the best FHE ever. That makes me happy. Would you be able to mail me a copy of that talk? I would also like a copy of the talk about the decade of decisions. That would be nice and give me a change in my studies when they arrive. Thanks. Oh, yeah, and could you ask Sister Bernhisel the power phrases we used to use in seminary. I was thinking about them recently, but I don’t remember all of them. I would like to use them with members to let them teach us. It’s really a blessing when someone I’ve been teaching can read a scripture and teach me something. The power phrases will help I think.

Mom asked if they celebrate Halloween in Uruguay. It is a holiday here, but I have no idea to what extent it’s celebrated, or if it’s any different or what. I’ll let you know next week. Wow, I can’t believe that next Sunday will be November. The time is really flying.

Yeah Dave, thanks for the updates. Dave told me BYU would play this week and Dad gave me the results. That was nice. Too bad they lost. Good thing I don’t care. Or, at least, I’m glad this knowledge won’t affect me really at all right now. What a blessing. Oh, and pday is always Monday, David, unless it’s a transfer week, then it’s Wednesday. Transfers are next week. We’ll see if I stay a fourth transfer or leave to somewhere else.

So this week we’ll have 2 baptisms. We’re really excited. Paola and Daniel. Paola is in her 30’s with a 3 year old son. She was a reference from the bishop and wants the best for her son. This is the best for her son. She worries that he doesn’t behave, but I have several stories of when I misbehaved and it helps her. I love Dad’s story of when I smacked my head on the pew in front of me in an attempt to punish Dad for moving me, and the time I said, “Ahhhh” after enjoying my sacrament water. It was unusually delicious that day.

Oh, and Michelle, I’d love to write a family newsletter, but I really don’t know what’s going on in everyone’s life. How can I make fun of things that I haven’t been around for? We’ll see what happens. Maybe I’ll write a paragraph for myself. I should pray about it.

But thanks for everything. I love being a missionary. I love learning about the gospel, about doctrine. I love the Book of Mormon that has all the answers. I love Joseph Smith and I know he was called of God as a prophet. He didn’t give his life for a lie.

Remember to look for missionary experiences every day.

Love you all, Elder Whitaker

19 October 2009

Well, first off, this keyboard has all the keys, but some of the keys are blank. I wish I could type without looking at the keyboard. Maybe the Holy Ghost will bring all things to my remembrance.

Thanks a ton for all the letters; they really raise my spirits. Where should I start?

Brad, it’s good to hear from you. I have the restoration DVD, but I’m looking forward to the other stuff you’ll send. You’re a stud. Thanks for your example. And one thing I was thinking. What was the first thing Brad did when he got home? Weston tried to teach us the first lesson and David drank 2 percent milk. What did Brad do? [He ate top ramen with Tabasco sauce.]

Mom told me it would be okay to send a scripture of the week every once in a while. This week I’ve been reading the Pearl of Great Price. I got to the picture of the priest trying to kill Abraham. Being the toddler I am, I spent some study time coloring the picture in my Libro de Mormon. I learned stuff too. The wicked people or objects I colored in dark and the righteous stuff I put in bright colors. I can’t wait to color the other 2 pictures and study the meanings.

Last week we cut our hair. A member offered to cut our hair and we let her. Please don’t offer to do stuff unless you have talents and abilities in the thing you offer to do. It’ll grow back. I think it’s funny. And ironically we had zone conference and a stake conference with Pres. Da Silva this week. He didn’t say anything though.

So the other day I read a very interesting talk called The Atonement by Cleon Skousen. It talked about intelligences and other very deep doctrine. Steven, if you get tired of the "Primary" doctrine you might be learning in Sunday School you should study this talk. I hope that doesn’t sound rude or mean, that’s just how I felt growing up. Maybe Steven is more spiritual and doesn’t feel that way.

I was thinking about all the prayers you all offer for me. Thanks. I realize that at least twice a day some one says, “Please bless Jeff in Uruguay and help him to find people that are ready to receive the gospel.” I realize that to answer that prayer I have to do everything in my power to do so. That motivates me and we’re working hard.

Well, I’m out of time. Love you all lots and Michelle, stay beautiful.

Jeffhead

12 October 2009

Hey everybody,

I learned a new word today in English, palatable. It means “doesn’t taste gross anymore.”

To answer Mom’s question - “how did I get from Buenos Aires to Montevideo?” – we flew. It was about a 45 minutes flight. We got off the plane basically in the runway, took a bus/trolley 150 yards to the door of the airport, and got our luggage like 5 minutes later. I don’t know how they do it so fast. David’s theory of decoy luggage doesn’t apply in Uruguay I guess.

And mom’s other question. I have the Liahonas for the past 2 conferences in Spanish. I don’t really know how I got them or where they came from, so maybe eventually I’ll get the magazine for this conference. But I am excited to read the articules and compare them to the notes I took watching it.

So this Sunday rained all morning. It was kind of sad, because we were hoping for 6 investigators to come. But I can’t blame them for not coming while it was raining, because there were lots of members that didn’t come either. That makes me sad. Commandments are commandments whether it’s raining or not. But I’m not the judge.

So I really love being a missionary. And I love that the members love the missionaries. And I love that the members show their love by giving us food. I love the food here. This week my companion and I are going to cook tuko and ravioli. I’m sure you can find out what tuko is on the internet or from Brad. It’s like a meat sauce with finely chopped vegetables. Muy rico.

And the work is progressing. I’m developing my patience. The mission goal is a baptism each week. We’re working as hard as we can, but we don’t have a baptism each week. After we do all we can, the Lord will do the rest. I’m excited for the email that will tell you about when the Lord does the rest.

Oh, and here’s some math for Steven. The last conference Ensign has all the numbers you need. Imagine if every missionary companionship had a baptism every week in the year. Tell me how many new members we’d have in one year, and the percent of growth we’d have in one year. It’s amazing.

But thanks for everything. And I love you all.

Elder Jeffrey Bryan Whitaker Beckstrand

5 October 2009

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for all the emails. I don't know where to start. Mom posed some questions. Yes, we did have investigators at conference. One friend of a member who watched 3 or 4 of the sessions and is in Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. I'd seen him before, but we started talking to him yesterday. We taught him the first discussion in between the 2 Sunday sessions. And a sister who is waiting for her husband to divorce and then marry her was there with the family.

I'm exercising well in the morning and I'm getting 8 hours of sleep. My body is getting used to the schedule. Today I woke up like 20 seconds before the alarm rang. Oh, and Dad, my Spanish is progressing faster than I'd ever thought it would. I feel like I can say whatever I want to. I watched all the conference sessions in Spanish and I probably understood close to 90 percent. It's amazing.

Speaking of conference, I loved it. For the first time in my life I didn't fall asleep. WOW. That's big. I enjoyed the priesthood session talk about fathers and sons. I enjoyed the prophet's talk about service, and I loved Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon. I would like to study that one more and try to have a testimony as strong as his. I also like Elder Nielson's talk about missionary work. His son was in my floor at BYU and I'm pretty sure I've met his other son that he shared the story about. Small world. And now that I think about it, I've met Elder Nielson too. Cool

In between the Saturday morning session and the noon session the satellite was showing Mormon Messages. There was a really good one; I don't know if you've seen it. Something like the story of a stone worker – the story of John Rowe Moyle. Look it up. [I did it for you! Click HERE.] It's very powerful about sacrifice.

I love how as a missionary we have the answer to every question that there is. It's called the Book of Mormon. It's truly a blessing to be the Lord's mouthpiece in helping others to solve concerns and problems.

And speaking of problems, Steven the Spirit has guided me to a solution to all your worldly problems. I know that Mom buys unsugared cornflakes, and she won't buy other cereal until they're finished. I know some mornings oatmeal is for breakfast. Make oatmeal on the liquid side, put in lots of sugar, and add cornflakes. I've been eating this ever since the Spirit told me about it. It's easy to make, makes oatmeal taste good, and gets rid of the cornflakes. You're welcome.

Well, thanks for everything. Mom and Dad, I love you. Michelle, I love you. Everyone else, I love you. And brethren, yes, you too.

Elder Whitaker

28 September 2009

I don't think I have much to write about this week. But I'll try to muster up something.

Oh, first things first. I was studying Preach My Gospel with my new companion. We learned about nirvana, and I think I'm close to reaching it, is that right. Nirvana is a state of tranquility to the things of the world and such. I would recommend a dose of nirvana to Steven. And I'm gonna leave this topic before I become too apostate.

My companion's birthday is next week. FYI, my comp is Elder Vargas from Honduras. He's awesome. I love working with him. He has 8 months in the mission and we're working hard to accomplish the goals we have set for ourselves. We are doing all we can and the Lord will do the rest.

I have a story about the Lord doing the rest. This week we've been really focused on doing the mission goal of 20 contacts daily. And we usually give a pamphlet to people when we contact them. Usually the restoration pamphlet. But we were running low on the restoration. Saturday we left the house with one restoration pamphlet, saving it until we found someone that would actually read it. We did 26 contacts without giving it away. At 7:20 our appointment person was busy and we had nothing to do until 8:00 when we would have a correlation with the bishop. At 7:25 we knocked a door and a woman let us in. My companion took out the plan of salvation pamphlet first, but then switched it to the restoration In a few minutes the dad came home and we started teaching them. During the discussion there were 3 interruptions, that tells us something. The dad asked us how we can know which church is really the true one – the best question there is because that's the question we answer. I'm excited to see what happens with this young family of 4.

I hope that story makes sense. Good luck with everything everyone. Oh yeah, Steven, you're okay. Michelle, stay beautiful. Dad I hope your diet is still good. Mom, I love cookies. Wegan, nothing. David, go BYU. Brad, enjoy a swim for me.

Love, Jeff

23 September 2009

Hey everybody,

Thanks for the emails. I'm glad you liked last week's email. I was feeling good that week. I hope I'm feeling good this week too.

David, thanks for the advice. I'll try to look my best more. And I'm sorry BYU lost. How's your tailgating going?

So my old companion goes home today. He missed seeing Brad and the parents by one week. I would have loved to send Brad a video on his camera, but such is life.

So we had a baptism last Saturday. Laura. It was awesome. Elder Calarco's last baptism in the mission. The spirit was very strong. I hope that I'll be able to go to the temple with her in 1 year. At the end of the baptism we had a musical number. Number 118 in the Spanish hymn book. Brad can tell you which one that is. Good memories practicing. I hate choir practice, but it was fun and the spirit was there as we sang. The choir was Elder Calarco, myself, and the Barreto family – dad, mom, 4 daughters and the other daughter playing the keyboard.

I got a letter from Grandma where she asked about how we get investigators to stop smoking. I only have one instance where we did that. We taught the Word of Wisdom and the next day he stopped smoking. I can't explain it any better than anyone else.

I was studying Jesus the Christ again. I have like 150 pages left still, but I learned something interesting. Jesus said 7 things while he was on the cross suffering. We can study each thing he said and learn a different lesson. I think it would be a very interesting sacrament talk to analyze those things he said and what he taught us in the last moments of his mortal life.

So my new companion is Elder Vargas from Honduras. I met him, but haven't really talked to him much. I'm excited to be able to serve with a new companion. I know that God chooses my companions and I'm excited to learn why Elder Vargas will be my companion for these next 6 weeks.

Thanks for all the letters. Thanks for the photos, Mom. Good luck adjusting to real life again, Brad. And Steven, practice counting; it'll help the calculus. When in doubt, count and pout.

All my loves, Elder Whitaker