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