28 December 2010

Uruguay Montevideo missionaries

Floridá zone

This week went really well. I really enjoyed Christmas [see picture above]. I’m also in the Montevideo bus terminal because today was transfers. My companion and I are staying together – few changes in our zone.

On the 24th we had a cool miracle. We knocked on a door and a lady let us in. Her husband is blind and she had a serious bandage on her foot. We watched Mormon Messages about Christmas. It was really cool. She said the God sent us there. That was cool.

On Christmas Day Uruguay is dead from a late night and fireworks and alcohol, so we took advantage to do our weekly planning. Then we went to eat lunch with our branch president, and then we planned more. We also cleaned out our cell phone. Zone leaders and sisters have cell phones in our mission. Other elders have met people and put them [their information] in the phone. So, we called a boatload of people and saw if they wanted to be baptized and when they used their agency incorrectly we wished them a Merry Christmas.

I loved the phone call. It made me feel really good. Thanks for being the best family ever.

Love you lots,

Elder Whitaker

6 December 2010

This week was really good. Thanks for all the letters. I got a lot of them and I’ll print them out to have time to write you all.

We had a baptism on Saturday. And like you probably know, there is always a bunch of opposition when someone wants to get baptized. We got to the church 3 hours ahead of time to fill the font. Turns out the font was full, from our last baptism. Gross. We had to empty it and then fill it up. We brought a DVD player and a DVD to watch after the ordinance, but there was only one plug, so we prepared a backup plan with the VHS built into the TV. Edgardo, who was getting baptized, couldn’t find a taxi. So instead of getting to the church 30 minutes early, it was like 4 minutes early. Sonia, Edgardo’s wife, has a cell phone out of commission. And at 15 till, there was one member. It was cool, and not even that stressful, really, because it all got fixed in time and the baptism went really smoothly. I performed the baptism. Edgardo is like 65 years old. This week he got married to Sonia after being together for 5 years. Sonia is a member since her youth.

Yesterday we had a meeting with the district president. That was cool. What called most to my attention was the spirit we felt together. The spirit that accompanies a district president is different. What was even more interesting was the zone leader council we had this week with Elder Arnold of the Seventy. He said the same thing. He felt a different spirit as he met with 22 zone leaders and the assistants. I thought, “What is he feeling and how is he feeling it?” I felt the spirit he brought but nothing due to the fact that I was there. It was interesting, something to ponder.

But I think that’s all I’ve got. I love you lots. I hope you all enjoy this Christmas season. We’re working on having a white Christmas. We’re working on baptizing Alicia on Christmas, the only saving ordinance you can perform on Christmas because the temples are closed on Christmas. You could pray for that.

I know the church is true. I know Christ lives. What a glorious blessing it is to represent Jesus Christ.

Love, Elder Whitaker

29 November 2010

Thanks for all the letters. It sounds like everyone is doing well. This spacebar is wacked. Bear with me. [The spacing is now edited correctly, but it was odd.]

I’m glad Thanksgiving went well. My Thanksgiving was a regular day. We did order pizza at the end of the day to celebrate. It was okay.

Thanks for the brownie recipe Mom. The first time I burnt the bottom; the second time it worked perfectly. The biggest difference is the oven I have does in 50 minutes what the regular oven should do in 25. My companion was a fan of them. And the good part was the ingredients for the brownies are ingredients we often have in our house.

So the other day I bought toothpaste. I bought discount toothpaste to save money. Don’t ever make that mistake. Maybe it’s okay at Walmart, but in Uruguay, don’t do it. It was half the price of Colgate and double the size. Oh well.

That reminds me, how is the family newsletter doing?

So this Thursday, we have our zone leader council in Montevideo. All the zone leaders go and the assistants and President and his wife, but this time it will be even more special because the area president, Elder Arnold, will be there. I’m excited.

But I’m doing very well. Thanks for everything. I love you all.

Elder Whitaker

23 November 2010

Thanks for the pictures of Steven’s eagle project. What does it mean when I don’t recognize anyone in the pictures? I guess I’m getting old. I was planning on sending you some pictures but the USB port is too skinny to let my USB enter. Next time I’ll bring the little cable that eliminates that problem.

Yesterday we went to Montevideo for a leadership training meeting. That was way cool. I learned a lot. From our zone we brought 6 of our 12 missionaries – 2 zone leaders, 2 district leaders, and 2 future leaders. The meeting was composed of groups like this from every zone from half the mission. They had to do this meeting twice. It was cool. The spirit was really strong and we focused on having a hunger to baptize. When the whole mission gets that hunger, the Lord will be able to provide to feed the hunger. This hunger also pushes everyone to live the way you have to to deserve the blessings of baptizing someone.

Another thing I’m trying to do is focus on investigators in my studies. It is selfish to study something I want to study. It shows charity if I study for others. And there are promises made by leaders that if you study for others you’ll learn more than you could studying for yourself. I saw that this week. I wanted to study baptism, our first covenant, from Preach My Gospel, to help an investigator. It was incredible. This section has like 7 paragraphs. In the first 3 it mentions baptism 1 time. Why? To understand baptism you have to know what an ordinance is and a covenant. Duh. Why didn’t I ever notice that? The last 4 paragraphs mention baptism like 17 times, and then ties it all into the sacrament. It was incredible.

Thanks for letting me know your areas in the mission, Dad. It impressed my companion that you were all over the country. Elder Llamín is from the part of Santiago called Florida. Ironic enough, right? I’m from Florida and we’re serving in Floridá.

I read something about Christmas gifts. It sounds good. We’ll see if I can do something about getting a Christmas gift to someone. I needed to be on that yesterday. On another Christmas note, who will be home for Christmas? Who will get the great gift of talking to me?

I think that’s it. I’m doing really well. I’m happy and excited to work and serve. Yesterday we learned about the secrets of missionary work – work and obey - secrets that aren’t secrets that Brad shared with me a long time ago.

I love you lots. Thanks for the emails.

Elder Whitaker

15 November 2010

Today is transfer day. My companion, Elder Vargas, is going home and my new companion is Elder Llamin, accented i. He’s from Chile. I’m excited. He’s relatively young in the mission and for a zone leader young too. He almost has 9 months. I’m really excited to work with him. And, Dad, it would be cool if you could send me a list of all the areas where you served in Chile. That would be cool because there are a lot of Chilenos and my branch’s branch president served in Chile.

We went to the temple this week. That was awesome. It was tough, though. Because I can’t go frequently, I tried to focus on too many things. It’s hard to focus on keeping covenants when you can’t remember them all. But I’m a lot better now. I learned a lot.

We had a baptism last week. Jennifer got baptized. She’s married to a member that recently re-activated himself. It’s really cool to see the way the gospel changed this family.

Thanks for the brownie recipe, Mom. Now I have to go about getting myself a pan. We used to not have an oven, so there would be no need for oven-safe dishes.

And, Dad, I know how you feel. I’m a little overwhelmed also. It wasn’t that hard being a zone leader when my companion had been a zone leader for like 10 months. Now I have to train a zone leader. I’m also the oldest missionary in my zone. Lucky for me my zone is the smallest zone there is, or at least tied for smallest. There are six companionships.

Thanks for everything. I love you all lots. Thanks for the prayers and emails.

Love, Elder Whitaker

8 November 2010

Wow. It seems like everyone is doing well. Thanks for praying that we could find new investigators. We really saw miracles in our area. We wanted two per day, but we set another goal to get 20 “news” in the week. The PMG (Preach My Gospel) definition of a “new” is to teach a lesson and have a return appointment. We got our 20 new on Sunday at 7 PM, just in time. We also saw a great miracle in two new investigators, an unmarried couple, Domingo and Mariana. We found them on Friday, visited them Saturday and invited them to be baptized. On Sunday we stopped by their house and they went to church. It was a huge miracle. If we can find one family like this, why can’t we find ten families like this in a week? I learn that we set our own limits and our attitude has a lot to do with everything.

I saw another miracle in my old area. They had two baptisms this week, a couple got married and baptized. And my old area has four more this week. I really can’t believe the blessings this branch is receiving. I don’t know how or why it’s happening. Weird, eh?

This is my companion’s last full week as a full-time missionary. He’s a great example to me because looking from the outside in you’d never guess that he was almost done. He is working until the end, and he’s teaching me a lot.

We’re going to the temple on Wednesday. I’m super excited about that.

I think that’s it for now. Oh yeah, we’re going to have a baptism this week. Jennifer is getting baptized. I’ll tell you how that goes next week.

Love, Elder Whitaker

1 November 2010

I’m glad it seems like everyone is doing fine. I hope Halloween went well. Cody asked if I had an orange tie. Nope. Halloween is interesting here. At like 3 PM we started seeing kids go out, only a few went out with parents. The costumes consist of masks and witches, little creativity. It was hard to knock doors, though, because the kids were stealing our targets.

Mom said something about Steven’s eagle project and having good examples. It struck me because in my talk yesterday, I spoke a bit about examples. A ward member got his mission call this week and went to the pulpit and spoke a bit. He said he had to be an example to his younger siblings. Then I spoke about the power of older brothers. I am where I am because of that power. Many people don’t fully understand that power. Then I spoke about my older brother Jesus Christ. It was really powerful to me. Then I spoke about the priesthood and how exercising the priesthood in my life has helped me in specific experiences. I chose that topic because our recent covert and an investigator’s husband need to be getting the priesthood shortly. I was happy with how it went because I didn’t have much time to plan either. Saturday I get the message, “And oh yeah, you have to give a talk,” but I didn’t know if it was a joke or an assignment. I remembered Sunday morning, pondered a bit in preparation, and after the sacrament my branch president announced my talk. Fun.

The miracle of this week is being able to be a zone leader over my old area and see the heavens open and change that entire area. Before I got to that branch they had two baptisms in the year. When I left they had three. One month later they have seven, and their goal for this next month is five. Three people got baptized last Saturday. One was a reference I got. Another was a contact on a P-day. The other was a street contact. I can’t believe the miracles. It was sad not being at the baptism, but at least I have the photos.

If you could pray for something specifically for me, those prayers would help us a lot. Our goal this week as a zone is to find two new investigators every day. We’re looking for the people that are prepared to be baptized now.

Thanks for everything. I love you lots. Have fun working, Dad.

Elder Whitaker

25 October 2010

Last week I got a few questions. Michelle asked me if I ever go to Mutual to talk about missionary work and asked how Mutual is in South America. I never got invited to speak about anything. We are always invited to play soccer, but it’s kind of against the rules and a VERY ineffective use of the time we have here. From what I see, Mutual is a quick spiritual lesson and the boys play soccer and the girls do arts and crafts.

Cody asked me if I have played the piano. One time I did, for an activity. I can play Nearer My God to Thee, from the regular green hymn book. I was scared and nervous and it wasn’t done that well, but it’s a step up, right?

David sent me a good scripture about being men from 2 Nephi 1:21. The day before my comp pointed that scripture out. I had that marked. We also found a Mormon Message by Elder Christofferson about being men. And ironically, all this helped us resolve a problem in a companionship this week. It was cool.

Dad asked if my companion is a zone leader too. Yes, he is. He’s training me.

I found an interesting scripture this week: 4 Nephi 1:27. It talks about the state of apostasy of the Nephites 200 years after Christ’s visit. As I pondered it I learned something. This pride cycle was different because they couldn’t repent and get out of it. Why? Maybe because this was after Christ’s visit. I always imagined that Christ revealed temple ordinances to the Nephites, the same ones we have today. They apostatized from that knowledge, greater condemnation. They were administering those ordinances to unworthy people. That’s bad. Megan told me a bit about the temple, so this thought fit in well. I love the temple.

So, every house in the mission got an oven this week. Mom, could you send me a recipe so this oven has a use for me? Maybe brownies or cinnamon rolls. That would be cool. Just make sure the ingredients exist in Uruguay, thanks.

I have no time. I love you all. Lots.

Elder Whitaker

18 October 2010

Wow, do you know what just happened this week? I got a letter from everyone – every parent, brother, sister and sister-in-law. What did I do to deserve this blessing? There were so many letters I won’t even try to read them now; I’ll print them out and read them later. But I hope everyone is doing well.

Mom, I got my absentee ballot letter thing in the mail. Could you send me who you’re voting for so I can copy you. I’m uninformed and really don’t care much right now. You sending me information is option #1. The other option is I can let my companion vote for me. It would be a good opportunity for him, maybe a once in a life time opportunity. And could you let me know when I need to get that sent by and how to send it. I think postage is free, but I don’t know if that will fly with the Correo Uruguaya.
So the miracle of this week was we baptized a family. We had 3 baptisms Saturday. It was really cool. The father is Robert. He’s a computer programmer, kind of rare to find in Uruguay. His latest work has been designing apps for ipods. He loves the computer and for the first time in my life I could see someone use mormon.org the way the brethren wanted it to be used. He was all over general conference and the Mormon Messages. He even put some on a cd for us to use. The cool thing is that we could baptize a family, and even better, future leaders of the church.

What made this experience even better was the fact that it all happened with Elder Vargas. A year ago when we were together we had zero baptisms. We worked hard, really hard. I learned this week, more powerfully than ever, that the Lord blesses us when we work hard in his cause. Sometimes the blessings come a year later, but the Lord will always keep his word. There’s a cool scripture in D&C 58 I think that talks about this – left hand page left column in Spanish.

But I think that’s it. I love you all. Thanks for the prayers and support.

Love, Elder Whitaker

11 October 2010

Wow. It sounds like everyone is doing well. Here are the questions. Is my companion Elder Vargas almost done with his mission? Yes. This is his last transfer. Where is my companion from? He’s from Honduras. How many times have I gone to the temple? 2 in the MTC and twice in the field, and twice in America I think. We got good news this week that we’re going this November during our zone conferences. Yeah, I’m excited.

This week was a tough one. It’s hard being a zone leader. We did something we never did before this week. We got in a city bus and shared the gospel. It took a lot of guts to do it, but it wasn’t that hard. We prepared a ton of pamphlets with the mission phone number and did what we do best. We liked it so much, and had leftover pamphlets, that we did it two more times. We had 80 contacts before 8 AM.

I want to share what we did in district meeting to help the zone focus on our baptism goals and feel the spirit. It was weird. One day I thought, “Why don’t we have a meeting in all white clothes, baptism clothes?” It was a weird idea, but I shared it with my companion. We prayed about it and felt good. Today we had our first district meeting of the transfer. All 12 missionaries were in white. We all introduced ourselves and bore our testimonies. It was so cool. When we were in white we announced that we were going to be able to go to the temple this transfer. It was really cool. I’ll never forget it.

I’m out of time. Enjoy the letter and photos. I’m sending pictures of me and my old companion from last transfer. One was our last baptism and the other is a big “animo” booster I left in my old house. It’s even better now, but I don’t have the picture.

I love you all,
Elder Whitaker

5 October 2010

Thanks for all the letters. Yes, Mom, this week was transfer week, but before I get to that I want to tell you about all the miracles I saw at general conference.

On the 5 sessions, we had 9 investigators. That’s incredible. Cindy and Nicolas, Alejandra and Andres, Andrea and Richard, all couples that need to get married. Carmen and Agustin, and Axel. Huge miracles. I was so happy to help people hear the voice of the Lord’s prophet. I was sitting in one of the sessions and realized that we had 2 investigator families present. I can’t explain the joy that filled my soul. I’m doing my job and I’m happy.

Unfortunately, I’ve been transferred from that area. I didn’t want to leave. But the cool thing is I’m in the same zone and same city. I’ve been called as a zone leader and I’m serving with my second companion, Elder Vargas. I’ll be helping him end his mission. Exactly a year ago we were together, and we’re back together. I’m so excited.

I’m glad everyone enjoyed conference. I agree, the topics seemed to be follow the prophet and agency, and gratitude. The human race needs to be more grateful. That’s what the Lord told the prophet.

Well, I think that’s it. I love you all.

Elder Whitaker

27 September 2010

Wow, it sounds like everyone is doing well. Thanks for the letters. I got a few questions today.

Will I get to watch general conference live? As live as they can translate it. We’ll be in the district
center and there should be a handful of Americans, so I might be able to watch it in English again.

Have I ever taught a seminary lesson? No. No one ever invited me to seminary.

Could I write a valedictorian speech for Steven? I don’t have time for that chore – unless you want it in Spanish and on a gospel topic.

And what is my favorite cultural tradition about Uruguay? That’s a good question. Maybe a cultural characteristic that I love is when it rains the whole nation kind of shuts down. And then they make tortas fritas – dough fried in cow fat. Be careful with how many you eat. They’re really good with dulce de leche.

Note: Here's a recipe if you want to try tortas fritas yourself some cold, rainy afternoon.

We had an awesome baptism this Saturday. Maria Espinosa got baptized. 34 people came and 8 were not members. Then the 4 we had at sacrament meeting made it a good week. My comp and I are working hard and the whole branch is being affected. It’s really incredible to see the transformation. We’re being blessed so much. We’re being so blessed it’s becoming a challenge. Never thought I’d say that! But we just don’t have time to do all the good things we want to do. And unfortunately I don’t have enough time to tell you about all the miracles we saw this week.

I have a scripture insight for you all. It only works in Spanish, though. Jacob 5:70-72. In Spanish it says “la estacion viene rapidamente,” or the season come quickly. Our branch is called Estacion. “La rama estacion viene rapidamente.” If you put that in the context with the scripture it gives me the attitude I need to work hard.

I love you all. Thanks for all the help. I was going to send pictures, but I don’t have time. Maybe next week.

Love, Elder Whitaker

20 September 2010

Thanks for all the letters. I’m doing great. I have a few questions to answer though.

Cody was wondering if I get to eat a lot of rice and beans. I don’t remember ever eating rice and beans. Rarely beans find their way into guisos; a suiso is a stew you eat in the winter that has meat and veggies and either pasta or rice. We eat a lot of pasta with tomato sauce, milanesas, which are fried meat, and a few other things. I really like the food generally.

Brad’s question was about the leadership training without my companion. The meeting was for leaders and future leaders. Right now my only calling is senior companion. The meeting was for half of the mission; the other half is having the meeting this week.

And yes, I know Elder Sluder, Mom. He’s an interesting kid – a great kid though.

Steven said Brother Slovacek was his teacher. I’m assuming he meant the one that just finished “presidenting” a mission. Say hi for me then.

What else do I have to say? This week’s miracle was we had 6 or 7 investigators at church. The zone’s goal was 8. Almost made it. I won’t complain though. We had 6 of ours and 1 extra from another branch – the mother of our investigator – the one that is getting baptized this Saturday.

I hope the Lord lets me stay in this area a long time because we are really seeing huge miracles. This branch has only had 2 baptisms this whole year and right now I can see like 8 people that could be baptized. It’s exciting work.

I love you all. Thanks for the support and prayers.

Elder Whitaker

16 September 2010

So this is weird, writing on Thursday and everything. On Monday, we had a leadership training conference in Montevideo. It was Monday and Tuesday. Awesome. We learned about all the new missionary focuses and now we are putting them into practice. But there was a miscommunication in how we were going to have our p-day. My companion stayed in our area with another elder; they had p-day on Monday. So the elders that went to the meeting were supposed to have p-day on Wednesday, but I got back and we had to work. So I didn’t really get p-day, but that’s okay. I just wanted to write and say I’m fine.

I finished Jesus the Christ this morning and really enjoyed it a lot. I have to decide now what I’ll be studying.

I want you all to know that I’m really enjoying the mission more than I ever have before. President da Silva has asked us to make significant changes, significant changes in who we are, what we do, and how we do it. As I have been trying every day to make these significant changes, I have been blessed with a joy that I have never felt before in my life. I can feel that the spirit is really being y constant companion. President told us where we had 6 before we need to be getting 20, where we had 15 before we need 50 now. I’m seeing these things change and happen. Last week we had 6 at church and we invited 8 people to get baptized and all of them accepted. We’ll have a baptism the 25th. Her name is Maria Espinosa. We taught her the law of the tithe yesterday and it was awesome. I love my job.

I love you all. Thanks for all the support and prayers, but I have to go and find Julio and teach him what Jesus Christ would have him know.

Love, Elder Whitaker

6 September 2010

It was good to hear from you all. It sounds like everyone is having fun getting back to school. Wow, I can’t believe football season is already back. I remember last year when that happened, it caught me by surprise. It’s interesting to note that I liked to know last year, but as of right now, I could care less. Isn’t that cool that I’m more involved in the work? It makes me feel good that I’ve matured.

So this week I saw a really cool miracle. It all happened because I got sick. I got sick in part because it rained all week. A yearly storm called Santa Rosa came it. It rained from Tuesday until Saturday morning, a constant annoying drizzle. But I got sick and got a priesthood blessing and took vitamins and medication and went to work. At the second day of being sick, I woke up with “Alma 8” in my head. I had no idea what Alma 8 says, so I went to read it. I didn’t catch what I was supposed to get the first time. So, I read it later again during my language studies. The first verse says Alma went to his house to rest. Was that a message to me? So I asked and got an answer. I rested, took a 90 minutes nap, then I went back to work. I felt better and we had an amazing day. It was really cool, though. The Lord knew I was going to work until I couldn’t, but I needed to rest. It was cool because I never got personal revelation in that way before.

I think that’s it for now. I’m running out of time. I love you all. You are always in my prayers.

Love, Elder Whitaker

30 August 2010

Wow. Thanks for all the emails. It sounds like everyone is doing really well. Mom asked the question if I live in a 2 or 4 elder house. There are 4 of us, 3 Americans and my comp from Paraguay. The 3 of us all came together to the mission, but I never go to know them that well because I was put in the Latino group (at the MTC).

Steven, have fun with all my old teachers. It looks like you have 4 or 5 that I had. You’re welcome for my setting the bar really high. Good luck doing better than me.

And Michelle mentioned something about keeping the house like the temple. Ironically, I had been thinking about that this week, and I changed something to make our house more like a temple. I set a goal. Sometimes I would do what I needed to do faster than the schedule gives me. In the morning or at night when that happened, I would start my studies or sleep earlier. But this week I put that time into cleaning the house. One morning I swept and mopped the floor. I also washed dishes and cleaned my desk. It’s made a difference. I’ve been able to sacrifice 2 things I like to be able to feel the Spirit more – some sacrifice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Enjoy that. I’ll refrain from any other comments. Just know I’m thinking of you.

So, I’m really excited for this transfer. I love my companion. This is his third transfer and he’s really learning English well. It’s interesting that he knows enough to be at the point in the learning process that I can help him a lot. We talk a lot in English and he always prays in English.

Another cool thing that we found out this week is that the missionary that taught my companion’s mom the gospel lives in our city. I thought that was way cool. It shouldn’t happen, but things like this happen all the time.

Our investigators are good. We were a little disappointed because those that said they’d come (to church) didn’t make it. But we’re being super obedient and we’re going to see some awesome miracles. I’m excited.

I love you all. Thanks for praying for me. And thanks for the pictures.

Elder Whitaker

24 August 2010

Thanks for the letters. It was good to hear from everyone. First I wanted to answer David’s questions. Am I allowed to look at blogs? I really don’t know, but it would be easier for me to just attach a photo or two to an email. And Dave asked about how we get food. The members provide for us usually every day besides P-day. We eat lunch with them. Breakfast I make for myself. I’ve been living on hot cocoa during the winter, and I’ll probably go back to corn flakes when it stops being cold, and that might be really soon. Sometimes we eat dinner or a snack when we get home, but not always. It’s a really interesting change from America. If I eat a double portion at lunch, which is what the members give us, I’m usually not even hungry until the next morning. But it was an interesting journey getting used to not eating dinner.

I had a question for the family. Where are you reading in the Bible? Have you finished it? Or are you in Isaiah or something? At the moment I’m reading Jesus the Christ for the second time. Good stuff. I’m also transferring marks from my old Bible to my new one.

Another random question: In America has the Lays chips company made these “French fries in a bag” chips things? Because they sell these things in every little shop and my companion always buys them. Just wondering.

Here’s another question for my missionary relatives. I’ve been wondering what habits you acquired on the mission that you are still doing today. Are there habits you lost and had to get back? And are there habits you lost and want back? It’s just something I’ve been wondering.

So, Elder Arnold of the Seventy visited our mission this week. It was awesome. I don’t think I have time to say how awesome it was, but the Lord is changing missionary work. We have new things we’re focusing on and I think there’s a new book to supplement Preach My Gospel. And there are new DVD’s to teach us. I don’t think I have time to explain that either.

So transfers came. I’m staying in Florida, but I have a new comp – Elder Nunez from Paraquay. And my new zone leader was my second companion. I’m so excited.

We had quite a few miracles at church this week, like 6 investigators came. 3 that came felt the Spirit, and don’t have to get married or divorced, so we should be having baptisms soon.

I love you all. Thanks for the prayers and support.

Love, Elder Whitaker

16 August 2010

“Tell us a story of your favorite investigator.” That’s what Brad asked me to write about. That was what I was planning on doing. My companion and I are teaching a couple, Cindy and Nicolas. They have 2 kids, Mauro and Bruno. The four of them went to church this week. They are an awesome family. Their two trials right now are that they are not married and Nicolas is out of work. They are going to the marriage place to get a date so that they can get married. And we visited them with our branch president one day and the president just so happened to need a worker for a few weeks. They are doing construction work outside of the city. They leave for four or five days and come back on the weekends. It’s awesome knowing that our investigator has spent two weeks now working with the branch president and a handful of other members. The kids are 5 and 2. The 2 year old was having fun during sacrament meeting and wasn’t very reverent. But that’s okay, because the Lord wants his 2 year olds at church. So we’re excited about them and hopefully they can get married soon so that they can get baptized.

We also found a new family to teach this week. It was cool and it just so happens that the lady is a relative of a member. That’s always cool. We went to visit them with a Brother Machado. We call him the district ward mission leader, but some might know that that isn’t a calling. He’s a high council member over missionary work, and he does his job really well, which is interesting down here in Uruguay, but it shows that the church is really developing down here.

I love you all and thank you for the support and prayers.

Love, Elder Whitaker

9 August 2010

And wow, Brad, you even had a pony and cart. Here in Uruguay horses and carts are a big thing. I imagine it could be the same in Resistencia. I hope one day to ride a cart like that. And thanks for the tie, Brad. I’m wearing it right now.

And as I pondered more about the family reunion proposition the more I think a yearly activity would be nice. I realize that I don’t know my cousins that well and a yearly shin dig would help that.

Brad question: What was your trainer’s name? I don’t remember if I told you but a guy here served in your mission, last name of Blanco. I think he was the assistant at one point. He’s been home for 2 years now. This guy didn’t recognize you, but I think he would know your other companions.

So we had our interviews with President this week. Those went well. I love President da Silva.

We had district meeting this morning. It went well. I shared a lesson about persevering to the end. We memorized Ether 12:6 as a district and then I shared a wrestling story. One time I went into double overtime and won 1 to 0. The next week I wrestled the same kid and beat him 13 to 1. I said that if we persevere, we’ll destroy Satan the second time 13 to 1. It was cool when I said it because I was talking through the Holy Ghost. It’s always cool when that happens. I wish it would happen more.

What else happened? What a boring week. I practiced the piano before district meeting again, and I played a duet with another elder. That was cool.

I’m reading Jesus the Christ again and learning a lot. I got my [Spanish] Bible, Mom, so you don’t have to worry about sending me one.

And I have nothing else to say. Sorry if this email was boring.

The church is true. Jesus Christ is our older brother. We have a living prophet today, and here’s a quick clip from a hymn that has become a part of my testimony:

Yo se que vive me senor.
Consuelo es poder saber.
Que vive aunque mureto fue.
Y siempre su amore tender.

Thanks for all the prayers and support. I love you all.

Love, Elder Whitaker

2 August 2010

So, this week was really good. I learned a lot. I finished reading the May conference Ensign and the New Testament. It was one of the best studies I've had in my life. It was good to study the most recent prophetic counsel - the Lord's most recent counsel to his children. I was impressed with the focus about personal revelation, families, and Jesus Christ. My testimony of the resurrection was strengthened. I knew before, but now I know better. Something that really called my attention was Elder Hales' talk. He said to parents that their children are their most important investigators. That made me think. I am teaching lessons to my investigators as often as possible, hopefully like 3 lessons a week. I try to invite members. A golden investigator can get baptized in around 4 weeks. I compared that with my personal investigation and journey towards my baptism - 8 years of church, thousands of prayers and lessons, structured and unstructured, and then 11 or so years of retention lessons. Is there any wonder I am where I am now? Thanks Mom and Dad for being great missionaries. I'm sure this thanks comes from all of us.

And, Brad, ironically on Saturday I was reading Revelation 19 where it talks about the Lord's wedding. That made me think of you. Hehehe.

So here's a very interesting story. My first companion was from Argentina. He went home last September. Shortly after going home he moved to Montevideo and has had a girlfriend ever since. He has always been bothering the missionaries in his ward to get my phone number. Well this week he finally got it and called me out of the blue, and then he invited me to his wedding next week, and wanted me to ask President for permission to go. That was really weird, and should have never happened. But I asked President and got the answer I knew I would get, "NO." I just thought it was interesting that Brad and he finished their missions within a week of each other and got married the same way.

So, I shared my testimony last Sunday and the Spirit taught me something very important. Earlier in my mission I tried to avoid sharing my testimony on Fast Sunday saying that the members needed to be using the time. I learned that was a lie Satan wanted me to believe, and I repented. The Spirit told me to share my testimony and it was really cool. I shared the testimony David shared once, I think: A boy walked into a forest with a question, and the boy walked out with an answer. That answer changed the world. That forest became sacred and that boy became a prophet. How grateful I am for that boy.

Love, Elder Whitaker

26 July 2010

Thanks for the emails everybody.

It sounds like a lot is going on in the Valrico Ward missionary work. That makes me happy. I was pondering D&C 82:10 recently. The Lord blesses us when we work, but the blessing is always hinging on the commandment you’re not keeping. Once you change, you feel the spirit more but there are more blessings to be gotten because there’s another thing you need to repent of. Just a thought I was pondering

Mom, you mentioned something about Maria. The other day I got letters from a Mutual activity. I sent a letter home responding to the letters I got. I think maria wrote something to me so I wrote her back.

What else happened this week? I spoke in sacrament meeting. I spoke about missionary work. I shared my conversion and the story of George Connor (a friend from high school I baptized) and the story of Norma Correa from Rocha. It was good.

I’ve also been studying the conference Ensign still. I just finished the priesthood session this morning. President Monson’s talk in the priesthood session was really interesting and made me reflect on the way I live as a missionary and the things I don’t be able to go back to doing when I get home. I’m realizing how many things I used to do that would offend the spirit. Sometimes the spirit is so offended from the last thing we did we can’t realize what we’re doing is also offending the spirit.

What else? I’m doing great. It’s not as cold as it was last week, but it did rain Sunday night. We had a lady with a baptismal date, but she didn’t go to church. Her kids want to be baptized too.

Yeah, sorry I don’t have much to say. I didn’t plan this email that well. Keep up the good work. Enjoy your vacations. Enjoy getting married, Brad and Cody. I think that’s going down this week.

Love, Elder Whitaker

19 July 2010

So I got to Floridá. It’s a town bigger than Rocha. It rained Sunday and we had about 38 in attendance. The branch president reminds me of Bishop Tolman. My companion is named Elder Matamoros from Honduras, my third comp from Honduras. I live in a house with 4 elders again. It’s a really nice house according to mission standards. Our shower has pressure, we have a fireplace, and a Uruguayan BBQ thing called a parilla. I look forward to using that. We are neighbors to the church. And it’s really winter now. It’s cold. I never go anywhere without my gloves, hat and scarf. Can you believe that I’m using a scarf? Scarves are awesome.

With my new companion, we started running in the mornings. I hate running, but it helps us. I feel good and I’m already skinnier.

So, I’m still studying the New Testament and the conference Liahona. I’m in Revelations and I’m using the New Testament student manual. Good stuff. But I found something really interesting in Elder Christofferson’s talk. In the footnotes it quotes Wikipedia. You can throw that in the face of teachers that still don’t think it’s a good source. Apostles are wikipediing.

What else happened this week? Yeah, it’s been cold, but I’m doing well and keeping warm and healthy. Oh yeah, one of the elders with WHOM I live (is that grammar right, Stevo?) is Elder Wally. He would have been my comp in the MTC if I had opted for the 2 month stay. So, I’ll get to know him a big more now. He’s a great kid.

I love you all. Thanks for the prayers and support.

Elder Whitaker

13 July 2010

So, this week was good. It was my last week with my greenie. Transfers came and I’m leaving Rocha. I’m happy though, because I was getting tired of the area. I’m headed off to the department of Florida. So, we’ll see how that goes. And my comp’s new companion is my old zone leader, Elder Erickson from Texas. He’s a stud.

What else did I do this week? I can’t remember anything. This week got cold. I had to use my coat and my sweater this week which is weird because last year it was way cooler this time of year. We’ll see if Florida is cooler.

Thanks for all the support. Thanks for the prayers. Thanks for the updates. That’s it. I love you lots.

Elder WhitakerDelicious Ravioli

Another view of the Paloma Lighthouse

5 July 2010

Today was fun because we went to the famous light house at the Paloma. I took a lot of pictures. Here are 2. I’ll try to send more next week. We had district meeting and did service and the Hegerhorsts made the whole zone lunch – BBQ chicken and baked potatoes and coleslaw and toasted garlic hamburger buns and carrot cake. I love them. It was our 4th of July BBQ.
So last Sunday was cool because my companion and I got to bless the sacrament. It was the first time doing that as a missionary for me. It was an interesting thought that I was acting for Jesus Christ in two capacities at the same time. I was representing Jesus Christ representing Jesus Christ. Cool. I felt the Spirit.

We had zone conference this past week and I loved it. President da Silva is called of God, and it has been a great blessing in my life learning from him. I also got my conference Ensign this week. It’s about time. But I learned something incredible reading President Monson’s welcome to conference. Our prophet was grateful 5 times, hit about 7 or 8 important doctrines and taught the plan of salvation. His wife fell, had two injuries, more recovering, then went home. Adam fell, spiritual and physical death, atonement, persevering to the end, celestial glory. It was an incredible insight and I don’t know where it came from. Cool, eh.

Lots of love, Elder Whitaker

28 June 2010

So, this week was really good. At district meeting last week, Sister Hegarhorst made chocolate chip cookies to share with the zone, and she made them thanks to Mom’s blog (here's the recipe). Thanks a million Mom. It was good to eat a good old chocolate chip cookie rather than an alfajor.

This Saturday we had our baptism. Norma and her adopted daughter Victoria got baptized. Norma recently moved from Maldonado, another state, to Rocha, where her kids live. She wanted to be closer to her family. She went to church with her son, and then we got a golden reference. Her son baptized her. It was really special and it was my companion’s first baptism. But the baptism gave me a question to ask. Is the baptismal prayer the only time in our church where we do something in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost? Just something I was wondering.

Another special thing that happened this Sunday was I had a spiritual epiphany. I was sitting on the stand in sacrament meeting because I was leading the music. Yeah, can you believe that? I was sitting there and I could see the entire congregation. Sister Pizarro was speaking, a sister that remembers Grandpa, and I realized that I love the people of Uruguay. As I realized that the Spirit was very strong. I love the people with whom I serve.

And Dad, you’re welcome. It’s the least I could do. I’d like to see how it turned out. Anyway, I’m still working on my goals. At least now I’m remembering to pray for help. I hope one day I can get to the point where I change and never fall again.

Well, I think that’s it. I’m going to send this and see if the pictures sent correctly.

Thanks for all the support. I love you all a ton. When people ask, you can tell them I’m doing great.

Love, Elder Whitaker

21 June 2010

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like Nauvoo was fun. And I’m glad Brad’s all fixed up from surgery. And Steven, good work on your shoe. Just last week I had some work done on a pair of shoes I have and they’re as good as new now.

So, I found an interesting scripture this week. I’m studying the New Testament and in the light of the restored gospel it all makes sense. It’s interesting that every Christian church on earth has the Bible and using the same book they get such different doctrine. For example, the Bible teaches us that we need to pray to saints but it also teaches us the God the Father is actually Jehovah. Hmmmmm. But thanks to the restoration we have all the truth.

In Philippians 4:11 I learned that we can learn to be content. It was something that has helped me. Paul was a stud of a prophet.

So, last week in sacrament meeting a drop of water landed on my suit pants during the sacrament, and it helped me remember that when I was a kid just about every week I would drip a drop of water on Dad’s pants and he would always point it out. Why is that an interesting thought? Because as early as I can remember I spent my Sundays at church. Thanks.

So Uruguay plays against Mexico in the World Cup tomorrow. It’s going to be interesting because my companion is Mexican. I hope it doesn’t affect our daily lunch with the members. That leads me to a question for my brothers. Where did you mission companions come from? I’ve served with an Argentine, Honduran, Chilean, Paraguayan, Mexican, and Provoan.

We’re really excited for this week because we’re going to have a baptism. We finally found someone that was spiritually hungry and thirsty. A mom and daughter, Norma and Victoria, are planning to be baptized this Saturday.

Dad, I hope you had a good Father’s Day and liked your present. And I think that’s it for this week. Love you all and thanks for the emails and prayers.

Love, Elder Whitaker

Oh and Steven, my companions say we look exactly the same. You're a lucky man. Have fun being 17.

14 June 2010

Thanks for all the letters and emails. I got to open letters today, so that means I got a letter from Elder Tyree. He’s doing well. Thanks for the pictures and the talk. I’m going to read it as soon as my companion starts doing his email.

So the other day I realized that I never saw a picture of Megan where she was visibly pregnant. Was Megan never “big with child”? At least for me she never was. That’s exciting that Wyatt is home. Have fun with that.

Oh, and Stevo, I hope your birthday was smashing. It just so happens that one of our investigators had a baby on your birthday. Carolina had a boy. Unlike Weston’s, he came a week late and is really ruining her chances of going to church. Lucky for us the other kids in this family are great. Two of Carolina’s kids have come to church with us and this week they invited their cousing. We’ll see how that all goes.

So this week was another miraculous week at church. We had 6 investigators – 3 kids from Carolina, a member’s mom and sister, and another lady we found this week. This other lady should be a member because her son is serving a mission in Nevada. Unfortunately, she smokes and is not married.

So, this week I had an interesting insight and I saw how something I did was prompted by the Spirit when I didn’t even realize it. There is an inactive member we visited. The first time we visited him he was yelling and really grouchy at us. We went back because we said we would. We wanted him to feel the Spirit again. At one point this brother was a member of the branch presidency and endowed. He was offended and inactive ever since. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies. Then I shared Brad’s testimony with him. Brad sent me his testimony in Spanish one time. That morning I looked for the piece of paper and put it in my backpack, don’t know why. In the lesson the Spirit told me to read it, and I did, and the Spirit was strong. Then the Spirit taught me something that this brother needed to know. Why are missionaries transferred and come to an area knowing nothing about the people? I told the brother that I don’t know why he’s inactive, and frankly I told him I don’t care why. It doesn’t matter why. All I want is this guy to go to church to get the blessings the Lord has ready for him. That is how the Lord feels. He doesn’t care what happened before. He just wants us now. It was an interesting insight that I never thought of before. And the Spirit was really strong.

Mom mentioned that I had been gone a year. That’s true. It goes by really quickly. I’m not the same person I was a year ago. I’ve grown in ways that would be impossible to achieve in any other way. It’s an incredible work. Thanks for supporting me and encouraging me.

I love you all.

Elder Whitaker

7 June 2010

Wow, that’s some big news! Congrats, Wegan. Very congrats.

Mom, I’m staying warm. It’s winter, but not super cold yet. There are days of cold then really pleasant Thanksgiving-type weather here. I’m thinking about buying a sweater today. We’ll see how that goes, and we’ll see if I pay with my debit card or cash, who knows?

So, this week we had a huge miracle. We had 5 investigators go to church! And for two of them it wasn’t their first time! So, the work is picking up and after a lot of patience and hard work we can see the blessings come. When we gave our weekly reports to my district leader, he was very impressed with what we had done. We’ll see what happens next.

What else has happened? I don’t really remember. I’m still a bit sick, but I felt good enough to cook myself lunch. You could put this on your blog, Mom. I made rice and steak and vegetables and it was good, and I made a ton for to eat later.

But wow (he he), that’s cool that I’m an uncle now. That wasn’t what I was expecting when I woke up this morning. Congratulations. I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time.

I’m almost out of time. I love you all. Thanks for the pictures from Kyle, Mom. Tell his mom Hi for me. I sent him a letter the other day; we’ll see if he ever gets it.

Love, Elder Whitaker

1 June 2010

So this week I got to speak in sacrament meeting. It was fun and I learned a lot. I spoke about conversion – Alma, Paul, Joseph Smith – it was good. It was funny though because a sister fell asleep during my talk and started snoring, which made it hard for some people to focus. But I think it’s ironic payback from all the times I’ve fallen asleep in church. It’s hard to stay awake some times and I know how this sister feels. Lucky for me, I haven’t fallen asleep in church for some time.

The other really cool experience that I wanted to share happened last night. We visited a less active member. She doesn’t go because she isn’t married. I shared 3 Nephi 18:32, I think. It talks about inactive people coming back and being healed. Jesus said this right after he instituted the sacrament. We invited her back. Then I read her, in 1 Nephi 21 I think, “I will never forget thee, O house of Israel. I have graven thee on the palms of my hands.” This scripture has always been a very powerful one to me. But yesterday it had never been more powerful. We can put our name in the scripture where it says “O house of Israel” to personalize it. The Spirit bore witness to me last night that the Lord will NEVER forget us. He CAN’T.

And what made the experience even more powerful was something Elder Bednar taught us when he visited us last November. He taught us that when an apostle quotes from the Doctrine and Covenants, he is reading it under the same authority from which it was given. Joseph Smith received the revelation as an apostle in the Melchizedek Priesthood, and an apostle reads it under the same spirit of revelation. That thought came to my mind. As a missionary, if you read the literal words of Jesus Christ, as a personal representative of Jesus Christ, you are reading it under the same authority that he used in saying it originally, and that is why I felt the Spirit so strongly as I shared those two scriptures.

But thanks for the email Dad. Your advice helped. We had some awesome miracles this week.

We also got transfer calls. I’m staying with Elder Gomez in Rocha.

Steven, Happy Birthday, Biscuit Head! I would send you a card, but you don’t deserve one until you’re an Eagle Scout. Have fun on the SAT – don’t know why you’d do that again, I thought you were already going to school for free.

Michelle, stay beautiful, and I guess that’s good advice for my sisters-in-law.

Love you lots,
Elder Whitaker

24 May 2010

So this week was really good. And I’m going to try to attach pictures again. I think it’s going to work.

So, here’s the miracle that describes the pictures. There is an old inactive man who lives in Rocha. The missionaries from 50 years ago would give him these “remember me” cards, with the Articles of Faith on the back, and a picture of the temple on the front with the missionary’s address and the mission office’s address. Well, believe it or not, I found Grandpa’s and Elder Richard G. Scott’s cards.

I couldn’t believe it at first. It’s funny, because I’ve shown other missionaries the cards and the Elder Scott card just blows their minds, but Grandpa’s card is more incredible to me. I’ve had them both laminated and I use them as bookmarks for now. I’m pretty sure if I went back I could find some of Grandpa’s companions’ cards. Cool, right? I also visited where Grandpa lived and took pictures of the house for him. I don’t know if it’s changed a lot, but the members say that’s where they lived and the remnants of the baptismal font are in the back yard still. Happy Father’s Day, Grandpa. Being able to live where Grandpa served has really taught me one thing. I’ve learned a lot about tender mercies and how God really loves each and every one of his children. In Grandpa’s journal you learn that when he was 20 years old he loved genealogy and family history. He’s loved that stuff all his life and now the Lord has been able to bless him even more. Neat, right?

Thanks for all the letters and emails. I love hearing from you all. Thanks for praying for me.

Love, Elder Whitaker

FYI, this house is now an old person home and a less-active member works there. That’s how we got in. We sang to the people there before we left. It was fun.

17 May 2010

So this week I found an incredible talk that I recommend to anyone who lives in a home, from the June 2009 Ensign, a talk by Elder Callister called Our Refined Heavenly Home. It’s a really good talk about preparing our home to be more like the celestial kingdom. This talk comes from a website speeches.byu.edu, and I’ve read a lot of good talks that reference that site. It would be cool to go look there. I think it’s where they post the Marriott Center talks.

Grandpa, apparently in your "sea sick six" was an Elder Millet. The Rocha family here knew him. And Elder Millet came back later for a second mission here. I also found the daughter of a sister in one of the photos in your journal. It was really cool, because yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Uruguay, and this sister got to see her mother at church.

So here’s a really weird miracle that happened this week. It was a tough week and our spirits were a bit down. I realized that and decided Saturday to change my attitude. Saturday I also decided for some reason to make my bed really well. I always make my bed, but I do it in my way and it wouldn’t pass anyone’s inspection except mine. It’s hard to make a top bunk bed, but I did it. I made my bed and changed my attitude, and Saturday was an incredible day. We had 6 lessons and watched the restoration movie with 3 families. Stunned in shock, I made my bed really well on Sunday too. We found 7 new investigators on Sunday. That has never happened in my mission, and 6 of them were young men within the ages of 17 and 30. There was a message sent and received. Kind of funny though. You repent and get blessed. But I repented from not making my bed well. Cool.

Hey, but I love you all a ton. Thanks for all the support, emails and prayers. This week I shared my testimony with an inactive member. I told him that what we were telling him is what Jesus Christ would be telling him if he were here in that moment. The Spirit testified to me that what I told him was true. I am a representative of Jesus Christ. It has been a huge blessing in my life. I thank you all for helping me get to this point in my life.

Love, Elder Whitaker

26 April 2010

First off, thanks for the email, Weston. “Be the missionary Mom thinks I am” was some of the first advice I got from my mission president in the mission.

Also, thanks a ton for the birthday package and wedding package. I got them both this week. I would like to send some photos but we’re pressed on time today.

I really appreciate Grandpa’s missionary journal. Words can’t describe what it’s like to get to know my grandpa through his mission experiences. Words can’t describe what it’s like to walk in the same cities that he visited, ride busses on the same roads he did, and associate with the descendents of the people with whom he associated 50 years ago. On Sunday at district conference a counselor in the Montevideo Temple presidency spoke. He served here in Uruguay 50 years ago. I asked him if he would have known Grandpa. His name sounded familiar – Richard A. Kenny. I found his name later that night in Grandpa’s journal. Grandpa baptized an Amaral. I baptized Nilsa Terra Amaral. She’s like 75 years old. Can you believe that? It’s overwhelming. I hope you’re doing okay, Grandpa. I hope this raises your spirits.

So, my companion and I saw a miracle this week, lots actually, but one in particular. I always loved the story of the brother of Jared. Jared is a thinker and his brother has a ton of faith and spirituality. I wanted to try what they did. One day this week I had a righteous desire to find a family to teach. I told my companion to pray that we could be able to find a family to teach that day. And we did. We were in an area where I had never been and a grandma let us in and two of her granddaughters were there. We’re going back later.

This will be the last you hear from me before the wedding, so Happy Marriage Dave and Elizabeth. I love you lots. I’ll wear the tie on Saturday.

But I think that’s it for now. The church is true. It’s an awesome feeling to know that on the same exact streets where Grandpa’s testimony was sealed to him, mine is being sealed to me. I hope that future generations will be able to know how this feels one day.

Love, Elder Whitaker

20 April 2010

Wow, this week was really awesome. We had 2 baptisms in our branch – 2 teenage girls. The other Rocha branch had a family of 4, and the other little town’s branch, La Paloma, had one. We did them all together – 7 baptisms and 6 baptizers. The picture is really cool with 13 of us in white. The service went great. I got to baptize our branch’s 2 girls and I baptized first so I was changing while the others got baptized. It was way cool.

We also had a miracle of an investigator going to church when we didn’t expect him to go. He got to see 2 confirmations. Daniel. I love this guy. We’re visiting him tomorrow.

The other huge news is that my new companion, Elder Gomez from Mexico, arrived today. I’m training!!!! I’m so excited. I’m not district leader any more, but I’m stoked to work with a new missionary. He’s from Mexico City, the first missionary from his family. He was baptized with his whole family in 2002. I’m excited. Can you tell?

Oh Steven, did you know in Uruguay I can buy a 3 kilo bag of cornflakes for like 8 dollars. It’s glorious. I think of Steven when I enjoy my frosted flakes in the morning.

So, I was studying Alma 42:26 and I had a thought. The plan of salvation saves the righteous and destroys the wicked. Another name for it could be the plan of destruction. Just a random thought I had studying.

And another think I like about studying is I’m studying in a new Book of Mormon and I have ideas that I want to mark in the scriptures I use, but it’s weird that some of the stuff I want to mark is already marked. So sometimes as I read I have the same thoughts I had the last time I read. Just something I noticed. I don’t know if others have noticed the same thing.

But I love you all. Have fun getting married and watching tv.

The church is true and the “r” in this keyboard is broken. Sorry. [So you can be glad I re-typed everything.]

Love, Elder Whitaker

12 April 2010

So, I’m glad everyone is doing well. Congrats, Brad, on getting married. Good luck with that. It’s just a shame that everyone is getting married and not graduating from high school while I’m here. I hope you get that one.

So, what happened this week? I read in the beginning of Alma this week and was thinking about Amulek and the guy who offered him 6 onties or whatever to deny Christ. I was just thinking about how that was 42 days of pay for a governmental judge. That’s a lot of money. If a judge these days makes like 150,000 dollars in a year, that’s like offering 17,000 dollars like nothing. It just made me think. It’s interesting.

It’s interesting to read letters as a missionary, because often people write things they’ve written before, but don’t realize it. I might do the same thing, who knows? But it was cool that Steven gave the family a huge compliment today about how good our family is. It’s true. And David reminded me the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Good advice. And more than once Dad has shared how much he loves the story of Abraham. And Megan apologizes for not writing much. JK, love ya, but it’s cool to see this side of the family as a missionary.

Thanks for all of the support. I love being a missionary. It’s really hard sometimes but it’s what the Lord has commanded, and it’s all worth it.

I think I’m about out of stuff to write. The church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. The plan of salvation is true.

Oh yeah, I just remembered a miracle of the week. I’ll share it right quick. This Saturday I fasted that we could find a family to teach. I wanted to find a family or realize which family we had would progress in the gospel. Saturday night we visited a family that we’d been trying to visit but were never home. We were about to give up on them because we thought they were avoiding us. Saturday they were home and we had a great discussion and my fast was answered. God works miracles when we fast.

But I love you. Enjoy my email like always. Don’t be mad for my comments Megan and Dad and Steven and yeah.

Love, Elder Whitaker

5 April 2010

Wow, conference was awesome. There are a lot of Americans in my district and the other branches don’t have church buildings that get conference, so everyone was at our church. I got to watch in English this time and was excited about that. The two couple missionaries that are serving as branch presidents were there and brought home-made American-style goodies. It felt like home. I really enjoyed it.

I think I’m mainly going to share with you all my personal highlights of conference; hope that’s okay. In Rocha we live in a house of four elders, including Elder Martino and Elder Carter, a Texan and a Floridian. It was way cool, though, because Elder Martino’s uncle, Elder Martino, spoke and gave an awesome talk. And Elder Aoyagi spoke of the missionaries that baptized him. Elder Carter’s grandpa, Elder Carter, baptized that man. I thought that was way cool to see how small the church really is.

I loved Elder Oaks’ talk on healing the sick. An hour before that talk I was able to seal an anointing for a sick sister. It was cool that some of the questions I’ve always had were answered.
I loved what Elder Packer said about power comes from keeping our priesthood and temple covenants. It was cool because I’ve taught the same thing to missionaries before. It was really interesting to hear something I’ve taught come from the mouth of an apostle.

Elder Eyring made me want to see the new Duty to God program. If you ever get one, I’d love for you all to send me one.

Elder Bednar was really interesting because he talked about acting. Last November he visited our mission and taught us the same principle, using some of the exact same words. He’s been preparing that talk for six months. Way interesting.

And I loved President Monson’s story about the missionary who didn’t get letters. God answers missionaries’ sincere prayers.

I also want to share a quick experience that made me feel really good and I did it because of the way I was raised. Last zone conference we had some complicated travel arrangements and the couple missionaries couldn’t go with us. I took good notes and next district meeting I gave them a copy of my notes so they’d know what our president wanted them to know. I didn’t think much of it, but they were really grateful. They felt good, and I felt really good. Little things really can make a difference.

In good news, it’s getting cooler here. I found a double wide black v-neck sweater in the house left by someone. I sewed the sides and now I have a nicely tailored sweater to protect my cold body. But I ran out of black thread doing it. Sewing kits aren’t made to edit sweaters. I’ll have to send a photo.

This is getting kind of long. Sorry folks, but honestly, you enjoyed it a ton.

I love you all. Thanks for the letters, prayers and support.

The church is true and God loves us. Take some time to look at how the Lord is blessing our family.

Love, Elder Whitaker

29 March 2010

So Dad said it was tough getting all the logistics set up for your trip to Nauvoo. I kind of know how you feel. We had some crazy travel logistics this week for our zone conference. But that’s all done and it went well. I learned a ton. It was really cool because President da Silva shared Alma 22 and the points he wanted to make I already had marked in my scriptures. Either the Spirit teaches us alike or we think alike. It was cool. President also asked us to all read the Book of Mormon in 6 weeks before the next zone conference, and mark everything that has to do with Jesus Christ. I’m learning a ton. I’m marking his works, references to him, and types for Christ. It’s way cool.

And this exercise gave me an idea of a way to read the Book of Mormon as a family. Read it normally, but each person would be looking for a specific topic and marking it all in their copy. Every now and then for FHE you could share what you’ve learned. Some topics I’ve thought of are Christ, 4th Article of Faith stuff, joy, preparation, obedience, promises, God’s mercy (from Moroni 10:3), and hearts. There are a ton of topics I’d like to study, there just isn’t time.

Thanks for the FHE ideas, and Mom, I remember "Don’t Eat Pete." I’ve done that here in Uruguay. We call it "come Pedro." Good stuff.

The other day in my studies I was thinking about Alma 48:17, the “if everyone was like Moroni” scripture. I was thinking about what you’d have to do to get a prophet to say that about someone normal, that isn’t a Book of Mormon prophet, and I got to thinking it wouldn’t be that hard, because most of the temptations come from other people. If those temptations stopped coming, Satan would have very little power. I really think you could put anyone’s name from our family in this scripture and it would be true.

I love you all. Until next week, Elder Whitaker

22 March 2010

This week was way good. One reason why this week was so awesome is because I learned a ton in my scripture studies. I started not ending my prayers to start studying so that the entire hour is a long prayer. And I realized that the Lord has been able to teach me a lot more through the Holy Ghost. Two things happened last week I'll tell you about. That quote Steven sent me went along with a lession I was planning. I wanted to share it in Spanish. It just so happened that during my studies I got a copy of the Ensign with that talk in Spanish. The chances are zero that the 1982 April conference issue would be in my house in Spanish the very morning I wanted it. It would be impossible for that to happen, but it did.

Also I was studying Ether this week. The brother of Jared put a light bulb stone on each end of the boat. With only one light there would still be darkness, but with 2 there would be always light, especially if the boat was shaped like an elipsis and the lights were in the foci. (That was for Steven. I think that's right, assuming the sides are mirrors.....tell me that insight didn't come from the Holy Ghost.) So, the 2 lights are the Bible and the Book of Mormon. With the two, every point is lighted.

In this Ensign I found a really cool talk I would recommend - by John H. Groberg on the power of family prayer. It was really cool and makes me so grateful that our family did that well. It's a shame that a lot of families don't have that habit. It's weird that when the missionaries come over it's easy to do it, but without us it doesn't happen, at least over here.

I have a random question for my brothers. Were there any cool FHE games you guys used during your missions that kept attention really well and made people think? I would love to hear about any suggestions to have another weapon in my arsenal.

So today I didn't write in the morning because we had a zone activity. We went to a national park with a huge fort and a beach. Other guys went fishing, but I didn't. I don't have the patience. We played soccer too. There's camping here, too, Dad. I hope you weren't mad at my remarks from last week. It might have been a bit disrespectful, but you would like this place Dad. La Fortaleza de Santa Teresa is what its called.

What else has happened? hhmmm. We're working hard. We have a baptism this week and zone conference so it's going to go by way fast. We will be traveling to Trenta y Tres for zone conference. I think Grandpa was there too.

I'm glad you looked up Rocha on google earth. If I knew the streets well you could find my house, or apartment; we live on the 4th floor. It's nice.

But I love you all. Thanks for all the support. Thanks for your examples to me.

Love, Elder Whitaker

15 March 2010

Thanks for the emails again. I really appreciate your efforts in writing me. First off, congrats Michelle in football. I hope everything goes well with that. Steven, I’m glad you enjoyed pi day so much. I love pie day and pie time. Let’s keep counting our blessings with regards to random math moments in our lives . . . and let’s all share a moment of silence for series right now. . . I feel great!

So that’s way cool to know that Grandpa walked the same streets I’m walking now. There are some old-time members here; maybe they’ll know him. I really like it here. The members are way good to us. And, fyi, it’s a branch and a district here. There were like 50 or 60 at church this week.

Something cool that happened this week was the sisters 30 minutes away in La Paloma had a baptism. They came to our city to do it because branch is even smaller than ours and they meet in a house. But my companion was able to baptize the 2 girls and I was able to be a witness. It was cool to be able to participate in another companionship’s baptism.

So, thanks for the McConkie quotes.* It actually has something to do with what I was studying this morning. I was studying for a district meeting lesson I’m giving tomorrow – about making our lessons shorter and more powerful. One of my favorite quotes from PMG is our calling gives us the authority and keeping covenants gives us the power. The tough part is keeping our covenants perfectly.

Another cool thing I learned this week was from Elder Nelson in 2006. Contemplate comes from “con” meaning with and the Latin root “templum” meaning a space or place to meditate. Both contemplate and temple come from this Latin root. And it’s interesting the interrelation between the temple, the home and the body. Just something cool to think about.

And one more thing of incredibly high importance. I went to La Paloma to do the baptismal interview, and there is real live camping there. CAMPING, you know what that means. Dad, try to conceal your joy right now . . . you can’t. But I think that’s it for now. I love you all. Take care.

Love, Elder Whitaker

(from Steven) - Here's a cool quote that I got in Seminary:
"This, then, is the doctrine of the priesthood. . . . This is the power we can gain through faith and righteousness. Truly, there is power in the priesthood -- power to do all things! If the world itself was created by the power of the priesthood, surely that same power can move mountains and control the elements. If one-third of the hosts of heaven were cast down to earth by the power of the priesthood, surely that same power can put at defiance the armies of nations or stay the fall of atomic bombs. If all men shall be raised from mortality to immortality by the power of the priesthood, surely that same power can cure the diseased and the dying and raise the dead. Truly there is power in the priesthood -- a power which we seek to acquire to use, a power which we devoutly pray may rest upon us and upon our posterity forever."

note: I looked up the talk Steven referenced. It was given by Elder Bruce R. McConkie in the April 1982 general conference. I liked the definition of the doctrine of the priesthood that appeared earlier in the talk, and thought you might like it as well -
"Priesthood is power like none other on earth or in heaven. It is the very power of God himself, the power by which the worlds were made, the power by which all things are regulated, upheld, and preserved. It is the power of faith, the faith by which the Father creates and governs. God is God because he is the embodiment of all faith and all power and all priesthood. The life he lives is named eternal life. And the extent to which we become like him is the extent to which we gain his faith, acquire his power, and exercise his priesthood. And when we have become like him in the full and true sense, then we also shall have eternal life. Faith and priesthood go hand in hand. Faith is power and power is priesthood. After we gain faith, we receive the priesthood. Then, through the priesthood, we grow in faith until, having all power, we become like our Lord."

Sarandi del Yi

Elder Whitaker's first area was Sarandi del Yi. When he left last November, Elder Sluder took his place. Now Elder Sluder is being transferred, but before he left he took some pictures which his family shared on his blog. I enjoyed getting a feel for the area, and thought others might as well, so here you go -
town sign
a family in the ward

Bishop Barreto and his family

the ward building

A Day in the Life of a Missionary in Uruguay

I came across a blog kept for another missionary serving in Uruguay and he sent his family a description of a typical day for a missionary. I thought our family might enjoy this description as well. Elder Boyce is in a different area, but I'm sure each elder's day is similar.

So, what’s daily life like here in Uruguay? Well, we get up at 630, exercise for 30 minutes, shower, and eat breakfast in our tiny little cement block house. The members built it for the missionaries 15 years ago. The owners are two old sisters. One is a member. They own a little shop where they sell all sorts of little things. They are called almacens. There are some larger stores, but lots of people sell food in little markets next to or under their houses. They are really nice for grabbing a quick bottle of cold water or a little snack. After breakfast, we study at 8 for an hour. I usually read from the scriptures, or a general conference talk. And then we have companionship study at 9. Then, we head out to work at 10. It’s always the hardest starting out a new day because you haven’t done anything and always feel like you have to start climbing all over again. But it’s also fun because it’s a new day with new opportunities. At 12 or 1230, we have lunch with members. I don’t know if you know, but in South America, Lunch is their largest meal of the day. It usually consists of something like Melanesas (fried meat), pasta, mashed potatoes, potato salad, asado (barbecue) etc... They also have AWESOME things for desert like arroz con leche, fruit salad, dulce de leche (caramel), alfajores, and their ice cream is to DIE for! One Brother here makes us fruit salad with paltas (giant avocados). IT’S SOOOOO GOOD! After lunch we have another hour to study language. I like to read my Spanish scriptures, and of course study the grammar. After that, we work again until 9, and then head home for the night, tired and sweaty. Seriously, the summers here are pretty crazy. It’s not that it’s so hot, so much as it is humid. They have had a very wet summer with LOTS of rain, and these past few days there was a wave of mosquitoes. Thanks for the repellent Mom! Well, that’s a typical day. We just go and work. Talking to people, going to lessons, sharing the gospel message. I love it, although sometimes it gets really hard.

9 March 2010

So, the big new is that I’m getting transferred to Rocha Centro – the city of Rocha in the department of Rocha. I’m excited. I’ll be district leader again and I still haven’t met my new companion. I think he’s a Paraguayan named Elder Barrios. We’ll see what happens. I think Grandpa was in Rocha. It would be cool if you told me where he was. [Yes, Grandpa did serve in Rocha; it was the first area of his mission and he was there from September 1957 to February 1958.]

So I learned a ton of piano this transfer. Mom would be so proud. I have a random question for Mom now though. My comp was always practicing this song on Pday called Rhapsody in Blue. I was just wondering if you could play that, because it’s supposed to be way hard. [Sorry, but no, I haven't ever tried to play it.]

And I don’t have much time, so I gotta go.

I love you all. Thanks for all the support.

Love, Elder Whitaker

1 March 2010

Thanks everyone for the emails. Thanks for offering advice and answering my questions. It’s a huge difference as a missionary when your family writes things that can uplift someone rather than things that make you miss home. It’s a shame that lots of people don’t have a family where this type of communication works.

But what did I want to tell everyone? First, congratulate Steven on his new level of nerdyness. I noticed you didn’t even bother comparing scores with me. I’m excited that you’ll be able to help me at college. Both with homework and buying me food. I sure earned it. . .

But seriously Steve, I’m glad you enjoyed giving a talk. I love giving talks too. It’s interesting to me that you spoke about honesty and integrity. And brace yourself, because I’m about to pay you a huge compliment. A few weeks ago I found a scripture and wrote your name next to it – D&C 124:15. Everyone should know that Steven has the most integrity of anyone I’ve ever met. If anyone should be giving a talk on that topic, I’m glad it was him. You’re welcome Steven.

So I learned something cool this week. I have a leadership position as a missionary. Knowing that I’m a leader helps me be a better missionary. I know people are watching. One thing that I would often worry about is the fact that one day I will be a father. I often wondered if I would ever do stupid things as a father. But it’s really cool to me that being district leader is a lot like being a father. If this calling makes me a better person and helps me to “watch myself” (Mosiah 4:30), the calling of a father will probably have an even greater impact on me. It was an interesting thought I had. Maybe Dad or Mom can comment about his idea that I had and tell me if I’m close or way off the mark.

Another thing I learned this week is that the message we share as missionaries is the most important message that there is. This week I’ve made an effort to tell more people that. The result is different than I expected. Saying this doesn’t make more people listen, but it does make me mean what I say, and it makes me sad when and if they reject their opportunity to learn more. I hope that eventually the people will see the sadness in my eyes and maybe that would help them realize or soften their hearts. Who knows?

And Mom, I talked about obedience and sacrifice last week. I think I mentioned 1 Samuel 15:22. Interestingly enough, President da Silva shared that scripture this week at zone conference. That was interesting.

Happy birthday to all those that have birthdays this month. Is Megan’s birthday this month? I feel bad because I really don’t know when it is. Happy 22nd Brad.

Well, I think that’s it for this week. I love you all. Enjoy the email. Choose the right. And right me letters. . . . (I just thought that right now and spelled right wrong on purpose. . .)

Love, Elder Whitaker