15 February 2010

So, thanks for all the emails. I got a ton this week. But wow, it sounds like everyone is doing well. Thanks Mom and Dad for your testimonies. Of everyone’s those were the two I recalled best.

So, Steven, good job being smart. I’m jealous of the love you have developed for learning. You could’ve helped Dave and I in Physics last year. Good luck choosing classes next year, because it seems you’ve already taken all of them. I would recommend weightlifting and English 4.

So for week’s our house has had a bag of fruit-flavored marshmallows. This week I made rice crispy treats with cornflakes. It was good, a nice change from alfajores. Good thing Mom taught me how to do that. We also celebrated Valentine’s Day by buying a cake. We bought the “African Premium” cake. It was so good. I miss Mom’s desserts.

So Mom you mentioned D&C 84:88. I love that scripture. I share it often. My scriptural thought involving that scripture is I read it and talk about angels around us. I always show the family picture I have around our fireplace from 2007. I testify that those are the primary angels around us that are supposed to sustain us. And that my angels sustain me.

Brad said he had a goal of memorizing Alma 34. I love Alma 34:3. It changed my mission and it was a very, very specific answer to a prayer and problem I had. It helped me develop the testimony that the Book of Mormon answers all our questions and problems.

Oh, and in my studies this week, I read a really interesting marriage talk I would recommend to everyone who is married or might be married one day. And appropriately yesterday was Valentine’s Day and this might have been the year where that actually meant something to more than half of us. It’s a talk by Elder Holland called “How do I love thee?” He gave it February 15, 2000 at a BYU visit.

And my companion and I are going great. The work is the Lord’s and that’s why we don’t have the visible “success” I wish we could have. But after 3 weeks together and over 630 contacts, we had someone in church yesterday. A member invited him and he came. That’s what we were working on and the Lord gave us a miracle. This week we’ll be working on setting baptismal dates. Ask me about the miracles next week.

Sorry this is so long, I hope it’s interesting enough. I love you all. Thanks for your examples. I’ll try to make a list of a reason I love each of you specifically and you’ll get it eventually.

Love, Elder Whitaker