4 April 2011

This week was a good one. Something really interesting that marked this week was one of our investigators passed away. Gualberto passed away the day after we got to our area and the day after we met him. We met him our first Wednesday, he passed away on Thursday, and we visited them the next Tuesday. That was unexpected. But we only met him once so we were less affected than the other elders would be. Ironically, the fight with him and Maria Elena was getting to get married. That’s not a problem now. We are helping Maria Elena. She really surprised us by coming to three sessions of conference. I felt that a lot of the talks were directed to her. She should be getting baptized the 23rd of April. Unfortunately, she was the only one who went to conference, so the couple that is getting married this week will have to postpone their baptism. It’s tough. We couldn’t contact them yesterday so they don’t know they’ll have to wait more, but I feel good with the counsel Elder Christofferson gave – divine correction. Hopefully, we will be able to convey a lesson that has an everlasting impact on their lives, and they react in a way to make it a good one. I finished the Book of Mormon. I found like 424 references to the heart. I miscounted; I think it should be more like 422, but you can get the idea. I invite you to check for me . . . . And now I’m making a list of the specific phrases that are used. I have four pages and I’ve only gotten to Alma. Corazon endurecido is a big favorite (hardened heart); it has more than 30 hits already. So I really enjoyed Elder Christofferson’s talk and the one after his about being and doing (Elder Robbins). President Monson’s priesthood session talk was interesting. You can only guess what I got out of that. General conference is to guide us for the next six months of our life. He made things really clear. I also thought it was interesting that they made two references to the fact that the father is the head of the family and the mother is the heart. I never thought about that before. I think that’s it for now. Thanks for everything. I love you all lots. Love, Elder Whitaker