Happy New Year!

Dear Family,

I have mixed feelings about this week. I have learned a lot of lessons the hard way, but New Years was really fun. I took lots of videos of the impressive firework displays we saw. Everyone was blasting their music and lighting off rockets. It felt like we were in a war zone. Everywhere we looked around our house there were fireworks. They have a tradition here in Panama of burning a stuffed scarecrow. I think it has something to do with starting over with new goals. The fireworks lasted for a good hour after midnight and then spaced explosions until the next morning. They have some really fun fireworks here. Mikey and Ben would have some fun here. We spent the evening with Lorna and her family. She is a cool member in our ward. She is going through a tough time right now but hides it well. He husband cheated on her and they are now going through a divorce. We passed by an Evangelical church on our way back to our house. They were burning prayers and blessings. 

Since we reached our baptism goal this year for the mission they allowed our zone to watch Toy Story 3. What a great movie. I really enjoyed it.

Dad, we share a chapel with Cabuya. That is the area of the Hermanas. Starting this year we will begin meeting at 12 rather than 9. I like this better because now we can eat breakfast and do our studies. 

We were really excited that our investigators have started coming to church now that the water crisis is somewhat over. I feel like we can finally move forward now with a lot of them.

I was wondering how much is in my debit account. My pinstripe pants with the cuffs do not fit. I cannot remember if I tried those ones on before leaving. Maybe the rice is to blame but I do not think so since my other pants fit. Anyways the short story is that I want to buy some pants and a USB drive to back up photos and I was not sure how much money is in there.

I am glad you did something for Colins birthday. I was thinking about it on the 1st.

We are starting to see the value of developing strong relationships with the members here. When the members trust us, they feel more comfortable giving us references to teach their friends. Our most positive references and the people that are progressing the most are all references.

We are coming up on changes pretty soon. I am nervous that Elder Voss is going to get switched out because I really like him. He has been here for one change already, so its not too unlikely. At the same time he is training me so maybe he will stay. I am 98 percent sure I will stay here. It is crazy how fast this change has gone by.

There is a sister that is really sick here. She has stomach ulcers and throws up a lot. They are talking about sending her home. She came out here with me.

I love you.

Elder Whiting