Elder Jeff Whiting: Beginning of April

Dear Family,

Conference was a really cool experience. I have discovered what a great missionary tool conference is. At first our investigators would not want to go since I have fallen asleep in just about every conference of my life except in the MTC and this last one. Several of our investigators accepted however and came. They all really liked it and decided to stay for other sessions. I felt really bad for one of our investigators that came up to me afterwards and asked me if it was alright that she does not have a husband because she saw so many families sitting together and eternal marriage was a big theme of the conference. They stuck all of the English speakers in a separate room on Saturday and in a closet office on Sunday. I especially enjoyed the talk the surgeon gave on the necessity of pain for personal growth and the talk on the difference between to be and to do. The attendance was sparse on Saturday, but the stake center overflowed on Sunday. During the Priesthood session I got a little sentimental (likewise during the one in the MTC) since I was not attending it with my father.

I had a fun time buying a new camera. There is a little shopping center in our zone called los pueblos that is like a rundown Folsom Outlets. All of the little shops are competing so you can get much better deals than in other locations. It was fun haggling prices. I told one merchant how a guy across the walkway had given me a better deal. The guy exclaimed that he knew the guy and that he would "go to the devil" before he was bested by him. I had to do a lot of walking until I found what I thought was the best deal. They threw in a memory card, case, took off the tax and had the lowest price of everyone. I am really happy with it and think it takes good pictures.

We lost power Saturday night when we returned to the house. At first I was worried because I saw that some surrounding houses still had power, and I have seen too many scary movies where the killer cuts the power than runs in and kills everyone. I found my flashlight and went out to check the fuzebox like they do in the scary movies. I observed that none of them were blown and that other houses did not have power. I remembered the story of one of the Favero boys mowing the lawn at night after procrastinating it with a flashlight in each armpit. I employed a similar technique to get ready for bed. Showering was interesting too in the dim light of my flashlight. Everything was manageable though. I did not realize how bad our situation was until I went to turn on my fan for the night and realized that it is run by electricity too! So that was my little adventure. Power was restored the following night. I realized how many things I use require power like my shaver, toothbrush, camera, fan, and lights. I am thankful that I am constantly reminded of the things I take for granted.

I still do not know if I am leaving Tocumen. I will find out Tuesday night.

The pictures are of me teaching a member how to make brownies with my companion, conference, and zone pictures.

Love,

Elder Whiting