2 abril 2012

It was fun to end this week with conference. General Conference is such a great missionary tool. The college teacher who is investigating the gospel came to the two sessions on Sunday and really enjoyed them. We also enjoyed the special segment on the King James Bible between the sessions. He still wants to baptised and is progressing very nicely. I watched several sessions in Spanish to be with him.
Interestingly, I think Richard G. Scott does his own Spanish translation. My reasoning is that the voice sounded exactly the same, and the translation ended earlier. I enjoyed Elder Bednars talk in Priesthood session. His talks are always insightful. ´

The members were kind enough to bring us food between sessions. One hermana made us a super hot chili. I burned my mouth and tongue trying while burning my hands holding the plastic plate. I think it would have tasted good though if I had had feeling in my taste buds.
I also met Elder Pfister. He is from Logan, UT. Grandma and Grandpa Whiting had previously mentioned him in their letters. He is in Juan Diaz, so I gave him my advice on the area. He was fun to talk to.

The zone had 15 baptisms during March.

It is starting to rain a little bit here which is a nice change. Have a great week everyone. Thank you for your "personal letters" and other support.

Love,

26 de marzo

This week we had a zone conference in the chapel situated in Los Andes. It is a really strange stake center because it is sitting in the corner of a shopping center. The zone conference included the zones of Paraiso, San Miguelito, and Alcalde Diaz, so our group was pretty big. The topic of the conference was the Book of Mormon. It seems like I have been reminded from time to time in my mission what a powerful tool it is.

I especially enjoyed seeing my "kid" Elder Bentz who is a district leader in Alcalde Diaz. He is so awesome, and I am so proud of him. The assistants thought it was a good idea to let me know I was conducting the conference about 10 or 15 minutes before it started, so I was scrambling around before it trying to fill in a program (opening prayer, hymn, etc). The conference was really good though.

The zone leaders from Alcalde Diaz shared a funny object lesson where we had to tie our hands together with our companions and try to escape without cutting/untying the strings. Everyone ended up in a tangle. Afterwards they showed us how to free ourselves. I think they connected that with companionship unity or something like that haha. President Ward bought us all pizza yummmm.

 

We have this really cool investigator right. The elders before us had been teaching him for several weeks before we got here. He was a reference from one of the hermanas in the ward. First of all, he is an atheist (is that number 5 or 6?). We have had some really neat lessons with him. He is super intelligent. He teaches sociology at one of the universities here.

It has been so neat to see the big changes he has been having in his life since he began meeting with us. He has been reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon every day. He comes to church every Sunday and participates in the classes. The Gospel Essentials class is helping him out a lot. The first classes talk about God and Jesus Christ. I think it is great that dad teaches those classes in our ward. They make all the difference for the investigators. Recently, he told us that he has come to believe in God and wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He accepted our invitation to prepare to be baptized, so we will be working with him to help him feel ready. He still has a ton to learn, but I am excited for him.

 

Thank you for all of your letters and packages. They are truly appreciated. I love you guys. Have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder Whiting

Zone Conference in Los Andes

19 de marzo

 

I had an interesting experience this week that left us kind of shaken. I had just finished a baptismal interview for a lady preparing to get baptised in the zone. She passed the interview just fine and offered to take us home. She was driving like a taxi driver, but by now I am used to it.

We decided to have her drop us off a couple blocks before the house without knowing why. We did not need to stop by anywhere before heading home. It was already late.

 

As we approached the house, we saw a bunch of traffic and spectators in front. As we approached the car I recognized it as being hers. I ran around the side and asked her boyfriend in the passengers seat how she was doing. She was pretty delirious and drifting in and out of consciousness. She had flipped a u-turn and did not make it all the way. A pickup truck had come along and t-boned her car. The car was really smashed up on the drivers side, and there was broken glass everywhere.

We jumped in the back and gave her a blessing. We were so close to being in the car with them, and I was sitting on the drivers side. She is fine now, just shaken up.

 

This Sunday we had stake conference. It was a little different than usual because it was broadcast to us. Elder Packer spoke along with the second counselor in the young womens, and an area seventy. Are they broadcasting stake conference in the states too? I enjoyed President Packers experience with a "street urchin" in Central America and how we should all have more charity. As he held the boy in his lap, someone leaned over to him and said "you are holding a generation on your lap" and related that to the amazing growth of the church in Central America.

 

On Wednesday we had consejos in the Presidents house. They emphasized working more with the members as being the key for more growth. I agree.

 

I love you guys. Take care.

Elder Whiting

 

Zone Leaders Council

12 de marzo

I was surprised and disappointed that I had changes this week. I really loved Colon and was sad to leave. I did not say goodbye to anyone either because it was a really unexpected change. Now I am opening up a new area and organizing a new zone. My area is called San Miguelito 1. Parts of the Panama and San Miguelito zones were cut out to make this new zone we are organizing called Paraiso which means paradise.
The zone only has 13 missionaries, so it is pretty small compared to other zones.

We are also opening up our proselyting area which means my companion and I have never been here and do not know anything. We have been pretty lost. Its funny how everything has its little purposes. You may remember that I visited this area a long time ago for one day with Elder Mapa right before he went home. I do not remember too much, but every once in a while I will get strange flashbacks and deja vu.

The members have been really helpful showing us around and giving us advice on where to work and where to avoid. The previous elders left lots of telephone numbers, meal calendars, teaching records, etc so I have been digging through those. This area is really close to Marcasa and Juan Diaz. The ward is really strong here.

Elder Mendez is a new zone leader that I am training. He is from southern Honduras and has 15 months in the mission. We get along well, and he seems to be a good elder.

It seems like whenever I start to get comfortable in the mission, new challenges and assignments are thrown at me, and I must respond. The mission tests us in so many ways, and there are lots of opportunities to grow.

Thanks for everything. I hope everyone has a good week. Happy birthday dad. I love you.

Love,
Elder Whiting

5 de marzo 2012

On Friday we were heading off to an appointment with one of our new investigators. We saw a big column of smoke before we even arrived and quickened our pace. On arrival, we saw his yard engulfed in flames with the fire quickly moving towards the house and nearby jungle. My companion and I just looked at each other and rushed into the flames. The investigator was running around like a wild man throwing buckets of water onto the flames. We shouted at him to find out if he had called the firemen, but he said no because they would fine him.

I joined into the bucket brigade and took up position in front of the house since that was our priority.

Once we had saved the house from immediate danger we raced off into the jungle which was quickly burning up. We ran buckets to the outside of the fire moving in towards the center. I walked over what I thought was a cleared area to hit the heart of the fire when an old mattress caught fire and blew up behind me. Luckily I had not thrown my bucket yet and was able to calm a part enough to leave. My companion and the investigator also saw my predicament and came to the rescue. Thanks to our efforts and the general lack of dry material here, the fire eventually sputtered out leaving a bunch of smoldering land. I asked him afterwards how the fire had started, and he told me he was burning some garbage in his front yard and things had gotten out of control.

Luckily no one was hurt, and no real damage was done. Understandably, he told us to come back another day. My companion and I have decided that we do not know why we even bother showering in the morning. We usually look trashed before lunch most days.

 

We ended another week well with baptisms. The service was really special although not as many people came as I would have liked. It was a little more difficult to attend than the last one because we held the baptisms in Colon Centro rather than the stake center due to request. We had to hold the service earlier than usual because the area is semi dangerous. A member told me a couple tourists from the US were robbed recently. I have not done divisions there this whole change. My companion did not seem to mind going though.

 

Changes are this Wednesday. I am pretty confident I will be staying in Colon. I hope my companion does not leave. Elder Echeverria is really cool. I think that is all the news I have to report. I hope everyone has a great week. I love you.

 

27 de febrero

This last Saturday we had baptisms! Everything went really well, and there was a good attendance. Hna. Noris (our cook and guardian angel here) gave a really interesting talk about letting Christ into our hearts. She displayed the famous painting of Jesus knocking at the door and pointed out that the door is missing a handle on the outside. She tied that to the idea that we have to open the door to our hearts from within. I really liked that. She was funny because she was very nervous but did a great job. They were all confirmed Sunday. My companion and I were honored to participate in all of the confirmations.

We finalized the baptism interviews for the baptisms this coming Saturday. They are all so prepared which makes me feel really good.

We also picked up mail this week. It had been a while since we had gotten mail because they did not give us a box in consejos. I got so much mail! It was awesome. Mom and Dad, my package from you came and also your card. Thanks for the money and everything in the package! My comp says thank you too. He knows English, so he really said that. I am not translating like usual.
Morgan, I got your package and cards too! When I saw the description of the contents of the package that said "desk calendar", I thought in my mind please be a redneck calendar, please be a redneck calendar and it was! I was so excited. Today reads "you might be a redneck if you think your vital signs are "yard sale", "happy hour", and "no trespassers" haha classic. My favorite is still "you think fast food is hitting a deer at 90 mph in your truck" haha. Thanks so much. Everything made my day.

This week we saw lots of parties on our street celebrating some holiday [part of Carnival prior to Lent]. People dress up as devils with really elaborate masks/costumes. The costumes are really neat and are distinctive to this area. They carry whips and dance around. Anyone that gets too close to them gets whipped. My companion and I avoided any confrontations with them. I did not get a picture, but you could easily find one on google. They are famous. 

Thanks for everything. I love you guys. Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Whiting

20 febrero 2012

Dear Family,

This week we had training with the President, Hna Ward, and the assistants. The topic of the training was asking inspired questions. We had a similar training when I arrived in Tocumen my first area. We had subway for lunch afterwards. President Ward said Colon looked a lot more animated than it had in a long time, so that was encouraging. When training ended, my companion and I did divisions with the assistants. I stayed my Elder Monroy from Mexico, and my companion headed off to Panama with Elder Bennett. I learned a lot from him, and we had a great time. Elder Monroy studied to be a chef before the mission and studied a bit in Spain. He made me the most delicious breakfast the following morning with cubed apple, oatmeal, yogurt, banana, honey, and a little milk. I was watching closely, so I think I could duplicate it. He shared some observations about the zone, and gave me some helpful ideas. When Elder Bennett arrived in the morning to pick up his companion and leave mine, several elders from chitre (las tablas) were with him. I guess with Carnivales starting this week they decided to temporarily take out the missionaries again. I have heard it is pretty bad here in some parts as well. Carnivales end Tuesday or Wednesday.

Saturday we had a stake missionary activity that we planned similar to the one we had in Boquete. We had a Luau with games, dancing, and food. I think I already mentioned the Tongan elder in our zone, Elder Atuake. Anyways, he and I taught the elders here how to dance the Haka. Elder Atuake painted everyones faces too. I got to use my lava lava again. A lot of people came, and everyone had a ton of fun. The games were really funny too. First we planned "who's your neighbor?" which involves running to other chairs and switching, then we had a handless pineapple eating contest. The zone received a lot of references from the activity, and it was really successful.

Right now we have about 8 people with a baptismal date. This coming weekend we are expecting several baptisms and several more the next weekend. My companion and I were talking about how the fruits of our labor did not come from where we expected, but that we just need to work hard, and the Lord works His little miracles. I hope everyone has a great week. I love you guys.

P.S. We completely cleaned our house this week, so I think it is safe to send some pictures soon. It was so bad. 

Elder Whiting

Training in Colon

13 Feb 2012

Things seem to be calming down here in Panama. The riots have entered into dialogue to sort everything out. At least everyone is more comfortable, and the traffic has gone back to normal in Colon.

 

We did several divisions this week to get a feel of the zone. Funny you should mention Elder Pfister. I spent Tuesday with Elder Atuake who was his companion in the MTC. He had an email from Elder Pfisters family saying the Whitings had mentioned I was in Colon. It sounds like Elder Pfister forwards his family emails to Elder Atuake.

 

It is really fun to get to know the elders. Divisions help out a lot to assess the needs of the zone and help everyone out. We can give elders advice to help them work with their investigators and animate them. Things are looking up the Colon. We are close to our goal of 20 baptisms in the zone as far as the baptismal dates we have. I hope none of them fall.

 

I do not have a lot to report this week and did not take any pictures again. I hope everyone has a good week. I love you guys.

Love,

 

[He also noted that they had 35 teaching appointments in the past week.]

6 Feb 2012

This week has been interesting. I feel like I am living inside the movie Pocahontas or Avatar. Things are getting pretty ugly in Panama with widespread protests led by the indians here. They are protesting plans to open gold mines.
It sounds like I got out of David just in time because the protesters closed off the roads to Panama. Nothing can get out of there (including most of the food grown there that feeds this whole country). The elders from David and conception could not make it to consejos. One companionship in Las Lomas, David was too close to a riot and got tear gas thrown at them. President Ward called us last night and told us to tell all of the elders to buy food, so I will probably go stock up on pop tarts.
Some answers to your questions.... Elder Echeverria is from San Cristoba, Guatemala. We do not play any other sports besides soccer.
I do not know the ex missionary from Mañanitas even though Tocumen bordered the area. Elder Biesinger is still in the office. He is leaving this change, so he is training an elder to replace him. I usually have a little money left on my card each month because I take most of it out and save it in cash form. As far as I can tell it carries over month to month. I have heard it is taken out if it builds up too much. I figure it is safer out of the bank. We are currently teaching 8 families and have 8 baptismal dates. We found 5 of the families we are teaching this week.
It did not take long for the members to learn I can play the piano, so now I will be playing in the meetings, and I was also roped into playing for choir practice after church. I have not played for quite some time and have gotten a little rusty without practice. Have a good week. I love you guys. 
[The Indians referred to are not Kuna.]

Consejos de Lideres de Zona

30 de enero

This week I was transferred to Colon to be a zone leader with Elder Echevarria. We are getting along super well so far which makes all the difference. He is from Guatemala and has about 13 months in the mission. The picture is of me and him in our apartment.

My area is called Cativa, and we live in a neighborhood called San Judas. The apartment we are staying in is horrid. I think if I had to choose between getting punched in the face or living there I would have a black eye right now. It is so dirty, ghetto, and smelly. It is ok though because Colon is so cool that I do not even care where I live. Every part of the area is so amazing.
This is probably the "richest" area I have been in. There are a lot of really nice houses here. I imagine the good jobs at the ports/canal here have something to do with that.
We do not have a chapel here. The church is renting a really beautiful house until they can build one. The ward is functioning really well here. The attendance has been fluctuating around 120. I am really excited to be here. There are tons of black people here. They are definitely the majority. I like the phrases they use here like "todo cool" and "ofi" which is short for official.
I have been assigned to a lot of the zones everyone wants to go to. This zone is smaller than David. There are 12 missionaries here including the zone leaders and 2 hermanas. We also have a cook in this area rather than eating in a little restaurant like in barrio 2. She is really funny and likes to divulge family secrets to us. She has a foreign exchange student living in her house from Belgium. I talked to her in English since her Spanish still needs work. I turned the conversation towards religion, and she told me she does not believe in God. I was like whaaaat!?! That makes atheist number 3 I have met in all of my time in Panama.
Sorry this email is so scrambled. I cannot seem to organize my thoughts right now from lack of sleep. Other good news...there are tons of Kuna indians here, so I will be adding on to my collection of molas. Barriada Kuna is a famous area in Colon there are only Kunas there. They make really neat Molas there, so all of the missionaries are always asking the missionaries there to order some for them. Anyway, I will try to find a post office here to send everything home. This area is so awesome. It is pretty hot like David, but not as much. There is always a really strong breeze too which helps. I should have knocked on wood after saying my areas have been flat for the most part (David, Juan Dias, Tocumen) because this area has a lot of hills. I hope everyone is doing well. I am having an awesome time so far in Colon. I love it. Have a good week.

23 de enero 2012

Sorry about the late email today. We decided as a zone to do pday first and then email. We climbed the tallest hill in the area. It only took about 20 minutes to climb, similar to cerro ancon in Panama City. The view from the top was really neat because you can see everything in all directions of David. I never fully appreciated how flat David is.

The picture of my companion and I was taken at the top. The pictures of the landscapes are from the fair in Boquete last pday. I bought some really elaborate Molas to send home and a wiry thing to scratch/massage my head.

The baptism photo was taken Saturday. Her name is Jennifer SaraVia Guette. She has a really strong testimony and will be a strong addition to the ward. The other elders serving in our ward also had a baptism this last Saturday, so we joined the services into one.

It is very likely I will have changes this week. The email with all of the changes is not in my email box for some reason. The assistants probably faxed the changes to us, so I will find out tonight.

On Thursday, Elder Nelson came to Panama. As my luck would have it the elders in the interior of the country were not invited to the conference. We had to watch it in the David stake center via transmission with Bocas and Concepcion. I was really bummed since everyone in the city got to shake his hand. First Pres. and Hna. Ward spoke followed by Elder Martino (seventy) and his wife, and then Elder Nelson and his wife. They were really inspiring talks. The conference lasted about two hours. Near the end of his remarks, Elder Nelson asked if anyone had questions to ask him. Someone asked him how we can control our thoughts. I thought that was an interesting question and relevant to everyone.

Love,

Elder Whiting

Looking toward David and the Pacific

Jennifer SaraVia Guette

fair in Boquete

16 de enero 2012

This week I learned a lot about being patient. Last Monday I got sunburned really badly when we went to the beach everywhere I did not put sunscreen like my legs and feet. It was probably the worst sunburn I have ever had. I woke up one morning with my legs and feet on fire. It felt like I had a million mosquito bites on my legs. Everything I tried seemed to only make it worse. I finally ran to a pharmacy in one of those tongan skirts (lava lava) to buy some aloe vera. The man behind the counter recommended cream used to treat burns instead, so I bought it. It helped a ton and at least the itching went away. It was pretty miserable to walk around all day with my shoes and pants rubbing against my burns. I thought about one of my favorite conference talks that mentioned that pain teaches us to be patient, so I decided to learn from the situation. After several days I was fine. Last night I was peeling a bunch of skin off.

I have often thought "if I would have known" or "if I had known what I know now" after a dumb mistake or hard experience. I would rather be warned about something, but all too often we either do not trust the warning or want to make sure anyway and have to learn "the hard way" as they say by experience. I often wonder how God feels when He gives us a commandment to protect us, and we break it anyway because we think it is restrictive. The prophet and the Holy Ghost are always warning us about spiritual and physical dangers, but those warnings go unheeded all too often. I have begun to change my way of thinking to questions like "what can I do tomorrow, the next time, or improve/better?" I have found this attitude less frustrating and more productive. It is important to remember these experiences and learn from them, but there is no use in dwelling on them. Rather, it is better to move on.

I am thankful for this opportunity I have right now to serve the Lord. It is such a privilege to wear His name every day and preach the gospel in Panama. I am extremely grateful for everyone at home and love all of you. The picture is of me and my companion Elder Calderón here in the Internet just before writing you.

9 de enero 2012

This has been yet another busy week. Monday we went paintballing again for pday. I forgot how much I enjoy the adrenaline of it all. I will have to dust off my gun when I get back. Tuesday we mostly traveled to Panama to go to consejos. There was an unruly passenger on the bus that was thrown off for not cooperating. He wanted to put his feet on the cooler in front of him where all the staff keep their drinks. They warned him several times, but he kept doing it. They pulled the bus over and threw him screaming off. It was quite entertaining for everyone. I was kind of worried about the guy because we were in the middle of the interior of the country. If someone did not pick him up, he probably died.

Wednesday was consejos in the chapel in Bella Vista rather than in the mission home. They ordered Subway for the lunch. We set the baptismal goal of 1300 this year in the mission and 150 families. I know we can do it! Thursday President came to do interviews with us and bought all of us Dominos pizza. I have had some good food this week. I had a really cool interview with President Ward. He is always very encouraging and has excellent council. I have an awesome mission president.

I also had a very interesting conversation with Hna. Ward while waiting for my companion to finish his interview with the president about school and possible career choices. Throughout my mission the FBI has popped into my head over and over again. I think I want to go into the FBI, but I want to talk to some people first and see what they want in my studies and to see what I would do in the FBI since there are so many options.
On a side note, IT IS SO HOT HERE. I have worn sunscreen every day this week because a member told us the news said this sun was going to be unusually strong this week. We wanted to walk around with umbrellas, but people confuse us with Jehovah's Witnesses and will not talk to us. So in the name of more success, we are toughing it out. It did not believe it at first, but we have done several experiments only to find it is true. It has not rained in a while.
This Sunday we had six investigators in sacrament meeting. We were really busy accomodating all of them making sure they all had hymn books, someone to sit by, etc. We were not able to work much this week with consejos and interviews, but the Lord always makes up the difference after we have done as much as we possibly can. Sunday, I taught a part of the missionary preparation class in the evening. There are a lot of awesome youth here preparing to serve missions. It was fun to give them some insight and share some experiences that have helped me learn.
I love you guys. Thanks for everything.

Happy New Years

New Years here was so awesome. There are always a crazy amount of fireworks and people wanting to give us food. We waited up with the elders that live near us. The fireworks one can get his hands on here are amazing and relatively cheap. The other elders ordered pizza, and their landlady also brought us over some really good food. Like last year, the sky lit up for about an hour straight at the stroke of midnight and then random rockets for about another three hours. Unfortunately I did not get to burn a mannequin this year although I did see many ready to burn mannequins in the likeness of Noriega.

 

Walking over to use Internet we saw a guy catching cockroaches in his front yard. He invited us in to eat some of them with him. Not wanting to be rude, we accompanied him onto his porch. He fried them in oil and then gave us each one to eat. They kind of tasted like freshwater shrimp. He assured us they were not "bathroom" cockroaches.

 

Love,

Elder Whiting

 

Cockroaches roasting over a wood fire.

I hope there are enough for Lana, Katie and Morgan to share