26 Aug 11

Hey everyone!!

 

It's Friday again!! This week was kind of weird, some days seemed like they drug on FOREVER  but since it's Friday again I guess it must not have been too bad haha.

 

A couple of weeks ago Elder Boyd sat next to a guy who is in one of the branch presidencies here and he is actually from Panama. So after the fireside he said he wanted to come talk to us, so he came to our class on Wednesday and told us all about it. It was awesome!! He said that in Panama cCity, it's just like being in like Miami or a big city like that. He told us about the canal and the people and customs there. We asked him about how good the tap water is there cuz we've all been kind of worried about that. He said that the drinking water there is just as good as it is here in the states. The reason for that is because when the U.S. took over the construction of the canal they went in and built a bunch of water treatment plants so that the workers didn't get sick from drinking the water. And they've kept those plants working good so the water is good! Which is good to know haha.

 

On Tuesday night we had a devotional and the speaker was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He talked a lot about the power of prayer and how 2 of the most significant events in the church started with prayer. The first was the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane which started the Atonement, and the next one was Joseph Smith going to the sacred grove which started the restoration. It was really cool. Then we went back to the classroom and had a district devotional review. It was amazing!! The spirit was felt so strong I loved it! I'm really going to miss the firesides and devotionals once I hit the field.

 

Elder Volksen is already gone!! I can't believe it ha it seemed like he was only here for a few days. But he seemed happy while he was here and I'm sure he's loving it out there! I saw Gary Stott last Sunday! It was really good to see him. Guess who else I saw?! ha I saw Elder Scott Andrus ha I haven't seen him in so long! It was good to get to talk to him again. That's sweet kyles going to Alaska ha I hope he doesn't freeze!! haha. When does he enter the mtc?? The other day we were talking as a district and we realized that we'll get our travel plans in like 2 weeks! crazy!! I'm so excited though!

 

Mom and dad, thank you so much for teaching us good table manners like eating with our mouth shut. I hate going to eat because only a few missionaries here have good table manners and I can't stand seeing people's food as they're chewing it up. Or they just stuff it in they're mouths like they've been food deprived! Elder Johnson does both of those things and it drives me nuts! Imagine Gus eating (how's he doing by the way) but worse than him and in human form. He's gotten a lot better though, I keep telling him that I don't care to see what his food looks or sounds like while he's chewing it. I do it in a joking manner though so I don't piss him off too bad. I'll have him trained by the time we get out of here though haha.

 

Sorry I ran out of time I love you all!!

Have patience with each other in all that you do!

The church is true and I love it haha

love elder westwood

 

19 Aug 2011

Hey everyone!! How ya´ll doin?? haha sorry mom

First off thanks for the package!! This past week felt like it went by even faster then the last! ha I know I say that like every letter but it's true!! This weekend is my 1 month mark here, it doesn't seem like I've been here that long. Does it seem like it to you? Tell grandma thanks for the card and the doughnuts.

 

Sorry about not telling you about the firesides/devotionals. I'll start now ha but since I'm always rushed for time on here I wrote a letter and talked about them. I sent it today so it should be there in a few; and sorry I didn't tell you more about Elder Johnson, he is from Gilbert, AZ and has 8 kids in his family!

I can't believe it's time for school to start already. Good luck with it! Study hard!! ha I've learned the importance of studying hard here. The other day Elder Johnson and I were teaching one of our investigators and we had just taught a lesson similar to the one we were teaching the day before. So I just went over a few things briefly and didn't really focus on studying... Big Mistake!!! As we were walking to where we were meeting our investigator, my mind went completely blank. I tried to rely more on the Spirit but since I hadn't studied anything, there wasn't anything for the Spirit to draw from to help me. I was super frustrated and I felt like our lesson was a complete waste of our time along with the investigator's time. So needless to say, I'm a lot more diligent in my studying now.

We had a cool experience at TRC yesterday, (Chase can tell you more about what it is) but it's basically where we go and teach volunteers that come and either act as investigators or just members of the church who want to learn more about the gospel. But anyways, yesterday we taught these two ladies who were from Peru so they spoke fluent Spanish. They spoke so fast!! I was kind of nervous to begin with, but as we started the lesson, I was surprised at how much I could actually understand. It was so cool! I didn't catch it all by any means, but I could at least pick up on the main points of what they were talking about. It was awesome! I have a lot more confidence now then I did before.

Elder Johnson and I have been pretty lucky and have been the only two missionaries in our residence room since our first week here. But that luck ran out this week, we got two new elders in our room. We knew it was gonna happen eventually because it had been so long. So we now have Elder Kesler from West Jordan and Elder Richardson from Snowflake, AZ. They're both going to Paraguay on their missions they both seem like they'll be really good missionaries.

Everybody- now that school's starting up I can already tell that there's gonna be some pretty stressful times ahead. Pray for patience and love! I know that the lord will help you!

Well I think that's about all from me this week. Everyone be good!! I love you all!!

Elder Westwood.

19 Aug 2011

So I guess I have a few Devotionals I need to report on. Here it goes:

On the 14th we had a Fireside and the speaker was Richard I Heaton, he is the Provo MTC Administrative Director.  He have a very good talk on what we as missionaries should define as "success" or having a successful mission.  He pointed out that many missionaries think success is having a lot of baptisms.  However, that's far from what a successful mission should be.  He stated that success is knowing that our efforts here are pleasing to the Lord.  Success is influenced by missionaries hard work and faith.

Success in getting baptisms is a gift, not a reward.  He said that we must do all that we can do to accomplish our purpose by inviting others to some unto Christ and expect nothing.  Then we will have success.  When I first heard this I was kind of taken back and thought that was kind of weird to say it like that.  But he then explained that many missionaries think that if they're diligent, work hard and be obedient they should get baptisms and when they don't they get discouraged which can weaken our faith.  Whether or not someone gets baptized it is up to that individual using his/her agency which is something that we can't control. 

If we get to take part in helping someone become baptized, it is because God blessed us to have the opportunity to witness that miracle.  He pointed out that our reward as missionaries for working hard and doing everything we are supposed to is Joy.  The Lord will bless us with Joy, not baptisms.

I really enjoyed listening to this talk because it helped me realized that when I get into the field, if I don't get many baptisms it's okay.  As long as I work hard and do everything I can to progress the Lord's work, then I can call my mission a success.

The next Devotional I want to share was on the 16th.  David F Evans of the First Quorum of the Seventy spoke with us that night.  His topic was what we know about our Heavenly Father.

What I got from his talk was the importance that we all know that EVERYTHING we have comes from our Heavenly Father.  He explained how many people think that we have the Church and everything that comes with it because of Christ and what he did for us.  But ultimately, everything leads back to our Father in Heaven.

We have the blessings of the atonement and Resurrection because if what Christ did for us.  But he did it according to the will of the Father.  The Savior's entire ministry on this earth was to do the will of the Father.

I know that I never thought of it like that and then we turned to 3 Nephi 11:32-36.  I want each of you to go read those few verses again.  It explains in perfectly.  Everything comes from the Father and his plan for us was executed perfectly by the Savior.  It's awesome all the things you can learn at the Devotionals and Firesides up here.  I love it!!

This last Monday we learned that a Sister Missionary in our Zone has basically been sick since she got to the MTC.  She got so bad that she spent pretty much all day in the hospital last Friday.  But we found out that if she doesn't get better by this weekend she's being sent home.  We decided to do a fast for her starting Monday night at 10 and ending it Tuesday night at 10. 

I'd never fasted that long before and I'm sure that a lot of the missionaries in the same boat I was.  But it was one of the coolest experiences I'd ever had.  I never necessarily got hungry throughout the day.  I was thirsty, but not hungry.  As the day went on I could feel my strength go down though, especially after climbing 5 flights of stairs to get to our classroom.  My mind was still alert and attentive but my body was just getting weak.  But as my body got weaker my prayers for strength got stronger and I could feel myself regaining some strength.

The experience was so amazing.  It was such a humbling experience and helped my faith grow even more.  I learned to rely on my Father in Heaven and the Savior even more and I was strengthened.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here and have experiences like that.

I'm not sure whether the sister is staying or going.  I know that it's all up to the will of the Lord.  I hope she gets healthy again and can stay.  But I guess we'll see.  It was definitely a life changing experience for me though.

Love all.
Elder Caydyn

14 Aug 2011

Hola Everyone!

Well, the language is coming.  I can teach most of what I want to say in Spanish.  I still have to put a few English words in here and there, but that's alright.  It's alot better than when I got here! I can understand what's being said to me for the most part, just enough to understand the main idea fo what's being said.  But that's about it.

I was feeling bad because in our lessons it was mostly me talking because Elder Johnson doesn't like to say anything unless its 100 % Spanish.  So I felt like I was talking over the lessons and I didn't want that.  So I told him that it's okay to throw a few English words in when he speaks and the Lord can't help us unless we try.  Well, now he barely gives me any space to talk, haha, and when I start to say something he cuts me off.  I've decided I'll give him one more lesson and then if things don't change I'll talk to him.  I've gotta let him have the floor to make up for as many times as I led the lessons.  I'm glad he talks more now though.

Today I got put in as the new District Leader over our District.  I guess we'll see how that goes.  haha.  I think it will be alright, I just gotta trust in the Lord!

I got Elder Johnson mad at me tonight because he wanted to go to the Fireside to get a good seat.  But he wanted to go at like 5:45 and the Fireside didn't even start until 7:00.  He wasn't happy with me when I told him I wasn't going to go that early, we still went a little after 6 though.  I think we're good now though.

Tonight I went out and took pictures with Elder Volksen, Elder Reber, Elder Porras and Elder Converse.  It was fun getting to talk with then all for a little bit.  (Elder Johnson was still mad at me at that time so I tried not to take too much time).

Don't worry about my shoulder, its healing pretty good already.

Ask the Lyon's why I haven't heard from them.  And the rest of our family.

Thanks for all your support.  I love you all.

Elder Westwood

8 Aug 2011

Hey everyone!

First thing is Happy Birthday on Saturday mom!! I hope you have a good one! I love you! Everyone else, you better make sure it's good! haha

The weeks seem like they just keep getting faster! I can't believe it's Friday again already.

We now have the smallest district in our zone, maybe even the whole MTC haha with only 6 of us. It's kind of weird not having Elder Hollingsworth and Elder Parmer here anymore, but at the same time the rest of us are pretty excited because with less people that means that we have more time with the teachers. I didn't know Elder Parmer, he moved to Highland a couple of years after we moved to St. George but it sounded like he lives by our old house.

I saw Tyler about an hour after he got here on Wednesday! ha Dalton smith was his host so I thought that was pretty cool that he got someone that he knew. Tyler looked pretty excited to be here though which was good. I saw him again at lunch today for a little bit. Tomorrow night after the fireside I think a bunch of us are gonna get together and do pictures again. ha Elder Smith said that Volksen was the last elder to get here on Wednesday haha.  Guess who else I saw Wednesday?! E.J. Rios! I haven't seen him in forever!! He's going to a mission in Brazil. I wasn't able to ask him which one though. It was definitely cool to see him! He said to tell you all hi!

It's a good thing I brought my bands from physical therapy up here.  Last night at the gym I dislocated my left shoulder playing basketball. It was a pretty good one too haha. It was weird how it happened though, me and this other elder were both going for a lose ball and as I had my arm extended he hit like the back of my shoulder and it just popped out the front. It took me a while to get it back in too, instead of just rolling back in like they usually do. The trainer just told me to start doing my exercises that I learned in physical therapy. She suggested getting a brace for it too but I don't think I need one. 

 

 

Thanks for the injury report! I'm glad to hear that Oakey is recovering.



There's a cold going around up here so will you send some vitamin c?? I was also thinking like some of those small packages of Kleenex's like the ones you can put in backpacks. We have a microwave in our residence building so I was also thinking some popcorn and hot tamales would be cool haha. If you have room for that stuff.

Well i gotta run love you all!

elder westwood

4 Aug 2011

Hey Everyone!

This week is going a lot better.  The language is coming slowly but surely and I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be here!  

One of the sayings I’ve heard a lot here and can testify of its truthfulness is, "the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days."  Some days feel like they drag on FOREVER but then all of a sudden you’re starting a new week!

Elder Johnson and I have been getting along a lot better this week. There’s still some moments every now and then that I wanna get after him but I bite my tongue and let it go. Except for the other day when I had to take some Advil cuz I had a headache and he had to tell me everything that was wrong with taking medications, about how we get dependent on them and after a while you have to up the dose for it to work or something like that. idk I wasn't really listening (what movies is that off of haha:))I think we've been doing a lot better with our progressive investigators as far as understanding and speaking the language, but we still have to use our notes so we know what to say. Elder Johnson isn't really a man of many words and likes to jump right into the lesson before we really get to know the investigator so I’ve been trying to encourage him that we need to build some rapport with them before we begin the lessons. We also need to work on making it more of a discussion than us lecturing them. Something really interesting happened with Elder Johnson this week. He got a letter from home saying that his sister got her mission call. She's going to the exact same mission we are! crazy huh? I think with her sister there he and his family will be a lot more at peace to know that they're there together. the Lord is really looking out for them.

We started the new teaching curriculum this week. oh man it's SWEET!! I think before, a lot of the focus here at the MTC was more on getting missionaries to learn the language and not as much about teaching the gospel. The new one is focused more on teaching, and then also has like weekly goals for us to accomplish dealing with studying the language. with the new curriculum they want us to extend a commitment for baptism on the very first lesson! Or if you don't feel it's the right time, then do it on the second lesson. The reason is so that the investigators begin thinking about baptism from the very beginning.

The other day we were sitting at lunch and idk how it started, but the other elders in my district started talking about the bachelorette haha. It was so funny! They were talking about how they watched it before they came here and talked about their favorite episodes and the people they liked and didn’t like. I couldn't help but laugh at them haha it was pretty entertaining.

I actually see Elder Lindsey about every day. ha today I was sitting by this black elder and I was listening to him talk and I was like oh man I have to find out where this guy is from cuz he had a sweet accent. He's from Jamaica and is going to Alberta on his mission haha I hope he doesn’t freeze!

After Tuesday there will only be 6 people in my District.  I think we will have the smallest district here.  Right now we have 8 but 2 Elders are going to the MTC in Guatemala to finish the rest of their MTC training.  My District Leader right now is Elder Tucker; he is Lindon and is a really cool guy.  His companion is Elder Boyd, he's from Houston, Texas, he's nice but a little different at times.  The other elders in my district are Elder Royston, he's from Virginia, he's really cool and 22.  It took him a while to decide to come but we're glad he's here.  His companion is Elder Harris from Cedar City, he's pretty quiet but cool.  The two Elders that are leaving are Elder Hollingsworth, from Ohio, he's and awesome guy and a dang good basketball player.  His comp is Elder Parmer from Highland.  He's really smart and can already speak a ton of Spanish. 

The food here is....well it’s alright.  Given the amount of food they have to prepare each meal it’s not too bad.  It's nothin like moms cooking though!!  I'd give almost anything for a burger from Fargo's!! I've actually gained 5 lbs. since I've been here.  I think it’s because we eat and then sit in the classroom all day, we don't have time to work it off.  One of the Elders in my Zone had gained 16 lbs since he got here.  I sure hope that doesn't happen to me!!  I'd have to buy all new clothes.

So far this has been an awesome experience! Some days are harder that other, but I suppose that what comes with the experience.  

Thanks for all your prayers and support!!

Elder Caydyn