Poky Week 2

Hmmm. Where do i start. I just wrote the whole thing and bumped a button and it deleted everything. So this is gonna be quick and less juicy as draft 1. Sorry. Long story short. We had 8 baptismal dates, now we have 0. We ran into about 10 people who were ready to teach, but they are english so we gave them to english elders. The spanish work is nearly impossible around here now. We tract every day for about 4 hours. We have good success. With ENGLISH PEOPLE. But we can't teach them. Also, our ward isn't helping us at all. all the spanish people are afraid to share the gospel. its hard. But its good. 

On Wednesday night, we went over to the flores house. We had 3 dates in this family. Merced (67 year old man with one leg who is in a wheelchair) and then Merceds daughter. And then Merceds granddaughter who is 18. Well, Merced is addicted to coffee and alcohal and smoking. He has been doing well. But tuesday, he had a relapse. But we didnt know this. So we showed up wednesday night and knocked on the door. We look through the window of the door and see him scrambling. He grabbed a pizza box and put it over the window of the door lol. He acted like we didnt see him haha. So after about 10 minutes of laughing and knocking. We left. He REALLY must have not wanted to see us. Because he loves us and we have good talks with him. anyway it was funny cause the pizza box would be moving so he would look out every so often in the cracks if we were still there hahahha. We would wave at him and just laugh. But I still believe we can get them to change.

The next family with 5 dates: Mom, Dad, 2 boys (16, 14) and a daughter (8) were all "golden". Then the 14 year old says he wants to be baptized in December cause he is not ready. He doesnt even want to try so thats why. Then the mom out of nowhere said she doesnt believe in Joseph Smith. WOW. We tried so hard not to bible bash and we succeeded. We are still going and teaching them but now we have to focus on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We asked her if she read the Book of Mormon she said no. We asked her if she prayed. She said no. But she reads the bible and twists the bible. So were letting it cool off and teaching from lessons 4 and 5 for now. One cool scripture i would encourage ya'll to look up is in revelations 14:6 I believe. It is John looking into heaven in a vision and he says "I saw another angel fly by carrying the everlasting gospel" This is the end of the Bible. Who was that angel? MORONI. He is taking the plates down. Boom. We showed them this scripture and she said "No creo" (I dont believe) It doesn't get more straight up than that. We also shared i think in ephesians, or ezekial about the stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim or something. The stick of Judah is writings of the Jews, which is the bible. But the other stick? Where is that writings? Book of Mormon. Thats where it is. She didnt believe that one either haha. Of course. but all we can do is love them and keep inviting them to read and pray. 

Well, the mission is an adventure! It is so much fun! All the girls around here flirt with us and try to write us but that is stupid and we avoid that as much as possible. We play Risk and Catan on P-Days and it gets pretty heated. I am loving my companion, he eats a ton. Members pay for our dinners and lunches often. Its great. I am learning so much and meeting so many new people here. Although I cant wait until my VISA comes. I am hoping it comes every day. 

Mom, thanks for the shoes. We play hard over here and i dont want a broken ankle. Nothing will stop me from working and finishing this work here and in Argentina eventually. I feel the adversary often trying to tempt me and trying to scare me. But that just builds my testimony that I am doing the right thing. Satan tries hard to stop this work and its obvious that this is the true church here on earth. There is evidence physically and especially spiritually. It is sad to see those who reject this gospel. But all we can to is invite them to come unto Christ and love everyone. 

I hope everyone is doing well in Utah, Texas, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, etc. Love you all and I think about you often. Thank you for your letters and for reading this email. 

Do your best to always be a missionary and the lord will bless you! Almost all of our success is from the members! remember that! 

Take it easy everyone! 

Love, Elder Westensee

Pocotello, Idaho. Week One.

FETCH. thats the word around here. No, its not a joke. Just like in "The best two years" all we say is fetch. Its fetchin sweet. So I got into Poky (after a 30 minute flight on a puddle jumper, I couldnt even stand up it was so small) on Tuesday and went straight to the mission home. We had baked potatoes....uhhh ya. But it was good. Then interviews and then me and elder....i cant remember went and stayed at a grannys house in the ward. She was tight. She gave us bread and kool aid and in the morning french toast on her back porch watching the sunrise. It was great. Then we went to the transfer sight and i met my new companion. HE IS 6'5 Tongan 360 lbs. Holy fetch. He eats 8 top ramens as a snack. He has football scholarships to Utah and a bunch of schools. He is from Maui, Hawaii. He is an amazing trainer and helps me so much and is very humble. Elder Finau. (FEE-NOW) So my apartment was a mess when i first arrived and so we cleaned it deep and now its clean. We put dish soap in the dishwasher and let it foam out the bottom all over the floor, then we mopp with that soap. Its funny. I have been sooo busy. Taught about 10 lessons (all in spanish) and the work is booming for us. We have 8 baptismal dates. I invited all of them to be baptized so that was a cool experience. 

Saturday, was my first baptism. Irma Deluna. 60 year old spanish lady. She was a devout catholic before so she loves Jesus. Funny story......after she was dunked in the water, she came up and put her hands up and started yelling jesus! jesus! jesus! this continued for what seemed like....well....about a minute. Elder Finau was like "What the heck" but he didnt say anything. He just look up at us soooo confused. So that was awkward. For my first baptism hahaha. Oh then in church the next day, we confirmed her and gave her the holy ghost. The entire blessing, she had her hands up and was crying.....We finished the blessing and she sat there crying with her arms in the air, crying with eyes closed. This went on again.....for about a minute. What the fetch! It was so weird! But I can say that the spirit was very strong. She was just not used to feeling it like that. So that story with Irma Deluna was quite a gem.

 

For the mission, we have a Subaru Impreza for our car. I am the driver because I have a license. We get 1,250 miles every month. It takes like 20 minutes to get to the Flores family (3 of the 8 baptismal dates) and they live in a mexished as we call it. Its plywood basically with some rugs...kind of on a farm. Maybe I will take a picture so you can see. I will try to send pictures next week i lost my camera. But we have to drive a lot to places. Blackfoot reminds me of Medford but more country. Country roads and farms everywhere and a lot of latinos. I have had so many experiences already I cant possibly fit them all into this email.

 

But overall things are fun. My P-Days are monday. Things are going well. Its hard but fun. I was born into a district that has obedience problems. "trunky" missionaries who have a few weeks left. And kids watching movies and getting on youtube and sleeping in. So its tough. But me and my comp are doing great. We have none of that and we work hard so im glad I was paired with him. Hes an awesome example and is incredible in the lessons. We had a fiesta on saturday and i swear i never thought I would be part of one of these mexican parties but it was actually fun. All the people like talking fast to me and watching my face melt cause i have no idea what they say.The food was great. We have hookups at a mexican resturaunt as well. The guy who owns it is a member and its good food. We have dinner with english members every week night and weekends with the spanish members. Sorry if this is all out of order and jumbled.

 

Pokemon Cards is a huge game out here. And Risk. Its a P-Day activity. I am surprised at how the field really is. We work hard but have a lot of fun. This morning we got up at 5 30 to play basketball in Firth with some oldies (like dad). It was fun. We played 6 on 6. But it was kind of lame. No room to play really. Then we studied and now were emailing and right after were going to Idaho Falls to B-DUBS! YESH! Its gonna be a good day.

 

My apartment is nice now. We just had to clean a little or a lottle. But its good now. I got a bag of POPS cereal and have eaten almost the entire thing. And cup-o-noodles and top ramen. Thats the diet around here. Its good stuff. Well I left out a bunch of stuff but thats the gyst of how its going.

 

I havent heard about my visa. Its gonna be a while unfortunately. But im fine in Blackfoot for now.

 

Thank you all for the emails and support. It helps a lot. I miss you all and pray for you daily. Hope everyone continues to do well and stay safe and healthy! Love yall!

 

-Elder Westensee

Pocatello Idaho Mission Welcomes Elder Westensee

Elder Westensee has arrived safely in the Idaho Pocatello Mission.  Upon arrival, we had a personal interview to get further acquainted. 

We are hopeful you will write or email letters of encouragement to your missionary weekly so he will continue to feel your love and support as he loses himself in the work.  We encourage your missionary to do the same, focusing on the positive aspects of the mission. 

May God bless you as you sacrifice to support this great work.

Faithfully yours,

Marvin T. Brinkerhoff

Mission President 

Week Five- Last week in MTC

Hola Familia. Yo estoy muy bendecido este semana. This week was great. I cant even tell you how grateful I am for ya'll. Mom thanks for the letter and package and all the candy and ties and stuff. ANDREW AND TASHA. That package was the highlight of the MTC. I just opened it about 30 min. ago and I melted. But...i didnt cry....im a man....and i loved the pictures. Anyways I want you to know that i dont care if you write me all that often. It is not a big deal at all. Im busy and your all busy and not a lot changes. I remember I never wrote Andrew or Tyler even once. (oops) Because I was stupid and lazy and didn't understand. Now i understand. haha. Anyways so thank you all very very much for the packages and letters and drawings and pictures. I am very lucky to have the family that i do and want you to know i think about yall often and miss you very much. Love the ties I recieved this week. Heather, Mom, Tasha, Andrew, WELL DONE. I truly appreciate it.

Sounds like things at home and in texas/idaho are going well. Im glad to hear from you all. Keep up the good work. Keep me up to date.

So this week was pretty solid. Went by quick. We had in-field training yesterday from 8-5. Loooong meeting but it was good. We are supposed to leave monday for Argentina but.....we wont be able to. and because of that we have to stay 7 weeks in the MTC most likely unless our re-assignments come tongight which they probably wont. But thats the scoop on that. Not much is new really. Just studying and learning a little more each day. I think tyler already told you but i saw him on the last temple walk and it was cool. I miss everyone but its not a huge deal. It was good to see Ty tho. Sunday was fast sunday and it was painful. We waited until 6 30 pm to go eat and then we get there and the line is down the hall. so we ate at about 7 15. It was painful but I have seen the blessings throughout this week. My spirits are always lifted when i get mail, packages, see tyler, etc. I was on the temple walk about to pass out and i was just like "Please give me something to take my mind off of food" and i look over and theres good old bubby in his fav. car: The Pilot. So that was a blessing and from then on i was able to make it through. Tell Heather I saw Janelle Clark...yeah. I kept seeing her and i finally said something or maybe she said something i dont know. But i saw her. Oh today, we got to go clean the provo temple. Well....my district did. We all showed up at the temple in the rain and the guy in charge asked "who wants to do security?"...I was just like ehhh ok i will. And so did Elder Adcock. So i just was on security guarding the temple doors and scanning contractors temple recommends and relaxing in a nice chair. So that was fun. They are re-modeling the temple if you didnt know. So that was fun. ummm.... ya thats pretty much about it. 2 elders went home this week in other districts so thats too bad. Both due to depression. But thats just part of it and i feel bad for the elders cause that would be tough. I am thankful i have been healthy this whole time inside and out. Major blessing. 

Another thing thats going on is that 2 hermanas are leaving to Peru on monday in our district. They got their travel plans so they will be gone. Everyone gets out their journals and has everyone sign it like a yearbook almost. I was signing this one kids and i just started writing a poem to him about our experiences in the MTC. Then it turns out it was funny and now everyone wants me to write them poems in the whole zone. So I have been busy writing poems. They are funny and sly i suppose. It is to the point where people cant even look at me without laughing because im such a goof ball. I asked one sister why she started laughing at me when i was eating lunch outside today and she said "I guess im just waiting for you to make me laaugh." SO i guess im a huge goof but whatevs. I prayed that i could be myself in the MTC and not worry about anything and boy...my prayers were answered.

Anyways thanks again for the awesome packages and letters. I love hearing from everyone. Mom, Tyler, Andrew, Lindsey, Tasha+Andrew, Tony, thank you very much. If only you knew the impact you have on my days. I would love to hear from heather too! Dear elder is the way to do it. Love yall! I am praying for you and hope you have a great week.

Love

-Elder Westensee

Last week in the MTC- reassignment call

DEREK JUDD MUST RECIEVE THIS MESSAGE. DEREK JUDD MUST RECIEVE THIS MESSAGE.

Ok. so i got my re-assignement mission. I will be serving there until my visa arrives. I leave the MTC tuesday morning at 8 a.m and my flight leaves at `11:30 I believe. A fun thing that happened was right after we got our calls, we were outside and these sisters overheard us. They said they were from where we are going and gave us 2 contacts already so i am set to go! Ok. So here it is:

Elder Adcock- Atlanta, Georgia

Elder Hill- Roseville, California (He leaves tomorrow too!!!! So sad)

Elder Ogden- Pocatello, Idaho

Hermana Rainsdon-Boston, MA

Hermana Strickler- California

Hermana Houtz- Cali

Hermana Wadsworth-Cali

Elder Westensee- POCATELLO,IDAHO.

I will not lie. I was upset. But its ok. I just laugh at it sort of. "I definately opened a pair of socks for christmas on this one. But i like to think of it as a nice pair of socks. Like those silk ones that feel really good."- Dustin Judd

Well. There it is. The Lord knows I need to be in Pocatello and I am nervous as heck to go out there. But I just need to trust what I have learned and go with it. I am not sure if this is a spanish speaking mission or not....well see. So i guess i will be emailing you next.....when im in the field. Weird. I dont know when yet. But it will all work out.

The reason i say to tell derek and make sure he gets this is because he was making fun of pocatello before. He jynxed me. And I know that right now he is laughing his butt off. I can see him right now just busting up in laughter and there is probably so much joy in his face. Merry Christmas Derek I know you'll get a kick out if it. But I plan on going to work and proving that it's a great mission. I am excited and ready to go.

Hasta Luego!

-Elder Westensee

Week 4-MTC- 1 Month Down!

Hello everyone! Another week has passed here in the MTC. Thank you for the packages everyone and for your letters! They are a great motivation! if only you knew how great it is to hear from you! I appreciate it. Also thank you for the pictures/ties and treats! Its awesome getting stuff like that. Not too much has happened since last week but there were a few interesting things.

Wednesday was my 1 month anniversary here at the MTC. it was a very hot day but also a good day. I got to be a new missionary HOST. It reminded me of when I was dropped right there on the curb. Thats right where I hosted 3 missionaries. It was fun but more work than i thought. So that was fun. Lots of young kids here (18 year olds) and lots of tears on the day of the drop offs, but thats just part of it.

On monday (I think) in the middle of class, my teacher (Brother Brown) whips out his camera and starts telling a story about his mission in South Salt Lake and how he baptized some people and all that Jazz. He speaks in spanish the whole class so i didnt catch all of what he was saying, just that the investigator (fake one) in the MTC  named "Claudio" who we are teaching is a real person from south salt lake and that he was going to show us a picture of him....or her? Yes, her. She went to Herriman high school. Her name was Claudia Augilar i believe. Tony was good friends with her. I knew her as well. When the camera came to me i was in shock....I just interrupted him and said "is this Claudia Aguilar from Herriman and Sebastian Casallo?" (Sebastian was also baptized and i knew him cause he was Peruvian and we talked about sports) He was in the picture too. And my teacher said yes it is....So my teacher in the MTC baptized some of my old high school friends. Small world i would say. You need to let Tony know so he can tell claudia and sebastian or something. It was an insane experience. Those "fake investigators" we teach are definately not fake. They are real storiezs of real people. That was an awesome experience.

For the 4th yesterday, we got to have a devotional and watch 17 miracles. Thats was fun. Then after, we had ice cream and watched fireworks until 11 pm. Everyone is feeling it today and are preparing to take naps for our hour of personal time on P day. But it was so mesmorizing watching the fireworks cause i was just used to reading pages for the past month. that was a good time.

Our lessons are going well, spanish is going better. i am almost to that point where I feel ready. just a couple more weeks and i am headed off to somewhere in the states for my re-assignment. I find that out later sometime. not really sure... But ya. Did you get my pictures from last week? I can send more as well.

It killed me when i read in the letter that Doug got his call and you didn't tell me where haha! He never mailed me or anything. So when I found out in the package note, i was going crazy! ASUNCION, PARAGUAY!!!! LEGIT. One of my 4 teachers, Hermana Savage went to Paraguay. The dialect is similar to Argentina. So that makes me so Happy. I am so happy for my best friend and cant wait to see him in two and a half years. He will have a great experience in the Argentina MTC and love it. He will be an amazing missionary. I am positive. It will be fun talking in spanish as well with each other.

It was good to hear from lindsey as well. i need her email so I can talk to her more about college and stuff. Its fun getting letters. Keep telling people to write me I wish I would have asked more people to write me. It is motivation and really helps in the daily grind.

All is well here. I hope everyone is doing well at home and college and work. I love you all and pray for you everyday. You are always in my thoughts.

Love,

Elder Westensee

p.s. i will be back on around 3 pm. today for 30 more minutes.

Week 3-MTC

3 weeks done here at the MTC. The new district that came in on wednesday has Grant Jones best friend, Elder Turley in it. He is a cool kid and is probably the most obedient too. Also, a kid from EFY back in 08 that i know. He is very lazy though and not obedient so thats dissapointing...But we are a great zone otherwise. I got a shot today, my 2nd Hep A shot and they said they would bill the house so I wouldn't have to use my travel money. Sorry bout that I know you are on Trek right now and are busy a lot. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!! It has been killing me cause we can only email once a week and write letters one day a week. But just count that fathers day letter as a birthday item as well :) How old are you now? 50? 49? I cant remember. I hope you treated yourself to some golf on your birthday cause you know I would "take you golfing" if I was home. I am seriously missing music the most, then golf. And family of course.

Thank you Mom for the package of ties and goodies! Dont worry about home baked goods its not a big deal! I will take anything. Literally. The other day in the free bin we found "noise putty" where you have the can of putty that makes inappropriate noises if you know what i mean....it is pretty fun (cause theres 10 cans) so us 4 elders go in the stalls and make some pretty gross sounds haha and you can hear the other elders outside laughing. Anyways...those free bins are money. 

I have some allergy meds left still, I have been off of them for about a week now and i am doing good. I haven't emailed alex or daniel, they are busy. Jeremy and i have been emailingthough cause he can relate he was just in the MTC.Thats awesome Dad got the Cabin shower going! Happy Birthday to you! I am sure the Cabin will just keep getting better! I have one stamp left for letters but I should be good for the rest the time here. When I go to the field, I will only do email cause of the travel and time. I am loving my group of elders we have a lot of fun. 

In the Sunday Devotional we are on the video at 3 minutes 9 seconds if you pause it and look on the right part i am there singing. Longer range, but still you can see me. The video is on LDS.org. I also enjoyed getting a letter from dad and hearing from Andrew and Tyler. You should put on my facebook that lindsey and doug should write me. I miss them. Oh and for some reason the girls think I am writing a girl? So if you ever send a letter you should make it look like a love letter. Or tell lindsey that too. Like today Elder Adcock got one with hearts on it. I think that would be funny to mess with everyone haha cause I have told them I am not writing anyone but they dont believe me so I am just gonna go with it.

I just attached a few pictures of our district, and....some others. I hope it works.

Now for the important part. My classes have been going well but it is very rough teaching. It is difficult to stay positive. That is the hardest thing because it is discouraging when you plan a lesson and then it goes awful and the investigator falls asleep or doesnt keep commitments. Let me remind you that our investigators are our Teachers. We have 2 teachers. Hermano Christofferson, D Todd's Nephew. He is amazing. I will get a pic with him. And Hermana Bryce. Both great in their own ways. But me and my companion dont mesh well in the lessons quite yet for whatever reason. It is a challenge. We are doing our best and are very obedient and know that we will be blessed for that. At the end of every day though we always end up happy and ready to work the next day. 

Teaching is either the best or worst thing. And we have been working to try to do our best every time. So the spanish is not clicking like I want but I just need to be patient. It is very annoying day after day when you feel like your not going anywhere but that is when I make light of the situation and try to uplift everyone and compliment as much as possible. So yesterday in class, one of the Sisters was teaching me and elder hill in a class simulation about inviting investigators to church on sunday. This is just in our class 2 on 2 teaching companionships in normal class. We were investigators. So the sisters start teacheing us and you have to trade off saying phrases to the investigators so its equal companionship talking. When it came to this other sisters turn to talk she had nothing to say. Then after like 30 seconds she started balling and weeping and she left the class. I felt awful for her cause I have felt like that when teaching too. She is having a rough time. But when those times come I just try to smile and laugh at it because when I get down not only do I stop learning, I just stop caring. So when I teach in spanish I teach with a bunch of emotion and passion and happiness. It takes the stress out of it for now. I can go through the first three lessons all in spanish right now so im pretty proud of that. Its broken spanish though.

Dad, for my favorite scripture, I haven't given it much thought. I will try to have on e by next week. Also, what picture are you using cause that one i took before is nasty...anyway i will think about it this week. I have been thinking a lot and learning a lot about the gospel. I wish I would have applied things to my life more often so i can teach them better. I am slowly getting better at sharing scriptures that relate to our lives and opening up to investigators with personal stories. That is the best way to teach.

Anyways, I am doing well and enjoying my time here. It is a great place. We were able to play basketball again yesterday and are now back in the cafeteria. Our district is getting very close and are getting along so well. Its great.

Thank you everyone for the letters, they were all great. I liked Kristina Millers letter a lot and mom and dads letters a lot as well. It helped me through a rough night after a bad lesson and rough day. But in the end the gospel is the same and everything works out.

Love you all and look forward to reading letters throughout the week!

Love,

Elder Westensee 

 First Day. 8 People, 1 room. 6 beds. 4 closets

 Elder Westensee, Elder Odgen, Elder Chappell and Elder Jarvis

 This is my district and classroom

 Elder Westensee, Elder Cappell, Elder Odgen, Elder Jarvis- We are Best Buds.

 Elder Langi- 1st Zone leaders

Week Two-MTC

Hola familia. P-Day Again! P days are the best! But not much has changed in the past week. Just staying busy and working hard. It is like a rollercoaster here there are so many ups and downs. This past week has been frustrating because we are expected to do more and know more about spanish/teaching/ etc. But I just need to stay positive its going to take some time. 

For example, in our first lesson with this fake investigator, we asked her if she read the book of mormon and she responded in fast slurred spanish that she had an experience while reading. Me and my companion did not catch a lick of what she said and in our feedback, we failed cause we missed that "experience". It is so important to have spiritual experiences with investigators and allow the investigator to tell stories and have them talk as much as possible. Its been a rough going at it. But were getting better and learning every day. 

We got 2 new districts in our zone since I have been here. 10 Elders in one, and 6 elders, 3 hermanas in the other. I love my district and zone. We eat together and hangout all day and learn together. The other sisters in my district are going to Posada Argentina and Pieora Peru. But all the elders are going to Neuquen, us 4. The gym is closed now so no basketaball! NOOO! Because the prophet is coming, and they are doing a missionary teaching seminar orientation.. thing.... i dont know what it is. But a lot of apostles are coming. And the gym is now our cafeteria and the cafeteria is where they are doing the seminar. They say some apostles just pop in the class rooms during the weekend at random times I hope one comes by my class! OHHH! last night we were all just sitting around at 9:50 and i saw something in the vent above the door. It was like a piece of paper. So we took the vent off and it was a glass bottle with a message in it. It said some things from other elders from 1998, 2012, etc. So we added onto it and put it back. There are many of what they call "Narnia Holes" in the rooms. Like behind a metal plate where an outlet used to be there was notes, and behind the dresser in dead space was tons of candy. The bottle was the coolest by far. IDK it sounds crazy but they are real. Im sure andrew and tyler have heard of Narnia Holes. So that was fun. 

Also, in the residence or dorms or whatver, there are buckets that missionaries put stuff in because they cant take them to their mission. Its like a free bucket. Elder Hill has got some soaps, a pair of Nike Hyperdunks, some hair gel, some pajama pants and some other novelties. I got some 3x5 Note cards and a robe! I am going to was the robe first of course and then use it for the showers. Its almost like we have a goodwill right outside. I also got envelopes and paper. 

The food is effecting me and Elder Hill quite a bit (by the way Elder hill is not my companion were just similar) and we are always going to the bathroom......and......lets just say we end up laughing ourselves to tears. People in the bathroom just listen and start laughing too. But i mean what can we do? We have to eat! Its a lot of fun though here in the MTC. Sorry about that last part, but its true. One of the best things to do is just go to the bathroom. haha. its a nice break.

There is a sickness going around but I have dodged it so far. The cafeteria silverware is not used during these times of sickness and they use plastic utensils. 

 I am starting to wish I brought more ties because they are getting worn even already and you can have as many as you want. Could you possibly send the rest of my ties? That would be cool. It sounds like everything is going good with everyone! Thanks again for the package and letter mom. It gets pretty boring around here at night when theres nothing to do but write in my journal. Also, mom, could you forward my emails to Keegan Call, or Elder Call in the Norht Carolina Mission? We have been talking and I read his, his mom forwards to me, so could you do that? thanks his email is: keegan.call@myldsmail.com 

OHHH. So an easy way for people to write me is on Dear elder.com! Let everyone now! You write it online and send it to the MTC people and they print it off and put it in teh mail for you. Getting Dear elders to read would be great. Maybe you could put it on facebook or something. Im not going crazy (yet) but its just fun to get mail.

Anyways hope everything is going well! Keep me posted on anything cool that happens! Love you all! Hasta Semana!

-Elder Westensee

First Hand Written Letter

Letter received from Evan on Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Neuquen – NAY- OH-KEN   emphasis is on the K, it’s Native American

Sunday Night, June 9, 2013

Hello Mom & Dad,

I wanted to write sooner(sorry), on Thursday, but just to let you know how it’s going and when my P-day is.  My P-day is Friday so I can e-mail then.  However,  if you send a letter on myldsmail.net to me, they print it off and put it in the mail.

So much has happened since Thursday I will not be able to cover it.  But basically  I love my companion(s), Elder Ogden.  And the other companions Eder Hill and Elder Adcock.  We are learning so much and teach investigators all in Spanish.  Well, we have one fake investigator, Juan from Argentina.  He has the accent and all and we have another lesson tomorrow.  It’s tough.  But I am enjoying it.  We have 6 hermanas (sisters) and 4 elders in our district.  I was called as DL (district leader) so I am always in charge and speaking.  Lots of extra work but its okay.  I love it.  We went to Temple Friday for Endowments and went on a Temple walk today.  It was hot.  We have to wear suits Sunday y Tuesday.  We had no P-day because we were new.  We have to earn it.  I have seen about 15 people I know in here!  TJ Haug twice and High School kids, and DANIEL! – Lindsey’s friend in Utah from EFY!

Anyway……I am being forced to be a leader and I am almost used to being here.  I have learned a lot of Spanish.  Ummmmm…….I love my district and zone.  The food is ok.  I am trying to pack it o and get fat, but sometimes we only have 10 mins or so….that stinks but other times I go for 4ths & 5ths of plates of chicken.  It’s good!

I can bear my testimony in Spanish well.  I’m still working on the prayer but it’s coming along! The days are getting better.  We get GYM time tomorrow!  We play 3 on 3 with the zone because the courts are small, but it’s fun!

All is well.  The church is true.  I just wanted to check I and say that I am alive and loving it here!  It’s very rewarding but a lot of work and time.  So worth it overall though.

I love you all and want to thank you Mom & Dad for helping me get here.  You truly are inspirations to me and I love you both very much!

Love,

Elder Westensee

P.S. – I will try to email photos?  And not sure when you will get this letter?....

P.S.  I keep thinking of Tyler.  My Espanol teacher is Sister Bryce.  She is awesome.  I feel like I need to tell Tyler about her.  She lives in Provo…..Hm……..Si o No? (yes or no  in Spanish)

My First Email

Hola Familia. The MTC is going good. I have a lot on my plate and I am busy 24/7, but in a mysterious way I am having fun and staying very happy. It is the happiest place on earth, truly. The first day I swear 80% of the MTC said welcome to me. I had an ORANGE dot on my name tag, so I stood out with the rest of the newbies. I was glad to take that off. But all is well.

My companion is Elder Odgen from Boise, ID. I am rushing everything cause time us limited for this kind of stuff, but I will try to answer all the questions and tell you as much as i can. Sorry for the late letter but its literally been every minute of the day is work. Its good. I have learned a lot. But my P day is FRIDAY and every morning at 9 we go to the Temple and then we come email. I did endowment session last friday and just barely got out of a sealing. It was a cool experience. I have been having vivid weird dreams. Maybe cause Im so out and tired? I don't know. But I'm sleeping well. Allergies haven't been a big problem, just minor, same old. I get 1 hour to email friends/family. But believe me, the time goes down the drain quick.

Umm...the language is rough especially teaching all in spanish. I am pretty good at spanish but I struggle conjugating correctly and stuff. TYLER! that app on my ipod helped me so much surprisingly.  haha. I can bare my testimony and pray in spanish as well. I also can ask someone how to be baptized and I memorized the purpose in Spanish. My glasses are good, my teachers are fun. Hermana Bryce and Brother Christenson. He served in Argentina and has an accent slur  He tells us stories all the time. Flooding. Cockroaches  Snakes.Penguins. Its gonna be a fun time. They speak really fast in Argentine and very slurred, its gonna take a while to get it down but I need to be patient.

I'm a DL (District Leader) as I said so I have a lot of responsibility and get chewed out half the time. The leaders are intimidating! hahaha We all poo our pants when Brother Watson comes around. He is a scriptorian to the max and is very proper. But its great. haha. We have to write a talk every week in Spanish and than on Sunday we are randomly called up to Speak. No Biggie.

My companion is call, a little lacking in motivation at times so its a little frustrating but we end up doing well in our lessons. The food here is a replica of the Cannon Center at BYU. It is decent, but kind of gross. But i eat a ton and drink a ton. My waist band in my pants is hard to latch up. :0 ...but it's okay. We get to play basketball with our zone 5 days a week. Best time of the day. There are a few good plays so its a good time.

So I wrote that first part in 30 minutes. ^^ I split my time up and save it so I can think of more things to say. I just ate my lunch in the grass and with my zone we played hacky sack and than we went to the toom and I had some treats. I was just laying on my bed and I woke up 30 minutes later and we had all fallen asleep. It was a heavenly 30 minutes. We are allowed to nap...we have free time on P-Day. But yea. So I am going to try and attach some pictures...they arent the best but its something.

So my laundry time is 430 than 6 the day starts tonight. We have 1 hour of language study and the TALL. TALL is an online computer language mormon study tool. Its okay but hard to stay awake. The mornings are the hardest to stay awake. Its painful sometimes. But than again its always hard to stay awake. I have been getting up at 6:10 to get a shower in before the lines start to form. Than I just sit and read until 7 when we have to be in our class for study. Than after we head to breakfast than class from 9-12 than personal study for an hour. Than we have lunch. Than class from 3-6 than we teach an investigator. Than we have language for 2 hours. Than planning. Thats about every day. Its tough teaching a lesson in spanish cause you can never say what you want.

For our room on the first day, we had 8 people in a tiny room with 6 beds....and 3 of them didnt speak English. So we basically had no where to put our stuff until later when they moved rooms. Now its just 4 elders, me, Elder Odgen, Elder Adcock, and Elder Hill. Pretty fun set of guys. Our district consists of 6 sisters and 4 elders. Its pretty good. Our zone is pretty close as well. One of the hardest things for everyone is saying "Elder" and "Hermanas" or sisters. If you say "you guys are awesome" you will get chewed our by Brother Watson because we have to refer to them as "Elders and Hermanas". So thats the biggest challenge.

Time is going by pretty fast. One of our leaders was saying how time is just something that man created and isn't eternal. So I thought that was kind of cool how time sort of disappears out here. Thats really what it feels like. Its really hasn't set un yet thought how long I will be gone but I am pretty excited to get to Neuquen. Thats where the real learning will take place.

Anyways so plan on around this time on Fridays for my emails. I really want to know where Doug goes and I want to get a letter from him and talk to him. And also Lindsey! Handwritten letters are the best! Tell Doug and Lindsey that! But I cant write letters everyday, only P-Day. But I would have more time to write back and actually make sense of what I'm saying. Sounds like everything is going good at home though. I have been fortunate enough to stay healthy with minor headaches and minor allergies but not a problem at all. Gums on my bottom teeth have gotten a little worse too. I will need that fixed right when I get back. :/ I hope to get fat in here as well but sometimes you just have to take a light meal cause you feel sick. I miss everyone and love hearing from all of you. It is motivating and it is fun to get letters in the mail. Love you all. Talk to you next week!

-Elder Westensee