Handwritten letter 9/21/07

Dear Family,

I'm driving back to InterPol again today to pick up my foreigner I.D. I haven't gotten much of any P-day so far in the MTC here, an this last one won't be much different. but that's okay! We had an awesome meeting with President Crayk this morning about the Atonement. It was our last booster meeting before our group heads out to the field. We love meetings with the President--every time he talks, it's worth writing down.

We went out proselyting last Saturday. We drove to what seemed the poorest place we could find and got off the bus. I went with Elder Vargas, a Columbian from Bogata. We met up with the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric of the ward and went over the records of some inactive members and planned what we would teach them. We only taught 2 or 3 of the ones assigned to us, and the 1st counselor took us around to the home of some others who lived nearby. We ended up teaching 4 families/people, and I wish I could tell about all of them; but since my Spanish understanding improved as the day went on (at the outset I couldn't catch every other word), the last family we visited was easily the most memorable.

We went originally to visit Johana, a 14-year old member who just recently was reactivated, but she wasn't home. Her mother, an inactive member, and her cute little 4-year old daughter and maybe 6-year old son were home, however, and welcomed us in. This sister was now a single mother trying to support her 3 children. She had been out of work for a month and just recently got a job, but she works on Sundays. Before she and her husband were separated; he wouldn't let her go to church; hence she was inactive. this sister had made so many sacrifieces for her children: it was a test of my faith to ask her to find a way to come to church, but we did it. As part of the lesson, I shared 1 Nephi 3:7 (I never knew that scripture would be so applicable) and sang a solo of "How Firm a Foundation" verses 3 and 4 in Spanish. We taught with so much testimony: I could tell that she knew what she needed to do, even though it was hard. There was power and authority in that hour. I hope she acted on what she felt. I've learned in the last few weeks how the scriptures give us so much reason to have faith in Christ. I was able to testify of the Lord's will and promise blessings because I have the witness that every word will be fulfilled. There's so much power in the words of the Lord to His prophets!

Yesterday was my last time going to the temple for a while. Sounds like it will be 22 months before I go again. It was a special experience for me: I went with a specific purpose and found it ful filled beyond my expectations. The Lord has blessed me so much! My feelings are best expressed by the words of hyms 219 and 220 (in English): "Because I Have Been Given Much" and "Lord I Would Follow Thee." With those inspiring words in my mind and the lesson today with President Crayk, today became my day of decision. I want to pay the price of discipleship: I want to be His servant. As much as I can, I will take up my cross and follow Him.

A teacher shared a quite from The Infinite Atonement with us: "As often as we seek for air, he sought to bless." I want to be like that!:)

I'm glad to hear that things are going well at home. I appreciate your prayers and love (and letter). I'm not sure when my next P-day will be, so don't worry if there's more than a week in between these ones. Take Care. Stay strong: I love you all!

Love, Elder Withers

The Latest

September 21, 2007
Dear Family,

We spent all of today in the Immigration office in downtown Lima. It wasn't the most fun thing I've done on P-day. Now I have 20 more minutes to e-mail and then 20 more of p-day. And then it's back to class at 3.

Well, I got sick this week. Sunday morning started normally for the
first 15 minutes, and then my stomach began to ache terribly. I didn't eat breakfast, and I threw up in the grass after 10 minutes of resisting the urge. That made me feel better, but it wasn't the end of it. I rested during leadership meeting with occasional trips to the bathroom, and then I came to Sacrament meeting to take the sacrament and then give a 6-minute talk on Diligence. I ran to the bathroom during the next talk, and when I returned, found that I lacked the endurance to make it through the whole meeting. I slept off and on for the rest of the day, and after lunch I was feeling pretty much whole again. Monday I had no problems at all. But I woke up Tuesday morning and threw up again. I've been fine since then. Everybody has been hypothesizing different causes, but I don't much care as long as I'm not working my abs so much anymore.

There is cereal available at every meal! However, the milk they have is not cold. And it's closer to half-and-half in terms of taste and consistency. But if I don't have desire to continue eating what they give me (like octopus again today), I'll usually grab a bowl. It's tolerable and filling enough. They don't have so much of beans and rice here: its mostly rice. And chicken. Had cow heart on a stick the other day. Maybe the best thing Ive had here. =)

I finally got Dad's letter that he sent 6 weeks ago. It had written on it "no llega aun" - meaning I hadn't arrived yet. And it must have been lying around somewhere for my first 2 weeks here before they gave it to me.

I'm sorry to hear that Tia's having a rough time with Geometry: I remember it wasn't easy for me. I had to perform really well on the final to keep an A. But I'm happy to hear she's up and at them early. Perhaps remind her that waking up at 5:30 requires a diligent going-to-bed around 9:30 or 10:00. It's rough to run on less than 8 hours of sleep every day.

I still can't get pictures to work on here. The computers in the MTC block my camera. When I'm in the field next week I ought to be able to send a couple pictures. Looks like I'll be heading out on Tuesday or so next week. I'm way excited.

We get to go out proselyting again tomorrow. Last Saturday we went out - I went with a Latino companion, Elder Vanegas. Imagine me as a Colombian with glasses and black hair. That's about how he looks. We taught 4 families or so and it was awesome. I had a hard time understanding people at times, but I know I can make myself understood as much as I need.

Hmm, my time is running out. And somebody wants us all to go get haircuts again. I definitely don't need it. I still look mostly like a marine. Elder Berger just got his cut. He doesn't seem the most excited about it. Me and Elder Berger are quite the companionship here. He, the actor/comedian/outgoing type - everybody loves him, talks to him, and he makes them laugh. Me, the straight/diligent/study-all-day type - everybody thinks I'm really smart. We do pretty well. President Crayk thinks we'll do awesome tomorrow.

Okay, thirty seconds. gotta go!

Love,
Elder Withers

Letter from 9/14/07

Dear Family,

I'm sitting at the Inter Pol building right now, waiting in line to turn in my forms for my international/foreigner I.D. The language spoken next to me is not Spanish--it sounds oriental. They look oriental. It's a bit intimidating. :)

My spanish has taken off here at the Peru MTC: we teach in Spanish every day, two to three times. The Hermana we taught last night for practice told me I don't have an American accent. That was comforting. We taught her the law of chastity, the lesson went really well. I shared Proverbs 31:10, and she really loved it. The Law of Chastity became a blessing not something that holds us back.

We don't get a lot of personal study time here, and every time we have Tiempo Sin Maestro (time without teacher) we have a new scenario to plan for, which takes all our time. So I started brainstorming ways that I could give more time to studying and improving myself. I determined to study the Book of Mormon an extra half hour before bed. I also decided to study Preach my Gospel an extra half hour during dinner (since we have a hour to eat and it only takes a half hour to finish). And as a way to improve my talents further, I take the extra half hour at lunch to practice the piano, using my big Spanish hymnal as a workbook of sorts, studing what key each is written in, changing the key, and inventing prelude patterns for them.

My MTC president, President Crayk, is way awesome. I love when he teaches: every time it's so powerful. He gave me a temple recommend interview today and added some helpful counsel. I wish I could have been here longer to enjoy that.

We get to proselyte tomorrow. We'll go on exchanges with Latino companions from the MTC and visit some inactives and talk to everyone. I'm excited to talk to the people! Next week I'll go out with just Elder Berger and we'll do it without the help of Latino Elders. That should be a neat experience.

The church is true--and there's nothing better. Happy Birthday, Mom!
Love you,
Elder Withers
PlS. Oh, by the way, my first day here I got a sweet haircut. I look like a marine. Personally, I think it looks pretty sharp. :)

Peru MTC: 10 Days to the Field!

September 14, 2007
Dear Family,

I have only 10 minutes left to write this e-mail. I tried to get my pictures to work, but restrictions on this computer won't let me get to them. Maybe next week I can figure out how the other elders are getting it to work.

I'm doing well - I'm healthy 6 out of 7 days of the week. Every now and then I get a stomach ache. Like yesterday. I'm not a big fan of mariscos (seafood). It was octopus. I only had a few bites of the rice/octopus mixture and decided it was enough. There was also some cebiche, and it tasted fine. I feasted on the (rare) ice cream we had at that meal. It's interesting: the biggest meal here is lunch, not dinner, so whenever we have ice cream, it's during lunch. We had mango ice cream last week. That was interesting.

I wrote a hard copy of a letter to send home today - but mail doesn't go out till Mondays. I imagine you don't get it till about a week and a half after that. You may get my first letter sometime next week. I got Dad's DearElder letter yesterday. Looks like 6-7 days is the time it takes to get those here. My P-day is Friday here - it will most likely be Monday in the field. I didn't have p-day last Friday, however, because we were new. And p-days are shorter here. We went to the temple yesterday, and we get more free time on Sundays. P-days are split up over 3 days or so. I'm trying to get all my letters done today so I can have a lot of time to study on Sunday.

I've reworked my study journal. I don't remember if I've told you. But now I have the small plates (las planchas menores) whereon I keep a topical history of the choicest scriptures and impressions I have; and the large plates (las planchas mayores), whereon I keep notes from every meeting, devotional and activity. It seems to be working out really well. I love being able to take notes like that.

Whew, I have 2 minutes left on the clock. I hope everything is going well. I gather that it was Mr. Hartenstein that got up from behind his desk and talked to Tia about me for several minutes. That seems like the kind of thing he would do. See if you can get me his address. E-mail would work, too.

I expect I'll have e-mail in the field, but I may not. It depends on my proximity to a place where it's cheap and accessible.

Good luck in school and everything else! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Withers

p.s. I now have a sweet marine-style haircut. =)

Safely In Peru

Dear Family,

We have five minutes to tell you that we're happy and to give you the
address for the Peru MTC. The flight was long, the city is enormous and
quite different from any other I've ever been in.

Here are the addresses..

Pouch..
Lima Peru MTC
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

Regular..
Ave. Melgorijo 159
La Molina, PERU

I get to e-mail once a week. I'm a little slower at it on this spanish
keyboard, but I'll get along. We rode a bus forever this morning from
the airport - this city never ends. It's crazy. Letters leave here on
Mondays, I'll probably write them on Sundays. Get Drew these
addresses so he can put them on my website soon!

It's cloudy and cold here. I love it. It was around 50' when we got
off the plane and it stayed that way all day. Though while we caught up
on sleep, the sun came out for a minute. It was pretty. The Peru MTC is
way different. It's newer and everything is tile and brick.

I better go, I'm not supposed to take more time. All is well. Love
you!

Elder Withers

Handwritten Letter from September 6

Dear Family,

We made it safely to Peru. I talked with people on each flight except for the last one into Lima. On the flight to Atlanta, I talked to a middle-aged Seventh-day Adventist woman and her adopted daughter from Guatemala. I bore my testimony about Jesus Christ and told them about the first vision and the restoration. I gave them both a pass along card with a picture of the Temple on it and invited them to check up on www.Mormon.org.

On the flight to Miami, the man in my seat was from Spain. He spoke English, but he let me talk with him in Spanish and complimented me on my Spanish. He hadn't heard of the Book of Mormon, so I taught him about the restoration and had him read from my Spanish Book of Mormon. His name was Santiago, which gave him some excitement when I shared Santiago (James) 1:5. He thanked me for telling him about the Book of Mormon, and I gave him a book of Mormon pass along card. I love sharing the message of the restoration!

Peru is a very poor place. If you think of the most poor places you've seen in the states, it's like that everywhere, and every McDonald's has three stories. We go out proselyting on Saturdays with Latino elders. I'm excited for that.

The MTC here is pretty nice. Everything is tile and brick, but the plants are pretty and the wild animals exotic. There is a turf, fenced in football field football (football = soccer) so we will have some good fun tomorrow.

It's winter here, so it was cloudy all day. It cleared off for a moment and I sought a mountain in the distance. I am anxious to see the city in the sun and not from the windows of a big bus.

The food is pretty good here, but it's a little different. They have some drink that looks like grape juice, but tastes like a liquid version of a potpourri scented candle. I'll stick with the water, I think. The chicken and soup are good.

I hope all is well in the States! I hope all is going well in school to!

Love you,

Elder Withers.

PS. My new companions are Elders Ornelas and Berger, but that might change tomorrow, so we'll see.

Visa Cleared

Dear Family,

I found out that my visa was cleared on Friday, and I got my flight
plans on Friday night. The travel office was then closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (for the holiday). Therefore, just a few minutes ago I got a hold of a phone pass to call and let you know. I was about to call mom's cell phone with Elder Rosell's calling card, but his card didn't function. I have my own card that I got at the bookstore yesterday (I used my debit card to buy it - so apparently that still works and you can destroy the new one), but it's in my room. I will call as soon as I get back there to retrieve it. But for now, the news is that I leave tomorrow. Same flights and times and everything, only 3 weeks later. I'll arrive in Peru at 5 or so in the morning on Thursday. I leave the MTC here around 11:30am tomorrow.

My hit-by-a-train illness didn't keep me down for long: the miracle of zithromax helped with that. I took the last pill last night. The
doctor's visit cost $10, the drugs $5. I thought that wasn't such a bad deal. I'm still coughing up some things, but it's not that bad at all. I feel great!

I lost my temple recommend. Rather, I found it missing this morning when getting ready to go to the temple. The mission president hooked me up with a temporary one so I could go today, but my recommend doesn't seem to be in any place I normally place it. It's not even in any place I might normally lose it. The workers at the desk said they might have sent it back to my bishop (that is, if I left it at the temple last week when I was there, which is my best guess). I guess that's a possibility. I'll have to talk to my branch president tonight to see if I can get a new one real quick before I go to Peru.

I did buy a transformer, so don't bother sending one. And.. no use
sending much of anything, since I'm leaving tomorrow. =) I'll get back to you as soon as I can once in Peru. In fact, I think I'm allowed to call home from the airport during layovers.

I'll get to writing my real letter home now. That should arrive in a
couple of days.

Love,
Elder Withers

Handwritten Letter from September 4

Dear Family,

I got over my latest illness pretty quick with the help of some prescription medication--I am back at it with full energy of heart.

My teachers--Hermano Calder and Hermano DeLeon--are both being switched to another district this week. I feel sorry for my district: they were the best teachers in the MTC.

I've been studying my Spanish Book of Mormon during my personal study time, and it's amazing! New, wonderful things are standing out to me. As I read toward the end of 1 Nephi and the first few chapters of 2 Nephi, the truth of the great and marvelous work popped out of the page. The Lord covenanted with Israel that He would gather them--and those chapters testify that the Lord always keeps His covenants. I realized that I'm a part of the fulfilment of that covenant. And what confidence that gives me! What confidence in His word! Because the covenant will be fulfilled--Israel will be gathered--and I have His power at my back, since He has called me to do His work.

I had myself almost not wanting to leave when I found out my visa came through. But that changed after two seconds or so. I'm happy to go where the Lord wants me and when he wants me there--all I need is a moment to adjust!

I had some humbling experiences this week. Though it seems I had more experiences that told me I need to be humbled. It was a little discncerting, but I've felt changes in my heart as I strive to count my blessings and realize how little I am. I'm pretty competitive, but I don't want to compete with other missionaries or compare myself to them. In Newtonian Mechanics, the velocity of an object is measured relative to other objects. But the theory of relativity shows that the speed of an object is measured against the speed of light--which is universally constant and measures the same in any reference frame. I want to measure myself according to the unchanging light of God, rather than compare myself with other slow-moving objects.

During our last district meeting on Sunday, I suggested a lofty goal for our district: to give up English entirely (with a few miner exceptions). I won't be here to watch them, but they already have risen to the challenge. They're blowing me away and it helps me keep the goal myself. It's phenomenal how far my Spanish has developed--but it's far more amazing to see everyone else progressing. They'll be fluent in no time.

I'm excited to go to Peru! From what I hear from Elder Rosell's twin, it's quite the experience. I love the people already! I want to talk to them, see them, help them come to Christ! I hope I can also talk to people on the plane tomorrow and in the airport. I can't wait to teach His word to the people who need it so badly.

I love you all and hope school goes well for everyone! Hurrah for Israel!
Love, Elder Withers