Friday, April 29, 2011

April 25, 2011 -email

Hello Family!

Thanks for the recipe. Yes Mexicans color Easter eggs but in a different way, they don’t hard boil them, the crack open the shell at the end and drain them liquid, then after everything is dry they color them with crayons, then later they crack them over each other’s heads making a huge mess.

I'm not really sure why we change from Mondays to Wednesdays; yes it’s probably because the temple is closed Mondays. I have seen Elder Hemsley, he is actually in my zone, I see him at least every week, we slept at their house last Tuesday night because it is closer to the temple than ours. He is a pretty cool guy. I forgot there was another guy from Preston, haven’t seen him yet.

Yes mom, I do have a way to print the letters that are sent to me, I usually (a cockroach just crawled out of my keyboard) print all the letters I get. As for sending them email you can do whatever you want, I should start to get them either way. Probably snail mail should come pretty soon.

This week has been a good old hard working week. No baptisms... we worked super hard trying to get various people to accept. Those people were Victor and Minerva Peña, the parents of Adrian, Victor just can’t get over the fact that drinking and smoking in moderation is bad, and isn’t willing to give them up. and Minerva won’t do anything unless her husband does also, even though she knows it’s the right thing to do.

Tony is another guy that we are teaching. He drinks alot, he is about 40 and lives with his sister(a cook for the priests in the catholic church) in their parent’s house. He came to church and has gone lots of times in the past, he just needs to quit drinking. We actually teach him in English, he was born and grew up in Texas. He won’t tell us what he did to need to be living in Mexico; I don’t really want to know. We actually find alot of people like that.

We had some very interesting lessons with random people. We were invited to an Easter dinner with a member and her extended family, she is very strong in the church and only has one year as a member. It started out well, we ate (i hate eating in groups like that, the people always want us to go first, I would rather wait and watch to see what they do with the food, how they serve it and such, this time was very embarrassing because i served myself completely different than i was supposed to) after eating the member asked us to give some blessings to some sick kids, always a spiritual experience, and then the family members started to ask questions about our religion. Why we can’t drink coffee, who is Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. My comp loved it, because he loves to argue, and that’s basically what it was. But it quickly spiraled down hill and just turned into a bashing session (my first real one and hopefully the last) luck we were able to establish the fact that prayer is the only way they can really know why we do what we do.

This week has been really different than most, we worked really, really hard, taught almost 50 lessons, experienced the joy of hard work but didn't really see many results.

Thanks for everything. Hello Mariah!

Love
Elder Waite

April 20, 2011 -email






Hi Family!
I am doing just great. The weather is rough, they say yesterday was 115 and today is about 110. I'm getting used to the heat and sweating 24/7. I take two showers a day, in the night I shower with mesh g's and just sit in on my chair with the fan blowing on me, it’s like a cheap air conditioning. I'm getting pretty tan, y'all would be pretty jealous, except I have a line on my neck...but it’s all good. I sent you some pictures, and I'll leave it up to you mom to get the ones off my email that I have sent to other people. :) Two are of the baptism and two are of me and my comp, the other we are painting the parents house of Hermano Fabian (our new branch mission leader).

Yes, we had a baptism this past week. Adrian, Brenda and Kevin, it was legit, I got to baptize Brenda, E Fotu baptized Adrian and Hno Fabian baptized Kevin. Hno Fabian and Adrian are brothers. The baptism went really well, about 70 percent of the people there were non-members, and I think the field is getting white ready to harvest. President Romney came. It was really powerful, lots of the sisters were crying. I hope because they were thinking of getting themselves baptized but maybe not, they might have just been happy because Adrian is starting to change. I can't believe the change I've seen in him, and Fabian. That might be the coolest thing about this work, getting to see the change in people. I honestly can see a physical change, it’s hard to explain but they just seem more happy, and just look clean. Seeing that is gratification at its best.

Yes I have gotten two of Mariah’s letters that she has sent to me, they came to our house, pretty quick. But I don’t think it’s the best idea that she sends them to the house, because who knows when I am going to be changed. (Changes are coming in three weeks) but it’s been really cool to hear from her. Usually they get here within two to three weeks. I don’t think I have had one more than 4 weeks late. I haven’t gotten any of the letters from Mariah that you have sent me, but I wouldn't stress to much about it.

I can’t believe Derek and Clancy are leaving. Wish them the best of luck, sometimes the mission is a rough road, I would appreciate it if you gave my best to the both of them. But on second thought they are probably gone already. That’s alright, I'll pray for them. That’s a cool story about prayer. I had a funny thing happen to me about prayer this week. We were walking down the road and the wind was blowing, I was thinking about my personal study(my favorite time of the day) and then I was thinking how I wasn’t sure that I said a prayer right as soon as I woke up, I came to the conclusion that I hadn't. At that same moment the wind blew my tie and it slapped me right in the face, and it actually kind of hurt. I took that as a message from the Lord to not let it happen again. That same thing actually happened about two weeks before, we were walking down the road after a lesson didn't go very good, I wasn't thinking about the people we taught in the best way because they were being really stubborn. At that same minute the wind blew and my tie slapped my right in the face. You may think I am joking, and even though it is kind of a funny story, in all seriousness I know that was a message from the Lord telling me to change.

Thank you all so much for everything you do. I love you guys!
Love
Elder Waite

PS Read the Book of Mormon

April 4 & 11, 2011 -emails

April 4, 2011

Hey Family,

Well how are you all doing? We don't have very much time to write today, so I will have to be brief. A temple in Meridian? That’s pretty weird. We didn't get to go to the morning and afternoon conference on Saturday, but the Priesthood Session was legit. We took the father of the family (Adrian) that had plans to get baptized, and his father also (Victor). We got to watch it in English. After the session was over we went and stood in the font with them with MOTAB playing in the entire building and talked a little about baptism and how we knew God was going to be happy with them the next day. The spirit was really strong and it couldn't have been planned better which is why I am still confused at why they decided against it. They are going to get baptized this week so I guess it’s ok, we even invited Pres Romney. He likes to come when a family is getting baptized. I can't wait for it to come, mostly because I'm worried they still won’t feel ready. We are trying to work out their doubts.

To answer the question about the house, Paseo del Norte is a colony East of Salinas, if you head east from the plaza in Salinas and before you come to the highway (I think it’s called Colombia) there are lots of houses really close together, they share the same walls. It’s on the north side of the road, and there is a big chicken feed factory really close. I know those are really shady directions. I bet you will be able to tell the difference in the colony Salinas and actual Paseo Del Norte.

Anyway I'm glad to hear you are all doing good, and are safe.

Thanks for the sports update.

Love,
Elder Waite



April 11, 2011

Well Family, it’s going to be a short letter again this week. . .very short. P day is dia de descansa, but it certainly isn´t. We didn´t baptize yesterday, hopefully we will this week. But it’s going to take lots of prayers, just skimming through your email mom I read something about me having 6 months already, I thought I only had 5, I'm a little confused, going to have to my math later on tonight. Happy Birthday Hallie, sorry it’s a little late, good choice on the dog. Have you gotten any letters from me? The post office here is pretty shady, so maybe I'll have to start mailing stuff from Monterrey.

Thank you all for the prayers, testimonies, faith.
Love you guys
Elder Waite

March 28, 2011 -email

March 28, 2011

Hello Family!!

Wow, once again it sounds like there is alot of stuff happening at home. Mom, thanks for sending the DE from Dad. Dad thanks for writing, I've only skimmed it, I'm pretty sure I better wait for tonight. Thanks especially for the encouraging words, they always make me want to work harder, and be proud of who I am and of my family. We are very blessed to have the family that we have, I have been finding this out the longer I have been in Mexico.

We are teaching the family Peña. Adrian(dad) Brenda(mom) Kevin(9) Jael(6). Adrian is a brother to a member, and has seen the recent changes in him because he just got the priesthood, and so Adrian got interested in listening to us. He has had some problems drinking and is sick of the fact he isn't the father he wants to be. I'm stoked out of my mind to be teaching them, this is a family that I might get to go to the temple with. We have actually been teaching Brenda for the past couple months, but Salinas is really small, and lots of stuff happens... lets just say that I hope that the iglesia will never have a bad name for the things that I do. Anyway they are really promising. I hope we have a white Easter.

I've been thinking alot lately about the fact that I am really a missionary. It’s still sort of hard to believe. I am grateful to be one. The missionaries are pretty much celebrities in the church, people are constantly praying for us, and doing simple things to make our lives easier. I think it’s impossible for us to fail.

I got another package last Saturday!! The one with the CDs and the pictures, and also the candy! Thanks so much, especially for the pictures, they helped some of the wild kids in church.

I had the chance to be in the temple with Aunt Amy also, I also felt the presence of Grandma Wadsworth, decho I know she is there every time I go to the temple. Dad, I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes, I can’t imagine one of my sisters not being here anymore. Thanks for your strength in the gospel and good example to me.

I love you all so much. Congratulations to Maren, I can see they got rid of that BYU shirt as soon as they could... I thought that was really funny. Can you guys send more pictures like those? Maybe of the play and just of things around, like when Mariah went into the MTC? Thanks for everything you all do.

Love Elder Waite

ps. It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.

March 23, 2011 -email

March 23, 2011

Hello Family,

Well how is everyone doing? This email is pretty tough to write. I've been thinking about what I am planning on saying since Monday, (that was when I found out the news). About 1 in the afternoon on Monday we were teaching a lesson to Hilario, I'll tell about him later, and the assistants called, they came out here to Salinas, it was pretty tough for them to tell me about what happened with Aunt Amy, it was also tough to hear. They gave me permission to print off the letter from Dad so I could read it later. The fact that I would really never see her again in this life didn't really hit me until that night after I had read what Dad wrote to me. I've been thinking about her a lot lately and the things that I remember most about her was her laugh, how she loved to joke around and like mom said, the family gatherings. It was really tough to hear the news and it really didn't sink in for a while, I'm not sure that it really has even now, but it’s sort of been a motivator to work a little harder to tell people of this knowledge we have that we will be able to see our families again after this life. I sort of did the same thing you guys did Monday, I read some scriptures and conference talks, It was really good.

A little about Hilario, he is legit, 80 years old, he's been smoking his whole life and stopped after our second visit. He is having a little more trouble to stop drinking coffee, mostly because he doesn't see what is wrong with it. Once he makes up his mind to do something it happens, but it takes alot to convince him... especially when he doesn't see the bad in something. He is really legit, I can’t really understand alot of what he says because his accent is so thick and he talks really quiet. We have been praying for him to recognize that he shouldn't drink coffee. We'll see him later tonight, I hope he has good news for us.

Mom, I got your package!!! Thanks, it was legit, I loved the valentines stuff. and I'm pretty sure everything was there. I don’t know if Mariah is getting my emails, but I haven’t got anything from her. So if you could I would appreciate it if you could forward her emails to me.

I hope everything is going well for you guys. I am doing great, getting a little fat. I have to keep up eating the same food as a Tongan. We had Zone Conference yesterday, it was a great experience, and the meetings here always help me get refocused once again. I can’t wait till the next one. Sis Romney made us brownies, not to different from the ones at home.

I love everyone, and I'm thinking good thoughts about you all.

Love Elder Waite

March 14, 2011 -email

March 14, 2011

I don't know what just happened.... my whole email just disappeared... sorry guys no legit email, here it is in a nut shell.

I have a new comp. Elder Fotu he is Tongan, has a scholarship to play at BYU. 6'4'' 300 lbs, he has lost 60lbs since he's been on his mission.

I got letters and Dear Elders. I could read all of them. Thanks. No package yet. You don't need to send the emails from Uncle Greg, I have time to read them.

We had 41 people at church, we've been doing lots of LA work, it felt good.Here is the address to my house.

De los Cabasos 769
Paseo del Norte
Salinas Victoria
Nuevo Leon

Here is the address to the church.

Zaragoza 108
Centro
Salinas Victoria
Nuevo Leon

We've been teaching these people; Yaressi, Alejandra and Juan & Mira - they don’t want to get out of bed to go to church. Missionary work is cool, but tough. Good luck Mariah!! Those first few weeks are tough in the MTC.

Love

Elder Waite

March 8, 2011 -email

Hello family!

Well you aren't going to believe this but I got another companion and the best thing about it is he is native!!! I still can't believe it. I've been with him for a week tomorrow and I've spoken more Spanish in this week than ever before. Wednesday night was tough. After my first full day of being with him, I realized that I was probably the only gringo in Salinas, and there aren't very many others that speak English, but I can bear testimony that the Savior will comfort those that need it.

Some more good news... WE HAD A BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!! Crazy... this family came to church last week out of the blue and we started teaching them. The dad is a member, and now the two boys are too, but the parents aren't married so we need to do that before we can baptize the mother. It was way cool. I practiced the prayer all Sunday. Saturday we were trying to fill the font and I was looking how to drain it. The drain was covered in leaves and it was basically just a pipe coming out of the concrete wall. Anyway I stepped on it and it broke off. But not to worry, I was able to go to the store and get all new stuff and tools to fix it, and it was all in Spanish. Sketchy Spanish, but still. I'm pretty proud of myself to say the least. I would send pictures but we are at a different place than usual, and I'm actually not even with my real comp. He went with another missionary. They had to go to the hospital. Luckily I have been blessed with perfect health ever since I have come here. My new companion's name is Elder Guerrero. He is from Mexico City.

I am going to learn so much from him, this week has been really tough, but I'm happy right now. P day is always good. Good luck with everything you do, especially Mariah.

Love Elder Waite

February 28, 2011 -email

Hello Family,

Happy last day of February. This is the end of the first full month that I have been in Mexico, I thought that was kind of cool. March should be a good month for both me and you, a little sad in the middle for you guys because Mariah is going to leave but that's just how it is. There are always two good parts of March, the first and the best is the fact that its ol' Ruby’s Birthday!!! Happy birthday, I hope you have a good one. The next best part about March is the steer weigh in, I don't know why I remembered this but I did, so good luck with that Hannah (if you are still planning on doing one), I hope you get a good one.

Well no matter what happens life still goes on at home, I think I'm losing track of time and seasons(mostly because there aren't many seasons here, just hot, at least that's what I feel like lately, two weeks ago I would have shouted no! to that comment. I think it’s because we do the same thing all the time. Sundays don't even feel different. I have some other news for you also... I'm changing, I can't even sit down to eat without looking for the tortillas. It’s a good thing I like them.

I got a dear elder from Dad on Thursday, it was the one with jokes. I had an hour long bus ride to decipher it. I don't think Mexico and Dear Elder work very good together, but it was fun to get it none the less.

We have had lots of opportunities to teach this week, and I know that the people we teach feel the spirit because I feel it. I remember the scripture in the Book of Mormon about how all other churches were of the devil... I add my testimony to that also. The people here have a whole different view on God, Christ and the Holy Ghost. It has been another week of trying to get people to act, I think in the other religions there is a whole lot of not having to do anything. We aren't just teaching the gospel, we are trying to get people to change and actually do something. Hopefully the spirit will help them with that.

Thanks for everything.

Love

Elder Waite

February 23, 2011 -email

Hey family,

I'm really sorry I didn’t mail on Monday. We got to go to the temple today and when we do that we change our p day to Wednesday. The Monterrey Temple is amazing, really small but I like it. There is a lot of wood, and it looks really dark in the inside. Doing a Spanish session was tough, but I got through it ok. The city is sweet also, we went to the real part of the city and its CRAZY!

That’s too bad about Grandpa Povey. He was a really cool guy. I'll be sure to be praying for Aunt Amy more. I hope everything is going well with the family. About the dolls, I don’t think there is much use for them right now, especially with how much it is going to cost, but thank you anyway. But that reminds me, if you ever do want to send a package, the best chances it has to get here is by using a normal US Post Office flat rate box.

I'm trying to not get to excited about the package you sent since it probably is about two months away... I'm sure I'll enjoy the ensign but the mission gives us the Liahona in English, and it comes pretty well on time, so I don’t think you really need to send me one anymore.
As far as music goes basically anything, I think the best would be to just make some copies of any church stuff you think I might like - Motab, especially the patriotic and folk stuff. Most houses in the mission have some sort of cd player so that won’t be a problem. With the converter I’m pretty sure I'll be able to get one down here also.

I'm glad to hear you aren’t worried about me. I'm not worried about me either. I got attacked by a dog this week, he was really serious, I think he was racist, I kicked him in the face, it was a pretty good stress reliever and got my adrenalin up pretty good. I wish I had a picture to send you of that, but these will have to do.

1 me and Sergio (my investigator from kearns)
2 my first night in Mexico, Elder Davis and me with our elotes
3 if you can believe it that’s ice in Mexico
4 our church, don’t worry I'm not being disobedient by taking pictures of this, it’s officially called a house of prayer. I love it

We are still working hard, people are really receptive to the gospel, they just don’t want to go to church.

I love you guys

Elder Waite






Tuesday, April 26, 2011

February 14, 2011 -email

Elder Waite,
Happy Valentine's Day! Last night Sadie and Hallie were fastidiously putting their valentines together to hand out at school today. Yesterday was Stake Conference and Hannah got her Patriarchal blessing as well. We have been de-junking like mad around here (thanks to me!) and Saturday we all cleaned down at the mustard house for a while. We filled the back of the white truck with stuff to haul to DI. Hannah and I went through the bins of coats that mom has been hoarding for when the great depression hits again and we got rid of 4 boxes worth of coats. Now there are only 3 boxes of coats... (Plus we found these cool army-looking BLM coats - we kept them because they are so legit.)

The mission prep is going nicely. I had a dream last night that I was studying Japanese and I had to learn it all before I woke up or else all would be lost... so naturally I just kept dreaming and dreaming and slept in. It was great.

Mom and I are doing the Valentines day party in Sadie's class today so my morning has consisted of cutting out 30 paper hearts and taping them each to a plastic spoon for a game we are going to play. I'm loving being home right now - it feels so good to not be in school.

I'm selling my guitar - to Hannah. I'm not going to be using it for the next 2 years and I doubt I will use it much when I get back. If you want it when you get back I will force Hannah to sell it to you.

After I talked to you on the phone I stayed in Utah for a couple more weeks. For one week I stayed with Aunt Vera and Uncle Caleb - which was fabulous. The Smith's were grand to be with too - Aunt Amy's kids are hilarious. While I was there I went to a bunch of different temples: Salt Lake, Oquirrh Mt., South Jordan, and Draper, all of which were really neat.

I've recently learned that the way to say "sister" in Japanese is: she-may. It's pronounced just like that.

Best wishes Elder - know that we love you so so much!

-Mariah



Family!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all you guys!!! I'm sure you don't need any more reminding but there it is for you. I hope everything goes well for all the love birds at home. We are going to celebrate the Day of Love and Friendship on Thursday with a party at the church building. It’s going to be legit, we will have tacos de vapor with tons of food, and we will have a karaoke thing. I'm pretty stoked, and we are giving invitations to everyone. Congratulations to Hannah on getting her Patriarchal Blessing, it truly is a blessing, especially to be able to read it whenever you want. I know you will enjoy it more and more as time goes on. I've tried to keep mine in my journal and read it whenever I have time at night. However lots of times we don’t have time at night because we are doing important things. Last night we made lemonade from lemons that we picked at the church, it’s pretty good.

Congratulations on cleaning out the old house. Sounds like I missed a riot. My companion is a pack rat and we today I cleaned out some of the things in our house. There was a whole suitcase full of clothes, old pamphlets and just junk that we got rid of, we cleaned the sink, the toilet and also our little mirror. I like our house - it’s small and there is nothing there, but it’s good. Every time we walk in my companion says 'we've been robbed!... oh wait in always looks like that.'
Mexico has been nice today and yesterday, today i{m wearing a short sleeve shirt. I've only wore my coat in the mornings and two days I only had a sweater.

Mariah, concerning you mission preparations I've been thinking about things I wished I had done and I made a list.
Limit soap toothpaste and stuff like that because you can buy it pretty much wherever you are... I think I have a 2 years supply of soap
*MUSIC- take some music, you will thank yourself later
I think I already told you but two bags to check in on the airline and two carry-on bags
*pictures of the family and of the stuff around the house and of your baptism. It’s nice to be able to show people that you were actually a normal person and where you live. Also pictures of the animals, and the picture we took as a family at Fort Calvin where Dad and I were wearing hats.
*a converter from sd card to usb, to use to send pictures home though the computer
Make a study journal right off the bat in the MTC
(The things with *'s may or may not be a wish list of mine.)

I'll keep trying to think of things that I would have liked to do different.
We had a pretty good week here, nobody came to church though. We had a couple of legit people too... but that’s ok. I’m going to try and send some pictures and they can speak more than I can, but I don't have much time left.
Ok, I figured it out it, might take a while though... the first one is of some of our investigators, we went by and they weren’t in their house but we heard sister Loudris laughing across the street. They were making food in this little hut. The picture is big so it’s going to take a long time. I’ll try to make them smaller next week so I can send more.
I love Salina Victoria, I feel at home here. It’s a cowboy town, every Saturday and Sunday everyone rides their horses around town, it’s pretty cool. The horses are actually pretty good looking to.
Well the picture finally loaded so I need to go. Thanks for writing Mariah!
I love you guys.
Love Elder Waite!

February 7, 2011 -email

Hello Everyone, I'm still loving Mexico, the work is good. I love my companion, we get along really well. I love the food. We still don't have any progressing investigators. We are trying though. Thanks for the email. To answer your address question, all mail should be sent to:

Elder Camden Waite
Mexico Monterrey West Mission
Calle Chiapas #2202Colonia Roma Sur64700 Monterrey, Nuevo LeonMexico We move around quite a bit so they just want all the mail sent there. I think that is smartest. I'm already getting pretty good at telling if someone is drunk and to not waste our time talking to them but sometimes it is unavoidable... we were walking down the street and this lady came up and asked me for 5 pesos. I was going to say I did't have any but I was at that very moment holding some in my hand in my pocket so I gave it to her. She took my hand in hers in a death hold and proceeded to bawl. She told us about how none of her family loves her and all sorts of problems and she wanted us to pray for her. We tried to bail several times but she wouldn't let go of our hands. She would let go of one just to wipe her tears and then wipe them on us and say 'with my tears i...' it was crazy. Its been pretty cold here. The coldest its been is about 5 below freezing, sometimes it gets warmer during the day. It is actually nice right now though. It's rough because the people here only have concrete houses and it's the same temp inside as it is out. Needless to say, I will be eternally grateful to Mariah for making that blanket for me.
I need a couple of favors if its not to much to ask. We are sort of in charge of the loud kids during sacrament and stuff like that, so I need to know of games like cats cradle... so could you send me the directions to the thing when you tie your fingers all in a knot and stuff like that. Hopefully you know what I am talking about. I would explain but I don't have much time today either. Also Dad, if you have any jokes in spanish I would love to hear them.... mexicans love jokes... and I love mexicans. I've decided to throw caution out the window and accept the fact that I am going to pick up a northern mexican accent. I hope to figure out these computers and send some pictures soon... we are in a little shop, we have to pay for our time. The computers are weird. Thank you for all your good examples, especially you Mom and Dad, I love you. Knowing you are at home praying for the things we are doing makes me want to work even harder.Love Elder WaiteViva Mexico!

January 29, 2011 -email

Camden was able to get his visa and go to Mexico on the 28 of January. We were all SOOOO excited!!!! I think he was the most extited though(of course). He was able to call us at the airport and talk to us for a while before he flew out. That was so fun! He sent us this email the next day.

Dear Family,

I got here to Monterrey about 630 last night, I am doing awesome. Monterrey is sweet, I am already in love with Mexico. Today we´ll just have some orientation and then head out to our assigned areas, pretty quick. I´m so excited to finally be here. Don´t worry about me, i´m doing great. I hope you all are doing good also. Pres and Sis Romney are legit, I like their style. I havent had a taco yet.

Love
Elder Waite

January 26, 2011 -email

Hello Family,
How are you all doing? I am fine. Yesterday we went downtown because E' Rutherford had a doctor appt., we were eating lunch and I got a call from the office. I have an appt. with the Mexican Consolate today in the afternoon. I'm pretty stoked... I'm not sure what this means, it doesn't mean I have my visa but it means its getting closer. My companions are betting that I'll be gone before this week is out, I don't know what to think about that. I know one thing though... it will be sweet to be out of this cold.
Love

E' Waite
ill write a long letter all about what happens today. I am on google chat if you would like to get on Hannah's email, I am on my aggiemail account. don't worry I'm not being disobedient, i cant see any of my emails and stuff
E Waite

Camden,
I am so excited! Is there any way to hand write a letter to us later to let us know what happened at the consulate? How will you get there?
Mom


sorry this is really short but it was great to talk to you mom, you'll get more in a letter this week.
Love
Elder Waite


I'll write more about my companions later, I'm sitting right between them. Yes its harder to be in a threesome that with just one other, but we are probably more effective in three. We have time to cook, its usually about an hour. but one sweet thing about serving in Salt lake is the members feed us every night, and they expect us to eat tons, so I usually skip a meal either lunch or breakfast, depends on what i feel, so the other one I usually eat sandwiches, mac and cheese or cereal. something pretty easy and cheap. we don't pack lunches, we have language study so we just eat lunch at home, at 11. We talked to Sergio last night, he has been legit prepared by the lord, I hope his baptism will be this Sunday so i can see it. maybe even baptise him. that would be really cool.

January 26, 2011 -chat

Mom was able to chat with Elder Waite while he was on the computer.

me: Camden, this is amazing. How come you can't see any of your emails if you are on your aggie mail?
Cam: I just signed in and this little window is all that came up. pretty legit
me: Wow, Has the mission president asked that you not tell us where you live because we live so close?
Cam: No, I just keep forgetting, its 5313 Ridge Hollow Way, Kearns, UT
me: How are you doing? Are you homesick at all? Mariah is at Aunt Amy's and wanted to make something to drop off on your doorstep, but we wouldn't want to do anything to disrupt your mission.

Cam: I'm great, that would be way cool if she wanted to do that. (he gave me his phone number here, but I deleted it so as not to pass it around)

me: I am sure that we won't call. We want to be obedient, but good to have. I don't know if she will have time before she comes home. It is 11:58. Do you need to go?

Cam: no we got here at around 10:40 we still have a while.

me: Where are you?

Cam: we might go soon but we might as well keep talking
i am in our church building, we have a family history center with computers. it is a stake center on 6200 south, you can probably see it on lds.org sorry 5200 south

me: I am talking to dad on the phone right now. Dad wants you to know that he sure appreciates your birthday letter that you sent him. He was very happy to read it. He is sorry that he has not written more lately, but he will do better.

Cam: That's ok, its to bad it was late

me: Were you able to write a longer email? I am feeling guilty that I get to talk to you and there won't be much of a letter to read to the family.
Your letter came the day after, on Monday, so it wasn't very late.

Cam: ya I'm writing one right now, but it wont be much, I'll write a letter later, I like doing this more

me: We went to the temple last night for ward temple night. Do you get to go at all? It surely is a wonderful place to be.

Cam: I haven't been since i left the mtc, we can go on pdays in the morning but its hard to find a ride, we'll probably go next week i hope

me: I have just printed the last couple of letters from Josiah, Keaton, and Cody. Is it too much to read? I want you to have mail and I think it is neat for you to be able to read about other missionary's experiences, but I don't want to take time away from other things you should be doing.

Cam: no I have time to read them. thanks for sending them, i like them.
our area is from 5600 West to Bangeter Hwy and 5415 south to 6200 south

me: Janie is sick right now. She has a VERY runny nose. She wipes it every few minutes. You should see the pile of toilet paper she has collected this morning.

Cam: the church building that we meet at on Sundays is on 5415 South and about 4620 West

me: How is your Spanish coming? Do you really get to use it a lot? Do you speak Spanish with your comps? Do you go to just one ward on Sunday, or is that church where all of your area meets. Is is a Spanish branch?

Cam: oh poor Janie. its coming better, we used it lots the first week together but now we only talk in Spanish with natives, but i can tell its getting lots better. we only go to one meeting, it is a combination of two stakes to make a Spanish ward. it starts at 1

me: That makes more sense. You already mentioned that your ward is a combination of two stakes, and I was very confused. Of course that makes sense now when I realize that is is a Spanish ward.
How are your comps at the language? I am surprised that your mission president doesn't ask you to speak Spanish together.

Cam: its a legit ward, really strong...
E' P is a native Spanish speaker E' Ruth is pretty good but i hope to be better that he is right now when i have 18 months

me: Once you get to Mexico it will come much faster. What time is your appointment? I want to be on my knees praying for you when you get there.
12
Cam: I am supposed to be at the mission office at 130 i don't know when the actual appointment is. thanks I hope everything works out.

me: Will someone come pick you up? Do you ever ride the bus? Do you see your mission president much?

Cam: Yes a member from the ward usually drives us around. I am getting to the office with the ZLs, but a senior elder will probably take me to the consolate. we don't see our mission pres much, but he came and payed us a surprise visit on Sunday... that's another story. so I've actually only seen him twice

me: oh no! was your apartment a mess? will you tell us the story in your letter? was it another story good or bad?

Cam: No it was all clean and everything, yes I'll tell the story in the letter, it was great for me, but not for either of my comps

me: How do you really think the mission president would feel about Mariah dropping something off on your door step? I just can't stress enough of our desire that we all be obedient.

Cam: I don't know, i don't think he would care to much, as long as we didn't see each other. that would be cool if we did though

me: Make sure that you tell the story. Now I am really curious. I am glad that it was great for you. I woke up in the night two nights ago and thought, "What if Camden is not as good of a missionary as I think he is?" I layed there and worried for a few minutes, then a very peaceful feeling came over me and I knew you were being a good missionary. I am so very proud of you. I hope you know how we are counting on you to work hard and to be obedient.

Cam: I'm trying:) so how is life at home. what is the latest on Mariah's relationships? did Hannah get the part she wanted?
well I've got to go, I love you!

me: I love you too. good luck today. I am so proud of you. Mom