November 29, 2010 -email

Hello Family?

How are things going for everyone? How are you all liking the snow? That sounds pretty sweet... sounds like the snow day was a much needed rest for everyone, and you got a lot done! I was really jealous that you got snow and we didn't, but we have about six inches now... but we are only allowed to touch it with one finger at a time so it’s really doesn't even mean anything.

How was Thanksgiving for ya'll? Did you stay at home? I don't really remember what your plans were but I kinda thought you were thinking about going somewhere. My Thanksgiving was legit. Elder Holland came and talked to us and all his grandchildren came and sang. When I first saw him I thought we might get chastised a little bit, but that wasn't what it was at all, He said that for that day his family was our family. It was probably the most spiritual meeting I have ever been to. Near the end of his talk he did start on a little hell fire and damnation speech about being lonely, he said we shouldn't be lonely.

Well I think you could call me the black sheep of the MTC... I have a new Companion! Who would have thought...

His name is Elder Chistensen from somewhere in California, I wish I could remember but I can’t, and I’ve already asked him about four times and I don't think he'll appreciate a fifth.. It doesn't really matter. We got the news last night, so I haven’t been with him very long. He is supposed to be in Peru but he is waiting on his visa. I'm a little worried about changing all the time like I have been, I think it’s starting to affect my Spanish. Speaking of Spanish, I haven't taught a lesson in English for about five days. I don't know if I could really say I've been teaching in Spanish, most of the time we just sit there is silence trying to think of something to say.

Anyways, it’s pretty much the same old thing day in and day out. I guess I should be grateful for all the companion changes so I have something to write about. I really love it here, Elder Holland helped me realize that. I hope everything is going good, you guys are probably just as busy as ever. I love you!

Love

Elder Waite

P.S.

Sadie, yes I think I have been getting all your letters, but I don't know the exact number I have. Thanks for all of them! I can't wait to be in Mexico. I miss you to..

November 24, 2010 -letter

Hello Family!!

 Whats going on??? As always things are really good here. I think the letters that are sent from here take forever to get home, I've sent you a couple lately but I’m not sure if you got them yet. Today is my new P-day. Last Tuesday Elder Robertson and I were transferred. Elder Robertson went home last Friday, he found out his gma had cancer and that was the last straw. He never really told me a lot about what was going on, what I do know is that right before he left a girl he had dated a few months before called him a hypocrite and he was having a hard time with the fact that he might be a hypocrite and he still had Christ’s name on his chest. He never told me this part but I think something happened in the residence hall that made him uncomfortable, I think it was just showering or something, I don’t know. We were put into a new district because the MTC didn't want him to blame anything on them as far as organization and obedience is involved. It’s really complicated and probably really confusing to read about, but it’s all over now. This week I have been grateful for the weight of district leader being lifted from me. That last district was a rough situation, three of the elders were threatened to be sent home, I had a tough job of trying to keep them in line. I am glad to be where I am now, I have already had five companions assigned to me and I've slept in 4 different beds, so my MTC experience is already something more special and different than anyone else’s.

I am in a threesome now, E' Kay from Swan Lake and E' Mcneil from California. I’ve only been with them since yesterday but they are cool. E' Mcneil reminds me of David Cache Morgan, except multiplied by 5. He is District leader and he rules with an iron fist. E' Kay is the only other farm kid that I’ve been around and I’m glad to be with him, I think we'll be good friends.

Well you are basically up to date on my life now, Spanish is ok. The first week it was easy to see the improvement, it seems to be going a little slower now. Teaching however is fantastic, it so great to teach with the spirit. 

I am dying to know where Mariah got her call to!! We haven’t had any mail delivered to us since sat. Hopefully I’ll find out tonight.

There is a really warped sense of time here, I no longer have the ability to tell what time it is throughout the day. Maybe that’s messed up because I wear a watch now, I don't know. The days seem like weeks but looking back the weeks seem like days. 

I love to hear how you are all doing, I’ll try to write letters later. Thank you so much for the pictures!

love elder waite

November 22, 2010 -email

Hello Family!!

 Whats going on??? As always things are really good here. I think the letters that are sent from here take forever to get home, I've sent you a couple lately but I’m not sure if you got them yet. Today is my new P-day. Last Tuesday Elder Robertson and I were transferred. Elder Robertson went home last Friday, he found out his gma had cancer and that was the last straw. He never really told me a lot about what was going on, what I do know is that right before he left a girl he had dated a few months before called him a hypocrite and he was having a hard time with the fact that he might be a hypocrite and he still had Christ’s name on his chest. He never told me this part but I think something happened in the residence hall that made him uncomfortable, I think it was just showering or something, I don’t know. We were put into a new district because the MTC didn't want him to blame anything on them as far as organization and obedience is involved. It’s really complicated and probably really confusing to read about, but it’s all over now. This week I have been grateful for the weight of district leader being lifted from me. That last district was a rough situation, three of the elders were threatened to be sent home, I had a tough job of trying to keep them in line. I am glad to be where I am now, I have already had five companions assigned to me and I've slept in 4 different beds, so my MTC experience is already something more special and different than anyone else’s.

I am in a threesome now, E' Kay from Swan Lake and E' Mcneil from California. I’ve only been with them since yesterday but they are cool. E' Mcneil reminds me of David Cache Morgan, except multiplied by 5. He is District leader and he rules with an iron fist. E' Kay is the only other farm kid that I’ve been around and I’m glad to be with him, I think we'll be good friends.

Well you are basically up to date on my life now, Spanish is ok. The first week it was easy to see the improvement, it seems to be going a little slower now. Teaching however is fantastic, it so great to teach with the spirit. 

I am dying to know where Mariah got her call to!! We haven’t had any mail delivered to us since sat. Hopefully I’ll find out tonight.

There is a really warped sense of time here, I no longer have the ability to tell what time it is throughout the day. Maybe that’s messed up because I wear a watch now, I don't know. The days seem like weeks but looking back the weeks seem like days. 

I love to hear how you are all doing, I’ll try to write letters later. Thank you so much for the pictures!

love elder waite

November 17, 2010 -letter

Howdy Fam!

                Well we got permission to do laundry today because we were running pretty low on our necessities, so I get to write another letter to you, hopefully the two this week make up for no email.  You wouldn’t believe who I’ve seen here, I was walking down the hall and I saw a lady that looked like she had been struck by lightning….   It was Mrs. Matthews!! (Now Sister Matthews)* I couldn’t believe it, I wanted to chat it up with her for a while, but we were in a big hurry so I couldn’t.  I have seen our relative, Elder Westover, we used to live in the same residence hall, not anymore, but we are still in the same building for class.  He didn’t know who I was at first, but he remembered after we got to talking.  There is an Elder Kay in our new district who is from Swan Lake, they live in one of the houses on the WS highway as you are going to Red Rock.  Dad, I think you worked with his g-ma at one point.  I’ve also seen Aunt Sara’s friend from Ohio who is teaching at the MTC.  It’s a small world!

                Mom, your food is amazing.  Food here isn’t bad, it’s just nothing like yours.  Everything has about six times as much sugar than it needs, I’m pretty used to it by now.

                Hey Jane! Thanks for your DE you sent! Do you still play with Mattie and that awesome cat with six toes?  Have you noticed if they miss me yet? I know I miss them… but not enough to come home!

                Thank you all for teaching me how to work.  Our new district is a bunch of rich city kids.  They have good hearts and I love them!

                We teach lots of lessons here, the hardest part is being serious, yesterday I taught a less-active named Paco de Esperanza, he insisted that every time we say his name, that is what we said.  It’s good and bad because that seems to be the only time during the day that we can really let our personalities show, but that also means there is too much personality.  I have learned so much just in two weeks.  The Espiritu Santo is the greatest blessing here and it is always with us when we deserve it, and when the spirit isn’t with us we are like lost little kids.

                I hope everything is good there.  I know it is, and if we ever think it isn’t then we are wrong.  The lord knows what’s good!  If only I could get my companion to see that….

                Thanks for the package!  Man, I love Werthers!  I am already half-way done with the Ensign!

                I’m not really sure who deserved the thanks here, either ma or pa, but whoever it is, thanks for giving me a huge neck.   I never realized that it was different than anyone else’s but apparently it is!  In both of our districts, everyone was always saying something about it, I guess I’m just disproportionate or something.  :)

                Anyways, I feel like I’ve said a whole lot of nothing in this letter, but whatev.  I can’t wait to hear where Mariah is going.  Her call will probably come today.

Love,

Elder Waite

* Mrs. Matthews was Mariah's, Camden's, Hannah's, and Maren's fourth grade teacher.

November 16, 2010 -letter

Mother and Father,

                Well this week has been adventurous already and it’s only Tuesday.  Elder Robertson has been contemplating going home and was supposed to give his answer today.  He had decided he was going to leave.  So we went to one of the head honchos office that he has been talking to.  We have also been having lots of problems with disobedience in our district.  It was so bad that I thought three of the Elders were going to be sent home.  They just didn’t realize their purpose and take their calling seriously.

                President Bertasso is the man we have been talking to.  He has been deciding what is going to happen with the district.  When my companion told him he was going home, he realized that it would be lots better if we were in a better district that would be a better example and have a better spirit.  So we were transferred.  My P-day is now on Monday so you won’t be getting an e-mail from me on Thursday.

                I am doing well, I really love this here.  I just opened a Dear Elder from Janie.  It made my day!  Dad, thanks a lot for the DE you sent me, guess what!!!  I watched part of that meeting you told me about!  I love you guys!  Sorry I haven’t been saying much, the only purpose of this letter is to inform you about our transfer. 

Love,

Elder Waite

PS-I have been sleeping lots better, and the food isn’t bad either.  I can’t wait to hear where Mariah is going!   Our new mailbox # is 177

November 15, 2010 -letter

For Enrichment(it was combined with the YW) one night, my mom was going to speak and needed Elder Waite to write her and tell her a way that girls affected him and his choice to go on a mission.
This was his reply

 Dear Mom,

                I hope this gets to you on time, sorry that I didn’t write this in the email so you could have it faster.  I’m not sure what to say about girls helping me go on a mission, I really don’t have any legit stories or anything.  The first thing that popped into my head was about Aubrie.

                When we were dating I had that No. 10 can full of coins.  When we opened it and started counting it, I was talking about what I wanted to spend it on.  When I asked her what she thought I should spend it on, she said “Ummm, on your mission maybe…”  Her tone was really funny, almost as if she thought I was supposed to think of that myself.

                I don’t have any other specific stories.  The best thing girls can do is just say, “You better go on a mission.”  Also, if boys know that girls expect them to serve, I think helps.

                Sorry I don’t have very much for you.  I hope this helps.  I could probably come up with more, I just don’t have time. 

Thank you for everything.

Love,

Elder Waite

November 11, 2010 -letter

Dear Dad, Mom, Mariah, Hannah, Maren, Hallie, Sadie, and Janie,

                Well a half an hour isn’t’ near enough time to tell you everything that has happened here.  I hope you got that E-mail.  I sent it with 1 second left.  Our zone has a reputation of obedience we have to keep so we have twice as many rules as everyone else.  Today is the only day we can write to anyone, so I’m pretty rushed to tell you everything.

                Yesterday Elder Holliday told me he got temporarily re-assigned, he is still waiting on his visa.  He is going to McCallen, Texas.  I’m pretty sure that’s where it is.  In the very southern part.  (Mom)  That should make you really happy to hear…  You’ll probably get to tell his mom before she even knows.   Maybe I’ll write it on the envelope for her so she can see it when she delivers your mail. *

                Elder Smart was sure happy to see me, I think I was more happy though.  We were in the store getting some paper.  I was standing right next to him for probably 2 minutes before I realized it was him.  All the sudden we both looked at each other and realized who we were… It was awesome.  He is still the same old Keaton.  I saw him again right as he was leaving and gave him another big hug... I hope Chile is nice to him! *

                Besides Elder Fe’ao my other favorite fellow district member is a body builder from California.  The three of us are pretty good friends.  His name is Elder Picket.

I have a favor to ask, if you guys could pray for Elder Robertson, my companion,  that would be good.  He is having a rough time, poor guy.

                 One of the best things about the MTC is we get to have legit people come talk all the time.  The past four weeks we have had four apostles come.  Tuesday Elder Bednar and his wife came, and Sunday Sister Dew came and talked to us.  We sang in the choir on Tuesday.  It was fun, and it was a really good meeting.

                I can’t believe how much we are already speaking Spanish.  We can contact people, pray and bear our testimonies already.  Basically we just speak Spanish all the time.  We’ve taught a few lessons to some people, they went really well.  I got really excited during one of them because the Spirit was there and I knew we were working together.  I was sad that they weren’t real.

This place is kinda weird, I can’t sleep but I’m never tired, and I’m proud to say I haven’t fallen asleep in class yet. 

                I’m doing GREAT! How is potty training Janie comin?  How are all the animals?  How much snow did you get? Where is Mariah going to go on her mission….?  I met an Elder here, he is in the room right by ours.  He is from Rexburg and got called to Pocatello.  So Mariah, Snowville East?

                Thank you guys so much for everything.  I love you and love to hear from you! I liked to get Grandma Waite’s emails also and Cody’s and Keaton’s.  Thanks for sending them.  Thanks for all the DearElders!  I love you guys so much.  Every time I say I have 6 sisters to someone it makes me happy. 

Love,

Elder Waite

*Sister Holliday is our mail-lady and she is also the mother of Wyatt, Camden's good friend.

*Elder Smart is a friend of Camden's from High School.