Jesse E-mail - December 9, 2013

everything on this side of the world is fine now:P when we got off the internet last week we were really lucky to be able to send our messages! about 3'0 minutes after we had left the internet a huge storm went through argentina! we were actually shopping for our food when it hit. we were about to exit the store when we saw rocks hit the roof of the store through the sky roofs! we went tto the windows and it was just nuts outside! in just 30 mins trees were blown over powerlines were all over the roads, it was raining and the wind was crazy strong. but we figured we had to get home so we went out in it:P we were about to get on the bus but then the bus driver told us to get off and he just left...this happened 3 times. which was fine because we ended up helping an older man get a tree off his truck, in the rain and wind four missionaries doing a bit of service, it was something you only see in movies haha some other guys saw us helping the man and came and helped us pick up the tree so he could move it. then we started walking to the apartment because none of the buses wanted to stop for us. and about 10 mintutes later the storm just stopped. but it left quite a lot of damage. we ended up not having power or running water for 5 days straight! yeah it sucked, but it was a pretty fun experience! nothing like sponge baths, candle light studies at night and being able to finally see some stars! and the people here are really rebelious! because the power didnt come on for days they blocked the routes for the buses with burning trees and tires so they couldnt pass. and we had to return to the apartment early because the streets were alot more dangerous with no power. we finally got our power and water back so we are a little more normal now:P and the work was great this week! we were able to get 8 baptismal dates! which is quite a bit. so we are praying that all of them will happen! the language isnt really a problem now, so im very blessed in that area! but i still have a long ways to go. im really sorry that i havnt sent any pictures! i can take them on my camera but i cant send them because i have to take the virus off!  but i will try to send some pictures off of elder davis`s memory card! well that pretty much summarizes my week:P i hope every body has running water and electricity! ohh and working heaters! hope the cold isnt too bad, because i really miss it. this humidity is killing me! cold showers and i have become really close friends!:D 

Love Elder Whetten!!!

Diana e-mail December 3, 2013

Hello Everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness December is here can you believe it??? Where did November go??? but man i do love the Christmas season!!! 

So we just had transfers and I am in a new area!! I am in the Samoan Ward and i cover the whole mission. I am so excited!!! I will be so white compared with these people. My new companion is sister white she has been out for 6 months and she is form Utah.

Somerset will always have a special place in my heart i love the people there and i will miss them dearly!! so my new comp was telling me about the area and the places we will be so i am used to the people i serve having a lot of money and living in big houses well that is not the case  here people are in more humble homes and i have to be careful its going to be exciting and i also learned that these people LOVE to eat and  that is how you gain there trust is by eating so i have already gained weight on my mission and i guess i am just going to gain more great!!

Its getting really cold here it snowed a little last night and it rained more rain than snow. it is actually 36 degrees right now and its 2:02pm lol i am freezing i hope i will get used to it soon.

well i love you all and i hope you have a great day and enjoy christmas and share your testimony!! 

oh happy birthday minnie!!! i cant believe my baby sister is going to be 13 have a great birthday!!

love you all 

Sister whetten  

Jesse E-mail - December 2, 2013

Hello America!!! things have warmed up here in south america and the humidity is beating me up a  little.

thanksgiving hmm i wont exagerate that one, it sucked. they dont have the same holidays here that `Murica 

has so i missed out on the pie turkey stuffing and countless other america made food. but hey i have three guys

a hot apartment and a bunch of work to do so the time is great! the past two weeks have dissapeared and i
really didnt realize that it was december to be honest. one its reallly humid here. two, the people here dont
really put up cristmas decorations, and i have very little to put up:P three, i dont have my family to spend it with!

and we all know im a little distant from family but closer to my spiritual family:) the work has been great, not a whole 

of success but we dont stop for anything haha we always have something to do and i love it. drunk guys have a tendency 

to come and talk to me, just yesterday after church we were all walking together, the four misisonaries im my area. and this

drunk comes across the street and just starts respirating his alcohlic breath in my face. but he was funny:P he gave me a hug haha 

and told me to tell him a little about the word of god, we said some quick words, i told him my name was Elder Davis and he

then did something i will never forget haha he grabbed my hands put them on his head and told me to give him a 

blessing. so a little irritated with the poor guy i alone gave him the fastest and most fakest blessing ever:P he wont ever remember this 

moment but i wont ever forget it. im not sure why drunk people tend to want to listen to the word of god when there

drunk but i guess its better than nothing right:P this week was also a little rough with investigators, not too much luck and 

in all reality not too much happened, just a lot of walking, sweating, teaching, and basically missionary work:) its definatly

no picnic but ive grown to love every minute of it:) because hopefully at one time in their lives these people will remember talkign 

to an Elder of the church and just maybe it will spark their interest 10 years from now when they see missionaries pass by

theirs always hope:) i just keep my head up and think of the reason im really here. sure it sucks sometimes but hey, Im

Elder Whetten:) i have a calling to fulfil, a message to share, my families to support me, and people to save,and im a MORMON:D

haha one day thats going to be a mormon message thing just watch! I love you all and pray for you every chance i can, i miss

you all too but hey i will see you all in what...20 1/2 months:P

Love Elder Whetten!

Jesse - E-mail - November 26, 2013

Oh my goodness this week was crazy! so many things happened its hard to keep track of it all! this week my new companion and i started teaching together. it was different at first because i didnt have my trainer, but i have a feeling this next transfer is going to be better than the last. the first day we started we hadnt had time to prepare anything but we went and did the work anyway. and we taught off of each other really well even without planning. his name is elder montaño and is from Ecuador if i didnt tell you already. some pretty insane things happened some of which i wont share with everyone so you wont worry about my safety. but some that were just hilarious. the worst thing we ran into this week really hit us hard. we are teaching a family, ruth is the mother and fernando is the father and they have 6 kids under the age of 6. we had been teaching them and the mother was sick the last two times we taught them, after our second lesson the father talked to us outside for a minute and told us that his wife has a terminal disease and they say she wont live for very much longer than a few months. just that thought made my stomach sick. but it makes me glad to know that she is learning these things just in time, and glad that i know of them for myself. on brighter notes there are some crazy kids in this area! we were looking for a house in the villas and found a group of kids sitting on the corner one of them we had talked to before and told us to come over and talk to them. we found out there names and talked for a bit getting to know them and such then it changed:) one of the kids pulled out a baggie of what i knew was weed. the kid asked if we wanted some and i dont know why but the first thing that came out of my mouth was "oh no thanks man, we have some" they started laughing and we told them it was a joke, then they shoved the weed in our face and  we told them we had to go. and of course being guys we still climb to the top of the roof and just talk about life for p-days. we worked alot harder than i ever did with Elder paredes, which is great because we both want to change the way this area works for the better. there hasnt been a night that we haven't gone to bed completely exhausted so far and it feels great knowing that the work im doing is effecting so many lives.and something else that you should know is that maxii has a brother named mattias. he is hardcore into catholicism at the age of 17, and hes never wanted to listen to thelessons with his family. but this week we changed that we started teaching him this week and things are going great! we even got a baptismal date for the 8th of December r!!! ohh and i think i told you that i got the package the families sent for my birthday. i almost cried when i saw that you made me salsa!!! thanks so much! and one more quick story:D we have a greenie in our apartment named elder brush, so elder davis and i wanted to play a little trick on him. we got with one of the sisters in the ward and went over to her house for dinner. we had already eaten and shared the message with her family,but before hand i had given the sister 200 pesos and told her to ask for a blessing from elder brush. she played it off so well!! she asked for a blessing from the four of us and we volunteered Brush. he said he hadnt given one in spanish before yet but he would try, then she handed him the 200 pesos and said is this good enough. i said yeah because the last time it was 100 pesos. he looked at her and said " this is a joke right?" she didnt even crack, just straight face then we started laughing together. but the funny thing is that one other daughter of this family didnt know o this before so she thought we were serious too! what a great week in the mission feild! and there of course is always drunk guys who want to hold hands and say prayers in the streets at night but thats okay:P im still safe and living life to the fullest! i love you all and pray for you every day and night!!!

love Elder Whetten!

P.s. we really dont have marijuana 

Diana E-mail - November 25, 2013

Hello Friends and Family!!!
 

This week has been a good one. It has been sunny all week and i love it. I have needed the sun. The work is going great the Chins are so amazing I love them so much I hope I will be here to see them baptized! We havent been able to get them in the temple yet but hopefully soon your prayers would be amazing for them!!!
 

 FUNNY STORY so i have never really liked my ears because Jesse and Anthony said they look like Buddha ears and I dont know how we got started on this but sister kim a kreoan lady in the ward said that asians love my kind of ears so now i love my ears lol so many things have happened this week and there is so little time well everyone have a happy thanks giving and I am so thankful for my family and everything they do for me and i an thankful for the Lord and The Knowledge i have that I cam be with my family forever have a great week.

 sister whetten

Jesse E-mail - November 18, 2013

this week was so rewarding! it was all such a blurr! it was mine and elder Paredes's last week teaching together as companions. we stayed up a little later than we should have because my comp procrastinated packing till last night and we went to bed around 2 or 3 yeah terrible but he had to go! he was beginning to slack off and not want to work anymore because he knew he was leaving the area. but now i have  a new companion and his name is elder montaño. He is from Ecuador.  i have a feeling this next transfer we will accomplish a ton! yesterday Elder paredes and i had the oportunity to baptize the parents of maxii! they had an up and down week and almost didnt get baptized! but Friday night we invited them to put everything aside and just pray together about what they should do and they got there answer:) they called us around 10 that night and said they were getting baptized! the joy we had that night was great but when we baptized them it was even greater!! Sunday flew by so fast especially knowing that it was my last day with E Paredes, and the baptism! i also got the oportunity to stand in the circle and give maxii the gift of the holy Ghost! we then went around after church and visited with all the members and let Elder Paredes talk to everyone one more time before he left. its hard to believe that i have been out here for 4 months already! the time flys by too fast! im already 1/6th of the way through my mission! i said goodbye to my mission Dad as we call it because he was my first companion, and now i move onto the next chapter in the mission with elder Montaño! which means we will be spending christmas together along with elder Davis too who is from arizona and we are not sure yet who his companion will be yet:P other than all that crazy stuff nothing too exciting has happened! i found a dog who likes to chase rocks when i throw them so everytime i pass by this house this yard recieves one more rock in it because despite all the dogs in the streets i still love them! i wish i could have a dog on the mission:P

Diana E-mail November 18, 2013

Hello Everyone!!!

 I have been out on my mission for 4 months yesterday! How crazy. I still feel like i just got off the plane. but i have heard that this feeling never goes away even when you are about to go home.

Last week was a good one, we weren't able to teach a whole lot but that's ok. A family that we are working with the Chin family they are so amazing!!! They are dry Mormons they live a Mormon life they just are to stubborn to be baptized so I don't know if i said this already but the temple is in our area and so we want to take them to the waiting area of the temple and teach them about the temple we are so excited.

this has nothing to do with missionary work but i am so white i know my family has made fun of me for being a very white Hispanic but i am just pasty now i havent really seen the sun for a while but man it is just sad. I bought a red rain coat last week and i havent been cold it is so nice i love it so much i will take a picture i do however  feel like a marshmallow its really funny.  

Well i love you all and I hope you are having a wonderful thanks giving season know that i think of you often and miss you more than words can say. keep up the awesome member missionary work!!

Love Sister Whetten