"Pray that we will be blessed with boldness, and the Spirit."

EMAIL from Elder Welker on 10/8/12

Dear Family,

 

Sup???? Ha ha ha. I am doing great. And I have a lot to say.

 

First, a cool fun facts. A kindly gringo elder acquired root beer for all district (distributed for General Conference). I shared with Elder T. last night, and he liked it. You can{t find root beer anywhere except at a Walmart here. So we enjoyed that, and Elder T. pointed out something very insightful about root beer, it kind of has a hint of mint in the taste. Huh. Ya learn something new every day.  Also, you can find peanut butter here in certain places! I just bought some today! Expensive, like fifty quetz, but worth it!

To answer your question Dad, yes, I can print these letters out, and it only costs like a dollar, so don{t sweat it too much! Thanks again for your letter, and I actually really appreciated the same thing about President Monson{s talk, about seeing people as they can be instead of how they are. Lots of talks said that, stuff like: "all that is essential to see is invisible to the eye",  or "I see with my heart".   Really cool, really interesting!

 

Funny story: So I was sharing a really spiritual lesson with one of our investigators. We gave him (and each of this three young children) a Book of Mormon. I asked him to turn to page 616 to read Ether 12:27...and IT WASNT THERE!!!! THE WHOLE BOOK OF ETHER, and parts of Mormon, and Moroni were missing...in ALL of our copies. We had given away like a dozen already, and all of the 36 we recieved had this error. I{ll keep one so I can show you guys later! Ha ha ha.

 

I guess I will start with the people here.

 

In La Alameda, most people are very friendly. They will stop for us if we begin talking to them. They may accept or reject our messages, but they usually accept and allow us to come by another time if we persist (which we do...). Most people here are either catholic, or evangelical. Or evangelical pentecosts, something else. Ok. To help describe what I am about to say, imagine how many chapels there are in Utah. Now cut up the chapels into fourths to eigths, and scatter them accross the neighborhood. That is how many evangelical churches there are. They arent usually very big. Usually they are in people{s homes. But as you walk down the street tuesdays, thursdays, saturdays and sundays, you can hear them singing alabanzas, applauding for the speakers, etc... These people are very festive, so their church meetings are like fiestas! Ha ha ha.

 

My comp, Elder T. has really helped me out here. He is like Elder Long with a ton of mission experience. He is hardworking, obedient, patient, and everything good that a trainer should be! Lucky me! Ha ha ha. He understands the value of being a "flechon" (hardworking, obedient, dilligent) missionary.   We are working our hardest to change how the members, leaders, bishop and others view us missionaries. 

 

We can do it. We say everyday when we plan or before we go out that we can do it. We can get a baptism (a lasting baptism) here. But we have a lot of work to do. We need to help the less active members of the ward council so that we can get a little help with our recent converts, less active members, and our current investigators. As of right now, we have three dependable men that can accompany us on our teaching visits. Two are youth about 17 and 18, and the other is an older father. We would like to find a few more. The members are everything when working with investigators.

 

Take for example our Investigator Monica. Monica is friends with another young single adult in the ward, and with the help of that friend, we have been teaching Monica, and we got her to attend Sunday Morning Conference with us! what a blessing! We must have tried with a dozen other investigators and less active members that said they would come to conference, we reminded them, and didn{t show for multiple reasons. But because that friend reminded Monica, walked to the chapel with her, and encouraged her, she attended, and seems interested. She is our first real progressing investigator!

 

We are striving for more.    There is a chain: Obedience leads to having the Spirit, which leads to working hard, which leads to working with the ward counsel, which works towards the family every week, which leads to new dates every week, which leads to the baptisms. Elder T. and I have the first three...we are going to visit every member of the council this week, and then we are going to move ahead!

 

We are teaching several other investigators that seem really interested in our help, the Book of Mormon, or the church. One just became (more or less) a single father due to the infidelity of his wife. We pray for him all the time. Another is a single mom that has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but is afraid for some reason to come to church. Another is a teen about Emmy{s age that has a friend in the church, and seems to already know a lot about our rules and such. Another is an older man that has a hard time walking, but reads the Book of Mormon, and seems interested in our message. There are really actually a whole bunch of others, but they aren{t progressing very rapidly.

 

Elder T. and I believe that we can change this area. We have more or less seven more weeks to do so. So little time! We want to increase our stats slash numbers. For more than just the numbers. We want to be examples to the rest of our district in this tough area that we can make a difference, that we can fulfill the desires of our mission president, and that we can really change this area. The numbers, while aren{t everything, are very important because they indicate how the area is progressing.

 

Please, pray for our area. Pray that our ward will come together again. Pray that we may be able to touch their hearts. Pray that the investigators will keep their commitments. Pray that we can fulfill the goal the mission president has set for us. Pray that we will be blessed with boldness, and the Spirit. Pray that the other members of our district and zone can improve as well.

 

I pray for you guys. I appreciated the photos you guys took during conference. I really REALLY want the talks in English (they{ll come, don{t worry, we get the magazines). I learned and related to so many of them! Study their words. Especially concerning family history, family home evening, scripture study and prayer. I really hope you guys are continuing to do all of these! Please continue. I want to tell my investigators that these things can bless their family as it has mine. And strive for the conversion that many speakers talked about. I am trying to increase my faith. I need a ton more. Please work to increase the faith and spiritual activity of our family to more than Sunday.

 

Special Note, Britney Madsen, I got your letter, and will respond soon.

 

I love all of you guys. So much! But time is flying in this work, and now I can honestly say that I love it, and that I am immersed in it! I am not perfect, but I am trying.

 

Love

 

Elder Welker

"I know you guys are dying to know more about the area, so I will give you the best recap I can."

Email from Elder Welker on 10/1/12

I am doing great. The electricity came back this last Tuesday (yippie!), so we are going to buy fruit, meat, and stuff we can put in the fridge. I have to say, I am sure glad we cleaned the fridge. By the time the electricity came back, all of our food went bad, so we had mold like crazy in there. I took some picks so you can see before and after shots in the future! Ha ha ha.

I have been eating oatmeal, carne asada, rice, beans, nachoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooes........, and tamales, so I have been fine. OH! And we also ate this guatemalan dish: hilachas. MUY DELICIOSA. Its like a soup with potatoes (Boil them, mash them stick em in a stew), rice, meat, carrots. Way good stuff! Ha ha ha. I took some photos of this too, so you can see them later.

And just found out last night that Elder H. got an emergency transfer.  He is so stoked.   We{re happy for him. He leaves tonight at nine or so, so things will go back to normal...one companion....not two. Nope just kidding. That isn{t normal. Having two comps is normal now. Things are about to get a lot quieter around here! Ha ha ha.

Well, I got attacked by a chucho (dog) the other day. Tore up the bottom of my pants...need to get rabies shots if we don{t see that dog after a week.....

JUUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!    Ha ha ha. Nope, no problems with the chuchos so far. Most are pretty docile...and we avoid the others....ha ha ha. The most dangerous part about chuchos are the little chucho droppings that they leave all over. Yeah.....These shoes go through some abuse. Ha ha ha!

Ok, I got a list of some things that I might want out here for Christmas (Nikki edited out the stuff we sent him) :

-PHOTOS PLEASE send me some photos that I can hang onto. I wouldn{t mind getting letters with photos every once in a while as well. Digital isn{t as cool (can{t share them easy). Real photos are the best!

-Stickers. Everybody out here uses stickers. Around their TVs, on their cars, on their books, and missionaries in their {baggies{ (baggies are essentially yearbooks for missionaries. Friends write in each others, share photos, stickers of disney movies, mario, soccer, anything that has to do with them.). So riley knows what I like. If you guys could find any stickers that relate to me somehow (video games, movies, books, lds, etc...) I would love to have them!

Thank you so much for loving me. I don{t want you guys to go out of your way for me, but I know you want to send me something. Thanks! I love you guys!

Ok, I know you guys are dying to know more about the area, so I will give you the best recap I can.

I walk out of my yellow house. Lock the door twice. Exit the gate in front of my house and step out into the allyway. From there I walk out to the main street. On the main street are shops-slash-houses everywhere. They sell everything from tortillas to T'shirts. Each one is pretty small, and most have the kinds of things you{d find in a convenient store (candy, soap, dog food, bread, beans, etc...). And-you are going to have to have riley explain this-they are all Legend of Zelda (not Skyward sword) style shops. You don{t actually walk into and pick up your stuff. You stand in front of a gate between you and the shop, and point to what you want. Then they tell you what its worth, and you accept, or not. I haven{t seen my comps haggle much, and most of the prices are the same in between the shops. I think the heavy competition keeps it down.

Keeping in mind that I am the ONLY gringo in my area, I pass the shops, comedors (mini restaurants), people, chuchos, and chucho droppings, I walk down the hill into the larger part of my area. I see buses pass by frequently, because apparently they park their buses in a teeny little plaza after they make a round. The buses de Transurbano are pretty nice. You pay with a card to get on, and file to the back, because it can get a little crowded in there. The buses move pretty quickly. The taxis are REALLY fast. Ha ha ha. And motorcycles are really common here.

I see kids playing futbol in the street with little plastic balls a little bigger than a canteloupe that are pretty common here. Most if not all the roofs are made of corrugated iron, and many of the walls are too. Lots of smoke occupy the streets from the little grills that cook up tortillas, carne, and a whole bunch of other stuff that you can buy on the sidewalks.

Eventually we turn down a calle or avenida. They are narrow. The houses on either side are like walls made out of individual houses, just like the main streets. It reminds me a little of Main street in Provo. You can{t enter a house without first entering an outer gate. All the windows have bars over them, and the roofs of gates or fences have either nails, broken glass or barbed wire on top to make sure they are safe.

Then we go and teach our investigators, less active members and friends.

It RAINS often, so I always carry my umbrella. I can{t remember a time not seeing a cloud in the sky, or in the distance. At times when it rains, you can see your breath. Not because it is cold, but because it is so humid, condensation on your breath, skin and clothes is crazy. So yeah. Even with the umbrella, I get somewhat wet. Definitely not Utah. Ha ha ha.

Well, I only got a little time left so I want to tell you guys something important. Spiritual. Next week I will talk about the people.

Lets see. I have a few scripture heroes that I keep above my desk: Captain Moroni, Enos, and Jesus Christ. Today, I researched Enos like I researched Teancum in the past. And I found a lot of interesting stuff. I don{t have time to write it all today, so I will just give a short summary.

Enos{s prayer to preserve the records was answered. Everyone knows that. But something that always got me about that is the fact that it was already promised to Nephi and Jacob in the past. So did Enos receive an already promised gift?

YES! And that is the point.

He must have studied the words of his father and uncle a lot, and pondered on their prophesies. And he came to the conclusion that it was up to him to make this prophesy come to pass. He made a plan (like the brother of Jared and the stones), and presented it to God. He knew that their words will reach the Lamanites in the future, but he proposed that the plates be protected from the Lamanites (because the Lamanites swore to destroy them) even after the Nephites were destroyed.

Enos aligned his will with God. That is why he recieved the desires of his heart. He had faith in what was already prophesied. And because he aligned his will, he recieved what he desired. Faith must be centered in something true for it to be faith. Therefore, we must not pray with the desire to recieve things that aren{t the Lords will. we must align our will first. And then we will know what to have faith in. We must learn his will.

Five minutes left. I wanted to write part of my most important Journal Entry yet, but I don{t have time. It is about my lowest point in the mission thus far, about my moment of truth that they talk about in the CCM, and how things turned out. But it is very long. I may make photocopies and send it to you physically. 

I love you all so much! I hope you are all doing alright. Send my love to my BYU family, and friends. Im sorry I forgot to send photos. Next time!

I love you all!

Elder Welker

"I still have so many blessings! Why should I complain?"

Email excerpt from Elder Welker  on 9/24/12

(I had recently started calling Taylor "Teancum" from the Book of Mormon.  He responded:)
I did some research on him (Teancum) last week, and I liked what I found.  Teancum and his men were a wall against evil. They stopped evil in its tracks and sent it back where it came from. They were skilled, well above the skell of the Lamanites. Teancum would take matters into his own hands in defense of the people.  Teancum was wise, and patient in that he didn{t attack the Lamanites in forms that could risk his entire army. Yet he was dilligent in preparing his men for the time slash moment to attack.  He had Captain Moroni{s trust. He was commanded to be faithful in his area (a whole quarter of the country), to seek every opportunity to scourge the Lamanites in his part of the land, and to use strategem to retake captured Nephite cities, and fortify cities still under Nephite control. (Nephite cities are members, Captured Nephite cities are less active members).  He was obedient, yet prudent and made his own judgements (ch. 52).  Teancum commanded evil, and dilligently watched them to stop insurrections.

The one time he wasn{t patient, Teancum was slain.  Be constantly wary and never let your guard down.  And that is what I wrote in my Journal. Ha ha ha.

 

Cool fun things:  You know the tricycle Nacho drives in Nacho Libre? Rode in one! Man powered, not gas. It was only a Quet! Thought dad might appreciate that!

Quick note, any Christmas packages must be sent by October 15, or at the very latest October 31. I could use some fine tipped sharpies, and a few other things I can{t remember right now. I’ll write them down and let you know.

Lets see. Oh, I heard bite me in the boca and another Zumba song you listen to but can{t identify... Thought that might make you laugh mom! Ha ha ha.

Lets see. TELL EMMY HAVE FUN AT HOMECOMING!!!!

I haven{t had electricity in the house this last week because the missionaries before us forgot to pay the electric bill. So no fridge. No stove. No microwave. No hot showers (I can handle this part. You just don{t think about it. Just jump in as soon as the water comes on! Ha ha ha). I{ve been eating apples, raisins, crackers, cookies, at a cafeteria, at members houses, I{m fine. It is actually kind of fun! Ha ha ha. We use flashlights and candles at night. So we{re fine.

At first I was freaking out a little. I didn{t know how long it would be out. We just bought groceries, and everything. But then a few minutes later I had the thought, ´´I still have so many blessings! Why should I complain?´´. And I have been fine with it since. We are hoping to get the power back by next monday. We were going to get it back today, but we found out that we have to pay at a bank out of our mission, so we can{t go pay it. We have to wait for permission, or someone else to pay it for us. So we{ll see!

Ha ha ha. Sent Nick a letter today too. That{s why I am a little short on time today. I just needed to send him something. I hope he is doing alright!

Tell Riley I really wish I could have seen him push the pig off the tower. But I can imagine it perfectly. And cool idea for his tree house.

Just so you know. It may take months to catch up on these pictures, so bear with me. Ha ha ha.

Ten minutes left. What else What else. We had Domino’s pizza the other day. It was alright. Not my pizza, but alright! Ha haha

Well. I love you all. So much! Time is passing slowly and yet quickly. Slowly because I am at the bottom of the Zone, bottom of the mission in time. But quick because the work is going great.

Last story. Chuchos. Lots of them EVERYWHERE! They are wild dogs of every breed imaginable. Dangerous? Most no. Some...yes. But we avoid those! Ha ha ha. SERIOUSLY EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!

What else should I say... I love you! I love all of you! So much! I miss you. OH! If you could send real pics not digital with the Christmas package, that would be great too!

Love you all!

Elder Welker

I kind of wanted to go home the first Wednesday and Thursday morning. But I am over it now. I love the area. I love the work. I love my companions. I love the Spirit I feel out here. The Spirit really did console my heart out here.

Dear Mom, Dad, Emilie, Riley,                                         EMAIL:  Sept 17, 2012

Hey! I{m back. Same english keyboard with Spanish configuration...but at least I can use Enter! Ha ha ha.

Wow, what a first week. Lots of things are so different here. Where do I begin? Well, I guess with some pictures. I have like one million of them so I will send as much as I can as I write.

Well lets see here. There is so much to say. Ummmm......Ok. I met President and Sister Watts Wednesday, and they are great. They will take care of us out here, so you don{t need to worry about that.   Ummmm....what else what else?   Oh, my companionS. I am part of a trio. My trainer is Elder T, and we are paired up with Elder H.  Also, I am in the city.  And having lots of adventures.

Before I started, I saw Hermano Vasquez (my MTC teacher) again. We traded ties (its a tradition with his students). I gave him a light blue paisely tie, and he gave me a copy of the tie he wore at his wedding. It is white and green stripes. That was cool. I am going to miss him, but I am pretty sure I will see him several more times while I am here.

This is Elder T{s last transfer. So I am his last {son{.  There is a kind of genealogy thing here out in the field. Trainer is the father, second trainer is mother, etc... ha ha ha. They are both really cool. Elder T especially works really hard and is the district leader too. He{s got a lot of responsibilities.

Ok, So yeah. We went to our areas, and our new apartment.  It isn{t exactly a 5, 4, or even 3 star, but I{m used to it now. Truthfully, that was the thing that scared me the most when I first got here. I saw the apartment, took a cold shower (I figured out how to take a warm one now, the shower head itself heats up the water, so I can{t turn up the water very high. Ha ha ha), and thought I was going to die out here. I kind of wanted to go home the first Wednesday and Thursday morning. But I am over it now. I love the area. I love the work. I love my companions. I love the Spirit I feel out here. The Spirit really did console my heart out here.

Anyways yes, the apartment scared me at first, but I{m good now. Elder Barton who is only one change ahead of me has said that my apartment is actually pretty good. (he has the worst one ha ha ha). Today, we played futbol, and basketball. You know how President Shaw said that a few of my other talents would come out here in the mission. Those might be a part of it. I wasn{t too bad. Ha ha ha. We ate pizza and ice cream here at the Atlantico Mall. It is a pretty empty mall, but its way cool. And the ice cream I ate had a doughnut on top! How cool is that? Ha ha ha. The ice cream has got a different taste here, they love bubble gum here, and sometimes I think there is a hint of that in every ice cream here. Hah aha.

What else, what else? Ummmm. The city. Imagine a microchip. How complicated the circuitry is and how compact they are. That is kind of how the city is. People are squished together here, and if I thought my apartment wasn{t the greatest, turns out, it is one of the better ones here. The people here don{t have much. Tile, sometimes stone floors, corrugated tin fences and roofs, and some of the ally ways are so steep! But they are the warmest, most friendly people here. I love this country!

The people are so kind. So willing to listen, and REALLY talkative. They all love us here. Even me, the ONLY Gringo within a mile radius.  I show some of the members pictures of my family and friends, and they all call you guys Barbie Dolls. Hahaha. They are all willing to listen, and even though most are evangelical or catholic, they really love to talk to us, discuss religion, and they all love Jesus! They are some of the most spiritually enlightened people I have ever seen. They accept most of everything we say about families being together forever, and God loving them, about trials being for our good, about receiving answers to their prayers, about repentance, about faith, about everything.

Apparently, my area is one of the rougher areas in the city with crime and stuff, but the missionaries here the criminals leave alone. I talked to my first drunk man yesterday. It was an interesting experience, and don{t worry mom, Elder T, and Elder H were there the whole time! Ha ha ha.   

I cook for myself. I actually usually team up with Elder T.   We eat Spaguetti, and ham sandwhiches. There is a little restaurant that Elder T says is ok too. NO BEANS YET!!!!

I am meeting the people here. The ward has like 400 members, but the activity rate is about 50. Apparently, even the bishop is so busy or something that he hasn{t been to church in the past six weeks. We met him yesterday at church, discussed goals, etc... We also met with the Ward Mission Leader, Nefi, and he isn{t exactly too optomistic about the situation either. He is also inactive but is willing to give us advice, have us over, etc... Good guys, but the ward has been through much.

I believe that we can turn it around.   I believe that the key to changing this ward is to begin with one, and slowly bring men back. Also, to instill in the leadership more faith. More hope that the ward will improve. Alma 31 something says that the word of god is stronger than the sword, so I will preach the Word of god with all my might.

I wanted to tell you about the research I have made on Teancum, and the characteristics I want to adapt from him, but I don{t have the time now. Like eight minutes left.

I got your first dear elder Mom. I hear that Dear Elders have a two week lapse here more or less. So emails are faster, but I like letters!!!! Ha ha ha.   Send handwritten letters to mission home is best.... I get mail every monday. Don{t think there are any exceptions. 

I am trying my hardest to be obedient, healthy, safe, and do everything you told me to do. But I can{t wear my contacts. There isn{t a clean place to apply them here.

 Minutes left. Gotta go soon. Sorry. I love you all so much! Thank you so much dad for the email. Stomach is eh. Not bad. Not perfect. Oh, one last cool thing left. Ok. so we use quetzals as money right? A normal meal here is like 12 quetz- about a dollar and a half. Snicker bars are seven quetz. And you can buy Guatemalan candy for a quet. A quet is like 12 cents!!!!

Gotta go. Love you!

Love Elder Taylor Max Welker

Love you!!!

PS  Who won?  BYU or U of U?     (NIKKI:  I told him what he didn’t want to hear, he was bummed…)

 

 

Yep, I'm heading out for the field this week. It’s so crazy that I can hardly believe it. I am so excited out of my mind!

LAST EMAIL FROM Guatemala MTC:  Saturday, September 8, 2012 9:57 AM

Dear Mom, and Dad, and Emilie, and Riley, and everyone else!

I am so glad you got Hermano Vasquez{s email! I wanted to wish you a happy birthday so bad yesterday, I was bummed that email was today instead of yesterday. But I thought the next best thing would be Hermano Vasquez. He is really the greatest teacher ever. I love him so much, he supports me, he teaches with the Spirit, and always gives very good advice. I love him as a friend. He actually knew Trevor Pïerce as well, so we have that connection too!

Yep, I{m heading out for the field this week. It’s so crazy that I can hardly believe it. I am so excited out of my mind!  President Nicolayson has been telling us all a little about our missions. He said Quetzaltenango has the most beautiful scenery, and landscape like Lake Atitlan and other places.  But he said that the North Mission has the most beautiful, loving, kind, strong people. He said the church is really strong in my area, and there are areas that speak absolutely no Spanish, so I am excited for that! Ha ha ha.

 

Let Nick know that I love him, and got his last email. I miss him, and wish him the best in Bulgaria. I know it is hard in Bulgaria, and I am praying for him every day. No mission is easy, and I know that his kind, loving spirit will somehow shine through to those people. They have had a rough past. But his message can make their lives infinitely better.  I respect him, and all the hard work he is putting into his mission. Miss ya dude!!!!!!!!!

I still have a few things I have to do before I actually head out on my mission. Fleas struck just recently on an Hermana, but none on me...yet. Ha ha ha. But they will give most of our instruction via our trainer. Seriously. They gave us a little info about that permetherin spray for our beds, but not much. I still need my Hep A booster, and I think we are getting a security seminar today, and a health seminar tomorrow.  I got my blue sueter, and I said goodbye to the storekeepers (they are so nice).

I am feeling a lot better from my sickness, but it persisted till monday, tuesday, so I was unable to go on the Proselyting activity this last week. I was super bummed, but it is better than feeling sick right when I start my mission!

 

Aunt Doni, no I havent really eaten anything that is nasty here, except a reallly REALLY REALLY spicy powder in my soup. Youch. Ha ha ha. Tell the girls I said hi as well! I appreciate the fast, and I love you all so much!

 
Aunt Missy, I just got your letters from August 13. I don{t exactly know why it took so long, but it was a great blessing, and I loved every single word from you, Tana, Gracie, and Joe!

Riley, I love your letters so much! And I am glad you{ve been reading the Eragon Series, and love Jr. High, and got your second class. I really believe that you will get your Eagle by the time I get home. Remember, eye on the prize. and trust me, it is a ton easier to finish when you are just starting. Don{t wait like I did! Ha ha ha.

Emilie! Have fun with Preston at Homecoming! He is a really great guy, and I am very glad he asked you! :) Dad, thank you so much for your letters and your support. I love you so much, and I hold to every word from your letters like I hold onto your Oreo cookies! Ha ha ha. Thank you so much for your almost weekly letters!!!! :)

 

And mom, once again happy birthday. I really wish I could have celebrated somehow, but I did my best to keep working. I couldn{t stop remembering you all day. I miss you. But I am happy with my work, and I am glad I am here. I don{t know if I deserve the title of Teancum Taylor. But if you insist, Teancum Taylor it is! Ha ha ha. Sometime, I hope to advance to Captain Moroni Taylor!

Well, just a few minutes left. Spiritual thought...um. OH! Ok, so do you know about the getting an egg into the bottle trick, well they used that the other day on us here in the CCM. I already knew the trick, but others didn{t and they thought it was really cool. Like a miracle. And then we were taught that miracles are the natural result of the correct application of true principles.  Over time, as we experience the miracle of having prayers answered and applying other principles of the gospel, we begin to have more of a perfect knowledge that these principles and truths are all true! Miracles are normal occurances if we just trust they will happen, and act on them.

 

Well I got a few minutes left. I love you all. Thank you so much for the letters and all the
support that you guys are giving me. Start forwarding letters to the mission home. OH and I got number 2 letter mom. Oh, and one more cool thing. We watched a devotional by Elder Scott. He blessed all the missionaries within his voice with an extra blessing of the gift of tongues. I believe it, because I have been definately getting extra help this past week. Well, I gotta go. I LOVE you all so much!!!!!!!!!!! You too Kami, Katrina and Becky!

Love Elder Welker

 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I received this email from one of Taylor's Guatemala MTC Spanish instructors today.  NO POSSIBLE WAY to top this bday gift.   I wanted to share:

 

 

FROM:      Josue Vasquez 

TO:            ncwelker@yahoo.com

 

Saturday, September 8, 2012 7:17 AM

Hi sister Welker
just elder Welker asked me to send to you a e-mail because your birthday was yesterday.
he says hello and today he will send you his own e-mail
i am his MTC teacher and let me tell you
that you both with your husband have an awesome children
he is so powerful
and focus at the same time
happy birthday sister Welker
and if you need something in the future
just let me know about it......
He is serving in the same mission that i live
and provably one day he will be in my own ward.....
Have a good day
and enjoy it.....
Happy birthday again....
Josue Vasquez

 

T minus one week!

EMAIL: Saturday, Sept 1, 2012 9:58 AM Guatemala MTC  (I'm a week late getting this on the blog.)

Well, I have been doing great. I usually get all dearelders submitted the following Wednesday. At least, all the dearelders before Monday at noon...I think. So I am still updated on everything that is going on.

And thank you so much Riley, Emilie, Dad, Mom, Missy and Grandma for writing me! I really needed those letters! However, please, send one more Dear Elder this week (Before monday), and then switch the address to the mission home! Cause I go out into the field about a week and a half, and I am so excited! And Elder Jasperson was a little confused when he got letters from you guys, and while they aren{t letters from his own family, I think he appreciates them!

Man, so I have been a little sick today. Starting to get better though.  Sister Nicolayson has told me to sleep, so I won{t argue with that! Ha ha ha. What else, what else. Oh, she told me that BYU beat Washington state. So GO COUGARS!!!!! Ha ha ha.

Ok, this is a kind of a quick change of pace, but I want to get a spiritual thought out of my journal before I am out of time, so here it goes: Wow!!!!  What a day.  Rather, what a teaching experience.  Today we taught our practice investigator Joel.  Joel is very shy and didn{t open up to us very easy. However, he began opening up to us starting yesterday, or two days ago. Today he told us his problem:  He said in the past, he used to pray all the time, but one day, when he was fifteen, he had a bad feeling come over him during his prayer. He said that his friend told him that Joel was wicked and his prayer was unworthy.   Elder Stuart and I were already planning to teach the First Vision, but now with a new twist: we related Joseph Smith{s encounter with the devil with Joel{s. We first taught the background (Apostasy, etc...), and then started on Joseph Smith and his prayer. We taught Joel about the devil. That he is real, and that he causes these feelings of fear, unworthiness and overwhelming guilt in our lives, especially, when we are about to do something important. I bore my testimony about the reality of the devil, his influence to hurt me in my life, and how we need to endure and pray harder when he attacks us.

It was like every night chat with my parents, every piece of encouragement they gave me during my depression came together into a form that Joel needed. Now, I know  that they were right and that all trials are meant to strengthen us, and that we are strengthened to strengthen others.

I felt the Spirit and a love/understanding for Joel that overwhelmed me. There is a real person like Joel somewhere, and I want to help him, SO MUCH!   I was guided by the Spirit and Joel was edified by the Spirit. I love him, and am excited to get back to work.

Another prayer is being answered: I am learning to love others.  Also, I received an answer from God to a question that was really bugging me. I found it in the Liahona for this month, the article is titled something like, ´how do I know if I have been forgiven´. I know that God answers prayers, and that he will always answer in his own time, if we sincerely believe that he will answer. So yeah, my testimony has really been growing, and I have been learning so much. I just want to get out into the field so that I learn and do so much more!

By the way, this week of not being District Leader, was kind of nice, and also kind of hard. And one or two days after I was released, President Nicolayson came up to me and said that two out of my three teachers wanted me to stay as district leader the last three weeks...so maybe I wasn{t so bad after all! Ha ha ha.

Well, I got about eight minutes left....ummmmmmmmmm........I don{t really know what to say more. OH WAIT, yes I do. Missy, since the last letters I got in the PROVO MTC, I haven{t got any other of your letters, minus the Dear Elder you send Saturday, or Sunday. But I expect that they should be arriving soon. Thank you so much for your letter!

Emilie, you are the bomb for you letter, I loved reading every part, especially about Mr. Knappenberger. Ha ha ha. I know he is a different teacher, but I think I learned more effectively from him, than from any other teacher...except maybe Mr. Coxson. So give him a chance, and don}t give him any excuses. Trust me, he doesn{t take unlegit excuses. Just do your best. :) I love you so much, and while I won{t share our little secret...I want to be updated, every day!!!! Or at least every week. Ha ha ha.

Riley, you are the best brother a guy could have! You are an amazing person, and always seem to have a very pure heart. I am glad to hear about humanities and Spanish. I hope you love Jr. High! You can learn a whole bunch from it! I know you will do great, and congrats on your second class!!!

Sara, congrats, on the tail, I love you bird!

And mom and dad. Thank you so much for your love and your news. I gotta go now.

Oh! And Grandma, thanks for sharing your spiritual experiences. I hope to get more time to write out in the field, so hope for more long, more in depth letters in the future.  

And Hermanos Stevenson and Adams, and district, I miss you all!

Elder Welker