Randomness from CCM Week Two!

Hola,

First, a bird pooped on me. A BIRD POOPED ON ME. if you know me, you know I hate birds. I almost --didn't-- but almost cried.

There are 147 total missionaries here!!! (Well actually like 40 right now because everyone left for their mission area this morning!) we get a bunch of new ones manana y jueves.

We watched the MTC devotional on tuesday live, and I saw Elder (Riley) Keith and Elder (Drew) Crawford in the choir!! So cool!

So, i cant remember the last time I looked good...its sad, we get about 20 minutes to get ready. its lameeeeeee....

They have fry sauce here-- and now i literally eat it on EVERYTHING!!! its kind of sad, but super delicious. :)

Good story! I was having a really hard time with Spanish last week so at night I prayed super hard to just get what was going on in class (they only speak to us in Spanish) and guess what? the next day I understood my teacher!! all day!!! it was crazy awesome and It really helped my spirits. :)

I think our MTC President (Cardon) looks like the old guy on pixar movies that plays chess. its so great! hahaha (i think Daniel will like this) Oh! DANIEL!! yuou know that snappy-finger-thing you did when you came home?! I can do it!!! Took me 13 days and a sore wrist, but I got it. :))))

Also, they weren't lying when they said hermanas LOVE to hug and kiss on the cheek!! everyone does it. Its so nice :)

D&C  30, 31, 31:6 alll super great.. read them everyone. if you dont have scriptures, get some. :) you will be blessed.

Also:

Mathew 11:28-30. :)

D&C 90:24!!!!

There's a video on lds.org called called to serve and its about kids from little to grown up and it is AMAZING. I actually cried. you should watch it and post in on my facebook por favor. felt amazing watching it and BEING on a mission. which speaking of, its so strange. I feel connected to my tag now and when we go in the temple we dont wear it and it always feels so weird.

SO! on Saturday we went proseletzing! Thats right, in the REAL world. knowing like 15% Spanish!! It was nuts. and so so so amazing. We went with a member and one Latina missionary and myself. So us 3 went and taught a less active man, and I bore my testimony in Espanol. Then we knocked on someones door and they let us in!! We taught a real lesson and let them ask questions. they asked me to bear my testimony and say the prayer....so scary, but I did it. I can do it! Not well, and not detailed, but I say all my prayers in Spanish now (except night ones that are way longer) and its getting like second nature. Its awesome. The, some neighbors saw us and asked us to come in as well! So we did!! and we spoke with them for a while, they have 2 members of the church and 3 not, but they agreed to take the missionary discussions!!! They will get baptized, I can tell. They were so humble and sweet. The place we went knocking was in the mountains of Lima, with people who have VERY little. it was an amazing experience. I cant wait to be in the literal field of the mission!!!!

Also, on friday President of the seventy Elder Rastaban and RUSSELL M. NELSON came and spoke to us!!! We got to meet them, and then they all spoke. It was SOO cool. One of the things elder Nelson said i wanted to let you know  is this: " Thank your families for me. Thank your parents and your siblings for letting you go and serve the Lord." So thanks. :)  He was SO sweet. He called up volunteers up there and he would link his arm with them and hug them. Also!! he said we should learn 3 languages -- " English, Spanish, and Lordish.. Oh wait. I don't know if that's sacrilegious. Oops." It was SO funny!!!!! hahaha

I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Whitlock

Pictures from the MTC/CCM

PICTURES!!!

All from the same stake-- Elder Crouch, me, and Elder Fitzgerald

I love my Companion!

Study, Study, Study!

It's A Piece of Brownie, part 2

My lovely District!

FIRST P-DAY, part 2!

(Sister Maddy's first letter home was just so awesome, it deserved two posts!)

So... I have never been so tired, or thought so much, or been more nervous for anything in my life, yet I have never been so happy. It’s scary how great it is here, and I don't really have anything to complain about! It's just amazing. Everyone is always happy and there is just a spirit of goodness here!

My district loves to laugh. And honestly I was really worried we wouldn't have fun here... So its awesome. The best part is its 100% appropriate, clean, happy humor. I wish I was always surrounded by this. 

I am working on being more faithful and trusting God, because BOY Spanish is HARD. So so hard. But i would not have it ANY other way. I feel myself stretching and growing in ways I didn't think possible, and its only been SIX days!!!! I'm scared, I am not very good, and I am realizing how very little I know about the gospel, pero, I think that is exactly why I am here. To learn to trust GOD. To learn that I am not enough on my own, but with God I can DO IT!!! I am learning to lean heavily on Him and to really, really pray. I don't think I have ever done that until I came here. also, praying in Spanish es muy dificil! Pero, I am learning :) I am happy. Don't be worried about me. I have an amazing district, an amazing companion, and I am surrounded by God's love.

Today we went to the Lima temple and that was SO cool. Everything was in Spanish of course, and saying the words was pretty hard, pero it was a very special feeling and I am excited to go again next Tuesday! We also went to the market today and had Inca Cola!! THAT IS DELICIOUS. And desert here is SO good when it has dulce de leche, like the churros, y the cookies. Also, sometimes we get helado which is straight from heaven :) Oh!!! Riding the bus here is super fun!!! its EXTREMELY packed and its probably the only time we are allowed to be close to the Elders ;) but it was so much fun, you get pushed everywhere and fall over A LOT. I was cracking up!

Okay, so a random story: my companion was looking at my watch during personal study time yesterday then randomly she says, "Your watch makes me feel bad about myself...No, I mean, I worry about you! I just get really stressed out that you only have the number 12. I bet that's hard for you" haha. (idk if that's even funny, but it was muy hilarious to me!) 

Oh!!! Letters take 4-10 days to get here so SEND SOME EVERYONE NOW! If you'd like to of course! I don't have anyone's address except mi familia, so I cant write you until you write me first :)  

Okay... I think that is all I have for now. I know as soon as I send this, I will think of tons of things, pero I am almost out of time and I need to respond to all of you LOVELY humans who emailed me!!!

Sorry this is soooo random!! Also, sorry there are so many mistakes. I am typing so fast and the keyboard es muy diferente. :) Alright, I guess I will end with a tiny testimony:

Yo se que Jesu Cristo es mi redentor y usted redentor. Yo se que el espiritu santo es real. yo se que Dios es muy buenismo. I am so grateful for the chance I have to serve a mission. I am in love with everything about it so far. I know that I am called of God and that any power I have is only through Him. I testify that la iglesia de jesucristo de las santos de los ultimas dias es VERDAD. I know the Book of Mormon truly is another testiment of Cristo. En el nombre de Jesu Cristo, amen.

I LOVE YOU GUYS.

love love love, 

Hermana Whitlock

It's a Piece of Brownie!

First day con compenera

FIRST P-Day!!!

Hola Familia y amigos!!!!

Corinthians 2:19

Galatians 5: 22-25

Read :)

First p-day!!! I don’t know how to use the Peruvian keyboard so I might not make a ton of sense grammatically. Haha. Okayyyyy where to begin?!

First off, I am not going to be funny, lo siento! I am just going to begin rambling.... Starting, now:

The reason for the title of my email is that on the first day, our maestro told us not to worry about learning Spanish, because—“Its a piece of brownie!”....hahaha.

We have a challenge to read the BOM while at the CCM (the Spanish name for the Peru Mission Training center)....Twice! 28 pages a day. It is SO fun. I have already seen an insane amount of scriptures written specifically for ME as a missionary. And every single scripture seems to speak of Christ and his love for us, it is AWESOME!!!

So I have heard several people say that this is a little prison, but I think of it more as a little paradise. We only have 3 buildings total, yes THREE. Its great ha-ha. And the people here are amazing. I am not kidding you. I have the best District ever! And Elder Heeder Crouch is my district leader!!! We were in the same stake at home for those who don’t know. Its pretty crazy. My district is full of amazing young men (10 of them) so excited to serve God, and AMAZING young women (3 + me) with the same desire. It’s buenismo! The food here is actually pretty good! Really weird though... And always rice. siempre arroz. The weather is FANTASTIC. Warm, sunny days and chilly nights.

So every day we have an hour of physical activity and we usually play soccer (of course!) well, I now have the nickname hermana Gerard(sp) (hes a soccer player....) because I made 15 goals in our game....hahahaha. That was...nice. We played Ultimate here too, though and I have honestly never played with a worse group of people....I was laughing so hard. I thought everyone knew how to play Ultimate but uh....I guess not.

So my companion. Oh my gosh. God really set this companionship up! Hermana  Weixler is HILARIOUS and so kind and we have so much in common its scary. We struggle a bit with the language porque neither of us know hardly any Spanish, but we taught our first investigator last night and it went pretty well!!! We just taught him about families and how, through the gospel, our families can be together forever. We taught that how with prayer, we can bless and strengthen them. Hermana  Weixler said the prayer, and I bore my testimonio (en Espanol of course). OH my goodness, that was very scary! It can only get better from here though, right? ;) 

(to be continued... See part 2 here!)

I MADE IT!!!

The Elders helping get Hermanas' suitcases. Brilliant.

I MADE IT!!!

Hola! I have just a few minutos to write you and let you know I MADE IT!!!
  

I dont really know how to use this keyboard haha but I will tell you a few things so far...

Good things:

1. I sat next to Elder Fitzgerald on both flights! He's from our stake, is funny, and hates bananas too! What a guy.

2. 27 missionaries flew from Atlanta to Peru with us!!! Many of which are going to Huancayo -- 10 sisters, how awesome is that!?

3. On the plane ride, it played CORRE!!! (my favorite Spanish song) I was very happy.

4. I ate Panda at the airport and got a Dr. pepper. :)

5. I have a watch, which is SO helpful. (Thank you Gma and Gpa Whitlock!!!)

6. I already love the friends I am making here. They are so awesome!

7. "Brave" was stuck in my head the entire day traveling... :)

8. I GOT SALAD ON THE PLANE.

9. I got this AMAZING book that is literally one of the best gifts I have EVER received. Mom, THANK YOU. you are incredible. And thank everyone who wrote in it or sent me something to put in it. it was so awesome. I probably don't deserve such kind things said about me, but it was the BEST. :) :)

Bad things:

I have blisters already.

thats it. :)

So, on the plane the funniest thing happened. This man came by and he had a tray carrying none other than wet napkins (wet-wipes?!) and he was passing them out with little tongs\tweezer things. Hmm, what? All of the missionaries looked SOOO confused and some started tentatively patting their foreheads with it. I was dying laughing. it was so fantastic.

I have a huge line of people behind me. so I will just say a few more things.

We arrived in Lima 12 am, got to the MTC 2am, and got to bed about 3am, I fell asleep around 4\5am -- and we woke up at 8am!!! We have 30 min to get ready, then we went straight to breakfast. Soupy yogurt and a slice of bread. :D

I love it here. we have just been doing orientation all day so far! FYI my p-days will be Tuesdays!!! My companion is beautiful and I love her! Sister Weixler. NO packages while in CCM by the way. but pouch mail, dearelder.com and regular letters YES!! MAKE PEOPLE WRITE ME!!!

Well, someone is yelling a lot in Spanish....so that might mean I need to be done.

I will write again soon! I love you and everyone else sooo much.

love love love, 

Herman Whitlock

Write me!!!

My "Mission"

My "Mission"

Technically speaking, right now my mission is in Peru. I volunteered and was called by the Prophet to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Huancayo, Peru for the period of 18 months. This blog will document my mission by posting emails, photos and letters home. But my mission is more than that. I hope to also contemplate what other mission(s) our Father in Heaven has for me, and for you, as I work to understand His will and do it as best as I am able. ~Maddy aka Hermana Whitlock

"Therefore, go ye into all the world; that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:62).

"O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

"Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;

"And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work." — Doctrine and Covenants 4:1-5