It's been a blast :)
Date
April 14, 2017
Area
Rapid City,South Dakota,USA
Companion
It's been a blast :)
Hello Everyone!
The flight Wednesday was awesome sauce. I totally love flying. A 12-15 hour
drive turned into an hour flight? I'll take that any day. 'Twas the first
flight in my life. Will not be the last.
I've felt right at home here at the MTC. Even though I've lived in one
house my entire life, this feels like home. It feels right, and natural.
It's been an incredible experience, very spiritual and peaceful.
I do want to thank everyone for all the emails, I do read all of them and
enjoy every single one of them. My MTC mailing address is:
Elder Robert Cadence Westlake
MAY03 ND-BIS
2005 N 900 E Unit 113
Provo UT 84602
Please do not send perishable items, like pizza. :) You can write letters
and send packages. Make sure it's missionary appropriate haha :)
It really has been amazing here. To preface the rest of this paragraph, I
spent a good amount of time with the missionaries before I left on my
mission, going with them to teach investigators. Ever since I was set apart
as a full-time missionary, I have felt the Spirit in ways I haven't before.
When we've been preparing to teach investigators here, and when we've been
teaching them, I have felt such an incredible love for these people, unlike
anything I've ever felt before. I've felt inspiration and revelation from
the Spirit in what to study, teach, and testify of, more so and more
intensely, and more clearly, than I ever have felt before. I love it. I am
very grateful for this. I have such a testimony of the calling of a
full-time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
You really do have Christ walking with you every step of the way, as long
as you remain true and clean. Also, it's been waaaaaaaaaay easier to remain
clean and true. Suck it adversary :) haha
Sorry I don't have any pictures yet, there hasn't been too much opportunity
for it! We're kept so busy here at the MTC, (I totally love that by the
way), that it's difficult to find time to do things like that.
My district is all buddy buddy, we're all best friends!!! Literally it's
like we've known each other for our entire lives. No one is preppy. We all
just love each other and want the best for each other. My companion is
Elder Sullivan. We have four of us in our district of nine people going to
the North Dakota, Bismarck Mission. Elder Westlake (that's me :)), Elder
Lawrence, Elder Small Canyon (He's Navajo!!! So cool!!!), and Sister
Penrod. We also have Elder Sullivan, Elder Sidwell, Elder Christensen, who
are going to the West Virginia, Charleston Mission. We have three sisters,
Sister Penrod, Sister Eagle, and Sister Zeman. We're all happy as can be!
:)
Keeping the schedule is an adjustment for me haha, as before my schedule
was: Get these specific things done in the morning, get these things done
after lunch, get these things done after dinner. Now I get to do things at
specific times. Definitely an adjustment. Definitely will help me out in
life for sure! I'm super stoked to grow and learn and become a better
person.
We had an investigator the other day, technically the first night haha, Ci
Ccio. That's his first name, not his full name! We're not allowed to say
full names haha. I actually don't even know his last name, so don't ask me!
Anyway, I've never felt the love of Christ for someone as strongly as I did
for him. The entire room, of like 80 people, felt the same way. Because of
time, we had to walk away, right in the middle of an incredible spiritual
moment. Definitely a golden investigator!!!!! I did not want to walk away
at all. I felt so sad that we all had to walk away. I wanted to sit with
him for all night and talk with him and testify to him everything I knew.
He's Catholic, and about 20 years ago had a child die before he could be
baptized. He's felt guilty and horrible ever since, and has heard about the
Plan of Salvation, the happy plan as he calls it :), and loves family. His
wife also died 7 years ago. You can just tell his wife and kids mean
everything, everything, to him. He loves them more than you've ever loved
anything in your entire life. He loves the fact that we will live forever
with our families. There are more things that we were on the verge of
telling him that would have made him soooooo much happier! I know he'll be
taught them soon. I just love this man!!! I cannot wait to teach more
people. His countenance was full of pure, undeniable, joy. He was so eager
and excited as we were teaching him. He told us to say things again and
again, just repeating them, as his fear and guilt was stripped away. He was
like, "Say it again." We said it again. "Say it again :)". We said it
again. This happened with multiple different principles. He is so
amazing!!! I can't wait to meet more people like this and teach them
everything I know. I'm so stoked!!!
Love y'all!!!
Ooooooh also! D&C 100:1-2. Really, all of it. Super awesome. I broke down
after reading it haha!!! Ask my district lol :)
D&C 100:1: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends
[missionaries], your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will
do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power."
Love y'all again!!! hahaha :)
--
Elder Westlake
The flight Wednesday was awesome sauce. I totally love flying. A 12-15 hour
drive turned into an hour flight? I'll take that any day. 'Twas the first
flight in my life. Will not be the last.
I've felt right at home here at the MTC. Even though I've lived in one
house my entire life, this feels like home. It feels right, and natural.
It's been an incredible experience, very spiritual and peaceful.
I do want to thank everyone for all the emails, I do read all of them and
enjoy every single one of them. My MTC mailing address is:
Elder Robert Cadence Westlake
MAY03 ND-BIS
2005 N 900 E Unit 113
Provo UT 84602
Please do not send perishable items, like pizza. :) You can write letters
and send packages. Make sure it's missionary appropriate haha :)
It really has been amazing here. To preface the rest of this paragraph, I
spent a good amount of time with the missionaries before I left on my
mission, going with them to teach investigators. Ever since I was set apart
as a full-time missionary, I have felt the Spirit in ways I haven't before.
When we've been preparing to teach investigators here, and when we've been
teaching them, I have felt such an incredible love for these people, unlike
anything I've ever felt before. I've felt inspiration and revelation from
the Spirit in what to study, teach, and testify of, more so and more
intensely, and more clearly, than I ever have felt before. I love it. I am
very grateful for this. I have such a testimony of the calling of a
full-time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
You really do have Christ walking with you every step of the way, as long
as you remain true and clean. Also, it's been waaaaaaaaaay easier to remain
clean and true. Suck it adversary :) haha
Sorry I don't have any pictures yet, there hasn't been too much opportunity
for it! We're kept so busy here at the MTC, (I totally love that by the
way), that it's difficult to find time to do things like that.
My district is all buddy buddy, we're all best friends!!! Literally it's
like we've known each other for our entire lives. No one is preppy. We all
just love each other and want the best for each other. My companion is
Elder Sullivan. We have four of us in our district of nine people going to
the North Dakota, Bismarck Mission. Elder Westlake (that's me :)), Elder
Lawrence, Elder Small Canyon (He's Navajo!!! So cool!!!), and Sister
Penrod. We also have Elder Sullivan, Elder Sidwell, Elder Christensen, who
are going to the West Virginia, Charleston Mission. We have three sisters,
Sister Penrod, Sister Eagle, and Sister Zeman. We're all happy as can be!
:)
Keeping the schedule is an adjustment for me haha, as before my schedule
was: Get these specific things done in the morning, get these things done
after lunch, get these things done after dinner. Now I get to do things at
specific times. Definitely an adjustment. Definitely will help me out in
life for sure! I'm super stoked to grow and learn and become a better
person.
We had an investigator the other day, technically the first night haha, Ci
Ccio. That's his first name, not his full name! We're not allowed to say
full names haha. I actually don't even know his last name, so don't ask me!
Anyway, I've never felt the love of Christ for someone as strongly as I did
for him. The entire room, of like 80 people, felt the same way. Because of
time, we had to walk away, right in the middle of an incredible spiritual
moment. Definitely a golden investigator!!!!! I did not want to walk away
at all. I felt so sad that we all had to walk away. I wanted to sit with
him for all night and talk with him and testify to him everything I knew.
He's Catholic, and about 20 years ago had a child die before he could be
baptized. He's felt guilty and horrible ever since, and has heard about the
Plan of Salvation, the happy plan as he calls it :), and loves family. His
wife also died 7 years ago. You can just tell his wife and kids mean
everything, everything, to him. He loves them more than you've ever loved
anything in your entire life. He loves the fact that we will live forever
with our families. There are more things that we were on the verge of
telling him that would have made him soooooo much happier! I know he'll be
taught them soon. I just love this man!!! I cannot wait to teach more
people. His countenance was full of pure, undeniable, joy. He was so eager
and excited as we were teaching him. He told us to say things again and
again, just repeating them, as his fear and guilt was stripped away. He was
like, "Say it again." We said it again. "Say it again :)". We said it
again. This happened with multiple different principles. He is so
amazing!!! I can't wait to meet more people like this and teach them
everything I know. I'm so stoked!!!
Love y'all!!!
Ooooooh also! D&C 100:1-2. Really, all of it. Super awesome. I broke down
after reading it haha!!! Ask my district lol :)
D&C 100:1: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends
[missionaries], your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will
do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power."
Love y'all again!!! hahaha :)
--
Elder Westlake
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