Gary Got Baptized!!

Hmmm.... What do I say about this week?  It was so awesome!!  Best thing about the week?  Gary got baptized!!  It was so amazing.  We went over to their home earlier this week and told Gary and Barry to go around the house and find every tobacco product they had and make a pile in their living room.  Anything that even reminded them of smoking like ashtrays and things like that.  After they had piled everything up we looked at it for a while and then told them that we were going to take it all and throw it away.  It surprised me how willing they were haha.  They were all for it and they started putting everything in a bag for us to take far away. Which we did.  After that I noticed a change in Gary and I knew that this time he was going to make it.  He was baptized Saturday night!  I'll send pictures. 

That's pretty much the most exciting thing about the week!  I hope that your weeks were great!  Love ya!

Elder Whetten

 

 

(Gary is in the middle and the beanied one is Butch)

 

New Investigators, Electronic Cigarettes, And Such...

Hi!  Sorry I didn't email yesterday.  The library was closed so we just went to a members house to send a quick email to our mission president.  How is your week going?  Last week was pretty awesome for me.  We have been finding so many people to teach!  We talked to a guy at a gas station named Urial.  We asked him if we could come by his house sometime to share a message and he said yes.  Well a couple of nights later we went to his house and he wasn't there, but his brother told us we could come in and we ended up teaching him!  I was so amazed at how prepared he is to receive the gospel!  We had talked to him for maybe 10 minutes before we brought up baptism.  He told us he was looking for a denomination to join and we asked him if he would come to church and also.... be baptized in the first week of February.  He said that if he came to know The Book of Mormon was true he would be baptized.  So awesome!!  Well he didn't come to church the next day but we are going to see him tonight to see how he is doing. 

Our investigator Jason is doing great too!  We are teaching him and his wife as much as we can and he also invited his friend (who he claims is crazier than he is) to come over and talk to us too!  He is so close but so far from being baptized!  He knows he needs to be baptized but he also is still convinced that he needs to be baptized in a river by a certain person who he saw in a vision.  He is such a cool guy though! He loves just hanging out with us and talking about the scriptures. 

Gary committed again yesterday to quit smoking.  I really think he is going to do it this time too!  We talked to him and his roommate Barry and they both are going to quit.  It is going to be so good for Gary to have that support from his friend.  Barry even commited to come to church this week. Especially if Gary gets baptized.  Elder Del Francia bough them both electronic cigarettes so that they can use that to ease off their addiction.  Gary is pretty confident that it is going to work.  To top that all off we made a commitment to go and see them everyday until Gary gets baptized.  It's going to happen. 

Everything else is going great too!  My companion is awesome!  One of his old investigators in Birmingham got baptized so we got permission from president Hanks to go.  It was really cool!  We stayed the night in Hoover with the assistants and had a ton of fun! 

The work here is really going great!  I am so thankful for the chance I have to serve at this time.

Elder Whetten

Rooting For Gary, A Baptism Commitment, And Whatnot...

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a crazy one!  Wednesday was transfers and I got a new companion.  His name is Elder Del Francia.  He was just released as an assistant and will be serving his last transfer with me here in Cullman.  I am so excited to serve with him. I have already learned so much from him and I know I'll learn even more throughout the transfer.  We work really well together as we try to teach everybody we come in contact with.  We have met so many awesome people the past few days and now have a lot of new investigators. 

The people here are doing so good!  We are still working with Gary.  He is so close!  I know that it has to be really hard for him to quit smoking but I know that he can do it!  He really has the desire and he knows that it will be worth it to be baptized!  Also another investigator we have has committed to be baptized on January 25th! As long as he received a confirmation from the spirit that that is what he should do.  He told us he had a dream or a vision that confirmed he needed to be baptized but... that he needed to be baptized in a river of flowing water.  At least he knows that he needs to be baptized! 

So we have already had some pretty crazy experiences this transfer.  I am excited about what the rest of these 6 weeks is going to be like.  I hope that y'all have an amazing week! Love ya!

Elder Whetten

Last Week's

There was no mass email last week, but my mom shared the email she received.

Hey Mom!  I don't have a lot of time this week so I probably won't send a mass email.  Here are the big things that happened this week: We had a powerful lesson with our investigator Gary who made a New Years resolution to quit smoking.  He didn't make it.  I feel like he is super close though!

I went on an exchange with the zone leaders on Saturday so I spent that whole day in Madison and Huntsville.  It was a really cool experience!  We handed out a few copies of The Book of Mormon but didn't get many chances to teach anyone.  That night I got back to Cullman and we got transfer calls.  I will be staying in Cullman but Elder Christensen will be going to a new area.  I'm going to miss him but it's good because he has been in Cullman for 6 months.  

Anyways that's what is happening with me!  Sounds like you had a crazy New Years!  We didn't.  We pretty much just followed the normal schedule.  Hope you have a great week! Love you!!

Elder Whetten

Busy Holiday Weekend!

Well this week has been a pretty awesome one!  Christmas was great and I loved talking to my family.  I miss you guys!  Kaitlyn and Jordan I missed you on Christmas!  I hope you guys had an awesome time on your cruise!  Well most of the awesome stuff this week happened on the weekend.  The sisters investigator Mario got baptized on Saturday!  It was so awesome to see.  My companion baptized him and to make it even better for Mario my companion baptized him in Spanish.  Pretty cool.  We had a few of our investigators come.  I hope it was a spiritual experience for them to see a baptism. On Sunday there was a big 5th Sunday meeting and it was all about reactivating members in our ward.  I love how much this ward is getting into missionary work.  Sunday night we had a fireside at the ward mission leaders house for anyone that us or the sisters have been meeting with.  It was great to have all of the recent converts and investigators there.  It has been a pretty good weekend.  I hope y'all had a great Christmas and that your New Year is awesome! Elder Whetten