Monday, February 3, 2014

Johnny Liao, My Brother and Best Friend

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had so much to write this week, but I can't stop thinking about Johnny right now. You are the man Johnny!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited for you. You get to go to such a beautiful place (Scotland/Ireland) and speaking Mandarin Chinese is gonna be the coolest ever. It's so amazing to see how far we've all come. I can't believe how fast the time has passed since good ol' Rock Canyon Elementary and then Centennial and Timpview. It was so amazing the day that Johnny was baptized and today just makes it all even more special. I'm gonna be writing you Johnny and it's gonna be so fun to be able to serve with you. I'm so excited to have another brother in the mission serving with us all.

Alright, so about the week. For real, I'm just so excited about Johnny. I'm probably gonna cry later, but for right now I'm in shock. Those videos were so awesome.

Okay, here I go. This week was so special to me. I loved getting letters from Charlie, Aunt Stacy, and Aunt Julie. That night I read them and I was just lying in bed and couldn't stop thinking about how happy I am to be here in the mission. I don't want this to end. It is so special to me and I am so excited that Johnny is going to be able to feel the same things as all of us. I've felt that I don't want my mission to end before, but this time it was stronger than ever. I kind of started going crazy and I just told my companion to give me a hug because I was so happy. The mission is so amazing and I'm so grateful to be here. Yesterday I was reading my Patriarchal Blessing and it was just so awesome to see how it is all coming together, how it is all working out just as God planned. I see the blessings being fulfilled right before my eyes.  I'm so grateful for my Patriarchal Blessing and the patience that we all need to have to see the things of God unfold.

So some cool people from the week were Fernando and Sonya. They're the people that lived in Kentucky and now are owners of a school here. They are super devout Seventh day Adventists, but I can see the change. They do the best with what the have, but get so excited when we pass by. Fernando knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but is still trying to figure out if there could be other prophets too, but understands the importance of the Book of Mormon too. Sonya came in kind of late to the lesson and then out of no where said she was going to pray and ask if she was in the wrong church. That was so cool to hear and I love them so much. It's so cool to see people who are so prepared for and desirous to know the truth.

I also got a great call from Josafat this week. He's a kid I baptized almost a year ago and I'm praying he'll go on a mission. He's the guy that read the whole Book of Mormon before his baptism (in 2 and a half weeks).

I got to eat some delicious food this week and my stomach is so happy. I got to eat ají de gallina twice in one day and it was such a happy day. That is probably my favorite food here in Perú and I'm gonna miss it when I get home. Then I ate pachamanca yesterday which is hard to describe, but absolutely amazing because it was pretty much a ton of vegetables with some great meat and the best part NO RICE. Gotta love Perú and their rice for every meal. Speaking of rice, I'm pumped to eat at Johnny's restaurant when I get home. I love Chinese food.

Oh yeah, today we're going to make tacos for p-day so that should be delicious. I also made microwave popcorn last week. It was good and super expensive, but I had to buy it because there was a picture of the Hobbit on its wrapper. Welcome to the life of a missionary.

We watched a cool Mormon Message about a family in the Pacific that went to the New Zealand temple and I love that one so much. Plus I love New Zealand. We've been focusing a lot this week on strengthening families through daily scripture and prayer. I've been feeling the Spirit a lot, especially as I share 3 Nephi 18:21 and let these people know how much the Lord has promised us if we read and pray together daily.

This week was really special too because Sheila and Kelly were finally baptized. It's been a crazy 3 months and I've never taught someone for so long, but it was all in the Lord's time. I know the whole family will get there someday and we're gonna do all we can to help them achieve the ultimate goal of going to the temple together. I am so grateful for the peace and comfort the sealing ordinance has given to me. My companion said I should put a picture of the family in my Manual Misional to carry all the days and it's been cool to share it with people. I have the one of the whole Moulton family and it's the small wallet size one so no one can really tell who we all are, but they just love how big our family is.

The baptism went really well and we had a lot of help from the ward. The pictures before the baptism took like 30 minutes and it was super fun. I'll try to send them next week because it's not working right now.

Alexis left this morning for Connecticut. He's one of the guys that always went out with us and I'm gonna miss him. He lives out there with his sister and was here for 7 months visiting his parents. It's so cool to meet such great people in Perú. I love it here and wouldn't trade it for anything, just like I know all you brethren wouldn't trade your missions.

I love you all so much and hope you have the best week ever. I am so happy here on the mission. Everyday isn't perfect, but I love it all together. Thanks for all the love and support. Talk to you next week.

I love you Johnny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love your happy as ever pal in Perú,
Elder Aaron Micah Wheatley

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