What a Great Time!

Hola Everybody,

CONGRATULATIONS BRIANNA!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited for you to be playing softball and I look forward so much to being able to watch you play when I get home. Make sure you just do your very best and imagine I'm there cheering you on. Play your heart out on Tuesday and best of luck during your Orchestra concert too. I'll be praying for you and thinking about you tomorrow. Also, from the pictures of last week. YOU ARE GROWING UP WAY TOO FAST! JUST STOP IT! Alright, I guess neither of us can stop it, but wow. You are a lady now. I'm sure you feel the same as I do Mom. It's okay though, I guess that's how life goes. Mom, Brianna, and Mariah, you all looked so pretty in the pictures.  I am so blessed to be part of your family. And let's not forget our handsome Dad.

Happy Birthday Hillary and Joseph!!!!!!!!!!! Today is a special day and I hope you are having the greatest joint/seperated birthday of all time. I loved reading Hillary's email and I remember those emotions really well, actually they still linger a lot. I think my emotions confuse themselves sometimes and they're not even sure what I'm supposed to be feeling. I love being a missionary!!!

We're getting a new mission president Blake D. Archibald and he was born in Brigham City so that was really cool to hear. He lives in Northport, Alabama right now and I'm pretty excited about it all. I wonder if Dad or definitely Oma knows him or his family. I just thought it was really cool that he is from Brigham City.

That being said, this week I gained such a strong testimony about President Dorius. We had a Zone Conference and it was so awesome. I was just reading 2 weeks ago in letters from friends about going to zone conferences and how awesome they were. I wanted to have one so bad and then within a couple of days they told us we were going to have one. I learned so much about being a better missionary, about how to use silence and above all teach with more unity in a companionship.

We watched a video and it was so awesome. It was about a group of kids in Thailand that got together and built a soccer field of wood and learned to play on it. Then they got invited to go to the land and play on grass in a tournament and we learned how we need to all work together as a community (ward). I just loved it because it was in Thailand and made me think about Ryan. Sometimes I get a little down because I think about my friends all over the world and how beautiful it is or the different experiences they are having. This time I just watched the video and was so happy for Ryan and all my friends and family without being jealous. It's just that one day I will have to go to Thailand for sure. It's about Panyee FC and I recommend it to everyone to look up on youtube if you can find it. Quality film!

Sister Dorius talked about Havasupai and about how we have living water. The people need to walk through desert sometimes and work hard, but the end is so beautiful and worth it all. It made me think about Jake and how Havasupai was thought about very often during high school, but how we never got to go. We'll go some day!!!!!! It's just a given. Way too beautiful to be true and so fun to think about great times back home with Jake.

Overall, I just remembered why I was on a mission and it felt so good. I learned so much from the Spirit and I have a testimony that President Dorius (and all mission presidents the world over) are called of God. His hand is in every aspect of this work.

Happy Ides of March this week. I don't know why I remembered that, but I thought it was funny so enjoy Shakespeare and something even more important. PIE!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, it's Pi Day this week too so make sure you get your healthy filling of that good stuff.

On the bus ride home a guy just started talking to me in English and it turns out he has lived in New Jersey for almost 30 years. It's pretty crazy to me how bad his English still was, but it was fun to talk with him. I got his address there and it's just amazing to me how small the world is, but even more how much Heavenly Father loves ALL of his children.

Alright, now on to Marco. He was baptized this week and it was one of the most special experiences of my whole mission. As I watched him go under the water and come back out I was filled with so much joy. He is so awesome and has read through 2 Nephi 2 and maybe even more. There were between 30 and 40 people at the baptism, which just might be my mission record and it was so amazing. He bore his testimony and said that he knows Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet of God. I was just stunned. Most of the people don't even remember who the living prophet is, let alone have a true testimony of him. That just blew me away. I am so amazed by Marco.  After the baptism we talked about him going on a mission and he said he wanted to go already. That was so cool to me and I feel so privileged to be a part of the Lord's work. 

This week we were really blessed to teach a man named Carlos. He is the husband of a member and has gone to church several times. We got there and he just asked us what he needs to do to be baptized. We had a great lesson, which was just more us listening to his life story which was really sad. He has had a lot of hard experiences in his life, but he is an amazing guy. He said he never was a kid because he had to grow up too fast so he does his best to help everyone else have a childhood. We talked about the Atonement and it was so special. Yesterday we passed by and he told us that he had to leave to work. We don't know when he will be coming back, possibly months, but we will try our best to stay in contact. He has truly been prepared by God and the gospel can bless his life so much.

Yesterday a young guy named Josafat came to church. We had talked to him in the street the day before and invited him to the church. When he was in Sacrament Meeting I just smiled at him and assumed he was some member I had met, but didn't remember his name. Then it hit me that he was the kid we met in the street the day before. He stayed for all 3 hours and had read the pamphlet about the Restoration we had left with him. That was a really cool thing because a contact has never gone to the church alone before. I have been seeing so many little miracles here in Los Rosales and am so grateful to be here.

Elder Figallo is my new companion and he's from here in Lima. He has 3 months in the mission and he's a great guy. I know we're going to do great things with the Lord's help.

I loved reading all about Abinadi, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, the sons of Helaman (Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni (I hope those are there names)). They are such great examples to me and I know my mission will change me just like it changed all of them. I am excited to continue to read in the Book of Mormon and feel the Spirit it brings to my life. I receive so much strength and love that book with all of my heart.

I just might, hopefully, possibly, if all works out perfectly be going to the temple tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be thinking about all of you if I do and so I'd like to extend an invitation. If we do go it would be for the 2 o'clock session and I invite everyone who is able to go to the temple tomorrow (at the same time if you can) too. I love the temple so much and so look forward to going through the Provo Temple again, especially with all of you. If you can make the time I'm sure we will all be blessed. If not, please just make sure you go soon, because I have no idea when the next opportunity will come. Go to the temple as often as you can because I miss it more than I can even describe. It truly is The House of the Lord.

Congratulations to Adam on his call and to Joanna Lam too. I was thinking about the Lam family the other day before you sent the email so please tell them and everyone else hi for me.

I love you all so much and keep you all in my prayers. Thank you for all the prayers you offer in my behalf as well as all the other missionaries serving.

Have the greatest week ever!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just go have a blast! Have fun with Oma and Opa too. Make sure you all play some good Phase 10 and Farkle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TTFN (ta-ta-for-now) Love you all,

Elder Aaron Micah Wheatley

 

My new companion - Elder Figallo

This one is for Gioia and Kim. Everyone else can enjoy it too. My new companion pulled it out and there was no way I wasn't going to take a picture. 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Ol' US of A

Hey You Guys,

This week has been absolutely nuts and Heavenly Father definitely has a lot for me to learn. I'll do my best to write it all down, but please remember me in your prayers as well as my companion Elder Bravo and all the other missionaries out in the field. We really can't do this without heavens help and I thank you for all of the prayers you have offered, I know they have strengthened all of us.

I want to wish Charlie a Happy Birthday last Saturday. I hope it was an awesome day. Also next Monday is the birthday of Joseph and Hillary so I'll write it again next week, but Happy Birthday Dear Hillary and Joseph!!!!! Have the greatest birthdays ever.

My new area Los Rosales is pretty sweet and I know we can have a lot of amazing experiences here if we just follow the Spirit. The pensionista (sister who cooks our food) is probably one of the best in the whole mission. She cooks all types of food from all over the world and even lived in Utah for a year. She is an older lady who works at the temple and is so strong in the gospel. But back to foooooooooooooooooood. Yesterday she cooked us spaghetti and there was hamburger meat, real hamburger. I think that's the first time I've eaten real hamburger in all of Perú. She feeds us lots of fruit too which is delicious.

Quick ´´epistle´´, as Brother Andrew Woodruff calls them, on Elder Aubrey and Elder Bravo. From Elder Aubrey I learned to be more loose and have lots of fun with my companion. Of course it was a lot easier coming from the same culture and speaking the same language and everything and maybe what I learned from him is how grateful I am for the US. I love Perú, but as Seth Cannon said in a recent letter ''God Bless America and it's beautiful language´´ (I don't know if he reads my letters, but I hope that makes someone laugh thinking about Seth). I also learned to be a better follower and allow others to show me the way. From Elder Bravo I have learned to be more respectful, especially to other missionaries. I am currently learning how to be a senior companion (something I never thought would be so hard to figure out), and how to love the people of Perú more.

Now back to America. This week as I was in the bus I heard the song ''Safety Dance'' come on and I highly recommend everyone to go listen to it seeing as I am not able to. It reminded me of Youth Conference with Jake Knell and someone please tell him that he needs to read this email. It was just one of those moments that was way too good to be true. I could imagine the music video and everything.

I went on a work visit to be with Elder Howell and that was so awesome. We both worked so well and it was one of the best days of my whole mission. We both joked around so much and just had the greatest of times. The lessons just flowed so perfectly and the investigators were all so great too. We still struggled a couple of times trying to say exactly what we wanted to in Spanish, but that's how it works. We were at a recent converts house and were about to leave. We were trying to get the little girl to pray. We were just trying to encourage her and the next thing we knew she was crying. Well, I guess there's a first for everything. I just hope no one else cries again because we ask them to pray.

One investigator in our area is named Marco. He's so awesome and has read to 1 Nephi 20 already. He accepted the Word of Wisdow with no difficutly and when we talked about the Sabbath Day he said he would talk to his boss to try to get Sundays off. When we told him he couldn't play soccer on Sundays it looked hard for a second, but he knew what he needed to do so he committed to it. He didn't show up to church yesterday, so I really hope it was him just working his last Sunday at his job or something. I guess even the golden ones have things to overcome sometimes though and we'll just trust in the Lord because with Him all things are possible.

One change that may be for my good that has happened since I arrived in Perú is my touch bubble. It not only has shrunk, but has pretty much disappeared. I guess that's what happens when you have to get on jam-packed, to the brim full, crammed with people buses almost daily. Maybe this will help me find a happy medium for the rest of my life.

I'm so happy that Mariah made it home safely. It sounds like she's doing great and I'm praying for her all the time. That's got to be one of the weirder moments of a persons life and I hope the whole family is spending a bunch of time with her. Good luck on your talk this week and I'll be thinking about you Mariah.

I hope everything is going great with Hillary and am looking forward to hearing about all the happenings on her mission. I loved the MTC, but I think it's like every other part of the mission. When you look back you remember all of the good, but there were also a lot of hard times. I was reading my journal the other day and it seems like it was a lot harder than I remember. I'm grateful for hard things though because they make us stronger and know I'm praying for you Hillary as well as the whole Young famly.

Thank you so much for sending me that email from Daniel Wheatley a couple weeks ago. It sounds like things are going great for him and that's so cool that he got to see Elder David A. Bednar. Keep working hard my brother, I love you.

I hope everything is going great for you Mom, Dad, and Brianna with all of the changes that have happened. It's all so crazy, but as a family we're all doing it together.

This week in the Book of Mormon was absolutely fantastic and I am so grateful for my best friend (the Book of Mormon). I loved reading about Abinadi he is such an amazing example to me. I want to be strong like him and will try to do better. Alma was just as cool too, following the words of a prophet and baptizing so many people to help them come closer to Christ. Ammon just completes the trio and I'm definitely looking forward to reading about all the ways the Lord blessed the people and all of the miracles He did that are coming up soon. I am learning so much and trying to apply the teachings to my life. I love reading it with you Mom and encourage anyone else to join us if you want. We are reading 3 pages everyday and we're on page 189 I think.

I love you all so much and am praying for you with all the energy of heart.

Have the greatest week ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Aaron Micah Wheatley

The view from our window.

Change Again!

Hey Everybody,

Happy Birthday Daddy Micah Wheatley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope you have the greatest birthday of your life and enjoy turning 18 on Thursday!!!

SHOUT OUT TO MY BROTHER JOHNNY LIAO!!!!!!!!!!

Well tomorrow are transfers and it looks like my roller coaster ride just gets to continue. I'm moving to another area within the same zone with a Peruvian named Elder Bravo who has been called to the La Paz, Bolivia Mission, but his visa hasn't arrived yet.  He's been out one transfer so he's still training.  My area is called Rosales and my house is right next to the church.  I have really come to love my mission and we're just going to get to work.

I really wanted to stay in my area, but once again I get to learn on my mission just to do the Lord's will and not worry about what I think would be fun or cool. I am learning to be humble, I hope, but always have so much more to learn.

This week was kind of all crazy so I will do my best writing down what I can.

I'm so excited for Mariah to be going home and know life is just going to keep getting crazier for all of us. I am praying for you Mariah and thank you for always supporting me so much on my mission. And please make sure to take a bunch of videos of her so I can hear her accent when I get home from my mission. Have the greatest of times going through the temple too, I miss it and look forward to going through it again.

Brianna, I am praying for you too and am excited to hear the results of softball tryouts. Just make sure you do your best no matter what team you are on. I'm looking forward to watching a bunch of your softball games when I get home.

This week is a crazy one for Hillary and I remember so well entering the MTC. It's really impossible to describe so we will all just have fun talking about it when we are all together again.

Congratulations to Matthew on being accepted to BYU! I don't know if you have decided to go there or not, but it would be cool to take classes with you when we are home if that persuades you one way or another. I'm looking forward to hearing about all your mission plans and promise all you young men out there that the mission is the greatest decision you can make at this point in your life. It's definitely not the easy road, but you will learn and grow in ways that you will never be able to if you don't go.

Alright, now a couple things about my week.

I got a bunch of letters this week and it was so amazing to read them. Thank you so much Mom! I just bawled when I saw the program for Papa's funeral. I am really peaceful still though so no worries there. It's just so weird being on the mission, but you all know how that is. Also, thank you so much Aunt Kimber. I will be writing to the Aunties within a week or two, so be looking for that.

When I received the letters, I realized that I have not been writing very many funny experiences, and it made me wonder if I have been having funny experiences. So I looked for funny things and realized that being funny is a lot about presentation, so I'll do my best to let you laugh along with me about life here in Perú.

Well, my apartment is right next to a bunch of dirty dogs (which definitely explains the fleas) and they are just disgusting. Well, at night sometimes we like to sleep, but I'm not sure if the dogs do. My companion says they are making ''demon noises'' and I think that is a perfect way to describe it. Just imagine if you were, yeah I have no idea how to describe it. It's the worst whine mixed with a bark I have ever heard and for that sometimes we don't sleep very well. I don't know if they are slowly dying or just demons, but that's what it sounds like. WELCOME TO PERÚ!!! I think my new house should be better, but we'll see.

I'm definitely going to miss Elder Aubrey and Elder Howell, my two gringo amigos. We were coming up with some band names and my favorites have to be 3 Whytes Latino, Barely Bañado, and the classic Husky Youngster. I hope you enjoy thinking about all of that just as we all enjoyed it.

Another good time, we had some mentos and a coke bottle so of course the logical thing to do was make the awesome chemical reaction. Us three went up on the roof with camera and everything just to have a good time. Well we put the mentos in the can and nothing happened. So yeah, that was another funny moment. We were all so excited and got fed with disappointment. You just have to hold on to those little chances for fun in the mission sometimes though. It's all part of the life.

We weren't in our area very much this week, but yesterday we had a great lesson with Royer, the man we met 2 weeks ago looking for my water bottle. He is so ready and it was so amazing to be a part of that lesson. I guess I don't get to keep teaching him, but that's all part of the plan God has for us. I know God is concerned in the littlest details of our lives and I'm excited to find out all that He has in store for me.

This week is going to be real crazy for all of you, but just remember that I am praying for you. I love you so much and am so grateful for all of your examples to me. I feel so much peace reading the Book of Mormon and love reading it with you Mom. I learn so much everyday and am so grateful to Heavenly Father that I can learn and grow on my mission.

I love you all so much and know the Lord will watch over and bless you, just as He is watching over and blessing me.

Thank you for all your support and love. I have never felt so much love in my life and am so grateful for my family, all of you.

Have the greatest week ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And make sure to take lots of videos.

Love your best friend forever,
Elder Aaron Wheatley

Weirdest thing I've eaten on my mission so far!  

Octopus Hash

Baby octopus

I cleaned my plate!

It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't the worst either. 

Hola de Peru!

Hello Everybody,

This week was so amazing and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for blessing me with this time to be a missionary. Last night I had a dream that I was back at home. My mission was over and I was just talking with Mom. We were talking about missions and I looked down at my watch at the date and realized it was 6 months before I should have been home. I got really confused and then really sad. Mom said that she had no fear on her mission to talk to the people and I felt bad. I wanted to come back to Perú so badly and just knock on every door and talk to every person. I woke up with pure excitement to do the work of the Lord and I am so grateful to be on my mission. Another thing she said was something like ''why are the obedient ones the ones who suffer''. I don't have an answer but I think it was something special for me to think about.

I looked back on my mission this week and was amazed at all the growth I have made. Before my mission I knew I would grow, but had no idea in what ways. I have learned to be so much more accepting and loving of others. I feel I have become more humble and teachable, but still have a really long way to go. It's definitely not easy work to be a missionary, but when I look back at it all it is so worth it. It amazes me how quickly the bad times go away when we focus on all the good and one of those amazing days just comes along.

I'm so excited for Hillary and really proud of you for your decision to serve a mission. The next couple months you will go through a lot of ups and downs, but I promise you it is all worth it. I feel like I was in Sacrament Meeting giving my farewell talk not too long ago, but I guess time is just a trixter like that. Enjoy your time in the MTC because I have so many great memories of that place. I guess that's something I'm learning on my mission too. I am really trying to learn to be grateful for the present and just soak it all in because when it's gone, it's gone and it's up to us how much we grow.

We found a family this week that was baptized a year and a half ago in the south of Lima and moved up here. It was so awesome to finally find them and they had been reading the picture Book of Mormon. I don't really know why they hadn't been going to church but they came with us yesterday to Stake Conference and said they will be going to church every week from now on out so that was really great. Also being in Stake Conference in Perú was an awesome experience and I was grateful for the opportunity to sustain the leaders of the Church.

Yesterday we went by an investigator that wasn't in church. We found him lying on his couch and he said he was in a lot of pain. He had an accident a year ago where a big hole was made in his leg all the way to the bone. It hurts him a lot, but yesterday more than ever. We were with a member and all three of us felt that we should give him a blessing. The member asked if he had faith and Ysidoro of course said he did (he is one of the most faith filled men I have met). We explained what a blessing was and he said he had been reading about that in the Bible. I was able to give him the blessing and it was a really special experience for me. It is so crazy to me how many blessings we give as missionaries and I am so grateful for the Priesthood of God given to us to bless others. I am so grateful to see the faith of investigators and the members here who are such loved children of God.

I'm looking forward to reading Mosiah with you Mom and love the words of King Benjamin. It is so fun to think of you reading along with me and it amazes me how far we get when we just are diligent and read everyday.

I just told Mariah and feel like you would be happy to know I AM GETTING LOST IN THE WORK. The mission is the greatest decision I have ever made and I am so excited for all the people who are getting ready to leave.

HAVE THE GREATEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep praying for all of us missionaries because we need it and remember that you are all in our prayers too.

Thank you for all the love you show to me. And I love the long emails from you and my friends attached (I just read them all later).

Happy President's Day! I hope you are enjoying the snow because I am tearing it up in the sand dunes.

Love,
Elder Aaron Micah Wheatley

Shining my Shoes!

Just Like That

Hey Everybody,

Another week passes by just like that and I hope I'm learning all that our Heavenly Father wants me to learn.

That's hard to hear about all the people who have passed away, but I know they are in a better place and there was a talk about that in the last General Conference by Elder Shayne Bowen (I think). It was weird reading it again because when he spoke in October none of us thought death would even be a subject that would come up, but now it is so personal and I am so grateful for the servants of the Lord who speak by the power of the Holy Ghost and that we can hear or read with the power of the Holy Ghost and be comforted so much.

Also about Bishop Barrett. That's so crazy that he isn't bishop anymore. I know whoever is was called of God, but I am so grateful for the service Bishop Barrett gave and I love him so much. If you see him please tell him thank you for all he has done for me and that he should be expecting a big hug when I get home.


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well now I'm stuck typing in this color so sorry about that.

A couple quick  adfdfasdfasdfasdfasfadfadf

Alright, back in business -- all except the size of the font.......

A couple quick stories from the week. We went and taught a family this week and they are so awesome. We had met them because someone gave us a wrong address and we went and knocked. He answered the door and invited us in and then we found out that he had been taught by the missionaries before. We had to leave, but then went back this week. He is a 50 or so year-old man named Miguel and his two children Luisa and Miguel too. His wife is a Catholic and didn't want to listen so we'll just wait on that. Back to the story. We start teaching him the Restoration and he stops us after a couple of points and then explains it even in more detail to his children. We continue on and then he does it again. We get to the end of the lesson and he says ''Alright, we need to read the Book of Mormon everyday and pray in the morning and before bed'' and this is before we had invited him to do so. That was just so awesome to see people so prepared.

Immediately after we go to Isidoro who is progressing really well, but in a completely different way. He isn't the greatest reader and his wife is really ''slow'' (I don't know how else to describe it). We have to explain things a little better, but they feel it so much easier. He just says that he has talked with 20 religions and he feels different with us and that we were the first that actually invited him to the church. That made me think about how simple it is sometimes. Sometimes we just have to invite people to do something and that's all they were waiting for.

Now to add to that. Yesterday I lost my filtered water bottle and we went back tracing our steps to try and find it. We were on our way back home and it was pretty hot. I saw a man making snow cones and felt I should ask him if he had seen it. I didn't want to do it because it was hot and I didn't want to stop Elder Aubrey. We kept going, but then I felt it would be really dumb to ignore the Spirit. My heart started to burn so we turned around and talked with him. It turns out that he actually has read the Book of Mormon and knows about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. That was really amazing and it was definitely worth loosing my water bottle, which has been amazing, but I have another.

We also got to visit a less-active who returned from his mission a year ago and it reminded me how strong we all need to be. I am being tested a lot on my mission, but I know I can do it if I just exercise my faith in our Heavenly Father.

Oh yeah, my room right now is really big and nice. The pensionista (our cook) has cancer so her daughter cooks for us right now and they are so nice. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices they make for us and it just amazes me what people do for the missionaries. We are just normal people and I am so grateful for all the prayers you all give in our behalf. I'm praying for you too and hope you can feel my love.

Talk to you all soon. Have the greatest week ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Aaron Wheatley

Happy February!

Hey Everybody,

This week I guess could be described as a roller-coaster ride, but that's pretty normal now so maybe I'll just say it was another week in the mission (I think it's the same for all missionaries).

A couple of things to start off. Mom you asked about the weather here and, it's just like you would imagen. A summer day walking up and down sand dunes. Maybe a couple degrees cooler than Utah, but it sure feels hot to me. I live in a house with 4 elders, my companion Elder Aubrey, Elder Calle, and Elder Howell. Elder Howell in his own words is a ''stud of a muffin''. We get along really well and it helps that he loves Mumford and Sons as well as Imagine Dragons and for you music canaseur (sp?) out there Sufjan Stevens. His mom also has MS and it's just weird how that disease keeps popping up.

Two other cool things about Perú. As you can see from one of the pictures my feet have become the midnight snack (and lots of other hours during the day too) for fleas. I am one step closer to being a dog which is the good news, the bad news is that it itches pretty bad just before I go to sleep. When I scratch they bleed so, yeah. As my zone leader Elder Argandoña says ''Welcome to Perú!'' The other great cultural experience is the clothes washing down here. My first two areas have been great but last week something happened. I gave my clothes to the person to wash them and they came back dirtier than when I gave them. It's all part of the life down here though and I can just laugh about it.

Thank you to Tanner for your email last week, it really helped me a lot. I loved the talk ''His Grace is Sufficient for You'' by Brad Wilcox and it was awesome because my companion had it on his usb. Also the suggestion to read that talk by Elder Bednar in the April 2012 Ensign you ''nailed it''. Now to add to the list of greatness two articles I would really suggest that helped me just chill out a little bit this week and get to work. ''Forgiving Oneself'' by Elder D Chad Richardson and ''What Does It Mean to Be Perfect?'' by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson in the New Era of January 2006. I definitely recommend them if people are struggling with perfectionism or just wants to be happier. I have never had the problem before my mission so if anyone is reading this that new me from high school, know that I'm not so good at not worrying anymore, but I'm getting back there. And to top it all off Mom, my reading this week was perfect. I learned so much more than I ever have from the Isaiah chapters and 2 Nephi 25:23 really added to all I had read. I love thinking about you when I'm reading too. I love the Book of Mormon!!!!!!!!!!

Now really quickly about the people. This week we had two baptisms. The first one was a 14 year old kid named Antoni. He is so ready and when we asked him the interview question if he was willing to keep the covenants of baptism for the rest of his life he said ''por su puesto'' (you betcha'). He is just so awesome and he wants to go out with us because he loves the church so much. He has never really belonged to anything and his family isn't very close so he feels for the first time that his life has a purpose. The second was José and he's still a teenage boy, but he made a great decision.

Another great investigator is Isidoro. We met him last week from a member reference and even though he's a little slow to understand he gets what he needs to. He loved the church yesterday and said he's talked with about 20 different religions but just feels una tranquilidad (peace or tranquility I guess) he's never felt before and also he just feels happy. He is so awesome and I am so grateful for the time I've been given to get to know him. Heavenly Father really does prepare his children and I am so grateful to be a part of His work.

I love you all so much and am praying for you. Thank you so much for all of the prayers you offer in my behalf, I have really been strengthened this week.

Your flea-bitten, Perú lovin´amigo,
Elder Aaron Micah Wheatley

Antoni the man

My flea bitten feet!

One Step at a Time

I love you!

I just thought maybe someone needed to hear that. It's always nice to hear that someone cares.

Before I get too far I want to wish a Happy Birthday today to Matthew, it would be fun to spend it together but I know we're both where we need to be and I trust it will be the best birthday ever. Also to Katherine this Saturday, we have some baptisms scheduled and it's fun to think of you when we remind them of their baptismal date. I love you all so much and know there are a lot more birthdays ahead that we can spend together.

I think I got all of the packages from  the Aunties, Mom, Dad, and Brianna (3 of them) they all meant so much. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and love.

Were you able to show Johnny the video from Christmas? If not don't stress, you can just get ahold of him on facebook or something.

This week was just crazy with all of the miracles we have seen and I know Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much in this area. We had 7 new investigators this week, which is a lot for us, and we have 6 baptismal dates. One of our investigators has been toying around with the missionaries for months now and I think he finally made the change. He knows so much about the church (including things about the milennium and other doctrine) which makes it pretty hard to get anything across because he is always searching for something crazy deep. Well this last week he heard about the book of Abraham in class and was so loud about wanting one. We kind of calmed him saying that we can't give him more if he won't even read the Book of Mormon that he already has. Well we went back a couple of days later and he said he had read through almost all of 1 Nephi and he realized that there was really cool things in the Book of Mormon too. He's still not as mature as I wish but I think he's ready and being a member of the church and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost can help him grow up.

I also found out this week that Silverio José was baptized and that makes me feel so good. He was the guy that had found the church (I still don't know exactly how) in Iraq and was so ready to be baptized. He has a strong testimony and I feel so grateful to have been able to be a part in his making covenants with our Heavenly Father.

All that is going on at home sounds like craziness. I'm excited for all that will be happening up at the house and it will be fun to see it when I get home. I'm excited that Megan, Maren, and Harrison are living in Provo now and please make sure to tell them and all the family that I love them so much.

One thing that I thought would be fun to do is share mission stories. If you Mom, Dad (and anyone else) would like to read your mission journal and then share some experiences I would love to hear them. We talked a lot about your stories before, but I think they are a lot more real now and I would love to hear some that maybe you wrote down but don't remember.

Yesterday I was in a lesson and I started talking about my baptism and I had to fight back the tears. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I started talking about how I didn't understand it all but I know everyone was so happy for me and I saw all of the smiling faces and just thinking about that (maybe not a picture or movie memory, but somehow I know it happened) filled me with so much joy. Thank you so much for raising me to know that baptism is what I needed to do. That serving a mission is exactly what I need to do now. And showing me how I need to live after my mission.

Thanks for the email Nomi and last week from Oma and everyone else. It is so nice to hear from all of you, I love you so much.

It's fun to hear that you started up P90X again Dad and I know you can keep the schedule you're trying to do. I'm praying for you and all of the family.

Brianna, keep up the good work with softball and school and everything else that you are doing. I love you so much luvbug.

I'm becoming a missionary one step at a time and I am so grateful for every week. Like Dad said, maybe it wasn't the funnest thing but I'm learning and I can look back and be so happy with all of the growth.

Sorry I can't send pictures this week because, well I'm in Perú and these computers aren't the best.

I love you all so much just keep up all the hard work and I'll be doing the same here in Perú. Thank you for all of your examples and love.

I love reading the Book of Mormon with you Mom. Now I'm in the Isaiah chapters and I'll do my best to understand them as you do too. I love the Book of Mormon so much and love reading it with you. 2 Nephi 7:6-7, 2 Nephi 8:12, 2 Nephi 9:52.

Talk to you all soon. Have the greatest week ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Aaron Wheatley