Handwritten Letter 

Hey Family, Elder Webster here.

I am going to try to get a lot better with my letters explaining what I am doing and the people I am with and the experiences I am having. So here it goes…

The part member family that we have been working with has had a few things happen with them. First, I will give you a bit of history with them. The parents were baptized about 20 years ago and they have been less active for most, if not all, of those years. The father is 58 and blind. He walks with a cane, but he is really funny and has really long ear hair that sticks out from his ears. They have 6 kids all living at home, three that are Lauren’s age. Elias (boy)11, Luciana 13, Ana 16. Then, there are 3 that are older than me . 2 boys and a girl, the girl is pregnant and her boyfriend spends a lot of time at the house. They aren’t married like most families here, mostly because they get help from the government being a single parent (they work the system here). That’s the familia Perela. They are the investigators we have spent the most time with. This week we learned the parents were baptized but never confirmed. We had to try and explain to them that they have to get baptized again. That was kind of tough but we got through it alright and we are going to work on baptizing the parents and the 3 younger kids. We have had great progress with this family. We have gotten to the point where the parents come to church every week now with at least one of the 3 younger kids. I really want to get these 3 kids baptized. They are kind of a rough bunch but I have grown close to them these past weeks. The youngest boy Elias, I play futbol (soccer) with him and always just mess around with him.

The ward that we are in had a missionary return this last Friday, which is a big deal for a Uruguayan ward. He bore his testimony in fast and testimony meeting along with his mom and dad. They all said great things and they are a great family. It was tough for me and the other Elders in our ward to listen to their testimonies, a very trunky moment.

There is a family that feeds us every Saturday and the mom always makes a big cake for us, which I always look forward to. They have a son who is my little buddy. He has some problems that are similar to Josh. He is around 8 years old. But whenever I see him I am reminded of the Smiths, and their family. I think Heavenly Father has great trust in these families to have placed some of his most pure and special spirits with them. I can’t wait to meet these spirits after this life when their bodies are perfected.  But he is my little buddy because he always tries to sit on my lap during lunch while we are eating. I let him sit there and he just sits with a big smile on his face. I love it.

Hey Lauren, Here is a part for you. I am responding to your email. … I’ve been praying hard for you to find good friends with good values. Be careful with boyfriends try not to get hung up over one guy for too long. You will have more fun through high school if you do that.  I am looking forward to our double date, I wonder what we should do dinner and a movie, bowling and ice cream? What ever we do will be great. I am glad you enjoyed missionary week and had so many great experiences. Hope you didn’t have to much of a problem with the rules. I remember not listening to music was a tough one for me, especially with driving to school. But I actually came to enjoy it. I know John Bytheway has a talk on “Weed Your Brain” about taking away those distractions in our lives. Its good you studied Preach My Gospel. I think members need to read it more often or just the first lessons at least. So they can understand the gospel principles, which are oh so important like Baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. Priesthood authority, and the importance of a Prophet, the Book of Mormon and a lot more.  I realize that these principles can be tough to understand. I remember feeling overwhelmed my first couple of days in the MTC. These things are important, but what I guess is most important is that it’s not so much the things we see as it is the way we feel. So Lauren remember these spiritual experiences that you have. It is these experiences that will bring you great strength down the road.

Sorry this letter was all over the place, I fear I am slowly starting to lose my English now that I have been with a Latino companion for 3 months.

Well Lauren and family, I love you so much. Thank you for your prayers and your support.

Love Elder Webster.