El fin se acerca "The end is at hand"

8 June 2015

Well this week was really long, yet really short, all at the same time. The days were massive, we are working really hard to try to get this place into shape before they push it into a whitewash. but every time we go to an investigator, theyre never home or always busy!!! just doesnt quite work out. but we are going to give it our all. 

We are having fun though. Rita got baptized!!!!!!!! thats was fun. =) it was a crazy story though. we almost got shut outside the church, close... =) but she got baptized!! we are really happy. the branch was really happy that she finally got baptized. 

I am no longer branch president!!! jaja we finally were able to put in a member as pres so that was really good!! sadly, there are no counselors, because there are no worthy options. so thats going to be something to work on. but hermano mercado is a champ and will do a great job. we sat down yesterday for about 2 hours and talked. passed a lot of information. and have two more oportunities to help him out before i head out. 

the best part of the whole week was to hear adelmas testimony saturday at the baptism of rita. i love her so much. shes a sweetheart. so sincere. she gave an amazing testimony, the spirit was incredibly strong. she will make it to the end i think. =) 

graciela probably wont be baptized in my time here. unless we baptize her sunday after church. which would be crazy. but she was unable to come to church this last week, so it looks like we will be leaving an incredible investigator for the other elders. she is really special. =) 

well everyone, this will be my last letter from the field. 

I love all of you and i am excited to see you all. 

This is the true church of our God. He is our Father and i know that Christ is my older Brother. I have come to really love them and feel their love in my life as i have struggled and worried these past few months. I am grateful for trials, as hard as they may be, if it werent for those moments, we would never really love and appreciate our Savior as we should. The mission has been the funnest thing i have ever done, hands down. I love it. I know my Savior love

​s​

 me. 

His Work, His Way

with love

Elder Bryce Whitaker

​July 13-June 15​

Misión Argentina Rosario

Eventful

Monday June 1, 2015

So we had a really crazy week this week. i really wasnt able to see our area that much but when we were in it, some awesome things happened. =) 

so wednesday i was really worried about my companion, he just wouldnt talk to me really, wouldnt tell me whats up, but like if i asked some question he would just, you could tell he was not ok. so i talked to pres and thursday we went down to rosario. 

well that was really fun for me=) i hung in the offices and watched them do their thing. but i saw, giacoboni, trained him, Clayton, just trained him, clayton is with Chartrand who giacoboni trained, haha and then i was with taylor who i was training. =) so that was fun. we took a family picture. =) 

well got back thursday night, worked all day friday like normal people. and saturday, during personal study, the assistants called and said that we had to be in santa fe that night. my comp got transferred down to rosario so they can help him out a little more, so that will be really good for him. so im now with a mini misionero, se llama elder Silva. hes 17 and has been a member for about 9 months. =) hahahaha but were going to have some fun. he talks a lot. =) 

but yeah. GRACIELA CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so she is on track. just got to get her to church this sunday, and get her to the water next week. =) i am so excited. im praying so hard. 

rita should be baptized this saturday the 6 at 415 our time. fingers crossed. then the next week graciela. =) 

i am working hard. they told me this week that this sunday they are going to call a member to be branch president!!!!! so my mission is completed there. thats my job, just take over and prepare a member. =) we are hoping his life gets a little be more normalled out. hes going through a really hard time. but we will see. =) 

havin fun. doin work. 

tell landon hi=)

Elder Whitaker

Promise Fulfilled

25 May 2015

Bryce Whitaker

ok, i will complete with the promise that i was going to write this week. 

only problem, nothing really happened this week. so...

Na we went to rosario, left at 200AM and got back at about 930 that night. that was fun. i now do not know ANYONE in the mission, everyone is new and look at me like i have cancer.... in some ways i guess you could say thats true. 

but im doing well, workin hard and havin fun. The branch is doing well. its been hard on the assistence here with the last couple weeks we had travels to Rafaela so now the people lost the habit of coming every weekend, so we are going to have to go out and get them coming again. 

Pray really really hard RIGHT NOW that the interview we have with Rita goes well today, that she comes and that the Spirit will tell her that enough is enough and she just needs to get baptized. If everything goes well, she will be baptized the 30 of may, but for sure by the 7th of June. 

i am working really hard for a baptism the 13 of june, we have basically one prospect but shes having a really hard go at things. so i am trying everything i can to help her get there. but i feel like she will get baptized at some point though. 

its weird, but im working now and wont see anyone of them get baptized, but i call it the attitude of Enos. there is a verse where he says basically, well if i cant save these people, i will work as hard as i can to pave the way so that someone else can. 

but, still no excuse for not baptizing=) its going to happen!!!!!!!!!!! pray really hard. Graciela is my hope right now. shes a total boss, just needs to come to church. 

my comps opening up a little bit, tiny bit at a time. but were doing better. Now for the next three weeks im going to drive myself crazy and try to only talk to him in spanish.... haha so pray that i will just have the patience. its probably going to be harder on me than for him. =) hahahaha

well, yeahh, all is well. just really pray that we will find people and leave this area strong. we gotta get some more people with baptismal date going. just find people that will progress. 

Faith cannot depend on the result

explanation:

sometimes we have to have the faith to be able to be healed but sometimes we have to have the faith to NOT be healed but know that what is happening is going to be for our good. 

​Loves​

Sorry!

18 May, 2015

so as far as what i want to eat for my first meal back home... uh, i dont know, not kfc, i have had way too much chicken down here. =) haha weird i know, uh, cafe río maybe?? or maybe a breakfast. yeah, breakfast. waffles, sausage, bacon, eggs with the runny yoke, i can t do those yet, then orange juice. and lots of peanut butter and maple syrup=) yeah, for sure that.=) 

yeah im trying 

​m​

y best. just tough sometimes. =) but we will make it!!

sorry, not going to have time to write. gotta get the travel ready for the branch to the temple. really long week, feels like a month since last sunday. im working and doing everything i can!!! just keep praying for me. =) hahaha 

love you guys. 

Prayers are needed!

May 11 2015

thanks mom=) yeah i will be thinking too how they could make money. we will see. 

but yeah prayers are needed=) my comps having a hard time. he just got here and is a SUPER timid really quiet guy. so its been really different. he just needs confidence. seeing his family though yesterday helped me understand him a little bit more so that was good. =) 

just pray that we can baptize and get 50 people in church before i come home. that and that familia mercado can be sealed the 6 of june. those are the three things i want done before i finish. =)

yeah, haha his family=) nice people. sweet spirits. haha

but thanks mom. dont know what i would do with out you

Bryce

Mom's note: Bryce looked like he was really getting tired when we Skyped with him yesterday for Mother's Day. I think he's fought the good fight and will hopefully be able to reach these last people and complete his goals.

Oh está todo bien

27 April 2015

Bien cansado=)

na we are doing alright. The branch is going well, the reverence is getting better slowly. the primary is getting fixed, and a lot of people are going to be having callings here on the 10 of may. so that will be good. we are going to get the young men and young womens organizations going. gotta restart the elders quorum and get a presidency for the primary. but other than that were doing good. =) hahahaha 

just realized thats everything except the branch presidency and the relief society. =) 

this week was really chill we really didnt have anything too epic go on. Adelma fell saturday morning broke her arm and smashed her face up.... she obviously wasnt able to come to church. that was a bummer. 

Rita is our only person progressing. i always forget shes not a member. she gets her eyes operated on this thursday, once she gets healed up, she will be baptized. so thats good=) 

just stayin pumped as always. =) we just gotta have something happen soon. we are getting tired, its a lot of work we got to do. i have to organize like three different travels to rafaela and get everyone ready to go to the new cordoba temple, which is going to be hard to tell a few people they cant go. who think they will be able to. thats going to be fun. 

prayers welcome=) 

working hard, havin fun. 

Faith is not dependant on the Result. 

when we break, we have 2 options to take, 

                  turn away

                       or

            Kneel and Pray

​Elder Bryce Whitaker​im here in san cristóbal for sure to end my mission. i have one transfer left which starts next week so im here for the long run for sure. thanks. my goal is a baptism every week of my last transfer and for sure a baptism my last week in the field. june 13. 

we need help finding people, the areas really been tough lately, but we are trying our best. they will get dunked on his and confirmed on yours=) 

hey i gotta go. so let me know how the school thing goes. get that done as soon as you can. my buddy here said all the classes are filling up really fast. so yeah. 

thanks momma. love you guys

hey, funny memory. remember solo when dusty filmed it. hahahahahahahahaha so funny. 

really fast. not much time. 

so just put me in a fun class. a spanish class. maybe some math, english, and like a business class. frankly, i dont know what people do in college, what classes people take. i trust you guys. =) so dont destroy my future=) hahahaha no pressure

so did you guys get my classes and stuff all set up? what am i takin, whats the schedule like. 

at least just let me know that all my classes are set. that would help me relax. 

and also, im plannin on livin at home the first semester, so make some room=) hahaha

a spanish class for sure and then just something. i dont know! i know nothing. just some generals that are chill. but also, get me advancing somehow. i dont want to be one of those guys that wastes the first semester with dumb classes. just put me into what you wish you would have done when you got home. and ill work and make it happen. 

(Scott) hes moving out???? where! i wanna come=)

Qué tal familia!!

April 20, 2015

ok so this week was a really really long one. holy cow. 

Tuesday, which seems like a month ago, we had interviews with 

​P​

resident

​ Sanni​

. That was fun. hes a good guy. I learned a lot that day. 

then the rest of the week was pretty normal all things considered. 

i had my first interviews as

​ Branch​

 Presidente, and that was super fun. =) i honestly enjoyed it. Really got to help some people out. And it was incredible to just listen to myself as the Spirit took over and just sent me to scriptures and all sorts of stuff. it was a blast. i love those things. =) 

Our ñoquis

sign entering San Cristóbal

but really aside from that, pretty chill week. We did service on saturday morning, we helped a member to lay some concrete, that was fun, we worked like crazy, the way they do cement here, not hard. just kinda through stuff in the machine, wait, and dump it out, =) but then she gave us ñoquis, SO GOOD, i learned how to make em too. so we will be eating good when i get back, i have learned how to make a few good things that are totally normal here. =) 

the branch is progressing. they just need something to get them excited. give them a vision of what the church really is and how it can be here. 

Elder Whitaker

Casey's journal entry 9 Oct 2002 Monterrey Mexico

Landon Graff	1:38 PM (1 hour ago)
to jgraff, Bryce, me

so today we were washing with a sister who lets us use her washer. and she said she had a journal type thing that she has all the missionaries write in. i started looking at the names and dates and realized that it went quite a ways back. and guess whos name i found... Elder Casey Whitaker!!!! hahahaha crazy right!?

Landon is Bryce's best friend and is serving in the exact same mission as Casey did 15 years ago in 2000!  He sent this to us in his email today!

Don't take advice from your fears!

Monday 13 April 2015

=) 

ando bien, para empezar. todo tranquilo.  (Mom Googled this translation “I’m good to go. All  quiet”)

but yeah i am doing well. frankly, the days pass and i just kinda wipe that one and move on to what the next day has in store. ive never dreamed more in my entire life, every night, guaranteed, and theyre long!!! haha we wake up and during excercises just basically share what adventures i had during the night. hahahaha =) yeah, i obviously havent changed much. =) 

but the branch is doing better, everyone is a little more willing to help out just out of compassion and now we dont have the elder power to do this stuff alone anymore. but now we are going to get everything going. everything that stresses me out a lot, i am just delegating any small thing connected to it. its working out pretty well. 

hey i was going to tell you. one thing i would seriously love to do is go through A temple, dont care which, but go through as a missionary. literally if we have to, get off the plane, and go straight to the temple. cause now down here they dont let the missionaries go through the temple any more cause too many were losing flights, so if you could see what the necessary arrangements are for that that would be sick. just a video one would be fun. so, yeah just a thought. 

so we had a cool experience, saturday we got up at 5 to go to zone meeting, got there at 9 had a great meeting and came home. but one thing that i felt during that meeting is that frankly, things have been a little tough in the area lately, a lot of people falling of the wagon, we are working hard though. and i really felt that the Lord wants to see how truly dedicated im going to be in these last months. a lot of elders when they train at the end of their missions, it either helps and pushes them, or they chill and dont work. and obviously the latter is not an option. 

so we got home from the meeting, studied a little and headed out. and EVERYTHING fell through, literally, all of it. those days are the worst. =) so we ended up, way late at night, and ended up at the house of a referral, also, not home, so we leaned up against a wall for a sec to firgure out where we were going to go. and i just couldnt help but stare and this house in front of us. and all the reasons of why not to contact at that hour of the night started running through my head, but i really felt like we should just try, i told my comp lets go contact that one, imma try something different with this one. walked up, clapped, came out and it went really well=) kind of a fun way to do things. but they said sure, just a couple seconds, so we went up, got to know them real quick, shared mosiah 15,23 and because he lives. and they invited us to come back another day. a family of five. so that was really cool. just thinking how the night would have ended had we just given up and taken the advice of our doubts. 

always do the first thing that comes to your head, cause after that it is satan trying to convince you not to. and the spirit wont repeat it. 

His Work, His Way.   

Elder Whitaker

La Conferencia

6 April 2015

So it was the best of times, it was the best of times. 

haha na, but it was a pretty solid week. 

we learned one thing last night. Planning, atleast in our companionship right now, just means that that appointment is going to fall through. EVERY time we have prepared the sickest lesson ever, they are never home....... we dont even get to go in and realize, wow, missed that one, lets share something else, nope. =) so last night, it was one of those nights where its 845 and theres really nothing left to do, so i said, ok, lets go by familia cristaldo, they are a part member menos active family that we dropped like a month ago, i said, this is going to work cause we could not have planned this any less. 

AND IT WORKED!!!!!!!!! they were there, finally let us in we talked it was awesome and we walked away completely dumbfounded.... not sure it thats a word or how you spell that.... 

........ i broke both pairs of shoes this week........ 

the hushpuppies still sorta function, the heel of the right one just disintegrated.... then the toe of the johnsons split and water got in when it rained.... so... thats a bummer. i will send pics, if the warantee covers it, try to send em any way, send the hushpuppies in like size 40 ish, that will make them easier to give away. 

i gave an investigator a haircut. im becoming quite the little barber down here. =)

and the funniest one, we had Fido, im not sure if i told you about him, he followed us for about 36 hours... slept outside the pench, stared at my comp from across the street while he was out on the deck. but man, all dogs hate that guy, we just kept getting attacked all the time. SO STRESSFUL!!! having six dogs circling you at all times..... hahaha but we had a good time. 

oh!!! conference, so i hate translations.... this was the first time i had to watch the whole thing in spanish, it was awful. Hollands talk, super bland, i now here that it was incredible, haha on cristoffersons talk the guy just quit talking for like 15 seconds!!! hahahahaha that was funny. he would try and his voice would cut out, pretty sure he choked on something... it was funny. or the translators would start crying randomly and no one could understand what they were saying.... hahahaha so much drama!!!!!!!!!!! =) hahaha but it was fun. were down loading it right now to watch in the pench later. =) that will be good. 

well im having fun. evertyings going well. 

send shoe sizes and colors of toms you want,

also, convert belt sizes to centimeters if you want one. if not asked, ye shall not receive. =) im generous. =) 

Love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Whitaker

THIS IS JOAQUIN AND CLAUDIA, OF CLAUDIA Y ELIO

este es nuestra salón sacramental

this is our sacrament room

​soy yo y el desobediente fido

no sé por qué me estoy riendo tanto.... no sé qué pasó​

​HOMEWORK!!!!!!! =)​

Its FALL!!!!!

30 March 2015

so i have now had to use my jacket..... that was a weird experience. 

and yes i got my yearly cold. but i totally destroyed it this year and was over it in two days.... no big deal=) 

bueno, the first week of the craziness went pretty well. 

the meetings yesterday were a little rough... im extremely excited for Conference, just to be able to relax and watch it. 

the meetings are tough here just cause the little kids here are overly rambunctious..... spelling??

but they are out of their minds, its about one family with six kids and the poor parents just cant keep em under control, so i usually grab two of em and try to settle em down, which works for a few minutes but obviously not ever as long as needed. we are working with them, the dad is a stud and is trying, hes the elders quorum president, and hopefully will take my place when i head home. 

today we are going to have a family home night with them and our idea is to get them to do a family garden. im convinced it was inspiration. cause those kids need something to do, they just sit inside their two room house and really do nothing, so we are going to teach them and see if they like the idea. plus, as we learn in the book of mormon, its easier to take care of people when they are working. =) hahaha

but i am having fun. really busy. but i like the stress and the responsibility. 

HUGE PRAYERS need to go up for Claudia y Elio. they are amazing but just need the Spirit to really work with them. they are quitting smoking and tea and have got to get married. so just pray that they will face this challenge head on and not get freaked out. we are worried that they will look at the end and decide that they arent going to be able to do it and for that they wont take the little steps that are needed to make it. 

adelma is a BOSS!!!!!!!!! she taught gospel principles this week=) she was super nervous, and basically just read the manual, i figured she would so we gave her a really long chapter. ;) but she did good!!!! i liked it at least. so she is progressing very well. we will give her a talk here in a couple of weeks and see how that goes. but she is doing great. 

well thats about all i got, i am pounding the peanut butter=) 

love you guys too much!!!

Elder Whitaker yeah super good. =) 

but yeah the culture down here is just terrified of getting married. so we will see. they are awesome though. i hope they will make it. 

CRAZY WEEK

March  24, 2015

Holy cow, so much as happened that i dont even know where to start. i will save the craziest stuff for the end. =) 

​so last week we had a sweet experience, it feels like forever ago. but we went to a callback, and as we talked, more and more people kept coming out to see who we were, then they started going back in, i thought with the attitude that they werent coming back, well they came back, with chairs. well next thing we know we were teaching 6 people the first lesson, all of em were locked in, with the perfect questions and answers. it was a blast. at the end, we commited all of them to baptism and they accepted. that was the highest number of adults i have ever taught in one lesson, and it was so fun!!!!!!! i love teaching, there is nothing more fun, some times i feel like i just sit back and chill while the Spirit uses my mouth to talk to these people. i love this!!!!!!

ok, so there was more but it all got dwarfed by what happened thursday night at 1100pm

i was literally in bed, lights off, everyone just kind of chatting. and the phone goes off. well whenever Presidente Zanni calls, things get real really quick. the room went super quiet, as it always does. and then, after a coupe seconds of small talk, said, elder whitaker im calling to extend you the calling of branch president of the branch san cristóbal.........

holy cow.

hahaha so that was crazy...... then friday we find out that they are taking out the other elders here and we are taking over the other half of the city that i have never set foot in.

so here is my current status in the mission, im now District Leader, still training, Whitewashing half the city, and Branch President. so im going to be really busy for my last 3 months of the mission. hahaha

so any prayers would be welcome. im excited but obviously nervous. its going to be a lot of work. it will really be good for this branch though that they now cant depend on the elders so much. we taught almost every class sundays.

but it is His work and His way, we are just here to talk.

Love you guys, heres some pictures for my golf excursion last week. =)

when do i get really sunburned???

March 16, 2015

​WHEN I GOLF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WENT GOLFING JUST BARELY!!!!!!

i shot 43. i had a birdie=) it was incredible. ive had a huge smile on my face since like thursday when we started planning. but i am doing great. havin fun. got some people progressing. 

one got in a wicked accident, so pray, she is doing better. but just pray that everyone will keep commitments,

pray for villareal family to open their hearts and look for an answer.

pray for claudia and elio to want to be married. 

im working and doing everything possible. dont worry, im not going to waste a single day. 

love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

43!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​

just happy to be here

March 10, 2015

sorry i didnt write yesterday. it was p day but the internet in the only place in town went down. so. yeah. here we are and i only have 15 minutes. so

we had a good week. worked a lot. rita y andrea, i dont know what to do with them, they dont get it. its a long story but they just dont have a testimony f

​ro​

​

m God yet and we are working for that. but we are trying.

Adelma is a stud. she has given us at least 8 referrals. =) we love her. she is going strong

stormed really hard last week. and in the middle, high point of some of the streets i was in water up to my knees. so that was fun. =)

lovin it. training is a challenge but i total blast. i love this kid, we get along well. we are havin fun.

my new slogan, im just happy to be here. but it really explains a lot of my personality and my attitude when tough things go down. havin fun

love you guys

ELder WHitaker

todo bien

2 March 2015

well, they cut email time down so i dont have time really.

but todo bien, happy, lovin it. working.

pray for familia cristaldo. we need to find them.

pray that we will baptize a family of three on the 21 of march. we arent sure who, we have two families of three that might be the family we are praying for, but we need EVERYTHING to work out. so please pray a lot.

rita y andrea are doing ok. they just need a testimony from god.

super fun. went to rosario last week and saw giacoboni, my first trainee, hes a zone leader now. =) its fun. times just a flyin.

love you guys, and toms, i am going to make sure they look argentinian, send me colors and sizes. they will have a design strap across the top. theyre cool. and price. about 7-10 dollars. so not expensive. let me know=)

BAPTISMO!!!

23 Feb 2015

Adelma is just the best thing since sliced bread with peanut butter and oreos.

=)

i love her so much. she was really nervous to get actually baptized. like the literal motion to go down in the water and come back out. after saying the prayer, my comp went to dunk her, and she stopped!! and said no, wait wait... and my heart started beating really really fast. hahaha but we got her calmed down and the second time it went over well. =) haha when she said wait no, i froze=) haha so that was a very stressful moment of the week.

her confirmation day, she gave her testimony, and total NAILED it!!!! =) she got up there and gave a really good testimony, and even ended it in the name of Jesus Christ, without anyone else telling her to do that. =) and today she is going to accompany us to another investigator to bear her testimony. she is doing her family history now, and has given us like 4 referrals=) she is just a total champ=)

we had an incredible conference on tuesday. it was really inspirational. i loved it.

one thing that was said was.

when we were born, we passed through the veil and forgot all of the one on one time we had with our Father in Heaven and all the moments we shared. But He didnt. He still remembers, and still loves us just the same as he always did.

there were a lot of really special things that were said in that conference. it really helped me a lot. the way to teach people now has changed. just a lot of things. it was a conference with a 70. so it was a good time. got to see a lot of friends there too which also makes things fun.

one of the unexpected people there was a mini misionera from FEDERAL!!!!! lara chavez!! i couldnt believe it. it was really fun to get to talk to her again and just be in Federal for a little while. haha overall, really good day.

when we got back to San Cristóbal i felt like we needed to go to an incomplete family, it was already 915 and basically time to just go home, but we booked it over there and had a really good lesson. the Spirit was really strong and honestly it was a real testimony builder. this work is just about the funnest thing there is=)

so really pray for us to start finding some more people, and our goal is to help rita and andrea be baptized the 14 of march. pray that they will get a testimony from GOD. they are taking our word and the word of their dead father/husband, instead of praying and asking.

also we are praying to be able to baptize a family of 3, dad, mom, and a kid the 21 of march, we are going to do everything possible so if you could pray and see if we can have some miracles these next 2 weeks that would really help us a lot. =)

havin fun. 

Elder Whitaker