Elder Westenskow has had some events happen this month that have been really hard for him to miss!  But I am grateful that he is so strong in testimony and spirit.  He still struggled not being home, but working hard to deal.  Love him so much!   A new nephew Beckham was born...perfect!!  And we lost Grandma Westenskow this month.  One of the hardest things was to make that phone call to our Missionary!! 

Hey family! This week has been really tough but we finally will have a baptism this Saturday! I am really tired but this week we have really walked and looked for new people to teach! So this week we have had the blessing of teaching Joselo who will be baptized on Saturday! I feel so happy that he chose me to baptize him! I really feel blessed to be here in the mission! The blessings are so great and the sorrow so little! I really feel like that this is the true Gospel Of Jesus Christ! The Gospel gives us that peace and joy that we seek each and everyday! We can pass soo many difficulties, but the Gospel is the way to overcome everything! I wish i would have been a better brother,son, and friend before the mission! I have realized that through diligence in the scriptures and fervent prayers! I love the peace and teachings that i have learned here on the mission! This the preparation to be the Dad and Husband that i will need to be! I have been down this past week having health problems and being a little down about the work! I have felt down because of soo much that is happening at home! I know i need to be here, but family stop having kids and random things because i cant handle anymore! I love my savior and his teachings! I love his atonement and for the peace that i feel by his prophets. I have now less then 8 months in the mission! This will be the time where i will need to work harder than i ever had! I Love you guys sooo much!! I pray about you guys daily!

LOVE ELDER WESTENSKOW

Hey family this week has passed rapidly!! I have been soo busy it seems i dont have even 10 minutes to sit down! Well anyway we ended not having the baptism saturday because he got really sick and was sent to Santiago in the Hospital but on the 24th he will be baptized with another man as well! The work is great here and we just transfers and im going to be here for one more transfer!! I have been soo bessed in my mission and i have many miracles happen! I have had a good few tranfers here and im glad that i can stay onee more!! Today i really want to about something today! I prayed this morning to know what i should say but really i thought of what we taught one of our invetigadores yesterday! We talked about repentance, she was touched by the spirit as we shared a scripture in Alma 5:26 Which says " Y ahora os digo, hermanos míos, si habéis experimentado un cambio en el corazón, y si habéis sentido el deseo de cantar la canción del amor que redime, quisiera preguntaros: ¿Podéis sentir esto ahora?" I really love this scripture!! We really need to ask ourselves if we have had experience a change of heart? Its a really important step in the repentance process! As we have that change of heat we will lose that desire to sin!! When we sin and keep sinning trying to justify our sins we cant feel that love God in our liives!! The spirit doesnt dwell in unclean places!! And we finally know something is wrong and we continually fall to the temptation we arent experiencing that change of heart! Someone who has experienced that change heart is a person who though tempted will not have that desire to keep sinnig! I know its hard but thats why lord has given the Scriptures and prayer and The Sacrament!!! His atoneing sacrifice of our Savior is the key to have that change of heart and to know that we can be forgiven for whatever we have done!! The sacrament is the way to recieve that remission of our sins every week but if we dont go to church that sin is still with us! Family i love my Savior!! He has comforted me in these last few weeks!! I am grateful that through him i can experience that change of heart and lose that desire to sin!! I love you guys soooooo  much!! This is the work of the lord!! I KNOW IT!!

Elder Westenskow   

Well family i dont know where to start.... but this week has been hard not being with you guys and to comfort each and everyone of you!! I really hope that the each and one of you can feel the presence of the savior in this time of sadness!! This week i was trying to think of what i was going to do, and so that very night i prayed and it wasnt a normal prayer that i normally do, but this time i prayed that i could feel his love and comfort and that he could shed his love and care over each and everyone of you guys as well! I prayed to know that everything would be ok, and in that very instant i felt the presence of my savior and the comfort of his spirit that everything would be alright and that Grandma is in a place of peace and now is watching over each and everyone of us! This week i have tried to get lost in the work and i havent ever felt this close to my savior and the power of his great work before! Jesus Christ really is our savior!! He is the Prince Of Peace! I know that through his example and through the price that he paid we as his brothers and sisters can be blessed and he will help us overcome any trail that we may face in this life!! I love him, and I am grateful to say that i know him! This is the true Gosple of Jesus Christ!! We will through obedience can be strengthened and hubmbled! The Church is true! I would not be here in the mission if i didnt know these things!! Grandma will be with us again I KNOW IT!! She is now watching and taking care of us with Grandpa again!! If she were here she would tell us these things!! On Saturday we will have another baptism!! His name is Joselo and im soo happy for him!! wel family this is my letter!!!

Love 

Elder Westenskow    

well family this week was good because i was able to baptize one one of my investigadores!! well really i dont know what to say.. this letter is tough..

                                      Grandma Westenskow! 

So who is my Grandma Westenskow? She is my best friend! She was my hugger and i was hers!! i loved the hugs that she shared with me throughout my life! As i sat the truck today waiting to return to my area i thought of all the times we had! I remember the times she went to Disneyland and played and had fun with the whole family!! i rememeber during those trips she would get mad at grandpa for buying another hat!! I also remember and cherish all those times when i slept over at her house after grandpa died!! We would cook and we would watch a movie or something and then just talk!! i would sleep over and when i woke up we would eat breakfast together while she talked about her walking!! She just was a loving, and charitable person! Her voice was always smooth and by the way she talked to you you could feel her love for that person!! She was a faithful wife and mother and Grandmother!! She was an active member of the church! She had a huge testimony about the Gospel! We at this time feel sad maybe a little heart broken but as members of this wonderful church WE KNOW THAT WE WILL SEE HER AGAIN!!! As we meet here to see her funeral she too is having a reunion with her beloved husband and son Mike! she is right now with her brothers and parents!! Like before she will always be watching over us!! She is now in a place of peace and Joy! I love her soo very much! Im grateful to have had a Grandma like her in my life!! She will ever be in my heart! I know as we think and ponder of the life of the this GREAT daughter of God i know that she is quoting 2 Timothy 4:12 Which reads HE PELEADO LA BUENA BATALLA, HE ACABADO LA CARRERA, HE GUARDADO LA FE. I so testify that our heavenly father loves each and every one of us!! he knows that we are not perfect but that is why he sent his beloved son Jesus Christ to give up his life so that we can live and become perfected through him!! I know that this is the true church if god!! that we have a living prophet today! I know like God said to Joesph Smith in Doctrine in Covenents is true!! Paz a tu alma hijo mio tus aflicciones y adversidades serán por un breve momento!! I know this to be true and i so testify in the name of our savior even Jesus Christ Amen  

Well family we are one week out from Skyping!!!! Im sooo excited to see and talk to you guys!! still i dont have the time for the 25th because its really hard to find a place open this christmas!! Anyway i will get it taken care of! So this week we recieved a ton of new references!! this christmas season is soo great! Im miss you guys so much but i wouldnt trade this for anything!! some of the things that happened this week was that we recieved 3 references this week and they all said that they had the desire to be baptized so the next month they will be baptized!!! we are seeing miracles here!! the names are Bienvenido, Joselo, Angelica! they are soo special!! they have some really tough lives!! Bienvenido is really poor but soo happy, even though his family doesnt talk to him! He is an inspiración of hope for me because he keeps a positive attitude about everything! He loves his savior Jesucristo! the 27th of this month we will two more people get baptized!! There names are Estrella y Mario!! they are great and are soo excited for this date!! I feel sooo blessed.... This really is the work of the lord!! I know that the Savior loves each and everyone of us!! El desea que seamos felices en esta navidad!! El es la Dádiva!! Una Dádiva muy valeroso que tiene precio!! El es el primer regalo! yo les voy extrañar cada uno de ustedes pero yo se que mientras mis sacrificios ustedes serán grandemente bendecidos!! i will give the time on the 24th!! love you guys sooo much and i will see you next week!   

hey family!! so this week has been great!!! we are seeing a huge growth in the work! Our goal for this new year is to recieve 5 references a week from the members and investigadores!! we recieve one or two references a day now and im seeing miracles happen!! me and my companion are getting along and he is learning really fast!! he speaks italiano y portugueses! its pretty sweet if you ask me!! its been fun having more responsabilidad here in the mission! i feel like i have grown soo much!! on the 27th we will be having two more baptisms! Estrella and Mario!! they are great!! they have such a great disire to learn and follow their savior Jesucristo! Estrella tiene 20 años y Mario tiene 22 años! they are soo excited to be baptized! this week we have been talking a lot to our menos activos y nuestros investigadores about the real reason we celebrate Navidad! Really growing up i knew why we celerated navidad but i believe i did focus in his birth! im grateful for my savior and redeemer!! His love is unfailing! the atonement of Jesus Christ is the part most important to the plan of god! I love his teachings and his councils! I know that through him we can be blessed in all things and that he is the key to have peace in this life and complete joy for the eternidad! yo amo mi salvador! El es mi mejor amigo! le doy gracias por todo que hizo por mi! El libro de mormón es verdadero y contiene la plenitud del evangelio eterno! Se que Jesucristo vive y nos ama y que el es la cabeza de esta maravillosa iglesia! Se que profeta Thomas S. Monson es un profeta de Dios y esta recibiendo la dirección de Dios! i love you guys sooo much and pray that we can all remember the real reason why we celebrate christmas!! talk to you guys in two weeks!

Love Elder Westenskow 

Hola familia yo espero que todo esta bien!!! me alegres que cada uno de ustedes están bien en sus cartas!! primeramente GO PACK GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!! this week has been really great!! soo saturday i was feeling just fine and so i went to the baptisms and baptized Maria in the beach!! and Elisabeth was baptized by my compa!! im really happy excited for them because they are soo special and they have such a great testimonio de su salvador!! they are soo happy and are wanting to work with us now!! i have pictures but lets see if they can load!! well today i recieved my son or my new companion!!! His name is Elder Cardoso!!! He is form Uruguay!! He speaks really really fast in spanish and has a cool accent!! He asked presidente to have a companion that knows spanish and ingles in order to learn ingles!! He is sooo smart and has a great desire to serve!! these next few months we will work hard and i have a feelng that we make a huge diffrence here in Villa Vasquez!!! my health is better so dont worry family!! i have energy and strength!! i just need to be more better with the repelente!!! the mosquito net makes it harder to sleep but we will see!!! family this is my letter and i hope you guys know that i love each and every one of you and cant wait to talk to on Christmas!!!! thanks for everything!!!

Love Elder Westenskow