We Had A Uplifting Zone Meeting

July 28, 2014

Beautiful Colatina (pronounced Koh-la-Tcheena)

The Mission President Report

Nós tivemos uma Reunião de Zona muita edificante. Nossa semana foi boa. Encontramos alguns novos e ensinamos nosso Recem-Converso a 1a Lição de novo. Vamos continuar a fazer nosso melhor.

(Google Translation)

We had a lot of uplifting Zone Meeting. Our week was good. We found some new and teach our new convert first lesson again. We will continue to do our best.

This is the District/Half the Zone
and the Assistants

Dear Family & Friends,

Hahaha! I'll look the word up now because you said that. Cobblestone's the best! I do miss the ocean, but the river and mountains are pretty sweet!

We are going to make District T-Shirts with a cartoon of the mountains and river making the baptism symbol. I'll send pictures when we make them. The pictures are sweet!!! Thanks so much for sending them.

Mom, your hair is so...happenin'! I like Dad's selfies, too. The set-up in the den looks legendary, I'm not gonna lie. And the random picture of Allison's foot was hilarious. What did Christopher do to his hand? Haha, hope he's alright.

Congrats to Ashley!!! That's such a neat responsibility. She will be a great Senior missionary!

I got the package with the chocolate covered cinnamon bears and my jacket. Thank you so much! It came in handy when it rained a little the other day.

YES MOM! Fetch all of the music you can from the Library. Don't let the man keep you down. Hahahaha.

I'm glad to hear about Chris's visit. Y'all gave him some good advice. He is a stellar chap and only deserves the best. I hope everything works out the way The Lord wants it, too. The longer I have spent on my mission, and the more talks I have read, the more excited and anxious I am to continue on the Weaver legacy with a family I help create.

I'm glad to hear everyone was able to partake of the Sacrament safely without overhead problems. Our branch meets at 9 until 12 o clock. At first it was weird. But one thing I like about it is how people are generally more reverent for the administration of the Lord's emblems due to the fact that they just came from two other meetings and have already got their socializing and "wiggles" out.

I'm glad you were able to visit Paula. Sometimes people make baptism more complicated than this simply beautiful ordinance is. You need faith. After that you have to repent. And these two simple, yet often difficult steps will qualify you for Baptism. And Baptism qualifies you for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Which truly is a gift. And then comes the Enduring to the End part. Paula will see it one day, soon.

I am so sad for Dad! I hope he gets better. And if he needs anything, let me know. I can't really do much for him, being here on the other side of the hemisphere, but tell him I Love Him. If he were in Brasil the people would say, "Eat a banana!" That's their solution for everything, hahaha.

Yeah, he sure is. To which email from Jake are you referring?

I finished Jesus The Christ today. Thank you for your comments. They reminded me a lot of what Elder Talmage said. We are redeemed. Elder Bednar also said that the Atonement has a redeeming power (which saves us from sin) and an enabling power (that helps us become better than we are and achieve our fondest dreams). One of my favorite publications of the Lord's church says, "Ask Heavenly Father what you can do for Him."

I know this is short, but I hope my email appears "bigger on the inside" and that throughout the week you can be assured that I am fine.

I Love You,

Élder Weaver

This is Elder McKnight from
my MTC District!  I got to see
him at our half Zone Meeting.
He is a great guy.

This Week Was Great In The New Area Of Colatina

July 21, 2014

Trust me, I'm an Elder

Letter To President

Esta semana foi ótima! Manoel foi confirmado! Encontramos Luana e ensinamos Jean.

(Google Translation)

This week was great! Manoel was confirmed! Luana find and teach Jean.

Me and Elder Branco

Dear Family & Friends,

I love my companion! Elder Branco is way funny! I'll send you some pictures. He cut my hair today. Haha. Yeah Colatina is more inland. I'd take more pictures but it's been cloudy so, I'll send y'all better ones when the sun is shining.

Sorry, It will be short today, I have a lot to do this P-Day, but I'm never too busy for all of YOU! :)

Yeah, that's funny that Chris is interested in going for someone younger than Allison and I, but hey, if it's meant to be nothing else matters. But make sure and do your research ;) it's the only Weaver thing to do.

I got a sweet letter from Aunt Debbie the other day, and I replied to it.

That's a bummer Dad's not feeling to good. I'll be sure to send some Love.

Thank you for the quote. It is especially apt as we sang, "More Holiness Give Me" in (Portuguese) during our companionship study. I'm not going to lie; it's really weird speaking another language.

I hope you all can tell how important you are to me. Nothing goes unnoticed to our Heavenly Father.

Love,

Me, Elder Weaver

So, I Got Transferred and In A Place Called Colatina

July 14, 2014

Mission President Report

Manoel foi batizado ontem! Nós vamos confirmar ele no próximo Domingo. Vamos focalizar em encontrar mais novos essa semana.

(Google Translation)

Manoel was baptized yesterday! We will confirm him next Sunday. Let's focus on newer find this week.

Dear Family & Friends,

Yay! We had a baptism. Preach My Gospel says, "The attitude you have toward your mission experience is a reflection of your love toward your Heavenly Father and His Son and your respect for the priesthood."

So, I got transferred. I'm in a place called Colatina. After almost 7 months in my first area of Brasil, I really came to Love that ward. I hope I left it off better than I found it. Here, Colatina is a branch, but it's as big as a ward. If there were a stake here or nearby, we would be a ward. The Church building is awesome! It's two stories, and the Chapel is on the second floor! Sacrament Meeting is last which is kind of weird. The city is set on a series of hills and mountains but is divided in the middle by a large river. We live close to the river. Some of the streets have cobblestone... COBBLESTONE! "I repeat things for emphasis...EMPHASIS!"

Haha, Oh Drake & Josh. I'll take some pictures this week to send to all of you. Our city has a Jesus statue that looks like a mini-version of the one in Rio.  Yeah, we lost :´( But Brasil still has won more World Cups than any other nation ;) 5-Time Champion BABY! But I was glad Argentina didn't win because Brasil would have been morbidly depressed if they had, haha. Brasil and Argentina don't exactly get along very well.

YAYYYYY! I'm glad you got the job you were looking for! :) We do appreciate your help! We cannot do it without you and Dad.  And hey, I know you guys want me to save my money, but please, use all of the money I saved up for my mission. I want nothing left in that bank account when I come home. That might sound crazy, but I want it all to go to my mission. I want to contribute as much as I can. All of you can help me with school and life when I get home, but I want to own as much of my mission as I can. The Lord will provide a way for everything. He Always Does. Don't feel bad, but please use it all. You still have access to my savings account, right?! Please...break my bank :)

Wow, your summer is hot. Our winter is so cold...we had a balmy 68 degrees today...we were practically freezing... Yeah, I'm speaking Portuguese. I don't know. Sometimes I forget that I'm not speaking English.

YES! I am so glad you got to go to the House of the Lord for Aunt Tess. I may have told you this already, but that is the first thing I want to do with all of you when I get home. I would like to do ordinances in the Kansas City, Nauvoo, and Portland Temples with all of you. And we will save ourselves with all our dead.

That is interesting you should mention that because today in my personal study I read in Jesus The Christ about Christ's victory over death and evil as He arose from the tomb. Elder Christofferson gave a good talk about this in the last Conference and "Sunday Will Come" by Joseph B. Wirthlin describes the good news of The Resurrection. He Truly Is The Son Of God!

I Love You All,

Your Son, Grandson, Nephew, Brother, and Missionary,

Élder Weaver

P.S. I Love You Butterscotch! :)

This Week Was Way Cray!

July 7, 2014

The Mission President Report:

Esta semana Deborah (um recem-converso) trouxe o irmão dela (Douglass) para a Igreja! A namorada dele Tatiana estava lá também. Vamos focalizar em encontrar essa semana. Eu sou muito grato pelo tempo que eu podia servir aqui! Eu estou ansioso para trabalhar em minha nova área também!

(Google Translation)

This week Deborah (a new convert) brought her brother (Douglass) to the Church! His girlfriend Tatiana was there too. Let's focus on finding this week. I am very grateful for the time I could serve here! I'm looking forward to working in my new area too!

Dear Family & Friends,

This week was way cray! I bore my testimony at Church and cried a little bit. Irmão Umberto talked about how it doesn't always matter what I say because people here can understand what I mean by the way I talk. That made me feel really good. Irmão Isaaque also talked about missionaries in his testimony. He said whenever he is having a bad day, he always feels better by being around the missionaries.

And yes, I got a call last night that I will be transferred on Wednesday! I think I was the only one to get transferred from the District this transfer. I Love the Ala Jardim Limoeiro and I have truly grown and learned a lot here. But I am also excited for this new opportunity to serve the Lord.

I'm glad your fourth of July was great! Mine was...different, but great too. It was strange singing the Brasilian national anthem on the fourth of July, but I still Love where I came from. Yeah I think Brasil's Independence Day is the 7th of September or something like that.

Of course I will pray for Josh. Our family will grow stronger and closer because of his experiences.

Hahaha. Yeah, when I come home I'm pretty sure I'll feel like I'm in the future. There's a lot of technology here, but it's really expensive and not everyone has it. Most people have smart phones by LG but iPhones are very expensive here. A lot of technology is imported as well. But they have just about everything here; you just have to know where to find it.

YES! I'm excited to share in all of this with Dad and y'all!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Even though I wasn't an official set-apart full-time missionary at the time, I consider him one of my first investigators. I AM SO HAPPY FOR OLPHA! I remember when Elder Keller texted me that he got baptized. I cried. I didn't think I did much to help Olpha. I even wondered if he remembered me. Thank you and Brad for sharing that with me. No effort is ever wasted.

If you can make the trip to Utah, that would be way fun. I know we all thought of her going to Idaho, but it might not be a bad idea to present the idea of studying at BYU Provo to her. Her personality and talents may actually be better suited for that big place. I'm not sure. But I think it would be worth submitting to her.

HAHAHA! Classic Christopher! :) Seize the day, *you know what I'm sayin'*! That would be sweet! Because my son from Kansas grew up in Dallas, Oregon! His name is Charles Johnson. I don't know, but maybe this young lady knows him!

Grandpa would love that. Fishing is something I hope to get into when I get home. I Love OREGON! I hope you all know how much our move means to me.

I Love Alma 5 and 7! Last night at a Book of Mormon reading with some recent-converts we read Almas 23 and 24 about the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. They are heroes.

Thank you for everything!

This week we also had another Zone Conference and I got to meet President and Sister Young!!! She doesn't speak much Portuguese but her talk was so spiritual. And the President loves us. You can tell. He asked me a lot of questions about my family :) to which I happily replied. He told me his story was similar to mine. He did not get his Visa for São Paulo and served in California for about the same time as me, I think. I also got to see Elder Cervantes and my friends again. I even made some new ones.

Things will certainly improve.

I Love How The Lord Answers Our Prayers,

Your Son, and Fellow Servant,

Élder Weaver

So I Gave A Talk In Sacrament Meeting Yesterday

June 30, 2014

Re: How is the Craziness?

The Report to Mission President:

Skarlet was at Church! She loved all of the classes and she said she felt like they were just for her! Lorrainy helped a lot and my recent convert Wiliane also showed her around at church. We will try to baptize her this week while the transfer still lasts! We will work with the parents to get active again as well. President Young arrived this week. He is very humble everyone says. We will have a Zone Conference again tomorrow to meet him. Probably I will see Elders Cervantes, Bybee, Knudson, Capawana, and Pinagotte again!!!

Dear Family & Friends,

So, I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, and everyone said they loved it which made me feel better because I was very nervous. Irmã Ilza, our landlady, said that my Mom would be so pleased with me! :) Isaaque told me that he cried. "I was balling, man!" He said. He's the Elders Quorum President. I've gotten really close with him. He served a mission in Provo and speaks English very well. Bishop Wesley also told me my talk was something the Ward should hear. This is all great news because I found out about my talk on Friday night! I think somebody fell through so they asked a missionary to help. But you and Dad have had to do that a lot, too! I'm just a chip off the old block, huh?! ;) Thank You for all of your preparation with me getting ready for my mission.

Raspberry picking!!! Yummmmm! :) I think the games go on until mid-July, but I'm not sure. Yay, Dad! I'm glad he gets to talk with a friend. If Dad doesn't want the stress of driving to Washington, may I suggest the train?! I Love how relaxing it is and it may be less than gas money, though I'm not sure. And he would get there in a prompt time.

Sounds fun! Yeah, I saw David Archuleta's deal on the Church's website.

Yes, I am glad that the Bible offers clear direction on Priesthood Ordinations. Wherein it states that no one "taketh this honor unto himself but He that is called of God as was Aaron." Sorry If I wrote it wrong because I'm translating it from Portuguese in my head. But the Priesthood cannot be sold or bought for money, but rather is a gift from God. And as Elder Neil L. Anderson in the October General Conference put it:

 "A man may open the drapes so the warm sunlight comes into the room, but the man does not own the sun or the light or the warmth it brings. The blessings of the priesthood are infinitely greater than the one who is asked to administer the gift."

Mother, Thank You for your thoughts. You are the family I do not deserve, but I need. I hope to Return With Honor. It is my greatest dream.  Both returning home from my 2-year mission, and also returning HOME to my Father in Heaven after my life's mission.

I Love You All,

Élder Weaver