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| Flying to Wichita |
July 15, 2013
RE: Oi! Como Vai?
Entao,
I LOVE THE KANSAS WICHITA MISSION! So
far, I have taught about 3 different people. Sister Harris is a lady in
her 70's. She reminds me of Aunt Sandi. She his hilarious! She calls the
missionaries "her boys." She has been receiving lessons for about a
month now. She reads the Book of Mormon and her only hold-up on Baptism is that
her kids don't want her too. They're super controlling, but it sounds like she
wants to join the church regardless! She went through chemo this year and so
she has a few wigs she calls "her girls." She seems to be doing
a little better now. She maintains a positive attitude despite having a heart
condition.
We taught Boney. Boney is a
Seventh-day Adventist. So, he attends the institute and church. He loves the
Book of Mormon and believes it to be scripture. He has a problem with
worshipping on Sunday. He feels that Saturday is the Sabbath day (since he is
an SDA). He said, "I'll worship both days if I have to!" So, we're
doing our best to help him work through that so he can be baptized and partake
of the restored gospel!
Anne. So, I wanted to organize the
area book because it was in bad shape (Dad, thanks for teaching me that the
Lord's House is a House of Order, and for teaching me to be orderly). So we
were tearing it up in the Area Book and we wrote down names of people that
stood out to us that we should visit. (There were a lot of people who were
dropped or were not continuing to have an updated teaching record for no
reason! Crazy! Missionaries need to understand the responsibility they have for
God's Children.) Anyways, my companion and I went on splits (they call them
"Team-Ups" down here, but I don't really like that name) with a
member named Shane. (Shane is less active due to anxiety issues he has with
large groups of people, but we got him to come to church this Sunday!) So my
companion felt inspired to visit this one person named Anne. She let us in and
told us how she had just finished surgery and wanted to come to church! She had
a Book of Mormon already and we are going to attempt to visit her this week
even though she has many doctors’ appointments. So, we returned to the Area
Book to review her teaching record, and it said she had received a witness of the
truthfulness of The Book of Mormon! She had only not committed to baptism
because of her previous impending surgeries. And when we looked for her address
it was not on her teaching record! We still don't know where my companion got
her address! This is nothing short of a miracle.
Gabby! Gabby! Has been meeting with
the missionaries for a while now. She was fellowshipped by her boyfriend
Brandon. I got to teach a lesson to her with 5 other missionaries. So cool! We
went over the Baptismal Interview questions with her and obeying the law of the
land. She set a date to be baptized for next Saturday! She had wanted to
wait until it felt right to set a date and she said it feels right!!! She has
so much faith. Brandon has been deployed somewhere far away so he won't be able
to attend but he is so supportive and wants her to continue with her commitment
to be baptized whether he is there or not. She has a two-year old daughter.
Sister Cluff was also there helping teach the lesson! Member present lessons
are always so gooooooood! I cannot stress how important it is for members to
work alongside full-time missionaries.
My companion's name is Elder
Holbrook. He's been a pretty good trainer so far. He's from Utah,
a town called Farmington. He is the complete opposite of Elder
Cervantes. Elder Holbrook will talllllllkkkkkkkkkk all day long if he can! He
is super funny though and his enthusiasm and talkative nature will be good for
me as I prepare for the remainder of my missionary service. It's funny because
he actually just barely finished his training and now he's training me! With
the number of missionaries out now, this will probably become more common than
rare. We have 3 sisters serving in our ward as well. Sisters McKay, Christenot,
and Tenney. Sister Tenney is waiting for a Visa to Brazil as well. We practice
our Portuguese a lot with members of the ward who served missions to Brazil.
Also, I ate dinner with the Howards
last night. Brother Howard served in Portugal, and his wife is hard of
hearing. So! I got to speak Portuguese with him and I used ASL to communicate
with her! It was way fun.
I got to go, but I Love Y'all!
The pictures are of me and two angels
the Lord sent me. One is named Elder Noll, the other is Elder Critchfield.
Press Forward Saints!
Elder Weaver
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| Elder Noll & Weaver |
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| Elder Weaver & Critchfield |
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Elder Willett
doing his "Blue Steel" Face. Sister Sirmans and Elder McKnight are in
the background.
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Elder
Reinhardt and Elder Weaver |
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Elder
Cervantes and Elder Weaver |
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Nosso
Distrito |
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Elder Michael
Truman Capawana. This man is both a gentleman and a scholar and he is one of
the funniest people you will ever meet!
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Elders Wilson, Weaver and McMaster, My Roommates
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The Lone
Angolan (Elder Whittaker) and I
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The remnants
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In the quiet
misty morning when the moon has gone to bed, when the sparrows stop there singing and the sky is clear and red!
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P.S. Also,
I'm in the Ward where the mission
home is so I see President Bell all the time! It's so great! I thought you'd
like to hear that. The members have been feeding us super well. (In fact I wish
they'd lay off so I could actually learn how to cook, but that's alright.) I
Love You, So much!
Thank You for sharing your scriptures
and thoughts. I Love You. Your Portuguese is coming along, I see ;) One
scripture I have been thinking about lately is in 2nd Kings chapter 6. It talks
about how the servant of Elisha is frightened and then the Lord opens the eyes
of the young man that he may see. And he sees chariots of fire, angels, and
multitudes of heaven there to assist him. Even though you are distant, I have
never felt you so near.
I Love You, Mom.
Elder Weaver
