We Had To Drop A Lot Of People This Week And Focusing On Finding

August 4, 2014

Our District
The Sisters with my companion
being a goofball!

Dear Family & Friends,

Thank You so much! Yes, I got everything in the package. I revealed many of the photos you sent so I could keep them forever. I'm glad to hear Chris will take it slow, and I hope his hand (and heart) feel better soon. Congrats on the mission calls! The Lord loves the help. YESSSS! The Giver. The long awaited day is coming. I hope they don't mess it all up. But I will be anxious to see it, too!

We had to drop a lot of people this week so we're focusing on finding again, but I would like to work more with the members to obtain references. My companion and I have been talking about how our work can be more effective.

That would be great to get an additional set of missionaries! It's always great having a set of Sisters because often they can get into homes that we can't. My first area had both Elders and Sisters and right now the branch has both as well, but our area is huge so they work on one side of the river and we work on the other.

I have so much to tell you all when I get home it's not even funny!

Yeah, we walk about 30 minutes to the Church, but we don't use the bus. I LOVE IT! We save so much money and the church is wayyyy closer. I remember walking an hour and a half sometimes to get to church, and feeling bad that we couldn't be teaching someone during the time we were walking.

Hahaha, the mission office. I never go there. We don't get delivery mail in this mission. So what happens is once a month our Zone Leaders will give our mail to us in a meeting, if we have any. 

No, I haven't had that many weird things, just fruits that I had never had like Guava and Bread Fruit. Sweet potatoes and yams are white, not orange here, which is kind of weird. But talking of food, I had a question. I want to make an apple crisp like you used to. It doesn't need to be a pie or super fancy; I just want to know if you could send me a simple recipe? We have flour, sugar, and oatmeal at the house but I can buy cinnamon for pretty cheap and milk, and oil. That would be great thanks!

No, the Sisters will print the idea for the t-shirts today and we might get them printed after District Meeting on Thursday. I'll send you a picture of the idea.

The picture idea for the t-shirts

I Love the thunder. If you have a minute check out the song "It's Thunder and It's Lightning" by a band called "We Were Promised Jetpacks" it complements the storm quite nicely. Hahaha! I can't believe I remembered all of those names?! I've still got it! ;)

Best of Luck with Allison, I know she'll know her track soon. It really doesn't matter which one she gets. If she's in school when I get home, I can walk to Idaho, haha.

I really haven't but I sent an email to President today saying how I would Love to meet with him. We'll see how it goes. He'll probably give me a call later today.

AWWWWWWwwwwww CATHY! I Love YOU!!! I laughed really hard at that picture of you and Allison on the couch. I hope the house comes along soon! Keep smiling and I hope you fly safe!

Love, Me :)

Hi BUTTERSCOTCH! I Love YOU WHOSE A GOOD BOY?!?!?!

I remember a scene from the Joseph Smith movie, as Joseph Smith Senior lay sick the prophet told him, "You will always be his father, and Alvin will always be your son."

I have a family here on earth. They are so good to me. I want to share my life with them through all Eternity. As Famílias Poderão Ser Eternas.

More to follow.

I Love Thee All,

Elder Weaver

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

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