Pictures from Elder Weaver

Elder Weaver continues to do great! We're way excited to have a few pictures to look at for once. 

As you can see by the coat, it's winter in Santiago and they've finally been getting some much needed rain. This is in downtown Santiago in La Plaza de Armas.

This is part of Elder Weaver's zone after playing some soccer.

Elder Weaver outside the Stake Center.

This was at Elder Weaver's last change in his District of Gringo's...

Elder Weaver and a GIGANTIC cat!

The Santiago Temple

Entonces, Esto es lo que significa humilarse...

July 13 E-mail

Queridos Amigos y Familiares,

¿Qué tal? ¿Qué cuenta? Estoy todo bien, pero esta semana pasada fue muy difícil. Estoy aprendiendo lo que significa ser humilde. Mi compañero y yo estamos trabajando muy duro, pero este sector es tan duro. La gente no quiere recibirnos para nada, y muchos nos rechazan. Aunque recibimos muchos rechazos, estoy feliz. Siempre trato de tener una sonrisa en mi cara. Ojalá que siempre yo pueda tener una sonrisa durante mi misión igual en los momentos difíciles y momentos de gozo. Yo sé que soy un representante del Señor y si la gente no reconoce eso, no es mi culpa, la única cosa puedo controlar es mi actitud. 

Anyways, this week was definitely a tough one. Lots of doors slammed in our faces this week. Lots of commentaries that definitely hurt. One day a man flat out just yelled at me because I'm American and he was saying how our church only sends gringos to Chile so that we can take advantage of them. Yo respondí "no estoy aprovechando de nadie, amo a los chilenos." The man wasn't having any of it though and slammed the door in my face after some other commentaries. He told Elder Ramirez that he had no problem with him though, so I guess that's good. Needless to say it took everything within in me not to fight back. The natural man’s tendency is to just flat out yell at the guy. I constantly have to think, "How would Christ act in this situation." I know that Jesus Christ suffered a lot worse than me. Christ had a lot worse rejections than I've ever had on the mission. The funny thing is that we're only walking a little bit of the path that Christ walked. People HATED Christ and the same applies today. People do not want to receive the truth; they "don't have time to hear it." 

The good news of the week. La familia tapia is progressing like crazy. They are so ready for baptism; they only need to get married. We had un asado today for p-day actually with them. Man, it was SO GOOD. You really learn to appreciate Chileno sausage down here. SO GOOD, MUY RICO. They already have a family proclamation and everything hanging in a nice frame in their house and they attend ALL 3 HOURS OF CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY!  We had probably the most spiritual lesson of my mission this past week with them. We talked about the atonement. The father, Daniel, is a member but he's been inactive for 25 years now. He's reactivating and has a real desire to change his life, but he doesn't feel ready or worthy to baptize his wife and daughters. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, I got to testify of what I love most about our Church, the power of the atonement. He started crying and the spirit was SO STRONG. That one moment made the whole week of suffering worth it. Daniel still has a long way to go, but man is it refreshing just to see someone who understands that we have to repent to live with God and Jesus Christ. We aren't just saved because we believe. SO AWESOME to see someone who FINALLY GETS THE PICTURE. 

We did acquire 10 new investigators this week. The mission has changed a little bit. We no longer teach inactive members. Turns out that the Quorum of the twelve doesn't like that Santiago Oeste y Sur missionaries are turning into home teachers just to have a certain number of lessons in the week. We teach inactives, but only if the family is incomplete and someone can be baptized. That's why we've been out in the street a lot lately. 

I forgot to write my thoughts about the death of Boyd K. Packer. When I heard that he passed away, I was definitely sad. President Packer has always been one of my favorites and his last talk shows the importance of being sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. That's my main goal for all the people I teach. I don't want them to just get baptized, because that's not enough; it's just the first step. I want eternal families. 

Elder Ramirez is definitely a blessing, he's super funny and we've had some really funny experiences. The mission isn’t easy. This P Day was hectic because we had to go into Santiago to renew my visa. It's crazy that I can basically do everything on my own now. I understand people and I can respond and everything. I renewed my very own visa today, all in Spanish, all by myself. Just 6 months ago I didn't even know what the heck was going on when I landed in Chile. 

Love this gospel, love my Savior, and I know he knows each one of us personally. I just want everyone to get the picture immediately sometimes, and it's definitely a trial on my patience. Tenga la mejor semana de sus vidas.

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Weaver 

GANAMOS...

July 6, 2015 E-mail...

¡¡¡¡GANAMOS!!!!! ¡CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE VIVA CHILE!

I'm going to try and be quick in this mass email so that I can respond to everyone that has emailed me. Primero que nada, GANAMOS! Man was it cool to be here in EL MEJOR PAÍS DEL MUNDO. You cannot even imagine what went down here in Chile once they scored to beat Argentina. The whole place went crazy! All the missionaries had to be in their pensiones 30 minutes before the game started at 5:30 because there was no way in heck we were going to get anything done the rest of the day. So we just cleaned our pension and planned basically on Saturday. I realize that it was the 4th of July and if anything I should've been celebrating our independence, but when Chile won, man was that cool! Plenty of fire works were going off here so no worries about me missing out on fireworks. Elder Ramirez and I celebrated the win by eating some pizza we had bought a day earlier and sitting outside on the patio watching everyone go nuts. Quite the riot. So I think it's safe to say I'm in the best mission because I happened to have just been here when Chile WON LA COPA AMÉRICA EN SANTIAGO. SO SWEET! 

Other than La Copa, Elder Ramirez and I have just been working as hard as ever. Wish I could say that this week we baptized La Familia Tapia, but we came to find out that the couple is not married! They have plans on sealing the deal this week so that they can be baptized either this weekend or the next. They are progressing very very well and have accepted La Palabra de Sabiduría, La Ley de Castidad, y El Diezmo. We passed by a lot this week and I made sure to have a member present in every lesson. I'm really trying to utilize the members in our ward especially because we have so many returned missionaries that are willing to help us out. 

We have two other investigadoras that have fechas también. Javiera y Catalina. Both are really great, the only problem is that they're 16 and 17 years old and they definitely aren't as excited to get up and go to church. They're reading and praying though and I have no doubts that they'll be baptized this change. 

Elder Ramirez is hilarious. I honestly think he's my best comp yet. I hope that I can have two changes with him because we get along really well. He speaks a little english and he asked me to teach him while we're in the pension. We sing hymns in English and he prays in English for every comp study. He shares his studies in English as well. It's just so funny to hear some of the things that he says. I still try my best to only speak Spanish, but I help him quite a bit when he asks me how to say something. He's got a great personality and the ward LOVES him. We have a new idea to contact every member of the barrio this change and give 5 proclamaciones de la familia y 5-cristo vivientes to every family. Then we're going to practice how to contact their vecinos with these documents. Our idea is that the members invite their neighbors to a family home evening and we then come over to teach, play games, and eat food. We think that this will be a lot more effective then just straight up contacting. The members have loved the idea so far; we're just waiting to get the documents. 

I really have been thinking a lot about what it is that would grab my attention if I weren’t a member of this church. I came to the conclusion that THE FAMILY is what draws my attention the most about our church. Families are literally at the center of what we believe and where we find happiness. That's what I try to put my focus in during a contact. Yes, Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know it! However, people are not going to just BOOM believe that Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ off the get go. Our gospel is PERFECT. I try to get people to focus on how perfect our gospel is before having them focus on gaining a testimony of Joseph Smith. Once they feel the absolute joy that our gospel brings, it's impossible not to believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. Everything follows after the Restauración. 

Tenga una buena semana! I love all of you and thank you for the love and support and prayers! KEEP PRAYING! The mission is definitely not an easy thing. I am growing so much and my relationship with our Savior is stronger than ever!  

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Weaver 

VAMOS A FREAKING SACAR LA MUGRE...

E-mail from June 30, 2015... Still No Pics...

Queridos familiares y amigos, 

I GOT A NEW COMPANION!!! Of course I got a new comp, but this guy may be my best companion yet. His name is Elder Ramirez and he is from Mexico City, Mexico! Ha! Ha! I guess President just feels like I need some more Mexicano influencia en mi vida. The cool thing is that he's super chill, super obedient, and he teaches like a boss. We weren't able to write our families yesterday because it was "ferrial" or something like that yesterday and EVERYTHING was closed. So we just went to work after changes meeting. I had 3 lessons lined up already when he got here, and man was he grateful. He says he's never come into a new sector where the missionary actually has the Monday afternoon scheduled out with lessons. So we started off with a bang already. I'm using a lot of the members of our barrio right now to accompany us in the lessons. So yesterday we even had a lesson with a MAC. It looks like we're going to have 3 baptisms this weekend actually with La Familia Tapia. This family is SO PRIME. The husband is inactive and he's looking to regain his testimony, but his wife and daughters want to be baptized and have come to Church 3 times already. We still have to teach them Lesson 4 and 5, but it looks like they can have their baptismal interviews this Friday! I found this family too, so I'M PUMPED!!! They still have a few doubts, but we're going to visit them every day this week to make sure they're prepared and ready to make this HUGE commitment. So stoked!

We really have quite a few investigators that are going to be baptized this change sí o sí. Elder Ramirez is pumped because it looks like we'll have a baptism every weekend this change! He says he's never seen a 5 ½ month missionary line up baptisms so perfectly. 

Last week was pure mayhem. My tooth came out during an almuerzo and luckily I didn't swallow it. I kept it and then went to a dentist the next day. The problem is that the dentist lives in the Santiago East mission and it was SO FAR AWAY. He put it back on there nicely though and it looks like I'm set for the rest of my mission. It was funny because the last time I did this was with Doctor Rysner and it was in English! It was funny to do it with a dentist that only speaks Spanish. "Muerde Elder Weaver, por favor." The dentist is actually a member and he served in Colombia. 

Elder Ramirez is 16 and a half months into his mission and he is a boss. Vamos a sacar la mugre este cambio. Last week we literally didn't accomplish anything because Elder Culbertson had to go to soooo many “go homer” shin digs and he got deathly sick.  Sunday we went to "Cristo Viviente" which was a musical put on by the mission and we brought one of our recent converts and her Mom who is investigating. It was very, very good and I really had a lot of feelings of gratitude for my Savior that night. Not to mention basically all the member from Padre Hurtado were there and they were all SO EXCITED TO SEE ME! I felt so loved. I also saw Sicilia who was our housekeeper while I was in Alcantara and she was freaking out when she saw me. It's fun because now I can actually talk to her and carry on a conversation. 6 months ago I couldn't do that. 

We also went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with a recent convert on Saturday and it was SUPER AWESOME. Valentina loved it and after we stopped by the CCM to say hi to Presidente Doll and Hermana Doll. They remembered me too and were very happy to see me. They were very impressed with my Spanish and all the CCM students were just awe struck by the fact that I could talk with all the Spanish teachers so fluidly. 

All and all, I'm very, very happy and pumped for this next change. I know this is the work of the Lord and I absolutely love it. Elder Ramirez is a 2nd generation member of the Church and he's got a great testimony of the gospel. He has 2 brothers and 1 sister just like me and he's the oldest. All his siblings share the same age as my siblings too. He likes all the same music as me and like sports as well, especially soccer. He came from the flaete zone of Ochagavía and the first thing he said in our sector is "que quico." Haha, yeah it is and it's hard too, but we're going to tear it up here. 

Love all of you! Have an awesome week! Always, always, always stay humble and remember your Savior in all that you do. 

Chau,

Elder Weaver 

Un Otro Cambio Esta Terminando...

E-mail from Connor on June 22, 2015... SORRY, HE DOESN'T SEND US PICTURES! Argh!

Muy Buenas Tardes de Chile mis queridos amigos y familiares, 

Esta semana fue buena porque tuvimos cuatro investigadores están en la capilla por la reunión sacramental. Pedro participó más que los miembros en el barrio. Estoy muy animado por este próximo cambio, pero esta próxima semana va a ser difícil porque Elder Culbertson se va en seis días. Matando un compañero es difícil. Tenemos cualquier trunky conversación y quiero enfocarme en la obra. Estoy todo bien y amo las experiencias estoy teniendo cada día. 

So this week nothing crazy really happened other than the fact that we had the most lessons this sector has had for approximately 5 months! WOOOOOOO 22 lessons! 4 of our investigators came to Church this Sunday too! I was so pumped! Pedro participates more during the classes than any other member of the ward! The teachers love him because he answers every question. The problem is that he still has a lot of doubts about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. I'm trying to have him just focus in the gospel principles rather than Joseph Smith. I told him that the gospel is perfect and that's what he should focus on before he just focuses on whether Joseph Smith was a prophet or not. If you feel that the gospel is true then EVERYTHING ELSE FOLLOWS. He thinks that it is really admirable that we have the word of wisdom and the law of chastity, and he really just loves everything about the Church, but he just doesn't know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He's going to be baptized, we've just got to be patient. I absolutely love the guy too. He's 60 years old and a lawyer and he is just so funny. Every time we come to visit he always speaks to us in English  to just greet us. "Hello, hello my friends Elder Wee Wee Wee verrrr y Elder Cooberson, how are you all today, I am great, please please come come in." Then after that he always gives us the biggest Chileno hug-and-shake combo. He’s such a great guy with a very great heart, all he needs is baptism. 

Other than Pedro we had La Familia Tapia come to Church and our ward family home evening this Saturday night! Their dad is a member of the church, but he's inactive and they've now gone to Church 2 times! They’re already basically apart of the ward and they'll be baptized this next change. We found them about 3 weeks ago and they're great! 

We also have Javiera and Rosa with baptismal dates. Rosa is the woman who has cancer.  

We got into a house this week with a large family and it was quite the experience. They were super nice, but then their Dad who walked into the room and you could immediately feel the spirit leave the room. I can honestly say that my testimony grew in that moment. I gave a powerful testimony that I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ and that we are the only Church that has the authority to baptize. I said that I could never deny this because I've had too many spiritual experiences that have verified this truth. They weren’t having any of it though, at least not the Dad, and none of them wanted to commit to a baptism or another date.  Elder Culbertson was like "wow, that was intense" as soon as we left. We did end up leaving with some of their food though. The funny thing is that none of them ever said that their church was the church of Christ. They just said "Oh, all churches that believe in Christ are true." I just find it funny that some people can’t even stand up for their own beliefs here.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ’s church on the earth today, and I will always testify of this boldly!  

Other than that just more door slams and people showing me their tattoos because I act like Grandpa Weaver and act like I'm really interested in their tats. One guy even lifted up his shirt and everything to show me. Fun stuff. 

I get to bear testimony of my Church a lot here. It takes courage, but I've yet to have anyone attack me after I bear a power witness of my Savior Jesus Christ. NEVER BE ASHAMED OF SOMETHING THAT IS RIGHT!  Always stand up for what you believe in every time!  People have their agency, but at judgement-day I will say, “I never denied the faith.” 

I love all of you so much. Thank you for the support! Que les vayan bien!

Elder Weaver