Week 40!

October 13, 2015

What Lack I Yet?

HOLA CABROS CÓMO ESTAI? 

So this week was a lot of contacting as usual. Can't really say that we had any crazy spiritual experiences, but we worked hard and had fun while doing it, and that’s what really counts, am I right? 

Can't believe that Isaiah Wood is married. This next year is going to be crazy. Chris Lyman, Josh Timmons, Jeff Booher, Parker Garner, Tyler Willis, and Austin Atkinson will all be getting home soon and I can only imagine the amount of weddings that are about to take place within this next year. If you guys are reading this... I expect wedding invites! Wow... weren't we all just in Deacon's quorum yesterday? 

Yesterday we had almuerzo with the bishop and his family. He likes to cook comida española and we ate a dish called "ropa vieja" yesterday, which literally means “old clothes,” but man was it good! Nothin' like some good ol' ropa vieja for lunch!

I have officially decided that "Santos, Avanzad" is my favorite hymn in Spanish. Page 38 in the Spanish himnario... man, so good. 

Mom's weekly emails to me are better than general conference talks. I'm always blown away when I read mom's epistles. So thanks Mom for keeping me inspired and focused! Love, love, love your emails! Dads aren't half bad either. 

So this week I prayed to know "¿Qué me impide de ser el mejor misionero yo puedo ser? ¿Cómo puedo mejor Padre Celestial?" (“What prevents me from being the best missionary I can be? How can I be better Heavenly Father? ") I have to say he responded rather quickly or as they say here "altiro." He just said, "Connor, you know you have way more to give than what you're giving right now. You know that you're not 100 percent consecrated to the work. You know there are many more people you can be talking to, FEED MY SHEEP!" 

It's not that I'm not working hard or that I'm distracted. The thing is that as a missionary I can always improve. Really, as Latter- Day -Saints we can always improve. We had a zone conference with President this week where he talked about how we can become consecrated missionaries. We received so many palos. There is so much more that I can be doing to be the best missionary I can be! I'm working hard to literally just lose myself in the work and completely forget about myself. It's not easy to do, but I'm trying. I Love the mission and love how we can learn in so many different ways from so many different people and challenges that come your way while on the mission.

My scripture to ponderize last week was Mosíah 4:9 and this week is D&C 29:4. We're teaching some really great Haitianos right now named Remy and Bilus (I’m not sure how to spell her name). Remy speaks Spanish pretty well and understands everything. He'll be going to church with us this next Sunday. Bilus is really shy, but loves when we come to visit. The thing about teaching Haitianos is that you simplify everything and they are SO RECEPTIVE TO THE SPIRIT. I love em; they're so awesome and so humble. Contacting them is so easy as well. They know that we represent Christ and so they all let us in, the only problem is the language barrier. 

 Rosalia got sick this week and so did just about everyone else in our zone... There's a virus going around and luckily I've already gone through it. 

 Super happy and stoked to be here in Villa Sur. It's definitely a new world in comparison to Pajaritos, but I love it! 

 Have and awesome week everyone! Love you all and pray for you guys everyday! 

 Love ya!

 Elder Weaver 

Don't Ya Just Love Conference?

October 6, 2015

Don't Ya Just Love Conference?

 Hola mis queridos wachitos y wachitas, 

2 General Conferences down in the mish! I honestly can't even believe that! The time just flies by here in Santiago. I think I'll start out by saying THANKS MOM FOR BEING THE BEST MOM A DORK LIKE ME COULD EVER HAVE! Wow, Elder Holland made us all feel pretty darn trunky after his talk about the love our mothers have for us. I can honestly say his statement that the only love on earth that is equivalent or close to equivalent of the love that our Savior and Heavenly Father have for us is from our Mothers! So true in my case, I wouldn't be who I am today without my Mom! Thanks Mom for getting me where I am today! 

I really loved all of conference. I did watch it in English because President told us that all of us should watch the conference in our native tongue. So I was in the English room with all the gringos! The atmosphere of the gringo room is always awesome. Elder Ewell who arrived with me in the CCM and was in my first zone in Peñaflor is also in Ochagavía so we were joking how we are going to be together for every conference we have in the mission. President Monson talk was great, but he was definitely suffering towards the end. But it doesn’t matter because I know without a doubt that he is called of God and he is our living PROPHET today! How cool was it to see 3 new apostles called by God?  I have to say that I personally thought the testimony of Dale G. Renlund was clutch stuff. Another heart surgeon in the quorum and man did I love his testimony! I think as missionaries we tend to look at each contact and each lesson just as something we do because we are called to do it. A lot like Elder Renlund does heart surgery just because it's his profession, so he became emotionally detached from his patients. I myself need to focus more on looking at each Chileno or Haitiano as a beloved child of God who needs to hear this message. I need to show them the same love that Christ has for them in each contact and each lesson. Maybe his testimony touched each of you in a different way, but that's what I took from it. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk as well and it really was an answer to my prayers. We become obsessed with all the gospel doctrine as missionaries and we need to, but we need to evaluate how the gospel is working for us and SIMPLIFY! We need to start where we are and just work on progressing. So when anyone asks how the gospel is working for us we can say, "It's working wonderfully thanks for asking! Would you like to learn more about why it's working so well?" Exaltation is our goal discipleship is our journey! I also loved Holland's quote "Our mothers don't just bear us, but they continue to bear with us." Kim B. Clark said, "We don't have to be perfect. But we need to be really good at getting better!"  I LOVE CONFERENCE! 

I didn't see Priesthood Session, but I'm sure it was steezy as always. I'll have to read it in the upcoming Liahona. 

Other than conference…this week was pretty good! We did some service for our prime investigator Rosalia who went to conference! She is so great and has a baptismal date for the 24th! Pray for her because she still has a lot of doubts! I saw some really, really sad things this week as well. We were walking the streets and a 94-year-old lady approached us and told us that she was a member. She lives in the cruddiest conditions I've ever seen and it broke my heart to see her "home." She told us that animals live better than her and I can honestly say that is true. We're going to try our best to just help her out. She even has her tithing from the past 3 months that she wants to give, but she can't walk to church on her own to do it. The stake attendance for conference was not very well attended. We literally only had 220 members in the Sunday sessions. So many members here are basically in-actives and EVERYONE needs the missionaries.

Other than that, we just did a lot of walking and talking as usual here. We need to find more people to teach because a lot of the people we have been working with aren't progressing. It's different here because there are SO MANY IN-ACTIVES.  Yesterday I talked to people that were baptized in the 80's and they still live here, but they just have forgotten everything, and have no desires to come back to Church. 

I Love the mission, I'm learning a lot, and I'm trying to just keep positive in every moment. 

Love all you guys, have a great week! 

Elder Weavercito