Week 72...

May 23, 2016

Baptism

Hey ya'll,

So we are in a trio. It's kind crazy because we can get into any house we want now. Unfortunately the party is going to end this week because Elder Johnson goes home Monday!! It's been a good change with him and we're super happy we could baptize Romina and Alison this past weekend to cap off Elder Johnson's mission! 

Elder Pomar is super stoked to not be the mission secretary anymore and is just happy as can be to walk in the street all day! He's a great guy! It's weird cause he was my secretary at BYU in the summer and now we're comps and I'll probably be killing him off as he goes home in August! 

This week was uneventful besides the baptism. I went on divisions with my best friend in the mish, Elder Manning and he’s definitely struggling in his sector right now, but man is he funny. He will be attending UVU after the mission.

The mission as a whole is trying to get 100 baptisms for the month of May and we have 6 in our zone for right now. Looks like we'll end with 8. The stress is real. I just constantly worry about everyone else! Love it though!

The workouts are awesome with Elder Johnson he is still working out like a mad man and Elder Pomar runs with us as well. He keeps up, but he definitely suffers.

Crazy to think Presidente goes home in a month. The mish is going to go crazy without him. We're all just getting ready for the change! 

La familia Alarcon is awesome, but they aren’t coming to church! This family will be baptized though! I swear! They always give us a ton of food, and it's hard to actually teach them because I always make them laugh a ton and then they get distracted... They're awesome and they'll get baptized, it's just a matter of time. 

Love the mission. Love the gospel. Love my Savior.  

Elder Weaver signing out! 

Week 71...

May 16, 2016

What up,

So let's get right to it cause I don't got a lot of time! This week was awesome! Elder Johnson is still working hard and we're seeing a lot of success in the zone and in the sector. We will be baptizing this weekend!!! Allison and Romina accepted and are super ready to just get in the water! We also have a good chance at baptizing on Elder Johnson's last weekend in the mission the 28th! We’re pumped! 

So this week I was on divisions with another Elder Johnson in our zone and we were working in our sector. We were going to teach a super awesome family that I found about 2 weeks ago. They are a complete family, married, and all the kids are 10 and older except for the 4-week-old baby girl. The mom's name is Susan and this week she told us that she just felt that she should let us in when we passed by the first time 2 weeks ago. Apparently her cat that hates people immediately started just getting up on me and loved me and she said that her cat never does that. She also was impressed that her dogs never barked at me and loved me too. Then as we started talking she just said that there's "something about me" that makes her want to listen to me. She said that I seem super genuine and that she can just see that my family is something that's really important to me and she said that my parents did a really good job at raising me. This is the first time a Chilena has ever told me stuff like that and whether Susan likes it or not... she's getting baptized along with her husband and 3 kids. She's feeling the spirit! She was a pretty devote catholic which is hard to find in Chile and then she kind of just stopped liking the church about 3 years ago. The family is awesome and I love them already. We finally met the dad on the division and he definitely is a hard one. He literally reminds me of Brother Thomas (Bren’s dad) it was crazy. The family is so prime though and we’ll get to him! 

So, we were waiting for our ward mission leader to meet up with us in order to get in and teach Susan and her kids. So I decided to contact. We got into a house with a guy who told us his name was Jose Smith!!! We didn't believe him, but at the end of the lesson he showed us his ID and sure enough... his name is Jose Smith! CRAZY! I'm gonna baptize him. 

We are getting another comp today and his name is Elder Pomar! He was secretary for a long time and now we're in a trio! The crazy thing is that Elder Pomar was my secretary at BYU during summer semester and he helped me with my interviews and all that to get my papers sent in...now we're comps! Small world! Pretty cool though, we've talked about being comps the whole mission!!! 

Love you all a ton! Love the mission! I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth today! I know miracles exist! I love baptizing! Go out and contact a neighbor! 

VAMOS CERRILLOS!!! 

Week 69... I'm Never Coming Home...

May 9th (the day after Skyping Elder Weaver)

How it be,

Long time no talk, but here I am sending my email to all ya'll. So I guess I'll just get right to the run down of the week. 

I was on divisiones basically all week. I went to one sector called Americo Vespucio and they're struggling with finding news. I went over and Elder Nolan and I found 6 new investigators and practically all of them accepted baptism. I think Elder Nolan really enjoyed the division and I told him if the faith is high, you'll always find news. I learned that lesson back in Pajaritos WHERE NO ONE EVER LET US IN BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL WELL OFF AND NOT INTERESTED! We still found news there though and we baptized 6 people, everything's possible with God. Elder Nolan will baptize. 

We also had a "Consejo de Guerra" on Tuesday with Presidente where he talked about how we plan on getting 100 baptisms in Mayo. Right now things aren't looking so good, but we think we can still do it as a mission. We have the plan of baptizing 12 as a zone, and it looks like we'll be able to do it. You also gotta keep in mind that my mission is tiny and 100 baptisms would be insane! VAMOS QUE SE PUEDE! 

We had a special capacitación with the zone on Saturday and we talked a lot about faith and working with members and focusing on allowing the spirit to be the teacher in lessons. We used a lot of videos from the worldwide training we had with the general authorities in January and it really helped the missionaries analyze how they're teaching. It helped me a ton as well and I think everyone really enjoyed it. 

Allison and Romina couldn't come to Stake Conference and it was the first Sunday in 10 months that I didn't have a single investigador in the capilla. I was a little upset, but Día de la Madre (Mother’s Day) put a wrench in everything and the Stake Center is quite a ways away from our sector, which made it hard for people to come to church. There are no excuses though; I should've done something different. 

So it was awesome talking to you guys! Everyone seems like they're doing well and Preston's hair is well... something else. He's a stud though. You're all just great! I'm still never coming home though! It was also awesome to talk to Niloo! Talk about an awesome baptism! 

I never really told Mom how much I loved her yesterday, but I LOVE YA A TON MOM!!! You are the best Mom on the whole face of the earth and I only hope that I meet a girl that is a 10th of what you are! LOVE YOUR GUTS! 

Gotta go, love all of you and have an awesome week! God lives, God loves us, and He loves me enough that He sent me to Chile. I love this gospel!

ELDER WEAVER 

Week 68...Another Week in the Greatest Mission on Earth

Hey Fam and Friends,

Another week has come and gone here in the greatest country on earth, yes, Chile. Elder Johnson and I got to work together all week because President didn't want anyone doing divisions for the first week of this change because the rain kinda destroyed everyone's groove last week. So, now we got to get back on top of things. This week will be basically just divisions with the missionaries in our zone and then so will the next 4 weeks of this transfer and then the rest of my mission as well... It's a good thing that I like divisions. 

So where do I start? I guess I can talk about the zone. My mission is a lot different from other missions in the fact that there are only 9 stakes in the whole mission and therefore there are only 9 zones. I am in the stake called Los Cerrillos, so I'm in the zone of Los Cerrillos. I was previously in Ochagavía and before that I was in 5 de Abril and before that I was in Peñaflor. I always knew that Ochagavía was once the worst stake in the whole world as far as inactives and church attendance, but now I have come to know that Cerrillos is the worst stake in the mission and it's on the verge of becoming a district because the attendance is so low. We met with 1st stake counselor this week to talk about a game plan and what we are going to try and accomplish. President basically wants me here because my retention (people who have been baptized within the last year) was perfect for 3 months straight in my last ward of Villa Sur. I had 6 for 6... So now I'm here in Cerrillos to supposedly help get the retention up because ITS TERRIBLE!!! The other terrible thing is the baptisms here are low... so we've got a lot to do to say the least. It's cool to work with stake leaders though and see how consecrated people are to this work. I love members that work with us and if there's one thing I've learned on my mish is that I WAS A TERRIBLE MEMBER MISSIONARY. I never left with the missionaries and never gave references; let's just say I will be different after the mish. So family, GET YOUR BUTTS OFF THE COUCH AND GET OUT AND HELP THE MISSONARIES! I know we've given lots of references as a family and we've had FHE with friends before, so we're not completely useless, but you guys should be doing a lot more!

The good news is that we're in the strongest ward in all of Cerrillos called Primo de Rivera. This ward is super diverse. We have 3 companionships in the ward. Us, other elders, and 2 hermanas. Hermana McNevin was in this ward before and she took out the trash! People freak out when I tell them that we graduated seminary together... 

The ward is diverse because it's got super rich people and super, super, super poor people. We are in the poorest sector, and lemme tell ya, it's something else. I have never seen campamentos in my mission but we have them here! That's where all the homeless people live and they just live in tin shacks, the crazy thing is that it's a suburb area, but you come up this hill to get to our sector and it's a different world! The other cool thing though is that our sector is on a huge hill and we have the sweetest view in the mish! We also have some crazy blocks... I've never seen so much prostitution in my life, neither have I seen so many drugs. There's a lot of bad things happening in these blocks and it smells horribly. Elder Johnson gets super scared at night, but I honestly have never been scared of Chilenos. 

We have a ton of Haitianos as well, and the good news is that there's a few as retention so they help us out! The retention is 16 in our sector... 16 people baptized within the last year! LOTS OF WORK!  The zone needs a lot of help, but I'm looking forward to working hard this change! 

Love all you guys! Read your scriptures, say your prayers, keep the Sabbath day holy, and help the missionaries! This is a gospel of progression and if you're comfortable, you're doing something wrong! 

 

LOVE,

ELDER WEAVER  

Week 67...Holy, holy...

Hey Hey, Family and Friends,

I am writing you from a new zone with a new companion and in a new position that has humbled me already... I am now zone leader in the zone Cerrillos. My new comp is Elder Johnson from Dallas, Texas and he finishes his mission this change. He's a great missionary, I already kinda knew him before... My 2nd gringo comp in the mish and I'm killing him. You all may remember that I killed (This is a term used by missionaries when they are serving in their last area and will be going home.) Elder Culbertson as well. The good news is, I'm with someone who wants to finish his mission baptizing!!! 

I'll talk about my new zone a little later, but I literally just got into my new apartment and I'm thinking in about a million directions. WE BAPTIZED MY LAST WEEK IN VILLA SUR!!! I also left the sector with another baptismal date with the dad of Jeremy, his name is Marcelo and he wants me to be there when he gets baptized... the good news is that Cerrillos is literally right next to Ochagavía so it shouldn't be a problem. 

Jeremy was super happy with his baptism, but the craziest part is that on Saturday a member called us at 10:30 in the morning telling us that they were going to cut the water and that we should cancel our baptism. I wasn't going to take that, we ran to the 1st counselors house to get the keys and ran to the church to try and fill the baptismal font before 12:00 when they were going to cut the water. 

We got to the church and the calefont didn't even work. So we filled the font with cold water... they ended up never cutting the water, but we never had time to fix the calefont before the baptism. We tried boiling water before, but that had literally no affect on the water. It was the biggest and dumbest waste of time! There was a lot more that happened, but I don't have time to share it all. The good news is that a good amount of people came to the baptism despite the rain! Jeremy was happy too, even though the water was cold. His whole family came as well and his Mom (who did not want him to get baptized a week ago) was happy as well. Now his dad wants to get baptized and he's committed to stop drinking! 

Saying bye to everyone in Villa Sur was super hard yesterday, but after 7 and half months, it was my time to go! Osvaldo was super sad yesterday in the night and the whole family cried. It's always hard saying bye to converts, but Osvaldo is literally the best convert I've ever seen! He's a miracle in every sense of the word and I'm going to miss him and his family a ton! 

I'm super excited and super humbled to be the zone leader here in Cerrillos. I was recently informed that our sector is without a doubt the most ghetto sector in the mission and from what I've seen so far... it is something else. Two gringos in this sector is craziness. There are tons of Narcos here, but they never do anything to the missionaries. I'm just super stoked to be here! 

I'm gonna miss my kid Elder Cachari, I learned a lot from him and I know he'll be a great leader in the mission one day! 

Enjoy the pics!! Read your scriptures, say your prayers, do family home evening, and magnify your church callings! This gospel is true, the book is true, and Chile Santiago Oeste is the best mission in the whole world. 

Love all of you and thank you for all the support!! 

Elder Weaver

Week 66...Let's Baptize

Hey family and friends,

Wow, another week has flown by here in Villa Sur and I find myself all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, and confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. WE BAPTIZED!! And this man is so prime, and so elect. His name is Victor Hugo Guzman Alcevedo and he is going to be a faithful member for the rest of his life. I hope I can go to the temple with him to do baptisms for the dead before I head out of here this next week. The only thing that could stop us is that we have another baptism lined up for this Saturday and the temple offers baptismal sessions for recent converts Saturdays at 6... I love the temple but I’d rather baptize again than go to the temple. 

The baptism went well, he was only baptized once and we didn't have to retry... he's a rather big guy and he was worried that I wasn't going to be able to pull him out of the water, but it honestly wasn't hard at all... looks like all those pushups in the morning are paying dividends. The thing that was disappointing is that only the bishop and one member came to support him. Luckily his family of 4 came as well or we'd have been totally alone in the chapel. It's really sad too because the family is the goal and I'm guessing they weren't all too impressed by the lack of member support.

Then, I realized that's basically how my 7 and a half months have been here in Villa Sur. I feel so blessed to know that God has heard my prayers and answered them, this ward is not a strong ward at all and yet we're baptizing in an area that sees very few baptisms. I know God is a God of miracles and that He truly looks out for every single one of us. I also thank my family and friends for the prayers that you send my way. I am extremely blessed, and I absolutely love the mission. I have grown a ton in this ward and I will always remember Villa Sur!

I also had the chance to see the Priesthood session this week with our zone. I LOVE PRIESTHOOD SESSION!! Uchtodorf absolutely nailed it in his talk! I'm not focusing on marriage or anything, but I really love what he says about charity and how if we truly have charity then we will always be happy. I know that's true, as I've put it into practice with my comps and investigators. As President Barrieros always says, "if you can't get along with your comp, marriage is going to be absolutely brutal for you guys. Learn to love every comp and you will have an incredible marriage." I am going to continue working on my charity and humility as I have a lot to improve still. I am so imperfect and I realize now more than ever how much I lacked charity before the mission. 

I love the mission, I love Villa Sur, and I love my family... you guys are the best! Thanks for the package! GO BRONCOS! Elder Cachari is sick and tired of me talking about how great Colorado is, I always say there is no better place on earth than Colorado and I will marry a Colorado girl without a doubt. I LOVE MY STATE! We went to the tallest building in South America today called "Costanera." IT WAS UNREAL! 

Love you guys and thanks for the support! Never want to go home!

Mis homies, Signing Out

ELDER WEAVER