Week 82...Trunky Papers Got Here, BUT I'm Far From Trunky

August 1, 2016

Trunky Papers Got Here, But I'm Far From Trunky

Aright, 

So this week was a lot better. It's amazing how after more than 18 months in the mission I still have no clue how to write my weekly emails. I honestly just have no time to really sit here and think about the week and what I want to tell you guys, so I just write... I apologize for writing so little or no informing you guys on every little (or big) thing that happens in the mission. Just know that I'm doing well and I'm beyond happy to still be preaching the best message in the whole wide world-- El Evangelio de Jesucristo! 

I had my first interview with the greenie mission Presidente this week! Lemme tell ya, this guy is one of the most loving people I've ever met. He's so understanding and you can just tell how much he really loves every single missionary. We'll see if that wears off in about 2 months more... For now, he's so loving and really just wants the missionaries to keep being great. I know that he'll be getting after us soon this Friday, cause we have our first consejo de guerra. The good news is that the zone de Cerrillos is in a much much better place. We're starting the month out with 10 fechas in the zone! 4 in our sector! 

President Woodward basically just asked me about my life and who I was before the mission... It's been a long time since I've talked to someone in English about who I was before the mish. He asked me about the family, and I just told him that I was born in the best family this world has ever seen. There's nothing better than being apart of the Weaver/Stewart clan. He also asked me about my mission and my comps. He then really sympathized for me and said that his mission was basically the same as mine.  It was a good interview; I know that Presidente Woodward was called by God to be our mission presidente! The Church is true, the book is blue. 

I had divisions with a few elders this week. After writing you guys last week, one of the elders from our zone saw me and started talking to me. His name is Elder Andersen and he was in the zone when I got here, and then got pulled out for a change, and now he's back in the zone again but in another sector. He's a great guy, and we're good friends. He asked me how I was and I told him I was stressed for the zone. He told me he was going to do all he could to help me out, but then he leaned over and told me that his parents are getting divorced and he's definitely going through a rough time, he asked if he could have divisions with me this week to take his mind off things... He has a year in the mission and it sounds like the news about his parents came out of nowhere. That really humbled me and put everything in perspective. The zone might be hard, but I know that I have an awesome family and that my parents are still together... I am so blessed. Elder Andersen is an awesome example to me! He came right out of high school and he talks about High school football and all the girls he dated… ALL DAY LONG. It's worse than talking to uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. Makes me laugh. 

We had 7 investigators in the capilla and have 4 fechas with Javier, Darío, Ernesto, y Sonia. Darío is a kid from la familia Vegas Mora. This family is so amazing and the other son (Samuel) is going to get baptized as well... he just needs to go to church this next week. The mom is a member but she went inactive at 16 and she is with another guy (Carlos) who would also get baptized, but she needs to get divorced from her 1st husband and then get married with Carlos. Needless to say... it's a process. 

This week I got the papers that I never thought would get here.... yes, the infamous trunky papers. I know exactly when I will be home and I don't know if I should tell you guys. I did my last visa run today! I am now legal for a few more months here in Chile. It's crazy because I feel like I did my 1st visa run just yesterday in downtown Santiago, but it's been more than a year! 

Love you all a ton! I know this gospel is true! I know that Heavenly Father listens to our prayers, and I know that through the Atonement we can always improve and be better! This gospel is a gospel of being uncomfortable! Get out and baptize. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mia Weaver is my hero! Thanks for being awesome sis and standing up for the truth in camp Evangelico style! You rock! 

Love all ya'll, keep it real,

Elder Weaver  

Week 81...Learning To Love

July 25, 2016

Learning To Love

¿Cómo estáis mis queridos? 

Aight, so I'm doing well. Not going to lie, things aren’t improving much here in Cerrillos. I have never prayed nor worked so hard in my entire mission and it's unreal to see the lack of progress in this little Stake. All is well though, I have a healthy body, a great family, and awesome friends, gotta keep everything in perspective. 

I have no idea how, but we have 3 baptismal dates for August in our sector. The truth is that some investigators have come out of the wood works and it looks like we'll be baptizing quite a bit in August in our own sector. The same can't be said for the whole zone, but at least we can finally be the example for the zone if we start baptizing. Pray for Ernesto, Sonia, and Javier they all have their date set for the 13th of August. 

All of this has made me really analyze how important it is to be humble and loving always. I really have tried to find the way to deal with the problems I have in the mission by just loving and giving service. I can't do much if missionaries get out of bed late everyday and want to leave the pension late every morning and want to eat lunch with members for more than an hour everyday, but I can just keep setting the example and loving them. I've really learned to just keep calm and love everyone and magnify the good attributes that they have. 

This week we were teaching to a new family we found. La familia Bega and out of nowhere the Dad asked what commandments we have in the church and asked a little about chastity. We taught the law of chastity and I have never seen someone so interested in this commandment in my entire life. He was so excited about it and absolutely loved it! He wants his kids to live it

Presidente Woodward came to our ward on a surprise visit and we're not sure as to why but it was cool to see him there. It was even cooler that we had a good amount of investigators there to meet him. 

I am way jealous of the pics that you guys sent of high adventure! Wow, Colorado is so awesome. I love being Coloradan. Sounds like everyone's doing well! Grandma and Grandpa are working with the new temple in Fort Collins, and everyone's happy back at home! Enjoy the last part of summer! 

Big shout out to one of the best brothers the world could ever ask for... WATCH OUT PRESTON IS TURNING 17!!!! I'd sing Tim McGraw's song of 17 to ya but… I'm on the mish so I can't! Give it a play for me anyway on Wednesday! 

Love all of you guys! Life is good here in Chile! I Love the mission, I love my Savior, and I love this gospel

Elder Weaver

Week 80...Mental Tenacity

July 18, 2016

Mental Tenacity

What up,

Let's get to it. This week was good. We found a boatload of people to teach and we had some super powerful lessons that came out of the blue, it's awesome to feel the blessings that God gives us after you work and struggle for so long. Things are looking a little bit better in our sector and in the zone, but things are far from sublime. Cerrillos has been without a doubt my Gethsemane. 

Elder Suarez is a great guy, super funny, and he's also mature because he has 26 years. The problem is he doesn’t really like our area, Cerrillos is not Republica and he expects to be seeing the same success that he was seeing in the golden zone of the mission! As far as I'm concerned we are disciple of Jesus Christ and we won’t just throw in the towel and give up and look for an easier way. We were sent here to use our talents to try and help others come to Christ and help other missionaries accomplish their potential.

We had a lesson with La Familia Palacios this week and we basically had given up on trying to baptize Fanny (the mom that's not baptized), we showed the video that the church has on Dad's and our role as dads to Martin (the husband who is a recent convert) ... it really touched fanny and out of no where she's just like "oye, Weaver quiero que me bautice el 30 de este mes." The problem is that I’ve heard the same thing before and I said, "Fanny, no juegue con mi corazón." She laughed and explained that she was serious, but we'll see if she actually fulfills with her word. I hope so. 

Susan and la familia Alarcon are killing me! We talked again about the Atonement and about repenting because one day Christ will come and we gotta be ready for that day. I love Mosiah 27 and Alma 34 and Alma 5.  

Grandma let me know that ya'll bought a boat! WHAT THE FLIP KIP! What kind of boat is it? I want to use that puppy when I get home but I'll be coming home in the middle of winter! 

Preston you're a stud! Thanks for being a great example to Adin and always standing up for what is right! True Disciples of Christ... that's what my brothers (and sister) are! 

Glad you enjoyed your time in New York! Sure love you all a ton! Grandpa is as busy as ever with the Fort Collins temple it sounds like! I can't wait to do a session there when I get back! Its’ cool that Grandpa and Grandma are so involved with it! 

Loving the mission and working as hard as ever to bring this little Stake to greatness! The prayers are appreciated! You're all my heroes! 

ELDER WEAVER SIGNING OUT!  

Week 79...Pop, Lock and Baptize It!

July 11, 2016

Pop, Lock and Baptize It!

How it be mi gente? 

Hold up, we in the last 4 changes of the mission now? What the flip Kip? The good news is that I'm never coming home. I did not get transferred. I am still in Cerrillos and Elder Suarez is still here as well (obviously) and we are set and ret to go. We got some solid new missionaries in our zone and we're looking forward to working with them! It's crazy to see the other changes in the mission and how small we are now in numbers! The good news is that we'll be getting a lot in 2 more changes. 

So, I thought the zone was going to be going 2 weeks straight without a single baptism, but this weekend we had a miracle happen! The elders in another zone were teaching to a girl whose dad is a recent covert. She wanted to be baptized about 4 months ago, but she had issues, the good news is that she got over it and we programmed her interview with Presidente Woodward! SHE PASSED! So Cerrillos had the privilege of giving Presidente Woodward his first baptismal interview! She got baptized Sunday in the afternoon after her Dad got the priesthood so that he could baptize her! 

Elder Suarez and I just keep giving it our all here in Primo de Rivera. The thing with our sector is that EVERYONE works in the feria on Sunday. That's typically what happens when you serve in a poorer area, everyone works in the feria cause they have no education. Elder Suarez has adapted a little to the ghetto-ness of our sector and now he's a little happier. We started a joke between us when I feel lazy or a little discouraged I say "Elder Suarez, no sé qué pasa, pero me siento latino." He says the same thing when he feels a little lazy but says "no sé pero me siento gringo." when he feels stressed and wants everything to just work perfectly. Needless to say, we keep ourselves happy with our jokes. 

The way of informing missionaries that they have transfers has changed, and we had to meet up with a lot of missionaries in Estación Central and wouldn't ya know it... OSVALDO WAS THERE! Elder Marquina was picking up his new comp so we all took a pic right there and then! Osvaldo also told me that I’m gonna be a tio cause Katuisca is pregnant! Ha, ha, ha! I love that family. La Familia Tapia is also doing awesome and they'll be getting sealed in October! 

The vision is still there and I'm working hard!  I’m looking to baptize this month and without a doubt in August! Pray for the family I am teaching! I gotta baptize this family! The problem is they think we're super funny and it's hard to reprimand them and get them to think seriously about their salvation...they absolutely love me and it's hard to give em palos! 

Shout out to Uncle Darin and Aunt Lesly for writing me letters! Love you guys a ton! Can't wait to come back and speak some castellano with you guys! 

Love all of you a ton!

Signing Out,

Elder Weaver 

Week 78...Happy Birthday America...From Chile

July 6, 2016

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA FROM CHILE!

Mi Gente,

Well let's get right to it. This week was tough, just like every other week, but I keep working hard and the time just keeps flying by! We met up with President Woodward as Zone Leaders and Assistants this Saturday and it's so crazy not to be listening to my querido brasilero Presidente Barreiros! It's obvious that Presidente Woodward is in total shell shock and he's not really sure how to react, but the good news is that things just keep going as normal. The work never changes. We continue to talk to everyone we see, we keep being diligent, and we're still obedient with exactness. Presidente Woodward has a total Spaniard accent it's pretty sweet!  He doesn't sound like a gringo at all and he only has a few issues with grammar and vocab from time to time! We also had to teach him how to give a Chileno hug and teach him some of the palabras Chileans that we use so much as missionaries. 

Elder Suarez is super funny, but he hates the sector. He feels super uncomfortable. I honestly don't know what the big deal is, yeah... there's lots of drugs and lots of people that aren't good people in our sector but ya gotta just get over it and keep working!  We'll see what happens but he definitely does not feel comfortable here.

The zone isn’t doing so hot, but we've got some solid ideas to help everyone get out of the hole we're in. Our sector is now starting to see some fruits, but the problem is that every single one of our investigators have challenges. And when I say challenges... I mean CHALLENGES WITH SOME HARD CORE STUFF! Catch my drift? It's kinda hard to baptize here in Villa Los Presidentes, Cerrillos. 

That's pretty much all I have to share. The work keeps moving forward. I continue to just cherish every moment I have to represent my Savior Jesus Christ. I never want the mission to end. I love testifying of the truth every day. I love seeing changes in people. I love being apart of the best mission in the world! LOVE YOU ALL A TON! 

Congrats to Shaq for getting to the Olympic trials! It bummed me out to hear that he didn't qualify for the Olympics but he's still a total stud in my eyes... it'll be crazy going back to BYU to run and seeing all the guys again. I was talking to Elder Matthews about the track team on Saturday after the meeting and he's pumped to get back and at it, we'll see how we do when we get back together in January! I love sharing the story about Jared Ward and how he qualified for the Olympics after serving a mission and never winning the NCAA championships! Miracles happen! God wants us to be happy!

I want ya'll to read this talk by Elder Renlund from the quorum of the 12... it's one of my favorites! Don't lose focus of the gospel and always keep progressing! 

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/preserving-the-hearts-mighty-change?lang=eng

 Love ya'll! Go big or go home. Read your scriptures and get out and baptize someone!

 ELDER WEAVER! 

Week 77...Chile Wins!

CHILE WINS, PRESIDENTE SAYS BYE, HERMANAS FROM MY GROUP GO HOME, AND SPECIAL CHANGES

Mi Gente,

This week was absolutely insane, I'm telling ya... with Presidente going home and being a zone leader time just seems to fly by. I hate it. I love the mission and I love all the experiences that I've had so far, I look forward to having a lot more in my last 6 months here en el mi querido país de Chile! With Presidente Barrieros and Hermana Barreiros going home, plus Elder Pomar having to do all his go homer stuff this week it was hard to avoid the nostalgic feelings. Especially when I went to Maipú to drop Elder Pomar off in his depedida and saw a ton of people from my old sectors! Even the members from my first sector in Peñaflor remember me and they were so excited to see me, oh man... it's going to be hard to say bye to everyone when my time runs to an end in December. Luckily, I've still got a ton of time and I'm going to be going full gas vomit up until I'm going up the steps in the DIA airport. 

The farewell meeting we had with Presidente on Monday was super intense and super sad, but I loved what he said when he said "the love that you all have for me will be felt immediately for Presidente Woodward and his wife when they get here because they'll have the keys and you will all immediately know that he was called by God to be your mission Presidente." I'll probably be seeing Presidente and his wife this Saturday in a Leadership meeting we'll be having. The other crazy thing that happened in the meeting was special changes! Elder Pomar is no longer my comp and I'm now with one of the dopest missionaries in the mission. His names is Elder Suarez and he's from Uruguay, he's a super funny guy and everyone loves him! He goes home in November so it'll be cool to be with someone who still has time to get things moving in this stake that needs a ton of help! I already know I'll be getting along great with him because as we were logging into our internet accounts he types "facebook" in the web browser and nudges me and says "this is the right page right?" I love being around people that are willing to kid around. I already know we'll be having a lot of fun together while we work our brains out. 

The other BIG NEWS is that CHILE WON LA COPA AMÉRICA!!!! I cannot even begin to describe how cool it is to be here when Chile is playing, the atmosphere is crazy and there is so much intensity. It's also a good thing they won because people were way nicer to us the next day! I was running around that night all over the place because Elder Pomar had his despedida that night. I went on divisions for an hour and a half in my sector with Elder Nalesso and Elder Young and we actually found a new investigator before the partido started! Pretty sick, it just goes to show that if you have faith you can get into houses at any time even 1 hour before the big game. We went back to Maipú to pick up our comps and there was NO ONE IN THE STREETS AND NO MICROS. Presidente ended up passing by and he actually drove us back home, it was pretty cool to have him drive us home in his car... Then when we were trying to sleep we just heard screaming and shouting as Chile was in penales. Then they won and the whole world blew up. The screams started to die off at like 2 in the morning. Needless to say, mis chilenos love their fútbol. WE BACK TO BACK CHAMPS! I sent home a jersey of Alexis Sanchez to Preston with Hermana McNevin! Enjoy!