Week 90...

September 26, 2016

Cabros y Cabras, 

This week was definitely a stressful one. Actually this whole change has been somewhat stressful. I got to the zone and everything looked good and now everything is in the pothole. I'm well aware that I'm a Weaver and by being a Weaver there's a Grizzweaver effect... but man I didn't expect things to go this bad. This past week the Dad of one of the Elders in our zone died and that obviously took a huge toll on him. He was able to go to the temple and hang out with President Woodward for a few days, but that doesn't take the pain away. There was a tender mercy… he's Chileno and his parents live in the south so he saw the funeral via Skype. I felt so bad for him and all we could do is just love him and support him. It's really been an eye opener to see just how much some missionaries go through while they're out on the mission. I've been super blessed that nothing has happened to you guys and I hope it stays that way! The Hermanas in our zone have been sick the whole change as well. It's been rough. There's also an Elder who recently had his parents get divorced and his dad recently tried to kill himself and another Elder has developed some sort of disease in his thyroid... that keeps him from working in his area. You'd think that's enough problems but they just keep on coming. Yet another Elder twisted his ankle playing soccer last p-day and he was in the house for 3 days. Then there's another Elder who has recently developed some depression so he’s having a hard time working. They are trying to help him by providing him with some counseling. We have a total of 4 companionships out of 11 that are actually working normally. You could say that the stress is real. We finished the month of September with just 4 baptisms in the zone! The good news is that Heavenly Father has blessed us a ton and there are 13 baptismal dates lined up for the first 2 weeks of October. I just hope I'm here to see the baptisms! 

All is well in my sector. We have 3 baptismal dates with Victor, Carlos, and Nicolay.

You won’t believe what happened this Sunday, I walked into the chapel with my investigators, and I had the best surprise of my life. Sitting right there was La Familia Cordova Arce! Osvaldo and Katuisca and their family came to see me! I nearly cried! I just hugged Osvaldo and I was so pumped to get to see them. They're going to get their Patriarchal Blessings this week or the next and Osvaldo is going to get the Melchizedek priesthood in November! They said that if everything goes well that they'll be sealed in December! PRAY FOR THEM SO THAT THEY GET SEALED IN DECEMBER BEFORE I LEAVE! It was seriously so awesome to see them! I think that was the best birthday gift that I got! 

My birthday was just a normal day. We had district meetings and the zone sang "Feliz cumpleaños" and then in the night Elder Carroll and Elder Montero surprised me with cupcakes. That was about it! No better way to celebrate than just working like normal! We actually found Carlos and Victor that night on my birthday and they came to church and want to be baptized now! 

We had an awesome zone conference with President Woodward. I think the best thing that I took out of it was really helping our investigators to understand the concept of repentance before baptism so that they remain firm in the church. We've really had some amazing lessons when we talk about repentance and I know that our converts are going to be way more converted with how we're teaching now. Repentance really is the key to having a happy life and having a good experience in the church. We should be constantly looking for ways to improve and always being humble enough to accept advise from others. I am constantly asking Heavenly Father in my prayers "What lack I yet?" I always, always, always receive an answer. 

General Conference is this weekend! I'm way pumped! I'm definitely looking for some answers to my questions this weekend! I invite you guys to really fast and pray and write down questions you want answered as the Lord's servants speak this weekend! His love for us individually is real!

All is well here in the coast. I love this gospel, I love the mission, I love my family, and I love my Savior. I also love mis queridos Chilenos! 

Hasta luego cabros! 

Elder Weaver 

Connor loves his cows and horses… He got Empanada’s from a member for his Birthday…A picture of his sector…

Week 89...

September 20, 2017

How it be? 

Let's get to it. I feel like there's a ton to tell you guys because the week of the 18th of September here in Chile is pretty amazing. Everyone is partying all week long and there's always the ward party that's fun, but I'd say that last year it was more fun in Pajaritos than here in the coast. Pajaritos was a super strong ward and I had a ton of time there, so I could really just talk with everyone and I felt super loved by all my converts there, but here I only have one convert and she wasn't at the party... it was cool nonetheless. The coolest part is that we baptized her on the actual 18th of September in the morning before church started at 10! I BAPTIZED ON THE 18TH OF SEPTEMBER IN CHILE!!! No one thought that it'd be possible, but it is! Everything went well despite the fact that we wanted to start at 9 and everyone got there right on Chileno time... 9:30. It was the quickest baptismal service ever but we did it and it was super spiritual! Kamila is going to be a strong member of the church!  

 It was actually quite the struggle because her ex boyfriend caused all sorts of issues this last week trying to keep her from getting baptized, but we had a super powerful lesson and I just bore testimony about how right before we are about to take a great decision... Satan always attacks us the strongest. I talked about how all the prophets in the Book of Mormon and the Bible always faced trial and affliction and that she would have to do the same because she's a chosen daughter of God. She felt the spirit super strong and she committed. We had a recent RM that always helps us out baptize her his names Fabrizio.

The rest of the week we just had some awesome lessons and enjoyed the atmosphere of Chile. We had to be back in the house early at 6 on the 18th and at 7 yesterday to avoid problems with drunks! I bought a kite and we flew it last P-day on top of a hill in our sector! Twas awesome! 

Ya'll gonna love this country when we come back to visit! I continue to just love the mission and I don't want the experience to end. I know that it's coming to an end though... I'm just trying to really soak everything I can in. I am running about 40-50 minutes everyday with Elder Carroll and it's doing wonders! I'm not going to come back half bad... 

This gospel is true. Christ lives. He loves us. The mission is truly where "I have turned from boy to man." Thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Miracles exist. 

21 years old! WHAT?! This means I come back home and buy the beer to make beer bread with Mom! Yippee! 

Love you guys! You rock my socks off!

Elder Weaver 

 P.S. Hats off to VISTA XC! GO BYU!

Grandpa can eat it... all his kids went to BYU, get over it gpa... you're a cougar! 

Week 88...The Power of NOT Knowing

September 12, 2016

The Power of Not Knowing

What up,

So another stressful week has come and gone in the great city of San Antonio. I can't stress enough how much I love this sector. It's so big and I feel like I could work here for 2 years straight and never get bored... too bad I'm finishing my mission here. We have 4 fechas to end the month. Pray for Kamila, Nicole, Josefa, and Marta! They are all great! They just need a little help committing with the all the commandments. 

So, why did I use the phrase "The Power of Not Knowing"...? The reason is that I have been praying a ton in order to get some guidance on how I can be a better leader and really help people reach their full potential. I talked a little bit about love and charity last week, but I still have wanted something more. Mom's package got to me this week (it was amazing) and I read the talk that she gave me from a BYU devotional. The lady talked a lot about being a leader and how we actually have more power as leaders when we go into a project and have no idea as to how we are actually going to do it. Sometimes the lack of knowledge actually helps us find better and more productive ways to do things, and we are forced to look for better way to do things on our own. I really like the part where she talked about her kids and how crazy they get at night when they get ready for bed. She changed her approach one night and simply did the bedtime routine but with questions "What are we going to do now?" The kids respond, "Brush our teeth!" "What book would you like to read tonight?" The kids respond and pick out a book and sit still in their beds and listen... The best way we can really lead is by just asking questions and letting people exercise their agency. I really have been trying to apply the good ol' phrase "It's better to teach a man to fish than fish for him and let him starve the rest of his life." I also love Joseph Smith's phrase that my Dad loves, "Teach people correct principles and let them act for themselves." I really want to do this as a leader and as a Dad one day. I want to teach people correct principles and then allow them to learn and grow so that they can come up with even better approaches and so that they challenge themselves to reach their potential. This doesn't mean that we have to stop motivating and inspiring, or guiding and directing. But it does mean that sometimes backing off is the best solution.

The zone is basically a hospital. We have 3 compañerismos that are super sick and can't even work. It's a miracle that we're still going to finish the month with a solid amount of baptisms! 

Yesterday we went to a stake bishop meeting where we were asked to talk a little about recent converts and how we can retain more. This is a huge problem in San Antonio, but it's a problem in all of Chile. It all comes down to the fact that the wards don’t always work as well with us as we would like, and the leaders blame the missionaries for the quality of our converts. We have the pressure of finding, teaching and baptizing, and some times people aren’t super, super, super prepared before being baptized, but they don’t need to be… they just need to have the desire and show signs of repentance D&C 20:34. Elder Holland has an amazing talk about this exact thing. The issue usually becomes they never have home teachers or visiting teachers after their baptism and nobody ever actually tries to get to know them... their friends are the missionaries. Every convert needs a friend, a calling, and to be nurtured by the word of God. The last step in this process is fellowshipping and missionaries do the best they can with this, but ultimately it is the wards responsibility to make this happen. We basically focused on that, and talked about the lack of humility. Needless to say we took a lot of grief. I'm a Weaver though and I definitely said, what they needed to hear from us as well. It’s never good to play the blame game! We all just need to do your part and stop complaining!

The week was solid. Pray for our investigators. Elder Montero and I get along amazing and I've learned a ton from him. We talk a lot which keeps the stress out of things. Key to a good relationship... good communication.

The church is true the book is blue! 

Love ya’ll!

Elder Weaver 

Week 87...Make Yourself a Dang Quesadilla

What up!

So this week was a very stressful week. The truth is that every week is stressful... if only I could tell you all the problems that arise in a zone and how many things you have to figure out as a zone leader, and at the same time you have to keep your sector afloat and have to keep everything in order in your own life. The good news is that we survived the week and it looks like we'll be baptizing this weekend. Elder Montero and I get along great! I'm glad I get to work with him. We're trying to have 20 baptisms as a zone this month... the zone had 12 last month! 

So, I think the first thing I want to talk about is the leadership meeting we had with president Woodward and his wife this past Friday. We went back to Santiago and we got to talk a little bit about the vision as a mission; which is teach repentance and baptize converts. Our mission is really, really, really good at getting into houses and being super direct with people telling them that they need to be baptized by someone who has proper priesthood authority. Which is only found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints, and they need to be baptized by immersion. Can't lie, we all get in and take out a picture of Christ’s baptism and then we are just really bold with people and we get them to commit to being baptized. The only way you can count a new investigator in our mission is if you extend a baptismal invitation... so that's why we do it. We always talk about baptism and the importance of being baptized by proper authority. In the consejo de liderazgo we talked more about repentance and how people really need to understand their relationship with God and they need to understand what Christ did for them so that they can be clean. It's such a simple principle and it's something I've taught a lot in my mission, but I realized that I really have no clue as to how I can motivate a person to act and feel the desire to repent and really fulfill their potential as a child of God. You can kick, scream, yell, and basically condemn a Chileno but most the time they really couldn’t care less if they're sinning or not. It makes my blood boil and it always will, but then I realized that the same exact thing happens with missionaries in my zones. You can kick, scream, and tell them to get their butts moving but they just will not do it unless they really feel the converting power of the Atonement. I can tell you guys that I have felt that converting power throughout my life but so much more on my mission. I've never been disobedient, I've never been lazy, but I have made so many little adjustments on my mission that now I have reached a whole different level in the way I teach and the way that I act. The problem is that I feel like I was born this way. I have always wanted to be better. I have always wanted to be obedient. If I run a 4-minute mile one day, I promise you that I won't be content... I'll want to go for 3:59 and then 3:58... that's just the way I am, and I will always be that way. I know that if I am content with anything in my life that I am not progressing, and I always want to be progressing. I know this is what the Lord put us on this earth to do. We always have to be progressing so that we are ready to meet Him again someday and be prepared to give an accounting of the things we have done in our life. The issue that I have is that 98% of all the people in the world just want to accomplish the minimum and then they're good. How do you motivate someone to act and really come to Christ is the question? The scriptures. Doctrine. Personal experiences. The spirit. All these things are great, but the only true way to do it is through love and charity. You just have to really, really, really love a person and desire that they become better than you are, and that's how you can help them feel the converting power of the Atonement. I know that I'm the way that I am because my Dad and my Mom have always loved me and wanted the very best for me. They gave me the room to I needed to grow and always loved me no matter what! They have taught me throughout my life how I can feel of my Saviors love and how to access that love. If I can show that same love to my investigators... we'll have more results. Obviously you have to look for golden investigators... but that's my thought for the week. 

I had another sad division with an Elder in our zone whose parents got divorced this past week and it took him completely off guard. It really breaks my heart to see elders suffering; especially when they're at the very end of their mission... he goes home with me. The Hermana's in our zone are super sick and can't even leave to work! I can’t remember the last time I was so sick I couldn’t or didn’t want to get out and work! I’m grateful for this blessing! Our investigators are good but the Sunday morning "flojera" took over again. 

The funny news for the week is that on the way back to the coast on the metro a guy totally started yelling and cussing us out in front of everyone on the Santiago metro. Elder Montero had asked me early this week about my weirdest experience on the mission and he told me that he hasn't really had one. After the guy cussed us out and about punched us he looked at me and said, "Hay está su respuesta Elder Weaver." (There is your answer, Elder Weaver) The guy basically called us sapos (Frogs) and told us that we were from the CIA and we just send info to the USA about the Chilenos... then he told us to stop talking bad about Nicaragüenses. We had recently been talking about Centro Americano baseball players and Elder Montero told me that Nicaraguenses are great to play baseball... the guy was a lunatic and got in a puff about that. "Ustedes son sapos!!! (You are toads!!) Andan puro sapeando!" (They are pure eavesdroppers!) Haha! 

Love the mission and love my Savior! I know He lives and that He wants us to reach our potential!

Elder Weaver 

Week 86...I'm in Another World

August 29, 2016
I’m in Another World

What up friends and family!

So my first week in the coast was pretty amazing! This sector is the best sector in the whole mission. I've never dealt with a sector that's so big and has SO MANY people! I honestly hit the jackpot as far as finishing my mission out here. The ward is pretty small. The asistencia is usually around 100 but this Sunday it was like 80. It reminded me of being in Villa Sur again, but that ward was WAY small. It's a pretty amazing atmosphere... the ocean breeze is amazing, the views we have are amazing, and the people here are way more relaxed (the majority). It's ALL HILLS and when I say hills I'm talking about San Francisco bay hills that are absolutely massive and it's literally like climbing a mountain everyday. I love it! 

I also share our pension with none other than ELDER CARROLL the new missionary that's he's training Elder Bahr! Elder Carroll was in my zone in Cerrillos and he's the only other missionary from Colorado…and he's a runner! We wake up at 6 and we work out for about 40 minutes just running the hills of San Antonio. He'll probably be here until I go home... which means I'll come home in decent shape. It's a miracle from the heavens that he just happens to be in the same pension as me! 

Elder Montero is an awesome missionary. He works super hard and he's got the work ethic and cleanliness down pat! We're going to work well together. The only problem is that we're both really serious and so one of us has to loosen up a bit or it's just going to be stress overload. He's a great guy though and we get along great! 

We have some fechas here already! Thomas, Nicole, Josefa, and Rolando! Thomas and Nicole actually passed their baptismal interview but we decided not to baptize them because ... they need a little more time.

All is well! The zone is huge! I love the missionaries! September is around the corner and that means 18th is close! Día de Independencia here in Chile! It's going to be awesome to celebrate out here on the coast! 

Love all of you a ton! Keep rocking it in school and keep me updated on BYU and Vista XC!!! Football is around the corner too... GO COUGARS! 

Just out here grinding away! Vamos a bautizar! 

Elder Weaver 

Week 85...Vamos a La PLAYA

August 22, 2016

VAMOS A LA PLAYA!!!

What up family and friends,

The skinny is that all our prayers were answered and I got sent to the coast! I am now in San Antonio!!! It's amazing that after 20 months in the city of Santiago I have finally been able to see other parts of Chile! It's incredibly beautiful out here! What an amazing way to finish my last 4 months in the mission! The biggest zone as well! The air is so fresh here and you can smell the ocean air! I am also with my good friend Elder Montero from Costa Rica! PURA VIDA! I was in the same district with him when he came into the mission last June and man is he different from when he started! He's an amazing missionary and I know that we're going to have a lot of success together! Elder Suarez stayed in Cerrillos and he's with the most enthusiastic missionary in the mission... Elder Moura from Brasil!!! Presidente Woodward definitely knows what he's doing! 

It was super hard to say bye yesterday to everyone in the Primo De River Ward, but it's just part of the mission. I can’t wait to come back here one day, so you guys can get to know mis queridos chilenos! Man have I come to love them! That's why I'll be giving it everything I've got until I come home in December! 

We had 3 baptisms this weekend! Javier, Darío, and Samuel! They all loved the service and they'll be strong converts! Samuel broke down crying when he heard the news that I was leaving on Sunday and he wrote me an awesome letter! It was hard saying bye yesterday! I hope you guys get to meet the people that I've baptized here! 

In the ward council yesterday I told the ward they needed to have more faith, and that they can’t give up on recent converts so quickly. I said it with sincere love for them and all the new members. In the end they all told me that they were going to miss me a ton.

Started El Libro de Mormón again and it'll probably be my last time! I've read it 4 times on the mission and this will be my 5th! 

Not much time, just know that I'm super happy! I love the mission and love this gospel! I know that my Savior lives and I know that he loves us perfectly! I know that this is the greatest work on earth and it's such a privilege to be apart of it! 

Love you all a ton!!! VAMOS A LA PILA BAUTISMAL!!!

Elder Weaver 

Week 84...Relying on God

August 16, 2016

Relying on God

Friends and Family,

Wow is it good to hear from you guys every week. It just gets me pumped and ready to take on another week. It also gets me pumped to know that my country is dominating the Olympics. Michael Phelps is un-real; I can't wait to see the Olympics when I get home. You'll have to let me know how Wardy does in the marathon and how the triathlon finishes. I'm guessing that the Brownlee brothers are going to take gold and silver. Not going to lie, it's a huge temptation to watch the Olympics when other people are watching in their houses, but I've held strong... I have seen glimpses though. Nuff of the worldly stuff, let's focus on the spiritual. 

Ernesto and Sonia are not going to get baptized this month, but they are definitely going to get baptized one day. The thing is Sonia's son Francisco lives in San Miguel and he's going to have a surgery to remove a tumor from his stomach. They don't have the money to pay for it so they're doing a fundraiser every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until they have the money to pay for the surgery. It's super expensive so we're thinking they'll be baptized in September or October. Changes are this week so we'll see if I stay here long enough to see them get baptized. This isn't the first time I've found someone so ready to get baptized and don't get to see them actually get into the water... I have Rosa from Pajaritos, Rosalía and Julio from Villa Sur, and now Ernesto and Sonia...but the good news is that they will all get baptized SOMEDAY. 

We have 3 baptisms lined up for this weekend. Javier, Darío, and Samuel. I kid you not; I have been blessed to find some amazing families here in Chile. Darío and Samuel are brothers and their Mom is a member who was baptized when she was 14 but went inactive at the age of 16. The Dad is also super awesome as well!  They’re working on getting married... in the meantime we're going to baptize the kids. Their youngest brother is Miguel and he's awesome as well and wants to get baptized but he's only 6. La Familia Vegas is truly an amazing family! They always give us food, and it's literally just like La Familia Tapia and La Familia Cordova from my last 2 sectors! These kids remind me a ton of Preston and Adin... Samuel is JUST LIKE PRESTON. It makes me laugh. They love seeing pictures of you guys and they want to meet all of you when we come back to visit! 

Javier has been an investigator since the time I was with Elder Johnson! He's finally getting baptized! I am way pumped for him!

That's about all for this week. I don't have pics because there's a virus in my memory card. I'll get some to you next week. Yesterday was Feriado so all the Internet Cafes were closed, that's why I'm writing to you today! Cambios are this weekend! It will probably be my last ward! 

Love you all a ton! The Fort Collins temple looks beautiful! Can't wait to go with you guys! 

Elder Weaver 

Week 83...Nueva Presidente, Nueva Mision

August 8, 2016

Nuevo Presidente, Nueva Misión!

How be you,

Another week has come and gone! Unreal how fast time flies on the mission! I'm glad that you guys didn't get too trunky with the news on when I'll be coming home. I'm definitely not thinking too much on it. I honestly feel like that day will never come, and after un consejo de guerra that we had on Friday it just got me pumped to keep giving it my all! I love these Chilenos too much to give anything less than my best! 

So, in the consejo de guerra Presidente bajó la caña, basically he said that while our mission is one of the smallest missions in the world, he still plans on doing things the way that every other mission does things. This means that I will no longer be giving a 1-hour zone meeting every Wednesday after an hour and a half of district meeting classes. We'll just leave right after district meeting and start working. We'll be having zone meetings for 2-3 hours once a month on Tuesdays in the morning! The way we do transfers has also changed and we will never again have a mission conference where we all meet together as a mission! While I’m not excited about some of these changes, I know that we're going to receive a ton of blessings as a mission for being obedient with exactness! The month of August already looks like it's going to be our month of 100 baptisms and Presidente hasn't even done anything different. He's just doing what the apostles ask him to do! 

I've learned so much on the mission, and it's really hard to explain what happens daily, but if there's one thing that I've learned with personal progression and progression as a church, is that humility is required. If we're not humble we never realize where we need to improve and we never develop more Christ-like attributes. If we're not humble we can't possibly be consecrated, and if we're not consecrated in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then the church never grows because no one gets paid... we act purely out of love and humility. I've really been trying to just love everyone I come in contact with and soak in every moment of the mission. This time is so precious. 

It's unreal to me how little the Chilenos care about the Olympics! They watch, but they really just do not care. Soccer is life here and even soccer in the Olympics is just not a big deal. Sounds like it's the same thing in Brazil from what Elder Waters told me... and it's in their own country! Needless to say the Olympics still get me pumped! I'll be cheering for Jared Ward on the 21st in the marathon! GO WARDY!!

We had an amazing lesson with Ernesto when we taught tithing and he literally accepted it whole heartily! It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father truly prepares people! I am honestly just the instrument in His hands! God does his work! 

Love this work, love this gospel, and love my Savior!

Elder Weaver