Week 53...

January 11, 2016

There Are No Excuses!

 Mis estimados gringitos,

Needless to say, this week was LA HIEL!!!! I don't want to focus on the bad, but it is the worst thing in the world to not be able to leave from your pension for 1 week! WE HAVE ONE WEEK MORE!!!!!!!! I HATE CHICKEN POX, AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE IT! 

In other news, the cologne that you guys gave me for my 12th birthday has finally run out. You know, that Abercrombie and Fitch cologne? Yeah, I finally used the last of it about 2 days ago. 8 years with that cologne, and I think it's like a fine wine that increases in value as it ages... it was truly a pity when I used the last spray. I got nostalgic and everything. 8 good years with that little bottle of cologne. Fortunately I still have the American Eagle cologne! That should run out by the end of my mission! 

This week I will officially complete 1 year in the mission. The 12th of January a year ago I was set apart right after Ohio State won the national championship and I left for Chile on the 13th, now here I am... El Barrio Villa Sur!

 Our Awesome Ward Mission Leader! My Companion for the week!

I did leave every single day this week, but sometimes not until like 6 or 7 in the afternoon. Luckily our Ward Mission Leader loves us and he's a stud and was willing to leave with me everyday. Papa Soza has to stay in the house with Elder Marquina though, so that's why I would have to wait. It's a huge blessing that we live where we live though. It made it possible for me to work a little this week! 

Yesterday was the most stressful day of my mission. Our Haitiano investigator Ludes passed his baptismal interview this Saturday and was all set to be baptized this Sunday! I called him Saturday night to confirm that we could pass by to pick him up and walk to church at 9:30. I then called him at 8 in the morning to wake him up and to make sure he was getting ready. He said yes and that there was no problem. I then called again at 9:15 right before I left with my Ward Mission leader Lizardo to pick him up. He told us he was good to go. We get to his house.... and his wife (who speaks no Spanish) told us he left to go to his friend's house! Luckily, I know where his friend lives and we went there. We got there and he told us that he barely left and was going to wait in an Internet cafe nearby. I called him again and he told me he was coming and that we should wait. We waited and waited and he never showed up. I called again and his phone was turned off!! Now we're about 15 minutes away from the church and its 9:55 and church starts at 10. Then, the bishop calls me and asks where I am; I told him that we were looking for our investigator with a baptismal date for after sacrament meeting. He said, “But Elder you need to come to the church! Can you give a talk in sacrament meeting?" I was like.... today Bishop? Yes, today, you can talk about any subject! PLEASE HELP US ELDER WEAVER! I said all right and we booked it to the chapel. We got there just in time to take the santa cena. I literally just got up to the pulpit after and started talking about enduring to the end and the atonement and how if we aren't progressing we aren't fulfilling our calling as members of the true church of Jesus Christ. I used a lot of Alma 5... Then after they asked me to give the gospel principles class.... Needless to say.... it was a stressful Sunday and Ludes did not get baptized and I have yet to get in contact with him. 

I did go to the temple with Osvaldo and Katuisca and Maycol this weekend! IT WAS AMAZING!! It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Santiago and I had the opportunity to baptize Osvaldo for the dead in the temple! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! They ALL ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! Osvaldo is talking to everyone about the church and I just love this family! One month ago they were struggling and now they pay tithing every week and have done baptisms for the dead! This gospel is true. 

There are no excuses in mission work; I did everything I could to get investigators and inactive members in the capilla this Sunday with the circumstances I was in. I was a little disappointed when Ludes didn't get baptized, and wondered why God would allow us to be stuck in the pension all week and then after all the work I did.... he didn't get baptized. D&C 122:7-8 (7- My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 8- And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.) There are no excuses, I need to be better! There’s obviously something to learn from all of this. 

I know this is the Lord's work. I know he lives. I know he's aware of me personally. I know if we keep the commandments and do everything we can possibly do... we can put our trust in God and He will take care of the rest and bless us in his due time! 

Love all of you!!! Have a great week! You should see baptisms in these next few weeks!!! 

Elder Weaver 

Elder Marquina!  He’s got the pox bad!!

Our Awesome Ward Mission Leader! My Companion for the week!

Week 52...

January 5, 2016 

I've Got 99 Problems and...

Mi Gente,

I'm just going to come right out and say it, this week was ridiculously good up until Saturday when Elder Marquina got CHICKEN POX!!!!!!

What more can go wrong with this poor guy? He has problems with his feet and hands, and now he has chicken pox. Why does he have chicken pox you might ask? Because about 2 weeks ago we went into a house of inactive members, their little kids greeted us like normal and then right after they're like, "Oh, just so you know, they have chicken pox!" Elder Marquina freaked out and was like, "I've never had chicken pox!" They just laughed, and shrugged it off. Who in their right minds allow missionaries to pass by when their kids have chicken pox?!?! It takes two weeks to acquire chicken pox after contact, guess I forgot that from Boy Scouts. The irony is that on Saturday he even said, "Hey, I'm so lucky! I never got chicken pox!" Yeah, well that night he broke out and I was like ahhhh heckkkkk. So he pretty much looks like death right now. Poor guy hasn't had a normal mission by any means. D&C 122:7…

So Sunday was the biggest problem of the week. We had 7 investigadores that committed to go to church, and we have to pass by in the morning to bring them to church. Well, the problem is that Elder Marquina needs to be isolated for 2 to 3 weeks! So I called the ZL’s (Zone Leaders) and they sent Elder Arraniz and Elder Matamoras to our house. Elder Arraniz has had Chicken pox before so he stayed with Elder Marquina while I went to church with the Ecuatoriano. Then the ZL’s called and told us that they were heading to our sector to pick up Elder Matamoras to bring him to his ward, and I had to find a member to be my comp. Well the problem is that we not only have to pass by investigators in the morning, but we have to bring a recent convert that has a wheelchair to church every Sunday. It was a hectic morning to say the least with all the calls and all the running around. By the end of it, the Zl’s decided to just leave Elder Matamoras with me, and they went to church. By the time I got to church, I was sweating bullets, and they're like "ELDER WEAVER! ELDER WEAVER!! WHERE'S YOUR COMP? WHERE'S THIS PERSON? WHERE'S THE BISHOP? ADJGHASDKLJGHADKLGJHAKLDJH!!!!! CAN YOU BLESS THE SANTA CENA?!" 

So I blessed the Santa Cena and after that, things kind of mellowed out. Like I said on Skype... the ward depends on us. It's so stressful at times, but I love it. 

So basically all day yesterday I was in the house, but I did have divisions with our DL(District Leader) and his comp. I got to leave at 6:30 PM and let me tell ya. It's good to go out and work! I wanted to bang my head against a wall all day! 

I'm writing this email from the laptop of Papa Soza. Elder Marquina is looking terrible!  On a good note…We have a baptism this Sunday with our Haitiano Ludes! I am so excited for him! 

We passed the New Year with La Familia Soza, and I sang "God Bless America" at 12:00. I hope grandpa Weaver was singing along with me. (This is something his grandpa Weaver does every New Year)  Elder Marquina completed a year that night so he burnt a white shirt. 

So other than the fact that I want to rip my eyeballs out right now because I absolutely hate sitting around!  I’m all good!  I know all things happen for a reason!!! 

I Love you all!

Elder Weaver 

Happy New Year!!! Ya Guapitos! Connor's Week 51

December 29, 2015

Mi gente, 

So it was incredible to see all of you guys! The hour flew by! I didn't even get to mention everything that I wanted to mention, but it's all-good! Preston definitely looks like a man with only 3 percent body fat. Freaking bestia. Elder Marquina was like, “It’s obvious that your family is super athletic. All of you guys look like Weavers." He also said that Dad sounds very gringo and that his English sounds flyte but he literally didn't catch a single word we were saying. Mom is the best Mom ever, Elder Marquina was so happy to get all that we got for Christmas... but we'll see how we burn off all this weight we've gained. We have been running everyday now though.  Elder Marquina keeps saying "ELDER WEAVER UN ANO HASTA SEXY, UN ANO HASTA SEXY!"  It is unreal that I only have a year left! I still have so much I want to do!

So there was definitely a huge difference between my Skype with you guys and the Skype that Elder Marquina had with his family.  I literally just wanted to sit down and start teaching his mom a lesson, but Elder Marquina obviously just bore his testimony and said that she’ll be his first convert when he gets back. His Dad didn't say very much. His older brother was there and he talked a ton, and that guy is such a stud! He served a mission about 5 years ago and he's the stake secretary, and he really inspired Elder Marquina! It was really humbling to see how Elder Marquina handled his Skype. It really just got him to be more motivated to work hard. He's a great example to me! I am beyond blessed to have the family that I have! 

So we didn't end up having a baptism this weekend because Jonathan's dad thinks he needs more time.

What more can I say? I'm super happy! Can’t believe I’m at the half-way point on the mish! I'll be burning a white shirt the 14th of January! I love you guys a ton! I'll be making some goals for this next year and just know that I'll accomplish them!

This is the Lord's work. I have seen His hand in my life. 

Romans 5: 3 to 4! 

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

LOVE YOU ALL!

All those letters are amazing! I can’t wait to read them all!  

Elder Weaver 

VENID Y ADOREMOS...Week 50

December 22, 2015

 So this week was pretty sweet. I'm really not sure where to start, but let's start with the news that the whole mission received yesterday in our Mission Christmas Conference.... My new President is going to be President Woodward from Florida as of June 1 of this next year! He served his mission in Spain and his wife served in the Dominican Republic! The weirdest thing of all is that Presidente Barreiros was his home teacher in Florida for a time! President Woodward is a lawyer and he has lived pretty much everywhere in the world. As of right now he's living in Vancouver, Canada. It's going to be really weird to get a new Presidente. We still have a ton of time until June though, but I just thought I'd let you guys know! 

In the Christmas conference we ate a huge almuerzo that was SO GOOD, and we got SO MANY THINGS: First and foremost, I am now know throughout the mission as the Elder that receives the most from home. You guys are awesome! I'm not going to open the packages until Navidad! I want to cherish what I got here on the mish the best I can! Elder Marquina is super, super stoked as well. He's never gotten a Christmas gift in his life! He keeps talking to me about how excited he is, and he says, "Now I know how you gringos feel before Christmas, the anxiety is killing me!" So thanks Mom for sending that package! His family didn't send him anything! (WE ARE SUPER BLESSED, CAN’T SAY IT ENOUGH) 

The Christmas program was really good; we have some real talented people in our mission! We're in an awesome ward to pass Christmas too! Like I said, we live with members and they are planning on giving us a huge dinner for Christmas! Not to mention all the other members that want us to come over! Our investigadores and recent converts as well all want us to come over! Lots of love in this ward for sure! 

Speaking of recent converts, Osvaldo and Michael passed the sacrament this Sunday! They were super nervous, and it was super funny to see them. They kept saying "Weaver, Weaver, Weaver, no estamos preparados, tenemos solamente 2 semanas como miembros!" I was like, you guys received the priesthood last week and you're worthy! GO GET EM! They did awesome! So stoked for their progress! 

I also was asked to give a talk this Sunday on reverence. They called me on Saturday night and I whipped up a talk in the morning over reverence.... nada que ver. I linked it in with the Navidad and I had everyone laughing pretty hard as I told the story about what I did with Adin as a kid in sacrament meeting. Everyone gave me compliments afterwards and they told me that I'm easier to understand than most Chilenos because I don't speak quite as fast and I pronounce super well... I'll take it! Have no fear Dad... I'll talk to you like a Chileno for Christmas anyway! 

Today I fell through the roof of our pension because I went on top to take a picture... so that was cool. Looks like it won't cost that much though. I will be paying for the damages. Momma and Papa Soza are just happy that I didn't die.

I am beyond excited to see and hear you guys this Friday! Not going to lie, it's going to be sweet. I just hope to heaven that I don't cry. The amazing thing is that I just love the mission more and more. It's crazy to think I will not live these next days ever again on the mission! All the more reason to keep working hard! 

Love all of you!

FELIZ NAVIDAD DE CHILE! DISFRUTEN ESTA ÉPOCA DE NAVIDAD! 

Elder Weaver

Última Semana de Cambios Connor's Week 49

 

Connor's New Christmas T-shirt..."You Serious Clark?"

Hey there Friends and Family! 

So this last week was a tough one, not going to lie! Elder Marquina continues to have a lot of issues with his feet and we have literally done a solid 30 hours of traveling these past two changes! Needless to say, Elder Marquina is pretty much sick and tired of his feet. We have made a solid 2-hour trip to Las Condes approximately 15 times over the past 12 weeks. That's 2 hours there and 2 hours back.

We'll see how the changes meeting goes tomorrow, but it's going to be interesting. I'm really learning to have a lot of patience and charity. I knew when I got to Villa Sur that it was going to be hard for multiple reasons, but this past week everything kind of just piled on top of Elder Marquina and I. It's moments like that where you just learn to depend completely on your relationship with your Savior and prayer is the only way to go. 

 

Sadly, I am one who likes to talk things out to get problems resolved and Elder Marquina is not. We finally had a long talk! This kid is a huge example for me, and I know he is going to bless a ton of lives here in Chile and after his mission. He just kept asking,"Elder Weaver, si estoy haciendo lo que debo hacer, por qué Dios quiere castigarme?"( If I’m doing what I should be doing, why would God punish me?) I think this is a question all of us have asked at one point or another. It's a question that's tricky to answer. When we're doing everything we should be doing and we're trying our best just to deal with the trials we have, why doesn't God just put His hand in things and alleviate our pain? 

My answer is this... there is always something to learn from every trial. Elder Marquina may never heal in his feet. For the rest of his life he may have this problem, but I am 100 percent certain that he will bless the lives of many here in Chile and even more after his missionary service because he will have the experiences necessary to properly deal with future issues that may arise. Whether that is within his family, in his ward, or with friends... he will bless the life of somebody. 

I try my best to relate everything I can to the scriptures, but sometimes the best thing we can give to others is our own stories and our own experiences. Elder Cook said in a conference with the mission presidents of Chile..."Your missionaries not only deliver the message, THEY ARE THE MESSAGE!" Everything we do, everything we say is literally scripture and we are the light of the world! I am so happy to be a representative of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love this gospel; I know it's true because I've put it into practice in my life. What I say, what I do, is scripture and it is what Christ would say if he were here right now. My only hope is that I do Him justice. 

All I can say is that we work hard because we owe it to our Savior to work hard. We don't work hard so that we can look good in front of everyone else. 

I love all of you and thank you so much for the support and love! I Love this Christmas time of year where we think of our Savior and His birth! I love sharing this message during this time even more! 

Love,

Elder Weaver 

Week 48...Sequimos Bautizando

 

Hola queridos, 

So this week I had the privilege of baptizing Osvaldo Andres Cordova Rojas! It was such an awesome experience and I'll never forget this family! They are truly amazing. Osvaldo totally changed everything in his life so that he could be baptized! He got married, stopped smoking, stopped drinking, and stopped working Sundays so that he can go to church every Sunday! What a guy! The baptism went great, but as always there was a few challenges. We went to the church to fill the baptismal font, and one member told us that if we were just going to fill it with cold water it would take about an hour and a half to fill! Well we came back 45 minutes later to check on it and it flooded!  We had to mop up the whole church about an hour before the baptismal service! Nobody even noticed that the hall was flooded when they got to the service, so I'm taking that as an indicator that we did a good job! IT WAS A BLISTERING HOT DAY and it felt so good to get into that baptismal font with pure cold water! Osvaldo and I gave each other a huge hug afterwards. Such a cool experience! 

Osvaldo and Maycol will be receiving the Aaronic priesthood this next Sunday!

We might be baptizing this weekend as well... Rosalia is going to try and get a marriage date from el registro civil this week and if we're lucky she could get married this Saturday! It's just a matter of time, but she's going to get married!

We have two other investigadores that are progressing and have potencial. Carlitos and Julio, the only thing stopping them from being baptized is themselves. They basically want God to appear to them to tell them the church is true. I have never explained how to know when the spirit is testificando so many times in my life. 

 

So nothing really crazy happened this week! We played fútbol de bebé today with a few elders from the zone and the elders quorum of another ward and it was crazy intense. Never have I played so intensely!

Speaking of people that rock in the sporting world... PRESTON!!! YOU ARE RANKED 6TH IN THE STATE FOR WRESTLING!!! YOU ARE A MACHINE!!! Little do they know that you're going to win it all this year! You better... you're starving yourself for this. Way to be man! So stoked and proud of you! 

VISTA NATION DOMINATION AS WELL!! I hope you guys killed it at Nationals! Way! Way! Way Sweet that you guys won the southwest regional!

All the members of the ward say that I look like Barney from How I Met Your Mother, I literally have no idea why they think that... we look nothing alike. Everyone in Villa Sur knows me to, and to this day NOBODY CAN PRONOUNCE MY NAME! WEAVER! It's Weaver!!! Dad, not sure if you can relate? 

It feels nothing like Christmas here, and we literally die everyday due to the heat. Never in my life have I experienced heat like this. Not to mention I'm in the concrete jungle of Santiago and it's bakes hotter than an oven here. 

I Love the mission. I can't describe the joy I feel seeing Osvaldo and his family so happy in this gospel. They are also super excited when we come over, and they're literally willing to do whatever to draw nearer to God. They truly are examples to me! They'll be in the temple a year from now without a doubt! 

Love you all so much! A few more weeks and we'll be seeing each other... on Skype unreal. Glad everything went well for Thanksgiving!

 Elder Weaver 

Alma 5: 40-41! 

40 For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.

41 Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.

Dia del Gracias

November 24,2015

Estoy Super Agradecido Esta Semana del Día de Gracias (I am very grateful this week of Thanksgiving)

Hola Familia y amigos,

So this week was incredible, I'm not really sure where to begin, and I always forget to write about amazing things that happen in these e-mails. But here we go....

So we baptized Remy this weekend! This Haitiano is seriously such an example for me. We tried so hard to get as many people as we could to his baptism, but only a whopping 5 people were there; me, my comp, our mission leader, the first counselor in the bishopric, and one member. I gave the first talk and then the first counselor gave the closing talk and bienvenido al barrio (welcome to the ward). Remy he was absolutely thrilled! Elder Marquina was with Remy in the bathroom after the baptism and Remy just said,"Oiga! (Listen!)" Elder Marquina was like,"qué pasó (what happened)?!" And Remy said, “me siento diferente, me veo diferente, estoy tan feliz. (I fee different, I look different, I am so happy.)" It was then that Elder Marquina finally felt good about the baptism and he's thrilled to have finally performed his first baptism! He hasn't baptized since his training, and he never actually performed the ordinance. So while there was a poor showing from the ward, we definitely felt the spirit really strong that night with Remy and we know he is going to be a great member of the church. His next goal is to get his family baptized, but he has to wait until they come to Chile next year. SO RAD! I came all the way to Chile to baptize a Haitian. I got to confirm Remy a member of the church and that was also quite the experience... he arrived 10 minutes late for sacrament meeting and we weren't sure if we were going to be able to confirm him. But we did it! 

So Remy was a huge miracle and blessing, but Katuisca and Osvaldo and Michael are also huge miracles! Michael is going to get baptized this weekend sí o sí (no matter what), but Osvaldo and Katuisca gave us the amazing news today that they're going to get married this Friday!!! WOOHOOO! Thye have plans to get married in the temple after Osvaldo's baptism. It's still up in the air as to whether or not Osvaldo is going to get baptized this weekend, but definitely this change he will be baptized! Their youngest son Jared turns 8 this Sunday, so he'll be getting baptized this next weekend! UNREAL! My second family in the mission. They literally want us to come to their house everyday, we had a family home evening with them last week and they absolutely loved it! This family is way, way sweet! 

Rosalia is coming to church every Sunday and has every intention in the world to get baptized. Her boyfriend is the only problem. She's been praying super hard though and so have we, and he suddenly asked Rosalia if he could have an interview with the Bishop to talk about marriage.... we'll see how it goes. This guy apparently just doesn't think that 20 and 19 year old boys can tell him to get married so his girlfriend can get baptized, so he's going to meet with the bishop tonight. 

Yesterday we went all the way to Las Condes AGAIN! Elder Marquina is not doing so hot with his feet. He had his birthday Sunday and he was super happy, but his feet are killing him. Yesterday we literally ran all over Timbuktu to get his feet figured out. They performed a biopsy and he was super drugged out because of the anesthesia. It was hilarious, but at the same time, I just want to go go, go, and we have to stop, stop, stop for his poor feet. We'll be going to Los Condes at least two times a week for the rest of the change.  It is so hard because missionaries really need their feet to do this work!  

So Grandpa Weaver is a bus driver for handicapped kids! I have to admit, that gig is perfect for him! Super, super cool that he's doing that! I GOT YOUR THANKSGIVING PACKAGE! Holy cow, you guys are the best. Thanks grandpa Weaver for your sarcastic written letter... yes there is a difference between written letters and e-mails. 

I'm sending ya'll a picture of our shower considering Dad has 10 SHOWER HEADS IN HIS SHOWER! I bet it feels like a carwash every time dad... gosh, who on planet earth needs 10 showerheads? 

I'm super happy and super stoked for this change! It's unreal the miracles I've seen this past week. The key is staying humble and to keep working hard. There is no letting up on the throttle in the mission. Unreal to think almost everyone from my quorum growing up is getting back home these next few weeks... Don't get married until I get back guys! 

I haven't read about BYU XC:.. But I hope they killed it at nationals! 

Love all of you guys! Pray for all of you everyday!  

Elder Weaver