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! 

Week 76...El Fin Se Acerca Para Presidente Barreiros

June 20, 2016

El Fin Se Acerca Para Presidente Barreiros

Hola mi querida familia y mis queridos amigos,

Esta semana fue la hiel. No chiste no más, estoy animado como siempre, ¿cómo no puedo estar animado? Soy un misionero de Jesucristo! Más encima, CHILE DERRIBÓ A MÉXICO!!! 7-0, Los Mexicanos no saben nada de jugar la pelota, son más fomes que los Gringos. VIVA CHILE! Oye, Elder Waters! Qué pasa con el país más grande do mundo BRASIL, PERDEDORES! Tal vez puedan sacar notas de los jugadores que saben del asunto en Chile! GANAREMOS. GANAREMOS. GANAREMOS. 

So with that trash talk out of the way, let's move on to the spiritual aspects of the week. We are working our cans off here in Primo de Rivera and as Zone Leaders we are doing everything we can to keep this small Stake alive. Unfortunately we are seeing very few fruits and you can't help but just want to cry sometimes, it's all-good. I know that if we keep working hard, eventually things will pay off, and we will see miracles! It's just a trial of my faith I guess. The thing is that I know that the work does depend a lot on us as missionaries. We have to realize that this is God's work and that He ultimately is in control, but if we don't have the mentality of what it says in Jacob 1:19 (And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.) nothing ends up happening, we gotta have the urgency to get things done! 

We did get a huge miracle though. Fanny Zapata Palacios came to church this Sunday and she has a baptismal date for this Saturday. She's Peruana and she'll get baptized eventually, but we're hoping it happens this weekend. The problem is we're going to have to teach lights out charlas to get her in the water this Saturday. Did someone say Ayuno? Yes, we will be fasting. 

We went to a fireside yesterday night with a couple of people from our retention to hear Presidente Barreiros talk to all the recent converts. It was an awesome fireside and his wife took the cake as always with giving the best talk. She talked about her childhood and how she was baptized into the church. I've heard it all before, but this time it was in more detail and it was super spiritual. I'm going to miss Presidente and Hermana Barreiros so much. This is their last full week in Chile. They leave on July 1. 

I guess this is as good of a time as ever to say that I learned a ton from President Barreiros. I learned the TRABAJAR NO MÁS mentality, I learned how to be even bettering my obedience with exactness, I learned that there's not time to cry about yourself and there's always miracles waiting around the corner. I learned how to be super animado all the time and not let other circumstances control how I feel; I just react and keep moving forward. I learned how to love more and how to always want to achieve more and never be content with what I've already achieved. The truth of the matter is that I just love the guy. He's taught me a ton and there's not enough time to write everything. I also love Hermana Barreiros and have never met someone who truly loves the people of Chile and wants the best for her missionaries without coddling us and letting us get soft. 

I forgot to tell you guys about all the drama that went down last week with an investigator. We have an investigator that came to church one time. He was a testigo de Jehova  and he's had a crazy life to say the least. He came to church with high aspirations to find God but wasn't too pleased by what he saw in the church. Let's just say he ripped us to shreds last week talking about the irreverence in the chapel and people being on their cell phones and people talking and eating during sacrament meeting and how disrespectful people seemed to be while being in the chapel. Not saying that I agree with everything he said, I know that we come to church to be better, and that we can't judge others, but it did put things into perspective of how softly we sometimes treat sacrament meeting as members. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do deserve the upmost respect and oftentimes we lose sight of the sacredness of sacrament meeting because it's a custom that we have. Let's all try not to fall into that mindset and always treat sacrament meeting like it should be treated. I lost an investigator just because of irreverence in the chapel.

P-DAY WILL BE TUESDAY NEXT WEEK! JUST NEXT WEEK! President is going to have his good-bye meeting next Monday with all of us! So I'll be writing on Tuesday! Love all of you guys and hope you enjoyed heaven on earth in Lake of the Ozarks! 

THANKS FOR THE PACKAGE MOM!!! I LOVED IT!!!!! HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK! 

The Gospel is true, read & study your scriptures, say your prayers, go to church, and keep the commandments. Nuff said!

LES QUIERO MUCHO!

Elder Weaver 

Week 75...I'll Be Here in Chile While You Guys Waterski...

June 13, 2016

I’ll Be Here In Chile While You Guy Water-ski!

What's Good Mi Gente,

This week was insane in the fact that we worked our freaking cans off and had LITTLE RESULTS YET AGAIN! I've honestly never worked so hard in my life and seen so few results. The thing that's been hard for me since the get go in the mission is that it doesn't matter how hard you work... the people still have their agency and can decide for themselves whether or not they want to act on what we say. In triathlon I can work hard and I see the results because it's all for me. The work of the Lord is a lot different from the work of being a good athlete in that aspect. In the end... God decides and we can just do everything we can and hope for the best. 

There's a lot that went down this week, just like every other week, but I forget just about everything when I get here and have to start writing to you guys. The truth is that I'm so dang tired that I can hardly think straight. People around me probably think that I ate paint chips as a chili because I'm so out of it. 

We did have Consejo de Guerra with Presidente Barreiros this week. It was the last one I'll have with my favorite Brasilero of all time and that makes me sad! He's definitely a huge example for me! It will be cool to see him in Provo after the mission though! We just talked about the weaknesses and strengths as a mission and we pretty much decided that we need to work with the ward and stakes better here! That's definitely something I haven't done super well on my mission is working with the ward! The best part of the meeting was eating afterwards... and catching up with all the guys from my group! We see each other tons in this mission though, so it's nothing new. I just try to keep away from all the missionaries that talk about their numbers, let's just say that Santiago Oeste is the most competitive mission in the whole world. Everyone knows everything about everyone. The one thing I've come to realize is that if I want glory and praise from people I'll save that for after the mish when I'm back in the triathlon world. For now, I'm just worried about helping people come unto Christ by doing everything I can do and trusting in my Heavenly Father. 

I did a baptismal interview this week and it was super amazing. I love seeing people who are super prepared! It's just awesome. 

I keep chugging along here in Cerrillos. We're working hard, being obedient, and just trying to be better every single day! Love the work, but man am I tired. I can't wait to take a nap today! I'm just trying to really help people come to know their Savior. It's sad to see how lost people are everyday. In a Christian country like Chile it's crazy to see how people really have no idea who Jesus Christ is. I'm glad that I was born in the convenant and have the amazing family I have! 

I hope you love Lake of the Ozarks! Take a few cuts on the glass lake of dreams for me! Pics would be sweet!

Love you guys more than I love taking naps! That's saying something! 

Elder Weaver 

Week 73...The Apocalypse of Presidente Barreiros

Howdy Friends and Family,

This week has been one of the longest weeks of my mission. The hard part is that it's not going to get any less stressful. I have officially killed off my second comp in the mission, Elder Johnson will be in his house tomorrow, and I'll be here in Cerrillos with Elder Pomar. The worst part is that Elder Pomar will be doing all of his go-homer stuff this change as well even though he goes home August 9th. The reason this stinks is because go-homer stuff throws everyone off their groove and off their routine. This last week I was almost always on divisions with another ZL's who's comp is going home and we can never just do the whole missionary routine. Another thing that is driving me nuts is that our pension is an absolute mess and we got even more stuff because Elder Johnson's just left with us. Our pension has never been big enough for 3 comps, so being in a trio was HORRIBLE only in the sense of living in a clean pension. If anyone knows me I can’t stand living in a mess of any kind. The good news is that we were able to enter into whatever house we wanted for about 2 weeks… just gotta look at the positive side of things. 

The last Sunday of Elder Johnson was pretty dang memorable because we had a whopping 11 investigators that came to church! I've never had more than 8 in the chapel my whole mission but we had 11! We're hoping that out of those 11 we can see some of them enter the waters of baptisms.  They all have their challenges that they need to work through. But it was cool to see them all flood into the chapel. 

I had the most spiritual lesson of my mission this week as well. We're teaching a Boliviano named Rolando and he has had a really, really, really rough life. He told me his story and it all started when he was abandoned as a baby by his real Mom, then he was put under a mattress and left to die as a baby, and then someone found him and basically rescued him, and then he was adopted, and then his uncle sexually abused him as a 5 year old... I’m telling you it was hard for me to keep back the tears. He's in Chile trying to pay off a debt that he owes in Bolivia and he said he's been in search for God since he was 5 because of everything he's been through. He let us pass by a few weeks ago and that's where he basically broke down and cried and told us everything. He said that in all his years with his other church he never told anyone anything that had happened to him as a child, but for some reason that day he felt that he should tell his story... to complete strangers and Mormon missionaries no less. He's been listening to us ever since. He's still hard to crack completely because he's got some ideas deeply ingrained into him, but he came to church, and he's loving the Book of Mormon. It's going to be a process, but I’m confident he will recognize the truth and enter into life saving eternal covenants. We are extremely blessed as a family, I am extremely blessed as a person, and I am so grateful for everything that Heavenly Father has given me in my life. I've have had it easy. 

Elder Johnson was an awesome comp and he went out fighting. He'll be at BYU and he'll be someone I want to meet up with after the mish without a doubt, really great guy. It just sucks to kill comps...

President Barreiros is in his last cambio. He will be going home July 1. The mission is in absolute chaos because about 30 missionaries go home with President. We aren't getting 30 new missionaries and a lot of sectors are getting closed. The pressure is really on all of us to keep the animo up and to not let the mission get trunky with President and all the other 15 ZL's that are going home with him. He had a special meeting with all of us as ZL's and AP's this morning to basically say, "This is it, let's go and take out the trash. President Woodward deserves a good mission and we're going to leave him with a good mission. The young ZL's, I need you guys to step up your game. The old ZL's that go home with me... need you guys to go out fighting." It got us all pumped, but at the same time you can feel the stress and the pressure that's on everyone. 

It's an exciting time to be a missionary in the Santiago Oeste Misión but it's insane at the same time…ALL THE HERMANAS FROM MY GROUP ARE GOING HOME AND ALL MY OLD FRIENDS THAT I LOOKED UP TO AS LEADERS ARE GOING HOME AS WELL!!! 

I love all of you, and would appreciate the prayers! ENJOY SUMMER BREAK! I’ll be here enjoying in the cold Chileno winter! 

ELDER WEAVER 

Week 74... Sector Filled with Sins...

June 6,2016

Sector Filled With Sins

Hey, Hey, Hey…

So here I am again, writing another email. It's crazy how fast the weeks seem to fly by. I sure do love the work, but man am I tired. The worst part is that it will never let up until I'm home and even then I gotta keep going FULL GAS VOMIT. Weaver way I guess... 

So you're all going to Missouri this week. I'll just get the jealousy out of the way and say I HATE YOU GUYS! Man, Table Rock Lake is literally a paradise and it's like our little secret too, which is the best part! Crazy to think that Missouri was my senior vacation pick and it was the best we've ever had! ENJOY THE LAKE! I will go back there though! I freaking love it! 

So this week we worked hard and saw little results. Presidente gave his last mission reunion this week and his testimony was POWERFUL! The mission is up and pumped and we are trying to get the sacred 100 baptisms this month. As of right now, the estaca cerrillos has 1 but we have 6 fechas mas. I think we can get 10 as a zone this month, which would be amazing for this tiny estaca! 

President basically just said that we can't allow Satan to take away from us the glory of the mission. I think that's something that I've tried to live by my whole mission. The whole live without regrets motto! His testimony was so amazing and he just expressed his love for us, I'm going to miss the guy a ton when he goes. The good news is that he's not trunky at all. 

Speaking of trunky, Elder Pomar is doing all of his go homer crap this month because he goes home semana 4 of the next change and he wants to do everything with his group. He got here as a Latino because he spoke Spanish before the mish that's why he goes home after this group of gringos! I'm with my old pal Elder Nalesso and his comp Elder Young who are ZL's in my second zone of 5 de Abril! It's crazy because I wrote in this ciber about a year ago as well! 

All of our investigators have some serious issues. More than anything no one is married. Then again, Chile is the worst country in South America as far as couples that aren't married and babies born outside of marriage. It's also the highest drinking country in South America and it's the 2nd worst country for depression in the whole world. Dad thinks he understands Chilenos, but he doesn't. They are distinct. I love them though! Hope we win the Copa America again! 

Love you all a ton! Thanks for the emails! Thanks for the support. My only complaint is that I can't go out and run with Elder Pomar... 

ELDER WEAVER