August 4, 2014
Dearest Family & Friends,
Sorry Ma...last I heard Austin was
using my arm-band-thing :( Check in my nightstand, or under my bed (don't get
lost), or in the little white storage drawers on the right side of my closet.
That is so cool about the Joseph Smith movie! I think I have watched it more
than any other movie on my mission. Yeah...I'm slowing down. I'm the only
driver. As for being Senior Companion, there really isn't much of a difference.
It's usually just whoever has been out longer. Sometimes I feel like the junior
still, because I have only been a couple weeks in a place where my companion
has been for three months. HAHA! Tell Cathy to have fun, the poor dear, and
that I thank her for her message :)
This week we focused a lot on finding
and meeting with previous potentials and formers. Although not all of our
appointments went through, nor were we able to find a new investigator, we were
able to give away a lot of Book of Mormons and many people said they would
read, so I am excited to follow up with them in the future. Oh. My. Goodness.
We met the coolest
Mormon-history-sympathizing-gay-atheist-yet-still-open-to-learn-about-truth-and-brings-his-kids-to-church-to-choose-if-they-want-to-be-baptized-for-themselves
man who accepted a BOM and said he'd read it. He has a lot of respect for the
Mormon's, has walked the Pioneer trail before and been down to Nauvoo and the
only exposure he's had to the Book of Mormon was the musical (which we cleared
up pretty quick). It's funny how we have heard more back lashing about the
church from the straight gay-rights people than actual gays. Anywho...
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| Donald - WWII Vet |
At the museum this week we met a cool
guy named Donald who fought in WWII and wanted to see our WWII antiques. We
went through a box full of Nazi stuff, which had some disturbing pics of a
cremation liberated from a concentration camp. We also found a Japanese uniform
pulled off a dead soldier from Hiroshima, and tons more. Donald showed us his
book he wrote about his time in Singapore and it was cool to see all of the
pics of him and all the other soldiers who, some of them looked younger than
Austin!
We met with a former named Toywania
this week and were surprised to learn that she knew a lot about priesthood keys.
We plan to follow up more about the priesthood this coming week. She also
brought to our attention a common concern about the Book of Mormon, saying that
it is saying what the Bible says and questioned how it taught anything
different. We told her that it contained the FULLNESS of Christ's gospel, and
without it we would not have the complete knowledge, nor the credibility of the
restored priesthood necessary for performing the ordinances of salvation. She
said that she believed that one had to pray to know of truth, so I hope that
she takes that to heart when praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true.
One of the members of our ward,
Sister Nye, asked us to come over to give her a Book of Mormon to give to one
of the people working on her house, who talked a lot with her about God and his
beliefs. I loved what she said when he was asking why God would let the good
people suffer and then let some evil people just go along without any pain. She
surprised him when she said: "Because we NEED it. Heavenly Father didn't
let the Savior go through life all hunky-dory, He had to suffer because it is a
purification process that humbles us and sanctifies us to the point where we
can be receptive to the Spirit. He had never thought about it that way before.
She greatly believed that he would benefit from the BOM so we of course RAN to
her house (in our car :P). She let us know that he was SO grateful for it and
she saw him reading it in the car when he left. I am so thankful for the
faithfulness of the members of the church in opening the doors of trust for
those they come in contact with.
We finally met with Alex! This cute
13 year-old who wants to be baptized so bad but her Mom won't give her consent
until they try other churches (which stinks because SHE is the one who asked
the missionaries to meet with her daughter anyway). But we'll keep working with
her.
During testimony meeting yesterday, a
woman named Sister Norton bore her testimony and I cried when she talked about
how she had just returned from the site in Idaho where her son, his fiance, and
three other family members had perished in a recent plane crash. She talked of
how one of the other women at the memorial who had lost family gave her a small
white box with what was left belonging to her son. All had been either melted
or singed and the lady told her that she would not believe what else they had
found: she pulled out her son's scripture case an inside where his scriptures,
unharmed. It was a testimony to her because the scriptures are what had brought
them together during times of trial in testimony. I don't think there was a dry
eye in the room.
We were talking with Kat yesterday
about apostasy and how we can't imagine how some people who return from their
missions and go through such spiritual experiences fall away...Sister Trent
said that it is an act of mercy from the Lord. I had never thought about how
being brought to such a low point could invite the mercy of the Lord, to bring
you to a higher plane than you had been before, re-affirming what you know to
be true and STAYING there. Sometimes people don't know the joy of belonging to
the church or living in harmony with God's commandments because they have never
NOT had Him in their lives. They do not know the difference between having the
companionship of the Lord and not having it. Once they fall away or are
excommunicated, they feel that darkness...and once they realize what is
missing, they would do ANYTHING to get it back. It truly is a testimony to me
about the Atonement and repentance and about how there is always hope for those
who have strayed. It kind of rolls back to what Sis. Nye said about suffering
purifying us. I myself have felt that darkness and will continue to testify
that the joy of the companionship of the Lord is something that I never ever
want to lose. It is a miracle to see how the Atonement carries us so far from
who we were that it makes the person we were nearly unrecognizable to the
people we are now due to the experiences we have gone through.
Therefore let
your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3 Nephi
12:16). Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the
world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye
have seen me do (3 Nephi 18:24).
My love to all of you. NEVER EVER
lose the light!
-Sister Weaver-
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| Brother Fulmer in our ward is a fantastical painter who paints people as the unsung Book of Mormon heroes. |
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| Some Other Work of Art |
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| Sister Trent holding one of Brother Fulmer legit swords! |
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