Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

December 29, 2014

Chris's Baptism

HAPPY NEW YEAR FAMILY & Friends!! (almost)

Sorry I had to cut our chat! :( But I loved seeing your beeeutiful faces!! That is so cool that you all get to go to the lovely lands of western 'Merica! And please take ridiculous amounts of pictures please :)

I'm not sure about what we are doing for New Year's because I am getting transferred to Wausau New Year's Eve!.........As a Sister Training Leader! BAH! I don't know how I will do it, but I know the Lord has called me to it for a reason. I'm so excited to help and learn from my fellow missionaries in the Wausau Zone and strive to continue in the missionary spirit that Sister Rousseau has helped me develop while here.

CHRIS GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!! It was so neat to see all of the support from the ward in attendance as he made this important first step in his journey of enduring to the end and returning to his Heavenly Father's presence. Sister Milhone from the YSA ward contacted us that very day and said she had informed the YSA Ward Mission Leader about him and getting him involved in the YSA activities. We are planning to teach the first new member lesson this week. He is on his way!

We finally were able to set a date with Eric! It will be a while, but he agreed to work towards receiving his answer by May. We also set a date with Kim, who is so excited to learn about the gospel and read from the Book of Mormon and receive a witness of the truth for herself. We met with a woman named Cassandra also, who began to cry when she expressed how grateful she is for people who want to share more of the word of God.

We met Clint, Dominique's fiancé, who just got out of jail and he absorbed the story of the Book of Mormon and where it came from very well. 

Love you all and never ever forget who you are or why you are where you are all at this present time! Thank you for the inspired words of encouragement Momasita! I love you all so much and will see your shining faces again in 4ish months :)

-Sister Weaver-

Me and the Williams family 

(our Ward Mission Leader)

Teaching at a Single’s thing

Me getting presents    

Us photo-opping after Mass

Me at the Capital

Our Christmas hats

Opening Dominique’s presents

Allison and B’u’erscotchy 

during Skpe call to home.

The Whole Family Together Again

Merry Christmas 2014

This Week Sister Rousseau Was Proposed Too Again!

December 22, 2014

Momasita & Family & Friends,

Yes for sure 10:00 a.m. can work my time.  I gave her your number too so whomever calls whoever first :)

Yup, just send it to my apt. address. Thank you all so much! No I haven't received my package yet but I am definitely looking forward to it :) I am so excited to see you all though! No one could ask for a better Christmas present!!!  (Dip a cracker in THAT cheese, but it's true!)

This week Sister Rousseau was proposed to, again and by the same guy. It was awkward. We are seeing them again today so that should be interesting.

My trainer finished up her mission and went home this week :( along with Sister Silcox (who came to our ward in Sun Prairie yesterday and I got to meet her family!!) They are adjusting well I guess, so they say, back to normal life. SO weird!

We have been prepping Chris for his upcoming baptism! He was not able to make it to church, unfortunately, so he needs to make it one more time before next week; we are praying more "family" stuff does not come up next week. He is progressing well, but we are going to go over the baptismal questions with him once more to see where his understanding truly is in regards to his testimony of the gospel.

We met with Laura this week also and her agnostic son, who has been giving us a lot of grief about the gospel, but has been asking us very good questions and promised he would not stand in the way of his mom being taught. Luckily, he bonded pretty well with Elder Thompson, when we referred him to talk with him, because they come from similar circumstances. He said that it went pretty well and they will be talking about the gospel with him again.

We have been getting some investigator referrals as well, and miracles are happening with a lot of new people we are meeting with! Luckily we had a member with us when we met Laura Brown, a woman who is studying to receive her ministerial certificate. She was very open to us and loved our testimonies of Jesus Christ. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon again (since she had one before) and do so with the question of whether or not the promise inside is true. She said that we were an answer to her prayer and said that she said there is only so much she can learn, but she wants what is in her head to move to her heart. She invited us back :)

Yesterday we were blessed with a ride up to Columbus from one of our members to see the Sullivan family again. They were so happy to see us and apologized for not getting back with us about meeting with them. They are still interested they are just going through ALOT of sickness and change in their family right now but we FINALLY set up a solid return appointment with them. We read with them from the Book of Mormon as well and they promised to read from it.

May the Lord continue to shower blessings down upon you all this Christmas season! I know that this work is true and it is Christ who stands at the helm!

I can't wait to see you all either! Love you more than I can express!

-Sister Weaver-

Our District's Last Picture

We met Elvis with our Eteernigators
the Stoll's when they took us out
to lunch for their anniversary.

We made Brother Stoll Santa Claus
at our Ward Christmas Party!
He loved it.
None of the little kidlets knew
it was him, hehe.

A New Week!

December 15, 2014

Haha...oh Da, I can just picture that. Allison said, "For someone who doesn't like Christmas, Dad sure is going all out for it (lights)." Speaking of which, here is a pic of his favorite person: 

No, sadly I have not yet asked President about y'all coming in July...what would be easiest for you guys...for me to come home and then we leave and make our rounds on this part of the country or vice versa? Because I am good either way...

I don't think I need anything; things are being accumulated here as far as people giving us stuff and missionaries leaving behind stuff that we take :) But if you WANT to, I really love the Lamb of God soundtrack (the one with the song "Here is Hope") and the Cumorah's Hill soundtrack if you can find it. Other than that, just seeing your crazy faces will be gift enough for me 

Yeah I'm still with Sister Rousseau--she is on fire and I hope I'm catching it... Sometimes I have to cool her down, but talking with everyone is most definitely key...even if we have to chase down cars pahaha and always remember, "If it ain't awkward, it ain't missionary work!" - Elder Stephens

I LOVE the story of Daniel...he is probably one of my favorite prophets in the Old Testament (other than Elijah: spiritual throw-down!) He is always true, unwavering and full of faith!

Don't worry I will for sure update you what time we are doing Skype...it may be in the evening when we see the Clinton's for dinner (with ALL the missionaries...AHH!!!) so that should be chaotic...I hope we'll be able to find someone else if that's what's happening. But I'll let you know Monday.

Here's an update on the peeps:

When we met with Chris this week, we met in the Fulmer's home again and they truly helped bring the Book of Mormon to life for him. He is keeping his commitments, but it takes a while for him to open up to how he is really feeling or understanding the principles being taught. We will be meeting him tonight again and he is still very excited for his upcoming baptism.

We met a new woman who works at the Nursing Home named Autumn, who has three kids and is looking for truth in this world. She is the sweetest person and allowed us to share with her the Restoration at her home...the Spirit was so strong! She said she could definitely relate to Joseph Smith and is eager to learn more. We hope to set a baptismal date with her this week.

We also met a young 16 year-old girl named Chidinma, who is actually the sister of one of our potentials, Anthony. She lives with him and his fiancé while her parents are staying in Chicago.

Sadly, Rena, the grandma with stage 4 throat cancer, passed away this week, and we were invited to her funeral this Saturday. We will continue to teach her husband Byron, who is still interested, as well as Kiesha, who had a baptismal date before everything went further downhill with her grandma :( Luckily her whole family was there so it was a peaceful passing.

Laura is another new investigator we met a few weeks ago at Goodwill who contacted us this week, wanting to know more because she was going through some hard things in addition to her depression and anxiety. She came to church and had a wonderful time, meeting a lot of friendly members of the ward. She felt very welcome. We are teaching her slowly and simply because she has a learning disability, but she has been listening to the Book of Mormon on her phone and we plan on inviting her to baptism once we finish the restoration!

Eric has been coming to church regularly and is still searching to know if the priesthood authority is true and has been praying but is getting frustrated because he has not received a clear answer yet. We told him to be patient, prayerful, and continue to read the Book of Mormon. He has been relating it more to his life and we can see his testimony of the Book of Mormon gets stronger each time he reads!

Thank you for all you do in supporting me and bro and all the other missionaries in this work! That is SO crazy that there is still so much work that needs to still be done in America: "For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenanted with his people, O house of Israel" (3 Nephi 21:4).

All my love,

-Sister Weaver-

PICS!!! Better late than never!

Me losing epically at some peg-game
at the Clinton's on Thanksgiving.

Us helping Dominique
hang curtains.

After exchanges with the STL's.
Our cute decorated apt.

What used to be a Christmas
tree in a sad little lit bundle
under our desk.

Crazy cupcakes Sister Rousseau
made for Dominique...bless her heart.

How Blessed We Are...

December 8, 2014

Dearest Family & Friends,

You are right (as always) about how blessed we are to have come to earth in a time when great and exciting things are occurring in God's kingdom on earth. The literal fulfillment of prophecy in rolling forth as the stone cut from the mountain without hands fills the earth with enormous immensity! I am so grateful too for the men and women--like Handel, Luther, Calvin, Tyndale, Joan of Arc, Columbus, our Founding Fathers--whom God has inspired to prepare the way for the Restoration of the Gospel, just as John the Baptist and Samuel the Lamanite prepared the way for the Savior. It is interesting that you mention the pre-mortal existence because I was pondering too and came to the conclusion that missionary work neither began at birth, nor concludes at death. In the pre-mortal existence just imagine how many of us pulling for the Savior tried to, or succeeded in, helping to bring those who wanted to follow Lucifer back to the Savior. Who knows, maybe before the war in heaven there were more than 1/3 that were led astray! As we know, work continues in the Spirit World for those who have passed without the knowledge of the fruits of the gospel. And, during that wonderful time when Satan will be loosed after the Millennium, trying to drag as many of God's children as he can down with him before Judgment, just imagine how ridiculously busy missionaries will be on both sides of the veil! Until the time comes when the faithful may receive a place in heaven and continue in the eternal truth and work that the Lord has prepared from the beginning. Onward, ever onward...to victory!

I am so happy to hear that sissy is prepping so well for the blessed land of Rexburg, she will love it so much; she won't know what to do :)

Thank you so much for Brother Johnson's message, he truly is inspired. I love nothing more than answering or asking questions (or seeking to find the answers when I can't answer), so this formula is superb!

This week my testimony was strengthened on the importance of surveys. We found and taught three families about the gospel! Although a couple has decided to stick with their church, we have high hopes for the one we found in Columbus. We received a referral for someone at the Catholic School down there, but when we discovered it was the actual school we were referred to, we decided to try some surveys before heading home. The second door we knocked, Sean let us in and introduced us to his wife Emily. Although she just started to believe in Christianity, she is open to learn more about our faith and our views on what is happening in the world. She really liked our stance on gay marriage and became more open to what we taught. Sean told us their family had experienced 5 deaths in the past 4 months and that they are Catholic, but still searching. After the survey, we taught them the Plan of Salvation, emphasizing the importance of the Savior and how much He loves us. They appreciated it and told us that it would take them a little bit to digest what we had told them, because it was so new to them. Emily liked the concept of there not being damned to hell if you don't believe in Christ, but she expressed her gratitude that there was a place for everyone and that she wanted to get as close to God as possible. After we left, they texted us about how grateful they were that we taught them, and said they would keep in touch :) We hope to be able to get down there again so we can keep teaching them!

On Wednesday Nykeria and her friend Deanna went caroling with the Young Women! It was great to see how much fun they had and how the youth welcomed them into the fold.

I feel so blessed to have learned and taught a lot about the Savior's Atonement this week. At one of our less-actives, the Figuera's, Patricia received personal revelation about the three kingdoms of glory and how she wants to be prepared when the Savior comes.

Tye received personal revelation during our lesson as well, when we testified of the importance of scripture study and prayer. She said that sometimes she has trouble applying what we teach, but today she felt very moved and inspired that the Lord is telling her what she needs to know :)

President Cutler truly is a man of God, inspiring us to set these new goals to accomplish in order to gather more of God's children into His fold!

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

(Romans 13:11-12)

Love you all!

Keep the Light Burning Bright!

-Sister Weaver-

Turkey Coma Hangover!

December 1, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

Sadly...I forgot my camera...so no pics this week :( SORRY!! But Thanksgiving was awesome!!! We went to the Millers for breakfast (sausage, gravy and biscuits, YUM!!), the Rainey's for lunch (with a caramel cream pie, MMM!), and the Clinton's for dinner (MORE turkey!)...By then I was pretty shot. I gained a few pounds, but no big thang!

My Reynad's is okay, although my feet and hands turn blue on occasion...

Yes, as missionaries we are doing something called the He is the Gift Initiative! Were we give out cards with the link to the video and then report each week on how many of our investigators came in contact with it.

I am so sorry to hear about Josh, he is so strong and his family is as well during this time of uncertainty and struggle. It's so weird teaching people about the Plan of Salvation and having them not believe or even doubt it, when I know that the truth reflects back to them whether they can grasp it at this time or not. All things are done in the wisdom of God, whether we can see it in this life, or not. But I know that He has a plan in which all may be edified in and through the matchless Gift of His Divine Son!

This week, Chris and Tye are progressing well, although they weren't able to come to church this past Sunday due to work and illness. Tye was so excited to go she had us help her pick out skirts to buy for the occasion, so we are working hard to help her commit to coming this week! Chris is so excited about his baptism, he opened up a bit more and we helped him understand more of the Savior's atonement in his life. We moved up his date to Dec. 20th because he has been progressing so much in so short of time.

We were able to meet a lovely family through the surveys and they are willing to have us back in their home later this week. We are going to finish teaching them the Plan of Salvation. Adam has his doubts, but his girlfriend Krista is more open to it.

Claire has been cutting way down on her smoking! We had a great lesson in the Jacobson's home and were able to teach the Word of Wisdom more clearly and powerfully. Sister Jacobson is an amazing fellow shipper. Claire ended up wanting a blessing and Brother Jacobson and Brother Williams were able to administer one. She is sleeping on Cynthia's couch right now and is having to deal with a few men who are always over threatening her and doing drugs. She is surrounded by it frequently, but is staying strong in the face of it. She said drugs are starting to look more and more repulsive to her, as she is seeing the difference without having to rely on them to cope with emotional stress. She invited us to her sister's baby shower and was able to meet her family! YAY! I think they are more open to her meeting with us now that they have gotten to know us better.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and wonderful thoughts!

-Sister Weaver-

Yeah, It's Like 9 Degrees Here!

November 17, 2014

Hello Dearest Family of Mine!

Yay! I'm glad that y'all were able to say hi to everyone for me at the reception,

I am so excited that cousin Nick got married! I can kind of remember what he looks like...but then again, there's a picture! Looks like y'all had a blast anyway!

Yeah it's like 9 degrees or so here, so...yes, it is cold.  We got snow on Saturday and it hasn't really melted yet, it is just annoyingly frozen now so all the roads are bumpy, but hey! We still have a car that I am eternally grateful for!

Zone Conference is like Christmas for missionaries! We are uplifted and edified to the point of wanting to convert EVERYONE in Wisconsin after it gets through. It is about 6ish hours, but it goes by way too fast in my opinion. We do role-plays, receive counsel from the AP's and the Mission President, and have the opportunity to teach one another about the doctrines/personal revelation we have received during the months we prepare before each conference. I love it so much! It is right up there with many of my favorite things on the mission!

Yeah...Spanish is still not my forte: I believe I was called to an English-speaking mission for a reason.

Boy, it's transfer time, yet again! It seems the further into the mission I go, the faster things seem to creep up on me. I have been so blessed to serve with such terrific missionaries on my mission thus far. Our district leader just got made AP! (Which I'm really not surprised at, he'll do so great) And my MTC companion, Sister Wilson, is Sister Training Leader with Sister Silcox, my last companion in Waukesha! There is so much awesomeness happening to everyone, I love it!! :)

This week we were able to set three more baptismal dates with Tye (a young adult who wants to be baptized she is just trying to find the right church), Earl (an older man who we tracted into and shared the Book of Mormon with via "drew him a picture"), and his brother Lloyd (who is very happy with brother's decision to meet with us and wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon).

This week I have seen the miracle of how the Book of Mormon gives people a sense of hope in life. It seems that each time we give one away, those who accept the book and the message attached to it receive some kind of initial confirmation that it holds great value. There have been many whom I have seen clutch it or begin to read through it as we walk away. We met a really nice man named Anthony who started crying when we bore testimony of the power the Book of Mormon contains to bless him and his family.

Sadly, this morning we found out that one of our investigators was involved in a 34-year long homosexual relationship in which they adopted kids and raised a family. We are not sure how to proceed except to explain to her the doctrine of the family and how marriage is ordained by God only between a man and a woman. She is still pretty rooted in her Lutheran beliefs...but she is impressed with the work we are doing spreading the gospel word. She still wants to learn more about the church, we are planning to teach her the rest of the Plan of Salvation, so we will have to boldly but lovingly cover the doctrine of the family then and there.

The work is hastening forward and we are excited to see the many miracles that will unfold this coming transfer. It truly is the work of the Lord that is pushing all of us through and guiding us along. I do not fear what the future may hold, only that I may follow the Lord in it and be the daughter He knows me to be. It is the same with all of His children...

I absolutely LOVE what I read this morning in Alma 26:

"My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice...Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves!...as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land for which we will praise his name forever."

You all are my pride and joy! Like Ammon, I will not boast of myself, but of my Lord, who's Spirit is present in the bonds of my family!

Love you all! Work hard! Getter' dun! (Sorry there's no pics this week I sorta maybe almost forgot my camera cord :( )

-Sister Weaver-

We Do Need To Clear Our Vision And Remember Our True Path

November 10, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

I love that pic too! How true I'm sure it is! I'm glad you were able to hear such inspired words from Stake Conference; we DO need to clear our vision and remember our true path. I love what Elder Holland said in his talk "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence," "If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts." We need to always remember the good things that we have already received as truth, when we come down from our spiritual highs and enter the perils of the world, yet again. I HIGHLY encourage you to read that talk, it is one of my favorites that I always go to when discouraged.

For sure I will most definitely cut up my old card once I get the new one. The weather HAS been pretty cold here, too. It is ridiculous how fast the temperature drops, but I am most happy that the weather turned out better today where the sunshine is concerned  (sorry, that is the closest thing I could find to a sun :)

I have discovered how horrible I am at initial contacting, so this week Sister Rousseau has been helping me overcome my fears of talking to EVERYONE I see. So far, I am seeing the fruits of that endeavor :D. Earlier in the week we flagged down a man who was getting into his car and I was so impressed that Sister Rousseau did so, because he expressed how grateful he was that we stopped him, because he was on his way to do something he knew he was not supposed to. It goes to show that you never know WHAT people are going through...I thought we missed our moment and it was awkward and forward and creepy knocking on someone's window before they pull out, but after our experience, I am grateful we did, because I know that he needed it...and he did too.

After Zone Conference we found a man named Earl, who we have an appointment with tonight, through using the Book of Mormon Map Challenge that your wife encouraged us to use. He has a lot of questions and so does his roommate, but he said he would be baptized if he knew the doctrine was true!

It truly is a tender mercy that so many people are letting us into their homes. We met a retired Methodist minister named Gloria, who knew the sisters before and let us in to share with her more about the Plan of Salvation. We knocked on our former-investigator Patti's door and were thrilled when she invited us in for pizza. She was having a sign-making party for her run the next day and Sister Edgar was there! It was meant to be! We helped her out and met her friend Lisa, who we met street-contacting once but now is much more open to us coming to visit.

We saw Latrina as well! We were finally invited into her home and she and her daughter are very interested in Personal Progress, so we showed her how to access it online and also helped her download the BOM onto her phone. She expressed how excited she was to have us back, despite her having to cancel appointments so often.

Sadly, neither Claire nor Dominique came to church on Sunday :( despite their commitments to do so. However, Claire came to the Music Night we sang at last night and brought her sister! I was so happy to see Bill Stoll there as well! He has been asking more questions about temple ordinances and sealing’s.

Haha we wrapped the Elders into singing with it and us all eventually turned out...the poor dears. But the Spirit was there and I am happy we did it.

You are so wonderful; Momma and you continue to be every single day. I love you ALL so very much and hope and pray that everything will work out for your good!

With All the Love that My Heart Can Muster,

-Sister Weaver-

Our Zone Conference Sisters!
It was so funny;
each one of us had a camera
we needed to take a pic with
so all the Elders in the Zone
lined up and took a pic each
...it was hilarious.

Me holding a baby-like dog
at one of our Spanish
investigator's house, Martha