The Time Is Far Spent, There Is Little Remaining!

The 3 Amigos!
Sister Woods, Osmond, & Weaver

July 26, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

What time are you flying in? President Cutler said you can arrive at 1:30 when I arrive at the mission home on Wednesday and I can pal around with you all to Waukesha before dinner at 6:30. Sadly, you won't be able to join the 20+ missionaries going home for dinner, but you can be back by 7:30 for testimony meeting all the missionaries will be participating in. What do you think? You can hash out the details via text with President Cutler, or I can just have a member call you...

"So, you Shawano hear the gospel?

Yeah I was pretty stressed out during final interviews about marriage and all that jazz, but President gave me some great counsel about that and future job opportunities and education. I also asked for a blessing from him, so all is well :) Just so you know, I am expected to keep the mission rules the whole time until I get home...SO no TV, worldly music, swimming, have to be within sight and sound of my companion (which won't be too much of a problem Mommy :), morning studies, etc. Just to prep ya!

Also...RIDICULOUS miracles happening this transfer: ALL my companions left in the field are training and 22 new missionaries, their eyes and spirits brightly shining, and entering the mission. I get to ride down with Sister Woods and Sister Osmond to Milwaukee because they are both training!! And I know they will do so epically!!

Studies this morning.

So...I may shed a tear or two, but you may already know that upon seeing your wonderful (and possibly tanner) faces as well. I perfectly understand sissy's position upon seeing me, for as EVERYONE knows, I know how debilitating stress can be.

In response to the musical number inquiry, how about "Homeward Bound?" Bro would love that too!!

This past year and a half has been so rewarding! This week has too! Latoya came to church and is continuing to progress, although she needs her baptismal date reset. We were FINALLY able to meet with Rachel Corrales! She was very thankful for our visit, hopefully the sisters can continue to see her on a regular basis. We met with Coley at Sister Allred's and it was very powerful to hear Sister and Brother Allred bear their testimony. I know it helped Coley strengthen hers. Shay wants to come with the sisters after showing her the "How Great Shall Be Your Joy" DVD and Roben our less active brought her landlady and friend with her to our lesson out of the blue! She wants to learn more :)

Nice lady who bought
us sodas at Culver's.

Our District

So many members are benefiting from the DVD and working with people! It will be great to follow up on all those people that have come to their minds. It has been great encouraging them!

Thanks for the quote, that is the one that has been hanging on my wall the last 18 months!! (But really, it has...)

See you later! (...But not too much!!!) 

Love you more than I love that I will see you soon (still pretty close!)

-Sister Weaver-

P.S. Yes, I still have the GPS you all gave me.

Sister Thurston...an EPIC RM in the Ward :)

Mad 4 District Meeting

July 20, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

WOW. That's a lot of love, dear mother Haha yeah I was the STL of Sister Cook who was two months older than me...WHAT NOW! And I think there's someone else, but I don't remember their name.

We had interviews with Prez and it turns out...WE ARE STILL TOGETHER FOR THE NEXT WEEK AND A 1/2!!! You know what that means...CAR STILL!!!!! Which has been great because the weather has been 100 degrees plus humidity the past couple days. Luckily today was better, but the Lord is so merciful!

Yay Brittany! I'm glad you saw her and can't wait to catch up with her! I just scheduled with President to have my departing interview on Sunday to discuss goals and I just KNOW that will talk to me about my plans for marriage...I should probably start making some in that department. Ugh. I just want to finish my mission focused! I'll also be speaking with the other two trio-mates in sacrament meeting so at least I'll have that focus :) YAY! Nothing like 2 talks to prepare for! It will be EPIC! Speaking of Epic, we totally have to visit Epic when you come...It's a place that EVERYONE in the ward and their brother works at and to be honest, I don't really know the point of it, but it is a geek's paradise! I would know...Each building has a theme like Indiana Jones or Star Wars and they have this huge slide people take to get to their meetings. It is tight! One of the Part member families in Mad 4 Ward took us on a tour of just a tiny corner of one of the buildings. Being me, I wanted to see the Lord of the Rings building and lo and behold, what do my wondering eyes should appear but...

One of the theaters at Epic...
it was modeled after the conference
center in SLC!!!

I met Gollum and offered him discussions...
he wan't interested.

At Epic...I've decided to continue my schooling at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

Dr. Who Police Call Box

I could have died out of sheer amazement.

Sadly, Lun Cheng sort of dropped us :( He is just getting frustrated and needs some time. He also doesn't like how our church claims to be the only true one. We think he might have been reading some anti.

Sunday was a day I will never forget! I knew it always gets darkest before the dawn, but I didn't know how bright the dawn could be! After visiting the Keyes family (whose father is not a member and the Gabriel the mother and her 5 boys are less active), she came to church!! She followed us because she wasn't sure where it was and sadly her husband couldn't go this time, but it was such a wonderful experience to see them stay for all three meetings. She knew Ishmael already, so it was so cool to see him be that good example and bless the sacrament. Sister Thurston fellowshipped her for the rest of church and the boys went to primary. We are meeting with the whole family later this week for a lesson!

It was funny, we didn't schedule lunch, because we just had too much stuff we needed to get done and we were like: THE LORD WILL PROVIDE! And lo and behold he did after sacrament Sister Feriante gave us a giant bowl of Welsh cakes and some other members fed us pizza...all unaware of our lack of lunch. The Lord truly does watch over His missionaries!

English Custard at Sister Feriante's!

Tim finally came to church as well!! Debra Hawkes and her family, Coley, Latoya, and Sarah also came! It was exciting to see so many people embrace the gospel and partake of the sacrament!

After showing this cool DVD of converts-turned-missionaries that the ZL's wanted us to show to members to a couple families in the ward, it was amazing to see how many names and revelation about missionary work came to their minds. I love the impact it is making on members. We've been thinking of bringing up our ward doing a "Visitor Sunday" like the 4th ward.

Also, I am worried about how best to help Sister Woods transition into buses, seeing as we have been so busy using a car and I think she is worried about it too. We were thinking of doing a dry run of all of the main places, but were wondering if you had any other advice?

Thanks for everything and always having confidence in me performing my duty of fulfilling what the Lord needs me to do, especially when my confidence seems to lack. I love you all more than I love geeking out over Doctor Who!

-Sister Weaver-

We didn't have cucumbers.

This is a cleansing mask, not my skin.
But I knew you would get a kick out
of it, Mom.  It was like peeling glue only better!

Eating a goose claw at a cool Chinese family's
house in Mad 4.  I think the webbing between the
toes was the best part :)  It got stuck in my teeth
so it was quite sufficient using the talons for toothpicks.

No...President Didn't Yell At Me...He Kills With Kindness!

May 26, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

Awww! Thanks Mom! You da best! I'm not sure if they have received it or not...but I will check. We email at the university library, but our P-day was switched to Tuesday, because Prez wanted everyone working on Memorial Day. I am excited you saw that video it truly was inspiring! Yay Karissa, too!! I am so happy she is married and moving on to the next chapter in her life. And Kelsey??? Craziness!

Haha no President didn't yell at me or anything, he kills with kindness (which I think is worse sometimes...) But this week went a lot better (despite only having 8 other lessons...ouch! But we were both sick, so...that's my excuse) Anywho! We have a progressing investigator!!! The first in I don't know HOW long! Lun Cheng is his name. Atheist turned Christian. Totally cool. I love Asians.

Thanks for the pics! Time sure does fly, 2 months till I go back to land of non-full-time missionary-hood. BAH!!! But I still have time! It was so weird giving my farewell testimony at Zone Conference on Tuesday. I about died the whole meeting with anxiety; it was like my first lesson all over again! But I think it may have been one of the best testimonies I have ever given. I am thankful for the example of my family, instilling in me the importance of learning and growing in families. I hope it was okay, but I mentioned the Pukahi's, too and how Jessica came home and taught the discussions to her brother. Truly, the greatest missionary work we will ever do will be within our own families. I know this work is true. I do not want to go back to my fisherman's net, but I want to be an RM ("returning" not "retired"). I hope that the experiences I have learned here will help me to become a better wife and mother in Zion.

This week four families from the ward participated in 8 p.m. member lessons and the outcome was astounding! It was very good to see Brother West, who has been skeptical about God, as he has been pursuing learning about science, open up about his beliefs and how knowledge of the gospel has blessed him. Sister West confided in us the frustration she's been feeling about his stubbornness and expressed her gratitude for the 8 p.m. member lessons with them. We look forward to teaching them the Plan of Salvation!

We met a less active that the bishop's wife has been fellowshipping and she is eager to strengthen her testimony once more and receive the discussions. Emily also had all the missionaries over for dinner! Her first time doing so!

Lun Cheng came to church on Sunday for all three meetings and enjoyed it, especially Gospel Principles where we talked of covenant making and keeping. He had questions about learning the "logic" behind commandments during our lesson, and is struggling to understand the concept of faith, but after inviting him to pray with us and ask God if they are true he did so and we encouraged him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. After coming as far as he has from atheism, I know he will receive his answer.

Sorry, I forgot my camera, so no pics for the moment :( I'm a little worried about my companion, she has been struggling a bit today...So, please pray for her :)

Love you all oodles and oodles!

-Sister Weaver-

This Week Was Better After Receiving A Blessing

May 18, 2015

After a long session of planning/mapping out where to go and who to see :)    

My Dearest Familia & Friends,

That's so cool that Austinio gave his mission report. I can just imagine him there, hashing out everything, black and white, just like he never fails to do! What a boss.

This week was better. After receiving a blessing from Brother Gardner, I felt much more comforted and had the re-affirming confirmation from the Spirit that the Lord needs me here.

It has been HOT (humid more so) but nice. Yesterday we and the other three sets of elders had a dinner appointment at the same place and we all walked the 20 minutes in the dripping heat, I think I left a nice puddle on the members' couch. But it was still nice to get to know everybody and Sister Senior was sweet and gave us a ride to our next appointment :)

After receiving a bit of chastisement in emails from President about how this ward NEEDS focus on retention and re-activation, I re-evaluated my goals of just solely baptism and really want to help the members here. This week I have found how many members are in true need of the gospel and the love of God. After I made the mistake of testifying of the truth of "The Family: A Proc to the World" with a less-active Emily, who is pro-gay marriage (along with a lot of members in the ward), she was moved by Moroni 7 and the peace that it brought to her and the new life she is bringing into the world. She has been struggling with her faith after 4 miscarriages, but I think she is beginning to understand that God does not make bad things happen to good people. She came with us to a lesson with Lun Cheng, who is preparing to be baptized on July 4th, and I think it was very good for her to bear her testimony once more.

The more member lessons we have been able to set have shown great miracles as well. A couple members have felt comfortable asking us questions that others have asked them, in which they have questioned their faith. I admire how much Sister Schlosser shows love to each member and an understanding of the trials they are going through. I hope to continue to develop that same love and understanding as well. The people here are very dedicated to finding truth, but need the rock-solid testimony that will help them STAY saints of the Church of Jesus Christ.

We were so happy when Kendall came to Julia's lesson and bore powerful testimony about the Holy Ghost and baptism. We look forward to seeing her work towards baptism on July 11th.

Sorry this is so short! I will take more pics, too! I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and hope that the work continues to progress in your neck of the woods!

Don't know if you've had the opportunity to see this Mormon Message yet, but it is a new one that just came out called "Lift" where 50 men keep their baptismal covenants through helping 1 woman:

Stay wonderful family of mine!

-Sister Weaver-

Mommyoyupya! (Imagine that in my squeaky voice)

Us on da bus!    

March 9, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

That's awesome that President sent you a letter, he is so amazing...even though I fell oober intimidated by him sometimes when I feel I am not meeting the expectations as an STL, (baptizing frequently, getting people to church, etc.). But he truly is inspired and this is the call he must fulfill! MLC was amazing and "priesthood" based, talking about the POWER of the priesthood versus the AUTHORITY of the priesthood. I love when Sister Cutler said, "priesthood power does not come with a calling, it comes with personal worthiness..." How true that is!  We will be giving a training on that tomorrow so I'm excited!  Then the Assistants gave a training on asking for and following up with referrals, doing a role-play that was HILARIOUS! There is only one Elder Stephens...all I can say is that costumes were involved.

We haven't gotten to see L. Tom Perry yet, that will be on the 21st, but it will be so great to see ALL the missionaries too, literally united in the cause of Christ!

So, we may or may not have been without a car this whole week. We were leaking oil, so we went to Sears to get it checked. After thinking it was just a small leak, since it was a new car they said that there was split in our crankshaft and oil was getting EVERYWHERE! So they sent us over to Subaru and after a lot of car-language talk that I don't understand they said that we could come get our car the next day after they fixed it. We come the next day (sweet amazing members who give us rides!) then amidst even more car talk they say that one of the chains snapped and combusted the engine...So just a few more days. Then, we get a call that our parts got lost in Georgia, so...yeah. If there is one thing I have learned from this experience NEVER EVER BUY A SUBARU! But, the people have been very gracious about it, offering us a rental to drive, even though we sadly, cannot drive non-mission-owned vehicles :) So happy day all is well!

This experience has also taught me how wonderful people are. MLC was in Oshkosh (about 1 1/2 hours away), so the Hmong Elders, without hesitation, offered us their car to drive, we were so thankful! (Even when the key stayed jammed in the ignition and we had to call them to come and fix THAT! I have about had it with cars...just sayin.) Then yesterday when we all went to dinner, they passed us walking then stopped their car told us to drive it and then waited for the other Elders to come and give them a ride to the appointment.... They are so sweet, I could cry!!!

All I can say is...Thank you President for allowing us to get bus passes! We got them just in time! I think one reason that Sister King is here is because of her vast knowledge/experience of taking the bus! While figuring out how to adjust to life without a vehicle (we pray our parts will be coming today, we have a training to give tomorrow), we found ourselves prioritizing who should be visited and who could be visited. A lot of phone calls were made. Members were gracious in giving us rides when buses were unavailable, but we found ourselves knocking many new doors.

Stake Conference rocked! They are implementing a new 30-day media challenge, so that will be fun to follow up with.

Before Saturday's Stake Conference, we were privileged to meet a member from Rhinelander named Alyssa (who contacted us beforehand) and her two non-member friends who we had the opportunity to share the Book of Mormon with and refer to the Rhinelander Elders, who know the member really well and her enthusiasm for this work. They had a lot of questions about the church, so we helped them understand a little more about it and Alyssa and them gave us a ride to Stake Conference! They stayed for most of the meeting and we hope to hear more about their experience.

Brother Leffert also came! Even though he is not a member, he truly does respect and honor the priesthood, asking for a blessing for his wife. We look forward to continue to teach him about the gospel. I have seen the power of the priesthood so much this week. Another one of our investigators is in the hospital and wanted a blessing. That truly was an inspired training Prez and Sister Cutler gave!

It truly was miraculous to see all those LARC's come to Stake Conference! The Mars came, who have been very less active due to some judgment issues about Brother Mar not receiving the priesthood...But after meeting with them, we had a very good lesson and he agrees to meet with the Elders to learn what he has to do to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.

Yay family I cannot wait to see y'all's smiling faces in person! The church is true! The priesthood is real! There's nothing more humbling than WALKING to our various destinations in life!

Love you more than I love the sound of ice melting!

-Sister Weaver-

Allison would be sooooooo psyched
to eat lunch at this cute tea place
we went with one of our investigators!    

Elder Hubert (from my first area!)
is a Zone Leader now! *sniff*
they just grow up so fast! He reminds
me so much of bro it ain't even funny    

March 6, 2015 Leadership Council

Sister Weaver and Sister King, Wausau

Sister Training Leader - Letter From Mission President

January 9, 2014

Mission Leadership Council

Sisters Jardine, Weaver, Ostler, Christiansen

Sisters Jardine & Weaver

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-