Subject: Hastening the work!
Date: Mon, 25 May 2015 15:15:31 -0600
Good afternoon everyone!
I had another fantastic week! We are continuing to find new
investigators, and the number of lessons that we are teaching is
finally increasing! We had 3 investigators go to church yesterday (a
family in the Spanish branch)!
On Monday, we had a zone activity, and we played sports for a few
hours. Needless to say, we were all pooped afterward. And right as
we were walking out of the church building, it started to pour! Even
running from the building to our car, we got soaked! Monday evening,
we had a few lessons. One of them cancelled, but the rest went well.
On Tuesday, we had district meeting, and then Elder Aviles and I
bought a Chicago style pizza from Papa Murphy's. It was huge! That
afternoon, we had a really good lesson with someone who thought she
was a member, but nobody can find her records, so she will need to be
rebaptized. She accepted to be baptized, but her husband, who is less
active, won't let us set a date until she feels she is ready.
Wednesday, my companion went to a district leader meeting, and I went
out with Eduardo, who is leaving on his mission tomorrow! We went and
taught someone whose mother removed her records without her knowing
it. The lesson went well, but she doesn't understand why her mother's
decision negates the validity of her original baptism. All we can do
is pray!
On Thursday, we had the opportunity to serve someone who I had
previously met with one of our Ward mission leaders. We helped him
clean up his yard and fill planter boxes with dirt. He told us that
he will invite us over for dinner sometime. He is not a member, so I
hope that we will be able to start teaching him and his wife!
On Friday, after our Weekly Planning session, I went on an exchange
with Elder Koo (the one from Korea). It went really well, and we were
able to contact a lot of people. I went to his area, which includes
the tiny town of Copperton, at the base of the copper mine. We went
there on Saturday morning, and met an Evangelical pastor. He was
really nice, and didn't bash with us, but he made it clear that he
disagreed with our beliefs. After that, Elder Koo and I went to Costa
Vida, where missionaries eat for free. When we got to the cash
register, they gave us a $20 gift card, a gift from an anonymous
customer. I'll never use it, so I will just give it to one of our
investigators!
Saturday afternoon, we taught a less active member who has been
wanting to return to activity, but kept losing the motivation. The
lesson went really well, and he went to church yesterday!! When we
got home that night, we helped Hermana Gomez cook for her son
(Eduardo's) farewell the following day.
So yesterday, we had a PPI meeting with our stake president at 8 AM.
We also went to the Spanish branch to watch Eduardo give his farewell
talk. It was really good, and to top things off, 3 of our
investigators went to church! Last night, we did a missionary
fireside for one of our wards. We literally planned it last minute,
but it went really well! We had people role play introducing their
friends to the gospel.
Today has been good so far, although I've had some massive nosebleeds.
It's weird; I went all winter without any, and now they come... But
hopefully it is over now.
I believe that is all! I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well!
Just keep doing what I tell everyone else: read the scriptures, pray,
and go to church!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Monday, May 25, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Salt Lake or Seattle?
Subject: Salt Lake or Seattle?
Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 12:20:33 -0600
Querida familia,
This week has been excellent. The work is finally starting to pick
up. We found 3 new investigators (actually we already knew all of
them, but hadn't yet picked them up as investigators because we
couldn't meet with them). We are also starting to make progress with
our Ward mission leaders. Most of them are pretty new to the calling,
and haven't been trained very much, but now that we are starting to go
out with each of them, things are starting to happen.
The subject line above refers to the crazy amount of rain that we have
gotten here. Almost every day has been cloudy and rainy, and it is
supposed to continue all throughout this week. When I tell people
where I'm from, they ask "so this rain is just like home for you?"
Yup.
We also had to transfer all of our paper teaching records from the
area book into the online area book on our iPads. Since we have both
English and Spanish assignments, we had two area books to transfer.
We were up until almost midnight on Thursday. But we got it done!
On Wednesday, we had our friend Eduardo, our landlord's son, with us
all day. He is leaving on his mission next week. He will be going to
Salt Lake East for 3 months, and then he will receive another call
from there. That was the day that we picked up all 3 investigators!
It was the perfect day to bring him with us, because one of the
numbers that we report every week is the number of lessons with a
member present. We have two more lessons tonight with some more
potential investigators, so we are really excited!
On Thursday, we literally helped people move all day. At 7:30 AM, we
helped one family that is moving to California, and then in the
afternoon, we helped someone who is moving to Michigan. He and his
family were meeting with the missionaries here before they moved in
about February, and they were all baptized just last week in Michigan!
Apparently his job moved them there, and they had to get there
quickly, so this week he was finally able to come back and get
everything else out of the house.
On Friday, I went on an exchange with Elder McKinney, one of my zone
leaders. That was my third exchange with him, but he's super cool!
We met an FLDS guy, who believes in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith,
and everything, but he feels that the church has made some bad changes
in the past. He also believes that there is a separation between
church and the Priesthood. But I won't burden you with all of the
deep doctrine he got into. He really was a nice guy, and he loves
talking with the missionaries.
Saturday was the Utah girls lacrosse state championship. I mention
that because one of our Ward mission leaders is the girls lacrosse
coach at Copper Hills High School, and they made it to the state
championship. Unfortunately, they lost in the last few minutes by 1
point. But our Ward mission leader gave us some really cool hot pink
shirts from some cancer event they had.
Yesterday was great! We had fast and testimony meeting (since the
last two weeks have been stake conference and Mother's Day). The
first Ward I went to was awesome! The spirit was so strong throughout
the entire sacrament meeting. That same Ward is having a "missionary
month" for their young men, so I got to teach them yesterday. I
taught them the first lesson, and then had them role play it to each
other. It went really well! Then last night, we went to a fireside
held by the mission, specially geared toward investigators. I saw
Sister Patton! Apparently, her companion straightened her hair, so I
didn't even recognize her at first!
I'm so glad to hear that this week went well for everyone else too,
however stressful it must have been with all of those wedding/birthday
party preparations! Mom, I hope you feel better today! And I can't
believe Ryan is a DEACON! But have a fantastic week everyone!
One more thing- I have a referral for you! Apparently, one of my WMLs
has a really less active brother in the Machias Ward.
(Family name deleted to protect their privacy)
Look them up on LDS Tools. I don't know if dad wants
to visit them, or if you want to tell the missionaries in that Ward,
or Bishop Leavens? But that would be super cool if he was
reactivated!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Sent from my iPad
Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 12:20:33 -0600
Querida familia,
This week has been excellent. The work is finally starting to pick
up. We found 3 new investigators (actually we already knew all of
them, but hadn't yet picked them up as investigators because we
couldn't meet with them). We are also starting to make progress with
our Ward mission leaders. Most of them are pretty new to the calling,
and haven't been trained very much, but now that we are starting to go
out with each of them, things are starting to happen.
The subject line above refers to the crazy amount of rain that we have
gotten here. Almost every day has been cloudy and rainy, and it is
supposed to continue all throughout this week. When I tell people
where I'm from, they ask "so this rain is just like home for you?"
Yup.
We also had to transfer all of our paper teaching records from the
area book into the online area book on our iPads. Since we have both
English and Spanish assignments, we had two area books to transfer.
We were up until almost midnight on Thursday. But we got it done!
On Wednesday, we had our friend Eduardo, our landlord's son, with us
all day. He is leaving on his mission next week. He will be going to
Salt Lake East for 3 months, and then he will receive another call
from there. That was the day that we picked up all 3 investigators!
It was the perfect day to bring him with us, because one of the
numbers that we report every week is the number of lessons with a
member present. We have two more lessons tonight with some more
potential investigators, so we are really excited!
On Thursday, we literally helped people move all day. At 7:30 AM, we
helped one family that is moving to California, and then in the
afternoon, we helped someone who is moving to Michigan. He and his
family were meeting with the missionaries here before they moved in
about February, and they were all baptized just last week in Michigan!
Apparently his job moved them there, and they had to get there
quickly, so this week he was finally able to come back and get
everything else out of the house.
On Friday, I went on an exchange with Elder McKinney, one of my zone
leaders. That was my third exchange with him, but he's super cool!
We met an FLDS guy, who believes in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith,
and everything, but he feels that the church has made some bad changes
in the past. He also believes that there is a separation between
church and the Priesthood. But I won't burden you with all of the
deep doctrine he got into. He really was a nice guy, and he loves
talking with the missionaries.
Saturday was the Utah girls lacrosse state championship. I mention
that because one of our Ward mission leaders is the girls lacrosse
coach at Copper Hills High School, and they made it to the state
championship. Unfortunately, they lost in the last few minutes by 1
point. But our Ward mission leader gave us some really cool hot pink
shirts from some cancer event they had.
Yesterday was great! We had fast and testimony meeting (since the
last two weeks have been stake conference and Mother's Day). The
first Ward I went to was awesome! The spirit was so strong throughout
the entire sacrament meeting. That same Ward is having a "missionary
month" for their young men, so I got to teach them yesterday. I
taught them the first lesson, and then had them role play it to each
other. It went really well! Then last night, we went to a fireside
held by the mission, specially geared toward investigators. I saw
Sister Patton! Apparently, her companion straightened her hair, so I
didn't even recognize her at first!
I'm so glad to hear that this week went well for everyone else too,
however stressful it must have been with all of those wedding/birthday
party preparations! Mom, I hope you feel better today! And I can't
believe Ryan is a DEACON! But have a fantastic week everyone!
One more thing- I have a referral for you! Apparently, one of my WMLs
has a really less active brother in the Machias Ward.
(Family name deleted to protect their privacy)
Look them up on LDS Tools. I don't know if dad wants
to visit them, or if you want to tell the missionaries in that Ward,
or Bishop Leavens? But that would be super cool if he was
reactivated!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Sent from my iPad
Your Missionary
We had the privilege of having your sons in our home for dinner this evening and thought we would share a picture of them. Thank you for sharing them with us. They are both great missionaries with very strong and powerful testimonies. We truly enjoyed the spirit they brought into our home.
Henry & Allyson Fox
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Short time, no see...
Subject: Short time, no see...
Date: Mon, 11 May 2015 13:39:32 -0600
Hello everyone!
This will probably be pretty short, since I just talked to you last
night. It was great to see all of you! I loved all of the pictures
you sent me! Shaney, I am so excited for you!
One thing that I forgot to tell you about was what happened on
Tuesday. We went to an El Salvadorian/Ecuadorian restaurant called
Salcita for lunch. It was pouring rain outside, and eventually, water
started streaming through the back door into the kitchen. They closed
the restaurant, and told us that we would have to hurry and eat our
food, and then leave. But we insisted on helping them sweep all of
the water out of the building. I will send a video. It was pretty
fun!
Other than that, I think I told you everything last night. Again, I
am so glad that everyone is doing so well! Have a fantastic week! I
hope that Ryan has an awesome birthday!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Sent from my iPad
Date: Mon, 11 May 2015 13:39:32 -0600
I LOVE Jared's voice in the video.
I wish, however, that Jared himself was in the clip.
You may need to turn the volume WAY up!
This will probably be pretty short, since I just talked to you last
night. It was great to see all of you! I loved all of the pictures
you sent me! Shaney, I am so excited for you!
One thing that I forgot to tell you about was what happened on
Tuesday. We went to an El Salvadorian/Ecuadorian restaurant called
Salcita for lunch. It was pouring rain outside, and eventually, water
started streaming through the back door into the kitchen. They closed
the restaurant, and told us that we would have to hurry and eat our
food, and then leave. But we insisted on helping them sweep all of
the water out of the building. I will send a video. It was pretty
fun!
Other than that, I think I told you everything last night. Again, I
am so glad that everyone is doing so well! Have a fantastic week! I
hope that Ryan has an awesome birthday!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Sent from my iPad
Mother's Day Skype
 |
| Waiting for Jared |
There was one sad part, however. It was when Shaney was talking about her upcoming wedding and I could see that Jared was getting a little teary eyed realizing that he was going to miss his best friend's wedding. Nobody else noticed, but a mother knows. I saved my tears for after our good-byes and then I let it all out. It is a really hard thing for Jared to be missing this. It is hard for all of us. But I know the Lord will make it up to him at least 10 fold.
Sigh...until next Christmas.
 |
| He is SOOO Adorable! Where is Jared? |
 |
| He just looks AWESOME!!! |
6 months!
Subject: 6 months!
Date: Mon, 4 May 2015 17:32:19 -0600
Good afternoon everyone!
This week has been beautiful in Utah! Now that Shaney has left
(coincidence? I think not!). But we have had a lot of fun. There
are lots of opportunities now to do service! On Tuesday and Wednesday,
we helped a really cool old black lady (you don't find very
many of those here). She had a tree cut down, and we stacked all of
the logs and cleaned up the branches. Then, on Wednesday, we helped
someone who collects old shoes and donates them to Haiti. We helped
her sort the shoes and put them together in pairs. She had over 1000
pairs! Her garage was filled! We also planted some flowers for
someone. She was super appreciative!
We also went on a hike last Monday in Sandy. It was beautiful! We
hiked up to a lake, and one of our sisters was feeding and trying to
pet wild geese. She is crazy! But we had a lot of fun. I will send
pics next week when I have more time.
The work has been pretty slow. We are still working on finding new
people. We have a few potentials, but all of our appointments this
week cancelled. But I have faith! We did have a pretty good lesson
with a les active last night.
Yesterday we had stake conference, and we were asked to translate into
Spanish. I tried it for 2 minutes, and it's hard! Listening to
something in one language and saying it in another, while continuing
to listen, is really difficult. But conference was great! We had
Elder Borne of the 70, as well as the Oqquiirh Mountain temple
president.
Today has been busy! We went to a Hispanic market in Kearns, and then
we made a Mexican lunch for our district. It was awesome! We also
had a big thunderstorm. One clap of thunder was so close that it
shook the house!
Sorry this email is so short. P day ends in 30 minutes. But I will
talk to you all on Sunday. We will probably do it about 6pm pacific
time. I am so excited! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Sent from my iPad
Date: Mon, 4 May 2015 17:32:19 -0600
Good afternoon everyone!
This week has been beautiful in Utah! Now that Shaney has left
(coincidence? I think not!). But we have had a lot of fun. There
are lots of opportunities now to do service! On Tuesday and Wednesday,
we helped a really cool old black lady (you don't find very
many of those here). She had a tree cut down, and we stacked all of
the logs and cleaned up the branches. Then, on Wednesday, we helped
someone who collects old shoes and donates them to Haiti. We helped
her sort the shoes and put them together in pairs. She had over 1000
pairs! Her garage was filled! We also planted some flowers for
someone. She was super appreciative!
We also went on a hike last Monday in Sandy. It was beautiful! We
hiked up to a lake, and one of our sisters was feeding and trying to
pet wild geese. She is crazy! But we had a lot of fun. I will send
pics next week when I have more time.
The work has been pretty slow. We are still working on finding new
people. We have a few potentials, but all of our appointments this
week cancelled. But I have faith! We did have a pretty good lesson
with a les active last night.
Yesterday we had stake conference, and we were asked to translate into
Spanish. I tried it for 2 minutes, and it's hard! Listening to
something in one language and saying it in another, while continuing
to listen, is really difficult. But conference was great! We had
Elder Borne of the 70, as well as the Oqquiirh Mountain temple
president.
Today has been busy! We went to a Hispanic market in Kearns, and then
we made a Mexican lunch for our district. It was awesome! We also
had a big thunderstorm. One clap of thunder was so close that it
shook the house!
Sorry this email is so short. P day ends in 30 minutes. But I will
talk to you all on Sunday. We will probably do it about 6pm pacific
time. I am so excited! Have a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Jared Weller
Sent from my iPad
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