Christmas Morning FaceTime

Twice a year we get to have a video call with Elder Weaver from his mission.  Christmas morning at 10:00 AM MST was our time to get to see and here from him.  I did a video of the call but is over an hour long so I cut it down to 12:45 min:sec of the call.  I had him bare his testimony at the end but I ran out of disk space on the video to get that so the portion you will get is just talking with him.  This is our post for this week.

Aaron Weaver - Daddy-O

Sounds Like The Holiday Season Is In Full Swing

Dear Family & Friends,

Sounds like the Holiday season is in full swing.  I sure hope you are having a great time together.

Tell Peter Coe he is going to love it out there.  I am so glad to hear of so many going on missions.  How many are from our ward right now?

By the way did you get a letter from me and a bunch more to give out to people in the mail this last week?

Last week and this week always move really fast with planning transfers, arrivals, departures, etc.  I will be an assistant for at least another little while.  Elder Metcalf just got assigned to train 2 Elders going to Peru but are waiting on Visa's before they can go.  One is fluent in Spanish so he will train the other Elder in Spanish while Elder Metcalf trains them both to be a missionary.  That was a fun day learning about all that.  Elder Metcalf is super excited to train again.  My new companion is named Elder Skalla.  You might remember him from when I served in Cuyahoga Falls.  He came out at the transfer after mine and served in the same ward as I did for 3 months.  (Tallmadge Ward)  We have been training him the last couple days on our assignments as assistants.  We are having a great time.  I am excited to serve with Elder Skalla, we will have great experiences together.

This next week Elder Myles Gray gets here.  I will be welcoming him into the mission.  It will be great to see him.  We'll see if he recognizes me though.  By the way you can tell Elder Berg's mom that he has a great companion coming his way and is going to love his time serving this holiday season.  We have some awesome trainers this transfer.  Plus, they will be talking to their missionaries next week.  And we all know how fast weeks go around here.

This last week a less active family we are helping to get to the Temple baptized their 8 year old daughter and is excited to get back into the full swing of things by becoming active in the Gospel and the Church.  We have several other families who are excited to prepare to go to the temple, as well as more who we are planning on having invited to prepare to return or go for the first time.  I remember that when this was the focus, along with current investigators that a powerful spirit enters a ward and causes great miracles to occur.  Things are starting to pick up little by little as we continue exercising faith and working hard to bring about our Heavenly Fathers purposes in this area. 

Well I got to get going.  I pray you all have a fun and safe week this week.

Love,

Elder Weaver

Intense, Humbling, Edifying, Uplifting, and Life-Building Week

December 10, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

What an intense, humbling, edifying, uplifting, and life-building week this has been.  We had a great opportunity to meet with Brother Donaldson and Brother Lusvardi from the Church Missionary Department for some specialized training this last week.  Brother Donaldson went with us teaching on Tuesday, and then on Thursday we met with them and all of the leaders in the mission.  They have toured 34 other missions before ours and had many, many things to share with us and invite us to do better.  They are good.  We as a mission are doing well, however they helped us understand how much more we can improve.  I now have a better understanding of the word BOLD.  They were honest and bold with us throughout the whole process and we came out a little beat up.  What happened after this experience though has made a profound impact on my mission and on each missionary in this mission.  As we have identified where we need to improve we have seen more of what this missions potential can be as we apply ourselves and work to improve on our ability to find, teach, and invite and help others to come unto Christ.  I have come to love this experience and am seeing already the impact of the things they shared with us in the mission.  Elder Metcalf and I had the opportunity to travel to two Zone Training Meetings after the one with all the leadership to assist in training the zones on what was taught at the specialized training meeting.  It's been fun to go and train these things to other missionaries and see a new light come on as they recognize how much of a difference these changes will make in their service.  I am excited for what will be happening in this mission over the course of the next few months.  Also, it's amazing how many more missionaries are headed our way.  We are all going to be training it seems like. 

With the new MTC time being two weeks our departure date is most likely moving up a week, so the last week in May is when I will probably now be departing.  This makes my time here less than 6 months...I think about how fast the last 6 months have gone and can't imagine how fast these next few months will go.  It seems like I just left home yesterday.

I got my package the other day.  Thank you so much!  I have taken out what you wanted me to get now and have put the remainder under our 5-foot Christmas tree.  The cookies are delicious and I am loving the church music.  Just so you know, for some reason the Jeffrey R. Holland talk and the conference addresses wont play on our car CD player or our portable DVD player for missionary training videos.  I am not sure why... the Lamb of God works wonderfully though.  Thank you again.

Well it looks like my time is running short today...this day always moves especially quick.

I love you and pray that you each are safe and have a great week.

Love,

Elder Weaver

What A Quick & Awesome Week!

December 3, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

What a quick, and awesome week we had last week.  We have had the opportunity to fast and pray as a mission and we have felt the prayers of our families and friends back home.  We as a mission are becoming more united in our faith and desires to go and share the gospel with our heart, might, mind, and strength.  We knelt in prayer across our mission in companionships the last two nights and asked Heavenly Father for help to find 1 family or individual who is one of God's elect and has been prepared to receive the restored Gospel.  Last night in closing our fasts we dedicated ourselves to this goal and promised to do our part to find and teach our dear brothers and sisters that we come in contact with this next week.  Elder Metcalf and I are already feeling the effects of this in our area. We have been able to find 3 potential families, and a single lady over the last few days.  We have had very positive initial contacts with all of them and are praying to be able to meet with them again and help them accept and keep commitments to come unto Christ.  I love this time of year and all of the many opportunities we have to serve and share the love of Christ with the world.  Elder Metcalf and I are doing 25 days of service right now. We are identifying specific service to perform for all 25 days till Christmas and taking pictures of them for an album and a Christmas ornament for our tree.  It's been fun!  We are looking forward to the complete album and a full tree of service ornaments.

Thank you for the package by the way. I look forward to getting it in a couple of days.  Oh and with Skype I will let you know when and where when I know.  It will probably be the P-day before Christmas.

I sure love hearing how you are all doing.  I love each of you and am thankful for your examples each week that I get to read in your emails. I love to hear about all of the wonderful things you are doing and becoming. I pray for each of you daily.  I look forward to talking to you soon.

Love,

Elder Weaver

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

We had a great week.  First off Thanksgiving was delightful.  We had a brunch with the office staff the Hokinson’s, Jacklin’s (I know two people they are related to), and the new office senior missionaries Sister Olsen, and Sister Martin.  The Hokinson’s leave this week back to Star Valley, Wyoming.  We sure love them and will miss them.  They invited us to come visit any time and I plan to do so.  Then later dinner was awesome  with great people, great food, good spirit.  Just a grand time we had.  Then that night we helped the Vellinga's put up the Christmas tree in the mission home.  It was such a fun day.

The zone conference did take place as a Christmas conference and it went great.  The Spirit was very strong and we all grew in our Faith in Jesus Christ and in His power to work miracles and guide us to His elect.  We all came away edified and strengthened.  The musical numbers on both days went great.  Although our time to practice together was about 20 minutes it all worked out and invited a strong spirit.  I love that Spirit that is invited through music, especially in the Kirtland Temple.  That is sure a once in a lifetime kind of event.  The missionaries were addressed by the Stake Presidents in the area, President & Sister Vellinga, Karl Andersen, Elder & Sister Edman (Kirtland Sites Director) and a few others who were invited to speak, like Elder Hokinson.  We each had the chance to bear our testimonies in the temple as well.  We then separated them by zones into the 4 choir sections in the corners of the Temple and felt a great spirit as we testified of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His Gospel.  After that we went to the Kirtland Stake Center, had lunch, and then began the afternoon session of the Conference.  We went over different training for winter, vehicle safety, etc.  Then Elder Metcalf and I gave a presentation and practiced with the missionaries how to use the new webpage on mormon.org for the holiday season.  It is mormon.org/christmas.  This site has many, many amazing ways for missionaries and members to share our testimony of Christ and His birth and to help others feel the spirit of the season.  Check it out because it’s a great site with tons of cool features.  People love the cool feature of the 12 free downloadable Christmas songs by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Following this President Vellinga addressed us.  He spoke on Faith in Jesus Christ and Faith in our efforts to find God's elect.  After this we went to view the nativity displays at the Kirtland Historic sites.  Over 700 nativities are on display there along with 80,000 Christmas lights and many other activities for all to enjoy this Christmas season.  It is beautiful there and I have enjoyed being able to view them both days.  It was great to be with all the missionaries over the last two days.  There are some amazing people here.  True Disciples of Christ I have had the opportunity to be with and witness the light that they carry.  I love this work and all of the miracles that occur each day.  Miracles from last week are several less active family's in the ward here, who have been hard to meet with in the past, are desiring to come back, to go to the temple, to unite their family for eternity.  We love these families and are excited to help them meet these righteous goals.

I love you all and am so happy that you had a great Thanksgiving and time as family and friends.  I love you.  Thank you for all your prayers, love, encouragement, and example.  I am forever grateful. 

Skype will probably be at a members home, possibly the mission office...I don't know, haven't thought that far ahead yet.  I will let you know when we figure it out.  Christmas package...I am doing pretty good on things, CD's and conference would be great.  Can't think of much else.  Oh but could you send me the Miller’s address?  I have a thank you letter ready to send to them.

Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Weaver

I Am Loving My Mission!

November 19, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

It is so good to hear from you all.  It sounds like Thanksgiving plans have all been made and are ready to go.  We are going to be with the Kirkham family and they keep inviting a bunch of people and it will be great.  They have 30+ in attendance from their family and ward members coming. Besides that, December is coming up quick.  It will be here before we know it, crazy huh?  We will be Skyping in just a few short weeks.  It will be good to see your faces.

So here's a new "small world" moment for the week...do you remember the Grays that used to be in our ward, the ones that lived down the street a couple years back?  Well, guess who is arriving here in about a month? None other than Myle's Gray.  He is a new Elder coming to the Ohio Cleveland Mission and I will get to meet him in the first 10 minutes when he gets off the plane.  Neat huh!

Elder Metcalf and I love the work.  We have been working in our area, as well as preparing and giving training to missionaries around the mission. We have such a great time working with President Vellinga.  I love my time here because we have some great, great missionaries.  I have loved this opportunity to work with and serve with them.  We are preparing for a multi-zone conference in Kirtland next week.  We will have half the mission come on Monday and the other half coming on Tuesday.  We will be taking a group photo outside the Kirtland Temple and then will have a 2-hour meeting in the Temple.  We also will be able to hear from some of the Stake Presidents in the mission, learn more about how we can grow in our Faith in Jesus Christ in a place where He has appeared, and have the opportunity to bear our testimonies in the Kirkland Temple.  It is going to be powerful.  I have been able to organize music numbers for both days. On Monday we are doing an octet of "Oh Holy Night."  It's a pretty arrangement that I got out last night to the others who will be singing and playing piano.  Then on Tuesday I have been talking with some of our instrumental musicians and we get to put together a flute, violin, and piano arrangement of "What Child is This?"  It is going to be really cool to be able to perform there and I am excited!  Then after the Temple we will be going over to the Kirtland stake center for lunch and another couple hours of training and practicing.  And then off to the Kirtland Historic sites to see the Nativity Display and come to a greater understanding of how we can use this display to help others feel the true spirit of Christmas and grow in their desire to follow Christ.  This year they have about 700 nativities from around the world, with 80,000 Christmas lights around the sites, and a whole bunch of other neat things that they do to help people feel the Spirit and have an enjoyable time there.  We have handed out thousands of invitations and had some great experiences in just inviting people to come to this wonderful event.  It opens people up, and has been a really neat opportunity to just testify of Christ and help people understand we love Him and His gospel.

We were able to meet with Jordan this last week for the first official time. We shared the Restoration and he really enjoyed it.  His wife Sam had a migraine and was upstairs unfortunately.  However, in explaining how our church meetings worked he seemed particularly intrigued.  He was able to understand how his family would be able to learn about the Gospel in different classes and really enjoyed learning about Relief Society for his wife.  He just kept saying, "This will be so good for her.  She needs people like that to be around and socialize with."  They are a neat family of 4 that we are excited to invite and help come unto Christ.  Some of our other investigators are still in the pending kind of stage.  Many are actually headed out for the Holiday so we pray that we can meet with them soon after.  We are still heavy in finding mode right now and things are starting to come through.  We just found a family this past Sunday that we met with who is working on adopting a foster child they currently have. She is interested in learning and has come to church several times.  She has expressed a desire to prepare to be baptized.  We are praying that the adoption process goes smooth so we can more fully help her achieve this wonderful desire.

That is great news for SISTER ESTHER DAVIS!!!  Tell her congratulations for me. It's wonderful to see so many sisters desiring to serve the Lord through missionary service. 

I am loving my mission.  What a wonderful time of year to reflect on the time I have spent here in Ohio.  I am so very thankful for the many opportunities I have had to serve and help others.  The miracles and blessings I have been able to see on my mission are humbling.  It's amazing what can happen as we have desires to serve and love God and our brothers and sisters.

I sure love all of you, and pray you all have a safe and happy holiday week.  I am thankful to you for your examples, encouragement, and love.  

Love,

Elder Weaver

What A Fastball Of A Week That Was

November 12, 2012

Dear Family,

What a fastball of a week that was.  Tuesday we had enough time to get a hair cut, shop, and wash the Mission van and trailer before going and picking up the new arriving missionaries.  Then Tuesday we spend with the arrivals all day, doing some training and getting them excited to get out to work.  New missionaries arrive every 6 weeks.  Then the next day we take them to the Kirtland temple and sites.  After that off to the stake center for transfers, where we have a brief meeting, announce new companionships, say goodbye to the departing missionaries and then the moving of baggage and missionaries to vehicles to get them where they need to go.  After this we take all the departing missionaries to the school of the prophets to give an accounting of their mission to the Lord.  An awesome experience that I look forward to, but not before my time to do that...if that makes sense.  Then we spend the day with them taking them to the mission home, going over their departure packet, and helping them get set to depart early the next morning.  And then bam, we are already to Thursday of our week.  We spent quite a bit of Thursday planning with President Vellinga for our zone conference in the Kirtland Temple/Visitors center at the end of this month.  It is going to be awesome.  We are focusing on building faith in Jesus Christ, Finding those that God has prepared to hear the Restored Gospel, and to prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.  I am super excited for it.  Friday we had time to proselyte.

We met with many members this week to identify a family they would like to take to the nativity displays in Kirtland this year.  We have been giving them invitations that were created for the event to give as they invite a family or friend to go with them.  We have also been using the pass-along card version of the invitation for our door/contacting approaches.  It's been cool to see as we have used this approach the difference in how people react.  Even if they aren't interested in meeting and learning more, they have a greater trust and stay long enough to feel the spirit about us.  Also, it has opened up several doors for us to teach and testify of the Restored Gospel.  We met Nancy this week and she has had several experiences in the last couple of years that have helped her truly gain a testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ.  We were able to learn about her family that lived around and how she hoped that they would be willing to learn more about Jesus Christ and see all that He can be in their lives.  We had an appointment for Saturday, but something come up in her family and couldn't meet that day.  We are now looking to meet with her this week. With Sam and Jordan we are scheduling with them for an appointment this week.  We are going by tomorrow to schedule and hopefully meet their family.  With their crazy schedules it will be difficult, but completely possible.  I have gained a testimony of 1 Nephi 3:7, God will always prepare a way.

For Thanksgiving we are going to the Kirkham’s.  They are a neat young family in the ward, and are having tons of people over, including President and his family.  

I am glad to hear you are all doing well with school, work, church, and just everything.  I love you all so much, and am very grateful for your wonderful examples, love, and encouragement.  I pray you all have a wonderful week.  Break a leg in the show Sis.  I wish I could see it live!  You will do great.  

Love,

Elder Weaver

Well, That Was An Interesting Week!

November 6, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

Well, that was an interesting week.  We spent a lot of time shifting plans around and helping take care of all the things around the mission for safety and the security of missionaries.  We are all well.  The storm did cause us to lose power for 2 days, along with several other sets of missionaries around the Cleveland and Kirtland area.  We stayed in the mission home 1 night with a couple of missionaries.  The longest set of missionaries with out power was about 4 days.  Some members just got power back on Sunday.  However, we were very blessed to have not been hit harder. Many flooded basements, and downed trees.  Most people deny help due to trees being on power lines and are calling professionals to pump out there basements.  We have offered many a time.  It sounds like great service is being rendered in the harder hit states though.  We have seen several articles about the help missionaries and stakes in New York and New Jersey are giving to the communities they are in.  Hearts are softened by these acts of charity and kindness.  People must just wonder where all of these smiling, hard working people come from.  

We had a great study time in the mission home while we stayed there during the storms. President Vellinga had all of us look up a scripture on storms and then teach each other about the doctrine it taught.  It was an awesome meeting.  A great edifying spirit attended and we each came to a greater knowledge of the power of the atonement and grew in our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His enabling and strengthening power.  

After all the storms and things passed we held Mission Council with all the Zone Leaders, as well as the trainers meeting for all the new trainers for this next transfer.  Today is Arrival Day of all the new Elders and Sisters, so we will be taking them around today and doing some training with them tonight.  Then tomorrow is Transfers and Departures.  Everyone will find out who their new companion is and where they will be serving, and then we put our "trunky boots" on while we assist President in getting all the departing missionaries to the mission home for their final night and then off to the airport early tomorrow morning.  It amazes me how much faster time can fly when you are busy.  This last 6 weeks doesn't even feel like a week. 

We may have found a family.  We have made contact with both the wife and the husband and they are both interested.  Incredibly busy alternating schedules, but they have a desire to meet and come to church.  We are praying hard for them and the other investigators we have found recently. We have a goal to help 6 of our brothers and sisters enter into the covenant of baptism by the end of the year in our area and it’s completely possible.  We are striving to exercise our faith and to work diligently to find, teach, and baptize those who the Lord has prepared here in North Olmsted.

I hope you have been having a great week.  It sounds like the haunted garage was a success and that Christmas is already getting into full swing. Elder Metcalf loves Christmas ALOT. We have already listened to Christmas CD's several times. :)  Good thing I don't mind.  

I did receive a package from you, thank you so much.  I love the ginger snaps; they are the best.  I shared a few with President and Elder Metcalf and they loved them as well.  I thoroughly enjoyed the article and letter in there as well.  Small, small world we have.  All the time I am finding connections to people I know back home are here in the mission.  Tell the Kimball’s thank you for the Halloween package and letters.  Also, thank the Miller’s for sending a package a received when I was in Lima.  Tell both families I appreciate their love and encouragement, as well as the tasty treats.

Well I sure love you all and pray that you have a fantastic week.

Love,

Elder Weaver

I Feel Like I Just Emailed You Yesterday!

October 29, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

So this week...I feel like I just emailed you yesterday.  I don't even know where this week went.  Crazy.  Well first things first.  You may have heard a big storm from the hurricane happening right now is hitting the eastern missions.  We are all-OK and are doing well.  We are reporting to our mission president how all the missionaries in the mission are doing periodically and have helped everyone prepare for a major storm.  We are supposed to have heavy rain and high winds from tonight through about Wednesday morning.  It hopefully will turn, but if not we are prepared.

So this weeks stories of the week are:  We met a man named Vincent.  I noticed his car out front and it seemed like an older persons car so I made mention of it to elder Metcalf.  He said to me, "Oh, well lets use a family history approach with them."  We walked up to the door and knocked and he answers and says, "I have been expecting someone, come on in."  Elder Metcalf and I look at each other and then walked on in.  Vince proceeds to tell us he is on familysearch.org all the time and fills out the surveys he sends him.  He said, "I figured they'd be sending someone out here soon."  We let him know that was what we were planning on talking with him about, but that we had no contact information to come and visit him.  Ha Ha we had a good laugh as we talked about this with him and had a great opportunity to share much of the restoration with him.  We are meeting with him again and taking him to the family history center at our church building this next Thursday.  Another lady we met this week is named Cheryl.  She has a great faith in Christ and says she has read the bible 14 times and the Koran and has always wanted to read the Book of Mormon but never knew how to get one.  We gave her one and talked for a little bit about it and just asked yesterday when we gave her a tour of our church building how far she is.  She is just getting into 2 Nephi and has enjoyed what she has read.  We are meeting with her again on Thursday as well.

Sorry this week is so short.  We have a bunch of things to get done in preparation for mission council, trainers meeting, upcoming transfers, and our zone conferences.  I will write to you all again next week.

Love,

Elder Weaver

What A Quick Week; It Doesn't Slow Down

October 22, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

What a quick week, I was always thinking that Friday was Thursday and Saturday Friday.  It doesn't slow down. 

 We had a finding week for sure with many member lessons, recent convert/less active visits, and contacting. We found a couple potential families throughout this week through these efforts. One is named Sam, Elder Burch (Elder I was on exchange with) and I knocked on her door and just invited her to basically learn more about Jesus Christ and His teachings and she said she would really like that. We emphasized the family and how the gospel will bless them as they learn. Elder Metcalf went by again on a separate exchange and talked with her about primary and the primary program this next week. Sam asked her daughter if she would like that and her daughter excitedly said yes. Another family we met lives next door to members in the ward. We arrived 20 minutes early to the member’s home for dinner and decided to contact some of the neighbors. Their neighbor was outside raking leaves with his wife and daughter. We started talking with them about the church and they expressed how they are looking for a church and would be interested in checking out ours. They didn't understand quite what we do as missionaries and weren't into meeting with us yet, but when we invited them to the chili cook off on Friday and the primary program on Sunday they said they would be interested in coming to those. We talked with the members after and he said he would follow up with them and see if he could get work off to go with them. They would be great fellowship for this family. Both are very friendly and I think if we can work through the member family, this family will want to meet with us in the near future.  Kevin has had quite a bit of anti come his way and is debating meeting with us.  He hasn't dropped us, but we hopefully will be able to get over there again and help him feel and identify the spirit again.  Scott has been super busy with work and we have not been able to meet with them.  They sound like they are doing well; he is just working tons of hours right now.  Praying for an opportunity to meet with them again soon.

  

Thank you for sending me some of the spiritual experiences you have had this past week.  I enjoyed reading them and learning from your testimonies. 

I sure love each of you and pray you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Weaver

Have You Had Any Opportunity To Share The Gospel This Week?

October 15, 2012

Dear Family & Friends

  

Before I start talking about a couple of things from this past week I wanted to ask you all if you had any experiences or opportunities to share the Gospel this week?  Or did you have any spiritual experiences that stood out to you?

This last week we received a media referral from Mormon.org requesting a Book of Mormon and a missionary visit from a man named Kevin.  He is 25 and had a desire to find out what we believed.  He has heard all sorts of things about our "practices" but wanted to find out what it was that we believed.  As we met with him he expressed this and then proceeded to tell us how he wanted to know what his purpose in life was.  He has made many changes throughout his life and is looking for something more.  As we met with him and shared some things about the Gospel, families, and the church he expressed, "I want what you two have."  A strong spirit was felt that day in his home.  He accepted to read the Book of Mormon and to meet with us to find out if this is true and if he can find the peace and happiness that we talked with him about.  We assured him it was here and bore testimony that this Gospel would bless him and his family immensely.  They are out there.  Prepared sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father who want what we have so much, but simply do not know where to find it.  How blessed I am to have been able to share some of it with Kevin this week.  I pray we may each be worthy and ready to share the Gospel with our brothers and sisters.  What a joy it is to be part of this great work. 

William received the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of a Priest yesterday.  He just glowed once again.  He came out to a few appointments with us later yesterday afternoon and is really liking sharing and teaching the Gospel with us.  He was up for tracting, member lessons, teaching investigators, etc.  He loves to share the Gospel.  That’s the promise in the scriptures and Preach My Gospel, "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the Gospel will increase." (PMG pg. 2)  He has felt the atonement in his life and has a great desire to share it.  A mini mission was once talked about with him awhile ago, and he brought it up again 2 days ago saying, "Can we still do that mini mission thing?"  He is doing great!

This transfer is clipping by, already about half way into the transfer.  Loving the time here serving with Elder Metcalf.

I hope you all are having a fabulous week.  I love and pray for you all each day. 

Love,

Elder Weaver

What A Wonderful Past Weekend of Conferences

October 8, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

What a wonderful past weekend this has been to enjoy General Conference.  I love being edified and instructed by the Spirit through those who have authority and power given them from God to deliver His messages.  Let us all seek to take these teachings and allow them to purify our thoughts, actions, hearts, and souls.  One great teaching from President Monson in the first 5 minutes of conference, "There's room for improvement. "How true this is.  Let us humbly seek for what God would have us improve upon next and boldly take action in bringing our lives in harmony with the Saviors.  Let us have the attitude to joyfully apply the atonement in our lives, allowing it to transform us into what we can become. So much depends upon our attitude.  We cannot allow Satan to tell us we can't do it.  Another of my favorite teachings from conference came from a couple sources.  It started with part of a companionship study concerning thoughts and thought processes.  It continued with President Monson’s address on listening and following the Spirit and some teachings of David A. Bednar in recent years.  As we follow the counsel in Moroni 7:13 and act on any promptings and thoughts that "invite and entice to do good...to love God, and to serve him, "We can know of assuredly that it is from God.  As we follow and fulfill those promptings, God will trust us to bless the lives of many of His children, which is in reality a blessing to us.  As we keep our covenants and take upon ourselves the name of Christ, always remember Him, and keep His commandments we will receive these promptings and it will be our great privilege to have the Spirit more abundantly in our lives. Having these thoughts and acting upon them will be a great force in purifying us, as the Spirit is able to work undaunted through us.

So this last week we had our Mission Council with President and the Zone Leaders of the Mission.  We focused on obedience and how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively in conversion.  Obedience qualifies us for the spirit and the "Book of Mormon, combined with the spirit is (our) most powerful resource in conversion." (PMG pg.104).  It was a great revelatory meeting as we counseled together and decided the best way to train the mission this month.  Later in the week we had our new missionaries from this past transfer and their trainers come for a training meeting.  We had a great meeting and went over some key principles and training for new missionaries.  We then had a great time going to down town Cleveland and do some contacting.  Twenty missionaries total went to downtown Cleveland on the day that President Obama was there as well.  We all had lots of people to talk to.  While talking to a 19 year old young man named Dayquan a woman walked up and said, "Hi, I’m a member of their church.  If you need a ride to church sometime feel free to give me a call."  She then gave him a pass-along card with her name and number.  Member missionary? Check!  Later we talked to a young woman from India who had just moved here a month and a half ago.  When we introduced ourselves I told her we were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Christian faith, and that we help people learn about Him and His teachings.  She said, "Oh!  Can I join your church?"  We said, "Yes of course!" and explained how she could come to know what we share is true and what she will do in preparation to join the church.  She was excited to begin meeting with missionaries.  

On Sunday nights we collect our mission indicators information for the week (number of lessons, people to church, etc.) and then Monday mornings we come and email this information and announcements out to the Stakes, the mission and prepare a report to President Vellinga for his staff meeting at 9:30 Monday mornings.  Usually we would be gearing up for some more meetings for the month, but due to how October fell we don't have too many crazy things going on so we will have a good 2 or so weeks to really work hard in our own area. 

  

With the new age changes for Elders and Sisters I think it is both exciting and will be a new adjustment.  Training will be a little different here in the mission and a transition will be taking place over the next couple years.  I thought about if the church had done this a couple years ago I would have gotten back this past June...that’s nuts!  

I pretty much will have a job when I get home.  Sister Bell, from my last area, works at Poll Sound in St. George.  They do the sound at Tuacahn, concerts all over, the sound at the conference center, etc. etc.  She's worked there for several years and is being hired back on when she gets home. She was telling me about it before we all got transferred from Lima and it sounds like a great job to have when I get home.  It's right up my alley!  You work from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm most days of the week unless you have overtime.  Sister Bell also told me about other part time jobs that she works in theatre after 3:00 pm on those days as well.  She has helped other missionaries in the past get hired there so she wrote her boss about me a couple weeks ago.  Here boss said he loved the prospect of having two great workers on his team next summer.  So...there are some other details, but I am thinking I will potentially be moving down there fairly soon after getting home next June.  We will talk more as time gets closer, but I have a pretty good feeling about the way things have worked out with it.  I feel the spirit about it and feel it will be good to go work there for a year before the next year’s auditions at Weber State for scholarships since I'll miss both entry opportunities before getting home.  I've worked out some quick budget sheets a couple weeks ago and I think that this will work well. 

Miracles of the week:  William was baptized the weekend before I got here.  He has some trouble getting jobs and any work due to some past history.  A miracle occurred as he has been praying and reading the Book of Mormon. We were talking with a part  member family and setting up an appointment to teach the husband and the 8-year-old daughter.  The husband heard there was a baptism at the church.  We told him about William and he said,"Oh really? I recently fired a guy at my car detailing company."  We then talked about bringing him to our next teaching appointment.  He agreed and wanted to interview him.  We went to the appointment and taught about the Atonement and how that could help him overcome smoking, something William had recently done.  William bore his testimony and it touched this mans heart and he set a baptismal date for this next November. His name is Scott.  Scott after the appointment interviewed William and hired him that night despite his past.  William is now working 40+ hours down at Scotts Company.  Amazing what God does in His time. 

Another miracle is Alesha a young member who is returning to activity.  She has had a hard time deciding to join the Air Force or not.  She said she has always had a hard time seeking answers from God.  We talked about revelation and different ways we can receive it.  We emphasized conference this last weekend and she was excited to watch and seek an answer to her question. After the first session she texted a message to thank us for helping her receive her answer that she received during the first session of conference.  We asked what her answer was and how it came.  She said President Monson announcing the new mission ages for women and then Russell M. Nelson's talk on missionaries.  She has decided to serve the Lord as a missionary! 

I love this work.  I love you all very much.  I pray and hope you have a great week

Love,

Elder Weaver