Merry Christmas!

Dear Family & Friends,

It was so great to see my family on Christmas day.  It sounds like you are all doing well and are doing just fine back in Utah.  I love you all so much and appreciate all that you do for me. 

After Skyping we thanked the Birds and went over to the Branch Presidents home.  President Nord and his wife had chili and stuff for us and we just spent the rest of the day talking and stuff.  Elder Jarvis had to talk to about 30 or so people back home so he did that all day and I talked with the Nords.  Which is fine because amidst our different conversations we were able to identify several things to work on with the branch for the next while.  I wished I could have been in my PJ's though.  It was different being in church clothes all day on Christmas.

It sounds like the Ward had a fantastic Christmas program/concert!  They always have a great program in store for the Holidays.  Good job Brother Dimond.

Well I am almost feeling all the way better.  My energy has just kinda been drained the last couple days, but I think I am almost back to 100%.  

  

I hope you each have a great week this week and have a very happy new year.  I love you all very much!

Love,

Elder Weaver


This is a clip of Elder Weaver bearing his testimony to his family from a video call on Christmas morning.

Days Fly By...All Of A Sudden It's 10:30 PM

Dear Family & Friends,

I am doing wonderfully!  Just keep a working here and building up this area.  Days fly by...all of a sudden it's 10:30 and time to go to bed.  I pretty well know the members and there is some work to do in this area.  The majority of the members are converts, what is great, but there are just some things that need to get ironed out.  This area is in a really good place to start changing and becoming a growing Branch into a Ward.  Personalities are very strong out here though, and the members are pretty funny.  Loving the people.  Great members just need some help getting things going.  Lots of great work to do here and I am really enjoying it. 

Christmas and Christmas Eve and New Years Day we have places to go and people that have invited us over.  This Branch is very loving of missionaries now thanks to Elder Metcalf and Elder Jarvis, now its just time to really put them to work. 

I am the senior companion here and Elder Perkins is the district leader.   He has been out for 21 months.  My new companion is Elder Jake Jarvis from Safford Arizona and he is 23.  He has been great to serve with, loves the Gospel, and has a great testimony of its truth.  I have enjoyed serving with him.  Our personalities go well together and we have some good laughs through out the day.  We are also focused and ready to work hard to build this area up.  We serve in Tiffin as well as several neighboring towns like Fostoria, Bettesville, Bloomeville, Attica, and several others. 

We are living in an apartment, but it’s more like a town home.  It has two floors and is quite a bit bigger than my last apartment.  And we have a car here, which I am very happy about.... thank heavens because some of our work is a 30 minute drive from us.  It's a lot less population than my last area, a lot, but about 4 times the size of my last entire district. 

We are two hours ahead and we get done with church at 8:00 AM your time.  So how about 9:00 AM your time and 11:00AM my time we Skype on Christmas day?  That is what I will plan on.

I look forward to the lesson we will have this week with Christmas so soon.  What a wonderful time of the year to reflect on our Savior, His life and teachings, and the gift He has provided for us in obedience to our loving Heavenly Father who has a beautiful plan laid out for each of us to find peace and happiness in both this life and the eternities.  I love the message I am able to bring to the people here and am so grateful for what it does for me, and especially those who I am serving. 

Well I love you all and hope you all have a great week this week, I am looking forward to seeing my family on Christmas day!

Love,

Elder Weaver 

I Have Been Sent To Tiffin Ohio

Dear Family & Friends,

Well I have been sent to Tiffin Ohio which is in the Findlay Zone.  Our new address is 178 Gibson Court, Tiffin Ohio 44883.  My new companion is Elder Jarvis.  He is great and we are getting along really well.  He is from Arizona and just got done getting trained by Elder Metcalf who came out with me from the MTC.  He doesn't play any instruments, but it's fine.  There are only so many who do music things. :)  Our area is one that is in need of growth.  Elder Metcalf and Jarvis have really done well at getting people in the teach pool including some great families, but this area is a very small branch.  Apparently about a year ago it was almost a Ward but then jobs caused many to move.  Many small towns out this way, but I am excited to work with Elder Jarvis in really getting this area moving and helping the Branch grow and get some different things together that will really make a difference in this area.  Past success has been sparse here but there are a couple reasons for that that hasn’t happened since Elder Metcalf was trained here.  So this area is ready to grow.

We can write letters to our last area...I need to do a few for some recent converts and soon to be recent converts here this next couple weeks.

Tell Jordan Boone congratulations from me!  That is wonderful!  So many people are getting married...it's nuts.  None of the other Elders here have too many friends that have got married or are getting married yet...so it's always weird for them when I tell them of all these people getting married. 

I am glad that the Ward Christmas part went so well, and that so many came out!  I know that those type activities really help Wards grow closer.  Especially when they turn out so wonderfully 

Winter socks I would love some more.  Also I am starting to realize my shoes are getting more worn and worn in the soles.  Water can get through the bottom of one of my shoes now from a spot that has worn down into a crack in the bottom.  So I may need to get another pair, and try to repair that crack.  Blankets we have extra here so I am ok.  But winter hasn't really hit yet...it's colder but still sunny outside...I haven't experienced the bitter winters that everyone talks about yet...well December isn't over yet. :)

We found some members that have Skype here so we will be able to Skype on Christmas.  I will let you know what time we will be doing that.  We are two hours ahead here so it will probably need to be about...3:30 or 4 I am guessing our time?  We will figure it out, as it gets closer.  

Well I am ready to work and do all I can to continue building this area up.  We are dedicated here and look forward to helping others come unto Christ and receive the restored gospel.  We are ready to work.

I love you all and have a great week.

Love,

Elder Weaver

I Will Find Out Tonight Where I Will Be Transferred!

Dear Family & Friends,

All right so I know I will be transferred but I find out tonight where I will be transferred.  I am excited but also would have loved to stay another transfer.  I was told yesterday for sure that Elder Ingersoll is training here!  We have one of the fastest growing posterities in the mission right now!  Elder Helton, Me, Elder Ingersoll, and my Grandson who I will meet tomorrow.  However, I am excited to go and build up another area and meet new people with whom I can work with.

We have 2 for sure baptisms by the New Year, each of whom I have loved teaching.  Anthony and Camille Garr are set for the 18th of this month, and Tina Ford and Shayla Everson for the 1st of January.  I pray for each of them as they continue to work in learning and applying the Gospel.  This area is growing so much and it has been wonderful serving here. 

This last week wasn't our Mission Conference.  I don’t' know exactly which day is Zone conference because it wasn’t announced yet and I don't know if Elder Ingersoll will even be close enough for us to do a musical number together.  I will find more things out this next week in my new area. 

HOORAY FOR MATT ROUNDY!!  I am so glad to hear he is on his way to California...it's so fitting for him. 

Yep, we write the Mission President each week via an online system where we report our weekly numbers and write him about the week.  We do that on our Preparation Days.  

I loved the First Presidency Christmas Devotional messages this year.  I always love to hear their messages and share and discuss them with all we teach.  This season can be great or hard depending on the outlook of missionaries.  I look forward to what his wonderful season has to offer towards moving this work forward. 

(Elder Weaver…What would you like for Christmas?)  Um...what I really would like for Christmas is some referrals from the Ward I will be serving in.  Hmm...I don't know.  Music is always wonderful, and conference / General authority talks on CD.  And I need a new Conference and Book of Mormon Ensign...both of mine got stolen at a rehabilitation center.  So hopefully someone is reading them.:)  But I still need them too ha. 

Faith is such a huge part of the Gospel and the Church.  It is one of the most important elements of the Gospel.  If people will have the faith to try it they will see that it works.  Fear or Satan just seems to always get in the way of people to try it sometimes.  But as we continually exercise faith we will begin to grow to have knowledge of the Gospel and never question.  Faith is a huge part in Bishop Hulbert's thought from tithing settlement as well.  I think people when first learning about the church have a concept of leaders as being power hungry, or money hungry.  So many people think we have to pray and go through the prophet to get to God.  It's interesting to talk with people and explain the role of prophets and leaders to people and who they think they are.  If more people would just read and understand the Bible...like they profess they do...:) much of this confusion and dilemma would not exist.  But it's true.  Our leaders receive revelation directly from God for our benefit, and we can pray and receive confirmation about any decision leaders present to us.  Living by the Spirit is what we must do and then we will all be in agreement one with another always.  It will one day be possible.

Well I hope you have a wonderful day!  And I will get my new address out to you all next Monday on Preparation day.  I love you and pray for each of you every day. 

Can't wait to Skype with my family on Christmas!

Love,

Elder Weaver

Skype In Less Than A Month!

Dear Family & Friends,

I am glad to hear you all had a fun filled Thanksgiving!  We went to the Thomas/Fitzgerald/Delesk clan Thanksgiving that they hold at the church each year.  It was good, and we got to play basketball after.  Not a bad place to have Thanksgiving.  The day went by super quick.  No injuries at the Turkey Bowl that morning.  We were all muddy though.  It was a good game.  We also were able to take some furniture over to the Lewis family and they were very thankful for the things that they received from some of the members in the ward. 

If you see anyone I know tell them Hi for me as well!  It's good to hear about all my friends who are getting back!  I hope they retain the changes their mission has made on them.  And that sounds like a great concert the President Richards family performed.  They all play beautifully.  Did president play something??:)

Travel, holiday, etc…investigators are here, there, and everywhere this past week.  But we have some new potential investigators to meet with this next week and hopefully we can get back with those who have been gone or busy.  The work continues to move forward and build its momentum here in this part of the Lords Kingdom.  I hope to stay another transfer to work out a few more things that this area is in need of.  However, I will be going where the Lord puts me on December 5th. 

I know the Hollies!  They are in my Zone.  We have met several times and they are a wonderful couple doing a great work in the Canton Ward.  Senior couple missionaries have things that are just magical for a Ward and they can focus on very key things that young missionaries can't.  We need more of them!  Send all the seniors out!  As far as this Sister Missionary goes, Sarah...I have no idea because we don't know first names really out here.

Well I love you, and am so thankful for all your love and thoughts.  I hope you have a great week!  Skype in less than a month!

Love,

Elder Weaver 

Elder Ingersoll Parents Letter

Hi!

I have been meaning to write and let you know how thankful we are for your son, Elder Weaver.  He has been a wonderful trainer and companion for our son.  We so appreciate the great example he is.  This week our son shared the following experience:

One cool experience we had was when we parked the car to go visit one of our investigators and got out and Elder Weaver started walking up the steps to the wrong house. I just felt like waiting to let him figure out he was at the wrong one, but he got all the way to the door and started knocking. As soon as he did that I yelled at him and told him it was the wrong house. It was 8:30 at night, a time we are not usually knocking on doors in Akron because there are some nuts out here. Anyway the light came on and someone yelled asking who it was. Elder Weaver started apologizing saying that we were missionaries and had accidently knocked on the wrong house. The door immediately swung open and a 26 year-old guy came out. I started walking over because I was worried what was going to happen next, because he looked kind of crazy. But the first thing he said was "Missionaries?!, are you Normon missionaries?" We said yes we are MORMON missionaries, correcting him. He then told us how he used to meet with some in a town he had moved from and really liked them. He said he was looking for something to read that night and took the Book of Mormon and we got his information. We are meeting him on Wednesday. I don't know how that all happened and I am so glad I did not tell Elder Weaver before he knocked on the door. Whatever happens at least he knows we're Mormons and not Normons haha sorry but I hope some good will come of it because it was a really cool experience.

I know transfers are coming up next week and they will probably not be together.  We will always be grateful for Elder Weaver’s kindness, patience and example—and thank you to you!  We really enjoyed the musical number. You have such a talented son. It was fun to “peek” in on them for a moment. I miss hearing the violin at my house, but I miss my son more. It is so wonderful to read his letters each week and know of the great experiences he is having in OH.  I am thankful he is serving a mission and really wouldn’t want him anywhere else.

Thanks again,

Matt and Marianne Ingersoll