Week 21: Mighty Miracles Have Sprung Upon Us!!!! 12/17/2018

Wassup everybody. How's everyone doing? Dang, Christmas is getting closer and closer! There is definitely a huge excitement in the air in Tulsa. Just a little different than my typical “white” Christmas season. I'm kinda missing the snow right at this moment, but the holiday vibe is around town and that is what gets me super pumped! I have come to understand the true meaning of Christmas more abundantly as I have served as an instrument in the lord's hands. I hope we all can try to slightly diminish the commercialized Christmas we have now a days into the holier approach of it, which is is the true meaning of Christmas. We are not only celebrating the birth of our Savior, but we are celebrating every thing he has done for us, the path he walked and his grace. I also hope you all can continue to spread light during this holiday season through quality service to others. I have seen my life blessed and changed as I have given myself up for the service of my God and I know it can bless yours too.

Well, this week is the last week of my third transfer. We got the calls yesterday! Me and Elder Hammond are staying here in Tulsa for at least 6 more weeks. I am sooooo excited to be celebrating Christmas in this area. We have an awesome Christmas day planned! I also can't wait to continue furthering the relationships with the people and my knowledge of the area. I'm also glad I don't have to pack up and move again! Sheesh that's stressful! It feels like I just barely got done doing that. My first 6 weeks here flew.

Anyhow, this week was quite the eventful week for us. In addition to the news about transfers, we also had some cool experiences this week. Mateo's dad is letting him be baptized! We were sooooo nervous about that and how he might possibly not let him because he's pretty anti, but he accepted and the 30th of December is still the plan for him. I am sooooo excited for him. He is such a cool kid! Him and another girl named Ashlynn Hutchins are getting baptized the exact same day. We have worked really hard with them keeping them on track. 

So I had this crazy experience with this one referral we got a few days ago. Probably the weirdest experience of my mission and it is quite a long story so I'll try to keep it short. It's hard to explain it quickly because it won't do this experience justice. These sister missionaries called us about this girl, so we called her and she literally rambled on to us for like 30 minutes and said some really weird stuff like how the devil has been attacking her and how she wants to be baptized immediately. There was a lot more stuff said but it's way to much to put into words. We show up to her house shortly after, we both felt really weird about going so we decided to pray and find out if this was a good idea because it was a weird conversation on the phone. We still felt weird but went anyway and I learned my lesson that those weird feelings were the spirit telling me this was gonna be a waste of time. She opens the door, she is missing an eye and has a HUGE cold sore on her lip. She hugs Elder Hammond and attempts to kiss me on the mouth (with the cold sore)!!!! Thankfully my strength prevailed and it didn't happen. But this woman was psycho. She also thought we were legit angels sent from heaven so she is screaming at her poor children to come and meet us. She gets sooooo frustrated because they weren't listening and ends up dragging them out of her house. Her husband is on the phone and he is yelling at us and telling us to get the “bleep” of his property and to never come back. He didn't have to tell us twice, so we fled the scene. It was sooooo weird! Sorry for that awkward story, I thought it was pretty funny. 

To wrap up on a high note, we had dinner yesterday with a family named the Masters. They told us that they were on an episode of House Hunters once and I thought that was pretty cool. The episode is called “The Tulsa Tustlers.” Check it out!

Well, 6 more triumphant weeks are ahead in this area. I can't wait to make the most of it and make this transfer the best one yet. Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season! I love you guys!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) "O Christmas tree"

2) I don't think these guys live hear anymore!!

3) Can't trust anyone!!

4) Dinner with house hunter celebrities!

5) Fossil watches!!!!

Week 20: BENT KNEES AND A DISEASED COMPANION!!! 12/10/2018

Wassup my friends? How ya'll doing? Another really quick week has come and gone here in Tulsa Oklahoma! This is my 20th p-day writing to ya'll! So this upcoming week is the last full week of the transfer and I am in awe because I feel like I just barely got to this area. Not to say that I am going to be getting transferred again, but it certainly does not feel like I have been in Tulsa for about 5 weeks. I'll make sure to tell ya'll what happens when we get the phone calls. My companionship with elder Hammond has been going great! We have grown solo close and it would be awesome to continue to serve with him if I have the chance! I have become more familiar with the area on a daily basis and have formed great relationships with the members!

Soooooo this week was pretty awesome! I visited a doctor on my knee and received a brace to walk with for the next week before a follow up appointment. The doctor I went to is actually a member of the stake presidency in my stake and we also had stake conference this last weekend and he has been checking in on me. Still unable to tell what the problem is so they're given me a few weeks to see if the pain will ease. If not, I might have to be getting an MRI. The pain hasn't been too severe since the first part of this trial, but there is a weird clicking sensation going on every time I bend it that other people have told me is not normal. But I think I will be ok! Apparently I'm not the only one going through this right now. My mission president did the exact same thing on the exact same day and in result of that, he is getting surgery this week. I guess his is a little bit more severe than mine!

Well to push that aside, this week was pretty good for the most part. So there has been a sickness that has been going on in throughout the entire mission. I experienced it a few weeks ago. My companion is experiencing it currently. But that didn't stop us from an awesome week. We had a miracle on Tuesday. We went to eat dinner at a members house who are grandparents who have full custody over two of their grandchildren, I don't know the details behind that, but it was the first time meeting them and one of them, who is about 11, told us that she wanted to be baptized! That doesn't happen to much to us! It is very exciting and I can't wait to start teaching her! Stake conference was yesterday and we had a general authority attend from the seventy! Everyone seemed pretty excited for that! We had interviews with President again for the 3rd time. Just goes to show how quickly this transfer will be wrapping up. The members are still feeding us daily. One member felt sooo bad when she had to cancel our appointment that she gave us 100 BUCKS to go get dinner with for the two of us. We can get like 3 meals with that! But like I said the members have been totally awesome.

Well, I am sooo thankful to be starting another week here in Oklahoma. My mission so far is something that I can't trade for anything. I learn day by day! That is the glory behind it, that there is always something or someone to learn from. And I can't wait for that to continue. Ya'll mean the world to me! Love ya'll!!

Love,

Elder Weese

Week 19: Christmas season is here!!!! 12/3/2018

Hello family and friends. How is everyone doing this fine Monday morning?? It seems like from what I hear that Utah is getting hit hard with snow! Here in Oklahoma, it is pretty much just a wet cold. The humidity has made this Winter season a whole lot harder. So it was a pretty hard week for me. I injured my knee playing some basketball and it may have resulted in a meniscus tear, as I have heard from doctors in my ward!! I have kept my president updated on my condition and I might have to go get it checked out by one who specializes in knees to find out what my actual injury. Soooo pray for me that it is nothing to serious and I can keep the work going here in Tulsa!!

So with this injury, I had a decision to make! I can either sit around and do nothing or I can get up and make some sacrifices and continue to work. As I have made those sacrifices, I saw an increase in miracles and blessings!! For example, I was able to set a baptismal date that same day and was also able to find this one girl who assumes to be very interested in learning about the book of Mormon!! 

Well, we are just waiting on a few baptisms to come up for our solid people that we have. They seem ready and committed. Hopefully they can stay that way as time goes on because the baptisms are after Christmas!!

Soooo I am sooooo sorry that this email is shorter than usual. My time has been cut short to email. I hope everyone is still doing great and is getting ready for Christmas! I challenge you all to spread the true spirit of Christmas by lighting the world! I know that your lives will be blessed and the lives of others as well as you share the light of Christ with others! I love you all!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) apartment knocking

2) Multi-zone P-day

3) Knee check up with brother Bennet :(

Week 18: Thanksgiving got me feeling sick!! 11/26/2018

Hey everyone!! What's going on? It was soooo good to hear about y'all's thanksgiving day back home because mine wasn't too good. I was super sick!!!! I think I came down with the flu which is weird because I had a flu shot just a month ago. That's what most of the members told me it looks like I had!! I felt sick at the start of last week and on Thanksgiving day it hit me like a dump truck!! I had to cancel almost all of the dinner appointments I had which was hard because I was sooo pumped for this day. At least I have another Thanksgiving next year. Hopefully it won't bring forth the same results. The only thing I can remember about this week was me being bed ridden for the most part of it. I went on a few exchanges sooo my poor comp could get out of the house. it was by far the hardest week on my mission. Getting sick out here is not fun!!

Despite the fact of me being sick and not a lot happening this week because of that, I am super optimistic about what is to come these next few weeks and in the month of December. We have to people preparing for baptism in that month. We have a 9 year old girl named Ashlynn who is on date for the 1st and a 14 year old boy who hasn't picked a specific date yet, but he knows December is the month for his baptism. It is super exciting. This week, I am looking forward to getting back in the loop after being benched these last few days! I am soooo ready to get back to work!! 

Everything else is going good in my area!! Comp and I are getting along and I am becoming more acquainted to this larger ward!! I gave a talk yesterday in church as well for how we can all light the world. I shared that the best way to share our light with others and increasingly brighten it is to develop Christlike attributes!! When we develop those, people will notice what makes us different and they would want the same happiness we have. Even the smallest light possible can eliminate any sort of darkness that comes along our way!! I hope everything is going awesome with y'all and I hope you guys have another awesome week!!!

Love y'all,

Elder Weese

1) Thanksgiving morning

2) Elder Hammond and Elder Weese Thanksgiving dinner with the Stephani Family

3) Zone breakfast!

4) Mall villains

Week 17: Happy Thanksgiving Week!!!!! 11/19/2018

Hello again everybody!! How you all doing this fine Monday morning?? What is life like in good ol' Utah?? It was sooo good to hear from those who emailed me this week!!! I hope the rest of you all are doing great!! Well, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this week!! I hope you guys are too. I legitimately have FOUR families assigned to feed us that day. Me and Elder Hammond definitely need to go on a two day fast before that day comes because I don't know how it is humanly possible to consume that much food!! I am sooo excited for that day tho!! I love hanging out with the members!! I have had more opportunities to visit with members and they are sooo helpful to us in the work. They feel that it is an obligation to be involved with missionary work because being members of the church, the Lord expects more out of us to seek his lost sheep!! To minister to those around us especially the ones who are going through the hardest of times as of late.

So just a bit about this week!! It was AWESOME!!!!!! Last p-day I got to hang out at the mall with a lot of missionaries!! I love going to the mall especially at this time of year when everything is beginning to be on sale. We might be doing the same today!!! I am still trying to learn how to manage my money because I definitely don't want to be broke when I return home!! Haha!!! We also got to help out with the special olympics this week which was a really cool experience. It is awesome to see the smile on those kids faces when they are having fun. Just picture a ton of volleyball games going on with missionaries EVERYWHERE officiating them!! Most importantly cheering them on!! Meet some really cool people that day and definitely put things in perspective. Everyone is equal in the eyes of God and he loves all of his children just the same!!! Just imagine how happy it makes him when we are always encouraging and uplifting others!! When his children are happy, then he is happy!! We also had zone conference this past Friday which was awesome. It was my third one!! President trained on how we can eliminate anti-mormon arguments. The most reliable source and the source that has been attacked most of all is the Book of Mormon. These people are really convinced that Joseph Smith plagiarized the Book of Mormon from other manuscripts. We were able to get those manuscripts and it is obvious that Joseph Smith translated it through the gift and the power of God!! How can Joseph come up with these divine doctrines?? I don't know how it's possible!!! When you also regard the power as you read it. People are too afraid to give it a chance. Too entitled to their opinions!!

Well, didn't get a lot of people at church yesterday probably because everyone has started off their vacation for Thanksgiving early!! It was a really good Sunday nonetheless!! I got to hang out with the young men in their quorom activity. Got me reminiscing about the times when I was in that position. I miss those days!!! All you young people back home, take advantage of where you are at right now!! I would give anything to go back to those times because it was soooo much easier back then!! You all don't know stress until you serve a mission!! But stress is part of it and it is so rewarding to see the fruit of your labors as you work hard!! Well, I love you all and I hope this Thanksgiving you all can remember who and what you are thankful for. It is not just about the turkey and pie although they are all good. Just count your blessings that day and I promise you guys it will be the best Thanksgiving ever!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Zone Conference 
2) Chillin like a villain!!

3) Downtown!!

4) B-DUBS!!!! 

5) Me and my Mercedes:)
6) Fly like an eagle!!!!!!

Week 16: First week in Tulsa..snow, bike rack, gas leak & more!! 11/12/2018

Hello ladies and gents!!! What is cracking on the home front??? It has been a really awesome, busy, week for me!! It has been quite an adjustment moving from small town Vernon to the big city of Tulsa. Oh, and it is currently snowing right now and we almost weren't allowed to leave the apartment because of the icy roads!! Sooooo first and foremost, my new companion is really cool!! He is soooooo funny and has a huge sense of humor and everyone here in Tulsa seems to love him soooo much!! He is from Sacramento California and has been on his mission for about 18 months! Which is a crazy long time!!!! One day, we saw an airplane in the sky and he asked me "how far away is that airplane?". Me, not knowing where he was going with this, told him a couple thousand feet.  He then jokingly said that it is way closer to me than it must seem to you! Haha! Very funny...... 

So, it was a pretty crazy week this week, first of course, we had transfers. We car pooled with a few other Elders up to Tulsa after transfers happened so we had a ton of bikes on our bike rack!! We get to Tulsa after dark and an Elder named Elder Wildman broke the key to the bike rack. So me and Elder Hammond have been driving around the car with 3 bikes strapped to the back of it!!! We called the mission office to see what we could do and they told us not to cut the chord that had all the bikes attached to it because it would be a pretty expensive replacement. So we just had to work with it!!! We also were running late to a dinner appointment so we couldn't do anything about the situation. The next day, we found out that there was a gas leak in our apartment due to the smell of propane so we had to call the fire department and three fire trucks showed up to our house!! No biggy, our apartment could have exploded this week!! Haha!! That problem was pretty well taken care of!! So no worries. We also had to take our car to a shop because we ran over a nail so we had to go and get our tire fixed!!! The next day after that. We were driving around with all the bikes on the back and guess what happened!! THE BIKE RACK FELL OFF while we were driving!!! Into the middle of on coming traffic. We had to call a member who had a truck to come pick up the bike rack for us. Thankfully, there was no damage done to our bikes. After that, we had a very awkward dinner appointment with an inactive couple. The food wasn't too good and it was my first time having to troop through a rough dinner!!! Plus, it was in a very sketchy apartment complex, probably the scariest one in town. We thought we were gonna get mugged by these 2 so called "security guards" who made us talk with them!! Pretty scary.........

Well, with all hardships that happened to us this week!! We were able to see so many miracles happened. We have constantly recieved refferals and have plenty of teaching opportunities!!! We get feed by the members every night so don't ever worry about me getting hungry!! Our ward is also in the richer part of town so we get to go in some awesome houses and meet some really successful people!!! We have a few kids on date for baptism and had 4 investigators at church. I can't wait to get to know these people even more and to help them grow and progress in the Gospel. They seem really solid!! I hope all is well with you all back home!! Keep doing great things. I appreciate your guys support!! Love Yall!!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Goodbye Elder K!!

2) Me and Elder Hammond on this snowy day

3) Our apartment almost exploded

4) The moment after the bike rack fell off!!

Week 15: I'VE BEEN TRANSFERRED!! 11/5/2018

What's up everybody?? Man it has been a really busy week/weekend and I have a lot of news for you all!!! To start off, I would like to begin with what happened last night which was.... transfer calls!! Well guys, it is with a great deal of sadness and also excitement that I will be leaving the Vernon area and heading all the way across the mission to serve in Tulsa!! Let me tell ya, I was in complete astonishment when I heard the news!! I though for sure that I would be staying here for at least one more transfer, and that my comp will be heading out, but the exact opposite happened!! I am moving from a small town the the big city which will take some time adjusting too. My current comp, Elder Kathriner, will be staying here in Vernon for another transfer and my new companion is Elder Hammond who I have already met once before. In fact, He and Elder Kathriner were companions right before I got to Vernon. So I guess, I served as his replacement in the Vernon area. Elder Kathriner told me sooo much about how much he loved serving with Elder Hammond and how much of a good missionary he is!! I can't wait to get to work with him!! I will be leaving Wednesday so I will be packin, packin, packin these next few days!!!

With that being said, I am so thankful for the time and oppurtunity I had to serve in Vernon Texas. I couldn't have asked for a better area to start of my mission. These next few days are going to consist of many heart felt goodbyes. I think of the members and investigators I will be leaving behind and it just makes me super sad!! I came here 12 weeks ago as a nervous, overwhelmed, brand new missionary and these guys took me in as if I were apart of their family. It's going to be hard to leave but like I said, I am super excited for this new oppurtunity I have!!!

Surprisingly, that wasn't all that happened this week!! Halloween up in Wichita Falls was super fun!! I got to go to the Academy sports outlet where I bought me a new tazer. The reasoning behind that purchase was to serve as dog repellent!!! Dogs out here hate bikers and I have ran into so many situations where they have even tried to bite at me as I am biking along!! Not anymore dogs!! You're gonna get it!! Haha!! We also went to the mall which was REALLY weird because it was my first time going there as a missionary. I felt soooo out of place, but it was a good time though!!! After that, we went to a members house and pretty much chilled there for the rest of the night. We had some dinner and played some awesome games!!! Halloween was sooo much fun! Unfortunatley, No trick or treating for us though! Haha!!! I also got to go on another exchange on Thursday with an Elder Jensen who is our district leader!! We had a good time working together and he taught me a lot!!

Well, I am looking forward to this week. There is going to be a lot that will go on and I can't wait to tell yall all about it from my new area in Tulsa!!! Looking forwards to this new opportunity!!! I loved hearing from you guys and how awesome you all are doing!! There is nothing that gets me pumped more than hearing from you all and all your wonderful words of encouragement and inspiration. I love you all and I hope you have another fun and safe week!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Happy Halloween

2) Fun at the Mall

3) Last p-day with Elder K......:(

Week 14: Happy Halloween 10/31/2018

Howdy howdy y'all!! what's going on?? Well, I am sorry that I am sending my email out this late in the week. P-day got moved to today since it is Halloween. President told us, due to some bad experiences in the past, we will not be proselyting on Halloween. So he just decided to move p-day to today instead of Monday this week. Don't worry, I didn't forget! After this, I will be going down to Wichita Falls to spend the day with the missionaries down there since it is an all day p-day today and there is literally nothing to do in Vernon. This week has been a really crazy week. On Thursday we had interviews up in Lawton, we had greenie graduation yesterday up near OKC, which is 3 hours away, and now today we will be driving to Wichita Falls. A lot of miles being used this week!!

Soooo, last email I talked a little bit about how the last week my motivation to go out and work was taking a slide. I felt the need to ask President in interviews what I can do to boost my motivation to work hard. He told me the reason why I have taken a slide, is because my love for the Savior has taken a slide. Not that I don't love the Savior or anything, I just need to find ways each and every day to help strengthen my love, faith, and testimony in him. We do that by learning more of him and what he did for us. As we learn of him, we recognize what he truly did for us, when we recognize that, we love him, when we love him, our desire to serve him grows. That has definitely influenced me and has driven me to build my relationship with him. I can definitly tell a difference with that and in reward, I was able to see many miracles happen. One that happened, is we got a new investigator named Diane, an old lady who lives in a nursing home who was a referral from the branch. She was sooo interested when we told her that God has made a plan for us to have the chance to live with our families for eternity. She had recently lost a husband and her greatest fear is that when she will go to heaven, she won't know who her husband is. Just imagine how miserable that would be to not know our families up in heaven. They call it the plan of happiness for a reason. Not the plan of misery!! We didn't have time to teach her the full lesson, but we will be going back on Friday to clarify it some more to her. Other miracles that I have seen in result to working hard was we have been able to meet some really awesome people as we have continued our search for those who are prepared to receive the Gospel. It is hard to meet people who are willing to learn more because everyone out here is soooo involved with the church that they already go to and most believe that it doesn't matter what church we go to, as long as we believe in our Savior, we are saved. C'mon faith vs works people.....

Yesterday, I graduated from being a greeinie. That was also a very rewarding experience. It was also very nerve wracking as well because in order to graduate, we had to teach all the lessons from preach my gospel BY OURSELVES to the trainers, AP's, or possibly President. I knew this day was coming for a while now and I was looking forward for it to be over. But, it was a really good experience though. I learned a lot from it and received so much advice and now it is time to go back to work and showcase all that I have learned from my 12 weeks of training. We also get our transfer docs this week as well. I will let y'all know what happens with that but in preparation for that, president told us that alll the former greenies our now in charge of the area they are currently serving at. I am soooo excited to see what is ahead as time goes on.

Well, It has been a pretty awesome, productive week. I hope you all have a really fun, safe, Halloween!!! Let me know how it goes. Love y'all!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Emailing headquarters

2) Oh, the rainy days.....

3) Someone's a little sleepy!!

Week 13: Nearly 3 months out!!!! 10/22/2018

Hey y'all!! Whats going on??? Man, this week flew by!! It has been a little over whelming of how fast time has been going by recently!! The longer I have been out, the faster time has rolled on by!! All the missionaries that I meet out here... my comp, missionaries from my district, or even senior couples tell me... Just wait until you hit your year mark! Naw that still feels like it is century away! Haha!! Well nothing has really changed in the life of Elder Weese!! It was a really slow week in the work, fast, but the work was slow!!! I can take the blame for all of that!! I wasn't really too motivated this week to go out and do the usual, which is knocking doors, talking to people, and trying to set up return appointments! I know what I was doing wrong and I know exactly what it takes for me to be able to fix it!!

Well, when I say nothing happened this week! NOTHING HAPPENED THIS WEEK! Ya we still had a few lessons with some of our investigators, but even with those, I feel like I didn't get any where. In order for me to gain that motivation back and desire to do the lord's work, I need to make sacrifices. Sacrifice my time, my thoughts, and my energy EACH and everyday. I know how happy I was when I was motivated to to thy work. I have found happiness through even the hard times and the unsuccessful times. I made that mistake by losing that motivation!! I will get that back though and I am not going to drop it off ever again!! Well, last week we went to the jump zone up in Lawton as a zone!! It was pretty fun jumping around with all the missionaries. Our mission president and his wife even came with us!! We had one Elder blow out his knee while we were jumping soo it was especially good that the mission president came with us. It was a pretty nasty injury. I even have a pic of how it looked which I will send below!! 

Well guys, I'm sorry that this email was shorter than the others. Just didn't have a lot to write about this week since nothing really happened!! I promise that I will be a lot more interesting next week. you can put that on me!! Just know that even though my motivation dropped this week. My testimony of the restored Gospel continues to grow each and everyday. I know that this is the true church and that we have called living prophets and apostles to help guide and direct God's children. We need that comfort especially in this day and age!! I have found great joy reading through past conference talks. I consider the order of all these talks pretty ironic. I know that all these talks are key for helping us prepare for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!! I know for a fact that he lives and that he is the only begotten of the father and that through his grace and mercy, we will eventually make it back to our father in heaven as long as we do according to his will and always repent!! Thank you all soooo much for everything you do!! I love you all, have a good week!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) 24/7

2) Fun at the jump zone

3), 4) Poor Elder Whitehead :(:(

5) Behold, my noble steeds!! #bikingalternative #jk

Week 12: Hungry, "hopeless", and cold... but still kickin'!!!!!!!! 10/15/2018

Howdy!! How have my favorite people been this fine week. I appreciate all your emails and your wonderful uplifting words!!! I love starting a new week this way. Makes the Mondays a little better!! Well, to explain my title to this email.... Temperatures in Vernon have dropped dramatically this weekend. Yesterday was the coldest day on my mission and from what I hear, it will continue to get worse!!! Thankfully, my mom sent me a package that contained sweaters, a hat, gloves... all the warm stuff and she sent it right on time!! If she wouldn't have, I probably would have froze to death, therefore, I would not be speaking to you guys at this moment!! Haha!!! Well, even though it was pretty cold outside!! The work still goes on!! It is a lot more satisfying at the days end when you examine how hard you worked today knowing that you gave your all, especially under heavier circumstances!! This last week, we took a 3 hour drive up to OKC for zone conference in the pouring rain!! All the roads looked like rivers and you could barely see them at times especially since we were driving in the dark. Had to be very careful not to hydroplane!! Zone conference was pretty good!! Had to get a flu shot during it!!! It was kinda weird!!! All these missionaries coming together to get flu shots. We kept those nurses pretty busy. I felt pretty sick after I got mine which is kinda weird. Stomach felt weird and I had to deal with a killer head ache for the rest of the conference. But I am doing better now don't get me wrong!! Learned a lot from this zone conference and it also made me realize how much I need to improve. There is always something I can be doing a little better. I am focusing on staying motivated and setting better goals. Goals that will help push you each and everyday to do the Lord's work!! The motivation comes after that!!

Speaking of the work, it still goes on down here in Vernon!!! On Thursday, I went on an exchange with one of the zone leaders named Elder Whitehead. When we first met up, he told me... "all we are going to do today is FIND." I have never spent more time knocking doors and OYMing people ever than I did when I was with him!!! It was pretty fun... hard... but fun!!! Met some cool, nice people and not so nice people. Probably met the meanest guy I have ever met during that stretch of door knocking! I am glad Elder Whitehead had the patience because this guy was letting him have it!! I was waiting for the dude to get knocked out, but Elder Whitehead kept his cool and we went on throughout our day!! I asked him after that how he keeps such a positive attitude after something like that happens. He tells me, the harder you work, the more you will love the work, and won't care what anyone says to you or thinks about you. That is why I am trying soooo hard to boost my motivation each and everyday!!!

Sooo today, I will be going to a jump zone for our zone p-day today!!! I am super excited for that!! We originally planned to go to the Wichita Mountains again. but it is too cold for that!!! President and Sister Mansell will also be spending the day with us!! Can't wait to tell you all about it in my emails next week!!! The mission is still treating me well though!!! Still trying to meet with as many people as we can. Especially our focus people... the ones who are closest to baptism. We have been trying really hard to get them to come to church. That is the hardest thing to get them to commit to. They do all the other things like reading and praying, but when it comes to sacrament, we aren't as successful with that. They always tell us that they will be there but don't end up coming. Can't give up on these people though!! I know it is a very hard decision to make!! We are pretty much asking them to change their lives!! I always thing of Elder Hollands talk and the quote that sticks out the most in that talk: "salvation was never easy!!!!" I know I will find someone out here on my mission who was meant for me to go talk to!! The one the Lord has prepared the most for me!!!

Well, Another week down!! Still happy and healthy. My comp will tell you otherwise with the healthy thing. Been drinking a lot of soda and eating a lot of candy. Halloween candy is on sale so I am making the most of it right now!! HAHA!! Well I love you all and miss you!! Keep on keeping on!! Have another good and safe week!!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) All geared up!!

2) Cooler weather ahead!!

3) Winner winner, steak dinner!!!

4) Wasn't kidding about the cold!!!

Week 11: The Lord is INDEED hastening His work!!!!!!! 10/8/2018

Another week, another fortune!! Am I right??? Well, I can't believe it is the start of another new week. These weeks are going by heart beat after heart beat!! It was good to hear from you all and get your take on what happened in this year's General Conference! It was a really unique conference to say the least!! These last few conferences have been solid evidence of the Lord hastening his work to prepare for the time of the second coming!! It is right around the corner ladies and gentlemen!! Start preparing if you haven't already!! The shorten church time is not for the purpose of going home and having an extra hour of your Sunday nap! haha! But it is to deepen our conversion and to strengthen our faith as we study within our homes!! Also with the announcement of 12 new temples!! That is pretty crazy! I have never heard them announce that many all at once!! I love hearing from our prophet and his invitation to come or stay on the covenant path. In my own words, "to keep on keeping on!" Got to watch a session with our investigators, Kerry and Lisa Ollivers. You can tell that they have never experienced anything like that before. There were some really good talks that I hope they were able to get a lot out of. Missionaries can't control what is going on in the minds of other people which kinda sux! Haha!

Well, conference was definitely the high light of my week!! With the work this week, it was a little slower than usual, but things like that happen. Just trying super hard every day to not be sooo upset with myself. We set new goals every week of how we wanted to find new people to teach. Whenever I set an expectation for myself and am not able to achieve it, I tend to get a little too hard on myself!! I am working really hard on improving that and to just be a little more patient with myself. Perfection doesn't come over night. It takes an eternity to obtain it!! 

So, we got a few new investigators this week!! We have been trying to get with this guy named Adrian for a while!! He seemed soooo interested the first time we met him, but that was weeks ago. We have tried him almost every other day since then and he is never home, We finally got with him this last week! He still seems super interested in us and tells us all the time how much we are an inspiration to him. We talked with him a lot about prophets and how God continues to call prophets even in our day. Gave him an invitation to watch genereal conference so he kind find the difference of what makes a prophet more unique than other church pastors or preachers!! Hopefully we can see him again this week and teach him more about how we have re established the pattern of prophets back on the Earth again!! With Tiffany, the screaming lady, she is gonna be really hard to teach. She has always had trouble believing God. She was a member of a church, but she has told us how she has lost hope. She doesn't believe we existed before we were born, nor that we will exist after death. She seems to know these things pretty well, but is having trouble believing them. She asked us sooooo many questions. Questions I could not even answer!! We invited her to read the plan of salvation pamphlet to see if it would answer any of her questions. Lastly, we had a really good lesson with another investigator named Talon last night. He hasn't been reading the book of mormon like we have asked him to do. We told him the only way you are gonna find out for yourself if all of this is true is by reading it. He said he will try a little harder to find the time to do it. Gave him a lesson on faith and repentance. Told him that we are all human, we all make mistakes. We challenged him to along with his personal prayers, to take time to ask for forgiveness from God. We all sin, sometimes we do it with out even knowing it! That is why we should always be repenting ever day of our lives!!

Tomorrow is zone conference. It will be up in OKC so I got a long drive ahead of me. We are heading up there tonight and staying with other missionaries up in that area!! Well I hope everything with y'all is running smoothly! Love you guys!! Have another fun and safe week!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

P.S. Next week is zone P-day on Monday so expect my email to come on Tuesday next week!:)

1) I want to be a cow for Halloween

2) The old times live on, #carnivalhelper

3) Conference views!!!

Week 10: New Transfer, new me....hopefully!! 10/1/2018

Hey guys!! It is sooo good to be writing you again!!! Thank you for all your wonderful emails and your powerful words of encouragement!! It has been a pretty awesome week!! Can't believe this is already my 10th p-day, or is it my ninth? I can't tell! It gets hard keeping track the longer being out here!! Well, it was a pretty slow week with the work part of it. It was still really busy nonetheless. Had some more good experiences and was able to get in with a lot of people and met new ones for sure!! Got to meet some more missionaries as well. Since transfers just recently happened, my district and zone got shuffled around a little bit. Said goodbye to the missionaries getting transfered and said hello to the new ones in our area. Also, some new, new missionaries in the zone as well. I am glad to say that I am not the least experienced missionary in the zone as we got some new, fresh ones who recently got done with the MTC!!

Again, since this past week was the start of a new transfer. We were also busy creating new transfer visions and set new goals as well. Personally, and as a companionship!!! For the next 6 weeks, the thing I am working on is- "forget yo-self." Last transfer, I have found that it was super hard to be desirous in doing the lord's work when I had other things from back home, like family, friends, music, 2k, distracting me from what I really came out here to do. What I am trying to do is to put all of that aside so I can be more focused in doing the lord's work. I have seen in the past week with me experiencing with that a little bit, the promptings and guidance from the Holy Ghost a lot more!!! I have made plans that instead singing or thinking of my favorite songs from back home while biking, play the book of mormon audio on my phone while I am biking. It is still really hard to not get distracted though. When you get to that point when you feel totally focused and thinking to yourself: nothing can distract me anymore! Boom! A car pulls up right next to me playing a Post Malone song. Than it feels like I go right back down to square one again. With this new transfer vision, it is also going to help me out a lot of putting other people before myself. To always be looking for ways to turn outward. I have found that out here, it is impossible NOT to think about yourself. But when you are constantly thinking on the welfare of others. It makes it easier!! As a companionship, me and my comp are trying really hard to get into the spirit of finding. We have set a goal for with every planned appointment that falls through, we will knock two neighbors doors on that same street!! That is in addition to are regular tracting schedule. Hopefully with that, we can find those people that the lord has prepared for us to give them the message of the restored gospel. 

Well, like I said, it was a slower week with the missionary work. A lot of appointments fell through at the last minute. We had 7 people who said that they would try to come to church. Set some pretty high expectations on ourselves on got a little to overly excited with that number. Guess how many people actually came yesterday... A flat out zero. We were pretty disappointed. We are gonna work extremely hard this week to try and get these people to come to church!! We need to help them take that next step. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be!! Our investigators and members are still doing pretty well though. It felt like a pause in progression with some of our investigators because it feels like we haven't been able to see them in a while. We will get with them this week though! That is priority number 1. A funny story that happened. Remember that girl Tiffany, the yelling lady, who I told you about last week.we tried to go see her last week. Man, whenever we are on her street, something bad happens, like when she yelled at us all those times. We call it the street of unfortunate events. This time, when we were talking with her, there was this cat getting absolutely MAULED by these two huge dogs. She, being the animal lover that she is, started freaking out and screaming bloody murder. Eventually she saved the cats life. She was ticked!!! The person who owned that cat came over and she started screaming and cussing at him for not keeping an eye out on his stuff. THen she came to us and started talking about how much she really hated that guy. Saying he treats his kids really bad and doesn't give a crap about anything. Well, that was quite a show to watch!! She is pretty scary when she gets angry. (Us knowing from experience). We are still trying to find a time where we can actually get in with her and have a conversation about religion!!

Well, that was the rundown this week. Always looking for more things ahead. Never satisfied!! I love all of you and I hope you all have another awesome week!! Stay healthy and safe!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) View from the apartment balcony... before a rainstorm

2) These things are getting out of hand!!!

3) Satan's trickery!

Week 9: One year older and wiser too!! 9/24/2018

Man, what an awesome week it has been. It was filled with things going on. It was the last week of the transfer so we had a few things we had to do before it ended. Got our transfer docs yesterday. I will be staying down here in good ol' Vernon Texas for at least another 6 weeks!!! I can continue to make myself feel more at home here and build stronger relationships with all the people I have met down here!!! Like it says in my subject, I am one year older since the last time I emailed you all! Turned the big 19 yesterday!! Haha! Don't feel any different. I still have to pinch myself every morning to see if I am dreaming about me being out here. It hits me everyday!! I still feel like I should be a little kid!! Kinda want to go back that way when the whole world was given to me!! Haha!! Well, Got to celebrate a little yesterday. It was the first time baking a cake and decorating for myself on my birthday!! Was a fun celebration especially because of the awesome package my parents sent me. Had confetti guns and everything!! Man! We sure made a mess!! Well, I am super grateful that the lord has kept me on the earth for 19 years. I am truly blessed that I get to see another birthday!!! Hopefully more to come!! Haha! I'm planning on it!!!

Well, with that being said, it was still busniess as usual down here in Vernon!! No days off no matter what!! There is a work that needs to be done!!! Yesterday, I also got to go to a baptist church that our investigator, Bryan, invited us out to. That, in itself, was also a celebration. Lots of clapping and cheering and a whole lotta "amen brotha, amen to that!" It was really cool to see the different background these people have. I ordered a book recently that listed of a lot of religions in the world and how missionaries should approach them when the come to meet someone from a different religion. It is an awesome book of answers and conviction!! Haha!! 

Something truly amazing happened this week. It was quite the miracle. A few emails ago you probably remember me telling you all about this one girl who yelled at us saying "ya we don't need god!! Keep on biking by! That's all your good at!!" That happened to us twice with that lady. Whenever we would bike by her house, she would yell at us and what it appeared to have been her hating us and giving us a super hard time. Let me tell you something! Every time that happened to us, the spirit told me to go back and talk to her. I thought to myself "no way Jose!!! I aint going back to get blasted by that very mean lady." Like I said, that happened to us not once but twice. And the spirit both times was trying to tell me to go back and talk to her and both times I wussed out!!! Sooo as time went on, about a month or so. This week me and my comp were doing some service down at this place called the USSV (United samaritan services in Vernon). What this place is it's a place where people in need go to recieve free food and financial support. It was a cool experience working there. Helped me remember that we are all god's children and in no matter nay circumstance, he loves us all the same!!! Guess who walks into that store? That same lady who is always yelling at us. She turned and looked at us and said "I know you." Ughhh. I didn't really know what to expect! Another freak out maybe? She told us that she is the lady that is always yelling at us whenever we pass by. She then told us "why don't you ever stop by my place? I see you knocking all the other neighbors doors but mine??" Well whenever we biked by she told us she didn't need god. I was confused!! She told us that she was sarcastic about that and that she felt somewhat offended that we wouldn't stop by her house to talk with her. We told her, "well, we thought that you hated us, that is what it sounded like." Turns out this lady also just got laid off from her job. She is very interested in learning about religion and we promised her that we will never pass by your house again with out stopping by. Soooo this lady went from a grouch who hated us to a really nice potential investigator. Man I should have listened the first two times to go back. What would you all do in that situation? Her name is tiffany and we plan on meeting with here really soon!!! What a miracle! Probably my best story yet!!! 

All the other people we have come in contact with are doing really well as well. Kerry and Lisa Olliver, the ones who struggle coming to church because of health. We were able to get an idea of what they desired most and what they want to get out of us meeting with them. Also, what has changed in their lives since reading the book of mormon. I was questioning in my mind that they weren't really interested anymore because it feels like they have no desire to come to church. Turns out that they are still interested. It is just super hard for them. The christ like attribute I am working hard on developing is patience!! I can't expect salvation for people to come quickly. It takes time and effort!! Salvation is not an easy thing!! I hear this talk all the time from elder Holland saying "why do we expect salvation to be easy for us, when it was never easy for the savior, who suffered for us, bled from every pore, and was smitten and rejected." Got me to realize that this is not a one time deal. This deals with the eternal salvation, or forever, for the people who decide to make this big step. It should not be easy!!!

Well, This week was awesome! Looking forward to another one!!! Like I said, had an awesome birthday yesterday. The people in my branch new about it. Primary children sang to me which was REALLY awesome, and got invited to a members house for a birthday dinner. Missionary work is awesome. I don't regret any second of it!! Well, Thank you all sooo much for your birthday wishes!!! I love you all!! Have a fun and safe week!!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Another toasty day

2) Last pic with the district before transfers

3) Fortnite partay with Vyse!! (Don't worry, I didn't play!)

4) Weekly bug collection

5) Birthday dinner with the Logsdons!!!

6) Made my own birthday cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7) Me and the CAAAKKKEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

8) Party goofs!!!