Week 26: 6 Months baby!!!!!!!!! 1/21/2019

Hey my peeps! What's up with y'all!! Dang, is it really another Monday already? Time has been so weird as of late! Time flies when you are having fun I guess and that was certainly the case for this week. Well, this will be the last full week of my 4th transfer. This upcoming weekend I will be finding out if I will be staying or leaving, getting a new comp or having the same one. This transfer has definitely felt the fastest out of all my transfers so far. It has felt that ever since I got to this area 70 plus days ago, the two transfers have felt like one and that I was in my first area not too long ago. I can;t wait to let you guys know what will be happening when next Monday comes around tho…

Well guys, in a few emails previously, I told ya'll that Elder Hammond and I are gonna be putting a lot of effort in finding new people to teach from now, til the end of the transfer. We have been blessed in our efforts in doing so. This past week we were able to find many people to teach. We first met this guy named Eric on Wednesday which was originally a mistake because we knocked on his door thinking someone else was living there who we decided to visit. He told us he had just barely moved in and he expressed a lot of interest to us of the Book of Mormon and how that was going to be his next project. He says all he does is “read and smoke weed.” Haha!! We actually set up a return appointment for yesterday and we taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool because he has been part of the Islam faith for a while and he told us he had learned sooo much in the lesson we taught and we told him to continue to learn more by reading the Book of Mormon. We also found this woman named Ladonna who is the mother of one of our members in our ward. Apparently she had been taught by some missionaries before and also had a date for baptism, but something happened that made her decide she wasn't ready. We have decided to pick her back up and start teaching her again and see where she is at in her knowledge of the Gospel. I hope things will go well for her. Last but not least, I was on an exchange with Elder Nessen and we traced into this guy named Ron. Once we knocked, he let us in immediately because it was a freezing cold day that day. We had a good conversation with him about why Jesus Christ is sooo awesome and we left him a Book of Mormon and told him a little bit about how Christ's church was restored on the Earth once again. He seems pretty interested and hopefully things will go well with him as well.

We had to push Ashlyyn's bapt. date for next week because unfortunately her dad got called in to work last weekend and he really wanted to be there for her daughter. The baptism should be happening next week for sure. The Wood's are doing really well. We actually saw them every other day last week and ready a ton of chapters out of the book of mormon with them. We also asked him to find out for himself if the Book of Mormon was true and also extended our invitation to be baptized once he finds out through the Holy Ghost. He told us he is still unsure and seemed a little bit hesitant when we asked him as if he wasn't expecting it. It's just because he needst to find out for himself if these things are true or not. If he does, that desire will definitely be there.

Well, that was just the few of many things that made for a very hectic week. Last Monday we went to the Main Event for p-day with all the missionaries in our zone and it reminded me a lot of Fat Cat's from back home. It was cool to get some bowling on for the first time in a while! Everything else seems to be going alright. Health wise, still doing pretty well. Just wish I would slow down on my weight increase! Haha!! I hope I can make this next week as good as last!! It was good to hear from some of ya'll today. I love you guys and am proud of the things you all are accomplishing. Have a REALLY awesome week!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) P-Day at the main event!

Week 25: Tender Mercies of the Lord!! 1/14/2019

Wassup everybody!! Dang, I hope you all had a really fantastic week. Don't mean to brag or anything… but my week was AWESOME for a number of reasons. Winter is continuing to take its toll out here. I think there are even cooler temperatures on the horizon. There is no sign of it warming up. I hope you all are enjoying the snow in Utah. I surely am missing it right about now.

Question… Have ya'll ever heard of the Book of Mormon play? Well it came right to Tulsa and we had the brilliant opportunity to go and try to talk to people in the general area where it was being showcased. Unfortunately we couldn't get to close to the theater, just to be safe, but we were close enough where we could talk to people and give them an actual opportunity to read the book. Funny story, we stopped this one guy and asked if he was going to “the play.” He said “yes I am.” We said sweet, well you have the wonderful privilege to meet an actual missionary before you go in and we would like to offer you a real copy of the Book of Mormon. Looking confused, he said no! And we were liked, why not? Awkwardly he said that he was going to see beauty and the beast in a different theater! Haha! We thought that was hilarious/awkward!

Another cool thing that happened to us was we were able to pick up a new investigator named Juanita Smith. Juanita is an older lady, about in her seventies who was referred to us a while ago and we haven't been able to get in contact with her. We ended up dropping her because we couldn't talk to her, but finally, a few weeks later, she called us on the phone and wanted us to come over. We did on Wednesday, and we were astonished by how much she knew about the Gospel. She says that she has a niece that she has studied the book of mormon frequently with and that she enjoys watching BYU TV. In fact she watches it every day. She told us that she wanted to be baptized so we are gonna start giving her the missionary lessons. It was a really neat experience. She almost already knows more about the Gospel than I do!

Our current investigators are still doing well! We got Ashlynn who is set to be baptized this upcoming Saturday. We have been teaching this family named the Wood's who I probably haven't mentioned before yet. The Wood's are a part member family, the wife is the only one who is a member. Brian is the husband and we are mainly working with him. I have taught him ever since I got here. He hasn't t really shown much of  any progression in my first transfer in Tulsa, but our bishop really wants us to keep working with that family. So we are focusing more on them. They have been through some really tough times especially in this month. They no longer have a car, the heater has been out all month in their apartment, Brian has started going to the doctor due to some weird chronic head aches, and to add the cherry on top… Brian also got news that one of his younger sons who lives in New York had been abused. Soooo, if you could all keep the Wood's in your prayers, I know it is hard praying for someone you've never met, but I am sure they'd appreciate it!

To wrap up this week, we went down to Okc for a mission conference. It was a little disappointing at the start because we were told Elder Stevenson from the quorum of the 12 was going to speak to us. Unfortunately he got sick and he was unable to attend, but 3 general authorities came to take his place and it was an awesome spiritual reboost. Well, that is pretty much the jist of things!! Thanks for all your wonderful emails! I love you guys!!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Red sweater gang!

2) OYMing outside the Book of Mormon play!

3) Read to know if it's true!!!

Week 24: Work, Work, Work!!! 1/7/2019

Alright guys, soooo this week felt like it hasn't even happened. It was definitely a blink in the eye. I can't believe we have already finished week 1 of the year 2019 and how we only have 51 weeks left in this year now. Time is going to fly, I can feel it! Well it was a pretty gloomy week for the most part. Just because it was freezing cold outside. There was one day in particular that was soooo freezing and it was pouring rain where we were stuck inside the apartment all day because we feared an ice storm was coming our way. Just spent the day studying, it was a pretty good time!

Something that Elder Hammond and I are gonna start working on this upcoming week is putting a better effort on trying to find people to teach. This past week we didn't do too good of a job at it because we have been working hard with the people we have in our teaching pool. It got to the point where we realized that once these baptisms come for these people or we have to drop them because of lack of progression, we are gonna have nothing to do because we haven't put our effort in finding new people to teach. We plan on knocking a ton of doors this week and talk to as many people as we can and hopefully I can tell you some cool miracles next week about it.

Probably the best thing that happened this week was this past weekend, Elder Hammond and I got to go on exchanges with the elders from the Mingo Valley ward in Tulsa. My companion for the day was Elder Wildman which was pretty awesome because he is from Cache valley and his brother in law works for the dealership. Elder Hammond got to work with Elder Tyke Nessen, and I also know him because he went to Bear River high school. (Most of my friends out there may know him as well). We took some cool pics which I will attach to this email. Something cool that happened to me and Elder Wildman on this exchange was something that served as a huge eye opener to me. Being out on a mission, you get to see all kinds of people and at times it is hard to view them as literal sons or daughters of God. That has been one of my biggest struggles. Elder Wildman found this one old guy named Steve who seemed a bit tipsy and drunk.

We talked with him about the plan of salvation and set a return appointment for us to come back the next day… and the next day we did! He opened up to us that he had a wife and a son recently pass away and that he has been going through struggles ever since. We taught him an awesome lesson about what happens in life after death and got to share a copy of the book of Mormon with him. It made me come to realize that ya, I hate to talk to drunk people, but these are sons and daughters of God who need our help and we can't fully recognize thier struggles unless we let them open up to us. I don't know what will happen with Steve because he is not in my area, but what I hope you all can do is to find someone, anyone, who may seem to be going through a rough patch in their life, pray to know how you can help, and try to do it! I promise your love will grow for those around you even more, just like my hate to love feelings changed for Steve.

Well everybody, it was good to talk with some of you again. I love your emails and hearing from how you all are doing so keep it up!! I love you all and I hope you all have an awesome week!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Napoleon!!!

2) Elder Wildman!

3) Elder Nessen!

4) The Mingo Gang!

Week 23: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! 12/31/2018

Hey everybody!! Sorry it has been a while for most of ya'll since I talked to you last!! I hope you all have had a really good Christmas. Well, today is the last day of 2018!! Looking back on the events that took place during this year it is just crazy to think that it is already over. It has probably been the most challenging year of my life, but also the year where I have seen the most growth. I've learned that the most growth and progression I have received is through challenges life throws at me!! Don't avoid new challenges, learn to embrace them. When I also have the Savior on my team, there is nothing too hard that we can't get through. I can't believe almost half of 2018 has been spent on my mission!!

Well, this week was full of crazy events. Christmas was awesome!! Of course, it was different celebrating it away from home, but it still has a really good time with the people we visited that day. Had a ton of meals that day! Probably put on a few extra pounds, but that's just what you get when you have awesome members who want to feed you all the time! I received a ton of packages as well thanks to all of you guys! It was just a really good Christmas and I can't wait to celebrate another one while being out on my mission! Christmas day was also my 5 month mark so that's pretty cool as well.

Definitely the high light of my week was watching my man, Mateo, get baptized yesterday. It was actually the coolest day of my mission so far. There is nothing more rewarding to see than watching someone grow and change for months and then finally seeing them enter the waters of baptism! We have worked really hard with him and there were many prayers that had to be involved for this baptism to even take place. Watching someone like Mateo get baptized after months of building a relationship with him just serves as a motivation to go out and build more of those relationships. I can't wait to see what lies ahead and for many more experiences like that. It was definitely the best experience of my mission so far.

Well, everything has been awesome still so far. We have a lot to do this week. We had to push Ashlynn's baptism back to the 19th of January. I feel very honored to say that she has chosen me to baptize her. I am soooooo excited for another baptism! Well, as you can see, there is a lot happening in our area. It has been super humbling to know that the Lord is the one blessing Elder Hammond and I with these opportunities! Like I said before, I hope all of you guys had a good Christmas and I wish you all a very happy new year!! Love ya'll!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) 2) Hurts Donuts!!

3) 4) Merry Christmas from your friendly neighborhood missionaries!

5) Mateo's baptism!!

Week 22: Christmas Skype 12/25/2018