Week 40: Month 9 and Transfer 7!! 4/29/2019

Wassup?? How is everyone doing?? It's good to be writing to ya'll on this wonderful p-day! I hope everyone back home is alive and doing well. This week was very significant for a lot of reasons. I hit my 9 month mark on Thursday, and just began my 7th transfer out in the mission field! Time is going by way fast and I can't believe it is already that time of year where we are approaching summer time. As a new month and new transfer roll on by, I can't help but express my gratitude for the time I have been out here serving as a missionary for our Lord Jesus Christ. I have learned so much in my time being out here and I know for a fact that this is the place I need to be at this exact moment in my life. Next week will mark a full year since I opened my mission call and found out that I was going to be coming to Oklahoma, ever since then time has definitely taken off. I can't wait for the many other things I will learn in my next 15 months being out here, there is much more to come and I am very optimistic.

Well, the few high points of my week, I said goodbye to Elder Neff and Elder Wells on Tuesday, it was the "bomb.com" being in a trio by the way, I definitely recommend doing that everyone reading! Haha! It was a great 6 weeks serving in Edmond 1st ward and I am excited for even more things the Lord has in store for this area serving alongside my new companion Elder Beckstrand. Like always, it takes time for me to get used to a new companion, but I have a feeling that everything is going to be just awesome with this guy. He is from American Fork Utah (finally my first companion from the same state) and he is very funny, very smart, and a great disciple of the Lord. He has been out 4 and a half months so this is his second area in the mission. Things have been going pretty good in our companionship so far, I am very excited for the rest of this transfer.

We got to help out with the Oklahoma City Temple open house a few days ago which was awesome. At first, we weren't expecting to go in, we thought we would just be helping out on the grounds or in the parking lot, but in the middle of our session there, someone decided to be courteous enough to switch with us, so I got to be in the endowment room ushering people through the tour of the temple! All the members here are super excited to be getting their temple back and you can tell by the turnout of people that have come to it. Many members who also invited their nonmember friends to come along with them so they can see for themselves what goes on in a temple. It was so awesome being able to be inside, Once I stepped foot inside and as I looked around, the Spirit hit me so strong and there is no doubt in my mind that that is the Lord's house, and through there we make special covenants with Him, we unleash the powers of heaven from the veil to those who haven't had the chance to hear the restored gospel yet, and there is also where families become forever!! It is such a blessing to have Temples!

Another cool thing that happened to me yesterday was I got a call from one of my previous companions from my last area. Do y'all remember me telling ya about Ron? Well, I found out that he will be getting baptized really soon! It literally changed my whole day hearing about that news! He was someone that I worked a ton with in my last area and have become very good friends with him. It was sad to leave, but when I found out that he is doing well and had accepted baptism, I was soooo happy!! I'll send some pics when they come!

Well, This was another awesome week out here in the OK! Thanks everyone for all the love and support! I really appreciate all you do, and love and miss you guys! Keep doing great things, and remember to always reach out to those around you, you never know who could need it! Ya'll have a great week!

Love,

Elder Weese

Pictures:

1) Thanks for the Easter ties mom!

2) Last p-day of the transfer.

3) Early mornin' tennis

4) Oxford oaks studs!!

5) Last dinner with the Jankunas's (another awesome family I met along the way)

6,7) New companion Elder Beckstrand

8,9,10) Work at the temple!

11) church ballin'

12) Big Shot!

13) We have awesome members!! #sistermckinleythegoat

14) dinner at Freddy's

15) Oh, I forgot to tell ya, we knocked on Paul Georges door, that's his house!!

Week 39: Happy Easter!! 4/22/2019

Hey ya'll, what's up? I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter back home. Literally, it was the one of the best Sunday's I have enjoyed out in the mission field. There is definitely a different kind of spirit on Easter Sunday, the speakers were definitely inspirational and the topics were on point on why we celebrate this holiday. We were asked to think about how much life would be different if we didn't have a Savior. I thought about it, and it narrowed down to “hopelessness.” Since we do have a Savior, we don't need fear through the unknown of different circumstances, and what is to come after this life. The chance that we have to receive new life from him comes from the power of his resurrection, which is why we celebrate Easter.

Well, it was a blast this last week. I think I might have forgotten to tell you guys this, but this last week I was in a trio companionship with Elder Neff and another missionary named Elder Wells because his companion went home a week ago so he needed someone to stay with to the end of the transfer. Being in a trio was way fun, it is definitely harder for knocking doors though because the people who open their doors open them and see 3 guys standing there in white shirts, ties, and name tags at the front door rather than 2, but it was still an awesome time. Transfers are in fact tomorrow, so that means this last weekend we did indeed get the news of what will be happening. Elder Neff will be going down to Lawton, I will be getting a new companion and his name is Elder Beckstrand. I don't know too much about him, I do know that he came to the mission in December but that's about it, and I will still be the district leader over here. I am very excited for this transfer to come, I am gonna miss elder Neff and his enthusiasm and positivity, I admire that about him, he is gonna have a blast down in Lawton. The mission keeps on getting faster and faster. I can't believe I am almost at my 9 month mark!!

Something very exciting that happened to us in the work this past week was we were able to start teaching a part member family named the Hansons. The dad Nathan Hanson is an active member and he is a Co manager for a car dealership. His wife, Holly, is less active, she is from Texas. Super sweet lady, but tougher than nails. She kinda was a head scratcher because I was wondering why she hadn't joined the church yet. It would have definitely been confused if I didn't know anything about her. She seemed like she already was. We had dinner with that family on Wednesday and she opened up to us about her questions and why she hadn't joined yet. She agreed to take the lessons to see if her questions would get answered, so that is a family we are gonna be working very hard with in this next transfer. We also had a baptismal interview for Mia Jeffery. She will be baptized on either the 4th of May, 25th of May, or 8th of June. They are still yet to decide which one, but we are very excited to be having another baptism pretty soon!

Well, thanks for everyone who thought of me over the Easter weekend and to those who sent packages out. I really appreciate everything ya'll do for me and the continuous support I have received! I can't wait to get a new week going! I love ya'll! Have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Weese

Pictures:

1,2,3) Dynamic trio!

4) Jo's pizza!

5) Life church!

6) Kitty cat!!

7) Easter socks! Thanks Mom!!!!!!!!

8) Best District!!

9) Best zone!!

Week 38: This Week Was a Jiffy!! 4/15/2019

What's up?? Wow, another quick week just went by. Bare with me, I am gonna try my best to remember everything that happened this week to the best of my ability, it's hard to remember things on the weeks that were way fast. Anyways, Easter is in a week!! I hope ya'll are excited to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior. Literally, Easter is a huge thing especially here in the Bible belt! There are signs from all churches everywhere saying “come celebrate Easter with us.” I'm way pumped for it! Literally I love the because of him videos where it lists all of the hardships that we encounter in life, like death, misery, contention, and how the Savior has overcome that so he could help us overcome that. John 16:33 says that the world will be filled with all sorts of tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. I know that because of the Savior, we can dominate this world and all the Temporal things it has to offer.

Elder Neff and I were invited to life church this last Saturday by this person named Josh who agreed to go on a church swap. So he will be coming to our church one of these weeks. I don't know if any of you know what life church is but it is a huge, growing church in Oklahoma. Literally the first 30 minutes it felt like I was in a rock concert. They played a ton of music and it was the first church service I have ever attended where they offered to give us ear plugs before we went in. Not your typical church service. Then at the end, a man named pastor Craig came on video and gave us a sermon about, “things Jesus did not say.” Literally pastor Craig is one of the best public speakers I have ever listened to! He was very entertaining and knew how to get his congregation rolling! The whole time I was worried because I felt like Josh is gonna think our church is super boring! But the very next day, when it was time for our service, the thing that stood out to me that was missing in the life church was the Holy Ghost. Ya, loud music probably makes ya feel good and Pastor Craig can be very inspiring, but no ear splitting music or preaching pastor will ever be strong enough to overpower the influence of the Holy Ghost. There was an 11 year old deacon who was up there giving a talk, literally didn't look up at the congregation once, and I was way more touched by his talk then pastor Craig's uplifting and motivating talk! He had a special spirit he brought, and that all talks we had yesterday! If we come to church and we are truly searching for the Holy Spirit, we are gonna find it and notice the greatness of peace in our lives!

Well, another cool thing that happened was, we were at 50+ consecutive no's when it came to knocking on doors, and this last Thursday that streak was broken. We didn't just set one return appointment, but two! One, who's name is Victor, is a pastor for a 7th day Adventist. He was way enthused and excited that we were there talking with him. He embraced our invitation to have a Bible study with him in a few weeks, so that is something we have to look forward to. Really nice guy! Then the other was this lady named Lori! She is part of the catholic church, she was really interested in learning more about the book of Mormon and insisted that we come back the next day to drop it off to her. That was a success as well because we gave her a brief restoration lesson as well and asked her if she was willing to read the Book of Mormon to find out if it is true or not. She said yes, and we will be meeting with her on Wednesday! Hopefully we can see some good progress come with that. We also taught the Jeffery family this last week and Mia is super close to baptism. Right now, they are just trying to find when the most convenient day is that they could have that. But I am excited that we are really close to having another baptism!

Well, This week was super awesome! I'm so pleased with the effort that we have been putting in this transfer and now it has finally been paying off! This weekend we get the calls for the next transfer (I know… Already??) I am looking forward to what this week has to offer. Thank you all for your amazing love and support! I hope you guys have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1,2) Story time with the campus grandma!

3) Elder Badger!!

4) UCO campus

5) Greenies in the back!!!

6) True mugs!!

1,2) It's a Rat!!

3) Only in Arcadia, OK!

4) Cool Cat!!

5) Cool rain pic!!

Week 37: Ain't Nothing Like General Conference 4/8/2019

Howdy!! What's going on my friends? Man, wasn't conference weekend fantastic? I hope all of you guys enjoyed it just as much as I did. I wish we had conference every week. Well, the weekend went by quickly and fast with still no crazy rumor that came out to be true. It was crazy to hear all the anticipation and prediction that people thought were going to come, but unfortunately for them it did not happen. There were many things that inspired me about general conference. We had some great speakers come out and speak to us this weekend and I hope most of you took advantage of that time given where we received direct counsel from God's own servants to how we can live better and be better. It takes a lot out of us to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, but we have the people to tell us how to do just those things. I was amazed to hear that most of the talks were centered on sharing the Gospel, fortifying families, and repenting and making it back to the Covenant path. I feels like these 3 things are of most importance in our day and age. I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk about how we can courageously and nobly do missionary work. It gave that step by step process that I really want to dive into this week! And Elder Holland's Talk as he discussed the most important hour of the week, the sacrament hour! Those were the few of the many talks that stood out to me! It was just an all out fantastic weekend.

Well ya'll, things have been pretty much the same around here since the last email I wrote to you guys. Everything in high gear like always when it comes to being a missionary out here. We had interviews this week along with another exchange with the Elders from Shawnee once again! Elder Neff and I track the no's that we get in our tracing each day and I remember hitting 40 straight, consecutive, no's without setting up a single return appointment. So that was a little frustrating… We did however, met some awesome people who we had great conversations with that weren't quite ready yet to hear the message of the restored Gospel, so it wasn't a complete failure during that stretch of time, I feel like when we leave a situation like that, we only add to the good reputation that other people have about the church, even though they decided not to be apart of it yet. That has been something I have been working on, trying to notice success during times of failure. The Atonement also helps significantly with that as well!!

While we were on our exchange up in Shawnee, we had the opportunity to meet a monk who took us on a tour through a Catholic monastery. That was pretty cool, I'll send some pics in the attachment below! It was cool to meet a monk. He also introduced us to a lot of other monks so it felt kinda like I was in a sith Lord training, get it? Because thats what they look like especially with their hoods up! It was a pretty fun time and we invited him to the temple open house as a return invitation! If y'all ever have the chance to meet a monk, do it!!

Well, that's pretty much what my week consisted of! I'm so thankful for all of you guys, for your continuous love and support. I hope I do a good job with all of these emails. It's hard to put into words everything that is going on in my life right now, but I'm trying my best. I love you guys and hope ya'll have another awesome week!!

Love,

Elder Weese

1) Wassup everybody!!

2) Winner, winner, chicken dinner with the Moses family!

3) What was I thinkin?

4) Ma friends!!!

5) Raisin' Canes!!!!

6) Picture I got from Brians baptism!

7) Pink skies!!!

8) Conference Crepes!!

 Catholic Monastery tour!

1) Shrunken head (Yes its real)

2) Rock on my son!!

3) My church!! :)

4) I don't even know what to say!

5) Where the monks meet!

1) having a good time tourin!

2) Knight in shining armor!

3) This is the place... other than the temple!

4) Rosary from the tour!

5) Conference gang!