Goodbye Clanton!

I'm leaving Clanton today at 1:30! But not for the reason you thought ;)

Elder Henderson got his visa this week so he's headed off to Brazil today!!! It's crazy! I thought for sure I'd get mine first since he had to send stuff back but I guess not! So I'm being transferred to Millbrook, Alabama which is about 30 minutes south of here. I've been down there quite a few times and it's a really nice area. AND I'll be in a ward!!! A real live ward with a big building-it's gonna be weird. I was so excited at first for a new area, a change of pace, a change of scenery, new people to meet, etc. But now I don't want to leave! I have grown to love the people here and I'm going to miss them so much! I have grown close to quite a few members and investigators and it's so sad to have to leave them! Especially since I probably won't be back for at least 2 years. Saying goodbye to everyone at church was so hard, and then visiting some other people and watching them cry as we walk away is the worst thing ever!!! Sister Blankenship, the lady in the nursing home, said the sweetest prayer as we left yesterday. I think she said "I'm going to miss them so much" about 3 times during the prayer and was crying as we left. And then we took the sacrament to Brother Desimone's wife, and Brother Desimone was crying as we left too! AND THEN, we visited an old lady we met the first week we were here, who also started bawling, saying she loved us so much and that any new elders would never be the same!!!

Ahh man who knew this would be the toughest part of missionary work! But, that's the amazing thing about this gospel. I know that I will see each and everyone of them again, even if it's not in this life. The most important thing I've learned on my mission is how true this gospel is, how true the church is, how true the Book of Mormon is, and how real Jesus Christ's love is for each of us! I never want to become inactive because this gospel is the most amazing thing. I just want everyone to accept it because I know how much it can bless their life! It is amazing how many truths we have and I don't think members of this church understand how blessed they are. I am so grateful to be a missionary and spread this good news throughout the world, whether it's in Alabama, Brazil or even my friends and family back home! I want to encourage everyone who is reading this to stay strong and escolher o caminho certo! (Choose the right!) You will be blessed as you honestly strive to do this, I can promise you that! I have seen it again and again on my mission and throughout my life. Stay strong and keep going!

Okay, spiritual rant over ;) I was sick at the beginning of this week which was honestly quite terrible. Haha I couldn't really do any work so we were just stuck in the apartment with nothing to do. I mean, there's a point where studying and reading just gets so boring you can't even handle it. And we had slept way too much so we were going stir crazy. Haha but luckily I was feeling much better the next day and now I'm basically 100%. I think it was just a virus that had been going around I had to get out of my system.

So then on Thrusday we found out Elder Henderson had his visa, so after that we were basically just visiting all the people and members we were going to miss the most. It was sad, but I'm still happy. Like I said before, I know I'll see em again.  Since Elder Henderson is from Atlanta, we have this plan of me flying to Atlanta and him picking me up there and then visiting everyone down here. I'm already excited just thinking about it haha! I really will miss Clanton-maybe not how insanely hard it is to find investigators, but I'll miss the members here.

I should be getting my visa very soon though. I thought maybe it was because I was from Utah that it was taking so long, but another elder from Layton got his visa this week too!! So it should be any day now. I'll give you my Millbrook address, but as soon as I get my visa, I get to email you. And then I get to call you at the airport! :D

Well, I hope everything is going well. It was a bit of a sad week, but I'm excited for the future! I love being a missionary, it's the best thing ever. For real!!!

Loves!

Elder Weight

1/6th of the Way There!

(Editor's comment: sorry I forgot last week's letter so you get two this week!!)

Can you believe I've already been out four months?! Time is flying by so quickly I can't even believe it. It's been another hot week, but still a good one! Elder Winfree left Wednesday morning and was transferred to Florence, Alabama which is way up north of here. I guess he got put in another trio, poor guy. This will be his third trio and trust me-trios are hard to work with. It's been nice to have two of us now, but we miss Elder Winfree. He was a fun guy to work with!

So this week I was asked to speak in church on trials and pioneers since it was Pioneer Day. I really wanted to talk about Frederick Weight but I didn't have his story and had no way to get it from you! So that day I happened to be browsing familysearch.org and came across his name. I clicked on it and boom! There is his entire story and pictures and everything. So I was able to print it out and use a lot of his stories in my talk yesterday! I also played the piano since I am one of two people that can play the piano in this branch-the other one being the pianist who was sick. But I think I've even increased my love of playing the piano while being on my mission! I'm getting better at just being able to play anything, even with the hundreds of mistakes I make :) But then my talk went really well! I basically read excerpts from Frederick's bio to tell his story and then added scriptures and explanations every now and then. He lived a hard life-y'all should read his story sometime if you had a chance. It really just makes our lives seem so easy compared to how hard their lives were. I not imagine walking basically from here to Utah with NO SHOES! It's crazy.

This week we did a bunch of service for members and didn't do a whole lot of teaching. It's been hard to find solid investigators here since everyone here has basically been here all their lives and don't want to change anything about that. A lot of them are just so stuck in their ways so it's tough. But we just keep pluggin along, and keep working hard! My companions girlfriend got her visa and is leaving today so mine shouldn't be too far away! I would imagine I'll leave sometime in August.

So how was Cedar City! Everyday I would think "hmm if I was at cedar city I would be swimming or golfing or playing cards" or something like that and it made me depressed! Well not really, but I miss you and the family and Cedar City and Navajo and everything! It sounds like it was a lot of fun like always.

Sorry I don't have much time for a long update this week. But I love all of you and I miss you so much! 5 more of these time periods and I'll be home! I'll be there before you know it. Thanks for all the packages and letters and everything! Tell Jared I loved his letter and I'll write him and Whit back soon. Also, ask them if they want an Alabama t shirt or hat or lanyard. Cause I can get any of them. Hopefully I'll find keychains somewhere!

I love y'all so much!!! Have a great week!

Love

Elder Weight 

#clanton4life!

Transfers are this week and Elder Henderson and I are still stuck together!!! Haha luckily we get along really well, or that would make life even harder. Elder Winfree is being transfered which is bitter sweet. Being in a trio has been kind of annoying-it just throws everything off balance. We have finally adjusted to life in a trio and now he's leaving! He's a great guy and really helped our companionship out a lot, so it'll be sad to see him go. We'll be here another 6 weeks or until we get our visas, whichever comes first. Still no word on the visas, but I wouldn't imagine being here in September. You never know though! I almost kinda want to be here for the first Alabama football game-that would be pretty cool. People are already getting all excited for it, even though it's over a month away haha! College football truly is a second religon for people around here!

This week has been pretty good! It's been HOT. Scorching hot. This weekend the rain has actually come back, but earlier in the week was miserable. Especially on bikes! On Wednesday, our district leader Elder Evans, did and exchange with us. That day we rode probably about 20-25 miles in the "feels like 106 degree" weather. It was AWESOME. Haha but it was okay. We taught a new investigator named Scott and he seems really interested so we'll see where that goes. This week we've done quite a bit of service and member work. It's so hard to find a balance between everything-that's definitely the key in missionary work. But the branch here is kind of weak with a lot of old people, so we're trying to strengthen the branch and bring younger people back! It's hard to bring investigators to church if the branch is struggling itself.

I don't know if I've told you about Brother Lutz and if I have, sorry for the repeat. The first week we were here, we saw his name on the roster and decided to go and visit him. He told us he hadn't come to church in 12 years and had no intentions of coming back. So we left a blessing on his house and didn't really think much of it. We visited him again about 3 weeks later and he let us in and let us give him a blessing! From that point forth, he has been coming every week to every activity and every church meeting. He's been letting us teach his father in law and been visiting with Jerry almost every day. His wife is not a member and she came to church with him yesterday and is now taking the discussions from the sisters! He's been trying to quit smoking and is down from 2 packs a day to a couple a week. It has been so cool to see the Spirit work on him and see the turnaround the chruch has made in his life. He is now one of the strongest members in the branch and it definitely wasn't because of us! It just takes that one spark, that one little seed like Alma 32 talks about. This gospel changes lives and I've seen it first hand. Pretty much everyone around here has word of wisdom problems and sometimes they can be hard to break. Most people we meet are smokers and everyone drinks sweet tea. But I know that bringing the Book of Mormon and this wonderful gospel into their lives can bring a 180 degree turn around. I have loved seeing the difference it makes in people's lives, it just confirms and strengthens my testimony every day! I KNOW this church is true and I know that God lives. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and just like the children of Israel, all we have to do is look to him and we will be happy.  John 3:16 is one of my new favorite scriptures. I love it!

I love y'all so much, I hope everything is going well. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful, loving family. I am so jealous of you right now, I would give anything to take a little one week break for Navajo/Cedar City. Make sure to send me some pictures!!! Love you, have a great vacation! Tchau!

Love,

Elder Weight

Rain, rain, rain . . .

It's already Monday?!?! I can hardly believe it. This week went by so quick.

It's still been raining pretty much all week. It's pretty off and on but the clouds just won't go away! It's actually pretty nice because the sun is HOT. Once these clouds do leave, it's going to be a hot summer that's for sure. Which is why I'm praying for rain just long enough for me to get my visa! ;)

We had another great week. We've been working a lot more with the members this week and visiting a lot more less actives. There are almost 200 people on the branch roster and an average of 35-40 show up each week. So we're really trying to get the less actives to become interested again. Most of the active members are pretty old-like 60's. So when we try to bring younger investigators to church, it's hard cause there's not many young people in the branch! The two really active families with young kids are moving soon so we really need some families and some youth! So that's what we're trying for.

On Tuesday we had a zone training which was pretty cool. Our zone leaders are great guys and they really know a lot. They talked a lot about being bold and just opening your mouth! That's been something I've been working on lately. Well, pretty much my entire mission. Sometimes it can be awkward to just randomly talk to people. Sometimes you just want to leave people alone and not commit them to anything. But as missionaries, we need to be bold and to just put it all out there! So that's what I've been trying to do better. I can be shy around people I don't know but I think being a missionary has really helped with that!

Another thing I've learned which I talk about all the time is a love for the scriptures!!! They are the best. I can't imagine going a day without reading them now. Before my mission I really did not read as much as I should have. I really only read the Book of Mormon once completely through. But I've now read it once and like 9/10s only 3 months into my mission! The scriptures just bring so much joy and happiness into my life. I learn something new every time I read them and I love it. I would recommend always reading the Book of Mormon with whatever else you are studying! I know Dad always told me that but it really does help. As we explain to people-the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. Not that it's more important or even better than the Bible or other scriptures, but if you don't have a testimony of it, there's no way you can have a testimony of this church. It's either true or it's not-and if it is, then this entire church is true! I have gotten that confirmation from the Holy Ghost so many times and I know this church is true, without a doubt in my mind. Focus on the Book of Mormon and everything else will fall in place. People are not perfect, but this gospel is!

This week the assistants actually came down to Clanton and did some work with us. I went with Elder Kaupert and it was cool to get to know him. Sometimes I feel like it would be really fun to be an assistant, but then I think of how much work they do and I think nahhh. He would get at least like 5 phone calls every hour and it seemed like it would just stress me out. You'd never believe these words coming out of my mouth but...I hate having a phone. It's just so annoying. We have to switch off each day and I always dread my phone day. Haha oh the life of a missionary.

Well, I don't have much time left! I love y'all so much! I know I say that every week but I really do. I miss each and everyone of you. I got letters from quincie, both grandparents, katey, leigh, and some freinds. I feel so loved! But now I have to go write a thousand letters back haha :) I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you soon! Thanks for all the support! Loves!

-Elder Weight 

P.S. I thought I'd tell you about yesterday too. We ate 3 huge meals in the space of 4 hours and it was terrible by the end of the night haha. We had forgotten we told our neighbors we would eat with them so we scheduled a dinner with a member as well. We saw our neighbor getting his grill all ready so we had eat at both places. I'm still full. ahaha. love you!

Alabama Photos - #2

Jerry and Elder Henderson at his baptism. First baptism from an investigator we found and taught

Birthday Presents!! Great Thai food from Mamacita.

My Birthday Tiara from Macall and Quincie

Showing some leg - boys will be boys

Study time . . . I promise our apartment isn't always this messy.

Working on a frame for a departing sister with a ward member.

3 Month Mark!

I've already been out more than 3 months! Can you even believe it? At some points it feels like this is going to be the longest 2 years of my life, but then I look back and see that it's already going by so fast!

Fourth of July weekend felt exactly the same as every other week haha! The work never stops for missionaries but it's wonderful! We did sing all the patriotic songs in the hymn book that day though. :) I guess I should start at the beginning of the week.

Monday I made Massaman curry and it was pretty good! Not quite as good as yours-any special ingredients or better ways to cook it?? I think I need to add peppers and not quite as much sugar. Anyway, that was still delicious! Tuesday we had a Meet the President meeting which was awesome! President and Sister Hanks are actually from Salt Lake and live in Holladay right now! I asked if they knew Grandma and Grandpa but they didn't. They went to East High so you probably don't know them. But I really like him-he is going to be a great president. He's really funny but still caring and basically the polar opposite of President Holzapfel. But change is always good-we need change in the church or it would fall apart! I saw Sister Carlson and Sister Edwards at the meeting and I loved talking to them! They are doing great. Sister Carlson is in Hoover, the richest part of Alabama and Sister Edwards is in Bessemer, one of the most ghetto parts of Alabama. And I'm in hick town haha!

Alright, I'm done with the day by day thing. Read my journal when I get home ;) I'll just hit the highlights.

Fourth of July was plain weird. I was expecting 100 degree weather with 98% humidity-I mean, it is the fourth of July, right? Nope. It was cold and rainy. What? 4th of July has always been ingrained in my mind as the hottest holiday with miserable heat while watching the parade but I guess the South does it differently. This entire week it hasn't been more than 80 degrees with a lot of rain. It started last Monday and still hasn't let up. I mean, I'm not complaining, but it's just weird! We've been riding our bike quite a bit lately and it's been so nice without the burning sun! It's still humid, but humidity really isn't bad as long as the sun doesn't come out. A bunch of people wanted to go down to Florida for the holiday and enjoy the sun, but it rained down there too! It's just been an odd week weather wise. On the fourth, not many people really wanted to talk to us because they were celebrating. But it was still fun to ride around and see the fireworks even if no one would talk to us. If only it was like Utah here! There was no parade, no festival, no huge firework show, no huge show, really not much of anything. I mean, I guess this is kind of a small town, but Utahns definitely seem to have more Patriotism. Which brings me to my next point. I miss Utah! I thought I was going to love living away from it but living here makes me realize, I don't want to live anywhere but Utah. I would never live in Alabama for various reasons and I guess I haven't tried other places, but I just really like Utah. There's too many trees here, not enough mountains, and everyone is way too spread out. Part of that is living in a small town, but I just like Provo. A lot. 

Sorry this is so scattered. I'm in a weird mood and I can't seem to find words to express myself. Part of that is probably because I'm so dead tired-P-Day naps are my friend :D

Saturday was a downpour. But of course, we still had work to do so we braved it and rode through it! We tried to stay dry with the rain coats but it was pretty pointless. Wherever we weren't drenched by rain, we were drenched by sweat. Welcome to the South. At first it was plan miserable biking through the rain-only because I told myself I was miserable! As soon as I told myself to have fun with it, Saturday became one of my favorite days on my mission. I rode through every puddle I could find and just made the best of it. That's all we can do! Take what life gives us and enjoy the ride! As Presiden Monson says- find joy in the journey, not at the end (something like that). That Saturday pretty much every person we wanted to see wasn't home and everything fell through but we still had a great day! About 6:00 we had nothing to do since everything fell through so we decided to bike out to a couple members homes out in the sticks. It wasn't raining quite as much but it was a good 10 mile ride. We were riding on dirt (well, mud) roads, Elder Winfree got attacked by a squirrel, Elder Henderson completely biffed it sliding on the wet road, we almost got stuck in the mud more than once and got lost more than once as well. It was 8:30 pm by the time we got to the Quincy's house (in the area of their house haha) and we were pretty lost. But he came and found us and gave us steaks and a ride home. So that was pretty much the greatest day yet-even though we didn't do hardly any teaching. Not that teaching isn't fun or rewarding, that day was just particularly fun because I made it so!

Yesterday, on the other hand, was the best Sunday I've had in a while! I don't have a lot of time but I bore my testimony, Jerry got the Aaronic Priesthood, and an inactive member who hasn't come in 12 years came to church and wants to quit smoking! We also went to the Desimone's home to take the sacrament to Sister Desimone and had a mini sacrament meeting. Brother Desimone speaks spanish, italian, english, AND a some Portuguese. I think he used to live in Brazil and has been to Santa Maria! He broke down and started crying talking about how grateful he is that we took 2 years of our time for the Lord and used some of that time to help him and his wife. He said it couldn't have been a coincidence that we were assigned here because he's been to Santa Maria and can talk to us in Portuguese. She also bore her testimony and the spirit was so strong-it was so cool! There is no way this church is not true and I love it.

I don't have any time left but I love you! Keep me in your prayers and I'll continue to keep you in mine! Sorry about the terrible, scattered email! I love you! Tchau!

-Elder Weight

Week of 7/1 - Happy Happy Birthday to America (and me)

Hellooooo there!!!

This week has been so wonderful. My birthday was great, Elder Henderson's Dad came down, Elder Winfree joined our companionship, Elder Henderson's brother came down 3 days after his dad, AND we had a baptism!!! It was definitley a full, fun filled, spiritual week!

I'll explain more about each one :) On Tuesday, the zone and district leader came up to interview Jerry for baptism. We were about to leave when Elder henderson's dad pulls up. He happened to come when our leaders were there haha! He was on his way to Mississippi and thought he'd drop in. He was a great guy; it was cool to meet him since elder h. talked about him all the time. He took us all out to lunch and we had a great time.

So then, it was my birthday!!! It was definitely a very different birthday than most! We woke up and I opened all the packagaes-it felt like Christmas! I was so close to opening one of them the night before but I guess it didn't really make a difference since technically only one of them was a birthday package! Haha but then we had district meeting in Prattville and they sang to me and all that jazz. I also played some of the primary birhtday songs on the piano to make it feel like home ;) I got letters from Jared, Grandpa/Grandma, and you on my birthday which was great! I also got the CD's, thanks so much! I love rocking out to Joseph now. And today, I'm gonna go buy chicken and potatoes and carrots and stuff to make curry!!! Yummmm. I miss Thai food so much, you have no idea. There is no diversity out here-it's either fried chicken or Mexican food. Seriously though, there is so much fried chicken here it's not even funny. There are probably 6 different fast fried chicken places just in Clanton-and Clanton is not that big. But hey, I guess I can't complain. Fried chicken is pretty good.

Anyway, we went out to a steak place for my birthday which was decent. Not quite Christophers, but then again, that whole no diversity, only fried chicken thing comes in again. I got a few pictures of me opening the packages and today we're going to have a party kind of a thing with the sisters since sister winchester's birthday is today. So I'll send a few more pictures this week!

So on Wednesday, we also found out Elder Winfree was joining us! He is also going to Brazil, and his companion got his visa and left, so he teamed up with us. It's kind of weird working in a trio but we make do. He has to sleep on a pad on the floor poor guy...they always tell us "visa waiters" we're a part of the mission but then can't get us beds when we need it...haha not complaining, I really do like it here. This mission is great and I love it. I can't wait to come back for a Tide football game someday. But...I really can't wait to get to Brazil. I think I told you but we saw them playing a soccer game the other day and it got me so stoked to get there. Not for the soccer obviously but just to be in Brazil is going to be crazy.

I don't have a lot of time so I'll have to skip a bit and talk about the baptism! It was awesome! Jerry was so happy. Everything went so well and it was just a really cool experience. It didn't hit me until that morning but it was a real BAPTISM! We were literally opening the gates of heaven for him and bringing him that much closer to Christ. I played the piano and gave the talk, Elder H baptized him and I confimed him yesterday. I really didn't plan my talk at all, I basically winged it but it went well. I talked about 2 Nephi 31 and baptism opening the gates of heaven and enduring to the end and stuff. He was so happy-I wish y'all could have been there. Or at least come to meet Jerry cause he is just the coolest guy. His friend came to the baptism and church the next day and said this was the happiest he's seen Jerry in the 5 years he's know him. So cool. I really don't know how to express how I feel about it so sorry this is so scatterbrained! It was just an amazing, awesome experience and I can't wait for more.

Love y'all, have a wonderful week!

Elder Weight