Happy turkey day

You would think the biggest holiday of the week is on Thursday but you are flat out wrong. Thanksgiving is nothing compared to IRON BOWL SATURDAY. Seriously, it's going to be crazy - especially cause they're both in the top 10. Now I just gotta figure out what I'm going to do during the game - I'll probably end up in the house of the biggest Alabama fan in the ward and say something like "Oh, the game is today? Whoops! ROLL TIDE!" ;) We'll see!

This week was wonderful! Elder Harman's last week!!!! He's started crying a couple times cause he's gonna miss his mission so much, poor guy. They had him speak in sacrament meeting - this ward loves him a lot. They're really gonna miss him and we'll miss him too. He's a great guy and he really loves the people. He knows this area really well, so it'll be tough losing him haha. Oh yeah, transfers are this week and we're recieving a new companion! There'll be three of us so when I leave they won't have to change anything. President told me at zone conference that he wanted me to be district leader until I left, not sure why haha! I guess he just really wants me to experience being a leader or something. I'll do my best for the two weeks I'm here!

Zone Conference was awesome. President Hanks just gets it! He is the best speaker and always gives great trainings. It lasted 6 hours but it didn't even feel long! I really could listen to him speak all day. He gave us all copies of his powerpoint on our flash drives so I'll have to show that to you when I get home. He knows how to talk to a big group and how to keep them interested and entertained. He talked a lot about Alma 7:11-13 which is one of my favorite scriptures. It tells us exactly what Christ did and very basically what the atonement does for us. 

1. "He will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people." (v.12) He died and rose for us so we will all rise again! Because of Christ's sufferings and death, we will all get our bodies back! Pretty amazing.

2. "The Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance." (v.13) He took upon himself our sins so they are able to be washed clean through obeying the gospel! Still pretty amazing.

3. "He will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people...he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to csuccor his people according to their infirmities." (v. 11-12) He took upon not only death and sins, but ALL pains and sicknesses and hardships! That way he knows how to help us because he's been through it before!  Even more amazing! 

Sorry about the preaching haha I just think it's pretty cool! Yet people STILL say we aren't Christians. 

Missionary work wise this week was a little slow. Elder Harman has been saying goodbye to a lot of members which has been good. Jacob, our investigator who had a baptismal date has fallen off the face of the earth. Haha he won't answer any calls or texts or anything. We're thinking his family gave him a bunch of anti which is no bueno! But Jody is doing great!!! She is seriously the most golden investigator I've ever heard of. She eats up everything we teach her and loves every minute of it. The ward has been really good to her and she loves relief society. I can't believe she just showed up out of nowhere. Rick is doing great as well. He told everyone Sunday he hadn't been to church in 30 years, but from now on he wouldn't miss another Sunday. He has a long road ahead of him, but he is determined to get back on track. He loves to tell us all about his mission. We can tell he's really loving spending time with us and seeing Jody learn and change. The gospel is amazing and changes lives!

I don't have much time, but thanks for all the love and support. I say that every week but I really mean it, I love and appreciate you so much!!! Have a great Thanksgiving and tell the family I say hello! Until next week.

Love,

Elder Weight

Short week!

Sorry this is late! We had some appointments come up yesterday and had to cut our day short.This week was wonderful - I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life! It was quite amazing. And it might not seem big, but it was real cool.

So I was on an exchange with Elder Fredrickson. It was pretty nostalgic - back to the good ol Birmingham days! Elder Fredrickson and I get along so well, it just feels like we've known each other forever. It's weird. Anyway, we go to teach this part member couple - the husband (Tom) hasn't come to church in forever but has a strong testimony (weird, right?) and his wife (Susan) doesn't believe in God. So we're about to go to their house and E Fred realized he didn't have his GPS. So we go back to get it and he happened to have a package from his sister. She sent him a talk about how we must take a step into the unknown and believe in God before we can have a testimony of the restoration and the gospel.

So this made him change the lesson plan to simply faith in a "higher power." We asked them what attribute they would want their "higher power" to be if there was one. She answered "comforting" and "guiding but not interfering." We then asked her to try praying to see if a higher power DID have these attributes. Surprisingly, she agreed! That in and of itself was a miracle. Tom told us during the meeting he lacked faith, even though he has a testimony of the book of mormon. He didn't really expound so we didn't think much of it. We get home that night and we're sitting there talking about life and stuff when Tom starts texting us. He told us the reason he lacks faith is because he has not made changes in his life after seeing miracles. He gave us a bunch of miracles and said "but I have been waiting for the greatest miracle that I saw tonight that he (the spirit) told me would happen. Susan has never agreed to pray before. Thank you." We had no idea what to say to him at that point, so we called the assistants and asked them.

They found a quote from Elder Bednar "the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to act and change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else."

Elder Fredrickson called Tom and shared this quote along with some other inspired words. Neither of us even remember what he said, but it was definitely the Holy Ghost. Afterward we were thinking of some scriptures we might be able to share with him as well, and I started randomly reading 2 Nephi 4. Those were and are some very powerful words, I felt just like the apostles did in Luke 24:32 "Did not our hearts burn within us...as he opened to us the scriptures?" We just felt the presence of the spirit so strong that night and in that moment, we KNEW God was real, and that we are doing his work. Susan and Tom may never actually progress, but this night will help me throughout my life. That right there is what President Hanks calls "Emmaus experiences" from Luke 24: 13-32. He tells us to write them down so we can always rely on them when life gets tough. Afterward Elder Fredrickson and I agreed I was meant to come to Alabama, not just for the people i have helped, but that we would be companions! I would imagine it'll be just like Mom talks about when she saw her old companions when I go to his homecoming! 

Anyway, that was the highlight of my week. I don't think I've even told you yet - I'm in a trio right now! Elder Nielsen is a visa waiter to australia and his companion just left for Brazil. He joined us two weeks ago and I think I just forgot to mention it! Haha what a great companion, huh? He's a cool kid; we have a lot of fun.

Sunday was an amazing day as well. An inactive member, rick, came for the first time in 30 years with his non member girlfriend, judy. We taught her the restoration during sunday school and she accepted a baptismal date for the 14th of december.Rick went on a mission and he was quoting the first vision with us, it was crazy. After church, they went to the bishop and asked when he can marry them so that she can get baptized. Mission miracle for sure!!! A kid named Trey also came to church with his girlfriend who is a member. We ate at her house afterward and had a restoration lesson with Trey and her family and he ALSO said he would be baptized!!! Man, that day was insane. 

1 Nephi 1: 20 But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender ^cmercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of ^ddeliverance. 

I know the Lord has helped me to be mighty because of my faith! I am humbled by this opportunity to be a representative of Jesus Christ and try everyday to be the best servant I can! I love my mission and I love these people. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I know I will live with all of you forever! And I love it!

Thanks for everything, I love and miss you. Thanks for all the letters and emails and packages and love and prayers you send my way! They help a bunch. I am so lucky to have such a great family. Keep moving forward and know I am thinking of you!

Love,

Elder Weight

October Pics

Sorry I'm a little late but heres some pics from last month.

TIMPVIEW REUNION!!! Sisters Edwards, Carlson and Senior. (Not pictured: Elder Smith. We couldn't find him.)
Sep 2013

In front of the Bryant-Denny Stadium. ROLL TIDE!!
Oct 5, 2013

Look what we "found" in the Readbox :)
Oct 2013

Last day with elder Free!
Sep 5, 2013

$3,700 in quarters. (Don't ask me why he has a bunch of quarters)
Oct 2013

Stamford Baptist College in Birmingham.
Sep 9, 2013 

We like Hawaiian Breeze. Can you tell?
Sep 3, 2013

Vestavia Hills District!
Sisters: McDougal, Pratt, Schwendiman, Williams, Blackner, Wong.
Elders: Mcgee, Hodges, Evans
Oct 1, 2013

Elder Kopishke of the 70!
Sep 2013

Last companionship picture with Elders Fredrickson& Mcgee.
Oct 16, 2013

My first district leader (practically trainer), Elder Ingersoll with Elder Fredrickson and Mc Gee.
Sep 2013

Southside Baptist Church @ downtown Birmingham.
Oct 2013

Cafe Rio burritos. Mmmmmm . . . . .
Sep 3, 2013

#YOHOM

This week was pretty good. It flew by and I hardly remember what happened. Nothing too interesting so this might be a bit short. 

First and foremost, our two investigators that were going to be baptized kinda fell off the deep end. We think Mikeitha heard some anti or just got scared or something but we haven't seen her since last week. We show up to their house and Tellas answers high as a kite. Not good haha. We could tell he felt pretty guilty and told us not to come back. But he kept the book of mormon and said he wanted to keep reading it. So maybe he'll turn around in a while - I really hope so cause he is a good man. So that was the bummer of the week, but many good things happened too! We got a referral from a return missionary in the area - a kid named Jacob. The zone leaders went to lunch with him and he asked them when he can be baptized. So the ZLs introduced him to us and we set his date for next Saturday, the 23rd. He is a solid kid, about 20 years old, and I think he really will be dunked. He's got a bit of a chewing tobacco problem but he's already cut down from 2 cans to 2 dips a day so I don't think it'll be a problem. He told us he just really wants to come closer to God and basically already knows the church is true. He's a funny guy and skipped the Tide game to go to a YSA dance. And this kid's a HUGE bama fan. Now that's dedication.

Speaking of the tide, we may or may not have gone to Applebee's during the Bama-LSU game. I mean, we figured we gotta go where the people are right? Plus, our waitress was asking us a bunch of questions and we sent her info to the missionaries so that's pretty cool right? The first half of the game was INTENSE, and then we had to go. I guess the tide whipped them afterward so that's pretty cool. ROOOOOOOOOOOLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!

So that was Saturday and I literally don't know what happened the rest of the week. We did a bunch of service, saw a bunch of less actives, weeded out a bunch of our potential investigators - none of them have potential but that's alright. Now we can spend our time with the ones who do have potential! What else...zone training was on Tuesday which was good. I like this zone a lot better than my last zone, mostly because of the leaders. Elder Fredrickson and Bickley are hilarious and make missionary work fun. And that's how it should be! If life is not fun, it's not worth living. Same thing with missions. If you're not enjoying it, what is the point of it? And guess what? You can enjoy your mission AND be obedient! They're not directly related. That's why our motto is #workhardplayhard and #enjoyyourmission! Ahh, I just love my mission a lot.

So the week wasn't too interesting, but yesterday was wonderful. Guess who showed up to church? MEGAN WITH TWO KIDS. We could not believe our eyes. Prayer is so real, I can't even believe it. If you don't remember or didn't hear, we started praying specifically for people with the Youngs, a family in the ward. Sister Young prayed for Megan with two kids off the top of her head, and we started praying for her. Turns out there's a less active in the ward named Megan with two kids. They show up to the halloween activity and then her and her husband and kids show up for all three hours of church yesterday. Elder Harman was going to share the entire story in testimony meeting yesterday but couldn't because they were there. But it is amazing how the Lord hears and answers our prayers. So remember to say your prayers every night and day because I promise God is there and will answer. One of my favorite scriptures: 2 Nephi 32:9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must ^apray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall ^bpray unto the Father in the ^cname of Christ, that he will ^dconsecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the ^ewelfare of thy soul.

Yesterday JaJuan also blessed the sacrament which was one of the coolest things ever. He went out and bought a white shirt and tie by himself and took out his earing so he could bless. AND THEN he bore his testimony. It's stuff like this that makes my mission worth it. It is flying by and I already miss it. It will be a sad day when I am going home. We'll see if I say that same thing once I get to Brazil haha. I know it'll be hard, but it'll be an adventure and I'm excited. I know everything will work out - The Lord is in control, right? 

Well, I love y'all so much! Hope your week was great and hope this week will be even better! 

Love,

Elder Weight

Baptisms and Halloween and Visas

This week has just been chalked full of cool experiences, it's been wonderful. I guess I should start out with the big news: I GOT MY VISA! I don't think I'm technically supposed to know yet but I'm telling everyone anyway. Elder Henderson talks to the secretaries in our mission every week and it finally came through! I'll leave December 9th most likely, so I've got a bit of time to brush up on my Portuguese and baptize some investigators here in Huntsville!

So Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Matson, a Spanish elder. It was a lot of fun, he's a cool guy. We had a lesson with a SOLID family that night and it went really well. The husband was baptized a few weeks ago, but the wife just had a baby so her and their two boys are waiting for a little bit. Their boys are 10 and 11 years old so we taught them in English. We started with baptism and the member with us went off on John the Baptist and holy of holies and baptism signifying burial and rebirth but we brought him back on track. Members love going on crazy tangents for some reason, it's weird. But the lesson went very well, the Spirit was very strong. We committed all three of them to baptism next Saturday and they're very excited. Hopefully I can go to their baptism.

While I was gone, Elder Harman had some really cool experiences too. So about a week ago, we were visiting a family, the Young's. We were talking about missionary work and what we can do to help them. We decided we would pray specifically for someone and let God help us! Off the top of her head, Sister Young said Megan with two kids. Ever since then, we all have been praying to find a Megan with two kids. So Elder Harman was visiting a few less actives while I was gone and the next day he realized her name was Megan and she had 2 kids. We started freaking out and couldn't believe it. So then Wednesday night we had a ward Halloween activity and guess who came? MEGAN WITH 2 KIDS. We told Sister Young and she was SO happy. She met her at the activity and they've both got kids the same age and it's just perfect. It's experiences like this that just show God is real. He truly does care about each and everyone of us and works according to the desires of our hearts. There is no way all of this is just a coincidence. It seems unbelievable, but it's true that "with God, all things are possible." I know that with faith, we truly can do all things. Read Alma 32 or Hebrews 11 or Ether 12 if you need a faith pick-me-up this week!

While I was gone, Elder Harman also set 2 baptismal dates! Last week we were knocking a few doors and found this guy, Tellas, who listened, but didn't seem too interested. They went back while I was gone and had a very spiritual lesson with him and his sister, Mikeitha. They loved everything and said they would be baptized on the 23rd. So Elder Harman could see a couple more baptisms before he goes home! Once again, the Lord leading us to prepared people. We saw them again yesterday, and they seem pretty solid. We'll see if they come to church - that's the real sign of legit investigators.

Halloween was okay...it's not very fun as a missionary haha. It was raining all day and cold so that's no bueno. We visited some less actives and then had dinner at the Young's house. We helped their kids trick or treat a little bit too. They have the cutest little kids. They're a really cool family, I like them a lot.

This weekend I got to go to Birmingham to see Tom's baptism! We went to Anniston on Saturday cause Elder harman and bickley used to serve there. We went around and saw a bunch of their recent converts, it was pretty fun. I've been pretty lucky to see a lot of Alabama, it's a great place. I love it so much. It is so beautiful, especially up here in Huntsville in the fall. The trees are changing colors, and it's SO PRETTY. Anyway, Sunday we stayed with the Cahaba heights elders which was a lot of fun. They were in my district last transfer and it was cool catching up with them. Sunday was Tom's baptism which was just surreal. He went from rolling up to us in his wheelchair to baptism!!! Can you believe that? I'll say it once more: The Lord bringing us prepared people! We had two people dunk him since half his body is paralyzed. It was quite graceful haha. He just had this glow about him the whole day, it was yet another neat experience. I got to do the confirmation and it was just wonderful. He will be someone I will never forget. Man, I just love my mission!!!

Sorry this has been all over the place, but it was a great week. I still can't believe I actually have my visa, these 5 weeks are going to fly by! Love you all so much, have a good week. Christmas is coming up which means SKYPE!!!! Well, hopefully I'll be able to skype from brazil, we'll see.

Love and happiness,
Elder Weight

Good subject lines are hard, sorry!

Well hello! This week was one of the fastest weeks of my mission and I don't even know why. It doesn't seem like we even do anything but then you think about each individual day and we do so much. It's crazy. So I'll try to recall everything we did... I do remember that it was VERY cold. Never in a million years did I think it could ever get cold in Alabama, but it did. I think it got down to freezing and then add wind chill and humidity and it's just freezing. People always told me this but I didn't really believe them- I just thought they were whimps. But it truly does get cold, so don't expect to come here in December with 70 degree weather cause it's not gonna happen! Haha. Maybe it's because I'm in the north part. It has warmed up a bit though, which is nice.

I DO know we were fed EVERY NIGHT this week. It was insane, this ward takes care of us. One night a member had to cancel and felt so bad so she gave us Jason's Deli gift cards which we gladly used. But we have been fed everything from enchilada's, breakfast for lunch, rotisserie chicken, Brazilian beans and rice, and more. I really don't know how it happened, but everything just lined up perfectly. However, we have still been working!!! We met with quite a few less actives this week, trying to strenghthen their faith and hopefully feel of the spirit. We found a few new investigators as well, hopefully we can follow up with them this week and get the ball rollin. This area is HUGE and not having a car makes things a little bit difficult. But we make do with what we have and try our best. This is a pretty tough area as far as investigators go cause it's very rich. Not that rich people aren't teachable or prepared, it's just a little bit harder to get through to them. So we have been focusing a lot on part member families and we have been trying to get the members to refer us to their friends. And with less actives, we've been trying to build relationships with them and just serve them the best we can. That's all missionary work is really, is service! Even broader, that is all the Church of Jesus Christ is- service! Think of every major function of the church and all it does is help other people. Nobody gains anything from being an active member of this church. Heck, this is probably one of the hardest church to be a member of! So why does it continue to grow? Because helping others is one of the most rewarding things you can do. I can guarantee you that Christ was the happiest person to live on the earth because all he did was serve! I think that's the reason I'm still on my mission- cause if I was not helping people, this would be the most miserable time of my life. But, as I focus on others and try to build and strengthen them, I am just so much happier! It's weird how that works out, isn't it? So go out and serve someone this week, I promise it'll make your week better! "When ye are in the service of your fellow being, ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17

Anyway, sorry for the service rant- sometimes I just keep typing and I don't stop. I must be a missionary, or something. Yesterday was the primary program which was so cute. I just love little kids. It brought quite a few less actives and visitors to church which was nice. We had the entire chapel filled which doesn't happen too often. I met a lot of the kids this week at our various dinner appointments so it was fun to watch. One of the kids got up there and said "God the father and his son Joseph Smith appeared...I mean Jesus appeared to Joseph" it was pretty funny. They had us come into primary too and played a little game with us which included getting our ties cut. They gave us old ties before, but the kids thought it was real and they were so concerned for us. I just love little kids.

Today we had a zone activity which was a lot of fun. We waxed all the cars, ate pizza and then played like 12 games of dodgeball. It got intense toward the end but our team pulled through. I am in a great zone, there's a lot of good missionaries. Elder Fredrickon and Bickley are just hilarious together, I can't believe President put them together as zone leaders. But I love em. Elder Harman is doing well, still not trunky! He is getting pretty excited to go home though, I can tell. Luckily he's a good missionary so it's not affecting him. I'm going on an exchange with the spanish elders tomorrow so I'll get to work on my spanish. We'll see how that goes...and this weekend we get to go back to Birmingham to see Tom baptized!!! So it'll be a fast week for sure.

Love you all so much. Thanks for everything you do and all the love and support. I got your package with the picture frames and I loved em! I can see your faces everyday now! That recording was great, I miss you. By the way, Christmas music is not a good idea...well, I love it, but it does make me miss y'all! Especially "I'll be home for Christmas..." But it's all worth it, I promise! I'll be back before you know it. Just think, after this Christmas it'll be on more and then it's less than three months. CRAZY! Halloween this week, what should I be? I was thinking a Mormon missionary, but I'm not sure. We'll see.

Love you so much,

Elder Weight

P.S. If you ever have any questions or anything you want me to tell you just send me an email! I love questions.

Provo, Alabama

Welcome to Provo err...Huntsville, Alabama! I am in the Monte Sano ward which is part of the Huntsville area and it's awesome. Seriously, there are a lot of members up here and I love it. Our ward is very strong and helpful. They give us rides a lot and feed us a lot and help us out a lot, it's great. Our area is very big, it goes all the way up to the Tennessee border and we don't have a car. Welcome to the life of an Elder. But we make do with what we have! My new companion is Elder Harman and this is his last transfer. He is a cool guy and a great missionary so this'll be a fun transfer. It'll be pretty weird to see him go home. Our apartment is probably the nicest one in the misson. For real. We leave our trash outside the door and they pick it up for us it's like a hotel! And it's just the two of us in a huge apartment, I love it.

This weekend we had a baptism! His name is JaJuan and he is SOLID. It was probably the most spiritual baptism I've ever been to, it was amazing. It was also one of the most stressful hahaha. We may or may not have over-filled the font cause we were preoccupied with pizza......We get back and we see water start seeping out from behind the door and we start freaking out hahaha. Luckily, they had a shop vac in the church so we sucked most of it up and it dried by the next day. We got everything figured out and the baptism went perfectly. His mom is not a member and she was bawling the entire baptism. Hopefully we can start teaching her this week. JaJuan seemed very happy and he will be a strong member of the church. He has a big testimony and I think he wants to go on a mission. He was singing in the choir after church- that just doesn't happen! So cool. (Here's the pic)

So Friday we were tracting for some sisters in our district cause they were kinda struggling. We met this girl named Ashley and she told us she would come to the devotional we had last night if we came to her church. So we got permission from President Hanks and went to a baptist church yesterday! We had a member come with us and we were the only 3 white people in the congregation. It was literally insane, I loved it. Everyone was singing and dancing and screaming and praising Jesus. There was a band and choir on stage rocking out the entire service and it was probably one of the craziest experiences of my life. Not gonna lie, the music was good and the service was entertaining but it was definitely not church. They were feeling a very different spirit - not quite what I would call the spirit of God. BUT! They were some of the nicest people I've ever met - We didn't get any comments or nasty looks thrown our way - just love. The preacher even had us stand up and they sang us a welcome song! He said something like "Welcome to our brothers in Christ from the Mormon church!" It was so funny. But that is something I think every Mormon can work on- just loving others non-conditionally and making sure they feel welcome and happy. Anyway, Ashley actually came to the devotional and it was great! President and Sister Hanks came and spoke and it was like a come and see type of thing. They talked about the difference between us and other churches and the blessings of being a member. I think Ashley enjoyed it and they're gonna start meeting with the sisters! It was worth going to the baptist church for sure.

So that was the exciting things from this week. We had a fall activity/chili cook off in the ward Friday night and, of course, the missionaries were the judges. We tried 18 different kinds of chili and I was so sick of it afterward haha. Some of them were downright disgusting, most of them were average, but a few were delicious. We also did a bit of service, I mowed a lawn again for the first time in 6 weeks! In Birmingham no one had lawns to mow, but I'm back out in the country again :) Well, it's not really country, but it's mostly residential areas. Other than that...I'm happy and healthy! Loving life and excited for this next transfer.

Love and miss you bunches! Glad you had fun in Hawaii. Don't have too much fun without me and I'll be home before you know it. Have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Elder Weight

ps. There's actually a part of my area called Chase. I'll have to get a sign next to something haha. We were driving down the street and I saw "Chase's Church of God" It was pretty funny.