Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Talking on Christmas

Dear Family,

That was really fun talking to you guys on Christmas.  I'm glad you guys are all doing so well. My companion was happy to speak with his parents, he also spoke for a good amount of time. I'm really glad the internet worked really well. 

We had a couple of cool experiences this week, on Saturday we taught a lady that we were teaching last month, but hadn't been able to speak to her for a long time. When we went by this time we saw a real change in her.  A lot of hard things happened to her last month and she really sees the need to put her trust in God. She didn't go to Church, she got sick but I think she is being prepared. 

We don't really have any plans for New Years but we have permission to stay up until 12:00 if a member brings us home.  I've been so tired almost everyday I would rather just go to but at 10:30, but we'll see what happens. 

I hope you guys have a great new years and eat a lot of good food.

I love you
Elder Weston

My companion talking to his family

The house we Skyped for Christmas

Christmas Party

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Feliz Navidad

Dear Family,
Thank you for the letter. Sounds good, I'll will try to do at 8:00 or 9:00 with Skype, we should have good internet at the members house we are going to. That's really sad that Sister Johnson passed away I'll remember to keep here family in my prayers. 

I'm doing good with my companion and we have fun speaking spanglish, everyday we mix them both so much it gets pretty ridiculous. We have been working really hard and we have been trying to speak to more people everyday. Everything in the zone has been really calm so we haven't had to worry about anything these last few weeks so we have been able to focus a lot in our area. 

We have been contacting a lot more in this area and trying to give out more pass along cards, we have a lot of planned lessons for this next week and we hope we can find some positive investigators. We walked a lot everyday and my shoes are holding up. I know we are going to eat a lot of food. 

That's cool you guys got to go see the lights at Temple Square, and you had a cool Christmas program at Church.

Today for P day we are having a Christmas Party and playing games, we had a question game and threw a plate of shaving cream at the loser, it was pretty fun.  We are going to have a Zone talent show after we use Skype with you guys.

I hope you guys have a lot of fun and I will talk to you on Thursday.  :)

Love you all,
Elder Weston

Thursday, December 18, 2014

10 pounds of pancake mix

Dear Family,

Thank you for the letters. I'm excited to Skype with you guys on Christmas. What time would be best for you guys because I can do it at any hour, I'm assuming in the morning. Thanks for the pictures. It seems like Michael likes the dances.

We haven't had anymore earthquakes here and nothing broke when they happened, because it shook for only a few seconds.

So this week was great, on Monday my companion Elder Cifuentes left to Panama, so I was on divisions Tuesday, and Wednesday. We were waiting at the bus stop for a long time on Wednesday because at 4 PM sent a sister to Panama, at about 6:30 PM we got two new missionaries. We ate dinner and went to the closest house and at 3:00 AM on Thursday my companion came and other sister missionary.

My companion is Elder Rasmusson, he is from Oklahoma and lives in a city in the south east corner of the state. He's a great Elder. We've been working really hard the last few days. He has about 13 months in the mission.

We have been doing really well this week, it has been good. We have been giving out pass along cards about He's the Gift video by the Church, and we have been singing a lot of Christmas songs.

Today we went to ''Costco'' and bought a 10 pound bag a pancake mix so we are basically have pancakes everyday until February.

One of the Elders in the Zone has to go to Panama today so if my package has arrived they will bring it to me, I hope it gets here.
I had this thought while reading in the Book of Mormon this week. in Nephi 11 it says
 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.

(I believe the Tree of Life is a Christmas tree covered in Snow ha ha)
(and after Nephi saw the Birth of Christ)
 20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.
 21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the (Christmas) tree which thy father saw?
 22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.
 23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.
So if Nephi saw a white Christmas tree (or the tree of life), a Christmas tree can represent the Love of God, and biggest act of love was the Atonement. So I have been trying to remember the Love of God every time I see a Christmas tree.

I love you,
Elder Weston

Friday, December 12, 2014

Earthquake

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters and Happy Mothers Day (in Panama it's the 8th of December). I got the package with all the letters from the Young Women and the skittles, thank you so much and I got a letter from Grandma Jane tell here thank you.
On Saturday afternoon and this morning at 4:00 we felt earthquakes. It was super cool, I've never felt an earthquake before they both lasted for only 15 seconds but it was really interesting seeing everything shake.
This was the last week for my companion and we had a lot to do this week. On Tuesday, I worked with one of our recent converts in the area, while my companion said goodbye to some people. On Wednesday we had a meeting with the President for all the leaders, and on Thursday we had zone conference.
Zone conference was really great we watched a movie called ''Ephraims Rescue'' I don't know if you guys have seen it but it is really good. It's about the Pioneers. We also went to an orphanage and sang songs and gave gifts to the kids.
On Saturday we had the Mothers Day activity and we ended up setting it up but it turned out really well.
My companion is really great but these last few days he's been super truncky but I can't blame him it was his last week. I'll be getting a new companion on Wednesday.
People here are starting to put up there Christmas trees and lights outside but we don't have a tree in our house, I should go buy one.
We watched the first presidency devotional yesterday it was really great, I loved all the music and the cute story about the kids who had Halloween, Christmas Eve, and Christmas all in one week.
I still find it strange to sing Christmas songs under the hot sun but maybe God is trying to teach me the real meaning of Christmas doesn't mean snow.

The other week I read in the Teachings of Joseph Smith this about our Heavenly Father.

When we comprehend the character of God, we comprehend ourselves and know how to approach Him.

“There are but a very few beings in the world who understand rightly the character of God. The great majority of mankind do not comprehend anything, either that which is past, or that which is to come, as it respects their relationship to God. They do not know, neither do they understand the nature of that relationship; and consequently they know but little above the brute beast, or more than to eat, drink and sleep. This is all man knows about God or His existence, unless it is given by the inspiration of the Almighty.

“If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves. I want to go back to the beginning, and so lift your minds into more lofty spheres and a more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally aspires to.

“… The scriptures inform us that ‘This is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.’ [John17:3.]

“If any man does not know God, and inquires what kind of a being He is,—if he will search diligently his own heart—if the declaration of Jesus and the apostles be true, he will realize that he has not eternal life; for there can be eternal life on no other principle.

“My first object is to find out the character of the only wise and true God,and what kind of a being He is. …

“God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make Himself visible,—I say, if you were to see Him today, you would see Him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another. …

“… Having a knowledge of God, we begin to know how to approach Him,and how to ask so as to receive an answer. When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, He begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When we are ready to come to Him, He is ready to come to us.”9


After reading this I've been trying to improve my prayers by imagining God sitting next to me and listening to me during prayers. It helps me realize that God truly does listen to our prayers and is a Father to us.

Thank you for your letters and I'll wait for the packages.
I love you,
Elder Weston






Tuesday, December 2, 2014

"always have a prayer in your heart"

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, sounds like dads talk went well, I will
read those talks about personal revelation. Last Sunday my companion
and I were helping a member with family search and I started looking
at my family tree, on Grandpa John's side there are a bunch of Kings
and Queens and by clicking I got to 150 BC that's crazy right. I didn't
think it was possible to get so far.

That's weird that it's so warm in Utah right now, every time they show
the temperature in the United States on the news they say it's so cold
in the United States.

On Thanksgiving I did eat a turkey sandwich for dinner, but for lunch
there was a conference with the President of the mission, so after the
conference they gave us money to buy Domino's Pizza so that tasted
good.

My retainer is holding up, I've been using glasses and contacts and
sometimes neither. The contacts sometimes hurt my eyes but glasses
always get sweaty so sometimes I just walk a little blind but really
my eyes aren't that bad, I can see good enough.

I watched he is the Gift that's a super cool video.

That's cool you guys continue to exercise, I exercise in the morning
but the only motivation I have is the cold shower. If I don't exercise
the shower is unbearably cold. We also walk a bunch but we
continue to eat so much rice and fried foods that I'm not getting
skinnier.

One thing that I learned a few weeks ago that's been helping me a lot
is ''always have a prayer in your heart'' but for someone else.
Sometimes I start to criticize in my head when I don't like what
someone is teaching, or what somebody is saying. But a missionary
taught me that we should always have a prayer in our hearts for the
person who is teaching or giving a talk and as well as pray for the person
who is teaching, that they may have the Spirit, we stop judging and we
start learning. It's been helping me a lot.

I love you so much, Happy Christmas Season

Elder Weston

Monday, November 24, 2014

Personal Revelation

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, wow it's Thanksgiving week, I haven't heard to much about Thanksgiving but more about black Friday. I'm not sure if any members are going to give us food on Thursday, but if they are not I will probably buy 2 turkey sandwiches to celebrate. That is weird that Sarah is driving now, have you guys practiced with her?


We had a good week we had two baptisms and they both gave great testimonies, and many members attended the baptism.  I will send you pictures of them.  At the start of the week I was in divisions with the Elders in Puerto Aurmellas, I bet if you look at a map you can tell it's right next to the beach and it's a super cool area, I will send you photos of the sunrise I saw, we awoke up a little early to go see it and it was worth it. The beginning of the week was very rainy, but these last few days it hasn't rained to much. I hope we are entering into the dry season.


This week was the Primary Program, I've seen the Primary Program in every single one of my areas, I think this one was the best. It was really cool they had the older primary kids give talks, talks of
about 4 minutes and they did really good they were like 8 years old and they read their talks and looked out at the people during the talk, as if they were adults speaking, it was really cool.
Dad said he has to give a talk on Personal Revelation

My thoughts on Personal Revelation: A few weeks ago by companion and I were talking about how we receive Revelation, my companion receives revelation from reading the scriptures, he said's that almost every time he feels inspired is from reading the scriptures and finding answers in them. I receive revelation differently, I receive it from a still small voice in my head it comes when I study and after I start to think and ponder and I write down how I feel, and as I think I have words come to my mind. Many times what comes to my head are scriptures or stories by Prophets, so as I study more the faster the revelation comes. As I study it helps me if I'm writing down how I feel, and after I will pray to know if how I felt was right.

I know that God gives revelation differently to others according to their needs. I know God talks to his children. As I ponder on what to say or write the words will come to my mind and they will carry the spirit. I also have learned when I don't have the Spirit the words won't come to my head and I end up just thinking. But it's really amazing how we can all receive revelation.

I love you guys so much.

Elder Weston





Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Showered with river water

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL AND SARAH!  That is crazy that Sarah is 16 years old, does she drive? 


The story by Hunter was really cool, those are some really powerful blessings. We give a lot of blessings in my mission.  

My companion is from Guatemala, he's a great example for me. We traveled quite a bit last week because we had to fix a few problems in the zone, but now everything is alright.  This week we traveled to David city, to have a conference with the mission President, well...He's really in the Panama City and we watched the conference via Skype. Even though the internet dropped a few times, it was really good. He talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and being obedient.  In the zone we made a goal to start reading the Book of Mormon every night with your companion. Since Wednesday my companion and I started reading and it's really helped us fill the Spirit.  Even though I've read the first chapters of Nephi many times there were many things I've learned.  The President talked a lot about the Spirit as well, so I studied more about the Spirit this week and now I understand the Spirit gives us confidence and makes us feel good about ourselves.  

Funny story: Today we didn't have running water in the house, but there is a little stream in our backyard, so we showered with stream/river water. We filled up a large tank and showered with it.

Thank you for everything.


I love you guys so much
Elder Weston

Our backyard

My companion Elder Cifuentes

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Transferred to Concepcion, Chiriqui

Dear Family, 

I finally got transferred.  I'm in la Concepcion, Chiriqui it's on the other side of Panama. I found out that I had transfers on Tuesday in the afternoon and I tried to say goodbye to a few people before I
left.  On Wednesday I went to the bus stop and we took a bus to the area.  It left at 2:30pm and we got there at 11:00 at night, it was a long ride. The house isn't good by normal standards but by mission standards it's not bad.  My companion is named Elder Cifuentes, he's really cool.  It's a bit cooler in this area then Chorrera and the shower is way to cold but it's nice during the day.  This week it rained about every single day. There are already a few investigators preparing to be baptized.  Here we sometimes contact and they almost always listen but we don't use to many pass along cards, we use the booklets.

This week my companion and I had to travel to some other areas of the mission, we went to Puerto Armuellas, to get there the bus takes us to the border of Costa Rica and drives south for about an hour it's a super pretty area and it's close to the beach. We also went to an area called Volcan, it's one of the few areas in Panama where it's cold. We went this morning and it was like 62 degrees, it's really cold when you are used to 80-90 degree weather all the time, that area is also very beautiful.

In my area there is a branch and on Sunday about 100 members came, I was surprised the small chapel was full.  When you are out of the city it's called the ''interior'' here the people are really relaxed and there are a lot less parties than in the City.

Today a member from Chorrera wrote me and told me that an older lady who we always visited passed away. She had been sick for a long time and could not got to Church, with Elder Mejia and I.  She went to church I think 3 times, she was in a wheel chair. I know she had a lot of faith and she always said how much she waited to go to church. It's really sad but I'm glad she can finally live without all the sicknesses she had.

I'm really enjoying the area and the members seem really strong here.  I love you guys so much.


Elder Weston

Monday, November 3, 2014

teaching the seminary students a song in English

Dear Family,

Thank you for the letters and the pictures I'm pretty jealous of your visit it sounded so cool. It's cool learning about the history of the church because they were tested so much and had to face so many challenges but they have a huge legacy that we are all grateful for.  That's cool in the stake they spoke about missionary work, reticently the President has asked us to teach with the Family Proclamation For World when we contact door to door. As we speak about the families we can talk about the temple and how families are eternal and how we have been given this knowledge from living prophets.

I really like the Nauvoo temple it's very beautiful. That's funny that the Peppinger's were at the rendezvous also, I was think about brother Peppinger's great example he gave me as his home teaching companion.

This week we did a few services projects, we cleaned a school, moved cinder blocks, and I'm teaching the seminary students a song in English the song its, ''Come unto Christ'' its the mutual theme song this year.. https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=spa

Yesterday I went to my first area and I saw Rodrigo in the church, he's graduating from seminary, I think he had to take double the classes but so I saw him as I taught the english song. And I saw Ana they are both doing well, and I got to eat dinner with a really great family from my first area.

Spiritual thought: I was listening to a the talk by Elder Bednar about why we want to teach the Gospel to everybody it was called ''Come and See''. And he talked about the story of Lehi's dream and when he ate the fruit he was filled with joy and wanted to tell his family. I thought about the joy he felt,  The fruit is the love of God, and love of God is demonstrated in the Atonement, so I'm convinced he received a greater understanding of the Atonement as he ate the fruit and that gave him the joy and the desire to share. It's a constant quest to understand the Atonement more fully.

I'm still waiting for the ZL's to call to see if i have changes.

Thank you and I love you so much,
Elder Weston

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

zone rented a bus to go to the temple

Dear Family,

Thank you for the letters and the picture of the Kansas City Temple, that's a very beautiful temple. That's to bad that Hunter hurt his knee again, I'll pray that everything goes well in his surgery. That's good Michael finally started his eagle project, he's keeping the tradition in the family of getting it done at the last minute. The ward is always really supportive with eagle projects.  I hope you guys have a fun time on your trip that will be a really neat experience, to see all of the church sites.  If I were Michael and Sarah I would be so happy to have Grandma in the house she would always make the best breakfasts. You asked is there are Humanitarian Missionaries here in Panama, I don't know of any.


We had a great week this week, on Friday there were many baptisms is the stake, I didn't have any but we brought an investigator.  There is a woman who has been less active for long time that a member found. She came with her two daughters, one is 9 and the other is 7.  They really enjoyed the baptisms and we are going to baptize the 9 year old next month.  On Sunday our zone rented a bus to go to the temple with our investigators, the same family came to the temple that went to the baptism, and another less active family came with us to see the temple. When we got there we could take pictures and a Missionary couple gave a tour around the temple and explained the importance of having temples. It was a very cool experience.

 
I hope you guys have a great time, I love you so much


Elder Weston


last p day we went up the same mountain, this is my companion

Last week in the cloud

Visiting the temple


Sunday, October 19, 2014

ants that bite hard

Dear Family,

¡¡¡¡¡Happy Birthday Mom!!!! I hope you have a great day. Did you get anything cool for your birthday? Sounds like you guys are going to have a lot of fun in Nauvoo
.

Your fast Sunday sounded really great, we also had a good day.  I want to see Meet the Mormons, I hope it comes out on DVD soon.

So I'm still in Chorrera with the same companion. It's going well Dad asked if I've been sick, I've never been so sick to stay the house but I have had colds, I kinda have had a cold right now for few weeks but just cough and runny nose. The worst part is there is no hot water,
usually when you are sick you just want to take a hot shower and lay in bed but you can't do that here, but now I'm feeling better.

This week we had quite a few service projects. I got a funny story, after the service project we did on Wednesday, where we shoveled dirt for a few hours, we came back to the house to go shower. After I finished showering I grabbed by towel to dry myself off. While I was drying myself off I felt little bites and I looked at my skin and there were like 30 ants on me, ants that bite hard, so I freaked out because it hurt and after I tried to spray alcohol on me to get rid of
the sting, I took a picture and you could easily see the bite marks but I deleted the pictures because I didn't want a picture of me with out my shirt on my camera.

Dad asked what do our investigators struggle with: I wouldn't say it's alcohol because we usually don't teach people who drink alcohol.  Alcohol causes so many problems that it's really hard to work with them. My investigators have problems with keeping the commitments
because they like to try to make excuses like ''I was to busy''.  Another problem is trying to schedule lessons, because we can pick an hour but a lot of our planned lessons fall threw. The good thing is everybody believes in Jesus, I never have to ask them if they believe in God because I already know they believe in God.

Sometimes I work and we don't see progress or people let us down when
they don't go to church. But I know that I've been blessed, I'm grateful for all the blessings God has given me. As we try our best God will bless us.

I love you guys so much, thank you for your prayers

Elder Weston

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Utah State won BYU

Dear Family,

Thank you for the letters.  I get to stay here in Chorrera for another change, the good thing is that this change is only 4 weeks, it ends on 29th of October. It's really weird to stay,  I have 5 changes in one area, and 8 in one zone about half my mission, but I'm happy.

I got a package from Grandma Marie this week, tell them thanks for me for all they do. I also got a letter from Grandma Jane, she always makes me laugh, I don't think Grandma likes the dog to much, because it growls while she is trying to do the Lords work on the computer.

That is so cool Utah State won BYU in football. 

General Conference was so awesome, I loved so many talks. What I really enjoyed is when they teach the scriptures in ways I haven't thought of. Including the talk by Uchtdorf when he said ''Is it me Lord?'' the Apostles learned to not point fingers and to look to themselves. 
Or the scripture about the 4 people who planned and brought the diseased man to the roof and lowered him down carefully to Jesus, and how we must carefully plan to help people come unto Christ and sometimes it will be difficult.  Or when the Prophet talked about how we all will have hardships and we will feel disappointment, like when Jesus looked down at Jerusalem and he felt disappointment and sadness for the many many people who rejected the teachings of the Prophets, and how we also will feel disappointment even when we try our best. Sometimes I feel like it's a sin to feel sadness, but if we continue to do our best and walk the path of obedience we will receive great happiness. I also really liked the last talk given by Elder Bednar saying there are eternal truths, we should always have the desire to help others learn about these truths.  I liked the challenge given by Elder Anderson to gain a testimony of Joseph Smith by finding scriptures in the Book of Mormon that you know are true and share your testimony. I chose 3 Nephi 27:14. 

Thank you for your letter and I love you

Elder Weston



Tuesday, September 30, 2014

made the Panama news

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, I enjoy reading them.  This week was good, Wednesday we went to do a service project with the entire zone at the home of one of my converts, A.., she lives close to a river and the water raised and flooded her home.  We helped shovel dirt and clean a little bit. We also made the Panama news for helping.

I'm super excited for General Conference this week, I will find out if I'm staying in Chorrera or getting transfers early today.  Yesterday in Church we had a big class of investigators, it was really
great because we spoke about Prophets and how next week we can listen to the prophet and pray if he was really chosen by God.

I love giving my testimony about Thomas S. Monson and I love how easy it is to fill the Spirit in General Conference. I'm also excited about listening to the music by the mo-tab. Last General Conference when I first heard the music from the Tabernacle I just sat back and thought, wow
that is so awesome.

On Friday we had an activity in the Church and we watched ''The Mountain of the Lord'' it's about the building of the Salt Lake Temple, it's inspiring to see how hard they worked to make the temple
and how many didn't even see get to see it finished.

This Saturday we got to teach the leaders of the ward about what we had planned early, it was really great, many leaders came and we could really fill the Spirit.

I'm listening to Uchtdorfs right now, his talks are always really inspiring, if you ever feel sad you can just listen to Uchdorfs talks and you will fill better.

I hope you guys have a great week and remember I love you guys.

Elder Weston

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Mini MTC

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, the Bishop's Youth Discussion is seriously such a great idea, and great way to teach the youth and help others. I'm sure you guys will have a lot of fun helping the people in our ward.  That's so exciting that you guys went to the open house of the Ogden temple, is it a big temple?

Dad asked if it is hard to marry someone here in Panama. The answer is no. That process of marring someone here is really quite easy,  the hard part is working with the people getting married.

This week we had an ok week, we tried to have an activity for the leaders of our ward called Mini MTC to teach them how they can help share and teach the Gospel and help ward members so they stay active. I was going to teach them about how we should help the less active members in the ward. But it's sometimes a little hard to get the adults excited to come to activities and not to many came, only the bishop and the president relief society. So we didn't really get teach anything, but I learned a lot.  I was going to use 3 scriptures to help them understand the importance of visiting less active members.  

  1. Mosiah 3:8-9, this teaches when we were baptized we made promises to help, and carry the burdens of others.
  2. Alma 4:19, this teaches that Alma realized that he had to bare his testimony to the people so they would change, and there is no other way to help some people except visiting them and baring our testimony.
  3. 3 Nephi 18:32Jesus taught we don't know when someone is ready to return to the Church, so we must always to help them gain there salvation.
I studied quite a bit so I wanted to share what I learned with you guys because I didn't get to do it with the leaders here.

Yesterday was our ward conference, we had an attendance of 161. I was way happy, that is the highest I've seen in all my time here.

Yesterday while we were working, we got talking to a member and he said something I really liked. He was talking about how a mission is expensive, hundreds and hundreds of dollars every month, and what is the reward? The reward is to bring a soul unto Christ and that doesn't have price. The worth of a single soul is great in the eyes of God. I grateful you are always giving money so I can stay here in Panama.

This next week we are going to be busy with the zone conference, service projects, and a temple visit.

I love you so much
Elder Weston

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Temple and Family History

Dear Family,

That's great that drug matches her cancer. This week we went to the temple twice and I put her name on the pray roll both times and I will continue to pray that everything goes well. That's awesome that the Ahlstrom's moved into the ward, I saw all of the daughter in the band.  The daughter who is at Snow College is named Annie right?

That's cool you guys are running in the mornings and I want to run but my companions don't, so I can't.  But my companion is really cool, we have been working hard, and we are hoping to have baptisms soon, we are teaching a few with baptism dates so I'm hoping they continue to
progress.

This week we went to the temple two times, it was very awesome, on Saturday we watched two couples from our ward get sealed. One of the couples has a little girl who is about 3 years old. Just about the cutest thing I've every seen in my entire life was when they were sealed to there daughter, seriously is was more cute then the little girl from Monsters Inc.  I wanted to cry, but I didn't. I bet it was just as cute as Gabe baring his testimony in sacrament.

This week we taught English in the chapel, we are also in the process of marrying a couple so the wife can get baptized.

This week we focused on teaching about the Temple and Family History and it's really great because it's something completely different then any other religion and we can use the Bible to teach it all and the Book of Mormon to teach it more clearly.

We start out by teaching that Jesus taught that you need to be baptized to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).  Then we ask them what would happen to someone who was never baptized or never heard about Jesus Christ.  Then we ask them what Jesus did for the 3 day between his death and
the Resurrection, most think we was in heaven but it says is John that Jesus told Mary not to touch him because he had not gone to his Father, so we know he was not in heaven. We teach with 1 Peter 3:18-20 about the Spirit world and Alma 40,  how Jesus taught the people there, and then we use chapter in 1 Corinthians about baptisms for the dead and Malachi 4 about the hearts of the fathers will turn to their children.  This helps investigators understand the importance of the family, baptism and the restored Church. It's been really cool teaching about the temple because it focuses on the family more then anything else.

I hope you guys have a great week!
I love you!
Elder Weston

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Training

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, this was an interesting week so, now I'm training a new missionary, his name is Elder Rivera he is from Honduras and he's really cool. He's been a member for only 3 years but he worked a lot with the missionaries at home so he already knows all the lessons very well and he wants to be really obedient. There was a bit of a problem with the transfers of Elder Mejia so he is still with us as well. We are waiting to see if he has changes, but this week went really with the 3 of us. It's been really fun the last few days because somebody is always telling a joke. We've been working hard and this next Saturday we should have a baptism, I'm really excited about that. There were transfers for the other missionaries in our ward, there is a new missionary from Arizona that is about 6'10", he's huge and he's really cool. I believe that about 30 missionaries arrived this change so about everybody is training.

Yes I got the shoes for free.  I'm still waiting for the package. I think it was a wasp it didn't swell up just a little bit.

Thanks for the photos, that's a really beautiful place(Cascade Springs). I love how you guys have the Diet-Coke in your hands. Elder Rivera said the missionaries in Honduras can't drink coke, but in Panama half the members give us Coke, it's delicious.

Yesterday I gave a talk in Sacrament but it was the same one I prepared earlier.

Wow, the summer passed so fast, it's harder for me to keep track of the time because its always the same temperature.  Sarah and Michael 
have fun at school . That's a little weird Michael is a senior and Sarah is in high school. I wish them luck.

For P-day I think we are going to play kick ball at the church, it's going to be really awesome.

I'm really enjoying it here, I'm having a lot of fun here in Chorrera even though it's my seventh change here, if I stay one more change here I will be here half of my mission in Chorrera

I always pray for you guys.

I love you,
Elder Weston


service


Zone

these little lizards are everywhere


My haircut

Sunday, August 24, 2014

new shoes

Dear Family,

Thank you for the letters and pictures. The wedding looked really cool, tell Hunter he looked like a STUD. I bet it was a really cool experience for them.

I got the letters from the Isaac's and from the Sister Jarvies young women class, tell them thank you for me.  I have a story for you, I don't know if you will be embarrassed or if you think it is cool, so my companion had to buy shoes, so we went to the shoe store and he bought his shoes and right before we left some of the workers asked me if I would try on some shoes, I tried on the shoes and I was a little confused and they told me I could have them. I'm guessing they looked at how dirty by shoes were and they were like ''why is he not buying new shoes?", so I got new shoes this week. But don't worry my shoes work fine, they just look a little dirty. But the new ones are sweet.

Just so dad knows a bee or a wasp stung me this week, we cut down a tree (of course with a machete) and there was a hive in the tree, so once it had fallen down we tried to move it and I got stung, I thought dad would like to know that.

This week we had the stake conference of La Chorrera, and it was really cool to see Rodrigo and Ana the two baptisms I had, the family of Rodrigo was there also. The members say Rodrigo is planning on
going on a mission. I also saw 2 other people that I taught but got baptized after I left. I was really happy to see them.

This week I cut my own hair and I have gotten compliments because it looks so cool.  This week there are changes and I don't know if I'm staying or going but we are waiting for the letters from President that tell all the changes.

I'm grateful that in my mission I have been able to see the blessing of my work. I'm grateful to be here in Chorrera and I'm excited to see if I stay or go either way I will try to be more obedient and try to
always work a little harder.

During the stake conference I had a few thoughts: Do we look to God in our small trials, just as we usually do with are big trials? Usually we don't have life changing trials everyday, but we do have small trials everyday, but if we try to solve all of our problems even the small ones with prayer all the times, we will be more prepared for the larger ones. I know I have been really blessed in my mission, and I pray that I can learn from all the trials God gives me.

I love you guys a bunch,

Thank you

Elder Weston

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

multi-zone soccer game

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, That's so cool that you guys could go to the temple on Friday, I'm sure it was just an awesome experience for all of you guys. I really can't believe Hunter is getting married, he's a year younger then me, so that means I can get married (of course once I've been back for at least 1 month ha ha). Next week make sure you send pictures of his wedding.

Our investigator is really cool, he came to church this week with a member sister.  Today for P day we had a multi-zone activity. More then half the mission played soccer in the city.  There were a ton of missionaries and we each bought t-shirts for our teams. It was a lot of fun seeing all the other missionaries from many zones.

That's really sad about sister Johnson, I will remember her and her family in my prayers this week. 

This week I did divisions with one of my zone leaders it was really great.  He was also one of my leaders in Ciudad Bolivar so I've gotten to know him really well. He's a great teacher and a great example for me. After a day with him a just wanted to read my scriptures all day, because he knows them so well, it makes me want to learn them even more. I've read the Book of Mormon quite a few times but the cool thing about the Book of Mormon is the more times you read it the better it gets, it's not like other books or movies which eventually get boring, you can keep getting information from it, even if you have read it 100 times. This week I'm going to really try to read the Book of Mormon more.

I love you so much, Elder Weston


Waterfall

The valley last week

Multi-zone soccer game

Today with another missionary in my zone

Thursday, August 7, 2014

English, Spanish, and Chinese

Dear Family,
Thank you for the letter, to clarify my story last week Elder Quimiz and I found a less active family, and last week one of the members of that family was at the temple, she is to young to go on the mission.
But I saw other members who were preparing to go on missions in the coming months, it was really cool.

I'm so grateful for the Temple in my mission, that's so exciting all of moms sisters will be going to the Temple on Friday, I'm sure it will be a spiritual experience for all of you.  Thank you for the pictures you sent me, I believe Michael is taller then me, what a shame, he's almost as tall as dad.

This week we found a really cool investigator who can speak English, Spanish, and Chinese and he loves the United States. He also went to church and he already knows a lot of members and he is only 14 years old. You can imagine, he is really smart.

When I get the duck tape I will fix my scripture case because it has a hole.

This week we did a few service projects.  On Tuesday we cut down trees with axes and I got some blisters. One investigator put hydrogen pro-oxide of my blisters and it hurt so bad, but a few days later I got some of the best medical advice in my life, a member told me... you need pee in a container and soak your hands in your pee and the blisters would come right off... I could not stop myself from laughing but she was serious. I didn't do it.

I will write something more spiritual next time. I will try to send more pictures of P-day next week.

Love you all,
Elder Weston

saw less active members

Dear Family,
Thank you for your letters and all the pictures. Our ward seems to be really busy with missionary work with missionaries coming and going. Thats cool Elder Hawking's could come to the ward and teach about mission work, he gave the lessons when I went to the mission prep class.

This week I went to the temple twice, on Tuesday with all the missionaries of the stake and Saturday with the ward. When I went on Saturday, I saw all the members from Cuidad Bolivar, it was so
cool. I saw two of my converts there and I was really surprised to see a less active member there. Elder Quimiz and I were once contacting and we found a less active family, but my entire time there
they never went to Church. So I was really surprised to see one of them at the temple. But I asked a member there about her and he told me she is going to Church and Seminary every-week, it was so cool. It was also great to see 3 people from Ciudad Bolivar preparing to leave on there missions.

This week we worked with the Elders Quorum President and we are going to try to help the members do there home teachings. I'm glad to hear home teachings continue to come along. Also on Saturday, we had a Pioneer Activity in the stake and I got to see a few of the members from my first area which was really awesome.

I'm teaching the Elementary School the English song, like I did a year ago in my first area. This year we are teaching the song Families can be Together Forever.

Thank you so much and I love you guys a lot,
Elder Weston

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Costco

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters, it sounds like your Youth Conference was a lot of fun and that you guys had a lot of activities planned. 


The funny thing is for P-day we went to Costco, well here it's called Pricemart but it's the same thing, we bought a pizza, and muffins. The store made me feel
 like I was in the states, except that everything was in Spanish. Tell Sam Paepke good luck for me, yes he was our home teacher while I was home. I've been writing Mckay, that's so cool he's working at a university.

We had a good week, we had a baptism, It was really cool I felt the spirit really strong. Before the baptism we had an activity with the ward, the missionaries planned a lot of games to play and a lot ofmembers came. It got a little stressful because it was really competitive but once the baptism started I felt really calm.  We have been working a lot with this investigator, she got married and we could finally baptize her.  After the activity and the baptism we had to go to the other missionary house (there are 4 missionaries in the ward) but it was really late so we stayed at there house. The good thing is there house is way better then our house.  We continue working well my companion and I. This week we are going to the Temple I'm really excited.  I'm sending you pictures of the baptism and picture of my agendas. The missionaries almost always put pictures on the agendas 

1. To make them look cool. 
2. It keeps it protected from the rain.
We did a couple of service projects for the members.  In also all our service projects with the members we use machetes, I still find joy in swinging a machete. The bad thing is I usually don't bring my camera to service projects so I don't have any cool pictures of me swinging a machete.


I really enjoyed this week and I'm glad you guys had such a fun time at Temple Square and could fill the spirit there.  


I love you guys so much.
Elder Weston