Tuesday, September 27, 2016

"Pap, intestines, and all you can eat chicken feet!"



HEYO this is Elder Weiler speaking, how do you like my pretty bow?  I don't have time to email so I'm just going to keep typing -- we're going to play with lions (yeah I know) so we've gotta get going and I'm the last one emailing and I'm stressed sorry hahaha

This week was great! President Thompson came to Bloem for interviews and specialised training for our zone! It's always so good to be around him, he's a great mission president! He has a lot of excitement for the work here and it's really contagious!! 

Our paintballing activity was a blast!! We're going to go again next week during transfers -- Lesotho Zone VS Bloemfontein Zone!! So that's going to be super super sweet! Sweeter than sweet (our ward mission leader ALWAYS says that -- His name is Jojo, he's hilarious but also super powerful haha)

Transfers are this weekend and I think my time in Blomanda is coming to an end :(( I have LOVED serving here so much!! The thought that I might be leaving is a bummer -- I wouldn't even mind staying for 6 months!! But we shall see! 

Saturday was Heritage Day in South Africa! It's one of the big holidays in SA! It's when we celebrate all the different cultures in South Africa (there's a lot..... hahha)! We celebrated with a party at the Stake Centre in town! They had members from different tribes come and teach about their cultures, their languages, and traditional clothing (everybody dressed up traditionally, including me, wearing some traditional Ghanaian clothes I picked up in Newcastle hahah)! They even invited a missionary from Idaho, Elder Ottley, to teach about his Cowboy culture!! It was awesome! Afterward we feasted on African food! The meal consisted on just about every food I have ever talked about in these emails -- chicken feet, intestines (tripe), jeqe (bread), pap (corn meal porridge), samp (crushed corn kernels) and beans, sour porridge -- YOU NAME IT! It was there! I love African food toooooo much.

This week was amazing! I realised this week how many miracles the Lord has worked among us this transfer!! At the beginning of the transfer, we went through all of our investigators and decided to drop those that weren't progressing and keeping us from finding the elect; I can testify that that was revelation! This transfer we have found so many incredible people that are prepared for the gospel! People who hear the message and are anxious to act on it! This week we also had a really sweet experience administering a blessing -- surely miracles have not ceased! God still works among men today! 

I'm sorry that I can't write more -- but I want to express my love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! Everyday it becomes more and more apparent that if there was no Restoration of the gospel, I would not be the person I am today! If there was no Atonement, I would not be the person I am today! If I didn't have the knowledge and the testimony that I have been blessed with, I would not be the person I am today! 

The gospel is a significant part of me! I love the transforming nature of the gospel! I love our Father's forgiving and merciful nature! I know that He wants to forgive us! And I know that we HAVE to repent if we are going to stand at His right hand one day! 

I love you all! Thanks for all the support! Stay Righteous!

Kgotso leli Hlonolofatso!! (Peace and Blessings (Sesotho))

--

Elder Weiler

 We had a birthday party for Elder Leonard at a member's house this week, it was a blast! This is the district!
Just a tank... driving through town... ???

Monday, September 19, 2016

1

                                                          Johannesburg Temple

WOW CAN'T BELIEVE I'VE ALREADY BEEN ON MISSION FOR ONE MONTH!!!! 

wait...

what?

It's been how long?

A year? 

Nooo man that can't be...

*checks calendar* 

HOLY HANNAH MONTANA

Well the rumours are true... I've been in South Africa for a whole year! I can't even explain how I feel to think that my mission is halfway over... Bittersweet... but I think it's mostly bitter.. I don't want to go home!! (Sorry Mom)

The past year of my life has been (wait for super cliche) the best year of my life!! I can't even think of anything else to say. I literally do not have words to express my gratitude and my love for the Lord because He has allowed me to grow and transform in ways that I could never foresee!! God is so good! I love my Heavenly Father!! Eish, I wish I could just send a 10 hour voice recording of my telling stories and sharing my feelings about the past year.. But I can't. So, I'll do my best to express it over this keyboard. 

The past year of my life has been so refining. The Lord has cast light on my deepest imperfections -- the past year has been one of the most uncomfortable and most awkward of my life -- but I have become a greater man because of it! I know that missionary service for 18 year old boys and 19 year old girls is evidence that Father is wise. The past year has taught me lessons that I don't think I could ever learn anywhere else at this time in my life! More importantly, I have learned more about responsibility, spirituality, and the gospel in the past 365 days than I have in my entire life! God knows how important this period of time is in the lives of young adults, so to springboard us into those years he sends us on missions to learn about and master what matters most! 

This past year has also been the most challenging year of my life! I have never been so stressed or frustrated as I have on mission! I have also never felt so much love and so much peace in my life! 

My personal conversion to this gospel has grown more than I can ever begin to explain. Before I left on mission I definitely had a testimony that the church was true, that Jesus Christ lived, and that the gospel was the best (and only) way to live my life -- BUT today -- I literally cannot deny the absolute validity and total necessity of the gospel in my life! I cannot live without the knowledge and testimony that I have now; it is a beacon of strength that I can lean on when I feel like I have nothing more to give, it is a pillar of comfort when I feel like I'm being drowned in responsibilities, it is a seat of hope that constantly uplifts me and keeps my spirits high when discouragement runs around me!! 

Dangit I can't even tell you how true this church is. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. I cannot deny that. I always joke that I can never join another church because this gospel has ruined every other options!! hahaha! Simply, I know that God speaks to us through prophets today -- President Thomas S. Monson and the Quorum of the Twelve are called by inspiration and that if we follow them we will find great joy and great protection from the evils and the dangers of this world. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that the Atonement is SO real. I have seen it change others and I have most definitely seen it change me; for that, I am eternally indebted to Him. We all are. He payed the price that we never can (Alma 22:16) and the only way that we can show our gratitude (because we can never pay him back) is to serve Him! To do what He says we need to do! Christ has suffered all things (Alma 7:11-13) so He is the perfect person to give commandments and laws, He has never asked us to do anything that is TOO hard, He knows perfectly our limits and bounds! 

I love Jesus Christ so much. I can't even tell ya. 

Well, this is getting long. So I guess I'll wrap it up..

If I can recommend anything, it's that all able bodied people should prepare to serve missions and get into the field ASAP! It will bless you life more than anything else you can possibly imagine! Mission will do for you what nobody/nothing else ever can! 

And finally, thank you to everybody that has supported me in the past year! If you're still reading these every week, shout out to you. I love you so much. I love all the emails and letters of love and support, they really help me when I'm feeling down! "Mission is not easy mfethu" (inside joke, sorry) 

BUT that's it. People to teach. Gospel to share. Ward to build.

Habashwe. 

Peace and Love,

--

Elder Weiler

                                      Just chillin with my rhino friends (This was terrifying!)

                                           Found two new investigators tracting this week!



                                                    Got my turtle and ready to go!! 

                                       Best dinner appointment ever!!  We called him "Smiley".

This spider has been on the wall at my study desk for like 4 weeks, I was going to kill him, but he only has 7 legs... So I have sympathy for him.

The pump in our baptismal font is broken... So this is how we empty it! 

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Who needs a PDay??

Hou Gan Dit Met Jou? (Bloemfontein and Afrikaans are getting to me)

Well today marks the end of my Joburg weekly roadtrips!! They took the stitches out of my hand and I'm almost back to full capability in my hand!! Elder Roberts and I also placed a copy of the Book of Mormon with my doctor! Last week we gave her the family proclamation! (It's an immersion programme hahaha) and she glady accepted it! It was awesome. We've gotten really close with her these past three weeks! She's the best. 

Well the topic says it all -- I haven't had a P Day since the beginning of the transfer!! Sorry I didn't send an email last week... But the past two weeks have been really great!! Elder Masinga is AWESOME! We've been working really hard and that's definitely my fav thing in the world! He also speaks Sesotho and that helps A LOT! 

This week we drove like CRAZY! On Monday Elder Roberts and I went to Joburg ( 8 hour round trip ), Tuesday we drove to Phuthaditjhaba (4 hours ) for MLC, which was awesome!!! From PJ to Welkom (2 hours), to Kroonstad (1 hour),and back to Bloemfontein on Thursday (2.5 hours), then today Elder Roberts and I went to Johannesburg again!!! hahaha so I've spent a lot of time in a car this week! But it was such a great week; we got to see a lot of the Elders in our zone and see a lot of missionaries from all over! 

Our MLC was soooo good! We talked about increasing our spirituality and letting revelation guide us in our work! I learned a lot about the role of revelation in the Lord's work and in all our our personal labours! It really brought Alma 37:37 to life! Prayer is so powerful! 


 (A big thanks to Sister Thompson for sending these pictures to me.  It looks like "someone" really enjoyed the pizza after the meeting!)

This week we dropped an investigator whom I loved dearly; his name is Samuel, he's from Ghana, and I've never seen somebody read and love the Book of Mormon like he does!!! It's so inspiring! Over the past two months or so we've been visiting and teaching him -- he accepts and loves everything that we teach, but he won't come to church because of xenophobia... While we were in MLC Elder Masinga and I had a prompting that we really needed to sit down with him and talk about our purpose. On Saturday night we met with him and together we decided that we won't be meeting anymore. That's the first time that I've cried over dropping an investigator... I love Samuel so much -- But I know that the Lord has prepared people for us to teach and baptise, and if we're spending time with people that aren't ready we're risking our chances of meeting those people! 

In D&C 4 it says "the field is white already to harvest" -- This phrase has really come to life to me recently. The Lord really does prepare people. As missionaries, we are harvesters!! Not planters, not waterers, but harvesters! Although we might feel really good when we're with certain people, at the end of the day what matters most is their progression! I feel like my trust in the Lord and His hand in our work has been strengthened a lot! I know that when we receive revelation and act on it, we're doing exactly what the Lord wants us to do!! I know that that's true! I'm so grateful to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and if we're willing and prepared to put in effort, we can have meaningful interactions with our Father in Heaven every day!! 

I love you all! And I love this gospel with all my heart! I love missionary work, it is absolutely the hardest work in the world but it's definitely the MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE WORLD!! 

Tot Ziens! 

--
Elder Weiler


PS 1,000,000 pictures to come next week! Sorry in advance...

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Mom finally gets a long awaited e-mail!

Hahaha Mom I think this is the funniest email ever! I can totally read this in your voice! 



I'M FINE! I went to Johannesburg again today to have a checkup on the hand and they said that it's healing wonderfully! In fact, the surgeon said "I love patients from your church, they're always so healthy and heal so quickly!" hahaha! She also told me that it should be 6 weeks until I have total feeling again! But that's okay, I've totally adjusting to bathing with a bread bag on my hand and using three fingers for everything hahaha! 

I'm sorry that I kept you worrying all week! I promise I didn't do it on purpose!! ;)

The surgeon actually emailed me the pictures of my hand while it was opened up... they're super nasty... But I can send them if you want... hahaha 

Okay I typed everything before this earlier but I'm back now! We have to be in in a few minutes so I don't have much time at all!! Sorry!! On the bright side we had really good appointments tonight and we've got dinner in the car :)) 

But it was a great week this week! the surgery went really great! Next week we're going back to Joburg and they're going to take out the stitches and then we're done!! 

Sorry this is the worst week not to email but I promise that I'm fine! The surgeon is super awesome (we're sharing the gospel with her) and the Robert's are taking great care of me! 

I'm so happy to hear that you're being well taken care of! :)) Elder Masinga was with the Bloemfontein Elders while I was away! But now we're together and loving it!! I feel like we're very compatible in our talents!! So I'm SUPER excited for this transfer! 

I love you so much! Thanks for being the best mom ever! Sorry i wasn't able to call this week! But you can find peace in knowing that I am alive and loving mission!! 

Please send all the fam my love and I'll be better at planning more time to email you all next week when we get back from Jozi! 

THANKS MOM LOVE YOU HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

--

Elder Weiler
 So grateful for President and Sister Thompson for also sending us an e-mail letting us know that London is doing well.  They are leading and loving our Durban missionaries beautifully!
This is the same type of "offending" fence.  OUCH!