A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, Right?

I've got no time today! Lesotho was celebrating "Boxing Day" yesterday and all the internet shops were closed.

I'll tell the stories from this week through pictures. It's an art form.

-

Elder Weiler

Sweet Spirit

Ho ho ho beloved friends and family,  Elder Jantjies and I are really feeling the Christmas Spirit. We were feeling a little down the other day so we started wishing every person a Merry Christmas as we drove past them, we also bought Santa hats and started giving out LIGHTtheWORLD cards, definitely turned around our day!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Elder Jantjies and I had to laugh today as I read to him all of the emails from friends/family complaining about the cold, it's full blown summer in Lesotho! 😎 It's so hot that we walk out of the shower still covered in sweat.. delightful :) 

Well this week FLEW by! To be candid, we struggled finding people to teach. During Christmas everybody wants to go home, and those that are home are celebrating with family; so it's hard to sit down with people to teach. HOWEVER, the Lord provided for us! I've learned that as missionaries (and frankly as human beings) we're frequently tested to see how committed we really are to this gospel and to the work of the Lord. When we prove diligent, the Lord pours out blessings. When we don't prove diligent those blessings are withheld.

We were invited to another event hosted by the HWPL! (I mentioned them about two months ago. They're an organization that strives to bring about religious tranquility by hosting scriptural discussions and helping different denominations understand one another). We placed two copies of the Book of Mormon while we were there! One of them was ECSTATIC, I've never seen somebody so happy to receive a copy! I pray to hear more about him from the missionaries that work in his area (he's from South Africa, still in Durban mission)!

Well, the time is far spent, but all I can say is I love this work! I know that the Lord guides His missionaries! Elder Jantjies and I definitely saw that this week! I'm grateful for His Spirit, I'm grateful for the conversion that can take place in all of us! I know that God lives! I'm grateful that He allows us to change! I wouldn't trade my mission, nor the things that I've learned and the man I'm becoming, for anything!! The restored gospel is true!!

Merry Christmas!

--

Elder Weiler

                                            We wore matching ties to church, father/son :,)

SEMONKONG

Hello all! This email is coming to you on a beautiful Tuesday morning because yesterday we ventured deep into Lesotho to see THE BIGGEST WATERFALL IN AFRICA. Best zone activity ever.

Yesterday morning we packed into a taxi and ventured three hours into the mountains of Lesotho. The drive was INCREDIBLE. I thought Utah was mountainous but Lesotho is on a whole new level! One of the craziest parts was as we were driving through the mountains we'd see small villages in the valleys. These people live about 80 kilometres from the nearest town. ( A quick Google search told me that is 50 MILES) They have no water, no electricity, and they grow all of their own food. It was pretty humbling. Above all, I felt grateful for our Heavenly Father's plan; all of His children will hear the gospel and have a chance to accept it! These people living in these villages have no idea about the restored gospel, but one day they will, and they will be able to feel the same joy that we feel!

I don't have a lot of time because we're trying to cram emailing into a regular working day, so this will be a short one.

We also had a baptism on Sunday! It was awesome! Her name is Cynthia! She's probably the most powerful/prepared person I've ever baptised on my mission! The service was great! I attached a picture below.

The hike to Semonkong was incredible, we were literally just walking through the mountains and villages until we got to a massive canyon and BAM water falling. It's hard to explain what's so fascinating about a river falling off a cliff but there's something about it. It was a really cool experience altogether, the journey and all!

In terms of the work everything is going great! Elder Jantjies and I have been blessed to be guided to a lot of responsible fathers who want to guide their families in righteousness! We're praying that we'll be guiding a lot of families to the Atonement and to covenant making in the next few months!!

This work is true! God lives! Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World!

--

Elder Weiler

#TshumaLifasti (#LightTheWorld)

Hello all!

It's blazing hot, every store has a Christmas tree, and we only sang hymns in the early 200s at church yesterday... IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS TIME!! 

What a wonderful time of the year! My heart has been full of gratitude these past couple of days as I've pondered the love manifested in our Saviour's life and His role in the Plan of Salvation! It's incredible to think that God, Almighty and Omnipotent, would send His Only Begotten Son to redeem us, fallen and imperfect people who are "less than the dust of the Earth". There is no greater love than this! It's humbling.

Elder Jantjies and I had a great week! In the mission field December is usually a less effective month in terms of the work. To combat this, we were given a challenge, as a mission, to find 40 new referrals on December 1 to build up our teaching pools and lose ourselves in the work! Elder Jantjies and I decided that we were going to do it -- long story short, we got 93 referrals in one day! It was awesome! We've already contacted 50 of them! This week will be filled with new people who are prepared to hear the gospel! We're so excited!! 

Unfortunately I've got almost no time left, but this week was fantastic!! I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve the Lord! I LOVE this gospel! This is the way! 

I love the initiative the church has put out this season and I'd encourage all of you to get involved if you haven't already! Elder Jantjies and I have done it every day so far and so can you!!

Sala Hantle! 

--

Elder Weiler