My first, and hopefully last, time swimming on mission

Dumelanga!

Most people would be appauled if I just told them that I kind of swam in a baptismal font without detailed explanation -- so I'll do just that.

Firstly -- Thank you for the prayers!! Although we continued to face adversity in Stretch being baptised last week we made it happen!! There is no joy that competes with the sheer gladness that comes with seeing somebody worthily make covenants with our loving Father in Heaven! It makes me so happy to have the opportunity to observe as others are filled with truth, light, and happiness when they come to learn for themselves that they have a living Saviour, a watchful and loving Father in Heaven, and that they have an opporutinity to follow them and prepare to meet them while they are here on Earth!

So on Sunday, Strech was (FINALLY) baptised! ( I say "finally" because he introduced a large majortiy of the young members of the church to the gospel before he was baptised! Due to disapproval from his father and other circumstances he has been an active investigator in the branch for more than 2 years!!) But his baptism, just as his process to being baptised, was not without trial. 

(I have no idea what this pose is but I think it really brings out the personality of Strech and me hahaha!)

Elder Sixaba and I starting filling the font after sacrament meeting to be ready to baptise Stretch after the last block of church; when we went to check on the filling of the font we did not see exactly what we were expecting... The font was full, sure, but the water was a deep shade of brown. And not like.. kinda brown. But BROWN -- so much so that we literally could not see the steps leading into the font. So we are just standing there baffled and confused when we realise that we have one hour to drain this entire font, fill it up again, and be ready for a baptism in a short 60 minutes. 

Remember a couples months back when I said we basically made Fast and Furious 8?? Well yesterday we could have filmed Fast and Furious 9!! We jumped into the car and FLEW home to get a pair of shorts and a tee shirt for Elder Sixaba to get into the font to start draining the water. Once we get back to the church, Elder Sixaba has changed, and we've unplugged the drain in the font we realise that it's going to take AT LEAST 60 minutes to drain! So we initiate Def Con 1. I roll up my pants, tuck in my tie, and cuff my sleeves and got in ( rolling everything up didn't make much of a difference). 

Imagine this: Two missionaries -- one still in his church clothes, wading around in a baptismal font filled with what looks like sewage, desperately trying to empty the font by using a bucket and an empty garbage can to take water from the font and dumping it out the window... It's probably more hilarious than it already sounds... Fortunately I thought ahead and got a picture.. hahaha!

(Elder Sixaba and I about halfway finished emptying the font!)

Stretch's baptism was really the focus of our whole week and definitely the highlight of it! However it has also been really awesome to work with Siyanda Khoza, a member in the branch, and help him prepare to serve his own mission! He started his mission papers about two weeks ago and has been relentlessly working with us to prepare himself for full-time missionary service! The best part is that this is not a unique case -- the majority of the young men in our branch will spend an entire day working with us to share the gospel and prepare themselves to physically take upon themselves name of our Saviour! Siyanda is the first to open his papers, but I have faith the others will soon follow his example! 

Newcastle boys >>>> (These are the guys that literally hold up Newcastle Branch! Each one of them has converted in the past few years!)

I was reading in 1 Nephi 16 today and realised that Satan knows when we are discouraged, tired, and lonely; he knows when to strike with lies, doubts, and temptation; likewise, we have to recognise when we are vulnerable and at that point we must cling to our faith, look towards the Lord, and actively fight to stay on the strait and narrow -- even when the adversary is breathing down our necks. 

I also spend a considerable amount of time pondering the situation of Nephi's family after he broke his bow and returned home with no food; my thoughts are the following: 

Do we too murmur against the Lord when keeping His commandments gets tough?

Is our faith only as deep as our satisfaction in Earthy means? 

Enduring faith in the key to enduring peace, love, and happiness. We receive personal revelation, (including guidance), blessings, and the Holy Spirit according to our to our faith and dilgence in following the Lord! The greater the desire -- the greater will be the endowment of blessings. 

As usual, I love missionary work! I love South Africa! And I love the Lord! This week an investigator asked us about tattoos -- Elder Sixaba responded saying that we are only allowed to have one; confused, I looked to him and before I could recant what was said he followed his comment with "The only tattoo we are allowed to have in a name on our heart -- the name of Jesus Christ." I love the comparison that he made between a permanent decision to our personal discipleship! After all, our personal discipleship should be a permanent decision!! 

I am incredibly grateful to bear the name of Jesus Christ on my chest each day and I am even more proud to report that His name is indeed "tatooed" on my heart forever.

With love,

--

Elder Weiler

(I have spoken a few times about Smanga, Strech's little brother, he's kind of going through the same thing as Stretch right now when it comes to him being baptised.. But we are not losing faith!!)

HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIIIDE (of the world)

Ekse!!

Okay first and foremost I promise I'm not an apostate missionary, we hear that Adele song literally everyday. hahha

WARNING: This email contains very African things -- including, but not limited to, lions, ostriches, tribal shirts, cool guys in sunglasses, and more.

READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

HAPPY 2016!!! Our New Years was CRAZY!!!! WE WENT TO  BED AT 11:30!!!!!!! An hour later than usual!!! hahahha #missionlife

Recently we have seen the works of the adversary in trying to stop the valiant from being baptised into Christ's restored church; Nhlakanipho, we call him "Stretch" because he is really tall and skinny and it's also a lot easier to say than Nhlakanipho). So Stretch was planning to be baptised two weeks ago, but two days before his baptism his mom was admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack and was in the hospital all weekend; this week, as we stop by visit investigators being baptised every day the week of their baptism, we found that Stretch and his brother were mugged while walking home one night.. And it wasn't just like a guy pulling a gun on them and asking for their wallets, they were attacked by 9 guys who beat them with steel poles.. and Stretch got the worst of it.. FORTUNATELY they didn't beat out Stretch's sense of humour; when we saw him he said "How do I look?" and we didn't even say anything because we were shocked. He then said "That bad huh? Well you don't have to worry, you should see the other guys." hahahah! I am so happy to report that Stretch has not lost his firm desire to follow Jesus Christ and is planning on being baptised on Sunday! He is also making a GREAT recovery! I would ask that you would include him in your prayers this week.

I also want to give a quick shoutout to Ujeqe. It's literally my favourite food in the world and every member knows it -- so we eat a lot of ujeqe. ❤❤❤

We also watched a really cool video called "the wall" -- I would recommend that each of you look it up; it's only 5 minutes and it's incredible! To summarise the message (which does it no justice), God does His best work in seemingly hopeless situations. What a beautiful message! I can testify that when things "can't get any worse" it means that things have to get better!

I am also VERY excited to report that a white member moved into our branch so I'm not the only person who doesn't speak fluent Zulu in our branch :)))

I handed out some of the CTR rings to that came in my Christmas package!! 

The best thing I have to report is that today we went on a safari for our Zone Activity! WOW I wish I could send all the pictures I took but that would literally take 10 years.. So I hope that a few will suffice. But that took up most of our day today so I only wrote like... 6 people... So... yeah. I'm sorry guys. 

 Okay I might look happy in this photograph but inside I was literally screaming because I was playing with a 6 month old lion and that scares me. Also, I think it was trying to eat me.

yes this is an ostrich (aka actually the most terrifying animal in the entire world) 

But to wrap up the email I want to include John 16:33  33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. -- I actually have nothing to add to that because the scripture does a pretty dang good job of conveying it's message! 

Cheers!!

--

Elder Weiler

P.S. I realised that I haven't sent a picture of Elder Sixaba and I yet! I still don't have one, but here is one of two super cool guys wearing super cool sunglasses and doing super cool things so.. I hope that works....

Crying Christmas Carols, Bombastic Birthday Bash, and Abhorring Aggravating Alliteration!!

Well.. the subject kind of gives it all away eh?

I hope everybody took the time to contemplate and appreciate the gravity of the Saviour's Atonement in each of our lives on Christmas!! 

Christmas on mission has proved to be VERY different than any other Christmas I've had before! Although I missed all of your beautiful, smiling faces -- I really loved celebrating with my mission family here! The members took good care of us! 

Talking to the fam on Christmas was incredible!! However after the call I was feeling a little lonely and perhaps a little homesick.. BUT I was quickly uplifted as I read the letters that I have received from beloved friends and family; this is a universal "THANK YOU" to everybody that helped me feel loved and encouraged when I felt vulnerable!! My first Christmas on mission will not be remembered as lonely, but rather it will be remembered with peace and with love!! I am so grateful to bear the name of He whose birth we celebrate! I love being a missionary!!

As part of getting into the Christmas spirit, I was able to find a BUNCH of Christmas decorations in our boarding, SO naturally, I went ALL out decorating our boarding!! Elder Sixaba walked out about half way through my project and just said "woah" hahha! The boarding looks great!! We had a small Christmas tree with lights and all! I originally had intentions to take pictures... but I forgot... Whoops.

On Sunday I was also able to spend my first Birthday on mission! This, too, but unlike any other! instead of waking up to either: a) friends kidnapping me for breakfast at Kneaders (shout out to you guys. b) the smell of a delicious breakfast being made by mom, or c) with the thought of gifts and a celebration; I woke up, made myself a REAL NICE breakfast ("treat yo' self") and went to church! Upon our arrival I was asked to give a talk. AGAIN. So I prayed for inspiration and gave an impromtu talk on the different levels of Prayer, what a blessing it was to share my witness of the power of prayer and to share advice on how we can make our prayers more meaningful and more personal!! 

From Preach My Gopspel the following is provided in guidance on how we can make our prayers more deeply personal and meaningful -- how we can develop a greater relationship to our Father in Heaven through frequent, fervent prayers:

1.Use the Correct Language of Prayer

2. Always express gratitude for your blessings

3. Pray specifically for the guidance of the Holy Ghost

4. Pray with love and charity

5. Pray with Real Intent

6. Recognise that Heavenly Father knows better than you!

I would encourage each of you to put each of these and more habits into practice as you strive to have more meaningful prayers! 

Although a few members gave me sweets and sang "Happy Birthday", the greatest blessing was to be edified through teaching the gospel to my beloved brothers and sisters here in South Africa! We had two powerful lessons to end our Sunday -- in which I grew greater testimony and gratitude for the gifts of the spirit; specifically for the Spirit of Discernment and the Spirit filling our mouths with the words that are needed to be heard! In one lesson we spoke about how fixating our eyes upon the Celestial Kingdom and setting a goal to join our Father in Heaven there can and will influence every decision we make in our lives! I challenge each and every one of you to recommit yourselves to make it back to our Father in Heaven, to follow Jesus Christ, and to continually find way to make frequent habits ( church, partaking of the sacrament, studying the scriptures, and daily prayer) more spiritual and more central to your life! I testify that as we make consistent habits of making the gospel a priority, we will enjoy greater peace and happiness in living on this Earth, that our burdens will be lightened, and that we will find more love for ourselves, for our God, and for our brothers and sisters in the human family.

Regrettably, I didn't take any pictures this week (I don't know why??) But I will be sure to include photos of Elder Sixaba and I next week! 

With love,

--

Elder Weiler

Call me Manqoba

Jabulela Ukhisimusi! (Merry Christmas!)

It is certainly the most wonderful time of the year! 

With Christmas in full swing I have been enjoying the Christmas traditions here!! Christmas in South Africa is VERY different than Christmas in Utah! However, the change has been thrilling! 

Instead of bundling up in ugly christmas sweaters and sipping hot cocoa, here people are wearing their shorts and sandals and we're all braaiing! (a braai is the equivalent to a barbeque). This week we had our Branch Christmas Party; and although a lot of people are out of town for the holiday (everybody is going to the beach), we had a really great turn out! The Hind's gave out little presents to all of the Primary kids -- the boys all got little rugby balls so we had some fun playing some little rugby games outside of the church! But the best part (and this should be pretty predictable) was the food. HOLY SANTA CLAUSE THERE WAS FOOD. 

After everybody was stuffed and desert was served Sister Lethuma (bless her soul), our gogo in Newcastle, called me over and told me to take some chicken home; when she said this I though she meant the chicken legs and wings that we left over, so I went and got a little take home box and she said "No take this chicken" and gave me a grocery bag of 3 FULL CHICKENS!! While I was crying tears of sweet joy, another sister brings over a 2 litre bottle of cooldrink (soda) and insists that we take it home as well, then ANOTHER sister came and gave us a bag of crisps (chips)!! Boyyyyyy Elder Sixaba was feeling weclomed in Newcastle hahha! 

So after we looked at all the food we had, we decided to sponser a wecolming party to a new missionary who is being trained by a missionary in our district! So everybody brought a little summin summin and we had a nice lunch on Thursday! 

As I mentioned last week (and just barely for the manner) my new companion is Elder Sixaba! He is from the Eastern Cape here in South Africa! He is 22 months old on mission and odds look like he will die (finish his mission) in Newcastle! So it has been a really interesting experience serving with another greenie to serving with an old man!! Elder Sixaba and I have gotten along really well! We found out this week in a lesson that we want to study the same things when we get to University! I love American politics and he loves African politics!! Elder Sixaba also speaks 6 languages and loves to make jokes! We have laughed a lot in our week together! So I look forward to the rest of this transfer with him! (I think I will leave Newcastle at the end of this transfer, I'd be willing to be 10 Rands. Any takers?).

This week we were teaching a lesson to Strech -- he is Smanga's older brother! As I mentioned a few months ago, Smanga wants to follow his mother and his sisters in being baptised, but his father refuses to allow his sons to be baptised under his permission. HOWEVER, Strech is 19, so he can sign his own record and he told us that he wants to be baptised! And he passed his interview last week!! So Strech is being baptised on Sunday; and I feel so grateful that he asked me to do it!

 But anyway, we we're going over a few lessons before he is baptised and we talked about repentance yesterday and I learned something that I had never though about before! A crucial step in repentence is developing a new view of yourself, of God, and of the world! As I pondered this I felt inspired to share it in my weekly email (and obviously I'm not just going to ignore that), so I would encourage you to ponder that statement and put it into practice as of... right now! 

I also think that it's important to mention that I have also become a master chef on mission. This week I made biscuits and gravy. Like I MADE the biscuits. and I MADE my own gravy. And it was delicious. So by the time I'm finished with mission I should be able to open up my own 5-Star Gourmet Resturante. Just sayin'.

I really enjoyed reading an article from Elder D. Todd Christofferson that encouraged us to ponder the absolute significance of the birth of Jesus Christ, to take a few moments to think about the conditions of His birth, and to consider that "Silent Night". I would pass along his challenge to each of you, to relax from the hustle and bustle of the busy holiday season to reflect on the birth of our Saviour, then go on and share your experience and help other remember the purpose behind our celebrations!

Also, Elder Sixaba nicknamed me Manqoba which is Zulu for victory or champion! So.. yeah.. Call me Manqoba! 

I love you all and I hope that you know that I love this gospel with all of my heart and soul! I know, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church, restored to our time to bless us and give us the knowledge and power we need to return to our Father's presence again-- to become just as He is now! Merry Christmas!

--

Elder Weiler

 The two newest members of the church! Nokwanda is standing next to me, and Khosi is standing next to Elder Benissan!! 

 This is missionary work?

 "It's braai-day, braai-day, gotta get down on braai-daay"

I woke up like this... FLAWLESS (We had to wake up at 5:30 to leave for Ladysmith by 6 AM)

Introducing The Two Newest Members of the Church!!

Okay so to be quick, I am in Ladysmith for the day because I dropped off Elder Benissan this morning, he is transferring to the coast! We don't have a chapel to email at here so I am at an internet cafe and we don't have very much time AT ALL. So this is going to be the quickest, most jam packed email in the history of quick, jam pakced emails. 

Habashwe.

So transfers were this weekend! I am staying in Newcastle! My new companion will be Elder Sixaba! He too is a native South African! However, Elder Benissan was Sotho and Elder Sixaba is Xhosa! So that will be an interesting turn of events! 

In other news, our "pet" cat (who we still haven't named) apparently has kittens??? We noticed on Thursday that we now have four cats living in our backyard! Can't complain. Names are on the way.

This week we also had a really powerful lesson with Ephraim, he invited us to have the lesson at his friend's, Lizo, house. We have taught Lizo twice before but it has been a long time since we have since him due to the festive season! But as we gathered at Lizo's house we were able to meet his older brother, Mdu. He sat in on the lesson with us and WOW it was POWERFUL. Lizo and Mdu were both very open and told us that they know they have lived their lives contrary to what they know is best for them and their families. Mdu stopped us in the middle of the lesson and told us that he knows our message is true and that he is willing to do anything to continue to take these lessons and come unto Christ! It was a really special night. I am so excited to continue teaching Lizo and Mdu! 

On Saturday we received a phone call from a member in Volkrust, which is about an hour away, and the sister we spoke to said that somebody needed a blessing ASAP. We asked her to call the Elders in Volkrust and she informed us that we were the closest missionaries to them. So we had to drop everything and venture out to Mpumelanga Province to administer to a Sister with severe appendicitis (I don't know if that is spelled right but remember this is quick and jam packed). We discovered that there have never been any missionaries in Volkrust, which became very obvious because EVERY single person we talked to asked us who we were and nobody had ever heard of our church!! We collected 5 referrals in 30 minutes! I talked to President Zackrison and I have hope that one day Volkrust will see the truthfulness of this gospel!

This week was also a relieving and uplifting contrast to last week! I feel as if last week was a test of our steadfastness and our patience, and this week was the reward for enduring it well!! This week we were able to see Khosi and Nokwanda be baptised and we are expecting 3 baptisms in 2 weeks! I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed us to carry His spirit with us, to testify of the truthfulness of this message! It is so uplifting to see people that you love come to take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ and make covenants with our Father in Heaven!

Okay so I said this would be super speedy and packed full of missionary goodness so I think this is going to be the end! I am afraid to send pictures because this computer is really sketchy and I don't want my camera to be corrupted! hahaha so pictures and more stories and testimonies to be borne next week! 

Thank you for all of the support and the prayers! I can feel it! I love you all and I appreciate this opportunity I have to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary!!   

--

Elder Weiler

Trouble in Paradise

What's up everybody. Sorry I missed last week. Wild lions roamed into the chapel and Elder Benissan had to fight them with our bare hands. Long story short I have a new suit made of lion skins.. 

There actually wasn't any trouble in paradise this week, it just sounded like an interesting subject. This was actually a really great week!! The following is a piece of my email to my weekly email to Presdient Zackrison that I wanted to share with each of you as well! 

"This week was an excellent week for growth. I truly believe that this was the greatest week for my own personal development. It has been frustrating to work so hard for so long to see so little fruits from our labours. Elder Benissan and I have worked so hard to bring every progressing investigator to a baptismal date and to help them to prepare to make covenants with our father in heaven as much as we possibly can -- and although we have seen very real and very genuine growth in the majority of our investigators and less active members, we are really struggling to get them to the waters of baptism. We have 9 people on a baptismal date and ( I believe the Holiday season LARGELY contributes to this ) but we can only see 3 of them actually being baptized by the end of 2015. 

I allowed myself to become discouraged this week, and in so doing, my mind and my heart were not nearly as involved in this work as I know they must be. However, I am so glad to report that prayer, repentance, faith, and true love for the people in Newcastle and love for this work have enabled me to come back fighting! Although I may have hit an obstacle in my expectations, I am so grateful that my Father, my Saviour, and my companion were able to help me hurdle over it and continue forward in achieving all of the goals and hopes that I have for Newcastle! 

I look to the future with a brightness of hope and a joy in sharing this gospel! I know that as we continue to act in small, simple obedience, we will begin to see greater growth than we ever have before!"

I feel like that was the biggest lesson and the greatest experience I had this week! However, there were definitely some other really great and really fun days this week as well! 

On Wednesday I went on an exchange with Elder Canamala! He's from Mosambique and he is the zone leader along with Elder Faganello! I really really enjoyed teaching with him! He is a very powerful missionary!

The transfer ends this week and Elder Benissan and I are biting our nails to see what's happening... the odds are like one in a million that we stay together ( "SO... you're saying there's a chance?") So we are waiting in very anxious anticipation! 15 missionaries are leaving this transfer! Which is sooo sad but I am also so excited to have so many new missionaries in the mission! President Zackrison says that new missionaries are the greatest blessing to any mission! I am shedding a few tears because Elder Faganello is going back home to Canada on Friday -- we have been the best of friends in the past 3 months!! 

This week Elder Benissan also found ourselves teaching Primary at church!! We were walking to the toilet during third hour and we heard absoute commotion in the primary room, so we poked our heads in only to find that none of the teachers showed up for church!!! #BranchLife

So we ended up teaching about 1 Nephi 3:7! It was actually really fun! 

All in all, this was a really great week! I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and that each of us can be enabled to overcome any trail that we face!! 

I love you all!! 

Shap shap!!

--

Elder Weiler 

Real men play with bubbles

There is an abandoned nuclear plant in Ngagane, it's so eerie, I just had to take pictures of them!
 There is a playground right near the plant, which adds to the value of every picture, so we got creative

The Prodigal Email

Aa!! Ninjani??

This week was super DUPER great!! Zone Conference was a very refreshing and motivating couple of days! I could not be more grateful to be serving the Lord at this time in my life! Especially here in South Africa!! 

(It was so nice to see a couple of the Elders from my MTC group at ZC! Elder Lesuer and Elder Thorson!)

On the drive to Durban, we received permission to stop in Hillcrest and visit some of Elder Faganello's converts from his first area! He really wanted to see them before he went home and it was so awesome to meet them! And I FINALLY met nice white people!! The Van Brugens. I found out that Hillcrest is where all the white people live, so a little part of me hopes that I will be assigned to serve there! 

The only down side to Zone Conference was that it took us 6 HOURS to drive home. We didn't get home until 1 am; and I have not stayed up that late for a loooooong time, so that was a struggle. On the drive home, there was a crazy traffic jam and people running up towards where the stopping seemed to begin, and Elder Benissan says "Whenever you see black people running, you know there's trouble." So we were afraid that there was going to be some crazy mob justice going on... hahaha it turned out to be construction. Thanks the heavens.

I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving!! Obviously, we don't celebrate the coming together of the pilgrims and the native americans here... But the Hind's hooked us up, BIG TIME! We got our district and the Madadeni Elders together and had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner and celebration! Thank goodness for the Hind's.

At Zone Conference they also showed us the new initiative for this Christmas season! HOLY MOLY. I love it so much! I am so grateful for this Christmas season! It is such an amazing time to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ, his attributes, and His sacrifice! I could not be more honoured to wear his name over my heart! I have grown so much during this opportunity I have to work as his servant! 

I think one of the funniest experiences we had this week was being humbled in a very.. unexpected way... When allotment runs thin, the struggle becomes more and more apparent to every missionary in the mission. Because of Thanksgiving in the USA, our allotment was postponed, and Elder Benissan and I began to worry... We made the best of what we had and, with a little bit of hesitance, and hoped that the Lord would provide. WELLLLLL obviously the Lord saw our doubt and decided to show us his ability to provide for his servants; we were fed like 5 times throughout the day!! Oh my days I have never been so full in my life!! 

Amongst those 5 meals, we had a braai ( a BBQ) with a brother named Sbu in Madadeni! It was a blast!! We had half of our zone there as a farewell to Elder Faganello and Elder Payne!! 

Amongst our braai-ing we were interrupted by some drunk guys looking for something to do on their lonely Saturday night. Fortunately ( and unfortunately), Sbu is a very very giving and loving guy, so he brought all 10 of them into his home and we rationed our spoils. It made for some awkward conversation when we told them that we were missionaries, sent to share the message of Jesus Christ... hahaha! But it turned out to be a very successful Braai! 

One of my favourite lessons that I learned this week was that choosing to follow the commandments from our Heavenly Father is choosing to receive the blessings of Heaven!! 

It's not a matter of what we can and can't do -- but rather, do you want to receive answers to your prayers and blessings from the Lord?

I love you all! And I am so grateful for the support and the prayers! 

Sale kahle!!

--

Elder Weiler