"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... ???

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! 

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...

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!

I'm being transferred to Johannesburg? + Anniversary Trip with the Roberts!

Warning: the following email is really long but I promise it's going to be the most entertaining 10 minutes of you life! If you're not satisfied you get your money back!! 

Greetings for Johannesburg! 

This week has been so awesome and so crazy! First of all, it was the last week of the transfer, and we finished it with a baptism! Maki was supposed to be baptized a month ago, but she had to go to Lesotho to renew her worker's visa. But it FINALLY happened!! 

We also had some really really really (that's 3 "really"s) powerful lessons this week about the Plan of Salvation; reading the Infinite Atonement has made me obsessed with the Atonement, and it has broadened the horizons of my mind and my spirit like perhaps nothing else has! As we taught investigators about the Plan of Salvation, we capitalized on the Atonement to make sure that every person that we taught could not possibly misunderstand the eternal significance of the truth that we have a living Savior, we descended and became like us so that we could eventually ascend and become like Him and our Heavenly Father (Hebrews 2:17).

And now for the main event:

On Saturday morning we had our Mormon Helping Hands Project at an Orphanage, and that was going great! UNTIL DISASTER STRUCK (just kidding it's not a big deal, Mom don't freak out) I was pruning this ridiculously tall bush, and to get to the top I had to stand up on something; so while I was cutting (the bushes were looking really nice if I can mention it) the rock underneath me turned over and I fell, while I was falling I tried to catch myself on a fence I was leaning on, and in South Africa every fence is topped with spikes or forks, and on of those forks just so happened to be right under my hand and punctured my palm (how rude). So I was just like "oh no this isn't good" and just ran into the courtyard and was like "Hey.. I need some help.." and then two members and Elder Mcopela jumped to the rescue and drove me to the hospital.

We went to the hospital in the township (bad idea; but please don't judge we were rushing) and we sat there for about an hour and they didn't do anything and I'm just sitting in the waiting room trying to be cool and finally we were like nah man this place is bogus so then we drove to the hospital in Bloemfontein and waited for like 2 hours and FINALLY we got help! 

First and foremost, I got an young(ish) female Afrikaans doctor who was way too excited that I was American and maybe it's because I have had zero contact with girls in almost a year, but she was VERY VERY touchy!!!!! hahaha Elder Moore can attest that it's true! ( 2 Corinthians 13:1) Yeah she was way too friendly and I was freaked out hahah but in the end all they did was give me a tetanus shot and wrap my hand (they wanted to give me stitches but I was like "no ways keep that needle out of my hand woman") and then sent me home.

Now this story would be alright if it ended there... But there's more!

Throughout the day I was really concerned because ever since I hurt my hand I had lost feeling in my ring finger and my little finger! I told the Robert's ( the senior couple in Bloem) and they called the Mission Doctor and he was like oh my days you guys have to come to Joburg to see a specialist (those were not his exact words but it sufficeth me to say that he was very concerned) SOOO this morning the Robert's and me packed the car and left for Johannesburg (Joburg is outside of the mission boundaries so this is a big deal ppl)! We sat in a hospital for four hours today and I think we filled out like 10 pages of forms, but finally we were referred to a plastic surgeon! We met her in the "breast care unit" which was really awkward and had very interesting pictures so Elder Roberts and I just stared at the floor hahahaha

The doctor told me that the fence injured a common digital nerve in my hand and that explained the loss of sensation in my two fingers, so they amputated my fingers!!

just kidding. they didn't amputate. I'm getting plastic surgery on Wednesday! They're going to open up my hand, repair the nerve, close it back up and I'm going to take a nap and wake up with fingers that feel normally again :)) hahaha

So yeah, that's the story! I think Mom is probably booking a flight to South Africa right now to pick me up... But that's the whole of it! I'm okay, don't worry!! I'm mostly worried because we had scheduled appointments and I have to be here until Thursday... hahaha

To make matters better, today is the Robert's 44th Anniversary! And I'm chaperoning!! I have a feeling that this anniversary will be pretty hard to forget... hahaha!

So, that was my week! I'd say it's been a success! I'm so grateful for the protection from the Lord, and I'm so grateful for His gospel! I know that there is no greater joy nor greater peace than that that comes from living righteous and obedient lives! I know that we experience the greatest joy when we are in the service of our fellowman, teaching the gospel, and magnifying our callings and responsibilities! 

Okay this is so long but I had a really sweet impression yesterday during Priesthood meeting -- Life isn't supposed to be easy! It has never ever been in the plan of our Father for life to be convenient! We are here to be tried and tested! We are here to learn and grow -- not to vacation on Earth in mortal bodies, not to waste away our mortal probation with temporal things of no eternal significance, and it's never been in the plan for our lives to be easy going! We have to give something of ourselves to lay up treasures in heaven ( Matthew 6:19-20)! Although life is meant to be enjoyed and life is meant to be good; we should not expect life to be easy! We must teach ourselves  to learn to LOVE to be tried, to LOVE to work, and to LOVE to be mindful and obedient to our Heavenly Father's will! 

I love you all! And I am so grateful that I am able to serve in the Lord's vineyard! I know that this work is true, I know that this message changes lives, and I know that the Savior lives and that He loves YOU!

--

Elder Weiler

Garage church pics + FUFU

Okay hey guys this is Elder Weiler we're not in a sketchy email shop today we're at the chapel in Bloemfontein and we've totally abused free internet becuase we just watched mormon messages for like an hour and a half so I'm really tired and everybody wants to leave but I HAVE TO UPDATE THE BLOG hahahha so this will probably be the best email ever in the shortest email ever. 

Okay so a winner quote from sacrament meeting yesterday was "Love is making time for someone else in your life" -- I was pondering about that in relation to showing our love for God; and the principle is identical! We show our Heavenly Father by consecrating time to do the things he has asked us! Serving a mission, attending church and attending the temple, doing family history work, serving others, and fulfilling our callings are all excellent ways to consecrate our time and talents to our Heavenly Father and show Him that we love Him! Will you make a conscious effort to show your love for your Father in Heaven this week? (Good missionaries always leave commitments).

Now, for the crowning event of this email. The topic says it all. This week contained one of the funniest stories of my whole mission!! On Tuesday we went to contact a guy that we met while we were filling up with petrol and when we got to his house he was like "Oh yeah so I told my pastor that you guys were coming to visit and he wants you to come visit the church, he's having a session right now!" and we were like Uh-oh... But we just went with it.. hahha so when he said "church" I was expecting a chapel, but we started walking down the street and he led us into one of his neighbor's garage that was decorated with a cross on the far wall and filled with decorated, plastic chairs. He was at the front of the garage standing at a pulpit talking about "dangerous sons" (I have no idea), so we just sat down and listened to the rest of the sermon. 

At the end of the sermon he was like "We are so grateful to have our brothers from the Latter-Day Saints with us, one of them will now come and introduce themselves to us." and Elder Mcopela and I just looked at each other and Elder Mcopela said "Go ahead, it's a once in a life time opportunity". So I got up and made my way to the front of this guy's garage and took my place at the pulpit and introduced ourselves to all 6 people in the congregation hahahaha I established our purpose and then bore my testimony of Jesus Christ while this guy was just jamming out on his keyboard in the back (that was his job), after I finished everybody clapped.. that was weird... I've never had anybody applaud my testimony before... ahahah after I sat down we all sang a gospel song that I didn't know the lyrics and it was awkward hahaha! After closing with a prayer, the archbishop came and invited us to have a meal with all of them, but unfortunately we had to run to another appointment (I was really hungry and really interested in what they were serving... But the world may never know... It could have been bucket juice :) ) 

Well that's it for this week! Everything is great here in Blomanda! This is the last week of the transfer, I can't believe how fast transfers are flying by!!! I think I'll stay here though! Which is exciting because the Lord has blessed us with so many great people to teach recently!! 

Love you all! 

Peace N Blessings,

--

Pastor Weiler

P.S. My companion hit his one year mark last week.  I got up early and surprised him with some delicious homemade savory bread!

Also, a Ghanaian member, Brother Kwame, made us traditional Ghanaian food!! This is called Fufu! 

I love Ghanaian food too much.

I'm running out of creative subjects...

Okay so remember last week when I said I had no time? Same situation this week.. EISH!

Also, I apologise for not emailing yesterday; a python got into our boarding so Elder Mcopela and I spent the day hiding and catching it and returning it to the zoo -- the mayor also gave us the key to the city and we're nationally acclaimed for our act of heroism to the wonderful people of the rainbow nation (South Africa)!!!

Just Kidding. 

We had Zone Conference yesterday. hahahhaha but that's just as exciting right?? (Nah.)

The past few weeks have been awesome!! We've had a lot of meetings and exchanges, but I feel like we're growing with each and every one!! Two weeks ago we went to Mission Leadership Conference in Bethlehem (not in the middle east) (that gets confused a lot) and that was awesome!!

On our way to Bethlehem

Picked up a new missionary

 It's so exciting to meet with and hear from President Thompson and his vision for the mission!! He's a great man! I'm so excited to see where the mission goes with him leading us!! He also includes his wife a lot, and I really like that!

This week we had a Zone Training Meeting, and I had a really great experience with receiving revelation concerning what I needed to teach, it is presented as the following (this is a clip of my letter to President Thompson):

Last week I was feeling stressed because I was diligently searching for revelation concerning my ZTM lesson, but to no avail. Finally, as I knelt in prayer just a few nights before our meetings, I asked the Lord to help me prepare and present a lesson that would be most beneficial to our entire zone; I think before I may have had some selfish desires concerning the lesson, but as I humbled myself and promised to do His will, the lesson dawned on me! I taught a lesson titled "How Do I Help Investigators Apply What They Learn From Missionary Lessons?", I searched the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, and my past experiences and as I did, not only did was I able to put together an informative and uplifting lesson, I was able to recognise how much the Lord has worked with me and helped me to become the missionary He wants me to be and the missionary that I need to be! 

Yesterday we had our zone conference and it was awesome!! The spirit was so powerful!! It strengthened my testimony that the Spirit is the greatest teacher!! As missionaries (and as Latter-Day Saints) we can go about teaching as much as we like, but our efforts will be nearly wasted if we don't do it with the Spirit!! Unless our words and our testimonies are confirmed by the Spirit of the Lord, people will not remember nor value what we have shared with them!! Yesterday, the Spirit did the teaching, not President or Sister Thompson or their assistants!!

In terms of testimony, I am falling in love with the Book of Mormon and the Atonement over and over again!! As I study them and really really consider and apply them, I am seeing the absolute relevance that they have in our lives!! They are central to our happiness, both temporally and eternally speaking!! I would encourage all of you to reflect on your testimony of the Book of Mormon and your love and understanding of the Atonement! Study them! Share them!! 

In terms of the work, I mentioned before that we were feeling like we kept hitting dead ends, but after seeking revelation, studying hard, and working hard, I feel like Elder Mcopela have found the right street in our work! I can see ahead, and the future is bright!! (2 Nephi 31:20) I know that this is the Lord's work, and I know that He is guiding us! I know that we (all of us as Latter-Day Saints) are representatives of Jesus Christ! I know that the message we testify of has the power to change lives and bless all those who will believe and act on it!! 

Elder Weiler

This is from a dinner appointment we had with some investigators! They're from Ghana so they made us traditional Ghanaian food! This is Banku and Nkate3 soup! (Yes, I meant to put a 3 there, in Twi (their native language) they have a different alphabet that includes a letter that is almost like a 3.. hahaha)

the Nkate3 soup included Fish, Peanut Butter, Goat Meat, and Chillies called Peri Peri (it sounds gross, but it's better than you'd think!!!) Also, you eat Banku with your hands, I don't know why they put spoons there hahaha! Best DA ever.