Hey! There is never enough time!
There are so many things to talk about and I am sorry but this week and day is just too busy so I wont be able to write very long or write everyone back! Sorry! But, basically everything is going great! :) the leg is pretty much all better :) it was quite an amazing week actually..
Last week sometime the Elders and Sisters planned on going to a Kazak concert. I wanted to go, but President Wooley wouldn't let me go because my leg was too bad. PS President Wooley got stuck in Kazakhstan for a couple of weeks. But, anyways so instead of going to the concert with everyone I had to stay at the Couples apartment all night with President Wooley because he had to figure out transfers. It was really an amazing experience because I got to spend a lot of one on one time with the President and we had a really long and serious conversation. It really was an answer to my prayers concerning the frustrations with my leg. Later that night Elder Moore and President Wooley gave me a blessing. The next day I woke up and the pain was gone! It was really a miracle! The redness was not completely gone, but almost all of the pain was gone. So ever since then I have been up working and my leg gets better everyday :) it was truly an answer to my prayers and thank you all for the prayers as well! I know that they helped and are still helping!
I just want to tell one more really quick experience about one meeting which Elder Nutt and I had this week. We found this family of six that we have started teaching. I guess the wife found interest in the church awhile ago but the husband wouldn't let her come. But, one day we ran into her on the street and she asked if we had English Practice because her husband wanted to learn English. So, we started meeting with them to teach them English. They came about 5 times for english and then Elder Nutt and I realized this past week that we need to start trying to move them over to the gospel. Well, recently at Zone Conference they had talked about how we can more effectively use the IPods that we have been blessed to be able to use. So, we decided this was a perfect time and we watched a short film called Reflections of Christ, it is my favorite movie about Christ! We didn't really know how it was going to go because we really hadn't talked about the church, but we just went for it and started our lesson with the movie. The whole rest of the lesson we ended up talking about Christ and religion. All we did is ask them about what they thought of the movie and they just talked to us the whole time.. It was amazing! The husband is an amazing person and very religious! He just doesn't have a specific religion.. he reads the Bible everyday and reads it out loud to his wife all of the time. He even writes down his thoughts that come to him as he reads the Bible. He brought his notebook with all of his notes and it is amazing how close his writing come to our beliefs! So, we ended up giving him a book of Mormon because he said he loves to read religious materials and now we are working really hard on converting their family! It was an amazing experience! ( PS their names are Sasha and Lela)
Well that was really my main experiences this week :) now I am just focusing and working harder and harder to make up the few weeks that I lost because of my stupid leg :) I just want to get lost in the work and service of the Lord! :) thank you all for the love and support I really appreciate the prayers and fasting for me! You are all amazing! Remember who you are! I love you all!
Elder Weihing
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Hello everyone once again :) what a week as always...
I guess I will just start with the update on my leg and health and everything.. at the first of the week it was really not looking very good and I was still laying in a bed almost all day with my foot up. It has kind of sucked :) but I am almost done with the Book of Mormon haha... we went to the doctor a lot and they just said to keep taking the antibiotics so that is what I did and nothing really seemed to change. We got in contact with a lot of different doctors and even like doctors in Russia and stuff who are from America and some of them said that they thought the doctors here prescribed me with the wrong antibiotic. Yesterday they were about the send me to Germany because their medical facilities are better so they would be able to take a biopsy and figure things out easier. But, they finally decided to go against that and instead try another doctor here in Almaty today. So, I got a blessing last night, I woke up today and almost all of the pain was gone. That is definitely a plus! Now I can walk on it and that makes things a lot easier! So we went to the doctor this morning and he looked at it and decided it has something to do with me being sick before my leg started hurting.. before my leg hurt I was sick and the glands in the my throat were huge! That went away and then he said they went around and started working on the veins in my legs. So, he has prescribed a new antibiotic and steroids for me to take :) haha it has been an interesting week! But, I gained a lot of new confidence when I woke up today and felt a lot better and didn't feel any pain! So. things are getting better and now I don't have to stay bed ridden all day too! This was quite an ordeal over some legs pains lol...
This past week we also had an activity at the church. They is a very popular holiday over here called Women's Day. It is really big! Basically it is just mothers day... so we put on an activity to celebrate it and it was a blast! They missionaries all got up (except for me because of my leg) and did a dance, there were jokes, music was played by a member who composes music on the piano, good food, we gave all the women presents.. it was just an amazing activity! There were more people there than there were at church! lol it was a good time.
Zone Conference was great! We talked about the importance of having the Spirit with us and it was truly inspiring. Haha I had to give a talk for it and it went well. I talked about Ammon and his amazing characteristics as a teacher and how we can gain the methods which he had through the Spirit. It was good. Interestingly enough I didn't know that the topic of Zone Conference was going to be the importance of the Spirit but it went along perfect with my talk. Well, President Wooley has been stuck in Kazakhstan for a week haha I think he is started to get really frustrated! For Russian missionaries, even Mission Presidents, you have to leave the country every 3 months and get your visa renewed to be in Russia. so, he usually just comes here and then goes back to Russia. But, this time they have had troubles with his visa renewal so he has been delayed a week! Haha so I have been hanging out quite a bit with him since I can't go anywhere and he came with me to the doctor today. I am pretty sure he is ready to get back to Russia though because he has a lot of work to do and transfers are coming up!!
There was also a baptism last Saturday and it was amazing! This guys name is Samat.. his whole family is a member except for him and he has had a really hard time quitting smoking and drinking.. the missionaries have really been working with him for about six or seven months I guess! It was really a blessing to see him get baptized! Before his baptism he was always so quite and seemed so scared to talk, but since the baptism I have seen a huge change in him and he has started opening up! There is no greater blessing to watch as someones life changes after baptism and receiving the gift of the holy ghost!
Well I know that today is my birthday but I really don't feel like it :) mission birthdays feel weird and actually I really like how it is no different than any other day haha but today is a p day so I think that they want to go play basketball so that I can go kick their trash even with a gimp leg :)
Well I hope everything at home is great! I love you all so much! thank you for the love and the support! :)
ELDER WEIHING
I guess I will just start with the update on my leg and health and everything.. at the first of the week it was really not looking very good and I was still laying in a bed almost all day with my foot up. It has kind of sucked :) but I am almost done with the Book of Mormon haha... we went to the doctor a lot and they just said to keep taking the antibiotics so that is what I did and nothing really seemed to change. We got in contact with a lot of different doctors and even like doctors in Russia and stuff who are from America and some of them said that they thought the doctors here prescribed me with the wrong antibiotic. Yesterday they were about the send me to Germany because their medical facilities are better so they would be able to take a biopsy and figure things out easier. But, they finally decided to go against that and instead try another doctor here in Almaty today. So, I got a blessing last night, I woke up today and almost all of the pain was gone. That is definitely a plus! Now I can walk on it and that makes things a lot easier! So we went to the doctor this morning and he looked at it and decided it has something to do with me being sick before my leg started hurting.. before my leg hurt I was sick and the glands in the my throat were huge! That went away and then he said they went around and started working on the veins in my legs. So, he has prescribed a new antibiotic and steroids for me to take :) haha it has been an interesting week! But, I gained a lot of new confidence when I woke up today and felt a lot better and didn't feel any pain! So. things are getting better and now I don't have to stay bed ridden all day too! This was quite an ordeal over some legs pains lol...
This past week we also had an activity at the church. They is a very popular holiday over here called Women's Day. It is really big! Basically it is just mothers day... so we put on an activity to celebrate it and it was a blast! They missionaries all got up (except for me because of my leg) and did a dance, there were jokes, music was played by a member who composes music on the piano, good food, we gave all the women presents.. it was just an amazing activity! There were more people there than there were at church! lol it was a good time.
Zone Conference was great! We talked about the importance of having the Spirit with us and it was truly inspiring. Haha I had to give a talk for it and it went well. I talked about Ammon and his amazing characteristics as a teacher and how we can gain the methods which he had through the Spirit. It was good. Interestingly enough I didn't know that the topic of Zone Conference was going to be the importance of the Spirit but it went along perfect with my talk. Well, President Wooley has been stuck in Kazakhstan for a week haha I think he is started to get really frustrated! For Russian missionaries, even Mission Presidents, you have to leave the country every 3 months and get your visa renewed to be in Russia. so, he usually just comes here and then goes back to Russia. But, this time they have had troubles with his visa renewal so he has been delayed a week! Haha so I have been hanging out quite a bit with him since I can't go anywhere and he came with me to the doctor today. I am pretty sure he is ready to get back to Russia though because he has a lot of work to do and transfers are coming up!!
There was also a baptism last Saturday and it was amazing! This guys name is Samat.. his whole family is a member except for him and he has had a really hard time quitting smoking and drinking.. the missionaries have really been working with him for about six or seven months I guess! It was really a blessing to see him get baptized! Before his baptism he was always so quite and seemed so scared to talk, but since the baptism I have seen a huge change in him and he has started opening up! There is no greater blessing to watch as someones life changes after baptism and receiving the gift of the holy ghost!
Well I know that today is my birthday but I really don't feel like it :) mission birthdays feel weird and actually I really like how it is no different than any other day haha but today is a p day so I think that they want to go play basketball so that I can go kick their trash even with a gimp leg :)
Well I hope everything at home is great! I love you all so much! thank you for the love and the support! :)
ELDER WEIHING
Monday, March 8, 2010
Letter from mission President's wife
Subject: Your son
Dear Brother and Sister Weihing,
President Woolley and I are in Kazakhstan and so we have been able to see your son. We were quite worried when we found out about his leg infection. Our U.S. doctor in Moscow has been in contact with him and he has been seen by the doctors at the International Clinic. When we first heard about his condition, we thought it might be a staph infection so President Woolley called to tell him to stay off his feet! That has been hard for a dedicated missionary like he is. During the days, he has mostly been staying with our wonderful senior couple here, the Moores. Right now for zone conference, another couple from Astana, the Shaws, have also been here, so he has spent time with them too. When Elder Weihing went to the International Clinic, it happened that an American doctor was here training. (All the medical people there are Western trained.) In any case, he said it probably was an infection of some kind and he changed the antibiotic. Both legs still have a rash, but it seems to be getting better because of the new antibiotic. Yesterday, he said his legs hurt a little when he stood up. Today he is feeling even better. The doctor told him to only work half a day for awhile. He plans on attending a baptism tonight at the branch. He lives quite near. I told him to take public transportation/taxi if he has to go any distance at least until he finishes the antibiotic.
You can be so proud of your son. He doesn't complain about his legs, even though he is impatient to get back to full time work. According to the Russian sister in this zone, he is speaking good Russian. Yesterday, at the zone conference, the zone leader selected him to give a talk on his Book of Mormon hero. He chose to talk about Ammon. I was really touched when he "likened" the scripture to his life and told of a time when he visited a sick friend and followed his prompting to take her to your home so his father could give her a priesthood blessing. How wonderful for him to recognize and follow that prompting. How wonderful for him to have a father who is worthy and willing to give that blessing.
We love Elder Weihing and are so happy he is in the Russia Moscow West Mission with us.
Sister Athelia Woolley
Russia Moscow West Mission
Dear Brother and Sister Weihing,
President Woolley and I are in Kazakhstan and so we have been able to see your son. We were quite worried when we found out about his leg infection. Our U.S. doctor in Moscow has been in contact with him and he has been seen by the doctors at the International Clinic. When we first heard about his condition, we thought it might be a staph infection so President Woolley called to tell him to stay off his feet! That has been hard for a dedicated missionary like he is. During the days, he has mostly been staying with our wonderful senior couple here, the Moores. Right now for zone conference, another couple from Astana, the Shaws, have also been here, so he has spent time with them too. When Elder Weihing went to the International Clinic, it happened that an American doctor was here training. (All the medical people there are Western trained.) In any case, he said it probably was an infection of some kind and he changed the antibiotic. Both legs still have a rash, but it seems to be getting better because of the new antibiotic. Yesterday, he said his legs hurt a little when he stood up. Today he is feeling even better. The doctor told him to only work half a day for awhile. He plans on attending a baptism tonight at the branch. He lives quite near. I told him to take public transportation/taxi if he has to go any distance at least until he finishes the antibiotic.
You can be so proud of your son. He doesn't complain about his legs, even though he is impatient to get back to full time work. According to the Russian sister in this zone, he is speaking good Russian. Yesterday, at the zone conference, the zone leader selected him to give a talk on his Book of Mormon hero. He chose to talk about Ammon. I was really touched when he "likened" the scripture to his life and told of a time when he visited a sick friend and followed his prompting to take her to your home so his father could give her a priesthood blessing. How wonderful for him to recognize and follow that prompting. How wonderful for him to have a father who is worthy and willing to give that blessing.
We love Elder Weihing and are so happy he is in the Russia Moscow West Mission with us.
Sister Athelia Woolley
Russia Moscow West Mission
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Hey everyone! Another week flown by in Kazakhstan, I can't believe how fast time moves! This week has been crazy-like every week of course! No time to really stop and think and a lot of work and preparation coming up for the baptisms this Saturday!
This week Elder Nut and I saw a lot of blessings from the Lord. We went from two strong gospel investigators and no potential gospel investigators and now we are at three strong gospel investigators and five really strong potential gospel investigators! It has been a crazy week! This weekend is also Zone Conference in Kazakhstan and this past week the AP's have been down here helping us out with a few things. We have been really busy and I have had a lot of really spiritual experiences but I want to tell about two of them really quickly...
This first happened last friday- I think. With an investigator named Zershot... that is a woman ps... Well a few weeks ago we had an English lesson with her and we asked her a few questions and stuff and it led into her telling us about how whenever she is around us she can see some light in our eyes or somethings like that and has a really good and warm feeling when she is around us. So, of course that is always a good thing so this last lesson we invited Sister Moore, the Sister from the Elderly couple here, and she helped us to teach a really strong first lesson. Zershot speaks perfect english and Sister Moore only speaks English so we were able to have the whole lesson in English without a problem. It was such a strong a powerful lesson the Spirit was SOO strong! Basically everyone was bawling at the end of the lesson.. but unfortunately Zershot just kept talking about how she is muslim. Her whole family is Muslim and she feels like if she just instantly accepted and joined our church then she would be betraying her religion, family, and God. So, though I know she has had a powerful witness she still needs some time before she will have a personal prayer to see if what we teach her is true. She is amazing and she still wants to keep meeting with us she just needs a little bit more time...
The next thing happened two days ago. I was on splits with one of the APs and he was teaching me a lot. We were contacting and it was my turn to talk to someone so I stopped this guy and started talking to him. I realized he spoke English so I asked him about that and stuff. He said that he lived in California for six years with his wife and her family. Then he said, "You guys are Mormon missionaries aren't you?" And that's how we found out that this guy married his wife and went to live in California with her and her family and her whole family are members of the church and they even have missionaries out on missions right now. He even said that he has read the Book of Mormon. But, he is not a member. He seemed like a really spiritual and kind guy and just said that he is Russian so he is Russian Orthodox. But, he was really open to conversation and we were able to tell him how unique and what a blessing it was from God that we met him on the street and he agreed. So now we are going to meet with him and see what we can do to help him.. that was an amazing blessing from the Lord! Out of anyone to find on the street we run into a man who has a wife whose whole family are strong members of the church! AMAZING!
We have found a lot of really amazing people because we have worked hard! This week has been an amazing example of working hard! Well my leg got a lot worse this past week and the doctors and my Mission President have confined me to a couch with my leg elevated and heated all day long to try and control the swelling. But, it is getting smaller and I hope soon that I will be out working hard again! :) The doctors still don't know what is wrong with it.
This weekend is Zone Conference and so it is going to be an even more amazing weekend with baptisms and all that fun stuff. Unfortunately Elder Nutt and I still are not going to have a baptism because we could not teach the last to lessons to one of our investigators in time, but we will have one with him very soon! Oh and tonight President Wooley is going to be here and he is having dinner with members who don't speak English and since I will be bed ridden anyways so I have to translate for him... we will see how that goes....
Well I hope everything at home is going great! Iove you all very much and thank you for all of the love and support! REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
ELDER WEIHING
This week Elder Nut and I saw a lot of blessings from the Lord. We went from two strong gospel investigators and no potential gospel investigators and now we are at three strong gospel investigators and five really strong potential gospel investigators! It has been a crazy week! This weekend is also Zone Conference in Kazakhstan and this past week the AP's have been down here helping us out with a few things. We have been really busy and I have had a lot of really spiritual experiences but I want to tell about two of them really quickly...
This first happened last friday- I think. With an investigator named Zershot... that is a woman ps... Well a few weeks ago we had an English lesson with her and we asked her a few questions and stuff and it led into her telling us about how whenever she is around us she can see some light in our eyes or somethings like that and has a really good and warm feeling when she is around us. So, of course that is always a good thing so this last lesson we invited Sister Moore, the Sister from the Elderly couple here, and she helped us to teach a really strong first lesson. Zershot speaks perfect english and Sister Moore only speaks English so we were able to have the whole lesson in English without a problem. It was such a strong a powerful lesson the Spirit was SOO strong! Basically everyone was bawling at the end of the lesson.. but unfortunately Zershot just kept talking about how she is muslim. Her whole family is Muslim and she feels like if she just instantly accepted and joined our church then she would be betraying her religion, family, and God. So, though I know she has had a powerful witness she still needs some time before she will have a personal prayer to see if what we teach her is true. She is amazing and she still wants to keep meeting with us she just needs a little bit more time...
The next thing happened two days ago. I was on splits with one of the APs and he was teaching me a lot. We were contacting and it was my turn to talk to someone so I stopped this guy and started talking to him. I realized he spoke English so I asked him about that and stuff. He said that he lived in California for six years with his wife and her family. Then he said, "You guys are Mormon missionaries aren't you?" And that's how we found out that this guy married his wife and went to live in California with her and her family and her whole family are members of the church and they even have missionaries out on missions right now. He even said that he has read the Book of Mormon. But, he is not a member. He seemed like a really spiritual and kind guy and just said that he is Russian so he is Russian Orthodox. But, he was really open to conversation and we were able to tell him how unique and what a blessing it was from God that we met him on the street and he agreed. So now we are going to meet with him and see what we can do to help him.. that was an amazing blessing from the Lord! Out of anyone to find on the street we run into a man who has a wife whose whole family are strong members of the church! AMAZING!
We have found a lot of really amazing people because we have worked hard! This week has been an amazing example of working hard! Well my leg got a lot worse this past week and the doctors and my Mission President have confined me to a couch with my leg elevated and heated all day long to try and control the swelling. But, it is getting smaller and I hope soon that I will be out working hard again! :) The doctors still don't know what is wrong with it.
This weekend is Zone Conference and so it is going to be an even more amazing weekend with baptisms and all that fun stuff. Unfortunately Elder Nutt and I still are not going to have a baptism because we could not teach the last to lessons to one of our investigators in time, but we will have one with him very soon! Oh and tonight President Wooley is going to be here and he is having dinner with members who don't speak English and since I will be bed ridden anyways so I have to translate for him... we will see how that goes....
Well I hope everything at home is going great! Iove you all very much and thank you for all of the love and support! REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
ELDER WEIHING
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday February 24, 2010
Hey everyone! How is everyone doing and how is life? :)
This week has been really interesting... about a week and a half ago my leg started hurting a little big and started swelling up a little as well.. at first I just assumed it was because I had rolled my ankle and not really noticed it or something... But then after awhile I showed my comp and he didn't know what was going on with it and I showed the old couple here and they insisted we go to the doctor because it kept getting bigger and redder. So I went to the doctor yesterday and they don't know yet what is wrong. they made me get an x ray and have a blood test and now we are just waiting for the results to see what is wrong. Lol kind of interesting. :) So we will see..
Something else really interesting happened this week too... I don't know if I have explained this yet but when we have lessons we almost always meet our investigators at the church and we have our lessons there so we are usually at the church all day long with lessons. Well this past week as we were waiting for a lesson to come to the church someone came into the church and just sat down... it was wearing a big coat, a dress, and the shoes of a man... but it just sat there and put its head down so we couldn't see whether it was a man or a woman. We tried to talk to it but it didn't speak english or Russian and was talking in Kazak. Luckily we had an investigator there who speaks Kazak and he tried to figure out a few things. We figured out that it was a guy who had traveled from west Kazakhstan to Almaty to try and find work and he came here and lost everything. He came in the church to rest for thirty minutes. He didn't say why he was wearing a dress but my and I ran back to our apt. to try and get a few things like pants and socks for him but when we came back he was gone. So I really don't know what happened with him.. it was just a crazy experience though!
Our investigators are doing great :) This past sunday we committed one investigator to baptism! It was great and he is planning on being baptized on march 6th! I would write his name but honestly I don't know how in english.. lol but and then Nona is still progressing.. she refused to pray about the book of mormon to see if our church is true until she has read the whole thing but she reads 16 chapters a week so she is cruising and is already halfway through alma! Other than that we just have a lot of investigators whom we teach english and the piano lol.
The work is going great and the language is coming along slowly but surely lol I am trying to make sure I still grow spiritually as well as in the language and not just focus on one or the other and I think that will help me to be a more effective missionary! I miss and love you all! Remember who you are!
ELDER WEIHING
This week has been really interesting... about a week and a half ago my leg started hurting a little big and started swelling up a little as well.. at first I just assumed it was because I had rolled my ankle and not really noticed it or something... But then after awhile I showed my comp and he didn't know what was going on with it and I showed the old couple here and they insisted we go to the doctor because it kept getting bigger and redder. So I went to the doctor yesterday and they don't know yet what is wrong. they made me get an x ray and have a blood test and now we are just waiting for the results to see what is wrong. Lol kind of interesting. :) So we will see..
Something else really interesting happened this week too... I don't know if I have explained this yet but when we have lessons we almost always meet our investigators at the church and we have our lessons there so we are usually at the church all day long with lessons. Well this past week as we were waiting for a lesson to come to the church someone came into the church and just sat down... it was wearing a big coat, a dress, and the shoes of a man... but it just sat there and put its head down so we couldn't see whether it was a man or a woman. We tried to talk to it but it didn't speak english or Russian and was talking in Kazak. Luckily we had an investigator there who speaks Kazak and he tried to figure out a few things. We figured out that it was a guy who had traveled from west Kazakhstan to Almaty to try and find work and he came here and lost everything. He came in the church to rest for thirty minutes. He didn't say why he was wearing a dress but my and I ran back to our apt. to try and get a few things like pants and socks for him but when we came back he was gone. So I really don't know what happened with him.. it was just a crazy experience though!
Our investigators are doing great :) This past sunday we committed one investigator to baptism! It was great and he is planning on being baptized on march 6th! I would write his name but honestly I don't know how in english.. lol but and then Nona is still progressing.. she refused to pray about the book of mormon to see if our church is true until she has read the whole thing but she reads 16 chapters a week so she is cruising and is already halfway through alma! Other than that we just have a lot of investigators whom we teach english and the piano lol.
The work is going great and the language is coming along slowly but surely lol I am trying to make sure I still grow spiritually as well as in the language and not just focus on one or the other and I think that will help me to be a more effective missionary! I miss and love you all! Remember who you are!
ELDER WEIHING
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday February 10,2010
Hey family! How is everything going??!! Thank you for all of the love and support!
This week has bee very tough and yet a great week! It started out really tough because I felt really sick. I had a pretty bad headache for a few days in a row, I couldn't eat much because my throat was killing me, and I was constantly nauscis lol I have no idea how to spell that.. it was tough to keep working while I felt like that! It was really hard to focus on Investigators and their needs instead worrying about when I was going to throw up next or something like that. It was also though because I could tell Elder Nutt was getting a bit frustrated with me being sick.. I can understand why, it would be annoying dealing with a sick companion on our busiest days of the week. Overall he was very patient with me though so that helped me out a lot! But now I am finally getting a lot better and feeling better everyday! We all know how it feels to get over a sickness.. you feel like you are on top of the world! So I feel really good right now and am just trying to keep that energy and joy for as long as possible!
This past week has been one of the coldest weeks since I have been here! I can only remember the temperature for one day and it was 0 degrees F! But I think there have been a couple colder days than that!
So I want to tell about something that I think is really funny here.. the taxi system! They have just regular taxis or you can just go out to the side of the road a wave down a car and offer to pay them money. When we need to take a taxi we always do it this way. At first I was really hesitant because I didn't want to get killed and it seemed really weird, but now when we do it everything seems natural and fine. I just thought you might think that was interesting.
Well I ate one really weird thing here this past week and it is the dreaded food among missionaries! It is call halladets... I don't know how to spell it in English. It is so nasty! Basically what it is is all the fat and oil from meet mixed with gelatin and cooled down, they put a little meat and few vegetable in it and then they eat it. Basically it is a jello full of meet and fat.. it is horrible! But when you eat at someones house here it is very rude if you don't try everything on the table so I have to try it.
Haha well the language is still coming along everyday. I still cannot say that I understand everything or that I even understand most of what is said. But I can say that I am progressing! :)
We have been working really hard on switching over our English investigators to Gospel investigators. It has actually been going a lot better than I thought it would! It is amazing how the Spirit leads our conversations and lessons with our investigators! There is one English Investigator in particular, his name is Farhat, he has no religion but has a very strong relationship with his family. So this past week we decided to share with his the movie Together Forever in English and help him understand it... it was amazing! After they movie I just felt so strong to testify how strongly I feel for my own family and it led our discussion to the Plan of Salvation.. Now when he comes for English practice he always has questions about our religion and is interested in learning more. It is amazing the way the Spirit works and when it works especially in the times you least expect it.. I love this work that I am apart of and I only hope that I can do my part to make my Father in Heaven proud. I hope I can represent him in a way that he would have me represent him. I hope I can be sensitive to all the feelings and promptings that I get and can act on them with boldness! I am grateful for this gospel and I love you all very much! I miss you of course but I also love where I am! thank you for all that you do once again and I pray that you will be able to feel how much love I and our Father in Heaven has for you!
ELDER WEIHING
This week has bee very tough and yet a great week! It started out really tough because I felt really sick. I had a pretty bad headache for a few days in a row, I couldn't eat much because my throat was killing me, and I was constantly nauscis lol I have no idea how to spell that.. it was tough to keep working while I felt like that! It was really hard to focus on Investigators and their needs instead worrying about when I was going to throw up next or something like that. It was also though because I could tell Elder Nutt was getting a bit frustrated with me being sick.. I can understand why, it would be annoying dealing with a sick companion on our busiest days of the week. Overall he was very patient with me though so that helped me out a lot! But now I am finally getting a lot better and feeling better everyday! We all know how it feels to get over a sickness.. you feel like you are on top of the world! So I feel really good right now and am just trying to keep that energy and joy for as long as possible!
This past week has been one of the coldest weeks since I have been here! I can only remember the temperature for one day and it was 0 degrees F! But I think there have been a couple colder days than that!
So I want to tell about something that I think is really funny here.. the taxi system! They have just regular taxis or you can just go out to the side of the road a wave down a car and offer to pay them money. When we need to take a taxi we always do it this way. At first I was really hesitant because I didn't want to get killed and it seemed really weird, but now when we do it everything seems natural and fine. I just thought you might think that was interesting.
Well I ate one really weird thing here this past week and it is the dreaded food among missionaries! It is call halladets... I don't know how to spell it in English. It is so nasty! Basically what it is is all the fat and oil from meet mixed with gelatin and cooled down, they put a little meat and few vegetable in it and then they eat it. Basically it is a jello full of meet and fat.. it is horrible! But when you eat at someones house here it is very rude if you don't try everything on the table so I have to try it.
Haha well the language is still coming along everyday. I still cannot say that I understand everything or that I even understand most of what is said. But I can say that I am progressing! :)
We have been working really hard on switching over our English investigators to Gospel investigators. It has actually been going a lot better than I thought it would! It is amazing how the Spirit leads our conversations and lessons with our investigators! There is one English Investigator in particular, his name is Farhat, he has no religion but has a very strong relationship with his family. So this past week we decided to share with his the movie Together Forever in English and help him understand it... it was amazing! After they movie I just felt so strong to testify how strongly I feel for my own family and it led our discussion to the Plan of Salvation.. Now when he comes for English practice he always has questions about our religion and is interested in learning more. It is amazing the way the Spirit works and when it works especially in the times you least expect it.. I love this work that I am apart of and I only hope that I can do my part to make my Father in Heaven proud. I hope I can represent him in a way that he would have me represent him. I hope I can be sensitive to all the feelings and promptings that I get and can act on them with boldness! I am grateful for this gospel and I love you all very much! I miss you of course but I also love where I am! thank you for all that you do once again and I pray that you will be able to feel how much love I and our Father in Heaven has for you!
ELDER WEIHING
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Well everyone sounds like they are doing great! Life sounds like it is just crazy back in the good old USA! I really have been blessed with family and friends that I truly feel I don't deserve! You all truly inspire me and give me great advice that makes every week so much easier and better! Thank you so much for all of the love and support and all of your letters! Sorry for how long it takes me to reply! I love you all and am grateful for all that you have done for me!
This past week we had Zone Conference. First one in the field! It was great! President Wooley and his wife came down and we also had some baptisms while they were here.. :( unfortunately none of them were Elder Nutt and I's investigators. For Zone Conference we learned a lot about Islam because that is the majority of the people that we are teaching.. it was so interesting! It really is crazy how similar our religions are in many ways... it gave me a new perspective on how I can teach our Muslim investigators or at least get them to open up and talk to us a little bit more.
The Baptisms were great! Basically for baptisms here we just bring in a huge tub in the Church and fill it with water. It was very interesting and new for me! But, it was very spiritual and uplifting! It is amazing to me the things that people give up to become members of the Church.. many have been shunned by their families because of their new found belief. They have such trust in God and never deny the feelings and promptings that they get to be baptized despite of the judgement from family and friends... It has been a very humbling experience for me to see that. It makes me think about what I have given up or sacrificed.. I feel so blessed to have grown up under the covenant and I have taken for granted such things that I now realize are the most important in life. I have been blessed with amazing family, friends, the opportunity to live in a free country, the privilege to grow up in the one and only true church on the Earth, and the greatest opportunity to give up two years of my life to serve my Father in Heaven and give every second I have to Him. I can never give enough thanks for what I have been given...
Well the big news of the week! I finally received my permission to preach! It only took about five weeks into my mission but I can finally preach the gospel! This has actually added a lot more obstacles in the missionary work.. before I just had to worry about talking to the people which the spirit tells me to talk to, now I have to be able to recognize what the Spirit wants me to say to people and preach to them! I am working really hard to do this!
My companion Elder Nutt and I are doing great. We are finally getting used to how we work together and we have been trying to get more organized in our missionary work to become more effective with our time and more persistent with accomplishing our goals.
At the moment we only have one investigator who is really progressing and that is Nona. She is still reading the Book of Mormon and I think next week is when she plans on praying about it to see whether it is true! I am so excited for this because I know that she is going to receive and answer! she has worked so hard and I think just wants to do everything the right way.. she is doing great!
We have ton of investigator for English and piano and we are working really hard to slowly get them involved in the gospel. This week we had a lot of success with two English Investigators in the gospel and I think that they will be interested to start taking gospel lessons with us as well.. I hope that I can to my part to keep them interested!
Well that is really most of what has happened during this past week! once again thank you for the love and support! I am so lucky to have such amazing family and Friends! I love you!
Love,
Elder Weihing
Well everyone sounds like they are doing great! Life sounds like it is just crazy back in the good old USA! I really have been blessed with family and friends that I truly feel I don't deserve! You all truly inspire me and give me great advice that makes every week so much easier and better! Thank you so much for all of the love and support and all of your letters! Sorry for how long it takes me to reply! I love you all and am grateful for all that you have done for me!
This past week we had Zone Conference. First one in the field! It was great! President Wooley and his wife came down and we also had some baptisms while they were here.. :( unfortunately none of them were Elder Nutt and I's investigators. For Zone Conference we learned a lot about Islam because that is the majority of the people that we are teaching.. it was so interesting! It really is crazy how similar our religions are in many ways... it gave me a new perspective on how I can teach our Muslim investigators or at least get them to open up and talk to us a little bit more.
The Baptisms were great! Basically for baptisms here we just bring in a huge tub in the Church and fill it with water. It was very interesting and new for me! But, it was very spiritual and uplifting! It is amazing to me the things that people give up to become members of the Church.. many have been shunned by their families because of their new found belief. They have such trust in God and never deny the feelings and promptings that they get to be baptized despite of the judgement from family and friends... It has been a very humbling experience for me to see that. It makes me think about what I have given up or sacrificed.. I feel so blessed to have grown up under the covenant and I have taken for granted such things that I now realize are the most important in life. I have been blessed with amazing family, friends, the opportunity to live in a free country, the privilege to grow up in the one and only true church on the Earth, and the greatest opportunity to give up two years of my life to serve my Father in Heaven and give every second I have to Him. I can never give enough thanks for what I have been given...
Well the big news of the week! I finally received my permission to preach! It only took about five weeks into my mission but I can finally preach the gospel! This has actually added a lot more obstacles in the missionary work.. before I just had to worry about talking to the people which the spirit tells me to talk to, now I have to be able to recognize what the Spirit wants me to say to people and preach to them! I am working really hard to do this!
My companion Elder Nutt and I are doing great. We are finally getting used to how we work together and we have been trying to get more organized in our missionary work to become more effective with our time and more persistent with accomplishing our goals.
At the moment we only have one investigator who is really progressing and that is Nona. She is still reading the Book of Mormon and I think next week is when she plans on praying about it to see whether it is true! I am so excited for this because I know that she is going to receive and answer! she has worked so hard and I think just wants to do everything the right way.. she is doing great!
We have ton of investigator for English and piano and we are working really hard to slowly get them involved in the gospel. This week we had a lot of success with two English Investigators in the gospel and I think that they will be interested to start taking gospel lessons with us as well.. I hope that I can to my part to keep them interested!
Well that is really most of what has happened during this past week! once again thank you for the love and support! I am so lucky to have such amazing family and Friends! I love you!
Love,
Elder Weihing
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