Home!
Monday, June 22, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Coming Home!
Hey!
Thanks for all the support and emails! I don't have a normal
pday today, I'm at the offices with all my bags already, so I don't really have
a ton of time to email...sorry! I guess you were probably expecting a more
interesting final email...
But I love you all and can't wait to see you all! See you
soon!
love
Elder Webster
Monday, May 25, 2015
Quite The Blessings
Hey!
Sounds like quite the week! Sounds like the wedding went
well! I hope mom is okay!
This week was pretty good. On Wednesday the district came to
our area to do an activity where we all went out to basically talk to as many
people as possible to find more people to teach. We even had the participation
of some youth from the ward, so that was way cool. It was way cool and nice of
all them to come help us out like that. We spent most of the rest of the week
trying to go back and meet all of the people that they told us about. Most of
them weren't home when we went by, but we have an appointment tomorrow with
someone that they met that basically told us that she would have been baptized
years ago, but that she was too young when her family got baptized and then
somehow she never got around to it...? Hopefully we can keep finding lots of
new people!
We also got a cool new investigator this week. We went to a
house looking for a past investigator, but...it turns out he's been in jail for the last year. But it also turns out
that his mom/aunt (I'm not really sure how they are related) is way receptive
and invited us to come by some time. We went by with a member and it went super
well. Her name is América. Hopefully she's able to keep progressing.
I also got to do a baptismal interview this past week which
went way well. The investigator is crippled and we did it while he was on his
bed, but it went way well. It was great getting to hear his testimony. The
whole time I was just thinking about what a blessing it was that I got to be
the one to get to talk to him right before he did something so important. Not
to mention, who would have thought that I would ever be able to have a deep and
spiritual conversation with someone who grew up in La Paz, Bolivia? Quite the
blessing. And the zone leaders asked me to go to some interviews of a family
tomorrow, so I think I'll be doing 5 or 6 interviews tomorrow. Pretty excited.
As a verse of the week, its something that caught my
attention in Omni 1:2. (Haha hopefully my good friend Omni doesn't take any
offense from this--He sounds like a way better guy than me). But in that verse
he acknowledged his wickedness and his sins. What caught my attention was that
he made no mention of any repentance or intent to repent (again, no offense
Omni, I'm sure you are all good now). But it made me think a lot about the
difference between the recognition of sin, and repenting of that sin.
Recognition is an essential first step, but I've met a lot of people who seem
to think that if they just confess their sin, its all done and they are safe.
They tell me that they are imperfect, but when I tell them how to be perfected,
they don't seem to be interested. I really like the simple and straightforward
explanation of repentance given in D&C 58:42-43.
I hope you all have a great week! Haha I sure hope I do :)
You're all the best! Thanks for the support and love you always give me.
Elder Webster
Cordoba Temple Dedication
Hey!
Sounds like you all had a fun week! Sorry about the rain at
the father/son campout, but I'm glad everything worked out. Its hard to believe
that school is ending (ended?). And yup, don't worry mom, alfajores are
definitely on my list as something to bring back. I'll probably try to see if I
can bring some mate also. You'll probably hate mate but...hey...everyone has to
try it once. Kind of..
Again, sorry for not really saying anything last week. We
went on a hike up Cerro Arco as a district, and it took longer than we thought.
The member that brought us said we could get back by 4, but that wasn't really
the case. Not that anything really went wrong, I guess our district just don't
hike very fast...haha..not to point fingers at anyone :) Anyway, pretty cool
week here in Dorrego. On wednesday, our whole district took a double-decker bus
at 6am to go on a 2 1/2 hour drive up into the Andes to get to a place called
Uspallata, part of our district. The branch president there asked the mission
president to send us up to give them a "boost" for a day. So I'm
pretty sure that between the whole district, we talked to almost all of
Uspallata. Super beautiful place! We found a lot of receptive people and the
sisters that are assigned to that area were way grateful for the help.
Yesterday was also a way special day. We got to watch the
dedication of the new temple in Córdoba Argentina. Its been a long time since
I've gotten to see a temple. It was a way special experience. I would
definitely like to make the temple a more important part of my life in the
future. I read a quote in a booklet about preparing to go to the temple, that
basically said that, while we can organize stakes, wards, branches, relief
societies, quorums in any building or location, the Lord has told us that the
only place where we can organize eternal families is in the temple. Kind of
cool to think about.
Verse of the week. So, I've been thinking lately about how
the Lord commands us to seek wisdom and learning, but that there are also many
prophecies and curses that are to fall upon the "wise and learned". I
really like how James talked about 2 different types of wisdom in James3:13-17. In my opinion, I think that those who seek to be humble will find more
wisdom than those who seek to be wise. Perhaps thats why in Matthew 11:29, when
Christ said to learn of Him, He specifically mentioned learning from His
meekness and humility, rather than trying to learn from something else (like
His wisdom and knowledge, which He also had, but didn't mention). I guess it
all is just summed up pretty plainly in 2 Nephi 9:28-29, but yeah, thats what
I've been thinking about lately.
Well I hope you are all doing well! I hope you all have a
great week!
Elder Webster
Long Hike...
Hey!
Skype call was awesome!
Hey I´m way super super sorry but I don´t really have any
time. A member took us on a hike today and told us that we'd be back by 4 pm at
the latest....but we had some complications and now I have absolutely no time
to write. I'm so sorry!
This week was good. Still doing lots of searching for new
people. Haha pretty much everything I said on skype.
The verse of the week I wanted to share was Psalms 37:23-24,39-40.
Seriously I´m way sorry!! I can't really write anything!
Won't happen again! (Haha I'm fairly certain about that, considering I'll only
be writing home a couple more times....thats way weird...).
Love you all,
Elder Webster
God Knows Our Moments of Need
Hey!
Sounds like another good week! Sorry, I spent so much time
thinking about your emails that I don't have much time to write this main
email. But I'm glad you are all doing so well!
This week was good. We´re seeing progress, little by little.
We had a few way cool spiritual experiences this week, but I don't really have
time to write everything about all of them, and writing just a little about
each one wouldn't really suffice... So, I`ll narrow them down.
On Friday Elder Cook and I were walking down a dirt street
when Elder Cook told me that he thought I should talk to the teenager sitting
on the curb near the end of the street. He looked sort of sad. We went up and I
told the kid that we were missionaries and handed him a card about learning
from our challenges. I paused and asked him "Can we help you with
something?" When I asked that he broke into tears and started telling us
about something that had just happened to his sister, but I didn't really
understand because of how much he was crying. So we just sat down by him on the
curb in silence for a 2 or 3 minutes. I then told him that we didn't fully
understand how he must feel, but that God knew him and understood perfectly. He
nodded, and we kept sitting there in silence for a few minutes. A police car
pulled up and asked if someone had called them. The kid said that he had. I
couldn't understand him very well, but from the questions the police officer
asked, it sounded as if the kid´s sister had just been kidnapped. They took the
kid away in the police car to keep helping him. It was quite a blessing to get
to be there in his moment of need. We were really thankful for that
opportunity. To think that Heavenly Father can put 2 americans on a dirt street
in argentina at the precise moment that He needs one of His children to know
that He loves them. Not to mention, we were glad that the police didn't ask
about the bag of marijuana on the ground next to where we had sat... So,
officially the 2nd time in my mission that a person I sat down next to on a
curb got taken away in a police car.
As a verse of the week, I decided on Proverbs 16:17-19. It
talks about the importance humility. I've been studying that a lot lately. To
be honest, I like that Proverb more in spanish than english. But I like the
reference it makes to how every fall is preceeded by pride. Reminded me of
D&C 38:39 ( I think thats the reference). It occured to me that if pride is
the "universal sin " (President Benson), and that it leads to all other
sin, and that if humility is the opposite of pride, humility must
(theoretically) lead to all righteousness. Makes me want to be more humble.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! Hope you are all
doing well! Can't wait to talk to you on skype!
Elder Webster
Much Is Required
Hey!
Wow sounds like you all had quite the week! Sounds way fun!
This week here was good. We've been spending a lot of time
trying to find new investigators and, well, it hasn't been as
"productive" as we might have hoped. In fact, we didn't find anyone.
We found out that half the people on the ward directory no longer live here and
that neither do most of the old investigators...but...new people live in their
houses! So that just means there are more new people to talk to! But seriously,
we've been thinking a lot and we came up with a few new ideas of what me might
try to find new people and work with the members more. Haha I feel like I've
probable said that exact sentence about 50 times to you. But its true!
Hopefully it works out. But yeah, not the most exciting week ever. Maybe it was
the second or third most exciting week of the mission...but definitely not the
top one.
So, verse of the week is something I was thinking about in
class at church yesterday. D&C 82:3 talks about how much is required of
those that have received much. That principle is shown all over the Book of
Mormon, and its pretty clear from the parable of the talents that Jesus taught.
Anyway, I was thinking about that and how we can learn a lot about what
Heavenly Father expects of us when we start looking at what He has given us.
For example, He has given us all agency, which is why He expects us all to make
good decisions and to repent for our bad decisions. There are other things we
receive, such as the gift of the Holy Ghost, the priesthood (men), etc, and
then there are tons of more "unique" gifts that we have received. And
something I've noticed is that He doesn't tend to give us more than what we
need--in other words, He expects us to use everything He gives us. So I've been
thinking about what I've been given and about would be expected of someone that
has those things. Its something we could all do.
I'm glad to hear that you are all doing well! I hope you
have another way awesome week! Sorry not really saying much in this
letter..but...yeah.
You guys are great!
Elder Webster
Transfers, Not Transfered
Hey!
Haha sounds like a pretty good week for everyone! And it
sounds like this upcoming week is going to be kind of crazy, hopefully
everything goes well! Happy Early Birthday to Jaxon and Dad! Haha I feel like
my week was a little bit like your week back home. It was good, but I'm not
really sure what to say about it or even what actually happened. It was
just....good!
We got transfer calls yesterday and it looks like I'll be
staying here with Elder Cook again. It should be good. I've been learning a lot
from him and from the members, so I guess its a blessing to get to keep working
with all of them.
This week we...well...I'm not really sure what we did. We've
been working a lot with the members in an effort to help them with the new ward
mission plan and to find new investigators. They all seem really willing to
help and many of them have specific friends that they want to share the gospel
with. So I guess the good news is that several members are working a lot with
their friends, and the bad news is that none of them have gotten to the phase
yet where we have actually gotten to meet their friends. So for know I guess
its just patience and motivating them to set up the appointments that they keep
telling us that they want to set up.
So, verse of the week is something that really jumped out to
me as I read Alma 19:12-13 this week. The missionary, Ammon, had been teaching
King Lamoni about, well, everything. At the beginning of the teaching process,
the King didn't have much of an understanding of God or of Christ, or their
plan for him. The king's words in verses 12 and 13 reveal the depth of his
conversion to what he learned. Not only did he say that he had seen the
Redeemer of the world, but he said that he had seen his Redeemer. His
relationship with Christ had become personal, and his life had changed forever.
I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know and love us personally--but
now I have an even greater desire to come to love and know them personally as
well. As I come to learn more of them and build an ever-more personal
relationship with them, I find greater and deeper meaning in what Christ meant
when he said that "this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (I think thats how
it is in english...John 17:3).
I hope you all have a great week, especially with all your
plans this weekend! Again, happy birthday Dad and Jaxon!
Love
Elder Webster
Monday, April 13, 2015
Little Miracles (not really so little...)
Hey! Happy Monday!
Wow sounds like quite the week for all of you! I'm glad
Hailey's recital went well and the rock climbing pictures look way fun!
Things are going well here. Unfortunately, it looks like
we're going to stop visiting almost all of the people we have been teaching
lately...but maybe they just need a break for a while. Its amazing how much you
can start to care for someone in so little time.
We're also thinking a lot about how to work better with the
members. The bishop presented a new ward mission plan at church this week and
the members all seem pretty excited about it. Several of them have already told
about friends that they have and how they are going to try to put us in contact
with them in the next couple of weeks. If everything goes according to plan,
we'll be overwhelmed with teaching appointments. Haha but lets not get ahead of
ourselves...one step at a time.
I got to have a cool experience yesterday at church which
has had me thinking a lot. This past week, some of the older members of the
ward got together to have a bbq. Well, turns out it didn't go well. We got to
church and a member who got baptized about a month or 2 ago, had 2nd degree
burns from the palm of his hand all the
way up to his shoulder. Long story short, they had an accident at the bbq.
After church, he asked my companion and I for a blessing. We ended up giving it
to him, and as soon as we finished, he opened his eyes and started pointing out
several parts of his arm that he said had healed/changed color/changed during
the blessing. Little miracles.
Its amazing what Christ can do.
So, verse of the week is a pretty familiar scripture that I
read the other day. Mosiah 4:27 says that it isn't required that we run faster
than we are able. I started thinking about it and the big difference between
saying that it isn't required that we run faster than we are able and saying
that it isn't required that we run. I think there are times (or at least I do
this), where I try to say that its okay if I don't do everything since I'm not
perfect. We are saved by grace after all that we can do, and Heavenly Father
knows what we are capable of more than we do. If anybody is going to "cut
me slack" because of my weaknesses, I'd rather it be Him that does it, and
not me.
Well I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!
Elder Webster
Monday, April 6, 2015
Great Conference
Hey!
Wow sounds like you had a way fun conference weekend! I'm
glad everyone is doing well!
Everything is going well here. We got to visit with some of
the investigators that have been hard to find at home lately. We met with
Fabian a few times, and the good news is that he always reads and tries to
fulfill any commitments that we leave with him. The bad news is that now we are
pretty sure that half the reason he is meeting with us is because he wants to
convince us that we are wrong...he's never very direct about it, but he told us
that he meets with people of other religions to try to change them...long story
short, we have a lesson with him tonight that will probably help us decide if
we are going to keep visiting him. We hate the idea of stopping to visit him, but
we can't help him if he doesn't want to be helped.. This week I also got to
have several very spiritual experiences, which was way inspiring. I can't
really write them all here but I'm definitely ready to improve as much as I can
in the time that I have left.
Getting to watch general conference was way great. We went
to the stake center to watch it there, in english. I enjoyed it a lot, but the
greatest blessings of conference definitely come afterward--time to study and
apply all the things that they said. Haha I'm not sure I'll be able to put it
all into practice before we have the next conference but..baby-steps I guess.
Verse of the week was a hard choice week, there were several
that stood out to me way strongly this week. I eventually decided on 1 John 4:19,
which in english probably says something like "We love Him because He
loved us first". Long story short, I started studying the Christ-like
attribute of love this week, and I came across this scripture. It stuck out to
me a lot, especially when I remembered that we are commanded to love others as
He has loved us (John 13:34). He loved those that didn't know Him and rejected
Him. He served those who didn't want His service. He truly loved us first. And
now, not only do we have the task of loving Him back, but if we are to love
others the way He loved us, we must find a way to love others first. Loving
someone first requires that we actively look for that opportunity, and those
opportunities are a little more difficult to recognize.
Anyway, I'm glad you all had a great week! I hope you have
yet another good week and that everything goes well with all the things you
have planned for this week! Everything is good here.
Elder Webster
Happy, Happy, Happy!
Hey!
Sounds like a lot has been a pretty crazy week for everyone.
And Happy Easter! Happy General Conference! And Happy Life!
This week was pretty good. It was a little weird, because
right now I think we have more investigators here in Dorrego than I've had in
my whole in this area, but for whatever reason, not a single one of them could
meet with us in this past week. We've been getting blessed to be able to
consistently find new people, and we're way excited to see all of them
progress, but...well, progressing means getting better over time...so..it takes
time. One of the cool people that we got to start teaching was someone that my
companion met during exchanges 2 weeks ago, the house that my companion said he
would never go back to. Haha I talked him into it :) We went there and Elder
Cook told me that it was like night and day from the first time he had went
there. Its the house of a less active woman, her baby, and her boyfriend. Her
boyfriend just recently got out of jail after being there for 10 years, and
apparently while he was in jail he met someone that told him to try reading the
Book of Mormon...which he did... 3 times. He has a lot of desires to change his
ways and is positive that we are the ones that can help him, so we're excited
to get to meet with him again.
On saturday we also had a special meeting with the stake
president, the bishops from the stake, and the mission president. We talked about
the importance of ward mission plans. Our bishop was so excited that he drove
us to his house afterward to start making a plan then and there. He presented a
part of it the next day at church, and we are having another meeting this week
with the leaders in the ward to finalize the plan. We're really excited to be
able to work more effectively with the ward.
So this week I wanted to share a scripture from 1 Nephi11:31-32. Its a straightforward and powerful testimony and prophecy about the
life and death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. I think it is important that
we remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father both made for
us. But His suffering and death weren't enough--He had to live again in order
to completely conquer death for us...and He did it. And because He lives, we
too can live. There is a beautiful video that talks about his sacrifice at
ÉlVive.mormon.org (thats the spanish page..I'm not sure what the english one
is). I invite everyone to watch and share that video, especially during such an
important time of year, when so many are brought to remember Him.
I hope you all have a great week, a happy easter, and a
great general conference weekend. I hope you all know that I'm fine and that I
love you all.
Elder Webster
Monday, March 23, 2015
Future Generations
Hey again!
Haha sounds like everyone has been keeping pretty busy
lately! I'm glad everyone is doing well! Haha and I'm glad that Elder Webster 2
didn't die from too many pupusas :) Haha Elder Webster 2 better learn how to
make those. Dad keeps telling me to learn how to cook the food here but...I'm
pretty sure you've all eaten pasta and chicken before :) Maybe I'll find
something.
Elder Cook and I had a pretty good week this week. We were
blessed to be able to have basically double the number of lessons this week than
what we had the week before. Fabian is doing well and accepted a baptismal
date, Jesús is doing well and committed to live the word of wisdom. So we're
pretty excited for both of them. We also met a cool man this week. He stopped
us in the street and asked us if we could visit him in his house. We said yes,
and pulled out our agendas to write down where he lived, when he turned and
opened the door to the house we were outside of and told us to come in. Well,
technically it was a garage door, he's renting somebody's garage to live in.
Anyway, I won't go into all the details, but he is a war veteran that fought
for both the US (in Iraq) and Argentina (Las Malvinas...haha...). He's also got
some serious things with his family and is looking for peace. We explained
blessings of comfort and he asked for one. He was very thankful and we hope to
be able to find him at home again! This week we also had exchanges, which went
pretty well. I got to help set a baptismal date with an Elder in Guaymallen,
and Elder Cook had his first experience with cocaine addicts...so that was
special.
Anyway, verse of the week. Recently during our lunches with
the members, we've been asking them what their favorite scriptures are. This
past week both the bishop and the wife to the stake patriarch shared 2 Nefi25:26 with us, and I really liked what they said about it. The verse talks
about how the people in the Book of Mormon talked, preached, and taught about
Jesus Christ so that future generations would know how to be saved. Both the
bishop's family and the stake patriarch's family told us that they try to use
that scripture as a pattern for raising their own families... it seems like it
worked out pretty well. Maybe like 50 years from now when I finally get
married, I'll have to give it a try :)
Well I hope you are all doing well. I'm doing as good as
always. Have a great week!
Elder Webster
Bom Dia!
Bom dia!
Sounds like everyone had a lot of cool things happen this
past week! And I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa Webster this past week!
I think it was a new years letter, but who says that the year has to start in
January? March is good too.
This week was pretty good, as always. I'm getting pretty
convinced that if you want to have a good week, you'll have a good week. And
why would anyone not want to have a good week? We had a lesson with Jesús early
this week which went pretty well. The questions he makes to us and the way he
responds to our questions make him seem like he has more real intent to know
these things than almost anyone I've ever taught...but at the same time, we're
struggling to help him keep basic comittments...like..being at home for our
appointments. But...baby steps. We also started teaching someone named Fabian
this week, which was way cool. He saw a member reading the Book of Mormon on a
bus, and it reminded him of some missionaries he had known several years ago.
Lately, he's kind of distanced himself from his religion after the passing away
of 2 children and his wife. But he gave his phone number to the member on the
bus so that she could send missionaries to go talk to him. Haha imagine our
surprise when we got to his address, to see that he lives by himself inside of
a small apartment complex that is only a fourth of the way built. He works on
construction during the day, and when all the other workers leave, he just
stays there. Anyway, we had a way good lesson with him and he opened up to us a
lot. We're way excited about working with him.
So, verse of the week is something I found while studying
about humility. Philippians 2: 3, 5-9. It talks about the Savior's example of
humility and obedience, and that we should apply that to our lives. The part
that says "..he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.."
really jumped out to me. It struck me that it was literally His obedience and
humility that led to His suffering and to Him getting lifted up on the cross.
So often, we try to obedient or humble, and then get upset or discouraged when
we don't receive the blessings that we want--but part of humility and obedience
is being willing to do the will of Heavenly Father, no matter the results.
Interesting. It also opens a discussion about enduring to the end.
Well I hope you all have an even better week next week than
the one you had last week! Sorry if these emails are long.
Love you all,
Elder Webster
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
All We Can Do Is Keep Trying
Hey!
Haha I never know what to say in response to how all of your
weeks went. But I'm guessing that by now you've figured out that I'm basically
going to say that "I'm glad you all had a great week!" at the
beginning of my email every week haha. So... I'm glad you all had a great week!
This past week was pretty good. We're still having a little
trying to find people who are actually at home at the times when they tell us
that they will be home but... If I let that bother me I'd have gotten pretty
depressed a long, long time ago. So no worries, all we can do is keep trying.
Some of the highlights this week included getting to watch The Restoration with
Agustin, Facundo and the rest of their family (they showed up towards the end).
Haha and of course, we got to have an awesome asado (bbq) with them that night
too! I'm pretty sure it was Elder Cook's first asado. Haha he loved it.
On Saturday there was a baptism at church that went well.
Sadly it wasn't quite as big of a turn-out as we had hoped...considering it was
just the missionaries, the bishop's family, Carlos (the person getting
baptized), Carlos (a recent convert, who got to baptize the other Carlos...haha
hopefully that made sense). So...yeah. But it was way cool that Carlos got to
baptize the other Carlos. I'd talk more about it but...frankly I think this is
just going to get very confusing since they have the same name. But, suffice it
to say, they were both very happy. They've been friends ever since the first
day that the newer Carlos came to church, and I think they carpool to church
and everything now. The less-new Carlos even bought his own clothes to do the
baptism, because he also wanted to get some clothes that he would be able to
bring to the temple someday. haha those two are way funny together. They're the
most humble, crazy viejitos ever.
So, as a verse of the week, I was thinking of Alma 19:33,
specifically the 2nd half. It talks of how a change of heart caused them to
have no more desires to do bad things. A lot of times in the church, thats how
we talk about a "change of heart"--that we turn away from bad things
of the world. But in reality, the majority of our decisions aren't really
between "bad" things and "good" things. Often we are faced
with decisions between things that might be "good", "better",
or "best". I was thinking a lot this week about how a change of heart
can help us not only make good decisions, but the best decisions. I don't think
any of us are perfect enough that we couldn't benefit from changing our hearts
a little more.
Well I hope you all have another great week! Don't do
anything too crazy without me! :)
Elder Webster
Monday, March 2, 2015
Pass Along Cards
Hey!!
Sounds like a pretty awesome rodeo break weekend! And
everyone needs to stop getting sick! I hope you're all feeling better.
Sorry....this letter is way too long....
This week was pretty good. It was a little disappointing
because, like I said last week, we had found a bunch of new people, but this
week we didn't manage to get a single lesson with any of the new people we had
found. Lots of appointments have been falling through on us. Haha its
especially awkward when there is a member there with us...but...oh well. Haha I
feel bad for this guy in our ward named Fede, this week he came with us for the
4th or 5th time since I've been here...and we still haven't had an appointment
actually work while he's been with me. Haha he was making fun of me a little
bit for that but...he leaves on his mission this month to Brazil, so he'll
figure out how it is soon enough :)
We did find 1 new investigator this week though, who was way
cool. His name is Jesús. He was a reference from someone in our ward. We went
there, and he grabbed some chairs and we sat outside with him. Before we even
said anything, he pulled out a mormon.org card that had a question on the front
that said, "Does it matter to God what I do with my life?". He showed
us the card, pointed at the question, and said "I want to know about
this." So...we told him. We talked about Heavenly Father's plan for His
children and about how our time on earth is a time to prepare to come before
God, which we can do by following the teachings of Christ. And then Elder Cook
set his very first baptismal date with someone! He promised to come to church,
but when we got there he wasn't there...so we walked to his house to find him.
He opened his door, and without us saying a word, he said "Just a
second". He went inside, got dressed, and then came to church with us. The
only downside was that he left right after church, and when we finally got out
of the church building about half an hour later, we found him half a block
away, drinking with some guys. A little awkward. But we're way excited to work
with him.
As a verse of the week (this ones a two-part one), I was
thinking of something that I read in Luke 17:1. Christ says that offences are
bound to come, but then goes on to explain the importance of forgiveness. It
made me think of the countless people I've met on my mission that have
distanced themselves from the church because they were offended about things
that half of them don't even remember anymore. Then I thought of the example
that Christ gave us in Matthew 26:36-44. In these verses, Christ is suffering
for the sins of the world in the garden. If there is only 1 person or event
that deserves our undying respect and gratitude, that night comes to mind. But
in those same verses, we read that some of His closest followers and friends,
repeatedly fell asleep during that important time, despite what He had told
them to do. Surely, if anyone could be offended for anything, it would have
been easy for Him to be offended, that in the very act of paying for the sins
of the world, including those of these 3 men, some of His closest friends
couldn't even stay awake for it. But He didn't get offended or quit because He
thought He deserved more respect or gratitude for what He was doing. He just
kept doing what He had to do. Surely we, if we think we deserve any sort of
gratitude or respect for what we do, could be a little more patient and
forgiving as well, especially since so many of the things that might
"offend" us aren't done with that intent. Just a thought..
Anyway, hope you all have a great week! Keep being awesome!
Elder Webster
My comp, Elder Cook, sitting on a throne of Books of Mormon
What it looks like to walk in Dorrego
My book of mormon in quechua...cuz its cool...but no, I
don't think I'll be learning that anytime soon
Fishing For Men
Hey!
Sounds like everyone had crazy weeks! Fun stuff though. Its
better to be doing tons of stuff than to have nothing to do...right?
This week was pretty good. Agustin came to church! So that
was way awesome. Most of the week we've been trying to find new people. Last
week I mentioned that we had found somebody while knocking doors, and that
later on someone chased us down to talk to us. Well the guy that we found
wasn't there for our second appointment, and halfway through our appointment
with the guy that chased us down, he told us that he was a less active member.
So...yeah. But this past week we found a bunch of other new people! We didn't really
change what we were doing at all, but it just...actually worked this week! We
found like 7 new people that started listening to us! So that was definitely a
blessing. They all seem way nice, but up until now, all of our attempts to have
second lessons with them haven't really worked out..so we're still struggling,
just with different problems :) haha but no worries. Training Elder Cook keeps
me busy enough haha he's got me exhausted. He's like the most energetic, off
the wall, crazy person ever. He's way nice but...haha well you guys know me.
I'm not exactly the most energetic, off the wall, crazy person ever. We get
along, but since he's still coming along with the language, I'm like the only
person he can really talk to, so all of his energy and craziness gets directed
at me. Haha luckily I'm like the most boring person ever, so we balance out I
guess.
So, verse of the week is something a recent convert shared
with us this past week. He's a fairly wealthy man, and from I can tell, he
inherited a bunch of vineyards or something, and he likes trying to invent
things. Anyway, in his words, he told us that when he was younger, he liked to
see himself as "el capo grande" (the big stud/awesome guy). He told
us about how something had happened and he was humbled, and how now, Psalms 94
reflects how he feels, specifically verse 12. He is extremely grateful that he
had been humbled enough to accept the message. It reminded me a little bit of
what Elder Cook and I were doing the other day. We chose a random street on our
map to go knock doors, and it turned out to be way rich there. Not a single
person there accepted us, and from the small things that we were told from
people, they don't really seem very happy. Just comments they made about their
schedules, their family lives... they didn't seem happy. I don't want that.
Anyway, I'm glad you all had a great week! Things are going
well here. They could always go better haha but who am I to complain? It could
be worse. I could be.... haha I'm not going to finish that sentence. But I hope
you all have a great week! Know that everything is going well here!
Elder Webster
Door Knocking
Hey che!
Well it sounds like everyone had yet another good week! Big
surprise :) Thats like 80 good weeks in a row! Good job. Everything is going
well here. Good old missionary work in Dorrego.
We had a couple set backs with people we had met that we
thought were going to turn into great investigators, but it happens I guess. We
were knocking doors on saturday though, and guess what happened! Somebody let
us in! haha its been a while since I've actually gotten into a house while
knocking doors, in fact its the first time its happened since I got Elder Cook.
So when he told us we could come in, I actually asked him to repeat what he had
said because I thought I had heard wrong :) Don't get me wrong, I'm not losing
my faith or anything, but knocking on doors just hasn't been the most effective
thing lately, as far as actually getting into their house on that same day.
Later that same day, a man "chased" us down and asked us to explain
the Book of Mormon to him. We gave him a copy and we have an appointment with
him tonight, so hopefully these new people we've been blessed to meet keep
showing the same level of interest :) Their lives kind of depend on it so....
The funny story week would have to be the baptism that the
sisters had. Long story short, the font overflowed and flooded half the chapel.
Haha luckily they don't really have carpet here, and we were able to clean up
pretty quickly. Haha now the floors are all nice and clean :) I also got to do my
first baptismal interview, so that was a way cool experience. I learned a lot.
Sorry, not a lot of time, I feel like I always leave stuff
out. But I hope you all have a great week!
Elder Webster
Monday, February 9, 2015
Companion Guidance
Hey,
Sounds like a way interesting week this week. Bishop Nokelby
will definitely be missed. Thats nice that you got to spend some time at Temple
Square, with Bart and Nan, and in Las Vegas. My companion from the offices
lives in Las Vegas and just got home in December, that would have been way cool
if you could have met him. Haha but thats cool that you got to meet Elder
Miller's mom! (the one from Idaho). He finished his mission training a new
missionary, and that missionary is in my zone now! Small world.
This week was pretty good. We're trying to find things we
can do to work more effectively. The mission is putting a big emphasis on
working with less active members that have the priesthood (males) or have gone
to the temple (females). We were way excited to start focusing on that, but we
finally got the list of people that fit those requirements in our ward, and
basically 99% of them in our ward live on the sister's side....So looks like we
might have to find a different way to work with the ward.
But we did have some way cool experiences this week. We had
a talk with our friends Agustin and Facundo about the word of wisdom, and they
both accepted to live it! So we're way excited to get to help them with that.
We also had a meeting with an Area 70 this week. One thing he said was a
comment about using the Book of Mormon to find new investigators. He didn't
actually talk about that topic, it was just a comment he made, but the day
after, I found myself knocking at a door, and that comment popped into my head,
so I decided to try it. A lady answered the door and I told her about how we
were sharing a free book that talked about Heavenly Father's communication with
the ancient americas, about Jesus Christ, and about the importance of the
family. I asked if we could bring her a copy of that book sometime. She asked
if we had a copy with us, because she didn't want to wait for us to come back
to be able to start reading it! We have plans to go by and visit her tonight,
so hopefully everything works out well. Also today, I get to write a
"report" for the Historian of the mission. I guess he's supposed to
do a year-end report of things that happened in the mission in 2014, and he
wants me to write a summary about what it was like to be there in Rodeo del
Medio when they dedicated the new chapel there last year, and how it impacted
the ward and the work there. So I'm pretty excited to write that (haha...we'll
see how my "report-writing" skills are in spanish)
So, verse of the week is something Elder Gonzalez shared
with us (the Area 70). D&C 6:18-19. He shared that with us and talked about
how it was guidance to the one of the first "companionships" in the
restored church, Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith, and how it has good advice
for both missionary companionships and "marriage companionships". I
liked it. It talks about helping each other to get better, and also using a lot
of christlike attributes. Things we could all improve on.
Well, thanks for everything! I hope you all have another
great week! Don't go on too many vacations without me!!
Elder Webster
Silly Laman and Lemuel
Hey!
Sounds like everyone is doing way well! Sorry, I don't have
a ton of time, so I'll try to make this quick.
This week was pretty good. We didn't get to work in Dorrego
very much because of some things that happened with transfers, but I'm with my
new companion, Elder Cook, fresh from Ogden, Utah. Haha looks like I might
never get a native comp. I could end up setting mission history if I keep this
up :)
Anyway, the people
we've been teaching are doing pretty well. Agustin came to church again! And we
also got have a lesson with his older brother. He's way cool too. They have a
way fun family.
We also got to have a lesson with Yamila D. She finally got
back in town. We had a really great lesson with her about the first half of the
plan of salvation, which we did at the bishops house, and tonight we have
another appointment, so that should be great!
Verse of the week is 1 Nephi 17:21. I read it and it kind of
made me think of the mission and the kind of attitude that you SHOULDN'T have.
Haha...silly Laman and Lemuel.
Sorry, I have like no time, but I'm doing great and I hope
you all have a great week!
Elder Webster
Transfer Calls
Hey!
Happy Monday everyone! Haha I can't believe you guys got a
new dog...but at least its a cute dog, so I guess its ok.
We got transfer calls yesterday! Well, actually, my friends
in the office called me a day early to tell me what was happening with
transfers...so I feel a little bad that I knew about transfers before I was
supposed to, but to be fair, I didn't ask them what was going on...they called
me. Anyway, Elder Olsen is leaving to go train someone. He'll be staying in the
same zone as we're in right now, which is basically unheard of here, but its
pretty cool. He's going to one of the few areas with bikes in the mission. I'm
staying here in Dorrego B. I'm not sure who my companion is yet. I'll be
finding out on Thursday when we have transfer day. Should be exciting!
This week was pretty good. It was nothing at all like what
we had planned, but things turned out pretty good overall. The way our ward is
divided (we share the ward with sister missionaries), we don't really have a
lot of members that we can visit to work with. So we've kind of been in pure
"finding mode" all transfer, since essentially nothing was going on
in this area when I got here, and we're still really trying to get things
going. There's definitely been progress, but when we dedicate so much time
trying to find new people, its a little upsetting if we don't find anyone. But
Agustin is still doing great! Turns out his parents got baptized when he was a
little kid and he never knew until this past week! He told them that if they
can see a change in his life because of him coming to church, then they have to
come back to church with him, and they agreed. He was way emotional during our
lesson this week when he talked about the changes he's planning on so that his
whole family will come to church someday! He's such a great example! Great kid.
Haha and did I ever tell you about Margarita? She lives across the street from
the church and basically invited herself to church a few weeks ago. We've met
with her a couple times. Turns out the house she lives in is a home for older
people that have mental conditions...which explains a lot... Anyway, her
ability to progress with the lessons is questionable. But her friend that lives
in the same house came to church with her this past week and turns out she's a
member! She seemed a lot more...capable. Anyway, I taught the gospel principles
class and invited everyone to think of something that they could do this week
to show Heavenly Father that they would use their agency the way He wants us
to, and Margarita's friend told us that she's going to invite everyone from
that house they live in to come. Haha we're really hoping to see like 12 people
from the special needs home at church next week. We've met a few and they all
seem way awesome. haha so we'll see what happens.
So verse of the week comes from Abraham 1:2. It caught my
attention and made me think about what it means to endure to the end. A lot of
times, the word "endure" means that something can last a long time
without changing or getting worse...but that isn't what we mean when we say
that we want to "endure to the end". Enduring to the end as disciples
of Jesus Christ implies a never ending path of progression. I liked the way it
was described in this verse, when Abraham states that, although he was already
in the path, he wanted to progress, and attain greater knowledge, and become a
more faithful disciple. From what I can tell, that attitude worked out pretty
well for him!
Anyway, hope you all have a great week! Sorry for how long
this letter is....
Elder Webster
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