Why did you guys start doing fun stuff right after I left? YOU'RE SAILING!!! YOU'RE SAILLING!!! YOU SAILED, YOU'RE A SAILOR, ISN'T THIS A BREAK THROUGH? AHOY !!!haha. That looks like a ton of fun!
This week has been much better. My comp and I are getting along really well. I've learned a lot from him. Hind sight is ALWAYS 20/20! There are things that used to bug me but I just have gotten over them and they don't bother me anymore. I've been blessed with a change of heart. I'm growing so much here.
I still joke around too much. For study periods I make my comp and I leave the classroom to go study elsewhere because I don't focus when I'm with the other missionaries in a silent room. It's just a perfect scenario for too many jokes.
BIG NEWS OF THE WEEK! You didn't know this but last Friday everyone got their travel plans except for me. I got a white paper that said, "Sorry we don't have your visa. Expect a reassignment in the mail next Thursday or Friday. I was a little distraught but over the next days I was refocusing and getting ready to serve two missions. However, two days ago the front desk called our classroom. This voice came over the speakers and said, "Is there an Elder Weiss there?" "Yes..." "Will you please come to the travel office?" "YES!!!" They got my visa two days before I got reassigned! So in the end I'm Australia bound! Hurray! I know it's not so dramatic for you guys because you didn't know I was getting reassigned in the first place, but for me I was happier than Chuck Norris in a room full of lesser ninjas. I came up with a joke the other day that obviously I laughed at but maybe you will too. "Chuck Norris saved the day today...yesterday..." get it?..
Ok, well on a serious note, last night we were doing role plays and the "investigator" we were supposed to be was a character from the NY Times "One in a Million" thing. This investigator didn't believe in God like we do, He was Hindu. None of us really knew anything about being Hindu. We finished the first role play and the Elders all were saying, "How do you teach someone that doesn't believe in Jesus Christ!?"
I shared with the district an experience I had. I have a friend that once asked if we could talk about God. She is not a member and I knew nothing about her religious beliefs. Of course I wanted to talk about God so one day we talked... she talked. I listened for probably two hours just listening and asking questions. She didn't ask me a question but brought something up that I was able to teach her a little bit about the plan of salvation in like a minute or two and then that was it. We talked a few more times about it on the phone and I just listened and asked questions some more. Then she finally asked me, "Joe, how do you know its true?" I was able to tell her my experiences reading the scriptures and praying to be taught the truth. After she said, "Joe, that's so sweet, I can tell that you really care."
I didn't get to speak that much but because I listened to her talk for so long she knew I was sincere about what I was saying and that I cared about her. "NOBODY CARES HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE!" She knew I cared about her as a person and was willing to hear what I had to say. She was able to feel God's love for her through me and feel the spirit testify of what I had said.
So I told the district. "You should never begin teaching anyone without them first feeling something." If I were to start teaching someone that didn't believe in God period, I would begin by reading with them Mosiah 14 or D&C 19:15-18 and ask them. "If you knew that someone did this for you, If you watched someone do all of this for you, how would you feel?" Then they would be able to feel the spirit testify of the love of Jesus Christ for them. They might not know who he is but they'd be able to feel his love. Motivation is something you feel, not something you know. First they have to feel before they can know.
I'm so excited to go to Australia and share the Gospel with the people there. I might not be the best missionary, but they will know that God loves them and that I do too. If that's all people learn from me on my mission, that Elder Weiss sincerely loves them from the bottom of their heart, then my mission will be a sucess!
I love you all!
Elder Weiss VI
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