Monday, September 30, 2013
What We Freely Give Away, We Keep
From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: September 29, 2013 11:46:21 PM MDT
This week was pretty hectic, but all of them are, I've come to realize. As far as Australia lingo goes, I figured out why they say "Sweet as" or "That's nice as!". Because normally you would say "that's sweet as can be" or "that's nice as can be" but they just shorten it. I hear the Chileans and the Aussies do the same thing to their language. Shorten everything or take off the endings. My Spanish is still getting better. I'm so glad I got to spend six weeks studying Spanish because I know all of the fundamentals really well and I help my companions out a lot when they have questions because they got shipped out after two weeks because they were in the advanced class but now they don't remember how to conjugate certain things.
So we had a trade of with the zone leaders and we spent most of the day working on the area book. It hasn't been used in a while and I didn't get completely trained on how it works. This past Sunday we all gave talks to the ward for sacrament meeting. It was a fifth week Sunday and the Stake Presidency came and told the ward that they are not closing the ward because rumors have been going around but they told them they have get their act together as ward members and get behind the Bishop in his vision for rescue work and missionary work. It was awesome.
There are going to be some mad (major) changes happening in the next few weeks within our ward. This is the barricade scene from Les Mis. This is our last big push for the Spanish ward and if it doesn't work the ward's fate is pretty much sealed. The Stake Presidency spoke for the first block and almost a half and then sacrament meeting was last. During Sunday School we went into a room to finish our talks. In sacrament meeting we tried to "smash" the ward.
First the Bishop's daughter told an experience she had this past week sharing the gospel with her friends, then we spoke about crying repentance which is to Teach, Testify, and Invite. Elder Jones did teach, I did testify, and Elder Edmondson took invite. I poured my soul into that talk. I don't want this ward to stay how it is. People aren't motivated to help of the missionaries or reactivate their friends that have lost their way. It's like President Monson says, "What we selfishly keep we lose. And what we freely give away, we keep."
We've got three weeks to make a difference. Man it's exciting and nerve racking at the same time because we are in a threesome we know someone will get moved so we just want to smash these last three weeks so bad! When I stood up on that stand a feeling of love came over me. I was able to feel for a moment how the Savior feels about these people. That is one thing I struggle with is loving people. That sounds horrible but I can be obedient, that comes easy. I can work hard, that's normal. But loving the people is a gift that you can't develop alone. Still trying to figure that out! I love you all so much!
Ofatu! (Tongan for love ya! I hope I learn Samoan or Tongan before I come home! That'd be so hectic! But for now Spanish is enough!)
Elder Weiss VI
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Teach-Testify-Invite and Feed the Missionaries!
From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: September 23, 2013 1:23:30 AM MDT
Man! What a week. Went and picked up my new companion on Wednesday. His name is Elder Edmondsen from Payson. He reminds me of Ben and Elder Jones Reminds me of William.
BTW, Ben, congrats on the baby. (Ben Weiss had a new daughter born Sunday night.) May she grow up and play for the US Women's soccer team.
Anyhow it's been a real trial of my faith this past week. Things have been hectic. We were contacting on the street in downtown Fairfield talking to this guy from Spain when I saw a guy across the street yelling and swearing and I just figured he was drunk. Then I saw him kicking something and I saw feet go up in the air. I turned and sprinted accross the street to stop him as he was hitting this lady in the face. I and two other guys got there and one of the others yelled at him and told him to stop. He backed off when he saw we were all there and then she walked away but he kept following her. We followed them until we came past the police station and got some police to go after them. They are slow as!!! and always go in threes! That's only for weaklings and lesser whimps and the guy got away!
I was pretty upset. Later that night I couldn't think about missionary work. I've never been up close with something like that. I was a little traumatized and I just got down on my knees and pleaded with the Lord to give me a desire to continue. He blessed me with a feeling of confidence and peace and a desire to continue. They say that there is no strength in numbers, that it's a myth. That when somebody is in peril they say everyone will stand by and wait for someone else to do something. I've always been afraid I would be the one waiting around. I'm glad I wasn't and I'm glad that two others were right there with me. People are good. Society is rough. People are still good.
I've grown so much in these last three months. I hope you can't even recognize who I am when I get home. I hope I'm not the same person I was when I left. I'm grateful for the oportunity to turn outwards and serve and how the Lord is changing me and strengthening me.
TEACH-TESTIFY-INVITE! Everyone can do it! Mom and Dad! FEED THE MISSIONARIES! And give them a referral. A bad referral is better than none at all! You will always miss the shots you don't take! This is the work of salvation. You can't sit around to be saved. You need to do missionary work. If you don't want to, you need to revaluate your life because you are either coming closer to Christ or you're not becoming converted!
I love all of you!
Elder Weiss VI
Date: September 23, 2013 1:23:30 AM MDT
Man! What a week. Went and picked up my new companion on Wednesday. His name is Elder Edmondsen from Payson. He reminds me of Ben and Elder Jones Reminds me of William.
BTW, Ben, congrats on the baby. (Ben Weiss had a new daughter born Sunday night.) May she grow up and play for the US Women's soccer team.
Anyhow it's been a real trial of my faith this past week. Things have been hectic. We were contacting on the street in downtown Fairfield talking to this guy from Spain when I saw a guy across the street yelling and swearing and I just figured he was drunk. Then I saw him kicking something and I saw feet go up in the air. I turned and sprinted accross the street to stop him as he was hitting this lady in the face. I and two other guys got there and one of the others yelled at him and told him to stop. He backed off when he saw we were all there and then she walked away but he kept following her. We followed them until we came past the police station and got some police to go after them. They are slow as!!! and always go in threes! That's only for weaklings and lesser whimps and the guy got away!
I was pretty upset. Later that night I couldn't think about missionary work. I've never been up close with something like that. I was a little traumatized and I just got down on my knees and pleaded with the Lord to give me a desire to continue. He blessed me with a feeling of confidence and peace and a desire to continue. They say that there is no strength in numbers, that it's a myth. That when somebody is in peril they say everyone will stand by and wait for someone else to do something. I've always been afraid I would be the one waiting around. I'm glad I wasn't and I'm glad that two others were right there with me. People are good. Society is rough. People are still good.
I've grown so much in these last three months. I hope you can't even recognize who I am when I get home. I hope I'm not the same person I was when I left. I'm grateful for the oportunity to turn outwards and serve and how the Lord is changing me and strengthening me.
TEACH-TESTIFY-INVITE! Everyone can do it! Mom and Dad! FEED THE MISSIONARIES! And give them a referral. A bad referral is better than none at all! You will always miss the shots you don't take! This is the work of salvation. You can't sit around to be saved. You need to do missionary work. If you don't want to, you need to revaluate your life because you are either coming closer to Christ or you're not becoming converted!
I love all of you!
Elder Weiss VI
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Hectic!!
From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: September 9, 2013 10:47:14 PM MDT
To: Cyndy Weiss <cyndyweiss@gmail.com>
Subject: HECTIC!!
SOO HECTIC!! I don't mean the warmer temperature neither! There is nothing as cool as missionary work! As our drunk friend from Zimbabwe likes to say, "Check dis out!"
So not this last Friday but the one before we got "smashed" by Elder Hamula about preaching by the way! SOO "SMASHED"! After the meeting we started applying what we learned while we were waiting on some other missionaries. We talked to a man who was from Peru! Spoke Spanish and he wasn't interested but then we talked to the next guy we saw and he was from Chile and we got a return appointment. I think I've told you all up to this point! This is where it turns hectic!
We met with him on Tuesday and also met his wife. There names are Hector and Paulina! Elder Urbina and I taught in unity and there was a different spirit than we'd ever had together! The spirit "smashed" them and we committed both of them to be baptized! AHHHH SO CRAZY!! I had never gotten this far before!
Flashback to Friday evening after the rebuking! We are at the train station just talking to people. We talk to these two girls and testify of the restoration and get a return appointment! Bang! PBTW! (preach by the way).
Now fast forward to our lesson this past Friday. We taught them at this park and again Elder Urbina and I taught in unity and the spirit "smashed" them! We taught so clearly saying things we'd never said before that were so much clearer than before! We committed them to baptism as well! We confirmed that one of them read before going to bed that night! HA! We can't meet with them because they are in their last week of high school and I guess it's pretty hectic so we won't see them till next Friday but we are texting them like crazy so they don't forget what they felt!
This is what I've learned. God asked the ALL the Elders in D&C 52:21-27 to "preach by the way". And in 34 he promises we will be fruitful if we do what he says. When we do HIS work HIS way we get to see HIS miracles! We are entitled to have his miracles as we strive to become like Jesus Christ the Missionary. That's what becoming Preach my Gospel (missionary) means! Become a Missionary like Jesus Christ.
It's sooo cool seeing miracles. When you see a miracle thats all you can think about. How can I see more of that? Just gotta do HIS work HIS way and then have your mind blown!
So then if the week wasn't hectic enough, last Saturday morning I'm getting swoll/ripped/workingout/tryingtonotbecomefat and Elder Urbina tells me we have to go to mission offices so I can get trained to drive! ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! But it all went good. I passed and I just pray I'll never get a ticket or crash or anything. TICKETS ARE TRICKY HERE! They have speed cameras everywhere!
But after the test President said we wanted to talk to me. He took me into his office and asked me if I could be a trainer. So I'm going to pick up my greeny tomorrow and Elder Urbina got called as a District Leader in Canberra! Right as things were getting good too!! But me and this greeny are gonna "smash it"! However my Spanish crutch is gone and now I have to learn to stand on my own!
So it feels like the first day of my mission all over again. I have to figure things out all over again. I'm training myself for the remaining six weeks of the 12 week program. Hectic. I'm so humbled and hope I can be a good trainer for this new missionary. I know once he sees miracles he will forget about home altogether!
Love you!
Elder Weiss VI
Date: September 9, 2013 10:47:14 PM MDT
To: Cyndy Weiss <cyndyweiss@gmail.com>
Subject: HECTIC!!
SOO HECTIC!! I don't mean the warmer temperature neither! There is nothing as cool as missionary work! As our drunk friend from Zimbabwe likes to say, "Check dis out!"
So not this last Friday but the one before we got "smashed" by Elder Hamula about preaching by the way! SOO "SMASHED"! After the meeting we started applying what we learned while we were waiting on some other missionaries. We talked to a man who was from Peru! Spoke Spanish and he wasn't interested but then we talked to the next guy we saw and he was from Chile and we got a return appointment. I think I've told you all up to this point! This is where it turns hectic!
We met with him on Tuesday and also met his wife. There names are Hector and Paulina! Elder Urbina and I taught in unity and there was a different spirit than we'd ever had together! The spirit "smashed" them and we committed both of them to be baptized! AHHHH SO CRAZY!! I had never gotten this far before!
Flashback to Friday evening after the rebuking! We are at the train station just talking to people. We talk to these two girls and testify of the restoration and get a return appointment! Bang! PBTW! (preach by the way).
Now fast forward to our lesson this past Friday. We taught them at this park and again Elder Urbina and I taught in unity and the spirit "smashed" them! We taught so clearly saying things we'd never said before that were so much clearer than before! We committed them to baptism as well! We confirmed that one of them read before going to bed that night! HA! We can't meet with them because they are in their last week of high school and I guess it's pretty hectic so we won't see them till next Friday but we are texting them like crazy so they don't forget what they felt!
This is what I've learned. God asked the ALL the Elders in D&C 52:21-27 to "preach by the way". And in 34 he promises we will be fruitful if we do what he says. When we do HIS work HIS way we get to see HIS miracles! We are entitled to have his miracles as we strive to become like Jesus Christ the Missionary. That's what becoming Preach my Gospel (missionary) means! Become a Missionary like Jesus Christ.
It's sooo cool seeing miracles. When you see a miracle thats all you can think about. How can I see more of that? Just gotta do HIS work HIS way and then have your mind blown!
So then if the week wasn't hectic enough, last Saturday morning I'm getting swoll/ripped/workingout/tryingtonotbecomefat and Elder Urbina tells me we have to go to mission offices so I can get trained to drive! ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD! But it all went good. I passed and I just pray I'll never get a ticket or crash or anything. TICKETS ARE TRICKY HERE! They have speed cameras everywhere!
But after the test President said we wanted to talk to me. He took me into his office and asked me if I could be a trainer. So I'm going to pick up my greeny tomorrow and Elder Urbina got called as a District Leader in Canberra! Right as things were getting good too!! But me and this greeny are gonna "smash it"! However my Spanish crutch is gone and now I have to learn to stand on my own!
So it feels like the first day of my mission all over again. I have to figure things out all over again. I'm training myself for the remaining six weeks of the 12 week program. Hectic. I'm so humbled and hope I can be a good trainer for this new missionary. I know once he sees miracles he will forget about home altogether!
Love you!
Elder Weiss VI
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Happy Father's Day and "Preach by the way!"
From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: September 2, 2013 12:53:18 AM MDT
To: Cyndy Weiss <cyndyweiss@gmail.com>
Subject: Happy Fathers day!
So I got to have two Fathers Days this year! Down under they do fathers day on the first week of September. No clue why because I'm pretty sure the rest of the world it's the same day minus Australia. But I was thinking about you, Dad! And ALL the giant letters I get from you! ;) So I decided to write part of this letter to you.
We had a training this past Friday by a member of the 70, Elder Hamula. Apparently it wasn't that bad of a "rebuking" but as it was my first, it cut pretty deep. He showed us what we need to do to get one baptism in the Sydney Australia Mission. The numbers basically break down like this. If you want a baptism here, you need 22 New Investigators, 7.6 Investigators at Sacrament meeting, and 2 Baptismal dates. By the numbers, that's what needs to take place to get a baptism here in Sydney.
Our standard of excellence here is 20 Lessons each week and 1 baptism each month. So to get a baptism each month we need 22 NI's, 7.6 SM's, and 2 BD's. As he laid all of this out I was just smashed! I thought to myself "DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD IT IS TO BAPTIZE IN THE SPANISH WARD? THE LAST BAPTISM WAS TWO YEARS AGO!!" and many other thoughts like this were going through my head.
In the end I came to realization that I don't have enough faith. I didn't truly believe that God is preparing people for us. Later on he started talking about "talking with everyone". He said to us, "Opening your mouth is the price you pay to find the people the Lord has prepared. And that doesn't matter where you are!" He shared with us a scripture in the New Testament that said God told his apostles to go forth and preach by the way. Then he showed us D&C 52:9-33. God commands his servants to "take their journey and preach by the way" over and over. He made the point that this is the way God has done missionary work forever. We go forth and preach by the way. We need to stop and talk to everyone. We can't move too swiftly while God's children are perishing by the way.
Later that day on the way back from the training, because of how the ride situation worked out, we were waiting for an hour at another elders flat to wait for his companion to return. Because of the training we decided we would start opening our mouths and speaking to everybody. It's getting easier but I still freak out a little bit. The miracle was that two of the people we talked to spoke Spanish! And then yesterday we were going to visit a less active and we found another Spanish speaker as we "preached by the way". Super cool!
I am going to be praying very hard for the faith and love to preach by the way. It's way easier to just keep on walking, but what Elder Hamula said keeps coming back to my mind, "opening your mouth is the price every missionary must pay to find people that are prepared." I feel that's true, but I wish it wasn't so hard. I will pray for more strength so serve how God has asked me even when it's scary and tiring. As we take Christ's name upon us by doing missionary work His way, we are entitled to his miracles. The way Jesus Christ does missionary work is by Preaching by the Way. We are going to start smashing people like Jesus Christ! Just read a few verses in John and you can feel the power in his words. That's how we will be as we take on ourselves the attributes of Jesus Christ the missionary.
So it's been another great week. Got to play tennis today against a kid that was alright and we had a pretty good time. Last week I was $3 away from going broke! haha It was a close call. I had to spend $15 to buy groceries for last week! haha but now I've figured out where to shop and how much money I can use! And we were paying $15 to play tennis at this place each Pday until we went broke but now we've found this place that's free! So now we are rich!!
My Spanish is improving every day! Today at the tennis courts we spoke with this girl that was pretty much a female Nadal and her coach! HOLY CATS she was hitting her forehand so hard!! It made such a loud noise! Any how they were from Spain and I was talking to the coach and we talked in Spanish for a bit and even when I couldn't express myself completely in Spanish and switched to english for a sec he kept speaking in Spanish because he could see I understood what he was saying! Yay! I'm getting more and more comfortable with Spanish. Each week I see a definite step forward! I love you all!
Dad, You need to teach that to your mission prep students that "Opening your mouth is the price you pay to find the people the Lord has prepared." And it doesn't matter where you are. Experience comes before faith. Somehow if they can experience that, they will have faith to open their mouths. Also page 7 in PMG has things that everyone must understand about our message. Each one of them needs to know how to quickly articulate that for a contact or door approach.
Love yous heaps!
Be safe!
Love, Elder Weiss VI
Date: September 2, 2013 12:53:18 AM MDT
To: Cyndy Weiss <cyndyweiss@gmail.com>
Subject: Happy Fathers day!
So I got to have two Fathers Days this year! Down under they do fathers day on the first week of September. No clue why because I'm pretty sure the rest of the world it's the same day minus Australia. But I was thinking about you, Dad! And ALL the giant letters I get from you! ;) So I decided to write part of this letter to you.
We had a training this past Friday by a member of the 70, Elder Hamula. Apparently it wasn't that bad of a "rebuking" but as it was my first, it cut pretty deep. He showed us what we need to do to get one baptism in the Sydney Australia Mission. The numbers basically break down like this. If you want a baptism here, you need 22 New Investigators, 7.6 Investigators at Sacrament meeting, and 2 Baptismal dates. By the numbers, that's what needs to take place to get a baptism here in Sydney.
Our standard of excellence here is 20 Lessons each week and 1 baptism each month. So to get a baptism each month we need 22 NI's, 7.6 SM's, and 2 BD's. As he laid all of this out I was just smashed! I thought to myself "DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD IT IS TO BAPTIZE IN THE SPANISH WARD? THE LAST BAPTISM WAS TWO YEARS AGO!!" and many other thoughts like this were going through my head.
In the end I came to realization that I don't have enough faith. I didn't truly believe that God is preparing people for us. Later on he started talking about "talking with everyone". He said to us, "Opening your mouth is the price you pay to find the people the Lord has prepared. And that doesn't matter where you are!" He shared with us a scripture in the New Testament that said God told his apostles to go forth and preach by the way. Then he showed us D&C 52:9-33. God commands his servants to "take their journey and preach by the way" over and over. He made the point that this is the way God has done missionary work forever. We go forth and preach by the way. We need to stop and talk to everyone. We can't move too swiftly while God's children are perishing by the way.
Later that day on the way back from the training, because of how the ride situation worked out, we were waiting for an hour at another elders flat to wait for his companion to return. Because of the training we decided we would start opening our mouths and speaking to everybody. It's getting easier but I still freak out a little bit. The miracle was that two of the people we talked to spoke Spanish! And then yesterday we were going to visit a less active and we found another Spanish speaker as we "preached by the way". Super cool!
I am going to be praying very hard for the faith and love to preach by the way. It's way easier to just keep on walking, but what Elder Hamula said keeps coming back to my mind, "opening your mouth is the price every missionary must pay to find people that are prepared." I feel that's true, but I wish it wasn't so hard. I will pray for more strength so serve how God has asked me even when it's scary and tiring. As we take Christ's name upon us by doing missionary work His way, we are entitled to his miracles. The way Jesus Christ does missionary work is by Preaching by the Way. We are going to start smashing people like Jesus Christ! Just read a few verses in John and you can feel the power in his words. That's how we will be as we take on ourselves the attributes of Jesus Christ the missionary.
So it's been another great week. Got to play tennis today against a kid that was alright and we had a pretty good time. Last week I was $3 away from going broke! haha It was a close call. I had to spend $15 to buy groceries for last week! haha but now I've figured out where to shop and how much money I can use! And we were paying $15 to play tennis at this place each Pday until we went broke but now we've found this place that's free! So now we are rich!!
My Spanish is improving every day! Today at the tennis courts we spoke with this girl that was pretty much a female Nadal and her coach! HOLY CATS she was hitting her forehand so hard!! It made such a loud noise! Any how they were from Spain and I was talking to the coach and we talked in Spanish for a bit and even when I couldn't express myself completely in Spanish and switched to english for a sec he kept speaking in Spanish because he could see I understood what he was saying! Yay! I'm getting more and more comfortable with Spanish. Each week I see a definite step forward! I love you all!
Dad, You need to teach that to your mission prep students that "Opening your mouth is the price you pay to find the people the Lord has prepared." And it doesn't matter where you are. Experience comes before faith. Somehow if they can experience that, they will have faith to open their mouths. Also page 7 in PMG has things that everyone must understand about our message. Each one of them needs to know how to quickly articulate that for a contact or door approach.
Love yous heaps!
Be safe!
Love, Elder Weiss VI
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