WEEK 55 - A SINGLE DROP

Gooood morning Vietnam...I mean, Colorado. This is Elder Z.S.Weber, reporting in once again from Erie, Colorado, with a quick report on how life is going here in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. This week has been an exciting—yet tiring—six days since the last email I shot out to y'all last Tuesday. We've fought against the blistering heat, the buffeting wind, and the shrill-voiced TIWI's, yet we've still managed to have a great week, one that was worth the report. So, without further ado, here's Week 55, and the epicness that ensued.

So, starting on Wednesday, Elder Hale and I got a call from our Zone Leaders, asking (cough cough requesting cough cough) us to go out on exchanges with them. Elder Hale ended up going to their Young Single Adult Ward over by the college with Elder Moala, while I stayed in the Coal Creek Ward with Elder Pratt. Because we hadn't had much time to prepare for the Exchanfe, and because we were already short on our list of investigators, I decided we should go out tracking. Much to my surprise, we were able to actually have some very pleasant conversations, and aptly hand out a few copies of the Book of Mormon.

Then, that evening, we got another chance to teach Sophia and her family. This time, the lesson was on the Gospel of Jesus Christ—you know, Receive Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repent, be Baptized, Receive the Gift if the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End. It went fairly well, but whenever I felt that I had covered one of the topics in the discussion well, and felt that we could move on to the next point, Elder Pratt would jump in and cover everything is already said, and then add some if the deeper details. It irritated me a bit, but we were able to get through the lesson just fine, without any really bad hiccups or concerns.

Moving on, on Thursday we exchanged back with our previous companions. But before we could do that, we had service at EFAA to get to. Last week, we had pruned several bushes, so we had piles of dead branches to take to the dumpster and a giant bush stump to dig out of the ground. It was rough work, but with six hands to work together, we were able to gather all of the dead branches together and toss them away. Meanwhile, Elder Pratt pretty much handled the stump on his own, digging it up and tearing it out like it was nothing. With that done, we closed shop for the day, bid each other a good evening, and headed back out to continue our days.

Other than that, however, the rest of the week wasn't all that exciting. Though the work is still moving, it's still taking a while before we'll be at full speed. But, for now, the work we've got is good. Just this morning, I received an email from my sister Becky, who told me about a friend of mine who shared a story to relate to the struggles of the mission work. I hope he doesn't mind if I share that same story here.

An old man was walking along the beach, a early in the morning, and he came across the figure of someone, who looked like he was dancing. As he approached he say a young man picking up starfishes from the shore and tossing them into the ocean. 

"What are you doing?" Asked the old man.

"The sun is almost up, so the tide will be going down soon. I'm throwing in the starfishes before they die." He explained.

"There are countless starfishes that line this shore, for miles! You can't possibly make any difference." The old man argued. The boy bent down and picked up a single starfish, throwing it back in, past the crashing waves, and then turned to the man.

"It made a difference to that one."

I might never see how far my work goes...but as long as I spend my life serving God, I will be happy, and I will make a difference. It may just be a single drop in an entire ocean, but it's one drop that wasn't there before. In the sacred name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

—Elder Z.S.Weber

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WEEK 54 - BRAVE the STORM

Hey everyone! Yeah, it's me again, Elder Z.S.Weber, with another quick update on life in Boulder, Colorado. Sorry I didn't send this out yesterday, I was caught up in something else, which will be mentioned later on in the email, so just hang tight! Now, before o get into anything else, let me just say...the drought is finally over! I'm not talking about a literal drought here—in fact, if anything, the heat seems to be increasing across the nation, as the fires in Idaho and the West Coast can easily profess. No, I'm talking about the drought in missionary work. For once, the heavens have opened, the hand of the Lord has been seen, and the work has begun moving along once more! So, without further ado, here's what made this week totally awesomepicness!

Tuesday: The morning started off with Elder Hale and me heading out to CU, the university in Boulder, to help some other Elders there with service. We basically needed to move all of the summer help's belongings out of one of the buildings before the dorm's residents returned that afternoon. It sounded easy...until we found out part of the work was moving a couple of two-ton washing and drying machines from the basement to the storage pods outside. That was the longest half hour of my life...

Then, that evening, we taught Sophia the Plan of Salvation. We were able to teach a lot more clearly than we had last Wednesday, which I personally saw as a success. However, if that wasn't enough of a sign that the lesson was a success, then setting a date for Sophia to be baptized, and her accepting it, certainly was a sign! Both Elder Hale and I returned home after that with a noticeable spring in my step!

Thursday: Not much happened on Wednesday...aside from Elder Stone and Elder Olson disrupting District Meeting by pulling out silly string cans and spraying a few of the other Elders (cough cough me cough cough) with them.

Thursday, however, was a day of service. At EFAA, we were asked to prune some of the large bushes on the south side of the building so that they'd be easier to remove once they started the renovations a few weeks from now. However, while Elder Hale went the traditional route with a pair of clippers, I decided to use a slightly more unorthodox tool for the work...a large scythe-like blade with serrated teeth and a clipper attached. It actually did the work very well, if the pile of branches I cut down was any sign to go by.

However, before we were finished, Elder Hale got a call from Sister Dimig, who asked us to lend her friend with moving. Apparently, she had asked the Zone Leaders to get help to her, but somewhere along the way, it had gotten lost or ignored. So, we quickly headed off and gave a helpful hand with the move.

Friday: Then, on Friday, the excitement with work continued on, as we were called to one of the families, the Techera's, for a lesson. After sharing a quick lesson about the importance of families, Brother Techera asked us to go with him to meet one of his Home-Teaching families. They were a less-active/part-member family, and after meeting them, I couldn't help but feel a strong feeling of certainty that they'd be great to work with. Chelsea, the mom, is interested in returning to church so that her daughter can have a strong foundation through life, and Chad, the dad, is a non-member who seems to be open about the gospel. So, looks like we could have more work very soon!

Monday: Finally, yesterday, we had Mission Tour. It was held in the Trilby building, the church building in my first area of the mission, and this time, Elder Jorge Zeballos of the Seventy came to speak to us. It was an incredibly spiritual and moving moment, as it was a training for the newer missionaries about how to do the work, and a reminder for seasoned veterans like myself as to how the work works. Afterword, while at lunch, I had the happy occasion to see Sister Clevery, the wife of the bishop that had served at the time I was in the Fossil Creek Ward. It was nice to see a familiar face again, and hear about how things were going in the Ward. The only thing that dampened my mood a bit was that the McManus family, who were my first investigators, still had yet to be baptized. But, still, it was a great day.

So, to close this message, I'd like to share a quick spiritual thought. At times in our lives, we're going to face adversity. These past few months of my life, in the mission field, have been some of those trying times, when we're tossed upon a sea of trials and troubles. However, just as there are terrible trying times in these spiritual storms, these storms give us a chance to grow, to look to God for support. At those times, we can be reminded of this poem,

God moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform.

He plants his footprints in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take.

The clouds you so much dread,

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head. (Anonymous)

Though the storms are fierce, we need not fear. They come from God, and are merely another chance in our lives to prove ourselves to him. Let us stand strong against the adversities of our lives, against the adversary himself, and dare to brave the storm, knowing that as long as we stand beside our Savior, we cannot, indeed we will not, fail. This I say, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen!

—Elder Z.S.Weber

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WEEK 53 - LIVE with ABANDON

Hey everybody, this is Elder Z.S.Weber, checking in from Erie, Colorado, with another exciting update on how life is in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. Before I get into all that has been going on these past seven days, though...do y'all know what tomorrow is? Well, three-hundred and sixty-two days ago tomorrow evening, I was set apart as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. Yeah, that's right! In about twenty-four hours, technically, is my year-mark! Already, a year of my mission has come and gone. I've had a very fun and exciting twelve months out here, serving people, teaching the gospel, working with companions. And I just can't wait to start the second leg of this amazing adventure I'm a part of. So, with that all said and done...here we go!

So, nothing terribly exciting or inspiring happened this week on Monday or Tuesday, nothing out of the ordinary din of the week. On Wednesday, however, the pace quickly shifted up a couple of gears. We received word from our friends at EFAA that they needed assistance with clearing out and cleaning up thus one woman's apartment in this other part of Lafayette, further away than the usual Lafayette EFAA building. We were asked to clean off all of the furniture, which had a fairly thick layer of dust on it. Clouds of dust soon filled the apartment, which left me sneezing for a good deal of the day. As if that hadn't been bad enough, the chemicals being used to clean the room were so powerful that the smell practically burned my nose off of my face. However, in spite of all that, we actually enjoyed the work, and quickly got it all done with.

Then, later that evening, Elder Hale and I went out to this family that was interested in taking the Missionary Discussions. The Elzingas, as they were called, are a mixed family, with Brother Elzinga the stepfather to Sophia. It's Sophia that we're aiming to work with. Apparently, she believes that the gospel is true, and wants to take the discussions so that she can be baptized. So, on Wednesday we ran off to the Elzingas house and began teaching the First Discussion—the Restoration. The message went fairly well, we were able to touch on all of the points correctly and effectively, and it seemed that Sophia understood everything that we had said. The only problem was that we didn't flow well together with our teaching. Because we haven't had a lot of people to consistently teach, we've been out of practice with our teaching skills. So, that's what we aim to improve over this next week.

With that in mind, we were in the perfectly teachable mindset for the Zone Conference that happened the next day. When we drove up into the parking lot, however, we were met with a very interesting sight. There were several different maintenance guys directing the cars into a certain part of the parking lot so that, while in the Conference, they could install the driving monitors. Apparently, this conference was one where we would be instructed on a new tool for us missionaries called the Tiwi. Basically, the Tiwi would record whenever we drove five miles or more over the speed limit, turned sharply, hit a pothole too fast, speed up too fast, or slam on the brakes. It was actually a very interesting conference, at least for me. There's just one small problem with the Tiwi, though...

It keeps beeping at me to slow down in this one certain area even though I'm driving right on the speed limit!!

...ahem...anyways...

So, those were the most exciting and interesting moments from this week. The rest of the week was fairly normal and regular, so there wasn't much to report on. So...that means it's time to move on to the Spiritual Thought!

Recently, while driving down the road and trying to ignore Tiwi harping on me even though I was driving the speed limit, I came across this message on a sign that said, "Live With Abandon—Live every minute like it's your last on Earth." Now, obviously this sign was just a realization of the old Isaiah prophecy speaking of people spreading word to, "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die, and it shall be well with us." However, I chose to look at the message in a slightly different way...to live every moment as your last chance to serve. I'd like to pull from the words of President Henry B. Eyring, who said, "In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.""(President Henry B. Eyring, This Day, April General Conference 2007)

We don't have a very long time to serve while on this Earth. One-hundred years, as long as they might seem, flash by in barely even a blink of the eye of our Almighty Creator. If we really want to make the most of this one, short and small moment to live, then we need to stand up, get out, and serve, in as little or grand of scale you can. All that truly matters is making a point to have every moment of your life be seen as a symbol that you have truly taken to heart the message of Joshua of old, who said, "Choose thee this day whom ye shall serve...but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15) I pray that we will all be able to take Joshua's message to heart. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, that's it from me! Hope you guys enjoyed it, and tune in again next week for another exciting chapter in the life of a missionary. Stay epic, my friends. Ciao!

—Elder Z.S.Weber

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WEEK 52 - THE WORK and the GLORY

Hey, everyone! Yeah, it's me, Elder Z.S.Weber, here once again with an update on how life is going for us Coal Creek Elders in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. Another week has come and gone, and Just like last week, it has many highs and lows that appear as blurs in my head. I suppose that's to be expected, though. After all, at the end of this next week, I reach my year-mark. And according to all other missionaries and former missionaries, the second half of the mission goes by the fastest. Of course, that only makes me wonder...the first year went by in a blur...so what will the second year be like?

Anyways, though this week has come and gone faster than the human eye can detect, there were still some great and interesting moments to acknowledge over the week. The first was on Tuesday, when Elder Hale and I went over to EFAA for service. This week's offer was a little different than normal—they wanted us to clear the weeds out of this section of the driveway where kids would ride their bikes and play around, and move a large wooden bench over there for the parents to sit on and keep an eye on their kids. This was the vision...the only problem with it was that we didn't have a bench. Instead, we had a giant flat-topped chest that they had been told was a bench. It still worked, you could sit on it, but there was just this constant worry that a kid would open it, crawl inside, and then get stuck inside of it when someone sat down on it.

This mainly came from the prank I played on the other Elders that came to help. The initial plan was to have me hide in the chest until they came up to sign in for EFAA's service, and then pop out last minute, like a monster in a Halloween a House of Horrors. Instead, the Elders decided to sit down on the top of the chest while they waited to sign in...and, as most of you already know, I don't really have the arm-strength to flip open the lid if a wooden chest and flip the combined weight of two grown men off if it. So, after several failed attempts to push my way out, I was left knocking on the lid of the chest, asking the Elders to get off so that I wouldn't be stuck.

On Wednesday, the District gathered together for another District Meeting. The meeting was mainly planned to be a get-to-know-you for the new Elders in the group, and a planning session to see what all the Elders were expecting for this Transfer. Unfortunately, we got off to a late start because some of the Elders thought that the meeting was later than it actually was. So, to pass the time, Elder Stone at the end if the table started throwing goldfish snacks at everyone in the room, seeing who could catch it in their mouth. One Elder even sat at the very end of the table, his mouth level with the table's surface, and tried to catch crackers that were slid over to him. All in all, it was a very relaxed and refreshing way to start the day.

Finally, on Saturday (sad to say nothing much really happened on Thursday or Friday), Elder Hale and I had our first chance of the Transfer to go to District Leader Council. I hadn't been to one of those since I was companions with Elder Proffit back in my second Transfer...man, does time fly. Speaking of flashes to the past, one of the District Leaders attending the meeting was my former MTC companion, Elder Noh. Crazy. Elder Pratt's a Zone Leader, Elder Noh's a District Leader, and I'm still just a Junior Comp. Not that I'm complaining, or anything. However, anything more I can say about the meeting ended there, as Junior Companions weren't allowed in the meeting. So, I spent the majority of the next hour or so out in the foyer with the other Junior Comps, working on my studies, and maybe writing a bit for one of my stories.

So, yeah, that was my week. Sorry if it isn't all that interesting, not as filled with incredible stories about conversions and teachings. But that's just not the mission my Heavenly Father has sent me out to complete. Right now, I'm doing what o can to clean up this area so that the missionaries that come after me have a better area to work in. I might not be able to do a lot of hands-on teaching here, but I am helping to do God's work, and bless the lives of others. Proof of that came on Wednesday afternoon this week, when I received an email from a family friend, thanking me for the messages I was sharing. It's messages like that that remind me of why I'm still out here, what I'm doing. They help me push forward, because I'm reminded that I'm still doing a great work.

I know that God lives, and that his son is my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that he restored his church to the earth through his prophet, Joseph Smith. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that church, and that it is true. It has been, and still is, led by an ordained prophet of the Lord, who today is Thomas S. Monson. I know this, as clearly as I know myself. I say this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

—Elder Z.S.Weber

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WEEK 51 - A CHANGE in LEADERSHIP

Hey everybody! It's me again, Elder Z.S.Weber here again with a quick
and exciting update on how life as a missionary is going down here in
Boulder, Colorado. And, well, things are good right now...the work is
progressing at about the same rate as always, and the people are about
as accepting as always...but come Tuesday, there are going to be some
epic changes for me and Elder Hale. That's right ladies and gentlemen,
once again it is Transfer Week! And, let me tell you what, this week's
Transfer is going to change everything! But, we'll get to that at the
end of this message. For now, let's turn back the clock to Tuesday and
see how this week went for the Elders in the Coal Creek Ward.

So, on Tuesday, Elder Hale and I were able to go do service at EFAA
again, along with the Lafayette Elders, Elder Mortenson and Elder
Stone. This week's service was surrounding getting one of the
apartments on the top floor ready for a new family to move in. We
needed to bring in an extra bed, rearrange the living room into more
appropriate settings, and make certain the flat was clean enough to
live in. Sadly, the previous family made that part a real challenge
for us, as there were all kinds of disorder strewn throughout the
kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. It was times like that that I remember
the old saying, "many hands make light work." Between the four of us,
we were able to get the apartment looking livable again in just under
two hours, with some spare time in between to mess around like the
young men we still truly are.

Then, on Wednesday, we were (finally!) able to go back to work. We had
called Kyle, our investigator, earlier in the week and asked is we
could come by, and he agreed. After catching up for a while, we asked
him about the talk we'd left him with about a week prior, "The
Blueprints of Christ's Church" by Tad R. Callister (great talk for
anyone who is wondering why us Mormons believe we truly are the
restored Church of Jesus Christ). After discussing some of the
questions he had, such as direct line of Priesthood Authority, and
asking him how he felt about the answers he'd received, we felt
prompted to show him the three-part video series, "Patterns of Light"
by Elder David A. Bednar. It is our hope that, when we next see him
again, the videos would've explained further how he himself could
receive greater understanding and revelation, to lead him to the
answer that this Church is true.

Next, on Thursday, we had quite a surprise come knocking on our
doorstep. We were just getting ready to head over to service at EFAA
again when we beard the knock. I went to answer the door and found
myself face-to-face with...four complete strangers. At least, that was
what I thought at the time. It wasn't until I saw the fourth face,
which belonged to my former Bishop in my home Ward, Brother Brian
Hancey, that I realized who it was.

 It was really surprising to have
the Hancey's stop by, perhaps one of the last things I'd expect to
happen while a missionary. It was fun catching up with them, talking
about how my mission's going, and asking how my friend Trae, their
son, was doing on his mission. 

It really was an awesome experience.
One I'm not going to forget for a while now.

Finally, on Friday, we had another interesting service opportunity.
While talking with Brother Dimig, our 'landlord' of a sort, we were
asked to talk with an old woman that lives across the street from him,
and see if we could do anything for her. In fact, there was something.

She needed her car washed, seeing as she couldn't do it herself. So,
grabbing a hose, a few sponges, and some paper towels, we got to work
cleaning the car until it was glossy and sheen like new. The only
problem, though, was that she didn't have a sprayer for her hose, so I
had to hold my thumb over the hose to give it the additional pressure
needed to clean the car. The result? One clean car...and one drenched
missionary. Still, it was a fun service opportunity for us, to break
the monotony of the day.

And, finally, we got to Saturday, and the dreaded announcement of who
would be staying and who would be going. That's right...Transfer
Doctrine. As I said before, everything changed with that announcement.
And so...drumroll please...the Transfer Doctrine for Elder Hale and me
is...

...Nothing! We're both staying here in Coal Creek! But, there is one
thing that changes. Seeing as Elder Stone, our District Leader, only
has three weeks left, we need a new District Leader. And seeing as my
leadership skills are about as impressive as those displayed by a
blind donkey with no legs (no idea where that came from, but...), my
companion, Elder Hale, will be the new District Leader. So, even
though nothing really is changing, not everything will be staying the
same either. Still, I'm glad to still be serving here in Coal Creek,
with Elder Hale. Looking forward to another awesome Transfer!

Well, that's it for this week! Hope y'all have an awesome Monday, and
I hope to hear from y'all again very soon! Ciao!

—Elder Z.S.Weber

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