WEEK 97 - A FATHER INDEED

Good morning, fellow inhabitants of this beautiful world we all call Earth. Once more, this is your brilliant, charming, and ever-humble friend serving in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission, Elder Z.S.Weber. Once more, I am here to tell all y'all what's going on in my life as a missionary and what lessons I have been able to learn. Before I begin though, I realize that a lot of you might have been concerned with how...blue my last email sounded. Last week was really rough on me, and so I didn't really have the energy or conviction to write another powerful or inspiring message like I normally do. However, I can confidently say that this week turned out MUCH better than last week did, and I'm feeling much better as well.

So, what happened this week that made me feel so much better than the last? Well, to begin, on Tuesday we were asked to gather together for a Zone Conference. For the first time ever on my mission, we were actually going to a Zone Conference that was being held in our own Zone. Usually, because we share a Zone Conference with other Zones, the Zone I am in has to drive to the Zone that is hosting the Conference. The other interesting difference about this Zone Conference is that it was President Brown's last Zone Conference, and should be my last one as well. It's still kind of hard to believe that it's finally gotten this far, and that my mission is almost over. The fact that this was the last Zone Conference was a bit of a rude awakening.

For the most, the Zone Conference was spent as a Q&A session with President Brown. The President wanted to share as much advice as he could with us before his time as our Mission President ended. Surprisingly, there weren't any sarcastic questions asked, and though President Brown wasn't able to answer all of the questions, the questions he did answer I feel fit most of the missionaries that attended. Along with advice, President Brown talked with us missionaries about President McMurray, who should be coming to replace him by the middle of the first full week of July (1st through 7th). It was his hope that we would make serving with President McMurray easier on him, and that the exchange from one President to another wouldn't cause too much chaos in the mission.

After the meeting, we had a delicious lunch which had been prepared for us by some local members. After lunch was over, we each received these awesome little challenge/memory coins with the Fort Collins Mission emblem and the Fort Collins Temple on either side. 

It was a great gift to remember our mission from, especially for me, who accidentally lost his 'Armor of God' challenge coin at the very beginning of his mission and had missed the feeling of having a coin in his pocket. Finally, at the end of the meeting, we got to the Departing Testimonies, and boy were there a lot of them. There were nineteen missionaries that were going home in the next two months that were attending our Zone Conference, and from what President Brown said, about a quarter of the mission is going home in the first two months of President McMurray's mission. Ouch!

Among those that spoke were actually a lot of familiar faces. Elder Dixon, Elder Genther, Elder Christiansen, Elder Pratt and Elder Clavel, all from my original MTC group (43-Best!!), were there to give their departing testimonies. Elder NeVille, my former companion, was also there, as well as Elder Harper and Elder Clark, who I have previously served around, and Elder Tiai, who came out with me and was pretty much adopted by my MTC group. Elder Stock, Elder Farnes, and Elder Carter were all missionaries that came out with me, but weren't in my group, and Elder Marchetti and Elder Biggs were missionaries that are currently serving in the same Zone as me. This isn't all of the missionaries that said goodbye in that Zone Conference, but they're the ones that I know. It's crazy to think that I'm among them, and come forty-two days, I'll be homeward bound.

After the Zone Conference was over, and the week continued on, I had a few more moments in my week that I feel are worth mentioning. To start with, on Wednesday I got a chance to go on Exchanges with Elder Anderson, my former companion. I ended up going to his area, the Timberline Ward, and we did some work there. It was a good chance for me to see how the other missionaries are doing, and what trials they are going through. Because Timberline was swept out at Transfers, Elder Anderson and Elder Marchetti have a lot of weeding out to do without much direction. It made me glad that, though confusing it is to work two wards, we are able to handle and sort the work in our area. More than anything, though, it was nice just catching up with my former companion and seeing him again.

The next day, after we had exchanged back again, Elder Pember and I were able to have another chance to teach Kathy and Ralph Williams. By this point, we had pretty much finished teaching them all of the lessons, and Kathy by this point is pretty much all ready for her baptism. We went over a little earlier than normal to have dinner with them, and then we spent the rest of the night going over the Baptismal Interview questions so that she's ready for them come this next Thursday when she is actually being interviewed. Once that was done, we also answered any of her questions that she had for us, and stated once more to her that we were certain she was ready, and she herself bore testimony (which was awesome, by the way!) that she felt that she was ready.

So, yeah, that was my week! Way better than last week, am I right? We also have a great new Spiritual Message for all y'all, if you'd like to hear it. Surprisingly, this message has little to do with the Zone Conference or the lessons or exchanges that I've had this week. Rather, this message is one I would like to share about someone truly special and important in my life.

A few weeks ago, I shared a message based off of an article I read in the Ensign from several years back. In it, Elder Holland spoke of a young missionary coming home after a long season in the mission field. He spoke of his family that was waiting for him, but especially about "that big, slightly awkward, quiet, and bronzed giant of a man" who was his father, and who "ran out and swept his son into his arms." (Amazed at the Love Jesus Offers Me, Elder Jeffery R. Holland, New Era December 2008) As I have thought of that message, along with other stories such as the Prodigal Son, the messages Alma the Younger shares in chapters 36 to 42 in the Book of Alma, and the fact that yesterday was Father's Day, I feel impressed to share my own tribute to my father.

My dad, Steven James Weber, is a man that I have always looked up to. He can do almost anything, it seems, that he puts his mind to. He's run marathons, competed in triathlons, gone on hiking trips that I would faint at the thought of attempting, and always seems like he's eager for more. It was through my dad that I learned a lot of what makes me who I am. Sure, I'm a fantasy-type guy, but it was my dad who introduced me to Star Wars, who read Harry Potter to me at bedtime when I couldn't read it on my own. He was there to help me learn how to ride a bike, how to bike down a mountain, and how to ski down a mountain. He instilled in me a love of the outdoors and a love of football, things that don't usually go with being a nerd.

Beyond just passions and pastimes, though, it's because of my father that I'm where I am now spiritually. My dad has always been the spiritual leader of our family, a strong and stalwart bearer of the priesthood that I always looked up to. I remember very clearly on the day before the school year would start, Dad would spend a few hours by himself in his room, getting ready for the priesthood blessings he would be giving. He would then give four blessings in a row, each tailored to us kids in a way that transcended this mortal world. In my eyes, growing up, my dad was spiritual giant, and I longed to be able to stand as tall as he did. I didn't just want to know about the gospel, though I was very knowledgable as it was. I wanted to be an active member, using the gospel in my life like I saw in my father.

I've come a long way from then. I'm in no way perfect right now, and I know pretty well that I've still got a long road ahead of me. But I got a good start. I had a father that I could always look up to, someone who I could always respect. Though his example, I was able to truly come to know my Heavenly Father, and understand who He is and what He expects from me. And now, as I come to the end of my mission and start off on a new stage of my life, I know with upmost surety that I have the support of both of them behind me. I know I can turn to either for support and advice, and through their guidance and examples I can become who I am truly meant to be. I am so grateful to have these figures in my life, who have led me on to who I am now. Such is the same for all of us. Put your trust in your Father in Heaven, and He will always lead you to who you are meant to be.

This I bear witness of in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

—Elder Z.S.Weber