WEEK 27 - THE ALMA-AMULEK APPROACH

Elder Weber and Elder Tapia with their sweet ride

Hey everyone, Elder Z.S.Weber is back, once again, with an update on how things are going here in Kimball, Nebraska. But, before I get to that, I'd like to wish all y'all out there a Happy Valentine's Day. Hope that it was a great day for all of you, spending time with the one you love, and celebrating that love in the most rational--and irrational--of ways. However, if you had no one to love last Saturday, then I hope you were able to enjoy Singles Awareness Day (S.A.D.) in the single best way possible--watching sappy romantic movies with a huge bucket of chocolate ice cream as a snack! I was able to have a wonderful Valentine's Day, actually, thanks to the lovely package my mom sent me, which I got on Thursday. So, before I get on with my week, I'd like to say real quick--THANKS MOM, AND HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU TOO!!

Elder Weber with some of his Valentines goodies
from his February care package

A-hem! Anyways, this week has had it's ups and downs, but as with every week I've had on my mission, it's been...interesting. The first half of the week, sadly, didn't have much happen. If it did, then I and my horrible memory have completely forgotten them. However, things started getting really good around Thursday. Not only did I get my Valentine's package from my mom that day, but Elder Tapia were able to spend our day over in Sidney during our District Meeting. After discussing what more could be done to help the Sidney Ward, we went off on a wild divide-and-conquer mission across Sidney, trying to find as many less-actives as possible, and slimming down the terribly immense Ward list by as many people as we could. By the end of the day, we were able to make some good progress--though the list is still very unmanageable.


Elder Weber rocking his new Duck Dynasty look

 

Friday really took things off for Elder Tapia and me, as we went right back to work that day with service. In the morning, we were at the Recycle center--while Elder Tapia worked on the plastic bottles and such, I spent much of the day smashing glass bottles out in the back and pretending I was part of the crew from Tarzan during the "Wreck the Camp" scene. Afterwords, we headed off to the senior-center in Kimball, where we helped the residents out with their enthralling games of bingo. Finally, the day ended with a visit with our investigator, Brian McKay, with some very good news as well. Not only has he been off coffee for three weeks now, but he's also getting to reading the Book of Mormon seriously, and he's planning on attending Church more often than he has in the past. This is great, because really that's all he really needs before he can be baptized! Whoo!!

 

Brother Jones prepping the goat for the slaughter

The bleeding of the goat

 

Eewww...the head peeled of it's skin

Saturday, Valentine's Day, was also very interesting, but in a very...very different way. We were finally able to witness the goat-slaying we had been craving for the past three weeks! Brother Jones took us out to his friend's ranch, where the goat was ready for us, and showed us the techniques he had in slaying and butchering animals. It was an interesting experience, watching him peel the skin off of the goat's body, remove the guts his friend wanted to cook, and then cutting up the goat's meat so it would be ready for dinner. Then, we all headed back to the Jones' house, where we enjoyed hot dogs roasted over their backyard fire, and were able to help Brother Jones take the goat-hide he'd gained from the slaughter and get it ready for tanning. It was an awesome experience, and one that I won't forget anytime soon.

 

The elders standing around the skin to be tanned

 

Speaking of moments I won't ever forget, Sunday was also amazing. For the first time in my Missionary career, I (and my companion) had been called to give a talk during sacrament meeting. It was fairly intimidating for me, because I was speaking to a Ward that I was still very new to, and I wasn't exactly certain how to give the talk to begin with. However, things were able to work out in the end, as I was able to give a powerful talk on the importance of members in keeping new-members strong in their conversion. This approach, using members to help in teaching, and friendshipping, new investigators, new members, and less-active members, is something I've come to know as the "Alma-Amulek Approach", and if used well, it can make new-member's lives easier, and their conversion to the Gospel all the more stronger.

 

THE DISTRICT (l-r) Elder Weber, Elder Tapia, Elder,
 Elder Snelders, Elder Layton before transfers

 

Well, that's all I've got for this week. Sorry that I don't have a spiritual message this week, but that comes with good reason. Once again, Transfers are here. And, sadly, Elder Snelders and Elder Layton are gone, off to new areas. We wish them good luck in their endeavors, and I wish myself good luck in tolerating whoever will be their replacements.

 

Hope to hear from y'all again next week!

--Elder Z.S.Weber