WEEK 43 - GOOD THINGS to COME

Hey everyone! It's-a me, Elder Z.S.Weber, reporting to you live from Erie, Colorado, with a quick update on how life is going for me and Elder Buchanan in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. And I am glad to say that summer is finally here! The sun is out, the grass is green, and everything is alive and in motion! School is even out, too! That has to be my biggest shock. Didn't school just get out? And wasn't I just preparing to go on a mission? Now, all of a sudden, a whole year has gone by, and I've been away on my mission for nine months! It's crazy! But, luckily, these crazy nine months have been filled with fun, exciting, and spiritual moments that I'd never wish to have erased from my life, and this week has been no different. So without further ado, let's begin!

The Birthday Boy

 

This week began fairly well, as on Wednesday, Elder Buchanan and I got to go to another riveting District meeting with the other Elders in our area. This week's District meeting was a lot more laid back than the last one, as our District Leader wasn't able to prepare much due to him getting packed up so he could move in with some of the other Elders when his companion goes back home three weeks early. So, we spent the day pretty much talking about where each of us felt we could improve as Elders and as a District, and collaborated together to make a plan that would be a sure-fire hit. Once the meeting was done with, Elder Buchanan and I decided to test our new found skills out. And they worked. We didn't get into a lot of non-member homes, but the less-active members and families in our area are very willing to now let us in.

Elders Weber and Buchanan bowling on P-Day

 

So, we have that awesome day with missionary work, and guess what happens on Thursday? We get broadsided by a huge thunderstorm. Hail the size of peas and kidney beans falling from the skies, rain that flooded the streets and turned entire yards into swamps, and lightning cracking and flashing almost every second. Due to the harsh conditions, President Brown decided to make it a no-work day. Which, was perfectly fine by me, as it meant I could celebrate my birthday in peace. I was very happy to receive the package from my mom and family. Elder Buchanan and I made the cake while playing rounds of Magic and just having a blast. Then, when the storm had died down some, Elder Buchanan and I sat out in the yard and watched the walls of the storm around us flash with bright bolts of lightning.

Ready to knock some pins down

 

The awesomeness didn't end there, either. On Saturday, Elder Buchanan and I got a chance to teach a less-active member of the ward that was really desiring to come back to church. His name was Stephan, and he was still struggling with his whole personal relationship with God. We were happy, however, to help him out. We told him, very plainly, that we were just there to help him gain greater understanding of God. In the end, it would all be up to him and his own personal dedication whether he chose to believe or not. Thankfully, though, it seems that he may choose to stay with us and work to return to church. We even have a return appointment with hi , so it should go great. I'm glad to see that the work is finally picking up. Even if it's not non-members that are listening to us, I'm glad that our less-active brothers and sisters are turning to God again, and as such are turning to us for help.

So, what could I have to say today? Well, recently I've been thinking a lot about how my missionary experience has been. I mean, I'm nine months out, and really I've only ever seen the fruits of my labors...well, actually, I've never seen the fruits of my labors. While thinking on that, though, I also looked through the different cards that had been sent over the week leading to my birthday. So many of them, the theme was the same; "thank you for the emails, and your testimony. You are a great missionary. You are doing a great work, in Colorado and in Utah. Keep going." As I read those letters, and cards, and thought over these thoughts, I realized two things. First, you never know what small acts of kindness or what short messages of strength can do to a person. Second, the blessings that come from those acts of random kindness may not come instantly, but they do come.

To me, I feel my thoughts are best described in the words of Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Twelve. “Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come...some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." (An High Priest of Good Things to Come, Jeffery R. Holland, 1999) I bear testimony that this is true. That, in the end of it all, blessings will come to those who are worthy of them. Though we may never see the blessings or outcomes from our endeavors, I pray with Elder Holland, that we will press on with the courage to bear up our burdens with happiness, to seek to do good to all those around us, and to keep our eyes fixed on the good things that are still yet to come.

In the sacred name of the High Priest of Good Things to Come, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

--Elder Z.S.Weber

 

 

 

 

 

**Excerpts from the Mom letter**

...My birthday was great! I'm going to send you pictures today! We strung
the decorations up in our apartment, baked the cake, and opened the
letters I'd been waiting to open for a while. There were tons. I got
letters from Grandma and Grandpa Sansevero, Grandma Weber, Aunt Cheri,
the Pettits, the Ericksons, the Duves, the Nighs and others...it was awesome! I'm
glad to have my Bleach shirt, too, and all the other epic stuff I got
in my packages. Grandma and Grandpa sent me a bunch of really cool
gospel music, including a CD from VocalPoint, which is epic, and I've
loved. What really made it cool, though, was that while we were
celebrating, the house we live in was pretty much surrounded by walls
of clouds overhead in a huge thunderstorm. So, after we celebrated my
birthday, we went outside and sat on the ground, watching the
light-show the heavens were offering us.