Hey everyone! It's-a me, Elder Z.S.Weber, sending out another epic
weekly email on how my life in the mission is going. And, well, things
are going okay, aside from me and Elder Oaks being completely ticked
off with the weather. If you're thinking about what weather app you
should get for your newest digital device, let me give you some
advice. Whatever you choose, do not go with Yahoo weather! It's crazy,
but it seems like every other hour, it has a different guess as to
what the weather is gonna be. This last week, it said we were gonna
have a big storm come through, drop about a foot of snow, get down to
below freezing all week. Well, we did get snow...a half inch of it
that melted before the sun even finished rising!! And that's just one
of the many weather predictions it botched up!
So, yeah...that was my rant on weather apps...anyways...
This week was pretty different, all things considered. So, this week
started off with Tuesday. This Tuesday was going to be fairly special,
because we had planned to go out on Exchanges with our District Leader
and his companion. I say 'had planned' because at about three in the
afternoon, we got a call from the District Leader saying that that
Exchanges were being cancelled. Apparently, he wasn't feeling well
(out of respect, I will not go into any specifics, including his
name), and after getting checked out, his condition was deemed bad
enough for him to need to go home. So, that meant we'd be without a
District Leader. The Lakeside District was District Leaderless. Talk
about scary situations.
Now, the reason why the situation was so scary, at least for us
elders, is because we know that there aren't any extra elders just
sitting around, waiting for a calling to be vacant so they can swoop
in and fill it. Which would mean the title of District Leader would
fall onto one of our shoulders. And as the elder with the least
leadership experience in the group, I was pretty much betting that
just for the heck of it, they'd give the mantle to me. (cue sarcastic
'yaaay') Thankfully, that was not what happened. Rather than suffer
from the struggle of assigning a new District Leader, President Brown
dissolved the Lakeside District, and Elder Oaks and I became members
of the Berthoud District.
Because of the reassignment, Elder Oaks and I had our District Meeting
the very next day. After a brief introduction to everyone there, we
were able to enjoy a nice District Meeting that I quite honestly can't
really remember anymore. But, it was a good one, that much I do know.
Right after District Meeting, though, we headed back home, got
changed, and went to work at our newest service project. Called Hearts
and Horses, it's a fairly small organization situated right beside our
host family's house. Basically a horse boarding and training ground,
our duties lie mostly in being the extra muscle they need to keep the
place looking nice—sweeping the dirt off of the walks, taking care of
the garbage, and other basic duties. All in all, it's looking to be a
nice service opportunity for us!
So, that was our Wednesday from this week. Thursday, as well, was very
interesting. This last Sunday, we decided to plan to go on splits this
last Thursday, with some of the Melchizedek Priesthood holders in our
Ward. Well, Thursday evening comes rolling around, we've got a short
list of names of people to look up and visit, and pretty much no one
shows up. Really, it was just us, Elder Oaks and me, and our Ward
Mission Leader, Brother Thorpe. So, with the three of us, we decided
to drive out and meet some of the less active members of our Ward we
had yet to meet. The very first house very much set the mood of our
visits for the evening, though, as the man there just popped his head
out, scowled, and pretty much just shouted at us to leave and never
come back (as well as several other crass and crude words I'd rather
not mention).
So, after several other meetings similar to the one above mentioned,
we decided to just go to the local Dairy Queen, grab a treat, and have
Ward Mission Correlation Meeting. Not that bad way to end the day, all
things considered.
However, throughout all of the craziness throughout the week, perhaps
the best send-off for my week came on Sunday. This past Sunday,
yesterday, was Ward Conference, where members that serve on the Stake
Level come to minister to the members in our Ward. Because these
members can come from several different awards in the stake, I
wondered if I'd recognize anyone from my first area, Fossil Creek,
among them, though I highly doubted they'd remember me. After all, I
was always the quiet one in the companionships I was a part of in my
first area. I was still pretty shy and reserved when it came to
discussions, so I doubted I'd left much of an impression.
Boy, was I wrong. I recognized at least four different Fossil Creek
Ward members there during the Ward Conference—President Crane, the
Stake President; Sister Baer, whose house I went to for Christmas last
year; Brother Adams, who lived across the road from my first host
family, the Houses; and Brother VanTassel, whose family fed the
missionaries just about every other week. Much to my great surprise,
every one of them could clearly remember me! Brother VanTassel even
said that some of his kids had been asking about me and Elder Proffit,
my trainer, to know how we were doing! It all just blew me away, and
brought tears of joy to my eyes.
Which just so happens to bring me to the message of the week.
To most of you reading these emails, I probably sound like a very
confident and charismatic elder, someone who always manages to smile
even the metaphorical sun if missionary work isn't shining. The truth
is, I'm just as susceptible to depression and discouragement as the
next young man, perhaps even more so. I'm very self-conscious, and I
worry about the impressions I leave with people. It doesn't help,
either, that every Ward I serve in, there're stories of 'Legendary
Elders'. You know, elders who always seemed to be in the right place
at the right time, were loved by the entire Ward, and served to the
very limits of their physical, mental, and emotional capacities.
Against that, how was I supposed to measure up?
Yet here I was, almost a full year after leaving my first area, and
the people there were able to recognize me, recall my name, and
welcome me with open arms! I didn't do anything special to earn their
affection, certainly not something to make my memory last even for a
year. All I did was the best that I could do, which I considered to be
not that much, and learn to love being a missionary. And that is what
I've come to a realization this week. You truly never know what impact
you have on the lives of those you've met until you turn back and
look. Oh, I'm not certain for how long my memory will last with those
that I've taught or served beside. Perhaps I'll live another year in
their memories. Perhaps I'll last a lifetime. But one thing I know for
certain is that when you do your best, and serve with all your might,
you leave an impression.
In the name if the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
—Elder Z.S.Weber
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