Hey everyone! It's-a me, your favorite nerdy missionary from the
Colorado Fort Collins Mission, Elder Z.S.Weber, reporting in to you
from the McKenzie's basement in the Prairie Ridge and Taft Canyon
Wards. Today is a wonderful day for me and Elder Pember, my dear
friend and companion. Now, there are several reasons for this, but
perhaps the greatest one is that today is the last day of the week for
us missionaries. Today we get to pack up all that went on this last
week, put it aside in storage or somewhere where we won't need it, and
refocus our efforts on the coming week. It allows us to start fresh,
feel renewed, and seek after newer, fresher goals with a brighter
outlook on our attempts to be incredible missionaries in the work.
Now, with that being said, I do have to admit that this past week was
a rough one. Not so much because all of our plans flew out the window
or anything like what I've said in weeks past. Rather, it was because
we had so much going on this week that we really didn't get a chance
to just sit and breathe. I wouldn't mind this so much if it had been a
lot of teaching appointments that we were rushing around to—well,
actually, maybe I would—but most of our week wasn't actually spent in
teaching. Instead, we had a lot of meetings and appointments with the
other missionaries in our area that we had to rush off to. And for me,
rushing around to meetings seems to put a much bigger drain on my
personal battery than other missionary duties.
So what all left me so drained this past week? Well, for starters, on
Tuesday we had our usual DLC with the Zone Leaders. Not that bad,
until they mentioned to us that we had interviews with the Mission
President that very next day, and we hadn't heard anything about it
yet. Because Wednesday's are my District's District Meeting day, we
had to find a way to reorganize our schedule to fit both the Meeting
and the Interviews together. It actually went over really well. We had
a pretty good District Meeting, probably one of the best that I've had
all my mission, and our interviews with the mission president went
over really well. This one was perhaps the shortest I've had yet,
clocking in at only about 10 minutes at the most!
However, the meetings didn't stop there. In the very day that we were
having our interviews, the Harmony Elders were needing me to interview
one of their investigators to see if they were truly ready to be
baptized. This was scheduled right before we were going to an
appointment we had with an investigator of our own, which ended up
falling through. On Friday, we also had another appointment where we
had to take the Harmony Elders to the Stake Center for their baptism,
and then right after had to go to dinner, and immediately afterwords
go back to the Stake Center to interview one of the Zone Leaders'
investigators for baptism. Then on Saturday, we were going to attend
the Zone Leaders' baptism, but we ended up getting roped into helping
the Harmony Elders with service.
After all that, I definitely needed a breather.
Now, in the past I have stated that attending Sacrament Meeting and
the other church meetings that follow it is a great way to recharge my
battery. And, yes, I still believe that is the case...but after
spending a week of rushing around to appointments and meetings,
spending a Sabbath Day rushing around to appointments and meetings
didn't work out that well. I mean, yes, partaking of the sacrament is
something I am always glad to be privileged to do, and the talks and
lessons given by those who were called on to teach that week are
always great and very instructive. But still, I just needed some time
to just rest and unwind. To just let go of the stress of the past week
and get pumped up for the next week.
I guess that's what P-Day's all about, actually...
Luckily, I didn't have to wait until P-Day to get that rest that I
needed. As I stated at the beginning of my email today, there were a
number of things that made the end of this past week great. While the
foremost of it is that the week is over, definitely a close runner-up
was the wonderful chance that I had to Skype my family and talk with
them face-to-screen-to-face. In case I haven't mentioned this in my
past emails, the two greatest days of the year for missionaries are
Christmas Day and Mother's Day, because on both of these wonderful
days, we have the chance to Skype home to our families, talk with
them, joke around, tell stories, and share in the love we have for
each other.
This last Skype was especially special to me, because this was the
last Skype that I would ever have on my mission. Exactly three months
from today (so long as President Brown sticks with the release date
set in mind), I will be boarding a plane back to Salt Lake City, Utah,
and going home to be released from my mission. It's a reality that is
very hard for me to accept, because I always believe that it would
never happen to me. When other missionaries at the beginning of my
mission would stand in Zone Conferences to give their departing
testimonies, I always had that thought in the back of my mind that I
would never be like that. My mission looked like it was going to last
forever. And now, here we are, nearing the finish line.
With that thought in mind, I would like to spend my Spiritual Thought
of the week speaking on a truth that has had an enormous impact on me
on my mission. These few chances that I've had to Skype home with my
family have been truly wonderful chances for me. I've felt so blessed
to be able to have the technology available to be able to speak to my
parents and my little (not so little anymore, though) sisters and see
how they are doing. Sure, it only comes around once every six months
or so, but any chance to see my family and to talk with them is a
moment that is worth more to me than any amount of success or
notoriety.
Thinking about how special these moments to Skype with my parents on
my mission has been for me, I often find myself thinking back to a
quote I heard in a Harry Potter movie (please bear with me, I promise,
it has something to do with the message). When Harry was learning how
to fight Dementors in The Prisoner of Azkaban, he was required to
think of his happiest memory, a hard task for a boy who hasn't had
that happy a childhood. After a few failed attempts, he finally is
able to drive off the pseudo-Dementor that he is training on. When
asked what memory he used, Harry stated; "It was of me and my parents.
We weren't doing anything, really, just...talking with each other.
That's it. Not sure if it can count as a real memory...but it's the
best that I've got."
That's sort of how I feel when I think of these few moments of Skyping
while on the mission. I'm pretty sure that if you ask me ten years
from now—or even just ten months or weeks from now—what all we talked
about during these Skypes, I probably wouldn't be able to give you a
good answer. And to me, that's okay. I'm just grateful that I have had
a chance to add more wonderful memories of my family to my
ever-growing mental library. Just the memory of being able to sit in
front of my iPad and just talk with my family about anything, be it
how the mission is going or what we need to do to get me ready for
college or what new fandom my sisters have gotten themselves into, is
a memory that I consider more valuable than anything else.
While thinking of that, my heart soars with joy that I also know the
profound truth that this wonderful family of mine, which brings me so
much happiness in life, will not break apart in the life to come.
Because we were sealed to each other for time and all eternity in the
Salt Lake Temple, I know with absolute surety that when we pass
through the veil into the next stage of our eternal life, we will be
together as a family still. This time we've spent together as a family
on earth is just the beginning. As long as we are faithful to the
covenants and promises we have made to our Almighty Father in Heaven,
we shall always be together.
To those of you who can't say the same now, don't be discouraged or
faint of heart. You are a part of an enormous family, the Family of
God, and have innumerable brothers and sisters who love you dearly,
both here on earth and in Heaven above. Perhaps you do not have the
most ideal family situations. Perhaps you feel alone in this world.
Perhaps you feel that you will never know of the joy and love that
comes from the families you see around. My plea to you, my brothers
and sisters, is to be of good comfort. The Lord loves, the Father
loves you, and there are siblings in Heaven that love you. Even here
on earth, you have friends and companions who come into your life to
lift you and to help carry your burdens.
I cannot pretend to know why some people in life are given situations
that are harder than others. I can't begin to understand. But this I
do know. Our Father in Heaven intends us to be filled with everlasting
joy. It's all that He ever thinks about. Perhaps you do not have that
joy now, but if you seek after it and put your trust in God, He will
give it to you. Never give up. You are a part of an incredibly vast
family that is cheering you on with the voices of angels. You are a
child of God. That is something to be filled with joy over. This I say
in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
—Elder Z.S.Weber
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