August 17th backward to July 13th! Mom is late posting! Sorry! ;)

August 17, 2015 ~ PHEW! Glad Pday is here!‏

My goodness.  So this week has been insane.  The best part of the week is that the Relief Society President and one of her counselors went out one day to try and contact and invite some of the less active members of the ward to our ward activity... and at one house they found out that the member family had moved and they invited them anyways to the activity and while they were talking they agreed to meet with the missionaries!!! US!! YAY!!! We were so excited! So we went and contacted them and taught them a little about the Restoration... in SPANISH! So Sister Khumaryan taught them and we ended up giving them over to the Hermanas.  Oh well. But we went and told our Relief Society president and her counselor our experience with them.  They got so excited!!! And they've been working hard to come out on splits with us since then.  It's awesome.

So yeah, that was the most awesome part of the week.  This week was a little more rough than we thought it would be.  We dropped at least 2 of our investigators and it was so sad.  I hate dropping investigators because they aren't progressing.  But they'll be okay. Other missionaries will come and find them someday.

I wish I had more to say this week, but not a lot happened.... except for a giant wildfire just over the mountain. It's cool.

And we got pictures with Viviane, our Egyptian investigator.  :)

Love you all!

Love, Sister Weaver

August 10, 2015 ~ 5 month mark!!! BOOM BABY!‏

This Wednesday marks huge things!! I've been out for 5 months on my mission!!!!! WOOOO WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I am a little more than just excited!!!

So this week Sister Khumaryan made Armenian Borsch.  It was extremely good.  I am totally getting the recipe sometime and I'm gonna have to attempt making it.

Also, we totes almost died this week.  Some dude blew a stop light going at least 100 mph and blew right past us and nearly knocked us off the road.  Jerk.  Funny thing is that he was zooming down the road with the sheriff's station by it and the state prison.... so I'm sure he won't be doing anymore of that... Stupid people think they're invincible.

But anyways, this week we talked to the Persian lady and gave her the Book of Mormon and we taught her the Restoration.  She accepted a baptismal date and she was super excited while we taught her.  So we were excited.  Then two days later, we got a text from her saying that she doesn't want to be Mormon and that she didn't want to change.  We weren't sure what happened, but we had this feeling that she talked to her ex brother-in-law (he's less active and hates the church) and he probably told her everything that's contrary to the church. So as we've been praying for her this last week, we keep getting the feeling that we need to go back.  So we are! Wish us luck!

We also taught Angie the Restoration and she accepted to be baptized!  We haven't set a date with her yet, but we will soon.  She's very very open about the gospel and the Spirit that testified to her was strong! I was so excited!  We taught very well I think too just because we were able to come up with ideas or ways to teach and compare it to her life that really helped her to open up.  We are so excited for her! And we had the feeling that her family will join someday too! Man, I can just see her family in white getting ready to go through the temple!!! I am so excited to help her see the blessings that the Lord has in store for her beautiful family.

Also, this weekend, we did a service project and we spent 5 hours cleaning a Sister's kitchen.  She's recently gone through a rough divorce and she needed some help getting things put in order so she can feel like a new woman.  So we helped clean her kitchen from all the years of her ex-husband's sloppiness.  It felt so good.  It's so true that when we serve someone we come to love them.  SOOOO TRUE!  I love this family.

Also we did some service in helping a less-active family get ready to move to Georgia.  The pictures I'm going to send are with them :)

Anyways, It's been a fantastic week and I'm so excited to keep going this week.  Pray that the weather will be more mild here :) It's hot..... and it makes everything seem longer.

But anyways, I love you all! And go out and serve someone this week and I promise you that you will find that you love them more :)

I love you!

Sister Weaver

P.S. We also attended one of our ward missionary's weddings this week :) She was beautiful.  And we're going to miss her coming out with us :( But she's so beautiful. And I adore her.

August 3, 2015 ~ Lancaster emotional rollercoasters!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!‏

So this week has been pretty good. We worked for 43 hours this week.  Lemme tell you, it's exhausting, BUUUUTTTTT we really have a great time doing missionary work.

My journal writing has been hard this week because we come home everyday longing for the softness of the pillows beneath our heads.  So I guess we'll see how I do next week.  I did however write down several main highlights of my week.

So to start off, I'm trying desperately to love avocados.  It's not working yet, but maybe if I'm persistent and eat it on everything (including waffles) it might help ;)  I also ate grilled salmon this week and I actually liked it a lot.  :3 ....... so don't go around telling me "I told you so!" because I KNOW! I guess it's just trout that I really am not a huge fan of.

This weekend honestly has been one of constant rejection.  We've been finding the people who are NOT ready to hear the gospel and we are still persistent on telling them about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth.  They just don't want to hear it.  So last night we went to contact a less-active family and right there on the doorstep we introduced ourselves and I found out that this man was from southeast Idaho.  I was so excited.  And when I proceeded to ask him questions about where he was from and such, eventually the conversation turned so that I told him I had no idea where the place was and I didn't know anything about it but I assured him it must be beautiful, because I love Idaho and it's gorgeous everywhere there.  Well he proceeded to tell me that that was his message to us is that I apparently don't know anything, including about God, and then he went inside and slammed the door in our faces.  When we got back to the car, I started crying.  So that was the lowest point in my week, but honestly it's his choice to exercise his agency.  He can insult me all he wants.  Anyone can insult me all they want.  I may cry because it hurts, but I know the Gospel is true and I know for a fact that my Savior lives.  I know things.  I'm a representative of Jesus Christ and I will proceed to carry this message to the world that our Beloved Heavenly Father restored the Gospel back to the earth and that He wants everyone to hear the message that missionaries carry.  I feel so honored to be here at this time.  I'm so thankful to be on a mission.

So the high point of my week! Church yesterday was amazing.  You could feel the Spirit so strongly and sacrament meeting was inspiring.  I love this Gospel.

So the spiritual thought this week is in Doctrine and Covenants 18:34-36.  And I love these verses.  So if you want to know what the spiritual thought is, you've gotta look it up :)  But just know that I know what what is written in those few verses are so true.  I will shout from the rooftops that those words are true.  I proclaim those things in every visit that we have with people.  I will never deny my testimony of the Gospel.  I love my Heavenly Father.  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I love every little detail because I know it's true.

I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen <3

Love, Sister Weaver

Oh by the way, if I get letters from you, just know that I do read them, but I just get so busy.  So don't expect an immediate letter back.  It may take 2 or 3 weeks......tops. Hopefully.....

And I found a bug during a service project. It's legit.

      

July 27, 2015 ~ Busiest week ever!

So this week Sister Khumaryan have worked 47.5 hours.  PHEW! Needless to say, I dropped dead into a dreamless sleep every night. YAY!  So for the biggest news this week, we have been able to find 2 new investigators.  Remember the lady who called us a couple weeks ago and asked to be baptized?? Yeah we finally had a lesson with her and her boyfriend at the church and her precious little daughter was there too.  Her name is Doris Woodlee and her boyfriend's name is Richard and her daughter's name is Delaney.

They are so excited to be baptized. They have their baptismal date set for August 29th and we are looking forward to teaching them.  The only problems are that they right now are looking for a home and they're not married and don't have the finances to do either of them.  So the ward members are helping them out a lot.  So the Relief Society is going to be putting on a wedding for Doris and Richard hopefully next week :D  And then they will be able to get everything ready for their baptism!!! We are so excited! Make sure to pray extra hard for them :D

Anyways, we've worked super super hard this week and we were blessed to stop by a former investigator named Chrystal and she let us in and we got to know her a bit.  We were able to set up an appointment to come back and teach her and hopefully set her with a baptismal date.  We also ended up cooking with her for an hour or so.  So it was some good fellowshipping :)  It was fantastic!

Anyways, funny story for the week, we were running through the grass after dark and Sister Khumaryan stepped on a frog!!!!!!! BAHAHAHAHAHA! Super funny!

So this week my favorite scripture has come to mind a few times.  It's in 2nd Nephi 27:23.  I love it because it talks about how our beloved Heavenly Father is a God of Miracles and that he works by our faith.  If we have faith in His miracles and His timing, anything's possible.  We have seen that a lot this week in meeting Doris and Richard.  They need a lot of help and miracles in their life and now that they're wanting to join the church they are seeing a ton of miracles in their life :)  So press forward with your faith in Heavenly Father's timing for you and for His plans that he has for you. I promise you everything will work out if you keep your eye single to his Plan.  I love you all!

Love, Sister Weaver

btw, Thank you Lewisville 2nd ward for the beautiful testimonies you wrote in the copies of the Book of Mormon that you sent me. And thank you Crystal <3  I sent a letter back to you. Thank you for the letters!!! I got a few this week from Cassie, Jonathan and Roman!! I love you all!

     

July 20, 2015 ~ Transfer Week!

So I have to announce the worst news of my mission... Sister Athay went home on a temporary medical release on Saturday at 12.  It was so hard for her and it was so hard for me.  Man I love her so much.  It's honestly been a huge adjustment without her because she and I got so close.  She's definitely one of my very best friends.  Continue to put her name in the temple please!!!!!  I definitely felt heartbroken when she left.  But the work goes on and I will see her sooner than I think.  And there will be much rejoicing... I love you Sister Athay! I hope all is going well.

So as for the week. I went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and some of the other sisters in the area while Sister Athay was sick and we were able to find some pretty awesome potential investigators.  I'm excited to go see them again.  There was a couple that we met on a street contact.  Their names are Jesse and Cheryl (which is pronounced Shurl.... yeah pretty great!). And they are the blackest of black people in the world.  They are so hilarious and they were throwin their hands up in the air and praising God the whole time we were there.  It was honestly pretty great and they were fun to talk to.  Sister Staples and I talked to them for an hour about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they accepted what we taught and we gave them a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet and committed them to read it and pray about what we taught them and that we would be back the next week to see how they're doing and what questions they had.  So it was exciting.

Oh funny story.... so Kristin and family, do you remember when I ate that expired greek yogurt because I thought it was still good but just tasted weird? WELL I DID IT AGAIN!! Only this time I drank sour milk for like 3 days straight.  I didn't realize it was sour.  Sister Athay kept saying, "Sister Weaver, I think something has gone bad in the fridge." But no I was stubborn and didn't think it was my milk.  So after 3 days of drinking shakes and eating cereal that was making me sick because of the milk, Sister Athay suggested I check my milk.  So I smelled it.... YUP! It had gone south.  SICK!  Proud Sister Weaver moment.

So since Sister Athay had to go home, we had an emergency transfer.  My new companion is Sister Khumaryan (Koo-mar-E-an).  She's from Armenia and has been out on her mission for 13 months! Woo! She is so sweet! I love her already.  I use a lot of slang and similes and comparisons and stuff that she's never heard before, so I have to actually watch what I'm saying now ;)

She speaks Armenian (DUH), Russian, Greek, Spanish, and English.  She's so cool.  We have a super good companionship and we're getting things done in our area.  We will be teaching a new investigator this Tuesday by the name of Ricky and he's 14 and when we told him about what the Book of Mormon is and how the Gospel has been restored through Joseph Smith he lit up and we invited him to be baptized and he said YES!!! WOOO! So when we go back to his house on Tuesday, we will be setting him with a baptismal date and getting permission from his parents to teach him.

Also, there were flash floods in this area for the past 2 days.  It's been interesting to do missionary work in and drive in.  (Oh btw, I'm the one driving now :D YAY!)

So there's something in my studies this week that really stood out to me.  It's a must share.

In 1st Nephi 21:14-16 it says, 

"But behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me--but he will show that he hath not.

For how can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee, O house of Israel.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

Now this chapter is from the Book of Mormon, but the prophet Nephi in ancient times loved Isaiah so much that he copied down some chapters into his records and writings because Isaiah inspired him.  So actually, this is Nephi quoting Isaiah 49.  And Nephi was able to quote Isaiah before the writings in the Bible were tampered with over time, because Nephi was born some 600 years before Christ and Isaiah had been a pretty recent prophet in his time.  So anyways, that's the background on this chapter.

But what I got from the chapter is that the Lord will never forget us.  Never ever!!  We are graven upon his hands.  He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for us.  He took all of our sins and weaknesses and afflictions upon himself and suffered for us so that we could always have Him to turn to for strength and help.  He was nailed to that cross on Calvary for us and he died for us so that we could have the chance to become clean from our sins again and have the opportunity to start fresh.  He rose three days later from the grave as a resurrected being and opened the gate to eternal life.  So you cannot tell me that he has forgotten you.  You cannot even tell yourself that.  As Christ said himself, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands..." Those scars are on His hands.  He did that for us.  There's no way He could ever forget someone He suffered so much for.  He would never forget you or forsake you because He has suffered so much for you.  Turn to our Savior.  He's there for you.  Our Heavenly Father is there for you.  They want you to know that. And I bear you my witness that He loves you and knows you by name and comes running to you when you are hurting.  And don't you ever forget that.

I leave this with you in the sacred name of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love Sister Hannah Weaver

July 13, 2015 ~

Well not a lot has happened this week.  We did find a new investigator though :)

So our new investigator's name is Doris Woodlee and we were actually on our way back from the store and she out of the blue called us on the phone! As she talked to us she talked to us about how she had met with Sisters before and that she loved the church and all it taught.  She also expressed her desire for her and her daughter to be baptized!! So she said she will do whatever it takes to be baptized and become an active member of the church!  I'm so excited about that! She's been through so much hardship in her life and she wants the peace that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings.  So yup! Super excited! We're going to teach her tonight.

Secondly, we taught our investigator Viviane Ghazouli, and if I haven't mentioned her before, she's an immigrant from Egypt and she's very Catholic but she is so willing to learn what we have to teach her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  She loves what we've taught her so far.  Although, we do have to say that she taught us about the Law of Moses pretty well and I found out that they still practice it in many parts of the world and she still practices it sometimes.  So they still butcher lambs and sacrifice them and stuff.  Total eye opener for me.  So we taught her about how through the sacrifice or the Atonement of Jesus Christ how the Law of Moses was fulfilled and he was the great and last sacrifice.  Instead of sacrificing a sacrificial lamb, Christ has instructed us to come before him to sacrifice our broken hearts and a contrite spirit and have the desire to change and take his name upon ourselves.  That's exactly what the sacrament is for.  So we taught her that :) It was really exciting.

Anyways, it's been a rough week other than that simply because Sister Athay has been super sick.  So pray super hard for her.  I love her to death and want to see her get better. And to my family, put her name in the temple for me okay?  Every single one of them that you can.

I love you all and I hope you've had a fantastic week :D

Love, Sister Weaver

     

First week in Lancaster!!

So on Monday I said my see-ya-laters to Roman and Hannah and everyone else that I've grown to love in little ole Tehachapi and let me tell ya, it was super hard!  But I will be back to see them before I know it!

Transfers.... well it was hard to say goodbye to Sister Anderson and Sister Lazzarotto and I have missed them terribly this week, but I am so glad to be a full-fledged missionary now! YAYYYYY!!!!!! I'm no longer a trainee!!! :D :D :D

So Lancaster is boiling hot.  I'm going to crack an egg on the sidewalk this week and see if it cooks.  I'll tell you guys more about it in a bit though.

So this has been a fantastic week.  We have 4 investigators and one of them is getting baptized this Saturday!!! His name is Travis Pree.  I don't know all of his story yet, but he's been through lots of crazy stuff in his life and he's only 24.  He lived in Vegas for a while with his cousin and had a crazy lifestyle.  Then eventually he moved back home to Lancaster because he had no way to support himself.  So he's been searching for answers and for a job and what not and then one day he prayed to God to know if he was real.  Then a couple days later, Sister Athay and Sister Winnie (her last companion) tracted into him.  He almost didn't open the door because he thought they were selling solar panels, but something just kept telling him to open the door.  So he did and as soon as he saw the Sisters, he felt something incredible start to stir within his heart.  They gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read and pray about it.  Well he did and he couldn't put it down and he said he's never felt so happy in his life before.  So he's been taking the lessons for about 1 1/2 months now.  And he keeps his commitments to the very T.  We've taught him three times this last week and he just soaks it up like a sponge and he just loves it.  He always has questions to ask and he's so spiritual.  Sister Athay says that he's changed ten-fold in the last little while and that he's an entirely new person.  And I am so excited to be a part of it! So on Friday night he called us late in the evening and asked us if he could bump up his baptismal date from the 27th to the 20th.   So this weekend he's getting baptized and he's so excited!!! and so are we!!!

I really haven't gotten to know our other three investigators yet.  I've met them and they're super nice, they've just been hard to pin down for appointments.  So that's upcoming :)

We do a lot of tracting in this area and I actually enjoy it, except for the overwhelming 107 degree heat. PLEH! Pasty Idaho girls and 107 degree heat is not a good combo! But I have pretty much bathed in sunscreen this week, so I'm just starting to tan instead! WOOO HOOO! I'll be tan-er than all y'all when I get home haha!

But this week we did get hit by a sudden crazy rain storm and flash floods. It was nuts.

We had a ward BBQ on the East side of Lancaster (super ghetto part) and it was fun.  I got to meet more of the members.  

So for the interesting things this week, yesterday we made cookies and then found out the hard way that the AC was broken.  It's been working all week!!!!! STUPID THING!!! So it was 107 outside and 95 inside. KILL ME NOW!!! And then later that night we made dinner and ate it on the porch because it was so hot and opened all the windows and then slept with cold washcloths on ourselves and had a spray bottle by the beds and didn't sleep with any covers on.  SOOOO HOTTTTT!!!!!!!!

Also, I saw the Delorian... you know the one from Back to the Future? Yeah it was parked in someone's driveway and I flipped out and paparazzi'd it.  And then Also this week, a flipping bird pooped on my arm as we walked under a tree. STUPID BIRD! It was nasty.

I got letters from Mom and Dad and Calli Jo.  AND I ALSO GOT YOUR YOUTH SYMPHONY THING!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! So many squeals and craziness when I opened it!

So for the spiritual part, Travis told about his favorite scripture and he told us that it changed his life forever.  It's Mosiah 5:2.  He said that when he read that verse and the following verses that he felt a burning in his heart and exceedingly great joy and he knew at that moment that he found what he'd been looking for and that he wanted with all his heart to be a part ot if.  He also expressed his love for the scriptures and how from the first moment he started reading them, they just pulled him in and he loves reading them and he can't put them down.  

Anyways, that was my week. It was incredible. And I love Sister Athay to death.  I feel so privileged to be her companion again and we're having a blast with the missionary work here.  I love her so much <3 <3 <3

Anyways, love you all!

Enjoy your Idaho weather ;)

Love,

Sister Weaver

Transfers!!!!!

Okay.... so for my big news this week: I'm getting transferred to Lancaster 1st Ward!!! SO EXCITEDD!!! However it is going to be super hot there so wish me luck ;)  Sister Anderson and Sister Lazzarotto both served there together for 6 months and as soon as they found out where I was being transferred to they went nuts.  So I'm excited.  What makes me even more excited is that my companion is Sister Athay!!!!!!!!! We were MTC companions here 3 months ago!! SO I AM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE HER COMPANION FOR MORE THAN 4 DAYS!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!

For other big news, Hannah Grimes was baptized and confirmed a member of the church!! I was so excited because she was so excited and she glowed as soon as she came out of that water.  It was a super nice baptism.  Hannah and her 8-year-old cousin Cordelia were baptized together and it was so cool!  I sang at the baptism and that went really well :)

Roman and Laura came to the baptism too and they enjoyed it.  And they also both went and got their patriarchal blessings on Sunday!!! WOOOO! I'm excited to hear how they felt.  I'm going to say goodbye to them tonight and it's really hard because I love Roman and Laura so much and Hannah too.  I didn't think I'd love the people I taught this much.  I knew I'd love them, but my whole being lights up with the most unconditional love i have ever felt in my life.  I'm going to miss them so much.  Not even joking.

Oh and last Monday, we went to a Christian store to look around and I found the most beautiful ring! it's a heart and it has inscribed on it "Trust in the Lord with all your Heart... Proverbs 3:5" and I love that so much.  That I think is what I want my mission motto to be.  I'm learning how to completely trust the Lord in everything that I'm doing out here.  I've had marvelous results.  Y'all should try it ;)

So for the week I got the package from the Lewisville YW :D THANK YOU!! and I got Cora and Cassidy's letter, and Cassandra's letter, and Grandma Floyd's letter <3

Thank you so much for all of the support <3 I really appreciate the letters and i'm sorry I'm not that fantastic at writing back all the time, I'm so busy.  But as soon as I am settled in Lancaster for the transfer, I will be sending letters back <3

Oh we saw a snake on the road and we asked a member about what kind it was and apparently it was a Gopher Snake.  Still.... it was terrifying. And I took a picture.  As soon as it started moving towards the car, we sped away.  AHHHHH!

We also saw a lizard climbing on the Mullay's house.  I took a picture of that one too.  SO MANY REPTILES.

And when we were in Bakersfield today for Zone Activity, it was 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  Too hot for this Idaho girl.  Although, I'm gonna have to get used to it ;)

Anyhow, gotta answer other emails <3 Love you all!

Love, Sister Weaver