Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Monday, March 24, 2014

So this week was full of working with less actives. So with that being said, lets get started!!! Pictures will come later.

Tuesday - So to start this day, Elder Hope made some boss crepes for us, and they were so amazing. Threw some Nutella on there, and oh baby..... (Mouth Watered) So Elder Hope and I worked really hard this day with all our less active families. We were in Palave, and we started by teaching both of our less active families a small message. One family, The Richard Family, wanted to teach us a lesson. That was cool. So they taught us in Matthew 7. Can I just say that is an amazing chapter. I suggest reading it. So anyways, good lessons with them. Then we went over to Hmo. Reyes. He expressed how he can't work at all due to his leg being way bad, and that he is waiting on God for his blessings, so we talked with him about that. Then his wife came and listened, who is a less active member, and she asked us for a blessing for the sick because she can't move her hand. So we talked more about that with her and told her next time she will be able to receive that. Then we went down to our new investigator, Roberto, who is only 13. Turns out his mom is a less active member too. So we taught the both of them about the Plan of Salvation, and we continue to give them lessons. We finished the night with Morena and her family, who we are still waiting to get her papers so she can be baptized. Hopefully they will come soon!!!

Wednesday - So we worked in Hato Nuevo, and boy oh boy  was it fun. We started by teaching Nicauri, who has now completely finished every lesson we have for her. She said that she wants to start paying Fast Offerings and Tithing BEFORE she gets baptized. That is something I need to learn from her. My whole life I sat there saying, why me, 10%? That is a little too much. Maybe I will pay this a little bit later. Well guess what, it is a commandment from God to pay it. And here is Nicauri, who makes absolutely nothing, telling me she wants to give every cent she can to a church she isn't even a member of yet. That shows faith right there. I need to become more like her. Well after her house, she took us to her sister, Mariana, to start lessons with her, which I think is awesome. She is learning, but her first question for us was, "What are the rules of your church?" Kind of a strange one to start off with, but that is okay. We taught her how they aren't rules, but commandments, and that we'll explain them throughout the lessons. We taught the Lara Family! The dad has been reading the Book of Mormon and believes in it 100% which is amazing. He has been praying a lot. Then after that, we tried to go to Ernesto and Suhenne, but they both weren't there, so we went to The Castro's, and they gave us TONS of bananas, and oh boy, they were delicious. Then we went to the church to go to a doctrine class. Well a less active member was there, but it wasn't someone we were teaching. It was from the other two missionaries. He was nice at first, but as the class started, we soon found out he was an evangelist like way bad. Started screaming at us that we need to repent. That was great. Then a member started bible bashing with him and the whole class was lost. The spirit left so fast, and I just felt horrible. It was the first time my entire mission I have felt the spirit leave my presence, and I just felt terrible. That was rough to get through, but we treated the man with respect regardless.

Thursday - So we had a meeting in the morning with our Ward Mission Leader. We had to shower and eat there too because we lost water again in the house this morning, and we aren't able to shower or clean our dishes. So that was fun. Then we left to Palave again. This time, hardly anyone was there, but we did manage to teach Hmo. Reyes, like always. His wife wasn't there, so we couldn't give her her blessing. But he says he is slowly getting better which is good! And we also taught a recent convert. Tatiana. She is awesome! She just needs to keep coming to church. Well this night we taught Roberto again, about prayer and how to pray. It was a great lesson. Then we asked if he'd like to come with us to the church to this little meeting we do every Thursday, with a little message, and then games. He said yes, so we went to the church, and the theme was prayer. It was way strange but amazing. The Lord really is preparing his sons and daughters, and is guiding us to do what we need to do in order to help them. That was a testimony builder for me. I asked Roberto what he thought, and he told me, "I definitely understand the importance of prayer now." 

Friday - HARD DAY. We were in Hato Nuevo, and we got fired by EVERYONE. Literally, the only person who was home was Mariana, so we taught her her second lesson. She says she likes the message. So that was good. So me and Elder Hope went contacting for about 2 hours, then we stopped by a members house. He has been growing the hottest pepper  on earth in his yard, the Ghost Pepper. Smaller than a dime. I told him I wanted to try it. Ya I got an awesome video of me bursting into tears. It was the hottest thing ever. I literally thought I was Mario, and could shoot fire balls out of my body. Nuts. But ya, the rest of this day we just worked with members.

Saturday - Well Elder Hope and I made some really good beef strogonaff (YA BABY) for lunch. Ya, that was amazing. I think I died. It was fantastic. Best part? It wasn't rice. Hahah So we got to work with a member today, Hmo. Castro! It was boss. We started off by going to the Family Lara's house. Sadly the dad was not there, but his kids were so we taught them. It was nice to have Hmo. Castro there because he has gone through this experience of being an investigator, and he could relate to them. So that was good. Then he took us to Palave, which is about a 45 minute to an hour walk, in 5 minutes with his car, which was nice. We talked to Hmo. Reyes again. He is one of the less active members that Elder Hope and I reactivated, so we like talking to him. His leg has been acting up again, but he was good. We tried teaching more people in Palave but they weren't there. So we went home and we went to a members house to finish the day.

Sunday - Well church was great! Nicauri and her sister Mariana were at church which was awesome, and the mom of Roberto who is a less active was there too, so that was good. Just goes to show all it takes is someone to offer the invitation! Well after that, there was a huge carnival going on in our area to celebrate the day Christopher Columbus found this place. Well it was way cool, but right on the main street. Elder Hope and I couldn't cross the street, which sucked, and everyone was drunk. So we just went to Dorka's house, a member, and had to stay there all day. But there were a lot of members there, so we were able to talk to them.

Monday - We had a zone activity and all we did was made up a skit. Then I went home and slept and that is all that happened today!!!

We are going to the temple on Wednesday this week, which I am so excited about! First time I have had to pull out my long sleeve shirt since the CCM. So that will be way amazing! Well sorry this was long, but it was an amazing week!

Carnival
People in the Carnival parade.


A Dung Beetle

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Monday, March 17, 2014

Tuesday - We went to Palave today, and this is when we meant our new investigator, Roberto. He is 13, and his mom is a less active. We found him at the church one day. He is very quiet but he is awesome. He want's to learn a lot, but can't read so his mom has been helping him read. Its been good. He is learning a lot!!! 
Elder Hope and Elder Weiss

Wednesday - We taught Nicauri and found out that she and Michael are having problems, and it sounds like she might be leaving and going back to her home in Azua. There she will be able to receive her baptism, but sadly Elder Hope and I will not be the ones to do it. We told her to pray about it and she says she´s been praying real hard and is waiting for a for sure answer. Oh we also found out she is only 18 and has a kid that is due NEXT MONTH. Ya that was a shocker. hahah After that we tried to go to the Familia Lara, but no one was there at the house, so we went contacting for about 2 hours!!!


Thursday - Went back to Palave. Hermano Reyes has been having real struggles with his leg recently and is not able to work, so we gave him a blessing. He then gave thanks to both me and Elder Hope because we are the people, as he says, that brought him back into the church. Before us, he went inactive for 10 years, and didn't want to assist, but he said that there was something about us two that made him rethink that. He thanks us for bringing him back to the gospel and is now one of our strongest members. He is also planning to get sealed in the temple soon and has asked Elder Hope and I to personally assist that. What an honor. We don´t know when that will be, but President has approved it for us to go. :) We also taught Morena, Jason´s Mom, again. She gave us a ton of fresh fruit that I have been using to make smoothies. Sooo good. We are still waiting for her papers.

Friday - We had a Zone Conference from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. I saw Elder Zilm again, and it was way good to catch up! Missed him! The conference was good, I learned a lot. Then we went over to Nicauri´s in the night. She said she is still waiting for an answer, so we talked about how to receive answers to our prayers!

Saturday - In the morning we went and taught Ernasto and gave him a Book of Mormon. He told us he would read it and ponder and all that good stuff, which felt real good. We went to our Ward Mission Leaders house this day and had lunch and then started a special fast with him for our investigators and the ward. That was good. Then we left to Palave and walked one hour to find out no one was there!!!! So we walked home and went to Morena´s again and taught them a little lesson.

Sunday - Well we had no investigators at church, so after church we ate at a members house then went to Familia Lara´s, the Utah family. Again, the Dad wasn't there like on Wednesday, but the daughter was, so we taught her and gave her a Book of Mormon for her and for her dad. We then went around and visited with investigators. Tried to teach Ernasto but he wasn't there.

Monday - Went shopping, cleaned the house, now I am here! That is all for this week! Good tough, but rewarding week!!!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Monday, March 10, 2014

Mother's note: I wrote to Parker about what his uncle told us about what he did on his mission for Gripe. Basically antibiotics.  Now here is Elder Weiss' email...

First of all, I TOLD YOU GRIPE WASN'T THAT BIG OF A DEAL. hahahah I still have it, and I have been taking the pills. It's slowly going away. Elder Victoria has it too, so I think we keep regiving it to each other, hahah. Anyways, I will get on to my week now.

Tuesday - I went out all day with Elder Victoria in his area. Met a lot of his families which was awesome. We talked a lot and he helped a lot with my Spanish. But ya, that was a fun day!

Wednesday - We had district meeting in the morning, then in the afternoon, we went to Nicauri's. Michael was there so we taught them both. It sounds like Nicauri really really wants to get married for her baptism that we have a goal for the 5th with her. She keeps telling him to marry her, but now she is threatening leaving. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do. Make sacrifices for the Lord. She is awesome, and she is doing the right thing though. As of now, we're still waiting though. Then we taught some families. The usual stuff.

Thursday - Went to Palave, and taught some new investigators with a member up there. To be honest, they are all girls, and they are a little bit..... showy.... so we haven't been back to teach them. The only reason they listen is because we are walking green cards basically. But hey, we taught Hermano Reyes, and he loves that he gets to come to church every week once again. I love it too! That was about it for this day that was worth talking about haha.

Friday - Zone Meeting in the morning!! Got to meet all the new people. Then we ate at a Pica Pollo (basically a KFC) and then we got home, and left to work. We taught Ernasto again and he seems to be getting it. We also went out with our Ward Mission leader to go teach Nicauri and Suhenne, but both of them weren't home.

Saturday - We went to go check out a house we were looking at, around noon. Nice house, had a water heater!!!!!!!! But I don't think we are going to get it. Too far away you know. Anyways, we were going to head to Palave today, but because of circumstances, had to change plans and we stayed down in Hato Nuevo and got fired by ALL of our investigators. Just trials is all. :) We ended up spending a lot of time with members that day. Oh but I forgot, we did have lunch with the family Lara, the Utah family as I call them, and we finished teaching them the Plan of Salvation.

Sunday - Well Maxi Lara, the dad of the family Utah, showed up to church today. Said he enjoyed it very much and whenever he doesn't have work on Sundays he will be attending. Dang good feeling! I woke up with a nasty cough, and Elder Hope had a headache way bad, so we came home and slept for a bit. Then about 3 we left and got fired again by all our investigators, so we went to an investigators house of the other two elders with the ward. That was a neat experience. That was all that really happened. Nothing major.

Monday - Woke up, cleaned, went to a members and made dumplings, then played some dominoes, and now I am here!

So ya, way fun week full of trials, but hey, they were all worth it! I learned a lot this week, and I am super grateful for all that I have. Oh, haven't received the letter from Goodpapa yet, but I am waiting for that! Anyways, trust in the Lord, he knows everything we are struggling with and is always willing to help, we just have to ask first. I am grateful for this glad gospel message. I love being here. It is an amazing work. Stay awesome, love you so much!

Haz lo justo,
Elder Weiss :)

Mother's Note: I asked Parker what it meant when he said his investigator's "fired" them. He said it is when you make an appointment with an investigator and when you show up they aren't home.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Monday, March 3, 2014

Sounds way exciting this week! I love hearing how I was a good influence to so many people in the ward. Makes me feel super good! And yes I did hear from Zane his mission call! Super awesome! I am so proud of him. This work is amazing and I absolutely love it! So here was my week! 

Elder Weiss with 1st Companion Elder Zilm.
Tuesday - Well this day we said goodbye to Elder Vargas, and said hello to Elder Soto! He is from the DR and only has 5 weeks left in his mission. He's kind of a work out junkie and has been taking us to a gym at a members house every morning since Tuesday, so I've been working out real good this week!!! But ya, we got him, and then me and my companion were planning on leaving the house at two, but right before we were about to leave, water came back to the house and started coming out of all the pipes again, which we lost it last week, so we filled up all our tanks and stuff to prepare to lose it again. Luckily, water has stayed since this day (prayer answered right there) but this day we received to much water. For some reason, one of our drains in the house was shooting out water and mud all day, and we couldn't find out why, and it was flooding the house. So for 2 hours straight, I sat at this drain and swept all this muddy water into the next nearest drain. It stops randomly, but it keeps happening. Luckily its never been that bad again so we usually just leave it. Anyways, we left around 6 because we were forced to, and only talked to the bishop that night about what is going on in our zone. Really good talk. Very needed. 

Wednesday - Well we taught Nicauri and she had questions about marriage, and so we talked to her about that. Sounds like marriage is in the near future! Hopefully, because than she can be baptized!!!!! Wooohooo!!! We also went to the Castro's, and taught them a lesson with a kid who isn't a member. He said he'd like to learn more, but with work, hardly ever has time, so its a bit difficult. We'll see! hahah We contacted for about 2 hours and got some promising contacts. Then we finished the night at Erick's house, the member who will be going back to Columbia on his mission soon. We played dominoes with him. Dominoes here is boss. Definitely going to teach you how to play it the DR way when I get home. So fun. :)

Thursday - Don't know if you remember, but on Sunday we had a guy stop us at the church and told us that he wanted to learn about the church cause he has a daughter who is a member in Utah. Well we taught them this day, and let me tell you, this family has been prepared to hear this message. They are all very receptive. It's a family of a mom, dad, a daughter, and two granddaughters. They all are very interested to learn more, and its nice to see. We taught them the first lesson and they brought up amazing points. Oh, and I found out their daughter lives in Provo, Utah. Oh and also, she is trying to get her dad a visa so that he can live their with them. It's very possible he will go, and I will be able to see him frequently after my mission! Super sweet! Anyways, after we taught that family, we went to Palave, and visited with Hermano Reyes. He is basically my grandpa on the mission. Just the sweetest guy ever. Love him to death. I wish I could just carry him in my backpack with me all day. Hahah he kinda looks like a black old man from the movie Up. haha, so anyways taught him and just love spending time with him.
Elder Weiss in Palave.

Friday - We worked with our ward mission leader all day this day. He had a reference for us, which turned out to be a guy that sells hamburgers, called chimis, on the corner of our street, so we already knew him a little bit. His name is Ernasto, and he is a boss. Love this guy. He wants to learn a lot, but also needs to come to church. We also visited members a lot, and we tried to go to Nicauri's and Suhenne's but they both weren't there. Bummer!

Saturday - Again worked with the ward mission leader. We went back to the Familia Laura, the family who has a daughter in Utah. The only person who was there was Maxi, the dad. So we taught him with our WML, and Maxi told us he is planning on getting married, just out of the blue. Super awesome, because that is a key thing that needs to happen before baptism! I really hope this family keeps progressing! We also again went to Ernasto's. We taught both him and his wife this time. He understands the Restoration of the Gospel really well. He's really easy to teach, just needs to come to church darn it! hahah

Another view of Palave.
Sunday - Went to church, was fasting like a boss, and then after church made spaghetti for the house. YUM! Then we went up to Palave and talked to Hermano Reyes again. He made mention he wants to get married in the Temple with his wife. They have 26 years together and haven't been legally married yet, which is common here, but he wants that, and to be sealed for eternity too. Its just sad, that for 26 years, he and his wife had the opportunity to visit the temple and be sealed and hadn't done it. Imagine the blessings they missed, but now they won't anymore. :) We're preparing them to go to the temple now, and it is an amazing feeling. Anyways, after a long talk with them, we had to go to the church for Ward Council. That was good. Sounds like the missionaries will be getting a lot of help from members soon, which is very needed!
Elder Weiss in Palave.

Monday - Today we went to our Zone Leader's chapel and played games, then got to the internet center. Here I am! Nothing exciting. hahah

So that was my week! I love being a missionary, and the experiences I have, I wouldn't change for the world. No matter what happens in my life, whether good or bad, I am proud to say I made the choice to bring others this message. You get bad news constantly as a missionary, stuff that brings you down past your knees, but all you got to do is have faith that the Lord's plan for you is in play, and that the things that are happening are all part of your plan. I love this gospel, and I will forever stay strong to it.I have realized the importance it has made it my life. I will never change my standards, or my beliefs. This gospel is amazing. I love it and am so grateful to live it every day. I hope you are doing well. I can't wait to hear from you. :) Love you dad, and family as well!!!

Elder Weiss

Elder Weiss being silly.
Happy not to be eating rice & beans.

Some kind of flying insect. Dragonfly? Really big.




Elder Weiss and his new companion Elder Hope.