Monday, August 24, 2015- Splits, Transfers and Fun

This week has been incredible. I have loved it! 

Wednesday, we went on splits with some members from our ward, to go contacting. My companion and I, after doing the splits and finding like 4 new potential investigators, got back together, and found a girl named Nicauris. She is the sister of Rosa, the Jehovah´s Witness we are teaching. We actually were going to try to teach Rosa, but she wasn't home, but her sister invited us in, and it had to have been the best lesson I have ever had about the Restoration in my whole mission. We taught it in a completely different way than before, and we were really focused on finding inspired questions. It was marvelous. Actually, before we went in, she said she wouldn't believe anything we said, and she wouldn't want us to come back, but by the end of the lesson, she was asking us when we were coming back to answer all of her questions. Haha See how the spirit touches people`s hearts?

On Friday I got to go on another split, but it was with the new missionaries that are still in the MTC! When we got to the MTC to pick them up, I noticed someone right away, as if I knew him before, and it turns out it was one of my friends!!!! He just graduated school, and right away he said "Hey, you were my mascot! I know you!!!" So we went out together the whole day, and I got to catch up with him. He is Elder Robbins, a great kid and an amazing missionary!!!! Love that guy! Can't wait to hear how he does in the mission. He'll be going to the East Mission, and he will do great things out there.

On Saturday I went to go translate for the Navy Doctors again. This time they put us in General Medical care, and I was with a doctor, who was from Boston, about 60 years old, who was volunteering to help the Navy. She was great. We fixed all sorts of problems, from diabetes, to broken shoulders. I even got hands on by helping them replace a fractured arm before wrapping it with a cast. So it was really fun and I feel like we did some really good work! And it was funny! A bunch of people would come in and we would ask "How can we help today?" and there response was "I hurt." So we ask, "Where?" And then the giant list comes of all that hurts: Their neck, their head, their foot, their leg. One person even just said "All of Me." Literally everyone said that. Hahaha super funny. At the end of translating though, the doctor I worked with praised me by saying I did an amazing job and that she has been very pleased with all the Mormon translators that have helped throughout their time here, and she said she definitely has a different opinion about our church now. Very high respects from her, that left me speechless. I also met a US Navy Doctor who is from Pleasant Grove, and he is a member! His last name is Weatherspoon. :) Very nice man! Sadly, they left the island yesterday, so I won't get to translate again for them, but those two times were experiences I will cherish for a lifetime. :)

Well, we have found new people to teach, and we are very pleased with the work that is growing here. Now, transfer calls came. Elder Camacho and I will be staying together. Elder Hasler will be leaving, and Elder Cisneros will begin training. That means I will have three Latins in my house. That is one way of finishing the mission! I am a little excited, since that is the first time this has happened in my mission! So ya! Bring it on! The start of my last transfer is here! :) It will be amazing!!!

Love you all! Thanks for the support!

Elder Weiss :)

Mother's Note: I asked Parker if he had and weather from the Tropical Storm/Hurricane. Here's his reply:

No tropical storm or anything has hit us yet. They warned us about it. They told us preparations and all this stuff, but we still haven't seen a drop of rain yet, and it looks super sunny without a cloud in the sky right now. WHAT A BUST! Haha they say its died down to only be a tropical storm now, not a Hurricane at all. 

Then he added:

So.... my last transfer has started...... its finally here...... only one more agenda left, then I am home. 6 Weeks..... what the??? Has the time gone fast or what?????
Also, this happened... Breaking and Entering.

Funny story. When I got home one night, my companion "magically" closed our door with the lock on. Well we don't have keys to our doors to our rooms and such, so Elder Hasler and I did a "Breaking and Entering". We ended up opening the door, and now I know how to pick locks. Oh the things you learn on the mission. :) Here are the pics.

"My district!!!"

"Elder Robbins and I."

"The U.S. Navy Doctors!!!  and I know I am looking down in the picture with the US Navy... it was the only picture they took with my camera, so deal with it. I know... LAME."

"Stopped to catch a breath at the park after
 contacting for 4 hours. Here is a picture..."

"...or two."

Tuesday, August 18, 2015 - Special Work Week

This week has been one of the top five best weeks in the mission. Let me explain why!

My companion and I went on splits with two members and found an additional 20 new people that are interested in our message. So our investigator pool is growing, and I feel like we don't even have time to waste even if we wanted to, because there are so many people waiting on us and counting on us to bring them the gospel message. :)

We met a girl named Alicia who is super cool! She is a lawyer, but her being a new investigator didn't really know the rules of us as missionaries, and when we showed up to her house, she invited us in, since we had contacted her the day before and set up the appointment, she greeted us, as most Dominicans greet their friends, with a kiss on the cheek. So ya, it was super awkward... We had to explain how we don't do that on our missions, and she felt awkward, but, it turned into us explaining our lesson, saying how if we reject God the way that we rejected her kisses, God would feel just as sad and awkward as she did, and for that, she should give our message a change, to not reject it, and to ask God if it was true. Kind of a weird way to change the lesson, but the spirit definitely indicated that to us as a way of changing a bad situation into a good situation. And it made for a good story. ;) But she really understood because of the feelings she felt after she felt awkward. She kept saying "You're right. I don't want God to feel the same way I did. You have a point!" And for that, we kept her interested! Really cool way to see how the Holy Ghost directs us in everything, even when you think it'd be impossible!

We had a Zone Conference this week. It was really good. It was focused on faith and baptism. It was really powerful and I really enjoyed it. President Nuckols has a very special spirit to him that made me feel a strong impression of the spirit. It was also a very different Zone Conference, because it was my last Zone Conference in my mission. It was so weird to think, "I don't ever have to come to one of these again..." Ya, it is still weird....

A girl we teach, named Kenya, came to church this week, and got lost on why there was a talk about Joseph Smith. She thought we were admiring and adoring him, not God, so we spent a long time in the afternoon explaining why we focus so much on how Joseph Smith was a prophet that restored Jesus's true church to the world. By the end, her thoughts flipped in a 180 and she, at the end of the lesson, bore testimony to us that he truly was a prophet, and she felt that impression as we spoke. Is the Holy Ghost just like carrying all our weight this week, or what???

Yesterday was really fun! As I said before, we got the opportunity to translate for doctors that were doing a service for the Dominican people by giving free medical care. Only thing is, they were all American, and didn't speak Spanish, so our job was to be by there side all day and be their voice. There were many stations, like a blood checking station, a pharmacy, and lots of others, but Elder Hasler, Elder Nielsen, Elder Durrant and I got stationed in the Dentistry. It was like being in a dentist office. And it turned out, when we got there, that we were translating for the US Navy, who were also doctors and dentists and all that. There were some actual specialist that flew in to help that weren't navy, but all of it was free, and no one was paid to do this. It was one big giant service. I translated for a Commander Sargent who was just great. He was a dentist who decided to do more and give more in his life and became a part of the Navy. He was awesome, and very buff. In the picture he is on the far left with the mustache. It was fun to watch them work. I also got to stand outside and tell impatient people to go sit back down and wait, which was kinda fun too, not going to lie. But we basically all translated for everyone who was there, just depending on if they said "Come help me real quick." but most of my time was spent with Commander. That's what I called him. haha I relate the experience to the Holy Ghost. You see, God gives commands, and we feel and hear the truth of them through the Holy Ghost. The dentist, gave commands, but our Dominican patients could only understand with the help of the translator, that made it clear and spoke the truth of what the dentist had said. The translator was the role of the Holy Ghost. Without his witness, his aid so to speak, clear things from God become confusing and tricky in our lives. But when we listen to the spirits promptings, we are able to act on the clarity and purity of God. It was a learning experience for me just as much as mentally and physically, as it was spiritually. Funny experience now. During our time there, we watched about 60 teeth get yanked out by oral surgeon. One guy had the last three teeth he had on his top row of teeth pulled out, and he was really old. So as he laid there, he fell asleep, and of course there was lots of blood, and his mouth was open. I thought he had died. Scared me so bad (this being the first tooth pull of the day, I didn't think they were going to do that, so all the blood was a surprise to me), so in English I said to Elder Nielsen, "Is he dead?" And his oral surgeon responded saying "No, but I should kill him for not taking care of his teeth!" To me it was super funny! Hahaha Another funny story, another man got four teeth pulled out, I was translating for him, and they put four gauze in his mouth to stop the bleeding, so his mouth was full, and he had to keep pressure on it for 30 minutes. So he had a question for Commander, but couldn't speak. So we played the hardest game of charades ever. Even commander was like "Just tell him he won't die. I hate this game of charades. I've never won." He was like showing us the number two with his finger than pointing to his mouth, than to his wrist. Somehow I figured out that he wanted to know if he could replace his teeth with fake ones in the future, but it took a good 10 minutes of guesses. Lots of other stories to share, but I will spare it for now, and tell it when I am home. But the experience was fun. I got pictures, but I won't share the gross ones with you, just the ones of the Navy soldiers and doctors we worked with! :)

Today we went to a museum. On the way, I once again found a tarantula, but it was alive. It got kinda mad and tried to spring onto me as I took a picture. So whatever, I got a picture of it right before it jumped. :) Hahahaha I didn't kill it, I let it be. Then the museum was cool. I didn't take tons of pictures because it wasn't like amazing... and there weren't even dinosaur bones so.... eh. But ya! That was my week! It was amazing!!!

Love you all! Keep the faith! :)

Elder Weiss :)

"a deer figurine for Christmas.... "

"WHY ARE THEY ALREADY PREPARING?"

"Nice Flowers

"Day of translating"

The American doctors and Elder's who translated for them.

At the Planetarium

Mr. Penguin... and not from Batman....

High Five

Bear Hug anyone?

"This tarantula was bigger than the other one and I didn't kill it."

Planetarium

"I was on the moon."

Moroni above the City

Monday, August 10, 2015 - Contact Crazy

This week was great! 

On Friday I had interviews with President. They went really well and he shared with me some awesome scriptures. He says it is super strange that I am already so close to leaving the mission and I have been a great help to him. It makes me feel good to know that President appreciates everything that I do. I really felt that in the interview.

That same day, Friday, in the afternoon, we went on splits, and it was with the kids who are still in the MTC. They get to leave every Friday and see how the mission is really like. Well, I got a greenie named Elder Hernandez from Logan Utah! He was really cool and of course, very curious of the mission! So it was fun to show him around! I took him back to our area and we just contacted the whole day. We ended up meeting about 60 new people, right next to our church, and had about 20 people invite us back on Tuesday, so we are super excited. And we have members leaving with us so we can go on splits on Tuesday too so that my companion hits about half of the people, and I'll hit up the other half. Should be really fun. I am super excited.

I found a tarantula throughout the week. I played around with it a bit, then killed it, then took a picture. So ya, scary little things....

We ate as a district this week after district meeting. We made tacos. I so miss food that is not rice and beans... I also made hamburgers this week. Looks like Elder Hasler and I were the only ones that liked it. The latins were just like, "eh.... rice is better." CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

So, I have been studying a lot about the stars and the galaxy. Why? It was actually a question given to me by an investigator, on how God is able to communicate with us so fast. It led me to certain resources, including a book called "The Kolob Theorom." Now, it is only a theory, so I don't know to what point this book is true, but it is very interesting. And it just so happened to answer the question our investigator had! It states how we live millions of light years from God (part of the theory) so something has to move faster than light to reach us so quickly, and what is that? Thought. The speed of thought is the fastest moving speed we know! It also implies that God has a way of moving His entire body by thought..... Crazy to think about!!!!

Other random thing I learned this week comes from John Bytheway, in a devotional he gave called "5 scriptures that will get you through almost anything". In it, he says how Adam and Eve fell, so obviously, they fell from the presence of God. Before that, they were one with God, in His presence but they lost that. That is why we need the Atonement, or At-One-Ment. Can you believe I have never caught that? The atonement is the ultimate way how we will once again be "at one" or "as one" with God. Only through the atonement.... at one ment. The word itself breaks perfectly into what it means. It blew my mind to think about that throughout the week.

Anyways, that was my week. Short and simple. I am so happy to be here in San Geronimo! Good work is coming! I can feel it! Love you all! Thanks for the support. :)

Con amor,
Elder Weiss

"My greenie for the day"

"And my friend Tarán!"

Parker's Tarantula friend. Blech!

Monday, August 3, 2015 - Cuatro Charlatanes!

This week has been full of memories, both good and bad. But mostly all funny! hahaha

For starters, we have found some new investigators that are showing like they are interested in our message! However, sadly we decided it was time to let go of some of our investigators that just weren't doing all that they needed to.

We have three less active members that are close to being reactivated. Alinson, Jhonathan, and Ana. They are always at church and have such strong testimonies and faith. I am so excited to see them when they will finally be able to partake of the sacrament.

Rosa is doing really well. We were able to talk a little with her this week. It wasn't as much as we had hoped, but she seems to continue to have good questions and her interest is always showing.

In our weekly planning, we planned to set up like 5 new baptismal dates for this week, so if all goes well, we will have a baptismal date set for Rosa, Nixa and Franklin, and Yamileth this week!!!

We found a new family!!!! Giovanni, the father, and his wife and child! His wife is a less active, but Giovanni has never had lessons ever! He came to church this week, and he is a really happy person! He believes a lot in God and says he needs a switch in his life from his old lifestyles. He is really receptive. His wife works for a member, and she is really receptive as well. Their child is like 1 or 2... so he is receptive too. ;) They seem to be a very special family that God has prepared! We are excited to start working with them! :)

Now for a funny story...... So on Friday, we got our money that is sent to us every 15 days to buy our food and all that. So we went to Jumbo, one of  the supermarkets here, and bought a bunch of stuff. After all was bought, we started walking out. Now, since its not right next to our house, we have to get a taxi. Our house is right down the road, so you can pay about 150 pesos, and that is more than enough. Well as we are walking out, the taxi people swarm you, and I tell one to take us back for 150. He says "no, 200." And I tell him where we live and again repeat "150". Now, a random other taxi guy comes up and says, "to where??" So I tell him where we live... then he asks "And the groceries too??" You guys all know me.... sarcasm and smart-aleckness just leave my body without me wanting it too... but it happened. I responded, " No, we bought all this stuff to leave it here." The guy responds, with a disgusted face, "Ustedes son cuatro charlatanes!!" Which translated is "You guys are four posers!" It was funny because when I said that to him, everyone started laughing at him, even his friendly taxi men, so he responded with that. So I said "Thanks, we'll find someone else outside to take us." And he says "You won't find anyone." And so we walk outside, and the first person that sees us is a taxi guy, and I said "150 to go to Los Rios." And he says "Lets go!" So I turn around and gave two thumbs up to the guy that says we are posers.... and he just puts his head down and starts laughing, and says "Next time it'll be me that takes you home!" Hahaha it was super funny! The taxi guy that took us home wanted to hear the story so we told him and he was like "He said that? That guy was just trying to rob you guys!" So it was a memorable story. Hahaha

Our house was fumigated.... so all these cockroaches and stuff came out of hiding and I went on a rampage killing them all. Oh, and I found the most venomess thing in this country! A big centipede! Right outside our house! We were in a war between insects and us this week, but we triumphed!!! I got pictures too... ;) hahaha

Anyways, that is all that comes to my head about the week! So ya! Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for the support! :)

Elder Weiss

"And a picture of me frowning by a big smiley face... because why not??"

BUG WAR Viewer discretion advised below!

And the most venomess thing the DR has to offer, a centipede
with a freaking needle on its behind!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, but these are disgusting!

EW!!!

"Its not bad, but these are how big the cockroaches are here..."

Monday, July 27, 2015 - Diciendo adios a Julio!!!!

Well it has been a rollercoaster of a week that is for sure! But its been the funnest rollercoaster ride I have been on!

On Tuesday I did an intercambio with my new zone leaders. Elder Vargas, from Argentina, was with me in my area, while my companion Elder Camacho went to Los Girasoles, which was his old area. Let me just say this was the best day I have ever had in my mission! Elder Vargas is an amazing missionary. As soon as we got out, everyone we saw we were saying hello to and contacting, just how I like to do it! We didn't let a single soul pass us. Elder Vargas has such an amazing way of teaching. I learned a lot from him. He likes using symbolisms, or basically making people do stuff by interaction so that they remember the actions they did in the future to remember a principle. For example, making them touch the bible and put their arm to the square and promise they would come to church that week. Something simple, but when Sunday comes around, they remember touching the bible and saying they would come. And it worked! With all the people he did that to, they all came to church this week. So ya, it looks a little silly, but I have added that into my teaching because I know it works! haha Also, Elder Vargas really liked stopping to talk to people that had a bible open and share scriptures with them from the bible they were reading to prove our doctrine correct. At one point we even stopped a Jehovah's Witness who had a bible out and we read with her a scripture saying Jehovah is Jesus Christ. She got offended so fast she said "My question is why do you go out of your way to prove me that what I believe is wrong??" and Vargas responded saying "We proved nothing, it was the scriptures, your very own bible, that proved that. But we are here to show that Christ's perfect church fell in Apostasy and that there are people that have changed that doctrine, but our message is the hope. That this world once again has the true church. We want to share that message with you!" I thought this girl was going to get more offended, and say GO AWAY, but to my surprise, she was so interested in the fact that we had just showed her that Jesus was Jehovah she said "Well my whole life I thought Jehovah was God.... but you showed me I am wrong using my scriptures. Show me that your church is true. I want to know more about your message." Then she said "God sent you here to show me that, didn't here?" I freaked out. Here I was thinking that we took that all the wrong way from the beginning, but Elder Vargas was so in tune with the spirit, he knew that that was what the Lord wanted us to say to her. It was harsh, and we started with something we knew would make her blood boil, but it was exactly what that girl needed. We have passed by throughout the week, and she is one of our strongest investigators and I believe she will be getting baptized very soon. Her name is Rosa. And she came to church this week. :) Anyways, Tuesday was amazing, I learned a lot with Vargas and loved every moment of the day.

We have finally caught up to Franklin and have been able to teach him, and his girlfriend Nixa, about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity this week, and after some very strong spiritually guided lessons, they promised to keep those commandments. I am again and again humbled by peoples decisions to follow the commandments of God. I know they will be blessed for their decisions.

I am sure you are all wondering, but no, I am not cured from my gripe, or the flu as they call it in Utah. I've had it for 3 weeks now and I am, sick of it, but living with it. It is definitely better than last week, but the cough still remains, but that doesn't stop me from working! :)

My companion and I are doing alright. I am still adjusting to the change. But ya know, that is the mission life!

I got a book called The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage and I love it! It talks about the great apostasy in full detail and in one point he says, that rellying on prophecies is better than relying on a historical counting in the scriptures. For example, with the great apostasy, we see countless times that the prophets forsaw the apostasy in the church and prophecied of it. Little is given as history (which means someone says what happened afterward) and what is said is unaccurate. He says we should trust prophecies more because they are direct from God and they are a word for word truth of what will happen. History can be changed by opinion, peer pressure, lack of knowledge, or just general unawareness. So as we read the scriptures, we should focus more on what the prophecies say rather than what they history tells us what happened. I liked that a lot.

I pray that you all have a great week! I love you all and I pray for you daily! May we all do the commandments of God so that we can be blessed eternally with the promises God has given us. LOVE YOU ALL!

Con amor,

Elder Weiss :)

"My comp and I"

"Keep the Class"

"Why Hello There"

"Hey there Good Lookin'"

Borrowed some stylin' glasses

"Me and an awesome member Yajira"

"Photos I edited"

Elder Vargas and Elder Weiss

Monday, July 20, 2015 - A veces, no sé qué poner por el tema... (sometimes I don't know what to put in the subject)

So ya, last time I wrote was on Wednesday!!! Not too much has happened, so this may be brief!

To start... I got sick with gripe, or the flu, as you americans call it! But it hasn't been fun. A nasty cough, sniffling all the time, and headaches. Not fun. But I worked regardless. Actually, an investigator of ours made me some really awesome natural tea that took it away for quite some time... My new favorite drink too. So ya, I was suffering to learn about that tea. See? Blessings in everything!

So we have spent a good deal of time with Yesenia and Jhonathan, just teaching about how to magnify a calling. We assume they both will get one soon. So ya, just preparing them for that. :)

So now that Elder Porter is gone, all the frecas (Which means girls that hit on you) are all asking me strange questions. Every day. Like how old I am, if we can get married, if I like Dominicans, all these questions that they just ask in a certain way that you know what they are trying to get at something else.... its funny, with two  Americans they won't do it, but with just one they will...

Today we went to the Gardens in our area and took some pictures and played some games. All good fun. Just gave me something to take pictures of.

We found a new investigator, named Kenya, who is super awesome. She is a mother of like 4 kids, and already came to church this week! She is super interested in our message and asks tons of great questions. We don't know if she has a husband because she hasn't told us, but if she does, our goal is to teach the whole family! They seem to be very interested, her and her kids, as they all came to church the day after we taught them, so we are excited to work with them. :)

Like I said, short and sweet. Love you all! Have a great week. :)

Elder Weiss :)

Si no quieres aprender, no es obligado, pero por aquellos que aprendan, sus bendiciones son grandes. :)

(f you do not want to learn , it is not required , but for those who learn , his blessings are great .)

Pictures from a Botanical Garden they went to