Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Week #58, "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it..."

What a wonderful week it has been! I cant believe it is Pday once again! It seems each week for the last 3 weeks my companion and I have exclaimed to each other “It is Pday, again?!” It creeps up on us...FAST! Despite waking up nightly for the past month because of all my itchy bug bites (get new ones several times a week it seems) and having to get up and out of bed to medicate or ice them, all is SUPER, SUPER well in Zion!

This Friday night we got to go to Rudy Ramirez's home for his first real Family Home Evening. He is a recent convert, and as of last week he is the Elders Quorum President. So, both us and the elders went to his home to teach him and his non-member family how to have Family Home Evening! It was great! Rudy is such an example to me! I have faith his wife will some day come around and join the church!

Earlier that day we had Zone Conference! It was our mission's conference tour where a 70 comes to visit. Steven E. Snow and his wonderful wife came out to visit us. It was a wonderful conference! I learned a lot! Throughout this week we have had many of the missionary leaders come up to us and congratulate us on our area and high goals. I guess President Morgan has been talking a lot about our companionship and goals in Mission Leadership Council (MLC). Wow! That was cool to hear! Afterwards, President Morgan asked us to be interviewed by Elder Snow. Must admit, nothing too exciting occurred in the individual interview, but it was a neat experience to be selected to have a one on one conversation with our visiting 70! Later this week my District Leader, Elder Fotheringham, told us we were the examples right now in the mission that everyone is talking about. Haha...no pressure!

President Morgan came up to us during breakfast time at the conference and told us we were doing awesome as a companionship and he was so proud of us. He then told us that we better enjoy our time together, because it would be ending soon. He then told Sister Bolton she will be training again (something she is not too stoked about actually). He then proceeded to give me THE BEST NEWS EVER! I wake up every morning with the news he gave me running through my mind, and it makes me smile...really BIG! He told me that if all goes according to plan, I will be going back to NYC to serve in Manhattan again!!! He said I will be white washing a brand new mid-singles adult ward! I wanted to squeal with happiness! MOST of my recent converts and investigators in my last area will now be in my new ward in Manhattan! Also, many of my old ward members will now be members of this new ward where I will serve! As far as I know, I will be serving in the Manhattan temple building where a chapel is inside! I am VERY, VERY excited to be going back to the City to the people I love! I dream about it a lot now. But I will be extremely sad to leave here too! Newburgh is amazing, and the people are truly one of a kind! You will NEVER find such wonderful, genuine, helpful, and willing people anywhere else! Ok, maybe you will, but I haven’t seen it too much! But shhhhh... don't tell anyone I'm moving yet! It is not official until tonight when Sister Bolton gets her training call :D But by this time next week I should be in Manhattan :D

So, ROSE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY AND LOVED IT! She was crying the whole time! And my dear ward members welcomed her in naturally, without being asked to at all! She felt the spirit! Fast and testimony meeting was PERFECT! Everyone gave such solid, wonderful testimonies of our Savior. They testified of many challenged, but the blessings the gospel brings. One woman named Alma Partyka got up and said “If anyone here is an investigator, the best thing I could ever tell you is to get baptized within this church! It was the best decision I have ever made!” Wow! I was blown away! Phenomenal day!
Alyson and Samantha came to a BBQ at Chiara's house! They loved it and are now good friends! Chiara leaned over to me and said “Don't worry, I'll have them baptized in no time!” Lol! She is a covert of about 2 years and she loves the gospel!

The BEST news I got this week though was from a young man named Rob Iraheta! I contacted him in Union Square last year. He saw the temple on the pass along card I gave him and stopped. He was smoking and asked me directly, “Is smoking bad?” “Yes!” I replied simply and honestly. From there, I taught Rob several lessons before passing him off to the missionaries in his area in Queens. He finally gave us smoking and everything else as was baptized on May 31st! What wonderful news! I am so excited! It doesn't matter that he isn't counted as MY baptism. I am just stoked that I was able to find him and help him along the covenant path! Woohoo!

Today for P-day we had A LOT of fun with our zone at Hil-Mar (Pam Paulines place). We played volleyball, football, had a water balloon fight, and a water soaker war! It was SO much fun! I love getting to relax for a bit and feel like a normal person again!

Oh, just a few minutes ago I got an email in my Facebook messages. It was from one of my EFY girls from my first year as a counselor. The following year I was her Building Counselor, which is SUPER rare. She turned to me for help during a time of doubt and trial. I wrote her a lengthy and heartfelt letter. She messaged me saying how she just found that letter again and read back through it to realize that everything I had said in it had laid the foundation for the change she made in her life. She thanked me for doing that and being that powerful impact in her life! I was so touched! God truly has his hand in our lives in ways I will never begin to comprehend!

So, as you can tell, life is great here! I am completely living the dream! I am so grateful for this time I have been given to be here as a missionary! It is incredible!


Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

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