Week #70, Miracles, miracles, MIRACLES!

We met up with one of our members for dinner this week and followed up on her "Ballard Challenge" invitation we left with her last time (basically to invite someone to meet with the missionaries once a quarter or four times a year). She seemed as if she did not know anyone she could share the gospel with. So, we decided to try something new, something bold. We promised her that as we prayed with her, that the spirit would inspire her mind with a name of someone she could reach out to. After the prayer, she seemed really nervous. She got up quickly and thanked us for coming over for dinner. We asked her if a name had come to mind. "Yes." She said quickly and simply. She was so anxious. I was curious to know, so I asked her who it was."Umm...a man at work." She was clearly uncomfortable, and we left it at that. We were so excited though to know that the spirit really did touch her mind with that persons name. The spirit told her, not us! She must have been uncomfortable because she knew she could not deny that feeling and now has to do something about it...which probably terrifies her. I totally understand that feeling! She is great! So glad the Holy Ghost backed us up there :)

We were doing our favorite pastime (not really) of less active
lookups, we do that with a good majority of our free time. We seem to
have an endless supply of less actives to look up here in the city.
So, we randomly hopped off the train at our pleasure and picked a
nearby less active. We rang her buzzer. No answer. Sister Boseman
pressed the door, and the lock gave way! We looked at each other and
decided to go leave a note on her door. We heard noise inside of her
apt, so we knocked. "Who is it?" A voice asked. "The sister
missionaries!" I replied in a song like way. She opened up the door
and said "Are you two stalking me? I am never home on a Friday
afternoon, but somehow you caught me within minutes of me coming home.
Would you like to come in?" I can count on my hands how many times I
have been asked that question on my mission. Haha...maybe I can count
on my HAND (singular) how many times I have heard that. Lol, so we
definitely went in!

She was a sweetheart and was once a missionary herself. After she
returned home from her mission, she said she wanted to do what she had
always been told she couldn't do. She went less active for 10 years,
and in the last year has started coming back and attending her family
ward. She said she knew God must have orchestrated our meeting that
day and that we must have something to learn from each other then or
in the future! Wow! She was so eager to help us in anything that we
needed and offered to sit in on any lesson that we needed a member at!
What a sweet lady! She came to church on Sunday too, and she said it
was the first time she has stayed for the full three hours in a long
time! Yay!

So, our a District Leader and his companion are sweethearts, and got special permission to pass off their golden investigator, Golan, to us! He is wonderful! On his own accord he reads the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Then he takes notes on what he learned and shares it with us at the lessons. He will text us multiple scriptures throughout the day too! He wants to get baptized, but needs to work out his work schedule first. 6 months ago he started meeting with Elders in Turkey. Then he moved to the United States. He came i to the temple building about a month ago looking for "a pastor." Since then, missionaries have been meeting with him. His parents are not Christian, and it is just in the last few months that he has really learned about Jesus Christ, but he is so solid and loves The Lord! It is incredible to see his progress! He heard about the law of Chastity and the word of wisdom several months ago, and committed himself to live them before they were formally taught to him this past week! What an awesome guy! We are so excited to teach him! We will introduce him tonight to our branch president!

The past month we have been teaching a "gospel principles" class. We
decided to start one when our member said she was bringing an
investigator. We taught him the first two lessons, but then more
people started bringing friends or passing investigators off to us.
Last week we had 3 investigators in our class. Haha...I think we will
have to start teaching from the manual this week! Soooo cool! Our
investigators are from all over the world- Taiwan, West Africa, China,
Azerbaijan, etc.  It seems like I rarely teach a white person! Haha!

On Aug 25th our mission began our 120 day Book of Mormon reading
challenge! It has been amazing the insights I have already received
only 3 days into my reading. I have read this book so many times
before, but it is amazing to see how many new things the spirit is
teaching me this time around. We will finish our challenge by Dec. 24-
Christmas Eve. I have been so touched by how many friends are joining
in on this challenge with us: A neighbor from back home, a less active
from my last area, a good friend and his girlfriend here in NYC, one
of my YW buddies from back home, an investigator or mine in Brazil,
etc! If you too would like to join in, I would highly recommend it!
Not only will it be a fun challenge, but it is a promise from a
prophet of God that there will be an added measure of the spirit of
The Lord in your life. Not only that, but it is promised that every
aspect of your life (spiritually, physically, and mentally) will be
improved. What is there to loose? I can testify that I have already
seen it work within my own heart and mind in the first 15 pages of my
reading so far! Let The Lord change you as you read this wonderful
book! Are you in?

Well, I love you all bunches! I hope you have a great week, and that
you look for opportunities to serve others. Pray for missionary
opportunities. The Lord will give them to you. But just remember, you
need to look for them, and act on them when they come. Yes, it can be
scary...that may never change. For me it is still one of the hardest
things to overcome every single day. But it is worth it! Open up your
mouth and it will be filled! I love you, I love The Lord, and I love
this work!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #69, A moment in time...

Not much time, but this week we got to do our Book of Mormon event where we shared our testimonies through a blitz by Central park! A man I had found through contacting last year joined us in our efforts, as a newly baptized member :) YAY!

We got to volunteer at Harlem Days in Sunday at their church sponsored family history booth. It was AMAZING to have someone approach US and ask us what we were doing. Then within seconds of us finishing talking to them, a new person approached us! It was amazing! I wish missionary work was always like at! I talked to maybe 50 people in just an hour
or two and most all of them approached me! The spirit of Elijah is
really working!

We had zone conference yesterday, and it was amazing! We as a mission are going back to focusing on the basics- The Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel. We have a challenge starting on Aug 25 to read the Book of Mormon in 120 days! Doing it :) I learned a lot from the meeting, and I am so excited to implement what I learned.

Today I got to go see my Broadway play- The Lion King! This is an event that is nightly talked up by returning missionaries, and I have heard The Lion King is the best one to see! I must admit, I was
disappointed that it did not live up to my vision of what it would be. But I enjoyed it :) I loved the thought of how it relates to the gospel actually...how we forget at times who we are, but have those coming to moments that remind us who we are and what we can do. Rafiqui in the play was telling Simba that he needed to face the past. Simba did not want to. So Rafiqui hit him in the head with a pole. "What was that for!?" Simba asked. "It doesn't matter, it's in the past." Rafiqui retorted. Then he explained to Simba that we can face the past and learn from it. He said this to him as he went to hit him again with the pole. The second time Simba ducked. We have that same opportunity to look back at our past, despite the pain, and learn for it. If you are suffering from the past, think about this thought :)

I love you! Have a great week all!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #68, Love my life...love my mission!

This week was a miracle week! We had so many wonderful things happen!
I don't have time to go too much into detail, but let's just go
through an abbreviated list:
-lady came into the temple and wanted to learn more after living in Utah
-we were "juked" (stood up) by a man at the beginning of the day, but
ended up getting 2 new investigators, talked to over 20 people that
day, 1/2 of them approaching US, one after another it seemed like (2
on the subway, a smoothie stand man, 2 doormen, 1 in McDonalds, etc)
-a pastor saw us and approached us asking us if he could have a copy
of the Book of Mormon since his friend has the missionaries come visit
her often
-a Muslim hot dog stand man approached us wanting to learn more
-another doorman wanted to learn more. Went to our church in Africa years ago.
-met a man last week in the park and met with him again at the church.
Open to the Book of Mormon and eager to learn more! Solid!
-a member of ours invited a random man on the subway to church. He
came and found out it was the Mormon church. He has been taught by
missionaries last year, but got lost in a move. Came to church again
and we will see him next week! No coincidences.
-etc.

Those are just a few of the many encounters we have had! It has been
amazing! I was able to purchase my tickets to go see The Lion King on
Broadway next week! I heard it is amazing! I am excited to see it!

Jobie, my convert from last September, called me up and asked me to
visit him. It was great to catch up with him. It was an awesome
opportunity I had to tell him I had been able to get almost all of his
parents and grandparents temple ordinances done for him. He was so
happy to hear that! Hopefully he will be able to go through the temple
soon himself! He asked me what I was planning to do after the mission.
"You know Jobie, I don't know really." "Of course you do Sister
Weyandt! You are going to out God first and follow his spirit." "Well
yes, of course. But I mean like details. I don't know exactly what I
am going to do." Jobie hung his head and sighed as he said, "Let's try
this again Sister Weyandt." I laughed SO hard! Then he looked me in
the eye and said seriously, "You are going to put God first and follow
his son, Jesus Christ. Everything else, all those details, will work
themselves out after that." I began to cry! I love this man! He has
taught me so much! I truly believe what he said! I always have. But it
was wonderful to hear that come from his mouth. He called me up later
on this week and asked when I will come visit him and Annia again. I
laughed and told him I could not come visit him like I use to since I
am not the missionary over his ward any more. He was so sweet when he
said he wanted to see me, not them. Haha...but I told him he needs to
love them since they are the ones there to help him. He agreed. I sure
do love my Jobie!

It was fun on Monday night to have dinner with a member on the Hudson
River with Sister Lopez, my MTC companion! They serve in his home
ward, so we were able to see each other when he invited us to come
along too! Yay!

As we had been waiting for our member, Wagens, to show up, we
contacted people on the park benches. These two ladies pretended they
did not know English. Do, I attempted to speak to them in Spanish.
Haha...then they decided their English was better than my Spanish, and
began to talk to us in fluent English. Lol. Some peoples children...

Yesterday was awesome! We met up with three of our active members
throughout the day. The first visit we had was with Ned Gardner, our
2nd counselor in the branch presidency. He took us to his students
Chinese restraunt to introduce us to them and eat! Great member
missionary.

Then we met with Trish, one of my favorite people. She told us she
wanted to be a better missionary. She asked what we do as we teach and
asked for some pass along cards. She text us later that night saying
she had given one of our cards to her cashier at the grocery store and
told him to give us a call and that she would be there for the first
discussion! Wow! So bold! I love that she acted on her desire with no
fear!

After that we met with Braden, our branch secretary. He said he wanted
to live up to Elder Ballards Challenge "

"We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all
members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will
reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel
the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the
Savior."

"In the spirit of Peter’s example, may I suggest that we can all be
more consistently involved in missionary work by replacing our fear
with real faith, inviting someone at least once a quarter--or four
times every year--to be taught by the full-time missionaries. They are
prepared to teach by the Spirit, with sincere and heartfelt
inspiration from the Lord. Together we can follow up on our
invitations, take others by the hand, lift them up, and walk with them
on their spiritual journey."

He told us he is searching and praying for someone to introduce us to
and invite to meet up with us! What a wonderful, faithful member! I
was blown away by his eagerness to be a missionary!  Wonderful to see!
He even stopped by the store to pick us up some umbrellas since it was
suppose to rain! Our members are great to look out for us!

Today I am playing tour guide to my former companion, Sister Steele
and her companion! It is awesome to be with her again! We went to the
Highline, 911 memorial, Wall Street, and now the Brooklyn Bridge! So
fun! Anyway, until next time!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Weel #67, D&C 88:73

Last Wednesday night we were able to go and help our member, Nesha, move. She let us in on her life as a Broadway star. She has been in many, many productions and currently teaches celebrity children dance classes. She teaches the children of Mariah Carey, Hugh Jackman, Tom Cruise, and many others. Crazy cool! She said we were the answer to her prayers since she had been stressing about her move. It was great to be able to go and help her!

We went around the city last Tuesday and had many people write KindnessKards. Then throughout our travels on Thursday we were able to take pictures of them around the city. This was my companions idea. She is brilliant! We posted the pictures on Facebook, and many people seemed to like them. A little kindness goes a long way...especially when it has the possibility to be shared via social media :)

On Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting. The spirit was so strong throughout the meeting, despite it being a unique testimony meeting.  The theme revolved around trials of life. It seemed a little gloom and doom with little specks of hope. I was wondering how the meeting was going to end up, when a less active member who has not been to church in a long time got up and said that he had felt the spirit so strongly, and he had found a place now where he feels comfortable coming back to church. That was wonderful to hear. He testified that yes, life is hard, but if it was easy, what would be the point of life? I think his perspective helped our active members to realize that God has given them trials for a good reason and They should learn from it, not suffer through it. I am so glad to see one more person affected the uniqueness of our branch :)

One of our members, Virginia, brought a non member friend of hers to church. She met him on the train 2 weeks ago and invited him to her church. Turns out he had been taught by missionaries for a little but  before he moved here from Africa! Wow! That is awesome! He is eager to learn more! Yay! Sadly, he does not fit within our age range or even area...as many we find do not. But, he is a soul who wants to come unto Christ, and for that I cannot be disappointed :)

After church, a member gave us a ride home in her car- a rare treat here in the city! I think her car was the 3rd or 4th car I have been in since serving in the city! On the 21st of August I hit my one year  here in NYC! Wow! That is crazy to think I have lived here that long!

We went contacting in Union Square on Monday. It was Sister Boseman's first time contacting in "my way"-standing on the side of the sidewalk and passing out cards to hothouse who pass by. She was hit up by some a Born Again Christians. Haha- she brought them over to me and they hit me with a bunch of questions in effort to prove how different we are. I calmly and honestly answered their targeted questions. They said they had never had a Mormon be so honest and direct with them when they have asked the hard questions.

I knew nothing I said would really make a difference to them since they were very devout in their beliefs, so I testified. I told them what I believed. They could not argue. I think they were surprised how calm I was. I did not have the scriptural knowledge to match them. I did not have the lineup of perfect questions to catch them in their words. I did not have anything but my faith. And I think that more than anything was what they left with. I am so grateful The Lord gave me the chance to be questioned here in this great city! I am grateful
for the testimony I do have and for the time I dedicated throughout the years to gain it. I know what I know and it helps me so much each and every day. The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a wonderful blessing!

We were able to have dinner that night with one of our funny members. So first off, she did not tell us what time she wanted to have us over. She would not answer her phone or text us back. We ended up finding out through Facebook the time we were meeting because she made a post about feeding the sister missionaries and asked who wanted to come. Haha...so we showed up at her house at 7:30. She always gives me a good laugh. For dinner we had broccoli, watermelon (another thing I have come to like out here on my mission), noodles with ranch/plain yogurt, peanuts, peanut butter, and chocolate candy bars. Hahaha....so funny! There was no main dish- she said she stopped doing that years ago. She was so sweet to feed us though! As we were leaving, we crossed paths with the "party" that was coming to join us for dinner. On our way home we ran into the AP's on their way home too. We have 3 AP's right now, since one is going home tomorrow, mid cycle, for school. It was great to say goodbye to Elder Kerr before he left! We sure do love our AP's!

We got to go to Washington Square Park with our district to do an APF- it was awesome! We went up to people on the benches and talked to them about the Book of Mormon. I have never used such a bold approach with people about the Book of Mormon before. I actually am not a huge fan of walking up to people to contact them, but it wasn't so bad. That is Sister Boseman's "way" of contacting. It was awesome, and we met a lot of really cool people!

It has been amazing to me to see my growth I. Just the last two days! I have had a hard time opening my mouth to those on the trains and bus ever since I came back to the city. But two days ago a light switched and it was instantly easy again! I have been able to talk to 700% more people than I was just 4 days ago! It has been awesome! God has been answering my many heartfelt prayers! I am loving it!

Oh, last night we were doing less active lookups, and we actually had a lot of success! But one man made my whole night with his 10 second rude encounter. An old, obnoxious man opened the door and we both in  union said "Hi!" Immediately he turned sour and said "What, are you the Bobpsie Twins? What are you, Mormons?" He made fun of us through his gestures and slammed the door on our face. I started to giggle. Who does that?! Some peoples children! Stuff like that use to drive me to tears at the beginning of my mission. Now I am just amused anyone would have the gall to treat someone they don't even know that way.
Just grin, (giggle), and bear it :)

But, all in all it has been a great week! Sister Boseman and I are learning so much from each other! We get along great and are helping each other through our individual hard times. We are working hard, talking to a lot of people, and trying to be as obedient as we can be.  I absolutely love her! I am so grateful every day to have her by my side! The Lord has truly blessed me! The gospel is real! I am so grateful to be a tool right now in Gods hands! I am so grateful for the decision I made to come and serve Him and his children! I will beforever changed :)

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Ps. Today we got to go to the Bronx Zoo! It was fun! The animals all look so sad though. :(