Week #48, Newsies

Hello hello everyone! Well, I guess you could say I have reached that "point" in my mission...that point means no more emails or letters from family and friends. Lol. Oh well, I'm over it...I think I reached that point a few months ago anyway. Since coming upstate, I have only received one postcard...thanks Donna!

Other than that, things are going great! I am loving the work here in the area! I feel that the members are progressing. I know that sounds strange, since it seems the work is usually focused on investigators, but we have seen a lot of progress with those members who we visit with. They are active, but have their doubts, concerns, and needs that I have been happy to help  them with. The past three weeks we have been able to teach young women's once, and primary twice! I have loved the aspect of being more involved in the ward. My last ward in South Manhattan did not have much youth at all. I love fully developed family wards :) The children are so much fun to interact with! I love that I can have an impact on them. I try to focus on them a lot, because I know how much I looked up to those who were older than me when I was that age. This week we made 15 or so "missionary" name tags for the youth and other members with their names on it and everything!  They turned out really well actually! All loved them!

Just yesterday we were driving down the street when I saw a house and had the prompting to go knock on the door. I have never had that feeling before on my mission! I have always wanted it, since I had heard countless stories from RM's about those kinds of experiences. So, I turned the car around and my heart started to beat fast. I was so excited/nervous for this first time experience! A man answered and was kind. He said he had food on the stove and was not able to let me in. We said we had an impression to come and knock on their door. He took the card we gave him and said his granddaughter could use our help! Awesome! We will see what comes of that! I was so grateful for that prompting and the courage to follow it! :)

Things are great between me and my companion! We are great friends and have too much fun together. She still does not keep the morning schedule and some rules of obedience, but she is certainly progressing. I figure she knows the rules and will keep them if she chooses to. When's she does, I overly compliment her. She always seems pleased when I do that. But I am trying to be patient with her and make sure my love for her is not conditional on her obedience. We are happy!

I am sad to see half of my district changing this cycle. Today are transfers. Elder Fox, my zone leader, and Elder Griffiths, my district leader, are being transferred down to the Bronx. They will be greatly missed! They have been fabulous examples and leaders! I will also miss Elder Davenport, one of the elders serving in my ward with me. He is going home tomorrow after 2 years here in NY. We have served 10 months of my mission together and are good friends. But I am excited for the changes that are taking place too! One of my favorite ASL missionaries is coming up from my last area to serve in our ward with us. It is going to be wonderful!

Well, we are seeing the work progressing in small ways, and we are working together in unity more now than ever! I have loved seeing the progress in myself, in the area, and especially in my companion!  Things are swell in Zion! :)

I love you! Keep keeping! Xoxo!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #47, Newburgh News

Hey hey! This week has been AWESOME! We have had so much fun this week doing the Lords work! I think almost everyday we have laughed more that we walked! Haha...it was wonderful!

We have had a great week this week serving others! Elder Critchfield was sick last week, so him and Elder Miller were unable to attend our awesome zone activity! So, we decided to call them up and sing popcorn popping to them to cheer them up. Haha...I think it worked! I wrote notes to all the members of our district thanking them for their examples. We decorated the car of one of members who is a recent convert and feeds us allllllll the time (Paul Nardella). I am heading up a video project for a departing Elder in our district (Elder Davenport). I have served with him almost my entire mission and now he is heading home. So I asked all of the missionaries in our district to make a video for him. It will be memorable! This elders companion is having a hard time with some things happening at home now(Elder Reid).  So, we got a puzzle and wrote a message on the back of it for him and are having the district members sign it. We are trying our best to serve others, missionaries, members, and non members alike. I feel missionaries often get forgotten about, especially by other missionaries. So I am making a point to reach out to others and make an impact on them. I have been so touched by missionaries who have taken the time to reach out to me, so I thought I would make it part of my nature to pay it forward. I am loving it!

For our zone activity we went up into the Monticello area at a members home! We had a campfire out of the lake! I loved sliding around on the ice, roasting marshmallows and starbursts, watching others ice fish, and wearing JEANS! Haha...good times!

So Weyant is a big name here....it is a family who colonized the town or something! I am pretty sure we are family....like positive!  I was ECSTATIC to find this out when I first came here! I have never met someone with my name before besides my family. When I was doing family history before my mission, I found that most of my Weyandt line had lived in NY! There is even a Weygnant Hill in our area! I can't wait to run into another Weyandt! Anyone want to go google where some of them live and send me their addresses? I can teach them about family history :D




Just yesterday we went tracting on Weyant drive! I was soooooo excited to do this! Those who answered listened and were very kind, but all had their religion. It was awesome to bear testimony to them and share
my faith with them. What a wonderful experience to talk with these amazing people about our mutual faith in our creator! I love Christians!

We have not seen much "success" in our area since I have been here, but I am feeling the success! My heart is binding with these peoples hearts. They are so loving and so willing to let me into their minds and hearts. I love them for that! As i strive to love these people the way The Lord does, miracles will happen! I am so excited for that time to come! There is soooo much potential here in this area! We just have to cultivate it!

I love this work and I love being a missionary!i love my companion and the wonderful times I am having with her! We have fun while still getting the work done! I am learning a lot from her, and for that I am grateful! This is Gods work! I know it! Hurrah for Israel!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #46, Newburgh News

This past week has been pretty normal... Nothing monumental really. But things are going well! Yesterday we tracted into a man who has"resurrected" his faith in God in the last few years and was eager to learn more. He genuinely said he would read the Book of Mormon and come to church. He got emotional when we talked about families beingable to be together forever. He is in his 70's and he said he misses his mother! How precious! We are excited to see him again  and teach him more!

Sister Steele and I are doing well. She still has the lack of desire to do many things, but I continue to try to be an example and encourage her every once in awhile. I am finding it hard to know how to encourage her without her thinking I am pressuring her. Haha...I will figure it out over time, right? But things are good.

Today our zone is meeting up in the mountains for a day of "camping", playing night games (in the daylight), and burning some of the elders Christmas tree? Haha...they always come up,with crazy things!  But it will be fun! We had zone meeting this week, and to my surprise, they started the meeting out by doing some silly stretches! We had a blast!

I was talking to a young man in our ward and showing him pictures of this and some other things to show him what he can expect when he goes on a mission. I was testifying of the importance of the work we do, but also showing him it was super fun. He surprised me by saying he was not planning on going on a mission. My heart sank. Nooooo! I silently prayed to know what I could say to help him and inspire him to pray about that decision. I testified to him that a mission was an amazing experience. I told him college was also a fantastic experience and that he should totally go and fulfill that dream too, but to not push a mission aside before he has asked God if that is in the cards. I hope he changes his mind in the next 4 years. The mission experience is extremely unique to everyone, whether you are in the same mission or not. I have learned to be much more patient on my mission (even though I felt I was patient before). I have learned to love those I
serve. I have learned to be dedicated, diligent, and consecrated. I have learned to have fun while we get the job done. I have learned to always remember others and to try to put their needs above your own. I have learned to be more Christlike. It has been a fabulous experience so far, and I hope anyone who has the desire to become better should seriously consider a mission. It is the best!

I love you all! I pray for you daily! Keep up your own individual learning and progressing. It is the best feeling to move forward. Move forward with faith in a God this week, and give him your whole self. Then he can work the miracles in your life that you seek! I know he will mold you if you allow him to!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

P.S. If you have not shared the gospel with someone this week (online or in person) repent and try try again! :) Hasten the work!

Week #45, 11 Months

As of March 3rd, I will have been on my mission 11 whole months! Goodness, that is a long time!  I have noticed several times this week how thoughts of home have surfaced to my mind. Perhaps the birth of my new nephew spurred on this reoccurring thought (super stoked p.s.!!!

Congrats Ece and Nick! They always turn out gorgeous!). But I have found these tender thoughts of home bringing a smile to my face. I realized that as much as I love my mission, I will be very excited to come home. I am eager to be welcomed home by my three new nieces and nephews (as well as all the others), to see my cousin "on the outside" again, to see my grandpa and wrap my arms around him, to see all my friends and family again, and to simply restart my life. Sure, when that time comes I will probably be bawling and want to stay here because the thought of returning home to dating and a career will terrify me, but for right now the thought is safely 7 months away.

Of course as these thoughts came, I tried to push them aside as I realized there is still a long road ahead that needs my complete focus. Yet, I welcomed the warming thoughts when they appeared. I know there is a long road ahead here in my mission, and I am excited for what paths it will lead me down. I am excited for the people I will meet and the lives that I will touch and be touched by. I am excited for the challenges and learning that will surely come. I am excited to see the baptisms of more truth seekers. Let's just say I am excited! But I am also excited to take all these things that I have learned here in this "foreign land" back home with me. I am eager to see how I will apply these things that I have learned here into "the real world"
(despite the fact that the life of a missionary is as real as it gets). I am excited to see how my time here with these people, my companions, and this state will affect me and my future family forever. I am excited to see Gods hand in my life and recognize more fully the blessings he has given me. I am excited to see how I have
grown. I am excited to look back on my mission with wistful thoughts and tender smiles. I am eager for the opportunities that await me in my future.

But for now, I am eager to remain in my present until the future comes. This work is awesome! This is the work of God! Each day I find myself surprised by the energy and motivation I have when my alarm clock goes off. I am surprised by the butterflies that fill my stomach as I prepare for the day. I wonder why I am so excited and I try to think as to why I feel like I am going to Disneyland each morning. I still have not figured it out, but my guess is that I am starting to see a change in myself. I am starting to see a bigger, more glorious
picture. Connections are being made and my heart is beginning to understand. I am starting to feel the spirits powerful force in the lessons that are taught and in the faces of those we teach. I love seeing their countenances change, their questions extinguished, and their faces becoming thoughtful. I love seeing my heartfelt prayers and deepest desires being answered as the spirit teaches these people, not me. It is incredible to see that as I stand aside, after doing all I can do to testify of our Savior Jesus Christ, that the spirit isliterally our third companion. He comes in and takes over all of our hearts. I stand all amazed. Absolutely amazed!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #44, This week in Newburgh

The highlight of my week this week was the opportunity to serve others. We did a LOT of shoveling this week. We got 2 feet of snow over a period of 1.5 days. Peoples cars were blocked in (like ours) and one woman we ran into was blocked out. Her driveway had too much snow in it and she could not park her car. So we got our shovel out of the car and got to work. We taught her about the gospel and she
expressed her deep love for Jesus Christ. Talking to her was so natural...so easy. We were working with her in the snowfall and loving every minute of it! It was so amazing! We shoveled one of our members cars out. We bought a light bulb for our investigator who is 85 and went to her apt to surprise her with it (her complex's hall light bulb is out and now her doorway is super dark). We loved the many opportunities this week to share the gospel! I loved it! These people here are phenomenal!

So apparently the city of Newburgh is one of the most crime infested places in the USA. I am serving in Newburgh area, but are restricted from going into the city. The outskirts is where we serve. But I would NEVER have guessed that this place was "so bad" by the area I serve in. An hour away in Scarsdale, they have one of the safest areas in the USA, and desire higher taxes to keep the "riff-raff" out. Crazy! New York is unique, that is for sure!

As for my new companion, I am struggling. She is not obedient to the rules and hates help or correction. So for the first week I let her do what she wanted without any criticism. But then I saw the work suffering because of it. She would rarely study for the lessons, and refused to share anything she learned or studied with me. When I would ask her what was wrong, she would hole up and refuse to speak. After prodding for her to speak with no response, I would angrily get up and walk away. Last night after our sisters conference, I approached the subject and hoped for her to open up, since we were challenged at the conference to talk about our weaknesses and how we can improve. She tried to avoid it, but when I persisted, she went into her shell again. She got quietly angry  and said she knows her weaknesses and does not need my help to change. I told her that many of the things she was choosing not to do were personal things, but she needed to
commit to at least study for those we were teaching. I told her she could not make these peoples progress suffer because of her unwillingness to be obedient. She agreed to do that...but the night ended on a sour note, and she refused to pray at the end of it all (it was her turn). I was upset and angrily got up and got ready for bed. She was angry too. So we want to bed at a loss for what to do.

This morning, she got up and went into the other room. I worked out. 5 minutes before 7:00, she came out of the room and laid down next to me as I stretched on the floor. We laughed and the mood was lightened.
Later she opened up to me. She said she needs to change, but it will be slow. She doesn't want help, but just a good example. I told her as long as she is trying to do better, I will be ok. I don't need her to be perfect, but just to know she is striving to be better. She said she had been praying his morning in the room to make things better. Funny, cause I had prayed for the same thing last night and this morning. God is working miracles and healing hearts. I love Sister Steele, but we have a long road ahead of us full of silence, frustration, forgiveness, patience, understanding, charity, and selfless service. We will learn a lot from each other, but it will be hard.

My District Leader, Elder Griffiths has been so good the last few days to message me prayerful, encouraging thoughts to lift me up and help me during this hard time. He had to do that with Sister Steele's last companion too. His support and constant checking up on us is really making a difference! He is a great District Leader!

Keep me in your prayers this week! I have a feeling we will need it. I need to be more humble and patient. I know it. I have my strengths, but I sure do have my weaknesses too. I am grateful for The Lord is trusting me with challenges and trials. It will be hard, but he will sustain me. I have already seen his power work in my life here the past few days. He has given me strength to endure, to bite my tongue, and to remain positive. He has even shown me miracles that have brought tears to my eyes.

I got a message from my brother earlier this week with a picture attached of his wife and two sister missionaries. I read the message and began to cry. The new sister missionary was a girl I had met 1.5
years ago at EFY. Her friend had an unnatural hair color in her hair, and according to EFY rules, it needed to be dyed. So, I took this girl and her friend to the store, grabbed some box color, then went to their dorm that night to play beautician. We bonded and had fun. A few months later on my birthday, this sister had written her testimony on my Facebook page and told me a what an impact I had made on her that week at EFY. I was so touched. So when I saw that she was the new sister missionary visiting my brother and sister in law, I cried. The Lord is watching out for me and my family. His tender mercies are over all of his children. What a beautiful reminder this was to me, and such a testimony builder. My faith was renewed. My resolve was strengthened.

Then this happened...Three weeks ago as I was about to move from Manhattan, my camera was dropped and broken. The other day I had the prompting to turn it on again (something I had already done time and
time again). I actually had the faith that it would work! I had seen how Gods hand was in my life from the experience with my EFY friend. So, I turned it on, and it worked! I was elated! God answered my prayer and gave me the reassurance that he is there, that he hears me, and that he loves me.

What a wonderful week it has been! I am so grateful for EVERYTHING in my life right now! Missions are fantastic! Remember that God is always there and that he cares for you! Don't ever doubt it, cause miracles happen! I promise!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #43, Newburgh

So, I am in upstate NY now, and I LOVE it up here! It is beautiful! It reminds me of home....except it is a lot more spread out in parts. Weather is cold, but it is bearable...and seems to be about the same as the city!  I love the City, but I definitely love it up here and the people are amazing! My companion is Sister Steele. She was raised in Russia as an orphan, and was adopted with her 2 blood siblings into a family of 12. Crazy! She is great though and we have fun. We are still in the get to know you stages. The people are great! The ward is great! The area is great! I am surprised I am not even slightly sad about leaving my last area. This place feels like home and I love it! The Lord has truly answered mine and your prayers! Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers! You are the best!

I have met so many fabulous people here with big hearts and a desire to follow The Lord. I have been so touched by those who are seeking truth from the correct sources. It is touching and I am so excited to be working with these people. I am excited for the future and upcoming miracles! Keep me in your prayers! I love you all!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #42,Transfers: NYC to Newburgh

So guess what?! I am finally being transferred out of my first area after almost 10 months of being here. It is crazy! I will be leaving NYC and going to upstate New York! My new area is Newburgh, NY. My new companion will be Sister Steele. She came in 3 months ago with my current companion, Sister Jensen. They were in the MTC in the same district together.

It snowed this morning and these people are pansies about snow. Lol. So transfers today was postponed to be later today. Just minutes after I got all my stuff to the temple building here in Manhattan, we were informed that transfers is now tomorrow. Oops. Lol. It is always an adventure here! Lol. So EVERYTHING is packed away, and I am NOT taking it out! Anyway...

Yesterday we went tracting with my district in my area. I have not tracted more than 2-3 times in the past 6 months. I do not like tracting, but we figured it would be a good way to actually find people to teach who live in our area. We only tracted 1.5 floors of a project building, and we ended up getting 4-5 numbers and a return appointment! Almost everyone who opened their door wanted us to come back! Wow! I was so excited! Maybe tracting isn't too bad ;) lol. I think I will be tracking A LOT upstate.

It was a great week! It was sad saying goodbye to all of my friends here in the City. I cried a few times of course, but it has been such a wonderful journey! I will miss everyone here! But I am excited for what lies ahead. I am excited for a change...to meet more people and to be out of my element again. Pray for me! It will be a challenge, but I am excited for it!

I love you all! Thanks for your love and support! Hope all is well with you! Have a wonderful week!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

P.S. Like my new haircut? :)