Week #51, Missionary Work in the Works

This week has been a great week! The weather has finally gotten warmer! This whole week I did not have to wear a jacket at all! We turned on our AC even! Anytime we could be outside, we were! We even did our weekly planning outside in a park and on our balcony! It was heavenly!

This week one of our members, Sister Rita Magdalany, was an example to me of missionary work! This member has NO fear! She invited a lady she had met at the store to come to a church activity she was planning.  And the lady (Pinky) came! She enjoyed herself and asked if we could visit her! YES! We were thrilled that she jumped to the question before we could.

We went to go visit her on Monday, and we asked Sister Magdalany to join us. Sadly, Pinky "juked" us (was not there/did not answer). So,we went to another potential investigators home just a stone throw away (Rose). She also did not answer. We began driving again when Sister Magdalany suggested we go get a treat at a place called Rita's. So, we pulled up and found a cute little outdoor patio area and an ordering window (like Timp Freeze in Midway). I was stunned when after she finished ordering, she said to our cashier "Do you know who these ladies are? They are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a message they would like to share with you." Hahaha....I was so taken aback, but pleasantly shocked at her boldness. It was awesome! We gave the girl a card and briefly explained who we were and what we do. She did not seem interested, but thanked us.

We sat down to eat our treat, when a man tapped my shoulder and pointed towards Sister Magdalany's purse, where her money was hating out and about to be carried away with the wind. I alerted her, and she
turned to him and said "thank you young man! That was very nice of you! Do you know who these ladies are? They are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a message they would like to share with you." Again, I was blown away. I started to talk to this man and his teenage son. The father showed no interest, so the son took the card I handed to them with our information on it.

After that encounter Sister Magdalany turned to the lady right in line behind them (the ordering line crossed in front of our table) and said "Excuse me Miss, do you know who these ladies are? They are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a message they would like to share with you."  I was floored again! Sister Magdalany had no inhibitions! She opened up the door for us three times in 5 minutes! She talked with everyone...something I should do, but rarely do. When we praised her for her openness, she said "What's the worst they can say? "No"?

I was so impressed! I felt I should have been the example to her, yet here she was, a woman in her 70's, teaching me how to do missionary work! I loved the kind chastisement I received from the spirit! I can
do much better than I am doing now.

The teenage son (Solomon Johnson) who took our card came up to our table a few minutes after our initial introduction to ask us about the card and our information. We got his Facebook information and talked with him about his faith in God. He said he is not sure where he wants to go to college and that he is asking God for help to make that decision. Wise boy! I got to testify of how I had done the same thing, and was so glad I followed the Spirits prompting to go where I did. We wrapped up our conversation with him, went to his parents table to shake their hands, then left with a new perspective on missionary work :) Oh how I love our sweet Sister Magdalany!

We also had a wonderful experience this week with the Bambfo family. They are African, but not sure where they are from. The Spanish elders had tracted into them and handed them over to us. We dropped by and set up an appointment the father (Charles) to come back to teach his son (Justin). We were unsure if there was a female in the house, so we took the elders in our ward to do a handoff lesson with them. Justin was busy when we went back, so all four of us talked with Charles and another man named Leo about the gospel message outside in the yard. After about 20 minutes, we realized us sisters were not really in the conversation much. Charles's beautiful little four year old girl (Imani) wanted to play with us. So for the next hour we played hide and seek(while still having to stay in sight so we kept the mission rules), hand games, and other simple things to keep her occupied while the elders talked with her father.

After we left, we talked with the elders about the visit. They said Charles was trying to point out doctrine issues and rile them up to a debate just to prove they were like every other religion out there. When the elders ended their discussion with a testimony and a simple "we are not here to convince you, but to teach you what has brought us joy and allow you to ask God if these things are true yourself,"  Charles's whole demeanor changed. The elders said he took the Book of Mormon and our pamphlets! They also said they think Gods hand was in us all being there, because Charles saw the heart of the gospel as he saw us playing with his little girl. They said he would often look over at us all playing and smile. What a beautiful experience we had with them. We are going back this week! :)

What a wonderful week it has been, filled with the Spirit and progression! I am loving it....all of it! Gods hand is in the little tiny details of our lives! We just have to look for it. He is watching over us and guiding us every step of way. Everything we do is a small thing, and by small things are great things brought to pass. I know this is true!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

P.S. How can you have a Sister Magdalany missionary moment this week? Be a member missionary and shock others with your boldness! This is my challenge to you!

Week #50, One Year Older and Wiser Too!

So...General Conference was great! It was so simple! And I loved that, because the gospel is simple! It was a great reminder of the small and simple things The Lord asks of us. I was touched by the messages, especially Elder Cooks about family history and temples! I want to get back to that so badly! I will have more freedom with that after my mission :) Oh, I hit my year mark by the way! Woohoo!

Things have been going VERY well this week! Sister Steele has seemed to transform this past week. She is doing most everything that she wasn't before, and she is doing it with a smile on her face and optimism in her personality. I am so grateful for her humility and diligence, forgiveness and love! We have seen success this week in reaching less actives we have never been able to reach before. One family called us up at 7:40 am this week to tell us they wanted to come back to church! We were so excited!

We have also been able to find more potential investigators this week, which has been an answer to prayer! One of the greatest blessings this week though, was to have about five different people reach out to us and ask us for help. They asked us to help them get ready to put their house on the market, help in reaching out to someone they met at the store, help in cheering up a sick companion through homemade cookies, help in healing a wounded heart after an argument with her mother, help in comforting a woman after her husband passed away, etc. It has been an inspiring feeling knowing that these people trust us. They love us and want us to help. They believed in our sincere offer to help that they reached out to us for it, even weeks after we had seen them. That was a beautiful feeling. God is blessing us so much! It has been wonderful to see the changes and transformations in myself, my companion, these people, and of course in the season! I feel at times that a literal "spring" is budding in my very soul!  I feel like I am coming alive and beginning to blossom again. What a great feeling that is!

I hope that your soul is at peace right now yourself. One thing I have learned as a missionary is that everyone has their problems and their hard times...almost consistently. No one is exempt. So, I assume you are struggling right now with one thing or another. Turn to God. Pray.  Love Him and others. Find the desire to do the things you are not currently doing that you should be doing. Let the Spirit teach you. Be humble. Be willing. Do your best and God will do the rest! I testify that is true! I love you!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

Week #49, Miracles are afoot!

Can I just say that God is good? Alright, now that I have said that, I can share the events of this week. So, it has been an absolutely terrible week. One of the worst weeks of my life in fact (granted, my life has pretty much been rainbows and unicorns, but still). Remember how I had a bad day or two last week? Well, almost my entire week this week was a step above miserable. I found I was sad each morning as I woke up to an unhappy companion who was reluctantly following me throughout the day. I was quiet. So was she. We would find moments with those we visited with where we could brighten up a bit and be closer to normal, but still clearly out of touch with our real selves. We were kind to each other still, but extremely quiet and reserved..as if we were strangers forced to work together.  We were both in a funk and I was unsure how to get out of it.

My companion noticed my sadness and withdrawal, so she started to wake up, work out, and be more prompt to please me. I noticed this and was grateful for it, but it still did not seem to make a difference to my heart. I wondered why. So did she. We were able to talk briefly discussing our feelings, but it was just a patch on our wounded companionship.

By Saturday, things had gotten better. I was extremely grateful for that, especially since it was our day to go to the temple with four of our ward members who were receiving their endowments! Paul, Pat, Caveen, and Rudy were all there to make covenants with their Heavenly Father! Brother Wagner was there for the first time in 15 years! My heart was so touched to see them experience this beautiful day in the house of The Lord!

I was honored to be able to join them in the Manhattan temple! We were eager to accept the invite, and woke up at 3:50 am to be ready to leave for NYC at 5. Tears filled my eyes as we passed through New Jersey over the George Washington bridge onto the island of Manhattan. I was home! I was back! I squealed with glee when I saw the Freedom Tower lit up at the base of the island! What a wonderful place I serve in! I can't believe I am actually here at times!  Needless to say, it was a priceless and unforgettable experience!

But Satan knew we were on a spiritual high and was ready to bring us back down. Sadly, he succeeded....briefly. The day before we had completed most of our weekly planning, but had not yet done our companionship inventory. I think Sister Steele thought I would forget about it, so when we found we had extra time in our schedule and I suggested we do it then, her attitude took a 180. As I read through the things we were to discuss, her answers were sighs of frustration and apathy. Wanting to keep the peace, I moved on to the next sentence. She refused to participate and began to put herself and her abilities down. My last fuze of patience blew. In frustration I told her much of the things that have been running through my mind that
week. Clearly she was surprised by the tone of my voice and my "no mincing of words." I declared in frustration that she was doing things to please me, instead of doing it because she had covenanted with The Lord to do so. She stormed off to the bathroom and locked herself away for an hour or so. I had a lot of time to think about what I had said.  I didn't regret any of it...I just regret the tone that I used to say it.

The General Women's Conference was that night. We sat in separate pews as we took in the loving chastisement from our beloved leaders. The message was to love, to get along, and to see each other for our
similarities and not our differences. We were humbled. At home we said a prayer together. I prayed for both of our hardened and hurt hearts to be healed. I asked her for forgiveness and a hug. She eagerly gave them both with a smile. Both of our hearts had been touched by the prayerful message given at this conference! God took control of our situation and made everything work out perfectly.

Later I found out my companion had messaged our mission president and asked for his help.  Apparently what was said in our discussion was what she needed to hear, despite her wanting to hear it. He called her up the next morning, and since then a happy change has occurred. She has been trying so hard to do everything that is required of her! I have been very impressed with her desire and humility and forgiveness
of me. We are working together now better than we ever have before! Her whole attitude has changed. It is a MIRACLE! Whew...how could so much happen to us in just a few hours?

The last few days have been wonderful! We were able to help two of our members out by helping them clean up their yard and patio in preparation to hopefully sell their house. Haha...doing yard work in skirts is always an adventure :)

Just a few minutes ago I got a phone call from my favorite potential investigator, Rose. She said that her brother in law passed away, and she was wondering if we could come and comfort her sister tomorrow before the funeral! I was so touched she reached out to us! She continued to tell us we were her earthly angels and how she always told everyone about how nice we are. One of her sisters was the one who suggested she call us up to see if we could help. I was so grateful she trusts us enough to reach out to us in her time of need!  The Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to be in her life, and I hope we can continue to be the angels she needs through this hard time!

My testimony has been my anchor this week. My Savior has been there every step of the way. I knew it! I could feel the Spirit's influence powerfully this week, especially on my down days. The Lord gave me the comfort I needed exactly when I needed it. I was alone, but I never felt alone. The Lord is my rock. He is my guide. He is my shepherd who lovingly leads me. I am so grateful for a "bad week," because it gave me the opportunity to have a firmer conviction that he is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS there! My MTC Zone Leader sent me this scripture today. I love it's message:   (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

God is good, isn't he? :D Don't forget that! I hope you have a wonderful week! But whether it be a good week or a bad week, make sure

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt


it is a week where you include The Lord!

Week #49, Bad Day

Things are going well here! After I had been transferred to my second area, I feel like I had been in a rut...not knowing how to get out of it. But the last two weeks I have been able to work through it and see
that I am becoming a better missionary! It is wonderful to see the progress!

On Monday morning, I had something extremely unusual happen to me. A deep sadness hit me and stayed with me until yesterday afternoon. I has just gotten up and ready to work out at 6:24 am as I always do. When my companions alarm went off at 6:30, I hoped that today would be the day she would actually get up on time and work out. My hope was in vain. She laid in bed and watched me work out. When she finally decided to get up and "work out" herself, it was her normal routine of laying flat on the ground with a blanket around her, as she practiced her relaxation work out. Ugh! I was frustrated! After trying to be an example to her for two months, she still refused to willingly get up and do the things she committed to the prophet to do when she sent her acceptance letter. An overwhelming sadness engulfed my spirit as I realized I could not do anything to change her or her actions. I had tried loving her, encouraging her, and letting her know how much I appreciate it when she does what is expected of us as missionaries.

I was quiet the entire day. I even cried as we sang "Come come ye Saints" at our zone meeting. The words were targeting my soul! I could not shake the sadness. It was not like me at all. I would perk up a little bit when we visited someone, but even up till yesterday, I did not feel like talking or singing (which is something I am always doing). My companion noticed my attitude and was sweet to make me breakfast. She did get up and slightly worked out too...but for some reason none of that mattered to me. I can honestly say I have never been depressed before, but this experience came as close as I have ever been.

I was close to tears much of the morning yesterday as I listened to music(Daniel Beck) to console me during lunchtime. It was because of the members we visited yesterday(Hengst, Pauline, and West's) that I was able to surface out of it all. They lifted my spirits and my sadness spell was dismissed. Of course, I am still disappointed in the choices of my companion. I do not think that will change. I am grateful The Lord gave me that experience though. No, it was not fun, but it taught me a few things. One- I have no control over others, but only myself. God is in control, and can change hearts (including my own). Two- as Elder Holland said "there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and
immortal." My ward members were my angels yesterday! Sure, I went to them, but they were sent to me! What a blessing! Three- Sometimes it is ok to be the one who is in need of help. I do not always need to be
invincible.

The Lord walked my lonely path with me the past few days. He always walks with me, but perhaps this time he was carrying me like in the poem "Footprints in the sand." I love The Lord! He never leaves me. He comforts my pained soul when I feel there is no one I can turn to. When I have no one I can tell, he is the One! I am so grateful to my Savior for his tender love and guiding care. He is truly my rock! He supports me in my goal to be the best missionary I can be, to encourage me when I feel like I am doing this all without my
companions support. My testimony has been strengthened :)

To all of you who are struggling with your own trials, turn to The Lord! He WILL help you! Trust in him completely! He will always be there to be your companion! I know it and I promise it!

Love Always,
Sister Weyandt

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!