Here, Where the Lord Wants Me to Be

I love being a missionary. And literally the last week sped by faster than I even thought was possible. Time is literally flying, and I can't even believe that July is just around the corner. My companion and I have been RUNNING from place to place contacting, teaching, serving and going with members to their friends and family members. I never realized how many Hispanics live in Virginia! But it is A TON. We cover a large area, and like 109820938109283 apartment complexes and that is where we are finding the majority of people that are interested in the gospel. We were teaching 3 solid investigators but 2 of them are leaving for the summer to go back to their country ----NOOOOOO!! so we are setting them up with the missionaries there where they will hopefully be baptized! So we are doing A LOT of finding right now. Finding through tracting, ward members and talking with everyone we see! It has been a lot of work, but the Lord is leading us and guiding us to those people who have been prepared to hear the good word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My companion and I are just praying and hoping for new investigators that will actually progress. One thing that I am learning is that the majority of the Hispanics will not say "No" if they aren't interested in hearing the Gospel. So we set up like 10 appointments to come back and see them again, and then they aren't there. We know that we will find someone who really is interested in hearing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have some really solid potentials that we are teaching, and hope that they progress to baptism.

One of our investigators is Marisol. She has been going through a lot of hard times right now and we have been helping her use the Gospel to find the hope and strength that she needs to continue onward. She had slipped into depression right before we met her, so we have been trying to serve her in every way possible. One day we helped her go through all of the millions of things she had saved from the 80's and helped her organize it so that she could have a garage sell. She was so happy. And what is even more amazing is that her mom who has been really cold to us in the past, has started to soften and now wants us to teach her as well. SERVICE is SUCH a POWERFUL tool as a missionary and as a person. When we teach the gospel to Marisol, her face starts to light up and she sits on the edge of her chair. She asks us questions about why we are here and what the Lord really wants us to get out of life. Teaching her has made me realize that there are SO many people out there just like Marisol---those who are SEARCHING for the truth but they don't know where to find it. I know that this is the true church and true gospel, and because I know this I also know that I have purpose and meaning in life. I feel so honored to be able to share the knowledge with all those I meet.

The Lord works in extremely mysterious ways! We had a member of our ward pass away....Berto a 25 year old man who was baptized about a year ago had a random heart attack and died. We were so, so, so sad. He was a powerful member and convert. We had no idea about the funeral or viewing or anything and thought it would be in Maryland. But we got a call on the phone with the information of where the viewing was. And can I tell you something? I hate Satan. We knew that we could go to the viewing and talk to all of Berto's friends and family that were non-members and give them hope in such a dark time of their lives. Just as we were leaving, we realized we had locked the keys in the house. GREAT! haha but by some miracle the maintenance man came running over to us and asked us if there was anything he could do for us...and he let us it our house! MIRACLE! We were able to arrive at the viewing. While there we were sharing the plan of salvation with everyone. The sister of the brother who died asked us if we could teach all of the people in attendance. We accepted. She gathered everyone together in the meeting room (about 200 people). My companion got really scared and said that I should just do it. So I gave a 10 minutes improv talk about the plan of Salvation in front of all these people---IN SPANISH (I was shaking in my boots, but all I remember is OPENING MY MOUTH and the words came flying out). My Spanish wasn't perfect, but I know that the Spirit was there and it truly was the Spirit that touched their hearts. The words "I know that you will and can see Berto again. I know that because Christ lives, we will live again also. We can live together forever as families." came out of my mouth and there was silence. The Spirit was so strong in that room, I will never forget it. After I sat down people came up to us wanting to know more about the gospel. We got 5 new investigators from that funeral! It was AMAZING!!!! The Lord truly is incredible.

The Lord is truly helping me overcome my weaknesses---especially my weakness of not speaking perfect Spanish. We are literally talking and teaching in Spanish all day everyday in Spanish. I love it. Yesterday I volunteered to teach the Gospel Principles class in our ward! (What was I thinking?!) I have no idea---a 50 minute lesson all in Spanish?  I was praying like ALLLLL morning to have the Spirit with me so that I could teach through the Spirit and not words. I think it worked. The investigators in the class said that they learned a lot, but it was NOT me---that is for sure. I have learned that the promise in Doctrine and Covenants is true. If we rely on the Lord, He will fill our mouths with the words that we need to say.

The member-missionary training last night was amazing! It hit what we, as missionaries, so desperately need! And that is YOU!!!! I have seen the power of member missionaries with those who are in our ward. In fact one sister, Sister Riley, wants to quit her job so she can do more missionary work! I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Members are so powerful because they know where they people are that are being prepared to hear the Gospel. And what is even more powerful is that they are their friends, they know how they feel, think and act. So I would invite you to remember that us missionaries can't do anything lasting and effective without the help and love of the ward members! WE NEED YOU! What we do every time we run into a member is that we invite them to pray to receive revelation on how we can help and teach their friends who aren't members or maybe who are members who have fallen away. I invite all of you to do the same. WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM and we WILL WIN THIS ALL-OUT WAR AGAINST SATAN! Oh, did I tell you? I am officially waging an all-out war against Satan. You are invited. Lets do this.

One of our recent converts just went through the temple with her entire family to be sealed for all time and eternity. What a special day. Their entire family was glowing. I thought of all of the people that we are

Orenalla Family. Sealed for all time and eternity in the Washington D.C. temple

teaching, and how badly I want to see them enter the doors of the temple with their families someday. That is my dream, my love and ambition for these people. Is that they don't just get baptized, but that they go on to receive the blessings that we can have through the temple. I love these people so much and just want all of them do be united and happy AS A FAMILY forever. How cool is that? And how lucky are we to have the opportunity to share that with everyone! :)

 One thing that I have learned about Virginia---IT IS HOT. Like hotter than I ever thought was possible. I am sweating all day every day. Gross, right? Yep. But true. Walking outside is awesome because we meet tons and tons of people the only problem is is that I am terrified that they probably think I just ran through the sprinklers because I feel like I did. But, I have missed the humidity! I love it so much! Also it LOVES to rain here. It rains at least once a day and then for the rest of the day it is WAY hot. Good thing I love the heat. I love the heat.:)

Thanks for all your support, love and prayers! Know that I love you and pray for you every night! I love you so much!

SHOUT OUT--Austin! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD! Austin Jay Weenig, I love you so much! And I hope that your birthday is amazing! Expect a card here in the mail sometime soon from me! I love you so much and I am soooooooooooooo glad you were born into our family! I hope your birthday is AWESOME! I will be thinking of you on your special day! I LOVE YOU!

Stand strong,
Hermana Weenig :)

Adalia. Recent Convert who is 9 years old who is now writing a book about how the Gospel can change the lives of people.

I loved Arlington Cemetary. SO COOL. Cool place to be at resurrection....right?

The Rainbow: Washington D.C. South Mission -- Spanish Speaking

I love being a missionary! And have been feeling extremely patriotic since arriving here in WASHINGTON D.C. on Saturday. I can't even believe it. I am in the land of my dreams. THIS LITERALLY IS MY DREAM LIFE---BEING A MISSIONARY IN WASHINGTON D.C.!!!!! Yes, I have been reassigned to serve the rest of my mission in WASHINGTON D.C. and I honestly couldn't be more happy. I am still Spanish speaking but it is a whole new ball game out here! It is literally so amazing here. I love it. I am currently serving in Arlington, VA which borders the Potomac River and is right next to downtown Washington D.C. I can see all the cool sights (capital hill and the Washington D.C. mall) from my house! I love this place so much! The Lord has literally blessed me more than I could have ever imagined and opened up so many doors of opportunity to not only to continue serving him in this incredible work, but to learn more about the desires of my heart on the mission and after my mission as I am pursuing law school. I have ALWAYS been fascinated with politics, law and government, and now I have been thrust into an area where everyone works for the government. I can't wait to get to know the people here more. Maybe, yes, MAYBE I will get to convert Obama to the Gospel! :)!!!! How amazing would that be? Then maybe our country could have some stability.

Let me tell you a little bit about how awesome this place is. So my mission president and his wife are amazing! It is President Briggs and Sister Briggs. They have 5 kids, 3 of which are here with them! I don't know how there are doing it all! They are the kindest people I have ever met and I can't wait to work with them. President Briggs is a prosecuting attorney, and he said that he is going to teach me how to be a amazing missionary and a amazing attorney at the same time. hahaha We will see how that pans out! But I am pretty sure everyone in this city has been to law school, is going to law school or has some type of business degree. For example....my Bishop is a lawyer and works as a lawyer for the national government, my ward missionary leader is a head accountant at one of the "Big 4" accounting firms here in downtown D.C. and a lot of the missionaries here are planning to go to law school when they get back from their mission. I think the Lord may be trying to tell me something.... :) But anyways the people are amazing. The way of life here is SO different than Utah. Because it is a huge city, life is SUPER fast paced, cars and people are everywhere and people dress in business slacks all day everyday.....so we as sister missionaries actually fit right in here with our skirts! It is WAY cool.

Example #1 that I knew that I wasn't in Utah anymore....
Ward council. It was exactly an hour and started right on time. Since I was in a room full of attorneys it was amazing to see how straightforward and blunt the entire meeting was. Our bishop essentially prosecuted the relief society president for not doing her job right (she took it like a champ), and we got through business fast--but it was all in love. I don't think I have ever understood "quick and to the point, but with love" as much as I do now. There was A LOT of logical thinking. A LOT. I was dying laughing because I have never seen a meeting like it! It was intense and fast-paced and everyone was friends again after the meeting was over.
Example #2
Relief Society. Women lawyers are awesome. But, when one doesn't believe in the doctrinal point being taught....they stand up and give a speel on why it isn't right and the teacher has to defend her point. I love it. It is amazing how they are able to do it with such love and charity in their hearts. Because everyone is laughing by the end of the meeting. I was beaming in fascination by how much I learned from those women!

My companion is incredible. Her name is Hermana Allen and she has been out 8 months and is from American Fork, UT. But get this. WE PLAYED BASKETBALL AGAINST EACH OTHER IN HIGH SCHOOL. She played for American Fork, and we are almost positive that we guarded each other. She knows Bay-Bay really well, so her and I are already great friends. She likes green smoothies and so do I. She likes to go running and so do I. She likes to work till she drops and so do I. She loves being a

Hermana Allen (American Fork, UT)

missionary, and so do I. SHE IS GOLDEN. I love her already. We have been working our tails off trying to find people and teaching a bunch of lessons! We have decided that we are going to baptize our whole area----we start TONIGHT. I am so excited to work with her because she is a Spiritual Giant and is so humble. We are also going to shoot some hoops! She is a FANTASTIC missionary and I can't wait to learn from her. She likes to be 100% obedient and is a perfectionist just like me, so we should have a lot of fun together. We laugh a ton because some of the things that happen to us here are out of control. I love serving here because it is incredibly diverse, and a lot of people have never heard of "Mormons". It is amazing.

Funny story. Yesterday we were out tracting some apartments and this woman was like screaming "MISSIONARIES, MISSIONARIES! I need your help!" We looked at each other in astonishment and ran over to see what we could do! We thought it was an emergency, but all the lady wanted us to do was feed the squirrels in a tree near her apartment. She gave us like a whole loaf of bread for one squirrel. So my companion and I literally were breaking up this huge loaf of bread to feed to one tiny squirrel...come to think of it now, we probably killed the thing by how much we fed it. So here we were feeding this squirrel and the woman started beckoning the squirrel to come down to eat its dinner. I could see the tiny squirrel in the tree, but it didn't ever come down. The lady was not happy. But she started to tell us that she had hurt her knee and that she couldn't feed the squirrel by herself. We asked her how she knew us and she said that she used to be Mormon. We asked her if we could pray with her and she let us in. She continued to tell us that she converted to the church around 20 years ago, but hasn't gone since. She said that she was scared to get baptized because of a sickness that she had, but because she went through and was baptized anyways, she was healed the day after her baptism! AMAZING STORY! We will be going back to help her reactivate. As we left, she pleaded with us to take food for the birds. Yes, we then also went out to feed the birds! My companion and I couldn't stop laughing as we fed more birds...and more squirrels. Which, by the way there are like 1209381098390283901829 squirrels everywhere.

I live in an apartment that is near the Potomac river. The apartment is literally called "Waverly Place" which is kinda funny. It is really humid here, but I LOVE IT. Also I love when we get home at night and we turn on the lights and have to smash all of the cockroaches that are running around everywhere. Yummy. My companion and I have made it into a game. This morning my companion and I went on a jog right along side the Potomac River---but we were on a trail covered in GREEN trees...so I didn't actually get to see the water! But THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL!!! IT IS SO GREEN! SO HUMID! AND SO BEAUTIFUL. I

Street in Virginia

have already decided that I want to live here for the rest of my life. All of the streets are named after Presidents, states and historical events. I feel like I am walking through a history book just being here! Right after this, I am going to see the Arlington Cemetery! I can't wait! I can't help but think what the Arlington Cemetery will look like when everyone is resurrected. That place will be BOOMING!

The members here are amazing. I am working in a Spanish WARD---for the first time ever! I have always been working with Spanish branches, but there are so many Hispanic people here that they have a ward! AMAZING! We have one lady in our ward who wants to be a missionary so she is always going with us to lessons and gives us like 10 referrals a week! We are teaching 3 different investigators right now, and they are all amazing. They are all set for baptism, but each has their individual doubts, so we will be working to resolve those doubts this week! I love my companion so much because we literally just work and work and work and laugh and laugh and smile and smile and talk to everyone! There are SOOOOOO many Hispanic people here it is insane! and they are from ALL over the world! Most are really well off and very well educated! It has been so fun to get to know the members and their stories! I have no idea how we will ever have time to knock all these doors and teach all these people, but ready or not! Here we go!

A lot of the people that we have been teaching know that we are representatives of our Savior Jesus Christ. But sometimes they just don't want to accept the Gospel. I don't really even know how that makes sense. But this one lady told us that she knows that we were sent to her house from God, but she didn't want to hear our message. Hopefully one day she will. I am not discouraged because I know she knows that there is a God. I know that these people will be baptized one day, but it will take time. Planting seeds. Our mission president has told us to focus on letting them know exactly what they are rejecting, and that has been really effective as more and more people want to know more about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can really change their lives and make them a better person.

This past week has been full of CHANGE--(that has NO reference to Obama's campaign slogan, I promise haahah). But I have learned to love change. Even though it is hard, you learn so much about yourself and the Gospel and I have especially had to rely upon my Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. I know that our Heavenly Father has a specific plan for each one of us on this earth. And what I am finding out is that the plan that God has for us is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wayyyyy better than the plan we have for ourselves. I thought I was going to be serving in Argentina. But it looks like God had a better plan, and I will find that it is SO much better and happier.

Everything is so GREEN!

don't know why I have been sent here, but I know it is for a reason and for a purpose. Everything that happens to us in this life is FOR A REASON. Good and Bad. We don't always understand why Heavenly Father does the things that He does, but I have learned all we can do is trust Him. And keep moving forward with a smile, because life is meant to be enjoyed. "Men are that they might have joy" and life changes all the time. So I CHALLENGE you to find the joy that comes in change. It will probably be hard at first, but if you rely on Heavenly Father and trust in His will you

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FATHERS DAY to the world's best dad! I love you so much daddy you are my hero and such a light in my life! I look up to you so much and pray that someday I will be just like you! You amaze me!! Hope you had the most wonderful day ever! :)

Remember to always..
STAND STRONG.

I love you.
xoxoxox
Hermana Weenig

After the Rain Comes the Rainbow

Wow. What. A. Week.

I still love being a missionary, despite this being one of the toughest weeks of my mortal existence. Missionary work drains you--emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually and everything-ly I am exhausted....but I love it. I have gained a brighter and brighter testimony of the REASON we are all here on the earth. God never said that this life is going to be a party all the time, paradise and easy....he said that it is a "time of our probation"--which LITERALLY MEANS that it is a time to be tested, stretched and built into the eternal beings that we are meant to be for the rest of eternity. And I have learned something about myself---sometimes I don't like to be tested, but I KNOW that all of these things are making me into what I need to be in order to become like my Father in Heaven. Knowing that I am a literal DAUGHTER of my Heavenly Father and KNOWING that He loves me has helped me gain better perspective on trials and hard times--because I know He wouldn't give me hard times if He didn't want me to be strengthened and grow. I know that my Heavenly Father loves all of us---He LOVES you--and the reason I know that is because we do have hard times and we do have to do things we don't necessarily want to. But all those things make us into what we are meant to become, and our biggest test is HOW we endure those hard times. I am learning how to be a Queen. Because one day, if I prove faithful, I can become like my Father in Heaven. And so can all of us. There have been times where I seriously have felt SO alone and like no one understands how to help or how to give me strength to do the things that I have been asked to do...but then...

A quick experience. It had been the hardest day of my mission. My companions didn't want to work and I was dying because I just wanted to go out and work so bad...but nothing was working. I felt so alone and so frustrated with the situation....(I have learned that God will never change our situation, but He WILL give us the strength to make it through ALWAYS) and so I spent a LOT of time on my knees. I was so stressed and saddened just thinking about all the people that were waiting to see us, but we were inside the apartment. I was saddened. That night I had a dream. It was my Savior Jesus Christ holding me in His lap. I was bawling, but He kept whispering in my ear: "Peace, be still, Brooke, peace be still." I woke up the next morning with a totally different perspective on my life and especially on my mission. I decided that the only thing that I can control is my attitude, actions, thoughts and outreach. I was so calm and so focused on how I could help my companions and help the work to still progress, it was incredible. There was such a strength that overcame me, and I am so grateful to the Lord for helping me see through His eyes. Not only was I able to help figure out how to help our investigators, but I was able to look at my companions through the Lord's eyes and was able to help them accordingly. Never forget the power of prayer. We are literally God's children and He wants us to succeed. He wants us to be happy. And for that reason He really does listen to us and our prayers. He really does. I know that for a fact. He will give us the strength and show us the way to accomplish all that we need to accomplish.

I have been learning a TON on my mission about how to help people and how to serve in the way that the Savior would have. And one think that I have definetly learned is that often, missionary work has to do with helping your companions as much as it has to do with baptizing people. So a lot of my missionary work this week has been serving my companions in EVERY way I possibly can. Whether it was writing a cheesy song to make them smile, or if it was fixing them dinner. It makes my day just to see them smiling, and hopefully one day they will be back and motivated to work.  People won't always do what you want them to do when you want them to do it, but all you can do is love them for WHO they are and try to make the best of all the situations that you have been put in. When people see that you love and care for them, they automatically listen to you more and respect you more. That is something that I am striving to develop---respect.

Because of my situation, I have been going on a lot of splits with ward members. It has been really fun and really interesting. Yesterday I took a 19 year old girl out tracting with me. Her name is Kenzie and is currently preparing to serve a mission. We had such a blast knocking this apartment complex! It was the best thing ever! We found so many interesting and cool people! As we were knocking doors we realized that there was a bunch of girls moving into an apartment. As we got closer I realized that these girls were SUPER ripped and looked super legit--tattoos, earrings and the works. I was a little intimidated at first, but I got over my fear and asked if we could help them move the boxes into their apartment. They said that would be just fine and they were the nicest people EVER!! But the crazy part was that I realized that we were moving a lot of football equipment into the house...and asked about why so much football equipment. Then! They continued to tell me that there are SEMI-PRO FOOTBALL PLAYERS!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!??!?! I think it took me like a full minute to respond. Because here were these girls and they were telling me that they play football. So cool. I almost fell on my face when then accepted an return appointment to come and teach them! So I will teaching the line-backer and the quarterback from the female semi-pro football team called the Utah Blitz. And yes, I got their autographs.

Then, if things couldn't get awesomer we had the feeling to go an knock this random apartment door. On the other side was a man that just came from Saudi Arabia, visiting Utah for a couple of months. As we got talking, I asked him if he knew who Jesus Christ is. He said he had NEVER heard that name before in his entire life. It took me really off guard, because usually people have a least heard the name. I bore quick testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and the Joy that He brings into my life. His face lit up and said that he wants to learn more. We are going to teach him the restoration tonight! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!! But apparently, if he chooses to get baptized, he has to be aware of the fact that he will be totally ostracized from his people because currently he is Islamic. Apparently it is really dangerous for him to change religions, even to the point that he may be killed for doing so. I will choose not to discuss any of those points with him tonight....but I am sure we will have to if he chooses to get baptized.

2 words: GOLDEN CONTACT. His name is JONATHON. He is literally the most prepared person that I have ever taught on my mission. He has been attending church for the past 2 months with a Mormon family, and finally decided that he wanted to learn more about the faith. As we taught him the Restoration, we focused on the Holy Ghost and the feelings thereof. We taught him how the Holy Ghost bears witness of truth and helps us to make the right decisions. After we read the first vision to him....there was silence. For like 5 minutes it felt like. And then we asked Jonathon how he felt. He responded "scared, there is a huge overwheleming feeling that has come over me and I can't describe it, I know what you just said is true." The Spirit was so strong in that room at that moment that you could cut it with a knife. I got the chills. And then as we asked him to get baptized he said "Yes, when can I be?" and we set the date for 2 more weeks! He said he didn't know if he could wait that long, so we might be moving up the date! I was SO SO SO SO excited!!! He was asking all sorts of questions and said---"WOW! This honestly just makes sense! this is something I have been searching for my entire life!!" It was really cool. When we told him about the Book of Mormon I thought he might pass out....He was so excited and said that he literally couldn't wait to read the whole thing. When we asked when we could come back to teach him more he demanded that we come the next day. I WAS DACING OUTSIDE AFTER THE APPOINTMENT (kinda embarrassing)---I was literally on cloud nine I was so HAPPY for him!!!!!  There we taught him the plan of Salvation and he kept asking questions and he listened intently. I shared an experience of a dear friend and family member who had passed away a few years ago, and how I hope that he is up there learning the gospel and changing his life around in the Spirit World. Jonathon was fascinated, he was drinking the plan of salvation like it was a (virgin) :D pina colada on a hot day. He never knew that he was a child of God. He never knew where he came from, why he is here and where he is going---and the plan of salvation answered all of his questions for him. I have never in my life seen a happier person than Jonathon after we taught him that night. I am so excited for him and all the changes he is making and all the things that he is learning!! It is the simple truths of the gospel that change us in and shape us into the people that we want to be!! :)

Thanks so much for ALL your support, love and EVERYTHING. I pray for all of you every day and I love you SO MUCH. More than you will ever know. If you haven't prayed yet to know what your purpose is in this life, will you pray TODAY to know? and then will you listen to hear the response? Because I promise you if you ask and you listen, God will give you an answer, and you will find that purpose. You will also be given the confidence, strength and everything necessary in order to accomplish all that is at hand. I KNOW THAT.

STAND STRONG.

Hermana Weenig

Sister Pena and Sister Marin!

Trip to the Brigham City Temple

I got to feed pigs!!!! Kinda gross, but kinda awesome.

I no longer have a phobia of rats! One of the families we are teaching put 2 rats on me!!! CAN YOU BELEIVE IT!?! I almost passed out.

I Will Go Where You Want Me to Go, Hear Lord

Querido Familia BONITA!!! TE AMO MUCHISIMO! Hola to my most favorite people in the UNIVERSE.

I LOVE being a missionary. And I have learned over and over again that sometimes we just have to enjoy the journey and focus on the things that WE control....because everyone has their agency.

The Lord truly works in mysterious ways. I have been transferred to "white-wash" an area (which means start from ground zero as far as there is no one that the last missionaries found to teach) called Pleasant View, which is a suburb of South Ogden. My mission president put me with 2 sisters who have been out 12 and 14 months respectively. They are wonderful girls and have seen a lot of success on their mission! Their names are Sister Pena and Sister Marin--from Honduras and the other from Idaho. 

Despite the fact that this was a dead area, we had a BAPTISM THIS WEEKEND!!!! WAAAA HOOO!!! Her name is Casey Stadden. She is absolutely gorgeous. She is a mom of one child who recently went through a really rough divorce. The reason that she was able to be baptized this weekend was because she has been attending church for the past 6 months, and she was ready to be baptized. She is so quiet, but so powerful. She works as a psychologist and she is so smart. I had the opportunity to sing at her baptism---"I know that my Redeemer Lives", Casey said that is her favorite song. Casey is one that was carefully prepared by the Lord and one that will go to be sealed to her daughter in one year's time. I am so SO SO SO excited for her!!! Although I wasn't among the missionaries that found Casey, watching her make changes and ultimately be baptized has changed my life. The gospel really is so simple. It truly is a matter of having faith, repenting, getting baptized (or partaking the sacrament every week), living worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost and NEVER giving up. Watching her get baptized and come unto Christ gave me the chills. My favorite part about baptism is what the converts look like after they have been baptized. She was LITERALLY glowing! It was amazing!! After she came out she couldn't stop smiling! I gave her a huge hug and I asked her--How do you feel? And she said "I can't even describe it! I am so happy and so clean!" I was just----on cloud nine for her! I am so proud of her and the decisions that she is making! Baptisms are my new favorite thing. We set a goal as a companionship for 4 baptism in the next 6 weeks. We have got one so far, so hopefully the Lord will lead us to the people who are ready to come unto Jesus Christ. I love baptism. But I also I love more people that are changing their lives to come unto Jesus Christ.

I have started to learn how to truly FEAST on the scriptures. I love them. I am trying to memorize one a day, but it is hard. I have been seeking the gift of tongues along with the gift of remembrance. The developing of these gifts are slow, but coming step by step. I am also trying to master the art of asking inspired questions, because I have found that when people have to ponder and think about the answer to a question they learn a lot faster!! But I am learning the INCREDIBLE power of the Book of Mormon! Guess what? all of your questions can be answered through the Book of Mormon! This I can testify and I know! I have found that over and over again as I have sought out my own questions and the questions of my investigators! We were helping a struggling member and one of the scriptures I memorized helped her out! I was so excited! But it wasn't me, it was the Spirit!!!

Thanks so much for all that you do for me and everyone! I love you all SO much. Please keep up the good work and never forget what you are worth. Serve someone today and SMILE....life is way too good.

xoxoxox

Hermana Weenig :)

Casey Stadden

P-day hike near Pleasant View, Utah:  Sister Marin (Idaho) Sister Pena (Honduras)