Stand Strong!: Hasten Happening

I LOVE love LOVE love LOVE being a missionary. So much. I never want it to end. We are SO busy and SO many miracles are happening all around everyday...we are running on a treadmill going 4830984293 miles per hour. The Lord is incredible, and is truly hastening the work---right in front of our eyes. Don't believe me? Well, our mission had 123 baptism this month, 20 this past weekend, our ward had 5 baptisms this weekend, and we taught more than 40 lessons this week. It is nothing we are doing, The Lord is CARRYING US and LEADING us to where we need to go, what we need to do and what we need to say. THE HASTENING IS REAL, we are just sprinting to keep up!!!!! People are being prepared, and it is amazing to see how many people have some type of connection to our faith---whether it is family members, friends, things they have seen on TV or whatever. Almost everyone we talk to have heard of the Mormons in one form or another. But I can honestly say---WOW. God really is putting prepared people in our path....left and right. It is INCREDIBLE. I LOVE THIS GREAT WORK. The people, the language, the place, the ward, the area, my companion---the EVERYTHING. Seriously, it is incredible. Things are happening, and it is nothing short of a miracle EVERYDAY. Seriously, this is the DREAM LIFE.

NANCY SALZAR PINEDA GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! We are so excited for her! She has come such a long way, and has truly become a "new creature in Christ." She went from being involved in abuse, gangs, drugs and the like to coming out to preach the Gospel with us. This gospel is spelled--C-H-A-N-G-E. I wrote in my journal that the day Nancy got baptized was by far the BEST day of my mission so far. We went out tracting that day and found a lot of new people to teach, and then we went to Nancy's baptism. She was so happy. She has been so nervous to get baptized, but she is so strong. Seeing Nancy in white, and seeing her be baptized brought tears of happiness to my eyes. She is CLEAN. She is NEW. She is BECOMING. I love Nancy so much, and I know that I knew her before I came to this earth. We will be best of friends for a LONG time. She is one of the strongest youth I have ever met, and she will go on to change hundreds of lives forever. Even though her family wasn't at her baptism, the ward was. Nancy requested that I sing at her baptism, and that was really cool. THE WHOLE WARD TURNED OUT! The baptism was packed. Nancy said, "Even though my blood family isn't there for me, I know I have a whole family there to help me to do the impossible." Her testimony after the baptism was the most powerful thing I have ever heard. It rocked my world and the world of everyone that was there. The Spirit was so strong it drove me to tears. Nancy will probably be a advocate for good....an inspiration speaker of sorts. That girl knows WHY she is here and where she is going. She said, "God wants me to succeed, and wants me to be happy, that is why he sent me the Gospel." When Nancy was confirmed a member of the church she was promised she would go on a mission, bless hundreds of lives, and be the instrument of bringing many unto the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing? She hasn't wasted any time!!!! In fact, Nancy is with us teaching EVERYDAY! Out knocking doors, teaching lessons and following up with all our investigators! She is already a preach my Gospel missionary and it is so fun to see! I am so happy for her!! :) :) She spoke at the New member fireside yesterday and LOVES coming out with us to teach. She is a spiritual GIANT.

The other night, all of our plans and back-up plans fell through, so we prayed. We gave the Lord some options we came up with. After we said "amen" Nancy said, "Who is Byron? We need to go see him RIGHT now, he is in trouble." So we went with haste. When we got there, there was something very off. Byron is a 14 year old we have been teaching. His mom is a member, but Byron has always been bitter against the church. When we got there, we started asking questions, their faces where stained with tears. We found out there had been some abuse going on from the dad and Nancy was able to help because she has gone through the same thing. There were tears, but the spirit was so strong it was piercing. WHAT A MIRACLE. The Lord sent us there to help this family in a moment of desperation. Byron opened up, and we compared him to the "protector" Moroni and how he is going to do incredible things in his life, despite how belittled and horrible he felt in that moment. We are helping him becoming like "unto Moroni." He is an amazing person.

AMAZING MIRACLE: Bryan, an investigator we have been teaching since the beginning of December, is a seminary graduate, eagle scout and isn't a member of the church. Crazy, right? He is the most prepared and the most ready for baptism that I have ever seen. But for the longest time he said he didn't want to get baptized. Well, a MIRACLE happened. He came to Nancy's baptism. While there he felt the Spirit so strong, something that he hasn't felt in a LONG time. Well, he said, "Seeing Nancy be baptized, and knowing where she has been and where she is going has changed my perspective on who I am and what I can become. I guess my walls weren't as thick as I thought they were." We taught Bryan like crazy this week. HE IS PROGRESSING SO QUICKLY. His prayers are so sincere!! But what was even a bigger miracle was that he ACCEPTED TO BE BAPTIZED ON MARCH 1st!! WAHOOOOOO!!!! He said he is ready to change and leave his old life behind and get on the path that leads to true happiness. I am learning so much from him. HE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY WITH A WHITE SHIRT AND TIE!!! First time in 5 years!!!! MIRACLES HAPPEN!

Miracles. The Lord is guiding out footsteps and putting people like crazy in our paths. We have 17 new, solid people that we are teaching. They are incredible. We were led to a door, and behind that door was Margarita. She just moved here from Honduras and feels alone, scared and unhappy. We started to teach her the Gospel. We told her we would come back the next day to teach her more and she said that she would be there. Well, when we got there the next night, she was WAITING OUTSIDE IN THE COLD for us. She said, "I know what you are teaching is true. Because I have felt something I have never felt before in my life." The Spirit taught her. As we walked her through the lesson, she told us that she had been reading the Book of Mormon and felt such a happiness she hasn't felt in a while! MIRACLES!

ANA!!! Ana, is another one of our investigators from El Salvador, and this week she was praying to know if she should get baptized and she said she had SUCH A STRONG, POWERFUL feeling come over her that made all the hairs on her body stand straight up. SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON THE 28 of FEBRUARY!!! She told us that she felt strongly that before she should get baptized, she should get married! AMAZING! She knew the Law of Chastity before we even taught it to her!

I love going on exchanges with the Hermanas. They are amazing and all the areas are on FIRE! Being a sister training leader has really opened my eyes to how much this work is truly hastening! The missionaries are amazing, the members are amazing and the people are prepared! What an exciting and precious time to be a missionary, member or investigators!

Miracles are happening. More and more people are becoming "new creatures in Christ." I am learning everyday, that the Gospel isn't about just doing and saying. It is actually much more than that. IT IS BECOMING. It is a daily, constant process that converts us more and more EVERYDAY. I hope that all of us will continually CONVERT ourselves to Jesus Christ and follow His every footstep---but not just do it, but BECOME it. So that, "when he comes, we shall be like Him." I love my Savior Jesus Christ more than anything in the world. He is my Shepard, Best Friend, and constant companion. He is my Light, and I want to stop at nothing to become exactly the woman that He needs me to be. I know He loves me and He loves you. And because of that, He has given you this life to BECOME. But we have the chance to choose......"eternal life, or eternal death", to BECOME or to just go through the motions. I invite you to let the Gospel of Jesus Christ penetrate your soul, your being, and become so much a PART of you that nothing can change it....not trials, not circumstance, not people, not things....become unshakable. BECOME. THIS IS YOUR TIME. "Today is the time of your probation...." use it wisely. Thanks for all your love, support and prayers. I am so happy for all of you and so proud of all the good you are doing. You are constantly in my heart, in my prayers and I LOVE YOU. But He loves you more :) Don't forget that. He has ALWAYS got your back.

STAND STRONG

Hermana Weenig