Complete Submission to His will

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. This week has been a week of growth. LOTS of growth, which is awesome. Sometimes growth stretches you and pushes you...but in the end it makes you SO much better. What I am learning though, is that if we push on ward with faith and when we spend a lot of time on our knees and we rely on God with all that we have got....MIRACLES happen. I love this work. I love this area, this ward, my companion, these people we are teaching. All of it. Hardships and trials may look like a rainy storm ahead, but if we just smile and embrace it ANYWAYS and try to learn all that we can from it, by receiving strength from the Lord, we start to walk on water....even though we thought we never could. Sometimes we are asked to do things we don't want to. Submit to His will and trust in Him. That is where the masterpiece of your existence is created and polished.

 

MIRACLES are happening everywhere. Byron Leonardo is programmed to get baptized this Saturday! He is so stoked about it! Also, we met his family members who are also not members yesterday! They are really curious about the church!! YES! They were asking us a gazillion questions and will be at the baptism on Saturday! That whole family will also be baptized someday soon.

 

Spiritual guidance. WOW. When you follow the Spirit and let it guide your every footstep INCREDIBLE things happen. Time after time this week we were praying to know what to do when things fell through and EVERY time we were led to exactly where we needed to be, right when the people needed us. We were walking to an appointment, and we felt inspired to talk to a man sitting down across the way. His name is Neptali. INCREDIBLE. He told us he was waiting. Waiting for someone but didn't know who. He said that we had been sent from God to find him. Our mouths dropped open. "yes, your right" we said. We started teaching about how God loves us, so he has restored his Gospel for us and has given us a plan to follow to become all that we were meant to become. He is incredible. Going to get baptized soon, for sure. The Lord's timing and guidance is always 10000000 times better than our own.

 

Another time when our back-up for our back-up fell through for a lesson, we prayed. We were led to a less active/part member house. She had been praying for help and then we came! What a miracle!!

 

Fernando! A WALKING MIRACLE! We met him out tracting one night with Hermana Obregone (a member of our ward) and he was moving out right then so we talked for a little and gave him a card with our number on it. We didn't have much time to teach him anything, but he said he would call us. When people usually say that we don't hear anything from them. Well, not this time. Fernando called us on Saturday and was like "Hermanas! I want to come to church! Where is it! And I'll be there!" We were in shock!! He came to church an hour early and stayed all the way through sunday school. HE LOVED it. It was testimony meeting and he was sobbing. He said, "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I feel something I have never felt before here. I am so happy. I am going to come EVERY week." WOWOWOWO!!!!!! In Sunday school he was involved in the lesson, and after asked US about baptism. "what if I want to be baptized in your church, but I have already been baptized?" We smiled REALLY big. We explained to him about Christ's original church and the authority it was established on. He wants to get baptized. HE IS MADE OF GOLD. WHAT A MIRACLE! God is SO great!!!! :) :) Miracles. EVERYWHERE.

 

Love is the CENTRAL element to all that we do as missionaries and as children of our Heavenly Father on earth. Without it nothing else happens. Love of the Lord brings faith. Faith brings obedience to His commandments, because we Love Him and will do all that He wants us to do. Obedience and love for God brings change and progression. Because we love Him, we also submit to His will and let go of pride and bitterness for freedom and growth. Love overcomes slothfulness and pride. Love brings about our progression here on earth. Just like it says in 1 John 4, if we don't love we are nothing, and we know not God because God is love. Love brings change and the power to BECOME. Charity is the pure LOVE of Christ. Without charity in EVERY aspect of our lives, we are nothing. Charity suffers long, doesn't seek her own, isn't puffed up, doesn't envy and is patient and kind---ALWAYS. Have charity for others more. Love God more. Love who you are more. And you will BECOME more.

 

THE MEMBERS are ON FIRE! Our mission has been focusing on training the members and helping them in their missionary efforts! It has been incredible to see the members TAKING OFF like I have never seen before! We received 7 SOLID referrals from members this week who are all interested in the Church! How amazing! The hastening is happening right in front of our eyes and it is inspiring. Also we are teaching more member-present lessons that I have ever seen on my mission. And they are super high-quality, because we are teaching the MEMBER's friends!

 

Speaking of member work and referrals! Bryan Huarita, our recent convert, is preparing to serve a mission. We felt inspired for him to study preach my gospel lessons and then teach us the lessons as investigators. Well, he called us the other day and was so excited to tell us that a lady at work asked him about where we go after we die---just the day before he had taught us the plan of salvation! Miracle! He was prepared and so the Lord put someone prepared in his path. This is what happens when you pray to do missionary work! Bryan is such an incredible example and inspiration of being a member missionary!! :)

 

We had transfers this week, and YES! Hermana Woodbury and I are staying together! We are SO excited about it!!! :) We are also working in this area, Annandale, still. I LOVE IT SO MUCH! It is miracle central, and I love the members and the people so much that I don't ever want to leave this place! We were so grateful and it truly was an HUGE miracle. We also were all placed in SPANISH ZONES! That will be so great. Hermana Woodbury and I will still serve as sister training leaders, which I am really excited about! I learn SO much from these wonderful hermanas! I love them. Also, guess who is training a new missionary!? Hermana Wilcox!!! So excited for her!! I had the opportunity to train her and now to see her training someone else is amazing! She is awesome!

 

I love this work, and I love you. Thanks for all that you do for me and for all your prayers and letters and emails. I love you all so much, and you mean the world to me. Life is so  much better when you totally are in line with what God wants you to do. If you haven't lately, I would invite you all to have a inventory with God. It may take hours. But tell Him everything. Your triumphs, your weaknesses and your trials. Give it all to Him. And then ask Him with a sincere heart what He wants you to be doing right now in this life. He WILL guide you and it is the most incredible experience ever. You will be filled with love and power to submit completely to His will. You are always in my prayers and heart.  I love you all!

 

STAND STRONG.

Hermana Weenig

Olga and Byron took us out to dinner. Byron gets baptized THIS WEEK! AH LE LU IA!

One of the potential investigators we found street contacting gave us her address....it was TOTALLY fake! Look...this ENTIRE apartment complex has been locked up for a while. Gotta love it!

We had a HUGE rainstorm this week! We had a lake outside our apartment! It was really beautiful.