Creo En Cristo

Hello family and friends!

Congratulations to Cache for wifing somebody up last week. good job.

This week has some pretty cool updates, but the majority of them happened yesterday (Sunday)

I got asked to give a talk on missionary work in church yesterday! :) this is the third time I've spoken in this ward, and it's the SECOND time my talk has been about missionary work... So I've given the same talk to the same people two times now, and I'm pretty sure they just forgot. But I wrote a whole new one this time with different thoughts and focuses, and I think it went well! :) I'll probably send home a copy of it, but it's in Spanish, so you'll have to wait till Jace gets home so he can read it. hahaha But it went pretty well! :)

They also asked me and my district to do a musical number in "Porque Yo Creo" which is a fireside they have once a month with all of our new converts and they just get up and share their stories of conversion and their testimonies, and it's usually really pretty and spiritual. :) And this time, I sang a song called "Creo en Cristo" along with the other members of my district, and I'm pretty sure Hermana Chacon filmed it illegally, so (mom) if you want a copy, she'd probably email it to you if you ask. haha

It was alright, but none of us are extraordinary singers or whatever. But it's a good song with a good meaning. So it all went well. :)

That's basically all the exciting updates! :)

Love you all!

Elder Webster!

Favorite Scripture Story

Last week I was asked about my favorite Scripture story: I'd like to share it before I get into the updates. :)

Once upon a time, there was this guy named Abinadi, he was a missionary, like me! Abinadi had an appointment with this big hot-shot named Noah.. There were lot's of other people there as well, but Noah was the one Abinadi was really trying to focus on and help. But from what I understand, Noah was kind of a jerk.. Turns out, when Abinadi got there, he began his simple teaching of Christ's coming and about the relationship between God and Christ, and I imagine it would've gone pretty well... But Noah was super prideful, and was closed to any talk of a so called "Savior" and thought Abinadi was a liar for claiming to know anything about Him.

Basically the minute Abinadi stopped talking, Noah was like: "Ok, you done? yeah? you sure? ok. now.... go stand in my fireplace."

So Abinadi was like: "I don't want to"

So Noah was all like: "yup."

And Abinadi was like: "Awkward..."

And so Noah said he could go home... but he would first have to take back everything he said about Christ and God and admit that he was lying and that they didn't exist.

meanwhile, there was this other dude, Alma, who was leaning up against the wall and he just kept thinking: "Dang. That was the best lesson I've ever heard. I hope Abinadi doesn't have to stand in Noah's fireplace so I can learn more from him."

long story short, Abinadi refused to deny the Christ. Noah got pretty angry at that fact!! Noah told his buddies to throw Abinadi into the fireplace and then Noah flipped the switch and turned it on. (he probably had some sort of evil laugh around this point, but it's not documented)

Alma on the other hand, knew that Abinadi was right. So after Abinadi got burnt to a crisp, Alma goes out and decides to start doing the same thing Abinadi did! Except Alma ends up baptizing 204 people in the waters of Mormon and decides to build 7 new churches in a city called Zarahemla! (GO ALMA!)

Abinadi was an awesome missionary, and even though he never got to see the effects of his teachings, his missionary work effected generations and generations of families because of ONE lesson that didn't even go very well. :)

"You can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed."

*(story found in Mosiah 17 and 18)

Elder Webster

Quick Update

Dear loved ones,

I just found out I have to jump off of the computer in like 2 seconds, so this will have to be shorter than I'd like...

BUT! This week our mission has changed a BIG focus. We used to put  a TON of emphasis on "OYM's" (Open Your Mouth) as a way to find, and we even had it as a mission-specific-key-indicator! But we CHANGED THAT! Now, we have an even huger focus on Finding Teaching and Baptizing. Which is basically the purpose of a mission to begin with, but it was just a big change in motivation and set a lot of priorities straight with a lot of missionaries, including myself! :)

So most of our efforts this week were to increase in our Finding, Teaching and Baptizing, and as a result, we've seen a lot faster progress with investigators and it's been a great week to be a part of!

Sorry I'm cutting this short! :) I love you all!

Shout out to Hailey for playing a very catchy song on the bass, and to the asian kid that butchered the singing. ;) hahah jk

See ya next week!

Elder Webster

Mother's Day And Other Cool Blessings

Dear loved ones,

As you are well aware, yesterday was mothers day! :) I had a pretty good mothers day! I got to Skype home, and see me good ol' family, and it looks like everyone's doing pretty good! I even got to see my big brother Jace for a brief period of time! :) I liked Skyping home again! it was nice! I feel like at this point, there isn't a whole lot of news though... haha it was super nice to see everyone again though!

We went over to the Chacon's house to use their computers (same house I used for Christmas) If I haven't mentioned the Chacon's yet by name, I'm sorry. But they have been there for a lot!!! Betsaida Chacon is their daughter at BYUi, and Joel Chacon their son who is a returned missionary from Phoenix AZ mission who has helped with lots of lessons and given me lots of sweet shoes and belts and stuff, and Brother Chacon is the 2nd councilor of the bishopric and was there with us when all of our computers got robbed a while ago, and Sister Chacon makes amazing Enchiladas and is a missionary-mom for sure. There family is the best and I am so thankful for them. :)

Anyways, I thought I'd give them a shout-out, because I'm probably going to come visit them after the mission. :)

OK! So this week, we saw a lot of blessings for sure. LITERALLY! I must have given 9 or 10 Priesthood blessings this week. So much so that I used an entire oil-vile's worth of oil during one week's worth of blessings! We asked the bishop for a refill of consecrated oil on Sunday during church, and then we continued on with life and were asked to give even more blessings that night! It made me feel so honored and thankful to be a worthy priesthood holder, and to be able to see so many faithful people. I've really started to notice how easy it is to give blessings. When I first started giving blessings, I was nervous and would always hope they would just ask my companion to do it. I would try to think of the best vocabulary I could and say the best things I could think of. I know now that I was doing it wrong.... Lately, I've been doing better at focusing on the person's needs and trying to imagine my true role as a Priesthood holder, and I've noticed that all the anxiety behind giving a blessing completely disappears. I no longer have to worry about what to say because in a very VERY literal way, the words just come.

I testify to the power of the Priesthood because I've seen miracles and I've seen it work.

On another note, we were able to see several of our investigators coming to church lately, which will help them develop a testimony so much faster, so that's extraordinary. We're still planning on having 2 baptisms this summer. Probably in June. I'm very excited for them both, because I've been working with them from the very beginning, and I can see that they both KNOW this church is true, and they both have a solid belief in Christ and His atonement, and now they're just waiting for their schedules to free up enough to become active members. So that should happen in the next couple months whether I'm here or not.

That's pretty much it for the week.

I'm so thankful for my companion btw. Elder Green is probably one of my favorites. He's a hard worker, he helps me, he accepts help, he's fun and funny, and I've loved working with him so far.

Anyways! Love you all! Happy Mothers Day!

Elder Webster

Me and Elder Green

This is My District!!

Back row- Yellowhorse, Green, Webster, Mora

Front row- Collett, Kaufusi

This is my companion's Teddy bear... He calls it Vanessa. It's the creepiest thing ever.

Another Shortie...

Buenas tardes mis queridos amigos!

Looks like Elder Green and are a very successful companionship so far! We had one of the best weeks I've had on my mission so far this week. We currently have 2 VERY solid investigators who are scheduled to be baptized very soon. Elvia Guzman and Mariela Irama. Both of them have shown a huge commitment to the church and shown a desire to be baptized, but Elvia told us she wants her brother in law to baptize her (Who just so happens to be one of my MTC instructors. Small world.) And he is scheduled to come to town in late June, so even though it's a bit of a wait, and I might not even be in the area anymore at that point, she's scheduled to be baptized! :) Mariela Irama is completely set for baptism, has a testimony, and it's obvious to her that the Book of Mormon is true, but she has been working on Sundays. once we can work through her work schedule, we'll be able to set a baptism date for her. But she's golden. We just have to wait a bit for her as well. :)

Teaching the 2 of them has been so pleasant. They crave it, there is definitely a difference between people who just "allow us to come over" and those who "invite us over". They are so easy to teach, and keep their commitments whether we want them to or not, and we've gotten the ward so involved in their progression, the ward members are always asking us when our next appointment is with them. It's so great. :)

Elder Green and I have been experimenting with object lessons a lot recently! I think that's my favorite method of teaching now a days..

That's pretty much all for now! Tomorrow is our "Temple Day" which means today isn't my actual pday. I'm only really allowed to email for one hour, so once again, I'm sorry if I didn't get to reply to many personal emails. But I Love you all! :)

Elder Webster

3 Items of News

I don't have a whole lot of time to write this week, sorry in advance for not getting to reply to many personal emails.

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND JAXON! I'm glad you got the package. Looks like the fair was fun. That's crazy about Hailey getting hypnotized too... haha

Also, Hailey! you looked awesome in your prom pictures. Hope it was fun, but not too much fun!

As far as updates goes, I only have a couple big ones.

1. My new companion, Elder Green, is from Michigan! (I was wrong) and he has been out about a year and a half, and was pretty bitter about being assigned as my junior companion... haha But so far we get along decently. He's a lot like Kurt from Glee... pretty much a direct copy.

2. I've learned a lot about planning this week! This was the first real time I've had to show someone the area, so I've had to think a lot about how to plan our routes effectively, and try to see the people who would really benefit from visits. I've tried using the area book a lot more instead of relying on my memory and best judgement. So all in all, this week has really made me step up a little bit. And Elder Green doesn't stress me out nearly as much. haha So that's nice. :)

3. Mormon Helping Hands service project was this last Saturday! We went to this nice park in Martinez and trimmed some growths and weeds from around the base of all the trees there! I thought it was a blast! :)

That's pretty much it for the week. Things are going well! I've got hopes for Elder Green and I this transfer. We even found a new investigator that looks good for baptism in the next couple weeks! :) Her names Elvia Guzman! Keep her in mind.

Love you all! Sorry I had to keep it short this week. We just finished mopping our car.. Long story, but yeah.. We had to "mop" our car today.

Love you all!

Elder Webster

Goodbye Elder Muniz!

HELLO!

Got some cool updates from home this week. Looks like the buggy has been put to good use and Hailey keeps on seeing my favorite band live without me.

So that's cool.

This week went very very well for us! Last week I mentioned how our numbers weren't very good even though we felt like we were working our hardest. WELL! This week our hard work showed up on paper! We were able to visit so many people this week, I actually beat my personal best. One time we even got 5 lessons in a single day. Seriously, things just went right for us quite a bit. :)

We did get our transfer calls on Saturday. It looks like I'm staying district leader in Richmond for another transfer. But Elder Muniz is leaving me to serve in Pittsburgh with one of my old companions (Elder Curay) They'll be great together! And my new companion will be someone named Elder Green...? I don't know much about him yet. But he has been out for about 18 months, and I think he's white and probably from Utah! But I'll meet him tomorrow officially. So I'll have more updates next week. :)

We had the lesson about Sabbath day with Mariela as planned (minus the church tour) and it was such a blessing. She seems to come closer to Christ no matter what we do. She puts in all the effort in the world. Before we even started talking about her coming to church with us, she started telling us about how she's going to talk to her boss and ask for a day off to come to church. We set a day in the future when she'd like to come! So on May 3rd we should be able to bring her to church for the first time. That's one step closer to baptism eligibility!

Lastly, we had a baptism yesterday! I don't know if I've mentioned her before, but her name is Nayeli Aguirre. She's about 20 years old, and she was an investigator I used to teach back in January. I only got to teach her the first half of the lessons, and then we had to hand her off to some other missionaries. She got baptized yesterday and we were invited to come watch and help! (pictures attached) Everything went well, she is such a cool girl. She knows what she wants, and she decided that becoming a member of the church was what she wanted, so there was no stopping her.

All in all, a pretty good week, and a good way to end off this transfer with Elder Muniz.  I've been blessed in this area, and It's pretty cool to be able to stay here for so long. This will be my 6th month here in Richmond, and when the time comes, it's going to be hard to leave.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Shout out to the Somervilles for the letter!

Happy Early Birthday Jaxon and Dad!

Love you!

Elder Webster

This is Nayeli after she got baptized

This is Elder Yellowhorse standing next to a yellow horse.