Sunday, September 20, 2015

Driving, Conferences, and Replacements

This last week has been awesome. Tiring, but awesome. Organizing the three zone conferences in our mission takes a lot of time and effort. Translating the local Málaga conference into Spanish for the native Spanish speakers leaves your head feeling mushy afterwards. But it´s been a great week.

So how do I begin to tell you about this last week? Big news: Apparently, the area representatives in Germany have sent out a mandate telling everyone that if they do not have a legal European drivers license, they cannot be driving. Which means us, who are in the process of getting them, do not have a car anymore. Neither do the senior couples or the APs, which has caused a number of difficulties for the mission. But, we are waiting for the blessing which we are sure will follow. Exact obedience sometimes is not easy. But it is worth it. We are praying that this drivers license situation resolves itself. So now we walk everywhere. Maybe us giving up our cars for a time is the solution. (also- I may need a sole- ution to my shoes soon as well :) )

Anyway, in other relatively large news, I now have a replacement! He will be here on Wednesday. My replacement´s name is Elder Gantner. He is from Switzerland. I actually just talked to him on the phone today. I will be honest. I can´t wait to get out and be working again as a normal missionary. I have learned a lot here, and had the opportunity to meet some amazing people.

Fuengirola is finally starting to cool off. We are the key spot of the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) and it has been very hot. Now, it is finally starting to cool off. Fortunately, the work is starting to heat up. We found a new couple named Pili and José. They are quite the pair. José stopped us on the street and told us that he wanted to be baptized, which almost never happens. We asked him how he knew of the church and he told us that years ago someone had given him a Book of Mormon, and he had been visiting with missionaries ever since. He´s been getting to know the church for a long time now, so we are hoping that this time is different. For Pili, however, this is the first time that she has heard about the church and she likes it a lot.

Martins and his family are incredible. There are few times in your mission where you meet someone who is just perfectly prepared, and this is one of those times. They were a little bit concerned about their baptism for a little while, but just this last week, they have decided to commit one hundred percent. We had a lesson yesterday about family history work and temples, and Martins at the end of the lesson told us that he loved the way that our church works. We teach clearly so that people can understand and that he and his family always leave the church understanding the doctrine. We are very excited for them. They are a miracle. Every time we visit with them, I love the spirit they have. They are so willing to do God´s will, even if it´s difficult for them. Which is inspiring to us all, especially with the car situation that we find ourselves in. They have made a lot of sacrifices in order to prepare themselves to be baptized. Just incredible.

Another miracle that we saw this last week was with a less active lady that we have been teaching named Maricarmen. She has been a member for over thirty years, but unfortunately stopped coming to church about 15 to 20 years ago. We have been visiting her these past couple of months inviting her to church. We don´t know what happened, but the last Saturday that we visited her, she accepted the invitation. When she walked into the chapel, it was one of the best feeling that I´ve had. It´s one thing to see someone who hasn´t ever known about the church come into it, but something even stronger when you see someone who hasn´t been for a long time walk back into a place that they used to know. It was incredible.

I love this city. We were walking down one of the streets yesterday, and all I could think about is how lucky I am to be here in Spain. The culture and people are beautiful. I love getting to speak the Spanish language. My being in Gibraltar has proven to be really useful, because I now am the unofficial translator for mission councils and zone conferences. I like it a lot, being able to translate, although it leaves your brain feeling pretty dead afterwards. But being a missionary is the best. There really is nothing to compare.  I can not express how much I love being able to put my name tag on everyday and be out talking to people about the restored gospel. I love it so much. I want to make everyday a great day to be a missionary.

Love you all,
Elder Weenig


Two pics from their trip to Gibraltar two weeks ago:o:

Crossing the Gibraltar airstrip in order to enter the city of Gibraltar with the sister missionaries from Frengirola. 


Another hike up the Rock of Gibraltar and a visit with our monkey friends

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