Sunday Blessings

I think that the weeks go faster and faster. This last week was amazing. Really, really amazing.

Gabriela is getting baptized on Sunday! Great experience. We were talking with Jhizel, who said that Gabriela was just waiting for the right moment (aka the 27 of March), and that she wasn't entirely sure why. So we decided that there really isn't a reason to wait, and we spoke with Gabriela about it after Gospel Principles class. She was hesitant at first, but when we proposed the idea, she agreed. So know it's the week of baptismal preparation (getting the clothes, inviting everyone, and making sure that she passes her baptismal interview).  I love baptisms. We have a lot of work to do, but we are excited for this Sunday.

Apart from that, we had a less active member that consistently commits to coming to church. But the day comes, the sacrament meeting starts, and she is never there. Up until yesterday. She had spoken with us throughout the week and seemed more confident than ever that she was coming to church. Although, we didn't really believe her (from experience) we were still praying for that miracle and it came. Sunday rolled around, and much to our surprise so did this member. It was one of those moments where you don't really know what to do so you just shake their hand and say "Hola". So cool. She has the goal to go to the temple this year and our goal with her is to get her there.

Although there was a lot of success yesterday, there was also a moment of sadness as well. Lili, who had been progressing so much, decided yesterday that she didn't want to keep coming to church. It kills us, because the night before she had told us that the only thing that was keeping her from being baptized was the Relief Society (very long story). But, we have set an appointment for this Friday, so please keep her in your prayers so that she still comes to church.

Update on Jose Juan and Sandra. Sandra left for Chile this last week and was Jose's main support system. He is still not sure about baptism. He definitely wants to wait till Sandra gets back in July to make the decision, so keep him in your prayers. 

In other, slightly less spiritual news, we have a new car! There wasn't really anything wrong with the last one other than the dents and scrapes that come from being a missionary car, but we have received the new Opel Corsa (German model.) It's fantastic. The stereo system is much better which allows for much more EFY sing-a-longs in the car.

We are excited for this next week. We are going to go help out with a District leader training meeting in Malaga this Thursday, and have a lot of people progressing. I wish I could tell you about each one individually, but the time is short and I'd really like to share how much I really love being out here. Missionary life is crazy, hectic, and stressful at times, but is also the best time of my life. I love getting to see people progress, to care about people so much that it hurts you when they say no, I love watching the change that really happens in people. It's something real. I have seen it. Just to highlight one, Jhizel. I know I've already mentioned it, but she has a legitimate plan to go on a mission, and for the first time in her life, is saving money to be able to go. That's what makes it a great day to be a missionary.

Love,
Elder Weenig

Sandra's farewell party, (we were mid transfer so the missionary
sitting next to me was with us for a little while)

Transfers

I really feel like we just emailed. It's crazy how quickly the weeks go by. The big news for the week: transfers came....And I am staying in Granada. I am very happy. There are going to be a number of miracles this upcoming transfer. I'm especially grateful because this is an unusual amount of time in an area. Usually, the max is four transfers, and when I leave, it will be close to five. I'm really glad to stay.

There are two really cool miracles that I would like to share this last week. Gabriela, the girl who is preparing for baptism, originally had offered the sister missionaries cigarettes at the baptism of Jhizel. So, naturally, we were worried about how teaching Word of Wisdom would go. Fortunately, when we taught it, she instantly agreed to everything and was completely willing to obey the commandment. That's a response that we don't get too often. Usually, we hear a few objections to tea and coffee, (people generally accept that tobacco and drugs are bad for you) but she was completely willing. Fantastic. We are really excited for her. She set the goal to be baptized on the 27th of March, which is also Easter, which I think would be he best way to remember a baptism. The celebration of the resurrection of Christ coupled with the beginning of a new life. Perfect.

The second miracle comes from Lili. She tells us every week that she has so many doubts and is very unsure about the church. But when the other missionaries were saying goodbye to the members at church, she came up to me and asked, "You're not leaving as well, are you?" When I told her that no, I wasn't, she got a very relieved looked on her face. She smiled for a second then said, "Good, because you have to baptize me." Both Elder Ylimaula and I were shocked. Up until this point she had made no notion that she intended on being baptized anytime in the near future (if at all). But her comment showed that she wasn't just thinking about being baptized, she has been planning out he possibilities. Please pray for her. We are hoping and praying every day that she is able to get her answer so that she can be baptized. She would be a strong member.

I want you all to know that I am so grateful for the time that I have here. I am starting to realize how short the time is that I have left, and I want to make the most of it. I love being a missionary. I would recommend it to anyone. It makes you so happy. When you aren't happy, it's because you are too focused on yourself. It's the perfect way to live. I genuinely wish that I could stay here for another two years. Regardless of the amount of time, I have a goal to make everyday a great day to be a missionary.

Love,
Elder Weenig

The Granada Zone

You might recognize some of these guys. They are all my companions
still in the mission (Right to left, Elders Gantner and Fife from
Fuengirola, me, Elder Holman from La Linea, Elders Black and Ylimaula
from Granada)

Eating at a Wok after residency

Quentar and Andalucia

Okay, so I think I should correct a major error from my last email. Last week was not Andalusia day. Yesterday was. For some reason, I had completely misunderstood exactly when the day was going to be. Anyway, happy Andalusia day everyone.

Also, I have to apologize again, but we are on our way to a leadership council again, and we have very limited time. So I think I will highlight some of the best parts about our week:

Lili. She is fantastic. Even though she doesn't like Relief Society. She tells us that it is boring, but that she enjoys everything else. We're not entirely sure what exactly is holding her back from being baptized, but we are constantly praying and talking about ways for her to possibly get baptized. She comes to church as consistently as a member.

We had a fantastic lesson with this investigator named Mari. She is a friend of the Bishop and his wife. They invited her to take the lessons from us, and we have been teaching her for a long time. Anyway, we were able to teach them this week, but it turned out the Bishop wasn't home. As missionaries, we aren't allowed to go into a house unless there is a member of our same sex present. Even though the women that were there are some of the best that we know, we couldn't go in. So Mari took us on a tour of their pueblo (Quéntar). She is a history teacher and was able to give a detailed story on the history of her town. I loved it. Apparently Quentar was an old Moorish town that served as a former military base. Really cool.

Well, the week has been really great. I think I will just finish with a thought that the Bishop's wife shared with us. We shared a message about bravery, and while we talked about why we need to be brave. The Bishop's wife told us something that she had learned lately. She told us that "God reserves his toughest soldiers for the toughest battles". It really made a good impression. I think it's a really great philosophy for life. For the times where it gets the most difficult, we think that of it as another battle that we have to overcome. That is why it's a great day to be a missionary.

Love you all,
Elder Weenig

Snow in Granada

Tour of Quentar

Tour of Quentar

Happy Andalusia Day

Happy Andalusia Day everyone! (Andalusia is the province of Spain that makes up the majority of our mission).

This last week was very, very busy. We have seen a lot of growth in our area and a lot of people that are progressing.

Lili is fantastic. She has been reading in the Book of Mormon consistently and is now in 2 Nephi. She is enjoying it, and has so many questions. Gospel Principles class got about ten times more interesting with her being there. For us at least. I think the teacher has started to become a little wary from all of the questions. Still, it is better that she is at least asking questions. She also is a better member than we are. She was in a slightly under occupied Sacrament meeting and she started to look around and said to us "where is everyone? All these people have made covenants with God to be here, and they aren't here! I haven't even made covenants with God and I am here!" We asked her to give a talk about it in sacrament meeting, but she said no. Also, no to baptism... For now. She is reading General Conference and is carefully dissecting each talk that we give her. She is fantastic. Please keep her in your prayers so that she decides to be baptized. She would be such a great member.


Brenda told us on Saturday that she is definitely getting baptized. Which is very, very exciting for us and for Jhizel. She has been reading in the Book of Mormon has had feelings and thoughts that this message has come right when she needed it. So, now it's just a matter of deciding on the day. She couldn't come to church this last week because she worked until 9:30 in the morning. Church starts at 10:30. But, she called us and told us that she was sorry, and confirmed our appointment for tonight. She's great. Also, speaking of Jhizel, she is doing fantastic and just received a calling as genealogy specialist. She is just the best. I can't wait till she goes on a mission.

The work is going very well. The members here find it cool that we have had two international missionaries here as my companions (as in not from America). They say it's good to at least have one gringo (American) so things aren't too exotic. Geez, thanks members.

Things really have been going well. We just got back from a pday in the Sierra. It was awesome. I am in love with Granada. I love this place and this work.

I can honestly say that each day is a great day to be a missionary.

Love you all,
Elder Weenig

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

This week has gone very well. We were blessed with a lot of investigators at church. Lily who is the girl that I talked about last time is doing very well. Her little sister has come to church and she asks very good questions about the gospel. We are trying to help her overcome some doubts that she has. She has been reading in the Book of Mormon and listening to General Conference. We are very hopeful that she will decide to be baptized soon.

Gisele has actually started to help us teach her friend Brenda, who I talked about last time. Brenda is doing very well and is progressing. Actually, last time we taught her, she told us that she has started to have faith. She is incredible, really. She has started to change and is praying. When we invited her to repent, she said, "Right here? In front of you guys?" She's progressing, slowly but surely.

We are very busy. This is one of the busiest times of my mission. We have a number of investigators with a lot of potential and hope to see some progress soon.

In terms of weather, it has actually gotten pretty cold all of a sudden. About an average of 6 degrees Celsius, not sure what that is in Fahrenheit (43 degrees),  but it's been pretty chilly, at least in terms of southern Spain.

At church this week, they were talking about love. Go figure, love, Valentine's Day, and missionaries. It's a topic that missionaries tend to have an aversion to. But while I was sitting there, the woman speaking talked about devotion and why we are devoted. It made me think about my devotion to my mission. It also made me think about things that I need to improve on. Which then got me distracted by how long the list was. But in all honesty, I really love this opportunity and would not trade it for anything. We are trying our best to be the best missionaries we can and we are seeing a lot of blessings.

Every day really is a great day to be a missionary!

I love you all,
Elder Weenig

With Elder Ylimaula (Finland) at the mission home.

Valentines Day Lunch

On the Road Again

Alright, so once again, we are on the road to the leadership council, so I'm not sure how long this will be.

So today, I think I will just give you a rundown on the people. Starting off with my new companion, his name is Elder Ylimaula, from Helsinki, Finland. He's great, he served in the Finnish military before the mission and is a really hard worker. We have been working hard and are hoping to see some miracles soon.

Second, Lili and Rosemary. These two are fantastic. We found Lili almost by accident, knocking on a door that was supposed to belong to another contact. But she has been very receptive and has been coming to church these last few weeks. She is an incredible artist. She draws things that literally could be photographs. Very impressive. Rosemary is her little sister who loves to sing and listen to the piano. After church, we played songs for them on the piano.

Third, Brenda. She is the friend of Jhizel who came to her baptism and offered the sister missionaries some cigarettes. We had a really good lesson with her a couple of days ago where she committed to baptism. She has changed a lot, and Jhizel is one of the main reasons for that change. Brenda has noticed the change in Jhizel and wants the same sort of change in her life. She's progressing really well.

Fourth, Nano and Eva. Two nine year old twins that we have been working to get baptized. Their parents have been less active for a time, and when we brought up baptism, the parents set the date to be the 14 of August (the twins' birthday). They wanted it to be a special day that they would always remember, so they set that date. We wanted it to be closer, so we decided to try and set another day that was closer. So what day do we choose? Valentine's Day. Seems right, right? The day of love to show our love to God. Anyway, we presented it to the parents and they were ecstatic. Then, their faces dropped. They said that was their weekend to go to Benalmadena (city next to Fuengirola). So they smiled and said, "Well, that's alright. They will just have to get baptized on their birthday". Oh well. We tried. But who knows? April Fools day is pretty special as well.:)

Fifth, José Juan. He is doing well. We talked about his baptism, and he mentioned that he was feeling good. He is still waiting for an answer. Sandra leaves for Chile in a month, so we are hoping that he gets an answer so that she can be here for the baptism.

It's been a really great week. The area is going very well and I feel very lucky to be able to stay here for another transfer.

It's a great day to be a missionary!

Love you all,
Elder Weenig

First Week of February

Happy February everyone. I can't believe how fast January went. With the end of January, comes the end of the transfer as well. Unfortunately, Elder Black is being transferred. We've been lucky, we had almost three transfers together which is unusually long for a companionship in our mission. It's been great, and I've learned a lot from him. Interestingly enough, Mom and Dad you have already met my new companion. Do you remember when we Skyped? The elder that spoke to dad in Finnish? He will be my new companion. Elder Ylimaula from Helsinki, Finland. He's a hard worker and I am excited to work with him.

I really don't know where to begin when I talk about these weeks. They go by so quickly. Too quickly. I would be happy just to stay here and never leave. Things are going very well in our area. Jhizel is doing very well. Every time we meet with her, she brings someone to learn about the gospel. She is incredible. She tells us a lot about her desire to serve a mission, and actually plans to leave at her year mark in the church. Before then, she has the desire to get her whole family baptized. She really is converted. Eduardo is still there. He is going slowly, but surely. He definitely has the desire, but we've still got some things to work on. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Jose Juan and Sandra are amazing. They both were at church yesterday and Jose Juan is progressing very well. He wants to get baptized before Sandra goes back to Chile for a few months. So keep him in your prayers. He has a lot of potential to help this ward out. We are praying that he will be able to gain a testimony of the church so he can be baptized.  Honestly, this last week, a lot of new people have started to show a lot of potential. Manuel and Maritrini are a Spanish couple that are two of the nicest people whom I have met. Maritrini is a member, Manuel is not. Manuel would have been baptized, but he has a doubt that he expressed to us. It has been a long time since they have met with missionaries, so we are hoping to see a lot of progress with them. Maritrini, whom I haven't seen come to church since I've been here, came to church yesterday. It was a miracle. Manuel couldn't go, but it's progress and we are hoping that little by little we will see success with these two.

We have been very busy. The members here are incredible. The bishop invited a friend to take an English classes from us. The members that we took to an appointment tried desperately to get our investigator to commit to a baptismal date, and we have one of the members working with us to reactivate a young mother and baptize her son. I love this ward. They are like a second family, and I feel really blessed to be able to work here.

Cool experience for the week. One day, we had a lot of set plans that failed us. We were pretty discouraged, and we were set on heading back to the car. We were on our way there, when we saw a woman walking towards us. We decided to contact her, and to be honest, I didn´t have a lot of faith (usually the response is that they are too busy). But when we started to talk to her, she gave us her number and told us to come by tonight... so we will see how that goes.

One thing that has been on my mind a lot is how we use the time that we have. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I feel like time goes by way too fast. I cannot believe that I have been in Granada for over four months, it really feels like I just barely got here. But we have seen a lot of miracles. I would genuinely say that they have been miracles. I have been writing Nelly, the lady that was baptized only a few months ago. She has a very strong testimony and a strong desire to come back to Spain -- this amazes me. Every time we visit Jhizel -- it amazes me. This is the Lord's work and He provides a way. It doesn't seem possible that two teenage boys can convince people to change their lives, drop coffee and tea (and sometimes a wineglass or two), get dressed in white and then get dunked in a font. It doesn´t make sense. But that´s what I´m learning. A lot of times in life, we see things that don´t make sense. It makes me think of the scripture in Isaiah 55, ¨..my ways are higher than your ways´ And that gives me a lot of comfort to know that. That his ways are a lot higher than my ways. I think that is why this work continues to go forward. Because we really don´t convince people to change their lives, and be baptized. Not if we want them to be converts. That´s why we have the Spirit. It´s just a perfect system. I really am so glad to be a part of it. It makes me really think that today is a great day to be a missionary.

Love,

Elder Weenig

This is the closest we will ever get to swimming on our missions. (It was downpouring one day in Santa Fe)