Life Is Great!

Dear Family! (both biological and like spiritually-biological... I guess that is called spiritological.... or something similar) :)

Life is great!  'nough said. :) But really, it is amazing!  I love it!  

Here are the reasons:

1. My companion is Elder Fifita. He is amazing!  I am learning so much from him!  It is spectacular!  He is so optimistic and happy and outgoing!  Every day is fantastic. I am so grateful I have been given the opportunity to work with him. Imagine the perfect missionary and you have pretty much got a good picture of Elder Fifita.

2. The work is great.  We are trying to work more with members. And we are trying to be Preach My Gospel missionaries.. So we just do what Preach My Gospel says and miracles happen.  It is the greatest!  This work is so real.  The world is so ready!   People not only need the gospel, they want the gospel!   Being a missionary is the best thing ever!  Missionary Work is the best!  I love it.  I recommend it to all you all.  Feeling down? Then maybe a little dose of missionary work is just what you need. :)  

3. My family and friends are the greatest!

4.  God is good.  He is real.  He is really there.

One important thing that I studied this week:  we are all sons and daughters of the Most High King. We are good. Satan tries to trick us into thinking otherwise. We are NOT to let him trick us into thinking that we are not good enough or that we are failing or that we are anything other than a loved child of God.  I think that information is the most important. We need only remember our own identity and then life gets so much easier.  We know what to do.  We don't feel stressed.  Yep.  That is a lesson I learned this week, from studies and whatnot.  Love you all! Keep on being the amazing people that you all are!

It's a great day to be a missionary!

Love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

With Elder Fifita and Elder Hansen (senior couple missionary) in the office

Cactus!  Whoot!  This is the only cactus I have seen on the islands.

Just Do It

Mauri o!!!

Awesomeness dominated this week -- my attempt at a more literate way of saying that this week truly was amazing.

One lesson that I learned from this week is that to have success and happiness, I just need to go out and do it. Just do it.... Sounds like a great logo.... like maybe for a sports brand.... :)  Anyway, it is so true.  I want to be better at speaking the language of Kiribati and just last night I started studying harder.  We didn't have a dinner with people, so I used a bit of dinner time to make some flash cards and studied them a bit.  It didn't take much time, but it definitely helped me so much!   It was great.  It is interesting that just a small bit of extra work can provide a lot of motivation.

This week we re-contacted a former investigator -- ten Kakiaman -- and his wife, nei Losalini.  They lessoned before for a long time. When we asked them if they had received an answer to their prayers about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, they said they had not received an answer.  It was a bit sad to hear that they had been visited so many times and they had not sought an answer through prayer. From my encounter with Kakiaman, I learned the importance of teaching that we need to receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon through the witness of the Spirit.  I know that WE ALL need to receive a true witness of the Spirit that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is God's word. I will work on emphasizing that in my future teaching. 

I read the talk "Behold the Man" that Elder Uchtdorf gave this past general conference. It is great.  Sometimes, it is easy to feel like a failure. However, we will always find peace in Christ.  I loved this quote, "So, when you are encompassed by sorrows and grief, behold the Man.  When you feel lost or forgotten, behold the Man.  When you are despairing, deserted, doubting, damaged, or defeated, behold the Man.  He will comfort you.   He will heal you and give meaning to your journey.  He will pour out His Spirit and fill your heart with exceeding joy." It is a great talk. I recommend it.  We can go through the DOTS (delays, opposition, trials, suffering) of life, if we put our trust in Christ.  He is always there for us.  I know that He is.  He is real.  He really loves us.

I hope you all have a fantastic week.  I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

Elder Toro (in our district) and I at the Bairiki Chapel on a preparation day

Cool plane from WWII that Elder Bataua and I saw when we were on Butaritari

Teaching Bishop how to make snickerdoodle cookies

Work with Elder Fifita

Life is great!  So, this week, my companion, Elder Morphonios, went to an outer island to check on the missionaries there.  So, I had the amazing opportunity to work with Elder Fifita (from Utah)!  He is the greatest!  He works hard and is optimistic and pleasant all the time!  Anyway, this week has been a blast and productive. We worked our area as well as Elder Fifita's area (which is Eita - where Moroni High School is located). We have spent a lot of time working on organizing the upcoming Missionary Leadership Council. 

Both  Ratu and Teoti are progressing well.  I am very happy for them.

It rained a ton last night, so on our way to our lesson, we got drenched.  It was fun. :)

Crazy story:  I was driving a couple of elders to an interview.  On one of the dirt roads, I was passing a car.  (Note: it rained a LOT yesterday)  Anyway, I passed the car... They were being nice and waving me on. I guess I was driving too fast because I hit a puddle and the muddy water went into the cab of the truck and onto the people there and out the other window.  The water also got the people in the bed of the truck.  It even got one of the missionaries in the bed of the truck I was driving... Oops... That was an accident.  We stopped.  They were very nice and forgave us.

Thoughts from my studies this week:  We need to arm ourselves with the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and "The future is as bright as your faith" (Thomas S. Monson).

Life is great!  Keep on being amazing!  Hope you all have a great day!!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

With Elder Fifita -- drenched after a rainstorm

Oops!  Sorry Elder Gila

Banana Island

Mauri!

This past week, I had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Bataua to visit the elders serving on the island of Butaritari -- which is known for having a great amount of bananas.  Elder Bataua has family on that island and they gave him three bunches of bananas.  So delicious.  Bananas here are small and delicious! :) It was great.  It also rained there almost the entire time.  It was nice and cool.  Elder Bordinko is one of the elders serving there, he kept saying that "we can learn something new everyday" and he worked very hard.  I liked his thought that we can all learn something new everyday.  Elder Pugliani is the other elder serving there.  I was impressed that as our dinner appointment time was coming up, he used up every moment of time to work.  As we were walking, he said, "Three more houses, that's my goal." I like that he set goals and strove to accomplish them.  That's what I learned from them.

One of our investigators is nei Teoti.  She is great.  We tracted her at her store on the way home from a dinner appointment (our dinners are at about 8:00, so they are our last appointment) and she accepted lessons.  Her husband is a less active.  We plan to teach her the Plan of Salvation tonight. 

This week in my study, I realized that I need to be a closer friend with Christ.  My companion, Elder Morphonios, is amazing and is a great friend.  Having him as my friend is great, and I realized that I want to develop a stronger friendship with Christ.  In the hymn, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives," Christ is described as our friend.  I know He is a friend to me, but I want to be a better friend to him. 

Life is great.  The church is real.  I know that Christ lives.  

Have a spectacular week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig 

Sunset on Butaritari Island

BANANAS!!!

Elder Bataua and I on the airplane from Butaritari to Tarawa

Dinner at a recent convert's house with Elder Morphonios

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Howdy!

Hope you all had a fantastic Fourth of July.  We had a pretty great one.  We had a dinner with the senior couple, the Hansens, that live in our compound.  It was fun.  America is the best. :)  (I say that in a very non-comparative, non-competitive way... :)  )

Life here is going great.  People are great.

We started lessoning with a Fijian woman, Alberta, who lives in our compound.  It is great. She has lessoned with sisters before, when she lived in Vanuatu (another Pacific island). She is interested in finding the truth.  She has a friend, nei Kabwearuru, who brought her to church and helped during our first lesson with her.  It is amazing how much nei Kabwearuru helps to allow for her friend to receive lessons.  It is awesome!  It is a good lesson in member missionary work.  Helping our friends receive the restored gospel is the best thing that we can do for them.

Well, I have been reading talks from the past General Conference this past week.  The talks are all amazing!  I love them.  I read one about sacrifice and that sacrifice makes things sacred.  It makes things important. Heavenly Father sacrificed His Son so that we can return to live with Him again.  It must, therefore, be an extraordinarily sacred and important thing that we strive to live to return to Him, as He gave such an extraordinary sacrifice.

I love you all.  Hope that all is well with you!  Happy Fourth of July. Freedom isn't free - I hope we don't forget the men that died for that, and more importantly, that we don't forget the Man that died for that.  "For men are free to choose... liberty and eternal life through (Christ)" (2 Nephi 2:27)

Have an amazing week!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Weenig

Service with Elder Morphonios (From North Carolina) -- we cleared bushes for an investigator.

Sea Worms... They dry them and chew them like gum...

Elder Morphonios and I on Tabiteuea North

This is the hospital... We visited one the of the elders who was sick.
Apparently, while he was sleeping a dog came and licked his foot.... Kinda funny. :)

With Elder Seffker and Elder Jubeck

The American Flag, flown outside of Moroni High School
(Elder Belshe, one of the senior missionaries, asked permission to fly it on the 4th of July. :) )

That hanging thing is a giant shell fish. We saw it at a member's house on Tabiteuea North.  Kinda cool, eh?
(and no, I did not eat it... But I have eaten it cooked before.... when I was in Abemama)

Zone Conference

With Elder Otto inside a bunker in Betio

Our district (Ambo) on a cannon in Betio

Mauri oh!

Mauri!

I am doing great.  I have great internet service now, so I figured I would send a quick update.

I got to work in Temaiku 1st Branch these past two weeks. This past Sunday, we took five minutes at the beginning of Sunday School in both the adult class and the Youth/YSA class and gave each member a restoration pamphlet. We challenged them to read the pamphlet, pray for the truth of it, and then share their testimony with someone (and to give that person the pamphlet). The members are excited and I believe that work with the members will be going great. We have been working on connecting our investigators to fellowshipping. I am excited to see the work in Temaiku continue to grow. There is a great deal of potential in the Temaiku 1st Branch. 

I am now working with Elder Morphonios, from North Carolina.  He is great.  I am serving in Banraeaba -- an area that I have served before.  It is going to be a great transfer!

Life is going great!  Life is amazing!  So, I studied patience this past week -- as it is one of the Christlike Attributes found in Preach My Gospel, chapter 6.  I am trying to develop Christlike Attributes so that I can minister better to the people that I come in contact with.  I learned that patience is more than I previously had thought.  It is the ability to not become anxious, angry, or frustrated through the D.O.T.S. (Delays, Opposition, Troubles, and Sufferings) of life.  I am grateful that the D.O.T.S. of life are just small dots, fleeting and small.  In Moroni 9, Mormon tells us to focus on Christ and to let that lift us up.  I hope that we can all focus a bit more on Christ so that we can make it though whatever "dot" the Lord sees fit for us to pass through.  He can have hope through Christ enough to develop the patience to pass through our trials.  This life is a great, precious gift from our Heavenly Father.  It really is up to us if we see it that way.  I hope I can develop the patience to always see it that way.

Hope you are all doing great!  Keep pressing on!  The church is real, President Nelson is the voice of the Lord on the earth today, ministering is real!  There is so much work to be done!  I am excited to go do it!  View general conference as a reference for what work we can be doing. I heard somewhere that general conference should be our walk and talk for the six months that lead up to the next general conference... Exciting, right?  We have plenty to walk and talk about. :) 

Love you all!

Today is the day - let's go seize it!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

Etuati's baptism in Abaiang

Helping a dentist do a fluoride treatment

Top of the Catholic tower, with Elder Sanft, and Sisters Robison & Sillito

A ball I made out of pandanus leaves.  The sister's name is Sister Robison --from Utah.

Elder Sanft cooked a pig for Sister Sillito's going away party on Abaiang

Elder Sanft and I on Abaiang (Tebunginako Village)

The STLs (Sister Training Leaders) came to pick up Sister Sillito

On the church owned speed boat -- the Riaona (the Liahona)

Leaving Abaiang (with Elder Butcher)

Titu and I -- He is a kid from a family that was baptized while I was in Temaiku 2nd last year.  I saw him at church.

Good bye Elder Farner (he was transferred to Christmas Island)

Working with Elder Scholle (my friend from Timpanogos High School) and Elder Davidson (he is awesome, he is from Springville).  Elder Davidson is hidden a bit by Elder Scholle

Good bye to Elder Dale (he's heading home), my second companion

Abaiang

Hello!

Long time no see. I have internet now, so woo hoo!

Last preparation day we went to an islet of Abaiang -- Terio Islet. It was so fun! We traveled in a boat. We shared a lesson with the lady that lives there. We met her while we were there helping a dentist. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she invited us to visit whenever. When we visited her, she said she had read the Book of Mormon and really liked it. It was hard to lesson with her, because she is mostly deaf, but we gave her pamphlets. It was fun. She and her husband run a hotel. Her name is Terine. Her husband is from Britain.

Nei Miita, one of our investigators, was baptized last Friday. It was great. She is so amazing! Last week she gave us a whole bunch of bananas -- so we are good with potassium!!!! Whoot! It was awesome. 

On Saturday, we had a combined branch bootaki (party). It was great. Long, but great. We had a few less actives come. Also missionaries from Tabuteuea came and so did nei Miita. It was awesome.

One thing that I have learned the past little bit is that life is what we make it. So we just need to press on with a smile and in the words of Gordon B Hinckley, "It will all work out". Life is great and really short, so we have got to make the most of it! 

It was a good week! Thanks for all you all do! Y'all are amazing!!!

Love you so much!!!

Hurrah for Israel!!!

Elder Weenig