February 24, 2014

Hola Everyone

This week went by a little bit faster. We didn't have very much success as far as lessons and numbers and such. We had to "kill" Elsa because she is going to live with her mom for a couple of months, until May at least. So that was kind of a bummer for us. We really struggled finding new people to teach. So we were basically in the street all day long. On Tuesday we literally went to 30-40 houses and not a single one opened their door to talk to us. I can't lie it sucked pretty bad. And our family that we are teaching didn't go to church either. But we were able to talk to a few members who want to help us with them so hopefully that works this next week. I know that all the adversity that we are having is for our benefit because yesterday made all the struggles worth it. We found 2 teenagers who are really receptive and want to do whatever it takes to know if our message is true. I know that the Lord wants to bless us but sometimes He wants us to learn something or to show him our diligence and obedience before he blesses us. I can't say that I do everything right all the time but I try to do the best that I can and be the best missionary that I can be. I know that this church is the only true church upon the face of the earth. I know for some of you that may seem egoistic but I only say what I know to be true. And I say it because God answered my prayer. And he answered my prayer because I put in the effort to read the Book of Mormon. "[I] invite [all of you who are reading this email] to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in [your] hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost". I promise you as a servant of Jesus Christ, that if you will do it, with real intent, you can come to know as well as I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I love and miss you all. Have an awesome week! 

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

February 17, 2014

Hola Everyone

This week was pretty slow again for us. It seems like everyone just magically receives more vacation time because hardly anyone is home. It's super frustrating being out in the sun (with no O-Zone) for 4 hours a day. Our investigators are doing okay. We moved the date for Elsa to the 15th even though she went to church yesterday because she doesn't learn as fast as other people. We also put another baptismal date with our investigator Diego for the 15th. He might make it, he just needs some motivation to go to church. Our family with the soccer prodigies is progressing slowly. The kids went to church and the parents showed up at the end of sacrament meeting and then left afterwards. We're going to really focus on a baptismal date for the 22nd. Our other investigators Angela and Pablo told us they were going to go to church but they never showed up. We're going to find out what happend though. I've haven't been feeling very good lately. Lots of headaches and my stomach doesn't cooperate with me very well. So we'll see what the mission people have to tell me. It's nothing serious (I hope) but it has been bothering me quite a bit. Not much else happened this week. Love and miss you all! Have a great week! 

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

February 10, 2014

Hola Everyone

Well this week passed by without too many big surprises. We have changes tomorrow and Elder Ramirez and I are staying here together for another 6 weeks. Elder Loar is going to be in Rancagua to finish off his mission. I'm gonna miss him a ton. I learned a lot from him and we got along really well. He had family in Twin but they moved to Arizona a little while ago. One of the biggest moments this week was yesterday in church. We had 4 of our investigators in church! It was seriously a miracle. Up until last week we had never had investigators in church since I got here, and now we have people are actually going and who have some interest in the church. We have been teaching that family with the 2 soccer prodigies and they are starting to slowly progress. They were the ones who went to church (except for the dad). But he said that because his family liked it so much that he is going to go this next Sunday! They feel like we are there for a reason and believe a lot of what we are teaching but they just don't quite understand what their answer means. We are trying to help them with that, but I think that it will be a slower process. Other than that our week was pretty normal. Lots of sun which means getting sunburned (even though I use sunscreen), and lots of walking. Hopefully things start to speed up as everyone's vacation time is almost over. Love and miss you all. Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

February 3, 2014

Hola Everyone

Well this week has flown by! We worked really hard in our sector this week with the in-active people. We didn't necessarily have a ton of "success" with them this week but they are somewhat willing to listen to us. And thanks to the work of looking for them, we were able to find a family that is super awesome. We contacted the mom on Tuesday and taught her the Restoration. She was pretty receptive. And then we invited her two kids to play soccer with us, and...I don't really have words to describe how good they are. I have seen a lot of people play soccer down here and these 2 kids just blew every single one of them out of the water. The entire family is really loving. They invited us over to eat lunch yesterday with them, so that was cool. We really got to know them and I really hope that they will give our message a shot. Our families that we had before have pretty much fallen. We haven't been able to meet with any of them over the last 4 weeks. But we just have to keep holding out hope. Yesterday was pretty cool for us, we had 2 investigators come to church. It's the first time in my 2 changes here. They seemed kinda timid but said that in 2 weeks (they won't be here this next week) they are going to bring their two kids to church and stay the full 3 hours! It was pretty satisfying to know that after a lot of struggle, hard work, and a ton of patience the Lord blessed us in that way. I know that this work is true and I absolutely love what I am doing! I love and miss you all! Have a fantastic week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent