Week 6 in Bremerton - last week here! (Transfer to Raymond)

Hi family,

Transfer calls came on Saturday evening. I was surprised to hear that my short time in Bremerton is up! Tomorrow I will be in Raymond, WA, which is way over in the south-western part of the mission, in the Elma Zone. I don't know much about it at all except that its closer to the coast and that it is much more farmland. I've heard there are more farmers and lumber-jack type people over there. I have absolutely no idea why Heavenly Father needs Elder Webber over there, but the fun part is finding that reason why. I know there is one, and I felt the Spirit testify to me very quickly that it was where I am supposed to be. I'm very excited to start a new area and recommit to working hard.

Location of Raymond, WA

Raymond Ward Boundaries are the SW corner of the Tacoma Mission Buondaries

Yesterday at church was one of the best Sundays I've had. After a day of hard working in "rounding up" investigators and a hard week, we had, miraculously, 8 investigators at church!! Annette and Amick were confirmed, and the ward did such a great job at fellowshipping everyone! One guy we're teaching, Chris (a different Chris) is 17 and is going this week to "Helaman's Camp" which is like a week long Mini MTC. It will be life changing and the priests are so welcoming and friendly to him. I can't wait to hear about his baptism and then... his own mission! Church attendance is so important. I did not realize it until my mission.

Scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 2:8. My personal studies have been on tangents this week, so it took me over a week to read through 2 Nephi 2. I also studied in depth the doctrine of grace and faith. I have a testimony that Heavenly Father love us so much that He blesses us with everything He can while still respecting our agency. We must choose whether we want to live with Him, but He gives us so much to help us get there, and when we do choose Him, the windows of heaven open even more abundantly. That is grace. I absolutely love studying in the morning and when I put all my effort into it seeing the revelation I received afterwards. I have such a greater desire to learn truth. It builds every day.

My testimony of the Book of Mormon is especially stronger. Last Thursday Elder Lonas and I were out street contacting and looking for a miracle we had planned. (We started this week 2 after a Zone conference on planning. When we plan with faith, we can be prepared for the miracles in the Lord's plan - it's also really fun). So after saving a drunk woman from running into the street, we continued walking and talking about the gospel! Elder Lonas knows a lot of deep doctrine. Not the weird stuff, but deep understanding of things that are true and essential. He has spent the last few months studying light and truth, also faith, hope and charity. We talked for a long time as we walked around Bremerton, inviting everyone we saw to come to church or read the Book of Mormon or learn more about Christ. I felt the Spirit testify of things that are true. Truth is light because it is discernible (Alma 32:35) and it radiates. It enlightens, expands, uplifts, edifies, and enlarges the soul. Things that are not true are like darkness, they confuse and depress. For example, the Book of Mormon is true!! Anyone who reads and studies it, ponders its message in their heart, and prayerfully acts upon the message will know that it is true. By these same principles we may know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the full, true gospel of Christ is restored, back again on the earth through the prophet, Joseph Smith. An unending succession of priesthood keys continue today with the Prophet Thomas S. Monson and will always continue ! It's so wonderful!

I've had such a great time in Bremerton and with my fantastic companions. It was hard, but I grew so much and loved every day. This church is so true!!

The Bremerton 4

Have a fantastic week at EFY C&C and Matthew! I love you all so much and pray for you daily.
Love,
Elder Webber

Preparation Day at Lion's Park

Washington sunset

Week 5 in Bremerton (baptism week! - 4 Convert Baptisms)

Like I said, this was baptism week. Many miracles lined up just in time for this weekend, and I was in awe and blessed to be a part of the Lord's great work rolling forth. Before that, though, THANK YOU mom and Charlotte and Claire for your sweet letters and for the package of goodies!! How on earth did you know that I needed pens? And that my goldfish stock was running frighteningly low? ;) Let every nation, kindred, tongue and people know that I have the best mom ever.

I love hearing all of your updates on braces, wisdom teeth, grad school, girls camp, Big Air, and EFY. I especially love hearing about you guys going to the temple and reading the scriptures and having the Elders over! It's amazing how much my love for you guys has gotten deeper even though I am away with little contact. I love you all!!

Matthew 3:13-17

Now for those baptisms. The first was a man named Chris. He had been investigating the church for about 5 months and had a lot of problems giving up smoking. Elder Zastrow and I had an amazing lesson with him where we felt we were battling Satan for his soul. It sounds intense. It was! He finally decided that this was about him and not anyone else. He gave up smoking because of the power of the Book of Mormon and set the date for baptism. He was also worried about his girlfriend who he had been living with but she had gone out of town for a while. 15 minutes before his baptism she calls and breaks up with him. He responds: "Well I'm getting baptized into the Mormon church!" and that was it. It was the right decision and he is so much happier now. When we put forth our steps of faith, the Lord provides a way.

Baptism Service for Chris

Next was Amick, who had also been investigating the church for a long time. Elder Zastrow and I applied what we had learned at our mission tour with a lesson that we had with him right after the tour. He began to take it seriously and now he knows for himself that it was the right decision!

Baptism Service for Amick

My favorite was Annette. Elder Ferrin and I met her just over 2 weeks ago while knocking doors. She ran up to us from nowhere and asked for a Book of Mormon. We gave her one and got her phone number and she ran off. I admit, I was surprised and thought that nothing would come of it. 3 days later we call and set up a church tour. One of the amazing members from the ward picks her up and joins in the lesson. She accepts what we teach and before we mention it asks about baptism. Then she starts teaching us about Joseph Smith and accepts the baptismal date for June 30th!! Turns out her mom joined the church 8 years ago and her daughter joined the church 5 years ago. Both have been bugging her to read the Book of Mormon and she finally does. She quits smoking in a matter of days and is already asking us about the temple during our Plan of Salvation lesson. Her mom and her step-dad (who baptized her) came to the baptism. It was amazing. The mom came up to me and whispered intently, "Thank you, Thank you," with tears in her eyes. Their family is healed.

Baptism Service for Annette

Annette with Elder Tommy Webber and Elder Ferrin

Last is Kyla, 9 years old, part member family. I got to baptize her! Her dad got out of jail the day before the baptism, which allowed the baptism to happen and their family grow stronger. Prayer works.

Baptism Service for Kyla

Elder Tommy Webber, Kyla's brother and Kyla

With that spirit, the scripture for the week is Mark 10:13-16

Love,
Elder Webber

P.S. Good job on your BoM reading C&C!!! I love Mosiah 4 and also chapter 5! My favorite is verse 2 which explains what it means to truly be converted to the gospel. It means that we don't want to sin any more at all, but instead we just want to help other people, and do good things like reading scriptures!!

P.P.S. hey dad could you send me your church stats on the apostles and their education/ mission/ etc? I was curious and wanted to tell my companions about it

P.P.P.S. Tell me what's been going on in Utah, Allyson! I'm going to write you soon :)

P.P.P.P.S. I am SO SO excited for you, Matthew, Charlotte, and Claire to go to EFY!! You will be right where I was when I really gained a testimony that these things are true. You will get out what you put in. If you focus that week and strongly desire to feel the spirit, you will have one of the best weeks of your life. I want to suggest that you read Alma chapter 5 either before, during, or right after that week. Especially Alma 5:26 :) Love you all!!

Week 4 in Bremerton! - 4 huge experiences +pics

Hello once again family!

What an incredible week! There are 4 huge experiences this week that powerfully deepened my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and conviction and conversion to this beautiful gospel.

#1 on Wednesday we had the opportunity to have Elder Piper visiting from Salt Lake City of the first quorum of the 70 tour our mission and give us instruction and guidance. His main focus was on, you guessed it, member missionary work! He spoke about the organization of the church, which is, after all, Christ's church, and how miracles appear when that organization is used and unity developed. Working together can be hard to do from both sides, but when we are humble and willing to work, Heavenly Father begins to let us help in the miracles He has already planned. The most important thing is for each of us to take that first step in faith. I think about the first door I knocked or when Nephi went in unto the house of Laban, "not knowing beforehand the things he should do." That is faith. May each of us take a step in faith to be a missionary, as the prophet has asked. (Like Charlotte! Good job handing out the Book of Mormon!!!)

Elder Tommy Webber at Mission Tour

Elder Piper and wife w/ President and Sister Weaver at Mission Tour

#2 was my first baptism program on Saturday. Xavior, a 9 year old whose mom joined the church 2 years ago and recently became active again and whose dad is not a member. Because Xavior knew I was the newest missionary, he asked me to perform the baptism. What a tender, sweet, powerful moment to bring a young man into the waters of baptism, and to have Heavenly Father trust me and authorize me to assist. In the changing room, after Xavior had put on his white baptism clothes he looked down and said to me "These are my God clothes!" I once again testify of the purity and humility in children, may we all be as humble as they are. 3 Nephi 9:22!

Xavior with Tommy and other Elders at his Baptismal program

Xavior's family at the Baptism service

#3 was the missionary broadcast yesterday. I was very excited to see what the four most senior apostles had to say to the world about this miraculous, historic wave of missionary work. They are the Lord's spokesmen and they have told us that Heavenly Father wants us to do more missionary work! As it pertains to members, get to know the missionaries, get to know the investigators, ask yourself how your calling in the church can relate to missionary work, read the Book of Mormon, pray, and then go and do :)

A 3,000-member choir of full-time missionaries and other Latter-day Saints provided the music for the Work of Salvation worldwide leadership broadcast in the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University Sunday, 23 June 2013

#4 was the (final) missionary fireside in the WaTac mission. About 100 missionaries stood to sing and bear testimony of the Christ. I loved it so much. We sang Called to Serve, Battle Hymn of the Republic, He Sent His Son/ I Stand All Amazed, and of course, our mission hymn, Amazing Grace. Other musical numbers included Come Thou Fount (I thought of you mom, it was outstanding) and Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me. The testimonies were powerful and inspiring. After the fireside, in the cultural hall, the missionaries gathered for a picture and said goodbye to the Federal Way missionaries and sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again. The spirit is so strong in music.

Missionary Fireside - Singing of Christ

Missionary Fireside in Puyallup South Stake - closer in

I conclude with my love for all of you, my family and my testimony, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that He lives! He is the great Messiah and Redeemer of the world. Because of his infinite Atonement for all, no matter what we have done, His love covers all of our grief and sadness. No person must ever feel alone because He is always there. I love being able to share His love with everyone I meet. Till next week!

All my love,
Elder Webber

P.S. have fun at girls camp C&C!!
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Mom - some answers:

We still get just one hour to send e-mails on Monday, unfortunately

Ean and Tiana are still being taught. We had a good restoration message with them and they liked it. They didn't make it to church yesterday for whatever reason, but we'll hopefully have a lesson with them tomorrow. Plan of Salvation :)

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Some Pictures

Hike w/ Companions on Preparation Day (Monday)

My name badge and planner = My life

View from our apartment

Fun during a lightning storm

During Hike

Hike Scenery

Top of the Hike

Week 3 in Bremerton!

Hello family!

This week has been really great, I am becoming more comfortable and improving in personal goals. Sometimes the day will start out slow or I will be tired, but then after hard work the miracles start to show. I am also coming to truly love the work. I'm loving the beautiful area, my great companions, and the humble people. I love the sunsets at 9:00 at night, the trees everywhere, clear days when you can see Mount Rainier, and when I get a lot out from my personal and companionship study.

Puget Sound

This week my testimony of the Book of Mormon has really gone up. That book is the best. It is like a well of never-ending wisdom. you can go to that book with a prayerful question and it will be answered. As a missionary, I am blessed to carry a sort of "mantle"; I have the authority of a missionary, and with that comes a greater ability to teach and learn with the Spirit and to receive revelation. It is a miracle when you study the Book of Mormon in the morning and then use a verse you read when you are teaching. That happened Friday with a guy we're teaching named Justin. He had for us a very difficult question, but this verse came to mind and really helped. That is cool! I love learning about the gospel because number one, it's true, and number two, because it's true,  it is really interesting and powerful. It changes lives.

I've noticed too how much the gospel has blessed my life. Maybe because I've always had it and tried to follow it I haven't really noticed it. But for those who don't have the gospel of Jesus Christ, things are worse. It is very apparent. Obeying God's commandments lead to happiness. Not obeying them doesn't. Bremerton has a lot of struggles, but spreading the message of the Restoration is the best thing for them.

My favorite lesson this week was with Ean and his girlfriend Tiana. They have a baby together and I met them on my very first day tracting. In fact, they were the first door I knocked on! We finally got them on a church tour where we taught the message of the Restoration and the importance of the Book of Mormon. We always finish church tours in the room with the baptismal font and teach about baptism. They are on date for baptism! They are looking for a way to improve their lives and help out their baby daughter. What a privilege to help them do that. 

Thursday was our "park day" where the whole mission parks our cars and rides bikes. While riding, I looked at one point at a window in a shop and saw my reflection. Full missionary attire, bike and helmet, Book of Mormon in my backpack :)  That was fun. I just smiled.

Thank you for your love and prayers and letters (thanks Ally, Amy, Chrissy, grandma!)

Love,

Elder Webber

Scripture for the week: 1 Nephi 14:14

14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

last week was 1 Nephi 4:6

6 And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.

Tommy (& other missionaries) Fly from SLC to Tacoma, WA in May

Week 2 in Bremerton! (First Pics)

Hi there family!

I can't believe I've only been here two weeks. It feels like it has been a very long time since I came to Bremerton, and I do so much and learn so much that time just works differently. I have been very busy with the work. Like I said before, Bremerton has many many people who are ready for the gospel and ready to make changes in their life that bring them closer to Christ. What a privilege to be the instrument in God's hands to help that change happen. We had our Zone Conference this week and I learned that the Bremerton Zone was the highest baptizing in the mission for the month of May! I hope we can keep it up for June, we have a few baptisms scheduled for this Saturday.

I forgot to mention before how beautiful it is here. There are green evergreen trees everywhere and the weather has been in the low 70s all week. The only rain I got so far was my first day after transfer meeting. It's been warm and sunny since! I love seeing the water, too. Our church building is accross the Manette bridge so a few times a week we cross it and see the beautiful water and green scenery!

Zone conference was really great. Spiritual boosting when I needed it. President and Sister Weaver are really great people, and very friendly. We learned about planning and teaching the restoration and we got ready for our "mission tour" next week, where we will be blessed to have Elder Piper from the First Quorum of the Seventy come tour our mission and teach us! It will be a wonderful spiritual experience. I can't wait to tell you about it in two weeks. At the end of Zone conference we sang "Amazing Grace" again. I love that song and I love this mission.

Tommy at Zone Conference - the Northern Area (Bremerton Zone)

These two weeks have been a lot of hard work. In the first place, there are many people to remember, investigators and members, and learning my way around and where everyone lives. On top of that there is the whole lifestyle to get used to. I am learning how to live as a missionary whereas before I had read about how to be one. It's a big change, but I am working hard and praying hard that The Lord will help me to do it right and make me the missionary He sees that I can be.

Tommy's Companions at their apartment

On top of that, however, I'm having so much fun! My companions are fantastic and we have a lot of fun knocking doors and studying together. I've found that if I'm ever feeling down or discouraged, the best remedy is work. Whenever I'm out knocking on doors, street contacting, or teaching lessons, I'm happy. I love all of you so much and pray for you daily.

Famous MTC picture spot - "The Map"

Love,

Elder Webber

I want to do weekly scriptures too! This week is D&C 100

To answer some questions :) I've haven't used my bike yet, my area has a car. But I do have my bike and all parts we ordered, it's good to go.

Members feed us dinner about 3-4 times a week, but they're starting to do it more often now! We have dinner every day this week but Saturday, and we can easily eat at our apartment.

Our ward was split a few moths ago (it's the Bremerton ward) so it's a little small, but we have a good bishop, ward mission leader, and ward missionaries. There has been a lot of improvement with member missionary work in the last few months that I'll do my best to strengthen.

My apartment address is:

1604 Naval Ave.

Apt. #302

Bremerton, WA

98312

I'll be there for at least another month, probably for the next 10 weeks.

Love you all!!!

Weekly Mission Scripture:

3 Nephi 5:13

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

Here are some pictures from my brief time at the MTC:

Day One

With Companion at Temple

With whole district at Temple

Preparing, studying

Reading Scriptures

District at the Map

Week 1 in Washington! - Bremerton Ward, 40 discussions, Ean from Tracting

Hello family!

Wow it has been a long time since I last got to communicate with you. And I have way too much to say! First of all, I am in Bremerton Washington! Which is still in the Tacoma mission, where I will stay for the next two years. The Bremerton ward, to be exact. What a crazy week it has been. The MTC was more than I could have imagined in spiritual boosting. Every day was better than the last and by the end I was sad to leave but way more excited to be starting my adventure in WA. I especially miss my district, they are awesome, and we became very close. It was amazing to live among thousands of missionaries, new missionaries like me all figuring out how it works and doing their best to obey exactly and listen to the Spirit. Going to the temple with our two districts was especially great. I absolutely love the temple and I am bummed that it will be another year before I get to go again. Looking back, I have realized that frequent, prayerful temple attendance was the best thing I did for my preparation to be a missionary. In the temple I learned what Heavenly Father knew I needed to learn.

Bremerton, WA Ward Boundaries

And now I'm in Washington. Again, what a crazy week it has been, I can't even begin to describe everything that has happened. I love being a missionary. I keep looking down at my name tag and smiling :) The most spiritual part so far, and this includes even my two weeks in the MTC was our first transfer meeting. After a few orientation matters, and getting my first area and trainers, we all met in the chapel. All 251 WA-TAC missionaries (251, dad!!)  (actually 252 once Sister Fowkes got there). Our opening hymn: Called to Serve. And not just Called to Serve, Called to Serve exactly like it is sung on the mission blog. Exciting, fast, and full of missionary gusto. I literally couldn't stop smiling and watching President and Sister Weaver (who are, by the way, awesome, they felt like parents to me when I first met them, which is nice because I miss you guys ha ha). We then heard the testimonies of all the departing missionaries, which really made me see what I could and wanted to become. We ended with "Amazing Grace" just like it is sung on the blog. I have listened to that exact version dozens and dozens of times so I knew every word. I sang with all my heart as did all 251 missionaries. I cannot describe in the least part the Spirit I felt during that song. I know I am a representative of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have eternal life.

Bremerton directly west of downtown Seattle (Temple location on far right)

As for Bremerton. It is a very interesting place. Some people might call it, well, sketchy. There are a lot of problems here. Drugs, alcohol, broken families, poverty, and the like. Satan has done damage. But I'm here to help! I am in no way in danger, so don't worry about that at all. But as a result, the people here are at the bottom of the pride cycle, if you will. And that makes missionary work very successful here. Of course, success is not measured by the numbers, but if it was, this might be one of the most successful areas in the mission. There is so much work that we have four missionaries for my area. Me, Elder Ferrin (trainer, DL, ZL, been out 21 months, from Tooele UT), Elder Lonas (trainer, ZL, been out 18 months, 6 months in Bremerton, from Carlsbad CA), and Elder Zastrow (been out 6 weeks, in training, from Anaheim CA). So the four of us work together and team up differently to get all the work done. And there is a lot of work. Just in the 6 days I've been here we've taught about 40 lessons and we have 6 people on date for baptism this month. Crazy! There is so much to do and I'm trying hard to learn who all the investigators and members are and to get to know the area. (I did get to bear my testimony yesterday). Funny story, we spend the three hours before church doing "church round-up" where we make phone calls and stop by people to get them to church. We had 48 people to contact! We also have this thing in the WA-TAC mission called 5-7's. Every day, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. everyone in the mission knocks doors. Tracting! And to my great surprise, it actually works! We get very few referrals because we get a potential investigator on almost every street. It's really surprising but really fun. I love knocking on people's doors and telling them that we're the missionaries and we have a message about Jesus that can help their family. One more quick story: on my first day here, last Tuesday, we knocked doors, I was really nervous at first, but trusting in God. The first one I knocked myself, a man answered and said he was very interested in hearing our message. His name is Ean and he is so ready for the gospel. He's had a hard life but we're giving him a church tour tomorrow and teaching the Restoration. I hope he gets baptized!

My time is up, but I send all my love to you and pray for each of you. I'm still adjusting and learning a lot, trying to figure things out, but I have great companions as examples to me and I'm having a lot of fun, much more than I thought I would.

Love,
Elder Webber

P.S. I'm really really sorry but I forgot to bring my camera to upload pictures today :( :(   I was rushed to leave the apartment, and forgot. I haven't taken a picture of my new companions anyway, we've been so so busy. But next week I promise to bring it and send what I have. Thank goodness for the blog, at least you have those pictures.
Sorry if I forgot anything else, but I am out of time. Love you all!!

Bremerton - distance from Tacoma

The 32 new Missionaries who arrived with Tommy (on Day 3)

Week One in Tacoma, First Companion and Trainer

We are so grateful that Sister Weaver the Mission President's wife has a blog so we get a window into Elder Tommy Webber's missionary life.   We still don't know what city he has been assigned, but we saw new pictures of a training seminar and a photo of his first companion.  Through Facebook we learned his first companion is Elder Ferrin from Utah. One of Elder Ferrin's former companion's just came home and his mom let Wendy know.

We are so excited to get Tommy's first e-mail tomorrow as Monday is his first P-Day (preparation day for laundry and letters) since he arrived in Tacoma last Tuesday.

Elder Webber (Tommy) with his first companion and trainer - Elder Ferrin on the right.

Tommy's MTC companion (Elder Sommercorn) 

with glasses, is right behind elder Ferrin's head at next table.

The 21 new arriving Sisters and 11 new Elders

(Tommy is tall handsome blonde in the back on the right but not really on the back row)

The 32 new new missionaries AND their trainers

An article in the Deseret News reported that since October, when the prophet, Thomas S. Monson announced a lowering in the age that Elders and Sister could serve, over 10,000 more missionaries have left to serve.  deseretnews.com/Temporary-MTC-opens_47_percent increase_in_missionaries