Soundview: A "reunion," fun with the Weavers, 4 new baptismal dates, and a boundary change!

Wonderful family,

Thank you for your e-mails and encouragement and love and support. I am so grateful to have that in my life. Few people do. Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE AND CLAIRE!!!!!!!! (tomorrow) I love you both so much and I am proud of all of your achievements and progress in school, life, and most important the gospel. I hope you have an awesome birthday :)

A lot happened this week, so hopefully I can manage to communicate it all. I don't have any pictures to send, but there should be a few on the blog with me in it.

On Tuesday we went on exchange with the Sunset elders, so I got to spend a day with Elder Schaffner again, on bikes :) It was a fun "reunion" since I trained him. He's doing very well and loving Tacoma. He's lost a lot of weight too, which he's really excited about.

On Friday President and Sister Weaver took us, the Bateman house (mansion) crew, out to dinner. Us, the APs, and the Office Elders. We went to Boathouse 19 this fancy restaurant on a dock on the Puget Sound. It has a nice view of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. I felt all special to be with them at dinner. This is the best mission in the world. And I love the Weavers, they are so much fun. President Weaver is really a funny guy.

There was also the Silverdale fireside last night. Elder Anderson served his first 3 transfers in Silverdale, so he got to see some familiar faces. That makes the 9th of the 10 missionary musical firesides for this year. The last one is in Olympia on June 22nd. (See Tommy conducting Sunbeam song - Note Sec 7-12)

After Centralia Musical Fireside

There is a lot to say about the work going on. This week was incredible. On an exchange, Elder Anderson and Elder DeLaigle had a lesson with Jennifer and her 4 kids. They are planning for a baptism on June 28th! Jennifer and her oldest son DeSaun. Jennifer is very open to learning. We taught them again on Saturday and committed them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.

From Friday afternoon to Sunday evening (at the Silverdale fireside) we also had a temporary companion, Elder Augustine. He had to come to Tacoma for a doctor's appointment and he's serving currently up in Port Angeles. So we had three of us for a few days. It was very fun.

Friday morning we met with a new investigator named Junior. He has had a long career in the military (there are a lot of military people in the Tacoma - Lakewood area). He has a lot of doubts and questions about God because of the bad things he's seen and been through, but he's very open. He accepted a baptism date for June 21st. But he wasn't at church... We'll see where that goes.

Another new investigator this week is Renee. She's this sweet older lady who's lived in this old house in Tacoma for years. We met her knocking doors. Well, we met all of these people knocking doors, ha, ha. She had this tent thing outside her house with a bunch of old junk in it that needed to be moved. So we set up a time and went over and did about an hour and a half of service :) She was so very grateful for it and told us she really wanted to hear what we have to say. Perfect :) So we invited her to attend a baptism service on Saturday (there were 4 baptisms in the Zone just that evening, so we had some options! One was with sisters in our ward, and he was confirmed Sunday). She came to a baptism at 8:00 and loved the feeling there, and the nice people. We took her on a short church tour afterwards. At first she said she would try and make it to church next week. We talked about the sacrament, and a church service. By the end she told us, "I think I really want to come tomorrow." And she did! She loved church! She is also preparing for a June 21st baptism. A lot of these are tentative, but so was Syreeta when we started and as they progress in faith, they start to become converted. So we are extremely excited about what is to come this month!

The crazy news came Sunday, third hour. To all our surprise we were combined in third hour and the whole stake presidency is there. They changed the boundaries of the Soundview ward!! They took out a chunk of Soundview which contained the Betteridge families (our former Bishop and his brother who is in the stake presidency) and the Bateman family (our assistant ward mission leader) and the Wells family (former stake president, mission president, and temple president) and a few other strong families. They all live in the same area. In fact, this is where we live in the mansion. The Bateman family owns our house and donated it to the mission. That area is now part of the Highland Hills ward. They also called Brother Bateman to be the Bishop of the Highland Hills ward! The members had a good attitude about the boundary changes.   Unfortunately we lost also Avery, our investigator with 5 kids. But we will pass them off to the wonderful missionaries in the Highland Hills ward. The work is pressing ONWARD!!

Lastly, an exciting update from Steilacoom. I talked to the Steilacoom sisters. Sister Sandau is training her new missionary there from Taiwan. Her first language is Chinese. President Weaver asked them to visit Haopeng and Tiffany and they are in the process of teaching them again. They told me that a few weeks ago, they got married!!! They will be coming again to church soon. Thanks God :)

Love you all,
Elder Webber

Scriptures:
Helaman 5:12 (we love scripture mastery! A popular one, but a good one, teaching us that our foundation is Christ. Satan's trials will come, no doubt, but when we are well grounded in gospel soil, we cannot fall.)
Hebrews 12:1-2,6-9 (lay aside our sins, run with patience. I love that. Think about it. Run with Patience. And looking unto Jesus, again our rock and Redeemer and Savior.)
I tried to then find a scripture from each book that starts with "H" but could find no helpful scriptures from the books of "Hosea," "Habakkuk," or even "Haggai"... oh well.

Soundview rolls forward: Baptism of Syreeta!

Dear family,

I'm happy to hear of all the exciting things going on. Congrats Matthew on your eagle court of honor. And Charlotte and Claire on your YW medallion. That is wonderful.

Picture with Missionaries before Syreeta's Baptismal service

I'm happy to say we had a baptism this past weekend. Syreeta has come so far in this past week, it is incredible. We taught her the Word of Wisdom on Monday and she was nervous about giving up coffee, she drinks a cup a day and has been for the past 20 years. We just taught the doctrine, promised blessings, and testified and she committed. We brought her some hot chocolate packets the next day. She said she usually gets bad headaches when she doesn't drink her cup of coffee (it is addictive!) but we and she prayed for help and what do you know? No headaches the whole week! When it came time for her baptism she came early and things went very smoothly. Brother Fry, one of the members who came with us to a few of her lessons got to baptize her. He is a convert himself of 10 years or so. The service was beautiful and easier than I anticipated. Our fantastic Ward Mission Leader took care of the program, got speakers, etc. We felt like all we did was show up and watch. After the baptism, I asked Syreeta how she felt. She responded, "I feel different." She sometimes has difficulty expressing how she feels, so I asked again how she felt when she came up out of the water. She then added, "I feel relieved." It is amazing how the gospel is our great relief from the troubles of the world. It is the true path to happiness.

Syreeta with Brother Fry

At church the next day, Elder Anderson got to confirm her and she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. To demonstrate how amazing Syreeta is, after sacrament meeting had ended, people start getting up and heading to Sunday School classes. She walked up to our new Bishop and handed him her first tithing envelope. She brought her checkbook to church and filled it out right there! Now that's faith. She will be going on a trip this weekend and will miss 2 Sundays at church, so she figured she would just pay this week. I've never seen that before in a new convert! I think her prayers will be answered that she can remain an active member of this Church. Recent converts are my favorite, so I wanted to share more of her story.

Our new Bishop is great. They have an amazing family. We go over for breakfast every Tuesday morning and also go over our investigators' progress. The Soundview Ward will have had 11 baptisms in a period of 6 weeks. We are blessed, there is no doubt. 5 of those come from a family the sisters are working with. They are all being baptized on June 7th, mom, dad, and 3 of the 4 kids (The fourth child is only two years old). They already look like they're Mormon, it's great. Our Bishop has felt impressed that we need to double our ward goal for the year. That makes our goal 52. Lofty, but on its way!

We're still working with Avery. Her kids were all sick this past weekend, and we're still trying to get a lesson in a member's home. One guy we're teaching is Steve. He is a really humble guy and wants to turn his life around. It's hard to meet with him sometimes, but we have a lesson set up for tomorrow night. There's another family we are teaching, Jennifer and her 4 kids. Two of them (ages 16 and 10) came to church this past weekend and loved it, so we are excited to see where they will go.

Sunlight on the Sound at 9 PM

The Lord is good, I know this work is true. God tests us because He loves us and blesses us according to our faith and His loving will. I know all things will work together for our good in the end, if we can keep the commandments. I'm so grateful for my mission and love being a missionary. Running out of time, and we have an appointment with Syreeta in 30 minutes :)

Preparation day activity with the Zone at Chamber's Bay Park

Love you all!
Elder Webber

Scripture: Moroni 6:4

Soundview: New Bishop, Zone Conference, Syreeta's Baptism this weekend and the Chehalis fireside!

Hello family!

This week has been so long, but each day flies by. A lot happened, so I have a lot to tell you. And I got some fun pictures this week.

First off, congrats to Katie Eckhardt for your upcoming report to the MTC, and your missionary farewell service Sunday in Oregon. I got your letter this week (thanks!) and pray you have a great next couple weeks. Also good job to Mitchell (cousin) going to the temple this week before his mission. That makes me so happy.

And to all of you, my family! I love how much mom and dad go to the temple and congrats to Matthew for your Duty to God and Sacrament talks and your Eagle Court of Honor tomorrow. That is amazing you have completed it, I'm super proud and amazed how many of you will be receiving your award! And good job Charlotte for receiving a Torch of Excellence! I didn't get one my freshmen or sophomore year, so you're way ahead of me! And to you and Claire for going to Youth Conference. Those are great and important testimony-building experiences. Keep up the hard work in grad school, Allyson! It was so much fun to see all of you last week.

And thanks for the package this week! It came right before Elder Anderson's birthday so he got to enjoy all the treats. We put together some decorations Friday morning while he was getting ready downstairs, and Elder Steed made some "puff pancakes" and breakfast sausage. We surprised him and sang happy birthday. We did our weekly planning, then had lunch together and made hot dogs, burgers, grilled chicken and steaks :) when we got home for decompression time, we had a six pack of root beer and wrote on one "real beer" and the 21 year old drank it. Missionary humor. ha, ha, ha.

Surprise Birthday party for Elder Anderson

We also had a birthday miracle and met a guy named Clyde, referred to us by Lakewood missionaries. After meeting him, we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him about it, then talked to him about baptism! Unfortunately he didn't make it to church, so we'll have to get back to him, but we'll see where it goes.

Also a surprise for the Soundview Ward on Sunday. The stake presidency came to our ward with "some business" and announced a new Bishopric!! There was an audible gasp from the congregation as Bishop Betteridge was released after 6 years of faithful service. He is one of the best bishops I have met. He has the most temperate personality and simply loves others and is totally dedicated to the work of salvation. Bishop White is our new bishop and he too will be great. When we heard he would be called, we were relieved and not really surprised. They have an amazing family. Sister White helps a lot with teaching appointments and fellowship. We have one counselor still there and another called, Brother Gehring. He and his wife returned from a couples mission a few months ago.

It was a packed sacrament meeting and the speakers were a newly returned senior missionary couple, and a sister missionary farewell from our ward. Go missionary work! President and Sister Weaver also happened to be at our ward Sunday, and with them one of their daughters with her husband and 4 grandkids! They all came to the fireside and the young boys sang "Called to Serve" with us on the stand.

We had Zone Conference this week, and it was a lot of fun. The Weavers love us so much. I can't say enough of how good they are and how weird it is to think they have only a month left.

Our investigator didn't make it to church this week. Her kids are so much work for her. We're trying this week to set up the lessons in a member's home so that the kids can go and play and we can actually sit and talk with A__. She has been reading the Book of Mormon though and said she has no reason to think it is not true. She's very open to the doctrine we just need a chance to teach it.

Syreeta did come to church! And after our church, for another ward meeting in our building (Chamber's Creek Ward) there was a different baptismal service she got to attend.
(As a note, this baptisms the Chambers Creek sister missionary's had was the mom of an member family who had been catholic her whole life. She turned 100 years old yesterday and was baptized the same day. She said she wanted to be sealed to all her family, so she took the first step to do so. Goes to show it's never too late!)
Syreeta agreed to baptism this weekend, the 24th of May at 2:00 p.m.! She is set for this weekend. She wants this ward to be her home church. We stressed when teaching her the Restoration the need for priesthood authority and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. With that gift, we only need that one baptism because the Spirit is made permanently attached to us as a "constant companion," so long as we are worthy. She has been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and soaks up everything we say. It's going to be the fast track this week to get the rest of the teaching in. But she's already living the commandments, so that makes it easier. She's such a sweet woman, we're super excited for her.

The weekend after that the sisters have a baptism of the dad of a family who's been coming to church forever. And the weekend after that they have a baptism of an incredible family of 6, 5 of whom can be baptized. It is so amazing, you'd think these people were already Mormon. They all bought quads online and love coming to church. A whole family. It's beautiful.

Tommy and Sister Crosby - the "conductors" at the fireside

Tommy reunites with Elder Green at Centralia musical fireside

Last, we had the Centralia Stake fireside last night in Chehalis. It was possibly my favorite fireside as far as the music goes. They sounded great. Plus I got to see Elder Green again, and Elder Brown and Elder Hansen. And I was asked to conduct "Amazing Grace," our last song, which is an amazing experience. These wonderful missionaries sing with such devotion and spirit, it hits you like a wall. I love the WA-TAC.

Thanks for your love and prayers!
Love Elder Webber

Scripture: D&C 6:33-37 and 2 Nephi 9:18 - just some meaningful scriptures to me this week

Preparation day treats with missionaries in the zone

former companion Elder Green, current Elder Anderson and Tommy

Current Mission Leadership Council

Never know what you might find while knocking on doors

Another door - almost the Webbers

Found a beautiful spot in the forest

Soundview: Happy Mother's Day

My amazing wonderful family,

It was so much fun to talk to you yesterday over Skype, and just to see everyone together and sitting on the couch. That was one of my favorite parts, just seeing everyone together. Thanks for all being there and for being who you are and supporting me on my mission. Like I said yesterday, there aren't words sufficient to explain this mission experience, especially in just 40 minutes. But, well, I don't know what to say. I just love you!

And a very happy Mother's Day, mom. You do so much for me and for others. I appreciate you.

Current companion Elder Anderson and Elder Tommy Webber

Like I told you, on Saturday we had all 9 appointments fall through. I am grateful for a companion on such days, who I can talk to and simply laugh about it. We had appointments for every hour of that day, so we didn't even have time for lunch or dinner. So we just worked 11 straight hours, no breaks. It was pretty grueling, but I slept good that night :) We come out to work as hard as we can and people just use their agency wrong. We did all we could, so we were able to feel, despite the obvious disappointment, good about our efforts. I am trying to better understand the meaning of "success" as a missionary. Preach My Gospel states that "Your success is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people, and help them become active members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost" (pg. 11). Our task is to be committed and work as hard as we can, being obedient, and blessings will come. Sooner or later, in baptisms or happiness, one way or another; but they come. That's faith.

Mission Leadership Training

I was studying faith this last week, and would like to share some of it, if I can put it into words adequately. We all have faith to some degree. Faith is what prompts us to act to do anything, for we would not do a thing if we did not first believe it could be done. Faith in Jesus Christ is more than just passive belief, it is active and moving, and prompts us to be obedient, to repent, and to make covenants. It prompts us to sacrifice because we believe what we can give up in this life for God, we will have returned to us with much much more, even eternal glory. In fact, "a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce faith necessary unto life and salvation" (Lectures on Faith, 66). Faith is necessary for salvation, to become like our perfect example Jesus Christ, who had, Himself, perfect faith (unto knowledge) in His Father. We must be like Him, one with Him, as He is one with the Father (John 17:20-24).

The Sister Missionaries unite a family in Soundview ward, Bishop on right

 The work in Soundview is progressing. The sisters had two more baptisms this past weekend, a great new family. They keep reeling them in. We are still working with a women, and her kids. She didn't make it to church this week, and we haven't been able to really start the lessons. But she has been warmly fellowshipped and loves coming to church. We met a sweet black lady this week named Syreeta. She lives alone, and she is very open to the Church. We will start teaching her tonight. We took her on a church tour last Wednesday and she loved it and already agreed to baptism.

Tommy catches up with former companion Elder Schaffner on Prep-day

And sees him at a Baptismal service on Saturday

At church yesterday, we got to be in charge of primary for the 3-8 year olds. I have new-found respect and admiration to every primary president and leader in this Church.

Tommy catches up with former companion Elder Green at Mission training

It should be a warm week ahead in Washington. Elder Anderson's birthday is this week, he'll be 21 on Friday. So I'll have to think of something we can do for him :) This Sunday is the Centralia missionary musical fireside, in Chehalis. And we've got Zone Conference on Thursday! Which is a special day nonetheless ;)

Another beautiful sunset on the Puget Sound

Love you all,
Elder Webber

Scripture: Alma 32:21
Hebrews 11:1 (JST), 6
John 17:3, 20-24

Soundview: Heat, Rain, and Another Musical Fireside

Dear Family,

I got to take and send a lot of pictures this week, so I hope you enjoy them! Not a lot of time for e-mail though, sorry about that. We had a super hot day this week, one sign read 89 degrees, but it was the only day like that. Otherwise, it was typically gray and rainy. 

Very Hot

Same day, cooled down

Found a large bush while knocking on doors

We had a Bremerton fireside last night (I was there, even though I wasn't in the group picture. We had to leave right after so the office elders could start getting numbers in). But it was another great fireside. I'm grateful for the power and sacred spirit of music and for the extra time we get with President and Sister Weaver. I love them so much, and they are so so good to us missionaries. They have so much love for us, and we can tell they are starting to really struggle as they prepare to leave. They have changed my life.

View of Mt. Rainer

At the fireside I was surprised to see a former investigator, Chris. He is the 17 (now 18) year old who we found and started teaching when I was serving in Bremerton. He's not yet been baptized, but he goes to church, and even seminary and still meets with the missionaries. Who knew one year later, these people would still be progressing? Another tender mercy. Perhaps the biggest miracle was that he was there and that he recognized me, even though I only taught him for a short time. I remember one lesson where we simply taught him to believe in God. He has come so far.

In the Soundview ward, there were two baptisms on Saturday, from the sisters. A 10 year old and a 14 year old who are the children of a recent convert couple the sisters baptized two months ago. Now their whole family is in the church and they are so happy. They have another baptism this weekend, and the following weekend (May 17th) we are planning on Avery's baptism! She and all 5 of her kids came to church again last Sunday. We taught Avery on Wednesday and she had all these great questions from church and from the gospel principles book we gave her. She is worried she doesn't know enough yet, but she really wants to learn. The only struggle she has is just managing 5 young children on her own, but the ward continues to love and support her. I love Soundview!

Preparation day in the park

Grilling on the apartment's back deck, viewing the Sound

It seems an eternity ago, but this week was also transfer meeting! Like I said last time, Elder Anderson and I did not change, but we still got to go to the meeting and feel the strong spirit that was there. The departing missionaries always have powerful testimonies to bear that help me stay focused and gain perspective and gratitude. 

Last, this week in my study and efforts, I gained a sure testimony of the power of repentance and the miracle of forgiveness. My family and friends, the Lord is so willing to forgive us the moment we come to Him with humble hearts, seeking help, and willing to do His will. We can feel His love and know things will be ok. Then we just have to keep it up ha ha.

Found the exact Clarinet (R13 Greenline) he played left in the Primary Room

I cannot wait to talk to you this Sunday. Happy Mother's day mom! You are the best and I love you so much. You continue to be a strong example to me of righteousness and love and service, I can't thank you enough for what you have done and still do. I love you!

Elder Webber

Scriptures: D&C 61:2

Acts 26:18 (why do we do missionary work?)

Alma 26:30 (same principle)

Staying in Soundview!

Dear Family,

We had another great week, and transfer calls came in: I will be staying in the Soundview ward with Elder Anderson! This will be my second transfer in the beautiful Soundview ward. I am very happy about that. This is a great ward with wonderful, faithful members who teach me so much. I love our Ward Mission Leader, we call him and tell him about all our set appointments (usually between 3-5 each day) and he gets a member to come out with us! Given, all but one of those usually fall through, that's still a lesson with a member present each day! And those investigators have a connection to the church then. And when they come on a Sunday, they then know that person and can sit by them and ask them questions. When that person is baptized, they have a friend in the church and will keep coming. It makes a huge difference.

Staying in the Soundview ward with Elder Anderson!

We had interviews this week with President and Sister Weaver. It's funny how different they are yet how they work as such a team. President's interview was much shorter, but he asked me a few questions and I asked him some. I learned how to better work with the ward, and learn from this ward, to share ideas in others. Sister Weaver made mention that this was their last interviews :( but shared her love and asked about a favorite scripture of mine and my testimony. As I began to share it, I thought about what my mission means to me. Yes, mom, I did tear up. I began to remember how far I have come on my mission and from the months and years leading up to it. Like President Waver says, there are not really words that can describe the experience of serving a mission. But those who have served a mission can, with a smile, understand the blibbering babblings of us who try and mutter out something with the phrase "best two years" in it. There aren't good enough words to describe a mission. It simply means everything to me. I have changed and grown. I have repented and fortified faith. I know the testimony I have of this work is true. Jesus Christ lives
and leads it.

We worked very hard this week and had 3 days in a row where everything seemed to be falling through. We would drive around all day visiting people who weren't home and go back for return appointments of people who aren't home. Then, as a backup plan, we would knock and knock and knock. "Not interested," "not a good time," "I have my church," and even a crazy woman who came out in her pajamas and told us to go away and leave her apartment complex, then followed us back to our car a half mile to make sure we were leaving. We went back a few hours later and knocked the last 20 doors.

This does end well. And isn't it funny I share that after sharing how awesome this whole mission thing is? It's awesome because we were later blessed and one of the families we are teaching made it to church on Sunday! Avery and 4 of her 5 kids came to church!! I realized how much work it takes to get a whole family to church rather than just yourself. Bless her heart. And all the Mormon moms who do the same. Avery is a single mom with 5 kids. The fifth, Bobby, was born just 3 weeks ago! She has twin girls aged 3 and a 10 year old boy and 12 year old girl. It's actually the same age and gender order as our family! (if you switch the youngest boy with the twin girls). They even stayed for all 3 hours. We had great Relief Society moms help her during sacrament meeting and in classes, and show where her kids go to Sunday School. One even invited her to dinner on Thursday after signing up to feed us that night as well! These great women in the church have bought diapers and brought over meals for Avery. We just called the Relief Society President to tell her about our investigator and they did the rest! We have a teaching appointment on Wednesday and hope to invite her to baptism soon, she's very interested and loves the church!

Transfer meeting will be Tuesday, then Mission Leadership Council with the Mission President on  Friday, and another week to work hard and be happy. Elder Schaffner will be in my district now.
I also heard Raymond had another baptism this past weekend, but I didn't recognize the name. I'm Raymond's #1 fan :)

The spring is upon us, summer around the corner, and beautiful days ahead. Thanks for all your love and support and to all you who are still reading these letters ;)

Good luck at your baptism this weekend, Connor!

Love,
Elder Webber

Scripture: Doctrine & Covenants 58:42-43 and Moroni 6:9

Soundview: Seattle Temple and Easter Week

Family,

Thanks for making it a great Easter. I loved the cat cards, Matthew and Charlotte and Claire! And thank for the awesome package mom, the missionary book, pictures, and candy :) There is a lot of candy in our house now. And that music from Melinda is actually something I wanted. Another missionary has that CD, and I really like the songs on it, so its funny you sent something I knew about and wanted.

Easter Bunny found Tommy

More Easter Gifts from home

From local member friends

 The highlight of this week was definitely the temple! It was so fun, so spiritual, so memorable. I got lots of good pictures there, and I'm sure there's more on the blog. We went up with both the Tacoma Zones, and the Port Angeles and Silverdale Zones. That meant that Elder Zastrow, Elder Hansen, and Elder Green were there with me going to the temple! We started with a devotional meeting in the chapel across from the Seattle temple (which is really in Bellevue). President and Sister Weaver spoke, and we all shared stories about the "Because of Him" video. That was another focus of this week.

Elder Webber's picture of Seattle Temple

We went out to take pictures and then entered the Temple. It had been SO long since I have been, and handing the temple workers my recommend, I just felt happy and at peace. I thought a lot about the last year of my life and the experiences I have had, the miracles I have seen and how much happier, stronger, and understanding (of myself and others) I have become. Of course, there is still so much to learn and so much to become, but I think it is sometimes good to look at how far you have come, and then look forward again, with hope, at what there still is to do. Anyway, we then met in the chapel with the Temple President, President Olsen, and he and President and Sister Weaver gave us a few more words. The session was remarkable. I had never seen the new temple video before, and it brought me new insights, and brought to my remembrance many things. It was a sweet and peaceful thing to renew those sacred temple covenants. I felt personal prayers answered and perspective and calm assurance gained within those hallowed walls. The temple is a place of learning, of reflection and understanding. Not all my problems were resolved, not nearly, but I received the strength and stamina to continue "enduring to the end."

Six Elders who all currently live in same apartment w/ Tommy

Tacoma West Zone

I had almost forgot about how many times, in going to the temple, some miracle, some "coincidence" has happened to me. And it happened again. Three members of the Steilacoom ward were working at the temple that day. Sister Macuguy, Sister Steinacker (who helped during the session) and Brother Agor, our beloved ward mission leader whom we lovingly refer to as "Papa." Of all the times to work at the temple, they were there. People I knew and was comfortable with. Not only that, but Brother Agor was the one who helped me into the celestial room! And when I entered I got to see my big WA-TAC family, welcomed in by my mission president. All I can say is that God knows me, He loves me, and all of you, too. I felt that love and sense of belonging there.

Elder Webber and Elder Green at Seattle Temple

Elder Webber, Elder Anderson and Elder Green

Easter Sunday was great. We only had one investigator come, Christina. We had invited everyone and were expecting five more who made commitments to come. That was pretty discouraging, I admit. One family we have been working with for a long time now. We stopped by in the morning and were actually surprised to see her home (she's been working every single day) and getting ready for church! But somehow, they had surprise family come in right before they were about to leave and take them to lunch... Another couple was also supposed to be there, we had an amazing lesson with them on Friday night, but we think something came up. We're meeting with them this week. Prayers for all of them (Rachel, Lolita & Tom) are greatly needed and effective. As well as for Tim. The Soundview sisters are teaching him and he has been trying super hard to quit smoking so he can be baptized this Saturday.

Also to note: crazy, this Saturday is transfer calls again! It keeps coming faster and faster. I really hope to stay because I've only been here one transfer, but you never know!

On Sunday evening we got to attend a multi-stake musical performance called "The Lamb of God" which included a choir, soloists, and - wait for it - a live orchestra! We could only come if we had investigators there, so of course it was my main proselyting approach for the week ha, ha. We had 13 people say they were coming and none did.... Gotta love missionary work. But we still went, as we were expecting them, and it was a good performance. They sang/ narrated the last week of the Savior's life. I liked hearing an orchestra warm up and tune. I missed those sounds. :)

I hope you all have another great week. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf and for those I am privileged to teach. Keep up what you're doing and love and live the gospel. It is true. I know Christ lives.

Love,
Elder Webber

Scripture: Mosiah 16:7-9

P.S. Maike is doing great. At church every week. We gave him a full set of scriptures in Spanish and we're working on getting him the Aaronic priesthood.

More Pics this week:

Elder Zastrow and Elder Webber