November 3, 2014

Hey hey everyone!!

Pictures coming next week. I promise. Mom: while I'm thinking about it, I'm gonna answer your questions :) Things that I would like for Christmas.... hmm.... thats a tough one. In all honesty, I don't need much. More than anything, what I think I would like the most are letters from anyone who wants to write me! But you know, the normal beef jerkey and mom's toffee and some peanut m&ms are great too :) anything Santa wants to send me this year. I've behaved pretty good and stuff.

I don't get many opportunities to play the piano anymore, but every once and a while I'll sit down and tickle the ivory a little bit. I really enjoyed the music you sent me, though! Thanks a ton for all that! Also, THANK YOU for sending me hunting pictures I loved it :)) That was a huge buck that Gary killed! Did he get it in Idaho or Utah? It makes me excited for next fall--not gonna lie :)) 

SO! I'm finally back in my area. I've been back since Friday. Right now, President Jordan put another elder with us for the rest of this transfer cycle, his name is Elder Mercedes from the Dominican Republic. I think President just knows that I get along well with Dominicans so he puts them all with me or in my districts ;) haha but Elder Mercedes is a super funny guy. We have a good time together, although it is a little weird working in a trio like we are, I had never really done it before. But I'll tell you what, There will be a ton of changes around here by this time next week! Elder Mcnamara is going home, Elder Mercedes will probably be assigned to another area, all of our district leaders are also finishing their missions... It's gonna be nuts! But I'm excited for it. I've absolutely loved being back in my area. It's been stressfull, but awesome. After two and a half weeks of not worrying tons about my area and the missionaries and blah blah blah... I've been thrown into the deep end again! But I love it. 

Yesterday especially was just a very spiritual day. Elder Lopez of the area seventy came to our stake conference and he spoke purely about the atonement. I absolutely loved it! He talked all about changing our nature and the importance of coming to an understanding of the atonement and what Christ has done for all of us. He is the reason for everything. I'm starting to understand that much more profoundly lately. But afterwards we just had a lot of spiritual experiences! I think we were just filled with the Holy Ghost. That's the only explanation I can come up with. For example, just a quick experience, we were almost ready to head back home, there were like 20 minutes until we had to be home, but we decided to go and quickly visit a family who had been sealed and everything but havn't been going to church for a while for whatever reason. We stopped by, and we literally shared just small thought and a scripture to them and I was thinking, Man I feel like we just came to teach a lesson and not actually focus on the people. But right as we finished, the Sister started to cry! She started to just thank us for coming to visit her and how this little tiny visit was exactly what she had been praying for and exactly what they needed to boost them back up! Talk about a testimony building experience!

I love this work. I love my savior. I love my family.

Elder Webb

October 27, 2014

FAMMMM

Hey what's up everybody??  Glad you're really enjoying your new calling, Mom!  I'm itchin to see any hunting pictures Dad and Cam have! Things are going pretty well out here. I've never been so happy in my life. Sooo thankful to be a missionary :)

Alright, so first things first, to clear up a little bit about this infection that I had: the doctor never really shed light on how this infection started... I pretty much think that it started as an in-grown hair that I tried to fix myself and that under the heat and humidity of Mexico just got infected. Don't worry mom, I'm doing my best to stay away from the machete-weilders ;).haha. But I'm doing good now! Almost back to normal. I'm gonna be "resting" until Thursday this week. Since last Monday, I haven't been in my own area. While I'm kind of in the recovery stage, they have me in a threesome with the two mission secretaries. So for the last week, I've been archiving and sending out missionary referrals here in the offices. I'm getting my time in as a secretary, hoping that that will look good on a resume in the future ;) But I'm with Elder Olsen, who was my companion in the MTC, and Elder Fausett, who is from Pennsylvania. We're having a blast together, we all get along great. Most of the day, we're in the offices doing office work and we spend very little time actually in the area. But these guys are great. It's really funny because, as I'm not supposed to walk around too much, I totally am I huge responsibility for these guys haha like they have to lug me around to all these places that they have to go and I have to walk real slow. It's pretty dang funny, but I almost feel kinda bad. But Elder Fausett and Elder Olsen are great, they never complain. But yeah, basically this whole week we've been here doing office stuff! I'm looking forward to returning to my own area this week to continue working. Elder McNamara misses me, I just know it! haha. 

I should apologize for this letter, and the one from last week for not being so entertaining or informative. Lots of sitting around, lots of resting, and lots of little office jobs have been the highlights of this week :) But I'm trying not to get too impatient. The offices are fun.  Aside from Elder Olsen and Elder Fausett, Elder Hallman who was also in the MTC with me and Elder Granda who is from Ecuador are here as the assistants to the president and I know them both really well so we all just have a good time! But things are going well. I promise a better letter this next week :)) I love you guys sooo soo much!! Keep up the good work!

Mucho amor, 

Elder Webb

October 20, 2014

HEY everyone!!!

Soo...... this week was very interesting! haha. It was actually reeeeallly boring. We were resting almost all week! It was frustrating for me.... But I had a small infection on my right thigh, so we went to the doctor to get it checked out. He told me I needed a lot of rest and he had me on some antibiotics. I'm feeling good now, but I've still got a few days of rest ahead of me. Haha I've been killing all my free time reading James E. Talmage's 'Articles of Faith'. It's a great book so I've been pretty caught up in that :) But ya, that was basically my week! Lots of rest and lots of reading. 

We did work on Monday and Tuesday of last week before I had to rest, which was good... At least we could get a little something done! On Tuesday I went on divisions with Elder Grover. He's from Idaho. I love him to death--we had a really good time! We worked in his area, and we  had a couple of really good experiences together. We were teaching a recent convert and we asked her for a reference for someone new that we could teach. She told us that her neighbor there across the street just had her husband pass away. We decided to jump at the chance and contact her! We got there and she was really apprehensive at first, but we were extra loving and we talked about The Plan of Salvation and how she will have the chance to see her husband again. That really caught her attention, and she accepted another visit. It was a cool, but very simple experience of how the gospel fills the holes that we have, or create for ourselves, in this life. 

Ha I'm sorry that this letter probably wasn't the greatest one ever... a little pressed on time and a little short on experiences this week, but just know that everything is good with me and I pray for you guys every day.

Thanks for everything!! Get well soon Grandpa!!

Elder Webb

October 13, 2014

Heyyyoooo

I'm looking at these pics from the state golf tournament, and instead of being proud of Cam and the team, I'm looking at the gear and clothes that they've all got and I'm super jealous. Why didn't I ever get that kind of equipment in my glory days??? Nah--just kidding Cam I'm so pumped and so proud of you and the rest of the team. Thats so awesome!!!

We're staying busy here! My companion is from Ohio, but lived in Draper for about 2 years before coming out on his mission. He's on his last transfer in the mission so I'm just trying to keep him alive ;) haha no he's a stud we have a good time together. This week we had a lot of good experiences. We're working, as I think I mentioned, in two wards. Back home, I don't think it's abnormal for missionaries to be assigned like a whole stake or more right? Here it's a little unusual to have two wards for one companionship. It's tough to stay organized, and on Sundays it is a looooong day at church because we have to go to both of the wards. But things are going well! We're seeing the hand of the Lord in our lives and in the area. We've been really praying lately to find the people that the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel, and I think we got an answer to that prayer, at least in part.

We went to look for a young man from the ward named Cristofer, who is preparing to go on a mission and along with his family only have a few years of membership in the church. Now, we had never been to visit this guy before, nor his family, so we show up and we call out to them, and this rough looking guy with a beard and a big earring in his right ear comes out and doesn't say anything to us, but goes back in to call for Cristofer's mom. She comes out and she lets us inside to share a message with her. We were talking to her for a minute, while this other guy was cutting up meat to get ready to put his taco stand out later that night. (Ya dad, I know your mouth is watering right now). Anyways, we start to talk and he actually was a really cool guy! We shared a little bit about Joseph Smith and the restoration, left him a Book of Mormon, and we invited him to go to church and he said we could pass by some other day. 

Well, he shows up at church all fixed up with a tie and everything, telling us that he had read the part in the Book of Mormon that we had left him and that we could pass by later that afternoon. So we go by, and we just had an awesome lesson with him! We were talking for a little bit, and when we started the actual lesson, he gets up and grabs a notebook and a pen to take notes. We kind of laughed because honestly we had never really seen that before! And so he goes, "If you asked me why I grabbed this notebook, I wouldn't know how to answer. If you asked me why I read the Book of Mormon, I wouldn't know how to answer. It just feels good, I like it!" At that moment it totally hit me that, just as Boyd K. Packer says, The gospel will sound familiar to people who have never heard it before because of the light of Christ that everyone has inside of them. Haha and to prove his point a little bit more he tells me, "Grab that book that's on the dresser, and ask me why I read it." So I grabbed it, just a big thick novel titled, 'The eyes of my princess'. I couldn't stop laughing! He said, "I have no clue why I read it. But I did. And I liked it." And he explained that that was how he felt with the Book of Mormon and everything. We proceeded with the lesson and taught him about the Gospel of Christ. Such a powerful lesson. He understood every little thing, to the point that at the end of the lesson he was asking us about all the things that he's gonna need to bring to his baptism on November 8th. Haha. Talk about a golden investigator.

I really feel the Lord is blessing us. Every one of us. Out here in the mission as well as back home. I'm just so thankful for this marvelous work and such a great family that I have to support me. I love you guys so much. Have a great week!!!

Elder Webb

October 6, 2014

Hey Hey Hey!!!

Is it really state tournament already?? Dang.... I was just getting used to the fact that he was just starting golf season again. Man that's just insane to me!! I'll be cheerin you on, Cam, all the way from Mexico! I'd send you a golf towel from Tampico but golf like doesn't exist in Mexico.....sorry....

But wowww this week was a little stressful! haha They put me and my companion in as zone leaders just barely, neither one of us had been zone leaders before, and they put us in charge of two areas instead of one, and obviously neither of us knew the area so we were getting lost all week. But it was good!! Haha Elder Mcnamara is a fun companion. It's weird having an American as a companion in all honesty... we talk in English most of the time, but neither one of us is used to talking English to a companion so like half of the time we have to talk in Spanish just to get the point across. haha it's kinda funny. But we're working well and just trying to get the hang of things as zone leaders and being new in the area. We're in charge of 18 missionaries I think... and like 8 of them are sister missionaries. But I'm loving it. I love working with people! We'll see how these next few weeks go... hopefully more smoothly :)

Was conference not the best thing ever?? I absolutely loved it. It's funny that you mention that, Mom, about the Spanish speakers. We were all watching the session on Saturday in English in the stake center in a group of about 6 missionaries. We watched it in the High Council room. So when the Spanish speaker came on, we went into where everyone else was watching it to be able to watch him speak in Spanish without the English voiceover. It was a cool experience! And I really enjoyed his talk! I think my favorite talks were Elder Holland's in the Saturday session about caring for the poor. I loved that one so much, and I always love Elder Holland's sincerity in his messages. I also loved President Uchtdorf's talk in priesthood session when he talked about taking personal responsibility for everything and being able to see ourselves clearly. "being able to see ourselves clearly is the beginning of all wisdom." We really enjoyed the conference here, I hope you guys did too!!

Well, I'm still thinking and praying for Grandpa Webb to have a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Grandpa, I love you! And I love the rest of you too! Thanks for everything. Tear it up this week Cam!!

Elder Webb

This is the picture of when Jesus was baptized in my last area. Abimael, who we had baptized just 4 or 5 weeks earlier, baptized him  :) it was a special experience and an absolutely beautiful place where we did it!

September 29, 2014

Wassup fam!!

Man... what a week! Lots of traveling, but I'm feelin alright. Good luck to Cam in his big tournament this week, and good luck to Dad up at the deer club guiding! Everything is going well here...we had a tough week this last week workwise, with a couple of trips to Tampico interrupting that a little bit. The definite highlight of the week was Jesus' baptism on Saturday!! It was soo awesome. We hiked up to this one spot about a half hour away just tucked way back in the forest, (very similar to sliding rock in Alpine) to do the baptism. Jesus was so excited and expressed how happy and how good he felt after getting baptized. He told me on the walk back down from the river, "Now, I can declare that this is the true church!" haha it was a good memory.

The bad news of the week is.......... I got transferred :(. I'm trying not to be too sad but, dang, I was so attached to my last area and some of the people we were teaching. It was such a good experience to see that place progress and see such great people get baptized and reactivated. That place is just gonna explode one of these days! I loved it so much. They sent me to be zone leader. They sent me to a neighboring city to Tampico.  

I'm with Elder McNamara, my first American companion!! Haha he's a stud, we actually know each other pretty well from other areas and stuff. We're super excited to be together and get to work here. They've got a lot of problems in the wards (we've been assigned to work in two different wards), and the leadership in the stake in general, but we're gonna have a good attitude and hit the ground runnin! haha It's just a matter of learning the area. We're both brand new here so we'll probably be roamin around, just lost for the next couple of weeks haha. But we're pumped.

I took a few good pictures of the baptism that we had on Saturday, but I forgot my camera in the house! ha so you'll have to wait until next week to see those pics, sorry! But everything's good with me here, I'm so happy to hear that you all are doing well at home. I hope you're all pumped for General Conference this weekend!!! Haha General Conference in the mission is like better than Christmas for me. I'm getting excited! Take care, everybody!! Love you all to death.

Elder Webb

September 22, 2014

YoO

Hey what's up everybody?? Real quick I want to wish Grandpa Webb good luck in his surgery this week. I'll be thinking about you tons, Grandpa! And Gradnpa Garrick sounds like he's making a good recovery which really makes me really happy. Thoughts and prayers with the both of you.

Glad to hear everything is going well at home. Things out here are going great! Loving the work and this area more and more every day. We had a good week overall. It was a little tough in some ways, but we hung in there and were able to see 7 investigators in church this week!! We were super excited about that.

We had zone conference on Tuesday with President Jordan with our zone and the other zone of Elders that are in this area. Man, it was a great meeting!! He talked to us a lot about diligence and success and hard work. He pointed out that our zones are working really hard and doing really well, but we had been declining as of late. He talked about how "the distance from where we are now compared to the success that we desire, is only a small thing", and he talked about how it's really the small and simple things that make the difference. It was a really cool conference, I felt really good about it and felt like I learned a lot.

We've got a lot of good investigators that are progressing right now! Jesus didn't get baptized this weekend, we felt it better to wait until this coming weekend so he could be a little better prepared. But he's doing really well so we're still excited for him.

Marisol, (the sister of Angelica who just got baptized a month ago), is also super excited to get baptized the 11th of October! We actually had a really cool experience with her this week. She had accepted a baptismal date about two weeks ago, I don't know if I ever mentioned that, but we realized that, being under the age of 18, she needed permission from her parents to be baptized. She lives with Abimael and Angelica, and her parents live like and hour away. But her parents are Catholic and do not want any of their kids changing religion. All of them told us how stubborn and tough they are and how they will NEVER give her permission to get baptized. But, the thing was, if she wanted to get baptized, she needed permission from her parents. So, we gave her a priesthood blessing, and did a fast, and prayed and prayed that their hearts would be softened to let her get baptized. At first, the answer from her parents was no, but, sure enough, as she kept sharing her feelings with them and what she really desired, their hearts were softened, and they gave her permission to get baptized. We were so pumped!!!! It was such a big blessing to see that this week. My testimony continues to grow about the power of faith and prayer and priesthood blessings!!

I got your package this week. Those garments and shirts were much needed. Almost as much as I needed those Peachy-O's. Thank you. :) Hope you guys have an excellent week!! Love you all to death.

Elder Webb