Friday, January 29, 2016

January 25, 2016

Hey fam! 

Thanks for the package! I'm excited to get it. And yes there is a ton of snow here! Probably like 8 inches, and everyone says it's been a very mild winter so far--but I heard February gets crazy with snow sooooo I'll be excited for the spring. It gets insanely cold because of the humidity. It pierces through all layers no matter what. But Elder Hales and I have competitions to see who slips the most throughout the day on the ice. I'll be honest he usually loses. It's way funny. 

This week was once again not filled with a lot of investigator teaching but there was quite a bit of member lessons this week! It was good. But disappointing that we haven't had a lot of success with investigators lately. J-- though is doing great. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ this week to him and he understands it perfectly, it's kind of scary how good he accepts everything but hey I'm not complaining! He's very fun to teach. He speaks decent English too. I love talking with him. We met with Sister Y-- again this week and she's doing great too! She said she's been praying for an answer to who she needs to invite over to be taught by us. She has social anxiety pretty bad so it was surprising to us, but it made us really happy! Also she came to church this week too! 

We are still living with the other elders so we are still having trouble with getting everything figured out with the apartment! We don't know if we are moving in for sure or if it's just temporary. They still have to spray a couple more times but we are tired of waiting to get the answer if it's permanent! Haha it's ok though, we have a lot of fun living as a foursome. The other elders are very similar to me, so we get along well. It's been fun! I'm sorry this week's email was so short, I'll do better next week! Hopefully I'll have more to write about! I went on exchange in a city called Saco and we were right by the beach so we pulled over to take some pictures so I hope you enjoy them! It's very pretty! Snowy beach too. Kinda weird. it is SO cold. Hope you have a good week! 



Thursday, January 21, 2016

January 19, 2016

Hi! Bed bugs got sprayed this week, but we are still living with
the other elders. They still will need to spray another time or two so
we are still out of it but yeah! It's been interesting haha 

This week was very very interesting, not a ton happened. But we had a
lesson with J-- FINALLY and it went SO well. We taught the last
half of the plan of salvation and he explained to us after that it was
really new to him, but he said that it makes perfect sense so he didn't
have any problems with understanding it! It was so awesome. He also
read all of First Nephi in between visits and it is honestly
unreal how well he understands it. He understands it on a member level,
I'm serious, and understands it in a spiritual way as well that is
incredible. It was a very fun lesson. He was sick and couldn't come to
church though, but that's ok.

We met with sister Y-- as well, and it started off very interesting.
She was very closed off and really seemed like she didn't want us
there. It was totally opposite of last time! But we taught her the
plan of salvation, and she said the reason why she was baptized 10
years ago was because of the plan of salvation because when she was a
newlywed she lost her husband in a car accident, so it meant a lot to
her knowing that she will be able to see him again. The lesson went
well, she opened up by he end of the lesson and was back to her old
self. She has some social anxiety, that's why I think she was so
closed off at the beginning but it did go well. We met with J-- as well 

and talked with him about missionary work and that was
good too. We have had to make some tough decisions this week with
investigators. We had to drop a few because there was no progression.
I tell you what, that's NO fun, but it was necessary.

We just had district P day and a sister that has served around me in
Portland this whole time is ending her mission, so we took a weird
picture to make her the center of it. That's how I roll, always
awkward and weird but hey I rep it. We have a fun district. Also, the
one on the very right is my companion. Elder Hales:)

I love you all! Keep up the good work and remember to read the Book of Mormon!





Wednesday, January 13, 2016

January 11, 2016

Hi!

Well. This was one of the craziest weeks yet haha we found bed bugs in
our apartment. Yeah bed bugs. That saying as a kid "sleep tight don't
let the bed bugs bite" is SOOO real. We thought we only had a couple
but then we found out it was like an infestation and now we are living
with the other Portland elders and we have done like 30 dollars worth
of laundry and have been moving all our stuff over. I'm not sure if it
will be a permanent move yet but yeah it's been crazy haha and not fun
at all. So, Mom, if you could put some more money on my debit card I'd
really appreciate it <3<3 because I'm not sure what I will need. It
might be just in case, so I'll let you know what happens but yeah if
you could that would be awesome. Also, for anyone trying to send me
something send it to the new apartment for now. It's 106 Cumberland
avenue Portland Maine!

We didn't do a lot of teaching this week. But the few lessons we had
went really well. Since 2016 started we have a new mission vision for
this year and it's involving members more in our work. It's the center
of our focus actually. So we set up appointments with members to teach
them the lessons so they can get confidence in us as missionaries and
themselves, as well, so that they can invite their friends over to be
taught. We commit the members to set a specific date for when they can
invite a friend over by, and they work towards that date to find
someone. We are teaching a less active right now and she is so
awesome. Her name is Sister Y-- and she is the first one that we have
started this new vision with. And it's a win-win. Because she's less
active, so hopefully us teaching her the lessons, and reminding her
why she gained a testimony in the first place will help her come back
to activity. But also she is willing to participate in our new goal as
missionaries and we are meeting with her tomorrow to teach the second
lesson which is the plan of salvation. We are really excited! 


We did a lot of lighting visits this week to members (like a 10 minute stop by
and say hi and share a short message) and we tried to get with our
investigators, too, but man it just seemed like they all fell off the
face of the earth. We have really struggled to get a hold of them but
one of our weekly goals this week was to have 3 investigators come to
church and somehow 3 of them came haha it was a miracle! F--,
P-- (he's been an investigator forever, but he's been sick and
really busy lately), and J-- who we haven't been able to see for
like 3 weeks now! It was so awesome. We've been praying really hard
for our investigators, because in all honesty none of them are really
progressing. But it was so awesome to see them come to church and
all 3 said they loved it so we still are keeping our heads up. It was
a crazy week. I hateeee bed bugs. So glad Utah doesn't have bed bugs.

My itty bitty message is very short but it was a very cool experience
for me this week. I was driving with Elder Hales and I just had a
random moment where I was like "Wow-- I'm in Maine" and I thought a
lot about what I've experienced so far and what I've gained and the
first thing I thought about was that I've never felt so close to the
Savior in my life. Being able to read the scriptures every day and
representing Him everyday and teaching about Him everyday--it's pretty
easy to feel so close to Him. But I really evaluated my relationship
with Him and I'm glad I did because it really made me appreciate and
recognize the Savior more in my life. So evaluate your relationship
with the Savior. If it's not very good, improve it! And if you think
it's great, improve it! You can always be closer. So do it! I love you
all! Have a good week!

Elder Webb

Thursday, January 7, 2016

January 4, 2016

Hey everyone! It's good to hear you've had a good time together for the new year and Christmas! And happy birthday!! Now that Jared's 21 he probably has WAYYY more grey hairs than he already did and is balding more. He knows I love him so I can say things like that. And luckyyyy a cruise to Mexico would be so cool! 

This week was pretty interesting! I got a new companion. His name is Elder Hales! He's from this tiny town in Utah, it's like an hour away from Price. Ferren? Pharren? Something like that. He's absolutely hilarious. We have a lot of fun. He's a goof but hey so am I. And I have been leading out the area! He's been out for about 21 months so I was a little scared to show him that I can plan and that I know where our investigators live! But it went well this week. We taught the recent converts J-- and J-- this week and we taught a new investigator named T--. He's from Burundi and he said he's been praying to God to find the right church and he totally believes that the message we have is the right one. Well......WE know it is, now we just need to bring the Spirit so that he can know it for himself! Haha and we were supposed to meet with J-- and F-- this week, too, but they were busy which is a bummer, but we talked to both of them yesterday and they are still doing good! 

New Year's Eve/ New Year's Day was very interesting haha it was just a normal day but we talked to very interesting people. New Year's Eve/ New Year's Day outside of Utah is crazy! We didn't talk to very many people that weren't drunk. Or they were all frustrated talking to us because they were on a big hangover. It was frustrating talking to so many people and nothing really coming from it but I realized how grateful and blessed I am for the wonderful people I'm surrounded by as examples to me, so that I never got into anything I shouldn't. Not that I would have, but I also thought about how grateful I am to live in such a wonderful place. It's so easy to make better decisions when you are surrounded by people who want to do the same as well. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for being that first example to me in helping me live my life how I should. It gives me a stronger desire as well to help these people out. Because I really have gained a love for the people of Portland. Follow the Word of Wisdom, whoever is reading this. And if you think it's crazy that God would command us to follow something like the word of wisdom, give it a try. How can you know something will or won't bless your life until you try to follow it? God commanded it for a reason. And He promises blessings. Especially the strength to overcome it. 

I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Thanks for being great examples to me! It means a lot! And happy new year! 

Love, 
Elder Webb