After two years....

Ross and I were so fortunate to go and pick Jordan up in Villahermosa...this is our experiences with him. We arrived Friday the 4 of March, late-we stayed at the Hilton next to the Villahermosa Airport, very beautiful hotel. Saturday we spent driving around Villahermosa trying to find the Chapel where we would meet Jordan tomorrow morning, we also looked for his apartment, never found it, but we found out later that we were so close. When we found the chapel the gate was open so Ross went in and there was the YM President with some young men playing X-box for an activity and he asked in broken English-Spanish about Elder
Weaver and they said he was working today and that he would be there tomorrow. Yea we were in the right place. We tried to figure out the money system and exchanged some, we of course rented a car and soaked up the amazing sunshine since we left Utah with about 6 inches of snow and it was at least 95 degrees and glorious in Mexico....anyways that night about 10 p.m. we got a call from Jordan at a pay phone asking where we were and Ross said where should we be? Jordan was very nervous that we would get lost and he was not for sure when or where we were going to be spending the night, funny boy! Anyways we told him that we would meet him at church in the morning-it all seemed so unreal-where did 2 years go...needless to say that night was very restless, we got up early and went to meet him, of course we got to the church early and so we parked and waited to see him, we sat there a bit and it started to sprinkle a little, and then Ross said look back in the window and my heart, sounds corny but lept! There was our missionary, still makes me cry and it has been about 6 six weeks ago, but there he was standing tall with his shoulders back, so full of confidence and that smile, so I took a few pictures thru the back window and Ross got out of our little Mexican Chevy, and was not coming fast enough and so I got out, Ross usually opens my door-I was too excited! Jordan spotted us and walked quickly across the street, we hugged we cried and we met Elder Groesbeck. After a minute of a reality check we went into the chapel. So cute, because it had been raining they left a mop by the door to wipe your feet on, since there are no carpets or doormats.

We went into the building and Jordan introduced us to members as they came in...we were overwhelmed with the love and kindness that they showed to us...every member shook our hands and welcomed us and the women hugged me and kissed me on the cheek...it was so amazing the spirit that these beautiful people have. Jordan had mentioned that we were coming and a sweet little girl said that she wanted to play the opening song for sacrament meeting because we were coming...so she played "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet" on the keyboard there in the small chapel off to the right side of the photos. The other hymns were done on CD players and we sang to them. Sacrament meeting was first and we were there on Fast Sunday...they had the meeting just like we do, however, when the Bishop got up to open for testimonies we noticed that his counselors sat behind the sacrament table and we he was finished he joined them, then the member from the audience filled the chairs on the stand and started bearing their testimonies and the seats would continually fill up, Jordan bore his testimony and I had to pinch myself as I continue to cry...what a great young man, and messenger of our Father in Heaven. He has grown in was that are indescribable...the testimonies continued and finally we noticed two of the Aaronic priesthood holders go the the steps so that the members would stop coming up so that they could keep their meetings on schedule-amazing! We staye in the same place for Sunday School and then we went to R.S and Priesthood. Ross stayed with Jordan and attended Priesthood with him, I went with a Sister that Jordan asked to take care of me....we went to the kitchen and a sister with broken English introduced me again and made me feel very welcome. The lesson was taught by the RS President and I could feel her spirit so strongly...she taught about the importance of visiting teaching...all in spanish, but the spirit spoke to my heart. After our meetings Jordan and Elder Groesbeck need to meet with the bishop to tell him of their work in the area, they were both leaving...

This group of young men and some primary kids, they left before a picture, kept us company while the missionaries met with their bishop. They loved Ross, he speaks no Spanish and he had pictures of snow on his phone. While we waited one little girl asked if she could sing us a song and she did, it was beautiful. What a great day already and we had only just begun. We took Jordan and his comp back to their apartment to break their fast and then we were going to have dinner with a member family.

The Oak Tree

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A might wind blew night and day.

It stole the Oak Tree's leaves away.

Then snapped its boughs

and pulled its bark

until the Oak was tired and stark.

But still the Oak Tree held its ground

while other trees fell all around.

The weary wind gave up and spoke

"How can you still be standing Oak?"

The Oak Tree said, I know that you

can break each branch of mine in two,

carry every leaf away,

shake my limbs and make me sway.

But I have roots stretched in the earth,

growing stronger since my birth.

You'll never touch them, for you see

they are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn't sure

of jut how much I could endure.

But now I've found wth thanks to you,

I'm stronger than I ever knew.

Jace brought this home from his missionary prep class and wanted to share it with Jordan! Way to go Jordan, thanks for being a great example and standing like a giant oak!

See you soon…

the fisrt picture is of my zone as we did our zone activity today, the second picture is of me and my companion, and the third picture is of me and Elder Price, from Orem Utah, we did a chest bump together and accidently haed-butted eachother, my tooth caught him in the cheek, the fourth`picture is of the baptism we had the other week and the last one is of a cake from DQ ..........no this week we dont have a baptism, there is a chance but the brother doesnt feel ready, yes church is at 9 in the morning and we stay fro all three hours. yes its at teh deportiva building, in the street Avanida mexico, behind the plaza San Luis. yes on monday i think you guys can help me pack, i am only allowed to take one bag wit m,e so maybye you guys can take the other i think on tuesday or wensday we will vbe able to go to the temple, but you guys should bring your clothing ........................i feel content that i am finishing up this service that i have given to the Lord, thyere are a few things i wished i could have down better, mistakes that i comitted, but, i have grown closer to my Heavenly Father in these two years and also i have felt the loving arms of teh Savior wrapped around me forgiving me of those mistakes. people are always asking how i feel and i tell them....... clean. as missionaries our purpose is to "Invite others to come unto Christ, be helping them recieve the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentence, baptism, recieving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end." i had never thought that as i invited others to come unto Christ that i myself would go unto him, through my faith he has cleaned me, through my obedience ha has protected me, through my diligence he has blessed me, and through my love he has saved other children of God, so that they may also have the Life Eternal. i feel sad becuase once i am back home i will be entering a different world, just like entering into the misssion, i started climbing to the montain top and i have reached it, stumbling along the way, but with the Saviors gentle hand always there to steady me, now i have reached the top i must go dwon to the foot of the nest mountain, a bigger one, and begin the journey again, i want to thank everyone for the support that you have all given me, i know that at times i didnt show much appriciation, but all the letters, the packages the e-mails, and everysingle p`rayer that was offered for me i thank you. thank you for the love, the support and the jokes, glad to see you all soon. con todo mi amor, Elder Jordan Ross Weaver

It is amazing to me the emotions that I have, having come to the end of his two years, I sent his last email in tears this morning and I publish this one with tears also...It's truly incredible the blessings that have come from having him in the mission field! Blessings that seemed like trials have taught us so much and I know that our whole family has grown because of his opportunity to serve. I am very anxious to see him this weekend-we leave Friday and will see him for church Sunday morning, looks like we will get to help him pack and do whatever-then Tuesday he is ours :) We plan on doing whatever he wants before we fly out together on Thursday. Ross checked the weather today and it is 100 degrees there today with 84% humidity, so feels like 134 degrees-big difference from the 15 inches of snow here! I will take lots of pictures and add them to this blog-Thanks again to all of you that have written, sent packages and love and prayers, money everything you have done for him and us-we so love and appreciate you-the church is true-I can say that without a doubt! Good job Jordan-God bless!

Extension…

our baptism went fine last week, and well this was an interesting week that i had. i am really excitedt hat you guys arestill comming so that yo can sign a permission pper saying that i can stay for another 6 weeks it will be cool i talked about it with the mission president he will let me go with you guys for three days and then you guys go home and i stay for another 6 weeks. i am not sure when we will go to the temple, but it will before yo guys have to go home, and yes thewardsname is Deportiva, and its Bishop Hernandez Friday morning when we get a call from a elder in our zone, him and his copanion had been fighting and things werereally tense, they werentbeing obedient ad, so we had to get involved.i went with a elder who is from my generation, because hehad been buying and watching movies, and the younger elder who has 6 monhs i themission came with my companion. President Casteñeda new all about the problems so he old me that i was to watch this elder to see what was going on, and if he didnt shape up he would go home two weeks early. so i was with this elder and two others that had been watching movies, and as soon as i get tothier house i didnt feel the Spirit, because when a missinary is disobedient theSpirit of the Lord does not stay, and in thhis house the Spirit hadlog left to another place, so we blessed the house nd i got them intothe habit of dong mrning nd evening devotionals everyday so that the spirit fo the Lord wasstron in hat house. because the missionary shaped up he is going to stay to finish his mission, but mycompnion being a goofball and knowing that i was spying for the mission president dubbed me 00weaver like 007, but with my name. oh and about the extension i am only joking, so mom dont flip.
well thats all i have for this week love you guysElder Jordan Ross Weaver ............................So funny, yes I did flip and got all crazy, so fun living in a house of all men, even when they are not here they still have to tease! :)

BETELEHEMU

Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 4:07 PM
Subject: BETELEHEMU
To: ROSS WEAVER <roswv@msn.com>
the fisrt pisture is of me and four other elders who are from my generation, the second is of Elder Allred, and Elder Groesbeck (my companion), the third is of me and Elder Rosales and the last is of the four of at having braekfast with a sister no i didnt know the americans before i got to the house i had seen them befor, but never really talked to them, with Elder Rosales, i have known him for a long time, we do have a baptism for this Saterday his name is Frank, and he is really excited,The conference went really well with President Casteñeda, i asked him about you guys coming to get me and he told me it would be fine im sent him the plans and will have a new answer for myou guys next the house is found at col Tamulty, street nicolas bravo, , number205 , apartment 3, and we have the church services at 9 we bathe with hot water that we boil, and a brather has a washer vand he washes our clothing for us, we eat alot of pizza and icecream from DQ, but thats about it, at home we have a stove a toaster and a microwave, so we do more cooking back home then we eat in the street the title of this letter is Betelehemu because a few years ago we went on a youth activity so the confernce center to listen to MoTab, and there was a song that dad really liked i found in a a disc that my companion has so there is you song dad, well sterday night we wnet looking for a old investigator from years ago we found her and she is a really heavy smoker, i told her about Uncles Brents experience with the missionaries and the blessing they gave him, it really touched here heart and we are going back to see her soo, her name is Luara Duran, thats all i have for this week love you guys, Elder Jordan Ross Weaver

Two letters…

finish strong.... okay last week i sent you guys a letter with pictures and everything also saying that President Casteñeda is fine with the travel plans that you guys have put, i sent it and ya , i come here today having a email telling me that the one i sent last week didnt go through, so i resent that one and am sending another one, we had a baptism on saterday and Frank is really excited, and tommorow we are having a trainingship meeting with President Casteñeda, and me and my companio are going to be giving the class, i am going to ask a favor that you can put $50 in my account to finish the time that i have left in the mission, i have $30 but the banks wont trade me for them with pesos so i need your guys help. today i went to get my hair cut, and it looks pretty good, i am sorry but this computer is bad thats why i am not sending any picturesi am really excited because the zone that i am in we are all working pretty hard, and also sad because the letter i sent didnt go throu lats week so if the letter isnt that exciting, sorry . we have 3 people who can be batisezed at the moment we just need to got one married and help the other two know that the church is true, their names are Jesus, Gabriel and Guadalupe . so ya President is fine with the travel plans that you guys have and he only asks that you not distract me from the work that i have, so i will let you guys plan ot the details and see you on the 6th of March.
well i hope that this letter gets to guys along with the other that i resent so that you guys will know that i love and that i wasnt mad last week, its just the technology that dosent want to do its job. love you guys talk to you next week, Elder Jordan Ross Weaver Only the one letter came through-we just have 24 more days! Wow!

No email this week :(

Zone Leader…

the fist picture is of me with Dominoes pizza, and the next two pictures are of the kitchen we have, the last tow are of two different paper walls that we have to keep track of people that weteach and also of the poeple our zone teaches and for when they will bebaptized we are four missionaries that live in the house, and as a zone leader i have to watch over 16 missionaries, and make sure that they are beaing very obedient and working, I really get along just fine with my companion today we went to buy stuff and also we cleaned a good part of the house, okay i have a favor to ask...I am going to ask that everybody stop talking to me about time, its hard to stay focused when everyone is rushing the days when i want to slow them down. thanks. the direcion of the chapel is Street Venida Mexico, behind the plaza San Luis. i dont have the direccion of the house, and my companion at the moment does not remember it. we have avery nice area, we have DQ, Dominoes, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and Sub Way, also we have a Walmart in the area to do our shoping. Tomorrow night we have a meeting to go to as zoneleaders with President Casteñeda, i will talk to him about your travel plans and see what he says. we are three americans in the same house and one mexican and its alot of fun having three different people to talk to. we listen to music at night and tell missionary jokes. well thats all for this week i love you guys, Elder Jordan Ross Weaver

Changes…

the first is of the baptism we had this week, the second is of a giant stutue that we have here in Cunduacan. and the last is of me in my hammock. ockay Tommorow i leave to Villahermosa, with my new companion named elder Groesbeck he is from Utah to and i am goiung tpo be Zone leader, the new area is called Deportiva. i am not sure what Elder Faussett said aboput the travel plans but i am fine with them, we had a baptism last week and it was alot of fun, and the other day we were helping one sister prepare for her baby shower by helping her paint little figurines that she gave to peopl, and no we didnt eat the chicken i just thought it would be fun to chase one seeing as we dont have any back home. i am not going to be able to write alot becaiuse the mission offices sent me some documenst tjhat iu need to print and sine, so this is all i have for today. love you all Elder Jordan Ross Weaver

Fun week…

Chasing Dinner?
First picture of new companion Elder Castellos...

Great picture!

Wow!

Thanks Sewells-you have spoiled him on his mission!

the first picture is of the baptisms we had last week i baptized the three adults and my companion baptized the little girl. the secong picture is of me with the sunset, the tjhird is of us with the three wise men, the fourth is of me with the package that Sewells sent me full of candy, (Thank you Sewell Family) the fifth and sixth one is of me with a big rooster, that i chased down. first off mom i didnt understand what you were trying to tell me, was it that you need to know when you can come get me and what do i want to do when you get here, or was it something else. and President Casteñeda is fine with you guys coming to get me he told me on saterday that you have been bugging him for some time about my tavel plans so he is excited to meet you guys. that i have a understanding he would relaese me the 8th of march a tueseday the same day of the changes, you guys could fly down here on monday i would see ya tueseday we have those two days to visit poelpe and old ruins also go to the temple, then thursady we come home but i am not sure mom it would be better to talk to Elder Faucett, because i am not sure on what you guys would want to do. this week was a fun week we had four baptisms and this week we are working to have one more his name is Alexander, and today i spent the morning chasing chickens and washing my clothing, in a couple of minutes i am going to go get my haircut, beacease its really long. my plans were for when you guys get here to take you to meet some of the poeple i baptized and also to go to some old ruins and alo through the temple then thats all i had, becaese as a missionary i wouldnt have much to do as a tourist . well thats all i have let me know what the plans are next week, love you guys Elder Jordan Ross Weaver

So-I have not been bugging the mission Pres. I have sent one email requesting to know if it was the correct email and an another asking for permission to come and get him...so if that's bugging-I am bugging! We also received an email from Elder Fausett from the mission office today, and he said that we are more then welcome to come and get him and that I need to contact the travel office tomorrow and make plans with them, and that I can "feel free to email him again with any other questions and he will do everything he can to get back to me about things" How nice! So I don't know if Jordan is having problems understanding my questions/letters because he is into his spanish so much, but he made me feel like I am bothering him more than helping-so that's my vent for the day! I cried and now I am on with things-I know there are those of you that are saying you should not put this in his blog-but again it's for future references- BIG SMILES! :) I love you Jordan and I am so proud of you and the fine young man that you are, but you will always be my first and my learning child! The church is true! So happy about the baptisms and that the work is going forward, and I love the sunset picture-it's amazing, like I said before we are huge sunset people-and the roosters pictures are awesome-wonder if it was dinner?

Travel Plans!

So I just got the email-
he will be home

Thursday, March 10,

arrives at Salt Lake Airport at 2:56 p.m.

Yea!

Pictures

sure wish he would not have waited so long to get new shoes...lots of hard work and dedication shoes in his shoes....

Ockay to start off with pictures, the first one is of me getting dressed as Santa, the second of me as Santa, then third one is of me with a fire work for christmas, (no i did not light it, a member did), the fourth one is of my old shoes that i started the mission with,
and the next two are of my new shoes, and the last one is of what i have on my on one side of my study desk, the picture of you all is on the other side well i didnt do anything for my Birthday my companio invited me to a sandwich,and the bishop gave me a piece of papre that he had recieved from you guys in a fax, THANK YOU, so who is speaking spanish and who hepled you guys wriote the card. This saterday we are going to have 4 baptism and next saterday we are going to have another, thier names are Bartolo, Ruben Susana, Ruby and Alexander, there is another who is preparing named Ramses. Mom i am asking that you be patient Elkder Deal is my good friend because i have known him since the MTC, and the mission offices just called me today in the morning asking why they didnt ahve my form yet, i told them that i had sent it and them they checked iut again and found it in another file, so mayby you guys will know this week. today was fun becasue we went as a zone and bought Daminoes pizza, and watched a movie called Blind Side. its a really good movie and i really liked it. also we got to watch it in english, so it was even better.no i havent recieved anything lately from anyone back home but its probably time to stop sending stuff because i might not get it by the time i finish. so tell everyone thank you and that i will see you all in 7 weeks. love you all, one lats picture of the first baptism that i had here in Cunduacan, wiuth love, Elder Jordan Ross Weaver So I need to tell you what has happened with his travel...I called last month and they said that they had not heard from the Pres. for his papers to start, so being "patient" I waited and he said two weeks ago that he filled out papers and turned them in, well we belong to a very efficient church so I had not heard so I called last Friday, the 3rd and they said that they should have had plans at least 3 months in advance, so they gave me to the Sister over the Villahermosa mission and she thought it was odd that they did not have plans and said that she would email right then and tell them they needed paper work, and then on the Mom website I find out that Elder Deal is coming home the 10th of March, same time as Jordan should and his plans are in motion-so yes I panic a little and think that because he looks like a native maybe they don't realize he needs to come home :)- so I am being patient and hope to hear this week-if you look at the picture of him with Elder Rojo, they don't look that different, same height and color, of course I am more partial to Jordan...anyways only 7 weeks and yes I am counting!

Happy Birthday Dad!

hello my wonderfull family. how is everyone doing.
no we didnt do anything for new yaers but its all good, we are still working hards, and i dont now who alberto is but Bartolo wasnt baptized.
the picture i am going to send is of a dummy that they burn at new
yeras eve, its upposeblky the old year and well i havent haerd
anything about my flight plans ye and no there arent any special
plabns for my birthday, thanks for not sendinga package becuae its
becominga biggre hassel then before because they are going to charge us for our packages, because the mail system is stupid.
we are hoping for 5 baptisms on the 15 of januray their name srae
Susana, Ruben, Ruby, Ramses, and Bartolo. if yo can put them in your
prayers thanks.
love you guys but teh copu was really dumb today.
Elder Jordan Ross Weaver

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD
hope that you enjoy your party on wedsday and that you will eat my
piece of cake enjoying the fact that you will get a good birthday hug
and beating when i get home, i am sendi a a picture of a construction
site hope you like it. love you
elder Jordan Ross Weaver