Monday, July 3, 2017

"Best and Worst" Week... and last...

Well this was the best/worst week to end on.. best because everything went exactly how we wanted it too. We taught a ton of lessons and after 10 long months of draught here in quifica theres finally a twinkling of water as Ivandro was baptized! Worst because everything went how we planned and the área is progressing perfectly. Its super hard to leave the mission after having a week like this where everything went perfectly and we didn't have any problems.. but life continues.

Since i don't have much news other then we had an awesome week i decided i would answer some commonly asked returned missionary questions,
1. Did i like my mission? stupid question doesn't even deserve an answer.. yes of course i LOVED it

2. Did you like the country? There is no other people that i love more then the people here in angola, i loved the culture and everything about this country. If i could come back regularly i would. 

3. Do you have any funny stories? To be honest all the stories that i have are centered around the work, i didn't have time to joke around and make memories like that, i came to serve a mission, not have a cultural experience.

4. Did you make friends on your mission? My goal for the mission was to serve a mission, not to make friends, the friends that i made came as a blessing from the lord for my hard work and diligence. But with that being said, i made many life long friends that i will never Forget, and i hope to see again and will continue to speak with.

5. Do you want to come home? Yes and No, do i want to leave this country... no. Do i want to leave these people... no. do i want to stop being a missionary.. at this point no. but i'm excited to come back home and start the next chapter of my life, i know all things must come to an end and i came to terms with that. Im excited to see what else life has for me. 

6. Do you have any regrets? Yes of course i do, im human. But i'm comforted in the fact that in every single second that i served i strove to be exactly obedient, and diligent. SO i don't have any regrets that plague me.

My number one goal for my mission was to serve in such a way that in the last week of my mission and on the last day i would get the feeling of the lord saying well done thy good and faithful servant. You did all what i sent you to do and i am pleased with the work you have done. Im glad to say that this last week i have had an overwhelming feeling of exactly what i just described. I know i worked with all my heart might mind and strength to be exactly obedient and to work hard so that i could be the tool the lord needed to do his work here in angola. I will be terribly sad leaving this country and these people, i will be missing it with all my heart and i will have a huge desire to come back and visit regularly, but i will be able to come home with a smile on my face and a weight off my shoulders knowing that i did all that i could and worked as hard as i could to be the missionary i needed to be. 


Elder Webber

Monday, June 26, 2017

A Intense week... And Loving a Companion

This week i was in an glass case of emotion on an emotional rollercoaster. It started off with the stress of the classes and that good stuff, then it was a district meeting with zero lessons after, moved to trying to get to the mission office for my comps interview, on friday it was a division with elder sena the zone leader and the majority of our lessons fell through including our baptismal interview, so after all the appointments falling we went to an integration night at the church and it was a surprise farewell that the branch made for me.. its was pretty sweet.. so saturday was the day that would only happen a week before the end of the mission. We left early to try and get a baptismal interview.. we did it but he didn't pass so hell get baptized a little later.. no big deal.. we then had to run all the way across our area to do the other interview with Ivandro who turned out had to be interviewed by president.. ahhhh so we had to catch a taxi and ride 30 minutes to the zone leaders house to met my comp and president, we go in president's car and went all the way back to our area to do the interview... and he passed!! (after 10 months of drought Quifica will finally have a baptism!!!!) After we had to leave president and sprint up to a lesson at around 4, during the lesson my brain wasn't working due to the concussions of my life, stress, and hunger (we didn't have food from 7 am until 6pm) so after that lesson we went to another lessons which thankfully we had a nice meal after wards.. It was VERY stressful but we taught some sweet lessons and got Ivandro ready for baptism so its all good. 

I love this area and this branch. We are teaching some families that i just love, the kids look up to us so much and i fell like a superhero every time we walk into their houses. Thats probably gonna be the hardest part about leaving. Also my comp just gets cooler and cooler as the days go by.. its been so much fun serving with him.. i would happily stay 2 more transfers if i could serve with him. Hes super funny and we are a lot a like.. so its never a bad moment.. i've never once been frustrated or upset at my companion and he feels the same way.. i've been on cloud nine all transfer long its all been going super well. Other then the fact that i have an overwhelming feeling of sadness about leaving this branch and country. I love all the people here, theres some people that if i could i would bring them home with me and stay with them or come back regularly to visit them, and though i feel this sadness about leaving i'm trying to keep smiling and be happy making good memories for myself and others so i don't leave like a johnny rain cloud. 

Elder Webber


food preference i'm not bothered.. its whatever.. but ill  have a couple of sweet surprises for you guys when i get home... i think you'll all love it

Monday, June 12, 2017

Loosing fat and going to miss Angola...

Well another day another dollar. Ive lost a lot of fat but ive put on a little bit of muscle because i do work outs twice a day.. once in the morning as i should and again at night. Since we have 2 and a half hours to stay at home at night and reading the PMG gets old after a while i've been doing work outs at night.. i've felt pretty good so i ain't mad about it at all. All the members though say that i'm thinning down and that ill disappear soon.. they just don't under stand that i'm loosing the fat reserve i've gained on my mission and replacing it with muscle.. but it still doesn't stop them from offering us lunch so once again.. i aint mad. 

We had zone conference this week, my last zone conference of the mission. It was pretty strange, as always we had the missionaries leaving share their testimonies, so elder delano, elder mitchell, and i (the only 3 leaving this transfer) got up and shared our testimony.. its slowly starting to hit me that here in a couple of weeks i wont be walking around these angolan streets any more and ill be back at home. Back to crappy social media, school work, sucky live drama and having to actually work.. not gonna lie i would rather stay on the mission. SO with that said i've been trying to live it up and do as much as i can here so i can savour the flavour of angola and living here. Its been fun and ill miss it terribly. 

I don't have much of anything to say.. the days are all flying by and i cant seem to distinguish between this week and last week. Just gonna say its all good here in the hood, we are doing work and having fun while we do it. Ive changed a lot in my opinion, and i love the changes that i've made.. i feel great about life and excited to put in work after the mission as i did here on the mission. 


Elder Webber

Monday, June 5, 2017

In LOVE with Angola and looking forward to a REAL Shower

This week i saw a guy cutting a metal pole with an electric saw in only a short shorts and a tank top with his buddy behind him welding also only in short shorts and a tank top with only sunglasses to protect his eyes, he had spark flying all over and around him... its just one of those things that you see here in angola that just makes me giggle. We had a fun week this week trying to help a few of our investigators get to church and progress towards baptism.. we should have 3 this month so i guess we will see how it goes. We once again were out of water for a few days this week, it'll be strange to come back home and actually have energy and water consistently and to actually take a warm shower... i don't remember the last time i took a real shower with warm water.. MENTAL STRENGTH!! WE had a fun family night last night, Paulo and Helga were there with a lot of other members.I really have grown to love family night, not only because its one of the only times that we can have fun but also because it works miracles with families. WE played a fun game were we had to imitate a cat.. its was funny. 

The word on the street is that the benfica branch will split again this month on the 25... which i'm dreading... i wanted the branch to stay the same the whole time until i went home.. but it hasn't been confirmed yet so hopefully it'll happen after i go home which would be really nice. Im loving my companion.. hes grown to be one of my favorite companions on the mission.. we are really a like so its easy to work with him and live with him. Its been super cool to be able to serve with a companion like him for my last 2 transfers. These transfers have flown by and its crazy to see the weeks pass by one after another. 

That would be cool if we could go to the provo city center temple.. i would like that a lot.. Also speaking of elder mitchell.. he hasn't received his talk assignment.. i assumed it was the same as mine so i already told him about it a little bit ago but i just wanted to confirm it with you. 

Other then that theres nothing new.. the work continues.. trying to make the moments last with all the members and investigators and trying to take in all the wonderful things here in angola... many people don't like this country... but i have fallen in love with the culture, land, and people.. I would do anything, if i could come back and live here for a little after the mission. Words can't explain how awesome this place is


Elder Webber

Monday, May 29, 2017

Pentecostals, Cockroaches and (no) Water..;;

Well this week was a fun week. We have 2 investigators who are confirmed baptism for this transfer and we are super excited about that.. Its been a long time since anyone in this area has seen the shining water of the baptismal font. We are slowly but surely getting this area to be super cool. The members are limited but awesome and the people that we are teaching are elect.. the weather is cooling down which is also really nice. We had a fun little lesson with one of our investigators and his "friend". THe investigator is on date and is doing really well, when we wanted to sit with him he invited his friend to come and sit with us as well.. BIG MISTAKE!! He a strong member from the a igreja assembléia de deus pentecostal de angola  (the church of the assembly of god pentecostal of angola) Let me see if i can describe these people for you. They are great people with a lot of faith, and are very firm in their believes, but i would say that they are jehovah witness on steroids, but don't have as much bible knowledge. All they wanna do is bash and fight with their crazy.. and i mean CRAZY doctrine. Sooo long story short it was about an hour of trying to stay calm, testify of truths and trying not to enter into their mind games of bible bashing. Its pretty hard to do when you hear things like god is christ and they are a spirit the size of a building but went into a mortal body to teach people the truth with magical water and crazy healings. And that we don't need to be baptized by water before the holy ghost and blah blah blah... its was one of those moments we just had to sit and listen trying to not to laugh or blow a cap. It was a true test of patience.

Also we are having a war of wars in our house. Its currently us 2 against thousand of ants and hundreds of cockroaches and i'm sad to say that we are losing. It came to the point this week that as i ate my cereal i would see ants running around in it.. and i cant go hungry and the cereal was expensive so i am sad to say that i lowered my standards and kept eating.. Its become natural at this point. This is even after me sealing the cereal bag and putting it into 2 plastic bags.. they still get in! the refrigerator isnt even safe from cockroaches.. I also believe they play with us.. we will be studying or eating and they run on the ground wall just out of our reach taunting us.. its pretty frustrating. We were also out of water for 4 days this week and used all of our reserves.. we came of the 5th day after a long day of work and still.... nothing... so we tried our best to drink some water and clean our selves and went to bed... but around 10:50 i hear the rushing of water.. if sweet dew falling from heaven had a sound it would be this.. so i quickly got up, cleaned dirty dishes that have been there for days, filled the reserves and cleaned a little.. some would say it was disobedient.. but i say it was survival.. 

Thats about it.. the adventure continue and miracles keep popping up. Time is flying by and i'm trying to hold onto it as much as i can but the harder i work and the more i try to use my time with wisdom and have fun the faster the time flies.. pretty frustrating.. 

Shout out to Elder Brett Mills... you're a fubeca that i love and will see you on the hipster band-wagon soon

Elder Webber



Monday, May 22, 2017

"Just" Another Week...

This week was pretty cool nothing to big happened, we are just doing the usual work and having fun while we do it. We are finding new people and slowly getting this area to be an area that all missionaries would want to serve in. SO we continue on following the spirit and doing what we know best. Its interesting as i enter the last transfer how the lessons that i should learn are learned and the things that i need to become are slowing becoming. I
ts been fun to serve in a branch that i know and that i'm familiar with. WIth a lot of familiar faces and people its easy to work with the members and have fun while you do it. I also had a fun little division with Elder Mielacher, hes an Austrian. Hes super cool, its always fun going on a division and mixing things up a little bit. 

Other than that nothing's new, life continues on. 

We saw a car crash this week... that was pretty crazy.

Elder Webber



Monday, May 8, 2017

Life Lessons... (and no water)

This week was pretty solid to be honest, we just taught some sweet lessons, found some new investigators and slapped some people into shape. Ive noticed in myself that i am slowly losing my patience with retarded people, i've turned to be more direct and honest with everyone and its come to be a big time help especially here where so many people beat around the bush. I realized a little bit ago its better to be honest and direct then to beat around the bush and drag it on a little bit. So that's what i've learned recently. Its really come in handy. My comp elder chiua is a boss, he doesn't talk much which is perfect he leaves me to myself and allows me to ponder and think about life and reflect on things that i need to change. Hes super funny though, he just says the funniest things sometimes and we all have a solid laugh. He doesn't speak a lick of english and i haven't seen anyone more determined to learn something more than him. Every free time he has hes reading the dictionary or asking questions to try and learn english.. its pretty impressive. 

This week though we've been out of water for almost 4 days.. i bet aaron josh and zach didn't take showers with mineral water on their missions.. cause here in angola we do.. living the high life. We are hoping and praying that water comes tonight because if not we have zero water to drink, to take showers and to cook with.. We will see how it goes i guess. Yeah elder mitchell and i are coming home on the same flight.. how we went is how we come back.. together!! 

Man i have learned many many lessons on the mission.. its hard to choose just one or just a big one to focus on, i have summed up my life and mission with 7 motivational quotes that i have lived by for a long time and that i will continue to live by for the rest of my life. It is true.. the mission changes people, you will change on the mission, whether its permanent, or temporary you will change. I read something somewhere that said you can tell who was a great missionary by what hes doing 10 years after his mission.. its interesting.. if you just change your behaviour for 2 years nothing will benefit you, but if you change your nature on your mission you've just opened many doors and many ways for the lord to bless you and use you to do many great things.

For Mothers' day, we will give you a call around 6:30 our time.. we have to be home at 8


Elder Webber 

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

"Alma the Younger" experience

Sorry i'm writing today.. yesterday was a holiday here in angola and
the whole city was pretty much out of energy.. so it was pretty
stressful to find a place to email.. so president let us email today
and not worry about it yesterday which was nice.

So this week was cool, we had elder hamilton in for a a week to tour
the mission which was really cool. Sadly i didn't get to walk with him
but we still had a nice leadership meeting and zone conference with
him. The thing that i thought was very interesting was that he could
be teaching and saying something and the spirit would reveal something
completely different that i needed to do or change as a missionary and
as a man. Pretty cool to see how the spirit was just around him and
how even though he didn't mean to teach that, its exactly what i needed
to hear and do. This week i came to a lot of necessary conclusions on
what i need to do in my mission and in my life and some of the changes
i need to make. Its been really cool to see the changes the lord makes
in me. If i really want something and i work hard for it and i'm
exactly obedient the lord will bless me in incredible ways. Even
things i worked for years on before the mission have turned to be so
easy as i work and am obedient here in the mission.. it was pretty
cool to see.

Also this week i had a nice little alma the younger kind of
experience.. i wont go into detail but i realized a lot of things and
looked at the past and realized how incredibly blessed i am even
though i was not who i should have been. It gave me a new desire and a
fire in the chest to keep working to finish strong and to continue on
doing the lords work after the mission. It was a nice little rebirth i
guess you could say that helped me make necessary changes and do what
i needed to do.

This week i also had the chance to baptize Flanis.. hes the younger
brother of wilma and yolene the 2 sisters i baptized almost a year
ago... after a very short year the whole family decided to get
baptized and i was luckily enough to do the interviews for them all and
to be the one that baptized Flanis.. it was a super cool baptism, i
don't think I've seen so many people at a baptism before.. it was
packed!

My left shoe has a hole in it and we are in the sandiest area in the
mission.. so when i go home at night i can fill up a litter box for
the stray cat that lives outside our house.. so i guess that's pretty
cool.

Also found out this week that a lot of mothers of missionaries here in
angola read my blog.. soooo shout out you my fan club.. your sons are
the best in the world and its been a sweet experience to serve along
side all of them.


Elder Webber

Monday, April 24, 2017

Walking and Teaching...

Other great week and a whole lot of walking around to try and firgure out where we are and what we want to do to find some new people. Turns out this area is full of legally married families that are very interested.. we found a ton of families this week that all really liked the message and want us to come back. Turns out this area isnt as bad as what they say it is.. i have no doubt that here in a little this area will be bumping like all the other areas here in angola.. its just a matter of time and getting into the peoples house. Thats the challenge, people are usually home but if you can find them and sit with them they are usually hooked right away.

Other then that again not a lot happened.. just the usual work and experencies the mission usually brings. I really dont have any news.. im sure a lot happened but right at this moment i have no idea what happened this week that was cool. We are working really well together, im enjoying my companion a lot and we are both learning a lot. I really enjoy how im perfecting in my portuguesse skills so thats a big time bonus. 

Thats about it, nothing new, just a whole lot of walking and teaching the first lesson. Welcome to white washing


Elder Webber

Monday, April 17, 2017

Cillin' Like a Boss--and Home July 7th

Well what a stress week it has been. I guess you can say that we have been walking around with no idea where we are more then once this week. But its a good thing that my companion is a boss. His name is elder Chiua and hes from mozambique.. He is the most humble missionary i have meet in my whole mission. He is very soft spoken and very kind. He is very obedient and diligent. He is every trainers dream. He doesn't talk a lot which i really like, he allows me to have my alone thinking time which i have truly come to value here on my mission. 

This week nothing cool really happened. Just a whole lot of exploring and trying to figure out where everything is. There isn't a whole lot of members in our area so we have had to been pretty creative in finding and teaching people, but as we work and are obedient the lord just throws the elect into our way.. Even though its rough at the beginning i have no doubt that here in a little this area will be bumping like many of the other areas here in angola.

As for a cool experience this week theres a part of our area that everytime we pass through i sing the cantina star wars song because this certain area looks exactly like the junkyard in the first star wars movie.. i swear that the people there look a little different from the others and there is junk everywhere!! car junk parts, random house parts, cement and blocks and all that good stuff, its just a huge market with animals and street side food.. sometimes i feel like i'm in the star wars movie and in a strange unknown planet.. needless to say its been a fun experience.. i wanna take a photo to show you but if i do ill get my hand cut off. so i prefer to not to. 

chillin like a boss


Elder Webber

Monday, April 10, 2017

Back (Closing out) in Benfica...

This week was an adventure as i was back in the benfica branch in the quifica area. Let me just give you a little background on this area.. Since its creation almost 8 months ago it has not had a single person baptized. and only a few people have been on date.. so the missionaries thoughts on this area are those of disgusts and hate.. so president saw it fit to send me in for a week to try and work a little magic there. It was nice to be back with familiar faces and people, but the first days were really hard to tell the truth.. it is not a "fun" area to be in.. not a lot of members.. and the people are only home late at night which makes it hard to contact. After a few days we started to make some magic happen though.. we found a sweet new investigator and his family. THis guy was really cool. His name is Hugo and it might have been the coolest first couple of lessons i might have ever had here on my mission. From that point on the spirit was guiding us around so that we could find some sweet investigators. Long story short this new area is full of the lord's elect.. you just have to have a up beat attitude and a desire to do the lord's will and from you can be rolling in the blessings in no time. 

So from that i guess president thought i would be better for me to go back to benfica and finish my mission in qualifica training a new missionary.. not gonna lie i am pretty excited for these next couple of transfers. It will be interesting to go back to the benfica branch and end my mission there, also fun fact.. i spent 6 transfers in nova vida and i will spend 8 in benfica.. they are 2 branches right next to each other.. so other than that i would have spent 1 transfer in Viana and 1 in arizona and 1 in the MTC... i'm the kinda guy that hates change so it looks like the lord and president both know that so they made me stay where i like to be.. Its been nice and im really looking forward to going back. 

Fun experience from this week, we had a service-project with an investigator.. we were cleaning out his house and he wanted us to kill all the mouse that we came across... soo he killed one by kicking it and having his dog bite it.. we killed another by smacking it with brooms.. and the last one my which is my personal favorite is when 2 rats fell into a pit that he dug in his back hard and they couldn't get out.. so we gathered around and grabbed a hand full of pebbles from a pile that was near by... and we simply stoned them.. it was a fun little experience.

Elder Webber



Monday, April 3, 2017

War-Stories and Faith...

Well this week i got some fun news.. For the last week of the transfer i will be doing a week long division.. again.. but this time in Qualifica.. which is in the benfica branch for which i am very excited! I get to spend one last week in benfica before i get transferred out of this zone.. i don't know where i'm going yet but my bet is that i go very very far away from this side of the city. I have spent 12 transfers in 2 areas that boarder one another.. so i would not be surprised if president transfered me far far away from here. either way im excited to see what happens. I also had a nice little flash back division with elder dum.. he came over with me to nova vida and it seemed like i was starting my mission all over again. It was interesting to see the improvement i have made and to serve with him again.. 

I had a couple cool experiences this week as we got to have lunch and socialize with a few of the older members of the branch and to sit and chat with grandpa Locas. They were telling us stories of the war that use to go one here and all the things that use to happen. Its crazy to think that the majority of the people that i have taught have been engaged in the war and how they all have such crazy stories. They have many cool stories about faith and doing what is right even though it might be a lot harder. It really gave me the appreciation and the realization that many of these members are big time pioneers in many many ways, i always enjoy sitting down and just listening to these people talk about the past and share stories of what has happened in their life. 

The time is flying by, but the experiences and miracles keep happening so its all good. 


Elder Webber

Monday, March 27, 2017

A "Chill" Week...

This week was chill. Just trying to find more people to teach to refill our teaching pool. 

I honestly don't have anything to say.. it was just another week, with the usual work. Its been really hot this week which was a fun experience. Everyone and their mom thinks that I'm burning because of how red my face gets from the heat.. some kids think that i have a little demon inside of me that wants to come out.. so when they that i simply snarl my nose and make of grunting noises and they all go sprinting off screaming... it's just one of those things that keeps me entertained nowadays. 

My time in this area is coming to a close which is really sad, i love the members here and the recent converts. It's been fun to work with them and do so many cool things, but i'm really excited to see where my last area will be. I have a lot of things that i want to do before i go home but looking at the time it doesn't seem like ill be able to do them all. I commitment, however, to make the best of my time here and to work hard until the fat lady sings.. 

Recently i've been praying to get revelations in my dreams just so i can become a sweet visionary and i think i'm slowly starting to get it.. i've had some cool dreams that felt very different from other dreams.. Ive been so worried my whole life that i wont do exactly what the lord wants so thats what i've been focusing on and trying to figure what he wants me to do.. it came to a point where i realized that really all i have to do is keep the commandments and follow that spirit and the lord's will but what he wants me to do into my life. So that's what i've been working on recently. 

Also i went back to Benfica on a division this last week, that was a ton of fun seeing all the old and familiar faces from the past.. cool stuff. 

Elder Webber


I should be good on money.. i don't spend much

Monday, March 13, 2017

A "Solid" Week...


This week was solid. We had a great time at the district conference. I got to see almost all of my recent converts and my favorite members from benfica which was a big boost to my morale. Its always fun to see how strong they all are and to see their spiritual progression. Valdemiro, Paulo, Taric, and Carlos all received the higher priesthood this week. Valdemiro shared his testimony on love and of the church to start the district conference off which was great. They all want to go to the temple and be sealed which was great to see, they are all making plans and getting ready. This might be one of the best parts of being a missionary is seeing the change in so many peoples lives. 

We had an area seventy come called Elder Hall and i really enjoyed his talk on the gospel culture and how we can grow the gospel culture here in angola. Its true the church is really new here yet they work so hard to have a gospel culture here.

We also had a great week this week as we went with president to interview some of our investigators who are going to be baptized this week. Its always fun to sit in a nice AC car and talk to president a little about life and the mission and "pick" his brain a little. We didn't really have any other kind of cool experiences this week. we just did our usual work and had a good time teaching our investigators and helping them all progress to baptism. The work is slowly going along,  

I'm getting more and more content as the days go by. I don't really have any other kind of emotions than just straight contentment. I realized how much i love to just have my alone time and think to myself and resolve my own problems in my head. I also made a lot of cool discoveries about my brain and my personality which at first surprised me but as i focused on them this week i found ways into making them help me and be a great benefit. Its all pretty exciting find out new talents and abilities that come to be a great benefit and even better when you make a weakness become strong and thats exactly what i did this week. I feel very content... thats me emotion for the last couple of weeks just contentment. 

Elder Webber



Monday, March 6, 2017

Serving with Heart, Might, Mind and Strength...


Not a whole lot happened this week, the beginning of a new transfer is always fun and seems to be a new refresher of life. Im able to set some new goals, plan for the next few weeks and get ready for life. 

We are still working with the usual people helping them all get to baptism which they should all be baptized this transfer so we are VERY excited for that. We have a lot of very cool investigators that we are teaching that have their own desire to learn and to grow. 

We saw this week many many great examples of faith and of continuing through extreme trials. I have learned a lot of valuable lessons that have made me reconsider my life and the direction i am going. I also received many great revelations pertaining to my life and what i need to do in it. Needless to say it was a great week of reflection and thinking. One thing that i was very impressed with this week was a little talk by Glenn Beck called "An unlikely Mormon" and a talk by Brett Carpenter "the conversion story of a catholic priest" these two talks made me think a lot about my mission and made me a whole lot more grateful for the many many tender mercies and miracles i have received during my mission, and for sure this week was full of them. 

Locas is doing well, Jandira is sweet, Miguel is a boss, Joao is doing great. So many stories and things to say but so little time. Its a good thing i have a lot of time to write in my journal to try and save all that's going on. The work continues, funny things happen daily, members love us which is awesome because we got like 6 coconuts this week which was sooooooo goooood. We had to act like animals trying to open it up with kitchen knifes and break them against our concrete all in our apartment... soo much work but it was worth it.  

Sorry i don't have much to say, i don't really have that much of news or anything like that. It seems like yesterday i was emailing you guys. Dont worry mom i have all my memories written down for me to tell you when i get back home. Loving every step i take and enjoying the ride. As i serve with all my heart, might mind and strength i don't have any regrets which might be one of the best feelings ever.. missionaries with regrets are the worst kind. Also i saw Valdmiro, Joaguim and Nataneil this week, i got a nice huge hug from them all which was nice. Its always great to see members from benfica.. which is awesome because this week is district conference!! so pumped! 

Elder Webber

Monday, February 27, 2017

A Diamond Expert...

Fun week this week, its the last week of the transfer and we got news
that i will be staying for one more with elder bradshaw here in nova
vida and i am super excited for that. We are going to have a lot of
success this transfer since we spent a ton of time working hard last
transfer and getting a ton of people ready to get baptized, so we are
both really excited for this next transfer. We are doing the usual
work, and while i was on my division with elder jeyamby we were doing
our usual workouts at night and meet a guy in our condo who was super
cool. We spoke to him a little bit more and learned quite a lot about
his life and job and what not. His name his Felipe and works for a
diamond company, so i guess you can say now i'm a pro at diamonds and
telling how one is fake and real and all that good stuff. He shared
some pretty cool stories that i can only share in person. So when i
get home don't forget to remind me about Felipe.

We also got to go up and help out at the baptism of Maura a young
women that we use to teach in our area who moved and went to the inner
city. Its always fun to go and see the journey that you started with
people to finally finish. It was exciting and as always fun to see
other missionaries, and members. THe church is so small here that
everyone knows everyone and the missionaries know all the members, so
it doesn't matter where you go you will always find someone who will
give you a big greeting. 
Another day another dollar, we are just living the life here in
angola, just trying to get by and make the magic happen. I am the
magic man so it is apart of my nature.


Elder Webber

Monday, February 20, 2017

"Dead Cat" Funeral....

Nothing much really happened this week, i had a super cool division back in Benfica with the one and only swaziland warrior elder dlamini. Its been a long time since i've seen him and its always a nice reunion. I also go to see some of my favorite benfica members while i was there and also on sunday at a fireside. Taric is getting ready to receive the higher priesthood, man as i look back to when he use to run away from us to the awesome life changing 180 degree changes he would make to now i get blown away. I also saw carlos and eduarda gain which always brings a huge smile to my face. We´ve just been trudging along, slowly making magic happen in the lives of our investigators. We are teaching a guy named Locas (who is the brother of Jota and Nani, who is the family that gave me cake on my B-day) and funny thing about this guy is that i passed by his house last year.. and if you remember he was the guy that said he wasn't lost and was happy where he was and i asked you for advice for what to do. Looks like after a year something happened because his desire to be baptized and be a member of the church like the rest of his family is HUGE! his sister nani said we might be the biggest miracle workers shes seen.. big complement... just doing the lords work and getting blessings after blessings

I also saw about 6 six year old kids walking in a group and usually its nothing just a bunch of random kids doing nothing, until i looked closer and what do my eyes behold... they were carry a stretcher with a dead cat on it. THey were taking it to the trash pile on the side of the road.. its was pretty interesting, i couldn't help but laugh.. it was just one of those things that you can only see here in angola.. jeez i love this country. We are also on a sweet diet.. it looks like elder bradshaw doesn't like it much but im gaining weight and getting tonned at the same time.. in the morning its granola, at lunch its chicken and pasta then at night its and egg sandwich with an apple and carrot, all day every day this is our meals... just nice and simple and easy gotta love it. I don't have any other news... wish i did but the days seem to be passing by way to fast for me to slow down and take it all in.. its pretty crazy seems like someone took the remote and put it on fast forward. Ill miss it thats for sure. 


Elder Webber

Monday, February 13, 2017

Cleaning the Font...

This week we had the baptism of Ruth and Feli which went all really well, even though we had to go the day before to clean it which usually isn't that bad to do.. the problem this time was that the cleaning closet was locked and the security didn't have the key for it... so i and elder delano (i was on a division) had to look around the chapel for some spare cleaning supplies... we found a bottle of hand soap in the bathroom, a nasty mop out in the garden, i could reach into the cleaning closet to grab a brush, a well used bowl in the kitchen and a nasty little garbage can.. Needless to say it wasn't looking too good before but we managed to make some magic happen and the font looked beautiful the day of... 

I also saw Valdemiro and Carlos that the chapel sunday during the baptism because they were getting interviewed for the melchizedek priesthood!! What a cool sight to see, they are doing so well and rumor on the street is that valdemiro and vanusa want to get sealed in utah.. Mother father we have plenty of space right?

Other than that we are just working hard on trying to teach all of the lessons to our investigators who have date.. We are running back and forth trying to squeeze everyone in.. With this new time and missionary agenda it's pretty rough but we are getting pretty creative and walking pretty fast to try and get everyone we need to in. Transfers are coming up and im kinda scared ill be transfered.. i would love to stay just 1 more in this area.. just one more that would be fantastic! Other then that its about it, just getting the good referrals every sunday.. our recent converts are keeping us pretty busy with all their friends and family. 

This week i saw a dead dog on the road.. we walk past it every morning.. 


Elder Webber

Monday, February 6, 2017

Happy Birthday...

Wow what an email... fun birthday party, pregancy and a whole ton of news... thats fun. My birthday was pretty cool, we went up to benfica to play some sports and i got to spend some time with Elder Mitchell and talk to him about life, i always enjoy having a chat with him. We came back and rested for a little bit before it was off to the Gorgel family night... and they had a few people over there, Zico (the first councilor of our branch and one of my favorite people in angola) jota and his wife and Nani and a lot of other family members were there for the family night. We had a nice spiritual thought, and had tons of food... and surprise to me but they bring out a birthday cake for me to enjoy and sang happy birthday.. luckily Elder Bradshaw got it all on film so its all good. It was a fun birthday, didn't get to spend it with my family but i got to spent it with some of my favorite people here in angola and people that i have come to love so much. 

The work roles on here in angola. We will have 2 more baptism this next week, Ruth who is the sister of Irina.. these 2 sisters are really special. they are really cool, and love to help us out in any way they can, one thing this week that irina did was give a a n awesome referral for a man called miguel.. and i have never seen anyone so prepared by the lord as i have with this man. Its pretty easy being  a missionary here in this area when the lord just places people into your lap for you to teach. THe other baptism is Feli the best friend of Felipe who was baptized a little bit ago.. hes a little bit slower but he has a big time desire to do what is right.. Serving here in Nova Vida is a ton of fun... its really different from how it was back last year when i was first here... back then i thought many times if i put my leg in front of this moving car at the perfect time itll break without to much pain and i'll be able to rest and relax... but now this area is rolling in the deep with some sweet blessings... Still sunday afternoons blow.. just because all of our investigators and recent converts are at the church practicing with the district choir #funkyfresh

Other then that nothing much don't have to much news for your guys.. the work continues.. 


Elder Webber

Monday, January 30, 2017

Changes and Good Work...

First things first Shout out to Elder Mills for being the boy! but nothing new this week, i'm alive and good.. we have a whole new way for missionary work as announced by the church, you guys probably already heard about it but it completely changed our times for p-day and for the regular days, also changed our key indicators and a whole lot of stuff. When president announced it in our leadership conference this week we couldn't stop from freaking out. I felt like a little school girl who got a letter from her lover... Its pretty cool though, takes off a lot of stress and gives us a lot more freedom with our schedule and allows us to focus more on the people who are most important and not worry about numbers or anything like that. So its really nice. 

Also tereza was baptized this week.. and this baptism was a rough one.. we had to run around day of to try and find people to talk, and pray and all that good stuff... its was a little adventure and wouldn't be a baptism here in angola without a little challenge. We also started teaching her brothers which went super well, we are excited to finally get this whole family in the church and be members. Irina and Ruth are doing awesome as well, they are bring new people to church every week. Its so nice to have awesome members who do the finding for you so you can teach people. Blessings for awesome recent converts. 

Other than that not a lot happened Elder Bradshaw and i are having a ton of fun and doing work. The blessings just keep coming in and it looks like this month will be quite the month for the nova vida branch so its all looking up for us here. To add on top of that i found a weight in our house and with this new rule of having to be home at 8 we have a lot of time to work out and get swole... so i guess you can say i'm getting spiritual swole and physically swole all at the same time #blessings

Happy Birthday momma, always been a great example of selfless service, especially on your birthday when you focused everything on me and took away from you.. or at least you thought it took the attention away from you... i saw it.. boy did i see it.. and for which i will be eternally grateful. Thank you for all your love and compassion for me, through the rough and easy i could always count of you to be there for me.. Love you momma.. 35 hasn't looked so good. 

I will also really need to go on a huge shopping trip to get some new clothes and goodies...i am in desperate need. 

Elder Webber

Monday, January 23, 2017

Working with Members,.... and Dogs

This week was fun, not a whole lot of news, we just put in work and are working super well with the members.. to be quite honest missionary work is pretty easy when you are obedient, diligent, smart and work with the members. When you do all that the lord just pours out blessings on blessings. Also this week we had a fun time seeing some old investigators of mine from a year ago and it seems like that 1 did a whole lot of good for them. They are all super prepared and doing really well which is super fun. 

One investigator if Locas. He is one of my favorites for sure, he an older guy but is super funny and while we were at his house yesterday we walked by his great dane which is always chained up.. but for some reason yesterday the dog decided to snap the chain and came sprinting for us... my comp took off flying and the dog bit his bag bad.. hahahahahaha we finally get away from it and inside and safe from the dog.. but after our lesson we go back outside after locas saying that the dog was chained up and good and i walk out first and what happened but the dog once again breaks the chain and runs right for me... my comp runs away and closes the door to the house leaving me and locas outside to fend for ourselves... turns out the dog just wanted to play and wasn't wanting to attacked... so it all turned out well... just a good little fright and scare and a very good laugh after. 

Its all fun here in angola.. nothing new just doing the usual work and trying to survive.. we are having a ton of success and getting a ton of blessings...


Elder Webber

Monday, January 16, 2017

Three Baptisms and a Lost Camera

We had 3 baptisms this week, Irina, Felipe, and Claudio, and it might have been the most spiritual baptism i have had on my whole mission. We had  3 and the APs had 2 so we were all there together and what a great experience. Irina got up and shared you testimony and it was beautiful, short, simple and quite powerful. Its always fun to see the testimonies that your investigators have especially after such a great spiritual experience like a baptism. THis baptism only started about 30 minutes late and there was zero problems...clothes were there and clean, font was filled and clean, members of the branch showed up and support, and a little cake and some drinks were provided after by a wonderful member in our branch... twas chill twas cool.

Sadly i don't have any photos but i'm not sure if i lost my camera or it was stolen.. either way its no where to be found. Luckily it was only 100 photos or so, so i still have quite a lot of photos from my mission. 

Elder mills is also going home and that was fun to work with him this last week, he was a super cool companion and ill miss him daily but he set a great example for me and others on how to work the last week of the mission and to live in the moment and not wait for the finish line. Gladly, however, I will receive Elder Bradshaw into my area,a great friend that Elder Mitchell and i met in the MTC way back in the day. We was our district leader this transfer and i loved my divisions with him so needless to say i'm excited for this next transfer. Other than that nothing much happened.. i think i'm hitting a growth spirt because i have grown and i am always sleepy... i get home and just knock out for days.

Im back to my area, back to my awesome investigators and members, but with my dying companion.. life is going well,the weather isn't bad, and i'm gaining weight... not too shabby.. can't complain... 

Also what do you think would be better, you guys putting like a couple hundred on my card to buy a camera here, or you guys just sending one? either way i'm good with it..


Elder Webber

"Trudging" Along...

Boy was this week a fun week, on Tuesday after a solid day of work the APs give us a call saying that i was going to be doing a week long division with the other missionaries because there was a missionary who was seriously sick and needed to rest. SO with that i packed up my goodies and headed off to futungo (the other half of our branch) and in a brand new house... and when i say brand new i mean to the mission... the whole week we had zero water.. so that means bucket showers for dayzzzzz, there were 2 days where we had zero energy so i would go to sleep sweating and study sweating as well. Lets just say that this week helped turn me into a man. It was a ton of fun but i am so happy to finally be back in my area and see all my investigators.. when your out of your area for a little bit it seems like you are out for years... its pretty rough. 

Other than that nothing really happened. We just had a ton of fun trying to get by with limited drinking and bathing water. I got to walk with Elder Dube which was fun. Hes a cool guy from south africa that walks about as fast as i can run.. hes been in his mission for about a month and has this kind of fire in him.... i remember back in my days when i use to have that fire... it was so hot it would burn my face.... *cough *cough im experienced.... I had a ton of fun though learning about the other area and seeing some new faces and people.. its always fun to get to know the other side of the branch. 

Lots of fun, lots of cool stuff.. im alive.. 


Elder Webber

Monday, January 2, 2017

Divisions and a Monkey

Fun filled week this week with divisions with some of our beloved district leaders. With the holidays around every corner we really have to take advantage of the days we don't have anything and get to work doing our divisions. FIrst one was with beloved elder Bradshaw, who is one of the funniest missionaries i know. We had a lot of fun walking together and teaching it was really enjoyable. After that i walked with ELder Mashalaba in his area which happened to be in the Benfica branch, so i got to pass by some of the members houses and see some familiar faces which was quite honestly a big boost of energy and motivation. Other then that, that division was pretty rough.. that house was pretty thugly, i finally had to take my first bucket shower here in angola.. i went a year and a half not taking a single bucket shower which was a miracle but it finally came to an end this weekend... i was pretty sad about my record getting broken but oh well live continues on. 

This week i saw a monkey on a mans shoulder... that was pretty cool, we just watched him walk through the crowd with his monkey looking around eating what appeared to be part of an apple. So thats animal sighting number 2. We also had to be in at 18 on saturday and had to stay in all day long on sunday.. and boy let me tell you what. missionary work without the work is like a snail stuck in glue.. it goes by soooooooooo slow. Luckily we have the APS living in our same condo so we got to play some games, chat and make some food together. Days like yesterday make me appreciate the days out in the hot sun. Though it was nice to lay down and rest for a little with was sooo long and not really that fun, at least with walking out in the sun the times flies by a whole lot faster. Other then that nothing really happened. All our investigators are doing really well and 4 of them should be getting baptized next week. WE will see how that goes. 


Elder Webber