SHASHLIK!!! (not a Russian swear word)

Branch picnic.

Things are starting to work out in Red Army! We have been able to get in touch with and start working with 2 inactives that wouldn't give us the time of day in the past. We also had a picnic this morning and met 10 Armenians that are friends of Brother Kumoo! We had a great time with them, playing soccer and eating shashlik (Armenian barbeque)! We have a new investigator and his name is Steven. He reminds me of a hippie. During the meeting he mentioned that he already knows that the Book of Mormon is true! Elder Shoenfield and I didn't feel like a baptismal commitment was right yet, so we are hoping it will work out next time.

New Armenian friends.

I don't know why stuff has been working out for us lately! I almost feel like we don't deserve it, because we have just been doing the same things we have always been doing. It's just the Lord's timing, I guess.

Being on a mission, I notice things I need to work on, maybe things I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't out here. In accordance with the Lord's timing, I have noticed that one by one, he reveals my faults to me. That way, I am never too stressed out, and am always given the opportunity to not become complacent.

Shashlik.

It is interesting, though, how you improve on yourself. You could read books, listen to leaders, watch informational clips, but that will never change you. Change comes with action. You are not truly changed until you act. It is interesting that this directly translates to faith. Faith is acting on the things we believe in. I guess this is why the lord judges us based off our works.

Package!!!

9 For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.

Though there is much more to this verse than just telling us that we get to heaven based off our works. It also tells us how we accomplish those works, and it is simply from desire. Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said "Therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity."

Among other things in package . . .
taco makings!!!! Um, what kind
of drink is that in the corner, Elder?

Don't get me wrong, it is not like I never have a bad desire. I have a lot of them, but that is part of our nature. Though I would say that it is the desires that we act upon that shape us. Once we act upon those righteous desires we will more consistently desire those things.

Yard figurines. Way less expensive
than garden gnomes.

7 months without tacos. It's been tough.

I am so grateful to be in this church that helps me know which desires of mine will change me into the person I am meant to be. As I act on those desires I never feel alone. I know Christ is with me shaping me into the person I am meant to become.

I love you guys!

Elder Weston

Birthday presents from mom. They will stay unopened
until my birthday . . . maybe.