Baltimore is wild and I love it

Heyyyyy All!!

Baltimore is Soooo wild and I love it! There are so many things going on at once and it's just funny to watch sometimes.

Like I have said before, the bus rides are always the most entertaining. You see just about everything while sitting on a bus day after day! This week, while sitting on the bus, a lady in the wayyyy front yells all the way to us at the back of the bus: "Hey, Y’all Mormons??" I nod my head yes and then look at my companion Elder Howell. When I look at my companion, he is slowly shaking his head in a panic kind of way and mouths the words: "Elder She is crazy" (I didn't know beforehand that he had already had previous encounters with this same woman on the bus). Anyways after I nod my head yes to this lady in response to her question, she begins to push her way through this jammed packed bus full of people, with her 3 bags.  She makes it all the way to the back of the bus where we are sitting.  Haha she sits down right in front of me, and pulls out a Bob Marley CD.  She asks if I have ever heard of Bob, I again nod my head yes. She then puts the CD back in her bag and then looks up at me and just starts singing Bob Marley as loud as she can!  All heads on the bus turn, and while she is singing she is looking right at me the whole time.  Everyone was laughing and looking at us.  Which means my face went pretty dang red of course.  I then start to casually try and get her to stop singing, while doing so I look to my companion for help out of this awkward situation and he is looking out the window as if he didn't know me.  Haha

While waiting for a bus this week at a bus stop, I decided to buy a donut at the Dunkin Donuts that was right next to the bus stop. We walk in, buy the donuts, and then stand and eat them real fast.  I'm not sure why, but the bus stops seem to be the place where the drug deals happen the most.  Haha while standing at the bus stop eating the donuts, we see all these dudes standing in a circle.  Then the guy that seemed to be in charge of the group just casually whips out a huge bag of weed as if nothing is wrong (IN PLAIN SIGHT) and starts spreading his wealth to everyone in the circle.  I about died!  Haha but I guess that is the norm around here.

Another weird thing that happens on the bus here where we are at is there is a guy that I call "The Soap Guy" hahaha. The reason that he gets this name is because he will get on the bus each day with his huge back pack.  He will then make his way to the back of the bus, takes off his back pack and opens it up. People begin to crowd around him and he starts unloading bottles and bottles of Suave Shampoo and soap.  And then he sells and deals all this soap on the bus as if they are drugs! Haha I kinda just laugh because I guarantee that 100% of the soap being dealt and sold by "The Soap Guy" was stolen. The adventures and memories I have made on the bus in the last 2 weeks have been quite interesting! Haha

On a different note, we have an amazing friend of ours named Travis and he is getting baptized this Saturday at 3:00pm! He is the most intelligent man I have ever met.  Haha he studies The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and other things on LDS.org so much!  For example, we went in to teach him the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom last week.  We have not even mentioned these things to Travis at all.  We thought this would be his first introduction to both commandments.  Well,  we began by asking him if he knew anything at all about the word of wisdom? He then replies: "Oh yes! I have actually been without coffee now for 3 weeks!"... Now, the requirement for Baptism is that you have to be clean from anything that breaks the Word of Wisdom for 2 weeks before your baptism. But Travis had already studied and started living the commandment 3 weeks before we even taught it to him! Haha he is insanely intelligent.  He is super cool and I can't wait for him to be baptized this week!

We had stake conference here in the Baltimore Maryland Stake Yesterday!  It was super good!  Just from the Chesapeake ward we had 8 investigators at church today!  3 of which came with Elder Howell and I! It was super cool!

The area here has been great for me and I am loving it. There are people everywhere and we always, always have someone to talk to! Which is a blessing.  Haha I love riding the bus and I love the members here!

Thanks for the updates! I love and miss you! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Welling

"Baltimore: The Greatest City in America"

Hey All! 

"Baltimore: The Greatest City in America!"

Every bench in Baltimore has this saying on it.. Haha 

Well everyone I have found out this week that I have been pronouncing "Baltimore" wrong my entire life.. In the actual city, when you are trying to say "Baltimore" drop the "T" out of the name and you'll get it right. They pronounce it "Ball-More"

What a week of change it has been! I went from one of the smallest populated areas in our mission to the highest populated area in our mission! The Chesapeake ward that I serve in covers the whole bay area, and the entire East side of the Baltimore City. This is change ladies and gentlemen.. When I saw the sky scrapers and tall buildings for the first time I about choked. Haha I got to my area, dropped my suitcase off at the apartment, and we got out and went to work! We started by getting on the bus, which is actually the funnest thing ever. We are the "Bus Elders" as everyone in our mission calls us. We are on the bus full time! We don't have a car, so we are 100% of the time on the buses here! And let me tell ya... Just in the short time I've served here, I have seen some wild things while sitting on these buses. Haha LOTS of drunk people! There is a liquor store almost in every corner of Baltimore.. Haha for every church there is out here I feel like there is 2 liquor stores!

As missionaries we are told and instructed to talk to everyone we see. Well my first day here when I bussed into the City, I stepped off the bus and saw hundreds and hundreds of people.. How in the world am I supposed to talk to everyone? That has actually been super stressful. Haha but sitting on the bus is nice because you can always strike up a conversation with the random guy named Jimmy on your right! Haha

While being here in Baltimore I have become accustomed to blaring rap music in the streets, garbage flying everywhere, and the smell of weed. Hahaha the city has opened my eyes so much!

The apartment here in the Chesapeake area isn't the best. It may look nice from outside, but it's pretty crummy. Haha I think I would take the Romney Trailer before I take this apartment! But it will all be okay! We have a little mouse in our apartment that is smarter than our traps.. It's either that or the mouse is smarter than us. Hahaha it could be both. But while eating lunch or dinner the mouse will pop up out of our stove top and just look at us and mock us. Haha we have tried quite hard to kill the thing. But the mouse is winning..

My companions name is Elder Jared Howell from Salem, Oregon! He has been out a transfer longer than I have and he has served in some of the same areas I have! We don't have much in common at all to be honest, but we make it work and have a good time so far.

I'm still the DL and yes my whole district is in my ward! So I see them like 10 times a week! Haha so it will be super fun

On the spiritual side of things I have truly felt like this area has brought me to the high point of my mission. It is the point where I have been in the mission for a while, I know the basics, and I have 5 months to live it up! I have learned so much in just a week of being here. Seeing people live the way they do in Baltimore has opened my eyes and made me look differently at these people. It's sometimes super sad to see some people actually living the way they do, it's also very mind blowing to see some people act the way they do. Haha But all in all, the general thing I have learned while being here is how much the world needs Jesus! That sounds super cheesy.. Haha but no joke! You should see these streets. If any place on earth needs Jesus, it is Baltimore city. My eyes have been opened to what the world is really like in some places. It's crazy! Not all places are like Utah and WYO. We have been blessed to have all that we have back home in Utah and WYO.

The best part of my week has seriously just been walking the streets and saying hi to random people. All day and all night we see people walking past us so down about life. But walking past them and saying hi and then joking around with them or just talking with them for a minute just brings a light to their eye. It has been a blessing to see this all day everyday with people walking in a city that has little hope.

Anyways, thanks for the emails and support! I love and miss you! Thanks for all you do! I am loving life, and my mission.

Love, Elder Welling!

Leaving a town I LOVE

Hey All!!

Start spreading the news because I am headed to BALTIMORE!! Haha just kidding. Not quite Baltimore. Close though! I am headed to a place called Chesapeake. Which is right on the Chesapeake Bay and is half of Baltimore! So I'm not going to the Inner Harbor which is the super sketch part. But I am still going to half of Baltimore! Haha

This week has been super sad! I've been here in Luray Virginia for the last 5 months. I've been here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, and almost St. Patrick's day! Haha I have loved the experiences and people that we have taught and been with. I love the branch and I love the members here! I will never forget them and I cannot wait to come back and visit them all. We said goodbye to most of the members yesterday at church. We will be stopping by some places here in the next 2 days to say goodbye to some more! It's always super sad to leave and area. And it's always hard too! But just like always, missionaries live around and change. And now I'm headed to Chesapeake!

Here is my new Address:
1403 Browning Drive,
Essex, MD. 21221

I added it up the other night when we came in for the night.. Over the last 19 months, I have served 10 months in a branch. That is so crazy!! But I wouldn't trade the last 10 months for anything. The branches and members I have served with have changed my life and helped me learn and grow so much!! The Romney and Luray Branch will always be my favorites!

My new companion is Elder Jared Howell! He served in Luray when I served In Romney! I've never actually served around him. But I've seen him at meetings and Zone Conferences! So we will see how it goes.

Sorry this week's email is super short. We are super busy today with everything we have to do. Elder Kershaw is going home in 2 days and we have been sending things home and running around everywhere trying to figure everything out. Soooo stressful! Haha

Anyways, I hope you have a great week! I love and miss you! I promise I won't die in Chesapeake/Baltimore! Haha it's gonna be great! Love ya!

Love, Elder Welling! 

Busy Busy Busy Week

Hey All! 

This week we have been busy, busy, busy. I feel like we are making great progress with the things that we are pushing for and everything is going great!

This week, Elder Kershaw and I were at the church real fast to use the wifi to message some of the people we are teaching. While there we message a good friend of ours named Mark Stanley. We have been working and teaching Mark and his Wife Laura since the first week that I got here in Luray.. Which has been 18 weeks.. Haha well earlier this week we were messaging him and following up with him about the lesson we had with him a night earlier. In the lesson the night earlier we talked about the power of prayer and the witness that will come with it of the truth by the power of The Holy Ghost. We committed him to pray that night to see if The Church was The Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. Then while messaging him, we ask him how his prayer went. We said: "Hey Mark!!! We wanted to message you and ask if you had a chance to pray about The Church of Jesus Christ last night? How did you feel?" He then replies with this: "Yes, that it is true." Elder Kershaw and I then reply with this: "That's so awesome that you received an answer. What do you feel like you need to do with this knowledge that you now have?" He then replies with something that about made our Jaws drop and hit the floor.. Haha here is what he said to this: "Pray, repent, and be baptized." Elder Kershaw and I were in complete shock.. Haha it was crazy!! We then sent this message: "Mark, will you prepare to be baptized on April 13, 2019 by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" Mark them replies with: "Yes, I will try." let me tell ya.. RARELY do missionaries get a chance to invite someone to a baptismal date over the phone! This was all done on Facebook messenger. So crazyyyyy!! We literally committed a man to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ over Facebook! Hahaha so it was pretty cool to see. I love Mark and Laura a ton! They are some of the best people I have met here in Luray.

Earlier last week Elder Kershaw entrusted me to be his barber.. He was getting some long hair and so we set up the barber shop in our apartment bathroom, and we got to work on his hair. It was all going great for the first few shaves on the sides. But then we decided to go a bit shorter.. And that's when we messed up! Haha we cut it too short and we couldn't do much about it.. So we ended up shaving his whole head. The very unfortunate thing about this is he goes home In 10 days and has an army buzz cut.. Hahaha we about died laughing!

Practicing ASL has been going great this week. We have been doing Skype lessons with the ASL sisters here in the stake and I've been learning lots! I finally understand the way the language all comes together. Before I knew a bunch of words, but now I know how to blend them together to talk to someone! Haha so it has been super cool!

Anyways, this next week we will find out if I am being transferred or not! If I stay I will be doing 6 months in Luray Virginia. That's wild! I guess we will see! I hope you have a great week! I love and miss ya!

Love, Elder Welling!