Fight on the Bus

Hey All!!

How's it going?! It sounds like you all had a good week in the west. I did get the package from you all so thank you for that! And I got the shipping label from you all so I will be putting a box together and then I will start shipping my stuff home! (Never thought I would get to this point.. Haha)

This week has been just as good as the rest. Haha I feel like I tell you all the same stuff each week so hopefully I don't bore you with my weekly info.. Butttttt Baltimore again this week has proven itself to be the most wild city in America. Haha in just 4 months I've seen a lot and I always tell myself that u have seen almost anything after serving in Baltimore.. But then I see something else on the streets and I'm surprised once more. Haha just when I think I have seen everything, I see more and I become more shocked with how wild it is. It is CRAZY. I feel like I'm walking in a third world country sometimes when I am walking in Baltimore. Haha I love it though. Good stories for my future fam ;)

This week we had Zone Conference with President Mutombo! It never ceases to amaze me how much faith this man has. He has taught me so many things in the last year that will stay with me for the rest of my life and I am so grateful for that! It's also hard to believe that I only have one more Zone Conference left on my mission and I'm done. Usually every missionary that is going home will give a departing testimony in front of the whole zone when it's the missionaries last zone conference. For the last 2 years I have watched ALL the missionaries that I have known and served with give their departing testimony and I always thought to myself about how far away my turn was! But boom.. Next transfer I will be the missionary giving my departing testimony before I finish my mission. Time flies when you are having fun. Haha

Elder Beus and I almost got in a fight on the bus.. Except it wouldn't have been much of a fight because they tell missionaries not to retaliate in any way.. So this man who did 19 years in the New York state prison would have been pounding the crap out of two white boys and we would have just been sitting there taking a beating. Haha no worries though, no punches were thrown, and no one was hit. But this guy was ticked off at something and I seemed to be the closest target to yell at. Anyways prior to this incident I got on the bus and the bus was so packed that I had no where to sit down. After a few stops enough people had gotten off the bus and I saw an open seat WAYYYYY in the back of the bus next to this big guy in a white tank top and a flat brim hat. I go and sit down and just mind my own business. About 30 seconds after I sit down this big guy's looks at me and boy... He looked mean. Haha like prison mean. And when he looked at me all he says is this: "Boy, I did 19 years in the New York Prison" (Imagine a Baltimore ghetto man voice when you read that quote.) haha my eyes got pretty big and I looked at elder Beus and just sat in silence with a concerned look on my face. Haha Like.. Who says that to start off a conversation with someone you don't know?! Anyways as we were riding the bus this dude literally starts screaming at me and this other dude who said nothing to him. We didn't have any idea what he was screaming at us about.. But the gist of the screaming contained about 10,000 F-Words, 100 violent threats, and about 1000 times of telling us he served 19 years in the New York State Prison.. He then started yelling that "White guys" are trying take over all the black people in the city. I look around me and realize that my companion and I are the only white guys on the Flippin bus. At this point I actually started worrying about him punching me because I was in perfect range for him to knock my teeth out. Haha so I quickly got to the front of the bus and sat by my companion who had found a seat earlier up front. My companion is sneaky and actually got a video of this guy screaming at us.. It was crazy. Haha but the video is fun to watch. Good times in the City!

This week we have been trying to work a lot more with our friend Herman who was at one point on date to be baptized.. But he isn't anymore. He is having some struggles and we are currently trying to help him out with those, he is so sweet though! He seriously looks like a mini Shaquille O'Neal.. Herman is like 6'7" and well over 300lbs. Haha he is a big boy and I wouldn't be scared anywhere in Baltimore if he walked around the streets with us. Haha

Other than these things our week has been pretty basic. Finding, teaching, and meetings! Thanks for the love and support. I love and miss you!

Love, Elder Welling! 

This Week has been a Great One

This week has been a great one! Just like all the others, we have been super busy and running around like crazy! With our bus schedule, appointments, meetings and all the other things we have to do in a week as missionaries, I can officially say that this week wore me out. Haha

We started off by running 2 miles to catch a bus that was departing from the stop in 12ish minutes. I don't think I have ever run so fast in my life... We had 5 appointments in this specific area and if we missed our bus we literally would have missed all the appointments because there is no other bus to take us to where we needed.  We were headed out our door at 6:00pm one evening and we saw that our bus had only 12ish minutes until it got to the bus stop, and we were 2 miles away. So like I said we BOOKED it and ran like crazy.  My fastest mile time in high school was 6:30 but I think I beat that this week because I actually had a desire to run fast and catch a bus. Haha and of course the Lord was with us.  I don't think I could run 2 miles in 12 minutes again if I ever wanted to. Hahaha

Another time this week we were sitting on a bus and just doing our thing. It was 8:40pm and we were heading home after the day of work so we were deaddd tired.  While sitting there a girl got up from the back of the bus and came and sat across from my companion and I. She says:"Are yall with the Latter-day Saints?" we told her that we were and then she says: "Do you know a lady with the last name of Skinner?" we nodded yes and told her that she was a member of our church. She smiled and said: "Yes that's my grandma! I was actually thinking about coming to Church next week!" my companion and I told her how sweet that would be if she came to church and all of the good stuff. But then she said: "I actually have a lot of questions for you all!" she then asked us a TON of questions and loved all of the answers that she got and just nodded her head and kept saying how much sense it all made. At the very end of the conversation she asked: "What are the steps or requirements to get baptized??" my companion and I gladly answered and we got all of her information and told her we would stop by to talk to her more about it later this week! So that was a short and sweet miracle that happened this week!

This week we also had our friend Vanessa drop us. Which was super sad, butttttt everyone has free agency and it's a kicker as a missionary. She was the one lady who literally came out her door telling us that she wanted to be baptized and feel clean again, and she was doing so well every time we would go over and teach her. You want so bad for these people to just take what you are offering them because you know this is seriously the best thing for them and then they reject it.  Most of the time they have no idea that when they reject the message we bring, they are rejecting every blessing that could possibly be theirs if they would just accept the message. They don't understand that this message would bring them the MOST joy in life. And that's why it's so sad when they reject this.  But like I said free agency is a real kicker. Haha

We also had a superrrr solid guy come to church this week named Royel! He lives in Baltimore and we saw him on the street and gave him a card from our church. He invited us over to his house and then he came to church with us today!! He is super sweet!!

We also had a homemade Rodizios Brazilian Grill here in Baltimore!!  We ate dinner with the Goncalves and Fa family yesterday for Father's day and the Goncalves family is from Brazil and they cooked up some goooooood meats. Haha so good. They are all awesome!

We also were walking around Baltimore this week and a random guy stopped us and asked us if he could take our picture. We were a little taken back but agreed being super hesitant. When we agreed we thought he would just pull out this quick little camera or send it on his smart phone, but nopeeee.  He legit ran over to his van grabbed a ladder out of it and began to set up this HUGE tripod and camera set. There are people walking everywhere around us, cars are zooming and we are in the middle of Baltimore waiting for 15 minutes for this guy to set up his HUGE camera in the middle of the street. It was super awkward because he was using one of those super, super old cameras where you squeeze the button thing and put the sheet over your head when you look into the lense!  After the picture was taken, he came up to us and asked if we wanted him to send us the picture when he got it finished. We agreed and then he asked us for our names and emails. On the spot my companion and I decided that we would switch our first names so that if this guy was trying to pull some scam thing on us it wouldn't work.  So I was Tyler Welling and my companion’s was Nate Beus.  Then I wrote my email down for the guy and we walked away. As we were walking away we realized that I wrote my name down on his paper as Tyler Welling but then the email that I wrote down next to my name was nathanwelling7961@gmail... Blonde moment from Elder Welling.  Haha I felt like such an idiot.

Anyways this week has been wild and busy!!  

Thanks for the emails and support! I love and miss you!

Love, Elder Welling!

Listen to and follow the little promptings

Hey All!!

Being a missionary is a tiring work.. But it's a fulfilling work. I've never felt so tired in my life, but I've also never felt so full and complete in my life. It's a weird mix, but I have come to love it.

This week we had a super cool experience, we were in an area called Middle River and we were just trying by some potentials and Formers in that area. While walking around we saw a man getting out of his car and we went over and started talking to him. He seemed to be a pretty well off man and he was from Africa. As we talked with him about we slowly introduced the restoration of Christs Church. And usually when you are talking to someone about the gospel, you can tell by the face they make at you if they one, understood it, and two, if they like what you said. Well as we were talking to him, his faced remained dazed and confused as if he was bored. The conversation was going nowhere and it was just a casual street contact. As I sat there and thought of what I could say to spice things up a bit, a random thought came zooming through my head! It had nothing to do with the Saviors earthly ministry or the first vision, but I said it! I asked him what he thought would happen to him and his family after they died? I asked him what his worries were about death? Holy cow.. As soon as these questions were asked he opened up like a book!! When the Apostles and prophets tell us that people everywhere ask these questions to themselves: "Why are we here? Where are we going? And where were we before we came here?" and it kind of sounds cheesy when they say it.. But it's sooooo true!! People seriously ask themselves this ALL the time. Anyways, after we asked him these questions he told us about how 2 years ago he was in a church building and he was an usher. While standing there in front of the podium he literally just dropped dead and hit his head on the way down to the ground. The people in the church ran to him, checked his pulse and his heart beat and they found none. The ambulance came and got his body and took it away and they all thought that he was dead. He said that while all this was happening he literally felt his spirit leave his body and that his spirit was placed in a dark place. A place where he couldn't find a way out and he said that he felt so confined and lonely. He said while standing in this dark place he saw a group of people, and they were all standing in a circle. As he walked over to them, he saw that there was a ray of light coming down and touching the ground in the middle of this circle of people. And these people were all trying to get to this light but they couldn't do it for some reason. He then told us that one of the people turned around in the circle and looked at him. He said that the person that turned around was his deceased grandmother that passed away 10 years prior to this event. He said that he asked her if he was dead, and she responded that he was dead and that he was a spirit now. She the beckoned him to come over to the light so he could wait with the others to get this light. He then said that he was taken out of this dark place and all of the sudden he was in his body again, awake and he was kicking and screaming.. And boom, here he is living today. Now... I'm not exactly sure what the spirit world experience will be like, but if it isn't something similar to people stuck in a spirit prison type of place waiting for the light of the Gospel I will be very surprised. When he relayed this experience to us we were blown away because it sounded a lot like the spirit world. We talked to him about the spirit world and how it was a phase of God's plan for us before we are resurrected and judged. He told us that he has been trying to figure out what this meant for 2 years. We promised him that our message would answer every question that he had about his experience. We should be going back to teach him this week, so hopefully it goes well! This is the second time in two weeks that The Lord has shown me the importance of following spiritual prompting with exactness. It has been amazing to learn and experience these things!! God's children who are not blessed with the knowledge that we as members of His restored church have, are searching day and night for the simple truths that we enjoy each day. It’s so crazy to think that so many people wake up every day not knowing where they or their loved ones will go when they die. It BLOWS my mind and sometimes makes me sick tot honk that people deal with that stress EVERYDAY. This scripture really rings true to me when I think of things like this. "8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise" - 2 Nephi 2:8

The rest of our week was the usual missionary/Baltimore life! Many drunk people, crazy bus rides, lots of high fives and knuckle numbs, and tons of people to talk to!

Thank you for the love and support! I am loving life, and I have loved being a missionary. I love and miss you!

Love, Elder Welling!

Staying in Chesapeake and Hunting Mice

Hey All!! 

On Saturday we found out that Elder Beus and I will BOTH be staying another transfer here in Baltimore!! I was sooooo excited when I found out and I am super happy that I don't have to pack all of my stuff up in 2 days.. Haha that's always the worst part of transfers! But I will be doing 6 more weeks here on the Chesapeake Bay, and then I will probably get shipped somewhere else for my last 6 weeks in the mission! 

Unfortunately Elder Coombs is getting transferred out of Baltimore and he is headed to Ellicott City to be a Zone Leader there for his last 6 weeks! It will be pretty sad to see him leave, we partied it up here in Chesapeake! Haha he is definitely one of my best friends in the mission. We may not have been companions, but we were super tight and I love the guy! 

My week has been the usual things of missionary work. We wake up at 6:30, walk out the door at 10:00, talk to as many people as we can, eat some food, talk to some more people, go home at 9:00, and at 10:30 we are out! Hahaha as soon as we hit the pillow we are DEAD. Walking all day every day is killer in the humid and hot heat. Haha

We also have an update on our mouse friend in our apartment.. Earlier this week we had just gotten home for the day at 9:00 pm. Elder Beus was changing his clothes and all of the sudden he just started screaming.. Haha I ran over to the other room and asked him what the heck happened and it turns out that our mouse friend ran across the room that he was in! So of course, we barricaded the doors and made it so that neither the mouse or the missionaries could exit.. Haha we then spent the next 2-3 hours trying to catch and smack the little thing with a broom.. My companion got some videos of me attempting to "Smack it"... Who would have known that something so small can make two 20 year old guys scream like little girls. Haha we unfortunately failed to kill it that night and walked out of the barricaded room with a loss. The next day however we set up a trap in my closet and hoped for the best. Then yesterday when we came in for the evening I was about to take off my tie and put it in my closet. While doing so I looked down and BOOM. We caught the mouse! Haha after 2 transfers of hunting this thing we finally got it! Unfortunately we think that we have more than one.. So we will see. Haha

We found some super sweet people to teach this week! We actually found 2 families, so we are hoping that they progress and continue to meet with us!! One is from the Philippines, and the other is a part Member Family here in the ward! One is a big family and one is small.. But I'm looking forward to working with them, so hopefully we get back in with them!

I am super excited to be spending the next six weeks here in Chesapeake! This area is so sweet, and I love the people! It's a wild city, and it looks a little rough (it doesn't only look that way.. It's rough. Haha) but I have come to love it and I can’t wait to come back one day after I've gone home! After all.. Baltimore is "The Greatest City in America" ;)

I hope you have a great week! I love and miss you!

Love, Elder Welling