The Final Email and P-Day

Hey All!!

Well, 105 weekly emails later the time has finally come for me to send my last one home before I return from my mission.

It's crazy that I am actually at the point of coming home. When I first stepped into the MTC it felt like eternity away. When I entered the mission field August 2017 people would ask when I went home and I would reply "August 2019" and their reaction would say it all, which was the fact that I had a looooong time until I returned home. Haha

But now here I am 2 whole years later, and I can truly say that it has been the fastest 2 years of my life. Some days and weeks were slow, but as I look back on it now it all feels like it was a dream. Time seriously slipped away.

These last 2 years have been the greatest years of my life. As I have looked back and reflected on my mission these last few weeks I have been able to see how much I gave truly learned while serving. I am not returning home with the same testimony that I walked into those Provo MTC doors with. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity Christ has given me to serve Him. These years have been the greatest, most refining, most challenging, most joyful, and most fulfilling years of my life. There isn't anything in this world that I would trade these experiences for that I have received from The Savior and His guidance.

My mission has been a little bit of everything! I started in Western Maryland, moved to West Virginia, then to the corn fields of Pennsylvania, and then down to the hills of Virginia! And finally after 18 months of serving I was sent to BALTIMORE! So many different areas and experiences. I have loved it all so much.

After many struggles and many hardships that always follow serving a mission, Christ taught me something that I will never forget. One of the greatest lesson I have learned these last 2 years came to me not when life was smooth sailing and easy going, but when I was going through some of the hardest times of my life.

I learned that it is in our struggles, pains, and sorrows that we truly come to understand that Jesus Christ suffered every pain, sickness, and sorrow that we have ever experienced in our lives.

I have come to know Jesus Christ personally through the struggles, pains, and sorrows that I have experienced in my life. It was in these moments that I realized that my Savior was standing by me the entire time.

Serving a mission was the best decision I have ever made. It has changed my heart and truly shown me that living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to true happiness in this life and the life to come. The mission is not what has changed me, it is Jesus Christ who has changed me and I Love Him for it.

I love with my whole heart the people and Members of The Maryland Baltimore Mission. They gave blessed my life in more ways than I can count. I am so grateful for every individual that has changed my life and come across my path in these two years. I love these people and I'll never forget them!

I will forever be grateful for the time I have been given to wear the Saviors name on my heart for 2 years. It will be sad to take off my name tag. There is going to be so many emotions rolling through my head. But I will always be grateful for Christ and the name tag I was able to wear for 2 years while serving Him.

Thank you for the love and support I have received these last 2 years from you all! I cannot tell you how many times I felt the sustaining power of your prayers. I love you and I cannot wait to see you all in just 3 days! Get the airport party ready causeeee Elder Welling is Soooo freaking excited to come down the escalator! ;) I love you and I'll see you all pretty dang soon. Buckle up. ;)

Love, Elder Welling!

Milk Expiration

Hey All!!

So.. The milk that I bought today expires AFTER I go home.. This is crazy stuff. Haha so I guess any milk that I have left over will be Elder Brooksby's when I go home. Haha

As my mission comes to a quick end, I've been having millions and millions of thoughts shooting through my head all day every day. And I'm not quite sure how to put it all into words. There are so many mixed emotions and it's all just coming so fast. But I am excited to see you all and be back home!

We have a lady we are teaching named Sharon and she is sooo elect. Haha we sat down with her in the commons area of her apartment building and we started talking to her about The Restoration. And after we started talking about Joseph Smith, she stopped us in the middle of the lesson and said: "This is amazing. Yall didn't know this, but I've been on a search. I've been searching for the true Church." We were like.. HEY!! Here it is! Haha stop the search! Haha she is super sweet and she is going to be coming to Church with us this week!

I've loved my time with Elder Brooksby and we have been doing so good together. The ward here is sweet and they support us like noooo other!!! They are so sweet.

Well next week will be my last email home to everyone. It's so crazy! Only 10 days from now I will be with you all again. Haha hopefully you are all ready causeeee I'm coming whether you are or not ;) I hope you have a great week! I love and miss ya!

Love, Elder Welling! 

My Departing Interview

Hey All!!

When I first started emailing on my mission it felt like I was never going to get to this point. I never thought I would be at the point where I could say I only have two more of these emails to send home. Haha but here we are with only 2 weeks until I am home. CRAZY.

I'm looking forward to the next 2 weeks and everything that will come with it. It has been a little stressful trying to send everything home though... I have accumulated lots and lots of stuff over the last 2 years, and trying to get it all home is going be interesting. Haha so pray for me. Hahaha

This week has been another good one in Maryland. My area is called Savage Mill and it's an out skirt town and area of Columbia Maryland which is where our mission Head Quarters are located. So we are super close to everything! This area is actually super close to the Baltimore Airport.. So while I'm walking around day after day trying to finish strong I see about 15 Airplanes a day flying in and out of the BWI Airport.. It's awful. Haha especially when you only have 2 weeks left until it will be you flying out of that same airport!

My departing interview was this last week with President Mutombo. He gave me soooooooo much advice!! Holy cow. I was trying to write everything he was saying to me so fast but I couldn't keep up with all the good advice and spiritual direction he was spouting off! Haha I think I filled up 5 pages of my journal just with things he gave me for my future. President Mutumbo is an inspired man. The advice and spiritual direction that he gave me as I leave this transfer will stick with me the rest of my life, and I will always remember the things he said. It made me excited to go home and continue to grow and progress just as I have while serving as a missionary. I'm definitely going to miss President Mutombo! I can't even begin to explain how big of an impact he has had on my life. I know without a doubt that he was called by God and brought all the way over to The Maryland Baltimore Mission from Africa to bless hundreds and hundreds of American missionaries. He has definitely blessed mine forever.

This last Tuesday I was sitting in the Columbia MD stake Center, and to my surprise my long lost companion Elder Kolton Munden comes walking through the door! I hadn't seen him since January 2019, and now 8 months after I got to see him one last time before I head home. We had a good time catching up. And I'm looking forward to all the good times we will have when we are both back home in the west. Haha

The ward here in Savage Mill is pretty dang sweet. They are super supportive of everything we do, and they feed us a TON. Haha I have had a dinner every single night in this area with a member. It's been crazy. But I love it. Haha you get to know the members so much more when you are in their homes eating dinner with them!

Well, only 2 weeks left and I'm home. I love and miss you, and I can't explain how excited I am to see you again! Haha it's been a long wait, but it's worth it. I love you!

Love, Elder Welling

My Final Fast and Testimony

Hey All!!

This week has been a wild one. Not because of the city if Baltimore or crazy bus people either.

Here are the reasons this week was crazy! This week I had my last and final zone conference on the mission. Which was super super weird. I gave my departing testimony along with all the other missionaries in our zone that are going home with me this transfer! For 17 transfers I watched all the missionaries I knew go one by one giving their departing missionaries, and then here I am 2 years later giving mine. Crazy.  Yesterday I also gave my last Testimony at my last fast Sunday, before I come home.

This week I received a phone call at 5:15am in the morning from the Assistants to the President in our mission. And when you receive a phone call from the assistants randomly in the middle of the transfer it is never ever good. Especially because we are in a trio.. Which means if some missionary in the mission goes home, they pull from the trio's in the mission and fill in the missing places.. So anyways I get this phone call from the assistants and they ask how the trio companionship was going?? I answered and told them I loved it! They then told me to not get used to it because I am being emergency transferred to a place called Savage Mill Maryland because an elder went home early.. So I had a day to pack my bags and just like that I was out of inner city Baltimore and put into a place called Savage Mill.. It was super shocking and very unexpected. I am not going to lie.. I was not happy at all that I was getting taken out of Baltimore with only 4 weeks left. I was pretty mad. Haha but I decided to humble myself and trust that God knows what He is doing. ;) I was super super sad to be leaving the trio and I'm going to miss Elder Shepherd and Griffin. But I'm here in Savage Mill now and I'm going to finish these next 3 weeks strong.

My new companion is named Elder Garrison Brooksby. He is from Bentonville Arkansas and he has only been out 6 months! He is a pretty quiet guy and doesn't talk much. But he is slowly opening up and having some fun. Haha he is awesome.

Well I'm entering the last 20 days of my mission.. I can't believe how fast time has gone. Here pretty soon my mission will be just a memory instead of a reality. I'm definitely going to miss wearing a name tag every day. But I am also looking forward to wearing something else other than a tie every day. Haha

I have my departing interview with my President Mutombo this week and that's I going to be crazy. Haha I'm going to be asking that man for advice on every aspect of my life. And I'm going to write it all down. It's going to be great! Haha

Anyways I will have more details on the area and all that next week. I haven't seen too much yet. I have only been here a few days now. Thanks for everything you do. I love and miss you!

Love, Elder Welling!