Goodbye Brother and Sister Packard!

Last Week with The Packard's 

Dear Family and Friends, 

 

My time in the Fishbowl is up! I am being transferred this Saturday to Boston. I am really excited to be able to go back out into the field. I will never stop digital proselyting, but I really can't wait to go back to the Spanish program and serve these incredible people. I learned SO much in the Fishbowl. I'll talk more about that later in my email, but first I want to mention a huge change that is happening this week in my mission. 

It's the last week with President and Sister Packard. My mission is about to go through a HUGE change. I know it's God's timing. I know President and Sister Miller are coming in at the exact time that the mission needs them. 

I'm going to miss The Packard's so much. They've taught me so many important things. They've taught me how to seek for and receive personal revelation. They've helped me develop a genuine love for studying The Book of Mormon. They've showed me what it means to CONSECRATE myself to God. They've taught me, and hundreds of other missionaries, what ZION is. I owe a lot to them. 

I am so grateful for the time I've spent with them. I've made memories that I'll never forget. I'm really happy for the past three months I've had to serve in The Fishbowl. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. I have such a solid testimony that the work we are doing here in the Massachusetts Boston Mission really is going to change the way the church sees missionary work. God has given such a strong tool in His work. I know when we use the internet wisely, we can spread His church to every nation, kindred, and people. My calling in the digital mission has helped me in so many ways. 

I learned how to think outside of the box. My perspective on life and people itself has forever been changed. I have been able to travel around my amazing mission and meet with the stellar people here and try my best to help and serve them in their digital proselyting efforts. It really has been a treat. 

It's also been great to work with some of the smartest, most creative people I've ever known. Sister Caceres, Sister Thompson, Elder Halling, Elder Gonzalez, and Elder Vecchi have each helped me come closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. It's been really cool to see each of them fulfill their missionary purpose, which is to invite others to come unto Christ, within the Fishbowl. 

Because of the Fishbowl, I really am changed. 

Because of The Packard's, I'm changed too. 

I know Heavenly Father sent me to this mission so I could make those changes within myself. I know He's also sent me here to help people change too. I can't wait to continue serving in Boston. The city is calling me!!! 

I love you guys! You're in my prayers. GOD SPEED THE RIGHT, right??

LOVE, 

Hermana Webber

This is a link to a commercial made about the digital mission. Its a brief summary of what I've been doing the past three months in the fishbowl. Go check it out!!! 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByX2RYdm7r6vX19uUmtXSWJEV1E/view

Last P-Day our zone carved watermelons! :)

Our zone is the Boston West zone and people call us W.I.N.G.S

W.I.N.G.S stands for West Is Never Gonna Stop

smashing watermelons

Change is on the way!

Dear family, 

This week has been a week of miracles! Sister Thompson and I have been travelling throughout the mission going on exchanges with all the Sister Training Leaders. This week we were in Lowell with Sister Lima and Sister Goncalves, then in Norwich with Sister Bower and Sister Jessop, and also in western Massachusetts, Greenfield, with Sister Halcom and Sister Saito. 

We've seen miracles on each exchange! We've been able to teach a lot of people over skype and hook them up with the local missionaries where they live. Some of the countries we've taught in the past two weeks include the following:

Sri Lanka, India, Uganda, Denmark, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, and more. 

I love the digital mission! 

It's a weird transitory time in our mission. We are preparing for a new mission president. It's going to be really hard to say goodbye to The Packard's. They have left a legacy in the Massachusetts Boston Mission. They have taken this mission to places it had never been before and have blessed so many individual lives along the way. 

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to drive down to Hartford, Connecticut and give a presentation of the digital mission to the stake leaders there with President Packard. I love hearing President talk about the digital mission. It gets me more and more excited every time. It's been so much fun working with the leaders in our mission and spending time with all the missionaries as well. 

This week coming up we will be going on an exchange every day. We will start in Providence, then Boston, and Springfield. It's going to be super busy and tiring, but Sister Thompson and I are ready to rock it! 

We will both be transferred in two weeks. Sister Packard told me she knows where I'll most likely be going. I am nervous to find out where, but until then I will be magnifying my calling as a fishbowl missionary and working my hardest until I'm released from this unique calling. I've learned so much here. I have learned that miracles really do happen EVERY DAY! 

I love you all. :) 

Love 

Hermana Webber

Fishbowl Fun

Hey, family! 

It's been a HISTORICAL week in the fishbowl. A lot has happened. It's been so great. 

We had a baptism in ECUADOR! That makes 7 total baptisms in the digital mission, all of which have been out of the USA. The zone leaders in Worcester, MA, Elder Trujillo and Elder Pennington found Silvy, and taught her on skype. She ended up meeting the missionaries and was baptized as a member of our church on Saturday. We are so pumped about all the miracles we are seeing in the digital mission. Things are escalating fast!

Wednesday we had the last Mission Leadership Council (MLC) with the Packard's before they leave in three weeks. We started the meeting by going to the temple. It was SO special to be in the celestial room with my mission family. President and Sister Packard sat there and watched as we all entered, and it really felt like what I think heaven will be like. Surrounded by the ones you love. It's bliss.

The meeting was stellar. I learned, as always, SO much from The Packard's. I learned about sacrifice (they've really sacrificed so much to serve in this capacity). I learned about humility. The Packard's are leaving behind a LEGACY, and they are still just such humble people. They have done wonders for the New England area in the church. They are two of the greatest, most beautiful people I have ever known. 

On Friday, we went to two zone meetings within our mission where we did a training/presentation of the digital mission to the missionaries there. We went to Springfield and the elders went to Scituate, Rhode Island. The training went REALLY well! I love all the missionaries in our mission. We are seriously a family. 

Saturday was really fun. We went to a missoin-wide Ward Mission Leader training given by President and Sister Packard. I love to watch them work TOGETHER. They do everything together and it amazes me to see how involved Sister Packard is in the ministry over the mission. After the training, we got to go with Sister Packard for a bit. She had to take us back to the church building, but we stopped by someone's graduation luncheon first. It was so fun to hang out with Sister Packard for a morning! 

That night, we drove to Cambridge where we had to shoot some shots for a video we are making. Sister Thompson and I went street contacting while Elder Halling and Elder Gonzalez filmed in the distance. We ran into a really interesting lady named Mel. We ended up teaching her right there in the streets of Harvard Square for an hour and a half. We taught her about The Plan of Salvation and she had so many great questions. 

On Sunday, we traveled to Lowell, Massachusetts where we presented the digital mission to an entire ward for the third hour of their church meetings. It was SO well! We just talked about what the digital mission and is why/how we do it. We picked members from the audience to go into a separate room with myself and Sister Lima, one of the sisters serving in Lowell. Together, we went online and found someone to skype with! We found a woman named Miguelina from The Dominican Republic in about 10 minutes and skyped her in front of everyone in the chapel. She told us she wanted to learn more.

The presentation could not have gone better and later that night, someone from the ward emailed us saying they wanted to donate two laptops to the digital mission! It's amazing to see all the support coming from the members here in New England. We are doing something REALLY big and important. We are changing the way the church does missionary work. 

We had a really important meeting with Brother Orgill, who is a member of the mission presidency, and as a group, we decided that by the end of this transfer, the ENTIRE Massachusetts Boston Mission is going to be a part of the digital mission. Every area will now be online proselyting as well physical proselyting. We are SO excited about it. The timing of The Lord is absolutely perfect. The new mission president, President Miller, knows a lot about computers, and we are going to get the mission ready for when he comes with his new, fresh ideas. We are closing the gap between the Massachusetts Mission and the Digital Mission. It's now just going to be the Massachusetts Boston Mission, and as a missionary here, we are ALL changing the world in our online teaching endeavors. 

I know the church is true! I am so grateful for the experiences I've had. I loved getting to meet and sing for Elder Jeffrey R. Holland last week and witness his ministry. I know he is an apostle and representative of Jesus Christ. I loved hearing him testify of Joseph Smith.I love my mission so much. 

I hope you are all doing well! I miss and love you all so much. Knowing I have such a loving family and beautiful friends is what makes this little sacrifice of 18 months all worth it in the end. It really is a SMALL sacrifice compared to that of our Savior. I testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I know it with all my heart.

I LOVE YOU!

Love, 

Hermana Webber

We are the Fishbowl Missionaries

Sister Buttars

The Packards

We found a gigantic foot

Boston, the Fishbowl Missionaries, Sister Thompson, and more! :)

Lunch at the Top of the Hub

The Prudential Building

Got locked out of the apartment during exchanges!

BOSTON! :)

Fancy Lunch

View of Boston from the Charles River

The Fishbowl Missionaries

We went to the temple this morning! :)

My new companion, Sister Thompson! 

She is my mini me! By the way, we aren't in a trio! 

The Work of Salvation

Living in Cambridge is an adventure. 

Today is Sister Caceres' last PDay, and she asked if we could spend the day in Boston as normal missionaries. After 6 weeks of being a "fishionary," it will be good to get back to the good old grind. We are writing from The Boston Public Library, which is a gorgeous building. It's been a really wonderful week and I've learned something incredibly important. We went exchanges with three sets of sisters this week and I got to spend a day with two of my old companions! On Wednesday, I was with Sister Heileson, my trainer, and then on Thursday I spent the day with Sister Riggs, my MTC companion. It was so fun to go to their areas and see all the work they're doing there. 

I always found out that I am staying one more transfer in The Fishbowl! I am so excited! I am going to have TWO companions! I'll be in my first trio and I can't wait. I'll be with Sister Westover and Sister Thompson. I have heard the most amazing things about the both of them and I'm excited to work with them. 

The Fishbowl is also being re-stationed to Weston, Massachusetts, which is where the Packard's live. We will get to see them a lot more, which will be so fun. I love that family very much! In my district will be the AP's, the PVC sisters, the moving elders, and The Fishbowl missionaries. None of us are regular missionaries, so it'll be a hilarious district meeting every week! 

Yesterday we had Stake Conference in Cambridge and President and Sister Packard came to speak to the entire stake. I was so happy to hear from them and President taught me something that changed my life. I'll never forget it. It's completely changed my perspective on things and I know this piece of knowledge that I gained this week will map the course of the rest of my life. Let me explain...

Basically I learned that MISSIONARY WORK IS EVERYTHING.

We are not true Christians if we do not do missionary work!

Think about it, when Jesus Christ came to the Earth, when He created the earth, when He did everything He has ever done... What was the purpose of it all? It was TO BRING TO PASS THE ETERNAL LIFE of ALL of us! So, if we truly want to follow the example of Jesus Christ, we will model our lives after His. We will look for ways throughout each day in which we can invite people to learn more about the church. Our purpose is to INVITE OTHERS TO COME TO CHRIST, and in turn, receive salvation. Missionary work really is everything. 

I am so glad to be a missionary. I challenged everyone to look for ways to become a missionary in your everyday life! I know when we invite others to come to Christ, we go with them. 

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Always, 

Hermana Webber

Digital Mission Life :)

Hello, family and friends!

It's been a really historical weekend for me. 

On Saturday night, 8:30 pm Massachusetts time, 7:30 pm Cali, Colombia time, Jairo Sanchez was baptized. My sweet past companion, Sister De Leon and I, watched over a skype call as Jairo entered into the waters of baptism in Colombia, and entered onto the path that leads to eternal life.

Sister De Leon found Jairo on interpals, one of the websites we use in the digital mission, a few months back. Together, she and I taught him and connected him with the missionaries where he lives. She and I were able to witness his conversion, from when he heard the message of the restored gospel for the first time two months ago, to when he stepped into the baptismal font two nights ago... And all we did this all over skype. Sister De Leon and I were blessed to be able to be firsthand witnesses, not only of Jairo's conversion, but also of the effectiveness of the digital mission. 

It is evident that the technology we have been blessed with in this day can be used to bring people back home to their God. The Spirit can testify to others of the truthfulness of the message we bare, whether we are teaching someone two feet from us, or two thousand miles from us over skype. The Spirit of God will not be hindered and NO UNHALLOWED HAND CAN STOP THIS WORK FROM PROGRESSING! :) 

My testimony of the digital mission is officially unshaken. We even took a picture of Jairo with Elder Serrano, the missionary who baptized him! It was one of the most spiritually renewing moments of my mission, so far. We really are making a difference! 

I am so excited to be doing God's work! I know He has trusted me with a very sacred calling at this time. 

MBM DIGITAL MISSION FOR LIFE! 

Love, 

Hermana Webber

Jairo Sanchez

Boston Marathon, Red Sox Game, Martha Vineyard's, and more!! :)

This week was sooooo much fun!!!

Okay, so we got a lot of stuff done. Sister Caceres and I went to visit some sisters in Southern Connecticut on Tuesday. We skyped with 5 people in one hour! Man, can I just say again that I LOVE the digital mission?? It was so much fun to go back to Connecticut again! Then, on Thursday, we went to MARTHA'S VINEYARD!!! :) We went to visit the sisters there and again, skyped with 5 more people in just one hour. Man, being in the fishbowl is a blast. 

We work a lot with President and Sister Packard. They are some of the greatest people in the world. They seriously inspire me. This Wednesday, we will be doing a training for all the extenders in the mission, and then next Wednesday we will do another training for all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders in the mission. We have lots of work to do! 

I am sending some pictures of when we went to the Red Sox game and then to the Boston Marathon. Man, Boston is seriously an adventure. The other day we were visiting the Boston Sister Training Leaders (one of them is actually my trainer, Sister Heileson, and it was super good to see her again). After we trained them a little, Sister Caceres took me to Quincy Market in Boston where we ate lunch! She served in Boston, so she knows her way around. It was so much fun. I honestly have the most beautiful mission in the world. MBM PRIDE! :) 

Sister Caceres and I got to go on exchanges with Sister Hung and Sister Gropp, two of the sisters in our zone this week. It was great to be able to teach some people face-to-face again! Our sisters are amazing! They serve in Belmont, where the smartest and richest people in America live. Okay, that's probably exaggerating, but Belmont is a hard area because people can be pretty... Noble. It was so fun to visit everyone, though! 

On Sunday, we taught a young man from Colombia named Daniel! He came to the Cambridge Stake Center and Sister Caceres and I went there for a regional conference. We ended up bringing him to the Fishbowl with us where we taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He LOVED it and he is such a nice guy! I love this opportunity we have to preach the gospel, over the internet and in person too. Man, I am just so happy here! I have found my people. :) 

Well, I just want to leave you all this week with my testimony of this church. I know it is true. I know that it is the only source where we can find TRUE, PURE happiness. I love Jesus Christ. How lucky I am to be His representative. How unworthy I am too... My mission is changing me. It's making me better and I would never trade this time in my life for anything. This is what pure bliss is! Sharing God's word to the world. 

Love, 

Hermana Webber

Battle at Lexington and Concord reenactment 

Fenway Park <3

Red Sox game on P-Day!

We scalped tickets and found some right behind home plate for $30! 

So much fun!! :)

My favorite people in the mission :)

The Boston Marathon!!

Clam Chowder at Quincy Market

Martha Vineyard's ferry ride