Saturday, November 21, 2015

Hey you were right!  P day is Saturday this time around! 

Time is just flying by! In 6 changes, I´ll be home! Don´t worry I´m not thinking about it that much, but it´s crazy how much faster the months go by the second year. This week was a lot of fun! We´re teaching a christian woman who just happens to have a neighbor in the building over who went to her same church and had her same problems. It helps so much to have her there teaching with us. The first time we taught her, we just gave a brief overview of the first lesson. The next time around, when we brought the sister with us, I decided to start with the plan of salvation because it includes a lot of things that she obviously has never heard of before, and the spirit made me feel like I should teach it while we were praying. 

The first lesson we talked about the pre-existence, the creation, Adam and Eve, our purpose here on earth, and the atonement of Christ. She basically just spent the whole lesson saying it was things she had heard before, but finishing the lesson the sister we were with talked about her experience, and got Griselda excited about listening more. 

The next lesson we started with death and the Spirit World, and everything went crazy, because she realized that we were teaching things she had never heard before. She started explaining how her interpretation was different and things like that, and we respected her opinions, but testified of the truth, and that she could know for herself if she read the Book of Mormon and asked God. After that we showed her (very humbly) why her interpretation didn't agree with what the Bible said in the context of the passage. She still isn't super excited about going to church, but we definitely left her thinking. I think that´s what the mission is like for other people in other countries. Because usually here either they don´t want anything or they basically baptize themselves because they´re looking for the truth.

Anyway, having a great time here, and glad to hear from you guys!

Elder Wadman

Monday, November 16, 2015

[Note: items in blue brackets have been added for clarification]

That´s a great experience! [We shared an experience from another missionary serving in England in our letter] Glad to hear about other missionaries giving it their all! Glad to know you both are still working so hard! 

We´re trying to get some momentum here! One of our investigators went to a young single adult convention and with that has gone to the church 4 times. Since his dad is a member, he technically could get baptized right now, but he doesn't really feel ready yet. Haha it´s like Angel 2.0 [see earlier posts]. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, and wants to prepare himself to be able to share the gospel! We could get this guy out on a mission!!! We've also been teaching the son of the family who we baptized last month, he´s progressing, slowly but surely. and we've got a baptismal goal for him on the 29th of this month. I think he´ll be ready. It would be good too because everyone else for this month has fallen through. We also have found a few less active members with a bunch of kids who need to get baptized, from age 9 to 23! we´re going to be working with them this week so they can start going to church and become converted, and help their kids learn in the process!! So that´s super exciting!

We also found an inactive member who works as a cartoonist in a park and he gave me this haha!

​I also found some frozen eggs in the house and tried to cook them...

​But I couldn't bring myself to eat them.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Monday, November 9, 2015

[Note: items in blue brackets have been added for clarification]

Hey guys!

WOW! Looks like you've done a lot of work at the house!! [We have been redoing the yard] And you didn't even have to bring in the deacons quorum? [From church] 

I liked what you said about the primary questions, it's really very true. [The four primary questions are 1. Is there a God who is our Father? 2. Is Jesus the Son of God and our Savior? 3. Is Joseph Smith a prophet of God who laid the foundation for the restoration? and 4. Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the church of God restored to the earth?]   In [the] preach my gospel [manual] it explains that all of the doubts the people have come down to the Book of Mormon. You'll notice that in the last paragraph of the introduction to the Book of Mormon directly applies to three of those four questions, and the first one about God is really the fundamental idea, even though it isn't specifically addressed.

This week went alright. Erik didn't go to church, in fact we didn't see him all week, so that was kind of a downer. We did get Willie, the son of Willie, to go to church for the first time, and the daughter of another less active member started going. Several missionaries went home this week for some poor choices they made, among them my less than favorite companion from Alamo. Sounds like some more are going to be on their way out this week. The rough part is they generally pass their last night in my house, which makes for a less than pleasant evening usually.

Anyway here are some pictures!!

​We had two more uninvited guests!!!!

​Here's the offices once you walk in the door.

​And there's going upstairs to where I work. I guess I should probably take a picture of upstairs for next week. The board on the wall has the pictures of all the missionaries, and as of today.. I´m in the top row with the oldest missionaries! gAHHHH WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!!

​I was too lazy to take a picture from outside, but maybe someday!!!

Lots of Love,

Elder Wadman

Monday, November 2, 2015

[Note: items in blue brackets have been added for clarification]

Hey Guys!!!

We´re having quite a bit of rain here too!!! Too bad the people don´t let us into their houses regardless, haha! 

This Sunday we had some miracles. A youth who lives in our ward [church unit] has been going to church with his dad in another ward for the past couple of weeks, and we just started teaching him, so he could get baptized a few weeks from now! 

We also had a family of four who came to church. What a story! 

We were going to a conference at church and I taught the taxi driver about the gospel while we were on our way. He said he knew some people who had really changed after starting to go to church, and that he had gone to a few different christian churches. He decided he wanted to go to church that Sunday, but we couldn't get an appointment with him and he didn't show. The next week we contacted a neighbor of a very helpful member. Her name was Ayare and she told us we could pass by Friday at 7. We pass by Friday at 7 and the TAXISTA [cabbie] comes out, super happy to see us!! They couldn't attend with us because his wife had surgery and was a little weak, and then Sunday they had to leave suddenly for Veracruz. 

The next week we passed by and they still didn't let us in, but assured us they would be there on Sunday early so we could teach them first. When they didn't arrive we had basically given up, but went to the appointment we had scheduled the week previous. We found out that Ayare had just lost her mother on Saturday, and they didn't go to church for the same. Still wouldn't let us in the house but we taught about the Book of Mormon in the street and left him a copy. Erik, the dad, Ayare, and their two sons came to church on Sunday and LOVED IT!!!! Erik was bouncing off the walls and gave us both hugs!! It´s still a challenge to find them during the week but they are very excited to keep coming! The next challenge is getting them to read the Book of Mormon, and setting a baptismal date. 

And then comes the question... What if I had been to tired to teach the Taxi Driver?

Lots of Love,

Elder Wadman 

Monday, October 26, 2015

[Note: items in blue brackets have been added for clarification]

Hey Guys!

How exciting for Rachel [Kevin's cousin was married October 17], and that you got to go to the Temple!!! This past week was a little less great than the last one, but we´re going to have a better one this week! The only people who got to church were the ones who were getting confirmed this week. Everyone else fell through. The whole mission practically is having a hard time finding new investigators from week to week, and we´re no exception. On other occasions we've been able to find 8, 9, 11, and now we´re working like crazy and finish the week with three people who disappear Sunday morning. We´re trying to work more with the in-actives to find the people who are prepared, but it´s been kind of hard to do. Anyway, outside of that I´m learning a lot, having fun with Elder Castañeda, and putting up with constant calls from missionaries with money problems. 

Sorry I can´t write more, wasted 25 minutes fighting with the internet!!!

Love you guys!!

Elder Wadman

Monday, October 19, 2015

We had a great week, and 3 baptisms!!

​Willie, Sebastian, and Blanca got baptized. About half of their family are members. I baptized Willie, hes the big guy with the mustache, and when he came out of the water he started clapping with excitement, and kept talking about how this was just the first step. He wants to get all of his children into the church and there are already plans for them to go to the temple next year! SO EXCITING!!!! HAPPY MISSIONARIES!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the first baptisms they had had in the ward since June, and it looks like we've got some more on the way!! Elder Castañeda is a really great companion. He finishes the mission in 3 months. Also there is a snake somewhere in our house but we cant find it haha!!!! Let me see if I can find some more photos for you.

​This was me cleaning the shower that literally every missionary in the mission has used....

OH ALSO I don't need batteries anymore because I traded a tie and a handful of pesos to Elder Ortiz for his extra camera with a rechargeable battery. This is my zone from last change. You might recognize Elder Gonzalez from Tuxpan! He wasn't very close, but I got to see him a few times. Now he's in the other zone here in Xalapa, and his replacement... Elder Mota... woohoo.... Haha no Elder Mota seems to be a little bit more on track than he was there in Alamo.

Happy... Saturday??

Hi Guys!!!

Today things are a little bit different because we're going to be working Monday when the new missionaries get here, so my preparation day is today. That means I won't get to read your letter this week :(. I also, as usually happens, forgot my camera in the house, so I don't get to send you any of the exciting pictures from the week.

Fun story to get you thinking. A couple of weeks ago we were talking to one of the families in the ward about who their neighbors were and who we could go meet to teach about the gospel. They talked about a few people who they wanted to share the message with. Elder Ortiz asked them if they knew the woman 3 houses down who had a piano in the front room. THATS REALLY, REALLY UNCOMMON HERE. They told us her name and that they didn't really think she would be interested. They told us that they didn't get along and this and that and the other.

Well we talked to the other neighbors they had told us about, all of which informed us that they had no interest in learning more about God, or that they were more than content in the church they attended and didn't want to accept a message about how to be happier in their family, etc. you know the drill.

So we stopped by and talked to the woman with the piano. She was on her way out and told us to come back the next day. Haha, I've never heard that before. The next day we get there and she lets us in but is on her way out because she had forgotten about an appointment. She introduced us to her 12 year old son and left. (The grandparents are very Catholic and live there too, but refuse to acknowledge that we exist.) So we talked to the smartest 12 year-old I have ever met, who asked the kinds of questions people ask in institute. The next time we visited the mother was running around the house the entire time, but mentioned that every time she entered the room with us and her son, she felt a peace that she couldn't really explain.

At the next visit, last night, we find out she's a member of the church, who got baptized at age 16, that she let us in for a reason, that she fell away from the church because of the pressures of being a single parent, and that she had been waiting for the time to come that her son could understand enough to make his own decision about his faith.

My favorite of her son's questions of the week:

What do I have to do to change religions?

What exactly do I have to do to repent? I'd like to know the steps so that I can carry them out in my life?

What does "Christ" mean?

What's the difference between a prophet and an apostle?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

So yeah, it's been a good week! I'll talk to you all again a week from Monday!!!

AND KATE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON WEDNESDAY!!! YOU'RE 22!!! You've only got 3 milestones left! The age required to rent a car, the age required to be president, and the ever sought after age of the senior discount!!! How does that feel???

Lots of Love,

Elder Wadman