Fighting the Good Fight

Sam and I play this game when we are at the airport. We pretend that if our plane were to be hijacked- what kind of a team would we have? We assess our potential fellow passengers as "WOULD NOT FIGHT' or "WOULD FIGHT." Sometimes it is obvious (military haircut, bulging biceps, B.A.C.A. tattoo..."WOULD FIGHT.") Other times it is less obvious (short Asian woman, wrangling two kids, looks pretty scrappy... "WOULD FIGHT, " at least for the kids sake)
I know we are a strange breed but it passes the time when we are on stand-by sometimes for a long, long, time.

This past week has been a hard one for me, and for many people I have talked to regarding the recent change to our Constitution. I have such a heavy heart, like this was the last finger in the dam holding back so many atrocities. Social media has been a cruel place full of so much hatred. I have been disheartened by the amount of people who "WOULD NOT FIGHT." Especially those that I thought for sure "WOULD FIGHT." There have been many who choose to stay neutral as to "not offend" or to "stay out of it." Or worse, those who have given in to what is popular.

The anxiety I feel is for the complete disregard society has for God, and His laws. His laws are constant and unchangeable, and cannot be bent according to the will of man.

We are living in a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, where good is evil, and evil is good. It is going to get much worse.
Historically, this hasn't ended well.

I have a boy on the front lines of this fight.

I have an 18 year old boy who voluntarily left everything behind to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. Because our lives have been so blessed, and filled with the knowledge of Heavenly Father's plan for us- we can't *not* share this message of hope, and peace. Central to God's plan for happiness is the family. A traditional family- marriage between a man and a woman who are ideally able to procreate and raise children. Society has made a mockery of this, and an additional long list of morals and standards. God loves all of his children. There is no debate in that. This is why we have repentance. This is why our Savior suffered the Atonement- so we have the chance to forsake our sins, all of our sins, alongside someone who knows us each individually and can personalize the antidote to our suffering because He knows exactly how we feel. He knows because He suffered all.

It makes me sad to see those who "WOULD NOT FIGHT" because temporary happiness means more right now to them than eternal joy. This life is a test of character, and all of us have the potential to fight- that is why we are here.

"If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill. The Lord is anxious to lead us to the safety of higher ground." -Henry B. Eyring

It makes me anxious for my boy. I have to have faith that he will be protected as he goes about God's work, serving and loving the people of Colombia, even if his message is not a popular one with the world.

Here is his letter this week:

Well everything is going good here! It is getting really hot and apparently July it is the hottest month of the year, so we will see how that goes ha! Should be really fun! Nah but everything is good me and my comp are getting along and he is helping me a lot and we have some good goals set up for this next week which should make it even better! We haven't met the new President yet, he gets here in like 3 days. Then language still sucks but i am slowly learning, just takes time and that is the hardest part! This transfer ends on the 12 of august i am pretty sure. Kinda long but it will be sweet! Everything is good i haven't really had anything crazy happen and this week was really mellow.

Last Monday- We had a regular Pday where we put our clothes in a bucket and watched them spin around for awhile. After that we went to a mall out here and hung out there for a little bit and ate some food. Then we came back to the house and got ready for the zone meeting at 6. Really just a normal Pday.

Tuesday- We taught like 3 families on Tuesday it was cool! We had a pretty rad lesson with one of the families, Fam Puerta. We had no idea what we were going to teach them, so we walked in there and kinda went by the spirit. We talked about their baptism and then read the scriptures with them it was pretty sweet.

Wednesday- So Wednesday we had plans to go with our mission leader to the centro to take out the papers for one of the families we are teaching so they can get married and the husband can get baptized. But the mission leader was busy so we didn't get to do it. Which really kinda sucks but we have plans to do it on Tuesday now.

Thursday- Well we went to pass one investigators, Jose. He works security for the Glorias and turns out he got into a fight with some guy there and the police were looking for him and he left. Super crazy! We talked with his mom and she doesn't even know where he is. We taught her how God has a plan for everyone and that he knows what we are going through and what we need. It was super powerful and really awesome! Hopefully he is okay and we can see him soon. We also taught Fam Lopez and kinda drilled a little bit about baptism and everything like that, they are ready for baptism and everything but they think that they need to know more. 

It is kinda funny that you talked about obedience because we were at a members house and she started making us food and we got home late that night. Nothing crazy but its true we need to be obedient in all that we do! It really does help so much!

Friday- So today we got a couple of new people that we contacted, just some less actives and people like that. One of them we contacted was a girl that has come to church with her aunt. While we were at her house her brother came out and she said the he speaks English. Usually when someone says this it is like they can speak a few words or they don't know anything, but this kid was an English teacher and knew English really really well! It was really cool honestly! Then later we couldn't be in the streets after 7 because of the soccer game. The church had an activity though where they were streaming the game in the church. We were allowed to go to this so we bought some treats and went and watched the game!

Saturday-Saturday was lame- all of our citas fell and we basically did nothing it sucked. We had one of the Assistants staying in our house. His name is Elder Opheikins, he is pretty cool. He is from Ogden and his first name is Jaden. Pretty rad!

Sunday- Sunday was freaking hot, and you cant really but anything on Sundays either which makes it worse. But we had a normal Sunday with church and all the regular meetings. We also had a lesson with 3 members and it went so awesome! I love having the lessons with members. 

Anyways this was my week. Super boring and i didn't take much pictures either, sorry. But let me know if you have anymore questions! I am more than willing to answer anything you want to know! I love you guys! I miss you like crazy! Have an amazing week! 

Love Elder Wadley

I caught him online, and told him how much we missed him. I know that is not the best thing to do to a missionary, but sometimes I think he needs to know that there is a hole in our family where he was, and that we haven't moved on without him.
Here was his response:

Mom. I feel like this practically everyday haha it sucks it really does. Realizing that when you get back that everyone will be changed and everything will be a little bit different is kinda weird and scary. But the mission is cool, yeah it is hard and really hard right now as i am still learning the language and everyone gives you crap about my Spanish everyday and that i don't really know a whole lot about the scriptures and everything but part of the reason i am here is to grow and become a better person honestly. It will go by faster than we think though.

It is the weirdest thing though because even when i first got to Bogota my first day i NEVER once felt out of place. I have always felt at home, obviously it is a little bit different than our house but i have always felt peace here. 

There are a lot of things here that remind me of you guys and it is hard and there will be stuff that will be different when i get back and it scares me but everything will be fine. It will be different but good! Mom i love you! I miss you more and more everyday and i cant express enough thanks to you for all you have done and continue to do for me! Thanks!

He is still fighting the good fight.
I can too.