Dedicated and Motivated!

Our e-mail this week made me happy. It was short and had no pictures, which is normally the opposite of what makes a missionary mom happy. He didn't even answer any of my questions I had for him this week!
But you guys- you can literally feel his excitement about the work coming out in his words. This is the reason I wanted him to serve a mission. Not for the bragging rights, or the opportunity to learn a language, or experience a new culture- but to bring people to Christ. 
Here is the report this week from my Colombian boy:

Hey fam! Sorry your week was boring haha!

My week was pretty good! I don't have a ton of time today so i will try to make this quick but at the same time pretty good! 

We found a new investigator this week and the dude is a stud! His name is Cesar, and he is doing so good! We brought him to the conference with our president this last Sunday and since then he has quit smoking cold turkey. He is reading basically everything we give him and is inviting his friends and cousins to come and listen to us! He is such a rad dude and is progressing awesomely! 

Mainly we have been focusing on him this week. Other than that nothing really interesting happened. We had a meeting with the asistants this week and it went really well. I got to see my buddy (Elder) Opheikins. 

It rained a poop ton this week which was really nice makes it a little bit colder here. Sorry this was so short i promise i will be better prepared next week. 

I don't even have my cord to send pictures either. :(

Sorry again but i dont have a ton of time! Next week will be better!! 

Love you lots! Have a great week!!

Elder Wadley

I love this boy. Eight months down yesterday!
I am adding an old photo with this post- because I like to see his cute face.

 

High on the Mountain Top

This next week Elder Wadley will hit eight months. I can't believe it. Honestly it is going so fast. In the first couple of months after he left, I thought two years was f-o-r-e-v-e-r, but it is crazy how Sunday evening rolls around, and it is time to re-cap yet another week to my missionary.

A month ago, Sam and I challenged our kids (and ourselves) to be electronics-free on Sundays. We are trying to make more of an effort to keep our Sabbath day holy. It was really hard at first. Like really hard. Especially for me. I was surprised that I default so often to the TV, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. I still use my iPad to write Jayden, to do my Spanish lessons, and to read the scriptures. Since we have so much down time on Sundays now, we have been playing board games and cards as a family. The girls and I break out "the card factory" and make handmade cards, and I am almost finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants.

This is just one of the blessings that I have recognized from having a son out serving a mission. We are more motivated to make better choices. Sure there are still a lot of things (tons) that we should be doing better, but his dedication to obedience is rubbing off on his family 3,000 miles away. We are all trying a little harder to be a little better. Thanks, Jayden.

Here is Elder Wadley's email this week:

Well congratulations twins on passing road!! Oh and good luck mom haha!

Sorry Kika, math sucks! 

Oh and tell Shayne no worries when i did road i started driving on the wrong side of the road on a freeway exit and Coach Rice had to yank the wheel pretty good haha! 

Well my week wasn't a whole lot of interesting.

Monday we didn't have money to do anything so we just kinda slugged around doing nothing haha it was kinda relaxing honestly. We had a really good zone meeting they talked about a lot of good stuff that the president is doing in the mission. 

Tuesday was really normal as well we just taught and walked up and down a bunch of hills:)

Wednesday was pretty cool we had a recent convert show us her brother and he has a farm above the city in the top of this mountain! He reminds me a lot of uncle Paul. He is 84 years old and runs this farm. It reminded me of working on the farm. It was cool! He is a really nice dude and the view from his house is amazing! I will attach some pictures. They are really short over here so it makes me seem like a giant!

Notice how the people are in coats, and Jayden is still trying to cool off after serving on the surface of the sun in his last area.

Manizales, Colombia

The sign says: Private Property, Be Careful, "Perros Bravos" which means VICIOUS DOGS, not brave dogs like I thought. Needless to say, my Spanish is still a work in progress.

Thursday was normal. We have a lot of normal not interesting days:)

Friday i had an intercambio with Elder Ampuño. He is a really cool dude and i had a really good time with him! We had a good day as well probably one of the best i have had here in Manizales. At the end of the night we had choir practice haha! We were going to sing for our president when he came down for the district conference but we didn't end up singing.

Saturday we had conference with our president and it went really well he is really good! He talked about a lot of really good topics and did an all around amazing job! His wife during the priesthood session went and checked all the houses and our house was the cleanest out of all of them ha! (I find this hard to believe)

Sunday as well we had conferences with out president and again he did an amazing job! He is really powerful and spiritual as well and cuts peoples heads of with so much love haha it is really good! (I had Jayden clarify this. "Yeah he tells people they are doing stuff wrong and tells them to be better really well haha direct and loving! Really good!")

Yeah anyways that was my week nothing too interesting.

Questions

1- (Any miracles/ tender mercies this week?)I have been noticing the real power of prayer in this last week! When you really pray with faith, God works miracles!

2- (Have you learned any funny Spanish slang or phrases?) Yeah a little bit of them haha (Yet no examples. So much for trying to spark conversation. Bless him.)

3- (What do Colombians think of Americans?)We are rich. 

4- (How is your health? Have you needed to use anything in your medical bag I sent with you?) All is good! I have used some stuff from there:)

5- (What do you wish you would have brought with you that you didn't bring?) Haven't really thought about that. Not much ha

6- (What would have prepared you better for your mission?) Studied more, scriptures, preach my gospel, and participated more in seminary and church stuff

8- (Do you need/want anything?) No i am all good:)

Oh and while i was reading the Book of Mormon this week i found some pretty cool stuff!

One is you know how in General Conference when there is a topic that is really important they usually talk about it three times??

Well i found this scripture 2 Nephi 11:3

"And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words."

Also i was reading and Nephi said that the words of Isaiah are really important and that in "the last days" we will be able to and should understand them or in other words you should study Isaiah;) 2 Nephi 25:8

"Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them."

Anyways thats all i have this week! Love you!!
Elder Wadley

A Funeral Was Attended, and Shots Were Fired. (Thankfully in that order.)

Today I had to pinch hit for the family business. So as I was cooking breakfast for an early morning bowling league, my phone buzzed with Jayden's email! I was able to send him back a selfie of me working the grill. Maybe that will help him appreciate the life that he has temporarily left behind. HA! Here is the email from Elder Wadley this week. My own commentary is in blue. This week warranted some commentary.

Well, i don't even know what to say about you working at the alley haha never in a million years did i think that this would happen haha! How was your first and maybe last day at the alley?

Hahah no i think it is cool that you want to help out!! Oh and thats cool that Shays kids got baptized! Holy cow i had no idea they were that old honestly haha! Cool though! 

My week has been really interesting- pretty good this week, not going to lie:)

Monday we went to the mall here,  just like Monterìa but this mall was way cooler and a ton bigger! It was a pretty normal Pday honestly. In the zone meeting an older couple came in and talked about family history work and they want us to fill out a couple pamphlets that we have here so if you could send me some stories and pictures of our family and grandparent and great grandparents and stuff like that would be awesome thanks!

So Tuesday was a really weird day haha we had a pretty normal day until about 2 in the afternoon where we got a phone call that said one of the people in our branch had died and the funeral service was going on in like half an hour. We wanted to go and show support for the family, the only problem is that it was at a Catholic church ( it was a less active family ). We stood outside waiting for a member to show up to go in with us. At this moment my comp and i felt really weird and out of place... When the member showed up we went in and i can't even really describe the experience we had there. It was terrible! We felt really uncomfortable and out of place. I talked to my comp and we could both feel a darkness inside of us that was pushing the spirit out of our bodies. Oh it was terrible! We left as quick as we could. We called the Assistant and asked him if we should go to the cemetery and all that as well and he said we shouldn't. So we left and we felt weird for the whole rest of the day, it was so bad. I can testify that our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the true church here on the earth and that nothing else even comes close to it!! Never in my life am i going to forget that!

Tuesday was pretty normal- nothing interesting really happened..

Wednesday, the other eventful day of the week haha! Well we were walking to a cita and when we turned the corner of the street we were going to take we heard a big old pop! We looked over and there was a guy yelling and limping around and not too soon after a guy came down yelling as well- but this guy was holding a big old pistol in his hand! Turns out the loud pop was a gunshot, he shot the other dude in the leg! Needless to say we took a different route haha. We were about 25ft from all this crap as well hah! Pretty nuts ha! (ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!!)

The rest of the week went pretty normal ha just lessons and missionary stuff. It has been raining a little bit here and there which has been really nice! I get to use my rain dress oh uh i mean rain coat haha! Remember how i didn't try on the raincoat before i left?? Yeah it is pretty big haha! (It looks fine to me.)

Anyways that was my week haha! A pretty good one if you ask me! (NO! Not a good week, you idiot!)

Now to answer your questions;)

1-What is the best thing that you have eaten on your mission so far?I have eaten some really good Areapas! (From Wikipedia: Arepa is a flatbread made of ground maize dough or cooked flour prominent in the cuisine of Colombia and Venezuela. It is eaten daily in those countries and can be served with various accompaniments such as cheese (cuajada), avocado, or (especially in Venezuela) split and used to make sandwiches. Various sizes, maize types, and added ingredients are used to vary its preparation. It is similar in shape to the Mexican gordita.)

2-Have you embarrassed yourself with the language or customs?Heck yeah! Basically everyday haha! 

3- Christmas is coming. Do you need new shirts, garments, pants, etc? I am good on everything! Some snow would be nice!

4-Have you gained weight or outgrown anything?I have lost what little muscle i had and gained a little bit of fat haha! My Pday pants and suit pants are a little tight:)

5-What is your favorite thing to teach people about? My favorite thing to teach is probably about Joseph Smith or the Word of Wisdom!

Anyway Mom this is all i have this week! I love you! I hope you have a fantastic week (at the alley;)) (No.)

Elder Wadley

"Me in my Rain Dress."

General Conference in Colombia; When Hymns Don't Translate

I just love General Conference weekend. Largely because we all get to hang out as a family on the couch in our comfy clothes. This conference session I thought several times about how 3500 miles away, my boy (as a missionary for the church) was listening to the same talks (in a different language), at the same time (in a different time zone). It made me feel for a few short hours that he was close to us. I am so grateful for the gospel! For the reality that families, although separated temporarily by choice, or a little less temporarily by death, can be forever- and that we will be together again.
Here is Elder Wadley's email this week:

Wow holy poop that is a lot of rain haha! I didn't think it was that gnarly! It rained pretty hard here too but all the rain runs down the hills, it looks pretty cool! Oh and Dad makes a pretty good looking Moroni! Sounds like you guys had a pretty decent week!

First off i want to say that i think it is crazy that we are in October already! I remember sitting in the CCM thinking that the next general conference was so far away! 

Anyway my week wasn't anything amazing but it went really well!

Last Pday we went to the church and played some sports and just kinda chilled there for awhile, nothing really awesome!

Tuesday- was just a normal day we went and taught some people and really just normal haha!

Wednesday- We had an intercambio. I went with Elder Suàrez in his area and we had a good day! We had time to teach a lot of lessons and he is a really cool dude! The intercambio was really short though which was kinda nice and kinda sucked. I learned a decent amount of stuff from him which was nice! In the night we got a call from someone that works for the mission saying that we had to move houses...

Thursday we spent all day moving and organizing the new house ha! We moved from a two story house to the fifth floor of an apartment building. Oh carrying all the stuff up those five floors was a pain in the butt! But the new house is pretty nice!

Friday- Friday we had to make up for a bunch of lost time from Thursday, but the day didn't go very good haha a lot of our citas fell and we didn't get much time to do anything:( This is the day that it rained really hard here as well and like i said it was really cool to watch all the rain run down the hills! 

Saturday and Sunday was General Conference!! It is a little bit different in Spanish ahah! All the hymns are still in English which is pretty cool! haha one of the hymns that they put on the screen doesn't exist in Spanish so the room was basically dead quiet haha! There were a couple people mumbling the hymn in English from the words on the screen haha! It was pretty funny! 

Conference was really good though and i actually understood practically all of it ha! I am super grateful for that! 

Anyways that is my week, it was kinda hectic but really good at the same time!

and now to answer your questions

1- (What was your favorite conference talk and why?)Well i did like the one that you mentioned that we need to ask God what we lack, i also liked when President Monson came flat out and said "Keep the commandments" I thought that was really good!

2-(Where did you watch conference? Was it in English?)I watched it in Spanish and we watched it in the church.

3-(What kinds of things have you been eating? Does your companion cook you and Peruvian food?)I have been eating nothing lately haha and if i do eat something it is usually not the best haha! My comp does cook breakfast every once and awhile.

4-(What is your apartment like? Do you have a stove, oven, microwave? What is different from your old place?)Its nice hah we have a stove basically and a microwave hah!

5-(Have you seen any miracles this week?)Miracles, nothing crazy big this week, just little things that the Lord has helped us with:)

6-(How is your health, do you need anything?)My health is fat haha! i am fine no worries!

Wellñ (<--I had to leave in this little Spanish typo. He types on a Spanish keyboard.) this is all i have for this week! I will talk to you next week! I love you all!!!!

Elder Wadley

This is almost our whole zone!:) (And I notice that Elder Wadley is the only Gringo)