Elder Wadley's Hump Day

This week, on the 25th, marked Elder Wadley's half-way point on his mission! One year down, one year to go.
In some ways it has gone fast, yet in other ways it has been an eternity.
I think I miss his morning "Hi, Mom" followed by a big, warm hug the most.
He always smelled good. I know that is such a weird thing to say, but I miss his smell.
I kept his pillow when he left, and on hard days I would lay on it and it smelled like him.
After a year, the pillow doesn't smell like him anymore.
I asked him what he did to mark his Hump Day- some missionaries burn a tie or something. He said his companion took him out for ice cream.

Jayden riding a camel in Dubai, 2011, age 13

Sounds about right. He is not one for fanfare or a lot of celebration.
Here is his e-mail this week:

Well hi.

This week has been a little crazy but pretty cool at the same time. We had an area seventy come down, Elder Godoy. Really awesome guy. He gave us a lot of good advice and gave us a really good training. 

But we basically spent all week (in the office) preparing for his arrival. It was kinda crazy but in the end it ended up going really well. He did a really amazing job and was really nice as well. Other than that things here in the office have been really normal. We have been able to leave and teach a fair amount of time which is super cool and as an office we have some baptisms coming up. 

Honestly feel like my emails are super boring now. 

I am glad to hear that everybody is doing good and that everyone is enjoying life.

Oh any word on Brendan's call????? it has been on my mind forever. 

Well I honestly don't have much else to say so i guess i will leave you with a scripture,

1 Nephi 17:3

And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.

I really like this scripture because it says that we need to fulfill the commandments of God and He will help us fulfill them and bless us as well. Nephi also testifies that God helped them in the wilderness because they fulfilled the commandments. 

That's about all i have to say this week! 

Love you!

Also haven't taken any pics since last week either sorry....

Elder Wadley

So I caught him online and we got into a scripture battle!
I was not happy to not get photos again so I hit him with:

Here is a scripture for you: Alma 60:6. ;) Send me pictures you big jerk!!

And now behold, we desire to know the cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of your thoughtless state.

He said "wow that scripture.." Here is one for you: Helman 7:27

Yea, wo be unto you because of your wickedness and abominations!

I came back with Exodus 20:12

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

He said he stopped believing in the bible which means I WON.
I hope my prize is pictures next week! 

Elder Wadley Gets a Pedicure

Here is the weekly update from Elder Wadley:

Well i will let you know i just got done getting a pedicure to get my ingrown toenail removed and my feet feel like a million dollars!

Gross. I'd rather have the dead animal pictures.

Anyways other than that this week has been super normal. We have been putting down goals this week so we can go and teach more and do some other stuff during the day and the week. So far we have been doing pretty good and have been able to teach a lot and get a lot of work done which is good! 

We also had a ward activity this week, it was a big family home evening and it went really well. There was a decent amount of people that showed up and everything ran pretty smooth.

Anyways i am glad you had a good time in Hawaii and that you were able to go to the temple as a family thats freaking awesome! I miss going to the temple and feeling the peace that is there. It will be cool to be able to go again when i get back! 

Oh i got your valentines package this week if that kinda gives you an idea of how long they take to get here. 

Glad you are all happy and safe! I love you guys lots! Have a great week!

Elder Wadley

I caught him online and made fun of him for getting a pedicure. I think I called him a "Pretty, pretty Princess." He didn't even care because he said it felt so good. HAHA!
I asked him if he needed me to mail him out some toenail polish or some face cream.
He declined.
He sent me this view of the city of Medellin from the office that he is working in now.

Medellin, Colombia

I haven't seen his face for a while. I gently reminded him that "I HAD A C-SECTION FOR YOU" so hopefully next week.
I am just happy that he is happy.
And healthy.
And has pretty feet now.

 

Elder Wadley, Office Elder and Priesthood Blessings

After the quick transfer last week, I shared the group photo from Jayden's email to our Medellin missionary mom Facebook group. We are all kinda desperate to see our boys, so it is an unwritten rule that when you get a group photo, you post it!
I got this message from Elder Dawson's mom:

I asked my son about the picture you posted and this is what he said: "Wadley is Bigelow's other son and he came to the our zone to finish my friend Robison's training! Super hype! So since Wadley is my brother then Robison, my bff from the MTC, is my nephew lol. So we took a family picture. But then Mckinley, the secretary of registros, got sent home, he's from Mesa. And Wadley was sent to the office. And Robison was sent to a different zone so now the family is dead and we're sad"

Aha! I had Elder Wadley verify that he is assigned to the mission office now. Here is his e-mail from this week:

Well yeah i am in the office. Its really cool but its a lot of work. I am learning a lot though which is another really cool part about being here.

Anyways my week wasn't a whole lot of interesting. i am still kinda learning how to do everything so its kinda a pain in the butt but i am getting there. :) We don't get to go out and teach a whole lot which is kinda a bummer.

Sent to Mikayla, in honor of their mutual love for Ramen's.

I did have a cool experience this week when i went out teaching. I went out with Elder Opheikens and we went to this girls house and we were actually looking for another less active that lived there and we ended up talking with her and she asked us for a blessing. She then ended up telling us that she had needed a blessing for a long time but was just too scared to ask and told us that when we came to her house it was a answer to her prayers and that God really does know what we need and that as missionaries we are 

here as the Lords tools. Super cool experience.

Other than that i have noticed that getting out and sharing the gospel gets rid of all the stress i have from working here in the office. But the week has been a lot of working here and trying to get everything squared up.

Not a whole lot of interesting but its whateves! 

Hope you have a great week! Love you guys!!

Elder Wadley

I just want to take a quick couple paragraphs and testify of the power that is in priesthood blessings- like the one these sweet Elders were able to give a complete stranger. Without knowing her- they were able to ease her worries and lighten the burdens that she had been carrying in her heart. I have had priesthood blessings given to me by my husband- when he had no idea of the things that I was struggling with internally. But my Heavenly Father did. My husband has said things to me in these blessing that only God would know. My husband has been inspired to bless me with things that I didn't even know that I needed myself. But my Heavenly Father did. The priesthood that my husband holds, and that these missionaries are endowed with- is the authority to act in the name of God. This power was restored by God, through Joseph Smith. It is the same priesthood power that was on the earth when Jesus and His disciples administered to the people.

It is real.

I have personally witnessed a humble priesthood blessing, in the quiet of a Children's Hospital  uttered to a baby, so full of tubes and monitors and wires, that these men were barely able to find a place to lay their hands on that tiny head. I listened as they blessed the baby with the desires of the Lord- to be restored to full health, and I doubted. The baby, smaller than a dollar bill, with all odds against it, and bleeding on the brain- yet these men were inspired to say the words that no mortal man would have dared. I observed a phone call the next day, the brain bleed had stopped. Another call, machines no longer needed. Subsequent calls were beyond belief, as that baby thrived- and I have watched him grow up- a silent witness to the miracle he is because of a priesthood blessing.

I am humbled when I watch my dad, my husband, and all of the worthy men in my life, exercise their priesthood calling to bless others. I am grateful to have that power bless my own life. I am proud of my boy, clear across the globe in Colombia serving as a disciple and representative of Christ, and finding these people who are in desperate need of His love.

You can learn more about the priesthood HERE.

My Tender Mercy for the Week

One of my responsibilities in our church is putting together the ward newsletter.
I have a terrible attitude because no one sends me the information until the last minute. My Saturday's are as busy as anyone else's and I hate scrambling for the material for the newsletter. Needless to say, my attitude today was crap.
I was working on it, on my computer, and my cute missionary chimed in. (??)
He made an emergency transfer and his P-Day changed to Saturday as a result. I would have been so sad to have missed him this week. Because of the timing of the stupid newsletter I caught him online.

You guys- I have a testimony that the Lord knows what we need. He is aware of us. Even something as silly as a mom that needed to hear from her boy. His timing is perfect.

Here is Elder Wadley's e-mail and our little back and forth chat:

Hey sorry to screw things up a little bit but this week i was in the house on the coast and we had just finished our planning and i went to take a shower and while i was showering the ZLs busted into our house and then into the shower and told me i was leaving. So i had to pack up all my crap and take a bus back to Medellin.

It was super weird because i traveled alone and i don't know it just seemed weird. 

So i am here in Medellin now and they changed my P-day to Saturday. So you will be hearing from me every Saturday not Monday, sorry. 

So this week went a little crazy because of this whole transfer thing and the change but it has been pretty good! i hope you enjoyed the one week of dead animal pics because you are not going to see those for awhile. 

Other than that i got to work in my last area a little bit before i left and it was really cool! I was honestly really excited to be able to work and learn that area, but the Lord has other plans for me. We will see what he has in store for me here! 

Medellin is beautiful though i really do like it! The weather is just about perfect! 

I have a picture of me with Elder Bigelow, his comp, and my comp that i will send to you also a typical coast dish :)

Anyways sorry about the change! Love you guys!! Talk to you next Saturday!

WHAT THE HECK!!!! HI!!! I am sorry I didn't write you! I am sure your mission president appreciates you being flexible like this. And yes, things always happen for a reason! What a fun surprise! :) :) Who is your companion now then? And why the heck did they crash in on you in the shower??!! AWKWARD. If you are in Medellin, see if you can get a P-Day out to see that staircase mountain? I think it was close to Medellin.

Love you! Have a great week!

And yeah, that transfer was weird and weird that you traveled alone. I guess they figure you tower over anyone who would try to harass you. lol.

The rock/mountain thing is pretty far away i am sure but whatevs.

My comp is Elder Mackinlay y Elder Gerber. Cool dudes!

Do you have TWO comps? I am so confused.What happened to your last comp? Does he have someone else? Are you training? This is so weird. What a weird transfer. And bummer you had to pack up twice. lol So your p-day will be Saturday from now until the next transfer, or just this time?

So Elder Robison went to a different area in the coast with another Elder that had his comp go home.

Elder Mackinlay is going home pretty soon and thats why we are in a trio. 

My P-days will be on Saturday for the next little while:)

Are you training the other elder? is he new? It is good to see Bigelow!

No i am not training they both have more time than i have. Hey i am out for a little while love you lots mom!! Take care! Tell everyone i said hi and that i write on Saturdays now!! Gracias!

Elder Wadley, Elder Bigelow, Elder ?, Elder Dawson

Colombian food. Rice, some type of local fish, and I am guessing plantains.

And just like that, he was gone.
And I finished the newsletter with a better attitude. :)

La Granja AKA La Dead Animal Habitat

Elder Wadley was transferred this week to another area, and has a new companion. I was anxious to see where he was going. It appears he is back on the coast of Colombia, he said in his letter to Sam that his area is called La Granja. He has spent the past few month in the mountains and it has been nice and cool. He is back on the surface of the sun, but his attitude is pretty great.
I got after him a little bit this past week because he has not been taking hardly any pictures, and I feel like he will want to have them later when this adventure is over. Photos are always so wonderful for your memory. He sent pictures this e-mail, but not one blessed photo of his face. He is definitely back on the coast, where it appears that conditions are not very suitable for animals and reptiles. He is back to his old antics- sending me gross photos of dead things. Here is his e-mail this week. Brace yourself for the closing photos. And be jealous of me.

Well first off i am back in the heat haha! It doesn't seem as hot as the last time i was here.

I was really bummed to leave my other area i was really loving it over there! It was kinda hard to leave but as dad always says "change is good." And it is! This transfer has been pretty weird so far but it has been good! 

I left Manizales and went to Medellin where i stayed in a little house where all the missionaries stay when there are transfers. I met up with some old friends and met some new people. We chilled there all day and ate a lot of food! That's one of the best parts about transfers is that there is a lot of food in the house. 

The next day we took a 12 hour bus ride to Montería. The cool thing is that my old comp Elder Anderson was going to Montería again so we sat by each other and talked for awhile. It was super good to see him! We are going to be meeting up one of these P days to go and visit our old area and visit our converts! 

My new area is big and i have only been there including today: two whole days. I got here last Wednesday and had one day of work and then we got a call from the ZLs saying we had to do intercambios for three days. What happened is my new comp has some problems with his thumb and had to go to the hospital and the ZL had to be with him for three days. All is good now though and i am with my comp. 

"We have to cross in a boat to get to our area."

My new comp is Elder Robison! He is from Logan! He is a super good dude! Super nice and i am freaking pumped to work with him! I don't have a photo with him yet because we haven't been together but i will take some this week i promise.

Other than that the week has been pretty normal. I am loving the food here from the  coast it is the best! I missed a lot of things from here! 

Other than that thats about all that has happened this week! Nothing too crazy!

I will send some photos as well! I love you guys!

Elder Wadley

PS I am back to the coast and back to dead things!!

The sad thing is that i saw even more dead things this same day ahaha so much crap!!!

I don't know what is going on here. Is this thing still walking around with no face? Or did Jayden PICK IT UP FOR THE PHOTO? Please no. #handsanitizer

Dog? Giant Rat? Did he open the bag for this? I am SO LUCKY.

How I feel on the regular. This just might be my Colombian spirit animal.