"Moroni is a Stud" -Elder Wadley

This week flew by, and all of a sudden it was Missionary Monday again!
Elder Wadley must have had a quick week too, because his e-mail was short.
He did send a couple of pictures though, so YAY!

Here is his e-mail this week:

Hey fam!

Happy new year!! 

I can't belive that we are in 2016! It is freaking crazy!! 

Well this week has been pretty decent. We are slowly getting more people to teach and bettering the area a little bit.

On new years eve and new years day we got to together as missionaries again and celebrated! We played games and just kinda chilled for that night and the next day. Really this week hasn't really been anything cool. Basically normal stuff.

I am getting closer and closer to finishing the Book of Mormon again and i am loving every part of it! 

I have a lot of goals and stuff that i want to accomplish this year and i am excited for the challenge!

I really don't have a lot to say this week so i guess i will leave you with a little bit of what i was reading this week.

I was reading in Alma about Moroni (by the way he is a stud) and how that the Lamanites were going to attack the people of Moroni and thier armies were big. But with the help of the Lord nothing bad happened to them and they defeated all the of Lamanites. 

It made me think about how much faith I need to put in the Lord when the outcome of the situation looks bad. 

Anyways i encourage you to read the story its really good! 

I love you guys! Sorry for the short email!  Talk to you next week!!

Elder Wadley

I know that my boy is a missionary now, but some things are really crazy to me.
He starts his day (according to his Christmas phone call) a little after 6 am. (This is the kid who couldn't scrape his back off the mattress before noon.)  He boils water for his morning Aguapanela. (a popular drink in Colombia- it is basically a chunk of boiled sugar cane that has hardened into a hockey puck looking thing. They break off chunks of it, and add it to boiled water like a sugar tea.) Then the details blur in my head, but they have individual study (scripture and language) companion study, exercise (!!), breakfast, and get ready for the day. Then they go out to appointments or tracting to find people to make appointments with.

It still blows my mind at the changes he has made in just a few short months. He is quoting scriptures and is "loving every part of it" and "has lots of goals and is excited for the challenge." ?????
Who the crap is this kid?

I like him.

Also in his phone call he mentioned that some people roasted a whole pig during the holidays. He sent me a picture of it. It reminds me of the first few months he was out on his mission and would consistently send me photos of dead things.
At least this one was edible, although he and his companion were not invited to hog down on that pig. Maybe another time.
Incidentally, there are many ways to say "pig" in Spanish: Cerdo, Puerco, Chancho, Cochino, Galapago, Cochinillo.
And I guess Jamon- if you get to eat it...right off of the curb.

Elder Wadley's Testimony in Spanish

The week before Christmas Elder Wadley and I discussed when he would call for Christmas. We decided it would be easier for everyone if he just shot me a quick e-mail before he planned on hopping onto Skype to call us. So Christmas Day came- and I carried my phone around like a prescription oxygen tank.
Finally, when things were winding down at home (4:18 pm here- 6:18 pm in Colombia) an e-mail chimed in! Sam set up his laptop, and this cute avatar popped up:

We were able to Skype with Elder Wadley for just over an hour.

I asked him to bear his testimony in Spanish. He still doesn't think that his Spanish is very good, "I still have so much to learn" but I think it is pretty awesome. He hit his ten month mark on Christmas Day. (This is the first time I have uploaded a video, not sure it is going to work on all devices.)

He talked about his apartment getting robbed (!!), ripping the butt out of his pants (and getting them stitched back up) THROW THEM AWAY ALREADY! "Mom, I still have clothes I haven't even used- I brought way too much..." Boys are so weird.
When we hung up, it wasn't as gut wrenching as his call on Mother's Day. I think because he is so happy now, and doesn't "need" us as much. I still cried. He felt so close, and when he hit "end" and the screen went blank, all 3,500 miles were between us again.

We got an e-mail the following Monday- it was short since we had just spoken.

Well i dont have a ton to say this week.

It was really good to see you guys and talk for a little bit! I loved it! 

Um this email is going to be pretty short and lame ha! 

I have pictures to send but had to charge the batteries to my camera so i dont 

have my camera either ha! 

For Christmas we spent the day as a zone. Everyone was talking with their

families and we played soccer,watched movies, and ate food. 

We did a secret Santa thing that was pretty funny. The day went pretty normal.

There was an apartment that caught on fire near the church but that was about the only 

thing interesting that happened.

Anyways sorry this email is lame but i love you! Have a great new year!!!

Elder Wadley

Feliz Navidad de Colombia!
My heart is full.

"I didn't know you could replace Baby Jesus with a cat." -Elder Wadley #SantoGato

I didn't get an e-mail on Missionary Monday yesterday. I figured that they had something going on, or that maybe the whole country was shut down due to the Miss Universe debacle- Miss Colombia got HOSED, by the way.
Bright and early this morning I got Elder Wadley's e-mail, and eleven pictures and we chatted back and forth online via e-mail for a bit to nail down plans for his Christmas Skype call home. I get butterflies just thinking about it! I can't wait to see his face, hear his voice and his laugh.

Here is his e-mail this week:

Hey fam!! Sorry i am writing on Tuesday, we had a conference with our mission president yesterday so we are having our p-day today.

This week we haven't been able to work really at all it has been kinda whack. So we had cambios and my comp left and i got a new comp! Elder Apaza and so far he is a really cool dude, really chill, its awesome! So i had to wait for him to get here because Elder Pacaya left Tuesday morning and my new comp didn't get here until Wednesday afternoon. While i was waiting i was with the zone leaders haha oh boy was that fun! All day running errands! They have a crap ton of stuff to do! 

Other than that we had practices and other stuff to do, so we didn't get a whole lot of time to work. We had to prepare a dance and and a couple other things for yesterday and well we had 3 days... But our zone won! Haha with three days of practice we won haha! 

Oh and yesterday in the conference we went through a bunch of people trying to guess who they were by their baby pictures ha and somehow there was a picture of my with a Ninja Turtle outfit haha! 

(Back story here. I was contacted a month or so ago by the Zone Leaders to send them some things:  letters from the family for Jayden, a picture from when he was younger, and a funny story about him. This is the photo he is talking about above. I am so grateful for all that his mission leaders do for him. They really did a lot to make Christmas special for the missionaries. It makes my mom heart full. Knowing that this is his first Christmas away from home. All these efforts made by others make me worry less about him being lonely.)

Anyways this week hasn't been a whole lot interesting. Last week we went up to the cathedral and it was so cool we were up so high! I have a lot of pictures for you so hopefully you will be happy:) 

Also i will be able to tell you a little bit more when we talk!!:)

Not a whole lot i will TALK to you guys later! 

Love you!!!Elder Wadley

We get to talk to him sometime on Christmas Day. Who would have guessed that a simple phone call would be making my whole Christmas? Here are the photos that he sent this week, along with his words.

"I didn't know you could replace Baby Jesus with a cat?" (Santo Gato) (Saint Cat)

Inside the Cathedral of Manizales

Inside the Cathedral, looking down from the spiral staircase.

The view of the city from the top of the cathedral.

"Me with President Calderòn and his wife."

"Me and Elder Opheikens"

His Christmas tree, and his packages! They made it!

Colombian Christmas Lights

I guess I am a visual person.
This week Elder Wadley sent a bunch of photos- and it made me so happy! I like seeing where my boy lives, and I like scrutinizing every picture for everything that I can get out of it. When he sends me pictures of him- I notice that his neck is thicker, and his watch is holding up. I notice his haircut, and if his smile goes all the way up into his eyes. When he sends a photo of his apartment, I look in the background and notice things from home. I notice his schedule for the week written in his handwriting on a white board. Photos make me feel connected to him from 3500 miles away.
This week he sent some pictures of a beautiful cathedral in his area, and Christmas lights amid palm trees.

Elder Wadley and Elder Pacaya

The lights spell out "Manizales", his area.

Here is his e-mail this week:

Whats up fam!?

Well first off i got a package i think it is the Thanksgiving one, so you don't freak out about that:) Well we got our cambios today and i am staying here but getting a new comp. I am kinda excited it will be nice to have a change! This week has been a pretty normal week again it went by super fast! We found a couple new people this week and i want to be able to put baptismal dates with them but we haven't had much time to work with them. Everything is going good though! I am excited to get my new comp and go to work. 

Usually what i do every week is read through my journal again before i come and write everything down because like i said the week goes by super fast and i forget a lot of stuff. Just goes to show how important keeping a journal really is. I did take a lot of photos this week though so that should make you happy. 

I found a scripture this week in my personal study that is pretty cool Alma 34:28

        

            28 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.

I don't know why but i really liked it. I this chapter-it talks about prayer. A lot of times we pray for something or ask for something and then we don't act. Or God gives us opportunities to do stuff but we forget to act. This scripture has changed my outlook a little bit on prayer. 

Sorry my emails have kinda sucked lately. I guess i need to be a little bit more aware these next coming weeks.

Las preguntas.

1- (What has been your hardest experience so far? What did you learn from it?) Hardest thing in the mission is making changes. Sometimes you know what you need to do but your old habits are easier and you fall into old habits. 

2- (Do you have any advice for Brendan as he is preparing for his mission?) Study. Prepare yourself and do everything you can.

3- (Do the Colombians have any unique customs for Christmas?) No pretty normal they eat Buñuelos and Natilla and light Pólvora.

4- (Do they have Christmas trees there?) Yeah and the are expensive.

5- (What local foods have you eaten?) A lot of stuff haha everyday is local food:)

6- (How are the bugs in this area? Less, more?) Less haha a lot less, but there are a lot of dogs.

7- (Are there more gringos in your area? Anyone you know?) As of right now there are 3 haha one of them is Elder Welling, the stud that i flew from Salt Lake with.

Anyway i will hit you with some pictures:) I love you lots!! Have a great week!!

Elder Wadley

Everyone in short sleeves! Christmas in Colombia.

Elder Pacaya, Elder Wadley

Sent to Sam this week. Missing Moab.

Elder Herrera, heading back home this week to Provo, Utah and Elder Wadley

Catedral de Manizales.

I did a close up of the sculpture outside the Cathedral.

He seems to be healthy and happy and ready to work. That is everything that a mom likes to hear. :)

Normal Week in Colombia :)

This week both Elder Wadley and I exchanged pretty short e-mails. It has been a busy week, but I really didn't do anything? Do you ever feel that way? Like you spend a lot of time spinning your wheels without accomplishing much? These weeks make me feel grateful. For a boring week, with no challenges or trials.
Here are Elder Wadley's words for the week:

HI!

I am doing good i dont really need anything- i am doing just fine. Life is going pretty good here we are trying to find more people to teach but that's about it. We have found a couple of people but nothing really too crazy. 

It is super weird to hear that Shianne and Shayne are going on dates. Creeps me out a little bit honestly. 

Anyways holy crap haha we are in December! I have no idea where the time has gone! And this week went by so freaking fast i can't even believe it! 

Nothing really interesting happened this week. Like i said we are trying to find new people to teach. Everyone we had were kinda struggling so we have to move on and we don't really have anybody else, yet. We have found a couple people that seem awesome!! I am super pumped about that! 

Basically our week was: we got our money on Monday and i took out my reserve fund and we bought a bunch of food to eat during these next two weeks which is awesome! We also ate at McDonalds which was cool. Other than that we had a couple other things happen this week:) 

We went up to the farm again! We went and visited good ol Gustavo! It is amazing up there you can see all the clouds settling in over the city and everything it is sweet!

Other than that we saw the Christmas Devotional yesterday and it was good. I have never seen one before this and i really enjoyed it! 

Oh i ate a big fat hamburger this week and it tasted awesome!! I dont know what is really happening to me haha changing! (Prior to his mission, Jayden refused to even touch hamburgers? Who does that?)

Nah but our week went by super fast haha! Everyone is putting up Christmas lights here and from above you can see all of them blinking it is really cool! 

Well i dont really have a whole lot this week, pictures or anything sorry. Next week i will have better stuff:)

Las Preguntas.

1- (When are the next transfers?)The 14th of December

2- (Who is in your teaching pool? Any new prospects?) Finding new people:)

3- (Are you getting along with your companion?)Yeah we get along really well:)

4- (How is your health?) Health is fine:)

5- (Did those McDonald coupons work out? Jajaja (I laugh in Spanish now))Poop yeah they worked!!

6- (Do you guys cook? What do you have to eat? Breakfast? Lunch? What is a typical dinner?)I have been cooking pancakes and french toast. The other day i found Kraft MAc and Cheese and we ate that:)

7- (How do you wash your clothes in this area? Bucket? Lavadora?) We have a member wash our clothes:) Sometimes we wash in bucket though;)

8- (Do you have a meeting houses in your area? How big is the ward/branch?) We have a normal church building:)

9- (What are you looking forward to this week?) To put some baptsmal dates! And have progressing investigators!

Anyway this is all i have for this week sorry its not much! I love you and will talk to you later!:)

Elder Wadley

"We didn't eat anything on Thanksgiving and to be completely honest I forgot about it haha!" -Elder Wadley

Elder Wadley has a younger brother, Brendan, that is a senior this year. Brendan has long hair. Jayden did too. This was one of the last photos that I took of Jayden with his long hair, and one of the last photos I took of Jayden with his skateboard, before he decided to make some changes in his life, and serve a mission.

Elder Wadley, a couple months pre-mission.

Yesterday, before church, Brendan asked me if I would cut his hair after church. So it happened. It is happening. Brendan has decided to begin the process of serving a mission too. Jayden deserves a large part of the credit for his brother's decision.
When a boy serves a mission, change and blessings come. Always with the people they serve and teach. Often with themselves. And sometimes with the friends and family they leave behind. I am grateful for Jayden's good example, and the positive influence he is having on his siblings from 3,300 miles away.

Future Elder Brendan Wadley

Here is the e-mail from Elder Wadley this week:

What the heck haha! Dang Brendan's hair was long!!! His haircut does look good though i will give him that!! Haha holy cow i cant even believe it!! Bishop always joked around that he would know that I was finally serious about going on a mission and everything when i cut my hair.

Oh and glad to hear about all your food in the fridge. We didn't eat anything on Thanksgiving and to be completely honest i forgot about it haha! As for our fridge we have a little bit of juice and some dried up crusty mayo packets hahaha! We haven't been eating that much lately. 

Oh and Christmas decorations haha i am going to buy a tree maybe today. Other than that we don't have anything- and without snow it doesn't really feel the same. But we are almost in December i cant believe it!!

"Me and my very crappy umbrella."

Anyways my week hasn't been that interesting. We don't have a ton of people to work with right now so we are basically looking for a bunch of new people to teach. We haven't had a ton of luck so far but we are getting there.

Not quite sure how to approach these people?

This week we had the Assistants and the president come down and they checked our house and stuff like that. We had interviews with the President and it went awesome-the man is amazing! 

We had a couple good lessons this week. One with these less actives, two teenagers. The lesson went awesome we prepared really well and everything flowed really well and the spirit was strong it was awesome! Other than these few lessons the week was pretty normal. Like i said we are looking for new people mostly. 

¡Preguntas!

1- How is the work going? Are you still frustrated? Who are you teaching? The work is rough right now because we don't have a lot of people to teach.

2- What did you do for thanksgiving? Nothing haha it was just another normal day.

3- What are your Christmas plans? Christmas. Well we get to call you guys one of those days. Also i am pretty sure we will have a big conference with the President. Other than that i am not really sure.

4- Have you done anything interesting lately on pday? Touristy things or service? Last week we went up the mountain. Today we are going to go and explore centro a little bit.

5- How are your clothes/shoes holding up? Holding up like champs!! I still have a bunch of new crap that i don't know if i will really use, we will see.

6- Did you get your freaking thanksgiving package yet? No nothing yet haha one day! The assistants were going to bring them but something happened and they didn't get here.

7- What was the best thing that happened this week? Best thing is while we were walking today we found a bunch of McDonalds promotions so we are going to eat a lot today! Score! 2X1 McFlurrys baby!

8- What was the worst thing that happened this week? Um We ran out of money a couple days early and had to walk a lot and didn't eat as much as we would like! 

No but everything is really good! A lot better this week! Oh i took a little bit of money for a reserve fund we are supposed to have. Just so you know. Don't have a ton to say this week.

Only thing i would say is that i want to encourage everybody to read the Book of Mormon. It is awesome i love reading it and there is a lot of stuff that you can apply in your life it is awesome! 

Anyways i love you guys and i will talk to you next week!!!

Elder Wadley

Closing side note. I have mailed him several packages that he hasn't received yet. One package was an entire Thanksgiving dinner. Another was full of Christmas decorations. Then his whole Christmas! The area he is serving in now is almost the furthest area away from the mission home where everything gets mailed.  I sure hope he gets those packages soon! I am about ready to hop a plane, pick them up, and deliver them all to him! I guess whenever he gets them will still be a good day, but as a mom, it is killing me that he didn't eat anything on Thanksgiving, and his fridge is empty when ours is so stuffed with leftovers.

Member Missionaries and the Mountains of Manizales

I've been thinking all week about how Elder Wadley has been frustrated and discouraged trying to find ways to motivate people in his area who are already members of the church to help facilitate missionary work. It is a much easier task for the missionaries to teach someone the gospel if they already feel comfortable- knowing someone who is a member, and being at least familiar with the teachings.

I thought about what kind of a member I am. Am I an example of what I believe? Do I embrace opportunities to share what I believe with my friends and neighbors? I fall short in many ways. I think one of the best ways I can help my missionary in Colombia, is by doing my part here.

I ran across this quote while I was scrolling Pinterest, and I was inspired to pray to be aware of those around me that may be in need.

(I also shared it on social media, so I am sorry if I am hitting you with it everywhere, but it really works!) I feel like I am a pretty approachable person, and I am willing to help people out whenever. But when I prayed for opportunities to serve- people came out of the woodwork. I wonder then, if these opportunities have always been there, and I have been too wrapped up in my own problems that I have not noticed?

I think this is the first step to missionary work. Being aware. It doesn't take a religious scholar with an extensive knowledge of doctrine to be a disciple of Christ. It takes someone who is willing to serve and love as He did. I am trying to be better at this. And the crazy thing- is that when you serve, you are blessed, and it feels really great- so it is always a win/win.

Here is Elder Wadley's email this week:

Hey mom! Sorry we are writing late today we went and did something in the morning. We went with some local kids to a mountain a little ways away it was pretty sick! I haven't been able to send pictures because i forgot my cord to send them. I have a few  this week though!

Our week has been alright, I was a little discouraged this last week and nervous for this week but i absolutely love the quote you sent me from Richard G Scott it fits in perfectly! Thank you for that! 

(The quote: "Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit." [Richard G. Scott, "Trust in the Lord" October 1995 General Conference])

Our week was pretty normal nothing really gnarly happened. We had a couple pretty cool things happen. We had a talent show here in the branch and it was pretty sweet. When we got there they didn't have any power haha they finally got this sketchy generator running and thats what we ran the power off of. So sometimes it cut out and the talent show was a mix of light and phone flashlights haa! We got to participate in the talent show of course, we didn't prepare anything as missionaries but were in a couple acts.

Also we had two pretty cool lessons this week. One is because it was raining really hard and they have a loud roof so we basically yelled at them. If not they could hear us ha! 

The other cool lesson is we were teaching a lady and she was giving us food. She gave us hot chocolate kinda, and she said that she was going to drink coffee and right there on the spot we taught Word of Wisdom and she ended up not drinking it and we took the rest of her coffee with us! It was super that she just gave it all up right there.

Today like i said we went up in the mountains. It was awesome we just walked up and took pictures! It was beautiful! We had lunch in a little house up there, this really nice lady made a delicious lunch and we just chilled there for awhile! I will send pictures!

Lunch break in the mountains of Manizales

Manizales, Colombia

Other than that the week was pretty normal. Like i said last week i was a little down in the dumps ha and i was reading about faith when i found this scripture in Ether 12:6 

 6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

It made me think a lot (and now especially with your quote) that we have trials in our lives for a reason. Not only so we can grow as people but to test our faith. Like it says here we have to have these trials in order to increase our faith. 

Other than that i don't have a whole lot to say! 

I love you guys!! Have a great week! The church is true!

Elder Wadley