Colombian Non-Off-Road Jeeping

This week I got ripped off in the missionary mom department.
Both of my boys were busy, and all I got was crumbs. At least Elder Jayden came through with some pretty awesome photos. If you know Jayden, you will realize the miracle of him finding a Jeep in Colombia! It isn't a "Jeep" by our standards, but not a bad substitution for his almost two year withdrawals.
Here is his e-mail:

Hey mom sorry i am on a little later today we went to a little pueblito outside of Pereira as a zone activity!

It was cool! 

The weather was awesome and we had a good time! I don't have a whole lot of time this week so i will send you some pics and i hope that makes up for it! 

Love you!

Elder Wadley

Here are some pictures of his adventure. The area looks green and pretty. The "jeep" is a little awesome too.

Pereira, Colombia

 Just a reminder, this is the Jeep Elder Wadley left back home. It's still running strong!

(Although it might be a little lonely for its original driver.)

Elder Wadley I and II, circa 2014

Fruits of Labor, and just regular Fruits.

This past week Sam and I took a trip to Ecuador. It was Sam's mission reunion (23 years), and a good excuse for us to escape for a while. We happened to be about 15 hours away from where Elder Jayden is serving, and it was a little tempting to just hop a bus to where he was. It was really cool to be in South America- in the same type of areas my boy is living in. The same sounds, smells, and sweet people.
I discovered that I have a super power! My body is super heat efficient. While everyone else was sweating puddles, I found the heat to be very comfortable, and rarely broke into a sweat. I think I was born in the wrong America.
I got to practice my Spanish a bit too, which was both exciting and terrifying. We attended church in South America. That is where I felt the closest to my Colombian boy. The church was the same there as it is back home- the same feelings, the same organization and ordinances, the same hymns with foreign words. The spirit can testify to your heart even if you don't speak the language.
Probably the coolest part about the trip is that practically every city we explored, we would run into missionaries! I was able to take photos, and send them to other missionary mama's. This church program is so inspired. These young people who serve really do stand out in a crowd. They exemplify His light, and draw people to them.
Monday came while we were driving to a city in Ecuador called Libertad. Before we left, Sam added an international plan to his phone so I would be able to catch Elder Jayden and his brother, Elder Brendan online. The other couple we traveled with have a sister missionary in Brazil, so both of us mamas were anxiously waiting for e-mails.
The wifi was sketchy, but it worked.
This post will contain both e-mails- from last week, and the one I got yesterday.
Here is Elder Wadley's e-mail from last week:

Well i am glad you are having a good time and that you have been able to practice a little bit of your 13 percent fluency in Spanish! I am totally with you South America is awesome! I absolutely love it! I am actually really jealous of the gift that you have of not sweating! I sweat like a pig here! It is honestly really gross! I only knew of one other person that never sweated while we were in the coast and i thought he had something wrong with him!

It is kinda different being in a church in south america and doing everything in spanish! I remeber my first time haha it was super different and i didn't understand anything! Really fun though! I am glad you got a little taste of what its like! 

Our week wasnt a whole ton of interesting. We have an amazing investigator that totally received her testimony and told us that everything is true! The only problem is that had to move back for a little while to her home town in a pueblito outside of Cartago but she comes down for the weekends to study and is trying to get a job and everything here so she can stay! She is really awesome! We have been able to find a little bit more people to teach this week and it has been getting a little bit better! Me and my comp have been trying to be really really obediente with everything and i am seeing the blessings! 

It has been a pretty decent week and i am loving it right now with my comp and everything! 

I will shoot you some pictures as well. We had interviews with President this week and played pool! 

Love you guys! Have a great week! 

Les quiero mucho!

Saludos a todos! 

Chao

Cuídense!

Elder Wadley

This week I greeted him in my e-mail with a slang term I learned in Ecuador from a local. "Cubo parce."  I also asked him about a couple of South American fruits that we found and tried while in Ecuador.

Pitahaya

Granadilla

Here is his e-mail from this week:

Well glad to hear that you had a good time in south america! Just to let you know it is Q´hubo parce. That is like the typical colombian greeting i guess you could say!

Also i have tried both of those fruits and they are really good! Kinda slimey but really awesome! 

My week has been alright here! Nothing really interesting! We have been getting some more people on the baptismal date and have been having a little more success in our area. We are slowly seeing the fruits of our labor i guess you could say! 

We have been able to have some really good spiritual lessons this week and my comp has been learning a lot, he just needs to be able to refine it a little bit and he will be really good! 

Here in Colombia there are skateparks and skaters it is not as big as it is in the states but it is here! In Medellín there are two skateparks that i know of and here close in Pereira there is another.

Oh i wanted to give you a quick heads up that i started Doctrine and Covenants this week and it has been awesome! It is pure revelation and it has been a good little bit of reading! DyC 3:10

But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work;

It hit me this week, not because i have broken a commandment or anything big but i haven't been the best with the area book and a couple other things like that and this scripture hit me saying that i can get better, repent, and that i am still called to be a missionary and that these little things are important but are not going to hold me back like crazy!

Well i don't have much to say. I am good! Having fun and working at the same time! I am glad you got to see a little bit of how south america is! Its awesome!

Love you!

Elder Wadley

PS Here is a taxi that caught on fire and blew up a little.

After spending a week with the Ecuadorean people, I fell in love with them.
They are humble and pure, with an innocent kindness. Those who have the least, smile the most. My heart is heavy that in four months Elder Wadley's service in South America will come to a close, and it will be time for him to leave these people.
I am quite sure this farewell will be harder on him than the one that separated him from us.
My excitement at seeing him again will be tinged with the painful tenderness I know he will feel from leaving the country and people he grew to love.
140 days.

I had a hard time editing the photos this week. ((shudder))

A busy boring week here, and a busy, boring week in Colombia. (Just how this mama likes it!) I got a few interesting photos though. Elder Wadley's email explains them a bit.
This boy has officially five months left in Colombia. Or 150 days. :)
It has been simultaneously the longest and shortest two years of my life, and probably his too.
Here is his short update (in response to my short e-mail to him) for the week:

Its kinda funny to see that both of our emails kinda suck. They are just short and give a brief recap of what happened ha! Well at least we are on the same page! 

Well this week wasn't a whole lot of interesting we found a really good new investigator and she is understanding everything and progressing really well. The only problem is that she doesn't really like it here in Cartago and might be going back to her house and it is about 3 hours away in a small town where there aren't missionaries or a church:(

I had an intercambio (or exchange, where they trade companions for the day to switch it up) with the zone leaders this last couple days and it went pretty good. The picture i sent to you is while we were in the intercambio we walked by this place that had a ton of nasty spiders! Then these people took us in the back of their like moving truck and that is why the picture is blurry. Also found this lady in the street and this is what her bag said!! Haha!

Other than that nothing really interesting has happened! My comp is doing good and learning quite a bit! I am also learning and growing everyday! 

I will let you know if there is anything else that happened!

Love you!

Elder Wadley

THESE ARE SPIDERS. NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Sometimes translation gets lost.

My boy just hops into the back of a random van. Isn't this how people get kidnapped?

Elder Wadley, Elder Flores

Avoiding an Earthquake

Earlier this week I started to get texts from people telling me that "I am praying for your missionary" I had to pretend like I knew what was going on, and frantically started scanning news sites. Elder Jayden's brother is serving in Indiana, and they had several tornadoes rip through the state. Missionary moms get pretty good at sleuthing things out, so I found a local news site and then google mapped the distance between the tornado zone and Brendan's area. It was pretty far away. We got an e-mail later that day from his mission president saying all the missionaries were safe and accounted for.

A couple of days later Colombia was hit with an earthquake.

I repeated the same process, and Elder Jayden was in a safe area as well.
I can honestly say that I have never been worried about either one of my boys as they serve their missions. I know without a doubt that they are being watched over and protected.
This does not exempt them from every tragedy or exclude them from consequences of their bad decisions, but they do have extra angels assigned to keep them safe.
I was happy to hear from Elder Wadley this week:

Well this week was kinda sucky. We are trying to find a lot of people to teach and we haven't had a whole lot of luck this week. Not to mention that it has been dumping rain on us every time we have been outside! It has been raining hard lately but it has been a kinda nice break from the heat that we have had!

I got my new comp this week and he is starting to come out of his shell a little bit. He is a really good guy and super nice and enjoys every little bit of the mission. His name is Elder Castillo (from Peru) and he has only been a member of the church for about a year and a half. We are getting along good and having fun! 

This week has been good even though we have been walking a lot and getting soaked! We have been able to teach and find some potential new investigators! Other than that the week hasn't been that interesting. But no worries because i will send you a good amount of pictures to kinda make up for the lack of email material:) 

Oh and by the way the earthquake, i didn't feel anything i don't think that it even got close to here. 

Love you! Stay safe!

Elder Wadley

True to his word, he did send some really cute pictures this week.

President Calderon, Elder Wadley and Sister Calderon

Elder Wadley, Elder Flores

"Elder Menjivar, Elder Herrera, Me, Elder Diaz"

"Elder Diaz, me, Elder Ralphs with Krispy Kreme- Elder Anderson was there also but not in the picture"

"The 4 misioneros en Cartago"

As a side note- Sam and I are heading to Ecuador soon for his mission reunion. The area Jayden is serving in right now, Cartago, is the closest he could be in his whole mission- to where we will be. I am not sure if this is a sign or not? Hahaha! I do not want to distract him from his work, but I sure would like to be a fly on the wall and just watch him teach from across the street or something.

Internets, let Sam know that if I go missing in Ecuador for a couple of days, not to worry.

Super Short Email Week

I don't mind so much that Elder Wadley's e-mails lately have been truncated obligatory afterthoughts. I know he is in panic mode. His mission is winding down and he is trying to squeeze everything he can out of his limited time.
I would still like to hear about what is going on with him, but I know that in 170ish days I will have him sitting on our couch again, and he can tell me in person.
Isn't that crazy?
I can't wait to smell Medellín. :)
Here is his e-mail this week:

This week was a lot of bus rides. We had to travel to Medellín for zone conference and right now i am in Medellín again because we have transfers here! I don't have a whole lot of time to write today but i promise that next week will be better and that i will send pictures!

My comp is getting transferred and i am going to stay in Cartago for a little bit longer! I am here in Medellín to pick up my new comp and take him back to our area. I was able to meet up with Elder Anderson again and he is currently sitting next to me. I will shoot you some pictures next week on everything! Sorry i don't have much time!

Love you!Elder Wadley

Mom note: distance from Cartago to Medellín is 152 miles, or a little over 5 hours on a bus, one way. Sounds terrible! If you have never been on a South American bus, there is rarely air conditioning, most people don't believe in deodorant, and I have never been on a bus with a bathroom.

I will have to ask him more about the 20+ hours he just endured. :/

Puking on a Colombian Bus

This week gave me a little panic moment.
Missionary Monday came around. I usually start doing my housework, and see how much crap I can get done before my phone chimes to let me know that Elder Wadley's e-mail came through.
I am usually loading laundry, and it gives me the perfect excuse to sit down and read his e-mail with a treat or something.
(I get that my life is totally lame.)
Anyway- Monday came, and I kept doing chores and pretty soon I ran out of chores, and still no e-mail.
I did the math, and it was like 9:00 pm in Colombia, and I figured at that point that I wasn't getting an e-mail, BUT WHY?
You recall last time the e-mail didn't come it was because his whole area was on lock-down because the city was overtaken by guerrilla rebels.
So I did what any concerned mother would do- I searched the internet for news from Colombia, and I posted in the Facebook group page.
Nothing in the news. That was good.
Another mom came through for me on the Facebook page, and said that the missionaries had a zone conference. None of the other moms got e-mails either.
So I slept that night.
In a very clean house, might I add.
The next day Elder Wadley was able to e-mail!
Happy day!
Here is his e-mail:

I miss going camping. Well i mean sometimes it feels like we are camping because sometimes we don't have water or anything like that for a while but its not the same kind of environment.

This last week has been pretty interesting. I have been having a couple really cool experiences in my personal study and have been getting a lot of answers to prayers and questions that i have had for the last little bit. I can testify that God knows exactly what we need and in the moment that we need it! Also yesterday we traveled to Medellín for a conference with Elder Clayton. He is the president of the quorum of the seventies. He was really nice and his wife was really loving! 

We left Sunday night at about 12:45 at night and got to Medellín at about 5ish! We had the conference and came back the same Monday, thats why i am writing today. We left Medellín at 5 and got back to our house at about 11:45 at night. We were really exhausted! Everybody was dying on that bus as well. It was the worst bus ride i have been on in my whole mission! Everybody was basically puking. It reminded me of the road to Hana drive we took in Hawaii haha! 

We all got back in one piece though! 

Other that nothing really interesting has happened this week! I got to see all of my friends from the office which was nice! I miss them a lot! 

Glad to hear that you had a fun time camping! I don't really have a whole lot to say i will see if i have any pictures i can shoot you! 

Love you lots!

Elder Wadley

I did not get photos. And I wrote and asked him a couple of questions while I thought he was still online. He did not answer. I suspect his e-mail time is limited in this area. That's okay. I know he is working hard, doing what he is supposed to be doing.

And- I did a little math- I get to see him in 190 days!
That sure is better than the 730 days we started out with.

Elder Anderson, Elder Wadley

"God gives us each a bunch of gifts and it is up to us to act upon them." -Elder Wadley

This week I finished reading the Book of Mormon. In the closing book the prophet Moroni speaks about spiritual gifts. This is what I wrote Elder Wadley about this week. It is nice that I can share the things that I am learning with him. In my study, I found this really great quote about spiritual gifts from Marvin J. Ashton (it is kind of long):

"One of the great tragedies of life, it seems to me, is when a person classifies himself as someone who has no talents or gifts. When, in disgust or discouragement, we allow ourselves to reach depressive levels of despair because of our demeaning self-appraisal, it is a sad day for us and a sad day in the eyes of God. For us to conclude that we have no gifts when we judge ourselves by stature, intelligence, grade-point average, wealth, power, position, or external appearance is not only unfair but unreasonable.

From D&C 46:11–12, we have this truth: “For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.”

God has given each of us one or more special talents. It is up to each of us to search for and build upon the gifts which God has given. We must remember that each of us is made in the image of God, that there are no unimportant persons. Everyone matters to God and to his fellowmen.

Taken at random, let me mention a few gifts that are not always evident or noteworthy but that are very important. Among these may be your gifts—gifts not so evident but nevertheless real and valuable.

Let us review some of these less-conspicuous gifts: the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep ; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost.

We must remember that to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. It is our right and responsibility to accept our gifts and to share them. God’s gifts and powers are available to all of us."

I thought about what spiritual gifts that Jayden possesses and I shared with him what I thought they were.
It is sometimes hard to pick out what your own gifts are. Each of us are responsible to discover what our spiritual strengths are, and to share these talents and gifts with others to bring them the light of Christ.
Here is his e-mail this week:

Hey there mom! This week has been a little weird and hard. In regard to the work this has been the hardest area of my whole mission. The ward here doesn't really have the desire to work with us or help us. We are trying to get them to come and help us and be part of missionary work but its as if they just don't want to. I have had a couple of other little problems and whatnot so it has been hard. We are still working and trying to find people and we are slowly getting there but still on the hunt i guess you could say. It has also been a really good learning experience for me though. I have actually been reflecting on some stuff this past week. And i have been reading my patriarchal blessing and trying to pick out the promises and spiritual gifts and learn more and try to develop them more while i am here. So kinda funny that you mention that because that is exactly something that i have been trying to do lately. Because it is true that God gives us each a bunch of gifts and it is up to us to act upon them.

Other than that this week has been good. Hermana Calderón sent me two boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts for a birthday package and they got here right as we started our fast on Saturday haha! They were really good though! 

Also what i have seen this week is that even though we have had kinda a hard time God is always blessing us! We haven't had a whole lot of luck with new people this last little bit and God put a guy and his family in our path. He is from Cali (Colombia) and all of his family are members! He knows the missionaries and everything and is a really awesome guy! We are going to try and visit him a little more often so he can progress towards being baptized! 

The week has been pretty normal and hot haha but good! I am liking it more and more here in Cartago. 

I love you guys!

Elder Wadley

No photos this week.
This is an old one, and if I don't post some type of photo then blogger defaults my own face (profile picture) for social media.

To contrast Elder Wadley to Elder Wadley (his younger brother) this week, it is just nice to have a coherent missionary e-mail update.