September 17, 2012

Hello My Wonderful Family!

HOLY COW! Another week has FLOWN BY so fast.... Is time flying by to anyone else?! Cause it sure is going that way here in Ottumwa. Today is cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. I really hope that happens, because I heard that Midwest thunderstorms are AWESOME and i haven't experienced one, yet. :) I am really hoping that I will.

 

Alexia was baptized by her father on Saturday- how cute is that! They are so cute, the WHOLE FAMILY! I just love them all to pieces. I cannot believe how fast time is flying! AND Brittany is getting baptized this weekend!! We are so excited for her!!! AWE!!! And then the next week we have the Relief Society Broadcast and then General Conference. I am SO VERY EXCITED to be able to hear from our Prophet in the next couple weeks. Life is so good, isn't it?! I feel like we are just so very blessed to be here on the earth at this time. We have a Prophet who leads and guides the Church of Jesus Christ and we have the Priesthood on the earth again AND we have another Witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Book of Mormon. This is such an exciting time, I love it!

 

Alexia's baptism went so well! Ashley, who was baptized on the 6th, gave a talk on baptism and Sister Peery gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and she related it to having a big warm blanket that she can have with her always. It was so cute! Ashley shared with us a little parable or... i cannot remember the other word. Anyways, she related our life here on earth as a roller coaster. She said, "Life is like a roller coaster, but when you have Christ by your side on the roller coaster of life, you don't have to be afraid the steep hills with His sitting by your side." How true is that?! I have had my share of going down steep hills or loops in the roller coaster of my life. But I have realized, that with Christ by my side, I don't have to fear. He will be right there all the way.

 

I know that this Church is true! I am so thankful for this chance I have to be the Lords Servant and to be on His errand bringing souls unto Him. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I hope you all have a great week!!! I love you ALL!! And pray for you daily!

 

XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXO

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

September 10, 2012

Hola!

Aloha!

O-Lo!

HELLO!

MY FAMILY!!!!

THIS PAST WEEK WAS AWESOME!!! ASHLEY GOT BAPTIZED!!!! WHAT-WHAT?!?!?! It was definitely a trying week for her up till her baptism. I must say, I feel like more and more I am learning why I was called her to Ottumwa. And I feel like, because of the Lord, I am able to do all these hard things. Well, at least I thought they would be hard, but they really aren't at all. All I do it put my trust in the Lord and He helps me through, I surely can depend on Him! Which I am so very, very thankful for.

 

Funny story of the week. So, the picture with me, Hermana Penrose and Sister Short has a lot of meaning to it. So, she asked us if for service, we would come with her to wash her dog. (she has a HUGE golden retriever- his name is Rusty) Of course we would love to! Especially since Hna Penrose and I LOVE DOGS! :) so, we loaded him up in her husbands truck and took him to the car wash that actually has a dog wash attached to it (pretty funny right?! i thought so at least..) Well, we get there and Rusty has pooped in the back of the truck... SO NASTY! It smelts so SOOOOOO BAD!!! BAH!!! No big deal though because we were at a car was and could rinse it out when we were all done washing him. Well, we did just that, we pulled into the car wash to wash the bed of the truck out. But, when we got done.... we couldn't find the keys to the truck... HAHAHA! They were locked in the truck... and the keys were in the ignition. HAHAHA! Lucky for us, Hna Penrose had our phone with her. She called Brother Short to bring her the spare keys. It was so stinkin funny! And little Brynn (she is 4) and Rusty and I went running around the parkinglot and just being goofy. It was so great!

 

So, have I told you about Brittany?! I dont think I have. Brittany is a referral from the family that got baptized on Sept 1st. She is actually Mary's age. (which is crazy because that is how old Ashley is too, they went to school together) Anyways, we have been teaching her and she is just eating everything up! She is getting baptized on the 22nd. She is so stinken excited! She told us about an experience she had with her Dad. So, after we invited her to be baptized, we could tell that she was really excited, but something wasnt quite right. She told us the next day why. She was really hesitant to get baptized because she didnt know how her dad would react to her wanting to join the church. And suprising to her, when she talked to him about it, he shared with her some concerns, but he was really happy for her. Well, after our second meeting with her she shared with us something really cool that happend. She said that her dad is a HUGE Glenn Beck fan and that he watches his shows all the time.. Well, on Weds or Thurs night Glen did a special episode about "Mormonism". She said that it resolved a lot of the concerns her dad had. She said that she knows that God knew that her dad needed to hear that and that she knows it was from God. I am so very thankful for her example to me of realizing the hand of the Lord in her life. It was so cool to see her just beaming from ear to ear saying "I know that God did that for me and for my dad!" How amazing is that?!

 

I know that Heavenly Father puts people or things in our way to remind us of how much He loves us! I know that He lives and loves us!

I love all of you and I hope you have a great week!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

 

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

September 4, 2012

Hello Family!

 

Sooo... this past week was AWESOME! David and Jessie were BAPTIZED!!!! AWWWW!!!!! It was so exciting and very comical at the same time. :) David is a hoooot!! He actually reminds me a lot of Will! Hermana Penrose and David are really into computers and video games and stuff and then there is me and Jessie. Her and I get along really well! She is a sweetheart. We are teaching their daughter Alexia too and she will be getting baptized in the next couple of weeks (hopefully by her dad!!- how cool will that be?!) We are super excited for them. ANDDDD!!! Jessie, being the amazing little missionary that she is,  gave one of her friends a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited her to the bapstism AND THEN she came to church on Sunday too! Her name is Brittany and we have a lesson with her tomorrow.  Also, on Thursday Ashley is getting baptized too! I dont remember if i mentioned this in the last letter, but her mom was less-active and came back into activity all at the same time Ashley was taking the lessons. Ashley's dad is not a member as of now, but we are really praying that he will come around soon. He is an amazing dad and he actually reminds me a LOT of my dad too! And Dereca reminds me of Tracy Moore (funny, right?!) hahah! Anyways, so there are a LOT of really good things happening in Ottumwa (the O-T-T is what people call it here)

 

GUESS WHAT?!?! So, every week we get an email from our mission President and all of the upcoming baptisms. So, it has the name of the person being baptized and also their baptismal date. THERE ARE 2 IN DES MOINES!!! I am so excited for the Hermanas down there. That Branch is really ready for another baptism and I am really excited that there are some coming up.

 

This past week was really just crazy! I felt like a chicken with my head cut off. We did seen a miracle though. So, there is this family (little hispanic family, and I just LOVE them) Well, he is a member and his wife is not. I met them once when we were on exchanges here like 4ish months ago. ANYWAYS, so,I was asking Hna Penrose about them and if they had seen them much and she said no and that it is now really hard to get a hold of them. Well, we prayed and decided to go stop by. We got there and she answered the door and just let us in right away. When we went there before we shared a video about the Temple Dedication for the El Salvador Temple because that is where she is from. She LOVED it and she forgot to save it to her desktop and wasnt able to find it. So, we happily showed her where it was at  and then showed her around the website a little more. We shared some of the Bible Videos that the Church has made. Have you seen them?! They are so good! And a really good missionary tool too ;). She really liked the videos too. We asked her if there is any service that she needs done or anything that we can do to help her family. She said that she really needed help finding a bedroom. So, this weekend (hopefully), one of our members who is from Mexico, will be helping us finish the room. We are so very excited to go serve them! I LOVE SERVICE!  

 

I am so very thankful for this Gospel. I have been thinking a lot about the scripture "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God". I feel Gods love for the people we serve and I know that I am doing exactly what the Lord would be doing. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I love reading from its pages and discovering new things and just seeing how much Heavenly Father loves us. I know that Families are Eternal! I love you all!!! Have a great week!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Love,

Hermana Wadsworth

August 27, 2012

HELLO WONDERFUL FAMILY!!!

 

So, I have been transferred to the great City of Ottumwa, Iowa. It has been great! A little bit of an adjustment though... I must say. I spent half of my mission just working with Hispanics and, I am not going to lie, it is kind of hard for me to talk to Americans. Isn't that weird?! Anyways, it is a lot of fun! The town is really small compared to Des Moines and I feel like I am already starting to get used to getting around town. Oh, ALSO, fun fact! We drive a truck! I feel so legit! hahaha! I love it!

 

Guess what?! We have 3 people getting baptized in the next week and a half. Jessie and David are getting baptized on the 1st and Ashley is getting baptized on the 6th. I love them so much! Even though I haven't been a part of their teachings really, I have such a love for them all! 3 of my brothers and sisters are being baptized!!! It is so humbling to be around them. I can tell that they are happier people. I ask Hermana Penrose all the time about their stories and what brought them to this point and it is just amazing to me that as they have showed faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repented and prepared themselves to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost it has just been amazing to me! And we have more people well on their way to being baptized as well. :) I will send pictures next week for sure.

 

This past week was such a whirlwind from everyone in the branch wanting to say goodbye to me and wanting us to come over to see them and stuff... and then coming to Ottumwa and jumping in with both feet and WOW! This past week really feels like a dream. Hahaha! :)

 

So, i know that i have mentioned in my emails before about "Los Hombres". Well, one of them is a less-active that we visit and on Monday night when we got done visiting them, i said goodbye to them and stuff and all of a sudden, this lady from across the street on the 2nd floor of this apartment bldg yells at us "HEY! ARE YOU JEHOVAH WITNESSES?!" i said, "NO, WE ARE MISSIONARIES FOR THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS!" She said "OH, LISTEN I REALLY NEED TO TALK TO YOU, CAN YOU COME OVER!?!" I said, "YES!" So, we went over there. She just started telling us about her life story about how she has been abused by boyfriends and stuff, she has 3 kids, and how she has been a member of quite a few churches and stuff and how then at the beginning of this year, her daughter who was a heroine addict was hospitalized because i guess she had tried to commit suicide. And she just asked us, why, why did this happen to her and her family. If God loves us why does He let things happen to us. I had NO idea what to say, I just wanted to cry. But then I opened my mouth and talked to her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can receive that healing power and that God really does love us. She was looking so intensely in my eyes and she was like, I want to learn more about how you know that. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that He has provided a way for us to be happy in this life and I know He wants us to be. We just have to trust Him and lean and learn of Him.

 

I love being a missionary! I think I say that in every letter, but  it is because it is so true!!! It is well worth the sacrifice. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent me here to the Iowa Des Moines Mission! It really is the best mission in the world!!!

 

I love you all! I hope you have a great week!! XOXOXOXOXOXOX

 

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

 

 

 

PICS: Me and Hna Baird went to this YUMMY ice cream place. (I got a chocolate malt) YUMMMYYY!!!

MTC BUDDIES!!! That is Elder Spackman, he is a spanish Elder that came out with us! We love him!

ALL THE HERMANAS IN THE MISSION!!: Hermana Baird, Me, Hermana McGrath (she went to Des Moines), Hemana Collazos, Hermana Hunter and MY COMPANION, Hermana Penrose!

August 20, 2012

Hola Familia!

 

So, I am finally getting "the Boot" i will be transferred this week to a new area. I am having very mixed emotions about it, but i know that it is for the best. I had a great last Sunday with the branch too! This past week just was a really good one! We went to the Fair, moved apartments, found a couple really cool new investigators, learned a lot, ate a really good salad from the Marketplace... life was really good this week. :)

 

I am really sad to be leaving Des Moines though... I have been here forever and have come to love the people so much! I guess that is what happens, you leave the people at home you love to come on a mission, then you meet new people- love them! and then you have to leave. Good thing I will be coming back to visit the BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD!!! (which is Des Moines, Iowa for those of you who need clarification)

 

Holy cow! The fair was so fun! Everyone in our Zone was there including some other Zones AND President and Sister Jergensen were there too (my mission President) It was really fun! We enjoyed a really long corn dog, a deep fried snickers bar (SOOO YUMMY-PS) and a deep fried hot dog rapped in bacon. hahaha!!! Hermana Baird and I didnt eat for the rest of the day and went on a nice little jog the next day.HAHA! We also saw a lot of the animals. Hermana Baird got her horse fix... well, kind of, she said she really misses riding them. :) Anyways, it was a blast!

 

So, here is something that I have had on my mind a LOT this week! One of our new investigators is from Cuba. And if you know anything about Cuba, you know that they are a Communism country. Well, he was telling us how the people in Cuba have no idea really who Jesus Christ is. They cant read the Bible and if you hand out any kind of material about Jesus Christ, you get thrown into prison (which happened to him). When we introduced the Book of Mormon to him, he just kept saying, " I have never heard of this Book." We both testified that it really is what it says it is, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. He just ate it all up. We read the Introduction with him and he was just in awe about it all. He just had such a firm grip on the Book of Mormon and just thanked us over and over again about sharing this knowledge that we have with him. We both bore testimony again to the truthfulness to the Book of Mormon and that is why we invite everyone to read it and then to pray about it so that they can receive this witness for themselves. Because that is how we gained our testimony and knowledge of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  Then, we invited him to offer the closing prayer. In the back of all of the pamphlets that we hand out there is a little explanation of how we pray. He read it over, and than began his prayer. It was the most simple, heartfelt prayer i think i have ever heard in my life. Then, he ended the prayer and looked at us and said, "I have never prayed before, not like that", we asked him how it felt and he said, "Magnificent, beautiful,... i dont have many words to describe how i feel right now" WOW! Hermana Baird and i after that lesson were just blown away! That was worth it! Even if we didnt teach anyone else in our entire mission, that would make our missions worth it!

 

How many of us really are thankful for the religious freedom in which we have?! How many of us read the Book of Mormon as the BEST Book, the BEST gift that the Lord has given us?! How many of us really pray with all our heart for the people we love and for the things in which we need?! I know that i have not been as grateful for the freedoms in which we have, especially religious freedom. Or about reading the Book of Mormon with a thankful heart that we have another Testament of Jesus Christ and the reality of His Atonement. I need to change the way I pray to my Heavenly Father with all my heart. My life has been changed in so many ways through my experiences I have had here in Des Moines! There are so many people who are starving for the truth! So many amazing people here in Des Moines and in Iowa! I love being a missionary so much! It makes me so happy!

 

I know that Jesus Christ lives! I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, who loves us so much! I know that the Book of Mormon is true.  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints is the Lords Church, and that it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that we have a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson who leads and guides the Lords Church on earth today! I know that the Plan of Salvation is real and that it is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that Families are Forever! I love you all! Thank you for your letters and all the prayers and support in which i feel. I hope you all have a great week! Dont forget that you have a missionary that LOVES YOU in Iowa!!!! :)

 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

August 13, 2012

Hola Familia!!

 

It is a beautiful morning here in Des Moines. It is a little over-cast with a slight chance of showers. It is about 65 degrees outside which is just perfect weather to bust out the cardigan and we are getting ready to head to the State Fair with our Zone! (expect pictures next week!) This week has been CRAZY! Hermana Baird and I have been busy finding new investigators, packing, visiting less-actives, going to dinner AND lunch appointments(so much food...), and getting up every morning at 6 to go running. This past week seemed to fly by faster than the others. It is really sad cause i want time to slow down just a little more so that I can soak up more time with the Des Moines 5th Branch! I love the people here SO MUCH!!! It is going to be hard to leave, but I know that I will love the people in my next area too. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! I cannot imagine my life being any different right now. So, this morning Hermana Baird and I were talking about this and how we cannot imagine anything else. Well, we came to the conclusion that even on the hardest days/times of our mission, we think we are doing more good on those hard days than on our best days at home. I feel like it is so true! Because even days that all of our appointments fall through, the work of the Lord still moves forward and we know that we have planted a little seed in the hearts of the people here. It is awesome! I love being the Lords servant, even if I am only planting seeds, it is worth it!

 

So, last Wednesday we had Zone Meeting and it was so bright and sunny and the weather was perfect. Well, Hermana Baird and I went to a library to do our language study (which was an hour) Well, by the time we got out, we saw these HUGE STORM CLOUDS ROLLING IN! And we were going to an appointment and it was only like a 5 minute drive away... by the time we got there, the clouds were over us and it started POURING DOWN!!!! Like really bad! We were soaked by the time we got to our appointment only to find out that his wife wasn't home so we left... well, we saw her pull up while we were leaving and we called her and she said that we can come over the next day. So, we drove around the corner and the Tornado sirens went off!!!! So scary! haha! We ended up going back to their house and teaching them a lesson till the storm stopped. (by the way, there was no tornado, just tornado like winds)  There is the crazy story for the day. :)

 

This past week has been a great one! It is crazy to see the difference between people's priorities. We were out finding people to teach and we met this guy who was going to school and playing soccer and everything like that. He said that he didnt really have time to pray or to do anything church related because he was just so busy! It was really sad to hear because I know that when we put God first in our lives that everything goes better. Our days really are better! Well, right after talking to him, we found a family that were all outside working on their roof. We started talking to this guy, his name is JR and he just got out of being in prison for like 3 years.  He said that the most important thing to him is his family and his relationship with God. We have a follow-up appointment with him. :) He was really cool!

 

Anyways, I sure do love all of you! I love getting you letters and hearing how life is going. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLLIE-POP!!!

 

I know that this Church is true! I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the word! I know that Heavenly Father loves us so very much and He wants us to be happy and successful in this life, that is why He gave us commandments. I know that families are forever!

 

I love you all! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

 

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

August 6, 2012

BUENOS DIAS!!!

OH HOW SWEET THIS WORK IS!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! IT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! EVERY MINUTE!!!!  Ok, I hope that you can really feel my excitement that i have for this work. I really, really REALLY love being a missionary! This morning, I woke up on cloud 15 just super-duper happy to be a missionary! I have felt this way for a while, but today i feel like i am bursting at the seams!

 

This past week was a good one. We are looking for a new apartment because the 1st ward is getting 2 sets of missionaries and our apartment is in 1st area so we are getting the boot. Which is ok because we dont really work around where we live. We are looking for a more central location.  So, hopefully by today or tomorrow we will know for sure which apartment we are going to move to....

 

Ok, so on Saturday, we had a service project with all of our district to go help out at the Iowa games... YAY! Saturday was running and cycling which is good because like 2ish weeks ago, we did service for the Iowa game and we kept score for basketball from 7:30 in the morning to 8:30 at night with about 5 mins breaks in between each one... I am ok to not do that again... haha! But aways, so we were outside and all of a sudden, all of these clouds started rolling in... and they were greenish (which is sign for a Tornado!!) It was POURING RAIN SO BAD! I was DRENCHED!!! And since we are obedient, crazy missionaries, i backed out our car... which means I was even more drenched. HAHAH! It was so fun through... afterwards, it was scary at first cause we thought it was a tornado. Mer! It was nothing.

 

So, last night, we had such a great lesson with some former investigators! The Spirit was so strong and Hermana Baird and I just left that lesson on cloud 20! Since I am a really slow typer, I cannot write the whole staroy, but i will write a part of it that I think will really help everyone who reads my emails. Jose and Carolina are their names, they have 3 beautiful girls! Jose, after the lesson was over for the most part he said "I cannot change..." We then asked him. "Jose, do you believe in Jesus Christ?" He said, "Yes!"  Then Hermana Baird and I bore testimony that we really can change, we can become better people through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can pray and ask for help to change and He will help us. I know that this is true with all of my heart! I have seen it in the life of my family, in the life of others and in my own life! No matter what we have done, Jesus Christ still invites us to "Come unto Him". He loves us so very much! He desires for our happiness more than anything.

 

I know that this Church is true! I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God sent to us so that we will know that Jesus really is the Christ, what greater than out of the mouth of two or three witnesses?! :)

 

I love you all! Have a great week! XOXOXOXOX

 

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

July 23, 2012

Oooppss... HOLA!

 

Mi Familia- 

MAN! I cannot get over how good looking my family is! Mom, thank you for the pics at Will's Birthday, they made me happy! ALSO I loved seeing the pic of Michelle with Ted, Rex, Wally, Tim, Jared, Kristen, and  Mitch. It warmed my heart to see my friends too! haha! what a treat! MICHELLE- you are so lucky that you get to go on a mission, it is seriously the greatest thing ever! AND you are going to LOOOVVVEEE the MTC! I sure did! The Spirit is so strong there, i love it!

 

This past week seemed to fly by faster than the last. I know that I mention this every letter, but it really does. I feel like I just wrote you all a letter like yesterday. Is time flying by for anyone else?! I might just be super cray-cray! Anyways, I sure do love you all! Thank you for all your letters and pictures, I am going to be writing you all back ASAP! I promise.

 

Well, this past week was definitely a stretching week for me. I am not sure if I have mentioned this in the past, but I have not gone finding a lot on my mission (that is when you go door to door) and I am really rusty at it. This past week we had to stop teaching a lot of our investigators because they were just not progressing, not reading the Book of Mormon, nothing! It is really sad because we know that through the Book of Mormon we can come to know our Savior more and that the same church that Christ established when He was on the earth has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon really is the keystone to our religion, if you take the Book of Mormon away we have no religion. Anyways, we we had to go finding and it is hard for me for some reason, to go up to a perfect stranger and talk to them. HAHA! I was so good at that when I was at home, why should now be any different?! Well, thankfully Hermana Baird has done her share of finding and she helped me a lot. It was really cool. We set goals of how many people we felt we could find in the looted time that we had to find! And guess what?! We hit our goal of finding people and also giving our Books of Mormon. We met this really cool guy that was working on his car outside. We both bore testimony of how the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. He said that he didn't want to listen to anything that we say until he talks to his family about it. We then were able to bare testimony of how important that is, to have goals and to work together with your family toward the same goal. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it with his family. He accepted the invitation and in the next week, Hermana Baird  and I will go back to their home and hopefully, teach their family about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!  I have such a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that it truly does bless our families.

 

I have been learning a lot about myself through teaching others. It has been such a blessing to be a missionary and to be able to teach and testify of the Savior and His atonement. He has changed my life and He has changed the lives of the people I have taught and I know that He can change your life too. All He asks for is a "broken heart and a contrite spirit". Turn to Him!

 

I know that this Church is true. I know that we truly can be changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! I know that He loves us! I know that God loves us perfectly and that He provided a way to return to live with Him again, which is through His Son! I love you all! And I pray for you daily!

 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Con Amor,

Hermana Wadsworth

July 16, 2012

HOLA FAMILIA!

 

Well, another week has gone by super-duper fast! Hermana Draney went home to Wyoming and Hermana Baird and I are still here in Des Moines! This past week was a good one. Hermana Draney, bless her heart, got sick on Monday night and we were in the apartment all day on Tuesday as well. I learned a lot in those couple days. I love Hermana Draney and Hermana Baird so much! They are both such great missionaries! We had appointments that we had to cancel but it was so cool to see the people in our branch reach out to us in love. Hermana Gomez, who is the new Relief Society President, came over to our apartment and dropped off fruit for Hermana Baird and I so that we wont get sick and then some pills for Hermana Draney to take. It was such a tender mercy of the Lord! Hermana Draney was such an AMAZING missionary and I learned a lot from her. But you know what,  Hermana Baird and I are ready and determined to take what we learned from this past transfer and to "thrust in our sickles with ALL our might" and to bring others unto Christ.

 

There is a lady that we visit basically every week that we just love to pieces! She has been through a lot in her life and it almost brings you to tears. She has been taken advantage of because of her wealth and she has been walked all over by her children. Well, Hermana Baird and I went to her little apartment to visit her the other day and she asked us if we believe in miracles. We told her absolutely we do! She then went on to tell us that she doesnt believe in them. It was really sad to hear all of her reasons why she doesn't believe in them and that she thinks that God just doesnt care about her at all- which is not true! She said that every time she is feeling sad- someone from the Church would call her. She also said that when we started coming to visit her it was like two Angels walking in to her apartment. I found this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that I absolutely love about the love of God, it says, "The thing that God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don't expect it and often feel they don't deserve it". I know that is true. I have seen it in my own life and in the lives of others. One day i was having a really bad day and I was feeling alone and do you know that happened?! Hermana Draney took me to the park and we blew bubbles! I felt not only that she loved me, but also that God loved me and He was showing me His love through another person. I hope and pray that every single one of us can always remember that when we have a thought to call or text someone, that we act on it! Because it is a prompting from the Holy Ghost and you could be acting as the hand of the Lord in that moment and you will be an answer to prayer. Also, for those who are the ones that feel like they are alone, I want you to know that you are never alone! That is what is so beautiful and perfect about that Atonement, "that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we dont have to do so" (also by Elder Holland) http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#none-were-with-him 

 

I feel so very blessed to be part of this great work in bringing others to Christ! I am so very humbled to be a servant of our Lord. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I have been learning so much about the love of God and I know that one of the ways that He shows us His love is by calling Prophets to lead and guide us through these times. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is the God's Prophet on the earth today and that this is His Church! I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

 

Dios Les Bendiga!

 

Con Amor,

Hermana Wadsworth

July 30, 2012

Hello My Wonderful Family!

 

So, I have some really cool experiences and blessings that happened this past week which I am super excited to share with ya'll!

 

The week started our like every other, P-day: cleaning, writing letters, shopping, emailing.... etc. We had a few appointments that fell through that night, which was really sad! But since we are missionaries, we have a back-up plan for everything. Our back-up plan this day was to go heart attack our members. We had a couple this last week that our Branch President said that we should just go over to their house and just give them some extra support. So, off we went heart-attacking. :) We went to one families house to heart attack them, I will just say that the mothers name is Sarai. And we did a couple other familias too.

 

The next day, Martes (Tuesday) we went finding and found some pretty awesome potentials, and set up some appointments. Well, Hermana Sarai called us not too long later. She said "Hermanas, I need you help! Will you please come over tonight to help me?!" We told her we would. When we got their she was making cards to sent to her sister in Guadamala. See, her mom just past away about a month ago and wanted to make cards to send to everyone that helped out with the funeral and stuff since she was not able to go back. So, we helped her, but we didnt finish it all in one night... we took cards home to start helping out. This reminded me a lot about all of our friends and family that helped out the week before Dad's funeral. I pondered a lot about this and I felt so humbled to be helping Hermana Sarai with everything because I know what she was feeling and everything. We shared some stories about what happened after both of our parents died and WOW! It was such an amazing experience for me. Words cannot even describe it!

 

Then Miercoles we had an AMAZING lesson with an investigator, her name is Yessimar! She is such an amazing person and has such a strong desire to follow what the Lord wants. It is really sweet to be teaching her and hopefully next week we will start teaching her and her husband.  Well, that night we went back to see Hermana Sarai and she shared with us some stories from her mission in El Salvador! She is hilarious! She said that she really didnt want to gain weight when she was on her mission and that everyone in El Salvador LOVES to make bread and give it to them.... well, she would take a piece of bread and put it in her bag... and then when they would ask if she wanted more she would just say, "no thank you, that was great! Thank you so much!" HAHA! And then she would feed it to all of the dogs that just roam the streets of El Salvador.

 

Ok, now, Jueves (Thursday) we had an awesome district meeting! One of the Elders gave a training about the Plan of Salvation and it wasnt anything extravagant, but I just felt so much peace about hearing the words that Elder Bailey was talking about "Where do we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go after this life?"  I am so very, very grateful to a wonderful Father in Heaven, that has answered these questions for us! That there is a plan for us! That we can live with our families forever through the covenants, or promises, that we make to Him! He really does want us to have joy in this life! I know that that is true! So, that night, we went over to Diana's house (she is a member) and we had dinner. While we were talking we just started talking about Nauvoo and how our mission President said that if we can find a member to go with, we can use our p-day time to go to the Pageant. WELL- Diana said that she was planning on going Saturday with her family! And she invited us to come! Long story short, we got the OK to go! So, today I will not be writing any other letters than this one because we went to Nauvoo. AND! GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?!? I GOT TO GO DO A SESSION AT THE TEMPLE!!!!! It was such a HUGE blesssing! I just know that the Lord loves me and that He blessed us with the opportunity to go.

 

Saturday was a lot of fun! We left Des Moines at about 11 and then got to Nauvoo at about 2:30 just in time for the Temple session! Then, we did some really fun activities like stilts, they had wagon races stuff... it was just a blast! The boys had a lot of fun! And they said that they are going to go back next year too and rent a little cabin and do all the of things around Nauvoo.  It was just by far such a cool experience. The Pageant was really cool, I really liked it a lot. And so did Diana's husband, he is not a member, but he said that he felt the Spirit really strong! It was seriously such a cool time! I loved it! We didnt get home that night until 3... and we still had to get up at 630. Was it worth it?! ABSOLUTELY!!! So, small sacrifice is that I cant write anyone until next week. :) I sure do love you all!

 

I am so glad that yesterday was a good day for everyone! I just couldnt help but think about the Savior yesterday and that since because He lives, we will all live again! I know that this Church is true and that it is the only true Church on the earth today and that we are lead and guided by a Prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that we really can "come closer to Him by abiding by its precepts then by any other book." just like it says in the introduction of the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true because I have asked God if it is true, and who else better to ask then the giver of all truth!? I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that He wants us to be successful in this life and that He has  provided a way through sending His Son, Jesus Christ to the earth to Atone for our sins and to break the chains of death.

 

I love you all so very much! I hope you have a great week! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

 

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

July 9, 2012

Hola mi familia favorita!

 

So, guess what?!?! I am STAYING here another transfer with Hermana Baird! We are so very excited!!!! That means that by the end of next transfer, I will be in Des Moines for half of my mission!!! Crazy right?! I am so very excited! I feel like the luckiest missionary in the world!  it is so amazing to me to see the hand of the Lord in this work! I love reflecting on the last 6 months and just thinking about how much this branch has grown and changed. It is so very, VERY exciting! I love it!!!! I know this is a really random side note, but since we are going to be here for Des Moines we will be able to go to the State Fair which we are both super-duper excited for!!!! haha! and i keep trying to download pictures, but the library computers aren't letting me for some odd reason. Sorry!

 

Anywhosers... It is going to be a great transfer, i can feel it! Even though it is going to be really sad to watch Hermana Draney leave. She is such an extraordinary missionary and i have learned so very, very much from her because of her example of love and hard work and really just everything she is as a missionary and as a daughter of God! I can tell that the mission has truly changed her because i have seen her change in the past 3 transfers i have been with her. (isnt that crazy?! I have been with her for almost 5 months!!!)

 

This past week came and went TOO FAST! But it was a good week! Nothing extraordinary happened. I have come to a conclusion about myself this past week. I met Sister Craner, well this was a while ago actually, and her husband Elder Dr Craner (he is the doctor for our mission) anyways, i felt like her and i were really the same person as far as personalities go. Well, Elder Craner said something like " I think we are all born a certain age and we just stay that age all of our lives" Well, i think that i am about 10 or maybe 12 still. haha! I am a responsible adult, but i have fun like a 10 or 12 year old. HAHA! Hermana Baird, for her birthday (which happens to be July 1st, like Mary) she got a bunch of MoTab CDs that we listen to in the car. Well, I dance to these songs and my companions get such a kick out of it. I love the simple things in life! Like pretending that i am on a merry-go-round. :) and i like skipping and stuff. haha! 

 

Oh, another thing that happened this week... Hermana Collazos, who is from Spain, came with Hermana Baird and I while her companion, Hermana McGrath and Hermana Draney went up to Ames to do exchanges! It was really fun to be with her. Well, on Friday night at about 6, Diana, who is a member in our branch, called me and asked me to give a talk at her sons baptism about the Holy Ghost! Oh man, i was so nervous! But Hermana Collazos helped me make sure that i translated my talk correctly, which i did! There were just a few grammar things i forgot. :) But anyways, we were there the whole day on Saturday preparing like: we filled up the font, prepared the special musical number and man! It was such a great day! There was such a sweet spirit there at the baptism! They also said that i did good on my talk too. It is getting me really excited for getting our investigators baptized! None of them have a date, yet, but IT IS SO COOL! There are no words to describe the feeling that you feel when someone is baptized. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon which teaches us about the why of being baptized, the why of Jesus Christ being baptized! I just love this work so, SO much!

 

I have been studying a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This talk i just read this morning, I have read it before, but i think we should all read it. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/none-were-with-him?lang=eng And remember the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

 

I know that this Church is true! I know that this church is lead by God's Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it was written for us so that we could know the way to get back to live with our Father in Heaven. I know that families are eternal! I know that my Redeemer lives!  I am so very thankful for this opportunity i have to go around teaching this good news to the people here in Des Moines! 

 

I love you all and i pray for you every night! Thank you so much for the letters! I sure did love them! I will write you back as soon as i can! Have a great week!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

July 2, 2012

Hola Familia!

This past week was the BEST with Hermana Draney and Baird! Well, really every week is the best ever with them! Another transfer is coming to a close. It sure is crazy how much time has been flying by. Hermana Draney is going to be going home a week from Friday, it is really sad to see her go. She sure LOVES being on a mission and she has shown such a great example to me that when times get tough, you can look back on it and learn, laugh and move forward.

For example, this past weekend we did exchanges in Raccoon River and I have not done a lot of finding (formally known as tracking) I have probably gone finding a handful of times and most of them have been on exchanges. We went finding in the HOT! I have come to find something really interesting about humidity.... it is just sticky. In AZ you go outside and you start sweating bullets because it is so hot... here, you just feel really sticky. The best conclusion i can come to to relating to what it feels like is watered down gel- all over your skin! haha! While we were on exchanges it was really hot (95 degrees plus humidity) but we were laughing and enjoying ourselves the whole time. We met some pretty interesting people and also some mean but also some really nice genuine people. It was quite the experience but I did enjoy it! Because I am happy and the Gospel is true!

So, i wanted to relate a story and I hope that i am going to be able to finish it. Our  mission President shared this about service and if I shared this before bare with me because service is a good topic to talk about anyways... :) Ok, so... some Elders in our mission got word that a family member of a  member of the Church died. The lady wanted nothing to do with the Church, but the Elders offered to do service for this women because she owns a farm and now that her husband was gone she had to do double the work. So, she decided to take full advantage of the Elders.... she had them do everything from weeding, to building a garden, painting her garage and even cleaning out the house stalls (which i heard is a very tedious task!). She would watch them do this all day and after they had finished their chores they would write her a note and leave it on the door and they would come back the next day with a note on the door with the assigned chores as well.  This women started to see the love that these Elders had for her and in turn also what the Savior had for her. Well, one day, the Elders had finished their chores and went to put a little note on the door and she opened it and invited them in. She had a desire to learn about the Church because of the love and the example of the love of the Savior and of the women that the Elders had showed. I really hope that we are always looking for opportunities to serve our friends and family. We are all members of His true Church and we know that "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God."

I am so very thankful for all that my family and friends did for me and my family during the hardest time of our lives. I will always remember coming into our home the day after dad's death and seeing Dani Foster and her daughter whipping down the walls at our house. Or Sister Chapman being there cleaning the kitchen and calling orders to everyone. Friends from the singles ward, like Andrew Payne or Tyson Anderson mowing/working on the backyard, or even Perla Turley helping me put away my laundry. And there are so many, many more examples. Kara coming and taking me to her home to eat food. Ted, Kristy and April taking me to Applebees while "screaming our lungs out"... my aunts being there for my mom. Lisa Thompson being there basically 24/7...:) Daniel Bowers cleaning the back of my dads truck for hours and really cleaning every one's car...  My Uncle Scott, Aunt Shirley and Haylee driving 24 plus hours to get to our side and give us big huge hugs! and there are so many, many, MANY more examples of people showing love and service to my family! How very thankful I am to my family and friends that served my family. you were all the hands of the Savior during that time!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I know that My Redeemer lives! I know that when we are in the service of others we are serving our God as well! I love you all so much! thank you for your prayers! I promise, i am working on writing letters to you all!

VAYA CON DIOS!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

June 25, 2012

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• FW: BUENOS DIAS!‏

6/25/12

Reply  ▼

 Rebecca Wadsworth

---

Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:12:41 -0500
Subject: BUENOS DIAS!
From: deborah.wadsworth@myldsmail.net
To: rbwadsworth@msn.com

Hola mi familia!

 

How is everyone doing?! I hope everyone had a great week. I sure do love you all and pray from you daily. This past week has been a fun one for me and i will tell you why, I HAVE AMAZING COMPANIONS! They are seriously such amazing missionaries and i am so blessed to work beside them. This week went by so fast for us! Tuesday we had interview with President Jergensen, he is such an inspired mission President. I am so very thankful to be serving in Iowa with him as my mission President and his sweet wife, Sister Jergensen. They are such a strength to me!  It is amazing that even though I am away from the comfort of home and family and friends, i feel like i am home here as well. I am so very blessed!

 

This past weekend, we went to Ottumwa to do exchanges with the Hermanas that are assigned there. BOY! was that drive pretty! We saw TONZZZ of rolling hills of CORN! haha! It was so crazy to see. And we saw all these cute little barns and horses and dogs... it was really fun because i have been in the city my whole mission and to see farm land and open spaces... it was great. I wanted to go frolicking SOOOO BAD! But we had to get to Ottumwa. One day i will go frolicking through the fields, it is officially  on my bucket list. I seriously love it here!!! Ok, question for you... who is from Ottumwa on NASH or is it MASH?!?! I cannot remember.   

 

So this past week was awesome with teaching people! We went to go teach on of our investigators and he lives in this house that has been divided up into apartments (like the bedrooms are the "apartments", but they all share the same bathroom and kitchen) that is how Latinos do it! I love it! So anyways, he wasnt there so we went to ask all the guys that were outside if we could share a message with them. There was about 7 grown men ranging from 20 to about 50ish i would say. We call them "Los Hombres" haha! we love all of them, they are so great. Anyways, we sat down on this table they have outside and we all had a discussion with them. Our branch mission leader was there with us to so we felt extra confident being with a bunch of men... haha! but anyways, it was so cool to hear all of there different beliefs and their stories about how they have come to know Christ. Hermano Santiago, our branch mission leader, bore such a powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon and they if they would read it, they will receive an answer, by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true! It was so cool! A couple of them accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon!!!! SO COOL!

 

I am so very thankful for the Book of Mormon. These last couple of days i have been studying about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I have been learning so much about it because of the Book of Mormon. i would like to invite you all to, while you are reading the Book of Mormon to see the changing and enabling power that comes from the Atonement.

 

I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I know that this is Christ true Church! I know that families are forever and that the grave is not the end! I love you all and i am so very thankful for your letters and prayers!!! I hope you have a great week!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

 

Love, Hermana Wadsworth

June 11, 2012

My Dear Family!

 

Another week gone! Time sure keeps flying by. I sure do love getting pictures of everyone. I cannot get over how much everyone has changed. I love getting letters from all of you too about what is all going on with everyone. I sure do love you all and I am so glad everything is going good at home.

 

This past week was a crazy one, but really good at the same time. A lot of our appointments fell through, people were not at home for one reason or another, but we do not let that get us discouraged. I have found that Heavenly Father never gives us things that we cannot handle. He gives us trials or hard times to test our faith in Him so that we can rely more on Him. There was a few times this week that I thought about the Sons of Mosiah and when "their hearts were depressed, and they were about to turn back, the Lord comforted [them]". It seems to always be when we think that we cannot go on anymore and we are just  feeling so discouraged for one reason or another that the Lord will comfort us. Sometimes, it is not in the way we expect and when we don't have our eyes open we might miss it. But the Lord keeps His promises! Keep walking, keep trying, don't you quit! This life is hard and we need our Savior to be able to get through those hard times, that is what the Atonement is for. Today I studied about Charity. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has that pure love and He showed it by the Atonement. In Alma 7:11-13 we read about the Atonement and the Saviors purpose of doing it, I do not have it memorized so to sum it up, He performed the Atonement so that He would know, according to the flesh, how to help us. He put Himself in our place so that He would know how to help us. That is true love! That is Charity! Thinking of others, putting others before ourselves. I love the quote that President Monson says, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important then a person to be loved" and to kind of go with that, the second commandment is to "love thy neighbor as thyself". I can witness that when we put others first before all of our wants and desires, that we will be filled with that love of Christ. We will be a better disciple of Him by doing so.

 

I know that this Church is true! I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of JesusChrist. I love you all so much! I know that Families are Eternal!

 

Love you all!!!

 

XOXOXOXOXOXO

 

-Hermana Wadsworth