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