Trials=greatest blessings‏

Hey there!

Welcome home Joe! That is pretty exciting. It is crazy how fast time has gone. My comp goes home in about a transfer.  He goes home  right before Christmas, he is pretty excited about that. It is kind of funny, people ask how long I have been out and I tell them about 15 months and they are like wow... You are on the downhill, or they comment how when they got to that point, it seemed like everyone from home forgot about them. Then they ask Elder Wilson and he tells them 22 and then comes all the trunky jokes. It is kind of funny. I guess that is what you get for being in a singles ward, where all of them have served missions already. 

One thing that I do really like about this ward is that we don't have to worry about what people say or if they will offend them. They do a great job of fellowshipping everyone that comes to church.  This week I saw something that really built my testimony while teaching . We taught  at our Bishop's house. It was such a powerful lesson.  I really think it is because it was the first time we taught her in a member's home. It is the closest place to the temple. It would be neat if we could teach at the temple but we have the next best place. So our homes are temples. 

So next week will be different, just giving you a heads up here. I have a meeting on Monday so my p-day will be on Tuesday. Then the next week is transfers, so again P-day is on Tuesday. 

I looking forward to Halloween and such. People go all out here. So we have to be in by six. But you can really start to feel the fall in the air. It is a great feeling. Missing my four seasons of Idaho though- XC, wrestling, track/more wrestling, Summer. Jayse hope you know that you are a stud. When you go on that mat, no matter who it is, remember that you are there now and there is nothing in the past that matters. "Learn from the past, don't live in it." I don't care if it is Stacy or Ramos, they are no better then you. You have to push through any fear or road blocks you have. A lot of the things I learned from wrestling have helped me a lot out here. It is surrounded by eternal principles. 

I love you all have a great week. 

Elder Wade 

Conference Weekend !!!

Hey!!

This past weekend was like super bowl Sunday on the mission. It was fantastic. I loved conference. It truly was one of the most inspiring yet! Us as missionaries in particular really liked the ones on member and missionary work. Elder Ballard's was great. Pick one person and work with them in either coming back to church or joining the church and work with them until Christmas. That was such a good invite. We really enjoyed it. I also really liked Elder Oaks. I just like how he makes it so real by throwing stats in their. It was a conference stacked and packed with all great speakers. 

Mom as you saw conference wasn't the only meetings that we had this week. Unfortunately I don't know what whiteboard picture you are talking about. We were introduced into the "adjusting to mission life" booklet and were trained on that. We have already been applying it in our companionship. Wish I would have had it when I was a new missionary. We also were trained on the theory that there is always a good idea, better idea, and the best idea. We tied that in with out of the box thinking and getting new ideas how to find, use church buildings, online time, etc... Super good and we then got to go back and share that with the rest of the zone on Friday. So really the only days last week that we didn't have a meeting was Monday and Thursday. Crazy, but fun and needed. 

Cool experience: We have this less active girl in our ward that hasn't came to church . This girl was on her way to Flagstaff for the weekend with some friends. While driving the driver made a sudden over correction. Went into the ditch and the car rolled three times. Fortunately no was killed. The girl, though, was taken to the E.R. By then the mom called us and asked if we could get missionaries there to give her a blessing. The Elders came gave a blessing and a... could feel this sudden comfort. She knew that she would be ok. It turns out that the first thing that she did when she was conscious was pray. She broke a vertebra in her neck and is doing fine now. She will always remember this. You can tell that the Lord works in ways that we can never understand. She was grateful that she was raised in a home where she was taught that she could always pray. I am too. 

We all have different experiences, but we all have the same plan to get back to our Heavenly home. 

Thank you, I love you. Have a great week! 

Love Elder Wade     

Ofa Atu

Hey!

How is everyone going? It has been a fantastic week. We have been super busy. I wish it could have been from doing missionary work, but it was more of helping other missionaries so they can do their work. It is okay. We are starting to get back in the groove of things and they are going great. We did have transfers last week and we had 10 missionaries leave and we got 14 back. We now have a zone of 24 missionaries total. It is pretty big. But it isn't the biggest. The biggest is about 32 missionaries. It is huge!! We now live with one Elder Wilson's old companions. He is Elder Moala from Tonga. He is the best and has gotten me back into lifting, and my arms are super sore... We seeing a hymn out of his hymn book every night. It is pretty fun. We love him. 

Our baptism this weekend was great! He was so excited. He has had a really rough life so far. I hope that the Church can be that light that he needs. He is great and the ward is getting used to him. He was just so happy. In his Baptism presentation we shared about our potential and how God defines us. What I like about Elder Wilson is that we never teach like lesson 1 or lesson 2 but we share something that we know that they need to hear. We have seen a lot more from it and the Spirit is so much more stronger. We read this poem to them: 

 ’Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But held it up with a smile.

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”

“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two?

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?”

“Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three—” But no …

From the room, far back, a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow.

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”

And he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?

Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,

And going, and gone!” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

“We do not quite understand

What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:

“The touch of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,

Much like the old violin.

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.

 1. 

These lines of poetry and the others that appear in this article are from Myra Brooks Welch, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” in Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People, ed. Jack M. Lyon and others (1996), 182–83.

I just thought that this was a powerful poem that describes where a lot of people either are or have been in their lives. I hope you read the article that I posted the other day on Facebook. I am grateful for the the atonement in my life. When I felt like I was at my lowest. He reminded me of the highest potential that I have as a Child of God. I now he loves me and that he gives me challenges for a reason. 

Ofa Atu means I love you and I really do. Thank you for being so supportive. All of you don't know how much you mean to me. Be safe, until next week. 

Ofa Atu, 

Elder Wade  

If I have to pack again, so help me!!

Hey!! 

So if you read my subject the first thought that comes to mind is probably transfer. But... That isn't true. We have transfers this week, and our zone is going to be completely different. In our mission we have 5 leaving and 25 coming in. I thought it would start slowing down, but I guess not. Because of this influx of missionaries. Elder Wilson and I had to move somewhere else so it would be more convenient for everybody: New Address: 

                                                            Elder Wade 

                                                  (If you want the address - contact Jake's mom)

So in a rush they wanted us to be moved in to our apartment by last night so we can help everyone else who is coming in on Wednesday move in to their new place. We quickly moved last night. And We are now moved in which it is a pretty nice place. First place with Hardwood floors. 

It has been a crazy week though. I don't feel like it is time for transfers. It is making me sad for how fast it is going. We didn't teach too much but, I am getting better at talking with everyone. I found out that I was just making it too awkward and wasn't being myself. I finally just got over it. I then went out with a missionary that was forcing it and it was like dude calm down. They already don't want to talk to you the best you can do is look comfortable. I am not the best, but I am starting to have fun with it. I saw that Joe comes home in a couple weeks. Dang that went by fast. That is going to be exciting for him to come home and see all the additions to the family.

So you know how I talked about education last week? Well I discovered another possibility for a profession... I think it would be way neat to be an Attorney for the church. We were on a ward blitz and the member of the bishopric and a member of the Elder's quorum presidency. They began talking about the church and how this world doesn't like our standards now. They brought up that a lot of people are starting to take things to court. It would be cool to fight for what I believe in a be on a whole new level. 

That is pretty much for this week. We have a baptism this week. Looking forward to that. Stay safe and injury free (Jayson)! Dad good luck with your bike. Love you all! 

Elder Wade   

 

Education Week

It has been a great week! Learned a lot, mainly it was really humbling. The last week we didn't have time to plan so that made this week super sparatic. We taught a few lessons and they went really well. We have C.....who still on date for the 28th. He is an interesting guy.   That is why the Lord wants us to get a good education and job. 

So to continue on the theme of education... We had the director of the local institute speak to our ward yesterday. It was super good and really motivating. He brought up how knowledge is power and think of heavenly Father who is the most powerful person out there. A couple quotes from it was; "The world will pay you for what you do well, and what you love is what you will do best.""Pursue and occupation that when you don't have to think about anything, that's what you will think about." It showed me how much I want to do something I love and how much I love missionary work. The world doesn't pay you for missionary work though, but that is alright. The Lord pays in blessings in happiness. It is super rewarding to do what you love. This all relates to another quote I heard a couple weeks ago. "To do something you have not become, you have to do the things that you have not done." So if I want to be a stellar missionary I need to do things that great missionaries do. Made me look forward to school after the mission. My study habits are ten times better then they were before. I have time until then. 

I hoped you learned that it isn't good to eat to much before a race or even a match. I also thought those kids were stupid that would eat a meatball sub before the wrestled and they threw up in the middle of it. So lesson learned. I learned that facebook is great. A lot of success has came from it lately. Good to hear that everyone is doing well. I hope you all have a great week.

I want to leave an invite: Look for someone to share why families are important to you. 

I love you so much. You are all great examples to me. 

Love, Elder Wade       

September???

Man time is going too fast. It has been a fantastic week! Our Zone was cleared to start online proselyting so we have been clearing moromn.org and facebook pages, but it is good to see the progression. This last week we had zone conference and we discussed a lot of principles vs rule and also building our faith. It is cool to see that those two are so connected. I love that fact that we are expected as people in these last days to live a higher law. Not in a "look at me I am better then you" but to live with the purpose that is going to bring a lot joy, true joy. Being here I have noticed that people look at us and think we have a ton of rules. They think that we are held back from having fun. They are searching for happiness from temporary things. There is also those that say that we are saved by grace and we don't have to do anything. Yeah his grace will save us but how would you feel in God's presence after you were doing things that you know weren't good? I am guessing you would feel unworthy, but you are able to govern yourself by living correct principles. And what is a principle? It is something that will prepare us for living the full thing in the life to come. Living this you are able to gain blessings and even bonus blessings. Elder Wilson and I this week have been focusing on being accountable not held accountable. The principle behind it is that is fact that we will go before God and be judged after this life. We should account to him first off and you won't feel guilty of what you did or did not do. Living the principle doesn't exempt the rule, look at the early jews they have tons of rules for keep the Sabbath holy, but now we have the principle that helps us see why of doing things. 

My mind is just blown of how easy this life is. All you need to do to gain a testimony is to read the scriptures, pray and come to church. It is that simple. Does that mean we won't have trials? No of course not we would have no real growth but you are exercising your faith and building on it. That is how S.... is and she has a stronger testimony then probably 90% of the church. 

Jarret sorry I didn't tell you happy birthday, but I forgot, not going to lie. Ha Happy late birthday, you're old. Hope all is well keep smiling and Happy Labor Day!!!

Love Elder Wade  

First time ysa

Hey!! 

Hope you all had a great week! Dad hope you had a great birthday, you are like 60 now? ha just kidding. 

This week has been such a great week. Being a Zone Leader is a total different experience, a lot more errands and a lot more meetings. It has been way fun though. Elder Wilson is the man, love him to death. He is a pro at talking with everyone which I am not so good at, so hopefully I can get better while I am with him. The good thing is that we have a fantastic zone full of great missionaries that are hard working. The weird thing is that I am like the 2nd oldest in the zone... We have such a young mission. It just means that we have to rely on the older missionaries to train and help the younger ones. 

Being in a the Phoenix North YSA is super cool. It is way different then being in a family ward, because of being with older people we are with people our age. So they really want to be your friends. They are way funny. We don't have too many investigators right now, because it is way different finding experience as well. We do have one on date right now here name is S...., she came 45 minutes early to church just to read from the Book of Mormon. She is also high school Spanish teacher. Way cool! 

Other than that it has been a huge learning experience. Jarret you are crazy. I am the only in my apartment that likes to run... We will work on that. But I love you and appreciate all that you do for me. You have put me through a lot. 

Love, Elder Wade