Be of Good Cheer!

Happy New Year!

Man I am so happy the holidays are over!! It has been killing me! And it has hurt our work as well. It was refreshing to be at church yesterday. We a lot of the people going back to school left, but we got a couple of new people so that was good. One is an intern down here who was going to school at BYU-I and he said "wow... I am not use to having missionaries in the ward I'm in." Yep he came from Rexburg for sure! We are excited and he can't wait to come out with us. Neither can we. 

Something that I heard yesterday, It was a thought from our bishop, was this; "the most violated commandment is the one to be of good cheer." Isn't that interesting? It was a quote from Elder Holland. We are commanded to be happy and be of good cheer. That means to be positive with what is before is a choice! So is happiness! It was mind blowing so I had to share. 

Hearing that was from Elder Holland just got me more excited for this week. We have the tri-mission conference in Tempe this Saturday. Leading up to that we have zone interviews. I am excited. Last week just the tone for it as well. We had mission leadership council and we talked about tightening up on online obedience and we also talked about our potential. It helped me see a lot of what I can be doing better. 

One thing I am excited about was teaching. This past week we didn't have one lesson with an investigator. We didn't let it keep us down. Tonight we have a lesson with a new investigator that we are excited to teach. His name is E.... It will be good. He just showed up to a church meeting a couple weeks ago in the family ward where he lives.

I am also excited about being positive. Being positive brings positive blessings. So I am trying not to speak bad about anything or anyone. Even myself. Hopefully it will help me be more kind and charitable. Hopefully it will bring hope and faith as well. 

Thanks for your love and prayers. I feel it everyday. I hope you feel mine. 

Love, Elder Jake Wade 

Another Transfer has came and gone...

It is amazing how fast time is going... It seriously feels like this year just started. Now it is practically over. It is almost disappointing. It has been great though. This transfer was by far the fastest. But I feel like I have done a ton of growing. So yes I am staying for another transfer! YAY!

It is super humbling when you have a missionary that you are around finish their mission and return home. Yesterday we saw Elder Wilson off... That was super hard. He was so nervous. All during studies yesterday he was pacing because he was just couldn't sit still. He was excited to see family though. It makes you think of the time we have left on our missions and it isn't a lot at all. All three of us at our apartment have been out the same time. This week we hit our 17 month mark! That is super weird. Luckily enough we have a lot of work to do to keep us busy. We did have a baptism on Saturday. That was good. Right now we haven't had too much but we have enough. Everyone is going home for Christmas and our ward is disappearing. We are staying busy though giving new member lessons and trying to get people back to church. It is good. 

So funny story with J...'s baptism. ......

After that it was a fantastic baptism! But that whole hour was so nerve racking!! But it helped me build some patience in others.

So there is my lesson learned for the week. It was a great week though. We had Christmas Conference and that was so good! I need another good trip to the temple. I enjoyed it. The Christmas lights are great here! It seems like they deck that place out. I enjoy it. 

Everything is going well. It seems like you all having a good time in the freezing cold Idaho. Honestly I haven't had to wear a sweater at all the last two days. It is too hot. Dad stay warm. We don't want you to be driving around in and 'ice Cube' haha! Get it? ice cube! Or frozen Pea soup. Either one stay warm. 

Jayse congrats at taking 3rd! That is great! That is like me I took third my 8th grade year too. And guess what I lost to the mountain view kid too. But you can do better. You are stud keep it up. Build your team up. 

So next week will be calls home. I can skype or facetime. Either one I can do either or. Let me know! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Wade     

Happy Thanksgiving

Holy Cow!

It has been such a good week! It started off with the assistants calling us and doing a surprise exchange. That was fun. I got to know the new assistant pretty well. He is pretty cool. A lot of the times you look at him and think he is really straight forward. It was nice to see that he is a normal guy that struggles with things just like we all do. Hopefully others will see that he really is a loving guy. So there is one thing I am thankful for: Great leadership. That includes my mission president and others that help me a lot. That doesn't exclude all of you back home that have lead me through a lot.

This weekend was probably the best I have ever had. I couldn't have asked for better. For starters we had two baptisms. C.... who is a stud and will be a strong example for his family and I can see him being a great leader in the Church. He had a family thing so he wasn't able to make it to church yesterday but he will be confirmed next week P.... is amazing as well! He is officially the 2nd person on my mission that I have performed the ordinance of baptism for. He is a boss. He was confirmed and conferred the Priesthood and ordained a Priest yesterday. He has a great testimony. Another thing that I am grateful for is my testimony. It has helped through a lot over this adventure that I am on. 

Along with those baptisms, I was able to go to the P........'s temple work. That was the most spiritual powerful experience I have had. I was impressed that the love that they have for each other is only stronger now. They have something that binds them closer then anything that could have before. I think the sealing was the best for me. The spirit hit me like a wave when the two boys walked in. It was amazing! It helped me see my family and how important you are to me. Even though we had some rough times, they are not nearly as rough as people I have seen. A lot of the things I have gone through ,I can't have done it without my family. Heavenly Father is pretty smart guy... He knows what he is doing. 

I am excited for this up coming month. Even though it is cooling down, it still doesn't seem like it that time of the year. I am excited to announce that for my next couple times I call home, it will be through skype! President just told that to us today. It will still be the same time, but it will be great to see you all. 

Love You! 

Elder Wade         

Meetings ..meetings busy busy

Hey!

So you are probably wanting to know who my companion is. I think I might play with for a little bit... He is a companion that I have had before. To narrow it down. Elder K... is a zone leader in Goodyear, Elder G... is in Tempe. Elder L..... Elder S. is in Glendale North. So... That leaves just one. I was super surprised when President announced we would be companions! It is Elder B..! My MTC companion! He is such a stud. Love him to death. It is kind of funny to tell people we were companions in the MTC. The usual responses are "I'm sorry"-mostly from the ysa members. Or "wow that is really neat!" So that is pretty exciting. I am excited because last time we worked together we weren't the best teachers at all and we had no idea of what we were doing. So it is going to be nice to see what we can do with our feet under us.

This past week. They changed it so we have four districts in our zone and we go to all of their district meetings. So that was a lot of learning. We also had Stake Coordination, when the zone and district leaders meet with a member of the mission presidency and the stake president and the high councilman over missionary work, and we talk about things we can do to work together. Elder B...., two sisters in our zone, and I also had a great opportunity to sit on a panel in a stake presidents coordinating council, with the area 70. Wow. That was a great experience. Not because we were able to do that, but it gave me a new out look of what I need to be doing and asking ward leaders to help with. It is crazy, because before your mission you hardly ever sit down and discuss things with a bishop or stake president. Now I am having daily and weekly contact with them. Some more blessings the Lord teaches on a mission.

This next week is going to busy as well. I might be able to see snow! We have a mission tour this week with Elder Teh of the 70. We are meeting him with a couple other zones in Sedona. It is like a 2 hour drive from where we are. I haven't had a 2 hour drive in awhile so it is going to be kind of nice. Also Elder Barley and I get to speak in front of the bishops at a meeting on Tuesday. I am kind of nervous about that. They are expecting a lot. 

So ya if you can't tell we have and are having a lot of meetings. It is good though it helps us use the time we have effective and not waste it. Keeps us busy. Yes, I really do like meetings, not because it is a time filler, but I get to see what I can do to improve. Most importantly it helps us see what we can do to help the people we teach. We still have two next weekend. And another on the 14th of Dec. Hopefully more on the way. 

Seems like all of you are busy as well. I can't imagine life without being busy, back home. We were always doing something and going somewhere. Jayson good luck this week. Keep moving and don't get sloppy! Love ya I hope you know that. 

I Love all of you as well! 

Elder Wade    

Do I stay or do I go

Hey everyone!

So the big question is am I staying or leaving? I was really surprised when we got the news this morning. And I am staying but Elder W...... is getting transferred, but he doesn't have to pack. Which means he will still live with us and I will get a new companion! I am super nervous and excited. I don't know what to think. I just know that is going to be an interesting transfer meeting tomorrow. I have learned so much from Elder W...... He is so legit. He is excited he doesn't have to pack. I am just excited he still in the zone.  

In other news... IPads are still great. A lot easier this time then last time. We taught a couple skype lessons last week. That was pretty neat. Facebook is easier and a lot more productive. Speaking of, I can be tagged in posts, I personally would prefer if they were mostly missionary related, and please do share my posts. If you do then not only my 900 friends see it but also yours, pretty soon 100s of thousands see it and it is just another seed. Oh and dad, nice profile pic btw. 

This past week the work is really showing. Our zone is doing great as well. Last month we had two baptisms which isn't bad, but we are capable of a lot more. We really have been pushing always living your purpose and inviting and finding. So this past week showed. We got Standards of Excellence as a zone. It was super good. We can still do a lot better. I love this zone and ward.

In one my studies this past week I was learning about using time wisely and there was a personal study from it that you answered a couple questions and one is what do you want people to see in when finish your mission. That is a hard one. One thing that I love about the mission is that it molds you for the rest your life. I am not saying I did bad things at home, but I know I could have been better. So I am doing that now. I am trying to live my purpose, in doing that I have seen my own life get closer to Christ and it helps me. We still are doing well, we have two baptisms coming up on the 23rd. Excited for that and looking forward to another crazy week! 

Oh and the weather this week was perfect. Thought I would have my Prideful moment for the day. 

Good Luck! Love you all thanks for being my examples! 

Love, Elder Wade  

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