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     

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