Mother's Day Skype 2016

We were able Skype with Elder Waidmann on Mother's Day! It was quite a treat! 

Here is his transcribed testimony of the work he is doing as a missionary in Puerto Rico.

Hello Everyone!

I love being a missionary. They say a mission can be "the best two years", and it really it is the best two years, even though I have only been out for seven months. I am really tired (so much walking!) , but I am really happy and that is worth it all. I love seeing the changes in people’s lives. I know that as we show our faith in God and do our part, He will follow through with His promises. Everything that God commands you to do… do it and you will be blessed. I know that is so true. I am not perfect. I am 18 years old still, but I know that is true still. I know that as we follow the commandments of God and do what we're supposed to do, that we will be happy and that we will have eternal life. I know that this church is true. I know that the prophet, Joseph Smith, restored Christ’s church back to the earth in its fullness. I get to testify of the “first vision” every day. And every time without a doubt, the Spirit has testified to me that it is true.

I love the gospel I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and I know that through Him,  all things are possible. We are not the only ones going through hard times. Other people are too and we need to help them be able to find Jesus Christ so that way they can find happiness. It is our duty to share the happiness of the gospel, no matter how hard it is to open our mouths. I know that as we share the gospel, we will feel joy.

I love you all!

Love, Elder Waidmann

"God knows what we need"

7 months

Hello Everyone!

Wow! I love how on the mission you can never stop learning. Every new week is a start to a new lesson you need to learn. It was really has to not see our investigator because he dropped us earlier in the week.  It was super sad.  I have pondered and prayed and I know he will be baptized one day. It is so important that we follow the will of the Father, not the will of ourselves. God is perfect and knows what we need.

I am so grateful for this wonderful week so much has happened. Last Monday night we went to an appointment and the person was not there, so we prayed to know where we should go to contact. We felt we should go to the end of a street and the second house we contacted the guy came right out and asked us right away when we could come back. We were really shocked, but he told us his niece has been going through a rough time in Florida and she prayed to know if God was real and to show her a sign if he was and the next day the missionaries showed up at her house. Then, the next day we showed up at his. We taught him later that week and we will go visit him tomorrow and try to teach his family too. Such a miracle.

Me and my companion, Elder Hernias

Another night we were walking past a bar to an appointment and I saw this young guy sitting down drinking and he looked completely depressed and I had such a strong impression to talk to him, but I sadly ignored it and as I turned around, he called us over and we had one of the most spiritual contacts I have had on my mission. He was shaking and to the point of crying and told us what has been going on in his life. His wife left him and he has been suffering without his family and he told us that the beer is not strong enough for this pain.  We testified of the healing power of the atonement and we will visit him this week. I was so sad that I ignored the spirit and it had me down for a few days that I didn’t. We need to follow the promptings of the Spirit always! The Lord is preparing people, and all we have to do is magnify our calling as missionaries and be diligent and we will find them!

Love,

Elder Waidmann

Flag bridge

"There is so much work to do"

Hello Everyone!

Well… here I am in my new area! It was really hard to leave Ponce, but we have had a great first week here and we know that the Lord has prepared people for us to find here. My companion, Elder Hervias is such an incredible missionary.  I have already learned so much from him. This area of Juncos is huge! We work 3 days of the week in a city called Gurabo,  All of he members in our ward are usually working, so we walk an hour and a half to get there… so its a little far, but there is so much work to do there. Everyone says they haven’t seen missionaries in two years and so that is why we have decided to work more there.

The ward is awesome and is really supportive in our missionary efforts! That makes me so happy! I feel really blessed to be here. We have an investigator named Carlos and he has been an investigating for a long time!  He is so smart and loves reading and marking the scriptures. It is such a blessing and joy to see someone’s heart change through living the Gospel. All we have to do is do our part, and the Lord will help us with the rest! This week I needed some encouragement and I loved found this quote by a former Prophet named Gorden B. Hinkley.  It says something to the effect of …  “If we do the best on our part, all will be okay... trust in God. He will not abandon us.” That brought me so much comfort and joy. As we act, the Lord will help us and give us strength to overcome anything! I love this work with all my heart!  It is not easy, but oh it is so beautiful. Count your blessings, find positivity, and serve others. That is my recipe for happiness! I love you all thank you for all the love and support.

Love, Elder Waidmann

"That is where I need you"

Hey Family and Friends,

Adios to Carlos, Jose and Olga

God Speed! The Elders in the house

I am out of time to write, but I am leaving my first area! I am sad, but so excited for this next part of my mission. My companion will be Elder Hervias from Guatemala so I am super excited to have a native companion.

Quickly I want to testify of the power of prayer! Last night I was super nervous about where I would get called and what I would do, so I went to my Heavenly Father in prayer for comfort and strength. Afterword, the calls came in and I got called to Juncos. Again I was a little nervous so I went to pray. The Spirit then testified to me and I heard “that is where I need you”. This brought me so much comfort. I know prayer is real and it is direct communication with our Father in Heaven. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives and I know we can receive answers to our prayers through the Holy Spirit and we can also feel the love God has for us! Love you all!

Elder Waidmann

"Look Unto Me in Every Thought"

Hello Everyone!

How true is this statement? I love it. If we have this in our minds, we will have clean thoughts, we will serve others, and we will do the will of God. As we look unto Him, He will guide us and never lead us astray. That is one of the beautiful lessons that I learned this week.

Elder Wilcox and I have been working hard… really hard. I have felt more and more confident in my work as a missionary and the natural man came in and my confidence turned into pride. So many appointments fell through this week, more investigators stopped wanting to visit with us, and it was extremely hard on us. At the mid point of the week I was able to reflect on what had been going on. We recognized our weaknesses as missionaries and I recognized mine personally. My heart was torn for the pride that I did have, and I turned to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that challenges are put in our path so that we can reflect/think about the situation, and overcome the trail with the mercy and grace of our Savior. How beautiful that is that we can repent everyday and change for the better, and feel closer to Our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his perfect example. How can we feel his love and become like him? Follow what he did: Serve, love, share, have faith, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and endure to the end. If we do, we will have eternal life. What an amazing promise!

This week we have been focused a lot on finding new investigators! It has been hard, but while contacting we said a prayer that we knew we should be there and we pleaded for the Spirit to help guide us to find this person. Just when we thought we had not found anyone, we were walking to a different area and saw a young man and an older woman on their porch.  This was the deciding point to go to the new area or talk with everyone. We decided to talk with everyone and trust in the promise that if we talk with everyone, the Lord will lead us to those who are ready to hear the Gospel. We had a wonderful lesson with the young man and the Spirit was so present! I am so grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ every day!

Love you all!

Elder Waidmann