"Look to Him, trust Him, follow Him, and be like Him."

Buenas!

Merry Christmas almost! I love you all and am always praying for you guys. This week was filled with the ups and downs. The beginning of the week was really hard as nobody wanted to listen to us and we weren't successful. I was trying to figure out why, and I have come to know how much humility we need to have. I have also seen  how much I need Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in my life. This week has been really humbling. I am constantly learning so much here.

Puerto Rico always has a new surprise for me everyday. They are crazy about Christmas here. The other night we were walking home and all of the sudden a bunch of cops showed up and started controlling traffic. Then a few school busses and ambulances were coming down the street with lights and sirens.  We thought there was an accident, but then we realized that it was Santa on top of a truck throwing candy! it was hilarious.

Ponce, Puerto Rico is crazy. When we were on the way to an appointment and my companion stopped and said “Lets contact here for 20 min”.  The second house we went to we met with a family and we are going to visit them this Saturday. They are so awesome and committed to read the Book of Mormon.  Yesterday we were contacting and the first people we met with was another family.  We are so grateful for the miracles that God has given us these last few days. This family is awesome and they have been searching for a true church.  They are coming to church this next Sunday and we are so happy that they can learn truth and feel happiness peace and joy in this life.

I have been able to bear my testimony a lot this week. Especially in this time of year I have been able to ponder so much on my Savior and my testimony of Him grows daily. I am forever grateful for Him, His life and for His sacrifice for us. I love Him so much. I am so grateful for this gospel. I testify that God lives and knows us all by our name and by our personal circumstances. Jesus is the Christ the very son of God. I feel His presence everyday here in the mission. Life is hard at times, but we can always take faith in knowing that someone has been where we are, Our brother Jesus Christ. Look to Him, trust Him, follow Him, and be like Him.  If you things you will be happier than you have ever been in your life! I love you all so much!

Elder Waidmann

"I am so thankful to be a missionary!"

Hello everyone!

How are you all doing? Thank you for all that you do for me. I constantly receive Heavenly help and I know that it is from your thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much.

At the baptism

The Baptism! Oh it was so wonderful. She asked me if I would baptize her and wow it was such a special experience! The spirit was so strong there. When she asked me she was like, “Oh my I have to learn how to say your name now! Ha. Because nobody can pronounce my name right here its so funny. I love it. One of our investigators calls me Elder Wayyy. It is great. But she calls me her "Padrino" because I baptized her, but it means Godfather in English. We are going to visit her today and give her a photo of before the baptism so she can keep it. Her spirit is so strong. She shared her testimony at the baptism and it was great! She has grown so much and she has done it all on her own. Elder Fox and I were just instruments in God's hands. It has been a miracle to see. She received The Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday and a leader in our ward gave her a blessing and promised her that one day her family would join the church and they would be sealed for time and eternity in the temple. We are so happy for her.

At the baptism 

We found a new investigator this week and she is 17. She lives with her dad, grandma, grandpa and her sister. She has such a hard life and it is so amazing to see how strong she is. Her mother and brother were both killed when she was younger. We have been able to teach her the restoration and The Plan of Salvation. She came to the baptism and we taught her after it. The power of the spirit guided my companion and I what to say and most importantly it testified to her that the Plan Of Salvation is real. As my comp and I testified tears came down her cheeks. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the power and comfort and peace that it brings.  We taught her sister and brother last night. The brother said, “I have been asking God so many questions”.  We were able to answer his biggest question of why he was in his family and not some other one.  We taught about the Plan Of Salvation again and helped them understand all of our purposes in this life. See Alma 34:32. The sister and the brother both committed to be baptized.

 

Study time

J- chilling with the Book of Mormon

I have come to know on my mission that everyone is going through hard things. Everyone is our brothers and sisters. As a missionary you have to talk to as many people as possible because you never know what people need or what they desire till you talk to them and sincerely have a desire to help them. I am so thankful to be a missionary. I am still human and have ups and downs, but I have come to love my Savior, Jesus Christ, more than ever. I feel so close to him and to my Heavenly Father. I know That we are God's children and he is sad when we are down and happy when we have success and follow the example of Jesus. Jesus Christ set the path. All we have to do is follow in his footsteps. I am praying for you all and for your joy and success in this life. If you are down, look to the Lord, and press forward.

Love, Elder Waidmann

"Miracles of God"

Hello All!

Studying away

Reflecting back on this week makes me see how much God's hand is in this work. I am eternally grateful for the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We have had the opportunity to share the “Ha Nacido Un Salvador” video many times this week. It is so powerful every time because the words and the simple truths pierce the soul. I have never felt the spirit so much and I feel it the most right now when I reflect and write back home. The Lord prepares people to receive our message.

This week my companion and I went to visit people. The first person wasn’t there and the other two backups weren’t either. We said a prayer to help us know what to do and as soon as we closed the prayer a man drives up in a car. I look at him and I recognized him from when I went on an intercombio last week in el Paraiso. We talked to him and we went into this house he was at. The house turned out to be his sisters house. We taught her son in law first about the restoration and then later a ton of people keep on walking in the house. The owner and her daughter walked in and wow it was amazing. The mother of the house has been searching and searching for a true church. She gave up searching because all the ones she went to she found all had flaws in doctrine and all they wanted was her money. We taught her about the restoration and needless to say the spirit helped us out so much in the lesson. She and her daughter have a baptism date for Dec 26th. If I wouldn’t have met this man a week before, if our appointments didn’t fall through, if Elder Fox wouldn’t have said a prayer, I know we wouldn’t have found them. I have come to see how God is in total control of this work and that everything happens for a reason. There are NO coincidences.

Walking to the library to email

Ah the mission is full of miracles its amazing. Our other lady investigator is still progressing and is so excited to be baptized this Saturday the 12th! She bore her testimony in class on Sunday and it was so powerful and how she even says that God put us in that place to find her husband so that she could find this truth and happiness in her life. She said she loves the scriptures and when she is upset or mad or things aren’t going well she goes and reads the scriptures because she feels so much peace and happiness when she reads. I know that is true. I am so thankful for this sweet lady and her example. She has shared the gospel with 2 of her friends already! The sisters had a baptism on Saturday of a guy who has been investigating for a long time and these sisters have helped him to get over his addiction of 45 years of smoking. It was such a blessing to see him change. How could God not be in this work?

I know this church is true. All of Christ's teachings have been restored. He is at the head of this church. We have a living prophet. We know where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. I am so grateful for the life and the atonement of Jesus Christ, so that the Plan of Salvation would work. I am grateful for the knowledge that I can be with my family for eternity. They mean everything to me.  Families are ordained of God and are so important to him. Love your families, be happy, share the good word of God, and endure to the End. Come unto Christ and follow Him. Thank you for all you guys do for me. You are all in my constant prayers.

Love from Puerto Rico where its hot humid and sunny in December,

Elder Waidmann

"Seeing people change their lives... is just the best thing there is in world"

Hello All!

Thank you for all you guys do for me! Wow so this week was amazing. We had an appointment with our investigator and her family.  It went so well and she is progressing so much and she is so excited to be baptized. She made us a full on thanksgiving meal and she came to church again and loved it! It makes my companion and I so happy to see her life change and see how the Lord's hand is truly in this work. She asked if she could see where she would be baptized in the church and she loves to read the Book Of Mormon on her own.  It is really incredible. She sent us a text that just made me love this work even more and it helped me to understand how important it is for us missionaries to be dispersed all over the world. In the text she said “Thank you so much elders for bringing the word of God to me and to my home. God bless you both.” That simple text means everything to me. This work is so real. And I Know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real.

We had an “intercombio” (where we exchange companions for a day) so I went out with another Elder in my area and we went to an area called El Paraiso, or the paradise.  It seemed like a totally different mission.  It was in the mountains and was so beautiful.

I’m so grateful to be here on a mission, it is hard, but seeing people change their lives and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ just is the best thing there is in this world. Check out a video about Christ’s birth at christmas.mormon.org and find out why there is a need of a Savior. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he set the path for us to follow. He is the light and life of this world. As we follow his invitation to follow him, we will never be lost in this Life. Life is hard but through the Plan of Salvation we know the purpose of this life.  We can have peace and joy knowing that we can be with our families for eternity and live with God again. This holiday season remember our elder brother Jesus Christ. Think about his sacrifice, he is the gift to the world. What else more do we need? You are all in my prayers! May God bless you all for all the good you do!

Love, Elder Waidmann

"I am grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ"

At the wedding!

Dearest loved ones!

How are we all doing? I love you all thank you for all the love and support! It seriously helps so much! So wow what a week! Okay so we had a zone conference and we got to watch a LDS Christmas video that hasn’t been released and wow it is so powerful. It comes out on November 29th so check out lds.org or mormon.org on that date! PR celebrates Thanksgiving and I am so grateful for that.  We got invited to our neighbors house and he is so awesome. He is Boricuan but has lived in New York forever so he has a sweet New York accent … you would love it Brandon. The other elders in our apartment had 2 baptisms on Saturday! It is a couple and they got married on Friday so they could be baptized! At the wedding I ate what I was told was roast beef by another elder, but really turned out being turkey liver.

Before baptism

Haha. The trick was on me!

Baptismal Font Selfie

At the baptism

I know this work is real and true, I know it. The spirit is so real and powerful enough to soften any heart! I am thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost to testify and lead and guide us in this work! I love being out on the street and talking to people on the streets here in PR. We visited a husband and wife on Sunday who were pretty old and they are both really sick. We gave them Priesthood blessings and wow it was powerful. After we gave a blessing to the husband he said wow that was so spiritual and comforting that I was falling asleep. Ha! When we were leaving he said a prayer and in it he said how grateful he was for us that when we come we fill the whole house with the spirit of the Lord and how we bring so much hope. That really touched my heart and helped me to have a desire to talk to every person we could in PR. I am so grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ. It is a calling like no other! Our investigator came to church and she loved it! She was answering questions in class and she described church as interesting and cute.  It was funny. Her husband thinks we are crazy and that he thinks we should be spending time at college and with girlfriends. I had a prompting and I said in my best gringo Spanish that finding girls and doing those things are not important to me right now. We are here because God loves all his children and we know this message is true and have a desire to share it with you. Anyway, she is progressing and the Lord has prepared her so well, she is awesome and we hope she will be baptized next month!  My favorite lesson was with her this week and then after she makes her awesome Cuban food. Its great!

 

Hitchhiking because we were almost late! First time in my life! 

We have a family with baptism dates for the 26th so we are praying they will progress. We are going to see the painter lady this week as well. I am excited! I know that missionary work is real, it is so powerful, its the hardest work, you get no breaks but wow its indescribable how amazing it is. Try to put others before yourself this week and I promise you will be so much happier! I Love reading in the Book of Mormon! Read 2 Nephi4:15-35. So amazing how the prophet was just like us and have problems but through God we can overcome anything! Love you all! Stay positive and be grateful for what you have.

Peace and love from Puerto Rico,

Elder Waidmann