"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

"I am so blessed to be a missionary!"

Hello to my wonderful friends and family!

How are you all? Thank you for all the wonderful prayers and support! I have felt them! Here in Ponce, Puerto Rico its very very very hot. Always! But somehow we survive. We have mountains all around us so that is always beautiful. It randomly rains like for 15 min and then stops… its crazy. And it doesn’t sprinkle, it pours! So funny! A typical day of walking is about 5-10 miles a day. Our area is a lot bigger on foot, but its awesome! I have like 5 blisters and then I counted 35 mosquito bites the other night. The mosquitos are so nuts! I have only seen 2 iguanas, but holy they are huge! and they can run so fast its crazy! The Puerto Rican accent is so hard to understand. They shorten almost all of their words and cut of all the (s) in words, but I’m understanding little by little more! My favorite part about PR is how many people ride horses around its so sweet! Our apartment is the top of someone’s house and is not very big!  We don’t have AC, just fans! There are 4 of us total in the apartment and all 4 of us in the ward. We use a stove, microwave, pots and  pans to cook.  There are 4 sisters and 4 elders in our district.  To exercise, I do pull ups on the house… I literally grab the side of the roof. I love it here!

MIRACLES. Wow! On Tuesday we got shut down by this guy midway through our lesson, so me and my companion left and were walking to a different area to contact. There was this guy pretty far ahead of us walking and we caught up a little and my companion told me to make the contact.  So I yelled at him “permiso hermano” and he turned around and the conversation starter is always “puedo darle una tarjeta” (Can I give you a card). We ended up teaching him in the street for 45 minutes or so and we got invited back the following day to his house! Right after that we saw an elderly lady painting in her garage and so we talked to her and just left her with a restoration pamphlet!

 

Me and my companion, Elder Fox

We met with our investigator whom we met in the street later that week. When we got to his house and they had a full dinner prepared for us! We got invited back and really had a lesson this time.  They are a family of four. The wife was so interested and she accepted to be baptized on the 12th of December. Wow… her faith is so strong! She came to church on Sunday and it was such a blessing! A miracle! To think, we got shut down to then be able to meet this man and his wife.  The Lord somehow prepared them to receive us and our message. Our chances of meeting them were one on a million (or one in Heavenly Father, what we say in the mission).

Saturday was really rough, we got shut down all day, nobody wanted to hear us and our progressing investigator is no longer interested.  We were desperate to find someone who God had prepared for us. My awesome companion said a prayer and said “please place someone in our path that you have prepared for us”.   No lie, about 5 minutes later as we were walking and a lady called saying her name was Juana De Jesus.  We were wondering who she was and we looked in our address book and she was the painter lady! Me and my companion went NUTS!!! If any of you have been a missionary its about a one in a million, that a contact will actually call you! What a miracle! We taught her and she committed to be baptized when she finds out if the Book of Mormon is true! Heck yeah baby! Her son and husband were interested too! So amazing. She said that when we met her, she said she made a promise to God that she would call us back.  Later during the week she got a call from an American and she couldn’t understand because they spoke in English and she said that that reminded her to call us because we are white. Haha.  The Lord prepares people to receive us in so many different ways!

 

P-day haircuts

I love my mission. It’s so hard, but when you have the joy of watching someone turn their life around and develop a relationship with their savior and God… its remarkable and unlike any other feeling. I am so blessed to be a missionary. Don’t be scared to share the Gospel because all they can do is say no!:) Love you all so much! Keep your heads up and endure to the end! I know the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints is so true! I know it! God lives and so does his son, Our beloved brother Jesus Christ.

Love you all… Life is beautiful,

Love Elder Waidmann

"I am here in Puerto Rico!"

Hello All!

Blake and his mission President and his wife, President and Sister Boucher

How are you guys doing? Thank you for all your love and support. You are all awesome! I am here in Puerto Rico! My companions name is Elder Fox and he is from Salt Lake City! He is an awesome missionary and a great teacher. We work really hard which I love! We have a lot of investigators like around 10, but the problem is when you go back for the return appointment they are never there. I never thought that would be true before my mission, but wow its almost consistent with every investigator. But we have faith that we will find those who are prepared to receive and live the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

I love how simple our invitation is. Just read and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. After you pray and ponder with real intent then God will bless you with an answer! It is so simple! I can testify will all my heart that it is true. I know it. If we know the Book of Mormon is true then we know that it contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I challenge everyone to read and sincerely pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. You can request one on mormon.org or find missionaries and they would love to give you one. You can even read it online at lds.org!

Our ward is Ponce 2nd ward. We live in a neighborhood called Jardines de Fagot. Our area is really big, but we are in a branch. We only have about 30 active members! We are working so hard. I’m trying to lose myself in the work! I know missionary work is real and I love doing it. It is honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but the joy of bringing others unto Christ is priceless. My Spanish is alright and some people have a hard time understanding me because my gingo accent mixed with a dominican accent so its hard. Some people here speak so fast… it is really impressive.  People will say something fast and my mind gives up and I just say “como”?  Then they just talk to my companion because his spanish is really good he has been here for a year! I love you all and you are all in my prayers! Keep your heads up!

Peace and Love,

Elder Waidmann