"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

"Come Home"

At the baptism. What a beautiful day!

Hello family and friends!

What a blessed week it has been! General Conference, was such a blessing and was much needed. Even as a missionary, I have a lot of questions and so many were answered. What a blessing! A topic mentioned a few times in conference was our divinity as sons and daughters of a Living God. How precious and sacred that knowledge is that God loves us perfectly. That brings me so much peace.

My companion and I had the privilege of baptizing one of God's children on Saturday. What a beautiful experience it was watching this daughter of God find the path of eternal life and take the steps necessary to obtain it. Words cannot describe the joy I have felt helping these people find their way back home. We are spiritual beings obtaining earthly experience. God is the father of our Spirits, and when we find these spiritual truths and the Holy Spirit confirms them to our hearts and our minds, our spirits rejoice and we feel the presence of our Heavenly Father in our lives. That is how we know that we are on the correct path back home to his presence.

I know with all might heart that God loves his children. I was able to experience this truth again as we found Jennifer. She was in need, and her Father comforted her and found her through us. How sacred it is to be an instrument in God's hands. He loves His children. She was baptized and the service went so beautifully. At the start of the second session of General Conference we sang "Now let us Rejoice". We sang this verse that says, “And Jesus will say, to all Israel, Come Home”.  Those two words, Come Home, hit me so hard, and the Spirit testified to me that that is just what Jennifer just did.  Being baptized, made it possible for her to ''Come Home". I am forever grateful for all that I am learning here. Puerto Rico never ceases to be so beautiful and I love it. The heat is brutal at moments but, its worth it. I have never been so tan in my life! I was able to see my trainer, Elder Fox, Saturday night. I am so grateful for him, as he truly taught me how to be a servant of God. Share the Gospel… it is not only a commandment, but it is a privilege. You will experience more joy than you ever have had, as you share the gospel. Jesus Christ lives and this is His church. 

I love you all!

Elder Waidmann