"Back to Work!"

Hello Everyone!

Well as you have all been informed, I was really sick last week… but thanks to you all for your thoughts and prayers, I got better quickly and I was able to get out of the house and go to work! I am so happy!

The week has started out so wonderfully. Yesterday was church and wow… it was such a beautiful day. My companion was able to find a new investigator when he did intercambios  (exchanges) with different Elders this week when I was sick. The new investigator’s name is Carmen. She is so awesome and she impressed me when I met her. She has an open mind and a sincere desire and she told me when I was getting to know her she is trying to find the find the true church! Also Delia, Vicente’s girlfriend came too! It was so wonderful. It was the fist time she has gone to another church for years. In Gospel Principles class she said, “I have never felt the Spirit like this. Here it is so different and I feel the Spirit so strong.”  Later Vicente also testified of the truthfulness of the Gospel in the class, they both have noticed the difference in their relationship as they have lived the Gospel. They are so happy and you can see it glow from them.

Carmen had a wonderful experience in the church and cried because she desired that her family could also be at church to experience the joy she had been feeling! Later on, Vicente gave me his Book of Mormon and he had written his testimony in the front cover. It said I know God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Later, during the third hour of church, we were talking about a talk from general conference called “I Believe”. We were talking about how the word “believe” can mean a lot of things depending on how we use it, but we were talking about how it means in a sense a knowing of something. Then Vicente, shared his testimony and said aloud this time I know God and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is true and that this is the true church! The power of his testimony was amazing. I am humbled to be a servant of God as a full time missionary, and to be able to see and feel the love God has for His children. I love these people. I am so grateful for the hard times and the good times. It really is God helping us become more like his Son, Jesus Christ, and through being like him and following him, we will be able return to our Father in Heaven

 3 Nephi 9:14-15 - In the Book of Mormon

14)Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

15) Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

Love you all!

Elder Waidmann

"I love my mission with all my heart"

Hello everyone!

Another week flew bye, and the work here is progressing. We have been so blessed from God, and we have seen his hand in this work.

This week, we were contacting in San Lorenzo and we said a prayer to start finding and we set off. The third or so house, we saw a young kid and he looked at us and his eyes widened so much and I saw him whisper, “Oh my gosh!”  I said “What happened?” and he said, “I am a member or that church”.   His name is Jeanpol, we talked to him and taught him. Turns out he was baptized with his five other family members last year, they then moved from Florida to here and haven’t been able to find the church for a year. We called his mom and told her there was a meetinghouse close by and she was so excited! 4 out of the 5 family members came to church yesterday and took the sacrament for the first time in a whole year! Jeanpol is 14 and wants to leave with us to do visits and he is excited to be a missionary. That made me so happy! I was really pondering about the experience finding them and it was such a miracle. Who knows… if God wouldn’t have put us there, who knows if they would’ve ever found the church here and that the boys would’ve never served missions. Six lost sheep have been found and I am so grateful for that experience.

We are teaching the son of a less active member. He is 10 and his name is Kervin. He is a champ! It is so cool to see that although he is so young, he has been able to see the change in his life. He says he feels so happy when he reads and the next step is church!

Vicente came to church again and is excited to be baptized. I love that guy so much! Him and his wife call us their sons… I love it. Vicente is such a special man, and he has the spirit glowing from him. You can’t help but smile when you talk to him!

I love my mission with all my heart. I have learned to love people that I meet at their doorstep, I have been an instrument in the hands of God to be able to find his lost children. There is nothing greater than this calling. I know God loves us, I know it. I know Jesus Christ is the LIGHT and LIFE of this world and that He lives.

Love you all!

Elder Waidmann

"The Spirit testifies of all truth"

Hello to everyone!

Happy fourth of July everyone! I hope it was a good one! Another week has passed and even more lessons have been learned, and I am so grateful for that. This week was filled with rain and contacting.

We had a cool experience.  On Saturday morning, it was raining so hard with a ton of wind and we were thinking negatively like about being stuck in the rain. I need to be more positive and exercise my faith. As soon as we left the first appointment, the rain stopped.  Wow how amazing that it was.  We were walking down the street and there was a woman cleaning her patio and I thought to myself, “We will talk to her later”, because I wanted to go talk to someone else… but man that’s why we have companions! Man, Elder Reyes came in so clutch! I am so grateful to have companions because one of us can have an impression from the Spirit while the other is just focused on something else. So we went up and spoke with her and her four kids about Heavenly Father and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   The 9 year old said the last prayer and it was like 2 minutes long and he gave thanks for a lot of things and it was so special to hear it. The Spirit was so strong and I know we could all feel it.

Vicente came to church again and is so happy! The spirit has been ever so present in his conversion and I am so grateful for that.  I know the spirit testifies of all truth! I know God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. How blessed we are to know these things. Thank you all for all you guys do for me!

I love you all!

Elder Waidmann