"For He loveth the world"

Well Hello everyone!!

Hey it's me!!!!! You know the kid over here in New York! I hope you all haven't forgotten about me back there! Haha just kidding! I miss you all so much and it seems as though life is going on without me! Dang I just thought that it would all go on pause haha :) but so this week has been pretty good and we are starting some great things here! :) I am excited for all the work that is going on here in the mission and in the rest of the world it is just so incredible!! So basically last week I guessed a few peoples emails that were on missions in other places like Brandon Rowland and Adam Gilberts and bam! Surprisingly I was right! So that was cool! I wrote them a little note last week and they wrote me back in the email saying how everything was going! It is so cool to here of the missionary success in all parts of the world! It is amazing how all the people I here from are saying the same thing. The Lord is just making the work progress so much it is incredible and just so so cool to see and to be a part of especially as a missionary!

 It is crazy out here in New York! It really is! The weather this past week has been absolutely crazy and insane. And by that I really mean that! We had super hot weather earlier last week and then the rest of the week was crazy rainy and windy! I was like whhaaaaaat?? Come on New York just make up your mind here! Haha :) Also this last week I was quite sick. Random I know. I haven't been sick in the longest time it feels like so that was quite a shocker! I got punched in the face by some random chest and head cold. Needless to say not fun at all. But! I am almost back at 100 % myself so that is nice! And I still worked through it all that was cool! :) Because I was not just going to sit in the pad all day and do and do nothing!! So we went out and worked of course! But a lot of people  told me that I should just go back and rest apparently I sounded horrible, and yeah i kinda did. It sounded pretty dang bad when I was coughing but I am pretty okay now I promise! So that is good! :)

And yesterday was a pretty great day full with some pretty funny experiences! First we went up to the mission office for a meeting and on the way there our trains got stopped because there was a fire on the bridge to go through Manhattan because to get to the mission office you have to ride the train through there anyway, and so and we had to get off and walk for like forever because they weren't working! So we took a different train there then and ended up meeting a member from one of the surrounding wards and she was so nice to us! She gave me and Elder Goates 20 dollars! Like crazy! Haha and she said we have to promise to spend it on junk food and I was like uhhhh okay!!! Heck yeah! So she was super nice! Then yesterday on the way back to our pad for the night the train doors open and we walk in and there is this guy sitting in the train and just like almost yells at us "SOLDIERS of CHRIST!!! Can we pray?????!!????" Haha oh sooooo funny! Needless to say we could tell quite instantly he was under the influence of some alcohol pretty heavily!! But did that stop us from praying with him?? Of course not!!! So He holds out his hands and says to us can you lead us in your church's prayer and we were like uhhh yeah okay! And I was like oh man this is going to be interesting! So funny though! So the New Yorkers man! They are just hilarious! Also we had a lesson with Magda, Maria, and Julio again last night! They are just so nice! They seemed really receptive! I really hope that they will continue to have a desire to learn! And they also fed us again! they are just so nice! We had our own little BBQ on the side of the street outside of their apartment! Pretty fun! And dang do they make good salsa!!! :) Haha anyway, We taught them about the importance of the Book of Mormon and it seemed to go pretty well! :) SO I really hope they read and pray about it! We shall see! So everything here is going good! :)

I love you all so so so so so so so much. I really do! I wish I could be with you and see you but I am here in New York where I am supposed to be for the next long while! So I hope you all are doing great! Oh and ps today was our preparation day it got switched because of the holiday! anyway I hope you are all doing so good! :) I love you so much!

And scripture for the week is! 2nd Nephi 26:24! It says: "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he might draw all men unto him.  Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation."

I love this one so much! we learn that God loves us so much that he gave up HIS own life for us for the people who are imperfect because of perfect and infinite love so that way He could draw US to HIM. Because HE is the one that can heal us, give us strength, and He Always knows how we feel. Love you all so much! :)

Love,

Elder Waidmann

oh and here are some pictures! We went on the Staten island ferry today! It was pretty fun! ;)

"Be strong and show our faith"

Elder Waidmann smiling for the camera on his
preparation day!

Well hello everyone!!!  

Another week has gone by yet again! They aren't flying by yet but I am sure as the months go by they will start to! So this week was pretty good! Monday was our preparation day of course! That was good! And then Tuesday we had transfers! Well I didn't go anywhere and neither did my companion because I am still being trained so I am still in the same area that I am in when I got here! So yeah that is going good! So we have a new district leader now because Elder Jensen went home on Tuesday and his name is Elder Pearce! He is a really awesome Elder and he seems like he will help our district out a lot, which is really cool! So hopefully we can continue to do well! So we are still teaching English class every week and that is going well! We always get a pretty good turn out of people and they people are pretty willing to learn! So that is good! And Wednesday we had a zone meeting because our zone has some new missionaries in it and we got to know everyone a little so that was wonderful! And dad! One of the new missionaries in our zone is from Hawaii! He is a bradda! Super nice guy named Elder Wayas! It was so fun to get to know him! He is just a great Elder! And then we did a lot of looking for people in the ward! On Thursday we had our first district meeting together as a new district which was good! And we taught and visited with a family in the ward! We are trying to help them get to the temple! So that is great! They are really nice to us and we just love them a lot! So that was great! Friday was really good! It was full of a lot of looking for people in the ward and things like that! So a lot of walking! But it is okay though! It is part of the work! Then Friday was also great too! We also did a lot of looking for people which was good! We are slowly and surely cleaning up the ward list! Lets just say that New York records are really old and haven’t been updated for quite some time! It is okay though! We are helping out the ward which is what we are here for! And we also cleaned the church building on Friday night in preparation for a mega zone conference that we were having on Saturday!

Oh my goodness! So Elder Koelliker and his wife came and talked to us! That was so cool! He is one of the seventy and he is just such an amazing man! I learned so much from him and from our mission president! Ah! It was just a wonderful big mission meeting! There were so many missionaries it is crazy! So many that I don’t know, but hopefully that will change! I got to know a few so that was good! And I got to talk to Elder Koelliker for like a couple of seconds before he was leaving and it was great! And he gave me a hug! Boom! I can say that I have hugged one of the 70's! So sweet! He is such a nice man and I learned so much from him! The spirit was incredible there! It really was! :) So then after that we went and taught a lesson to one of our investigators named Magda and when we got there her entire family was there! Including one guy who we were searching for before! They were celebrating a little girls birthday party and we felt bad for being there during it and so we wanted to just be quick but since her family were there they started asking questions and things like that so we ended up teaching a lesson! That went great! And then right when we were about to leave they were like your not going to stay and eat with us??? And me and Elder Goates were like uhhhhhhhhhhhh......YEAH WE WILL TOTALLY STAY!!!!! :) So that was completely random! Like we are basically stranger in their house and they wanted us to stay and eat with them! super cool right??? :) So we developed a really good relationship with all of the family which was really cool! :) And then we tried leaving again and they were like stay for cake!! Haha so funny! So we were there for a while! But so we gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon to read and they seemed really interested so that is great! Hopefully they will continue to want to learn more! They would be such amazing members and a wonderful addition to our ward here in Brooklyn! :) So we shall see what happens! 

I love you all so very much!   Thank you for all that you do! And scripture for the week :)  Ether 12:6- It says: "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith".  

We have to be strong and show our faith before the Lord will bless us!  And He always does!  Love you all so much!

Love, Elder Waidmann

"I know this is where I am supposed to be"

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been wonderful! It has been pretty busy but good! The Lord is helping us which is really cool to see! We taught a new lady on saturday named Magda and she seemed pretty interested so hopefully she will continue to progress! She seems like she can really learn and grow! That would be so cool! I am trying my best to do my best here in New York. I miss you all a lot but I know this is where I am supposed to be! Oh and I got a haircut today from a member of our ward. Oh man. I have no hair. haha just kidding! He did a pretty good job and he gave it to us for free! Way way cool! :) He is super nice and he just got back from his mission a few months ago and he was in D.C.! Anyway everything is going pretty good! I love you all so very much! :) And the scripture for the week is Ether 12:27!! No matter how weak we think we are we can always be strenghted by our Savior Jesus Christ when we ask for His help on a daily basis. He can do anything and He always knows how we feel! Thanks for reading! I love you all so much and I know that this church is true! Christ really does lead it today!! :)

Love, Elder Waidmann

"Preach the gospel at all times!! And if necessary use words"

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Ok hello everyone!!! 

Sorry that my emails have not been the best lately! We have always been so busy on preparation day and when I get in to email I spend most of my time reading instead of writing emails!! So thank you for the mail and the emails I so greatly appreciate it!!! It is so cool to hear how everyone is doing and how life is continuing on out in the great state of California! Man I miss that place! But I'll be back in a while haha :)

So anyway I shall try to give you all an update! Life is good out here in New York! Just the usual hustle and bustle of people everywhere and I am just amazed all the time at how many people there are everywhere! Especially by our church building! It is crazy China town and I feel like I have the wrong language on my name tag! Haha just kidding! It is all good! 

So this week has been very busy but good! Last Preparation day we went to the Brooklyn Bridge with some missionaries from another zone and that was pretty cool! And then on Tuesday we helped a guy in our ward pack up his apartment so he could move! Ah that was so awesome! I love being able to do service! I mean my whole mission is service I guess :) But still helping others is just so much fun! And the plus side of that he was getting rid of a bunch of clothes so me and my companion and Elder Hernandez got free stuff from him! That is what I call awesome!!! So Wednesday was great also! We helped the english missionaries in our zone do some missionary work! It was a lot of fun! We just went as an entire zone to their area and tracted and street contacted and tried to talk to as many people as we could in a 3 hour span to help them find more people that were interested in the church! So that was a lot of fun being able to help them out! I mean hello we were searching for others to help them come unto Christ and receive pure and real joy! So yeah it was awesome!! Then on Thursday I had an exchange with my zone leader and he speaks spanish and is going home in about a week! His name is Elder Scoffield and he lives in Fresno! I had a good time with him and I learned a lot! And I had to be the senior companion for the day haha that was interesting!! Anyway then on friday I had an exchange with Elder Hernandez becasue Elder Jensen our district leader had to go on an exchange with my companion Elder Goates! So that was great! We had a good time! Then on Saturday we had a wonderful day! We play soccer every saturday and invite members, and basically anyone church member or not to come and play with us and that was so much fun! We went to a new place this time where there was a huge open field right by the Verrazano Bridge I am not sure if that is how you spell it! Haha and anyway we were right by the water so that was cool! Then as we were getting there there was a quite a large hill down to the field. So me being me loving to run I was like oh man it has been forever since I have ran down a huge hill like this!! Yeah it was quite steep and with my awesome well thought out plan I just ran down and needless to say I lost my balance pretty fast and ate it on the grass!!! Haha!!! It was so funny!!! Luckily I had my backpak on and that took most of the force of the fall :) And I am okay though!! :) But then Sunday was great as usual! I love Sundays! Church is always amazing and I love it! And now it is preparation day! 

So I hope that you are all doing well! :) I love you all so very much and I hope all is well in Cali!!! :) Stay strong! Preach the gospel at all times!! And if necessary use words :) I love that quote! :) Love you all so much!!

Love, 
Elder Waidmann