Hello there everyone!
I have been having so much fun here in Woodside. I just love
being a missionary. I keep realizing it more and more every day that I am here
serving of just how special
the time that I have here is. It goes by so quickly and I am
just so
grateful for everyday… For the good and the sad times and
for
everything in between because that is what makes a mission
just so
worth serving. I am learning day by day on how to become
better and to
use what I have learned in the past to help me act now and
it just
makes me grateful for all of the things that I have
experienced to
help me grow on many levels.
So last week! On Monday Elder Martinez and I returned to
Brooklyn! We
went to Park Slope and went out to lunch and got Thai food
for his
birthday! It was pretty fun. So we got the same plate of
food and the
lady told us that the noodles were mild on the spicy level.
So I
thought that mild on the spicy level would be pretty much no
big deal
because I have eaten some pretty dang spicy Spanish food
right? WRONG!
I was dying! They were so so spicy and my mouth was on fire,
but the
good news is that it was really tasty! :) We then went out
and walked
around Brooklyn for a little bit which was really nice. I
love it
there! Actually we went there again today! For a BBQ at an
investigators house in Bushwick. It is so nice because Elder
Martinez
and I both served there so we both know a lot of the same
people. Then
that night we went and visited a family in the ward and had
a Family
Home Evening with them it was awesome! They are a great
family and we
had a lot of fun there.
On Tuesday we had our usual district meeting and we had our
finding
activity as a zone! It was pretty good! They are always
really fun and
helpful to get us excited. Then later in the day we had a
sweet visit
with a recent convert and we talked about how we as children
if God
can reach our full potential by doing small and simple things.
It
really is so true. I love how it is written in the
scriptures, in Alma
37: 6-7.
As we do simple things like read the scriptures
everyday,
pray, and go to church… this is how we show our faith to God
and how we
receive many blessings from our Father in Heaven. This I
know to be
true because I have see it have a huge effect on others
lives here
that are around me. Also that night we went to a families
house that
are from Bolivia. They are so cool! The mom always cooks
SOOO GOOD!
She made us a meal called Silpancho and it was so good! She gave us so
much food
and we had so much that we took some home! It was nice!
Wednesday we taught F. It went pretty well!
We also that night taught the Y family. They are from Peru
and are really
cool! We had a good visit there and their daughter had been
gone in
vacation in Peru for the summer so the father asked us to
teach her a
few things and it was the best lesson that we had over there
in a long
time. And to finish the night off they have us some Chi cha
Morada and
Inca Kola! They are both super Peruvian drinks and are
really good!
The first one is made out of purple corn and the second one
is a soda
that is yellow but tastes like bubblegum almost! Pretty good
stuff!
Thursday we had our MLC meeting which was really good! It is
always so
good to see our Mission President. He is just so full of
wisdom and
always has so much to teach us which is so great to be a
part of those
meetings there. After the meeting I went on an exchange with
the new
Assistant Elder Nugent. He just got called to be the new
assistant and
we had a pretty good night together. We talked to a lot of
people that
night and got a few new potential people to visit which was
pretty
awesome. One guy we talked to Elder Rogers and I had met
earlier. He
is from India and he also speaks Spanish! Pretty crazy
right? Elder
Nugent and I were talking to him for a little while by a
deli that is
by our house and then he said "You thirsty? I'll go buy
you drinks."
Pretty random but super nice of him! We had a good
conversation with
him and learned more about Hindu religion and culture which
was really
interesting! Then we taught a lesson to the ward about having Faith in Jesus Christ and how that is important to have and to share.
Friday was a great day in that we talked to some really cool
people
before we another meeting with the district leaders in our
zone. We
had a good meeting together and then Elder Martinez and I
exchanged
back! Reunited! We then went to go and teach M! We had a
really good lesson with her and we brought a recent convert
with us who
had just gotten his mission call. It was a great visit
there. She has
been in dialysis for a long time and just found out this
week that she
was available to receive a transplant. She told us and just
started
to cry because she was so happy. It was a beautiful
experience!
Then on Saturday we did service and that was a lot of fun!
We did a lot a painting and that was good! Then after service
we
taught a teenager that did service with us. It was so good!
Probably one of the best lessons that I have ever taught on
my
mission. He asked a lot of questions while we were doing
service with
him and then we took him on a church tour. There we taught
him and he told us of how he wanted to change his life. It was amazing. We
helped him to recognize the power if the Holy Spirit as we taught him and he
loved it. He told us how he felt
something different, but that it felt good. I love those
experiences so
much! They just make all of the work that we
do worth
it, to help one of God’s children to recognize the spirit to
tell them
that what they are learning is true. It is such a beautiful
thing. He
asked us what the purpose of life was and why he was here.
As we
taught him you could just see that the eyes of his
understanding were
opened. It was such a wonderful thing to see. We are going
to see him
next week and teach him again! We are excited!
Sunday was great! We had church and then later we went out
to find
some people at home and ended up finding a new person who
was
interested in the church! It was awesome!! He is from Korea
and we are
going to teach him soon!
It was such a good week! We also had a funny experience with
an intoxicated man who was jumping all over us on Saturday on our way to the
meeting. He yelled at us from afar saying “My boys… the Mormons! I love you
guys! “ Gotta love it!
Love you all!
Elder Waidmann
