Family and Friends

Well, It turns out that I did end up getting transferred. So no more Manchester. I am currently serving right in the heart of Des Moines. It's a great place with tons more people than I am used to. Hopefully I can make the best of my time while I am here. Des Moines Architecture reminds me a whole lot of San Jose but the people here are way nicer. The Des Moines ward is a great ward with lots and lots of Africans which might surprise you. I guess they are refugees from countries effected by the civil war out there. Liberia is the main country that feeds in to Des Moines I think. We have one African investigator. He is 14 and his name is Sunday. He is super cool and really enjoys us coming over and reading with him. He accepted a baptismal date but has a big road block in front of him. He goes to a private catholic school and the Catholic church is paying for his tuition . So if he gets baptized they won't fund his schooling anymore and his mom won't let him go to public school. But he is a great kid and he loves basketball. We also work with a recent convert named Andrew. He is 19 and currently attending a college here in Des Moines. His girlfriend is a member and he got baptized on December 28th without telling his parents... in fact they still don't know. Plus he just got accepted to BYUI and is planning on serving a mission next year. His parents are very against him joining the church so he is planning on telling them after spring break. Hopefully that goes well. So pray for him!

We also teach a member named Curtis who literally lives in a crazy people home. And he is just about the funniest guy I have ever met. He's crazy... literally. We usually go over and read some scriptures with him. And all the other people with disabilities are walking around us and it's somewhat scary but Curtis needs us to stop in so we continue to visit him.  Des Moines is a great place. Lots and lots of great places to eat so hopefully I don't go broke too fast. My companions name is Elder Flint. He is from Layton Utah and he's 6'4 and really really big. He's pretty freaken good at basketball and we play like 3 mornings a week and Pday so I'm looking forward to becoming a Baller. He goes home this next transfer. So hopefully I can help him stay focused. I've never been just a regular missionary yet. When your training or getting trained you get an extra hour of personal study, so leaving the apartment at 10 is a whole lot different.

Well I'm stoked to be in Des Moines and I'm stoked to teach some Africans! I love you all so much thanks for all that you do!

Love,

Elder Caleb James Wardle

Family and friends

I love you all so very much! It's been a great week, filled with a lot of miracles. It was great to teach so many lessons this week. They didn't all go through but most did. We taught Pam Sellner last Monday and she is so great. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and she really enjoyed it. We invited her to be baptized and she said she would be. She is so great. She owns a zoo and a dairy so she is amazingly busy. But we look forward to talking with her some more. 

On Monday night we taught the Cook family. Brother Cook was baptized pretty recently and we read a little from Alma. His wife isn't a member so we are looking forward to meeting with her. She just needs a push in the right direction. On Monday night we went and volunteered at the Methodist church here in town and helped at an event held every Sunday called Second Helpings. We dished up some food for everyone and it was great to see everyone happy and smiling and to knw that people are well taken care of in the Methodist faith. 

On Tuesday we were planning on seeing Jose and Jessica but they had to cancel because Jose was busy with the baby and Jessica was working down in Cedar Rapids. 

On Wednesday we taught Angel who is Lisa Sifrit's foster daughter. She accepted the invitation to be baptized but she legally can't be baptized until she is 18 and she just recently turned 17. So I won't be able to see her make that covenant. But hopefully some missionary down the road will be able to help her.

On Thursday we had our last District meeting as a district. So that was sad. But we did some exchanges with the Elders from Fayette. Elder MacDonald took Elder Bagshaw out to Independence and Elder Mortensen and I contacted some potential investigators in Manchester. 

On Friday we did some service for Brother Weber. Cutting down trees and chopping up the wood so that they can burn it. We got Jose out there and he was able to do some great work cutting. He cut wood every day for ten years back in Mexico so he knows what he is doing. 

Well that was pretty much our week! I've been learning so much about patience lately. Especially with myself and with investigators. I need to inquire the Lord and ask him what his timeline for all of the people we are teaching is. He is the only one that knows. I love you all so much! 

Big News! Elder MacDonald and I are staying together! 

Love Always,

Elder Wardle