Friday, March 7, 2014

This week was great!

Family,
This week was great and very spiritually uplifting. I had a lot of cool experiences and it's spiritual experiences that really put a mission into perspective. So I was really glad that the Lord could send me those. It'd amazing to see his hand in those. I've decided that in these emails I am going to spend less time on the day to day things and talk about our investigators a bit less, and really just talk about some of the spiritual things (of course it's all spiritual but you know what I mean) So here is just a quick update on the things that are going on with investigators.
Andrew Elbe, the recent convert that we work with is still working on getting on mission and he just got a patriarchal blessing last night. He hasn't told us how it went yet, but hopefully it went well! Anyways, things are going great for him and we love him so much.
We didn't get to meet with Comfort and Joe Biden and their family this week, Africans are really spotty when it comes to scheduling a time to meet with them. They are super receptive, but the hardest part is getting in the door.
I went on an exchange with Elder Monson, one of the zone leaders in Des Moines. And they are Spanish missionaries... so I definitely struggles following along with what the heck they were saying... But I did a decent job. The only problem was that when I actually knew what was happening I couldn't say anything because I don't know Spanish! It was frustrating but also a blessing to see another culture and how other missionaries have to work. We ate some pretty dang good Mexican food though!
Curtis is doing great! he is planning on moving to another group home here pretty soon. We have a lesson with him this week as well. he is a great guy.
Sunday is doing great! We taught him on Thursday and then asked him when we could come back and he said tomorrow! It was awesome. And it was his birthday! So we bought him a massive kitkat bar. He is a great kid and we keep praying for something to happen.
Last night we visited a women in the hospital. Her name is Theresa and she is very sick. But it's interesting how sometimes we as missionaries can fulfill our purpose just by shutting up. She talked to us about her life for about two and a half hours. And she was grateful for us coming. We have another appointment with her today. I love how experiences with health can either make u s or break us, sometimes they draw us closer to the lord and sometimes they pull us away. But no matter what, looking form the outside in, we draw closer to the Lord. And as a missionary there have been several times where I have had to go to a hospital and minister to those that are sick. And every time I am drawn closer to the Lord. And my purpose as a missionary is put back into perspective. My purpose is to invite others to come to Christ, as sometimes I can do that just by being there when people are struggling. I love the Lord so much. I am grateful for the trials we are given. Whenever you doubt, look toward the Lord and you will find your strength. I love you all! thanks for everything!
Love,
Elder Caleb James Wardle