Hello :)

Wow. What a great week. Things have really been picking up here in Des Moines! We found three new investigators this week which was amazing. The Lord really blesses those members who are focused on missionary work. And I will explain those blessings later on.

First I just wanted to start off by saying that I am so grateful to be a missionary. It's the best thing I have ever done and I am very grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve. I do have a testimony of this work. I know that the best way to help others is to bring them unto Christ.

On Monday we stopped by the Henry's who are members of the ward and they are probably our best ward missionaries as well. We committed them to inviting Ian and Bethany (husband and wife) to have dinner with us on Sunday. They had been to church before to see the baby blessing of another family. And the Henry's have had dinner with them before just never with the missionaries present. So they were pretty much ready to meet us. Yesterday we had the dinner and everything went great. Ian is from Nigeria and came here when he was 18. He went to a Catholic boarding school and was baptized into the Catholic church. Bethany grew up as a Southern Baptist in Illinois. But they have recently been looking for a church to go to. Well dinner went great. They are both very talkative and it was awesome to hear there stories and just have them interact with the Henry's and us. Afterwards Brother gathered everyone around and we shared the message of the Restoration with them. They were very accepting and when we invited them to pray about if the church was true they gladly accepted. We then invited them to be baptized and they said if they knew that the church was true they would be baptized into our church. They were so prepared and it was amazing to see them grow closer to God just in the 2 hours that we were with them. The henry's have definitely got the right idea about missionary work.

On Saturday we met with a 23 year old man named Say who doesn't speak English. he is from Burma and speaks Karen. So we had a good friend of ours, Aung Yo Trae there to translate for us. We held the lesson at the church and gave him a quick tour to help him feel comfortable. We then taught him the Restoration and he accepted everything and due to Aung's awesome translation skills he accepted the invitation to be baptized as well. It was an awesome lesson. it was great because we asked Aung to translate the Joseph Smith story into Karen and while he did I felt the same amount of Spirit that I would have if the message was shared in English. What a testament to the truthfulness of the that event. No matter how it is said or given the Spirit will always testify of it's truthfulness! Amazing!

I love you all. Thanks for all that you do. It was a great and full of a lot of great miracles. Just so you know, our District found 12 new investigators this week! That's amazing! I love you all. I appreciate all that you do.

"Regular scripture study will fill your day with the influence of the Holy Ghost. Consider taking time each day to read them. In this way your ability to recognize the needs of others will improve and you will be strengthened to fill those needs."

I love you all!

Elder Caleb James Wardle

I love my family

This week was great. Last night I got Skype my family which was awesome.

I love them so much and they inspire me each and every day. I love the opportunity that we have to be on missions but also to still remain in contact with Family. It's great to feel of their love and support.

Well, this week there isn't too much to report. We did have some really good lessons with some awesome people though. We met a man named Girmay and taught him Saturday night. Girmay is from Utopia which is awesome and he really wants to start coming back to church and he said he would like to learn to play the piano. Which Elder Standage and I could definitely help him with. So hopefully he goes somewhere and the experiences we have with him are uplifting. It was crazy because he lives in a  pretty ghetto apartment complex... and we called him and he said he would come outside and find us. But he didn't come out for like 10 minutes... so we just waited in the parking lot forever! And people were staring at us wondering who the heck we were. So it was pretty crazy. But things turned out well. He really liked us and invited us back.

We also took a member of our ward out with us named Aung Yo Trae. Aung is from Burma and speaks Karen. He is a sweet kid. He is 22 and he and his family joined the church in Salt Lake. He is awesome. And we went to 3 different places and he translated everything for us... So that was definitely an experience. he is a sweet guy. And he would make a good missionary. We had a lesson at the church that we needed him to translate for and the appointment fell through... but he called the person we were trying to meet with. His name is Say. Aung talked with Say for like 10 minutes and hung up the phone and then said that Say was going to come to his house and follow him to church in the morning. So that was awesome. Say seems pretty interested in the Gospel as well. So hopefully we can teach him in the future. Well I love you all. Keep hanging on to your testimonies. Thanks for everything you have given me. I appreciate each and everyone of you. Happy Mothers day!

Love Always,

Elder Caleb James Wardle

Family and Friends

Hello,

Thank you all so much for your continual support to all the missionaries out in the world. It is probably one of the most significant things are church does, and one of the hardest and most rewarding. So please never stop praying for all the missionaries out there. We need your prayers!

Well, this week was great. Lots of lessons and lots of miracles. We taught Dianne Robinette again this week and asked her to pray about the Book of Mormon and if baptism into our church is right for her. I guess she practices Unitarianism? Which basically just means that she is united with all faiths because we generally believe in the same God and Jesus Christ. We will see how things proceed with her.

We met with an investigator named Jimmy who has been very receptive but not willing to keep commitments. I'm not quite sure he understands everything we say and he hasn't necessarily understood what our purpose is. That is somewhat of a struggle for us with some Liberians, is helping them understand that our sole purpose is to help them come closer to Jesus Christ. So we will see where things go from there. We recommitted him to read the Book of Mormon. Hopefully he does so.

We also met with comfort and her family and we invited them all to be baptized on June 21st. Her grandson Calvin was very excited and accepted the invitation. Everyone else had a few concerns about being baptized so soon and did not feel that they were ready. We invited her and those family members that were in attendance to pray about it and ask Heavenly Father if that was a day that would be right for them! Hopefully there prayers are answered and we can Work towards that day. But ultimately we will help Calvin the most so that his baptism may be spiritually uplifting for the family. We hope to see great things come to pass.

We had some super funny experiences this week as well! On Saturday we helped out with a sports competition called the Iowa Games. And we were assigned as a zone to the basketball tournament. We helped keep score and we get sunburned so bad! Like absolutely Toasted. I didn't think it would be so bad. But I currently look like a lobster which stinks :/

On Sunday during fast and testimony there were a couple Liberian members of the ward who got up and did some awesome chanting clapping and singing as part of their testimonies! I was crazy! It's like I'm in Liberia. It's great! One lady had her kids up there singing for like 10 minutes... and she was like screaming in her language and crying and then she went back to her seat and just laid on the ground crying. It was nuts!

Well I love you all so much! Thanks for all that you do and for all of the great influences you are in my life. I love you all and miss you so much. Please continue to grow your faith in the Savior and I know blessings will come. If you simply strengthen your faith in the Savior, you will grow in Charity for all those around you.

Love Always,

Elder Caleb James Wardle

Family and Friends

Wow. Life is great! We have seen so many miracles in our district I can't believe it. Our area a couple of weeks ago was the strongest in the district and now we are struggling a little bit. But it's great to see the success of everyone else around us. I interviewed so many people for baptism. As District Leader that's a great responsibility. It's awesome to interview all of the souls that are preparing to be baptized and make sure they are ready to do so. It's amazing. Monday night I interviewed Margaret Kanu and her daughter Maryamma and her son Samuel. After the interviews Maryamma asked if I could baptize her! Which was awesome. The baptismal service was absolutely great. And I really felt the spirit. I wish I could upload pictures to my email and show you the Kanu family, but these computers don't allow me too :( Bummer!

On Friday night I interviewed another two candidates for baptism. Harlee and Catherine are 11 and 12 and will be baptized next weekend. They are ready as well! And it will be awesome to see them progress. I hope they remember the covenants they will make. And then Saturday before the baptism I interviewed one of the zone leaders investigators named Kerlin. He is super funny and I am pretty sure he is 9. He stole something the other day and so in the interview I asked Kerlin if he had committed a serious crime. He told me no. I then said Kerlin, you've never stolen something? And he said no. I then said Kerlin you didn't steal anything in the last couple of days and he finally admitted that he stole some chips from gas station down the street and that he was now banned from going there. It was really! But he has since repented and is good to go for his baptism. After the baptism of the Kanu family on Saturday I interviewed another missionaries set of investigators who will be baptized next week. Kevin is aound 35 and has a daughter who is 8. And Kevin is probably the most prepared person for baptism that I have ever seen. He told me that he has a chronic pain syndrome where he is constantly in pain. he was switching between medicines about 6 years and nothing was working, so he finally decided to end his life. In the process, two missionaries knocked on his door and saved his life without there knowing. And now 6 years later he has finally accepted the gospel and is going to be baptized next week. He is a great man and will be baptized next week.

Our district has seen so many miracles! Our goal for April is 5 baptisms, and 4 were baptized Saturday and 4 more will be baptized on the 26th. What a miracle!

Elder Standage and I continue to work hard. We are looking to set some dates with investigators this upcoming week for may! I love you all! Stay close to the Lord. And I hope you had a good Easter!

Love always,

Elder Caleb James Wardle

Hello everyone! This week has been great! We got some investigators out to church which was awesome. Overall things have been really great!

We taught a few lessons this week and also got to go on exchanges with our zone leaders. I went with Elder Bates. We went to go see a man named Brian who we have been teaching for sometime now and have been trying to get him out to church. The lesson was interesting. His gf was there and she talked our ears off and didn't let us do any teaching. But eventually we just kind of ignored her and focused on Brian. We asked a ton of questions and he truly trusts us, so it became a matter of does he trust us enough to come to church? Because he knows that our whole purpose is to get him as close to God as we possibly can. So he said he would come and there was no way he was missing. So that was great. We also taught an investigator named Comfort and her family and we invited them all out to church. Comfort did great there. She brought her daughter Dora who is preganant and her two other kids named Lisa (6) and Calvin(8). They seemed to love it. They had to leave out of the third hour though because Comfort had to work. but it was great for her to come. She got there and then all the Liberian women took her off and then we didn't see her again until she left and she said that she loved it! So we were very happy about that. Brian didn't make it though. he doesn't have a car and so his friend who was going to drive him to church bailed out on him at the last second. That was a bummer. He was really stoked to come too! We were also planning on having another investigator named Max there as well. He is great. Although we haven't seen hi since the first lesson we had with him. We really need to reach out to him again. Hopefully things are going well for him.

We had district meeting on Saturday. IT went really really well! We set some goals for baptisms in the district. We currently have 8 baptisms scheduled for

April and our goal is 5! I have some interviews to do this week which I am really excited about! I have never done one before. Hopefully those go well. At District meeting Elder Zabriskie gave us a training on revelation through the Book of Mormon. He said that likening the scriptures is the bridge we make between testimony and conversion. We can all have a testimony of the book of Mormon or of Joseph Smith but until we liken the words we read and do what the scriptures say, then we will never be converted to them. We want truly hunger after them! Anyways, I just thought that was great!

I love you all! Elder Standage and I are doing graet and we are looking forward to a lot of miracles this week. We want to work harder and
I think this week is the week to do it. I love you! And you are in my prayers!

Love always,

Elder Caleb James Wardle

Conference

Hello Hello Hello :)

This week was amazing. We saw many miracles. I can't believe that Elder Standage and I have all ready been together for more than a week. It's pretty crazy to think about. we have been doing some great work. We got 3 new investigators this week which was awesome. And two of them came from knocking doors. It's really kind of interesting to see how the Lord works sometimes. Elder Standage and I have only knocked on a few doors since we have been together, but the majority of the people we have talked with have been receptive. So it's been really cool.

Elder Standage is absolutely great. I think the thing I like about being a missionary is that I am still allowed to be myself. I don't have to be some robot that preaches the restored gospel. I was sent to the specific areas on my mission that I am in because my personality and Spirit are needed hear. And we are placed with certain companions because we are needed. And I feel that way with Elder Standage. We have been having a blast and we really push each other to work hard while it happens. It's awesome. We have developed a good sense of "whistling while you work" and it really pays off when things don't go well. But ultimately we are just extremely blessed for all that has been happening.

General Conference was absolutely amazing. I felt the spirit so strongly. I'm really grateful to have a living day prophet. Someone who can lead and guide us. It's an amazing thing.

The Des Moines District is doing great! When I first got hear we had o baptismal dates in the whole zone... and as of now we our zone has the most dates in the whole mission and our district has 12 dates. 10 of which are for April. So we are all working very hard and it's remarkable to see the progress of the missionaries that are here. I don't accredit the fact that we now have 12 dates in the District to the fact that I was called as District Leader (especially because I haven't don't much) but I am proud of all the missionaries and the work they are doing.

On Mormon.org there is a new video of Elaine Bradley who is the drummer for the Neon Trees which is my favorite band. So I was absolutely stoked about that! You should all check it out.

Well I love you all. Please stay safe and warm.

Love always,

Elder Wardle

Transfer Week

Hello,

This week went great! I have a brand new companion named Elder Standage. He is from Mesa AZ. And he loves to skateboard and he is super funny. He is 22 and has been a little worried about how old he will be when he gets home. But he is a champ and we will see miracles. Elder Flint is now home and I hope he is doing well. This week mainly consisted of Elder Flint packing. Then Thursday we woke up really early so that I could get to the new trainers meeting in Iowa city before transfer meeting. We woke up around 5. Which was rough since I have been exhausted my entire mission. 

Thursday night we drove home and got Elder Standage settled in. He has been so tired since he got here. The MTC Is exhausting and on Wednesday thy woke up at 1 in the morning to catch their flight out here. So he has been pretty drained. But he is doing better. On Friday we had a few lessons. One was with Curtis Cochrun and Elder Standage enjoyed that. Then we had a lesson with Sunday, an investigator who has been meeting with us for a long time and wants to be baptized but can't because he has been going to a Catholic church that funds his tuition at the Catholic school he goes too. But he is a great kid. On Thursday night we had a lesson with Brian and his girlfriend was there as well. his girlfriend talked the entire time so we didn't get any teaching in. Which was sad because we were planning on setting a baptismal date. It was the most interesting lesson I have ever been in to say the least. They just kind of awkwardly argued and talked over us the entire time. It was interesting. Anyways, Friday was great.

On Saturday I conducted my first district meeting ever which was pretty nerve racking. But it was great to train missionaries on how to more fully fulfill their purpose. I talked about starting fresh and starting a brand new transfer and how we can better ourselves and become even more committed to helping others come to Christ. So that was great. It went well.

After District meeting though, we saw miracles! We had scheduled to meet with our recent convert Andrew from 4 to 5. But District meeting ran a little bit over so we were going to be late. And we had a dinner appointment at 5. So we were debating whether it was even worth going. But the Spirit told us that we needed to stop by and see how he was doing. On the way to our appointment, the members we were supposed to have dinner with cancelled so we thought that was perfect. We went to see Andrew and he had told us on Thursday that he sent a letter to his mother and father that day explaining about his baptism and about his decision to go on a mission and to go to byui as well. Well we got there around 4:15 and the talked a little bit. He said that he had listened to a few talks the night before and read his scriptures and He said that he had never felt the Spirit more. Well, we were there for about 15 minutes... and his parents called. And he talked to them for about a half hour. They were so upset and so angry. And I won't share all the details but Andrew was a champ. He just said Mom and Dad I know what I have felt, It's all ready done and I am gong to do what I know is right. It's happening. It was the craziest lesson I have ever been in! Andrew's last words to his family were I love you, and then without a response they hung up the phone and he dropped his phone in his lap and just started balling. I started crying and Elder Standage just looked like a deer in the headlights because it was his 2nd full day... Andrew cried for about 10 minutes and we just sat in silent. He looked at me and said I need a hug. And he gave me the best hug I have ever had. (Besides hugs from family of course) We shared our testimonies with him and then read a chapter in the book of Mormon. I have never felt the spirit more in my life. It's amazing what the book of Mormon. Anyways, after the lesson we said the biggest prayer of gratitude and called a few members of the ward to ask them to call Andrew. Our ward mission leader brought Andrew over to his house and they watched a basketball game together. Brother Poole also gave Andrew a blessing.

Moral of the story. It was absolutely a MIRACLE that we were with Andrew during that. And our appointment even cancelled so we could stay with him longer! The Lord just guided us and then cleared the way! It was absolutely amazing! I'm so grateful for the Lord's guidance. I am grateful for Andrew.

On Sunday we taught a lesson to an African man named Oliver and he accepted the invitation to be baptized. We then met an awesome guy at church named Max who we will be teaching Wednesday.

Miracles are happening! IT's great!

Well, I love you! Please pray for these people. Sorry this email was so long!

Love always,

Elder Caleb James Wardle