March 10, 2014

This week was another great one. We had a great district meeting and I had the opportunity to train on Developing Christlike attributes. Specifically humility and patience. And it was great to be able to study those topics a little bit more. My mission has truly opened my eyes to a lot of things. I think the main thing is that my thoughts have turned from secular things to things that actually matter and will help me eternally progress. It's amazing to see the difference in my life and the amount of happiness that focusing on the savior can bring. I have been focusing on repentance as well. And repenting daily. And it has really brought the spirit into my life. I encourage you all to repent daily. And to really focus on the blessings that the Savior has given you. Each day we can look for the hand of the lord. And we can truly feel his magnitude if we just look for the blessings he gives us daily. I know that the Lord loves us.

This week we visited a few people. Andrew is doing well. He has a friend who recently became a Christian and he has had a few questions about the church and what we believe. We were able to meet him and talk with him about the gospel. He had a lot of questions. Somewhat Anti arguments as well. But we were able to expound on all of his questions. And we really played "Defense" during the whole discussion. We came back to see Andrew the next day after we talked to his friend because we didn't get to talk to Andrew too much. But when we cam back the next day his friend was there again and we talked with him again. So he is obviously pretty interested. We tried to explain to him that we know these things because we have a testimony of the book of Mormon. And he thought we were putting just a little too much trust in the Book of Mormon. But we put trust in the testimony that we have received from Heavenly Father that the Book of Mormon is true. So really we are just trusting Heavenly Father. Anyways, it was a real testimony builder to talk with his friend. Andrew did a good job testifying as well.

Anyways, this week was great. I love you all! And I hope you are doing well.

Love,

Elder Wardle

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

Fambam and friends

We had a great week here in Des Moines. I really love it here. The people are great and the ward is one of the highest baptizing wards in the U.S. which is really cool. In 2013 37 souls were brought unto Christ in the Des Moines ward. That was due to a lot of great effort on behalf of the missionaries who had been serving here. But the ward has seen a recent trend that the activity of those who have made the covenant  of baptism has been decreasing. It was almost like there were too many baptisms to handle in the ward all at once. Elder Flint and I and the Assistant's to the President were really anxious to see what the new baptismal goal would be for 2014. And we found out yesterday that the new goal is 20! Which is perfect. It gives the missionaries and members a chance to slow down and catch up as well as focus on reactivations. But twenty is still a great goal and will push us. I'm grateful for great leaders who receive revelation on behalf of the people they have stewardship over. I'm excited to serve here.

Elder Flint and I continue to grow closer every day. He is  great guy and he loves to teach.

We met with a man named Curtis this week who is less active. Well he doesn't want to be less active but he doesn't drive so sometimes he has trouble getting to church. But he is a great man. He is around 50 or 60 but he can't live on his own due to some mental disabilities. He basically acts like a 12 year old most of the time... He lives in a group home, which in better terms is basically just a house full of crazies. I've never taught a lesson on my mission where I was more worried about what was going on around me. The people in there are crazy! There is a man named Maurice there and he is hilarious! He was eating pizza and said "This is the best pizza I have ever had. Pizza Hut is way better than Dominoes!" It was so funny! He was literally falling I love with his pizza. I guess one time Elder Flint went over there and Maurice stopped him and said "Are you the Mormons? Mormons are the nicest people I have ever met. They are truly going to heaven. I want to be baptized into your congregation. I think you men are angels. God Bless you for al that you do." He is so funny. he is just this crazy black guy! Anyways, Curtis is doing great. And we love him!

We also taught a recent convert named Andrew. Andrew was baptized in December and he has a super strong testimony. His parents are Lutherans and they don't actually know that he has been baptized... and they are were ready to disown him just for meeting with missionaries! Yikes. his faith amazes me though. He has a super strong testimony of the gospel. He spoke in church yesterday about his conversion story and his girlfriend and her family who are members in Nebraska came to here him speak. It was amazing and the spirit was so strong. He is a great kid. He just got accepted to BYUI and plans on going on a mission sometime next year. What a champ.

Anyways, I am loving Des Moines. We had a great zone training meeting on Thursday and learned about a new way to teach investigators. And so Elder Flint applies what we learned with an African family we are teaching. We taught lady named Comfort (Africans just choose random words to be there names when they come here) and her son Nezi, and her father. He told us his name but it was impossible to say, so Nezi told us to just call him Joe Biden. It was so funny! So that's what we call him. But Joe Biden wasn't at the first lesson we had with them so he is now a new investigator. We sent a message to our zone leaders that we got a new investigator and they usually send a message out to the zone and say something like "keep up the good work" or "another miracle" but this time they said "we are penetrating the government! Elder Flint and Elder Wardle got anew investigator named Joe Biden!" it was super funny!

Well, I love you, keep praying for blessings to come. I keep you all in my prayers and I hold you close to my heart.

Love,

Elder Caleb James Wardle

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

Hello Lovelies 2/3/14

This week was great. We had a great time serving the Lord and seeking to bring his children home. On Monday after we emailed we went to play basketball as a zone, but before hand we went shopping. I decided to save my money like a champ, and Elder Mortensen ended up  buying a new pair of basketball shoes. Luckily, our feet are the same size he gave me his old pair which were 60 bucks and practically in new condition. So I was stoked about that! I didn't even need them and the Lord just planted them in my lap. It was super cool. On Tuesday we were stuck inside again so nothing happened. We did make some phone calls though which was great. Wednesday was great. We stopped by Jose and Jessica's to talk with Jose about his documents and about how things are going. Turns out that the birth dates on his birth certificate and his baptismal certificate are different, and we were planning on using those to get them a marriage license in Coe county. But the dates had too match. It's amazing that the once we think we had everything figured out, something else comes up. It's amazing to see how much of influence Satan has had in the lives of the Lord's elect. It's crazy how a simple error (an incorrect ate on a document) in 1984, can have such a large effect in someone's life 30 years later. Satan knows what he's doing. But we are pushing just a little bit harder. We know things will come to pass.

On Thursday we had a great District meeting. I was able to train on following the Spirit and it went really well. The Spirit shows us the way and I am grateful for it.Thursday night we had a lesson with Jose and talked about tithing and Fast offering. 

He said he would live the law of the tithe once he had an income. We invited him to fast on Sunday with the purpose of being blessed in finding a way to get them married. On Friday we went out to Independence and saw Brother Ledtje. He is doing well and is fighting strong with his cancer. We shared the Restoration with him and invited him to seek for answers to his prayers. He is such a great guy and we love him. Before we stopped by Brother Ledtje we tried contacting some less actives but didn't speak with any. Most weren't home. When we were knocking on a door, I remember looking around and seeing all these houses. And cars buzzing by. And I just thought to myself... Wow! There is so much work to be done! SO Much! How do we do it all? There are about 6,000 people in Independence and only two member families live there. I see that town growing so much. They need the gospel. If only we had two cars so that we could be out there more. 

On Saturday we taught Jose again. We went through the baptismal interview questions with him. He is so ready. We just have to get him MARRIED! He talked about repentance and how much it has meant to him. He also
said that once he is baptized he plans on staying in one place (religion). He will be such a faithful member.

On Sunday we fasted for some sort of revelation as to how we can help Jose. We spoke about him in P.E.C. and in the middle of church a brother in the ward came up to us and gave us a number for an organization called seeds of hope. They help people like Jose get work visa's and getting all of there documents lined up so that they can become legal. So hopefully that was the answer to our prayers. At Priesthood meeting, Branch President Johnson asked Jose to give the prayer. Jose said the prayer in Spanish and I felt the spirit so much as he prayed He is such a great guy. I don't speak Spanish but he said thank you for the missionaries, and my heart just about jumped out of my chest I was so happy. He is so great. 

I want you all to know that I have a testimony of fasting. I know it is real. I know that the Lord gives us blessings when we fast. I love this gospel. This week we have 10 lessons lined up. Which is more than I have ever had in a week before. Manchester West is really taking off. Statistically, a new are doesn't baptize until about the 3rd or 4th transfer. And we are are so close. We have plenty of investigators. Transfer calls are next week and there is nothing worse than getting transferred and leaving the new missionary coming in with an amazing amount of work to do. But I feel confident that the new missionaries coming in will feel comfortable. We have a wonderful branch to support the missionaries. And miracles are happening. Pray that the weather doesn't stop any of our appointments. Hopefully this week will be filled with miracles. I love you all! Thanks for all of your prayers in our behalf. I know that the Lord blesses those who serve him and I am grateful to be a missionary.

Love,
Elder Caleb James Wardle

Family and Friends 1/27/14

Well, this week there isn't too much to report. We didn't teach any investigators this week due to the weather and I wasn't feeling too well. But Jose did come out to Julio Weber's baptism which was great. The weather has been absolutely crazy here. Yesterday we had Blizzard warnings and we couldn't go out. The wind chill today is about -55. So it's been rough. The work hasn't progressed like we would like it to have. But we are making things work. On Sunday we only had Sacrament meeting due to the weather. It's just been crazy. Iv'e really been reflecting on how much I have been blessed lately. It seems like the blessings just continue to come. It's interesting how the Lord works. And it's been amazing to see how happy we can truly become when we are doing the Lord's work. My heart really goes out to those we are working with. I love them all so much. And I have tried to lead with that love in all of the appointments and lessons we have. When people see how much we care about them and when we make them feel important, it's then that they feel important to Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to just truly feel the love the Lord has for me. 

By way of good news, we have figured out a way to get Jose and Jessica married! In our county Jose needs some form of government issued identification in order to get a marriage license. But he doesn't have any. But over in Coe county in Chicago all he needs is his birth certificate translated into English and notorized, and then a copy of his baptismal form from when he was baptized in Mexico. And he has both of those things! Now it's just a matter of getting him to Chicago to get the license and then getting him back there once they have received the license to get them married! So we are so excited for them! It's going to be great to see them start living the way the Lord wants them to live and then Jose will qualify for baptism and everything will be great! President Jensen told us that everyone has a hurdle to jump over to enter into the waters of baptism, but He has never seen one as complicated as Jose's situation is. So we are pretty dang relieved that we now have the ability to help him come closer to Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary and I love this gospel. Always remember to pray. And remember that trials and tasks are simply just opportunities to excel!

Love,

Elder Caleb James Wardle