Christmas Ideas

For those who have asked about Christmas ideas for Adam, he mentioned he would love some gift cards. He said Target and Albertson's are grocery stores nearby. He likes it when they have enough $ that they can "eat good". I'm sure that means when they have a little extra they go for a steak now and then. He also mentioned Jamba Juice. I'm sure it's fun for them to get a treat like that once in a while. Just thought I'd pass on the info.

A Little Rough

Adam had a few rough weeks in November. He has a bad cold. I swear that boy gets something close to bronchitis every year. He has been coughing like crazy and has even had a couple of prescriptions for the cough that didn't work. He said he is starting to feel better, but the cough lingers on. It's also been a little rough with some investigators. They had to drop a few because they were really only interested in Bible bashing. One brought his priest and I guess they were pretty rough. Adam said he felt terrible. He said his companion seemed to get into the Bible bashing so it was very uncomfortable for Adam. They had a lady scheduled for baptism on the 8th of December, but they have hit a rough spot with her too. She was pretty upset about the Word of Wisdom and said it was impossible for her to quit smoking. They are continuing to work with her, but she has cancelled on them a couple of times so it has set them back some. Hopefully things will get better with her and she can kick her habit. I suggested the 12 step Addiction Recover program to him. When I expressed concern about him being sick and having a rough time with investigators, he said, "I am strong and I am sure glad I'm out here. We are still working hard and trying our best. Even though times can be hard." I am very proud of him for recognizing the importance of continuing to work hard even through the tough times. He's such a great kid.

A Missionary Here and There

Just thought I'd share a little something about Adam. I sent this to him in his email Sunday: Brother Leonard stood up and spoke about ordering your plaque. He explained that the top 50 scriptures that are ordered are less expensive to put on the plaques because they are ordered so frequently. He said yours wasn't one of those. He said it's not a big deal but when he read the scripture he was surprised. He read it to us and said he couldn't think of a better missionary scripture and said he was surprised it wasn't in the top 50. He then went on to remind us of how important it is for us as ward members to follow Pres. Rodarte's counsel and to invite people to church. He was so spiritual and did such a great job. Afterward I thanked Brother Leonard for the reminder and he said, "It was your son that reminded me. He is doing missionary work here even though he is there." So thank you for your scripture that helped to remind all of us of our challenge and to recommit to look for opportunities to share the gospel. For those of you who are curious, the scripture he put on his plaque is Mosiah 28:3. Adam's response was...I told Derek that I thought that was awesome that he used my scripture, I like that one a lot. I guess I'm doing work for 3 wards haha. (Derek had emailed him about the scripture too.)

Way Over Due Post

Yes, I know it's been a month since I posted about Adam's mission. In my defense, I did have to do 3 children's birthday parties and Halloween during that time, plus all of the other craziness of my life! Adam has been doing very well. He is still enjoying his trainer and has also been on splits several times. He said, "No bad ones so far," so he is liking all of the missionaries he has had an opportunity to serve with and has learned from all of them. Because his area covers two wards and one is a single 30+ ward that is spread all over, they have a car. He has had an opportunity to ride bikes on a few of his splits and said he prefers the bikes. He says he just enjoys the day better when they get to ride around. I'm sure he will eventually be in an area where he gets to ride bikes all the time. He has been working out a lot with his companion. They run 3 or 4 miles a few days a week. They have been teaching the mother of the man he gave a blessing to in my last post. They have done a lot of service for her and once when they were there helping her she told them she wanted to be baptized. They started teaching her and she has now set a date for December 8th! Adam is so excited. They have done some door knocking and handed out some Books of Mormon and taught a few first lessons. A couple of weeks ago he had the opportunity to challenge a man to baptism for the first time. The man said yes and they are hoping to set a date soon. We haven't heard more about him since, so hopefully things are still going well. I did ask Adam about it so we should get an update soon. He said he is getting used to 6 hours of church. He really enjoys the training meetings and looks forward to them. They had the opportunity to go to the Newport Beach Temple a couple of weeks ago and he loved it! He thought it was so pretty. He also did some family history work and found a name on the Wardle side that he could do some work for so he was pretty excited to do that. Adam LOVED Halloween, of course he always has loved it! They spent the day doing service. They helped to build and run a haunted maze for a Jewish family. Apparently they build a maze from the road in to the garage with rooms and such. The missionaries built it out of wood and it had black tarps over it. Then they got to do some of the "scaring" when kids came through it. He had a great time. He had a special experience while they were building it. He was working with an Elder who had a stroke as a child and has a few struggles. The work went a lot faster if Adam used the drill and put the screws in and such and the other guy just held things in place. Well, that Elder asked if they could switch and Adam didn't want to because he knew it would slow things down. He said he hesitated and then a line from his Patriarchal Blessing popped in his head about understanding needs and friendshipping those in need, helping them become productive. He said he handed the drill over and let the Elder go to work. He had some struggles with the screws falling down or not going in, but the times when it would go in like butter made it all worth it. Adam said, "seeing the pure joy and happiness on his face made me feel so good inside I can't even describe it. I am sure that is what Heaven is all about." Adam also shared an experience about going to a home for dinner and feeling the contention in the home. He said the parents were fighting about how to discipline a child. The mother was encouraging and the father yelling and hitting. Adam was shocked at how disrespectful the man was to his wife. He swore in his journal he would never do that to any woman and certainly not his wife. Then he apologized to us for being disrespectful at times. He said he can see how hurtful it can be and that it made him not want to be there. (He is such a great kid and rarely disrespectful, but it is nice to see his growth through these experiences.) I will try to keep up a little better with the blog! We love Adam so much and we're so proud of him and the work he is doing.

Good bye MTC...Hello Anaheim

We received an email from Adam last Monday and a letter on Saturday. They were both wonderful and he is doing so well. His trainer is an army guy from Texas named Elder Horejsi. Adam really likes him. He is a convert and likes to work hard. He is also an army guy with a flat top and is the district leader. They have an apartment to themselves, but he said it is old and stinks:)! They are currently using a car because they cover a couple of wards. He may eventually have to get a bike but not yet. He said President Bowen is very spiritual and Sister Bowen is a sweet little lady. Here is most of his letter: I am having a great time here in Anaheim. We live in Irvine right now which is a pretty nice area. Everyone I have met is nice. We have had dinner with a family every night and it's all been pretty good. The first couple of days we have had training meetings which take up 'til around 1 or 2 o'clock. We plan the night before for what we are going to do and so far it has gone quite well. No tracting yet, but we have met with some people to give lessons. We have talked about tithing, word of wisdom, and eternal marriage...it's weird to talk about that being 40 years younger than the guy we teach, but it's a good experience. We normally have dinner around 5 or 6 with a family and then share a message with the family and head out. But during our 3rd dinner, we had a wonderful surprise! While at dinner, we got a text from a recent convert of about 2 years. He asked if he could receive a blessing. So we quickly finished dinner and excused ourselves. We drove to his place and talked about what was going on. He was quite stressed about everything that was going on in his life. Elder Horejsi and I had talked about it before and the man asked me to give him a blessing. Being kinda nervous, my hands were shaking, but as soon as I placed my hands on his head and started the blessing, complete peace came over me. Now I couldn't remember what I said, but it felt like an Angel was standing there beside me. It felt so amazing and strong, so spiritual and wonderful, I haven't felt anything like it. Afterward everyone was calm and at peace. He said he felt better already. Oh boy what a wonderful experience! Here is a quote from him: Thanks for the comments from people I love those. So please leave comments either here or on facebook so I can send them on to him. Thanks so much for all of your love and support.

Last Letter from the MTC

The MTC is going by so fast. I can't believe we take off on Tuesday. It feels like I just got here. I have learned so much in the time I have been here. Sitting outside watching all the new confused scared Elders find all their places they need to go is quite fun. (Didn't he just get there?) As we walked back from the Temple this morning, I was hoping to see someone I knew jog or drive by. Now that I think about it...as I go throughout my days doing the things I need to do I kinda sadly forget about the outside world. It is also kinda nice it helps me study and focus. We have been teaching a lot and it feels that we are teaching better. Elder Rogers (who is also going to Anaheim) and I work really well together and it seems to get things done. We had a fireside last night from one of the 70 and he said something interesting that hit me pretty hard. "We determine our own success". He went on to say that "if you do your best the Lord will make things happen." So I am going to do everything as best as I can. I will go and do the things that the Lord has commanded. Thank-you: Kam for the cupcakes and CTR ring, Uncle Mark and Aunt Tammy mmm amazing brownies and all the kids cards and letters from everyone else. This was the main part of the letter we received on Friday. He also sent an email saying he will be calling us early Tuesday morning so we look forward to hearing from him when he is getting ready to fly out. He wants us to share any posts or comments people leave on the blog or facebook so COMMENT and POST away so I have something to share with him. He said his MTC district is great. Most of them are going to Hawaii. One sister and Adam and his comp. are going to Anaheim. His favorite baptism scripture is Alma 5:62.

MTC

After Adam's farewell in Utah, we headed up to take pictures at the MTC. We were a little disappointed that the sign is now gone that said "Missionary Training Center". It was fun to go get pictures even though we were nearly blown away. We were lucky though because the rain hit just as we were running back to the car. Adam sent us a letter so I will share some quotes from his first letter: "I am now Elder Wardle!! I picked the top bunk so I can work my triceps by getting in bed. I met my companion Elder Rogers, a redhead from Texas who likes sports and is pretty cool. After introductions we jumped right into discussions and studying the scriptures. We have a great full schedule which keeps us busy and time flies by. We have had lots of teaching opportunities and I feel like I have already learned a ton. I am still walking in the wrong doors, but I know where the lunchroom is! The food is pretty good and I probably eat too much but lots of fruit and not any ice cream or soda so not any bad bad stuff. Oh, our zone leaders have been here for way too long...10 weeks. They are going to Estonia (they are kinda crazy) we just had goodnight hugs..." I can just see Adam dying over goodnight hugs...it cracked me up! He said to tell everyone they can email him at adam.wardle@myldsmail.net I know he would love to hear from all of you! Also, if you would like to leave COMMENTS here, I will let him know what you have to say.

Lunch with Mom and Friends

Adam's mom picked him up at the airport and took him to meet his friends for lunch. Adam had a great time with his friends and loved being able to see them before he left. Thanks everyone for being there for him, he loves you guys!

He's Off

Adam was set apart last night by our Stake President. We didn't get home until 10:30 so it was a bit of a late night finishing things up. We got up at 3:45 and headed to the airport at 4. The pictures are of my hug goodbye and him getting in line to check in for his flight. He arrived in SLC and had breakfast with his mom and I believe he then went to lunch with his mom and some high school friends before she dropped him off at the MTC. We are so proud of him and excited for him!

Birthday Bowling

For Adam's birthday Monday we went to dinner and bowling. It actually started out a bit rough for him, but it ended up being a fun day. He went golfing with Troy that morning and said he did terrible. Then he wanted to eat at Wingers so we went to Tacoma (the only Wingers in Washington is there) at 5 and went to a bowling place whose website said they had open bowling all night. Well...their leagues started that day and they hadn't updated their website so we couldn't bowl. They were nice and called other bowling alleys for us and found one that had openings at 7. So we headed to Wingers and on the door the sign read "Closed for business as of 9/10/2012"! Adam said, "you've got to be kidding me"! I just laughed and told him Satan was trying to get him down before he left. We called the bowling alley we were going to and they said they had a restaurant so we decided to just head there. The food was good (although not Wingers' Sticky Fingers that he wanted) and bowling was fun. Adam beat all of us and we all had a great time. Then he got a phone call from a special girl that made the night even better. It was so much fun to spend a nice evening together playing before he left.

Adam Wardle- Hopefully I grow a foot or two, and not around the mid-section. I am very excited to serve the people of Anaheim and share the Gospel.

HERE WE GO!