Investigators

I'm sorry there are 3 posts in one day. I got behind with the holidays and traveling to Utah. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things now. Adam currently has two investigators that are working toward baptism. One is scheduled for this Saturday and as a family we are praying and fasting for him. As of Sunday he still hadn't completely given up his cigars. He loves going to church and hasn't missed a Sunday since he started going and he loves the members. He enjoys going to the activities and being part of a ward. Adam has really enjoyed teaching him and working with him. Please join us in praying for him to be able to overcome his habit and enter the waters of baptism. The other one preparing for baptism is Sean's mom who I mention in the Christmas post as well. She is also struggling with the Word of Wisdom and is working hard to overcome that. Their lessons with her have been going really well and she is schedule for baptism on February 4th. Please pray for her as well as she prepares for this big step. They are teaching others but these are the two that are scheduled for baptism. Thank you all so much for keeping Adam and his investigators in your thoughts and prayers..................................On another note, Adam is really excited that one of his good friends from Provo who was in our ward and on his baseball team has been called to the same mission. Adam is so excited for Trevor Zibetti and can't wait for him to get there. I believe he enters the MTC in February.

Transfers

The week before Christmas they had transfers. It seems like a hard time to have to do that, but I guess it goes along with missionaries coming and going from the mission. I realized since I arrived in Portugal one week before Christmas, the same thing had to have happened in my mission........Adam stayed in the same area (Irvine) but his trainer was transferred and he said he misses Elder Horejsi. His new companion is Elder Oviatt and here is some of what he had to say about transfers, "Elder Oviatt has only been out a transfer more than I have and this is his 2nd area. He just switched with Horejsi. He is senior companion but it doesn't feel like it. I am more of a leader and he is kinda shy so I do most of that stuff. He was driver but drove me nuts because he didn't know where he was going so we got that switched." This is the information he gave me in his letter now I will share what he put in his email........."all I know about him so far is that he went to BYU and he likes My Little Ponies ....... yep I said it my little ponies!!!! Are you kidding me???!! He tried to put a M.L.P. ornament on my Christmas tree and I almost died of laughter and then nearly had a heart attack when I found out he was serious... At least you will be getting some interesting and probably funny letters." We all had to laugh at that. I can just picture Adam finding out his companion is a "Brony". We told him to be nice and try to learn from the experience. In his last letter he said they have had some good discussions and he is beginning to feel that it's not as weird of a companionship as he thought.

Elder Wardle and Elder Oviatt

Their Little Christmas Tree (before the MLP ornament)

Christmas

Christmas was wonderful mainly because we were able to skype with Adam. It was so nice to be able to see him and talk to him. He looks wonderful and seems to be doing very well! In his letter before skyping with us he wrote, "It is finally here, it seemed so far away but it came so fast at the same time. I am so happy that I get to call or skype you. I know it hasn't been that long but I sure miss everyone." It is nice to know that he misses us too. They got together as a whole mission for a devotional and here is what he said about it, "1st Christmas Devotional was a blast! Our Mission President is the best! We started off by watching Tangled! Yep we watched a movie and everyone loved it. After we had some amazing Korean BBQ for lunch and I swear I ate a whole chicken, pig, and cow, yum yum! Everyone was there so I got to chill with Elder Rogers and Sister Thompson (from his MTC district), both super awesome! We had a devotional where someone in each of the 8 languages read the Joseph Smith Story in their tongue. It's pretty cool to feel the spirit when you can't understand it completely....................... On Christmas Eve they went to a Ward Dinner with one of their investigators. Then they went and opened their pj's and wore them for their Christmas Eve Party at a member's house. They played games, santa came, and they had a lot of fun. The family gave him a green lantern shirt. I guess the girls in the family thought he looked like green lantern :)!

I believe this picture is of Sean and his dad with Adam and his comp. Sean and his family have been very good to Adam. Sean is a convert of 2 years. His mother is one of their investigators and we are all praying for her in her preparations for baptism. They skyped from Sean's house and later went to his parent's home for dinner. The family gave them some gift cards for Christmas, too. Christmas Day: "We had another p-day for Christmas and it was awesome. For my 1st Christmas away it was hard for sure, I miss being with everyone, but I had a good time. We had breakfast as a zone, played some group games, and opened presents. We eventually got ready and went to Sean's for skype which was wonderful! Kind of weird to be called by my first name(by us of course), haha:)! I think that's good?! I'm glad I could start a snowball fight from Anaheim." We were in Utah and he asked me to take the computer outside so he could see "his snow". He encouraged Ashlee and Jaxon into a snowball fight which was quite fun to watch. He enjoyed every second of it. I just tried to keep the computer camera pointed in the right direction so he could see it all. We sure missed having him play games and go sledding with us this Christmas but he is exactly where we want him to be and we are so grateful he has chosen to serve The Lord on a mission. It was so wonderful to skype with him.

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.