God Gives Us So Much Better Than we Deserve!!!

This week I had an experience with that. We were out knocking doors and we knocked into the 89 year old man. He told us that he was Atheist and no longer believed in a God. He went on to tell us his life story for maybe the next hour as we stood on his doorstep but the more we stood there the more I felt Heavenly Father's love for him. Even though this man no longer believed in God and had no desire to learn about Him again Heavenly Father loved him. I could feel it and the feeling was so strong! Before we left I quickly told him that even though he no longer believed in God, God still loved him and wanted him to know right then and there that he was loved. I don't know what happened or what the old man thought of me for saying that,but I hope it made a difference in his life at that very moment to know that he was loved. 

So for those of you that didn't know it was my brother Hayden's 16th birthday this Sunday (tell him happy birthday if you haven't already!!) and I was real sad I was missing being there with him on his big day. Well we had a dinner appointment with a member in the Bishopric on Sunday and when we arrived there were "Happy Birthday" signs up all around the house. Their daughter-in-law was coming over and it was her birthday earlier that week but they were celebrating it then. Wow I can't even tell you how much of a tender mercy that was for me. Even though I couldn't be at home singing happy birthday to Hayden I got to be in El Paso singing Happy Birthday to their daughter-in-law and celebrating her. For that to have lined us exactly how it did it could only have been through His hand that it would have happened. God truly does give us better than we deserve. 

AND IT WAS MISSIONARY MONDAY YESTERDAY!!! Twice a year around conference time the missionaries get to go to the temple. So we woke up bright and early and headed up to Albuquerque. Wow I can't explain how much I love love LOVE the temple! The second I walked in I was engulfed by the spirit and by my Heavenly Father and Savior's love. It truly is the house of the Lord. If you haven't gone recently make it a priority to go this week. It truly is a place to receive guidance and escape from the world's chaos and feel of His peace and love. 

I love this gospel with every fiber in my being. Each day I'm out serving I realize how much more I love this gospel. I think I tell my companion how much I love it at least 57 times a day. GOD GIVE US SO MUCH BETTER THAN WE DESERVE. Try to see his hand in your life daily.

FUN FACTS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK:

1. I broke out my winter coat when it hit 70 degrees haha  

2. Our Investigator that is getting baptized on November 7 took us out to eat and the cheapest thing on the menu was $50 

3. I found out what my favorite Elder's name is (I had to read his name tag haha) Elder Calvillo

OH AND IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE TALK "CAST NOT AWAY THEREFORE YOUR CONFIDENCE" STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW AND READ IT!!! It's by Elder Holland. Wow it's powerful. 

Love you all and sorry this is so long haha

-Sister Wade

Exodus 14:13-14

Matchy Matchy with Sister King

  

Elder Calvillo & I outside the temple

Everything's Bigger in Texas BESIDES THEIR ROUND A BOUTS!

Holy moly the round a bouts here are tiny!! Haha my car barely even fits! But Oh yeah I am the designated driver!! HURRAY!! I DONT HAVE TO BE THE BACKER ANYMORE!! Haha last week my companion had a really strong prompting to make me the designated driver so we did. I am definitely not complaining haha.

But anyways this week was great!! We had Zone conference and man it was AMAZING!! We had it with our zone and a zone in Las Cruces which meant I got to see my favorite Elder in the entire mission!! He is serving in Las Cruces he came out the same day I did and drove down with me in the transfer van. He is seriously my favorite but I can't say or spell his name haha But that's alright no biggy haha.

 For zone conference our zone was volunteered for a musical number and our sweet zone leaders picked a song out of the section in the hymn book that is the men's choir. So that was fun and to make it even better Hermana Holding and I were kinda being sassy about them picking a men's choir song so they made us sing a solo pretty much for the first verse. I definitely learned not to be sassy or they will make you do terrible things. Haha it wasn't that bad but I am tone deaf so I don't think the rest of the conference would agree that it wasn't that bad.

Conference was seriously amazing though! I learned so much! I wish we could have it every week!! But as the two zones stood and recited the first vision the spirit was so strong! Wow I loved it! I have never questioned or doubted the first vision but in that very moment I KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really did visit Joseph Smith. I know for myself that it is true. Wow. I love that the spirit testifies of truth no matter how many times you have heard it. I love that even though I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet the spirit still bore testimony of it to me. I seriously love this gospel! It is so true!!

One of the hard things with being in the YSA ward is we have to give a ton of referrals to other missionaries. So because our area got split and we gave all of our investigators to the other side when the split happened we knock and knock and knock. But even when we knock and someone is interest in the gospel 99% of the time they are not YSA age so we have to refer them to the family ward, which is really hard, BUT we have found a new way to contact! WE WENT CHALKING!! Yes we chalked the sidewalk. haha. We work a ton with the institute so we went to the institute yesterday and chalked the plan of salvation outside of the institute where people are walking constantly. We had questions written on the side like "Have you ever wondered where you came from, or where you're going? What is your purpose? Is there a God?" Type questions and man we talked to a ton of people!! They were drawn in by all of these college aged people drawing on the sidewalk and came over and my companion and I were able to talk to them. It was also cool because at the time we went the institute classes had just ended but there were still people in the institute and they helped us chalk and two of them were non members!! It was seriously A-MAZ-ING!

I love this gospel with every fiber of my being and I am so grateful to be apart of it and be sharing what I know to be true! Hope you have the best day of your entire life!! 

-Sister Wade

P.S. the people here all think I am at least 22 and that i am Hawaiian haha too funny! But I love it!

P.P.S. Thank you secret friend for my letter!(: I don't know how to write you back so hopefully this works. It definitely made my day!

SISTER INGOLD, VANESSA AND ME
@THE INSTITUTE WITH
THE PLAN OF SALVATION 

YUP MY TIME HAS COME...
HAHA! THEY TOLD ME I NEEDED TO GET ONE TOO!
FUNNY! I AM LITERALLY DYING!

Everything is Bigger in Texas... ESPECIALLY the Mosquito bites

Last week my companion was sick so I had about 5 minutes of email time so sorry there was no weekly. But I have so much to talk bout!! Okay so go back in time to the MTC I'll start there.

MTC:

So The last day in the MTC was so sad. I had to say goodbye to my second family. We decided we were going to take "family pictures" outside of the temple during our temple walk so we all matched. Haha yes we were "that district" So we all wore blue and everyone that saw us laughed but it's alright we HAD to take a family picture so I can hang it on my wall haha too funny. Then I happened to be talking to my district about how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE letters! And Cayson (Elder Williams) decided he would be funny and write me a silly note that literally said "Sister Wade calm down" after he thought we were starting a heated discussion haha. I put it in my binder out in the field and every time I get stressed out I see it and just laugh. Even though he was trying to be funny it definitely was a tender mercy to be able to have that and have something that can help me during my stressed out times. But the sisters had the opportunity to ask the Elders in our district for a priesthood blessing before we went into the field. I had Elder Lyman give mine. Woah. It was so powerful! It was amazing to feel my Saviors love so much through the blessing! I felt such at peace and comforted. The power of the Priesthood really is real and it WORKS! Without a shadow of a doubt it works!! 

The Field:

The first week in the field was CRAZY!! I was sick and had to go to the doctor and literally lost 8 pounds in 4 days so that was fun haha but I'm all better so no worries!! Then my companion got sick and we weren't able to do anything pretty much all week haha But we had the most amazing tender mercy happen to us while we were sick!! So it was the day Sister Ingold got sick and I was feeling better (haha funny how that works) but it was a really rough day. We couldn't leave the apartment and I was seriously missing people! I felt like I was isolated. It was bad and I had been getting more homesick, because literally sitting there all you can do is be homesick. But i was sitting in the living room writing letters and hearing people walk by our door. I was kinda worried someone was going to come to our door haha. When all of a sudden I hear the loudest banging on our door. I literally jumped 5 feet. I walked over to the peep hole and someone was covering it. So now I was really freaked out. But slowly the moved their hand back and they were holding a picture of Jesus and I realized that it was our zone and district leaders haha. (They are seriously my favorite people ever!!) They had come to check on us. It was definitely and answered prayer for both me and my companion. The Lord is so great! I can't tell you how many tender mercies I have received being on a mission. It is AMAZING!!! I love it!

Oh fun fact though, I may need to be buying a fake engagement ring!! hahaa too funny too funny! Apparently a lot of missionaries get proposed to here in El Paso and when that happens we have to be emergency transferred so they have started telling the sisters to buy engagement rings so we don't have to go through all of that haha. But it is usually more for the blondes so good thing I am not a blonde but it is still a possibility.

I am right next to the border though so it's way cool! We can literally stand in one spot in our area and see Mexico and look the other way and see New Mexico! It is way cool! And the view is pretty dang gorgeous!!

Well because we are so close to Mexico we run into A TON of people that don't speak English. So when we go knocking doors it's so funny when we hit a Spanish house and can only say "We are missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and the first article of faith. But we aren't allowed to study Spanish because we are called English. But we are allowed to read from the El Libro de Mormon so we do every morning haha WE ARE TERRIBLE!! But I placed my first Book of Mormon and it happened to be an El Libro de Mormon so I guess something is working right? 

But anyways I am serving in the UTEP University ward. Which is a singles ward!! Man I love it there! We have THE best ward! A ton of them are from the army base too so that is way cool to meet them and talk with them and their experiences. And they feed us GIANT meals every time we meet too so it's just amazing! But apparently the bishopric wanted Elders not Sisters because they have had a problem with people in the ward falling in love with the sister missionaries and then being mad when they can't date haha too funny! And our area just split so we have 2 sets of sister missionaries in the ward! But they'll get over it I guess haha. But they love to feed us! And cause we are in a singles ward and people don't want to make food they literally take us out to eat like everyday! 

So this week was lots better! we could actually do things! But we have to do a TON of tracting and knocking doors, because when the area split all of the investigators were on the East side and we are on the West. But one day while we were tracting we heard the ice cream truck and so we may or may not have chased him down at a full sprint in skirts in the 100 degree weather but no big deal. Haha he thought we were crazy. And no he didn't want to talk about the book of Mormon. haha 

Wow guys I can't tell you how true this gospel is!! I love it with every fiber of my being! I love being a missionary and knowing this is where I need to be. I can feel the Lord directing me and helping me to find those people that are ready to receive this gospel. During our district meeting our Zone leader stood up and reminded us that the people we are teaching and coming in contact with fought just as hard as we did in the pre-existence to come to earth and receive this gospel. I had never looked at it that was but it is so true! We need to remember that with everyone we come in contact with. Oh and then during fast Sunday this week one of the other Sister Missionaries stood up and said "Jesus Christ never second guessed going into the Garden of Gethsemane for YOU. You can't ever second guess doing something for Him." Wow I love it! I know I am supposed to be out here I know I was called to this mission and this area in my mission for a reason. He knows the big picture and is placing people in my path to help me become more like Him. And for me to help them become more like Him so that we can be Exalted in the last days and live with our families forever!

I challenge you guys to see the Lord's hand in your lives everyday. He is there. He is helping you. You just need to find Him.

I love you all and I have SO MANY STORIES TO TELL WHEN I GET HOME ALREADY!! haha 

Sista Wade

These Elders we found at the MTC that are going to
Macon, Georgia!! Spanish speaking
(I am pretty sure one is Elder Ballard's companion haha)
They are kinda my favorite. No big deal...

Family Picture
(all wearing blue)

Look at Elder Pederson!! Haha Too funny!

MTC girls that I love at the NM Temple

Ingold, Me and Mexico!!!! haha

Sister Ingold

 I have been worried, as a mother does about who Kelsey's companion will be. Will she get along with Kelsey?  You all know Kelsey is NOT bossy, she just knows what you should be doing! And she lets us all know it. (So grateful for her example!!)

 I got this letter in the mail today. (YES! I love going to get the mail now days! Today I got 2 letters. One from Kelsey and one from Sister Ingold.)

 This letter is from Sister Ingold. I have to admit I was confused why Sister Ingold was sending Sister Wade a letter. Kelsey was in the apartment with her.. What is going on.. So glad it was only a few seconds of confusion. Haha! Sister Ingold was writing ME. I am Sister Wade! Sister Ingold has put all my worries to rest. These two girls will be unstoppable. I believe they will rely on the Lord and look for guidance from him. They will accomplish great things.

Dear Sister Wade,

  You don't know me, but I'm your daughter's trainer. I just wanted to let you know how happy I am to be serving with your daughter. She is awesome and always so positive. She hasn't been feeling the best, but she is always ready to serve the Lord.

  I felt so horrible that Sister Wade had such a weird first week. We just got our area split, and lost most of our investigators, one of our investigators is out of town, so we are having to find investigators, but she is so positive. You have raised a great daughter.

  She is quick to think of scriptures, and you can tell she loves the gospel almost as much as she loves your family. She is also humble and excited. I can't wait to work and teach with her. Thank you in supporting her on this mission. This area is better just with her being here.

Thank you,
 Sister Ingold

I am sharing...Holy Smokes!

  This week Kelsey did not have time to email. She has been sick.  I got a hand written letter in the mail. I know many of you are wishing we heard from her this week and don't want to wait until Tues. So I am sharing the letter she wrote to me. It made me feel good to know she has the right idea in mind!! I knew she would get it alright! She can do hard things!!

 She writes… October 3, 2015

  Holy Smokes, Holy Smokes, HOLY SMOKES! Guess What?! Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ Live! AND they have a plan! Okay, Yes. You already knew that buuuuut … I have the best story ever to prove it! Okay rewind back to April before I submitted my papers. I said I wished I was a guy cause they have had a prophet of God stand & declare that every worthy male should serve a mission. I kept saying I wished I was that lucky to know that was what I needed to do. I needed someone, an angel or a prophet of God tell me "Kelsey you need to go on a mission" The whole "If Ye desire to serve ye are called to the work" wasn't gonna cut it for me.

  I had had a prompting, okay about 7632178 promptings but I never saw an angel or had Elder Holland knock on my door saying "Sister Kelsey Wade the Lord needs you to serve a mission." So I kept second guessing myself & my ability to understand promptings. Everyone that was a girl and choosing to serve I felt like they all KNEW they needed to serve cause it was in their patriarchal blessing. Mine never said anything about me serving, so doubts continually crept into my mind. Especially cause I had no physical proof I needed to go. Well, needless to say I ended up going and going on the promptings. Trusting I was doing the right thing. Having faith in Christ. I was pretty much jumping & hoping to learn to fly or have him catch me. 

  So fast forward to 2 days ago. October 1, 2015. I was having a really rough day, maybe cause I didn't feel good, maybe I just missed my MTC District, maybe I felt like a failure and maybe all of the above. Whatever the reason I pulled out my blessing & started reading. I didn't really expect to get anything out of it, besides love & comfort, but I got so much more than that!
  Okay I have literally ready my blessing 793289456 times & probably half of that was while I was deciding wether to serve or not, but this time it was different. It literally told me I was to serve a mission. So the words on the page didn't change but there was an underlining meaning that wasn't there before. It said " I was to serve & I would serve."

 Holy Moly Heavenly Father has a plan! He needed to see how far I would go on my faith and only my faith. He needed to see if I could follow a prompting rather than waiting for the proof then follow through. Then once I followed he opened my eyes & let me know I made the right decision & he is proud that I could follow the prompting. Especially only on faith. I DID IT! I made the right choice! This was part of my test & I passed! & He loves me enough to tell me during my time of trial that what I am doing is the right thing & that it was part of my plan! Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us. He does & I testify that he does. But it is only after the trial of our faith that we receive a witness. (Ether 12:6)  HE LIVES! I Testify that he does & he has a plan for YOU! He love YOU! TRUST HIM! I love you guys & just wanted to share this story. Have faith everything will work together for your good!

 Love SISTA WADE :)

 I love you!

Arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico 

President Miller..ME.. Sister Miller