My Story Of Life

Just like every time transfers come around, the final situation seems to be the most surprising. It's the case this time - but with a very different situation. This time I am STAYING in Crystal City (never thought I'd be doing that on my mission :P ) and also staying with Elder Yazzie. Elder Hardy, one of our roommates, is also staying in the Alexandria 2nd Ward, and his trainee companion Elder Robbins is moving to a different ward in the stake. Elder Averett, who came out with me, will be Elder Hardy's new companion.

This is going to be a very different transfer for me; thus far, I have gotten used to the fact that I have to start over with a new ward, new people and a new area to get to know before six weeks are up and it's time to move on. Now all of that is established, and there is nothing hindering us from getting to work this transfer. Unfortunately there is only a little bit of work for us to do right now - but we are going to change that soon, with a lot of prayer and guidance from the Spirit. :)

Life otherwise continues in the manner of happiness (although I can't believe it is April 15... we're halfway through April already?!?). I hope everyone else is doing well and that you are all safe. Thank you for your letters of encouragement and for your prayers. They really mean a lot to missionaries. :)

Take care and be safe, and I'll see you next week!

Elder Wasden

What a week it has been! The weeks are starting to fly by faster and faster. Can you believe there's already just one more week left in the transfer? (The answer, of course, is no. :P) Even more astoundingly, can you believe I have been on my mission SIX MONTHS today?!? (The answer is... maybe. ;) )

I suppose we'll start from a week ago. We FINALLY finished painting the apartment; we finished the large living room and both of the bedrooms. Unfortunately, by the time we were done the entire day was over. That part stunk. :( But now the place looks infinitely better, and even more importantly we won't have to do any more of it! Hooray!!

On Thursday night we took one of our investigators in the singles ward, Christian, to the DC Temple Visitor's Center and watched the Joseph Smith movie. It was definitely a success; on the ride home, we ended up talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, what it entails, who we use it, etc. He is an intern on the Hill and only has another three weeks left or so, so we probably won't be able to baptize him here - but at least we can start reteaching him the lessons (he has already been through them once before us) and get him started on the way before he heads back to Utah. :)

We had another lesson on Friday night with Maria; it was pretty amazing. We street contacted into her a couple of weeks ago and couldn't get something set up until we just randomly stopped by to check up on her. We ended up watching Finding Faith in Christ with her and talked a little bit about our purpose as missionaries. She told us her life story, which was full of some real difficulties and challenges. Just a short time ago, however, she decided she was not going to be angry at God anymore - and all of a sudden, things in her life just started to move in place and click for her. She still has a lot of challenges, but it's not a coincidence that we ran into her at 8:45 at night at the end of our day. We are excited to see what happens with her in the coming weeks. :)

Certainly the most noticable thing this week was General Conference, which I have been anticipating for a while now. It is exciting to hear of our new Apostle as well as being spiritually refreshed by all of the talks. There were many things in each session that have answered some question or helped me understand something better or just gave me peace.

I loved hearing President Monson especially; we always testify about him when we are on the streets, but it something entirely different to actually hear him speak and give us the specific counsel we need. It sounds like the world is still going to worsen in the coming months and years, but I am glad I could be reminded that if we hearken to what the prophet directs us to do, God is going to bless us, and we will triumph in the end. :) Now with that spritual refreshment, it's time to go and do what the Lord has commanded. He will provide the way, and keep leading His great work in the land. I am glad I get to play my small part in it and see the changes both others and myself can make in my life.

Alright everyone - have a grrreat day and keep on! :)

Elder Wasden

Hello to everyone back home! Spring is definitely in the air in Virginia; the cherry blossoms are starting to bud all over the place. They are really pretty; every once in a while I will take a few pictures of them before they fall off relatively soon. The smell of pollen is pretty overpowering at some times; I was caught off-guard by that. :P

It has been another wild week as far as weather is concerned. Most days it has been raining or at least drizzly, which is always fun to bike in and especially tract with. It was nice and sunny yesterday, though, which meant everyone was out walking their dog(s). That meant we had lots of people to talk to. :)

The work is still poking along for the moment; the sisters that are also covering our ward baptized a man named Virgil this past weekend, which was wonderful to attend. Both us and the sisters have a few people we are working with at the moment, but we have to hurry if we are going to work with some of the singles' friends because their semester/internships are all finishing up in the next couple of weeks. It's crunch time!

Today we are planning to finish up the painting in the apartment. We have probably half of the living room and the two bedrooms to do; we are trying to convince some of missionaries of how much fun it will be so we get it done faster. ("There will be pizza...!" ;) ) I'll be sure to take some videos/pictures of what is going on so you can see what we missionaries are really up to. ;P

Everyone here is excited for General Conference; it's a good milestone for me to look forward to every time it comes around. :) We are going to be meeting as a zone at our Stake Center and watch it together. It will be slightly bizarre; usually, we are supposed to be in our apartments by 9:30, but since the Priesthood session doesn't let out until 10, we'll be out a little later than normal. As long as we don't turn into pumpkins, I think we'll be fine. :)

Have a safe week, and remember to say your prayers. We'll do the same. :)

Elder Wasden

It's Elder Wasden again, a little bit later than usual due to a slightly different schedule for this Preparation Day. We went to the Washington DC temple as the Mount Vernon zone and spent pretty much the entire day there. Some people that we talk to mention the temple on their drive from work - when you are coming south, it looks like the temple just juts out of the ground in front of you and very suddenly. It looks majestic and beautiful. I managed to take some pictures of it on our drive back, so you can get a sense of what I am talking about when I send the card home. :)

Crystal City continues to be a busy place; I can't believe we are halfway done with this transfer already. (Sound familiar? :) ) I think I have been on as many exchanges thus far this transfer as I had my first three transfers combined - and we still have three more weeks to go! I do enjoy working with the elders that I have been with, though, so that is nice. I get a lot of variety and a lot of things to observe from everyone.

Right now our investigator pool is still pretty slim. We might have some possibilities coming in the very near future, but for the moment we are just talking to people and seeing what happens. Elder Yazzie and I found a family that we might be able to work with in the near future - we'll keep working at it. Our members are working hard to find those who are ready, and it's wonderful to work alongside them in the effort.

The painting that we have done thus far looks really nice; I don't know what brand of white it was before, but it definitely needed some work done. :P We are only about halfway done; next week we'll probably try to finish the living room and do the kitchen and the bedrooms. We'll see how we feel when it comes...

Oh, on a side note - Susie Dodson, our main investigator in Aquia, was baptized on Saturday! Unfortunately, we couldn't find an investigator that would be able to go with us, so we missed it - but she's a member of the church now, and that's what matters. :)

I might have mentioned an investigator of ours, Mohammed, before - I can't remember if I have or not. Anyways, we were at his house recently, and he had some sort of cracker waybread thing that is from Egypt with some sort of cream cheese on it (or at least I thought it was). I asked him if I could try it, and he ripped off a half of a bread for me. I nibbled a bit at it and was pretty repulsed by the taste/odor/everything about it - it was STRONG cheese, and very old too. :P Nevertheless I ate the whole thing just for him. I never thought I would have those interesting food stories on my mission, but there we are. I think I'll stick to cheddar, swiss and muenster, thanks. :)

Alright, I better be off. Take care, everyone! A few of you have written recently, and I apologize that I might not get to all of them this week - but I WILL WRITE. Just wait and see. :)

Have a great week, everyone! The Gospel is true, and Christ is at the head of this work.

Elder Wasden

Ah, rats. I typed up this entire e-mail, and then the window resfreshed on me. Ah well. I'll try and remember what I just talked about. Ridiculous technology. :P

Well, it's been another busy and tiring but decent week. I am enjoying the Crystal City and the Colonial 1st wards thus far; the Mount Vernon stake's theme for the year is missionary work, so it has been and will continue to be pushed on the member's minds. It feels like we are just aobut at the top of the mountain, the dam is just about ready to burst, any other bizarre metaphor you can think of. We all feel like the work is this area is going to explode; it's pretty exciting to sense the anticipation!

Biking continues to become more manageable. I don't have legs of steel just yet, but I might have legs of iron. :) I have noticed that it is quite a different experience traveling through the area on bike; there is a sense of detachment of where you are at where you are in a car, whereas on bike you are a part of the landscape. You definitely get to know the streets a lot better, as well. We use public transportation every so often as well, which I always find a bit out of the ordinary. :)

Alright, I better cut this email short - today we are going to start the painting of the apartment (just in time for zone conference and interviews with President tomorrow!). We managed to convince a number of the elders in the zone to help us out, so we should have a nice painting party today. I'll remember to take some pictures. :)

Have a great week, everyone! :D

Elder Wasden

It's another week, and a completely different experience in the mission. I am now serving in the Crystal City and Colonial 1st Singles Wards in the Mount Vernon stake. My new companion is Elder Yazzie, who is Native American (three-quarters Navajo and one-quarter Apache, I think is what he said). So far it seems to be working out pretty well; it's a very different culture so close to DC compared to everywhere else I have served. For one, there are a LOT more people around - it is the definition of urban. We have it all up here - apartments, townhomes, high-rises, regular homes, mansions, etc. All kinds of people are here; Elder Yazzie has already served in this area for three months, and there is still plenty of doors to knock on and invite.

Church was a bit of a challenge since we cover two wards; we essentially go from nine in the morning to six at night, with the little bit of a break in between all of the meetings. The members are great, though, and just like everything else here, there are a LOT of them. We still have plenty of members to introduce ourselves to every week.

Biking is steadily becoming easier, although the first couple of days were certainly challenging (i.e. I didn't last very long before I had to take a break :P ). On Saturday we biked from our apartment (which is outside of our area in Alexandria) all the way to Crystal City. We biked to the Pentagon and rode the bus all the way back home. It is an extremely busy place, with people running to go somewhere. It is certainly a unique experience, one I never considered I would be having as a missionary!

Another thing that has been and will be happening more frequently are exchanges. Generally the mission leaders will switch with your companion and serve for the day, and then evaluate what happened that day and what could be improved upon. Usually in a "normal" companionship that only happens once or twice a transfer; however, since my companion IS the District Leader and needs to work with everyone in our district, I will be serving with many different missionaries over the next six (now five) weeks. I have been on exchanges for essentially the past two days now! I was with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Gannaway, on Monday night. I learned a lot about the importance of being excited with people on the doorstep ("Greet them like you will greet your family at the end of your mission!" he said). I have a lot of the respect for him, although I don't necessarily have the stamina that he does to talk to everyone just yet. :)

For Monday morning and most of Tuesday, it was another challenge altogether; this time, I was with two brand-new missionaries, which meant I was the senior missionary in the companionship! I definitely said lots of prayers before we went on and while we were knocking doors. Thankfully most people were pretty polite and willing to talk for a bit. Being the senior missionary is more difficult than most missionaries make it look like. :P

Our apartment is pretty decent; it's much smaller than the townhome I was in this past transfer, but it does the job. We might be painting it very soon; stay tuned for more details!

Alright, that's enough information for this week. Talk to you soon, everyone; have a safe and great week!

Elder Wasden

It's that time again - six weeks are up, and looking back from this vantage point it went pretty fast. We found and started to teach a number of people in Aquia, we did a lot of member fellowshipping in Garrisonville, and overall there seem to be things to keep us busy - just in time to move somewhere else!

Yup, that's right - I'm moving on again. I am headed to Crystal City in the Mount Vernon Stake up north. I will be with Elder Yazzie, whom I know a little bit about - he was a district leader in my first zone. Crystal City is a bike area, so I am a little anxious about that (apparently "Superman Hill" is the main landmark there - sounds daunting :P). Hopefully I will get used to biking all over the place REALLY quickly.

Elder GC is staying solely in Garrisonville; they are splitting up the Garrisonville and Aquia wards up again, so he will also be on bike this next transfer. It will be pretty tricky; since Garrisonville is so small, he has already tracted most of the area and will definitely knock doors on every street in the next six weeks. I am sure he will figure out a way to make it work. Meanwhile, Aquia is being given back to the Zone Leaders, which I am happy about; they will do a good job with the investigators that we have right now.

So there you have it - lots of change happening in the Fredericksburg Stake (not to mention the entire mission - Elder Gradin, an elder that came out with me, is ZONE leader next transfer! Crazy!!). Transfers always keep us on our toes, and today certainly proves that.

Have a safe week, everyone - talk to you up north next week! :)

Elder Wasden

With each trial that the Lord places in our path, He makes up with His blessings - that seems to be the lesson of the week. There have been some challenges this week that are made worth it because of the blessings we receive.

Alright, first - the challenges. Valentine's Day was a complete bust; we had lots of appointments, lessons, visits set up, and we were ready to get a lot of things done. By lunchtime, everything we had set up had canceled on us - which meant it was just going to be an all-tracting day. It was pretty frustrating to see everything we had set up unravel - but that's just part of the deal sometimes. We are also running out of "new" streets to tract that aren't in the backwoods; whoever the elders are that are here next transfer will have to re-tract the streets we have done already, which is not an ideal situation.

The rest of the week, however, was much better. Elder GC and I have started making lots of lightning visits with the members in Garrisonville trying to help bridge that unfortunate gap that has kind of existed between the members and the missionaries, and so far the reaction has been very positive. It is a lot easier to fellowship people on Sunday when you actually have a clue who they are! :P We have a new Ward Mission Leader in that ward, and he is excited and ready to get to work, especially with the youth. It might be a while before we see any results, but the momentum is starting to build. We also have a miracle: we have a new investigator in Garrisonville! It has been a VERY long time since that has happened, since before Elder GC came to the area. It is a wonderful blessing.

Life otherwise is pretty normal; I am starting to get used to the artillery noises and the helicopters flying in and out of Quantico. There are definitely challenges in each of our areas, but the Lord is and will continue to bless them so those who are ready will be found. This past Friday we had interviews with President Wixom, and one of the things he and our Zone Leaders emphasized was the concept that we need to EXPECT and be prepared for the trials of our faith that are inevitably going to come as a part of our work - whatever they might be. We need to keep our faith in the Lord, and EXPECT that the blessings He has promised will come. We have definitely seen that happen this week, and that will be our mentality as we finish up the last two weeks of this transfer.

Take care, everyone - I hope you are doing well! And have a great week. :)

Elder Wasden

Hello everyone! Once again, it's halfway through the transfer, and time is playing tricks again. Whenever we have lots to do, it seems to race by past us; that certainly was the case this week.

On Friday we had our combined Zone Conference with the Fredericksburg and Woodbridge zones. I was able to see and talk to some of the missionaries that came out with our group from the MTC, which was nice to see how they are all doing. They are all doing just fine for the moment. :)

President's main message this transfer was focusing on having the Spirit in everything we do. Everything that we participated in was pretty enjoyable and good to remember - but the best part by far for me was the testimony meeting at the end. We had two elders that are going home this transfer, Elder Spackman and Elder King, bear their testimonies about the things that are important to do in missionary work. Both of them emphasized the change that can come over ourselves when we do everything with the Spirit - whether we are talking, teaching or baptizing.

President Wixom then stood up and admonished both of the elders: "Do you EVER go back!" He testified that the change we make as missionaries is so crucial to our post-mission lives, how we need to avoid those habits we had when we were regular ninteen-year-old guys. It was pretty humbling to think about the changes I have already started to make in my own life, and how much better it is. :)

I had a unexpected but special treat for my four-month mark on Sunday: I got a double dosage of President for the week! He, Sister Wixom and the Assistants Elders Van Wagoner and Maughn came to the Garrisonville ward to teach a combined young men and women third hour at church. It was just the thing we needed; both Elder GC and I were concerned about the lack of motivation with the youth in the ward, and they managed to jump-start the group with the same energy and excitement that they bring to all of our missionary meetings. Now it's up to Elder GC and I to keep pushing them and seeing where we can go with that.

Besides that, everything else is pretty much the same: we have a number of people in Aquia that we have taught the first lesson to, and now we are just waiting to see which of those are really willing to learn and progress in the gospel. Hopefully there will be more updates in the near future. :)

Take care, everyone, and have fun (and safe!) holiday weekend! :)

Elder Wasden

Hello, everyone! It has been a busy week in the Fredericksburg stake since I last wrote. The weather has been pretty consistent for the past week or so; it's been a little chilly at times, but it's nothing too atrocious. I certainly appreciate 32 degrees much more than I have before. :)

The biggest news of the week is that we scheduled someone for baptism!! Her name is Susie, a very friendly sister; she is probably in her 60s or 70s, is originally from the South (Georgia, I think) and has been learning about the church for a while now. Unfortunately we have to wait until the 21st of March; she is going into surgery tomorrow and will be wearing an arm brace for the next six weeks. :/ Ah well; such is life.

Elder GC and I have been able to find some new investigators in Aquia, as well, and some of them we have been able to start teaching. We'll see what happens in the upcoming days and weeks.

This past Monday I went on exchanges with my district leader Elder Hatch, who is from the small town of Bancroft, Idaho (and has the drawl to prove it!) He is serving in the Spotsylvania ward, which is essentially the southernmost part of the mission. I had the wonderful opportunity to knock doors in the middle of nowhere; it was certainly quite an experience that cannot be replicated anywhere else. :)

Super Bowl Sunday was definitely an event out here; we tracted until a couple of minutes after the opening kickoff just to see how long it took until people became mad at us. Thankfully, people weren't any worse than they usually are - just their typical, get-to-the-point selves. :)

Alright, a little bit about Elder GC: he is the oldest of eight (?) kids, and he is pretty different from most of them because he grew up in other places besides Utah - for example, he is the only one in the family that doesn't know how to play the piano. :P As I mentioned before, he has a pretty dry sense of humor, which is nice when dealing with people that don't want to talk to us all day. It keeps things enjoyable, at least.

We are in a townhouse in the northern edge of Garrisonville; it's a very nice space with lots of room and COMFY COUCHES. :D Our roommates are Elders Fukui and Dimick; they serve in the Rock Hill ward, which is the area to the west of Garrisonville. They are fun to hang out with; last night after we came home we had an epic battle with PVC pipes and Nerf darts. It's nice to take a break from the repetetiveness (sp?) of the day/week.

Alright, I better wrap this up. Take care, everyone and be safe. I'll be back next week. :)

Elder Wasden

Hello everyone! My apologies for a delayed e-mail this week. My stay in the office is now over! Elder Sroufe, against all odds, is staying in the office for his last transfer, and I was sent down south to the Aquia and Garrisonville wards in the Fredericksburg stake. Every transfer so far I have been sent to a new area and zone; at this rate I will have served in every zone of the mission before my year mark. :)

My new companion is Elder Giraud-Carrier (GC for short). He has been out for about six months now. He was born in France but has lived in England, Switzerland and Utah as well. He has an interesting accent as a result; he speaks English perfectly, but it has a hint of British pronounciation mixed with the Utah vernacular. It's an interesting combination. :) He has a very dry sense of humor, and he seems to know how to plan very well. I am excited to see what will happen in the coming weeks.

President Wixom allowed us to watch the Inauguration last week; I managed to get a few videos of the procession on the computer we were watching it on in the office for posterity's sake. Thankfully we didn't really have to deal with the massive amounts of people that came for the event; I'm sure the missionaries serving in McLean were in an interesting situation for those couple of days.

Alright, about the new wards I am serving in - Aquia is a pretty normal sized ward right along the edge of the Potomac. Part of our area includes Quantico Marine Base, so the area that we can tract is not as large as the map would indicate, but it's alright. We have a couple of investigators that are really looking for something (one person showed up to church on Sunday and said she wanted to find a church to go to!), so I am excited to see where we can go with that.

Garrisonville is a little bit of a different story. It's the smallest area in the mission because of the high density of members in it. Because it is so small, tracting there is pretty inefficient; everyone has "talked to the missionaries at some point in the past couple of months" and they "already know their Mormon friends down the street" and they are "not interested". We are going to have to change our working methods to helping the members and finding people to teach through them. We'll see how that goes.

One weird thing: both Aquia and Garrisonville have Sacrament Meeting at the exact same time (9 AM), so President Wixom has given us permission to split and go to each ward separately. I went to Garrisonville this past Sunday, and I will go to Aquia this upcoming Sunday. It's not a big deal as long as we stay in public places with lots of people - but it is pretty strange sensation to attend church by myself, let alone have to try and learn twice as many names as a "normal" transferred missionary might have to learn. :P

It has been a crazy day or so; it snowed maybe two or three inches yesterday, and as a result everything was pretty much shut down. Apparently Virginia does not know how to deal with snow very well. This morning the cars we drive were completely frozen over. Hopefully it warms up soon so we don't have to worry about the ice on the roads. :P

Alright, I better wrap this up; take care, everyone, and I'll start seeing you on Wednesday again! :)

Elder Wasden

Hello everyone from freezing Virginia! Now we can actually say that - it has consistently been below 32 degrees Farenheit for the past week or so. It makes for some bitter cold tracting; Elder Sroufe and I were only out yesterday knocking doors for about an hour, and that was plenty enough time for us. :P I admire those elders that are in bike areas right now - it takes a lot of tenacity to keep going in that cold day in and day out.

On Wednesday we moved in some elders into a new apartment in Culpeper, which is pretty much the furthest "main" city away from where we are at in Burke. The elders serving in the Piedmont ward have the largest area in the mission; their ward size alone is equivalent to the four or five northeastern stakes! Thankfully, we were only moving them about a half-mile away from where they were previously living, but it still took about six hours or so to move everything. We were pretty sore when we finally left. :)

The work in Burke is still moving forward; we have had a miraculous number of referrals come through this transfer. To put it in perspective, in Gainesville we had one member referral; in Burke we have had at least seven or eight media and member referrals. It's quite a difference! There is a lot of potential for things to happen in Burke; we will see what will come of it within the next couple of weeks. We actually just had an amazing member referral that the Assistants gave us; we only spoke with her for a couple of minutes, and it's pretty evident that she has been prepared to hear our message with the encounters she has had with the church. Too bad she is moving up to South Riding (which is out of our area :( ); she will be taught by the Zone Leaders in Ashburn stake, though, so she will be taken care of.

Well, it's that time again - transfer week is next week!! The large transfer board in the office with every missionary's picture as well as the information is closed and locked; it feels like something is waiting to just burst out of there soon. I honestly have no idea what way transfers will end up going; the Assistants have made a lot of "off-hand" comments all over the place that could suggest I am staying - but then again, maybe I am not...? I have given up trying to figure it out for now; I'll just wait until Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (when we input all of the transfer information into the computer) to figure it out. :)

Alright, time to end this e-mail - hope all is well, and that the rest of the world's weather is still nice. I am certain I am going to appreciate 45 degree weather a lot more whenever we get to it. :) Take care, and be safe!

Elder Wasden

Hello, everyone! It has been an interesting week filled with many new experiences. I can't believe three months have passed - that's an eighth of my mission! Time is passing very fast; there is only two weeks left until the next transfer, and then we'll be on to more change. It's a little bit exciting and monumentally nerve-wracking at the same time. :P

Things at the office have quieted down for the most part - we are no longer getting a billion packages a day, and there are no major events planned until transfer meeting. Elder Sroufe and I are still pretty busy, though; this past week we have been making Stake Correlation Reports for each stake in the mission, and that involves a lot of paper pushing. Then we discovered that the number of baptisms we have recorded for 2008 does not match up the number that places higher up, so we got to count every individual baptism record that we have for the year (316). Then we were completely frustrated with how the baptism records and reports and everything were organized, so we spent a lot of time reorganizing the drawers and trying to make sense of it all. We decided that we are going to train the new office elders to do it RIGHT so it actually makes sense and the elders in December won't have to put up with the stuff we had to. :P

On Wednesday we had our first lesson of the transfer!! HOORAY!!! :) We taught a guy named Al Wilson, who is 72 years old and has a wonderful personality. He has a lot of questions about life, and he is really looking for something in his life to fill that void somehow. We'll see what we can for him after the 20th; he is a part of the crowd control at the inauguration (can you believe there is supposed to be 2-3 MILLION people there? We'll probably be able to hear them on the other side of the Potomac!).

Last night I went on exchanges with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Bean, while our other Zone Leader Elder Gray was sick with a sinus infection. We taught the first lesson to a man who has been resistant to the church, but has softened up a bit after two of his daughters served missions. It was a wonderful discussion, and we could all feel the Spirit there. He seems to understand the scriptures pretty well even though he has only read them a couple of times. He also fed us some soltenas (there's a tilde on the 'n', but I can't make it work :( ), which are rolled up pieces of dough stuffed with stew or different things. That's the best I can really describe it - but they are delicious, and they fill you up QUICK.

It has rained the past couple of days, and it has snowed a little bit here and there, too - but thankfully it's pretty nice so far today. Hopefully that will continue. :P It's strange to hear about some of the things that are going on right now around the world; Elder Sroufe and I went to a buffet place for lunch once and heard about what's going on in the Middle East and how much the economy is in the tank. I am kind of grateful that I have a little bit of time where I don't have to worry about that. I don't envy Elders Sroufe and King having to get back into the mess two months from now. Hopefully that means more people will be more receptive to the message we share. We'll just have to see. :)

Hello everyone, from the other side of 2009! I have been spending some time pondering over the past year; so much has happened since Dec. 31, 2007 that I am astounded just thinking about. I think that this past year I have grown the most so far in my life. There have been lots of times where I have had the opportunity to grow and experience life in a different way - not to mention start my mission, where every day is a new experience!

It has been an interesting week to ponder over what this upcoming year will bring. On Sunday night, I had the opportunity to go with one of our Assistants, Elder King, to a baptism he was a part of down in Garrisonville. We spent a long time talking about the work we are doing, and how to truly love the work that we do. One of the most interesting things he told me was to never underestimate the power of prayer and your will - if I truly want something, and I let nothing stand in my way between my service to the Lord, then miracles will happen. I am really glad that I was able to have this talk - I might as well take advantage of the experience around me. :)

That night I was able to stand in for the confirmations of the two Spanish girls that were being baptized, which was a choice experience. I didn't really have much of a clue with what was being said, but that didn't matter - the Priesthood is still the Priesthood, no matter what language is used.

On Monday we had interviews with President and Sister Wixom. It was a good, frank evaluation of how I am doing as a missionary and how Elder Sroufe and I are doing as a companionship. They gave lots of advice for me to consider; it's obvious they have had lots of experience with being a missionary. :) The best part of interviews, though, was how I could really feel their love and concern for me. I am grateful for their leadership and examples for us in the mission. It really is inspiring.

On New Year's Eve we had a Zone Party and watched a movie; they don't want us tracting that night, given the state of some of the people that we might talk to. :P We watched Prince Caspian for our movie, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. I definitely appreciated watching it more this time; not having something makes you really grateful when you DO have it, and this certainly was the case this time. :)

Alright, I better end this time. It's time to get 2009 rolling! Be safe, and I'll talk next week. :)

Elder Wasden

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas/holiday season; it certainly was nice over here. Thank you to everyone that sent gifts or cards of well-wishes; they are very much appreciated. Despite the absence of many things that make Christmas familiar, it was a special day, and feeling your support made it that way. :)

All of us are grateful for the telephone calls back to our family; one of the Assistants asked his family to not send him anything, because he knew that just talking to them was the greatest gift he could receive that year. I absolutely agree with that.

A lot of the office work has started to slow down a bit this week, so we have been able to do more knocking on doors and visiting people this week. The Burke Ward is apparently something of a miracle; despite the fact that the Elders serving here are often busy with things that they need to do at the office, baptisms are still pretty consistent. We obviously still have to work our tails off, but it seems like the Spirit is able to make up what we sometimes do not have time to do. Hopefully that will happen this transfer! :)

This upcoming week we have Return and Report for those missionaries that just arrived almost three weeks ago (has it really been six weeks since I was in that same place?). We'll be showing them one of the car safety videos that we are all able to watch as missionaries since us young folks do not lose all of our terrible driving skills the instant we become missionaries. (Last time we watched the video on seat belts, and they went over some of the common excuses people use when they do not use their seat belts - my personal favorite was "I don't have time." :P) It will be good to hear from each of them and how they are doing - especially since we are all still learning how to be missionaries. I'm looking forward to it. :)

This next week we are going to be discussing two case studies in District Meetings - one is about a sister who changed a ward's perspective on missionary work, and the other is about teaching investigators how to keep these commitments before we actually ask them to keep them. I have only read through each of the studies once so far, and I can already see how much they can significantly change the work we are doing here. I am very excited to see what is going to come from this.

I have a funny story as a farewell note: last night Elder S. and I went over to a recent convert who had just had her gallbladder removed. When we asked her how her Christmas had been, she was absolutely glowing - which surprised me a bit, seeing as she had a nice gash in her side that wouldn't be all that fun to have. But then she flashed out her hand and showed us this nice-sized diamond on her finger. She is engaged to another recent convert in our ward!

How did they meet? He was the member exchange when the missionaries were teaching her. :)

Love you all, and have a Happy New Year!

Elder W.

Hello everyone! It has been one hectic week - lots to say, do and talk about.

I suppose the best place to stay is right at the beginning - just after I wrote to you last Saturday. We got a call from some of the Elders down in Fredericksburg who needed a ride to the DC Temple to help out with traffic control there. The Temple is doing something similar to what Oakland is doing, I assume - lots of Christmas lights and some cultural event every single day in December. Elder Sroufe and I stood at the doors and greeted everyone; in the three hours that we were there, we probably talked to at least a thousand people. It was PACKED, and it was a lot of fun. The Temple looks beautiful, too. :)

Sunday was normal meetings for us in the Burke Ward. Since our office duties come first, we won't have a lot of time during the week to talk to people, which is unfortunate - but that's the name of the game for now, I suppose. The members here are very different from those in Gainesville (which isn't a bad thing); I hope to get to know them better in the upcoming weeks when our Sacrament Meeting starts at 8 in the morning. :P

On Monday we went to the Leadership Meeting, which every District Leader and Zone Leaders attends with President W. and his Assistants. All I can say is WOW; it was a real eye-opener to me. Just hearing the discussions about what everyone is doing in the mission and the things we are going to change opened my own understanding about what I could do better with. I am really lucky to be able to see what they do and what I can learn from that.

We had District Meetings on Tuesday; as with everything else so far this transfer, I am having to adjust to an entirely new zone of missionaries to rub shoulders with on a weekly basis. I am excited for my new District Leader and Zone Leaders, though; all three of them look like they are serious and dedicated missionaries, and they love what they are doing.

We spent all of Tuesday night and part of Wednesday morning preparing for the Mission Christmas Conference. It was a lot of work on everyone's part; Elder S. and I had three hours of sleep the night before the Conference. It was a spectacular event, though, and it was well worth the effort. Hopefully we'll get a picture of the entire mission to send home soon. :)

The rest of the time this week has been filled in with deliveries of bikes and different furniture to missionaries all over the mission. The stake I have not been in now is Mount Vernon, and we'll be fixing that in the next couple of days. It's very nice to meet a lot of the missionaries and see the areas where they serve; it brings a whole new perspective to the work we are doing. We do get to see President and Sister W. every couple of days or so; one night we delivered some things to the Mission Home, and Sister Wixom made us hot chocolate and toast. I think we might have a new tradition on our hands. :)

We have also been doing a few administrative things at the office - filling out Baptismal Records for new converts and other miscellaneous things. At the end of each month we get to make the Stake Correlation Reports for President; it sounds like it's going to be a LOT of paper pushing. But that's alright. :)

Elder S. and I are getting along very well; he is 6'7", and with my 5'4" frame we have the largest height disparity in the mission. It's pretty funny to see us standing side by side. I can't wait when we can knock doors to see what something thinks of that.

We need to get a calling card for Christmas; I will plan on calling you on Christmas morning, probably before noon. We're going to be limited to 45 minutes or so, so everyone that wants to talk should be around the phone to chat.

Alright, I gotta get going; mail just got here, and we've got to start sorting through it. :) Take care, and I'll talk to you Thursday!

Elder W.

Hello, everyone! Didn't expect this, did you? ;) The Office Elders have their Preparation Day on Saturday instead of Wednesday, so at least for the next couple of months or so expect the e-mails to come at the END of the week instead.

Life as an Office Elder is very different from a regular missionary. Elder S. and I have already been on a delivery run for different pieces of furniture and bikes and such around the mission, and just last night I went in more areas in the mission than I did in my first six weeks here (not to mention a flat tire in Falls Church!). It sounds like that is going to be the norm for a little while, so I will almost certainly get the opportunity to see a majority of the mission and meet the missionaries serving in northern Virginia.

We have only done a handful of tasks here at the office so far, so I still am pretty unaware of everything that we are going to be doing here. Thankfully Elder S. is a pretty patient missionary, as well as the Office Couples serving here. :P Elder Sroufe has been out for 21 months now, and this is his second transfer as an Office Elder, which is nice for experience's sake. He is also the tallest elder in the mission, which means we have the greatest height differentiation. It's pretty funny to see us standing side by side.

Elder S. and I also cover the Burke Ward, but our office responsibilities take up most of our time. It will be an interesting challenge to see how much proselyting time we will be able to fit into our schedule - but I suppose we will cross that particular hurdle when it comes. I've got enough to try and figure out first. :P

Thanks to the Primary for sending out those wonderful letters! I wish I had enough wall space at the apartment so I could cover it with all of the pictures and words of encouragement. :) I am glad that I could represent our Church and bring those people that are ready for those blessings in their lives.

I hope everything back home is going well for everyone; you are in my prayers. Make sure to have all of that Christmas cheer with you!

Elder W.

Hello, everyone! Apologies for not e-mailing last week; if I didn't have a good reason, I would feel terrible - but I do, so I don't. :) Elder H. and I went with the Manassas elders to the National Mall and had a blast. We went through probably about a third of the Natural History Museum, which was stinking amazing; I wish we had more time to actually look through everything, because that place is jam packed with so much to do. Ah well - another time, another place, I suppose. Afterwards we had a private tour of the Capitol building with someone who is interning with a Congressman. I've got lots of pictures for proof - hopefully I can send them out soon.

Well, we just got our transfer calls this morning; both Elder H. and I are leaving Gainesville, and the area is being "white-washed". That basically means the missionaries that are coming in have no experience in the area, so we have to make sure all of the information with the people we are teaching are up to date so they can get right to work and not wonder what to do. :) Elder H. is going up north in the Ashburn stake, Belmont Ridge ward with one of the Elders that came with me in my district.

As for me, I am becoming an Office Elder!! I have to admit, I did not see this coming; Elder H. was under the impression that I would be staying and leading the area. I suppose I was just there to help jump-start the area a little bit; we'll let others hopefully take care of the rest.

Meanwhile, I have new challenges to look at. Being in the office means I will be busy doing a lot of paperwork and not a whole lot of proselyting, at least for the moment. I am a little bummed about that; I hope I don't forget the skills I learned this transfer by the time I am back to regular missionary services. :P The Lord has His purposes in everything, though, and I am sure I will figure them out soon enough. My companion is Elder S. (sp?); this will be his second-to-last transfer, and from what I have heard he is an amazing guy, which is good to know.

Mail will now be a different story, since it will come straight to me. :) Generally in Gainseville I would get the mail that you sent on Monday on either Friday or Saturday. Now it will probably be a day less, since the office won't have to forward it anymore. I would expect it to take three or four days now, at least for this next transfer.

Alright, I better sign off for this week. We've got to get back and pack and such - time is going to go pretty fast!

Talk to you next week. :)

Elder W.

Hello one and all once again. It has been a CRAZY week full of so many experiences; it's almost dizzying to think about how much has happened since I wrote last. As I talked about last week, Elder Hunsaker and I were taking our commitment to sincerly invite someone to be baptized every single day of the week. We did not see a scheduled baptismal date, but we saw so many of the Lord's tender mercies touch the work that we are doing in our area.

I'll get the lows out of the way first. Apparently Saturday was Tell Your Mormon What's Wrong With Their Religion Day; I guess we missed the memo. We had a number of conversations with people that criticized and reviled our message. They all brought up so many different problems they specifically had with it, and tried using as much of the scriptures as possible to tear down what we do and believe. I felt like Alma and Amulek when they were being questioned by the lawyers that tried to cross them in their words. The more we talked to them, however, the more Elder H. and I realized how true the Church is. The way they talked and tried to argue against us just made it clearer in my mind what we have to say is right; Satan has had a lot of practice manipulating and twisting truth into something else.

All we could really do for these people was bear our testimonies that we knew it was true, and invite them to find out for themselves whether it was true or not. None of them accepted the invitation, of course, but it didn't matter to me; I had fulfilled my purpose as a missionary to them, and I knew my Heavenly Father was pleased with our efforts. It sure was spiritually draining, though - I was glad the next day was Stake Conference. :P

Despite all of the opposition we had faced, however, we saw some amazing miracles unfold. We had ten people that invited us back to their homes at some point, which was enough of a miracle for me since we had had NO one do that over the previous two weeks. We also met with a woman who is good friends with a member, and I could see she was and is being prepared to have the blessings of the gospel in her life. It's going to take a lot of work, but there is some amazing potential there. Best of all, Elder H. and I taught our first lesson as a companionship Monday night with a woman who seemed firm in her beliefs but open to what we had to say. It was a wonderful experience; the Spirit was strong, and it testified to us and to her as we taught.

Yesterday all of the missionaries that came out three weeks returned to the Fairfax chapel for Return and Report, where we get together again and talk about some of the experiences each of us had over the past three weeks. Some of the stories were remarkable; each of us had the opportunity to bear our testimony about some of the things we had experienced, and I chose to talk about our teaching experience. I remember I was feeling very anxious about this appointment the entire day. This wasn't just roleplaying at the MTC; I knew that we were sharing some of the most profound knowlege that she needed to know. We weren't just sharing a good message that might help people; we are dealing with people's salvation! I was suddenly very much aware of my inadequacies to be a missionary, to actually share this message with people. As we taught the lesson, however, I remember feeling calm and peaceful. I wasn't worrying about what to say or how to say it. I simply looked into her eyes and told her what I knew to be true for myself. The Spirit made up for my faults and weaknesses, and I did not fear. I knew all of us that came out had already taught many lessons during their first three weeks, far more than I have so far, but I knew this was true, and that was what was most important to me.

There is a lot of other things to talk about; it has consistently been hitting freezing for the past couple of days, so Elder H. and I are going to buy some thermals to keep us from becoming icicles ourselves.

I would love an early Christmas present with some gloves that actually FIT my hands; the ones I have right now keep them relatively warm, but they don't really allow me to hold a pen properly, let alone write with it. I would be very grateful, and I promise I will be good for the rest of the year. :)

We have not yet been to any historical sites, mainly because we cannot use the missionary car for personal use, so we would have to ask a member to do it for us, and most people are kind of busy on Wednesday. :P I'm still figuring that one out.

Hope all is still well at home. Thank you for your prayers; we will continue to do the same for you.

Love you all!

Elder Wasden

Hello everyone - once again it's time for that weekly letter! It is amazing to see how time is passing; we are doing so many things each day that we come home at the end of it completely exhausted. I'm doing pretty good at making sure I get to bed on time; eight hours is over a lot sooner than I think it is!

As I look back over the week I am starting to see how I am learning the skills I need as a missionary. I am getting more familiar with coming up and talking to people (although I will admit I still prefer door knocking to street contacting), I am learning a lot about the people in our ward, and just overall getting more familiar to the amount of work I am going to be doing over the next two years. Both Elder H. and Elder S. (our district leader) have told me many times that the longer you are on the mission, the faster time flies, so I have been trying to make the transition to a missionary as fast as I can to I can of the most use to the Lord. It's certainly a process, and I need to remember patience for those things I am working on - but already I feel I have made a lot of progress to get to that point.

This past week has lots of ups and downs. Through Sunday we had spent the majority of our time tracting, and we did not get a single return appointment. I will admit coming into district meeting this Monday without anyone to come back to talk to was pretty discouraging.

Thank goodness for other missionaries and Spirit to give us a boost. This week we talked about humility, and how we need to rely completely on the Lord and have the faith that He will put someone in our path to talk to. Our zone leaders, Elders C. and S., then talked about goals, and how the only way we can ever meet our goals is if we spend all of our energy and efforts to achieve that goal. At the beginning of the transfer, Elder H. and I had set a goal to baptize one person by the end of the six weeks - but I have to admit that that goal was more wistful thinking on my part, since we did not have any solid investigators that were progressing. Elder C. then read Mormon 9, which talks about how God is a God of miracles, and that the only reason miracles do not happen is because men do not put their trust in Him. Elder C. then promised us that if we sincerly invite someone to baptize every single day this week, we would have someone with a set baptismal date by the end of it.

Elder H. and I are taking this promise sincerly; after the meeting, I felt reinvigorated, and since then I have been trying to remember constantly to put my trust in God, and to do the things that He needs me to do, especially if it makes me uncomfortable (pretty much the exact same thing you said in your letter last week, Dad). We immediately saw a change; on Monday night we found three people to invite us back, and one of our appointments is tonight. I know that Satan is going to do his best to try and discourage us from this goal - but all I need to do is put my trust in my Heavenly Father, and we will do His will.

Anyways, that is our week, and we know it's only going to get better. Some little tidbits for you, Mom: our area is car (I can't imagine trying to bike all over the place). We have Elder S. and Elder M. in our apartment, and apparently it's one of the better apartments in the mission. I can't wait to find out how much worse the other apartments might be. :P That is a bummer about the missing SD Card; thankfully, I took just a couple of other pictures of our district after I sent the card, so I do have something to show you. I'll remember to put it in the right envelope this time. :)

I am praying for you out in California - we've only heard the basics of what has happened, and that is enough to make me concerned. I know you will be safe as you follow the prophet.

Thanks for the letters/e-mails; they are really nice to read. I will do my best to write letters to everyone that writes to me. They really do give a boost when I need them. :)

See you next week!

Elder Wasden