I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Well heck, I'm surprised I am writing this and not napping right now! This has been such a busy week! Poor Sis Batsuuri, we haven't had a lunch or dinner hour all week cause there just wasn't time. I think she thinks I'm anorexic which, if she knew me better she'd know I ain't got that kinda self-control. 

Monday we had the best lesson with JungAh (chong-ah). That was a straight miracle in itself because my comp gets here straight from Mongolia and feels so lonely because no one speaks her language or understands her. Well into church walks some girl from Korea who is a member of the Harlem ward, but her friend who lives in Queens is seriously this golden investigator and so she came to church and obvi my comp is freaking out and they're just doing their Asian thing in the corner and they're in straight heaven. So the lesson was good and this girl is SOLID. Then we went to the RS President's house. They are from the Philippeans. They (her, her brother, and her dad) invited us but they had forgot to tell (haha *mom* jk) we were coming so we get there and they felt so bad but Sis Batsuuri had prepared something to share so she shared it and did SUCH a good job. She is such a sweetheart. Then their dad started going off about how keeping the commandments is what makes us happy. And then he asked Sister Batsuuri to say the prayer. She did but she was crying and I think it really touched the family. When we were walking away she couldn't stop so I asked her what was wrong and she said that the dad reminded her of her father, who had passed away from cancer. Never have I felt so helpless or heartbroken in my life. I didn't know what to say or how to console her. She cried the whole way home. She is so strong and rooted in the gospel. We might have our differences in food (I finally asked her to put the octopus jerky in a ziplock bag cause I gagged everytime I walked into the kitchen), but I have much to learn from her solid focus on the things of eternity. I know we are together for a reason. 

Tuesday we practiced our song for the Mission Christmas Party. We also put together a quick musical number by myself and 2 other sisters of a primary song medley. We had district meeting and then went to one of the huge malls in Queens to wrap presents and give away free hot chocolate. We shared the "He is the Gift" video over 500 times! President challenged us to share it 100,000 times before the end of the month, so we are really trying to share it as much as possible. We were supposed to teach Terresa (the really cool girl from last week) but her house is 2 hours away and it took us 1 hour to go 10 blocks on Queens Blvd because of the traffic so we told her we couldn't come that night. We went home and called her and ended up talking for a solid hour. Phone lesson? Nice. I've convinced her to go to LDSBC!! Haha she loves Mormons and she knows this gospel resonates in her soul, she just hates putting a label on her spirituality. I seriously love her and I feel like we're gonna be friends forever, especially once she gets baptized and we can be in the Celestial kingdom together. Haha. 

Wednesday was so great. It was the mission Christmas Devotional so there were lots of musical numbers and President talked to us about our vision for the coming year. It was so fun to see all the other missionaries and to feel the true meaning of Christmas. President and Sister Calderwood got us temple recommend holders that have the mission logo on them, they are sooo cool and it'll be fun to see it every time I go to the temple and remember how awesome my mission was. Our musical number went really well! Side note: I'm seriously obsessed with the other sisters in our zone. We see them a lot and they are so sweet. I'm so grateful for all the friends we've been able to make on our mission. On the way home we went and saw Terresa. She was upset because she had just talked to her biological parents and they weren't very nice to her. We tried to cheer her up and it worked! We talked about the atonement for an hour and then she busted out her guitar and we all sang Christmas songs together! It was such a fun night and it's good to feel like you were needed by someone else. I love her so much, she is an incredible person. We also said goodbye to Devin who is leaving on his mission, and saw a guy in the branch who is home for break from BYUI..he knows Rebekah and a bunch of people in my Brookside ward. They fed us Indonesian food. Yum! They gave us these fried shrimp cakes and I tried a bite and just about threw up and they saw my face and so I didn't know how to get out of it except by saying I'm allergic to shrimp. Actually I really am, cause I throw up every time I try and eat it. And I know I joke about my comp's food but she was eating seaweed the other day when I walked into the kitchen and I literally went to the bathroom and threw up. I have the weakest stomach for that kinda stuff. It ain't fun. Anyway Christmas Eve was sooooo awesome and we loved every minute of it!

CHRISTMAS. Wow greatest day of my mission so far even though that's like every day. The other sisters came over and we opened our presents together. I think I got more presents this year than I ever have haha. Thanks everyone who sent me stuff, I am enjoying it all and am really grateful that you thought of me and put so much work into such nice gifts. I feel so blessed. I just couldn't NOT cook something, so I ended up making omelets for the entire zone and we all played games while we took turns calling our families. The call was probably the best thing of my life. The video of Ada and Jed screaming over their presents was a close second. I have never felt so much support and love in my life and am so grateful for everything you do for me. We went to dinner at a family's house in the Astoria ward with the other sisters and the sister who fed us is an INCREDIBLE cook. The food was sooo good. We played some Christmas games and then went home. Mission Christmas=best Christmas yet. There is nothing better than wearing this nametag and talking about what you love all day long. 

Friday we did yet another free hot chocolate stand and got a lot of new contacts! We meet such cool people! We got ready for Neil's baptism. Oh and I threw up because I think I'm allergic to seaweed. My comp eats the weirdest stuff guys...

Saturday we didn't do anything too notable, just service and taught some lessons. But I took my comp to McDonalds for her first time and guess what??? She likes burgers! The only reason she said she didn't like them before was because she didn't know what they were. I'm gonna convert her to American food so that I don't throw up every time I open the fridge and see her little fishes in their container staring back at me. 

Oh man here comes my sermon of the week. My mind has been on covenants (or promises) that we make with God. It's funny cause we think that if we obey certain commandments we will receive related blessings for the ones we are obeying. Example: If I obey the law of tithing I will be blessed financially. God doesn't work that way. We have to obey ALL the commandments and trust that He will bless us in the way we need it the most. He is bound when we keep His commandments, and we can hold Him to that agreement. Not that God was ever one to withhold blessings...    

I KNOW that if we are obedient we will be happy. Obedience isn't a pick-and-choose thing, it's an attitude. I think choosing to be obedient can save you big bucks at judgement day. 

Neil got baptized last night! It was such a great evening and the spirit was strong. Oh and Sunday was funny, I saw the lovely Grace and her fiancée Chase in Sacrament Meeting as well as a young man that moved here from the Florida YSA who knows Sister Melissa Hartley! Small world haha. I'm pretty much the ward organist by now as well so everybody gets to hear how horribly I can play the piano! Yayyyy. 

Well it was an awesome week, I have really felt a lot of love from home and I am so grateful for all of you for supporting me and helping me, I feel so lucky to have the squadworth (nice word eh) behind me cheering me on! It means a lot to me and I appreciate it. 

Love you all!

Sis Wads

Culture Shock for Christmas!

We hit the ground running at 5pm on Monday, we went to dinner with Neil which included having to unexpectedly walk 20 blocks in heels so that we could eat chicken gizzards. I was a bit more subtle about gagging this time but I'm still alive so we're all good. He is getting baptized on Sunday!!! After that we drove an hour and a half to meet a referral from AZ. Whoa. She is probably the most legit miracle of my life. Literally a walking miracle. To start off, she was an "offering baby" which means that from the time her parents knew they were having her, they also knew they would be giving her away as soon as she was born. She liked her "mom" but she passed away a few years ago and she doesn't get along with her dad. She has no clue what "love at home" means. And then she met some missionaries and they introduced her to Mormons; they didn't drink or smoke so she liked hanging out with them. She moved back to NY 2 months ago and she felt something missing. She realized it was visits from the missionaries. Was had an INCREDIBLE discussion with her. I've never connected with someone so instantaneously. She opened the door and I immediately felt a bond with her. She said she was walking around in the city the other day and some fashion major yuppie came up to her and gave her the vertical stare and basically asked her how she could wear something so out of vogue. She said she laughed inside but was mostly hurt that people are so vain as to care about that kind of thing. She's been in third-world countries where people don't have showers or bathrooms and this guy was asking her why she is wearing a baggy sweater and leggings. This is only a millionth of the conversation we had but if I tell you the whole thing this is gonna be a really long letter (as always, sorry eh).

Alright so I literally don't know where to begin with my new companion. I guess her name would be a good place. I still can't say her first name but the English translation is Naomi. I just call her Sister Batsuuri (bat-sir). She is from Mongolia and is 23 so it's chill. So when I met her and I could immediately tell she is incredible. She clung to my coat or hand most of transfer meeting. I can't imagine what it must be like for her. On our way home I was being an idiot and asking about her family. I looked over and she had tears streaming down her face. She joined the church 6 years ago and is the only member in her family. To top it off both her parents passed away in the last few years so she is completely on her own. She has her BA in international relations and speaks 4 languages. Above all is her testimony and humility. I have never met someone so converted to the gospel, and so willing to do everything that is asked of her. To be honest I feel like an idiot training her because she is so solid. Ps her last name literally means "firm foundation." Like top that guys...you literally can't. Okay and not only that but she is hysterical and she doesn't even mean to be! Probably the funniest thing was when she told me I was skinny. Actually no the best was when I put a picture of a longhorn cow on the screensaver of our phone and she saw it and she was like: "oh, it's a yak!" I seriously can't even write this without bursting with laughter. I think it's just the cultural difference but oh man, we all think she's the funniest thing alive. There is one elder in our district who just can't seem to elevate his vocabulary so he's just going off all of district meeting about nothing of import and out of nowhere she innocently asks: "what is your favorite subject in school? Literature? Mathematics?" And he just gets this awk look and is like "does PE count?" We are all just rolling with laughter and she kept pressing, "what is it?" Finally he just admitted that he can't read. I seriously had tears coming out of my eyes. 

After Transfer Meeting they had about 50 missionaries go to the mall to show people "He is the Gift." It was awesome we marched in, showed it 150 times and got 11 contacts and marched back out in an hour. Sis Batsuuri and I showed it 16 times! She was so cute, I let her take the lead and whenever we walked away from someone she would say: "Sister, I just felt the spirit so strong!" She has such a strong desire to share with everyone. That night when we were eating dinner (I gave her the Nepali food leftover from our dinner with Neil) I was trying to get a feel for what she ate. I guess boiled sheep head and horse and seaweed are her favorites. I asked her if she liked cheeseburgers cause those are my favorite and she said no hahaha so we each are kinda doing our own food thing. She's been teaching me some Korean dishes though. She'd never had cinnamon rolls or doughnuts so she's got a lot to try. On Saturday one of the members bought us a Crounut (croissant/doughnut) with hazelnut filling. Seriously the greatest thing of my life. Everyone should try one and the world would be a happier place. 

We taught Richard who is investigating and so I told her she could extend the baptismal commitment to him during our lesson. She was about to do it and he was like "when can I be baptized?" It was so funny I guess we need to find some more people to teach so she can practice on them instead haha. She is so sweet when she teaches you can tell she knows it's true with all her heart. Lastly, she doesn't speak that much English so I am trying to help her understand what's going on (basically translating everything). I was explaining a hashtag and she looked at me like I was an alien. It's hilarious because I am trying to help her learn English but I am realizing how bad I am at explaining things and it's just so awk all the time. Like gloriously awk. Whenever she doesn't understand something she laughs which is probably what I'd do if the tables were turned and I was in Mongolia trying to learn her language and eat boiled sheep. It is soooo funny. This whole thing is just such a great experience, it's hysterical and spiritual at the same time. I'm still laughing about when she thought the longhorn was a yak!

So had my first Jewish fearless, and it was hysterical! (What part of a mission isn't?) we were in the Rego Park mall sharing "He is the Gift" and I walk up to these two YSA-age guys and they were super chill. Like it wasn't even awkward. I told them they looked like they could use a little more Jesus in their life and they said they liked Jesus so I started to show them the video. About 30 seconds in the first guy asked how old I was. I said 21 and he was like "you look like you're 12." First time I've heard that one. Usually people think I'm 30, especially if I don't fix my hair. Then the other guy pipes up "are you a model for your church? You're really tall." Ok so I look like a 12-year-old model? Jews are so strange. It was fine and they were nice though! They always look so angry when I pass them on the street, so I guess I need to stop judgin so much. 

Thursday night we stationed ourselves outside of Toys R Us and wrapped people's gifts for free. We had a super good turnout and showed the video 44 times! People are so much nicer at Christmas. You'd think it had to do with Christ or something....

Saturday was great, we went to the temple with some branch members and they took us to Times Square to see the "He is the Gift" sign! It was so cool! And they took us out to Olive Garden, the closest thing we get to a dinner appointment haha. It was Sis Batruuri's first time doing baptisms and she was so scared! I think this is really different for her but she is doing good. 

Something cool that I've realized is that we really CAN'T expect specific blessings when we obey specific commandments. We don't set those terms, God does. It is our duty to obey all commandments and trust that God knows what blessings we need better than we do. I can't obey the word of wisdom and then get upset when I can't run and not get weary and walk and not faint. Obedience should be our quest, and trust should be our attitude. There is nothing better than knowing that God is in control of your happiness. I know He won't ever let us down. In the Book of Mormon it talks a lot about prosperity in association with righteousness. We need not think that we need to have nice things to seem like we are following God. I have met some truly humble people in every sense of that word. They have almost nothing as far as possessions, but they rely on the Lord and they are happy. 

I am so grateful to be here and I love this work! It brings so much happiness and peace. Thank you all for everything you do for me, I am so excited to talk to you on Christmas! 

Love you !!

Sis Wads

Photos:

1. Me and my trainee!

2. Sis Cox...the family fav

3. Just tryna stay warm!

4. Times Square billboard.

Christmas Miracles

Where to begin with this awesome week?! The beginning of the week was pretty chill, as chill as it can get with Christmas, going crazy trying to teach everyone we can, and being with our awesome branch members! So I know I always start my letters off by talking about Neil but he is just so precious! It was raining like crazy and super windy Wednesday night and I don't have an umbrella...anyway he came to our lesson and he had this super cool orange umbrella from his work. I told him I thought it was cool and he was just like, Sister, it's yours! I felt so stupid cause I didn't think he was gonna give it to me! But it was so sweet and so typical of his character. I really can see Christ through him and I hope I can be the kind of person that draws people to God by the way I live my life and treat others. 

So District Meetings are usually just another meeting but we had a really awesome one this week and I thought I'd tell you about it because it was a cool experience. Our district leader told us to find different attributes that we thought best described each member of the district. We took turns going around the room and sharing the attributes we saw in each person. That sounds really corny and stupid but it made me realize how important each of us is in our Heavenly Father's plan. If you think for one second you're not needed on this life, you are dead wrong. God has a purpose, a plan, and a need for each of His children, and it is up to us to figure what that purpose is and fulfill it as best we can. Our district is seriously full of a bunch of characters, it's so funny that we all got put together this transfer but I have grown to love each person and have felt their influence in my life as I see them work with each other and with the people. 

On Wednesday we did a "Free Hot Cocoa" stand in the middle of a busy triangle in Woodside. It was so fun! It was snowing so it was pretty much the coldest thing of my life but people stopped and we gave out over 100 cups of hot cocoa along with candy canes we had made talking about how Christ is the most important gift. We also shared the "He is the Gift" video. It was a huge success and one of the best finding activities I've done so far. Wednesday night President called and asked if I'd train again. I said no. Just kidding, I said yes, but only if I could train a Spanish elder. But for real, I feel so bad for this poor sister having to spend 2 transfers with me, hopefully I don't wreck her mission haha. There are two sisters, one from Mongolia and one from St. Anthony haha so we'll see which one I get :) 

Thursday I had to go to a training meeting with President and the APs. There are 25 missionaries coming in so 25 people preparing to train. We got in the room before it started and everyone was dead silent. I think they were nervous. I made the joke about training the Spanish elder but everyone looked at me like I am an apostate so I shut up for the rest of the time. I got most rigid AP to laugh so it wasn't for nothing I guess. Anyway it was soo good and I always love the chance to hear from President. The APs kept talking about how if you crush your trainees dreams you're probably gonna do the same thing to your children *gulp*. Good thing I'm not having kids anytime soon. Anyway I meet her tomorrow and I'm excited to tell you all about her next week, cause I know she's going to be incredible! 

Well here's a good story for you..one of the girls in the YSA had us come to dinner cause her friend (ex boyfriend. Awk.) wants to know more. Basically I wrecked the lesson from the get go...she ordered squid as an appetizer and I didn't want to be rude when she offered so I took some and I chewed it for a good 45 seconds. Chewing squid for 45 seconds felt as long as the last 21 years of my life guys. I tried so hard to swallow but I started gagging so I had to spit it out. It was almost as traumatizing as the ER last week. I felt SOOO bad! Everytime I think about it my eyes start to water. Anyway it actually didn't wreck the lesson, we had an amazing conversation with Richard and he read the Book of Mormon! He was super open and it was cool to see how he recognizes that something is missing in his life. On Sunday we had another lesson with him and he didn't understand the Book of Mormon so we went through and read 1 Nephi 1 together, each of us with our own question in mind. I love doing that, it brings the spirit immediately. We also has one of the guys in the YSA teach with us, he is leaving on his mission next week, and he did awesome! He is 22 and his girlfriend making him go..haha. 

Okay so as YSA sisters we are a bit disadvantaged when it comes to street contacting because we are always in a car stuck in traffic. Decided I was gonna turn that around so I adopted the "car fearless." Saturday was my first run and let me tell you, I was jacked on it! So here's how it works. I would pull up to a stop light and obvi the person in the car next to you looks over. It's inevitable. So I'd roll down my window, give them the "He's the Gift" card and explanation, and roll up the window again and gun it! I have 4 VERY successful sweeps! The best one was 2 ladies. I thought one of them was a guy, and I thought he smiled at me from his window. Problem: they were 2 lanes over. Well they needed the gospel so I cut off like 5 million cars and pulled up to them at the next stoplight. I gave them the card and explanation, and they were so stoked! They were like: "we were JUST talking about that! Christmas is about families and friends!" It seriously made my night. And then last night we were with a member on the way to a lesson and she was like "sisters that guy is looking at me creepily" I backed up so I was next to his window and gave him a "He's the Gift" card. Him and his wife loved it! The member in the backseat was in utter shock, it was absolutely hysterical. Omg and before that we were caroling at this rest home and this old guy got up and started dancing just like Pa does and it was the funniest thing of my life!!!! Okay it was just a perfectly glorious day and it couldn't have gotten any better. For serious. 

Sunday night we were going to see a less-active and she had moved but her landlady invited us in and we showed her the video and she cried and told us about how she had found God and was looking for a church and how she wanted to be clean from her sins and we had told her about how families can be forever and she seriously lost it cause she is married and has the two cutest Asian/Columbian kids of my life and she was thinking about what would happen to them just the other day! I know God puts all of us in each other's paths for a reason. She was a straight miracle for us and it was such a cool experience. 

I have learned sooo much this week and I am so grateful for Christ and not only the healing power of the atonement, but also the enabling power as well. I know I am going to need a lot of help from Him and I feel so confident that He will give it to me. I have been trying to think of something meaningful I could give to Him as a "gift" for Christmas. I think one thing we can do is read our scriptures more often. Everyone always says it but why is it so hard to do? I think Satan knows the power that lies within that daily habit so he tries to convince us that it isn't a big deal. I know it IS a big deal though, and I feel so blessed to be able to study every day. I can tell the difference in my life from now from when I used to skim through maybe once a week. Please think of what you can give as the most important gift, to the most important Being this Christmas, and continue to give to Him all year long as you follow Him. I love you all, thanks for your continual support and love! 

Merry Christmas(:

xoxoxo

Sis Wads

Ps I want everyone's Christmas cards plz don't forget about me!

Photos: 

1. P-Day, I am so glad all the other sisters in the zone are staying, we have gotten really close and I really enjoy being around them.

2. One of the elder's birthday so we went to a Paraguay restaurant because he was on his mission in Paraguay but was reassigned here for health reasons. He is a convert, 25, and SUCH a teddy bear(: 

3. It still hasn't snowed too bad, and these fall trees out in Fresh Meadows were sooo pretty! 

4. Our weekly community service gig. Once again, I love my sisters haha #presh

Seek the Lord Early

This has been a week of miracles and growth (and cold), and it has been AWESOME!! We did a lot of look-ups and we also had a lot of lessons! We met with a less active and he brought us some cake! What a sweetheart! Haha I tried to eat it the next day after lunch and it was literally harder than a rock. I think I'm gonna give it to the elders... 

We went to dinner at a members house with Neil and had a really awesome lesson about prayer! Wait back up a member fed us!!!!! And he is a really good cook and just saying Peruvian food is my favorite so it was basically the best night ever, and the lesson was soo good. Members always make it better. The guy who cooked us the dinner bore his testimony about how he prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. SO POWERFUL. For real, when in doubt, bear your testimony.

Okay I know this doesn't matter but remember when I first got here and couldn't ever sleep at night? Let me give you a play-by-play of what goes down that prevents that..

10:00: teenagers yelling and fighting over the weed they're smoking..thought that kinda stuff    was supposed to make you happy? Guess not. 

10:17: random guy starts up his truck which, it's a really nice truck but he took the muffler off so  we both usually shoot out of bed because it's so loud. 

11:03: the crazy lady starts yelling at her husband, usually lasts 10 minutes. We still don't know exactly what he did/does wrong.

11:46: drunk Asian man comes rockin down the alley singing at the top of his lungs. To his credit he's actually got some pipes. 

3:08:the birds that live in our AC unit start freaking out. Maybe their chicks got away.

5:10: Sister Joseph starts talking in her sleep or snoring. To her credit she is usually teaching people about family history and pedigree charts and stuff while she sleep talks. It's impressive.

Add to all that the fact that we live on the busiest boulevard in Queens (there should be a rule that you can't honk after 10pm), about a mile from Laguardia Airport, and next to the subway and it is the perfect recipe for sleep depravation. 

I have been thinking a lot about "seeking the Lord early" lately. While some think it means simply praying or reading your scriptures early in the morning I feel like it could have several other possible definitions. Of course, we can seek the Lord early in life, and with that comes a promise of having a better relationship with and more commitment to Him throughout our earthly experience, but one thing I have thought about is the problems we all face in life. Are we seeking Him during or after the problem, or do we seek Him when all is well and prepare a relationship so that when times DO get tough, we have a foundation on which we can use our trials to strengthen us? I think wherever we are in life, we could all seek the Lord a little bit more, and earlier, thus finding the ability to use our trials to strengthen us instead of slow our progression. We speak of "enlarging the soul" but how can we think that said enlargement would come without stretching? Seeking the Lord is a lot of work, it's a pursuit, but it will bring us a lot more happiness than if we sit back on cruise control and glide through a life without meaning. 

Oh so Sunday we fasted that people would come to church because we haven't had investigators at church in ages. We had 3 at church and 10 more than our average attendance...fasting works! That night we went to these girl's house to share a message and there was a member there but I had no clue who she was and we're eating dinner and she was across the table from me. So she looks at me and says:"I love the church, but I drink 3 cups of coffee a day." She was looking at me like I was gonna give her some sort of lecture. She was like "I can't stop" so I just looked her in the eye and said, "with the Lord's help, you CAN stop." She kept arguing that she couldn't, but I just kept telling her that with God anything is possible. She finally sat back and was like, you passed the test! I don't drink coffee! ...you're a good missionary. I'm just sitting there like an idiot in shock because she totally had me! Apparently whenever she talks to the missionaries she tries to give them problems like that and they usually pull out a scripture or come back the next week with some hard core homework for her to do. I just think it's so important to help people love God. Once we love God, our evil desires go out the window because we will do anything to express that love, even if it's out of our comfort zone or habit. In my opinion, the purest obedience comes from loving God.

We did this thing where we set up a table with pamphlets and DVDs and Book of Mormons and bibles and offer them to people for free. It is so funny just being on the street yelling at people to come get free stuff. Elder Martinez is the best at it, someone will be walking by and he'll be like: "sir you look like you could use some free stuff, am I right?" People ignore us a lot, can't say I wouldn't do the same haha, but we have some cool people stop! They are always from all over the world and it is cool to talk to them and hear their stories. I love this gospel so much and hope and pray that those who need it most will be led to us (or us to them) this holiday season especially. It is the perfect time to share the gift of Jesus Christ because people really are looking for something worthwhile amidst the momentary fulfillment of material gifts. I am so grateful to have Jesus Christ in my life and for the miracle of His atonement. This is the true church and my testimony of that is what gets me so excited to share it with others!  I love you all & hope you're having a wonderful Christmas season!

xoxo 

Sister Wadsworth

Photos:

1. Sister Lugo! She's so sweet.

2, 3, and 4: FHE activity making gingerbread houses! It was so fun! (: I love all these people!

5. My favorite RM Laura!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Monday we taught Neil cause we always teach him on Mondays. It was such an amazing lesson. He said a prayer at the end and he was like: "dear God my only regret is that I didn't know you sooner." It was so precious I seriously couldn't handle it. I feel like it's such a privilege to teach someone so pure because of the things I learn during our lessons with him. After that we drove to a less-active's house. Because of traffic it took 2 hours...she wasn't there. It's things like that that sometimes make me wonder if you're doing any good for anyone. But then there are the few people who's lives you CAN touch and they make it worth all the disappointments. 

Oh so Karma is a real thing except it's called the Light of Christ and some people just have it! We were walking through our parking lot and I found an open wallet with a stinkin ton of money in it and pretty much some guy's whole life. His address was in there and he lived in the building next to us! So we walked over and he wasn't there and we couldn't get into the building. After standing there for like 5 min conversing about what to do the maintenance guy let us in...he wasn't even creepy! Wish we could change buildings... Anyway we finally found his apartment so we slid it under the door with a pass-along card saying we found it in the parking lot. Well on Tuesday we were coming home from a district finding activity and the other sisters gave us the wrong metro card. If it's unlimited you can only use it once in a certain time period. So I swiped and went through and then she swiped and it rejected it. Awk. So I'm standing on one side of the gate and she's standing other the other...I'm sure we just had these wide-eyed looks like a bunch of tourists. Well a nice man came and swiped his card so she could get through and we could go home. It reminded me of the atonement and how Christ really does pull us out of some sticky situations. We can't ever pay him back, but that's not the point. The point is to do all we can to help others in hopes that we are doing enough to qualify us for eternal life.

On Wednesday I saw my first New York snowfall! Okay it was mostly sleet and rain, but there was a little snow! It wasn't too cold. We went to the mission office to drop some stuff off and we saw President. He is so cool, I seriously love him. He shook our hands and as he was walking away he said: "thanks for the miracles you bring to our mission, it's your faith!" Inside I was just like, yeah right we don't do anything. We drive around all day looking for parking and when we finally find it the person isn't home. As I thought about it I realized that I don't have as much faith as I would like to, and my attitude was getting me nowhere. Well I had a little intervention with myself on the way to go look someone else up and decided that if I had more faith (and acted on it) we would probably talk to more people. We got the her apartment and she was there!!! Literally the first time in 2 weeks someone actually opened the door to us. And she wanted us to come back Saturday! Then as we were walking back a cute old man wished us a happy holiday! Our day turned around and even though no one else was home it brought the spirit into my life more as I relied on the Lord to help us find people. It's so easy to go through life faking it and relying on our own skills when, if we rely on God, we will achieve much more success and have more fulfillment in our work. 

Thanksgiving was AWESOME. In the morning we went to the Turkey Bowl. It was freezing cold but it was so good to see all my besties...my MTC comp and Sis Cox...yeah those are about the only friends I have haha. We left early because we had to be at service at 11 at a burger joint serving food to homeless people. It was so fun! Bringing back the lion house days with Sister Joseph. Basically I was carrying out plates to people (5 at a time, just like the glory days!) and she was in the kitchen carving the turkey but once I looked over and she was ripping the turkey apart with her bare hands! It was hysterical. What a beast. The people were supposed to come at 12 but they didn't show up...1...2...3 and we were supposed to clean up and all the sudden they all showed up! So we rushed making the plates. Me and Sis J in the kitchen and Sisters Placheta and Grass bar tending (haha just ginger ale guys don't worry). We finally went home and weekly planned. We made our own dinner of bacon-wrapped chicken cordon bleu, scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots, bacon green beans (can you tell we like bacon), rolls, mashed potatoes...basically WAY more than the two of us could eat. So glorious and honestly the best part besides serving others was being able to be in the kitchen on Thanksgiving at the restaurant and in our apartment with the cockroaches. It was a wonderful day and one I will never forget. Glad to be here. Extra glad to be with Sister Joseph, and most of all glad for a wonderful family + the Hartleys who loves and supports me. You all are awesome!

Okay sorry this is gonna be another long letter...I seriously throw up into my iPad on Mondays because so many things happen. So I'm sure you've seen the video "He's the Gift", if not please go and watch it and share it with others! It is a special Christmas initiative from the First Presidency (I think that the fact that it's from them shows us of its importance) talking about how Christmas isn't about presents, it's about our dear Savior. They've made a limited amount of pass-along cards and you should be getting some in the Ensign. SHARE THEM. Share the gift of Jesus Christ and His Atonement with people this holiday season. That's a lot better than something you get off Amazon. The church has put a lot of effort and money into this initiative, so let's make it worth something! It's definitely more for members and is so easy to share with your friends, it's not like, in their face GET BAPTIZED THE WATER IS WARM...but a whispering from the Holy Ghost that there are things that can help them a lot more than gifts this holiday season. I would challenge all of you to think of people who need the gift of Jesus Christ this Christmas. I don't know where I'd be without Him and His love. 

Sunday was super great. I had to play the organ again because the other lady had to leave or something. It's gonna be awk if I get transferred cause I dunno who they'll get to play haha. We taught Sunday school and the topic was the life of Jesus Christ. It was so good and we showed "Because of Him" at the end and then let people just sit there and think about what the Savior has done for them. Afterwards some people shared what Jesus Christ meant to them and the spirit was so strong. In the scriptures it says that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) I am so grateful that He laid down His life for us, and I know Christ truly is our friend. He doesn't expect us to lay down our life for Him, but to live in a way that we lay down things that keep us from being like Him. I am so grateful for my Savior. 

Hope you all have a great week! 

Love you,

Sister Wadsworth

Hopefully all the pics work this week! There should be 4 ...

1. Finally got a pic with Neil!

2&3. Long Island City in the snow

4. Service project with Dave! (That's not Dave, it's Elder Martinez...Dave is cray cray) 

"They died with their name tags on"

Obvi we're still alive but basically we froze to death this week and we also worked really hard, so if anyone asks, we died with our name tags ON! 

This week was an incredible learning experience as well as a spiritual highlight of my mission so far. A lot of things led up to this experience but I'll give you a summary. If you read in Genesis 24 it is the story of Abraham's servant going to find a wife for Jacob. Basically the servant made a contract (through prayer) with God that he would do certain things, and he would (and could) expect the Lord to help him out in certain ways and provide things..(like a single woman lol). So the servant is working and is trusting that God will make up the rest. Anyway, applying that to us, we haven't had much success finding lately...or apparently EVER in the YSA. You can't knock all of Queens because what do you do when they're all families? Walk away? I dunno it gets awkward. All our investies are found through...uh...miracles. Well President expects each companionship to baptize 2 people before the end of the year and its president, so you can't exactly let him down. So we decided to try what the servant did and make a contract with God that if we were as obedient as we possibly could be and worked our very hardest, he would help us find someone.  We had to be specific, so we found someone in the area book who was a former investigator that we felt like could be interested. We said a very specific prayer and decided on a time to go see her the next day. We got a member, and we drove to her house. A half hour later we arrived and of course it was like -57 million degrees and we walked around for about 20 minutes (seemed like hours) going to every apartment in the complex before finding where she lived which was right by where we parked..awko-taco. The poor girl who came with us. If she had any desire to go on a mission we probably blew that candle out. ANYWAY. We finally found it and rang her bell. No answer. Well we had to do everything on our side of the contract, so I was gonna ring bells until someone opened the outside door. We got buzzed in and a lady opened her door. As soon as she saw us she got this terrified look on her face like we were monsters and slammed her door. Good thing it wasn't the girl we were looking for. Well we rang our person's bell and she wasn't home so we left a note telling her to call us. She didn't. Hey maybe she will! But most likely we were barking up the wrong tree. But we were going to do EVERYTHING to find the person we need to baptize. We called/texted every single person on our list of former or potentials. As we sat on the floor during weekly planning we seriously didn't know what to do. Then the phone rang. It was Daniel, and he wanted to know when we could meet! As in, the next day! He was a former investigator and had gone to Ecuador for 4 months and just got back last week and said that us calling was a sign that God wanted him to join the church... basically, we can't expect the Lord to answer our prayers unless we do our part! It was an incredible experience and He really is working with us to hasten His work. 

Another cool thing was being able to go to the temple for my 6-month mark. When we first got here they had us write down vision, goals, and plans for our mission. I was reading through mine and basically everything I had written down then is everything that I feel like I struggle with now. I don't think that was a coincidence. Although I could honestly say I have seen improvement in the areas I had listed, I think God knew I needed that extra push right now to be a little better and to try a little harder. The temple was an awesome experience. We really take it for granted back home cause it's so close and we always CAN go. But not being able to go for 6 months (for a session, I've been for baptisms 9 times now), the excitement that built up was incredible, and I put a lot more thought into preparing to go there and had questions that needed to be answered...and they were. Temples really are an expression of God's love for His children. 

Some housekeeping items...

Our AC units are screwed into the window so we can't take them out...but the cold air can still come in so we put on 5 layers of clothes and turn on the heating pads in hopes we don't freeze to our death. I started wearing my nametag to bed so that they'll know I'm a missionary when they find me dead. Guys I'm kidding. I've had some good cockroach kills this week. Yep that's about it for the housing situation. 

Neil is doing awesome, he started writing down all the spiritual impressions he has, and we didn't even suggest that to him! He says he's doing it so when times get tough he can remember Gods hand in his life...IS THIS GUY FOR REAL?? I literally cannot tell you everything he says that is just so perfect for an investigator to say...where are the hidden cameras? If I didn't come to Queens YSA for any other reason, it was to meet him and learn from him. He has taught me so much about the person God wants us to be. He really lives what he believes. And he listens to country music so um...yeah. On Friday we had a YSA thanksgiving dinner...I seriously love this branch! The people are so kind and friendly. They don't ask us if we're nuns. One of the girls told me I had "nice kickers" (shoes). Anyway I don't want to leave here anytime soon. I shouldn't have said that now I'll get transferred. K I'll just stop. 

I know it's better to have an attitude of being grateful, but if I could pick one thing that I'm the most grateful for it would be my cute family, and especially my parents. The more I see how other people live, the more I appreciate our lifestyle. We went and saw one of the ladies from the family ward cause she wanted to visit with us, and they live in an attic. They have one bedroom and share the kitchen and bathroom with some random guy. They have a tiny fridge with just a little food, and I honestly don't know where they keep clothes or anything because they don't have any dressers. But they are the sweetest people. They are kind and will give you everything they have to give. It reminds me of you Ma and Pa, you guys give everything you have to others, especially your precious time. Thank you for you example. Whenever I start to feel sad that I won't get to see all the fam at thanksgiving I remember that I've already had 20 wonderful thanksgivings and I'll have the rest of my life with my family, and I am so grateful to be able to be serving the Lord THIS Thanksgiving. Being on a mission is such an opportunity and a blessing, and I am so happy to be here! I love you all. Sister Wadsworth

Pics!

1. I know I basically forwarded this pic to half the earth last week but I think it's so hilarious..good old Si Robertson. And Elder Hartley is lookin pretty fine too..

2. Shopping last P-day at the Queens Center mall, I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

3 & 4. 6-month temple trip with Sister Peterson, she was here with Sister Joseph before I got here. 

5. Oh Sister Joseph...this is how we feel about no heating in the apartment😾