February 22, 2015

Hello family and friends!!

Well this week I have defiantly gained a better eternal perspective about the plan of salvation. The memorial service for Sister Wells was on Thursday and there were talks given about the plan of salvation. It was so amazing and I am a different person because of it. Going on to our next life is something joyful, it may be sad for a little bit and we will mourn but we need to find the joy in it. Those who go on are in a much better place and are working just as hard as they would here on earth or even better. Our Stake president said Sister Wells makes all our companionship's a trio :) I really liked that!!! She is on the other side of the veil working with our mission to help us share the gospel. It helped me be more positive and more willing to work so much harder!! It was an amazing opportunity to be able to attend. We sang the As Sisters in Zion and We'll bring the world His truth medley, it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! We need to look forward to the reuniting of those who have passed on.

 An update on the other sisters, Sisters Faamaile and Douglas have more energy each day and the effects of their concussions are diminishing. Sister Douglas’ mother has been by their side giving constant care as they work through their recuperation. Both are on the road to recovery. Sister Young is able to sit up in a chair, is off the respirator, and with some effort she is able to talk/whisper. However, she continues to battle some infections and other potential complications.  She remains in the surgical intensive care unit and has a very long road to recovery as she works through the internal injuries, broken arms, pelvis and other issues. Like Sisters Douglas and Faamaile she very much needs our prayers.
On Tuesday we got a call from one of our less-actives telling us that another less-active we work with passed on. I literally was sad for only about a minute, I had so much comfort knowing that she is not suffering, she has been reunited with her family that has passed on. Her funeral was on Saturday and I had the opportunity to play the piano and say the opening prayer. It went for about 30 minutes, it was the shortest funeral I have ever been to. It was pretty good though, one of the members of our ward spoke about the Plan of Salvation. We drove in the funeral parade and we got to the cemetery, our bishop dedicated the grave and we left, that was it. It was unique :) We
enjoyed be there for the family.

This week we went on exchanges with our sister training leaders. I went to Franklin with Sister Birch and Sister Jex stayed  in Butler with Sister Busath. I love Franklin so much!! It is so cute :) We had
a dinner appointment with a older couple in their Ward and come to find out that he is a Wadsworth so we could be possibly be related. Dad, do you know if we are related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? I think that is the line he is from. It would be really neat to be related to them!! Exchanges went really well and we were pretty busy. Wednesday night, on exchanges, we went to a YSA activity and there were only two other people there besides the sisters. It was weird only having 4 people at a YSA activity. I am use to wayyyy more people being there, it helped me realize the blessing of living out west where there are a ton of YSA. We truly are so lucky!!!

Saturday after the funeral we went and saw Bill for a little bit and then went contacting for a couple of hours in Evans City. We walked to this house looking for certain members and there was a rock outside that had the people's last name on it and it wasn't the last name we were looking for. I got this prompting to knock anyways and so we went up to the door and knocked. There was this older lady that opened the door and said "come on in girls!" with a huge smile on her face. It sure did surprise me!!! Come to find out, she is actually a less-active member :) The address's must have been mixed up somehow but we visited with Sister Kennedy for awhile. She does genealogy like
you wouldn't believe!! It was awesome!!! Testimony builder of following the promptings you get :)

We have been trying to be really diligent and getting out to work. Even though there hasn't been a lot going on we still go out and work hard. We have been doing a lot of contacting and finding lately and have a lot more to go :) Just trying to keep our heads up and hope for the best to come. We know that we have to put in the work to see blessings and one day the missionaries here serving in Butler will be able to harvest the work that has been done!! Trying to have faith that it will all work out and that the Lord will guide us.

Yesterday morning I was reading in Alma 26 where it talks about Ammon and how is recounts the many great things that happened to him and his brethren, "boasting" in his God. It was such good timing for me I feel because right now the work is slow and it's hard to face a lot of rejection when you are serving with all your might but Ammon says in verse 27, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." I know that as Sister Jex and I continue to work hard and strive to be obedient that the Lord will comfort us and will give us the patience we need, I sure have felt the Savior's love each and every day as my heart is "depressed" and when it gets hard to continue forward He always picks us back up and helps us refocus on our purpose. I sure do love Him with all my heart :)

Well I love you all so very much and I hope that you have a great week!!!!

Love,
Sister Wadsworth

So sweet!

Song from Sister Wells memorial

February 15, 2015

Hello family and friends,

Can I just say, what a week?... It really has been a tuff week. I can
honesty say that it has probably been one of the hardest week of my
mission thus far. Many of you probably have heard but 4 of our sister
missionaries were in a tragic car accident on Tuesday. It was
devastating news to hear that Sister Wells was indeed killed in that
car accident. It has been a trying time but my testimony has grown so
much. We really had to rely on God and know that it is He that really
is in charge and that this truly is His plan. It has been so hard
thinking about all that went on and all the different thoughts that
may come. At one moment it will be good and you are just plugging away
and then all of a sudden you get this thought and your heart breaks
into pieces and you brake down for a minute then you remember that she
is in a much better place, I KNOW that! You have all these thoughts
running through your head and then you just finally have to ask God to
comfort you and help you along the way, and He surely has!! God loves
us so much. He cares about us and He knows what all of us missionaries
and their families are going through. He will give us strength and
guidance to endure through this trial.

The 3 other sisters are recovering. One sister, Sister Young, is in
critical care but is doing better and is on the way to recovery. She
can not talk right now because she has a breathing tube in but she is
able to communicate to her parents by sign language. She is truly a
miracle!! The other sisters are staying with the Nielsens from
Ephrata. Sister Nielsen is Sister Douglas' moms cousin. They are doing
much better and they sure are ready to get back to work. Sister
Douglas was talking to president Johnson and she asked him "can I stay
on my mission?" How awesome!! They are truly amazing examples to me.
They love the Lord so much and are willing to truly do anything for
Him. Many, many, many prayers have been said for them and their
families and they continue to be prayed for. It it a time for growth
for a lot of us and a time for us to really prepare ourselves to meet
our Creator. Sister Wells will always be missed but I am just grateful
that we have the knowledge that we will be able to see her again and
to truly know that she is with our Savior.

So on to the week, Thursday morning we went to JD (Inv) and Amy's (LA)
hearing. It was a lot different then we expected but we were able to
talk to them a little bit. Amy will get out in a couple weeks then go
to rehab, JD will stay in jail at least until April. We continue to
pray for them and hope that they will change by the time they are out.
It is just so hard to see them hurt themselves but it also helps my
testimony grow stronger. Satan is real and he will do anything in his
power to bring us down but we must stay strong and remember that God
is much more powerful!! God is there and will help them progress and
become better. Ether 12:27, our weaknesses will become stronger if we
humble ourselves and through God's grace, which is for ALL, we can be
healed. "It will all be worth it." Bill is still struggling and is not
going to be able to make it by February 20 for baptism. We keep
praying and supporting him. The most important thing we can do is love
him and help him in any way we can.

I can't tell you enough of how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
love us and want the best for us. Today in my studies I came across a
scripture that really was just perfect for what is going on right now.
It is D&C 122:7,9 "all these things shall give thee experience, and
shall be for thy good. Therefore, hold on." Isn't that a great
scripture? I sure did like it. The things we go through in life are
truly for our benefit. We grow from them, we become stronger, which is
turn helps us to become more like our Father in Heaven which is our
eternal goal. I know that things will be ok and that every thing will
work out!!!!

I love you all so much and I hope you are doing well. You are in my
prayers!! Please pray for the sisters who were in the accident and for
their families. :) Have a great week!! Love you to the moon and back!!

Love, Sister Wadsworth

February 8, 2016

Hey family and friends,

This week was a bit tough... Still going but sometimes you have a week where it is just hard!! We defiantly felt the Savior comforting us and I know that things are going to work out in the Lords time. It is difficult to rely on the Lord's timing but I know that it is the right thing to do. He knows wayyyy more than I do!! 

So on Thursday night we went to Bobbies house for dinner and she told us that our investigator JD and Amy one of the less actives went went to jail. JD got in trouble because he was with Amy when she shop lifted. He violated his parole and so he might have to go to prison for 5 years... It's so sad! All we can do is have faith and pray for him. This must be a time for him to truly come closer to God and change his life around. It is just hard to see someone you love so much make a decision like this and know that he is hurt by it. We cried ourselves to sleep that night. This to shall pass!! :)

On the good side, Bill is doing better :):) He brought his 2 granddaughters to church with him and they loved it! They are so cute :):) He is staying strong and staying smoke free :) He really wants to be baptized on February 20 before he goes on vacation to Florida. We have to have faith that he will make it :) We pray everyday that cigarettes will taste nasty and he will never want to smoke again!! I know the Lord will bless Bill according to His will. 

This week we met with our Spanish investigator twice :) His name is Neftali. He has been reading the Book of Mormon every day and knows it's true. He is actually almost done reading it. We have a member who just moved in recently who returned from Spanish speaking mission Idaho and she has been helping us with his lessons. He came to church and loved it!! Kate(the member) translated for him so he could understand. Even though there were a couple of hard things that happened this week there are good things that we cha be grateful for, and Neftali is one of them :):) 

We have been working hard trying to find new people to teach and contacting less-actives. We went and tried one Friday night and she was mad that we came but was nice about it. It was kinda funny though because she kept going about all the bad things going on in Butler and all the drug problems we have. She was really nice by the end but told us sternly that she doesn't want anything to do with the church. We did appreciate her giving us a head ups with all the drug problems :):) It was a pretty fun experience!

Well I sure do love you all and know that you are all in my prayers :) Hope you have a fantastic week and may the Lord bless and be with you in all that you do!!! Love you to the moon and back :) 

Love,

Sister Wadsworth

Btw have a happy Valentine's Day this week :) ❤️💓💘

February 2, 2016

Hey family and friends!! 

Hope you all had a great week. Our week was pretty great!!! I love Butler so much. 

On Monday we went and saw Becky. She is one of the less-actives we work with. She is active in heart but can't come to church very often because of some certain reasons. Becky is so amazing, she helps us in so many ways 😊 She is really struggling right now and Sister Birch and I were able to relate to her really well and were able to uplift her. (Btw we were on exchanges) A couple days later she came out with us to a lesson and she told us that when we left her room was a "lit up with light" and she felt much better. I love being able to help people be uplifted and to feel the spirit. The spirit helps us feel Gods love and direction He gives us. That is what Becky was able to feel!! The spirit was so strong and I know we could not have helped her as much as we did without the spirit. I know without a doubt that the Holy Ghost will comfort us in times of trial and sorrow, He has defiantly been with me and helped me and I have seen Him help many people!!! 😃 

On Tuesday we were going today contact a less-active and we knocked on the door and her mom answered. The less-active is at college right now but the mom was investigating when her daughter was and actually was almost baptized but didn't make it because of Word of Wisdom issues she had. We were able to invite her to take the lessons again and to read the Book of Mormon. We were there at the right time and the right place because the spirit guided us there. The spirit truly guides us :) After we had that lesson we went and did service at produce for people. We helped bag produce to give out to people. There was this guy that was volunteering as well and we started talking to him and it was going good at the beginning but then he started to be really inappropriate.... He was really weird and kept flirting with us. It was uncomfortable 😶 We just had to finally ignore him. One of the members of our ward was there and he told the guy to stop being inappropriate :) He stopped!! Thank goodness 😁

Wednesday night we taught Book of Mormon class and afterwards we had an amazing lesson with Bill. So before Book of Mormon class we talked to one of the members the ward council told us would be a good fellowshipper and asked him if he would be willing to teach bill in the future and he said yes. So after class, unexpectedly, he was talking to Bill and asked if he could share his story with Bill. They have a pretty similar story and Brother Hubbell shared a great experience and we were able to help Bill with his struggles. Bill is struggling with smoking, he does good for a couple of days but when he gets to that third or fourth day Satan pushes him and he breaks. We have learned that with helping Bill to help him get back up and try again. It is like learning to ride a bike, we get on the bike and start riding then we fall off and get some cuts and bruises but we get back up on the bike and try again. We don't tell the person to just give up, we help them get back up and try again. God is so happy that Bill is even trying to quit smoking and we told Bill that. Bill wants to be baptized and has a great desire to do so and I know that he is going to make it :):) Bull is strong and we know he can do it!! 

Those are just a few of the highlights we had this week, it was truly a great week here in Butler!! :) I can't believe that I only have 6 months left of my mission. It has gone by so fast! It has been the best experience and I wouldn't trade anything for it. It is just so amazing that someone can change so much and grow such a strong testimony. Well I love you all to the moon and back. Have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Wadsworth

January 25, 2016

Hi family and friends!!

This week was pretty good. The people on the east side of the mission
got 2-3 feet of snow while we are over here getting nothing. We wanted
to get a lot of snow but it didn't happen. We got to car sit for our
neighbor. She has 2 cute cats that we got to take care of them over
the weekend. It was pretty fun :)

We had a missionary broadcast this week that was so awesome. It was
broadcasted all over the world, in every mission. They trained us on
how to be better missionaries and use Preach My Gospel in our work. It
was a really cool experience to be able be a part of the broadcast. It
was the first time that has happened in a really long time it was
pretty cool :):)

Our investigator named Norah came to church this week. We have been
helping her learn English and been teaching her a little bit and we
invited he for church last week and she came. It was so awesome. She
is 14 so she went with the young women and I went with her to her
classes and the young women in the Butler Ward are amazing at
fellowshipping!!! It was so amazing :)

So our investigator Bill, I have talked about him a lot. He was doing
really good with not smoking, he went 5 days without smoking. When he
told us that I was so sad. I litter,any cried to Heavenly Father
asking Him what we can do to help Bill. We have done everything we
know and tried so hard to help him. But we just have to let him choose
his path and let him exercise his agency. It is so hard to see someone
you love with all your heart fall into temptation. I have seen people
I love fall and choose a different but it is so different as a
missionary because you have a little part in your heart that is
Heavenly Fathers love for a person and it is just so hard and j want
to do everything I can but we can't push them. It is their journey and
we need to go at their pace. It is just so hard. He will make it to
baptism, I know!!! It is just a little hard right now.

Sorry it's a litter short this week. We are going bowling for pday
:):) I love you all to the moon and back. Have a great week and know
tha to am praying for you all. You are all the best!!!

The church is true and the book is blue!! :)

Love Sister Wadsworth