The One That is a Bummer

Elder Weedley is having a rough week.
Here is his e-mail:

well im getting transferred to kokomo and back to english speaking im pretty sad my spanish is finally good and everything was clicking this past couple weeks so im upset but yeah anyway other then that the week was good

Here's the thing.
Change sucks.
And I have found that especially when you are serving the Lord, when you get comfortable and feeling pretty good about life, that is when He stretches you, and pushes you.
God can always see the end result- when we cannot.
These words are not comforting when you are in the middle of change, especially when you were just feeling confident about your current situation.

It's hard on a mom to see her kid struggle, and not be able to sit him down and counsel him.
I get a short window to e-mail back and forth.

My heart has been aching since Monday. I have said extra prayers because I didn't know what else I could do. I worry because it seems like this whole first year has been somewhat of a struggle for Elder Brendan. It seems like as soon as he starts getting some traction, the rug is ripped out from under him. Knowing he is a lot like me has made me worry all the more. I can take and take and take and then one day I am just done. I was hoping that this wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back for him.

So I have fretted. He was transferred, so I don't have a new address to mail him a letter, or a "cheer up" package.

I don't know how to tell him to "hang in there," so I just gave it to God. I have to remind myself that God is a bigger advocate for his success on his mission than I am. I have to remind myself that these changes are going to be for the greater good- they always are. I asked God to help me have this faith. To feel peace that my boy was okay.

But it's been hard. And I was in for a long week. I won't hear from him again until next Monday.

Today I got a letter in the mail. A hand-written letter from my boy. As soon as I saw it, and before I opened it, I told Sam that if Elder Weedley needed me- then Sam needed to just book me a flight to Indiana- no argument.

The letter was five pages.
Five pages of "Mom, I am doing fine. I am so grateful for the way that you and Dad raised me. I hate and love my mission. I can do hard things because you taught me to."

What do you know?
The Lord answered my prayers, and eased my apprehension through the very boy I was worried sick over.
He works in super strange ways.

Here was our back and forth:

The Beach Boys have a song about Kokomo. That means it's awesome.

im pretty freaking sure its not indiana kokomo though

YOU DONT KNOW THAT

They have a bowling alley

well thats good lol

Also Kokomo has a Ross!

well thats really good!!

You are always home wherever there is a Ross.

Also Kokomo is home to the guy who wrote the Clifford the Big Red Dog series

what the heck man thats weird

Lots of weird this week.
Also lots of potential for good.

The One With Elder (420) Weedley

On social media, I am kind of known for my covert photography, and capturing weird things. I am often asked how these opportunities present themselves. I am convinced that I have a permanent freak flag flying, and somehow the universe knows that I appreciate weirdness- so the weirdness comes to me.
Now that he is off on his own, we are realizing that Elder Brendan also has this gift.
Here is his e-mail this week. Pay particular attention to the end. Hashtags are all his.

my week was pretty good i went on three exchanges this week so that was really fun i went with our zone leaders his name was is elder Clark it was fun they teach a lot of Nigerians who are really awesome people but he had a gatorade squirt bottle and they all wanted some so we sat there and sprayed water in there mouths and on them it was really fun lol then i went with elder mcbride and we did some service that was really fun cause it was construction and so yeah and then finally my last exchange i got to go with elder cox who i just love hes dope man and it was really fun we ate at this place called jokamos really good pizza and it was good i loved it ​

​oh also found a bag of weed so it was a good weekend #420 #blazinindiana #elderweedley

As proof of his claim, he sent a picture of the bag of weed they found in the street.
(Disclaimer: the weed was disposed of, and not used. The above photo is just Elder Brendan's natural weirdness, and not enhanced by pharmaceuticals. But can you imagine?!! Me neither.)

And a screen shot of Elder Clark, the cute Nigerian boys and the Gatorade bottle:

I am realizing that I didn't post last week. I wrote everything for his scrapbook and forgot to post here. This is the highlight reel.
I found it interesting that the church is revising the safety standards for all the missionaries in the program:

This revision is happening the SAME WEEK that I get a video clip of Elder Brendan riding on the top of the mission van.

Here is the rest of his e-mail from last week:

hey this week was kinda the same as all weeks i do really appreciate all the american stuff you send i love america but you know that um i dont really remember much of what i did this week yesterday was stake conference so that was great ( insert eye roll) but my spanish is getting better we played soccer on saturday that was fun the new shorts are dope man!​

​i just realized i didnt take any pics this week lo siento i suck lolololol

And our back and forth:

hey i have a request for things mom i come home on the 4th of July next year so i need a ton of american things to wear like sunglasses belts fireworks guns- stuff like this:

Yeahhhhhh that's not happening

What do you miss about Utah?

mountains air people you guys sitting in my cave the bowling alley etc

whoa.YOU MISS THE BOWLING ALLEY

What else? I have nothing here. 

It's like milking a rock! 

What am I supposed to put on your blog.

just put this on it and call it good

That Elder Weedley sure loves 'Murica.

The One With Two Baptisms

Monday was a holiday and I wasted a lot of the day wondering where my e-mail from Elder Brendan was, and then a friend reminded me that libraries were closed and p-day would most likely be Tuesday.

It's kinda embarrassing how much of a creature of habit I am, because this threw my week off a little. It also made me realize how much I look forward to my missionary Mondays.
I will be sad when this chapter of my life comes to a close.

This week was a good one for Elder Brendan.
He didn't have much to say- but the photos speak for themselves.

Elder Wadley and Elder Cepeda had a couple of baptisms!
Two sisters. The girls' mother and her boyfriend are also progressing with lessons, but are not yet ready to commit to baptism.
They found this sweet family while tracting.

Both baptisms were in Spanish. Elder Wadley says that his Spanish is coming along, and he was able to baptize one of the girls.
I love a picture where you can see that a person's smile goes all the way up into their eyes.
This picture (above) is a good one for my heart.

Elder Wadley, Elder Cepeda

This picture is a typical Brendan pic. Nice to see that bathroom selfies are still a thing. He looks good in white, though, doesn't he?
The other exciting news of the week is a new p-day activity they picked up in his area: Foot Golf. Here are Elder Brendan's words this week.

so yesterday was memorial day all libraries were closed um this week was cool baptism was on 27th that was cool other then that pretty normal week except yesterday we played footgolf it was hecka fun holy balls anyways i dont know what to say really it was pretty sick this week foot golf its golf but with soccer balls so you kick balls into hole its sweet

Foot Golf Field

I am not sure if Foot Golf is a real thing, or something they made up like Quidditch? I guess whatever gets him outside and running around. He seems to be pretty excited about it.

Foot Golf Elders

Indiana looks like it is really pretty and green right now.
Elder Wadley hits his one year mark this month. Seems like it has gone by pretty quickly. He has matured and grown...

Rear view mirror decor, Indianapolis

 ...but has also stayed exactly the same.😌

The One With Indy 500 Practice

I was pretty freaking excited about this post today! When Brendan got called to Indiana, we had his farewell reception thingie, and we served concession stand stuff- mini hot dogs and sliders. I think because almost all we knew about Indiana was that it is where the Indy 500 takes place.
It is nearing that season.
Elder Brendan is serving in Indianapolis, near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where they host the race.

Indianapolis, Indiana

He said in his e-mail last week that they can hear the cars running now all day, every day. Especially when they drive closer to the speedway, they will roll the windows down to hear the rumble.

They had an opportunity to go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past week on p-day to watch them practice. The tickets were pretty cheap so we encouraged him to have that experience. I am glad he went!
He sent me a couple of video clips that I was pretty excited about.

This first one, is the sound that he hears every day. 
I didn't realize how loud it must be to carry that far.

This next one is a practice run for a pit crew. I was also surprised at how fast the car ripped out of there and got up to speed.
Not unlike my mini-van at a stop light.

I asked him how it was at the track:

it was loud and i dont know they turned left alot

I asked him how his Spanish was coming:

mi espanol es moi bien pero yo soy blanco 

Sam asked him if he has felt like he has strengthened his testimony in any way:

yeah about Joseph Smith that dude was pretty lit he was definitely a prophet

Our pet turtle we found on the road. We have had him about 3 days. He is going to be set free soon.

The One With Mother's Day

It sure was good to see my boy last week.
It's funny the little things that you miss- facial expressions, voice inflections, hair-flips (another hair cut is overdue) and oh my, to hear him laugh again...
I am never prepared for the part where I have to hang up, and the miles separate us again.

He looks good! He seems really happy. He talked to us about his successes and frustrations.

He was able to Skype us from the home of a member. We got a kick out of the girly purple daybed he was lounging on.

We always end our Skype calls to our missionaries with a family prayer. It is probably my favorite part- because for one little moment, it feels like we are all together.
Elder Brendan said it for us. And then he was gone.

I am so proud of him, but I sure do miss his stupid face.

The One With Ell-Oh-Ell

This week I didn't have much to say to Elder W. because I get to see his face on Sunday when he calls home for Mother's Day!
I am soooooo excited.
He has been gone for almost a year, and time has passed so painfully slowly, and also so quickly at the same time.
I miss his sense of humor the most- so it is like a drowning person getting thrown a flotation device when I get his weekly random pictures. Except for the flotation device would be a giant hot dog or something.

I feel like he inherited my distinctive eye for photography.
I guess laughing makes it easier somehow than just missing him all the time.

Here is his weekly update:

This week was good guess what im not getting transferred so that twas (<--not a typo) a pleasant surprise imma be honest this week was lame jk lol (<---now picture Brendan actually saying this- because he would be telling this story and pronouncing "jay-kay" and "ell-oh-ell")  it was like all other weeks we went to two baptisms this week as well as a funeral and zone conference the funeral was sad it was some lady i never met but they asked me to talk so luckily some one else talked at the last minute so i didn't have to then they had all the missionary's sing we sounded awful lol well im going to call on mothers day i dont know when though mothers day is Sunday right? just kiddin

Then I got a bunch of pictures.

Why is he wearing his missionary tag on his collar?

Investigators on date for baptism on the 27th!

At Zone Conference

Then here was our little back and forth:

what time is church

We have the 1-4:00 block now.

that sucks its going to be 9 o clock when i get home

Yep. When he gets home IN OVER A YEAR.
He is concerned about needing to be to church at 9:00 am.
I think I will let the bishop know he sings now. Maybe that could be incorporated into his homecoming program at 9:00 am church.
He could probably just use that funeral talk.

The One Where He Actually Writes

Internets.
When you woke up this morning did you feel the miracle?
Did the universe seem somehow more in harmony?
Elder Wadley wrote an actual e-mail!
Behold:

this week was pretty sick we had some cool things happen We have been teaching this family its a mom and two girls and they've been progressing really well except they hadn't come to church yet and right before sacrament meeting started I saw Elder Cepeda on the phone and he said they're coming! they had just gotten lost on the way so they showed up and were able to hear some of the testimony's of the branch and one of the girls gave me a note that said that she had a lot of questions before we started coming but they have all been answered it was really dope. Another thing that happened this week is we have a member in the branch who is struggling and we have been able to meet with him lately and last night he told me that he believes that I was sent here just for him

I want to take a minute and point out a couple of thoughts that came to me here.

First, how imperative it is that followers of Christ bear testimony of Christ.
Some questions that people carry in their hearts can be answered by our personal testimonies and examples. When the Holy Ghost bears His witness to the words we are moved to speak, we have the potential to change hearts, and bring peace and hope.

Second, the personalities that we have each been born with, and the unique connections we make with others gives us the opportunity to reach people in a way that NO ONE ELSE CAN.

God does not want us to be anyone other than ourselves when we serve Him.
It is interesting though, how when we do choose to serve, we become better versions of ourselves.
It's all part of the deal. Him adding His divine power to our efforts.
Pretty cool.
I love that Elder Brendan is learning this.
I know that this will help his confidence. 
I am grateful that the Lord knows exactly how to use him to do His work.

From left to right: Elder McClure, Elder Cox, Elder Wadley, Elder McBride