Merry Christmas!

Hello Everybody!

Everything is still the same here in Payette! It was kind of a slow week because nobody wants to see us during Christmas, lol. I am expecting it to be the same way this week, but we are still gonna try as hard as we can!

Christmas was great! It was awesome to be able to talk to my family! 

I am so thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ's birth. That He came to Earth and lived a perfect life. And set the example for us to become like Him and our Heavenly Father. I have a testimony of his death. That He suffered for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and was raised up on the cross. And that He rose on the third day. He paid the price for our sins. And because He was resurrected we will be too. I am so thankful for this knowledge. 

I know it wasn't much of an email this week! I just hope you all had a great Christmas and that you all have a happy new year! 2017 is almost here! I love you all!!

-Elder Waite 

We sure enjoyed talking to Jacob on Christmas Day. He says he's not ready to get transferred but feels like it might happen with the next transfer in a couple weeks. Also, he received the basketball shoes we sent him about two hours AFTER he sprained his ankle on Saturday! 

The Longs - Jacob used their computer to Skype with us on Christmas

The socks we sent Jacob for Christmas - Boise State colors!

Proof that it's cold in Payette!

After our Skype call on Christmas - coincidentally at Kelli (Heap) Wahl's friend's house. 

He Took Our Stripes

Hey Everyone!!

This week was a good one! Except on Friday we were told by our Mission President to stay indoors all day! Because of "extreme weather conditions". Haha, but it wasn't even that bad on Friday! Saturday and Sunday were way worse than Friday!! But it was still a great week nonetheless.

Yesterday at church my testimony of the Savior and His atonement grew yet a little bit more. A guy gave a talk about the Savior and His birth and why His birth was so important. In his talk he told a story about this class full of boys that was very rambunctious and they had gone through a lot of teachers because they couldn't handle the class. So they got a new teacher that had the boys come up with a way that they would be punished if they broke the rules. One boy shouted, "ten stripes across the back without a jacket on!". The teacher asked the boys if they all agreed and they all did. The new punishment that was laid out straightened the boys up pretty well. But a couple days later the teachers lunch went missing. They found the boy who did it. A small, skinny boy. And there being no exception to the new rule the teacher reluctantly told the boy to take his jacket off and come up to the front of the class. The boy pleaded with the teacher, "Teacher, you can hit me as hard as you want, but please, don't make me take my jacket off." The teacher said that he couldn't make any exceptions. So the boy took his jacket off. But he had no shirt on. All he had was his jacket to cover his skin and bones. The teacher asked him why he would come to school without a shirt on, to which the boy replied, "My father passed away and my mother and I don't have much. I only have one shirt and my mother is washing it today." So the teacher was feeling pretty bad for this boy and didn't know what to do. He thought, "how can I hit this poor boy who has nothing?"  When finally another boy in the class stood up and said "teacher, if you don't mind, I will take his stripes for him" and the teacher said "very well, it is okay for someone to take the punishment of another" and the other boy took his punishment for him. Afterwards the first boy hugged the boy that took his punishment for him and told him that he would love him forever for caring enough to take his beating for him.

I might've butchered the story a little bit but I just told it the best I could remember!

We can relate this story to what the Savior did for us. We all sin. We all disobey the rules. Because we disobey the rules we all need to be punished. But the Savior loved us so much that He took the beating for us. He came to this earth. He lived a perfect life. And He suffered for each and everyone one of our sins, pains, and weaknesses. For each and everyone of us. He provided a way for us to be able to become clean again. And to live in His presence for eternity. I will forever be in debt to Him. May we all remember what the Savior did for us. Especially this Christmas as we celebrate His birth. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Waite 


It's been cold in Arizona but I guess it's colder in Idaho! Jacob said it was -10 this morning! That's pretty cold. And I'm happy for them that they have 5 people set for baptism. He sounds so good. And we're looking forward to our Skype session on Sunday! Merry Christmas to you all!

The Christmas Tree we were given

We didn't have a star...

so we improvised!

One of our favorite members, Sister Branham, made this quilt for me!

Apparently Idahoans don't know how to spell Tucson! haha!

Snow and Answers

Hey everyone!

Well, it snowed this week! It has been a little weird being back in Idaho and seeing half a foot of snow fall in less than a day.. haha. And there is supposed to be more this week! I got used to being in Arizona where it snows about a half an inch at night and then it melts by noon the next day and you just have mud everywhere! The snow is a lot of fun to drive in!;)

It was a pretty good week all around. We taught quite a few lessons and got a new investigator named Justin. So we are working on that!:) Carla, Mariah, and Daniel are progressing well! They are so awesome! Mariah is already halfway through the Book of Mormon! Which is awesome because like NO ONE ever does that! And she's 17! And she has even been discussing it with her friends at school! Wow!

We were also able to meet with a family we haven't been able to catch since August! They are ready to kick it in gear and we have a baptism date set for the 31st! 

So the work here is going great! On a more personal level, I was able to finish reading the Book of Mormon this past week. After I finished it I got on my knees and I talked to God about it. I have always known that The Book of Mormon is true because that is how I was raised. I know the blessings that have come from being raised in the gospel. After I was done with my prayer I never had a huge electric feeling, which is what I wanted, but I feel like that's not what I need. I think God wants me to figure this all out on my own. And if it takes the full two years to find it out then I know that that is why I am here. That's why God sent me to Idaho. He wants me to figure it out. And I am getting there! Little by little! Day by day! I am so thankful for this opportunity I have to help bring others closer to Christ. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I know it will be worth it.

I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all! 

-Elder Waite 

I love that testimony. It just keeps growing. Blessings.

He says lots of snow and cold temps are predicted for the rest of this week. 

Me, as a snow angel.

Snowball Pyramid

Out our front door

Blessings of the Spirit

Hello Everyone!

No time this week at all! It's crazy! I just hope that all is well with you guys! And that everyone is looking for opportunities to serve one another!

I am just gonna share an experience I had yesterday in church. The Payette 2nd ward reminds me a lot of my home ward back in SJ. A lot of older people and almost no youth. So they had a shortage on priests to bless the sacrament. And they asked me to help bless! It was awesome because I haven't had that opportunity since before I left on my mission. I felt the spirit so much as I took the sacrament yesterday. I had been fasting for a lot of things yesterday, it being fast Sunday and one thing was to have a great spiritual experience that day. It was awesome to get that experience. The Lord answers prayers. Prayer works.

Carla (one of our investigators) and her two kids Mariah and Daniel are progressing well and we have them on date for baptism in January! So excited!

I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Waite

It's interesting how the Spirit works because Stacy was asked to pass the sacrament yesterday which hasn't happened in a while and the whole time I was thinking about how Jacob used to bless the sacrament every Sunday and wouldn't it be nice if he were there to bless and pass with his dad. I guess they got to but they were just two states away while they did it! I'm grateful for the priesthood in my home and that my boys honor it. 

Elder Masten and me bowling last Monday

Found my first gray hair during my haircut this week!

The advantages of not having to share - drinking straight from the bottle!

Christmas lights my mom sent me.