Hey y'all,
First week in Louisiana has been ludicrous! The flight here was really crazy as well! Apparently Delta Airlines had to cancel over 1000 flights on Monday because of a computer system malfunction, so the airports were a big ole mess haha. There were 18 of us missionaries trying to reschedule flights and what not all throughout Tuesday. Finally, most of the other missionaries except 6 of us had made it on a flight and the rest of us had our flight at 10:30 p.m. Once we were all on the flight, Elder Park and I realized that Sister Smeltz had not made it on the flight. After much hassle we convinced the flight attendant to let us off the plane and to make a long story short we were able to get the last Sister missionary onto the plane which led to Elder Park and I sleeping in the Atlanta airport until our 11:30 a.m flight in the morning hahaha. Those airport carpets aren't quite as soft as they look we will just leave it at that :) That was a crazy first day east of the Mississippi let me tell ya! We were able to talk to some cool people in the airport though so that was fun. Finally we arrived in Baton Rouge Wednesday afternoon and I met up with my trainer Elder Glissmeyer. He is an awesome guy and total ski bum from Kaysville, Utah.
So, my first area is a biking area in Downtown New Orleans! Man this place is something else. I am so excited to be in New Orleans for my first area! Our apartment is in the northern part of the area though so not directly in the city. We totally live the in the hood though, haha it is pretty classic. It hasn't been too hot down here, because it has been raining like crazy for last week. It is extremely humid though, I thought Atlanta was bad haha. Everyone is so friendly down here though so that has been great! People just come talk to us all the time and lots of them are like, "Wilson, yo yo, that's my name too!" Totally hilarious, I always knew a part of me was black and raised in the hood haha.
Church was awesome as well. The members are all really nice to the missionaries. We have one ward down here in New Orleans and so everyone is from all over the place and come from all different backgrounds. My favorite part of church was just listening to all the black guys yelling," can I hear an Amen, yeah." just all the time while people are speaking and teaching haha. The hour before sacrament meeting was spent bailing water out of one of the janitorial storage rooms of the Church from the crazy rain this week. Surprisingly New Orelans didn't get hit too hard, but I guess Baton Rouge got more than 3 feet of rain. Everyone is safe though, only one set of Elder's apartments got flooded and we only lost one car in the flood. As President Hansen has said, "all in all, for such a big flood, we are in pretty good shape." Because of all of the flight delays I haven't actually met President and Sister Hansen, but I hear great things about them and am super excited to meet them.
One experience that I had this week:
As we were riding along one day, we came cross a group of homeless guys on the street corner that were friends with our investigator Ace. I hadn't ever taught Ace, but Elder Glissmeyer had taught him the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the Word of Wisdom. Unfortunately throughout my life there have been times that I have looked down on homeless people begging on the streets, because I am sure there a lot of people that fake it and are not truly in need. Luckily for us being missionaries in Downtown New Orleans we don't carry much cash on us nor do we have money to give anwyays. However, one ting that we do have that is far more valuable and substantial is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through talking to some of these people I have further to come realize that at least down here many of them are truly looking for a better way of life. I know that this better way of life is the Gospel. Ace's buddies told us that he had admitted himself into Rehabilitation and so hopefully he will continue to progress. I know that through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement he will be able to start a new and better life. Seeing the gospel touch so many converts that we have had at Church in this area is such a wonderful experience. I am eager to continue working hard and find those people that need Christ in their lives, because that is all of us.
I love you all very much. Thank you for your prayers. Please pray for the people affected by the flooding. Have a great week!
-Elder Wilson
