Monday, August 29, 2016

AUGUST 29, 2016

Hey y'all,
This week was another great week on the mission. Holy guacomole it is so hot and humid down here, and it isn't even mid summer! I feel like I am in a warm swimming pool all day long. It's a good thing I love to soak haha!! We had some great Shrimp gumbo, Catfish Po-boys, and Redfish po-boys this week! It was really tasty, but let's just say it is a good thing they have Pepto down here haha! The food is growing on me though, bless my heart :)

During the week we did a lot of referral work and tried our hardest to contact everyone we could. We taught our investigator Keterra again this week and committed her to a baptismal date on October 1st. We are super excited to continue teaching her and preparing her for that special step of baptism in her life! We have taught her the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration and it is always so great to see her face light up as we share our testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. I really love teaching people and feeling the spirit touch all of our hearts as we speak of the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ for each of us. 

On Saturday we had the opportunity to attend a Catholic Mass with one of our investigators. His name is Lester and he is a really kind and open man. He has lived as a Catholic all of his life, so that definitely makes it a bit challenging for him to change. He was very nice to us and helped us understand what was going on, good man. It was a really interesting experience though! I can't even imagine what it is like in Italy haha. Funny part of the service was when everyone had all finished taking communion and there was still quite a bit of wine left. The Head Priest guy totally chugged the rest of the wine and was walking all weird haha it was pretty hilarious. I really enjoyed learning about some of the things they believe and building upon the truths. They are all really great people, and it just makes me want to improve on that knowledge that they have even more, but y'all know how that goes :) 
Last P-day we were able to go to the National World War II museum with the senior missionaries down here. That was super cool! It always amazes me the sacrifices that were made to ensure our country's freedom and maintain world peace, for the children. I really enjoyed learning more about WWII and its historic significance.
One of my goals this week was to really focus on how I can better improve my teaching and faith in Jesus Christ. What better way to accomplish this task than to search the scriptures diligently seeking further knowledge, am I right :D?. I absolutely love reading the scriptures every single day. I know that when we really have a sincere desire to gain a stronger and closer relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ that the mysteries of God are revealed to us. I know that it isn't all at once, but little by little, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little we will further gain that personal witness of the truth. I would like to share an experience that I had with the scriptures this week. 

One morning I pondered about all of the times that I had testified that the Book of Mormon was true to investigators. Now I didn't doubt the realism of the Book of Mormon for a second, but I did have a desire to feel that significant truth again for myself because I had so often invited investigators to do so. When I knelt down to pray, I asked for that special feeling and witness and then started to read the scriptures. I opened up to 2nd Nephi chapter 3 and began to read about the prophecy given to Joseph of Egypt about the coming Latter-day seer, Joseph Smith, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. That was such a powerful answer to my prayer. I invite you all to read that chapter this week! It is really great! One of the verses I thought was super cool was verse 15: "And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation." I know that the teachings within Book of Mormon are true and that by following the counsel within will bring us back to live with God again. So cool.  I love that God is willing and desires to answer our prayers if we ask in faith. I know that he will answer all of our prayers even if it may not be in the way we think. I give a personal invitation to sincerely ask for an answer that has been on your mind lately. I promise that he will indeed bear that powerful feeling or thought into your heart and mind as he did for me. I love you all so much and am thankful for your love and support. Have a great week!
-Elder Wilson