Another great week in New Orleans! It is officially Saints football season so it has been getting pretty crazy!! Everyone down here is a die hard Saints fans haha so it is sweet! We had some tasty meals this week. The favorite this week had to have been the sushi rolls filled with crabby cakes. Crabbbbby cakeks! Down here in Louisiana I have come to realize the ingenious philosophy that my brothers have adopted. "Once you get passed the gag reflex a whole world of opportunities await." Hahaha isn't that the truth :)
We were able to really work hard and strive to find the people ready to be taught this week. There were definitely a few days that didn't go as well as we would have hoped, but I guess that is how we learn and progress. Unfortunately many of our most solid investigators cancelled on us this week and haven't contacted us back yet. I know that sometimes it takes people a little longer than we may like for them to truly feel the desire to come unto Christ. However, I know that as a missionary it is my responsibility to open that door for them. I love in Alma 32 when it talks about planting the seed in the people's hearts. I love the opportunity that I have to plant the seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into their hearts and guide them to the Savior even if it may take time for them to nourish the seed. The question on my mind this week has been, "Why aren't any of our investigators progressing when we have taught them what I thought were great lessons?" While pondering this question this week in Church the answer that I received was so clear and almost auditory to my ears. "These aren't your investigators, they are mine. Their spiritual opportunities aren't on your timetable, they are on mine." I realized at that moment that I needed to put more trust in the Lord and be patient in his timing. Everything is in His Hands and on his timetable. I love the opportunity to teach people about the Gospel, because of the happiness that it has brought into my life.
We ran into a guy this week that was a 100% true believer of the Bible in it's entirety. Well, I guess that is most people down here but you know. We were able to teach him a bit of the Restoration, but he was pretty adamant on his beliefs. It was pretty funny though, because he told us that God's time is from 6 a.m to 6 p.m everyday. "That is why the Sun always rises in the morning at 6 a.m in every part of the world and in every season."...... Hmm interesting. He told us he gets up and prays every morning right when God wakes up and then doesn't leave his house after 6 p.m for safety. We asked him where he learned that from and he told us it is in the Bible haha. He couldn't tell us where, so I guess I have to read all 1600 pages to find that. Bless his heart that was pretty funny. There are some interesting people down here haha I love it.
A miracle that I would like to share from this week was when Elder Park and I were on exchanges in NOLA. We rode our bikes over to Michael's house, a recent convert, and taught him the Word of Wisdom because he has been struggling with that lately. The lesson went really well and we could feel the spirit testify of the truthfulness of what we taught. I know that through the power of the Atonement we can do anything! When we walked back to our bikes that were locked up on a street sign, we found that we couldn't unlock the bike lock. The key just wasn't working. After struggling for a while, we finally decided to walk around and find people to teach and try again later. We were able to find a man that had been waiting for us to come and bring him a bible. For whatever reason the referral was never sent to us and the man just figured we would come eventually. The man's name was Isaac and he showed us his completely tattered, stained, and discolored bible that was missing tons of pages. We were blessed with the opportunity to give him a bible and share a message about the gospel. We are going to go back again and teach him more this week! We returned to our bikes about an hour later and were able to unlock the bike lock. Although it didn't seem like a miracle at first, it was a true blessing to be led to Isaac who had been desiring us to ride by and give him a bible. I love being a missionary and seeing the miracles that our Heavenly Father manifests to us each and everyday. God works in mysterious ways, but I love that he puts people in our paths that he wants us to meet.
I love y'all and thank you for your prayers I feel them strengthen me everyday. Have a blessed week!
-Elder Wilson
