Hey Y'all
I hope everyone had as good of a week as I did here in New Orleans! I wasn't sure if it would be my last week, and so I made sure to make it great. We got transfer calls this morning and it looks like I am heading out of New Orleans tomorrow bright and early. I wasn't sure what would happen this transfer, but was excited regardless. So, surprising news, President Hansen called me this morning to be a Zone Leader in a different part of the mission. I was a bit shocked since I still feel so new in the mission, but I know without a doubt that the Lord qualifies whom he calls. I learned that pretty quick as I felt like at times such an inadequate trainer :) It has been an amazing experience training Elder Hicken though, and we have become such good friends. As far as my next journey, I just have to trust in Him and He will do the rest. I won't know where at until tomorrow, but it will be quite the adventure I am sure!
This last week here in New Orleans couldn't have been any better. I guess unless we had a baptism :) but regardless it was fantastic! I am so thankful for the opportunity to start off my mission here in New Orleans. I sometimes feel like I just got here and that I am still so new. Anyways, I have learned so much and have come to really love the people here. I will be forever grateful for the friends that I have made and am excited for what the future has in store! I am glad that the MLK march has brought and will continue to bring so many referrals to the missionaries here.
I wanted to share a couple highlights of the week:
Our most promising investigator named Lily was able to make it to Church again this week! She has come two Sundays in a row and is totally on a roll! She told us afterward how much she enjoyed it and how excited she was for her baptism on Feb. 18th. We were able to teach another lesson on the priesthood and baptism with her and her sister Kristi that came to Church one Sunday. Kristi told us that she needed a little time and would pray about getting baptized with her sister Lily. We are hoping that Lily shares her testimony with Kristi and that they continue to strengthen each other!
The other experience that I want to share is with the Less active I have had the privilege of meeting here in New Orleans. Grant Hiatt has been inactive from the church for over 25 years and became so about 9 months after his mission. The first time I met him was the first week of my mission and it was to this day the hardest "anti" that I have ever experienced. It was discouraging at first and I felt pretty inadequate as a missionary. Nonetheless, I kept pushing forward and strengthening my own testimony. For whatever reason, we kept going back and seeing him every few weeks. The second time was almost as bad as the first. But then, something changed. The challenges he was facing in life sparked the at least small amount of faith that was left. He then became more open and shared miracles from his mission. I have already shared a few experiences like the March 1980 ensign miracle, and the first time we were able to share a spiritual message with him, but this last week I again asked if we could share a spiritual message. Now this was only the 2nd time he was open to it and we shared Alma 32:21, 27 about faith. And then about "if ye can no more than desire to believe" to take action. The spirit was so strong and I had no words for a minute. Then with all the boldness and courage that I could muster I invited him to Church on Sunday. He quickly declined and told us how it would take a lot more to get him to step foot in a church building again since it had been more than half of his life. I felt so discouraged and wondered why I even tried. Later that night though, he gave us a call and thanked us for the invitation and told us he would come! Sure enough, Sunday finally rolled around and he sat with us in the Chapel. It was a wonderful experience. I know that the Lord puts people in our path that are just waiting for the invitation to come home. This was a huge step for Grant and I am humbled to have been an instrument in God's hands to plant a seed of faith in his heart. I hope and pray he will continue to make those steps in the right direction, even if it may take a little more time.
It has been a blessing to serve in this part of the Lord's vineyard for a time and meet such wonderful people. I am excited for what He has in store for me next!
I love y'all so much and am thankful for the prayers in my behalf. I feel them.
Love,
Elder Wilson
