Hey y'all,
This week was pretty crazy with transfers and everything! I was officially in my new area starting last Wednesday afternoon. I will be serving as a Zone leader up here in Baton Rouge and covering the LSU campus!! It is going to be such a blast! My companion is Elder Jensen and he has been here for 3 transfers already and so he knows the area super well. He is a really good guy and we are going to do well together. Our ward is the one and only singles ward in the entire state of Louisiana believe it or not! It is actually really small as well, but still neat. We meet at the institute building on campus and it is pretty funny because the building is located on this street that has like 15 other churches literally all side by side from each other. Our building is the nicest one on the end :) Maybe one day we can get everyone to just make one big church haha ;) Everyone is super nice and actually our age, and so you can imagine it was extremely weird going to church there yesterday haha. I felt like I was back at USU at the singles ward for a minute except that there are probably 1/4 the amount of people and everyone looks like they want to hurt you haha jk just the first day. (Elf quote)
It was really great to get to know some of the people there and meet a lot of the RM students that can hopefully help us out a little bit. Oh also, since it is an institute building y'all know what that means.... yep a ping pong table!! YAYA it is going to be sweet so don't worry about me!
We immediately got to work once I got there and had some great success talking to people and tracting at the apartment complexes nearby. It turns out we are the only zl's without a car though haha of course, but it's all good since we mostly just walk everywhere we go. Actually let me clarify, my companion broke his bike, so we do walk everywhere haha bless his heart. It has been great regardless though! It has been a little difficult not knowing anyone in the area and just basically starting fresh in this area, but I know the Lord will help me as I put my trust in Him.
The first day we taught this really cool guy named Nathan and he has been atheist his whole life. It was a bit of a shock since that is about as rare to find in New Orleans as an alligator in Pocatello haha jk, but probably just about! He had a lot of profound questions about the Book of Mormon and we had a really awesome restoration lesson with him. Again it was super different to teach someone that is actually my age haha. I feel like they should just be members! I loved the question that he asked about how we have come to know the B.O.M to be true in our lives and why we share that with others. What a great question! It reminded me of the privileged time that I have had to share my testimony with others so far. I know that through faith we can come to know that we have a loving Heavenly Father that wants the very best for all of his children. He gives us the scriptures and the B.O.M to bless us and direct us on the path back to Him. It is a challenging path and one that becomes impossible without his loving guidance. We bore powerful testimonies and emphasized reading to know for himself.
It is such a blessing to be a missionary. As hard as it may be to do what feels like start over on my mission, I know this is where the Lord needs me right now. I will be forever grateful for the strength that he gives me each and everyday as I read his word in the scriptures. They seem to not only answer the deep questions that pertain to everyday life, but every question question that I hadn't even thought about. I hope and pray that I can be an example to the other missionaries and help them in someway.
On Friday I got to go on an exchange in Plaquemine an area really close by with Elder Winn. He is a really great missionary and we had a lot of success finding new investigators in his area. We taught this really great Restoration lesson with two guys and invited them to play some B-ball with them in the hood one of these next p-days. They were totally sick and one of them had some sweet silver grills. I don't know how they live with that in their mouths, but I guess it is Louisiana :)
We have a general authority Elder Golden coming to our mission tomorrow as well and so that will be great! I am super excited about that since I haven't had one come to the mission yet! I am sure he will give us some great advice to improve our missionary efforts!
I forgot to put this in the email last week, but here is the classic New Orleans preaching style I hope y'all enjoy:
4 steps to preach a sermon:
1) Look like yo' nose is in da book all the way til you start talking.
2) Start low and slow
3) Come high
4) Catch on Fire!
I should have it down by the time I get back!
Well, I love y'all so much and am so thankful for your love and support. Thank you so much for the prayers in my behalf. I feel them strengthen me every single day. Hope everyone has a blessed week!
Love,
Elder Wilson
