Howdy Y'all,
This week was quite an incredible week! Elder Teare and I are really staying busy and doing our best. It is funny because as we pray for more missionary opportunities, it seems like we are constantly speed walking from appointment to appointment and following up with so many people we have been meeting recently. There is just not enough time. Sometimes I think, "Oh let's just slow down and take a breather," but we find that there is just no time these days! Ain't nobody got time for dat! haha.
It started out great Monday night when a guy named Samuel from Nigeria reached out and told us he wanted to meet with us. He had been briefly talked to by missionaries in Hungary more than a year ago and it has no sparked an interest. It is so cool how we as missionaries don't really realize how much of an impact we make even by such a small visit with someone or just introducing ourselves to people. Those missionaries in Hungary probably have no idea that he is meeting with us now at LSU. Another reason why we must talk to everyone! We met with him and he told us that he wanted to become enrolled in Institute and "get a certificate" from attending every week. We were like most definitely we can get you a certificate! This week we are going to break the news of maybe a baptismal certificate and possibly priesthood certificate that he can also get :) We taught an awesome restoration lesson with him and he was really invested in it. He told us how he totally thinks there should be a prophet here on the Earth today since he reads about them in the Bible. We were like you know it, let's go! I love Nigerians! He works a ton of hours and has a hard time making it to church because he works the night shift and doesn't get home until 6 a.m, but we are totally going to work with him on it.
We taught a great restoration lesson with this religious studies major guy named Johnathan on Tuesday afternoon and found out that we had given him a card at Free speech alley the week before. We were giving out pass along cards like they were hotcakes right off the griddle so that worked out. We then even got to go to an LSU baseball game at the Alex Box stadium on Tuesday night! A really cool RM named Josh took us right after the lesson and it was such a blast. LSU played a small school, Louisiana college, and totally whooped them bless their hearts, but it was so much fun. What was really cool was that we bought the cheap tickets, but this really nice lady (not a member) that was working there recognized that we were young missionaries and gave us Box Seats right behind home plate :) Those were some pricey seats too, so that was awesome!
This week on Free Speech Alley we had a ton of success! We taught so many people that were super interested in learning more and got several return appointments. Many people just started coming up to us and talking to us so. It was too easy! Probably the most interest I have seen in such a short amount of time. One girl named Madison came over and has been looking for the truth for a long time and I started teaching her a little bit, and then I looked back and Elder Teare was teaching her boyfriend Ben. It was awesome! Ben actually came to church on Sunday and seemed to really enjoy it. Madison overslept her alarm apparently... We are hoping to meet with both of them this week though and get them to both come next week! It was basically a huge tender mercy from the Lord. It was funny though, because I most definitely marked my words of it being too easy, because at the tail end of it group after group of Antioch people on a "mission trip" from Texas A&M came and started being a bit contentious. Apparently there were 250 of them making a trip to LSU to do a 3 day mission trip. I mean bless their hearts I guess :) We would get done explaining stuff to one group of 3 and then another would follow suit. Bible bashing never works, but sometimes it is hard to just dodge the "bullets." It turned out really well though for the most part. What was funny was that we were walking back to drop off our stuff at the Institute building and decided to sit down at a bench and see if we could encounter another group haha it was way too much fun. (Now I know why President Hansen keeps telling us he wants to come back and talk to the Consuming Fire people again :) Well, sure enough two girls came and started talking to us. It wasn't until a few minutes in that they realized we were missionaries :) It was awesome, because we ended up teaching the entire Restoration lesson and getting both of their phone numbers to give to the Texas A&M missionaries!
I could go all day, but I will just share one more experience this week. Since Friday was St. Patrick's day there were tons of parades and parties here at LSU, as you can imagine. For whatever reason it seemed way too similar to my Mardi Gras experience haha. Let's just say people were partying way too hard even during broad daylight on Saturday. So there is this place called Tigerland right off campus that has tons of bars and clubs and what not. We had an appointment on the other side that we were going to be late for if we didn't go through Tigerland so we had to make the journey. That was ludicrous! I am pretty sure Isaiah, Lehi, and all the other prophets that saw visions of the last days saw a glimpse of Tigerland haha. No worries though, we were holding firmly to the Iron Rod as we were passing multitudes of people yelling, cussing, and entering the great and spacious buildings. It was honestly a huge testimony building experience for me, but so sad to see so many losing their way and wandering in strange roads. Let me depict using words this situation: As we were clinging to the path (iron rod) we heard all manner of profanity and foul language, saw immodest dress and worldly riches, and all manner of wickedness. We even experienced their "attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards us," but we heeded them not. It was a crazy experience that strengthens my testimony of the Book of Mormon and Lehi's dream in chapter 8 of 1st Nephi.
I love y'all so much and hope you have a blessed week! I know the Church is true with all my heart and that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored on the Earth. How grateful I am to share it with others.
Love,
Elder Wilson
