Happy Easter y'all!
Hope you got out those stretchy pants, just for fun!!
So last week was transfers and Elder Teare and I are staying here at LSU together for another! It will be awesome, because we have so much good work coming along. Since last week was spring break for the students here at LSU we weren't sure how we were going to stay busy, but somehow it seemed like a normal week with many miracles! We just decided to put our faith to the test and find more people to teach. We definitely had to knock on a lot more doors, but it was so cool to see the Lord prepare people for us to find.
A few highlights from the week:
On Saturday night we had the opportunity to attend the annual Catholic Easter Vigil Mass with Doug. Boy was that an experience! I have only gone to one other mass down in New Orleans, but it was just a normal one. This one was apparently the Phil Meador Toyota firework "biggest show" in Baton Rouge if you will! I guess there weren't any fireworks, but they did start lighting candles at the beginning :D. We went outside and used a bonfire to each light a candle and then walked inside. No joke, the first 45 minutes of the service we were sitting in complete darkness with just a single candle for protection haha. It was a bit nerve wracking and kinda creepy to be honest, but bless our hearts regardless! Then this guy started singing a 20 minute solo like totally opera style with some spooky lighting. This lady then walked up to the front to get "baptized," but was in totally regular clothes so we were nervous. Anyways she didn't get dunked but the priest rubbed water on her forehead. hmm. Communion is always interesting with the whole one gold goblet filled wine that everyone drinks out of. Glad we don't do that, I felt bad for the last few people... rent a lip disease or something haha. Just kidding it was really a great eye opening experience. They have a lot of truth just missing a few things. It helped me realize how grateful I am to have the knowledge of the restored gospel. There are such wonderful people out there though that are just doing what they know to be best!
We always try and invite as many people to Institute on Tuesday nights as we can, but this Tuesday one of our Muslim investigators, Easa, showed up to Bible Study. He went to the entire class on the Apostasy and the blessings of living the commandments. He seemed to really enjoy the discussion. He wrote his name down for all of the future classes and even got a few of the members phone numbers for sports/activities. It was super cool. Then later in the week we met with him again at his place and taught him the P.O.S lesson using lots of Book of Mormon scriptures. Since it is such a wonderful time of year to talk about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ we focused on that aspect a lot. He was so open to the idea and the spirit was there. We talked about repentance and forgiveness of our sins and how baptism allows us the opportunity to fully do so from that point forward. He said if he comes to know that it is true he will get baptized so we set a goal for May 20th! We really tried to bear powerful testimonies to him about reading the B.O.M. It is so true!! You just have to read it and pray sincerely. His only concern is that if he gets baptized he can't be a Muslim ever again I guess. That seems pretty harsh, but we are just going to try and help him find the truth :) We then had him pick us up for church on Sunday. It was crazy, but awesome because we had another investigator George and his mom come to Easter Sunday as well! Elder Teare and I were scrambling trying to make sure everyone was enjoying it haha :)
So, another part of the Easter Sunday miracle was George and his Mom making it to church. They both stayed the entire time, all three meetings! The talks given were so inspired as well. Two recent converts in the ward spoke about Faith in Jesus Christ, and the Savior's visit to the Americas. Both perfect talks for the investigators :) George loved sacrament meeting! He told us that he felt the spirit!! It was sooo cool. He also met one of his old old friends, Noah, in the ward. We are going to find a time this week to meet with Noah! It will be great too, because Noah is a recent convert of almost a year. I feel like that entire family will get baptized! The mom, Caroline, just loves the missionaries and is so grateful for the service they render at the Old State Capitol for her. It was her first time attending a Mormon church as well! She just seems like she wants so badly for George to join the church so that she has the excuse to do so too!
One more miracle this week was when we met a girl named Courtlyn out tracting on Monday and shared the Easter video with her. We went back on Wednesday and she told us that she was praying for guidance from God on Monday morning and we knocked on her door in the afternoon!! She also told us that she hardly ever answers her door, but she felt like she needed to when we knocked. We were able to share our testimonies with her when we went back later in the week and are planning to meet again this week. That was such a wonderful experience for me. This week I couldn't help but wonder how in the world we were going to find those ready for the gospel let alone even anyone at all to teach, but as we put forth faith to find our Heavenly Father blessed us so much and allowed us the opportunity to answer someone's prayer. It is moments like those that make me so grateful to be a missionary. I love this gospel so much and it is humbling to be given the privilege to share it with others. What seemed like a hard week ahead quickly turned into one of the most fulfilling and wonderful weeks on my mission!
Well, I love y'all hope you had a great Easter. It is always so great to remember the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Love,
Elder Wilson
