Wednesday, September 6, 2017

AUGUST 24, 2017

Hey y'all, 

This week was CRAZY busy, but it was FILLED with miracles!! Not a whole lot of time to write, but I will include some of the amazing things and some pictures to make up for it. On Monday I will share more as well!

With transfers and all we were able to pick up the 23 new missionaries coming in from the airport and they are all soo solid! It was super cool having a testimony meeting with them and sharing a few of our experiences as well. They were so excited and it was just awesome seeing that. Sadly with transfers comes change, and Elder Arellano got released and is heading down to New Orleans in an area full of Spanish to finish his mission. He was a fantastic companion and we were able to do so great together. The work will still go forward, but I will definitely miss that California native! My new companion is Elder Hoopes! He is such an awesome guy and we were able to go on exchanges together once down in New Orleans, so I am looking forward to it. He is from Star Valley, Wyoming, and we are both excited to give it our all! He is an English missionary also, so we are going to be focusing in on the English ward. I know that it is all part of the Lord's plan, but I am definitely going to miss being a part of the Spanish branch as well. I learned so much about my Heavenly Father with that experience, and I will never forget the miracles and tender mercies in regard to the gift of tongues. There are things that you might not ever understand, but when the spirit bears witness to you and others there is no way to deny it.

Last week we had a general authority Elder Klebingat of the seventy come and visit the mission. He started out with a Mission Leadership Council down in New Orleans and was totally throwing down the hammer haha. In a good way :) And then he had a zone conference in NOLA and BR. He is from Germany and so you can imagine he didn't beat around the bush at all. He was straight to the point and didn't worry about offending anyone, it was pretty intense. Those Europeans haha. He was a mission president in Ukraine as well and was just so inspiring. He gave me such a desire to change, repent, and be even better. A lot of the thoughts and impressions he left were to have a sense of urgency for your mission and what would I would do if I only had one day left on my mission? He knew the scriptures like the back of his hand it was so cool. It gave me the chance to really ponder the principle of repentance. As I have been able to learn on my mission, it is only when I personally am willing to do as King Lamoni's father did in Alma 22:18, that is give away all my sins, be able to teach repentance with power and authority. I truly know that the only way Heavenly Father will trust us enough to guide us to his lost children that are only waiting to hear his voice, we have to be willing to give it all to Him. Lay it all on the altar. He lives and loves us, but it is only when we are obedient does he IMMEDIATELY bless us. I know that is true with all my heart. Saturday during the afternoon conference we had the incredible opportunity to be a part of our two investigators, Shane Richard and Sheryl Green's baptisms. It was a joint baptism and it was incredible! They both came so spiritually prepared and it was one of the greatest experiences of my mission seeing them come out of that water knowing that they were fully forgiven of their sins. I am pretty sure they were glowing with the love of the Savior. Sheryl didn't go all the way under the water the first time so she had to do it again, but it was pretty funny because as she exited the font she said, "I got a double blessing." haha she is so awesome! The spirit truly was undeniable. I felt so much happiness and joy for them, and can't begin to explain the gratitude that I felt being able to witness the decision that they made to follow Jesus Christ. Now to continue to help them make it to the temple. What was super cool though was the General Authority, Elder Klebingat came in and spoke for a couple of minutes, bore his testimony, and then shook Shane/Sheryl's hands. They were so thrilled!. It was just so great, because the ward really opened their arms and welcomed them both. The bishop baptized Sheryl and a ward member confirmed her in Sacrament meeting. Shane had a ward member do both as well, and that made it even better having that connection in the ward. It was such a special experience for me, and I can't wait to keep working with them and especially start teaching Sheryl's family!

There were so many amazing miracles that I wish I had time to share, but just know that I am doing great and am so happy to be here. 

Love, 
Elder Wilson