Hey y'all,
This week was fantastic! We were able to do several exchanges in different parts of the mission and just tried our best to take lift off in the finding investigator pools!
We went up to Pineville, Louisiana and I got to go on exchange with Elder Gordon from my MTC group. We were just giving it everything and had such a great time serving. It was pretty intense though! He had like a mile tracker dealio and apparently we hit 20 miles on the bikes haha. It was a blistering at least 80 with humidity and all and Pineville is straight hills in the country side :) Good times! I thought Louisiana was completely flat, but I can sure testify (and my legs could for 3 or 4 days) that I haven't seen more hills in more than 6-8 months than in Pineville, LA. I mean it almost felt like the good ol Highland hills of Pocatello! We went tracting at this apartment complex and saw so many miracles and talked to so many people prepared for the message. It was sure refreshing as well. I think Heavenly Father was blessing us for our treking. We met several families and one lady was like, "if Jesus Christ had a church on the Earth today i would totally be a part of it." We were like, "Alright, well we will see you at church on Sunday then!" Sure enough she came :) Haha it was awesome! We worked hard and saw amazing miracles!
Back on the home-front one of our investigators, John, (the Meredith street family) came to church on Sunday. He seemed to love church, and the sacrament meeting was seriously incredible. The speakers were so inspired! He said he wants to bring his wife and granddaughter soon. We also talked with Sheryl at church and she is loving primary. She also had an amazing miracle this week. The sister missionaries went to visit her and ended up running into her two daughters that have kinda been avoiding us lately. They talked with them for a bit and apparently it went really well! Sheryl told us at church that they were being funny but told her, "Mom, after 45 churches (a bit of an exaggeration, but sounds familiar right?) we think you finally found the true church." So awesome! They seem more interested in the gospel now and Sheryl is so excited to share it with them and bring her granddaughters to primary with her :)
One of the nights this week we were out trying to contact a less active and ended up knocking on this door. Before we knew it, an African lady invites us in and just sits us down on the couch. About 60-80 seconds later she comes out with a massive platter of Fried plantain bananas and chicken legs haha. We hadn't even really introduced ourselves yet and she was like (in a west african accent), "You are like my sons. You come in and eat food." So let's just say we weren't going to argue with this African lady haha :D We just look at each other and start stuffing our faces. We had stopped for a mintue and she was like, "Why you no finish." .....we finished! LOL Meanwhile African jams are just bumping in the background. We tried turning them off, but I guess it is part of the culture and she just turned them down like 3 notches, but like almost nothing haha. Next thing we knew she was bringing out 2 wine glasses, and this glass container with suspicious red liquid in it. At this point we were nervous and completely sick to our stomachs. No worries though, we somehow dodged that one and got out of partaking. Anyways, it was super awesome and we ended up trying to teach this other lady in there about the Book of Mormon. It took about 20 minutes to explain "A pillar of light." but it was great nonetheless. We also brought her a copy in French the next day. "I want to learn more about Mormon book."
We were also able to meet with DeMarcus a few times this week and taught him about the Plan of Salvation. We are just trying to teach it slowly and simply for him to better understand. He is such a good guy, and I just feel this connection with him. I am really excited to keep teaching him and sharing the restored gospel with him.
This week was one for the books. There are times when I wonder why the Lord so willingly shows us his love and guidance, but then the thought comes to me, "why wouldn't he?" When we look to him he will always look to us. I have honestly come to find the truth about our Savior and the gospel especially amidst the couple times this week where I had to defend the faith and my own conviction. "The adversary knows that faith in Christ--the kind of faith that produces a steady stream of tender mercies and even mighty miracles--goes hand in hand with a personal confidence that you are striving to choose the right."- Elder Klebingat I know that this is true. When we are striving to do our best, all we can do is smile, because we know Heavenly Father will bless us. I love y'all so much and hope everyone is doing great!
Love,
Elder Wilson
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
OCTOBER 16, 2017
Hey y'all,
This week was seriously filled with miracles!! The butter is still churning away. I hope y'all like flapjacks! Anyway, there is so much to share and so little time. The lord was blessing us greatly this week, and I can't thank Him enough.
Miracle: We were doing an exchange with the New Orleans zone leaders, Elder Montague/Bertonneau and doubled in up here in Baton Rouge. We received a text from some other missionaries that morning at 8:30 telling us that we should visit a member in the ward that we haven't seen for a while. He is an older man and since he is a convert to the church especially loves missionaries. However, unfortunately since we have been so busy lately we haven't been able to visit him. So, we kinda brushed the text aside, because we were just so busy the rest of the day. Well, we attempted to do some service in the morning at a local food bank, but ended up having to leave a little early and decided that we were going to stop by Bro. Shute for a short visit since we had time now. We made it over to to his place around 11 and knocked on the door. We heard loud pleas for help. At first we didn't know what he was saying, but quickly found out he was yelling for help. We tried everything to get inside, but the door was dead bolted shut. Anyways, long story short. We made it in through the back and found Bro Shute on the ground pinned by a metal chair with one of the legs sticking in his side. Luckily, it didn't pierce him, but was in a lot of pain after falling at about 9 that morning. It was a miracle that we stopped by, because he told us that he was praying for someone to come and help him and said after more than an hour he started praying for missionaries to have a prompting to come. Sure enough, Heavenly Father answers prayers and even sent missionaries :)
We were able to teach the Clark family this week and our mission president came out with us! It was the parents, Hardy and Karen, which both are members of the church (Hardy served a mission about 20 years ago) and they have a 17 and 18 year old son and daughter. We had a great restoration lesson with them and just tried to tie everything in with a loving Heavenly Father wanting the best for families. Pres. Varner bore a powerful testimony of how the B. O.M has changed his life, and the only thing he wants his grandkids to know is true from him. The daughter, Sydney, who is 18 has a grandpa that was a stake president out in Denham Springs, Louisiana so he related that to her a lot. We then talked with Sydney about the YSA ward and the activities over there and the sister missionaries already visited her and she is super excited about it!!
On the lines of YSA, we also visited the amazing Porter family that we have been able to bring the sacrament to and afterward had a lesson in Romans 8 in the bible to break the ice for the lady, Robin who we went with to her church :) It was the first lesson she has sat in on for the full time so far too!!! We bore testimony that truly, "we know that all things will work together for good to them that love God." vs. 26. We then told Bria (22) all about the pumpkin carving activity this week over at LSU tonight. She was so excited about it! She told us that the day before she was talking to her Mom about carving pumpkins, because she hasn't ever done it before. And then she even went and bought one haha. It was so awesome!! Heavenly Father truly does know each of his children.
This week also included one of my all time favorite Less-Active lessons/visits. We went to see this guy named Arthur Brazel who served a mission in Uruguay about 20 years ago. We started talking about giving everything to the Savior and you will find yourself. Matthew 10:39 We then just started telling him our predicament of finding a family to teach. (Because of time/length of this email I will share next week about the miracle of a family we found) He started telling us some incredible ideas and even asked us some inspired questions that we knew were answers to our prayers. He then started asking us about door approaches/talking about families. Well, before we knew it we were doing a straight Role-Play and Elder Hoopes was the investigator haha :) Bro Brazel was killing it, and seriously sounded/felt like he had never left the mission field. We almost got him out teaching with us!! Regardless, we committed him to pray about being our ward mission leader :) His testimony is so strong, we think he is just a bit nervous/sick to his stomach or something. Bless his heart for sure!
The investigators that we have been teaching are all doing super well!! Liz made it to church yesterday and is still on track for November. I sincerely have a testimony of prayer. Heavenly Father truly does know each of us individually and is mindful of our needs. He will ALWAYS answer our prayers, but that doesn't mean we don't have to work our tails off sometimes to see it ;) We have to have faith, and sometimes do a little on our part. "For he that diligently seeketh shall find." 1st Nephi 10:19
Well, I love y'all so much, but I am loving the work here. This email doesn't do justice to the blessings/miracles that Heavenly Father is sharing with me. Thank you so much for your love and support. Have a blessed week!
Love,
Elder Wilson
Gotta love that straight hood tracting in the deep south!! We may or may not have heard a few gun shots. #armorofGod #bulletproof #it doesn't even phase us at this point. #I love Louisiana haha
This week was seriously filled with miracles!! The butter is still churning away. I hope y'all like flapjacks! Anyway, there is so much to share and so little time. The lord was blessing us greatly this week, and I can't thank Him enough.
Miracle: We were doing an exchange with the New Orleans zone leaders, Elder Montague/Bertonneau and doubled in up here in Baton Rouge. We received a text from some other missionaries that morning at 8:30 telling us that we should visit a member in the ward that we haven't seen for a while. He is an older man and since he is a convert to the church especially loves missionaries. However, unfortunately since we have been so busy lately we haven't been able to visit him. So, we kinda brushed the text aside, because we were just so busy the rest of the day. Well, we attempted to do some service in the morning at a local food bank, but ended up having to leave a little early and decided that we were going to stop by Bro. Shute for a short visit since we had time now. We made it over to to his place around 11 and knocked on the door. We heard loud pleas for help. At first we didn't know what he was saying, but quickly found out he was yelling for help. We tried everything to get inside, but the door was dead bolted shut. Anyways, long story short. We made it in through the back and found Bro Shute on the ground pinned by a metal chair with one of the legs sticking in his side. Luckily, it didn't pierce him, but was in a lot of pain after falling at about 9 that morning. It was a miracle that we stopped by, because he told us that he was praying for someone to come and help him and said after more than an hour he started praying for missionaries to have a prompting to come. Sure enough, Heavenly Father answers prayers and even sent missionaries :)
We were able to teach the Clark family this week and our mission president came out with us! It was the parents, Hardy and Karen, which both are members of the church (Hardy served a mission about 20 years ago) and they have a 17 and 18 year old son and daughter. We had a great restoration lesson with them and just tried to tie everything in with a loving Heavenly Father wanting the best for families. Pres. Varner bore a powerful testimony of how the B. O.M has changed his life, and the only thing he wants his grandkids to know is true from him. The daughter, Sydney, who is 18 has a grandpa that was a stake president out in Denham Springs, Louisiana so he related that to her a lot. We then talked with Sydney about the YSA ward and the activities over there and the sister missionaries already visited her and she is super excited about it!!
On the lines of YSA, we also visited the amazing Porter family that we have been able to bring the sacrament to and afterward had a lesson in Romans 8 in the bible to break the ice for the lady, Robin who we went with to her church :) It was the first lesson she has sat in on for the full time so far too!!! We bore testimony that truly, "we know that all things will work together for good to them that love God." vs. 26. We then told Bria (22) all about the pumpkin carving activity this week over at LSU tonight. She was so excited about it! She told us that the day before she was talking to her Mom about carving pumpkins, because she hasn't ever done it before. And then she even went and bought one haha. It was so awesome!! Heavenly Father truly does know each of his children.
This week also included one of my all time favorite Less-Active lessons/visits. We went to see this guy named Arthur Brazel who served a mission in Uruguay about 20 years ago. We started talking about giving everything to the Savior and you will find yourself. Matthew 10:39 We then just started telling him our predicament of finding a family to teach. (Because of time/length of this email I will share next week about the miracle of a family we found) He started telling us some incredible ideas and even asked us some inspired questions that we knew were answers to our prayers. He then started asking us about door approaches/talking about families. Well, before we knew it we were doing a straight Role-Play and Elder Hoopes was the investigator haha :) Bro Brazel was killing it, and seriously sounded/felt like he had never left the mission field. We almost got him out teaching with us!! Regardless, we committed him to pray about being our ward mission leader :) His testimony is so strong, we think he is just a bit nervous/sick to his stomach or something. Bless his heart for sure!
The investigators that we have been teaching are all doing super well!! Liz made it to church yesterday and is still on track for November. I sincerely have a testimony of prayer. Heavenly Father truly does know each of us individually and is mindful of our needs. He will ALWAYS answer our prayers, but that doesn't mean we don't have to work our tails off sometimes to see it ;) We have to have faith, and sometimes do a little on our part. "For he that diligently seeketh shall find." 1st Nephi 10:19
Well, I love y'all so much, but I am loving the work here. This email doesn't do justice to the blessings/miracles that Heavenly Father is sharing with me. Thank you so much for your love and support. Have a blessed week!
Love,
Elder Wilson
Gotta love that straight hood tracting in the deep south!! We may or may not have heard a few gun shots. #armorofGod #bulletproof #it doesn't even phase us at this point. #I love Louisiana haha
Monday, October 9, 2017
OCTOBER 9, 2017
Hey y'all,
This last week was pretty great!! It was nice to be able to get back into the swing of things for the most part, although with the Hurricane hitting New Orleans and having to evacuate tons of missionaries it still ended up being a little hectic. Luckily it was a small hurricane and there didn't seem to be too much flooding. Also, our mission is adding 6 more areas from the Slidell stake/from the Mississippi Mission this week so that is exciting!!
Miracle: On Saturday there were many missionaries having to stay in Baton Rouge because of the Hurricane, so that meant a lot of exchanges and working our area like crazy. I learned a very important lesson that day. I was able to go out teaching in a trio with two new missionaries the whole day and learned so much. We gave everything we could possibly muster. From 10 a.m to 9 p.m with a short lunch break we worked our tails off. We talked with so many people and taught many great lessons, however, for some reason after the long day I didn't seem too satisfied. I felt like the Lord kept prompting us to go to places that were full of rejection. It was almost like we were going to the complete opposite places that we were supposed to be going. The lessons we taught were to older people that seemed pretty comfortable and stuck in their catholic/Methodist ways. So by the end of the night, I personally didn't quite think it was the greatest of days. It was when we got back that night though when Elder Mechling (one of the missionaries that got here last Wednesday) thanked me for the day of work and said, "This has been the greatest and most productive day of my whole mission so far." It had been his first week, and I could tell that he had been struggling. Finally the lesson hit me, I realized that even though I may not have seen the "success" that I may have liked or was looking for, it was actually the fact that he had had the greatest day of his mission so far. He finally felt like he had taught lessons and found people to teach. I realized that we had done everything we possibly could and given everything to the Lord. I realized that it wasn't about me. This was the Lord's work and he was going to teach me something while blessing one of his new missionaries. I realized that we had seen miracles, including stopping at a local gas station to use the bathroom, only to find one of his lost sheep that has a daughter that is a member in Provo. I could share more of the miracles that we saw, but the most eye opening miracle to me was this experience of working our very hardest and maybe not seeing the immediate fruits.
I wanted to share a spiritual thought from general conference: The talk given by President Russel M. Nelson stuck out to me a lot. He asked 3 very profound questions. One was, "What would your life be like without the Book of Mormon?" I have been thinking a lot about this question. The B.O.M means everything to me. From being on my mission and seeing so many people without this knowledge I have truly realized how lost I would be without it. I would struggle to know if my Heavenly Father really does love me, or even if there is a God above. I would be so confused, and honestly so frustrated due to the countless interpretations of the Bible even though it is, "the perfect word of God and all we need to be saved," as many say. I think I would come to despise religion and religious practices as many do here, not because I wouldn't believe in a God above, but because I would be irritated that he would leave us all wandering around clueless to the true plan of salvation. I wouldn't truly know that there is a Savior that suffered and died for me and that He loves me. Why? Because without the Book of Mormon all Jesus Christ is known to be is a man that lived in the middle eastern countries working "magic tricks" or so called miracles, as people say, thousands of years ago, and we find this in a book known as the "word of God" yet it has been translated numerous times by scholars. Rather, the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and the reality of his life. It also confirms the truth and testimony of the Bible. Although both of these things are imperative, it gives me the opportunity to come to know Jesus Christ as my brother and redeemer, that He is the savior of the entire world, and that he visited all of his sheep. It allows me to gain a relationship with my Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ, because it is true. Alma 5:45-46 is how I know that it is true. It has brought me so much peace and happiness in my life that I will be forever indebted to my Heavenly Father for. I am so grateful to share this with everyone.
Yesterday Sheryl got a calling in church!! She has been called to the calling with many of the most humble, loving, and righteous people I have ever known. A primary teacher :) just like my Mama, I love you Mom! She was so happy, and I am so thrilled for her.
I was also able to go on a little church swap for a little bit to the LSU/ YSA ward to introduce the members to one of the guys we have been teaching, DeMarcus. He is 22 and such a stud! That was awesome seeing everyone there again and getting DeMarcus transitioned over there.
Well, I sure do love the work here. I hope y'all are doing great! Stay prayed up.
Love,
Elder Wilson
This last week was pretty great!! It was nice to be able to get back into the swing of things for the most part, although with the Hurricane hitting New Orleans and having to evacuate tons of missionaries it still ended up being a little hectic. Luckily it was a small hurricane and there didn't seem to be too much flooding. Also, our mission is adding 6 more areas from the Slidell stake/from the Mississippi Mission this week so that is exciting!!
Miracle: On Saturday there were many missionaries having to stay in Baton Rouge because of the Hurricane, so that meant a lot of exchanges and working our area like crazy. I learned a very important lesson that day. I was able to go out teaching in a trio with two new missionaries the whole day and learned so much. We gave everything we could possibly muster. From 10 a.m to 9 p.m with a short lunch break we worked our tails off. We talked with so many people and taught many great lessons, however, for some reason after the long day I didn't seem too satisfied. I felt like the Lord kept prompting us to go to places that were full of rejection. It was almost like we were going to the complete opposite places that we were supposed to be going. The lessons we taught were to older people that seemed pretty comfortable and stuck in their catholic/Methodist ways. So by the end of the night, I personally didn't quite think it was the greatest of days. It was when we got back that night though when Elder Mechling (one of the missionaries that got here last Wednesday) thanked me for the day of work and said, "This has been the greatest and most productive day of my whole mission so far." It had been his first week, and I could tell that he had been struggling. Finally the lesson hit me, I realized that even though I may not have seen the "success" that I may have liked or was looking for, it was actually the fact that he had had the greatest day of his mission so far. He finally felt like he had taught lessons and found people to teach. I realized that we had done everything we possibly could and given everything to the Lord. I realized that it wasn't about me. This was the Lord's work and he was going to teach me something while blessing one of his new missionaries. I realized that we had seen miracles, including stopping at a local gas station to use the bathroom, only to find one of his lost sheep that has a daughter that is a member in Provo. I could share more of the miracles that we saw, but the most eye opening miracle to me was this experience of working our very hardest and maybe not seeing the immediate fruits.
I wanted to share a spiritual thought from general conference: The talk given by President Russel M. Nelson stuck out to me a lot. He asked 3 very profound questions. One was, "What would your life be like without the Book of Mormon?" I have been thinking a lot about this question. The B.O.M means everything to me. From being on my mission and seeing so many people without this knowledge I have truly realized how lost I would be without it. I would struggle to know if my Heavenly Father really does love me, or even if there is a God above. I would be so confused, and honestly so frustrated due to the countless interpretations of the Bible even though it is, "the perfect word of God and all we need to be saved," as many say. I think I would come to despise religion and religious practices as many do here, not because I wouldn't believe in a God above, but because I would be irritated that he would leave us all wandering around clueless to the true plan of salvation. I wouldn't truly know that there is a Savior that suffered and died for me and that He loves me. Why? Because without the Book of Mormon all Jesus Christ is known to be is a man that lived in the middle eastern countries working "magic tricks" or so called miracles, as people say, thousands of years ago, and we find this in a book known as the "word of God" yet it has been translated numerous times by scholars. Rather, the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and the reality of his life. It also confirms the truth and testimony of the Bible. Although both of these things are imperative, it gives me the opportunity to come to know Jesus Christ as my brother and redeemer, that He is the savior of the entire world, and that he visited all of his sheep. It allows me to gain a relationship with my Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ, because it is true. Alma 5:45-46 is how I know that it is true. It has brought me so much peace and happiness in my life that I will be forever indebted to my Heavenly Father for. I am so grateful to share this with everyone.
Yesterday Sheryl got a calling in church!! She has been called to the calling with many of the most humble, loving, and righteous people I have ever known. A primary teacher :) just like my Mama, I love you Mom! She was so happy, and I am so thrilled for her.
I was also able to go on a little church swap for a little bit to the LSU/ YSA ward to introduce the members to one of the guys we have been teaching, DeMarcus. He is 22 and such a stud! That was awesome seeing everyone there again and getting DeMarcus transitioned over there.
Well, I sure do love the work here. I hope y'all are doing great! Stay prayed up.
Love,
Elder Wilson
Thursday, October 5, 2017
OCTOBER 5, 2017
Hey y'all,
This week was truly filled with miracles. I wish I could share everything, but yet again there is just no time. This week was transfers in the mission and so that put us to work for several days ripping and running making sure everything goes smoothly, as well as getting the new missionaries/sending off the ones heading home. I know I have shared this before, but the greatest part is definitely picking up the new missionaries from the airport. Every time I am reminded of the mental nervousness/excitement of embarking on a 2 year journey, baby stepping off the plane, clenching the hand rail of the escalator, and hitting the Louisiana humidity. All of which just hit ya like a hotcake in their own ways. However, I was glad to be there to hopefully lessen the anxiety, and crack a smile by making a fool out of myself.... again :) "There goes Chris again." It's all good I only got a few weird looks haha. Some of the new missionaries started asking about the alligators and let's just say everyone was clueless/nervous, one of the two, when I mentioned Gatorade. Bless mine and their hearts. I am always so grateful to share my testimony with them though, because it gives me the chance to look back at the amazing moments I have been blessed to experience so far on my mission, and hopefully excite them about their missions.
I hope y'all loved general conference as much as I did! I am always so inspired by the messages shared and feel like all of them were directed right for me. It is so amazing to receive answers to questions every single time as well. I wanted to share a miracle from the week that ties completely in with one of the talks given. I was reminded of the talk given by Sister Oscarson called "The needs before us." One thing she said was,"Ask your Heavenly Father to show you those around you who need your help and to inspire you on how to best serve them. Remember that the Savior most often ministered to one person at a time." About 2 weeks ago, Elder Hoopes and I were out contacting in a neighborhood and found a father and a son out shooting baskets. We decided to reach out to them and start shooting and introducing ourselves. Insert parable of the talents :) Well, for the sake of time we introduced ourselves to the mother and found out they have 5 kids. All 5 of them rushed out and we started handing out pictures of Jesus. We then scheduled a time to sit down and have a lesson with their family. The day came, and this family is amazing! The mother, Toy, told us that she was physically stopped when we came to the door and felt impressed to let us tell her who we were. She and the father, Barry, then told us that they had been praying for a blessing from God to show them what to do for their family. That was amazing in and of itself. Before we had even met them the first time, Toy, had already ordered a Book of Mormon and got off work early just to be there for the lesson. So awesome!!! We have met with them a few times now and every single time they have all 5 of their kids sitting down at the dinner table and they are all so intent on the lesson. Well, to go back to this talk given, we had been praying about ward members that could help fellowship this family and felt inspired to ask this incredible single mother to "help us," Jacenta. She excitedly said yes, and we were so happy because so many people fell through. At the lesson she bore a powerful testimony of how she was praying that morning for "the opportunity to help someone that day." She then received a text from the missionaries :) The lesson was amazing and the family accepted a baptismal date for October 28th all together. All of the kids haven't been baptized before and many of them sincerely asked their parents why, only to receive the answer of a sorry mother and father finally understanding why they had to wait until now. I testify of the power of prayer and that Heavenly Father truly does put us in the positions to serve others, if we let him. But how much more the blessings for it? The Thomas family is so special and it has been amazing teaching them the restored gospel.
The other family that lives on Meredith street was able to watch the Sunday afternoon session and loved the talk given by Tad R. Callister defending the Book of Mormon. I was so uplifted by that talk and many others. Well, I will write more next week and share a few of my thoughts about general conference. I sure do love y'all and am so grateful for each of you in my life. The Lord is blessing us greatly and I just can't adequately express my love for the Savior Jesus Christ and his work here in Louisiana. The people are so different, but I love them.
Love,
Elder Wilson
This week was truly filled with miracles. I wish I could share everything, but yet again there is just no time. This week was transfers in the mission and so that put us to work for several days ripping and running making sure everything goes smoothly, as well as getting the new missionaries/sending off the ones heading home. I know I have shared this before, but the greatest part is definitely picking up the new missionaries from the airport. Every time I am reminded of the mental nervousness/excitement of embarking on a 2 year journey, baby stepping off the plane, clenching the hand rail of the escalator, and hitting the Louisiana humidity. All of which just hit ya like a hotcake in their own ways. However, I was glad to be there to hopefully lessen the anxiety, and crack a smile by making a fool out of myself.... again :) "There goes Chris again." It's all good I only got a few weird looks haha. Some of the new missionaries started asking about the alligators and let's just say everyone was clueless/nervous, one of the two, when I mentioned Gatorade. Bless mine and their hearts. I am always so grateful to share my testimony with them though, because it gives me the chance to look back at the amazing moments I have been blessed to experience so far on my mission, and hopefully excite them about their missions.
I hope y'all loved general conference as much as I did! I am always so inspired by the messages shared and feel like all of them were directed right for me. It is so amazing to receive answers to questions every single time as well. I wanted to share a miracle from the week that ties completely in with one of the talks given. I was reminded of the talk given by Sister Oscarson called "The needs before us." One thing she said was,"Ask your Heavenly Father to show you those around you who need your help and to inspire you on how to best serve them. Remember that the Savior most often ministered to one person at a time." About 2 weeks ago, Elder Hoopes and I were out contacting in a neighborhood and found a father and a son out shooting baskets. We decided to reach out to them and start shooting and introducing ourselves. Insert parable of the talents :) Well, for the sake of time we introduced ourselves to the mother and found out they have 5 kids. All 5 of them rushed out and we started handing out pictures of Jesus. We then scheduled a time to sit down and have a lesson with their family. The day came, and this family is amazing! The mother, Toy, told us that she was physically stopped when we came to the door and felt impressed to let us tell her who we were. She and the father, Barry, then told us that they had been praying for a blessing from God to show them what to do for their family. That was amazing in and of itself. Before we had even met them the first time, Toy, had already ordered a Book of Mormon and got off work early just to be there for the lesson. So awesome!!! We have met with them a few times now and every single time they have all 5 of their kids sitting down at the dinner table and they are all so intent on the lesson. Well, to go back to this talk given, we had been praying about ward members that could help fellowship this family and felt inspired to ask this incredible single mother to "help us," Jacenta. She excitedly said yes, and we were so happy because so many people fell through. At the lesson she bore a powerful testimony of how she was praying that morning for "the opportunity to help someone that day." She then received a text from the missionaries :) The lesson was amazing and the family accepted a baptismal date for October 28th all together. All of the kids haven't been baptized before and many of them sincerely asked their parents why, only to receive the answer of a sorry mother and father finally understanding why they had to wait until now. I testify of the power of prayer and that Heavenly Father truly does put us in the positions to serve others, if we let him. But how much more the blessings for it? The Thomas family is so special and it has been amazing teaching them the restored gospel.
The other family that lives on Meredith street was able to watch the Sunday afternoon session and loved the talk given by Tad R. Callister defending the Book of Mormon. I was so uplifted by that talk and many others. Well, I will write more next week and share a few of my thoughts about general conference. I sure do love y'all and am so grateful for each of you in my life. The Lord is blessing us greatly and I just can't adequately express my love for the Savior Jesus Christ and his work here in Louisiana. The people are so different, but I love them.
Love,
Elder Wilson
SEPTEMBER 25, 2017
Hey y'all
Where do I even start. This week was such an amazing week filled with miracles and blessings.
On Monday night we went to a part members/less active family's home for FHE and had a lesson on the Book of Mormon and doing everything in our power to find out for ourselves if it is true. Marcus is married to a non-member and unfortunately been struggling with his faith, and his brother James is 22 and has been less active as well. Both haven't come to church for over a year now and so we have been really trying to help them. It was cool too, because James invited his friend Milan to the lesson and rumor has it she made it to church yesterday in Houston! We introduced Milan to the B.O.M briefly and then started sharing Alma 22 about giving everything to the Lord. The spirit was so strong especially as James started bearing his testimony. (again, he hasn't been active for at least a year) Everyone committed, but sadly Brikea (Marcus' wife) just doesn't seem ready yet. Regardless, we truly felt the spirit touched everyone there and everyone committed to finding out the truth. On Saturday we picked up James in the morning and went out teaching with him! We ended up finding this really cool guy named Mark and taught him the restoration and James invited him out to church!!! Wait, what? we were shocked, because we have been inviting James to come to church with us for a couple months now, and here he is inviting an investigator to come with him! Long story short, James went over Sunday morning to pick up Mark but unfortunately Mark had to head off to work, but James AND Marcus both came to church together!!!!! :D It was soo good to see them there, and the Stake President even reached out to them and expressed his love to see them there. That was a miracle for sure.
Yesterday morning we went with an inactive member Robin (she is the daughter of the Porter's/the elderly couple we bring the sacrament) to her church and it was a full on Southern Baptist church, like as good as it gets! It was quite the experience let me tell ya. Also, the interesting thing is that Robin stopped going to the LDS church when she was like 20 because of a few things possibly including marrying a baptist husband and social barriers based on race/ethnicity that were prevalent back in the day. Anyways, we think it meant a lot to her, because we had part of that same experience yesterday at the baptist church, but absolutely had a great time!! Let's just say I have never heard more sincere prayers being completely yelled and screamed out loud haha. I will share a few highlights: They had a full size band with the big ol drum set, electric guitar, electric keyboard, massive background choir singing praises, the whole works. Just about anything you can think of haha :) It was pretty funny and hard to keep a straight face at times hearing, "Yes, lord! HMMM. That's it. Yes Lord that's it!! Give it to me Jesus. Come on now! Literally after every phrase the pastor said :D And yes, the pastors all over Louisiana use the same style: Beginning with their nose in da book, starting low and slow, and then moving higher, and then catching on fire/yelling by the end of the sermon haha. The pastor was getting blue in the face by the end of that haha bless his heart. Also, it isn't a good sermon without mentioning Washington D.C/politics and how our leaders overlook the scripture, "As I have loved you, love one another." As well as bitter feelings from North Baton Rouge to South Baton Rouge. Not sure what is going on there haha, but bless everyone's hearts! The QUOTE OF THE MORNING had to have been the pastor yelling, "Open up your pocket books... AND Share the Loove!!" and then of course quoting a bible scripture. I hope I don't sound like I am belittling them at all though. I absolutely loved it for the experience and the people were seriously some of the nicest people I have met. They were super kind and friendly. Like they even had us stand as they introduced us and shared what church we were from :) Just great people. We even got stopped like 5 times on our way out from people. That whole congregation is getting dunked sooner than later, just wait haha! We then made it back for our ward and it was a stark difference. I sure enjoyed the service, but I don't know how they feel the spirit with all the yelling and rock band-ing going on. I was grateful for the refreshing spirit dunk at sacrament meeting :D
Later in the afternoon we brought the sacrament over to the Porters and Robin sat in for the entire lesson this time! She usually leaves the room so that was awesome. I think we are starting to break down those walls. Also, after a few minutes Robin answers her phone and it was Bria. She told her "Yeah, the Elders are still here." Let's goo! Robin's daughter Bria came back from work and was excited to meet with us again. Everyone shared their miracles/tender mercies from the week and then we talked with Bria about the YSA activities over on LSU. She seemed super interested in going, like she was just waiting for an invitation. One of her co workers is a member and goes to all the LSU YSA activities too so she is going to invite Bria for tonight.
At church Liz came and is doing really well! Unfortunately her boyfriend Bret is going out of town the whole month of October, so we are planning for her baptism in the beginning of November. She said she is grateful for the extra time to just keep learning though, so I guess that is good. We tried sitting by Sheryl at church, but it looks like she has made other friends and everyone wants to sit by her :) We then asked her about general conference and she continued telling us all of the members that have invited her over to their house for the sessions. That sure made us smile! No one invites us over to watch general conference, but they sure invite Sheryl :) Jk, we are in good hands!
We attended the Baton Rouge and New Orleans zone conferences and that was yet another opportunity to strengthen my testimony of being representatives of Jesus Christ out here sharing the fullness of his gospel. The greatest miracle I will have experienced on my mission is the opportunity to draw closer to my savior and feeling of his love. He helps me every single day and I know this is his work. I couldn't do it without Him. I then went on exchanges down in New Orleans with one of the Spanish zone leaders and that was neat. It is interesting how things I once studied and learned just flooded right back from the spirit, and I was somehow able to understand a lot of the Spanish lessons/ members. Anyways, things are going super well, and we are really working hard. There are so many things I would love to share, but no time and y'all are probably tired of reading at this point haha. Well, I hope everyone enjoys General Conference this week. I am really excited about it!
Love,
Elder Wilson
Where do I even start. This week was such an amazing week filled with miracles and blessings.
On Monday night we went to a part members/less active family's home for FHE and had a lesson on the Book of Mormon and doing everything in our power to find out for ourselves if it is true. Marcus is married to a non-member and unfortunately been struggling with his faith, and his brother James is 22 and has been less active as well. Both haven't come to church for over a year now and so we have been really trying to help them. It was cool too, because James invited his friend Milan to the lesson and rumor has it she made it to church yesterday in Houston! We introduced Milan to the B.O.M briefly and then started sharing Alma 22 about giving everything to the Lord. The spirit was so strong especially as James started bearing his testimony. (again, he hasn't been active for at least a year) Everyone committed, but sadly Brikea (Marcus' wife) just doesn't seem ready yet. Regardless, we truly felt the spirit touched everyone there and everyone committed to finding out the truth. On Saturday we picked up James in the morning and went out teaching with him! We ended up finding this really cool guy named Mark and taught him the restoration and James invited him out to church!!! Wait, what? we were shocked, because we have been inviting James to come to church with us for a couple months now, and here he is inviting an investigator to come with him! Long story short, James went over Sunday morning to pick up Mark but unfortunately Mark had to head off to work, but James AND Marcus both came to church together!!!!! :D It was soo good to see them there, and the Stake President even reached out to them and expressed his love to see them there. That was a miracle for sure.
Yesterday morning we went with an inactive member Robin (she is the daughter of the Porter's/the elderly couple we bring the sacrament) to her church and it was a full on Southern Baptist church, like as good as it gets! It was quite the experience let me tell ya. Also, the interesting thing is that Robin stopped going to the LDS church when she was like 20 because of a few things possibly including marrying a baptist husband and social barriers based on race/ethnicity that were prevalent back in the day. Anyways, we think it meant a lot to her, because we had part of that same experience yesterday at the baptist church, but absolutely had a great time!! Let's just say I have never heard more sincere prayers being completely yelled and screamed out loud haha. I will share a few highlights: They had a full size band with the big ol drum set, electric guitar, electric keyboard, massive background choir singing praises, the whole works. Just about anything you can think of haha :) It was pretty funny and hard to keep a straight face at times hearing, "Yes, lord! HMMM. That's it. Yes Lord that's it!! Give it to me Jesus. Come on now! Literally after every phrase the pastor said :D And yes, the pastors all over Louisiana use the same style: Beginning with their nose in da book, starting low and slow, and then moving higher, and then catching on fire/yelling by the end of the sermon haha. The pastor was getting blue in the face by the end of that haha bless his heart. Also, it isn't a good sermon without mentioning Washington D.C/politics and how our leaders overlook the scripture, "As I have loved you, love one another." As well as bitter feelings from North Baton Rouge to South Baton Rouge. Not sure what is going on there haha, but bless everyone's hearts! The QUOTE OF THE MORNING had to have been the pastor yelling, "Open up your pocket books... AND Share the Loove!!" and then of course quoting a bible scripture. I hope I don't sound like I am belittling them at all though. I absolutely loved it for the experience and the people were seriously some of the nicest people I have met. They were super kind and friendly. Like they even had us stand as they introduced us and shared what church we were from :) Just great people. We even got stopped like 5 times on our way out from people. That whole congregation is getting dunked sooner than later, just wait haha! We then made it back for our ward and it was a stark difference. I sure enjoyed the service, but I don't know how they feel the spirit with all the yelling and rock band-ing going on. I was grateful for the refreshing spirit dunk at sacrament meeting :D
Later in the afternoon we brought the sacrament over to the Porters and Robin sat in for the entire lesson this time! She usually leaves the room so that was awesome. I think we are starting to break down those walls. Also, after a few minutes Robin answers her phone and it was Bria. She told her "Yeah, the Elders are still here." Let's goo! Robin's daughter Bria came back from work and was excited to meet with us again. Everyone shared their miracles/tender mercies from the week and then we talked with Bria about the YSA activities over on LSU. She seemed super interested in going, like she was just waiting for an invitation. One of her co workers is a member and goes to all the LSU YSA activities too so she is going to invite Bria for tonight.
At church Liz came and is doing really well! Unfortunately her boyfriend Bret is going out of town the whole month of October, so we are planning for her baptism in the beginning of November. She said she is grateful for the extra time to just keep learning though, so I guess that is good. We tried sitting by Sheryl at church, but it looks like she has made other friends and everyone wants to sit by her :) We then asked her about general conference and she continued telling us all of the members that have invited her over to their house for the sessions. That sure made us smile! No one invites us over to watch general conference, but they sure invite Sheryl :) Jk, we are in good hands!
We attended the Baton Rouge and New Orleans zone conferences and that was yet another opportunity to strengthen my testimony of being representatives of Jesus Christ out here sharing the fullness of his gospel. The greatest miracle I will have experienced on my mission is the opportunity to draw closer to my savior and feeling of his love. He helps me every single day and I know this is his work. I couldn't do it without Him. I then went on exchanges down in New Orleans with one of the Spanish zone leaders and that was neat. It is interesting how things I once studied and learned just flooded right back from the spirit, and I was somehow able to understand a lot of the Spanish lessons/ members. Anyways, things are going super well, and we are really working hard. There are so many things I would love to share, but no time and y'all are probably tired of reading at this point haha. Well, I hope everyone enjoys General Conference this week. I am really excited about it!
Love,
Elder Wilson
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