"Did someone say Fried Chicken!?!?" I don't think people in the South ever get tired of Fried Chicken. I mean how could you am I right? You know it is a real party if you got fried chicken. Anyways, I have been thinking think week and just wanted to start out by saying I love my mission here in Louisiana as much as southerns love Fried Chicken. I don't think I can explain it better than that haha :)
This week was another incredible week out in the promised land of Louisiana!! I will include just a few highlights.
We had a great lesson with Danny this week at the Helm's for dinner. Sister Helm served a mission on Temple Square and so shared an awesome demonstration of priesthood authority and Christ's church using some cups/other objects. It was way cool! Danny told us during the lesson, "I am on the fence about joining the church or staying in the Lutheran church." It was great, because Brother Helm grew up in the exact same Lutheran church that Danny attends and was able to really bear powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon/priesthood. Danny has been really prayerful! He has been coming to church the last couple weeks, but it seems that daylight savings got him off track since he still uses the old fashion alarm clock. Needless to say, bless his heart, he'll get it!!
We went on exchanges over in Picayune, MS this week and that was way good! A little different air over there, but great nonetheless. We ended up tracting this street for quite some time, and found some way cool potential investigators. One guy came out and he had these 3 big seats out on his porch. I'm like, "Man these seats look comfy mind if we sit down and share a message about Jesus Christ with you?" He said he didn't have time, but we quickly started just teaching and asking him questions. We taught almost the entire restoration haha. I think next time I will definitely just sit down and ask questions later though ;) We found this other way cool guy that seemed very prepared. When we asked him, "If Christ were on the Earth this Sunday which church would he attend?" I love how thought provoking questions help interest people in the message. They were able to go back and see him again on Saturday. It was way awesome!
Miracle:
On Saturday we studied all about faith and using it as a principle of action and power in the missionary work. We decided that we were going to try and gain the trust of an influential ward member family by tracting their entire neighborhood all day. Knowing that Brother Van Wynen is a pretty hardcore guy, but known for missionary work we were aiming to make something happen with the help of the Lord. We specifically prayed over a list of streets, and felt very prompted to definitely hit their entire street. A little hesitant we rescheduled a few appointments, and blocked off the entire afterrnooon 2-8 for this one finding activity. We got there and visited with the family for a minute before parking our bikes in their garage. We told them, "We are going to tract your neighborhood until we find the next Stake President for this area or the Lord tells us we are done." haha I don't think they were expecting us to literally stay there all day :) But with our bikes in their garage we hit the streets running! It was exhausting to say the least, but we found some amazing potentials! One neighbor just started his own law firm, is 31 years old, and they are expecting their first child. Bro Van Wynen is also a lawyer that just started practicing. Really praying that this guy is the one we were looking for :) He seemed way prepared and we are excited to go back this week. We found several other awesome people that we are very excited about as well. You may ask what the miracle of the story is, but that is it. I believe that sometimes miracles may not come in the ways we expect, but regardless a miracle to me is the Hand of the Lord seen in your life. In that case all day Saturday the Hand of the Lord was seen. I love the scripture in D+C 84:88 and know it to be true: "I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angles round about you, to bear you up." I testify of the truth of this. I know that Heavenly Father is always there and sent his son Jesus Christ to carry us when we feel that we can't carry ourselves any further. The family ended up feeding us at the end of the night as well, and we were able to share the incredible experiences of the day :D
I love my mission, and I love the gospel. And of course I love y'all so much. Hope you have a blessed week!
Love,
Elder Wilson
