Big Changes 6/30/14

So, it was quite a crazy change meeting. The craziest I've ever seen.

I don't remember if I told you guys or not, but President Reeves finished his mission and went home last week, so this was the last change meeting he ever did. 

I had told you guys that I was going to training a new missionary, but for whatever reason that didn't happen... So when I showed up to the meeting for new trainers, which was right before changes, President took me aside and  talked to me. Really I wasn't going to train a brand new missionary (only two elders arrived), I was going to finish the training of another elder whose training had apparently not gone that well, but president said that wasn't necessary anymore, idk why. He said he had a special new assignment for me. Well I was excited about that.

When we got to changes, the first thing President said was that he had felt the impression that there were many elders in the mission that needed leadership experience, but weren't getting it because there is so many elders and so many elders had been leaders for a long, and that many zone leaders were going to become just normal elders, some even junior companions. I think the whole room froze when he said that ha. And whelp, almost every single zone leader with more that a couple changes as zone leader, was made junior companion to finish there mission. I wasn't made junior companion, but i did just become a normal senior companion. For the first time in a year I don't have any leadership position. I'm just a normal missionary, in a great ward in Mayorazgo called San Ramon. (Its a new ward that was just split from the ward Castillotla), and ready to just work my butt off for the next 11 weeks. My companions name is elder Werber, he's from Las Vegas and hes been serving 7 months in the mission. Actually, I was his zone leader in Izucar, and I know he's a great elder. He speaks amazing Spanish for only 7 months, and hes a very hard worker and super obedient.

This is where I'll be finishing my mission, and I'm pumped for it!

The Church is true, and this is the greatest work in the world. I'll be making the most I can out of the 2.5 months I have left, and I'll see you guys on the other side:)

I love you all,

talk to you soon

Elder Wilson

Big News!!

Hello Everybody!

I have news! Well, not really because I haven't written barely at all these last few months. So I guess I should give some background.

Well since the beginning of April I have been back in the city of Tehuacan, my favorite place in all of Puebla! The last six weeks I have been with a great companion named Elder Womack. Elder Womack and I have been having a great time here as zone leaders, and the zone has had a lot of success these last few months, its just been a great time! I was fully expecting to finish my mission here but... I got the call last night that I have changes... Big bummer. So tomorrow I will be reassigned to a new area, and I will be finishing my mission there! I also got the call that I will be training a new missionary, so that means I won't be a zone leader anymore. But that's alright! That's how the church works, one day you can be a bishop, the next day a primary teacher! I'm excited. Very nervous, but excited-

 

Another interesting thing that happened this week was... The secretaries called me and told me they were arranging my flight plans. It's coming fast guys... September 17th I will be there.

I've absolutely loved the last 21 months that I've served, and I'm excited to go in and make these last three months the best of my mission:)

You guys all have a great week! I love you and have a great week!

P.s. Some pics!!

 

 

Elder Womack

Hey Everybody!!

How's everything going there back at home?

Sounds like everyone is getting ready for that san fran trip next week. That'll be great! Make sure to send pictures.

Well everyone, what are your summer plans? Any big trips or activities planned? Fill me in!

I am having a great time here in Tehuacan, and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Womack, from Caysville Utah. He's awesome, we're having so much fun and working hard. It's the best my mission has been in awhile. We already had one baptism together, and we have more each of the next 3 or 4 weeks:) The Lord has really blessed this whole zone lately.

2 sister missionaries, sister smith and sister Gomez had 3 baptisms on Saturday, which was an absolute miracle. We weren't expecting it at all, so to congratulate them we wrote a funny little rap in Spanish and rapped it to them Saturday night. We decided that we are going to do make a personalized every time someone baptizes in the zone.

It's definitely been strange lately, I hit 20 months since i started my mission today. I'm one of the oldies now haha. But its great!

I love you guys. Remember that, even when you feel alone and that no one understands, there's always someone there. All you gotta do is kneel down and offer a prayer.

I love you guys!

Elder Wilson    

May 5th 2014

Hello Everyone again this week! happy 5 de mayo!

How are we all doing?

Are you guys ready for mothers day?

This will be my last phone call home! Haha:)

I can't wait to talk to you guys, it always leaves me with the best feeling:)

This week has been pretty crazy, we were in Puebla a whole lot. We had interviews with president reeves, a leadership traing meeting, and a leadership council at presidents house on  friday.

But, even though we didnt have much happen in the area because we were gone, we had a baptism yeserday, which was great:) A man named victor who we've been teaching for a little over a month. He was very happy, and his son came and wants to listen to us now, so great!

I had a great experience with my fast yesterday, and I'd like to share it with you guys. I've had a lot of things on my mind lately, things that have worried me and have really kind of distracted me from being 100% immersed in the work this week. When I started me fast on saturday afternoon I decided to fast that those worries would be taken away. Well it ended up turning out that my fast coundnt be broken until later in the evening last night, becaquse of the baptism. I ended up fasting for about 26 or 27 hours. (If you dont know fasting is going without food or water, and its purpose is to help us overcome the physical, and put our trust in the spiritual). Well I was hurting quite a bit yesterday, but i pushed through. I could literally feel the weight being lifted off my shoulders and chest. All my worries that were there saturday, were gone.

I know that God loves us. I know that he hears our prayers, espescially when they are accompanied by a fast. I would invite you to, if you are going yhrough a tough time or feel confused , alone, whatever, I would invite you to fast. It truly has power.

I love yoy guys.

Talk to you soon

Elder Wilson

April 28th 2014

Hey Everyone!

I'm sorry I have not written one of these letters in a long time. I have however been doing my best to respond to everyone of your personal emails to me. Know that I love you, and that I read every single email that gets sent to me.

I won't be to long today, I promise I will get back into that routine next week.

I would like to talk a little about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and about the grace the Lord can offer us because of that atonement.

Many times we can be confused on what it it is exactly that Christ's sacrifice does for us. We may think that because he paid for all our sins, that we have nothing to do in this life, that we have no personal responsibility. But, many times that we may be led to think that there is a certain cuota that Christ expects us to fill, so that Christs Atonement can take affect in our lives. Both of these ideas, are wrong.

 

Christs atonement is infinite. It completely payed the debt that needed to be payed. Becuase of it, we will all someday be resurrected, become immortal, and return to God's presence. So then, why all the commandments and ordinances and stuff? We are all just going to be saved anyway right?. Well not exactly. If we want to be able to stay in God's presence FOREVER and with our FAMILIES, we must comply with what Christ asks of us. We must decide to use Christs atonement in this life, to be able to be changed and become like Christ in the next.

We do not have faith, repent, be baptized, recieve the Holy Ghost, or endure to the end to qualify for Christs Atonement. Instead we do those things so that it can be used to its fullest to make us perfect, however long that may take. It isnt like we are paying off a debt, Christ already did that. It is more as if we were putting money into a savings account, saving up so that someday we may have the greatest gift of all. Eternal Life.

I know that Christ lives. I know that as we go through this life, and use his atonement, he is with us every step of the way. It doesn't matter what you've done, or how many times you've done it. He is there, waiting for you, begging for you to repent and make things right. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is the only way we can become like our Father in Heaven. We all must suffer for our sins, but we do not suffer becuase we are being punished. We suffer becuasethat suffering is 100 percent nessecary if we are to change! Heavenly Fatherloves us, and so does his son Jesus Christ. They always will. Lets do whatever it is to do to become right with Lord, however difficult it may be. I promise you that the joy of knowing that your sins have been forgiven, is much greater than any amount of guilt or humiliation we may feel.

I invite you all to read Alma chapter 36 in the Book of Mormon.

I love you all.

I hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Wilson


- Sorry I am a little behind!

3-3-14 - A little behind!

Hey everybody!

I haven't written a letter like this in a long time, and I'm sorry! I've been using a lot of my internet time to apply for school and things like that. 

Its getting hot down here in Izucar de Matamoros, but we are still having a great time! On valentines we had an investigator married and then president reeves came and baptized him the same day! Then that next Monday my old companion was getting ready to go home, so we went to the city of Tehuacan to visit some of his converts there. Tehuacan was also my first area! So I was able to visit my converts also:)

Then I got my new companion Elder Packer, who is a really great guy. He was in Cholula where I was before, and he got invited back to do a baptism. It turns out that I know the mom of the girl he baptized really well! And I got to see all my converts and friends from my ward in Cholula too:) It was great! Ive had the opportunity to see so many great things and miracles lately:)

This week, my studies brought me to Ezekiel chapter 37. In this chapter the prophet Ezekiel is shown a vision concerning the resurrection of the dead. Ezekiel sees a valley full of dry bones, and the Lord asks him if the bones will live again. Ezekiel says yes and the Lord tells him to prophesy to the bones. As he does the bones come together, and it says that all the sinews and flesh returned to the bones. Finally the lord "breathes" life into the bodies so that may live again. Later in the book of Mormon Alma chapter 40 through 42, the prophet Alma testifies of and explains the resurrection even more. Later, in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul goes into great detail about the resurrection and how it will be. Many many years later, the prophet Joseph smith increased our understanding of the resurrection even more through the temples and ordinances performed there

The prophets and apostles of old saw our day and rejoiced. We live in blessed times, when the priesthood and temple ordinances that our performed through it are in full effect here on the earth. The sacred ordinances performed in the temples are divine, and truly seal us as family members forever. When one has been sealed in the temple to their family, and they have been true to their covenants, death is sweet. They can rest assured that the very same priesthood power that created the universe and everything in it, will be binding them to their loved ones throughout all eternity.

I know that's true. I know you can know too. prayerfully read and study the scriptures I have shared today, then pray and ask God if these things are true. The spirit will testify to you with power through feelings of peace, surety, and warmth. I promise.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love

Elder Wilson

Jacob Turns 21 - Happy Birthday!!

Hey guys!

How did the week go?

I had a very full, interesting week here in Izucar. I had some really great experiences, that I definitely won't ever forget:)

On Monday night we went to look for an investigator, but she wasn't there, but we did find a less active woman. We didn't really stay to long, we just shared a quick message, and at the end she offered the closing prayer she asked for protection when she went in for testing. We didn't really know what that meant, so we asked her. It turns out she possibly has a brain tumor, and on the 31st shes going in to get tested, and shes really scared. We talked with her for a bit, and then gave her a blessing. It was an experience that just kind of shocked all of us. We just sat in silence in the members car on the way home.

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference here in Izucar, which was really good. It was the first time I've spoken to or taught the elders in front of President Reeves. I was pretty nervous, but it ended up going really well. I talked about having the faith to meet our goals. We used a lot of visuals, which I think helped a lot. I did one where I blindfolded an elder, stood behind him and told him to fall backwards and I wouldn't let him fall to the ground. So he fell and I caught him, So I started to talk about the fact that we need to have faith that God will help us reach our goals, but if we don't do our part and show that we trust him, we'll just stand there and nothing will happen. Then I said that many times we can't see a way that something can be done, so we lose our faith and we don't put in our part. As I was talking about this, I walked around to the front of the elder, who was still standing there blindfolded, and i told him to fall. He heard that my voice was in front of him now, so he didn't want to fall. I reassured him again that I wasn't going to let him fall. So he fell backwards. What he hadn't realized was that my companion had quietly walked behind him, and my comp got him and it all worked out. We felt like it helped the elders realize that they need to have faith to be able to hit the goals they've put, and they need to keep that faith and act upon it even when it looks impossible to be able to reach those goals.

After the Conference we went to a little town to teach a family, but they weren't there. Only the daughter was there. But she gave us a reference to go visit a woman down the street. So we went! And she told us to come back Friday so that we could give her daughter a blessing. She said her daughter had recently been diagnosed with cancer. We set an appointment with her, and then got on our way.

On Thursday and Friday, we did exchanges in Tulcingo and Acatlan. Those were good, nothing special really. But I did do a baptismal interview with a really awesome 18 year old. Baptismal interviews are always great!

Friday night we went out to that little town to give that blessing to that woman's daughter. When she said recently diagnosed, we thought she she would still be somewhat healthy. But when we walked in, we think that she was basically about pass on. She couldn't speak or move. She was just laying down on her bed, There was about 15 of her friends and family huddled around her. We both didn't really know what to do. But we just talked about the Atonement, and read some scriptures. Then we gave her a blessing. I anointed and my comp sealed it. He said it was the most inspired blessing he ever gave. Then she said thank you in a very faint voice. It was the only word she said. That experience hit us both super hard. She honestly wasn't much older than us. Maybe 30 at the most. We both had never seen anything like that before,  and I think it helped us both recognize a bit more the frailty of life, and how much we really need the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our lives. Every single one of us. It was another silent car ride home of course.

The rest of the weekend was really great. We had two baptisms, and it was birthday. Some really great family's celebrated my Bday for me, which was great:)

Ill attach pics and maybe a video of that right now.

I'm running really short on time. But thank you all so much for the Bday wishes:) If I don't get a chance to respond to you, I will next week for sure!

I love you guys,

Elder Wilson