Rachel and The Priesthood

Hey everyone!

I'm glad to hear that grandpa is doing better. Thank you for your prayers :)

Today makes 11 months now that I have been on my mission. The last 2 or 3 months have gone by super fast, and i feel like time is only speeding up haha. We had a very good week this week, lots of stuff happened.

 

Monday - We had a family home evening with a family in the ward that is really awesome. Actually that same day there son found out he is able to go on a mission, which was way cool because we thought he wasn't going to be able to because of some problems that he had before. But he can now and hes getting started on his papers this week:)

Tuesday - We had a surprise zone meeting in the morning, and then afterwards we went on exchanges with the other elders from the district. Those went well, I got work in their area for a day.

Wednesday - Not a lot of stuff happened on Wednesday, but we did get to visit with some families that really needed some help.

Thursday - We met with a woman in our ward who actually is from new jersey! So she speaks English, and so does her father. She asked me a favor though. Her younger sister who is 18 just moved to phoenix! And well she doesn't know anyone, and wants to make friends. She is living with her uncle right now, but wants to get her own place. If anyone knows of anyone who needs a roommate let me know, so that i can get the information and everything to them. She speaks English and everything, she was born in the US.

Afterwards we met some new investigators who are super great. They are a reference from St. George Utah. They visited the visitors center of the temple there, and said they would like to talk to us. Super cool couple, like 30ish years old.

Friday - Friday actually started out pretty rough. It was raining and all of our appointments were falling through, but it got a lot better. We met with our investigator named Rachel. Shes is just super awesome and super prepared. She already told us she wants to get baptized, but she has a little problem. Maybe it would help if i explained our beliefs a bit first.

You see in our church, we believe in something called the priesthood. The priesthood is the authority, or the permission to act in God's name. All of the ancient prophets like Moses, Abraham, Noah and all the rest had this power. Jesus Christ also gave this power to his 12 apostles when he was here on the earth. This power is how they performed the miracles you see in the scriptures, but it is also how they performed sacred ordinances such as baptism, or giving people the holy ghost. It was all done with this Priesthood authority. later on, Jesus Christ was killed, but his apostles were still there to lead and direct the church. With that same priesthood authority.

But with time the apostles were all either killed or exiled, leaving the earth without the Priesthood. We believe that for a time the earth was in a state of apostasy, void of the true church or God's priesthood. Many churches tried their best, and had good intentions, but without the priesthood no church could perform these sacred saving ordinances. In the early 19th century God restored his true church to the earth through a young boy/man named Joseph Smith. Who was called as a prophet once again in the earth, and with that he received the priesthood, restoring it again to the Earth.

What does this have to do with Rachel? Well Rachel used to be Catholic. About 9 months  ago her husband passed away, and at the year anniversary of the death of someone in the catholic church, they put together a mass for this, where they take part in the sacraments and stuff like that. And Rachel wants to do that.

The Problem with that, is if Rachel is baptized in the church, knowing and believing that the authority of god can only be found in the church, and then goes and partakes of the sacraments in another which doesn't have the authority, well.. Its not really the best thing for someone to do. And she knows that, so she said she wants to wait til December to get baptized so she can do the mass. Which is fine if she wants to wait, but we know she is ready now.

Well we met with Rachel on Friday. And we talked about baptism, but she was till say saying she wants to wait. We had talked about this many times before, and we always tried to be very sensitive about it. But to be honest we had just been beating around the bush, and not really doing our duty as missionaries.

My companion explained the priesthood to her again. Then i don't know what came over me, but i asked her if she believed if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only church with gods authority on the earth. She said yes. And i said " We love you and we would never want to hurt you. But that performing that mass will not help your husband. And postponing your baptism to do that is not something that's okay in gods eyes. The ordinances we can perform for the dead in temples is what will really help him." I swear we sat in silence for like 3 hours haha. I thought she was going to kick us out and tell us never to come back. A 16 year old from the ward was accompanying us for the day, and i thought he was going to cry. BUT, after a time, Rachel said okay, i will get baptized. And she now has a baptism date for September 22nd:)

It really strengthened my testimony that if the spirit is present, and we do it with love, no one is ever going to be offended from us telling them the truth and what we really think. We don't need to beat around the bush with people.

Saturday and Sunday - Were great days also, and we were able to have some really fun edifying lessons with members, and we helped some other elders find a new investigator:)

Its been a great week. The Lord has been blessing us and helping us so much. He does the same for you everyday, even if some days it doesn't seem like it. He loves you.

I love you guys too:)

 Have a great week!

Elder Wilson

Hello from Cholula, Puebla!

How was everyone's week?

My week has been pretty good, it went by super fast. I cant believe it is already Monday again. Next month i hit a year already in the mission, Its going by so fast. When I first got out on my mission i remember thinking i couldn't make it two years. Now i feel like "ah man this stinks, I have to go home in a year" Its cool how your attitude changes towards things while you're out here.

We had a seventy come to the mission last week. In the church we have a very organized leadership system in the church, which is made up of the prophet, his councilors, and the quorum of the 12 apostles. And right after them are the seventies. So it was a pretty special opportunity we had this last week. He gave us a lot of good insights and advice to help us improve in our areas. 

Other than that this week not to much happened. We did however have the confirmations of the family that was baptized last week, which of course awesome :)

I want every to keep my Great Grandfather in their prayers this week. He is the hospital with some heart problems. I sure do love him!

I love all you guys, and hope you have a great week! Remember that everything that happens in your life is for a reason, and that God has a plan for us. A magnificent plan, and everything he puts in our path is designed to make us stronger and better. Every single one of you has a potential you can't even begin to imagine.

Love you all,

Elder Wilson

8-5-13

Hello Everybody!

Hows america?? Everything is going well here in Cholula, Mexico. We've been working like crazy, and we are definitely seeing the fruits here. I am in a very awesome area, where the members are always willing to help us and there is always work. And thank you mom for the package! It arrived nice and safe, and i am happy to be sitting at the computer with contacts instead of glasses. (First time in seven months almost)

Okay...

Monday- We went to the pyramid that ois here in cholula, which is super super cool. We got back realy late though, and thats why i didnt have a ton of time to write. After wards we had a great lesson with a family who was supposed to be baptized last sunday, but they ended up have some stuff happen and they couldnt. But we were able to talk with them and help them work everything out, and theyll be getting baptiused this sunday instead. They are really awesome.

Tuesday - Well on tuesday a man just came up to us on the street and asked if we could come by and teach him, which was sweet ha. Then that nightwe had another lesson with the fam thats gonna be baptised, we did a family home evening  with them. Then we had another ghreat lesson with a woman named raquel,

Wednesday - was a good day. Lots of good lessons with members, and really good food;)

Thursday - I went on interchanges with another elder so i could do a baptismal interview with him. It was my first interview and I was super super nervous, but it was such a great experience. Shes an 18 year old young girl named sandra, and she is just really prepared. I got to hear her testimony and wow, I think it might be stringer than mine. It also made me think of my own baptismal interview, only 2 years ago i was in her spot with a missionary in front of me asking questions. (If youve never heard of a baptismal interview its not like an exam or something with really personal questions. Its juat to make sure people know what they are doing and why they are doing it. Baptism is such a sacred covenant between us and our heavenly father that it shouldnt be taken lightly.

F>riday - We had a lot of lessons with less actives, and we also got to visit the man who contacted us on tuesday. Hes actuallya boy of only 18 years. Hes very interested. Hes got some interesting ideas though, and he knows a ton of random of stuff. He also lived in the chzech republic for two years. Interesting guy.

Saturday - Not a lot, but we attended the baptism of sandra and brought some investigators with us. Its always amazing to see the glow people have when they come out of that water.

Sunday - We had church, and afer we ate with a way cool family. Their 3 kids ( 2 daughters and 1 boy) have their mission calls right now. All to the united states, which is pretty rare coming from mexico. And afterwards we had a family home evening with a family and our investigator Isabel:)

Sunday - Today... We played basketball and soccer, and thats about it.

Well that was my week. This week we have two baptisms and the ward is doing a talent show which we are paricipating in! I will give you all the details next week.

Pictures!

These should have gone with the previous post.

Goodbyes are awkward?

Hey everybody!  Hows everyones week been? I hope that everyone was able to have a very productive, enjoyable week! Mine was very good. I do have some exciting news. For those who may not have heard, my friend Ryan got his mission call! He will be going to the Paraguay Asuncion Mission, and he reports to the argentina MTC  on November 21st. Super excited for him:)

We had a pretty good, full week this week:

Tuesday - We had exchanges on tuesday, and I stayed in my area with Elder Pendleton. He just got to the mission 5 weeks ago from Utah, but his spanish is actually pretty good. It was a really fun day, and we had some really good spiritual lessons. Hes a really awesome elder. Very humble, very diligent, I feel like there is a lot i can learn from him. 

Wednesday - I was back with my companion, elder gonzales. We actually spent most of the day helping a sister in her tortilleria. Usually her kids help her out, but they were in EFY all week, So i got to learn how to make tortillas:) 

Thursday - We had some great lessons! We actually had an appointment with a young man named moises, but instead we found his mom and siblings. Turns out the ,mom is interested and the whole family is willing to hear us! Its a very gratifying feeling to see the lord preparing people to hear the gospel.

Friday - We had zone conference in nealtican,a town about 20 minutes away. We got to listen to our leaders and president Reeves. They gave us some really good advice for our areas and president talked to us about getting to know our heavenly father better, which was just great.

Saturday - I honestly have nothing toreport about saturday except that us and some youth found a bunch of snakes! (Im sure krista is squirming in her seat haha:) Ill send pics!

Sunday - Sunday was great. We had ward conference and we had an investigator show up who wentto EFY (we didnt even know) and now is ready to join the church! And then two more came and they actually talked directly with the stake president for about 10 minutes, and now they are on the verge of getting baptized! It was crazy, and none of it through our efforts personally. BUT it was a little bittersweet because i wont get to be a part of their conversions. I got called last night, and I have changes. Im leaving this ward! Man changes are so hare. The good thing is that ill stay in the same zone, so i wont go far. That does mean howver that the new missionary that ill be training and i will be opening a brand new area where there wasnt missionaries previously. That should be cool!

Today - Tomorrow is changes, so im just saying by to everyone all day. I do not like good byes, they are awkward and sad.

But yes, that was my life this week! Hope everyone is doing well. Did anyone get a chance to read the Book of Mormon? Let me know!

I love you guys,

Elder Wilson

Group Email!

Hey everybody! Okay so i know I'm terrible at writing everybody every week, and for that I apologize! Ive been wanting to set up a weekly letter system like this for awhile now, i just didn't know exactly how I wanted to do it. But thanks to my friend Sam Heywood who is serving in New York, I think i figured that out. Hopefully he doesn't mind that I've stolen his idea:)

Okay so...

Monday - It was P-day or our preparation day. But it was kind of rushed because I had a dentist appointment in Puebla, so we had to cut everything short for the day. In the evening when we returned to our area we went and had a family home evening with a family that recently came back to church. It was really fun and uplifting, its cool to see how committed the family is to the gospel.

Tuesday - We had a zone meeting in the morning. President Reeves surprised us and showed up haha. It's always good to see president, always sharing wisdom and knowledge with us. After it was a pretty normal day, we had a couple of lessons, and one investigator let me ride his donkey. (I'll attach pictures of that.) After we had our ward council and ya! The wards been working great with us.

Wednesday - Nothing really exciting happened. We had a couple lessons, and played soccer for a bit with an investigator and his brother.

Thursday - Almost the same exact day as Wednesday.

Friday - We brought a young man whose been taking the discussions to mutual, and all the youth in the ward played soccer. He had a ton of fun and was super interested in all the programs the church has and how its recognized. I believe he'll be baptized, we just need to keep working with him and help him to gain his own testimony through the Holy Ghost.

That night when I got home the Zone Leaders gave me call. I'm going to be training a new missionary this transfer!

Saturday - I was in Puebla all day at presidents house for the capacitation for new trainers. My comp stayed here with another elder.

Sunday - Was a good day. We went to church and then visited members, giving them the first discussion. We do that so that their faith can be strengthened, and so that they can think of who this message might help:)

Welp That was my week:) I'm doing great everybody, and I love being here on my mission! Remember that the lord loves you and is always aware of your situations and trials. God lives and loves every single one of his children. His Gospel has been restored to the earth just as in ancient times. I promise you that that is true, and that that knowledge has brought so much hope and happiness to my life.  I'd like to invite everyone to read Moroni chapter 7 In the Book of Mormon. If you don't have a Book of Mormon you can read the chapter here:

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng

I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights!

Remember to respond to me in a separate email if you'd like to respond. (and please do!) It can get a little confusing when everybody is responding on the same page. You can just open a new on, or use a conversation e already have:)

Okay guys, I love and miss every one of you so much!

Til next week,

Elder Wilson

New Friends!

Jacob and a new friend

Unfortunately there is no information on this photo but I thought I would post it anyways!