December 28th, 2016

Christmas Delights!

Hey Ya'll!

Wow what A week I have had! Ill start off by saying that Christmas was great! We had a wonderful sacrament meeting which was a wonderful way to start off the holiday and afterwords got to spend dinner with two different families! I swear the people of Kentucky are out to make me gain weight.. but hey who doesn't like free food?! I need to be more careful though because members know how much food I can put down so they always try to push me a little farther and farther each time.. we all have our weaknesses right? ;) I also had the opportunity to Skype the FamBam the whole time which was a great time! It was good to see that I'm still the favorite child in the house and that everyone missed me ;) haha I'm so grateful for the family that god has blessed me with, they truly are my greatest gift!!

This past week didn't even feel like Christmas to be honest with you. just felt like another day out teaching and finding. on the bright side I get to stay another transfer in Ashland with Elder Stephens which will be a lot of fun! and on the Top of that I got called to be the new District leader! Though it will be a little stressful I look forward to the new missionaries ill meet and the new stories to come :) I truly do love this great work!

We were able to see the Sumters this week and put them on date for January 21st which will be amazing! once we get Danielle off of coffee all they will need is a interview and they will be home free! I'm so proud of them! they have made such amazing progress and are going to be wonderful members!

Other than that not a lot happened this week. Due to the holidays it was a little hard to meet with people so that made it kind of boring but hey at least it was Christmas time right? :)

For my spiritual thought I just want to tell you all that I love you very much and that I'm grateful for the support that each of you have shown me this far. it makes it so much easier to be out here knowing that all of you are back home cheering me on! I love you all so much and hope that each of you have a good time celebrating the new year!!

Elder Wilson

December 19, 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dear Family, Friends, Missionaries, Christmas trees, Presents, Icy Roads, holiday chickens, and those of you who forgot to wish me merry Christmas.

Hey ya'll!! how was every ones week?! mine was once again fantastic! things out here are going GREEAAT although I do have to admit Christmas time as a missionary doesn't really feel like Christmas time, but hey we do what we can to Frolick and play the Eskimo way :)

This week the Sumters were able to complete their stop smoking workshop which was awesome! so cool to see how God can help us through our trials if we give him all that we have. it was such a testimony builder to me see these two people put their faith and determination in Christ to quit such a hard addiction! I was so proud of them that I made them a cake, ya that's right I can bake ;)

This week we were also able to get back in contact with Andrew! It was so good to see him, man I missed that guy so much. He was so grateful that we came back to see him. He said that he is excited to do this again and is really ready to give it all he has to find his answer. Just pray that he doesn't let others get to his head like he did last time. If he can get past that, he can make it to the waters of baptism!

I'm pretty stoked for Christmas this next week. Christmas time as a missionary is so great because everyone out here is so open to the gospel, especially since this is near the bible belt. Everyone and their dog wants to talk about Jesus haha. The people out here really do have a great faith in Christ which is awesome. Even if all they want to do is bash, I'm still grateful that I am serving in a very Christian area! this week I also find out if I'm going to be staying in Ashland or leaving so that is pretty nerve racking. I pray that I get to stay one more week here in KY! I'm not ready to leave just yet!

Well for my spiritual thought this week I just wanted to share my testimony. I am so grateful for this church and I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity that I have to serve the Lord in the West Virginia Charleston Mission. Though it can be hard at times, I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son to atone for all man kind so that we could make it back and live with him again. I'm especially grateful for the atonement and for the healing power that it has in our lives. It truly is such a great way for us to come to know Christ. I know that this gospel is here to bless our lives and that if we do all that we can to follow the Savior and live his teachings that we will be blessed for it. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week. Stay safe and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Elder Wilson

Goofing around

goofing around with toy guns and a storm troopers helmet

May the suit pictures begin

Keeping it legit

Break Dancing

December 12, 2016

Christmas is in the Air

Hello Friends and Family!!

How are ya'll doing? I hope you all had a great week and are enjoying the Christmas season as much as I am out here In KY!!

This past week was pretty great as usual! We had some snow for the first time so that was wonderful, It made me want to frolic and play the Eskimo way ;) haha it was awesome though. this past week Elder Stephens and I worked out butts off. I think that's why the week went by so fast. hard to believe we are only 2 weeks away from Christmas, or should I say Skypemas ;) haha I'm excited to see my awesome family!

Well to start off Ray Brubaker my recent convert was able to be ordained to the office of a priest yesterday and receive the Aaronic priesthood which was amazing! we were also able to do the same thing for Zack Gibson! he was baptized right before I got to Ashland! now we just have to get both of them to the temple! I love helping these two awesome guys make there way down the path of righteousness. its such a great job :)

This week we were also able to pick up a new investigator!! her name is Rhonda Yates. She is the nicest lady I have ever met. We taught her the restoration and she loved it. she said that it made a lot of sense that god would keep his church the same through out time. She recently has lost a lot of family members and had a lot of questions as of to why she lost them and where they will go and all that stuff so this Wednesday we are going to teach her about the plan of salvation which I think will help answer a lot of her questions which will be great!! But of course it will be the spirit that will do that for us. meanwhile she will be praying to know that what we are teaching is true through prayer and reading the book of Mormon. Its great :)

The Sumters are half way through their Stop Smoking Work Shop and they are doing great!! Today is their 4th day of it which is the toughest day of the whole thing so if they can make it through today they can make it to the end and be done with smoking!! Once they are done with this they should be able to be baptized!! I'm so proud of them! they were both telling me that when they get sealed in the temple that they want to do it in Utah so that I can be there for it which was really awesome!! I love them so much!

Fun Christmas miracle, Elder Stephens LOVES Starwars, and this week we had to run to Walmart to grab a few things and we decided to walk down the Starwars aisle to look at the new toys for the new movie that is coming out. as we were walking down the aisle I looked at the top of the shelf to see a HUMAN SIZED STORM TROOPER HELMET. So I reached up there and grabbed it and showed Elder Stephens and he started to freak out, and it wasn't in a box and he was curious to see how much it cost, so when we got a price check on it the walmart employee said that they didn't sell those and he told us to just take it.. we looked at the price online and they are sold for 60$ and we got it for free haha it was freaking great! talk about tender mercies right?!

This week for my spiritual thought I want to talk about what I learned in Zone Conference. President Saulisbury talked alot about the rod of Iron in Lehi's vision and how there were those who Clang to the rod and those who held fast to the rod. We notice that in the chapter that those who clinged to the rod lost their way and were ashamed for following Christ because of what others had to say about them. Those who held fast to the rod were able to remember why they were doing so and were able to partake of the fruit. The reason why this stuck with me so hard is because its so easy for all of us to cling to the rod and make excuses or get caught up in everyday life and we notice that we grow further and further away from Christ. but when we hold fast to the rod we are able to remember what our goal is here on earth and we come to know god and Jesus Christ more and we are able to feel their love for us. So my challenge for you guys this week is to evaluate your self and look for the areas that you are clinging and do your best to hold fast and be better! I love you all and hope you guys have a great week!!!!!

Elder Wilson

Me and Elder McClune on our exchange being White Girls

A Massive Oreo I made haha

The Storm Trooper Helmet!!

December 4, 2016

Ho Ho Ho n' stuff!

Hello Friends, Family, Christmas Trees, Mistletoe's, Family member who never write me, and local hobos,

Hey ya'll!! Man I hope you guys had a great week! yesterday I hit my 4 month mark, does not feel like I have been out for that long, I'm almost 1/4 of the way done with my mission.. I know I sound like a clown because I still have a ways to go but dang time is flying faster and faster each week!

This past week was a pretty solid one. we have been working our butts off to find new people to teach but because of the cold weather it has been a little harder than usual because no one wants to open their door for us but hey its all apart of the grind! This week we were able to teach the Sumter and Dalton family a lot and both are doing well! both of them are really starting to progress and are really doing all they can to follow the savior. This week we will be doing the stop smoking workshop with the Sumters which will be awesome cause once they stop smoking they will be able to be baptized! I just hope that will be before I leave! That would be such a blessing! so everyone pray that I get to stay in Ashland for one more transfer ok? ;)

This week was also our ward Christmas party which was an absolute blast!! I don't know if my parents posted the video of us singing the 12 days of Christmas song in the gym but it was really great haha, me and Elder Stephen's had everyone in their laughing! at one point I had him up on my shoulders singing haha! Now the ward loves us more because they saw how funny we both are (not to toot my own horn) but ya it was such a fun time and the Sumter's came which makes it even better! they really do love the gospel! oh and another thing that I forgot is that Ray had an interview with bishop this Sunday to receive the priesthood this next week so that's awesome!!

Last P-day Elder Stephens and I decided that we were going to get a real Christmas tree so that was a good time, Ill be sure to post pictures of it, just no judging our decorating skills ok? you have to remember that one we are males and two we are still 20 years old ;)

For my Spiritual thought this week I want to focus on what the true meaning of Christmas is, Though the birth of Jesus Christ is important, We also need to remember the reason why he was sent to this earth. Heavenly father loves each of us so much that he sent his ONLY begotten son to earth to not only atone for our sins, but to be an example to each and everyone of us. During the holiday season its really easy for us to focus on things that we want and things that we need, but remember what the true meaning of Christmas is and do all that you can to be a better example to those around you every day. as you do so you will be able to receive more and more Christlike characteristics each day. I love you all so much and I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Wilson

I saw elder Hanson at zone meeting!!

Our wonderful tree :)

Sitting on Santa's lap!!!!

We got in a bit of a tussle.. 

picking out the tree!

November 28, 2016

Dear friends, family, those who have already forgotten about me, the random person looking at the phone screen, and the family pet.

This week was a great week!! I have never been so spiritually fed before in my life! I guess to start off this weekly email I just wanted to say that I am thankful for all of you that support me in my decision to serve a mission, even the ones who only read half of my email because they are too lazy to read the whole thing! (;

Well to start off this week we had a mission conference with Elder Muers of the seventy! it was so awesome, we talked about how important it is to do our best to find those who are being prepared by heavenly father and how important it is for us as missionaries to have faith that heavenly father will lead us to those people! it was super helpful especially for me! I loved it!

This week was also a thanksgiving! it was so weird not seeing any family but it was a great experience to be a missionary at this time of year! we weren't really able to get out and work but we able to visit a few members and we had a 2 meal appointments, I have never been so full in my life, me and elder Stephen's were debating on whether we should run home or not haha. but we were too lazy for that and decided to drive lol :)

This week we also had Ray Brubaker's baptism!! it was so amazing and wow I have never felt the spirit like I did on that day, it was so awesome to have the opportunity to baptize him and to see the look of peace and joy on his face when he came out of the water, I couldn't help but think of my baptism and how special of a day that was for me. This church is so true guys!! But ya Ray is doing awesome and is going to be an amazing member! now we got to get him to work towards receiving the priesthood! things are just getting better and better. now its up to Elder Stephens and I to get out there and find some new people to teach because our whole teaching pool is slowly dwindling haha.

another funny story this week we were in Kohl's because Elder Stephens needed a new white shirt and when we were looking around one of the workers came up to us and said "I don't know if Mormon's believe in credit cards or not but would you guys be interested in signing up for a Kohl's card?" haha me and Elder Stephens were DYING!! we told her that we believed in credit cards and that we weren't interested and you could tell that she felt a little stupid afterwords haha. its so funny how people think we are like extra terrestial beings out here lol

This week we also got a new car.. its a chevy equinox, Elder Stephens and I feel like soccer moms everywhere we drive now haha its great!

For my spiritual thought this week I want to focus on missionary work. This is probably the greatest responsibility we have as members of the church. in 3 Nephi 5:13 it reads; Behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I have been called of him to declare his word among his people that they might have everlasting life. I LOVE this scripture. it is such a blessing for us as members to have the gospel in our lives, wouldn't you want others to feel that same happiness and peace that you get to feel every day? well since it is Christmas season we all have the opportunity to do so! each Christmas season the church releases a video, this year the them Is #LighttheWorld. one the website they have a calendar that gives us 25 ways that we can help others see the light of Christ. I want to challenge each of you to watch the video and share it with someone you love. preferably a non member! as well as print out the calendar and try and do something Christ like each day! I promise that as you do these things that you will receive so many of our heavenly fathers blessings and you will feel the true spirit of Christmas!! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

The beautiful sunrise on our way to the conference!

The new Bridge

Rays baptism!

Ray being a clown

Selfie Sunday

November 21, 2016

Hey you beautiful children of god!

Hey guys! how are things going? things out here are going great. this letter might be a little short just because I emailed you a few days ago so don't cry if its not what you hope its going to be.. Ill try my hardest;)

Well I have my new companion, his name is Elder Stephens and he is from a small town in central Utah called Fairview, he is super musically talented and has an opportunity to play for Disney when he returns home! he is super awesome and we have already had a great time together! this next transfer will be a blast!

This past week has been super amazing/cold/busy/cold/awesome/cold. we taught a lot of lessons and saw a lot of growth out of each one of our investigators. its super cool to see how the spirit changes peoples lives for the better! this week Brother Ray Rubaker will be entering into the waters of baptism and will become an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He is doing so well and couldn't more excited! this Sunday we also had the Sumter family at church again! they are truly doing all they can to walk better lives and its so cool to see the change come from it. This past week they both told us that they are ready to quit smoking so that they can be baptized before the year is over! it was so awesome and I'm so excited to help them through their journey!

This upcoming week is going to be great as well. tomorrow we have a mission conference and we get to hear from one of the general authorities which will be super awesome. I'm so excited to see some of the other missionaries too! then on Wednesday we are being fed by the Sumter's for thanksgiving which is always a blessing because CJ makes some of the best food ever, they truly feel like my family away from home, its so amazing. and then on Thursday we are being fed by two different families which will be awesome because hey who doesn't love food right? then on Saturday is Rays baptism! its gonna be such a great week and wow I cant wait!!

For my spiritual thought I wanna talk about building a foundation on Jesus Christ. In Helaman 5:12 we read that if we have a strong foundation in the lord and in the gospel that we will be able to stand anything that the adversary throws at us. I know this to be true because as we go through life we can experience alot of different temptations/trials/addictions but no matter what the case, if we have a strong faith and love for Jesus Christ we can make it through each of those things and can become cleansed through the atonement and can build upon our foundation. I love you all so much and want each of you to know that you all have had a great role in my life. I'm grateful for ALL of you this week. I hope each of you have a great week and stay safe!!

Love

Elder Wilson

We got to go to the festival of trees here which was awesome!

An amazing train set that was built, took them five days to set it up!

The theatre, this is in the Paramount which is a super old and historical theatre!

My favorite tree(:

Me and Elder Stephens!

The Ashland bandwagon!

November 16, 2016

Hello ladies and gents!

WOW what a week what a week, feels like I was writing all of you beautiful humans yesterday! so much has happen this past week but hey I ain't complaining! hard to believe that I am done being trained! feels like I just got here! I don't know if I'm ready to be a grown up missionary yet.. SIKE I'm super stoked!!

Well this past week since it was Elder Wasdens last week we have been saying many many good byes and have had many many dinner appointments.. I have never eaten so much food in my life haha I even contemplating forcing my self to throw up so I could fit more food in for the next food appointment.. haha just kidding that's a little sad..

So right next to our apartment we have a giant park called central park and every year for Christmas they deck it out with Christmas fixtures and make it look all pretty so it has made for an awesome opportunity to talk to people! plus I get to look at all of the amazing lights! it truly is amazing! I will be sure to put some of the pictures up! You can see the whole thing if you go online and look up Ashland Kentucky central park Christmas lights its awesome!

This week we had 3 investigators at church! we also taught the most amount of lessons that we have taught! Ashland truly is progressing! there are so many people that are ready to hear the gospel and except our message its amazing!! this week we had a lesson with brother Ray Rubaker and he is still on track to be baptized on November 26th! he told us that he has read through the whole book of Mormon already! he is so elect! and to top it all off he has asked me to baptize him! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve as a missionary for this amazing gospel. heavenly father blesses me more and more each day. the church is true!

This week I also got to eat at the biggest Texas Roadhouse in the world.. its here in ashland Kentucky! its massive. it was awesome, and I got to eat steak!!

For my spiritual though this week I want to share a scripture from Moroni 7. its Moroni 7: 47-48 this past week we have been talking a lot about charity and what it is.

 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I love this scripture. as followers of Jesus Christ it can be extremely hard sometimes, we are going to find people who don't like us, we are going to get made fun of, we are going to experience many trials, but when we have a pure love of Christ we are able to see people how Jesus Christ sees them, and though sometimes they may not like us and they may be crude, its important that we love them. because when we love them we are able to serve them and do whatever it takes to help them find not only the gospel but their own love of Christ. I know that as we come to love others that we can come to love Christ more and more each day. I want to challenge each of you this week to pray with full energy of heart to gain that Christ like love and to be more charitable through out the week. I know that as you do so that you will be blessed with love and happiness and will find more peace through out the week. I love you all so much and hope you are all doing well!!

Elder Wilson

Elsa didn't answer

Merica!

Imma Dinosaur too ;) 

Angel Pose

The new bike

The District

The fattest cat I have ever seen!

November 7, 2016

Howdy Ya'll!

First things first... HOLY FETCH THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!! talk about a comeback haha. I wish I could have been home to witness all the happened but hey what can I do right? Shout out to Caden Hardcastle, I'm sure you went wild pal.. I was thinking about you all day when I found out haha!

Wow this week was pretty solid! hard to believe that we are already at the start of a new month! before you know it, it will be Christmas time haha. this is my last week of being trained so I wont have my next P-day until next Wednesday since it is the end of the transfer! I'm ready to be done being known as a trainee and cant wait to get to meet my new comp!

Now that the darkness is hear it makes working a little harder and kinda sketchy but hey with god anything is possible and as long as we have faith we kind find those that he is preparing for us! this week we put two people on date which was super awesome! we will be having two baptisms on November 26th. I'm super excited and cant wait to see Keith and Ray enter the waters of baptism, its going to be super great. they both have such great faith and are really growing in the gospel. I love the opportunity we have as missionaries to help people take the steps to living the gospel!!

My first Halloween was pretty crazy, there was children everywhere, I felt like I was driving around in Disney land lol. now that the holidays are here all of the members want to feed us and are more willing to do stuff for us which is super nice because we stay full and we don't go poor:) this last week we carved pumpkins and wow I have never felt so uncoordinated in my life haha. but hey it actually turned out somewhat ok;)

For my spiritual thought I want to talk about faith and the importance of it. In Alma chapter 32:26 we read;   Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. we know that when we have faith in Jesus Christ that we are able to know who he was. we know that he loves us and that he has a plan for us and what he expects of us while we are here on the earth. when we have faith in Jesus Christ it leads us to repentance and it helps us to change our self through him. Faith can strengthen us spiritually and can comfort us in our hardest trials. I know this because I have experienced this my self. though times can get hard, when we have faith that Christ will make our burdens light, we are able to make it through! I love Jesus Christ and all that he does for us. remember to keep faith and do all you can to follow Christ this week. I love you all!!

Elder Wilson

The Pumpkins :)

The Pumpkins at night!

Bored, so we stacked cans

I thought the leaves brought out the color of my eyes :) 

October 31, 2016

Hey Ya'll!

Wow what a week its been! remember the letter last week how I told you guys that we lost contact with most of our investigators? well this week we were able to get them all back! we got in contact with Keith foster again and got him back on track for baptism. I love when people realize how much happiness the gospel brings into their life and how it can act as a protection for them during the hard times! this past week we also were able to pick up another new investigator! His name is Ray Rubaker! he has been investigating the church for the past month and is really loving the discussions. He was at church with us yesterday and looked so awesome! everyone really liked him which helps us out because it gets him excited to be a member. Hopefully we can get him to enter the waters of baptism here soon!

Things are going great here in Ashland KY! hard to believe that I only have two more weeks left of being trained! feels like I just got here yesterday, and now I probably only have 1 more transfer here! Missions truly are a blessing and I have already grown in so many ways since I have been here. I can't wait to see what is in store for the coming months!

My spiritual thought this week is a short one, but is of great importance. this week I wanna talk a little on the Book of Mormon. Since I am serving as what is known as the bible belt, many people have questions as to what the "Mormon Bible" is. So what is the Book of Mormon? We believe that the this book is another testament of Jesus Christ. We believe that it goes hand in hand with the Holy Bible and that it is not there to take away from anything, but is there to help support and give direction and answer questions. The Book of Mormon is about God's people here in the Americas. In the bible Jesus Christ mentions "Other sheep that are not of this fold." well the people that we read about in the Book of Mormon, are those other sheep. If Heavenly Father loves all of his children, then doesn't it make sense that he would spread his gospel across the world? makes sense doesn't it? In the introduction to the Book of Mormon in the bottom two paragraphs we are given two promises. The first one being that if we read this book with pure intent to find out if its true, and seek for an answer, that we will receive it and will be blessed for searching for it. The second promise is if we know that the Book of Mormon is true, then we know that the church of Christ has been restored, we know that Joseph Smith is a man of God, and we know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world today. I want to challenge all of you to read the Book of Mormon, and to seek for your self if it is true. I know that as you do that you not only will be blessed for it, but that you will receive and undeniable answer. I love the Book of Mormon so much and am so grateful for the comfort, peace, and guidance it has brought into my life!!

I love you all so much and hope you all have a great week!(:

Elder Wilson

The fog was cool.. and so am I(;

Another selfie I guess haha

One of the last car selfies with elder wasden..

The amazing colors!

October 24, 2016

Hey Guys!

Wow what a week what a week. This past week was probably one of the hardest weeks I have had on my mission. It was pretty rough but hey we all have them right? just gotta have the faith to work through them and remember that they will get better.

Well this last week Elder Wasden and I were only able to proselyte in our area for a total of 3 days!! There was an Elder in Portsmouth Ohio that was in the hospital so we had to go out there so we could help them out. While elder Wasden was in the hospital, I worked the area with elder Mcclune. he was such a stud and we had a good time together! It sucked though knowing that the work had to be put on hold in our area. I had a really bad feeling about just leaving our area alone for three days because I knew that while we were gone, Satan was just chillin in our area, messing with all of our investigators, and sure enough he was!

This past week we have lost contact with our most progressing investigators who was on track for baptism and all of our other investigators have been falling further and further away from us. so it was super hard to see how bad everything has fallen apart. Though it'd be easy to be mad about all this, its important that we continue to turn to god and look for his guidance. because with him we can get these people back to where they need to be. Its gonna take a lot of faith though.

My thought this week that I want to share is about the atonement. This past week I have had a true eye opener of what the atonement really is. with all of the struggling that I have experienced through out my life, I realized that Jesus Christ has experienced that right along side me and has made all those burdens light for me. and he does it for all of us. Everybody has a blank page, a story their writing today, a wall that they're climbing. Now we can carry the past on our shoulders, or we can start over through the atonement and make that burden light. It doesn't matter what regrets we may have or what we have done wrong in our life, Jesus Christ gave it all to save us, so that we can live with him again. He carried the cross on his shoulders, so that we could start over. I love the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the peace and joy it brings into my life. Though it may not be easy, it can be made light through our loving heavenly father, who is waiting patiently to help us. I know this to be true with my whole heart.

I love you all so much and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Wilson

October 17, 2016

Hey Ya'll!

Well this week absolutely FLEW by. we had a teaching record this week of a total of 15 lessons! it was pretty rad! I love teaching because I love being able to connect with people through the gospel! its so cool being able to see it click in their eyes and see the light and peace it brings into their life. not too many crazy stories out here in good ole Ashland this last week other than how great the work is doing.

This last week I got to do an exchange with an elder is my district, his name was Elder MacDonald. It was such a faith and testimony building experience for me. Elder MacDonald has a very severe stutter. so when he would teach it was cool to see the faith and love he had for the gospel. It helped me so much because as many of you know I have a stutter. though its not severe it is something that I have always been self conscious (I think I spelled that right..) about and after being around Elder MacDonald It helped me to realize that I need to be grateful that I have a stutter. Heavenly father gives us certain trials through out our lives that are there to help us grow and that help us to be humbled. This was such a huge humbling experience for me. So for those of you that are going through trials in your life or have had trials in your life for as long as you can remember, just remember to turn to heavenly father during them. there is a reason why he puts them in our life, and as we look to him for guidance he will make out burdens light and will make it easier for us each day!!

Our investigators are doing well. Keith came to church again yesterday and looks forward to being baptized! he is so awesome! this week elder Wasden and I were also told by one of our investigator families, the Dalton's, that we were their favorite missionaries that they have ever met with. and they have been meeting with missionaries for 20 plus years! it was so awesome to be told. heavenly father works in many ways and I can testify to you guys that he knows when we need tender mercies the most! I love this gospel, and I love being a missionary! I hope you all have a great week. I love each and every one of you!!

P.S. please send pictures to me. I miss your faces!

Elder Wilson

BOM is number one baby!!

The Ohio river in the morning :)

The Bridge Of Ashland!

Exchanges

Sweater Weather ;)

All aboard!

The streets of Ashland, KY

October 10, 2016

Hey Ya'll!

Wow can I just say how much I love all of you? I'm so grateful for all of you and for the support that you have shown me since I have left. It truly means so much to me to know that you are all cheering me on back home. I'm so blessed to have great family and friends.

These past few days haven't been too wild but they have still been pretty good! we had an investigator at church this Sunday which was awesome. his name is Keith foster and he has been looking for a church that fit what hes looking for. he has been to almost every church that you can think of. He told us last night that he has never been to a church that is so welcoming and loving and said that he felt so peaceful and so amazing through out the whole block! he said he loved it and looks forward to going back next week! We will be meeting with him everyday now to make sure that he stays on track for his baptism date which is amazing!! This week we also had a solid lesson with one of our investigators named Andrew. Before the lesson we actually had planned to drop him because he wasn't willing to do anything that we asked him to do and was just being super stubborn and he actually told us that he didn't want to waste our time, so we told him that we wanted to share one last lesson with him and he was up for it and we talked about putting on the armor of god and how it can protect us from the evil and wicked things that are in the world today and as we did so he got so frustrated with us because he felt like he was doing these things but still felt so tempted by Satan and I told him about my story and how I didn't start getting answers and that I didn't truly start to feel that armor until I put my own pride aside and starting to trust in god and try my hardest to live the gospel. and after I said that he told me that he said that he wanted to keep meeting with us because he is ready to start giving it his all and doing his best to get his own answers! it was amazing!! I love the converting power of the spirit and the role it takes in the lessons. we truly are a vessel that the spirit works through. I'm so grateful for the spirit and all the many things it does in our lives!!

The spiritual thought I wanted to share is actually about the Holy Ghost. I LOVE the Holy Ghost. its through him that we are able to have things confirmed to us that what we are doing is right. this week in gospel principles the teacher said a quote that I loved. Its actually a quote from Henry B. Eyring he said "When we feel the spirit in our life, we are able to know that the atonement is working in our lives." and that is so true. The holy ghost is here to lead and guide us and to keep us away from harm. and if we follow its promptings and do our best to follow in the steps of Christ, then we will be truly blessed for it. I'm so grateful for the spirit and for all that it has done in my life. And I KNOW that if each of you do your best and look at things with an open heart and set aside your pride that it can bless your lives too!

I love you all so much and I'm again so grateful for each and every one of you! have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

We got a little stressed so we decided to put on masks;)

Late night dice rolling as usual:)