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:)

First Transfer Week in the Mission

October 5, 2016

Hey Ya'll!

Well its official, I've been out for a full transfer now! These past 6 weeks have been the greatest/ longest/ fastest/ most stressful/ humbling 6 weeks of my life! I have learned so much and have grown a lot! I love being a missionary and seeing the gospel bless the lives of the people I serve!

Other than conference not too much happened this last week and a half! Just been doing a lot of teaching, walking, and knocking! we have been teaching quite a bit of lessons which has been great! I love teaching because the spirit is always so strong! Its so great! I also love being able to see the gospel click for people and when they find out for them selves that what they're learning is true. This gospel really does bring true happiness into our lives. we just have to be willing to accept it and DO IT!

Conference was so awesome! I love having a Prophet on the earth today who receives revelation from heavenly father to lead us and guide us in these latter days. I loved the simplicity of conference this year. This gospel is so simple and all it requires faith. we can do anything with faith. I know that as we do our best to follow Jesus Christ and as we exercise faith in him that we can receive true joy. I hope you all had a great week. Sorry this email isn't anything special.. not much has happened lately haha!

Elder Wilson

Sunset Selfie

We found a train

Sunset in Kentucky