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 :)