December 26th, 2017

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Y'all! :)

I can now officially say that I will be home for Christmas haha, Hard to believe that next Christmas I will be home with the fam bam again! Crazy how fast time flies. This past week was a good one! We had MLC which was a lot of fun cause I got to see a lot of my mission buddies that I came out with! After MLC we had exchanges with the AP's which was a lot of fun. I went with Elder Willie and all we did was tract sooooo ya what a time right? haha no it was good we were able to talk to a lot of people and share a lot of the light the world cards. Its funny to see peoples reactions when you go to hand them a card. Some of them thought it was going to condemn their soul if we gave it to them cause we aren't real "Christians" I guess haha. we just laughed and told them a little bit about our message. It was a fun exchange though! Elder Willie is a good guy, He reminds me a lot of my self. 

This past week we also had Garth Beck Jr's baptism!! It was a great service. I love being able to be apart and witness someone entering into the waters of baptism. The spirit is always so strong and always so confirming letting me know that this truly is the Lords kingdom again on the earth. What a remarkable opportunity I have to be able to bring others back into it! Garth was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints on Sunday and had an amazing glow about him! I'm so excited for him and wahat he has in store for his future!

This Sunday I was also lucky enough to give one of the recent converts here, Brother Sam Wimer the priesthood!! I felt so honored that he asked me to do that. I can honestly say that, that was the first time I have ever felt the spirit put words into my mouth of what I needed to say. It was a testimony strengthening experience for sure! 

Things out here are going pretty good! We are working hard and loving every minuted of it. We have been having some good success, and we are really enjoying our time together here in Clarksburg. I feel truly blessed to have Elder Dutson as my Companion. Hes the man! 

I hope you all have a happy New year. Think of some goals that will make you stretch and become your best self this year. Remember there is no growth in a comfort zone and there is no comfort in a growth zone. Set goals and report them to heavenly father so he can help you reach them this new year! I love you all and hope you have a great week!! stay safe :)

Elder Wilson

The Exchange;)

Baptism

MLC

December 18, 2017

Merry CHRISTmas!

Hey Y'all.

Well another fast week in the books! hard to believe that next week is already Christmas. Feels like just yesterday I was up at Mack and Abbie's house skyping my family and now I'm getting ready to do it all over again! crazy how fast the this year has gone by.

Things here are going really good. Caleb and Stephanie came to church again this week and really liked it. Things are really starting to look uphill for them so I'm pretty excited for that. we are going to be putting them on date this week for baptism so hopefully all goes well there. This past week we taught them the Plan of Salvation and they really liked it!

We also had Nathaniel at church this past Sunday which was a lot of fun haha, the kid is so funny. Reminds me a lot of Kaydon when he was a kid, just super energetic and super random ahah it makes me feel like I'm home again. yesterday we had a lesson at his house and his older brother Charles came in and sat down during the lesson and started participating in the lesson so that was a pretty big step. our end goal is to get the whole family together so we can work toward getting them all baptized so they can be sealed as a family. Its cool to see how when one joins the rest begin to feel compelled to see what this Gospel is all about. All I can say is nothing happens by chance!

We had exchanges with both sets of elders this past week which was a lot of fun haha. Its always a blessing to get to work with other missionaries and see how they go about the work. Being a Zone Leader is a huge blessing in that aspect.

Things are going really good out here. I'm enjoying my mission every day and have really come to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas this year. I want you all to focus this week on a way that you can bring the true meaning of Christmas to someones home this year. Its right around the corner so you better get going on it!! I love you all and hope you have a good week! Don't forget about me this Christmas season :)

Elder Wilson

December 11, 2017

14 Days till Christmas

Hey Y'all! 

Holy cow can you believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away?! I have no idea where the time is going but it sure is flying by. I need to buckle down and get ready for the months to only go faster and faster.. I sure am stoked to see my family again on Christmas day :)

Things here in Clarksburg are going really well! we were able to get Stephanie and Caleb to the church for a church tour this past week and then they came to church!! it was awesome to see them there. They were really worried about how their girls were going to act during sacrament but they were little angels the whole time :) and luckily they came on a Sunday where I got to speak and one of the members of the stake high council spoke, and it was all focused on looking through the saviors eyes! so it was a great Sunday for them to go for the first time :) our other investigators are doing really good as well. Nathaniel is doing really good and is really excited for his baptism, He said that he wants to grow up to be a missionary so that was really cool to hear. He will be a great missionary some day :) 

This week we also had our Christmas Zone Conference which was amazing. It was so great to be with President and Sister Lindhardt. They are such an inspiration to me and know how to motivate/inspire me to be better everyday! Elder Dutson and I have set some serious goals and created a vision that we hope to accomplish not only in our area but in our zone as well. One thing that stuck out to us the most is that we need to Qualify to use the Book of Mormon as a tool in our life. If we aren't doing our part then its not going to have the full affect in our work. I want to be able to say that I qualify for the converting power of the Book of Mormon. I look forward to stretching my self and making our vision a reality!!

I hope you are all doing your best to light the world this Christmas season. I want to invite you all to go on to mormon.org and watch the daily videos and see how you can help someone feel the Christmas spirit this year. There are many people who go with out love or with out the feeling of belonging during the Christmas season while you are being blessed. Look at people through the Saviors eyes this holiday season and reach out and help someone feel the warmth of the light of Christ. It will make this holiday season a special one for you. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!!!

Elder Wilson

we painted some nerf guns ;)

carpet selfie :)

Car Selfie :)

Our Christmas Tree

mine and elder Dutsons tree :)

We got two bags of cookies and a cup of apple cider while tracting the other day :)

December 4, 2017

2/3 of the way done!

Hey Y'all!!

Wow can you believe that its already December?! It doesn't feel real to me. Last year at this time I was about to enter into my "Dark Year" and now here I am preparing to enter into my "Light year" Though I feel like those two names should be switched around. Hard to believe that 2018 is only a month away... Time sure does fly, Just makes me recognize how much harder I need to be working!! I'm excited for the last 8 months of my mission. I'm so ready to put all of my experience and knowledge to the test!

So my new area is Clarksburg WV! Its my first time serving in West Virginia on my mission so its been fun to see how different WV is compared to VA haha the grid system in this state looks like someone took a pencil and just scribbled everywhere its hilarious. My new companion is the one and only mission legend Elder Dutson! He is a great guy and is a great example of a good leader. He motivates me to be better and to work hard everyday. I knew him when we were in the MTC so we have been good buds since day one of the mission so I'm pretty excited to get to work with him! This area just had 5 baptisms this past transfer so we have to start from ground 0 again but we are excited to get after it this transfer. We have already seen miracles in just the past 3 days. Yesterday while we were at church we were both fasting for new people to teach and prepare for baptism and right before 3rd hour of church one of the members came up to us and said that he wants us to teach his son so he can be baptized by the end of the month, so that was a huge miracle. Then later Sunday night I got to meet an investigator family that have been taught for a couple months, they were great people and told us why they started to learn with the missionaries, they said that they are looking for a church that they can be apart of and get there two little girls into. so we set up a church tour for them this Saturday so that they can get a feel of the chapel and what we do every Sunday. then hopefully they will attend church with us the following day! that was miracle number two! and then later Sunday night we went and taught a recent convert and his son who is super Hyper and crazy and we had a bomb lesson with him and put him on date for January 27th which Elder Dutson said they had been trying to do for the longest time but could never get him to settle down for lessons. so we have had 3 miracles in just one day. I love this area so much already haha I'm more than excited to get after it this transfer!

Other than that not much change has happened haha, we have Zone Conference this weekend which I'm pretty pumped for, we get to teach during the meeting so that should be fun and interesting but it will be a good learning experience for sure. Growth is always a good thing!

I hope all of you are doing things everyday to light the world and be a Christ like example to those around you. The Christmas season is a great time to get out and serve other people and to bring the spirit of Christmas into every ones life. I love you all and hope you have a good week. Stay safe and remember Christmas is only 20 days away!!

Elder Wilson

Wonderful Grandma Deanna!

Christmas Sweaters

My boy Micheal the tattoo artist!

The Nichols family!!

Sweet Grandma Ruth!

Denise!! shes a Wilson :)

 

Saw Elder Hanson :)

The parsons!

Some of the fellas at transfers!

November 27, 2017

I Have Some Aires Here

Hey Y'all!

Well what a week its been! So hard to believe that we are already on the last week of the transfer. These past 6 weeks have been the greatest weeks of my mission. They have been filled with lots of laughs and great times. Last Saturday night we found out that I will be getting transferred. I don't know how to feel about it, I have really grown to love this area and all the people that live here. I feel like I have truly found who I am as a missionary here in this area and have found who my Heavenly Father wants me to become. I'm going to miss serving with Elder Burgener. Its been nice serving with someone who feels like family. I have loved having a companion that I can be 100% my self with. There was no holding back this transfer and that's both good and bad when you have two baseball players together haha. I'm excited for him to train though. I know he will do a great job. Hes a stud. Im looking forward to kickin it with him after the mish! But all that being said I'm excited for the opportunity that I have to serve as a Zone Leader in the mission. It will be a good experience and I'm sure I will grow a lot from it. I have a firm testimony that Christ will call on us in our weakness to make us stronger and to form us into who we need to be!

How was every one's Thanksgiving?! Ours was super bomb! we got fed everyday this past week and then on Thanksgiving we had two meals haha, Hopefully I don't get fat... good thing I have my older brother to get me back into shape when I get home right? It was a great holiday though. I loved the time that I had to reflect back on the things that I have been blessed with and how grateful I am for all of those blessings. I hate that I have to have a holiday come around to remind me of how blessed I am.. In reality we should always be rejoicing in the things that we have been blessed with. It amazes me how much God loves his children! Other than that though not a lot of crazy things have happened over the past couple of weeks haha. We picked up a road kill raccoon and stuffed it and named it Chansie so I guess that's pretty exciting haha. never thought id do that on my mission! I'm becoming a real redneck now ;)

I am so grateful for all y'all and all that you have done for me both before and while I've been on my mission. its surreal to me how fast the mission is going. Its only going to get faster and faster. I look forward to being reunited with you all again one day. Have a great week!!!!!

Elder Wilson

The Fole Family

Chicken Selfie

This isn't the finished product but its close to the end of Chansie ;)

The Caldwells

Chansie wanted in the family Pic

November 20, 2017

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hey Y'all, 

Hey swear these weeks just go faster and faster. It blows my mind! this past week was alright. Ive been going through a lot mentally but I know that my heavenly father will strengthen me as I look to him in my hard times. Hes the man.

We didn't have very many people at church yesterday due to the fact that its the holiday week so it will be hard to meet with people all week but hey that's what we signed up for right? haha I love the holidays as a missionary. easily the best time of the year to be in the service of our God. Hard to believe that this is my last Thanksgiving as a missionary. Its unreal. This is the last full week of the transfer which is unreal cause I swear I just picked up Elder Burgener a week ago and now I might be leaving him. Last week when we talked to President Lindhardt he hinted me that I might be leaving cause I might be needed somewhere else. I pray that I get at least one more transfer with Elder Burgener. I have had such a great time with him. He truly has blessed my mission. I love it when your companion feels more like a brother than a missionary companion.

We found out this week that one of our investigators Monty Hanks wants to be baptized! He said he knows this is the path that he needs to take and that he knows that Christ has led us to him time and time again so that he could find true happiness. However he will be moving to Lousianna until April so he has a while until he will be back... ): hes a great guy and I wish I could be here for his baptism. But every ones baptism is my baptism, and mine is everyone else's We all glory in Christ when one comes to the fold of Christ :) 

Today we had a district PDay which was a lot of fun, we played Volley ball and Chair soccer... I was decent at volleyball but had the agility of a hammock trying to play chair soccer haha. It was good!

This past week we had a mission tour up in Roanoke and we got to hear from Elder Foster of the Seventy and from his wife, Sister Foster as well. It was a great meeting and really showed me how inspired each of the men are that have been called to lead this church. He Told us how we shouldn't feel like we are not living up to our potential or that we aren't "good enough" which really touched my heart because my whole mission I have felt that way, but as long as we are striving to be better and "Struggle uphill" then we cant truly come who we want to become. Don't be afraid of change. Remember that there is no growth in a comfort zone and there is no comfort in a growth zone. Learn to stretch you capabilities and don't be afraid of the potential you have. Heavenly Father knows how to lets the best of of us. its up to you if you want to let him or not.

I love you guys and hope you have a great thanksgiving, I'm grateful for each and everyone of you. Thanks for all you do to help me feel loved and cared for. You have no idea how much each and everyone of you mean to me. I'm also extremely grateful for this gospel, and for all the knowledge and comfort that it brings to us while we are here walking on earth and experiencing mortality. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!!

Elder Wilson

1. Elder Drennen and I 

2. The man the myth the hometown hero, Monty Hanks :)

November 11, 2017

Hey Y'all!

Well this past week was a bitter sweet one, saying good bye to Elder Manu was a lot harder than I thought it was, I swear saying good bye to people on your mission only gets harder the further a long you go. the thought of not being able to see some of these amazing people is just such a hard thing to wrap my mind around. but it all comes with the calling right? 

Not much happened this past week unfortunately, Just one of those weeks where we tried to meet with a bunch of people but like hardly anyone was home. We were however able to meet with the Parsons a couple of times and they are doing awesome. We are going to be watching the Prophet of The Restoration with them tomorrow so that should be really good. Joyce has a lot of Questions that we are trying to help her with but its just going to take time. I think they should be ready to be Baptized by the end of the year! 

Me and Elder Burgener are doing pretty good, hes recently gotten me into Pokemon so I have been playing that with him every night non stop and not gonna lie I'm not all that bad at it haha so Bradley family you better be ready to battle by the time I get home ;) haha You learn more than just the gospel on your mission guys!!

For my spiritual thought I feel prompted to tell you all that may be struggling or feel like you cant walk one more step that Not only do I love you, but God, our loving Heavenly Father, LOVES YOU. And he is aware of you and what you are going through right now, this very second. He knows your mind, he knows your heart, and he is there to help.  Remember that the Saviors atonement is infinite and eternal and that there is no crack too deep or room too dark that the atonement cant fill with light. this past week I have been reading in Alma and I'm currently just finished reading chapter 26 which is Ammon talking about how grateful he is for all that God had done for him while he was away from his family teaching the Lamanites the gospel, and two versus that stick out to me are versus 36-37 they read:

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Its really easy for us to focus on the negative things in life, but I want to challenge you all to remember that good that you already have. within there lies happiness and eternal joy. Life can beat you up, I pray that you will all remember to turn to him with trust, a broken heart, and a contrite spirit. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!!!

Elder Wilson

Below are some pics of us at the Carolina border and the tree we burned haha :)

November 6, 2017

Single Digits

Hey Y'all!

I can't believe that its already time for me to write another weekly email. Feels like I was just writing all y'all last week. Time really does fly when you have companions that you get along with so well. But ya things here are going great. We just got word from President Lindhardt like 10 minutes ago that Elder Manu's Visa finally went through. though I am super excited for him to go to his designated mission, I'm sad to be losing some one that I have grown so close to these past three weeks. He is a great missionary and will do great things in Australia. I'm gonna miss his laugh and our late night talks. It felt like I was serving with my younger brother. God always seems to take people I love and put them as far away from me as he can ha, I'm just grateful for the chance that I have had to serve with him and be apart of his life. I look forward to seeing him again in 2019!! 

Things here like I said are going pretty good. the Parsons are really starting to progress, they weren't able to make it to church this past week and the whole ward missed them haha it was cool to see. Now that Elder Manu will be leaving I will be staying here for another transfer for sure, which means i'll probably kill Elder Burgener off so i'll be here for two more transfers which keeps me in this area for a total of 6 transfers haha, pretty wild but I like it! It means ill get to see not only the parsons baptized along with many others we are working with. So I'm  pretty excited for what the future holds!

Crazy to think that I will be home in only 9 months, I've been looking back on my mission this past week and all the things that I have experienced and all of the people I have met and I cant help but feel grateful for the times that I have been blessed with, I'm so excited for these last nine months and all the memories that I have yet to make. I love this work and I love this mission. I'm so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father that knows and cares about me. He does the same for you. You just have to take the time to look to Him. I promise you wont regret it! I love you all and I hope that you have a great week. Remember to read the Book of Mormon. the Word of God will tell you all things that you should do!

Elder Wilson

FALL COLORS

October 30, 2017

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hey Y'all!

Well this past week has been crazy as all get out to say the least! We have been going and going non stop. Though its super tiring, Its also super rewarding because when its time to the hay, as soon as I put my head down I zonk out! so that has been pretty nice!

So between driving, and sitting in meetings we haven't had much time to meet everyone yet unfortunately. It seemed like every time we had free time to go out and meet people in Wytheville, something always had to pop up and we were having to drive to a meeting or clear across the county. Its been good though and have lots of time to get to know Elder Burgener and Elder Manu, They are amazing companions!

A cool story from this last week; We hare teaching a couple by the last name of Parsons in the Wytheville area, and they are AWESOME!! This past week we taught them about the Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we were teaching them, Brother Parsons just kept bringing up the scripture in 2 Nephi 31: 5 which talks about how the Lamb of God was baptized, and if he being holy needed to be baptized then that gives us a greater reason to be baptized! Then Sister Parsons told us that they have been reading and praying and really considering being baptized into the church but they want to make sure that this is 100% what they want to do with their lives, and that if they do join, they want to be all in. and they want to do it for them selves. so that was wonderful! We have a lot of great people that we are working with right now and I'm super excited for what the future holds for these two ares. Just pray that I will be able to get all of it done and not let anyone fall through the cracks!

Sunday I got to speak in church about why we do missionary work. I feel like I was able to do a good job and deliver a powerful message to the Fortchiswell ward. Preparing the talk was great for me because it helped remind me why I chose to serve a mission. God works in mysterious ways and knows what each and everyone one of us need, and that's a fact!

Today we tried to go turtle fishing again with Brother Vannatter, But it was too cold so we didn't catch anything unfortunately. But he did cook us some Turtle and Squirrel which was really good! I got to eat Squirrel heart, brain, kidney, and liver! wasn't a huge fan of the brain and liver, but the heard and kidney was pretty bomb!

Well I love all y'all so very much and hope you have a great week, feel free to write me an email every once in a while. Its always good to hear from all y'all!

Elder Wilson

October 23, 2017

Talofa!

Hey Y'all!

Hey long time no see right? haha I hope you are all doing good! things here have been amazing the past few days! we have had a lot of fun and have gotten a lot of work done! Running two area is a bigger piece to bite then I expected but I'm excited for the challenge and I know that we will be able to gettir done!! haha so my boys name is Elder Manu, He is from Lacy Washington and he is currently visa waiting to go to the Sydney South Australia Mission! The three of us together have had a hard time breathing the past couple of days because we have been laughing non stop! I love being blessed with companions that I can be 100% my self with, Makes the mission that much better!

So not too much has happened this past week other than the fact that the three of us have been going out meeting people and trying to get to know a lot of the investigators in the Wytheville area, unfortunately the missionaries who were here last transfers got really close to all of their investigators and which has made it hard for us to meet with them cause they are scared to get close with us and then have us leave. So that has really been our only challenge.. other than that things are going great! I feel Blessed that I know my heavenly father is there and loves me and will help me do things that I my self cant do alone.

Quick crazy story... Last night a member in the ward asked us to come over because they are having some demonic problems in their home so they asked us to come over and check things out, when we got there and walked in the house things felt off but nothing too crazy.. as we were talking things just felt worse and worse so I asked if I could say a prayer for the family and the house and while I was praying everything was calm and felt good and I wasn't worried anymore, so we closed the prayer and left and said that they could call us if they needed anything or if it kicked up again. as we were leaving we all felt the need to go back to the house. when I was getting in the car I felt something and at first I thought it might have been the evil spirit but when I turned the car back around to go back to the house I new it was the spirit telling me to go back to the families house. when we got back we met charlie (the husband) out side and told him why we were back and he immediately took us inside and told us to walk around the house and see where it might be. anyway long story short we walked back to the babies room and just felt a weight that I have never felt before and it was something I would never wish on anyone, any way long story short we cast the demon out of the house.. and it jumped on us and followed us home and last night when we were praying we heard steps running up the hall way and when I hurry and turned around I saw someone standing partially in the doorway. Sooooo ya we now have a demon in our apartment. haha so pray for me. 

Just remember that the church is true and no matter what you are going through or what you are experiencing the gospel is the ONLY thing that can mend it. the Savior is reaching out to you RIGHT NOW. Grab his hand and live a life of peace. I love you all!

Elder Wilson

Fall Colors

The Rex Theatre

The Trip Ship

October 18, 2017

God Loves Us

Hey Y'all! 

Well what a week its been! so much has happened this past week, there is a lot of change going down here in the Galax/Hillsville area, But I'm pretty excited for whats going to happen. There will be a lot of growth and a lot of good times. My next companion will be one of my favorite missionaries ELDER BURGENER!! He was my ZL in my last area and we were good buds right off the bat! He grew up playing baseball and is a lot like me. I already know we are going to be able to get work done and have a blast. Me and him will both be training a brand new missionary that will be here temporary because once he gets his visa he will be going to the mission he has been assigned to! So a trio will be a lot of fun. On top of all this we will be working both Wytheville and Hillsville and Galax. So as you can see we have a lot on our plate and will be busy 24/7 which will be really nice! Between both areas we have a chance of close to 5 or more baptisms by the end of this next transfer! so there is a lot to be excited about!

Last Tuesday we had interviews with President Lindhardt and they were wonderful. He told me that I was the only missionary in this mission that he felt could handle this situation of running two areas and training on top of that. So I felt like that was a pretty big complement. I left that interview confident and ready to serve with my heart might mind and strength. I'm grateful to have a mission president that cares so much about us and takes the time to get to know each of us! I know that this is the lords work and that he is hastening it right now! 

due to the big change going on we had to do a 2 day exchange in Wytheville and I got to know all of their investigators and all the people that they work with, I have already gained such a love for these people and I have already been praying earnestly for them. I have been really worried that I was going to get a companion that was going to be hard to work with and that wouldn't be good for the area and sure enough he heard my cry and has blessed me with a great companion that will be able to help me achieve the goals that I see for this area. He truly does answer our prayers if we trust in him and keep his commandments.

Tomorrow Elder Matchett will be going home and will be finishing up his two year mission. I'm grateful that I had the chance to serve with him, I was able to learn a lot of things that will bless me for the rest of mission and the people that I come in contact with, I know that nothing happens by chance and that I was called to serve with Elder Matchett at this point of my mission. How grateful I am for modern day revelation.

For my Spiritual thought this week I want to talk about the importance of Obedience. Now normally I'm not one to talk on this topic because I know no one cares to hear about it but I feel a special need to this week considering some of the stuff that I have heard about with not only family but friends as well. in the book of John the savior him self talks about the same importance he says:

 If ye love me, keep my commandments, John 14:15.

How simple is this teaching? I love how the savior can teach in such child like ways. If we truly love our savior we should be more than willing to keep his commandments. He promises us that if we do so that he will open up the windows of heaven and poor out blessings upon us. how can we expect the savior to bless us if we aren't willing to show him that we are there and ready to follow him? I wish each and everyone of you to take a step back and look at all the things you struggle with and do your best to conquer them this week. and always remember, obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. act now and see miracles. I love you all

Elder Wilson

The District...I am the only one staying

Me and Elder Matchet hiked the Cascades today.  No I din't fall down the waterfall this time

A senior couple Elder and Sister Dean that was in my first district in KY met my grandma on their way home in Nauvoo!

October 9, 2017

Happy Fall Y'all!

Hey Y'all!

Just wanted to start by saying sorry for not writing you all last week... Elder Matchett got a migraine so we were in for the rest of the day which is always rough for the companion that is not sick cause you just have to chill and twiddle your thumbs haha, but I was able to read some talks and the Book of Mormon so all is well :) 

Things here have been going pretty good to say the least! Hard to believe that we are already approaching the last week of the transfer. and Then i'll be sending Elder Matchett home to Texas and will be getting a new companion. I am excited for Elder Matchett and know that he will do great things in the next step of his life! Hes a good guy and I'm grateful for the time that I have had to serve with him. 

The work is going pretty good down here in Galax, The week prior to conference we were having a hard time figuring out what to do for the Friday evening, and just decided that we needed to leave our night open just in case something pops up and someone needs us. Well anyway the day went on and it came down to the evening time we were about to go try someone when one of the members shot us a text and asked us to come help one of his friends move. because we had an open night we were able to go help his friend Big John move. His wife had just left him so he was trying to get out as soon as possible and because we were able to help him, he was able to accomplish that. when the night was over we asked if we could go visit him and he invited us up the following Tuesday. so we showed up with James Kohl the member who told us about him and taught him, his mom, and his step dad, the message of the Restoration. The spirit was so strong, I could feel it and I know that they could feel it! When the lesson was over we invited Stephen (John's step dad) to pray for us and in his prayer he told Heavenly father that he knew that we were sent to their house for a reason and he asked him to let them know why and what steps they need to take! I love sharing this gospel and I love when people can recognize who we represent. I love being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with my savior and testify of him and his Gospel. It truly has blessed my life!

That's probably been the highlight of my week and of course how could we forget about Conference! Is it just me or did you guys feel blessed to have such a spiritual feast from our wonderful modern day Prophet and Apostles?! I loved the theme of conference. I love that everyone talked about having faith and not giving up. WE CAN FIND STRENGTH IN CHRIST. He loves us and he wants to help. We just have to be willing to let our pride down and trust in his arm and know that he will be there to pick us up. One of my favorite quotes from this last conference comes from Elder Stanley G. Ellis' talk "Do We Trust Him? Hard Is Good!" The quote is:

"hard is the constant! We all have challenges. The variable is our reaction to the hard." 

The hard times will come, Nephi and his family had many hard times, but they always chose to follow and look to the Savior, and those who didn't perished. I hope you all look for ways that you can trust in Christ and know that he will be there to lift you when you need it. Read the Book of Mormon, Pray, and go to church. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

Fall Colors

September 25, 2017

Hey Y'all!

Well Monday is already here again and I am once again writing you guys another letter that probably only 10 of you read all the way through but hey that's alright. This past week was a little bit slower of a week missionary wise, the flu is running like mad in our area so a lot of our investigators are either getting sick or they are getting over their sickness which has made it hard for us to get out and meet the people that we wanted to meet with this past week, but its OK because we were still able to see miracles and blessings either way. Its amazing to see how God works with each of his children, Just goes to show that he knows us each individually!

Saturday this past week we had a baptism in the ward for 8 Year old Bently Caviness! It was such a great meeting and at the end I had the opportunity to Confirm him a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What a remarkable experience that was for me. I love being able to feel the Spirit of God work through me to bless the lives of others around me. I don't remember much of what I said, But I do remember how I felt while I gave the blessing and I will never forget the light that was about Bently after the confirmation. I love this gospel and I love the Power that the Priesthood has in each of our lives. I love being able to have the opportunity to act and do these wonderful ordinances in his beloved name! It truly has shaped my life for the better.

Yesterday Jason Paris came to church! He was the guy that I talked about last week. Its been such a testimony strengthener for me to see someone who two weeks ago had no faith, to now attending church and wanted to grow and learn spiritually. It was cool I was talking to him yesterday and he said: "Ya man its weird when I read the Book of Mormon my day/week just goes so much better" I was so pumped haha. If we show heavenly father that we are willing to take that step in being better, HE WILL BLESS US. I know this to be true. All it takes is the simple things in the Gospel and in life and you will be happy. God is great!

For my spiritual thought this week I'm going to share a picture of the Parable of The Pillow Case that our Primary President shared at Bently's baptism this past Saturday!

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

The Parable

Some sheep we found :)

Me and Bently :)

September 18, 2017

Miracles

Hey Y'all!

Well what a week it has been! as you can tell by the subject of this letter that this week was a pretty good one and boy was it! So many spiritual experiences that I will always remember and look back on for strength and guidance. Also had a lot of good laughs. Missionary work is only fun if you can find joy and crack a joke and laugh about things.... or at things...... or even at your self :) haha annnnyyyy wayyy this week was great. let me tell you why!

So last Sunday (a week ago) we went with our Elders Quorum President to go see a couple that live in Hillsville by the name of Jason and Valentina. When we met with them it was a really good lesson and the spirit was there and we were able to get them to open up to us about everything that they have gone through and how they are feeling with all that has happened and they told us that they pretty much have lost all faith in anything because no matter what they did things only got worse and the less they tried to be better the easier things seemed to be.. so we explained how Satan tries harder when we are on the path and doing our best then when we give up and all that and just invited them to PRAY. we know that prayer is the foundation of what we do and how we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and explain to him what we are going through and how we align our will with his so we left them with that commitment. ANYWAY fast forward to yesterday (Sunday) We stopped by to see them again and it was just Jason home this time and he said that when we left last time he and Valentina sat down and talked about it and both decided that they wanted to start just reading a verse a day in the scriptures (which is awesome) and he told us that when he reads he doesn't understand anything but he feels that what he is doing is good. All this was coming from a guy that a week ago didn't even care to talk about God and BOOM here he is wanted to read and come to church for the first time in YEARS. It was such a testimony builder to me that no matter how far away we are or what we are going through, its the simple things that strengthen us and keep us on the path. The power of prayer is REAL, the power of scripture study is REAL and will tell you all things what ye should do, The spirit at church is REAL and will strengthen you more than this world can. I know with out a doubt that this gospel brings peace to us when we never thought we could find it. Trust in the prophets and head their voice. 

I want you all to try your best this week just to PRAY. dont just say prayers... PRAY AND TALK TO GOD AND ASK FOR STRENGTH WHERE YOU NEED IT. I promise you will feel him there. He loves you and so do I. have a great week!!!!!

Elder Wilson

Walking through Shoes and such...

shout out to elder stephens for the awesome birthday package with the chicken mask!!!!