God Always Knows Best!

Hey Everyone!

Its been a while, Uh ya its been a while!

This past week has been kind of an emotional roller coaster to be quite honest with you guys! Filled with a lot of crazy turns but hey that's what missionary life is all about right?

I guess to start off this week we were able to teach the Sumpter's quite a bit which was really nice! They have come so far and we really focused on getting them prepared for their interview on the 30th of this month and they were doing really awesome and then yesterday morning we got the text saying that CJ had gotten very sick and they wouldn't be able to make it to their interview.. It has been kind of hard for me because this means we are going to most likely have to push back their baptism which means that I will not be able to be there for their baptism which sucks.. But we talked to president and we might be able to have it, it just depends on if he will have the time to make it back out here before the end of transfers. If it works out I will be more than grateful, but if not its ok I trust in the lords timing for all things. And they might just need to wait a little longer. If its one thing I have learned as a missionary its that God truly knows when HIS children are ready, and when it will impact their life the most!

This week we were also able to teach Sister Caine's more about the Book of Mormon and we were able to answer a lot of her questions that she had. It was pretty cool to see her sights change. she committed to pray and read the book of Mormon and keep her heart open to what she reads which is awesome! I know that she will make an amazing member! She could touch so many people's lives!

Other than that not a lot has gone on this past week. Elder Stephens and I have been trying our hardest to get out and find and have had awesome plans through out the week and no matter how set they were something would always come up and keep us from being able to fulfill them which is frustrating but hey that's missions for ya right? We just keep trusting in the Saviors timing and we know that he will lead us to those that he has been preparing for us! I like to think of the song from the movie Tangled but instead of mother knows best its God knows best! haha man that's another good one ;)

For my spiritual thought this week I wanna talk about what we learned in the missionary broadcast! they Focused a lot on the doctrine of Christ and how important it is that we as missionaries use this in every aspect of our work. Elder Bednar said something during the broadcast that has really stuck out to me. He said that the Doctrine of Christ is meant to be used as a whole. Not as a check list, but as a whole TRUE DOCTRINE. I know this to be true. Because with out one you cant have the other. I am so grateful for living prophets and apostles who guide us in this marvelous work today. I know this is gods true church once again on the earth today. This week I will be hitting my 6 month mark and though I still have a lot to improve on, I know that If I serve heavenly father with all my heart, Might, Mind, and Strength that he will bless me and will continue to turn me into the man I'm suppose to become!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Elder Wilson

Probably my last zone meeting with Elder Hanson being in my zone

Elder Webb my clown of a ZL ;)

The nice Skiff of snow that people wanted school canceled for!!

January 23, 2017

Hello Friends and Family :)

well well well, another fast week in the books! I feel like I was just writing all of you clowns yesterday ;)

This past week was honestly not the hottest for Elder Stephens and I. We worked our butts off but we just couldn't seem to catch a break. But that's ok because not every week on your mission is going to be what you want it to be!

On the bright side though the we were able to get the Sumpter's baptismal interview scheduled for the 30th of this month which is super exciting! So they will be baptized on the 4 of next month which is actually most likely my last weekend in Ashland so that will be a pretty sweet way to go out :) But ya for those of you who don't know the story of the Sumpter family, I have been teaching them since I have gotten here. they have been taught by missionaries for almost a year now and have been through a lot. But right as I got here they decided to turn their lives back to god and fully devote them selves to the gospel. it has been so cool to see them change and sacrifice certain things to follow Jesus Christ! They have been such a testimony builder to me!!

Not much really happened this past week though other than that. It was kind of a slower week unfortunately but I know as we exercise faith that heavenly father will put people in our path to find teach and baptize!

Fun story yesterday at church Ray came running in to let everyone know that there was a car on fire in the parking lot and told a bunch of people to move their cars and so that was a pretty big fiasco haha. Church was a little bit delayed. I told Ray that it caught on fire because it felt the spirit of god! ;) you know like the song? the spirit of god like a fire is burning ;) man I'm hilarious!

For my spiritual thought this week I want to talk on the power of prayer. I have a firm testimony that the power of prayer is real! with out it there is no other way that we can communicate with our heavenly father. Its just another way for us to prove to our selves that god is our loving heavenly father and he cares for us and he wants to hear from us. Its through prayer that we can talk to him about not only what we need help with but mainly whats on our mind! god is a great listener and he is going to do what he can to help us feel his love. its just up to us to have the faith to know that he will will answer them. Remember god works on his own time. and sometimes you may not get the answer you want. It may be a no, a yes, or not right now. Whats important is that we remember that god knows whats best for us no matter the situation! I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Elder Wilson

Weekly Planning got us like..

Up in a Holler of KY!

The wonderful car fire at church :)

So this is at the one of the members in our ward the Wilburn's! They have a bad foundation and they asked me and Elder Stephens to fill some of the cracks in it for them before the snow hits! so we got to crawl around in their little mine shaft with all of the sprickets! (half spider half cricket)

January 16, 2017

Rain Rain and More Rain...

Hey ya'll!

Man what a week it has been! I'm just happy its finally over haha! this past week I'm pretty sure it rained EVERYDAY! I have never been so sick of rain in my life.. Elder Stephens said it only gets worse in the spring too.. sooo looks like ill be wet for the next few months ;) haha but the rain does bring warm weather which is always nice! Everyone said that February is bringing a lot of snow though so that should be fun. I've been wanting snow for the past 3 months! So one month of snow will be fantastic, other than after that it will be really wet..

Anyway due to it being really wet lately its made it really hard for Elder Stephens and I to get out and about but we tried our hardest not to let it get to us! on Friday night we had an appointment with the Sumter family that fell through which sucked because it just so happened to start raining right as that happened so instead of letting Satan get us down we decided to go out and knock doors! it was a rough hour of knocking but the last door we knocked the lady told us to come back the following day. When we went back we taught her about the Restoration, and right before the lesson her daughter came in and sat in on the lesson which was super cool. They were both super receptive to the Gospel and committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if its true! It was probably one of the best lessons I have ever taught! they both were complementing our teaching skills afterwords which was super cool! But ya the overall lesson learned here is don't ever let Satan get you down when something falls through, be like Alma and look for another way to be happy!

The Sumter's are both doing great as well! they weren't able to make it to church this week because their van blew up and Danielle had work so that was unfortunate but they will be getting their baptismal interview hopefully this week and will be baptized next Thursday! I'm super excited and cant wait to see them enter into the waters of baptism. they are doing so great!! last night we were talking about how far they had come and it was so cool to see their attitude towards everything they have gone through and how grateful they are to be apart of this gospel now. it truly is the lords gospel!!

Nothing else this past week really happened other than my first district meeting went well. haha I was super nervous before but I was able to contain my nerves and deliver a pretty good lesson. Thank goodness its the spirit that teaches and not us right? ;)

Well for my spiritual thought this week I wanted to talk about repentance. yesterday at church we had a class in Gospel Principals about Repentance and what it truly means to repent. Something that stood out to me was that EVERY MAN needs to repent. It doesn't matter if your the prophet or just your average Joe, you should be constantly trying to better yourself and be constantly changing your self through Christ. Remember that the atonement is our gift from Jesus Christ. Its there for us always. whats the point of having an atonement if we never use it? If we are constantly repenting, not only are we becoming better followers of Christ but we are growing closer to our heavenly father and are building a relationship with him that can never be broken! it all ties back to God is our LOVING Heavenly Father!! I love you all and hope that you guys have a great week :)

Elder Wilson

Me and Elder Stephens after being out in the rain all night!

January 9, 2010

Another week another dollar

Hey Ya'll, savage ducks just ate my french poodle.

We got some snow this week and it was funny to see everyone out here at like the world was going to end lol. buncha weenies!!

So this week was another splendid week! we had a zone conference which was great! its always cool to learn from president Salisbury. He has so much knowledge its no wonder he was called to be a mission president! He also told us who our new mission presidents were going to be. President and Sister Lindhart will be over our mission at the end of this June so we only have 6 months left with president and sister Salisbury. Though I'm excited to meet the new mission president I'm really going to miss President Salisbury! He is such a great guy and has done wonders for this mission!

This week we were able to get Danielle off of coffee which is super sweet because all they need now is an elevated interview and they are ready to be baptized. I love Them all so much and cant wait to see them enter into the waters of baptism. They have come such a long way and are doing great! This week Elder Stephens and I were also able to find a new family to teach so that's great as well! keep the prayers coming my way they are working really well! ;)

I also had the opportunity to go on an exchange with one of the zone leaders Elder Gould! it was a super fun exchange even though we froze our butts off walking everywhere in Huntington but We had some great lessons and were able to find some new people to teach there! He even taught me how to make ties! I'll have to send some pics next weeeeeeek :)

well for my Spiritual thought this week I wanted to talk about faith. What is faith? Faith is what gives us the motivation to act and is what helps us to start our journey on the path of righteousness. If we don't have faith we wont know where to start. Its like trying to build a house with out a foundation. In Alma 32: 21 we read: And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. So to have faith we don't have to know everything, we don't have to be the best of the best. we just have to believe that heavenly father knows whats best for us and trust that he will help us become the best that we can be. I know that having faith in Jesus Christ will bless our lives and will help each and everyone of us to live happier and more Christ-filled lives! Remember lean not unto your own understanding, but trust in god!! I love you all and hope you have a great week! stay warm out there!

Elder Wilson

P.s. I didn't take any pictures this week.. Ill have to repent and send more next week!

January 2, 2017

THE NEW YEAR IS HERE BABY!!

Dear Family, Friends, People who don't read my emails, People who don't email me anymore, The people Who I don't really know but love anywhere, house cat, bottle nose dolphin

Hey everyone!! how was your guys week?? Mine was great! I cant believe that year is now 2017! I can now say that I go home next year haha so look who's not so green anymore right?! haha crazy to think that I've been out for almost 6 months!! Time flies :)

This past week was a good one, all though it was transfer week and new years, we still worked hard and did what we could! this week we went over to the Sumter's to spend some time with them and before we started the lesson they started telling me how they are planning to move to Utah in two years and how they cant wait to see me every day! haha I was laughing pretty hard thinking they were joking but they were actually being serious and plan on moving to Utah! haha didnt know they liked me that much ;) But Danielle is now starting to quit coffee so that she will be able to be baptized with the rest of her family on the 21st of this month! they are all super excited to start their new year off with being baptized!

Speaking of new years, I actually had a great new years as a missionary! President had all of the missionaries in by 6 pm so once me and Elder Stephens were done weekly planning we just hung out and played cards all night until the new year. It was super fun! hard to believe I wont get to see any of your wonderful faces this whole year.. and vice versa for all of you ;) 

Things out here are going great though. being a district leader really has no different feel to it other than I have to get numbers each week which I find more fun then anything haha! tomorrow we have a zone conference so I'm pretty excited about that! it will be good to see all the other missionaries in the zone and see who left and who came in!

For my spiritual thought I want to share what we learned about in Sunday school yesterday! so yesterday at church we had the opportunity to sit in on a teacher training class for all of the members in the ward that teach a class and it was so cool! alot of what they said tied back into missionary work and what our purpose truly is as members and teachers in this wonderful gospel, and that's to teach the doctrine of Christ. Because when we know the doctrine of Christ we know what god expects of us and what we need to accomplish while we are here on earth so that we can make it back to him one day. If we do all we can to spread the doctrine of Christ and do so in a Christ-like way, not only will we be blessed for it but the spirit will be there to guide us and will bring the message unto the hearts of the children of men. I want to invite all of you to read Nephi 31 in the book of Mormon. this chapter specifically talks about the doctrine of Christ and the blessings that come from living it and teaching it! this specific chapter has blessed me and my mission so much. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

The Hillbilly Flee market, these things are fantastic!!

Mom sent white hot chocolate, shes a saint!!

I had to say goodbye to one of my favorite Elders in the district last week! Elder Mcclune is a stud and I'm grateful to have met him!! I look forward to partying it up with him at USU when I get back!