July 31, 2017

Hump Day

Hey Y'all!

Well what a week its been! a lot has changed and a lot has happened! I'm happy where I'm at and I am loving my mission more and more everyday! crazy to think that I hit my year mark this week! 365 days in the service of the lord! I look back at all that has happened this past year and I can't help but feel grateful for all the people I have come in contact with and all of the memories I have made. This Thursday I will begin the second half of my mission and will slowly start dying. I'm looking forward to the next year of my mission and all of the spiritual growth that I will gain from serving our God. This truly is the best work! Oh ya, and then 3 days later ya boi turns 21!!!!!!

 Galax is an awesome area! The ward here is great and is super ready to do missionary work and spread the great news that this Gospel has to share. My first day here we had someone feed us for every meal haha it was super cool. The area is a lot different than Vinton in the sense that it's a lot more country feel and has a lot more farms and trees. Its a beautiful area! I cant wait to see what the fall is going to be like! 

The work here in Galax is going really well. We have lots of investigators that are really sincere and have a great desire to learn and grow in the Gospel. We have a few investigators that are progressing to baptism right now. This week I get to meet a man named Stan Webb who apparently loves to hunt and fish and all that good stuff so I look forward to meeting him because we will get along great! But ya the area is great. I feel really at home here and feel like Heavenly Father has a lot in store for me here and that I'm really going to turn into the missionary that I need to be here. SO here's to the next few months in Galax! 

Nothing too crazy happened this week.. My first day in Galax we went down to one of the places that we do service and Elder Clark and one of the guys played a joke on me. Carl the guy who works there pretended to be a  Navy seal and chewed me out for looking at him then started laughing cause I turned red as a tomato. haha it was good, the member that owns the shop just opened up a BBQ restaurant and she feeds us all the time it's great. Some of the best BBQ I have had! Shes feeding us lunch today :)

Well folks I love you all, Remember to lean on your rock which is Christ. He loves you and so do I!! 

Elder Wilson

Jimbo!  (Investigator)

Willie Logan (Investigator)

Brenda and Deborah

Mack And Abbie!

Carol Macfie

The Hodges!

Greg Benton!

July 26, 2017

Peace Out Vinton

Hey Y'all!

Wow what a crazy last week and a half it has been here in Vinton! As you have already guessed both me and Elder Basteen will be leaving Vinton, and sister missionaries will be replacing us! No its not because we did something wrong, its because there are more sisters coming into the mission then elders so they have to switch some of the areas over to sister areas. So ya the Vinton 1 area will now be a sisters area!

But ya I am definitely going to miss Vinton..  I have met some great people and have grown such a deep love for many of the people that I had the wonderful opportunity to teach. One of the greatest things about missions as I have always said is helping others and witnessing others strengthen their faith in Christ and watching them change into someone that heavenly has always wanted them to become. I love this work so much and I'm so grateful that I made the life changing experience to go on a mission, if you're having second thoughts about serving my advice to you is..... DO IT. You will regret not going but you will never regret your choice to serve. 

So I forgot to tell y'all where I'm going.. I will be going to serve in Hillsville Virginia with a missionary named Elder Clark. So tomorrow I will report to the stake center at 5 am to be on the transfer "Train" to head up to Pembroke. Elder Basteen will be going to Amherst Virginia and will be kickin it with the baptist.. He will do awesome though.. I feel so grateful for the opportunity that I had to train him, He truly has turned into a great missionary!! and to finish us off one of my best friends Elder Crouch will be heading home to start the next chapter of his life. I sure am going to miss him, we have become so close, but I look forward to our adventures after the mission. 

Well other than that not too much happened this past week, said a lot of good byes to alot of people who are close to my heart here in Vinton, If its one thing I hate the most its having to say good bye to people. and as a missionary I swear that's all I'm ever doing, But that's ok cause that just means more hellos right? Last night we were up at Mack and Abbie's house and it was our last time being up there and boy was it rough. I truly am grateful for their friendship and cant wait to see them in a year when they come out to Utah to be sealed in the Temple. They truly have become family!!!!

Well folks for my spiritual thought I wanted to talk about the gift of charity. Earlier this week I was studying the Christlike attributes and came across the charity section and it seemed to really hit me hard. How often do we go through out our day judging others or bringing others down? Obviously some do more then others but we all know that each of us do it. One of the greatest commandments that Heavenly father has asked of us is to love our neighbor as much as we love our selves. This week I wanna challenge you all to just pick some one up each day. It could be as small as telling them that you like what they are wearing or helping them with a task they may be facing. Whatever it may be just strive to help those around you. I promise as you do that you will find a comfort and love for people that you never thought you had. Heavenly Father loves you and so do I, I hope you all have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

July 17, 2017

PEANUTS

Hey Folks :)

Welp this past week was a pretty solid week to say the least! it went by faster than expected but hey that's every week so whats new right?! haha but ya things are going great, hard to believe that we are already on the last week of the transfer!! Feels like we just started it yesterday! I'm so grateful to be serving in such a wonderful mission. I love being a missionary!!!! 

I guess to start the week off I'll start with the mission tour.... PRESIDENT LINDHARDT IS THE MAN!!!!!!  I know with out a shadow of a doubt that this man and his family has been called of God and that he is whats best for the missionaries and the people of this mission. I look forward to serving by his side and enjoying the ride with him and his wonderful family. So I guess a little bit about President Lindhardt, He grew up in SmithField In the promised land of Logan Utah!! and he graduated with my Mom at Skyview High! and I can't remember where exactly he served his mission but when he got home he went to Alaska to fly planes for a little bit and while he was there he did a lot of hunting. He showed us a picture of him  with his grizzly bear pelt draped over him which made him look like a total stud haha. I asked him during the question period what the biggest animal he shot and he said that he killed a bull moose that was over 66 inches wide!!! Needless to say me and President Lindhardt will be great friends :)

As for the rest of the week I had two more ingrown toe nails removed... that makes for a total of 5 in the past 2 months lol. gotta love it! Other than that we have just been doing a lot of your everyday missionary stuff. tracting, teaching, and converting :) A lot of our investigators have had some trials hit them pretty hard this week. Daniel and Ashley found out that Daniel has cancer in his stomach and his kidneys are failing and the Macfies lost both of their kids to CPS... pretty hard to hear but we are doing all we can to turn their hearts to their Savior during their time of need. I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that its gives us to know that if we follow the savior and his commandments and do as he has asked us that we can live with those we love for eternity.

For my spiritual thought I just want to mention something  In Presidents meeting this past week he said a quote that will stick for me forever and that is "He is in the details." how often to we tend to blame or take credit for things that we do instead of our Heavenly Father? Often times then not we forget that he is truly the one that puts people and things in our path that will best help us BECOME the person that Christ wants us to be. I want to bear my testimony that I know that we our children of a true and loving God and that he loves each one of us differently and personally more than we will ever comprehend. look to him, love him, rejoice in him. happiness within his love and the saviors grace and mercy. I love you all so much and hope you guys have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

Ties I have been making for other people :)

Golfin n stuff!

My best friend in the mission had these made for his District in another Zone....love ya buddy :)

July 10, 2017

Telephone Poles!

Hey Y'all!

Welp another week in the books and to be completely honest with you guys I have no idea where it all went! it was a great week though. Hard to believe we are already on week 4 of the transfer. Time just keeps going faster and faster! 

Well to start the week off last P-day we spent the day with a member named Gregory Benton. Hes a super chill dude and served his mission in the WVCM as well! He took us mini-golfing then we went to his house to eat some pizza and drive his car simulator which is super cool!

On Tuesday we went up to Mack and Abbie's house and helped them get some stuff around their house and yard which was a lot of fun. Its always a good day when we get to go up there because it feels like I'm going over to a relatives house which is always good. I really have grown to love those guys!

Not too much happened on Wednesday, just your average day as a missionary, but Thursday we were able to pick up two new investigators named Daniel and Ashley! they are awesome and are really sincere about receiving the gospel! During the lesson (we were teaching about the restoration) I was reciting Joseph Smith's first vision and Daniel stopped me half way through and said that it had given him chills and that he knew it was true. When the lesson was over they started asking what it would take for them to get baptized! so when we go back we plan on putting them on date! so pray that everything works out for them and that they can continue to have a desire to learn and progress in the gospel! 

Nothing really happened the rest of the week, Saturday we had a member give a referral to a guy that we have gotten to know pretty well, his name is Wes Brackenridge. He was going to come to priesthood this Sunday but for some reason wasn't able to make it out. Pray that we will be able to pick him up and teach him this week so we can help him out! 

Yesterday we did some weekly planning.......................... and then we went to the Hodges house for dinner!! it was a great time haha we were out in their yard and I decided to climb the telephone pole because hey, life's to short to not climb one right? haha it was good. 

For my spiritual thought this week I wanna share a quote that our mission president shared with us this week; 

"...There is nothing easy or automatic about becoming such powerful disciples. Our focus must be riveted on the Savior and His gospel. It is mentally rigorous to strive to look unto Him in every thought. But when we do, our doubts and fears flee." (RMN, GC, Apr. 2017)

I know with out a doubt in my mind that this statement is true. Christ never said that following him would be easy, He only said that it would be worth it. Look to him in all you do and seek his love and help. With out Christ we are nothing. HE IS OUR ONLY WAY BACK. 

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

Elder Wilson

July 3, 2017

America The Beautiful

Hey Y'all!

Wow what a week its been! this past week went by super fast but it was a good one! made a lot of good memories and had a lot of fun doing it! I don't know where to begin so I guess Ill just start at the beginning of the week! 

So Tuesday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders which is always a good time! I was able to go with my good buddy Elder Burgener who is a total stud! He didn't really have anyone that we could visit that day so we tracted. ALL. DAY. LONG. haha it was a lot of fun and we handed out 6 Book of Mormons and found 7 new potentials investigators. It was a lot of fun though. It was fun serving with someone who I could talk about baseball with. He had a few scholarships offered to him but he said that he needed to serve the Lord before he made any decisions. He's a good guy and I learned a lot and had a lot of good laughs with him. Later that night we made ties and skinned and stuffed a dead squirrel haha. so that was pretty neat!

Not much happened the rest of the week except on Friday I got to go on an exchange with Elder Crouch which is always a blast. we have really become super close with each other! We had a hoot of a time and worked super hard! We went tracting with a member from our ward and were able to hand out 10 Book of Mormons in just an hour and a half!!! Talk about blessings right? I definitely have a firm testimony of member missionary work. If you ever have the opportunity to go out with the missionaries, do it! You will see some great miracles that will come from it!

Then on Saturday Elder Basteen and I had the opportunity to go to a Jehovah's Witness convention!! It was a pretty cool experience. It definitely testified to me that our church truly does have the FULLNESS of the gospel. I'm grateful though for the opportunity that I had to go and witness what they believe in and some of their perspectives. They were a very nice group of people as well. After the convention was over (its like a general conference for them) a bunch of the members came up to us and were shaking our hands and getting to know us which was cool! gotta love Christians :)

So ya,other than that not much happened. haha it was a good and very fast week! Hard to believe that we are already half way through the transfer! Time is flying and I hope it slows down a bit so I can enjoy it a little more. 

For my spiritual thought I just want to thank each of you that have served for our country. We are so blessed to live in the promised land of the Lord and we are even more blessed to have such courageous men and women that are willing to put their life on the line to serve our country and protect each of us. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy your holiday!!! love you all :)

Elder Wilson

The stuffed squirrel!!

The ties me and elder Burgener made!

Twinners 4 Lyfe

Our wonderful exchange picture