November 4, 2013

Hello!!

Well this week has been a rough one.  We found out as a district that a missionary we are close to will be going home for some major disobedience. It was really hard to take in and made me feel and love him so much more for his willingness to repent and grower closer to Christ through his atonement.  Keep him in your prayers that he will have the strength to keep pressing forward.

We also had to drop all of our investigators which really put a damper on things.  It is hard not being able to teach anyone, but I know that I just need to work harder with Elder Anderson and let the Lord do the rest.  It is his work, not mine.  We are putting our time in seeing more less actives which has been a huge blessing.  We are meeting with one lady who served a mission and still has an amazing testimony.  Just a man is getting in the way of her going to church and she needs to end, but she is close to doing that so I can't wait to see her at church soon.

We have some more less actives we are seeing this week and I cannot wait to meet them and help them feel the love of the Savior again.

A little bit about Slough I thought I would add.  Every place is very compact and a home here is like an apartment in America.  My tiny flatt cost the same as a monthly payment on a house almost.  It is crazy and glad I don't have to pay for it sorta haha.  It is funny when you are knocking though cause sometimes you only have to shuffle a few feet over for the next door.  England is just a crazy place with crazy drivers and people.  I LOVE IT!!!

My spiritual thought for this week has to do with pride.  If you read the Book of Mormon carefully you will realize that every time the Nephites start to fall into wickedness and eventually are destroyed is because of pride.  Pride is one of the main messages of the Book of Mormon.  If we do not rid ourselves of pride and humble ourselves before God we will only find misery in this life and the life to come.

 In district meeting this last week we talked about pride and how when we are teaching an investigator we need them to humble themselves before they can even ready the Book of Mormon let alone be baptized.

When one is humble he or she realizes that they are nothing and need Heavenly Father and Christ Atonement more and more to strength them everyday. In Alma 5:27-28 it says

27. Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?

28. Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.

Pride is one of the hardest things to get out of our system and is something we must continually everyday rid ourselves so they may not be natural men and women, but sons and daughters of God.  Humility is what leads us to have faith and to act and rely on that faith we gain.

 With faith also comes hope and charity that everyone needs in order to do the will of God.  Let us be like Ammon and say everyday "I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therfore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." (Alma 26:12)  We an ask everyday for the strength to overcome our weaknesses and to become men and women of God.  It will call for us to be humble at all times even when facing adversity.

Salvation is not meant to be easy to obtain and we must walk a few steps in Christ shoes.  I encourage you to read and share with your familes "The Inconvient Christ" by Elder Holland.  It will change your perspective on what it means to be a true Christian.  Remember Christ himself wanted to know if there was another way to go through the atonement, but because he was humble and submitted himself to God's will he drank of the bitter cup.  Because of what Christ willingness to submit to the Father's will we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with our Heavenly Father again.  It is my hope that we will strive to humble ourselves everyday and align our will with God's will.  I know and promise that as you will strive to be humble you will be blessed and find more happinness and joy then you have ever felt in your life, even when the world around you seems to be falling apart.  I love all of you and hope you have an amazing week and grow closer to the Lord!

Love,

Elder Wilson