December 2, 2013

Hola Familia!

Well I thought I would type this up first before any other long letters since from what my Dad tells me you all want to know whats going on with me apparently;) Well I have been fantastic the last two weeks! I forget to mention that three weeks ago we had stake conference and they released the Stake President so that what cool to see that, but it also meant a member from the Seventy came and also and Area Seventy.  Elder Walker was the Seventy and Elder Herbertson was the Area Seventy which is cool because he use to be the bishop of my ward, long before I ever came here but still pretty cool.  We were able to go to the adult session and priesthood leader session which was amazing.  Elder Walker said that one of things President Monson worries about the most is how members give talks in sacrament meetings.  He says that the way the General Authorities give their talks in Conference is not the way a talk should be given in sacrament meeting.  They do that in Conference because what they say has to be translatted so they have to send in their talks early. But outside of Conference they only make outlines for the talks they will give around the world.  President Monson also said he does not want to go to a sacrament meeting and hear what Elder Packer or Holland said (Funny because they were in front of him so he could point at them). He wants to hear how that principle or doctrine has blessed and helped that person in ther life.  The Holy Ghost will affect people more when things come from the heart.  That means prepare a talk, but only an outline so when you get up to talk you can allow the Spirit to guide you through your talk and to say the things that need to be said. 

This week we had zone conference and Elder Teixeira from the Seventy and his wife spoke to us.  It was so amazing and he made us a promise and a challenge so that was pretty amazing.  You can't tell during conference because of the apostles, but members of the Seventy have such an amazing spirit and power about them its so cool.  Sister Teixeira also spoke and she talked about over coming fear.  She said the 4 things that lead to fear are 1. Lack of Knowledge 2. Lack of Prepration 3. Lack of Faith and 4. Lack of Love.  These are all so true and I hope you can take what I have told you and strip yourself of pride and fear and become the disciple that Christ needs you to be. 

The rest of the week was a lot of hard work.  We had a lot of cancelations and just people not wanting to talk to us.  Last week we had a guy walk into church and so we have been teaching him a lot.  He doesn't want to be baptized because it is not the in thing to do haha.  He has a few mental problems, but he is the best! He loves church and meeting with us so we know its going to happen.  His mom wants to meet us so that is exciting as well.  Elder Stewart is the funniest guy and so humble.  He can remember all the lines from movies and funny comedians.  The best is when he quotes stuff from church movies that are really cheesy.  We also quote kid history a lot haha.  We didn't have a Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving, but did get fed so that was great.  We did get our Thanksgiving dinner though last night which was so amazing.  They don't have pumpkin pie here, but the member made some from scratch and it was amazing! It was a fun and hard week at the same time as it always seems to be.

Time for the spiritual thought.  I just want to talk about praying and scripture study just a little.  These are probably the hardest thing for us to do. I know that it was for me and thought I was going to struggle with it on my mission.  WRONG! If I don't get personal study in I want to cry because I love it so much and it helps me with my day so much.  And as far as praying, if I'm not on my knees I have prayers going through my mind and heart constantly.  I want to sorta of aim this towards the youth, but its good for the adults as well to remind them how important prayer is. 

Because of ONE prayer from a teenage boy I am now serving a mission in England.  Because of One prayer from a teenage boy priesthood authority was restored to the earth and has given me the chance to give my dad a blessing of comfort and healing.  Becasue of ONE prayer by a teenage boy families can be sealed together forever in Holy Temples all around the world.  And let us not forget that because of ONE prayer given by our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ we can all be saved and return to live with our Heavenly Father again.  Never under estimate the power of one prayer no matter what age you are.  We have to remember though that prayers are answered in the Lords time not ours.  Heavenly Father knows exactly when we need something and sometimes he is testing our faith to see how much we really desire something.  Also most prayers are answered through other people.  So pay attention in church, seminary, to parents, and to chilrden because they may hold the answer to your prayer.  One of my favorite sayings is "If we want to talk to our Heavenly Fathere we pray and if we want to hear from him we read our scriptures.  So read your scriptures! John Bytheway said its interesting "when youth go to EFY or on missions how they say that was the best week or two years of my life.  So you mean being surrounded by people with same desires as you, reading you scriptures every day, praying everyday, and serving others makes you happy?  Living the gospel makes you happy?" I hope we can all realize how important prayer and daily study is.  Personal study everyday in the morning will help the Spirit to be with us more and will soften our hearts and give us courage to follow the promptings it gives us and to help us be the answer to others prayers.  Harold B. Lee said, "I don't worry about the youth that pray two times a day."  I think that applies to adults as well.  I promise you that as you strive to pray morning and night and study the scriptures everyday your life and the lives of others will be enriched and blessed.  You will find the Spirit to be with you more abunduntly, you will have the strength to overcome your temptations and weaknesses, and you will be moer willing to share the gospel.  By doing the simple things we will draw closer to our Saviour Jesus Christ and he will draw near to us. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a great week and LOVE YOU TO SHREDZZ!!!

Love,
Elder Wilson