Elder

Elder

Monday, July 28, 2014

July 28, 2014

Heyo Family! 

Well this week has been pretty great.  We have YSA Family Home Evening on Monday which was loads of fun. Made me excited to be a YSA when I get home.  We have worked pretty hard this week and its been a lot of fun hot work. We taught a couple that were formers and they were super solid.  They really want to learn more and read the Book of Mormon.  So pray for them!  It is always amazing to me how the Lord knows when people will be prepared to accept the gospel.  I love the quote that says we see ourselves in yesterday and today and Heavenly Fathers sees us in forever.  So amazing to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and that as long as we keep the commandments and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit we can't be led astray.  The rest of the week was great.  Had a baptism on Saturday and it went well.  I had to conduct it which was my first time conducting anything but it was a lot of fun! The Isle of Wight is beautiful and just a crazy farming/jungle paradise.  It is still very hot but oh well.  I'm getting along with my companion really well.  He is a stud and so dang funny.  He also likes to work out and can run so dang fast.  He is really getting my fat bum into shape! I was also able to ride the Hovercraft for the first time which was pretty cool.  Just looks like a big boat with fans on the back but it flies over the water pretty fast.  Well my family I hope you are all doing so well and know that I pray for you and love you so much! Here is a scripture to help us remember that God really does love us and knows what is best for us! 

"Be still, and know that I am God."- Psalm 46:10

LOVE YA'LL TO SHREDZZ!!! 

Love,

Elder Wilson

Just a beach we were contacting by.  Hopefully its a good picture could really tell because of the sun


The island is suppose to be really haunted so they give haunted tours and this lady is literally right next to the flat.  I can lean out the window and look to the left to see here haha


Lady that got baptized on saturday. Pam!




Dad's Sidenote
As of tomorrow Collin there is a possibility that Collin will be home in one year.  This is based off transfer dates and sending missionaries home a week before Visa's expire.  Hard to believe his mission is half over.  He is turning into a spiritual giant!!  We are so proud of him!

Monday, July 21, 2014

July 21, 2014

Hello Family! 

Well I am now an islander which is just the coolest thing ever.  Isle of Wight is pretty dang epic.  We live in the middle but cover all over the Island.  It is about 70 miles all the way around and 26 miles across so a pretty big island. But there are only like five major towns so big area but not a lot of people.  The nice thing is that it is summer and a lot of festivals are going on so the islands population just doubles which is epic. In a town called Cowes they have what they call Cowes Week which is when they have one of the biggest yacht races in the world. So that is pretty cool.  Our flatt is pretty small but for the first time on my mission I don't have bunk bed! So that is just great! The island is super hot and humid.  I sleep, I sweat. I walk, I sweat. I eat, I sweat. I shower, I sweat. I talk to people, I sweat.  Life is just great! Going to lose a ton of weight! The craziest thing though is that by the time I will probably get moved I will be out almost 18 months!  That is just the weirdest thought ever! Anyway the ward is pretty great.  The island is like no other ward I've been apart of.  It has about 100 people and they are all so relaxed and basically all family.  It feels like Clarkston:) My companion is a great guy! He has been on the Island for 6 months and will be here with me for another month and half:) He is about a month and half younger than me mission age wise.  And I bet you all guessed it, yes he is from Sandy, Utah. Making him my fifth Utah companion. Guess I need to learn something from Utahans or the Lord just wants me to have a lot of good friends when I go home:) They had a baptism last Sunday with a 23 year old model named Harriet. She is really great and I felt privileged to be apart of her confirmation.  We also will be having a baptism of another lady named Pam.  She is older and Reminds me of my GG:) She is hilarious and so dang great!  I also have Sisters in my ward for the first time ever which is really weird but great as well.  They just bring so much Spirit with them! I'm excited to serve her and it will be a lot of fun! The Island is just completely different then any other place and I love it! 

I love all of you and hope you all have a great week! LOVE YA TO SHREDZZ!! 

Love,

Elder Wilson

Trip to the island by hovercraft 

Not sure if the road melted or the person doing the striping drank to much. 

This is the town street Collin lives on.  They just had a parade.

Monday, July 14, 2014

July 14, 2014

Well I am moving to my new area this Wednesday! That will make for 4 areas and 7 companions in my first year.  That is a lot more then I expected haha:) The area I will be going to is called the Isle of Wight. Just of the coast of Portsmouth so I will be moving back to my old zone which pretty cool.  My new comps names is Elder Belnap and from what I hear he is a hilarious guy so the Lord has once again blessed me with another great companion! I sure will miss Crawley though.  Going to miss the Cragg family with who I stay with.  Their oldest son Ben is the greatest and will miss him a ton! This week was pretty fun.  We did some more service for a guy we met on the street six weeks ago. He had us clear this big area of vines with massive thorns and all I had was gloves with holes in them and a scythe haha. Then we hand to cut big ole branches off that had some massive thorns that were just solid wood. Elder Gunnell took a few and made a crown just like the one they put on the Saviours head.  Really put into perspective what must have felt like to have that pressed into your head.  I had a few fall on mine from them falling and it didn't feel all that good. That amazing part though is the guy we did service for only wanted us to help him six weeks ago but he came to church and new some members and said next time he will bring his whole family and won't have appointments so he can stay the whole time! So amazing! The Lord is definitely blessing the people here in Crawley.  It was funny cause when he came to church he recognized one of the members and the member recognized him and shouted his name and gave him a big ole hug! It was the greatest! I just love this gospel and all that it does for us.  Saturday we went to the temple with an investigator and it helped her so much.  She really felt the Spirit and made the comment I don't know how anyone could not accept this and know its true.  The temple is such a blessing and how grateful I am for it and all the blessings and love that pours from it.  How wonderful it is to have a Heavenly Father that loves us so much and pours out so many blessings!  THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Well that's it for most of my week.  Hope you all are doing well and LOVE YA TO SHREDZZ!! 


Love,
Elder Wilson
Arms after removing thorny bushes


The Thorny Bushes



This is one of the family members that Collin lives with


London Temple with an investigator

Dad's Note

Collin gave me a task to study D&C 8 and 9 which is about asking the Lord and receiving answers but it also talks about why we may fail and this is fear.  Here is a little something he wrote to me that I would like to share.  

Glad you studied D&C!  I love those chapters as well since it is always a nice rebuke:)  I love how you just lays out how to receive personal revelation.  It is amazing how much he loves us and truly wants to talk to us.  Fear is definitely a killer of faith.  The two scriptures I love that help me to remember that there no need to fear are D&C 6:36 and Timothy 1:7. The Lord gives us every opportunity to succeed we just have to be willing to put the effort in.  We must also remember that doubt and fear lead to despair and Moroni 10:22 lets us know that despair comes from inequity so if we want to rid or selves of fear and walk uprightly before God we need to always repent and let Virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly! Thanks for sharing all that with me.  It was something I needed to hear. I think the greatest blessing of serving am mission are the ones that go to your family.  Elder Nielson gave a talk to the new mission presidents and told them "Why do missionaries serve missions?" It is to bless their great great grandchildren with blessing of being sealed in the temple for eternity. Everything we do in the church is to point to the temple." I thought that was pretty amazing that I am here not for myself but for my future family.  The Lord is so mindful of us and all our needs! My heart swells with so much gratitude as I remember and see all the blessings he gives me in my life! Thanks for all you do dad and I LOVE YA TO SHREDZZ!! 

Love,
Elder Wilson

Here is a little info as to where he is getting transferred to:

Collin said they have huge festivals i the summer and the population goes from 100,000 to 250,000 during the summer.

Climate

Being one of the most southerly parts of the UK, the Isle of Wight has a milder sub-climate than most other areas, which makes it a popular holiday destination, particularly the resorts in the south east of the island. It also has a longer growing season than most other areas in the UK. The mean temperature is 13 degrees Celsius averaged over the whole year, and is 18 degrees in July and August. The microclimate of places such as Lower Ventnor is influenced by their sheltered position under the cliffs. The Isle of Wight is also sunnier than most parts of the UK and Western Europe, with 1800–2100 hours of sunshine a year, more than areas of northern Spain.

Modern history

During the Second World War the island was frequently bombed. With its proximity to France the island also had a number of observation stations and transmitters, and was the starting-point for one of the earlier Operation Pluto pipelines to feed fuel to the Normandy landings.
The Needles battery was used as the site for testing and development of the Black Arrow and Black Knight space rockets, subsequently launched from WoomeraAustralia.
The Isle of Wight Festival was a very large rock festival that took place near Afton Down, West Wight in 1970, following two smaller concerts in 1968 and 1969. The 1970 show was notable both for being one of the last public performances by Jimi Hendrix and for the number of attendees reaching, by many estimates, 600,000. The festival was revived in 2002 in a different format and is now an annual event.







Monday, July 7, 2014

July 7, 2014

Elder Wilson is doing great but didn't have a lot of time to write a family letter but did send pictures.   Transfers are coming up this week and he is hoping that he and his companion will not get transferred.  They are working hard and enjoy the area they are in.   They do have a baptism scheduled for August 9th and hope all will go well with that.   It is hard to believe that he has been out for 11 months now!  Next year at his time we will be counting down the hours till he is home.

Crawley District!  Elder Gunnell and I are doing the First Presidency Pose:)


I think he is looking to teach Robin Hood

He said he was preaching to the squirrels!!

Learning to make Cinnamon Rolls

"I would walk 500 miles"
Finally figured out why his feet got wet when it rains.
Time to get them resoled!