Miracles!

HELLOOO Everyone!
To answer your questions, YES I'm alive. :)

(And if you don't already know, I was hit by a car on Thanksgiving day but don't worry, I got the car back. ;) )

So I guess I should start off with that, huh. 

Well we were riding home after a wonderful thanksgiving day, and we waited at the corner of the street to cross until the white man said it was okay to walk like he does. As we started to go across Elder Judkins (my new comp, more later) said man, today was such a good day. I agreed, because it was! Then as I was almost across the street, I saw a car out of the corner of my eye and all I heard was Elder Judkins saying "OH DUDE!" Then I remember being on the street in front of the car, and not wanting to get run over I hurried and got to the side of the road because I didn't know if she was going to keep going or not. But when I did that I realized that my knee was hurting pretty badly so I sat down and wrapped my hands around it to get pressure on it. By then there were probably about 10 or more people that had ran over and were asking me if I was alright or not. I looked at the car and my BIKE WAS STICKING OUT OF THE HEADLIGHT. hahaha. The pedal had jammed into the headlight and was suspended in midair from it. So turns out that the lady (a 60 year old, and she was really shaken up- she kept saying she thought she killed me) had been making a right hand turn and didn't see me crossing the street. I was hit, rolled up onto her car, shattered the windshield, bounced off (going OVER my bike which was stuck in her car, so probably around 7-9 feet in the air), then landed on the street in front of her. So from her perspective I can see why she thought she killed me, because all she saw was me right in front of her, and then BAM her windshield is spider-webbed haha. There was so much commotion it all happened so fast! Probably 5 cops, a fire truck and an ambulance all showed up. I didn't call any though, other people did I guess. I got checked out by the paramedics, and they didn't find anything wrong with me. There was a tow truck driver that came to tow her car (since she couldn't see out of it) and he kept saying how he always knew that "you guys" had some divine protection, but then he said "but now I really believe. You should have died!" The paramedics said the same things. So God was definitely watching over me, and I definitely believe it. Hopefully he starts to "investigate" the Church now because of that! :)

My bike was suprisingly not that bad of condition! The front wheel was bent out of shape, but other than that it still rides pretty well. (I got a new wheel) Oh my watch broke but it's cool because it was the time of the accident haha :) I'll send that picture home too.

So yeah! That was my cool adventure for the week. :) Elder Judkins and I were joking around saying maybe this was the reason I was sent back to this area. So I could get hit and have someone converted after seeing it! ;)

The next morning I thought I was going to be really really sore because my knee was tight, my ankle hurt, my lower back right above the hip, my ribs, and my shoulder. But I prayed that I wouldn't be hurting or stiff, and when I woke up the next morning I was completely fine!! All I have/had was a little bruise on my left knee. (Which is strange, all those places that hurt were on the left side of my body, and she hit me from the right. So I'm thinking I was knocked out for a little bit when she hit me, then landed flat on my left side on the street. But I don't know. Like I said it all happened way too fast.

But something even more amazing happened! When we got home, Elder Judkins and I noticed some blood on my dress shirt. So I took it off, and there was some (obviously) on my undershirt* too. But when I took that off, there wasn't any wounds at all on my back. Just skin! So something miraculous must have happened there. I thought that was pretty amazing. :) 

On Sunday we had to give talks in sacrament meeting. TWENTY MINUTES EACH. That seemed so insane! So I definitely was praying pretty hard to fill up the time, haha. I ended exactly on time though, it was a mini miracle for me. I hadn't looked up at all the entire talk and when I did it was the time I needed to end! :) A lot of people came up to me afterwards and told me they really liked my talk. One lady said that she was trying to write down all the scriptures and references from Preach My Gospel that I used in my talk. She said "Your talk was really powerful. You really have the Spirit with you!" That was the best compliment I've probably ever gotten. :) 

Oh I saw Kimberly Carlson and her husband! That was pretty cool. We were out with a member for dinner, and she walked in haha. It was a little strange seeing someone I know but it was still a good experience. 

So Elder Judkins. He got trained by Elder Davidson, so since I'm finishing up his training I'm his "stepdad". But since Elder Davidson is MY step dad, that also makes us step brothers. hahaha missionary family trees are so jacked up. He's a really great missionary though. He knows his stuff, isn't afraid to talk to people, WE GET ALONG, and he's pretty laid back. So I think this transfer is going to go great. He's from Texas but he doesn't have the accent! I don't think we have a normal picture together, so you'll have to see him either next week or in the picture from thanksgiving.

Hope all is well!
Love ya :)

-Elder Wilson

 Look! I promise I'm okay mom ;)

 My bike tire

 The scene of the crime! hahaha. Look at that car! Told ya I got it back ;)

 Me getting into the ambulance to get checked out

 Time of the accident! But I think the minute hand moved a little because it was 9:04 

(We were teaching a lesson! Don't judge! Missionary Handbook pg#15)

My study table!

Back To My Roots

So transfers came again, and I'm getting the boot. BUT I'M GOING BACK TO MIDVALE. The same area even! Where I was with Elder Davidson. I'm with his son and I'm finishing training. My new address is

6748 Hollowdale Drive

Cottonwood Heights, Utah 84121

So this week is HOPEFULLY not going to be totally crazy and jumbled. There are a lot of other missionaries in here and so it's hard to concentrate. But Alonso had a really good lesson with us! We showed up at his house and he was having a bad day. He eventually let us in, and we asked him if he wanted to read the Book of Mormon. He said sure, and then at the end he was really peaceful and calm! He said he had a good feeling inside so I explained that it was the Spirit telling him that was he was reading was true. He said that makes sense and he knew it was true too :) Turns out he had been praying to get more calm and to get in a better mood, and we showed up a few minutes later! It was awesome. 

There was a girl that texted us the other day this week, and she had some questions about the Church and the Gospel and things like that. She asked a few more questions  and so we asked her if she has her own copy of the Book of Mormon. She didn't, so I wrote my testimony in one and highlighted some of the key scriptures like the first and last two paragraphs in the intro, and Moroni 10: 3-5. We also gave her some of the pamphlets  :) Her friend Riley met us because Alexa is too afraid to because of her parents. So I hope that progresses while I'm gone. And Alonso too!!

Alright well I have to go now, I promise I'll try and make next week longer!! 

I love you! :)
-Elder Wilson

 This is the Walmart that we shop at. People are HUGE U fans out here!

 LOOK HOW COOL THIS SNOW DRAGON IS

Elder Bass and I

Oh the weather outside is WONDERFUL

This week was so awesome! IT SNOWED!! :D A lot, too. We were going to ride our bikes in it, but we decided that it was a little too icy and slippery to do that. The wind was also pretty chilly on bikes. So we've been walking the last few days. But I love the weather! We shoveled out our pathway from the door to the sidewalks and I realized that I actually like shoveling snow. Everyone says they hate it, so I'm pretty sure I will by the end of the winter, but as of right now I'm happy to do it.

We took Alonso to mutual with us, and he loved hanging out with all the people his age. I think he's meshing pretty well with them. He's a cool guy and a lot of the youth from the ward like him. 

We had zone specialized training on Thursday (no district meeting!! ;) ) and that was really good. We talked about how we need to invite everyone to be baptized, and to do it in the first lesson. I'm glad the zone leaders talked about it, because my district really needs to hear that. As missionaries, we're supposed to invite on the first lesson. How else will they know why we're here? Or what we/The Lord expects from them? Not that I'm saying that I'm perfect at it because I'm far from it, but still. We have to give the opportunity to everyone. Not everyone will accept, but you never know who is waiting to be invited and is too scared or doesn't realize it within themselves that they want that change in their lives. 

We finally got a hold of Sheri Martinez, who is a recent convert who fell off the face of the earth. She doesn't ever answer her door, haha. But we texted her and asked if we could introduce ourselves to her and her family, and she agreed! So we went over there and did it, and she's a really nice lady. She has a 10 year old daughter that she wants to have baptized, so we're going to be working with them. I hope we will be able to continue to get a hold of her, haha. 

I made a mini snow-man! I forgot to take a picture of him but good news: The snow is gonna be around for a while. ;) So I'll get a picture for next time! I typed up the lyrics for that song. So read them! And listen to the song, it's seriously powerful.

Behold the sign, The light of hope
At last, the King is born
As the prophets told
The star is come
And the angels sing for joy
Yet the dark of doubt confounds the day
How quickly blindness clouds the way
Then the mountains fell
The cities burned
Raging thunder rent the sky
What a mournful wail
Filled up the air
And the mist turned day to night
But the Father said:
Behold My Son, I am well pleased
Now hear ye Him.
The shadows flee
His quiet voice
Come see the light of hope descend
Be free of doubt and arise
Come touch his wounds
And fall at his feet
The lost reclaimed
Come see the light

Though slain he lives
The Lamb of God
Go touch the prints and know
Kneel at His feet
And worship Him,
For your soul He drank the cup
Hosana with one accord
Blessed the name, The Most High God
The shadows flee, His quiet voice,
Come see the light of hope descend
Be free of doubt and arise
Come touch His wounds
And fall at His feet,
The lost reclaimed
Come see the light
He is Alpha and Omega,
He is the light and life of the world
Build on His rock
And break the gates of hell
And then turn with Him
The shadows flee His quiet voice
Come see the light of hope descend
Be free of doubt and arise
Come touch His wounds
And fall at His feet
The lost reclaimed,
Come see the light
Come see the light

Come see the light.

Anyways, I hope all is well back home! I love you!
Elder Wilson

Ps sorry this letter is so short, I'm running outta time!

 This is my landlord, John Smith! The Christmas lights are coming up!!

It was snowing so hard! I love it! 

We looked out our window and saw this! We found the closet to Narnia.

So incredible! Yes I may be going overboard with the snow picture but hey I'm from California!

Veteran's day

Elder Wilson, Elder Tuiketei, Elder Bass, and Elder Shreeve. 

It got really washed out but I kind of like it!

Here's a regular one of us.

November!

So this week, not much happened. I mean a lot did, but the main person I want to focus on is Alonso! HE IS SO COOL. He's 16, in high school, and he has a real conviction to learn more and to really soak in all that he can. We've taught him a lot this past week. We started to teach him about the plan of salvation, and he ended up having some questions that we answered. They were about faith and if God were really real or not. We bore testimony and showed him scriptures/taught about faith, and after that he knew there was a God. It was pretty powerful. :) Then at another lesson we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and then answered some of his questions about some of the commandments that he had heard about. He seemed happy with the answers and understood them well. Then we went by to pick him up for church, and he was already in the shower getting ready to go!! So awesome. So we waited, and then walked together to church. HE LOVED IT! :) It was testimony meeting, and there were a lot of little kids that day so it was a little noisy. But I was praying, Please let the Spirit touch his heart, please please please! When the last three people that got up the whole room was quiet and the Spirit was super strong. :) Afterwards he pointed to his chest and said he felt warm inside. Then he said "Man, I feel SO good right now!" I explained that that was the Spirit that he felt, and that the Holy Ghost was telling him truth. He ended up staying for all three hours! He loved all of it and the young men really took him under their wing it was PERFECT. He said originally that he would probably only go to the first hour. Which makes sense, because it seems like a long time to be at church for 3 hours. But after the first one I asked if he wanted to go to the next hour with the youth his age, and he said "Heck ya!" That was really cool. Then after that hour, I said alright you've been two hours do you wanna go home or stay? "Naw, man I really like it! I wanna stay if it's alright!" He said he can't wait until next week. He's going to go to D.I. to get a suit he said. So cool!! Definitely an answer to my prayers. :)

So that was the highlight of my week definitely. During church a guy came up to me and asked if I would speak in Primary to the little kids about how they can be a missionary and how I chose to be a missionary. So I stood up in front of all of them and told them about how if people ask them what they believe in and why they might not do certain things that they can answer and use it as a chance to be a missionary by talking about the church and inviting them to scouts or activity days or things like that. It was cool seeing all the kids' looks in their eyes :)

Speaking of missionaries, I got a letter from a really good friend yesterday telling me that they were thinking about going on a mission but weren't sure if it was right for them or not yet. Personally, I think they should. They would be a really great missionary and it will help them out a ton. But if any of you are thinking about going on a mission, and you're not quite sure if you should, GO FOR IT. What do you have to lose? NOTHING! :) (you definitely don't lose two years, (or 18 months) if anything you GAIN two years from all the experience and life lessons you get out here.) You learn how to manage time, manage money, build relationships, how to deal with being with someone 24/7 (hahaha), and most importantly you get closer to God and Jesus Christ than any other way. It is so rewarding being out here. I almost want time to slow down! I can't believe I'm coming up on 7 months here pretty soon. There's enough work here for a lifetime! Sounds cheesy probably, but there really is. :)

Have you heard "Come See the Light" by Clyde Bawden? I'M IN LOVE WITH IT. I'll try and send it to you! Ah!It gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it.

I hope everyone enjoyed the extra hour of sleep! I always think of my Dad around this time of year, he hates when it gets dark this early! ;)

Love,

Elder Wilson.

This is Elder Tuiketei! I promise I'm happy ;)