Happy New Years! [Eve]

First off, before you skim over my letter and don't read it, check out this video!! It is really good. But before you do that, are you familiar with Lot and his wife from the Old Testament? You can read two of the verses here. But basically the Lord commands Lot and his family to get out of Sodom and Gomorrah because it's very wicked and is about to be destroyed. And to NOT LOOK BACK. When they're leaving, Lot's wife looks back (spiritually as well) and is turned into a pillar of salt. She longs to still be there, in her heart. So watch the video and think of how it applies! It's pretty awesome.

You don't have to wait until New Years to make a resolution to do better, to be better. Every day is the beginning of the rest of your life. (It just so happens to be New Years day tomorrow, so use it as the first day anyways!) I love these videos.

I hope everyone's Christmas was awesome! Mine definitely was. We were able to Skype home and talk with our families. That was good to see them. Everyone looks so much more grown up! I didn't get trunky from it though, don't worry! I honestly have too much to worry about out here and too much stuff I have to get done that I don't have time to think about anything else. The rest of Christmas was really good too. We were able to spend it with the Pickles. They're an awesome family! They had us over for breakfast, and we hung out with them playing some games and stuff like that. Then we went over to a church building later on and played basketball and some other games with a TON of other missionaries. Two zones combined, so about half our mission. That was a lot of fun. I brought a bag full of candy and chocolate that we had collected over the holidays and I was pleased to see that most of it was eaten! haha. Elder Smith and I are trying our best not to gain weight. ;) 

We had MLC yesterday (Missionary Leadership Council, it used to be called ZLC or zone leader council but now the sister training leaders are invited and so obviously since it's not just the zone leaders there anymore it has to be called something else). That was awesome! We talked about how the mission is doing, and what it needs help with. We talked about who we think should be in leadership (and who should NOT be, haha), what we all need as a whole to do better at, etc. It's always really cool to be a part of that. Usually it's at the mission office, but this time we were able to go to President Moffat's actual home to have it. That was awesome. (It's pretty nice. ;) ) 

We took the Millers to temple square on Friday! That was awesome! But it was way too crowded. Too many people were there trying to see the lights and everything. But it was cool. We watched the family video with them. That was way good. They really liked that I think. They are the perfect family though. So awesome! I wish all of you could meet them. JaNeina is going to be baptized this Saturday!!! She's really excited and so am I! :) Well, and Elder Smith haha.

This week was awesome. Happy New Years!
Love,

Elder Wilson

 Merry Christmas! This was our Christmas Card

 I found the tree of life!!!

I found these perfectly shaped snowflakes on the window of the car!

The group at the party!! So much fun.

 Me and Elder Conley

 Elder Bowie and I

 Elder Bowie, Elder Leyva, Elder Wesley, and I

 Elder lamb and I

 The California group!! Elder Bloomfield, Elder Franco, Elder Nuttall, Elder Gold and I

Elder Villayvong, Elder Haught, and I

MERRY CHRISTmas!

I hope this year's Christmas is awesome for everyone out there. I hope that all of you remember what the true meaning of it all is! And, I hope that everyone is able to feel of this amazing Spirit that is all around us.

So guess what? We had a Christmas conference as a mission and someone came to visit! Guess who?

ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND. Oh yeaaahhhh. That was so awesome!! If I had a favorite Apostle, he would definitely be it. He talked about our mission and how it was a pilot program for a lot of things, like our mission president already being a mission president beforehand, him living in his home and not having to move, using senior couples who serve from their homes and are full-time proselyting missionaries, and a few other things. I'll just type them up from my notes because they're so much better than me trying to paraphrase them.
"I need you today to see yourself a century in the future. It seems to me that I have thought of my mission every day for the last 50 years. Don't miss one day. I don't care whether or not you like your companions or not. This is the most sweet and spiritual experience you will probably ever get. Hang on to every MINUTE of it! Squeeze the very life out of it. You're supposed to go through the bad, so that you can appreciate the good.

I wanna know what you're gonna say at your homecoming. I wanna know what you're going to tell the little deacons sitting there listening to you. To the laurels deciding to go to college, get married, go on a mission, at the crossroads in her life. They need to hear the power of Almighty GOD (Pounding his fist on the podium) in your voice when you testify. Not the stupid stores of you teasing your companion. You hold the baton of this great work now. The same one that Isaiah, Moses, Ezekial, Jeremiah, Amulek, all the great prophets held. You do not have the right to dishonor this work. You're standing in the same circle as the best men in history when you put on that badge.

You don't have the right to go home and be an idiot. Nothing is more important than what you're doing right now. Don't ever think that you can go home and set all this aside. Go back to 'real life'. This IS real life!! (He pounded his fist on the podium again). Capital R, capital L! I don't understand how a missionary can go less active. We are God's investigators. He wants US to do the things that we want OURS to do. Change habits, leave our bad influencing friends, repent, pray, listen, everything! Never ever ever be the same again. This is the pivotal moment in your life.

Promise me that on this Christmas Eve, that you will not ever ever EVER leave it or dishonor it. That this will sink into every fiber of your soul. Don't any of you ever be homesick! It's not worth it.

Man I could go on and on. To me that was better than General Conference! haha. We got to shake hands with him one by one. When I got to him, he shook my hand, then as I was about to walk away he kind of held on and said "Thank you, Elder." So awesome!! I know this probably sounds so stupid me typing this but trust me it was so powerful. I KNOW that he is an Apostle of the Lord. The way you felt when he walked into the room is undeniable. There's no way he couldn't be.

The rest of the week went pretty well too. But none was as good as this morning, when he came to visit the mission. That was so awesome. We had district meeting, and an exchange as well. Christmas is awesome!! I love this time of the year. Have an awesome Christmas everyone!

I love you!

Elder Wilson

 We made a snowman!! He used to be as tall as I was, but he slumped over from being melted. 

This is our Christmas setup! Pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Which I do. 

 Elder Smith, Elder Wilson, and Elder Mintey. And a photobomber.

 Elder Wood!

Elder Dean and I at the Christmas conference

Not too bad of a week!

This week was pretty good. We have a lot of people that we're working with!

We had zone training this past week. It went really well. It was Elder Smith's first one as a zone leader but I think he handled it pretty well. We trained on how we as missionaries need to be proactive and not reactive, and we can do that by planning ahead. We listed a bunch of things we can do to plan ahead, preventing problems before they happen. Then we took them into the gym for "gym time" for an activity on demonstrating what the difference between being pro and re active is. They had a big area with a lot of pieces of paper on it. if they stopped on the wrong paper, they had a dodgeball thrown at them. That was a lot of fun. Then I gave them a piece of paper with a map of the ones that would make them have to dodge a dodgeball. The Assistants came and loved it. I think that it really helped out the zone helping them realize that they need to not go through the motions but really step it up and be proactive!

We also went on exchanges. I went with Elder Lamb again, and he came to my area. He has a lot of potential to be a great leader. I just want him to make sure he gets the language down well enough first. But he will go far I think. It was awesome being on exchanges with him though because we didn't have to leave the apartment until 1pm!!! (8-9 personal study, 9-10 personal study, 10-11 first twelve weeks training, 11-12 language study, and 12-1 lunch! haha.) So we skipped the cold that day. Although it has been warming up lately which makes it feel a lot better. It's probably about 30-35 degrees but I don't even need gloves because it feels so much warmer!! Crazy. 

We picked up a few new people to teach, and they all accepted baptismal dates. One has cerebral palsy and so he was a little scared of the water. Actually a lot scared of the water. But we explained how he would be baptized and that he would be able to stand in about waist high water. And we would hold on to him the entire time, and he would only be under the water for a split second. He was really excited to be baptized after that, because he knows everything is true, he just was a little scared which is completely understandable. Other than that, Tiffany accepted another date after "falling off" date the other week. She is excited for her baptism too. 

We've been having a couple of ward parties which have been a lot of fun. We have been bringing the people we're teaching and they seem to love it. That always makes me happy when i see them fitting in with the rest of the ward here. How's things going back home? Hopefully everyone is ready for Christmas. It's coming up so soon!!

Love ya! Merry Christmas!
Elder Wilson

 Hudson's baptism!

Yeah, winter's finally here.

I don't think it's been above freezing for the last week! But it's all good, that just makes us try to get into doors more. haha. Plus, I was always complaining about it being too hot earlier in the year so I have no room to complain! ;) I haven't slipped once, but Elder Smith has. He ate it on some ice in a parking lot the other day. But don't worry, I didn't laugh. Too hard.

Hudson got baptized!! I'll attach a picture of it. My camera died, but I knew it was low so I had brought my camera charger and so i juiced it up for about 10 minutes and I was able to take a few. He is such a cool guy. He is way smart! And knows everything about the Gospel and the Church. It makes sense though, because he has been coming to church for 6 years. But his mom finally allowed him to be baptized so he was able to. The mom wanted it to be a really small baptism, so we didn't have any talks or anything. We had to convince her to have an opening and closing song even! Pretty crazy. But oh well. He really enjoyed it. Now his brother just needs to make up his mind to be baptized..

I went on exchanges with an Elder from Australia, Elder Bowie. He's a pretty cool guy. He still says some of the Australian lingo like boot for a car's trunk, car park for a parking lot, "no joy" instead of bad luck or no luck, and just some other stuff like that. haha. It's pretty funny to hear the members try and guess what he's talking about. 

Man. Other than that, nothing really happened this week! We did pick up a few new people that we're teaching, Callie and Jesus. (hey-soos) They accepted a baptismal date for January 4th! That will be pretty cool. She has grown up here in Utah but knows nothing about the church. And he is from Venezuela so he doesn't know too much about it either. They wanted their daughter to be baptized as well, but she was only 4. And we didn't want to bring out the big guns in Moroni 8 or D&C yet. ;) They just moved in to the apartment complex we cover.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! People are always nicer around this time of year, which is good. People always offer us chocolate and cookies and hot chocolate, it's pretty funny. Don't forget the real meaning of Christmas!!

Love,
Elder Wilson

The Snow Has Come.

The first day of real snow is today. I'm pretty sure it's here to stay, too. Which is not good. We had to shovel our landlord's driveway this morning. But I didn't mind because it is always fun the first couple of times that you do it! I'm sure it will get old really quick.

When Elder Smith and I met up, I first went over the Zone Leader responsibilities with him. He's going to catch on really quick. He's a good missionary. He's also really mature which is good because we need to be as zone leaders. He has already graduated from College with his degree! He is an electrical engineer. But yeah, he's a really hard worker. We have already gone to some meetings together and I can tell that it's going to be a good transfer. I'm pretty sure I said that in the last email but OH WELL.

Thanksgiving was pretty good. We did a 5K called "Beat the President". I'll attach the picture. Even though it's a horrible picture, without anyone looking and I was still trying to get in position hahahaha. Oh well. Maybe you won't spot me. But Elder Reed left some socks here so [after I washed them] I wore them to the race! I ended up placing 2nd overall. And definitely beat the President ;) I'll see if I can get the picture of the winners! If not you'll just have to believe me. For thanksgiving dinner, we went to a member's house. There was a ton of people there! About 30. But there was tons of food so it didn't run out. (so don't worry mom, I got fed well!) ;)

So we tried to play a prank on Elder Smith when he got here. Me and the Millers. We pretended to have a beer sitting out (it was cream soda) and Mike Miller said that he finally got his answer. He knew that this was the right decision. He knows he has to quit drinking alcohol, and so he committed to do it. But then he's like BUT I'll only do it if you drink my last one with me. And poured us a glass. Elder Smith was like uh... no. I'm not gonna do that. haha. But then I tried to reason with Mike for a while. He said that was the only way he would do it. So I shrugged, clicked my glass to his, and together we said "For Elder Reed." It was pretty awesome hahaha. But Mike has been apologizing ever since, he thought that he offended Elder Smith or something! But really he was cool with it haha.
Speaking of Mike, something really really awesome happened with him and his wife. We went over there to talk to them, and just to see how they were doing. Then they had us sit down, and Mike told us about an incredible blessing that he had gotten from his friend Tim. He said it lasted for half an hour (which is extremely long for a blessing), and during it he had a pure knowledge that he NEEDED to be baptized. I don't want to go too much into it because it is pretty sacred to him. But let's just say that he absolutely knows he needs to now. Before, he was just kind of aiming towards it. And then his wife, Janeina, had an awesome experience too. She had a dream that her dad came to her (who has passed away) and she was asking him a lot of questions. The coolest part though was that her dad wasn't able to use his legs in this life, and was confined to a wheelchair. But in the dream when he came to her, he was able to fully use his legs and was standing talking to her. Pretty awesome. One of the questions was if she should be baptized. She told us that after the dream was over, she also had an absolute knowledge that she needed to be baptized. So she told us she wants to be baptized on December 14th. And she wants me to do it, she said. That was awesome.

Tiffany is also really solid for baptism. She is shooting for the 21st of December but she needs to get over a few speedbumps before that can happen. I really hope that we can get her ready in time. She told us that she is really really excited for it and wants to come to church every week. She's really excited to learn about the gospel too. So things are going really well with her!

And the rest of the week was just as good!

I love you!!
Elder Wilson

 Elder Wood, Elder Wilson, and Elder Dean

 My 5K socks!

I beat the president!