Halfway There

Most people sing Bon Jovi when the hear "halfway there", but I sing Big Time Rush. Sue me. 1 year baby! Kind of a weird first year in the mission. 1 area in Mexico, 1 in Utah ;), and 2 in Gilbert! Along with 7 companions. Excited to see what this next year brings because clearly things don't always go as planned. 

This week was SO good! We got a couple solid referrals and set lots of lessons this week, but the highlight was definitely going to the temple with Elder Walls! I wasn't planning on going until right before we left when President called and asked me to be the escort! Best phone call ever. It was so nice to be in the temple! It's been a year since I've been able to go so I was super grateful for this opportunity. A cool experience I had in there was when I was in the Celestial Room and was pondering a lot of questions I had. As I sat there praying, a thought came to my head telling me to look up and look around. When I did that I noticed all of the newly endowed missionaries sitting with their families and man did that hit home. This is what it's all about. Being in the Celestial Kingdom with our families! The church is so true! 

The temple wasn't the only miracle that happened. We were sitting in sacrament meeting when we saw a lady walk in towards the end. We noticed that she got up and left, then immediately came back and sat down. Because we don't know people's faces we assumed she was a member. We later got a text from the Relief Society President saying that the girl is a non member and she is trying to draw closer to God. We got a date set up this week to meet! Out of the 8 interested people we have, we have 3 lessons set for this week! Pray for them! 

Another cool thing happened last night. We were sitting in our room when we noticed water dripping from the ceiling. We went upstairs to tell the guy that his bathroom was flooded. (This happened last month so we knew the problem). We stopped it before anything too bad happened, but the cool thing is the guy goes, "are you my missionaries?". Well it turns out that he just moved in and is going through a divorce and is a member. He said he is trying to get back on track and raise his 2 kids in the Gospel. It's crazy to see how God works sometimes. 

Just wanna end this email with the invitation to watch General Conference! I am SO excited! Can't wait to hear the words of President Nelson and his apostles!

Love you all

Elder Wilde 

Temple trip for Elder Walls at the Gilbert Temple!

Servin'

How we doin' my dudes. We chillin out here in Gilbert. Not literally though, it's still freaking hot! This week was a little slow but that's just how the mission is sometimes. We were able to go to church and do some service so that was fun!

We were able to help Elder Greer move some wood beams to his backyard and man was that fun. My forearms were tight for like 2 days after and we are going back tonight to help again! Usually I'd complain about how crappy this kind of service is, but when I'm with that family I am always loving life because they teach me so much! 

We tried to get in contact with some of the people we were in contact with, but this week was busy for all of them so we didn't have the busiest week. We have set up a few lessons for this next week so we are praying that they happen! 

This week was also Elder Walls' birthday and we partied it up. Like 3 different members brought a cake and dinner so we eating gooood. I also baked a cake because I'm a good trainer like that! 

Because we didn't have a bunch to do, I spent a lot of time studying this week. I was able to study lots of conference talks to help me prepare for this upcoming conference in a couple of weeks. I listened to the Hear Him talk by President Nelson and man do I love him. Every time I hear him speak the spirit testifies that he is a true prophet! I am so excited for conference! 

Anyways that's about it. Sorry the emails are shorter and shorter every week! 

Love you all 

Elder Wilde 

Service project with Elder Greer! 

No-No

Wassuh dudes! 

This week was chillin' as usual. I found out yesterday that I missed Alec Mills on the Cubs throw a no hitter... I guess me being on the mission does bless peoples lives! So yeah, he threw the no-no and we had lots of people say no to us, 'twas a lit week. 

Not too much new honestly. We just keep grinding with member lessons and stuff. We for a referral from the sisters in our district and are trying to get in contact with him but homie never answers. Aside from the lessons, we are doing a bunch of studying. I'm really tryna help Elder Walls learn the doctrine of the lessons and as I do that I learn new stuff too so it's awesome! 

I don't know if all of you saw the face to face with Elder Rasband, but it was so good! He talked about the Restoration Proclamation and I loved it. This is something we use in almost every lesson because of how important it is. As I watched the broadcast, the spirit was so strong. It really makes me so grateful to have a prophet and apostles in the world today! It also makes me even more excited for conference this next month! 

That's it for now, love you all! 

Elder Wilde 

World's Best Dad!

How y'all been? 

Because I've been chillin! I'm trying to learn the word y'all more because the missionary I'm training is from Arkansas and has that thick southern accent! His name is Elder Walls. He is originally assigned to Durban South Africa, but Covid said no to that and now he's fresh from the home MTC! He loves country music and plays baseball soooooo we get along pretty well! 

As far as the work, same stuff. We are still teaching Ari and she has such a good testimony! We need to get approval from the stake presidency because she is a returning member, but we are hoping it happens soon! The other lessons are usually just member lessons, but they're still awesome! 

I've tried really hard this week to be a good trainer! I think this has been one of the most diligent weeks since being in Arizona. My goal is to help Elder Walls be comfortable when teaching, so we do lots of teaching! He's been killing it so far and it's only been a week. We have had lots of good companionship studies and are learning new things from each other. I have also taken the role of being his temple prep instructor because in the next few weeks I get to go to the temple with him so he can receive his endowment! 

During my personal study this week I learned so much to where I can't even think about what I like best. I have been taking lots of notes and trying to learn as much as I can! I think the thing I picked out is how much I am grateful for a prophet. We have about a month until conference and it's like a little kid waiting for Christmas, I'm so excited! I'm hoping everyone can prepare for it! Yaint gonna be happy if you don't watch it! (Yaint = you all are not) I'd like to thank Elder Walls for teaching me to be a hick.

Love you all! Yeehaw 

Elder Wilde

Meet my new companion, Elder Walls!