Week 2 MTC - June 21, 2014

Hello all!!

    So many great and wonderful experiences have been happening at the MTC.  I have been teaching like crazy and I have felt the spirit work through me so often.  So this is basically my last pday and it's only my second one, but I am so excited to get out into the mission field.  There has also been a little change in my mission plans.  My visa to Uganda has not come yet, so I will be serving a temporary assignment in the Utah Salt Lake City Central mission starting on Wednesday June 25.  Even though I'm a little bummed that I'm not heading to Africa yet, I'm excited to serve the people of Salt Lake for a short period of time.  I strongly believe that Heavenly Father is sending me there because someone really needs to hear the gospel message.  I don't know how long this assignment will be but when I find out I will let you know.  

     My companion (Elder Watts) and I are taking on the MTC by storm with our lessons for our investigators.  We have this one investigator named Carlos and we have been teaching him for several days, and we finally committed him to baptism!  I feel like I'm learning so much through teaching which will help me tremendously in the mission field.  We also have another investigator named Luke who's on the BYU rugby team that is trying to learn more about our church.  We have been doing so well trying to show him how much joy and happiness our Heavenly Father blesses us with when we follow His gospel.  I really can't wait to start in Salt Lake and then Uganda to share the word of God.  

       This weekend at the MTC is a special time because all the new mission presidents are coming together to meet with the first presidency.  I'm not really sure if I'm getting a new mission president in Uganda, but it would be so great if He was actually here.  Anyway, I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be at the Provo MTC.  I keep thinking of ways to improve myself as a missionary, but then I realize that that will take time and with the Lords help, I will be able to accomplish anything.  Love you all, you are in my prayers!

Week 1 - June 14, 2014

Habari!!! (Hello in Swahili)  

     Elder Wilson here and I am living the missionary dream over here at the Provo MTC.  So it turns out that my P days are on Saturdays but I only have two P days for the time that I am here.  Getting in to the MTC was a crazy transition and I can't believe how strong the spirit is here.  I am in the 43rd Branch and my companion (Elder Watts) and I are zone leaders.  But seriously, we are literally here for another 10 days and then we ship out to the mission field.  So it's a short assignment, but what a great way to serve the Lord.  I never believed that there would be so many missionaries here but It's just mind blowing.  We had a giant group of newly arrived missionaries meet together on Wednesday, and it turns out that 48% of the missionaries are sister missionaries, which is Awesome!  Getting used to missionary life is not easy, but it truly blesses my life how we pray 50 times a day or how we are literally with a companion all the time.  But I can feel the Lords work here and I am constantly working harder to be the best missionary that my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

       As soon as we got here, they started getting us to practice teaching and man, I never thought teaching would be so hard.  Us as missionaries know so much about the gospel, but in order for an investigator to get it, we have to condense it and make it simple, which is harder than it sounds.  My companion and I have this investigator who we teach named Carlos, we are trying so hard to get him to commit to praying with us there and he's just so hesitant, it kills me sometime.  Elder Watts and I are slowing getting better every day and we can feel the Lord continually helping us to do so.  

       So far, I have seen at least 10 familiar faces around the MTC Campus and it brings me so much joy to see friends taking 2 years to do the Lord's work.  When I got around to first meeting my district, I was pretty late and I felt really awkward at first.  there are 3 other elders and 4 other sisters.  It turns out that everyone in my district is going to Scottsdale Arizona for their missions and I'm the only one going anywhere else.  So you could only imagine how a little out of place I felt.  But there were several situations where our district was involved in introducing ourselves and where we are going, people would be like, "Oh YOU'RE the one going to Uganda," and I am literally the only one on this MTC campus that is going to Uganda.  It's pretty cool at first but then I think about that 28 hour flight by myself with 3 layovers and then it doesn't sound that great.  

         So I leave the MTC on June 23 which is literally like 9 days and i am so excited to start my work in Uganda.  Even though I'm the only one going to my mission here at the Provo MTC, I can't wait to help the people of East Africa come closer to Christ and their Heavenly Father.  It's only been 4 days so there's really not too much to write about, but I hope you enjoy!  Peace Out girl scout.

Yours truly,

Elder Wilson

I am exactly one week from beginning my 2 year journey in the Pearl of Africa.  Time is short, but is there a way to make it shorter.  This post is merely a jump start to documenting my expedition.  The reason why I need a jump start?  To soothe the stress of what to expect from this experience.  This experience of pursuit for the happiness of hopeful strangers that wait to hear the truth.

If you were to ask me one month ago how I felt about going on a mission, I would tell you that the excitement of embarking on this adventure covered every inch of my body.  Now... reality is creeping up my excitement filled body.  My mind races through the thought, "This is happening, and you don't know what to expect."  Looking back on the period of time between receiving my mission call and actually leaving for that mission, I think of myself as "all talk."  I have been given this great opportunity to go halfway around the world to share the very root of my joy in this life with an exotic people that I have never met before.  1 week away from beginning this opportunity, and now it's even harder to believe.

Essentially, I am stepping out of a cushy comfort zone.  I have been in this state ever since I was born, and I was never at any risk of leaving this zone growing up.  The culture shock will be brutal and my faith in myself will be tested, but how glorious will the day come when I am in the mission field, and I know of a surety that this is where I'm supposed to be.  That day will surely come, and I will step into a new zone that I call "marvelous."

Elder Wilson