Plant a seed of HOPE.

Hey everyone,

    So another transfer has gone by and I will be staying in Mukono with my companion Elder Mothajana.  Super stoked because we have a lot of people lined up for baptism.  Looking back on this past transfer, I've noticed how much I have grown.  Throughout my time here, I've seen a lot of challenges and trials that not only made the work more difficult, but it made me learn and prepare for the future.  This past sunday we have been seeing so many miracles.  Nearly all of our investigators that we are teaching have come to church.  There were even some people who just said that their friend told them to come to the church.  This past week we have been very blessed and our prayers are being answered.  But nonetheless, there is opposition in all things.  We are going to work and do our best to hold on to the fruits of our labors.  This week is just a short email, but I hope everyone who reads this plants a seed of hope that will grow through your life's challenges.  Have an amazing week!

Elder Wilson

Eternal Perspective

Hey everyone,

    Some crazy cool things have been happening this past week.  Something that has been buggin a bit is that we have had a lot of duties that required us to go to Kampala and so we were short some work that we were wanting to put in.  But it's all good.  We have some pretty great people that we are teaching:

    Patrick is a super powerful guy that really wants to be baptized.  He stays very far, probably about a 30-40 min drive on the outskirts of Mukono.  But he comes to church consistently which is a real faith builder.  He struggles with english a little bit, but he's learning slowly slowly.  Also, something pretty cool, he's a rasta man.  But he shaved off all of his dreadlocks.  He loves the gospel and he loves us coming to teach him.  His baptism is next month so we are helping him to prepare for that day.  

      Another miracle happened on Sunday at church.  We noticed that there was a young woman in the congregation that we have never seen before, but she seemed like a member.  We got talking with her and she said that she was being taught by missionaries in Lira which is far north of Uganda in the village.  She is staying in Mukono to go to a university here and she wanted to come to church here.  Penny is her name and she told us that she really likes the church and loves to learn about it.  So we are going to be meeting with her at some point this week and help her to fulfill her desire of getting baptized. 

    Another miracle that didn't associate with teaching was something that helped me to boost my understanding of the power of the priesthood.  A sister in our district was diagnosed with a really severe illness I can't remember what it was called but it was based on the balance of red and white blood cells in her body.  She's been suffering through this for some time and she's been taking medication.  A day before she went to the hospital to get tests, she wanted a blessing from us.  We gave her a blessing and the spirit was very strong in the room and we all could feel that everything was going to be ok.  So we took her to the hospital and she got some tests done.  Elder Chabra, the medical advisor of the mission said he couldn't believe the results.  It was literally a miracle because she was completely normal.  The doctors said that part of it seemed to be the help of the medication and they were just really surprised.  Goes to show that the priesthood really is a powerful thing.  When we are worthy and have the spirit with us, we work miracles. 

     The other day I was reading a super nice talk about having an eternal perspective.  This has been something that I have never really thought about before.  As members of Jesus Christ's church, we know where we were before our lives and what's going to happen after.  We have the eternal perspective.  We know that everything we do in this life determines the direction we take in the life to come.  We also know that the time is sooooo small compared to the rest of eternity.  Something that I thought was interesting was how it compared to people without the gospel how life feels like being stuck in a box, where we only see our birth and death, not knowing what goes beyond these boundaries.  I remember something that caught my attention was when it said "You survived the war in heaven, and now you are battling the war on earth.  To win is to keep an eternal perspective.  I love the gospel and I just pray with gratitude everyday to my Heavenly Father to have this knowledge of an eternal perspective.  Without the gospel, life would be like sitting inside a small box.  The world is in dire need of people with this perspective, because the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can change cities, nations, and continents.  

     I hope you all have a fantastic week, and know that there will be times when you feel like things are not getting better, but that is precisely what the gospel brings to our lives: improvement.  I love you all, and press forward with faith.

Elder Wilson

Understanding

Greetings from Africa!

    OK first things first, Happy Mother's day to all you Moms out there!  Strongest, bravest, coolest people on the planet if you want my opinion.  Make sure you get the love and sweets that you deserve.  This week has been quite an experience.  There has been a lot of distractions that come with leadership, but we are doing the best that we can.  We have such strong missionaries in our zone, and we are doing all that we can to invite all to come unto Christ.  

    This past Saturday, Isaiah who we have been teaching got baptized!  He's such a powerful guy and he just really wants a new start, and a new life to follow the truth.  At the baptism, we had a little bit of a problem, the storage tank for the water in the font was super low, so the pressure was also low, so it basically took 3 hours to fill the tank to a decent height.  And by that time, many of the people that came for the baptism had left. But we were determined to get the man dunked.  By the time we started the baptism, very few people were there, but as one of the missionaries gave a talk about baptism and when the bishop gave some remarks, the spirit was felt so strongly and we could just feel the satisfaction that our Father in Heaven had.  

     On Thursday, my companion and I went to Seeta, an area in the zone to go on exchanges with some other Elders.  That morning, we've been getting bounced and a lot of the appointments that they have scheduled were busy at the last second.  But we went around to do some finding and we ran into a woman sitting on her porch and we contacted her telling her who we were.  And she says that she has met with missionaries before.  Soon after 10 min of talking, the rest of the family joined us.  Consisting of a husband, wife, and 7 children.  We got talking with them, and they were actually former investigators.  They were taught in 98 and for some reason the missionaries stopped coming.  Super powerful opportunity that the Lord has provided and we went on to teach them about the Restoration and set a return appointment.  

     Something that I learned this week was about Christlike communication.  I'm finding that as a leader, I'm starting to realize the importance of communicating the way that Christ would communicate.  M Russell Ballard once said that communication revolves around one word: understanding.  I'm learning to respect every single person that I come in contact with, no matter who they are, because sometimes I get frustrated with people who feel that whatever they are doing is more important than the message of salvation.  But agency is given for a reason.  And plus that's life.  I'm loving my service here in Uganda, and I'm coming up close to a year, and I'm freaking out because sometimes I want to be a missionary forever.  I love you all and I wish you a happy fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Wilson

Week of 5/4/2015

Hey everyone, 

   This week was filled with zone meetings and there has been some craziness going on.  But on Wednesday, we had our Zone development meeting which was pretty good.  I gave a training lesson on the importance of being obedient and the effect that it will make to all of the missionarie’s areas.  Then on Friday we had a zone conference with President Chatfield and the AP's.  I seriously love my mission president.  He radiates the spirit and you can just tell that if you are to listen to what he tells you to do, you will succeed.  I also was asked to give a surprise talk about Elder Ellis' talk given at a 2014 General Conference.  So, a lot of talking has been going on.  On top of that, we had a District Leaders Council with the district leaders of the zone.  We talked a lot about how so many missionaries are going to be leaving in the next couple of months and there will be a ton of new faces.  We just have to continue to set the example for them.  

     So something nutz that happened was that the four elders of the district had to keep watch over the sisters apartment for the night.  The story behind it is that the sisters have one key and they hide it in a very concealed place that no one would ever find.  But when they went home one day, it wasn't there so the only explanation is that someone stole it.  So the sisters came to our place, we stay in the same complex, and they told us that they were scared to sleep there that night because there are a lot of theives in Mukono.  So being the elders of the district, we camped out the night in front of their door.  Oh the sacrifices we make as missionaries.  

     So, Isaiah is someone that is being taught by the missionaries, even before I got there.  He is the greatest example of humility because we were going over the baptismal interview questions with him and he got everything right, and then he asked us to forgive him of his mistakes and to tell him where to improve.  Without a doubt this guy is ready for baptism.  Something else that has been hard for us is how people bounce (lie or ditch) us all of the time.  For example one that was progressing towards baptism, said she was gone to the village to visit her sick father.  Then when getting lunch we see her at a shopping complex.  Yesterday, we called her in the morning to invite her to church but she said that she went back to the village, and yet we found her at her place, when we were teaching her neighbor.  The first thing that comes to my mind is Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon.  The Lord is working diligently to help His children to go, and when nothing is working and no growth is taking place, He asks Himself "What more could I have done for my vineyard?"  So many times I find myself asking the same question.  When investigators choose not to accept and we are working very hard to do all that we can to help them, we ask ourselves what more can we do?  

       Probably the most profound counsel I received from the words of my mission president was in asking what does it mean to be humble?  "Humility is to know that God is real."  Pondering upon that answer, I realize how much that touches my soul and impacts my life.  Humility is not to just be kind or obedient, but it is also to know without a doubt of God's reality.  Throughout my mission and throughout my life, there has been doubt here and there.  And I'm pretty sure I can say that many people feel the same way.  Probably the most important thing that I have learned on my mission is to never doubt.  Never doubt if there is a God, never doubt if the church is true, never doubt.  I love the Savior Jesus Christ, not because someone came by and told me "Hey Christ died for you so you can have eternal life" but because I have learned that Faith is what puts me in the right place at the right time.  I've learned that when we humble ourselves and don't think about ourselves, we understand really why Christ went through the Atonement for us.  I love this gospel, because it is the only thing that will change the continent of Africa.  I love you all and know that I know that God is real.

Elder Wilson