Thanksgiving Week

Another week has gone by and we are looking into Thanksgiving this Thursday!  Think about the things that you are grateful for in your life.  As for me, I'm grateful for the work of the Lord, I'm grateful for the time that I have to serve the people of East Africa, and I'm grateful for the Atonement of Christ to help me reach where I am in my life. 
    This week has been kind of a strange one.  For one thing,.... I may or may not have sprained my ankle last Pday.  It was pretty difficult to walk on so the medical advisors told me to rest it for two days.  And one thing I can testify of is that not working is THE WORST.  I hope I never have to go through that again.  Right now it's still a little tender, but I'm out and about inviting people to come unto Christ.  We've been seeing a lot of great things happen this week.  Many fruits have come out of our labors.  Usually throughout the week, we will go contacting in the city of Kigali and most of the time we run into people who only know French or Kinyarwanda.  We always try to invite them to come to church the best way that we can.  And on Sunday, a couple of people came that we contacted!  Super great stuff.  This next Sunday we have three baptisms for Peace, Miracle, and Heritier.  Siblings who love the Lord and want to make covenants with him.  Should be good.  This past Sunday, I was asked to give a talk on missionary work for the branch.  In Rwanda, they always have someone translating throughout the meeting. So it was a first for me, but I could tell that they have received some motivation and inspiration to work harder in their missionary duties.  I'm really loving the branch, and I've been able to get along with them super quickly.  I'm just enjoying my time helping this small branch to grow. 
    Today, the missionaries in Rwanda went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial.  It is a burial place and memorial exhibition for those who have lost their lives in the genocide.  It was quite eye opening to see the pain, sorrow, and trauma that the Rwandese suffered through.  Before, I knew about the genocide from a movie I watched in one of my history classes in high school called Hotel Rwanda.  It took place in the middle of the genocide and it was about a courageous man who was apart of the dominant ethnicity of Rwanda who protected and hid many of the oppressed ethnicity, including his own wife and kids.  Being able to see and understand what really went on opened my thoughts on the people here of the dark past they have been through.  I continually think of the Book of Mormon where it reads that God lets the righteous to be destroyed by the wicked so the faithful can rest with the Lord and the wicked will be judged for such abominations at the last day.  I love the gospel more than anything because it helps us to have that eternal perspective of God's plans and works.  Everyone has challenges in their family and in their lives at some point, but through the gospel, the atonement carries us to a more glorious plane of thought.  I'm grateful for the Savior and the sacrifice he made, to take upon himself the pain, sorrow, and horror that all of His children have gone through.  And I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be an effective servant and messenger of the healing power of the atonement.  Remember the blessings you have.  Be disciplined, work hard, and show gratitude to God for the blessings He has given you.  Count your many blessings.

Elder Wilson