Raining every day

What a rainy, muddy, and soaking week we've been given.  Just rain every day, so that means muddy clothes and wet missionaries.  But all in all, the work continues and the time is now to invite souls to come unto Christ.  Just recently we watched General Conference here and it was just amazing to be apart of the 3 new apostles receiving their callings.  Such a spiritually uplifting conference especially for being a missionary.  I seriously love the counsel of the leaders of the Church because they open our eyes to our true potential. 
    This week has been great, we had a baptism for Mark Mugerwa who was a referral from one of the priests in the ward.  With that support system that he has and the desire and faith that has grown, he was willing and prepared to make a covenant with God.  Mikey just recently turned 16 so he was able to baptize him, such a great moment and we are grateful for the faith of these 2.
     There's really not much else to report.  But I'm just grateful for the Atonement of the Savior.  Just to reflect upon how much love and sacrifice was made for us to have our burdens lifted and sins taken away helps me to remember that with God, anything is possible.  I just pray that I'm qualified to open the doors of salvation for others through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Through thoughtful prayer and study, I've gained a testimony of the resurrection of the Lord.  I know for myself that the tomb is empty and that the tomb echoes the truth and reality of the resurrection today and forever, for that I'm grateful.  This work is not to change lives, but to change destinies.  Love you all, have a great week.

Elder Wilson

James wearing a groovy sweater in the hot weather
How we bond in our district
Mark and Mikey
Baptism pic

Lost Muzungu

What a great week.  A lot of interesting things going on and just great lessons to be learned.  For one thing, we've been having thunderstorms like crazy over here and it gets to the point where you wake up in the middle of he night with water pouring in from the windows and your room starts to leak because of poorly built windows.  But it's just nice to have some rain.  Something that my companion and I have been doing is a lot of finding and we set a return appointment.  We called one guy and asked to come and visit him.  His response, "Mama is not around.... and I... am drunk"  Came to visit and taught him the word of wisdom.  Also, another funny story, we were driving through Kampala which is super difficult and I got confused and I drove down a one way street the opposite direction.  Super stressful and a lot of people were pointing at me, laughing and telling me I'm a lost muzungu.  So, not the best experience but it's something That I will tell my kids someday.  Just a lot of crazy things happening and we are excited for general conference we get to watch.  Anyways, not much else to talk about and I'm running out of time.  Have a great week and enjoy the life that you have.

Elder Wilson
George got baptized!!!!
Just other pictures

Miracles

Such a blessing to be apart of this work. Today however, I don't have enough time to write, but the work is going forward here.  There are a lot of good things happening and a lot of miracles being seen.  I hope you all have a great week and remember the church is true.

Elder Wilson

Greenie in the house

What a great start to the transfer.  First week down, and a lot of nice things happening.  This transfer, our district leader got a new missionary.  His name is Elder Ray from Portland, Oregon and he's just full of excitement and energy.  It's really nice to have a greenie in the house, because they bring a bright spirit into the work.  The last time I had a greenie in the house was when I trained and that was like 9 months ago.  We are happy to have him and we are excited to see what he can do. 
     Being with Elder Njoko for another transfer is something that I'm content with.  Being my 5th transfer in Mukono, the time is just going by way too fast.  We've been doing a lot of finding each day and we are looking forward to the people that we will be teaching.  We had one experience where we went to a scheduled appointment with a family from South Sudan, and the jaja(grandma) was the only one there and when she saw us, she screamed and started running everywhere in the house.  She kept speaking to us in Arabic but we had no clue.  Startled me a lot because the last time we saw her she was fine and normal.  I think she might be having some mental problems, but we just push on.  Something else is that language here is different from language back home.  On fast and testimony sunday, a 16 year old Aaronic Priesthood holder stood at the pulpit and talked about a tv show where he gave the dialogue and a good portion of it was saying the f word.  He said it about 10 times, and my mission ears are not accustomed so I was crying inside a little.  I can't really think of anything crazy that happened besides those two experiences.
     Our teaching pool has been a little up and down, but we are making sure that we are consistently finding new people to teach.  Some good things that we have been seeing is that there are youth that are inviting their friends to church and they have the desire to be baptized.  This is great because we have a short supply of aaronic priesthood holders.  George and Mark are two young men that are planning for baptism on the 18th of October (Holy cow it's already october).  Anyways, we are excited to help them come unto Christ. 
     Mission is weird.  You change in a way that you don't realize until you find yourself living in a way that you never knew you could.  I've learned so much on my mission about myself, characteristics and attributes that I've unlocked that make me to become more like Christ.  I love this work and I love the Savior.  He is the Master and I'm on His errand.  Have a great week everyone and count your many blessings.

Elder Wilson

Staying in Mukono

What a blessing to live another transfer.  We just got news that I'm staying in Mukono for my 5th transfer with Elder Njoko.  It's actually pretty eye opening to think that I'm still on my second area in Africa and I'm almost three quarters done.  But nonetheless, the Lord has reasons for me to stay and I'm grateful that I continue to have the opportunity to serve other missionaries.  This past week was quite the close to the transfer.  We had our mission leaders council and we have been able to gain plenty of insights as to how we can help our missionaries to meet our goals, considering that we are coming close to the end of the year. 
    This week, something new that I've done is that I accidentally ran over a chicken.  It was crazy too, there were feathers everywhere, people were cryin, and there was just one less chicken to worry about in the world.  But other than that, we've been having some pretty good rainfall over here, which can be a blessing if there is not too much.  But even this past week, we've been doing a lot of finding for potential families and investigators that want to hear the gospel.  Our teaching pool has dropped a little bit, but we are looking hopeful into this next transfer. 
    Other than that, we are pushing the work forward over here.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve here in this part of the world and there's still so much to accomplish.  And we are here in the world to not just do our will but the Father who sent us.  I love you all have a great week!

Elder Wilson                                             
                                                     District t-shirts

                                                    Leaders of the mission

                                                       sleepin big

6 months in Mokono

Another blessed week in the UKM.  The week went by incredibly fast, but it was filled with many wonderful experiences going about serving the Lord.  We are entering into the last week of the transfer and we still got a lot of work to do.  In the Mukono Zone, we have a baptismal goal of 119 for the year and we are very close to hitting it, and as a zone, we've been seeing a lot of improvements in all aspects of the work. 
   Just recently we got a referral named Rajab from one of the members in the ward for a man that stays about a 20 min drive away from Mukono, who also works at a gas station.  We went out to visit him and it turns out he has a family, and even neighbors who want to hear what we have to say.  We have been teaching them and encouraging them (probably you could say we were exhorting them) to prepare for baptism.  And the great thing is that on Sunday they all came to church! except for rajab because he couldn't get out of work.  But it's truly a blessing to see people act on the faith that they gain. 
    Something that had really discouraged me is that we've been trying to meet with a recent convert of ours that we haven't seen in 3 months.  He has a sister who is a member that came to church and told us that that he and his other sister who is also a member, talked to a pastor who was calling the church a cult and talked all this nonsense that scared them from coming to church.  We've been trying to meet with them, but they won't even pick our calls.  What keeps going through my mind is how Lehi envisioned how people would taste of the fruit of the tree of life, but then become ashamed because of the world mocking them and pointing at them.  That's why it's important to hold on to the truth when you have it and hold fast to the iron rod. 
     This past week, I've been learning more about how I can be a more faithful missionary.  Because there are times where no matter what, I just feel like a mediocre missionary.  But I've learned that it all comes with diligence in what we do.  If we do what we do with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, then we will understand and recognize the fruits of our labors.  I'm grateful for the time I have to serve the Lord and it's through His Atonement that I may be found spotless at the last day, when it comes to living the gospel and staying true to it.  I love you all, and have a great week!

Elder Wilson                      


                                        Found a rabbit and named it Cornelius. I'ts a girl rabbit.
      

Book of Mormon

What a great week.  A lot of challenges and a lot of success.  We've been working hard towards improving the spiritual game for the missionaries in the Mukono Zone and we are seeing some improvements.  This week my companion and I have been working hard to find new investigators to teach, and that comes with finding, street contacting, tracting, and referrals.  The bummer thing about that is that you will find people that will get your hopes up and then they end up denying your calls and avoiding you like nothing.  But that is where we are in the UKM.  We are getting towards the end of the year, so we are trying all that we can to hit our goals and work extra hard to do so. 
     Just recently, we had a zone conference in Kampala and the whole focus was on the importance of the Book of Mormon.  We talked about what it means to declare the divinity of the Book of Mormon to everyone.  We have the unique message of the Restoration and with it, the Book of Mormon.  A stumbling block that we have here is teaching people that we are not like these other churches, but we are the true church of Jesus Christ.  Through the Book of Mormon, we are able to give evidence of that.  We discussed a lot about how we can incorporate it more in our teaching and something we learned that everything hangs on the Book of Mormon and I mean EVERYTHING.  And the most important thing we can do about it is gain a testimony of it and share it with the world.
    This past Sunday, Mary got baptized!  She was a referral from two deacons at church and it's just the greatest thing, because these deacons are trying to get all of their friends to come and get baptized.  We also see like 3 more children at church every Sunday.  If we can get the whole church to be like these deacons, we will see the world change for the better and we will see the work move forward.
   Thanks for reading these emails.  I hope someone is getting some good use out of them.  But know that all is well in Mukono and the work is rolling forth and covering not only in Uganda but the whole earth.  Have a great week!!

Elder Wilson

Zone Conference pic
Mary's baptism
Ntambi, Mary, and Kafelo
Eatin big at zone activity