Update
So, this week was a little harder for me. I was super filled with enthusiasm and excitement the first few days, saying Hola to everyone, but the high energy rush I was feeling has been wearing off a bit. They really keep us busy here. During our split Spanish class, Elder Springer started to throw up. We think it was something he ate, because after he threw it up, he was mostly OK. We had to skip the service activity, and he was able to get some rest. The same night, right before a workshop, Elder Allen got sick, and spent a long time hovered over the toilet. So we had to miss the workshop too :( That night, I slept fine, but Elder Allen was up a lot throwing up. Haha, he said that he heard me praying in my sleep, and that was really funny. They're both feeling better now though.
Wifi
OK, the leaders here are good, but they are also not that great when it comes to wifi. They keep on shutting it off, which I'd normally be fine with, but it makes us unable to do a lot of the things they want us to do, and it's the reason this email is 2
Days late. So that's a little annoying.
Miracle (sorry it's long)
Alright, if you don't believe in miracles, don't bother reading this. Everything that you read here, I bear witness is true. I saw it. I'm not making this up. OK, so our house here is literally so crazy. Every house devotional we have is so amazing. On Wednesday night, Elder Wilcox gave his devotional, and told his story. He is amazing. He is an insane skate boarder. When he was 15, he downloaded tic tok and started to upload some videos with his friends, and things really took off. His videos were getting lots of views, and he gained 730,000 followers on tic tok from his videos!! He started getting paid to skate, and converse paid him a few thousand dollars to wear some shoes in a video and crazy stuff like that. He said that he doesn't know how much money he made, but he was spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars a week just because, and people would often stop him in public because they watched his videos. His channel was called Sam'sW3rld, if you wanna find his videos, that'd be cool. He was super big into skating, and he was also a total gym rat. He was big and tan, and very popular. Then one day, this severe pain started. I'm going to use the medical term to avoid confusion (sorry). Something went wrong in his testicles, and so he was in severe pain. He said it felt like someone was repeatedly punching him right there, and it never stopped. The pain was so bad, that he physically could not endure it. And it was consistent pain, it would not stop. It was so bad, that he wasn't able to keep skating, and he couldn't go to the gym. He couldn't do like anything physical. Skating and the gym was like all that really mattered to him, so he was devastated. It was bad, and he went to many doctors, and had someone cut it open to find what was wrong. They found that there was a kink in his left testicle, but for whatever reason, they couldn't fix it. When he decided to serve a mission, he was still in severe pain, and he hadn't resolved a lot of issues. He spent only two weeks doing online MTC, and after those two weeks, he realized that he was not ready for a mission. He didn't get into details, but he was living pretty worldly. He sent a long paragraph to his bishop, who then told him, "yeah you're not flying to Mexico." He had many things he needed to fix and change. He was told he couldn't go out for at least a year, and even then there were no guarantees. He also couldn't go to the temple for a year, couldn't take the sacrament for a year, and a bunch of other things. A lot happened during that time, and I can't type it all. Because he couldn't skate anymore, his channel died down, so he stopped making money, his family moved to Utah, he lost his girlfriend, etc. Anyways, he lost everything basically. But, after a year of living worthy, he was allowed to become a full member again. Then his bishop called him, and he was able to come out and serve a mission. Anyways, he was still in constant pain. He had many blessings before the mission hoping to be healed, but was told that sometimes you just have to take a step in the dark. So that's what he did, he began his mission for the second time, even though he was physically incapable of doing much. After he finished sharing his story, he asked us if we could give him a blessing of healing. He said he didn't want to do it right then, but the next day, because they would be exactly two years from when the pain started. He also knew who he wanted to give him the blessing. He said that it hit him during his Preach My Gospel class a week before. He'd been thinking about it for a long time, and had his eye on February for months now, hoping that it marked the end of his pain. He wanted Elder Muhlstein to give the blessing. After that, we found out that Elder Muhlstein once had a knot down there too, and so he actually knew exactly what kind of pain he was dealing with. I think Elder Muhlstein only had it for a month or two? Idk for sure, but still. I don't think it was a coincidence that he asked Elder Muhlstein. That night, I seriously prayed so hard for Elder Wilcox. I was like, Heavenly Father, please let him be healed for like 15 minutes. That day, I was so nervous because there was a lot of anticipation for the next devotional. When we gathered around, we kept it short, about 10 minutes. Elder Stephens anointed the oil, and then we did the blessing. Before we all gathered around him, he said to Elder Muhlstein (this isn't an exact quote) "I'm ok with whatever the Lord says, even if I'm not healed." All of us stood around him, except three, and we put our hands on his head. When Elder Muhlstein started talking, I was so nervous. I wasn't sure if he was speaking by the spirit or not, and I honestly did not think that he was. He compared Elder Wilcox to Alma the Younger, who turned from a life against the church to a life for the church. Then he boldly said "I bless you that you will be healed, that you will be free from this pain." I felt like that was too bold to say, but I wanted it to work. So during the blessing, I was praying "please let this be true, please let this be true" over and over again until the prayer was done. When he closed the blessing, I did not think it worked. But then Elder Wilcox stood up, looked around at all of us, and then he started crying. Some of the other elders were in tears too, and I started laughing with joy. Then Elder Wilcox, who always walked stiffly because of the pain, started jumping and running around. "It's been so LONG!! This leg feels like THIS leg!!" And "Oh, I am so playing baloncesto tomorrow!!" We were all so happy for him, and we all rejoiced together. It was also Elder Stephen's birthday, so we felt an extra need to celebrate the night. Some of the other missionaries bought a bunch of Dr. Pepper, so we all went outside to shotgundit, which basically means we drunk it really really fast. It physically hurt my stomach, until I managed to burp it out. I guess that's the sort of stuff young men to do fun? Idk it seemed dumb to me, but it was nice to celebrate with them. I made sure to wash my Dr Pepper can, and it's on my shelf to help me remember the night and the miracle I saw. When I had Elder Wilcox proof-read this, we started talking and there's another point I wanted to bring up. 2 years, although it feels like a blink of an eye now, was a long time. Why would God let him suffer like that for 2 years? Why did he let the woman with an issue of blood suffer for 12?! When we talked about it, it became clear that the Lord lets us suffer so that we can become the people he wants to be. His two year struggle turned him into the disciple he is today. We need to go through hard things to become more like God. Guys, I'm so happy to be a missionary right now, and I was truly so blessed to get to be here at such a special moment. I know that this church is true. The Gospel found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has the fullness of the Gospel. Just do it! Just choose to follow him now! There are insane miracles ahead. God is giving everyone a chance to discover and accept his gospel, and I know you'll be so much happier choosing to follow the savior than choosing not to. I know these things are true, and I bear witness of our savior. He lives, and he loves us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amén.
- Elder Wride
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