Week 8: Questions

I think my brother Ethan will be happiest to hear this, but I shed my first tears this week. I was getting pretty frustrated about some things, and I started crying a bit when I was talking about it to my companion, but I'll talk a little bit more about what was going on later. Anyways, I hope this doesn't get too personal, because I kind of treat my emails more like extra-long journal entries. 

Wedding and Baptism 

So, I think the biggest highlight for our area was the baptism we had. Bianca has been preparing for baptism for a while, but since she's English, the sisters (Sister Price, and Sister White) have been teaching her. But, in order to get baptized, she had to get lawfully married to this guy. Her now-husband was baptized when he was younger. Anyways, they were just gonna sign the papers, but then she wanted a whole ceremony, and props to Sister Price (she actually wants to be a future wedding planner), she prepared a wedding in 24 hours. It was low key super hype. There weren't a lot of people there, like just the family and us missionaries, but it was fun. Elder Rochelle made cookies, and I just showed up and danced a little bit. The next day she got baptized, and that was nice. She didn't receive the holy ghost until the next day, which was sunday. They did it in front of the whole congregation, like how we do baby blessings, and that was new to me, but it was good. She seems really happy. 

Legos

So at our apartment, there were two Lego sets just chilling there, and I claimed them as my own. There was an Indiana Jones one, and a knockoff ninjago one. I was really happy about the ninja set, and I promised Peter, Owen, and Daniel that I would find away to send it home for them, because they like ninjago. Sad news tho, an Elder came by and snagged it because the Elder who originally bought it wanted it back. I had no real rights to it, and so it's gone. If any of you guys wanna send a ninjago set to them, I won't be upset, although they're probably a little bit spoiled when it comes to Legos. But Peter is really cute, so you can spoil him. Sorry Dad!

Gettin' fit

OK, so I am a pretty fit guy. I'm kinda worried about serving here in Texas, because we've been eating a lot, and I got my suit pants a little slim, (listen to your mothers!) I'm worried I'll get fat, lol. It's all good tho, because Elder Rochelle loves to run in the mornings, and so we've been doing that. We've been on 5 runs so far. I sort of just follow him, and hope we don't run for too long, because my shoes suck, and it's tiring, but its been good for me, so I try not to complain TOO much. Anyways, on our last run, we ran 3.5 miles in about 40 minutes! I'm very proud of it, idk if it's impressive, but I'm well pleased. We've also been doing other workouts, but yeah. I think that if I keep this up for 2 years, I will come back looking very physically attractive. We went to a fitness place tho, and the lady said I need more water and protein, so I'll start doing that. 2 years to sexy, baby!

Struggles

OK, on a more serious note, this week has honestly been tough for me, hence the tears I mentioned earlier. It's interesting. Being here on the mission really makes you think. When you go around and are constantly telling people "I believe this and I know this," etc, you start to wonder, "Do I really believe this? Do I really know this?" I want to be honest with people, and so I took a step back, and I was like "OK I need go figure out what I really have a testimony on." Before the mission, I thought I knew, but on the mission, it's different. When I broke it down, I decided that I only know two things. I know the Book of Mormon is a good book, and that reading it makes you a better person. I know that there is SOME higher power. It bothered be a lot that I couldn't say I believe in a lot of other things, especially the things I thought I knew, which is why I got frustrated and started tearing up. Lol, my testimony ain't as strong as some of you think. For the next couple of days, I was sort of looking/praying for proof. I was like, "God, I need something that makes sense." I asked Elder Rochelle a bunch of questions, one being how you can come to know something is true. He said that you can just feel it, but I was like that isn't enough! I felt like a feeling isn't a witness. People feel lots of things all the time, and I just wouldn't accept it. When we were going to visit some people to teach, we were talking a bit more about it, and sort of out of the blue, and definitely out of pocket, he said "Be careful about sign seeking." The way he said it, I just knew that God was giving me a warning. It pierced my heart I think, and then I got kinda scared like, shoot, what if God DOES give me proof. What if he strikes me blind or mute or something. The fact that I got so nervous about it though, sort of reminded me that I do have a testimony, because I wouldn't be afraid of something that I didn't believe was real. Anyways, I didn't think I was looking for signs, but I kind of was. Elder Rochelle gave me a blessing. Thankfully, he did not strike me dumb, but I heard a few things that surprised me. I want share them all, I'll just share one. He told me how all my concerns and doubts were logical, but that I needed to remember something. He paused for a long while, and then he said God is a God of Logic. That honestly surprised me. I've been thinking how a lot of things just aren't logical. Like saying you know something based on how it makes you feel? That doesn't feel logical. But then I started thinking, OK how is God being logical. And then, during personal study, I found two scriptures. The first is Doctrine and Covenants 63:12:

Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory.

At first I was like, dang, God is disappointed in me, but the word "for" stood out to me the most, but I couldn't articulate why until I happened to read 2 Nephi 26:13:

And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

So why do we look for miracles, signs, and wonders? Is it so that we can increase or gain faith in Jesus Christ? No, I was looking for proof because I wasn't placing my faith in Jesus Christ. We see miracles, signs, and wonders based on our faith in Jesus Christ. If we're looking for signs FOR our faith, then we're placing our faith in the sign, not in him. If I had received a sign without putting my faith in Jesus Christ, I would've put more faith in the sign, not in him. That is why he requires faith in him for miracles, because if we receive the miracle without faith. It doesn't help us. The miracles still come, but don't put your faith in miracles, put your faith in him. Idk if that'll make sense to you guys, but it makes sense to me. Anyways, do that was the lesson I received this week, and so I'm going to practice that. I'll try to do better to obey and follow God even when I feel like he has in a way abandoned me. You've got to submit and commit. Choose now to follow Christ and put faith in him, even if you don't feel he is there with you. That's what I'll be working on, putting more faith in Jesus Christ.

Pictures

One comment, we went bowling today, and my name in the game was Peter. I'm sorry Ethan that I got such a low score. I was really terrible

Week 7 - In Texas

I know I put last week as week 7, but today is actually week 7 because it's exactly 49 days from when I officially "started" my mission, but it feels like day 1. Things are a lot different then they were at the CCM. Walking around there I was super happy and willing to talk to everyone, but that was because everyone there is a missionary and a member. It's a lot scarier trying to start friendly conversations when they are not friendly in return.

Spanish

So, the language thing here is interesting. There are so many immigrants, as well as Americans (obviously) because it's Texas. I'd say that for every person you talk to here, at least in my area, which is Abilene, there's a 50/50 chance that the person speaks English or Spanish.  And it's impossible to tell! So many people look Mexican, but speak perfect English, and so many people look American but don't understand a word.  I always feel so embarrassed when I say "Hola!" And then they're like "Hello!" So yeah it's hard to know which language to speak. My comp, Elder Rochelle (ruh-shell) speaks really good Spanish, so I'm learning a lot, and we listen to conference talks in Spanish every time we drive. Driving feels weird, for some reason it feels like missionaries shouldn't be driving. Maybe it's just because he's a kind of a crazy driver though. Tiwi keeps telling him to "check [his] speed"

Churches

So Texas is actually a lot like Utah in one way. All you have to do is drive, and after like 1 minute, you can find 5 different church buildings to attend. The only difference is that each building belongs to a different church. We're the buckle of the Bible belt, do pretty much everybody here is a Christian, but all different Christians. Honestly, I think it's harder to teach with this that with people who haven't heard of Christ, because they already have an opinion, and a lot of people are very confident and aggressive about their beliefs. I'm not that aggressive, so it's kind of hard for me. But, in blessings I've had, and in the scriptures, and in advice I've received, I keep noticing the word Bold. Like "Be bold." I feel like I have a good understanding of the gospel, and a testimony, but idk how I'm supposed to bring someone to our church when they're already dead set on their own religion, and are much more bold when saying it. I think God is trying to toughen me up by sending me here.

Church

On Sunday, I had my first Sunday in Abilene, TX, and it was actually really good. The first ward was in English, and we heard lots of powerful testimonies. I think one of the best things I heard was this guy went up and told about his conversion story. He had met with the missionaries before, and asked "how come the blacks had to wait so long to receive the priesthood?" And they didn't have an answer for him, and he was like "ha, gotcha." If someone asked me that, idk if I could answer it either, so I should study that more. He then talked a bit about the Book of Mormon, but mainly about the importance of having an open heart and an open mind. I'd you close your heart, it's impossible for the spirit to enter, because only you can let it in. He did say that once he read the Book of Mormon, and actually allowed himself to be taught, he learned so much, and God blessed him tremendously. God wants to bless us, and he is, but we won't see that if we put up our umbrellas. Anyways, I thought it was powerful. Then we had a Spanish ward, but there are so few people that we did it in the relief society room. The only family that came was a family we taught earlier,  they're not members, but they are curious, and have been taught a lot. They seem very receptive, and Elder Rachelle thinks we can get that baptized really soon. The Spanish meeting was really good. It was fast Sunday here, because they had stake conference last week, so I got to fast 2 Sundays I  a row. I bore my testimony in Spanish, and Elder Rachelle thought I did really good. He said he got a 1.7 on the LSA before he arrived, and I got a 5, so I've got a good head start. But yeah church was really good, I felt the spirit very strongly.

Spontaneous investigator

So Elder Rachelle and I were driving home, and suddenly he pulled over and was like "I feel like we gotta knock that door." So we walked to the door he wanted and knocked, and this guy named Antony answered. He asked us why we were there, and Elder Rachelle was like "because God told us to." That got him interested. Elder Rachelle told him how we were just driving home and he felt prompted to knock his door, and he answered. So we talked for a bit, and left him with the Book of Mormon, the new testament, and the address to the church. I thought that it was a cool experience, and so we'll see what happens.

Some thoughts 

So basically, it was a good week, but also pretty hard, and I honestly enjoyed not a lot of it. It's not how I expected it to be, and talking to people is a lot harder than it used to be. Elder Rachelle mentioned how everyone has a reason for coming on a mission, but as you go along, you need to find a reason to stay on the mission. I think that goes for all aspects of the gospel, you need to know why you live it. I need to figure out why I'm really here, and I need to discover how important it really is. I trust that it's important, because my life at home is so good because of the gospel, but teaching it to people out here is different.

Bella and Ethan

Ethan and Bella also got married this week!! So happy for them. I was sad I missed the wedding, and the awesome party, but there will be a few more coming around. When I get back, they're gonna be the most epic parties ever.

Apartment

So, the apartment I'm in with Elder Rachelle has not been very well kept, and it's low key nasty. There are cockroaches everywhere. I didn't expect that in America. One jumped into my beans during lunch, and I found one on my leg this morning. Some Elder also left the cinnamon toast crunch bag open, and so it was infested. I'll put a picture in. Everything you care about has to be sealed up. It's so nasty, we're gonna clean a lot today. I hate cockroaches. Also, one Elder gave me a rubix cube, so that's sick, and it's not in bad condition either, and there are two legs sets just chilling here at the apartment, up for grabs. And so I grabbed them. What's funny is I almost bought that same Lego set back home, and I wanted a rubix cube at the CCM, and a black fanny pack back home, and a ukulele, and I got all those things here in my apartment! Even though it's gross, I think it's funny how God blessed me with exactly what I wanted, I just had to get on my mission to get it. They're just small things, but still. And I don't actually have the ukulele yet, but a different Elder left it at a different apartment and he said he would call the elders there and get it for me. God blesses us, we just gotta be patient and do what he asks. He wants us to be happy, and the best way to find happiness is by living the gospel, keeling the commandments. Amen

Pictures: sorry, I didn't take to many this week, but I'll take more here. I'll also send some from the last moments of the CCM. Also there's no order to it, but the roaches Pic is in there.

I solved the Rubix cube in less than 49 seconds!

I was able to call my family on Saturday for Ethan's wedding. Here is Peter talking to me at the reception

Also, just had to send this because Katherine is just so cute

Week 6: Love One Another

Small Update

When I write my next email, I will be in Texas! The mtc is great, but I'm also itching to get to the field. T8his week was pretty hard for me, if I'm being honest. I spent a lot of time being angry and upset. I do love it here, but I had lots of bad moments too. The main reason was because of my companionship, but I will talk more about that later, for my spiritual thought this week. Anyways, sorry for writing too much, thank you to those who actually read what I write!

Language

Spanish has been really good. I've been learning a lot, but I've still got a lot of work to do. Every week, we take a language assessment test to see where we're at. They ask us to rate ourselves on some things, and then we record ourselves saying some stuff. We already thought that test was rigged, but I proved it this week. normally rate myself honestly, which is pretty low, but since it was our last one, I rated myself really high. I said I could basically speak perfectly, and then when I had to respond to questions, I got questions a lot harder than I usually do. One was about LGBTQ stuff, and the other was about if I was a plumber, and I had to find out what was wrong with your house, what questions I would ask. Although it was pretty bad, I actually answered the first question, but for the plumbing, I was like bruh, I'd struggle with that in English. So I took 3 seconds and said "¿Que es la problema en su casa?" I should've gotten a very low rating, but I guess confidence is key, because I got advanced. Lol, everyone thought it was pretty funny, because I'm definitely not advanced.

Ties

Well if you read the last email, you would know that I found some amazing ties at the temple store, but was unable to but them. I asked the lady to save them for a week, and she said she would, but only I believed her. We just barely left the temple, and at the store, she didn't save them.  She said that she tried, but it's a little sad because they were pretty ties. But, I brought money this time, and I found some other ties, that might even be better. So although I didn't what I originally wanted, I am happy. 

Sensitive Spirit

This week, I've got two spiritual thoughts, and they're both important. So on Sunday, two of the Hermanas in our zone asked me to give them a blessing, and so I did. I always get really nervous about giving blessings, but for both of them, I really did feel that God was putting words in my mouth. After we finished, I just felt so so happy. Happiness is the natural result of being close to God. When I went to bed that night, I said "God, I want to always feel like this." Then the next day, I was just talking to one of the Hermanas I blessed, and some other people. We were just talking, and trying to be funny, I made a joke. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good or kind either. What I noticed was how I felt right after. Right after I said it, that happiness high I felt was gone. I felt embarrassed, angry, immature, and upset. And I was like "woah, it was just a joke." But I just felt bad, and compared to how I felt the day before, I was like "OK what happened?" And I knew right away that I had offended the spirit. I learned that the spirit is very sensitive, and we have to watch our thoughts, words, actions, and our hearts to know if we really have the spirit with us. In Alma 37:36, it says "let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord." Are we really doing this? When we do, think, or say things, we need to keep in mind where those things come from. Are they really Christlike? Or are they not? If they aren't, where do you think they come from? We need to be aware of ourselves, and who we're listening to. If we're not listening to the savior, who else is there to listen to other than Satan? They're both always talking to us, trying to get us to follow them. The different is that one is good, and one is bad. Why not just choose to be good?

Love One Another

OK, I was pondering what to call my email, and I was gonna just call it "Love" because that was my biggest lesson this week, but then I remembered how last Sunday, the Hermanas in our district sung love one another for sacrament meeting. It was beautifully done. So as I mentioned, things were not good in my companionship. I was noticing everything bad that they would say or do, and I let their attitudes determine how I felt. I feel like we should be more obedient to the rules, be better example for others, but most importantly, I needed them to stop complaining. I noticed one weakness of mine though, and that's confrontation. Although I've spent weeks feeling like we've been lacking, I have barely been able to talk to them about it. I've tried to give lots of hints during devos and spiritual thoughts and stuff. I got two blessings from Elder Wilcox and Peterson in our house, and I felt like I needed to be more bold with my words, and I still do, but yesterday it hit me what I was really failing to do. I wasn't letting myself love my companions despite their flaws. For our house devotional, Elder Wilcox led it, and he told me how he was gonna share a message about love, in an effort to help my companions strive to be better. Although his message wasn't directed to me, I realized what I was doing wrong. Yes, it's important to be obedient, but you can still love someone despite who they are. God loves all of his children. Elder Wilcox shared a few personal experiences of where he made bad judgements based off of people at first. But then when he discovered who they are, and what they've been through, and he couldn't help feeling love for them. It's true. If you only knew what that person went though, and what they've struggled with, no matter who they are, you couldn't help but love them. I spent all week trying to fix my companions, when I really just needed to love them. I did talk with them for a while last night, and it was really good. It's important to be obedient, but if there is no love, you just won't have the spirit. The first great commandment is to love God, and the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. It's a commandment. For one of my companions, since we're like polar opposites, I found it a little harder to just show love for him, and Elder Wilcox also helped me with that. He shared how God has an undying, unconditional love for all his children, even those who you really do not love, and that if we pray for it, God can bless us with a portion of that love. If you are struggling to love someone, ask God to bless you with some of them love that he has for them. It's so much better to just love people than be angry all the time. Jesus Christ said to love your enemies, so do it! You can really tell who is a true disciple of Jesus Christ, based on how they treat others.

- Elder Wride

Pictures:

1, 8, 9, 10, 11. Hermanas being weird

2. Hermano Bautista and I

3, 4. Hermana Carlton got a bunch of tiny Jesus's

5. District Circle

6. Funny photoshop Elder Wilcox made

7. Advanced

8 - 11

Week 5: Standard Week

Sorry guys, nothing too crazy happened this week. Lol, I'm sorry to disappoint you. This week was when we started our "solo español" week. We're supposed to only speak Spanish in all situations, but I keep forgetting. Hermano Bautista said that I have to also write in my journal en español, but I'm not going to do that. I want my kids and mi futura esposa to read it, and how're they supposed to read it if they don't speak spanish. Anyways, I'll share one or two things, the most interesting thing that happened though, and then a spiritual thought. Oh, I also learned how to solve a Rubick's cube

One thing: Ties & Prayers?

We've done lots of tie trades here, and that's been fun. This morning we went to the temple to do endowments. I'm literally typing this on the bus right now. Anyways, they have a little store at the temple, and they had some really really nice ties. There were two ties, and some small "future missionary" that I really wanted. I wanted the ties for me, and the tags for my little brother's, but I only had my card, and they only accept cash there. We have an ATM machine here, and I felt like I should get some cash out of it, but I didn't. Maybe that was a prompting. Listen to the spirit guys. The lady said we could try my card, but like she said, it didn't work. I have a little bit of cash at the casa, so I asked her if she could hold the ties and tags for just one week, cuz we go to the temple every P-day. At first she said no, but then she said yes, and I was really grateful. But, Elder Allen said, after we were already on the bus, that he can guarantee she went and put them back on the shelf as soon as I left. That made me sad. Like Elder, don't rob me of my hope. Anyways, so I said a prayer that the lady would be true to her word, or that if she isn't, no other missionaries will notice/want the ties. We'll find out in a week if I can get them. They're just ties, but you guys are welcome to pray too.

Or two things: mini fridge

So Elder Allen and I became zone leaders for zone 8, and the previous zone leaders gave us a gift. It has been passed down, zone leader to zone leader for about 3 years now. That's just what they said. It's a mini fridge, which is actually nice, although I probably won't use it, because I don't drink lots of soda, and it's not cold enough to keep an ice cream cold. It's still pretty funny tho, and its covered in signatures and stickers, and we get to add ours when we pass it on to the next ZLs.

The most interesting thing this week: Latinos

Ok, so there are lots of Mexicans here at the Mexico MTC, and they're normally only here for 3 weeks because they already speak Spanish. Anyways, a little context, Elder Wilcox is lowkey famous here among the elders. Not for his miracle tho, he's famous for cutting hair. There is a lady who cuts hair here, but she doesn't do fades. So Elder Wilcox gave his comps fades, and then everyone in the casa wanted fades. I didn't really want one, but I got one. Next time I'm just gonna do a taper. I do want to buzz my head at some point on the mission tho, just to see what I look like. And since I can't date on the mission, there are no consequences. Anyways, everyone in casa 23 got fades, and then every night after that, we'd always have a few elders show up for fades. And then 3 nights ago, I'm not even joking, we had 20 Latinos show up at 9:20ish, and they ALL wanted fades. Elder Wilcox was known the middle on his 2nd, and then one Latino Elder ran over and said that President Allred was at their house to join them for their house devotional!! I've never seen Latinos run so fast. The guy getting is hair cut only had one side of his hair cut. Then we did our house devotional, and spent 30 minutes wondering if we were gonna have an angry President Allred at our door. And then we heard a knock... and ALL OF THE Latinos walked in!!! One of them even brought a ukulele, and so people were singing and getting hair cut at our house until we were able to get them out at 10:27, 3 minutes before lights out. Apparently, what happened was they brought President Allred in, and he sat down in the living room. There were still like 3 Elders at the house, and so two Elder kept him busy, talking about who knows what, and the other ran to our house, and told everybody that the president was at their house. When they all ran back, they walked in through the BACK door, and then told the President that they were just hanging up their clothes to dry in the backyard, and they didn't get in trouble. For those reading this that are future missionaries, please be honest to your mission president, and more importantly, please be more obedient than we were that night. The quality of your life is greatly dependent on your obedience to the Lord.

Spiritual thought

So we had one of the 70 come and speak to us on Wednesday, and he shared a lot of really cool stuff. I've taken more notes from his talk than anyone else I think. One thing he said was that there a lot of rules as a missionary, but there is a reason for it. There are a lot of things that people use to relieve stress in life, like music, family, friends, social media, sleep, etc. All of these things, are things we're asked to leave behind for 2 years as missionaries. You aren't allowed to listen to certain music, have to wake up at 6:30, go to bed at 10:30, no scrolling on social media, you can't hang out with friends, watch movies, and on and on. Surprisingly, a lot of missionaries don't like, and don't obey these rules. It reminded me of something Elder Holland said though. He said "Show me your level of obedience, and I'll show how your mission experience will be." I've tried to apply that to my mission, but it also applies to your life. Those who are happiest, are those who keep the commandments of God. That's just the way it is. In Mosiah 2:41, it said "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." When you're not feeling happy, usually there is something you're needing to change. If you're not having the time of your life living the gospel, you're missing something. When serving a mission, are you serving a mission, or are you being a real missionary? Are you having kids or are you being a real father/mother, someone who raises their kids? In this church, are you simply being a member of the church, or are you being a true disciple of Jesus Christ? There is a very big difference.

Week 4 - What Prints Are You Leaving in the Sand?

My emails look a lot like my journal entries. I sort of just talk, and I'm worried I share too much, lol. Anyways, this past week has been good. Nothing crazy happened, we've just been doing lots of classes, scripture study, Spanish study and prayer. Although there is a bit of sad news though about our house.

Our House

One of the elders in our house went home on Monday. He had mentioned this past week about how things were not going well back home, and how he really felt he needed to be there. None of us wanted him to leave, and I'm worried that it wasn't the spirit that was telling him to go home. I hope he is able to come back out on a mission when he's ready. The problem with that though is that you're never really going to be ready. Often, you just have the take a step into the dark. So, right now we're down to 8 elders in our house. But, we're gonna be 7 on Monday. One of the other elders is going home early, because he talked to some of the leaders, and there are some things he's got to take care of, but he'll be coming back out in 4 months. This one, I do feel was the right choice, as sad as it is to see him leave. He wanted more than anything to stay out here, but he also said how he feels so much peace now, since he's not only serving a mission, but is also going to do it right. I admire his willingness to obey, even when it is very hard. 

Spiritual thought

OK, it's kind of funny, because I've had this realization like 5 different times, and then I forget it, or I'm not as diligent, and then I have to relearn it. I'm really trying to just apply this lesson to my mission. We were doing a practice lesson with these two Hermanas from a different district, and I was getting really frustrated. We were supposed to answer this question "How can I know that God loves me?" Like individually, and not me or my companions could find anything. I realize now that my day up until that point hadn't been ideal either. I wasn't taking things as seriously as the first week, and I should have been more involved in learning. With the excitement wearing off, and this all feeling more routine, it's hard to keep the enthusiasm high. I decided to tell them honestly how I felt, and how I was feeling frustrated. I told them that today especially, I was frustrated how I wasn't feeling the spirit as strongly as I had at back home. They had to give their lesson in Spanish, but I was able to understand enough to know what they were talking about. One Hermana shared the poem footprints in the sand, which is a popular, and very good poem. You should go read it, but in short, it talks about how Christ doesn't abandon us in our times of struggle, but he is the one who carries us through them. As much as I like this poem, it wasn't what I needed to hear. But, it did remind me of a poem that had the message I needed to hear that day. Most people don't know this, but there is a sequel to footprints in the sand. It's kind of funny, and sort of a joke, although it also has a very powerful message. Don't judge a book by its cover, but it's called "Butt prints in the sand." It goes like this:

One night I had a wondrous dream.

One set of footprints there was seen.

The footprints of my precious Lord,

But mine were not along the shore.

And then the strangest print appeared.

I asked the Lord, "What have we here?

This print is large and round and neat,

But Lord, it's much too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones,

"For miles I carried you alone.

I challenged you to walk in faith,

But you refused and gained no strength."

"You laid quite still. You would not grow.

This walk is not for me, you know.

So I got tired. I got fed up.

And there I dropped you on your butt."

Because in life, there comes a time,

When one must walk, and one must climb,

And one must rise and take a stand;

Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

As you can see, it's sort of a funny poem, but it was really what I needed to hear. There are two lines in particular that hit me. The first is "I challenged you to walk in faith." This day in particular I felt that I couldn't really feel the spirit, and I realized that I was being challenged. The past few months, maybe year, Jesus has been carrying me. He carried me through school, hockey, and the first few weeks of my mission. However, we're not meant to be carried through this life. We're meant to learn and grow, and we can't do that unless we're making a conscious effort. This walk is not for the savior. The savior didn't do all of this for him. Your life is yours, and Jesus doesn't ask us to live his gospel for his sake. He suffered and died for you, so that you could have the chance to live in joy forever. "This walk is not for me you know." You journey is your own, and if you refuse to grow, I think more often than not, Christ will drop you. He won't leave you. He'll still walk with you, and he'll carry you when you really need it, but this is your life. Sorry for writing so much, but I enjoy it. Thank you for making it this far!! I hope it was worth reading.

- Elder Wride

Week 3: Miracle

OK so this week was honestly insane, and I am not using the term miracle loosely. We all asked Elder Wilcox if we could share this story, and he said if course. He is amazing, literally Alma the Younger in our day. I'll write about what happened at the bottom, after a little update.

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

Week 1 & 2

¡¡Hola Hermanos y Hermanas!!

Intro

So it's technically week two of my mission, but I've been at the Mexico MTC for five days. 

I would've written about my experience doing online MTC, but I didn't. That's because I lost the email list paper on my P day, and not much really happened at all. I did meet my district and my companions, and that was nice, but I didn't quite feel like a missionary while I was online. 

District 8c

Anyways, I am in a trio right now. I'm with Elder Allen, and Elder Springer. Elder Allen is a very tall guy and a cowboy wannabee and Elder Springer is muy fuerte, a total gym bro. 

They're both really funny, and have shared many powerful spiritual thoughts. I love having them for companions.

The Hermanas in my district are cool and they're all pretty funny. We've got 9 missionaries in the district. Both of my companions already speak Spanish very well. Elder Allen did Spanish immersion for 12 years, and Elder Springer took 5 years. That's been a major blessing because they've been able to teach me a bunch. I've learned a lot from them. Sadly, they were both put in a more advances Spanish class so my teacher is my companion during Spanish class. Anyways, our district started doing our practice lessons in Spanish from day 1, even though everyone does English for their first three weeks. So I guess we're pretty cool. We're ahead of the game.

Spanish Progress

So I mentioned in my farewell talk that I took 3 years of Spanish in school, learned very little (if any) and my teacher told me I should drop out of the class. Haha I don't think he liked me very much. Anyways, I want to learn the language asap, and the preach my gospel said to speak Spanish at every opportunity. I've been speaking to everybody. I realized there's an opportunity to speak Spanish every time someone walks bye so I've gotten really good at saying "¡HOLA HERMANAS!" and "¡HOLA ELDERES!" My companions think it's funny, and it's helping me learn more Spanish. I've been able to learn a lot, and I'm really enjoying learning it! I hated it when I tried to learn it at school, but it doesn't feel like I'm learning the same language.

Spiritual thought

So this is something I testified of to my house two nights ago, and I feel like sharing it here too. So, I'm the house leader. I guess that means I'm pretty cool, but 5 of the other elders in our house are house leaders, so I guess I'm not special. ): Anyways, as a house, everyone shared their favorito scripture, and one elder shared Doctrine and Covenants 31: 3-13. I wont talk about all of it because that would take too long, but verse 3 is enough to share my thought. "Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation." When he read it, the words lift up your heart and rejoice stood out to me. It helped me emphasize how a mission isn't supposed to be sad, depressing, and you don't have to only enjoy it at the very end. It's meant to be a wonderful experience! And you're supposed to enjoy it, which is why everyone is so sad to go home when it's time. Why not start early and choose to enjoy every moment now? Why wouldn't you choose to enjoy the process of learning a new language? I think it's OK for me to share this, but in my patriarchal blessing, it specifically said that the first 6 months of my mission would be a challenging and difficult time. At first, I took this to mean that I would be depressed, upset, or that I would just hate it for 6 months. But, after I testified of how the mission is supposed to be a joyful experience, that phrase popped into my head with a new meaning. Rock climbing is challenging and difficult but I love rock climbing. Ice hockey is challenging and difficult and I love Ice hockey! In fact, the fact that it is challenging and difficult is what makes it so wonderful. The gospel literally means the good news, so rejoice! There is so much joy in this gospel. I think the best way to say it is "If you're not having the time of your life living the gospel, you've missed something." - Brother Osborne

Let the adventure begin!

I know that this church is true, and that it is so so good. This gospel makes me so happy, and I know that true joy comes from following our savior, Jesus Christ. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amén.