Week 10 - October 26, 2015

How ya, Phil!  Ok, I'm gonna stop saying that.  How are you, everyone!?
I seriously feel like the days get faster and faster!  I woke up yesterday and was like, "Oh, man.  It's only Thursday... "  It was Sunday 😑
Okay, that's a lie, but it truly goes by SOOO fast!  I feel like every
week gets better and better, too, because I'm learning more and more and
just understanding a lot more!

So, as a missionary, you have five standards of excellence and you are
"asked" to meet three of them per week.  It's really hard to meet
three.
The requirements are: 1. 3 investigators at church
                                     2. 3 new investigators
                                     3. 5 less active/recent convert lessons
                                     4. 5 lessons taught to investigators
                                     5. 5 lessons taught with a member present

This week we hit 4/5 of them which was really good!





Anyways, I'll share some experiences of this week!

1. Last night we had an appointment fall through which sucked, but
anyways "when one door shuts another opens," haha.  So when I first got
to Philly, we met this lady on the street, homeless, drug addict,
alcoholic, etc.  She has a belief in God + Christ, but she was just a
disaster and "pushed them out of her life" - fast forward to last
night, seeing her for the first time in a month and a half.  She is on a
car, just out of it... So I was like, "Wait, I know her!"  So we walked up
to talk to her.  She was on heroine and drank tonnnnsssss, so we kind
of were just like, "Hey, here's our card and address to our church.
Come here or call us if you need anything..."  She didn't have a phone,
so that was worthless but anyways we walked on and I just got an
impression I was like.............. "We didn't even help her......."  So
I was like, "Let's go back."  We went back and she was just BAWLING on the
side of the road, so put her arm around me and helped her to the side
of the road and sat her up against the wall.  She told us her life
story which was just like ... Wow! Anyways, so we basically told her
ya know, all this stuff.  The heroine and alcohol abuse is destroying
your life, etc."  She agreed and said Satan had a firm grasp on her - so
we showed her this little video that Elder Andrus and I watch.  It's
our like only music we have, so it's our lifeline haha.  But we showed her
it.  It's called, "Come unto Christ," and she just bawled for like half
way through of it and then she started leaning on me and passed out on
me.... So we woke her up and we asked her if she was hungry and she
hadn't had food in 2 days... So we ran back to our apartment and
grabbed basically what we had left, packed it all up, and ran back to
her, but she was gone... So we ran up and down the streets and found
her finally and we just sat with her and fed her.  It was really a
great moment and I just came to realize that there are so many people
out there that have it WAY worse then we do, and if we can do something
small, that will mean something MASSIVE to them...
  
2. New missionaries came into the field last week and one of them came
to our area on exchanges.  His name is Elder Moreno.  He is from Cape
Verde, Africa.  He was super shy and wouldn't talk and if you know me,
you know that I don't like that, so I took him with me for a little
bit and just started talking and talking and he finally opened up to
me and my eyes were just opened so much.  Yes, my Asian eyes opened.  He
told me that he is 22 and was raised Catholic.  He read the Bible
countless times and was about to become a Catholic priest.  However, he
had one question that bothered him, so he prayed and asked, "Why is
there no prophet on the earth today if God always calls a prophet for
each dispensation?"  He said the next day two missionaries showed up to
his doorstep.  Elder Moreno was like, "What do these fools know?" so he
invited them in to try and bash with them, but the missionaries just
brushed everything off and gave him the lowdown about the church and
basically finished off the meeting with, "We have a prophet on the
earth today."  Then he gave Moreno a Book of Mormon.  Moreno said that he
didn't want to be Mormon AT ALL and that he would do everything to
prove the Book of Mormon wrong.  He read it five times and said he could
not prove it wrong and that he knew it was true, and that it was the
word of God and that all his questions had been answered.  He was soon
baptized.  He loved what he heard so much that he wanted to serve a
mission ASAP.  A year later, he is now in Philadelphia.  However, Moreno
said he sold EVERYTHING in his household, worked for months and saved
up what he could to get out here... It gets better - his mother left
him and his family when they were young and he raised his three
brothers by himself - he never met his father.... Moral of the story
is, what have I given up?  What did I do... Nothing.  I left behind
nothing compared to him... I was soooo put in my place and humbled
after that conversation... Anyways, I asked him if he ever had a
slurpee before and he replied, "What is that?"... So I bought him one
and told him the first one is on me!  He replied after taking his first
sip, "Can a mission be 10 years long?" ... Then we are walking home and
he saw a squirrel and yelped and was like, "WHAT IS THAT?"  I was like,
"What?  The squirrel?"  He was like, "We don't have those!"  SOOO funny... He
said all they have back home are snakes and sharks... Lol, anyways
really amazing story.



3. Last Monday after our P-day was up, we walked outside the church and
a man was looking at the building but neither elder Andrus and I
looked or paid attention... But Steven, who is leaving for his mission
in Sacramento and is in the area we serve in, was with us driving
us around because we had lots of appointments.  He was like, "What are you
doing, Wilde, go talk to him!  So I did and when I first glanced at
him... He looked like he was a part of the Italian mafia or
something.... If that's even a thing?  Anyways, tattooes everywhere,
gelled slick back hair, short and stubby, motorcycle all that stuff,
but I went up and talked to him... He was waiting for his 10-year-old
daughter to get dropped off by the school bus so he could walk her
home safely because the area was dangerous.  He said that he works from 1 am to 11 am so that he can spend the day with his daughter.... Once again,
put in my place... You can't judge a book by its cover!  He ended up
attending church on Sunday and was one of our new investigators and
absolutely LOVES the church..  I took a pic on his motorcycle.  lol  It's
swag!



4. It was around 8:55 p.m. and we were walking home and we just got this
vibe that we should knock on some door close to our house.  We were
like, "Oh, the lights are on and we have a few minutes to kill," so we
knocked and with open arms these random people let us in.... To our
surprise, the lady in the house said that she said a prayer that
someone would come and help her because of all he trials she was going
through.... And yet we enter in a few minutes later.... We shared some
scriptures that talk about enduring trials and not getting yourself
down and always putting your trust in Him, etc.  She was just in
tears... So as we left to shake everyone's hands goodbye, I went and
shook hers and she just started kissing my hands.  She was on her knees
and just kissed my hands and thanked me... I didn't even do anything,
yet she was so thankful for the message we shared and she and her
friends & family all asked us to come back... Incredible... Once
again, there are people out there that just need a little bit of
lovin!  Hahah

NOW FOR THE CRAAAAZY PART

Okay soooo We live next to a Baptist Church 😑 and it's just like tons
of people screaming loud things, getting pumped about
Christ and stuff.... So we are just walking and we noticed a few
bullet holes in the window... I asked some guy that walked out
of the place what happened and he said that someone came and shot
through the windows the other day!

Anyways, last week it was Elder Wasden's birthday, so he had a bunch of
stuff and candy and cake mailed to him, so we feasted... I have gained
10 pounds... And my button to my pants popped off . . . no Bueno !  This
week I'm turning 19--pretty stoked.  We are going to the Priesthood
Restoration site which I'm almost positive but correct me if I'm wrong, is
only found in Pennsylvania  and not Australia or Nicaragua, most
definitely not Nicaragua.  It's a few hours away, so I'm pumped for
that and then it's Halloween!  We are actually not allowed to go out past
6 p.m. this week, I think because the week of Halloween bunches of people
dress up in costumes and stab each other,,, idk, that's what our
Mission President said, some mischief!  Hahah

HAVE A GOOD WEEK EVERYONE!

Love,
Elder Wilde!

Week 9 - October 19, 2015

Hey, hey, everyone!
 

Hope you all had a majestic week! haha, I just hit my
two month mark... I feel like I left yesterday!
Well, I remember last Monday where I was thinking to myself... "When is
it gonna get cold?" ... Thursday, WOW I freaking froze!  It's so cold
here now!  Haahha

This email could be rushed!  I'm actually going out to lunch with Chad
Lewis.  He played for the Philadelphia Eagles and he's taking us out,
so I'm pretty excited for that! 



Anyways this week was great.  They all are, difficult but great!

On Sunday in church this lady that lived next to me in Shanghai spoke
and she said two things that caught my attention:1) What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
2) Are you facing your fears more than you're facing God?
Think about those to yourself, I'm interested to hear all your
responses!

Sunday was however the best day of the week!
This recent convert to our church was born without arms and has some
problem with his feet and he lives by himself in an apartment
building, amazing guy.  We went over and shared a message with him and
just talked with him because he gets lonely.  I asked him how he came
to join The Church of Jesus Christ.  He told me that he was a heavy
smoker and drinker and one day he just felt like he hit rock bottom
and needed to change.  He said that a man on the street put a necklace
around him that said, "Jesus," and that he needed to somewhat alter his
ways.  He said that two missionaries lived in his apartment awhile ago
and that he wanted to talk to them so he did.  They gave him a Book of
Mormon and met with him regularly.  He said he didn't at first want to
be Mormon and that he tried everything he could possibly do to
disprove the missionaries and disprove the Book of Mormon.  Anyways he
read the whole book and prayed because he promised the missionaries he
would.

One day he said he was sitting down and he turned on the TV and
some PBS or whatever the history channel was on and he was watching it
and it was discussing how "foreign people" were living in the lands of
the Americas before Columbus sailed over and how they have no records
of who these people were, but he said he opened the Book of Mormon and
knew exactly who those people were and that he found his answer to his
prayer in a way... Since then he has never missed a single week at
church and is just an amazing person!

 

Also on Sunday, this man hadn't been to church in five
months, but we finallllyyyyyyyyy got him to come.   He is extremely
disabled, can't move at all.  We went over to his house super early and
we told him that we would help him get ready.  So we walked into his
apartment and he only had on his tidy whities.  Omg!  It was so funny
So Elder Andrus and I  literally dressed him up made him look sooo
swaggy and we got an awesome pic with him







On Thursday, we went over to the ladies house (don't get too excited,
just two elderly woman) and we discussed with them the gospel of Jesus
Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving  the Gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to
the end), but we wanted to make it fun for them because they tend to
get side tracked, so me still being a child at heart, made up some
little thingy and I'll explain the steps... Bear with me it's the
funniest thing ever in the end:

1. Faith - we got a little box and filled it with NASTY Chinese candy
that I got from the Assistants to the President because they knew I
lived in China.  Anyways we filled it up and taped the box shut and
wrote on the sides of the box, "Blessings of faith," "Yummy Candy," and
"What do you hope for and believe is in here."  I told her that even
though she can't SEE what's inside the box she has evidence that there
IS candy inside because a) I told her there was, and 2) it said on the box,
and I told her that if she had faith she would receive blessings, but
she had to wait till the end to receive those blessings (eternal life)
just like we can't see God or Jesus but we have evidence and faith
they exist.

2. Repentance - I wrote down "mistake" in pencil on a piece of paper
and had an eraser behind my back.  I told Arlene that I wanted her to
get rid of that mistake on her own.  Fortunately, she replied the way I
wanted her to by saying, "I need an eraser to get rid of it, ya dummy," and
so I told her, "Well, I have an eraser, but you need to ask for it..."   So
she said, "Okay, give it to me."   So I said, "First, you have to tell me what
I'm getting at!"  She had no idea, so I
told her that she couldn't get rid of a mistake unless she asked for
forgiveness (or the eraser).  I told her to pretend that I was God for this split
second and all she had to do was ask me for the eraser or forgiveness
to get rid of that mistake!  She gasped.  Lol

3. Baptism - I had scribbled and wrote a bunch of stuff on a gross
piece of paper and basically said, "This is life pre-baptism and then
post-baptism, you have this beautiful clean piece of  paper.

4. Holy Ghost /Spirit - After baptism, you receive the Holy
Ghost/Spirit, so to act this out and its purpose.  We used Wayne, the
Black guy I talk about.  He was with us.  I tied a tie around his eyes
and hid a piece of candy in the room and told him to find it on his
own.  He said he couldn't because he couldn't see (obviously) and so
then I told him that I would be the Holy Ghost and would guide him to the
candy.  I explained how the Holy Ghost guides us and comforts us in
times of need if we are doing everything right.

 


5. Endure to the end - I explained how we simply can't just stop
living the commandments and doing what we are suppose to be doing or
else we wouldn't receive that final prize...

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD
So we gave Arlene the box to open and she opens it and she is like "IT
IS CANDY," and I was like, "What kind of candy?" and she was like,
"Halloween candy!"  And we were like, "Really?  Why don't you read us what
it says?" and she was like, "I can't read this," and we told her to try it
out and she was like, "I'm not eating this FOREIGN stuff!"  Then Elder
Andrus told her to try it out and she did and she was gagging and just
cringing.  I have the video.  I'll send it.  I was sly recording it all!

MIRACLE STORY:  The Spanish Elders in our apartment were missing until
like 10:00 and we were suppose to be in by 9-9:30 at latest, so we
were like, "What the heck is going on?"... So we are talking to them when
they got home and they were like, "We almost just got robbed," and we
asked them to explain... Two Latino men came up to them and one of the
Elders said he could clearly tell they both had guns on them, but they
came up to them in the street, both Elders said there was NO ONE
around... And they said that they were getting really close to their
faces, and  one of the elders said someone down the street yelling in
Spanish, "Is it done?" but  the Elders said out of nowhere, they both
just turned around and started walking really quickly away, and so the
Elders turned around and nobody was in site, no police no nothing...
And the Elders said that the two guys were both just swearing at each other
and that one of them shouted, "I couldn't do it."  Then the Elder
proceeded to tell us that they knew that those two men either SAW or
FELT something that was provided from "someone above to protect them"
idk... Pretty amazing experience, I trust both those guys a lot and
I've heard a lot of stories out here like that...

Some quotes for the week:
Scripture quote
"Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? - if ye will
not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall
receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these
things shall be made known unto you."  1 Nephi 15:11

Random quote
"Happiness and inter contentment happens when your heart stays focused
on being grateful for everything that the gift of life offers, the
good, the bad, the hard and the easy, the defeats and the victories"

My gma hooked me up with the best early bday present I could ever ask
for.  She took all my Warriors t-shirts from the playoffs and made it
into a blanket, I'll attach it!



Take care everyone!

Elder Wilde

Week 8 - October 12, 2015

How ya Phil?  How ya Phil!

Ugh everyone says that here and it's super
catchy..... I may start to use it - don't hate me lol

Hope ya all had an amazing week!  Time is just flying, huh?!
I had quite an incredible... Interesting week to say the least.  It was
a huge eye-opener to me.  It may be one of my longer e-mails because it
requires some explaining, but here we go!

1. Tuesday - I went on exchanges with the district leader.  Tuesday night
around 8:00, we just visited someone and we were walking out on the
sidewalk and there was a man on his stairs.  He was completely passed
out and as we were walking, he fell over and slammed his head against
the concrete edge of the stairs.  You can't just walk by someone who slammed their head on the cement. I knew I needed to stay and try and to help him, so I tried lifting him up and setting him against the wall.  I could smell his breath.  He had drank a ton, but then I saw needle marks in his arms so I knew he had
some sort of overdose + drank a ton.  I kinda started patting him on
the back and trying to help him regain consciousness.  I then poured the water
I had left over, on his face.  The guy was out COLD.  The neighbors said
that he had been lying there for five hours completely passed out.  I was
in awe!  Anyways, I was like, "We need to call an ambulance," so I called
them, and they came within seconds.  I was able to snag a few pics on
my iPad to try and capture the moment so you can see.  It was crazy!  I
was able to sneak a little picture of Jesus in his back pocket :-)
anyways that was quite interesting ... Just goes to show what that
kind of stuff can do to you!  Be careful...



 

 

 

2. Elder Andrus and I were talking about his girlfriend one night, and
he was like, "Man... I don't know if she is going to try and go on a
mission.  If she goes, I won't see her for three and a half years...
Like what do I do?" and all that kind of stuff.  Ultimately we came to
the conclusion that it would be amazing if she went on a mission and
that the Lord's timing is perfect, and if it's meant to be, it's meant to
be.  But that night in our companionship prayer, I basically said,
"Please bless Elder Andrus' friend to know if a mission is the right thing for her
and for her to be able to make the right choice."  The next morning, Elder
Andrus checks his iPad.... And she had e-mailed him saying she
had decided to GO on a mission... Elder Andrus and I were in awe!
Prayers are answered.

3. OKAY, so here comes the story - We have been teaching this woman
named Bishnu.  Her husband is not a member but she is.  Her husband
hates when she meets with us because he is Buddhist, but we meet with
her anyways.  However, we hadn't seen her in the past two weeks, so
Thursday night it was like 8:30 and we were walking home and Elder
Andrus was like, "I feel as if we should really stop by Bishnu's home tonight,"
so we did.  We caught up with her and she told us that she has been
super stressed because she is packing to move to Ohio and that her
newborn baby is super sick.  She said she took her baby to the hospital
multiple times and the doctors don't know what's wrong with the baby.
Apparently, for the past two weeks she had been continuously asking her
husband to have either Elder Andrus or I give the baby a blessing, but
he kept saying no - but finally he gave us permission to do it because
the baby was getting REALLY ill.  So before we left, we were like, "Can we
do anything for you?  She was like, "Yes, could you give my baby a
blessing?"  Elder Andrus looked right at me.  I had never given a
blessing before, so he wanted this to be my first... So first Elder
Andrus consecrated the oil and blessed the oil and put it on the
baby's head.  Then I laid my hands upon this baby's head and said,
"Ramir Rossa, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which I have . . ."
and then my whole body just started shaking just like completely
overcome by the Spirit, no joke, and I continued to give the blessing
and said a lot of stuff and then closed, "In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen." 

We made our way home and my whole entire body was STILL
shaking... I didn't say a word the whole way home - We were about
to enter the house and Elder Andrus was like, "Do you remember anything
you just said in that blessing?" and I said, "Not one word," and he was
like, "God spoke through you, that was not you speaking."  I was
astonished... Anyways fast forward to the morning.  We were doing our
studies - we get a call from Bishnu telling us that she wants us to
come over, so we do... She and her husband are just in TEARS.... Her
baby was sitting there bouncing up and down smiling looking absolutely
PERFECT.... They both just hugged us and thanked us... I told them
"Don't thank me, thank Him"... It was quite incredible... Then that
day we returned home to finish our studies and I read a verse - this
is Jesus Christ speaking:  "For I perceive that ye desire that I should
show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I
see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you," so the
mother, Bishnu had faith that it would work, the baby being a new born
obviously was q perfect being so it had that faith, and then I had
that faith.... And that baby was healed.  I am still just... I can't
even describe that experience



 
4. Saturday afternoon we had a lesson with someone and they weren't
home so we called them and they were like, "Oh, we will be home in 10
minutes."  Elder Andrus was like, "Let's go stop by some people and come
back," and I was like, "No... Let's stay here and just wait..."  Then Elder
Andrus, and I quote said, "I really feel like we should just leave, go visit
some people and come back," and so I was like... "Alright, whatever
fine..." We came back 10 minutes later, and four men come sprinting up
to us right in front of the house we were going to, and they were like,
"WHERE DID THEY GO?  DID YOU SEE THEM?" and we were like, "What are you talking about...?"  Then they said that five minutes ago they were just
held at gun point in front of this person's house and they were robbed
of everything... Elder Andrus and I just looked at each other and were
like... "That could have been us... We literally could have just been
robbed if I didn't listen to Elder Andrus... He  was like, "The Spirit
told me to leave.  I knew we had to leave for a reason."

5. I am baptizing a teenager next Sunday... It's the best early
birthday present I could ever ask for... It's going to be amazing.

6. We were walking down the road I think on Wednesday and this
Black guy starts yelling at us cussing us out calling us "Jehovah's
Witnesses..."  And so I turned around and was like, "Yo, I'm Mormon, not a
J.W."  And he was like, "A who?"  And so we started talking to him and he
was like... "This stuff is incredible.  Please, please come to my home and
teach me and my family..."  So we have been teaching him and his family
the past few days... Quite interesting stories behind that, but it
takes too long to get into.  He has a very ... 'Colorful language' to
say the least lol!

Anyways last thing, Elder Andrus and I Saturday night after that whole
getting rob thing went down, we had a hugeeeeeeeee heart to heart about
the gospel and church and everything... And we both just said that we
see miracles out here every single day and that we have been blessed
our whole entire life.  We were just too blinded to see it, but now we see
it.  I truly do believe God has got our backs because there has been
multiple MULTIPLE times that I could have been seriously hurt or
something...

Our first transfer is up (transfer is a month and a half, then you can
either get called to leave your area or stay)  Elder Andrus and I were
called to stay in South Philly, I'm hyped!

(This is what you look like when you're told you get to stay in South Philly!)

Scripture of the week
"Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question - unto what were ye ordained?
To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent
to teach the truth."  Doctrine & Covenants 50:13-14

Pray for my mother, hope that Canadian medicine decides to help out!
Also, lol at my older brother.  He thinks he knows Wildlife?  I had a
centipede crawl on my leg while I was working out... Get on my level!

Hope you all have a good week!

Elder Parker Wilde

 (Elder Wilde went bowling no Friday.) 

 (Elder Andrus has a birthday coming up.  He received a gift card to Cheesecake Factory.  They were both pretty happy about that!)

 (Sharing the gospel!)

 

Week 7 - October 5, 2015

Why, hello there, everyone!
I hope you all are doing well :-))
It was a wonderful week in South Philly!  A wholllleeeee lot better
than last week haha!

It was a super busy week.  Thursday we had Zone Conference, the first
one I was able to attend.  It was FIRE (meaning really good). The good parts I will note here:

1. The training elders discussed how certain people have been put in
our path for a purpose.  We, as Latter Day Saints, may offer love,
compassion, an extended hand, and of course the gospel.  There are
people that are literally right in front of us that need something from
us, we just have to have that courage to help and offer assistance.  It
reminded me of that movie of the guy (I think it was Matt Damon), who
tried starting a zoo or something but he said, "You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it."  :)) Anyways, I thought that was interesting.

2. Crab mentality - a crab in a bucket may get out easily on its own;
however, when you place two crabs In a bucket, as one tries to climb
out, the other will pull him down trying to get leverage and pull
themselves out -> Do not let anyone discourage you no matter what they
say.  Don't let anyone tell you that you cannot do anything, because it
is all a mindset!

3. Flea analogy - the average flea can jump several feet wide and
several feet high.  Due to their small size, a few feet is a tremendous
amount.  If you were to catch fleas and put them inside a container
overnight, they would all jump out... However, if you put a lid on top
of them all night they would at first jump and try to get out but
consistently hit the top and bonk their heads.  They aren't stupid
creatures, so they would figure out just how high they can jump before
smacking their heads and would jump that high forever... Then you are
actually able to open the container and these fleas will have that
MINDSET that they can only jump so high even though they have the
capability of jumping out with ease ->  Never put a limit on what you
think you can do.  You can do anything you want with the right mindset
(why wouldn't anyone tell me this when I was in high school?) (jk, Dad
did!)

4. Departing missionaries remarks that I found interesting
              - why do we do what we do? Because we know what we know
              - we are cut down so we may grow (ther 2)
              - if you are waiting for it to get easier ... It doesn't
- faith makes things possible, not easy
              - THE SAVIOR NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE EASY, HE SAID IT
WOULD BE WORTH IT
              - there is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone

Good stuff, huh!

We had general conference this week, it was great.  Here are my take aways:

1. In times of trials, we find joy in our commitment and service to the Lord
2. Exercise self control
3. Straighten up and fly right.. Don't fly into a thunderstorm
4. If I make this choice, what is the worst possible thing that could happen?
5. If you want counsel, you better be prepared to take it
6. One of my favorite talks by Holland --- after Jesus's love, the
most important is the mother's love ️
7. DO WHAT MAKES YOUR MOTHER HAPPY
8. Mothers don't bear us....THEY CONTINUE TO BEAR WITH US... Wow!
9. Trials give us strength as we learn to overcome them
10. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith
11. God doesn't answer our questions if we are curious... He answers
them when we have a sincere heart and real intent
12. The Savior can help us through anything and everything because he
once went through everything and everything
13. Do your part - the Lord will take care of the rest
14 Thomas S. Monson priesthood talk was the most fire thing I've ever heard
15. Be an example in word and conversation, have charity, be an
example in spirit, be pure

Lastly............ Family is the center of life and the key to
happiness ️️️

I love my family!  Everyone should go read the conference talk entitled,
"Hope" by Steven E. Snow.

Have a great week everyone!

P.s. A bird crapped on my face this week.  It sucked.
 

(We, also, included portions of Elder Wilde's e-mail that he sent to his mother.)

 

Hey, mama bear!

Yesterday we were in companionship
study and there was a huge like gang fight or something right in front
of our house, so we watched it from the window... Then this morning
there were a bunch of cops a few doors down, so I'm curious to what
happened there haha.  It's so much fun... Scary but fun.

Today was
actually the most scared I've ever been besides the first week when
the guy had a gun on him and he was drunk... Like two hours ago we
were on the train and this lady and her kid were sitting right
next to us and this other lady right next to us as well. The kid
starts yelling, "Mom, take out your gun," and the mom has a backpack on her knees and she is like, "Shhh, we don't
have a gun," and so the lady moved out of the way and went to the
end of the train, but Elder Andrus and I stood up and kind of stood
REALLY close to the lady and we both just whispered to each other and
were basically like, "If she makes any move at all, we are getting on
her," and so then the kid said it again and she opened the bag and we
both like got RIGHT UP TO HER like inches away and she pulled out a
book, and we were both like... "Oh man!"  I was sweating so much it was
nerve wracking. 

Anyways, we caught a mouse in our house the other day.
I took pics.  It's kind of funny.

Conference this weekend was amazing.
Didn't you just love the mothers' talk by Elder Holland?  I was tearing up as
he was giving that because I was like, "Man, my mother is perfect!" (Can you just get feeling better, Mama?!)

We watched the first Saturday session at a member's house, the Gabrielsons. 
We went over to their house for dinner a few weeks ago, but he was
home alone.  His wife is in SF and so he had us over, gave us pizza and
what not.  Way fun chill guy. Then the next Saturday session, we went
over to an investigator's house and watched it there.  Then for the Priesthood Session we went to the church.  Then for the Sunday sessions,
we just watched it at the church.  We are getting fed REALLY well...
Sisi had us over for dinner on Saturday. 

Anyways, so before President Monson spoke in priesthood
(last speaker), I just really hadn't found anything that could directly
speak to a friend who've I've been trying to help, so I was kind of just sitting there and I decided to
pray, and I was like, "Please give me something that I can use to help
this friend in times of her need"-- something along those lines... And President Monson steps up and the first thing he says is, "Keep the commandments,"
then he gives an amazing talk where he literally said, "There are people you
may know that will say, 'Well, everyone is doing it, it's okay, it's
normal,' and when I heard that, I just started laughing.  I was like...
Are you kidding me!?  (That's exactly what the friend had said.)   And then he said that there are people that you
will meet in your life that you need to help... I just couldn't stop
laughing/tearing up... It was incredible, so once that talk is out I'm
going to forward bits and pieces of it to my friend... Anyways, it's
definitely a struggle...

Love, Elder Wilde, Jr.