Week 45 - June 27, 2016

Hello, hello!

 
We had a great week in Bayview.  Found and taught some new people, had
some great people come to church, and had some powerful spiritual
lessons!

 

I think one of my favorite, well my favorite part this week was we
went and stopped by a less-active Hispanic family who has four kids and
we are trying to help them get active in the church and get their two
kids baptized, but the dad struggles with a few things so he feels
inadequate to come to church (which is sad because everyone is
welcome!)   But anyways, we had like a 30-minute chat with him and his
wife and I made them promise that they would get active starting
Sunday and bring their kids to church.  I love the kids so much.  We
always try and make it a fun time when we are over there.  Anyways they
all told me they wanted to come to church and then they came (I didn't
see them walk in) and after Sacrament Meeting, I stood up and all the
kids ran up to me and started jumping on me laughing and hugging me.
"Elder Wilde, we are here!  We are here!  Thank you for helping us get
here!"  It was so cute.  AHHHHHHH love them.
 

Amy is going to Temple Square in Salt Lake City this Wednesday so I'm
super excited for her.  She is so close to getting baptized!
One of the new people we are teaching who is super solid, he's 17.  His
name is Nick.  We had one lesson with him last week.  He comes into the
lesson and is like, "I've read multiple parts of the Book of Mormon, I
have read everything you've given me, went on your church website, I
know your church is the true church because it has the Priesthood, I
get all that - BUT I feel like later on in my life I'm going to make
mistakes and I don't want to get baptized if I know I want to maybe do
some of those things later on," so we had a great lesson about being IN
the world and not OF the world.  We discussed repentance and the
Atonement a lot with him.  He basically told us he knows he needs to
repent of a lot of things - anyways, I did some personal study on this
topic and I thought I might share!
 
One quote I really like that an apostle many years ago said:
"Meanwhile, may we be different in order to make a difference in the
world"
John 15:19 says, " If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own:  but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you" -- meaning the people who
don't live the world's standards are hated by those who have no
standards and are always rejected as was Jesus, but Jesus goes on to
say:
John 18:36 :  "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world" and in
John 8:23 :  "And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from
above:  ye are of this world; I am not of this world."
Jesus continues to tell us that in order to live with him in his
father's kingdom we must live the laws of his kingdom that he has given
us and not the worldly laws.
We are to live in the world but not be of the world.  We must live in
the world because, as Jesus taught in a parable, His kingdom is “like
leaven,” whose function is to raise the whole mass by its influence.

Kieth Merrill had such an experience when he was a young man.  He and
his friends were diving from sheer rock walls at the East Canyon
Reservoir, northeast of Salt Lake City.  It inevitably turned into a
teenage contest when one young man climbed up to the top of the dam
and dived 50 feet into the deep water of the reservoir.  The rest of
the young men all went to the top of the dam and made the same high
dive.  One boy wasn’t satisfied with that, so he said, “All right, I’ll
do one better!”  He climbed 60 feet up the side of the cliff.  Not
wanting to be outdone, Kieth climbed up beside him.  After the other
boy had dived into the water and seemed to be all right, Kieth took
courage and made his dive.  The contest was now down to these two boys.
Kieth’s friend then climbed up to 70 feet and dived.  He came up from
the water laughing, rubbing his shoulders and his eyes.  He then
challenged Kieth, “Well, are you going to do it?”
"Of course, I’m going to do it!” And everybody on the shore said, “Of
course, he’s going to do it!”
 

So Kieth swam back to the shore and climbed up the rocks.  He knew if
he jumped from the same height of 70 feet that his friend would want
to go higher, so he scrambled up 80 feet to the very top of the cliff.
No one could go any higher than the top.  As Kieth looked down, he was
terrified to see the water so very far away.  He had made a rash
decision.  It was not what he wanted to do nor what he felt was right.
Instead he had based his decision on the prodding and dares of a half
dozen young men whose names he cannot now even remember.
He backed up and ran as hard as he could toward the edge.  He found the
mark he had carefully laid at the edge of the rock and sprang out into
space.  On the way down he remembered his parents teaching him to be
careful when making decisions, because a wrong one could kill him.  And
now he thought, “You have done it, because when you hit the water
you’ll be going so fast that it might as well be concrete.”  When he
hit the water, it even felt like concrete.  How grateful he was when
his head finally popped above water.
 

Why did he jump?  What was he trying to prove?  The young men who dared
him didn’t care and probably don’t even remember that foolish act.  But
Kieth realized afterward that he had made what could easily have been
a fatal decision.  He had yielded to the pressure of friends expecting
him to do what he didn’t want to do.  He knew better.  He said: “I was
living in the world, and at that moment I was of the world because I
was not in control of myself. I was not making decisions about my own
life.  The world made the decisions for me, … and [I] had barely
avoided being in the world about six feet deep.”
 
A poem on the Atonement
 
I’ve found a friend, oh, such a friend,
So kind, and true, and tender,
So wise a counselor and guide,
So mighty a defender.
I’ve found a friend, oh, such a friend.  He bled, he died to save me,
And not alone the gift of life,
But his own self he gave me.
I’ve found a friend, oh, such a friend.
All power to him is given
To guide me on my onward course
And bring me safe to heaven.
 
What a wonderful week it was.  Love you all!  God bless
 
Elder Wilde

Week 44 - June 20, 2016

 Family,

The poor Warriors.......my countenance dropped when I heard the
news.... Couldn't believe it... Didn't sleep a minute last night!
 

On another note, it was great to see Connor get home from his mission
and see so many pictures.  Love him!

Happy birthday and Father's Day to the best man out there, love my pops.

Well, looks like I'll be staying here in Bayview, Maryland, for ANOTHER
transfer.  Seven more weeks & I'll be a week away from hitting my year mark
after this transfer.  Slow down!
Congratulations again to everyone that graduated, seems like just yesterday lol

Well, this week was great.
We have three people progressing really well:  Amy (19), Patty (32),
Crystal (35) and PJ (19).  Pray for them.  This next transfer should be
wonderful.
 
Ummm we taught a lot this week, had a lot of good lessons.  I think
I'll just share some things I studied this week.  I was on exchanges
with Elder Drake (my Zone Leader) and he said that he has been
studying the Atonement for 10 minutes everyday, so I decided to do it as
well.
 
I read the account in Matthew 26 about the Savior in the Garden of
Gethsemane.  In the garden when he prayed he said, "O my Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me:  nevertheless not as I will,
but as thou wilt."  This scripture is beautiful because it shows how
humble and obedient Jesus Christ is to his Father.  He asks if there is
ANY other way because he knew how painful, how hard what he was about
to do would be, but in all humility and obedience he tells his father
that he will do the Father's will and not His own.  He goes on to be
betrayed by Judas and in the midst of this, Peter cuts off one of the
High Priest's servant's ear.  Jesus tells Peter to put the sword
away and says something great.  He says, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now
pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels?"  Jesus could have called down thousands of angels
from heaven and absolutely destroyed everybody in his path.  He could
have just jumped off the cross and healed himself back to normal.  He
didn't though.  He put himself under or below everything and everyone
so that he could raise all of us up.  He could heal us, as Alma
(prophet in the Book of Mormon) says:  "And he shall go forth,
suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and
this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon
him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death
which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities,
that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that
he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according
to their infirmities."

What does succor mean?  To give aid or relief to.  Why can Christ do
that?  He can do so because he went through every pain, affliction,
temptation, sadness, sorrow, trial you and I will ever go through.
Why though!?  Why would he do this for all of us?  Alma says:  "He loveth
our souls as well as he loveth our children;"  Christ goes on to say:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends."  The clear answer is because Christ and his father love
us - they love us so much to do this for us, why?  Why did this need to
be done?  In the book of Romans it says:  "For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God;" and the scripture says:  "Wherefore, if ye
have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation (life on
earth), then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and
no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off
forever."  So - we must cleansed from sin to live with God.  The
Atonement of Jesus Christ was done for EVERYONE and is the ULTIMATE
gift for all of mankind because it allows us to live with God, Jesus
Christ, and our families forever:  "Wherefore, may God raise you from
death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting
death by the power of the Atonement, that ye may be received into the
eternal kingdom of God."

I read a poem about the Atonement that I'll share. 
Does the journey seem long,
        The path rugged and steep?
        Are there briars and thorns on the way?
        Do sharp stones cut your feet
        As you struggle to rise
        To the heights thru the heat of the day?
      Is your heart faint and sad,
        Your soul weary within,
        As you toil ’neath your burden of care?
        Does the load heavy seem
       You are forced now to lift?
        Is there no one your burden to share?
      Let your heart be not faint
        Now the journey’s begun;
        There is One who still beckons to you.
        So look upward in joy
        And take hold of his hand;
        He will lead you to heights that are new--
      A land holy and pure,
        Where all trouble doth end,
        And your life shall be free from all sin,
        Where no tears shall be shed,
        For no sorrows remain.
        Take his hand and with him enter in.

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness
that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave
unto God as he cleaveth unto you.  And while his arm of mercy is
extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your
hearts............ Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for
the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith:  Repent, and
I will receive you."

I'm grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I know it works.
Alma the Younger (the vilest of sinners) said:  "And now,
behold...I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by
the memory of my sins no more.  And oh, what joy, and what marvelous
light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as
was my pain!"

 

The Atonement works, use it, rely on it, be grateful for it.

Love you all,
Elder Wilde

Week 43 - June 13, 2016

Hey there! 

I can't believe that my cousin, Connor is home from his
mission Wednesday!  What a stud, so proud of him. I never thought he
would survive the jungles of Nicaragua.  He did though, so that's nice!

We had an awesome week here!  We had Zone Conference & it was super
bittersweet.  

Our Mission President and his wife gave their "dying
testimonies" since they leave this week.  The mission is going to miss them
so much, they are awesome.  Four zones got together and sang them a
goodbye song.  I don't have it but I'll try to get it so I can send it.

 Elder Wilde with his Mission President and his wife.

We talked a lot about the temple in Philly about to start having its
open house and we watched a few videos they made for it.  It was super
awesome - everyone was in tears.

We had Stake Conference and man it was SOOO good.  The speakers were
incredible.  One of the speakers was a returned missionary (Stake
President's son) giving his homecoming talk and he gave a great analogy
of the Atonement -  He said he had a friend in Brazil on his mission
and he and his companion had a sign saying, "Free Donuts," and once a
group of ten or so gathered they told them they would give them each
free donuts but before they received thedonut one of the companions
had to do 20 push ups for the person to get the donut.  Anyways, after
the 5th person got the donut, the missionary started to really
struggle with doing push-ups.  It was over 100 degrees on the cement.
The next person was basically like, "I don't want the donut.  I feel bad
for this guy."   The companion handing out the donut told him that he
was going to do the 20 push-ups regardless if he wanted the donut or
not.  So he did the push-ups and he got the donut.  The next guy told
the Elders that he would do the push-ups for the Elder instead of him
doing it, and the Elder passing out the donuts said that he couldn't and
only the missionary could do the push-ups in order to receive the
donut. 

Once the 8th guy came to receive a donut, the missionary had a
bloody nose and could hardly do a few push-ups.  People were getting
upset and the missionary was in pain, but he finished all 200 push-ups
so everyone could receive a donut.  At the end, the missionaries both
got up and said something along the lines of, "Regardless if you accept
Jesus Christ or not in your life, he suffered and died and was
resurrected for all of you so that you could all get back to him
someday.  Regardless if you want to be a part of his fold or not, he did
this because he loves you and he was the only person who could do
this."  It was pretty touching.  I had heard the analogy before but for a
missionary to do that is pretty neat.

One of the speakers spoke about how Jesus Christ knows us individually
and helps us individually - not so much collectively.  He will go after
the ONE missing, the ONE astray.  Every ordinance is done by ONE person
for ONE person at a time.  He said it a lot better but it was interesting.

I was able to baptize a 14-year-old boy named Gabe yesterday.  A member
and I are trying to help him become a jockey... He's such a stud.  He's
come a long ways and he brought his family who we were able to talk
with about the church.  They are super interested.

Amy is still awesome.  She should be getting baptized in the coming weeks.

Hmmm at Zone Conference I got to see Elder Jolley, Elder Andrus, Elder
Uriostegui, Elder Jensen and a few others.  Love them all, I miss being
with them!  I'll attach some pics.

It was my companion's birthday on Sunday, so the Fletcher's (a family
in our ward) had a little surprise bday for him.  It was great.  I
ironed all his clothes while we were on exchanges.  That was my gift to
him lol

We had a lesson with an 18-year-old kid (a friend of a member) and at
the end of the lesson (we taught him a ton, he had tons of questions)
he was like, "Yeah, everything you're saying makes a ton of sense and
nobody has been able to answer these questions before.  Your religion
is pretty bulletproof," and I was like, "Well, it's Jesus Christ's church
and it's not 'our religion'.  It's God's kingdom on earth, so yes, it's
pretty bulletproof."

Oh man.. Thursday, this huge family that is a part of the military 
got promoted so they are going to Tennessee.  We packed a HUGE truck
for 10 hours in the sun, 100 degrees outside, scorching hot.... I got
so sunburnt... The truck weighed in at 30,000 pounds once it was
done... I was dead lol.  Lots of other lovely stuff happened as well!
I have transfer calls on Saturday 

GOD BLESS, love y'all

Elder Wilde

Week 42 - June 6, 2016

Hello there :-)

 
What a wonderful week!  Had some great lessons, met some great people,
twas nice.  I really don't have too much to report on, however.
 

(Elder Wilde said:  "Why is there an Audi R8 in rising sun?")

 

Amy is doing great, progressing well.  She will be getting baptized
soon.  Her hangup is if Joseph Smith is truly a prophet.  She studies a
lot, prays and fasts.  Christianity is such a foreign concept to her,
so she has come a really long ways which has been super amazing to
watch.  I may have mentioned this before, but she is just so fun to
teach because she is so open and will do what it takes to learn the
truth.  She's always asking questions and what not.  I think she has a
stronger testimony then her boyfriend who is already a member... lol.
Anywho, pray for her.

Last night a whole family came out with us from 6-9 and we had a list
of like 5 focus families.  They made cookies and what not and we
stopped by all their houses.  Laura their oldest daughter had a
spiritual message which she shared, pretty good.  Anyways, last family
was our biggest focus family.  The Trenkles.  I've spoken about them
before.  Husband is an inactive member.  He got hit by a car (gang
related) on his mission and has fallen away ever since.  His wife is
Catholic, wants to leave the church, has three kids.  We have gone to
make crab pots over there, we are pretty close.  He's so close to coming
back!!  Anyways, they met the family we came with and we ate crab
together and the Warrior game was on.  I just so clearly beckoned
them to turn it off because i just couldn't bring myself to watch even
a second of it, cough cough.  It was cool though.  We shared missionary
experiences with their family and they enjoyed it. 

Rosa is doing ok.  She came to church.... we don't really see her
besides at church because we aren't allowed to know where she is living
now and no men are allowed to see her.  Continue to pray for her.

This Thursday we have Zone Conference, excited to see everyone and
hear our Mission President's "dying words."  He goes home in two weeks.
 

I'll share a small experience.
We are teaching this new lady.  She's met with all these different
churches, apparently we are the last and only church she has not met
with (how is this always the case..?)  Anywho, we had planned to teach
the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but I just felt super
strong that that is not what she needed, so I called a little audible
taha!  anywho, i just felt like I needed to ask her, "Do you feel like
God loves you?"  So I asked her, and she just started bawling.  She
expressed all her feelings and emotions, things that have happened to
her in her life, etc.  It was  pretty crazy - anywho.  The Spirit was
super strong and I just leaned forward, and yes, Parker Wilde can be
serious at times--not always a goof, and I told her something along the
lines of, "I don't care where you came from, what you have done, how
much of a mess-up you may think you are, none of that matters.  What
matters is that we are sitting together right now, and I am telling you
that Father in Heaven loves you and he is aware of what you are going
through.  He has sent us, his servants, here to your home because you
are prepared.  You are ready to change your life around.  God will take
you as you are right now and will mold you into what He wants you to
become, so are you ready to do this or not?"  To summarize what she said,
- yes, she is ready.  

Anyways, that is the most pure, most beautiful
most true and amazing doctrine anybody can ever teach.  I hate when
other people from other churches tell their congregation that "they are
unworthy to pray to Him" or "He doesn't care about the small things
going on in your life," etc., etc. drives me insane.  God is your Father,
He loves you period.

Love y'all.  Have a good week.

Elder Wilde