Hola,
everyone!
Hope you all
had a splendid week and enjoyed Halloween! November is here already, man time
flies doesn't it...
Well, this was
a good week ! I officially turned 19 and I was treated with a nice little (big)
unexpected rainstorm! I just want to say thank you for all the happy bday
emails/packages, super nice of all you! My parents bought me this anti -ageing
oil .... As a joke, it was quite funny, but they sent me lots of other things
so it was great! Super grateful for all my family does for me! Happy
birthday to Grandpa and my mama! I'm getting something arranged so hopefully I
can get it out to you all soon!
This week was
especially fast because on Friday we were asked to stay inside because at 6 p.m.
in our area it is mischief night which is a fancy word for saying people dress
up a day early and spend the night committing crimes and what not. If you have
ever seen "the purge," it is like that, maybe not as much but to some
degree. Cops are literally on EVERY corner. Anyways, so we stayed in that night
as well as Halloween night as well. Too much crazy stuff going on those nights
where it was just better to stay inside haha!
I'll share
some highlights of the week!
1. On Tuesday,
we met with new investigators: Three Catholic 50-year-olds. Anyways, their parents
passed away and they were grieving and they all lost their jobs, so it was
great to meet them and share a message that made them tonssss happier. Anyways,
midway through the message, Joe, stops me and says, "Elder Wilde, when I
look at you I see Jesus Christ. When you speak, I hear Jesus Christ speaking to
me." I was super caught off guard and assured him that I was nothing like
even close to Jesus and would ever be, but he was feeling the spirit and knew our
message was true. Anyways, I think like Frrrriday ya Friday morning I was
reading my patriartical blessing - so I was reading it in the morning and it
said, "I bless you with an open and modest heart, that you will see as the
Savior would and be able to SPEAK as he would," and so yes, my Asian eyes
opened up super wide and I was like wow.......... Wait...... That's amazing,
that literally just happened. Anyways, pretty cool experience
2. On Sunday,
a man asked us to come over and give him a priesthood blessing. He was having
muscle spasms all week and was in tonssssss of pain, so of course we came over. We gave him a blessing and immediately the next morning he calls us and says,
"All the pain that I had is gone, I feel fantastic." It reminds me of the baby
that I blessed about a month ago and how she was healed... Just pretty amazing
stuff, I know it's not US healing it's HIM healing, pretty neat.
3. Thursday,
we went to the Priesthood Restoration site in Susquehanna which is WAYYY North
Philly. Now, South Philly is "phil"thy and has no color or anything. Susquehanna was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, every color you can think of, beautiful
trees, amazing scenery just amazing, then I got back to South Philly that night
and was just like.... Ugh smh... But anyways, basically what happened up there
was where Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon and where the first
baptism of this dispensation took place in the river. Also, Joseph Smith was
given the priesthood (authority to act in God's name to perform ordinances -
such as baptism, etc.) by Peter, James and John, and John the Baptist. Anyways, I
won't go too much into detail, but it was such an amazing experience. It was
beyond what peaceful words could even describe. You just had the most incredible
feeling, and they played a video in the little church that was there. I just
got the goosebumps everywhere. It was amazing, I'll attach some pictures.
4. Last night we had dinner with this family named the Baldwins. Every first Sunday of the month, our church fasts where we don't eat or drink for 24 hours, so finally dinner came around with the Baldwins and we just pigged out. Sooooooo good OMG, yes, it was so good. Anyways, but just like looking at this couple they were like 26ish - 28ish, just super amazing couple, both good looking, funny, smart, obedient, clean everything. Both Elder Andrus and I were like... LIFE GOALS right there... Our church here in South Philly is so sweet. It's all young successful awesome return missionaries with their good looking wives. It's like, "Plz give me that hahaha." Anyways, they were just super awesome and yeah I felt like I had to point that out. They actually just moved here from San Francisco three months ago, so about the same time as me. So it's cool to kind of talk about SF with them and yeah just some good stuff.
5. In church
every first Sunday of the month is also the week where we go up and bear our
testimony, and so one of our investigators who is getting baptized on the 15th
was sitting with me, but I just felt I should go up and say something. I
think this applies to everyone - I talked about CHARITY. Charity is the pure
love of Christ - just want to help and do good to others. We never know what
others are feeling and what they need. Sometimes we need to get to know
someone, listen to their concerns, try and understand them - THEN will we
finally be able to help. I just know that charity and helping others that
need a little boost can be a make or break in other's lives. You may not think
it, but now days many people put on a "fake smile" and go about the
days, so just try and reach out to someone who you may feel needs a little
support.
Last week I
missed the scripture and weekly quote so you're all just SOOOO lucky to get two
this week: 
Scripture
quotes
"...
Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God: and I fear not what
man can do: for perfect love casteth out all fear." - Moroni 8:16
"See
that all these things are done in wisdom and order: for it is not requisite
that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient
that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize: therefore all
things must be done in order." - Mosiah 4:27
Weekly quotes
"I'm a
great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of
it." - Thomas Jefferson
"Strength
doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you
thought you couldn't."
I just want
to add on to that last quote. Today I was reading about WHY we all go through
trials, what the purpose of trials are, and I'll copy and paste some key points
in case you're going through a hard time.
"Tribulation
provides people with opportunities for spiritual growth and character
development. Such needed attributes as humility, faith, empathy, patience,
courage, gratitude, and a repentant heart come to individuals in the refiner’s
fire of tribulation and persecution.
As to the
individual trials and problems that befall any of us, all we need say is that
in the wisdom of Him who knows all things, and who does all things well, all of
us are given the particular and specific tests that we need in our personal
situations."
There was a
lot more, but I guess what I really like out of that is that each one of us are
given trials for a reason. We can let that trial beat us or we can overcome
that trial with help from the man upstairs and grow stronger...
I was reading
a talk given by an apostle and it's really short I'll just copy and paste parts
I like:
"Without
safety ropes, harnesses, or climbing gear of any kind, two brothers--Jimmy, age
14, and John, age 19 (though those aren’t their real names)--attempted to scale
a sheer canyon wall in Snow Canyon State Park in my native southern Utah. Near
the top of their laborious climb, they discovered that a protruding ledge
denied them their final few feet of ascent. They could not get over it, but
neither could they now retreat from it. They were stranded. After careful
maneuvering, John found enough footing to boost his younger brother to safety
on top of the ledge. But there was no way to lift himself. The more he strained
to find finger or foot leverage, the more his muscles began to cramp. Panic
started to sweep over him, and he began to fear for his life.
"Unable to
hold on much longer, John decided his only option was to try to jump vertically
in an effort to grab the top of the overhanging ledge. If successful, he might,
by his considerable arm strength, pull himself to safety. In his own words, he said: 'Prior to
my jump, I told Jimmy to go search for a tree branch strong enough to extend
down to me, although I knew there was nothing of the kind on this rocky summit.
It was only a desperate ruse. If my jump failed, the least I could do was make
certain my little brother did not see me falling to my death. Giving him
enough time to be out of sight, I said my last prayer--that I wanted my family
to know I loved them and that Jimmy could make it home safely on his own--then
I leapt. There was enough adrenaline in my spring that the jump extended my
arms above the ledge almost to my elbows. But as I slapped my hands down on the
surface, I felt nothing but loose sand on flat stone. I can still remember the
gritty sensation of hanging there with nothing to hold on to--no lip, no ridge,
nothing to grab or grasp. I felt my fingers begin to recede slowly over the
sandy surface. I knew my life was over. But
then suddenly, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, two hands shot out
from somewhere above the edge of the cliff, grabbing my wrists with a strength
and determination that belied their size. My faithful little brother had not
gone looking for any fictitious tree branch. Guessing exactly what I was
planning to do, he had never moved an inch. He had simply waited--silently,
almost breathlessly--knowing full well I would be foolish enough to try to make
that jump. When I did, he grabbed me, held me, and refused to let me fall. Those
strong brotherly arms saved my life that day as I dangled helplessly above what
would surely have been certain death.”
He then says
some other stuff, but I guess we can all ask ourselves these questions that he
points out.
"What a
plight! The entire human race in free fall--every man, woman, and child in it
physically tumbling toward permanent death, spiritually plunging toward eternal
anguish. Is that what life was meant to be? Is this the grand finale of the
human experience? Are we all just hanging in a cold canyon somewhere in
an indifferent universe, each of us searching for a toehold, each of us seeking
for something to grip--with nothing but the feeling of sand sliding under our
fingers, nothing to save us, nothing to hold on to, much less anything to hold
on to us? Is our only purpose in life an empty existential exercise--simply to
leap as high as we can, hang on for our prescribed three score years and ten,
then fail and fall, and keep falling forever?"
Anyways, love
you all and hope you have a splendid week! God bless and take care!
Love,
Elder Parker Wilde
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