Week 5 - September 21, 2015

What's good, my fam?

First thing first... I feel like I emailed you all yesterday?  This

week FLEW by... It's true when they say that weeks turn into days!

Seriously so fast...

Also, I love how Bracken said that his mission was the best.  It's hard

to contend with Australia, considering I'm pretty sure he is on

vacation but who knows.  However, let's not forget that most of the

United States history began in Philly... Oh wait also, let's not

forget that the priesthood was restored here, too... Pretty

sure nothing like that happened in Australia :)  Speaking of, I had the

chance to watch the Priesthood Restoration and let me tell ya...

Absolutely incredible!  I don't know if you all watched it or not, but it should

be on lds.org and it was straight fire!  Elder Nelson gave the talk

and he spit some TRUTH!  It was incredible... Just go watch it! 

Dedication of Priesthood Restoration Site
(Click on the link above to watch the entire dedication or just the portion where Elder Nelson speaks.  In addition, you may scroll down and view a short video of events that transpired there when the Priesthood was restored in 1829.)
 

Lots of interesting things happened this week, I'll just talk about a few of

them - Tuesday I had golden re-training where I went and got my last

thing of training in and I got to see everyone from the MTC and

it was so good... Just listening to everyone's experiences so far

hahah quite funny... 

 (Trainer for Elder Andrus along with Elder Andrus who is the trainer for Elder Wilde, and Elder Wilde who is a future trainer for some other new Elder who will enter this mission.  Elder Wilde called this picture, "My grandfather, father, and me.")

(Philadelphia skyline.)

(Eating a true Philadelphia cheese steak.)

Philadelphia is most definitely diverse, to say the least... We had a  less-active member running in the middle of the road trying to end her life.  Then she called us telling us about

it and we were like uh.... What the heck are you doing?  So we got

an appointment with her the next day, and her arms and legs were just

cut everywhere and we were like omg what are you doing to yourself?

She's been having some relationship problems with some of her

friends.... Let me rewind, this woman is white, 60+ years old, no job,

crazy.  We meet with her two times a week and she treats us as more of a

therapist then missionaries, so finally this week I got in there and

just basically set everything straight -  I told her basically this -

"Listen, we are 18 and 19 year old boys out here serving a mission, we

teach the doctrine of Christ and help apply it to your lives so you

can be happier - that is what we are here to do.  We will listen to

your problems but you need to go to the bishop to talk about it if you

want relationship answers."  Obviously I said it very kindly and what

not - anyways we read a scripture from the Bible which told her that

this body she has isn't hers and that God gave it to us so we could

dwell here on earth and that by disrespecting her body she is

disrespecting God.  Then we read her some 2nd Nephi Chapter 26 verse

30 talking about charity and love, and then some Mosiah Chapter 2

which has some love one another stuff in it.  Anyways it was probably

our most powerful and spiritually lesson elder Andrus and I have ever

had.  She was so touched by the Spirit and so were we.  It was quite

incredible to say the least.  Anyways we were like, "Now listen up!  You

need to get to church.  God promises us that when we follow his

commandments we will be blessed immediately, and church is a place

where we can worship with people who worship the same thing as us."  

So she came on Sunday after not attending for four months.  She was just

in tears at church and thanked us so much for being there for her and

helping her - quite a surreal experience.  

We had six less actives commit

and go to church this week after not have been going for the past four

months - just watching their body emotions and the way they listened

and talked in church... One of them said, "I'm finally home."  I was like

"Yeah, you're home, so you're gonna always come now, right, - yes!"

Lol good stuff. 

We got dropped by two of our investigators with

baptismal dates because they need time on their own to figure out if

it's right for them.... That was a downer, but whatever.  God

works on his own time yfeel?  However, now we have two more with

baptismal dates - Kevin and Sarita - both killin it, doing great.

Sarita's dad has been coming for a few months, and then he just went MIA on

us... We hadn't heard from him in like a week, missed two lessons,

wasn't answering phone calls ... Met with Sarita - check this... HE'S

IN JAIL!  Some immigration problem... That put us in shock! 

Anyways,

we had a swag dinner with some members named the Gabrielsons, two

brothers and their wives.  They were so chill, really young still in

college, had an amazing time... Felt like home!  Never laughed so hard in

my life, my abs were hurting... 

Then this morning a member took us out

golfing to a country club...  It was so fun lol, great

time.   Elder Andrus is pretty good.  We go back and forth on holes.  

We were at the park the other day just passing through and these kids

were like, "Yo, white boys - what you got huh?"  Lol I gave Elder Andrus

an under the legs off the backboard dunk and these kids were looking

at us cluelessly like, "What just happened?" It was so funny.  I should

have recorded it. 

We saw two Black chicks just beat the crap out of

each other.  We were planning at the church next to the window.  They

were killin each other ... Hahahaha  I wanted popcorn.  I found some

dreads on the side of the road after lol . 

Check this out... So we had

a meeting we had to get to ASAP... And so we saw this bus coming and

we knew it wasn't the right bus but it was heading in a similar

direction so we were like, "Let's get on it and hope for the

best................"  Wrong choice.  We got dropped off in the middle of

who knows where.... Had to walk five miles back to get to

civilization, horrible.  Kind of funny though, but it sucked... 

So,

Sunday night we were walking back after dinner and it was like 8:15ish

and I was like, "Yo, Elder Andrus.... Let's just street contact for

a bit..."  And so we start walking and this guy comes up to us and he's

like, "Man, why do the Eagles lose so much?" and so we start talking sports for

a bit and then I'm like, "Man, the Eagles can only pray to the man above

to get a win right now.."  And he was like, "Absolutely!"  Then I was like,

"OH, SO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, HUH?"  Lol funny way to bring up God.  Anyways he

was extremely interested.  His name is "Hat Man" because he makes hats

for a living... I know I know what the ... Lol, but he was SO

interested and we just had q great conversation, and we are meeting

with him this week!  Cool stuff... 

Also, let me tell ya, these people

live and die for their Eagles... Like legit... EVERYONE is geared up

on game day... And then the riots happen afterwards, which are Kind of

sketch.  

Also, Elder Andrus makes fun of Roscoe and Roxy... I have given him some

lashings at night.  I wait til he's asleep and then whip him with my

belt.  But that's only because he whipped me because my shoe laces come

untied so much. 

It was another great week.  There is so much more I

could tell ya, but my brain turns to mush after a little while!  Hope

you all have another lovely week!  Love you :)

P.s. Tell my younger brothers to write me... Bunch of losers.

Love you!

Elder Wilde

 

  ( Small World:  The card above is from a family the Wildes were good friends with in Shanghai.  They now live in Philly and are looking forward to seeing Elder Wilde at some point during his mission) 

We thought it was appropriate to add a portion of the letter Elder Wilde wrote his dad:

Not gonna lie, I knew that I had to serve a mission, it's something I just knew I needed to do. I wasn't like thrilled out of my mind to leave my boys, fam, girl, all that for two years - but everyone was like, "It's the best two years of our lives," so I was like... "Ok, how is that possible?"  So I did it and went on this mish... I know that it is the best two years... A) you get to serve GOD... Our creator, and Eternal Father that has given me the most amazing life... Who I am ever indebted to, as King Mosiah says in the Book of Mormon.  B) As I serve him, I get to change people's lives... See smiles on their faces, help them... And that is where true happiness lives - not helping yourself - helping someone else... When I walk out of someone's house,,, I have NEVER felt so at peace and happy before... Of course there are so many other things... But those two stick out to the most.  Now having said that, my area is hard, walking all day in the heat is brutal.  It's not a nice area whatsoever, it's sketch; however, I know the man above has got my back, so I truly am not scared... I love you father, you're a good man, and a fantastic example - us kiddos look up to you.

  

Week 4 - September 14, 2015

Hello, fam!

Can't believe I've already been out a month!  Crazy - time seriously flies!  I'm loving it and it was another great week!  I'm physically exhausted - 15 miles a day with a good work out in the morning will do it to ya!  I actually love walking though.  It's great exercise for me and I get to experience the mission more!  Lots of cool stuff happened this week!  I don't know if I can fit it all in or remember it all, but I'll give ya what I got :-))

Here are some blessings that came our way.  We are walking down the street late at night when all of a sudden this blacked out Cadillac pulls up right in front of us and at that moment we were both like, "That's a gang.  We are about to die.  It's over..."  They all get out of the car and are like, "If you brothers ever have anyone messing with you, give us

a call and we will beat some ***."  They used some more explicit words but that was cool.... So we got to live another day which was kinda nice.

Then one day we were gonna be super late for an appointment, but we said, "Man, we are gonna be so late we need Scepta (our public transportation) to get there asap..."  Right after we said that, Scepta pulls up right in front of us and takes us to the train station.  Then we

get down there and the train pulls up right away, then we had to change trains, and we get out and that train is pulling up.... We made our appointment!

Then today we were walking home from Walmart with all our groceries and it's like two miles and we both just said, "I wish we had a car to transport all this.  It sucks walking.  We need a ride."  All of a sudden a Nigerian taxi driver pulls up right next to us and is like, "You boys

want a ride?"... Heck yes, we do Homie! 

I forgot to mention but last week, we were walking and we were like, "Dang, BYU opener starts today.  I wish we could watch it (jokingly)," and then we got inside a lesson and

the people's cat jumped on to the couch and walked on the remote and turned the tv on and the BYU game was on and we got to watch the final few seconds!  Crazy haha!

I LOVED the picture book Mom made me, and I'm keeping her 10x more in my prayers. Hope you feel better, Momma!  Elder Andrus won't stop making fun of Shitzuhs.  I've had to put him in his place a few times... We ball out every once in awhile and I'm able to score 9 or so points on him by the time he gets to 21 hahaha.  Seriously everyone around here

has pets!  There are Shitzuhs around here everywhere...  I'll send pics that I took haha.  

We have four investigators with baptismal dates - Kevin (15 yer old sophomore), Sarita (18 year old college student), Julius (70 year old black dude), Peter (27 year old rich white guy)

... Their dates are mid October so I'm pumped to that.... Hopefully everything goes through. 

One thing that I have noticed so far on my mission is that these people literally have NOTHING... And yet they feel so blessed - just to be alive and have a roof over their head.  It made Elder Andrus and I have a great talk about how blessed we have been in our lives.... We both take so much for granted and are learning to become more humble, seeing these people the way they are definitely brings about a new perspective. 

Last week I met Dwayne for the first time.  He's been to hell and back - drugs, alcohol, you name it.  He said one day he was going to give up his life, so he said to himself, "God if you want me to live, show me a sign."  Then he said missionaries turned the corner and talked to him.  He's been sober for 14 years... He and I get along really well and I call and text him to show him some lovin'.  He broke out into tears when he had us over for dinner the other night (bought us sandwiches) and said he was so grateful  for the love he feels when he is with us and how we care for him.  Truly an eye opener for me.  He is a great example, and seriously could be a motivational speaker.  His life story is incredible, and I respect him so much... 

Last week the guy that pulled the gun out, we told him before we left as we were walking away he should put away the alcohol.. We come back a few days later and he's sippin on ginger ale, and we seriously just loved him and cared for him and wanted to talk

to him and get to know him.  He said, "Bros, I was such a ***ch to you guys the other day, but you still cared for me and stood by me.  Nobody ever does that.  Alcohol makes me someone else, so I'm gonna listen and not drink for one week," and then we came back another day and we saw him and talked to him and he was like, "wow, these last few days

have been great blah blah blah," and said some amazing stuff, but then I saw him sit down with his girl and have a beer and was like, "Well one beer is better then 10 haha," or we just keep going over and hanging with him, letting him know we are there for him... 

We did some service for a member moving music equipment around the house, then he took us to Ikea for lunch... Yep, Ikea... I was so starving at the time that I pounded food left and right regardless how it tasted, but I was thankful for him doing that for us... Also for Wayne, he literally was telling us how he'd had hardly any money, but he doesn't care about

money.  He cares how missionaries saved his life and brought him happiness and he's indebted to us... So we slipped him a 10 in the Book of Mormon and was like, Hey, you better read tonight!"  Lol

 

I am currently reading Mosiah...most firey scriptures out there... Mosiah Chapter 2 is straight spittin truth, it got me hyped.  Read that one tonight!  I look forward to reading every morning.  There are such awesome scriptures that apply to our daily lives, and it' unfortunate I didn't take the time in high school to really do that, but now here being in

the field, it's the biggest eye opener... Ever.  

Our lessons go just absolutely amazing, and I'm so grateful for that.  I know the man above

is hooking us up and helping us out every step of the way!  Elder Andrus and I are BOYS haha.  We have such a great time together... 

There is so much more I could say, but I love doing all this and I know that

when we are serving others we are serving God and I love it so much.  Bringing the happiness to these people's lives is amaaaazing!

LOVE YOU FAM, take care,

Elder Wilde

 (Elder Wilde sent his family this puzzle because he knows that puzzles are a favorite family project they like to do together.)

(We thought it was appropriate to add some final comments Elder Wilde wrote to his mother:)

Hello, Mother, I miss you !  Yeah Kevin (Elder Wilde's Uncle who was in Philadelphia on business) took us out.   It was so awesome.  We seriously starve to death over here, partially because we walk 15 miles a day in the heat so it gets to you.  I get home at night and am just GASSED.... Takes me like 30 seconds to fall asleep at most!  Also, we took Kevin to a nice part of town.... Haha he was in the good part, where we are... Oh boy, it's A LOT different.  I'll try my best not to scare you, but you see more cop cars than regular cars!
 

I got the package today! I absolutely loved all the photos it made me so happy :)) (Elder Wilde requested a picture book with pictures of family, his dogs, etc.)  Also I read my patriarchal blessing and wow, it was so awesome... So pumped to read it, really meant a lot.

I would LOVE if you went on Amazon food and hooked me up with some protein powder or something.  Honestly, any food is good if you sent me some... I'm trying to eat healthy.  I
get a good workout in every morning, and I'm sure my legs are getting toned haha.  I've put on two pounds of muscle, pretty sure in my legs haha.  I'm seriously dead, my legs are always aching.  

I miss you so much!  I'm forever a Momma's boy!  I'll be sending the fam email in a little bit to tell about my week!  Love you,

Elder Wilde

 

Some Special Pictures - September 9, 2015

There was so much excitement in the Wilde household when these pictures were sent to them by Elder Wilde's Uncle Kevin:

 

Uncle Kevin was going to  Philadelphia baseball game and the baseball park is in Elder Wilde's area.  So, he told them he would take them to dinner.  They chose a Chinese buffet.  Kevin said the food was terrible, but the Elders loved it! 

 These townhouses are near where Elder Wilde and Elder Andrus live.  They said the people in this area really watch out for them.  Kevin said Elder Wilde is absolutely loving the work and catching the spirit of it already.

 Elder Andrus played basketball for BYU and will go back there on scholarship after his two-year mission.  Elder Wilde just loves him as a companion and now wonderful friend.  Elder Andrus, also, knows Kevin's son, Connor, who is currently on a mission in Managua, Nicaragua, as well as Kevin's son, Taylor, who, also, served in this mission.  Elder Andrus is 6 ft. 11 inches tall and sort of makes Elder Wilde look short!  They have a Fitbit and were already at 10 miles walking for the day--and the day wasn't even near over yet!

 Elder Wilde in front of the martial arts place he and Elder Andrus went to on their P-Day.  (Preparation Day)

What a special day for all of us who enjoyed these pictures so much!  Thanks, Kevin, for taking the Elders to dinner and for letting us enjoy the fun pictures!

Week 3 - September 7, 2015

Wow! What a crazy week! 

I seriously have so much to say I don't even know what to say. 

My companion is Elder Andrus.  He went to school at American Fork, but knows Connor (Elder Wilde's cousin who is serving a mission in Managua, Nicaragua.)   Elder Andrus plays for BYU basketball team.  I have been super blessed with the companions and friends at the MTC I have made.  The second I walked out of my mission president's door after my meeting with him, he was like, "Hey, Elder Wilde.  I know exactly who your companion is going to be already."  So I was nervous, but excited.  Then apparently, ya know, I was goofing around with the Assistants to the President, well they went up to my companion before we found out we were companions, and they told him that he got matched up with the best missionary in the field and that he was gonna love being with me, but he didn't know it was me yet.  But we were kinda staring at each other across the gym, and we kind both just nodded at each other.  We both got that feeling we were gonna be companions.  Then when we got home he was like, "I have been blessed beyond belief to have you," and I was like, "Same here, man." 

 

We are WAY chill....We just go together so well, we are very similar.  He's only been out three months, but he's a great missionary and we just have had so many amazing lessons. We go play ball most mornings and yes I can score on him :-) although I can't drive on him because he's 6'10, so it's kind of hard to drive or I'll get blocked so I shoot threes and jump shots... It's way fun though.

We both got called to South Philly, the ghetto/poor part.  We are loving it though.  Every day is a new experience.  We have four investigators with baptismal dates, it's awesome.  I love teaching people it's great.  Our area is a walking area.  We walk around 15 miles a day in 100 degree weather, constantly sweating, but we don't care.  We are buds and we just talk about life, sports, friends, hobbies, all that kinda stuff... But we KILL it in lessons we are so on point... We've had some amazing blessings come our way already, just it's awesome.  We got a free taxi ride when we were exhausted and we gave the driver a Book of Mormon.  We got free drinks at convenient stores when we were so parched... 

 (Elder Wilde and Elder Andrus put their testimonies in front of the Book of Mormon for those they give Books of Mormon to.)

 (These are the instructions for a Book of Mormon challenge in helping others to understand the Book of Mormon and feel its truthfulness.)

Just seeing the change in some people's lives is incredible.  These people love us and

we love them and they listen.  I mean that's not always the case, but it happens a lot haha.   It does get frustrating teaching investigators sometimes.  One person we have a baptismal date just dropped the bomb on us saying she was getting baptized next Sunday by a church she doesn't even know the name of and how they do it . . . We are so confused.

But I love lots of the people here.  A recent convert yesterday fed us bananas and cheese.  A blind guy, Mike, feeds us all the time.  He has a cute dog, a German shepherd.  We are going to his house for French toast tomorrow.  I love that guy!  He loves us to visit. 

He got baptized 4 months ago, so we go and share a message with him and spend time with him because he gets lonely.

 
I really don't know how much I can say, my brain is turned to mush at this point, but it was a great eventful week...

I'll send some pics!  Love all you :))

Elder Wilde

Letter from Mission President and His Wife - September 3, 2015

Elder Wilde has arrived in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission.  I have attached a picture of him with President and Sister Anderson.  He will be serving in the South Philadelphia South Area of the Valley Forge East Zone and his companion is Elder Andrus.  We look forward to serving with Elder Wilde in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission.

Week 2 - August 31, 2015

I thought it was appropriate to add my brother Bracken in this... 

Anyways, done with week two!  Wowwwwwww... went by so fast!  I'm off to Philly tomorrow and am so pumped to talk to the fam in the morning :)) 

What an interesting week it has been.  Two Elders in our District decided this was too hard for them and they went home, so I got a new companion, Elder Bell.

I guess I'll just tell you my highlights.  We had our investigator Ny, from Madagascar.  We taught her on like the third day of the MTC and met with her basically every other day which was way sweet, but we had so many awesome times with her... let me tell you something I learned this week that has helped me so much in my lessons:   "TEACH PEOPLE, NOT LESSONS."  Nobody wants to hear a bunch of random gospel stuff that doesn't apply to the problems they may be facing in their life... they want to hear stuff that applies to them, so after making what I thought were beautiful lessons, I went into our third lesson with Ny, dropped my note book on the ground, and just talked to her, got to know her so much more, understood her life, and I found the root everything...  A cool line I heard this week from a talk from Elder Bednar was "If you listen with love, you will never wonder what to ask," and that has been so inspirational all week for me and is the biggest take away...  It's like all these people want are to be loved and to have someone comfort them and have someTHING comfort them which is what we teach them... I have learned and I' not even in the field yet, but it's so much better to have the people trust them and love them and care for them than to just go in and teach a lesson.... anyways by like our 7th lesson, I think, we were talking about baptism, and literally I just got THE feeling and was like, "I have seen you grow so much and have faith," and all that good stuff.  I was just like, "Will you be baptized by proper priesthood authority" ... etc. and she was like, "Yes.  Absolutely..."  She said that whenever she is in our presence she feels so at peace and calm and that she believes all the things we have taught her and that she has prayed and she has already read like half the Book of Mormon and I was like .... Oh my gosh!  lol - So, we helped set up a date and what not in three weeks, but unfortunately I won't be here, so we actually went in with other missionaries on our last visit with her and they got all her contact info and what not - it was way cool.  Obviously, I know it won't always be that easy.. but yeah, it's amazing and I just felt great. 

Two really cool things happened to me this week as well:  During class one of the teachers came up to me while we were all working on something, and I was like, "Oh gosh, what did I do wrong now?"... but he took me outside and was like, "Elder Wilde.... has anyone ever told you that you are a born leader?" and I was like, "Ummm, what do you mean?" haha and he said, "You know, you just connect with everyone in that class, you involve everyone, make everyone feel good about themselves.  One of the Elders came to me the other day and said some really nice stuff about you," and I was like, "Well, that's very nice.  Thank you," but then he was like, "You have to know this is a God-given talent and just as much as He gave it to you, He can  take it away from you if you don't exercise it in the correct ways, so with this power you have, be smart with it on your mission and in life," and I was like, "For sure, okay, thank you"...

But, it gets cooler, my companion and I were asked to give the lesson in Priesthood.. and I totally just didn't have much time to prepare so I just kinda went with it (it was on receiving the Holy Ghost and recognizing it) and anyways, it was a great lesson but after the class the Mission President who sat in on it came up to me and was like, "How long did you spend preparing that lesson?  That was one of the best priesthood lessons I've sat in on in a while," and I was like "Umm.... honestly, President, I didn't prepare whatsoever."   ... I'm not sure if he was happy about that, but he kind of said the same thing.  He was like, "I love how you involved everyone instead of just preaching at us.  You have a great skill at involving everyone and making them feel welcome"... 

I'm blessed to have been told those things and won't forget them!  I know that I will exercise those skills for the best and help others. 

Hmmm, trying to think what else I did this week.  I went to the temple (just for a walk about) and it was really nice.  Honestly, Sundays are my favorite now because they are so relaxing hahaha.  I look forward to them, and at night they have the best devotionals.  I actually enjoy listening to them; however, we had a going away devotional where all the Elders and Sisters say what  they learned and stuff, and it was after dinner so naturally I kinda... passed out, but listen to this!!  I'm sitting there and all the sudden, Elder Mounch decides, "Hey, it would be fun to say something while Elder Wilde is completely passed out." ... They hand the microphone to him and the camera is on him, but it's on me, too... I'm completely GONE and everyone in the room just starts busting up laughing, and I wake up and everyone laughs more and more... ugh it was so funny but awkward lol

Elder Mounch and I have become super close.  We are a lot alike... It's gonna be sad leaving him once we get to the mission field, but honestly all the Philly people and I are way tight, so I'm kinda bummed out about having to leave them :// It's alright.  I'm excited for tomorrow... also, very nervous

Hmmm what else... few words on the Holy Ghost... never felt it this much in my life... when i learn or teach... wow, its surreal... it seriously is so legit... and I have never truly recognized it in my life until now... 

The BIGGEST adjustment and something that is so extremely difficult for me is the whole no music thing... it DESTROYS me not listening to my music... it's seriously so hard, but

seriously... wanna know what I slap to now???  It's the BEST song ever and gives me the best vibes... the fam should definitely listen to this one night:

 "Glorious," sung by David Archuletta from "Meet the Mormons."

Hmmm, I think that's about it.  Trying to remember anything else... umm I really really really really want photos and a photo book... I hate not being able to look at something every night :/ most elders have one and I don't, so it's a bummer... 

Philly is suppose to be 105 degrees on Wednesday, but a nice 94 tomorrow... so I'm gonna have some fun adjusting to the heat!!! 

Also, we are all SO pumped for the temple in Philly.  It's coming next fall!!!  They bought out this HUGE building next to it so it can be a parking lot/residence for people... It's gonna bring in TONS of people... I hope I get to go to the dedication....

Anyways, that's about it for the week - I always go back to my scripture - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"... and it's so true - I know that whatever trials are in our lives or whatever you're going through, it's a test of our faith, and God has a plan and God will help us through everything... also, the Atonement is so legit... 

LOVE YOU ALL,
Elder Wilde