Week 52 - August 15, 2016

Hello!
 
I am in New Jersey!  My companion is Elder Holden.  He is from Lehi,
Utah.  We are both brand new to the area.  He has been out for about 20
months.  He's a stud of a missionary, super excited to learn from him.

We had an awesome first week here together.  We are already being
blessed!  We spent most of our time trying to make our way through the
ward lists and setting up return appointments, basically just trying
to meet everyone.  Tons of nice people that we are very excited to work
with.  We taught a lot this week and we were definitely blessed with
finding some great new investigators.

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple

(Click on the link above to learn more about and see interior pictures of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Temple)

 
The ward is a lot smaller then anything I've ever been in.  I think it
has somewhere around 50-60 people... Maybe?
It's cool though, everyone knows each other and when our investigators
arrived everyone jumped on them so that was super cool to see as well.
 
One of our investigators who is named Beena, accepted a baptismal date
for September 11th.  She used to be Hindu (from India) and then when
she came to America learned about Christianity and now she is learning
about the church.  She has such strong faith and we are very excited
for her - She loveeeeeed church.
 
So both coming into the area new, the apartment had hardly any food,
so one night after an appointment, we didn't have too long and so we
decided to eat out.  We ended up going to Chick-fil-a, and as we were
there, this lady named Mary came up to us and she worked there.  She
asked if we were LDS, and she told us how she had a friend on a mission
and that she had read the whole entire Book of Mormon and went through
all of the discussions on her own and how she use to meet with sister
missionaries years ago but they left and nobody came by.  Anywho, she
was asking tons of questions and wants to meet up again this week -
super prepared!  We are very excited.  Chick-fil-a is a place of
miracles! :)
 
Yknow, tons of awesome stuff happened this week it would take me too
long to type it out!
 
Elder Holden and I have had a great time to get to know each other, but
we have spent a long time talking about what makes a good missionary
and a good disciple of Christ.  We came to the conclusion that
everything revolves around charity.  All of the people we work with,
all of our friends and family - everyone in the world just wants to
feel loved and that they are trusted.  I definitely have seen as we
love these people as God would love them, they have a special drive to
them, they have increased faith and desire.  There are sadly so many
less active members out there and truly if we were to do our job and
just love these people, they would come back to the fold--maybe not
right away but over time.  Anywho, that is a principle that I'm still
trying to work on, loving everyone I meet.

I'm super thankful for this gospel.  I'm excited to go to work here in
Cherry Hill.
I miss Bayview, I love those people so much.  So grateful for all of
the incredible experiences I've had there.  I won't forget them!

Love you all,

Elder Wilde

1200 Little Gluocester rd
Clementon, Nj, 08021
Apt. 1410

P.s. I've never had a year in my life go by faster... SLOOOWWW DOWN!

Week 51 - August 8, 2016

Hello there!
 
What a splendid and eventful week it was here, to say the least.
We were blessed with another baptism and it was incredible.  
Also, after six months of serving here in Bayview, MD, I have been asked to now go
and serve elsewhere as a Zone Leader.

 

 

I am going to miss this place - it was so bittersweet to say goodbye
to everyone.  I'm going to miss all the wonderful people that I've been
so blessed to work and serve with.  I'm so thankful the Lord allowed me
to be the vessel in helping many of his children enter the waters of
baptism as well as help more of his children be more active and
obedient faithful disciples once again!  All we, like sheep, have gone
astray - but the Good Shepherd will always gather his flock!
 
Destiny was baptized by her cousin Tyrelle, who is an interesting
young man but nevertheless he performed the task (it took him three
tries :D)  The young women jumped all over her and fellowshipped and
loved her.  It was really great to see the whole ward come together and
love this young girl.  She will be taken care of - no doubt.

On another exciting note:   After months of making crab pots with
brother Trenkle and fellowshipping with him, we went over to his
house Tuesday night and had one of the most spiritual lessons I've had
on my mission.  It was actually our first lesson with them.  It wasn't
even suppose to be a lesson!  Anyways, after bearing testimony of how
the gospel can rekindle broken relationships, bring peace into our
life and allow our families to be together for time and eternity, I
asked them if they would attend church just once as a family before I
left.  

It was the best thing ever to see all five of them show up,
dressed up with smiles.  I fasted and prayed that the ward might come
together and allow them to have a very spiritual experience.  Before
the meeting closed, I was able to bear my testimony and just express my
thanks and gratitude to the ward, but more importantly how we need to
magnify our callings so we can help all of our brothers and sisters
return to the church.  Anyways the second the closing prayer ended, many
of our members just attacked them with love and threw their arms
around them and it was awesome.  The wife absolutely loved it, kids
felt loved.  I know that helping that family was one of my key purposes
here in this area, and I pray that soon they will all enter the waters
of baptism and go to the temple to be sealed as a family.
 
On a separate note, one of the Apostles of the church came to visit the
Philadelphia temple and he took a group of Catholic Priests on a
private tour... Game over.  He spoke to the youth at an event and
apparently when he walked into the room, all the chatty teenagers
(members and non-members) went absolutely silent and you could feel a
pin drop.  A few of the non-members said they felt the Spirit so
strongly when he walked in, and they weren't even sure why!  Haaha.

Well, I love all of you and I thank you for your support.  It means the
world and more.  I LOVE THIS WORK!
 
God bless!
Elder Wilde

Week 50 - August 1, 2016

Hello there, everyone!

Can't believe it's August already... Wow.  We have transfer calls this
Saturday.  I'm ready to go and help/serve a new area, but it will
definitely be bittersweet.  I do love this place and have seen a lot of
great things!  

We are very excited for Destiny to be baptized this
upcoming Sunday.  She is amazing!
We are hoping to take Amy to the Washington D.C. Temple either this
Saturday or next Monday.
 

We had a great week.  We were able to confirm Josue and Siclali in
Sacrament Meeting which was so awesome.  Everyone in the ward is so
happy to see that family back in action, they are wonderful.
 

Thursday was pretty cool - a few weeks or so ago one of the members of
our church was unable to get off his couch because something went
wrong in his spine and he literally couldn't move a muscle.  He was in
enormous amount of pain and it was so sad, such a sweet guy.  He's
worked all his life - anyways, he went to tons of doctors for tests
and he had no cartilage and so they gave him meds and they just
weren't quite sure what to do to help him.  So his wife prayed that she
would get some help for her husband and that he would get better.  That
night we prayed to know what we should do for our upcoming day and we
felt strongly to go and see that family - so we did and we gave him a
priesthood blessing.  So long story short--we came back this last
Thursday and it was smiles all around and he was walking and ready to
go back to work and had his strength - he and his wife both were so
thankful.
 

I know that as I've been strengthening my own faith and doing my best
to stay worthy to hold the priesthood, that I can be a vessel in the
Lord's hands.  I've been blessed to see people be healed several times
during my mission and it has strengthened my own testimony so much.
I'm grateful to hold that power and authority from God.
 

 

Here is a funny story - we were talking to this atheist guy and he was
just going on and on and on about all this nonsense and he was like,
"This spider right here is more useful than you are!  It can spin webs,
it helps the environment, and spiders are beautiful creatures.  Can you spin
webs like those spiders?"  I was like, "Not that I know of.  I know
Spiderman can, though, so that's pretty cool" ... He didn't like that.
I thought it was witty.  Anywho, that was an interesting conversation.
 

I'm currently studying in depth the Book of John which is incredible
(my favorite book in the Bible)!
One chapter that really touched me was John Chapter 10 - which
discusses how Christ is the Good Shepherd and how he will always
protect his sheep and will find all those who are lost and help bring
them back to him.  Anyways, I won't go into depth but it was beautiful
imagery just to think about Christ keeps all of us safe as we come
unto him and how we can be protected from the Law of Justice (the
wolf) by coming unto him and utilizing the atonement.

Other than that I read a great poem I'd like to 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.

Love you all, thank you for your prayers and support.

Elder Wilde

Week 49 - July 25, 2016

Wow wow wow! 

What an incredible week we had!  We have been so blessed!
We had three baptisms and were able to take a truck load of people to
the temple open house!
 

Miracles!
 

This week Amy got baptized in a river and then she was confirmed the
next day -- her mother is now super interested after the baptism,
coming to church and annnndd coming to the temple. She will be
baptized in the next three months, no doubt.
 

 

Then the next day, Josue and Siclali were baptized by her father!
Their family has now been reactivated.  They have come SOO so far and
have made so many changes in their lives.  It has been almost 5 months
of teaching them and it was such a strong testimony to me when they
thanked me that I never gave up on them even after so many set backs!
I definitely know as we reach out with love to those who are in
trouble we can help them all.

Matthew 18:12-13
12 How think ye?  if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be
gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the
mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth
more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

D&C 18:13-16
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying
repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me,
how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have
brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your
joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

The temple was so incredible.... Absolutely amazing. I don't even know
how much or what I can say about it... Such an undeniable Spirit that
is inside of those walls and around that area.  Miracles will be coming
for the next month and a half!

Love you all!  Thanks for all your support!  Pray for destiny Cain (16
years old).  She will be baptized on the 7th of August!

Elder Wilde

Week 48 - July 18, 2016

Hello, all!
 

Well, come tomorrow the Sisters are gone and we have the whole ward to
ourselves - I'm very excited.  We were preparing for it all this week,
so we were super super busy.  We taught a lot and have baptisms every
week the rest of the transfer!  We have been blessed.
 

I really don't have too much to type this week.
I did teach this Black girl this week and it was like I was back in
Phila.  I miss those people.  I forgot how funny they are.  Seriously
just so loud and laugh at everything.  I thought this one chick was
about to die of laughter.  Good times, good times.

We are excited for the temple next Sunday.  We are taking some solid
people.  

Last night we had a lesson with an inactive member and his non-
member family.  We use to go make crab pots, but finally we were like...
We need to just go be bold and teach them, so one thing led to
another and she is Catholic (but she doesn't believe it at all), so
after an hour or so, they all committed to come to the temple and take
the discussions together.  I'm beyond excited for that, Except not
excited because I may leave in three weeks :((
 

We went tracting one day and these kids had a lemonade stand, and oh
man, they were such cute kids so I gave them 5 bucks and we were just
talking for a bit and after my third cup of lemonade, they got really
sassy and said we couldn't have more? 

So we drove down the street and
parked our car and the first house we came up to I had a super strong
prompting from the Spirit that this lady was prepared and that I had
to be more bold and more persistent with her.  She opens the door and
she is immediately like, "I'm sorry, I'm not interested," and I said,
"You don't even know what we are going to say.  How could you know?"  She
replied, "I'm just done with religion and don't want anything to do
with it," and I told her, "Forget religion!  God loves you.  He loves your
family (her three kids were standing next to her) and he has a
provided a way for all of you to return to him together!  Don't you
want that?"  And she was like, "Of course I want that," so I said then,
"Please let us in and let us tell how that is possible." --So she allowed
us to come in and we taught her the Restoration and why we have temples and
talked about the scripture in Matthew 16:19:  "And I will give unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven:  and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven:  and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven."  Anyways 20 minutes later, she thanked
us and said she wants us to come back and wants to learn more.  Pretty
cool!
 

We had interviews with President this week, he's awesome.  That guy is
soooo filled with the Spirit it's crazy.  He's incredible.  His wife
lived in the Walnut Creek and he lived in Concord.
Well, I'm loving it and excited to continue to work!  I love this work!
 
One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon.  Christ visits the
people here in the ancient Americas in his resurrected body and he
tells this to them:  "Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust
your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the
nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God
of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the
sins of the world."
 
His invitation and short and simple is, "Arise and come forth unto me."
Wherever you are and whoever you are, he will take you at that very
moment and help you.  "Thrust your hands into my side, feel the prints
of the nails in my hands and in my feet."  He invites us to try to
understand what he has done for us, the pains, the trials and the
heartache he went through because he loves us and wants to help us.  "I
have been slain for the sins of the world."  Lastly, because of Christ we
can all return to our Father in Heaven.  The path is not always the
easiest and not always convenient, but it is always worth it.  I'm
thankful for the Savior and his Atonement.  I love to study and feel
the Spirit as I come to understand more and more of what he has gone
through for each one of us.  Because of him, we can do all things.

Happy bday, Elder Drake.

Love you all,
Elder Wilde

Week 47 - July 11, 2016

Hello, everyone! 

Our Fourth of July was a little sad.  It was pouring rain so we weren't
able to see fireworks, but we went to a member's home and had a great
dinner and played games with them and an inactive family, so it was a
good time! 

We had a superb week, definitely blessed with miracles!
Last week we paid our fast offerings and my companion had one $20 bill. 

I told him he should just pay that (which is a ton for a
fast offering), so he did.  The next day in the mail he received $20
from someone!  Just very interesting.  We were both laughing about it. 

Amy is doing great.  She is still on to get baptized on the 23rd,
confirmed on the 24th, and we will take her to the Philadelphia temple on the
24th as well.  Super excited !
The Hispanic family , Martinez came to church again (3rd week In a row
- unheard of!) and their three children will be baptized on the 31st!
Super excited for that.
Patty is having a really hard time quitting coffee and cigarettes.  Her
body has had some withdrawals but she is definitely working hard and
hope she can be prepared for August 7th! 

Last night was awesome.  We had dinner with an investigator, Nick, at a
member's home.  We played this one game called "Chronology."  It was
intense.  I'm thankful we had to go before the game ended because I
wasn't winning, but I guess it was suppose to be an "Educational way to
learn."  I don't know about that! 

After dinner we went on splits, and we told the Lord this week we
wanted two new investigators who were prepared to be taught.  Elder
Makuakane and another member went off and saw some folks who just
moved back into the area and they were able to teach them and we
scheduled another time to come back.  They are super solid and very
excited to learn more about the church.  It was a miracle!  We had an
awesome week!
 
Something that really stuck out in my studies this week was Matthew 25
where Jesus gives the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Bridegroom.  We
all need to be continuing to strengthen our testimony each and
everyday.  We cannot simply depend and rely on the good works of others
all the time and their knowledge and their testimonies.  We need to
always be prepared and have that firm foundation! 

I was reading a little about the great apostasy of the early Christian
churches and lightness vs. darkness in my free time at nights.  Isaiah
prophesies that when Christ dies, the world will be filled with
darkness (spiritual darkness) and that there will be false churches
that rise up and people will be lost.  He says "For, behold, the
darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people."
Darkness is the iniquity, and the apostate churches and the false
doctrines, etc. where Christ is no longer leading and guiding these
people -- in John it says:  And this is the condemnation, that light is
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil."  Because of the wickedness after Christ died,
people lived in darkness and got involved in false traditions but
there was a promised restoration in the latter days where Christ would
spring up and restore his church and Isaiah says:  But the Lord shall arise
upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness
of thy rising." 

I know that that light is back and the church of Jesus Christ has been
restored.  I'm so grateful to share the gospel of Jesus Christ who
is the light with all of these people!
 
How great, how glorious, how complete
Redemption’s grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!
 
Please continue to pray for us.  We need all the help we can get!  The
sister missionaries are moving out and going to work in the
Philadelphia temple so we are taking over their area as well!  Who
knows?  Maybe I'll stay another transfer! 

 Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple

Just want to congratulate Michael Anderson on his mission call to Peru
and my friend, Ben Hayden, on his call to Hong Kong!  Those missions are
lucky!
 
Pray for my older brother this week, too.  He will have surgery on his leg!
 
Love,
Elder Wilde

Week 46 - July 4, 2016

Happy 4th of July! 

We just had a great Stake (multiple churches)
breakfast and tonight we are going out with a family to see and watch
fireworks!  Very excited.
 

We had an awesome week.
 

Amy had a great time in Utah and she was able to see Temple Square and
felt the Spirit there for sure!  She was able to meet my family, too,
which was pretty cool.

 (Elder Wilde's family was able to meet Amy out in Utah, who they have been working with and lives in Elder Wilde's mission.)

We had a great miracle happen this week.  I have been praying for this
Hispanic who is inactive and has three unbaptized children.  We saw
them Saturday night and I told them I would fast for them in hopes
they would be able to bring their family to church and meet with the
bishop and prepare their children all to be baptized on the 31st.
Sunday they all came to church, met with the bishop, the father is
getting his life back in order and is preparing himself to baptize his
children on the 31st.  Please pray for them.  I went up with the kids in
church yesterday and helped them bear their testimony.  Cutest thing
ever.

Patty is doing well; however, we taught some of the commandments and
get this:  she drinks "4-5" pots of coffee a day (is that even
possible?) and smokes 10 cigarettes a day.... So I made her a little calendar
that would help her get off of both of those things by the 31st of
July.  She has the desire, pray for her as well!
 

One of our investigators is 17.  He drag races and we have met with
him a few times!  Anyway, he is super awesome, and he invited us to see
his drag race, so Saturday morning we went with a member who is
fellowshipping him and saw him and it was great.  We met the family and
everything.  He went and did a little race.  His car has like 1,000
horsepower and did a wheelie.... It's super nice.  We are going to
invite him to be baptized this week!

 (Elder Wilde shows a picture of his dog, Roscoe, who looks very much like the dog that the gentleman behind him is holding.)

We got to meet our brand new mission president this week.  His name is
President Randall.  He is stellar.  I'm so excited to work with him, and
his family is awesome too.  I have so much respect for people who leave
everything behind and lead and guide over 200 missionaries full time
for three years!  After that, we went with some other Elders and got
some cheese steaks in Philly and we took it to a park.  Out of
nowhere a huge rainstorm came and we all got absolutely drenched...
That was an unhappy but funny moment - come what may and love it!  I
also got to see my trainer and some other great missionaries, so
that's always nice!

Because it is the Fourth of July, I just wanted to end on saying how
grateful I am that the Lord blessed us with this land that we could
have freedoms that many people throughout the world couldn't have.  I
know that this is the Promised Land and that Christopher Columbus was
led here by the Spirit of God and that the founding fathers were Men
of God and were all called to help create the Constitution - it is a
divine constitution and because of the Constitution, the restoration of Jesus Christ's
primitive church could occur.  I'm thankful that I'm able to share the
gospel with the people in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mission.

I invite you all to read these talks discussing the founding fathers and
the Constitution.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/10/our-divine-constitution?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/new-era/1976/07/gods-hand-in-the-founding-of-america?lang=eng

Love,
Elder Wilde

 (Elder Wilde included this picture of a throw-back time when he was companions with 

Elder Andrus.)