5/2/2016

5.02.2016

Hola Familia!

Well, this week has really flown by! It seems like you guys have had a lot of fun up there in the States. Dollywood, historical sights and a bunch of other stuff. You guys have been really busy and that's okay, its a good thing to be busy. I think I've kinda gotten used to it here on the mission. All day I have too much stuff to do! haha!

Well down here in Lima things are starting to look a lot better. The month of April is a crazy month here in Peru. Now that were in May the only thing that's really going on are all the Cross Festivales. Its a Catholic Tradition here in Peru to make giant crosses and walk all around the city with musical bands and other stuff. It's really noisy. They only do it on Sunday though so its not too bad. Other than that, this last week has been great. We found a super awesome family to teach! There a family of 5 and they had already gone to church like 15 years ago, but for changes of missionaries they stopped going. Now they want to go to church again and be baptized! It's super awesome! We found them knocking doors, so I'm about 100% sure that it was a gift from God. I'm really grateful for that.

Well here in the Zone things are really looking great for May. We might be able to baptize up to 25 people! There are 5 Sundays this month so well see what we can do! I really hope everythings goes the Lord's way.

Other than that, I'm fine, excited to see you guys this coming Sunday on skype. I'll call you guys the night before to set up the appointment. I can't believe its the last video call. I also can't believe that I only have 3 months left on the mission. Time really flies. So your friend Mrs. Jones, you just need her to get to Carlos Izaguirre and its the Mormon church that's on the right hand side of a giant Red Store called Hiraoka. She'll need to go to the door farthest to the right side of the fence and church. There's an intercom system. She'll need to push the intercom on the LEFT side of the door. That's about all I can explain.

Okay love you guys a lot!
-Elder Wilson

4/25/2016

4.25.2016

Hola Familia,

Well it seems like you guys have had a great week up there in Alabama! Down here in Lima it has been pretty good! This last week we had lots of baptisms in our zone and it was awesome to see so many people make the decision to follow our Savior Jesus Christ. The changes that people make so their lives can be better is amazing! It really helps me to fortify my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So they announced the new temple! Its going to be in the north part of Lima in a district called Los Olivos. Los Olivos is NOT in the Peru Lima North mission. But its literally just on the other side of the mission boundaries, i can see all of los Olivos when i go up into the hills to proselyte. I imagine that when the temple gets built all the missionaries from Lima North will be able to go there like every week! Its really close! All the members of the church are extremely excited to get a temple here and are starting to set goals so that they can be worthy to attend it. It's really great what's happening here in the church.

So I don't know if I've mentioned this in an email before but I'm in a ward that's BRAND NEW, Like it got formed in January. When I got here! hahaha! We now have all the callings filled and are starting to work with these new leaders. We're having to explain and train a lot about their responsibilities and how we're supposed to do Ward Council and all that stuff. It's cool to see how they're progressing. In this new ward they are Us, the Zone Leaders and the Assistants to the President and a few other office members that attend. We're trying out best to help them be efficient and successful leaders. Its really cool.

Well other than that, I'm doing just fine! April is just about done and were heading into May! Wow, Im going to turn 21! That's crazy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARA! Wow! I cant believe that shes already turning 8! Thats awesome! Way to go Clara!

Love you guys a ton!

-Elder Wilson

4/18/2016

4.18.2016

Hola Familia!

Well, it seems like you guys have had a great week up there in Alabama. I think it's crazy that they're still debating about building a new high school or not. They just need to be direct, make a decision and stand firm about it. Sometimes it's just a lot better that way. It's something I've learned during my time of being a leader here on the mission. It's always great to hear the opinions of the people. It helps you to see what they think, but sometimes as a leader you just have to make a decision and go with it and make it awesome so that it benefits the majority of people. I hope that they will be able to make a decision soon about this.

I saw the picture of Samuel on Dropbox! Whoo! Those medals look fancy, and that Hair- Samuel has long hair now! Thats awesome! I think he needs to watch out for the ladies though... But seriously, its super awesome that Samuel is doing so great with the trumpet, keep it up dude!

Well down here in Lima Peru, were doing just fine!

We just went through a giant wave of politics. Right now there are elections for president and they just had a round of voting but nobody won. There are only 2 candidates for President, PPK and Keiko. The Peruvian people really get fired up and excited about this kind of stuff. They're going to vote again in June. It's the last round so we will see what happens. Other than that everything's normal. We're having a hard time finding people that progress. We can find new people, but they don't keep their commitments to read and pray. We have a few people that are really starting to progress though. One is the wife of a recent convert and the other is an 18 year old guy that we found. This guy has been shot and stabbed and wants to change his life. He reads and listens to us almost everyday. I think he's awesome and if he goes to church this week everything goes well then he can get baptized this May! Other than that we're teaching a bunch of less actives and were trying to get to know the members better so that we can be Complete Missionaries, or in other words, missionaries that baptize, rescue, and retain converts at the same time! Whoo!

Near where my companion lives there was an extremely strong Earthquake, his family is okay, but his country is in bad shape. If you guys could pray for that- it would be super awesome! Thanks!

I'm not sick, my companion and I get along just fine, and we're working hard here in Lima!
Love you guys a ton!

-Elder Wilson

4/11/2016

4.11.2016

Hola Familia!

Well its seems like you guys have had an awesome time up there in Alabama and you're really busy as well, it's a good thing to be busy, the Lord doesn't like it when we're lazy or when we do things our way too much! I think that it's fantastic that Samuel is going to All-State band! Go Samuel! Whoo Whoo!
In the photo that you saw, we had a flour war! It was super awesome! We went to the market and bought 25kilos of flour for about 20 soles or right around 7 dollars and we threw it at each other. It was super awesome! So that's why.

I really don't have much to talk about this week, so I'll give you guys the jist of things so that you know what's going on. Right now we're teaching a few people that are progressing, One is the wife of a recent convert! She's really great. They are trying to make their marriage work. They've been having problems for about 2 years and it was all about PRIDE. The husband said that it was 100% her fault, and she said that it was 100% his fault. This is called ORGULLO or PRIDE. Pride destoys!, If you've read the Book of Mormon, you understand why. If pride can destroy an entire nation, then it can definitely desrtoy a marriage.
We went to visit them, sat down and called them unto repentance! We explained to them that it is NEVER 100% the other person's fault. We always can be better and do things better. It was an awesome lesson and they went to church together. I really hope this family progresses. Though the atonement of Jesus Christ it is 100% possible. IF they make the decision to follow Christ, repent of their sins, and make covenants to try be like him, they can succeed. Whoo! The Gospel is perfect and amazing!

We are also teaching an 18 year old young adult! This guy is really awesome! He's definitely going through some problems in his life, but he has the desire to change everything and be a better person! This guy reminds me a lot of my hispanic friends in High School. He is super awesome but reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy needs to repent. Like bad!! So we're going to help him with that.

Yesterday I read some super awesome chapters in the Book of mormon! Mosiah 14-15! Those chapters are amazing! They testify of the mission and life of Christ! You guys should study them WELL!!

Well other than that,- I'm fine, not sick, and super happy.
Love you guys a lot!
-Elder Wilson!

4/4/2016

4.04.2016





It seems like you guys have just had an awesome conference weekend up there in Alabama! Running, Ice cream, and cinnamon rolls! That's super awesome! Well down here in Lima, I as well, have had a great conference weekend!

You guys should of heard the amount of cheers and cries people made when they announced the 2nd temple in Lima! They almost went crazy! The peruvian people are extremely excited and grateful for the chance to have a second temple here in the city of Lima! Where they're going to put it- that's the question that everyone wants answered. Lima is huge, so they could put it anywhere. I think they'll put it in Surco, or in Los Olivos. Dunno, we'll find out soon! Now I'll have to come back to Lima to see the dedication of the new temple! It'll be super awesome!

I really enjoyed all the talks that were given. So this was my last conference on my mission, realizing that I only have 4 months left, I became a little bit trunky for 2 days and went with one question to conference, "How can I keep the same level of spirit that I feel now on my mission when I get back home?" I received a ton of answers. I learned that by faith and repentance, with diligence in all things, with daily study of the scriptures, by being humble and doing the will of our Heavenly Father, by having charity towards all, through dedicated and diligent prayer and fast, by going and rescuing those that are lost, and through many other things, one can feel exactly how he or she felt on their mission. So I'm going to do it.

So going away from the trunky part of this email..... We were able to bring 2 people to general conference! They really enjoyed it! We have an appointment with them on Wednesday. We're going to invite them to be baptized on the 23rd of this month! It will be super awesome! So you guys should pray for them a ton!

Well other than that I'm happy, my companion and I get a long great and I'm really enjoying the mission!
Love you guys a ton!

-Elder Wilson


Polyester, Long Sleeve shirts. Also 2 toothbrushes would be awesome! Lots of Reese's ! Don't be scared to just pack it full of Reese's. Just do it! I don't need a cake mix box with candles and other things- just Reese's. I don't need balloons and other stuff like that. Just Reese's. Ooooo something that just came to mind! Those ghirardelli squares of chocolate, but filled with Peanut Butter.... and another one filled with Caramel. I think they come in Little Bags.

3/28/2016

3.28.2016

Hola Familia,

You guys have had quite a great, busy Easter week last week! I think it's awesome that you guys were able to do that cool Easter stuff! Here in Peru there are chocolate eggs and the Easter bunny, but the majority of people don't do that. Rather the people dance around crosses and get drunk. It's really different, but hey it's their culture, and in my opinion, some cultures are false traditions of their father and need to be stopped! Why? Because you can't go into the Kingdom of God drinking a Buena Chela. (Slang for Beer) Cry all you want, you just can't! God doesn't allow it. If our will is not in line with the will of the Lord, we need to be humble and change so that its in agreement with that of the Lord's. That's why some traditions need to be stopped or changed.

It's sad to hear about what happened to Brother Dearden. I'm glad to hear that he was able to get to the hospital in time to have the doctor treat him. He will be in my prayers. I hope the his home teachers go and visit him, if they haven't already.

I don't have changes! Looks like I'll be staying here in Independencia for another change! However my companion is leaving and I''m getting a new companion! It's an elder named Elder Lopez. He's from Guayaquil, Ecuador. He's got only a month and a half less than me so it should be super awesome!

Everything is going good! We found a whole bunch of new people to teach and I'm really excited for this week! We found a few more families and I hope everything goes super well.

I'm not sick and I'm happy! I only have 3 changes left in the mission, or 18 weeks. Time really flies- like what the heck!!! I feel like I just started yesterday. I'm just gonna work super hard anyway!

Love you guys a ton!
-Elder Wilson

3/21/2016

3.21.2016


Hola Familia,
You guys are having a pretty good time up there in Alabama! That's awesome that the weather is great up there. Down here it's still pretty hot, but i think it's starting to cool down a little bit... we'll see. That's awesome that you guys went up and saw Broadway! I think the only broadway show that I've ever seen was with you guys. We saw Wicked with the Brown family.

It's really true, most of the Prophets and Apostles that have been called, have been called for their obedience to the Lord through times of difficulty and affliction. Th Prophet Job, and Joseph Smith are excellent examples of how the Lord calls and blesses people by obedience to the gospel in afflictions and tests. That's how we progress and that's how we keep going forward. I have seen the churches new Easter video, it's really good, I really enjoyed it a lot.

This past week was pretty good. My companion and I went to the temple! It was really awesome! I saw the the only new video that I hadn't seen before! I learned a lot and felt and heard the Lord through his Holy Spirit. It was an amazing visit. The temple is an amazing place. After the mission, I'm going to go to the temple every week. It's gonna be super awesome! I put pictures on Dropbox.

So everything's going well down here in Lima. There aren't changes this week because this change is the special 7 week change, so next week I might leave or stay. We'll see what the Lord has in store for me! So right now it's the "Semana Santa" or Holy Week. The majority of people get drunk and dance around a cross. Sometimes I really don't understand Peru. We, as the "gringachos" and "mormones" have to put up with them calling us over and talking to us, saying VERY inappropriate things. They say that they're sorry for drinking, and then we call them unto repentance, tell them we're going to come visit them, and leave. Its funny.... well kind of.

Well I'm not sick and I'm really happy!!
Love you guys a lot!

-Elder Wilson