Hola Familia!

Well, it sounds like you guys had quite an awesome Spring Break up there in Alabama! I loved seeing the pictures and the Video of Lily and Clara singing in church! You guys did great!

So this last week was definitely stressful, but amazing for me! So we have been working with 3 families and 2 other investigators for the past month.  This week they got married and baptized! Saturday we traveled to the Mission Office, where the ceremony was held, and watched 2 of the 3 families get married! It was awesome to see them take a step towards becoming an eternal family. Then later that afternoon we baptized the 2 families and 2 other amazing investigators. In total, we baptized 7 people on Saturday. Our Mission President, President Erickson, was there for everything and he told us that he is very happy with the work that were doing in Las Galeras. The spirit was felt very strong during the baptisms. It was one of the best experiences of my mission. I have pìctures and I'll try to put them on the Dropbox so you guys can see them! They are really awesome!

So March is already gone and down here in the southern hemisphere were now entering the Fall season! It's awesome because summer is really hot here! So I'm really happy about that! This coming weekend at General Conference, we all have the opportunity to listen to men who have been called as Apostles and Prophets by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You guys need to watch and pay attention to what they say! The words they speak are the words of our Savior. I know that by listening to them we will be able to receive the personal revelation that we need to help our families and ourselves. Make sure you guys watch every session! There is no excuse good enough not to.

I hope you guys have a great Easter Week! I know I will. The Church is doing a few awesome missionary activities here! So were going to find lots of people to teach and hopefully baptize!

I love you guys lots!

-Elder CJ Wilson

3/23/2015

Hola Familia! 

It sounds like you guys have had an interesting and fun week up there in Alabama! Have fun on spring break! Do things as a family! The last week here was very stressful and full of work.

To start, we are going to marry 3 families this Saturday and because of that I have had to go to the center of Lima 5 times(about 1 to 2 hours,due to traffic, of a drive) to do a bunch of paperwork and sign a bunch of papers because I am a witness for 2 of the families that are going to get married! How cool is that! So that made me really tired! And I was sick too! I remember saying to myself when I signed the last paper, "It is Finished" like Frodo when he threw the ring into Mount Doom! haha! The center of Lima is really cool. It is like a normal city in the states, with awesome European looking buildings!

So this Saturday we are planning to baptize, hopefully, 8 people. Some of them still need to have their baptism interviews, but the majority of them already have. So I'm really excited for that! I love seeing the changes in the lives of our investigators. That is probably my favorite thing about the mission so far. The changes that people make with the help of God- Its really awesome! I've also learned a lot about repentance on the mission. The best way to gain forgiveness from the Lord is to realize what you've done, ask for forgiveness, then serve the Lord with all your heart and I promise you that he will forgive you. I've seen it in the mission! Its really amazing!

So I'm not sick anymore, but I did get pretty sick. I think I had a really bad Cold. Headaches and lots and lots of snot! Ha! I also could barely sleep! But right now I'm okay! I'm really excited for this week! Please pray for my investigators! Something that I've learned on this mission is that Satan is real and he is always looking for opportunities to enter our lives. Especially the lives of the people who are trying to change their lives for the better. So please pray for my investigators and converts. I know they need our help.

Love you guys a lot! Remember to read your scriptures and to say your prayers at night!

-Elder Wilson

Yes mom we get to watch General Conference Live.... hahaha! Oh, and check Dropbox :)

3/16/2015

Hola Familia!

So it sounds like you guys have had a pretty awesome week! Finally I have time to write you guys! The mission is so awesome! 

Right now we are working with 3 families. Last Saturday I went to Lima Central to help them register for their marriage. They are going to get married the 27th of March and then they will be baptized the 28th. So on the 28th of March we are going to baptize 7 people. Right now we need to work hard so that these dates don't fall through. Satan doesn't like it when people are progressing. This is definitely something that I've learned on the mission.

 During this past week we have taught lots of lessons and met new people. Basically working hard like we should. Oh, we had transfers last week. I didn't leave, nor did my companion. But, he will leave next transfers. I have been out 7 months now. How crazy is that! Only 5 more and i'll be half way done! Time goes by really fast in the mission!

Well,  I'm a little sick right now. haha! I guess it is about time. I'm congested and have a headache. Thats about it. Yeah, so don't go crazy worrying Mom.

I bought a really nice suit here. It's being made right now.Iit costs 330 soles, or about $100 and it's much nicer than the suit that I already have. Suits here are really cheap. So Mom if you could send me money that would be great. Oh, and I bought it because the suit I have is completely falling apart. 

Okay thats everything!

Love you guys!

-Elder Wilson

March 9, 2015

Hola Familia! 

So the past week has been awesome! We had a baptism 2 weeks ago. I don't have any pictures yet, but I'm sure I'll be able to post pictures sometime this week. MAYBE haha! The zone had a "Noche Blanca", a white night, slang for when we baptize lots of people in the zone. We baptized one and the zone baptized 7. It was amazing!

 This month we have 3 familias that are going to get married and baptized. They're all doing fine and are excited for what is going to happen in their lives. Please pray and fast for them so that they can be in the path that the Lord wants them to be in.

The work here has been progressing really well. The stake president lives in our area, and we pay his wife to make us dinner every night.  Every night we usually will talk with him about how the work is progressing in the Stake. He's an awesome stake president,he's very direct and tells people how it is, not what they want to hear. In Spanish we have a Word for him,it is the Torch! He lights a fire under everyone.  hahaha! He is so powerful.  He has set a goal for the stake to baptize 153 people. I had to talk in sacrament meeting for about 10min about that. It was awesome! 

Here in Peru alcohol is a huge problem. On Sunday almost every single family is outside in the street drinking. I have seen horrible things happen that have come from alcohol. It saddens me to see that Chase has had to go through this. I will be praying from him so that he can have a speedy recovery and that he can leave the alcohol behind in his life. The missionaries NEED to talk to him.

 I didnt know that the mission had a facebook page! Haha! How awesome is that. Here facebook is relatively new, everyone has one, but they have to leave their house and go to an internet cafe to use it. 

Don't worry about me mom. I have the Lord's promise that he's going to protect me. I am not sick or anything.

Oh in the package it would be awesome if you could send me 2 new white shirts. That would be great. Also lots of candies and stuff. Thanks mom! You're the best!

I love you all and pray for you guys everyday! You guys have to give the missionaries references. 

-Elder Wilson

2/23/2015

Hola familia y amigos!

I don't really have much time to write you guys this week, but ill try to tell you guys as much as I can!

So, last week was good! We taught lots of our investigators and found some new people to teach! Our area really is progressing like it should be! 

We have 7 people who are progressing to be baptized. 5 of them are families that need to get married and 2 don't.  I'm really excited to be working in this area! My companion is awesome and were working really hard! He's really helped me to get to know the area better! I definitely feel comfortable working here. 

So... about the families that we are trying to marry! They're progressing really well and are all very excited to get married and baptized! We have to wait a little bit longer because the mission isn't going to have another marriage ceremony until 27 of march! So it'll be a little bit longer until we are able to baptize them! I hope that we are able to!

 I'm not sick and everything is okay with me! Next week I'll definitely be able to write more! I hope everything's okay with you guys and that you enjoyed the snow and the time off from school! You guys should read Mormon 9 and Moroni 7! OH! I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish this morning! I prayed about it and I know that this book is true and it really can change the lives of people who live its standards! Please read The Book of Mormon- Especially those of you who aren't members or not going to church like you should! I also challenge you to pray to God and ask if the book is true! I promise you that you will receive answer.  Okay, so do it! It will change your life! It will help you leave the bad things in your life behind and really change! 

 I hope that everything is okay back home! I love it here on my mission and can't wait to help these people change their lives!

I miss and love you guys a lot!

-Elder Wilson

2/16/2015

Hola Familia! 

 So the past week has gone by super fast! We taught lots of people, like always.  Right now we have 3 families that need to get married before we can baptize them. They all want to get married.  What happened on Saturday was awesome. Our investigator got on his knees and asked his girlfriend to marry him. She said yes, so they're going to get married!  How awesome is that! It just testifies that the gospel can really change the lives of people. This guy was a pretty bad guy before, but now he has left his old life behind and is starting over again. So cool!

 

 I have completed 6 months in the mission! Ha! I feel like I just got here yesterday! So that's cool! We had a multi zone conference with President EricksonThursday. It was awesome I learned a lot! He taught us about correction of things and how to receive gifts of the spirit! It was awesome! He taught a lot about charity and how if we have charity we can really change the lives of the people here in the mission. We need to show charity to our investigators so that they can change their lives and so that they can see our example in their lives because a lot of the time the people here do not have example of good people in their lives.  We have to be their examples.

So the ward here is awesome and our ward mission leader is awesome! He speaks english and spanish!  Sometimes I talk with him in English, but most of the time in Spanish.  He is always giving us referrals and people to teach.  Whenever we bring investigators to church the first time, the members are always so nice and stuff. You guys have to help the missionaries in Alabama more! 

 Saturday was Valentine's day and yes, the people here celebrate Valentine's Day. Im getting used to my new area now, its a lot bigger but I'm starting to learn where everyone lives and what their names are and stuff like that. Saturday and Sunday we did divisions and I didn't get lost, sooooo thats always good! My companion will probably leave to go to another area with our next transfer, he has 15 months in the mission so he still has a little bit of time left. 

So about me, Um, I'm healthy, and I'm happy, so i don't know if theres anything more to say about that.

So thats about it! I hope you guys get better soon!

Love you guys lots!

-Elder Wilson

2/9/2015

Hola Familia!

So this week has been awesome! We found 3 families to help get married and then baptized! Were going to try to marry them this month, but it might push into March a little bit, but thats okay! What I have seen is that the Lord really prepares people to change their lives and come unto Christ! Its so awesome! 

 This area is really big! Much bigger than my last area! I think I'm familiar with about half of it.... hahaha! The ward here is really awesome! Yesterday I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting, and they didn't tell us we had talks until about 30min before the meeting! So I taught the Restoration to the Congregation and why it's important that they read the Book of Mormon and share it with their friends! I talked for 15min! In Spanish! Ha! Cool right? So a lot of people are saying that I'm starting to become fluent! I don't think so! I need to learn more vocabulary!

We also baptized a Girl named Brittany! Shes 10 years old and she got baptized by our ward mission leader! We have been working with her for the last 2 weeks, she has been going to church by herself for 4 months and everyone thought she had been baptized!  So we helped her with that! She's a really awesome girl that wants to serve a mission when she turns 19.

So thats the cool stuff that happened this week! I'm healthy! So dont worry about that! The food in this area is really good! We eat a lot of fish and carne! I haven't eaten much chicken! Im sure that is going to change! Ha! Okay, so im going to answer your questions mom!

1. Yes, I do play piano for this ward! So piano lessons were not in vain! Ha! Carter and Samuel you have to learn hymns! My ability to read music has been improving!

2. Elder Pastenes is the District leader there! Wanna know something cool- my companion is this district leader here, he is going to leave with the next transfer and he has been telling me that I'm going to move up as a district leader when he leaves! That will be cool!

,if it happens.

3. I'm in the Wiesse zone. That's cool that he is in my mission. I've probably seen him but never talked to him! If I ever see an Elder Speed I'll go say hi!

4. More Reeses! I have found Hersheys products here but they are SUPER expensive. So send lots of those. Send me another pair of black pants- 32 x 34. The pants I have now still fit perfectly. Another white shirt- Short sleeve. Send me Oreos, triple stuff if they exist. Oh, and mac and cheese! I'll think of more things during the coming week!

I heard that gay marriage has moved into Alabama and that there are race wars in the states??? How crazy!! Here it's just calm. Sometimes at night, bad things happen, but only at night.

Oh, the computers at this internet cafe use windows xp, and my SD Card needs windows 7 or 8 to work, so no photos for awhile! Maybe I can find a computer somewhere else and upload them there! So sorry about that!

Love you guys a lot!

-Elder Wilson