Best Sunday Ever

Hey all!!!!

So as you can see by the title of this email this last Sunday was the best Sunday ever. here is the story.

woke up got ready for church - had a baptism of Gustavo the day before and getting ready for the confirmation (paperwork and stuff). get to church only to realize that the bishop is not able to come that day (last minute thing) and that someone attacked  the house of Gustavo so he was at the police station all day and wasn't able to come to church. Yep, i know not really sounding like the best Sunday ever but the ending is when it all comes in.



 due to the people who were assigned talks being sick i was asked to give a talk. while sitting there i just felt like finding something happy and positive to talk about. so i chose to talk about talents. after talking about talents reading the scriptures in Matthew about it and sharing how i have lost my skill of playing piano (yes mom you were right i do regret it) i decided to give my testimony about our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ. wow, i have never cried so much in a talk. the spirit just hit me like wham. these last 3 months have been tough. not a ton of success, me trying to be 100% obedient and my companion getting angry at me for doing so, all in all just hard. you know life. I've prayed these last 3 months more,  and harder than ever before. I've asked for help, for strength, to know that i was honoring God's name. during that testimony it just hit me. that Christ and my Heavenly Father KNOW what is going on, that they are there beside me, that i am doing what I'm supposed to do and that i should be happy with my work and to keep on pushing forward and getting better. honestly i am so happy. with all of the things going wrong I'm happy. i have a quote on the wall in front of my desk that dad sent me that says ¨circumstances don't determine a happiness¨. SO TRUE. I am coming to know myself and more importantly my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more than ever. i can't even explain how much i have learned,  how much i have grown. 

another part that made this a great Sunday was that we had the opportunity to give multiple blessings at church. i had the great opportunity to participate in every one. (giving the blessing or anointing) the spirit just....... wow i cant explain it, honestly. the son of a sister in our ward is dying of brain cancer and she asked me to give her a blessing of consuelo (forgot the word in english sorry) oh comfort :) and the words that i said were not my words. i remember one or two things that i said. i wasn't talking, it was the spirit. that feeling i will never forget. i had also the blessing to do the anointing for her son. we asked him who he would like to give him the anointing, and out of the 5 he said ¨Elder Wilson¨ this brother lives in the other area, i've seen him 5 times at church, conversed with him twice. i was honestly surprised. i was like me? why me? you know my name? (i was behind him so he couldn't read my tag) it just shows how important it is to be worthy and ready. i am so grateful that i was worthy and through the help of other i was 100% ready.

these last 3 months i have learned to depend on God and not in myself. to look for his guidance and help. to seek him out in all type of situations and follow the guidance that he has. Jesus Christ IS my Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and best friend. through Him and only Him i can return to live with my Heavenly Father again. through Him i can be whole. through Him i can face any challenge and overcome it. 





(no new pictures so I thought I'd throw in a Parker classic)

Life is full of progress

Hey everyone!!!!

so things are going great here in San Antonio 1.2. Guess what? we have a wedding and baptism this saturday!!! It is Gustavo and Raquel. Raquel has been a member for the last 8 years but was inactive for a time. They are so amazing. The Lord has truly blessed us and more and more people are progressing to enter the waters of baptism. Plus its gonna be a double baptism because the missionaries in San Antonio 1.1 have a baptism as well!!!

This last week, better said for my entire mission, I've been following dads advice to be more and more like mom. A great cook, trying. Great gardener, service opportunities show that i need to better that up a bit, but the big one is becoming a ponderer. I find myself just sitting and pondering a lot more. For a long time i have been a thinking person. Coming home from soccer or basketball mom or dad would always ask ¨so what cha thinkin about?¨ my normal response sadly was nothing but i normally was thinking about something. But pondering is so much bigger than just letting your mind flow. You sit and ponder on a question or situation, and then you control it and progress with your thoughts to find a solution or discover a new thing. This last Sunday I gave a talk in church about how the Lord Chastens us. (thank you Brother Bott for helping me learn how to give a 20 min talk with 2 min of prep) I find that i have improved myself in many many areas but still i have alot more to do. Trying to be more Christlike in the details is one of the big ones. My favorite chapter of PMG is Chapter 6 that talks of Christlike attributes. I find myself pondering on the small things that i need to improve. The extra step. I feel that i have written emails very similar to this before but its a life long process and it cant be prepared in a short amount of time.

To be honest this last week i was a bit down on myself. Just trying to find ways to be more focused to be more intune with the spirit. That is something that i have bettered alot, but have alot more bettering to do in listening and following the spirit. Last night we were talking to one of our investigators and i had the feeling and the thought popped into my mind of ¨go to familia Britez they are home¨. so as soon as we were done there that's what we did and they were home!!!!! The spirit really is amazing and how God communicates with us. Why do missions have to be so short? You learn, grow, and come to know so much on the mission. Its so amazing! I love it!!!! Ya there are the tough times that is part of it all. From the hard experiences we learn, and from the good we build ourselves.

So grateful for you all and all that you do

love you all dearly and you are always in my prayers

love

Elder Wilson

Same Place New Path

Hey fam!!!!

Still here in beautiful San Antonio with Elder Arriola. This is gonna be a great transfer we have a bunch of people ready to be baptized and if its the Lords will its gonna happen. Recently i have been reading in Luke and today i was reading  what the Lord expects from us during this life. Yes, he does expect our service. Though he expects us to serve him, we are the deciders of how much we are going to. To see if we are gonna go the extra mile, put in the extra effort, talk to another person, instead of grabbing a quick snack because you're hungry;  clap one more house. I think that has been one big  learning so far -  is to prioritize. To think of Good, Better, and Best. Before if it was ok, a lot of the time i would accept it. I took that attitude when it came to grades in school. If i got what i needed i would accept it instead of giving my all. That is something that is so important while being in the service of the Lord. To give our all to do all that is possible to serve him. Put in the extra mile and take that extra step.

Another big thing that i have learned has been the importance of patience. WOW is patience so important. Being in the Now generation i find that patience is not as common as it should be. I find myself being  more patient than i used to be. There are times that we literally have no success. People don't want to listen;  or the only people who talk to us are  drunks yelling at us on the streets, and i think to myself; ¨why? why am i walking around in the sun talking to people who don't want to listen?¨ i then start to think about it and i remember advice that Lindsey gave me before my mission. she talked about how one day, that was a normal day, nothing exciting it was hot and they did a lot of walking. when it came to the end of the day though she had a smile on her face and she was happy. she wondered why am i so happy? then the thought came to her it was because she was giving her all in the most important work here on the earth and God was happy with her. I have come to feel that God is happy with me and my work when i give my all, but my focus this last week and for the next 18 months is to give my all, all the time of every second of everyday. to put my physical needs aside and do what God wants me to do.

Wow the mission is amazing. I truly love it so much. When you talk to people about the gospel time literally flies. I KNOW with all of my heart, soul, and being that this is Gods work. That i am on his mission and that over my heart I'm not only representing my family and the elder wilsons who have served before me but most importantly i'm representing Christ name, i'm representing his church and his work. We are all representatives of Christ. We don't need the name tag to do missionary work. Take all advantages to share the gospel. I had the chance to share the gospel this week with someone and because of my fear i didn't and due to circumstances i can't try at it again. This gospel is SO important and the words of Elder Holland are so true ¨[the world] needs what we have¨. It is our calling to share it.

I love you all and pray for you everyday. Pray for the people who hurt who need Christ in their lives and pray for us that we can find them. Pray for those who need the courage to follow the Lord's words and have the faith to do it. Pray for love. There is less love in the world today and the world needs it.

love you all,

Elder Parker Wilson

Pics:

1. My District right before the changes
                   Elder Mairena (Honduras) Elder Bullock (Utah) Elder Clement (Utah) Elder Rios (Argentina) Elder Dexter (Idaho)
                   Elder Clark (sad no relation to Matt Vegas) Me, Elder Arriola (El Salvador)
2. In the house of Abuela eating our last pizza together before Elder Mairena goes to centro

3. You can take the man away from his hats but you can never take the hats from the man

Labor Day

Hey Fam!!!

It honestly is so crazy how fast things are moving now. The work is progressing a tad slowly but surely. The Lord is on our side and this is truely his work. That i think is something that i have been coming to love more and more every day and coming to know as well. This IS the Lord's work. I love it. There are times that things are super hard. People yell at us, but at the end of the day i find myself sitting there and being happy. Yes, i am normally a very happy person but its a different happy. its a happy knowing that God is on my side. that i'm doing what he wants me to do. looking back i have noticed alot of changes that have occured in the last 6 months. ive honestly grown but its all because God has come first and i have more growing to do but if i keep on following the example of Jesus Christ i know that with his help i'll keep on getting better. 

This last week was a good week. Got out and taught a lot. Found a few new people ready to recieve the gospel and have people progressing. Sadly no one was at church sunday but that just means we gotta find out what we can do better and let the Lord do his work.
So transfers are in two days. Honestly i have no idea if i stay or if i go. I love my area. I love the people here. They are so humble and kind. Some are kinda hard at first but as soon as you bust that shell open ohhhhhhh chocolaty goodness. All that you have to do is show that you love them and they are open to you. 

I have been studying this last week in Preach My Gospel on attributes of Christ. Man, He is amazing. The patience, love, determination, obedience, everything that He has is so amazing and awesome. Reading in the New Testament just helps me be more and more grateful for him.

Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. i KNOW this. Only through Him can we be whole again. I love Him so much and am eternally in His debt. The best that i can do is try to be more like Him everyday. To think what He would do and to try to better myself. Im so grateful to be on the mission and be where I am and who Im with because it has given me the opportunity to grow and be more Christ like.

I care for and love you all so very much and am so grateful for all that you do.

Love,

Elder Parker Wilson

P.S. photos next week promise.