Another week of miracles

Hey guys!!!!

how are you all doing?!?!?!?! my wish is that all is going amazingly! things are going great out here we had a bunch of miracles this last weekend. in the zone there were 5 baptisms and 6 confirmations!!!! it was amazing!!! everybody is getting the spirit of baptism. not only the missionaries but we are starting to see it in the wards aswell. we are all sharing the importance of sharing the gospel with everyone.

we had a bunch of things go on this last week. well due to time and my capacity to move my fingers rapidly im going to tell a few. weds we had the opportunity to have interview with pres. agazzani. i love interviews! get to have one on one time with pres. and talk about the zone and how things are going in my life. that morning we got a call from elder schone telling us that there is going to be a white wash in our zone (two missionaries in and two missionaries out). this was going to be the second one in this transfer. zone 5 is getting all shifted around. we now have the great opportunity and blessing to have two sisters now in the zone working in the area of monte lindo. both great and hard working sisters. one hna hubbard is from the states i dont know where and the other hna rojas is from paraguay. so when we got to the office for interview we got to go on field trip to bring them to there new pension. elder schone drove us and we got a little bit lost so it took a bit of time. we then got back to the office and had interview. me and pres. mainly talked about the zone and what is going on in the zone and how we can all work together to see more progress in the stake. it was a great interview.

we also had a great miracle on sunday. we got to church around 8:40 after going to find an investigator who didnt answer the door and we left our stuff and went searching for other investigators. we went with members to some and just us to most. we ended up searching for people until the starting of sacrament meeting around 10:20. we got there and kept on looking to the door to see a miracle. we looked far and wide. talked with all that we could to invite them to church with us and nothing happened. then after fast and testimony meeting while we were writing down a reference from a sister, elder stewart came up to me and said "elder! you have an investigator outside who wants a Book of Mormon!" we were shocked and went to go talk to her. her name is norma and she came to church by herself at 830 and stayed for everything and loved it. at the end she went up to elder stewart and said "can i have you book?" he thought that she was a member from our side and i thought she was a member from their side so as soon as she said that to him he realized that she wasnt a member. we now have a visit set up for tuesday at the chapel with a friend of hers who has talked to her about the church before. i know that that miracle was a gift from God, and i know that since we showed our faith in inviting everyone and running all over the place to find people we were able to have a miracle.

during fast and testimony meeting i had the opportunity to bear my testimony. i was sitting there and i wanted to say something and i had no idea what to say then while meditating on it the words of one of my favorite efy songs came into my head "i am just one voice, just one voice can change the world. i have made my choice and sealed my witness with my word" i then felt the spirit and high tailed on up there. i testified about the power of one voice. how we are all saved through one voice, the Lords voice, and how His one voice changed the world. i then talked about how we can all use our voices to testify and to invite people to come unto Him and come to know His true gospel. think about it if every family brought just ONE PERSON to church the ward wherever we find ourselves will grow. so my question to all who read this today is; who are you going to bring to church on sunday? for those who are not members; come on over! it will be an amazing experience  that you will never forget and that will change your life as it has changed mine.

i testify that this is Gods true church on earth that holds His priesthood power. the Book of Mormon is true all you gotta do to know is to read and then ask God. simple. one small step of faith can change the world. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. 

I love you all and pray for you daily!!!

best wishes

Elder Wilson

General Conference

Hey fam I'd like to start off with a question:

Who am I?

Personally i would like to quote a talk by Ann Dibb which i very much loved. I am Elder Parker Maurice Wilson. I am a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it! I am also a representative of Jesus Christ. I have been called by Him to serve my wonderful brothers and sisters down to the south of Paraguay. I am from a wonderful family. Full of love laughter and joy. Now I have a sister who will also be able to serve the Lord at age 19 which has been revelation received from the most high from a living Prophet of God. I am a man who believes and knows that the true Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth once more. I am a representative of that true church which holds the holy priesthood. This priesthood power that i am blessed to hold has more power than any king, president or ruler because it is the power of God that He has entrusted to man once more. 

I am a man who loves to learn and to grow. I am someone who before this last weekend had multiple questions. Through listening to the living prophets and apostles of God i have received multiple answers. I am a man of faith. A faith that before i came on the mission was borrowed. before i came on the mission i was bright because i borrowed pieces of lights around me. Now i can rise and shine forth. I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I am a member of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. My calling is as it is stated in the scriptures to declare repentance and baptism to all so that they may find the real joy, the only eternal joy that can be found through the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am someone full of defects and errors. I work everyday to polish them off. I am someone who can testify to all as a representative of Jesus Christ testified to the King of Tonga to follow Christ because only through Him i have been able to fix my defects. I am a man who has fallen, but more importantly i am a man who has lifted himself up again. I am a man grateful for all of those who have lifted me up. From the guys (TP, Al, Matt, and J), to ward leaders from deacons quorum advisor Ethan Klimes of Minnesota through till Bishop Quinn, and Pres. Peterson of Naperville. I have been blessed with wonderful influences and friends. from the cold lakes of MN and bustling city of Chicago, to the strong pillar of support at BYU and the builders of my faith in the heat of Paraguay. Most of all i am a man who recognizes the start of it all. It all started with the Tim and LaRinda Wilson family. from 3 older brothers to show me how and to throw me around, to a little sister to push me farther up and to show me whats up. To wonderful grandparents who were my taxi (gpa wilson) and the only person who can beat me in quiddler without seeing completely her cards (gma wilson) to the best basketball analyst in the world (gma bond) to the calm and quiet example of how to raise a family (gpa bond). I am of a large extended family from the Wilson brigade to the Christensen towers, and to the wonderful warm Bonds who always have a home for me. 

Basically as you can see all of who I am has come from mainly four people or groups, my Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ, You All and a little bit of me. 

Again i ask Who am I? The best answer is, I am a son of the living God.

General conference was wonderful. My favorite talks were The first by Elder Cook, Sister Dibb, D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Holland, and all of the first presidency. This was honestly the best one that i have been apart of. i honestly would love to sit and chat with you all about all that i learned from conference and what i have learned on my mission but my fingers don't type fast enough and it will take days. 

one thing is sure though. as the Prophet said. We gotta see people for who they can be. basically we gotta see them all in white as the Lord sees them. This is the true church of God I KNOW IT: The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is the only perfect book on the face of the earth. let us all listen to the prophets and be strictly obedient to the word. that is the only true happiness.

ELDER BEDNAR IS COMING HERE FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! well 2 days earlier but igual no mas!!!!

I love you all and I'm so grateful for all that you do.

love

Elder Wilson

Families Can Be Together Forever

Hey fam!!!

WOW! i don't even know where to start. this last week we had the greatest blessing in the world. we were able to witness not just one but two weddings and two baptisms it was incredible! Blanca and Arnaldo got married and she was baptized. we found them on a contact and found that they are a part-member family. We started teaching them and felt the Spirit so strongly, many times and were able to teach them at the chapel many times. (they live right in front of it, which was the best part) they are so happy and have the goal of going to the temple one year from now.

i don't have much time but here i go on this one.

Thursday we went to talk to another part-family where the dad was the only one who was not a member. the family as a whole have been talking to the missionaries for about 3 years. we go there on Saturday teach a powerful lesson about the atonement of Jesus Christ and at the end invite them to come to the wedding. they say "ya we would love to come and while we are there we will be able to talk to the judge" we say "talk to the judge? do you still want to get married?"  they say "ya, our plans were to get married....... this Saturday right?" we respond "true would you like to get married this Saturday?" they SAID YES!!!!! so we got things all ready for two weddings. let me tell you there is a lot to do:food, decorations, judge, money, people, baptismal stuff. we were all over the place. then the next day Friday we invite the dad Emilio to be baptized. he gets kind of shocked because it would be the next day. we ask him if anything would impede him. he said 'no' and so we invited him again and he said 'yes'! a good thing we were on divisions with the district leader and he interviewed him right there.

this last week i had some attacks on my testimony on eternal families. we testified and testified and its sad how some people don't believe that we can be together forever. the best moment and testimony builder was on Sunday for me. All in one glance i saw: Nestor and Mirna, Roberto and Mirta, Blanca and Arnaldo, and Emilio and Petrona. 4 families with the goal and on the path to become together forever, sealed in the temple for all time and all eternity. the spirit just hit me; and there is not a lick of a doubt in my being that a family can be together forever. through being sealed in the temple of God by one holding His authority it is possible. of this i testify with all of my heart. i am going to have my eternal family because that is where i will find so much happiness and that is what God wants for me.

i love you all and am so grateful for you and i pray for you daily!
love

Elder Wilson

Big Shift

Hey family!!!!

hope all is going well with you guys. changes were this last week as i said in my last letter. we had no transfer so I'm going to be having 4 changes here in ka´aguy rory and we are going to keep on baptizing and helping the Lord's work move forward!  there were a bunch of changes in our zone and mission. not just changes in companionships but also in districts and adding more missionaries to certain areas. in our zone there have been mainly just a few companionships or areas that have been baptizing. (in ka´aguy rory the ward has baptized more than 50 people in the last year) so the mission moved them around. now our district is with the office. the APs no longer live with us they got swapped with another area and now we have a brand new missionary Elder Holgate (draper, UT) and Elder Stewart (rigby, ID) who are with us here. its a bit different, but its nice we got to move our study stuff into the room that has AC so that was nice. there are also two new APs one being Elder Schone my old companion. he is amazing and is going to be a lot of help to the mission.

This last week we saw many miracles. we were able to find a bunch of new people who we are helping prepare for baptism and we are going to be apart of the wedding of Arnaldo and Blanca; and Blanca is going to be baptized afterward !!!!! you gotta love eternal families. our friend Jorge who was getting ready to be baptized last week got back from the hospital after getting part of his finger cut off. he is super happy though and is getting ready to be baptized as soon as he physically can! in the zone we are also seeing a whole bunch of miracles. there are more areas that are starting to baptize that didn't baptize  much before and are getting animated and excited and having that be all that they want to do is baptize baptize baptize. 

we also had a different and fun thing that we did this last week. we went to serve! all of the missionaries have been in coordination with the group Project Smile that goes around the world and helps people who are born with cleft palate (i think that's what its called). we took a bus in normal clothes, which was really weird, at 6 in the morning to get there by 7. we  mostly helped with filing, moving boxes, packing things up, and taking out garbage. it was their last day so we were helping them out with that. most of the people there spoke english so it was interesting, felt kind of weird, but it was a great day of service got to head on out around 1 or so. a fun thing is that we were there with the north mission and i met chase quinn's cousin who is serving there. i saw the name tag elder quinn and asked him if he was related to a chase quinn and he said yes. so its great how you can make fun connections everywhere. 

its interesting with the experience that i have had on the mission i find myself just saying to people. "hey, God loves you and wants you to be baptized in His restored church can we come by and teach you how you can prepare yourself to do so?" i read a quote from a talk by Elder Adrian Ochoa and he said "utilize the priesthood power to invite other to repent and be baptized. you have been given the mandate and power to do so from our Heavenly Father." its really interesting how that is our calling to do just that and i am so grateful for it and the opportunity that i have to share it and to grow.

i love you all and am so grateful for all that you do keep on doing those little things to endure!!!

love

elder wilson

The Heat is BACK

Hey fam!!!

as you can see by the title our beautiful Paraguayan heat has returned. today and yesterday we have been in the low 100s and its not death, its not horrible at all. you gotta be super grateful for AC though. 

this last week we had a bunch of great experiences. on Tuesday we were able to have a conference with all of our zone again. it was great, more interaction from the elders and we were able to find 71 people that can be baptized this month!!!! now we just gotta do our part. listen to the spirit ask inspired questions and teach the doctrine and invite them to be baptized and put a baptismal date with them. miracles are going to rain! its going to be amazing!!!

we also had a wonderful opportunity to be able to have a regional conference with SLC this last sunday. all of the stakes and districts in Paraguay and Uruguay listened to a conference where we heard Elder Walter F. Gonzalez of the 70, Sister Reeves of the Relief Society presidency, Elder Niel A. Andersen, and our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson. it was so incredible how everything that they talk about was exactly what we need here in our beautiful paraguay - for the gospel and church to grow. the things that i got big out of it, that i want to apply is first: searching for the guidance of the Spirit to know what the people need at that place and time, connect with them. Elder Andersen talked about the biggest soccer rivalries in paraguay and uruguay it was pretty funny, also a wonderful quote that he said was "if we don't try it we won't do it. if we don't do it, then why are we here?" referring to going to church, home and visiting teaching, and other responsibilities. it was wonderful and just a huge blessing to be able to listen to the living prophet of God. he talked about going and saving lost souls and bringing them back to the fold. he mentioned two parts, one showing them their eternal potential and the other knowing that people can change. I'm a witness to that. how i have  changed, it is incredible. thinking about how i was, what i would do, say, and what were my priorities before having completely changed and it is a huge blessing that i have received from that change.

a nice little reminder that came to my mind during my studies in the last couple of days and teaching a man named Santiago who we are helping drop drinking, is the effect of small choices. either doing them or not doing them. both having a negative effect. he drank a little bit and burnt his food with hot oil. now though he is determined and is feeling the spirit so much, has a ton of ward support and is really changing. it is a testimony that man can change. thinking about it, it is how we must do those small things. are we all doing our daily scripture study personally and as a fam., are we praying together and individually, are we going to the temple as much as possible. those are the great questions.

well time is up on my computer love you all an

Learning Through Challenges

Hola familia!!!

hope all is going great and smoothly up north. things are going well here down south. the heat is kicking up again which is nice. sad to say but after living here for the last little while i have gotten more used to the heat. i can say that my old thick Minnesotan blood is almost gone. everything is getting a bit more chilly everyday. its ok though. 

this last week we saw a bunch of miracles. we were able to find a golden family that is a part member family who lives in the perfect spot. RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!!! how perfect is that. it is arnaldo and blanca who just had their first kid about 5 days ago or so. he is a member as of 5 or so years. got baptized in ercanacion which is on the other side of the country closer to brasil and argentina. this week we really have been focusing on working with the spirit. to have him constantly with us and to be able to follow the impressions that we receive. a big thing that I'm personally trying to do is listen to the spirit more in the lessons so it is less teaching a lesson and more teaching the person. this week we were able to go on divisions with some other missionaries in our zone and we had two great spirit powered lessons. after we told them about the first vision i asked them how they felt in that moment. every time they said that they felt something different. there is a promise in 'preach my gospel' on how if we confide in the spirit and that we focus in seeing the spirit work in them we will be able to see the progress and the spirit will testify to them the truthfulness of Christ's gospel.

having that be our focus we are working more on how we are going to be helping people come to church on Sundays so that they can be baptized this month. we are working on this with the entire zone. some stress comes when things aren't turning out as they should but as long as you depend on the Lord and find what he wants you to learn it is all good. as my favorite quote "circumstances don't determine  happiness". just gotta put on a smile and be happy and do what we gotta do. declare the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This week is going to be amazing i know that it will!!!

i know that this is Christ's true church on the earth and i am so blessed that i have this opportunity to be able to serve him everyday and to dedicate myself to this incredible work. i know that the book of mormon is true. i love you all and you are always in my thoughts and in my prayers!!!

love

elder wilson

The How of Things

Hey family how's ya all doin?

You gotta love having energy. 
You gotta feel good when your all excited and ready to break the limits. 
That is how we have been and how the mission is at the moment. 

today we just got out of a meeting with all of the ZL, AP´s, and Pres. Agazzani talking about the "how to" of things. it is so amazing how the mission prepares you for the future. everyone has vision things that they want to achieve and goals that they want to reach. We as a zone -it is to have confident, challenging, exited missionaries who plan efficiently with the members to baptize every week. our other goal is also to have 22 baptisms as a zone. while i am one for getting all excited and bringing in a lot of energy and wanting to be positive and happy. you do gotta sit a back and say "ok. that's what we want. so how are we going to get it?" plans, plans, plans. the how to of things. whatever goal one has in life they can reach it. it being the will of God NOTHING is unreachable or unbeatable. what must be done is consult with our Father in Heaven and create those plans to help yourself, family, work, friends, or whatever it may be grow and reach that goal.

the biggest goal is for us to become as God is. that truly is the purpose of the gospel and missionary work. to help God's children become as He is. To reach that our Father has set his goals and plans that we must follow if we are to reach our desired goal. For me that vision that goal is to become as God is. Exaltation. All of this goes through; having faith in Christ, repentance, baptism (by someone holding the authority), receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end (making more covenants like endowments and temple sealings) to reach that final destination.

this last week though was amazing. HUMBERTO WAS BAPTIZED! it was a miracle and so amazing! he has been meeting with the missionaries for over a year. they have visited him then left for for a bit and back again for the last year or so. i know and testify that elder pastul (my current companion) was sent here to baptize humberto. the change in him was truly amazing how he humbled himself to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was the prophet that was called to restore Gods church on earth again. the day he came was amazing and i had the wonderful blessing to baptize him. i cannot express the joy and the spirit that came into me after the baptism it was just wow. you can't describe the feeling, all you can know is that it is God confirming the truth. Sunday he got sick and went to the hospital and wasn't going to be able to come, but then 20 before the sacrament meeting was gonna start they let him out and he came flying to the church and was confirmed what a miracle. God is calling His sheep to His fold, and what a joy and blessing it is to be apart of it.

well family i love you and pray for you daily. know that i know that this is the true church of Christ on earth. the priesthood authority is real and being a worthy priesthood holder is so important because with out the priesthood we can't live with God again.

i love you all and send my best!!

Elder Wilson


Pictures

1. Me and Elder Stewart (Idaho)
2. HUMBERTO WAS BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!!