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HEHE HOHO Hey family!!!

you may all be wondering "why is elder wilson writing things in french and spelling them perfectly and then doing funny french sounds?" well Elder Lamb from Utah has come to town. Growing up his dad would always speak to them in french so he is fluent. i now know how to say the shower, he, she, i, and you all in french. some fun stuff. plus my guarani is getting a lot better. i love the campo. it was sad to see elder gleason go - a great missionary and a great friend, but i am also super excited to be working with Elder Lamb he is an incredible missionary who has gone through some tough times on his mission but is persevering like a champ. a very clean and orderly person, which reminds me of evan, so he is giving me good cleaning habits and also we do a lot more hard core exercises. for example a few days ago we ran. he dominated me and was about 30 yards ahead (i could see him always) but i got destroyed. one of the greatest things though is that i have received a testimony from the Holy Ghost that Elder Lamb is who i should be with at this part of my mission. im learning how to be more bold and direct which is good because i needed to learn a bit more of that. what a blessing and how true it is that God knows your mission and has it all planned perfectly for you.

MIRACLE WEEKEND!!! so we have two families getting ready to be baptized the next two weeks. sergio y olga this week and then hector and florentina and fam next week!!!! both are going to be weddings and are going to be incredible!!!!!! the Lord is blessing us so much and we are finding so many more miracles everyday. obedience to the gospel and doing what the Lord calls you to do will open up so many wonderful doors. the great thing is right now we have a wonderful pool of amazing investigators all progressing at their own time but you can see how the Lord has prepared so many of them. for me im a lot skinnier at the moment in a good way though its nice and now working out better so yay. oh and i sang a solo in church. it went well.

friday we had an incredible experience. we had a special christmas conference with Pres. and Hna Agazzani, their family, the AP´s, and the zone. we read the story of Christs birth and shared our testimonies about it. we then listened to wonderful talks by Pres. and Hna Agazzani. then we watched a movie which honestly has changed my life. the movie is called "17 Miracles". you haven't watch it buy it and watch it. if you´ve seen it and haven't bought it buy it. it is a movie that depicts the travel of the Willi hand cart company from western europe to zion. is is depicted by a man who went on a mission and left his only son who was motherless and then on the way back helped this group of saints travel to zion. they tell multiple stories within it from multiple people. within it are 17 incredible miracles that occurred and truly looking at it all it was a miracle. the spirit was so strong. you just felt it the entire time. their faith is what just got to me. the faith that those saints had and the humility many of the people had to follow their leaders. the gospel is so incredible and simple at the same time. following the leaders that God has appointed to guide us and lead us and putting our personal pride aside is such a blessing. through our obedience we will be richly blessed. in the movie you saw that the saints who crossed were full of the fire of faith. many of them died of hunger, cold, fatigue, and sickness. the most amazing thing though is that they never lost the faith and they new that if they did not make it that the blessings for them above were so much greater then the small sufferings here on earth. it is a movie that honestly made me so much more grateful for my pioneer ancestors and what they sacrificed. makes me so grateful for Julie, because she is a pioneer in our family. the things people sacrifice to be obedient to God go over any type of obedience that comes from fear or desiring a reward. it is truly an obedience for love. by being obedient because we love our Father in Heaven is the way we see those amazing changes in our lives. my life has changed. my priorities and goals are not small petty things that can only be reached on earth. my goals are now for the eternities. the gospel shows us how. all we must do is follow the example Christ left and LIVE IT. those saints did. they did so so that we may have it today.

i love being a missionary for Christ true church and i testify with all of my heart that it is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Jesus Christ is the head of this church and it is the only church that has His authority to baptize and that a family can be forever. I know because i have felt it. I know it and I know that God knows it and i cant even fathom denying it. Thank you all for encouraging me to come on my mission. It means everything to me. today in a meeting that we had with the DL i said something that my companion said to me last night and it was completely true. Parker Wilson is dead. right now Elder Wilson lives, and in time Parker Maurice Wilson we live again but as someone changed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. right now im Elder Wilson because i am Gods servant and disciple.

thank you for all that you do

love

elder wilson  

Miracles and Buses

Hey family!!!

this last week we had a lot of miracles and a lot of traveling as well. monday through friday we traveled. once to asuncion and 4 times to caaguazu which is about an hour away. tuesday we had a huge miracle though. i was with elder cleverly the DL in caaguazu and we went to visit a family who was prepared to be baptized but just needed an extra push. so we went there, taught them and they had an amazing change of heart. we didnt do anything God just changed them. we told them that the Lord was preparing a baptismal service the next week and they said how they are going to argentina to visit family. so we then told them that they could do it this saturday they said ya, had a couple concerns about money, but it all got resolved. now they are preparing to enter into the temple as a family in 1 year!!!!

an interesting thought that me and my companion have talked about. first about being happy. Why are people not happy? sad things happen all the time and disappointments occur from time to time. we just always have to have the hope and the faith that all will turn out well. my favorite quote is "circumstances dont determine a happiness" it is so very true. we just have to put on a smile. we read how alma and his people were being enslaved by the lamanites but the Lord helped them ease their burden and they were happy! plus its Christmas time in the city. doot doo doo doot doo doot ringaling hear them ring!!!! not sure if i got it a 100% right but i hope it was close. so if everyone can do me a favor today and SMILE!!!!
 BECAUSE YOUR SMILES ARE AMAZING

the other topic we talked about was how the world does seem to get more and more wicked but the saints are becoming more and more converted. if we are true to the commandments and do the small and simple things no matter where we are in the world we will be firm on the rock of christ (Helaman 5:12) we have to all be firm in our faith, firm in our covenants, and firm in our testimonies. i was reading a talk by Elder Oaks and it tells of how sharing the gospel is the best way to fortify our testimonies. also being true to our covenants. some of us have just done that first and super important covenant of baptism others have done more sacred covenants within the holy walls of the Lords temples. no matter what covenant we have made we must keep it and keep strictly to it.then strive to make more. in that way we will always progress and always come closer to our father in heaven.

the work here right now is on the verge of exploding. we have 9 people that we are planning to help them make that first and key covenant of baptism this month. some obstacles are in the way but as long as we fast and pray the Lord shall show the way.

I testify that Christ is the head of this church. He is the Master our Lord and Savior. He invites us all to come unto Him through doing sacred covenants with Him and the Father. may we all be true to our covenants in all times and all things and in all places. let us do the small and simple things. 

love you all so much

elder wilson

White Christmas Preparation

hey everyone!!!

so we are here on a normal summer day here in paraguay, its close to about 100 F outside and i am wearing a long sleeved shirt which is nice but i guess you get use to sweating all the time after a while. oh how the mission changes you.

we are all getting ready for a white christmas here in paraguay! sadly there is no snow and if there ever is some i think the entire country would got on a lock down; so its a blessing. we are getting ready to have an amazing month of december. we have been so blessed to have so many new investigators who are progressing and going to church. this last weekend we had 6 at church but sadly two had to leave for a thing that they had to do for their son, but it was still amazing. it is also really interesting where two of our investigators are located - from one of them to the other it will most likely take about 1hr or 1hr 15min to walk. they are worth it though. one is an amazing new family that are seaching for the truth and are reading the Book of Mormon a ton, and the other is a brother of a sisiter who is going to be sealed this saturday with her husband!!!!! i love eternal families.

the meeting we had today was incredible!  the theme was having a white christmas and baptizing more and more. the mission is really being so blessed and growing so much. a really sad but wonderful thing that happened also was we were able to hear the testimonies of three missionaries who are returning home with honor next week; elder ponce who i dont know very well but who is a wonderful missionary, elder clement who i have known since last june and been in the same area with for about 5 months and elder henriquez who i met my second day in paraguay. all wonderful finishers and incredibly focused and dedicated missionaries. oh and so you guys know right now i am looking at a guy who is wearing a brewers' hat and a brewers' shirt. fun stuff it is interesting the connections to the states. he's got a hunting bag he is a wisconsin man. (but back on topic). 

its so amazing how far i have come. today i was able to renew my temple recommend and it was incredible. it just helped me remember why i am here and what i am learning. i saved my other one. i think i will like to hold onto them all so i can show to my future generations how i always was worthy to have my temple recommend. pres at the end gave me a hug and said "elder wilson you got 2 transfers to work miracles out there." i told him that i will. it all comes down to our decision  what we choose to do will effect everything. it is sad to see how some missionaries die down towards the end but not this guy. we are going to be seeing white. this last week a miracle happened in the other area in our branch. a missionary in training had his first baptism. the guy had attendances before went and found the guy and two weeks later because of sincere pray he is a member of Gods true church.

have a happy and wonderful week. love you all dearly. go to the temple often it will always bring you peace. i testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Joseph Smith was a Prophet called of God. This is Christs true church and He is at the head. The atonement is real. no matter what the challenge you can overcome.

love you all

elder wilson

Finding Joy Through Others

HEY!!!!

this last week we did a bit of traveling. our zone has a base of three cities and we went into the other two this last week for baptismal interviews and other meetings. makes ya a tad bit tired but thanks to all of the soccer traveling in the past im kinda used to it. traveling by bus is actually kinda nice and pretty cheap. 

this last week the main thing that i learned was finding the joy in watching others succeed. i have had it frequently in my life but this last week i fully felt it. one was during sacrament meeting. the other elders have this incredible guy who they are working with who is ready to be baptized. when i saw him all by himself walk into the chapel i got super excited for the kid and also for the other missionaries. also because the zone  at the start of the month wasn't  having a prosperous month by helping others enter into the waters of baptism; 14 people in our zone were baptized this month and the mission got over 100 which is incredible. we are going for 1000 total by the end of the year. i think that is something that is really good for me to acquire. finding joy in the success of others. me being a wilson and all of you know i am a somewhat competitive person. i find it really great that i am eliminating that type of pride within me and finding the joy in the progress and miracles in the lives of other missionaries and other people.

a fun little things we did this week was a bit of service. it feels good to serve have charity. we went on over to a recent converts house and built them a chicken coop. it was saaaaaweet! basically how they do it is getting whatever wood is around and nailing it all together. an amazing thing about the people here is that they are like mcgiver (i dont know how to spell his name) but when it comes to building things or fixing things or anything. they make anything out of everything. aaaaaaaahhhhh paraguay i love it. 

an interesting thing that i have come to realize during my mission is all of the different types of pride there are and how many different ways there are to be prideful. kinda scary but really interesting. example. if one is not willing to forgive themselves they are not letting the atonement come into their lives. in other words their pride is getting in the way of their own forgiveness. me and my companion talked about multiple small and different ways one can be prideful without even realizing it and then we worked on eliminating that. how you may ask? CHARITY CHARITY CHARITY OHHHH CHARITY. having a smile, being nice, turning the other cheek and doing all of those small things to be happy. i started a study today in the book of mormon on christ and the atonement. its so incredible how it works. anything you can change, anything you can get rid of, anything you can fix. the love of the Lord is so incredible and it just makes you want to do better and to be a better person. on my mission i have come to understand the atonement so much more and the importance of the atonement and of the savior. i have an christmas gift for all of the family. i would like to invite you all to take a Book of Mormon and mark and study everything that talks about Christ and the Atonement. i did it for half of one chapter and it was incredible it will bring so many blessings.

i know that this church is true. i know that christ lives and how joyful it is to be apart of this work.

love you all 

elder wilson


Pictures: 
1. This is the legendary golder alfajorpe. it is like the jackalope of the missionaries. you hear about it all the time, and every once in a while see a wrapper, but this last week we had the opportunity TO EAT ONE!!!! it was incredible!!! (Alfajores are the quintessential street food in South America. )2. Yaaaaaaaaaaa............. thats elder gleason. he got a hold of my camera
3. gotta love the campo bunch of great pictures

Its the most wonderful time!

first of all just got off the phone with Elder Schone who is coming here this week to do divisions in our zone and he sends his love to you all. a great missionary and a great friend.

SOOOOOO this  week on monday we had a wonderful experience. we found a golden family. they are Sergio and Olga; they have a little boy whose 5-years old and has epilepsy. a special kid but a wonderful experience to  share my testimony with them. we did a big service project with them. went with a member on over to their house to trim a tree. trimming here is cutting off most of the branches. it was about a 60 feet tall tree and we climbed up with a machete and chopped it on down. my companion went to the higher parts because we couldn't fit two so i got to chop on down below and he took down a big one that almost fell on him but he was saved and it is a great journal entry. the best part though happened at 8:20am on sunday...... they went to church all by themselves and absolutely loved it!   they felt the spirit so much and even though there are some communication boundaries at the moment because they speak more guarani than spanish they are progressing wonderfully! 

later on that night we had a very interesting thing happen, not to go into detail, but some guys started to chastise us, the church, and the Book of Mormon. the spirit was not there at all so respectfully we got out, the man did invite me to pray and ask God if what he said was true. with that invitation i invited him to read the Book of Mormon and to ask God if it was true. i accepted he declined. that night both me and my companion were on our knees for some time and i prayed for so long searching for an answer and i received one. a still small peace and love came to me when i asked God if the Book of Mormon is true and if this is Gods true church. doesn't matter how many times you ask God will always answer. 

throughout the week we saw many more things maybe not as large but things that were attacking our testimonies. it was very interesting that with every attack i have become more and more determined 

to strengthen my testimony and testify of the restoration of Gods true and living church on the earth 

today. I feel more and more inclined to talk to people about the restoration, to present and testify of the Book of Mormon to all. at the end of the race you gotta be strong ya. its like bending your knees and doing the full follow through when your shooting free throws and you got only one minute left. you gotta focus, and give it all. its so interesting because there are times that me and my companion feel physically beat, but we can keep on going. our bodies are feeling tired but our minds and souls are invigorated (super spell check) to keep on sharing the gospel. honestly it is so amazing to me how true the church is in its simpleness. God called prophets since the beginning of time (adam). man would always reject them. he continued calling prophets until He sent His only begotten Son to save us from sin. Jesus Christ established His church with apostles and His authority. again through the wickedness of man it was lost. in its simpleness. now God has restored His church through a modern day prophet joseph smith. I testify that the boy joseph saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. through him the keys to the salvation of man were restored. now the big question HOW CAN WE KNOW? well that is where the Book of Mormon comes to play. Moroni 10:3-5 read, ponder, pray, and you will know through the Holy Ghost. we just need to be humble and we can know. I LOVE the Book of Mormon. I testify that it is the word of God. the Lord has blessed me with these 2 years to testify of its truth and especially for me to come to know its truth. I love this church. more importantly i love my God and I love Him for sending His Only Begotten Son to save me from my faults.

i love you all and I'm so grateful for all that you do. the church is true and i will declare it to all that can hear. that the spirit may guide me during that time so that its now me who is speaking but it is Him. i am nothing. through God and the atonement of Christ i can be perfected.

love you!!!

Elder Wilson

Mmmmmmmba´etekopio

Hello dear family and friends!!! 
how art thou?! 
(gotta love the wilson vocabulary)

to start off - let you all know I got the package along with all of the dearelders and blair and Julie's letter. thank you all very much!!! the ties are saweet! the sox i am sporting a pair right now and my feet approve. the gum my companion approves very much. thank you thank you thank you!

so a fun thing that we are doing  now is a bunch of divisions which means that i am out of our area about 2 times a week or so. right now i have been to every branch here in our city, and this following week we get to take an hour bus ride and i get to go do divisions in Villa Rica which is about 1 hour south and the next week we are going out to ca´aguazu which is about 1 hour west. our zone takes up 3 cities which is pretty cool got to go out to the campo campo´ite!!! which was great! the fun thing is that this week i get to see 2 of my old companions (elder norton and elder horton!!!) they are both in my zone and actually there are 4 or 5 missionaries that were in my district when i was a DL in sajonia about a year ago which is really cool get to see them again and work with them again.

so this week we had a great thing . we had a great "endure to the end talk". we are seeing how some missionaries are slowing up and not working as hard and are getting trunky (wanting to go home and not working) well we are on the anti-trunky train and we are going full steam ahead. we felt a strong impression on how we end our missions will be a huge factor on our futures. are we going to be finishers or no? that is the question. for me it is a solid YES!!! right now we are having difficulties when it comes to some ward things and people coming to church on sunday. we have an amazing family, the familia gayoso, who are so ready and so amazing!!! they are going to be  baptized in the beginning of december, we also are working with this great kid named junior who is changing his life around. the branch is struggling a bit but you know what you gotta put on a smile and keep on working giving your all and just loving the people always and testifying of the truth. due to the pictures i don't have a ton to write but let us all endure to the end always (love the finishers wanted talk)

love you all and pray for you daily

elder wilson


Pictures
 So the computer isn't letting me look at the others so i think your just gonna have to guess for these ones. 

Bday feast (mexican food)

cool bday gift they god me

yes - living in the country

not quite sure

easing down the road ( notice pavement)

if only we had wheels

my companion elder gleason

Coronel Oviedo

so i have five minutes. ill tell ya why.

so we are out here in beautiful coronel oviedo me with elder gleason from utah. he is awesome!!! we got up at 3 this morning to catch a bus for asunción. its about a 3 hour ride for our ZL meeting. got there to find that all of the good buses had left and the seats on the ok ones were full. there was only standing room. well we took it!!! it was a once in a lifetime experience. a girl got sick on the bus and threw up, but its just another great journal write. fell asleep standing up which i've never done before. all in all it was awesome. all of the elders at the meeting asked me how my first trip was and they all loved the answer especially elder pastul. 

so out here there are 24 elders and they are in 3 cities all 1 hour apart. our area is much more humble but amazing. i love it! it is really different and we are making some changes in the zone but with the Book of Mormon, faith, and prayer. things are going to be changing and its going to be amazing!!!!

thank you for all that you do and love you all gotta head out!!!!

love

elder wilson