Baaaa Pues

Dear Family,

Alright well I do have changes. And wow i am going to be a trainer....so i am a little nervous for that. I just have about 6 months in the mission so it is not very normal for someone to be a trainer a that young age. But I am thankful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me.

Anyway well we had a good last week here in Asiole. I am sad to leave because man we were really starting to make progress in the ward here. Also excited because I have knocked every single door in my area. So that will be a blessing to have some fresh doors to knock. We didn't have any baptisms in this week but we had really made progress with our retention and with less actives.

Well my mind is really going blank today on what to say. But yesterday we played basketball here and wow it was the dream. My companion didn't want to play but he was a good sport about it. But us gringos sure did love it. It felt so good to play again, but wow I am not as good as I was before the mission. One of the pictures here is of a guy who sits on his doorstep all day everyday. He cant really here but we just always yell HI to him and the he says Baaaa Pues. Which means Alright. So that was always such a good way to start the day.

Yesterday we helped a member build their house of metal and today we are going back to do some more. So that will be exciting. Well love you all. I will think of more stuff next week to write.

Elder Wilkes

What a Blessing

Well I don't have that much time today but thank you everyone for your emails. Things are really going good. This last week we had stake conference and that was a real blessing. The stake president here is a really good guy. He was born on the streets and was baptized when he was 17. I also loved hearing our mission president's wife speak. She is learning Spanish but wow she really brings the spirit. I can't imagine how hard that is but wow she is such an example and gave really powerful talks.

Right now we are teaching this guy Luis Lopez. He is 57 and right now he is in the mountains cutting down avocados for his work. So sometimes it is hard to teach him because he isn't home. But he is doing well. We are hoping to baptize him this week, but he is still not sure about it. He really is a stud and one day on the bus we just invited him to church and the next Sunday we were shocked when he walked in.

Anyways we have transfers next week and I pretty much know that I will be leaving. I'm kinda sad because I love this place and we are really finally making progress with the ward. Really the whole thing about a mission is your attitude. We have a lot of converts who don't really want to visit with us right now. But every time we have a problem my companion and I just look at each other and say "What a Blessing." It is actually really helping us out. Anyways I love you guys. Have a great week.

Elder Wilkes

A God of Miracles

Dear Family,

Well it has been another week. Sounds like everything is going well.

Anyways we kinda had a regular week here in Guatemala. We had to go to the capital twice and that was not that fun. Because wow there are so many people there. When we go we have to leave at like 4 so that always makes a day interesting. Next week we have to go again for a conference with Elder Craig C. Christensen so that will actually be pretty fun. I am really excited for that.

Anyways pretty much any investigator we had fell this week so that was pretty sad. It really is just sad to watch people fall away from the gospel and its principles. Sometimes you just want to take the agency away from people but that wouldn't really make sense in the Plan of Salvation.

This week in church we had a very interesting sacrament meeting. It was done by the young women. Anyways in one part they had everyone repeat the young women theme. The other gringo in the ward and I were just like what on earth is going on. Really it can be so hard to not to get frustrated with the ward. It is really new and has no priesthood holders. But really we just have to look forward and help strengthen it while we are here.

One thing that I learned this week was just how patient we have to be in the work of the Lord. Everything is not an overnight process. Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is a life time process. But really all of it is possible. I love 1 Nephi 17:51:

"And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the 

children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?"

We have to remember that God is a God of miracles and like Nephi says, why could he not instruct me to build a boat? Really that can be applied to anything. God can do anything, and if we submit ourselves to his will then anything is possible. The gospel is about progressing and moving forward every single day. Man I love you guys. Have a great week!

Elder Wilkes

Smile and Show Your Happiness

Dear Patojos,

Well I'm writing on Monday today. This morning we had interviews with President Markham and that was super good. He really is a powerful guy and really puts things in perspective. We are writing today because we are going to Antigua tomorrow for P-Day. Antigua is like the tourist place in Guatemala. Our cousin, Clark, was there a few months ago. He bought my zone leader an ice cream. Antigua is a good place, and there are a ton of gringos there so it's super weird. Also when we were waiting for interviews we watched Meet the Mormons. That was really a great piece of work.

Anyways things are going well here. We pretty much have just been contacting a lot. I really love knocking doors, because it seriously is so funny. We sing a lot of hymns to get in the door. My comp really sings his heart out and he is SO bad at singing so it just makes it all the better.

Yesterday we had two elders work with me and my companion. They are both going to finish their missions in two weeks. It was really so awesome. This guy I worked with (Elder Raudales) is crazy. But I had never felt the spirit so strong in my life. He has a love for the people that I never have seen in my life.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about happiness, and what it really is. Sometimes on a mission you seriously have no idea what you are doing and you just feel so dumb. Like honestly just walking around having no clue what to do. But really happiness is knowing that in times like this everything will be okay. happiness is knowing that everything will work its self out. Everyone just remember to smile all the time and show your happiness. Love you guys.

Elder Wilkes

Use Your Blessings to Help Others

Dear Family,

Alright Everybody, well it has been another week. Sounds like Cecelia made it home safely so that's awesome. Anyways things are going well down here. This last Saturday we baptized a family of 3. My other companion and I found them about a month ago knocking doors. The guy, Marco Antonio finally stopped playing soccer on Sunday, so that was a blessing. And also he ended up having a serious sin so it was a miracle that they got baptized. They still have a long ways to go, but hey we all do. Really sometimes I think it's so crazy how fast the area presidency wants us to baptize people. But in the end baptism really is just the door to enter in on the straight and narrow path.

Wow I can't think of anything to say today. We had a huge stake meeting on Sunday. The stake put a goal for this stake to have 44 baptisms every month in the year of 2015. It was a lot about how we can work more efficiently with the members. Really members are key in missionary work. Because we as missionaries are only members of these wards for such short periods of time.

We didn't do anything for the new year. Just had a regular day. The whole country was pretty much drunk the day after so that was a little tough. Really it is amazing how the church can be so strong here. There is such temptation. Beer is cheaper to buy then water and anyone at any age can by it...and that's just where it begins.

One experience that we had this week was we had been teaching a family that is unbelievably poor. they don't have water, light, or anything. the dad just drinks and it honestly is so hard to watch. One night we went there and the wife was just bawling, but we were able to help her feel a little love and that made it better. It really is so humbling to think that I have ever complained about anything. It really just makes me want to throw up. But really the blessings that we have should be used to help others. Love all of you. Please have some good clean fun.

Elder Wilkes

The Things I Have Learned

Alright well it has been another week here in blessed Central America. It was good to see everyone's faces this past week and weird to remember that you guys are all still alive. But congrats Micah and Elise for the pregnancy weird that you will be parents.

But anyways we had Christmas here and it was fine. We had p-day on Christmas and that was good. We left the house early and walked around and the city was destroyed. Everything was just dead and there was nobody was on the streets. On the 24th we had permission to stay out late and we were at the Bishop's house. We just had a nice traditional meal of tamales and ponche which is kind of like wassail. Other than that we just took it easy on Christmas.

This weekend we had 3 baptisms. On Saturday we married Fabiola and Javier. They are 17 and 18 and she is going to have a baby in March I think. Also the mother of Javier was baptized. She is 55 and her name is Telma. Also I baptized a little girl in our ward who turned 8. Her parents are inactive and her dad served a mission. It was a good experience. But I have done that twice now and it really just makes me really sad. I made a commitment that I will always be worthy to baptize my own children.

This Saturday we are going to baptize a family of 3. The father had been struggling to stop playing soccer on Sunday. He wouldn't commit to anything. Then yesterday we went to teach them and he told us that they were ready to get baptized. We were so happy, we had been praying and fasting to help him.

So when you guys asked me the things I have learned so far I kind of froze up. What I have learned the most on my mission so far is how infinite and personal the atonement is. Because really sometimes I get so frustrated with how crazy everyone is down here. But really I have learned that I am not the one to judge them and in the last day we will all be judged on our  individual limits. God knows us personally. Also the importance of every member in the ward. Sometimes we can't get members to talk to investigators and really that makes it super hard. Every single individual is important in the church Boyd K  Packer said, "The true success of the gospel will be measured by the spiritual strength of its individual members." Each of us can reach out to somebody that is struggling. I wish I would have done better with that, before my mission with the other youth in my ward. Well I love you all and have a great new year.

Elder Wilkes

The Law of Chastity

Dear Family,

Well it's been another week here in Guatemala. Things are going well here. We have been working hard as usual and that is about it. Anyways right now we have a ton of investigators we had 15 come to church this past Sunday. This Saturday we are going to marry a family. They are 17 and 18 but the muchacha is pregnant. Really being here I have realized how grateful I am to have the Law of Chastity. The guy is named Javier and he is 17. His dad died when he was super young and really never has had an examples in his life. The girl is named Angela and they really just want to start their family off on the right foot. They are going to be baptized on Sunday along with Javier's mom. Her name is Telma and she is just like Mom I really love her so much.

Back on the subject on of the law of chastity. We have been teaching a ton of people who are sexually impure. Really its is super scary how fast the spirit will leave when we have to teach that. It is taken so lightly here and honestly destroyed so many lives. I am so grateful that we have it. Anyways we are also teaching a family named the Familia Ortiz. The husband is scared to get baptized. The wife really wants to. So we are praying super hard that they will get baptized this weekend. I love you all but we don't have a ton of time. I will see you on Thursday.

Elder Wilkes