Elder Wilkes in Guatemala
5/12/15
Working Hard at Retention
well first off this letter will not have captial letters. sorry to everyone but this keyboard doesnt have a shift button. anyways it was great to see everyone this last sunday you guys all look great and it does look like elise is really pregnant. but you guys are all doing well. sounds like the wedding was a dream. not going to lie but the pictures of everyone on the jazz court really hit my heart but you know life does go on.
anyways everything is going really good. today we had a meeting with the stake presidency and then the mission president came to my district meeting so that was really exciting. pretty scary but it all worked out well. anyway things are looking good for this weekend. our baptisms fell through last week but that is because the family decided to get baptized together so that should be a great experience. we are going to have a wedding on saturday so i will send pictures of that next week. anyways i dont know what other quiestions you guys have that you didn't ask me on skype but when you guys do have questions just ask them.
one thing is the retention. yes the retention is not exactly what we want at times. but we are working very hard in that. here is this are it can be a little tricky when there are just little kids that have been baptized. without the help of their parents or anything. but this month we have the goal of 90 percent. we just need 5 more converts to come to church. the important thing is that we help them renew their covenants and don't focus on them just as members. the strength of the church will never be decided by numbers.
anyways on the way to the internet today we had a crazy experience as a district. as we were walking to get on a bus another bus pulled up and these two guys grabbed me and were fighting over me to get on their bus. they were going crazy to try and get the 6 of us to get on their bus and not the other. anyways then they grabbed a sister and i just started screaming at them. that they could not touch them because they were holy and then they stopped. so just be thankful today when you can calmly get in your car.
Baker we are teaching a part member family. they have a 9 year old son named gerson. he is reading his book of mormon everyday. he is understanding much but the important thing is he is reading. he is a stud. they also have a crazy grandma who is trying to teach them apostasy. when she prays she will only say the lords prayer so that is always interesting. anyways i love you guys. have a great week.
elder wilkes
anyways everything is going really good. today we had a meeting with the stake presidency and then the mission president came to my district meeting so that was really exciting. pretty scary but it all worked out well. anyway things are looking good for this weekend. our baptisms fell through last week but that is because the family decided to get baptized together so that should be a great experience. we are going to have a wedding on saturday so i will send pictures of that next week. anyways i dont know what other quiestions you guys have that you didn't ask me on skype but when you guys do have questions just ask them.
one thing is the retention. yes the retention is not exactly what we want at times. but we are working very hard in that. here is this are it can be a little tricky when there are just little kids that have been baptized. without the help of their parents or anything. but this month we have the goal of 90 percent. we just need 5 more converts to come to church. the important thing is that we help them renew their covenants and don't focus on them just as members. the strength of the church will never be decided by numbers.
anyways on the way to the internet today we had a crazy experience as a district. as we were walking to get on a bus another bus pulled up and these two guys grabbed me and were fighting over me to get on their bus. they were going crazy to try and get the 6 of us to get on their bus and not the other. anyways then they grabbed a sister and i just started screaming at them. that they could not touch them because they were holy and then they stopped. so just be thankful today when you can calmly get in your car.
Baker we are teaching a part member family. they have a 9 year old son named gerson. he is reading his book of mormon everyday. he is understanding much but the important thing is he is reading. he is a stud. they also have a crazy grandma who is trying to teach them apostasy. when she prays she will only say the lords prayer so that is always interesting. anyways i love you guys. have a great week.
elder wilkes
5/5/15
The Lord Wants My Heart Here
Dear Family,
Well I don't have a ton of time today and I will be seeing you all on Sunday. Everyone just dance so hard for me this Saturday. I would say that my heart will be with you but it wont it will be here, because that is what the Lord wants. Anyways we had a baptism on Sunday and that was awesome. and we have 2 more this weekend. Also I will skyping at 6pm on Sunday so be waiting for me. I love you all I know that the church is true.
Elder Wilkes
Well I don't have a ton of time today and I will be seeing you all on Sunday. Everyone just dance so hard for me this Saturday. I would say that my heart will be with you but it wont it will be here, because that is what the Lord wants. Anyways we had a baptism on Sunday and that was awesome. and we have 2 more this weekend. Also I will skyping at 6pm on Sunday so be waiting for me. I love you all I know that the church is true.
Elder Wilkes
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| This is how wet we are when we get home when it rains the picture doesn't really do justice. |
4/28/15
As We Do Our Best
Dear Family,
Well it really sounds like everyone is doing good getting ready for the big wedding. Sad I will not be there for the dance floor but you know life goes on. Also sounds like Baker is really driving like a king.
Anyway turns out that I will not be leaving this area. I have knocked all the doors about three times. But with a lot of faith, I know that we can do it. I am happy to be able to finish the training of my son Elder Sorto as well. Anyways we have seen a lot of miracles lately here.
First off last Monday we were going to have a Family Home Evening with our ward mission leader. Anyways when we got there they weren't even home. So we started to knock some doors. Like 5 minutes later the elders quorum president walked by, and we ended up going to do a family home evening with a less active family that he had found. Anyways when we got there it turns of that the mom and 2 of the kids never were baptized. I have never cried in my mission but I almost did out of gratitude. They are all going to get baptized on the 10th of May. The parents are going to get married next week. 5 months ago the father just lost his sight. They have been humbled greatly but the gospel has helped them to find joy again. Also they have a grandma who is crazy who was baptized but was going to another church, so she makes a lot of comments that are pure apostasy but it really makes things interesting.
Also this weekend we are going to baptize the wife of this old man we baptized 3 weeks ago. She took a little while for her but she is now ready. On Sunday we went to go get them for church really early because he cant really walk. and we got there they were not there. we started looking for them and then saw them way up the street. They were so excited for church that they already left.
I know that as we do our best the lord will bless us with miracles. Love you all.
Elder Wilkes
Well it really sounds like everyone is doing good getting ready for the big wedding. Sad I will not be there for the dance floor but you know life goes on. Also sounds like Baker is really driving like a king.
Anyway turns out that I will not be leaving this area. I have knocked all the doors about three times. But with a lot of faith, I know that we can do it. I am happy to be able to finish the training of my son Elder Sorto as well. Anyways we have seen a lot of miracles lately here.
First off last Monday we were going to have a Family Home Evening with our ward mission leader. Anyways when we got there they weren't even home. So we started to knock some doors. Like 5 minutes later the elders quorum president walked by, and we ended up going to do a family home evening with a less active family that he had found. Anyways when we got there it turns of that the mom and 2 of the kids never were baptized. I have never cried in my mission but I almost did out of gratitude. They are all going to get baptized on the 10th of May. The parents are going to get married next week. 5 months ago the father just lost his sight. They have been humbled greatly but the gospel has helped them to find joy again. Also they have a grandma who is crazy who was baptized but was going to another church, so she makes a lot of comments that are pure apostasy but it really makes things interesting.
Also this weekend we are going to baptize the wife of this old man we baptized 3 weeks ago. She took a little while for her but she is now ready. On Sunday we went to go get them for church really early because he cant really walk. and we got there they were not there. we started looking for them and then saw them way up the street. They were so excited for church that they already left.
I know that as we do our best the lord will bless us with miracles. Love you all.
Elder Wilkes
4/26/15
Become Better Disciples of Jesus Christ
Dear Family,
Well time is really going by fast. I know have 8 months and i can not believe that. Mikala is getting married and wow the world is really changing. Anyways we had a really good week this last week. We had a baptism on Sunday of a 75 year old man, His name was Alredo Perez and it was really an amazing experience. In the midst of a ton of confusion I forgot to take a picture so that was sad but the important thing is that I can remember the Spirit that was there.
Anyways a scripture that I have learned lately is D and C 46:13. I have been thinking about that a lot lately and how important that is is to really know that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Not only because people have told you or anything like that but because you have received a confirmation of the spirit that he is the Christ and that he lives, something that you can all think about.
This weekend we are working on baptizing a little girl named Jessica who is 11. She goes to church everysingle week with her nieghbors. Her in the stake with have really high goals and with
the Leadership we have really been analyzing them. One thing that I have learned recently is that something we forget the importance of an individual. I have loved what they said in general conference that really statistically being a christian is not that friendly. The important thing is that we see everyone with the potential that God gives them. I have made a goal to look to become better by seeing the people and those around me in a positive manner. By asking the simple question of Lord is it I? I know that as we follow the counsel of President Uchtodorf here that we will become better disciples of Jesus Christ. I love you, Changes are next week so we will see if i ever leave Amatitlan. Love you all,
Elder Wilkes
Well time is really going by fast. I know have 8 months and i can not believe that. Mikala is getting married and wow the world is really changing. Anyways we had a really good week this last week. We had a baptism on Sunday of a 75 year old man, His name was Alredo Perez and it was really an amazing experience. In the midst of a ton of confusion I forgot to take a picture so that was sad but the important thing is that I can remember the Spirit that was there.
Anyways a scripture that I have learned lately is D and C 46:13. I have been thinking about that a lot lately and how important that is is to really know that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Not only because people have told you or anything like that but because you have received a confirmation of the spirit that he is the Christ and that he lives, something that you can all think about.
This weekend we are working on baptizing a little girl named Jessica who is 11. She goes to church everysingle week with her nieghbors. Her in the stake with have really high goals and with
the Leadership we have really been analyzing them. One thing that I have learned recently is that something we forget the importance of an individual. I have loved what they said in general conference that really statistically being a christian is not that friendly. The important thing is that we see everyone with the potential that God gives them. I have made a goal to look to become better by seeing the people and those around me in a positive manner. By asking the simple question of Lord is it I? I know that as we follow the counsel of President Uchtodorf here that we will become better disciples of Jesus Christ. I love you, Changes are next week so we will see if i ever leave Amatitlan. Love you all,
Elder Wilkes
4/15/15
God Loves Us
Alright well sorry I did not write yesterday everybody it was because we went to the Zoo. Here we don't write on Pday because we don't have time so we always write on the day that we have our district meeting.
Anyways life is going well. Sounds like everyone had a great spring break and that Jamison is now just one short year away from being an adult. Sounds like Tay had a great surprise birthday and that the nieces and nephews are crazy as always. Anyways we are working towards having 3 baptisms this week, we are going to have to work some miracles here. we have a little girl named Jessica who goes to church with her neighbors. She has been to church and really likes it, we just have not found her parents so we can get permission to baptize her. Also we have a very old couple that we have been teaching, they have a hard time understanding bu they really like church. They used to go an Evangelical church and so they have a lot of false things in their heads. But they are praying to know. It is just different because they can not read so we are working hard so they can receive testimonies of the Book of Mormon. The lady also doesn't have any teeth so sometimes we cant understand her.
In this area we have struggled to find investigators but we see little miracles everyday. Yesterday I was feeling kind of down after we bought our food, just feeling sorry for myself I don't really know and then out of no where a bus pulled up and this guy who lives in my other area just jumped off. He is the father of a bunch of members and he cant hear or speak. But he gave me a big hug and just said I love you. I know that God loves each and everyone of us so much. And he wants us to feel it. We just have to be humble enough to accept his will. Thank you for your love and support and your prayers. I can feel them.
Elder Wilkes
This is my best friend in this mission. He is from Ogden and he has 6 more weeks than me. El otro es que estaba predicando la santa palarba.
Anyways life is going well. Sounds like everyone had a great spring break and that Jamison is now just one short year away from being an adult. Sounds like Tay had a great surprise birthday and that the nieces and nephews are crazy as always. Anyways we are working towards having 3 baptisms this week, we are going to have to work some miracles here. we have a little girl named Jessica who goes to church with her neighbors. She has been to church and really likes it, we just have not found her parents so we can get permission to baptize her. Also we have a very old couple that we have been teaching, they have a hard time understanding bu they really like church. They used to go an Evangelical church and so they have a lot of false things in their heads. But they are praying to know. It is just different because they can not read so we are working hard so they can receive testimonies of the Book of Mormon. The lady also doesn't have any teeth so sometimes we cant understand her.
In this area we have struggled to find investigators but we see little miracles everyday. Yesterday I was feeling kind of down after we bought our food, just feeling sorry for myself I don't really know and then out of no where a bus pulled up and this guy who lives in my other area just jumped off. He is the father of a bunch of members and he cant hear or speak. But he gave me a big hug and just said I love you. I know that God loves each and everyone of us so much. And he wants us to feel it. We just have to be humble enough to accept his will. Thank you for your love and support and your prayers. I can feel them.
Elder Wilkes
This is my best friend in this mission. He is from Ogden and he has 6 more weeks than me. El otro es que estaba predicando la santa palarba.
4/7/15
In The Service of the Lord
Dear Family,
Alright well I heard that it is spring break so that must be awesome for everyone enjoying that. Sounds like everyone enjoyed conference. It was really amazing, every message really spoke to me in a different way. It is really kind of sad here how little of the members took the chance to watch conference. what a great blessing it is to us.
This last week here in Guatemala was La Semana Santa. So pretty much every living soul went to the coast for the beach. We knocked a lot of doors but it is always crazy to see how much apostasy there is here. One crazy thing that happened this last week was that some guy on the street asked to come and pray for his mom. when we got to his house she could walk and had a problem with her legs. Anyways then the guy wiped out this huge bottle of oil when we were praying and started rubbing it on his moms feet. Then they started chanting and it was just crazy. We just prayed that the Lord would please help them learn of the gospel some day and then we quietly left.
We do see little miracles everyday. We are really blessed to be in the service of the Lord. On Saturday after we finished Priesthood some members called us and said that they had someone that wanted to talk to us. it was an old lady whose wife had left her a few years ago and was really suffering in her life. She said that 3 days earlier she got a feeling that she need to go and find her friends (the members) she told us that she could even sleep because she could feel it so strong. Anyways she didn't end up coming to church on Sunday but my faith was really strengthened that when we are diligent and obedient with exactness that we will see the miracles. I wanted to cry (but i didn't) because i was so grateful that the Lord gave us a sign that he never forgets us. What a great blessing we have to be members of the church of Jesus Christ. And to have his Atonement.
Also we went to the lake yesterday for pday. This are the people in my district. Love all you guys.
Elder Wilkes
Alright well I heard that it is spring break so that must be awesome for everyone enjoying that. Sounds like everyone enjoyed conference. It was really amazing, every message really spoke to me in a different way. It is really kind of sad here how little of the members took the chance to watch conference. what a great blessing it is to us.
This last week here in Guatemala was La Semana Santa. So pretty much every living soul went to the coast for the beach. We knocked a lot of doors but it is always crazy to see how much apostasy there is here. One crazy thing that happened this last week was that some guy on the street asked to come and pray for his mom. when we got to his house she could walk and had a problem with her legs. Anyways then the guy wiped out this huge bottle of oil when we were praying and started rubbing it on his moms feet. Then they started chanting and it was just crazy. We just prayed that the Lord would please help them learn of the gospel some day and then we quietly left.
We do see little miracles everyday. We are really blessed to be in the service of the Lord. On Saturday after we finished Priesthood some members called us and said that they had someone that wanted to talk to us. it was an old lady whose wife had left her a few years ago and was really suffering in her life. She said that 3 days earlier she got a feeling that she need to go and find her friends (the members) she told us that she could even sleep because she could feel it so strong. Anyways she didn't end up coming to church on Sunday but my faith was really strengthened that when we are diligent and obedient with exactness that we will see the miracles. I wanted to cry (but i didn't) because i was so grateful that the Lord gave us a sign that he never forgets us. What a great blessing we have to be members of the church of Jesus Christ. And to have his Atonement.
Also we went to the lake yesterday for pday. This are the people in my district. Love all you guys.
Elder Wilkes
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