Once Again I am Here Sweating as Usual

Dear Family,

Well it is good to hear from everyone again once again I am here sweating as usual. Sometimes I think that we do not really appreciate air conditioning as much as we should. Anyways this last week we had a really good week. Also I just wanted to give a shout out to Jamison for running in a national race. Mikala, today brought to memory when him and I tried to first make an attempt running to Lone Peak and back and really how hard it was for us. But by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Jamison you are my hero, just wanted you to know.

Anyways today we are going to have a baptism... so that is going to be so exciting this lady has been waiting to get baptized for over 50 years. So it will be a great day for her to receive the remission of her sins. Also this Sunday we are going to baptize a man named Vicotriano Aquino. He is sooooo cool. He used to be a pastor and has been baptized 3 times. He seriously cant even hear but he has read the Book of Mormon and has received a spiritual witness. God really has given us such powerful instruments and if we are smart enough to use them we can do some real damage. Anyways all I know is that God lives and he loves us. Don't have much time today because we have a trillion things to do.

Love you all,
Elder Wilkes

A Thanksgiving to Remember

Well it sounds like everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I am not going to lie any picture of food that I got made me pretty jealous. On Turkey Day we are fried cauliflower for lunch with rice and beans and at night we ate a pizza that we bought from some place. It was a Thanksgiving to remember. Oh and also that day we had a baptism. So that was made it a day to remember. She was a girl that had pretty much gone to church her whole life she had just never gotten permission to get baptized.

Last week we did have a really cool miracle. We made goal that we were going to help the ward a ton with reactivation. Anyways on Friday night we went to visit a family of less actives. In the house I started asking the mom when she got baptized and we were just getting to know them. Anyways we found out that the mom had never gotten baptized. We figured out that because she was selling alcohol in her store that she had never gotten baptized. We started talking to her and she said that she had been praying to stop and to have someone come visit her to help her get baptized and then the very next day we showed up! She is preparing to be baptized this next Tuesday.

Yesterday for p-day we went to the beach. It was cool and there wasn't even that much garbage. Also yesterday I went to get my hair cut and the lady made a mistake and took off all of the hair on the sides of my head. I would send a picture...but I would rather not. Anyways I love you all. I know the Church is true.

Elder Wilkes

Golondrinas, Escunitla

Well I am going to be honest at this point my mind goes blank when I email so I really don't have much to say. Here I am in the area of Golondrinas in the zone of Escunitla. I am still a zone leader and things are going well. I moved from the mountains of the country to the coast and holy cow let me just say that it IS SO HOT HERE. I really have never felt heat like this. But it is a very blessed place.

My new companion is Elder Smith from California. He is a great kid and has a little bit less time than I do in the mission. On Sunday I gave a talk. It was pretty funny because they didn't really tell me beforehand...I was the last speaker and when I got up there we still had 25 minutes left. I made it for about 13 minutes and then I was out of words. Haha.

Leaving my old area was hard. It was actually just incredible to see the fruits of our work after 6 months of being there. We have a few families that are half-way to their goal of the temple so hopefully about the time when I am finishing they should be going to get sealed. That is really my dream. Well I love you all. I hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving. I am will make sure to eat something good as well.

Elder Wilkes

Milpas Altas

Well I have a lot of emails today so just a warning this is going to be super short. Anyways this last week I did receive a visit and it was a good reminder of home. I think what I realized the most is that everything at home is basically the same the only thing that is different is me. I just have a little bit different of a mentality.

Anyways back to real missionary life things...this last weekend we had 3 baptisms. We baptized a family that were really, really prepared for the gospel. It was really such a sweet experience to finish in this area with a new family to help the work keep growing in Milpas Altas. Someday I know that I will return to this area and find a church and a strong ward here. Anyways other than that life is good as usual. Love you all.

Elder Wilkes

The Kind of Things That Get Me Pumped Up

Well this last week we had a really good week here. I forgot to say that I was writing today because tomorrow for our zone P-day we are going to the zoo. That was seriously the last thing that I wanted to do....but we have a zone that is half sisters so they kind of get mad if we just chose to play soccer. But anyway I am sure that it will be fun.

Well we had a really good day on Sunday. This week at the beginning of the week me and Elder Gallacher decided that we were going to have 8 people in church and 8 people preparing for baptism. Anyways we worked for those 2 goals this entire week and then on Sunday when we were in church we only had 7 people. But the whole time I could feel that really there was someone else there that was not a member. I knew that someone would be prepared for us. Anyways when we were just about to leave church on Sunday when the 2nd counselor in the bishopric came and pulled aside and presented a wife of a man who is member. They have gone pretty inactive...but then just showed up to church on Sunday. Anyways that was a cool miracle and today we are going to go visit them at 5.

Yesterday we had a meeting with all of the stake leaders and the missionaries and our mission President.. we put in a bunch of new plans and things that we are going to do so that we can see more success and that we can grow faster here. Really it's funny these days that those are the kind of things that really just get me pumped up.

Anyways we have changes next week and I am pretty sure that I am leaving my area... I get emotional even thinking about that. It's crazy how much you can grow to love certain people. Well I love you all.

Elder Wilkes

Here is a picture i took outside of our house today.

The Biggest Thing I've Learned

Well the weeks are really going by quickly. I am very thankful to almost be starting a new month.... That is all the difference in the world for the mission field. Sounds like everyone is doing well I am very proud of you Jamison for the effort you gave in your race.... (nobody even told how you guys did).

Anyways things are going good here for us. We really have found some good people lately... sometimes it is different here because we just have to find the people who are ready to baptized. A lot of missionaries talk about planting seeds but here they don't even give us that option. Anyways one of my recent converts on Sunday was called to be a teacher in the relief society. So that was really cool. I have loved being here in this area for a long time and the progress I have seen in the converts...

Anyways someone asked me what the biggest thing I have learned on the mission is. The biggest thing I have learned is how to present a message. Seriously sometimes I just think of the fact that missionaries have seriously been in Guatemala for a long time......pretty much every single door that we knock has been knocked before.......the difference comes from a missionaries ability to make the gospel look attractive.... you can see this difference in sacrament meeting speakers... Also the apostles are really good at selling what they have. Anyways that is what I have learned. I love all of you and hope that you have a good week!

Elder Wilkes

Another Day to Preach the Gospel

Well it is that time of day again.... anyways things are going good here as usual.. Another day to preach the gospel. This last week was a very, very interesting week for us... A lot of learning and a lot of work to do. On the bright side me and my companion stayed together and that is a huge blessing for me. Lately we have not really had any investigators progress so pretty much we are starting from scratch...

We are teaching this one guy named Ismael Garcia. Everyone in town calls him Tarzan because he used to play goalie for a soccer team here in Guatemala. Anyway he pretty much reminds me of dad because he is like 65 and has a ton of kids.. His oldest sun is a convert and his brother is a guy that we baptized here in June. He is pretty dang funny! His wife hates us though. When we come into his house she will not even look at us. But the thing is if we can convert him to the church the entire city will end up getting baptized!! These small farm towns are fun because everyone knows everyone.

This last week though I have really been in a period of reflection. Over the past couple of months the mission has really gone well. We have had a lot of success and finding teaching and baptizing and retaining people has not been hard. This month we have not seemed to have done anything right. Sometimes we feel like we are doing everything in our power to help other people. Really we just can't seem to figure it our. Anyways yesterday I read John 21 and it really touched my heart. I know that as each and everyone of us look to make changes each and everyday that we really can become more like the savior and we can follow his plan. I love you all have a good week!! Jamison win state tomorrow.

Elder Wilkes

 

A recent convert made this and put it on his wall.