Dear Family,
Alright well sorry to everyone but i do not have that much time today. My email was not letting me in for some reason. this last week was honestly the best week of my life. We had a miracle baptism. In this month we finished with 7 baptisms as a companionship. We have seen so many miracles. Here is the story that i wrote my mission president about what happened.
Anyways on Monday we started with a fast knowing that we had to baptize this week. Literally we didn't not have anyone for this week. Nobody. Then that day the spirit went told us of a man who had been coming to church for about a year. 12 missionaries had taught him. He was a goat and did not want anything with being baptized. But that day the spirit told us that he would be baptized. he was our baptism. That day we went to visit him. the spirit was strong but still did not accept his answer. On Tuesday, we visited him he was having back pains. I gave him a blessing and he cried afterwards with relief from the pain. He still did not take that for his answer. Wednesday, the same, excuses, excuses, excuses. we felt the spirit so strong but he (Ronald Lopez) did not accept it. Thursday, we could not find a soul to teach all day. Nobody, we even got lost walking in a forest that turned out to be a park. then that day the lord guided us to a family, of a lady who was baptized as a little girl and her husband. They came to church and he is preparing to be baptized and married on the 13. After that we went and taught Ronald. same old same old. felt the spirit and rejected it. Friday, we got super sick. Had to jump of the bus to go to the bathroom. Bus left and then we surprisingly meet you and Elder Alonso on the freeway. How embarrassing was that. Later we had to go do interviews that day and only had time to teach one lesson. We went and taught Ronald. The spirit was so strong that we could barley walk home after. we were so tired in the spirit. But he still rejected it. Saturday, We went for the last time to visit him. Once again the spirit was so strong. We waited and waited for him to accept. After being in the house almost 2 hours listening to the silence he said, "What time am i going to get baptized tomorrow?" We went straight to the church he had his interview and we baptized him right then.
Anyways Ronald ended up getting baptized. We didn't even get pictures because we didn't have time to go get our cameras. But this last week i have never felt more guided by the spirit. I love you all. I will tell you all the story of meeting a general authority on the freeway when i get home. What are you all doing to recongnize the spirit everyday? love you.
Elder Wilkes
Elder Wilkes in Guatemala
6/23/15
Another Amazing Week in Antigua
Dear Family,
Well we had another amazing week her in Antigua, Guatemala. My companion is still a great guy and we have been doing really well together. Anyways on Sunday we baptized 3 people and it was amazing. It was a complete family baptism. The ward here seriously is so organized we almost don't have to do anything. After the baptism they gave the dad a new white shirt and they made the family feel so at home. We have to go like 15 minutes in bus to get to the church so it really is a huge effort that all of the people make. Really this testifying and challenging missionary thing that we have been doing and applying as a mission is working. That's why we are baptizing a lot. I really do know that the Lord wants us to baptize.
This Friday we have a conference with one of the area seventy so that it is going to be awesome. This last Friday we had interviews with President Markham and one of the Assistants who I am good friends with asked his wife if me and my companion could sing a duet for the conference. Anyways she said yes so we got sucked into that.
Anyways my prayers are with the family, and with Grandma and we will see what happens. But it does sound like everyone is enjoying summer. Shout out to Baker and Jamison for killing it on trek. I had a blast on trek but i was such a problem. Shout out to those guys for being good examples. Anyways as a zone we are really picking up the pace. We had 42 investigators go to church as a stake this weekend so things are looking good. Anyways I love you all.
Elder Wilkes
Well we had another amazing week her in Antigua, Guatemala. My companion is still a great guy and we have been doing really well together. Anyways on Sunday we baptized 3 people and it was amazing. It was a complete family baptism. The ward here seriously is so organized we almost don't have to do anything. After the baptism they gave the dad a new white shirt and they made the family feel so at home. We have to go like 15 minutes in bus to get to the church so it really is a huge effort that all of the people make. Really this testifying and challenging missionary thing that we have been doing and applying as a mission is working. That's why we are baptizing a lot. I really do know that the Lord wants us to baptize.
This Friday we have a conference with one of the area seventy so that it is going to be awesome. This last Friday we had interviews with President Markham and one of the Assistants who I am good friends with asked his wife if me and my companion could sing a duet for the conference. Anyways she said yes so we got sucked into that.
Anyways my prayers are with the family, and with Grandma and we will see what happens. But it does sound like everyone is enjoying summer. Shout out to Baker and Jamison for killing it on trek. I had a blast on trek but i was such a problem. Shout out to those guys for being good examples. Anyways as a zone we are really picking up the pace. We had 42 investigators go to church as a stake this weekend so things are looking good. Anyways I love you all.
Elder Wilkes
6/16/15
Leaving My Home of Amatitlan
Dear Family,
Anyways well its that time of week again family members. This last week has been pretty crazy here. I am now in the mountains. I am in the capital of tourism here in Guatemala. ANTIGUA. Anyway i have already seen gringos a few times and its really weird. They literally do not even know what they are doing here. There is also a ton of money here so that is a little weird. My new area is up in the mountains with a bunch of fields and cows and animals and wild things so i really like it. Its always freezing though. i am so cold here. I did finally leave my home of Amatitlan so that was a little sad. But life is always full of new things.
Anyways i am a zone leader now so that is interesting. I feel really unqualified, because i am so young in the mission. But god does have a plan for everyone. There are now different things to do but it is really fun.
This last week we did have a baptism though. His name was Gavino Garcia. My very first day we went to visit his here in this area. He had gone to church 9 times and they could not get him to get baptized. Anyways as a mission we have been working on being missionaries who testify and challenge and that's about it. Anyways we just listened to him and we taught him through the spirit and he was baptized on Saturday. It was an amazing experience and one of the best lessons of my mission.
My new companion is Elder Stewart he is from Orem. He has 20 months in the mission so it has been good to be with someone with more time than me for a while. He is awesome and we are going to baptize 3 people this Sunday. The family Mendez. They are amazing, but pray for them because they get scared that all of the family is going to reject them. But they have received answers and on Sunday the father said the prayer and broke down in tears. Pray for them. I love all of you here are a few pictures.
Elder Wilkes
Anyways well its that time of week again family members. This last week has been pretty crazy here. I am now in the mountains. I am in the capital of tourism here in Guatemala. ANTIGUA. Anyway i have already seen gringos a few times and its really weird. They literally do not even know what they are doing here. There is also a ton of money here so that is a little weird. My new area is up in the mountains with a bunch of fields and cows and animals and wild things so i really like it. Its always freezing though. i am so cold here. I did finally leave my home of Amatitlan so that was a little sad. But life is always full of new things.
Anyways i am a zone leader now so that is interesting. I feel really unqualified, because i am so young in the mission. But god does have a plan for everyone. There are now different things to do but it is really fun.
This last week we did have a baptism though. His name was Gavino Garcia. My very first day we went to visit his here in this area. He had gone to church 9 times and they could not get him to get baptized. Anyways as a mission we have been working on being missionaries who testify and challenge and that's about it. Anyways we just listened to him and we taught him through the spirit and he was baptized on Saturday. It was an amazing experience and one of the best lessons of my mission.
My new companion is Elder Stewart he is from Orem. He has 20 months in the mission so it has been good to be with someone with more time than me for a while. He is awesome and we are going to baptize 3 people this Sunday. The family Mendez. They are amazing, but pray for them because they get scared that all of the family is going to reject them. But they have received answers and on Sunday the father said the prayer and broke down in tears. Pray for them. I love all of you here are a few pictures.
Elder Wilkes
6/9/15
Take Time Everyday to Feel the Spirit
Dear Family,
Well sounds like things are going well for everyone in the family as usual. Anyways I do have changes so tomorrow I will going to a new area. We do it differently in our mission so as of now I have no idea where I will be tomorrow. But I am very thankful to have served here in this area. I have really learned a lot training and being with my two companions. I have gotten to know Jesus Christ a little bit better here. We might have knocked all of the doors like more than five times but I know that I found the six people that God wanted me to find.
This last week were rejected a lot. So there was not to much excitement. But it is incredible how every single day the Lord put someone in our path to help us so that we could find more people or help someone feel the spirit. My companion and I worked out a lot of differences in these 12 weeks so that we could have the spirit between ourselves. We are very different people and come from very different situations but we are here for the same purpose. And that is Jesus Christ. One thing that I have learned in the mission is how Satan works through distractions. The Spirit really is killed by distractions. I can't believe how much I looked at my phone and things like that before my mission. We all really need to take time everyday to try and feel the spirit. We have to learn how he speaks to us.
Anyways I am praying for Grandma and all of you guys. I love you all.
Elder Wilkes
Well sounds like things are going well for everyone in the family as usual. Anyways I do have changes so tomorrow I will going to a new area. We do it differently in our mission so as of now I have no idea where I will be tomorrow. But I am very thankful to have served here in this area. I have really learned a lot training and being with my two companions. I have gotten to know Jesus Christ a little bit better here. We might have knocked all of the doors like more than five times but I know that I found the six people that God wanted me to find.
This last week were rejected a lot. So there was not to much excitement. But it is incredible how every single day the Lord put someone in our path to help us so that we could find more people or help someone feel the spirit. My companion and I worked out a lot of differences in these 12 weeks so that we could have the spirit between ourselves. We are very different people and come from very different situations but we are here for the same purpose. And that is Jesus Christ. One thing that I have learned in the mission is how Satan works through distractions. The Spirit really is killed by distractions. I can't believe how much I looked at my phone and things like that before my mission. We all really need to take time everyday to try and feel the spirit. We have to learn how he speaks to us.
Anyways I am praying for Grandma and all of you guys. I love you all.
Elder Wilkes
6/2/15
Seeing the Miracles
Dear Family,
Well it is that time of the week again and it seems like everyone is doing well. Life is going well here too. It is super hot so I guess that means that both of us are here in the summer. I really can't believe that 1 year ago I was getting ready to leave on my mission the time has really gotten fast.
Anyways this last week was a great week to learn. We have been kind of stuck without anyone for a while but we did see a lot of miracles. This last Sunday was the first time that we had nobody to go to church. Absolutely nobody. Anyways we left the house early looking for people and still we did not have anyone. But I promised Elder Sorto that the Lord would give us a miracle if we did our part. Anyways we got to church empty handed. But then after a few minutes a lady and her son walked in. We had taught them about 2 weeks ago but had never found them again. Anyways I just know that we always do our best in every moment that we will see the miracles that God wants us to see.
Anyways we still have this young family we are teaching. Last week they went out of town and we could not talk to them and we were getting worried because we could not find them. Anyways yesterday we could not find them again. We had planned a family home evening with their neighbors, but they were not home. Anyways after that we started looking for them and ended up helping someone move a fridge and then we went back to the house and they had shown up. Once again my faith was strengthened that the Lord knows who he wants in his church and that he will help us do his work. Happy Birthday to Cecelia and Ward. Love you all.
Elder Wilkes
Well it is that time of the week again and it seems like everyone is doing well. Life is going well here too. It is super hot so I guess that means that both of us are here in the summer. I really can't believe that 1 year ago I was getting ready to leave on my mission the time has really gotten fast.
Anyways this last week was a great week to learn. We have been kind of stuck without anyone for a while but we did see a lot of miracles. This last Sunday was the first time that we had nobody to go to church. Absolutely nobody. Anyways we left the house early looking for people and still we did not have anyone. But I promised Elder Sorto that the Lord would give us a miracle if we did our part. Anyways we got to church empty handed. But then after a few minutes a lady and her son walked in. We had taught them about 2 weeks ago but had never found them again. Anyways I just know that we always do our best in every moment that we will see the miracles that God wants us to see.
Anyways we still have this young family we are teaching. Last week they went out of town and we could not talk to them and we were getting worried because we could not find them. Anyways yesterday we could not find them again. We had planned a family home evening with their neighbors, but they were not home. Anyways after that we started looking for them and ended up helping someone move a fridge and then we went back to the house and they had shown up. Once again my faith was strengthened that the Lord knows who he wants in his church and that he will help us do his work. Happy Birthday to Cecelia and Ward. Love you all.
Elder Wilkes
5/25/15
Help Others Feel the Sprit
Dear Family,
Well sometimes I can't believe how fast the time is going. I can't believe that school is ending and that Baker will be in high school. That just seems a little to weird for me. And Ward that is just crazy. Really sounds like everyone is doing good.
Anyways we are doing really well in Alamedas, Villa Nueva, Guatemala. This last week we were blessed as usual. Things are getting a little interesting here because my companion and I have knocked every single door more than 3 times. But the lord keeps on giving us miracles. this last Monday when we left it started raining so hard and every single one of our appointments feel. Anyways nobody was answering their door and the streets where turning into rivers. Anyways as were really looked for the guidance of the spirit we were lead to the door of someone we had contacted like over a month ago. Anyways we found them (a family of a 17 year old girl and a 22 year old guy, they have been living together for 4 years) and we had a really powerful lesson. They just told us how they don't have happiness at all. Anyways they went to church on Sunday. and they loved it so we are going to see what we can do for them.
Really being a missionary is sweet because pretty much you just look for new ways to help others feel the spirit. Everything that we do in our lives is about the spirit. One thing i have learned that it is really hard to live with the guidance of the spirit. Things like judging and getting mad at your companion just drive the spirit away. There is nothing more powerful than unity in the work and in our lives. If we are united as a family, things are a lot easier.
On a sad note a drunk guy just died in the street so that was a little scary. Always be thankful for your blessings. Love you all.
Elder Wilkes
Well sometimes I can't believe how fast the time is going. I can't believe that school is ending and that Baker will be in high school. That just seems a little to weird for me. And Ward that is just crazy. Really sounds like everyone is doing good.
Anyways we are doing really well in Alamedas, Villa Nueva, Guatemala. This last week we were blessed as usual. Things are getting a little interesting here because my companion and I have knocked every single door more than 3 times. But the lord keeps on giving us miracles. this last Monday when we left it started raining so hard and every single one of our appointments feel. Anyways nobody was answering their door and the streets where turning into rivers. Anyways as were really looked for the guidance of the spirit we were lead to the door of someone we had contacted like over a month ago. Anyways we found them (a family of a 17 year old girl and a 22 year old guy, they have been living together for 4 years) and we had a really powerful lesson. They just told us how they don't have happiness at all. Anyways they went to church on Sunday. and they loved it so we are going to see what we can do for them.
Really being a missionary is sweet because pretty much you just look for new ways to help others feel the spirit. Everything that we do in our lives is about the spirit. One thing i have learned that it is really hard to live with the guidance of the spirit. Things like judging and getting mad at your companion just drive the spirit away. There is nothing more powerful than unity in the work and in our lives. If we are united as a family, things are a lot easier.
On a sad note a drunk guy just died in the street so that was a little scary. Always be thankful for your blessings. Love you all.
Elder Wilkes
5/19/15
Find Happiness With Jesus Christ
Dear Family,
Well just before I forget I will be writing on Monday this next week. I think. Just so you know. Anyways this last week was honestly an incredible week. On Saturday we had a great small wedding service the only downfall was that everyone but us got there about an hour late. Then on Sunday we had 3 baptisms so that was amazing. The whole wedding the father (who recently went blind) was just bawling. It was a very humbling experience. Then after on Sunday the mother started bawling after the baptisms. She said I just know that God is happy with our family. I know that he is too. It is honestly unbelievable to watch people invite the Holy Ghost into their lives.
Anyways we are pretty much left without investigators after these last baptisms, but I know that we will find some more. We do have this one lady who is a single mother with a 9 year old girl, she has come to church and loved it. But then the other day in a lesson she said she had a dream about me so we kind of got scared and have not seen her since.
Anyways lately I have really begun to notice the difference between living with the spirit and feeling the spirit. Everyone has felt the spirit at some point in their lives through the light of Christ. But very few people live with the spirit. It is crazy to learn on the mission the little things that just drive the spirit from our lives. Yesterday seriously every single appointment we had had fallen through. My companion Elder Sorto just wanted to visit this old crazy guy. But I promised him that if we were diligent the Lord would give us someone. Anyway at that moment the Lord prompted me to look for a family we had talked to on the street. Well we ended up finding them and had a really powerful lesson. They are 22 and 18 and have been living together for 4 years. As they told us that they haven't been happy in about 4 years. I loved promising them that they can find happiness with Jesus Christ. I know that as all of us grow to know Jesus Christ that we can always live happily. There isn't a better blessing then that.
P.S. It is raining hard now everyday so that is a huge blessing.
Love you all,
Elder Wilkes
Well just before I forget I will be writing on Monday this next week. I think. Just so you know. Anyways this last week was honestly an incredible week. On Saturday we had a great small wedding service the only downfall was that everyone but us got there about an hour late. Then on Sunday we had 3 baptisms so that was amazing. The whole wedding the father (who recently went blind) was just bawling. It was a very humbling experience. Then after on Sunday the mother started bawling after the baptisms. She said I just know that God is happy with our family. I know that he is too. It is honestly unbelievable to watch people invite the Holy Ghost into their lives.
Anyways we are pretty much left without investigators after these last baptisms, but I know that we will find some more. We do have this one lady who is a single mother with a 9 year old girl, she has come to church and loved it. But then the other day in a lesson she said she had a dream about me so we kind of got scared and have not seen her since.
Anyways lately I have really begun to notice the difference between living with the spirit and feeling the spirit. Everyone has felt the spirit at some point in their lives through the light of Christ. But very few people live with the spirit. It is crazy to learn on the mission the little things that just drive the spirit from our lives. Yesterday seriously every single appointment we had had fallen through. My companion Elder Sorto just wanted to visit this old crazy guy. But I promised him that if we were diligent the Lord would give us someone. Anyway at that moment the Lord prompted me to look for a family we had talked to on the street. Well we ended up finding them and had a really powerful lesson. They are 22 and 18 and have been living together for 4 years. As they told us that they haven't been happy in about 4 years. I loved promising them that they can find happiness with Jesus Christ. I know that as all of us grow to know Jesus Christ that we can always live happily. There isn't a better blessing then that.
P.S. It is raining hard now everyday so that is a huge blessing.
Love you all,
Elder Wilkes
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