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
Elder Wilkes in Guatemala
4/28/15
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
3/31/15
To Learn Patience
Dear Family,
Alright well what's up everybody. This last week has been a great week here in Guatemala. Learning a lot of love and patience every single day. All I know for sure is that the Lord wants me to learn patience right now. Anyways I don't have much time today because one of the sisters in the district forgot her password to her email and I have been helping her with that.
Anyways we did not have any baptisms this week, but i know that we are getting close. My companion Elder Sorto is coming along nicely, he really is a great kid. but wow he really hates my guts. Sometimes he loves me but most of the time no. We are really trying to get everything worked out because we really can't do anything if there are problems. But i know that the Lord put us together to learn from each other. We always just have to be humble enough to learn what the Lord wants us to.
Anyway we have found some good people to teach, but the problem is that none of the are married. So we have been working on that. Anyways this one guy is named Jonas and he is awesome. He has really been lost all of his life and got into drugs and everything like that. Anyways on Sunday when we were teaching him, he still has had problems with drugs. Honestly we just want to help him free himself from the drugs. and he is doing well. It was so humbling to watch him bawl and just tell us that he can feel the Book of Mormon changing his life.
Anyways I am really excited for conference this weekend and am so thankful to listen to the testimonies of individuals that have seen Jesus Christ face to face. I have never seen him, but I know that he lives and that he rose the third day. I know that without a doubt how thankful I am for the surety that through his restored gospel all mankind can be saved. I know that he lives. Sometimes we just have to remember that impact in our lives. I love you all. Have a great week.
Elder Wilkes
Alright well what's up everybody. This last week has been a great week here in Guatemala. Learning a lot of love and patience every single day. All I know for sure is that the Lord wants me to learn patience right now. Anyways I don't have much time today because one of the sisters in the district forgot her password to her email and I have been helping her with that.
Anyways we did not have any baptisms this week, but i know that we are getting close. My companion Elder Sorto is coming along nicely, he really is a great kid. but wow he really hates my guts. Sometimes he loves me but most of the time no. We are really trying to get everything worked out because we really can't do anything if there are problems. But i know that the Lord put us together to learn from each other. We always just have to be humble enough to learn what the Lord wants us to.
Anyway we have found some good people to teach, but the problem is that none of the are married. So we have been working on that. Anyways this one guy is named Jonas and he is awesome. He has really been lost all of his life and got into drugs and everything like that. Anyways on Sunday when we were teaching him, he still has had problems with drugs. Honestly we just want to help him free himself from the drugs. and he is doing well. It was so humbling to watch him bawl and just tell us that he can feel the Book of Mormon changing his life.
Anyways I am really excited for conference this weekend and am so thankful to listen to the testimonies of individuals that have seen Jesus Christ face to face. I have never seen him, but I know that he lives and that he rose the third day. I know that without a doubt how thankful I am for the surety that through his restored gospel all mankind can be saved. I know that he lives. Sometimes we just have to remember that impact in our lives. I love you all. Have a great week.
Elder Wilkes
3/24/15
Keeping Faith
Dear Family,
Well this last week has been a great week. We honestly have seen a ton of trials so that has been super awesome to see and to learn and grow from them. We don't really have any investigators right now. So we are always working hard looking for people in search of the gospel.
No mom I did not get changed. I am still in my same area. I have a new companion named Elder Sorto from El Salvador he is a great kid, but I don't think he likes me very much right now. But we are working and I really love him and tell him that every second. My last companion just got changed to a different area mom. Yes mom the truth is that sometimes we can have 10 lessons every day. But you have to be careful because we have to separate the people who are really ready to receive the gospel from those who are not. My area did get cut in half so now it is really small and in a part of my area nobody has baptized for over 2 years so we are going to be working to change that. My living conditions are fine, our house is nice. Were we teach and work is not that nice though. Most people live in tin shacks, then the other half of our ward has money. So it makes for some interesting dynamics. The hardest thing from this last week mom was on Sunday we went to bring some investigators to church and when we got there the guy was high on drugs and wow it just broke my heart. Because they had been doing so good and then he feel and yesterday he told us that he didn't want to meet with us anymore. So it really is heartbreaking to watch people fall back into sin after they have felt the atonement and the joy of repentance.
I think the most spiritual thing that has happened in this past week was just keeping faith. It can be hard with new missionaries because they don't have faith, and sometimes just complain. But really I know to just keep the faith and be obedience with exactness that we will see miracles. Being a district leader mom is nothing special, just make more phone calls and do baptismal interviews.
I really hope that answers all of your questions. I will try and be specific but my mind just goes so blank. And anyways I love you guys. Obedience brings blessings but obedience with exactness bring miracles.
Elder Wilkes
Well this last week has been a great week. We honestly have seen a ton of trials so that has been super awesome to see and to learn and grow from them. We don't really have any investigators right now. So we are always working hard looking for people in search of the gospel.
No mom I did not get changed. I am still in my same area. I have a new companion named Elder Sorto from El Salvador he is a great kid, but I don't think he likes me very much right now. But we are working and I really love him and tell him that every second. My last companion just got changed to a different area mom. Yes mom the truth is that sometimes we can have 10 lessons every day. But you have to be careful because we have to separate the people who are really ready to receive the gospel from those who are not. My area did get cut in half so now it is really small and in a part of my area nobody has baptized for over 2 years so we are going to be working to change that. My living conditions are fine, our house is nice. Were we teach and work is not that nice though. Most people live in tin shacks, then the other half of our ward has money. So it makes for some interesting dynamics. The hardest thing from this last week mom was on Sunday we went to bring some investigators to church and when we got there the guy was high on drugs and wow it just broke my heart. Because they had been doing so good and then he feel and yesterday he told us that he didn't want to meet with us anymore. So it really is heartbreaking to watch people fall back into sin after they have felt the atonement and the joy of repentance.
I think the most spiritual thing that has happened in this past week was just keeping faith. It can be hard with new missionaries because they don't have faith, and sometimes just complain. But really I know to just keep the faith and be obedience with exactness that we will see miracles. Being a district leader mom is nothing special, just make more phone calls and do baptismal interviews.
I really hope that answers all of your questions. I will try and be specific but my mind just goes so blank. And anyways I love you guys. Obedience brings blessings but obedience with exactness bring miracles.
Elder Wilkes
3/19/15
Living the Dream
Alright well what is up everybody? Here I am still in Guatemala still just living the dream this week has been crazy and seriously the most amazing experiences. Anyways my new companion is named Elder Sorto and he is from El Salvador (shout out to Mikala). Anyways he really is a great kid. He has gotten frustrated with me already and so that always makes things fun. But I just love this guy and I'm thankful for his desire to serve the Lord. One thing that we are working on is that it is not enough to just be in the mission. We really have to make the most out of it. Also I am a district leader now so that is more responsibility which is great, I guess.
Anyways well yesterday was honestly the greatest day ever. It was amazing to be taught by an apostle of the Lord in person. He taught for about an hour and it was incredible. All of us had the opportunity to shake his had and to meet some of the area presidency and also Elder Richard G. Maynes of the Seventy. Elder Anderson taught on the Atonement and that was incredible. I know that as each and everyone of us find the power of the atonement in our lives that the Lord will give us the opportunities to share it with others. Honestly the biggest joy that I have felt in my life has come from the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is not a greater miracle than that of forgiveness. The Area President also asked us all a great question: Do you desire eternal life? I am almost positive that everyone can answer yes. But the next question is what are we willing to do for it? we should all just think about that a little.
Anyways me and my companion are teaching a really good family that we found. The first lesson the guy Jonas cried. They came to church and he told us that he is ready to be baptized. But his wife decided that she didn't want to listen anymore. So everyone please pray for her. This guy Jonas is amazing though. He was really prepared by the Lord. Anyways I love all of you guys. Keep on Keeping on.
Elder Wilkes
Anyways well yesterday was honestly the greatest day ever. It was amazing to be taught by an apostle of the Lord in person. He taught for about an hour and it was incredible. All of us had the opportunity to shake his had and to meet some of the area presidency and also Elder Richard G. Maynes of the Seventy. Elder Anderson taught on the Atonement and that was incredible. I know that as each and everyone of us find the power of the atonement in our lives that the Lord will give us the opportunities to share it with others. Honestly the biggest joy that I have felt in my life has come from the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is not a greater miracle than that of forgiveness. The Area President also asked us all a great question: Do you desire eternal life? I am almost positive that everyone can answer yes. But the next question is what are we willing to do for it? we should all just think about that a little.
Anyways me and my companion are teaching a really good family that we found. The first lesson the guy Jonas cried. They came to church and he told us that he is ready to be baptized. But his wife decided that she didn't want to listen anymore. So everyone please pray for her. This guy Jonas is amazing though. He was really prepared by the Lord. Anyways I love all of you guys. Keep on Keeping on.
Elder Wilkes
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