February 23

The highlight of this week was probably that I drank coffee. The first time I broke the word of wisdom I was in my mission. We found this awesome family and had a great lesson, and then they offered us arepas with coffee. I'm usually really careful but I was negligent this time and I drank without smelling first. I took a big gulp before I realized it was coffee and spat out what was left in my mouth and said sorry I don't drink coffee. I think the funniest part was that after I spat it out my companion saw that one of the investigators drank it hahaha. But hey, they say that Colombian coffee is literally the world's best coffee, so who could resist??

We are working really hard here in our area and in the zone. We have some investigators with a ton of potencial. Santos and Ana Dilia are ready to get baptized as soon as they're married, and the ward is getting mobilized to help with a fund raising activity. We are working with a lot of families and we are seeing a lot of progress. 

This week we recieved a few referrals, which was awesome because it's not all that common here. One was a young woman who has already been to church a few times. She's really excited and even though her parents aren't interested, they gave her permission to get baptized. She has a baptismal date for April 4th.

This week is zone conference and we're pretty excited for that. President Searle has been teaching a lot about consagration lately, and it's been awesome to see the difference he's made in the mission. I know without doubt that he receives revelation for the mission, just as any church leader can receive revelation for his stewardship.

I love you all!

Elder Wilson

February 16

 the Guatapurí river here in Valledupar, with the siren in the back. The legend is that if you bathe here you never leave Valledupar, because of the siren.

 my companion, a member, and another missionary from the zone. He's a great friend and he lives in Pleasant Grove. He's headed home next month.

 my companion and I with Edgardo, an investigator we've been teaching who happened to be in the river. While we were there he jumped off the bridge in the background into the water, and I got it on video :)

 an airplane they shot down, story goes it had drugs inside

This week was really great. We were able to work hard and pass our goals for the lessons we taught. We have been working with a couple investigators who are really great and are progressing a ton. Two of them are Santos and Ana Dilia. They are really getting excited about the message and have plans to get baptized beginning of March. The problem has been that they need money to get married and it's hard for them in their situation. Please pray that the promises we've made that if they try they'll have the money can be fulfilled.

This weekend Breiner Murillo will get baptized. He's just 11 years old but his sister and cousins are already members. He's a great kid and I know he'll be a good missionary.

Love,

Elder Wilson

Februray 9

First off, sorry that this week I won´t be sending pictures. Today we went to the river and took pictures with the famous Valleduparense siren but my computer can't read my SD card, so it´ll be for next week.

This week was really great. We had some cool experiences of following the Spirit. One of them happened one night when we were about to enter a dangerous neighborhood to visit a less active family. While we were entering, we felt that we needed to go visit a convert family close by. We went staight there and they told us that theis son was sick, but that he'd said that we were going to stop by to give him a priesthood blessing. It was awesome to have that experience of hearing and obeying the Spirit to see miracles. Then we went to the other visit and had a great family night with a young family who's trying to come back to the church.

This week we had leadership council again, and it was awesome because Elder Torres, an area seventy, went to the meeting to train us. He talked a lot about humility, and taught us that is we are proud then we cannot participate correctly in the Lord's work. He compared us to a plumber, who when he is doing a repair job decides which tools to use and how to use them. The tools don't choose themsleves, but if they don't work he'll use another. It really made me feel really proud and that I needed to repent; it was awesome.

Another cool lesson we had this week was with a less active lady who told us that she has been so busy and worried and discouraged because of some debts that she has, that she hasn't been able to concentrate on spiritual things. We watched a mormon message about the voice of the Holy Ghost, that talks about all the voices in this world that can drown out the Spirit. We all shared our testimonies about listening and feeling the Spirit, and she decided to have more faith and trust in god, and obey the commandments. It was cool to see how the Spirit could change her heart.

Maybe my favorite part of this week was that when we went to Barranquilla for leadership council, they gave us permission to visit Esilda Cortina, one of our converts here in Valledupar. She's been in Barranquilla for a few weeks because she had cancer and she's getting the treatment. She was a little discouraged because she feels really alone and no one has called her to see how she's doing. She's there with her daughter, who's great and is a member, and some cousins who are super into another religion. It was great to visit her because she really looked happy to see us and I was also really happy to see her again.

Thanks family for all your support and love, please think about writing to me some of your spiritual experiences because it's what I love to read. Love you all,

Elder Wilson