Mar 30

This week was pretty good because I was able to feel the guideance of the Spirit in many instances. In one lesson I remember that we invited someone to come to church with us but he told us that he goes to another church and wasn't going to be able to go with us. I told him to pray and ask God if he should go with us or not, and at the end of the lesson he knelt down and praed and asked. After the prayer we asked him what he felt and he said that he knew that he had to go to church with us. I was awesome to hear that.

Another day I was on exchanges with another elder and a recent convert started to say that she was doubting her testimony of the church because of some small doctrinal points that she didn't agree with. At first we started to talk about the doctine she mentioned, and then I realized that it wasn't right and that we had to talk about something else. I prayed to know what question to ask to find out what she really needed. I received an answer and asked her if she felt that God answers her prayers. She said no and started to cry, because for a long time she wanted to have a child but hadn't been able to have one. She felt that God didn't love her and that's why she hadn't wanted to talk to the missionaries for a while. We talked to her about God's love, and in her last prayer she expressed gratitude for all that she had and for our visit as well. It is an incredible feeling to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

Well I love you all!

Elder Wilson

Mar 23

This week was an excellent week. The area is really interested in hastening the work of salvation, so they have been doing a lot to improve ward councils here in Colombia. This week the area president, Elder Uceda, came and met first with all the zone leaders and then with all the members of ward council in the 3 stakes from Barranquilla. In the first meeting he gave us a time to talk about all the challenges that there are which prevent ward councils from being very effective. He also gave us an awesome training in the importance of inviting with actions, not just with words. He said that a lot of us missionaries just ask them to pray or tell them to go to church and that's it. But we have to pray with them, read with them if they don't read, and pass by them to go to church so that they can know that our invitations are serious. I already do those things but it changed the way I see invitations. 

The meeting with all the ward councils was awesome, first because I have served in 4 wards and 1 branch from Barranquilla, so I was able to see a lot of people I already knew. Yalissa Rodriguez, a convert from Alfonso Lòpez, was there as well and I was so happy because I saw that she's still very strong in the church. People really glow with a spiritual light when they're converted to the gospel. I also loved the training because they talked about one of the ideas that I'd given in the first meeting (using an agenda for ward council to prevent everyone talking about whatever) and that made me feel smart.

Other than that the week was a little hard because we had a lot to do in the zone and since our zone is part of the city and 2 small towns outside of the city. I live right by the transport terminal in Soledad, in the Calle 54 with Carrera 15 or something like that. In that general area. 

My companion is really great. He loves eating healthy and doing lots of exercise, which should help me get in good shape before I head back.

Love you all!

Elder Wilson

Mar 16

So this week I got transfered out of Valledupar. I'm actually super sad about it because I really grew to love that place. My area, the members, the investigators, the zone. I came  to Soledad as zone leader again. I started my mission in this same city, which is really just an extension of Barranquilla, so I can say that I speny my whole mission in just 3 stakes and 2 cities. My new area is really good. It's super huge and there's a lot of potential to get a lot of good work done here. the members are great and the bishop is a huge help as well. The only problem is that we don't have a ward mission leader but I'm sure that we'll get a new one soon.

We don't really have a lot of investigators yet because they split the ward into 2 areas when I got here and most of the investigators we had went to the other area. But the people here are really receptive and it's pretty easy to find new ones. The members are helping us out a lot with a lot of referrals.

My companion is awesome he's from Ecuador. Elder Vélez. His old companion, the one I'm replacing, is the newest assistant so he's had some great examples in companions and is also a great example.

I found out today that one of my old companions is less-active now and it made me really sad. But I'm sure that what he learned about repentance in his mission will help motivate him to repent some day soon.

Well I love you all!

Elder Wilson

Sorry I forgot my spiritual experience for the week.

This week we did exchanges with some elders from our zone and I went to work in their area. we were walking in the street and I felt like we needed to talk to a lady. So we walked over to where she was and I contacted her. Turns out she's super interested and that she's gone to church with her husband a bunch of times before. S I thought it was cool to see how the Spirit guided us there. But then when we finished up and left,the missionary who I was with told me that he had been searching for this lady for a long time because she was an old investigator from their area book. I loved seeing how the Spirit works through all the missionaries to accomplish His purpose. It doesn't matter if they have a lot of time in the area or just a little, He guides each one equally.

Mar 9

Hey I'm really sorry but today we had a zone activity and my companion and I had to stay after cleaning and I don't have time to write today. There are transfers tomorrow and I'm pretty excited to see what will happen. I really have no clue this time.

Mar 2

This week was a pretty great week. We were able to have zone conference and it turned out great. President Searle has been really concerned lately with helping missionaries really consecrate themselves to the work. Help them give everything to serve the Lord. I really liked what was said because I was abloe to receive a lot of ideas on how to help the zone and more importantly how to consecrate myself.

A cool experience to share this week happened yesterday when we were finished with the day and heading to dinner. We always walk up the same street when we're in this neighborhood at night, but yesterday I felt like we had to walk up a different street. We did, and while we passed by a member's home my companion felt like we had to stop in and see why one of them didn't go to church that day. when we got there, she started crying and told us that she felt bad about some sins she had and decided that she couldn't go to church for a while while she was fixing them. We testified about repentance and invited her to church again. I really liked the experience because I know it's a lot easier to prevent someone turning less active than to rescue someone who already fell away. I loved acting as an instrument in the Lord's hands. 

Well sorry that's it for now, I got to Internet late because we were doing a deep cleaning in our house (it needed it). I love you all!

Elder Wilson