The End To A Solid Transfer & The Start of Another

Cannot believe at how fast this transfer has gone by...but it's another one down and I'm so stoked to have another one down here in Oak Cliff West! We have 2 more baptisms coming up this Saturday and are super excited for those because we're going to finally be able to baptize Manuel Jara, our 47 year old friend and future Bishop.

This guy is seriously an example to every member and it is just humbling to see how hard he works to do things that we so easily take for granted. First off, we have been having plenty of appointments with him, but he lives pretty far up north and it takes  a little longer to get there on bikes. So one day he was so stoked for the appointment that he wanted to just come pick us up, and since then, he's been giving us rides all the time! But the best part, was the one night that we were stacked with appointments and were calling a bunch of members to see if any could come out with us and take us to these cross-town appointments that we wouldn't be able to fit in one night on bikes. After calling about 8 or so members and finding that everyone is "busy", we decided to just throw it out there and invite Manuel...our investigator. As shy and reserved of a guy he is and even though he was super nervous, he wanted to come and understood how important sharing the Gospel is and just totally saved every lesson that night. We decided it was time to start a new "Key Indicator" with not only "Lessons Taught To Investigators With A Member Present", but "Lessons Taught To Investigators With An Investigator Present." His big challenge was being able to come to church, because he always has work on Sundays, but we had never seen someone with such a desire to come and be baptized. This experience really helped strengthen my testimony that we truly are representatives of Jesus Christ, and what we say will happen. He had been praying for weeks that his work would let him come to church, but nothing had really changed. So we promised him that if he prayed and fasted, the Lord would open a way for him to come. He started fasting that week...and guess who's schedule got changed haha. Just as it says in the scriptures, we have the power to move mountains, but such is impossible without prayer and fasting. So he was able to come to church, but he wanted to share this so badly with his family who was really reluctant to learn anything (except for his son Kevin, he's way solid too and was coming with Manuel). And guess who prayed and fasted again. Yup, and after a lot of work with his wife and daughter, we set a baptismal date with them and they'll be able to be baptized this October! We had the baptismal interviews for Manuel and Kevin this past Saturday, and Manuel was fasting again haha. We just have to make sure he doesn't starve himself and he'll continue to see more and more miracles in his life. I could see him taking any leadership position in the Church and has been such a solid example for every member, including us. But we also had a Ward Activity this past Saturday which is always the best part of the week! Working with Latinos is by far the best haha because they don't need any reason and will just throw a party just because they feel like it. This past one also had a talent show where we put on a skit that was way awesome and I'll still try to figure out how I can send the video of it, but the best part was the paparazzi (primary) on Sunday. All the primary kids came up to us and asked us if we were "the guys that ate the frijoles" last night and would just tell us how much they loved it and all that stuff. Haha it was easily one of the coolest parts of my mission, and this whole past week has been one of those weeks where there was nothing that I could think of that I would rather do than serve these people. I so didn't think it was true when I first cracked open Preach My Gospel, but as it says in the introduction, "There is no work more satisfying that this." It's even a cherry on top when you get to hear latinos try and say "Wilson", and the best pronunciation is "Elder Wooford" haha. It gets funnier and funnier every time I hear it. Another newsflash that is totally crazy is that I'm past 6 months now and was able to celebrate the day I got my call a year ago! Time flies by! But out of all these expereinces....possibly the best...was when some random contact guessed, for the first time...ever...where I was from, and got it right. As a missionary everyone will ask you where your from, and for these past few months, I just ask them what they think. Knowing that we're Mormon and since it seems like 90% of the missionaries are from (what is always referred to as) "la favorica" or "the factory", known as Utah, they'll always guess Utah. Well, one day, our contact's first guess was....LOS ANGELES!!! Totally put me on cloud nine! Well this work is awesome and you get tons of experiences from everywhere! Thank you so much for all the packages and letters you've sent me and I hope everything goes well! Please let me know if there's anything that anyone needs help with and I could probably get Manuel to fast for it! Love you all!
Elder Justin Wilson

Justin dancing with the Primary