The Lord Has Smiled Upon Greenville

Yay for starting my fourth Journal. it's the biggest pain in the behind and is so tough to keep up with but I hope that you know I'm doing it because you asked me to Mom! Well this past week has been fantastic and we've been able to see some serious growth, especially with the work that all the members from the Spanish Group are putting in! It seemed like its taken forever, but all these moves that we've been making to change things around here are really having some pretty drastic effects and it is seriously the greatest feeling ever to see that all the things that we're doing aren't just helping the Group and Ward, but they're helping the Members help themselves and shoulder more responsibilities to help them accomplish their goals! It's seriously almost as great as listening to "In The Ghetto" by Elvis right before we go knock out some of the projects. And I just remembered a super random question, but if anyone knows anything about it, gimme an update because I couldn't believe this when I heard it. So apparently the Mormon football player for Notre Dame had this crazy online relationship with some random girl that turns out that she doesn't exist? Apparently they had a bunch of phone calls and the crazy part was when they told me that it was to a 661 number in Southern California?!?! Out of all the area codes...it would be the Palmdale/Santa Clarita one haha so I figured that must be a big deal going on back home hunting down the person that did all this media hype. So keep me updated on what good old Canyon Country is doing to get its name on the map! 

Okay...so now to the best story of the week for sure ...and I'm expecting only good things to come from this story! So this past Monday, we were getting our weekly grocery shopping done, and as we drove back, I finally convinced Elder Downer to go pull into Cavenders Boot Shop so that we could go for a little real Texas Shopping. So I finally got the opportunity I had been looking for my whole Mission to go in a western wear store! So I cruised in and the situation was way good as I could smell the fresh leather and hear the country music in the back ground. Then the situation went to great as I started walking down the boot isle looking at all the Larry Mahans, Luccheses, and Justins. Then I kid you not, I was only in the store for about 25 seconds and the situation became amazing...and on came Brad Paisley singing "Old Alabama" and it was only a matter of seconds until I was singing along with every line. Then everything just became miraculous as one of the employees came up to us and asked us, "So who exactly are y'all?" So we were able to introduce ourselves and found out that he had a couple distant family members that were serving missions and then we starting talking about other things about his life and it turned into an hour long contact as he just about spilled out just everything from his past and life. And thanks to Mom and Dad for equipping me with their western wear knowledge,  we also talked about everything from skins, to ways to condition the boots, to lemon-wood pegs and different quality stuff that I'm sure no other missionary in this mission is aware of. So now we have a new investigator from Cavenders and I am so stoked for him! Because this one has got to go through! The Lord had me all too much in the zone and prepared this to go down, so I can only expect the best! But for reals, I'll keep y'all updated on it and am super stoked! Well I miss y'all and hope that things are going well back home! Happy 12th birthday Natles because I know you can't be turning 15! Dios da valor Marky! Way stoked to hear how things turn out in Puerto Rico! And good luck with school Shane! You got this one! Just tell your teacher "no entendí." And then you'll get put with the kids that can't speak english and a different teacher haha.

Love
Elder Justin Wilson

Oh! Think Twice...It's Just Another Day For You And Me In Paradise

What up what up what up family!!! So I just figured I'd kinda wing it this week and give yall an idea of whats going on up here. I also
wanted to ask a favor of yall...I was wondering if yall could send me
a Laker or Dodger (or both) calendar for 2013 like the one that Brett
and Jessicah got me last year because I seriously used them ALL the
time! I would always have them handy and ready above our desks
anytime we did planning and it helped out a lot (and I would also cut
out some of stuff from them to decorate my planner!) 

But yeah this past week one of the most epic events ever happened. So the deal is that if your area has a car, each month you are allotted a certain amount of miles that you can go. Currently, we are super low on miles because of all the work that we've been doing out in Commerce. So this past Friday, we had to plan our day around biking and all that jazz, but one of the lessons that we were going to was going to be with a
recent convert that literally lives right across the fence from our apartment. So instead of having to go all the way around the block and
waste all those miles and energy, I told Elder Downer that we're just
going to have to jump the fence. He agreed that it was a good idea, and so I was able to see that learning Spanish somehow enhanced my fence-hopping skills, and I was on the other side in a couple seconds. I turned around and saw Elder Downer start breathing a little bit more deeply, just staring at the fence. I asked him if he was alright, and he told me that he was fine...just that he has a fear of heights. Well I'm sorry that I make such light of this but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen as he took 5 minutes to get to the other side while I tried to help him out, and he finally made it to the ground. Then as we finished our lesson, I took into consideration his fear of heights and asked him if he'd like to walk around the block and call it a night, or jump the fence and have time to spare to make it to another lesson. After three minutes and he still didn't have a decision made, I decided that we were wasting time and I told him I'm hopping the fence. So after a few seconds I was on the other side and turned around to see him, and we were in the same situation as before. This time he went to other areas of the fence to see if it would be easier in any other way, but sadly, he came back to square 1. So he decided to just try and jump over, and with so many failed attempts, I tried to give him advice and he would get more and more frustrated and said that he knew what he was doing, so I refrained
from my comments. It was apparently too tough with his shoes, so after
a few minutes he took them off and hurled them to the other side,
determined that he was going to get over that fence, and after a few
minutes, he was finally up on the top rail, just completely straddling
it and holding on for dear life. Then he said, "Alright all I have to
do is swing over one foot and then I'll be..." "CLINK!", and down he
went. The top rod unlatched from the the other fence post, and then
gravity loving enveloped his body as he...well lets put it this way...we won't have to go as high to jump the fence anymore. For the whole time he was jumping the fence, I was thinking about taking a video and looking like the biggest jerk for a couple minutes and cherish the video forever, but I decided to be the good and supportive companion and refrained from the temptation and went to help him out as he fell. This was the moment that I learned that missionaries aren't perfect and heard a few choice words leave my comp's mouth haha. Then he winced in pain putting his hand in his jacket and made it sound like he got a finger chopped off. Luckily, I got to see that he just has a pain tolerance of zero and that he came out of that fun experience with only a scratch on his finger. Oh the goodness of companions! He finally admitted that it wasn't a big deal and was able to laugh it off with me for the rest of the night. 

Well this past week has been crazy as I'm catching onto the idea that whenever I'm in a tough spot, I would normally look back to the great memories and times I cherished back home, but I've been out so long that I just automatically look back to good memories from Oak Cliff which is super weird and my pre mish life is feeling more and more like a dream. I miss yall so much and I want you guys to give me updates on how school is going (especially from Shane and Brett given it's a new experience for them!) Things are still getting super stressful out here, but due to the changes we've been making the members have been taking action and involving themselves in the work a lot more! We actually got a member referral a couple weeks ago and the Ramirez family is getting closer and closer to the baptismal font so everyone is praying that the Lord will continue to bless them and show them the truth in this Church! I was able to speak in Sacrament meeting and directed my whole talk towards them and can only see the best coming from their situation. 

Oh yes, and one last note, about fasting and miracles, we were able to find that our Mission had a calculation problem in 2012, and when all the records were compiled, we found that we had 671 baptisms total, surpassing our original goal by one baptism. So when you think all hope is lost...you may be making your judgments a little too soon ...way too many people were fasting and praying for this mission to complete it's goal, and with the faith of hundreds, we were able to reach it! So ALWAYS REMEMBER, when we do our part for a righteous purpose, the Lord will never fail on his. I love and miss yall!
From the Mission of Miracles,
Elder Justin Wilson

Starting Another Transfer?!?!

Hey y'all! Don't have much time to update everyone on the happenings out here in Northeast Texas, so I figured I would just give a story for the week. In case you were wondering, it is freezing up here! I can honestly say the only time I have ever felt it get this cold was up on the top of the mountains at the Canyons Ski Resort. This Texas wind and humidity will for reals just cut you right to the bone and send chills up and down your spine ...and I don't mean the good chills...but ones that just make you cringe! Like we had to book it inside on Saturday because my hands were starting to get purple enough that they'd match Kobe's jersey, but I hope that sets the tone for what the weather is like out here. And last Sunday, all of North Texas fasted that it would rain for the crops and end this drought season. To put it simply, we got what we were fasting for, and in bucket amounts that normally froze over or just turned to sleet and give us an ice storm, but for the most part of it, we got TONS of rain! But for some reason, we seemed to be getting the most this last Wednesday as we went to an appointment out in a town called Commerce Texas (famous for the Texas A&M Commerce school and the second biggest town in Hunt County area that we cover.) To our disappointment, the appointment ended up falling through, and we went to go find other work or people to find/old investigators in the small town of Commerce. As we got to teach only a few less active members, we got a text message from the Assistants warning us to stay close to home due to the flash flood warnings that were coming in for that particular day. Since we were about 20 miles away from home, we decided it was sadly time to wrap it up in Commerce and head back. It was a bummer because the night before, Elder Downer said that he really felt that we should be knocking random doors instead of ones by member families and such, but the weather was getting worse and worse by the minute, and I wasn't feeling any inspiration on the subject, so we headed back down to Greenville. As we made our way out of Commerce, we passed by a trailer park and It made me think of the success I had in Oak Cliff with trailer parks, and just out of the blue said, "Hey check it out, a trailer park. We definitely need to go there sometime." Then right after I said it, I felt this warm sensation in my stomach, and as I reluctantly thought about it more and more, according to the scriptures...it was definitely the spirit, and I felt it stronger than I had in a long time. As a missionary, you feel the spirit all the time and are pretty used to it, but when it has a shockingly strong force like it did back then, you know something big is up. So I started to feel the Spirit stronger and stronger, but kept thinking "you can't be serious, if we go knocking now we'll get super wet and then nobody will come close to letting us in their house." But the more I kept trying to think about something else, the stronger I felt the need to go, but what fueled it most, was the the promise I remembered I had made to heed all the promptings I get. I kept looking at Elder Downer to see if he had any expressions that he was feeling the same, but he didn't. So I started asking him about his impression to knock doors, and then he started to see that something was troubling me. After a short conversation, we came to the conclusion that his impression plus mine, meant that we needed to turn around and head to the trailer park, in the pouring rain. As we made our way back up to Commerce, the rain came down so much harder than before that it seemed like we were driving through pools at Hurricane Harbor with those huge buckets constantly falling on us. We finally made it to the trailer park, and instead of getting my backpack out to get soaked again (I learned that lesson back in the Cliff), I got my little pair of scriptures (thanks Bryce!!!) and was able to fit them in my jacket pocket as we went off to start knocking. At the first door to answer, we got to meet a couple named Jose and Kristina, and as we started chatting with them, they had a confused look on their faces (probably wondering what we were doing in the rain), and as we started to introduce ourselves, Kristina bit her lip and reluctantly said, "....You know what....go ahead and come on in so y'all don't have to stay out in the cold rain." We graciously thanked her and went on inside the house. We got to learn a little about them and how they were a couple that was trying to meet each other's beliefs, and in doing so, started to attend the "Cowboy Church" as a "happy medium." Jose being grown Catholic, and Kristina, being grown Baptist, still had contrasting beliefs and let us know that it was a part of their lives that they had been constantly working on to improve. With that being said, we were prompted to go straight into the Joseph Smith story explaining all of the confusion and contrasting beliefs back in the year 1820, and just like that, things seemed to click and principles applied, and the spirit lead us around the whole time to what would not be a scripted lesson in 'Preach My Gospel', but it sure did accomplish the goal that is printed on the cover; D&C 50:14 which reads "To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth." After they agreed to pray to know of the truth of these things and seeing things click in their understanding of what the message of this Church really could mean, we closed with a prayer and headed out with the Spirit still impacting their home. Once we walked out the door, we had a feeling of satisfaction that beats no other, confirming that the Lord knew he could trust in us to follow his direction and guidance. We kept knocking and to say the least, it was the best street I've knocked with the most accepted invitations and all sorts of other hidden jewels, but to keep it short, the best experience was being able to teach in the first door and gaining a stronger testimony that we are instruments in the Lord's hands...and more than that....TEXAS INSTRUMENTS haha new Texas Dallas Mission Logo.

Well I love and miss you guys and hope that this winter isn't as brutal as it is out here...and in case you were wondering...it is currently snowing
outside. So yeah...second time of a snowy winter in Texas of all places. Love yall!
Elder Justin Wilson

2013!!!

10....9....8....7....6....5....4....3....2....1......ZZZZZZZZZ. Normally at the end of the countdown, since I was about seven years old, we would all scream "HAPPYYY NEW YEARRRR!", but this last one I was lucky enough to follow the pattern of my early childhood and sleep right through it. But on the real this has seriously been the most stressful week of my whole mission. To lay it out simply, what we have is a Spanish Group and an English ward that meet together at the same time. What is going on is that this Spanish group wants to become a Branch, but aren't doing the work to get this thing going. So this past week we had a planning deal with them and put out a few ideas that they loved and want to put into action to help four more of our members get the Melk. Priesthood and a Temple Recommend for their endowments (which is what the Stake President wants from them). We are also just pushing them farther and farther away from the Ward to help them become more independent, and we're trying to get the Stake President to authorize a change in the hours so that they don't have the same schedule as the Ward. It is just super stressful right now because we are trying to get all the Spanish members excited and get some work done...to "lift where they stand", and help get the less-active families back, cleanse their group, come together, get some organization done, and stop getting offended! This area is crazy because as a result of the Spanish group and English ward, we have two groups that think that we're 100% their missionaries, which makes it really difficult to make both of them happy. It turns into us Micro-Managing the Spanish group to get them on their feet and become a branch, get 6 members through the Temple Endowment preparation, create a new mission plan for the English Ward and potential Spanish Branch with all of the auxiliaries, find new investigators, and keep the baptisms coming for both groups, along with re-activating....a lot of people. It's super super busy, and more stressful than ever...but I LOVE IT!!!! 

It truly is a hate/love relationship because we are always super busy, have a ton of responsibility, and can make some serious changes in an area with a lot of potential. It is giving us tons of preparation in leadership callings and is sooooo much fun to be driving the boat on all of these projects. We always end up with a fat headache at the end of the day, and it isn't quite the same as being sore from biking in a Texas summer. I could go on forever explaining our Agenda, but I guess I should just wrap it up saying that I am much happier with the way things are working out here in Greenville than I am with the rumors I hear about my beloved Los Angeles Lakers. But yeah this week has been way awesome full of just peachy experiences knocking doors in the projects of Commerce Texas and finding that about 40% of the houses in that town have either been abandoned, or overtaken by a gripload of druggies. And something that felt way weird was that my awesome trainer Elder Lee went home this past friday, finishing his two years serving the Lord!

I'm gunna miss that guy tons, but I'm stoked to see how life will go for him and am especially excited to see how he will do on the Boise State football team! So keep an eye out for number 44 playing linebacker on the smurf turf! It was a reality check and just confirmed with me that I am no longer a greenie haha. Well I love and miss yall and hope you're taking advantage of this time to set some more goals...and also go to the beach.  And also remember, reading your scriptures, going to church, and praying aren't default answers for any random reason. Learned a pretty cool lesson on that this past week but due to time I'm going to have to make a wrap on that. Love yall!!!

Elder Justin Wilson