Hundred Fold....

I'd like to start out by announcing the baptism of our original G Timothy Mendoza this Saturday at 7:00!!! Todos estan invitados!!! We have it all goin down and much to our surprise, he has progressed better than any other contact we made. And the key to finding him was again...hable con todos!!!  

His hardest obstacles to overcome were the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. We had been helping him out with the Word of Wisdom and he was game for all that going from smoking a couple packs a day to a pack a day to 6 a day to 3 a day to 1 a day and now he's gone weeks without smoking! He dropped the alcohol, coffee, and tea cold turkey and the Lord had prepared him to dominate other drugs since back in the 90's. But the tough one was the law of chastity...every time we brought it up he would just say (and by the way this was the one that I still had as Elder Duce's 1st lesson), "But I've been with my Girl for more than 20 years!!! We got together back before you were born!"

He would progress, read, come to church, and all that jazz, but he would still spout doubts about it and nothing we'd say would seem to push him over the edge. He would always end up by saying "well, I get what yall are saying, but I'll see what I can do." Then I decided it was finally time to see if he was in it to win it. So we brought in a pad of paper and said "So Timothy, have you heard of a Pro's and Con's list?" And then we started to jot it all out. As far as the Word of Wisdom went, there were no cons. When we got to the Law of Chastity, we started with the cons and could only come up with one; Michelle gets mad. Then we moved onto the Pros and just couldn't stop listing all the blessings that come from obeying the commandments, and then I felt impressed to share one of my favorite scriptures in Matthew 19:29 "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

Then he just said "You know what, If that's what the Lord says I'll just give it up." Now whenever things get tough for him, we always just look at each other and I ask him, "Timothy, what do you think you'll get outta this..." and the reply is always "a hundred fold." Like this last week he was tempted and got some coffee. He confessed it to us and told us he'd had it for two days and then he said, "you know what, you guys really ask a lot outta me." Then I said, "Timothy, we've asked a lot of you since day 1, but why do you think the Lord asks this of you?" Then I heard again "so I can be blessed with a hundred fold."

Then we decided to get rid of it sooner rather than later and walked the coffee over to his neighbors, knocked, and eventually handed it on over! We are so stoked to see the progress he's made and know that he was prepared to be put in our path and I thank our Heavenly Father every day that I get to be a part of his work and his glory!

Other story...
So the bus contact is one of my favorite deals to do now and since every time I see President or other missionaries, they ask about how it goes and the results and how I approached it and all that jazz, I decided that it would be just pure robbery if I made it so that others couldn't give the contact a try. So a couple weeks ago Elder Duce and I got on the bus to go to a new missionary training, and since Elder Duce is used to my approach to these things now, he just sat down and waited for me to take over. The beauty of training is that you direct the way that any situation goes, so I started as normal with the "Good morning brothers and sisters! How are y'all doing today?" And then we get people with feedback that just talk about what a nice day it is...so then I commented on that and said "Well as you know we are men of God and actually...my companion Elder Duce has a message that he would love to share with yall." I just smiled and when I sat down. I saw this look in his eyes saying "How could you do this to meeee?!?!?!?"
But he was able to share a broken but still bold message!

So when we got to the training and started talking about contacting, President Durrant grinned saying "Elder Wilson, on your feet. Now tell us about your new bus technique." So I was able to give everyone a fresh new experience from a couple minutes before haha ahhh gotta love life on the mish! Every day we grow in confidence, and my message to everyone is that you must speak with boldness, and that is what will show that you are a representative of Jesus Christ instead of just anybody else. That is what new missionaries need and what I hope the youth can learn so that they can do as the sons of Mosiah and speak with Power and Authority. (Alma 17:3) (The nickname of Chuck Norris' legs...by the way...what other mission has Chuck Norris in it...oh yeah...only the Texas Dallas Mission! TDM= The Dream Mission)

Other Story...
I also have grown to love the fact that most Greenies are obedient! Like when we went to the Valero's house and each of us were handed a Serrano Pepper. I had learned my lesson way back in Oak Cliff just so that I could entertain the Jiminez family and was not going to make that mistake again...so instead I just told Elder Duce to eat the whole thing, and without a second thought he just tossed the whole thing in his mouth!

I just screamed and did my normal flip out as I remembered how painful they are and just couldn't believe that he ACTUALLY did it! Like I've told all my companions to "eat the whole thing"...but none of them did it. Everyone winced as they saw his face...and then when he realized just what he had done- He was grabbing whatever he could to try and cool down the fire as he was tearing apart his hamburger, drinking whatever was placed in front of him and tossing more and more handfuls of salt in his mouth. Well....at least it goes to show that he's obedient!

Later on he explained to me that he figured he'd get pressured into it and decided to try to get it done an easier way...so he said he just tried to swallow the whole thing! Just imagine that...you stomach digesting a full pepper....I think his body would just explode into a small mushroom cloud and that would be the end of it haha. So once he saw that his first idea was impossible, he started chewing and then got the picture... 

Other Story...
500 Mexicans + 20 square yards of a backyard + 4 tables + 8 balloons + 2
grills + 10 cows worth of meat = Party in the Ghetto!!! Yup...welcome to Garland ...our stompin grounds. We were welcomed with open arms even among all the "Tall Boys" and cans from Modelo and Bud Light...80% of the people were less active but we still got to meet and work the refferal factory with the rest of them haha. 

Well its getting painfully hot here...like for reals. But thankfully we still have tornadoes and storms that will come through and rain elephants for about 30 minutes...but we can count on Texas that the sun will come out as the weather goes through its bi-polar changes and dry us out in no time!Elder Duce's Spanish is growing paso por paso...and he's still crashing on his bike weekly...and is currently wearing bandages over his hands and wrists... 

Just got word that Kevin Jara is Deacon's Quorom President! I always knew that kid is a leader. 

Elder Duce is telling me about all this foreign stuff that I've never heard
of before. Example: Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, New
Star Wars, G.I. Joe #2....he told me I'm so old when I said that "Friday" by Rebecca Black is still my favorite song and that "Tonights Gonna Be A Good Night" was played at my Graduation. Woo Hoo for the Black Eyed Peas and their brand new album that came out....wow...back in 2008 5 years ago. Siento como un viejito!
Well I love and miss yall and for some reason can just feel it when someone I know is going to enjoy the beach and the fresh air of California...how it hurts, but how much I loveeeeeeeee it heah in Texas!!!! Yay for humidity!
Thank you so much for your prayers! They have brought miracles around here as we have all worked together to break the mission's record in baptismal dates and shattered it this past week Texas Dallas Mission style with 34 more than the set goal! Makes me think of President Durrants song...
"I feel so blessed, I feel so blessed, I feel so blessed, I feel so blessed, I have the best!
I have the best, I have the best, I have the best, I have the best, I feel so blessed!" 

Love yall and hope yall have an awesome week!!!
Elder Wilson

P.S. I would like to give a special shout out to Tommy for getting baptized
and especially for sending me pictures of the best cousins in the world
doing the baptismal pose! I hear it's catching on!