Hijole!!!! Se puede decir semana buenisima?!?! So I'm not sure how hard the Texas Ice Storm hit the news around the states but it's been a pretty big deal out here.
We were pretty lucky out here in Upshur County and dodged a bullet as the Ice Storm somehow jumped over us! Out in Dallas they got 3 inches of ice and in our surrounding counties in East Texas we got 3/4 inches. So in response to that all the leadership in the Stake got together and decided that for this past Saturday we were going to cancel all of the planned activities and just mob Paris Texas (the largest city in the stake that got hit the hardest...25,000 people...yup, largest) and just do service there all day. So that's what went down all day this past Saturday (except for a couple Baptismal interviews say what?!?!?!?) At first I was thinking it was going to be a ton of people showing up with little service to do and turning into government construction while one person works and 10 start to watch...but as we started to roll on through (with Grandpa Bill driving us so it was a miracle we made it alive) we saw tons and tons of descruction! I couldn't believe how messed up that town was as the weight of the ice brought down thousands and thousands of trees and power lines! It had happened a week ago and they had just barely cleared the streets to make it possible for people to travel through town and as far as work goes...there was more than plenty to suffice for our group of 240 that had gotten together on such short notice! It was way awesome since our goal was to get at least 175 which we obviously dominated and it was quite the experience helping a town that was so far down in the slums. Everyone we talked to asked if we had met them before and owed them from previous favors...yeah that town is just dominated by drugs and we would have to check half the houses we worked around to see if there was anyone that even lived there. We did a lot of clearing yards, chopping wood while Grandpa Bill would say about every 5 minutes, "....this pile right here would make some good firewood...." and then he'd go off to try and convince all the black people down there to use it instead of waste it. I was sure he was gonna get shot somewhere along the line, but we all made it out alive!
We were pretty lucky out here in Upshur County and dodged a bullet as the Ice Storm somehow jumped over us! Out in Dallas they got 3 inches of ice and in our surrounding counties in East Texas we got 3/4 inches. So in response to that all the leadership in the Stake got together and decided that for this past Saturday we were going to cancel all of the planned activities and just mob Paris Texas (the largest city in the stake that got hit the hardest...25,000 people...yup, largest) and just do service there all day. So that's what went down all day this past Saturday (except for a couple Baptismal interviews say what?!?!?!?) At first I was thinking it was going to be a ton of people showing up with little service to do and turning into government construction while one person works and 10 start to watch...but as we started to roll on through (with Grandpa Bill driving us so it was a miracle we made it alive) we saw tons and tons of descruction! I couldn't believe how messed up that town was as the weight of the ice brought down thousands and thousands of trees and power lines! It had happened a week ago and they had just barely cleared the streets to make it possible for people to travel through town and as far as work goes...there was more than plenty to suffice for our group of 240 that had gotten together on such short notice! It was way awesome since our goal was to get at least 175 which we obviously dominated and it was quite the experience helping a town that was so far down in the slums. Everyone we talked to asked if we had met them before and owed them from previous favors...yeah that town is just dominated by drugs and we would have to check half the houses we worked around to see if there was anyone that even lived there. We did a lot of clearing yards, chopping wood while Grandpa Bill would say about every 5 minutes, "....this pile right here would make some good firewood...." and then he'd go off to try and convince all the black people down there to use it instead of waste it. I was sure he was gonna get shot somewhere along the line, but we all made it out alive!
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Christmas parties, writing songs as a remix to "Deep in the Heart of Texas" titled "Deep In The Zone of Gilmer"...I know...super creative right?? Just wait till yall hear the lyrics. We found out we're not allowed to watch a movie on Christmas...but I'll have plenty of time to do that way later...so we watched Ice Age as a mission. Classic, especially after two transfers with Elder Stead who sounds just like sid the sloth. We also stopped at another taco shop in Longview...but it didn't have tacos de lengua....sad day.
And the work still rolls on as we more than tripled the amount of new investigators that we normally get a week! The Smiths baptism will come up this Saturday while a couple people that we worked with that have moved away will be getting baptized out in the city and by a couple different companionships, but it has been the greatest opportunity ever to teach the gospel to them! It's such a thrill and I'm just soaking up every minute of it! I'd love to write more but I've got a Sister that's leaving on a mission in a few weeks so I've gotta make sure I can write her and keep her busy preparing the best she can to become the best Missionera that she will be!
Les Quiero!!!!
Elder Wilson
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