"...Not Only Do Mormons Believe In Baptisms For The Dead But There Is A New Reported Change In Doctrine In Regards To The Neccesary Baptism Of Automobiles..."

"...I just felt that I was going to get a call from them and then like 3 seconds later...the phone started ringing! But just wait till you hear what happened to them...." I responded with a groan and just grumbled, "...don't tell me it's the Gilmer 3rd Elders again...." Elder Trias replied, "oh yeah, and when I answered the phone all I heard was 'HELP!!! HELP!!! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!'" I had just about reached my patience limit with the Gilmer 3rd Elders crying "wolf" and making a mountain out of a molehill like they always do.

They have learned that when we're doing something productive (which is always) we won't answer their calls. Then they'll text us, telling us it's an emergency and we'll bend over backwards to help them out, only to find that it is something super small and trivial. So I just sighed, "What is it now..." And with wide eyes and Elders Trias' 'Too-Good-To-Be-True' grin said, "Their car's stuck out in a flood in the middle of nowhere!" I thought it was another 'false alarm' and called the Elders to get the same response, telling me that they were stuck out on Gopher road in the middle of a pond...so to speak, and that the electricity in their car was shot and that the engine couldn't start. They just kept trying to start it, which I'm sure wasn't good, and then I reflected back on when I was stuck out in the middle of nowhere with good old Jimmy Downer....what a day that was haha.

So I asked them how high the water was and truly didn't believe them when they said that water was coming in the car from the floorboards, but then I asked them if they'd done the simplest part yet...push the car. We're trying to help these guys to stop being sissies, but they decided that they'd just spend their time on the top of their car...like jump out the windows when the electricity was still on, and sit on the roof. I feel like on the mission I have been able to become a more patient person, but I've definitely lost all tolerance for stupidity.

So we told them to stop denting in their roof and asked if they knew anyone that lived close to there. They replied that they didn't and so we told them to call their Ward Mission Leader (who they absolutely hate) and see if he can send anyone to help. We were having lunch with what turned out to be a family reunion (everyone's related so basically the Dixon family just chose a day to get together) . The whole family heard the conversations we were having, so they asked if they could help. As frustrated as we were with them, we were pretty stoked to see just how bad their situation was and decided, along with the fact that the two who wanted to help were firemen and they're going to help out better than anyone else, that we were going with the Millers to pick up our Elders in distress! We had just had a pretty intense lightning storm the night before and after grabbing the waders from the Miller's house, we pulled up to the boonies to see the that the Elders had tried to baptize their car. The pictures just don't do it any justice, and when you see them just remember that the car had about 400 more lbs. of missionaries sitting on top of it before we got there...so the car was that much deeper in the water.

One part that just makes President Austin cringe is that there was a truck that had pulled up before we got there and they jumped off the trunk and into the truck bed and didn't get wet at all during the whole excursion. He had hoped that they got soaking wet up to their chest. But when we got there, the Millers tossed the waders on while we put on the boots and they cruised out to the submerged car to...yup...open the door, put it in neutral, and push it to dry land. Which is just what we had told them to do. Again...my tolerance of stupidity. Absolutely gone.

So we go 4 wheeling across the Gopher Road lake and make it to the other side to check out the car...and as we started searching under the hood we even found that their air intake filter was soaking wet. The car was filled with water just about up to the seats and completely totaled. 

The water damage completely destroyed the electric work in the car and the best part is that the car was...only 6 months old. So we hooked tow line on up to the truck and I got to steer the totaled Corrolla up to the nearest members home so that we could leave it there to be towed off. 

Whoa boy did it push our schedule back, but it was a pretty hilarious experience! Their ward mission leader that they hate so much just came, took some pictures, and left them while posting the pictures on Facebook...which is just what they didn't want (blackmail haha). And it's a companionship that's been having some problems...okay lots of problems that we've been working with for a transfer and a half now and let's say that it was probably a Godsend that they got stranded together. So many lessons we can learn from that story and comparisons we can make to real life haha. A little “Water 101” for everyone... when water touches the bottom of your car, you're in danger of drifting off the road (which is a miracle that it didn't happen to them.) So when you see a pond covering your road, just go ahead and take another way to your destination. It'll save you 18,000 bucks.

The real highlight of last week was being able to have the baptism of Devin and Brennen Smith, the two sons of the Smith family that we have been working with for a while. 

They'd been inactive for most of their life and haven't been sealed or nothin’, but they're an awesome family that got offended a while back and just straight stopped coming. They came one day and we swooped on them and have been teaching them ever since. One of my favorite parts about teaching them of the Restoration was when Brother Smith talked about how they're descendants of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which really got me thinking the day of their kid's baptism. I remember studying the life of Joseph Smith a while ago and Truman G. Madsen taught of how active and busy he was in his calling as the Prophet of the Restoration. Many of the Apostles and other members of the church would say, "Brother Joseph, what about your family? How are you going to take care of them and grow their knowledge on the Gospel?" Joseph Smith would reply in essence, "The Lord will take care of my family." It's a statement that has always made me wonder given the fact that almost all of his family apostatized and formed one of the first large break-offs from the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Then it dawned on me that the Lord was blessing us and giving us the opportunity to be apart of him taking care of the Prophet's family. As they become active and sealed in the temple, they have the opportunity to do the work for their family members that didn't take the steps to live the Gospel in their life, and all while staying true to the words of the Prophet of the Restoration.

I love this church, love this work, love Texas, miss California, especially miss my family, but I can't wait to talk to y’/all this week! Merry Christmas and remember Elder Ballard's invitation during the last General Conference: "We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior."

So who have you reached out to this Christmas season? We all love giving gifts, but always remember your gift for the Savior.

Les Quiero y Feliz Navidad y Kwanzaa!!!

Elder Wilson