"The Best Morning's Spent In Your Rocking Chair, Watching The Sun Rise In Your Underwear" - YAMBOREE!!!!

WELCOME TO THE 76 ANNUAL EAST TEXAS YAMBOREE!!!!

Oh yeah y’all, this past week just got real as the largest carnival in all of East Texas came to town.

Question: So what do you do when a town of 5,000 turns into a town of 150,000 confined into a couple hundred square yards????

Tourist's Answer: Take Pictures, Get To Know Where Everyone Is From, Enjoy Everyone's Accent, Eat Crazy Food

Teenager's Answer: Go Pick Up On Some Chicks, Play Games, Ride The Rides, Stay Hundreds of Miles Away From My Parents

Local's Answer: Eat Turkey Legs, Funnel Cakes, Burgers, Fries (Curly/Normal/Grilled/Sauteed), Talk With All The New People In Town, Show Some Southern Hospitality, Square Dance

Missionary Answer:....ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!! I mean honestly, why would you only do a few of them if you can do ALL of them!!!

So that's what we did as we quite literally grabbed the Bull by the Horns and lived a straight Dream Week in Gilmer Texas!!! 

Before I really dive into the details on what happened in the Yamboree, I'll just let y'all know that this is the most "talked up" event that I've ever been to in my life. As y'all saw, this is the 76th time that Upshur County has put on this event and it just brings people in by the masses! It celebrates the Harvest of Sweet Potatoes which is apparently a pretty big deal around here (yeah Idaho...yall got you taters...we've got sweet taters...shows how much sweeter Texas is than Idaho). But moving on, this event is kind of a kickoff into Fall and they pull out all the stops by putting on these huge parades and bringing in all sorts of rides and food and shows and artists and they also have this huge competition for becoming the Yam Queen. All I know about that is that everyone hates the Yam Queen and Princesses because all you have to do to become one of them is sell tickets; the girl who sells the most tickets becomes Queen, the runner up is the first princess, the one follow her is second princess and so on. So whoever's Dad writes the biggest check gets a float, crown, and four days of glory to wear it. It apparently started off as a glorified Farmer's Market and then became a huge Fair/Carnival after so many years.

So with all of that info in mind, let me share with y’all some of the highlights of what's gotta be one of the greatest weeks of my mission...just full of failures and successes of every type!

I don't know if y’all remember me talking about how I picked up on the "Talk To Everyone!!!" principle back in the good old days when I was in Plano, but it's a principle that's been my favorite way to find since then, and something I've continued working on polishing and perfecting. I thought I was pretty good at it, until Elder Beck and I talked about how we seem to be avoiding women, especially the cute ones. We had plenty of confidence in the message and the "open your mouth" principle was no problem for us, but we would always somehow manage to find someone else to talk to when a beautiful daughter of God would present herself. Don't judge, but when you become a missionary and are taught to treat single women like the plague, they become scarier and scarier haha. It's a crazy phenomenon, but you'll get it once you experience it. Upon reflection, we realized that the Daughters of God need the Gospel too, so we came to the conclusion that it was time to contact over 100 of those single ladies haha....

Goal....Completed!!!

Again it was full of some successes and some failures, but in the words of ZZ Top, "A girl's crazy bout a sharp dressed man!" And we'll probably start teaching some of their families too so that's an extra bonus!

After losing count of how many people we contacted somewhere after about 300, or 400, (I still have no idea), we decided to check out the real heritage of the Yamboree and left the Town Square and headed on over to the Yamboree grounds. It was there that I received confirmation about all them crazy country stereotypes. As we cruised on in, we saw the "Livestock Auction". And the Auctioneer.....was....un....believeable....I seriously don't even know how to explain him. I guess y’all will have to wait until I can show you the video we took, but he talked at about 8,000 miles an hour with the sounds of "bing", "bang", and "boing" while throwing in a "500!!!" and "CANIGETA6" (you have to put it all together because he did not use that question in a complete formal sentence) and then "600!!!!" The guy was like a talking banjo...it was like a dream come true just hearing him just roll it all off like it wasn't nuthin haha. Elder Nuckols had to drag me outta there since watching it was somehow intriguing as they sold off your typical but pampered farm animals for such ridiculous prices. It's the only time I'll ever see a chicken sell for 800 dollars. I was tempted to buy a pig just so people could acknowledge our presence but stopped raising my hand once we got into the thousands.

We held the First Place Yams....I felt so honored.

We cruised around the booths by the Yamboree grounds seeing vendors selling all this junk...so I think I finally know how Dad feels whenever we go to some function and just feel that we need to buy SOMETHING. We would bring the stupidest merchandise to him...like binoculars from the zoo...and he would just say, "You really want THAT???? If you'll go for that why don't I just go buy you a bowling ball as a keepsake."

The missionaries here normally have had a booth, but this year they didn't get one for us because they were too late to get us a spot...which is awesome because I didn't want to join the rest of the crew selling all sorts of ridiculous stuff, and I think I would have tazed myself to death with one of the dude's "tazer stand" articles if I had to stay there and couldn't contact people all day. Besides, the only people that had visited with the missionaries at their booth were members...so the freedom was a definite win.

Free Fooooooddddd!!!!! During the Yamboree we gained tons of member trust there because we were contacting machines!!! Contacting all day everyday, and the place was loaded with members from all over the country. Once we ran into one of them, they would ask us if we've eaten and either take us somewhere or just give us some dinero for when we got thirsty out in the blazing 75 degrees (haha I'm tellin y’all...straight living the dream!!!) The Gilmer 2nd ward also ran one of the food stands...so our trips around the square always involved a start at the Gilmer 2nd Stand by eating a Burger or a Turkey Leg or just getting some fries or a water/soda. We would make a round...get a million contacts, and then make a pitstop at the stand for another Burger/Water/Turkey Leg/Soda/Fries...etc. Wednesday to Saturday baybay...all day erryday. I seriously ate like a king and was never forced to eat too much, but I could eat anytime I was hungry! Be it 9:30 in the morning or 8 at night, I'd be able to chow down and then get back to our contacting and finding! One of my favorite contacts was when we, for once, didn't go up to the Church's food stand and went to one of the Carnie one's for a funnel cake. I decided we would contact the lady up there. Even though we were fully prepared and willing to pay....she enjoyed the contact along with our smooth talk and jokes, so she gave us the cake for free and said, "Alright now just walk away real fast!" Life is just too good to the Lord's missionaries at times.

The Carnies were pretty much my favorite people to contact and talk to. They've all got crazy life stories, and they're all from some out of the world country and once we got on their good side and talked to them enough, they’d ask us why we don't play their games and we'd just tell em we don't have tokens. Since they haven't really played by the rules their whole lives, they'd let us play their games/shoot their hoops and it led to great opportunities to let some contacts try some games for free. Sometimes the blessings of knowing how to speak Spanish pay off!!!

Big Sandy will most likely burn in Hell. We've tracted some of that city and all of the contacts from there went terrible. If y’all know how to bless me with the charity that I need for these people please tell me how.

Square Dancing.....I'm not going to go into detail...but I mean honestly....if you're in Texas surrounded by people in Cowboy hats with wannabe artists on the stage singing nothing but Country Hits....what are you gonna do???

As for Staying Hundreds of Miles Away from my Parents....It wasn't my favorite part of the Yamboree, and I was thinking I'm going to need to bring y’all sometime, but when you're from Southern California, the home of who knows how many theme parks and tons of people, it's not that big a deal, but when you're stranded in a town of 5,000 for four months, it's pretty much the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. But if I ever bring anyone over here, I'll let them know that I'll buy them just as many things as I bought myself haha. 

Love y’all and miss ya tons!!!! By the way...I finally got my Texas Driver's License!!!!             

Much love from the pastures of East Texas

Elder Wilson

  

The Chastity Heroes!!!

"Pit"..."Pat"....."PIT!"....."PAT!"...As the rain started to fall harder and harder, we looked out the window and into the dark sky seeing the clouds gathering for what looked like another stormy night. We were cruising down the 154 and had just gotten a call from our previously set appointment, letting us know that they're going to have to reschedule. Well there goes the possibility of a new investigator...again.

So, as we were driving and trying to decide where we were going to knock and find our new investigators, we passed by the 'Wash-A-Minit' Lavanderia. It's a spot that we always pass by and a very popular location for all of our Spanish speaking homies which provides a lot of potential. But this time the conditions were a little different than expected. Instead of the normal group of hispanics we find there, we saw foggy windows and a couple that was getting...friendly. At first we decided we'll just let them be and avoid our idea to contact, but then we remembered our role as representatives of Jesus Christ. We remembered that not only do we teach the Lord's commandments, but that we can use a little bit of authority in enforcing them. So we had the bright idea to flip a U on the 154 and we headed straight back as I whipped a 'Law Of Chastity' Pamphlet. We cruised right on in there, as professional as possible, and introduced ourselves as Representatives of Jesus Christ's Church. It was super awesome as we began to chat with them and the girl was super nice...but the look on the dude's face was absolutely priceless. He was so disappointed. Yup. Sorry pal. We're keeping Gilmer righteous! After talking with them briefly, we just told them that we wanted to share a little bit about what the Lord expects of them and handed over the Law Of Chastity pamphlet, said goodbye and peaced on outta there! As we drove off we saw them reading through it...and now our message to Upshur County...."The Bar Has Been Raised, The Commandments Have Been Set, and If Y’all Try To Break Em, We'll Be There To Stop You!"

If you're still not satisfied with the help and counsel we provide couples, let me inform y’all of another story....

Instead of cruising the 154, this last week we spent some time on the FM 1795, and after a long day of hard work, we started to head back on home. As we were cruising through the backwoods...the real back backwoods, we flew by a wedding reception in the middle of nowhere. If you haven’t noticed, we always seem to get bright ideas that bring us back to some unexpected places where we may be needed. But we figured it might look a little odd if we just drove up and said hi to everyone...so we parked a ways away from them, and then after a little bit of walking, came out of the dark trees with scriptures in our hands and started to contact everyone there. It was another classic "look on their faces" moment. They would start out looking confused, and then look at their drinks, as if to consider all the Beer they had drunk, and finally decide they were done for the night.

It was as we had suspected, a wedding reception, by the world's standards...just a tad late. They had lived together for like 3 years now, were married about 3 months ago, and decided that now was a good time for the reception. Now all they need to do is have a kid in 3 weeks and they can follow the world's 3-3-3 plan (yup Herman Cain wasn't the only one crunching lifestyle numbers.) The groom was by far the coolest guy there, dressed in his best jeans and Wrangler shirt with his beard newly trimmed and what looked like the first time he'd used hair gel in about 10 years. It was fun talking to everyone and randomly becoming members of the party. They loved the idea that we share messages about the importance of the family and we're looking forward to getting this couple baptized!!! For now though, muchos congrats to Brent and Heather, happily married for 3 months already!

Along with our Couple Counseling efforts, we've also become Honorary Members of the FFA this past week as we were able to help Raigan's Family by "Hay Bailing". By now you could say I've lived the country life...I've been Brush Hoggin, Trail-Blazin, Tractor Drivin, Tree Choppin, Brisket BBQin, and Hay Bailin...all I've got left now is shootin and fishin...and I'm still waiting for the mission to approve these activities haha.

So, this past week Raigan gave us a call and told us that her family needed some help with Hay Bailing the square bails because they needed it done ASAP and couldn't find anyone else to help them out. Naturally, we jumped on the project thinking it was going to be the greatest thing in the world, just living the country life! We showed up, just as stoked as could be rockin our cowboy hats and ready to get to work. Raigan's grandpa saw us pass through the gate in our Toyota Corolla. I'm sure he was just thinkin "...Just a couple city slickers..." After we cruised on up he greeted us with his overalls and weathered old farmer hands and explained to us the art of hay bailing. Each bail is about 80 pounds, so you have to flip it over to the side where the twine will hold, grab it by the twine, lifting with your legs, then haul it on into the trailer by forcing it up with your knee...making sure it lands in the trailer in an organized manner...and then repeat the process for all 200 bails of hay.

It was definitely hard work but I'm not gonna lie, for a couple of people from the city and this time being our first, we dominated and got it done way fast. It was fun...until we found out the real reason they needed it done so fast. Apparently, if you leave the square bails out in the field too long, fire ants start to make them their home and begin to breed inside them, which pretty much destroys the possibility of you selling Hay. By about the 20'th bail of Hay, we started to notice that our arms were really itching, and as we looked at them, we saw that we were COVERED with fire ants! We did our best to get them all off, but we'd always feel one bite somewhere and see that we missed a spot and kill that one, followed by another one, and it felt like that during our entire bailing experience. We would flip the hay over and the ones with the most ants were the ones that got loaded the quickest (probably the reason why it got done so fast.) As we got home we got to examine all the bites covering our arms and try to apply something that would work, but we woke up the next day to find that all of them were loaded with puss. It was pretty nasty but easily worth it...because Raigan's super Anti-Mormon family has finally consented to listen to us. In Raigan's own words, her mother is Satan reincarnated...and I'm no genius, but I'm guessing that she'll bring her preacher with her. We're still not sure if she truly does want to meet with us, or is just trying to be nice since we declined the pay for the work we did on their farm, but we're pretty anxious to see how this is going down and we'll have to bring our 'A' game.

Well it's time to wrap up, but I want y’all to know that we're seeing miracles out here along with enjoying all these crazy experiences! Be it chasing off the Jehovah's Witnesses from our members (Sister Miller had us come over for one of their appointments...it was quite the experience) or looking forward to four baptisms on October 26, we are, por su puesto, living the dream!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Wilson

The 183 Semi-Annual General Conference...My Last

Dang, it's been a pretty busy, but emotional week at the same time. General Conference has always been about 10 times cooler on the mission, and I speak the truth when I say I've seen the best ones as a missionary. I mean, not many other people can say that at the beginning of their mission they saw President Monson give the historic announcement of the age change for missionary service, and by the next one, I got the opportunity to serve and train those that had responded to the call as the Lord continues to hasten his work.

Elder Wilson "training and serving";)

It's been quite the experience to see the missions around the world grow by over 27,000 missionaries since I've started my mission and is such a thrill to be at the very heart of the service while the church pushes missionary work like it never has before. But, I've got to admit, I was disappointed that Elder Nelson didn't have a catch phrase this time haha. Even though his talk was my favorite for this last Conference, he didn't add onto the "Thanks Be To God", "Ask The Missionaries", and "Catch The Wave."

Another one of my favorite parts about conference was that between last Conference and this one, I've gotten to meet Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Neil L. Anderson, Elder Randy D. Funk, and Elder Terence M. Vinson, all of whom were able to speak. And as always, the best part is Priesthood session! I can always feel way close to Dad during that session since I have such vivid memories of being ordained a Deacon and going to my first Priesthood session! It was so awesome to see the chapel just full of Priesthood holders as we would anxiously search for a spot to sit, surrounded by men with the same calling and commission. It seems like no matter where I see it, I also feel especially close to Grandpa and Papa, the family patriarchs! Well, the Priesthood is eternal, so why wouldn't they want to watch it haha!   

As we spent all our efforts this past week inviting people to conference, we asked one of our new investigators what it would mean to them to know that there is a living prophet on the Earth today. She responded, "Well excuse my French, but that would be pretty Bad A__!!!" Yup...not quite the everyday response to the message of Restored truths, but she gets the picture.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHIE!!!! 19 YEARS OLD SAY WHAT!?!? I had my mission call back when I turned 19...and it still feels like I haven't even been out that long.

Even though time is flying, not only do memories from back home feel like a dream, but now memories from past areas! Dang, it doesn't even feel real how old I am.

This past week we were also able to hold a Baptism for one of our investigators,  Alyia Johnson, right in-between the Afternoon and Priesthood Session. It's an awesome story of how the opportunity to teach her miraculously fell into our hands, and there's nothing better than watching the Lord's hand in your life every day. But along with a baptism and conference, it's time to recuperate after being spiritually overpowered.

In closing, I want to share my testimony of a special experience I had in watching the last session. One of the most powerful feelings I've had in watching Conference on my mission didn't come from a lengthy talk, one with the most scriptures or the best way to work in the "come take my yoke upon you" line (I've heard this probably over 200,000 times on my mission in conference and out here in the overall Christian savvy Texas). I actually didn't get this feeling from hearing anything at all, but from looking into the eyes of President Monson. During his last remarks on how we should study the talks that were given. He began to give his testimony, and as I looked into his eyes, I couldn't stop a certain thought running through my mind that came so gently saying..."he knows." It was like everything had stopped, and the only thing I could hear was the phrase repeated again and again, "he knows." As I've reflected on this powerful experience that came from such a short testimony and from looking into the eyes of a man I've watched hundreds of times, the scripture Ether 12:6 came into my mind, and then the message came to me....Believe not because ye see not...but once ye believe, ye shall see. After bearing my testimony countless times on the truths of a living Prophet with only a small knowledge about him and his divinely appointed calling, the Lord saw He had tried my Faith...I have placed it on the line many times, and because of that, he saw fit to reward me by opening my understanding and giving me the explanation.

I know President Monson is a Prophet of God. If he is a Prophet then everything he professes of himself and that which he represents is true. If he truly is a prophet, then Joseph Smith was a prophet as well, called to Restore the Gospel and Church that Christ himself is the head of. I cannot wait to look you all in the eyes and tell you that we do have a living Prophet. This is the Church of Christ and his work will move forward until he says that we have done enough. I love y’all and share this testimony with you in the name of Him whom we serve.

Elder Wilson

Oh It's Alright...Thems Just Cousins....

President Durrant: Alright now we're going to have to turn the time over to the Return & Report on Every Zone's Monthly Baptismal Goals, Dates, and Actuals, and those of you who hit goals and got to go to the temple please report on your temple trip....

(Normal Dallas Zone Report): We have the BEST missionaries! They work so hard and are so awesome and after such a hard month we had 4 baptisms! We didn't hit our goal but our Zone's the Best!

President Durrant:....Alrighty Then....Gilmer Zone...

Elder Nuckols & I: So as for the report on our Temple trip for hitting goals, as we started going in and talking to everyone, they all just started asking where we were coming from and we just couldn't help but say....(and please sing along if you feel inclined to do so)

We Are From Gilmer!!!

(we are from Gilmer...)

The Mighty Mighty Gilmer!!!

(the mighty mighty Gilmer...)

Everywhere We Go!!!

(everywhere we go...)

People Wanna Know!!!

(people wanna know...)

Who We Are!!!

(who we are...)

So We Tell Them!!!

(so we tell them...)

WE ARE FROM GILMER!!!!

Oh dang it was so awesome haha! Some missionaries just started clapping along with it, whereas some others just started to hate us, but I'm sure they all would have loved it if we weren't the highest Baptizing Zone in the Mission. Then one of my favorite companions Elder Rodriguez presented us with the Highly Coveted Baptismal Frame which was previously held by his Zone out in Dallas.

The last thing I want y’all to think is that we're getting all prideful up here in Gilmer (which may be just a tad bit true...), but we just can't stop celebrating after entering September with high hopes and getting everyone to push together to work their behinds off and finally see the Lord working miracles among us.

"Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. [Especially after we had] suffered all manner of afflictions,and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us...And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Texans and Okies.

Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

Now my [homies wherever y’all may be], we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen." Alma 26:16, 30-31, 33, 35-37 (With some small but necessary changes.)

We thank y’all for your prayers and thoughts for us and know that they worked, because seeing what happened here could not have possibly happened without the divine intervention of the Lord. It wasn't a huge push where one companionship got lucky and baptized tons of people, but EVERYONE put in their own small part and helped earn a huge accomplishment, so we thank y’all again.

Now for some small intermediate updates on some of my best friends that I hope y’all have come to Love just as much as I have…

Raigan was able to get her Patriarchal Blessing last week and right after that, go to the Temple to do Baptisms for the first time and meditate the miraculous blueprint of her life that she received from her Heavenly Father. As great as the blessings were, there are still plenty of trials in her home while her Mother yelled that the Book of Mormon is "Bullsh__" as she left for her Patriarchal Blessing. We're just praying that she'll get her acceptance letters to one of the BYU's soon and live around those that cherish the same blessings that she does.

Quaid is a baller who just received the Aaronic Priesthood...power to baptize baybay!!! Now we're just planning with him which of his friends he wants to start teaching so he can baptize them haha.

Tommy & Jamie Phillips from out in Greenville sent me a letter telling me about how excited they were to receive their Patriarchal Blessings as well and are looking forward to being sealed in the temple within the next few months.

Jacobo gave me a call the other day letting me know how life is going.  He received the Melchizedek Priesthood on the anniversary of his baptism and will be going through the temple with his wife this November.

I've also had to say bye this past week to Elder Rodriguez, my companero from all the way back in the Oak Cliff days when we just tore it up out in the Ghetto. It's so crazy how that's over a year ago and just feels like Yesterday. I'm sure gonna miss this kid, and especially how when I served with him, I felt like Amulek; learning, teaching, seeing trials and success wherever we went. He taught me so many things that changed my mission and I'll always be thankful to him for that.

So back to business...

I figured y’all must be wondering what my title has to do with the E-mail, and sadly, it doesn't have to do with my awesome cousins, but rather what I've learned from spending a good amount of time out here in a small East Texas town. The more time you spend here, the more you start to understand how each family is connected, literally speaking. It takes forever to get all the relationships and re-marriages and nephews and first, second, and third cousins figured out, so we're thinking of starting a huge family tree showing everyone's connections.

The worst part is that since everyone is related to everyone, you can't say anything bad about anyone or it'll work its way to them. All I've gotta say is that we've probably offended every family in Upshur county at least four times. And if you want to know what awkward is, go to any dinner appointment in Kelsey/Gilmer Texas and ask the couple you're eating with "How they got to know each other." Last night's appointment told us they were second cousins. A few nights before were first cousins. It sure does make you wonder if every activity out here is a Family Reunion or speed dating??? They'll always try to put a little humor into it and explain how they got their third arm removed and then go into the subject of how, in a small town, there really just aren't that many marriageable options to choose from. So they'll always just settle for the saying, "oh it's alright....thems just cousins..."

Les quiero muchisimo y espero que los que hablan espanol puedan mandarme packetes lleno con Puppussas y Tacos de Lengua porque no los tienen aqui y los extrano mucho!!!

Viviendo el sueno en Texas....

Elder Wilson

Shout outs!!!!

Thanks for the Pizza Mom!!! It was delish!!! And came just in time for planning!!!

Ashlyn!!! Thanks for the Instagram Page!!! I don't know what Instagram is but it sounds pretty legit! You're going to have to teach me how to use it if y’all can get me back in California!!!

"Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica".....Name The Person And You Win 50 Wilsonbucks!!!

So I guess I'm just going to start things out by letting y’all know the first thing us missionaries think as we start an email....

1. Alright, time to finally buckle down, write something, and stop reading E-mails and hoping that something new will pop up

2. So I'm supposed to talk about this whole last week

3. I have a half hour to do it

4.The week flew by so fast I don't even remember what happened

5. Stare out the window and then realize I've still gotta write a letter and do 5,000 other things today

6. Finally remember a couple events from last week but realize that they have nothing to do with each other.....

7. Think of a way to make them flow

8. Think of another way to make them flow and sound good

9. Give up and adopt the idea of re-runs in 'E-mail' form

10. Remember how cool it sounds when you get praise on your letters

11. Decide you can do it and try to work the subjects out in Bullet point form

12. Get distracted

13. Look through some pictures and think about just sending 3 of those....after all, a picture says a thousand words....that equals a 3,000+ word e-mail

14. Realize you forgot a title and pull out something completely random to see if you'll get any responses

15. Hope that another e-mail comes

16. Think of how you want to start without saying "Well...", "Life Is...", "This Week...", "Hey Family!", "So..."

16. Give up on waiting and finally just write whatever comes to mind.....

Hey Family!!! Well so this week life is pretty awesome out here in good ol’ East Texas! Full of miracles, lazy eyes, longhorns, and missing teeth! Uncle Tom would have a heart attack out here if he saw the dental crisis!!! (Shout out to the Ludlows! Thanks for the B-Day Package! Loved It!) I figured I'd break it down from here to share with y’all the "shocking" experiences we had this last week!

So for our dinner appointment last night, we went out to the Shirley's house in the middle of Kelsey Texas (most backwoods part of the world I've seen in my life. They should post a disclaimer before you enter the town with a Confederate Flag as the background.)

After our dinner, the Mom got a phone call from one of her kids that's somewhere around the world...and the Dad just looked at us for a second and said, "Now, I really want y’all to come outside and try touchin the fence." The fence he was referring to was out in the front yard and is called "hot wire." You see them everywhere out in the country, mostly on the inside of barbed wire fences or wherever you don't want hogs to get in. But this family had it around their front yard which was pretty weird and made things look even more redneck...but I guess whatever floats your bass-fishin boat.... So we just started flipping out, wondering if this guy was for reals? He continued trying to convince us that it was set at low voltage and will give you a decent shock if you touch it with one finger, but if you grab it with your hand, it'll spread out the surface area and you'll barely be able to feel the electricity. Basic East Texas Science. Oh and by the way, I forgot to mention that he's a physics teacher. Welcome to Texas y’all. He kept trying to explain it to us and we wouldn't do it until we saw him finally grab the wire, and we would just twitch every second. After holding onto it for about four seconds, he finally let go and told us about how it was timed, but you can still barely feel it.

Since we saw him grab it, we figured it wasn't any Jurassic Park fence, so we were thinking about grabbing it, but still flipping out! I was so anxious and wanted to beat out Elder Nuckols, so my sweaty hand finally just grabbed the wire.........nothing.........and then everyone except Elder Nuckols just ran away laughing so hard they were crying while shouting "It's turned off!!!! It's turned off!!! I can't believe you actually fell for it!"

So....lesson learned about lame redneck jokes, never grab hot wire because it can mess you up. We found it out without having to touch it...but about those redneck jokes, you can never tell if the fence is on or off and they won't hesitate to get you to touch either.

Our convert Chris is also from Kelsey, Texas. He decided he would spend his Saturday trying to learn how to throw knives. He ended up at the Hospital getting stitches.

He was at the hospital a few days before that when, working on the Lumber yard, he accidentally cut his eye with some wood. He was in the hospital two weeks ago for the same problem. I've never met such accident prone people.

We started teaching a family that owns a huge longhorn ranch! The Longhorns are so big it's ridiculous! I'm going to try to get on their good side and see if I can't get one of those sent home with me....ballin through the streets of Los Angeles with some Longhorns mounted on the front of my ride....nuthin but a G thang

I'm 21!!!

I spent my 21st Birthday the Texas way....at a Bar!!!

It was a BarBQ.

Inside the BBQ I got loaded up at the Bar!

It was the Salad Bar...delicious Potato Salad...compliments the 16oz Steak perfectly!

The guy that took us out there was actually a miracle the way we found him....(Rewind two weeks...)

So we were at the Gilmer vs. Prestonwood Game, and during halftime is when we get the bulk of our contacting in. After seeing the normal people that were there the week before and getting shrugged off from some "not so well taken" contacts, the second half was about to start along with our curfew. So right before we headed out, we just looked behind us and started to contact that guy and found out he was a less active member of the church in the ward we don't cover. So we just got his information and told him we'd send the other missionaries over. He had kind of a funny look on his face, but so does everyone when they see guys in white shirts and ties at a football game.

(Fastforward to last week....) So while we were leaving our English class at church, Sister Miller stopped us and asked us straight up, "Y’all remember talking to my brother at the ball game? Who sent y'all to contact him?????" We were kind of taken aback trying to think about who she was talking about (because everyone....literally EVERYONE is related to EVERYONE out here in Gilmer. It isn't quite like the city where your dating options are almost endless...the options are few in small towns...it's kind of weird but whatever.) So she explained to us how she was a Dixon, and then we finally remembered our last contact of the night. She then explained to us how he had been inactive for about 25 years now, but just a few weeks ago saw a copy of the Book of Mormon at work. So he picked it up during down time and said he "couldn't put it down." He finished the book within three weeks, looked at his life, and took it to God about how he wanted to clean his life up. Within just a few days, he was contacted by a couple missionaries at a Football game....of all places....a Football game. So Sister Miller asked us again..."Who sent yall to contact him???" Elder Nuckols and I looked at each other and grinned thinking, "I guess it came from a little higher up the leadership chain." So we told her God sent the referral via Football and bolted out the door to get to his house. We're now teaching Brother Dixon who split his Drinking and Smoking in half and takes us to Steakhouses. Living the dream baybay. Living the dream....

Just a normal day back in the homestead: "Welcome To LOS ANGELES!!! Famous For Its Tourist Attractions and Auto Shows!!!"

Just a normal day in Gilmer...."Howdy yall. Welcome to Gilmer. Famous for its annual Yamboree and Tractor Shows."

Hope yall enjoy the pics haha. Back in L.A. I got a pic with my favorite Red Audi R8. This is the Texas version: the 1962 Red Farmall Model 140 with a 2 cylinder engine and 6 horsepower.

Les Quiero Tantisimo!!!! Gracias a mi familia, mis abuelas, y a todos por las mensajes que me han enviado para mis cumpleanos!!!

Elder Wilson

Living The Dream..."What Can I Say More???" (Jacob 6:5)

Oh yes I did! Droppin scriptures in the title like it "aint nuthin but a G thang!!!" (The new school shirt for Gilmer.)

As y’all know, the Gilmer Zone is just kickin trash around and even though we took kind of a rough hit this week, we're still going to reach our extremely high goals! As I told y’all last week we were rewarded as a zone to finally be able to go through the temple for the first time in almost a year and all I've gotta say is...wow....left me speechless it was so awesome! After spending so much time learning so much stuff and finally being able to go with so much more knowledge and so many more questions, ah it was too good. I feel like I love the temple more and more every time I go and it's just a good time-out from whatever may be going on.

Temple!!!

Another one of those crazy "time flying" experiences was when I had to get my Temple Recommend renewed.

While I was there, I met this Sister Missionary that finished her mission in Arizona a few weeks ago, and I just couldn't believe it when she said that she entered the Provo MTC on the 7 of March, 2012--same day as me. Man it's goin too fast!

Right after the Temple we drove to Fort Worth (leaving mission boundaries say what!?!?!?) and arrived just in time to get a good seat and meet Elder Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy who was followed by Elder Andersen of the Quorom of the Twelve! President Austin keeps sarcastically asking me if I have a checklist of all the General Authorities I've seen on the mission, but I for reals think it's time to start one haha.

We all felt so spiritually drained after having those experiences back to back....so drained I was about to pass out...that is until we found out that there was an IN-N-OUT about 2 miles away. So, all I've gotta say is that this past Wednesday was pretty much the closest to vacation as anything on the mission can get! After sitting down for 7 hours of driving along with 7 more sitting down in meetings and the temple and In-N-Out...we got back and just completely passed out, making it the first time I haven't woken up to Elder Nuckol's snoring....what a blessing.

We're getting started on another transfer out here in Gilmer with some changes amongst our Elderes (the most exciting being that one of our Spanish missionaries is training! When I found that out I just about screamed and made sure that he would hunt down an 'Elder Bench' at the new trainee's meeting! President loves to use this revelatory process where you pick who you think you're companion is and you're normally right, or he'll just change it and give you the companion you chose, so I drove it into Elder Well's head to do whatever it takes to get Cody!!! So crazy that he's probably flying into town right now haha. Welcome to the promised land!)

I also got a call last night from Jacobo! One of my converts back in Oak Cliff who I ran into out in Plano, and life is looking great for him as he just got the Melchizedek Priesthood and he'll be going through the temple this November to be sealed to his wife! We also got the smell of fall coming in, but about the weather change....all I've gotta say is....Don't you wish your mission was hot like mine!?! Les quiero tantisimo!

Going From 20-21 en algunos dias!!! Aint no better place to turn 21 than Texas! Because...in the words of Garth Brooks, I've got friends in low places!  

Elder Wilson

Redneck BBQ

The Time When You're Sadly convinced that no...you don't have a year left....

Hey y'all sorry for the delay last week but I've got soooooo much stuff to update yall on so I think I'll just break it up into sections and let y'all fill in the details...

Amongst all the Redneck activity and Cane that is raised out here in Good ol East Texas, we were able to finally get a Redneck baptism and....please observe....Yes.....those are overalls. It was such an awesome service and I'm tellin you it just gets better and better and all sorts of people came from out in the sticks and from up in the hills to see this baptism! It's so crazy how everyone in a small town knows and is somehow related to each other haha but it was, as always, an awesome experience to see Chris & Debbie Pritchett finally take the step to baptism. We worked long and hard with them, and for those of you that know me, know how much I looooooveeeeeeee my sleep! But how good of a teacher you are depends on how good of an "inviter" you are, so in order to help them conquer their ever so frustrating Word Of Wisdom issues, we felt impressed to promise them that if they do their scripture study as a couple in the morning, that the cravings and addictions would be erased. As great as a promise is, it all boils down to what you're willing to do to help those you love "get the picture." So I made a deal with him that I would call him every morning and remind him to study when he rolls out of bed and before he gets ready for work. Oh I felt sooooo good haha and it was another one of those times where I think I just have the greatest ideas....until I find my foot in my mouth and learn that I'm going to be calling them every morning at 4:30 am. Was it a sacrifice for me?...duhhh. Was it a sacrifice for them?....yup. Did it make any differences?....you bet. Was it worth it?....D&C 18:16

East........Texas........FOOTBALL!!!!!

So due to the population of Gilmer (4095), and the large member presence (3 Wards), and the draw to the games (12,000 crowd stadium), we thought we thought we would spend our time watching a little High School Football! So after receiving President Durrant's blessing on our money idea, we were hooked up with some tickets like it wasn't nobodies business and so far we've been able to see our Buckeyes play Atlanta and Prestonwood! Since I haven't seen football for about 19 months now, I could give you the play by play breakdown of how the first half of every game went (since we've gotta be in by 9:30....bummer), and to give yall the watered down version...the only team that can beat Gilmer this year, is Gilmer. I had heard it so many times and was a doubter before, but I'm totally jumping on this bandwagon as we represent Gilmer and follow the missionary handbook and get "immersed in the culture!" The first two teams we've played have been so intense, but we ended up stomping on each one of them! The craziest one was how last week we played Prestonwood (the only expected loss of the year), who we lost to pretty soundly last year. They're a private Christian school that recruits and has about 4 all-american players along with the sons of a few NFL stars like Michael Irving. They scooped up a bunch of players from 5A powerhouse teams and were expecting to destroy us again...the small 3A school of Gilmer, but we killed them 66 to 32! Everyone gets way sucked into the game, but once halftime comes around, we get to go contact tons of people and sneak out the people that have been avoiding us haha because really....EVERYONE goes to these games!!! It's been so legit and our Stake President saw us there contacting everyone and people would ask us for Book Of Mormons and all that stuff, so he wants us to divide our weeks up between the Gilmer and Harmony games (Harmony is the other big school that a ton of members go to out here in Upshur county...but their GPA is a higher priority so good for them....) So as far as Texas High School Football goes along with everything you've heard about it.....it's the real deal. God, Family, and Football. Get Em BUX!!!

P.S. BYU cleaning up Texas' trash last Saturday spread like wildfire and President Austin would actually let me talk about football with him as he was so stoked to tell me that the white and blue dominated! Now us Mormons are hated even more and are regarded as a threat to the State of Texas

The Zone of Miracles!!!

Yall know I've been updating yall on how the Zone is doing, what Goals they've set, what goals they've accomplished, what miracles they've seen, the work they do, the effort they put in, the faith they have, the desire to serve, the souls they've brought unto Salvation....I really just can't get enough of them. Well I just wanted to let yall know that going to the Temple out here is not an easy thing, and due to a bunch of missionaries abusing their use of time and visiting the temple too often, we rarely get to go, and it's been almost a year since I last went. But due to all the work that the Zone has put in and the goals we've completed, President wants us to take a much envied trip to the Temple this Wednesday morning! And to anyone who's prayed for us and for our success, we all thank you because it's definitely working! After our Zone's temple trip, we're going to a Mission Conference between the Dallas and Fort Worth missions and will be held by Elder Andersen and Elder Callister.....so by this Wednesday I will have covered half of the whole Quorom of the Twelve in my mission....aint no better time to be a missionary!!!

Loving Life, Teaching 7 Lessons A Day, Drinking Deeply Out of Every Experience, Keeping The First Counselor of the Mission Presidency Out Teaching until 9:45(still have no idea how I got away with that one), Speaking Spanish, Loving Every Time I See The Holes In My Shoes, Baptizing, Learning, Dallas Road Trippin, Apostle Seein, BBQ Eatin, Tractor Drivin, Dream Livin,  and Just Wishing That Elder Tavo Didn't Point Out That I Passed My 18 Month Mark This Past Saturday,

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Elder Wilson