Oh it is so great to hear from you! I love being able to get your emails every week. It is such a blessing. I got the package that you sent mom! Thank you so much for that. It was so good to hear about all my friends and see how they are doing. It is great when the Zone Leaders Bring a package in for me to a meeting haha. And also to have candy to eat during weekly planning;) haha it was so good. I will have to send you all some chocolate home. the chocolate here is seriously so much better. It's like so creamy haha I'm addicted. Chocolate and ice cream are my weaknesses. I was just wondering how Dillon and Easton are doing?
Dad I got your letters as well. Thank you so much. Ah that letter was so great and your conversion story is so amazing. I am so grateful for the influences that you had in your life that led you to the gospel. It forever changed your destiny as well as every single one of your kids. I feel blessed beyond comprehension! Our destiny's were changed forever. the Lord sure works in Mysterious ways haha. And those Family history papers were soooooo much help! I found a few more names and it is so much fun! The Spirit of Elijah is real and I know that without our ancestors we cannot gain Salvation. Ah I miss Curtis and Beth. Tell them all I say hi and that I love them!! Everyone!!
Oh and with packages that you send me make sure they don't cost more then 55 dollars or £45 or else we have to pay a pretty high tax on them. And I think for presents it would be nice to get a few things that I could open for christmas but you really don't need to send too much. It's already hard to carry everything around anyways haha. I would rather just get things from here to bring back home if that makes sense? I got to meet with President this week. I dont know if I have talked about him much but he is one of the most amazing men that I have ever met in my life. He talked to me and said the he is going to be 'using' me soon and to be prepared. Makes me a little nervous haha.
It has been another amazing week in Stockport. I am seeing the hand of the Lord every single day in our work and I feel an overwhelming gratitude to be serving in this part of the Lord's Vineyard at this time with Elder B. Sadly we had a number of lessons fall through this week but we were still able to teach a lot of people.
We have this investigator named Pole` and he is from the Congo. His native Language is French but he has been learning english since September and it is already great. Luckily we have 3 men in our ward who speak French which will be extremely helpful! We met with him last week but couldn't get a fellowshipper so we were unsure of what to do. We found some pamphlets in French and just went over to teach him the Restoration. It was so amazing. We had the Pamphlets open and would direct him what to read. He would read it in French and then tell us in English what he learned! If anyone got the gift of tongues it was Pole`. The Spirit was so strong and he said that he was able to learn so much. We also got him a Book of Mormon in French and he loves it. We had trouble inviting him to church so we are going to see him next week with Our ward Mission leader who speaks fluent French and hopefully he continues to progress. It was an amazing experience.
Ah I have to tell you about Mark! We street contacted Mark a few weeks ago and had a good lesson on the spot with him. We had a return appointment but things just kept falling through and we couldn't meet with him. This last friday we were able to catch him in and he invited us in. He told us his life story basically. He is 19 and has a 3 month old son. He said he used to be into drugs and alcohol but when he learned he was having a kid he got the motivation to quit it all and kind of shape up. We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and then we read 2 Ne 31:10 and asked him if he would follow Christ and be baptised and he said yes. It was the most Spiritual lesson I have ever had. The next day we called him to give him directions to the chapel and he told me that he read 2 Ne 9 right after we left and he said that he just felt this overwhelming lightness and happiness for 3 hours! We explained to him the Holy Ghost. The next day we showed up to the Chapel. Mark had walked all the way to church and was an hour early! We gave him a tour of the chapel and explained church and the sacrament. We got to the Baptismal font and explained baptism. We asked him if he wanted to be baptised on Dec 13and he said he would love to as long as one of us baptised him haha. The ward was so great to him and he stayed for all 3 hours. He explained to us how loved he felt. It was truly amazing and we are super excited for Mark.
We taught Nikita earlier this week and we also dated her for baptism on Dec 13. She was doing pretty well and then we got a text yesterday saying that she didn't want to meet with us anymore. We asked her why and she said that her boyfriend told her about Polygamy. We asked if we could come by and just explain things but she is being pretty flaky. Hopefully we get to see her tomorrow night and help her!!
Bryan Bibby is still progressing towards baptism. He got a substitute for coffee and is doing great with that. He just needs to quit smoking now and he will be ready for baptism. He reads the Book of Mormon Between each visit and he knows that it's true. We are super excited for him.
Jewel D who is a recent Convert from Bangladesh is getting the Melchizedek Priesthood next week and he is really excited for it. His Visa got denied and he might have to leave sometime soon so it's good he is getting it before he has to go back home.
I was reading a talk this past week by President Packer titled Candle of the Lord. What an amazing talk that is. He talks about how we need to bear testimony of things that we HOPE to be true as well as the things that we already know. He explains how critics would call this self-conditioning and just convincing ourselves that it's true. It is actually a leap of Faith. When we bear testimony of things that we hope to be true is sometimes that leap of Faith that we need to take for the Spirit to witness the truthfulness of it to our hearts and mind. No one can ever deny the testimonies that each of us have. It is so powerful and it is truly a weapon against the adversary and his advances in our every day lives. I am so grateful to be a part of this work at this time.
I urge you all to read the Book of Mormon and to gain a personal relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Elder Holland has said that even a strong testimony is not enough in these last days. We need to be truly converted, faithful, and obedient in all that we do. The book of Matthew speaks of serving 2 masters. We need to be on the Lord's tema and wear the Lord's Jersey ALWAYS. In all things. In Mosiah 2:41it speaks of the happiness of the righteous and I add my witness to that. The only true happiness and blessings come from living the gospel and keeping the commandments. I love being a missionary with all may heart and giving everyday to him. I owe Him everything that I am and ever will be and serving a mission is a very Minute portion of me giving back.
I love each of you and all of you with everything that I am. I am so grateful to be in such an amazing family. I hope that you have an amazing week and remember every day how much I love you!!
Love
Elder Wilcox
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