May

Hey Mom!

I am glad that you liked my email ha. They take forever to type;) No I am just kidding. I am becoming a pretty fast typer haha.

Everyone has seen the outside things that have happened to our family which in all reality do look pretty bad. But they don't see all of the other things and all the changes so don't let it bother you. All you can do is prove them wrong by the way that you live your life from now on. And what does it matter anyways ha. I know it is hard and it takes a lot of charity.

I am so proud of Brays! I wish that I could have heard him give his talk. He is the man haha i miss him so much. I miss you all so much! Of course Gage timed him haha he is a goober.

I am so happy that you got a Preach My Gospel and that you are reading the Book of Mormon! It will seriously bring so many blessing and it is what I am studying over here so we can be connected haha. And thank you for following up on it!

So this ward is really good and we get an average of about 5 tea appointments per week:) For a few weeks in a row we got fed every single day which was nice. We have this lovely old lady who makes us lunch and we pick it up every friday. She is the bomb. But yeah we cook. I have been cooking a lot of wraps and pasta lately haha. The classic missionary meals. Tommy Reeves also gives us a frozen curry every week so we have that with rice. We have been making like grilled sandwiches and stuff like that haha so usually pretty basic. We only have about an hour to cook, eat, and clean up and you usually just want to sit on the couch haha so yeah. Well we have our missionary cards and we get £129 put on it every month which carries over from month to month so if you shop really cheap then you can save your money. But I can't take any of it home sadly so I was basically just saving it up for my license because getting it is so expensive. I haven't used my personal card yet so hopefully I don't have to but I will have to spend over £100 on my license this week so I probably will have to.

I haven't gotten the speed stick yet haha thanks for sending it though! I always need things from you haha. That would be the greatest thing if I was able to go through the temple with you and Matt when I get home.

Ah that cruise is going to be so legit! i am stoked for it. That's a long time away haha.

It has been a great week full of miracles. Every week is full of miracles haha. But the Lord truly just continues to bless us and it is almost always after the trial of our faith! That is how it is supposed to be though.

Zone meeting went pretty well this week. It was pretty stressful planning for. We have so many amazing missionaries in the zone! So many diligent and obedient and faithful missionaries. My love seriously grows for them every time I get to see them and especially as I pray for them individually. We have developed a great relationship with the District leaders and I feel like everyone is getting fired up! Everyone is just working hard every single day and producing the Faith that brings forth miracles. It is my hope and desire to continue to inspire and uplift so that we might all have the ability to realize our potentials. I would like to share one of my favorite quotes by Marianne Williamson. 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.' We must doubt our doubts AND our fears before we ever even consider doubting our faith. I truly believe that we are all more powerful then we can even imagine and that power can and will come by connecting ourselves to heaven in and only through the principles of righteousness.

I passed my theory test!! So to pass I had to get 43 out of 50 on the multiple choice and 44 out of 75 on the Hazard Perception portion. I got 45 on the multiple choice and 69 on the Hazard Perception haha I was so happy. I was seriously helped with that test. There was like 11 questions I had no idea about. It was crazy haha. I take my practical driving test on Wednesday which I am super nervous for so send some prayers my way!! haha.

I was able to go on exchange this week with Elder Mcdonald. He is really doing great in Whitefield and truly has a desire to help those missionaries that he associates with. He is truly motivating and inspiring those missionaries and they are seeing some great things. He is a very diligent missionary. It is so crazy going on exchange with him because I remember meeting him in the Salt Lake Airport. He was the first missionary that I met haha. He came and sat by me and was like 'Hey man. are you a missionary?' I just looked at him and said ,'Uhhh yeah I think so.' hahaha. And 10 months down the road we are knocking doors and teaching together. His district is doing great. 

It was great to see David Royal get baptised in Bolton. He has been going to church for over 9 years and a simple invitation from a member gave him the desire to follow Jesus Christ.

We have been using the Europe Area Plan cards with all of the members and inviting them to pray to god for missionary opporunities. One of the strongest testimonies I have is that of which God will grant us the desires of our hearts. He truly will. I know that what we truly desire, whether it be good or evil, God will let us have. There is countless examples. One from the Book of Jacob Chapter 4, which is a bad example. One from the story of Enos. And countless ones that come from the Sons of Mosiah, simply because they desired it. We have seen a big of a change take place in some of the members here in Oldham and we got some referrals!!!!!!! Wooohoooo hahaha we love referrals. One of the referrals led to us finding a mother with 4 children. It was a brilliant miracle:) Hopefully they progress.

We have also been teaching this family from Nigeria. The Father has been pretty reserved but the mother is very interested and they have 3 children. We went over this last week and had a very short but great lesson with them. The mother Vivian was feeling the Spirit and I asked her if she believed the things that we taught. She looked at us and said  that she believes every single word that we have taught her and that the Book of Mormon is true. Yeah:) But she works in Manchester every Sunday Morning and her Husband works nights so she is looking for a new job so they can come to church as a family. 

Sam and Paul are doing really well. They have developed testimonies and don't even realize it. They have seriously come so far and I can't even explain in words the love that I have for them. And their children. I look at their young boy and think of myself as my dad was a convert to the church. I wonder where I would be if my dad never made that decision. So me and Dylan have a good connection:) haha when we go over he comes up to me with his cute little english accent and says 'I missed you buddy' haha it's the best. They are scheduled to be interviewed this wednesday so hopefully everything works out this time.

We also had a very powerful lesson with Lois this week. We have been taking the kids in the ward that are preparing for missions teaching with us and it has been a great experience. Lois just keeps telling us that she knows that the book of Mormon is true because she felt it. So good. She just needs to quit smoking now ha. Everyone smokes!!!!

So many amazing people. Tommy Reeves came to church as well. And Chris Gallier is coming teaching with us! We street contacted this Less Active a while ago and we have been teaching him and his mother. He is in his mid 50's and he just takes care of his mother. She is in her 80's and she is super frail and old and she was in a horrible car accident about 10 years ago and she hasn't been in a vehicle since. As we taught them about church and the sacrament, Joanne shared a very spiritual experience with us and through tears she just told us how badly she wants to go to church and partake of the sacrament but she just isn't physically capable of getting there. We are finding there records and have gone through worthiness checks and bishop feels we should just take her the sacrament to her house. She is super excited about it and we are very happy for her.

I am so grateful for my testimony. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. I was reading about the account of King Lamoni's father in Alma 20 and 22. The change of heart and conversion that he experiences in such a short amount of time is so incredible. In 20:23 he says that he will give away half of his kingdom for his life. And then and 22:15 after he is taught by Aaron he says that he will give away all that he has. He will forsake his kingdom and give away all his sins to know God. I hope that I can experience that same conversion within myself.

Thanks for all that you do mom! Have a great week! I love you!

Love 

Elder Wilcox