Thank you so much for the email. I love your emails so much! We have been so blessed here in this area but we need to keep working to find those people that the Lord would have us find. EVERY soul is great in the site of God. No matter what! I don't get homesick because I am just so busy. I do miss you all though! It is funny because sometimes I will see something or feel something or hear something or smell something that reminds me of home and it takes me back for just a second haha.
I still don't feel like a man though. I still feel like a young teenage kid haha. I can't believe that it is baseball season. To be honest though, I wish I would have just put all of my work into track. I made some great memories and relationships through baseball that I will never forget. I just didn't love it. And we got killed haha. Oh well. That's in the past.
Well that sounds like a pretty fun job haha and you got paid well! I wish I could see Em dance. You will have to send me some more pictures of her. All of the mothers over here keep asking me if you have a facebook, particularly Amy Mayall haha. So set that up when you can:) haha.
That is an amazing commitment that you have to read the scriptures mom. I know that the Book of Mormon can seriously change your life. It has changed mine. Please study it regularly.
We have had a pretty decent week here in Oldham. I feel like I am just running around in a whirlwind sometimes with all of the exchanges we have and the trainings we are giving and then trying to help our own investigators. I love it:) haha. It really has been one of the best parts of my mission. I got to go on exchange with Elder Honorio this past week in Rochdale and WOW! I was so impressed with him. I can't believe he has only been out for 4 weeks! His english is great. He is such an obedient and diligent missionary. He has such a great desire for the work and wants to be the type of missionary that God would have him be. It is very evident. We had some fun experiences together. We were doing some finding and weren't seeing much success so we decided to go somewhere quiet and say a prayer. After the prayer, we stopped these 2 men and they were from Angola and Portugal. They all started speaking Portegeuse together and I felt a bit lost but I couldn't help but smile haha. They could speak english as well so I was included a little bit haha. They were so friendly and after we taught them, gave them a book and got their numbers, they just hugged us and told us to come back in the next few days. Very friendly people. We were then walking down the sidewalk this young man was flying down towards us with headphones on. I turned to Elder Honorio and said 'I'll try to stop him.' Elder Honorio just laughed at me haha but when he got closer I just held a card out and started waving at him. He slammed on his breaks and we ended up having a lesson and giving him a book and getting a return appointment:) haha. We had a blast together.
I also got to go on exchange with Elder Webb. He is doing very well with his companion.
Elder Van Wagoner and I took part in a Skills workshop last week in Chorley where we gave a training to over half of the mission on Breaking Down Barriers and Initial Approaches in Missionary work. As well as finding the desire to FInd! Haha it was pretty fun.
Chris's baptism went great this weekend! We showed up at the chapel and hour early to fill the font and he was already there waiting at the gate in his new white shirt that we got him haha it was great. His entire family showed up as well and they usually don't have a whole lot to do with him so that really meant a lot to him. We had a very spiritual service and Chris came out an entirely new man. It has been so amazing to see his life change. I am so greateful and humbled at the opportunity I had to baptise him. He used to take 5 different kinds of drugs as well as smoke and drink. He says now that he doesn't even have the desire to. I testify that the Gospel changes people in amazing and miraculous ways! I have seen it for myself and I know with my whole heart that it is true.
When he showed up to church yesterday to get confirmed, he had one of his friends with him that loved church and we are going to go see him with Chris and another member on tuesday. Already doing missionary work haha.
We had a baptism in Bolton as well which was great. And such a miracle!
We are now teaching this 15 year old boy named Elliot who is dating a young woman in our ward and he comes to church with her. Flirt to convert I guess hahah! He is good though and the young men are involving him very well!
There is also a Portugeuse that got baptised a few weeks ago that we are teaching. We told them they can teach us Portuguese and we will teach them the Gospel haha. They are so new to the gospel but so dedicated. The father, Claudio, expressed that when he attended church, he had no idea what people were saying, but the feeling that he had was indescribable. It is truly incredible. Him, his wife, and his 3 children have been baptised and they have the cutest litttle baby who eventually will be:)
Sam and Paul are doing ok but have been experiencing some health problems and family difficulties. They are seriously so prepared. I wish that they could just see it! Sam still has the desire to be baptised so hopefully we can just help her to get there.
Last P day we got to go to this place called Dovestones in our area. Oliver Mayall took us. The Mayall's make up like half of the ward here I swear haha. Martin and Jean Mayall had 10 kids and now most of them live here and are grown up and have families. I love them all so much:) Anyways, Oliver is legit and he took us to dovestones which is apparantly where they filmed parts of Princess Bride haha I will send you some pictures.
I love studying the gospel so much. It makes such amazing sense! and it is the small and simple things that count. We had an amazing lesson yesterday by Sister Caffery on covenants. She talked about how we can make, honor, and keep covenants throughout our lives and Mosiah 18:8-10 lists at least 8 ways in which we can do that and the things we must do. We also talked about Patriarchal blessings and how they are there to remind us as well of the covenants that we made before we came to this mortal life. That is powerful. It can be our link to eternity if we let it. But all of those wonderful blessing our conditional upon our obedience. I was studying about covenants and went to the dedicatory prayer given by Joseph Smith in the 109th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. In verse 22 he explains how we can have the power and armor of God and His angels have charge over us. I know that this is true becuase of the feelings and things that I have learned inside of the Holy House of our Lord. It also talks about the covenant people and children of the Lord in the same way in 1 Nephi 14:14. We are very literally given power from on High.
I bear my solemn witness that Jesus is the Christ, That covenants are sacred and binding, and that as we take upon us the name of Christ we declare our candidacy for the Celestial Kingdom of God. Of these things I bear witness in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I hope that everyone is excited for conference. I would like to invite you to prayerfully consider questions that you have in your life and I PROMISE you that as you listen to conference, they will be answered.
Thank you so much for the email mom. I hope that you have an amazing week and I love you so much!
Love your son
Elder Wilcox
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