Really Good Things Are Hopefully Coming Soon!

This week was really good. Though, as far as actually meeting with people, this week was actually pretty quiet. It was really good because we had a lot of really cool things happen that will hopefully turn into cooler stuff in the future!

Monday night we had a meeting with our Bishop to correlate things that are happening right now, and that was a really good meeting. In talking to him he gave us a lot of people that he's had on his mind for us to go by, and he also was able to tell us more about some of the other people that we were wondering about. So that was where I think the ball really started rolling this week.

Though this isn't someone for us to teach, we had a member of our ward pull up to us and tell us about a friend of hers who lives in the Riverside mission that she wanted missionaries to go over too. So we got the information we needed and sent that off. On Sunday, she came up to us, and told us that the missionaries had gotten in contact with her friend, and had set up a time to go over and teach her. So that was really exciting to see success from a member's hard work and friendship!

We had another fun thing that should be really good. A few weeks ago a lady named C came to church with her 6 or 7 year old son. Turns out she has two older kids. One on a mission (or at least in the MTC learning Spanish I think) and another at college that is working on his papers. And she said that she wants to learn more and (possibly [and hopefully]) get baptized by the end of the year. Well, a sister in the ward was the one who talked to her and found all this out, and so we went by this last week and talked to this sister, and asked her to call her and see if there was a time we could teach C at this sister's house (thinking that she would call her a bit later). She pulled out her phone and called her right there! She wasn't able to set up a time, but she did set the expectation that we would contact her, and gave us a few other people in the ward that she felt would be good fellowshippers. It was cool!

This week we had exchanges, and that was really good as far as meeting potential investigators as well! In Pauba where I was, we set up an appointment with a man who had talked to missionaries in the past for this morning actually! But that has moved to next Monday morning instead. More on that in a bit. But in Temecula Creek ward! Elder Whipple had a cool experience. Him and the other Elder were out contacting, when a car pulls up with three teenagers (2 girls 1 guy) with a question: were they Jehovah Witness or Mormon? Well, this turned into an hour and a half lesson, a return appointment with one named G in our ward and her friend C, a referral for the Morgan Hill ward for I (the third friend in the car), copies of the Book of Mormon given to G and I (they ran out so couldn't give one to C), and overall just a really good experience. We met with G the next day, and though it didn't turn into a lesson she seemed genuinely interested and said she would study more.

For the guy I talked to, named J, turns out he is good friends with a member family in our ward, and in the Temecula Creek ward, and with an investigator family from that ward as well. And he went to church in Temecula Creek once when that family was speaking! It was really cool!

On Memorial Day we spent the day going by a lot of people we didn't know, either less active members, potential investigators, part member families, and some active families! And we were able to meet with or set up times to meet with a couple of them! It was really amazing!

So as far as a scripture, the one that comes to my mind is short and simple, D&C 101:16, "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God." This week, looking back on it, I've had multiple chances to simply "be still" and know that God is in charge of this work. That He is working to help His children to know the truth and to find where it is.

Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Wixom

And The Rains Came Tumbling Down...Again

This week was pretty damp! Or at the very least the end of the week was!

Before that though, there are a couple other fun things to talk about!

Last Monday our district got together with another district and played softball! It was a lot of fun! And thankfully someone was able to find a lefty mitt for me. I realized very quickly that I am really bad at pitching underhand, or pitching overhand for that matter, but I was actually able to hit the ball and get around the bases a few times! It was a lot of fun playing softball though.

On Tuesday we had a zone training meeting, and that was really good! To start off the zone leaders had invited a few RMs from the YSA branch to come share their thoughts on a mission, and it was pretty powerful. We also had some trainings on some of the basics. Contacting people, being fully consecrated and giving everything to the work, and also a training on planning. It was overall a pretty good meeting.

We were finally able to meet with C again this week! We got back in touch with him last week after a couple weeks of no contact again, and had a lesson with him, which went really good! We talked about overcoming trials, because he is really trying to get over his addiction to smoking. And the member we brought with us who was a convert to the church some years ago who testified powerfully of how surrounding yourself with uplifting things like spiritual music, prayer, scriptures, and other things that invite the Spirit help in overcoming addictions.

Then on Thursday and Friday...it rained. Nothing like monsoons in Hurricane, but for Southern California it was a pretty good rainstorm. And I actually saw one bolt of lighting and heard a couple claps of thunder! I was really excited! I don't know why I got so excited about the thunder but I did! Anyways, as far as appointments go those two days weren't very full, but it was pretty fun trying to walk around and talk to people in the rain (surprisingly people were still outside, but usually only during the short times of no rain).

On Sunday we had lots of talks, lessons, and other things about the Restoration, and in Sacrament Meeting it was specifically about the Restoration of the Priesthood because that happened May 15, 1829. And then the other speaker talked about the importance of family history and of connecting our roots (ancestors) with our branches (descendants). Which was funny because in ward council we had a training on indexing. It was a very good day with lots of powerful messages about the Restoration and the things that have come from that.

For my scripture I'm going to use a scripture to celebrate the restoration of the Priesthood, D&C 13, "Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." On May 15, 1829, John the Baptist restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Aaronic Priesthood, and shortly after Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood on them, and with that, the authority to organize Christ's church. This was and is a very important moment in the history of the Church. A good Mormon Message that goes along with this is called "Power of God" and it is a very powerful video.

Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Wixom

Happy Post Mother's Day!

It was great to talk to all of you yesterday! I really liked seeing you again, but it still doesn't feel like it has been 5 months since December. Or that I have 5 months left....which is weird.

Now for the fun stuff for the rest of the week!

Last Monday during our normal activities I got to see our Zone Leaders and our Sister Training Leaders get pied in the face (it was actually just all whip cream to be less expensive). That was fun. Last transfer we did a "Temecula Games" where we got points for doing things like running in the morning or inviting someone to be baptized, or some silly things like talking to someone in a car. And the winning district got to pie our leaders. It was pretty messy but pretty entertaining for all of us to watch. So of course I got it on video.

Had transfer meeting this week, and you know how I said we were going to be in a trio? Well, turns out we aren't! They switched things up right before transfer meeting so the Elder that was supposed to get his companion later and so be in a trio with us got a companion! But the really funny things is...I got his old companion! My new companion's name is Elder Whipple, and he got transferred from the next ward over. So we have been laughing about how we almost had a trio where my companion was just barely companions with the Elder who would have been our third companion! Overall I'm kind of glad we aren't in a trio though, it helps out a lot with logistics and stuff.

Had zone breakfast this week at the Stake President's house. That was really good! We had some really good french toast along with some equally good spiritual thoughts about miracles that have been seen in our work here and about how there are angels around us always helping us out. Usually not seen, and more often than not actually just people who feel inspired to help us in times of need. It was really good!

Other than that the only really exciting thing was that it was Mother's Day this last Sunday! So not only did that mean that I got to talk to you all but that in Sacrament Meeting we had some fun special musical numbers. We got to hear from the primary children, and then we also had a song by the young men (which was...interesting).

A really good scripture about mothers come from the new testament, where we see how Jesus cared about his mother. While being on the cross in intense pain and just coming from suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane for the sins of the world, this perfect example to us all sees his mother and the apostle John in John 19:26-27, "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." Though he was being mocked and killed, Jesus Christ still took the time to make sure that his mother would be taken care of. This just goes to show how much we should look after our mothers, who give so much for us. Love you mom!

Love,

Elder Wixom

The End Of Another Transfer Is Upon Us

Wow. Six more weeks have already come and gone. Where did the time go!

Anyways, it might be a bit dull of a letter this week, it was a pretty quiet week.

Tuesday night the zone got together and we had a zone devotional which was really good. The theme of it kind of felt like though some missionaries tend to think that the only way to tell if you are successful is if you have really good looking numbers as far as your weekly report, there is a lot more to being a "successful missionary" than just things that can be quantitatively measured. Really they said that the "secrets to success" were: Work Hard, Have a Good Attitude, Exercise Faith in Christ, and Pray then Act. And then the biggest one was Love. You need to love the work, you need to love the people you serve, you need to love your area and ward, you need to love your companion, and most of all, you need to love you Savior. After the devotional part we had a testimony meeting which was really good. This was to kick off a zone fast that we did on Wednesday for all of our investigators. Though not much personally happened with us on Wednesday, other companionships saw immediate miracles in the lives of their investigators. It was pretty cool!

Got to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders again this week. That was fun! Not too much happened but it was still really good. And on Saturday we got to visit with a lot of the companionships in the zone because we were running around dropping off new daily planners for the next transfer!

Other than that, the only other thing to really talk about is transfer calls. Drum roll....................... Elder Stevens is getting transferred!....Home! He is finishing his mission! So there was absolutely no surprise to us that he was leaving. The surprising thing is that though I am staying, I am not getting a new companion...I'm getting TWO new companions! Since a lot of missionaries have been finishing there missions recently, I'm actually going to be getting one new companion who will be assigned to me, and then we are also going to be companions with an Elder from the Morgan Hill ward which is another ward here in Temecula. So I'm not sure how long this will be for, but covering two wards is going to be fun!

Spiritual thought for the day. This is one of Elder Stevens favorite scriptures. 3 Nephi 5:13, "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." It is a simple and straightforward declaration that also shows the reason behind doing missionary work.

Love,

Elder Wixom