Another week has come and gone by before I realized it. The time has just been flying past me! It's crazy to think that in a week and a half I'll have already been out for 3 months! That's and 8th of my mission!
This last week has been a tough week for me. I had a bit of an allergy attack, so I felt a little...bleh...for a few days. But, I still went out to work because I figured I could either mope around inside all day and not feel any better because of it, or I could go out and work and possibly bless someone elses life. It was hard, but I feel like it was worth it, and while I was out working, I never really felt that terrible, it was only once I got home or woke up the next morning that I felt miserable. So...blessings from above!
One thing that was exciting! We finally finished the first project from the Community Service Project. For the past while we have been scraping, sanding, prepping, and painting a long rod iron fence, and now...it's finished!!! So that means we got to start working on the next things that need to be repainted in the park! Which right now is a short rod iron fence surrounding one of the play-set things, and one of the pavillion canopies. But I'm just glad to be done with that long fence.
The missionary work here is still a bit slow, but it is really starting to pick up. Which is really exciting, especially since we have two companionships in the ward. It is still such an opportunity to be able to work with the other companionship to try to further the work in the ward even more than Elder Bird and I could do ourselves. But soon my ward won't be the only ward with that opportunity, because pretty soon there are going to be multiple companionships in lots of wards, and hopefully every ward in the mission!
One of my favorite talks by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is his talk, "Safety for the Soul." In this talk, Elder Holland bears a powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon, and every time I hear or read it it boosts my own testimony of the divinity of that book. I encourage you all to read this powerful talk from an Apostle of God about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of Joseph Smith, and of the Restored Church.
That's all I have for this week. I'll write again next week.
Love,
Elder Wixom
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Elder Influx
So, today's P-day has been a bit crazy, so I don't have much time to write. There is one thing I am going to write about that will probably explain the hectic-ness of my E-mail today though.
As I said last week, the next day was transfer day, and with transfer day came new Elders and one new Sister, but it also meant the loss of some Elders and a Sister. It was a bittersweet occasion, because I grew close to some of the missionaries that left, but now I'm excited to get to work with new ones!
Not only did we get an equal amount of Elders coming in as going out, but we actually got quite a few more! Including another pair in the Los Alamos ward. So my area got split in half, and Elder Bird and I are in one, and Elder Wongsuwan (or Elder W) and Elder Daley (a brand new greenie!) are in the other. They are really cool Elders, and I am stoked about the opportunity I have to work with them!
But the "Elder Influx" as I'm calling it had some unforseen side-effects. One of those being that there are now more missionaries than our cars can carry. So that is why this E-mail is going to be really short.
Again, I am really excited to be here in Murrieta at this momentous time in the Church's history here! The stone cut without hands really is rolling forth to fill the Earth!
I'll write more next week hopefully!
Love,
Elder Wixom
As I said last week, the next day was transfer day, and with transfer day came new Elders and one new Sister, but it also meant the loss of some Elders and a Sister. It was a bittersweet occasion, because I grew close to some of the missionaries that left, but now I'm excited to get to work with new ones!
Not only did we get an equal amount of Elders coming in as going out, but we actually got quite a few more! Including another pair in the Los Alamos ward. So my area got split in half, and Elder Bird and I are in one, and Elder Wongsuwan (or Elder W) and Elder Daley (a brand new greenie!) are in the other. They are really cool Elders, and I am stoked about the opportunity I have to work with them!
But the "Elder Influx" as I'm calling it had some unforseen side-effects. One of those being that there are now more missionaries than our cars can carry. So that is why this E-mail is going to be really short.
Again, I am really excited to be here in Murrieta at this momentous time in the Church's history here! The stone cut without hands really is rolling forth to fill the Earth!
I'll write more next week hopefully!
Love,
Elder Wixom
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
And Now...Time for the News
Well, summer vacation is finally at an end. And being excited about that seems really funny to me. But this last week has been very slow since everyone has been out of town trying to get that last vacation in before summer-time runs out.
But as of this last week I have finally been out on my mission for a full transfer cycle! In actual time I have been out for two months, but due to all that excitement of the missions changing this is the first time I have actually filled an entire Daily Planner from Week 1 too Week 6. Yay! But we all know that with the end of a transfer cycle comes the exciting transfer calls! So...drumroll please....I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying in Murrieta for the next six weeks, as is Elder Bird! But there are going to be a few changes in our area, the major one being that the area is being split in half(ish). We are getting another pair of Elders in the ward as of tomorrow, so next week I'll talk more about that.
In less exciting news. Elder Bird and I have spent much of this last week going through our Area Book (the binder that has all of the records of people the missionaries have contacted in the area and what they have been taught). We have really focused a lot of our efforts at trying to contact former and potential investigators...without much success...so far. But we still have high hopes that we will be able to get back in touch with someone in our area and teach them the Gospel! And personally it has been teaching me to have faith as we go and knock countless doors looking for these brothers and sisters. Because though I do not know if the door will open, or if the door opens I don't know if they will be interested, or even live there anymore, I still know to trust in God and as I work hard then He will bless me by leading me to someone who has been prepared to hear the Gospel.
In slightly more exciting news! The work with the ward here is about to skyrocket dramatically. This is due to a new(ish) strategy to do missionary work called the Ward Mission Plan, which, in a nutshell, is the auxillary presidents, the ward mission leader, and the bishopric prayerfully decided on some names of families that they believe can benefit from having the missionaries teach them. So once this gets rolling (which it is planned to start this week) we are going to have a lot more lessons and a lot more teaching opportunities coming our way!
Now time for some just plain funny news. The funny news I have is that one of the families here gave Elder Bird and I a couple tiny cantaloupes. These were fully ripe fruits, just, they were the size of oranges instead of the size of melons. But mine still tasted really good with my bowl of cereal for breakfast. Also, in the Community Service Project thing we are doing with the city of Murrieta, we have started to paint. After the first day of painting, my arm looked like a Smurf had sneezed on me (the paint is blue)!
Now for a bit of cool news. This last Sunday (yesterday) in Sacrament meeting we had what I am going to call a "Hymns Sacrament Meeting." What happened was that there were six speakers, and all of them told us what their favorite hymn was, why it was their favorite, and why the hymn has special significance to them. And then the congregation sung the hymn. It was awesome! The reasoning behind having this was that people always talk about how they wish special musical numbers could just keep going because of how much the hymn being performed is able to bring the Spirit into the meeting. And so, this meeting was basically a lot of special musical numbers. And it was fantastic! It really goes to show that what Doctrine and Covenants 25: 12 says is so true, "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."
Well, that's pretty much all that happened this last week. Thank you for all your love and support!
Love,
Elder Wixom
But as of this last week I have finally been out on my mission for a full transfer cycle! In actual time I have been out for two months, but due to all that excitement of the missions changing this is the first time I have actually filled an entire Daily Planner from Week 1 too Week 6. Yay! But we all know that with the end of a transfer cycle comes the exciting transfer calls! So...drumroll please....I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying in Murrieta for the next six weeks, as is Elder Bird! But there are going to be a few changes in our area, the major one being that the area is being split in half(ish). We are getting another pair of Elders in the ward as of tomorrow, so next week I'll talk more about that.
In less exciting news. Elder Bird and I have spent much of this last week going through our Area Book (the binder that has all of the records of people the missionaries have contacted in the area and what they have been taught). We have really focused a lot of our efforts at trying to contact former and potential investigators...without much success...so far. But we still have high hopes that we will be able to get back in touch with someone in our area and teach them the Gospel! And personally it has been teaching me to have faith as we go and knock countless doors looking for these brothers and sisters. Because though I do not know if the door will open, or if the door opens I don't know if they will be interested, or even live there anymore, I still know to trust in God and as I work hard then He will bless me by leading me to someone who has been prepared to hear the Gospel.
In slightly more exciting news! The work with the ward here is about to skyrocket dramatically. This is due to a new(ish) strategy to do missionary work called the Ward Mission Plan, which, in a nutshell, is the auxillary presidents, the ward mission leader, and the bishopric prayerfully decided on some names of families that they believe can benefit from having the missionaries teach them. So once this gets rolling (which it is planned to start this week) we are going to have a lot more lessons and a lot more teaching opportunities coming our way!
Now time for some just plain funny news. The funny news I have is that one of the families here gave Elder Bird and I a couple tiny cantaloupes. These were fully ripe fruits, just, they were the size of oranges instead of the size of melons. But mine still tasted really good with my bowl of cereal for breakfast. Also, in the Community Service Project thing we are doing with the city of Murrieta, we have started to paint. After the first day of painting, my arm looked like a Smurf had sneezed on me (the paint is blue)!
Now for a bit of cool news. This last Sunday (yesterday) in Sacrament meeting we had what I am going to call a "Hymns Sacrament Meeting." What happened was that there were six speakers, and all of them told us what their favorite hymn was, why it was their favorite, and why the hymn has special significance to them. And then the congregation sung the hymn. It was awesome! The reasoning behind having this was that people always talk about how they wish special musical numbers could just keep going because of how much the hymn being performed is able to bring the Spirit into the meeting. And so, this meeting was basically a lot of special musical numbers. And it was fantastic! It really goes to show that what Doctrine and Covenants 25: 12 says is so true, "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."
Well, that's pretty much all that happened this last week. Thank you for all your love and support!
Love,
Elder Wixom
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Slow and Steady Work
So, this last week has been kind of a slow week here in Murrieta.
The community service project has been going really good! It has been so nice to be able to serve the community and help them complete projects that otherwise wouldn't be done! And there have been blessings granted because of this already! Our pair of Spanish speaking Elders have gotten a new investigator, and committed another person to a baptisimal date while working on the service project! It was really cool to see the blessings come from our service!
Elder Bird and I have been working hard to try and re-establish contact with former and potential investigators of our area, but unfortunately this has been less than successful so far, but we still have high hopes for these people. And the members here are still doing a fantastic job at member missionary work. When we go to talk with them about what they have been doing, they always get excited about trying to find new ways of inviting their friends to Church activities, and it is really great for Elder Bird and I to see what they have already been doing!
So the weather here has been really weird lately...or at least weirder than the members have told us it usually is. Some days it is hot, and then the next day it will be rather chilly, and then right back to hot! The people here say that for August and September it is just supposed to get hot! And there was one morning where Elder Bird and I woke up to do our morning run (I'm not sure if I ever told you, but in the Carlsbad mission it is mandatory to run for 30 minutes every morning) and there was fog...everywhere. While we were running around the local park, we could not see the other side of the park as we ran the fog was so thick! So yeah, the weather here has been really bizarre lately, but hey, it keeps things exciting right?
I have been studying the story of the sons of Mosiah, and looking back on it there are a few parts of one of the verses that I feel really applies to me right now, and can apply to everyone who has to be patient and hope for great things to happen. In Alma 17: 11 it says, "11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth...and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient...that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls." It is such a blessing to know that if I patiently wait, and make myself into the best example of Christ I can be, then the Lord will know how to use me to bless the most of his children as I can. And this can work for any other situation. If you patiently endure any struggle, God will bless you because of it.
So that's really all I have to say this week. The Church is true and this work will move forward!
Love,
Elder Wixom
The community service project has been going really good! It has been so nice to be able to serve the community and help them complete projects that otherwise wouldn't be done! And there have been blessings granted because of this already! Our pair of Spanish speaking Elders have gotten a new investigator, and committed another person to a baptisimal date while working on the service project! It was really cool to see the blessings come from our service!
Elder Bird and I have been working hard to try and re-establish contact with former and potential investigators of our area, but unfortunately this has been less than successful so far, but we still have high hopes for these people. And the members here are still doing a fantastic job at member missionary work. When we go to talk with them about what they have been doing, they always get excited about trying to find new ways of inviting their friends to Church activities, and it is really great for Elder Bird and I to see what they have already been doing!
So the weather here has been really weird lately...or at least weirder than the members have told us it usually is. Some days it is hot, and then the next day it will be rather chilly, and then right back to hot! The people here say that for August and September it is just supposed to get hot! And there was one morning where Elder Bird and I woke up to do our morning run (I'm not sure if I ever told you, but in the Carlsbad mission it is mandatory to run for 30 minutes every morning) and there was fog...everywhere. While we were running around the local park, we could not see the other side of the park as we ran the fog was so thick! So yeah, the weather here has been really bizarre lately, but hey, it keeps things exciting right?
I have been studying the story of the sons of Mosiah, and looking back on it there are a few parts of one of the verses that I feel really applies to me right now, and can apply to everyone who has to be patient and hope for great things to happen. In Alma 17: 11 it says, "11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth...and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient...that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls." It is such a blessing to know that if I patiently wait, and make myself into the best example of Christ I can be, then the Lord will know how to use me to bless the most of his children as I can. And this can work for any other situation. If you patiently endure any struggle, God will bless you because of it.
So that's really all I have to say this week. The Church is true and this work will move forward!
Love,
Elder Wixom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)