Lots of Service and Sweat

Utilizing some birthday gifts

As I made it sound in the title. I sweat a lot this last week. Lots of moving stuff and other such service. It was really fun!

The first big project we did was for this new progrom called "Just Serve" which is a Church sponsered program that you can check out on justserve.org. But what we were doing was moving a child care group (I think) from their building in San Marcos to their new location in Oceanside. It was a lot of fun, because we had a lot of the missionaries there, all working together side-by-side with the people at the business.

The next two service opportunities both happened last Saturday, so it was a very busy day. First we got to help some members of our ward move out of their apartment. And, as it always is, they lived up a few flights of stairs. At first it was just Elder Solomon, them, and me, so we set up an assembly line/pass-off line (whatever you would call it) so we didn't all have to climb a ton of stairs, but I still got quite the workout running up and down my flight of stairs. Eventually more people came and the line got filled in more, making it a lot easier. But I was very very sweaty by the time we were done, as it has been really hot and humid the past few days. Don't worry, I drank plenty of water, and a member took Elder Solomon and I to get Slurpees from 7-Eleven after, so that cooled us down really nicely.

The other thing we were able to do last Saturday was help at the "July Jubilee" (the stake's Pioneer Day celebration). We got to help serve and cook food, so that was really good, and then I was sent to the kitchen to wash dishes, which got really toasty due to all the hot water. But it was a really good event! And some of our investigators were able to come to it, and they really enjoyed it! So that was very exciting to hear!

This makes me think of a couple verses on service that a lot of people know, but are still my favorties. Mosiah 2:17, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service‍ of your fellow‍ beings ye are only in the service of your God." And Matthew 25:40, "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it‍ unto one of the least‍ of these my brethren, ye have done it‍ unto me." And I honestly love to do service, because not only does the person you help out appreciate it, but when you do service with a willing and giving heart, you feel happier and better afterwards.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and for all the support I receive! This last Sunday a recently returned missionary from the ward I'm in spoke and she said that we as missionaries can feel the prayers of family and friends, and it is true!

Love,

Elder Wixom

20 Years Later

Wow...I turn 20 tomorrow. Still a really weird thought. I'm almost done being a teenager...crazy.

Anyways! On to the exciting stuff!

This last week was a really good week. In all honesty, not much too spectacular happened for the most part, but it was still really really good.

One fun thing that happened was last Monday, because it was the day before transfers, some other Elders and Elder Solomon and myself went up to one of the highest points of the mission (as far as I know) and got some really cool pictures from up there. It was really fun, but a bit gusty (kind of reminded me of home in the good old Hurricane Valley).

 Another fun thing was the meeting the day after transfers had happened, when we had our Zone/District/Introduction Meeting. Because I always like seeing who is in the zone now. And guess what? Elder Bird is in the zone! Which I am really excited about! I've wanted to serve around him again, and now I get to! Well...sort of...I think he's in Escondido actually...but still in the zone!

The meeting itself was really good. It was all about "Raising our Expectations." Meaning, not so much consider the things that we work towards as goals, but as more of things we expect to happen as we work our most diligently. It was pretty cool.

And the last really exciting thing that happened! We had awesome lessons with many of our investigators this week! In one of the lessons we were finally able to pick up the granddaughter of our investigator as a new investigator. And in the other the couple we are teaching expressed a serious interest when we brought up a baptismal date. But they said at the moment they didn't want to set a date because they really want to learn a bit more because they recognize how big of a commitment this would be. It was really cool!

For my spiritual thought I just want to share a few scriptures that I have come to really appreciate more fully over the past few weeks as I've studied them. It is Moroni 7:12-13, "Wherefore, all things which are good‍ cometh of God; and that which is evil‍ cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually. But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good‍ continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth‍ to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired‍ of God." I really like this because of what it is saying. If it is good, and inspires us to do good, then it comes from God. And if not...well then...not so much. And I just think of all the good that has come from the Gospel, and specifically from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and this just builds my testimony that this Church really is Christ's church, and that it comes from God.

That's all for this week! Talk to you again next week when I'm not a teenager anymore!

Love,

Elder Wixom

I Love To See The Temple!

I had a really good week this last week.

One of the best parts was I got to go to the San Diego Temple last Thursday! So that was as fun as it ever was. I was able to get more "postcard-perfect-pictures" as I've taken to call a good portion of pictures I take down here in Southern California. I guess that is one of the benefits of having terrific weather almost all year round! But yeah, going to the temple always fills me with such peace and joy, and it helped make every day a little bit brighter (even though in sunny Southern California it is always pretty bright).

A few days before my district had a district activity, and that was really fun. We went and played some games at a nearby park and had a picnic consisting of quite the variety of foods (someone brought a bag of "Frosted Flakes," just to give you an idea of the weird things missionaries bring to picnics). But it was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend the last week we are going to have as a district together.

Had a Zone Training Meeting this week. And that was really good! We talked a lot about Elder Ballard's challenge from this last conference. It was a really great meeting, and it's always nice to come together and learn from each other.

Well, honestly that pretty much sums up the week. Except for transfer calls that is. Drumroll please..........Elder Solomon is staying.........and so am I! We're both still going to be here in the Santa Fe Hills ward! So I am really excited!

Spiritual thought...hmmm...well, this last week I read Mosiah chapter 29, and the beginning of it made me think a little bit. At the beginning, King Mosiah asks the people who they would have be their next king, and they respond in verse 2 with, "And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: We are desirous that Aaron thy son should be our king and our ruler." But that doesn't work because of  the fact that Aaron had left with his brothers to go to the Lamanites to preach the gospel. So I was thinking that Aaron is giving up a very prominent position in society, with whatever comes with that, to go and serve the Lord. This reminds us of in the book of Jacob, "But before‍ ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom‍ of God." (Jacob 2:18) and it really shows what seeking for the kingdom of God can bring, because Aaron and his brothers were very successful in their missions, and felt tremendous joy because of it. So yeah, that's just something that I was thinking about.

That's pretty much all for this week. Talk to you soon!

Love,

Elder Wixom

Hello July!

Happy (late) 4th of July!!! Wow...July...that's crazy...anyways! This last week was really good! Sadly we didn't have too many lessons but overall it was still a good week, and we had a lot of cool experiences.

Such as, for example, we got stuck in an elevator. That was exciting! It was only for around 5-10 minutes, but still, now I can say I got stuck in an elevator. The story behind it was that Elder Solomon and I were helping a member that recently moved into the ward unload some stuff from storage. And when we got to the storage place we took the freight elevator to the second floor...until it got stuck on the way up. So, naturally, we took pictures as we tried to figure out what to do next (unfortunately I don't have the pictures, but I'll try to get them!). It started back up a few minutes later and then we just proceeded to move the stuff. But it was still a fun story that now I can share!

Also this week we had lunch with someone that Elder Solomon knew from his last area. He is a really cool guy that is not a member of the Church, but is very religious and studious about the scriptures. So during lunch we all talked back and forth about the things we had been learning from our studies. It was really cool and even though this guy didn't have the same beliefs as us, we were all able to learn from each other.

Now, as for what I did on the 4th. Well, the lunch with the aforementioned person was on that day, and then President Kendrick had asked us to visit as many members as we could...unfortunately it seemed like a lot of people were gone for the holiday, but we were able to talk to a few people over the course of the day. And I even got to see a few fireworks as a member was driving us home (which was honestly a little weird to actually see fireworks on the 4th of July, because I haven't had them for a few years!).

Well, lastly, a scripture thought. Today I'm going to share one that used for my lesson on the Christlike Attribute of "charity and love," and it goes, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). It is a really simple scripture that is very very true! Not just for missionary companionships, which is what I was using it for, but for any companionship at all. Marriages, business coworkers, students doing a project together, it applies to every "companionship." I once heard this theory compared to oxen and a yoke. One oxen can pull one ton, but when you have two working together in unity, they can pull three tons, so pretty much 1+1=3! Contrary to 1+1=>1 if you aren't working together. So what we need to do is understand and love one another so that we can work together and do more than either of us could do alone. And I just had the thought that this can also be applied to our relationship with Christ. If we bring ourselves to "walk together" with Christ and "be agreed" with Him, then with His help we can do more than we could do alone.

So yeah, that's pretty much this week. Except that this next weekend is transfer calls, so that should be as exciting as always. I can't believe it's already been almost 6 weeks since I got to San Marcos! Talk to you soon!

Love,

Elder Wixom

P.S.
Well, I hope to hear from you soon! The pictures are of one of the best views in Elder Solomon and my area, and it also happens to be where the fires were so there is some of the damage in them as well. And the other pictures are of my district and some other fun stuff from the week!

P.P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Glad to see you're turning 29 again! Love you!