Sept 16

Good morning to my wonderful family!!! I hope you have all had a great week. It went by amazingly fast for us. Our week started extremely slow but ended on a good note. We are busy doing the Lord's work and seeing lots of blessings for our efforts. Last Monday evening we had the opportunity to watch the CES broadcast by Elder Nelson with the singles branch. It was a great FHE activity; I've missed going to those. Wednesday we had zone training. We learned all about referrals; it was great. We knocked a lot of doors and visited a lot of people, too, but didn't have much, or any, success. Thursday night we met with Austin (after having dinner with the Austin family-confusing!). It went well. We had planned to teach the Plan of Salvation but changed our lesson to reading the Book of Mormon with him since he hadn't been doing that. It went well; the spirit was strong. Austin is a great person; I'm blessed to be working with him. Friday we met with the Curless family. They are so great! We did teach them the Plan of Salvation. It was great; everyone was engaged and asking questions.

Saturday was SLOW. Literally the slowest day I've had yet on my mission. We knocked a ton of doors. Okay, not a ton but lots and lots. And NO ONE answered. It was brutal. Not my favorite thing to do anyway and when I don't have good experiences doing it then I am less inclined to do so. We were talking with our zone leaders, Elders Rudd and Stevens, and were "invited" (missionary lingo for challenged) to place 2 copies of the Book of Mormon, teach lots of lessons, and get a new investigator. Well, we didn't back down on that. After transitioning an investigator over to the Elders around 3pm we drove to Lee's Summit. We were diligent in working and showed faith that we could accomplish the task set before us. And we succeeded! By the end of the night we had taught 7 lessons, placed 1 Book of Mormon, and found a new investigator. It was great! We were excited to have our efforts blessed. I know that as we work hard we will be blessed for our labors and efforts. Maybe we won't always see those blessings but they are there.

So, that Book of Mormon that we placed was to a man by the name of Lynn. As we were talking with him he told us it was his birthday. I was super excited for him and asked if we could give him a gift. We did-the Book of Mormon. I think I bore testimony about why it was the best gift and how it helped me. I hope it makes a difference. Lynn was only visiting at the house we found him at, he didn't become a new investigator, but a seed was planted.

Sunday is still my favorite day. Jacob Curless spoke in sacrament meeting and did AMAZING! He has such a strong testimony for one so young. (I sound really old.) I wish it would have been appropriate to record it but it wasn't... so I didn't. Elder Deschler (area authority) was in our meeting. He spoke briefly about general conference. He left us with a great blessing. He told us that if we would prepare and watch general conference in a few weeks like it was 1 of 2 of the most important events in our lives this year then the blessings we would receive would be great (sorry, left my notes home). We would receive blessings that couldn't be received anywhere else or by any other way. It was a great blessing. I know it's true! I'm looking forward to general conference. To be able to hear from prophets and seers of the Lord. I know that we can receive the insight and wisdom we need to help us get through our every day life, troubles, and trials. So, my invitation to you is to prepare for general conference with a sincere heart and real intent.

Well, I think that's about it for this week. I love you all a ton! I'm grateful for each of you and the blessing you are in my life. I cannot begin to tell you individually how you've each touched and helped me. You are in my thoughts and prayers daily. Stay strong, be courageous, share the gospel. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Sister Wilson

Pics...

1-These are elephant ears. I LOVE THEM!!! I want to have a garden of them one day.

2-The Bosch family! B. Bosch (ward mission leader), S. Bosch and Carol

3-The Miller kids (and a couple friends). Super sweet; they guessed my name on our first meeting...