No Entiendo

The title of this email is "I don’t understand" because guess what... I do not understand like any Spanish hahaha it is extremely difficult but maybe I'm just hard on myself. 

So first things first, saying bye to my family was one of the weirdest and most sad feelings in my life. I was so so emotional and so so so peaceful all at once it is a feeling I truly cannot explain. I flew from Salt Lake to Houston Texas and then from Houston to Mexico City. The whole thing is a blur. I got to the CCM at about midnight and didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. BRUTAL morning that next day.

The nights here at the CCM are by far the best. Me, Elder Freedman, Elder Buxton, and my companion Elder Wells all live in the same room. Funnest and funniest people ever.Bedtime is 10:30 and let's just say we struggle falling asleep because talking about our favorite food at McDonald's is more important right?!? Anyways a couple nights ago there was a huge thunderstorm and when I say it was the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life I mean it. Like wow we all woke up and just looked at each other and lost it cause for some reason thunder at 3:00 a.m. is funny idk.

Sorry if this is already too long of an email. I just have so much to say. My cousin Elder Kassel is serving in England and he sent me a talk. I want you all to read "Ministry of Angels" by Elder Holland. WOW. I needed this talk in my life. So shoutout Elder Kassel for sending it to me. That same day he sent the talk we had a Devotional and it was a recorded video talk by Elder Holland. AMAZING. He talked about being obedient and being your BEST self. I felt the spirit so strong. 

Before I talk about the biggest highlight of the week I need to mention my good ol friend El Comedor. This is where we eat food and man I MISS Taco Amigo so so so badly. The food is trash to say the least but it's okay because someone special gave me gummy worms before I left and they saved me from one of the gross meals ;)

Now a more serious topic. I know for a fact the Holy Ghost is real and that Jesus Christ lives. It has never been more apparent to me in my entire life until this week. We had a devotional that I had been waiting for with President Kirkham the CCM Pres. And yes it was the bomb about the Law of Chastity but the spirit was incredibly strong. One thing he said at the beginning was "Elders and Hermanas (started to get emotional) this is the most special group we have ever seen come through the CCM and I KNOW that Jesus Christ is in this room with us. I can feel his presence and I hope you can too." I am feeling the Holy Ghost so strong as I write this but I want you all to know that I KNOW without a doubt this church is true and that the Holy Ghost is SO real and is our constant companion, as long as we allow him to be.  

 

I love you all! Please keep reading your scriptures and praying the Lord will bless you. I have felt the blessings in my life this last week as I have done so. Talk to you all next week! 

-Elder Wilde

Mexico City Temple trip this morning

District 9A

We were supposed to teach by zoom, but zoom wasn't working. So disappointing

HMTC is Done!

Hello Everyone! 

My time at the home MTC is complete. I technically still have 1 more class Monday morning but then after that we will have no more zoom meetings. I fly from Salt Lake to Texas Tuesday morning at 9:30 then from Texas to Mexico City to the MTC (CCM) . I am so excited to meet my District and Instructors in person! 

So this week was super good actually. It started out a little bit funny and I'll explain why. Hermana Marichal (Our Instructor) had members in her ward in Mexico join our Zoom and each companionship in our district had to go into a breakout room with a member and share a scripture in Spanish. It was honestly so scary and challenging. My companion Elder Wells and I were super nervous but knew it would be a good learning experience. So the first member we have we share our scripture with them and then she starts to ask us questions. Now remember she lives in Mexico and ONLY speaks Spanish. On the other hand Elder Wells and I live in the United States and ONLY speak english, with a very very very small vocabulary in Spanish. So with this background you could probably assume that Elder Wells and I had NO IDEA what she was saying to us. Elder Wells kept answering the questions with "Sí" and "Bien" which in no way were the answers to her questions. So me being the 18 year old BOY that I am, started to die laughing. I am bright red just rocking back and forth because it was SO funny to me. Anyways long story short we have a lot to work on with Spanish. 

Elder Wells and I continue to get to know each other more and have become really good friends. A downside to that is during companion study we have a hard time focusing and learning because we just want to talk about our life before the mission haha. One positive of this week during companion study is that I memorized the First Vision in Spanish which is a great accomplishment for me. One of my favorite scriptures that we also talked about in companion study is Alma 49:28 "And it came to pass, that on the other hand, the people of Nephi did thank the Lord their God, because of his matchless power in delivering them from the hands of their enemies." I love this scripture because it reminds us that when good things happen we need to remember that it is because of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that the good thing came to pass in our lives. So it is important to thank them in our prayers for all that they do for us. 

One last story from this week is Hermano Rios. He was asking us all about what our favorite candy is and so the classic answers came out, Twix, Snickers, and obviously I said Sour Gummy Worms because that IS the best candy. So he then told us his favorite candy, "Bubu Lubu, man I love it so hard." These were his exact words and let me tell you, I got a good kick out of that. I laughed for the rest of the 20 minutes of class lol. 

Anyways I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to do the HMTC. Next time I talk to you guys I will be in Mexico! WAHOOOOO!!! Love you all and I'm so grateful for the prayers and all the support. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

-Elder Wilde 

Birthday Twins! So happy cute Lucy came to visit me during lunch!

Best lunch visit with some of my favorites!!

Visiting my mom at her library during my lunch break

Said see ya later to some of my best friends, Josh and Connor.

Friday Night dinner date! These are the best and I will miss them. 

My little companion Hudson!

Favorite p-day activity!

I'm definitely the strongest in my district! Check out my golf arms.

Distrito 9A

What's up everyone! 

I can't believe one week of the home MTC is already done! This week was so good and full of so many ups and downs as a mission usually is. I'm gonna focus on the ups because there were honestly so many! 

My District is 9A and it is awesome. I love everyone in my district and especially my instructors. Hermana Marichal is our morning teacher and she has the humor of a 5 year old. She laughs at almost anything and is just so fun to be around. She brings so much joy and happiness to us missionaries in the MTC. Hermano Rios is our afternoon teacher and he is actually one of the kindest people I think ever. He is always thanking us for all that we do and giving us so much confidence in learning Spanish. 

Spanish. A great thing to mention. IT IS SO HARD LOL. Honestly the biggest challenge this week has been Spanish. Hermana Marichal and Hermano Rios love to speak so much Spanish and all of us missionaries just look at the screen like huh haha. But the more they speak it the more we start to understand it. A positive thing about Spanish this week is that I memorized the missionary purpose in Spanish so that is awesome. 

My compeñero is Elder Wells. He is from Meridian Idaho and is a super nice kid. He is an epic guitar player and is the G.O.A.T at wakeboarding. He showed our district some highlights of him on the lake and he is out here just throwing backflips and 360's. It's insane. One of my favorite things from my companion study this week was a talk by Elder Bednar called "Called to the work" . It repeats a simple phrase many times in the talk that I love. "Be Worthy. Stay Worthy." I love this because it is such a good reminder that becoming worthy is important, but staying worthy to enter the house of the lord is most important. 

One last highlight from this week is Elder Kremin. He is the life of the party and honestly keeps our district from going crazy when we are all tired. He lives in Idaho about 30 minutes from Coeur D'alene. He loves the movie "The Best Two Years" and loves to tell us jokes. During one of our breaks he unmuted himself from the zoom and was JAMMING to "The Best Two Years" soundtrack. That gave me a good laugh. He shared a really cool thing I wanted to share here.  "Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles." I know that as I go throughout my mission if I am exactly obedient I will see miracles. 

I love you all and can feel all of the prayers you guys are sending my way. This church is so true and I can't wait to share it with the people in the DR. I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

-Elder Wilde 

PS Super cool miracle this week. I was able to attend my brother’s sealing at the Draper Temple and it was so cool! 

District 9 A (Elder Kremin is bottom row on the right)

Thanks to Ruby and Austin, I have some great notes/artwork to make me happy while I am doing my studies.

Said see you later to my friend McKay. He is going to do great things in North Carolina! See you in 2!

Favorite companion this week! Little Hudson