Transfer 1 Complete!

This week was actually insane, but first things first Happy Halloween. If you know me scary things are not my favorite therefore missing Halloween isn't that bad lol. But by the title of the e-mail my first transfer in the country is over! We technically don't switch and do the actual transfer until tomorrow but we have the news. My companion Elder Fuhriman is going to Puerto Plata and I am Staying here with Elder Grimmitt. It is kinda sad to see Fuhriman go. It is crazy how close you get with someone when you live together for 6 weeks in the middle of the DR haha.  I'm excited to meet Elder Grimmitt though! 

As you read in my last e-mail we were supposed to baptize Angelica on Saturday but we didn’t. She has a very very strong testimony and  wants to be baptized so bad but her parents said she isn't mature enough. We explained how we were baptized at age 8 and that didn’t change a thing. So that is sad. We will continue to visit her and keep trying but kind of some sad news. On the other hand we still had a baptism Saturday but it was given to us on a gold platter lol. One of the members was baptized at age 8 but the record was never recorded so we had to baptize her again and she's now 20 so that was fun and funny. Good times on the mission. 

This week I have been focusing a lot more on Prayer. If you know me well you know that I have a very strong testimony of Prayer. As I reflected on my first transfer a few days ago I was thinking about the way I pray. I was studying chapter 4 in Preach my Gospel and it talks about praying with real intent. I then realized that I have not been praying with real intent every time. I have made it a new goal and I want to invite you all to pray with real intent. Let the Spirit guide your prayers. I promise it will be worth it. I have already felt the blessings from starting to do it a few days ago. 

I honestly had a crazy week but now that I think about it I don't have much to write lol. They celebrate Christmas here starting in October. So there are Christmas lights everywhere which is fun but I never thought I would be sweating to death looking at Christmas lights. 

I love this gospel so much! It brings me so much peace and I know it can bring all of you peace. Read the Book of Mormon daily. I can't even explain how much this has helped me on the mission. Pray daily.. but with Real Intent. I know it will bless you. Love you all so much. Have a Happy Halloween!! 

-Elder Wilde

Poco Enfermo

Hello everyone! This week flew by honestly and it's kinda sad because we only have one week left in the transfer and my comp and I get along very well so it will be sad to see one of us go. (Not for sure, but most likely) Anyways this week has been an adventure. 

First off when we were walking to try and contact some people we saw these kids playing baseball in the corner of this neighborhood on a really beat up field. It was AWESOME. They had one baseball and every time they hit it they had to chase it down in order to pitch it again. I told them all that my family loves the Cubs and the MLB. They then asked if I knew a bunch of MLB players and were impressed that I did. So shout out Dad and Carter for being MLB fanatics. I did play a little baseball with them and obviously I was unreal... but I think I'll stick to golf ;)

We had an exchange this week and it was actually amazing. The Elder who came to my area has only been out for 2 more transfers then me so his Spanish isn't great. We taught 3 full lessons and contacted 12 people. It was a super good day. I learned 100% that the gift of tongues and Interpretation of tongues is real. The amount I understood and could say was unlike anything else these past 5 weeks. 

2 crazy stories this week. Both have to do with my companion. First one time last week when we were teaching our favorite person Angelica some random old guy walked up to me and grabbed my hand and started to pop my fingers very aggressively. I didn't enjoy it. Then he popped my ears and I was like oh boy so I hurry and stopped him and told him that my comp wanted his fingers popped too. Sorry Fuhriman. So the guy went over popped his fingers and ears and then tried to pop his neck. The homie had to have been drunk or high because we were saying no to the neck and he had my comp in a full head lock and I was being immature losing my mind laughing and then he stopped asked for money so I gave him 5 pesos which is like nothing and then he left. Second story. After the exchange we took a Concho back to our house. Well Elder Fuhriman had his carry on with his things for the exchange and put them in the trunk. When we got out for our house the guy drove away and 3 mins later we realized his carry on was still in the car. It had his Journal, Preach my Gospel, and some other things that mean a lot to him. We have been searching and praying like crazy to find this bag. We are gonna have to take some time out of our day today to go and find it hopefully!

As far as the work goes, it is rough right now. We have Angelica and she is amazing!! She will be baptized this Saturday and we can't wait. Pray for her. We also are teaching this girl named Charlenda and she told us yesterday she has doubts about the Book of Mormon. We then gave her one and said the only way to know if it's true is by reading it. We hope she does. Other then that we have like nobody else progressing or even letting us in the door. They all are just middle aged women on the street that are drunk and love my comp which is clutch cause they're gross haha. Pray for us to have some success this week please! 

Lastly I finished the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time and I know for a fact that book is true. I already started it again and I just love it. I challenge all of you to not just read but study the words in the book. It truly is the key to a better life. I know this for a fact. I love you guys all so much and think and pray for y'all daily. La Iglesia es verdadera!

-Elder Wilde

Estamos Heavy

What up y'all!? This week was a pretty good one for me but not a great one for the work. I'll explain why. 

First off my Spanish is in no way even close to good, but, I felt a dramatic change in it this week. I felt like I finally started to understand some grammar concepts and understand just a little bit more. I started to teach way more in the lessons and it feels so good to do something other than say a prayer and bear my testimony. One particular experience this week was we were teaching a investigator named Charlenda and it was her first lesson so we taught the Restoration. We got to the part of the Great Apostasy and The first vision and Elder Fuhriman looked at me and just said you got it. I tried my best but it was rough. I looked at him and said bro you gotta take over and he just said nah you got it. This was a great experience for me. I struggled to find the words to explain the whole thing but in the end I was super grateful to have a trainer that wants to help me grow even if everything I say doesn't make much sense to the investigator. 

Funny experience this week. This place is absolute bonkers and this week when we were finding one night we went down this pretty scary street but there were people to talk to so we went haha. The people we started to talk to were smoking and drinking but actually listened to our message and responded which was awesome. One of the guys straight up rolled a blunt in front of me which was definitely a first for me haha. Then next thing ya know a drug deal was going on right behind us. We left pretty soon after that. This place is so insane. But I love it. 

Now for Angelica! We were supposed to have her baptism this coming Saturday but she went to a different church with her friends yesterday so that was unfortunate. We had a really good lesson with her yesterday though about families and temples and why the Church of Jesus Christ isn't called something else. (3rd Nephi 27) She then went on to ask me why my family is important to me. I explained that they help me grow my testimony in the savior and when we are all together we are so happy and because of the gospel I can spend forever with them. She then said she loved what I said and it made her feel happy. She is progressing a lot and we are praying for her to attend church this next Sunday so we can get her baptized before the end of the transfer. 

This week we had our area 70 come speak to us for 3 days. His name is Elder Villanueva and he is a goat. All of the meetings were strictly in Spanish so I understood very little of them but there was one moment for 10 minutes where he shared his testimony in English, and wow it was powerful. He told us of a story when He was a Mission President in Arcadia California and he had to learn English. He felt very intimidated by this task to preside over a mission and not even speak the language. What he said next hit me "When the Lord calls you, He QUALIFY'S you" The spirit then confirmed to me that I can learn Spanish and that the lord called me to the DR because he knows I can serve here with the best of my ability. 

I wanna share a couple things I learned this week. First off don't cover a pan on the stove with a metal bowl to keep the heat in. Elder Fuhriman burned his finger pretty bad doing that lol. But, on a real note I learned that working on the mission is the key to happiness on the mission. I know it has been said before but this week I truly noticed that when we are in the street teaching and struggling it is when I am most happy here. I love this gospel and I know without a doubt it is the true restored church on the earth today. 

"On those occasions when you don't feel like praying, you should get on your knees and pray until you do feel like praying" Brigham Young. I love this quote. Prayer is a powerful powerful thing and we all have the wonderful opportunity to pray daily. I invite you to pray tonight with real intent about whatsoever thing you need help with. Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. Love you all! Have a good week and Pray and Study the Book of Mormon. It will bless you! 

-Elder Wilde

BAPTISM!!

Hello everyone! My siblings said it perfectly when they told me "days are long, weeks are short" I can't believe another week has come and gone. Some days this week felt like an eternity but looking back the week flew by.  

I'll start with the boring stuff, we had an exchange on Tuesday with the zone leaders and it went a lot better then I thought it would. One of the ZL's came to my area and I was the one showing him where to go in the streets of the DR and it felt good to know that I have at least learned where to go here.. cause the Spanish is still very difficult. 

On a random night this week we didn't have any appointments because all of them fell through, so we were stuck and had nothing to do for an hour. We called a member and asked if we could go over she luckily said yes and so we went to share a message with her family. Everything I was trying to say was so bad and I was just at a loss of words in Spanish. I felt so discouraged and then the members were like "Wow, you are learning so fast good job!" It made me so happy because I was previously feeling like I would never do anything right. They proceeded to tell me that learning Spanish in the DR is the hardest place to learn it so I need to be patient. This made me feel a lot better about the language. 

While teaching Angelica this week there was a big fight at the end of her street. Like I said before, this place is crazy. We were just sitting on the street teaching her the commandments and then like 200 feet away there is this massive group of people gathered around these women yelling and fighting. The little kids all run over to watch and I'm just like bruh lol. Place is wack. Angelica is progressing a little, but yesterday told us she is scared for baptism. Pray for her please! 

Here's a funny story before I talk about our BAPTISM this week! The drunk guy I talked about last week is still drunk from last week ;) when we were walking home the other night he was out just hammered and invited us to sit with him and his 3 other drunk friends so we did. Elder Fuhriman asked Julio (the drunk dude) "Do you like whisky?" and he responded with "yessssss" in the funniest voice ever so then we asked why and he goes "Bro I don't know" and it was just a good laugh. He honestly still might be drunk, dude doesn't stop. 

Now I can talk about our Baptism this week!! The twins Alexa and Alexandra were baptized and it was so so cool. They had to frighten us a little though. Saturday at 6 was the scheduled time and of course at 5:30 they call us telling us they don't have enough money to come. We were freaking out but luckily they found a way and I was able to baptize one of them. In the pic I sent it looks like they hated their life, but I promise they were excited to be baptized haha. Anyway, for baptism to be complete they need to come to church the next day and be confirmed. Well.. they came, but, 45 MINS LATE. Elder Fuhriman and I were so satisfied to see them walk in haha. 

Last night was interesting too. We ate at a members house and she gave us like 30 pounds of food each and I have never been closer to dying from eating so much food. Also some drunk guy took Fuhrimans tag and that was an adventure. 

I wanna end with a scripture in D&C 11:7 "Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of god shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich." This scripture is a great example of why it is important to remember that it is more important for us to study the scriptures and keep the commandments than to seek for the riches of the world. 

I love you all and miss you guys a lot. Golf is still on my mind always and so are my friends and family, but I know being here in this country preaching the true restored gospel is where I need to be. Have good and safe week!

-Elder Wilde 

Alex & Alexandra's Baptism!

Never thought I would be golfing in the DR!

Revelation Dropped

What up everyone?!?! Another week has come and gone. I hope you all had to opportunity to listen to conference because by the title of this email you can tell that revelation was dropped.  

 Before I talk about what I liked from conference I wanna update you all about what is happening here in Pueblo Nuevo. We are teaching a girl named Angelica and she is so dope. She is 14 and from Haiti so she speaks Spanish and Creole and it's insane. Anyway, she came to church last week and then this week she called us at 8:30 telling us she was ready for church and we were like oh boy cause it was conference and we told her but she forgot so that was sad but she still came to the church and watched conference and seemed like she enjoyed it. We are gonna try and put her on date this week for baptism so pray for her! Also we have a set of twins that are on date for this Saturday so pray for them as well. Their names are Alexa and Alexandra. 

Another guy we are starting to teach is named Francisco Espinal. He is pretty cool and we think there is some potential. He informed us at our last lesson that his nephew is Leudy Espinal... Which is our BISHOP! Crazy! So we are gonna reach out to the bishop this week to find out more. 

Last week was so hard, but this week was so much better! I finally started to adjust to this absolute insane culture. I still have a really really hard time with Spanish but I know that will come with patience. One thing that was hard last week was I didn't laugh at anything which made it a lot harder to be happy. Luckily some funny things happened this week. First things first people here love to drink. Basically on a Saturday night 50% of people are drunk and it is pretty comical. One guy we pass by often was speaking english to us, or at least trying to and said "Do you guy want a  drink?" We said no we like water and then out of nowhere he said "Nice to meet you" in the funniest voice ever and me and Elder Fuhriman just lost it. Every time we see him he is just out of it holding a beer bottle in his paper bag. Also the Dominicans think that the USA is New York. They don't get that there are 50 states and it's not all just New York. So they often times tell us about their love for our home country and New York. Guess I'm going to New York when I get home to see what our real country is like haha. 

Also the word selfie is magic here. If you say "Selfieee" every kid in near sight will run to be in the selfie. So I have a few I'll put on here. 

Now for Conference. If this email is already too long I'm sorry you don' have to read it, but this part would be well worth your time ;) General Conference hits different on a mission. This was the first time in my life that I listened to every single word that was said with real intent to learn and I am so grateful I did. Here are a few things I learned. 1) in Hugo Montoya’s talk he repeated a line President Nelson said, saying, "The Joy we feel has everything to do with the focus of our lives not the circumstances." I loved this because last week as I was focused on my circumstance of showering out of a bucket and being home sick. I didn't find much joy, But this week as I have focused on the Lord I have become much happier. 2) New for strength of youth?! Lit! I loved this talk. My favorite line that Elder Uchtdorf said was "Jesus Christ is the strength of youth." This is so true for the youth, but also for everyone. He went on to mention "With the Lords help there is no limit of what we can accomplish." LOVE this! 3) Last thing is from Paul V. Johnson, he said "When we follow Satan we give him power when we follow God he gives US power." This is so so cool. Choose God he will give you power! 

Also so amazing all the temples that were announced. I know that President Russell M. Nelson is the Prophet on the earth today. I love him so much and know that only HE can receive revelation for our entire church. I love you all so much and miss you guys dearly. I miss golf and I miss my friends and best friends, but I know that there are people out her in the DR who NEED to feel the love of Jesus Christ because we all do! He loves and knows you all perfectly. Search the Book of Mormon if you want to know of this love for yourself. I am excited for another week of growth and challenges in the DR. 

P.S. We are going golfing in Santiago today!!! Hopefully I don't suck. Let y'all know how it goes next week. 

Love,

Elder Wilde