Santo Domingo Temple

What's up everyone!?! This week was a pretty solid week filled of lots of joy! I hit 11 months on the mish and we took a trip to the temple! 

First things first the temple! I truly haven't had a better experience in the temple than this past Thursday. I felt so much peace and it was so nice being able to be in the Temple. Made me sad we can't go more often. It is such a peaceful experience! Also cool little miracle, after we did the session and baptism we went to the big building next door to eat lunch and when I walked in I saw a bunch of members from my last area there! We all were like ¨´HEYYY¨ and they were hugging me and we were catching up it was so fun made me so happy! I got a few pics with them! Also got to see a lot of my missionary buddies, so that was a good time. Crazy all the friends you make on the mission. 

As far as our area and the work goes, it is still moving along. Sadly Yesterday we only had one girl come to church but she is gonna be baptized this Saturday so I guess that is a dub. We are teaching a ton of people who just need to get married and then they can be baptized. The problem in this country is the Law of Chastity. Basically nobody is living it unless you are a baptized member of the church lol. Like if you aren't a member nobody even bothers thinking about marriage. 

I had the chance to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday! I spoke about the priesthood and it was a fun time. I used a part of Jeffrey R. Hollands talk called ¨Sanctify Yourselves¨ and it is a good reminder to always stay worthy cause you never know when you will need to use your priesthood. Last night I also had the chance to give a lady in our ward a blessing. The priesthood is truly a remarkable thing. 

I love you all and miss you all like crazy! Keep hitting the links in honor of me! Remember to read the Book of Mormon daily! 

-Elder Wilde 

Invitations

What's up everyone?! This week was a super successful week for us here in Bonao. The work here is moving along super well so we are hoping to see some baptisms in the next few weeks! 

First things first, on Wednesday we had a zoom meeting in the morning and it actually was amazing. Literally changed my life forever in the work! President talked about 2 things that I loved. First off was prayer. We need to help the people here pray in the correct way to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. It is pretty incredible how many people pray the wrong way. President was explaining that if we pray in the wrong way we aren't going to receive answers to our prayers. So, I have been focusing on teaching prayer in a better way this week and it has been so fun. The other thing that he talked about was inviting people to be baptized. He said that a lot of the time people aren't baptized because the missionaries don't invite them to be baptized. So this week we have been inviting so many people and right now we have 6 baptismal dates! We are gonna try to work so hard so these people can truly be baptized. 

Cool little story. Yesterday I was searching through family search for the fun of it. Turns out that app is truly amazing. I went to my Great Grandpa Johnson’s profile. In it I found a bunch of cool news articles and stories about him. He loved missionary work more than anything. It was so fun to read that and feel the spirit so strongly confirming how important the mission really is. I also found some really cool things about my Aunt Ann and it made me feel that I truly have angels around me helping me! 

This Thursday we are going to the Santo Domingo Temple again! We are all super excited and I am hyped to see all of my mission buddies. It will be a party! Sorry if my emails are super short or long to you haha. Monday always comes and I just have no clue what to put in here. But I know the church is true and that missionary work is so important. I hope that everyone who reads this can share the gospel with a friend. Think of all the blessings you have received and all the blessings your friends can too! 

Love ya’ll

-Elder Wilde 

What a Week!

This was probably the craziest week of my mission so far and I have no Idea where to start. 

I guess we will start with Zone Conference on Tuesday. We talked basically about technology the entire time because... We all have our own phone now!! It was pretty lit we all kinda expected it when we talked about technology rules for 4 hours haha. But it is super nice having our own phones for personal and language study and all aspects of missionary work. We are super excited for what is to come! 

Now the crazy news. On Tuesday night my comp Elder Fernandez left to Santo Domingo to get his Visa. Well the next day he called me and said ¨Hey I am leaving to Paraguay tomorrow.¨ I was pretty shocked and also confused as to what was gonna happen. Well I went with the zone leaders in their area for 2 days and learned a lot while I waited for my brand new greenie to get here. Thursday evening I received a brand new missionary named Elder Birocher and he is from Haiti. He is actually a pretty cool guy. He is 25 years old and was a convert to the church. Now here is the catch. He is Haitian so he speaks Creole and french and is learning more Spanish. He doesn’t really speak much english if any. So we speak to each other in a language we are both learning and turns out I love it. Like not kidding, I have learned SO much Spanish in such a short period of time. It is like all the random words I don’t know how to say I look up while we are in the house talking to each other then I know how to say it. It’s so lit. 

But now for the work! This week was a slow week cause I only had 1 full day of work in my area. But we worked so hard and have lots of people who want to progress. One is named Luna. She has been talking with the missionaries for a hot sec but she isn’t married. Ready for the why? Because her dad doesn't want to come to the wedding cause he doesn't like her boyfriend. Like bruh. That is literally the only reason she isn't baptized. But Elder Wilde has different plans then her dad, so he talked to the branch President and he said he can put on a wedding at the church for them. So I am gonna propose the idea to Luna tomorrow! What a time! 

Overall life in the mission is fun. Lately I have been reflecting on why am I happy in the mish. I don't have Golf, don't have my GF, don't have my family or friends, don't have taco amigo, and a lot of other things, but I do have Jesus Christ. He will never abandon us. He loves us and will always love us. I invite you all to learn more about Jesus Christ. He is a pretty incredible dude! 

Elder Wilde 

Another Week in the Books!

Happy Monday Everyone! This week was a great week honestly, we had a lot of success and spiritual experiences! 

First things first our baptism! We baptized a little girl who is 9 years old on Saturday and she is the sweetest thing. Her name is Franchelis and after her baptism she shared her testimony and said "Thanks to the mormons for always visiting me to help me follow Jesus Christ" It was a cute funny testimony and we love her tons. We are working with her parents to give up a few things so they too can be baptized! Pray for them!  

We are teaching a lot of people right now. The only problem is that not many of them are wanting to progress. We had a few but they ended up not living in our area so we had to refer them to the Sisters in Bonao :( but all is well. This week we are going to focus more on asking direct questions and being more bold. I have been blessed by this gospel so much that it motivates me to share it! 

Last night I was walking in the street and started to wonder "What would my life be like without the gospel?" Lots of times I have doubts, but every single time without fail when the doubts come, comfort immediately follows. I can always find peace in this gospel. Jesus Christ really does love us. Heavenly Father really does have a perfect plan for us. 

I was on the phone yesterday with my parents cause it was my mother’s birthday and it was also Father’s day, Shoutout to the GOAT parents. We talked about my Aunt Ann and Great Grandpa Johnson. They both loved missionary work more than anything, and we all believe they are here helping me with the work. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve and have trials. Trials help us recognize all of our blessings. The mission is so hard, but it has helped me to know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is for more than just our sins. He knows how we feel. 

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!!

Elder Wilde 

Bonao

What's up everyone?!? I had a pretty good week and life is good! I am really starting to love Bonao which is good. Makes the mission a lot better when you love your area. 

First things first we have a lot of potential baptisms, but all of them have so many different struggles. One of them is a kid named Marcos. Marcos is 17 almost 18 and his mom does not let him breath. She won’t let him walk on the street alone cause she says he has mental problems, but I promise he doesn't, the mom is causing him to have problems cause she is so over protective. So we are trying really hard to break the mom’s shell. 

Other than Marcos we have a girl named Christian we are teaching. She is a really nice lady who LOVES to talk which is good but like wow it is hard to not fall asleep in those lessons. She has a lot of problems in her life right now so we are gonna move her baptismal date and just try to help her with ward members. She told us the last time we were there that she was thinking about going to a girls house who cheated with her husband and bringing a machete. We hope she doesn't do that lol. 

I had my first District Council this week and it was fun. I have a district with 2 Elders and 4 hermanas. They are all super cool and good missionaries. The Elders are goated and one of the hermanas is from Jamaica so that is lit. I have loved being a DL so far, but it is kinda nerve wracking haha. I love Spanish but I hate speaking it in front of other missionaries. It is a weird fear I have. Also I officially hit 10 months on the mission so that is cool! 

Love you all so much. I am jealous of summer and not being able to golf everyday. I miss home kinda a lot at times, but I am always reminded of how important the Lord’s work is. 

 

-Elder Wilde  

Long Week

What's up everyone?!? This week was a pretty good week, but the week of transfers always feels super super long. I have officially left Villa Vasquez and I am now here in Bonao. It is weird how hard it is to say goodbye to an area and to people you only knew for 3 months. I really miss Villa Vasquez, but Bonao is alright haha. I am still training and my companion’s name is Elder Fernandez. He is from Santo Domingo and is waiting for his visa so that he can go to Paraguay. 

To be honest not really sure what I should write about cause this week was super interesting. We honestly just said goodbye to a lot of members and investigators Tuesday-Thursday. Villa Vasquez has a bright future with missionary work. 

But other then that the work here in Bonao is moving along great. We have a ton of baptismal dates and we have a lot of good ward members willing to help. Everyone keeps asking my comp if I know Spanish cause he is Dominican and it is funny cause I understand and just say I do and they think that it is crazy. I guess President normally trains a lot of new kids in this area and so they learn Spanish here so the members are glad that I already know a little bit. 

I was also called as District Leader for this transfer. I am super excited to try and be a good example for the missionaries in my district. I have already done a few calls that I have to do on Sunday, and it was fun. I have 4 Hermanas in my district and the Zone leaders so that is cool. 

Even though the mission is the hardest thing I have ever done it has been worth it. This transfer has a lot of challenges in sight but I have really relied on prayer the last few days. Not gonna lie, these last few days have been as hard as the first week in the country but knowing that Jesus Christ has felt what I feel has helped me so much! Love you all! 

-Elder Wilde

My camera wouldn’t load to my new phone so I was only able to send one photo this week. I will try to send the rest next week.