The Hood

Quiero Que everyone!! I can't believe that I have been in the DR for one week. This place is straight bonkers. First things first my trainer is Elder Fuhriman and he is so dope. He has been here for 5 months and on the mission for 11 months. He was assigned to Missouri before coming here but he is dope. My area is called Pueblo Nuevo and it is in Santiago Sur (south) and yeah it is pretty sketchy.

To describe how sketchy it is my Companion told me he was shocked to see that President would put white kids here let alone put a new white kid here haha. My comp was robbed here like a week before I got here so we have to be really careful about where we are and what not. Honestly the first few days here were pretty scary and I was feeling a little like I can't do this. But then Elder Fuhriman showed me a video about faith and having no fear. It was exactly what I needed and now I walk through these streets like I own the place. Even though that would be impossible because I don't even speak the language haha.

Besides the fact that we are serving in the hood this place is awesome. I have become real humble after this first week here. We live in an apartment with 2 rooms and a super small kitchen. We don't have a shower that works so we get the amazing opportunity to shower out of a bucket with Ice cold water. Honestly isn't that bad. The water also turns off when it rains and it rains a lot. So when we have water we have to fill up these massive buckets with water and then pump it through a filter if we want to drink it. We don't have AC but we do have fans and they are amazing, unless the power goes out which happened yesterday and it was so hot lol.

As far as the work goes it is going! We have 3-4 people we are seriously teaching right now and making progress.Yesterday was a little disappointing because only 1 of them came to church. One of the girls we are teaching is 14 and she is named Sharlin. She is so cool! She has been to church 2 times so she has met all the requirements for baptism but has told us there is something inside her that is scary about being baptized. I had a really cool conversation with her the other night while my companion was doing baptismal interviews with others because he is the DL. She used google translate a lot because I don't understand a lick of Spanish haha. She asked me about leaving my family and said how hard that probably was. I explained that leaving my family was so hard and that I miss them so much but I am here because I know this gospel is true and that it will make other families happier. She was shocked to hear that all of my siblings have served and that we all do it for 2 years.

We are like celebrities here to the kids. They all want to touch us and be our friend because we are white haha. Last week was super hard because it is hard for me to connect with the kids because I don't understand them at all and so I can't really connect.

One cool thing last week was playing baseball with a stick and bottle caps with the kids. They were shocked that I could hit to bottle cap haha. Low key was hitting bombs and they just wanted to keep pitching to me but we had to go work.

The Email rule. It is a rule in our mission that the only way we can talk to friends is through email and it has to be in a group chat. So if you want to talk to me shoot me a email but make sure to include someone else in the email as well.

I wanna end this email with a spiritual thought. Last week was really really hard. I don't understand the language. I miss my Best friends and family like crazy, and this place is sketchy. But I know I can do this because the Lord is watching over me and all missionaries. My comp shared a really cool scripture last night with me as I was expressing my fears and doubts to him. It is in D&C 121:7 "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;" This hit me hard. Even though this is the hardest thing I have ever done I know it will get better. I love you guys so much and miss you all dearly. The Lord is on our side and will bless us if we follow him with our whole hearts. This church is so true and I know that as we read to Book of Mormon sincerely and pray about it it will be made known to us the truth. I can't wait for another week of growth in the DR.

Love,

Elder Wilde

Elder Wilde Has Arrived!

Dear Parents and Leaders of Elder Wilde,

Yesterday, September 19^th, we were happy to receive Elder Wilde here in Santiago! He was interviewed by President Bretón upon arrival to the mission house.

 

Today, he enjoyed a classic Dominican breakfast at the mission home with the other missionaries he arrived with before heading to the mission office to receive a brief training. After the training, he enjoyed an authentic Dominican lunch with the other missionaries in his group. He then met his new companion, Elder Fuhriman, and headed to his new area in Pueblo Nuevo!

 

Thank you for your love, efforts, and care as he comes here!

 

Attached are pictures of your son with President and Sister Bretón and the other missionaries he arrived with, as well as a picture of him with his new companion!

Elder Wilde & Elder Fuhriman

Elder Wilde with President and Sister Breton

The newest missionaries in the Dominican Republic, Santiago Mission!

Goodbye El Comedor

I can't believe another week has come and gone. The title of this email is a very happy goodbye. I only have to eat the amazing chilly food at El Comedor for 4 more days. Wahoo! In 4 days I leave the MTC and go to the real world. Kinda nervous but I know that the Lord will help me! 

I wanna start this email by giving a shout out to my brother Carter. Last week I expressed to him that Spanish sucks and is so hard. His one piece of advice was to LOVE the language. My first thought was dawg, that is the dumbest thing ever, but this last week as I prayed for help to love the language I found myself actually wanting to learn Spanish and appreciating the language. Along with praying for love of the language I have been praying for a greater desire to want to study. This is huge. Rather than praying to study better or study more I have asked for the help to want to study. It has changed my outlook and studying has become fun. 

So the way sacrament meeting works here is every missionary writes a talk and then the morning of sacrament meeting they randomly select people to speak. This last Sunday was my lucky day and I had the opportunity to speak in Spanish for 5 minutes about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was honestly a very good experience and I am grateful for the chance to stretch myself and speak. 

One last thing that I have tried to do is align my will with the will of God. As I have tried to do this I have found that I am a lot happier with the outcomes of my day. One thing that they have drilled into our heads here at the MTC is that this is not our time we are on, it is the Lords time. I have found that when I try my hardest to do what the Lord wants and not what I want I have been much happier. 

Sorry for the lack of pictures in the MTC. Everything is just the same so I don’t know what to take pictures of lol. I promise I will be better in the DR. 

Speaking of the DR, next time I email I will be there!!! I am so excited for this opportunity to grow. I love and miss you all so much. Especially golf. Also GO COUGS! Remember to pray always and read the Book of Mormon. It is the instruction manual to happiness! 

-Elder Wilde

Devotional City

Hello everyone! 

I can't believe it has been another week in the CCM. From the title of this email you may guess we have a lot of devotionals. I think this week we had 4 and tonight we are having 2 General Authorities come and speak to us. No they are not apostles but still very high up in the church so we are excited. 

So for those of you who know me know that I am super positive. Like never once has a negative thought crossed my mind. Everything I do I make it positive... ya if only this was true. For those of you who truly know me know that it is very very easy for me to see the bad. This is a huge setback in learning Spanish. So, in the middle of the week we were learning a new Spanish rule and it was so hard. The whole time I just kept thinking how amazing it would be to go play 18 holes and then go eat at Taco Amigo. I was very discouraged to say the least. But, a few moments later Hermano Rios asked me a question. Without hesitation I answered the question correctly. BOOM a small win. That is something I have tried my hardest to focus on while learning Spanish. The small wins. Even though I have a lot of big losses in the language, when I have even 1 small win my confidence grows. So I want to invite you all to focus on those ¨small wins¨ in whatever you may be doing and know when you do that you will have a more confident mindset. 

Now for one of my favorite devotionals of the week. It was by Elder David A. Bednar and wow it was amazing. He talked about conversion and becoming like the Lord. He mentioned that the natural man in us always turns in, and how when the natural man turns in the lord would turn OUT. This means when we are having a hard time we focus on ourselves and only ourselves. But even when the lord was suffering for our sins he was helping and healing others. I want to invite you all to try your hardest to turn out when the natural man in us would turn in. 

Now for the conversion part. He simply said ¨having a testimony of the gospel is not enough for you to stay a member of the church for the rest of your life. But, when you have a testimony and consistently live by what you know then you are converted and will stay a member your whole life and not fall away.¨ I loved this because it makes you take a step back and wonder, am I really converted to the Lord? Do I really live consistent with what I know? Guess what, I invite you all again to try and live consistent with what you know so you can be converted to the Lord. 

Another amazing thing from a devotional this week was from Elder Uchtdorf. He said ¨Be grateful, not hateful.¨ So try that. I promise it will bless your life. 

Finally, I got my flight plans!! Elder Wells and I will leave Mexico City on Monday the 19th at 1 A.M. and then we will fly to Miami Florida. Then from Miami, to the DR. We will arrive in the DR around 1 in the afternoon on the 19th. So what that means is only 12 more days of eating at el comedor wahooooo!! 

I love you all! I pray for you guys daily. Read the Book of Mormon. It is true. Pray often. The lord is listening and cares about each one of you. 

-Elder Wilde 

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