Turkey Day!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! This week was a long one again but that's just how it is in the office haha. 

We did A LOT of driving this week. Trips to Nagua, San Francisco de Macoris, Puerto Plata x2, etc. While on the way to Nagua we had to stop and take 2 missionaries to the doctor to get their blood drawn to see if they have dengue. Our mission is in a Dengue crisis, so it would be awesome if you would all pray for the missionaries to be healthy! 

We had a few good lessons early in the week with our friend Oliver. He has a baptismal date for next Saturday, so we are trying to teach him as much as possible. Only problem is we have had 0 time since Tuesday to teach. But we know that we will find the time next week! 

The weather here is super super hot. I just sweat constantly lol. I am excited for the cold, even though it sounds crazy. 

As for spiritual experiences, I just want to share my love for our Savior. Anytime the mission has gotten hard, the very thought of Him has helped me. I love in the sacrament prayer how it says "Always remember Him". Do we always remember Him? I feel that sometimes when life gets hard we look towards the world to help us. For example, if Tony Finau wins the Masters I'll be so happy! If BYU makes March Madness I'll be so happy. Looking for worldly things in hopes of feeling happiness, when in reality we have the choice to remember our Savior always and feel joy anytime because of Him. I love Jesus Christ. I am grateful for Him. 

As the Holiday season comes around I always start to think of my family and how much I miss them. I hope you can all be grateful for family and the time you get to spend with them. It is truly a wonderful gift that God has given us. I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation as well. Families can be together forever. Love you all.

Elder Wilde 

Being a fan of Jesus

This week was a very busy week. But it had some big highlights!  

First off we put our friend Jackson on date. He is the one who speaks English and we met him 2 weeks ago. We have taught him only 2 times due to our calling in the office, but he is great! When I asked him what it meant to be baptized he said "It's like you are showing people you are a fan of Jesus." So we invited him to be a fan of Jesus and to be baptized on December 9th! Pray that he can come to church and be baptized. Also pray that we can find the time to teach him!:) 

A cool little thing that happened this week was transfers. A kid named Drake Terry, who went to my high school, arrived in our mission. When I saw him we just gave each other a big hug and it was awesome. He will be a great missionary. It was perfect timing for me to see him cause our day was so stressful and we were doing so many things but just seeing him was awesome. I love the mission. I love the Lord’s timing as well. 

I also received transfer news this week. I will be staying in the office for another transfer, and to spice things up President made me District Leader again. So that's gonna be fun cause its not like we are already sooo busy....lol. But I know the Lord has a plan and that everything will work out. 

As I learned of President M Russell Ballard’s passing I thought of how amazing the Plan of Salvation is. I am so grateful for a knowledge of the plan and to know that death isn't the end. It is an amazing gift of knowledge that we have as members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

I know Jesus Christ lives. I know that through Him we will all live again. I know that we have a living prophet to guide us in this wicked world. 

I love and miss everyone. I even miss working at the pharmacy lol but I know that this is where I need to be! 

Have a good week everyone! 

Elder Wilde

15

Another week has come and gone. This past week I hit 15 months on the mission. Time just keeps moving. 

We had a super super busy week with almost 0 time teaching in our area. We had to make trips to La Vega, San Francisco de Macoris, and Puerto Plata. All are 30 mins to an 1 1/2 hour drive from Santiago. Makes for some fun little talks with my companion. 

Last night we got to talk with one of the members named Lilibeth. She served a mission in Mexico but is a bit inactive. She is about 30 years old and one of the kindest people ever. We talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I don't think everyone understands just how special the Atonement really is. I love the verse in Alma chapter 7 that talks about how Jesus Christ suffered for our pains and sicknesses, and even our temptations. The fact that the suffering part of the Atonement includes our temptations is a miracle. We are temped daily but because Jesus Christ loves us we can be forgiven and strengthened through His Atonement. 

I'd be lying to you all if I said the mission has gotten easier as it has gone on. In fact it has gotten more and more challenging, but has also gotten more and more worth it. I love the study time I get everyday in the scriptures. I love the Dominican people who are so kind and even funny. I love the trials God has given me. The mission is incredible. It’s hard. But it is worth it! 

If you guys could pray for our friend Dariel that'd be great. He has been to church a solid 7 times in a row but says he doesn't have a testimony so he won't get baptized. Pray for his heart to soften and for him to develop a testimony so he can make the decision to be baptized. 

I love you all so much and miss everyone daily! Have a great week! 

Elder Wilde! 

English, English, English

Another week came and went. Time is an interesting concept. It's always the same, but sometimes feels slow and sometimes feels fast. The mission is a roller coaster, but I love it! 

This week was an interesting one. We had a lot of things to do and one of them was going back to one of my old areas in Nagua! It was super fun seeing the area again and remembering all the things that happened there. I was able to see one of the members named Verenice there and it was so weird cause it was so long ago when I was there. The reason we went there was to move the Elders out of their house and into the other house with the other elders. We also had a zoom meeting with the whole mission while we were there and President Bretón announced that July 1st 2024 the DR will have 4 missions. Which means our mission will split. I will have a whopping 3 weeks left in my mission when that happens, but it will be interesting to see. 

We have been trying really hard to teach more in our area this week. We have found a few new people and 2 of them speak english. Literally half of our teaching pool we teach in english haha. It is fun though. Last night we taught Jackson and John. They are two different people who don't live together but are both Haitian and english speakers. They need Jesus Christ. John expressed to us that if he didn't forget his keys in the house Thursday night he never would have met us, and that God put us in the right place at the right time. Jackson expressed to us that he wants a better relationship with Jesus even though he isn't a “gospel kinda guy." Last night confirmed to me that God prepares people for us to teach. I hope these 2 friends of ours can progress and be baptized. Please pray for Jackson and John. 

One thing I have been doing recently when I have "free" time is reading about temples. It is amazing how much peace it brings just reading about temples. It makes me sad that I didn't attend the temple more frequently when I was at home with so many temples at my disposal. It is for sure one of my goals to attend the temple at least once a week when I return home. 

I've been using the institute student manuals on the gospel library app during my studies of the scriptures and it is truly an amazing tool. I have learned and gained so much more from dedicating more time to actually studying. Not just reading. 

This week I read about Zeezrom and Alma and Amulek in the Book of Mormon. The conversion of Zeezrom is truly amazing. I think it is one underrated. Go read Alma chapter 10-15 to learn more about it!

I love this gospel and am so grateful for the next 8 1/2 months I have to preach it. Love you all! 

Elder Wilde

Work, Work, and More Work!

This was a fast week! We have been non stop working and it has felt good. Time has for sure sped up a little bit. 

We will start off with a funny story. We got a call a few days ago from some Sister missionaries. One of them went to the bathroom and couldn't open the door to leave. The doorknob broke. So we told her companion to break off the door handle. She couldn't do it. So after about 10 minutes we decided we had to go and get her out. We drove over there, which was a 30 minute drive, took out our tools and went to town on the door handle for about 4 minutes and then she was out. It threw a huge wrench in our plans that day cause we didn't plan on doing that haha, but it was a fun little memory. 

On Mondays we always have an office meeting. It's with us the AP's, the office senior couple, and President and his wife. This last Monday President got a surprise call and one of his companions from his mission came to visit. His name was Elder Miller and he is from Vernal Utah. His whole family came to the office and we got to talk with them for a little bit. President Breton was one of the happiest men ever. He smiled and was in a super good mood after that so..thanks Elder Miller ;)

We were without the truck for a few days this week and that was SO boring! But it also gave us some time to work in our area. We contacted a few people and have some good feelings about most of them. It's crazy how missionary work is. We literally dedicate our lives to helping others and so many people reject us. It is quite a weird thought but guess they will know some day. 

Overall I am doing great! The mission is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it has been worth it every step of the way! I love the mission and all the memories! 

Hope you all have a good week! 

Elder Wilde 

Zone Conference Week

This week went by super fast because we had Zone Conference! It was a great week of learning and a lot of fun getting to see all the other missionaries! 

This week we started teaching a family about our message. The first lesson we explained eternal families and how it is made possible through the restoration of the gospel. One of the most spiritual lessons I have had on my mission for sure. It is amazing seeing the Lord work through us. Pray for Richard and Yadira please! 

During Zone Conference this week President focused a lot on helping us learn new ways to find, how to invite people to church, and baptisms. It was a basics Zone Conference and it was very effective. I learned so much that will help me to be an even better missionary. 

To be completely honest I don't have much to say this week. It was just full of the same Zone Conference lol. 

Love you all! 

Elder Wilde 

Bird in the House

Thursday night was one of the scariest moments of my mission. No we didn't get robbed, no we didn't get in any accidents... there was just A BIRD in our house. Guys birds are flipping scary. My comp and I got some good videos that can wrap up how I felt about the bird being in our house. It got out. It was quite the exit as it chased me out our front door. Good memories. 

The office continues to be a mental/physical grind. We have worked a total of 2 hours in our area this week. We have been to Puerto Plata 2 times and Cotui one time which are both around 2 hour drives there and 2 more back. We have been to Santo Domingo for me to get my Dominican drivers license and we have left with President in the morning to find a shop to repair something. Overall a LONG week. It has been 1 week since my last companion Elder Crookston left and it feels like it's been an eternity lol. Time has been slow lately to be honest. 

One of the good parts of this week was the small time we got in our area. We found an older lady named Nelsy who is the sweetest. We walked passed her and I felt like we should talk to her but then said nah it's okay another day. Afterwards I said out loud "we should have talked to her" and then my companion was like "it's never too late to turn around!" So we did and Nelsy is amazing. She gave us Watermelon, Mango, and some other fruits while we talked about life and Jesus Christ. She said she is willing to come to church with us this week as long as she doesn't get called into work. We haven't been able to return to her yet due to all of the things we have been doing but please pray for Nelsy so she can progress. 

As I have been reflecting on my last 14 months as a missionary I have come to realize the mission never gets easier, but it gets more and more worth it with time. I still have days where I miss home. I still have days where I feel like giving up. I have days where stressing about things out of my control gets the best of me, but I always remember that I am doing this for the Lord. 

Jesus Christ lives. He is risen and loves us. I can't deny the love I have felt from him these last few days. 

I hope you are all doing well and keep trying to do better. Love you all! 

Elder Wilde