Hola Hola,
Things are still cooking here in ¨Good Air¨. That´s funny that this place´s name translates to that. On my list of words to describe the air here in the mission, ¨good¨ would be pretty much be smack dab on the bottom. Speaking of air, it´s definitely heating up here! Summer, and all of it´s sweatyness, has just about arrived. Pure humidity, my friends. Pure humidity. I sure am blessed to have an apartment that is clean and small and has a good shower! What luck. I know all of you northerners are gearing up for winter, you lucky ducks.
This week we finished our divisions, finally! We have been two or more divisions for pretty much the past 5 weeks. We have ONE week to work together! It´s gonna be great. I worked with Elder Udall and Elder Gygi, both from Arizona, this week. They are great Elders. One thing that Elder Gygi helped me realize is to be always looking toward the future, at a bigger perspective. I had some decent plans down for the day. We walked and walked. Talked and talked. With other people, that is. But all of the appointments I had made that day pretty much went through. I guess I might´ve been showing it too much that I was somewhat stressed. Near the end of the day, Elder Gygi reminded me we had given away like 5 book of mormons (books of mormon?) and done much good. We had found other people for other areas, and passed along the reference. His good sense put me at ease, thanks Elder Gygi!
I´m out of time, I will see you all next week! Listen to conference, looking for ways to apply it!
Elder Wilcox
Monday, October 17, 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Better Late Than Never
Yesterday was one of those blessed ¨feriado¨ days here in Arg. They have ¨holidays¨ allll the time, which means no one works and everything shuts down! So we just went to atalaya instead to play futbol! It´s very humbling to be me and play soccer against all Latinos....
It´s been a whirlwind of a week! Truly, the Lord is hastening is work. I don´t know where to start ha. We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR divisions this week! Lots and lots of them. Divisions for me are the best. It is a great opportunity to be able to know the missionary a little better specifically, and also to learn from one another. I went to switch on monday night (which almost NEVER happens) with Elder Smellie from Preston, ID and he is in Castillo. I was BORN there, it was so cool to go back there and be in town for at least a few hours. He is in a different area than I was, but I saw a member family from the ward there and they were super stoked to see me, and me to see them! They have a daughter who just got called to Mexico! Missions are the coolest thing ever! I was there to do a baptism interview and that went well. Tuesday we came back to our area and had divisions with Elder Porter from AZ and Elder Maycock also from AZ. President Robertson has made a new thing with divisions between district leaders and zone leaders. Instead of having one companionship in one area and in another, both companionships are in the area of the zone leaders. I know that is is just boring facts for most of you, but it´s kinda extra pressure for us as we strive to make our area a ¨model¨ area, as recorded in the missionary handbook.
Just know that I am so grateful for all that I have learned from other Elder´s this week. Sometimes we have to stop teaching an investigator for their lack of progression. Some may say that we weren´t ready, or not prepared, or not humble enough. While that mayyyy be true, it may also be that WE are not the right missionaries for that person. God knows what he is doing. Something that caught my attention in #LDSconf2016 is that ¨God and his son Jesus are keepers of their promises.¨ I think that Christ´s atonement is sufficient to meet our needs, and more. I understand that the atonement was created for people just like you, and people just like me. we are the mold, and the living water of Christ fits perfectly to fit each one of us. Also, the word REMEMBER (or ¨recordar¨ in spanish) has come to more meaning to me. All that we do is to better remember Christ! May we always remember these things, for the Lord God has declared them. (Mosíah 2:41)
Elder Wilcox sending love!
Me on divisions with Elder Blosfeld, from Brasil! Capo
Me on the bus, or colectivo, this morning. It was empty!
It´s been a whirlwind of a week! Truly, the Lord is hastening is work. I don´t know where to start ha. We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR divisions this week! Lots and lots of them. Divisions for me are the best. It is a great opportunity to be able to know the missionary a little better specifically, and also to learn from one another. I went to switch on monday night (which almost NEVER happens) with Elder Smellie from Preston, ID and he is in Castillo. I was BORN there, it was so cool to go back there and be in town for at least a few hours. He is in a different area than I was, but I saw a member family from the ward there and they were super stoked to see me, and me to see them! They have a daughter who just got called to Mexico! Missions are the coolest thing ever! I was there to do a baptism interview and that went well. Tuesday we came back to our area and had divisions with Elder Porter from AZ and Elder Maycock also from AZ. President Robertson has made a new thing with divisions between district leaders and zone leaders. Instead of having one companionship in one area and in another, both companionships are in the area of the zone leaders. I know that is is just boring facts for most of you, but it´s kinda extra pressure for us as we strive to make our area a ¨model¨ area, as recorded in the missionary handbook.
Just know that I am so grateful for all that I have learned from other Elder´s this week. Sometimes we have to stop teaching an investigator for their lack of progression. Some may say that we weren´t ready, or not prepared, or not humble enough. While that mayyyy be true, it may also be that WE are not the right missionaries for that person. God knows what he is doing. Something that caught my attention in #LDSconf2016 is that ¨God and his son Jesus are keepers of their promises.¨ I think that Christ´s atonement is sufficient to meet our needs, and more. I understand that the atonement was created for people just like you, and people just like me. we are the mold, and the living water of Christ fits perfectly to fit each one of us. Also, the word REMEMBER (or ¨recordar¨ in spanish) has come to more meaning to me. All that we do is to better remember Christ! May we always remember these things, for the Lord God has declared them. (Mosíah 2:41)
Elder Wilcox sending love!
Me on divisions with Elder Blosfeld, from Brasil! Capo
Me on the bus, or colectivo, this morning. It was empty!
Moroni 8:26 (sent Sep 26)
Hello everyone!
This week we finished out strong for september! We had a baptism on saturday, we were soooooo happy about it! Anastacia, she is a little 9 year old. She personifies this scripture in Moroni! I love that little girl and her family! She´ll melt your heart, whether you understand castellano or not. She is the daughter of a less active woman and a non member man! We are working closely now with her dad. They invited TONS of people and it was great! One thing Argentina really knows how to do is throw a party. Any party at all. For birthdays, baptisms, anything. It´s kinda funny.
Cumpleaños are a flippin religion here in the Latino world! People give us that excuse alllll the time for being gone or not coming to church! ¨I was at a birthday party!¨ You could say anything at all....¨hey you didn´t show up for your college exam¨ (for example). ¨i was at a birthday party.¨ ¨oh...fair enough.¨
We are now working with many people here in Tablada that are close to being baptized! There are just soooo many that aren´t married. Just about 99% of people don´t get married. It is sad. And really complicated, legally, to get married. That is a barrier that sometimes creates the ¨eternal investigators¨. One person we are working with is Denise. She is the aunt of two recent converts, Lucas and Milagros, who are siblings. She is GREAT, she knows so much about God and his plan for us! But...she hasn´t been to church yet. ¨Come and See¨ said the savior. I know that the Gospel changes lives!
No more time. Prepare yourselves for instruction from the great Mediador! General Conference is gonna be great! Cross the fingers that we´ll find it in english somewhere!
Elder Wilcox
This week we finished out strong for september! We had a baptism on saturday, we were soooooo happy about it! Anastacia, she is a little 9 year old. She personifies this scripture in Moroni! I love that little girl and her family! She´ll melt your heart, whether you understand castellano or not. She is the daughter of a less active woman and a non member man! We are working closely now with her dad. They invited TONS of people and it was great! One thing Argentina really knows how to do is throw a party. Any party at all. For birthdays, baptisms, anything. It´s kinda funny.
Cumpleaños are a flippin religion here in the Latino world! People give us that excuse alllll the time for being gone or not coming to church! ¨I was at a birthday party!¨ You could say anything at all....¨hey you didn´t show up for your college exam¨ (for example). ¨i was at a birthday party.¨ ¨oh...fair enough.¨
We are now working with many people here in Tablada that are close to being baptized! There are just soooo many that aren´t married. Just about 99% of people don´t get married. It is sad. And really complicated, legally, to get married. That is a barrier that sometimes creates the ¨eternal investigators¨. One person we are working with is Denise. She is the aunt of two recent converts, Lucas and Milagros, who are siblings. She is GREAT, she knows so much about God and his plan for us! But...she hasn´t been to church yet. ¨Come and See¨ said the savior. I know that the Gospel changes lives!
No more time. Prepare yourselves for instruction from the great Mediador! General Conference is gonna be great! Cross the fingers that we´ll find it in english somewhere!
Elder Wilcox
Monday, October 3, 2016
Wasn´t Conference the best???
Greetings, my friends from the other side.....of the equator!
How is it up in the northern hemisphere? Things down here are definitely warming up here down south, just in time for the holidays! It´s that weird spring weather right now. Some days it´s REALLY HOT, like summer. I sweat and my collar gets uncomfortably hot and tight, like unto a dish. And other days it is cold and windy and rains.
I haven´t much time, so I will just finish my scoop about conference. It was SOOO good. We watched it in our Bishop´s house, the first session on the porch because he wasn´t home (we couldn´t go in) and then we watched it in the house after that. We had a part member family with us part of the time! We were all drinking maté celestial, something delicious and probably unique to arg! I loved conference so much! Conference in Spanish is a joy and a privilege. I loved all the things I learned and will now go forward to always be better and make my sunday worship more sincere!
Gotta go, sorry! Have a great week!
Elder Wilcox
How is it up in the northern hemisphere? Things down here are definitely warming up here down south, just in time for the holidays! It´s that weird spring weather right now. Some days it´s REALLY HOT, like summer. I sweat and my collar gets uncomfortably hot and tight, like unto a dish. And other days it is cold and windy and rains.
I haven´t much time, so I will just finish my scoop about conference. It was SOOO good. We watched it in our Bishop´s house, the first session on the porch because he wasn´t home (we couldn´t go in) and then we watched it in the house after that. We had a part member family with us part of the time! We were all drinking maté celestial, something delicious and probably unique to arg! I loved conference so much! Conference in Spanish is a joy and a privilege. I loved all the things I learned and will now go forward to always be better and make my sunday worship more sincere!
Gotta go, sorry! Have a great week!
Elder Wilcox
Monday, September 19, 2016
Exceedingly Great Blessings
Friends,
I am grateful for the hymns. What wonderful sources of wisdom and hope, of energy and of vigor. When in need, sing a hymn. The song of the heart is ¨ a prayer unto me¨ as the Lord says. Yesterday, I was in sacrament meeting and not quite enjoying the presence of the Spirit as I would have liked to. Some things had happened, and me and my comp were feeling kinda down. But God spoke to us through song. We sang ¨Come, come ye Saints.¨ In spanish there is a line that says ¨y paz será el galardón, oh está todo bien.¨ It´s saying that peace will be the prize, all is well, all is well. Well, I am certain that God speaks to us through many different ways. Including the hymns. I will be eternally grateful to my old piano teachers, such as Margaret Schloss, Jan Judd, and Michelle Bowman, for teaching me a sure-proof method of bringing the spirit. It´s a shame the mission doesn´t allow for time to really play much.
Well, here I am talking about hymns and stuff and not even about the week! I´ll just go quickly through one of the busiest weeks of my mission:
Tuesday: Transfers. Luckily the Ramos Mejía zone all lives pretty close, so we had no problems recieving missionaries new to the zone and shipping them off to their new areas. We also were asked to help the trainers in their new duties and practice with them contacting, especially with the book of mormon. My opinion: have in in your hand! The SWORD OF THE SPIRIT does no good if it´s sheathed up in your backpack.
Wednesday: my first ¨concilio¨. Meeting with the zone leaders. It was fantastic! Talked all about the mission and how to help the missionaries, including ourselves, improve. Talked much about challenges and resources, and how many of our challenges are really resources if we just change our mentality.
Thursday: one somewhat normal day of work. We did weekly planning. yay!
Friday: we had special training with President Robertson. It was great! His wife also rocks. We talked with her about the power of the Spirit in conversión. I love what Elder Bednar says that we are all agents who act,and not objects to be acted upon. We must allow the investigators to ACT, and learn by faith. #inspiredquestions
Saturday: there was a stake service meeting and we painted a school! I saw the bishop from my first area there! His daughter just got called to mexico! So great to see old friends! We also had a baptism!!! Lucas, great guy. We are having a baptism every week in september. I arrived just a few weeks ago and am in no way credited for helping them reach baptism, but some incredible people are in this area!
Sunday: A day of rest. Alma 37:34.
Have a great week!
Elder Wilcox
Lucas has had some great experiences with the scriptures I will write about later
Renzo, he actually is from a recently reactivated family. he was baptized but they lost the records, so he got baptized again. awesome!
I am grateful for the hymns. What wonderful sources of wisdom and hope, of energy and of vigor. When in need, sing a hymn. The song of the heart is ¨ a prayer unto me¨ as the Lord says. Yesterday, I was in sacrament meeting and not quite enjoying the presence of the Spirit as I would have liked to. Some things had happened, and me and my comp were feeling kinda down. But God spoke to us through song. We sang ¨Come, come ye Saints.¨ In spanish there is a line that says ¨y paz será el galardón, oh está todo bien.¨ It´s saying that peace will be the prize, all is well, all is well. Well, I am certain that God speaks to us through many different ways. Including the hymns. I will be eternally grateful to my old piano teachers, such as Margaret Schloss, Jan Judd, and Michelle Bowman, for teaching me a sure-proof method of bringing the spirit. It´s a shame the mission doesn´t allow for time to really play much.
Well, here I am talking about hymns and stuff and not even about the week! I´ll just go quickly through one of the busiest weeks of my mission:
Tuesday: Transfers. Luckily the Ramos Mejía zone all lives pretty close, so we had no problems recieving missionaries new to the zone and shipping them off to their new areas. We also were asked to help the trainers in their new duties and practice with them contacting, especially with the book of mormon. My opinion: have in in your hand! The SWORD OF THE SPIRIT does no good if it´s sheathed up in your backpack.
Wednesday: my first ¨concilio¨. Meeting with the zone leaders. It was fantastic! Talked all about the mission and how to help the missionaries, including ourselves, improve. Talked much about challenges and resources, and how many of our challenges are really resources if we just change our mentality.
Thursday: one somewhat normal day of work. We did weekly planning. yay!
Friday: we had special training with President Robertson. It was great! His wife also rocks. We talked with her about the power of the Spirit in conversión. I love what Elder Bednar says that we are all agents who act,and not objects to be acted upon. We must allow the investigators to ACT, and learn by faith. #inspiredquestions
Saturday: there was a stake service meeting and we painted a school! I saw the bishop from my first area there! His daughter just got called to mexico! So great to see old friends! We also had a baptism!!! Lucas, great guy. We are having a baptism every week in september. I arrived just a few weeks ago and am in no way credited for helping them reach baptism, but some incredible people are in this area!
Sunday: A day of rest. Alma 37:34.
Have a great week!
Elder Wilcox
Lucas has had some great experiences with the scriptures I will write about later
Renzo, he actually is from a recently reactivated family. he was baptized but they lost the records, so he got baptized again. awesome!
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Aumentar (Sep 12)
This week was fantastic. I would like to have everyone know that, cuz I ain´t got much time to describe it all!
This week was the sixth (and last) week of the transfer. What wise Presidente Robertson has noticed lately is that generally our numbers drop the sixth week for whatever reason. So we, as companions, work hard at making goals and then plans on the fifth week so the sixth week can shine. We worked our tails off and had a great week together! It was awesome!
We are hard at work thinking and praying for our zone. We believe it really just takes a step of faith, and a little more confidence in the Lord to make miracles happen! I can´t believe that God thinks that his leaders are better, so why don´t we think like that? We are still waiting for the reply to see if Elder Salas (an area 70!!!) might be able to come and talk to us. We think he will also be able to help a lot.
We also did divisions with the assistants this week! They are awesome! I worked with Elder Bullock, from PG, Utah. He is a capo. Probably the best example I have ever seen of actually talking to everybody! He gave me a couple tips here and there to be able to contact better! It was awesome. We were even able to set a couple of baptismal dates! He is inspiring for sure.
Well, like I said. Time is short. The field is white. And the laborers are few. BE A LABORER. I wish we could have better ¨inner-faith¨ relationships. We see people out also preaching of God, and many of their mindset seems to be ¨oh you´re mormon? Well that does put a damper on our relationship.¨ sad.
I love an email and maybe a picture from anyone at all, if anyone was wondering.
Have a fantastic week!
Alma 26:22
Elder Wilcox
also, pictures still are rough coming. I ain´t got no ipad 😁
This week was the sixth (and last) week of the transfer. What wise Presidente Robertson has noticed lately is that generally our numbers drop the sixth week for whatever reason. So we, as companions, work hard at making goals and then plans on the fifth week so the sixth week can shine. We worked our tails off and had a great week together! It was awesome!
We are hard at work thinking and praying for our zone. We believe it really just takes a step of faith, and a little more confidence in the Lord to make miracles happen! I can´t believe that God thinks that his leaders are better, so why don´t we think like that? We are still waiting for the reply to see if Elder Salas (an area 70!!!) might be able to come and talk to us. We think he will also be able to help a lot.
We also did divisions with the assistants this week! They are awesome! I worked with Elder Bullock, from PG, Utah. He is a capo. Probably the best example I have ever seen of actually talking to everybody! He gave me a couple tips here and there to be able to contact better! It was awesome. We were even able to set a couple of baptismal dates! He is inspiring for sure.
Well, like I said. Time is short. The field is white. And the laborers are few. BE A LABORER. I wish we could have better ¨inner-faith¨ relationships. We see people out also preaching of God, and many of their mindset seems to be ¨oh you´re mormon? Well that does put a damper on our relationship.¨ sad.
I love an email and maybe a picture from anyone at all, if anyone was wondering.
Have a fantastic week!
Alma 26:22
Elder Wilcox
also, pictures still are rough coming. I ain´t got no ipad 😁
La Tablada (Sep 5)
Every week I sit down to email and my head is so full of things, it´s quite difficult to condense it all down into a readable email...
La Tablada is such a great area! The pench is very ¨cheto¨, it´s clean and small but perfect for the two of us. ¨Itty bitty living space.¨ This is the zone of Ramos Mejía, a very city-ish zone. Lots of people. In our entire area, there are only TWO dirt roads! So cool! And I am now off the bike and back onto the foot, so am pretty excited about that. My companion is a total capo! Elder Ortolano, he is from Brasil but moved to Canada when he was little, and speaks like a North American. He went to BYU Idaho. We are doing awesome together! We are ready to get cooking in this zone, and help everyone else to do the same! One great challenge is that of President Robertson. ¨A good leader has other people´s confidence. A great leader helps others have confidence in themselves.¨ So we are trying to help the missionaries here see their TRUE potential. I was kinda bummed to be gone for Graciela´s baptism in Marcos Paz, but we had one here too, on saturday!
Her name is Milagros, which being interpreted, is Miracles. She is a 14 year old girl, very very very impressive for her age. We are also preparing her other siblings for baptism as well. I am so glad for this gospel, and how happy it makes other people! We came to fill up the font, but the water, apparently, was getting old in the tank! We couldn´t do anything about it, so we just had the baptism in pretty yellow water. I couldn´t help but congradulate Milagros after. ¨Congrates, urine the church now!¨
Lots of crazy things happened this week. We were out working and were inside one the area´s ¨villa¨s. A villa is very tight nit, condensed neighborhood I guess you could call it, with everything being made out of wood or concrete. We had a man come up to us and ask, ever so politely, for our cellular phone. Granted, he was pointing a gun at us. But he eventually let us go. Poor guy. He needs the dispensation of the fulness of times.
President Uchtdorf said something I love. That the scriptures and words of modern prophets form an ¨effective mirror¨ with which we can compare our lives. It goes well with it´s 80´s pop companion. ¨If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.¨ Not only would Uchtdorf and Michael Jackson have been great mission comps, but these principles are true. It´s about being humble. Let us not be slothful for the easiness of it (Alma 37:46), truly it is a very straight and plain road (2 Nefi 4:32) that leads to eternal bliss (Alma 37:46).
Love you all! Have a great week.
Elder Wilcox
having trouble with fotos, sorry
La Tablada is such a great area! The pench is very ¨cheto¨, it´s clean and small but perfect for the two of us. ¨Itty bitty living space.¨ This is the zone of Ramos Mejía, a very city-ish zone. Lots of people. In our entire area, there are only TWO dirt roads! So cool! And I am now off the bike and back onto the foot, so am pretty excited about that. My companion is a total capo! Elder Ortolano, he is from Brasil but moved to Canada when he was little, and speaks like a North American. He went to BYU Idaho. We are doing awesome together! We are ready to get cooking in this zone, and help everyone else to do the same! One great challenge is that of President Robertson. ¨A good leader has other people´s confidence. A great leader helps others have confidence in themselves.¨ So we are trying to help the missionaries here see their TRUE potential. I was kinda bummed to be gone for Graciela´s baptism in Marcos Paz, but we had one here too, on saturday!
Her name is Milagros, which being interpreted, is Miracles. She is a 14 year old girl, very very very impressive for her age. We are also preparing her other siblings for baptism as well. I am so glad for this gospel, and how happy it makes other people! We came to fill up the font, but the water, apparently, was getting old in the tank! We couldn´t do anything about it, so we just had the baptism in pretty yellow water. I couldn´t help but congradulate Milagros after. ¨Congrates, urine the church now!¨
Lots of crazy things happened this week. We were out working and were inside one the area´s ¨villa¨s. A villa is very tight nit, condensed neighborhood I guess you could call it, with everything being made out of wood or concrete. We had a man come up to us and ask, ever so politely, for our cellular phone. Granted, he was pointing a gun at us. But he eventually let us go. Poor guy. He needs the dispensation of the fulness of times.
President Uchtdorf said something I love. That the scriptures and words of modern prophets form an ¨effective mirror¨ with which we can compare our lives. It goes well with it´s 80´s pop companion. ¨If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.¨ Not only would Uchtdorf and Michael Jackson have been great mission comps, but these principles are true. It´s about being humble. Let us not be slothful for the easiness of it (Alma 37:46), truly it is a very straight and plain road (2 Nefi 4:32) that leads to eternal bliss (Alma 37:46).
Love you all! Have a great week.
Elder Wilcox
having trouble with fotos, sorry
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)