Week 54 - I am now the Bahama's Zone Leader!

Hey guys,

Well i didn't really do much this week because I was told by the Orthopedic Surgeon to stay off my knee soooo....

Monday was the day that I saw the doctor so i went home and didn't do much. He said that i strained my MCL! Almost popped it but thank Heavens it didn't!

Tuesday I went out on a trade off with Elder Christensen so i could get to know some of their investigators. I didn't do much walking though... We also had the Saintgill's for lunch then the Ballard's dinner.

Wednesday i went to see the Orthopedic guy and he told me that i strained my MCL so he gave me some exercises to do for 6 weeks. Great... So Elder Craig and I went home to pack him up then we went to see Brother Williams.

Thursday we went to help Sister Cheryl pack food for Thanksgiving and she also fed us. We then went to the Seawell's to help them prepare for Thanksgiving as well. Their food was soooo gooood!!!! it was like having Thanksgiving back home! Christmas music playing and everything!!

Friday We went and had pizza with Sister Walkine and then went to Menchie's with Sister Charlene and Melda then went to Friday Night Activities and played domino with Brother Ferdinand!

Saturday Stayed in because of my knee, then went to the Robasto's for dinner. We also had transfer calls and i am the only missionary staying in Nassau and Elder Markwalter will be my companion now! We are the Zone Leaders now!

Sunday we had Noelda and Demitri  come to church! It was awesome to see them their on their own! After church we went to the Ferdinand's for food, then went to the Sinea's for a game night and Spiritual Thought. It was so cool! we had the Whole Yard out there yelling and making fun it was sweet! We then went to sister Deal's who fed us dinner. It has been a crazy week!

I am truly thankful for the Restored Gospel and for my family. I don't know what I would do with out them. I Hope that the people that i shared that with feels my love for my family. I pray for everyone back home. I hope that You will All have a great week and that you have a great Holiday Season!

Elder Wilding

 Elder Christensen, Elder Craig, Austin, and Elder Harrah

Week 53

Hey Guys!

Monday started off with a whole lot of nothing... But we did go see the Smith's and the Ferdinand's for Family Home Evening! It is always fun to go and visit with them!

Tuesday morning we went and saw Brother Allen Taylor and his mother. We talked about the Book of Mormon being our Keystone to our Testimonies and our Religion. We also went and saw Rolle who we taught the Plan of Salvation to. He also showed us all of his plants that he has that bare fruits and ones that he takes pride in! We tried to see Kenton that day but we weren't sure where he was or anything like that. We don't really know what is going on with him right now... Anyways, We were also supposed to see Sandra but she wasn't home either. We then went to the Seawell's for dinner then home for studies.

Wednesday morning was District Meeting. We tried to see Kenton that day too but he wasn't home and he wasn't answering his phone either! We went to check up on Sister Downer and Brother Godfrey. We also picked up a new investigator that night. His name is Don. He is a friend of Sister Downer. Brother Williams cancelled on us so we had most of our evening to go talk to new people and to do more studies.

Thursday morning we did service for Brother Lucito for about 20 minutes before it started to rain. We had Brother Cartwright with us so we took him to the church to type up a resume for him to help him apply for jobs. He then took us to lunch. We stopped by the Michel family but Brother Michel wasn't home so we couldn't stay. We dropped off some pamphlets for them to teach their daughter the Gospel to prepare her for Baptism. We then stopped by Sister Wencie to tell her good job at getting all of her kids to church that last Sunday and to share a spiritual thought on the Sacrament. After that we had most of our night fall through again so we took our studies because we didn't get them in that morning.

Friday morning was Weekly Planning. Elder Craig's last weekly planning too! Afterwards we went to see Demitri. We went over the Baptismal interview questions with him to figure out what he needs to learn the most. Right now his mother is what is holding him back from baptism. We later picked up Brother Latario to go see a potential investigator but we found out that she moved so we have no clue where she is... We then went to see Brother Vytal and his father Raphael. Vytal was the only one awake so we talked about his family and how we could help him share the Gospel with them. We then went to see the Julmis family but it was only their mother home. She is Haitian so we had to use a Creole Book of Mormon. I have been reading from the Creole BoM for a couple weeks now so that is where my reading came in handy! I pronounced most of the words right! Hopefully I will be able to bare my testimony in Creole when I get home! 

Saturday morning we called a bunch of members and investigators to invite them to church. We then went and saw a former investigator named Romell. We found out that he doesn't want to make any commitments or anything to we taught the Plan of Salvation to see if it would change his heart but it didn't... So we left him with a few pamphlets then left. We then spent the next two hours trying to find another potential investigator's home but couldn't find it. So we went to go Basketball Contacting. This is when I dislocated my knee for the 3rd time. This one HURT!! But, I did talk to a really cool young man named Conrad who is very willing to sit down and to listen to us! He is very promising!

Sunday we had church and the opportunity to renew our covenants with the Lord. Man am I grateful for that! We then had the Ferdinand's for lunch, then the Sinea's for a Family Home Evening, and a small Bash with Eric's friend Rolle again... Rolle is so hard hearted it's very sad! I seriously feel soooo bad for him! I feel like Nephi when his Father dies and when his brothers try to kill him afterwards! We then went to a small concert that was put on for Brother Lucito's wife. We heard a lot of really good people sing for her and wish her better health.

That was my week. I hope that what I share with you guys will touch you as this last week has touched me. I am truly grateful for the Love of the Lord in my life. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to show that love for those around me. I love this work and I encourage everyone to look for those opportunities to show their love for those around them! I love you All! 

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Elder Wilding

Week 52

Hey guys,

Well last Monday we didn't do anything exciting, just went to church early so Elder Craig could register for classes then we did nothing the rest of the day until we had the Smith's and the Ferdinand's for Family Home Evening. While we were at the Ferdinand's, Brother Ferdinand taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when he got to Baptism he asked his son if he was wanting to be baptized! His son said yes and it was just awesome! They showed a huge amount of love for their boy at that time and it was amazing! 

Tuesday morning we went to see Brother Allen Taylor. He is a 19 year old father to a one year old boy. Right now he is wanting to make sure that he is setting a good example for his son and that he has the right foundation set under him. So he invited us over and we had a nice get to know you conversation. After we left there we went to the church to wait for Brother Cartright so we could help him with his resume but he never showed up so we went to lunch. Later we tried looking for the Etiene house but couldn't find it so we tried to go see Kenton but he wasn't home. So we took studies at the church before heading to the Seawell's for dinner.

Wednesday morning we had District Meeting. It was alright this week, nothing to exciting happened. After we took lunch we went to see Tyrell, Sandra's oldest boy. We just sat down and asked him why he wanted to meet with missionaries and he was completely honest with us. He told us that he was only doing it because his mother wanted him to. So we told him that if he doesn't want to sit down with us he doesn't have too. So we just talked about his goals that he has for himself and how he can possibly achieve them. We were also supposed to see Brother Raphael but he wasn't home. We also had a potential investigator fall through as well so we decided to go finding around the Ferdinand's home. They wanted us to talk to their neighbors so we did. We walked down the street and contacted a man named TJ. We then took Brother Ferdinand to see Brother Williams. When we pulled up to Brother Williams' house, he came out side and saw Brother Ferdinand and just dropped his head with a huge smile on his face! It was like they hadn't seen each other in years! They were bother talking and laughing and have a great time. Then Brother Williams just turned to him and said, "Brother, I'm gonna promise you that I will be at church before the month is over." And the conversation switched to church just like that. It was nice to see and listen to them talk because Brother Ferdinand was the Branch President years ago and Brother Williams was his clerk. They did almost everything together in church! It was amazing to see them back get back together.

Thursday morning we went to do service for Brother Lucito Bazard again. We weren't able to spend too much time there that day but Elder Craig and I got quite a bit of work done that day! Later we went to see TJ but he was too busy to try and share a message with him so we told him that we would call him and set up another appointment. Then we had Demitri fall through as well. The Bazard's were feeding us that night so we started making our way over there. I tell you, the traffic over here from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. is packed! That is their rush hour here! It takes us an hour to get to some of our appointments sometimes because it's so bad! Anyways, we get to the Bazard's and they had some bomb chicken wings! Oh my goodness were they good! By the time we were done eating it was about 7:30 so we headed for home because it was gonna take us a while to get there...

Friday morning we had interviews with President Pearson. I found out that I was probably be staying in Nassau for another 3 months. That is NOT set in stone so no one believe it until it actually happens! Anyways, after the interviews we went to see Brother Thomas at his work place and watched him almost get run over by a forklift... We had a nice lesson on Alma 32 where he talks about experimenting with faith. We encouraged him to keep reading and prayer so that he could become a Book of Mormon wizard like he is with the Bible. We were supposed to have a lesson with Sister Charlene but we couldn't find a church brother to go with us. So we went and stopped by Sister Wencie to drop off a shirt for her boy Trevor and left them with a prayer. We had Weekly Planning that night. 

Saturday morning we did our Sunday Roundup, had lunch, then went to see Brother Rolle. He was doing okay when we stopped by to see him, we hadn't been able to get a hold of him for a couple days so we stopped by to check up on him. Brother Rolle is our investigator btw. We scheduled an appointment with him then went to see Kenton in his work. We also haven't been able to get a hold of Kenton either so we cornered him at work and set up appointments with him then. We then Sat down with Brother Latario and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then took him to see Sandra, who wasn't home, and to check a potential investigator. We then took him home and went to the Robasto's house for dinner. That night was also a baptism for the other Elders.

Sunday we had church and there were about 97 people there! Numbers are climbing! Well, 20 of them were tourists, but hey! Slowly but surely! We went to the Ferdinand's for lunch and gained 5 pounds, then went to see Brother Sinea and his mother. We just talked about her conversion story to get to know her. Brother Pierre, I could go on and on about how awesome Brother Pierre is! We talked about his preparation to enter the temple. As we where trying to leave things just became too funny for us to try and leave!. Brother Pierre is just awesome! We then went to pick up Watson to go see Noelda. When we got there, Elda, Noelda's friend, showed up and sat down with us again. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. They were just like sponges! We left them with the commitment to pray about what we had read and to continue their Book of Mormon reading.

Well, again, it amazes me to see how often people put the Church first out here! I love the mentality that some people have out here with wanting to put the Church first and the Priesthood and so on because it is all here for us to make it back to Him who gave it to us to use for the every day grind that we go through. I have used the Priesthood more here in Nassau than I have anywhere else because people have seen the blessings that truly do come from using it the right way. I love the people here and am truly grateful for the people here and for the love that they have for the church and for this gospel! I wish to extend the commitment that I extended a few months ago. Try to put the Church first in everything that you do. Put your calling first, put your duty to God and your brothers and sisters around you first. I know that the Lord will bless you in ways that you can I can not understand or see. I love you all!

Elder Wilding

Week 51

Where do I start?

Monday started off as a good day but went down hill rather quickly. Elder Craig and I were playing basketball for our morning exercise when my left knee cap decided to dislocate itself. So we went home, iced it, took pain killers to keep the swelling down, and called Sister Pearson. She told me to buy some braces for it and to be careful. So, after we saw Raymond we went to the store to buy the braces. Later that night we went to Poseidon's Table in Atlantis and ate food till we were about to pop! It was soo good though! Not good on the wallet though, sorry Mother haha!

Tuesday was Zone Conference with the Kingston Zone in Jamaica. So we Skyped in and listened to the new Christmas Initiative for this Christmas and from our Zone Leaders, Elder Christensen and Elder Harrah. It was a good conference! Afterwards we went to the Ballard's for dinner. We tried to see Kenton but we didn't have enough time.

Wednesday we stopped by Brother Godfrey and talked to him about parenting haha! He was watching his granddaughter and she was screaming her head off! He was just sitting outside in his car when we pulled up to up to his house. He looked at us like, "You have no clue how long I have been sitting out here." Went and had lunch at the house then went to see Demitri. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how, through the Book of Mormon, we can receive revelation to our own questions about the Gospel. It was a good lesson, we committed him to read 1 Nephi 1 and to come to church. Most of our day fell through so went finding for a little bit then went home for studies.

Thursday morning we spent some time looking up inactive members phone numbers to see if we could go find them and help them in anyway. After we took lunch we went and stopped by Kenton's work to apologize for not making it to our appointment with him on Tuesday. Afterwards we tried to find some of the members homes and ran into a man that Elder Craig felt prompted to help with his water jugs. We followed him down the road and into a shop where we meet Dora! Dora is not the Explorer that you are thinking of but she is a member of the Church. As we were looking for Members, Brother Camron ran into us and he helped us look for some members homes because he wasn't doing anything. We dropped Camron off as we headed for Sister Kemp's for her birthday dinner. We met the other Elders there and had a really good dinner and dessert! Guava Duff is heavenly! on our way home we tried to see Jackson and Maria but they weren't home.

Friday was weekly planning which took most of the morning. We went and saw Demitri again and reread 1 Nephi 1 with him to help him understand it better. We had the Seawell's for dinner and we had waffles! We also tried to see Kenton that night too but he wasn't home.

Saturday was the Service Day for the Church so we went and planted trees and crops for a local school! It was a blast! I didn't take any pictures of it because i was too busy helping Mother Earth become green again. we hauled a lot of rocks out of greenhouses, planted pumpkin. and mango trees. After that we went to have lunch to Brother Bazard's to do more service for him! Elder Craig and I then went to go basketball contacting. We had played about 8 games of 21 with a bunch of guys before my knee decided to dislocate again. Yeah, not the brightest idea to play but hey! It was fun and we talked to quite a few people that we think would like us over! We haven't contacted them yet but soon come!

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. I don't think I have missed a fast and testimony meeting since I have started my mission. Booya! After church we had branch council then the Ferdinand's for lunch. We then went to see Brother Sinea. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and where he fits in in the Plan. We talked about how big of a difference that we can make in peoples lives as well. After Brother Sinea we went to see a potential investigator and his friend. Eric was the man we contacted and Rolle was his friend. The second we stepped out of the car, Rolle started raining questions on us! He had the Spirit of Contention with him from the beginning! But luckily, through all of that, Eric felt the Spirit enough to invite us back over. We then went to Sister Deal's for dinner.

I know this Church to be Christ's Church once again on the Earth. No one can convince me other wise. No one can strip me of my testimony that has been strengthen immensely since starting my mission. I will do my best to share this Gospel with everyone in hopes that it will change their life as it has mine. I know this can happen to anyone! 

I love you all! I hope all is well that you are all ready for the snow because I sure am!

Elder Wilding