Revelation is Great!

And just like that, another moves call has come and gone. And the verdict is.....Elder Scharman and I will both be staying in Falkirk. Not too surprised about it since we both just got here. I am super excited to be staying as well for reasons you will find out as you read on!

Our investigators our doing great....at least the one's that we were able to meet with. 

Michael, Angela, and their son Mark were all able to make it to church yesterday and we had a great lesson with them on Saturday about the Plan of Salvation. Then the greatest thing happened....both have committed to be baptised on the 7th of November!!! It's great that I get to stay, because I will be here for that! YAY!!!!

We also found two new investigators this week. First is Demi. She is 17 and her mom is actually a less active member. Met with them and she has shown a desire to be baptised and come to to church. SWEET!! Second is Grant. He is the husband of a member. He has met with missionaries before, but just lost his fire along the way. He has agreed to be taught again, so please pray for him.

This week, I got to go back to Glagow! Elder Scharman had a doctor's appointment there, so naturally I had to go with him. It was so great to be back in the big city. It was Elder Scharman's first time, so I got to show him around a little bit. Not gonna lie, got a little bit area homesick. I kind of miss Motherwell. 

That's really all the exciting news of the week. This next week is general conference and I couldn't be more excited!! 2 (maybe 3) new apostles and a chance to hear the prophet. What more could you ask for??

Looking forward to another great transfer here in Falkirk! Lots of good things are in store waiting to happen! Thank you for all your prayers! Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

--

--Elder Wilson

Cleaning the baptismal font

Fall is in the air!

Stirling District

Wait...this isn't my zone...

 

What's Next?

Well, the library I am in is freezing and my hands feel like ice. Needless to say typing is not pleasant right now, but I am doing for all of you! You are welcome!

This week was pretty dang good if you ask me! First off, we got two new investigators! 

First is Andrina. She has been meeting with missionaries on and off since 2006. Her husband (who passed away 8 years ago) was a member, and that is how she got introduced to the missionaries. She is very accepting of the gospel, but there are two things holding her back. First, is she has an extreme fear of water. Second, is she refuses to give up smoking. Both things that can be fixed with a little help from the Lord.

Second is our new deaf friend, Martin. We taught him this week with a member from the branch, Kerry Watts, who knows British Sign Language. She let us do most of the teaching, with our very limited knowledge, but she was willing to help when needed....which was often. He is very open and is willing to be baptised. We just need to teach him, and figure out how things will work when he attends church. I am so excited to learn BSL!! I thought I was going English speaking, but not to be!! 

We saw Michael, Angela, and Ali this week as well. They are doing great and are progressing well. Michael and his son Mark were able to attend stake conference with us yesterday in Edinburgh. They seemed to really enjoy it. I know I did.

With all these good things happening, the only question I can ask myself is what's next? The Lord has been blessing so much, and I know He will continue to as we diligently work and see for His guidance. 

Almost forgot, this week is the end of the transfer which mean...MOVES CALL!!!! Normally, since we are whitewashing the area, it would be safe to say that Elder Scharman and I are staying. However, President Donaldson is crazy when it comes to moves. Nobody is ever safe. Wish me luck!!

Thank you all for your love and support! Keep being awesome, and keep moving forward! Love and miss you all!

--

--Elder Wilson

1) The view in Bo'ness

I'm Going Foreign Speaking

Howdy everyone!

This week was pretty good. Not as much happened as last week, but stuff did happen.

We got to see Michael and Angela again this week. Had a wonderful lesson with them. Both are reading from the Book of Mormon and Michael said his first prayer as well! I love hearing people pray for the first time and seeing them start to build that connection with their Heavenly Father! Sadly, Michael was working yesterday and Angela worked night shift on Saturday so she was sleeping, and neither were able to make it to church. We have stake conference this Sunday, and both said they will be able to make, so that will be grand!

We also got to visit with Ali. He is....getting there. He didn't read from the Book of Mormon at all, and he refused to pray at the end of the lesson, but he has a very sincere desire to feel the Spirit and to learn. As long as that is there, we will be able to help him to progress. 

No new investigators, but we should hopefully be getting at least 3 this week! 

We are meeting with a man named Alexander tonight who we found while we were chapping this last week. We are also meeting with a couple of former investigators. 

First is Andrina. Her husband was a member, but he passed away recently. She has been meeting with missionaries off and on since 2006. The main thing holding her back from baptism is an extreme fear of water. We are bringing our recent convert, Elaine, to the lesson, because she too had a fear of water. Hoping that will help.

The second former is named Martin. He met with missionaries last year. There is one reason why the Elders had to to drop him....he is Deaf. We have a member in the branch named Kerry Watts who knows British Sign Language, and she has agreed to teach us and to help interpret in the lessons. I get to learn BSL!!! For those of you who don't know, I love American sign language, and that was my second choice of my mission behind Scotland/Ireland. I am so excited!! BSL is very different to ASL, so I will need that gift of tongues. 

Those are kind of the main events for the week. Last Monday (after emailing), Elder Scharman and I went to Callendar House. It's basically a giant mansion that was built in like the 11th century or something. Reminded of something right out of Pride and Prejudice. 

Please pray for all the people we are meeting with this week! They are much appreciated. 

Thank you all for the love and support! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

--Elder Wilson

Callendar House

Elder Scharman and Elder Wilson

Found some cool hats!

We found some creepy wax figures!

More creepy wax figures....

3-2-1 Blast Off!!

September 7, 2015
Finally!!! Things are starting to take off here in Falkirk!!!! This last week was super good. First off, some practical things. This week I got to go on two exchanges. First was with Elder Neilson in Stirling. He has been out for 2 transfers now, and this was his first time leading out the area. He was so nervous! Brought me back to my first time doing that as well, 6 months ago!! Good times. Second was with Elder Campbell, one of our zone leaders. He and his companion Elder Tang, came and helped us out in our area so we could cover more ground. Elder Campbell and I took the car and went around trying by a ton of referrals that we have. It was a super productive day!!!

Now for the awesome bits!! We have 3 new investigators!!! First is Michael and Angela. Michael is the son of our recent convert, Elaine, and Angela is his partner. They have a 7 year old son named Mark! They are so great!!! They have agreed to be baptised once they learn more and know that it's true! They have already felt the Spirit, so that shouldn't take to long. They also came to fast and testimony meeting yesterday, so that was so good! Then there is Ali. Ali is Elaine's husband. He is from Gambia and is very strong in the Muslim faith. We taught him on Saturday and he recognized and acknowledged the feelings of the Spirit!! We also invited him to be baptised, and he said he would think about it. Progress will be slow, but we will get there. 

We didn't have a chance to see Lauren this week, but we do have another potential investigator named Andrina. She used to investigate the church, but was dropped a couple years ago. She has an extreme fear of water, so she has never even considered baptism. We are seeing her on Friday, so please pray for her!! 

Things are finally starting to pick up here in Falkirk and it is so great to see these miracles come to pass! Praying truly does work!!

On Saturday, the Petrie children were baptised in Dundee! I am so sad that I wasn't able to be there, but so happy for all of them. They are so great!! 

Thank you all for your prayers and support!! Love and miss you all!

Stay awesome and keep moving forward!
--

--Elder Wilson

 

I introduced Elder Scharman to the wonderful pizza crunch!!

My kids in Dundee! (L to R Jasmine, Gemma, Caitlin, Georgina, and Cameron)

 

WeWill Get There!

August 31, 2015



 

 

 Hey everybody!

Well, first full week in Falkirk has come and gone, and it wasn't terrible. First some follow up from last week.

We had appointments set up with two potentials (Nicole and Charlotte). Unfortunately both feel through. Dang! We are currently in the process of getting back in contact with them. Please keep praying!

Good news though: we have three potentials we are meeting with this week. First is Kharrom. We met him when we were taking a quick ice cream break. We went into his little corner shop and he started talking to us. We are going to visit him tonight. Second is Jim. Jim is older and a devout Catholic. He is very interested in increasing his faith. He also does not believe in the Trinity! Godhead for the win!!! And finally is Michael. Michael is the son of our recent convert Elaine. He came with us to a musical fireside put on by the Donaldson family at the mission home yesterday, and agree to begin meeting with us! He has a partner and a 7 year old son named Mark! Miracles are in store this week, I can feel it.

We did meet with an investigator that the previous elders had named Lauren. She is....interesting to say the least. She is pagan and follows a belief known as Wiccan. Basically it involves everything to do with witchcraft. Not sure what to do with her. She told us that she has absolutely no desire to convert, but she just wants to learn. Any suggestions are open.

This week, we also had a Scotland West conference. In attendance were Glasgow, Paisley, Edinburgh, and the newly formed Chinatown zones. It was a super great meeting and super fun!! I got to see Elders Baker and Crowe from my MTC group, as well as Elders Burch and Welch who are two of my favorite elders in the world!!!

Today, the Ladles took Elder Scharman to see Linlithgow Palace. This palace is the oldest one in Scotland and was super cool!!! It was home to Mary, Queen of Scots, a direct relative to Queen Elizabeth II. There was also a super pretty church that we got to walk through next door called St. Michael's Church. There was super pretty stained glass which I will include in my pictures!!

Hope you all have a great week! Love and miss you all!

Stay awesome! Keep moving forward!

--

--Elder Wilson

 



Selfie!

Shannon Watts...Swaggiest Youth!

MTC Crew


Heather Simpson! Coolest youth!



Linlithgow Palace
 

 

Fountains at Linlithgow.



Stained Glass at St Michaels
 

                                                  



Whitewashing Debrief

August 24, 2015

Howdy folks!!

So the new adventure begins: whitewashing Falkirk! I've only been here for 4 days, but I can already tell that this is going to be an interesting/hard learning experience. So here's the low down....

The previous elders didn't really leave us much to work with. They had a grand total of 0 investigators, so Elder Scharman and I are basically starting from scratch. However, we have found two potential investigators already who we are hoping to meet with this week. One is named Nicole and the other is named Charlotte. If you could please pray for them, that would be much appreciated. Falkirk is a branch, which means it is much smaller than the giant wards I am used to to. On average, their are about 50 members that come to church every week. They all have wonderful testimonies, but they aren't very missionary minded. We are going to be doing a lot of member missionary work with them, and our branch mission leader, Brother McGowan, is a great help! 

The previous elders did have a recent convert named Elaine that we are now working with. She is so sweet! She loves family history and going to the temple. She was baptised in May, and has been to the temple is Preston, England twice already, and is going for a third time this weekend. She got really attached to the last elders after knowing them for 6 months, and when she found out two new elders were coming, she said she was never going to speak to us. Well, we met her yesterday, and ended up talking to her for an hour and half after church. I think that was pretty succesful! 

The thing I like most about this area is that we have a senior couple, Elder and Sister Ladle. They are area family history missionaries, and live literally right next door to us. They are wonderful!! Before we arrived, Sister Ladle made sure our flat was spick and span which was a big help to us. Sister Ladle also cuts our hair, can mend clothes, and they have a car so they can take us places on P-Day. They also feed us once a week. Love it!!!!

Speaking of going places on P-Day, today they took us to see the Kelpies. The Kelpies are basically giant, metal horse statues: the largest in the world actually. Elder Ladle is able to take a picture at just the right angle so it looks like we are feeding it! So fun!! 

As you have probably guessed, Elder Scharman is my new companion. He just turned 19 and has been out for 10 months, but all that time has been in Ireland. He has so many great ideas on how to get the area lit up!!

Well, that's pretty much it for this week! I am super excited to be starting this next chapter in my mission and can't wait to see what lessons I am supposed to learn here! Prayers are always appreciated! Love and miss you all!

Stay awesome! Keep moving forward!!

--

--Elder Wilson

 

The Kelpies!

I'm feeding a Kelpie!

The Falkirk Crew