Tis the Season to be Worldly

Hi everybody! So this weeks email will be a little bit shorter again due to shorter emailing time.

 

As some of you may have heard, this week was Christmas!!! For missionaries it truly is the most wonderful time of the year because it is the one time of the year we get to be in the world as well as a part of it! First off we get to skype home. We only get to do this twice a year, so it is a really special time. So much fun getting to talk with my parents and brother. I also got to see my puppy!!! The second reason Christmas is amazing is because we get to watch real movies. This year, we watched Minions, Toy Story 3, The Santa Clause, and some other movie that I can't remember the name of. We also got spoiled by members. Got some ribs and two traditional Christmas dinners (turkey, potatoes, desert, the whole shabang)! So much fun! And what's even better is we get to do it again for New Years. First movie on the list is Inside Out. Can't wait to watch it!

Well, now that I have gotten my fun side out of the way, let's get spiritual. My last companion was a really amazing writer and wrote a couple poems that he showed to me. Well, I decided to try my hand at it as well, and this was the finished product. I hope you like it! 

 Cast On Him

Elder Cody Wilson

"Come unto me...and I will give you rest"

These words were spoken by the very best.

I'm on my knees and with the strength I can bear

Begin to cast on Him my every care.

My trials and struggles, my sorrows and woes

The harder I pray, the more the pain goes.

He is perfect, the Son of a God,

yet He willingly walked the path I now trod.

He knows me just like I know my best friend

and by my side He will stay till the end.

I continue to speak, and the worries they fly

as I ponder in amazement that for me He did die.

How did He do it? Endure the pain of it all?

When through the problems I face, I can barely stand tall.

I finish my prayer, and utter amen.

Now it's time to face the world again.

The trial's still there, the struggles and woes,

but the path I now walk, I don't walk it alone.

He's by my side, sharing the load

as we trudge, step by step, down that endless road.

We walk together, with me on His right

for His yolk is easy, and His burden is light.

Prayer List

-David Grant

-Lee/Naomi/Theoden

-David

-Rebecca

-Rhona

-Donald

Thank you all for being amazing! And love and miss you tons! Stay awesome and keep moving forward. I will talk to you all in the new year! Happy 2016!!!

----Elder Wilson

1) How we are spending Christmas 2) Santa found me in Scotland 3) Mormon wine

How we are spending Christmas

Mormon wine

 MINIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa found me in Scotland!

Spreading Christmas cheer with cake mix cookies made by yours truly

 

It's Christmas!!

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas! Hope you all had a wonderful week before Christmas and that you are remembering why we celebrate this beautiful time of the year.

 

So, we have a bit of a shorter emailing session today due to the holidays but here are some noteable events from this past week.

 

First, we got to see our investigator David. Had a really great lesson with him, during which he agreed to prepare to be baptised on January 30th!! He still has a few concerns and issues that need to be worked through, but they aren't anything that some praying and teaching can't fix.

 

Theoden is still on track for baptism on January 9th. The only issue is getting him to church. He is only 9, so he can't get to church on his own, and he has a lot of family struggles that make it difficult for all of them to make it out. Please pray that he will make it to church this week so that he can make his date!!

 

Other than that, we have been finding our butts off. Had 3 straight days of nothing but knocking doors, so you can imagine how fun that was. We did find 3 people who are interested though which is great. The only problem is that they are all women, and we can't get in to teach them without a man. Proves to be a bit of a problem.

 

Prayer List

- Theoden (investigator)

- Lee/Naomi (less active)

- David Grant (investigator)

- David McKinnon (less active)

- Rebecca (less active)

Thank you all for your love and support and prayers! Hope you have a Merry Christmas, and remember what the greatest gift is. Stay awesome and keep moving forward! Love and miss you all!
--

--Elder Wilson

 

Steps of Whaligoe

Companionship selfie

Elder Thueson being.....Elder Thueson

Ain't it pretty?

Merry Christmas Thurso

 

Family Reunion and a Sore Butt

Well this week has been pretty strange. We had an All Scotland Conference in Edinburgh this week, so for us up here in Thurso, that meant a lot of travel. We left Wednesday morning at 9 AM and drove for 2.5 hours to Inverness. Once there, we picked up some sisters who took a ferry from their area of Stornoway, and the 5 of us drove 4 more hours to Aberdeen where we spent the night. Thursday, we had to wake up at 4 AM and start the 3 hour drive to Edinburgh. At the All Scotland, we had the privilege of hearing from Elder Patrick Kearon of the 70. It was amazing!! Love getting to hear from general authorities. After the conference, we drove 6 hours back to Inverness and spent the night, and then finished our journey back to Thurso on Friday morning. Needless to say, my butt was super sore from sitting and driving for that long. I would be perfectly fine if I never had to sit in that car again.

Now to explain the first part of my title. Well, for those of you not familiar with missionary traditions, your first 3 months of your mission is the time when you are trained. Your first companion is your trainer and is also your father/mother (depending on if you are an elder or a sister). So, since Elder Blaylock was my trainer, he is my dad. Well, Elder Blaylock went home so I am now a missionary orphan. When I was serving with Elder Scharman he made a proposal: he was going to adopt me as his mission son and he would be my mission dad. I agreed and we had a weird adoption ritual that involved weird forms of oodoov (don't ask), fire, and string, and just like that, I had another mission dad. Well, at the All Scotland, we were reunited!! It was so great seeing him again and catching up. It's amazing how close you can get to someone when you spend 24/7 with someone for 3 months.

Sadly, this week doesn't seem too exciting. Lots of finding in the schedule, so hopefully we start seeing some growth here in Thurso. Oh yeah, before I forget, we got our moves call last night. I will be staying in Thurso with Elder Thueson for another transfer. Should be fun!

Prayer List

-Theoden (investigator)

- Neil (less active)

- Rebecca (less active)

- Rhona (potential)

- Shevonne (investigator)

- David (investigator)

Thank you for your love and support!! You are all amazing! Love and miss you. Stay awesome and keep moving forward! --

--Elder Wilson

 

B-day/Christmas package from home!!

Hi from Thurso!

The kind of places you go chapping in Thurso

 

One more thing...

Before I forget..... the church has recently released a new video for Christmas called A Saviour is Born. It is a short two minute video about Jesus Christ and how He is our Saviour. Check it out at christmas.mormon.org!

 

--Elder Wilson

Potentials for Days!

Howdy all! This week was actually fairly good in terms of the work!

First off, we were able to meet with Theoden (our 9 year old investigator) and teach him again. He is solid and should be right on track for his January 9th baptismal date!! 

We also had another good lesson with our investigator David. We brought up baptism, but he has a couple of concerns that seem a little bit challenging to overcome, but we will get there eventually! Next major step is to get him to church!

Got a new investigator this week named Shevonne. She is the mother of 3 and is currently in the process of finding a new faith (perfect timing)! Taught her the Restoration and she said that it all makes sense, so that is a really good sign. We also discussed baptism with her and she said that she is willing, but wouldn't commit to a date right there. Either way, super good!

Took our weekly trip to the Orkney Isles this week and after hours upon hours of finding, we found a super solid potential investigator named Rhona. She said her dad used to be involved with the Mormons and that she loves learning about new religions. We went back the next day, and her mom answered the door. Usually when that happens, they speak for their kids and say they aren't interested. However, she surprised us. She said Rhona was really looking forward to meeting with us, but that she wasn't feeling well and that if we had any leaflets for her to read, she would love them. YES!!!!!! She also said we could come by any time. YES!!!!!!!! We are expecting great things to come from that!

 

The rest of the week was full of finding, but we did find 3 other potentials. Their names are Karen, William, and Donald. Hopefully we can start seeing some good things start happening in this area. 

 

This week looks pretty exciting. We are driving down to Edinburgh for an All Scotland conference with Elder Patrick Kearon of the '70. That should be super good! Perks of being a missionary: you get to meet general authorities!

 

Prayer List

-David (Investigator)

-Theoden (Investigator)

-Neil (Less active)

-Rebecca (Less active)

-Rhona (Potential)

-Karen (Potential)

-William (Potential)

-Donald (Potential)

Thank you all for everything you do! Love and miss you! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

--

--Elder Wilson

 

Italian chapel made out of old army barracks

Scenery shot

Trying to tan on a beach. No success