Consider the Lillies 04/21/14

I went on a trade off this week with one of the Zone Leaders named Elder Pace. This guy is crazy! He doesn't eat... He just works. It is crazy! I went out with him on Tuesday. We had been running from appointment to appointment all day, and only had about 15 minutes to eat until our next appointment at 7. I asked if we should stop somewhere and he said, "Elder Wheat, didn't Jesus tell his servants not to worry about what they would eat, and that he would provide for them? Elder Wheat, have we been serving the Lord today?" I said Yes of course! And he said "Then Ted (Our next appointment), is going to feed us." We knocked on his door, and he let us in. He offered us something to drink, and Elder Pace said, "actually, we haven't eaten yet. Do you have any bread?" And Ted goes "ABSOLUTELY!!" He made us Bologna sandwiches and gave us a brand new bag of potato chips. Not going to lie, that experience strengthened my testimony a little bit, and from now on, I will always "Consider the lillies!" Ted was the man though. He is a very Christ like man and had all kinds of cool stories. He is also a youth motivational speaker who owns his own organization. You are now looking at the newest member of CRI, (Character, Respect, Integrity)

We were driving around town with Johnny Freelove in between appointments trying to contact some less actives. We tried about 4 houses with no luck, and I looked at our Gold Mine map and I saw that Terrance Deter lived nearby. We took that as an omen, because Deter is president Uchtdorfs name (Different spelling, I know) and we drove there shouting "ITS AN OMEN" the whole way. We got to a pretty run down house, and a lady answered the door, recognized us and rolled her eyes and went and got Terry. He was an older guy, who mines crystals down in Arkansas. The first thing he said was, "You will never know how much I miss the church." He told us his history. He at one time had turned his life around. He joined the church in the Upper Peninsula, and told us about his ordination to the office of Elder, his service as scout master, and he cried as he told us about being baptized for his dad in the temple. He also told us that while he was in the hospital, a member of the ward sold 60,000 dollars of his stuff, and he swore he would never come back. He desperately wants to, but he felt that there was no hope for him. We talked for about an hour out side his house and came back later that week with the Elders quorum president. That meeting was inspired. Brother Mccouch shared that he two was robbed of everything by a once close friend. Not only that, he had been to prison and was wrapped up in all kinds of stuff, but told of his reconversion story, and how he had turned his life around with the help of the savior. It was powerful. Terry and Vicki (His non member friend) came to church this week for the first time in 10 years. It was awesome!!

Simone and her mom Gwen are doing awesome. They are probably my favorite people in all of Michigan! We call her mama Gwen now haha She is so funny and they are so fun to teach! We had a really great lesson on the priesthood and the Book of Mormon, and they understood it all. I was a little hesitant about the baptism invitation, but both of them said the would when they come to know the Book of Mormon is true. It was a miracle that they were so open to it! Pray for them!

Our lesson with Carenda was awesome. She soaked in the plan of salvation, so so far so good there!

Noah is progressing slowly but surely. We pushed his date back to May 3, and him and his grandma made it to church yesterday which was a blessing! We went to his 15th birthday party on Saturday during our dinner, and we felt super out of place. Everyone was smoking and drinking so that was great... Some of the older guys were playing basketball with the younger kids on a garage hoop and they needed an extra guy, so I said I'd play. I think they were a little surprised that "Church people" could play ball haha I have never dunked on a black guy in my life until that day. Sure the hoop was 8 feet high, but that is still a win in my book ahaha Your boy has still got it!! haha 

We had a breakthrough lesson on priesthood with Grant, and he took a big step forward!

We had a very strange lesson with Sister Singe. It started out well, then her daughter came home and all hell broke lose. They started screaming and shouting and cussing at each other, because the daughter left a crock pot at a friends house. I have never seen a daughter be so disrespectful to a parent in my life. I will never yell at my parents again after that. We couldn't get out of there fast enough, and I was singing Love at Home all the way back to the apartment. 

It is crazy as I look back on the last three months how far I have come. Talking to random strangers was once my biggest fear. Now it is my favorite activity. The Lord truly does make our weaknesses strengths. I have learned these Words of wisdom: If you act awkward, it will be awkward. If you are just yourself and just talk to people, it becomes the most natural thing on earth. And the even greater thing is, people start seeing you as normal, and a representative of Jesus Christ at the same time! Except for one guy this week who got super scared and said, "please go away" before we could say anything. I feel like people either see you as Jesus freaks, or Satan haha It is great! You just stop caring what others think after awhile, probably because you realize who you really are: A servant of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thank you for all your prayers and I love you all!

Elder Wheat

#Selfie with a $25 quartz crystal that Terry gave me

The one and only Ted Nicolls

Brother Torrence's car. My knees were at my chest haha

04/14/14

This week has made me remember a lesson my dad taught me in relation to sports. After I had played a horrible game and given a poor effot, he taught that you will only be at your best about 1 out of every 6 or 7 games. Coaches know that that you will give your full effort on those days, but what defines you as an athlete is the effort you give those other 6 games. I have noticed that missionary work is a lot like that. These last few weeks, there have been quite a few times where I simply did not want to do missionary work. For what ever reason my heart was not in it. Every time I had these feelings, I immediately thought of what my dad taught me that day. I would always get on my knees and ask God for the strength to keep going and to have a positive attitude about it. Every time without fail I would get up a new person. The Lord doesn't want missionaries who only work hard when they feel like it. He needs missionaries who will work hard when they don't, and he will always give them the strength to do it.

For some reason the Lord is still blessing me haha I am beginning to think that he must really love me! haha 

We taught Carenda for the first time this week, and before we had even gotten there, she had already gotten to 1 Nephi 12! She said she had a doctrinal question, but then she cross referenced, studied and prayed about it and got an answer to her question.... I was like, "dang." We had an awesome Restoration lesson with her and she felt good about all that was said. She came to Church this week and seemed to really like it! She just finished 1 Nephi. She is so Golden!

Sister Freelove in our ward is one of the most missionary minded people I have ever met. Unfortunately, her two sons Johnny and Taylor (17 and 19) don't come. Two weeks ago, she basically forced Johnny to come out with us. He hadn't said two words to me the whole time I've been here, but lately he has been volunteering to come out with us. He has been sitting in on our lessons in the Freelove home as well. This last week he said that the only thing keeping him from coming to church now is that he doesn't have clothes, but he asked his mom and they quickly took care of that. HE CAME TO CHURCH THIS WEEK! We were so excited! He has basically made a 180 these last 2 weeks! It has been so awesome!! 

We went to teach Simone this week, and her mom Gwen happened to be there, so we taught them both the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They both soaked it all in and Gwen was like, "Dang! That sounds a lot like what I believe!" We invited them both to come to church this Sunday and they came! We are meeting with both of them again this week! It turns out, Simone works with like 5 members in the ward! She loved church and told the Sisters that she wants to come back!! She is so awesome!!! 

We had a really cool experience door knocking this week too! We felt prompted to go back and knock the rest of a street we had knocked earlier that day. We knocked about 10 houses and no one answered. We were beginning to question if the Lord needed us somewhere else, but nothing came to mind, so we kept knocking. I saw a house with 2 cars in front and I was ready to turn back if that house didn't answer. We knocked and we met a super awesome and open guy named Jakotis. He is 29 and owns his own paiting company. He was in a meeting but told us to come back the next day. We finished knocking the street, and as we walked back he called out to us and invited us in! We taught him a little bit and he was super open to it and wanted us to come back! He is a super cool dude! 

We did a lot of service this week, and I have probably been to the hospital about 5 times to give blessings. The ward is going through some pretty tough times, but they are trying there best! I Got to speak this week in Sacrament on testimony, and I had a really cool prompting in my studies in preparation. I was pondering why people don't share there testimonies with others, and I figured it was because of fear, or feeling uncomfortable about it, and this thought came to mind: It must have been hard for the Savior to suffer so much that he bled from every pore. It must have been scary to have been whipped, beaten, and forsaken. It must have been uncomfortable for him to have had nails driven in his hands and feet. But he did that which was scary, hard, and uncomfortable because your happiness and your salvation was more important to him. If he can do all that, then we can do that which is uncomfortable and scary for the happiness and salvation of others. 

Being a missionary is the craziest, hardest, most frustrating thing I have ever done, but there is nothing I would rather be doing. The Lord is in this work. He has been with me every step of the way.

Elder Wheat

04/07/14

So funny story. 

We had a dinner appointment with a man in the ward whose wife is Russian. We were eating something that tasted like squishy pot roast, and the sisters asked what it was. "Cow they said." I was rather suspicious at that. Brother Parks was DYING to tell us what it was but Sister Parks kept saying, "NO LYNN NO!" He said, "I bet you all have never had a steak this tender before!" which I immediately new was a load of garbage because it tasted nothing like steak. I figured out what it was pretty quickly, but the Sisters didn't haha Bro Parks said, "If they want to know what it is, I am going to tell them," and Sister Smith says, "What is it...?" He says, "Cow tongue." I swear to you I could hear the screams of the poor sisters in their heads haha They didn't touch it the rest of the night. They said they weren't hungry because they were, "so spiritually fed." I about died laughing haha. I had two though just to say I did. So now, when people ask, "Whats the weirdest thing you ate on your mission", I can say Cow tongue now. Hooray.

The work has been going very well. Noah is now on date for April 19 for baptism which is also his birthday! I am so stoked for him! He is such a great kid!! He was all bummed out when he found out that Elder Yates and I would eventually leave, but he is definitely one of those kids I want to see when I go home. We taught Simone again, and it went pretty well. She is so much fun to teach! She asks a ton of questions and she is so sincere. We are going to challenge her to baptism this week, so hopefully all goes well! Yevonne is still Yevonne. We tried teaching the purpose of life as simply as we could. At the end, we asked her what her purpose was. She says,"I think God wants me to win the lottery." She was dead serious. I couldn't help but smile. She wants to use the money to help out the people around her which was sweet, but Yevonne is just Yevonne hahah. We met with Grant this week, and I learned a valuable lesson: Not every Investigator needs to hear about baptism every time. We were talking about grace and works, and I remembered the Brad Wilcox quote, "We are not earning heaven, we are learning heaven." I shared that with him, and that hit him very hard. I guess that is what he needed to hear, because he called us later in the week thanking us for that, and says hes been saying it and righting it down every time he struggles.

General conference was so inspired!!!! President Packers testimony hit me really hard, and something President Uchtdorf said has kept running through my head: "Endings are not acceptable to humans because we are made out of the stuff of eternity." I am so grateful to know that there are no endings, only endless beginnings. I am grateful to have a family and parents who are sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. Nothing makes you love your family more than serving a mission. 

Last Sunday, after a youth fireside on missionary work we put on, a 12 year old girl in the ward got up to bear her testimony. She talked about how shes been thinking about it a lot and she wants to serve a mission. She told how awesome it was to see her friend Bailey reading the Book of Mormon. (Remember that girl who's lesson we totally butchered? That's Bailey.) Apparently, she's been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and now her mom wants to read it too!!!!!! She just loved being a missionary. I went up to her after and told her how touched I was by her testimony and I thanked her. I was walking away and she tapped me on the back and said, "Me and Bailey want you to know you are our favorite missionary because you are cool like that." I don't think I have ever gotten a better compliment in my life. I felt very humbled by it. 

Scripture of the week is Matthew 6:34."Take no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof." Life is all about taking things one day at a time. The food we eat today will not sustain us for a week, neither will our study and prayer today provide us with enough strength to protect us from temptation in a week. We must partake of the bread of life DAILY. In addition, we can't be content when we live in tomorrow. Focus on being your best TODAY and tomorrow will take care of itself. 

I know this is the Lord's work and that Christ lives. I really know!

Love Elder Wheat

03/31/14

Guess who is coming to the mission on May 20th? That's right. Elder Jeffrey R Holland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I struggling to do my morning workout, when Elder Yates came in and showed me the text, and I swear I have never worked out harder! I am so flipping excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like when I shake his hand he is just going to look into my soul and say, "Terrestial kingdom" hahah I am so excited!!!!!!!!!! I just may start fangirling again so I am just going to calm down now and move on to a new topic haha

The weather is starting to get really good! Its sunny and 60 degrees today! It feels like home! haha

I wanted to share a really awesome experience I had a couple of days ago. We went on splits with the priests, and Tyler, our most recent convert, and the young men's president came with me to visit a young man named Noah, who has been meeting with missionaries for about 6 months now. We had been fasting and praying that his mother and grandmother's hearts would be softened enough to allow him to be baptized. We had planned to talk to his mom if she was there, but she wasn't, so plan B was to teach the Restoration. We got to about the second point in the lesson, when Noah sheepishly raised his hand, and said, "I talked to my mom about it, and she said that I should pray about it. I did, and I felt like I should be baptized, and I told my mom, and she said I could." I just about flipped out! I was so excited!! We started talking about it, and Tyler started sharing the experience he had at his baptism, and it was all just awesome! When we left, Tyler saying how cool that was and how much he was feeling the spirit. He commented how he was saying things that he had never even remembered or thought of. He then says, "that made me want to be a missionary." I don't think I stopped smiling the rest of the night. It was one of the strongest testimony building experiences of my life! The spirit really does change the hearts of those who invite him.

Something really cool Elder Yates and I have been doing lately to keep the spirit with us is memorizing a scripture every day while we door knock. We have done that this last week and it actually strengthens our comp unity. He is seriously an awesome missionary. I feel power every time he speaks under the influence of the Holy Ghost. On top of that, we sing songs from Spongebob  pretty much everyday. I know that somewhere, Dad is laughing at the both of us ahah

Now for the spiritual thought portion of the email. I have noticed that in times of doubt or unhappiness, I am most often thinking of myself. I can't testify enough that true peace and joy is only found in the service of God, and the service of your fellow men. Lasting peace will never be found in the service of yourself. My feeling is that that is how the Savior managed to to be in a state of peace all the time. All he ever did, he did it for somebody else. When things went wrong, and the natural man turns inward, Jesus turned outward. He always sought to help others. When ever we think to doubt or turn inward,we must always get on our knees and offer a prayer of gratitude, then go do something kind for somebody else. I testify that every doubt and frustration will fly away. I have seen it personally these last two weeks. It is seriously impossible to be unhappy and grateful at the same time. As long as you are keeping the commandments, happiness is honestly a choice. "When you think to groan, choose to laugh." That phrase has not only changed my outlook of my mission but also my outlook on life! God does not intend for anyone to be miserable. "Men are that they might have joy." I just can't help but feel that the enemy of our joy is often ourselves. Choose to smile, choose to be thankful, and choose to serve and no matter how tough life gets, we will be happy. 

He lives!!! Jesus Christ lives!! I can never say that enough! Life is good when you have the gospel. The whole world ought to know that, but we are just going to start in Battle Creek!!!

Elder Wheat

Laboring in the Vineyard!!!!

Gym is life!