9/15/14

I am safe and sound in Houghton Lake! This area is awesome! The branch had about 15 members at church yesterday, way different from my last area. The lake is beautiful and the town is small. It literally revolves around the lake. It is a summer tourist town, so the population is sinking as the temperatures do. It is very rainy and the thermometer is settling pretty consistently in the 40s. Gotta love North Michigan! I knocked my first dirt/mud road the other day. This place is great! haha We are pretty much starting over with the investigators here. We do a lot of tracting, but things are looking up! Elder Campbell and I are getting along great! Our personalities are very different, but man am I loving him! 

This week has shown me how much the Lord has helped me grow on my mission. It doesn't matter how cold, how wet, or how many people say no, I am just happy. We have had some awesome experiences this week. I don't think I have ever had more spiritually charged lessons than we've had this week! We have been able to help a lot of less active members find hope this week. I feel like I relate to a lot of the people here.

We don't really have any progressing investigators, and so we have been pleading to find those who are prepared. There are a lot of people here that are "all set" with their faith. They know god is there, but that is about it... and they don't want to get much closer. We met a guy who told us to "go tell your pastor that you found a lost soul" I asked, "well do you want to be found?" and he goes, "No sir." haha But I do want to tell 2 stories from the week that illustrate how thankful I am to know the Lord is guiding us. 

We were knocking down a dirt country road wayyyyy out in the forest in the middle of nowhere. We knocked for about 2 hours and got back to the car when we felt to go a little farther. We went for about another half hour and nothing happened. We went back to the car and I had a thought to go check on a man we had tried earlier, but he wasn't home. We pull up and there was a woman in the down stairs door way. We started talking to her and she opened up to us a little bit. She expressed that she was angry with God because her dad, who was her everything, died. She concluded that we just live to die. She was just looking for answers. She was actually just leaving when we walked up. We expressed to her that we could help know the purpose of life and why and why and where her dad was. She invited us back this Thursday and I am praying that things go well. She was a miracle find. 

The coolest story was yesterday. We were driving down the main road next to the lake and I mentioned to Elder Campbell that we needed to take a picture next to the lake later. He said that there was a spot at the end of our street that we could do it at. The next part happened very fast. We are running low on miles this month and the person we were going really far away so I suggested we go somewhere else. Soon after Elder Campbell pulled into a park looking over the lake and suggested we just do the picture here and now. We saw a guy (his name is Joe) and we asked if he would take a picture for us. He looks at our tags, and goes, "Oh my goodness, I am seeing all kinds of messages from God lately. You guys gotta here this." He tells us that he found God in prison. He was just recently released two days ago and he had no money and nowhere to live. His boss then offered a place to live and he immediately found a job. He started going to church and was praying that he could see his son, and in walks his son. He says "and now I am talking to two guys that represent Jesus Christ. This is crazy." We told him who we were and what we do and he goes, "can I give you my number and call me and we will set something up?" Yes Joe, yes you can. I don't understand how that happened. Everything just fell into place so beautifully. The Lord knows what he is doing.

Yesterday, we were door knocking and I looked at Elder Campbell and said, "Elder, Isn't life great? Like, We have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ at our fingertips. We know exactly what it takes to receive exaltation. Isn't it great??" The next door we knocked on was like all the others. They said no. Walking down the steps, I said, "hey Elder guess what... WE STILL HAVE THE FULLNESS OF THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL!" Who cares if people say no? That should only hurt us because it ultimately hurts them. But we have every reason to be happy. Maybe thats why I am so happy... I guess the secret is looking up to God, rather than sideways to man. I feel that discouragement is a result of putting our hope in something other than God. What are we to hope for? A game? A job? A grade? A paycheck? No. We are to hope that through the atonement of Christ, everything will be made ok (Moroni 7:41). When our hope is in the Savior, we never need be discouraged, for everything will be ok in the eternities because of him. There are no endings or lasting heart breaks because of the One who took it all on himself. Because of him, we never need to be discouraged! We have every reason to rejoice! He lives! Let us look to Christ and live!!!

With all my love,

Elder Wheat

9/8/2014

I am being transferred to Houghton Lake, Michigan and will be serving with Elder Campbell. It is a tiny rural town in North Central Michigan and has a branch of about 30 active members. MAN am I excited!! Transfers has to be my least favorite part of the work. I just fall in love with the areas and people I serve. This one was extremely difficult to leave. I have given my heart and soul to Grand Rapids these last 4 months and it brings me so much joy to see how well the work is progressing there. It is exploding. I have learned so much in that city, and I feel like being here has helped me become a better man. They say if it is hard to leave, you did it right, which is comforting, but doesn't make it any easier.

The area is being left in good hands. Elder Erekson is a stud and my replacement Elder Elmer is a saint. I am so excited to see what they will do!! Our top investigator Fred is the greatest. He drinks coffee every morning, but when we taught him the word of wisdom, he not only accepted it, but he handed us 2 brand new coffee makers and pots, all his coffee, all his sweetner, and all other coffee paraphernalia and told us to throw it away for him. I was nervous of how he would take it all, but the man is truly elect. I am really going to miss him... Irene and fam is still great, but they have bed bugs... and I saw one on the couch haha I don't think I stopped itching the rest of the night. So paranoid. They are still coming to church and are doing well!

I unfortunately don't have much time today, but I just want to share how wonderful it is to be a missionary. I have never been happier. I have never felt so close to the Lord and I have never been filled with so much love. He is changing my heart and I never want to leave his side again. I am so grateful for his atoning sacrifice which allows each of us to grow. True happiness and purpose is found in the service of the Lord! I testify that that is true! Love you all!

Elder Wheat

The District

Irene and Family

Brother Goates! He is one of 3 men that has become like a father to me.

Ethan Valentine, one of our miracle investigators

Bro Krieg! The man is a genius. The assistant ward mission leader.

Mike Nelson! Just moved in from Riverside, and is getting his masters in Speech therapy. He comes out with us a lot! Love this guy!

This cane belonged to Lorenzo Snow, 5th prophet in these last days.

So did this Book of Mormon

The Raue's. I love this family. They have taught me more than anyone. They go through so much and are always able to smile!

The Family reunion!

9/1/2014

This area is exploding. 4 months of praying, working, sadness, joy, discouragement, and growing have been culminating until now. The Lord has been so good. I will undertake to right my week. 

Tuesday was Zone Conference and it was awesome as always. It was desperately needed. There is something special about being together with all these incredible elders and sisters. I feel so close to them all. We have a sister in the zone who's dad recently passed away, and Tuesday was the funeral, which she was not able to attend. We released balloons afterwards for her, and out of nowhere it seems, I started to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever." Everyone joined in and it was a special moment. I love the missionaries in this mission. 

Wednesday did not start well. I was just not in a missionary mindset for whatever reason. I didn't want to open my mouth. We went out with a recently returned missionary to a lesson and it was awful. It turned into essentially small talk for an hour and it was a disaster. On the way home he said something that got to me. He was talking to Elder Erekson and said, "If Elder Wheat isn't going to take over then you have to." That hit me. I am sure it wasn't intended in the way I received it, but I felt like he was calling me out. I don't think I said a word the whole way home. When we got there, I went straight to my room and prayed and prayed and prayed. I have been in a weird funk for awhile and I just couldn't take it anymore. I cried to the Lord for help, and I just had a feeling that I needed to just read the Book of Mormon, and so I did. I don't remember what I read, but I know that it calmed me down. I read all the way to our next appointment, and things started to turn around. We had an awesome lesson with a recent convert and I started to feel something again. I am now grateful for these funks, for it allows us to dive even deeper into the scriptures, pray more fervently, and rely on the spirit more fully.

We got a call from a the Sisters over in Holland, MI, and they referred us to a girl that wanted to take the lessons. We met with her later that Wednesday. Her name is Elizabeth. She is in her 30s and she has a Boyfriend in Virginia who was baptized about 4 years ago, and he seemed different, and she wanted to find out why. We taught her the first lesson and it was text book in just about every way. She was so solid. She loved it all and agreed to be baptized!! I am praying that all will go well there. I began to feel better and better. 

Thursday was trade offs with Elder Lewis, and I fell in love with missionary work again. All we did was knock on doors, but man oh man did it feel great. I finally was able to speak and have meaningful things come out. It was the best I have felt in forever. Elder Lewis is one of the finest men I know. It will break my heart when he goes home in a few weeks. He has definitely become a mentor to me. He is a convert to the church and is about as good of a missionary as you can be.

The next two days flew by and we were able to see a couple of great people and found some great success, but there was one story in particular that I wanted to tell. Last week we had Irene from the Congo ask for a blessing because she was so excited to find out that we have the same authority as the ancient Apostles. In that blessing, it was promised that she would learn English quickly. Up until this point, we needed an interpreter translate everything we said. This week we came with a knew one, only to find out that they don't speak the same Swahili. Go figure. At that moment, she told us that she could understand everything that we say. She could now read English extremely well. She said she still couldn't speak, but then walked in a friend who was able to act as our translator... PERFECT! The lesson wound up going great. She came to church and understood every word. Last week she needed everything translated and this week she didn't. I testify that the priesthood power of Christ has been restored.

We also got a call saying that there was a new Freshman at nearby Calvin College who moved up here from Ohio. He was taking the discussions there and wants to continue them here! He came to Church and is so awesome! We are having people just fall out of the sky it seems. Miracles.

This week has resulted from the sum of small and simple experiences that have made a huge impact, but the more I ponder it, I realize that is how the Lord builds each of us. Line upon line, brick by brick, prompting by prompting. I no longer believe that changes need to be drastic, nor does perfection come in a single day or decision. It is a day by day marathon. I am not perfect. I am very much aware of all the things I need to work on, but I am so grateful that I am changing. I know that the Atonement of Christ was much more than a huge favor the Savior did for us. He did not perform it so that we can be content or coast through life. The purpose of the atonement was not to make life easy. The Saviors intention was to make us better, day by day, and line by line. Those changes never have been and never will be easy, but because of what Christ did, they are possible. In order to come unto Christ, each of must walk through our own Gethsemane's and Calvary's, for that is where he walked. But let us be of good cheer, for we are becoming more like and walking with the Savior with every step. The race is not run in a day, nor won in a moment. It is successfully traveled through day to day improvements. Let us all look to the one who traveled it perfectly and rely upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. He lives and he lives to love each one of us.  

Elder Wheat

Two of my favorite Elders. 

Selfie with the Zone Leader. Missionary work is just fun!