11/24/2014

What an awesome week... It definitely had its ups and downs, but I am thankful for both!!

This week was our half mission training, which was definitely needed. I felt very sorely chastened, which is a good thing. I always know I am feeling the spirit when I have a desire to repent. Repentance has also taken on a whole meaning for me. It is no longer perfection as I once thought, it is progression. It not simply ceasing to sin or be disobedient, but replacing those with worth while activities. It is not just going from bad to good, but good to great. We had a counselor in the mission presidency speak to us, and I speak for all the missionaries I have talked to since, when I say we had one of the most sacred experiences I have ever had. The setting is not right to share hear, but I am so grateful for what was felt in that room with my fellow servants of the savior.

I spent a couple days at Central Michigan University with the zone leaders. It was very hard to contact people, considering it was 15 degrees and snowing, but we had some powerful lessons. I would love to serve on a campus. It is a little intimidating to speak to kids my own age, but having spirit guided lessons with them is really cool. 

While I was gone, Elder Johnson tore it up again! He is really becoming a remarkable missionary. It is so amazing to see the spirit work on him. I am not sure he had a testimony when he got here, but the other day, he held up a Book of Mormon in front of his face and said, "This is true." He teaches like a boss now and was a savior for me this week. I was stressing big time over a lesson, because I didn't know EVERYTHING about the doctrine we were teaching, and he just told me to keep it simple. He was dead on. I am learning a lot from this man!

The other day, we talked to 15 people. 12 peaked their head out and said not interested, one cussed us out for ignoring a no soliciting sign, one antied us, and one opened the door with a horrified look on her face, paused long enough for us to say Hi, and slammed the door. It was a cold, dark, and slushy day. We walked all day and really the only thing that got me through it was singing missionary hymns. It was, for some reason, one of my hardest days on my mission, but all I could do was laugh. Days like that just make the mission memorable.

Elizabeth is doing really well. She may not understand everything we teach, but I know she feels the spirit. Last lesson she said she would be baptized if she knew 100% that it was true, but this lesson was different. We taught her the restoration again, and I am not sure the fully grasped it... But I felt prompted to ask if she knew the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the Church were true, and she answered with an emphatic YES. She really wants to get baptized. We have some hurdles to get over first, but I am confident she will get there. 

I want to close with a letter she wrote to us:

Dear Missionaries,

I would like to thank you for coming to my house for the past few weeks and inviting me to church and study the word of God. 

I have learned so much more about God. This means so much to me. I once was not up to par, then one day I found myself knowing more and more than I did before. I just wanted to get to know God more. 

God loves all who love and spread his word. This is my testimony. 

Elizabeth Porter

I add my testimony to hers. I love being a missionary, and I know that God lives! I am grateful that he is so merciful and patient with me. I am grateful for how much I have learned and how much I have changed. Love you all!

Elder Wheat

Elder Johnson and I and The frozen lake!!!

11/17/14

What a crazy week... This P-Day was definitely needed. If there is anything I have learned this week, it's that if we look for the negative, we will find it, but if we look for the positive, we find that too. It seemed like a rough week until I considered the blessings the Lord had given me. 

I was on trade offs in Oscoda for a couple days, but Elder Johnson was a champ while I was gone. He put 2 more people on date to be baptized, Elizabeth Porter, and John Hoot. He is such a champ. He grows in his desire to share the gospel with every passing day, and it is very cool to see. Elizabeth came to church this week. It took a lot to get there, including spilling bean soup all over my tie and suit, giving a blessing to my "Missionary Mom" who made the soup, picking up Elizabeth, but we got there. She is so great. She went to the library the day before to make herself a study guide based on the pamphlets we give her, and a special sheet to take notes with. She loved it so much!! Man she is gold. Church was amazing. The spirit was felt and I left with a resolve to be better.

On trade offs we saw a family I saw last transfer, and I promised them that I would draw them a Lions logo for them. They are the sweetest family and I love them to death. I almost feel like they are my investigators. I am thankful I got to meet them!

We are fasting from our cars on Saturdays, and so we got to walk all day, but I honestly really enjoyed it. We got to walk in the snow on a Michigan back road for awhile, and it was gorgeous. I honestly didn't feel the cold at all. I feel like the Lord kept us warm. Earlier in the day we had a lesson with a new investigator named Nina, and older woman in the area. She is so sweet. She used to go to church all the time, but fell out of the habit. She goes through a ton, and has had all kinds of medical issues, but is able to take care of a home bound friend who lives in their home. We taught her the Restoration, and it went really well. She was so excited to get her Book of Mormon and when we asked how she felt about all this, she said, "Good. Really Good. Actually, I feel great. I feel like for the first time in forever, things are going to get better. I feel like I just want to go and do something. I feel like God is happy that I am doing this." It was so sweet to hear the testimony of a woman who was feeling the spirit for perhaps the first time. 

For my entire stay in Grand Rapids, I prayed that I could see the spirit work on people like I am seeing it here. The pattern of revelation found in Alma 32 is most definitely true. If one has a desire to believe, the spirit will work on them, and they and the missionary will rejoice together. The spirit is doing the things that I cannot, which is a whole lot. He is there when we teach these people. The things the Lord is doing for this area is beyond me. I would say that I could have never imagined what the Lord is doing for us, but honestly, I felt like I always knew he would.  When I got here, there was no one to teach consistently, but my companion and I knew that if we had faith and worked. The Lord would make things happen. We fasted and prayed that we could find 3 people that would accept an invitation to be baptized on a specific date. It was something that seemed lofty at the time, and it happened!!! This work isn't about numbers, but I am thankful to have met John Hoot, Maurice Clark, and Elizabeth Porter, and see how the Spirit of the Lord is tugging at their hearts. There is much to be done, but it pleases us to work. I pray this will be a week of growth, learning, and miracles. I am thankful to be doing what I am doing, and all the Lord is doing for me. Love you all!

His faithful servant,

Elder Wheat

A picture I drew for a family in Oscoda. They are so excited they wanted to frame it haha

 The family. THEY GAVE ME A TIE!!! 

Its begun... Good bye grass, see you in May haha (20 degrees today btw)

11/10/14

What a week my friends!!

Where to start... 

I want to take a second to say how much I love the missionaries of this mission, and the opportunity I have to help support and serve them as a district leader. Every time we gather together, I feel the spirit and I feel strength in the power of the set apart. 

We saw many miracles this week. We went to teach a man named Maurice Clark, who has a cool story. We found him while checking on somebody else, but we got talking to him, and found out his religious history. He grew up in church, but stopped as a kid because he was told to not come back until he had nicer clothes. That reminded me of Alma 32 where the poor class of the zoramites was kicked out of their synagogues because of there poor dress. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to read that story. He read it many times and found great comfort in it, but at the end of our first visit, he said he'd die a baptist. The mood changed a little when we went back and explained the restoration, but the miracle was this week. He mentioned to us that he wasn't sure why, but his life was changing. He no longer judged others and just started to love people more. He described that the changes began before we started meeting, but have accelerated since. He feels the spirit when we come and when he reads, but is anxious to find out what is causing these changes. The Lord prepares his children for the missionaries. I believe it with all my heart. 

We didn't have much planned on Friday, and Elder Johnson admitted later that he thought it was going to be a horrible day. Oh how wrong we were. We saw miracles all day. Were were led to exactly the right places and met all the right people. We taught them on the doorstep, they felt the spirit, and invited us back. We have more appointments set up this week than I have ever had in Houghton Lake. We are being so blessed. There are so many elect people here. The trick now is going to be getting them to meet consistently and get them to progress. We will see what the Lord has in store!

We also saw miracles with a couple less actives, including Sister Cowell, who continues to make huge steps in here testimony. We taught them they why of the Sacrament, and the spirit touched them big time. I am really excited to follow up this week with how they are doing. 

Life is good. We got caught walking in a sleet storm the other day and just about froze but we smiled, sang, and power walked the whole two miles home. I am thankful that the Lord keeps me cheerful, no matter how lousy the weather or experience!  Sorry for the lack of stories this week, but I don't have time or words to share them all. Its crazy how the small and simple experiences make the biggest difference to me. I love this work!

His Faithful Servant

Elder Wheat

A couple of missionaries in the zone and President Jacobsen!!

How it feels to be a missionary!

11/03/14

I can't believe how fast the days are flying. It really isn't fair! 

Elder Johnson is doing very well. The man is picking up things very quickly. He took the lead in all of our Restoration lessons and handled it like a stud! He is improving by the day. I think he might get sick of me soon because I am so happy all the time, but he will get used to it haha. I am thankful my mission is teaching me to love things that are hard. On Friday and Saturday, it got down to about 34 degrees and snowed. The wind chill however was about 15. It was epic. I am telling ya, that wind cuts you to the bone haha. Its weird though, because I really did love it. There really is not that much fun about Door knocking in the freezing wind and snow, but I just had this smile on my face the entire time. Life is so much better when you choose to be happy.

Now for a couple miracles that happened this week. Last week, I told a story of how Elder Johnson was prompted to go back and knock on a door again. Well, Elizabeth is a rock star. She is so excited to have us teach her. She is such a big sweet heart. Everything we taught reminded her of a scripture in the bible, so we'd stop while she flipped through and read the scripture she was thinking of. I couldn't help but smile. It's like teaching a child. She is so accepting and excited to hear what we have to say. I can't help but love her heart. She is different from everyone else we have met, but we love her anyway. We gave her a book of mormon and a couple pamphlets, and she read them all and took all kinds of notes. She loves what we have to say and rejoices to receive more of God's word.

Greatest Miracle was the baptism of Nora Buchner. She has been coming to church everyweek for 10 years and finally built the courage to be baptized. We normally get about 22-23 members at sacrament meeting and had 28 come to the baptism. I got to be in the water with the baptizer to help her back up out of the water. What a great experience. Afterwards, she said, I feel so much more love here than I do at my other church. It is weird how it really doesn't matter if the congregation has 20 members or 200 members, there is a tangible family love in this church that I have not felt anywhere else. If nothing else, I know that this church is true because of the love that is present every time the saints assemble together. I know that all of us belong the the family of God, and what a sweet feeling it is to feel that bond. 

Love seems to be the common theme for the week. It is the secret to happiness. If we can choose to love everyone around us and the circumstances we find ourselves in, the world would be void of all its troubles and contentions. Yesterday, we met a drunk man who was waiting for a cab outside his trailer. He says "Have you come to talk to me about Jesus Christ?" I said, "Yes sir!" He said "Well your looking at him! I am Jesus Christ." He then proceeded to tell us a whole bunch of crazy things about Daniel, King James, and the second coming, during which, I swear he didn't blink once. When his cab came, he put out his cigarrette and drove off. It was such an unusual experience, but I couldn't help but love him! It doesn't matter whether or not this man was the Savior or not, we tried to treat him as if he was. That man is my brother. I am thankful that God is changing how I view people. He is helping me see the good in everyone, and helping me realize that everyone is doing the best that they can. I have no choice but to love them. The Lord loves me with all my weaknesses and imperfections, so I must love others who have theirs. Life is so much better and happier this way. How thankful I am to God that he is changing who I am. I love him, which must always include loving everyone around us. For by this shall all men know that we are his disciples, If we have love one to another.

Elder Wheat

Nora Buchners baptism

One of the Young men drew a sweet picture of me and him hhaha