9/12/15

So this email will likely be very short, considering its only been about 4 days since I wrote my last one, but I will give a preview of my next one!! 

The work is going great. There have been a lot of distractions lately, but I am doing all that I can to stay focused. So to give you an insight into my life this upcoming week, here you go:

Sunday: Baptism of Erika Woodcox

Monday: Drive to Kalamazoo (Bottom of State) for a Mission Leadership Conference with Wilford Anderson of the quorom of the 70. 

Tuesday: Half Mission Training with Elder Anderson in Mt Pleasant (Middle of the State). (I will be singing a solo at that one... way nervous) 

Friday: Transfer Calls. My fate is up in the air.

Saturday: Jennifer's baptism

Yea... I am really looking forward to this week... 

Speaking of Jennifer, this week has been another tumultuous one for her. She found out that she has a life threatening health condition, and everything is up in the air. She texted us on Wednesday saying she didn't feel worthy to be baptized, because of all that is happening and all that she doesn't know. We had a very intense meeting with her last night, but it was probably one of the most powerful. We talked about her concerns and doubts for awhile, and she asked. "What do you suggest I do?" We both bore our testimonies to her of how ready she is. That even if she doesn't know this with her head yet, she knows it with her heart. Everything went quiet for about a minute, and she whispered with all the faith she could, "Ok." I can't describe how I feel about this investigator.. I cannot write her story in an email, but I hope to be able to tell it to you in person someday, so you can truly feel the spirit of her conversion process. Love you all. Please keep her in your prayers for a full recovery.

Elder Wheat

Half my mission posterity! Such studs!!

The view from my balcony

9/7/15

We had a miracle this week.

Jennifer is sooooooooo close. We had a lesson with her on Tuesday, and baptism came up. She mentioned she wanted to, and so we asked "why?" She responded, "I feel like I need too." She has had a difficult time recognizing the spirit because she analyzes everything, and so we told her, "That is how we know you have gotten an answer. After everything you have been through these last few months, you still want this. That is how you know." She said, "Ok. What do I have to do?" Things continue to struggle for her. She just found out she has a major medical scare, and yesterday, she had a huge hurdle to again jump over. She had to leave church early yesterday, (even though she REALLY didn't want to) and they had a presentation about mormonism. It was actually very good presentation, and she was texting us through the whole thing, but then the end came. They had a Q&A afterwards, and questions were asked like, "How do they know Joseph Smith wasn't insane when he had those visions?" and "Why do they think polygamy is ok?" Jennifer was brave enough to say she went to church with us, and everyone turned on her saying "I thought you were smart!" and "I just lost a lot of respect for you." As if that wasn't bad enough, her old Catholic priest came in and ambushed her asking why she was joining a cult... Amazingly she is still hanging on. 

Even with all this she is holding true. She said to us earlier in the week "I am incredibly thankful that God brought both of you into our lives!! This has been one of the best summers that we have ever had as a family. Thank you for being so instrumental in making it happen." She understandably becomes very overwhelmed at times, and asked "If this is so true, why is all of this happening, just as I am finding the missing piece?" We responded, "We don't know why all of these things are happening specifically, but we do know that everything of value is difficult to obtain. There is no easy way to find truth just like there is no easy way to find treasure. It breaks our hearts to see you go through all this, but yesterday you told us this was the best summer you have ever had, and its no coincidence that its been the hardest." The miracle of all of it is she responded "You're right! I will focus on the good and give myself credit for what I do know." One more thing I will add is she saw a picture of the temple, and it immediately made her take a deep breath and relax. SO COOL! Please please please keep her in your prayers. The one hold up now is a deathly fear of water, and she is being so incredibly valiant to get this far. Her family is amazing...

The work also continues to go well. We are seeing a lot more opposition than we are used to. We had one lady slam, (and I mean SLAM) the door on us 4 times in one approach.. It was actually kind of funny. All I know is, It felt great to be at church and get to bear my testimony in a safe place. All of this opposition however just means we are finding more awesome people. We hopefully have 3 baptisms this month, and we found an AWESOME girl named Brandi who we put on date for October 24. She lives literally next door to the church and loves it already from the outside looking in.  Good things are happening. If there is anyone reading this that doesn't already know, I believe and know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. He is my Savior and Redeemer. He is my Healer and My Leader. He is my Advocate and My Friend. There is no other way to eternal salvation and therefore happiness but through him. How do I know these things? I read the Book of Mormon and I prayed about it. I owe him my life. He has lifted me from every sin I have and continue to fall into. He carries me in my lonliness. He spots me when the weight becomes to heavy. I love him with all my heart. It kills me that I continue to fall short, but I rejoice in his forever extended amazing grace.

Elder Wheat

Pictures from last week! Spent the week in the UP with The Soo Elders!!

Lake Michigan!!

8/31/15

Crazy week, mostly because we weren't actually in Traverse City until Friday. We spent the week as far North as we can go in the mission. HEY MOM!! I SAW CANADA!!!!! (I forgot my camera so pictures will have to come next week.) Good work was done even without being here. Jennifer is being very blessed, but still needs extra prayers as she tries to continue in her progression. Erikaś baptism had to be pushed back a week, but its still on :) 

I have been having a lot of sleepless nights lately, and last night was yet another. I got out of bed and read in my old journals from Lansing for about an hour or so. I don know if any of you remember my emails from then, but it was a very difficult time for me. For about 5 months, I was going through very severe doubts, among other trials, that led to intense exhaustion. As I read about what was going on in those times, I was filled with joy to see how far I have come... Near the beginning of that time of trial, I wrote: 

¨A mission, like life, is a marathon, and not a sprint. Some miles feel better than others. This counsel from my dad is how I felt reading my old journals tonight. So many times, I have made promises, pledges, and covenants with myself and with the Lord to never sin again, or to wear out my life in his service. I can remember the fire I had when I wrote those words, but very quickly does the intensity dim. While I still have the desire to do those things, the intensity is not the same. I feel the Lord is trying to teach me to pace myself. I still find myself trying to force spiritual things, what that has never been a fruit of the spirit. Too often I look to the past, longing for who I was and what I felt yesterday, not realizing the future events still in store if I endure it well. The day Peter became the great apostle is when he stopped being so impetuous and impulsive, and frankly, I think the Lord is trying to beat that out of me.¨

What followed were months of entries documenting intense highs and lows, as the Lord molded me into something I never thought I could become. I remember the feelings of hopelessness. Feeling like I would never regain my testimony, and that I would be for the rest of my life, at best, unsure. As I look back and realize all that has been done, I am in awe at the workmanship of his hands. The truths I always believed were persecuted, questioned, doubted, and tested, until they have become truths that I now know. Its funny how, in recolection, the time I am most thankful to, has been my most difficult. So much has changed in these last short months, but I am eternally indebted to a divine and compassionate physician who loved me enough to keep on cutting, no matter the pain it brought me.

The greatest struggle of my mission it seems is to not be able to adequately say or write the innermost feelings of my heart. I am just truly in awe at all the Lord has done for me throughout my life, and all he continues to do as he continues to mold me in his image.

Elder Wheat

8/24/15

Every week, when I sit down to write this email.... I feel like my mind goes blank... The days of the previous week run together like a blur, and I can seem to remember a single thing that happened. Well... lets see what I can update all of you on...

Its going to be a miracle if the Traverse City area hangs on (and it will. The Lord wouldn't let it turn out otherwise) because we are never here. I have been away from Elder Coziar everyday but Saturday, and this week we will be out of Traverse City until Friday, because we are blitzing the Cheboygan and Sault Ste. Marie areas. It should be a lot of fun. Most of my time is spent with new missionaries, which makes me really hope I train again. 

I spent Tuesday in Gaylord, and Wednesday and Thursday in Manistee, which are about a half a state apart haha. Manistee is heaven. Sometimes I feel like I am on vacation rather than doing missionary work, because of the views I get when I am personal contacting. We are having great fun in all we do, which is how missionary work ought to be.

The lesson I learned this week came from my Trade offs with the Assistants. I made a very big mistake. On Tuesday, while I was on trade offs, they had a very bad lesson with Jennifer. They tried teaching as best they could, but things got a little pushy about baptism and she felt ambushed. She was very upset with us over the next few days, and on Friday I saw her on Trade offs and tried to do some damage control, and I totally through Elder Coziar and the missionary who was here under the bus, and made them sound like they were young and inexperience, and didn't know what they were doing, which is very untrue.

The lesson ended up going very well, and even though trials continue to pour out over Jennifer, she is doing very well. Turns out, that lesson was for the best. Over the last few days, she keeps hearing songs about water, and she wrote to us, ¨Tuesday had to happen because I never would even be entertaining baptism when I hear these songs,  but I am.  Thank you for pushing me out of my comfortable little box and showing me that it is safe to have disagreements.   As difficult as Tuesday was for the both of us, it was actually perfect!  I apologize if I treated you poorly or said anything mean to you. Sometimes when we are breaking down a wall we get caught in the falling pieces but in the end, the view is well worth the turmoil.¨ Such a miracle.

That being said, I was very sorely, but lovingly chastised afterwards by the AP for what I did. I must say that the guilty taketh the truth to be hard. His words cut me to the center. My first inclination was to make an excuse or apologize so profusely that I would make my myself look like a victim, but instead a voice kept saying, ¨Be still and listen. This is for your good.¨ After the event, I started to feel angry with myself that I could let my self make such a mistake. ¨You have been out 19 months. You know better. You are immature and unfit. How could you do something like this.¨ Even these thoughts however were short and were pushed aside. Even though that experience hurt me, what hurt more was that I failed the other missionaries involved. I immediately made restitution with both missionaries and with Jennifer, and all worked out for the best. The purpose of the chastisement is to build us up, not break us down. Had he not brought this up, I would have a major flaw in my character left unchecked. The pruning we undergo is worth the pain when we realize the fruit that comes as a result. By the end of the night, all I could think of was, ¨Thank you Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down." Chastening is essential to exaltation, and I am thankful God that God has chastened me enough to learn this. 

The work rolls on. We should have a baptism in 2 weeks and we are way excited!! Loving my mission. I hope I can give more with each day.

Elder Wheat

Where I get to PC

My New Sister 3/17/15

So my time is very short this week, but I want to write about my newest sister Janell :) 

On Saturday, Elder Coziar and I took a 3 hour drive down to Lansing which was worth every second. There was seriously a glow about her as she was all dressed in white ready to be baptized. When she came up out of the water, she put her hands over her face and cried saying "That was awesome..." and as she walked out of the font, she repeated those words 3 times. She sat about two seats over from me and could not stop smiling. I glanced over at her and she looked over at me, and said "I feel so good!" She got up to bear her testimony and just about cried through the whole thing as she told her story.

The last year of her life has been very difficult for her. She found a wonderful church home, but something was still mission. Something told her to look up the Book of Mormon, so she did. I guess we didn't come fast enough the first time because she requested herself twice haha. She said our first lesson changed everything. I have never had an investigator understand things as fast as her. We invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and she says "I mean I'll do it, but I already know it's true... Is that weird? I just get this feeling about it..." We just about swallowed our ties, but it didn't stop there. She asked about Mormon culture and found she fit right in, especially the Disney movie part haha She asked how the missionary thing worked, and we explained that women go on missions at 19. She replied, "You mean I have to wait a whole year???" After her baptism. The first thing she told me was that she was saving up to go on a mission, and that she wants to be married in the Indianapolis temple. Elder Alley and I are already making road trip plans to come back for her going through the Temple. 

No event has ever brought me such joy as this. She alone has made my 2 years worth it, and that is to say nothing about 18 months worth of life changing experiences. There is nothing like a mission. Praise to my God!!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Janell :) 

How big was the TC storm? It uprooted this tree

The Elders of Israel

The Manistee lighthouse

8/10/15

So this week I am recommitting myself to writing a good letter, and I pray the Lord will help me do so.

This is the happiest I have ever been on my mission. The area is absolutely on fire and we are working harder than we ever have on our missions. There is nothing on this earth that is more satisfying that serving the Lord with all diligence of soul. That being said, I am being stretched all the time, and the joy does not come without great anxiety.

Jennifer is continuing to fight and struggle. She has had 5 close friends pass away this week, and each death has come immediately following a spiritual break through. After she texted us to notify us of the last one, we immediately went to visit her. Obviously her immediate question was "Why is all of this happening?" You know... This right here is the most amazing thing about what we do as missionaries. That people who are far our senior in years turn to 20 year olds like us for these kinds of questions, and it is a testimony to the reality of our call that we have the spirit to answer these kinds of concerns. We assured her that God is doing everything he can to comfort her in these times, and she bluntly responded, "That's a crap answer." What immediately came out was the response "No its not. It is no coincidence that God sent us to you right before these tragedies. Could you imagine going through this without somewhere to turn for spiritual support. These deaths are not because God is mad at you or is trying to punish you, you are someone innocent who was caught in the crossfire. But God truly is doing all that is possible to comfort you." It was a super intense experience. I don't think I have ever been so bold with someone as I was with her. May heaven help her. I love all my investigators, but her and her family are special to me. I don't know how she is hanging on, but to see her continue to progress is a miracle in every way. 

SImon Shaub was baptized on Saturday, which was such a sweet experience. I have loved teaching him, and it has been special to watch him grow. The spirit was very strong at the baptism, as it always is. He went immediately from the baptism into an interview with President Ensign for the priesthood, and will be going to the temple on August 22. Such a stud!!!

Final story of the week. I got a message from one of my favorite investigators in Lansing named Janell, asking for a favor. I said "Yea of course!! Whats up?" She nonchalantly responded, "Will you speak at my baptism? Its this Saturday." I just about had a heart attack... I am so flipping excited I can hardly stand it. I will write more of her story next week, but she is one of the biggest tender mercies of my mission. I got to talk to Elder Alley on the phone yesterday, and he told me about all the things that she is doing. The YSA ward soaked her in and took her to the Indy Temple open house, and she is very involved with church activities. To cap it all, he told me that she bore her testimony to them in a lesson, and she simply said, "I know the Gospel is true. I know the Book of Mormon and the commandments are true." They asked why the gospel is so important to her, and she responded, "So I can raise my family in it."

I feel like Ammon in times like this. My joy almost exceeds my strength, and all I can think to do is sing "Hallelujah! Praise to the Lord!!" I love my mission with all my heart. I have 6 months to go, and I will not stop or let up until the Lord shall say "It is done." I love it because its hard. Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is the connection in the scriptures between glory and suffering. The purpose of suffering is not really to punish us, but to change us and to refine us. It's not necessarily the pain that purifies us, but pain is a natural consequence of cutting and growing. If life is hard, good. That's how is supposed to be. The road to heaven is hard because its up hill, but I must say that the higher I climb, the more I feel the incredible warmth that radiates from the Son. 

Love you all!!

Elder Wheat

8/3/15

I have no time this week to write, but I just want you all to know that we are being blessed beyond belief here in Traverse City. The work is great, my companion is great, and the work is moving forward!!!

Just wanted to send a picture of a storm that came through yesterday. It left the city looking like a war zone. Trees everywhere. It was unreal!! Just kept singing "How Great Thou Art" the whole time.

Photo cred to Elder Allred