Monday, June 25, 2018

Family and Friends,

Well... This is it! The last weekly email I will send as a full-time missionary. It is really crazy how fast these two years have gone. My heart is full of gratitude for all of those who have supported me. All of you back home, those who are here in California, and all of the missionaries that I have associated with throughout my mission. This has been such a sacred experience that I will never forget. There are a lot of things that I have learned on my mission, but I would love to expound on 3 things that have impacted me so much out here. 

The first thing I would like to write about is the importance of family. By God's wisdom and love we were all put into families. Each family is different. But with the gospel, families can prosper and be united. As I have been able to help other individuals come closer to the Savior it has taught me that my personal choices can effect my family members now, my ancestors, and my posterity. Choices we make now will effect generations before and generations to come. As families work together in unity we can all make it back to our Father in Heaven. His plan is a perfect plan. 

Second, I would like to talk about integrity. I have learned that integrity builds the trust that the Lord has in us. If we do what we say we will do, even if no one is watching, the Lord will bless us. If we do not do what we say we will there are so many negative effects. This is key in this life because we make covenants. We also make promises to leaders and friends. I have learned it is imperative to be who you say you are and to do what you say you will do.

Last of all I have learned who my Savior is. He is so merciful and loving. I have had many personal experiences with His redeeming love. And I have had the wonderful opportunity to represent Him in His wonderful work. God loves His children. Our Savior is there when we are weak, when we are low, and when we feel like no one understands. I have come to know my Savior through study and prayer. I hope to continue to learn more about Him. 

I cannot wait to see all of you in a couple of days. I have waited for this moment a very long time. I have longed to hug my wonderful Mom. And to tell my Dad thanks for everything. I am very excited to be back with my siblings. With that said...I will forever remember the California Modesto Mission because of the impact it has had on my life. My love for the people, the area, and my mission will never diminish. I am so grateful for these two years and what it has taught me.

Our last weeks have been pretty crazy. We have had a lot to do on the administrative side of things. This past week we were busy cleaning our house out and getting everything ready for the transition. We have been fed a lot, luckily I have not gained back any weight that I have lost. The Lord blesses His missionaries. I love you all and I will see you in 2...DAYS!

Love, 

Elder Willden 

Sister Palmer sent these last two pictures and said,
"Wee will love him forever"

Monday, June 18, 2018

Family and Friends,

This week was a good one! Another week of a lot of exchanges and planning. We have been working on the mission transition/dissolution as well. At least we got time to proselyte! We picked up a new investigator this week named Brianna. She is cool. The only thing that is hard with her is that she goes to a Christian college so she knows the Bible and believes a lot of philosophies of men. So we will see how that continues to go, or maybe we won't haha. 

I got to go on exchanges in my old area of Turlock YSA! It was so good to be back. Unfortunately I did not get to see a lot of people though. We went out and tried a lot of old investigators that Elder Stewart and I way back when. Most were not home, but at least the Elders down there know where they live.

I have learned so much on my mission. This is something that will never be forgotten. I have also had the opportunity to learn from such a great mission president. I am so glad that I have had the sense to write in my journal each night of my mission. I will reflect on these experiences for the rest of my life! I am going to write a really good email next week! I apologize for the length of this one. One more....

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Willden

June, 4, 2018

Family and Friends,

This week was pretty good! Every week seems to be going by quicker and quicker. I apologize in advance for how short this email is going to be...Not too much that happened this week. We have just been so busy with administrative things. We moved some missionaries on Monday for a little bit. That is why I was able to send a couple of emails on Wednesday. We played some basketball and did our preparation for the rest of the week. It was nice to be able to play some ball.

We did pick up a new investigator this week. So we did get some time to proselyte. His name is Francisco. He committed to be baptized on June 16. We are excited because he already attended church and he will be coming to FHE tonight. He asks really good questions and wants to come closer to the Savior. I am so thankful that the Lord has given me yet another opportunity to teach someone. Teaching is the best feeling as a missionary. You have the opportunity to have the spirit work through you. I have noticed that when you prepare as a missionary things never go the way as planned, but the Lord gives you utterance if you put in the work. My companions are also great teachers so it helps me to be better each and every day. Please pray that Francisco continues to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We are looking forward to his baptism day.

I have been reading in 2 Nephi for my personal study recently, specifically in 2 Nephi 28-31. It has helped me to understand the importance of the scriptures more. I know that if we read wanting to learn the Spirit of the Lord will help us to understand. 

I know that my time in the mission field is winding down...there is nothing I would rather be doing at this time. I absolutely love the Lord. He is good. I know He lives. I pray for all of you. I love you!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

May 28, 2018

Family and Friends,

This week has been crazy! As the California Modesto Mission's closure is coming very close we were cleaning out a lot of apartments and getting things ready for the transition. It has been such a very busy time for me in my mission. Unfortunately this week it was more on the administrative side, but we hope to have a little bit more time this week to proselyte. I definitely got sunburned today as temperature reached 98 degrees. It is soooo hot right now!

I want to share an experience from this week that was small, but meant a lot to me. As we went throughout the week, when we had time we would drop by some referrals or potentials that have been found in the past. I have always felt that knocking on doors next to them is the right thing to do because the Lord already put us in the area we might as well see if there is someone there that will listen. Well we had been doing that with little to no success. But we found some time yesterday to go out and try some of the less-active members in our ward and also referrals. We got to one of them and we were just super tired...ready to get out of there. I felt a VERY subtle prompting to knock on the door next to us as we were walking to the car. Well...we knocked on the door and went in with our normal approach. As we were speaking this lady told us that she knew who we were. She explained that she was a member of the church, but she hadn't been since she was 18. She told us missionaries would definitely be welcome at her home. As we left that house I thought of what would've happened if we did not follow that subtle prompting. The Lord has so much trust in us. If we listen to what He asks, He will trust us even more. I know that the spirit encourages us to do good always. I love missionary work. We can each take initiative by reaching out to our friends and neighbors.

This week I have had the opportunity to start the my plan program for missionaries that will be returning home in the very near future. It has been a great time of reflection and goal setting. One of the things I was asked to do was to study my patriarchal blessing. I am still in the process, but this has been such an amazing experience. If you have your blessing study it! If you do not, I invite you to contemplate receiving it. It is pure revelation given to you from a loving Father in Heaven through his called and ordained patriarchs. This church is so true. If you are questioning your testimony look into it a little deeper. Study your scriptures daily, talk to your Heavenly Father in prayer daily, partake of the sacrament weekly, put the work in and the Lord will always keep his promises(:

Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 

-Doctrine and Covenants 88:63

I am so grateful for all of your prayers and support. I feel it and I love it. Pray that we can find all  of God's children that He has prepared for us to teach! Have a wonderful week. I love you all!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Elder Ray's bday!

Monday, May 21, 2018

Family and Friends,

Not too much to report on from this week! We were crazy busy with our transfer planning and going to and from Stockton. It was definitely a week that was packed with revelation and guidance. I wrote in my journal last week that these experiences I am having now I will never forget. There is something that has been coming to my mind as I have thought about the contents of this letter. We were talking with President Palmer last week on what the California Modesto Mission's Vision means to us. (Mission Vision: We are one with the Savior in doing the will of the Father.) As I contemplated that question I realized this isn't just a vision I will carry with me for 2 years. I want to carry it into my life after the mission. Because of the Savior we can change and become better human beings. The Savior walks with us through life's troubles, trials, and experiences. I have seen it more on my mission than ever before. I am grateful for such a wonderful Mission President and Wife. As I start my last transfer I feel like this has gone too fast.

We were able to go to Stockton a lot this past week with dinner's and everything we had planned. We went to Cafe Rio a couple of times for sure;) We were able to go out with one of our members Saturday evening to teach a lesson. We taught a man named Adrian. The lesson went super well. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and the blessings from reading it. I hope that he takes the time to read and pray.

Today has been really crazy because we will be taking departing missionaries to the airport. We had to get everything ready for them today. I hope everything goes smoothly this week. Please if you have some time pray for Lizette, Frankie, and the investigators that we were working with in Stockton. I finally finished my time out there. I love Stockton and I hope that I can go back soon! I hope that this email isn't too short. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Andi's Temple Day 

Sister Palmer sent mom a picture of Assistants
Elder Willden, Elder Wray, Elder Cook

Big Trees Park
Assistants and President Palmer

Skyping on Mother's Day

Monday, May 14, 2018

Family and Friends,

I don't have too much time to email today because we were at Big Trees park! But I will say we had a great week this week with a lot of opportunities to work with the missionaries. 

I enjoyed talking with my family on mothers day. It has been such a great experience serving a mission. It was good to hear Luke saying that he is looking forward to a mission. I know that a mission is something the Lord has asked us to do so that we can help others. As we help others we find ourselves. 

Thanks for all of the love and support! 

Love, 

Elder Willden

Monday, May 9, 2018

Your trip

Booking ref:

VYZD9O

Check My Trip

Issued date:

06 April 2018

Baggage Info

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Traveler

Kolton William Willden (553589-R)

Agency

CHURCH TRAVEL CWT

50 East North Temple St

SALT LAKE CITY UT 84150

Telephone

801 240-5111

Fax

801-240-5115

Agent initial

M4

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Wednesday 27 June 2018

Delta Air Lines DL 2742

Departure

27 June 01:30 PM

Sacramento, (International) (+)

Terminal: A

Arrival

27 June 04:05 PM

Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake City Intl) (+)

Terminal: 2 - Terminal Unit 2

Duration

01:35 (Non stop)

Check-in

Distance

530 Miles

Booking status

Confirmed

Class

Economy (X)

Baggage allowance

2 Piece(s) for Kolton William Willden

Seat

27E (No smoking seat) confirmed for Kolton William Willden

Equipment

BOEING 737-800

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Ticket details

E-ticket DL 006-7107936808 for Kolton William Willden

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General Information CALIFORNIA MODESTO MISSION PRESIDENT BRENT A PALMER 1-209-988-7889 CELL 2040174@LDSCHURCH.ORG *** PLEASE CHECK YOUR ITINERARY TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RESERVATIONS ARE BOOKED AS REQUESTED *** . *** THANK YOU FOR CALLING CHURCH TRAVEL-801-240-5149*** . MPWILLDEN@COMCAST.NET RKHONDA@COMCAST.NET BRADLEYJWADDOUPS@GMAIL.COM *** ELECTRONIC TICKETS HAVE BEEN PURCHASED AND ARE READY FOR TRAVEL*** *** WE HAVE 24 HOURS AFTER TICKETS ARE PURCHASED TO MAKE ANY CHANGES AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. AFTER 24 HOURS ALL APPLICABLE CANCELATION OR CHANGE FEES MAY APPLY. *** **NOTICE** ARRIVE AT THE AIRPORT 1 HOUR PRIOR TO DOMESTIC FLIGHTS AND 2 HOURS PRIOR TO INT*L FLIGHTS WITH REQUIRED STATE OR FEDERAL PHOTO ID AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTATION IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, FLIGHT CHANGES ENROUTE, OR SIGNIFICANT DELAYS, IMMEDIATELY TELEPHONE MISSIONARY TRAVEL (800)537-3537 OR (801)240-5111 EMPLOYEE TRAVEL (800)537-1232 OR (801)240-1000 GENERAL AUTHORITY TRAVEL (800)453-3860 OR (801)240-1000

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Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Family and Friends,

I apologize for not writing on Monday...I know that you were all probably just sitting on my blog all day Monday and Tuesday waiting...haha just kidding. But we definitely had a crazy Monday. That is why I am writing today! We actually had a really good week last week. We weren't able to teach too many lessons, but we have been going all over the mission. We have been attending interviews with President Palmer and giving some personalized training on phone usage and how to help protect our companions. It has been such a learning experience for me; it helps me to be a better missionary and a better person.

Last week we conducted a mission leadership council and a new missionary/trainer meeting. We have just been very busy with trying to help the missionaries. Something that I got from both of the meetings was a word that is often over-looked in our missionary purpose. It says to, "HELP others to come unto Christ through..." I love that we get to help others. President Palmer took us through a training about helping others. It was very simple, but I took so much from it. The biggest thing I think I need to help others with is enduring to the end. We can help our Brothers and Sisters every where endure to the end. I like how we have been reminded to take a holier way to minister to those in our lives. The church is definitely true!

I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Miller this past week. It is crazy because the last exchange I had with him was about a year ago. I have a great friendship with him so it was cool to be able to learn from him. We also got to go work for the day out in Manteca! I had never been out to Mountain House so I thought it was a blast. It is allergy season though, so I am kinda dying out here.

Elder Cook and I now have a new companion. Elder Wray has joined us in the Modesto YSA. We will also be covering the Brookside ward again for a couple of weeks! It's crazy...I am going back a 3rd time! I am so excited. I am also super stoked that we get to go to the temple with Andi this weekend to witness her take out her endowment. She is such a great convert. She was called to be int the Young Women's Presidency last Sunday. It brings me joy that I would've never had if I wasn't on a mission.

Sorry for the short email. I got to go get some pretty good Chicago style pizza with President and Sister Palmer this past week. I am still losing weight though...we're good!:)

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Monday, April 30, 2018

Family and Friends,

This week went by so quickly! We were very busy with zone conferences. We split them into two days. We did the north zones in the mission on Tuesday and the south zones on Wednesday. This zone conference was focused on working with members now that we have technology and more phone safety. I thought that it went very well this week. We had the zone leaders give trainings on Mosiah 5. The spirit was very strong as the missionaries re-evaluated their commitment to the Lord. I also felt the spirit strongly as I evaluated myself and where I was at. We have to constantly re-commit ourselves to the Lord or we can find ourselves getting complacent. 

We had an exchange this week with the Turlock zone leaders. It was super good. I will send a picture of me and the elder I was with. He is actually from Kaysville so that's cool. We went out and did a lot of proselyting that day, definitely more than we usually get! It was so nice. While we were planning our day in the morning we planned to go to "airport." This is the sketchy side of Modesto. I thought it was baby-food compared to Stockton, but we enjoyed it! Had some wonderful contacts. We were also able to place a Book of Mormon. It is the best when you are able to have a gospel conversation with someone and they are willing to listen. During exchanges we had to go to a special webinar from Salt Lake. It was to train us how to use our technology (again) haha. After everything we went out to Oakdale for the evening. We had set a goal previous to going out that night to share the "Because of Him" video 2 times. Well, on our second time sharing the video we had such a wonderful experience. We approached this woman and asked if she believed in Jesus Christ. She answered yes. So we pulled our phone out and showed the video. As the video was playing we could feel the spirit very strongly. We knew this lady was feeling the spirit as well. With tears in her eyes she accepted our invitation to send some sister missionaries by. Another observation I made during this contact was that this lady's son ran to us as we were showing the video and he was very engaged. I know that everyone can and will feel the spirit as they learn of Christ. Missionary work is the best!

We had a great opportunity this week to teach one of our prospective elders. It was sad though because he will be moving to Wyoming this week. We taught him of obedience and how it brings blessings. It was a very good lesson. Whenever I teach I learn something new about the gospel. It is pretty cool because sometimes you say things that are completely directed by the spirit...then you think "oh...that's true!" After our lesson with Kallan we drove up to Lodi....that was a long drive. A lot of fields too because we had to drive through Oakdale. A lot of driving this week!

I was given the opportunity to give a talk in church on Sunday! It was on forgiveness. The Bishop asked me to also introduce myself and talk about my conversion. It went pretty good! I felt a little bit under-prepared because I didn't have a ton of time to prep. But I definitely enjoyed being able to speak. I got to share some experiences that have happened in my life. I also got to reflect on what the spirit was telling me so that I can apply it into my own life!

I appreciate all of your love and support! I love my mission and I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel your prayers. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Family and Friends,

This week went by with the blink of an eye! Monday evening we were able to attend our wards FHE. We did a scavenger hunt. It was pretty fun, basically we just traveled around Modesto and found a bunch of things with some of the members. I am definitely enjoying the area. It is huge! We cover Modesto, Oakdale, Riverbank, and Sonora. It's a lot to cover. So we are very busy. We won't be able to go to FHE tonight because we have to prepare for the two zone conferences we are having this week. We are going to be training the missionaries on proper ways to use technology as well as accountability. The Lord trusts us with so many things on Earth. And we will be accountable for how well we used the things he has provided. I'm excited for this week.

On Tuesday we cleaned out 6 apartments that were closing. We are losing missionaries because the mission is closing soon. So we were busy all of Tuesday. Sister Palmer has been wanting to go to Taco Bell with me for a long while now and we finally made it happen! I will send a picture😄 Since our Rav4 was in the shop this week getting the window fixed we got to drive the Chevy Silverado. It was niceeeee. We took it into Oakdale (The Cowboy Capital of America) and took some pictures. We fit right in. 

While we were in Oakdale we had the chance to teach one of our members. We have really been focusing our messages on missionary work and how we can be more missionary minded. We had a great lesson. It's awesome when members take the charge of missionary efforts. They are so effective in what they do because they have people they are close to! As we lovingly encourage others to come unto Christ we will have amazing missionary experiences. The Lord will bless you for keeping His commandments. 

We had an exchange this week with some Elders from Riverbank. I was with an Elder that is actually from Bonneville Utah! We were able to go proselyting on the college in Modesto. It was nice to get back in the swing of YSA work. I absolutely love it. Cool experience actually. So at church this week there were a couple of members from Turlock YSA that came up to the Modest YSA Ward. Jake and Hunter. Well Jake is actually moving to Modesto and Hunter is dating a non-member that has been attending our ward. I am excited because I actually met his girlfriend down in Turlock and we were trying to teach her, but she wasn't having it. But now she might be more open to taking the lessons. We will see what happens.

As you all might have seen on my Facebook we served at the Love Modesto event this year. We did the dry creek clean up. It was pretty fun actually. We decided to wear proselyting attire which was kind of a mistake, but it all worked out. It was a good way to be out with the community serving and being seen.

Sunday evening was spent having dinner at President Palmer's. We went because we had to start the planning process for zone conferences this week. It took a long time. We are focusing on technology and how we can use it more effectively. I am enjoying every minute of my mission. I am sad because I know I will never be able to do this again. I'm so thankful for the opportunity the Lord gives each of us to do this.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Willden