Monday, January 29, 2018

Today's report from Elder Willden is a little short.  
We had to give him sad news.  Our family dog, Jaxon, passed away yesterday at age 11.  He was very much a part of our family and very loved.  He lived a long, full life for a large breed dog.  We really miss him.  And Elder Willden, we are sure, is very sad with this news.  We have a testimony of the work he is involved in and our family will cherish all our good memories.  -Rhonda Willden




Family and Friends,

This week was very good. We have been very busy with everything that has been placed before us. Also with this first full week I have been trying to get our apartment into good condition again...so that has been fun. We were able to find 3 new investigators this week from referrals that hadn't been contacted previous.

One of those referrals was a couple from New York. Their names are Lizette and Stephen. As we were teaching the message of the Restoration and sharing scriptures from the Book of Mormon Lizette started to weep. She opened up to us about her faith has been shaken these past few months due to the passing of her mother and some back problems that she has been having. They seem very promising. I will keep you updated.

We got the news this week that Elder Fredenberg would be leaving us...he went to Sonora because another missionary went home. So now it is just Elder Kessler and I.

We picked up another new investigator named La Rhonda yesterday. She was really good. She had requested a Bible the other week and we delivered it and set up a time to teach her. Well we taught her Sunday and she committed to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. We also asked her if she would be willing to be baptized if she found it was true and she said yes. We will see how that goes.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Family and Friends,

This week was WILD! Back to the Brookside ward in Stockton...My new companions are Elder Kessler and Elder Fredenberg. Elder Kessler is from Gilbert Arizona and Elder Fredenberg is from Ann Arbor Michigan! We are in an unconventional situation right now. Elder Fredenberg is a visa waiter so he will be leaving to Taiwan Taipai as soon as he gets his visa. But for now he is teaching me Mandarin lol. Hardest language I have ever tried to speak. I am loving it here in Stockton again. So much work to do!

The first night back in Stockton we went to Tim's house and taught him. He committed to be baptized on his birthday! It will be on February 7. He is working on some things so hopefully he can reach his goal...we will see what happens! We are probably going there tonight to follow up with him on his commitments!

Frankie is also here in the Brookside ward and attends church each week. It was funny because I called to tell him I was back and that we wanted to meet with him. When I told him that it was Elder Willden speaking he said, "I know...you are back in Brookside." He said it so casually like he had known for awhile. So that was weird. To remind you who Frankie is...we were working with him back last spring and he moved to a different ward. Now he is back and basically ready to be baptized.

My district is pretty cool! It is all of the spanish missionaries here in Stockton! Our district meeting was way good this week. Stockton has changed so much since I left, but I love it here. 

We had so many referrals to contact the week I got here. We picked up three new investigators this week just from referrals! One of them is a super cool situation. His name is Jim Wiggins. He is 90 years old and he lives in a retirement home. His girlfriend is a member of the church and he wants to join. We are in the process of teaching him so we will see what happens. He is pretty bound and determined to be a member! We also were able to go out with Brother Black this week. He had a referral for us that we taught. Her name is Elizabeth. She was such a sweet lady...she told us how she has been through so much and has been looking for a church ever since she came to Stockton. She said that she would read the Book of Mormon. And if she finds out that it is true she will be baptized! I love Brother Black...best ward missionary of all time! The GOAT. We were also able to stop by Vera's this week. She said she has not seen missionaries in 7 months...she was determined to get started next week. Hopefully we can see some progress with her. I think she might be ready now!

Brett and Alejandra reached out to us this week! It was very good to hear from them. They even came to church. Which made me happy!

The best for last...I saw Andi this week! I got to see her at church and went to her new home to have dinner last night! So many cool things going on. Her husband who was apprehensive about her joining the church has been getting more open. They pray together and read scriptures every morning. Andi was saying that she was praying for a missionary that her and Dan could trust. She said she had her prayers answered! She actually at one point talked to President Palmer and asked him if it is ever possible to send a missionary back to an area...haha. Well, now I am here! Andi also talked to me and told me how excited that she is to do her endowment this spring. She said that she most definitely would like for me to go. I am going to start doing the recent convert lessons with her again and hopefully Dan joins in. We will see. It was so good to catch up with her. She is doing great!

At church on Sunday one of the members that I got pretty close with was shaking our hands and he shook Elder Fredenbergs...(still hadn't noticed I was back)...And started to shake mine, looked up and was soooooo surprised. He said, "Haven't you been home for 5 years?!?! Hahaha. It was hilarious. I got to catch up with so many people. I love it here.

Hope you all have a great week!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Zone Picture

Monday, January 15, 2018

Family and Friends,

I would like to start off just by saying ROLL TIDE. I heard about the big win against Georgia and I have already emailed my first companion Elder Spikes about it because he was non-stop talking trash on bama and how they were going to lose to the dawgs. Idiot.

Now for the good news! I got my transfer call this week and I will be going back to my home in Stockton! I am so excited to go back to the Brookside ward! There are many people there that I love and had gained a close relationship with over the time that I was there the first half of my mission. This is going to be a great transfer. My new companions will be Elder Kesler and a new missionary. It is going to be interesting being in a trio again. They are always wild!

 Basically this week was a blur. We had two exchanges so it went by pretty quickly. I looked through my journal and couldn't find too much to write about this week. We were able to have a lesson with Tyler! But once again couldn't come to church...So we will see what happens there in the next few weeks. I will have Elder Stewart give me an update on all of that.

I am really sad that I have to leave my recent converts in this area. Juan, Josh, and Brandon are all super good converts. I will keep in touch with them and a lot of the people here hopefully. Juan is starting up school here pretty soon and Josh is working. Haven't seen Brandon in awhile. I hope he is doing okay. This was the fastest 7 months of my mission. Sometimes you wish that you could get time back, but that is not how the Lord works.

My spiritual thought this week is going to be a short testimony. I know that the Lord knows each one of us and he places people in our lives to change us for the better. I am so happy that I was able to serve here in the Turlock YSA. This place will always be special to me. I am thankful for inspired leaders who know where we need to be and what we need to be doing. I know that this church is true. I know that our Savior lives. And that God is our Eternal Father in Heaven. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

I guess this is all we get this week......shades and computer lab at the church in Turlock, CA

Monday, January 8, 2018

Family and Friends,

To start off my letter I just want to say that this week we were on exchanges with the assistants and we got a call from President Palmer informing us that President Monson had passed away the night before. I was so sad...but I knew that he is in a better place and now he gets to be with his wife again. I did not realize how long his service was in the church. He was called the the Council of the Twelve at the age of 36. And had many callings before that. He was and is a great man.

Well to get to some good stuff. Juan took us out to eat last Monday and we went to Red Robin. It was pretty good. We got to talk to Juan about his goals and things for the upcoming year. He told us how he is starting up college here pretty soon at Modesto Junior College. Then his ultimate goal is to transfer over to BYU Idaho. I hope he reaches his goals. I think that he is seriously contemplating a mission too...so that would be super awesome if he served! We were also talking about his previous 2017 goals and I thought to ask him, "You probably did not think you were going to be baptized this year, did you?" He responded and told us that he had actually been wanting to be baptized since his sister and his dad joined the church, but he just did not know how to get started. What an amazing blessing from following the council of our mission leaders so that we could knock on his door. He waited for a long time. Something that is amazing that he just did was he took 29 names to the temple and was able to be baptized and baptize others for his ancestors. He had an amazing experience.

On Tuesday we had a great experience going to the dentist...Elder Stewart got a root canal. I really felt bad for the him! It looked like they drilled on his tooth pretty good! It was on one of his molars so they went hard in the paint! It was funny too because the root canal specialist was pretty old and first glance it looked like Elder Stewart was going to get drilled on by an old guy that just decided he was going to do the root canal haha. I am happy to announce that he is fully recovered and doing well...or at least that is what he tells me!

Well we had an exchange with the assistants this week and I was with Elder Wray. It was a great exchange! We had a great experience up in Riverbank. We decided to knock some doors on Alabama Ct. Because roll tide. So when we pulled up we saw this guy in his garage and he looked at us for a little and then got back to what he was doing. Well we knocked and knocked and finally made it to his home. When we got to his house we introduced ourselves. We asked if we could share a message with him. He asked us if we were Jehovah's Witness and we quickly replied with a no. He then said that he would listen. Well...we started to teach the Restoration. When we had just started he asked where the church was. We told him and gave him the info. We felt prompted to bear testimony about family. We told him that we would live with our families again after this life and that death does not separate those bonds. He quickly responded again and said, "What made you say that?" It caught me off guard that this tough guy said that and looked up. I could tell that his eyes were getting a little bit watered...He then told us that we could come back another time to share a message. I still don't know if he had a recent death in the family or if someone close had died in the past. But I do know that God cares about each of his children and wants them to know of the love and the peace that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings.

We got into contact with Tyler this week. We will have to move his baptism to a different date, but we had a great lesson on temples and families. He is really starting to get it. The spirit has been working on him. I think that he has a sincere desire to know what God has in store for us. This gospel is a blessing and I am so thankful to have been born under the covenant of faithful parents. Thank you Mom and Dad.(: The church is true and Heavenly Father loves us and is in the details of each of our lives. Give thanks to Him for His generosity to us as His children. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden

Family and Friends,

This week was awesome. Funny story to start off. So we hosted interviews with President Palmer this week and after they took Elder Stewart and I out to eat. We went to in-n-out burger and President was over waiting for the food and we were with Sister Palmer. And out of nowhere she told me about how our family sent her a Christmas card and she said, "I looked at it and all of them looked like MODELS...they looked like they came straight out of GQ!" I laughed so hard. Sister Palmer is just the greatest. I got to talk with President about boating too. He said him and his buddies used to go water skiing in Washington on Lake Chelan. (I think that's the lake he is talking about.) But he told us that he would barefoot and skii and they would get up to speeds of 85 miles an hour from whip out acceleration. That's nuts! It was funny. I also told him that if he wanted a good burger he needs to go to Culvers. He said that he has heard about it, but has not been yet.

Another funny story this week! We were on exchanges with the Turlock 1st Ward Elders and we decided to go down to Delhi. Well we got down there and started to knock some doors and there was a man on his front porch. We couldn't communicate with him that well because he spoke spanish and there was definitely a barrier there. Well...we gave him a Jesus card and then went on our way knocking. Well we finished up and started to head back to the car. This man we gave the card too was pretty old. I glanced back at his porch and he was in the front yard. I looked a bit closer and could see liquid streaming directly from his midsection to the lawn...lol...this man was peeing in his front yard. So casually you wouldn't even catch it unless you looked closely. I almost fell on the ground. Now that was a funny sight. I love the mission!

Oh we also had another dinner with Jake in the branch. He is the one that made us jackfruit tacos that one time. Well we got there and we were a little nervous to see if he was going to try and redeem himself with another vegan meal. He didn't. But when we arrived he told us that it would be better and that he was making snake! Hahah. I have heard that snake isn't bad, but I was still trippin' a little bit. When we sat down to eat Jake broke and told us it was chicken. So we had tomato curry and chicken. It was pretty good! I'm glad it wasn't snake.

Now for missionary work...sorry for the stories. We taught a potential, now investigator, named Luis this week. He is amazing. I had one of the best lessons of my mission with this 22 year old. We started talking to him and we could tell that he genuinely wanted to learn. We decided to teach the Plan of Salvation. As we were teaching he was interacting and asking questions that he had. We got halfway through and we were talking about Jesus Christ's Atonement for mankind and how it helps us to get back to our Father in Heaven. He told us that he has been looking for that extra help to get him through hard times. We asked if he wanted to know how he could get that help. He desperately answered telling us that he wanted to know. We opened to 2 Nephi 31 and read these verses:

5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!

6 And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?

7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove.

9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.

10 And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

Right after we read these scriptures we asked him if he would follow the example of our Savior and be baptized...we explained that this is how he would find that extra help. He paused for a little bit and we could see that the spirit was working on him. He told us that he would be willing to do that. He further apologized that he paused for a minute...he said that he could feel something. He told us he felt that feeling when the missionaries talked to him on the side of the road and that he was feeling it again. We opened back up to 2 Nephi 31 and read:

12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.

We promised him that after he was baptized he would be able to feel that feeling all the time. We could see the gears turning in his head. It was amazing. We meet with him again next Friday. Please pray that he reads the Book of Mormon.

Some more good news is that our recent converts Josh and Juan are getting ready to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in this upcoming Stake Conference I hope that they reach their goals. We are also working with a recent convert from Merced named Monte that is working on it too! I am so thankful for this opportunity to work with people who are my age. It is so amazing.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you!

-- 

Love,

Elder Willden