Family and Friends,
This week was super good! We were able to facilitate the baptism of Ronald Escobedo. It was awesome seeing how much family he had there that has not been blessed by the gospel yet. We were able to talk to them and they were able to witness Ronald make covenants with Heavenly Father. I will send pictures later.
We have a baptism this weekend for Roy! We are really anxious to get all of this done. It has been such an amazing time on my mission. Roy's wife is a member that has been a little less active. We hope that as she shares this experience with him that she will feel a desire to become more committed. I will make sure to take pictures and continue to keep you all updated with what's going on.
Just an update on Lizzette. So she is doing really good working through her concerns. I hope that she continues to work through the opposition that is fighting against her constantly. She told us in her last lesson that she is constantly getting nagged about her investigation. But she continues to come to church and she is still reading the Book of Mormon as much as she can. It has been such an example to me of persevering trials. Please pray that she can continue to listen to promptings of the spirit.
We had dinner with the Hansen's this week! We were able to have another lesson with Tiffani. She committed to be baptized last week and she committed this time to pray about a date. We are really excited to teach them because it would greatly benefit their family. Tiffani's biggest motivation for joining the church is the hope that comes from it. She shared that with us as we were teaching her. She said she would much rather be with her family forever than anything else. I have learned that the family is so essential and important in God's eyes.
Please pray that we can continue to find new investigators. We have been working very hard trying to contact all the referrals we have been getting. The Brookside ward is the best area in this mission! I am convinced;).
I have been reflecting this week on an experience I had early in my life. I have been able to share this with an investigator who was struggling recently. I remember when I was about 12 years old I was complaining very much about going to church. It was one of those days that I just was not feeling it. We were driving to church as I kept on pouting and Dad stopped the car and asked me a question I will never forget. He said, "Kolton, do you believe that the church is true?... Do you believe that what we are doing is true?" This question scared me and very well caught me off guard. I didn't know what to say. This made me ponder that day and search in my heart what was true. I have never really talked about that experience before, but after that I just knew I could never stop on my journey back to my Heavenly Father. I remember that question my Dad asked me when I feel like something might be too hard or when I feel doubt. We always need to reevaluate our conversion. I know this church is true and as we evaluate our personal commitment it should not be hard to keep the commandments. I am so thankful for a Dad that allowed me to learn and grow independently. But that was very much interested in my life and what I was doing. I am also thankful for a Mom who loves her children unconditionally. I have some very good role models.
I love this work.
Love,
Elder Willden
Monday, March 5, 2018
Family and Friends,
>
> This week has flown by. It was a very short, exhausting week. We have been busy with the new smartphones converting all of our paper records into the phone. On top of that Elder Kessler and I are very busy with the work here in the Brookside ward!
>
> To start off I am happy to say that we will be having a baptism this Saturday! Ronald Escobedo our 11 year old investigator is ready. We are very excited because we have a lot of investigators who are progressing that will be able to attend it. They will not only be able to see a baptism, but they will be able to feel the spirit as well. It has definitely been an exciting week preparing for all of this.
>
> Our investigator, Roy is also preparing for his baptism on March 17th. He has been attending church and doing everything he needs to do to make that goal. We taught him the word of wisdom and he said he was going to throw all of his tea and coffee away. We have been dealing with a lot of addictions to coffee so this was a relief when Roy was able to do it so quickly. He has kept his commitment to live that commandment. And God will bless him for doing so. Also, funny story we have to go out to another building to get to priesthood opening exercises on Sunday. So we saw Roy out in the parking lot and we were wondering what he was doing... We went and asked him and he said he was reading. He said he had to catch up because he fell behind. Well when we asked him where he was at in the Book of Mormon he said, "I'm in Omni, I have been trying to read a chapter before I see you guys every time." A chapter to Roy is a whole book hahaha. We have only been teaching him for 3 weeks and he is in Omni. It's wild! We hope that all goes well these next couple of weeks. Please pray that every thing will go okay!(:
>
> We picked up a new Investigator this week! Her name is Tiffani. We go over to their house every Friday to eat dinner. Her husband is a member! So we were able to teach her the Restoration this past Friday and she understood everything. It seems as if she already believes everything... We are just there to let the Spirit teach her and help her become converted. At the end of the lesson we felt prompted to invite her to be baptized. She said that that was something she has wanted to do her whole life, but other churches wouldn't let her. God has been preparing her and this family. We are excited to see what happens.
>
> I have some very good news! Elder Stewart is in Stockton lol. Unfortunately he is not in my district, but we still get to hang out on Mondays and play ball! Also I got to see Elder Spikes this week. I found out that he is coming to Utah after the mission to attend UVU. He is so funny haha Utah might burn down.
>
> I have an update on Lizzette. So she is doing very well. She came to church on a broken foot this week. She is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy so it is only a matter of time until she is converted. I hope haha. She is an amazing lady. She reminds me a little bit of Andi. We were teaching her this week and she offered us iced tea. (she committed last week to live the word of wisdom and she had told us in that lesson that she was doing a good job on it) So at the end I had to be a debbie downer and let her know that iced tea wasn't good either. She was so bummed hahaha. But she said she was going to give the rest to her boyfriend. We will see how that goes... Please pray for her to receive the answer she needs.
>
> The smartphone rollout is happening this week. So this should be a big week for me and my companion. We are giving them out zone by zone. We have to set them up and help the missionaries set up their accounts. It's going to be so hectic. We have 6 total technology specialists and 6 zones to hand them out to. Its going to be amazing when we get all of this done.
>
> Brother GOAT (Brother Black) has been coming out with us almost 2 times a week. He is just the greatest missionary ever. I wish everyone could be like Brother Black. He is 74 and still loves to get out and do work! What a man.
>
> I guess I can give an update on myself. I am doing so good. The Brookside ward is home to me. Seeing everyone here change and grow has been a blessing from the Lord. I know that he sent me here for a reason. Before my mission I was looking at the mission map and I saw the Delta that came into Stockton. I thought it would be so cool to serve there (I did not know how sketchy it was). I remember looking up pictures of Stockton and saying to myself... "Thats where I want to be." And it's funny now because I am in that exact area and have been for over a year now. What a blessing. I didn't even know that there were so many people here that I promised before this life that I would come. That has been confirmed through the Spirit to me. Some people I meet here I already know and love. It's crazy. God knows us.
>
> I love this work.
>
> Love,
> Elder Willden
>
> This week has flown by. It was a very short, exhausting week. We have been busy with the new smartphones converting all of our paper records into the phone. On top of that Elder Kessler and I are very busy with the work here in the Brookside ward!
>
> To start off I am happy to say that we will be having a baptism this Saturday! Ronald Escobedo our 11 year old investigator is ready. We are very excited because we have a lot of investigators who are progressing that will be able to attend it. They will not only be able to see a baptism, but they will be able to feel the spirit as well. It has definitely been an exciting week preparing for all of this.
>
> Our investigator, Roy is also preparing for his baptism on March 17th. He has been attending church and doing everything he needs to do to make that goal. We taught him the word of wisdom and he said he was going to throw all of his tea and coffee away. We have been dealing with a lot of addictions to coffee so this was a relief when Roy was able to do it so quickly. He has kept his commitment to live that commandment. And God will bless him for doing so. Also, funny story we have to go out to another building to get to priesthood opening exercises on Sunday. So we saw Roy out in the parking lot and we were wondering what he was doing... We went and asked him and he said he was reading. He said he had to catch up because he fell behind. Well when we asked him where he was at in the Book of Mormon he said, "I'm in Omni, I have been trying to read a chapter before I see you guys every time." A chapter to Roy is a whole book hahaha. We have only been teaching him for 3 weeks and he is in Omni. It's wild! We hope that all goes well these next couple of weeks. Please pray that every thing will go okay!(:
>
> We picked up a new Investigator this week! Her name is Tiffani. We go over to their house every Friday to eat dinner. Her husband is a member! So we were able to teach her the Restoration this past Friday and she understood everything. It seems as if she already believes everything... We are just there to let the Spirit teach her and help her become converted. At the end of the lesson we felt prompted to invite her to be baptized. She said that that was something she has wanted to do her whole life, but other churches wouldn't let her. God has been preparing her and this family. We are excited to see what happens.
>
> I have some very good news! Elder Stewart is in Stockton lol. Unfortunately he is not in my district, but we still get to hang out on Mondays and play ball! Also I got to see Elder Spikes this week. I found out that he is coming to Utah after the mission to attend UVU. He is so funny haha Utah might burn down.
>
> I have an update on Lizzette. So she is doing very well. She came to church on a broken foot this week. She is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy so it is only a matter of time until she is converted. I hope haha. She is an amazing lady. She reminds me a little bit of Andi. We were teaching her this week and she offered us iced tea. (she committed last week to live the word of wisdom and she had told us in that lesson that she was doing a good job on it) So at the end I had to be a debbie downer and let her know that iced tea wasn't good either. She was so bummed hahaha. But she said she was going to give the rest to her boyfriend. We will see how that goes... Please pray for her to receive the answer she needs.
>
> The smartphone rollout is happening this week. So this should be a big week for me and my companion. We are giving them out zone by zone. We have to set them up and help the missionaries set up their accounts. It's going to be so hectic. We have 6 total technology specialists and 6 zones to hand them out to. Its going to be amazing when we get all of this done.
>
> Brother GOAT (Brother Black) has been coming out with us almost 2 times a week. He is just the greatest missionary ever. I wish everyone could be like Brother Black. He is 74 and still loves to get out and do work! What a man.
>
> I guess I can give an update on myself. I am doing so good. The Brookside ward is home to me. Seeing everyone here change and grow has been a blessing from the Lord. I know that he sent me here for a reason. Before my mission I was looking at the mission map and I saw the Delta that came into Stockton. I thought it would be so cool to serve there (I did not know how sketchy it was). I remember looking up pictures of Stockton and saying to myself... "Thats where I want to be." And it's funny now because I am in that exact area and have been for over a year now. What a blessing. I didn't even know that there were so many people here that I promised before this life that I would come. That has been confirmed through the Spirit to me. Some people I meet here I already know and love. It's crazy. God knows us.
>
> I love this work.
>
> Love,
> Elder Willden
Monday, February 26, 2018
Family and Friends,
We received transfer calls last night! I am happy to inform you all that I will be staying here in the Brookside ward with Elder Kessler as my companion. I am so stoked to be here in Stockton and I hope I get to finish this journey out here. Everyone asks me if I am sick of it out here, but to be honest there is no where else I would rather be.
This week has been super good! We have a lot of people that we are working with. I will try to give an update on most of them, but I apologize because I forgot to take notes from my journal!
Vera has been pretty good! We took Andi over there again this week. The lesson went pretty good, but we are really struggling to get her to church. She is such a sweet lady and I hope that we can help her to feel comfortable. We will be teaching her again this Wednesday so please pray that we can be able to teach with the spirit!
We had our second lesson with Roy this last week! He is doing super good. We taught the Plan of Salvation! It went super good...we brought one of our members that helped us to testify. Roy really understood what we were teaching and he came to church on Sunday. We have a lesson this week on the word of wisdom and we hope it goes well. Please pray for us that it will go good!
We taught Lizzette this week about Temples and Tithing. It went alright! The doctrine was completely new to her so she is processing it. We invited her to pray about it and let her know that if she does the Spirit will let her know that it is true. That's the way that things go in the gospel... If we do not understand why something is done the way it is we can go directly to the source which is God. We can pray just like Joseph Smith did. And God will answer our prayers.
We are preparing our Investigators named Ronald for his baptism Saturday after next. It will be a great opportunity to get our Investigators out to see one. He is 11 years old and has been ready to be baptized for awhile. He comes to church every Sunday and his Grandpa is very active in the Church. There are a lot of unbaptized persons in their home so we are going to see what we can do about that! It would be good if we could teach the whole family!
We are working very hard and have a lot of things that we are doing. This is pretty much the busiest that I have ever been on my mission. But it's also the hardest part knowing that it is winding down. I know that I am going to miss this so much and that is why I need to keep my head down and stay focused on the work. It is so crazy how fast 2 years goes by.
I miss you and love you all.
Love,
Elder Willden
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| Juan came to Stockton because he is moving to Mississippi! |
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