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

Family and Friends!

This week was a pretty busy one for me and my new companion. As soon as I got to Modesto on Tuesday morning we took the new missionaries to the mission office for some orientation. While they were doing orientation we were updating everything that changed with transfers. We then had a meeting with all of the trainers, which went really well. Then had the new missionaries meet their trainers. So Tuesday morning was pretty wild. After lunch we had the opportunity to take the departing missionaries street contacting in downtown Modesto. So Elder Cook and I had some time to proselyte and contact potentials. Nothing too crazy happened while we were tracting. After our afternoon of proselyting we went to President's to have a dinner. They made some super good food. I got to wear one of Sister Palmer's aprons...it was great. At the conclusion of our day we had a testimony meeting. It was a sweet experience and it caused a lot of reflection for myself now that my mission is winding to a close. I love being a missionary and it will be very hard to take the name tag off.

Wednesday was just as busy as Tuesday. We took the departing missionaries to the airport and helped them get everything ready to go. After all that fun stuff we went to lunch with President Palmer because we had to plan the mission leadership meeting that was happening after lunch. The meeting went really good. We talked about insights we had from conference and a lot of safety precautions we have to take with the new smartphones. It is crazy how much potential danger there is for missionaries. So we are training our stewardship to be careful.

The Modesto YSA is a fun area. It reminds me a lot of Turlock YSA...coincidence? I love working with people my age. The Bishopric is pretty cool. We definitely got fed more down in Turlock...but this is giving me an opportunity to slim down and cut some weight. Something very sad happened on Sunday. Our car was broken into and both Elder Cook and I's bags were stolen. My mission scriptures were also taken. I am still sad about it because I had so many marks, notes, and memories in my scriptures. I hope the person that stole them reads the Book of Mormon!(: They need it!

We had a couple lessons with prospective elders this week. Nothing too crazy missionary work wise went down this week because of transfers, but we are working hard and hope to find some new people this week. I am enjoying my mission so much. There is nothing that I would trade for this experience. The Lord is helping me grow in every way. He is good.

I had the opportunity to share my testimony with the mission leaders this past week. I am going to share with you what I shared with them and things I feel I should share with all of you. I have really been thinking about the Savior and how much He loves us lately. It isn't a casual love...It is a very deep personal love. As I have tried to live our mission vision in the California Modesto Mission, ("We are one with the Savior in doing the will of the Father") I have just caught a glimpse of how much the Savior really loves us. He does not want to lose ANY of us. No one. He has placed us in people's paths all the time, whether it be a touch-point towards conversion or an actual door opening that will allow us to help them. I have seen so many times when people need Him most He has sent us or others to their aid. I love the gospel. Missionary is a challenge, but it is the best challenge. 

I love the work!

Love,
Elder Willden

This picture was emailed to mom from Sister Palmer with note that said,
"Wonderful Elders"

Monday, April 9, 2018

Family and Friends!

This week has been a very good one! Ending with transfer calls that happened yesterday. It turns out I will be on the Modesto YSA Ward. I am super excited to work with YSA's again. My new companion is Elder Cook. I am also excited to work with President Palmer for the remainder of my mission or so. We will see how it goes.

We were able to have a baptism this past week. Tiffani Hansen was baptized this past week. It was such a great experience to help a whole family come together into the church. Tiffani bore an amazing testimony after the service. We were very surprised the next day because she had the courage to go up and bear her testimony in Sacrament meeting too. We are so happy for her. I hope that they continue to make the ultimate goal a sealing in the Temple. 

We have been working with Lizette as well this week. She fed us on Saturday and she also fed us dinner. She made amazing Puerto Rican food. It was roasted pork and rice and beans. I was in heaven. We were able to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and really focus on forgiveness. It seemed that this conference had some emphasis on forgiveness as well. It was amazing to share some of my personal experiences with her about forgiveness. 

I was able to go on exchanges again this week with Elder Nelson. We have been on like 8 exchanges in the mission haha. That's a lot. And we will still be able to because he is a zone leader. It's been great to learn from him and to see his growth. 

We are going to have a really busy week this week. I hope it goes well. We found out this past week that our investigator Jim Wiggins passed away. It was bad news. But we are happy because now he will recognize servants of the Lord on the other side of the veil. 

Please continue to pray for the Brookside area and the recent converts here. They need to all experience the blessings of the Temple. I'm excited to start yet another chapter on my mission, but I am going to miss Stockton. It is home. 

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

Love, 

Elder Willden 

Tiffani's baptism

Last meal in Stockton

Family and Friends, 

This week flew by. Both my companion and I were looking forward to conference. Maybe that's why. While I am on the subject...How about conference this year?! It was one of the most inspiring conferences I have witnessed in my life. I know that Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God. These changes will help us to develop much more Christ like love. I am especially grateful for these changes because I need to specifically work on charity. As we minister to those around us we will see miracles all around us. The Lord truly wants us to use the priesthood we hold and to also seek for personal revelatory experiences always. What a wonderful time to be on the Earth. 

I want to share a spiritual experience I had this week! So I was reading the Ensign and there was an article on integrity. I love this attribute. And I hope to continue to develop my own personal integrity. The author of the article talked about how we can change our personalities based on who we are with and where we are at. I thought about the Savior. How unchanging He is. God will be the same yesterday, today, and forever. As we are on our personal road to perfection we need to be strong. The article brought up a really cool Old Testament story. I never would have thought this could be a story about integrity, but when Daniel had to choose between halting his communication with God or getting thrown into a lions den. He chose the latter. He was unshakeable in his beliefs; he wasn't going to succumb to worldly views. Because of his integrity the Lord protected him. Let us have continued faith in the Lord as we exercise our agency righteously. We don't need to fear. The Lord will guide us safely home to our Heavenly Father. 

I got the Easter package that was sent! Thanks so much Mom(: Easter was amazing. We had two food appointments that day. We had lunch with Andi and her family. Then we went to the Smith's for Easter dinner. We had some good food. But I am anxious to lose some of this unwanted body flab lol. Andi is doing really good by the way. I was going to take a picture with her, but I totally forgot. I will next time I see her. She is awesome though. The Smith's also made some super good food. We are spoiled here. I also have a ton of junk food from everything this week... 

So Tiffani is getting baptized this weekend! We are so excited for her. The baptism will be on Saturday and she will be confirmed in sacrament meeting this week. She is growing so much. She was definitely prepared to meet with us. I am a lucky missionary to be teaching such amazing people. The Hansen's are some of the best. They have us for dinner all the time. This past weekend we went to their house for some of conference and they smoked us some really good BBQ chicken... WOW. Her baptism will be amazing. 

We picked up two new investigators this week. Their names are Jacob and Manny. Jacob is 10... Manny is 9. And boy are they hard to teach. It's crazy. They will be baptized on May 5. We are excited, but we are nervous with how the lessons are going to go. We asked Manny to be baptized and he said, "I don't want to take a bath." It was then a really good opportunity to explain why we are baptized. We taught about Jesus Christ's baptism. It was cool to explain to a 9 year old why the Savior was baptized. He then told us that was something he wanted to do. We hope that their parents get involved because both Manny and Jacob's parents are less active. (They are cousins). 

We have an appointment tonight with Frank Masters and his family (hopefully). Frank is the only member in his home. I remembered him from when I was here a year ago and I noticed he hadn't been to church. So we decided to go knock on his door. He invited us in immediately. We asked about his son. (A year ago we tried to teach him) Frank told us that they were trying to get Jason more involved in the church. So we will see what happens. Hopefully we can teach them. The greatest thing on the mission to do is to unite families. I pray that we can help the Masters. 

Lizette and Roy were both able to watch conference. Lizette told us that she loved it. She also said her boyfriend watched a little bit and was impressed. We hope thats a good sign. Roy is doing so good. He was falling asleep during conference haha. I felt for him man. But on the other hand this was a historic conference. I wasn't trying to sleep the whole time!

Missionary work is the best work! I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Willden