Week 34

Hello Again Family! :)

I hope ya'll had a wonderful week! To explain the title of this e-mail this transfer has felt like YEARS! :) hahaha but I am still loving it :) I just don't really remember much about this week because It feels like Wednesday was months ago :) but I'll tell you what I can remember :) And I'll answer your question mom and tell you about chambers creek :) Chambers Creek is great! It's very much Tacoma :) haha we have a lot of stores and fast food restaurants in our area and a lot of traffic :) and a lot of ghetto areas! woot! :) haha Every week for p-day we go over to Chambers Bay and you can see the sound from there! It's not as pretty and scenic as Steilacoom in my opinion but I still love it :)

The ward is great! I haven't really gotten super close with anyone yet but they are all great and I enjoy them! They are really good at missionary work especially with recent converts and retention :) We don't get dinners very often so I don't get to know them as much as I would if we were able to go to their house and sit down with them. But that's about to change because we are working really hard to get the members involved! :) Obviously it's what God wants because conference was focused on that a lot :) haha side note this guy just came up and asked me if I had the Melchizedek priesthood! haha it was pretty fun to explain to him about it :) Anyways but the ward is great! It’s very strong! We have the patriarch in our ward and we have people who have been mission presidents and we have elder calls nephew or something! So we have a lot of very converted people and its way awesome! They definitely bring the spirit :)

It's funny that you asked if we had any investigators because last week we had 4 progressing and this week we have 11! :) So the work has picked up A TON this week! I'll tell ya'll about some of them :) First of all we are still teaching George and Alice :) We've been teaching them for a while now :) George decided he wanted something new so they've been coming to church and paying tithing and reading the Book of Mormon and they watched all of general conference! So they're really awesome! George says he's almost convinced but he needs to learn more! :) haha we have only taught them one lesson :) all the other times we've had to answer a bunch of questions :) but they came to all 3 hours of church yesterday and loved it! So all of our other investigators we have just started teaching this transfer. :) but I’ll tell you about some of them :)

 Someone else cool that we are teaching is Felicia :) We found her last week and she has been looking for a church, her and her mom and siblings have been taught all the lessons before down in Olympia and they were about to be baptized but they moved and lost contact with the missionaries and she had no idea there was another church where she lives now! She's 21 and is married and they have a little 4 month old baby! So she will get baptized, but she wants it to be a family thing so we are going to have to get her husband in on it, and he doesn't seem to be too interested so pray! :) But I'm really excited for her! I think I've told you about Kaale and Kaalee :) kaale is 30 and kaalee is 6, They are still coming to church, but Kaale is struggling with his faith in Christ, he says he likes the story...haha so we're working on him :)

We also have been teaching this part member family Aaron and Nicole. They have a 3 year old who is full of energy and they have a 3 month old baby. Aaron has been a member his whole life, but he hasn't been active for a long while, so it's like we're teaching both of them :) But they're great! keep them in your prayers because they need to be baptized! everyone needs to be baptized but you know... :) haha we're also teaching this girl named Maranda, she's married to Reece they're 21 and they have a 3 year old named Killian. :) They are hilarious! We met Maranda on Friday and found out that they had just moved here but they had been taught back in Lakewood by my very good friends Elder Dudchus and Elder Steed :)

Other than that we are still working with Myk our little 16 year old whose mom won't let her get baptized and Grace our little 13 year old whose mom won't let her get baptized. I love these girls so much! Their testimonies are SOLID grace is already planning her temple wedding! haha it's so precious! We’ve found a lot of cool new people this week so I’ll let you know how it's working out next week :)

To answer your last question I go on exchanges every Tuesday :) most of the time...haha it depends on the circumstances and we don't go on one the first week. We just have to go on 5 exchanges this transfer and we can pretty much choose when, but the best days are Tuesday and Friday because we have district meeting on Wednesday and weekly planning on Thursday. :) So we go on exchanges with the sisters in the Tacoma west and the Tacoma east zones. I'm in Tacoma west :) haha this week I actually got to go on an exchange! With Sister Casselle! She is so awesome! :) haha we had a ton of fun together and I learned so much from her! She’s from Utah, she's 20, and this is her 4th transfer. :) She's great! :) I learned so much from her! She still has her "greenie faith" and teaches things simply :) I think the longer you are out and the more you learn about the doctrine the more you want to share everything you know about one principle on the doorstep! haha but then people don't understand what you're saying....so you have to be simple! one thing that I thought was precious was that she said every morning she wakes up and takes a deep breath of relief because she's still a missionary! :) haha I thought it was so precious! It's true though, we talked about how it would be the end of the world if we hadn't come on our missions (ok that's a little dramatic I know...) but really! I would not be who I am today if I had not come to Washington. And I like who I am today a lot more than I liked who I was 8 months ago :) haha But it was a really fun exchange!

On Wednesday it was Sister Packard’s half way mark! (That’s why you got a picture text from sister Pryor with us and half a cake :) ) haha It was a really fun day :) We both thought a lot about who we wanted to be when we got home! :) So she wrote hers down and I’m going to write mine down in a month on my half way mark :) but I chose a scripture that I wanted to use to remind me who i want to be and I memorized it! So I'll tell you don't hurt me if I mess up :) but it's Mosiah 18:8-10 "and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God and to be called his people and are willing to bear one another’s burdens that they may be light, yea and are willing to mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places that ye may be in even until death. That ye may be redeemed of God and be numbered with those of the first resurrection that ye may have eternal life" When I come home I want to be someone who serves others. Service is the substance to our souls! :) I have found that every time I get upset or discouraged, as soon as I turned outward it's like someone flipped a switch and I'm happy again! :) It's so easy to turn inward, but that's not Christ-like at all and of course makes us un-happy. But when we keep the first and great commandment to love God and the second which is like unto it to love our fellow men then we will be happy! "Consider the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God" I don't remember where in the BOM that is but its there and it's true! :) haha

 Oh I can tell you about another investigator, well she's more like a potential. :) But Sister McClemmeant just moved into our ward, she's 70 and her 50 year old daughter Maureen lives with her and is not a member. Mo is great! Think of the lady who predicts the future with the magic ball things (what are they called?) (I swear a veil comes over missionaries minds and they can't remember anything about the world sometimes :) ) on harry potter but with shorter hair and that's Mo :) haha she's hilarious :) And she loves to create things. Sister Packard is HUGE on creation, she loves it. Actually she pretty much loves everything but she has been very passionate about creation recently. :) And Mo comes out with this stick that she painted and shows it to us and Sister Packard gets extremely excited and talks about how creation is godly and brings out her passion for creation and so Mo decides to give her the stick! haha it has made Sister Packard’s entire week! It's so funny :) But she cherishes her stick and Mo just loves how much she loves it. :) We went back over last night and read her the book "the remarkable soul of a woman" that Aunt Lori sent me for my birthday and she loved it! :) But Mo is great....I just love her! haha :)

I don't really remember much about Thursday except for weekly planning and going to see Terrance. :) Terrance is doing SO well!!! :) I love that man! :) He's going to get the priesthood next week! EEEEEEEE!!!!! :) but he told me that he can tell that I have been a lot happier recently in his words he said "it's like going from Tim Burton Land to Disney Land" haha Terrance is a little dramatic but I have felt that this transfer since I’ve been able to focus on my relationship with God more I have had more energy and more happiness than last transfer! So that's great! I just wish that you could meet Terrance! He is the funniest man I have ever met in my entire life! And he is my good friend! :)

On Friday we had MLC (mission leadership council) and that took up a lot of the day! But it was GREAT! I got to see Sister Hall again and all my friends! It was great! :) One cool thing that I can tell you is that President wants us all to ride the bus this month! haha it's like a trap...someone gets on a bus and they're trapped until their stop comes and then you sneak up on them and tell them all about the gospel! :) haha So we're excited about that :) we talked about how it's going to get VERY cold soon...aka I might need to go buy some sweaters or something...President says after daylight savings time it gets midnight dark at 4pm so it will get cold fast...and we also talked a lot about safety :) you don't have to worry about me because all of my companions have made fun of me for how careful I am :) But hey, it keeps us safe! :) MLC is a lot like Zone conference but it's only the zone leaders and STL's so we learn about the gospel so we can teach it to everyone else! :) We also get fed lunch :) haha

So I have to tell you about this encounter we had during tracting...I felt a little like Aaron and his brethren :) we ran into 5 girls and started talking to them, I won't go into the details, but I will say that we talked to them for about 40 minutes and they weren't very nice at all. the day before we had met one of them and she opened her door and starred at us, wouldn't answer our questions and then just closed the door...when we left she said "ah the Mormons are leaving! Finally!" The reason I tell you this is because it SO applies to the BOM :) and I found strength in this circumstance from what I had been reading in it :) I have been reading in Alma, and that morning I had read about Aaron and his brethren who are missionaries who are trying to convert the Lamanites at this time :) the part I was at is where Aaron and his brethren had been delivered out of prison by Lamoni and Ammon. And they were naked and had been treated poorly their wrists and their ankles were swollen and sore. And then they went back out and started teaching again!!!! I found much comfort and peace after this encounter with these girls because I had read that the same morning.

 I didn't have to get cast into prison, I just had to take some harsh words haha :) But If Aaron and his brethren could go back out after being tortured and teach the gospel I could endure a few harsh words :) The scripture that popped into my head was Alma 26:27 "now when our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the lamanites and bear with patience thine afflictions and I will give unto you success." I was strengthened by scriptures. :) The reason I tell you this is because I learned some very valuable lessons from this...even though this isn't the first time it's happened :P First of all I learned that God is mindful and knows exactly what I need. He knew that I needed to read that part in the book of Mormon that morning so that I could apply the scripture into my life. I cannot tell you how much love and appreciation I have for the scriptures. They are GOLDEN! :) I also learned that the merciful obtain mercy :)

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-merciful-obtain-mercy

 I could not hold a grudge against these girls....Christ said something around the lines of "you that is without sin cast the first stone"  If I want to be forgiven, I must also forgive. And I also learned to just brush things off and move on! :) haha Anyways I just thought I would share that because it made a big impact on my week and such :) so it was good and awesome and I am doing so well! We don't have a lot of time because we have some things to do today...We're teaching this cool girl named Sagan at 1 and then we have a referral to go see at 6. So I gotta end this! But I hope ya'll are doing great! Keep reading the scriptures because they are GOLD! :) haha and they will help you :) It's been really cool because I memorize a scripture every day and the ones I have memorized have come up over and over and over :) the scriptures are great :) And I love ya'll very much! and hope you have an amazing week! :)

Love Always

Sister Wilkins :)

Sister Casselle and I :) We had so much fun! :) haha

She made me a little sign! She's so precious! :)

            Me and packard on her halfway mark day! :) 

                                   Eating her half of a cake :)

T`he lone red tree! the leaves are changing and it's absolutely beautiful! :)

More trees

Week 33

Hello Family!

Wow, it feels like months have passed since I last wrote...this week was SO GREAT!!! :) Can I just tell you how awesome it is to be companions with your best friend?! Because it's GREAT!!!! :) You don't have to worry about contention or disagreements; we just agree with each other :) haha our theme for this transfer is "yup" because that's the word we say the most. When someone has an idea of what to do the other one agrees and we go and do it! It is AWESOME! :) haha Sister Packard and I are working so well together. It’s awesome because we already have the friendship thing down and so now we can focus on God and His work, which makes us both like a million times happier! :) There's a quote that Packard gave me that I have found to be extremely true: "Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their opportunities, and comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whosoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life." - Ezra Taft Benson

Last transfer for some reason I had a hard time getting out of God's way. :) But it was crazy the immediate change that happened as soon as this transfer started. When I told you I was happy before I was not as happy as I am now! :) haha Life is GREAT! And how about that conference? Amazing right!? But we'll talk about that later :) haha But I know that quote is true, we try so hard to do things ourselves when really, if we would just let go and let God help our lives would be so much easier! :) Haha but it literally feels like we have wings on our feet! That might be because we run everywhere...oh! funny story! so after the second session of conference on Saturday this extremely old man came up to Sister Packard and I and told us he loved our companionship and could tell how much we love each other haha it was funny, but it's true :) we have fun and it's great :) enough of that ramble though... :) I am going to give you general conference part 5! :) haha because to prepare for conference Sister Packard and I listened to talks in the car and they are GREAT! :)

http://www.lds.org/new-era/2003/10/how-do-i-love-thee?lang=eng

This one is all about charity and it's probably one of my very favorite talks ever! :) by Holland of course :)

I can't find the other one but it's by LeGrand Richards and it's awesome :) But the talk by elder Holland is so great! Sister Packard LOVES love. So I have recently come to be obsessed with it too :) haha but I think it's cool! The love that Elder Holland talks about is so godly. Charity should be present in our earthly relationships. :)

Ah! So I have another talk for you to read about Character and I have an experience to go with it so read or listen to it first then come back :)

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/the-transforming-power-of-faith-and-character?lang=eng

So on Thursday morning this week (greatest day EVER!) we went over to Bishop Blackner's house, he feeds us breakfast every Thursday morning and we discuss the work with him :) Sister Blackner loves to cook new things and share little messages with us and she always gives us a recipe and a talk on our way out :) She always cooks a good but different thing! It's great! And this week she gave us this talk about Character. So we went home and read it for companionship study. And then that night we were heading to an appointment. It was about 7:15 and it was raining and dark. :) We're driving down the road when we see a car broken down at the bottom of the hill right in front of the shell gas station on Orchard Street. So sister Packard pulls over and we run out and a guy that works at the shell asks for a hand with the car so we go behind it and start pushing and we are pushing with all of our might and it's going nowhere...the guy that works at the stations slips and falls cuz the ground is so wet a slippery but he gets back up frustrated and keeps pushing, then out of the car comes 5 little tyquando boys one by one they get out and stand on the sidewalk, then the dad gets out and mom takes position as driver as the dad is pushing from the door. Then 2 bald black men come and start pushing with us and a guy who is high on life and smells like beer comes to help too and finally we get this car up the hill! And then everyone immediately disperses and goes back to their lives. Now this shows that there is an innate desire to do good in everyone. This is in the middle of Tacoma too, which is a big deal :) The difference between all of us is our character, who we were before and after, not just during I love in the talk this quote

"Faith and character are intimately related. Faith in the power of obedience to the commandments of God will forge strength of character available to you in times of urgent need. Such character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation. That is when it is intended to be used. Your exercise of faith in true principles builds character; fortified character expands your capacity to exercise more faith. As a result, your capacity and confidence to conquer the trials of life is enhanced. The more your character is fortified, the more enabled you are to benefit from exercising the power of faith. You will discover how faith and character interact to strengthen one another. Character is woven patiently from threads of applied principle, doctrine, and obedience."

Our Character is not developed in our trials, which is something that many might think. But it is developed by our faith, how strong our faith is, if we have strong enough faith we will be obedient! Faith is an action word! :) So when we are putting our faith in true principles such as the gospel of Jesus Christ our faith will be fortified! So if you have a little knife and then you add more metal to it and put it in the refiners fire and pound it out it becomes a sword! (Remember this is a long process and it doesn't happen easily) and it's strong! It’s fortified. So when we exercise faith in true principles all the time our faith will be built and become fortified, strong. The stronger your faith is the more you will benefit, the more you will act! Sweet. And then we have our character which grows from the same things, applying true principles and exercising our faith. I love the end part! "Character is woven patiently from threads of applied principle, doctrine, and obedience." So take a scarf for instance and look at it. It is something that benefits you! It keeps your neck warm, it's pretty :) they're great! But it was woven patiently (hypothetically it was made by hand) strand by strand, thread by thread, until it becomes something beautiful and strong! :)  Our Character is woven by our choices at every moment! Decisions Determine Destiny! :) And then when our trials come and we are tested we can still be beautiful and strong and use the fortified character we have gained to help us get through the storm. :)

Here's another amazing talk! :)

http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/transcripts/religionsymposium/2003_01_25_bednar.htm

The character of Christ! I read this this weekend it's amazing! :) Christ had fortified Character, He, in His very darkest hour when He was suffering more pains that any man could bear without dying, turned outward. The way we can be happy is to serve others. I know that is the TRUTH! :) Service is substance to our souls! :) And that is how we can develop a character like Christ's we must EMULATE Him :) I love the word emulate, because there's NO way I can be exactly like Him, He IS PERFECT! I’m not even close!!! But I have an example to follow :) I can BECOME like Him :) I can have His image engraven in my countenance :) and my character will become fortified along with my faith as I strive to become like Him. So funny story about service. I had to get another TB test last week because Sister Packard Dean and I decided we wanted to volunteer at a nursing home in our area! I"M CLEAN! And we wanted to sing for them :) So now Dean is gone so on Friday Sister Packard borrowed a Violin and made me sing all by myself! And we sang hymns and put all the ladies to sleep :) hahaha! But there was one LDS lady who came and she just LOVED it! She was so cute! :) It was out of both of our comfort zones...haha but it was fun! "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves!" -peter pan :) I loved the talks this weekend about missionary work! So often we think we can only be missionaries when there is a non Lds person around us, but truthfully we can always all be better members, we can always build faith. I am just a glorified visiting teacher! :) so visit and share messages that can build their faith and yours! (D&C 50:22) Go about doing good continually! And don't forget the challenge that was extended to you at conference about missionary work! :) speaking of conference was it not absolutely AMAZING?! :) So first of all I have to address the topic of women...I loved Elder Christofferson's talk because it's what the world needs right now! Sister Packard and I were talking about it while being sworn at and yelled at by women between conference sessions; embrace the fact that you are a girl! I loved the quote:

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

We need to remember this! I know ya'll don't have a problem with this but I know the world does :) Especially the world in Utah! :) p.s. don't wear pants to church, show respect for your Heavenly Father :) I can't even explain to you all the things I got out of conference! Ah! :) First of all I loved Henry B. Eyrings talk! Can I just say I love you guys?! haha and he is just so precious! Henry B. Eyring has the gift of weeping! Families are the most important social unit in all of eternity! So I loved that he spoke on that it was very good! Uchtdorf and Monson were just so tender. I absolutely LOVED President Monson's talk, because he was practicing the character of Christ. He has been turning outward in his time of grief and sorrow! He is such an amazing example to us all. There's that saying "by their fruits ye shall know them" and he has very good fruits :) And Holland... bravo as always. I loved when Holland said "If the bitter cup does not pass, drink it, and be strong and endure to the end until relief comes." I think it's amazing how in tune with the spirit these men are; they know what the world needs. It doesn't matter where you are in life, everyone will have to pass through their own "gethsemane." We will each have to drink out of the bitter cup, but we must not shrink! Because of Christ, when He drank the most bitter cup, he was completely alone. He didn't want to suffer anymore. But He didn't give up. Why do you think He didn't give up? I think that in that moment He saw your face, and He couldn't, He will NOT fail thee nor forsake thee! I know that is true. Jesus Christ can succor us! He can help us. Man I just loved that! :) and Bednar is always bomb. :) He's a bold man...ps. pay your tithing :) I especially loved Elders Edward Dube and Timothy J. Dyches. They helped me out a lot on some of the questions I had :) Man! The CHURCH IS TRUE! :) I love being a part of this great work and I love that all ya'll are part of it too! I am running out of time! So your challenge this week is to go on LDS.org and read at least 3 talks and study them :) But I want ya'll to know that I love you so much more than you know. I do apologize for the times that I didn't show it. But I love you! And always will! :) Have an amazing week!

Love always,

Sister Wilkins :)

All of these people are my very best friends! I love them all so much! :)

I absolutely love all of these people :)

Brother Littlejohn! 

My zone last transfer! :) 

President and Sister Weaver bought us some hot chocolate :) 

 

Posing with the mirrors sister Packard's mom sent us! bless her heart! :) <3

Our last day together :( 

The cute book that Sister Packards mom made for us for conference! :) 

Yay! :)

Week 32

I’M STAYING IN CHAMBERS CREEK WITH SISTER PACKARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH! I am so pumped!!!! We are still STL's too :) I have gotten so spoiled my whole mission! I feel like pretty much every transfer call I've been able to deal with :) haha I was SO worried I was going to be abandoned and have to take over an area that I don't know very well I was stressin’! But, my stress is relieved and I am SO happy! :) I'm sad sister Dean is leaving though :( She is going to Olympia 4th and she's training! Crazy! She's still not going to Argentina. :( She doesn't have her visa STILL. It's ridiculous! The FBI is involved with the whole process now and she has to get her fingerprints redone and everything so it's a PAIN!!! (that's why I'm e-mailing so late) and the poor girl just wants to go to her mission and speak Spanish! It's crazy how much she loves Spanish...but she does! haha But yes, I am so excited to be with Sister Packard still :) We are going to work SO hard! I will miss sister dean like CRAZY! Oh! Also, Sister Hall is going to stay with her companion as an STL but they're getting doubled into Kitsap Lake in Bremerton! Sister Thompson is still in Steilacoom and Sister Baird is still on Bambridge Island I think! :) There's the DL on my mission family :) haha

But enough about transfers, I want to tell you about my week! :) TERRANCE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! Ah I am SO happy! Ya'll don't understand how much I love this man! He's my favorite! haha His baptism was so sweet! I was nervous! haha First of all, it's a baptism and I always get nervous cuz I'm a perfectionist, and second I had to give the missionary message, and third my companions and I decided to do a musical number and sing "where can I turn for peace" because that's what Terrance has been looking for, peace! :) So, last minute Sister Packard picked up a violin from the bishop's daughter and Sister Dean played the piano and since I have no other talents I got stuck with singing all by myself. I don't do these things....haha! But, It turned out good so that's great! :) haha The baptism went really good and afterwards Patriarch Coleman (he's in our ward and he gave Terrance a ride to the church he's the sweetest man of my life) told us that when he went to go pick Terrance up he asked him if he was sure about this and Terrance said "I've never been more sure about anything in my life" AH!!!!! It made my heart a puddle!!! It was SO great! Then yesterday he received the Holy Ghost! It was SO amazing! :) I am so happy for him! And he's a lot happier too! :) After his baptism we had a lesson (with pizza and cake and ice cream.... :) ) with all our recent converts! Juan, Jon, Kyle and Terrance!!! It was awesome! I have pictures but I forgot the thing this week....so you'll have to wait til’ next week...oops :) haha

Fall is here! It rains SO hard! It's been crazy the last couple of days! It's so fun but very cold...haha :) Oh! On Wednesday I was the happiest girl in the world! The area 70 Elder Bussey came and talked to all the ward councils and the missionaries about D&C 88:73 "Behold I will hasten my work in its time" and how NOW is the time when God is hastening His work, and how we need to work together as ward and missionary in helping God accomplish His purposes! It was so cool, and it made me pumped and, guess what else?! It was combined with Lakewood stake! Aka STEILACOOM!!!! :) haha so I got to see Bishop Mortensen and Papa and Dawn and some other people from the ward! It made me so happy! Steilacoom will always have such a tender place in my heart :) I just love it SO much! :) There are about 85,000 missionaries all over the world RIGHT NOW! How sweet is that!? But God doesn't want 85,000 missionaries...he wants 15,000,000 missionaries! (Aka every member of the church :) ) So be missionaries! Be a light! Share that religious thing on Facebook! Spread the good word! haha :) But anyways I was so happy!

 Afterwards, bishop Mortensen and President Marchant (the stake president in Lakewood) asked president if they could have me back :) haha I felt so loved! :) Awh! And president and sister Weaver did the sweetest thing for my companions and I! they got us some hot chocolate after the meeting! :) and man was it GOOD! :) haha I'm trying to get everything in that I want to tell you! sometimes I feel like these e-mails don't make sense....or adequately cover what I am trying to say, but I just love everything that's all :) haha

So one random fact: every single Thursday during weekly planning we eat an artichoke :) and it's good! haha Oh! Another random thing! I was so touched! Sister Packard's mom is so precious! She sent sister Packard a package and in it she had the coolest thing for all 3 of us! She made this little book for general conference! It has the prophet and all the apostle’s names and pictures in it! Oh my goodness it's adorable! I am going to cherish it forever! But man am I SO excited for general conference! I don't think you know (except matt you might know) of my excitement! General conference is like Christmas for a missionary! Can you believe it was a year ago that the age change was made?!!!? It seems like just yesterday! I still remember everything that happened in those few minutes after he made the announcement! haha good times :) And the relief society broadcast was AWESOME!!! I was freezing and soaked the entire time but it was so fantastic I didn't even care at all! :) haha The prophet is so precious! I loved his talk especially! He misses his wife so much :( It's the saddest thing! But he's such a good man! I just love him! :) If ya'll didn't watch the broadcast you better get on LDS.org Right NOW :) haha cuz it was awesome :)

So we had a miracle this week! On Friday at 6:57pm we were walking up to our last door when sister Dean says "alright last door, miracle door!" and it was! Behind the door was a man named Kaale (like the veggie but with an extra A :) ) And his cute daughter Kaalee :) Kaale has been investigating the church for a while, and he's pretty much already a Mormon, he just needs to get baptized so we're going to baptize him! :) He and his daughter came to church and he brought his mom Miss Debbie Jackson who we found out is actually a non-active member. She hasn't been to church for 35 years and she came yesterday!!! She sat out in the foyer for 3 hours, but baby steps right?! :) It was Legit! :) And Jon got the Priesthood! Ah Jon! I am so proud of that boy! I love all of our recent converts in this ward and they are all doing so good! :) It makes me so happy! :) haha after Terrance received the gift of the Holy Ghost I asked him how he felt now that he was an official Mormon and he answered "taller!" haha! Oh man that man is hilarious! :) Last night was sweet too :) we went to Juan's house (he's an amazing cook!) and we has SUCH good food with all our best friends! :) It was precious :) 

 I just wanted to talk about what I've learned this transfer. :) First of all, I learned a ton about love. I have never been in a companionship with so much love and service for each other! It has been great! I have found that if there's ever a time when you're feeling down, serve someone and you will feel SO much better! :) And that's the truth :)

 I have also learned a LOT about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. As you know I have recently been working on that :) there's always room to improve :) haha but it's been really cool to be able to work on that relationship. I feel the spirit more every day...I feel happy more every day when I focus on that relationship! Sister Packard gave me this great quote! (ya'll know I love quotes :) ) It says "men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whosoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life." I have recently found that this is totally true...I have been feeling even happier (if that's possible?) I feel like I understand the gospel more, Ah! I am just so blessed to be a missionary! My favorite things about being a missionary are seeing people change, and realize that it's true, the gospel is true! It’s as simple as that! I know that with all my soul! It’s awesome :) haha

But I am out of time :( so know that I know that my Savior loves me and I love Him too. I know that He is going to take care of ya'll no matter what :) I trust in Him and will always keep Him near :) I'm grateful I can be so close to Him because His gospel was restored to the earth! We have a wonderful prophet who God works through, and He's going to speak to us THIS weekend! I am PUMPED and you should be too. :) Go into General conference prepared with questions for God and I promise you will find your answers. I love you all very much!

Have an AMAZING week! I know I will! :) haha

Love always,

Sister Wilkins :)  

Week 31

Hello family! :)

It has been an amazing week! I'm excited I get to tell ya'll all about it! :) I feel like I can never adequately cover the feelings that I feel...but I can tell you that I LOVE being a missionary and that I am SO happy! I love my Savior so much, and I love you!!! :)

So, let’s see...where do I start?! Well we went on exchanges this week with Sister Elton and Sister K! Sister Elton came to Chambers Creek with Dean and I, and Packard went to Lincoln with Sister K (her name is really long...she's thai and she's adorable! :) so we just call her sister K ) Sister Elton is going home in December! She's from Oregon and she's 23. Her and Sister K have been struggling a bit so we knew this would be an important exchange. It was not easy. haha! But it was very, very good. I can't really tell you a whole lot of details but I can tell you that I love Sister Elton very much. :) I learned a lot from her! She gave me a lot of advice on how to be a good missionary at the end of my mission :) And Sister Elton read 2 timothy 2:1-10,21 which says:

1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to^ateach others also.

3 Thou therefore endure ^ahardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

5 And if a man also ^astrive for ^bmasteries, yet is he not ^ccrowned, except he strive lawfully.

6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first ^apartaker of the fruits.

7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was ^araised from the dead according to my ^bgospel:

9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.

10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a ^avessel unto honour, ^bsanctified, and ^cmeet for the master’s use, andprepared unto every good work.

and she read 4:7 with me! :):

7 I have fought a good ^afight, I have ^bfinished my course, I have kept the faith.

I love these scriptures. :) I'll let you take what you want from them, but they have great meaning to me :) It was really fun! I love learning things from the other Sisters :) It's crazy, I love being an STL, I get to serve my Sisters! It's awesome!

 I am learning a lot about selflessness this transfer, and a lot about how selfish I am. It's very hard to have balance because you can't be 100% selfless because you will die. You have to take care of yourself! haha :) But it is extremely important to help others. Serving others, is loving others! The 2 greatest Commandments is to love God and to love your fellow men. :) I have been learning a lot about that this transfer too. :) How loving God is the most important thing that we can do :) Because If we are strengthening our relationship with God everything else will fall into place :) So that is what I am working on right now! I think I told you about it last week, but I am working very hard to come closer to Christ! :) That's why the title of this e-mail is "more holiness give me." That has been my theme song this week...that is what I am working on! :) In Matthew 19:16-26 talks about a man who comes to Jesus and asks him how he can inherit eternal life and Jesus tells him to keep the commandments and the man says in vs 20 "all these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" So Jesus tells him to go and sell everything that he has, and the man went away being sorrowful. In Jeremiah 7:24 it talks about how we need to continue to move forward! Living the gospel is like walking up a down escalator, you have to keep moving forward, or you will go backward, I promise you. So I am trying to continue my growth, by asking Heavenly Father "what lack I yet?" it has been a very good experience for me. The first night I asked was Thursday night, that night I was an emotional wreck, it had been a spiritually draining day! I loved it! But I also felt very humbled by my weaknesses.

Let’s talk about Ether 12:27, "If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness" I have learned how true that statement is! haha...The closer we come to God the more we realize our own nothingness, and how weak we truly are. Then it says "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble" God GIVES us weakness so that we can be humble, because truthfully, we are pretty awesome! We are made of the stuff that God is made of! We are His spirit offspring! We're awesome! But we must be meek and lowly in heart. That is a Christ-like attribute! Which means that we must know of our nothingness and not be discouraged but rather, we must become humbled by it.  Thus we become more like Christ! Then it says "my grace is sufficient for those who humble themselves before me and have faith in me, and if they have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (I'm paraphrasing because I don't have my scriptures with me) So Christ's grace is amazing! He has the desire and ability to save us! SWEET! :) and it is sufficient, it is ENOUGH. We don't need anything else. Then we have to have faith in that. I have learned about this a lot on my mission, The atonement. It is able to cover us completely. I think one of the hardest parts about the repentance process is forgiving ourselves.

I have also learned about how if we come unto Christ our weaknesses CAN and WILL be made strengths. Which reminds me of Alma 26:12 (i think that's what it is...) " Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." Which brings me back to Thursday night when I felt very humbled by my many weaknesses :) And I knelt down and asked God "what lack I yet?" And the very next morning I received an answer! I opened up the binder that all the new missionaries get and it has some talks in it. which I never open up to...but I felt that I should this day. I opened up to a talk I had never read before. It's called "settle this in your hearts" by Neal A. Maxwell. It talks a lot about consecration and it talks a lot about not "keeping back part" in Acts chapter 5 it says:

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, ^asold a possession,

2 And ^akept back ^bpart of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain ^cpart, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to ^alie to the Holy Ghost, and to ^bkeep back part of the price of the land?

4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not ^alied unto men, but unto ^bGod.

5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and ^agave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to ^atempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

10 Then fell she down ^astraightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband."

This is a very intense story :) And it won't happen to you :) haha but I figured out that I need to give more of myself :) It's very very easy to be in the background in a tri-panionship :) which, I don't let happen often, I hold my ground and share my testimony...but there are a select few times that I don't give it my best. Days that I feel sick, days that I feel tired (which is every day ;) ) I am not giving it all, I am keeping back part! And the more we do that the more we slowly spiritually die! I don't know about you, but I never want that to happen :) Consecration is very important! So that's what I am working on right now :) I also read my patriarchal blessing which told me "be of good cheer!" haha which ya'll already know I am working on :) The gospel is so cool! Because it's true! I love truth! John 8:32 says "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" The truth is not relative, it is going to be true over and over and over again. No matter what. And the truth sets us free! And the gospel Is true as I said...the gospel includes Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy ghost and Enduring to the end. It's that simple. It's simple, but by all means it's not easy....but every day we have to build our faith and repent! We have to take the sacrament every week! We have to receive the Holy Ghost into our lives and let Him change our hearts. We have to Endure and build up our endurance! :) Then that is when we will find our joy :) that is when we will find rest in God's eternal kingdom! Joy is wonderful! I am going to attach a talk about joy :)

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1986/10/joy-cometh-in-the-morning?lang=eng

Read it cuz it's great!

Anyways moving on! I have a lot to talk about! :) haha Also on Thursday half of the mission got to go up to Zion's camp! IT WAS AMAZING!!! I love being an STL because I had the opportunity to sit back and watch the sisters build their testimonies. It was the coolest thing ever! I will tell ya'll about some of my favorite parts :) The trust fall...Sister Fowkes was so afraid to fall! She didn't want to do it. But Sister Olsen (the coordinator) had her get up on the log and just stand there with the Sisters behind her encouraging her and ready to catch her. She was crying, I was crying..haha and it was so precious. Those sisters were just standing there and telling her how much they loved her and how she could do it. Then we started to sing "amazing grace" and tears filled everyone's eye's. And then she fell. This happened over the space of probably about 20 minutes or so...I’m not sure because it felt like hours! haha But it was so sacred! We all took away what it really means to rely on Christ. Sometimes we have to let go of ourselves, our fears, our feelings of inadequacy etc. and just fall, let Christ help you, His grace IS sufficient! Wonderfully, amazingly completely enough! :) And He will always be there to catch you. ALWAYS. It is our choice to fall! SO FALL! I am telling you this in part to share my testimony but I’m only giving part of it because I want you to think about it and do with it what you will :) I want you to think! And go away from reading this e-mail determined to be a better person. :) I think my favorite part about the entire day is watching those beautiful sisters come closer to their Savior. With tear filled eyes and dirt all over themselves, they gained testimonies of eternal principles. That is probably my favorite part about missionary work, watching people gain and grow their testimony. Watching people change and become. I LOVE IT! At the end of the night we had a little testimony meeting. Sister Weaver bore her testimony last and she talked about this scripture: Alma 23:7:

7 For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.

So each of us thought about "our weapons of rebellion" or the sins that hold us back from being converted to the Lord and we wrote them down on a piece of paper and we burned them. Never to be seen again. It was very very cool. I know that each of us can lay down the "weapons" which chain us down and hold us back. I have an example of that, Terrance! TERRANCE IS GETTING BAPTIZED TODAY!!!!!! It's a miracle! We’ve been workin on him for 3 months now, and he is finally willing to fall. He is finally willing to lay down his weapons of war, his sins, his weaknesses and forgive himself. That's what he really struggles with. Terrance has accessed a part of the Atonement by laying down the things in his life and letting God help him. It took him a while but he's doing it today! I AM SO EXCITED and SO PROUD of him! :) He is ready to fall! :)

I also wanted to tell you again how much I have learned about love from my companions! I just love them so much! :) haha I am pleading that we can stay together next transfer but I think that Sister Packard has run out of time in chambers creek :( I have enjoyed every second though! AH! I never have enough time to adequately tell you how amazing my life is :) haha but I think you get the picture!

I want to attempt to express to you how much I love my Savior, He is everything good. When I think of Him I think of infinite love, I know that He would do anything for me, and I also know that He has the power to help me. I Know that He loves ME and is there for me. I know that He lives. I know that if I let Him he will catch me, He will make my weaknesses become strong. He is there always caring always loving. I love Him very much! He is my best friend! I am eternally grateful for Him.

Time’s up! gotta jet!

Love you all SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! have a great week!

Love always,

Sister Wilkins :)

Exchange with Elton

<3 <3 <3

My favorite people