2 of 276 Zone conference!

To all who may get this email,

We had zone conference this past week, and it was so fun! Because we got technology we had to arrive Thursday night to set up the phones, then we had to stay the night in Umeå so the mission rented us some cabins on a little campground for elementary school field trips, so that was a party!

But then on Friday we got some super good training about how to use technology as a missionary, and how to use technology once we return home, and about the blessings that come from obedience. Good stuff, all this obedience talk.

Speaking of talks, I was the speaker in sacrament meeting yesterday! As in, I was the one speaker, so you can bet your bottom dollar that the branch here got to experience a nice, long, scripture based talk on prayer :) one of my favorite subjects, and the branch president selected prayer based hymns for us to sing, it was actually a good meeting. As I was talking I was reminded of another talk by Elder Oaks called "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" in which Elder Oaks quotes Elder John H. Groberg:

"“We would always pray for protection, success, and good seas and wind to take us to our destination. Once I asked the Lord to bless us with a good tail wind so we could get to Foa quickly. As we got under way, one of the older men said, ‘Elder Groberg, you need to modify your prayers a little.’

“‘How’s that?’ I replied.

“‘You asked the Lord for a tail wind to take us rapidly to Foa. If you pray for a tail wind to Foa, what about the people who are trying to come from Foa to Pangai? They are good people, and you are praying against them. Just pray for a good wind, not a tail wind.’

“That taught me something important. Sometimes we pray for things that will benefit us but may hurt others. We may pray for a particular type of weather, or to preserve someone’s life, when that answer to our prayer may hurt someone else. That’s why we must always pray in faith, because we can’t have true, God-given faith in something that is not according to His will. If it’s according to His will, all parties will benefit."

I then though about some of the experiences I've had with prayer and the times I may have prayed for a good tail wind when I should have prayed for a good wind instead. That's why the section in PMG titled Pray with Faith is so good, because it's so important! Speaking of praying with faith, I've felt prompted to pray for Elder Renlund to come back to Sweden for about a month and a half, and guess who's coming next Sunday and Monday! Elder Renlund :)

Älskar er!

Äldste Wilson



And from last week:

Not a tone of time left here, I'll go quick. This week was awesome, and the work was worked on. I've slacked on the whole picture game though, so I'll just attach a picture of me walking down the street checking out the snow and noticing how much it's melted this week, and a video of me arm wrestling David. He was out in the very begging, but just wouldn't put his wrist on the ground so I just had to keep on keeping on.

Hope you have a good week, and I'll be better at writing and picture taking this next week!

Äldste Wilson

Ja hallå där!

Most dearly beloved family, friends, acquaintances, life heroes,  and Elder Malone!

This was a rocking week :) We had splits with the Umeå ZLs, the mission started rolling out the new phones, we did some killer contacting, some party tracting, and studied some true gospel :)

However, I don't really have any good pictures to share, or any good stories, so looks like we'll have to settle for the weekly thought from the BOM.

You know what section in the BOM gives me anxiety? Like, Helaman 1 - 3 Nephi 10. Why does that selection give me anxiety? Because the Nephits have worse memories than gold fish (3 Nephi 1:17, five years later and we got 3 Nephi 2:1). They are so quick to forget their God, it gets to the point where they don't even pay attention to the signs that happen around them. But then again, are we not all like this in some way or another? Haven't we all forgotten that one time the Sunday School lesson answered our prayers? Or when you go to the store and they happen to have the thing you need on sale? What about that day you were driving home feeling a little sad when a car pulls up next to you and it's a group of teenagers bumping to some tunes and you smile because they look ridiculous? Sure those types of miracles and signs aren't as big as the sky not darkening when the sun goes down (besides, Alma 37:6), but they sure do get forgotten if they're not recorded! Keep a good journal, it'll help a lot to remember the power of God.

And yes, this Friday I will be reactivating my facebook and start using it to proselyte. While I do love everyone back home, the purpose of me having facebook is to use it as a proselyting tool, not to connect with you (yet). As such, feel free to send a message saying hi, but don't expect a lengthy response :)

Well, hejdå!

Äldste Wilson

With the new transfers comes a new companion, Elder Hansen! He's from AF, and actually went on Originations with my cousin Jacob and ward buddy Isaac. He's a really good guy, played basketball, relatively new to Sweden, and works hard. He and I have very different personalities, but I think we'll do great work as we go throughout this transfer :)

General Conference though, that was amazing! We haven't watched Sunday Afternoon yet, but every session has rocked! I had prepared some questions and got an answer to all except one: How can I stop balding? I think I just have to accept the fact that my hair is leaving and there's nothing I can do about it. If it's Gods plan, then it's Gods plan.

But Elder Wilsons talk about receiving help through prayer by acting yourself was probably my favorite. Most of the questions I had were answered in that talk. I'm very exited to put the principles I've learned to use :)

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is led by Christ thorough His prophet on the earth today. I know that as we follow all the teachings of our leaders, even if we don't like it, instead of trying to find out what's doctrine and what's just a personal opinion, we will receive the promised blessings. It's not blind obedience, no more than planting and caring for pumpkin seeds is blindly expecting a pumpkin to grow. The more experiences you have with the Gospel the stronger your own testimony becomes, and the more you can help those around you. For example, we have the 2,000 Strippling Warriors, who knew that "that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. " (Alma 56:47-48)

This scripture shows that our testimonies can be seeded by our parents, but eventually we all must make the decision to believe for ourselves. Thus, after "the whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman ... I with my two thousand, did surround the Lamanites, and did slay them ... But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them [2,000 Strippling Warriors] fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength." (Alma 56:52-56) Then, after winning a later battle, Helaman describes them as such: "And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power. Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." (Alma 57:26-27). As this group of young men gained more and more experience with God, their faith grew. But their faith came from something, they first had been taught by their mothers. How did their mothers know it though? Their mothers are the Anti-Nephi-Lehites, they had experienced God delivering them from bondage to freedom (Alma 25-27). We need to use what we've been taught and test it, as we do so I know that our own testimonies will grow and we will be able to better help those around us. There you have it, my weekly musings. 

Hope y'all have a good week!

Äldste Wilson