(No Subject) - June 6th

The Lord continues providing spiritual and touching experiences for me at this point in my mission, and I`m so grateful for his love and mercy on me. Honestly my service as a missionary has been such a growth to me personally, and the chance to bless the lives of others and humble myself has been wonderful. I think that humility is the fist spark of the fire of charity. To love others I have to really think inside and bring myself to their level and consider their side of things. At times I struggle with that and as I learn from the good examples in my life (especially the Savior, and the Prophet Joseph Smith), I`m touched to see hearts softened and doors opened. Through any sort of struggle or tough experience, admitting that God knows more than us is sometimes hard considering that as young men we`re invincible and know everything. Just kidding, but between 20 year old missionaries,  it`s a task to think how to bless them instead of how much more blessed we are than them. Humility is an aspect of life that needs to be developed with care to be felt, and worked on every single day. That doesn`t mean anyone is perfect or that we can`t feel certain ways at times, but I know that if we make a constant effort not to be arrogant or proud, we will see miracles. It`s respecting the Lord and admitting you`re wrong when you know you are. Just a few thoughts and things that I know have helped me and other missionaries, along with investigators.

I`ve had many opportunities to provide Priesthood blessings on my mission, as I have written many times, and I am once again humbled to have the chance to bless others. Our paralytic investigator Marcelo asked for a blessing, and to be able to put my hands on his head with my companion and bless him, along with others, was another touching spiritual experience. Sometimes it`s hard to know what the Lord is thinking when we give a blessing, but trusting in him that the will of the Lord is more important than the words spoken or the sickness felt is what shows our humility and trust in Him. Now, Marcelo didn`t jump out of his bed and run around like the Grandpa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but he was grateful for the blessing, and I was glad to help. He asked for the blessing, but he expressed some of his resentment toward the Lord (in a roundabout way) and a sort of "why me" attitude about the sickness, but I know as we keep teaching, and as he humbles himself, the blessings of Heaven can be poured out upon him. 

Another testimony I can give is about work. Work work work work work. When you work for the Lord, you feel good. That good feeling brings good results, inside or out. When you`re lazy, you feel bad, and that bad feeling brings bad results, inside and out. We`ve been teaching using a small whiteboard to help us out. I can draw stuff pretty fast, so we bring it to lessons to help people understand  the gospel. The education in Paraguay isn`t exactly tier one, so using pictures and objects to teach is effective and spiritual. When the spirit indicates and when ideas pop into our heads, my companion and I get that baby out and teach. It has been working pretty well, and while it hasn`t overtaken our teaching completely, and we use it with moderation, it`s something I always thought about doing but never tried. Teaching about dispensations, baptism, and prayer is made about 100% easier and more effective. Just thought that it was pretty cool and the whiteboard only cost like 3 dollars. 

Also everybody makes fun of me about how I`m almost done. The branch president`s wife was bearing her testimony about her daughter leaving on her mission, and says "and all things come to an end, like with Elder Wilson... the end is coming for his mission." She was not the only one to mention it. I also gave a testimony, and was touched by the spirit I felt in the meeting. Christian gave his testimony "I know that God exists, and I know that the Book of Mormon exists, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." Carlos Chavez also gave his testimony about how everyone alienates them because they`re members now, but that one night this week he knelt down to ask if all this was worth it, and his answer was that he`s winning something a lot bigger in losing friends and other worldly things. I agree.

Love,

Elder Wilson