Learning the Guitar!!!

This week has been full of wonderful experiences and little miracles at every turn. Well finally I got my kid after waiting for a long time and the wait was worth it he is literally an answer to my prayers. First I will tell you a little about my new comp Elder Serna who is from a place close to Cancun. His family has in the church for a long time even longer than us and he played water polo for years which is super cool because the last time I watched the Olympics I remember two dudes choking each other under the water fighting for the ball, which means my comp is a BAD-A. Training is not to bad other than sometimes I get us lost or don't know where to go, but we are working super hard because Elder Serna is an awesome missionary and teaches like an Apostle because of his knowledge of the scriptures and his ability to speak through the Spirit. The truth is I am learning more from him than I think he is from me he is even teaching me how to play the guitar which is super cool because it helps to have someone really teaching you. This last week we have been talking to everyone, teaching lessons, and finding people who have some interest in listening to us. We are working hard with less actives to help our branch become a ward because they need more active priesthood holders so that's kinda what we have been trying to do this week.

  There is a quote I will never forget because it runs through my head everyday and it was said by President Russel M. Nelson when I got to see him in the MTC and he said, " If you only have one convert your whole mission...I hope that convert will be you." I can't explain with words how important that is and how the mission has changed my life and everyday I'm being converted. I love you all so much and wish you the best for this week.

Well I finally got my kid and he is super awesome and honestly I am learning a whole lot, even more than I could have imagined. He knows the scriptures really well and he is helping me learn the guitar because he knows how to play so that has been awesome. Right now I'm learning two songs on the guitar Saying I Love You and Send me on my way from Ice age the movie. 

-Elder Wolford

Forgetting What Home Feels Like.

¡Que Onda?

Wow this Past cycle has been very adventurous and I have been all over the place lately like three different zones/areas, had four comps, was a temporary zone leader, and I won't train till the end of this cycle because my kid doesn't get here till then and he is only a temporary because his mission is in Arizona I think. This last week I was with and Elder named Elder Figueroa and he was super cool and I learned a ton from this Elder in only one week, but being a zone leader with him was a real awesome experience because I got a little training on what I need to do if I become a leader in the future which will help me a lot. The only difference is that you have more meetings and have to report every night, but other than that it's not too bad, but now that I'm back in my area in Revolution I'm pretty sure Pres is going to keep me there for a good amount of time because he has changed me so much, but who knows. Last Monday I played basketball for the first time in a very long time with a bunch of Elders and people that were there and I played with a kid bigger than me so that was super cool getting wrecked. Also now our mission we can wear hats and sunglasses because they want us to use more protection and also the Sister missionaries can wear pants because of mosquitoes that are spreading illnesses and it has happened in other missions more south. 

It's weird to me that I will hit a year soon because I feel like I just started, but as well like I have lived here for years because it all seems normal to me seeing drunk/high people in the street, other religions trying to prove us wrong, hundreds of dogs, people staring, swearing, and others that say we are terrible people, but with all of this I just love how much I am learning and how wonder it feels to have the gospel in my life which gives me the determination to share it with everyone. The other day we kinda had a cruddy day and didn't have much success and we were just contacting people and trying to teach other less actives. We were knocking on a less active's house when a guy came up to us and asked, "Are you guys Jehovah's Witnesses?" we told him no and then he asked if we were christians and we told him well yes. He just looked at us and said that he needed help moving a TV because his wife just got out of the hospital and can't move that well, so we told him yes and followed him to his house. When we entered in his house he started to ask us a ton of questions like where are you from?, who are you guys?, what do you do?, and a ton more and we put a teaching appointment with him last Saturday. When Saturday came we visited and started teaching the Restoration and when we got to the part about when Peter James and John gave the Priesthood to Joseph Smith he stopped us and said," Ok so Jesus had this authority right that he got from God, then when Jesus was on the earth he gave this authority to his Apostles, then later his Apostles gave the priesthood to this Joe Smith guy right?" we told him yes and he told us that it makes so much sense. After we told him we have a living Prophet today and he flipped out because he said, " Why have I not learned of this Joe Smith guy or that there is a Prophet today?" It was super awesome and his family was really great as well, so these are some people we are working with right now.

love you all 

-Elder Wolford

My first week sick.

Well what an awesome week with tons of adventures and surprises around every corner. So this last Monday we had changes and I was a little nervous to get my kid (new missionary) and open an area because it is all super new to me and very different right. Anyways I get to the changes and look where my new area is and finally I find my picture in the zone of Los Reyes and usually they have the name of your comp and his picture next to yours, but my picture was by itself. I was super confused because they said I would be training, but I didn't even have a comp. I asked the assistants and they told me my kid wasn't there and that I was going to be in a trio or in a companionship of three. Apparently the missionary I'm going to train is not here yet and they don't know when he will get here so I am with two Elders named Elder Miles from Ogden Utah and Elder Santos from Mexico and he is going to Provo for his mission. Elder Santos had problems with his visa too. They are both super cool and we are doing great we had a baptism this last Sunday and this guy truly is a convert because when he came out of the water he froze up and started crying. Elder Miles baptized him and we had to wake up at 4 in the morning to fill up the font because his baptism was at 7 in the morning before church.

This is what happened to me this week I ripped my shirt while I was walking down the street on a nail sticking out of a wall and last Saturday after lunch I felt super bad and thought I was going to throw up for 3 hours, but nothing happened. We had a sita and I asked if I could go to the bathroom after our lesson and I was going to throw up, but again nothing happened so I thought my stomach hurt really bad. So after our lesson we started walking in the street thinking of where we are going to go next and I had the feeling I was going to barf so I told them to wait a second and leaned up against a wall behind a bush a threw up a ton just like in the movie Pitch Perfect it was awesome because after I finished I felt a ton better.

Anyways that's pretty much what has been happening with me I love you all and hope you keep having fun.

-Elder Wolford 

A Baptism!!!

These past few weeks have been super awesome we have had a ton of success and we are working hard. This last Saturday we had a baptism and this lady is super awesome and her story about her conversion is incredible. So this lady was going to the church in my old area and she has been going for about two months and one day in the Gospel Principles class she asked what do I have to do to be baptized. She was going to the other ward not my old one. Anyways the missionaries in this ward were teaching her and past the reference to my comp and his before me, but they couldn't get an appointment with her because she is in her store all day which is in another area and they didn't know. After we had changes these Elders called us and said that her baptism is this Saturday and she is still missing a little bit of the lessons so we found her store and finished teaching her and man is she a boss because she has been reading everything that the church has even the Temple prep book. So this last Saturday we had a baptism and the Spirit was super strong. 

Ok so I do have changes and I have no idea where. All I know is that it is in an area I have never been before and not only that, but I got a call yesterday from the Zone leaders telling me that I'm going to train a new missionary so I'm getting a son. I am super excited to train, but also scared because I want to do my best and it's in an area I don't know at all. It doesn't matter because the Lord knows I'm ready and I need to learn a lot more and this is what I need to progress. It is going to be super hard, but super fun.

I love you all so very much!

-Elder Wolford   

Fist Fight!!!!!!

Ok so I haven't been able to wright because I had special changes because two Elders got in a fight and it got pretty ugly and Pres moved me to a different area with one of these Elders for now because I had so much time in my other area and last Monday we had to work because we got to go to the temple on Friday so this is why I couldn't wright for like ever.

We had some hail the other day so that was cool kinda felt like home and one day my comp Elder Soto and I were talking to an hermana outside of her door and something fell from the roof and hit the concrete really hard next to us. I thought it was a rock or bricks, but no it was a flippin dog. This dog fell about 10 feet and hit the ground and nothing happened to it it was totally ok. 

So special changes, so these two Elders in my district got in a fight over something dumb. One of the Elders threw a punch in the gut of the other. But this Elder didn't just sit there he grabbed his head and punched the other in the face three times and this Elder had blood all over his shirt and face. So Pres called me told me what happened and said that he needed me to go stay with one of the Elders until changes. So I think I still have changes, but we will see.

I love you all so much and will get to talk to you soon.

-Elder Wolford

7 1/2 Months!?!?!?

Transfers are on Mothers day here because Mothers day is the same day every year here and not like in the US where it is on a Sunday. I don't know anything yet other than I think we don't get to call on Mothers day there so I will most likely have changes and have to find a place to call or whatever.

This week was normal nothing much happened other than some people that we started to teach and seemed super awesome and ready to step into the waters of baptism kinda crapped out. So we will see what happens this week if they still want to listen or if they just want to go another way. It is crazy because at the end of this cycle I will have 7 and a half months in this area which is a long time. 

I love you all so much and will talk to you soon.

-Elder Wolford

Conference Weekend!!!

Wow this week was spiritually awesome and mind blowing. I remember how I was for Conference weekend and what it meant to me. Before the mission I would rather be with my friends or doing something else rather than watching on Saturday and how on the Sunday sessions I would close my eyes and fall asleep through almost all of it. This time though I couldn't get enough and I was on the edge of my chair the whole time because now more than ever I understand the importance of listening to our living Prophet, Apostles, and church leaders. The power of Conference is not just for the members, but for everyone else. We invited our investigators to come and watch with us and they forgot to change their clocks because the time change so they came super late, but the one talk that they got to listen too was the talk that this mother needed to hear. We later talked with her about this being her answer and invited her to get baptized on April 30th. She said yes so we are going to be working with her. I know that this wasn't a coincidence that they forgot to change their clocks and and came late to Conference just to hear one talk. The hand of the Lord was definitely in this and he knows who is ready and when the best time is for them to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Right know we are working on finding more people to teach and the other day a man answered the door, looked us up and down and said, "You guys are Mormons right?" We told him yes and that we are the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He then told us that we are the worst of the worst the ugliest church he has ever seen. We asked him why and he told us he knew some people from our church that were terrible people and were doing bad things. Then my comp explained to him that you can't blame the church for other peoples actions because the world has bad people in it no matter the religion or place. My comp then told him that without a doubt your church has some very bad people in it too, but we don't judge your church because of these people. The man then realized that his accusations against the church were wrong and he totally changed his attitude with us. We have a appointment with him this week so we will see how it goes.

The other day some kid on our street had a birthday party in the middle of the street and here when someone has a party they get a giant tent and put it up in the middle of the street so no cars can pass that way. Anyways  the music was super loud and it went on till about 8 in the morning the next day so that was kinda fun thorough out the night. 

Anyways that's about all that has happened here lately I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.