Contact Info

You can mail a letter to Elder Wilson in the PARIS FRANCE mission at dearelder.com or through the postal service:

Elder B. Stanton Wilson
49 Rue Marengo
72000 Le Mans
France

The mission home address is:
France-Paris Mission
23, rue du Onze Novembre
78110 Le Vesinet
France

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Heavenly Father Hears and Answers Prayers

Hello all!
It's nice to see that you're all doing well. That family that emailed you those pictures is seriously THE best!! :) haha they seriously are some of the best members I've ever met.

Cette semaine était Pâques! C'était une très bien passée! (This week was Easter. It was very well spent!) We did lots of finding and stuff, but we actually didn't go porting...like hardly at all. It was so cool! We ended up doubling the amount of lessons we've ever taught, and we doubled the amis that we found. Finding all the time is definitely super important!! And also, turning each contact into either a rendez-vous for later, or making the contact into a rendez-vous is also as important! Miracles happen when we've done that.
So, we have an ami, named Emilienne who has...basically no religious background, didn't know who is Christ, didn't know how to pray, and learned at a super low pace. She has a son who is a missionary in Congo, though (he referred her to us through the church website). So she really wants to learn about...well basically EVERYTHING. :) We had a rendez-vous with her yesterday, where we were re-explaining the book of Mormon and we had planned to give her a soft invite to baptism. During the rendez-vous, she wasn't understanding too well and the spirit wasn't really there to permit us to extend the invitation, so Elder Wallace and I both thought to each other "nope, we can't give it..." but then all of a sudden, after we read the introduction with her, she understood. She testified of how she knows the Book of Mormon is true from the small thing she had her read herself before the rendez-vous. She testified of how she knows that we can pray to receive forgiveness of our sins (which...we haven't taught. We taught her how to pray, but not that.) and that she knows that we can receive forgiveness thanks to Christ. (which we didn't really teach either.) The spirit was SO strong. We asked her to be baptized the 25 Mai. She accepted. I know that the Lord has prepared people, and is continually preparing people for us to find and teach. I know that Father answers prayers, too.

I've been praying lately to have the faith to be able to bring someone to Him and Christ through baptism. And He answered that prayer. Elder Wallace and I will have the occasion to help Emilienne. I've seriously been so blessed this week.
Prayer is super cool. Seriously, think about the way you pray, and make sure each prayer is meaningful. Heavenly Father wants to hear and answer our prayers, but we need to be willing to take the time to talk with him.
Yesterday, we felt impressed to go to a member's house after church. He has been divorced for less than a year and seems pretty lonely and so we thought that nobody should be alone on Pâques. We read the Resurrection story in Matthieu 28 with him and then felt impressed to sing hymns with him. (he has a piano, oh and also, Elder Wallace is a boss at piano, btw the way. ha) So we sang four hymns with him. I'm so thankful God granted me my talents. And I'm so thankful for occasions to use those talents. The music brought in a super spirit and then we left him with a prayer, it was pretty cool.
I'm super excited for this upcoming week! We've been invited to help out with a service project, moving about 5 tons (metric tons) of gravel. :) Digging all that dirt in Tooele and again in Grantsville is totes gonna come in handy for this!! I'm stoked! Also, a cool thing, the weather this week is supposed to be pretty cruddy...except for the day that we planned to do service. Cool right?
Well, I love you all! I'm glad all is going well. Kaysen, keep kickin' it! Lefty's have an advantage...because you're not common. Use that to your advantage and also, work on your right foot, too! :) I'm glad Dad loves the new job! And also, of course Mom, you always quilt! :) haha.
Stay fly!
-Elder B. Stanton Wilson



An e-mail from Sister Pettitt: I just had the privilege of accompanying the Elders to my friend's house to teach her (she's in the second photo in a jean shirt and beige vest (front row, almost in the middle).  She and her friend were there, and it was wonderful to watch the Elders "in action" - I want to thank you for raising a wonderful son, one who is generous, caring, serving, and has a strong testimony and a sound understanding of the gospel. We also love to hear him play and sing ;)

Monday, April 14, 2014

A Week Full of Miracles

Hello all!!
 
To start off, this week is transfers!! And guess who's NOT leaving? Elder Wilson ni Elder Wallace!!! I have truly been blessed to be able to stay here in Cergy a 4th transfer to finish training. I am so excited! And the new elder that will be coming in is an old Assistant, Elder Dussere (francophone), so the rest of us (les americans) will profit (do you say that in english?) from that! :)
 
This past week was full of miracles. I'd like to share a couple with you.
 
Tuesday, we had a lunch rendez-vous with a member named Jonathan Vasseur. We were to meet him at the church building and then he was going to take us to his house to eat and share a spiritual thought. Elder Wallace and I decided to walk to the church building (5 minute train ride and then after that another 15 minute walk) instead of taking the bus to try and find some people on the way to contact. While walking we found a mother from the Congo named Mamie (in french, mamie is the familiar form of grandmother, by the way) and we were able to exchange numbers and fix a rendez-vous for the next day. The next day, the rendez-vous was so great. We shared a message about the resurrection of Christ and the hope it gives us. We gave her a Plan du Salut pamphlet and fixed another rendez-vous, which also went well (we talked about the first part of the Plan du Salut and introduced Le Livre de Mormon) and we'll have another with her this week here.

Why is this a miracle? Because if we had decided to take the bus, like normal, we wouldn't have met. We wouldn't have been able to have the chance to talk to her about the Book of Mormon. And also, because Mamie told us that she has been longing to have someone to talk to about God and Christ. In the Congo, you can talk to anybody about religious matters, but France is completely the opposite. She was super grateful that we met and will continue to meet.
 
Saturday, we were waiting to meet a member outside of a gare (train station) to go to a lesson. While we were waiting, a guy from Poland approached us and tried speaking to us...but since his English and French is so limited (he can say his name and where he is from...c'est tout, en fait.) we didn't understand a word he said. (Polish is a russian type language with a profound latin influence...but is still basically impossible for one to understand unless they speak a language like Russian or some other slovic language) he made a call on his phone and handed the phone to us...it was the missionaries from Poland. The missionary we talked to was Elder Russel Wilson...what? Yeah. So we told him the details about our church meetings and he translated them to the Polish guy. Sunday, the Polish guy came to church with us. Here's the miracle. There is a member in our ward that hasn't come to church since I've been in Cergy. He speaks Russian and Ukrainian. For the first time in quite some time, he was able to come to church. On the very same day the Polish guy came. That was definitely a tender mercy.
 
Training has been such a wonderful experience for me. I've been trying hard to make sure that the way this équipe (companionship) goes, is like a team (équipe directly translates as team). I didn't want it to be like "I'm your trainer, so I'm going to give you all this knowledge and we're going to do everything I want to do." And so it's been like un vrai équipe. Which has given both Elder Wallace et moi le capacité d'apprendre plus ensemble et travailler le plus efficace.
 
Something that Elder Wallace and I have REALLY been trying to do is to work with the members. We've been having SO much more success when we go out and see the members than when we just try finding by ourselves. And as long as we contact everyone on the way to the members' houses and inbetween lessons, all is well. We have just as much success, if not more, when we do that instead of going out porting/contacting for couple hour blocks. And it also gives us more of a purpose, too. I've really learned alot this transfer.
 
For my Scripture for my missionary plaque, I've found the scripture I want. If I could I'd just put up Alma 26 on it, but I've decided that Alma 26:27,30-31 will suffice. Alma 26 is a parallel to la mission Française de Paris. 27 describes a little promise that the Lord has given us. I know that as I am patient, the Lord will bless me and lead me to those he has prepared for me. 30 (mostly 28-30. 30 Summarizes 28-29 though) shares a little of what I've gone through "have suffered every manner of affliction" (something close to that) And also 30 states the why of the mission. That I "might be the means of saving some soul". And 31 shares the blessings I've recieved. When I look back at the "fruits of my labor". I know that I haven't brought anybody into the waters of baptism yet, but I do know that I have helped others and had an effect on them. And I have also changed much myself. <-- I don't know if that all makes sense, but it makes sense and has spiritual and emotional meaning behind it for me.
 
I love you so much! Thank you so much for your support. Also thank you for your paragraph to me, mom. I'm so blessed to be your son. It made me cry out of love. I think the mission is making me a crier. Oh well, if that's what happens when I feel loved, I'll take it. :)
 
Also, thank you dad for your email. It means a lot that you sent me an individual email. I love you so much.
 
Stay Fly
 
-Elder B. Stanton Wilson
 
P.s.

So I've been thinking a lot. I noticed that the temple work for Walter Stanton Wilson and his wife weren't completed (at least according to the family tree I printed out before my mission) and I was thinking that If that is true, that it should be done. And I'd like to find out more about him so that I could possibly do his work for him after I get back. But I have no means of doing that on most of the computers I use here because they're outdated and can't run the familysearch website. Could you possibly look into that? Also, could you send me my line of Authority? I didn't get a copy before I left, and I'd love to see that, to know with a surety who it is that my Priesthood Authority comes from. :) Thank you so much.

Aprils Fools: My Middle Name is Gullible

4/7/14

Bonjour Famille,

Donc pour le 1 Avril, tout le monde got me. Our district leader played a prank on me with the portable. He did a simulated call and figured out how to change the name...so he changed the name to President...well, since I didn't recieve your email last week, I was worried SICK that something happened to one of you...everyone laughed...but it really wasn't funny.

Nice joke Jaret. You know, I was super stoked to be an uncle. But I guess Bodacious isn't my middle name, gullible is. :P

Speaking of Bodacious though, that's super funny that Bodacious lives on!! :D haha.

So, this past week was super hard. I definitely realized the importance of family. Seriously, I've been worried pretty sick...but I didn't let it distract me from the work.

This past week, instead of going out and doing JUST finding, we decided to see as many members as possible and just contact on the way. And oddly, that was SO much more efficient than going out contacting/porting. And it was TONS more uplifting!! We didn't find any new amis yet, but we found about 3 or 4 potentials this week.

Did I tell you guys about the hedges that we cut? Well, if I didn't, I'm going to now. :) We spent about 6 hours cutting hedges for a member's neighbor a saturday. Then the following tuesday (because we hadn't finished) we went back over to cut again. We finished cutting all of them down to the height they need to be, all that's left is doing the finishing touches. Let's just say, service is super fun (and helps surmonter fears of climbing trees...) and great learning experiences. Like I learned that hedges are not for me. I'll gladly help others with theirs, but as for me and my future household, no hedges. :) haha

We recieved a referral for this guy named Wendy. He's from the french islands. And he is super amazing!! We were able to have a lesson with him this past week, but we don't have a return rdv yet. He basically the same story as Joseph Smith. He's looking for the truth. We taught the rétablissement and he seemed to like it. We'll be getting in contact with him again this week. He said that he would like to learn more. That was definitely one of my favorite parts of the week.

Also, thank you so much for the mixes!! :) I haven't used any yet, because I want to savor them, but I'll be using some either this week or the next.

I loved General Conference!! :) Seriously, it was better than Christmas!!!! It seemed very choice/agency based this time...which made me think about the choices I've made, am making right now, and will make during and after the mission. I've realized that before my mission, the choices are made, I made them because of the moment. Because I was short sighted, but now, I've been changing that. And I've really been looking at the effects that my words/actions can have on other people. And I've realized that I make better choices when I do that.
Also, I loved the whole "Dieter, don't you even think about it!!" in the Priesthood session!! haha :)

Well, I love you all. I hope you all have a great week. :)

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Doing Our Best to Be Like the French People

3/31/14

Hey! So...I didn't get a family email. Just the one from Jaret, so I hope the family's doing well! And Jaret, if you get something to send me, then eat it, don't tell me. I've been craving peanut butter this whole week...

So this past week, was a pretty good week. I got let in my first door EVER while porting!!! :D I was SO stoked!! Okay, so it was Tuesday night. We were doing some porting in an area about a 30 minute walk away from our appartement. And we felt impressed to knock on a certain street. One house we knocked on opened the door and we said we were there to share a message about Christ and Easter and the husband was about to shut the door. But the wife said "no, let them in." So we got in and what we were hoping would take 5 minutes...took 45 minutes...ha. The old couple talked TONS. But they were super open. The wife told us that she wants to grow her faith! She feels like she doesn't have any. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and how that's helped us grow our faith. She then asked us to write some petits mots (little words, basically a little message) inside for her. So we did and gave it to her.

Sunday night, we went back to their house to talk more about who God is and how we can improve our relationship with Him (aka, prayer). They had read in the Book of Mormon!! But sadly, they said that they didn't want to grow their faith in that, but they'd continue reading it as a form a literature.

So that was really all that happened this week. We've been doing lots of searching, with little finding. We made a huge board with all the names of the members (sorted into active and moins actifs) so that we can start searching for everyone and getting to know everyone in the ward better. We have a goal to visit 4 members a day. Whether that's a 2 minute encounter or a meal. In doing this, I feel like we'll be able to better gain the trust of all the members, help some less active members come back, and find new amis to teach.

Also, the French culture is super different than that of how I was raised... :P The French culture, it's good to be imposing. So if someone offers us food, ALWAYS SAY YES. If you say no, it's actually kind of like an insult. Also, Frère Pettitt (our DMP from New Zealand) told us to do our best to be like the French. He told us to mimic them, do exactly what they do (mannerisms and stuff). So I'll be working on being a vrai français. Ha :) it's gonna be fun.

Well, I love you all. I hope all is well.


-Elder B. Stanton Wilson