Ward Council & Everyday Miracles

February 23, 2015

Hello Family!

This week went well, we had some pretty cool miracles happen! :)

First off, Tuesday, we felt impressed to pass by a less active that we had tried many, many times and had basically given up because he never answered. But we went for one last time. And he was there! He let us in and we shared a scripture with him. We told him that we loved him and that we missed him at church and that we'd love him to come back. He said he'd come back if someone picks him up because taking public transportation is "too far" for him. We left knowing what that meant. But finally, we were able to meet him and invite him to do something. If he isn't going to do anything, there isn't anything more we can do than invite.

Wednesday, we had to go to the Gare to search for train tickets for the upcoming zone conference (this upcoming Friday) and Stake Conference (this Sunday). We decided to do so after District Meeting. While we were there, one of my old amis from Cergy walked into the Gare. We found out that he'll be living in Le Mans for an internship for the next six months. We're hoping to being to meet with him to teach him more about the Gospel.

Thursday we headed down to La Flèche to see our less active buddy livin' out there. We tried confirming beforehand but Marvine didn't answer. So we went anyways with faith that we would see him. When we arrived we made our way to his apartment and called him. Again, he didn't answer. We noticed the door was open, so we let ourselves in and climbed the stairs to his apartment and knocked. He was home! And he remembered we were coming, too. We watched the Restoration DVD with him and then talked about it. Let's just say, he's got a lot to learn, but we're going to help him with that. Also, good news, he's working on getting his drivers permit so he can drive to church! We have no idea how he's going to get a car without a job, but judging by his huge TV and his bumpin' sound system and giant tiger plushie, he'll get a car somehow...ha

After getting back in Le Mans, we set out contacting people in the street. We ended up sharing the Book of Mormon with a younger woman in the street and praying with her...in fact, she even said the prayer. It was pretty cool. And at night we went out porting and prayed with a muslim lady at her window. It was a pretty cool experience.

Friday, we went and visited a member that has recently been struggling with activity in the Church. He is one of the ward missionaries as well. We read through Doctrine and Covenants 4 with him and talked about it. After the spiritual thought, we asked if there is anything we can do to help him and he said yes. Come every week and give me spiritual thoughts like this. So we'll be seeing him again this week.

Then Saturday we had Ward Counsel. Normally, in Ward Counsel, the missionaries are expected to be there, but when we talk about what we need done, the Ward Counsel makes excuses as to why it's not important and they don't really take the missionaries seriously. Well, for the first time in my mission, this was not the case. We had things to get done that day so we asked if we could go first and leave promptly after. So the Sisters asked the questions and got the things done that they needed, as well did we. And then we discussed a baptismal goal for the year. As we started discussing this, one member of the ward counsel stated "let's not just set an empty number like we do every year. Let's work with the faces that we have. The amis that the missionaries find and are bringing are not staying, but we have other amis that have been in contact with the church that the ward knows already." They then proceeded to list 8 names of people that were in contact with the church that aren't members and we set a goal based around the people that we have already. Finally, the members are starting to realize that the amis found by members are more likely to join than those found by the missionaries. It was the most productive Ward Counsel I have attended.

Later, we had an Après-Midi Familial (Family Home Afternoon) with the Young Adults. Elder Davis and I planned it out and organized everything so that we could get the Young Adults unified together and give them an activity to invite their non-member friends to. We'll be doing it once a month at the least. It was a success, even though only 4 of the 7 Young Adults came. We watched a Mormon Message (https://www.lds.org/pages/flecks-of-gold?lang=eng) and talked about the "Flecks of Gold" in the Gospel. After wards, we ate cookies that the Sisters made and Elder Davis taught them how to play Bang! (since Bang! is a western style game and Flecks of Gold is a western style Mormon Message).

Overall, it was a super great week! :)

Miracles happen every day. It's up to us to look for and recognize them. As we do so, we start to see more and more and realize just how much the Lord plays a role in our lives.

I love you all!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Thanks for taking care of all my college stuff, mom and dad! I love you! :) I'll get you that video later today.