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 ;)

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 

Soul Searching

Family! Hello :)

Live like You Believe. Ha. That's funny. That's one that I hear SO much out here. :P haha. It has a very good meaning to the song though. :)

So as far as this week, I'd say this past week was definitely a soul-searching, learning week. This week was definitely a tough one. We did so much finding. And got rejection after rejection...but Heavenly Father definitely wanted me to learn this past week.

I find it very interesting that Bishop talked about Pride this past sunday. haha. Because one of the things I learned this past week was humility. This whole transfer has been a very humble transfer. Starting with seriously no amis. And on top of that, training. I've definitely learned how to better trust my companion and to listen to him. But this week, I've learned humility in a sense other than listening and trusting my companion. It's hard to describe it. But it feels like a humble love for everyone.

Thursday we had zone conference. It was so great. Elder Wallace LOVED it. As did I. :) In fact, the Zone conference was an answer to Elder Wallace's prayers!! He had been praying all week for a new method for contacting (out of the 100 he's already come up with. Seriously, he is THEE best missionary I have ever met!). The assistants presented to us Easter Egg Contacting!! Or in other words, since Easter is coming up, use it in contacting. They presented to us some good ideas to help us begin with using Easter in contacting/porting! We've already found that using Easter either opens people up, or gets through the people that don't care at all faster. It's pretty cool. We haven't found anyone new yet, but we're still trying! Participating in the musical number was amazing!!

So I was doing some studying and came across the story of the apôtres in the ship at sea. And Christ walking on the water. Les apôtres got scared because they didn't know who/what was on the water, but Jesus says hey, don't be afraid, it's me. Peter then asks if he can come to Jesus, on the water. Christ says to come. And as Peter is going, he starts to notice the winds around him. And starts to sink and cries "Lord, save me." Christ IMMEDIATLY reaches to save Peter and asks "O ye of little faith, where didst thou doubt?" This past week has been like the winds for me. But Christ was there the whole time. And just as I started sinking in the sea, I cried out for help. And Christ reached for me and lifted me up. Nothing really changed this week. Except for, through Christ, I was able to have the strength to continue.

I'm not really sure if that makes any sense, but I sure hope it does. :D ha. I'm sorry that I don't have too much to say this week.

Two things that really helped me this week though, and were a HUGE surprise, was the package from Grandma and Grandpa! (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!! I used the biscuit recipe last night. They were delicious!!) and also, the Young Women in our ward sent me some letters. Seriously, those helped so much. Both the package and the letters definitely came in a time of need. :)

I love you all! Thank you so much for all you do and all the support. It helps so much.

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

Our Miraculous Week

Hello Family!! :)

First of all, thank you, Grandma. I can NOT wait to get those recipes!! :) 

This past week has been exhausting. Spiritually, physically, mentally, and in any other way possible. Ha. But, Elder Wallace and I have been so blessed this week. We started this transfer off pretty rough, but that was just a trial of our faith. I know we'll have other trials during the transfer, but as we work together, we'll be able to continue to help the Lord with His work. Our miraculous week started last Sunday. I'm not sure if I told you about it last week.

When we got back to the church in Cergy, we ended up missing the bus to get to the gare at Cergy Prefecture to get back home at Cergy Le Haut. So Elder Wallace and I decided to take that time to contact as we were walking to the Prefecture (it was only like a 20 minute walk; no biggie). As we started, there was a guy I felt impressed to contact. His name is Ludovic. We quickly found that he feels like it's hard to believe in a God because of all the injustice in the world, so we talked a little bit about Libre Arbitre (free agency) and how it's a gift God gave us, but because some people use their libre arbitre wrongly, they end up putting others, and even themselves, in situations that are...unjust, on peut dire. He asked us if we have a church so he could come the next Sunday. We gave him the address of the church and exchanged numbers and set up a rendez-vous for Saturday to talk a little more. Saturday, we had our rdv with him and he completely agreed with tons of things. Like Amos 3:7 and that God does speak to His people today. He also loved the Book of Mormon. He told us that when he lived in Africa, he asked his Catholic pastor a question. The bible is to the Jews. But what about the Blacks? The Chinese? The Indians? They all existed, too. And he said the pastor just brushed off the question. So he was excited to read in the BoM.

Sunday, Ludovic came to church! Which is a miracle of itself, if you understand the situation. The Cergy building is under renovation (sorry don't remember how to spell it.) so we take a bus to St. Ouen. The bus ride is about 40ish minutes. So instead of church taking 3 hours, it takes about 5-6 hours because of the bus ride to and from St. Ouen. We explained that situation to Ludovic and he basically said that he didn't care and that he wanted to come. He enjoyed church, too. He said that it was pretty normal. We had a lesson with him after church and talked about questions he had. One of the first questions he asked is "what do you have to do to become a member of this church? Is there some ritual you have to do? Or do you just have to get baptized?" So we ended up talking a little bit about baptism. One thing he doesn't understand is the "why" of baptism.

Honestly, Ludovic was a huge miracle for me. The Lord seriously blessed us by guiding us to him.

This past week, we found 3 new amis in total. Which, if you understand the work here, is pretty tough. I've only ever done that once before. We had a drought (figuratively) with finding amis the transfer before...we started this transfer with seriously nothing, but now, because we've been relying on the Lord and working as a team (The Lord, Elder Wallace, and I), He has blessed us.

Elder Wallace is seriously one of thee smartest guys I've ever met. He is very very intelligent. We brainstorm ideas together and are always trying to find new methods to contact people and to faire le port-à-port. I'll give you some examples of things we're trying. We try spreading our message of the family (plan of salvation), talking about how others found their faith in Christ, how God affects us in our lives, finding the importance of the family from others, asking bold questions, testifying (the most important thing to do. We try testifying in every contact anyways), and even offering to help others with their family history. There are tons of people in France who know "the Mormons" because of family history. And, now if we happen to see an opportunity where either of us can use our musical abilities, we have decided that we'll even try that. Elder Wallace is super cool and is always willing to try new ideas and come up with new ideas. Seriously, I love that Elder. I never thought I'd learn so much from training...but dang, I've learned SO much in these short two weeks with Elder Wallace.

I seriously cannot express with words how much being out here in La Mission Française de Paris means. I am seriously living one of my dreams right now. And I love it.

I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers. Keep up your work! And never be hesitant to invite.

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson

I'll Be Tri-Lingual!

3/10/14

Hey Family!!

So this past week has been good, and hard, but SUPER good!! My new companion is Elder Wallace from....NOT UTAH!! He's from Vermont!! So far, (excluding the MTC) I've only had one comp from Utah, Elder Lerdahl. Speaking of which, he is now finished with his mission!! He may be paying you guys a visit, too! haha

So Elder Wallace is a STUD!! He is what a missionary who uses their time wisely in the MTC becomes. He's just super ready all the time to learn and work. And he knows French pretty well. He also has tons of great ideas that I haven't heard before on how we can help the work here move forward. Being with him these past 6 days has definitely been a humbling experience. He reminds me a lot of Jantzen, but not so...loud. And a little mild mannered. He also has been playing piano for 13 years, the last 3 he did jazz. He's super good! But...he can't sing...I believe I still haven't had a companion that can sing...haha oh well. :)

This past week we've been doing TONS of finding...because...well...our teaching pool is at 0 because of the inability to work last transfer and the fact that we've been totally dropped...so I guess you could say we're basically white washing. Also, along with finding amis, we've been trying to locate members and visit them to share a little spiritual thought with them. We're trying super hard to work with the members as much as we can to find some amis to bring to Christ. We have found that there are about 5 or 6 people on our list thus far that no longer live where the ward list says...ha.

One thing Elder Wallace and I have been doing is to make a new way of contacting every day and use it. And it's been helping us find tons of potentials! It's super cool. We've found about 6 or 7 potentials in the couple days we've been comps. :)

Yesterday, I relearned the importance of making sure we connect with the people when we contact. There were two guys we contacted last night after church, and I felt prompted to ask them their origin (which is something I ask a lot, out of curiousity and to try to connect and open up the people) and they said they're from the Congo...well back in Cherbourg there was a guy, Aimé de Dieu, who is from the Congo. Aimé taught me two phrases in lingala and after that, I've been wanting to learn more. So I said the two phrases in lingala to these two guys. Their reaction was amazing and it totally opened them up. We'll be meeting with them this Friday to talk about the Book of Mormon with them. They also taught me another phrase in lingala!! :) I'll be tri-lingual by the end of my mission ;) just kidding.

Weeeelll, I love you so much!! Thank you for all your support!

-Elder B. Stanton Wilson