Oct. 9, 2018

Hello everybody!

One more week done in the MTC! One more week to go! I'll be leaving to Missouri next Thursday. Time has really flown here. I have learned so much and felt the Spirit super strongly. There has been some crazy experiences that have happened this past week. I'll just start from the beginning.

So last Tuesday, we went to the temple and did ordinances for the first time. That in and of itself was a great experience, but what was super cool is what happened after we got out. The day was super overcast and there was just a few small cracks in the clouds allowing sunlight through. One of those cracks of sunshine happened to be over the temple right when we came out. The whole valley was coated in darkness but the temple was illuminated and glowing from the little sunshine and stood out for what it is, the House of the Lord.

The rest of the week went pretty normally, so in other words, pretty awesome. And then General Conference happened. It was incredible, especially when they had the congregation join in the songs. All the missionaries sang and it was just superbulous. Words fail to describe it. Some of the talks that stood out to me were Elder Oak's Saturday morning talk where he set the standard and drew the line for the church. I know that the Lord's standards will not change and so we shouldn't change ours. Another great talk was by Elder Holland where he talked about how we need to have peace and not carry grudges. This stood out to me the most and so I will work on being the most peaceful person I can be. And then there was President Nelson's messages. I feel we should strictly follow his counsel. Just like how Hinkley warned us to get out of debt and then the Recession happened, I feel the same is happening here. We need to follow his advice to go to the temple often in order to prepare for whatever is over the horizon. So I encourage all of you to attend the temple as often as possible. The other thing that stood out to me was his promise if we start to use the full name of the church. One of the biggest anticipation for conference was that everybody thought they were gonna open up China to missionary work, which would be huge and wonderful. However, President Nelson instead gave us the promise that if we would be faithful to using the proper name for the church, then the Gospel will go to every 'nation, kindred, tongue and people'. For the people of China and for the Lord, I will definitely make an effort to change my ways and use the proper name.

Saturday night, I had the most in-depth study of the scriptures in my life. I kinda broke mission rules (oops) and stayed up til 1 in the morning studying the scriptures with Elder Hillyard. We just couldn't stop. We learned so much about the temple and about God's mysteries which was great. It was such a spiritual experience for both of us.

Yesterday, Monday, it was a crazy spiritual night. First, a sister from the other district in our zone had an accident and it seemed pretty serious. So all the Elders from both districts came into our room afterwards to say a prayer for her. It was crazy awesome to feel 16 elders united in prayer on behalf of this sister. It really brought all of us closer together and I'm glad I was able to give that prayer. We must stay worthy at all times for the times like these so that we can be ready. The sister is doing fine now and

she'll be alright. Later in the night, we had two testimony meetings. One with just the Elders in our district and then one with all the Elders in the zone. The spirit was so strong in both. I love my companions so much and they really have blessed my lives. I know that each of them are strong converts unto the Lord and each of them will be able to endure to the end and return to the Lord in righteousness. I am so grateful that the Lord led me to them.

I hope all of you can have the Spirit in your lives. I testify that it is the greatest feeling you'll ever experience. Please strive with every effort to have it in your lives and you will be blessed. In the name of our most beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, Elder Wilson

P.S. THERE IS SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THE WEATHER IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIGH 40s TO MID 50s EACH DAY ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!