2018-11-12

Hi everybody!

I got to experience my first baptism out here! It was actually another companionship's baptism but since we share a ward, we got to go! It was so cool! We felt the Spirit so strongly! Another child of God is on the path back to Him!

Also, I got to experience my first snowfall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so crazy! I noticed it actually warms up a little bit when it snows because the humidity drops.

We had the chance to do an ongoing service project to restore a cemetary. Imagine a cemetary the size of the Mesa cemetary, but had been completely overgrown so that you couldn't walk through it or see sunlight. They have been working on it for three years and only about half of the cemetary has been restored. It's such a cool experience but I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's great to pay respect to these graves and make them pristine again, but at the same time we're having to clear a fantastic chunk of pristine nature to do it. I guess ya win some, ya lose some.

This week's St. Louis fun fact is there are giant cement circles throughout the city that act as permanent road barriers. This is to not only act as traffic control, but to also cut way down on drive-by shootings. Now people can't speed down a street and shoot without hitting the barriers and this has proved very effective at limiting that atrocity.

Last thing I'll talk about is missionary work. I felt so happy knowing that Sister Smith was on her way to God, but I was also saddened by how many people haven't found the path back to God yet. I was recently reading a talk by Bruce R McConkie and he compared the church to a caravan heading back to God. It was the only caravan that would make it to the glorious Celestial City and it can't stop until it gets there. What we need to do is get as many people as we can into the caravan so that they don't get left in the desert wasteland but also so that they can reap the reward that waits for them. But time is running out. We have no idea when the Second Coming will happen, it can be in 2 years, it can be in 20, it can be in 200, we simply don't know. So the best time to get people to safety is now. Think of somebody you just couldn't bear to be left behind, and help them get to the safety of the caravan.

For those of you wondering, the talk was given in October 1984 and is titled "The Caravan moves on".

I know that this church is true. Nobody can convince me otherwise. I know that safety for the soul and peace for the mind is to be found in this Gospel and nobody can convince me otherwise. I know that if you want the peace of Christ and the incomprehensible joy of returning to Heavenly Father, this is the way to do it and nobody can convince me otherwise. Please join the caravan before it moves on. Please don't get left behind. We love you, Heavenly Father loves you. Come to the caravan and return to safety and peace and joy.

Remember who you are!

Love, Elder Wilson

Picture 1: My first snowfall after trying White Castle for the first time

Picture 2: The cement barriers

Picture 3: Part of the cemetary we're working on

Picture 4: Sister Smith getting baptised