Dear Everybody,

 

Everything goes by fast.  We get up, run all over the place all day while I make a bunch of calls and plan appointments. It seems like there is always about a thousand things on my mind.  I'm constantly thinking, "now who am I forgetting?  There is somebody else we need to see..." However, when we go into appointments, if we are doing it right (meaning we have the spirit with us), it all stops and we listen to the person we are visiting.  Quite a few times this past week we have had conversations with investigators that say "I LOVE it when you come to visit me.  You don't know how much it means".  This makes me want to work even harder to bring kindness and love and the joy of the gospel to them.  Then we go to bed, and five minutes later, it is 6:30 again.  Then we do it all over. :) 

 

We played our weekly dominoes game on Saturday with Charlie and 90 yr old Margaret.  It seems like everybody knows about our dominoes thing!  Seriously, word gets around.  As we played at the table near the lobby of the nursing home, people passed by and commented to us about how nice it was to see us spending time playing a game with Margaret.  I got the feeling that it is a rare occurance. These elderly people don't get visited much.  As we played, we talked with Charlie.  He talked about how we literally make people's week by our visits.  It's all Margaret talks about.  He said that so much of our world, even the religion part is corrupt.  Too many preachers do it only for the money and don't practice what they preach.  He saw how we give up 18 months to visit the sick and the people who need help and was truly impressed.  He said, "you girls give me hope for this world.  You restore my faith in faith."  Although he doesn't believe in God, he sees that latter day saints care for the people around them and really try to be like the Savior.  This was a precious experience.     

 

Nancy and Craig Baldwin are two investigators that we have been teaching since May.  I have never taught anyone who had more of a desire to be baptized than Nancy.  Her baptism is this Thursday-and I really think she's gonna make it with the word of wisdom.  She hasn't smoked in 3 days.  This is a big deal.  I never really knew how big of a deal it was, but now so many that we teach struggle with this addiction.  Don't ever smoke! It's nasty.  Me and Sister Gladden like to joke that if we don't come home smelling like cigarette smoke then we haven't done our job. hah.  Anyway, back to Nancy.  A sweet Samoan family in the ward, the Kennach family, have fellowshipped the Baldwins and are taking part in the baptism. Brother Kennach is performing the baptism.  I told them about how my daddy served his mission in Samoa and they got super excited.  I was then part of the family. :)  We talked all about lava lavas and everything I knew about Samoa (which isn't very much).  I told them about how my dad always sings "In Our Lovely Deseret" in Samoan during family night.  I tried to get them to sing it for me-they sang a line or two and then stopped, but that was good enough for me.  They are singing the special musical number at Nancy's baptism in Samoan.  I will be thinking of you Dad!  How sweet is that?! 

 

Yesterday I got the opportunity to play the piano in sacrament meeting for Father's Day. I was asked to play O My Father.  Thank you so much Mom for sending me those arrangements-and don't be mad at me please-but I decided to just make up my own arrangement.  It turned out very well and I loved doing it.  My companion was very sweet and prayed for me that I would let my love of the Savior guide my playing and that that would be what would touch the hearts of those in the congregation.  Isn't that the reason we should do things?  That is why we are given talents in the first place-to bring others unto Christ.  It always works out so much better this way anyway.  I was able to convey that feeling as I played and many kind people expressed their appreciation afterwards. The whole thing is, it's not about us. It's about the Savior.  Lots of time when I'm upset/annoyed/irritated about something it's because I'm prideful and have forgotten to look unto the Savior in every thought.  Doubt not, fear not.  Anyway, I really love the Hot Springs ward.  It will be hard to leave it whenever I have to.

 

The other night we got to teach Dennis and his grandparents.  Do you remember the story about Dennis?  We had taught him and his little 5 yr old friend Olivia some primary songs a few weeks ago.  This night, Olivia's parents were there and we all sang the primary songs we had learned together.  It brought the sweetest spirit to see these children singing about choosing the right.  Olivia's parents could feel the light and truth that came when she sang that song.  I know that choosing the right-choosing to follow Christ will bring us happiness in our lives.

 

I love you more than sleep,

 

love sister anna

First Week of June

Hey All,

 

I'll start with the awesome things.  We live with awesome people.  They traded out the old washer and dryer that we had upstairs in our apartment/part of the house for a newer one. That was pretty cool.  The other ones were way old, and the dryer was super noisy.  When we got our newer ones, we found out the washer is super noisy.  So we traded out a loud dryer for a loud washer.  Doesn't bother me, it's just funny.  Also, there are waay too many raccoons around this place.  Every time they come up in conversation, I don't fail to mention my severe dislike of them. They are super creepy, nobody can deny that.  We see quite a few dead animals on the side of the road.  I'm sure you really wanted to know that.haha.  Also, turtles come out this time of year and start crossing the roads and highways. Not safe.  Sister Burnett was taking us to Glenwood church the other week, and pulled over on the highway so that she could pick up a turtle turned upside down and put him back where he was safe. She is such a sweet woman.  I will never love animals as much as she does.

 

Yesterday was an interesting day.  My mission president drove from at least an hour away to come and personally tell me the news about grandpa.  I very much appreciated this, and gained a lot of comfort and counsel from my conversation with him.  He let me call Dad too, so I definitely scored yesterday.  I cried a lot, but then when we had an appointment last night, I was able to pull it together very convincingly, if I do say so myself.  I'm doing pretty good- and I know it's because of your prayers in my behalf.  Also the priesthood blessing I received.  I feel like y'all are really taking care of me, so thank you.

 

Church yesterday was bomb!  We got Tiffany and her daughter Cheyenna to come-for their first time!  Our lessons with her have been going extremely well, and she had told us that she was searching for an "energy for God" that she couldnt' find at any of the other churches she went to.  It was testimony meeting yesterday, and all the testimonies were direct. I was praying for that.  They all testified of the Savior and His reality.  Something I thought about a lot yesterday was the Savior.  President told me that the more I increase my gratitude for who the Savior is and what He did for me, the more I will love Him and realize that I have nothing without Him.  And as I thought about it last night, I realized that the very relationships I hold dear are upheld because of the Savior.  My family is the most important thing I have on this earth- and the reason we are close in love is because of the doctrine of Christ. That is the plan to success.  Because we have built our foundation on Him, we understand how to solve problems. It is because of His atonement that we have hope for ourselves, for without an atonement, all mankind would be lost.  Without Christ, there would be no purpose to life.  That is why what President Petersen testified to me yesterday was so important-that there is a Christ. He is real, and He is the way to our peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.  President Petersen is such a good man, I wish you could meet him.  Something I know I can always hold on to is that the Book of Mormon is true.  It really is.  I'm so grateful for it.

 

I am kind of weary about this being post all over the internet, cause I kinda poured out my soul just barely. :) Anyway, my thoughts and prayers are with you all, and with Grandpa.  What an amazing example and legacy he left us.  I love you all.

 

love sister annalisa wilde

End of May

Dear Family,

So the email at the family history center in the church wasn't working yesterday, and since it was a holiday, the public library was closed.  We had no way to email because we can't use the members' computers.  So that's why I'm doing it a little late. Don't worry, I'm not being rebellious.  Sometimes I wish I could be rebellious, but I don't really have it in me.  I'd feel too guilty.  I am my mother's daughter, I think...

Have I told you about our 89 year old investigator Brother Bledsoe?  I think I have.  Well, his wife has been a member for a long time and he has never accepted missionaries.  They just celebrated their 70th anniversary, and at no point in those 70 years has he ever listened to the missionaries.  We feel privileged to spend time with him and teach him the gospel.  Every Thursday they come to Hot Springs to the YMCA to do their exercise.  After that, they pick us up and take us to lunch, and then we teach him at the park.  It's pretty sweet, hanging out with people in their 90's.  Impressive how healthy they are.  Well, last week when we were teaching him, we started talking about baptism again.  He had previously said he wanted to wait til after he turned 90.  He turns 90 on July 1st.  As we talked about baptism, he said, "Well, aren't there certain lessons you need to get through before being baptized?"  We looked at him and said, "You've had them.  You're ready".  He began to get emotional.  It was very touching.  I'm not sure if that scared him or made him happy or what, but I think he's at the point in his life where he realizes how important his wife is to him, and that he wants to be sealed to her.  As they dropped us off, Sister Bledsoe hugged us both and said that she was so grateful the Lord had sent us to her husband, that she had been waiting for 54 years.  It was a sweet experience. They also told us that they would like to adopt us.  We will be filling out pretend adoption papers very soon.

I had a strange and embarrassing experience this past week that I hope to never repeat in my life.  We were at a member's house for dinner, and they had invited their neighbors to come and eat with us.  Us and the elders were both there.  Do I talk about them ever?  Well, they are Elder Keller and Elder McMurtrey.  Both are from Utah.  So we were all introducing ourselves to this guy named Roberto. The elders introduced themselves, and then it was my turn.  I stuck out my hand and said, "Hi I'm Sister Gladden". As the words came out of my mouth, I was like, what the heck..?  Why did I say that?  I wasn't thinking about telling him that, I wasn't trying to make a joke..it was super weird.  The real Sister Gladden gave me the weirdest look.  It was just really funny cause everyone was surprised, especially me.  Then I had to say to Roberto, "I have no idea why I said that, that was a complete lie."  And then I felt like an idiot.  But everyone got a good laugh.  We were talking about it later, and decided that since we introduce ourselves many times a day, all I hear is Sister Gladden introducing herself, so it must have just..well I don't know.  I think I might be going crazy.

Oh yeah, and transfers are this week, but I'm not getting transferred. Woo!  Keep writing me at my Maplewood Ct. address.

I hope that you are all healthy and well and that you have a great summer planned.  Please don't go on any cruises without me.  I guess you can go on vacations, but maybe to just Vernal or something..like to that dinosaur museum Dad's always talking about?  I'd be okay with missing that one. :)  Also, congratulations Cameron on graduating seminary and school!  I am so so proud of you.  Know that I love all of you and pray for your success.  Thank you for all your letters, support, prayers, and love. 

I love you!

love sister annalisa wilde

Happy Mothers Day to all (and a few other letters)

Here are the last three letters Sis. Wilde has sent.  Sorry there was a miscommunication in getting these last few letters.

Dear Family,

 

It was cool to talk to you all yesterday.  I wish I could have talked with Becca and Jeremy.  I trust you are all doing well.  I was surprised that I wasn't too emotional.  I only cried a little, but I think it's because I prayed for 2 weeks before that I would be able to be okay after I talked with my family.  Sometimes it's weird to hold our cell phone and know that I could just dial my mom's number and talk to her.  I won't, obviously, but you really gotta know why you go out on your mission, or it's pretty much pointless.  I learn daily why I'm here, and I know I need to be here.  That makes me happy.  When I share with others about the importance of having a loving family, I love to be able to speak from experience about the blessings it brings.

 

The weeks are flying by.  There are only 3 more weeks left in the transfer.  Both Sister Gladden and I are crossing our fingers that we won't be transfered.  I feel pretty confident that neither one of us will, because they usually keep sisters in areas longer than they do the elders.  I love my area.  It is quite beautiful and green.  They have Lake Hamilton and golf courses and pretty country side as you drive out to Glenwood.  It's also really touristy.  On Central Ave., there are lots of little shops, a gangster museum, a wax museum, and bath houses.  Why you would want to walk around naked and have people bathe you, I have no idea.  NOT my cup of tea.  I wouldn't have a problem saying no if someone asked me to do that.  Which brings me to a problem I am having.  The funny thing about my companionship with Sister Gladden is that we are way too similar.  Both very sensitive and loving- and as a result, we have a very difficult time saying no.  People are offering us stuff all the day long.  Mostly food. We don't want to hurt their feelings, so we usually accept and then pay the consequences later when we feel like throwing up.   One of our investigators, Joy, knows about this little problem, so she started speaking up for us.  Last night we had just come from dinner and then saw Joy and her friend Jamie.  Jamie offered us dinner, and we said, "Oh, we just ate dinner, but thank you!"  She was disappointed, so we were about to give in and eat, even though we really had just barely eaten.  Then Joy said, "I'll speak for them-sometimes they get fed too much and they are worried about gaining weight."  It was funny.  Why we can't fix our own problems, I don't know, but we're glad for people who can.

 

Lots of great things are happening here.  We taught the first lesson to this lady named Tiffany the other day.  We were talking about Christ and the prophets testifying of Him in the Bible.  She started talking about how her daughter was half Native American and then said, "Ya know, I always wondered, what about the Native Americans?"  Well, we'll tell you about the Native Americans!!  We taught her about the Book of Mormon.  Man, it really does make sense that God loves all His children, not just the ones in Jerusalem.  That's why He wants everybody to know about Jesus Christ and how He is the Savior of the world.  It's powerful.  Last week, we did an activity with our whole mission called Atonement week.  Each day of the week was attributed to a different part of the atonement. We would study and apply those principles each day.  The last day was called Born Again day.   studied the topic of conversion.  Through my study, I learned that when we make our baptismal covenants, we are covenanting to be converted through the atoning blood of Christ.  Look up Mosiah 4:2 and Mosiah 3:19.  As we repent and seek forgiveness, sacrifice, and serve, we learn to develop the qualities we need to be converted, namely, to become as a child-meek, submissive, humble, full of love..  When we do this, we realize how much we need Christ and our own carnal natures.  The awesome part is found in Alma 5:33.  God's hand is stretched out still.  He will forgive when we repent. 

 

Well, our 89 year old investigator is gonna get baptized.  He says he wants to wait til he's 90.  Whatever floats his boat I guess, but I want to be there!  Hopefully I'll stay here til July.

 

I love you all.  Thanks for the ways you serve and help those around you.  It means a lot to me and I know you will be strengthend and blessed as you do so.

 

Love always,

    sister annalisa wilde

 

 

 

Dear Family:

 

Arkansas is a great place.  Sister Gladden and I enjoy eating cadburry eggs and listening to christmas music in May.  I got my first tick yesterday!  On my leg!  Sister Gladden ran a match over my leg and then pulled it out with tweezers. It was very eventful.  Also, we got sunburnt on Saturday and then ate Thanksgiving Dinner.  It's super weird.  All out of order.  But we enjoy it.

 

It seems like something awesome happens to us every day.  I think this can be true for everybody.  Because God blesses us so much-we just have to recognize it.  We go to appointments and we always come out loving them more.  The other day we watched Finding Faith in Christ with some of our investigators and had a really great experience with them.  I felt my faith in Christ grow- mostly I realized how amazing it is that God sent His son to make the Plan of Salvation work.  As we've listened to the Christmas album in our car, one of the lines from a song sticks in my mind.  "Wise men still follow Him each day of their lives".  I love that.  It's a daily thing.  We can follow Him each day and continually become closer to Him.  We can make small changes each day that will eventually bring to pass great things.

 

One of our investigators just had a baby!  That's cool.  We know so many cool people.  It's great to have so many people to teach and so many members who support us. 

 

Well, I love you all.  God lives and loves us.  He watches over us and can be in the details of our lives if we pray for that guidance.

 

Love Sister Wilde

 

 

 

Dear Everyone,

 

I hope you are all doing well. People tell me that they read my blog and I feel pretty special. I was telling Sister Gladden last night that I feel like P-day is an assignment day because when I write my letter to the family, I really want it to be good. I want to help you see the picture of what things are really like for me. I want you to know the cool things that happen and how I feel as a missionary. I know I shouldn't think of it as an assignment, but I don't want it to be a crappy letter. So just so you all know, I try really hard. haha.

 

This past week, we took one of our investigators named Valerie to the church for a tour. We explained what the meetings are like and the purpose of each one. The last place we took her was the chapel. We talked about the priesthood and the sacrament. She asked to see our hymn book. It ended up being a really sweet experience because I got to play some hymns for her and Sister Gladden and I sang them. Valerie's mother is deaf so she knows ASL. She signed the words while we played and sang Nearer My God to Thee. The spirit was there.

 

Okay, this one goes out to Emily, Becca, Jeremy, Elliot, Valerie..well pretty much everyone in the fam.  Yesterday we went to Glenwood. Sister Burnett was with us to drive us around. They just got a "new" car. Guess what kind of car it is.  Astro Van. I got to ride in it yesterday and I felt so nostalgic.  Did I  use that word right? It was so awesome though!  Everything on the inside looked exactly the same as our old astro van!  All the little comparments and the window that you have to pop out. I was freaking out about it and they thought I was kinda crazy.  I just really wanted to tell you all that because it made me really excited.

 

So this less active girl we work with got bit in the shoulder by a brown recluse spider a couple weeks ago. NOT funny.  There was this huge hole in her shoulder..so gross. She says its the most pain she's ever been in.  I'm not sure Arkansas is such a good place....:/ I hope I can stay away from that stuff.  I haven't had anymore ticks.  I really shouldn't be complaining because at least I have a bed and food and clothes to wear. There's really nothing wrong. The bugs aren't that bad yet, and the humidity hasn't even really settled in yet either.

 

One thing I've noticed about the way people talk.  They tell their story (which is the longest part of the conversation).  It only takes a couple of phrases like "yeah" "oh really?" or  "wow" from me to feed the conversation. After I respond with what I think, they will then repeat what they just said.  I then respond with the same thing I said the first time.  They will agree with me in their sweet way, and then say, "well, like I said..." and say their whole story again. hahaha.  I love it.  It takes forever, but it's so funny. It happens all the time.  These people are the best.

 

Well, I hope you are all having a wonderful week.  Remember that Heavenly Father loves you.

 

love sister annalisa wilde  

 

 

Pictures from Arkansas!!

Here are a few photos of Sis. Wilde .....

Week of May 7th

Dear Family:

 

Arkansas is a great place.  Sister Gladden and I enjoy eating cadburry eggs and listening to christmas music in May.  I got my first tick yesterday!  On my leg!  Sister Gladden ran a match over my leg and then pulled it out with tweezers. It was very eventful.  Also, we got sunburnt on Saturday and then ate Thanksgiving Dinner.  It's super weird.  All out of order.  But we enjoy it.

 

It seems like something awesome happens to us every day.  I think this can be true for everybody.  Because God blesses us so much-we just have to recognize it.  We go to appointments and we always come out loving them more.  The other day we watched Finding Faith in Christ with some of our investigators and had a really great experience with them.  I felt my faith in Christ grow- mostly I realized how amazing it is that God sent His son to make the Plan of Salvation work.  As we've listened to the Christmas album in our car, one of the lines from a song sticks in my mind.  "Wise men still follow Him each day of their lives".  I love that.  It's a daily thing.  We can follow Him each day and continually become closer to Him.  We can make small changes each day that will eventually bring to pass great things.

 

One of our investigators just had a baby!  That's cool.  We know so many cool people.  It's great to have so many people to teach and so many members who support us. 

 

Well, I love you all.  God lives and loves us.  He watches over us and can be in the details of our lives if we pray for that guidance.

 

Love Sister Wilde

Almost May????

Dear Family:

 

Hot Springs is Zion.  All this time we thought Utah was, but actually it's Hot Springs!  No one knows that though because it's a very well kept secret.  Everything here is going great.  Wanna hear a cool story?  Okay. So on Thursday, we had to go to Glenwood for a meeting with members and investigators.  But we had about 20 minutes before we had to meet a member to take us up there, so we decided to go visit a less active lady that we hadn't met before.  We drove up to her house and saw her working in her yard with a young man, about our age.  We went and introduced ourselves and started talking with them.  We found out that this lady had just met this guy (named Stew) that same day. She was driving and picked him up off of the street. haha.  He was going into some meeting and she saw him, stopped, and asked if he would help her in her yard.  Stew expressed to us that he didn't normally go to the meeting at that particular time, but just decided to today. It was cool because that choice allowed him to meet her, and then later, us.  We started talking with him about the church.  Sister Gladden handed him a Book of Mormon and said, "Do you know who this is for?"  And he said, "It's for me".  As she handed it to him, it looked like he was about to cry.  He started reading the restoration pamphlet and this look of astonishment and gratitude overcame him.  When he finally spoke he said, "All my life I've been searching for the right path for me to take.  When you handed me this book, I felt serenity.  It already feels right".  Then I was like, "WHO paid you to say that??".  Naw, just kidding.  But I was very surprised. I've never seen anything like that before.  It was amazing because the spirit testified to me at that time that the Book of Mormon is true.  And it really is.  And Stew is going to know that very soon.

 

It seems like experiences keep happening and my companion and I will look at each other and say, "How on earth is this happening?!".  We are having a great time.  It seems like we go out to eat a ton with members and investigators...too much I think.  But that's one good and crappy thing about the mission.  I really have pretty much no control over what I eat, when I eat, and how much I eat because people pretty much shove it down my throat.  But they are so nice.  Honestly, there is nothing better than that southern accent.  Example:  We are teaching this man named George McWhorter who is married to Sarah.  Sarah has been a member for 12-15 years.  somewhere around there.  He had never had the missionaries til Sister Gladden and I came along.  We have grown to love this man.  He calls us his girls (you gotta think southern accent).  Once he was telling us about how he had a question in the Book of Mormon and was asking his wife about it. She tried to explain it to him, but he still didn't get it.  So he said "Sarah, you're just a bad teacher.  I'm gonna wait for ma girls".  HAHA!  I mean, yeah, that's way rude to say to your wife, and if my husband said that to me, none of us would be happy campers, especially him.  But at the same time, it was really sweet that he called us that.  Now, there is this other sweet lady named Sister Burnette. She is in Glenwood branch who drives us around Glenwood to see George.  Every time we come out of lessons with George, Sis Burnette will say, (insert southern accent) " Ohhh girls!! George is gonna get baptized, and then him and Sarah can go to the temple, and then all of Glenwood will get baptized!!"  Nothing better.  She has such a passion for the gospel.  If we could have a million sister burnettes in the world, we'd be sittin pretty.

 

Well, I best be going, but I just wanted to say I love you all.  Thank you for your letters, prayers, packages, and thoughts for me.  I am more grateful for my family and friends each day.  Heavenly Father has been very good to us!

 

Love Sister Annalisa