2 more weeks of this transfer!

Dear Family,

 

It's crazy that there are only 2 more weeks left in this transfer.  It has gone by fast.  Unfortunately I was very spoiled in Hot Springs-we lived with members and had full car.  The area is huge though, so it wouldn't really make sense not to have full car.  We just had our walk week-my second in the mission.  I am glad that I'm not spoiled as much anymore because missions are supposed to be for working!  Work work work all the time and if I don't I feel really guilty. I try not to feel guilty but just do my best.  It's good to be pushed though, and I feel that I have been this transfer.  I have gotten better at contacting-which is my weakest point I think.  We actually met this nice family(a couple named Samantha and Steve and their two kids) that lives next door to a part member family we are teaching, the Lackeys.  Noah Lackey who is 15 has been running with Steve, the 30 yr old rugby player.  haha.  At first when we knocked on their door, Sam said,"Oh, we're already Christian" and was about to shut the door.  As we talked with her more, she completely opened up and started telling us about the yard sale she was getting ready for, and..well basically her life story.  It never ceases to amaze me how talented these Southerners are with talkin :).  We had a great conversation with her and ened up helping her a lot with her yard sale.  I found myself getting personally invested in it, and when people would come and look around, I would guide their attention to items I thought they would like.  I enjoyed being a little sales girl and was really happy when people bought stuff!  I think their yard sale went pretty well.  We realized yesterday that it feels like we've known Sam and Steve forever but really we've only known them 2 days.  Funny how that happens.  I think that's the way that it should be.

 

A great thing that happened this week- we finally were able to contact a referral. This woman is named Chelle, and she works with our ward mission leader. She has been going through a rough time and is in the process of moving.  We have gone to her house probably 3 or 4 times and she wasn't home. We felt impressed to go to her house again yesterday and she immediately opened the door. She let us in, and actually let us help her pack things up and move.  So many people turn down our help.  I'm sure they have their reasons, but we are just missionary girls!  We don't look like the mafia like 3 elders would standing at their door step.  Anyway, she let us in so that was really good. She expressed to us that she had low spirits that day and felt overwhelmed about life and moving. She had prayed earlier, explaining to Heavenly Father her need. Then we showed up and helped her. She said "Everything happens at the right time". I felt so happy to be able to get in touch with her and have her be so positive to us and the church. She told us that she has actually had a Book of Mormon for a few years-she bought one at a yard sale once! How funny is that! She paid for it.

 

I find myself singing that Paul Simon song more frequently...."I'm talkin about Graceland, Graceland...Memphis Tennessee, I'm talkin about Graceland".  Did you know that Elvis was taking the missionary lessons in Hawaii when he was filming a movie at the Polynesian Cultural Center before he died?  And apparently there is a sister in the Southaven ward who works at Graceland.  One day when she was younger, she found the Book of Mormon that one of the Osmonds gave him.  She decided that if it was good enough for Elvis, it was good enough for her.  She investigated the church and got baptized.  AND, another lady that wrote a book about Elvis came to Bartlett about a month ago.  She called the sisters for a Book of Mormon and other literature so that she could take it to Graceland.  She wanted to give it to Elvis's daughter because apparently it was Elvis's request that his daughter find out about the church.  All these things I never knew...

 

We had a great day at church yesterday.  In Relief Society we talked about being on the Lord's side of the line.  When we are even an inch outside of the line, we are in the tempter's power.  This stuff is important- cause when you are keeping the commandments, you are entitled to the Lord's blessings.  When we are not, we see the consequences.  They may not be immediate, but they will come.  The closing hymn was "Be Thou Humble".  This song touched me.  It really reminded me of Mom for some reason.  I think it just reminded me of the way she serves and trusts God.  "Be thou humble in thy pleading, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee, Shall bless thee with a sweet and calm assurance that he cares".  She bears her testimony to me of this almost weekly.  He does care.  People talk about "tender mercies" from the Lord all the time.  Sometimes I think, well how can you really know that was from the Lord?  But when you receive spiritual confirmation of things, you just know.  The closer you live to the spirit, the stronger that knowledge is.  The other day I was eating a nectarine, and I know that that nectarine was a tender mercy from the Lord.  Let me explain. It had been a rough day.  Sis Bridgewater got sick so we had to stay in the apartment alllll day.  I was sorta going crazy.  I just wanted to get out and work and not sit around. Well, we had a sister who was planning to come out with us that evening.  Since Sis Bridgewater was still sick, Sis Yuen stayed with her and I went out to see a few of our investigators with this sister from the ward.  I was kinda scared...haha.  I don't know why, I've done it before.  Anyway, it was a good experience but when I got home, I was just really happy to be back with my companions in the apartment, having accomplished something that night.  Why eating a fruit helped me realize this, I don't know.  But it was awesome.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and please remember how blessed you are.

 

 

"As if everybody here knows exactly what I'm talkin about..."

 

love sister wilde

Great things are happening!

Dearest Family,

 

I feel like I have a lot to tell you this week.  There are a lot of great things happening.  The work here is the same but soo different.  Once Joe told me that it was funny how the seasons don't really make you feel that different.  It's either hot missionary work or cold missionary work.  I sometimes wish that I could be more like Valerie and forget what season it is when I'm inside.  Unfortunately, I have been painfully aware of the fact that it is summer here.  But great news!  We had the most delightful day on Saturday.  It was perfect football game weather.  I got so much happiness from it.  Other random realizations from this week:  Sister Bridgewater always teases me that I messed up our chance to have BYU initials because she is sister Bridgewater and then we have sister Yuen, but my name doesn't start with U.  Then I figured out that Wilde makes a Y sound and Yuen makes a U sound, so we really can be BYU.  Then, this member pointed out to us that we each represent all the BYU towns!  I'm from Provo, Sis Yuen is from Hawaii, and Sis Bridgewater is from Idaho.  So we really are BYU!  hah.

 

We went to a member's house for dinner this week, the Carltons.  By the way, the members are really good about feeding us.  Every night.  It is really nice of them.  Anyway, while I was there, I felt the most wonderful spirit in her home.  The kind of spirit that cannot be imitated, but only acheived by keeping the commandments.  I commented to her about this and she then told me of how a few years ago, they watched dear friends of theirs go through a divorce.  They realized that they needed to be deliberate about FHE and having family prayer and scripture study every day.  I could tell the difference.  Simple as it may sound, there is nothing like having that spirit in your home.  I remembered a time that someone walked into our house to see Dad and the first thing she said was, "Wow, you can really feel the spirit in here".  That taught me a lesson about the importance of what my parents were doing for their kids.  As Sister Carlton talked, I felt a motivation and vision for my life in the future-that I wanted this same spirit.  I want to provide that for my family.  It comes from following the prophet and keeping the commandments.

 

I had a meaningful experience with a mormon message by President Eyring this week. The message is called "Choose This Day". In it, he teaches that we should search the scriptures daily to know what service the Lord would have us do that day-and that service brings about the change in us made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We should not procrastinate rendering this service, for we do not know how long we will have on this earth to become like Christ. I think of my Grandpa, who lived a simple and service filled life. He did not procrastinate serving the Lord, and was therefore able to reap blessings and joy. The miracle of serving the Lord is that as we do so, we feel his love, which President Eyring says will draw us continually back to His service. It also allows our love for the Lord to increase, until nothing can separate us from it (Romans 8:35-39). My favorite thing that Pres. Eyring says is to pray to Heavenly Father and say "It doesn't matter how little things I am able to do, just let me know what I can do. I will obey. I know that I can with thy help". Well, something like that. That wasn't an exact quote. We shared this message with a less active lady and it touched her deeply. She was too emotional to speak. She did come to church the next day and stayed longer than she has in quite some time.

 

Get this.  We had a media referral come in a few weeks ago.  We went to contact her this week. Her name is Sheronda.  On the media referral, there is a box where the person can leave a comment about what they want to know or if they want a Book of Mormon or something.  In the comment box Sheronda wrote, "What's up with the mormons". hahahahaha.  We went over there.  At first she was apprehensive because she really wasnt expecting people to come to her door.  As we talked with her, she opened up and I could see her surprise turn to astonishment that we would go out every day and teach about Jesus and help people.  She told us that the other day she woke up and in her mind kept coming the words, "the book of jacob.  book of jacob."  She didn't know why- so she looked in the bible.  No book of jacob.  She looked online and came across lds.org.  We were able to explain to her what the Book of Mormon was and that there is indeed a book of Jacob!  How crazy!  She loved it.  I will let you know what happens with her.

 

Yesterday at church I ran into this missionary who (long story) is serving in the family history center at BYU and is here with his parents to go to st. jude for some health reason.  Anyway, I met his mom.  The son said, "She's from provo".  When she asked my last name she then said, "You wouldn't know a Diane and Jeff Wilde, would you?"  ...I can't express the feeling I had.  I thought she'd ask me about one of my aunts or a distant cousin or someone that I didn't know, I didn't expect to hear Diane and Jeff!  I felt this proud/grateful feeling as I said, "Those are my parents."  She said she knew they were because I looked like the perfect mix of my mom and dad.  how crazy!!  She went to high school with my mommy!  Anyway, her name is Deborah Robertson Sheets.  For some reason that I didn't know I started talking to her about the choir my mom sings with and how much she has loved it over the years.  I didn't realize that this lady actually lives in Provo. But when I said it she said, "You know I have really been wanting to do something like that.  What is the name of the choir?"  I thought it was cool that I didn't know why I was saying something but it ended up really helping her.  Missionary work is like that if you pay attention.  Sometimes you don't know why you are saying stuff but it really helps people.

 

Well, I gotta go.  I love you all!  Oh and congrats to Cameron for getting your mission call!  I'm telling everyone I know!

 

love sister annalisa wilde

Week 2 of the Trio in Bartlett

Dearest Family,

 

Week two in Bartlett.  Our trio is actually a blast.  It feels like we've been together for much longer than a week and a half.  Sister Bridgewater has us constantly laughing.  We've noticed that we are all completely different but somehow it all works out.  Also, they are the fastest girls at getting ready that I've ever met in my whole life!  I thought I was fast, but they put me to shame. :)  The morning routine runs like clock work.  No one has a hard time getting stuff done.  It's like we all had this unwritten, un-talked about mutual agreement about how everything will run, and no one ever has any problems with it.  This is nothing short of a miracle.  Blessing from Heavenly Father.  You know, I've been thinking about how the Lord says that He prepares places for us.  Like in Come Come ye Saints, they say, "We'll find the place which God for us prepared".  He promises us that the field is white, already to harvest, which means there are people prepared to receive the gospel.  From my experience in Hot Springs, I know that I was supposed to be there to meet the people I did.  God prepared that place for me.  Similarly, I have faith that God has prepared another place for me in Bartlett.  Although I don't yet see the ways in which this is true, I think I will know the longer I serve here.  Yesterday in testimony meeting, this lady got up and talked about how her and her husband felt prompted to move to Memphis, even though they had been all settled in their home where they were.  Somehow she came across that scripture in D&C where the Lord says something like "I will go before your face.  I will be on your right and on your left and will send mine angels round about you"...something like that.  They've been here a few months now, but just last week she was taking a walk with her 4 year old daughter.  She was talking about how they were blessed to have friends next door to their house.  And on the other side.  And across the street...and behind them.  And it dawned on her that the Lord had fulfilled the promise in that scripture, quite literally.  She had a sweet spiritual confirmation that He had prepared that for her.  That really touched me.  I have felt the spirit too many times to deny it.  I can and have explained it away as something else, but the fact of the matter is, I have experiences once in a great while where I feel something that I know I couldn't have made myself feel.  I couldn't have created that- God did.  He created us and because He did, He knows what we need.  Who better to give us what we need than our creator?

 

Well Bartlett is an insanely nice place.  It's like the nicest town I've ever seen.  All the neighborhoods are picture perfect.  They actually all look the same and most of the time I have no idea where I am.  The people are good.  We are over two wards.  It gets confusing because I can't always remember who is in what ward-and I don't really understand the boundaries, so I especially don't know which ward my investigators are supposed to go to.  Also, sundays are like a marathon.  We go to both church meetings.  So we have church non stop from 9-2 and then we have mission correlation meeting for 2nd ward from 2-3.  Also, it was fast sunday yesterday.  Man...it was crazy.  But how cool is it that there is a TEMPLE in the parking lot of our church?  Its on the same street that I live.  Pretty cool, except I can't even go inside.  So I guess pretty cruel.  It's great though, because the people we talk to have seen the temple, and it gives us an opportunity to talk about it with them and they can visualize what we are talking about.  It's kinda crazy to be in a new area, after I got so used to the other one.  There are things that are harder, but I think I've grown in the past two weeks.  We had some crazy weather last week though.  As you've probably heard, hurricane Isaac has done a number on New Orleans and is moving its way up Mississippi.  We had severe thunderstorms and a tornado watch on Saturday night, so Sis Yuen, Sis Bridgewater and I spent some time camping out in the bathroom cause it's the safest place.  We brought in couch cushions and watched the Testaments.  We had a good time. 

 

Brother Bledsoe is now passing the sacrament in Glenwood!  Isn't that wonderful?  He has a calling too.  He's pretty proud of it.  President Palmer named it something like assistant to the Branch President.  He arranges the hymnbooks, and every time a new person comes to the branch he is to take down their name and information and give it to President Palmer.  I'm so happy that he has a calling.  That was one of the things he was worried about before he got baptized.  I don't know if I told you that already, but he said he was worried that he wouldn't be around long enough to do a good job.  But he is gonna be around a couple more years yet if I have anything to say about it.  He and his wife are planning on being sealed in the San Diego temple next year.  You better believe that Sis Gladden and I are driving to California for it. :)  They are doing so well.

 

I hope you are all having a nice time at the cabin going 4-wheeling and watching movies and playing pool and settlers and eating mom's salsa and aunt Denises' congo bars.  Don't worry, I'm fine here. haha jk. I'm doing good.  Life is good.  I love you all!

 

love sister annonisa wilde 

I'm in Bartlett Tennesse!!

Dear Family,

 

Life has been a whirlwind the past week.  Lots of changes.  I am now in Bartlett, Tennesse with not just one companion, but two!  Sister Yuen from Hawaii and Sister Bridgewater from Idaho Falls, Idaho.  They are wonderful girls.  We have a lot of fun together.  Amazingly enough, we have had absolutely no problems sharing our one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, no problems teaching, no personality clashes...nothing.  What a blessing.  Funny though, when we found out a transfer ago that there would be a trio of sisters soon because of the uneven number of sisters, Sister Gladden said to me, no joke, "If there would be one sister who could be sweet and easy to get along with and good in a trio, it would be you Sister Wilde".  She called it.  We both had a feeling I would be in the trio 6 weeks before it happened.  It's going well.  Bartlett is like this unearthly nice place..I keep looking for the ghetto, but they don't have one!  I never thought I would say this, but the other night I said to my companions, "It's weird to be in homes that are clean and nice and don't smell like smoke.  I think I feel more comfortable in houses that smell like smoke." hahaha.  It's kinda true though.  There are 2 wards here, and we are over both of them.  We are on a car share though, so that's kinda rough.  This past week has been walk week.  We would bike, but Sis Bridgewater hasn't riden a bike since she was 12- and even walking it into our apartment, she fell on the curb and scraped up her knee pretty bad. haha.  So we walk.  Which is good cause we found 8 new investigators in 4 days. :)  Another plus-when we first got to the apartment, there were only two beds.  So that night, I took the cushions off the couch and made a bed that looks like a Catholic cross.  Wasn't too bad, but we got a bed that next day and things are good.

 

On my first full day in Bartlett, President called me-and without taking a breath said, "Sister Wilde I have bad news for you your mother's father passed away".  He and Sis Petersen drove 2.5 hours to Bartlett so that he could give me a priesthood blessing.  This was very kind of them.  Apparently, he had found out a few days earlier and meant to tell me on Wednesday(transfer day) but we had gotten stuck in traffic, he was busy, and it completely slipped his mind.  As he visited with me on Thursday, he realized something.  He said he thinks that it was supposed to have happened that way, because if he had told me on Wednesday, he would have had no time to spend with me, let me talk to my dad, or give me a blessing.  He would have left me in a puddle on the floor.  This way, he had more time.  I'm grateful for that.  In the blessing I received, I was blessed with the love of Jesus Christ.  I feel that that was fulfilled in an experience I had on Saturday.

 

  On Saturday, we had the opportunity to attend the baptism of Rachel and Johnny Clemons. I don't know these children very well-I had never taught them, and had just barely met them. But as I looked at these beautiful kids, I felt overwhelmed with love. I loved them. Even thinking of them brings tears to my eyes. Witnessing that baptismal service was the most spiritual experience I have ever had. The speakers loved these children too. As the children were baptized, the sweetest reverance filled the room. I can't describe the feeling that I felt. It was a privilege to be there and feel that pure feeling. After Rachel was confirmed, she opened her eyes and silent tears streamed down her face. She is only 10 years old-but the look on her face showed that she understood the importance of the decision she made that day. She knew. It was a sacred experience.

 

I got to meet a very special man named Brother Lackey.  In our visit with him, two really cool things happened.  One.  He has the EXACT same remote that we used to have when we had our Mitsubishi TV.  The big long black one with the blue power button.  I know you guys will remember it.  I freaked.  I asked him if I could take a picture of it. haha.  I loved it.  Two.  Sis Bridgewater asked Bro Lackey if he liked chocolate cake.  He said yes.  She said, "well when you eat a bite of good chocolate cake, you don't have to eat the whole thing to know it's good, right?  Well that's how it is with reading the book of mormon".  A few days later, we went back to his house.  At the end of the lesson, Bro Lackey said, "Did you girls bring chocolate cake?"  "Umm no..but we have the Book of Mormon."  And then he told us that he made us chocolate cake!!  Who does that??!  It was the sweetest things I have ever seen.  I love Bro Lackey.

 

Gotta go but I love you all.

 

love sister wilde

Transfer is coming...

My dear family,

 

I think it's not a very good thing to know that you're getting transferred in advance because then it just becomes this dramatic thing.  I try not to be dramatic...but...let's just face it, I am.  So it's been hard the past few days saying goodbye to everyone.  Bishop called and asked me to speak because I wasn't going to be here too much longer.  That was nice of him to think of me.  My question is, why break up a good thing?  We were not the only ones who tried to get President to keep us together.  Bishop DeVaux and President Palmer both talked to President and said that our work here was not done and that he should keep us together.  Man, if you got the bishop AND the branch president putting in a word with President Petersen...I don't know how much higher on the "spiritual corporate ladder" you can get.  (One of the guys in our bishopric always jokes about how he's moving up on the spiritual corporate ladder haha).  But I guess it's really time for me to move.  In Sacrament meeting, I talked about the sacred experiences I had in that area/ward, and that what I think characterizes a sacred experience is when we are edified by the spirit. D&C 50:22.  Then I related it to the parable of the sower.  We always think of ourselves planting gospel seeds among our friends.  We see many times that the plant doesn't grow automatically.  It falls by the wayside, among stony places or thorns.  Rarely do we see it planted on good ground.  But what if, instead, we thought of Heavenly Father as the sower, planting seeds of opportunity in each of our lives.  Do we let those opportunities fall by the wayside or on stony places or thorns?  If we put ourselves in the right attitude of faith and hope, He will plant opportunities for us to share the gospel with those we love that we may then have sacred, edifying experiences.  Anyway..I'm not sure if I did my talk good, but I just hope they knew that I love them.

 

We got to do something cool last week.  We had zone conference on Wednesday.  A few days earlier, the assistants called and asked if we would instruct for 45 minutes.  What the?  We were surprised, but it was a fun opportunity.  We taught about how we can teach people, not lessons.  We focused on asking inspired questions, and then discerning by the spirit what doctrine we need to teach that will meet their needs.  We did this object lesson with balloons.  We put all the investigator's "needs and desires"  on different balloons.  We did 2 role plays.  The first one, we had the investigator throw all his needs at us, and we as the missionaries just completely ignored them all.  They were hitting us with the balloons, but we just kept on talking.  We compared this to all the times we go in and "teach" people, but don't listen to what they are really saying or what they need.  We did another role play where we asked questions to see what their needs were and then taught doctrine to help them.  It was a lot of fun. :)  It really is a true principle though- I have seen it in my life from Dad's example.  This is the way he talks with me.  Instead of dragging me to the "right answer", he listens, asks questions, and draws out of me the things I need to learn.  The lesson is in the learner.  This principle has helped me.

 

We got to see this sweet Samoan family the other night.  It's not the Kennach's, but the Loa's.  Something about the Samoan people is so sweet and pure.  Anyone who comes into their house, they feed and they love.  When we got into the house, only the father and two of the kids were downstairs.  As we began the lesson, they called all their kids to come together.  All these kids came out!  I couldn't believe it-I didn't know they had that many!  They just kept coming.  There were 7 all together I think.  At the end, Brother Loa asked if we could sing a hymn.  He wanted me to play the guitar.  I agreed, but told him he shouldn't expect too much because I don't really play the guitar.  He brought out this old suuper out of tune guitar and handed it to me.  I didn't think the strings would hold the tune, but they did. He said it had been in storage for a few months.  haha.  Well, it worked.  We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer, and the night ended with the most beautiful spirit.  He told me that he would fly me back out to Arkansas when I got home from my mission so that I could teach his kids the piano. :)  He then asked for my home phone number so he could call and arrange it.  He wasn't kidding! What a sweet family.

 

Okay, one more.  A few days ago, we were in line for the drive through at Chick Fil A.  The line was pretty long.  As we were sitting there, this girl was trying to get out of her parking space.  There wasn't a lot of room, and we had to back up a little to make room for her.  The guy behind us backed us.  It was really nice of him.  A few minutes later, the exact same thing happened.  This guy behind us was being so nice!  By this time, we had gotten to the place where you order.  Sister Gladden said, "I dare you to get out of the car and give that guy a mormon.org card".  I jumped out and went to talk to this guy.  I told him how we appreciated his kindness and wanted to give him a card.  He said he had met with missionaries before.  He didn't want us to come visit him, but he appreciated the gesture.  It was fun.

 

Well, we'll see where I go on Wednesday.  I'll let you know- so if you write to me, write to the mission home.  

 

905 Kierre Dr

North Little Rock, AR 72116

 

I love you all!!

 

love sister annalisa wilde  

Last days in Hot Springs

Dear Family,

 

So I'm on my 9th to last day in Hot Springs.  I will have been with Sister Gladden for 6 months (well, not including the MTC).  Isn't that crazy?  It's been a good run.  It will be hard to leave the area...but alas, I must.  

 

This weekend was a special one for our area.  We did this outreach program where all the missionaries from our zone came to Hot Springs and we all went on splits with the members to visit less active families to invite them to take the missionary lessons again.  The ward council made 25 different routes and we all went out on Saturday morning.  It was a special feeling.  I went out with Sister Nelson.  At the beginning she said, "I am scared.  I've never done this before".  I said, "Oh, don't be scared, it's not scary. You are going to be wonderful!"  When inside I was thinking about how I was scared too cause I'm not usually the leader, or haven't  been in our companionship for the last 6 months.  It went really well though!  Probably the best experience we had was trying to find Jeffery Lowery at 1008 Leach St.  I knew I would like him because he spells his name like my Daddy does.  Well there we were on leach street and there is no 1008 to be found.  They were all in the hundreds.  I suggested that maybe it was supposed to say 108.  We looked for that-but there was not a 108 either.  We ended up skipping to the next person on our route.  After that visit, I said, "Let's go try Leach St one more time."  As we drove down, we looked at every house.  We got to the end of the street where we saw a house that said 100 A.  Sister Nelson said, "I bet you anything that is the house".  We got out of the car and this way nice guy came out.  We talked to him for a minute and found out he was Jeffery Lowery.  He said, "Did my Grandpa call y'all?"  "Uh..no..."  "Really?  He told me he had given my address so that y'all could come visit me.  You know, that's funny that you came today because yesterday I was driving along and saw a woman at the side of the street with a flat tire.  I helped her change her tire and then she offered me money.  I wasn't doing it for the money, I just wanted to help her.  Then y'all show up today!  What a coincidence!"  "Wow, that's crazy!" I said.  I didn't see how it connected..but the important thing was that he did.  It was meaningful to him.  He said, "It just shows you that when you do good things then good things happen to you."  He said he needed Jesus in his life and wanted to get back to church but that it was harder than we thought.  I understand that.  

 

Last night we had a special devotional for the Hot Springs community titled, "Because you asked...We Believe in Christ".  It was for them to learn about what our basic beliefs are.  The stake president and his wife were the keynote speakers.  They talked about what every mother wants her children and grandchildren to know, and how the Book of Mormon supports the Bible.  I can't describe the feeling I had when I sat in that meeting.  Something about knowing that Christians of different denominations were there together with us, sharing in our devotion to the Savior.  As I listened to the messages, I knew more than I had before that the Book of Mormon is true.  It miraculously came forth in our day for our day.  The prophets in that book clearly and boldly testify that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and redeemer.  This is an eternal truth that we can come to know more deeply as we seek to live our lives for Him.  President Petersen always says that I shouldn't be on my mission for any other reason than that I love my Savior.  Not for friends, not for me, but for Him.  I am coming to know that more than I did before.  After the meeting, there was a beautiful display of pictures of Christ.  So many people came!  Something especially wonderful was that Valerie's mom (who is deaf) came.  Valerie was home with a sick child. This is significant because she and the other members of Valerie's family have been hesitant about Valerie going to church. They have heard a lot of anti from their pastor and were unclear on a lot of the things we believe. Her mom brought an interpreter with her to the devotional. As we sang "I Believe in Christ" I looked over to see them signing the words. The spirit touched me in a special way to see that beautiful expression of love for their Savior.

 

I love you all. 

 

love sister wilde

Tornado in Hot Springs

Dearest Family,

 

We had a bomb week.  I wonder if any of you heard about the tornado in Hot Springs yesterday.  We really had one!  It was downtown and it knocked over trees onto power lines and there was a huge hole in one of the hotels.  Funniest part was that we didn't even hear about it til after. :)  Were you worried? We were in the nursing home playing dominoes with Charlie and Margaret the whole time.  A lot of people lost power for a few hours but everything ended up being fine.  I don't think anyone really got hurt.  So you don't even need to worry after the fact. 

 

This coming sunday, we are having a devotional that the whole community is invited to where we share about our basic beliefs.  A lot of people think that we don't believe in Christ.  The title of this devotional is "Because you asked..We Believe in Christ".  Our stake president and his wife are the keynote speakers.  Afterward there will be an exhibit with pictures of Christ displayed.  They had the same devotional in Little Rock last month and it was a huge success.  We are excited about it.  Yesterday at dominoes we invited Charlie to come.  Now.  Here's a little background.  Charlie doesn't believe in God, but a higher power or force greater than us.  He respects us and our religion because he says we aren't hypocrites, though.  Anyway, we invited him to the devotional.  He basically said thanks for the offer but no thanks.  Now.  Here's a little background on his wife.  She works for Bishop Hugentobler as his secretary.  Okay, so after dominoes, Charlie called us and said, "Hey, about that devotional ath the church...My wife is going, so I will probably be there".  Hahaha.  The power of a wife I guess..

 

We had two baptisms on Saturday!  Tiffany's daughter Cheyenna Williams and Antwon's son Marrion Amos.  I think these baptisms are the beginning of a miracle for the two families.  I really liked the baptism because it reminded me of the talk that Boyd K. Packer gave last conference "A Little Child Shall Lead Them".  They are the sweetest kids who recognized truth-even when people were pulling against them.  For Cheyenna, it was her own mom.  Tiffany has gotten antied and was about to tell Cheyenna she couldn't get baptized because her aunt told her she was joining a cult.  A few weeks ago Tiffany asked Cheyenna what baptism meant to her.  She said..now keep in mind that this is a 10 year old talking..."It's being re-born.  Starting a new life and following Christ. It means to repent".  I was blown away then, but didn't realize the significance of it until after Cheyenna's baptism.  We were talking with Tiffany at the DeVaux's house and she was relaying that story.  When she got to the part about Cheyenna's answer, she said, "When I heard that, I said to myself, okay, she's getting baptized.  I can't keep her from what she knows in her heart".  That was what changed her mind.  Since then, she has been able to step back and see that baptism is still what she wants.  She wants to be part of this church because she knows it's true.  She also told us a cute story from the night before Cheyenna's baptism.  Cheyenna said, "If people come up to me and try to tell me that my religion is wrong, I'll tell them that I don't wanna be right". :)  Child like faith.

 

We have been going over to Antwon's every day this past week to get Marrion ready for baptism.  It seems that every time we come over, there are more kids than the time before.  We have really grown to love them, and I think they might like us a little bit too.  Last time we left I said, "Sister, I think we have a fan club".  They always want to wear our tags and look through our scriptures, and best of all, sing hymns with us.  Once we taught them "I am a Child of God".  Last week when we were over there, I was touched to find out that they had looked up the song on the internet nd learned all the words.  We all sang it together, and even 4 yr old Bubbie (he's named after his dad Antwon but we call him Bubbie) knew the words. I felt the spirit.  Nothing could have made me happier than to know that those kids can feel and know that Heavenly Father loves them when they sing that song.  Bubbie makes it into an R&B style song, switchin up the rhythms and stuff.  It's funny.  5 yr old Amir was talkin to Antwon about baptism and said, "Daddy, I want you to baptize me".  Antwon said, "Naw naw, I can't baptize you.."  I said, "Yeah, but when he gets the priesthood he can.  By the time you're 8 Amir, your daddy can baptize you".  She said, "Good, cause I want my daddy to baptize me".  I can't wait for that to happen.

 

Craziest thing happened.  The elders were teaching a girl named Danielle a few months ago, but then she went through all this crazy stuff and none of us saw her for a few months.  She loves the gospel though, and has wanted to be baptized for a long time.  She has just barely been back in touch with us and we have begun teaching her again.  The other day she texted us and said that she just found out that we know one of her best friends Antwon.  Our Antwon!!  They have been friends ever since she moved here a few years ago..it was awesome.  Apparently they hung out the other night and they were sittin around talkin about their favorite books in the Book of Mormon.  Her's is Alma and his is Nephi.  So great.

 

I have realized that Heavenly Father lets me have little piano times every so often.  I have gotten to play in zone conferences, at people's houses, at the nursing home..remember when I went and recorded a song for Sis DeLong's preschool program at the baptist church?  Well I also recorded a Janie Kapp Perry song that they were using at girls camp.  I recorded the piano part and then went up in the studio and sang the words with it.  I thought it was just a practice CD.  Come to find out yesterday, they used it for the real thing at girls camp last week.  Haha..I was a little embarrassed to find out that my voice was blasting for the whole stake to hear because I feel like it wasn't a very good recording, but it was still really cool cause I got to help them.  The girls had a marvelous experience.  I really think that girls camp is inspired of the Lord because it is truly a place where testimonies grow.  I have sacred memories of girls camp and the way the spirit touched my heart while I was there.  I grow increasingly grateful for the leaders I had who helped me.  Because of them and my family, I was able to testify to Antwon that I know that if he makes family prayer and scripture study a daily habit, great things will come to pass.  I wouldn't be on a mission if it wasn't for small and consistent efforts of those who loved me enough to teach me the gospel.

 

I love you all.  God is real and Jesus Christ is real.

 

love sister annalisa wilde