Change 11 Week 3

Hey! So as you all know we had a good week because the only people that are going to read this I was just talking to yesterday. This is going to be a fast day on the computer because I was just conversing with all my family yesterday. Anyway we had a baptism this weekend and it was an interesting service. We had to do the ordinance 4 times because this lady has back problems and she was scared of the water. It was a little nerve wracking watching my companion try and baptise her time after time and not be successful. Anyway other than that the week was normal. This part of Guayaquil is really not that great for having good numbers or a lot of lessons and that's becoming a concern for the leaders. They called all the district leaders to a meeting in the morning and that's not common on Monday's seeing as it's p day. I'm not a DL but I live with one and he said that it was a huge machete for not having people attend church and all this stuff. I'm nervous because me and my companion are committed to having 2 baptisms this month and it doesn't look like we're going to be able to meet this goal. It's whatever though I'm here to help the people and the rest will fall in it's place. Today or tomorrow I will be going out to a tailor to get me a suit made, I'm really excited about that. I know that it's going to come out awesome and that for the price it will be pretty much unbeatable. Anyway not that much going on today, just the normal until another change comes around. I love and miss you all tons!! ELDER WILSON

Change 11 Week 2

Hey! This week was a good week going back and finding all the people that I know from when I was here before and teaching all the new people that are in the program now. It's really interesting getting transferred to an old sector because I know a lot of people but then again a lot has changed. I was here last year in June and I'm here now in May so it's just about exactly a year and the people that didn't wanna progress last year I'm giving them a second chance. It's really interesting but I have to say I wish they didn't have to send me to this particular sector because I'm remembering more and more everyday how hard it was to be in this part of Guayaquil. We're working in the richest ward within our mission boundaries, and it's hard because the people that don't have anything are really humble and accepting to new things and on the other hand here there's tons of nice houses and members that have lots of money, and people are a lot more busy and less interested in the messages that we have to share. I like it here and I'm going to take advantage out of every day that I have whereas I know the people and the ward. We are going to have a baptism this week and we're excited because this lady is awesome, she is a really converted women and we're excited to help her get to this step in the gospel. She unfortunately has some issues with her back and so we have to plan a really good service and think of the best way that she can endure the baptismal ordnance without putting stress on her back. We have had a couple new people and 2 of them even came to church with us, so we were really happy with what we did last week and are looking forward to having a good change. Me and my comp are already good friends, he's from Arizona and he is a big boy, but losing weight and fast. He came into the mission at 290 lbs. and now weighs 230! Can you imagine that lol! Me and him get along great, and we have already been talking too much English. Working with him has made me realize how far I've come when I started because my Spanish is great and I don't know how or why but I really have just come a long way. He needs a lot of help and I'm here for that and it's a goal that we have to make him a better Spanish speaker. I can't wait to talk to you all this weekend! Hopefully you don't have too many things planned out and we can chat for a while because we won't be able to talk again until we're in person and I'm home in December! I love and miss you tons!! ELDER WILSON

Change 11 Week 1 & New Pics!

Hey! Well me and Elder Duarte had a good week last week, we really were happy with the work that we were able to do putting baptism dates and getting people excited about the gospel. We were really excited about getting into May so we could have baptisms and really see the people progress, and we even started being better friends because of the good work that we were doing. We had a bit of a hard time living since Thursday because they shut off our light, the missionaries before us hadn't payed the light bill and they shut us off since Thursday. Getting home at night and having to plan and shower without light was a challenge but it was interesting. We made it by alright using candles and going to bed early. LOL. On Sunday we had a conference for all of Ecuador and it was super awesome because it was kinda like general conference but jut for Ecuador. Elder Nash(70) spoke and Richard G Scott and even Todd Christofferson who I didn't even know spoke Spanish gave a talk. They talked a ton about the families and the law of chastity and it was really interesting. I know that it is a huge problem here that no one wants to get married but they made a huge emphasis on it and I liked it because maybe people will start to change. Anyway I was excited to have finished that change with my comp, training him was cool and then the changes call came. I got changed! Can you imagine?!.. LOL. I had to pack up all my things in the dark and move to another sector, but this time the sector isn't even new. I got transferred to work in a sector that I had already worked in last year. My new comp is Elder Brooks, he's from Arizona and I think this is going to be an interesting change. We're in the richest sector here in Guayaquil, there's Pizza Hut and BK but it's really expensive. Anyway I'm excited to see my converts and help the people here, it looks like the program is a little low but we're going to work hard. I will attach a pic to another email later. I love and miss you all, I hope all is well!! ELDER WILSON

This first picture was this Sunday with my son Elder Duarte and the 2 other guys that we lived with 

This second pic is today in my new house with my new comp Elder Brooks

Change 10 Week 6

Hey! This week was pretty good, nothing special nor horrible, just pretty much a normal week in the mission. I was kinda bummed that not very many people were able to write me last week and have been worried about it all week. I hope that everything is good with my 2 awesome families back home! Anyway me and my comp are coming closer which is good even though the change ends in a week and we might be done as companions. I really just wanted to have trained him well so that he knows why he's here and so that we end up on a good note as friends. I know that he has struggled and I have tried to help him but it's surely been hard. I know that this change it's been hard to be overly positive but I have done my best. I know that the Lord blesses us for our work. I found a scripture this week in my personal study and I wanted to share it with all of you that read my letter every week. In Alma 26 in the book of Mormon I was reading a chapter about the sons of Mosiah that went on a mission to preach to the Lamanites and they were greatly afflicted but the Lord said to them,"go and suffer with patience and i will give thee success". I remember it in Spanish but I did my best translating it into English. It really meant alot to me finding that scripture because I was able to apply it to my life and my mission. I know that if I can make it through the hard times and suffer them well that the Lord will give me success. That's what I'm hoping and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what success for a missionary means but that's something that I learned and wanted to share with you all today. I hope that everything has been good. Today we got some p day taken for cause of a training so I don't know how much time I will be online this afternoon but please write me something! I love and miss you tons!!! ELDER WILSON

Change 10 Week 5

Hey! So this week was pretty good for me and Elder Duarte here in Guayaquil, we pretty much worked our butts off the first 4 weeks and we got some results. We were able to help a woman get married and this last Saturday I got the chance to baptize her. She really wanted me to do it because I was there when she was having some hard times with her husband and they are really grateful for what we were able to do with them. I was happy to realize that I was sent here for a reason, this couple needed me to be here, who knows what would have happened had it been someone else. That will be the only baptism that we will have had this change and this month, which I am very satisfied with seeing as we're opening a sector and we had conference. I'm not really sure why, but on the 28th of this month all of Ecuador has a conference broad casted from Salt Lake, they're calling it stake conference but it's not anything like normal. They have said that it's going to be like general conference but exclusively for all the stakes in Ecuador. I'm confused as for what it could be but I'm excited to have church a little later in the morning. Me and my companion were super tired finishing up last week because we were working hard and getting all the last minute things done really killed us. We rested today and tomorrow we have to start working hard because our program kinda went down hill last week. We had a bunch of old investigators that we started teaching again and we're realizing last week that they're not going to progress. It's been hard with my companion but I'm training him well and he's learning a lot. I am doing better, not completely good yet but getting there. I hope that everyone is well in the states, I miss and love everyone!! ELDER WILSON

Change 10 Week 4

Hey everyone, happy Easter first of all. I totally forgot that last week was Easter, here in Ecuador they don't celebrate anything like what we are used to in the United States. Here they celebrate what's called "Holy Week" and it's pretty much an excuse to drink and not work, and all the Catholic's are in church on Sunday. They also all cook the same food on Sunday and they have restrictions or things that they don't eat, like on Friday no one eats meat and on Sunday everyone makes fish soup. It's interesting and it made me remember the last time that I was eating the soup a year ago, I was in Loja and now I'm in Guayaquil. This Sunday I had to give a talk in church, which I was used to just getting picked out of the blue to give a talk because there's no one else. I have been studying my whole mission and have noted down tons of things that I learn and it always pays off when I have to talk in church because I have everything I need in my study journal. It took me about 10 minutes to prepare a decent talk on Sunday morning. I talked about the atonement and how we can apply it in our lives. Through the general conference I was able to realize that everything that we do and teach and study is all centered in Jesus Christ and so it was easy because that's why I'm here, to bring souls unto him. I enjoyed the experience. I just realized that in my mission I have had to talk in church on Christmas, new years, and now Easter. What's next? LOL! I hope that everyone has had a good break and that everyone is doing good. Training and opening this sector is still hard and I am still a little worried all the time, but I am making the best of this situation because it may never come again. I love you all very much and I hope that everything has gone well! Love and miss you tons ELDER WILSON

Change 10 Week 3 & New Pictures!

Hey! This week was alright, we are certainly progressing here in the sector as far as people, what we really need to do now is pick out the ones that are going to progress and leave some of the people behind for future missionaries. I got here and had no idea how to go about opening a sector, usually when we get changes we get to a ward and there's already people in the program but here I didn't have hardly anything. What we decided to do is look for some of the old investigators and start there, and from the old people we were able to locate some new people and from there we're still going. We found out that some of the old investigators are going to progress and even get baptized this month. I cant believe that it's already April but I know that I've got a lot of work to do this month and hopefully we can meet our goals so my comp(son) can get some baptisms under his belt. This week I had an interchange with the zone leader and it was way awesome to get to work with an experienced missionary and no have to be teaching something or counseling my comp about something that he's doing wrong. I really enjoyed having help in the lessons and hope that in the future I can become a zone leader and have better companions that are there to help with anything and everything. Just being senior companion is hard because I have to lead the sector and make sure that we have good results while trying to teach and help my companion as much as I can. It's been a little rough because my companion is new and doesn't really wanna adapt to my ways of working or the rules in general but were working on it. I love and miss you all. I hope that you all have a good spring break and are looking forward to summer as much as I am looking forward to winter here in Ecuador!! 

ELDER WILSON