Final Week

This week will be my final week emailing as a missionary. I wanted to simply share a scripture to end my mission. 

It is 3 Nephi 11:14~17

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

So in this group of verses, Jesus Christ comes down from heaven to visit the people of the Americas. In doing so the people are in astonishment and they see for themselves Jesus Christ. They were also able to so unto him and feel for themselves who he was. How great it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It is wonderful to follow him and get to be his disciple. 

Finally 3 Nephi 5:13, and it reads "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." I am a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ, and a representative of Jesus Christ. He loves me and I love him. He is our savior and the only way. If we follow him, we are able to have eternal life through him. Being a missionary is wonderful and the blessings of it are amazing. I love being a missionary and am sad to go and leave Korea! And signing off for the last time with love...

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson

Week 104:One more

And although the topic of this email says one more, it doesn't mean one more week and then I'm home, but it means that we had one more investigator decide that he wants to be baptized! We are planned to get him baptized on the 29th or October and I'm super excited for him! Although I won't be here in Korea, I'm extremely happy that he decided to after being away from the missionaries for a while.

So for my second to last spiritual message, I've been reading through the scriptures about who the Savior is and what he was like and I was able to watch the movie the testaments and really ponder this week about if I met the Savior today, what would it be like. And I ended up coming across a scripture in 3 Nephi Chapter 11 Verses 7~11 and I won't copy and paste them here, but it is so amazing how Jesus Christ comes down to see not only his people after the resurrection but also goes down to others and administers to them. How marvelous it is that Christ loves us and God loves us so much that he helps us come closer unto him through his only begotten son! I love this gospel and the doorways it opens! Our Savior lives and our Heavenly Father truly does love us! 

Ok in quickly summarizing my week, last week we chilled out on P-day and got to talk to a bunch of people during the week and got to go out and visit many members and we got to meet with a lot of investigators and people! On Tuesday we were able to have dinner with some members and got to go visit with people! It was amazing and Thursday we went on exchanges and went and worked on a mandarin farm and one of the Elders got bitten by so many mosquitoes. And we were able to play basketball and talk with many people and meet with multiple investigators and it was a great week!

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson  

Week 103: Two more...

So this week I will just give a really short run down of the big things that happened this week because time is running out!!!

This week I was able to learn a lot about patience. 

Lately, I have been reading through Preach My Gospel about Christ-Like attributes and learning who Christ was. As I have been able to study the scriptures, I know that Christ really does love us and knows our trials and wants us to succeed. He wants us to try and went things don't go our way, to try even harder and then will he help you! It is wonderful being a missionary and I love every moment of doing this work!

So we climbed Halla mountain this week for P-day and were able to go to the Brusos house for dinner. During the week we had different meetings and we got to clean the church for like 8 hours on one day. We went out to Busan too, for a meeting and for exchanges with the AP's. Then on Saturday we cleaned the church some more and set up for district conference and I translated for a solid 3 hours then. We also had 2 more people decide to get baptized. One is a man that is about 49 and has a family and the other one is 12 and he is awesome! On Sunday we had church and a baptism for a member and that was great and we got to serve a lot and then we got to go visit members! It was a great week and I love being out here in the missions! It is sooo weird how fast the time is going!

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson

Week 102: Time is flying

Ok.. In all honesty, I'm a few weeks from being home and so therefore, I won't write a lot, but I will give you a brief run down of the week and I will give you a ton of testimony! Weather has been super nice as of late!

This week I had multiple thoughts about focusing. When we focus our vision on something, we don't lose it because we are not concentrated on anything else but the goal that we want to achieve. But when we don't focus and we decide to go off and dream or worry ourselves on very finite things, we tend to lose focus and balance in our lives. The focus should be exaltation and that is what we want to do. We want to return to our Heavenly Father again and be in His presence, and receive many blessing!

So Monday was P-day and we stayed in Jeju and shopped and played games with each other and emailed and ate at a buffet and that was great! Then we got on a plane heading for Busan so that we could attend our zone conference and we got picked up.

On Tuesday we had our Zone conference and it was fantastic! We were able to take pictures together and listen to great talks and present training to our fellow missionaries and it was a gem of a time! We then came back to Jeju that night.

Wednesday was a very full day. We studied in the mornign and then went outside and talked to people and then were able to go to our service project. After that we had a meeting with our ward mission leader and then we had a meeting with our investigator that is preparing to be baptized on the 17th and then got to have another meeting with the young men's president because we are his counselors and then we went home.

On Thursday, we went outside and talked to people and got to hand our fliers and my companion had to go to the doctors so we went and got some stuff done there and then we went and helped a member move some of his furniture out of his house. After we had dinner with him and then went to the church and taught English class!

Friday was jammed packed: we studied in the morning, and went and met with the Seogwipo Elders and had an exchange. So we came back and studied for a bit and then got picked up by a member and we went to go visit a less active that lives a long ways out.. So we went out there and got to know them and had a great time talking to them and then came back and met with some people at night!

Then on Saturday, we finished up our exchange and then went to a beach and had our youth activity on a beach and then went straight to the church and cleaned and then went outside for a bit and then played basketball with some investigators.

Sunday was packed full of meetings and I got to translate and it was great! Then after church we were able to do some office work and then head outside for the rest of the day and talk to people.

This week was superb! I love you guys!

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson

Week 101: Super miracles and baptismal dates!

 This next week is going to get super busy and I'm super excited for it!!!

This last week, I was really able to think about the term "success."  Success is a very interesting concept, where people sometimes think that if we try, then we are successful or to be successful we must have the numbers to prove it. But success is something that comes from effort and faith, and is shown by the blessings that God gives us. Sometimes we may fail and it is good to try, but when we ponder what we are doing and the decisions we make, God will bless us with countless blessings and help us overcome our trails by our faith in Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful thing to know that our Savior lives and by walking with faith and understanding why we need to have faith, we can be assured that God will help and bless us.

This last Monday we went to a lava tube and it was super sick! It was awesome getting to spend time with the zone members and talking to them. After we got back, we emailed and went shopping and then I got my hair cut. I told the barber to cut my hair short on the sides and cut
a little bit off the top and he shaved my head... I don't know about haircuts anymore!!  hahaha...

On Tuesday we were super busy. So we went outside in the morning and then we came home and studied. After which we went to a beach and had our ward picnic! It was awesome connecting with the members and talking to then and having a great time with them. Then we came back and helped our Branch President clean up an apartment complex and we got a couple of people to talk to us about why we are in Korean. After that, we went out to eat with them, and at the end of the day, we had a investigator lesson with an investigator with Kim GiBeom and he super loves learning about the gospel and wants to know if the gospel is completely true before he gets baptized!

On Wednesday we planned in the morning after going outside and then studied and then went and heart attacked some members. After doing this we went to the church and studied and then went outside for a little bit. After that we came back to the church and then went to our service project where we teach little kids English. After that we met one of our members at the church and talked with him and helped him learn how to pray and then we went outside and talked to people for
the rest of the night.

Thursday was studying in the morning and then going outside and talking to people and then studying some more. Then after that we met with a member and talked with him about the situation with the young men in our ward and then during that, we had a Chinese man show up the church and he wanted to learn about the gospel, so we taught him and then resumed our meeting with the member. Then we took a bus out to a place called Waedo and then met with a single mother and her kids! After which we went back to the church and did English class and then walked home.

On Friday we had exchanges, so in the morning we studied and then went to District meeting and then we walked home and Elder Hubble and I were going to be companions for the rest of that day. While eating lunch we got a call from someone that wanted to meet with us because he was from Seoul and loved the missionaries, so we went and met him and he started talking about church. He wanted to attend church. We got to teach him the entire restoration and he loved it. So he said
that he would be baptized on the 17th of September and try his best to do so. It was a great blessing. After that we went out walking and then did some studies and after studying we went outside and talked to some people and then went and played basketball with some little kids that super like us. After that we ate dinner and were able to finish the day with some good proselyting.

On Saturday we went outside in the morning and then we studied after coming home and then went out and met another investigator and had lunch with him. so we taught him the plan of salvation and then gave him a baptismal date too and he accepted and it was fantastic! he is super excited to get baptized and he is 18!! Then we switched and went the church and met with some members and cleaned and then studied and then went outside and talked with some people and then met up with a member family and went out to dinner with them and it was fantastic!

Sunday, we had a national stake conference.  Elder David A. Bednar was presiding the conference, and that was fantastic! We had a wonderful time watching and then we were able to talk to the members after church. Then we went to visit some of them and went out to some further places that we typically are unable to go to and we met some great families and then we went home and talked to people on the way home and shared the gospel! It was a fantastic week!

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson

Week 100: Whelp.. triple digits

This week it looks like it is going to rain a lot.

This week I have been thinking a lot about patience and about how to be more Christ-like. As we draw closer to Christ we are able to enjoy more blessings and feel the fullness of his love. it is great being able to have the fullness of his gospel restored to the earth again because this way we cannot falter in our ways if we keep trying to be like Jesus! It is sooo wonderful!

On Monday we went to Busan and I with Elder Cronin and were able to meet with our new companions. I wished Elder Cronin farewell and it was super fun! So on Monday we did that and I met my new companion Elder Johnson that has been out for about a year. Then we came back to Jeju and did our family home evening!

On Tuesday, we woke up in the morning and cleaned and then went outside and emailed and shopped and had p-day! It was a great day and we got to go over to the newer part of Jeju, and send sister Brady's luggage and elder Seol and elder Minson’s stuff. Then we went and visited a member to end the day.

On Wednesday we went outside in the morning and talked to people and then studied and then we went to Seogwipo to send off Elder Stewart’s bags. After which we came back and got to talk to some people and then we went and met the new trainees and their trainers and the airport. To end the day we talked to people outside.

Thursday was officially our most normal day and so we went outside and talked to people and got to go meet with people and want with members and it was a blast of a time. Then we went to the church and studied and then had English class.

Friday was us flying out to Busan and having some meetings for the leadership of the mission and then we went to go meet some of my old recent converts and investigators in Busan.

On Saturday we went outside in the morning and talked to some great people and then went up to Miryang and met with some of my past members and less actives and then came back to Busan and took at plane at the end of the day and arrived in Jeju!

Yesterday we had church and that was awesome! We were able to talk a bunch to members and help out others and then we went home and ate after having a couple meetings and then went outside for a bit and talked to other people and then finished up the day by watching a special broadcast for the Korean members.

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson

With Elder Johnson