FIVE! - February 28th, 2012

Dear Family,

This week has been an absolutely incredible week.You may be wondering why I put the number 5 in the subject :) Can I tell you? PLEEEAAAAAAAASSSSEEEE?

Ok, I will, we have 5 investigators with a baptismal date :)  It has been an incredible week.

So I will start off by telling you how our neighbor is doing. She is progressing really really well. She knows the church is true. So does her husband and her 8 year old daughter. I love that family, they are so great. So basically we are just waiting for the date. :)

Another one we have is a boy named Dylan. He is the boyfriend of a youth in the church. He is really solid. He feels that Joseph Smith was called to be a Prophet and he said "it just makes sense" and we set a baptismal date for March 18th :) 

The other one is Travis. He has a lot of potential but basically we need to get him to church.

We also have quite a few other investigators that are coming along and hopefully we will see more success with them in the future.

It sounds like Stockman is DOMINATING in basketball :) And Micah is dominating in the PLAY :) wooooo! and it sounds like they are ratting me out.. you two just wait when I get home.. I'll beat you down!!!! throwing me under the bus like that? COME ON! haha.. (they told us of a time when Levi was texting while driving! We threw down the gauntlet!) No, I definitely shouldnt have been texting while I was driving. Not a very smart idea.. Micah, idk if you have a phone or not.. but dont ever do that. :) It is dumb. I still do dumb things but I'm working on it. :)

Seths' hair is cut??? WHAT?? haha.. I want to see that. I am excited for him, he is going to be such a great missionary. Brazil is lucky to have him. Anna wrote me 2 weeks ago and was telling me she was gonna visit. I still gotta send that letter :/ ahhh.. my pdays are busy now but fun because we play ultimate frisbee for 3 hours :) today its raining so we might be playing basketball :) :) :) :) oh ya stockman.. i'm still practicing. I practice everynight on the small hoop you all sent me for christmas :) so dont you think im getting bad :).. Mom and Dad.. I am so terrible at basketball its not even funny.. dont tell Stock I said that ;) hehe

So track is starting :) sweet :) Is it looking good? How did cross country do  btw? I am trying to get back into running. Coach Holman is back AGAIN ?? seriously! haha SWEET! and I bet that Coach Eagle will be fun. He is an awesome guy :)

I am doing really good though :) Life is going great! This area is progressing a ton.

I love you all and I will talk to you all next week :)

Love,

Elder Wise

Gainesville 3rd Ward ROCKS! - February 20th, 2012

Dear Family,

This week has been absolutely MIRACULOUS!!!! Be prepared to be blown out of your chair :) You better put on some seat belts.

First of all, we have so many SOLID potential investigators I don't even know what to do with them. I think they might need to put another set of missionaries here next transfer - haha. So I was on a trade off, I was in High Springs. My District Leader was with Elder Riggs in our area, and they went and talked to our NEIGHBOR... she is ELECT! HOLY COW!... she is absolutely incredible I have received a strong testimony that Elder Riggs and I were sent here to find her specifically. She came to church with her 3 kids yesterday. She is incredible. She has a fiance who also wants to learn more. It is wonderful. We have another appointment with her today.

Elder Riggs and I were seeing a Media Referral and they weren't there so we decided to tract a little bit. The second door we knocked we just started talking and the lady said "I believe it". We thought she might have been a member at first but then we found out she wasn't. She was given a Book of Mormon in the hospital or something and she believes it and wants to learn more. We are going back today. She is married and has at least 3 kids that I saw.

Over the last 2 weeks we have received over 20 referrals. We have really gained the trust of the ward and it is going INCREDIBLE. This ward is very missionary oriented. I wouldn't mind serving here for the rest of my mission haha.

We are definitely seeing the blessings of the Lord here in this area. I love it! Gainesville 3rd ward is AMAZING!

There are many more miracles than that... but for the sake of time I won't share them all until we shall meet face to face :) in a long time ;)

Speaking of which... Elder Riggs and I were doing a Companion Study on urgency and in order to do that we wanted to calculate up how much time we spend actually proselyting. So we found out that in 2 years as a REGULAR Proselyting Missionary you only spend a total of 6 months proselyting. 18 months is taken up with eating, sleeping, meetings.. etc. That is as a regular proselyting missionary. If you get called to train you get less. If you get in leadership you get less. If you become an assistant you only get about 4 1/2 months just becoming an assistant. So isn't that crazy? We really dont get too much time to find. In the process of finding this out. I also found out that I go home one week earlier than I thought I did because we were going through the schedule I saw that my last transfer ends on June 12th, so I will be flying home June 13th 2013.. I thought I was going home June 20th, so I dont even get to serve a full 2 years : ( I am 2 days short of 2 years :(  and I get one less week than I thought I did :(  so my urgency has really picked up and I have been trying to work harder.

Oh and Mom, we are doing a triathlon when I get home okay!? Well, 2 months after I get home... I will need some time to get into shape!

Everything has been going great and I am excited... I love y'all and I miss ya a ton! When I have time to even think about anything besides the hecticness of missionary work.. thats when I miss ya which isnt very much time.. haha.

Love
Elder Wise

Facebook Missionary! - February 13th, 2012

DEAR FAM,

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE :) I loved that journal. That is super neat! AND THE SCRIPTURES and the tie.. and everything.. THANK YOU SO MUCH  :) :) :) :)

 

THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!!! Like I said in the last weeks email, this ward is on BOARD with missionary work! Last night we visited a family and their daughter's boyfriend wants to meet with us and they have 2 others they are working with. 2 of those 3 are SOLID.. It is very exciting. We have a ton of potential. It is GREAT!

We haven't had any new gators yet, but the potential is GINORMOUS. The work is just getting started here.

 

We have also gotten a couple of media referrals that we are excited about.

 

But I dont have much else to tell you yet... but there will be much more!

 

Oh, and online work. That is going okay. (Elder Wise has been assigned to be a facebook missionary! Very fun. He cannot add friends from home - only family members and local friends in Floriday - but it is a "pilot" program and he has been called) Basically right now I am just trying to post a bunch of things and hoping nonmembers see it. We also created a Ward page where we can talk to members about there missionary work :).. That is pretty much it for now though. And ya, its all good about sending me those suggestions. Now you know :)

 

Anyways, Mom, the paragraph where you were telling me how I have a huge heart and all. I dont know about all of that. I try to be charitable, but if I am it really is only because of all of you. Dad, Mom, Brothers.. all of you.... thank you so much for everything you have done for me and for the sacrifice you are making by having me on a mission ... I TRULY REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE IT :)

 

I love you all so much

Elder Wise

 

Elder Wise meets Elder Huckvale! - February 2nd, 2012

Dear Family,

Okay, so you know that I am in Gainesville. I have no idea what Brother Bedont is talking about because I am in a pretty nice area. (Curtis Bedont told me it was a dangerous area, which DROPPED my heart of course - thank you CURTIS!!!! :) There is a couple ghetto's but nothing to worry about.

Well, I got white washed. My companion is Elder Riggs. The one that was in the apartment with me in Palatka.

I have something that will be interesting for you to hear. President Barry called me to be an online missionary. So yes, I have a facebook account that I am on an hour a day.. and no mom, you cant add me as a friend.. sorry haha.. (to which later I found out he is wrong! I CAN add him, just can't directly communicate with him, but I can comment on his posts/help him teach and he has to block all of MY posts!....FAIR!) I dont know exactly how it all works yet but I am working on getting started.

Things I want included in my package would be:
1. The Triple
2. Stake Directory
3. I think you said you are sending stamps right? I HOPE YOU ARE ;)
4. JUNK FOOD so I can get fat
5. THE BUDGET :) if you can...

I dont eat with members too often... I've only had about 1 or 2 a month most of my mission. But we have had a meal everyday except one since I have been here so I dont know completely... and I only eat out once a month..

So we got white washed into an area with NO investigators. But my goodness this ward is full of missionary work. Everyone here is from about 25-32ish and are in residency for medical things.... A TON OF KIDS AND SACREMENT IS LOUD. They all do a ton of missionary work though. Every member we have seen is either working with someone or is giving us referrals, so it has been incredible. They are all willing to do a ton of sharing. It is a really really good ward and I am loving it.. and it is a very friendly area.

We found one investigator on friday. His name is Kingsley and we taught him a very short restoration on the porch and invited us to come back tomorrow so we will see how that goes.

That is about all we got going on now though.. and DAD... this is my second transfer goof ball... I got transfered from Lake City to Palatka and now to Gainesville. Oh, and the campus isn't in my area.. but our WML is going to take us to thhe football stadium sometime and is also going to take us to some place to see a ton of gators... the WML is Brother Bass and he is the BEST WML I have ever met.... besides Dad :)

Anyways, I dont have much yet. But there will be a tons more coming soon I bet. For a little spiritual thought: In Alma 6:6, it talks about fasting and praying for the souls who know not God. I know that if we fast and pray for them and for us to have the strength to invite them we will have a lot more missionary oppurtunities come into our lives.

I love you all, I love you a ton.

Elder Wise

p.s. TELL MICAH WAY TO GO ON SHARING THE GOSPEL.... and also STOCKTON FOR DOMINATING IN BBALL... WAY TO GO BUD... oh and SEPT 13? seriously? That baby is GOING TO BE OLD when I get home.... haha

p.s.s I forgot to tell you I saw Elder Huckvale at transfer meeting and we talked quite a bit... It was really neat.. Tell Sister Huckvale that he has one of the best missionaries in the mission. NO JOKE

Gainesville, FL - February 6th, 2012

Dear Family,

Okay, so you know that I am in Gainesville. I have no idea what Brother Bedont is talking about because I am in a pretty nice area. (Brother Bedont told me it's a dangerous area he was in and it SCARED ME! But...he later explained it's b/c "college row" is there and there are many girls in bikini's, etc...so a "different" danger :))  There is a couple ghetto's but nothing to worry about. Well, I got white washed. My companion is Elder Riggs. The one that was in the apartment with me in Palatka.

So I have something that will be interesting for you to hear - President Barry called me to be an online missionary. So yes, I have a facebook account that I am on an hour a day.. and no mom, you can't chat with me... sorry haha.. I dont know exactly how it all works yet but I am working on getting started.

So we got white washed into an area with NO investigators. But my goodness this ward is full of missionary work. Everyone here is from about 25-32ish and are in residency for medical things.... A TON OF KIDS AND SACREMENT IS LOUD. They all do a ton of missionary work though. Every member we have seen is either working with someone or is giving us referrals, so it has been incredilbe. They are all willing to do a ton of sharing. It is a really really good ward and I am loving it.. and it is a very friendly area.

We found one investigator on  Friday. His name is kingsley and we taught him a very short restoration on the porch and invited us to come back tomorrow so we will see how that goes.

That is about all we got going on now though. Oh, and the campus isnt in my area.. but our WML is going to take us to thhe football stadium sometime and is also going to take us to some place to see a ton of gators... the WML is Brother Bass and he is the BEST WML I have ever met.... besides Dad :)

Anyways, I dont have much yet, but there will be a tons more coming soon I bet.

For a little spiritual thought. In Alma 6:6 it talks about fasting and praying for the souls who know not God. And I know that if we fast and pray for them and for us to have the strength to invite them we will have a lot more missionary oppurtunities come into our lives.

I love you all, the next email will be longer mom I promise. I got whitewashed and there isnt too much yet here but there will definitely be soon.

I love you a ton.

Elder Wise

p.s. and SEPT 13? seriously? That baby is GOING TO BE OLD whhen I get home.... hahah (Tish's due date for her baby!!!! YAY!) 

TRANSFERRED and NEW ADDRESS - February 2nd, 2012

Elder Levi Wise

4209 SW 71^st Terrace Apt B

Gainesville, FL  32608

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