I LOVE YOU - June 11th, 2013

I received this email from Levi today. I was surprised because I didn't know I would receive another email. The subject line was simple "I Love You" and the subject line only read "2 John 1:12". I looked it up and I began to tear up. "Well done thou good and faithful servant..." 

2 John 1:12

"Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink; but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full"

LAST EMAIL HOME!!!! - June 3rd, 2013

Good morning :D

We had a pretty good week this week. I am pretty sure I told you about the family Elder Jensen and I found. The wife came to church! Then we went to teach them last night and they accepted baptism dates for June 30th :) The work is moving forward. It is very exciting.

Our zone is really taking off!! We typically have 10-15 dates on each week. We now have 22 dates on. We have 4 families being taught and 3 of the families have dates. They all have a father and a mother. REAL GROWTH!!! It is amazing!

I am hanging in there! We are going around teaching and finding! Just working hard!

We had Mission Leadership Council this last week and it was really good. They talked a lot about desire and repentance. It was amazing and I really felt the spirit. I relearned that our desire comes from the love of God. 1 Nephi 8:12. When we feel the spirit we feel the love of God and we desire to share His gospel. As a mission, we are really focusing on repentance which is an amazing thing because we all need it!! 

Well, this is the last email I will be sending before I see you face to face! (Oh My Gosh...I can't WAIT! :) Thank you so much for supporting me on my mission! I know I am a pain! I wont be anymore though :) I promise!

I know that God is real! He loves and cares about us more than we can imagine! I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Through His Atonement, we can feel peaceful, happy, receive strength, and be cleansed from our sins! I know Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is true! It will lead people to Christ. Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God! Jesus Christ leads His church through him and I will follow the things he says because they are the words of Christ! 

Love you a ton! See you in a week and a half!!

Love,

Elder Wise

Bring Our Lives In Harmony With God's Will - May 27th, 2013

Dear Family,

We had a great week this week. We had a baptism yesterday. It was a great experience! His name is J.X. We found him 2 weeks ago and he came to church and loved it. He has come 3 times since then and was baptized yesterday. After his confirmation he stood up and gave everyone a hug! He was so excited! He came up to me afterwards and I gave him a big hug and he had the biggest smile on his face. It was amazing!

We also found an amazing family this week. A husband and wife, and a cute little 2 year old. They are really nice and are excited to come to church and see how it is. They got called into work this week so they couldn't come! They will soon though :)

We had Zone Conference this last week and it was super powerful! The spirit was really there. We talked a lot about repentance. This is one of my favorite quotes in Preach My Gospel and I am paraphrasing it. "Bringing our lives in harmony with God's will is the central purpose of our lives" That is so true! One big problem in the world is priorities. What is most important to us? That is why repentance is so important. Through prayer, scripture study, church attendance, and living the gospel of Christ will bring our lives in harmony with God's will. Obviously repentance is a huge part in the Gospel of Christ. Repentance is the process of bringing our lives in harmony with God's will. It was truly an amazing Zone Conference.

Well, not to much longer and I will be talking with you face to face :) OH and Micah, good luck with your acting thing! That is so amazing you were nominated best actor in Washington. I will pray for your success! Hope you win it!

Love ya'll! Have a great week!

Elder Wise

Power of Prayer! - May 20th, 2013

Hello!

We had an incredible week this week! Do you remember the man I told you about on the skype? He came to church and we got a return appointment with him? Well, he is getting baptized next Sunday! He is very elect. We are really excited for him.

I have relearned the importance of prayer recently!! Here is a passage I really like out of Mosiah 24..

"9 For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been one of the king’s priests, and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was wroth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them.

 10 And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God.

 11 And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.

 12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand aswitnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord didstrengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

 16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

 17 And he said unto Alma: Thou shalt go before this people, and I will go with thee and deliver this people out of bondage.

 18 Now it came to pass that Alma and his people in the night-time gathered their flocks together, and also of their grain; yea, even all the night-time were they gathering their flocks together.

 19 And in the morning the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep.

 20 And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness; and when they had traveled all day they pitched their tents in a valley, and they called the valley Alma, because he led their way in the wilderness."

The story is self explanatory! Prayer can comfort us! It will lead us to where we need to go. It is so important in missionary work to rely on the power of prayer. AND in normal life. 

We were reporting numbers last night. We have some baptisms for this weekend. Our zone has a lot of dates on for June. It is sounding like June is going to be an incredible month. And I am only going to see part of it. It was honestly a little depressing. I don't know how I feel about going home right now haha. I am excited. But, I am really really going to miss mission life. It is a lot of fun!

Anyways, Teagen, I am going to take your Ping Pong Throne!!! WATCH OUT!!! haha! Love you all! Have a great week!

Love Elder Wise

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER WISE!!!! - May 6th, 2013

Good morning :)

I have not gotten my package yet. I am sure it will come today! Thank you for the happy birthday wishes! (Elder Wise's Birthday is on May 7th) I can't believe I am 21.. that is sort of wierd. 

So this week was really good. We set a date with an investigator who was not willing to accept a baptism date for awhile. This lady, when she commits to something, she does it. We are very excited for her. She came to the Gladys Knight fireside deal. Elder Huckvale and I knew how Gladys Knight made her entrance. So we put her in a spot where she could shake Gladys's hand. It worked! SHE LOVED IT! haha. 

I have a really funny story to tell. We were at our WML's house on Saturday night. They fed us some delicious pulled pork sandwiches. They said "if you would like seconds there is some more in the crock pot in the kitchen." I loved them so I went for seconds. For some reason, I couldn't find a crock pot. I looked around and saw a black bowl that had what looked like meat. I excitedly began to dish my seconds. I put some barbecue sauce on. I was excited for the delicious taste. I took my first bite, it seemed really fat. I thought, wow, that was a fatty peace. I took my second bite and the same thing happened. I thought "eww... well, I can't be rood." I took my third bite and then I thought "something is wrong." I asked them if it looked right. Everyone started laughing at me. It turns out. The black bowl had the extra fat from the pulled pork. Yum.. I had some delicious pork fat. It was nasty!!!!!

Micah, I am really excited to be able to go to your graduation.. I was bummed because I thought I wouldn't be able to... I was wrong! YES!!!

I love ya'll.. Hope you have a great week! Sounds like we all have a crazy busy schedule! That is good.. time will fly :) Love you!!!

Elder Wise

Spiritual Thought - May 6th, 2013

So I forgot to put a spiritual thought into my email.. so here it is!!

In my personal study.. I was reading Mosiah, Chapter 9, where Zeniff leads a group of people from Zarahemla to the land of Lehi-Nephi. About their journey, Zeniff wrote this.

"And yet, I being over-zealous to inherit the land of our fathers, collected as many as were desirous to go up to possess the land, and started again on our journey into the wilderness to go up to the land; but we were smitten with famine and sore afflictions; for we were slow to remember the Lord our God."

This is in verse 3. They forgot to remember God. They didn't pray or read the scriptures. They were given trials to humble them to bring them to remember God. He created all things. He created our bodies. Everything we are able to do is because of Him. He created our spirits. He gave us our gifts which we need to use to bless others.

"Yea, in the strength of the Lord did we go forth to battle against the Lamanites; for I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers."

This is verse 17. When they turned to God, they were delivered! The commandments we have lead to happiness. It is just the way of life. God didn't give commandments for no reason. He gave them because if we follow these commandments, WE WILL BE HAPPY... He wants us to be happy. That is why we have a living Prophet. That is why we have Jesus Christ. That is why we are alive!

I love you!!! Have a great week!

Last Transfer - April 30th, 2013

Good morning!

Sorry I never told you about p-day being on Tuesday. It is transfer week this week and we had transfers announced last night on a mission wide conference call. Elder Huckvale is being transferred to Savannah, GA. He is white washing an area as ZL's... CRAZY! He will also be going to the Georgia Macon Mission... :O... I will be staying here as a Zone Leader. My new companion is Elder Jensen. He was in Ocala with me. We weren't companions but we were really good friends and had a lot of fun so I am really really excited to have him as my companion my last transfer and to have him "kill me" as we call it. (that is what it is called when a missionary ends their mission - they get "killed" by their companion that sends them home)

We have a lot of potential in our area right now. I am really excited. May is going to be crazy! It is going to keep me focused. Did you hear about Sister Training Leaders? It is a new leadership calling.. we now have 6 Sister Training Leaders.. they are in companionships like Zone Leaders..

The Sister Training Leaders also come with the Zone Leaders to what used to be called "Zone Leader Council".. it is now called "Mission Leadership Council".

Here is the May busyness schedule!

May 7th Mission Leadership Council and my Birthday

May 9th Zone Meeting

May 14-16 District Meetings

May 22 or 23.. Zone Conference

May 28 Mission Leadership Council

May 28-30 District Meetings

June 5 Zone Meeting

June 12 Transfers!!! AHHHHHHHHHH

It is really good because it will keep me busy and help me stay focused. It helps a lot that we are having a lot of success too! I love being a missionary. I was with a missionary yesterday on a trade off. He is going home this week. We were just talking and I though "wow, I am going to be in his shoes in 6 weeks" It is just weird. I am thankful for the 6 more weeks I have to preach the gospel. I hope I use them effectively.

Micah, way to go on completing that half marathon. That is amazing! I don't think I could do that anymore. I am now 6' 3 1/2" almost 6'4" we measured today.. I am still growin,... :O I now weigh 210 lbs.. but in my defense.. I am a lot stronger.. my arms are probably twice the size of what they use to be haha.. I don't think I am much of a distance runner anymore.. I still run though.

I have been trying to play basketball a lot.

Anyways, I have a few questions... Well, I talked to President Barry about teaching at the MTC.. he told me to just apply when I get home and he will recommend me. He said I will get the job. They are looking for a lot of teachers right now. So, I really want to do that.

ALSO, we are having a mission reunion on July 27th.. I really want to go to that! Eh.. we will make these plans when I get home - haha!

The work is moving forward, BECAUSE IT IS TRUE!!!  I LOVE IT! You all are the best and I love you so much for supporting me on my mission! Have a great week!

Love

Elder Wise

A Few Mission Pics - April 29th, 2013

Elder Wise and Elder Huckvale at a recent baptism. <3

Gotta love missionaries! 

Boston and the Gospel of Christ - April 22, 2013

Good morning :)

We had a great week this week! The Lord provides a way. We were hoping to have 3 baptisms this weekend. 2 of them ended up having to go out of town. The other one looked like it wasn't going to happen because we needed to get permission. A couple days before we finally got permission, I had been praying all week to get the permission. It happened :) We had a wonderful baptism on Sunday and the pictures are on facebook. I was wearing my new suit to church and to the baptism. So you can see my new suit in the picture.

This next transfer is going to be crazy! I was told it was going to be the biggest transfer President Barry has had. It is on May 1st. There are a lot of changes happening in the mission right now and it is crazy!

I was really depressed when I heard about the tragedy in Boston. It is just sad where this world is going. Only the gospel of Christ can save the world from it's own self destruction. (paraphrasing a quote in Preach My Gospel.) The gospel of Christ is the way and the truth and the light to all the world that is wandering in darkness. No one can reach past where the light of the Atonement shines like Elder Holland said... something like that. There is so much pain and grief and drama. I don't like it at all. I am so grateful that there is hope. There is a way! It is through Christ. Everything is secondary to the gospel of Christ. That should be everyone's number 1 priority! Serve and love others! Do as our Savior, Jesus Christ would do. There is no other way.

The Plan is set. Our happiness is laid out in a path, we just need to follow it! The Holy Ghost is there to avoid the temptations of Satan and stay on this path. The basics of the gospel are so simple, pure, true, and peaceful. I always feel happy when I come back to the basics of the gospel of Christ.

I hope you all have a great week! I am really excited for you to get your mission call Micah! I love all of you very much and thank you so much for your example!!!!!

Love,

Elder Wise

Eternal Happiness vs. Temporal Happiness - April 15. 2013

Hello :D

We had a great week this week. The leadership training was great :D We really felt the spirit. This zone has been taking off! It is absolutely incredible! I can definitely feel the Ammonish thing in the air Dad :) haha. I can feel the spirit of missionary work building! It is amazing to see. This next transfer our mission will be sending home 8 missionaries and we will receive 24... 15 of them are Sisters. The next transfer (which is the one I go home) we are losing 4, and we are receiving 24...15 of them are Sisters as well! It is amazing! 

Hopefully, we will be having 3 baptisms in our area and hopefully 8 in the zone this weekend. :) The work is truly pressing forward!

Elder Huckvale was teaching Gospel Principles on Sunday and it was a really powerful. The spirit was definitely there. We talked about a lot of different things. Something that came to my mind was "When we do things for ourselves, it brings temporal happiness. When we do things for others, it brings eternal happiness." I love that because it ties to humility and service! When we are humble and think of others first it brings eternal happiness. When we are prideful and think of ourselves.. it brings temporal happiness. Satan is caught in the pride and think of himself trap. Now his misery is so terrible that he wants to drag others with him in revenge. Then on the other hand, Heavenly Father is in the "think of others and humble" side. Look where He is at!! haha Which side do I want to be on? Obviously the humble one.

Sounds like everyone is staying busy with basketball games and track... and physicals for the mission papers :D Micah, missions are the best thing in the entire world! You will never regret it! You will understand what I mean when you have been on your mission for awhile! Teagen and Dad can testify that it's true :D

Well, Mother's day is coming up and YES I WILL be calling home haha. A member has already invited us over to do that. We have to coordinate times though because they have a missionary out as well. What time would you like to skype for the last and final time?! CRAZY!

Mom, good luck at Oregon Relays :) I hope you win! And Micah, I cant WAIT for you to get your mission call! And Stock, YOU ROCK.. haha. Keep dominating! If you can beat me in basketball when I get back I will take you out to 5 guys to eat.. just like the good ol' times ;) OH, and Dad, keep being AMAZING haha.. and Teag... GET A JOB so you can stay in UTAH.. so then we can party it up and go to all the football and basketball games :) Tell Trysen I say hi.. OH and Tish, HI :)

Love ya'll ;)

Elder Wise

He That Loseth His Life, Shall Find It - April 8, 2013

Good morning!!!!

General Conference was AMAZING!!! I really felt the spirit and have learned a lot. We had our Zone Meeting this last week and it was amazing! I know that I was called to be a Zone Leader for ME! I am selfISH!! haha. Seriously! Since I received this calling I gradually started to be more confident in public speaking. I hope it isn't pride ;) My testimony has been strengthened!!! I have learned how to really do this work. I have learned how to work!!... and to work hard. I came on my mission wanting it to be perfect. Wanting to not make one mistake and work my hardest throughout my entire mission. I have worked hard! There is no doubt about that. Although, it has not been perfect! I have made mistakes. That is not what I wanted to happen >:( haha. I have realized though that no ones mission is perfect. We do stupid things, unfortunately. I know that thus far I have become who my Heavenly Father has wanted me to become! I have been pondering lately on who I am! I know that I have been taught that I am a child of God. I never really gained a testimony of that. I also didn't know what it meant to be a child of God. Thanks to Elder Huckvale and Zone Meeting and the spirit. I LEARNED THIS GREAT TRUTH!

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10:39

Thou Art My son - Elder Huck and Elder Wise as YM! 

I always thought this was talking about sacrificing our lives for others...and it is!! But it is also talking about something much greater! In fact sacrificing our lives for others is a huge part in what this really means...to me at least. "He that findeth his life" - talking about seeking the natural man's desires, not bridling our passions but fulfilling them - shall lose it - who they truly are.   "...and he that loseth his life (or natural man) for my sake (God's will) shall find it (himself, who they truly are)" That is because who we are (or who we are supposed to become) is like our Father in Heaven. We are royal children of God that have the potential to be like Him!!! That is who I AM! A son of God that has the potential to truly....be like HIIM! I felt the spirit at our Zone Meeting confirm to me that this is TRUE. I know it is, and would that not boost our confidence? To know that we can be perfect. That is why we need to lose ourselves (the natural man) and become as our Father in Heaven.

 "19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19

I am so glad I came on my mission! I have grown so much! I cannot wait for you to see those changes. Thank you so much for sacrificing everything you do for me to be out here. It has saved me! Seriously! Like President Thomas S. Monson said in priesthood session " a mission is a family affair". When a member of the family is on a mission, the rest of the family is also! Your sacrifice is blessing the lives of the children of God in Florida! Thank You :) I cannot say that enough!

For Pday today we are going to Lazer Tag and Mini Golf... It is going to be a lot of fun! I am glad you all had a ton of fun in CALI!! Hope you have another GREAT WEEK!!!

Love

Elder Wise

p.s. If you want me to come home in June.. make sure to get my license renewed ;) haha

Dear Family,

Well, I had some struggily situations this week. One, I tore my left contact...  no need to fear. I kept my old ones just in case something like this happened. So I am wearing that one and I will just wait until I get home to get new ones..

That injury in that game sounds nasty! Teagen sent me a picture of it. That is really gross..... How does that even happen? (referring to the Louisville player who broke his leg in the final four NCAA tournament) 

We have a pretty crazy week ahead of us! We are trying to help 2 girls get baptized on the 7th. Their Father doesn't think they are quite ready so we are trying to help them be ready by the 7th! We also have Zone Leader Council this week as well as our Zone meeting... So we have a ton to do this week! I love it because that will keep us busy and keep life exciting and different :)

Vancouver, not BC; Washington, not DC : ) 

I am really excited for General Conference... I always receive a ton of revelations so it should be really good :)

Oh, and yes I got the package :) It is great!

We love the shirts! (I sent them an Easter package with these shirts. They are great b/c people out of state, when they ask where you are from, always reply with "Oh, Washington DC? or "Vancouver BC?"... so I had to get them these shirts! LOL) 

Well, I think I have learned more from Elder Huckvale than I have the previous 6 months on my mission! I have really learned a lot. I love it because we are working hard and we are different, so we are learning a lot from each other. It is amazing! That is what life is all about.. learning and becoming like Christ.

Well, I better run :) Oh, so I was wondering if it would be okay if I didn't talk to ya'll on mother's day so I can stay focused until the end? (Yeah, so I was ready to kill him....then he let us know it was April Fools.....jerk.....NOT FUNNY!) 

Love you!!!

Have a great week!

Elder Wise

Advice for Anyone Preparing for a MISSION! - March 25, 2013

Hello :)

The work of the Lord is progressing! We have been so blessed as an entire mission lately :) It is amazing to see!

It is such a blessing to be on a mission! If I would not have come it would have been a disaster in the sight of Heavenly Father. Our eyes our sooooooo temporal! If I wouldn't have come on my mission that would be at least 16 less souls who have entered into the kingdom of God! And their children and their children's children! And ME!!! And my future family! It would have effected the lives of thousands of people if I would have chosen not to serve. I didn't have a very strong testimony. I felt like it was all true but I wouldn't say I knew! I feel as though my testimony cannot and will never be destroyed! It would have been extremely selfish of me to have not gone on my mission! And it would have effected my life eternally!

Do you remember my list of 10 things I have learned on my mission? It has changed dramatically! haha!

Micah!!!! I am sooo excited for you to go on your mission :) Oh and congrats on being prom king! What a champ! (Micah and Haley were Prom King and Prom Queen! Pretty cute)

This is one piece of advice I will give to everyone preparing to go on a mission! It is something I struggle with! Pride and Humility! It is so important to accept advice we receive from our leaders! Especially church leaders and our parents! Even if we think we are right! It is okay to be wrong! I was blessed! I knew I had no gospel knowledge when I came on my mission! I listened to everything my trainers said. I did everything they told me too! I followed all of the rules! I was committed to be 100% obedient and follow my Mission President's advice! I have grown SOOOO MUCH on my mission! I have seen other missionaries come out thinking they know everything and wouldn't listen to their leaders. I promise you they have not grown as much as they could have! I promise you that if you will be humble and listen to your mission leaders! You will grow 80% faster than missionaries who don't! I want to tell all people who are going on missionaries that! So there you have it :) Pride is truly the root of all sin! I have really seen that lately!

We are having an incredible month as a zone this month! The Lord is truly blessing us! We might have 2 baptisms in our area this weekend. They are out of town until Friday so it is making it struggily. (Yep - he has been hanging around a Huckvale!! LOL) They will be getting baptized though! It is just a matter of this weekend or in April?

Well, have a great week! I love ya'll very much! Mothers day is soon! :)

Love,

Elder Wise

Saints United Voices (Gladys Knight Concert) - March 19, 2013

Dear Family,

This week was great! We found out about transfers last night :) I am staying with Elder Huckvale :) Which is great! We had a good talk this week and we ended up having a conference call with our zone and our Mission President joined and we talked about the importance of obedience. So things are going great and I am really excited. We have 4 baptism dates on for EASTER!!!! What a day to be baptized on right?

We had the Saints Unified Voices, Gladys Knight event this last weekend.. It was really busy.. Our Mission President gave us permission to give some Sister Missionaries a ride to it to save miles.. We had some responsibilities there so we were there all day Friday and Saturday. We didn't get home until 1:00 am.. So we were driving at midnight with 2 Sisters in the car.. It seemed really apostate hahahahaha.. We took a video of it being really late and Sisters being in the car.

Elder Huckvale and I got to talk to Gladys Knight and her husband William McDowell! He is funny! We shook their hand and laughed. It was great :)

It was really good.. We got about 10 referrals in our area and 215 referrals throughout the mission from this event. We contacted all of ours yesterday and they all have a lot of potential so we are really excited! :)

This week, I learned how important it is to not work beyond what you have strength haha.. I was so tired this weekend I couldn't think. I was driving yesterday and I asked Elder Huckvale to drive because I felt like I was going to fall asleep. It was really interesting. I have never been so tried in my entire life. 8 hours of sleep every night is really important. :)

I gave a talk on Sunday about the gospel of Christ and how it is taught in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I thought it went really well :) I love the Book of Mormon so much. I have been using it in my teaching and contacting more and it has made my teaching a lot more powerful!

I love you all and appreciate everything! 

Love :)

Elder Wise

The Book Is Blue And It Is True! - March 13, 2013

Good Morning!!!

We had an INCREDIBLE WEEK! Jennifer, her daughter Kailey, and Ashton.. a members grandson were all baptized and confirmed yesterday... It was an incredible experience! I will post the pic on facebook later. Elder Huckvale actually just posted it on facebook.

This week was the busiest week of my mission. We had our Zone Meeting Wednesday morning! We spent a lot of Tuesday planning for it! President Barry came out with us Wednesday night. We had been planning a movie night and it was stressful making that happen. Then we had a Zone iNet blitz in our area. An iNet blitz is where we come up with a bunch of different routes for all the missionaries to go see  less actives and part-members and we do it for about 2 hours. Our entire zone was there. We got 26 referrals to teach non members, 22 less actives and part members were seen face to face, received a lot of information such as people who have moved and so on. The ward was so happy to receive all of this information... it was incredible.

Then we had the baptism Sunday. Gladys Knight and her Grammy award winning choir "Saints Unified Voices" are coming to Jacksonville. Gladys Knight will be bearing her testimony and we have a ton of non members going. In the program is a place to refer yourself to get a gift package and a visit from the missionaries. Elder Huckvale and I, and 4 other Sisters will be taking all of those and sending them out to all of the missionaries. So this weekend will be extremely busy for us! I am really excited. Some wards have had up to 55 baptisms from this event. I have seen a part of her testimony and let me tell you, IT IS POWERFUL!!!! I am excited.

Transfers are the 20th. I think I am getting transferred. Elder Huckvale thinks I am staying. We will see.

This week, something that stood out to me was standing for what is right no matter where you are :) The truth is the truth and no matter what people think you must testify boldly of the truth. I love the gospel! And the way you keep your testimony strong enough to stand alone and testify is daily scripture study! That is the fuel! The Book of Mormon is so amazing! I cannot tell you how many times I have been struggling or I may have been a little shaken by some anti earlier in my mission. I always go to the Book of Mormon and read. I remember how I have felt in the past. IT IS TRUE!!! And the times when I am struggling, it always brings comfort and peace. The book is blue and it is true! Anyone who says it isn't hasn't read it and are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men. It testifies of Christ and His gospel. It makes me so sad when people start bashing the Book of Mormon, the word of God and they haven't read it! They have no clue what they are missing and it hurts me to know that they are so blinded by the devil. If only they would open their hearts. The Lord is doing the opening of the hearts and we just have to find the ones that have been opened.

Stock, DO TRACK!!!!

Micah, HS is over, time for a mission! :D I am jealous you have your whole mission ahead of you.. mine is almost over :'( Sometimes I will find myself really sad when it hits me that it is winding down!

Love,

Elder Wise

Nerf War P-Day - March 4, 2013

Hello Family,

Things are going really well! We have a crazy p-day planned today. We are having a Nerf gun war. It is going to be a lot of fun!

Sounds like the entire family is having a ton of fun. 

We have 3 baptisms on for this weekend. The Mother and her child are getting baptized, and another unbaptized child is getting baptized. We are really having a lot of success and I hope we stay together. We had them over to our Ward Mission Leader's house and had dinner and it was amazing! Things are just really going along well.

I am scared that I am going to get transferred on the 20th :(. I feel like I am going to get released as a Zone Leader and White Wash train... That happened to three zone leaders last transfer. So I am hoping Elder Huckvale and I can stay together longer :)

I am getting rushed out of the door. People are trying to hustle and get to the Nerf war thing haha... So I am trying to type fast and not make it too short.

The biggest thing I have learned from Elder Huckvale is how to work. He is incredible. He really knows how to get it done and we are really complimenting each other well.

Anyway, we have our zone meeting this next week... which is different from a Zone Conference if you were wondering. President Barry conducts Zone Conferences which happen once every three transfers. And we conduct Zone Meetings and they happen once a month. Most missions don't have Zone Meetings. Anyway, everything is really busy and it has just been nuts!!!!!! A lot of missionary things this last week we had to solve.. It is good though. :)

I am sorry it is such a short email... we just have a lot we are doing today.

I love ya'll a ton... 

Love

Elder Wise

Pride is All About Me, Humility Is About Others - February 25, 2013

Hello :)

Elder Huckvale and Elder Wise - companions!

An iNet book is basically a book that has a map that maps out where every member, investigator, and former investigators are and it makes planning so much easier and we can take it with us throughout the day! It is really effective :)

Wow, Elder Huckvale and I had a crazy week. It has been a lot of fun. We are having a lot of success. God is blessing us. We have 6 baptismal dates on for March right now and we will be setting another one on Wednesday :D It is amazing! We have been so unified in teaching and just how to do missionary work. It has been great!

And ... I still have 4 months left, why are they already planning my flight? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I got a letter from Salt Lake asking us which airport Elder Wise would be flying into so they can begin arrangement for his return home. I was uber excited, but not so much Elder Wise! :) 

Elder Huckvale and I are calling March, March Madness :D It is great!

We got a package from Sister Huckvale haha... We got round table pizza and it tasted soooo great!

The biggest thing I learned is that Pride is all about me. Humility is about others. So basically whenever I am thinking about myself I am prideful. Basically, I am extremely PRIDEFUL! haha. I am working on it though.

Love

Elder Wise

PAPERMAKER ZONE!!!!! - February 18, 2013

Hello Family,

Well, my companion is from Camas, Washington. His name is Elder Huckvale haha.. It is always funny when we meet new members and they ask us where we are from. Elder Huckvale will say "I am from Camas, WA". And then I will say "I am also from Camas, Washington". Then this look of complete confusion comes over their face haha. It makes my day. (That is awesome! LOL... It is rare for two missionaries from the same ward to be called to the same mission at the same time. It is even more rare for those two missionaries to become companions, and Zone Leaders!!! It's so fun, and Susie Huck and I are going to have a BLAST!) 

Elder Huckvale is a genius missionary. He has genius ideas. This last week we set 4 baptism dates. We basically have a total of 6 baptism dates right now. The Lord is really blessing us.

Jennifer and her daughters are doing really well. Her daughter got sick this last week so she wasn't able to make it to church. We invited her to pray about getting baptized on the 24th. Later, she told us she doesn't quite feel ready for the 24th. So we are going to shoot for March. Elder Huckvale and I are calling it March Madness. It is going to be a big month. Our entire zone is really picking up and doing well.

We came up with a Jax East Zone Fight Song. Tell me if it sounds familiar.

Give a yell, give a cheer for all the papermakers here.

We are fighting for Jesus Christ.

We are brave, we are bold with a message to be told.

And a record that you can hold.

So testify, in the name of Christ.

Inviting others to repent. BAPTIZE!

Wherever they go, they will always know that the work goes rolling along.

That the work goes rolling along.

RA RA RA RA RA

RA RA RA RA RA

RA RA RA RA RA

GOOOO JAX EAST!

(This is th Camas High School Papermaker Fight Song set to new words!! LOL - AWESOME!) 

:D

hahahah. We are calling it the Jax East Papermaker Zone.

Elder Huckvale and I are getting along uber well! It is so weird being companions. Elder Huckvale gave a talk in sacrament meeting this week. The Bishopric asked him to at the last second. He opened up his talk by sharing a story when we were on a double date. He was with Taryn and I was with Stephanie. Basically, we almost got in a 100 mph head on car accident going up to hike to some waterfalls. Then he said, "But no worries about the girls, they are both married now." And everyone busted up laughing hahahaha.

It has been a lot of fun. We are going to hang out in downtown Jacksonville after emails today.

Well, I hope you have a great week.

We have Zone Conference this week and we have to give training and set a lot of it up. So it should be fun :)

I gotta run though.

Love ya

Elder Wise

I Know It and I Cannot Deny It - February 12, 2013

Hello :)

We did have a great week this week. I know Elder Bushman didn't. He is so depressed about going home.

Well, my new companion as of tomorrow is Elder Huckvale (Sooooooo exciting! Rarely do young men get called to the same mission from the same ward. Even more rarely, once out, do they become companions together let alone zone leaders together! So wonderful! Susie Huck and I are going to have a BLAST!). They are doing transfers differently. They used to call us Monday night and let us know who is getting transferred but not where we are going and who our companion is. Then we would all meet in one place Wednesday morning and then get our new companions and drive back to our area. Now they changed it. They had a mission wide conference call last night and announced transfers. They let us know where we are going, and who our new companion is. Vans will pick up and drop off now.

That is how I know already. I will get Elder Huckvale tomorrow :D (wooooohooooooo!!!!) 

As for some business,

Well, the gospel of Jesus Christ really fixes everything. No matter what the problem, when we live the gospel of Jesus Christ, our problems are solved. It just amazes me. I LOVE IT!

The guy who plays football is doing okay. He forgot how he felt the first time we met with him. He is still investigating but we have to help him gain another spiritual witness.

I don't know if I talked about them last week but I think I did. We are teaching a family of 4. (no father though) Mother and 3 daughters. The oldest daughter is baptismal age and the rest are under. They have come to church the last two weeks and the love it so much. The daughter is super excited about her baptism and we are trying to help the mother gain a testimony. She loves the church organization though. We are really excited for them. We found them by just contacting her on the street. She was getting the mail out of her mailbox. It is crazy.

Missions are really a blessing. It has really changed me and help me grow. I know it did the same for Dad and Teagen and it will do the same for Micah and Stock.

I like what you said Mom about having a journal to look back and remember how we felt. I am serving in the south. The Baptist Bible Belt. There is a lot of anti and I HAVE HEARD IT ALL! Most of it isn't true. Sometimes, it has gotten to me and I had to pray and ponder. EVERYTIME, I am drawn back to how I have felt in the past when I was first received my testimony when Elder Rendon and Olsen were teaching the Restoration to someone in our home and how I feel when I read the Book of Mormon. I KNOW IT IS TRUE. I KNOW THAT GOD KNOWS IT, AND I CANNOT DENY IT! Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God who restored the gospel. Thomas S. Monson is the current Prophet on the earth. I know it and I cannot deny it. No never, No never, I will never forsake!

We knocked on a door the other day. An Arabic man answered. We talked to him and he was friendly. He mentioned he was a pastor over an Arabic congregation. He asked what the book we were holding was. We excitedly introduced the Book of Mormon. Fear came over the mans face and he started calling the book rubbish and told us we need to throw it in the trash. We both testified to the man that it is the word of God. He then started talking about polygamy and how we don't believe in Christ. I told him I have one mother and one father, that I knew that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He then told me that I don't know Jesus and that my parents must not be Mormon  I then told him they are. He then repeated back telling me that my parents are not members. I was so frustrated with the hard heart of this man. That we was so closed minded that he was telling me what I believe. That I don't believe in Christ and that my parents (who he doesn't know at all) are not Mormon. Some people just aren't ready. The gospel is TRUE! (I've had many experiences where people tell me what I believe and tell me about my religion and how they know so much. It baffles me. However, like Levi shared, it actually makes my testimony stronger). 

Love

Elder Wise (Disciple of Christ NOW and FOREVER :) ) That is part of our Mission Vision.

10 Things I Have Learned On My Mission - February 4, 2013

Elder Bushman and Elder Wise - contemplating their top 10

Hello :)

We had a really busy/good week! We were able to find a lot of new investigators which we were really hoping for. Heavenly Father blessed us. One of them we found is a single mother with 3 daughters. They came to church Sunday and they LOVED it. The mother really loved relief society.

The other man we found played college football for Edward Waters College. A small college. He is living with some friends that played there too. We first taught him and it was a really powerful lesson. At the end of the lesson he was on the edge of his seat and he said "mind blown"! haha. He accepted to be baptized on February 24th. Now we are teaching his roommates too. We have another appointment with them tonight.

We have another lady we are teaching that has a baptism date for February 12th, so things are going really good right now.

Well, Elder Bushman is making a list of 10 things he has learned on his mission and writing about each one, taking about a page in his journal. I thought it was a good idea, so I came up with 10 things I have learned so far. It will probably change in the next four months. But it really helped me see how much my mission has blessed me and I am so thankful for it. Here are the 10 things so far.

1) What the gospel of Christ actually is!
2) What is most important! Priorities.
3) Who I am and how to be myself!
4) How to communicate! Especially in sticky situations. (Patience)
5) Power of Scripture Study and Prayer
6) How to recognize, follow, and teach by the spirit!
7) Humility and Obedience
8) How to work hard!
9) How to love people no matter what!
10) Use time wisely!

I am still working on all of them, but I have gotten a lot better at all of these.

To comment on Mom's last thing she wrote. (I made reference to him focusing on his mission and not looking forward to coming home. I compared it to racing and running THROUGH the finish line and not stopping short and "coasting", b/c sometimes that can cost you the race!) Sometimes I will catch myself thinking about what I am going to do when I get back home. As soon as I notice myself doing it. I recite 2 Nephi 31:21

" And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen." 

It reminds me what is most important right now and it helps me focus. It has really helped me this past week. I never thought being with a missionary going home would be so hard. But it IS! Elder Bushman isn't even trunky, he has some freak out moments, but he is focused. Just seeing another missionary go home is weird. I think it will be a lot easier when he is gone.

I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing on this earth and it supersedes everything else! It is the only way to make it back to the kingdom of God. None of the other things matter! WE CANT KEEP THEM! I am so glad I have grown up in the gospel. I don't know what I would do without it. I am so grateful to serve as a full time missionary. I will push to the end. I will not let myself get distracted! I promise!

Thank you for being amazing parents and showing me the right path! :)

I love you all! Hope you have a great week! Good job Micah and Stock on your finals by the way!

I love you!
Elder Wise

Will Elder Huckvale Become Elder Wise's Companion? - January 28, 2013

I had a crazy week this week. In our zone we have had a lot of emergency transfers. One of which was an Elder that was supposed to go home on valentines day, but because of health reasons he went home a little early, and guess who took his spot? Elder Huckvale! So here is something interesting. Elder Huckvale is in Dunn Ave and his companion is Elder Baczuk. Elder Baczuk just got released from being a Zone Leader last transfer and is now the District Leader. When Zone Leaders get released, they always train. So here is the rumor, President Barry was planning on sticking Elder Huckvale with me in Arlington. He planned on having Elder Baczuk train. So he is just sticking Elder Huckvale in Dunn Ave until transfers. Then he will come with me. That is the rumor.

The Assistants work with President Barry to figure out transfers. They went on a trade off with us this week. On the trade offs, Elder Tomlinson (the Assistant) asked Elder Bushman how Elder Huckvale and I would be in a companionship. So it is actually sounding like Elder Huckvale might come back to Arlington with me. That would be absolutely crazy haha! (Elder Huckvale is from our ward and got called to the Florida, Jacksonville mission about 6 mo after Elder Wise!! CRAZY! It was cool to be called to the same mission from the same ward, but not the possibility of being companions and zone leaders??? WOW! - stay tuned) 
Teagen told me the BYU game was just like the one we went to. They started chanting B Y U Cougars around THEIR stadium... haha. It is so great!

Well, this week was really crazy.. We had three trade offs in a row. I was absolutely exhausted after those. haha. This week is going to be crazier.

Tomorrow, we will be going to a District Meeting. Wednesday, we have Zone Leader Council. Thursday, we have a meeting I will tell you more about in a second. We have weekly planning on Friday. And on Saturday, we have a short exchange. Then on Sunday we have Church. So basically, we will only be proselyting in our area from about 4 to 9 each day.. It is going to be a hectic week.

Have you heard of Gladys Knight and her choir "Saints United Voices"? Well, basically they come to big cities and she does a performance in one of the Stake Centers. She is a convert and she is from the south. They did it in Savannah a couple years back and over a hundred people were converted because of it. People in Savannah still talk about it. It should be pretty exciting. They ask missionaries to play a pretty big role in it. The meeting on Thursday is basically telling us what they expect us to do. It should be really great!

I got a letter from Brother Huckvale this week. He basically told me to not get trunky. That was neat.

Well, I was just talking to Elder Huckvale, and apparently President Barry told him that he would be coming with me. Crazy huh?

Anyway, I don't have too much to talk about this week. Well, actually, we have a former investigator that came to church awhile back and didn't like it. We went by and saw her again and she said she would like to try it out again. She said she feels more spiritually prepared. We retaught her the restoration and she said everything makes sense. We invited her to be baptized on February 17th. She accepted. It is actually her birthday. :) Things are going really well!
Anyways, I love you all a ton. Hope you have a great week. Mom, hope you get feeling better :)

Love,
Elder Wise

Pride is the Source of All Bad Things - January 21, 2013

Hello :)

We had a great week! Jonah did get baptized yesterday and it was a great experience filled with the spirit. He is pretty scared of water, it was really neat to see his courage and faith in Christ to suck up his fear. :) Pretty incredible. He is 15. After the baptism he went up to the Young Men's President and asked if he could go to the temple now! That made my day. It was so great!

Well, this is Elder Bushman's last transfer and transfers are February 13th. So he will be flying home on the 14th which is Valentines day! He was just on facebook and he saw that his Mom created an event for his homecoming talk and that killed him.. POOR guy haha. He is staying strong though. He has been a good example to me on how not to get trunky :) He also got grilled at church yesterday. All the members were talking to him about going home.. He hated it.

Well, there is a man named Demond we have been teaching for awhile. He has always been pretty closed off to us. We couldn't figure out what to do. He is a part member by the way. His wife is a member. So one time we went over there, we ended up talking about sports for probably 20 to 30 minutes and afterwards, he really opened up and started asking really good questions. It just showed me that sometimes us missionaries have to be human :) haha. No, we always need to be ourselves, or else people can't trust us. That has been hard for me to try to find the balance between being myself and not wasting time talking about things that don't really matter in the long run. But, I do need to be human.

Something else I was reminded of this week is to be humble. I am prideful haha. We all are prideful in our own ways. Me, I am prideful when it comes to earthly possessions. I want to posses nice things :P I am also prideful in sports. STILL! I know.. it is pathetic. I am working on it though. In sports I am not so much prideful in the way that I think I am AMAZING... Because I am really not very good. It is more so I talk trash sooo much.. haha. Mainly joking around.. but still. I am working on it. I am obviously prideful in a lot of other things. But, those are my two biggest. A member of the Bishopric gave an excellent talk on Pride and Humility. Pride is really the source of all bad things. The member who gave the talk is one of the most humble men I know too.

Anyways, things are going pretty normal right now. Just plugging and chugging along with the work..

So here are the points of my Mission Statement.. the goals behind it.

1) Humility - I am a humble disciple of Jesus Christ.
2) Focus on the Gospel of Christ - I eat, drink, and breath His gospel.
3) Obedient and Diligent - I forsake my will for His.
4) Strengthen my Testimony - And I nourish my testimony daily!

That is basically what I am really working on right now.

I am sort of scared to go play Stock man in basketball when I get back! It sounds like he is the man!

FOR STOCKTON: Stockton, GET YOUR BUTT OFF THE PLAYSTATION AND HIT THOSE WEIGHTS! PLAYING VIDEO GAMES WONT DO ANYTHING FOR YOU!!!!!! Bishop Wight said it himself, all your missing is strength! Build that strength and EVERYONE will be SCARED TO PLAY YOU!!! I wish I would have worked out harder. I am already scared... haha. AND READ THE SCRIPTURES OF COURSE :D I LOVE YOU BRO!!!

Well, I love you ALL!! And have an AMAZING WEEK! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Love
Elder Wise

Short and Sweet - January 7, 2013

Hello Family :)

New Year's day was incredible! The Gator Bowl was a lot of fun. A lot of missionaries went. We had nose bleeder seats, but it was really fun. Northwestern crushed them, and yes, it was really sloppy play. I was able to get a t-shirt at the game. (we watched the game because we knew Levi was there. We kept watching for a group of white shirts, but the seats were empty! I guess the camera never showed the nose bleed seats :) ... it was a blowout, but a cool game to attend. They had a blast and yes, it was all approved by the mission president! The Gator Bowl just happened to fall on their P-day.) 

Well, I am going to try to keep it short today because of the essays.

Janice's baptism was incredible. Elder Bushman and I sang a "special" musical number. We sang "Joseph Smiths First Prayer" to the tune of "In Humility, Our Savior". It was fun. The spirit was definitely there. Our zone was struggling finding the last few weeks. So, we decided to have a "Master Finding Friday". Our goal was to find 18 new investigators on that one day as a zone. We ended up finding 14 :) In Arlington, we found 5 new investigators. We had an incredible week of finding.

We met this man who said he played football in HS and had scholarships to Clemson and Florida. But, he decided not to go because of work. ALSO, his wife ran track and she said she ran a 10.3 100m??? (yeah, sprinters are like fishermen - they always run about 1-2 seconds faster than reality. Somehow, every time they tell the story, they get faster? How does that happen? :)  Is that even possible? She does look extremely athletic.

Anyway, we are really excited for all of these new investigators Heavenly Father has blessed us with :)

Yes, I did get a package from G and G Wise. I have been meaning to write them a letter but everything is so busy. They got me some Adidas socks that are super comfy. They also sent those Walnuts they make. I think they are walnuts? My companion and I ate them up in a day. They were good haha.

Anyways, sorry for the short email. Gotta Run

Love

Elder Wise

GATOR BOWL!!! and Happy Black Out Year - January 1, 2013

Hello :)

I have to be quick today. We have to get running to the Gator bowl!

Well, Janice didn't get baptized this last week, but she is today :) We are so excited. We got the Gator Bowl and a baptism today. Can New Years Day get any better?

Gator Bowl! 

Isn't Cameron Marshall coming home this week? I can't believe time is flying by like this. Elder Bushman rolled out of bed this morning and said "Elder, it is 2013. The year of our mission is over :(" I told him to not say such things haha. But, us missionaries call the one year we are gone the entire year "The year of the Mission". Our blackout year. haha. 

Oh... transfer news... Elder Bushman and I are both staying in Arlington. No changes.

And... I have some news. So I originally told you the day i fly home is June 20th. Well, the new age change altered that . With all the new missionaries coming out they are shortening the MTC time .. So they are messing with one of our transfer cycles. Our transfer in March is only going to be 5 weeks. So we all lose a week on our mission. So I will be flying home on June 13th now..jsyk.

Anyways, I love you all. It was great talking to you this last week. I have to run so we can make it to the gator bowl on time.

LOVE you

Elder WISE