February 17, 2014

 Hey guys!!! so first thing congrats stant :) im so proud of you bro!!!! i had a mini wrestling match in here with this key board and my neighbors leg when i was watching your matches haha your did absolutly brilliant though man :)

 

sounds like you guys had a really good week as well.. visiting the veterans, shelby getting kissed by a 97 year old man, haha! what the!! that was so funny :) im really happy to hear you all are happy :) i love you guys!!

 

so this week in lincoln.... crazy story... first picture ha

 

so this guy came up to me with a wrench and asked for my bike.. siince it wasnt mine i said no because its not mine to give.. so he hit me...........

 

haha just kidding!! i hit a patch of ice :) i was in a good lean to make a corner and my bike came out from under we so fast all that hit was my face.. it just skidded, ha! horrid really.. i also was wearing my gray suit..... hole in the knee and soaked it in blood..... im gutted about that... ill still rock it though :) ha but ya thats my story! because of that we missed district leader council and i have a hole in my face.

 

I also ate this stuff called crakling.. dad you might remember what this stuff is.. basically just pig skin and fat cooked into the oven till its really hard and crunchie :) so i was feeling adventurous and tried some haha turns out on the pig skin they dont take off the hair hahah so I just ate a football with hair on it haha it was sorta gross it had a good flavor though :) and i ate a little extra just to prove my man hood ha i should have taken a picture.. just pig skin with hair on it... one of the wreirder things i have eatin ha

 

so now that all the weird stuff is out of the way!

 

one of the little girls we were teaching got baptised this weekend :) she is so sweet! what she said the lesson befor her baptism (she is 9) was "mom dad can i get baptised? i really feel like im old enough to keep the commandments and do what god asks".. that about melted my heart, how cool is that? i love seeing how the gospel will always bring the best out of people if they let it :) her baptism was wonderful to.. held after church. some of her relitives spoke :) it was wonderful!! baptism is such an amazing step we get to take.

 

the rest of this week has been really good though :) elder mcfarland and i are great friends.. its so nice. like if we were at home we would totally chill.. it makes working hard so much easier knowing that they have your back and that we are on the same page.. he is the best.  i have been so blessed! i love being a missionary so much..

 

all of your recent converts are doing great as well... i honestly dont really know what to say besides the church of jesus christ is the one true church on this earth.. and by livin the way we should we will be blessed :) i love seeing the gospel take root in peoples lives.. it makes everything so much better!!

 

 

HAPPY BIRTH DAY SHELBY!!!!

i love you all so much though... im just so grateful to you. thanks for all you do for me.. i love you guys!

 

i got your valentines day package this morning haha guess what i had for breakfast?

 

ahhh yeah fruity pebbles haha i even bowled ha.. you guys are great :)

 

make sure to have a good safe week :)

 

make sure to get stant a cup of water for me :) i owe ya one haha

 

ok this is the last time..

 

i love you!

 

love elder wiser

this is annabelle and katy and elder mcfarland!

i was trying to look tough here for my fake story haha here is a better one :) im trying to smile im glad i still have all my teeth ha wouldnt want that :) one of my teeth went all the way throgh my lip though..... im glad i didnt break my nose of something.. blessings ha!

here is mid healing :)

February 10, 2014

UUH in not really sure what to say this week..we have been working hard and stuff and we have two baptisms this week but I'm not really sure what to say. but here goes.... :)


so annabelle, we had a big lesson with her this week.. she was preparing to be baptized on the ninth. she was feeling good about it but then her roommate asked if she knew what she was getting into. so she got online and read some pretty horrible things.. that lesson was a hard one ... she knew it was good but it was hard for her to get over it.. we had a really good talk, left her with some scriptures, and then met up with her again a few days later.. she just knows its true :) she knew it was before and she knows now.. just a little bit of a stumbling block. good thing Hannah was there though.. we could have handled it alright but Hannah was amazing :) she just told us the next lesson she wanted to be baptized on the sixteenth ha it was great.. its so important to focus on the ppl.. sure teaching twenty lessons is great and what we are supposed to do.. but make sure that everyone you teach learns something that will benefit them..... teach ppl not lessons... some ppl just try to check the boxes but thats not what human beings need... i have loved teaching this week :) i love feeling like i have helped someone.. i feel so blessed to be in lincoln and i hope i get to stay here for a lot longer.. i love the ward they are so good to us missionarys.. so ready to come out with us and so amazing... i just love this gospel :) god has a plan for us.. everything that happens is D&C 122:7

I really really love you guys though :) make sure to have a good week... Elder Mcfarland is great!!! absolute legend!

love you guys :)

elder wiser

(I asked him if he missed his old companion, this was his response)

I really loved Elder Higham because when we were together we weren't just going throughout the motions...i felt like we sincerely wanted to help ppl and work hard not just to go through the motions...i love all the recent converts here.. its going to be so hard to leave this place if i have to!  i wanna stay here forever!  I really love matt, we spend quite a bit of time with him..he has been making me gluten free stuff :) cool hu? lasagna and dessert..curries :) i hope hannah will email you soon..everest will, ill ask him and Chloee too.

(I received this email from Sterling on February 11, 2014)

hey ma so i have some sad news.... annabelle. we had a lesson this morning and her mom called her and told her she couldnt get baptised.... she is old enough to choose but if she did she wouldnt talk to her..... ahhh mannnnn!!!!!! im shattered.. the only reason im on here is cuz pres wanted us to take a survey.... i felt so bad but we just read D&C122:7 and second nephi 4 ninteen i think.... just talked about how we can learn from everything that happens. we are fasting tomorrow to try and soften her moms heart... will you guys do that as well? stupid satan.... we feel like we comforted her and she was cheered up a little. at the end of the lessons we have with her i always ask if anyone has any questions comments or blond jokes and that seemed to get a smile out of her haha.... I have to do some more stuff for the district later this week so ill let ya know whats going on . but I love you guys :) I hope the funeral went ok and I hope the family is I ok....  I wish I could send like a spirit hug to you guys.. just know I love ya and that if there is anything I can do for any of you I will do it... (ask me to baptise everyone!) haha just kidding, already trying :) I do love you though :)

have a great rest of your week!! ill let you know whats happening in a few days.

oh man last comment.. so in the bill carpenter story.... idk if you have heard it but i love it. you should check it out.. when he wants to be baptised his parents call him to their house and when he gets there there is all of his stuff on his front door with a note saying "if you get baptised,this family will go from twelve to eleven. so if you choose that take your bags and go.".... when i listen to that it kills me and i feel like thats whats happening to annabelle.. the missionaryes in the tape tell him that if he dosent get baptised he will show his family that he loves them then.. but if he does it will show them he loves them for eternity..... it just shows that satan will try to get at someone doing the right thing in anyway he can.. it makes me mad but at the same time what can we learn here.... ha ill let ya know :)   love ya!

elder wiser

February 3, 2014

hey guys!!!! good to hear from you all today :) man seems like loads is going on and I appreciate stantons picture on his new bed! haha ah man you guys make me laugh :) the house is lookin good though.. is it wierd having a hard wood floor down where the man cave used to be? seems like you guys have had your hands full!! :)

 

well reading about lavar is really sad.. i remeber him really well actually :) always in a hat with his shirt tucked in, I remember him being really joky as well... its just weird how stuff happens so sudden.. all you can really say is that God has a plan for us.. I watched a mormon message on forgivness the other day about that guy whos family was killed in a car crash and how he just forgave the drunk teenage driver that caused it... when I watched that i just seemed to think of how much harder would it be going throgh that not knowing that God is there for us.. i just feel wierd about it.... ah man.. im glad so many ppl showed up though :) i bet he didnt even know he made such an impact on ppl.. 

 

well now that im all feeling thoughful and quite i guess ill carry on ha

 

 

Here is a message from my new companion:  this is elder mcfarland       "sup. im from bountiful. being a missionary is the best. GET INVOLVED!!"

 

so yeah thats him :) we are just really good friends :) the person he seems most like to me back at home is destery haha so he is just funny but we have another really good transfer ahead of us :) lincoln is the best!! i love this place :) the ward has gottten so excited about missionary work its awesome.. next week we are going finding with the ysa :) haha im going to try to go out with everest!! stopping all the chinese ppl i can ha ah man... im going to be so sad if i leave here.. i love it so much!

 

i dont know if you guys ever got to talk to elder highams family but he is the coolest :) i miss him.. the mission is what the mission is but i loved serving with him.. he is going to be a great zone leader in nottingham though...

 

in a short bold statement though things are going great :) i love serving out here.. i feel like everyday i get a confermation that this is the place god wants me to be in and im here for a reason :) i read in the BD about prayer and how pretty much we are just trying to alighn our will with gods.. i cant remember exactally what it said but doing your best is all that god wants from us.... he knows what that is and so do you :) we always have energy to sprint the last part of the race and we can always show a little more love, stop one more person. serve just a little longer :) i always tie it into this but in wrestling i feel like i learned that my mind really does controll my body.. if i felt tired its because i told my self i was getting tired.. out here i feel that spiritualy im growing in that way.. there is always a little more we can do :) its all about the mind set and alighning our will with gods :)

 

i dont know if that makes any sense.. ha ill have matt face book you about the baptism though.. we are going over to his house for dinner tomorrow :)

 

to answer your question about the mail and stuff.. its all good :) quite a few ppl emial me so sometimes i cant get back to them all.. but i have found a pretty good system of how to work it :) i have colllected a pretty good stack of dear elders though ha its hard when you only spend a few hours in the flat a day and most of it is study eating and getting ready to leave again ha but all is well.. just keep doing what your doing :) it is harder for me to do hand writtten ones though.. because i run around all day.. if i had a car!! ha oh my goodness!!! i totally crashed this week! i forgot to tell you.. so elder mcfarland and i have many similar hobbies and one of those is bikes :) well one day i was feeling a bit adventurous (spelling) and i decided to bunny hop a curb.... well i didnt realize how fast i was going and that my brakes dont work  and i ran into a house haha if i had more time to tell it i would build it up a little more but yeah... i sterling wiser ran into a house this week :) it bent my front fork so at the moment im riding a spare bike till i can get some time to take the tire off and pull it back to normal ha ah man.... i love life!! i also had an old bag of carrots and went and fed some horses :) like thirty of them!! ha ill try and send some pics but i love you guys :) have a great week!!!

 

love elder wiser

January 27, 2014

So im going to have to be speedy, but this week was amazing..... so spiritual! ok so I have a few highlights

Matthew was baptised this sunday on Jan 26 of 2014.... he was so prepared to receive the gospel...

we had a few lessons with him this week that were amazing..

One of the lessons was on the atonement.. Sister priestly came up with a brilliant idea about doing a lesson on the atonement.. so we did the who, what, when, how, whys of the atonement.. it invited the spirit so strongly and then there was a cherry on top.. this story.. if you can look it up I would because it was awesome...

The Story is called "The Room" by Josh Harris. on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh-I56L0S4I

its a story about a man who is dreaming about being in a room with a bunch of files in it... he walks through it and realizes that everything in his life has been recored on these little index cards.. he goes through some that bring him great joy and some that bring him deep sadness... some things he had wished had never been recoreded.. but there they were in his own hand writing and with his name signed at the bottom. 

I pulled out file after file of things that had happend in my life. music I had listend to, girls I had liked, jokes I had told, I also came accross things like, mean things I had said to my family, things I had muttured under my breath to my parents, as I looked through file after file I came across one with the title lustful thoughts I have had, I pulled the file out  just three inches to pull out a card. while reading it I felt a horror and shame that I hadn't felt before! I had to destroy these cards! I had to find the key to this room, lock it and throw away the key! I yanked out the file drawer and began to hit it on the ground. only to find that the cards all stayed in place! I pulled out a card just to find they were as strong as steel and I couldn't tear them. My back hit the wall and with tears streeming down my face I let out a long sigh.. then someone enterd the room.... no oh no it can't be him.. it was Jesus Christ.. He came over to me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.. then he began to look at the files. No no I yelled! he was pulling out each card. and where my name was signed his name was signed over, signed with red ink.. his named was signed with his blood.... it seemed like a flash and he was back by my side.. words couldn't describe how I felt, a wieght was lifted off my shoulders and I felt at ease I looked up at Jesus and he gave me a smile.. he stood up and offered me a hand. I took it and he helped me up and took me to the door.. this room had no lock, there was still cards to be written.

Jesus suffered for our sins and we can be forgiven for them. all we have to do is ask :)

I love you guys and I know the church is true..

being a missionary is the best :)

love elder wiser

ma I gotta go!! ill have matt email you about his baptism :) he is an amazing man.. I truly love you all so much..

ill talk to you next week :)

January 20, 2014

Hey ma :) district p-day today!! i would send pics but I'm at the apple shop... i probably won't get to email till next week.. but we shall see.... we had some really cool things happen... matt passed his baptism interview and is getting baptised next week..... he is the best :) ill tell you more about it when i can... but i love you guys so much!! i gotta go!!!

love elder wiser

Sterling didn't have a lot of time today - he just sent these little messages in response to some of my email questions.

Transfer calls were today - So I asked if Sterling would be seeing any changes - this was his response:

I'm staying in Lincoln and president called Elder Higham to be a zone leader........ I don't have much time either because were going to a lesson. He is pretty nervous but he is more prepared and worthy than anyone else I know... he is going to be the best zone leader in the mission!!!

I told him about my new teaching job at South ogden jr. high:

ah thats so good!!!! what an amazing week :) sounds like you have your hands full with all of those students.. I'm glad you like it though :) nothing like enjoying your new job!! the guy Matt we are teaching is a teacher and he said all you have to do is be really strict, then ease up and people will respect you and then they love you :) so thats the best!! your the best ma.. all your students are going to love you :)

We sent him some pictures from Stanton's wrestling tournament in Idaho Falls - Tiger Grizz:

tiger grizz... I cant beleive that is all going on right now.. last year, I was there!!! ahh man! I wish I could watch him.. he looks like he is really going after it though... I love his stash haha, I love it :) i'll be getting on later but i dont have a lot of time left.. i really love you :) my family one will be for later :) love you!! (We didn't get a family email)

I asked him if he had time to go sightseeing on his P-Day:

oh and with sight seeing :) yeah i have seen the cathedreal... and the castle ha but we dont have a lot of time for that sorta stuff.... teach, find, teach, find, ha! when we come back here after my mission i'll give you guys the grand tour though and i'll be able to see most of the stuff :)  

January 13, 2014

mom I thought you would get a kick out of this haha this was on a tub of fake butter I bought

cathedral!

Hannah's baptism

Sooooooo holy cow.... I know I always say this but I have learned sooooooo much this week.... on an insane level... I'm going to tell you about my week first then a story and tie it in :) wish me luck!! haha

 

Hannah was baptised!!!! Yesterday was one of the most spiritual days ever... Hannah is so inspiring and I love her to bits. She asked some really special people to talk and it started the day off with such a strong spirit.. she asked Everest to speak on baptism and he gave one of the most beautiful talks.... I'm getting chills thinking about it but he put a lot of effort into it and he did such a good job... then she asked Katy to speak on the gift of the holy ghost :).. spiritual giants :) I love this place so much!!! The church is so true!! ha, we had a few investigators at the baptism and I dont know how everyone else was feeling, but the spirit was so strong you could cut through it... I looked around at everyone and I saw some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. Hannah is such a choice spirit and her faith is insipiring.. after she was baptised and she was drying off we had a small testimony meeting... beautiful testimonys given.. we were talking to one of our investigators  after and he said he wanted to get up and express his feelings but he was scared he wouldn't be able to hold in his emotion. haha, who does that sound like? but the people visiting loved it :)

 

sooo hannah asked me to confirm her... I was really nervous because I wanted her baptism day to be such a special experience.. and I have given quite a few blessings but I have always had a hard time with feeling like I said what God wanted me to say.. so in preparation to this I fasted and prayed... and I asked God to help me :) when I placed my hands on her head I felt nothing but pure love... and I know I siad what God wanted her to hear.. the spirit was there so strong! she was crying, I was crying. haha! But she told me after that she had questions she needed answered and she told me that blessing did that for her... so again my testimony that God is real and he will help us with our rightious desires... fasting and prayer!!! I litterally feel like my mission has completely changed in this last week.. as I go on you will see

 

interveiws were this week... i was really nervous but I feel like we really bonded. I shared with him my honest feelings and he shared with me his.. it was great :) 

I have been reading a lot about obedience and what it means.. I had success in the past but I'm not living up to my potential!!!! I was still in the JR year of my mission!! ha (wrestling comparison). I read a bunch of scriptures about it and thought about the stories I already know.... obedience :) thats what separates everything pretty much.. so I have some goals that are going to be in place very soon..

 

But my story......

 

so an 18 year old boy had just gotten out of high school and was loooking for a job.. since he lived in a huge forest and all of his ancestors had done it, he wanted to become a lumber jack.. or a choppy tree down guy, ha! He knew it was a hard job and that he would have to get strong. So he could work really hard and be one of the best workers on the site.. he practiced chopping down trees in to practice and he found he was quite good at it... when one day someone asked him to come and work for them! He was so excited!! He had saved up his money and bought a brand new axe for this job.. he made a promise to his boss that he would be one of the hardest workers out there.... with that his boss told him to go out and get to work. the first day he came back and told his boss that he had cut down 18 trees! his boss was impressed because that was far better than a lot of other men that had been working on the site for a long time.. but he wanted to wait and see how long it would go on.. he sent him out again the next day.. and the boy came back and told him he had only cut down fifteen trees.. he worked just as hard but he didnt do as good as he did the first day. He just thought it was becasue he was sore and he knew he tried his best.. the next day he only cut down twelve.. and the next day only nine... each day was a decrease but he couldnt find out why... he woke up at the same time every day.. he swung his axe as hard as he could and worked just as long as he always had.. and the end of the day he came back to his boss and with a face full of guilt and told him he had only cut down nine trees.. his boss asked him why he had not cut down as many as when he first started.. he told him he didn't know and his boss asked for his axe... he felt the sharp end and noticed that it had big dents in it and it was so dull he would have been better off using a hammer...when the boy asked what was wrong he told him he found out why he had been working so hard but not as effective as he could be, he told the boy to go home and sharpen his axe.. so thats exactally what he did.. he went home and he sharpened his axe till it was as sharp as it was when he first purchased it.. the next day he woke up excited to try out the shapend edge of his axe... he woke up at the same exact time as normal and went out and went to work. as he returned and reported his work to his boss for the whole week he had gone all the way back up to 18 and sometimes even 20 or 22 trees! his boss asked him what had happened that helped him work so much harder.. the boy told him that every night when he would go home he would take some time out and sharpen his axe..

 

Now I only heard a condensed version of that so I tried to put some Elder Wiser creativity in there, haha! but in the story.. the boy/girl. represents us :) we have been sent down here to work and the axe is our testimony... there is a lot of ways you could make this story huge by doing the things your boss asks to sharpen your axe.. obedience :) many things like that! but when I heard this I thought it was amazing because as missionarys we wake up and do what were supposed to do and finish the day.... but if we take the extra time to sharpen our axe.. how much more effective we will be :)

 

I may have explained this bad but I feel like I grew from it :)

 

I love you guys so much and im really happy :)

make sure to have a  great day!!!

love elder wiser

 

Shince she is a seeker :) sounds sorta scary but what that means is well this is her story...she has been in lincoln for 3 years at the beginning of this year she prayed and asked God to help her strengthen her relationship with him.... the day we met her she said that she had prayed five minutes before we met that she really wanted to strengthen her relationship with God :) and she met us!! and we shared a message that can definitely help her with that haha! man I have so many blessings we have seen. 

 

with transfers... I love elder higham.... I hope we stay together for this next one. I'm praying we get to stay for another one because we have become such good freinds :).. ah man.. I feel so different... i'll keep you guys posted on my progress.. 

Here is a really great message our Mission President sent out:

In Preach My Gospel we are challenged “to rise to a new sense of commitment to assist our Father in Heaven in His glorious work.” Recently, a missionary asked how he could rise to a new sense of commitment.

If we are not mindful, the reasons that limit or reduce our commitment may go unnoticed. Making unwise choices, casual observance of sacred covenants and responsibilities, or spending too much time in giving first-class devotion to lesser causes are a few examples. When our commitment is less than it should be or has diminished for any reason, part of the solution is repentance. Commitment and repentance are closely intertwined.

For us to rise to a new sense of commitment, we must be willing to look closely at our conduct and actions. Only then will we truly know and feel we need to change. C. S. Lewis asserted that Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness; but until people know and feel they need to change, Christianity does not speak to them. He stated, “When you know you are sick, you will listen to the doctor.”

As missionaries, we are expected to keep the commandments, to obey mission rules, and to follow the counsel of our leaders willingly. As we do, we will know and feel what is needed “to rise to a new sense of commitment.” As we obey, we increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom. We rise to a new sense of commitment. Let our commitment be to complete obedience.

The First Presidency promises that “the Lord will reward and richly bless you as you humbly and prayerfully serve Him…and more happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children.” Surely the Lord loves, more than anything else, an unwavering commitment to obey His counsel. May His blessings continue to be with you as you honor your commitments! Thank you for your tremendous commitment and for all your righteous endeavors.

With much love and appreciation,

President Rasmussen.

January 6, 2014

Hello there :) good to hear from you all this week :)

 

soooooo we have been so blessed! things are going so well and I'm so happy :)

 

We have met a bunch of new people who want to hear our message and they are all so cool!! I'll show you a picture of a guy named stuart.... we talked with him on the street and he was the coolest guy! He is a body builder so I'm going to take tips from him :) I'm going to come home jacked!! ha me and my half hour of work out in the morning :)

 

Well this week I feel like the highlight this week has just been lincoln.. I feel so blessed to be here I loved Elder Higham.. being a missionary is so good :)

 

What stood out to me this week has just been how good god is and how important faith is.. Hannah passed her baptismal interveiw and is getting baptised next week!!! how cool is that! were so excited for her :) her testimony is amazing and she loves the gospel. !!! whoooooo!!!!!!!

 

I only have five min but all I wanna say is that the church is true :) something ma had hanging up in the kitchen was a board that says prayer changes things.. that is so true.. in Moroni 10 it talks about asking Heavenly Father in the name of Christ having a sincere heart and real intent... I have remembered times when I have prayed for something and I remember looking back telling myself I wanted it but I was really only half hearted or something.. like asking for someone to teach and wanting to feel that prompting but when I hit the playing field I was to scared or something.... in the MTC they showed us that scripture and I thought it was so good for people who were investigating the church... I sorta over looked that thats how everyone should be. haha! Ask and ye shall receive knock and it shall be opened to you! ask in faith!!

 

I love you all :)

happy new year!

Elder Wiser