Week 5 - September 25, 2019

Warning, I'm sorry for literally writing a book right here 😂. I had to make up for last week's short email and so much happened this week!!

HEYOOOO everyone!!!

This week was way awesome!!  So a couple fun things from this week.  You can tip the chairs around the MTC on their back legs if you balance them all right, so before our service project we went and balanced a ton of chairs outside of the gym, and everybody who passed by was dying😂

 😂 Then, another day we decided to put on all the Russian snow gear we have right now, and walk out to the volleyball courts 😂😂 It was epic.  I had on my big coat, a scarf, and gloves, lol. 

THEN, another day when we were out playing volleyball, it starting raining a ton!!  So it was so fun playing in the rain!! (until we were told we had to go back inside haha). 

 

Our teachers no longer let us use Russian notes when we teach lessons, but we had the MOST amazing TRC on Thursday!!  We taught two different lessons.  One was to an older man, and the other to a college girl going to BYU.  They both went so well.  We taught about enduring to the end.  The lesson felt so different when we didn't go off notes and let the Spirit guide the conversation. All the words we needed to say came to us, and the Spirit was definitely present.  I could especially feel it when we were teaching the older man. Before we finished up with him, he stopped us and told us how much the message we just shared meant to him, and how it was exactly what he needed to hear.  I loved seeing the joy it brought to him. 

We, also, have dived even deeper into Russian grammar.  We are now tackling cases!!  And wow! Those are tough!  I'm getting the hang if it though! Here is kind of an explanation of a case.  So, in English, we construct our sentences with "sentence order," if you will, but there is no sentence order in Russian.  You can throw words in whatever order and it makes sense to them because of cases!!!  This is their equivalent of  sentence order kind of haha.  So, what you do, is you identity the nominative subject, then determine the kind of case (we have been learning accusative cases.  Accusative cases are forced by words like "I know" or "I love.")  Then, from there you determine the gender of the noun, change that noun from its nominative/infinitive form of its gender, and then change the adjective or word before the noun to the same gender as the noun, to the right case.  And then boom, you have it!!  We have only practiced writing these, speaking in cases is gonna be on a whole new level lol. Hopefully, that all kind of made sense!!  If not, I'll explain it to you more in two years 😂.  There are also like, five different kinds of cases.  So, LET'S GOOOO ITS HYPE!! haha.  Honestly, their grammar is super interesting, but not easy haha. It's the most satisfying thing in the world when you sit there and properly case and conjugate a sentence.  And then you get to hear your teacher say Молодец!!!!!! which means well done!! hahaha. 

This week, we had a lesson about the Atonement in language class.  I had time to really ponder what the Atonement meant to me.  The idea that Jesus Christ suffered for each and every single one of our sins is unimaginable.  We had the opportunity to teach another person in our District about the Atonement, like they were someone we had just met on our mission who knew nothing about it.  I decided to share with him, 2 Nephi, 21-22. The scripture reads... 

21-  "And he (Jesus Christ) cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam."

22- "And he suffereth this that the Resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great judgment day."

I taught to him that Christ suffered for the sins of not only my mom, my dad, and my three brothers, but also, for HIS mom, HIS dad, HIS sisters, HIS brothers, and HIM.  Christ suffered for EVERYONE, and why did he do it?  I testified that he did it for us because he loves us.  I know he loves us.  The Atonement is proof of his uncomprehending love for us.  I told him that I know Christ wants us to come unto him and live with him again, and that's why he suffered the sins of every single being to come to this earth.  When it comes judgment day, I know he wants to let each of his children into his kingdom.  And we can be with him in his kingdom.  ALL of us can.  As long as we repent and become clean.  And yes, I had to teach this all in Russian.  It was so awesome. This little lesson really made my appreciation and gratefulness of the Atonement grow, and my testimony of it grow.  We also learned in one of the devotionals this week, that we should daily repent. Daily repentance will constantly pull us closer to Christ. 

This Tuesday, we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy, along with Sister Kearon.v He. was. HILARIOUS!!!  Literally so funny, we were all dying during his talk.  Sister Kearon said something that really stood out to me. She said, "Give the Lord your best everyday.  He will accept it, and then give you so much more."  I love the idea of this so much.  First of all, the Lord will accept YOUR best.  Your aren't compared to what someone else's all is.  You're judged by, and only by, your best, and he will accept it.  But not only will he accept it, he will GIVE you his all!!  THE LORD'S ALL!!  It is literally such a blessing.  It's quite the bargain.  Elder Kearon said another thing that really stuck out to me.  He said that "you need to become the message."  When we are out walking around, we can't be walking around without emotion.  We hold the most amazing message in the world!!  We need to share it!!  We need to be excited, exhibiting joy, happiness!! When we come across people along the street, let your light shine!!  Talk to everyone!!  Share the message we have!! He described it as if you were giving someone a brand new Tesla, one that you had been saving up allllll your money to buy and gift it to someone.  When you have finally bought the car and are ready to gift it to someone, YOU BEST BELIEVE YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE THE BIGGEST SMILE ON YOUR FACE!!  The gospel is an even bigger gift than a Tesla!!  We need to become the message, project the joy of our message, make it obvious, talk with excitement. Becoming the message will bring more people unto Christ. 

Lastly, at the beginning of this week I had kind of a lot on my mind, and I honestly wasn't even sure of what exactly was on my mind for some parts!  I didn't know what to do.  I was praying, reading my scriptures, but it the things in my head continued to bug me.  However, as I was reading through Preach my Gospel, I stumbled across the Christlike attribute section.  After reading through it, I had a little thought. "What if I went throughout the week, acting as Christ would act, would this help me resolve what was going on in my head, put my mind at ease?"  After this, I tried to have the mindset when I faced any tough situations and think, "How would Christ handle this?"  I noticed that when I exercised Charity, love, patience, humility, diligence, obedience, and so on, that my mind, heart, and body, not only felt happier, but at ease.  Although sometimes it was hard to act on things such as patience, whether it be patience with the language or patience with other missionaries, I felt so much closer to Christ after I would.  And the times I didn't, would throw me back.  When I showed love for other missionaries, my heart grew bigger.  When we got changed from setting up chairs to cleaning bathrooms (yeah, it's brutal), I decided not to murmur, but to recognize it as an opportunity of charity!  These are attributes we need to act on, Christlike attributes.  I know that if we asses situations and ask ourselves, "What would Christ do here?" and then act on it, that we can grow closer to Christ, to the people around us, to the Spirit, and so much more.  This week has truly opened up my eyes to that. vAgain, its definitely not easy.  It was so hard for me sometimes.  But, can we imagine how hard it was for Christ?  And not once did he begin to murmur and change any of his perfect attributes!  He always took "the high road," if you will. 

It reminds me of a quote from 1 Nephi 19:9 - "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long suffering towards the children of men."  They spit upon him... they scourge him... and they smite him... and what does he do?  He takes it.  And why does he take it?  Because of his loving kindness towards his children.  Some Elders also gave a lesson about how we can show love to others. They shared a church video called, "My Brother Hyrum."

My Brother Hyrum 

(Click on the link above to watch this video.)

I had to definitely hold back the tears while watching this one haha. 

To conclude, I invite you all to think, and then try to act as Christ would in each situation you face throughout your days.  I promise you that by doing so, you will feel closer to him, and that it will make your days brighter.  Pick out attributes for the day and focus on those attributes.  It may be hard, but I know that you can do it if you give it everything you got.  Remember, all the Lord asks of you is to give it your best, so give it your best on these attributes and in everything else!  And by doing so, he WILL reward you.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Thank you all again, for your love and support!  Elder Wilde 

Pics of the Week

MY DOG BLANKET IS FINALLY HERE!!  I have  continued to tell everyone in my district, "My dog blanket should be in soon, my dog blanket should be in soon," and that went on for three weeks or so.  But, NOW IT'S FINALLY HERE.  I have shown it off to EVERYONE on my floor.  It's legit so soft.  And now I can sleep with my two angels each night.  Love you Roxy and Rosco!  

Teaching situations.

Elder Stanley

Week 4 - September 18, 2019

WADDUP, EVERYONE!!

Week 4 was a pretty easy going week, not a ton happened.  It was a pretty hard week in the language department though!!  Our teachers threw SOOO many more conjugations at us this week.  Conjugating verbs, nouns, past tense, future, and present tense.  It's so weird because every single noun has a gender assigned to it, and you have to conjugate it according to its gender.  So, for example, a chair can legit be a feminine object, and you have to conjugate it like so.  It's WACK hahaha.  The hardest part is now that we "know" this grammar, we have to speak that way.  AND IT'S SO HARD TO CONJUGATE ON THE FLY hahah.  We, also, aren't allowed to bring Russian notes into any more of our lessons we teach.  It's really becoming a grind!! haha. But, we're staying strong!!

We were all getting hyped here at the MTC because we thought President Nelson was coming to give the Tuesday devotional, (since he was giving a devotional that Tuesday at BYU), but he didn't end up coming.  It was a little upsetting, but we still were given a great devotional!!  So, everything was good haha. 

 President Russell M. Nelson

Little fun story for the week.  We tried to have a little fun before class, so we got in an elevator and brought like 4 chairs, a table, and a plant in it, and started a "study" session in the elevator, as people called it up and down to pick them up 😂😂😂  A lot of the teachers that got on the elevator actually thought it was so funny, (we definitely did).  But, another teacher did not find it humorous... we moved the study session spot after that.  It was an awkward elevator ride up with her in it 😂😂  People will sometimes put stuff in the elevator though and call it up to each floor without anyone even in it, it's hilarious haha. 😂😂

That's it for the week!!  Love you all!!

Elder Wilde

Week 3 - September 11, 2019

WADDUP ALL Y'ALL!!

Здравствуйте (Hello)

To start off this weeks letter, I gotta share a hilarious story from the week.  I TOTALLY hooked up my companion, Elder Chambers.  He has been AWING over this Sister here at the MTC.  He was wanting to get her email address SO bad.  Literally dying for it. And there was only limited time cuz she was leaving on Monday.  So, on Saturday we were trying to find her in the cafeteria, and right when we were about to give up and almost left, she came walking in!  So, we quickly put our bags back down and were back in action.  My companion was crazy nervous lol.  We legit went over and stood next to her in the salad bar line, and my companion wouldn't make his move!  He kept saying he was too scared/nervous lol.  THEN she walked by us AGAIN to go get food later, and he still didn't say anything!  There was even a point when she was in a line all alone and he still didn't go make his move.  I had had it at this point lol, so the next time she walked by and he didn't call out to her, I took the liberty of doing so.  I started talking to her and then tried to hand the time over to my companion, but he legit couldn't speak and stuttered/choked on his words when he tried to speak, IT WAS SO FUNNY HAHA.  So, I took over for a little while longer until eventually the words starting flowing from his mouth, and he ended up getting her email from her. Afterwards, he could not calm down and kept getting hype and thanking me.  If there's a wedding, I'm getting the first invitation he said hahah.  So, that was a great little story from the week hahaha.

Also, right by the cafeteria there is this huge map with shelves of Book of Mormon around of it, in every language.  Everyone tries to put their Book of Mormon out in front, for everyone to see.  So, one day the Chinese Elders had out their Book of Mormon out front, and I went and replaced it right in front of them as they were walking away, and they turned back and started saying stuff in Chinese, and it was really funny because I started responding back to them in Chinese and they were all crazy shocked and we got the dub :)))) hahaha.  We were all laughing haha. GO RUSSIAN!! I actually need to go make sure the Russian Book of Mormon is up and center right after this!! haha. 

This week in Russian class, we have started to learn how to conjugate words!!  Usually grammatical stuff freaks me out because I suck at it, but I'm honestly kinda killing it a little!!  Its hype haha.  Also, all the 9- week Russians left this week, so now we're like the top dog Russians on campus right now!  More Russian Elders come in three more weeks.  ALSO, we did these super cool things called TRC's!!  It's so cool.  We pretty much teach RM, and they can only talk to us in Russian.  It was really funny.  At one point of the lesson, we were talking about our hobbies.  I tried to say "I love movies," but instead it came out as "I love, love movies!"  It was hilarious, we were dying. Also, when they asked if we had dogs, I took out my phone and just started showing tons of pics of my dogs hahaha.  

Elder Chambers and I taught the lesson today on Sunday, about the role of The Book of Mormon in conversion.  It went pretty well I think!!  We taught how the Book of Mormon combined with the Holy Ghost is our most powerful tool in the process of conversion.  If people are able to diligently seek the scriptures with the presence of the Holy Ghost by their side, its GOLDEN!  There is a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley that I stumbled across when preparing for this lesson that I absolutely loved. "Those who have read the Book of Mormon prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power... Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts... the Spirit of the Lord.  There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in the obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."

I had never truthfully read through the Book of Mormon before my mission.  Sure, I had skimmed through verses cover to cover for seminary, and throughout my days in Sunday school and at family time, but I had never diligently feasted on the words of it.  However, now as I study it daily and diligently everyday, I have had a whole new outlook as to what this book really is to us.  I can personally testify now, that when we do diligently read the Book of Mormon, feast upon the words, and invite the Spirit to be by our side while we do, that this book WILL strengthen us, guide us, and bless us.  It can answer the questions we are trying to find answers for, provide comfort when we're down, guide us when we are lost. We are truly blessed to be given this book. We should never take the words written in it for granted. 

For Tuesday's devotional we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Gary E. Stevenson, from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles.  He said a couple of things that really stood out to me.  He helped me realize the true spirituality and importance of my mission call.  Our calls AREN'T pulled out of a hat.  "Hey, looks like Elder Wilde is going to Ukraine."  The calls are through divine inspiration and revaluation from Heaven.  It's AWESOME.  Better yet, the Lord has called us to these particular places, cuz he has prepared people for each missionary personally.  He has prepared people for me that only I will be able to touch.  I felt the Spirit so strongly after hearing that.  I constantly wonder what the people are going to be like that the Lord has personally prepared for me.  I seriously cannot wait to meet them and love them.

Lastly, he made me realize that a mission is a BLESSING.  I have truly been blessed with this opportunity.  I am grateful for it, so so grateful.  Lastly, Sister Stevenson also shared a story with us about a little Japanese boy who brought his parents to the Church.  It was amazing to see the physical transition between that this gospel brings.  His parents were definitely struggling, but as soon as they started to attend church and get baptized, there was a dramatic shift in the glow they had.  I cannot wait to see this shift first-hand on my mission.  To watch investigators grow and transition. 

I would like to invite you all to diligently seek the scriptures this week.  Or even just for one day.  For even 30 minutes!  or 5!  I promise that as you read them diligently, your day will be changed, the Spirit will be by your side, questions you have will be answered, and you will feel comforted.v I challenge you to really dissect each verse you read.  There is SOOO much beneath the surface of each verse.  So much meaning just packed into each one.  It's crazy!  Love you all so much!  I hope everything is going well. You're all in my prayers!

Love, 

старейшина (Elder) Wilde

We made a ping pong table in our residency!! It's so fun to play haha!

Week 2 - September 4, 2019

WADDUP ALL Y'ALL!!!

WOW.... Week two hit me a lot differently than week one, lemme tell ya.  It was definitely a lot harder.  I felt like I was behind in the language, was homesick, stressed, etc.  There were a lot of emotions that were just hitting me hard. 

However, as we came to language class about half way into the week, our teacher, Sister Slite, really opened the eyes and warmed the hearts of each of the 10 missionaries in our room.  She came into the room and asked us how we all had been handling the MTC.  All of us had plenty of answers to shout out. We all talked about how hard the language was, and how at times we just felt helpless.  After hearing us all out, she started to talk.  She talked to us about the joy it brings to her seeing new missionaries come into the MTC.  She told us that all missionaries go through these emotions.  

She shared a story of how she was teaching her niece to skip rocks, and how her niece just was struggling so much to do it.  Her niece would sit there and just say how much she sucked at it and how upset she was that she couldn't do it.  But by the end, she eventually was able to skip a few rocks, and the joy within her was explosive.  She said it made her think of us.  When we get into the MTC and first try to learn the language, yeah... were gonna suck 😂 But the Lord will help us to learn and to grow.  She told us how happy it makes her to watch us grow throughout the time into the MTC, and how much she wishes she could be doing what we are doing.  She said it's the hardest thing to watch the missionaries she taught for nine weeks, leave her as they enter the field.  She wishes she could be one of us again.  

We were then asked to write the reason we had chosen to serve a mission.  I wrote in my journal something like this... "I have chosen to serve a mission because I want to bring the love and joy of this gospel to the people that I meet and teach.  I know that this gospel brings true happiness.  It's something that everyone deserves to have.  I not only want to give this to people, but watch them and their family's transition through the true happiness this gospel brings.  It has brought this sort of happiness to my family, and I want everyone to have it."  Later in that lesson, she had us all ready through Moroni 10. This chapter highlights the gifts given to us by our loving God.  I invite you all to read, and study it.  Our Lord has provided us with gifts that can change the lives of the people we interact with.  It's truly a powerful thing. 

After reading this, I then added to my reason to serving a mission being, "Because I want people to have the gifts this gospel brings to us."  We are truly blessed with gifts from our Heavenly Father.  I invite you to ponder what gifts you have been given.  Write them down.  Add to them as you receive more. SHARE THEM.  People deserve to have what we have.  My desire is to share mine with the people of Ukraine, and I strive to receive new gifts from each of my companionship.  We can all pull and grow from one another's gifts. 

 Last night, James B. Martino of the Seventy came and talked to us.  The message he shared was remarkable.  There isn't a doubt in my mind that every single missionary in the room felt the Spirit that night. He spoke to us about Laman, Lamuel, and Nephi, and pretty much asked us, what kind of missionary do we want to be?  Because Laman and Lemuel were missionaries, just like Nephi was.  Do we want to be the kind that murmurs, complains, and is disobedient, like Laman and Lemuel.  Or do we want to be like Nephi.  A missionary here was constantly obedient, feasting on the words of Christ, loving and appreciative, diligent.  To our realization, a lot of us had been treating our missions as Laman and Lemuel had.  It hit us like a brick wall.  I strive to be the kind of missionary Nephi was.  

It's not easy, but it's something that I can try my best to do.  That's all the Lord asks from us, to give it our best.  To conclude, he talked more about the gifts of the Lord and how we need to go out and share these gifts.  

After this devotional, we came back to our meeting room and had devotional review.  We all went around and told each other what stood out to us in James B. Martino's talk, along with stating why we had chosen to serve a mission.  Tears were flowing out of all 10 of our eyes that night.  I don't remember the last time I had felt the Spirit so strongly.  It's a feeling I never want to forget, and will be a night I'm never going to forget. 

Sorry if that was all over the place.  I left my notes/journal in my room, and there was just so much that I wanted to share from this week.  To conclude/recap, I invite you to ponder who you want to be.  Do you want to be a Nephi or a Laman and Lemuel.  I want everyone here to know that our Heavenly Father loves us, more than we could very imagine.  He has blessed us with so many gifts, more than I have even be able to recognize.  As I begin to recognize them more and more, I understand the true love He has for us.  I invite you to write down your gifts with your family and ask each other what gifts you think you contain from God.  There are more than you know.  Then lastly... Go out and share your gifts, with your family, friends, neighbors, enemies, etc.  We should never hold these gifts to our self.  They are given to us from God so we can share them with others.  Grow from each others' gifts. 

Love you all so much!!  You are all in my prayers. 

Elder Wilde

Another Elder in my District ripped his pants today. I'm convinced this is a weekly thing 😂!

Also, this cat wonders around the MTC all day.  I think its name is Sister Mittens or something.  Even tho I'm allergic, I had to pick it up 😂