This blog is kept by Elder Asher Wilson's family. It will include his general emails and various pictures. It will be updated each week after each new email is received. We hope you enjoy it!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday. November 23. 2015-Week 67

This is a Peruvian Saint. His name is señor cautivo and he is basically a black jesus.....ya pretty weird but had to take a pic haha

Work visit in Castilla.

The zone.



My desk.

Where I sleep.

My closet.

View from my window.
 
Mi Familia

Well I've got a lot of good news and just a little bad news. The first thing is the bad news. I only have like 15 minutes to write you guys so it might be a little short this week. Sorry. It's just because we had a huge soccer tournament today against the whole mission and we got home late. Our team made it to the semi finals and we lost to freaking Sullana!!!! My old zone took us out hahhaha!! But it was a lot of fun until we finished and I realized that I had forgotten to put on sunscreen and wow was I burnt!! 

Tater super happy to hear that the leg is back up and running well. Just want to wish ya luck down there in Vegas. Kick some butt for me brotha!! And rock my cool shoes well and I'll just be getting it done here in the grandpa ones. 

Wow I just got a fat cramp while writing!! Freaking soccer tournaments......

So this week for me was really good. We didn't have anything to special go on but a lot of great work got done. We still have many people progressing towards baptism including Kevin and Yolanda. They are so awesome!! Seriously every single day they are more and more awesome and I just thank the Lord for putting them in my path. 

Yesterday we had an awesome lesson with them. She is really struggling with some problems with her family and with some financial problems and she is just super stressed and yesterday she just let it all out in front of us and cried. We were planning to teach her a lesson about the Atonement of Christ so it was perfect. We shared a video about it and talked to her about what it meant. Then out of nowhere the spirit just told me to read with her the scripture in Matthew 9 22-23 (I think I don't remember exactly haha) but it was when Jesus was healing a few blind men and he asked them if they had faith in him to work the miracle. They said yes so he blessed them and said according to your faith it will be done. Then we asked hermana Yolanda if she had faith enough to be helped and cured of all of these problems and she said yes. So we blessed her. It was one of the strongest feelings of the spirit that I had ever felt. She was crying and she told us that she knows that her problems are going to go away now. After all of that I just had to ask myself. Do I have a faith strong enough to be healed from all of my problems? Have I turned my life over to the Lord enough to receive these blessings? Just something for us to ponder. Faith is what moves the works of the Lord and we are the people who have been called to distribute that faith to the whole world. 

Aside from that it really was a normal week. Fernando and Asuncion were very hard to find this week but they did go to church!! They just had to leave early for an emergency that happened in the family. We also came across another great hermana this week and her son. Their names are Gloria and Kevin. They are the best friends of Yolanda and Kevin and now they are helping us to teach their friends!! It is seriously so perfect and I love it!! They all went to church this week and we are thinking that they all could be baptised here on the 12th of Dec. because we are having a white Christmas in our stake and all the missionaries in this area are putting their baptism dates for this day so that we can have a bunch of them!!

Well like I said not a lot of time to write this week but it was a great one. I just ask that you can pray for all of the people that we are teaching and for the people that we need to find. I love you guys a ton. Hope you have a great week. And mom if you must know, yes my legs are 10 times whiter than they have ever been hahahahahahaha they haven't seen the sun for 15 months!! 

Much Love

Elder Wilson

Monday, November 16, 2015

Monday. November 16. 2015-Week 66

The new zone!!!!

With Elder Clawson

Mi Familia 

Well I'm flippin glad that you are finally happy with one of my emails.......only took me 15 months to do it hahahaha!! 

Like always appears that everything is going great at home. I really love seeing your emails too because it just helps me to see another reason of why I am serving a mission. I have seen soooooo many blessings in my life and the lives of others through this service, it is crazy and one of the biggest blessings is what this mission is doing for the family. I don't know if you guys have even seen it or felt it but during my mission I have seen huge changes in our home. You guys are just getting better and stronger and more committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and I'm loving it!! 

Saw something super crazy and a little funny yesterday hahaha!! So there was a bunch of drunks talking right where we were contacting a family and without warning they just all started fighting!! Like hard core going at it. They were chucking rocks at each other and bottles and whatever else was in the path. Then out of nowhere all of them just pulled their belts off and it turned into a straight up belt whipping party!! I couldn't help my self and just started laughing without control hahahaha!! I don't know why I felt like sharing that with you guys but you just had to see it hahaha it was seriously so dang funny watching full grown men running after each other whipping with belts hahahahaha!!!!! I love Peru!! 

This week was a great one for us here in our area because we didn't have anything to do and we just got to work all week!! No meetings, no conferences, no nothing and it was just pure awesomeness because we made some serious progress in many things here in Angamos!! Kevin and Yolanda are progressing so quickly it is insane!! They have truly understood the power of the Book of Mormon and just love reading it. Kevin has told us that it has changed his life and he doesn't have any sort of desire to do bad things any more. They are 100% ready to be baptised for the 12 of December but just keep them in your prayers and fasts. We also found an amazing new family this week!! They are a family of like 5 but we just taught the parents this first time. Their names are Fernando and Asuncion. They told us that they were looking for the truth and just didn't know where to find it. We shared the restoration with them and when we talked about Joseph Smith and the first vision Hermano Fernando just started tearing up a little because he was feeling the spirit so strong. He thanked us so much for sharing the message with him and his family and he told us that he had felt something in this night that he had never felt before. We invited him to be baptised after he had received an answer through his prayers and he told us that if he got and answer (in his own words) I would just straight into your baptising pool hahahahhahaha!! I was super happy and also laughing all at the same time. Pray for them please because I think we've found some more of the Lord's chosen people. 

Our ward is going awesome!! Its a smaller building but many more than 100 are going to church!! Also all of the members are super awesome so we don't even teach classes. Its sort of a weird thing because I feel like its more of a North American ward but it's great. Organized and they like to help us in the work. I think we are going to get some serious work done here!! I spoke my first Sunday here and it was awesome!! Best best talk I have ever given. I saved it so I can share it with you guys someday!! 

This week I was reading in 3rd Nephi and I found a ton of  things that were awesome but one verse just stuck out to me more than anything. In 3rd Nephi 13 verse 21 it says (in spanish) Porque donde esté vuestro tesoro, allí estará vuestro corazón. Where our treasure is, is exactly where our heart will be. It's crazy to think of all the things that we as people do in life. Work, study, sports, friends and many other things. Yes they are all important. Yes they are all good things but the question is where is our heart? Is our heart firmly set in our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ and what they want for us? Or do we have other priorities? I have felt it so much in my life and especially with my sports. It's just hard to be 100% dedicated when there are other things that you love so much. But what I have come to know is that if we truly put the Lord first and do his work all other things will fall into place and we will be greatly blessed. I hope that every single one of us can remember the things that are most important and put our heart or our treasures in heaven. 

Well that's all for this week. I love you guys so much and am super proud of all that you are doing. Never be ashamed to go out of your way to help another. Never be ashamed to stand alone because you are never alone. Praying for yall daily and serving to bless you. 

Much Love 

Elder Wilson


 

Monday, November 9, 2015

Monday. November 9. 2015-Week 65

With the Familia Fossa!!!


Elder Mauricio went home.....:( He finished with honor!! ‏

The office . . . all green baby!!
 
Mi Familia 

Well I just want to start off saying that today I am going to prove you wrong dear mother. This email will be a straight question answering email with just a few other things about what have happened this week. So here we go!!

1. Were you surprised to be made an AP? Yes, I was super surprised to be made an AP. One day in Sullana I was in the shower when Elder Quispe came knocking on the door telling me that President wanted to talk to me haha I told him I was naked and couldn't go to the phone right then hahaha!! But ya all in all I was pretty shocked to hear that one because I'm still sorta young in the mission but hey the Lord calls us when we are ready right.

2. What are your responsibilities as an AP? Well in my new assignment I am basically in charge of the entire mission. We work directly with President basically every day. In the missionary handbook it says, APs are here to help plan, prepare, capacitate and supervise the work so that's exactly what I am doing here in the mission. It's seriously so much work because on top of it all we have to do what is most important and get out to find people to teach but I love it and I will never let the Lord down!! 

3. Where do you live now? Do you live in the mission home? In an apartment? I don't live in the mission home but I am living in the same neighborhood as president so we can be there working close to his house. It is easily the nicest apartment I have ever had and I don't really like that. I am still here in mission Peru Piura and I want to suffer just as I have for the last 15 months haha but I guess its ok:)

4. Will you still be out preaching the gospel as an AP? Is that even a flippin question!!??!!?! OF COURSE I WILL BE OUT TEACHING THE GOSPEL!!!!! I'll tell you what you could cut both of my legs off right now and you couldn't get me to stop teaching the gospel so trust me a little extra work isn't gonna stop me at all. Like I said I am going to be a lot busier but I will never be too busy to complete with my calling as a missionary. The work must move forward!! 

5. Will you be an AP for the rest of your mission? I seriously doubt that I will be AP for the rest of my mission because I've still got 9 months left. I am thinking that I will be here for like 6 months but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

6. How is the new companion? Tell us a little about him please! My new companion is awesome. He is new so we have to get used to each other but he is seriously amazing. I have already learned a ton from him in this short time and that's good because I won't have him for long. At the end of this transfer he will be finishing his mission. I am his last companion. He is 21 and is from Honduras from the city of Tegucigalpa or where the temple is in Honduras. He is the youngest in his family and he has 3 sisters, 2 of them are studying in BYU Provo. He also speaks perfect English because he studied in a bi lingual school. Pretty cool and smart guy and I am loving being his companion. 

7. How many AP's are there in your mission? Elder Soto and I are the only APs in our mission.

8. When did you leave to go to Piura? Sunday? After Karen's baptism? Monday? I left for Piura on Monday so after Karen's baptism and all of that good stuff. It was terrible to leave Sullana but just like all the other areas I am already learning to love this one. 

9. Who is Elder Quispe's new companion? Did things end well with you and him? Everything ended great with Elder Quispe. We ended just like it should have been.....as friends. His new companion is Elder Campos from Ecuador and I don't know him so we'll see how it goes. He was a great companion and I'll miss him a lot. 

10. Now that you are in Piura again, will you be able to see Gino and his family again? Well I've already seen Gino and his family!!!! They invited us and a couple of other missionaries over for lunch today!! It was so amazing to see all of them and hear about what's been going on and how much the ward has grown and just awesomeness!! I have missed them so much and I was super way beyond happy to see them all once again. They send their love to you guys. 

So that's about all I have for right now because I've got to go but we do have some awesome people already working for their baptism!! Their names are Kevin and Yolanda. They are a mom and son and their story has been super awesome!! At first they didn't even want to listen to us so we just left them the Book of Mormon with a chapter to read (Alma 22) to respond to one of their questions and we left. Well the next time we went back we could feel something different in their home so we asked them what had happened and they told us that they had read the BOM and that now they know with all their hearts that this is the true church!! They went to church this weekend and accepted to be baptised the 12th of December. All I can say is that the Book of Mormon is the word of the Lord. It is completely perfect and if we just do all that is possible to read it and listen to the promptings of the holy spirit it will guide our lives. Never stop reading and never be afraid to share it with others because I can promise you all that if these people read it they will know that what we have is the truth. 

I love you all. I am more than happy and working harder than I ever have before. This is the Lords church and we have been called to establish it. Never stop, never quit, never look back. We are the light of the world and we must shine forth. I hope you have a great week. Please pray for our investigators and I'm always praying for you!! 

Much Love 

Elder Wilson
 

Monday, November 2, 2015

Monday. November 2. 2015-Week 64

Our sweet carved pumpkins for Halloween in Sullana.

Mi Familia 

Hey guys. You didn't even write me this week!!!! What's up with that?! Well that's ok because I really don't have that much time this week to write because a few crazy things have happened. But it sure looks like you guys had a great week with Halloween and Perry's birthday and all of that good stuff. Wish I could have been there for it. Also dad I just showed your sweet sumo wrestling video to a whole bunch of Elders here and they all loved it hahahahaha!!!

So like I said this week was a crazy and awesome one. Let's just start off by saying that the wedding of Hermana Karen and Hermano Ivan went perfectly!! They were so awesome and ready and happy and wow it was seriously just a experience that I will never forget. I was one of the witnesses of their marriage haha I felt honored!! You can seriously feel the difference in their home now. A family of people just living together and a family of people bound together by that promise of marriage are two things completely different and they are now enjoying the blessings that come from keeping all the commandments that God has given us. And it doesn't stop there!! Oh yes the story gets even better!! Hermana Karen was baptised this weekend by me!! That whole day was just so special. It was Fast Sunday so we decided to do a special fast with the whole Family Alvarez. They accepted our invitation to do it and we all fasted for Hermana Karen so that she could feel the spirit and complete with her goal to be baptised. A ton of people showed up to the baptism and us missionaries sang a special number and the spirit was there super strong and then I baptised her. She is super scared of drowning in the water or something like that so she was super nervous but right when I started saying the prayer she just calmed down. She was completely calm and still and we were able to baptise her without any problems. I know that she was touched by the spirit and this is a day that she and I will never forget. The familia Alvarez is now a married and baptised family!! 

So the other big thing that happened this week is that I left Sullana. I was super sad to go. There are so many wonderful people there that have really helped me to become a better person and a better missionary and I am going to miss them so much. I had a huge farewell with the Familia Alvarez and with Hermano Marco Felix and Hermana Charito and yes there were many tears shed. I seriously have grown to love Sullana so dang much it was just very difficult to leave. But I trust in the Lord and the plan that He is paving for me and I know that these changes will only be for my better. So I was transferred to Piura once again but this time with a special calling. I have been called to be the assistant to the president. So I will be working directly with president now and for the next few months. It's a huge responsibility but I am ready to do it. Please pray lots for me!! My new companion is Elder Soto!! 

Ya that's all I have time for. I love you all so much and I am praying for you daily. Please pray for me and for all the people that need me to find them. The church is true!!

Much Love

Elder Wilson


My pumpkin says "Piura Vida," our mission motto.

With Elder Almond at our Halloween burning party.

Baptism of Hermana Karen.

Matrimonio!!

Wedding.

Hermana Karen & Hermono Ivan.






Family Fiestas.



The family Alvarez!

My new mission companion, Elder Soto, from Honduras.