February 17, 2014

Mom,

Thank you for your advice. I actually did have a special experience this morning where I recommitted to the Lord. I was reading a talk called "The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence A. Corbridge about the kind of missionary that we have to be. And there is only 1 way to do it correctly. I learned while reading that 2 years is not a sacrifice, because these two years ALREADY belong to the Lord! I can´t give Him what He already has. The same holds true with tithing and many other things. But what He doesn´t have is my will, my heart. And so the only way I can serve an effective mission is if I give the Lord myself, not only my time and my lifestyle. If I´m always thinking about music and my life before the mission, I may as well not serve a mission, because I will be filled with shame and regret when I return home for having wasted so much time. But if my mind is in my mission, and if I use all my energy and thoughts to further the work of the Lord, I will give Him the ability to bless me. So this morning I recommitted to do what He wants me to do. I can definitely improve a lot of things. It´s important to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect missionary. But I´m not continually improving, I will consider myself an unsuccessful missionary. And OOOOWEEEEE I do not want that guilt when I go home haha. I don´t want to waste time, because I´ve learned in the mission that it moves way faster than we want it to. Today marks seven months for me. SEVEN MONTHS! It´s scary how fast time flies. 

- This week I was moved to a city in the state of Tarija called Villamontes. My whole mission I was in the capital city of the state, but now I´m in a rural jungle city smaller than La Verne. There´s one other companionship in this city, and the rest of the zone is two hours away by bus in a city called Yacuiba. I love this city so much!!!! I LOVE IT! It looks like the King Kong movie, seriously. It´s amazing. I have so many bug bites. I already know the streets and like all of the members. The water is straight brown when it comes out of the faucet. It´s disgusting. I think it comes straight from the river here. My companion is Elder Pacheco from Colombia. He arrived in the MTC the same day as me, but wasn´t there for as long as I was. I met him in Santa Cruz when we flew there a couple months ago for a day to do immigration stuff. He´s way cool. The area has been handled kind of lazily for the last few months, so I´m thankful for the opportunity I have to improve a lot of things and help the branch. We meet in a rented house for Sunday meetings, and there´s so few people, that they have us as missionaries count the tithing of the people haha. They say there´s two seasons here: "infierno e invierno", which means "hell and winter". The nickname for Villamontes is "El Infierno Verde", The Green Hell. It´s very hot and humid here haha. Look up some pictures on Google!

- I want to make sure you´re gonna send that picture book. Have you gotten it?? Also, some Abercrombie and Fitch cologne. Gracias!

That´s awesome that Lane wants to go on a mission. I´m proud of him. I wish we could spend some time together after my mission and before his, but I encourage him to do what He feels the Lord wants him to do. Thanks for your letter mom! I love you!

Elder Wilkinson