October 7, 2013

Mom,

I don't have an organized email with stories today, just a random list of things I want to tell you that I wrote up throughout the week. So here goes:

- No person, ever, has felt real joy unless they have been a missionary receiving an unexpected letter. (That's sarcasm teehee) 

- Everyone chews coca leaves here, which is an ingredient in cocaine. They seriously grab an handful of leaves and shove it in their mouth until they have a huge bulge in their cheek, and then they leave it there all day. It's hilarious looking, and the smell is out of this world disgusting. 

- Have you ever tried an Oreo? They´re delicious, and I think I'm addicted.

-I'm also addicted to Coca Cola, it tastes different an amazing here, and it makes me happy 

- When we are waiting at doors for people to open up, and their dogs stick their noses under the door, we give them a little kick in the face, because they throw temper tantrums and it's hilarious 

- The Bishop in my ward here looks like a Bolivian version of dad, which is too perfect to be coincidental

Mom, I sent a few messages to dad that you can read. I love you, and hope you enjoy these quirky bullets haha.

Ryan Wilkinson 

September 30, 2013

Querido familia,

Thank you for your letter. I LOVE what you said: "If it matters to us, it matters to Him and so He helps us with the parts of our mortal life that really have nothing to do with eternity because He loves us." I love this because my testimony of prayer is augmenting my the hour, and with this change in my life came the realization that GOD WILL BLESS US WITH ANYTHING WE ASK FOR, assuming those things are righteous. I have been asking for His help, as I try to develop specific Christlike attributes, and He has helped me! Honestly, some people told me before my mission that they didn't want me to leave because I would change. I told them, "Oh no hush up chill out I'm not gonna change, stop worrying." But that isn't true. I will change more than I knew a person could change. 

Although my charge is to preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and although I'm a teacher, I'm still learning, and my conversion will forever be occurring. 

I want to tell you about one of our investigators, or someone that is interested in learning about the Gospel. His name is Jorge. This is a man, whose entire family are members of the Church, except for one son (who we are also teaching), but none of them go to Church. They have more or less abandoned the one thing that brings the most joy in this life. Really, its ironic. Even though I can't speak the language as well as I would like to, I can tell that my emotion and my excitement, the joy I find in the Gospel, is naturally manifested in the things I say and do, and I'm always trying to make others as excited as I am that they have the truth of Jesus Christ in their lives. Honestly, they're lucky to have it! But they forget. And so this man, Jorge Serrano, has an interesting situation. He was riding his motorcycle drunk one night in the beginning of this year, and he had an accident. Ironically, he is a police officer. But anyway, it's been months, but now, he is not in full health. His body is weak and skinny, he walks and talks VERY slowly, so slowly that even I can understand what he says haha (when he doesn't start to slur his words). He wasn't a respectable man before. But since his accident, he wants to change his life. 

While he was in the hospital in La Paz, he talked with some missionaries. And he knew that his wife was a member of that Church. So he wanted to learn more. So we went to house to talk to him (we had already been teaching his son who isn't a member), and sat down. We were asking him some questions about himself just to learn about him, and he got REALLY mad, only with words, because he cant move very quickly. He told us that we aren't police and that we cant ask him so many questions. As missionaries, it is under our jurisdiction to discontinue talking with people about the Gospel if we feel they aren't progressing toward being baptized, or if we feel they are uninterested. So we did that with him. We thought, "Well he just doesn't want to hear this, so we need to stop meeting with him." Although we love all people and want every single soul we see to hear this message, we had to make a tough decision. So we put him in the Old Investigators category, to be sought out by other missionaries later. But we continued to teach his son. So we went to the house one day but his son wasn't there. He and his wife were, so we chatted with them for awhile. We ended up giving them a lesson, and he kept telling us that he wants to change his life and start making good decisions. After we talked for awhile and felt the Spirit strongly together, he agreed to be baptized. Yesterday we were talking with him again, and we said to him, "We know that these things are true. For this reason, we are here, because this joy needs to be shared with all of Gods children. And we want you to know that these things are true." And, that moment, what he said to us in that moment honestly changed my life. He said, "I already know that these things are true." I swear I heard angels cheering. There just isn't anything else, in the world or in the imagination, quite like hearing those words, or quite like knowing that you helped someone find the truth. I will send pictures of him at his baptism after October 26th. 

My whole life I had a hard time believing in miracles. I knew that Christ had performed miracles. But I didn't ever see anything that made me believe it in my heart. But yesterday, I witnessed a miracle. And we see them every day. When you choose to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you see miracles every day. We are  witnesses of miracles. I'll be honest, I am lousy at Spanish. But in lessons, I speak like I've been speaking for years. Only in lessons. Miracle. There is a promise in the Book of Mormon that says something like, "If you read this book, and you hear about this Gospel, you WILL know that it is true, by the power of the Holy Ghost. But, you must ask God, with true intention, actually wanting to know." I have done this. And I have received an answer. And really, I re-receive that answer every single day of my life, without fail. Miracle. Miracles surround us, they are in the tiny details of your everyday life. We need to choose to see them. The Lord answers prayers. Ask him any question you have, any question of the soul, and He will give you an answer. 

Ok goofy time. There are dogs here. Possibly more dogs than humans. I can honestly say after having thought through the honesty of this statement, that I have not walked down one single street here, in more than a month, without seeing at least one dog. They're crazy dogs. Sometimes they almost kill us, to be quite honest, but I swing my scriptures at them and they flee. The Word of God is a powerful thing. 

I love you all!

Elder Ryan Wilkinson 

PS - Oh and quick victory story: this morning, I ate an empanada from a street vendor because I felt like doing something stupid, and it's been like three hours, and BOOM, no diarreah. I'm all good down here in the South, stay classy.

Love love love,

Elder Wilkinson 

Some pictures from Elder Wilkinson!

September 16, 2013

Mom,

Thank you for your letter! You should know that I cry every week during letter time, without fail haha. My nephew`s name is Henry! I love it! Things are crazy here, as always. You know, it really isn't unlike Nacho Libre here, there are some areas that are straight from that movie haha. But I'm working hard (believe it or not, Dad), harder than ever. You wouldn't believe the amount of walking we do. I bet it's ten miles a day. The Spanish is coming well, always getting better, and learning more and more each day. I know the Gospel very well, but my thoughts and my teaching strategy aren't organized at all, so that´s what I've been working on. The weeks fly by! I'm over my sickness, and can eat normal food again, which is a blessing haha, I got really tired of crackers. We have lots of investigators, and a man that should be baptized in about three weeks. I don't have much time today to tell you about my week, but know that it's going well and that I love you all!

Elder Wilkinson

Ryan got typhoid fever and didn't tell our mom until a couple weeks later, when he was all better. When he refers to his sickness, that's what it was.

September 2, 2013

There was no letter last week because Ryan was transferring from the MTC to his first area.

Hey mom,

Wow it has been a crazy week. I am in Bolivia now, in an area called Tarija, GoogleMap and Image it! Its the poorest place I've ever seen, and the Church doesn't hold back from sending us right into the middle of it haha. My house is a tiny bedroom, a tiny, filthy bathroom, with a shower that has no curtain, and with water that turns off at night, and one more room with our closets, desks, books, at tiny stove. I eat frozen tuna and bread for breakfast. The lifestyle change has been insane, and honestly extremely scary haha. We walk everywhere, hours and hours a day. My trainer is named Elder Bahamonde, don't pronounce the H, and he is from Lima. He speaks a tiny bit of English, but I would safely assume that of all the words I speak during the day, maybe 3 percent is English. I'm starting to think in Spanish, and I'm starting to forget English! haha Its so crazy and awesome how quick it has been for me. 

We have taught some families, and had some really special experiences. The members here are so awesome, I love them so much. They had me bear my testimony in church yesterday, and I did pretty well. I made them laugh by making fun of my Spanish, and there's nothing that calms nerves more when you are speaking in public than making them laugh haha. Its been fun! I'm a little sick, but not much. Just a cough. There are a few drinks here that are amazing. One of them is Mate, which is in the US, but its better and more organic here. The other is called Jugo de Pel�n, and its just water in which the Pel�n fruit has sat rotting for three weeks hahaha, its seriously my favie drink ever. Everyone called me Alto Gringo here haha, I'm taller than almost everyone I've seen. There are some hardships and challenges, ups and downs, but that's what I signed up for when I put my papers in. I knew it wouldn't be easy. Its helps to just have a good time while doing it. 

If you send me a package at any time 1) it will probably take three months, if it gets here at all, and 2) don't do it before I tell you what songs I want you to burn on a CD for me. I miss music so much. Like SO much. 

Bolivians are awesome. Its not what I thought it would be at all. People live very humbly here, but they don't like wear rags and stuff. They wear clothes, and they're very clean. I was just being stereotypical before haha. My trainer is an amazing missionary, and I'm so blessed to have been paired with him for the next three months. He thinks I'll be a trainer as soon as I'm done being trained, and I'm gonna be totally honest, I sure hope not haha, because that means I would be in this area for 6 months straight, and I need some mobility. But I will do that which the Lord calls me to do! Again, Google the heck out of Tarija, I want everyone to see what its like here. My ward doesn't have any piano players, so I'm gonna try to find some time to practice so that I can help them out. My president is so awesome. His name is President Willard, and he served his mission in San Fernando, CA. His wife is so sweet, and it makes me feel a little more at home when I talk to her haha. There's an accent in Santa Cruz where they don't use an s if it is at the end of a word. So tres dias would sound like tre dia. Oh, and I think I drank some of the water. 

Riding in a car is a treat for me here. Alright I gotta go, if you wanna know specific details and randomness, ask! I love you all so much, and if my prayers are being answered, you are all doing wonderfully! Les amo! Mucho amor! Chao! 

Elder Wilkinson 

August 20, 2013

Mom (and everyone else),

I only have a week left at the MTC! A week from today, I will be flying down to Santa Cruz, Bolivia to stay there for the next twenty two and a half months. Its such a cool feeling. I thought I would be fluent by the time I left the MTC, but that's just my over confident side kicking in (it does that a lot).  I still know SO much more than I did when I arrived, so I'm not worried at all. Honestly, I couldn't be less worried about not knowing Spanish haha, I know enough to understand what people are saying, and I can teach a little, and most importantly, I can bear my testimony. And that's all I need. The language thing here is all a mindset: if you let it freak you out, it will. But if you have the "I'm over it" attitude, and understand that you will get the language down eventually, your worries go away. And mine have. 

I get to go to the temple today, perhaps for the last time in two years. Hopefully not, but I'm really gonna soak it in. Going to the temple is so awesome, there's not place on Earth that compares to the temple. I never understood that. You know whats crazy? I miss Boston just as much as I miss home! Laying in bed last night, I was just thinking about how lucky and blessed I am to have been able to go there, to have lived on my own, and made the friends that I had. I'm so lucky that I was in the ward that I was in, and that I had the experiences that I had. Some Elders here aren't ready to be on their own because they just graduated high school and have never been away from home this long, but its so easy for me! Don't misunderstand, I miss home, and my family, and friends, and California, but its minimal, it doesn't stop me from working hard, and I don't dwell on it. Aside from the limitless Spiritual blessings that one receives from going on a mission, there are many physical and emotional blessings.  Many, almost all, the people I know in the US wouldn't be willing to put their iPhone and MacBook away for two years, and wake up at six thirty EVERY morning, and when I say every morning, I mean not a single morning in the entire two years do you sleep longer than that. Almost no one would be willing to give up those comforts, but the only night that was tough for me to give up those things, was when those things were available to me, but I couldn't use them because I had to follow mission rules, the night I was set apart. It feels good to not have all those things, and it will probably feel pretty good getting them back haha, I will be so much more grateful for all those things that we all take for granted. 

So we get along really well with the Latino Elders here, and we become really good friends with every two week transfer that comes in. Last transfer, we taught them how to say "Get that corn outta my face!" from Nacho Libre, which was obviously hilarious. We taught our teacher how to say "Obvi" which is also hilarious haha. Hey Kaddy, you know how you always say "Rico Suavé"? Well "suave" actually means soft and smooth, and so when people are speaking Spanish, describing how the Spirit feels in your heart, they say that it is suavé, and it makes me think of you every time haha. 

I have a teacher here, named Hermano Bejar, (Hermano is Brother), and he went on his mission to Guatemala, and I think he and I figured out that he left the MTC there one month before President Stimle arrived. So close! And he served around Lake Atitlan, like in Santiago and stuff. I'm sure mom remembers all those places. No one has a memory like Diane Wilkinson. It's really gonna be tough saying goodbye to my friends here, and the comfort of living a semi-American lifestyle haha. A week from today, its shacks and cots for me for quite awhile haha. But I couldn't be more excited. I'm not afraid of anything out here, because there is nothing to be afraid of. It's so exciting! There is a phrase we use in my district, which goes "Let the humbling begin!" and we usually say it before we go proselyting, because those are the moments we realize how little we know, and those are the times when we get discouraged, and so we came up with a catch phrase for it haha, Let the humbling begin! That isn't a bad thing though, the Lord teaches us some of the most important lessons in life shortly after He has humbled the heck out of us. 

So I don't know why anyone hasn't said anything about it, but am I an uncle yet? Is my sister a mother? Are my parents grandparents? I bought my little nephew a tie with the Lima temple on it, and a tiny little missionary name tag that says "Future Missionary", and I want pictures of him in them when I get them to you guys. 

Young Coconut. I'm not asking anyone for them, but if you sent me some, I would probably cry tears of joy. 

The weather has been so nice the past few days, probably like 73 degrees, completely sunny, and slightly breezy. Some days it is quite cold though. Not what I expected Peru to be like. Today, I'm shopping for the last time in Peru, for awhile, at least. Until we come back as a family a couple months after I go home. 

Hey Kaddy, quick question, and email me when you get the answer to this question, but is DearElder free? [YES, IT IS FREE] And can you send DearElders to missions too? [YES, YOU CAN SEND LETTERS TO THE MISSION] Thanks! I ran out of clean T shirts, so today I'm walking around in my shower sandals, some grey shorts, and a long sleeved collared white shirt with my name tag on it haha, business casual for the win. I got your package from Sister Goodfellow, thank you so much for sending that. That made my day. I opened it at the lunch table, and my whole district was swarmed around wanting to see what was in it and what everything was. It was as if you had sent my district a package, and we all got to enjoy it. And we are all gonna try to bacon toothpaste that you sent me, maybe tonight. For everyone reading this, if you are interested in writing me, I love pictures. Like of us. Pictures are the bomb. Just sayin. Every night when they read out names over the intercom of people who have gotten letters, we all listen anxiously to see if we got one haha, its so funny. I had no idea how much missionaries love letters. 

Ok, I gotta go now, but thanks to all of you who have been praying for me, and thinking about me. Quick story, whenever a missionaries name tag is starting to slide up out of his pocket, its said that someone is thinking about him. And either I'm a messy missionary, or some of y'all's been thinkin' bout me. Probably the first one, but that's okay! Haha anyway, I love you all, thank you, Mom and Dad, Tess and Kathryn, for all you do. ¡Buenos dias!

 

Elder Wilkinson

Just a quick reminder to all of Elder Wilkinson's friends and family, send him letters through DearElder so he has time to read them during the week! There's a tutorial here that shows you how to do it. It is totally free to send letters to him this way. 

August 13, 2013, plus pictures!

Hey mom,

I've been thinking and praying about Tess all week, I'm so excited for her! You guys will have to send me pictures of my little nephew, I'm so excited to meet him! In two years haha. 

Mom I'm so glad you mentioned Abinidi, because he is by far my favorite Libro de Mormon prophet right now. I was thinking he would be such an amazing lawyer, he completely owns and stumps King Noah and all his priests. It's like his words slapped them all in the face haha. I'll try again with the pictures this week. I'm gonna be totally honest with you, I was super depressed last Tuesday, because I sent such a short message and the pictures didn't work, and I remembered how you said you would cry if my letters sucked, and I was so worried because of that haha, but all this week I kept a flashcard in my shirt pocket with things I want to tell you all about, and of course, I forgot to bring it with me to the computer lab haha, but I'll bring it next week. 

Last Tuesday, some Elders in my district and I found a guitar shop and just played and sang together for like an hour. I didn't know how much I missed it until I did it, my calluses are coming off which is so depressing haha, but it's well worth it. I can regain them. Today we went to the temple for the first time in two weeks, because it was closed, and we were all so glad when we heard it was open again because there is such a sweet, peaceful spirit there that I didn't fully realize until today. 

I don't know if I told you, but the churros from the street venders here are celestial. I had three today, and they're huge haha. We went proselyting again on Saturday, and this time was totally different. Instead of pairing us up with Latino companions for the day, they sent me and Elder Bradshaw together, which was so scary, being two tall gringos who don't know any Spanish going out into Lima. But fortunately, last minute, they gave us a member from this area that obviously speaks Spanish. But he just stood behind us and only jumped in if we were crashing hard with the contact. I made a catch phrase for that day, and I hereby establish it as the catch phrase of my mission. It goes "Sin miedo!", which means "without fear", because it gave us courage to approach people even though we don't know Spanish. Let me tell you what is scary, walking up to somebody you don't know, in a place you don't know, not being able to speak their language, yet being expected to tell them about Christ. Its amazing, in the true sense of the word. 

So the first door we knocked on, this lady opened up a tiny little square in the door that she talked out of. I don't know if it's for safety or just for making whoever is at her door feel like she hates them. But we were talking to here, asking if she believes in Christ, and her kids pop out of the window, which has no glass, and scream, "Mam! Ustedes hablan ingles!" They were so excited to see white people, that the mom let us in, and we taught her and her three kids and her mother about what Christ did for them, which not many people fully understand, including myself. We taught her about John chapter 10 verse 16 talks about the people here in the Americas, the people that fill the Libro de Mormon. As we were teaching, the littlest kid, Juan Diego, started pulling my arm and playing with my watch. So after he nearly removed all of the hair on my arm, I took off my watch, knelt down by him, and put the watch on his wrist. He was seriously amazed, like more amazement that I've ever seen haha, it was so funny. And when we finished teaching them, and after they agreed to have the missionaries over again, he gave it back to me and we left. 

There were other people who hated that we were at their door. I had my first doors slammed in my face on Saturday. But it literally didn't discourage me at all. We walked up to a door that had a sticker that said, in Spanish, "We are Catholic, please respect our religion," and so we knocked on that door, with the intent of not disrespecting or changing their religious beliefs, but with completing it haha. And they didn't answer. People like us young white boys though, even if they aren't interested. People stare at us. I'm gonna try pictures now! Thanks for everything you do mom, and thank you everybody for your prayers! They mean more than I ever knew a prayer could! 

Hasta luego!