Hi!
To read or listen to conference talks, press on the following link.
What I would also like to share in
my letter concerns: Three Chinese missionaries, one mission president, and
an amazing apostle who I have the utmost respect for. Many of us know the
process by which we are called on a mission. You submit paperwork with a
picture and a committee of authorities pray to know where to send you. After
that, you receive a call and you prepare to serve the Lord. So what happens
when you are reassigned like me? I had never realized this but the same
committee of authorities pray to seek inspiration as to where to send you
for a temporary assignment. Obviously you all know that I am currently serving
in the Massachusetts Boston Mission waiting for my visa to go to Sydney
Australia. This week we were informed by President Packard that later this
month Elder Holland will be coming to tour the mission. In turn, President
Packard informed us that Elder Holland has been keeping a very close eye on the
three of us and that he knows us by name. It seems surreal to think that
an apostle of the Lord knows Elders Yu, Wilde, and Ribeiro. After all, we
are the same as everyone else! As President Packard explained to us,
Elder Holland knew I was coming to this mission, and he knew the work that
was being down in regards to the Chinese speaking mission in Boston. When I and my companions found this out, we had mixed feelings! We were
both excited and nervous at the same time. We were excited because Elder
Holland knows us and he is awesome!! His talks always light a fire in
you and make you want to do better! In conjunction with that, we were also
nervous. An apostle of the Lord knows the three of us and the work that is
being done here. It has given us a new sense of responsibility and
has made us want to work that much harder. President Packard wouldn't tell us more
but told us to look forward to the time when he would come to visit our mission. All I can say is that I hope I will be here!
Finally, I want to talk about the adversary and how real he is. This past week, I
had to go to the opportunity to go to Salem, Massachusetts. For those of
you who don't know, Salem is home to the infamous witch hunt that occurred
close to the colonization of the United States. We visited various land
marks in Salem that all tied to this historic hunt. One of the
most eerie and ominous sites we visited was Gallows Hill. Here 18 "witches"
were put to death and it has forever remained an attraction. As we visited the
site, and climbed the hill an unusual feeling came over me.
I did not feel
comforted or at peace like I had felt previously, on a regular basis. After we
stood there for a minute and took a few pictures, we left with a little pep in
our step. I don't write about this to tell you Salem is a horrible place. I
write about this to tell you that we feel different when we are in places we
should and shouldn't be. I wrote to you previously about the feeling I had
while teaching in the temple, this was not that feeling. To those reading, I
know that the very feeling I was experiencing was not of our Heavenly Father. I
know that it was of the adversary. While I say Salem is not a horrible place I
do say it is a place where I have felt something that I have never felt in any
other place in my life. As all five of us got into the car and headed our way, we all told each other how we felt and it was exactly the same. As many before
us have said, "Stand in holy places." I do not intend to ever go back there, but I share with you this story because I know that the power of the adversary is
real. I have felt some of the most amazing feelings while out here and this was
not one of them.
I don't want to end a weekly letter on such
an off topic note. So to close out my letter, I want to tell you the new
challenge that I have undertaken. Recently I have come to the conclusion that
my Chinese is not where I want it to be. It's good, but it could be better! As a
result, I have committed to reading the Book of Mormon in Chinese! Many of you
may ask, "Well, if your Chinese isn't good enough, then how will you read it?" This
is true! In Chinese, you can't sound anything out, you either know it or you
don't. Thankfully, the MTC has given me a language study addition so that I can
see the words character and pinyin (Romanization form). Furthermore, because I
can only read simplified and not traditional, I have been using a simplified Book of Mormon to read and have referred to the study addition for help when I
do not know the world. Almost immediately, my Chinese has improved, and it has
been one of the coolest things! I truly am excited for this opportunity and
know that it will bless me!
Well, that's all I have to share this
week!
Hope you all have an amazing week!
Love,
Elder Wilde
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