Hey, everyone!!
It has been an
exciting week here in the Ryde 2 area! I am happy to write to you today and
share some of the experiences that the Lord has blessed me with!
First of all, the
reason why I am writing on Tuesday instead of Monday is that yesterday was
transfers. This last transfer was special in that it was only four weeks long.
After only serving with Elder Hsu for four weeks, he was moved to serve the Lord
in another part of His vineyard. Elder Hsu will be continuing his missionary
efforts in the city. My new companion is Elder Hung from Hong Kong! Elder Hung
has been out around a year and his last companion was my first companion, Elder
Watson! It's great to have the opportunity to serve with Elder Hung, and we have
already seen so many miracles together! I am excited to see what the Lord has
in store for us!
Many of you know that
I recently hit my year mark as a missionary. My family surprised me and sent me
a stuffed bear with my name on it.
I am grateful for the opportunity I have had
to serve as a missionary for this period of time and thank all of you for the
many prayers that have been said in my behalf. During this short but special
year, I have learned so much and words cannot express my gratitude for my
Heavenly Father as he has blessed us so abundantly.
Also, this week
because it was the end of the transfer, we had to do a deep clean of our flat.
Elder Lee was particularly proud of how well he cleaned the toilet, and I guess
the picture of him wearing the seat capitulates all of that and even more into
one shot.
Regardless of how clean it is, I don't think I would ever have the
courage to wear it, but it just shows how diligent he is in his cleaning
efforts.
In addition, Elder Lee left this week to go home. At the end of a
missionary's time in the Ryde flat, we all sign the Chinese flag with our names
and the dates we served from. There have been a few missionaries before us that
have started this tradition, and we hope it to be one that continues!!
Lastly is
a picture of the Ryde district before it was split up yesterday. It was such a
great opportunity to serve with Elder Lee, Elder Hsu, and Sister
Durtschi!!
This weekend, we were
so very blessed to have two baptisms in Ryde Ward! One of the baptisms came
from the Sisters and one came from Elder Hsu and I. We were able to baptize
Lawrence into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I had the
opportunity to baptize him on Saturday and stand in the circle as he was
confirmed on Sunday.
Lawrence has a particular story that taught me a gospel
truth in a very real way. Before my arrival in Ryde, Lawrence was preparing to
be baptized but because he is 17, he needed his parents' permission. Lawrence is
currently studying at MacQuarie University and his parents are living back in
China. Lawrence indicated that he was unwilling to have his parents make this
decision for him and that if needed, he would wait until December 2015 to
turn 18 and then be baptized. For one reason or another, the previous Elders
thought it would be good to drop Lawrence and pick him back up when his
birthday got closer.
When I arrived to the Ryde area, I was going through former
records and asked Elder Hsu about Lawrence. After Elder Hsu told me, I thought
to myself that this was a special case and that I should ask President Howes. I
pondered it for a couple days and prayed about it. I felt like I really should
ask even though I knew he was a minor and that I probably already knew the
answer. Well, eventually I crossed paths with President Howes and the thought
popped into my head to ask about Lawrence. I asked President Howes, and
President Howes said that it would be okay to baptize him. Under such special
circumstances, we were allowed to go through with Lawrence's baptism. Well after
that, we met with Lawrence and talked to him. He accepted to be baptized on
Saturday and was later interviewed and then baptized.
The point that drove home
to me is that the Lord knew I, Elder Wilde, would ask President Howes. The Lord
has placed us in specific areas to help specific people to come unto Christ.
While I had believed this principle and placed faith in it, it wasn't until my
experience with Lawrence that this was cemented into me. I know that Heavenly
Father will not always tell us everything, he will just tell us what we need to
know. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who trusts each of us to do
what he has set us in place to do. I know that each of us can have these same
experiences, and I know that each of us are being prepared for these same
experiences. May we strive for the courage of Nephi and the faith of the
Brother of Jared is my hope for each of us.
Thank you for the
continual support that each of you have for me. Your weekly letters to me truly
do make a difference, and I love hearing from each of you so much!! Without your
support and prayers, I know that things would be much different. I look forward
to catching up with you in a week's time.
Love,
Elder Wilde
No comments:
Post a Comment