24 August 2015 Letter

We will find out about transfers today.  I feel like we will both stay, not really sure why 'cause that would be strange, but it is possible.  This week was a bit difficult because we didn't really have some one to accompany us to our lessons where only women were present so we missed out on a lot of appointments.  It is a tough rule.  We could enter and nobody would know but it is better to follow the rules, for whatever reason.  The highlight of the week was the baptism of Hermana Alicia, an 18-yr-old girl, Daniela's older sister.

But first, last Monday was a blast.  All the sister missionaries of the mission had P-day (preparation day) together and so that left us Elders here free to go out to Chosica and spend the day with the Elders in that other zone.  It was the first time I had done a multi-zone p-day.  We played soccer and american football with all the guys and it was super fun.  I also got to spend that time with Elder Espinel and Elder Wilson.  It was way cool to see them and talk about what had happened since the last time we talked.

The baptism all went well.  Elder Cornejo was able to baptize her.  Afterwards she gave a super powerful and strong testimony.  The whole time I was just smiling so big and so happy.  This work really does make me happy and I love seeing a strong conversion.  There is nothing like it.  After Alicia gave her testimony, she came up to me and asked me why I was laughing at her in her testimony!!  Haha, I tried explaining to her I was just super happy and excited, but maybe she didn't get it all the way.  Thats OK.  I love all you guys and thanks for the prayers.

Elder Wilcox

Alicia's baptism 1

Alicia's baptism 2

Alicia's baptism 3, with all the YAS (don't know,

Young Single Adults?) and the Bishop

Cold water!

Alicia's baptism 4

Being weird

with Elder Wilson

with Elder Espinel

Daughter of my pensionista with her niece

#ElderWes

17 August 2015 Letter

So this week was super cool.  We had a great week number-wise.  We were able to meet and have interviews with President Boswell.  We had two baptisms and a great Sunday.  Today we are going up to Chosica to play soccer with that zone.  I will be able to see Elder Espinel and Elder Wilson. Should be a blast.  I think we are going to play soccer.

This week I have really noticed that my companion, Elder Cornejo, and I are really learning how to work together, and we are getting to know the area better.  So, we are working better and more efficiently.  Using your time wisely and with responsibility is something we really learn here in the mission.  I am glad I am learning this stuff because before, I wasn't even a bit responsible or wise with my time.  It really is a valuable lesson.  President said we might be staying together another transfer, which I would love.

The baptism was also great.  We baptized two primary aged kids named Arez, and Suha.  They are super smart and are ready to be members.  We have another baptism planed the following week, and another investigator just committed to a date for the week after that.  Hopefully all will go well.  I know lots of times it doesn't, but I have found it is better to have faith in and trust the people, even if we get disappointed.  We develop a greater love for that person, and that is what our Father in Heaven wants and I think it is what Jesus would do.

Elder Wesley Wilcox

Random Pic 1

Random Pic 2

Random Pic 3

Random Pic 4

Random Pic 5

Random Pic 6

Baptism 1

Baptism 2

Baptism 3

How to eat like a Peruano 1

How to eat like a Peruano 2

#ElderWes

10 August 2015 Letter

Week somthin

So this week was awesome and we had some really awesome lessons and some great times.  We were able to have a great lesson with the Cajavilca family on Monday and had a strong lesson full of all the good stuff a lesson needs.  We shared some great scriptures in 3 Nephi 11 and had Daniela, the girl who was just baptized, bear her testimony for us all.  We invited Alicia, the older sister to be baptized and finally she said yes.  Her baptism will be this coming Saturday with two others we had planned. The testimonies of new converts are so awesome. They are simple and strong. They don't know a lot, but what they do know, they know is true and it is the best.

One of the branches in my stake doesn't have a baptismal font in their building, so they came here for their baptism, and they invited an old Elder who served there to attend. The Elder came but with another Elder who was his district leader. It was Elder Espinel, my father in the mission and my dear friend. It was so awesome to meet up with him and talk about our missions and new areas, and rejoice and lament over the past successes or downfalls in good old Portada del Sol, my first area.

This week should be awesome, we have interviews with the mission president and then three baptisms the next day. Super excited for all that!

Love you guys.

Elder Wilcox



#ElderWes

3 August 2015 Letter

Well, lots to say today, so I will get started. Even though now I have 6 months in the mission, I still feel like the least of all these missionaries. I have so much to learn. I have so much to improve. Some of these Elders and Hermanas may not even have great Spanish, but they are missionaries. They know how to answer every single question perefectly. I hope that all my study and learning will enable me to become like them. Man, I wish I would have payed attention is Seminary.

This week we had some awesome things happen but first I wanted to say something I didn't have time to address the last week. Last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend the temple again. I was so excited and even more excited when as I was waiting in a side room with my zone to go into a session, and someone walked into the room and grabbed my hand, and pulled me up out of the chair to hug me. I was so excited to see that it was good old Elder Underwood from my ward back home in Eagle. We talked for just a while, super stunned and overjoyed to see each other. It was way different than just shaking his had at a mutual back home. I had to go to my session so I said good-bye and then walked away. As I was about to enter the session-room when Elder Smith from Eagle 4th ward walked out of the Celestial room. I think he didn't recognize me at first but then we embraced, just as Elder Underwood came back and we all hugged together in the middle of the temple. It was an amazing experience, not just seeing two friends, but seeing two fellow servants in the work of our Lord. I really love those guys and tried to let them know without it being all weird 'cause we are still 3 dudes and not sister missionaries that cry for everything. But I wanted to cry and know that it was a tender mercy from the Lord to be able to see them in the house of our Lord. I wished them good-bye and good luck for two years and that finishes up that special occasion. What a blessing.

This week we found lots of people from knocking doors and also had a special Saturday. We had our first baptism of the transfer. I talked a bit about Daniela the last week but we had a great and beautiful baptismal service. Later, she gave her strong testimony and powerfully said that as she left the water she felt like an example to the rest of her family, who we are also teaching. Hopefully they will be baptized this month too.

I love this work and this gospel. I am so grateful that we aren't lost in this world. We know exactly why we are here and what we need to do. We know everything we need to know to receive all the blessing the Father has to offer us, his beloved children.

See you all next week.

Elder Wilcox

Proselyting activity from Elders from the CCM.

I left for the afternoon in Huaycan with this Argentino and Chileno

Baptism of Daniela

Daniela's baptism

#ElderWes

27 July 2015 Letter

Weekly Letter - 27 Julio - 6 Months!!!!

Well this computer has some serious virus goin on up in here so there is no way I am going to send or download fotos.  But I can still write!!!

Ok so here is the update.  Ñaña is the best.  This area is massive and we walk a ton.  That is the only down-side.  My comp is amazing.  He is district leader and is super humble.  His name is Elder Cornejo from Babahoyo, Ecuador.  He is super musically talented and really humble.  He is a great leader because he leads by example.  I can't ask for much more in a companion.  The area is super awesome too.  We have a super tiny ward compared with my last area but the members are here to do work!  They all know their role in missionary work.  The bishop is a stud and makes sure everyone is doing their job.  They just changed all the presidencies of all the organizations in the ward, so we will see what will happen.  Hopefully everything we still turn out well.

We have a good amount of investigators and three with a baptismal date.  One family we are working with is the Cajavilca family.  They live like 20 minutes away from our main proselyting area so it's fun to get there!  They are all investigators.  They have two daughters.  Daniela, who is 12 will be baptized this Saturday after about 2 months of investigating the church.  The mom, Norma will be getting married to her boyfriend this week as well so they can be baptized in August some time.  The other daughter, Alicia, is still missing something but is super close to baptism.  We think the baptism of her sister will really help her make a decision, though so we are super excited for this weekend.  They are a great family and they have a great story too.  One day 2 months ago Elder Cornejo and the last Elder that was here were walking in the street and went to buy soda in the corner store when a woman approached them and told them she wanted to be baptized into our church and be a member because she liked our religion.  She had never been taught by missionaries antes (before) but was super prepared and ready for the Gospel.  This woman was Norma, the mom of the Cajavilca family.  Luckily, I am here now and am honored to be able to help them enter the waters of baptism.

We are also working with another family named the Reynaldo family.  They live on the very top of this giant hill we have in the area near Huascata.  The parents aren't members nor are they married but three of their kids are members.  They have three more that aren't members and two of them, Arez (8) and Suja(10) have a baptismal date for the 15 of August and it is fairly concrete.  Their parents have already signed the permission slips and we are excited for their progression.  They are a beautiful family and I love visiting them even though is is seriously impossible to hike that hill.

I have seen the blessings of working hard and will continue to work hard till the day I die.  'Cause after we resurrect we can work perfectly hard without sweating at all!

Elder Wilcox

With Raul Cernades, he got home from his mission like

my second week in the ward and came out with us a lot

#ElderWes

20 July 2015 Letter

Greetings from Lima, but a new area!!  Yes, I had transfers and I don't have much time to write, so I will write more next week.  I have a new companion, Elder Cornejo from Ecuador, a super skinny tall dude.  He is way humble and we get along great.  I am so excited to spend the next five weeks working alongside him.

I am now in a place called Ñaña, in the Chaclacayo stake.  I am no longer in central Lima, but in the outskirts.  It is in the hills, close to a river so it is way greener.  My area is literally ten times, if not more, bigger than my last one.  I love it here and we have so much work to do.  This week we worked super hard and already had two people commit to baptism.  I love it and am excited to be here.  Also, the pension is awesome and feeds us really well.  It is like a 15 minute journey to get there though, so we eat breakfast in our room.  Talk to you all a little more next week.  Love you all.

Hugs, not drugs,

Elder Wilcox

Elder Hamilton, Oscar, Elder Espinel, Yo, y elder Chiroque

 - los ultimos cuatro que sirvieron en barrio portada del sol.

Oscar es un miembro alli.

(the last four who served in the Portada del Sol Ward.

Oscar is a member there)

 The new room. Pituco (posh)

Room

Artificial weight set

New area, Ñaña, Chaclacayo

#ElderWes

Editor's Note

Last night I posted a bunch of Wesley's updates.  I failed to post his letter from 8 June 2015, but have just finished doing so now. (in case you missed it!)

13 July 2015 Letter

Well, not too much to say this week.  Just had a cool experience when we were talking to one really stubborn dude.  As we talked I was explaining to him how we can say whatever to people, but we can't convince them.  They have to ask God to know for themselves and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit, is who convinces them.  He started to laugh and said we must not have the spirit because we weren't convincing him.  Then we explained to him, Remember Jesus?  How many people didn't believe him?  Does that mean He didn't have the Spirit?  He said, no of course not He is the Son of God, are you two comparing yourselves to him?  You can't be serious!

My companion then very firmly responded - We are his representatives and He sent us here to knock on your door because He knows you and knows what you need.  The man then was silent for literally ten seconds.  Then he said thank you and apologized and shut the door.  I was pretty shocked too at my companion's power and conviction but I then realized what he said was true.

I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I have the authority to do what I do, to call others unto repentance and baptism.  I love my calling and all the blessings it brings.  I know this work is true and that this church is true.  In the name our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all and I am praying for every one of you.

Elder Wes

6 July 2015 Letter

Hey everybody. ¿Como estan?

Well, this has been a great week.  We met almost every single goal or excellence put by the mission and exceeded others.  We only had nine new investigators as the goal is 10.  So we fell just short of that.  But we really saw the blessings of hard work and concentrating ourselves in the work as well.  We also were able to receive a visit in our room from the mission president.  He let us know that we needed to clean our room haha.  It was kinda embarrassing but we needed a good slap in the face.  He said that God is a God of order and the Spirit cannot dwell as easily in a dirty room.  It needed to be a celestial apartment.  That was on my birthday in the morning so he also brought me cookies.  But he went to all the rooms in our zone and chastised them as well.

In a movie about our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, there is a part where he did not follow an impression of the Spirit and something sad happened as a result.  I don't have time to tell the whole story.  But after, he made a promise to never again ignore a prompting and to always act on it.  From that moment, I made that same promise.  This week I have really seen the blessings of listening to the Spirit and following those impressions.  I have also been able to feel more in tune and closer to my Heavenly Father.  We found a lot of new people.  Nine this week.  Every single one was from contacting, which is just talking to people in the street or knocking doors.  We had one time where we were walking down the street at about 8:30 at night and I felt so strongly to turn around and go talk to this teenager that was sitting outside his door on his phone.  We turned around and talked to him.  Then his mom got home from work and talked with us too.  She had been going through some really tough times especially as a single mom and having had her sister pass away recently.  At the end of the lesson, they told us they wanted to come to church and get baptized.  The little experiences like those are what make it all worth it.  All the walking around the whole day, people rejecting us or telling us we are devil worshipers or that we aren't Christians haha.  I love the mission.  I will never forget these things.  I learn so much every day and my testimony that this is the true church of our Savior grows every moment.

Love you guys

Elder Wes

My cake :)

Elder Chiroque 

Alfajores de argentina!

They bought me american candy from the states!!!

Haciendo root beer floats para la familia Romero

(Making root beer floats for the Romero family)

P-day con el distrito portada del sol!!

( P-day (preparation day) with the Portada del Sol District!!)

  

The partay!

#ElderWes