Hey Family!!:) How was Lake Powell??.......don't tell me too much. It might kill me. Now stop goin dangit!!! Next time you go....its gonna be with me ok?? mk. Well I know your week was good so I don't even need to ask;) our week was real good too! I got to go on exchanges with our Sister Training leader and we went to an interview with all the Zone Leaders and Stake President and all them! It was way fun! haha the Stake President gave me a referral for up in Le Mars and challenged us to find him, and get him baptized in the next couple of weeks!!! We are takin that challenge!!! I just hope I get to see what happens....Transfers are this week....and I think I might be a goner. I been here half my mission.....kinda a long time!!! but ya never know:)

So....I bought tobacco and cigarettes this week. That's somethin I havent done before....Missions change you:) and teach you new things:) Haha I guess I should probably explain before my Dad or Grandpa or Em comes out here and gets me;) So we met a bunch of nursing home patients at walmart and each of us missionaires took an older person and helped them shop for whatever they needed then ate lunch with them. So this guy Larry begged me to push him...the whole time he was droppin all these pick up lines at me. It was HILARIOUS. He was soo dang cute. Then.....the only things he wanted at the store was tobacco and cigarettes....haha perfect time to teach the word of wisdom...right? I thought so too. But he didn't care too much. He said, "oh that's nice angel....but ya see....I NEED em or Ill keel over and die, and then, darlin, youll have to to do CPR to bring me back"............ I let him win that one. We also were able to find another couple new investigators!!! haha we need more missionaires up here soo bad!! We will see what happens!!:) Oh and I would be proud to tell my Dad that I have mowed more lawns this week then ever at home. :) I really really like mowin lawns when Im not forced too by my parents and brothers;)

So many amazing miracles are goin on. We are able to teach soo many lessons a week!! A ton of people are progressing and its just amazing to see what the Gospel can do to peoples lives! Theres just too much to say....so Ill wait till I come home to tell you all:) So this week I really have been thinkin. Next week I will have hit my halfway mark on my mission. I been thinkin about how badly I want this mission to change me. I want to become someone that is completely selfless, that is Gods hands. I want my will to be His will. I want Him to be able to use me and count on me for whatever He needs done. I want to change everyday to become that person. Then I was thinkin that the whole purpose of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It is to bring into your character, the qualities of His character. It is to continue to progress and continue to become better and better until we see God face to face and know Him as He knows us.

So... every challenge we face, every hard thing we go through, every bad thing that happens to us, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give us opportunity to respond by applying in our lives the teachings of Jesus. As we do so we are changed to become more like Him. How cool is that? (I didn't come up with that... I found it in a talk by Lawrence E. Corbridge) So theres a quote by C.S. Lewis that I really really love. "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man, but to kill it. No half measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart." That's exactly what I want...... So in the end, your heart and your will is all that you have to give that the Lord does not already have. If you give your time, and your strength then you give only that which He already gave you. If you dedicate your gifts and talents, you only return to Him what He already has given you. Everything that you have to give to the Lord, He first gave it to you, except one thing: your will. He does not have your heart, nor your mind, unless you give them to Him. It is the only gift you have to offer that He does not already have. So when you give yourself, you truly give Him everything.....I love that. Just give it up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, ambitions, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, more than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary normal man. He will create a God.

Presdient David O. McKay said, "The greatest battles you will ever fight will be within the silent chambers of your heart." That is the battleground between what you want and what the Lord wants. If you surrender, if the Lord wins, you win also. If you win, if your will prevails, you and the Lord both lose. The only way to win is to lose. Lose yourself in the Lords work, and you will win beyond your wildest imaginations. So last quote that I really liked was from Lawrence E. Corbridge, "Do you see that only in losing yourself, may you find yourself, only by enriching others, may you be enriched; only by giving, may you recieive; only in surrendering, may you become free." Ok sorry I kinda went off there. I just been studying a lot about it and have learned a lot about giving yourself up. A lot of what I said was quotes and stuff I loved from talks I studied. Mostly talks by Lawrence E. Corbridge....he's AWESOME. I hope you will all like it as well. It definitely gives ya something to think about. I know that if we truly give ourselves up that that is when we will find ourselves. and not only find ourselves, but there will be a whole lot more to find. I love you all sooo very much and am so grateful for all your examples to me! I love you!!! Have an amazing week!!!:) Love, Sister Wilson:)