Week 62: Why are there so many churches, if there is only one Christ?

A healthy bowl of skittles??? 

Loving' a day at the beach ON WHEELS!

Group October 16, 2017

Tuesday was a great, very well needed, day. Lets just say that we were working hard but not seeing the fruits to much. It started off bad to be honest. When we left in the morning to go visit people, all of the appointments fell through. Three appointments fell in about 3 minutes, it felt like. I was thinking, well just another day of people lying to us saying they will be home, but there not! We went to lunch after and I had to talk with the other zone leader so we could plan for a conference we where having on Wednesday. After we went to our afternoon appointments. It also started off a little rough with the first 3 appointments falling through again. But then that is when it all changed. We went to a contacts house and sat down and talked with her and her family. They loved the way we presented the message and how much we talked about Christ. Then one of the sisters asked, “I have a question that I have asked many different people but they could never answer it good. Why are there so many churches, if there is only one Christ?” and that when it all changed. We answered that question with the lesson of the restoration and answered many other good questions she had for us. The spirit was so strong and we left her to read the Book of Mormon to know if all these things were true. She said she would read it and we could pass by again on Friday. After that we went to another investigators house and taught the restoration again but this time we set a baptism date with him! The last two appointments made up for all the bad ones! That was exactly what me and my companion needed to start the week!

Wednesday, once again, we had a conference another two hours away. We woke up at 5:15 A.M. and we took off to Bani. The conference was pretty much the same as the leadership council we had last week, but it was good either way. There were 5 different zones there so it was quite a few people. I got to talk to with my zone alone for a little while and got them all pumped up to go work hard! We have been talking a TON about the Book of Mormon. God has a grand work before us and it is only getting bigger. We got home at about 6:30 P.M. but we just dropped a couple things off at the house and went straight to work. We had another super powerful lesson with a guy named Juan Ramon, and we invited him to baptism and he accepted the invitation. We have another appointment for Friday and hopefully we will be able to set a goal for what day he should be baptized.

Thursday was alright. We found a new family that was accepting to what we had to say. We then went and talked with one of our investigators who’s baptism was planned for the 21^st of this month but we have a district conference on Sunday and we won’t be able to announce it so we moved it for the 28^th of this month. He is doing good and learning a lot I guess you could say haha! His church before prayed a lot different then what God has asked but we used his own bible to say that it is not necessary to pray like that and he understood well. We then talked with some guys preparing for baptism in the beginning of November. They are cool but man Satan knows their weaknesses. They have the desire but they just need to read the scriptures more to get further away from Satan. We then went to movie night and we had a great success with like 4 investigators and they were talking with the members a lot. A very good way to end the day!

Friday was another pretty good day. In the morning we went out and dedicated the time to just go get to know new people. We found a couple people that are cool and may progress but then we went and pulled out our money. Lets just say after traveling so much it was very well needed! In the afternoon we visited a young single adult and we wanted to help strengthen his testimony. We shared a article from the October 2017 Liahona. I really liked that article and how it talks about how now matter how strong you are in the gospel, be careful to not fall into the traps of Satan. Many of the first apostles of the restoration fell into temptation and lost their authority due to it. It was good to take a step back and look at how strong we are set on top of the rock of Christ. After him we taught a new investigator that attends to another church but is being very accepting to our teachings about Christ. In that same lesson she said in her own words that the Book of Mormon sounds fantastic because it answers her questions. Two minutes later her priest happened to pass by. All was good till she saw the Book of Mormon haha! I asked her to read a verse found in 2 Nephi 25:26. She read it then flipped it over and was in denial that it was the word of God. I then went to read in 2 Nephi 33:10-11 to finish it off that explains if you believe in Christ, believe in these words. It is sad though to see that people don’t believe that God loves all His children. After that we talked with the investigator a little more and invited her to pray to ask God what is right and not ask man. After that we had another amazing appointment with Emmanuel preparing for baptism. Super great kid and his mom does go to another church but she does want him to walk in the path of God. We then went to a YSA activity and got 2 references! Super cool guys to be honest and are very good out going people! Great day!

Saturday was pretty low key. We had English class and had a good turn out there and then we went and talked with some new people. We then went to a priesthood conference and I brought Ramon, one of my converts, who recently just got the priesthood last Sunday. He will be able to pass next Sunday.

Sunday we had district conference. We actually had a really good turn out of almost 700 people. I had 6 investigators at church which is a record here in Barahona! For me at least haha! The conference itself was amazing. We had talks from the district president and the mission president and his wife. The best part for me was to hear the testimony of my convert in front of all these people! They asked her to share a small testimony and she accepted and that was very amazing to hear! She is so awesome! After conference we had interviews with the mission president and then we went and ate with a member. The afternoon was chill because we went and just visited members. All nice and ready for P-Day!!

The week was amazing and one of the highlights was today for P-Day we used Pervis’s bikes and went and rode down on the beach and stuff all day! So much fun to get moving fast on wheels again! I really loved that! The mission is amazing and weeks to be honest fell like days!

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Barahona, Dominican Republic

Week 61: We made popcorn for the people and they tore it up hard core!

Group October 9, 2017

This week was fast but not the most successful. We had some very long days full of walking but we understand that every week can’t be out of the park amazing.

Well, starting with last Tuesday. At fist it was suppose to be a VERY successful day with about 10 to 11 lessons, but lets just say that wasn’t the case. It’s the worst when the first appointment falls through right away but we got to know a lot of new people that day and had at least two powerful lessons with a member. As people get closer to baptism, it’s crazy to see how often satan pulls a fast one.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. We had a good district meeting in the morning but once again the first 3 appointments fell through. We did get to know a new reference who is very good. She had really good “soul questions” you could say. She has thought about salvation and God before, but doesn’t go to any church. We had a good family home evening with a member family that has some less active family members.  We had a good lesson with them on our testimony of the restoration. We showed the video and they all bore their testimonies and we tried to help them remember the truths they know, that satan so often tries to make them forget. We also had another good lesson in the evening with some newer investigators. We have been finding a lot lately because we do have people to teach but I feel that there is more ready people out there so we are trying to do a little bit of the both.

Thursday was pretty basic. Not to bad of a day. We had some pretty good lessons to be honest. We talked with a investigator who is really close to baptism about the Atonement of Christ and repentance a little more with a member and it was very powerful. That was the best lesson of the day but then we went to the chapel for branch movie night. We made popcorn for the people and they tore it up hard core!

Friday was super long starting at 5:15 A.M. We had a leaders council about 2 hours away and we had to take the earliest bus to get there on time. I checked out once we got in the bus and slept the 2 hours. The council was very good and edifying. We are talking a lot about the Book of Mormon lately because it is what makes us different from all the other churches. We focused a lot on the talk of Russell M. Nelson, who said in the last general conference, “What would out life be like with out the Book of Mormon? What do we know from the Book of Mormon? What do we have from the Book of Mormon?” These questions will help us as missionaries and members, to recognize all of the blessing we have due to it so that way we can testify and invite the spirit stronger when we testify of these things. Well I didn’t get back home until 7 that night but then we went straight to work and came home at 9:30 P.M. Long day but when ever we work out hardest, that is when the Lord blesses us the most.

Saturday was a lot of walking. We got to know a couple people in the morning and I also had to do a baptismal interview but at least it was right here close to my area. The afternoon was alright because we had English class and we got a new person there. After that we dropped some stuff off at the house then got to know more people then went and gave a priesthood blessing to our ward mission leader. That leaving we went to the activity of the Buhler’s and they did Karaoke. Super fun and funny to listen to these guys sing.

Sunday was a little sad because we only had 1 investigator at church but at least we where able to take the sacrament. We ate lunch with a member then went to the funeral of a brother of a good friend of ours. After that I had a meeting but then we went out and taught a little then we came to the house and made a cake for a friend of ours here in the branch for his birthday.

This week was fast and full of things to do! The Lord lives for sure and puts trials in our life for our benefit. I know he calls latter day prophets because the God I know is the same forever, and equal. He has a perfect plan for all of us and gave us a redeemer so we can have hope, and don’t have to be as sad. I invite you all to know your savior a little better this week!

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Barahona, Dominican Republic

Week 60: New responsibilities with new opportunities to make me who God wants me to be.

Group October 2, 2017

This week was super fun but super crazy. After I finished writing home last week I went and took a 3 hour bus ride to the capital. We went to the mission office and there I helped there for a bit. We didn{t get to bed until about midnight because the following day is transfers. Well I was there because I had to be there early morning on Tuesday but there wasn{t any busses to get me there in time so I went the night before. 

Tuesday was super fun because that is when I got my kid as they call it here on the mission. I am going to be training this guy for the next 12 weeks. It was full of training meeting in the morning but then we had the awesome opportunity to go to the temple. We then stayed the night there at the MTC.

Wednesday morning we got on the bus and headed home. We didn't get home until about 2 in the afternoon. My new companion is awesome! He is from south Jordan Utah and is straight out of highschool. He was a long distant runner in high school. He also pretty much knows Spanish so that is a great blessing. 

We have been having some super powerfull lessons together. We have also been finding quite a few new people.  We went to almost Haiti to do a baptismal interview on Saturday. That went well but is about an hour and a half away.

Saturday was amazing and also Sunday. General conference has turned out SO good! We where able to watch it all in English! That was awesome! I loved how there was many talks about repentence and the sacrament. Also about service. The talks about service call my attenition a lot for all members to be honest. We may think that we don't need to be there at activities but there is always someone that will need your help. I loved all the talks of course but the talk of Russel M. Nelson also called my attention a lot as missionaries and for my zone. If we can recognize the blessings we have received from the Book of Mormon we will be able to testify with a more powerful spirit to those who don't know much about the church.

This email isn't super detailing but a summary would be, a GREAT week! New responsibilities with new opportunities to make me who God wants me to be. The Lord knows you and me by name and wants us to come back to live with Him so listen to what he has to say!

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Week 59: Ramon's Baptism, Not moving, Called to be trainer & zone leader--wow!

Group September 25th, 2017

Well what a week! Probably one of the biggest weeks of my misión. Not that it was long but what happened was pretty big. 

Tuesday was a calm day and in the morning we went and bought some tubing for a big activity I planned with the branch. I will tell you more about that a little later. In the afternoon we had the branch president leave with us for a couple hours. It was a pretty long day, not going to lie. We had a very good lesson at Virginias house as always, teaching her neighbors and friends. 

Wednesday I did my last district meeting. It went pretty well and we hit some key point on how to help us be more effective and show more faith. We also did splits with one of the other elder in my district. He is new to the mission but his Spanish is very good. We get a lon very well and can talk till we die! He went to college for a year first at BYU and lest just say I am PUMPED for college haha! It sounds like so much fun! First thing first though, finish the mission haha!

Thursday was alright but nothing crazy cool. We had some decent lessons in the afternoon but at night was movie night and that turned out great! I had 7 investigators there at the activity! We watched a movie that is very cool called Calateral Beauty.

Friday was a pretty good I guess you could say. We had a couple lessons with member and found a couple new people. The sadest part was saying by to Perviz, who is the spouce of Virginia. He left to Spain on Saturday and wont come back until after tranfers and I think I may be leaving. 

Saturday was one of the biggest days of my mission. In the moring we went to the church and cleaned the whole thing by ours selfs because the members here don’t like to help a whole lot. We where getting ready for a activity I planned with the branch about a month ago. It consist of playing full size fuseball and also giving people hot dogs to eat. The full purpose of this activity was references. Well once the afternoon rolled around we started out with a pretty good turn out with about 10 new people there. We played some games and I was running around trying to help in everything because the activitys commitie didn{t show up for the activity. It was stressfull and I felt like my mom at trek but she was more organized but in the end we had close to 200 people and we moved into the sacrament room and watched a couple Mormon messesges to invite the spirit then those that wanted to see the baptisms could. We moved into the baptism room and we had about 125 people watching and many where not memebers. Ramon, my investigator got baptized and the branch presidents daughter was baptized. It turned out very successful and in the end we had about 30 references. There where many ways we could have improved but that’s why we are here on earth, to progress. 

Sunday was also very good and I was able to bless Ramon with the gift of the Holy Ghost with the priesthood I have. That was a first but very cool! The day consisted of say by to people after that. So like I said earlier, tranfers, or changes of the missionaries is this week. Saturday morning I got called from the president of the mission and asked me to train a new elder coming in for the next 12 weeks and also be the leader of a zone of about 20 missionaries. I accepted and will be starting on Tuesday. This is a very big shock because my other companion has very little time here and is already leaving. I will be in this area until the 20^th of December. That is a very long time but I am down for it and ready to tear it up even harder here! Thanks for all your support and take care!

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Barahona, Dominican Republic

Week 58: Being diligent really blessed us!

Group September 18, 2017

Hello once again!

Last P-Day was actually really fun so I will tell you what we did. We got the people from my district together and the zone leaders and we went and played baseball! It turned out super fun even though it was 90 degrees out. We hit a couple home runs and then we got out of there and went home. Yes, I did wear sunscreen this time so I didn't get fried. 

On Tuesday, I had a leaders meeting to go to and we talked about how the zone is going to progress. We have a couple things planned and new ideas on how to use the Book of Mormon. It was a pretty good meeting and then all of the us leaders went to eat lunch after. In the afternoon, well lets say it wasn{t the best. All of our appointments where falling through and contacting wasn{t working, till the end of the day. We went to our friends, Virgina and Ramons house and they had a couple references there waiting for us! The lesson went super good because we watched the restoration video. We felt the spirit super strong and invited the two of them to baptism! Being diligent that day really blessed us!

Wednesday was a lot like Tuesday. In the biggining of the day we had NO luck. School started here a week or two ago so that is probably the problem because the parents are out picking them up. The at 4 we had a great lesson with a new guy named Walter. He came to church on Sunday with a friend and we went and passed by his house on Sunday also. Wednesday we had a great lesson with him at a members house. The member helped out so much in the lesson when we taught the restoration and then we invited him to baptism on the 21 of October. That night we also taught the son of one of our investigators who knows a lot about the church and invited him to prepare with his mom to be baptized on the same day as her, which is the 14^th of October. The day turned out very good there at the end!

Thursday morning we had district meeting and that went very well. My district was able to invite a lot more people to baptism this last week. After that we came home for lunch but later that day we had interviews with our mission president and his wife. They came right to our house sence it wasn{t to far of a drive for him. It went very well and I got some new information about the mission. He is a great mission president! His wife also is very helpful! That night we had the movie night and even got two references from it!

Friday was a good day because one we got our money! Second is because we had a member leave with us all day! We had some very good lessons that day. We have been reading a lot from the Liahona with the people we teach. We use the prophets talk and also the article, 10 minuets a day. They are both VERY good! We had a good meeting with our ward mission leader too, and got everything planned for the baptism next Saturday.

Saturday was a fun start because we helped a member move. After that we had a baptism interview for Ramon. He passed with flying colors! After lunch we had English class by sister Buhler then we went to Virginias house because she has a lot of references for us. We went and contacted them all and they arn{t to shabby! We finished the night with the big activity of the Buhlers with young single adults and we brought Virginias daughter and another family member.

Sunday wasn{t terrible but very tiring. We had a good turn out at church and in the afternoon we had some pretty good appointments but lets just say we need a P-DAY.

Well that’s all I have for you this week so take care and never forget to do the small things, because those sometimes are what make the big differences.

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Barahona, Dominican Republic

Week 57: What Hurricane? Really?

Group September 11, 2017

Well the week started amazing! Tuesday consisted of good appointments in the morning and afternoon then at night we went to hermana Virginias house. It was her birthday and we gave her a gift. We also taught Ramon, preparing him for his baptism the 23rd of this month. We did find out that Virginias husband wants to be baptized but wants to change Jobs first because he has to lie a lot at work to his clients and doesn´t feel right doing it, so he wants to change his life and start again but it will take some time to change Jobs. He is the director of a very big organization in the government. After we taught them though we drove to a good food place where they bought us dinner. I thought it was my birthday to be honest haha!

Wednesday was not good to be honest. These types of days are bound to happen, but we didn´t have very good lesson or any new people to teach. It was very slow because we where thinking about this hurricane that was supposably going to come. 

Thursday was a very slow day but was pretty nice. We were not allowed to leave the house due to Hurricane Irma but nothing even happened here! Not even rain! That was very odd but we played a lot of card games and board games here at the house with some other Elders from another área.

Friday was a very productive day. We had a meeting with our Ward misión leader in the morning that was very effective. In the afternoon, we did splits with two members. We taught a total of 13 lessons that day between the two of us. It went very well! Virginias nephew, Ramon, invite some of his friends to come to seminary with him and the church then invited him to prepare for baptism with him! Very cool to see that he already has references for us!

Saturday was amazing because in the morning, Pervis, the husband of Virginia, took me and my companion to go see a near by motocross track. It was cool because it is literally on the beach but very small and the jumps are tiny. He then drove usa round in his car to go see other very cool places I haven´t seen before. He also showed us 3 references of people he would like us to teach. It was probably the best morning I have had in the misión and after that we went to a store like office depot and bought some real nice pens! You ain´t a missionary with out a good pen! Every Saturday we have English class that is taught by the senior couple. It is a very helpful class for us to be honest. We had a good turno ut with 3 investigators. After that we went to the baptism of the sister missionaries. My companion did the baptism for them sense I did the last one. After that we went back to the senior couples house for the Young sing adult activity they always do. Web ring our investigators so they can get to know more members of the church. It was a very solid Saturday!

Sunday also went very well. We had a great turn out at church & the spouse of Virginia went once again! The lessons where very good on the priesthood and also about always learning more. We had a member bring a friend to church that may be able to really progress. He has a very good life story and would be a great help in the Lords church. After church hermana Virginia fed us lunch and we all sat down together at their table with them and to be honest, it felt like I was part of that family. They are the closest people I have to parents here in the DR. They are always looking out for me too and if we need anything we can count on them! After them we went and visited a couple people but then we had meeting to finish the day off. 

Overall, another week that felt like 1 day! The misión is a amazing thing and I like the way the Lord is helping me change! Obedience and sacrifice really does bring MIRACLES!

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Barahona, Dominican Republic

The Missing Week 56: Convert Fire!

Group September 4, 2017

Sorry I didn´t write you guys last week. Things where a Little difficult. I am going to putt he two weeks together for you all.

To start, we had a very powerful lesson on Tuesday with Virgina and her spouse. We talked also with her nephew who is going to be baptized on the 23rd of September. We brought two members and we talked a lot about the role of the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation. The husband, Pervis, said that he knows he needs to be baptized after his nephew Ramon. Very awesome night and then they took us home in their car! That never happens here in this country! 

The best thing that happened on Wednesday was that a member living here from South Africa invited us 4 missionaries over. He speaks English but can´t speak Spanish quite yet. He is such a nice guy and has really good inputs on the scriptures. He fed us Indian food and then took us home. Thursday was pretty slow but its always fun because every Thursday night we have movie night at the church. We watched How to Train a Dragon. 

Friday was normal and Saturday we taught English class this week because Hermana Buhler, a senior couple, couldn´t make it here to teach it. We also had a very good lesson with a less active. Something I have noticed and is the reason for why there in more less actives is because when a sister or a brother doesn´t come to church more then 2 times no one goes and visits them to help them in their difficulties. They just talk about it then do nothing so we will try to help them change that. The way of peoples minds here is way different then the states. 

Sunday went great because Virginia and Pervis and Ramona ll made it to church together. Ramon, the nephew, was telling us that he feels like he needs to prepare to serve a misión. He is 15 and not baptized, yet he wants to serve one and always goes to seminary now! He is going to be a very good convert and help many more lives!

On Saturday I also did my first baptism interview. It went very well and the man in very prepared and ready to go! It will be next Saturday.

The misión is a blast as always and has helped me learn SO much! Just remember to complete your calling to the máximum and the Lord will bless you all!

Love,

Elder Wolfe

Barahona, Dominican Republic