Serving the Lord in the Land Down Under: Letter 4 from Australia

August 16, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

What a week. So first off I cannot believe that I have already been on my mission for one month!!! I just have 23 more left! Where has the time gone!? It just feels like yesterday I was walking into the MTC and putting my nametag on for the first time! I love being on a mission. It is truly the best experience I have ever had in my life (so far). So this week flew by! I am literally shocked at how fast these weeks have gone by. I would describe the time like this, the hours feel like days and the days feel like hours! It is so true though and it still surprises me! Now, on to the good stuff;)

This week was great. We did a ton of door knocking and finding and we found 5 new contacts! WAHOO Hah. 5 is pretty good but it still is a very low number, but we are trying and that is all that matters. We have had some great lessons this week, but the one that stood out to me was the one we had with Steve on Thursday night. So like I in my last weeks email, Steve is one of our investigators who has decided to be baptized! He is so amazing and is such a great guy. So every morning Elder Kelsch and I have a planning session, where we plan for the lessons and people we are going to see that day. While we were planning for Steve, I had a really strong impression that we need to re-commit Steve to be baptized. When I told Elder Kelsch that, he was surprised (as well was I) but we decided to listen to my prompting and re-commit Steve. So we went over to his house to have our lesson with him, and as soon as we sat down and asked him how he was doing, he told us that it had been one of the hardest days in his entire life. He told us that he didn't know if he wanted to be baptized anymore because of all the doubts, concerns and questions that he was now having. We asked him his concerns and talked about all of them and tried our best to help him. While we were doing that, the Holy Ghost told me a question to ask Steve and I did. I looked at Steve and this is what I said, "Steve I want you to do something for me, I want you to put aside every single doubt and concern that you just told us, and I want you to think back to the lessons we have taught you. I want you to think about those lessons and how you felt during them. Now based off of that, based off of those principles that we have taught you and the way you have felt, do you want to be baptized?" He looked at me and said, "Yes, I do." I then told him that that is what he needs to. If he has the desire to be baptized, then he should be baptized. I told him that what he is experiencing right now is normal. That most investigators go through a hard time before they are baptized and it is Satan trying to persuade you not to be baptized. I told him that people in our Church are always learning. I told him that he doesn't need to know everything before he gets baptized. I said, "Hey, even Elder Kelsch and I are still learning stuff!" I told him that we have an hour of personal study every morning where we are studying and learning new stuff. He laughed and told us that that makes him feel a whole lot better! After the lesson was over he just kept thanking us over and over again for helping him.

I am so grateful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and for the ability to listen to its promptings. When I was little and I wouldn't listen to my mom, she would say something that all moms say. "I am talking to you, are you listening to me?" Heaven is constantly saying that to every single one of us. "I am talking to you, are you listening?" In order to hear Heavens promptings we need to be doing everything in our life to allow us to hear them. We need to be reading in the scriptures, praying constantly, loving one another and allowing ourselves to be a reflection of Jesus Christ and The Gospel. We also need to slow down in life. In this day and age, everyone is constantly going somewhere, doing something, posting something, or watching something, etc. SLOW DOWN. If we fill our life with worldly things and worldly sounds, we don't make time for Heavenly things or Heavenly Promptings. Remember what is important in life. Remember the people who matter to you. "It's not WHAT we have in life, it's WHO we have in life." Always remember that and I promise you that you will feel closer to Heaven and its promptings. This I testify is true and will bless you all so much.

I miss and love you all so much! Be safe and remember that you are always in my prayers!

Sincerely,

Elder Wheeler