Monday, June 27, 2011

Hey family I hope all is well. 
Well not much time to talk but I want to say that I love you all. The work is really progressing in this area. We had 16 new investigators this week and about 26 lessons. There are 3 people that are really close to baptism and we are working really hard for them right now.
 I'm glad to hear that everything is good where you're at and I hope it stays that way. Well I lost the count of how many shirts you want and what sizes so maybe send that again and I'll make sure that I pray for Sadie and Dad and all of you guys. 
Well Elder Shaw and I are working probably the hardest out of all my companions so far. We are always doing something and trying to be obedient and the Lord has showered us with lots of blessings and we've found a lot of new people. Also, this Sunday I was asked to talk again in church and I had the last talk of 15 minutes again. The time flies so fast now in talks that my homecoming talk will be the simplest thing in the world!!!! haha I was able to use one of the talks I printed off the internet before I left called "True Friends", by Henry B. Eyring from the conference of April 2002. It talks about how to be a true friend and help the people that are just coming into the church. If you all have time it would be a great thing to read. Well right now we are teaching a 12 year old girl named Belen, or Bethlehem in english. Her parents aren't members and they live in Chile, but her mom was an investigator from a long time ago and is fine with her getting baptized and she is living with her grandma and aunt that are both members so it should be alright to baptize her. We helped her with her english homework and she was very grateful. One person that you all could pray for is named TeresiƱa. She is 15 and has been listening to the missionaries for a year and a half. She lives with a ward family but her actual family lives in the jungle and they don't want anything to do with the church. She has a testimony but her mom and dad won't let her be baptized and when we talk about baptism with her mom there, she is too afraid of her mom to say anything and she denies that she wants to be baptized even though she has told us that she does over 6 times. It's very sad. We had 3 very powerful lessons with her the other week but they completely rejected the message of the gospel. In those moments I felt the spirit more than I ever have in my whole mission. I realized the grasp that Satan has on the hearts of men and how much harm he does. I also learned what the scriptures say that the sins of the children will be on the heads of the fathers in the last day. My testimony grew extremely strong after one of these lessons and I was completely disgusted with Lucifer and wanted to give all I could to the Lord to fight against him. There are so many people that are blinded by friends, and the media, and the priests and pastors of the world but I know that this church is true and helps us change our lives. If you're doing something wrong in your life realize that Satan is tempting you and have the faith that Christ is there waiting also to give you the strength to change. Teach your children to love the scriptures and do all you can to help them get a testimony while they're young. I love the people here and I hope I can teach them these things.
 My love for my family and the church grows every day, especially for my parents. I pray that the Lord is with you and that you're happy and that he helps you to make the right decisions in your lives. Remember family home evening, scripture study, ward activities, and prayer and all will be well. 
Your very grateful son, brother and grandson, 
Elder Wilkinson


Monday, June 20, 2011

Hey everyone! 
We were able to have a baptism this week!!! It was really great! Her name is Andrea Mego. She is 16 years old and is a really cool person. She was excited for her baptism but scared of the water.....and forgot to plug her nose when Elder Shaw baptized her. haha
 Well I kinda feel like crying right now because I heard that Butch died. I don't know how my family feels but that was pretty hard for me. I still remember going in a truck with dad, Blaine and a whole bunch of guys to go pick him up from the litter of puppies and then when he ran around the house like 5 times when we brought him home. I guess we were really blessed to have him for 14 years of our lives. I don't think I'll ever forget Butch. 
Well I'm glad that everyone got back from Seattle safely and that they enjoyed their vacation. I remember Seattle from our vacation and I will definitely go back there again. 
Well I am very glad and very blessed to be in the mission. It seems like I have been here forever but it is also going by very fast. I don't really know how to explain it. I will have almost 1 year after this change and will hit the half way mark. I have had so many good experiences so far and I know the second half will be even better and go even faster so I plan on enjoying every minute of it.
 This week I have learned a lot about patience. I know it's an attribute of Christ and that also it's something that we as people are not very good at. 
I've learned to trust more in my Savior and others and I urge you to do the same. 
Well I don't have more time but I love you guys. 

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day to Tyler's 
father and grandfathers!!
They are missing him today....
but they are so proud of where he
is and the great job he is doing!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

These are pictures of  Tyler helping 
a member of his ward 
 tear down a wall.
 Tyler and Elder Ramos

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

 The City asked if the missionaries could help 
with a massive planting project they were working on.
There are 90 missionaries in the Trujillo area and they all
came to the west side and planted 680 trees in Vista Alegre. 
 all 90 missionaries
Elder Wilkinson and Elder Ramos 
Tyler's new companion Elder Shaw
(he is the one on the far left)

Monday, June 13, 2011

Hey everyone! 
Well I don't have too much to say this week but everything is going really well. We didn't have our baptism because our investigator got sick but she says that she will be baptized this Saturday at 4 o'clock.
 Well this week has gone by very slowly haha. We walked and walked and talked and talked but it seemed like everyone was busy or didn't want to listen. haha It was challenging but we learned a lot.
 Well also this week I had a very interesting experience. I woke up, worked out, showered and came back to get dressed and when I opened up my sock drawer, four cockroaches were squirming around and hiding in my socks!!!!! haha My companion and I took bottles and when they ran out we had to smash them. Also we had to buy bug spray and kill about 3 thousand ants too. This new room is very luxurious if you can't tell by my stories haha. 
Well other than all of that I don't have much to say but I found a scripture that I liked when I was studying the other day in 2 Corinthians 12:10 it says that we should be happy when we have tribulations and problems because even though we're weak, we're strong. When we have problems for being followers of Christ he helps us overcome our problems and we become a lot stronger in our lives. Missionary work is really great and I'm learning a lot from these people and I know I'm where I need to be right now. 
I hope all is well and that everyone is safe and happy!
 Elder Wikinson.
 ...oh ya and tell Nick that I hope his daughter Hadley had a Happy Birthday!!!!!


Monday, June 6, 2011

Hey everyone! Yea!!!!! ha 
 I was really glad to see the baptism pictures of Hermana Milagros because otherwise I wouldn't have seen them or known about the baptism for a long time. I'm really glad to see that the whole family was there with her too! I was really sad to leave that area and I'm pretty sure my other investigator Jose got baptized as well Friday. If you could ask Lucas that would be great mom, or I think Milagros might know too!!!!
Well my new area is La Noria. It's about the same as my last area economically but it is really, really small. They had a lot of baptisms the last change and when I got here Tuesday they had about 3 investigators in total......ugh. haha We have a lot of work to do this change but I know this area will be very good. There is a 16 year old girl that's getting baptized this next Saturday. I've only met her once but she seems really excited and we're going to make sure she stays excited this week.
 My new companion is Elder Shaw from Baker City, Oregon. He has 5 months in the mission but only 3 in the field so he is still working on the spanish, haha. He is a really great guy and he works really hard and helps me get out of bed on time in the mornings....haha. Right now we have a really weird situation because they just split our area and the sister missionaries took the other half of our area. The weird thing is that our pensionista lives in their area and the pensionista is where the old room of my companion used to be, so we have to always eat our meals with the sister missionaries. It's really, really weird and they are very picky with their food. My pensionista cooks really good but sometimes we eat really interesting food like cow heart, shrimp with eggs and also cow stomach, mmmmmmmm rico!!!!!!!!!! haha
Well Ollanta is now the President of Peru and that's what we were hoping would not happen. He is a dictator I think and is making armed services a requirement for all peruvians. Also if he follows the plan of the same type of government from Venezuela he will take out all foreigners from the country so I hope he decides not to do that.
 Also this Sunday we read all of the Book of John and it was really good. There are a lot of parables in John and we learned a lot of new things that we can teach to our investigators. What I learned was how much persecution Christ received throughout his entire life and how it didn't matter how many miracles he did because the people just didn't want to believe in him. We should all be different than them and not look for miracles in our lives, but just have faith and know that Christ is our Savior and that he will help us when we need him.
I know that Christ lives and that He listens and helps us in little ways in every aspect of our lives and that when we are obedient we are a lot lot lot happier.
Well I hope all goes well and that my family stays safe and enjoys there trip to Seattle. Be sure to take a picture with the lucky pig statue in Pikes Market and with the Space Needle!!!! (but to go in is really expensive so outside is better hahaha)
Well until next week,
 Elder Wilkinson

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Elder Wilkinson and Elder Ramos playing
 "THE FLOUR CAKE" or in spanish "LA TORTA DE HARINA"
 with the Vargas Family!
What a wonderful family!!
Tyler is so lucky to have met so many fabulous people in Peru!!
The Vargas Family...
A very special family that Tyler taught in Trujillo.














Tyler's last day with Elder Ramos

These are pictures of
Milagros Margarita Changa Vargas...
Tyler taught her the gospel, but was transferred shortly before her baptism, 
so he was unable to baptize her.



She was baptized by Elder Ramos...
the other missionary is Elder Prebe

Tyler was so sad that he wasn't able to baptize her...
but he was able to teach her the gospel and help 
her make the BEST decision ever...
to be a member of the church!!