My Love to the Home Ward

To the Creekside Ward Brothers and Sisters,

I love you all so very much. I miss you all. I think of you all quite often. Im so grateful to all of you for your support and love to me. You have all been such a blessing to me in my life. 

I am serving in Guatemala, in the Retalhuleu Mission. I have been in the mission for 10 months and it is a sacred treasure and responsibility. 

To share with you all some of my personal feelings and experiences, the greatest part about the mission is seeing the faith and hope that it gives people in their lives as they receive a testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I felt this powerfully as I taught some recent converts in my second area. It was  a young family, with three little children. The father, although slow to receive the gospel, had a complete spiritual and physical change as he quit smoking and drinking. He shares that he doesnt even know the shadow of who he was. His name is Mario. He is a kingdom builder, whose calling to him is  a sacred treasure as Young Mens President. Although a few months after Mario and his wife's baptism came the  hardest trials of their lives as he lost his job and sometimes they struggled to provide. I found their faith and courage a life changing and spiritual sustaining light, and fire that comes only through the truth of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. I testify that it is real and active in our lives.

I have seen that it requires our faith to be a small part in Gods big plan. We have to have our faith in Him as we act in diligence waiting for the results to show. As I came to this area where I am now, I met an investigator who had a baptismal service date fall through several times over the space of many months. She went through several missionaries who taught her. When i got there, she got baptized rather quickly.   I share that focusing on the point that I only taught her once before she got baptized. It wasnt me that helped her take the step. Each previous missionary had done a significant part, and I was the very very last whose contribution was rather small. Where ever we serve, when we serve with love and diligence, and with all our might -although we do not see the immediate results- the Lord is hastening his work. I have truly seen that the Lord is hastening his work. I testify that now is a great time to receive the Lord's profound blessings as we are active in helping the Lord "bring about the immortality and eternal life of man." 

I testify that God is our Loving Heavenly Father and that he is Real. I testify that Jesus Christ is his only Begotten Son, and our Savior. I testify the Book of Mormon is true, and all aspects of the Lord's church have been restored which includes Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet. The temple is the Lord's house, and a sacred Sanctuary. I testify that these things are true. In the Name of Jesus Christ Amen.

With all my love to you faithful Saints, Sincerly Elder Joseph Wilkes

10/14/13 Service and Culture Night

Thank you so much for you birthday wishes.

This week, i have seen the frutes of opening my mouth. in very simple moments when i decided to talk to someone and now they are on the journey to accepting the gospel simply because i opened my mouth. it really is powerful. 

this week i got to do service, doing the same thing i did in peru. stirring concrete with a shovel. its hard work but i was actually totally prepared because of the experience i had in peru. that trip has prepared me so much! dearest parents, thank you so much for all your efforts to prepare me especially in big and expensive ways like trips to peru, hertiage tours and efy. 

at the end of this weekend we had a culture night in the city when all the zone, and all our wards, branches and stakes came with as many investigators and many members in the huge theater and each branch performed a dance from a different contry, mainly spanish contries but they did usa also. sadly we werent able to get any investigators to come but i felt like i was in the spanish culture. it really hit me. 

As for the work of the lord, Every few weeks i feel i have an insurmountable problem that really haunts me and then quickly the lord comes to me with the answer in a simple thought of something i can do different that will solve my problem and then my faith, testimony, and resolve is renewed. 

i love you all so much and pray for you. 

Forever For Always and No matter what

Elder Wilkes

10/7/13 Amazing Temple Trip

Dearest closest treasures of my heart

this week has been great.

we were able to go to the temple in guatemala city right up the mtc this last week. and i got to walk the same path. what a treasured moment. i felt so different. i also got to see my old teacher who i love so much. the temple was so so amazing. the lord answered my prayers. i was praying about what purpose i should have SPECIFICALLY going into the temple and early that morning the branch president came up to us and specifically told us what to pray and think about while in the temple. and the night before elder nelson couldnt find his recommend so we prayed, we both had the same thought of where it was but at different times and we found it. 

conference this week. what a blessing to have a modern day prophet. i had the blessing to listen to conference in english. and that is such a treasure. its the desires of all the members here and its their true motivation to learn english. i got to listen to it at the same time and i thought of you all. hope you all heard in the prayer the guy said convenanzes like my talk. these talks were specific answers to my prayers. especially richard g scotts talk. i dont know if the lord could have given me an answer specifically to me. 

our investigator Walberto and his family came. that was an answer to prayers and he is progressing so much. im so hopeful for him and i believe he will get baptized its just a matter of time. 

i got to meet president ruiz this week. what a pleasure. 

love you all.

elder wilkes

9/30/13 First Baptism

Dearest Family

I love you all so very dearly much.

This week has been... a lot. tons has happened and everyday is full to the brim. i love it. no time to sleep in this life. 

this week went pretty well. we had a zone meeting and president ruiz came, and that was super cool. he is such a great guy, to mom and dad youll like to know he is a lot like brother laycock.

so this weekend was elder nelsons birthday and we had an huge church activity that weve been planning for a month. and we watched the testaments and had an amazing turn out, tons of people came including our best investigator. so that was super cool.

greatest suprise, i didnt think we were going to be able to go to the temple this week with the branch because they are going to the capital to drop off a missionary, ps our branch is sending out a missionary. i couldnt be more happy. and so they are driving him up to the mtc and going to the temple and normally the missionaries dont get to go, but we get too and so now ill be the missionary who got to go to the temple with the least amount of time in the mission. because we only get to go after a great accomplishment.

i baptized my first person. a little kid. he wasnt really my investigator and i only have talked to him and had one lesson, but he was the first person i ever baptized. that was really cool.

we sang in church. and my investigator that family ive been talking about that is married, they came to church which is a super great thing. so ive got huge hopes for them.

time is flying by. i feel the best i ever have, the lord can really show us the best way of life and i want to share. 2Nephi9.50 or its 51 i dont remember but truly this gospel fills us with happiness.

we will have conference same as you guys so that is pretty cool. i cannot wait, it really is my greatest desire is to watch conference. i could find no better form of receiving happiness.

i pray for you all so much and i love you all and you are all such a part of my heart and the whole reason of this work.

i love you all so much.

sincerely elder wilkes

forever for always and no matter what

9/23/13 Machete Maniac

Dear Family

I love you so very much and i pray so hard for you. but i the greatest moments are when the lord confirms to me that im suppose to be here and i get lifted up in faith and hope and am so happy that i get to sacrifice some time with you all to be on his errand. i do miss you all individually very much

this week absolutely flew by. i cant believe how fast time is going by. it seems i get up and then go to bed. so i dont know if you guys have already preped the package, but i thought of a few things maybe id like but they are not a priority and im not dying for them so if you cant send them no worries. more itch healer. specificially this brand called after bite, itch eraser the bottle says theitcheraser.com. that one works best out of the 3 brands i have. because i get eaten alive here. and maybe some more of that 100 percent diete bug repelent. i dont have much and then mom maybe some more of that chalk shaver cut healer stuff. but none of this stuff is super important. mom i love you so much because i feel i you prepared me with everything i need. i want to say i really feel like i have everything i need and more and its so usefull. thank you so much for all your efforts to get me everything and to write my name on evrything im so so grateful. put pictures of virgin mary and christ all overthe box, its a good idea but not mandatory.

so this week i dont know if i wrote that last pday we went to the beach. just  a few minutes away. that was super sweet. ill try to send some pictures today. so wednesday elder nelson had a trainer meeting and i went on divisions with elder  berrios and he is a nativ and it was hard trying to communicate with him but we are super tight now, and it was such an amazing experience that i got to be with him for a day.

because the ward is so active, we have like an activity practically everyday and the biggest of the week is night of fellowship, but this week nobody came and that was kind of sad.

so i had my first cocunut right of a tree in a members yard. cut it open with a machete that everyone has, and drank the water inside. tasted werid but good. that was after we weeded his yard with machetes. everyone uses machetes for everything. dont worry we dont use em much and we are so careful. so no worries.

our roomy elders, there is 4 of us in our apartment, they had a baptism this week so t hat was exciting for the branch.

um members are amazingly starting to get more and more active. my favorite investigator told you about. married couple. we taught about joseph smith and we watched the Restoration video and im really hoping he starts progressing a lot. he is so kind.

we have a girl, who lives with 2 converts of about a month or two, and t he members are power house old ladies, but this girl investigator is like 20 and has a kid and she was really looking up but she didnt come to church and now we are trying to hold on to her.

as for me im doing so good, spanish is slow but so much better, i talk lots more, food is great. no worries there. everything is great. the lord is my rock and lifts me up.

love you all so very much.

elder wilkes

9/16/13 Guatemala Independence Day!

Dear Family

I love you all so very much and pray for you so mightily for the lord to watch over and protect you and to serve you and to keep you close to him filled with his love while im gone. i have learned how the lord wants us to serve his children because i pray for others to serve you as i would try to while im gone. so i try to just work all the harder when i miss you guys.

so this week has been... epic. lots has happened and its unbelievable its only been a week. 

so starting most recently. dont know if you see this on my guatemala flag but the 15th was independence day. that was crazy. the day leading up to it was like the whole town flipped upside down decorating the streets and everything and the whole town is a carnival. and our church attendance was cut in half because the actually holiday was on sunday. but this day helped me see one of the greatest blessings ive ever had. ive grown up in the church and so ive never had an exposure with alcohol. its sad how much people drink. how they act is so sad. 

so ive also taken for granted the biggest blessing in my life. that our family is eternal. im so grateful. its my favorite thing to talk about with investigators and i am just so grateful to my father in heaven that we are able to be together forever. truly the greatest blessing in my life. 

so one of the greatest experiences this week was we had a whole school study body come to a church one night for an activity we planned for them which was to watch the testaments. i know we have it and so if you guys havent watched it in a while you need to. its strengthened my testimony so much and then we just talked to all the students for references. 

oh so i forgot to answer to your questions. what i want in my package, i really have been thinking and i think everything i need i can buy, and im pretty fine without candy also, because i know youll put that in the package, but i probably wont eat much of that. what i really want is tons and tons of pictures. of everyone and i want a picture that im in it with all of us so i can show investigators my family when im talking about eternal families. i also want to get written letters from you all, the hardest thing about writing you guys is im not able to read all your emails at times and when they are filled with love it just lifts me up. so thats what i would like. i would be grateful for candy but i dont want to have a sugar crash. umm i just love you guys so much i want the close as i can to have you guys in that box, and so i want photos and letters. i do love you guys and miss you a lot, but dont worry about me, i pray for you and so i dont feel distracted by my thoughts of you guys. 

umm investigators. its amazing being a missionary. its so crazy to see how some peoples lives are so deprived without the gospel and they allow it to be like that so i love when people start accepting the gospel, it just testifies to me everytime how much god loves us and how true this gospel is. so thats the best part about being a missionary. 

we have an amazing ward. we are teaching this family. there really arent families here, and so this family is special because its a young couple with only a 3 year old kid, and the wife is a less active member and the husband a very humble and spiritually minded cathlic and so they are very open and loving with us. and we gave their son a blessing to be healthier when sick and hes been getting way better so we hope that testifies to them off the truth. so yeah most families, the arent married. just united and so thats super sad. and so that this family chose to get married out of pure righteous desires regardless of cultural pressures they are so special.

we found a family, not married, and they are special too. kind of hard. because really only the father listens pretty much out of respect. its so sad that his biggest problem with our church is baptisms for the dead. because that truly is one of the greatest blessings of this church. his brother is an inactive return missionary so he knows a lot about our church but he has a pure enough heart he is starting to read the book of mormon and i have high hopes for him.,

so i have so much more to say but i dont know if i have time. i love you all so very much and i pray for you so very mightily. 

with all my love sincerely elder wilkes

9/9/13 Hello from La Blanca!

Hey family, i love you all so very much.

i hope it was okay that i wasnt able to email last week. i tried to send some pictures but it didnt work and im running out of time so maybe i can try again next week. so ive got so much to say i wont be able to say it all. 

first off, yes im in the field. im in a place called la blanca. if you want to look it up on google maps try to find Coatepeque and im around there. my new companion is elder nelson. elder jorgensen was so great. so i live in quite an aparment. i do have a fridge and a stove, and water and stuff. yeah its great, the pictures will be great for you to see once i send them.

my new mission president is president ruiz and he is super nice and awesome and short and really really happy.

so if you want to know about the place i live, its not necesarily hot, but its just like humid and so im always sweating. the people are great. i have been told i have the best area and i think i know why. i feel im just a help to the members preach the gospel. they are super active and so they come with us all the time. and the branch president lives beneath us and is super super enthusiastic and he is working so hard in the missionary effort. he is amazing. 

so food is great actually, just beans, rice and chicken. i really had weirder food in the mtc than i do here. its pretty good. so it is a pretty poor place, but the people are great.

elder nelson is so much like me its crazy. everyone thought we were related. he is so much like me in how he looks and how he acts. and he is an unbelievable missionary. he works so hard i can hardly keep up with him. so i dont want to say i had a baptism because it was elder nelsons, she was converted before i got here but the baptismal service was once i got here so that was pretty exciting for the branch. the branch also has like an activity like everyday for the youth, or for the members to invite people too and so they  are super active. umm life is so great. being a missionary is awesome. its so hard but its so good. 

i really dont have much time so i hope i can tell you guys more another time. oh but i do have to tell you about this one girl we met named carmen, she like made my week. we were talking to her sisters, she is like 40, and they all got up and left and so we talked to her. she was reading a bible at this time, and so we talked to her  about that and introduced her the book of mormon and she like ate it up. what we read with her from the book of mormon she believed and so im super hopeful for her. she really wants to find out for herself. we have amazing members. 

i hope you are all doing well, i pray so mightily for you guys and i really love you all. 

i dont have time to write jossi and mom individually, but i want you both to know im doing so well. ive got my trials but the lord is my rock and so i will continue to rely upon him. thank you so much for being in my life. i cannot even tell you how much i love you and i pray for you everyday and i miss you lots, and i pray that you are happy.

oh mom so for packages i think mj dear elder me about this, send them to the mission home i think you have the address, and then they bring it to me. hope that sufices. i hope to be able to write you physical letters. love you so much with all my heart, praying for you and may the lord bless you. please give my love to mj, and all the family because i dont  have time to write them. i love you so much and thank the lord for you.

oh i forgot to write about the earthquake, it was small but it shook the ground and it was such a crazy feeling. nothing bad happened but it startled everyone. it was my first time ever and it really was fine for everyone but it was a crazy experience for me. just thought you would get a kick out of hearing that. 

sincerely elder wilkes