60 degrees and lovin it!

Well, life goes on! It's been a beautiful week in Oklahoma! 60 to 70 degrees all week! I've been loving it! Especially because we walk everywhere! It's sooooo weird! In the middle of January it is 60! Yaaa, that would never happen in Utah! So it's been amazing! I don't think I've never been so happy in my life! There's nothing big that has been happening that makes it wonderful, but the more I give of myself, the more I find of myself. The Gospel is wonderful about that! While the world tells you to be selfish, Christ tells us the opposite. 

I got to do exchanges! It was fun! I got to take over our area after a week and a half! So, with a few wrong turns, it still went pretty well! As a missionary, we get a few hours a day to (kind of) ourselves in the morning and at night, and these elders (they are in a trio at the moment) absolutely love to play yugioh during that time. Yep, that's right, the card game. Hah, so they tried to teach me the ways of it! We finally went tracting after so long of not doing it yesterday! We had gotten out of church and everything cancelled, so we had about an hour till dinner. Excercising a little faith, I kept praying to Heavenly Father that he would let us find his elect during that one hour of tracting. (Also to help my companion feel the fruits of tracting occasionally, since we hardly do it) 

A little background first. So, people in Oklahoma always go to church. If they don't, then they are usually very grumpy people. So knocking doors on a Sunday could turn either really bad because you run into a lot of bashers and apathetic people, or good because people are in the mood to hear a gospel message because, of course, it's Sunday! The first few doors, not good! Got some of the harshest rejections I've had on my mission, and because I had such faith that we would find God's elect, it felt like each rejection cut my faith a bit. But, we kept going. Every door we knocked was a harsh rejection, except the last one. We come up to the door and knock it, and a guy answers. We asked him if we could say a prayer with him and he said now is not a good time. Not giving up, I said that we were also going around reading scriptures to help them feel the importance of scriptures, and, without asking, I said I want to read you a scripture. I had a BOM in my hand and flipped to Mosiah 4:9, which talks about believing in God. We read it to him and stated to teach the restoration of the gospel with him and gave him the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment! It was truly an amazing experience! Sometimes the elect don't always seem like they are, but don't give up! Everyone here on this earth has already acccepted Christ before this life, so who's to say they won't accept it again? :) 

I love you mom!

Elder Wheelwright

I could tell the whole world

 I have been asked to talk in church about my amazing missionary sons and I have been asked to tell the congregations ways that you have grown and maybe some spiritual experiences on your mission.  Would you please send me some help.  I would rather tell the congregation what you would like me to tell them to go blabbing at the mouth and say things that might embarrass you.

Ooh, this has me thinking. There's nothing that just pops into my head straight off that has definitely changed about me, but many small things in so many ways.

A way that has changed about me is that I am not ashamed in what I believe. I could tell the whole world and not feel any shame in what I believe. I feel a lot like Ammon when he expressed to his brethren his thoughts " I do not boast in my own strength,nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things;"  

I have had to rely on the Lord. Every time I open my mouth and declare what I believe, I have to rely on the Lord. I'm not a public speaker, or a teacher, but I've learned that that does not matter in the Lords eyes. When I exercise my faith by declaring the gospel, the Lord helps me, and makes up for the many mistakes I make through out the day. 

So basically, I'm pretty much the best. Tell Jeremy I took his spot ;)

Well, I don't like to talk to much about myself. You got this mom :) 

Well, this week has been a pretty amazing week! I got transferred down to Norman! I'm loving it already! It's a wonderful area! 

• It's crazy! Everywhere we go, we always walk! My companion got a concussion from a bike crash a few weeks ago and has post concussion syndrome, so he can't ride his bike at all. We're praying for a car :) But ya, awesome apartment too! It's got two showers! Pretty legit! Man, Jeremy sprained his ankle??? ooh! tell him to get feeling better! Did it swell up? Good luck on the house! Still praying for you guys every day! 

• Well, I got to work in the Spanish area on Friday! Ya, tell Austin I have no clue how he did it. Spanish just flew right over my head the whole time we were on exchanges! We visited a Spanish family, and the kids spoke perfect English, and they also spoke Spanish, but the parents didn't. And also my companion at the time spoke English only barely. I got to follow most of the time and listen to Spanish! I definitely am glad sometimes that I only speak English! So ya, that was a pretty fun day! The ward here is soooooo small! It's crazy! It's probably the smallest ward I have ever seen in my life! I told some missionaries that down here, and they got a good laugh! They had just come up from Northern Texas in a branch that meets in a house with 12 people normally present! But I've been in some pretty good sized cities so far! Well, I wish to leave you with a scripture. It is an amazing one! Kinda changed it a little though :)
• Mosiah 18:30

  30 And now it came to pass that all this was done in Normon, yea, by the waters of Normon, in the forest that was near the waters of Normon; yea, the place of Normon, the waters of Normon, the forest of Normon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.
• • Elder Brandon Wheelwright

An answer to our prayers happened this week!

Man, sometimes I wish I spoke spanish. A few days ago we were riding by this guy, and both my companion and I went to go talk to him. He started speaking Spanish to us, and my mind blanked and all I could think about was Hola and Bueno! Ya, not too good for a Spanish conversation, but by the end we gave him a card in English, so that man probably doesn't even know what it says, but hey, maybe the Lord will give him the gift of interpreting the card for him! 

Well, the 60 degree weather on Christmas day didn't keep up with us too long. It's dropped to very cold! It's a weird cold. Imagine one of the windiest days in winter in Utah, and then that is Oklahoma, except it's a tad warmer here. With the wind chill it probably gets to at least 10 Degrees every day! Ha, ya, the weather is always the topic here that everyone talks about. That, or what church you go to. Which is good for us :) 

Well, Edmond has been an amazing area to grow in the mission field. 6 months and still loving it, but now I'm heading off. I'm going to Norman, (which I hear is flat compared to Edmond:) Much better on bikes) But ya, many memories here. The ward feels like my family. Ha, it's kind of sad, but I know this ward better than I do my home ward in Utah. 

Well, this week has been an amazing week! I've felt my testimony grow this last week. We had many times to minister to people. 

We had a referral from the ward to go check this family and see how they were doing, and we go there and talk for at least 30 minutes on the porch (which is crazy because no one want's to stand that long outside in the cold). Then they invited us in! It was a rather weird experience. The family  was a family of 12, all very close to each other. While we were talking to the mom of this family we started to teach her about Joseph Smith and she said totally out of the blue "yaaa, I'm ok with this polygamy thing. It doesn't bother me!" me:"huh?" (this is the part where I was counting all the kids of theirs, and was thinking "gosh, I sure hope they don't practice that") Luckily, we were good! Talk about a relief! The dad reminded me of one of the guys off of duck dynasty. He was dressed like them and had a beard just like them. 

We also had a chance to go give a blessing to someone down in OKC. The ward told us to go visit Richard and give him a blessing. Richard(Never met him before) was in the hospital and was completely sedated, so when we got there it was rather awkward. "Hey Richard, do you want a blessing?...Ya...? Ok, sounds good!..."(meanwhile I'm checking with the doctors if we could.) Gave him a blessing...Then "Hey Richard, hope you get feeling better". Ya, I don't like hospitals. Pray for this guy Richard that he gets feeling better. 

So we got our answer from  (the Catholic priest) on whether he wanted to be baptized or not. Ya, the day before the baptism was scheduled (stressful!). It was definitely an interesting lesson! He had wrote a whole essay on his decision. Sadly he said no. It is rather weird though, because he sees both churches as true right now. 

An answer to our prayers happened this week! So amazing! We were teaching this guy that comes to church every week, and we taught him about baptism, and without meaning to, the way we were reading this chapter about baptism, the verse in Mosiah 18 was saying "10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness beforehim that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

 11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts." And the man was like, "hmm, I will go and ponder on this" !!!! YAY!!!! So ya, that's progress! Love him! Well, I'll Email you my new address next week so Y'all can write me letters ;) No excuses :)

I love you

Elder Wheelwright

My soul hath been redeemed‍ from the gall of bitterness and bonds‍ of iniquity

Well, Christmas was absolutely amazing. It was definitely weird opening my presents up all by myself, while my companion was regretting opening his a few weeks earlier.

Christmas was definitely different, but it was nice to see all the different traditions that people had.

It was also 60 degrees here. Really quite warm! We got to play a little football with a family! That family is pure aggie fans! What was the weirdest was when I found there was a rivalry between BYU and Utah State all the way out in Oklahoma!

A few days after Christmas we got snow finally!!! Yep, snow's still cold.

Last night was a unique experience. We got a call from one of our investigators, and he was saying that he doesn't feel worthy. He was just saying that it was nice to know us, and that he doesn't want to take the lessons, but we were able to talk to him. My companion and I both bore our testimonies over the phone, and we read a few scriptures with him. The mistakes of his past were in his mind. While we read a scripture with him about Alma the Younger, one of my favorite scriptures of the Atonement, which reads:  29 My soul hath been redeemed‍ from the gall of bitterness and bonds‍ of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked‍ with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained‍ no more.

That scripture rings so true in my mind. The changes that the atonement can bring in our lives are wonderful. That's our message to the world. God loves us. He knows us. He shows that love.

Love you

 

Elder Wheelwright

Merry Christmas y'all!!!

Merry Christmas y'all!!!

Missionary work is amazing during Christmas! Everyone has their mind turned toward Christ, especially in Oklahoma. People are not afraid to declare their moral standards and what church they go to... Especially what church they go to!

I got a new companion this last week! His name is Elder Stephen! He's from the Marshall Islands. (If y'all don't know where it's at...., look it up:)) I think President wants me to learn Marshallese or something. My last companion was a Marshallese speaking missionary, and now I just got a native speaker. There is only 4 Marshallese speakers in our mission! (by the way, the Marshallese people came here because we nuked their island as a testing ground, and slowly came to Oklahoma and Arkansas.) Bit of a history lesson, but it's cool! So, apparently this Christmas, it is not going to be a white Christmas! It's supposed to be 60 that day!! crazy, right?

Well, this week has been amazing! I finally got to drive a car!!!! I haven't since I've been on my mission, so when I hopped behind the wheel, I felt like I was 15 again learning how to drive. But, it turns out it's like riding a bike.

Hey, I have run out of emailing time. Sorry! A  guy was just talking to me for a while about the Gospel, and we only get an hour on the computer. I'll talk to y'all more on Skype. I love you all. This church is true. (The guy I was talking to a few seconds ago was a minister. Ha, ya, sometimes we agree to disagree with people, because all they need is that calm assurance that the spirit provides in each one of our lives.)  People here are amazing.

Love you

Elder Wheelwright

Tornado!!!!

Well, Ya. Tornado!!! :)

So, all missionary apartments have a carbon monoxide detector. We were sleeping nice and peaceful, and suddenly Elder Bess woke up, which of course woke me up. Apparently the alarm was going off! At 4 in the morning!!!! So, we're like, oh no, we got to leave. So we go outside, call our mission president, and luckily there was an empty apartment we could go to to finish sleeping the night. We go there in our pajamas, blanket, and pillow at 4 in the morning and it's soooooo cold outside! We wake up in the morning, go back to our apartment, and test the carbon monoxide alarm. It's still beeping, so we call the housing management. They then proceeded to tell us to the utter astonishment of us that that just means that the alarm was out of battery! Ha!

Well, This week has been an absolute wonderful week!! Yesterday we were out knocking doors, and it started to hail like crazy! Then it started to rain really hard, and pretty soon the streets turned to water! It was amazing! Then the tornado sirens started to go off! I got soooooooooooo excited! We called our zone leaders and asked them if the sirens were supposed to go off (because it wasn't windy at all) on a Sunday at 5:15. They said "nope" so we proceeded to walk back to the church. When we got about 100 feet from the church, the tornado sirens started to wind down. Darn! So close! Turns out it was waaaayyyyyy east of us, and Edmond never gets tornadoes! But during the siren time, you could just see people coming out of their houses like "ooo, where's the tornado!" I was surprised no one had a lawn chair sitting outside watching. Well, gotta get going! Sorry the letter is so short! The Lords blessed us with many a miracle this week!!!!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!!!!

Letters are not a scary thing to write ;)

So this Christmas we are very blessed because I can Skype!!!........the problem is, I don't know how to. But, It's still awesome! We have three meals that day with members, and I can Skype at any one of those places. Whatever time is convenient for you, I can do. Just maybe send some instructions on how to Skype. Also, remember we are an hour difference. So when you give me some times, do it according to Oklahoma time, I'll email you what time to do it, and we'll arrange all of that.

I am transferring to another apartment in our same apartment complex on Wednesday.But ya, tell everyone that letters are not a scary thing to write ;) I loved the letter from Rachel and am planning on writing her back today. Also, I am getting a new companion this next Wednesday. Elder Stephen. He is a Marshallese speaking elder, just like Elder Bess, except Elder Stephen is a native. Apparently president wants me to learn Marshallese...? I don't know. Any word of Ipads for our mission yet? I figure they'd tell you before us. We were promised them by the end of the year. So we asked president Walkenhorst "have you heard anything about the ipads". His reply was "Nope, I have not." Ha, so yep!

Elder Wheelwright