November 9, 2015
Dearest All
Elder Davis & I teaching zone meeting.
Elder Davis & His final P-day here in Huntington, a member Brother M. was kind enough to take him and Sister Farnsworth (shout-out to the Farnsworth's in Lewisburg, cousins if I recall correctly) golfing at the Elks club in nearby Portsmouth OH.
I had a grand time, there were only two cards which equaled 4 seats...so I was the lucky one who ran/walked the entire course...felt great! brother Mazon's GPS estimated it to be about 4.5 miles
#LoveMyNewPants!
With every sunset comes a new dawn...looking across the Ohio River to Kentucky
This particular new dawn came in the wonderful form of Elder Andersen! This is us meeting up at the Transfer meeting in Charleston and greeting the new members of our zone. Which the zone had a rather large turn-over in this transfer 11 of the 15 companionships had a new companion.
I also parted ways with a few more of my long time mission friends who took their airline travel home this past week...Elder Ostler...
...& Elder Thompson...the Winns who you see the background will also go home with-in this transfer on December 6th...how dearly I will miss my fellow missionary friends...but will wish them the best and see them soon enough.
....we will be back later today to finish-up the story of Operation: "Welcome Elder Andersen to The Herd"
I am happy to say that with Elder Andersen's prime attitude and energetic personality...both he and I have become instant friends and effective teachers, and he has quickly earned the friendship and trust with the members and friends we work with.
Brother P.N. (being baptized this Saturday) will undoubtedly prove to be a productive and self-sufficient member of the church. We with him planned and arranged his baptismal service and I am excited for him, however I think I am equally if not more excited about the opportunity it will be for many of our other friends who are not far beyond P.N. in progress to feel the spirit and I have every hope and will pray that this carefully planned and prepared baptismal service will be a tipping point for many of our friends in their final leaps of faith toward this sacred covenant.
The N.'s family is nothing short of stellar...we have now taught them essentially every preach My Gospel principle and they are progressing dramatically in living the word of wisdom. Elder Andersen and I taught them last night, bringing along a couple of our friends from Marshall to help corral and tend to their small children while we taught...it was perfect and at the conclusion of the lesson brother N.'s said this "I want to be a priesthood holder to bless my family and baptize my children, and go be sealed in the temple forever" Elder Andersen's jaw nearly smashed against the floor! I really love this family, The ward continues to surround them with support. This family has it's goal of baptism on December 26th
J.M. - came to institute (which she asked to come to herself, to which I was elated about) with the Marshall YSA's at the church building and afterward we gave her a tour of the building and she plans to attend church this coming week which with Brother N.'s baptism. This is a big step for her, she has brought her life in accordance with Gospel principles eg: living the Law of Chastity and keeping the Word of Wisdom! Church attendance has been a hurdle for her, having poor experiences with churches in the past. On this tour we took with us members who planned to sit with her (M. & Hh) and walked her through an average Sunday and helping her to know what to expect, which was a big help for her.
In conclusion I continue to be amazed at the hand of the Lord in organizing and orchestrating it all to think of where each of our friends and ourselves were just a few years ago to each by different means and factors brought here to know each other and together get closer to and know our savior and feel his love and the powerful comforting joyful presence of the spirit.
Looking ahead, we have arranged with the H's for all of our Marshall YSA's on the final day of the Semester to attend a Recent convert baptism session at the Columbus Temple on December 11th which I hope will be the grand finale to this semester full of spiritual progress for our friends, recent converts, recent rescues and members. I am excited and joyful for this thought, which with each who plans to attend we had some fun with on Familysearch.org this past week, searching for family to take with them. Our hope and vision is to HELP prepare each of these our dear bothers and sisters go to the temple with full accompaniment of The Spirit of Elijah & the Holy Ghost and have a grand spiritual experience together in which none will forget.
There are many more stories to share, which all in due time will be.
With love and gratitude
Elder Wheeler
Brother P.N. (being baptized this Saturday) will undoubtedly prove to be a productive and self-sufficient member of the church. We with him planned and arranged his baptismal service and I am excited for him, however I think I am equally if not more excited about the opportunity it will be for many of our other friends who are not far beyond P.N. in progress to feel the spirit and I have every hope and will pray that this carefully planned and prepared baptismal service will be a tipping point for many of our friends in their final leaps of faith toward this sacred covenant.
The N.'s family is nothing short of stellar...we have now taught them essentially every preach My Gospel principle and they are progressing dramatically in living the word of wisdom. Elder Andersen and I taught them last night, bringing along a couple of our friends from Marshall to help corral and tend to their small children while we taught...it was perfect and at the conclusion of the lesson brother N.'s said this "I want to be a priesthood holder to bless my family and baptize my children, and go be sealed in the temple forever" Elder Andersen's jaw nearly smashed against the floor! I really love this family, The ward continues to surround them with support. This family has it's goal of baptism on December 26th
J.M. - came to institute (which she asked to come to herself, to which I was elated about) with the Marshall YSA's at the church building and afterward we gave her a tour of the building and she plans to attend church this coming week which with Brother N.'s baptism. This is a big step for her, she has brought her life in accordance with Gospel principles eg: living the Law of Chastity and keeping the Word of Wisdom! Church attendance has been a hurdle for her, having poor experiences with churches in the past. On this tour we took with us members who planned to sit with her (M. & Hh) and walked her through an average Sunday and helping her to know what to expect, which was a big help for her.
In conclusion I continue to be amazed at the hand of the Lord in organizing and orchestrating it all to think of where each of our friends and ourselves were just a few years ago to each by different means and factors brought here to know each other and together get closer to and know our savior and feel his love and the powerful comforting joyful presence of the spirit.
Looking ahead, we have arranged with the H's for all of our Marshall YSA's on the final day of the Semester to attend a Recent convert baptism session at the Columbus Temple on December 11th which I hope will be the grand finale to this semester full of spiritual progress for our friends, recent converts, recent rescues and members. I am excited and joyful for this thought, which with each who plans to attend we had some fun with on Familysearch.org this past week, searching for family to take with them. Our hope and vision is to HELP prepare each of these our dear bothers and sisters go to the temple with full accompaniment of The Spirit of Elijah & the Holy Ghost and have a grand spiritual experience together in which none will forget.
There are many more stories to share, which all in due time will be.
With love and gratitude
Elder Wheeler
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