Madeline was so excited for her school Halloween party. I dropped in for a little bit to watch them play games and do fun activities. The class moms for her class are amazing and always put on great holiday parties. Madeline looked so cute in her little German dirndl. I was able to snap a quick photo with her teacher and also a group photo of the entire class with their costumes on.
We had the craziest hail storm today and it left a bunch of hail pieces on the top of Emma's car. | Mike and I enjoyed an afternoon together at the Denver LDS temple. | After 7 years of using the Fenix 5S watch for all of my running and getting frustrated that it didn't hold a charge longer than 6 hours, I I finally splurged and got myself the upgraded Fenix 7S. This watch has been such a dream. | We were all saddened to see a war break out in Israel. | Abby played the guitar and sang at the Acoustic Cafe at the high school again this year. As always, she amazed us with her incredible talent. | I loved being able to take photos of Andrew and Alex while he proposed to her. | There was so much that went into packing for our Grand Canyon adventure. After laying everything out I wondered how I would fit it all in my little pack. | We love watching Emma play in the Advanced Orchestra at school. She is so talented. | After going out to dinner to celebrate our success in completing our Grand Canyon R2R2R adventure, Mike surprised me with a customized medal. | Madeline loves art projects but lately she has loved painting. | Mike has mastered how to make a good Ratatouille. It look so pretty in our new Le Creuset dishes. | I love a good fall sunset. We have the best view from the back of our house. | I went out to lunch with Dionne and Caryn to celebrate Caryn's birthday. I just love these friends of mine so much. | Madeline tried on the dirndl that we borrowed for Halloween and was so excited by it. | Mike raked up all the leaves in the backyard and let the girls jump and play in it. They had such a great time! | In preparation for Madeline's big girl bed I rearranged and organized Madeline's bedroom. It's amazing how moving things around and reorganizing can make the room look completely different. | Two days after a beautiful fall day of jumping in the leaves found us in the first snow storm of the season. For some reason we were actually excited by the snow and even played Christmas music to celebrate. | I finally discovered that by making my cookies into a mini version they were not only more delicious but there was more to share with everyone. This has become a hit in our house and I am requested to only make mini cookies from now on!
This was by far Emma's best cross-country season yet. She came off a strong track season and pushed to get back into shape after being in Jerusalem for 3 weeks and a car accident that followed. If there is one word I would use to describe Emma's passion for running it is DETERMINATION. When something unexpected falls in her path, she simply finds a way around it. This season she ran smart, and it paid off. Of the 6 meets she participated in, two of them she came away with a championship win. She ran at elevation for all 6 meets and yet, one of her best meets, was actually at 9,000ft in Crested Butte. |
kebler pass
I hope everyone is doing well. I have been able to see a lot of amazing miracles this week both in myself and with the people around me.
Recently I have started to learn an ancient Filipino writing system called Baybayin. One of the other Elders in our house is fluent in it and has started teaching me. The letters are very flowy and are all based on the shells that are frequently found on beaches here. Anyone that knows me well knows that my handwriting is less than adequate. Since I've started learning Baybayin, however, my bad pencil grip suddenly changed into how one is supposed to write. My handwriting continues to get better and better. I consider this a real miracle because I have been trying to fix my handwriting for over a decade with no luck, until now.
Other than that, my week has been full of finding amazing new people all around our area. We found a new person all the way out in the jungle, and they are progressing super-fast. They said that they had passed our church before and wanted to go inside but were too nervous. They said they had prayed that someone would come and help them get inside that church. She then recounted that we had showed up shortly after. She has accepted everything we have taught her so far and has already come to church. She is already such a blessing to the ward because there are many members in that area that can't go to church because it is too far and expensive, but she said that she could give many of them a ride. What a miracle!
One thing that I have learned since being on my mission is the reality of hoping for and believing that miracles will occur. Sometimes I think it is easy to fall into the trap of only doing the things we are told to do because we are told to do them. I have found that when we have belief in the things that we are doing, the result will often work in the correct direction. But belief alone in ourselves will not spring up into miracles. We need to believe in God.
To believe in God is to believe that things will get better. It is to believe that there is sun behind the darkest of clouds and have faith enough to see it. To have faith is to move forward, unwavering in following the commandments of God while knowing that no matter what happens, He has a plan for us. God is the only sure thing. Whether there be prophecies or knowledge they shall pass away, but the prophecies and knowledge of God are eternal, full of truth, and are unchanging.
I implore you to set your foundation in the One True and Living God. For it is written that,
"12 ... it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation;...
which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. " (Helaman 5: 12)
I know that belief in Christ will spring up into miracles and through His Atonement alone, do we have the ability to endure to the end. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.
Elder Wilhelm
Around one a half months ago my companion, Elder Valencia was admitted to the hospital. Before we went to the hospital Elder Valencia had been fighting a nasty fever for a few days and it seemed to be getting better until it hit almost 104° F. This is when we didn't waste any more time and went straight to the hospital, which is fairly far away. After getting some lab work done, we found out he had so many different illnesses and he was promptly transferred to Tacloban to be admitted to a better hospital there. The main thing he had was Dengue Fever, which is a really nasty illness, but we were thankfully able to catch it in a relatively early stage. We spent the next week and a half in the hospital which was an interesting experience on its own. I navigated the hospital system in a different language and made sure the insurance went through properly. That is never something I thought would occur on my mission. After a long two weeks, Elder Valencia recovered, and we returned to our area.
However, a week before the transfer cycle ended, I went to Tacloban until the transfer cycle started. I was in a companionship with Elder Rawlings and it was just the two of us because his companion went to the office. We had a fantastic week and found so many new people to teach. The area had so many mountains in it and so we spent a good amount of time hiking through the jungle.
When the transfer cycle came around, I got transferred to Tunga, which is the smallest municipality on the island. It was so beautiful there and the people were so nice. Sadly, my companion was really sick since he had just gotten out of the hospital. Due to his illness, the mission president decided it would be better if his companion was one of the same language, so I transferred again. It was pretty sad because we were good friends and were fairly excited to be companions. My new area is in Capoocan where I am companions with Elder Phillips. Our area is humongous, and it has so many beautiful spots, including some white sandy beaches. Since our area is so big, we use every single form of transportation imaginable to traverse it.
The past few months have been interesting to say the least. One thing I learned more in depth about is forgiveness, not only for others, but for ourselves.
In the book of Mathew, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother and Jesus replies
22 "... I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."
This commandment to forgive doesn't just mean to others but to ourselves as well. Sometimes it's really easy to doubt ourselves after making the same mistake over and over again. Satan can easily flood your thoughts with statements such as "you cannot change", "look how much you have failed", or "look at how much more they are improving than you". There may be times where these statements have some truth in them, but it is not the design of God to discourage his children. God knows you will mess up and He has provided a Savior just for that. It is written that
"7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered." (2 Nephi 3:7)
We must develop a contrite spirit within ourselves in order to do the will of God. That is, the work of charity. We must forgive ourselves in order to properly forgive those who have hurt us. We not only have to trust that the atonement will work for others, but that it will work for us. This is putting your faith in Him, "relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save." (2 Nephi 31:19)
There are times when it is hard for me to feel God's love for me. In those moments, however, it is imperative that I pray. When I pray and read the scriptures, I receive a witness of his love. I begin to understand that as long as I rely on the spirit, I will make the right choices. I know of the love of God because I've felt it. I know as we learn to love ourselves and have patience with our growth, we will be better follows of the commandment to 'love one another'. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Wilhelm
week 38
ALBUERA WITH ELDER VALENCIA
week 39
Albuera with elder valencia
weeks 40
TACLOBAN HOSPITAL with elder valencia
WEEK 41
ALBUERA WITH ELDER VALENCIA
WEEKS 42 & 43
TACLOBAN WITH ELDER RAWLINGS
WEEK 44
CAPOOCAN WITH ELDER PHILIPPS
WEEK 45
CAPOOCAN WITH ELDER PHILIPPS
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