Hello and goodbye from conners

Hello everyone!

Well... today is another hello but sadly it's a time to say goodbye! It turns out that I'll be leaving the Conyers area today... the spirit has called me away to another land and to more wonderful children of God... I'm excited for the miracles and experiences to come!

I want to share an experience with y'all today that I've learned much from...

So my Mom is the best in the whole wide world... and I'll defend that truth to the day I die! Haha. (every Mom is the best though! I love y'all so much!). So she loves to send me packages... and she loves to help me or other missionaries get whatever they need to continue to serve the Lord. Most of the times, that includes sending protein bars, shoes, suits (Thanks Sister Fox!) and other various things... and sometimes I place a special and specific order in for something that I need. 

Well, weeks ago, I asked my Mom if she could send me some DVD's with some of the Mormon messages and Bible vidoes (check them out on mormonchannel.org) on them so that I could use them in lessons with members, investigators, less-actives, recent-converts, etc... well, I was only expecting maybe one or two DVD's with manybe a few of the videos on there... but my Mom, being the best Mom ever... she went all out and got ALL of them on DVD's to send out to me. Now... I would like to point out that there is about a couple hundred total vidoes of ALL of the Bible and Mormon messages when compiled together... so that in of itself is a large task... but I would also like to point out that my Mom isn't the most computer savy person in the world! But she didn't let that stop her... she went forth with faith, hard-work and patience... and as she did so, she learned to rely on the Lord through prayer and works on how to create these DVD's. It took her a LONG time and MANY failed attempts before she finally compiled all the vidoes on DVD's. Excited to send them to me and confident that they would work, she packaged them up and sent them out to me with a letter telling the story/experience she had while creating these DVD's. 

I got the package with these DVD's in them not too long ago... and I opened them with much excitment and anticipation. I dropped one of the DVD's into our player at the apartment ready to watch the first video... when all a sudden, the DVD player came up with an error message "unable to read disc". Slightly discouraged but determined that it must be just the one DVD, I dropped in the next to see if it would work... "unable to read disc". It turns out that NONE of the DVD's she had made seemed to work... I was a bit frustrated since I was so excited to use them in teaching appointments... but then I read the letter my Mom sent which described how much she learned from the experience of making these DVD's... and then she said at the end of the letter to the extent of... "I don't care if you ever use them or if they work, but know that I made them with love and that I learned much from the experience and came closer to the Savior in doing so. I love you!". My frustration quickly left me as I was touched by the love of my Mom... the next Monday I emailed her back and said "Thanks for the DVD's, they're perfect :)"

. Good story eh? Well this isn't all... the Sunday after all this had happened, I went up and bore my testimony during fast and testimony meeting and used this experience as my testimony that regardless of the outcome of what we do... the most important thing is that we did it out of love for others and the Savior. The true meassure of success in Gods' eyes isn't what the outcome or result is... He just cares and loves us for doing what He asks us to do with our very best effort. As we do so... we learn and grow and come closer to Him. The most amazing thing happened because of this though... after I shared the experience through my testimony and after the meeting had concluded, I was approached by a member of the church who informed me that she would be able to take the DVD's and "take care of it". A few days later, she returned the original DVD's to me along with a new DVD that had ALL of the videos on them in working order.

So why did I want to share this experience? Well... first is for the things that it taught me before the DVD's had been fixed. It's not about the outcome or result as we serve the Lord... what matters is that we served with love and we gave our very best. As we do so, that's when we're blessed and receive the praise, smile and blessings of God.

 The other lessons to be learned? God has a perfect plan... and because of the Atonement, that plan will ALWAYS come to pass despite our short-comings. Because of the Atonement, we will all receive eternal life as we choose to obey God and follow His Son, Jesus Christ... in a sense, all of our DVD's will be "taken care of" by Christ. He will re-write them, edit them, re-format them and do whatever He needs to do in order for us to receive Gods' greatest gifts. For this I am eternally grateful for... along with a mother who is the most Christ-like women I've ever met... and I'm so thankful for a Father in Heaven whose plan is good and will always work out as we do our part. I testify of the Savior and the power of the Atonement and I do so in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.

Love y'all!

-Elder Wahlen

Hello once again from the Conyers land of promise!

Howdy,

Hey everyone! Short email today.

So I learned some interesting things this week about horse racing...

Bishop Kimble of the Conyers ward came out with us on a team-up the night that the horse "California Chrome" was going for the famed "Triple crown". Bishop was more than happy to let us know about what was happening and fill us in on all the details... because my companion and I had NO CLUE what he was talking about haha... but he had some interesting things to teach us.

(this is the super short version so I'm sorry I won't have much time to explain or expound!)

In horse racing... the horses sprint around a track that is about a mile in length and whoever crosses the line at the end first, wins. Pretty simple, eh? Not so much. These horses are bred and trained for a life-time before they race... and once they race in the events once... that's it! They're too old after that and no longer race. They literally have a once in a llife-time opportunity to race and put everything out there. That's amazing in of itself... but what's also amazing is that during the race, the electronically track how many steps (or paces) the horses are taking... and with that information they can determine which horses won't win the race by about the half or 2/3 mark. How do they know this? Because those horses who start TOO FAST use up too much energy and will slow down at the end and be passed by the other horses. So what can be learned from this? I'd invite you to turn to Mosiah4:27 in the Book of Mormon. We here in life are much like these horses... and in many different ways. We can't run faster than we have strength... yet we can't afford to run at a pace that's too slow to win the race. 

It's all about balance.

I'd invite you to ponder and pray about the balances in your life and how the Lord can help you to "win the race". 

I love you tons!

-Elder Wahlen

Pictures from leadership meeting

Howdy y'all,

So I won't be long today... although I had many great things to write about this week! Wanted to share something that I've learned and have been applying more in my life lately...
First, please turn to John, chapter 3

When Christ speaks to Nicodemus, he speaks of being "born again". Nicodemus, with his apostate understanding and Earthly level of thinking, questions the Savior and says something to the extent of "Being born again?" because he doesn't understand. The Savior is at a higher level of understanding/knowledge than Nicodemus... but what does the Savior do? He comes down to the level of understanding that Nicodemus is at and through His teaching, helps him overcome the barriers that prevent him from being on the Saviors' level of understanding. He takes him from, "Being born again?" to "Being born again! Baptism!". He uplifts, encourages, inspires and raises the VISION and UNDERSTANDING of Nicodemus. We too must help others in a similar way. We must go to the level (and location) of those we teach, lead, etc... and then help them raise their faith, vision and expectations to achieve those of the Saviors' and our Father in Heaven. We are to place ourselves in THEIR shoes... help them lift and carry THEIR burdens... and we must help them to grow and become who they truly are. More examples of this can be found later on in the book of John.... the Samarian women at the well, etc. I would invite you to keep this in mind through your life and service in the various callings and positions you will receive.... and to always look to raise others up to the Saviors level as we look up and increase our faith to reach the level that God and Christ need and want us to be.

Born again!

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Born again?

This is a model that can be used for many things in life... including goals. Try replacing "Born again!" with a goal you want to achieve... then replace "Born again?" with where you currently stand. Now, list the obstacles preventing us from getting to where the Savior wants and needs us to be on the left side... then list the plans/actions on the right hand side that will help us to rise up and overcome those obstacles and achieve the level that we're striving for. It's a powerful tool and a powerful way to teach, or at least I've found so myself. I promise as you do this prayerfully that you will receive power from the Heavens to help you achieve and reach what the Lord has for you. I love you! Y'all are amazing!

-Elder Wahlen

New Picture

Elder Wahlen and Elder Romero

Reporting from the front-lines here in Conyers!

Howdy howdy everyone,

How are you today? Have you ever thought about how Christ blessed the children here in the Americas one by one? How wonderful is that? He prayed and blessed them one at a time... by name... and asked for very specific and individual blessings... it amazes me that He still does that for each of us today.

Again, I am unsure of what to say this week in my email to you all... but I pray that some good will come from it.

This life is a time to prepare to meet God. We are tested, tried and challenged constantly to prove ourselves worthy to enter into the presence of God again one day. We are allowed to endure these tests and learn from them as we rely on the Atonement of Christ. We grow and learn by experience and by the grace of the Savior. As we make poor choices and make mistakes... the Atonement is there to catch us and save us. To stand us up once again, to dust us off and let us try again. We repeat this process again and again as we pursue perfection which Christ so lovingly commanded us to become. "...be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect". We are perfected through Christ and His Atonement because of the healing and enabling power of the Atonement. Without it... we would all be lost. Left to wallow and suffer in our sins... but there is a way. There is a light... and it is He. The great I am. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. The chief high priest and the author and finisher of our faith. I testify of Him... that He is the only begotten of the Father and that He lives... and that He is the Savior and redeemer of the world. He is my savior... and I love Him so dearly.

We are teaching a wonderful women who is preparing herself and her children for baptism. The baptism was to be today and has since been postponed until next Saturday due to a personal struggle with smoking. She is a women and mother of great love and great faith. She has done all that she can to kick this habit of smoking... prayers, plans, fasting, studying, etc... and yet she still struggles. 

We went and met with her last night... and to make a long story short, we came to the wonderful conclusion that she is completely and entirely helpless. She can't do it. She cannot overcome this obstacle and it will forever stand in the way of her being baptized and entering into the kingdom of God... but you may be wondering, why is this such a wonderful conclusion?

 Because those statements are only true of herself... alone... as a fallen and imperfect being... but the good news is this: That with Christ, she CAN and WILL overcome these things. She and well as all of us are COMPLETELY helpless when we try and stand on our own... especially in the face of our natural weaknesses... but Christ is there to rescue us. As we let go and rely WHOLLY upon the merits, mercy and grace of the Savior and His Atonement... as we let it go and give it to Him to take... He is strong enough (and the only one strong enough) to bear those burdens and take them from us. Yes, it is true... we must work to un-yoke ourselves... we must work to give it to Him... to yoke ourselves WITH Him... and He will take it. He will take this from her according to her faith as He will take ANY pain, suffering, sorrow, hatred or worse from each of us as we do our part and allow Him to do so. He brings healing in His wings... a complete and eternal healing... and an enabling strength to propel us forward to the life to come and overcome ALL things.

This mother of great faith is in the battle of her life... but she has the courage to stand up and keep fighting... right alongside her older, loving brother who is the Christ and her one and only Savior. I invite each of you to join her... to join me... and to continue onward with the Savior at your side. You cannot overcome the struggles... but with Christ, you can and will. I testify of this... and I know and promise that each of you will and can experience this in your life. Pray and ask for help... seek it from your priesthood leaders... and that relief you seek will be given by the eternal healing hands of our Savior. I love you... and I pray that as you are healed by His love... that you will go and serve and do the things that He would have you do to share this love and healing. 

Have a blessed week. This gospel is true. He lives.

-Elder Wahlen