Letter from Kelson - Week #12 - Please Don't be mad.... ;P

Good Morning From Sunny California!!!! I would like to start off this section with a story about a young missionary... This missionary that I know was riding on his most outstandingly amazing Bicycle; which was a freshly polished chrome color, with black rims, really nice handle bars and an Odometer that read 575 miles, one day, enjoying everything this wonderful world has to offer. When suddenly he got off his bike to help a hippie lady with her yard. He worked hard, weeded well, showed great love and concern for the plants and felt like he had been successful. He thanked the lady for giving him the chance and opportunity to serve her and scheduled a time for the following week to come back and help her some more...because he is just that nice of a guy. He returned to the location where he had left/hidden his bicycle (because there was no place to lock it up, and this hippie lady lived in a jungle) and his bicycle decided to elope with another rider. He was absolutely devastated!!! He cried so hard that the tears didn't show, all that was remaining on this poor Elder's face was a great big smile, a joyful word and the huge black hole that was left after his bike had left him. I feel that this is how we feel after we have invested so much time, effort and money in something and then it just disappoints us in the end. This story leads to my latest week's events of missiontude. We spent all week working, hardcore, in the Eastern Avenue Ward (they haven't seen a baptism in almost 6 months). We did this to help raise the spirits of the ward and to not show favorites (they feed us super good). We work so hard, we saw so many people, we added people to our teaching pool, we even added a guy who has the name Michael Jackson... and when it came to seeing them at church, we saw absolutely none of them. This makes this past week feel so unproductive it isn't even funny. For those who are unaware why this is so important let me fill you in. There are 2 main things that lead to baptism and continued activity in this church: 1. Having members of the church teach lessons with us, this gives the investigator an automatic friend at church and makes it easier for them not to feel lost when showing up to church. 2. Coming to church...by coming to church they are able to feel the Spirit of the Lord in massive quantities, plus they can learn and grow and meet other really cool people who have lives ( who don't walk around in a suit and tie every day preaching the gospel). This also gives them a chance to have a really close one on one experience with their Father in Heaven to ask the "Golden Questions", like "Is the Book of Mormon the Word of God?" , or "Is Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration of Christ's church to the earth?". These are questions that are vital to the progression of the people that are interested/investigating the church. These questions are how we as members/nonmembers build a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel, and the Divinity of Jesus Christ. As you can see coming to church is super important to obtaining and maintaining our Testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ, plus we have been commanded to by God, so it must be important... Can I get an AMEN!???!!!?? This is my latest frustration, and just like with the bike, we as missionaries have this great message that we are willing to share, so we go out and share it. The bike and service represent the hard work we as missionaries put into helping these people come unto Christ, and then when it is stolen out from underneath us, it is like people not showing up to church... When people don't show up to church we smile and show joy through our words, but our hearts have an empty spot that has been left unfilled and we are depressed. Onto something super cool and exciting, that is less down and terrible... Elder Outlaw and I are so much alike it is super uncanny We have almost the same personality, we deal with people almost the same, I am just a bit more optimistic, but that is nothing. We are so close that when my Bike was stolen he tried to comfort me and because I was just happy and joyful he felt like I was keeping him out of it, thus leading to many discussions that have strengthened our relationship and made it so after the mission we will see each other and talk about the good old days. Elder Outlaw's Birthday is next week so I think it would be super cool if all who read this e-mail could send my mother a Happy Birthday e-mail that she then could consolidate and send to me to print out for Elder Outlaw...Also make the Happy Birthday wishes "The Legend of Zelda" related...he really likes that. I am enjoying this great weather, the people are awesome, I can speak Jive (we taught discussions 1,3, and the law of Chastity to a couple of hoodlums and they just ate it up, in 15 min none the less), I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Restoration and everything I am doing as an Ordained minister for the Lord...AND I AM A MORMON!!! Check out Mormon.org and watch our people if you want to enjoy that last joke. Peace be with all of you, Elder Kelson Wheeler p.s. Typos mother, please correct sentences that need arranging, and make it Pretty Pretty... p.p.s. Please read the title of this e-mail as you read about my bike going missing...