Monday, September 21, 2015

Week 8, September 21, 2015

Area:  Green Bay, Wisconsin

Companion:  Elder Alldredge

Date:  September 21, 2015

Hey everyone!
 Well another week down and I am doing so much better this week so thank you anyone who prayed for me or who even thought about me it means a lot and it helps me so much! Well it has been a good week we are teaching a lot of families which is so fun I love having all the little kids around me listening to our message and then after we will play games with them and I just feel so much love for all the little guys and the parents too. We have two Baptismal Dates coming up one is Enrique his is October 10th (my moms birthday) the other is October 17th and this a family so that will be cool. I will for sure take photos of both of them! But we also have this one single mom with 5 kids -ya five kids and single that's crazy- but she said she wanted to baptized and all we did was a door lesson and at the end we invited her to be baptized and she said yes, we were so shocked by that so that was awesome. Um I'm trying to think if anything funny has happened this week oh ya we talked to this guy on the bus and he was like "you all Jehovah Witness" we were like no we are missionaries for the LDS church and he was like "Dats cool" anyways we get talking and he is like " I open to every ones opinion and beliefs as long as it makes some sense in my head" he then said " if I saw a flying dragon I would be like yep knew it, knew that would happen one day" man I was laughing so hard haha loved that guy and he was way cool but he swore a lot and would say oh sorry for my language I'll watch that then usually the next word out of his mouth was a swear word man people are funny. What else happened oh ya I finally became a Packers fan and bought my self a packers sweater its pretty sweet I'm pretty sure a grandpa owned it before cause it looks old and smells like old dude, ya I bought it at a second hand store all it took was 5 dollars to become a fan. I think that's all for this week.

  Now on to the spiritual thought of the week. As I was reading today in my Book of Mormon reading time I was just finishing Mosiah and this is where it talks about Alma the youngers conversion story. I love this chapter a lot so cool to see how one person doing such wicked things can still be forgiven but only through sincere repentance. After his sincere repentance it drives him to serve a mission and so I want to share with you a verse which describes why I am on a mission right now its in Mosiah 28:3 its says "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." I love this so much because I too have felt this dark abyss that Alma felt. I want to give hope to anyone who feels that there is no hope for them, that they feel like they are so alone and that they will always feel this. This is why I am on a Mission because it pains me to think that someone in Wisconsin feels alone that they don't know how to take these pains away. I want to find these people and give them the light they need to lead them to Christ so that he can heal them. When I find this I know I feel such amazing pure joy and happiness. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have about this gospel, so that I can go and teach people about it. If any of you feel alone or helpless please know that prayer is something we all need. That we can turn for help no matter what we have done, we were a teaching a young man yesterday who is trying to stop smoking and he was doing good for a little bit he has been slipping up recently and he told me he feels that he doesn't deserve to pray because he isn't clean. I told him this feeling is coming from Satan he teacheth a man not to pray. I also said the reason we pray is so we can become clean through our savior Jesus Christ. I hope all of you know that I know this is true that I know we have a Savior who suffered all imaginable so we can have someone to turn to. I love you all so much thank you for everything you do for stay close with your Savior and cherish your family!

Saturday, September 19, 2015

week 7, September 14, 2015

Area:  Green Bay, Wisconsin

Compannion:  Elder Alldredge

Date:  September 14, 2015

Hey everyone,
  Well I am finally here in Wisconsin! My first area is Green Bay and holy cow everyone here is a HUGE Green Bay fan!  Even there garbage cans and fire hydrants are green and yellow. My new companion is Elder Alldredge he has been out for over a year now so he is training me really well. Its nice to finally be teaching real people now. Spanish is still difficult. For some reason find it easier to talk in Spanish then to understand  but I still don't know Spanish. Also there are a lot of different type of Spanish accents here because of all the diversity. Some don't even sound at all the same so that's fun.

  I will tell you about things that have been going on in Green Bay, we are teaching a couple families and its been way fun to teach them. We are teaching a boy named Enrique he is 14 and is getting Baptized on the tenth of October so I cant wait for that I know that will be a really spiritual time! But we taught his family and did a family home evening with them and it was so fun we had all the kids sit there and they listened to us and answered questions and I don't know it just made me feel at home I guess. After that night I realized how good it is to be a missionary cause I felt such true love and joy in that moment. I would tell all of you if you are not doing family night to do them because they will bless your family so much.

   I want talk to you guys about testimonies, testimonies are not enough and I have found that to be true since I have been here. I say this because while being here I have had a lot of doubts. I am embarrassed to say that but it is true. I will be studying or talking to someone in the street and then a doubt will come into my head wondering if any of this is true. These happen not because I don't know this is true because I do know they are true but because I am not fully converted to my savior. I thought I was but found that I haven't. These doubts are what lead people to become inactive because when a doubt comes into their head they all of a sudden question everything, I am lucky that mine has happened on my mission because I just keep learning and praying to know the truth and asking my Father in Heaven if these things are not true, the Moroni 10:3-5 challenge, I have been receiving answers that they are true whether it be by your guys testimony or a feeling. So what I am saying to all of you is to make sure you are converted to lord. I know I will be fine and these doubts will start to go away and I want to leave you guys with my testimony That I know this church is true. I know this because of everything I have in my life, everything I have gone through, every person I have met has always brought me back to this church. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ died for all of us in hopes that we will come unto him and follow and learn from by him. I love this Gospel for every thing it does for me, for all the joy I feel and love I feel from my Heavenly Father. Thank you all for your prayers and for your support I can feel it and I need it! Nos Vemos everyone!

Amor Elder DeSantis

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Week 6 William arrived in Wisconsin!! Letter from the mission president

Area: Green Bay Wisconsin

Companion:  Elder Alldredge

Date:  September 11, 2015

Dear Brother and Sister DeSantis,
I was delighted to meet your son, Elder DeSantis, when he arrived in Wisconsin. We had an interview, training, dinner and a testimony meeting. The next day he met his trainer, Elder Alldredge,  and was assigned to labor in Green Bay.

The first few weeks of a mission are particularly challenging as your son adjusts to the rigors of missionary service.  Your weekly e-mail or letter will be a blessing as you build faith and give encouragement. Please write in a way which will strengthen and spiritually uplift, giving him courage to go forward in this great work. You should receive an e-mail from your son every Monday, which is preparation day.
Missionaries are allowed to call home and speak with family members on Mother's Day and Christmas. Visits from family members, friends, and acquaintances are against Church policy. From time to time, you may enjoy looking at a blog that Sister Cutler maintains. The link is http://wisconsinmilwaukeemission.blogspot.com/.
Letters and packages should be sent directly to your son. His current address is 730 Abrams Street #14, Green Bay, WI  54302.  He will keep you informed as to when transfer dates will be, and when he will be getting a new address.   Letters should be sent USPS First Class Mail, and packages should be sent USPS Priority Mail.  First Class and Priority Mail may be forwarded at no additional cost, should the need arise.  (Standard B, Standard Post, Parcel Post, Parcel Select and Media Mail cannot be forwarded).

Packages or letters sent FED EX or UPS cannot be forwarded.

It will be the responsibility of the missionary to let you know of upcoming transfer dates, so mail will not be sent to an inaccurate address.


Thank you for all you have done to prepare your son for the wonderful service he is giving.
Ministering to God's children brings great joy. While this missionary service will likely be the hardest thing your son has ever done, it will be the most rewarding as he loses himself in the Master's work and feels the power of the Atonement. Thank you for your faith and prayers.

Sincerely,

Raymond A. Cutler, President
Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission
Elder Alldredge and Elder DeSantis to serve in the Green Bay, WI area

Elder DeSAntis' mission President and wife, Brother and Sister Cutler

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Week 5, September 1, 2015

Area: MTC Mexico City

Companion:  Elder Whimpey

Date: September 1, 2015



Hey everyone
Ah its crazy 5 more days till I peace out on my mission. I am getting the butterflies again its like i am actually heading out on my mission now! Next one you get from me I will be in Wisconsin! Lets see what happen this week, um so don´t be alarmed but I got a Hemorrhoid haha which most of you know what that is but I am fine, But I do have to put the medicine in an awkward place! On a more spiritual note Elder Christofferson came and spoke to us. Man it was so nice to hear from an Apostle they truly are called by God. I would make my weekly message about that but something else happened that I would rather share. But anyways I will leave you with a quote from Sister Christofferson shared it was about charity, She said "when rejection hurts not because of being rejected but because you love them so much and you know what you have to share with them will make them so happy, that is when you know you are a true missionary." I loved hearing this quote from her and it is so true! I cant wait to experience rejection cause I know it will make me so much stronger!
For my thought of the week now. So you know how every Missionary says he finds out why he was called to where he is, I believe I had mine or at least on of my experiences. So let me tell you about it, There is a kid in our District named Elder Durrling. He is the funniest nicest and cutest kid. He is from Sandy Utah and he went to Brighton High School, he loves playing Video games in fact he played 500 hours of a video game called Skyrim, he also loves watching Anime like a lot haha. He has had a hard life and him and his family have been through so much yet he still pushes through. I asked him one day if he would rather have any girlfriend he wanted or ride a dragon and of course he picked the dragon with no hesitation. Now to the part where I feel like I have been called here for a reason, we were walking back to the casa one night and we were just all talking and I said Elder Durrling I cant wait till your wedding and see you with you smokin hot wife and then he was like you would come and we said of course we would come! So we kept walking and I had my arm around him and all of a sudden I see he is balling and I was so confused and I looked at him and asked him whats up. Then he struggled to get words out but when he did he told us that we are his first real friends he has ever had. When I heard this I felt so overwhelmed with the spirit that we all just hugged him and cried with him. This Elder has the spirit of a Child he is so humble and has the best attitude about everything. He doesn´t know much spanish but yet he still stays so positive.  I was complaining one day about how hard this language was and I was saying it to myself then I hear Elder Durrling look and me and say you can do it man! That was all I needed to just put my head down and keep working! I love this kid so much and he has taught me so much! If I came on this mission just to make one person feel like they have one true friend I would be happy! My challenge to you is to go and just be a friend to everyone cause who knows what they are going through! This gospel really does bring true happiness please learn of it everyday! There is so much there to be learned and shared! I love all of you and can´t wait to share with you about Wisconsin and more about this gospel!
Elder Durrling and Elder DeSantis