Jan 12, 2009-- Kings to you

Hello everybody! It's been another week (Not really, it's only been three days) here in dusty Sunland Park. Everything is going well, I'm alive and still preaching the gospel. To start things off I would like to throw in a quick quote from Levi Wilson from a recent letter:
"Things here are great and terrible. Terrible because you're on a mission and I have to write you..." and then he goes on to explain why his life is great at the same time. I can completely understand the feeling Levi, don't worry about it.
Well I don't know if I mentioned this in the last letter but because of some circumstances we're losing a companionship from our ward which means we're going to be taking over a little bit of El Paso in our Spanish area (As opposed to just Sunland Park and Santa Teresa). We also adopted a couple of baptismal dates so that's pretty cool.
Yesterday I headed up to the Anthony branch to do some baptismal interviews (SIX!!!!) You will remember that I served in the Anthony branch a while ago when I was in Chaparral so it was good to see some familiar faces. One of those faces was Veronica Varela, who would not be convinced to NOT go out and get us some Wendy's. I tried to tell her that it DOES count even though she isn't baptized but she wouldn't listen.
We played some tennis this morning, and my new companion is a real player. We played some doubles and spanked the other elders and then we played singles and I came out victorious, 6-4 in one set. Tell Evan Carlile to watch out, I'm gunnin' for him for the number one spot on the Wilson family team.
I scratched out a poem this morning. It's REALLY rough, but I like it. So Mom maybe you could edit it before you send this email out but here it is:

The little child eyed the box
that was to be moved inside,
and dreamed of what his parents wouldsay if he could do it
oh, their joy! their pride!
The box was slightly larger than he,
and probably heavier too.
But he thought, "There must be some way I can lift it,
I'll do whatever I must do."
So he flung his arms out as wide as he could
(though they reached not half way 'round the thing)
and he pulled and he pulled, and he lifted and tugged,
but he just was not able it seemed.
'Till he gave one last tug, and then all of the sudden,
he found he was holding the box.
Which left him, quite frankly, a little surprised,
but he thought "I'm as strong as an ox!"
As he moved on, into the house,
he marveled at his prodigal strength,
and smirkingly strutted through the living room
before seeing the box down, at length.
The he made the saying known abroad
that he could lift (almost) any thing
and advertised his box moving skills
to neighbors and family and friends.
So when the woman next door, told him one day,
that she had some boxes to move
he responded "I'll do it" in less than a breath
but this time, things did not go so smooth.
Again, the boxes were larger than he,
and those cardboard monsters he just could not budge.
So after a thousand attempts (maybe more)
he gave up, his face tear streaked and dirt smudged.
Then he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder
and heard a low, gentle voice:
"My son, what are you doing over here?
Those boxes are too big, my boy."
Well the boy ran to his father as fast as he could
and told him the story, through sobs,
of the box that he'd been able to move with ease before,
oh how back then he had been oh so strong.
The father listened with patience and love
before responding "Son, it was me all along.
I was the one who did all of the lifting
your hands were touching, but frankly, that's all.
But, my boy, I'll make you a deal, right now
that if you do what I ask for forever,
I'll always stay here, right by your side,
and we can keep lifting together."


Well anyways, like I said, it's kind of rough, I'm sure I made some typing errors just now, and it doesn't have much of a conclusion but maybe it'll mean something to someone.
That's a feeling you get a lot in this mission, you look back at past success and think "Why can't I do that anymore?" Because you forgot that you weren't actually doing any of the "doing" in the first place. God just lets us place our hands on the work because he's kind.

Well that's about it for this weeks edition. Tune in next week for some more exciting news from the armpit of Texas, er... I mean, the pride of Texas (An investigator from Dallas said it, I just repeated it.)

The gospel is true, I'm so great full for the opportunity that I have to be a part of this wonderful work. Thanks for your letters (Even though they're in short supply lately) and emails and support. I love you all so very much.

Elder Ben "Tree" Wilson