Christmas, Chocolates, & SKYPE

Feliz Navidad!

(I´m in denial that Christmas is over) So I loved Christmas here! Seriously it was so perfect. :) Here in Mexico instead of going to bed early Christmas eve everyone stays up all night and parties and then Santa comes the night of Christmas day.

Someone's nativity, it's all of Bethlehem!

Yes our neighbors partied all night long... Luckily I slept through most of it.

We worked like normal on Christmas day until 6 and I got to Skype my family!!! I love you guys...

Haha Hermana Ludlam says that all of us (except Sarah) move and talk and have the same manerisms. I had never noticed that before, but ha I guess I had to come from somewhere. ;) After we had dinner with the Familia Martinez. It was a fantastic Christmas.

Familia Tzul - Almuerzo Christmas Day

Other things that happened this week:

We accidentally locked our keys inside our house. On the Noche Buena (Christmas eve) of course, and realized it like two visits after we had left the house. We managed to get a window open and could see the keys but couldn´t get to them... -_- But with the help of a PVC pipe we totally broke in all by ourselves...Not sure how I feel about the fact that is was that easy to break-in but you know.. haha

So we totally tried to contact this American family (in English!!) and it was so hard! I could have normal conversation in English (more or less...) but to try and contact and teach in English was a struggle. (I´m stuck in this no-man´s-land of Spanglish. I don´t really speak Spanish but I can´t speak real English either....hah.) Also, rejection is worse in English for some reason.

Yesterday we had an interesting Santa Cena.. hah. What I thought was just dark bread turned out to be this brownie thing. haha. I think we should have it for Sacrament every week. Also we spoke in sacrament meeting. First time I´ve had to speak in Spanish...it was...well I don´t really know how it turned out, but I did it!

So we lost one of our investigators who was really close to baptism. She literally left in the middle of the night to go live with her ex again...*sigh* But we have found a couple more families this week and have a couple families who are really close to baptism. And I love them :)

Honestly there is so much JOY in this work. I see the gospel changing people every single day, and it´s miraculous really. The gospel is miraculous. Through Christ we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again, we have hope and life and love and a plan for eternity. What a gift.

Merry Christmas! I love you all!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Part of our Christmas bounty, the members really take care of us!

Bats, Rats, & a Scorpion on a Mission

¡Hola!

Soo...I love being a missionary. We´ve been praying and working really hard to find families and this was like the week of families! We have like four families who either have baptismal dates or are at least thinking about one. It´s AWESOME! Haha. We have investigators who are progressing (5 in the chapel this week), and I absolutely love them.

It´s really easy to love people who want to learn. hah. It makes my job so much easier.

This has been the week of weird creatures though. I finally realized that the things flying around every night are not birds...they´re bats. And the things rustling in the trash bags...those are the rats. And one night we were walking home and there was this lone scorpion walking down the sidewalk like he had somewhere to be. Also there was a cockroach in my shelf last night....yeah we killed him good.

Also I LOVE CHRISTMAS! We had our Devocional Navideño yesterday and it was awesome. We sang as a zone...I had a solo...hah... And I saw all my people from the MTC! And then Hna Ludlam and I sang in the talent show and I have a video...but it´s too big to send. :( You all will just have to wait to hear our gloriousness...

Presidente talked about how we all need to become more like Christ. Christ said we need to be people even as He is, and I´ve thought a lot about that lately. I want to BE like Christ, not just do missionary things because I´m a missionary. I realize that I have long ways to go, but "I´m trying to be like Jesus" (hum along if you know that song).

Our "First Baptism" Sergito! (Presidente´s grandson who got baptized in our ward last week)

It´s a big project. hah.

Anyway...I know that Christ is the best gift our Heavenly Father could have given us, and we all need to discover, accept, and share that gift. And that when we do that we can have REAL joy and REAL peace and REAL hope in our lives right now, and eternal life after. But it´s only possible through Christ.

I love you all! Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Ceviche! Yes that is octopus. Yes I enjoyed it immensely. :) 

Familia Polanco & Their Delicious Ceviche

Shepherds, Sheep, & Shooting Stars

Hola My People,

So...I´m no entirely sure how, but it´s P-day again!! Time flies here!!!

Primero: can we talk about how much I love Christmas???? Because I do. :) We´re using Él es La Dádiva to contact and I just love it so much (although 97.38% of people don´t know what Dádiva means). I love being able to tell people HOW they can accept the Gift that is Jesus Christ; because it really does change lives. I was singing in the calle the other day....yes I do that a lot...."Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled" and I realized something. I don´t know what I was thinking before but I always pictured that line more like it was a special occasion, like in that day everyone got a free pass or something...But I realized that on that day the world received The Gift that forever made it possible for God and sinners to be reconciled, because it´s only possible through Jesus Christ and his Atonement. BUT we have to know how to accept that gift.

And that´s where we come in. :)

So we´ve been pretty busy this week, minus one day that we literally walked from one end of our area to the other and only taught two lessons all day... -_- But! We have some really great investigators who are beginning to see the changes that the gospel is making in their lives, and I just love them.

This week we got to go to the Stake Center for an activity with the Primary. All the wards got together and sang carols. My comp is awesome and played her violin and I did an awesome job as a glorified music stand. haha. Also...niños! Love them.

I realized I forgot to tell you a funny story last week... When my comp was sick she was resting in the house for a bit in the afternoon, but we had a cita that evening so we headed out again and I legit left the house in my slides....totally forgot to put on real shoes. Haha I only realized that I was wearing them when we turned around to get something we forgot...I´m cool. haha

Also I saw shooting stars this week. :)

I just wanted to tell you all how much I love you. And how much I love this work, I know that our message is true, and I know that it changes lives because it´s changed mind. Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad. Les amo. And don´t forget to #SharetheGift!! 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Navidad, Panuchos, & Él es la Dádiva

¡Hola from Chuburná!

The calle I live in.  The kids play soccer every night.

Yes, you heard right, last night was transfers but I am staying in Chuburná with my mom! Hah we were so excited when we found out; normally you stay with your trainer for two cambios but Presidente doesn´t always work that way so I was a bit nervous before. Especially because I feel like we finally got the ball rolling this week. We found several new investigators, including a little family that is just awesome. And....

...drum roll please....

WE HAD SIX INVESTIGATORS IN THE CAPILLA!!! It´s a miracle considering we´ve had a grand total of one eleven year old in all the rest of the weeks combined. It made me super happy. :)

Also, can we talk about He is the Gift (en español Él es la Dádiva, BTW no one knows the Word Dádiva)  If you haven´t seen it go to christmas.mormon.org and watch the video and share it because it´s seriously AWESOME. I love it because I feel like I´m more focused in Christ now when we contact, before we had a habit of highlighting the Restoration, but now all of our contacting is centered more in Christ. Also, because it´s Christmas time we get to sing Christmas hymns and we´re learning that for the most part even if people don´t want to listen to us they´ll listen to us sing. :)

Hna Flor! About to head out on a misión to Costa Rica!

So things that happened this week:

I got called rubia which is basically blond...haha if only they could see my siblings.

Hermana Ludlam got really sick so I had a nice day of working on our área map and book. Luckily I have an immune system of steel so I´m doing good...knock on wood.

Hermana Margarita made us panuchos which are like my FAVORITE THING EVER. They´re tortillas with beans inside, and chicken and cabbage and salsa on top....you don´t even want to know how many I ate....

We got to teach the Young Women how to study like missionaries. It was awesome and since studying is one of the highlights of my day I was super excited to help them get excited...

..lots of excitement...hah

Umm...we got peed at....Basically what happened was that we contacted a man in the calle he went inside for what we thought was just going to be a moment, but out came a different man who, when we tried to introduce ourselves, started peeing...we took the hint and left. The thing about it though is that like four months ago I would have been furious.

I know...you´re all shocked that I have a temper. hah

And I´m not saying I´m a saint, but I wasn´t even mad. I´m not saying I want to be best friends, I just felt bad for him. He has no idea what he´s turning down.

But luckily we found lots of people this week who didn´t turn us down and I´m so excited to keep working in this área for the next 6 weeks!! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

And don´t forget to #SharetheGift

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Transfer 2: Chuburná

Best Things...

-The people. I seriously love them. Members, investigators, missionaries. They´re awesome. 

-When someone accepts a baptismal date! Seriously, there´s nothing like it. It´s even better when you can continue to teach them and they progress (we´ve had a lot of first lessons where people accept a baptismal date and then we can´t find them again...*Long drawn out sigh*....)

Worst Things...

-Cold showers. Hate them. Every. Day. So much hate. 

-Dogs. They hate me. I hate them. They´re everywhere.

Things that are working for me...

-I love my bag. It´s nice because it has a waist strap that keep some of the weight off my shoulder. Also, mine is a smaller size but I think it´s good because it keeps me from packing too much stuff in it. 

-My Clarks are the bomb. I would wear them every single day if I wasn´t worried about them lasting for the next 15 months. I had no problems with them right off the bat, no blisters or anything.

-My watch lights up! Which is more helpful than you´d think it would be when you´re wondering the streets at night in the dark.

-USB adapter-thingy for my SD card is really nice because I can keep it in my camera case and I don´t have to pack a camera cord.

-Spray sunscreen!! We have to wear sunscreen every day (it´s a rule) and it´s so nice to spray and go. 

-My favorite skirt is actually the one Hermana Messenger gave me in the MTC. It´s longer and patterned, so it covers everything when I´m perched on someone´s front step and it does´t show the dirt. :) 

I wish I would have known...

-The MTC is NOTHING like a real mission. At least for me, it was completely different; it might be different if I was serving state-side or english speaking, but...Yeah. NOTHING like the MTC.

-The first two weeks are the hardest. I had to take it one day at a time there for a while, but after that, the weeks have seriously been a blur. 

-To bring more pens! I´m seriously territorial over my pens. haha. They´re expensive here and not as nice. 

Food...

-Lots of rice, beans, and pork. It´s all been really good, nothing too strange.

-We have tortillas with every meal. Hah we even have spaghetti (I´ve actually had spaghetti a lot here...) with tortillas. They are part utensil, part napkin, and part food. I love tortillas. 

-Boudin. Not sure how you spell it, but they take the bread from the day before, grind it up and mix it with eggs and stuff, and then it´s like a brick of custard-y bread-y deliciousness. Also, it´s only like 3 pesos...and this is why I´m going to get fat.

-Panuchos. They´re delicious bean filled fried tortillas piled with chicken and cabbage and onions and salsa. I legit eat waaaayyyyy too many of these every time we have them

Fun Facts about Mexico...

-90% of the people here don´t flush their toilet paper. They put it in a trash can next to the toilet. 

-Women kiss each other on the cheek. I thought that was a French thing...apparently it´s a Mexican thing. Hah. 

-This time of year it gets dark really early, like 6:00pm or so, because Mexico doesn´t do daylight savings. It´s weird to be walking around in the dark for like 3 hours. 

-Everyone is a crazy driver. I´m terrified every time I have to get in a vehicle. Hah. It´s a zoo. I am SOOO grateful we don´t have cars. 

-In this mission we wear our tags on the opposite side as we were told to in the MTC (so on our right instead of left). Not entirely sure why...I´ve been told it´s because a General Authority told Pres. Garcia that that´s where a person´s eyes go when you shake their hand. 

Weather...

-Hot! But only really from 12 to 2, and then we have lunch and by the time we´re done it´s usually started to cool off. I´ve been told it´s not even hot yet so...yeah.

-Also humidity, it´s not too bad. I was expecting worse. I do feel vaguely sticky all the time.

-It hasn´t rained too much, but when it rains it either pours or it just kind of mists. I kind of love it.

Mayan...

-coox waye: come here

-ek: star

-pec: dog

-mixpa: nothing

-manlo: it´s good

(x is a shh sound by the way...)

I learned...

-How to teach about the Trinity. D&C 130:22. Look it up. We seriously have used it at least 100 times. You can´t teach people to come unto Christ if they think Jesus and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost are one big convulted mess of everything and nothing. 

-How to contact on the bus. It´s seriously a skill because it´s so loud and people don´t really want to talk to you... I just smile and keep asking questions until they talk to me. :) 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Cambios, Lentes, & Miembros

¡Buenas Tardes!

I´m not entirely sure how, but it´s Lunes....errr Monday again. (My brain only speaks Spanglish). Time is going by SO SO SO fast. I´m almost done with my first cambio in the field!! I´m really hoping (and praying) that I get to stay with Hermana Ludlam in Chuburná for the next transfer so fingers crossed!! 

So this week...

The members have started to share the gospel for themselves!!! The biggest problem here is that the members say they don´t know anyone so we´ve been trying to encourage them to get to know their neighbors, talk about the gospel in normal conversations, and go about doing good. AND THEY´RE LISTENING!! We have some who are passing out cards and pamphlets, others started up conversations that are leading towards Noches de Hogar, others are inviting people to their homes. I just know that this is going to lead to big results. We´re planting right now but soon we´re going to harvest.

​Hna Graciella Pool

​Hna Norma Mull

With a combine. :) (Farming joke)

We´ve got some great investigators too! I don´t know what we´re doing differently but we´ve finally got people who want to change and are keeping their commitments (minus going to church, had a grand total of 0 again this week -_-) and progressing. It´s so exciting to see the changes that they´re beginning to see in their own lives. 

Ahhhhh EVERYONE NEEDS THIS GOSPEL! 

I´ve also had my heart broken this week. We had a great little family who for one reason or another decided to drop us, and it KILLED me. They just couldn´t change, even though that´s what they need to do to solve their problems. It is so hard when I KNOW that I have what they need and they won´t accept it. 

Agency. I am learning about agency right now, we all have our choice. They can choose to accept or reject our message. But I am choosing to share it so they can have the opportunity to make that choice for themselves.

​Hna Delfina Molina

Hna Leydi Negron

In other news, we had INTERCAMBIOS this week! I went with Hna Castro to her area Terranova for a day (evening, night, morning, afternoon). I really enjoyed it, and I learned a lot from Hna Castro. She´s awesome. Love her.

But I also realized how much I love my compañera. Haha we think the same way so it´s so easy to be on the same page as her and teach together. Love Hermana Ludlam!!

During intercambios we ate with a member and he asked me to take out my colored lenses because my eyes were freaking him out...haha Not a lot of people with blue eyes here (even Hna Ludlam has brown eyes). Also, on another random note, I get so many questions here about my birthmark. Like more than I ever have before. 

Mexicans aren´t shy to point out differences. haha I love them. 

Welp... I am loving life here in Mexico! And enjoying the fact that I´m not walking through the snow here. ;) haha Enjoy winter!! Love you all, love this gospel, love my Savior, Jesucristo.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

​Hno Manuel

Carlos, Javier, Hna Ludlam, Hna Wilson, Hna Melvi

Rain, Immigration, & Tortillas

Hola!!!

We are pushing that ball along and eventually it´s going to start rolling!! We fasted this week to find people, and we have some new investigators (families!!!) that have a lot of potential. No one showed up for church but....hey! We´re getting somewhere. We actually got to teach a second lesson this week which was fun. hah. We visited a lot of less actives this past week and had 12 show up for church!

That might have partly been because it was the primary program, which was AWESOME. I love primary. And children. They´re the best. They had like 10 scriptures memorized that they recited during the program, it was really impressive.

So after I wrote you last week I had to go take visa pictures for immigration, and while we were looking for a place to take pictures it began to rain....and then it began to pour. First time I´ve gotten REALLY REALLY soaked here. Haha we walked into the mall where they took pictures and everyone looked at us like we were crazy. Basically, all you need to know is that in my immigration photos I look like a drowned rat. :)

But! I got to go to immigration, which in itself isn´t all that exciting, but the rest of my MTC district had to go too!! It was like a mini reunion!! Haha it was so good to see all of them again...and be bad and speak in english for a bit...haha. Also, I finally met Hna. Harper! hah I didn´t know this before but Hna. Ludlam is her mom too. Kinda of ironic.

Hna Ludlum & Hna Harper

I am learing that if people don´t have a desire to change, they´re not going to. Our job is to help them realize that they´re missing something and instigate that desire to change. It can be really difficult at times because most of the people we talk to are very content with their lives.

Complacency. I´m convinced it´s the root of all evil.

I just wish people would realize that there is SO MUCH MORE: That we can´t even imagine all that Heavenly Father has in store for us if we´ll just buck up and change.

Ah...

Basically, I love the gospel, and I know how much it´s helped me, and I just want everyone to have it.

Spanish is coming. It´s all good until someone talks really fast or has a lisp and then I´m completely lost. I can function though so that´s good. I´m definitely not eloquent, but I can function.

Transfers are every six weeks, so in two weeks. I´m hoping I get to stay with Hna. Ludlam to finish my training (we´re supposed to stay with our trainers for 2 transfers...) but it´s not guaranteed. Hna. Ludlam trained her second transfer!!!! That´s crazy.

Weather is hot. haha And sometimes it rains. It´s not too hot right now though so that´s good. It´s winter here. hah

Food is awesome! I don´t think I´ve eaten anything bad here. I´m definitely going to gain weight. haha Tortillas will be the death of me.

They don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here! So...I won´t be doing anything special. hah.

I´m doing so good. I love it here, and I´m a little more comfortable every day. The time is already flying by! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson                                                      

Tanlines, Blisters, & A Bug

¡Buenas Tardes!

First of all, you should all know that I say buenas at least 100 times a day, buenas dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches...It´s all buenas here. haha

Is it just me or did this week fly by? It seemed so fast to me. Like I explained last week, we´re kinda on an uphill climb. We basically have well...0... progressing investigators :( It´s difficult because we have a great lesson with someone, they accept a baptism date, and then....

We never see them again. -_-

But!! We´re expanding our horizons and really trying to motivate the members to take part in the Work of Salvation. It´s really not about the Missionary Work or Reactivation or Retention or Family History work, it´s all the work of Salvation and as members we all have our role in this work. So we´ve been trying to have Noches De Hogar with families and have them invite people to their homes and we share a message and it´s a great little evening. Also, we´re working in areas of our area that the old elders didn´t really touch so we´re hoping for great things!!!! Also we´re working with a lot of menos activos right now. And we had several come to church this week!!!  

It´s really beautiful here. And hot!!! (But from what I´ve heard it´s not even hot yet so....yeah....)  It´s really funny because it´s "winter" and at night and in the evenings it cools off and everyone freezes.

Except for us. Haha we love it. 

I have a really nice shoe tanline on my feet already. It´s attractive. haha And blisters. haha We knew that was coming. It´s weird because my only blisters are on the bottom of my feet almost between my big toes...

I have weird feet. 

Also, random story, the other day I was walking along and noticed I had something stuck in my skirt. 

Yep. Giant Bug.

IN MY SKIRT: 

No, I did not freak out. I calmly threw it on the street and smashed it until dead. 

Also, can we talk about how much I love Sundays? They´re seriously the best days of the week. All of Mexico is a little bit of a culture shock (hah little bit..) but the Church is always the same and always builds me up for the coming week. I love it. Also I got to go to a baptism this week!! Not ours but my comp is awesome and plays the violin so we were part of the special musical number. :) 

Also, I´m reading Jesus the Christ right now (you know, just a little light reading...) and something I read this week was that Jesus chose to do all that He did, but He also completely submitted to the will of the Father. What I realized is that His will was so in line with the Father´s that He wanted to do the Father´s will because it was also His will. I am now trying to align my will more with my Heavenly Father´s, I don´t want to be obedient just because I´m submitting I want to WANT His will. 

Does that make any sense??

Anyway, I love you all so much and I love Mexico!! Have a great week!!

¡Vale la pena! 

Hermana Wilson

PS This is my study area, yes.. it always looks that bad...also sorry for the lack of pictures... :(

Colonials, Perros, & Leaders

Hola Everybody!!!

Week two everyboy. This week was a little different. Because my compañera is AWESOME we got to go to the Counsel of Leaders (I think that´s how it translates...??) two times this week, which is for zone leaders and sister training leaders. So there were all these great leaders of the mission and Presidente & Hermana Garcia

....And me...who doesn´t speak Spanish....or know who to be a missionary.....

But I learned a lot!!! Hah.

We talked about having a Vision, Goals, & Plans. Your vision is the why, the goals the what, and the plans the who, were, how, etc. It was really awesome to get to be there at the beginning of my mission surrounded by all these missionaries at the end-ish of their missions because I got to kind of see my vision in action; the kind of missionary I want to be at the end of my mission. Something I think is really important is to always have a end-goal, because if you don´t know where you´re going any road will do, and any road isn´t going to get you to your full potential. And I WANT to reach my full potential; as a missionary, as a representative of Christ, and as a person in general.

I was very motivated if you can´t tell. hah

As far as normal, every-day, missionary life goes it´s kind of difficult here. I don´t know if I explained it very well, but my companion and I replaced the elders that were here before. So the area is new to both of us, we inherited like four investigators, and the area book was...well...it was a disaster. haha. We´re in the building phase of trying to find people to teach, trying to get the investigators we do have to progress, getting to know the members, and the area. It´s almost like opening a whole new area. It´s kind of an uphill battle at times, but I´m enjoying it a lot. The ward here is really great, they really want to take care of us and help us find people to teach, so that´s a super big blessing. And there´s a lot of untapped potential in the area so we hope to get the ball really rolling soon.

NdH con la familia Mull

We have some investigators with potential. And it´s crazy to me how much I want them to want this for themselves. It´s so hard to know exactly what it takes for them to have better lives and then they don´t do those things.

The struggle is real.

Interesting stories for the week:

 A man called us angels the other day. He was drunk but...I think it still counts. haha

Okay, let me explain something for you: none of the streets here make sense!! Haha we´re lost a lot because our map and the actual streets don´t exactly match up. The way directions work here is that you have one street that the house is on, the two streets that it´s between and the house number, and the name of the colonial.

Colonials are like little neighborhood-cities within the city itself. I don´t really know how to explain them because there´s really no equivalent in the US.

So basically it´s an adventure!

A lot of you asked if it´s beautiful, and it is, the weather has been AWESOME, it´s been cool and beautiful and a nice adjustment before it gets really hot. And there are beautiful trees and the buildings are bright colors. But it´s also really dirty, there´s trash everywhere, and by US standards the people are really poor for the most part.

Hammocks for days!

Also the dogs. There are dogs everywhere. I hate them. I am a cat person. And I am infinitely grateful that the ones that bark at me are for the most part behind gates. Did I mention I hate them??

Anyway, I love you all!! I love being a missionary. Spanish is coming a little bit every day. I´m talking more in lessons so that´s good. And we´re trying to finish my training early so we´ll see how that goes. Hope you all have a great week!!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Last day at the MTC with our Mission President's wife.

Skeeters, Blisters, & Laundry

Hola!

Wow what a week! Sorry don´t have a lot of pictures, I will try to be better about taking pictures this next week. I´ll send pictures of my hammock and the casa and stuff. :)

First week was interesting, the elders who were in the area before us didn't leave us the best area book so we've spent a lot of time contacting references, cleaning up the area book, trying to find investigators...hah. At the moment we have a little family and a lady who we are teaching. We've spent a lot of time meeting members, less actives, and figuring the area out...And being lost. haha Our map is subpar to put it nicely, and the streets don´t exactly follow any sort of reason. And thus, every day is an adventure!!

So it´s beautiful here, but I´m definitely not in tourist town, the houses are small and very humble, and everything is vaguely dirty. But I love it!!

55 Mosquito bites...yes, I counted them.  I now use mosquito repellent like perfume!

The most unexpected thing was when we ate at a member´s house, asked if she needed anything and we ended up doing her laundry outside in a bucket! Haha I love it, but when I decided to serve a mission doing things like that never crossed my mind.

I am loving the weather! It´s cold for here, so I´m having a nice period of time to acclimate myself. I love being warm! Also it´s a good thing it´s warm here since my showers are very cold...not as fun.

Spanish is coming. I understand almost everything gospel related and the majority of everything else. I´m working and hopefully the talking part will come soon.

I love my compañera. Hna. Ludlam is a great missionary and a great example for me. I´m learning a lot from her!!

Me and Hermana Ludlam

So Monday is officially my P-day now. I love you all so very much! And I love getting to bear my testimony every single day. I love this gospel!!!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

We are on our way!

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (aka I'm in Mexico)

Hola Todas!

So it´s kind of crazy but I made it to Mexico! We got up super early, rode a bus to the airport, and then flew from SLC to Denver to Houston to Mérida! My misión president, his wife, and the assistents picked us up, we went to the office, picked some things up and had dinner (the exotic subway), and then Hna Rhondeau and I stayed with some hermanas for the night before meeting our companions the next day.

My companion is Hermana Ludlam, she´s from New Jersey, but luckily doesn´t speak any english to me (except to help me understand of course). She´s been out for about a year, and is super nice. We´re in an área called Chuburna, and we´re both new since we replaced the elders that had been there. So the área book is a bit of mess, and it´s going to be a grand adventure!

With my trainer Hermana Ludlam

I´m doing really well. I love sleeping in hammocks!! It´s way nice, and since it´s the cold part of the year, I´m not dying too much in the heat. We have a washer, but I´ve handwashed things too. Also, I took my first bucket shower, which is very interesting... haha. Our house is nice, it´s really big for just the two of us, and one of the bathrooms has a cockroach problem... but it´s all good. Haha It´s beautiful here and I really do love it.

Spanish is okay....I understand a lot, but I have a hard time talking because I want it to be perfect and it´s not perfect yet. I´ll get there eventually though!

Anyway, I love you all and I love being a missionary in Mexico!!!

Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Football, Airplanes, & Languages

Me, and my beautiful companions.

Hola!! 

This week just flew by!!! I officially hit my one month mark, and I have less than 4 days to Mexico!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How crazy is that????? We got our travel plans last Friday; I will be flying out on the 27th from Salt Lake to Denver, and from Denver to Merida! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. I can't believe it's already time to go! I'm kind of terrified but also so ready!! :) 

So what happened this week....

Chad Lewis (who played in the NFL) came and spoke to us. It was so awesome. he was spiritual and funny and reminded me a lot of some men I know back home. ;) It was really cool because he said that he knows the only reason he could play football was so he would have a platform to spread the gospel. He served in Taiwan and speaks Chinese and is now the NFL's "ambassador" to China, so he's got an in that we as missionaries don't. He was awesome, and it's so cool to see how the gospel is spreading.

Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders

I taught a real investigator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We get to skype members who live in Spanish-speaking countries, and so on Tuesday Hermana Rhondeau and I taught a lady from Merida, but she didn't have a lot of time so we got to skype someone else too. We taught a brother and sister from Columbia named David and Alejandra. She is a member, but he isn't and is currently taking the discussions and we got to teach him and it was so AWESOME! We had like five minutes to prepare something, and our Spanish is questionable at best, but it went so well!! :) It was so great to teach someone who is real. And they said our Spanish is pretty good, and that we have "bonita Espiritus". :) It was like the best thing ever and it made me so excited to go teach in Mexico!!

Part of my zone.

Esperanza the plant died. We're not sure quite how it happened. We were cleaning our classroom and she got knocked off the windowsill. It was a sad day. haha

I'm a plant, I need the sun!

We had the best devotional EVER Sunday night! Elder Godoy from the Seventy (who spoke in Conference in Portuguese.) came and spoke to us. He currently has a son in the MTC so he called his talk a mix of fatherly and general authority advice. He spoke on Alma 26:22 (LOOK IT UP). Here's the basic outline of what he said:

1. You need to repent: be obedient, be worthy and then you'll have the Spirit.

2. Bring forth good works: work really hard, set goals, goals = souls and people and families!  And then you'll get baptisms

3. Pray Continually: really get into the gospel and then you'll have spiritual experiences

4. Exercise Faith: normally this goes 1st (and it's the second thing listed in the scripture) but he put it last and he said if you exercise faith then you'll see miracles. {Follow the scripture chain Jacob 4:24 to Enos 1:20 to Alma 26:24-27 Don't make excuses that kill your miracles}

And if you do that you'll get:

1. The mysteries of God

2. Bring 1000s of souls to repentance

It was seriously the best talk ever, and he was animated and funny about it, and in his imperfect English he really brought the Spirit. And almost as an afterthought he said, "If you're learning a language, don't worry about it. I'm 53 and still struggling with the language!" And lately I've been really worried about my Spanish but I realized that if I can bring the spirit it really doesn't matter. He was awesome. I loved it. It was exactly what i needed before I head out to Mexico. 

I love you all, I love this gospel. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary and getting to testify every day of Jesus Christ. It's the best thing ever. The next time you hear from me will be from Mexico!! Wish me luck!!! Have a great week!

Vale la pena,

Hermana Wilson

My desk always looks like this.

Praying Mantis at the Temple.

Travel Plans!!!

  

         Travel Plans for all!

A Tree, A Plant, & Some Weird Trust Exercise

Hola! 

Me & Hermana Rhondeau & Hermana Wells at the Temple.

So I'm pretty sure I'm living in a time warp because I'm headed to Mexico IN TEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How is that even possible? I could have sworn I've only been here for like a week, but we're supposed to get our travel plans TOMORROW! That is seriously insane to me. I'm so excited!!!...I'm also terrified because no hablo español.** Haha I'm ready to be a really missionary, and teach real people, but I'm also scared because there's a lot more at stake. I've gotten really comfortable here, I've got the MTC figured out and now I'm going to have figure out the mission field. So it's all terrifying, but I am SO excited! (Also it's cold here and I'm ready to be done with that nonsense.)

Me & Hermana Rhondeau & Hermana Wells at the Temple.

(**Reading that paragraph I realize that I don't really speak English either...Hah hopefully you get what I was trying to say.)

It was a good week...it flew by! We taught Maribel this week about the Restoration and I said the First Vision -from memory in Spanish!- and it was like the coolest thing ever. The Spirit was so strong and then we were testifying and this bug (SPAWN OF SATAN) crawled on her arm and she freaked out.

And thus ended the little moment we were having... -_-

BUT, we got it back on track and it was super awesome and I just love Maribel...Unfortunately we don't get to teach her again because we got switched to another TRC investigator AGAIN!! (We're getting really good at teaching the first two lessons.) We're now teaching Olga who has had a lot of hard times in her life and doesn't really believe in God. It is the saddest thing for me to imagine a life without the hope of knowing you have a loving Heavenly Father, and so it is so hard to try and teach people that. I know He's real, and I just want them to know it too. But we're trying and we're teaching her again tomorrow and I think we're going to use President Uchtdorf's talk from the Saturday session of general conference. He's awesome. 

We had some really good devotionals this week. One was by a man who works in the media department and he showed us a sneak peek of what the Church is doing for Christmas. I'm not allowed to say much but...it's going to be AWESOME so be looking forward to that! The other devotional was about Satan and how we know who is going to win the war. I love that. Why waste time fighting for the losing team?? We know how this is going to end so why not be on Heavenly Father and Jesus's side?? Also something I loved that he mentioned was that light dispels darkness. I thought a lot this week of how true that is, and what I think is really cool is that ANY amount of light dispels darkness. It doesn't matter how dark it is, if you can find the tiniest bit of light it will cut through the dark.

In other news, we had to do a weird companionship trust exercise where we closed our eyes and our companions directed us around the MTC - up stairs, down ramps, around poles - it was terrifying. I learned that Hermana Rhondeau is great at directions and I have trust issues (no surprise there) also I almost walked directly into an elder...awkward...We also found the tree that smells like cream soda.

You read that right.

The Cream Soda Tree.

It's a cream soda tree!! (I would say more like orange cream soda) It's real! It's not a myth or a prank. It's real. I sent pictures. :) On the subject of plants, we also have a district plant (since we're the oldest district now whaaa......?!) named Esperanza. Also supposedly I'm the jardinera...which is a dangerous thing for Esperanza. 

Poor Esparanza!

We got a new district of 10 elders yesterday, and Hermana Wells, Hermana Rhondeau, and I, and  Elder Peterson, and Elder Stout (the Zone leaders) welcomed them. It's weird to by the old ones now...I still feel like I should be one of the babies. Anyway... they seem like a nice group. Haha Oh and Elder Peterson and Elder Stout told them that since the MTC is holy ground they shouldn't wear their shoes inside....and they all took their shoes off. Poor elders. Hahah They'll figure it out eventually. :) 

Well it's been another great week at the MTC! I love you all! I love the gospel! I love being a missionary! I just love life. Hoy es el mejor dia de mi vida. Ten days to Mexico! Ha pray for me. Love you lots!!!

Vale la pena,

Hermana Wilson

Elder Lyons wearing my glasses...we wear the same prescription.

Hermana Rhondeau & I with our District

This is how Elder Lyons & Elder Evans feel about P-day.

Me, Hermana Rhondeau, Elder Lyons & Elder Hernandez

Conference, Christmas, & Caridad

Hi Everyone!! 

So it was General Conference weekend which is basically Christmas here. I've enjoyed conference before but it is SO much better as a missionary. We get a break from our normal schedule and we get to listen to prophets and apostles! I took notes on a lot of things, but one thing I really took away was that this work is not about statistics, it's about love. And it doesn't matter how statistically good I am if I'm not loving the people, the gospel, and this work. :) Also, how cool was it that people spoke in Spanish!!! We were so excited...and then a little bummed out when they voiced over it. But we watched them later just in Spanish and they were so much better!! There are some things that just sound better in Spanish. ;) 

We taught Raul (the man from Ecuador) again this week. He still speaks really fast, but I totally understood him. We had a really good lesson on the Plan of Salvation and then discussed a little bits about the Trinity and his understanding of God. It was the perfect lead in to teach him the Restoration next time and...we got switched to another investigator. :( It's kind of sad because I really love Raul and I loved being challenged, but our new investigator is great too. 

Fun fact, I met an Elder McKenna this week. Spelled exactly the same way. Hahah how random? Also, he said he's always wanted to marry a McKenna so her name will be McKenna McKenna. Hahhaha. 

Some funny stories for the week: the five hermanas share a room so we always say prayers together before bed, and normally they're in Spanish. Hermana Cook was saying the prayer and said "Por favor bendice nos con castidad..." Hahah she meant to say caridad which is charity, but instead she said 'please bless us with chastity' hahahah we were all dying laughing. Oh the perils of Spanish. Hahahh. Also, Elder Lyons in my district made up this saying "Que en el mundo" which means what in the world, but is NOT actually a saying in spanish, and our Maestra Hermana Iroz has told us over and over again that that is NOT a thing, and it's never going to be a real saying. But the other night in class the elders managed to get tangled up in each others' keys and as she was untangling them she said "Que en el mundo.." quietly under her breath and then looked really ashamed. hahah it was the best thing ever. Also, the elders have also decided that it's officially Christmas time... -_- So we sing Christmas songs and they spray Pumpkin Spice Glade in our classrooms. For the record, I would just like to state that Christmas songs should not be sung before Thanksgiving. Bah humbug. ;) (Although we sang Angels We Have Heard On High staccato and it was the coolest thing ever. Try it.)

We had a really awesome Devo Sunday night. Vai Sikahema came and spoke to us. He played football at BYU and then in the NFL, and he was so great! He talked about how missionary work should just be a natural way of life, it shouldn't be weird or awkward. He was great; Dad you would have loved it! After our Tuesday night Devo, we had district devo review with Pres. & Sis. Doman, President Doman had just spent the day with Elder Holland, and so he shared some really cool things with us. He talked about fathers, and father's love. I know that my dad loves me and misses more than I know, so I can't even begin to imagine how much my Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to return to Him. I'm trying every day to be someone both my earthly and Heavenly Father can be proud of. Also, I finished the Book of Mormon this week, and after I prayed about it I got that quiet confirmation of its truthfulness like I always do, but that night we had the best lesson with Hermana Iroz about testifying of the BoM and inviting others to read it, and we practiced that over and over. I knew that that was an answer to my prayer, and that my testimony of the Book of Mormon is to be shared. 

I'm halfway done here at the MTC how crazy is that??? I love you all so much!

Vale la pena,

Hermana Wilson

Thanks for all of the packages!!