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!