Responsabilities, Privelges, & The Reason I´m Still in Chuburná

Dear People, 

 We had zone trainings every morning this week, so we had a little different of a week. Also it was different because for the first time I had to GIVE some of the trainings (Hi, I´m still a mission-baby, are we sure this is a good idea??) Hah I may have accidentally started speaking in english at one point, but it all turned out okay, and I enjoy being able to teach the other missionaries. 

Including intercambios. I´ve decided I love them. I got to work with Hna Barraza this week. She´s a sweetheart, and I think we all need to be more like her. She has a way of helping people realize that they really matter, that they´re important. LOVE HER.

Also, Hna Torres and I got to go help out with a primary activity in Centro with Presidente, and Hermana Garcia and the assistants. The activity was called ¡Niños a la mision! and for our part of the activity Hna Torres and I taught them about our schedule, being obedient, how to handle stress (we totally did relaxation exercises with 60 children), how to prepare spiritually for a mission, and how to avoid big sins. And let me just tell you....it was a blast. #capacitadoraprivelegios

I love children. Why can´t we teach herds of kids all the time??? Also, Presidente talked to the kids about how they need to go on a mission and then come home and get married as soon as possible....

To quote Hna Torres, "¿Hay calor verdad?" 

Hna Torres, Yo, Hna Manning, Hna Gutierrez, Hna Garcia, Presidente Garcia

I learned last night why I´m still in Chuburná. Hna Elizabeth, my favorite reformed less active, told us that before cambios she was praying (a lot!!) that I wouldn´t get changed ("No llevas mi gûerita").

It´s pretty evidente that she has a lot of faith (almost seven months worth). haha. I love her. 

So what I keep realizing in my mission is that the gospel really is the answer. The pure, simple, basic doctrine. We´re not converting people to the side-affects of the gosple, we´re inviting them to come unto Christ and be CHANGED. That is what conversion is, a complete change, of desires, hopes, actions, everything. And I know that I have a long way to go, but that is what I want. I want to want those things that my Heavenly Father wants. I want to lose myself so completely that His Will becomes my will. 

Because that´s when the miracles come. And that is true joy. I love being a mission. I love you all. I love my Savior.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Heat, Hair, & Ojala

Querida Familia (and the rest of you people I love),

First of all I would just like to let you all know that is was 105 or above ALL WEEK!. And that´s not that bad when you go from AC in the house to AC in the car yada yada...but when you´re walking around in the street.

Yeah, it´s hot. And it´s just getting started is what they tell me. haha I literally carry a towel around for the sweat. #glamourousmissionlife

Second, Miguel got baptized!!! We had a few adventures with his interview (we showed up like 5 minutes late to the church and he had already left), but it all went really well. And Miguel is like the humblest sweetest person you´ve ever met. :) And he is offically a member and it makes me really happy since we´ve been teaching him since February. 

Miguel, Dionisio (my convert from Jan. !!!) Hna Torres & I 

Hna Torres and I are getting along really well. We work differently but we´re learning a lot from each other and we´re going to make good things happen here in Chuburná!!! We had our first exchanges with some of the sisters in our zone this week and it was so good. I was working with a sister who dies this transfer and she was great to teach with. I feel like even though I´m supposed to be doing the training I´m going to be learning so much from the sisters in our zone. 

We´ve been working with a less active family this week and every time we go there the little girls take my hair out of it´s bun and then do something with it. Haha and then they tell me I look like a princess. Gaining hearts of less active one hairdo at a time. 

This week I practiced my diligence. I´ve been here for a long time, but there is still so much work to be done here and so many people to find. We taught a lot of people this week and what I learned more than anything else is that EVERYONE needs the gospel. Even if the don´t realize it.

Especially if they don´t realize it.

The gospel is the answer to everything. And if embrace it; really really embrace it with all our heart, might, mind, and strength; it changes lives. It makes good things better and the best things even better. :) I love the gospel. I love sharing it.

And I love you all.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Hna Rhondeau y yo

Transfer 5: Chuburná 2

Best Things...

-I hit 6 months! And still feel like a mission baby. haha. 

-Having people argue with you about Joseph Smith, teaching the First Vision, and then they don´t say anything else. :) #winning

Worst Things...

-Sweat. Waking up sweating. Going to sleep sweating. Sweat in your eyeballs. Sweat. 

-I got bit by a dog! Luckily it wasn´t bad. 

-Shopping as a missionary. Why is it so much work to find modest, cheap, shirts that don´t boil me alive???

Things that are working for me...
-Slides. All of my comps have flip-flops for shower shoes and they all break really fast.

I wish I would have known...

-Find images/demonstrations/visuals/teaching tools stuff. Sometimes people really just don´t get a concept so I have to explain 5 billion ways. And visual things always work out better. 

Food...

-I finally tried a marquesita which is kind of like a crepe only they put this cheese in it and deep fry it. :) 

-I ate a fish eye!! 

Fun Facts about Mexico...

-We went shopping, and there are a surprising number of modest swimsuits here. So I would say if you´re coming here on vacation buy a suit here...Not that that helps much for missionaries...hah.

Weather...

-It´s hot. And it´s still only spring.

-It´s a lot more humid at night. So even though it´s not as hot I still feel sticky.

Mayan...

-p´o a nook: laundry (I think.....) 

-papa: comida

-zules: de los caballeros

(papazules is a type of food) 

-ab: ser (to be)

-may: the correct way to live; justice, integrity, and peace

I learned...

-So very many things...haha. 

-How to love an hija

.How to avoid the drunks

-How to really be patient.

Cambios, Heuvos, & Intrepidez

Querida Familia,

Oh what a week. It was Semana 6! I don´t know how the time is passing so quickly, but it is flying. A lot of things happened this week actually:

We had an Easter Egg Hunt! And it was the bomb!! haha The members were all a little skeptical at first, but they came around pretty quick. I knew they liked it when they came back with like 20 eggs after we told them they could only find 5 apiece. Now I´m just hoping that they found all of them because we could´t count them after because everyone started to eat them... haha Also, if anyone can tell me why the Easter Bunny brings eggs that would be great because I could not explain it to the people here...haha

For the record, it is a lot of work to cook 120 eggs. Also I recommend spoons and not fingers to remove eggs from nearly boiling water. #don´taskmehowIlearnedthat

After, the ward had a little farewell for H´ Ludlam. She finished her mission this transfer and is headed home this week!!! 

I´m an orphan.

Haha but seriously, I just got to Mexico like 2 days ago and she had like 6 months left, and now she´s leaving. It´s madness I tell you.

Family Photo

Mi hija

We had a stake activity with the youth this week (it was a like a day-in-the-mission thing) and so at one point we had 7 youth in a lesson with us. Haha poderoso. You can bet Carlos learned his commandments from them. :) 

Cambios were today! Or as I like to call them, stay-the-sames. Yep, I will be in Chuburná 2 for at least one more cambio. Haha who would have thought I would be in the same area for Christmas and Mother´s day? haha My companion is Hermana Torres. She´s from Guatemala, has 10 months in the mission, is one of the smallest people I know, and we´re going to be the sister training leaders for our zone.....

Yo & Hermana Torres. Told you she was tiny.

...I don´t know what Presidente and los asistentes were thinking either....

Anyway, same area but new adventure. I´m excited to get to work with the other hermanas and continue learning and growing as a missionary. It´s pretty funny that I´m staying because the whole ward basically sent me off yesterday…

Still here. :)

And I am really excited to be here. There´s a lot of potencial in this area. We just have to find it. :) 

Presidente has talked a lot lately about being BOLD. That we have an important message and so even if people are sleeping or eating that we need to insist on teaching them. And as awkward and uncomfortable as it can be it is SO true. I don´t want to show up at judgment day and have a group of people ask me why I didn´t insist on telling them the truth. And so that´s what I´ve decided to do. 

Hna Delfina, 70 years old and the best missionary out there

I can´t make up their minds for them, but I can tell them the truth. And the best part is, something miraculous happens when we do that. They may not accept what we´re telling them, but they can feel that it is true. And they can´t argue with it. 

I know that this gospel is the truth. I know it´s the only way to find true happiness and direction in this life. I know my Savior lives and that this is His Church. 

I love you all. I love being a missionary. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Lace suburn...I promise I used sunscreen.

Hermana Castro accidentally hit me with a branch...that had spines...

Canas, Semana Santa, & Conferencia

Buenas Tardes,

So it was Semana Santa, or Holy Week here in Merida. Fun fact, the members here don´t really celebrate Easter because the catholics REALLY celebrate Easter. Which led to all kinds of adventures this week, the highlights:

-Hermana Castro has found like 3 gray hairs. I told her it´s from the stress of having a daughter. Hah. But really, her training ends this week and I´m kinda sad about it. Also I´m kind of sad about having gray hairs. 

-Tracking down a reference in the more sketchy part of our area Friday afternoon, we passed some drunks in the street, didn´t feel comfortable and turned down a side street to get away from the them...and ran into another group of drunks who proceeded to call after us and started to follow us. So we turned down another street to get away (Hna Castro saying "Corra, corra" every five seconds), and ran into the Via cruces, which is where they reenact the processional to Calvary, so we turned down another street to avoid that, and ended up all the way at the limit of our area.

Lesson learned: don´t go to Felipe Carrillo Puerto on a holiday. 

-Friday was interesting because all of our investigators were either drunk or in Church. hah. It makes life difficult for a missionary. 

-But can we talk about CONFERENCE! And how much I loved it?! And how excited I am about the gospel. How amazing it is that we have prophets in our day to lead us in this troubled world. I hope you all had the chance to listen because it was the BOMB. Of course, that may have been because all the talks were written for me, but I´m sure you can learn something too. 

-Sunday in between sessions we ate with the Araujo Family (who we baptized in January), and it made me incredibly happy to sit at their table outside their house and just enjoy this family on its way to eternity. It was incredible to see the traces of their former life in their home, but here them talk about Priesthood and prophets and conference and how much the gospel has changed their lives. It doesn´t get much better than that. 

Hna Chamorro y Yo

Also they fed us fish that was amazing, Oh, and I totes ate its eyeball.

Hermano Dionisio frying us some fish. :) 

Me with my fish. It was like the best thing ever.

Fish. It was delicious. I ate that whole thing.

Because that´s what they do in the Yucatan. :) 

Happy Easter everyone. I am so very very grateful for the sacrifice of my Savior so that I can live with my Heavenly Father in an eternal family someday. And never, ever forget that He lives. Even now. And that if we look for Him, He can be PRESENT and ACTIVE in our lives.

I love you all. I love my Savior. And I love the children of God I get to serve here in Chuburná. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Familia Araujo & Las Misioneras