Nicole, Mérida, & the Plan

What does one write after their last full week as a missionary....I´m not entirely sure. I could tell you about my week:

-the Bishop bought us food every night in a last ditch effort to send me home fat

-for the anniversary of the Relief Society there was a stake activity and every ward danced a jarana. #IloveMexico #lajaranaeselbailedeYucatan 

Relief Society Anniversary: Barrio Quintero

Con mi terno.....just kidding it´s not mine.

-Nicole got baptized. And it was beautiful. I love that family that is on its way to being eternal. 

-I hit 18 months.

-The Bishop made me speak in sacrament meeting. #Ididn´tcry #maybeIwantedto

-Flaviano and his sister Lucía came to church again. #he´sgonesixtimes

-We taught a man named Alfredo. He came to church. And now he wants to get baptized as soon as possible. 

Zona Brisas

It was a great week. And it made me realize exactly how much I am going to miss this beautiful, hard, crazy, amazing experience that is the mission. I learned so much and I feel like I have lived a thousand lives beneath the Mérida sun. I can´t even begin to explain it all, but this is what I know:

I know that God lives. I know He is our Father, and that He loves us and knows us personally. I know that He has a plan for each one of us, and that His plan is perfect. I know that He can do more with us than we could ever do on our own. I know that Christ is our Savior and that His Atonement can rescue us from both the obscurity of sin and the darkness of trials and sorrows. I know that this Church is true. I know it was restored through a prophet of God, and that we have the fulness of the gospel of Christ. I know that I needed to come to Mérida to find the God´s plan for me, and I´m just begining to understand it. And I plan on searching out this plan for the rest of my life. 

I know these things to be true. I don´t know everything but I know enough. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Obispo Parra

Our daughter

My super cute daughters.

Brownies, Peace, & Tours

Hola,

We had......a really really good week. Like, one of those weeks that you total everything up at the end and you can´t really believe it. 

Mamá y Madrastra

We taught this new investigator, she´s a single lady with a really sad back-story. At the end of the lesson we asked if she had any questions and she said, ´´yeah, why do I feel all peaceful when you are here? What is that??´´Yup.  And that helped me realize (again) that not everyone has what we have. But that everyone needs it.

We had a ward missionary activity. We had an open house and the missionaries from the zone came to contact in our area. Investigators and less actives came, the members were excited and it was just awesome. 

Four people came to church! That´s the most we´ve had here in Quintero. And two were progressing (that Flaviano keeps on coming, and this time he brought his sister).

And today, we made brownies for a zone activity. I proved that I´m still gringa by licking the spoon. 

(Blurry) Brownie Making zone activity

Basically, I´m so busy and so happy. And I can´t really believe that the days keep flying by. This gospel is true, and I want everyone to know that. I love you all!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Con Hermana Alducin

Changes, Flooding, & Car Washes

Hola,

Welp. Shortly after writing you all last week, we got a call. Special changes. For those of you who don´t know, that means that they took my companions away. hah. I got a new comp (Hermana Alducin from Puebla) and will be with her until the end of the transfer. It was kind of hard getting our little family broken up, but I know Heavely Father has a better plan in mind. 

We spent most of this week in trainings and meetings but we did have some good adventures.

-We invited everyone to wash their car at the stake center.

-We met a man who lived in Georgia

-We got caught in a flood in San Camilo

-Flaviano keeps coming to church (really the guy is incredible)

Basically, time keeps flying but I am more aware of its passing. Every moment is precious and I´m trying to treasure every one. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and for every one of His children. And I hope and pray that I am following that plan. 

I love you all. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

I took no pictures this week because I am lame. Sorry. 

Cake, Cat, & Crazy

My dear people:

I am out of time...again. So you´re all getting bullet points.

-We made a cake with Jonatan and Rebeca. There was enough cream to fill a small astroid crater. Jonatan may have eaten his weight in sugar.

Crazy cake we made last Pday

-We had a Zone Conference. President talked about marriage. We learned that the principle difference between him and Hermana García is that she doesn´t eat tortillas.

-We did intercambios with Alameda. It started out great, Hna Cecilia gave us arroz con leche...and ended with Hna León and Hna Salazar feeling sick. #youcan´twinthemall

Intercambios with Alameda

-Flaviano keeps coming to church despite the fact that we could only teach him once this week and that lesson was sabatoged by a ninja cat that likes pan. 

-Sunday I learned (again) that Heavenly Father answers prayers. We found a lost credit card and got to church on time after leaving the house 40 minutes late. 

Basically, my life is a little crazy and a lot happy. What else could anyone want? 

Smallest scorpion I´ve ever seen...now we´re just looking for his mother....

Dinner Hna Rhondeau made me...

I love you all.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Tixkokob, Barbies, & Love

Hi!

We had a good week, but one that I would like to call a ´´learning week´´. But it was at least interesting:

Hna Leon

We decided missionary work is like dating prep. We hear things like.

-this just isn´t working out for me

-it would just be better if you don´t come back

-here are the things you gave me

-it´s not you guys...it´s me

On the plus side, we´re learing lots. 

We went to Tixkokob. (It´s a pueblo) Also...we got lost going to Tixkokob (we went to the wrong plaza to take the bus and then we couldn´t find a bus....) We only showed up an hour and half late though so.... #winning

We got called Barbies...again. #IamsooonotaBarbie

Flaviano came to church again. And then gave us a reference of someone who also wants to be a member of our church (he refered to it as our church). I kind of just love our investigators. 

Also Hna Leon

I studied love this week. (Everyone: go read the Love of God by President Uchtdorf) And I realized why I am so happy. The love of good things brings us joy, just as the love of bad things brings us misery. And as Pres. Uchtdorf says, the greatest of all good things is God. And being able to labor in His work has brought me the best of all joys. 

Because this is true. And it makes me so happy.

I love you all!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Juan, Flavian, & Alejandra

Zone Activity

Hey,

I have no time this week...soooo you´re getting a bullet point letter....again. (Love you all, I´m so sorry....haha)

They know me. (Hamburger with chile)

-we helped a man named Juan with his family history. With two birth certificates we found over 50 ordinances to do. He was so excited, and so were we. 

-we had a baptism...we had never really met her. The elders had taught her in a different ward and then called us up this week to tell her she was ready. #easiestbaptismever 

-we met a guy at lunch Saturday. His name is Flavian. He speaks  3 languages. He showed up all by himself at church Sunday.

-now the kitchen sink is leaking -_-

The Bishop with the Flower we gave him yesterday.

I studied Laman & Lemuel this week. I think their problem is that they let the circumstances determine their faith, their humility, and their obedience. Nephi was always constant and that´s why he turned out the way he is. Our faith needs to be steadfast in spite of whatever might come. 

Intercambios with Industrial (Hna Martinez & Hna Masson)

I love you! I am so happy. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Happy Birthday to the best dad ever! #you´resoold ;) 

Plumbers, Lions, & Happiness

Hola,

We had a good week, the Bishop was so excited that we stayed. He´s agreed to buy hamburgers for all three of us at least once a week. 

Hermana León is a doll. I think sometimes she gets a little overhwelmed with the whole two moms thing, but Hermana Rhondeau and I have decided that it is much better than being a single mom. #lifelessons

Also when something unexpected happens she shouts "momento de panico" or "momento de crisis". And she sleeps with gloves on. She´s a good kid.

Me, Hna Rhondeau, Hna Leon. On our kitchen floor. #timerpictures

In other news:

The plumber came last week to fix our low pressure sink.

He broke our sink. Our house was flooded every day this week. And then a different plumber came and fixed it. It was still broken. Then the dueño came. Still broken. Then I tried to fix it. #Iamnotaplumber (sorry Dad, should have learned more) Still broken. FINALLY, after a week of having a water fixture in our house (right under my hammock) they fixed it. 

And we went back to having a low pressure sink. -_-

Jonatan, Rebeca´s little brother, got baptized this week. We sang. In English. I thought all the little kids were going to lose it. #we´resocool #weknowenglish 

Jonatan´s Baptism

 It was really cold this week. Like sleep in a sweater with two shirts and three pairs of socks type of cold. I´m not entirely sure how that happens here in the Yucatan.  I´m suffering a lot. But we buy pan and hot chocolate to make ourselves feel better. 

What I am realizing right now, is that there is no joy like serving Heavenly Father and serving others. I don´t think I´ve ever been this happy before. And this is only a glimpse of how happy He wants us to be. His plan is the Plan of Salvation, the Plan of Happiness. And it is for all of His children. 

Love you all!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Doodles of me & Hna Rhondeau. #canyouseetherings? 

Entrevistas, Cambios, & Camiones

So many things happened this week that I can´t really keep it all straight: #cuethebulletpoints

Rebeca

-We had interviews. It was my last one before the LAST one. It was kind of great...except President said he was going to split Hna Rhondeau up at changes. 

-We got lost on the bus again. This time coming back from StarMedica...we only ended up spending like two hours on the bus before we took a taxi home. #weandthebusesarenotfriends

Visiting the sick and afflicted

-Hermano Gonzalo got baptized....again! Backstory:

he got baptized as a teenager, his parents weren´t all that happy, they sent him away to be a priest, he preached in some christian churches, and finally made it back to the church....but we couldn´t find any record of his baptism...so he got baptized again!

Baptism of Gonzalo

It was really a beautiful baptism, and it was so amazing to see him make it all the way full circle and be able to start over again as a member of the true church. 

-And we had changes.....and......

WE´RE STAYING TOGETHER! In Quintero! To finish our missions. Also we´re training. So we have a daughter...together....her name is Hna Leon and she´s from Ecuador. We are so excited and we literally just kept giggling about it all night long. And I now can testify that Heavenly Father does answer prayers and that President must really love us. 

hammock shopping with the bishop and his wife

As a start my very last change all I can say is, that I am so so happy to be here. In the mission. In Quintero. With Hna Rhondeau & Hna Leon. In the service of the Lord. 

working with the young women

Maria del Socorro

Everything is just so great. 

Love you all!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

we always end up twinning with the APs without planning it. and then everyone asks us if we planned it and it gets uncomfortable...

Frio, Panuchos, & Hoy

Hi!

We had a worldwide conference. It was pretty awesome. Also after seeing state-side missionaries I realize why I was sent to Mexico.  #IloveMexico

It´s been bizarely cold here. I´M FREEZING! I´m sure it´s not much farther below like 60 at night but with the humidity it is literally so cold. We´ve gone to extreme measures to keep warm. Like: sleep in our little spare room instead of the big room where we normally sleep, putting on two or three pairs of socks on before bed, spending about an hour in the morning heating up water on the stove so we can shower...The struggle is real people. I am not made for the cold. 

Emergency Sleeping Arrangements

We met a guy named Luis Chan Dzul this week. (For those of you who don´t speak mayan that is Luis Little Gentleman). He can´t read. And he´s never been to any church before. And we actually were trying to find this other person. But we taught him on Saturday in a little fruit stand outside of the Baseball Stadium, and he said he wants to get baptized. And he came to church Sunday. 

And that is when I realize how beautiful the mission is. How all these little coincidence accidents happen, and it all comes together in this master plan

Saturday night the Bishop invited us over for panuchos. (He has a not-so-secret goal to send us back home fat.) And after sharing hilarious, moving, touching, motivating stories from his mission he gave us some advice. 

La única cosa importante es lo que usted hace hoy. The only important thing is what you do today.

It doesn´t matter what we´ve done in the past, that won´t save us. Serving a mission doesn´t do anyone any good if you go inactive or stop progressing after. You can´t live in the past. We must make every day better than the last and make what we do TODAY count. 

I love you all!! 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

San Camilo, Arroz con Leche, & Vicente Solís

I just asked Hna Rhondeau what happened this week and she said "This week was kind of a weird week...". I feel like that is an appropiate way to describe it.

Hna Maria del Socorro made us arroz con leche this week. I love her even more than I did last week. 

Then we had intercambios with the sisters from Vicente Solís. They both came to our area to work and we had a blast. I worked with Hna Ellgen (for like the 100th time of my mission) and I just love that girl. The only downside of having friends over is that then we didn´t have food left.... haha

Hna Rhondeau, Hna Ellgen, Hna Rocha, & Hna Wilson

In other news, we had Escape from San Camilo Part 3 this week. There´s this part of our area that is a little sketchy and so we´re not supposed to be there too late but.... we started teaching a less active family and left at about 7. (Still not too bad). And then we were waiting for the bus....for a while. And then at like 7:40 (sketchy-level increasing all the time) one finally passed and we got on it....only to find out, it wasn´t going where we thought it was. So at about 8:00...we walked home. In the dark. Including crossing the highway in this tunnel-bridge thing....

But we made it! So no worries, Mom. 

Also, I found more of Nick Hartley´s converts. They love him. hah It´s weird how small the world is. 

The work in Quintero is progressing. We find TONS of people...but they don´t really go to church....that´s the downside. But we´re working on it! This week everyone just started opening up to us randomly. Which was good, ya know. hah. 

What I am realizing more and more is that I am just content to do whatever it is the Heavenly Father wants me to do. His plans are better than mine. I just want to be who He wants me to be. 

I love this missionary stuff. I love you all.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Just out for a walk with your pet scorpion...

Maria del Socorro, Highs, & Lows

Hola!

So we had some long days and some miracle days this week:

It was the Día de los Reyes Magos (the wise men have their own holiday here), and we ate rosca at least 4 or 5 times. I love how everyone is so willing to share everything with us; from less actives to investigators, or even just random people we just met. There are still a lot of good people in this world. 

 We got eaten alive by mosquitos out in San Camilo with Hermana Rebeca, but on the plus side she sat down and listened even with the giant bloodsuckers attacking us. #itwasashortlesson

It went from really hot...to REALLY cold....to really hot again. And by that I mean it went from 95 to 70. My life is hard. 

I cut my hair. It was necessary...but slightly traumatic.

We´re teaching this family (it´s like three extended families or something confusing like that), and they are hilarious. There´s Kevin and Axel who are cousins (11 & 15 respectively) that start dancing every time they hear music. Then there´s Hermana Maria del Socorro. She´s ancient. She gives us spaghetti.  She may have loved the old elders, and threatened not to listen to another missionary after we leave. She´s hilarious. I don´t even know how to explain her. 

We walked a lot this week. We literally felt like we taught no one. And then every day at the end of the day we realized that we actually had good days. We´re not sure exactly how it happens but we´re okay with it. We found some really amazing investigators, and two people came to church this week!

PS I finished the Book of Mormon this week too!

I know I´ve said this a million and five times, but I´m really learning that the good times come right after the bad ones. Every. Single. Time. We just have to keep pushing, and it all works out. When we put forth our best effort Heavenly Father steps in and makes it enough. 

And that is why I love being a missionary. And I love you all.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

New Years, Rebeca, & Don Pich

Hi!

So time is flying by here in the Yucatan. We finished a New Year (Two questions: 1. How did a whole year pass? and 2. Who told our neighbors that singing karaoke all night long was a good way to celebrate?), we had a lot of meetings, and we had a baptism!

Hermanita Rebeca got baptized, and it was so low stress that we almost couldn´t believe it. Haha. The Bishop did everything, so all we had to do was show up and sing a song. It was a really cute baptism, and I just loved watching Hna Rebeca get baptized. I saw her face right before she went under the water and she just looked up at the Bishop (who also baptized her, #reallydideverything) with just so much faith and light in her face. It was just kind of beautiful.

New Year´s was rather interesting. The elders sent us a reference that literally lives at the very edge of our area, and we went to find her and then tried to get one more lesson in before calling it a night....Bad plan. We got stuck in the semi-sketchy part of our area at night, on New Years. On the plus side we made it home safe and sound....we may have had to run down a bus to make it home, but we did it. 

Sandwichón..... -_- 

We also went to Don Pich´s baptism. He´s this little tiny, old man that the elders baptized, and he was just darling. He was so excited to get baptized and after he put on his purple tie with his plaid shirt and wanted a picture in between the two of us. He might be one of my new favorite people. 

Don Pich 

What I´m learning is that the world is full of beautiful moments and beautiful people. Heavenly Father created us to be have joy. 

¡Feliz año nuevo!

I love you all. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Hna Maria, Jonathan, & Hna Alicia