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.

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. 

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...

Transfer ?? Santa Lucía 3

Best Things...

-Training.

Worst Things...
-Leaving Santa Lucía

Things that are working for me...

-Depsite what everyone thinks, my crocs are still going strong. 

I wish I would have known...

Food...

Fun Facts about Mexico/This Mission...

Weather...

-Apparently it´s cold now...like 65 at night. 

Mayan...

I learned...

at the ADO 

Changes, Rosa Isela, & Malecón

Hola!

So it actually happened...I got changed!! I´ve been sent back to Mérida with Han Rhondeau (My comp from the MTC!!!). Leaving Santa Lucía and all of the people I love there was SUPER hard, but I´ve also been praying to go with Hna Rhondeau for like the whole mission. #prayersdogetanswered

This, my last week in Campeche, was beautiful. It wasn´t perfect by any means but it was beautiful. We started out Tuesday going to the forts, and ended Sunday with the dedication of the Tijuana´s temple. In between:

-We had a baptism! Rosa Isela, the daughter of a less active member, got baptized. She was kind of nervous before but after she told us that she had been scared but that when they put her under the water that she just felt so good (even though they had to do it twice hah). She´s a doll.

Rosa Isela

-I got sick!! Just a nice little respiratory infection. The funny part was that the Dr. told me it´s because my body´s not used to the cold anymore... (We dropped to like 65 degrees in the night this last week #that´scoldincampeche) On the plus side, after some cough syrup, a few injections, and a blessing I am feeling much better. On the downside, I don´t know how I´m ever supposed to go home if my body is rejecting 65 degree weather.

-We had a zone missionary activity on the malecón! We went out in front of the Novia del Mar, put up a screen, watched Christmas videos #HaNacidoUnSalvador, sang carols, and contacted everyone in sight. It was beautiful and glorious and something I´ll never ever forget.

I may have left a big part of my heart in Campeche but I am so excited to get to work here in Mérida with Hna Rhondeau. There is much to do. I love you all!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

(Sorry for the lack of photos...this computer is sllllooooowwww)

Change, Time, & Five

Sunday in Santa Lucía

Hola!

We had a sisters´ conference this week. It was the first one we´ve had here and it was pretty awesome. They gave us roses and pep-talks and then Presidente gave us some advice:

1. Go home

2. Get married....fast

3. Have children...also fast, none of this waiting to have children thing, that´s flse doctrine.

4. Let your body recover 

5. Have more children

**Bonus: Those children should speak 3 or 4 languages

Conferencia de las hermanas - Misión México Mérida 03/11/2015

That is literally what he told us...no pressure or anything. haha. You have to love Presidente García. 

Also, I had to go to Immigration...hooray for being a foreigner...But that meant that we went to Mérida twice week.

Immigration Part 2

It also means that we ate Krispy Kremes. It was good day. 

Krispy Kreme!

In between all of that madness we actually got to work in our area too. And we had some really cool things happen like:

1. Contacting a golden investigator in the street

2. Finding a taxista who was interested in baptisms for the dead in an area where there aren´t even taxis normally.

3. Having an investigator read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and understand it 

It was a good week.

We also got Zone t-shirts. They make us look like smurfs. #we´resocool

Zona Campeche....aka Smurf Zone

Last night were changes and the only thing worse than waiting for transfers is waiting until midnight for transfers....#thankyouelders. I was terrified (slight exageration) that they were going to take my daughter away, or send me away, or worse- close my area...But we´re both staying here one more change!! Woo!

For those of you who are counting that makes 5 changes here...

It´s a good thing I love Santa Lucía.

Hna Fatima 

Saraí! 

But really though, part of why I was so nervous before transfers was cause I felt like I hadn´t finished my work here. And I am so so excited to keep working here. I love this area. I love Campeche. And I LOVE these people. 

I love this work and I love being a missionary. I see the Heavenly Father´s hand in everything that we do and I know He is helping this work along.

I love you all!! 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Our cellphone is Yucateco....

21, Technology, & SL4

Campeche. 

Hi!!

This week was full of little great things:

-I turned 21 which means I can legally do all those things that I don´t do anyway because I´m a member..Woo. :) jaja

I´m old.

-It also means we got fed pizza and cheesecake for lunch. My people here know me. 

B-day Lunch

-Hna Allen and I officially proved that fasting automatically makes people buy you food. It´s a fact. We also now have a lot of leftovers in the house. 

-I also lost my hymnbook...

-We got stuck in the rain one day. But that meant we got to watch the Joseph Smith movie with a part member family....who then ALL came to church Sunday. (BEST THING EVER)

-We had the Women´s Conference...but due to technical difficulties I only got to watch President Uchtdorf´s talk.... Me and technology and still not friends. -_- But it was an incredible talk, and I learned that right now is part of eternity. So why not enjoy eternal life (with all the happiness that implies) right now?? 

-We had changes....and guess who is not changing areas.... Me! But I am training again!! Which is incredibly exciting, I´m ready to be with a young missionary again. My new comp is name Hermana Romero and she is from the Estado de Mexico (State of Mexico) and she´s a doll. I´ll send pictures next week.

La familia Rodriguez Vargas

I have learned that life is full of little miracles. And that we have to take the time to invite them into our lives and then appreciate them when they come. We can be happy now; and we should be happy right now. And it´s all possible through Christ and His gospel.

I love you all!!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

I´m a pirate.

Still got hops...Just kidding...

Santa Lucia!

Flood, Death, & Ridiculousness

Hola!!! 

So I didn´t die last week...I just forgot to hit send..Woops. 

My area legit flooded three times this week. THREE TIMES. And that meant that the power went out in most of area almost every night this week...and all our investigators went to stay in other areas...  -_-

Flood

At one point it started to rain, and we ducked under cover just to realize it was a liquor store...

We found other cover. haha. 

Sisters in Campeche!

Sometimes I just have to tell you that the most ridiculous things happen in the mission. For example:

-I got a mosquito bite on the bottom of my foot

-An investigator told us he couldn´t have his lesson because his dog has a cough

-A drunk in the street asked me if I speak maya...nope.

-A lady in a store asked a member if I was her daughter...and said we look alike #nowedonot #salespersonlie

We can´t take normal pictures...

Eating

My companion died (mission death - no one freak out) this week. It was weird to hear her talk about going home and all that jazz (and to know Allie and Spencer got home this week) but as for me, I am completely content to keep my tag on. :) 

Noche de Hogar de los muertos

There is so much work to do, and so little time. And I am here to work.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

PS: Changes were today. I am staying in Santa Lucia (surprise!) with Hna Allen!! She is from Redmond, Oregon. Woo for Oregonions in Campeche!! 

Stake Missionary Activity

Meetings, Changes, & Santa Lucia

Zona Campeche With Elder Valenzuela

Okay sorry family but there were changes this week so this is going to be suuuppper short.

But I love ya!

This week we went to Mérida for a leadership conference. We left Monday night, and because Hna Torres had to go to immigration, we didn´t get back home until Wednesday afternoon.

Presidente & Hermana Garcia

BTWs...it KILLLSS me to not be able to work in my area..

Also this was the week of meetings...a lot of them. But I learned a lot, and I really loved my Zone here.

Changes were today....and I´m staying in Santa Lucia! I´m actually really excited because I love the ward here. Hna Torres is no longer my companion though. I am with Hna Mejía, she is also from Guatemala and she finishes up her mission this transfer.

Santa Lucia

And.....that´s about all I have time for. Just know that I love you all and I KNOW I am where I´m supposed to be. 

There is no greater work than this. :) 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Hna Lupita