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

Milagritos, Marvels, & México

¡Hola!

This week was one of the marvellous weeks when (almost) everything goes right. We had a ton of members helping us out, we found new investigators (including one who like to speak really bad english with me), and we didn´t get rained on. 

#winning

Also Hna Romero is great, she wants to learn EVERYTHING, and it´s fun to remember what is was like to start out. And even though she´s from Mexico it´s funny to see how different the culture is here in the peninsula. And it was also really funny when this dog tried to steal her towel this week. (She still loves the dogs.) 

The biggest miracles I have seen this week have been the littlest: like watching the less active 13 year old who we´ve been teaching forever finally get to pass the sacrament, happening to be in a member´s house when he shows up with a friend who becomes and investigator, giving a Book of Mormon to someone who used to love it... Those are the best things. The little things that you can´t really predict and you can´t really measure.

Hna Romero, Cinthia, Hna Wilson

That is my favorite part of the mission.

I am happy and healthy and doing so great here in Campeche. I love being a missionary. And I love you all.   

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Zona Campeche

Incepcion, Divisions, & Degrees

Hola!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all I need to announce something: last week I wrote in my letter that I was 19. As my mother so kindly reminded me, I am in fact 20 (almost 21). #that´sembarrassing 

Just so everyone´s aware. 

Anyway... It´s officially the rainy season here in Campeche, and after a really hot week of my comp praying for it to rain on us...it rained.

A LOT. 

More rain... with Hna Sarai

And I´ve become one of those missionaries who walks around proselyting in the rain. Not going to lie, I love to see people´s faces as we walk past in the pouring rain. They legit think we´re crazy (because when it rains here it RAINS), but it´s all good until someone actually lets us in their house and we drip on their floors. 

Rain. This is called being a legit missionary. (If you can´t tell, we´re soaking wet.)

This week we also had the Incepcion version of divisions. I was on divisions with Hna Ellgen when they called us up and said the hermanas in Sascalum had no food because Hna Silva had Chikangua (I have nooooo idea how you spell that) and couldn´t leave the house and so we went there and got them food. And then went on divisions during the divisions (ooo..Incepcion...) because Hna Vega had an interview in the chapel with President and Hna Silva couldn´t leave her hammock. So I went with her to do that then finally were on our way to back to my area just in time for the Zone leaders to call and tell us we needed to go to the church for a meeting. -_-

Then Hna Ellgen asked if my days were always like this.... #no

But after all that craziness, we actually had a really good week. We found people to teach, we have an investigator progressing, I only caught one lizard in the bathroom...

It was a good week. :) 

And this is what I am learning: that life is a game of degrees. Satan doesn´t tempt up us with big leaps into sin, he tries to talk us into lowering our standards just a little bit at a time...until eventually we´re in a lot of trouble. (Go read Alma 47) On the other hand, the best people I know, the really truely good people are that way because the do the little things without fail even when no one is watching. I´ve come to understand that it is the little things we do, not necesarily the big things, that determine who we really are and who we will become. 

Studying like a champ.... #don´tjudgemyartskills and #don´tgodown!

And I just want to be good. 

I love you all! And I Love, Love, Love being a missionary.

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

My ward loves me. #rootbeerinMexico

GIANT Tamales with a the Gamboa Family

Family, Rain, & Libro de Mormon

Shout out to my baby sister who is turning 18 this week....Love you!!! 

¡Que tal!

Hello my dearest people. The work continues here in beautiful Campeche. (And really..it´s beautiful) This week:

Family History Moment: I was teaching the Relief Society president how to use familysearch.org and we totally found the census with the names of her grandparents and her dad. It was one of those incredible moments when I could feel that the veil isn´t all that thick and that families really can be forever....how incredible is our Heavenly Father´s plan. :) 

An old investigator called up the elders this week and told them he wants to get baptized...and he lives in our area. BTW no one ever calls out of the blue and says that they want to get baptized. Hno Angel is a recovering alcoholic who is trying to quit drinking and he really, really, really wants to change his life and watching him watch his four year old daughter and talk about how much he wants to change for her just about broke my heart. His baptism should be in just about 5 weeks (or sooner....but we haven´t told him that). :) 

I got completely fried this week....I thought I was tan and that I couldn´t burn anymore. HAH. Yeah....no. 

In other news about the weather, we went to visit an investigator when it started to rain. And when I say rain, I mean RAIN. The road literally turned into a little river as we hid out in our investigators house. On the plus side: 

1. we were inside and not out contacting

2. she gave us pocorn while we were waiting out the rain #firstpopcornin9months

The rainy season has offically begun here in Campeche...and the drainage system here is horrible. The thought actually passed through my head yesterday that I should have brought my water boots. haha. 

Rain. So much water you wouldn´t even believe it. 

I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish this week. I read the whole thing cover to cover in five weeks and can I just tell you something.... IT¨S TRUE. And the more I read the Book of Mormon the more I come to understand my Savior and what He wants for me. I know that book is true. And I know that it changes lives....I´ve seen it in others, and I´ve also seen it in myself. I know I´m not perfect, but I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and has made it possible that through His Only Begotten Son I can be a little bit better every day.

And there´s nothing better than that. Sending you all of my love!!

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

This is 85% of my house. 

My desk

Temples, Éxito, & the Ultimate Self-Help

¡Hola!

So Tuesday...I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!! We had a challenge in the mission if we could memorize all the scripture masteries of Book  of Mormon and New Testament (in Spanish) we could go to a session. And even though it was a session at 5:30 in the morning (which means we woke up at 3 and then worked until 9 at night) it was literally the best thing ever. I LOVE THE TEMPLE!! It was like balm for my soul. I know that it is the house of God because I can´t imagine that kind of peace existing any where else.

The work here has been a little slow. We´re in what I like to call a  ¨Finding Stage¨. We contact a lot in the calle and visit a lot of people. Our biggest problem is that we meet people make an appointement to come back and teach them....and then they´re not there. :( 

Which makes me very sad. Agency is hard concept. Ahhh....

But that´s what I´m learning, that everyone has this ability to chose. And that if people choose not to accept the gospel, it´s not my fault. If I´m doing my part, the Lord is pleased with me and I can be happy with my efforts. We had interviews with Presidente this week, and that´s most of what we talked about. How to really measure success in the mission.

AKA Hermana Wilson stop beating yourself up. I love Presidente Garcia.

We had some really good lessons this week. We found a new investigator and we were teaching here about the Restoration, and I totally thought she wasn´t getting it until she said, ¨So that means the other baptisms don´t count?¨ And I was like YES! (In my head of course) hah because it can be really difficult for people to capture apostasy and authority and all that jazz. We´ve also had some really great lessons with menos activos this week. One told us that we´re like daughters to her and when we show up late (.....woops....) she worries, but knows we always come, and she always looks forward to our visits. She´s a sweetheart, and has a lot of challenges in her life right now, and I just love being able to bring her some joy.

Have I mentioned that I love the people here?? :)

Hermana Castro is a peach. She´s helped me realize that I say ¨okay¨ like 35,000 times every day, and she always knows when I´m hungry. She´s a good hija. :) 

I´ve been studying conference talks over again, I really love...well...I really love ALL of them because they help me realize just how much the gospel APPLIES to real life. It´s not just something ancient or a list of shoulds and should nots. It´s how to live with the most happiness possible and how to live with Heavenly Father again. The gospel is something living, it applies to every person and in every situation. We don´t need a billion and five self-help books and quick-fixes, we need Christ, because through Him we can become so much more than we can on our own.

I love you all, I love my Savior, and I love helping other people find Him. 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

No pictures this week. The computer doesn´t like my USB. Sorry!! 

2015, 18, & 1,000,005

Feliz Año Nuevo!

So it´s 2015. I´m not entirely sure what happened to 1024, but I´m excited to devote this WHOLE year to the Lord. :) 

New Year´s here is a big deal...lots of drinking (like 1,000,005 drunks in the street)....surprise!....and they stay up all night. Hah our neighbors played music all. night. long. Luckily, I sleep like the dead so I slept through most of it. We had a normal work day the first, but a lot of people weren´t there for their lessons, or they were drunk... -_- And so we literally only taught once that day. 

There was a lot of walking that day. hah. Gave me a chance to work off some of my Christmas calories. ;)

Other than that it was a pretty good week, we 18 lessons with members present, which was our goal for the week! It can be difficult to get the members involved sometimes but we´re working to get them more excited to participate in the Work of Salvation. 

My personal library.

Funny story, we´ve been begging for Libros de Mormon because we ran out (all the members give away LDM during the Navidad so there´s a mission-wide shortage). Just so you know it´s hard to share a message about a very important book if you don´t have the book. But! The members came through and we now have a few to get us through the week. 

I´ve been working on developing my faith. I´ve realized (several times) that if I´m going to be the kind of missionary I want to be I´m going to need miracles so I´ve been trying to develop faith unto miracles. I´ve realized too that I´ve seen miracles here in the mission field; that I see miracles every day. I´m a walking miracle! I don´t speak Spanish, but here I am communicating with people. hah. I´ve learned that the Lord always does His part, we just have to do ours and we will see miracles. 

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

¡Vale la pena!

Hermana Wilson

Sopes! Thought of you as I ate them Dad! ;)