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....

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                                                      

Week 2: A Lost Tag, A Bat, & Some Scars

Hi Everyone!

Fun fact for you: time doesn't actually exist here in the MTC. I've officially been here for two weeks and yet it feels like way longer than that and no time at all, all at the same time. It is seriously the weirdest thing ever. We were talking in our room the other night about how it seems like we've all known each other for forever; there is just something about the MTC and being thrown into this crazy experience together that forms some crazy strong bonds. 

So this week was the week of packages! Haha thank you all for the birthday stuff; I now have way more candy and treats than I'll ever be able to deal with. Since I've moved and the mail is a little behind I've gotten birthday treats for almost a week straight. It's been awesome! The other Hermanas and I had a little birthday party with the stuff you sent Mom and it was the best thing ever. :)

Some things that happened this week: an elder took my tag after gym (while we're in the gym we put our tags in this cubby thing) and left his behind. I don't understand how he confused my tag with his since he is an elder with a last name that starts with an 'A' and is definitely not speaking Spanish....Elders.... So I had to wear my spare tag for the afternoon which made me sad (that would be the picture of my frowning).On the plus side he eventually realized that he is in fact not Hermana Wilson, turned it in, and I got it back.

Hermana Rhondeau and I and some of the elders in our district got to go to the Consulate this week! (I think that means I'll get my visa on time, but I'm not really sure.) Despite that fact that it rained all day and we had to wait almost an hour for a train, it was really nice to get out of the MTC for a little while. It was also the first time I've been out in public wearing my tag and that was pretty exciting.

Not as fun, two of the elders in my district got food poisoning this week, it shouldn't have been funny but it really was. I actually ate the same thing they did (smoked salmon chowder...maybe not the best decision to eat that) but my stomach of steel saved me. ;)

So the sister of one of my zone leaders sent him a bat in a bag that said "Don't go batty in the MTC" (I think I sent a picture of it). It was a real, formerly live, stinky bat. Kind of gross, but yet awesome and hilarious. For the record, I don't want anyone to send me a bat. 

Speaking of going batty, I now understand better why people go stir crazy at the MTC. Like I told you last week, we moved from West Campus up to the Main Campus, and now we have 0 space. It can be easy (really easy) to feel trapped when you spend 10+ hours in the same 15x12 classroom. #MainCampusProbs. On the plus side, there are way more food options and every time I see a tag in some crazy language I am reminded how lucky I am to be learning Spanish! And everything is closer together so we don't have to walk as far in the cold.

And it is so COLD now. I think Provo decided to skip fall completely which is really sad because I love fall. Oh well, I'll be plenty warm soon enough. :) 

We had our first district leave from our zone this week, and our first new district come in. It is incredible to see how much people change in such a short time here. Seeing the new district also reminds me of how far I've come in these two short weeks. Thinking about all the things I have to accomplish learn right now can be overwhelming, and I am completely aware that it is completely impossible for me to do the things that are expected of me if I try to do it myself. But the best part about being a missionary is that if you are worthy and working hard, you never have to do anything by yourself. We have divine help at every turn. It is the most amazing thing. One of my maestros played a video for us on Missionary Work and the Atonement (it might be on youtube, if you can find it, look it up), it was so incredible. It talked about how missionary work can be difficult and heart-wrenching but that the Atonement will carry us through every struggle, rejection, trial, and hard time. And that we may stand tall knowing that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the best missionary of all time, even Jesus Christ. The video talked about how we cannot convincingly teach about the Atonement if we have not experienced some small fraction of the pain Christ felt, and that we should never be afraid of scars from faithful service. 

As I've been here, I've been humbled a lot. We just taught a lesson to a man who is from Ecuador and speaks the fastest Spanish I've ever heard. I could barely understand anything he was saying, but then I stopped trying to do it by myself, and then it got better. As I focused on the Spirit I could understand what he was saying and actually have a conversation about the gospel with him. It is incredible how far I've come and how much I've learned since I've been here, but I know I could never have done it by myself. There is no way. It would have been impossible. But somehow I'm doing it, and I really love it here. 

I love you all, I love this gospel, and I LOVE being a missionary.

Vale la pena,

Hermana Wilson