April 25 - Take Two!

As I was looking through my pictures I remembered this story... This is Felix with S. Stobbe and I. Felix came into the VC some time in April. We had an interesting but funny interaction with him where he kept telling us that we were "Medina's." We still don't know what that is or was but... He came in again one Friday morning and we asked if we could have a picture with him. We did then he went around with one of the senior Elder's before leaving. Well, Felix came in again this week. Evidently he's a bit schizophrenic and believes himself to be Heavenly Father. When one of the Sisters asked him if he was done in one of the areas he got upset. He told E. Simper that she was on drugs and needed to take a urine sample because he was talking "garbage" to her. He was bound and determined to take this matter to Salt Lake and was quite upset when E. Simper wouldn't give him the phone numbers he needed. Felix is pretty sure that E. Simper's name is Anthony and that he is from Yugoslavia (yeah, know I butchered that.) It was a pretty weird experience but I'm grateful I had this picture. The Senior couples are on the look out for him now and none of the Sisters can take him on tour. So, yeah, just a little about the craziness in Independence. :D

Love you!

Sister Wilson

(I messed up my story a bit... I first met Felix in February and got called a "Medina." And Felix was telling E. Simper that the Sister was talking "garbage" to him. That should clear things up a bit...)

P.S. The other pic is me and S. Diederich

 

April 25

You know, one day someone is going to be able to answer the question for me... WHERE DOES TIME GO?! It continues to fly by. However, this week has been a slow crawl. Moving from Monday p-day to Thursday p-day is quite the stretch. I survived, though, and only had to ration my chocolate milk portions for the last couple days. It has been a busy week. I survived yet another transfer and have jumped head first into my 6th transfer. S. Diederich and I are still serving in the YSA 5th Branch. There really weren't a lot of changes this transfer. Only 1 Sister (S.Stobbe) left our zone to serve in Junction City, Kansas. (No, idea where or how far that is...) Other than that the only big change was the fact that they split our zone in half...kind of. As in half as you can split a geographical area. And the only people who moved from one district into another with a new zone? Yep, me and S. Diederich. It'll be all right, though. Since we serve with all the Sisters at the VC we still get to see and interact with them.

I tried to hide the fact that it was my birthday. You know I don't love being the center of attention and having everyone focus on me! Wishful thinking here at the VC; there are no secrets! (Other than my age which continues to shock everyone...) It ended up being a great day. We had an early morning training meeting then birthday treats (I wanted bread) afterward. S. Diederich and I taught a lesson and now having a progressing investigator!! (Great birthday gift for any missionary!) Brandon is great and was a referral from one of the YSA's. We are meeting with him again tomorrow. After trying to find less active YSA's but only getting wrong addresses we met up with the Relief Society president, Faipa, and Roxy for lunch. We went to Square Pizza; when she found out it was my birthday she had to take us for ice cream, too. All in all, it ended up being a great day. I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday and am grateful for all the love I felt from everyone here and from all of you at home. All the Sisters have been quite envious the last few days; I've received a ton of mail and 3 packages!!

Saturday we were able to go to an activity that the Branch put on. They were playing soft ball and having a BBQ. It was a ton of fun... I even made it to 2nd base before getting out! I can definitely feel a difference with the members because we have been working on building a relationship of trust with them. It really helps to be able to put on jeans and go play the sports with them. So what if I'm awful? We're just having fun. The work isn't necessarily progressing swiftly but I can feel more trust from the members. They have more of a desire to interact with us and give us the names of friends to visit. We have begun sending out a text each week asking for the names of people who need an uplift that we can visit. So far it's working. The more we serve and get to know the branch the more willing they are to help us find people to teach. I think it also helps that we have made a conscious effort to write thank you notes for each meal we get. We are also calling or visiting active branch members to leave them with a message without asking for anything. Having a 40 day fast is also helping. Lot's of small miracles going on right now.

Every Sunday for the month of April we eat dinner with the same family; the Kettlewell's. I am so grateful for their willingness to feed us! There are 4-6 sisters that go each week. A couple weeks ago they had one of their older sons (who is a law student) there who is no longer a member of the church; I believe he's practicing Catholisism. Anyway, he went into the Word of Wisdom and why it was okay to drink Coke but not coffee or tea. I sat there for a while before pulling out the D&C and reading the promise found in section 89. I told him that I didn't know why Coke was okay to drink but God did and it was a matter of faith that we follow the Word of Wisdom. I let him know that if he were to pray sincerely and with real intent then he would come to know for himself that this revelation was from God. He called me on the sincere and real intent comment and said that just because he didn't get the same answer that I was telling him didn't mean he wasn't sincere. Umm... yeah it does... The answer doesn't come from me; it comes from God! He won't tell you anything different than what He tells me! I don't know that anything will come of it but you should be proud of me speaking up like a true Wilson.

Hmm....I don't think I have any other experiences for you. A week and a half is a long time to remember stuff. Especially when the days all blend together! I am doing well. I love serving in the branch. I love the associations and friendships I am making with all those around me. I am so grateful for the power of prayer in my life. I have really learned how to utilitze and apply prayer to myself to gain answers that I didn't know I was looking for. I'm grateful for the comfort of the Holy Ghost that I gain only through prayer. I didn't realize how much I was taking the gospel for granted. I have totally under-utilized it. No more! This is a great work, a hard work, but it is God's work and I am right where He needs me to be. I love you all and am grateful to each of you. Your prayers, letters, and support mean the world to me.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Sister Wilson

Pictures:

1--Ice cream with Faipa and Roxy

2--THANK YOU!

3--One day of mail... We should have birthday's more often...

April 15

Hello, my family!!!

I hope this finds you all well and happy and healthy and... all that good stuff. Again, this week has gone incredibly fast, yet slow at the same time. Missions send missionaries into a weird time warp thing... I can't explain it, really. Just know that it is an interesting phenomenon. (Look at me using big words.) The work is going kind of slow in the branch right now. I didn't think I would ever say it but I miss "traditional" missionary work! We haven't been able to go tracting (aka: door to door knocking--I miss it!) so finding investigators is all based on referrals. For some reason, the YSA aren't giving us those! We are working heavily on building trust and relationships with the YSA's that come consistently right now... It's a work in progress but I do believe we are making headway. (? is that correct use of that word?) We are calling/visiting members to give them uplifting messages and to let them know how grateful we are for them. We are writing thank you's to everyone that feeds us. We are giving messages to members to remind them of God's love and purpose for us being on the earth. We are striving to be diligent in contacting as many as possible on our list of 600 YSA's in the stake; reactivation has become our main focus. There is a TON of work to do.... We just need a bit more member support in doing it. No worries, though. We are just going to continue to P.U.S.H. (pray until something happens!)

I have seen lots of tender mercies this week. Wednesday I was able to be on shift with the Stevenson's. I miss them a ton! I don't get to see them as much as when I was serving at the Jail. It was great to be able to talk and feel "at home" with them. Friday morning we had a training meeting here at the VC. Sister Lewis came up with everyone from the Jail. Man! I miss Sister Lewis! She was a ray of sunshine for me on a cloudy day; feeling her love was greatly needed. After our shift at the VC we had zone training. I absolutely loved it! Our Zone Leaders talked about the Christ-like attributes. Specifically, charity, diligence, patience, and gratitude. It was a very humbling and enlightening experience. I learned that I have lots to work on and to get better at.... Dang it! I'm not perfect yet! Let me see, what else?

OH! Instead of driving to zone training I told S. Diederich we should walk... to the building next door... so I could eat my snack. We did and then walked back to the VC to meet up with some of the Sisters who had gotten pizza for all of us to share. There was an army guy there that lives in Roy. So I talked to him for a bit before turning around to find Mark van Oene!!! (I realize this doesn't mean much to everyone else) Mark is the husband of Carla who's classroom was across the hall from mine and who I worked with for 6 years! When I got my mission call Mark told me he came out to Independence quite a bit and that when he did get out here he would come visit me. Well, he did! He was going to leave the VC when he found out I wasn't on shift but S. Pyne (senior sister) convinced him to stay and look around for a bit. S. Stobbe and S. Rogers took him around and were just getting ready to leave when I came in. I was so grateful to see him! He brought a b-day gift from Carla as well as letters from some of my Knowlton friends and co-workers. Such a tender mercy and my connection to home right then. How grateful I am for the mysterious workings of the Lord. He knew I needed a lot of love that day... I also got an envelope of letters from some of the Relief Society sisters in the ward. Yeah, it was a great day!

We saw a lot of miracles yesterday, too. We had had 1 lesson all week... Yeah, told you the work was slow... I was NOT looking forward to reporting to our district leader. Well, at church was a non-member, who happened to be slightly disabled and had wandered over from his baptist church, who I taught a lesson in the hallway between classes. He's not interested in learning more; "it doesn't matter what church you go to." Yes, it does (I said) you've got to go to the right one...like this one! I'm pretty sure he didn't get it because he wasn't willing to meet with us to learn more. We had a member present lesson when our dinner appointment had 5 non-member family members there. They brought up the Word of Wisdom first so I just followed with it... I may or may not have asked them all to ask Heavenly Father with 'real intent and sincere desire' if those things in the Doctrine and Covenants were true or not. Unfortunately, the man was a lawyer and his heart is lacking faith so I don't think it reached him but... I did what I was prompted to do. Our last miracle of the day was to send out a mass text to all the YSA's asking for referrals. We don't really care if they are members, nonmembers, less actives or not. We just want to know who the branch thinks we need to go visit. Last week only one person responded. This week 2 different people responded with 2 different names each! YEAH! We're just showing them YSA's that we are serious about our work!

Then... Here I am today.... Having a great p-day so far. Laundry is done and I get to email my favorite people in all the world! Life is good. Being a missionary is fantastically hard but rewarding. I am grateful I am here learning all that I am. I know that I am blessed beyond measure to be in such a beautiful place serving the Lord right now. There are things that only I can accomplish here... I've just got to figure out what those things are. I want you all to know that I love you and am so grateful for your continued love and support. I know I couldn't be doing this without you. I really do love each of you and am beginning to understand how much I really took having you all so close for granted. Thanks for putting up with me for so many years. I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Love, Sister Wilson

P.S. Transfers are on Thursday so... p-day could be as early as Monday again or as late as Thursday. Have a great week!

Mark van Oene and Me

Me and Sister Pugsley

Sister Stobbe, Felix, and Me

(Felix came in a few weeks ago and spent a LONG time talking with us... it was a lot of fun!)

 

 

I forgot to tell you.... Missouri has AMAZING thunder, lightning, and rain storms! There have been quite a few this week. I love being able to watch them. I may have to rethink how much I like them when I'm actually suppose to be out doing missionary work in them.

April 8

Hello, everyone! It is a beautiful spring day! Last night was a ton of fun... Massive thunder and rain storms. It was seriously a down pour that we had to run to and from the car in; talked about soaked. It was really fun, though. I've missed having a good storm so I was grateful to finally get one. How is everyone doing?! It sounds as though you are all doing well and life is continuing to progress... I'm kind of bummed to be missing all the fun but know I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do. Time is flying by, too, so that helps.

Let's see... What's going on this week? Well, so much and so little at the same time! The work is still relatively slow in the branch but S. Diederich and I are seeing lots of miracles. We've taught more lessons this week than ever before. However, those lessons are with random people we meet on the street; not YSA's that we can teach again. We are seeing some success with visiting less active members. I think they appreciate the visits; to know they are being thought about. It really makes the difference for YSA's when they realize people care.

Hmm.... Really, I don't have many stories about investigators! We are still working diligently to find but are focusing on helping to reactivate; we've got to keep those that we have before adding to them! It's great, too, because we can't go door to door knocking... Can you imagine us showing up at random homes looking for singles 18-30?! Kind of reminds me of the situation Mike had in high school... Yeah, not a good image for the church or ourselves. So, my work is mostly with referrals. I don't really like referrals. I especially don't like referral calling-YUCK! But I'm trying to be better about it because that is what the Lord has asked me to do.

Didn't you just love conference?! I'm really enjoying it as a missionary; I seem to stay awake better when I'm all dressed up sitting at the church or VC that at home on the couch in my PJ's. As always, I loved Elder Holland's talk! And President Monson was way funny with his story about when he was 8. I think my all time favorite was Elder Nelson. Maybe that's just because I am a missionary but I really loved how he focused so much on member missionary work. Until coming out on a mission I didn't realize how important members were in furthering the work--THEY ARE ESSENTIAL! Remind me to be a better member missionary when I get home.

Umm... yeah.... That's basically it, I think. I really do love being a missionary. I love being able to not worry about "life," I only need focus on saving people's souls. (Yeah, that sounds so much better!) I know the work I do makes a difference. Even though I may not see the fruits of my labors I do know that every seed I plant will bloom at some point in life. I know that my Savior is always there for me, with hands out stretched to help me in my time of need. I know that, even though life is hard, that it's okay because the Savior understands and has been through worse. I know that He is pleased with what I am doing. I know I am so grateful for this opportunity to grow. It's the refiner's fire for sure but I am definitely stronger because of it. I love you all and miss you like crazy. Time is flying by; I'll be home soon. I love you!!!

Sis

P.S. Do you realize that a year ago at this time we were all gathered at Mom and Dad's and I had my interview with the stake president? Ten days from now will be the my one year anniversary for receiving my call. Man! Time flies when you are having fun!

April 1

Hello, everyone! It's been a wonderfully fantastic week! So much has happened and the week has just flown by!!! Last week we had an extremely relaxing p-day that ending by celebrating national waffle day with the YSA's at family home evening. It was great!

A member, Julie, took us to Red Robin for dinner on Tuesday. I was so grateful for the opportunity to get to know her better; she amazes me! About 3 years ago Julie had a brain injury and she doesn't remember anything from before her accident. Crazy, huh? I thought that was only in movies. I kept asking her questions; don't worry I told her she could tell me to but out. She still has a hard time with her alphabet but can recite it backwards perfectly. She had to learn how to walk all over again and all sorts of stuff. She said she was grateful that her parents never pushed the church on her but let her become converted to it all over again. Her testimony stems from her injury. The really cool thing is that the only memory she has is of her baptism. She wanted to go to the temple but didn't feel like she was worthy because she couldn't remember being baptized. What a tender mercy from Heavenly Father for her to be able to remember that event!

Sister D. and I are trying to find all the YSA's in the area (we have a list of 600! Where are they?!) We were able to at least talk with a bunch of their family members on Wednesday. A great miracle for us was to see a less active member that we contacted about 2 weeks ago come to church!! See, we are making a difference!!! We had dinner on Thursday with our branch president. He and his wife are great people... but they've been in this calling for about 5 years... I think they might be getting burned out... Maybe... Just saying...

On Friday one of the less active members that we have met before invited us to back to her house! This is great! We told her our purpose; she understands and we feel that she wants to make changes. If she didn't, she wouldn't have been there for our appointment! Even greater, her brother was there, too!!! Doesn't seem like a big deal to some people but to me and Sister D they are miracles!!! Friday night we had an Easter performance at the VC. A music group from the area came and sang; us Sisters joined them in one song. The celebration was great but I was more excited to see some of my Liberty people! Carl and Ernestine came... Did I ever tell you Carl got baptized?! He did, the first Sunday in March!!! Ernestine is still great and is convinced that none of the other sisters are as good as me. I was also able to see the Tyler family. They are super great; I really connected with them. They have a daughter in 2nd grade who has Autism. They really understand me and new I needed their support upon first coming out. It was a great night and such a tender mercy for me.

My tender mercy on Saturday was to see the Stevenson's. It's been like 2 weeks!!! They have family in town and came specifically when they new Sister Ogletree and I would be there. It was so great to see them! Saturday morning we spent driving around trying to contact people but no one was home. We talked to 3 different people... that weren't YSA's but we counted them anyway. (If any of you have great idea of when to find the YSA's home we'd really appreciate hearing about it.)

We had a great Easter Sunday. We spent the morning at the VC before going to church to learn about the Atonement. About an hour before our meetings started we were asked to teach the Gospel Principles class. No big deal, right? Well, they ended up combining with the Gospel Doctrine class with us as teachers! Ah! We didn't have time to prepare so we decided to make copies of the Living Christ and go over it paragraph by paragraph. It went great! We had a lot of participation and took the entire time... I felt the Spirit and hope everyone learned something.

We've had a great morning so far... We began early by pranking the Elders... Unfortunately we didn't have a camera to take pictures but we put post-it's all over their car windows while they played sports this morning and, somehow, honey ended up on the door handles. We are waiting patiently for payback but, gosh darn it, we don't have a car today.

Well, let me get a bit spiritual on you. I want you all to know how grateful I am for our Savior. For the sacrifice He made. It pains me to think about the drops of blood that He shed for me. I sorrow to think about all the wrong things I do that He has felt. Words cannot express how grateful I am to my Savior for the Atonement. Without the Atonement this life would be pointless. We wouldn't have the opportunity to live with Heavenly Father again. We wouldn't have repentance to begin the process of becoming like Him here in this life. We wouldn't have the opportunity to be a forever family. I know my Savior lives and I love Him. I know He died for me and is waiting for me to place my burdens at His feet. He is waiting with open arms for me to become better; to utilize the atonement to allow myself to change. I love you all; I love this gospel; I love being a missionary; I love my Savior. I hope you all had a happy Easter.

Love,

Sister Wilson

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-savior-suffers-in-gethsemane?lang=eng