May 29

Hello to my wonderful family!! Well... the news you have all been waiting for... I am going to Fleming Park!! Yeah, I know that means a lot to you. To me it means that the Lord needed me in the Missouri Independence Mission. Yep; I'm staying here! Well, I'm moving about 15ish miles away (I really don't know where Fleming Park is.... When I figure it out I'll show you on a map.) But it's far enough away that I will not be serving at the VC. For the first time in my mission I will be proselyting 24/7 for the forseeable future. Oh! And on top of that I'm training a new Sister straight out of the MTC and I'm basically opening a new area. Stressed much? Surprisingly enough I'm not! Shocking, huh? I have really become an "It'll all work out" person. As of right now I have no idea who my new companion is; I don't know where I will be living; I don't know how I am getting to Fleming Park; I have no idea who my zone leaders, district leaders are... Basically I know nothing! I'm not even sure what to do with an entire day of complete proselyting. But it's all right. Alma 26:12 and 2 Nephi 22:2 have become my mottos. I know that Heavenly Father is my strength. Without Him I would not be able to function and survive as a missionary. I would not be able to do the things that I am doing. I KNOW with 100% certainty that my Heavenly Father is lifting me up and strengthening me on a daily basis. He really is my strength and my salvation.

Not only do I know who my strength is but I have also learned that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor; massive amounts of one in fact. Let me tell you how I know this. Most of you know how much I boycotted and avoided the singles branch/ward at home. I did NOT like going. Maybe to activities every once in a while but more to be social than anything. Well, I was super nervous when I was sent to serve in the Independence YSA 5th Branch. But I love it! I love the people, I love being able to socialize and interact, I love going to activities. It's really great. Well, not only am I going to be serving in the Fleming Park Ward but I will also be covering the Little Blue River YSA Branch. Haha! Jokes on me, huh? I told Sister Diederich that I must be doing something completely wrong and they are going to keep sending me from branch to branch to try and get it right. More than anything, though, I am learning how much faith my Heavenly Father must have in me; to trust me with His YSA's. (Funny, too, that I'm almost to the point of 'aging' out!)

Funny story about the Little Blue Branch. We had a combined family home evening with them a few weeks back; they went roller skating. We couldn't skate but we did go to support and 'rub shoulders.' As we were talking with some of the men from Little Blue one of them said "Hey, you should come serve in our branch." I asked if they had Elders and he let me know that they did but that they just 'didn't fit in.' Well, that YSA didn't know that he was prophesying but... Here I come!

Wow... This has been a bit scattered and basically all about transfers. Hmm... It's been a good week. Sister Diederich and I have worked hard to get her training all done. Good thing I stuck with it; she'll be training a brand new missionary, too. We've done our very best to visit YSA's and encourage them to come to the branch. It's been difficult because we don't currently have a phone. Saturday I picked the phone up to answer a text message and it just wigged out on me. Literally! It kept playing the start up screen over and over again. We couldn't get it to work; neither could the office staff. A new one is being sent in but we won't get it for another couple days. It's been hard to be a missionary without a phone. You don't know how attached you are to them until you lose them. It's hard staying in contact with people you are working with, too. Heavenly Father has blessed us, though, I think.

Yep; that's about it. Not much else to let you know about. OH! P-day will be on Monday. All full pros missionaries have Monday p-day. Maybe Heavenly Father needed to send me full pros so Mat wouldn't have any more anxiety attacks? :D I want you to know I am doing well. I really do love being a missionary. I love talking with and teaching people. I love helping others to have a desire to change and draw closer to the Savior. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow; to become a better me. I know I have grown so much in the past nine months. I love and miss you all! You are in my thoughts and prayers constantly.

Love you!
Sister Wilson

P.S. I have successfully completed my 6th (of 12) transfers. I am officially half way done with my mission.

Pics... I was going to send a couple but the computer won't upload them and I'm running out of time. I'll try again on Monday.

May 23

Hello my favorite family! Another week has flown by like crazy... Well, okay... this week has gone by slower than all the rest; I'm not really sure why but it has. Our schedule got back to somewhat normal this week but we still haven't been able to accomplish all that we wanted to. We've had lots of unplanned service opportunities and random VC shifts pop up. I don't think I realized how many meetings missionaries had. Add those meetings to VC shifts and there isn't a whole lot of time left to be out in our area teaching the gospel. It's all right, though. I do my best to fulfill my purpose--to prepare to find and teach OR to find and teach. That's all I can do. It really will all work out.

We had a training this morning with basically ALL the VC sisters; those out full proselyting and not. A representative from SLC was there. It really made me want to be better; do better at the VC to help all that come in to have a desire to change. I didn't realize the training was going to be as big as it was. President Keyes was there, too. He talked for a minute and let us know that he had met with Elder Ballard before coming on his mission. Elder Ballard let him know that every VC Sister was handpicked by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; that serving at the VC was a very sacred calling to them. How cool is that! My call really is the best in the world. :D It was a really great training.... Hope I can stay at the VC to put everything in action.

I had an interesting experience Sunday night. We have gotten lots of emails about tornados and needing to have a safe place to go; who we needed to call in event of a tornado; etc. Well, no worries, the tornados never touched down here but we did have a crazy storm. S. Diederich and I were out visiting people in our area. We knew we were driving into the storm but it wasn't raining yet. We made contact with one family of a YSA we were looking for. When we got in the car it started to pour. S. Diederich said she was okay visiting more people so I decided to suck it up and deal with it. Before we got to the end of the street I found myself saying, "No, S. Diederich, I don't feel comfortable. We need to go back to the VC." She said okay and off we went. At one point we were stopped at a light. It was raining HARD on the back of our car but nothing was hitting the front--WHAT?! I love a good rain storm; I love Missouri storms but this one kind of freaked me out a little bit. The rain was coming down basically horizontally and the wind was blowing it every which way. Scared me a bit to be out it in. We made it safely to the VC where it wasn't raining as hard then booked it from the car to the front door (maybe from the front door of the house in Roy to the house across the street) we were completely drenched. Soaking, dripping wet. But only on the front side; my backside was bone dry. When we got inside we found a couple Elders and a guest had come in to take refuge from the storm, too. It stopped raining a half hour later or so... I got cold after that.

Well, another transfer has come and gone. Transfer calls come in Tuesday night. I don't think I will still be in the YSA branch but I don't know if I will stay at the VC or not. Heck! I don't even know if I will still be in the Missouri Independence Mission! It's all right, though. I know God has a plan for me. I know He knows exactly where I need to be. I know I am ready and willing to serve wherever He needs me to be. This is Christ's gospel. It is organized so perfectly that there isn't any question that all is well in His hands. How grateful I am to be His instrument!

So, I'd like you all to take a poll. Post it on FB, put it on my blog... Which mission will Sister Wilson be in come next Thursday? Kansas Wichita or Missouri Independence? I really want to know what you think... And, I expect an email from each of you with a response. If I do get transferred out I am going to try to email Wednesday so I'd appreciate your responses by then. I'm going to close now... Sorry if i don't send pictures.... This computer has logged me off 3 times. I love you all! You are in my thoughts and prayers!

Hugs and Kisses!

Sister Wilson

1--in the rain storm

2--Elder Christensen and Stevens got stuck, too

3--Sisters Lettig, Call, me, and Rogers

 

 

May 15

Hello to my favorite family! I hope you are all doing well and life is going fantastically for all of you! I loved being able to see and talk with most of you on Sunday. For those I didn't get to visit with... Don't worry I still love you.

I was a bit worried about what I was going to be writing to you about this week. I just talked with you--nothing new has gone on. Should be a boring email today, right? WRONG!

I have been hearing rumors around the VC that those of us living on Liberty St were going to be moving. Well, no one told us that... Monday morning (May 13) we got a call around 10:30 from the assistants to the President. The conversation went something like this...

"Ummm... The lease is up on our apartment and we need to move into yours. So, can you be out by tonight, maybe tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes, yes we can," I replied as S. Diederich looked at me in stunned amazement. "We're missionaries; we're flexible; we can do anything!"

Anything included moving 2 apartments (5 Sisters total) of Sisters into a new house in only 5 hours on Tuesday... With S. Diederich on exchanges in a different ward and me with a different companion. Luckily, we packed everything up Monday night. Not only did we just move 2 apartments but we completely (I mean completely) outfitted the new place. It was a crazy morning. We spent about 2 hours Tuesday afternoon painting the bathroom of our apartment before needing to be on shift at the VC by 2:45.

The 2 sets of sisters on the Liberty Street apartments moved into a house together about 5 minutes away. It's a super cute house (movie coming soon) but it's a little bit smaller space than S. Diederich and I are use to. It's all right though, it's the cutest mission house there is! The Sisters have nicknamed it the "Dollhouse." We didn't exactly fulfill our purpose as far as missionary work goes but we did accomplish a lot. There is some semblance of order to our new abode. I'm not planning on unpacking much or getting settled as I don't think I will be in the Branch come June. Crazier things have happened, though, so we'll see how it goes!

Needless to say I was EXHAUSTED yesterday. I've been tired as a missionary but I was just physically exhausted. I sat down at the VC and waited for guests to come in... and almost fell asleep. I didn't want to move or do anything; just veg. I thought I'd sleep really well but the house was at 80+ degrees (almost too hot) when I went to bed and cooled down to about 77 (almost too cold) some time during the night. I'm still tired. Good thing it's p-day... Gives me time to 'unpack!'

So, that was my excitement for the last couple days. Fun stuff, huh? I was kind of really excited that I would miss out on moving Mat and Mark but at least they gave you guys some notice!

Monday night S. Diederich and I were able to go Liberty Jail with the Branch for family home evening. My companion can attest to how excited I was to be going back to Liberty! It was so great to be able to drive around streets that I know and point out where different people live. It was great! The Jail was great, too. Just like coming home. :D Sister Lewis was on shift so I got to say hello to her. I really enjoyed the presentation. Sister Forbush did a great job. S. Forbush told me at the end that I was the Sister that took her group of new missionaries through the presentation when she first entered the mission field. She let me know that I had said some things she would never forget and that she really enjoyed the time I took them through. Gosh, it was great to hear that.

Well, without much to say I sure wrote a novel this week. Hopefully next week won't be quite so dramatic... I don't like drama. P-day will be on Thursday next week for sure; after that there are no guarantees. Life is good, though. I love being a missionary. I love being flexible. I love more and more how I am becoming like Dad! My new motto is "it'll all work out!" Definitely learning to deal with stress better. :D

I love you all! Stay strong and be courageous!

Love,

Sister Wilson

 

1--Haven't had these for like 8.5 months. Yes, I really was that excited

2--Painting a tiny bathroom

3--Lunch at Square Pizza with some of my Sisters :D

 

 

May 9

Hello, all my favorite people! I don't have a whole lot to say right now as I DO get to Skype on Sunday! Hooray! I know I say it alot but I really can't believe how fast time goes. These months since Christmas has flown by. S. Diederich and I will be using the computer at the home of our High Councilman, Brother Fuimaono. I will be getting on between 7:15 and 7:30 Missouri time, so 6:15ish Utah time. I have a fun story from yesterday to tell, about a man named Ken. Remind me to act it out for you... I'm sure it will show my true Wilson/Berrett side. :D

Hmm.... It's been a crazy week! I absolutely love serving in the Branch and getting to know all the young single adults. It's been really good for me to get a different perspective than the one I was involved in at home. I don't know that I'm willing to go to the singles ward as a non-missionary but I understand better the struggles that small congregations go through.

We have lots of fun going to the Family Home Evening activities; so many people come out for the sporting or active/involved events. We meet lots of inactive/non-members but don't have time to build enough of a relationship of trust to ask if they are interested in learning more. It's a work in progress for sure. I'm pretty sure I won't see the fruits of my labors but I remind myself that I am setting the foundation for those that come behind me.

We have 1 investigator right now. His name is Brandon. He was a referral from a member of the Branch. We've only met with him twice but he has agreed to get baptized... Now, we just need him to meet with us again. It was pretty cool, really. He cancelled one appointment so we called to reschedule but he never got back to us. So, last Monday he showed up at the VC randomly while S. Diederich and I were on shift. We were both surprised and a little shocked to see him there but we smiled and quickly came up with a lesson plan... We watched Finding Faith in Christ and talked about how faith requires action and work on his part. One thing lead to another, S. Diederich asked him to be baptized and he agreed. YEAH! We have a lot to teach in the next few weeks but it'll be good. Brandon is a child of God and needs the gospel as much as anyone.

So, yeah.... I really don't have a lot right now. I did have an "ah ha" moment in studies the other day. I was reading about Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel. I just don't get how Laman and Lemuel can be so dense. Really, they saw an angel and STILL murmured! Anyway, after they finish building the boat and are on their way to the promised land, Laman and Lemuel become exceedingly rude dancing and making merry, etc. When Nephi tries talking to them they bind him up. For 4 days, while a storm rages Nephi suffers persecution. When Laman and Lemuel realize that they are the cause for the storms and release Nephi the first thing Nephi does is praise God without murmuring. Amazing, huh?! And I thought my life was awful and bad sometimes! Thinking about Nephi made me think about Joseph Smith and all that he faced. He was in Liberty Jail for 4 months in the most inhuman and miserable conditions. The last verse of scripture that he writes from Liberty says this...

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us ^acheerfully ^bdo all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the ^csalvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

You know, if these men can go through all of this and have such positive attitudes, knowing that God is there and helping them through, then what do I have to complain about? My life is wonderful. I am blessed and loved. Yes, I may be given hard things to do but it's not the end of the world. I am not yet as Job. The Savior has suffered more than any one. I have no reason to be anything but cheerful with those situations that are given to me. How I react to any situation is what matters. My attitude can make or break a situation. This isn't anything new; I know this and I know each one of you knows it, too. But... I know that I need to do better. I know that each day being a good day depends on me. The more confidence and trust I show in the Savior for those situations He has given me the more blessed I will be. This life is a test; we are here to prove ourselves to God. It is my goal to be cheerful in every situation. To take a breath and smile and know that "it will all work out."

I love you all. I miss you all. I know that I am exactly where the Lord needs be to be right now. I don't know what will happen with the mission split but I do know that God will send me where He needs me. Stay strong and be courageous and may God continue to be with you!

Hugs & Kisses!

Sister Wilson

Pics...

1--Kansas City BBQ! (You will be amazed at what I will eat when I get home...)

2--Personal time activities.... (When everyone comments on the gray you've got to get rid of it!)

3--This is 1 May 2013. The weather in Missouri is completely Bi-Polar

4--Peeps anyone? The things people bring to the VC for us to eat....

5--With the Pugsley's! They go home at the end of this month.