Lead Thou Me On

This week went by crazy fast, but it was so great. 

 

I love my companion more and more everyday, we get along so well and I am learning a lot about myself.

 

Something that I've been thinking about this week is the song "Lead, Kindly Light" - I've come to really envision this song, especially during our 5-7 tracting sessions. It's been super foggy/misty this week and with it being dark so early and the fog rolling in, being out in the boonies a lot of the roads we knock are super long farm roads and the only light is our flashlights and the stars (which look amazing out here, btw). But, with the fog, the light only reflects back at us so we can only see like maybe 2-3 feet ahead of us and just surrounded by foresty-jungle trees. It can be scary sometimes. But, one thing I've been thinking about is that first line in the song "The night is dark and I am far from home; Lead thou me on! ... I loved to choose and see my path but now lead thou me on." The concept has become a lot more visual, and it parallels with my mission. I'm the kind of person that very much likes to see where I'm going (ie my flashlight points forward, not at the ground) but as I've been learning, we don't always see where we're headed and we simply have to push forward trusting that God is guiding you. We don't know all the reasons yet, and sometimes it can be scary, but we can let God lead us. I have felt that, not only in His guiding me but in His pushing me on. The days where I don't feel I can keep going I have felt his arms wrap around me and help carry me forward telling me it's going to be ok, you can do it. He is there, and He hears our prayers both silent and uttered. I know He does. 

 

The lady we live with, Kay, came to church yesterday! We talked a lot about prayer, and she has a hard time with it because her prayers didn't save her husband from cancer. But I think she's to a point we can start teaching her again :) Also, her niece Miriam just got out of jail and she said she wanted to meet with us, so we went over there on Saturday the morning after she got out and she told us she's read the whole Book of Mormon and LOVED it, and as soon as she gets permission from the court she's going to start coming to church with her 2 kids! We are so excited about her. She is amazing and has completely turned her life around. She told us she would go around to the other ladies in jail with the Book of Mormon saying - you guys should read this it's amazing. She totally agreed with additional scripture and that God hasn't stopped speaking to us. :) It was awesome and we're so excited to see her again. 

 

We got to see Tea yesterday, who's a recent convert. She went to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for her mom and grandma! She told us that her mom was a super perfectionist and she never felt like anything she did was good enough for her, but as she watched the girl getting baptized for her mom, she had this overwhelming feeling that her mom was pleased :) It was so cool, and she is so happy.

 

Oh! Cool story - knocking the other night we felt like we should go down another street than we'd planned, and the 2nd door we knocked on this lady opened the door with this shocked look on her face, and we said we're missionaries and she was like whoa wait, hold up. We were just arguing about Jesus.. and apparently she and her family were all discussing and got into this argument about Jesus and right after one guy left the table all heated and upset we knocked on the door. haha! We said "well, we teach people more about Jesus and help them to strengthen their relationship with him" and she was super shocked, and just kept staring at us and laughing. And she told us we could come back and share with her! :) It was awesome and I just kept laughing all night about it, it was so perfect.

 

I love this work. I love being able to go out and share what I know with people and see it better their day and their life. I know it's true. I know God knows us and He loves us and He finds a way to bring His children home. I am forever thankful that I get to be here :) Thank you for your support and encouragement, I love you so much!! Have the greatest week ever!

 

Sister Wilson

PS - Happy superbowl! #goseahawks (yes, people are going insane up here - we're on lockdown on Sunday haha)

 

 

 

  this is a tractor getting some gas for his trek back to the farm #yelmlife

 

 

 

 

Exchanges and Exorcisms

Sooo much happens in a week. Where to begin.

 

Well, most exciting this week was probably Tuesday when I got to go on an exchange with Sister RASMUSSEN :) My beloved MTC companion who is one of my favorite people in the world! She came to Deschutes with me and we had one of the best days on my mission so far. It was so fun. We saw so many miracles. We kind of had an exorcism. I'll expound on that in a minutes.

 

So we started out going to lunch with a sweet old lady in our ward and we made it out in less than 45 minutes - the first miracle of our day :) Then we went out to Clearwood and met with a lady we've been trying to set up a time with for like 2 months and had the most amazing lesson with her. She was excommunicated on false accounts and has had a ridiculously hard life and just wants the Holy Ghost back so much. We had such a good lesson with her and after she showed us her craft room which was a dream and she gave Sis Ras some pretty colored yarn (cause she knits too) and she gave me a scarf she made! It was so great.

 

Then we were able to stop by on some people Bishop asked us about that we haven't been able to find at home yet, and they were home! Another miracle!

While we were knocking that night, we had 5 lessons in 2 hours which almost never happens. We work so well together and I just love her. We had such a good day. Oh. And then we went to Diana's for a lesson - she is the one we met last Friday night and let us in and we had an awesome lesson with her. So we got there and she has these super weird twitches and can't focus and talked about things like she couldn't feel and it was just kinda sketchy. She would interrupt us and talk about how she's worthless and Sister Ras asked "have you ever felt peace before" and she shook her head and said "never" and Sister Ras was like, she's possessed, we need Priesthood stat. So I called Brother Blake who lived down the road and he came and talked to her a minute and gave her a blessing - and oh my gosh. She was a new person! I can't tell you how amazing it was, she couldn't stop smiling and I don't think she's really smiled since we met her. He said some stuff in the blessing about the evil influences around her and how she'd be protected if she did things and other things, and the Spirit was so strong. And so we asked her again, "do you feel that peace?" and she smiled and nodded and said, "yes" ! It was so cool. I have never seen anyone so calm and happy. So afterward Sis Rasmussen was telling me how she has never felt that anyone was "possessed" but it just kept coming to her and she knew she needed a blessing right then. And the room was so different afterwards. It was crazy.

So we went back the next morning for another lesson with her and her husband answered the door in his robe and was like "It's too early for this, she's still in bed.." and in the background all the sudden we heard "NOO! I'm coming!!" and hear Diana jumping out of bed and said "I'm coming!" and her husband rolled his eyes and let us in, hahaha. It was awesome. She came around the corner and just had the biggest smile on her face - it was so amazing! We were able to teach her the Restoration for reals and she didn't interrupt once and just kept smiling and we asked her to be baptized and she said yes!! And she was so excited and happy and it was just amazing. 

 

We switched back that day at zone meeting which was super uplifting and wonderful.

As some things go, the end of this week turned for the worst. We went back for a lesson with Diana on Friday and I was so excited to show Sis Harbaugh "new Diana" and we got there and she opened the door and said, "I can't talk to you anymore. My aunt told me about you guys, don't you ever come back here again." and slammed the door shut... I just stood there in shock and couldn't say anything. I have no idea what happened. So we started to walk away and I was so confused so we turned around and I knocked on her door again and she was just screaming at us to leave and I tried to talk to her through the door and she wouldn't listen. So that really put a damper on things. I was super sad. But you can't let things get you down too long. She'll remember that someday and she may not be able to accept it in this life but I believe she'll find it someday. 

 

Sometimes things go downhill, but I know there are people waiting for the Gospel and are being prepared, we just need to find them. We'll be doing a lot of finding this week since we have no more people to teach (everyone else fell off the face of the earth this weekend too) but I know they are there! Our spirits are still high :) I love this work. I love being able to be here every day. I am forever thankful for my experiences here so far, and I can't believe it's already been 6 months. This week was amazing and difficult and I love it. We gotta appreciate the hard times because those are what make us strong, and I want to be stronger and a better person. I don't have too much time cause the other sisters are coming down here to go hiking and spend the day together! Yay! :)

 

I love you all so much and I am so thankful for your support and love! Have the most amazing week!

Sister Wilson

 

 The sisters in our zone and me and Sister Rasmussen!

 

I forgot to tell the story of park day... (we can't use our car) I believe park days are here for the purpose of just showing to us that God is really there haha, everything goes wrong and everything turns out ok. It's awesome.

So this is a pic of Sis Harbaugh carrying rolls while tracting because our member dropped us off and we had nowhere to put them (and it was pouring rain) So we were just laughing like all night because or situation got more and more ridiculous.

We had no way to our appt at 7 but at the last second a member drove by and gave us a ride, and held our rolls for us til we were done :)

January 12th

Hello! This week was awesome. Tuesday Sister Harbaugh got sick (we had a lesson that morning and we walked like 3 steps down the driveway afterward before it hit - blessings). So we went home after that and she took some down time that day to recover and not spread the love. I had a lot of good study time that day though :) 

 

We have a tendency to knock into newly moved-in members or less actives - they are everywhere! This week we found the Holland family who just moved from Korea (for military) and they were super excited to see us (which is always nice:) While we were talking to him on the porch his wife poked her head out and said, "Invite them to dinner" and then shut the door again. It was awesome haha. The same thing happened when we knocked into an inactive family! It seems to me that people's love to missionaries is always food.. I'm pretty sure it is actually. That's the first thing that is always offered. It's nice. I'm trying not to get fat.

 

Anyhoo, we are working with a good lot of people all the sudden! :) A lot of people just came out of the woodwork. Judith and Tandy are 2 less active ladies (mom and daughter) who need to quit smoking on doctor's orders and we're helping them out, and Tandy's best friend is the granddaughter of one of our recent converts so hopefully we'll have an in with her :) She's quitting with them. 

 

We had another lesson with Becca, and she's doing good, except she has no desire to move out and Shawn won't marry her.. She says he'll propose in April and they'll be engaged for 2 years... So we're a little worried about her :( She hasn't come to church yet either even though she always says she's excited for it. It's a struggle. 

 

We met a super fantastic new investigator this week though!!! We were knocking Friday night and met Diana. She told us she has so much guilt and can't find relief, so we said you can find relief from forgiveness and repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ and she said but how do I repent? and we said "well that's what we as missionaries teach!" :) and she looked at us for a sec and said, "ok. Come in." It was seriously like an MTC role-play or something. When she turned around me and Sis Harbaugh looked at each other like, "is this really happening??" She had a ton of really good questions and we taught her a little bit about the restoration and the gospel and set up a time to come back the next morning! So we did, and we brought a member with us who was GREAT, and she said she wants to just feel peace and whatnot. She's been through a ton of tough stuff and has some mental instabilities.. but she is so sweet. She was excited for church, and the member who picked her up said she just pulled up the driveway and she came outside all ready! We only forgot to mention to her it was 3 hours.... I felt really bad haha. But she made it through! We actually taught Gospel Essentials on Sunday cause the teacher was out of town. It went pretty good considering we had very limited time to prepare. And we had a huge class! Melissa Piper, who we've been teaching her husband who's not a member came! Which is a huge step, and she even picked up a tithing envelope on the way out! :) She is awesome. We have a lot of good appointments this week, and the Goodchild family has been coming to church, for all 3 hours! It's a miracle! We are so excited. There's so much good stuff happening right now and a lot coming out of the woodwork :) The Brewington family (Sierra's family) could use some prayers. There is a ton going on that I can't even imagine and it doesn't seem to stop, so they could use a little support and prayers.  I don't have a ton of time to write about all of everything but we are doing great. 

 

Last night we were knocking a rather dark and sketchy road (it's been super super foggy a ton this week and last night was one of those nights where the flashlights just reflect the fog and you hope you're going the right way down this dark foresty country road) and this truck followed us for a sec (a little frightening at first) and this man told us we shouldn't be out here and there's a ton of bad stuff going on in their neighborhood and whatnot and left. So we stood there and honestly I was not the most peaceful I've ever felt so we said a prayer and went a little further and decided to drive to another road down the highway a bit further, and we met a really cool guy Wes who we talked to for a good amount of time who we gave a Book of Mormon and he's in special ops for the military and was just telling us how he knows there's something higher because he's come home alive so many times. It was cool to bear testimony to him that I knew that was God and that God knows who he is and loves him and we said a prayer with him and he really appreciated it. There are so many good things happening. There are ups and downs but I love this work. I love the people here! I have seen so many things that have only added to my knowledge that there is a God and this is truly His work and His church. I love you all and I am so thankful forever for your love and support! It means the world! I hope you have the most amazing week! :)

Sister Wilson

 

 

this is just some pics of the beauties of WA

 one time our eggs were frozen... it didn't cook very well.

Happy happy happy

Hellooo! This week was a fantastic week!

Our mission focused on getting referrals this week, from everybody we talked to. Members, investigators, contacts, etc. So, we set a goal to receive 150 referrals as a mission... we got 342!! Whatwhat! And just in our area we got 4! That is more than I think we have ever received during a whole transfer. It was SO cool. The Wa-Tac is pretty much the best I think. I would not be anywhere else in the world.

Especially today when it is a nice rainy 50 degrees! (and it's raining sideways.. that's a thing). I love Washington. And, this transfer I get to stay here in Deschutes another 6 weeks with Sister Harbaugh!! I am so happy and so excited!! So many good things are picking up again now that there's a new year and all the people that said "come back after the holidays" no longer have excuses :) We saw so many good things this week, it was awesome!

First of all, our main progressing investigator Becca is still on date to be baptized on Feb 7, but she needs to get married. She and her man friend don't have a healthy relationship but he promised her he'd propose in April.. which is not exactly ideal for the situation and we don't know when they'll actually get married. So it's a lil difficult but I know things will work out. We pray for her a ton. 

We're going to start working with Sierra, who is a recent convert, to do her family history and then we can take her to the temple to do baptisms!! I am CRAVING the temple lately, I miss it so much so we're gonna kick into gear tonight to get her ready :) I'm so so excited!

We've been working with Kirk Taylor, he's about 65 and is living with a less active member Yara (she was married to the very first stake president in Brazil a while back) and it's been a process. He's on sort of a spiritual journey and grew up in Utah and was treated super horribly by Mormons so there's a few walls he's trying to get over. It's a little frustrating as of late, but we're reshaping our plan of teaching them so hopefully things will start rolling a little faster :) 

Here's a cool story I was thinking of from last night.. So we were knocking (it was a very dark blustery windery rainy night) and actually there were quite a few nice people, one guy gave us water and works as a pilot out of Salt Lake and another lady Ashley let us in to get out of the rain and warm up and we taught her a mini-restoration and gave her a BoM and it was cool. It was also fun because my umbrella kept flipping inside out because of the wind and our hoods wouldn't stay on. It was an adventure. BUT the point of this story is because while we were knocking, we met this little foreign man (Latino or Hindu I couldn't tell, but he had a accent) who told us that he thinks religion causes all the problems in the world, he doesn't believe in religion. So I asked him if he believed in God? And he shook his head quickly and said "Nah." And so I looked at him and said, "I believe in God. You're His son, and He loves you." and he just looked at me and his eyes got all watery and he said "thank you.. that's sweet of you.." and I said really, God knows you and is aware of you and He loves you and we gave him a little mormon.org card and he looked me with this little smile and said, "I will definitely look this up, I promise." and I felt my chest burning while I was telling him those things. It was just a really special experience and I am SO glad that I get to stay here another 6 weeks with Sister Harbaugh :) There is so much good about to happen I know it! I love being a missionary and I love the Lord! He is so good! I love you all and can't thank you enough for the support and love!! You are the greatest! Have the best week and happy new year!

Love, Sister Wilson

[Another PS in reply to my letter] 

Oh I'm so excited to see Jack's card! :) Her [Kathie's] ornament MELTED MY DURN HEART I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! It is perfect! 

I love Family History! We get to do it tonight with Sierra! :) (our RC) and hopefully go to the temple in a couple weeks!!!! AHHHH!

We didn't get snow! It was, indeed, very sunny. And cold, haha. I can't believe you guys had snow! I feel like since I got here everything has swapped!! You guys get all the rain (except this weekend, we win I think) and now the snow! Sheesh. Though I do appreciate the warmth :) It was 50 this morning! I'm just super glad it's either cold and sunny or warm and rainy - cold and rainy would make me sad. haha.

I'm doing really good :)  I just want to give this work all that I am this year. This year is the rest of my mission! What!? I just want to do the best I can and be all that I am and can be through Christ. My goals were very missionary centered (idk what else they'd be.. ha)

Oh, btdubbs, I've been learning alot about being healthy. Sis Jackson is like, super. She has researched a ton and knows a ton and her fam is way healthy and beautiful so I've been learning a lot from her and she's been helping me and I have felt way good. :) I can physically feel different when I eat bad (sugary/fatty) and feel sick. It's cool. I eat avocado on almost everything and you probably wouldn't recognize my breakfast burritos.. :) 

I hope scripture study goes well! I will always be sad I missed out on that :( I wish there was a way to get ready faster so they could read... Tell Emily to get her butt out of bed and read!! It will make a HUGE difference! Especially when she is leaving so soon, she could use a spiritual boost :)

Oh, and I'm STAYING :D YAY! The interviews was when I was on exchange with Sis Dunster! She is wonderful cambodian speaking, I'm sad you couldn't see her tag.. it looks legit.

I'm going boot shopping at Goodwill today :) My rainboots have developed a hole... sad. :( But our WML said I just need to pick them out and he'll come take care of it :) He is awesome. I love this ward, it's so different than any other ward but I LOVE them!! And yes, it is rather comforting having it [mace] :) I wont tell you about the times where I am clutching it in my pocket until I come home ;) hahah! Jk, everything's great. We're safe:) And yes! Things picked up so good this week!

 this is on park day when we couldn't use our car and were on foot for a while

 and this is us doing service for Kay and picking up a bunch of limbs that fell off during the massive wind storm a while ago!

 me and Harbaugh doin work

 and MT RAINIER was looking extra majestic the other day 

 We like to step on the frozen pot-hole puddles (they make these intense cracking sounds and add a little spice to the day)

 and our district eating the legendary Hamickens at a members house for lunch!

 and us last night after knocking 2 hours in the blustery rain! woohoo!