Hope

Well! This week was pretty good. A lot happened.

We had zone activity on Monday, which was fun. I love this zone, we have good fun missionaries.

Tuesday we went on exchanges - Sis Jones came here with me and Stirling went to Elma with Bigley. It was fun! Jones (love her - we came out together) and I went to a relief society activity after knocking where we learned all sort of beauty tips, which I don't remember. But they had good chocolate cake.

 

Wednesday we had interviews with President and he stayed for our district meeting, which has always been a secret hope of mine! It's always great to see him and Sister Blatter - I just love them!

The last few days have just been a blur. It finally started raining again! #bringit. 

 

Adrik's dad, Jeremy, passed away this weekend. Prayers for their family would be really appreciated right now :( I'm so glad that he was able to see Adrik baptized 2 weeks ago before he passed though, it was so special for him. We're hoping we will be able to teach the family about the plan of salvation soon and how they can be together forever. I have gained such a stronger testimony of the purpose of our life here in the past couple years. Death is not the end! I'm so excited to see my whole family someday where we can be reunited for eternity.

 

We had a member give us a referral for a lady he works for who had questions about the church, Sarah, and she is awesome! She was asking us all the perfect questions and is super interested! We had an amazing lesson with her and she really wants to turn her life around and be better :) I'm way excited for her. She lives way the heck out on Harstine Island, so it's a nice drive going to see her. So pretty!

 

Things have slowed a little bit in the area, but I know there's lots of good things bound to happen soon! President asked us to study faith, hope and charity in preparation for a zone conference this week. I read Hebrews 6:10-20 this morning which is probably one of my new favorite scriptures. (go read it. I'll make it easy and attach it to the bottom of this email) :) Hope is an abiding trust that God will fulfill His promises to us. And abiding trust means an enduring trust. God is perfect, He cannot lie and would not lie to us, therefore His promises are sure. We can be happy and find peace despite what is happening in life, and when we are doing what we should and trying our best, we can stand fast and wait for His promised blessings to be fulfilled. I love "hope." It has come to mean a lot more to me over the course of my mission. Everything works out in the end. Think of the armies in the scriptures who had to face innumerable enemies, the prophets put before unwilling and angry masses, famines that seemed endless, and all these things that came to prove that God is on our side. It was always "after the trial of their faith" that they received a witness. One of my favorite quotes has always been "Every thing will be alright in the end, and if it's not alright, it's not the end." Hope is what makes life more enjoyable, that despite the hard and dark days we can press forward with faith in Christ and hope for good things to come. As Christ tells us over and over, "Be of good cheer." I know that when we strive to fill our life with hope and put our faith in Christ, we are happier. We can stand firm amidst the craziness of life and know that the Lord is our light and our guide. I love Him so much! I'm so thankful for the gospel in my life and the hope that it gives me. I love you all so much and hope you have the best week!

 

Sister Wilson

Hebrews 6:

10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

 we went on exchange and Sister Jones and I tried the experiment of rubbing ice on your face to make your skin healthy (which we learned at a RS activity). whether or not it worked I have no idea, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 We had the door open for a bit and this dog came running into our house and just made himself at home...

 going out for lunch with a member getting teriyaki! (I tried several things I never had before - be proud of me mom)

 this lady didn't want to talk to us, but she gave us scissors and said take some of my flowers and left.

 Olympic Mountain ice cream runs. #thebest

 rainy day

 we had interviews this week with President and Stirling and I gave a training at the district meeting he showed up to.. talk about pressure.

miracles on miracles on miracles

Sometimes I feel like the scripture people that say "I cannot write an hundredth part of [whatever's going on]" because really, that's what this email is.. just a hundredth part of all that happens in mission life.

BUT, this week we saw so many miracles. On Saturday we had dinner with the Taylor's who are awesome, Bro Taylor used to be bishop and his wife is the sweetest. They were talking about the Spirit and how usually it's as simple as just a thought. And I realized, (for the millionth time), that it really is just like a thought, nothing huge. SO during knocking that night we tried to pay special attention to those simple thoughts and we found David - his run down shed-like house was plastered with no tresspassing/ private property/ beware of dog signs and we questioned if anyone even lived there. But we decided to try it, and when we knocked on the wall big dogs started going insane and we thought mmkay nope and started to walk away but he came outside and we had an amazing conversation with him and we're going back to teach him more! He wanted a BoM and is reading it :) Then we were going to knock somewhere else, but had a simple thought to go to this other street, and in doing so the 2nd house we knocked on was Michael, who also was interested in learning! So we are way excited to start teaching them. The Spirit is so real!

 

As a mission we had a goal to have 80 church tours, which is about 1 per companionship, and despite our efforts couldn't find anyone to give a church tour to. At church yesterday we were hoping to have Natasha (a Russian lady who just showed up to church last week and told us "I'm yours, girls!" and we'll be teaching her now too!) have a tour after church, but she had to leave. So Georgette (a refugee from Kenya - way cool story) came to church! She's friends with several members in the ward (and was at dinner with us at Bishop's last week) and came to church to see a young woman speak. She's way awesome, and we thought well hey we can give her a tour! But she left after sacrament meeting. We'd be praying all week to have a tour, so we decided ok this is going to happen! So we made a couple calls and the Budge's brought Georgette to the church at 8:15 last night for a church tour! Last appt of the night and of the week and it was totally a miracle. The Spirit was way strong during the restoration, and in the chapel we had them read the words to "I Believe in Christ" while I played a version of it on the piano. We also had cookies (the first thing Georgette asked when they said want to come was "will there be food?" ha!) and it was just amazing. God is so so good to us and miracles are so real. 

 

I also ate my first wild blackberry this week - it's true. #beproud

 

I am so grateful for the blessing of being a missionary. It's my favorite thing. I am so happy. I love the Lord more than ever and I am so grateful for the time I have to serve Him full time. 

I love you all so so much and I'm so thankful for you and your support! I hope you have the best week!

 

Sister Wilson

 I love Sister Stirling!

 A kind lady gave us capri suns while we were knocking cause it was way toasty out.

 We found a little Mexican bakery and have decided we're going back every Monday for churros. 

 we did lots of service this week! We helped harvest a garden (those are purple green beans)

 and then helped a lady shovel dirt around her yard! We love opportunities to wear jeans.

we made a fancy Sunday morning breakfast since we didn't have ward council. It was way fun. (thanks to the elders for letting us borrow their waffle iron)

Baptisms and Bee Stings

So, overall this was a really good week!

I got stung by a bee for what I think is the first time in my life during the closing prayer at Bishop's house where we had dinner with their nonmember friend (which was way good btw!) I felt this sudden pang and a wasp flew out from between my folded arms. Sneaky devil. I thought "no biggie" and we left for knocking but it got to be pretty large and more painful than I anticipated, so we ended up going back for benadryl, which I've also decided never to take unless I plan on falling asleep. Despite hobbling around we made it til 9 and I crashed after planning. It's much better now!

 

We also had an amazing baptism this week for Adrik! He is such a good kid, and so smart. There was so much divine intervention that day.. We had no set speakers or anything until minutes before it started when we asked a couple people, and couldn't find anything we needed to find, and still had to fill the font and print programs and all that jazz but everything worked out. (it always does) Even his dad came!! Then, when we taught the restoration while they were changing after the baptism, his mom (who's not a member) was crying and told us afterward that she wants to get baptized and join the church also!!! It was such an amazing day! We went on to find 3 new investigators and get an amazing solid member referral that day! It was so so good. God is so good to us! 

 

As you know, I love the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have been thinking a lot about it this week along with the attribute of charity. He was the perfect example. He gave his life for us. Not only did He die, but He lived every day for us. He sacrificed His entire life so that He would be able to support us. He knows you. He knows your struggles, your sacrifices, your trials, temptations, lonely nights and hectic days, your weaknesses, heartaches, headaches, and pain. He knows what it is like to be Sister Wilson, to be you, to be every person to walk this earth, even 2000 years later. He knew us then and He knows us now. He suffered willingly every pain so He would understand and be there when no one else is. And He is there. He suffered and died so we can overcome our weakness, find greater strength in our struggles, feel peace during the storm, and comfort at ever hour. He loves us infinitely and perfectly. He is always there. I know He is. I have felt His enabling power and His strength far beyond my own, I have felt His comfort and His peace and His solace, and it is better than anything the world ever has or will offer me. I understand better His love for others as I serve them and pray for them and for the love that He feels for them. My mission is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced because it has taught me truly about His Atonement and His love allowed me to feel it more than I ever have before. I know we have angels on our side, and I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and cares about us more than anybody else. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I hope my small contribution in this world can help a greater cause.

 

I'm so grateful for your support and love and I so appreciate you! I love you so much and hope you have the greatest week!

 

Sister Wilson

 

 Just trying to toast something in the oven when somebody called.. seconds turned into minutes too quickly

 Out in the middle of nowhere opening packages from mommies eating whatever we can find in the car for dinner 

 We cracked out the rainboots this week... #letitbegin

 ADRIK'S BAPTISM <3

 And this is from our sleepover in Elma a couple weeks ago.

From your favorite missionary

Guess who my new companion is?? :) :)

(Sister Sterling's family used to live in Phoenix and moved away 15 years ago.  Her mom was good friends with Charity's Gma (Ruth) and her aunties used to babysit Kelli and her siblings! Such a small world!  Gma definitely had a hand in this one! )

What a week! So much happened

We drove to Tacoma twice this week and our miles this month are pretty much shot, haha. 

Transfers on Tuesday went so well! I said goodbye to some of my favorite missionaries, including my trainer Sister Julien who I adore. I'll miss them but I will definitely see them again! I also got my new companion, Sister Stirling, straight from the MTC! She's amazing and I love her to death. We have a lot in common and turns out our families are like best friends. Who knew?? Such a small world. We're having a good time.

 

There was a lot of out of the blue things that happened - for example we ended up knocking a summer-homey place where no one was home, but we saw a fox and a couple snakes and other weird wild animals I hadn't seen before. It's been an adventure. (we also just took a pause to kill a massive spider that came out from behind Stirling's computer - it never ends)

 

Laticia is struggling, so prayers her way would be so appreciated that she can find answers. 

Larry didn't come to church and so that's always hard, not only for us because we know how much it would help him, but also for him (whether he knows it or not) without the added strength of the spirit of church and sacrament meeting. But I know he's trying and we're doing our best to help him keep his commitments.

 

Adrik should be getting baptized this Saturday! His dad just got put on hospice, but he's really going to try to make it. Prayers his way would be way appreciated. Adrik is such a smart kid, I love him and we're excited for him.

 

We're doing a lot of finding lately, and this week we're going to hit the ground running to find humble people who are ready for the beauty of the gospel in their life! #pumped

 

I've been thinking lately about the concept of "fear," as it's something I've come to face rather often in the life of a missionary. When our faith is greater than our fear, we have nothing to worry about. We can trust in the promises of the Lord and go forward in faith, because He is always there to support and protect us when we are doing His will."God hath not given us the Spirit of fear" (2 Tim 1:7) The Bible dictionary says that fear is something unworthy of a child of God. Think of Nephi going into the city at night, "not knowing beforehand what he should do," of the 2000 stripling warriors who had never fought but didn't fear death, of Moroni who was fearless exemplified in everything he did. When we trust in the Lord and put our life in His hands, we can trust that He is in charge of the outcome and that He is paving a way before us to accomplish whatever it is that we need to. "Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you" (D&C 68:6) I know that He is. We don't need to fear anything, because God is always with us. He loves us and won't ever let us fail. I love the gospel! I love the scriptures. I'm so happy to be a missionary and to be able to share it with people every day. I love you all and hope you have the best week!

 

Sister Wilson

 

 The beach last Monday!

 driving thru Elma - apparently they filmed part of Transformers at this nuclear plant. Fun fact.

 Matching WATAC t-shirts

 We got to drive over the Narrows to get to Tacoma! Woop!

 Sister Sterling! <3

 Some more nasty fellows invading our humble abode

 Sister Stirling and I have twinning red bags. 

 It finally rained a little bit

 

 Live-action spider killing (thing was massive - I'll send a pic)

 We saw a fox while tracting! what??

 

Lots of blackberries.

 

Don't be fooled - I didn't actually eat them ;)

What to Expect When you are Expecting

Well, this has been a crazy week and I don't quite remember what happened.

Laticia is going to Girls Camp this week! We're excited for her and praying it all goes well. :) 

Larry is stil trying to quit smoking but doing good and making progress. He's praying about a day when he feels he'll be ready for baptism and we're trying to understand his situation a little deeper. The love of Christ is an amazing thing to feel.

 

So, we got transfer calls Saturday and President called to let us know that Sister Thurber is leaving to Port Angeles and I will be having a baby missionary. I'm rather terrified, but I'm excited. She'll be coming straight from the MTC tomorrow and I'll be picking her up at transfer meeting! Extra prayers for us would be appreciated this week :) 

 

We're going to the beach again today as a zone so we don't have much time! We got to have a sleepover in Elma with Sisters Jones and Brewster last night so we didn't have to drive so far today, which was way super fun. I love mission sleepovers. 

 

Things are going way good here in Shelton! We found 3 super cool new investigators this week and I'm excited to see how those go this week! Some greenie faith will be helpin us out ;) 

 

The Gospel is so true. It's so real. I absolutely love being a missionary. It's the best thing I've ever done. I've had several youth ask me this week what it's like to be on a mission and I can't put it in words. I have learned more than I ever have and I love my Savior with more than I ever have. I'm so grateful for the time I have here!

 

I love you all so very much! Have the best week!

Sister Wilson

 

Oh, PS --Final spider count of the transfer - Wilson 33   Thurber 8.5 

 

 a very kind old lady told us she didn't want to hear our message, but offered us popsicles. So we read her a scripture and said a prayer in thanks.

 I love miniature things. Like baby pinecones.

 I love Washington

 #answeryourphone