A Lesson in Humility

Hola Hola Hola!

 

I hop everyone had a good Christmas and that you got evry thing you asked Santa Clause for. Here in Puerto it was hot, humid and one of the most intersting Christmas I have ever had. We started it out by taking a family food because they live in really porr circumstances and a member put together like a Christmas dinner for them but realy it was enough food to last them like two weeks I thought. While we were there talking with the family we got a phone call from the elders... we share the branch ith them.. that we needed to go immediately to the house of one of our investigators that is the neighbor of the elders. So we got there as quickly as possible and while I will not go into to much detail she basically told tht her friendt hat was there was possessed with a devil... told some crazy story about how it hapened and asked if we could take her to the hospital. As nicely as we could we told her that we could not.... but we offerend to say a prayer on the house.. she and her friend had already recieved blessings from the elders so there was not much more that could be done... we encouraged them both to talk and think about hapy things but our investigator just would not stop talking about it so I told her we were going to sing a hymn and then we had to go but that they should not keep talking about what had hapened because they were inviting back the bad feelings and bad spirit.... basically our Christmas day ended up revolving aroudn this investigator and her friend... but it is is definitely a Christmas I will not soon forget...

 

An update on Ocatvio... we went and visited him on Christmas day also... we had left the Book of Mormon to start reading on Staruday and when we went and visited him on Wednesday he was already 2 Nephi 4... which is huge... its like 5 chapters every day and he told us that he was taking his time... when I caled him on Saturday night to invite him to Church he told me that he was in Moroni 5.. or about that... I dont know if he meant Mormon but that is a still huge and even though he has not come to church yet or accepted a baptisimal date in my book he is progressing.... and quickly...

 

 As for my lesson in humility... at the beginning of the week I have to give a little lesson on humilit in my district meeting and then later in the week Hna. Caldas told me I had to be more humble. To top it off I got a call Saturday night from one of the members of the Bishopric asking if I could give a talk in sacrmaent on being humble... which I ended up not having t give because we ran out of time... so my goal this week is to try really hard to be more humble... any advice from you guys... any things.. good quotes maybe... anyway I am almost out of time... I am sorry this is short but my mind is kind of frazzled so I will email you all next week. Love you all so much. The Church is true. Keep on Keepin on.

 

All My Love,

Hna. Wilson

fotos con el mono

Feliz Navidad!

Hola Hola Hola!

So I have to admit first that it does not feel like Christmas at all here. At least not for me. While you guys are playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, and watching Christmas movies I had a week that was a little bit different... I got a sunburn.. held a monkey... and ate an ice cream that melted faster than I could eat it... I will attach a few photos of the monkey... it is the pet of one of our investigators... 

Also, I have a new best friend here.. she is six.. her name is Staci and every time she sees me she just runs up to me and gives me a huge hug.... it makes me happy and I promised her a chocolate next Sunday so I am obligated to that....

We had a really good week... and a really hot one too... like I said.. I got sunburned one day.. it is the first time my whole mission that I have gotten sunburned... I could not believe it... its the first time in all of my mission that I have gotten sunburned... the sun is a lot stronger in this are and I am not sure why....

Anyway, on to the more spiritual things of the week. So on Thursday I think it was... we went and taught an older gentleman named Octavio... we chatted with him for an hour before we could get things under control to teach a lesson... a little frustrated the thought passed my mind that he was just an old guy who lives a lone and only wants to listen to us so that he can have someone to talk to... he was an evangelical preacher and missionary for a good portion of his life.. he knows the Bible inside and out... honestly... at the beginning of the lesson I did not feel like he would accept what we were offering....

But then we started talking about the Book of Mormon... another testament of Jesus Christ... as we read the introduction he was almost in tears.. he explained to us that when he had found the Evangelical Church in 1966... he still felt like he needed to find some thing more.... we testified to him that this was what he was looking for... he only nodded and told us he would read it... we are going to visit him on Christmas to talk to him about what he has read.... I am confident that if he does not get baptized with Hna. Caldas and I he will get baptized the next transfer.... he really is golden and I feel blessed to be teaching him...

The other miracle that we had was when we walked an hour to find a house... they told us it was in the entrance but an hour later we learned that there were two entrances and that we had chosen the entrance on the other end... when we got there they fed us dinner... which would have been nice if people had not been feeding us in every appotiment that day.... we taught them about the Restoration and tried to commit them to baptism... they did not say no but they did not say yes... they cordially invited us back and promised that they would be in Church this next week... Andi and Mirla and their two kids Josephine and Andi Jr.... they are special.. I could feel it as we taught them... they were also an answer to a prayer because Hna. Caldas and I were praying that we could find a family for Christmas and we found them... 

To end this email I wanted to attach a picture of the monkey that one of our investigators has. its kind of crazy so it really did not want me to hold it but I at least managed to get a couple good pictures.. I hope it makes you all laugh...

Anyway, thats all I have for you guys... I just want to leave you with my testimony that I know that this work is the work of the Lord... that He loves us... that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He is always working perfectly in our lives for our Good... I love you all so much and I hope you all hava a very Merry Christmas....

Love, 

Hna. Wilson

Hello from Puerta!

Hola a Todos!

So I am in a new area and I have a new companion... my area is called Puerta Armuellas.... it is the hottest place in Panama... not a joke... the last missionary that was here told me I am serving in the infierno because it is so hot.... God loves me though and yesterday it rained i was actually kind of cold.... which is probably nothing compared to the cold that some of you guys are experiencing there in the states...

Anyway Puerta Armuellas is about forty minutes south of Costa Rica... I think one P Day my comp and I are going to go to the border to take pictures in front of the sign that says Welcome to Costa Rica.... I will be sure to send you guys pictures.. 

My new companions name is Hna. Caldas.. she is from Peru and has three months in the mission. We will only be together for one change because this will be her third change here in Puerta but I am confident we are going to enjoy our time together.... I think I appreciate her a lot more also because of what happened after the last change.... 

The area is big and there are about 600 less active members.. this probably the most interesting branch I have ever been in... our ward mission leader is gay and our branch president is a little bit special so a lot of people are inactive because of that.... there is tons and tons of work to do here....

Working with my companion is great.. she is not afraid to say it how it is and neither am I so we are working together to be more direct in the lessons.. in our four days together we have tried to commit twelve people to baptism and while only two accepted I feel like we are fulfilling our responsibility of opening our mouths and calling the people to repentance....

So I am content... these past four days have mostly been meeting the investigators that Hna. Caldas already had with her trainer and this week we are going to start to get to know all the areas in Puerta so that I can know where I am going. 

I love you all so much... I am going to end this email by saying that I hope you all remember our Savior in the coming weeks as Christmas is only a week and half away... as President Monson said in a talk.. Christmas is about eternal gifts... not what we can buy.. so this year.. try to share the Gospel with someone and bless them with the gift of salvation. 

I love you all so much... until next week... 

Feliz Navidad!

Hna. Wilson

Only Trust and Be Believing..

Hola Todos!

First a happy birthday to my sweet mother whose birthday is this Wednesday... I love you so much and hope that my package gets to you in time... I sent it a month ago.

Second,,, please everyone... just take a deep breath and know that I am okay. That I am loving my mission... there is no where else in the world I would rather be in this moment then here in Panama sharing the message of the Gospel of jesus Christ.. what a better way to remember our Savior... when I wrote last week I was still very frustrated and honestly in shock with what happened so please... I am okay.. I am happy... and the work goes on. 

I wanted to begin by sharing a quote with all you by Elder Holland that I heard and wrote down... its beautiful and sweet and filled my soul with a peace that I have been looking for in my daily prayer and scripture study... 

God is good, He is our Father and He expects us to pray and trust and be believing and not give up and not panic and not retreat and not jump ship when some thing does not seem to be going right. We stay in... we keep working.. we keep believing... we keep trusting... following that same path... and we will live to fall in His arms, to feel His embrace and hear Him say... I told you it would be okay... I told you it would be alright...

Some times the blessings seem so far away... some times in the moments of darkness it seems hard to see the tiniest specks of light.. but if we look.. and if we wait and if we trust I know from all my experiences that the light does come... it does... God has the tendency to take our hardest trials and turn them into the biggest blessings.. 

For example.. this week was such a big blessing.. I will not say that every day was perfect but it was so wonderful because I had the chance to go to my old area and spend almost the whole week there. 

I stay with Hna. Gomez who is from Honduras... we had the opportunity to see a lot of miracles together but the biggest one was when we went to visit an investigator Thursday night with a member... it was the first time that Hna. Gomez was going to me the... companion I guess is the right word... of her investigator... Enelda is her name. Enelda had told us before that Alberto... her companion.. di not want to marry her because of the age difference and that she could get married later in her life. The hard thing about that is they have two kids together so its not like we can tell her that if she wants to get baptized and he does not want to get married ther eis the option of separating... anyway the point is... I went into the lesson with expectations that he was going to be this hard, proud old guy that did not want any thing to do with us.

When he got there from work we waited while he helped dress his little girl of seven years old and his baby of six months for bed. It was raining like it only rains here in Central America and I said a quiet prayer that God would just give us thirty minutes to talk with him. It was hard because their little boy Alberto was sick with a fever so they were trying their best to calm him. When we started to talk the rain let up enough that we could communicate.. we jumped right into the fact that Hna. Enelda wanted to get baptized and that ifshe wanted to get baptized that had to get married. But I told them that we wanted them to work together for this because through the Gospel of Jesus Christ they could together forever... he was completely receptive... completely.. moreso then Enelda.. he said that they would go to Church on Sunday if they did not go out of town for Mothers Day... he said that he wanted to know more.. that he wanted to be more united with his family... he started reading the pamphlet that we left for him before we left the house.. it was one of those moments where you just know you have found a family that is going to make it to the temple... 

To end this all too perfect lesson the member that acompanied us offered to give a blessing to their baby.. it was a beauitful moment and the spirit was strong.. it was truly inspired that we ran into this member on the way to their house... we were not planning on having anyone go with us..

The other miracle of the week was to see Hno. Valentine... he had this light about him.. one of my teachers in the MTC told me that he had seen the face of God in the face of his investigators and when I saw Hno. Valentine Iunderstood what he meant... the love that I felt for this perso.. this child of God... and difference I saw in him... I knew in that moment that God lives.. that the Church is true.. and the only way back to our Father in Heaven.

I am out of time you guys.. just know that I love you so much... I know this work is His work.. I know that every thing works together for our good. that Goid is in every thing.. I have transfers so next week I will be writing you from a new area with a new companion... pray that all goes well... I love you all so much... Happy Birthday mom... 

Con Amor, 

Hna. Wilson. 

A Forgotten Blessing...

I forgot to let you all know that while I am not in Pilon anymore the hermanas there told me that Valentine Betancourt got married two weeks ago and was baptized and confirmed this past weekened... it is a testimony to me that while we may not see the fruits of our labors we never know who we will help come to salvation.. Hna. Chavez and I are celebrating a little bit to know that while we did not see his baptism we know that we helped him.. through the Spirit... come to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...

The Light Will Come

Hola Todos!

This is going to be a short email because I cannot really tell you guys what happened this week... lets just say that under orders of President Carmack my companion and I cannot be in the same room together alone for any length of time. I have left my area in Barriada Kuna and am changing areas every days with the different sisters that are in Colon... I have spent Saturday, yesterday and today in Margaritas with Hna. Alvarez from Costa Rica... tomorrow I will return to the area in which I spent four and half months in Polon with Hna. Gomez from Honduras.. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be in Cativa with Hna. Castillo from Mexico... and Monday and Tuesday leading up to changes will be with Hna. Gonzales from Guatemala in another part of Pilon... this problably does not mean any thing to any of you but the point is I am leaving Colon again and going to a different area... I will have a new companion also... maybe I will get to open an area and train.. I have wanted to train for a while now but I know that every thing happens in the Lords time and that He is working perfectly in our lives..

On another, more happy note... I am trying to overcome my fear of committing people to be baptized. As I said before I have spent the last three days with Hna. Alvarez from Costa Rica... she only has a month in the mission but we spent the day contacting and looking for people.. I suggested that with every contact we bring up baptism from the beginning and just see what happens... the worse thing that can happen is that they will tell us know and that they never want to see us again..

So we ended up talking quiet a few people.. it was interesting because I could feel the spirit telling me... the moment that we extended the invitation to be baptized.. if they would say yes or not... we invited eight people to be baptized that day together and three accepted... unfortunately one of them is not in our area but it was an invigorating experience when we heard them say that they would prepare to be baptized... and every time I practiced new ways to somehow guide the subject of the lessons around to baptism and while some of the people we talked with were really hard and asked a lot of hard questions the few that we found that were receptive and open made it all worth it... I will leave Hna. Alvarezs area feeling like I helped a little and learned a lot in the process...

I dont want anyone to worry about me. I am sad and hurting for what happened this week but I know that it will me gain experience and strengthen my faith. God never gives us any thing we cannot handle and I have to believe that this will all work together for my good... I love you all so much... I am sorry that this is such a short email... the work is moving forward quickly... the Church is true.. of this I know with all my heart... I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior... I know that our trials are opportunities to get to know Him just a little bit better... we claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ and often that means that we too must kneel for a moment in Gethsemane and take a few cross laden steps toward Calvary... I took a sip of that bitter cup this week but the pain is swallowed up in the joy that comes when I think of the blessings that in the Lords time I will see... I know that after this dark night will come the dawn... I know that every thing works together for our good... be strong and carry on. Until next week... I love you all so much.

Con Amor,
Hna. Wilson

Hola!

So I was not able to get to the internet in time today... I just want to share my testimony with you all that I know the Church is true... this is His work and He guides it... love you all... remember to pray always and give gratitude to God always.

Love, 

Hermana Wilson

The Best Numbers, The Hardest Week

Hola Todos,

I am not quiet sure how to express how I feel right now. I am going to keep it short and not spill every thing that is happening to the whole world but this is the hardest companionship I have ever had. Hoever its the best numbers I have seen my entire mission but it does not make me happy because I know that we are not really working at a uited team. I am pretty sure my companion would be happy if I went somewhere and jumped off a cliff. I have tried making her breakfast and doing little things before her but it does not make a difference.... I am out of ideas and quiet frankly my desire to do these things for her is dying also.

Okay... so that was the negative thing I had to say this week... this week was not all bad... it was full of beauitful little miracles... I never cease to see the hand of the Lord.

I think the best day that I had this week was when i had the privilege of working with a member here in the area named Nubia. She is 19 years old and is thinking about serving a mission. When we started the day together she told me she was not sure if she wants to serve a mission and so i had the personal goal to show her how fun it could be to be a missionary. That day all of our appotiments fell for various reasons andthen it started to rain Panama style... which means hard enough to turn the roads into rivers.... I told her we could go inside and wiat it out or we could use it to our advantage and go looking for new investigators. We decided together to keep working. I told her that I had faith that if we keep working God would make the rain stop. We walked for about fifteen minutes looking for a house to contact and all of the sudden it just stopped raining. We went to contact a woman who was sitting outside with her two daughters and as I talked to her I realized that she was not responding to my questions at all but was actually talking on the phone. Embaressed I excused myself and we kept walking. When we reached the end of the row of houses we decided to turn around and go back. I said a little prayer telling the Lord that if we needed to talk with the woman I had tried to talk with earliar that she would say some thing to us as we passed. At that mmoment we came up on the house and as we passed she called to us... telling us that she was sorry and and asking us what we had wanted.

Exciteldly we told her who we were and talked to her about the English class I would be teaching on Saturday. She let us in and we sang a hymn with her and talked to her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation. She told us openly that she was Evangelica but that she was in awe of the sacrifice that w eas missionaries do... she said that we would always be welcome in her home... we will be going back to visit her on Wednesday. Prayers please!

The other miracle that we had together is honestly the joy of my life. Her name is Ailyn... she is 17 years old and is as golden as they come.... apart from the fact that she has to finish school this week so we cannot visit her as often as we would like. I went and visited her with Hna. Nubia and she had already started to read the Book of Mormon I had left with her the day before. She had tons of questions and ate up every thing we said like she was starving. We talked about Nephi and she told us that she could not wait to read the story. She came to church this Sunday and loved it. The young women were excellent with her and they are taking her under their wing like one of their own. She is going to participate in the drama th eyoung women are going to do this Saturday for the activity we are planning and also is planning to go with the other young women to  a dance this Friday at the stake center. I do not know if she will be prepared to be baptized on the 30th which is her baptisimal date but I know that she will be prepared to be baptized very soon and I wait anxiously for that day. She asked me yesterday if she could serve a mission and I told her that she could.... she just has to get baptized first... her little sister allso loves church too and her mom has decided that she wants to come this week to see what her daughters are learning and doing. Ailyn is really a light for me here... I know she is one of the people that I have come to Panama to find...

Later in the week I had the privilege of working with Nubias sister who recently came back from a mission in El Salvador. Again all of our appotiments feel through so we did my favorite thing.... contacting. We were walking towards the end of our day together when i saw a woman laying in a hammack and I said... hermana we are going to contact this person. When we started talking to her she told us that she had been a member of our church once.. its not abnormal here in Utah, Panama... We sat down and talk with her and what I thought would be like a twenty minutes appotiment turned into an hour... I was a little more forward with her then I normally am.. I asked her how she felt because she was not... how do you say... keeping her covenant with God... she laughed every time we told her she needed to go back to church and at one point I looked at her and said... hermana i am here in this area as a respresantive of Jesus Christ and we did not come here to talk with you today by accident... God prompted us to come here because He wants you to come back.. its time to come back Hermana... because thorugh the Gospel and the Church is the only way that you achieve salvation for yourself and for you family.... He loves you so much... and for that... we are here with you now... She told us that she is going to do her best to go to church this week... she has been inactive for 30 years... she said that she did not want to say were were angels sent by God but she told us that she felt that she can talk openly with us and she did... it was one of the most spiritual experiences I have had in a long time because I know I said the things that God wanted me to say and that this hermana is on her way to coming back to curch.

The other miracle I had with Saria was when we were looking for a nother inactive member and I found her grandduaghtrer instead. We talked with her and shared the message of the Restoration... she responded relaly positively when we shared the First Vision with her and accepte a baptisimal date for the 7th of December.. then we discovered that she lives in Pilon when it a good ways away. I happily passed the reference on though and am hoping that the other hermanas will enjoy having such a wonderful investigator.

So as far as number go it was a really geat week. We taught 58 lessons and worked with members every day... despite the difficulties with my companion I am finding joy in working closely with the members here... they are wonderful.. I wish I could bring them with me my entire mission...

I love my area and I love this work. I love all of you and mor ethen that I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. i can testify that He supports us in our trials and through our afflicions he prepares us for blessings that we never even imagined. I know that He lives. That He is always there, helping us. We just have to trust Him. I am almost out of time so i am going to send this off. i look forward to hearing from all of you very soon. Until next week.

All My Love,

Hna. Wilson

Utah in Panama

Hola Todos!

So I am absolutely in love with my area. It is so small but so amazing... the members are working with us every day and we are seeing a lot of less actives coming back to church. Things are a little bit more complicated with investigators but we now have five investigators with baptisimal dates so we have some thing... believe it or not the challenge is still getting them to come to church.... and they only have to walk five minutes... but the work is like that here so what can you do except keeping trying different ways to motivate them to come to church...

I did exchanges with Hna. Navas this week... she is from Honduras... she is one fot he hermana leaders that we have here in Colon and it was one fo the best days I have had since separating from Hna. Chavez. We worked so hard that we got back tot he house at 8:30 and that was with canceling two appoitments and our dinner... the work is crazy here. Hna. Navas and I spent a good portion of time talking and she told me that she cannot think of any thing that would keep me from training... so I think it might be possible that I could train here in Barriada Kuna... I have always wanted the opportunity but I know it will happen in the Lords time. I learned so much from Hna Navas that I am trying to apply to my teaching this week.... 

So we had 49 lessons this week because we did divisions with members almost every day... its awesome that there is so much work... I have never been so busy my entire mission.... 

The miracles of this week were first that we had the entire Porras Family in church this Sunday for the first time in a long time... they were recently sealed in the temple and went inactive so my companion and I have been working really hard to motivate them to come back to church. I am hoping this is the beginning of them remembering the covennats they made in the temple so that they can have they can be together forever.

The other miracle that I had when I was working with a member yesterday was when I went to visit Hna. Rita Quintera. She has years and years of not coming to church. When we went to visit her she told us that was busy and that she did not have time for us. The member talked her into letting us in... the plus of having a member who knows your investigator or less active... we had asked her before why she was inactive and she simply said just because... she really did not hav ea reason...

When we started the lessons we would ask her a question and she would answer it very briefly and say like... so why are you.here and when ar eyou going to leave. I said a prayer in my heart that God will help me reach her... somehow.... we asked if we could sing a hymn but when we pulled out  our hymnbooks I felt impressed to ask her again why she was inactive and she told me because none of the members said hello when they were walking int he street... just all these excuses... then an idea came to my head... thanks to the Spirit... and I asked her how she thought her relationship with God was right now... she said good... I asked her if she thought God was happy that was not going to church... she told me that she was not going with her sons who are Evangelica either so that we should n ot feel bad that she is not going to church... so I said... hermana... we are going to use an example... if you ask your son to do some thing for you every week... and every week he says like.... yeah mom I will... I promise i will... but he does not do it... and then the next week he says he will do it and he does not do it... how woud you feel.... and she said she would feel bad... obviously... and so then I said... when we get baptized we promise God that we are going to go to Church every Sunday and keep our covenants... how do you think He feels that you have not been keeping the promise you made to Him.... and she paused for a long time and then said..  you hav ea good point Hermana... okay... I will go this week... and when we ended with a prayer she asked God to forgive her for all the years that she had not gone to church.... she told Heavenly Father in her prayer that she was going to come this next Sunday... and when she ended her prayer she thanked us for the visit... it was like a complete 360 and one of the most intimate moments I have had with the Spirit my entire mission... I left knowing that in that moment I had been an instruments in the hand of God to find  one of  his sheep that were lost...

In the words of Hna. Navas.. . the area is like Utah... only Panamanian... because its like its own little slice of Zion in the middle of Colon where almost everyone are members or less actives and the only thing to do is just to motivate everyone to keep there covenants... I love it so much... I love this work and I know that it is His work and He is the only one that knows how to do it. I hope that you will all do the little things that will bring you closer to the Lord every day... I love you all so much... until next week.

Hna. Wilson

Back to Where It All Began

Hola Todos!

So maybe you guys are not going to believe it but I am back in Colon. Its both happy and sad. Happy because I am doing what I always wanted to do... opening an area... they took the elders out of the area that my companion and I are now in and so we are both completely new here... it has it challenges but the members are the best members I have yet to meet in my mission. Since coming here we have worked with members every day.

The area is small... like five streets... President sent me here so that my foot could have a chance to get better but I feel like my time here will be short so I am trying to enjoy. The ward has a personal goal of 170 people in church and right now we are seeing about 120 every week... I am hoping with all my heart that wee can see that number reached in the next six weeks.

So my companion is from Guatemala... again... its my third companion from Guatemala... it makes me laugh... maybe God is trying to tell me some thing about my future haha.. anyway her name is Hna. Romero... she is from San Raymundo.... a municiple of the captial of Guatemala... she is very sweet and I am working hard to love her and adjust to being with someone new. I think that is the hardest thing for me at the moment... getting used to the change. 

So I have to share with you guys that miracles I had yesterday while I was in divisions with a member. We went to visit a less active member named Evelyna who has not been to church for three years. We were talking to her and she told us about a year ago she had a dream that a white sister and her companion came to tell her that she needed to go back to church.  she said that maybe we were an answer to her dream and that it was time fo rher to go back to church. Its hard for her because her husband is not a member but we are going to be doing familiy home evenings with her every Friday to help strengthen her family. 

The other miracle that I saw was the with the same member and we went to visit a less active named Ana Maria... she offered the closing prayer and in the prayer she told God that she knew He had sent us to her to reactivate her and help her return to Church and she asked for the strength to do the things she she needs to do to come back. She also has a lot of opposition from her husband who is not a member but we will visit her this week and see what we can do to help her. 

Alright.... attached is a picture of my new companion first and second a picture of Hna. Chavez and I... I miss her so much but know that at some point in our missios we will be together again. 

Until next week. I love you all so much. I know this work is the work of the Lord. 

Hna. Wilson

mission blog

sunshineinmysoulpanamamission.blogspot.com

here is the link for the blog to the mission if you guys are interested... there are pictures and stuff..

Seek Him With All Thy Heart and Soul

Hola Todos!

So I wanted to do my email a little different today... we went out to work on Saturday but no one wanted any thing to do with us because well... they just didnt... yesterday I had to pack because the assistants to the president are coming to get my suitcases because I have transfers.... I dont know if I should tell you where I am going  yet because I am technically not supposed to know but President Carmack let me know where I will be going... I will just say that it shows how merciful God is to those who wait for Him. 

So I dont have much to say except I am ready to work and I have cambios so I wanted to share with you guys some quotes that I read this week and that I loved along wtih sciptures that I found... they are quotes that help explain what I have learned this last cambio with the problems with my foot and every thing that came along with it.

Arthur Tappan Pierson said: It is in the deepest darkness of the starless midnight that men learn how to hold to the hidden Hand most tightly and how that Hand holds them; that He sees where we do not, and knows that way He takes;; and though the way be to us a roundabout way, it is the right way.

with that quote.... I was reading in Duetronomy 4:29-31 which reads, thou shalt seek the Lord, they God, thou shallt find Him, if thou seek him wiht all they heart and with all they soul. When thou are in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee... if thou turn to the Lord they God and shalt be obedient unto His voice He will not forsake thee...

The first lesson that I learned this change is that God works perfectly... it may be in a way that we cannot see in the moment but He works perfectly and some times He loves us enough to tell us no... while it might be hard He waits... that He may gives us the desires of ours hearts when we think that all is lost... I have learned so much about His love these past six weeks... I know that He loves us so much... we just have believe and let him take us by the hand.

Lift up your eyes. Heavenly Father waits to bless you in inconcievable ways to make your life what you never dreamed it could be. Anne Ortlund

One of my favorite scriptures in Isaiah reads: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

I think one of the biggest things I learned this last cambio was patience.. and what it means to really wait on the Lord. Its not a passive resignation to what God is doing with you... it is making the most of your situation and finding joy in your trials and your pain that you might still feel His love and even as your suffering the pains of growth that He sees fit to place upon  you. 

If the Lord be with us, we have no cause to fear. His eye is upon us, His arm over us, His ear open to our prayer... His grace sufficient, His promises unchangeable. John Newton

and in Daniel 10:19 we read... O man, greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea be strong. And when He had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my Lord speak for thous hast strengthened me.

I read another quote recently that talked about how God will only gives us the answers that we are able to handle in the moment.. He knows our limits... our weknesses and our strengths.. He will never test us beyond that which we cannot stand... 

I just have one more quote and then I am going to send this off....

St. Augustine said: God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them. and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with the light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music ; give us the sense of comradeship wiht heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to Your honor and glory.

That is my invitation to all of you... look for the light in the darkness... even when it seems like there is none... reemmber that Goid works perfectly... and me we hope in good things to come... until next week... when I can tell you where the Lord has decided I am needed now.... I love you all so much... this work is the work of the one True God and He loves all of you so much. Praying for you all! 

With all My Love,

Hna. Wilson

The Love of God in a Mothers Eyes

Hola Todos!

So we are nearing the end of this long but refining trial... I am hoping with all my heart that this is the last week of therapy and that on Saturday I will be hading out to work with my companion.. just in time for cambios.. I will talk with President Carmack today because he told me.. and I quote.. I think it would be best for me to call you and get your views on a number of things before we have transfers.. so the point is... I will probably have transfers... it sounds like.. and I feel.. that he might be thinking about having me train a new sister so we will see what happens with that....

So the title of this email is a very personal spiritual experience that I had.. I was sitting in a metro bus and across that aisle was a young woman with a little baby that was sleeping... I was trying not to make it obvious that I was watching but I watched out of the corner of my eye as she kissed the top of her daughters head numerous times... I was suddenly struck with this unexplainable warmth and I just knew in that moment how much God loves every single one of us... to see the pure love of a mother for her little baby was a testimony to me about how much our Father in Heaven.. a perfect being.. loves us.. no matter our mistakes... we cannot fall far enough that His love cannot reach us...

Speaking of metro buses I forgot to tell you guys about some thing happened last week. We were in a metro bus coming bakc from a therapy seession.. I was sitting up front because its almost impossible for me to stand in those things with my crutches.. anyway.. I was sitting towards the front and my companion was sitting towards that back.. when I got off at our stop I looked around and realized that my companion had not gotten off with me. At that moment Hna. Chavez called me and I admitted to her that I was not sure what to do.. it felt so weird to be completely alone.. I knew where I was but my compnion was in the metro bus still.. probably sleeping.. and I had no idea when she would wake up and if she would be able to find her way back to me... worse is that I had the cell phone and she did not have money to call me if she found a pay phone... basically I just sat down at the bus stop and waited.. called my district leader who told me to wait there and then just waited. A half an hour later my companion shows up and we are fine.. it was just a really funny and strange experience... 

Also.. yesterday we ate with this Mexican family in our ward and they cooked us ceviche which I had neve tried before.. it was intersting.. 

Anyway, thats pretty all I have for you guys this wek.. I have been studying the Bible a lot and I hope to finish it by the end of my mission.. a year is a good amount of time to read it right.. know that you are all in my prayers.. that I love you so much and that I am grateful for your encouragement and your love. I hope that you will remember to rely on the Lord and trust that He has a purpose for every thing. 

All My Love, 

Hna. Wilson

Sed Fiel...

Hola Todos!

How I love you all so much.. the outpouring of love that I recieved from you all in response to my last email was.. to tell you the truth.. overwhelming and badly needed... I love you all so much... thank you for you support... your prayers... and your confidence...

Whats happening here... well I am in therapy for the next three weeks... only two weeks to go now... I have three sessions of therapy every week and right now its pretty painful... they are kind and try to do a lot of pain control... which did not work a lot last time.. they told me that my ankle will hurt for the first five or six sessions and after that it should start to feel better... 

So the title... translated into English is be faithful... I am not allowed to leave the house apart from going to my therapies and going to church.. it has given me tons and tons of time to study and make lesson outlines and all kinds of things like that... I think it has been a huage blessing... some days I just read my scriptures all day and I only stop to eat... I am learning a lot and its is giving me an inner strength and peace that has helped med through a lot of hard moments this past week... 

I have spent the past week reading Doctrine and Covenants.. I found a couple scriptures that really helped me but I think that one that halped me the most was one that Hna. Chavez shared with me D&C 54:10... sorry... I have been studying my scriptures only in Spanish as of two months ago so I will give you a rought idea of what it said.. basicaly be patient in your afflictions until the Lord comes... he comes with his reward and those who seek Him early will find rest for their souls... it just gave me a lot of peace.. it amazes me how God answers our prayers through other people... I have seen it many times in the six months I have been out here...

God did it again yesterday when I was talking with a member from last area.. she shared 1 Nephi 18:16 with me... we talked about how no matter what happened in Nephis life he never ceased to praise the Lord... she told me how no matter what happened from day to day she wanted to be like that... I thanked her profusely because right now things are kind of hard for me... from only being a part of 1 lesson every week to seeing the frustration of my companion and knowing that I am the reason I take comfort in knowing that God has a purpose for all things... 

Another miracle that happened yesterday was some members showing up to our apartments with bags and bags of food.. I will attach pictures here in a minute but i can personally testify that God really sends His angels in our darkest moments.. just as He sent an angel to support His only Son as He suffered in Gethsemane... in our personal Gethsemanes He is always ready to do the same... I pray that we will all the faith and the hope in God to trust Him completely and in every thing.... I talked with my mission president yesterday and he told me that some times that Lord likes to take one trial and used it to test all of our weakest points... but we need to be strong... because God believes that we can do it... in fact He knows that we can do it.. we just need to remember that at some point in our eternal existance we knew that we could do it too... we only have to remember... and only believe...

I love you all so much... I know this work is the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... it has been a long hard month but it has also been a refiners fie for me... I am so grateful for all the patience and faith I have learned and I know it will serve me for the rest of my mission and the rest of my life... until next week...

All My Love, 

Hna. Wilson

More Pictures

A Conference Just For Me

Hola Mi Familia y Mis Amigos,

Bueno... it is a beautiful Monday morning here in the city of Panama... oh yeah President Carmack sent me to the city on Friday... it was about a four hour bus ride alone... with my crutches and my suitcases.. it was definitely an adventure to be completely frank.. I am in an area of the city called Marcasa with a new companion namded Hna. Castro.. she is from Ecuador and like almost all of my other companions does not speak any English.. which is not a problem.. I prefer it to tell you the truth... I can feel my Spanish getting better all the time... I can understand every thing that is said to me and communicate any thing I want to communicate... I will admit I need to study the grammar more but it has been a crazy month.. i hope to be more diligent this week...

So the apartment that we live is probably one of the most ghetto places I have ever seen... we have to climb four flights of stairs to get there.. which is an experience with crutches... let me tell you.. and the apartment itself looks incredibly old.. I will send pictures in another email... the roof leaks in every room when it rains and yesterday when Hna. Castro and I were sitting in the front room talking a rat came crawling in through the window and so we went into the bedroom and planned for today... I saw the same rat again when I was talking with Hna. Chavez... the pluses are that its fairly good sized.. has running water and electricity... the ants and the lizards come free of charge...

Okay on to things a little more full of sunshine... Conference was so wonderful... to be honest when Elder Holland was talking there was a moment when i felt he was talking directly to me.... I would have cried if I was not in a room full of people... it has been a hard month of feeling inadequate and uneeded in the work of the Lord here in Panama... the inspired words of Elder Holland soothed my aching heart and helped me to know that there is a balm in Gilead...He said...

whatever your struggle... trust in God.. hope in his love... we must remember our broken vessels are in the loving hands of the Potter... live by faith... and hold fast to hope... 

the other talk that really spoke to me was the talk by the prophet... to be completely honest I felt like someone dying of thirst and God was giving me the water that my soul yearned for... the living water of His love... and I drank deeply and was filled with the knowledge that He knows... and He hears... and He is there... always... 

I read another article recently that struck me that I wanted to share with you guys... it was from teh May 2011 conference...the talk by Elder Paul V. Johnson... he said...

At times it may seem that our trials are focused on areas of our lives and parts of our souls with which we seem least able to cope... yet not one of our trials and tribulations we face is beyond our limits, because we have help from the Lord... 

I have felt so broken and so alone... forgotten and abandoned at times these past four weeks... I have felt like God has stretched me to my limits just to see how much I could endure.. but I know... I know that He does it because He loves me... that He lets me pour out my soul in anger and frustration before He answers me... before He wipes away my tears of anguish and despair He listens... and then He teaches me about my Savior... He teaches me about love... He acquints me with the Man of Sorrows... with whose stripes I am healed... and I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel... the dawn at the end of the night... and I know... that while I may feel alone... while I may look into the frustrated eyes of a companion who was not ready for a situation like this I know that my Savior is only a plea away... 

The other talks by Elder Richard J. Maynes who spoke of spiritual endurance, Elder Timothy J. Dyches who talked about how we can be made whole through the power of the atonement, and Ulisses Soares who talked about becoming meek and accepting the will of God... in all of these... I found my peace... and I found the strength to keep moving forward...Paul has said that our trials are that we might have a greater glory... perhaps God is not testing me to see if I will fail... but testing me... because He knows I can suceed...

I just want to testify to al of you that God loves us so much... He hears and He answers our prayers.. in the Relief Society session of Conference a sister talked about the tabernancle in Provo that was burned to the ground and is now a temple.. she talked about how some times God burns us to the ground with our trials... that He stretches us to the limits... many times we might ask why.. but then He comes back.. and in His own time and in His own way.. he takes us from the ashes and constructs us into beautiful temples... fit for His spirit to dwell... no trial is too hard... no road to long... nor night so dark.. that the Son of God, our Savior Jesus Christ cannot reach out and heal our hearts, soothe our souls... and teach us through our tears... 

I have what I hope is my last doctor appoitment today... then begins the fours weeks of intense therapy... I know it will be hard but it is possible... all thrings are possible through God who strengthens us... I pray that none of you are worried because God is with me... I am grateful that He has given me my trials that I can learn of Him and His Son... I am grateful the patience and the strength He has taught me... I love you all so much.... you are all in my prayers... remember to be strong always and never cease to seek Him who waits for you. 

Con Todo Mi Amor, 

Hna. Wilson

Down and Out... For Now...

Hola Todos!

So no one is going to believe the week I have had. Its kind of a joke almost.... you know some thing that would come out of a move or some thing like that... the truth is... as a result of all the things that happened this week I am living with members in Chitre... my companion is in Santiago with a mini missionary... and I might need surgery in my ankle...

Before anyone freaks out I want you all to breath and just listen to what happend... si? Perfecto... vamos pues..

So we went in on Wednesday to get my cast taken off.. two doctors looked at the X Ray... confirmed that the ligaments were pulled and told me to rest for five days in bed before going out to work like normal again.. then they referred us to the orthapeda (I cannot remember how to say it in English... lo siento!). They took off the cast and all I could think was how embarresed I was about my leg... my first instinct was to step off the table and start walking.. it was really comical when the two doctors there and Hna Gaete (my companion for the day... she is from Costa Rica and speaks perfect English and perfect Spanish) all said... no!... at the same time. 

At that point the doctor decided to look at my X ray from three weeks ago... and told us that the bones in my ankle are completely separated... he sent us out of the room to consult with two other specialists and when he called us back in he explained  to us that he wanted to do surgery.. basicaly he wante dto go in an put in a pin that would unite the bones together the way they should be.. it would be like a fifteen minute surgery with a five week recovery minimum... so he told us to come back the next day to talk about specifics and we left calling everyone from the mission president to our Zone Leaders to expalin what was happening...

We went back the next morning and he told us he wanted to schedule the surgery fro the following day...¿que rapido verdad? so we said okay but that we needed to get the surgery approved with the doctor of the mission and my mission president... well at 8 o clock that night President Carmack called me and told me that he did not want me gonig through with the surgery... that next morning we went back to let the doctor know and we learned that there was some kind of protest and so we could not do it anyway.. God works in mysterious ways... 

So they decided to take another X Ray at which point they found that the bones were a little closer together... not the way they should be but a little bit so they gave me a brace... with orders to the not touch my foot to the ground and an appoitment for Thusday... 

So you guys are getting  really watered down version but basically my options at the moment are four weeks of intense physical therapy without surgery... or surgery with a minimum of a five week recovery... I am living with wonderful members and doing my best to stay focused on the things of the mission.. Hna. Chavez is helping a lot... she calls me a lot and tells me what happening in my last area to make me feel like in some way I am still apart of this work...

I know that God gives us trials for a reason... I know that there are things I have to learn about myself and even more things that I have to learn about Him through this experience... I hope that through this trial I can know my Savior better... that I can truly to understand the man aquinted with grief... I know that there is a light at the end of all of this... and I am doing my best to keep my focus on the Lord...

I love you all so much... I will let you know next week what is happening... likely I will be in Panama with a different family but only time will tell... the Church is true... God loves us and he sends us trials because He loves... always remember that... keep on keepin on... never forget who you are. 

Con Amor, 

Hna. Wilson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Though Our Time I Through, I Leave My Heart With You

Hola Todos!

Okay so for those of you who do not know I was transfered to a new area with a new companion and God has taught me really quickly what my purpose here is. I was transfered to the province called Chitre, more specifically Santiago. It is a huge area... my companion told me that it is going to split with this next transfer... my companions name is Hna Cuyan... she is also from Guatemala and was a nurse before her mission so she is taking good care of me as far as my foot is concerned....

The title has to do with the fact that I miss Hna Chavez like crazy... its like I said goodbye to my family all over again and each time she calls me to let me know about the fruits she is know seeing from our work together I want nothing more then to be with her... I love her so much... it doesnt help that she put a bunch of little hearts with messages in a lot of my things and I keep finding them... I know that one day we will be together again and that right now we have a work to do for the Lord but that doesnt lessen the pain of missing her so much....

Anyway, as I said I am now in Santiago.... and God is doing a very good job and helping me find my purpose here. First I have to admit that everywhere we go I feel I been there before... especially yesterday when we went and had dinner with the Padilla Family.... its weird but I know that it is God telling me that there is where He needs me right now...

One of the other reasons that I am needed here is my companion... she had a really really hard transfer before I came... it is almost exactly what I experienced with my first companion and so I am basically doing what Hna Chavez had to do with me.. pick up the pieces and show her that she is a good missionary and help her understand that the mission really is the best 18 months of your life.... she told me a lot of things that I said to Hna Chavez our first few days together... I am just hoping that I can be every thing that she and the Lord need me to do be to finish her training and prepare to at some point train a new missionary...

My other purpose here is the new gringa that is being trained here in the area... Hna Hanson.. she lives just next store to us with her trainer... who does not speak any English and Hna. Hanson does not speak any Spanish... yesterday the poor girl was crying in the Gospel Principals class because she could not understand any thing so I called her over to sit with me and i did my best to translate for her.. which mentally killed after three meetings but it helped me know that I am where God needs me.

Okay so I am dying to share this spriritual experience that Hna Cuyan and I had this past Friday... It was with an investigator named Michael Delgado... he has been taking lessons from the missionaries for almost two years.... we taught him about the word of wisdom and he accepted it and talked about ways he could change his behavior to obey the commandment... we then started talking to him about his baptisimal date which was scheduled for this week... he told us that he did not know what baptism was so we read scriptures and talked about it as a covenant we make with God... he told us that he was a man of little faith and that he done so many things in his life for which he felt truly horrible... we talked to him about examples of faith in the scriptures and testified that he could leave that all behind him by preparing to be baptized and follow the example of jesus Christ... he said he would accept the 5th of October as his baptisimal date if he recieved an answer that the Church was true... so we started talking to him about coming to Church on Sunday.. he told us that he was worried to leave his family for three hours to come to church.. we testified that nothing would happen while he was at Church because God would watch over his home and his family... at this point both my companion and Michael were crying... I think the only reason I wasnt is because someone had to keep a level head in the lesson.. the Spirit was so strong though.... it has been a long time since I have felt the Spirit like that...

We decided to ask to have the closing prayer and we invited Michael to do it.. asking him to open his heart to God about the things we had talked about... we all got down on our knees and he started to pray... he said a beautiful prayer about God helping him to open his mind and his heart to the truth... he asked for God to give him some kind of sign that this was the path he should take and I was praying with all my heart that Heavenly Father would answer His prayer in that moment.... Michael ended the prayer and we all just knelt there and watched him start to cry alll over again...

We sat back down and asked him what he felt.... he told us he did not know... his grandma who is a member and was there with us asked him also and finally he told us that he did not feel bad. He said that he had never felt like that when he was praying before.. we asked him what exactly he was talking about.... he told us that as he was praying he felt a man next to him but when he opened his eyese there was no one there... we testified to him that was his answers and he nodded his head.. again we asked him if he would be baptized on October 5th and if he would come to Church that Sunday... he told us that he would... we had to leave because itw as almost 9:30 and the good news is that he did come to Church yesterday... the only investigator that came to Church yesterday.... the Spirit was so strong in Michaels house that we did not want to leave... I am very confident and have a lot of faith that we will see his baptism on the 5th of October...

Another thing to start thinking about is General Conference... its coming up on the 5th of October and I encourage all of you to start thinking about questions that you want God to answer... or that you would ask the Savior if you were talking with Him face to face.... I can testify from experience that those questions will be answered... I hope that wil help you get more out of General Conference...

I love you all so much... I know this church is true and that this is the work of the Lord... I know that God gives us trials because He loves us and he wants us to grow... never stop looking to Him... I wanted to share with you guys that last photo that Hna Chavez and I took together.. also the photo with our new companions... I love you all so much.. until next week. Siempre Fuertes!

All My Love, 

Hna. Wilson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Too Good To Last Forever...

Hola Todos!

Okay so this week was definitely a trial of patience and faith... in total we had six lessons because all of our attempts to work with members pretty muc h failed. Hna. Chavez ended up going to work in another area and i went and stayed with some members which was weird because it felt more like being on vacation then being on a mission. One of the daughters had an air conditioned room and so that was heaven for a few hours... 

I took the opportunity to help one of the girls with her English homework and also shared some scriptures and a message with the whole family... my opportunties to teach are now fewa nd few between... I try to make the most of them when they come... 

That opportunity to teach that family was a small miracle for me... though I did not have a companion... which was realy weird... my favorirte thing to do is to teach families and everyone participated and was attentive... I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for the beautiful opportunity...

Another little miracle that we had was when we had to go out and buy dinner on Saturday night... when we got to the 99 every one and their brother was there... we saw like three members when we were just walking in... it turned out to be a blessing though because a member of our stake let us cut in front of him to buy our things and another member drove us home in their taxi for free... I feel like God is really looking out for us in a lot of ways... 

An update on my foot... well... it was doing great until we had to go to the city on Friday which is about two hours away... it entails a lot of walking and when we got home that night there was not a single taxi to take us where we needed to go so we ended up having to walk then also... about a fifteen minute walk over sidewalks that were not realy sidewalks.... so my foot was about double the normal size and hurt like crazy... really my only desire was to cut the cast off so my foot could swell to its heart content.... it has not been the same since... basically the thing is if I do not have it elevated for more than ten minutes it swells and become black and blue because the blood cant circulate passed my swollen ankle to my toes... some times i wonder if the cast if helping at all... 

To talk about some thing a little happier.... the multi zone conference that we had with elder Ochoa was beauitful... my favorite talk was by Hna Carmack, our mission presidents wife... she talked about the account of Peter walking on the water to Christ in Matthew 14.... she focused on the Saviors simple admonition to come... that when we recieved our mission calls the Savior said to us... Come to Panama... and just as Peter had the faith to leave the boat and walk to Christ we had the faith to leave every thing we knew and held dear to come to Panama.... I was thinking about this the other day as I struggled to sleep because of the pain in my foot... maybe right now I cannot even walk to my Savior literally speaking.... but my soul.... and my heart... hunger for the love the quiet assurance that in this moment of difficulty... in this trial... especially since I discovered that God needs me elsewhere with a new companion starting this Wednesday.... in the midst of all these trials I know that I can find peace in the one that is always calling me to come... 

So we have cambios... transfers... and it is hard for me I am seeking my Savior and trying to enjoy these last few days with Hna Chavez... I am so grateful for the time that I have had with her... it feels like I am saying goodbye to a family member but she will always hold a special place in my heart as my sister and my friend... I love her so much... but now it is some elses turn to have the privilege of loving and knowing her...

I know that some times change is hard... but I know that God knows what He is doing... there is some thing He needs me to do in some other area with so other companion... though I am sad to leave Hna Chavez I am not afraid for what is going to happen because I know my Savior is with me always... one of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 41:10 which reads... fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not afraid for I am thy God... I will strengthen thee... yea I will help thee... yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.. 

I believe those words of the Lord with my whole heart... at the moment things are hard but they can only get better... of this I know... until next week... I love you all so much... thank you for al your prayers and your love...

All My Love, 

Hna Wilson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Five Men, Two Baptisms, and a Cast

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Okay so I learned a word this week that I never thought I would have the necessity to learn in my mission.. that word is yeso... translation... cast. Don´t worry theres a story behind it...

So unknown until now to all of you is that as of Wednesday I have fallen and twisted my ankle five times since being in the mission... I promise I know how to walk... for some reason my ankles just are not very strong and the roads really are not roads in some parts of my area so the two together make for a disaster waiting to happen. Anyway... after I fell the third time I followed the orders from the nurse here in the mission to buy an ankle brace... well Tuesday I made the mistake of not using it... and I fell as we were hurrying to catch a bus to take us to the city and the temple. The next day my ankle was really bugging me but I put on the brace and we headed out to work... we were leaving the first appoitment of the day when without warning it just gave out and twisted... and I knew in that moment that some thing in my ankle was horribly wrong and that I would not be walking the rst of the day.

Some guy appeared out of now where and helped me hop over to a place I could sit down then called his two friends to take us back to our house in a taxi. When we got there we looked at my ankle... it was about three times the size it should be and fiarly black and blue. We called the nurse and she told me to go get an X ray. So off we went... unfortunatley we had to walk a good ten to fifteen minutes before we found a taxi. We met up with Hermana Zone leaders and as we were walking... well hopping is a better word... a guy appeared out of now where and asked if we were LDS.... since we all lhad our name tags it was a werid question but we said yes and he told us that he was too. Almost without asking he picked me up and carried... Hna Chavez almost died laughing and I was not sure what to think... lets just say it was some thing I never thought would happen in my mission...

So we got to the clinic and they took one lookat my ankle and sent me to the hospital in Colon... which is about an hour away... the stake presdient here was kind enough to drive us so that we did not have to take a taxi... there at the hospital they took an X ray and sent me back to the clinic where they looked at the X ray... told me that they thought I fractured some thing and ordered me to go to a foot specialist in the morning...

So Thursday morning super early our zone leaders... elders and hermanas... showed up the house to help... the elders gave me a blessing and then carried me out to a taxi... we waited at the doctors for two hours before we got in... there he told me that nothing was broken but that my ligaments were basically ruined at the moment... he ordered a cast for three weeks... telling me that I could not put any weight on it and sent me on my way. The lady that was doing the cast told us that the cast was extremely expensive.. we asked her how much and she told us $80... I did not have $80 to pay for it... the next thing she tells us is that she is not going to charge us.... she told us not to tell anyone and I am praying that God blesses her profusely for that. 

The Elders of Colon then showed up and went with us to buy crutches... both taking turns carrying me to and from taxis... when I got the crutches it was the moment when it really hit me that my mission experience was going to be rather different for the next three weeks... 

Honestly I am not going to lie and say that last few days have been easy because they have been any thing but that... I have been blessed with the burning desire to study my scriptures and so to some degree that is keeping me sane... God has blessed us though... 

For example, on Saturday I was going crazy.... we had the baptism of Marlee and Gabriella at 4:30 but at 3:00 it just felt like eons aways. I told Hna Chavez that I was dying for some juice and she told me that we could get some after the baptisimal service. Suddenly there was a knock at our door and there stood Hna. Ochoa, a member that had come to visit me. She sat and talked with us for a minute and suddenly she reaches into her purse and pulls out a bottle of juice... I wanted to cry.... it was so little but in that moment it was a such a big tender mercy for me.... we sang a hymn and shared a scripture with her and she told us that when she entered the house she could feel the Spirit reallyl strong and that she was grateful for the Spirit that we had when we taught her. God really is merdciful... I know that there is some thing I am supposed to learn from this small trial and while I am still trying to figure out exacty what that is I have an angel for a companion and tons of people around me that are supporting me and ready to help me with any thing that I need. 

The pictures attached are fromt eh baptism of Marlee and Gabriella.. it was so beautiful... they were so ready... we were just privileged enough to be the missionaries that had the privilege of being apart of this special moment... they were confirmed yesterday and I felt that joy that can only come from knowing that you were instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring a soul unto Him. 

This Sunday Valentine also came to Church.. he did not get baptized this past week because there were problems with his family... he was upset and di not want to get baptized when he felt like that... so we are hoping that we will have the privilege of seeing him baptized this week... I will keep you all posted on that...

Thats pretty much all I have to share with you guys right now... members here are going out of there way to help... one of the members brought lunch to church yesterday for us because its hard from Hna Chavez to go out and buy food for us because she cant leave me alone and she cant be alone. 

Regardless of all that is happening there is no one else I woudl rather experience this with then Hna Chavez. She truly is an angel and it helps me that I love her like my own sister and she feels the same for me.... its hard to watch her leave with other people to go work but I know that God has a purpose for every thing and all I can do is be patient and watch Him work... I love you all so much.... dont be worried about me.. the Creator of worlds has me securely in His loving hands. Until next week... we should know about cambios by then too... I will let you know... 

All My Love, 

Hna Wilson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Salvation Depends on the Individual, Exaltation Depends on the Family

Buenas Tardes Todos!

Okay so I am writing late because today is a weird day... we are going to the temple tomorrow and so technically tomorrow is our PDay but we are writing our families today because... I really dont know why.. so I will sned this to you guys and then head to work... well first head to lunch and then to work... but you get the point.. I am excited for the chance to go to the temple... the sessions are in Spanish in case any of you were wondering... bueno... on to what happened this week.. 

It was a week of service projects really... our stake had a health and wellness fair so we spent a lot of time doing that... we also had an actividad de rescate... I have no idea how to say it in English but all the missionaries in the zone came to our area and we had lists of the less active memebers and we had members that went with the missionaries to find the people on the lists... Hna Chavez and I ended up having to split up because we had so many members and that made me a little said but we were able to find a lot of people and it was nice to work with the members so closely... 

Sunday was definitely our day of miracles.. we had an assistencia of 130 people in sacrament meeting with six investigators... Hna Chavez and I had to sit separately with different investigators.. five of the investigators have baptisimal dates.. three for this weekend and two for the 14th.. 

I have to tell you guys how two of the fechas for this weekend came about... their names are Marlen, who is 20 and Gabriella who is 8 almost 9... we were heading to try and contact Fransisco Dixon again when we sat a minute to think if that was what we really wanted to do... out of no where Hna Chavez pulls out the cell phone and calls someone.. by the name of Josephina and asks her if we can come visit her... she lives in the limit of our area.. almost in the area of the elders so it was a good twenty minutes from where we were but we headed out there.. Josephina is a member and her daughter and grandaughter are not... when we got there Marlen, the daughter, met us at the door and basically asked us when she could be baptized.. 

We sat down with them and learned that the other Hnas in our ward had visited them twice which baffled us a little bit but they told us they were frustrated because they had only come one week.. put a baptisimal date and never come back... so we talked to them about the 7th of September... they have already come to church four or five times and so all we have to do is teach them some things that the need to know before their baptism and they are good.. they have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith... I have never met people so prepared for the Gospel... Hemanita Gabriella loves to pray so much... our first lesson with them she offered the opening prayer and when we told her she could choose someone for the closing prayer she chose herself... I am so excited to see them enter the waters of baptisms and make covenants with the Lord... 

The Walter Family also came to Sacarmaent... after the Sacrament but it was the first time we have seen them in the first hour of church ever so it was a big step.. fifteen minutes earliar and they would have been there for the Sacrament.. there are some complications there though.. we are going to work with them a lot this week.. our goal for the baptisms of Alberto and Rafael is the 14th but its possible that Simon might need more time to get things worked out... we will see...

Valentine is doing well.. he came to church this week also but only stayed for the first meeting... Hna Chavez and I are praying a lot to know if he is really ready to be baptized this week or not.. we will visit him tomorrow to walk about the interview and I am sure we wil know then what to do with the help of the Spirit of course...

Another little miracle that we had was to see Hno Jesus at Church with a white shirt and tie... its just so amazing to see the changes he has made in his life.. we are still working with him and he is not quiet ready for the priesthood but we will continue to work with him and I am grateful that God led us to him....

Thats pretty much all for the week... the time is flying way to fast and there are just not enough hours in the day to do every thing that we need to do... cambios are 18 de Sept. and we are dreading it... but I am so grateful that God guided me to one of my eternal friends.. I love her so much and every day I love her more.. I just want to end with my testimony.. I know this work is true.. the title of the email is some thing that a sister said in sacrament meeting this week... there are things that we need to do to return to live with our Heavenly Father but He does not want us to come back alone... I am so grateful for the opportunidy God has given to come to share the Gospel with the people and especially the families here in Panama... there is nothing else I would rather be doing.. I have never felt so happy.. I know with all my heart that this is what God needs me to do right now... I love you all... so so much... I miss you... I pray that you can all see the hand of the Lord in your lives because He is there.. seek Him always.

All My Love, 

Hna Wilson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Some More Photos

Alright so I attached a photo first to show how long my hair is and second to show where Hna Chavez and I live... enjoy!

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

One more...

A birthday party with the Sanchez Family.... 

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Just Some Photos...

One of the many cakes I had for my birthday... this one was my favorite :)

The geckos that hang out on the cielings.. my goal is to catch one one of these days... 

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Just Name the Date

Hola Hola Hola!

Como le van! Espero que todo esta bien con ustedes!

This week was an interesting one full of weird days and even stranger teaching experiences... my birthday was so great.. I had four cakes in two days and I am pretty sure I gained all the weight that I have lost... anyway... on to what happened the other days of the week... 

Okay so one of the best things that happened this week was putting a baptisimal date with Hno Valentine... when we first started teaching him he was really really confused and had some weird perceptions about God and our purpose here on earth... teaching him was difficult because he never wanted to pray and didnt think that God lloved him or had much to offer him.. thankfully he started to read the Book of Mormon and came to Sacrament meeting one week.. so we went and visited on... Thursday I believe... and when we did we were not sure if we should go forward with the lesson we planned to teach.. I told Hna Chavez that if we were going to teach the planned lesson I wanted to sing the hymn Come Follow Me to start the lesson and if not then I really did not care.. the problem was.. we had planned ot commit him to baptism that day and structured a lesson around that... but there was so much noise and so many other things going on that we were not sure if the Spirit would be there in the way we needed it to be to accomplish the goal of putting a fecha with Hno Valentin... 

In that moment Hno Valentin told the kids that were running up and down the stairs of the apartment building ot be quiet... and they listened... so we went forward and taught him about faith and repentance... he answered all of our questions perfectly and when we invited him to baptized he said that we needed ot tell him when we were having a service so he could be ready.. so we commited him to be baptized 31st de August... more of a miracle was when we invited Hno. Valentin to prayer... we told him he only had to prayer for two things... to know if he wshould be baptized and some thing that he was grateful for... when he began to pray I was elated.. and he prayed for a good few minutes..i t was such an amazing experience to see te change in Hno. Valentin...

Later Hna Chavez and I were talking and she told me that when we were deciding to sing the hymn or not she had said a little prayer that somehow the kids that were running up and down the stairs would be quiet if we needed ot go forward with the planned lesson.. and Hno Valentin... in that moment... had told them to be quiet... 

So that was a big miracle for us... to see the Gospel bring so much light and clarity into someones life.. he did not come to Church yersterday but we are gong ot visit him tomorrow with a member so I am praying that he comes this week...

Now for the weekly update on Hno Jesus... it is a little complicated and I am relaly not at liberty to discuss a lot of it... we went with our District Leaders to visit him because we almost dropped the fecha with him and he has come to three three times out of five... so we went and finally taught him about the Restoration... I have never felt the Spirit so strong then I did as I recited the ffirst vision and testified of what Joseph Smith saw... I bore testimony that the Gospel would change his life because it had changed mine.. he told us that he wanted more time to prepare for his baptism and we asked him to pray and told him we would be visiting him a lot this week.. we are going to call him tonight to talk to him and see how he is.. he is in a sensitive place right now because he is struggling to quit smoking and his family is not happy that he wants to be baptized.. they are Catholic... I will keep you all posted on his progress... I am praying for my first baptism this week...

The other big miracle is the change in the father of the Walter boys... I have never seen someone change so quickly... he is passing through the process of repentance at this time and it is a difficult one.. he has done a lot of things that he needs to change but I have never seen someone with such a strong desire to do so.. the baptism of ahis boys is a big motivation... they came to Church yesterday and theBishop talked with both Carmen and Simon... we are making progress....

Another little miracle that we had was when we were contacting close to our house... I was talking with Hna Chavez.. not really paying attention when she suddenly asked me.. left or right... without thining I said left... andsuddenly Hna Chavez walks to right and says she wants to contact the house that we were standing in front of... so we yelled out a greeting and a woman came out... the first thing she tells is that shes Catholic and does not want any thing... I tell her that we are there to share a message about Jesus Christ that will strengthen the faith she already has... so she lets us in... and on the table we see the picture of the grandson of a member in our ward.. we ask her if she knows him and she says that it is her grandson... she is the mother of his dad.. we told her how we knew him and instantly she warmed up and we talked for a good ten minutes before starting the lesson... we are going to go back and teach her again this week... Hna Chavez and I took a moment to thank God for that little amusing experience... 

Anyway... I should end this.. know that I love you all.. my testimony is strengthened every day as I see the power of the Gospel to change lives and lift the hands that hang down... we now have a list of all the members in our ward.. 25 pages long... we are preparing an activity to look for the less actives.. wish us luck.. I have a feeling it is going to be a good week... I will let you know how it goes next week... the Church is true... be strong... God loves you all and so do I... 

All My Love, 

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.