Its Not About the Numbers

Hola Mis Amors

Okay so this week was a lesson in why its more important to teach people and not lessons and how there is a soul behind every number... almost all of our RC are inactive... and there is a family who is suffering because the missionaries forever ago rushed them into a marriage that really should have never happened... I hope that every thing is well with all of you.. I think of you often and remember you in my prayers...this week was a great week for us... I admitted to Hna Chavez at the beginning of the week that I had always had a personal goal of teaching 40 lessons total in one week... we worked really hard this week and end with 42.. for the first time since my mission started I was happy to report numbers with three investigators in Church and two of them with baptisimal dates it felt really good to finally see that things are coming along.. slowly... but they are coming. 

First I will talk abou tthe fecha we put thi sweek... it was probably one of the most interesting lessons I have ever taught in my life as a missionary... he asked us to come at 8am and so we did... but almost every ten minutes or less we were interrupted by someone... just when the Spirit was strongest someone would come to his door or pass in the street and say hello and we would have to work to bring the Spirit back... Hno. Jesus has to quit smoking in order to be baptized and so we worked to set goals and at first he told us that we could not understand because we have never had an addiction like that so we proposed that if he would give up smoking we would give up chocolate... so Hna Chavez and I are chocolate free until he gets baptized or one of us leaves the area... whatever comes first... but he accepted a fecha for the 24th of August because other than smoking he has some things he has to work out before he can be baptized but he is very optimistic, has attended Church twice, and wants to make the changes in his life that he needs to make. 

Earliar in the week we had a lesson with Jesus where we learned all the things that he needed to change in order to be baptized... it felt like being in a confessoin or some thing.. when we asked Jesus to give the prayer he bowed his head and prayed silently... it is so hard not to laugh when that happens and it happens often... thus commenced the strangest day of my life... whats comical about it is that I asked Hna Chavez in the morning if she was ready for all the strange experiences we would have that day.. she told me that I should not say things like that... I was going to jynx us.. and I think I did. 

After Jesus we decided to contact in a part of our area where we live that we had never gone in being careful to avoid the red are that is at the the opposite end of where our house is... we contacted an older woman in her home and I was in the mdidle of introducing who we were when she got up and left the room and did not come back.. it was weird... then we contacted a guy in the street and it turns out that he was a Pentacostal preacher from Florida that speaks English.. he asked us about polygamy and our other Bile... oh man it was so weird.... he talked to us for like 30 minutes... then after passing by a less active member we passed by a house and a guy was standing i nthe doorway.. he told us to come in because he had a friend of ours there.. we were hesitant because we could not see anyone else and the guy was a little off... then we heard the voice of a woman so we went in and they acted like we knew them but I am confident I have never talked to them before iin my life.. the woman then started to argue with us about weather the Sabbath was Saturday or Sunday so we left pretty quick... not commmiting to come back... 

To end the night we were walking down stairs when a group of four dogs decided to try and attack us.. we fortunately had my little umbrella and that fended them off long enough for us to walk a distance away but itwas one of those moments where I am sure my heart stopped... anyway... that wsa Wednesday... the weirdest day I have yet had... and Hna Chavez and I are pretty sure its my fault... so now we do not say the words... experiencias raras... in our house... 

Another weird thing that happened this week was talking to an investigator about baptisms fo rthe dead... she told us she was worried about her parent who had died and not accepted Christ and so we talked to her abou the ways we vcan help those that have passed on... we then talked to her about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible support one another and she is one of those people that wants to investigate every thing so we left her with a promise to retun this week and are praying that she comes to know through tthe Holy Ghost that this is the church she is looking for...

We found a guy by the name of Hno. Tuñon... he knows his history bette than most people I have met and he just wants to learn... we contacted him on Wednesday and ended up teaching him two lessons worth of material in one visit which lasted almost an hour and a half... we spent 20 minutes alone talking about the Apostosy and when we introduced the Book of Mormon he told us that he wanted a week to read it... he accepted Joseph Smith and every thing but he told us that he wanted time to read the book and that we could come back on Wednesday... Hna Chavez and I are studying hard to be prepared to answer the questions that he might have... we are also going ot try and put a fecha... time will tell.. 

Jus a brief language update... we contacted a 19 year old girl named Crisol and her three year old son Julio... she asked me if I was from France... I am taking that as a compliment that I am sounding less like a gringa then I thought even though I still cannot trill my R... Hna Chavez is working with me. and we practice almost every day.... we also speak in Engish at night and some times I get frustrated because I feel like I talk slower in English than I do in Spanish and I just want to say things some times and so Hna Chavez has to remind me to talk in English.. also I was talking in my sleep three nights ago... loud enough to wake Hna Chavez up and she told me that I spoke in Spanish so its a good sign right.... 

Anyway, this week we had a lot of weird experiences but we also had a lot of blessings... the biggest blessing is seeing the beginnings of the fruits of our efforts here and the other blessing is the love that Hna Chavez and I have... we are praying that we do not have transfers but we know that God is in charge and we are prepared to accept his will in all things... one of our goals as a companionship this week is not to cry... wish us luck... 

Just want you guys to know that I love you so much... I am praying fo ryou and thinking about you often.. I am learning how to really appreciate all the things I had at home.. yesterday there was a huge bug in my food.. it looked like a cockroach.. the members laughed when I told them I was not sure if I could continue to eat my food... always an adventure haha...

Anyway time is short so I will say Hasta luego but know that I love you.. the Church is true and the time is passing way to quickly.. I will complete four months this Saturday... its sad... anyway... love you

All My Love, 

Hna Wilson

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And If We Need To Change Our Plans...

Let us know...

Hola Todos!

Life here in Panama is pretty much the same as the last time we talked... it rains almost every day... we did not have water again for over 24 hours... I found a colony of ants in my bed again... all an adventure but all the experiences that I am confident are preparing me for after my mission... well I hope I dont have to sleep with ants forever but you get the idea.. 

It was a week of working really hard to really get the members to trust us. We had lunch with the members that we live with for the first time since I came to this area over two months ago... it was a HUGE step in the right direction and they regailed us with stories that we didnt really want to hear about all the problems they had with the missionaries before us... it made me feel good to hear the Hno tell me that when I arrived he relaxed a little because he could see that I was going to try my best to steer my companion in the right direction... it makes me wish I had done more to help her be obedient but oh well.. I cant think about what I should have done right... 

Anyway on to the really good things that happened this week... we taught Hno Fransisco... our fecha... the Restauration and at first he was really really skeptical... then we shared the first vision and after he thought about it for a minute and then said some thing a long the lines of... well I know that God needs to cmmunicate with people through prophets so i think its possible that God used Joseph Smith to restore the Gospel... it makes sense... so things are almost perfect with him except for the fact that he tars his shift of working in the afternoons and so we need to find another time to meet with him... we are praying so hard that he will come to Church this Sunday... fingers crossed.. and arms to haha...

Okay one of the best finding experiences I had this week was with Hna Evelia Hall... sounds American because it kind of is... we were contacting for the hour befor ewe had to go back to the house and we tried a house after saying a quick prayer asking where to go... Hna Evelia came out and was relaly hard... she asked us what we were thinking being out at 8 oclock at night... she told us if we were smart we would go home because it was dangerous in some parts of our area... we assured her that if we could have a few moments of her time we would go straight home... she said okay so we stood there.. sang a hymn for her and shared a brief message about the Plan of Salvation... she did not soften until we gave her the pamphlet... we ended with a prayer and then we just stood there and talked for aminute and joked about my inability to speak Spanish and remember English... by the time we said goodbye she was all smiles and when we visited her yesterday she greeted us warmly and with open arms.. it was really just a feel good moment for Hna Chavez and I and even though Hna Evelia goes back to work this week we are hoping to find her free and at home on Wednesday... 

So God gave me a really big tender mercy this week... Thursday and Friday were hard days for me because we had not taught very many lessons and we had the stress of planning an actitivy that had been in the works for the past three weeks... well the night of the activity only about ten people came... all of them members... except for one... 

When Hno Dario walked into the room and I knew that God was showing me that none of my efforts were wasted... Hna Bonilla and I had found Hno Dario in our first exchange together... we had taught him twice together and then had not been able to contact him after that... but there he was... at the activity.. talking with the members and even better the Bishop is his neighbor and was very pleased to see him there.. like a child on Christmas morning and ran up to Hna Chavez and excitedly told her that Hno Dario had come... she laughed at me but it was just such a big tender mercy because it reminded me that while I am not having baptisms I am planting seeds and finding people that will some day be baptized by other missionaries... 

So the title has to do with the next little experience I am going to share with you... Saturday it was raining ridiculously hard... so we decided to wait a little bit before going to visit Familia Lorenza because it is kind of a difficult place to get to when its not wet... we did not want to break our necks trying to get there when there was rain.. so we sat down and waited.. Hna Chavez and I were both looking at our planners when we looked at each other and Hna Chavez told me she felt we should visit someone else in that moment... I asked her who and I as I looked at my agenda the name.. Jesus Martin jumped out at me... I asked her who she thought we should visit and after a minute she suggested we go visit Jesus Martin... I told her I had been thinking the same thing and so off we went... 

We shared a lesson with him and his father about the Word of Wisdom... his father quit smoking and drinking a year ago and wants his son to stop smoking... we asked Jesus what we could do to help him and in turn asked us if he could go to church with us... and believe it or not for the first time since my mission has started an investigator came to Church... more than that... he came dressed for Church.. with a tie and every thing.. he was chewing a piece of gum to fight the craving to smoke and after the meetings he told us how much he loved it and how he wanted to come with us again next week and asked if he could.... we are going to visit him on Wednesday morning... we going to try and put a fecha and we are hoping and praying that he accepts.. 

While there were tons of other miracles to share I am a bit short on time... we found an Hna yesterday by the name of Brenda Ford.. she speaks English too haha... anyway... she is really open to our message and teaching her was like teaching a member because she already had a believe in every thing we are teaching... we are going to teaching her the Restuaration at the end of the week and try to put a fecha... heres to hoping that shes legally married... 

Anyway... it was a hard week but lots of miracles and Hna Chavez and I are working hard to do every thing tha tGod wants and needs us to do... the time is passing way to quickly and I cannot believe it is almost August... I love you all so much... I am praying for you and think about you often... today I am giong with Hna Chavez to learn how make Hondurian tortillas... I cannot remember the name for them... a member is going to teach us and I am pretty excited... anyway.. hope all is well with all of you.. sending my love from humid rainy Panama...

Con Todo de Mi Amor, 
Hna Wilson

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So I Can Go To Church With You Guys... Right....

Hey Guys!

I am going to preface this by saying that this was probably the most interesting week I have had in the mission and also one of the most spiritual.. Tuesday we went to the city for a Zone Conference to meet our new mission president... President Carmack... he is from New Jersey and was a lawyer in New York... he seems like a good nice guy... I think we will get to know him better when he comes out here for interviews and stuff... anyway... at the Zone Conference he had some people in the ward there cook for us and it turns out that the meat was either poorly prepared or prepared to early or some thing because every missionary that ate was sick the entire week... my companion and I included... we talked with our Hermana ZLs because they were not sick and they told us that they had been fasting on Tuesday... we got a good laugh out of that... you guys know me though... we kept working until our ZLs ordered us to take the afternnoon to rest on Friday... we still went out and worked in the evening.. it was really hard for me to relax though... I just laid there and thought about all the appoitments we were not going to.... I think I need to learn to relax a little bit...  by Saturday we were feeling better and we made the mistake of fasting Saturday evening ot Sunday afternoon and I felt pretty sick all day yesterday but that did not stop us from working... relax though... I am feeln gbetter today and Hermana Chavez and I are spending our Pday at home relaxing...  now on to the miracles this week... 

The biggest miracle came last Monday when Hna Chavez went out looking for a reference or a guy that had really only given us his address because he thought we were pretty but we were hoping that if his wife was with him he would be a little calmer... so we went looking for a not very specific address... when we could not find it we sat down and had a prayer... knowing that there was someone else that God wanted us to find... we prayed for guidance and then we stood up and started walking... we contacted a seventeen year old guy named Ezekial and got a return appoitment with him.. we passed by his house twice this week and bot htimes he was not there so we are going to try one more time and if hes not there were going to leave it a little while... 

We had walked to the end of the street and were walking back when we passed a house where an older guy was standing on his porch looking at his dog who was obviously very sick.. we said hello and I paused.. feelin glike we needed to talk wit him... he sai dsome thing about his dog which brought Hna Chavez back... she had continued to walk a few paces ahead of me... we talked with him for a inute and for some reason Hna Chavez could understand him... she told me later that she was prayingy that because she could not understand that I would be able to... and I could... perfectly... it occured to me that maybe he spoke English because of the way he talked in Spanish... then he told us his name and this feeling of familiarity overcame me... I knew this person... I knew this person wel... but I had never met him before.. at least not in this life... when he told us his name it would like I was being reunited with an old friend... and I knew that he was one of the reasons I am here in Colon... Fransisco Dixon... without thinking I asked if we could share a message with him and said of course... he let us in to his porch and we sat down... and I felt... home... we started to talk to him and we leaned why we had found him...

He is a man with incredible faith... he has been married for thirty years and his wife...a t one point could not walk because she had problems with her back... he prayed and prayed that she would get better... promising God that if she did he would quit drinking... he said like a month after that she was walking and so he stopped drinking... he has truly been prepare dby the hand of the Lord.... we went back and visited him on Thursday and he told us that right when we left his dog got better... he said it was because we had prayed for him and he knew that we were an answer to his prayers to hel phim and his family... on Thursday we invited him to be baptized and he told us that he had already been baptized before but that if God wanted him to be baptized again he would do it.. he then asked us if he could come to church with us on Sunday and we told him of course... we had already invited him three times... he told us that he had to work but that he would try his best to come... this past Sunday he was not able to make it but we know that it was becaus ehe could not get off work... we are going to visit and teach him on Tuesday so I will let you guys know what happens with that.... I truly hope I will have the opportunity to see him baptized... I know that he was one of my friends that I was sent here to Panama to find and I am grateful that God led us to him.. oh and he speaks English.. he is 52 years old... from the West Indies and was in the Air Force and lived in Texas.... so yeah... my initial thought was correct... . 

Another experience we had that was mor einteresting then spiritual this week was when we were teaching Familia Roberts... who also speak English and are from the West Indies.. I felt like we found tons of people who speak English this week.. anyway.. we brought a member to the lesson and it turns out the member knows the daughter of the family so that made getting in the door and teaching really easy... at the end of the lessons we asked Hna Soña if she would pray about what we had taught and she said yes.. bows her head and starts praying and Hna Chavez and I quickly bow our heads and tried not to laugh... we were so shocked... we talked for a little while longer and they told us to call to set up our next appoitnment with them... we are hoping to go back later this week with the same member... they are super Catholic but we are going to try extending a baptisimal invitation and seeing what happens... 

Another little miracle this week was finding 32 year old Roxanna Rueben... we were walking down a street after our cita had fallen through and we had prayed to find someone else... we were certain that God wanted us to find someone else so we were walking and Hna Chavez asked me what house I thought we should contact... I looked at the yellow one we were stnading in front of and also at the red on ea little ways away and told her that I was torn between the two... I started walking to feel weather I should go back or go forward and Hna Chavez called me back... so we contacted the yellow house... as soon as we approached Hna Roxanna came out.. after talking for a minute we asked if we could share a message about jesus Christ with her and she said yes... we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and set up an appoitment to come back.. she is interested and she ansswers our questions really in depth... we are hoping to put a fecha with her this week... 

The lsat miracle of the week was meeting the rest of Uriels family... even though he was not present in the lesson and the fecha with him is really unsure at this point we had the privilege of meeting his wife Angelica... her sister Alva and their siblings Jonathan... Argellies... and the nine year old son of Alva whos name I cannnot remember... we taught them about the plan of Salvation and Hna Chavez kind of let me take the lead with them... I dont know what happened but before I knew it we were teaching.. they were answering and we even through in a joke here and there that made them genuinely laugh... when we committed them to baptism they said that they were Cahtolic but that we could come back every day if we wanted and teach them... they are all going ot be together again on Saturday so we are going to back around then and hopefully Hno Uriel wll be in the lesson... 

So it was just a really good week of findin gpeople... in total we have 11 new investigators and we found the family that we had been wanting to find.... God was really merciful this week and I know its because we tried our best to work even though we relaly did not feel like doin git... I am praying for six more weeks with Hna Chavez... .it is sad to realize that we have reached the half way point in cambios... I am going to end this email by saying that I lov eyou all so much! You are in my prayers... we pray for you every time we pray together and if you hve been a missionary you know thats a lot.... I hope all is well with all of you... until next week....

All My Love, 
Hna Wilson

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All In The Lords Time...

Hola Todos!

Okay so this week was full of both struggles and miracles... I learned just how much Hermana Morales had not taught me and how many people we had not visited... bless her heart I believe she did her best but this past week was full of finding investigators that I had never met and also searching out new investigators that dont need to get married or divorced... I believe Hermana Chavez and I now know almost our entire area which is saying some thing because it is pretty big. 

Hermana Chavez and I tried a lot different things this week and had some pretty miraculous experiences because of it... also... Megan... I saw a sloth yesterday and thought of you.. he was hanging in a tree eating mangos.. I did not have my camera so unfortunately I could not take pictures but know that it was pretty awesome and I will try to be prepared the next time I see one. 

The first miracle that we had with finding was on Monday... we had divisiones... Hermana Chavez was in another area and our ZL for the hermanas came here to work with me... God has a sense of humor because her name is Hermana Wilson also so when we were contacting and introducing ourselves people could not belieave that we were not related... it was pretty funny... anyway we went up to work in Vista Tropical... I had spent the last week thinking of a street that I wanted to contact.... every time I thought of that part of my area I saw that street in my head... Hermana Chavez and I had just not had time to do it... so Hermana Wilson and I planned for it that Monday together... 

We went up there and walked all the way to the end of the street... nothing... we stood there for a minute and I said a silent prayer... asking God to show us why He had wanted us to contact this street... in that moment we both started walking towards the last house on the street.. when we approached an Hermana... who we later learned is named Beatrice... asked us if we were missionaries... when we said yes she asked if we had pamphlets... we said yes and asked if we could share a message with her... she is basically golden.. unfortunately she does not live in our area she was only there to watch her grandkids... we gave her the number of the elders in our area and left a pamphlet with her... 

Later this past week we went back because I wanted Hermana Chavez to know her... we sat with her and she told us that she had read the entire pamphlet and that she wanted to know more... we introduced her to the Book of Mormon and taught her about Joseph Smith... she had so many questions that we ran out of time... we committed her to reading and praying and have plans to go back and teach her again... we are planning on commiting her to baptism this time so we will let you all know how that goes next week... we also got her address in the area of the elders and gave it to our ZLs and we are hoping to talk to them today to see if they were able to contact her... she is definitely special... she told us she is looking for the one true church and we bore testimony to her that she had found it.. only time will tell... 

The other finding miracle was when we were looking for an old investigator named Augustina Kelly... she is blind and the previous missionaries had visited her and given her a Book of Mormon in Braile.. but I had never visited her with Hermana Morales so it was in an area that I had never been... to top it off the address that we had in our area book was incorrect so... we spent two hours looking for her... we asked everyone that we saw and got like seven addresses for return visits in the process... we found an hermano by the name of Jesus Martin who asked us for a Book of Mornon because he had talked with missionaries before... when we left he was reading the introduction which is a great sign.. plus he does not need to get married which is a plus for us... 

Okay... back to Augustina Kelly... we had asked a woman earlier where she lived and she gave us directions that Hermana Chavez and I did not quiet understand... we were talking with Jesus Martin when we saw that same woman... we told her that we had not been able to find Hermana Kelly and so she announced that she was going to... show us where she lived.. we talked with her for a good ten minutes and she was very impressed with the fact that we had left our homes and our families to spend 18 months serving the Lord... I asked her where she lived and she told us an area that I believe is the area of some elders in our Zone... I dont know why but I did not feel I should ask her for her address... I know God has a plan for every thing and even though I was kicking myself for not doing it I believe that if had needed to do it God would have let me know...

We found Hermana Kelly with two sisters from... I think it was an Evengelical Christian church.. I am not sure... they had some snide remarks for us but we talked with Hermana Augustina and set up a return appoitment with her... I am excited to teach her... we are going back either tomorrow or Wednesday with a member that lives really close... 

Okay Sunday... Sundays are the best... Hermana Chavez and I fast on Saturdays and so I believe it is for that reason that we have our biggest miracles on Sundays... we had been fasting for a lot of things but one of our biggest hopes was that the members would work with us more... we left the room where we had ended our fast together with a prayer and in that moment one of the leaders of the young women came up to us and asked us if we would go with the youth the next Sunday to visit the less active youth whose parents are not members... of course we said yes and on our way to lunch Hermana Chavez and I talked about what it miracle it was... slowly... very slowly... God is helping us to gain the confidence of the members... I believe we are goin gto have a lot of lessons with members this week. 

After lunch we went up to Vista Allegre and first contacted a family of less actives and we learned some things about them that I do not feel I should share but is going to make for an intersting next four weeks I believe... We then went to look for a reference I had recieved from a woman when we went to the temple on Tuesday.... we had been talking and she spontaneously tells me that she not interested in our message but that she has a daughter that lives in our area that might be... so we set out in search for Alba Evangelica... we tried to follow the dirrections that we had been given.... the last house at the top of the stairs... or some thing like that... so we went up the only stairs we saw.. 136 stairs later we found our selves not knowing where to go (Hermana Chavez counted when we went down) we asked a man by the name of Ismael and got an appoitment with him but he also told us that he did not know an Alba Evangelica... we walked to the last house on the hill that we were on and tried contacting it... no one... I felt that we needed to keep going but I walked a little ways and did not see any more houses... we had stopped and had a prayer and so we were both silent as we tried to listen to what the Spirit was telling us to do. 

Hermana Chavez suggested that we head back down... that we probably were not going to find it... as we went I saw a house and just felt the need to contact it... so we talked with the woman that was standing on porch and asked her about Hermana Alba... she told us that our reference was not for one person but two... they were sisters... Alba y Angelica... and she gave us dirrections to the house... so we headed back the way we came... 

There we found an hermano by the name of Uriel who we later learned is the husband of hermana Angelica who was not at home... we asked if we coudl share some thing with him and so we sat on his porch with him and his two year old son and taught him the first half of the plan of Salvation... when we extended the commitment for him to be baptized he said yes... and he accepted a baptisimal date for the 27th of July... the only set back is that he and his wife need to get married... we are going to head back there this week to meet his wife and hopefully commit her to a date also... 

We left knowing that the Lord had guided us to Uriel and his family... he was definitely someone that has been prepared by the Lord to recieve the Gospel... its really true that good things come to those who wait... I have waited almost two months to put my first fecha with someone that the Spirit led me to find... Hermana Chavez and I determined to put a lot more fechas this week... our focus is on finding new investigators and we both know that with work and with God we will have the success that we want and find the people that He wants us to find... 

I am so grateful for all the experieces this week... I am grateful for a companion who I love and who loves me... we hate looking at the days passing so rapidly... it is far to fast for both of us... we are hoping for another cambio together but God knows what we need and if we needed 12 weeks together... we will have it... 

I love you all so much... I am going to send another email with pictures so I am going to end this email now.. until next week... 

All My Love, 
Hermana Wilson

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And Then If Thou Endure It Well...

God will give you an angel for a companion. 

Hola Todos!

I have so many things to tell you and not a lot of time to do it. First, Grandma I finally got the pictures... just letting you know! Things are good here... I am happier then I can ever remember being in my mission and I will now tell you why...

I got a new companion... her name is Hermana Chavez... to understand the implications of this we need to back track to my CCM days. I had a teacher in the CCM named Hermano Chavez... he told Hermana Worth and I that his sister was serving in Panama. AT the time she had a companion who was training her named Hermana Wilson... I jokingly told Hermano Chavez that it was a sign that his sister and I would be companions... 

Then the day of cambios... I was standing with Hermana Morales and Hermana Bonilla looking for Hermana Chavez. I just wanted to meet her.... her brother had relly had an impact on me and I just wanted to know who she was. Suddenly I look and there she is... we talked for a minute but did not have a lot of time.... then we went for cambios... they show a video with pictures and they put the pictures together of who will be companions one companionship at a time.... Hermana Bonilla ended up with Hermana Worth which also makes for a small world and I anxiously waited to see I would get. When I saw Hermana Chavezs picture next to mine I cried... Hermana Bonilla hugged me and told what a good missionary Hermana Chavez is and how lucky I was... she did not need to tell me though... through tears I told Hermana Morales and Hermana Bonilla that I had hoped that at some point I would serve with Hermana Chavez... D y C 58,4 says that after much tribulation come the blessins... we both had hard companionships this last cambiio and I know for me... she is a great blessing... 

We have spent the past four days here really getting to know our investigators... we have learned a lot of things that I really cannnot talk about with you guys for the sole reason that its personal but I do have a favor to ask of you guys. We have a couple. He is an investigator and she is a memory. They are living together... he wants to get baptized but first he has to divorce his first wife and then they have to get married... one of my ZLs told me it could take as long as four months... Hna Chavez and I were talking about the situation Saturday night and both felt that the mode of action to take was to talk to them about separating until the divoce coudl go through and they could get married.... that way they could both be living the law of chasity... she could be living her covenants and he could get baptized... the favor is that you pray for us and for them this week... we are meeting with them on Saturday and we are just hoping that we can talk to them in a way that will understand that it is out of love.... 

So yesterday was the first time I felt lost... but before I get to that I need to tell you about another miracle Hermana Chavez and I had. We went on Thursday so Hermana Chavez could meet Hermana Niska... when we got there she asked me how long it had been since we had come and visit her... I shamefully admitted that we had not come by for almost 11 days... some thing Hermana Chavez and I are making up for now.... we went by again on Sunday and as we taught her about the Book of Mormon she told us that she could not find the pamphlet that we had left with her last time and asked for another... she said that she liked reading them.... we were leaving so we handed her another pamphlet and she said she would called us when she knew what her schedule was this week so we could come by.... we are going to go by tonight to leave a card and a little treat as a pick me up after her first day back at work.... I will let you know how that goes... It is just such a blessing because the first three visits or so Hermana Nishka did not look very interesting.. but now it is very obvious that she is and that she likes what she is learning... I will be sure to keep you all posted on her progress but I am positive that she will get baptized this cambio... God willing... 

The biggest miracle that Hermana Chavez and I had happened yesterday. We were looking for a family and I had a rough map in my head that had been drawn for me by Hermana Morales. We headed that way and I was slightly flustered because the map was not a very good one. We asked an hermana if she knew the family and she said now. Hermana Chavez suggested we come back with a member and I told her that I felt we should ask one more time... so we went back the way we had come and asked a family sitting on the porch if they knew the family.. they said they did and gave us rough directions to their house... we then turned around and once again went back the way we had just come... we had not gone five feet when we all but walked into a guy who had been headed in our direction. He asked us where we were going and we told him we were looking for a family with the last name of Walter. He smiled and said his name was Simon Walter... Hermana Chavez and I just stood there for a second as it sunk in that we had just found a family that had not been visited by the missionaries for almost six months.... more than that we knew that God put forth his hand and sent the Holy Ghost to guide us... we set up an appoitment with them for the next Sunday and left very happy.

On the bus ride back we got to talking and not paying attention to where we were going so we ended up in the area of the elders very confused. We walked towards the main road and stopped an hermana, asking her which way we shoud go to get to Nv. Colon. She pointed us in the right direction and then started to walk away... she stopped... turned around asked us if we had a chuch in NV. Colon... we said we did and we started talking about the church and missionaries. I told her that there were elders in her area and asked her if she wanted them to come by and share more with her... she said yes and then proceeded to give us her address and phone number... so now we have  a reference for the elders...

 

Anyway, it has been a really good last four days.... we have taught seven lessons with members and are hoping for a week fulll of lessons with them... we are working to gain their confidence and their trust.. we are learning about our investigators and their needs.... we are going to use large portions of this week to find new investigators and hopefully put some fechas... I love Hermana Chavez so much already.... she is one of the most caring people I have ever met and she is already teaching me so much.... I have a feeling it is going to be a wonderful six weeks... hopefullly more... together and we will see many miracles. We are young missionaries as far as time is concerned... she only has six weeks more than me but we are learning together and I know that as long as we rely on the Lord we will see many great things... 

Thank you for your prayers and your love. Thank you to those of you who respond to my emails... it means so much... know that I pray for you and think of you often... I hope all is well and I will talk with you all next week!

All My Love, 
Hermana Wilson

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