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