Traslados tan locos (crazy transfers)

Hola familia y amigos! Cómo andan? Espero que todos estén bien! :)

[Hello family and friends! How is it going? I hope everybody is fine! :)]

Wow, Christmas has already come and gone and this week is New Year´s. That´s just crazy! I feel like it was yesterday that I was waiting to go to the MTC. 

Eleven months ago today, I left my house. So strange. So much has changed. I´ve grown. I've learned a new language. I´ve gotten to know people I never would have known otherwise. I´ve seen miracles. I´ve seen lives change. I´ve seen the Light of Christ touch people. It´s been amazing!

This week was really good. We were finally in the area the whole week, which was fantastic!

Jorge and Johana are still wanting to progress. Johana more than Jorge. But, we had a good lesson talking about the barriers that Satan puts in our way so that we won´t progress. She understood that she needs to be strong and not let these things get in her way. She said she´d go to church. 

We had a good talk with Helena. But she says she just needs time. She wants us to wait and stay with her, which I understand, but we can´t wait forever.

Neither Helena nor Johana went to church.

But last week we found some new investigators that are progressing very well. Their names are Antonella (15 years old), Damian (28 years old) and Eliana (Damian´s girlfriend but they live together). We found them trying to find an old contact that Hermana Dennis had done. We talked to Antonella and Damian first about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted! When we went the next time, Antonella told us that she wants to change religions. She wants to be ´Mormona´! We are very excited for them! Also, on Sunday, Antonella, Damian and Abel (Antonella´s grandpa) went to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas was great! On Christmas Eve, we went to a member´s house for dinner. The tradition here is to have a dinner and stay up till midnight to open your presents from Santa Clause. We were able to stay until 12:30 and saw everything. It was really neat! 

On Christmas day, my companion and I got up and opened presents (in honor of our tradition). Then we went to meet up with the zone and we did a White Elephant gift exchange. It was great! Then we came back and had lunch with a family and then we went to a member´s house to Skype our families! I LOVE SKYPE!!!!!!!! We had some complications with the microphone and everything, but once it finally worked, it was great! It was amazing to be able to talk and see everyone! What a blessing!

On Saturday night, we got the transfer call. We were nervous because we weren´t sure if Hermana Dennis was gonna stay or not. Well, Hermana Dennis and I both are staying here......but, we both have a mini missionary. I don´t think we have minis at home. I´d never heard of it before the mission. Anyway, a mini missionary is a member from another ward who decides they would like to help out or they´re thinking of going on a mission. Usually we do it when we are short on numbers. But, this time it´s just because there were a lot that wanted to serve. So, Hermana Dennis and I are still Sister Training Leaders, but we go out and work every day with a mini. 

It was the biggest curve ball they could have thrown at us. I´m freaking out a bit. I don´t know the area. Hermana Dennis and I still have to be united because we have to do exchanges with the other girls and we have to show a united front and technically we´re still companions. I have to do everything again. It was definitely not what I expected...Pero bueno. What will come will come, and we´ll meet it when it does.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful and happy New Year!!!!!! Welcome 2016!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all so much!!!!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson 

¡Feliz Navidad!

Hola todos!!! Espero que estén bien!

Bueno, this week was good. A little crazy because of traveling, but good. :)

On Wednesday we went to La Falda to visit the hermanas there. I went with Hermana Jara and Hermana Dennis went with Hermana Linares (that´s right, my old companion). It was a good day. Except the hermanas didn´t know when we were coming because they lost their phone. It was a surprise when we showed up. But, it was good. :)

Thursday we went to the temple which was a beautiful experience! I love the temple! I wish I would have taken advantage of the many temples I have close to my house before my mission. 

Friday was MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! Which is weird. It doesn´t feel like December. Maybe because it´s really really hot... ;) It was a great day. In the morning, we had a district meeting and my district leader bought balloons and we had breakfast together as a district. For lunch, we went to a member´s house and she made tacos. Spicy tacos. Spicy doesn´t happen down here so it was amazing! That night we had the ward Christmas dinner and the whole ward sang happy birthday to me. I definitely wasn´t expecting all that. My comp also bought me a huge Crunch bar which I love so much. :) It was a great day!

We´ve been working super hard, but it´s been frustrating to not see progress in our investigators or in the area. It´s been hard to find new investigators, too, because it´s really touristy here and right now it´s dead summer. I know the Lord is blessing us and that He will lead us, it´s just a little hard to see right now.

Jorge and Johana are in the same state as ever. Waiting to get married.

Helena and Gabriel are still deciding whether or not to get married.

And none of them came to church. 

It´s been a little hard lately.

Anyway, Christmas is in 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I´m super excited! I have always loved Christmas and I hope that you all take advantage of this special time to be with your families and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Por nos ha nacido un Salvador! [For us is born a Savior!]

Quiero compartir con ustedes mi testimonio que yo sé que Cristo es mi Salvador. Que Él vino al mundo para que Él pudiera morir por mis pecados, por mis errores, por mis dolores. Lo amo tanto y estoy tan agradecida por este evangelio y por esta oportunidad a compartirlo. Espero que sepan que les amo también y que tengan una buena Navidad!

[I share with you my testimony that I know that Christ is my Savior. He came into the world so that He could die for my sins, for my mistakes, for my pains. I love him so much and am so grateful for this gospel and for this opportunity to share. I hope you know that I love you too and hope you have a good Christmas!]

I love you all so much! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Christmas Concert Reprise

Saludos de Argentina!

[Greetings from Argentina!]

I hope you´re all doing well and that you had a great week!

This week was a little hard. We contacted and worked hard (we didn´t travel as much this week), but we didn´t have a lot of success. But I know that God tries us and that we won´t receive anything until after the trial of our faith. 

Anyway, Jorge and Johana are doing well. Jorge wasn´t ever there but we did teach Johana. We taught about the Restoration and she was really receptive. She was amazed about all that she didn´t know and promised to read the Book of Mormon and ask if it, and the Church, are true. 

But they didn´t come to church. 

Helena y Gabriel. We couldn´t visit them because of scheduling problems but we were sure that we´d see them on Sunday.

But they didn´t come to church.

That is the biggest fight of all. Getting people to go to church!

Anyway, like I said, we didn´t have a lot of success even though we talked to everyone. But we did learn some patience, which is always good. :)

Sunday was crazy. Last week we had the choir concert and Presidente Alliaud liked it so much that we did it again this last Sunday. But in Rio Cuarto (four hours south of Córdoba).

So, we had to leave church early to meet at a church to get on the bus. We were on our way to Rio Cuarto when the bus broke down. We knew we were going to be late so we started warming up and practicing the songs. We decided to do it outside and while we were practicing, Presidente y Hermana Alliaud passed by in their car. They got out and asked what was going on but they couldn´t stay with us. They had to go help get everything ready. So we waited. Finally, after 3 hours of waiting, a different bus came to pick us up. The concert was supposed to start at 7, but we got there at 9. We got there and they started immediately. It was still a good concert, we were just a little burned out from the bus ride. 

After the concert, we got back on the buses and went to Córdoba. We got there at 4 in the morning and were staying at a B&B type place. There were 20 hermanas sharing 2 bathrooms. Also there weren´t enough beds, so my companion and I shared a bed in the bathroom. Let´s just say we didn´t sleep very much. :)

We got up and went to the Christmas Conference. At this conference, everybody goes. The whole mission. All 200 of us. It was great! I got to see my hija again and all my old companions. People from my districts and zones. All my friends in the mission. First we had a conference that was really amazing. Presidente y Hermana Alliaud are just amazing! Then we had lunch. We ate an asadazo! (big BBQ) And then we had a talent show. There were some pretty funny acts. :) Then we all changed our clothes and went to play games. Soccer, basketball, Frisbee, etc. It was a really fun day! 

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and that you all make this week incredible! I love you all so much! No se olviden que nos es nacido un Salvador! Averguen por qué!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Christmas Concert

Hola!

Wow, the weeks are going by so fast! I remember when I first got here and my companion always said that it went by so fast. I remember thinking, yeah right. This is taking an age. Or, this is just normal. It´s not any faster than before. But now I feel like that was yesterday. Now it´s December. It´s crazy!

Anyway, how are you all doing? I hope that you´re all doing well and that you are enjoying this time of Christmas!

This week was really good. We traveled a ton. Again. Mostly for the Christmas Concert we had yesterday. It was amazing! We filled up the church. Completely. It was a beautiful choir concert. We made a choir of missionaries. There were about 50-60 of us. We sang Alabad al Señor, Regocijad Jesús nació, El Buen Pastor, y Que Firmes Cimientos. (Sorry I can´t remember what they´re called in English...) Also, I was in a quartet and we sang Silent Night. In English. :) My companion also sang O Holy Night and did an aboslutely beautiful job. She has a gorgeous voice! Presidente y Hermana Alliaud were there and they thought it was amazing. Hermana Alliaud cried.

It was amazing to be there! I got to see some people from Jesús María and that was really special. I had an ah ha moment. We were waiting to start and I was looking out into the crowd at the faces of the people that I knew and it was amazing. It was like I could see where I had been and where I was. I looked back on my mission and saw all of the miracles. The miracles weren´t me, but I was able to live them. I was able to work them. I almost started to cry (but then I remembered that I had to sing in 5 minutes and I can´t sing and cry at the same time). In that moment, I became so grateful for all the Lord has given me. This opportunity to be here has been incredible!

This week was really good. We visited Jorge and Johana but every time we went, they had some excuse and we couldn´t teach them. That was pretty sad.

Helena is back from Arroyito so we´re really happy. But, she hasn´t decided if she wants to get married or separated. We also taught her parter, Gabriel and he said that he wants to be baptized too. So yeah. We´re just waiting for their decision. It´s pretty frustrating. 

We also visited Saldán. I went with Hermana McArthur from Wyoming. It was a good day. I was kind of wary because she has more time than I do in the mission, but it was good. We had a good day. I hope I was able to help her. Every missionary has their ups and downs, their hardships and easy things. So I hope I helped.

Anyway, this week was just really good. I´m hoping that things calm down this week and that we can work more in my area. But as of now, todo tranquilo. ;)

Have a fantastic week! I love you all!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

First Exchange in Merlo

¡Hola mis seres queridos!
[Hello my loved ones!]

So, this week was really good. :)

Investigator time. :)

So, Jorge y Johana. They are pretty awesome. Even though they didn't come to church on Sunday... ;) We went to visit them and Johana wasn't there because she had family that had come to visit from Córdoba. We were kinda sad. But we talked to the husband and we left him his own Book of Mormon. He was excited to read it. 

Helena was in Arroyito so we didn't see her. But we heard that the elders there passed by her house and that she enjoyed the visit. :)

We found some people too this week which was really good. I'm hoping that they progress.

We really weren't in Carlos Paz very much this week because we had to travel almost every day. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, we went to Cordoba (for paperwork, choir practices (because the missionaries are going to have a choir concert this next Sunday for Christmas and my companion and I also have a quartet), and zone meetings). On Thursday we went to Merlo for exchanges. 

It was my first exchange in Merlo and I was really nervous, but it turned out great! I went with Hermana Arias from Buenos Aires. She's a sweety. She was nervous because she was just made senior companion and has to direct the area. But she'll do great. It was good to be with her and help her. After the exchange, we always have interviews and she said that she enjoyed the exchange as well. So that made me really happy. :)

Anyway, we are doing quite well and are excited for this week!!!

I hope you all had a fantastic week and a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!! I love you all!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

P.S. We didn't do anything for Thanksgiving because we were doing the exchange. :( It's ok though, the exchange was pretty good. :)

Flying Fast

Hola todos! Espero que estén bien!!! 

[Hello everybody! I hope you are well !!!]

Bueno, this was my first week here in Carlos Paz and I absolutely loved it! It's big here and beautiful! We don't get a lot of time in our area because we have to travel a lot, but it's amazing to see how God blesses us. Even just in this first week. :)

We have a few investigators. The hermanas before had just finished baptizing five people so we have a lot of recent converts, which is great!

Primero, we have Jorge and Johana. They're a sweet couple with two little boys. They're not married, but they want to get married and they want to be baptized! We had a lesson with them on Monday and we set a baptismal date! We're excited for them! We went by a different day but we didn't have much time, so we just left a Book of Mormon with Johana (Jorge wasn't there) and explained it. She was really excited to read it! We went back with a member the next day and we just resolved some of her doubts about the BoM. It was awesome! It was great having the member (Rosane) there with us.

Segundo, we have Helena. She was an investigator from before and has been progressing quite well. She always have lots of questions which is great! :) We taught her in Rosane's house and it was great to have her and her husband, Lucas, there as well. They were able to explain things better than we could and in a way that related to her more. It was great! 

We had to travel a ton this week to Córdoba for tramites (paperwork), and meetings. It was good, though. This week we are going to do our first exchange. We're going to Merlo! It's gonna be great!

Carlos Paz is great! We share the ward with the elders, Elder Astin and his mini missionary (a member from a different area that agrees to accompany the elder for a transfer) Elder Brochero. The members are great! Yesterday we had a splash here in Carlos Paz. A splash is when everyone from the zone goes to one area and contact a ful. It was great! 

Like I said, there are a lot of recent converts. One of which received the Holy Ghost on Sunday. It was beautiful. She is the mom of a young man in the ward that is leaving on his mission next week. His mom and sister got baptized very recently. It was wonderful that he could be there to see that happen. 

Anyway, I'm loving it here in my new area and I am really excited to keep going. :)

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all!!! Have a great week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

These photos are from yesterday. Before the splash, we had zone p-day. We went hiking. It was really fun!!!!!

Sister Training Leader

Micaela's new district

Hello dearest loved ones.

So, I'm kinda freaking out. Today is the first day of transfers which means that on Saturday night, we were told what was going to happen. My companion, Hermana Jaramillo stayed in Bell Ville with a Spaniard and I left. I am now in Carlos Paz with Hermana Dennis. As a Sister Training Leader. I'm scared.

Hermana Dennis is great. She's from Alpine, Utah and she has 15 months in the mission. I'm now the youngest Sister Training Leader in the mission. Actually, I'm the youngest STL in a while. So yeah, I'm kinda stressing out.

"forever and ever, amen" quote in Leones

Anyway, my last week in Bell Ville!...

...was hard.

We couldn't find new people. Our appointments fell through. It was hard. And sad because we knew it was my last week.

We'd found a girl, Lucia, and we met with her. She is really receptive and is gonna be great! We left her a Book of Mormon and she was excited to read it. Actually, the mom of her pareja (they're not married) is LDS.

Ludmila still is avoiding us.

Olga was sick, but now she's doing better. She couldn't go to church yesterday, but she told us that next week for sure she's going. :)

I also had to say goodbye to people. That's always hard. Romina came to church and gave me Boca jersey. She's so sweet!

Anyway. Sorry, I can't think too much. I'm kind of all over the place nervous.

I hope that you are all doing well and that you know how much I love you all! Have a great week!!!

Love from,
Hermana Micaela Wilson

hail

Missionary Work and the Atonement

Hola hola! Qué tal todos?

So, this week went by really fast. Super fast.

It was a little hard this week. All of our investigators weren´t home and all of our contacts didn´t work. 

Ludmila. Well, she wants to get baptized. And then she doesn´t. Her mom told us that she only wants to be baptized to make us happy. Well, that doesn´t make me happy. What makes me happy is when I really can help. Not when I´m dragging people to the baptismal font. We´re gonna work a little more with her to see what we can do to help.

Olga was sick and so we couldn´t visit her. 

Noelia wasn´t there. 

Honestly, it was a really hard week. 

But, we watched the video of Elder Holland: Missionary Work and the Atonement. It´s a really powerfull video. If you haven´t seen it, go watch it! Anyway, I love hearing the powerful words of Elder Holland. It gave us a lot of comfort. 

Also, my companion had to direct the area this week as a part of her training. It was hard and there were many times where she didn´t know what to do. She got frustrated. But it was good to be able to talk with her and teach her in a way that I couldn´t have done had I not given her this opportunity. There are things one cannot learn without the experience. 

We believe that this is my last week in Bell Ville (seeing as transfers are next Monday) and my goal is to leave my hija with a lot of work. That means we´ve gotta work real hard this week. Y mas vale! 

Sorry, I also don´t have much time to write today. We´re here in Marcos Juarez for P-day de distrito and we have to catch a bus soon. 

Anyway, I hope you all know how much I love you!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Hump Day

Hump Day

Hola y Happy Halloween! Espero que se disfrutaran! 

[Hello and Happy Halloween! I hope you enjoyed it !]

Bueno, so this week was good. It went by way too fast though. 

We had a zone conference on Wednesday, which just so happened to be my HUMP DAY!!!, and it was amazing!!! I loved it! I love zone conferences! I always leave feeling uplifted, spiritually filled, encouraged and excited to continue in the work of salvation.

cathedral in Bell Ville

Bueno, investigators. :)

Belén. Couldn´t find her.

Mayra y Sebastian. Weren´t home.

Noelia. We found her! We went to San Marcos on Friday and she was home!!! We basically just got to know her a bit, told her about our purpose (How To Begin Teaching from PMG) and left her with a Book of Mormon. She said that she would read and that she felt like she was missing something in her life. She said she is missing faith and believes that we can help her find it again. :) She is really open and it was amazing to teach her. She´s not married, but she and her husband are engaged. They just haven´t set a date yet. They´ve been engaged for 5 years. We´re gonna have a wedding! Also, we asked, "If God was here right now, what would you ask him?" She told us that she has always wanted to know if there was a life after this. She said that there has to be a purpose to this life. We´re not just here to just live and that´s it. There has to be more. We left her with her question and are excited to go this week to talk to her and answer her question!

Ludmila. She is so cute! She is still progressing and doing well. She loves to read the Book of Mormon. We taught her about the commandments and she is willing to live all of them! But, she didn´t come to church yesterday. So, we´re going to postpone the baptism. :( It´s ok. She´s still getting baptized. :)

We went to visit the family that my compi found when we went on splits. We talked to the grandmother of the house, Olga. She has something wrong with her foot and can´t walk very much. She told us about her life and we also gave her a Book of Mormon. We asked the elders to pass by the next day to give her a blessing and they told us that Olga´s daughter went to church when she was little! We´re really excited to continue working with this family!

"You will realize that what today seems like a sacrifice, will end up being the best achievement of your life."

We also had Halloween here. It´s not as big here as it is back home, but it was fun to see the little kids dressed up in their costumes. I didn´t get a picture though. Sorry!

 

Swtiched name tags for Halloween

Anyway, I hope that you´re all doing well and that you have a fantastic week this week! I love you all!!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

More photos:

Hermana Jaramillo made completas (Chilean hot dogs)

empanadas

Hermana Jaramillo drinking mate.

empanadas and mate

Messi (famous soccer player) jersey and a pair of pants that are common there

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Micaela's district with the hermana leaders

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? ¡Espero que hayan tenido una buena semana!

[Hello! How are you? I hope you had a good week!]

Bueno, this week was a LOT better! Woohoo!

Bueno. So, investigators. 

Mayra y Sebastian. They weren´t there for our appointment! And they´re only at home one day a week. We´re gonna try and contact them this week.

Noelia wasn´t home either. We went to San Marcos early so that we could talk to her, and then she wasn´t there. And we can only go to San Marcos once a week...

Now you´re probably wondering why I said this week was "a LOT better." Well, I´ll tell you. :)

On Tuesday we had exchanges with the hermana leaders. They´re great! They helped us to find some new investigators and to help us with our attitudes. I went on exchanges with Hermana Woolley. We were at one point searching for a former investigator and found her grandmother. We talked with her and she said that we could come back another day. We said we´d love to and as we were leaving Hermana Woolley asked her if she knew anyone close by that we could teach. She told us that there was a family around the corner so we went. There lived a family PF (family where not all of them are members)! We talked to the mom (member) and she told us about her daughter that likes to go to church. Turns out that I know her daughter but I didn´t know that she wasn´t a member. Two days later I went with Hermana Jaramillo to teach the daughter. Her name is Ludmila and she´s 10 years old. She already know so much! We put a baptismal date with her and she accepted! She´s going to be baptized on November 7! 

 

Micaela and Ludmila

Gaston, Ludmila and Micaela

My companion also found a family in the exchange that I am excited to meet and teach! 

I was also able to talk to the hermana leaders about what was going on in the area and how I was feeling. They helped me to realize that the blessings always come. But when we are desperate they come a little quicker. Just like Joseph Smith when he was desperate for an answer, he went to a grove and prayed. I remember when I too was desperate for an answer. And indeed my answer came. We also talked about one´s attitude. One of the hermanas told me that she was studying about how we can best show God that we are grateful for all that He has given us. She said that the best answer she found was to be happy. So being grateful makes one happy and being happy helps one to be grateful. And by so doing, God is happy.

Really. Our attitude changed completely and we were blessed with miracles!

I testify that the Lord answers prayers. That when we are desperate enough to humble ourselves before Him, He will answer our prayers more greatly than we could imagine. I testify of the importance of gratitude and your attitude. Most importantly, the attitude of gratitude. I know that when we are grateful, the Lord is pleased and He blesses us even more abundantly.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you all so much! Don´t forget that the Lord is on your side and that he always hears your prayers!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Mother's Day

Hola! Espero que se encuentren bien. Todo tranqui? (tranquilo)

[Hello! I hope you are fine. Is everything calm?]

This week was hard. Again. 

So, we haven´t been able to find new investigators really. Also, Belén, well she kind of disappeared. We went to our appointment, and she wasn´t there. We went many times to her house, and she wasn´t there, or didn´t want to receive us. We were really sad.

Mayra and Sebation, well our appointment is this week. We´re hoping it goes well...

On Saturday, we did find one person! We were in San Marcos and we decided to contact a former investigator. She´d moved, but Romina found her address for us. When she answered the door, it was obvious that she had been crying. We talked about how she had gotten to know the other hermanas and why they stopped visiting her. She said that she had been really busy taking care of her grandmother and so when they went, she wasn´t ever there. Then she started crying. She told us that her grandmother had passed away recently. They had been really close so it was really hard for her. We testified about the Plan of Salvation and that she will be able to see her again. She felt a bit better and told us that she really needed to hear that. She needed that hope. We´re going back on Friday. :)

We had another experience that made me reflect a lot on the spirit of our homes. On Tuesday, we went to a service to help a lady take bits of wall out of her house. (She's redoing a bedroom.) When we went in to help her, it was like my spirit was being choked. It felt horrible in this house. The moment we walked in, we wanted to run out. Later on that night, we went to a member's house. When we walked in the door, a peace flooded our spirits. It felt so wonderful to be in her house. We knew the difference was that the Spirit was in the member's house. 

It made me think a lot about the ambiance that exists in our homes. When there is contention, you feel it, anger, you feel it. Love. Wow, you really feel it.

Anyway, I hope that you are all doing well and that you have a fantastic week this week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Playing and singing I Often Go Walking for Argentina's Mother's Day.

What will come, will come. And we'll meet it when it does.

Hola hola hola! ¿Cómo les fue está semana? Espero que todo esté bien. :)

[Hello Hello hello! How was your week? Hope all is well. :)]

Bueno, this week. This week . . . was hard. A bit. 

So, Elva. We visited her this week to give her one last chance. She hasn´t been progressing for a while now and so we had a charla franca. We dropped Elva this week. It was sad. She is such a sweet lady. She told us that she is going to keep praying and reading the Book of Mormon, "even if you don´t come anymore." It was sweet.

Estela apparently really doesn´t want anything to do with us. She just said yes because she didn't want us to feel bad. So, that was hard.

But, we did find two families! Woohoo!

One of them we could only teach the mom. Her name is Belén. We talked a lot and she told us that her father died two years ago. She feels really guilty because she feels that there is more that she could have done to help him. As a result of her guilty feelings she has resorted to smoking. We were talking and as I was thinking about what she needed to hear I first thought Plan of Salvation. Her father died. She needs to know that she can see him again. But that wasn´t right. So then I thought, she needs to hear about the Atonement. That she can be forgiven. Nope. Wrong again. My companion told me later that she thought about the Word of Wisdom even. But no. All wrong. She needed to hear that God loves her, that she is His daughter and the she is important to Him. We talked about that and the Spirit was very strong. It was beautiful! I really showed me that really, it´s the small and simple things that the people need to hear. The small and simple things are the most easily forgotten and the most needed.

We also found Mayra and Sebastian. We were only there for a short time and so we don´t really know them yet, but we´re excited to work with them!

Anyway, we are hoping to find some new investigators this week! 

Romina and her family are doing well. Although we didn´t really get to talk to them this week. Francina turned 10 and so they were preparing the party and everything. But, we´ll get them next week. :)

I hope you are all doing well and that you always remember how much I love you! Have a fantastic week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Ask Inspired Questions

Hola mi familia y amigos!

Espero que disfrutaron la Conferencia General y tuvieran una buena semana!

[Hi family and friends. I hope you enjoyed General Conference and had a good week.]

Wow, Conference was great, right? There were so many good talks! I especially liked the talks by Larry R. Lawrence, Neill F. Marriott and of course, Elder Jeffery R. Holland. I too approached General Conference with a question. It was amazing that in the very first session, they answered my question. Then, in the remaining sessions, they added more. It was beautiful!

This week was hard in terms of the work. We couldn´t find very many new investigatos and I fear that we are going to lose some others. 

It was also a sad week. It was the last week of transfers and we knew that Elder Muñoz (our district leader) was going home. Also the zone leaders went home. Hermana Lopéz also left us for another area. It was hard to say goodbye. 

We were also invited, all of us, to lunch with Romina. We had ñoquis. They were amazing! On Sunday, we had ñoquis again with Elena (a member in the branch). 

We couldn´t visit Estela because she was sick and had to go to the doctor. 

We visited Elva, but she is still really confused. It´s hard. Every time that we feel like we need to drop her, she progresses a little bit. I´m scared that she´s going to become an eternal investigator. 

I would also like to share an experience that I had with my companion. 

I was struggling because I didn´t feel like I knew how to help my companion. I knew that she was holding a lot back and that there was a lot that she didn´t want to share. Before receiving my companion, we had a training session. In that meeting, Presidente Alliaud told us that our companions are like investigators. Only they're with us 24/7. We have to be the example. We have to help. This made me feel a little overwhelmed. But, it´s a bit true. 

One thing that Preach My Gospel tells us to do is ask inspired questions. So, I decided to do this with Hermana Jaramillo. We were walking after the lunch with Romina where she hadn´t said a word and I started asking questions. At first she resisted and didn´t want to talk. But I persisted. Finally, she opened up and she told me the problem. She didn´t feel like she could be herself because none of us know her. I told her, "Hermana, if you want us to know you, you have to show us who you  are." From that moment, she has been more open, more herself. And it´s beautiful! 

Before leaving on my mission, I received counsel from two friends. One had already served a misson, the other was in the  mission. 

One friend told me that he felt he was losing who he was. Until one day he realized that he was still him. He wasn´t just Elder. He was himself. I, I am a missionary, but I´m not just Hermana Wilson. I´m Hermana Micaela Wilson. All of the attributes I had before are still here.

My other friend told me that when she was in the mission she struggled with feeling like she was the missionary she needed to be. She talked with another missionary and they told her that she too had felt that way. Until she realized that God had called her. God had called her as she was. Not as she could be or should be. God called her not in spite of her weaknesses, but because of her weaknesses. God needed her as she was. And as she was was good enough. 

I would like all of you to think on this. God called each one of us to the calling we have. Not becuase He knew we would be good, but because we need to grow. 

God loves you all so very much. 

I hope you all have a great week and that you may recognize the hand of God in your lives, today. 

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Pray with a Question

Hola mis seres queridos! Cómo andan? Espero que todo esté bien con ustedes.

 [Hello my loved ones! How is it going? I hope all is well with you.]

Wow, ok, this week. 

Bueno, on Tuesday, we had interviews with Presidente Alliaud. It was really good, but we weren´t able to work. He was able to answer some questions and that helped a lot.

On Wednesday, we had district meeting in Marcos Juarez (about an hour away and the buses don´t come and go very often), so it was hard to work that day too.

Marcos Juarez

We are really struggling with finding new investigators that progress. We are still working with Elva and had a really good lesson with her. She had never thought of the fact that if Christ were to have a church, it should have his name. She hadn´t ever noticed that none of the other churches carry Christ´s name. It got her thinking a lot and that was good. We are focusing right now on having her read the Book of Mormon and praying with a specific question. 

Juan. Juan Juan Juan. We are dropping Juan. He says yes to everything but doesn´t end up doing anything. It´s rather frustrating. And sad. But, I hope that in the future, he can come to a firm decision. Everyone has their time.

Romina and her family are doing well. They have entered the ´gate´ and are on the ´straight and narrow path´. They´re awesome!

We are now teaching Romina´s grandmother, Estela. We taught her about prayer, reading the scriptures, and going to church. She said she was willing to do all of those things! She also has a baptismal date for the 17 of October! 

Anyway, we´re kind of in the process of finding and dropping investigators. It´s rather frustrating. But, I know that we can do it. :)

Something that Presidente Alliaud told us on Tuesday that really caught my attention was about prayer. He said that a lot of times we (or investigators) say that God doesn´t answer our prayers. That we want an answer, but He isn´t responding. But, how often are we asking Him a question? It´s true. There are many times where I want an answer, but I forget to ask Him the question. Presidente said it´s like going to school and asking your teacher, ¨So, what´s the answer?¨ And she says, ¨The answer to what?¨ and we say, "I don´t know, I just want the answer.¨ 

So, with that in mind, I would like to encourage all of us to pray with a question. And then, in this conference this weekend, look for it. I promise you that you will find and answer to your question. And maybe, answers to questions you didn´t think you were asking as well.

I know that this is God´s one and only church here upon the earth. I know that He loves us and that He wants to answer our prayers. And this I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Les amo un montonaso y espero que todos ustedes tengan una semana maravillosa! Siempre acuérdense que Dios les ama y por qué estamos aquí.

[I love you a [montonaso] and I hope you all have a wonderful week! Remember always that God loves us and why we are here.]

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

We have a God of miracles. A miraculous God!

Hola hola hola! Cómo les fue esta semana?!? Espero que todo esté bien! :)
[Hello Hello hello! How it fares this week? ! ? Hope all is well! :)]

This week was great!!! Ok, I´ll start with the biggest news first. Yesterday, Romina, her husband Alejandro, and their daughter Francina were baptized!!!!!!!!! It was beautiful and miraculous!!!

At the beginning of the week, we weren´t sure if Alejandro and Francina were going to be baptized. We hadn´t had much time to teach them everything and we were rather nervous. But, this isn´t the first time that I´ve had rushed baptisms so I know that they can happen. So, we left the decision up to them. Son Wednesday, we got a call from Romina and she told us that she wanted to meet with us to talk about the baptism. When we got there, she told us that Alejandro was going to wait to be baptized. We were sad, but we understood. It´s their choice. 

On Saturday, we went with the elders to do the interview of Romina (again. Just in case). She passed no problem. While we were talking for a bit, Romina´s mom came and a short while after her grandmother. We set a baptismal date with the grandmother and almost the mom, but she left. Then Alejandro came and Elder Muñoz (district leader) interviewed him. When they came out, they told us that Alejandro had decided to be baptized the next day as well. He was so happy, he couldn´t stop smiling. Then Francina came and Elder Muñoz interviewed her. After the interview, they told us that she too had decided and was prepared to be baptized. 

So yesterday, the family San Martín was baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!! It was a beautiful baptism!! There are no words to describe how one feels seeing the people that you have taught, that you have grown to love so much, enter the waters of baptism. It is an indescribable joy!

Wow, ok, now for the rest of the week. :)

On Tuesday, we had the Sister Training Leaders with us. It was fun to get to know them a little more and to learn from them!

Sister Training Leaders--Hna Ascuña and Hna Woolley

Micaela and Hermana Ascuña

Micaela and Hermana Woolley didn't know their picture would be taken.

Juan. I don´t know what to do with Juan. He´s not coming to church. I don´t know if he´s really praying or listening to the Book of Mormon (he doesn't´t know how to read). I really think that we are going to drop him for good this week. He´s not progressing and we have done everything that we can to help him. It´s really hard and sad to have to drop investigators. 

Elva. She´s also not going to church. She´s still waiting for her answer. I would say that she´s waiting for a sign. We´re going to have a frank conversasion with her this week and decide whether or not we have to drop her as well. 

Guadalupe. Same old same old. But we are not giving up on her. If she had it her way, she would have been baptized before I even got here. We need to talk to her dad. It´s just really hard to find him.

WE NEED TO FIND MORE INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!! But don´t worry, we´ll do it. After all, we have God on our side. :)

Anyway, it was a great week!!!! I love it when we have baptisms! What joy!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you all are doing well and that you have had a good week. Make it an amazing week this week!!!! Go on an adventure. Laugh. Smile. Share with a friend. Live and love God. For He is and always will be the center of everything.

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson