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| Micaela with Sister Boyce, her MTC teacher |
Hola familia y amigos!!!
I hope that you are all doing well! This week has been
pretty amazing! There have been some hard moments, but it's amazing how much
the Lord is in my life. Just like He is in all of our lives.
We taught Daniela for the first time last Wednesday. She
didn't believe that God loves her and so we talked about how God really is
there for her and how He loves her. I shared my favorite scripture, John 14:18
and it really touched her and she cried. She is having a really hard time with
her family and she said that she would pray to know of God's love.
Jimena is doing well. On Thursday, we asked her to say the
opening prayer, and she broke into tears. She said the prayer and told us to
continue, but we knew that at that moment, what she needed, wasn't the lesson
we had prepared. She needed to know that someone cared. Above all, that God
cares. She was feeling really stressed with school, and work and was just
overwhelmed. We shared D&C 10:4-5 with her and testified that with God's
help, she can do anything. Once she had calmed down and was feeling better, the
Spirit prompted both me and Hermana Nordfelt to invite her to be baptized. Once
Hermana Nordfelt asked her, Jimena said, "Can I feel like this all of the
time?" (referring to feeling of love that was so strong in that room), we
both said, "yes, you can feel this way every day.) Jimena then committed
to be baptized on March 4! We are really excited for her!!!
We also taught Mercedes on Thursday. We were teaching her
about the Book of Mormon when she broke down too. She told us that she has
Bell's Palsy in her face and it has been really hard for her. She said she
didn't understand how a loving Heavenly Father could allow this to happen to her.
We shared D&C 10:4-5 and John 14:18 and testified that even though we have
hard times, God really does love us. She felt comforted and promised that she
would pray for God's help and to feel again His love for her.
After leaving Mercedes, Hermana Nordfelt and I talked about
how all three of our investigators needed to know this week that God loves
them. How important is it that they know that. Not everybody knows. What a
blessing it is that we know. I would encourage each of you to, if you do not
know that God loves you, pray and ask. Ask God and He will answer. Knock and it
shall be opened unto you. Ask and ye receive. I know that God loves you all.
There was a time where I didn't know that. But, my mom told me to pray. How
grateful I am for that! Once I prayed, I had the overwhelming feeling that He
does. He does love me. I know that He loves you all as well!
This week, I was struggling. I felt like, here I am in
this place where no one knows me. No one knows who I am or what I'm really
like. I also felt like there was a barrier between me and my emotions. You
all know that I cry. A lot. But I haven't much here. I felt like there was
something wrong with me. Being emotional is a big part of who I am, it's part
of my identity. On class on Friday, Hermana Boyce started off class with a
personal story about when she was in the MTC. She said that she used to cry
every time she bore her testimony, but once she got into the MTC, she didn't
anymore. She finally realized, that she was feeling the Spirit so much, that
she was simply becoming used to it. Like Joseph Smith when he and someone else
(I can't remember who) saw a vision and the other man passed out but Joseph was
fine. He was just accustomed to feeling that. This story was a huge answer to
my prayers. And I cried. For the first time in about a week (which is really
weird for me), I cried. I know now, that I'm ok. I can be myself and it's ok. I
can cry, or not cry, and it's ok.
Ok, funny story. Sort of. On Saturday, Hermana Nordfelt was
feeling sick. So, we left class to go to the health clinic, but it was closed
for Valentine's Day. There was a sign on the door saying that they had moved it
for the day to another building. So we go to the other building only to find
absolutely no one there. We looked in every room. Finally, we came across a
group of elders celebrating their last real day at the MTC. They were trying to
help us when one of them asked my companion if she thought a blessing would
help. She said yes and immediately we had six elders giving my companion a
priesthood blessing. There was such and amazing feeling of peace and comfort.
My companion said that the prayer was exactly what she needed. It was amazing
for her to have a blessing from six elders we did not know at all, and have
them give her the exact blessing she needed. Brothers and sisters, the Church
is true! What an amazing blessing we have to be able to receive priesthood
blessings.
After the blessing, we went back to class. They came half an
hour later with some DayQuil and lots of candy. The candy wasn't really
appropriate, but it lifted her spirits.
Sunday was really good! I love Sundays here. In Sacrament
Meeting, I played If You Could Hie to Kolob. I had about two days warning that
I would be playing the special musical number, so what I did was pretty good
considering. The Spirit was there and that's all that really matters.
Monday we had Volunteer TRC (Teaching Resource Center where
we teach members). It was really good. The first TRC person was the same
Chilean woman from last week that we couldn't understand. We still struggled a
bit this week. It was a good lesson, but communication definitely was hard. The
second was a man who served in Chile. We shared about Charity and read from
Moroni 7:45-47. In those scriptures it talks about being a true disciple of
Christ. In order to be a true disciple, you must have Charity. You must strive
to have charity with 'all the energies of your heart'. That really hit this man
and he started to cry. In our evaluation, he wrote, "These two sisters are
some of the most powerful missionaries I have ever met!" That definitely
made us feel really good. We aren't powerful, but in that lesson, the Spirit
was allowed to touch the heart of this son of God. I'm glad that we were able
to witness this and be a conduit for the Spirit.
Monday was also Hermana Boyce's birthday. We gave her candy
and we all wrote in a card for her. She's a great teacher and we didn't want
her to forget it.
We taught Mercedes again on Monday and she said that she'd
ask her roommates if she could go to church with them. We'll check up on that
tomorrow. We're really excited for her!
Tuesday. I just wanted you to all know that there is some
good food at the MTC. Yesterday, I had a Navajo Taco and it was really good!
There have been some other good meals too, but this one made me especially
happy. :) So yesterday was the devotional in which I was supposed to play in.
But we never got a notification saying that we would be playing, so we started
to get really nervous. I went to the music people and our names weren't
anywhere on the sheet. They said that we still might play on Sunday, but we
won't know until tomorrow. We were really sad. The pianist is leaving on
Monday. At 3 in the morning and her companion is leaving at 8 on Sunday night.
So, it may not happen. We don't know. I hope so though. :)
Anyway, things are good here. I have seen many miracles
while being here. Prayers have been answered and I've seen people's lives being
touched. Including my own. I know that God loves us. I know that He is there to
help us if only we stretch out our hands and ask. I know that this church is
true. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word
of God. I know that we are never alone. God is with us.
Thank you all for you prayers and your letters. I love you
all!!!
Love from,
Hermana Micaela Wilson
These photos were taken on a Sunday walk around the Provo Temple.
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