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. :)