Last but definitely not least

Hola mis muy queridos. Los amo tanto!

[Hello my dears. I love you so much!]

It is so strange. This is my last email home...

Ok, we'll start with what happened this week. 

It was a good week. Working a ful. :) We went to visit the family Luna Andrade (they are former investigators that I contacted with the Sister Training Leaders) but only the mom, Rita, was there. We had a really good lesson with her. We were able to ask some questions about why she hasn't gotten baptized yet (she's been an investigator for years). She said that she doesn't feel ready because she knows that she's going to mess up afterward and she doesn't want that weight on her shoulders. Also, she felt like she hadn't really gotten an answer yet. We explained that one of the requirements of baptism isn't that we are perfect. God knows that we aren't going to be perfect. That's why He gave us the Sacrament. So that, in spite of our imperfections, we can start over every week. Then we started talking about real intent and how important that is to receiving an answer. We shared our personal experiences of how we obtained an answer and she said that she hasn't ever really prayed with real intent. We invited her to do so and she said she would. But, we couldn't visit her during the week, because she went on vacation (it was winter vacation here the past two weeks). We hope she keeps progressing, though!

Carlos, Carlos, Carlos. We tried visiting him every day this week, but we didn't see him until Saturday. We had talked with his uncle and cousin about what was going on (because he told us one thing and his uncle another) and so on Saturday we were able to clear things up. He wants to be baptized. He doesn’t have any doubts or questions. The thing that is holding him up is that he feels that he hasn't prayed to know. Again, with real intent. He promised us that he would do it, but on Sunday, he told us that there wasn't time. So, again he promised to pray. We sure hope that he has. He's a great kid!

Silvia (the woman who went to church last Sunday). We had a great lesson with her on Thursday. We taught the Restoration and she loved it. Really she is searching for the truth. It's really confusing when everyone says something different. She loved the fact that she can pray and find out for herself. What a wonderful blessing that God has given us!

The week was really good. I love my companion. She's a sweetheart. I'll be really sad to leave her.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about last words. How important they are. How meaningful. As I have pondered about my time in the mission, it has been the most miraculous, wondrous, extraordinary thing in my life. What a blessing. It's true that it was hard. There were times when I wasn't sure if I could keep going. But to see it all now, at the end, what a beautiful masterpiece it has become. Being a missionary, a representative of Christ has been amazing. It was my only chance, as a woman, to be His special representative. What a gift. Que dichoso. [That happy.] When I left, I left with the goal to "bring them heaven." So that's what I did. I didn't realize that in the process, I would be refining myself, bettering myself. That I would receive the greatest of the blessings. An undeniable understanding and knowledge of my Savior, Jesus Christ and of His atoning sacrifice. A relationship with my Redeemer and Lord. I left home to be able to bless lives, and in the process, He blessed mine. 

I love you all so much. I hope that you can feel of God's love every day in your lives. He is there. He loves you. He knows you. Go to Him and He will hear you. Of this I promise and testify in His holy name, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Sad. Exciting. Wonderful. Painful.

Council of Leaders--May 2016

Saudades a todos! (Portuguese)

[Greetings to all]

Wow. I wish I could make time go by more slowly. :) I only have two more weeks here in Argentina. It´s so sad. I don´t want to have to say goodbye.

This week was good. Little crazy, but good. :)

God is great! Saben? So, there is a member´s nephew who has gone to church the past few weeks, but we couldn´t meet with him until this week. His name is Carlos. I´ll be talking about him throughout the letter. :)

We had a splash on Wednesday. I went with a member from another ward and my companion with another and the elders went with us to find more investigators. It went really well. We went to visit Carlos at the end and we applied the Doctrine. At the end, he said he would like to be baptized on Saturday. We were all like, great!!!

Thursday we had interviews with Presidente Correa (new mission president). It was good. It was strange not seeing Presidente Alliaud, but our new Presidente is really good too. I´m sad that I won´t be able to get to know him better. We taught Carlos the Restoration that night and he seemed to understand. He is a really good kid! He´s 20 years old and from Bolivia. He´s here to work with his uncle who is a member. 

On Friday we had exchanges with the hermana líderes. I went with Hermana Fuentealba. I love her so much! We had a good talk the whole day. It´s amazing because we´ve known each other since the beginning of our missions (she has three months less than I). It´s been amazing to see how we´ve changed and grown. Bueno, how we´re changing and growing. Because it´s a never-ending process. :)

We couldn´t meet with Carlos on Friday, but on Saturday, the elders went with us to give Carlos his interview. He passed! But he said that he wanted to go a few more times before being baptized. 

On Sunday, he went and said he felt good. He even went to the elders’ baptism that evening and said that he felt the Spirit and that he wants to do it. But he wants his uncle to do it. It was the only thing holding him back from doing it in that moment. So, he´s going to be baptized on Saturday!!!! Miracles!!!!!!

Also, after looking for all of our investigators that had accepted a baptismal date (11 this week), none of them went. But, we got to church only to find a woman who had gone of her own free will. ;) Miracle! So, we have an appointment with her on Thursday. 

This week has been good. Sad. Exciting. Wonderful. Painful. Ok, I just don´t know what to feel anymore. There are so many things that I just don´t know which to feel. When the hermana líderes left, I just started crying. Ok, I´d cried a lot during the day, but I was so sad to see them leave. I knew it was the last time I am going to see them. Maybe in forever. They are both from Chile. That´s the hardest part. 

Anyway, we keep on keepin’ on. 

I hope you have a great week!!!! Keep on in the faith! Don´t give up. Don´t fear. Remember whose you are! I love you!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Easter 2016 trio

Trial of Faith

Micaela and companion with a member

Hola a todos!!!!

This week was really hard. Last week we saw lots of miracles. This week we had a "trial of our faith."

Bueno, so Orlando. All week we couldn´t get a hold of him. He didn´t answer his phone and he was never home when we went to his house. Finally on Friday morning, we found him! We asked him about what he thought about church and he told us that he liked everything except the whole prophet thing. He doesn`t believe in prophets because in the Bible it talks a lot about false prophets. We explained about personal revelation and he said that that doesn`t exist. That God doesn`t answer us right now. That made me a bit upset. I know that He answers us. He didn`t have a lot of time so we settled on going back on Saturday. Saturday he sent us a text saying that he doesn`t want us to go by and that he isn`t interested. It was heartbreaking!!!

We couldn`t find Juan either. The whole week! Sunday we went to get him to go to church and he told us that he´ll call us when he wants us to go by again. He´s not sure about everything yet. Again, heartbreaking. 

We only saw Marcelo on Monday and we talked about receiving answers to our prayers. We shared the First Vision and we settled on an appointment today. He didn`t go to church on Sunday, though. 

So yeah. And everyone we found didn`t make it to a second lesson. 

But, that happens sometimes. And it`s ok. It`s not falling down that counts. It´s getting back up and trying again. So that´s what we´re going to do. We´re gonna get up and try again this week. But better. :)

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and that you had a great week!!! I love you all so much!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Splash!

"How we communicate. Sometimes she doesn´t know a word in Spanish so she looks it up in her dictionary. But then I don´t know what that word means, so I have to look it up in my dictionary. Or vice versa. It´s rather funny. So grateful for Spanish so that I can understand this loca!!!"

Hola hola hola!!!

Time keeps flying by. It´s ridiculous! I can´t believe it!

This week was good. :) Bueno, as far as investigators go... well, let´s see. The thing about La Rioja is that the people are really receptive. Which is good. It´s just still hard sometimes to keep commitments and progress. It´s the normal thing. 

Cristina. We went to our lesson and she was sick. She told us that she had thought a lot about baptism, though, and she had spoken with her sister. Her sister told her that it was fine to listen to us and all and go to church, but getting baptized was a no. So she told God that she wouldn´t get baptized. We were really sad. We invite people to ask God, not other people. Because God is the only one who knows everything and is the only being that won´t, can´t lie to her. She was really set on it, though. 

Last week, the elders from another area sent us a reference. They told us that they started talking and that they invited the man to be baptized. He accepted! We were really excited! So we went. :) His name is Juan. He´s older and got divorced about two years ago. He is still in a lot of pain. He lives with his mom and is searching for the truth. The first time we went, I wanted to teach the Restoration. But, we didn´t have a single pamphlet or picture of the first vision. He stopped in the middle of a sentence and told me to read from the Book of Mormon on my lap. I opened it and started searching a scripture related to the Restoration and he told me no. He told me to just open it anywhere. Inside I was thinking, No! This isn´t going to work! But, I opened it. Right to Alma 32. It was perfect. I read the first two pages and when I finished I looked up to see tears rolling down Juan´s cheeks. It was a beautiful lesson. I learned a beautiful lesson as well. He didn´t go to church this Sunday, but he´s gonna go next Sunday. I just know it!

On Thursday, we had a splash with the elders. They did lots of contacts. They invited seven people to be baptized in 10 minutes and they all accepted! We were there watching with open mouths. It was amazing! At the end, we went to visit Marcelo. He was just about to go, but I asked him if he was able to do the prayer we had asked him to do. He said he had and that he felt a peace that he couldn´t describe. It was beautiful! We all started testifying that this is what he needs to do. He didn´t want to accept a baptismal date yet, but he said he´d go to church. And he did! He got there late, but he got there! He was there for Sacrament Meeting. He said that the testimonies really touched him. It was great!

One of the seven people the elders found is named Orlando. Bueno, really Orlando contacted us. He asked if we sell the magazine of the Jehovah´s Witnesses. We said no, we have something even better. We started talking and he is really looking for the church that it describes in the Bible. Which is ours. ;) So, on Sunday morning, I called him to see if he was still going to go to church. He said that he had just gotten home from studying all night and was about to sleep. I somehow convinced him to go though, so we took him to church. Even though he was tired, he stayed the three hours! Also, it was his birthday! In Gospel Principles, he started asking lots of questions, so the other members started answering him. It was great! He is getting baptized next Sunday!!! What a miracle!!!

Anyway, it´s been a great week! I just can´t believe that the time goes by so quickly! 

I hope you are all doing well. I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cuidense mucho!!! [Take care.]

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

 

5-Minute Brownies

Leila got baptized!

Hola a todos!!! 

This week was good. I don´t understand why time has to fly by so fast though... Está bien. 

We had to go to Córdoba on Wednesday. My poor companion. She got here Monday morning and Tuesday night we had to travel. We had to go to do some paperwork for my ID. Literally I just had to sign three papers. Then we came back. But the mission paid for lunch! We had McDonald´s! When we were walking down the stairs though, I totally tripped (as usual). We were in a mall so there were lots of people. I pulled it off pretty well though. :) jaja

Anyway. Good news! Leila got baptized yesterday!!!!! It was crazy! Saturday and Sunday it was raining so we were really worried about people going to church. Leila didn´t go. But we received permission and we went and got her and took her to the church so she could be baptized. I never met a person that wanted to get baptized so badly. We were worried she wouldn´t want to after what happened the last time, but she did. So this time, the elders were baptizing too. We thought it would be good for her to see other baptisms because of her fear. She was fine until she got in the water. Then her fear got a hold of her again. The elder said the prayer and she didn´t want to cover her nose. He could tell she was about to freak out again so he basically dunked her. Her arms were flailing a bit so he had to go under the water a bit too. It looked really...OK, I´m not sure how to describe it. If someone didn´t know that she really did want to get baptized would have questioned our motives. But afterward, Leila asked me ¨Am I baptized now?¨ Sweet thing. 

We tried time and again to find Maria, Adrian and Marcelo. They were never home. But we´re going to keep trying!!!!! We know that they can progress more!

We met with Cristina (the woman we contacted that thanked us for the peace she felt with us). We taught the Plan of Salvation. She really liked it. She really wants to be with her daughter again. We invited her to be baptized so that she can get there, but she said she needed time to think and pray. Which is fine! But the Spirit was so strong!!! I really believe that her daughter has already received the Gospel on the other side and now wants her mom to receive it too. It was beautiful!

  

It was a good week! My companion is teaching me Portuguese as well so we´re mixing the three languages. It´s rather fun! 

Anyway, I hope you have a great week!!! I love you!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson 

"We found a miracle!"

Micaela with Presidente y Hermana Alliaud

Hola todos! Espero que hayan tenido una buena semana!!

 [Hello everyone! I hope you had a good week !!]

This week was good. Sad. But good. 

Ok. A ver. [Let's see.]

Bueno, we found a miracle!!!!! So, about a month ago, we were on our way to lunch when a man in a truck stopped us and asked for the direction of the church and he left. Bueno, this week we were contacting former investigators when a man came outside. It was him! We didn´t even know that he lived there! We started talking and he said that he wants to find the church that is closest to Christ. He wants to be there, and he wants his family to be there. He has lots of questions. He told us that he was going to go last Sunday, but he slept in by accident. He said that he was going to go yesterday, but he didn´t make it. He said that he wanted to be able to go for the whole time, and because it was Father´s Day, he wasn´t sure if he´d be able to. But, we invited him to be baptized and he accepted!!! We´re hoping that he can progress!!!

Micaela and Leila

Leila. Leila. Leila. 

Bueno, Leila was going to be baptized yesterday. She didn´t get baptized. It was a mess. Ok, so they went to church, everything´s good. We had to have the baptism in a different church because we didn´t have gas to heat the water. We asked the elders if they could fill the font and they said they couldn´t. So we got to the church after lunch at about 4. It takes about 4 hours to fill the font with hot water and the baptism was at 5. I was really stressed. Then we had to wait another 30 minutes for the elders to get the keys to us. When we got in there, the font was filled! I had misunderstood the elders and they had filled it. Bueno, the members were there and Leila got there. She changed and everything was ready. The service was really beautiful. But, when it came time to be baptized, she didn´t want to go in all the way. She´s afraid of the water and we didn´t know that. We tried everything to convince her, but she wouldn´t. She is also extremely shy. So yeah. That was sad. 

I know she´ll get baptized afterward. When we were in the car going home, she looked at me with these huge eyes. We couldn´t say anything, but I know that she wants to do it. She´s just scared. It was so sad. She was afraid of going all the way under, but she also didn´t want to leave the font. She wanted to get baptized. When she left, she was asking her mom if she got baptized or not. It was heartbreaking. 

the old district

Anyway, we also had transfers! Hermana Larsen went to San Francisco in Córdoba and Hermana Barbosa from Brazil is here with me now! She was in my district in Bell Ville. I saw her when she started the mission and now she´s gonna kill me. :)

the majority of the hermanas in the mission

Y bueno. It was an emotional roller coaster yesterday. I also got sick last night, so my new companion came and I was a mess. I´m feeling better now, but this morning was rough. :)

I hope you all know how much I love you!!! Have a great week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Micaela and Teresita

Reflections

Romina's family at her daughter's baptism

Hola hola hola!!!!! Cómo están todos? 

This week was really good!!!!

Bueno, we went to visit María y Adrian. Adrian wasn´t there so we talked for a little bit with their kids and Maria. They are soooo busy. It's ridiculous. Their son leaves at 7 in the morning and doesn't get home till 10 and stays up till 1 or 2 in the morning doing homework. The parents both work and are hardly ever home. But Maria told us that they're both reading the Book of Mormon. They really like it! They want to meet with us, but they don't know how to find the time. Also, they keep getting sick, so every time there's time, they're sick. Ugh. They're awesome and we just want to be able to help them!

We also had a Family Home Evening with a recent convert, Ramiro, and his family. His dad is less-active and the dad participated the whole time. He even made us pizza. Amazing pizza, I might add. :) It was a little miracle for us!!

On Friday, the hermana lideres came for our intercambio. It's funny because I was their hermana lider for both of them. And now they're mine. :) I went with Hermana Linares. It was a really good day! It was good to work with her again. She helped me remember a lot of things and she also cleared up some doubts I'd had. It was great!!

Bueno, next Sunday, WE HAVE A BAPTISM!!!! Her name is Leila Nasrallah and is 8 years old. Her grandma and brother are members (less-actives) and the first time we went, they said that we needed to baptize Leila. We were like, Ok, perfect! They went to church this Sunday and Leila is really excited for her baptism! 

Also, on Saturday, the stake had asked us to have a meeting with the leaders of the ward and that we would be teaching. Yeah, that was a big load. But it ended well. We talked about what the ward needed and we're going to have another meeting about what we can do to help. We also had to teach on Sunday during Sunday School. It was really good, though. We just hope it helps!

Anyway, the best thing was yesterday. We got together as a whole mission to say goodbye to Presidente y Hermana Alliaud. It was really sad, actually. I was sitting on the stand (because I was part of the musical numbers), and was looking out at the faces of the missionaries thinking about every one of them. I knew the majority of them. It's amazing to think back and reflect on what has happened. I've talked a lot with my companion, too, about how things have changed. In me. How I've grown. What I've learned. It was really hard to say goodbye to Presidente y Hermana Alliaud. Really, they're like our parents here. I love them SO much! I was really worried that I would come here to La Rioja and never see some people again (because it's 6 hours away from Cordoba). It was my chance to say goodbye to everyone, too. I remember sitting down and wanting to just bawl. I love this life. I love the mission. It has been the best thing I have ever done. I don't want it to end. Everything that has happened. It's been amazing. Extremely hard, and extraordinarily amazing! I know it can't go on forever. But I don't want this dream to end. What an amazing privilege to be here. 

I hope you know how much I love you all. Take advantage of every day. Because you'll never get it back. Aprovechen cada momento. Amen cada día. No dejen algo por mañana que podrían hacer hoy. Hoy es el día. Ahora es el tiempo. Keep on keepin on!

[Seize every moment. Amen every day. Do not leave anything for tomorrow they could do today. Today is the day. Now is the time.]

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

From Micaela's letter to her mom:

Bueno, I don't think I've ever told you about the people in my old areas who have gotten baptized. On Sunday, Jennifer and Milagros (from Carlos Paz) got baptized!!!! I am so happy!!!!! We knew they were going to get baptized!!!!! Also from my other areas, in Bell Ville, Guadalupe, Ludmila and Juan got baptized! From Jesus Maria, Miguel Gil got baptized! It's been amazing to be able to hear about all of them! Also, Romina (from Bell Ville, my convert) called me to tell me that her youngest daughter got baptized a couple weeks ago. Her husband, Alejandro, baptized her. It's amazing to hear about these things. Even though I wasn't there, it's amazing to see the impact. 

"If you give everything you can every day, you will never have regrets."

Hola mis queridos!!!!!

[Hello my dears]

Esta semana fue buena. El tiempo se va tan rápido!!!!!!!!!!!!

[This week was good. Times goes so fast.]

Ok, so everything is now a jumble in my head because time passes way too fast now. It´s crazy!

María and Adrian. Ah. Yep. We got to talk with Adrian briefly and he said that he believes that what we´ve taught him is true. Their problem is time. They are so stretched for time. So on Sunday, we left at 7a.m. to go get them. We got there at 7:45 (we walked quite quickly) and Adrian told us that their daughter was sick and that they weren´t going to be able to go. :( So then we walked to the church (in the other direction) and got there just on time at 9 a.m. Rather discouraging.

Milagros, Ezequiel and Agustina. They really like what we teach. We tried to talk to their parents, but they were never there. 

But we had an awesome lesson with a recent convert, Pablo. He had had the lessons 6 years ago and was about to get baptized, but he decided last minute not to do it. Then, about a month ago, he showed up one Saturday at the church and told the elders he wanted to be baptized. So they did an interview and he got baptized the next day. (The elders were sad because Pablo belongs to our area/ward and not theirs.) He is great! He just had lots of really good questions and is excited to keep progressing! He also shared his testimony yesterday at church! 

Also, we had a neat experience. We were walking back to the pension and I was telling my comp a story when all of a sudden, she stops and starts talking to a woman outside her house who was cleaning her patio. I had to back track and we talked for a bit. When we left, the woman thanked us for the peace that she had been able to feel as we talked. We were there maybe 3 minutes, but she could feel the difference. We left there and my comp had tears in her eyes. She looked at me and we both said, Esto fue un milagro. It was beautiful!

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful week!! I love you all so much!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

P.S. Quotes of the week: Si tú lees las escrituras cada día de tu vida, jamás te apartarás de la Iglesia. (If you reed your scriptures every day, you shall never apart from the Church.)

Si tú das todo lo que puedas cada día, jamás te arrepentirás. (If you give everything you can every day, you will never have regrets.)

New Pants for Proselyting

 "Hermana Larsen and I in our new pants for proselyting. It´s an adjustment."

Hola mis seres muy queridos!!! Espero que estén bien y que hayan tenido una buena semana!

[Hello my love ones !!! I hope you are well and have had a good week!]

We, again, couldn´t teach María y Adrian. We went and caught the mom once. She was very nice and said that they were going to go to church on Sunday. But they didn´t go. She said that Adrian was working a lot right now and that´s why it´s been hard to have a lesson, because they both want to be there. I sure hope they progress. They are a great family! She said that they were still reading and that they wanted to meet with us. I sure hope so!!!

On Tuesday, we had Zone Conference with Presidente y Hermana Alliaud. It was amazing!!! Really spiritual and inspired! I loved it! Probably my favorite of all time. We talked a lot about our lessons and what we should be doing. Presidente even showed us with an elder what he was trying to express. It was amazing!

We decided to apply what we learned as soon as possible. So, that same day, we went to visit Teresa (a reference we´ve been teaching) and did what Presidente had shown us. The lesson was amazing!!! The Spirit was there so strongly. We only spoke a tiny portion each and were able to change more easily that way. We were both highly engaged and it was amazing to see how the Spirit could guide us more easily. Teresa asked us if she needed to get rid of her saints (she said she had lots of little statutes). So we talked and she decided to pray about it. When we went back she said that she was packing them up in boxes to give them away! It was amazing! We were really hoping that she would be baptized this transfer, but then she told us that she has to go to Catamarca because her daughter is having a baby and she wants to be there to help. She´ll be gone for a month...But she said that the minute she gets back, she wants us to visit her. She said that she´d take her BofM to read while she was there! Tan linda! [So cute!]

Wednesday was a holiday here, so we had a ward activity. We invited some former investigators and they went! They are three kids, Milagros (12), Ezequiel (10), and Agustina (8). We talked to their dad on Saturday to asked permission if they could go and he said that he wanted us to visit him too. So we went on Sunday, but he wasn´t there. But the kids were really enthused!

Anyway, it was a really great week!!!!

I hope you all know that I love you and I hope you can feel every day that God loves you! Have a great week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

 "Hermana Larsen and I drinking mate. We love it!!!"

"Me with a bizcochuelo [sponge cake] gone bad. We know how to do it better now..."

Fighting Zika with Pants!

Hola todos!!! Espero que se encuentren bien!

[Hello everyone!!! I hope you are fine!]

Bueno, we will start with the big news.... da da daaaaa! 

Starting now, there are many missions, including mine, where the sister missionaries, due to the Zika virus, will be proselyting in PANTS! Yep. It is weird.

Anyway, back to the work. 

This week was.... hard. But good! 

As of our investigators, it was hard. Fernando is not interested anymore. With María and Adrian we tried the whole week to get an appointment, but we couldn't. (This week was the anniversary of La Rioja so there were lots of festivities and parades and stuff like that.) They told us that on Saturday for sure, we could go. So we called and called and they didn't answer. Finally Adrian sent us a text saying that they were busy and that they would tell us when we could go again. Yeah, that was sad. We also didn't have anyone in church.

BUT, there were still miracles. As a representative of Jesus Christ, there are miracles every day. But only if you are looking.

On Wednesday, the elders from another area had invited us to their area to help them with a little girl that wants to get baptized. It was really special! The whole family was really excited to see us (they are already members) and they treated us really well. We were able to get to know the little girl and find the way to help her. It was amazing!

Then on Friday after lunch, we sat down on the side of the road to re-evaluate our plans. My companion felt strongly that we needed to go to the other side of our area. So we got on a colectivo (bus) and we went. We were looking for an inactive member and so we asked a little girl in the street if she knew her. She said, I'm going there right now. Ill take you. She took us right to the house and we were able to visit with the hermana. She said that she knew she had to go back to church because a couple days before, she had seen the elders in a kiosk and talked to them. She has a strong testimony of the church. It was a really beautiful visit. 

Anyway, so yeah. I'm doing pretty good. Trying to give it my all every day. I know that this is Gods work and that it is of utmost importance. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here! Its really amazing!!!

I hope you all have a great week and I hope you know how much God loves you!!!!!!

Disfrútalo mientras dure!

[Enjoy it while it lasts!]

Love from,
Hermana  Micaela Wilson

La Rioja is more of a desert. It reminds me of a mix between Jesús María and Bell Ville. It´s strange to come to such a dry place right after Carlos Paz because there we had the lake and the rivers, but it´s good here, too. It´s not as humid (thank goodness) so that´s good.

"It has been a big change, but it has been good."

Council of Leaders--May

Hola mi querida familia!

This week was really good!!! It has been a big change, but it has been good.

I have gotten to know the investigators and am getting to know the area. I´m completely lost right now, but I know I´ll learn.

On Wednesday, we walked the whole day and no one wanted to let us in. It was a little discouraging, but on Thursday we were able to see some miracles. We were walking, trying to find a woman (Gisela) when a man said, “Hi hermanas!” Normally people don´t call us hermanas unless they know us. So we went to talk to him. Sure enough, his ex-wife is a member and he wants us to teach him! Then we had given up on Gisela when a man yelled at us asking if we were looking for Gisela. We said yes and she came outside. She couldn´t talk right then, but we were able to get her number and she told us when she´s available. That night, we went to a member´s house and she had a friend over. He was really, really drunk (we found out later that he´d drunk a whole 12 pack). He had lots of questions, though, and we were able to talk a bit. We didn´t go in depth because we knew he wouldn´t remember much. But it was really amazing!

On Saturday, we went to visit a couple, María y Adrian. The other hermanas had left a pamphlet and the man had read it and had questions. The wife would have read it but her husband took it to work with him. So we taught the Restoration and they really enjoyed it. We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to church. They said that they would be there. We also invited them to be baptized and they accepted!!!!! They are amazing! So willing. They were hanging on every word.

On Sunday, a young man, Fernando, went to church with us. When we got there, María and Adrian were there! I´d tried to find their number in the morning to call them, but I couldn´t find it. They got there alone! It was amazing!!!!!

This week has been great! I´ve been a little sad at times, though, thinking about Carlos Paz. I loved Carlos Paz and a part of me stayed there. Also, leaving Hermana Medina was hard. She was a great friend and companion. I don´t know if I´ll ever see her again...

But my companion right now, Hermana Larsen, is great! We have a very similar sense of humor and we laugh all the time! I´m enjoying La Rioja and am excited to work here!!!

Sorry I don´t have as much time today. We have a meeting soon, so we have to run. But I hope you all know how much I love you!!! Have a great week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

P.S. I promise to send pictures next week. It doesn´t work on this computer.

Council of Leaders--May 2016

La Rioja

Hermana Medina and I with a member

Us with Ayelen (a member)

Hermana Medina and I blowing bubbles

Hola mis muy queridos. Espero que hayan disfrutado su día de la madre!

[Hello my dear. I hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day!]

Us with the Salgado family (members)

This week was really good! We had to visit TONS of people! On Sunday, everyone and their dog asked us to visit them or do something for them. We are always happy to help, but there is a limit to our resources. :) But it was good. We were able to do many many things. 

Hermana Medina, Florencia (a member) and I

Us with the Quiroz family (members)

We went to go visit a contact we had made and we started talking. Her name was Laura. She invited us in and she shared about her life. Her husband died 3 months ago and she was still very tender about the subject. We testified of the plan of salvation and we invited her to be baptized. It was really sweet. She accepted! But, she didn't go to church.

We had an appointment with Alberto and we committed him to get married to the woman he is living with (who is a member, too) so that he can be baptized. He accepted! He said there was nothing impeding him to get married! They went to church! They are so awesome!!!

Hermana Medina, Viviana Vilta (less active), Alberto (investigator) and I

We went to visit the Oliva family (the referral from Hermana Medinas convert in Nueva Córdoba) to give the mom, Silvia, a priesthood blessing. It was really special! The hermano that went with us had a very similar story and he was able to help a lot. The blessing was beautiful!!

On Saturday, we got the transfer call. I am now in La Rioja, La Rioja (it is a different province) with Hermana Larsen from Maryland. Hermana Medina is now with Hermana Duran, but in Parque Capital in Córdoba. They closed our area! We were not prepared for that! We had to say goodbye to so many people and both of us had to pack. It was crazy and extremely sad!  

My new compi and I

We also had the opportunity to Skype home! It was great to be able to see the family again! I got to meet my two new nephews as well!!! They are so handsome!!!

Anyway, I hope you have a great week! I wish you all the best!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Gracias a Que Él Vive

Hola todos! Espero que hayan tenido una buena semana y que se encuentren bien. :)

This week was really good! I feel like it flew by. 

Ok, where to begin? :)

Bueno, Alberto. We visited him on Monday and had a Family Home Evening with him and his family. We watched the video from Easter from last year, Gracias a Que Él Vive. It was really good! He liked it a lot. We couldn't go back though during the week. (The week was kind of crazy.) He also didn't go to church on Sunday because his wife was sick and he had to take care of her. But, he wanted to go. He's still progressing nicely. We just have to talk about marriage so that they can hurry up and do that. :)

We also visited a family that was a referral from one of the converts of Hermana Medina in her old area. We went and got to know them. They are going through a particularly hard time and we got there in the perfect moment. They have heard the missionaries before, so they know a bit about us already. It was a really sweet visit. Actually we have an appointment with them today! :)

We went to the temple last Tuesday. When we left early in the morning, it was freezing! But the temple was beautiful! I love going to the temple! What a beautiful spirit that dwells there! 

Also, on Thursday we went to Santa Rosa for an exchange. It was really good! When we were about to head to the terminal to take the bus, (we were with a member, recent convert actually) and he would not let us go home on the bus. He said it was too late to travel like that so he took us in his car. That is not cheap. It is not close. And he would not let us pay him. It was amazing! What an amazing man!

Also, the Cabello family (recent converts) went to the temple on Thursday! It was so sweet! They loved it!

On Friday, there was a stake activity and they had asked our ward to share a talent. The ward didn't have time to prepare something, so they asked us to dance. Again. So, we had to go to Córdoba to do our dance. In front of the stake. Yeah, it was a bit uncomfortable. But, it ended up good! 

Yesterday we had Concilio de Lideres which is always really really fun! This time, the hermanas, after the meeting, went to a mall where there are games, and we played in the arcade. It was really fun! They also had bumper cars!

Anyway, it's been a crazy week and this is most likely my last week in Carlos Paz. I already have 6 months here... so yeah. It's sad. But, I hope you all have a fantastic week! And enjoy Mother's Day this Sunday!!!! I love you all!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Salsa! Olé!

Leadership Photo (from Facebook)

Hola todos!!!!

This week was good. :)

Ok, people. Jennifer. We didn´t go this week. We decided to let her have a week off. Let it settle in that we´re not always going to go.

We´re going to visit her this week and let her go. That´s going to be hard.

Valentina. We couldn´t visit her very much. She says that she wants to change, but she hasn´t read or prayed yet. But, she´s young. She´s only 16 years old. We are hoping that she does something. Because if she doesn´t, we can´t do anything more than invite.

Alberto. We started teaching a man named Alberto. He is the husband of a less active member. They went to General Conference and we met him there. He is very curious and is willing to act! HE WENT TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY!!!!! Por fin tuvimos alguien en la capilla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[We finally have someone in the chapel!]

Also, this week, we had a Talent Show put on by the Obra Misional. It ended up well. We didn´t have a ton of time to plan, but it was good.

Hermana Medina and I did a dance with Claudia Cabello (recent convert) and Bianca Carvalho (young woman). We danced salsa. Can you believe it? I danced salsa. It was really fun! I love salsa!!! We danced to the song Quimbara Kimbara by Celia Cruz. It was fun!! Alberto also went to the Talent Show!

So yeah. We had a pretty good week. It´s getting cold now, but we bundle up good. :) Enjoy the sun! Have a fantastic week!!!I l love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Interviews with Presidente

This week was good. :)

On Tuesday we had interviews with Presidente Alliaud. He is an amazing man! I absolutely love him! I´m gonna be really sad when he leaves. He really helped me to feel like what we are doing is okay. He helped me to realize (again) what success is. And it helped a lot.

Jennifer. We met with her on Tuesday and were really frank with her. We told her that if she wasn´t interested, we wouldn´t be able to continue. She told us that she really wanted to go to church and be baptized. So, we made plans so that she could go to church on Sunday. Everything was ready. We were going to visit her on Saturday so that she would be all ready, but she canceled on us. But she said she´d still go on Sunday. We went to go get her on Sunday, and she didn´t come out. We were there for half an hour knocking. This may be her last week. It´s so hard because we both feel that she really does want to keep going. That she´s not just pulling our leg. But, we´ll see.

We went to go visit a less active member and her family. Her husband (they´re not married) isn´t a member and he wants to quit smoking. They went to General Conference. When we went, there was another less active and their friend. We had a really sweet lesson with them. The friend had had a miscarriage and testified of the fact the she knows that there is another life after this one. It was really sweet. We´re going to start teaching her. :) Her name is Lorena.

Valentina. We visited her and she hadn´t read. But, she is really curious. She is completely different from the Valentina we met the first day. It was really amazing! She also accepted a baptismal date!!!! The problem is that she has insomnia and it´s extremely hard for her to wake up. She didn´t go to church yesterday either. Even though she wanted to. She was really excited. 

We visited Bell Ville this week! We switched Merlo for Bell Ville with the other Sister Training Leaders (one of them started the mission in Merlo and she ends this transfer, so she wanted to say goodbye). It was really good to go back! I was able to see Guadalupe! She was baptized the 27 of December and she is so different! It was a great day!!!

It was a really good week in spite of the fact that we didn´t have anyone in church. Sorry I don´t have more time to write. I have to go. :)

I hope you have a great week!!! I love you so much!!!!

Families Are Forever

 Hola familia y amigos!!! Espero que estén muy bien!!!

Bueno, first off. Last week I meant to send the scripture 2 Nephi 2:15 not 1 Nephi 2:15. (how embarassing...yet rather funny) ;)

Okay, this week was good. Rather hard, but good. 

Jennifer and Milagros. We weren´t able to talk seriously with them. They were always just leaving or had something. Saturday was Jennifer´s birthday so we went to say hi and celebrate a little. But we couldn´t stay long. Also, Milagros just got a job at a hotel and she works Sundays. They didn´t go to church. As usual.

Diego and William. We haven´t been able to see them. When we call, they´re very short and it feels like they don´t want to meet with us again. But, we´re going to go one more time and see. 

On Wednesday, Hermana Medina sent a text to Valentina in the morning saying that we love her and encouraging her to do her prayer. That night, she sent a text from someone else´s phone telling us that she really needed that text that day. We went on Friday to visit her and she said that she had been really sad about her grandma who had passed away three months ago. We testified that we can have eternal families and we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. She really likes to read so we´re hoping that she does it. We had marked some of the questions that she had asked us and she was really excited. It was a really sweet lesson. Very tender. She also said the prayer at the end! Remember that she had said that she was atheist. She also said that next week, she´ll go to church with us! I sure hope so!!!!

Marcela, Eliana and Ariadna weren´t there, but we´re hoping to find them this week. 

We also went to La Falda to visit Hermana Ortiz and Hermana Meneses (Jaramillo, she changed her last name). It was a fun day! I went with Hermana Ortiz and it was great!

Overall, it was a hard week. I don´t know what we are doing wrong. We are trying to be 100% obedient. We´re not perfect, but we´re doing pretty good with that. We take members to the lessons, we leave commitments, we testify, we invite. But still, nothing. I know that this is God´s work, but if it´s God´s work, why isn´t it working right now? I know I just have to be patient and trust in the Lord. I know it´ll come. I don´t know when, but I know it´ll come.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you all so much!!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

I hope you enjoyed General Conference.

Hola todos! Espero que hayan disfrutado la Conferencia General. Fue increíble, no?

This week was pretty good. Kind of crazy though. There were a couple days where we didn´t do anything that we had planned. But, we could see the hand of the Lord in our work. It was really special.

Jennifer and Milagros. UGH. I don´t understand why they can´t go to church. It´s three blocks away!!!! On Saturday night, after conference, we had a really good lesson with them. We taught the Restoration. We took a member and she testified with a lot of power. The Spirit was strong. They understood and I know that they felt the Spirit. They committed to go to the Conference on Sunday. Since it was at 1 (the first session), they said it would be easier for them to go. We asked if they wanted us to go get them beforehand and they said no. So we waited. They didn´t go to the first session. Between sessions, we went to visit them. Milagros was out taking the empanadas around. We talked to Jennifer and she said that, for sure for sure, they were going to go the the 5 o´clock session. So we waited. And they didn´t show. It was really frustrating. A month or so of inviting and they never make it. We don´t know what else to do.

Diego and William. We couldn´t meet with them this week. A member had invited them over to a birthday party, and we went, but at the last second, they backed out. They also couldn´t go to Conference because of a different party. 

JUST GO TO CHURCH!!!!

It was really special though. We were doing contacting one day when we found a mother and her daughter and two friends. Their names are Marcela (the mother), Valentina (the daughter), Eliana (friend) and Ariadna (other friend). We were talking to them and they had lots of really good questions. We started teaching and testifying about the Plan of Salvation. Valentina doesn´t believe in God. She believes in reincarnation. I testified about when I, at her age, decided to know for myself. I saw the words enter into her heart. We have a lesson with them today. We had invited them to pray. I hope they did it. 

We also met with Helena again. (She´s an old investigator from my first transfer here.) We got a message from Rosane (a member) telling us that Helena was in her house and that we should go. So we went. We had a good talk with her. she isn´t living with her boyfriend anymore. She´s single. She knows everything about the church and has a testimony. Now, the only thing impeding her from being baptized is herself. When she wants to, she can do it. I hope she does it soon!

General Conference was really special. I always love being able to listen to our prophet and the Twelve. I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talk and Elder Holland´s. As always. :) 

Also, I wanted to share a favorite scripture with you all. It´s in 1 Nephi 2:15. Look it up. It´s pretty good. :) Here´s a picture to go along with it.

I hope you all know how much I love you! I hope you all have a great week!!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

P.S. Sorry I don´t have pictures this week! I promise to send some next week!!!