This is His work.

sunset from the pension

Hola a todos!

Espero que hayan tenido una muy buena semana!

[Hi all! I hope you had a great week !]

This week was really good. :) We were able to work a lot even though we didn´t get the results we wanted. It was still good. 

Damian and Eliana did not get married or baptized this week. We´ve been working really hard with them. We went to the registro civil [civil registry] with them (sorry, I don´t know what it´s called in English) but they can´t afford it right now. They also want it to be a special occasion so they want to buy clothes and rings and all that jazz. I understand why it´s hard for the other hermanas because they may not be here. They´re still going, though, and they want to get married. They´re going to see what they can do so that they can do it by the end of the transfer.

Antonella is doing really well. We went on Tuesday to teach her and Damian and Eliana about the Restoration. We brought our little DVD player to show the movie. It was crazy! We first couldn´t plug it in (because it can´t hold a charge) and then you couldn´t hear, and there was one problem after another. So we put on the subtitles and called it good. We watched until right after the First Vision and turned it off. We asked what they were able to understand and Damian and Eliana didn´t get hardly anything, but Antonella understood. She even quoted James 1:5 almost word for word. It was amazing to see how much she can learn and understand now that she has the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was really cool. Even though the lesson didn´t go too well, it did for her.

Also it was Antonella´s birthday on Thursday. So on Saturday she invited us and the elders and some members over to celebrate. It was really sweet of her. While we were there, her little sister, Fernanda asked me for a Book of Mormon. She said she wanted to read it and that she wants to be baptized. It was a really special moment. In the midst of all the commotion of the party, she wanted a Book of Mormon. She´s a sweetheart.

We are also teaching María (the mother of a recent convert). She wants to get baptized but more because she believes that it will heal her. We´ve talked a lot about the real meaning and she´s beginning to understand. She also thought that all the churches were the same, but once we taught her the Restoration she began to understand that they can´t all be the same. We couldn´t find her this week and she didn´t come to church. It´s a bit hard because she´s older and depends on other people to get around.

We went on an exchange in Saldán and I got to go with Hermana Lopez. I was in her district when I was in Bell Ville so it was good to see her again and work with her. She´s a good friend. I was able to talk to her and help her with some of the problems she was having. I really like being a Sister Training Leader. I feel like not only can I help my investigators, but the sisters as well. Everyone needs to be invited to ¨come unto Christ.¨

Anyway, I´ve been thinking a lot this last week as I approach my year mark in this time I´ve had in Argentina. It´s been hard. I´ve had some hard times. I´ve had my breakdowns and reached my breaking points, but it has been the most beautiful and rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. I, personally, have grown. I have come closer to my Father in Heaven. I have been able to meet people and touch lives. I have seen the eternities change for the better. I have seen what the Gospel does in one´s life. I have seen the light be turned on in one´s eyes. I have worked side by side with the Spirit and have been an instrument in God´s hands. What a marvelous and miraculous time this has been. I am sad that the time has gone by so fast. I thank God every day for this wonderful opportunity.

Thank you all so much for your love and support. I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week! As one of my brothers always said, Keep on keepin on!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

I got burned the other day in the sun. These are my tan lines now.

P.S.

I can´t believe I totally forgot the best thing about the week! We had a world-wide mission broadcast. All of the missionaries in all the world watched this. It was great! The last time they did it is when Preach My Gospel came out so we were all on tenterhooks but nothing like that came out. :) It was still amazing though! We got to hear the general authorities talk about principles in Preach My Gospel. My favorite part was about following the Spirit. Elder Bednar was talking and one part that really hit me was this: He said that the Holy Ghost is not a tool that we have, but rather that we are the tool or the instrument in the hands of the Holy Ghost. I really liked this because I had been feeling really stressed and overwhelmed with the work feeling like I had to do everything. That Monday my mom had written me telling me that this isn´t my work. It is the Lord´s work. It hit me really hard when Elder Bednar was speaking because it´s just that. I am not the one who has to make people convert to the Gospel. I have to be worthy to have the Spirit but it is the Spirit who testifies and teaches. And the investigators have to let the Spirit into their hearts. It changed how I think about the work. I needn´t be so stressed. As long as I am doing my part and doing the best I can, that´s good enough. I realized, this is God´s work. And because it´s His work, it´ll work out the way He wants it to.

I also read His Grace is Sufficient this week by Brad Wilcox and I would invite all of you to read it. It´s pretty amazing!

Anyway, have a great week!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Bautismo de Antonella

Hola todos!

This week was really good! Sorry, today I don´t have a lot of time. We have a P-day as a zone so we have to travel. :)

This week was really good! We were here in Carlos Paz on Tuesday and Wednesday and then we had to leave for an exchange for two days. In the days we were in Carlos Paz, we had to do some major planning and it was crazy! But we were able to talk to Antonella before leaving. We went with a member to help us help her feel comfortable in the ward and when we got there Antonella wasn't doing so hot. She started crying and didn't want to talk. So Hermana Obregón went and talked to her (Antonella trusts her the most) and while they were talking Damian came out and we could tell he was struggling too. He started talking about just leaving his family instead of getting married. He said it would be easier. He too started to cry. Hermana Dennis and I started whipping out scriptures and experiences to share. It was incredible. I know that that was not me in that moment. I can't even remember what we shared or said. It was amazing. I felt guided so closely by the Lord. Afterward, Damian said he was feeling much better. He was still crying, but we could tell that he was better. Antonella and Hermana Obregón joined us shortly and we talked about her baptism and our member (we bring a member and the investigators fall apart. Oh well, it's the work 😉) shared a very powerful testimony about her baptism. So, at the end, it all went well.

Hermana Dennis and I then had to travel to Santa Rosa to do an exchange. We were there in Santa Rosa for two days because there are now four hermanas there. The exchanges went really well and we were able to find a lot of people! I really like doing exchanges! It's fun to be with the hermanas and be able to help them. I'm really grateful for this opportunity.

Then on Saturday, we got back and had to get the baptism all ready. We cleaned and filled the font and got everything all ready. The Young Women had an activity that morning and had invited Antonella. She went! So when she got back, she got baptized! Damian, Eliana, Antonella's mom, Fernanda, and Abel were all there too! It was a beautiful service! Antonella said that when she got baptized, she had her eyes closed, but she felt as though there was a light that turned on. It made me think of the 'light in their eyes' that many non-members have mencioned. She has it now. On Sunday, she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was beautiful!

Anyway, I'm doing really well here. We have been extremely blessed!

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

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Consejo de Lideres

Hola hola hola!

This week was good. I can't believe that another week as passed. It's going by so quickly.

On Tuesday, we went to La Falda to work with Hermana Linares and Hermana Jaramillo. Two of my old companions. Go figure. It was great to work with them, although I felt bad because they weren't getting along too well. Because I know both of them, I tried to help the best I could. But it was a great day and it was fun to be with them again.

Hermanas Dennis, Linares. Jaramillo, and Wilson in La Falda

We've been working really hard with Antonella, Damian and Eliana. They are doing great! Antonella is preparing for her baptism this weekend and is really excited! We got permission from her mom too!!! She's doing well with her goals to stop smoking and so we are really excited.

Damien, Eliana & Bianca

Antonella also invited us to have a merienda (mid-day meal/snack thing) and she made a bunch of food. It was so sweet of her! We talked about families that day and invited, again, to all of them to pray to know if this is the true church. (Because Eliana still hasn't prayed.) It was a really good lesson!

Merienda with Antonella and everyone

This Sunday we had Antonella, Damian, Eliana, Abel (Damian's dad), Fernanda (Antonella's little sister) and the little kids of Damian and Eliana in the church! It was amazing!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited for them! What a miracle and blessing they have been!!!

whole caption on Sunday

We told Jorge and Johana that we couldn't keep visiting them if they weren't willing to progress. We told them that they had to come to church this last Sunday and if they didn't, we weren't going to be able to visit them anymore. That is always a hard talk. And they didn't come. So, we have to leave them. But it's only for a time. I am sure that in the future, the missionaries will see their record in the Area Book and look for them again. They are great people!

We are really struggling with finding more people. It's really hard with all the tourists. Carlos Paz is swarming with tourists. Everywhere you look, they are all tourists. Those that live here are working almost 24/7 with about 2-3 jobs. It's crazy! 

Consejo di Lideras

Yesterday, we had Consejo de Líderes where all the zone leaders and STLs go to have a training session from Presidente and the assistants. I love los consejos de líderes! Also, this time Hermana Mikolajcik and Hermana Nordfelt were there. Two of my really good friends here on the mission! It was a great day!!!

Anyway, all is going well here. I hope you all have a great week!!! I love you all so much!!!

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson

Happy New Year!

Here´s a picture of the four of us. Me with Hermana Montenegro. In back Hermana Dennis with Hermana Obregón.

Hola mis seres queridos! Espero que disfrutaran su Año Nuevo y que tuvieran una muy buena semana!

 [Hello my loved ones ! I hope you enjoyed your New Year and had a very good week !]

This week felt like three wrapped in one. 

My mini´s name is Hermana Montenegro. She´s from Saldán and is 18 years old. 

It was interesting this week trying to get everything worked out with four of us. We had lots of planning sessions and weren´t able to work as much because of it. I´m hoping that as time goes by, things calm down and become easier. 

As for investigators...

Jorge and Johana. We went to visit them and Johana really wants to progress, but she´s not going to do anything until her husband does something. They also needed to get married. The other hermanas went and they found Jorge alone. They talked very frankly with him and laid everything straight. They told him that he needed to make a commitment to progress, or we were going to stop visiting them. They invited him to church and said that he had to go or we weren´t going back. They didn´t go to church.

It´s always really sad to have to drop investigators. You grow to love them and want the best for them and you know that what´s best is the Gospel. They just refuse to accept the only thing in the world that could truly make them happy. 

We couldn´t get an appointment with Helena this week so we don´t know how she´s doing. She also didn´t go to church, though. We are thinking seriously about dropping her too...

Antonella, Damian y Eliana are doing great! (Eliana is Damian´s wife but they´re not married.) We told Damian that in order to be baptized, he had to get married. We encouraged him to propose on New Year´s at midnight. And he did it! They all came to church yesterday too, in spite of the fact that it rained and we all got wet! Their baptismal date is the 16 of January. But, Damian has to stop smoking and drinking. Also, on the way to church, we found out that Antonella smokes and does drugs. We were so sad. She explained a bit of her past and it is so tragic. She really want to quit, though, and she said she´ll do whatever it takes. She said she wants to be baptized to be able to start over again. She´s a sweetheart.

Special experience: On Friday, we were all together and we were going to an appointment. But, the person wasn´t there. So we decided to do some contacts. The people we´d contacted before weren´t home and I was kind of frustrated. I turned around and saw a woman sitting on the side of the road. She made eye contact with me so I walked over and gave her a pass-along card. We started talking and she said towards the end that we´d gotten there at the perfect moment. She said that she was feeling horrible and that she was thinking about packing up her stuff and leaving tomorrow. She said that no one would notice. She was going to leave her 13-year-old daughter. But us going and talking to her was a sign that God loved her and that someone was thinking of her. I love it when we have experiences like that. It was a testimony to me that we are God´s hands here. We are doing His work. All we have to do is open our mouths and do it. 

Things have been interesting with the minis. My mini is pretty chill and I´m really grateful. She´s the youngest in her family, too, and she always tells me stories about her nieces and nephews. It´s great because we have that in common. She´s pretty great! 

I think I´m just overly stressed. I went from one transfer being equally matched with my companion to having to do everything again. More than everything because she didn´t go to the MTC. I just want it to be a good experience but at the same time, I have to show her what it´s really like. So I hope it goes well.

We spent New Year´s Eve at a member´s house. We ate tacos and we got to stay up till 12:30. When we got home, the city had a big firework display for 15 minutes! We went up onto the roof to watch. It was really fun!

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

Love from,

Hermana Micaela Wilson