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

 

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