"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