December 29, 2014

  

The first is of me in front of the retirement home/abby:D

For those of you who have not already heard this wonderful story, Christmas morning my companion humored me in my ardent desire to go singing/visiting at the nursing home.  We didn’t know where to find one and went on a bit of a wild goose-chase but in the end it ended up being just three minutes from our home.  We walked right on in like we knew what we were doing and found out that it was run by all of these super adorable old nuns.  We got to sing and talk with people and then the nuns saw our nametags and mistook us for nuns also:)  They got super excited and took us to meet the head nun in the convent:D   I thought it was SO COOL:DDDDDD they invited us back and it was a fun little moment:)

The next is a photo of our Christmas lunch with Sister Avrilene and her family -and also Kevin from the branch. 

We bought Santa hats to hype up the Christmas cheer and had a wonderful time:D   It was interesting having Christmas a Maurice.  There was no snow, it was blazing hot, the Christmas trees kind of look like palm trees... and there are lots of people who do not celebrate -the Indians and Muslims- but it still seemed like there was a good amount of festivity and lights:)  When we gave the Christmas cookies to our neighbors they looked a little confused and it was only later that night on returning home when we asked if they'd had a good Christmas that they said "we don’t celebrate Christmas" that we were like "oh -slap in the face- right!  We knew that” oh well, we would have given them the cookies even if we had remembered:) 

Okay so this is of our tiny Christmas tree that we decided to buy to participate in the season festivities;)  Normally I am too biased to buy a fake tree but in our circumstances it was the better choice;)  It was super cute how excited Sister Isham was about it:)

Me opening my Christmas package from home.  That poor package went through a lot to get to me.  Mauritian customs are slightly ludicrous and they stole my candy, but that is okay, my Mom is so cute and sent me lots of fun things:)  She even sent me a soft ferret dog toy that i may or may not have mistaken at first for a scarf;)  

Sister Isham and I making sugar cookies.  That is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite traditions and my mom spoils me sooooo much.  She sent me the recipe, cookie cutters, food coloring for the frosting, and sprinkles so that it really could be like I was back at home.  It made me so happy to make them and everyone thought they were great:D

The last picture is from a funny story.  We had some hard moments this past Saturday but said a little prayer and I said to sister Ishim "ca va, c'est la perseverance" or in other words "it’s okay, its enduring to the end" and not a hundred yards down the street we ran into this random sign with the word "perseverance" ;)

Well I hope that you enjoy the pictures.  It was a good week.  The people here are so kind and for the most part the work is going well.  I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!!!

Love,

Sister Wilson

December 22, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS:DDDDDD 

It is strange to be a missionary at Christmas time because seems like everyone puts the Gospel on pause.  But for me that is exactly the opposite of what should happen!  Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ so shouldn't more people be wanting to learn about the Gospel?  Anyways, I am trying to not be stressed or discouraged about it and to just do my best and enjoy all of the beautiful moments.  We have been sharing the video that the church put out about Christmas called "He is the Gift"http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

It is a very beautiful reminder of the real reason that we celebrate Christmas.  Christ is the greatest gift that this world has ever known.  He is the gift of eternal life, the gift of forgiveness, the gift of mercy and grace, the gift of peace and comfort, and the gift of hope for a brighter future.  I am grateful for the birth of my savior and so grateful for the knowledge that I have of his beautiful plan of redemption.  I am grateful for all of the sacrifices and the courage of my parents so that my family could grow up in the faith and in the knowledge of Christ.

We still have lessons today and tomorrow which makes me happy:)  And we have been invited by so many members to share Christmas with them which is so sweet.  We will eat dinner with the family Laurauce tomorrow night with their whole extended family (who are not members) which should be exciting:D  They said that we can share a message:)  I am excited to make cookies to give out to people, and I miss going to nursing homes so much that I talked sister Isham into going with me to sing:D  We will eat two Christmas lunches, one with Sr Avrilenes family and one with Sr Sondia's family:)  and then Christmas evening we will be with the family Bastien.  We are looking for as many ways to serve and help others as possible so that this Christmas can be meaningful:)

I would like to just say a small word about Sean Byers who was a very close friend of mine who passed away this last week.  I was so shocked to have the news and can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that I will never see him again in this life.  But I am so grateful that I know that I will see him again in the next and that he is in Heavenly Father's care.  God has a plan for all of us and he is always at our sides to help us.  We can't always see or understand why things happen but he knows and he will help us to find peace.  I loved Big Sean dearly and am sorry to not be able to be there for his funeral and to hug his Mom and Dad, but I will pray for them and hope that all is well.

Have a very Merry Christmas with your family and loved ones.  Look for someone to help and to serve and you will find that this Christmas will be a memorable one. 

Lots of love,  Sister Wilson

The first is just a funny picture of a family that we have been teaching for about two months.  The mom's name is Pascaline, her husband’s name is Kersly and they have a two daughters and a little boy.  We had a super good lesson with them last week- Pascaline had prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true and had felt the spirit so strongly that tears came to her eyes as she told us about the experience.  Kersly also got his answer last week and were so excited that we decided to have a little dance party to celebrate.  It may or may not have gotten a bit out of hand, that’s for you to decide;)

This of me outside one of the many little stores (in Port Louis the capitol) with tons and tons of sacks of beans and seeds and all sorts of things:D  I found it aesthetic in an odd way and was super fan.  I got many strange looks as my companion took the picture...

A picture of Sister Conrad, Sister Isham and I at a Korean restaurant last week that we went to in Port Louis on Monday.  It is Elder Choi's favorite place to eat (he is korean;) and we all had to taste Kimchi (rotten cabbage) it actually wasn’t bad, but i think that I prefer Japanese food. 

The boys at the korean restaurant.  It is Elder Estrade, Elder Choi and Elder Conrade. 

This is from District Meeting last week in the Conrad's home.  The Conrads are the senior couple here in Mauritius.  District Meeting is something we have as missionaries once a week to talk about how the week went, get help/new ideas from each other, and have a lesson or training.  Afterwards we ate lunch together:)

December 15, 2014

We had a good but slightly odd week because of the Mauritian elections.  Normally Monday is the "preparation day" where we do our laundry, grocery shopping, emails, etc. but we asked if we could switch it to Thursday to be able to work more.  So Monday we had lessons and whatnot.  Wednesday was the actual day of elections and people said we probably should not go out, so we decided to be cautious but still work and set all of our lessons up at the church so that we could stay in one place.  It was craziness because all of the roads were blocked and full of parades and all sorts of nonsense.  There are two major parties and there was a lot of contention between the two sides. 

Thursday is the day when the open the boxes and count the vote.  We had some great lessons in the morning and then went back to the apartment at noon and just stayed home.  We had bought frozen chicken nuggets and French fries for the first time, to make for the occasion and watched a LOT of Mormonmessages;)  I also took a 40 minute nap.  It was the first time in four and a half months that I have taken a nap.  That is one thing I really miss.  We also made protective cases for scriptures out of cereal boxes for several members who had asked up (with pictures from the Liahona to cover them and make them pretty), and we watched the district and did role plays to work on our teaching skills. 

We set the baptismal dates of a family who has been investigating for some time and they finally got their testimony of the Book ofMormon and are on fire:D  They are named Pascaline and Kersly.  They are so much fun and have three little kids who are super adorable:)  After the lesson on Saturday we had a little dance party to celebrate;)  The cultural dance here is the Sega and things got a little crazy and there may have been feather boas involved and plumes in our hair;) 

This weekend we had a district conference.  Maurice is now a part of the same district as la reunion so the district president (Pres. Ferrier) flew in with his first counselor Fr Argien (who is from the branch in St. Pierre:)  We had super good meetings:)  Fr Argien had a little note for me from Sister Argien which was super cute and made me happy:)  Sunday we watched a broadcast from the regional presidency in South Africa.  I liked it a lot and it was cool to hear a message centered more on African culture and members of the church.  It is true that we have so much to learn from them because their faith and their excitement/energy about the church is inspiring:) 

Everything is going well and is pretty steady.  Soeur Isham and I are trying to learn the creole, and we are also working hard on studying techniques d'enseignment dans PmE (Teaching techniques in PMG) and in watching the District and doing more role plays during companionship study.  We have been seeing some great effects in the work and are excited to keep learning.  I hope that you had a great week. 

One last silly thing.  We went to Port Louis today with the elders and the senior couple to eat at a Korean restaurant (For elder choi;) and then went and tried on saris:D  It was super fun!  I love traditional Indian clothing, it’s so beautiful.  It was a pretty funny experience because all of the store people kept showing us different things.  When you try on saris you kind of feel like a princess because there are two ladies who do it up all fancy for you:)  They told me I looked like a model but I think they just wanted to get me to buy it;)  It was super pretty, but hard to walk in.

Voilà mes aventures de la semaine.  Sorry if the email wasn’t too inspiring but I hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

December 10, 2014

Life really is a crazy adventure and I love it.  I had an incredibly wonderful time (as I believe I explained in the email last week) while a la reunion.  I really prayed that I would be able to be useful even if it was just a week that I would be there and every single day the Lord answered my prayer.  I was able to be in so many places in just the right time, for investigators I had taught before, for other missionaries and for myself.  Hurray for the lord working through us if we have the desire and try to be humble:D  We were really starting to feel settled in on Tuesday and had had no news of visas and so were ready to stay for who knows how long.  I loved getting to be in the new branch on Sunday and meeting all of the members and starting to work with them.  Then, late Tuesday night we got a phone call from the zone leaders.  They had just gotten the news that sister Ishams visa went through and we were headed off to Mauritius the next morning.  It was cool because our last evening we had a meeting with our branch mission leader and I had asked his wife to teach us one of the most common creole dishes and so now I will be able to take the recipe home:)  It’s called "rougail saucisse" and it was fun learning with Sister Fortuna.

Life back in Mauritius has been wonderful and exhausting.  Wednesday we got back in the afternoon and went grocery shopping, unpacked and met up with Frere Benjamin (our branch mission leader here) to touch base with him and see what had been done in our absence.  From Thursday to Sunday we were able to regain contact with every single one of our investigators and recent converts and they are all doing super well:D 

Pascaline is someone we started teaching my first week in Mauritius and while we were gone she finally got down on her knees and asked God if the Book of Mormon is true.  As she told us about her experience tears came into her eyes and the spirit was very powerful.  She got her answer and she wants to be baptized:D   Kersly (her husband) also had a very spiritual experience this past week in coming to church and so we will invite him to be baptized the same date as his wife:) 

All of the members are super happy to have us back and said that they prayed for us to come back quickly:)  It is actually quite the miracle because when they put in the request for a one month visa for Sr Isham (because her year one was denied) it normally takes minimum of one month to go through, but this time it was one week:)  too cool.

This week has been a little special because it is the elections for the Mauritians tomorrow. They only have elections every five to seven years and things get so crazy in the roads that most Mauritians stay in their houses for two days.  So today we are having all of the lessons we could manage to schedule at church and tomorrow we will be on lockdown in the apartment and it will be our preparation day:O  cool stuff:) 

I hope that you all have a fantastic week.  I love you and hope that we will all be able to focus on the importance of our savior this Christmas season:)

Love,

Sister Wilson

December 2, 2014

So the first is a picture from sister Berchel's last day on the mission :O  We are in St. Denis with Sister Gardiner, Isham, and Olivarius.  We decided to go out to ice cream all together one last time:) 

The second is a picture from the airport.  We may or may not have cried like babies....  it is a strange experience sending a missionary off.  She was nervous, but also ready to go because she knew that she had done her best, worked her hardest, and was leaving no regrets behind.  Up until this point in my mission I have no regrets either, and I hope that I will be able to keep it that way right up until the end.  

Coming back to la reunion is not what I would have chosen for myself, but I had a week before I left to become adjusted to the idea and to remind myself that I know that the Lord always knows best.  So, by the time that I was on the plane I was grateful and excited for my new adventure whatever it may be.  Getting to be with/there for Sr Berchel in her last moments was a precious gift and a blessing to me and I believe for her as well.  It was a very strange feeling sending off a missionary, especially one who has become such a close and dear friend.

 I am in St. Denis now for who knows how long, and so I am trying to work as though I will be here indefinitely.  It has been hard but very satisfying work.  I like the feeling of starting from the ground and working your way up -it is a very free feeling.  Every day we left the apartment with plans of trying to stop by addresses of less active members and former investigators, and with the intention of talking to every single person that crossed our path, and that is exactly what we did.  In four days between the two companionships we had 23 contacts (people we met on the street who gave us their address, phone number and set up a lesson), and yesterday we had 7 lessons with members and two others, which is more than we had put together all last week!!! we also had a good number of investigators at church:)  the work is going well and I still have so much to learn, but I am happy and will keep moving forward.  Sister Olivarius has been on her mission for just one month and is super motivated and I hope that she will be able to keep her fire going:)  Sister Gardiner is almost at the end (one and a half months left) and is a bit discouraged because she has spent her whole 16 months in St.  Denis.  I hope that she will be able to re-catch the motivation and the joy of missionary work before going home so that she does not leave behind regrets.  I think that she is already happier and more excited because things are looking up:)

Another surprise blessing of being back is that Sr Isham and I were able to go to the baptism of Vincent on Saturday in St. Pierre.  It was someone that we had found together and taught just before leaving for Maurice.  He was doing well and it was super fun to see the members there:)

Luckily I love meeting new people, so this past week has been a blast.  I hope that everyone at home is doing well and that you are excited for Christmas and won’t forget that it is all about the love:)   have a great week!

Love,

Soeur Wilson

Okay so these are some pictures for the last P-day activity I had with Sister Berchel. We went to Casela which is a huge safari/park in Mauritius and you can pay to go on an hour tour walking with lions.   

The lions were orphaned in South Africa and trained from infancy to be with people so they had no leashes, no anesthesia, we just each had a wooden stick which is they sign of authority that they were trained to recognize.

 Needless to say it was paradise;) I love being with animals :D

November 24, 2014

What a week, what craziness, what sorrow, what happiness, and what a wonderful experience these last two months have been.  I have worked nonstop and I am tired but I am also so happy:)  We have seen so many miracles and have so many beautiful and spiritual experiences.  We have also had lots of hardships but I have grown so much from them and it feels good:)

This past Saturday we had our three baptisms and wow what a day.  Our emotions have been running high for some time, I think with all of the changes going on, especially because Soeur Berchel is headed home for France tomorrow (she is finished with her mission) and that is a crazy transition to make.   We had good lessons in the morning but we were far away from Rose Hill and hit unexpected traffic coming back. The roads here are craziness and we had a very scary moment on the way and were a little shaken.  When we got to the church (with no time to spare) we figured out there was a problem with Clency's baptismal record and luckily we got that worked out last minute.  Kevin's Mom who had promised to come cancelled at the last minute and I could have died when I saw the look on Kevin's face.  Nathanielle's family didn’t come.  Our investigator Steve who has been such a joy to teach and who has been so happy and grateful to learn called us to say that he can't come anymore because his companion told him to choose between her and the church, and in the midst of all of this it is not surprising that there were some tears shed.  But that is okay, the baptismal service started and there was a wonderful spirit there.  As each of them entered the water I felt tears of pride and gratitude come into my eyes, they were so beautiful.  When they bore their testimonies afterwards I don't think there was a person in that chapel who was not touched.  The members have been coming up to us ever since to say that it has been sooooo long since they felt the spirit like that. 

This is not surprising to me because these three incredible people (Nathanielle, Kevin, and Clency) made a lot of changes and a lot of sacrifices to get to where they are today and they have solid testimonies of the restored Gospel.  I love them and I love this work. 

I am sad to say goodbye to Soeur Berchel.  As I already said it has not always been easy but it has been so worth it and there is not another missionary like her.  Also, I am sad because I will also be leaving Maurice tomorrow as it turns out.  There is not another Sister who has gotten a visa yet so it is back to la Reunion.  I will be in St. Denis for a while which should be fun to have a new adventure, but I am worried by the possibility that I won’t come back to Maurice.  Well, who knows, what is important is that it is the Lord's work and he is guiding it so I don't need to worry--he will send me where I need to be.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week:) 

Lots of love,

Soeur Wilson

Sr Berchel and I with Kevin Nathanielle and Clency the day of their baptism

Just Nathanielle and I

Kevin with Sr Berchel and Myself

November 17, 2014

Mmk what can I say about this week.  It was another great one.  I still feel grateful every day when the sun is shining because I am warm and happy.  I think that the sunshine is one of the best and quickest cures when one is feeling down (and I know that my mom agrees with me, maybe I get it from her;). 

Kevin has been changing so much and it’s been sooooooo cool!  He got off to a rough start because he has some trouble with self-confidence, but he has made friends with all of the other young adults now, and every time we see him he is happier and we can just see his light growing brighter and brighter and it is so awesome:D  He had dreads and this week he cut his hair and it wasn’t even us who asked him to:)  He looks good with his new haircut.  Also he passed his baptismal interview, has stopped smoking, and is just doing great! 

Nathanielle also passed her baptismal interview.  When she came to church this past Sunday she wasn’t doing very well.  We left sacrament meeting early to go talk with her under the trees.  It was the first time I’ve seen her cry and it was heartbreaking.  It is a sad thing how often humans/things in life in general fall into cycles.  Well it is not inherently sad, but there are lots of sad cycles that occur.  Her mother had a terrible childhood, having to change homes many times, and never really having her mother there, and now she is making the same choices.  Nathanielle asked "how can she inflict on her own children what she already lived and suffered through?"  This is a very good question and what it comes down to is weakness.  We (as humans) are weak but we can overcome those weaknesses (Ether 12:27) if we have faith and come unto Christ.  Weakness isn’t sin but it can lead us to sin if we do not take control.

Clency also passed his baptismal interview HURRAY:D !!!!!!!!!!!  So there will be three baptisms this Saturday:)  He is super excited and doing great. 

This is my last week with Soeur Berchel because next Tuesday morning she will be heading home to France:O  What CRAZINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Her mission will be over.  Time (as always) is such a strange thing.  Wish us luck;)  I hope that everyone back at home is doing well, have a great week, and never take for granted what is most important in life: the people:D

Love,

Sister Wilson

Ether 12:27: 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

November 10, 2014

Mmk this week for my email I am going to cheat because I ran out of time and I am going to share what I already shared with certain people so if you are one of those people you will just have to read the same thing twice;)

Mark and I decided to start doing a weekly study together and the first topic we chose was Gratitude because it will be thanksgiving soon.  It was nice to study gratitude along with everything else I studied during the week because it kept me thinking about how important it is to be grateful for everything (the good times and the hard times;) and it made my days easier.  The scripture that stood out to me the most was D&C 59:7,15, 21 because I was trying to look up the doctrine of gratitude.  It is a commandment to be grateful in all things which I find cool.  We know that every commandment is for our own good (God doesn't need our gratitude though it does make him happy) and for gratitude it is easy to see why.  It is because being grateful changes our perspective on everything in life.  It is our attitude, and if we can teach ourselves to always "look on the bright side" as they say then we will become more and more free (which is the goal in life -freedom).  It is a way to self-mastery:) 

Then my sweet sister took the time to write me a little spiritual thought even though she has a ton on her plate being a new mother.  She talked about how growing sometimes hurts but that it is necessary to pass by the pain and that by placing our confidence in Christ he can lighten our burdens.  I have definitely had some growing pains on my mission but I try to be grateful for them and to not wish.  If we want the hard moments to pass quickly we end up missing some of the most precious moments in life and that is a shame.

This week we had less lessons with members which is too bad, but it was a kind of a funny situation.  Every time we called a member to see if they could join us they said they were already engaged to help the Rosalie family move into their new home.  This persisted the whole week, literally that is the only thing we heard from the members this week "oops sorry but I already said I’d help the Rosalie’s" "Sorry, we will be at the family Rosalie’s tomorrow"  "no that won’t be possible this week sorry, we are helping the family Rosalie."  We asked ourselves how all of these people were going to be able to fit into the Rosalie's house to help but at least the members were motivated for the service and showed great unity;)  Nathanielle (21) had her interview this past week and passed and will be baptized the 22 Nov.  Kevin and Clency will have their interviews this week and will also be baptized normally on the 22 so that will be an awesome day:)  We have lots of great investigators and it is a pleasure to teach and learn with them.

It is starting to be summer here again and boy is it hot.  Hopefully I will survive;)  Lots of fruit trees are turning ripe which is exciting:D  I am excited to eat letchi for the first time, it’s a funny little red fruit found on islands:)

Hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

November 3, 2014

Jose got confirmed yesterday and sustained in church so it’s official now;)  He is doing super well and also received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday.  This coming Sunday we are super excited because we have another baptism of our friend Clency.  He has a cool story.  The Elders gave us some numbers to contact one week and that very day we had a lesson cancelled and decided to call all of the numbers to try and find a replacement.  Clency was one of these numbers and he answered, was home, and said "sure, come on over."  We called Sister Avrilene to see if she could go with us and she said yes.  When we got there it turns out that she knew Clency because she had lived with him and his cousin for several years while inactive in the church.  The very first lesson Clency bore his testimony of the miraculous change he had seen in Sr Avrilene as she became active in the church and that he knew that the Gospel was true.  He had also worked for years on boats transporting goods back and forth between islands, and one of his shipmates was Frere Charles (a member of our branch) and so he already had a Book of Mormon.  He is very sick now and has been humbled by the years and has such a sincere desire to learn and to repent and come unto Christ.  He has gotten his whole life in order and has such a powerful testimony and I just love teaching him.  Also, he misheard Sr Berchel and I's names the first time and still calls us "Sr Brechmetel and Sr Forest."  He makes me smile:)

The Sunday afterwards is the baptism of our friend Nathanielle.  She is 21, a student, and we met her because we said hi to her mother while walking down the street and she invited us in.  She came to General Conference, she was at church again yesterday, she reads the Book of Mormon, prays, and already has her testimony and knows that the church is true.  I am sooooo excited for her, but also it makes me a little sad because she is afraid that her family will not support her in the decision.  I told her a little bit about my own mom's story and how she had to make the choice as well and had many long years where her family did not support the decision but how her faith and courage had changed her life, the lives of her children and many others for the better and that I know she can be that person for her family as well.

This week we had a funny moment because we tried out the sidewalk chalk contacting for the first time in Mauritius.  We tried first on a sidewalk in downtown Rosehill where lots of people walk by, but a security officer for the bank just beside us came out to tell us we couldn’t draw there.  As we were walking away a little mammy came up and cursed us with her umbrella which was kind of funny.  Then we met a Jewish man who stopped to talk with us, who ended up not being very open but who told me that my headband was Jewish and walked away.  Finally we found a good spot and got to talk with lots of people who stopped to look at the Plan of Salvation, so in the end it was a success:)

Things are going well and I am happy and healthy (so mom don’t worry;).  I hope that everyone has a great week!

Love,

Soeur Wilson

The first picture is Sr Berchel and I doing a princess pose in one of our many balconies.  I really cannot express to you the heinousness of our apartment, it is nicknamed the 'palace' and aptly so.

This is from a day when we went to a museum with the young adults on P-day and then headed down to the sea.

This one is when we went to a huge market and bought something I have never eaten before and I forgot what it’s called because most of the food here has an Indian name. It was cool.

At the Branch presidents house to share a message, and there two little boys decided to play with us >) 

I keep taking flexibility pictures for my papa.

From the top of the highest point in Mauritius, it was a gorgeous view.

This is a picture of all of us at the top >)  

Sister Berchel, Jose and I the day of his baptism >)

This is a family home evening we had at Sister Avrilene's with her daughter Gaelle, her son Yoan, Veronique from the branche, and our investigators Kevin and Nathanielle who had brought her little brother Ryan.  It was a blast, and this Sunday they were all at church and get along great together >D

October 28, 2014

Okay, next week I really will try to send pictures, these past two weeks I forgot to charge my camera and it was dead on Monday.... yep bad planning.  This week was another great week.  Jose got baptized yesterday after church and he was super content and Fr Whittle (his good friend and the one who baptized him) was super happy as well:)  It was cool because Jose's family came to church for the first time to support him and they had a great time:)

I don’t have a ton of time to write today because we headed into the capitol today (Port Louis) to get Soeur Berchel's hair done (in braids-she's been wanting to for weeks because it is almost summer here are its getting really hot).  Unfortunately all of the hair salons here are super sketch.  We finally found one and it took them three hours, and then we need to take the bus back get our groceries and then drive an hour in the different direction to meet up with the elders for an activity because elder Choi is heading back to la reunion next week.  We went to a beach in the south called Flic on Flac and played around (we didn’t go swimming don’t worry;) but now we have only a tiny time slot and need to leave soon for a lesson.  It will be our first lesson with a man named Michel who we met last week while walking down the street.  With lots of tact I asked him how the cleaning was going because he was hosing down his wall and he said fine.  Then Sr Berchel saw one of his fruit trees and got excited because it was a fruit that she ate all the time in Guadeloupe when she was young.  He got a stick with a water bottle tied on the end and fetched us some fruit (very kind of him) and then we asked if we could stop by next week and give him the gospel in return.  He wasn’t super sold but we'll see how it goes;)

I am doing well and staying happy.  I hope that everyone at home is doing well.  Thanks for your love and support,

Love,

Sister Wilson

ALSO Remembering a story from Reunion

Cute Mammies

One other tiny little blurb which is cute, we had two amies (friends) come to a ward pique-nique on 14 of July---- Marie Elise (who has been Miss Mammy many times J) and Isabelle (40, loves to sing) and they ended up hitting it off very well. Both of them live alone and are lonely sometimes, and they live in the same apartment complex, and we overheard them making little plans to take walks sometimes together. Well, just the other day we found out that they actually had been on a walk together :D So cute J <3 

Remembering Reunion :D

Sandra and Brunella

Okay, so I wanted to write about a cool moment with two of our investigators who are sisters. Their names are Sandra and Brunella. First, this is how we met them. We had been visiting every Saturday for about a month and a half with our friends Abel and Marguerite (whom we’d met contacting and who have been teaching us to weave baskets out of vacoa). They live in St. Joseph, and one day Sr. Thomas and I had decided to go knock on some doors to find people to teach and the very first door we knocked on a lady opened the door. We said, like usual “Bonjour, nous sommes les missionaires pour l’Eglise de Jésus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours, comment ça va?” (Hi, we’re missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, How’s it going?)  And she said “Oh! I already know you! You are Soeur Wilson and Soeur Thomas, come on in.” I promise that we had never seen this lady in our life, and it is not very often that we are invited directly into someone’s home, and never that they already knew our names. Well, Marguerite has a daughter named Sandra whom we had met and it turns out she’d spoken about us with her half-sister Brunella, and there we were in her house :D She thought Sandra had sent us over, but we explained how we had no idea that she lived there but that God knows everything and I don’t believe in chance J. We had a great first lesson with her, and she loves reading the Book of Mormon and finds it very interesting! Since then we have taught her and Sandra together about once a week and the little story I’d like to share comes from one of those moments.

                We had decided to talk about the Holy Ghost and how to recognize the Spirit in our lives and when/how he communicates with us. We brought a CD player and put on a long piece of very beautiful music (“I Feel My Savior’s Love”) and everyone closed their eyes and paid attention to their feelings. When it was over we asked them to talk with us about what they had felt. They both told us, and Sandra in particular talked about how her chest had felt filled with warmth or a heat. We hen shared some scriptures we had prepared and I shared one of my favorites in Doctrine and Covenants 9: 8-9 that talks about how “your bosom shall burn within you.” And as I read that Sandra was really struck and said “Oh my goodness, that describes exactly what I felt.” J Woohoo for the spirit!!! He is what testifies of/helps us to recognize truth J We are still teaching these two sisters and now many of their friends J. 

   Recording of "I Feel My Savior's Love" 

October 20, 2014

So this was another good week:)  I feel like things are steadily going uphill here:)  This past week we were able to teach fifteen lessons to investigators with a member from the branch here with us, seven others, and seven lessons with recent converts (and for my mom and nana, those numbers weren’t even influenced in the slightest by my Irish side;).  Craziness:D  We have five people who are getting baptized in the next two months, one of whom is Jose who is getting baptized this Sunday after church:)  He is so ready and I'm super excited!  He makes me think of a pirate and that makes me smile (I am not sure why I added that detail but there you have it).  Also, we had three different lessons this week were members introduced us to a family member who is not in the church and all of those lessons went super well!  Less active members are started to come back, and it is beautiful to see whole families sitting together in a row:) 

We got to watch general conference this weekend HURRAY:D  It was awesome!  Our investigator Kevin was at all five sessions and is starting to make some friends:)  Pascal was there Saturday morning and just loved it.  He had called us earlier that week after our lesson with him and said he had found the answer to his prayer while reading in the Book of Mormon and shared it with us like an excited child:)  We had six investigators at church Sunday morning!  A young girl named Nathanielle (21) came for the first time and loved it:D 

We were invited to dinner too many times this week and I am lucky to still be alive.  I know that that makes us sound ungrateful, but one night we went from one dinner to another with no way to escape (our own fault for the bad planning) and were stuffed beyond reason.  Luckily I love the food here.  My favorite thing to eat is faratas (it is sort of like the bread used for panini's or a bit like naan) that you eat with curry:) 

I was thinking about trials this week and about how it is in our nature to want to run away from them.  I asked myself, why do we try to pray away our trials?  After all that is the whole reason why we came to earth, to have trials, because without them we will never be stretched to grow.  Yes, what a somewhat unfortunate truth, we need to hurt to change.  Trials are painful sometimes because changing our spirits, our very nature, hurts, but it is worth it.  It’s like working out or training for a sport.  The harder you work the more satisfying and incredible the outcome.  So I need to learn how to better live through my trials and not just wish them away, because they are some of the greatest blessings from God.  Just like we can learn to like exercise I believe we can learn to like difficult situations in life and enjoy working with them and through them.  We might as well, because like it or not they keep on coming;)

Hope that everyone has a great week.  Appreciate every moment that you have, life is beautiful:)

Love,

Soeur Wilson

October 13, 2014

Mmk, writing emails is a strange thing.  Sometimes I feel super motived and sometimes I have less than zero percent motivation.  Unfortunately this is one of those times.... Perhaps I should not have confessed that but it is too late.

I had a wonderful week, with ups and downs, and lots of little miracles.  Today was a fantastic day for me.  Not perfect, but it was what I needed for my mind and my spirit and I feel refreshed, happy and at peace.  We went on a super cool hike this afternoon up to the highest point in Mauritius where (when there are no clouds) you can see La Reunion.  I already forgot the name... but we went Soeur Berchel and I, the elders (Estrade et Choi) and Elder Conrade (sister conrade didn’t come because she has bad knees) and Gaelle and Leroy (young adults from the branch) and had a super good time together.  I love long hikes and being in the nature and the view was fantastic. 

Kevin was at church again:D  And one of our investigators named Eshan came for the first time.  He had gotten in a motorcycle accident and came limping in with his broken foot.  We were super proud of him.  Jose was there of course, his baptism date is for the 25 October.  Oh, and a lady named Sophie came HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We taught our Branch President and his wife this week about faith and hope it was a super good moment.  Just before Sister Williams had been doing an activity with the young woman making paper mashe (no idea how to spell that) pumpkins for Halloween because Sister Williams is determined to celebrate even though no one here does.  It will be strange to not have Halloween.

Well I have run out of time.  I will try to be better next week.  I know that the Gospel is true and I love sharing the truth with everyone I meet:)  Have a great week!

Love,

Soeur Wilson

October 6, 2014

Mmk so I have had some questions about the island and I have been asking around but am not 100% that this information is correct because not all of the stories match up.... but from what I have seen and heard here is the lowdown.  A la reunion there was a much greater mix of cultures; lots of French, Indian, Chinese, etc.  Here I feel like I am close to the only white person (not a bad thing just an observation :).  Someone told me that it was Pakistan who first found Maurice, and then Holland, and then France took over and colonized and had slaves, and then Britain took over and used indentured servants from India, and today the native language is Mauritian creole, the language in the schools is French, and everything to do with the government and administration is in English.  Maurice won its independence in 1960 something... and voila, tout ce que je sais (all that I know).  I think that the island is smaller than La reunion but it doesn’t feel like it so I’m not sure.  There are less mountains and it is beautiful in a different ways.  There are two branches here Phoenix and Rose Hill (my branch) and one group. 

Things are going great here :)  I love the people and I love my branch.  Pretty close to everyone we talk to listens at least for a little bit so that is fun because every week we have a bunch of new potential investigators.  We have five people with baptismal dates now (two of them from this past week) and they are doing well.  There are only about five strong families in the branch, but boy are they devoted disciples of Christ.  Their lives are truly centered around the Gospel and on serving others and we have lots of help for lessons.  Unfortunately, just like a la Reunion there is over 50% of the branch that is inactive, but we are working with them and are seeing some miracles start to happen :)   What is cool is that a lot of the recent converts are young adults.  There is Gaelle who is 21 and preparing to go on a mission now :)  Her mom, Soeur Avrilene, is one of my favorite people-she is so incredibly humble and generous and has the biggest heart.  We stop by her house often to have lessons with her neighbors :)  We had a family that we have been teaching come to church this past Sunday :D  Shyam and Janeek with their daughter and two sons.  It is a family that the senior couple, the Conrades, found and have been helping with their marriage, and they finally came this Sunday!!!!!!!! And it was fast Sunday and we had a break the fast afterwards and all ate out on the lawn in the beautiful sunshine and it was so great!   Also, we go running every morning in a little wood by our house and there is always a young man sitting by the river and this last week we stopped to talk with him.  We didn’t have any brochures or even a little card, but we invited him to church and guess who was there this Sunday!?  He was :D  His name is Kevin and he is super nice -he reminds me of Gregory a la reunion.  He was there early so we were able to have a little lesson with him before church started and give him a church tour with our DMB Fr Benjamin:) 

Last little tid bit I will add is that I drove for the first time here today, in the senior couples car, all the way to Port Louis (the capitol) and back :O  (for an activity to go to a big market that was middle eastern themed) and am still alive!  It is craziness because here everything is reversed and we drive on the left side of the road.  Pray for me!  Hope that you all have a lovely week:) 

Love

Soeur Wilson

Okay so I decided to send some pictures from my last weeks in St. Pierre.  The first is a hike that we did with our district.  We hiked high up into the mountains to find natural glacial ponds were les Reunionais used to hike up to hack out ice blocks and sell them lower down in the valley *trop cool!

!  I took this picture by the sign in honor of my father who loves moss mustaches >)

This one is of a poster I made to use in contacting on the street to talk about genealogy >)

Me being super amused during lunch one day at St. Joseph.  We always bought a baguette and had cheese and salami to make sandwiches.  I love playing on the toys>D

This picture is of Gregory the day of his baptism >D

This one is of the following Sunday afternoon when we had a pick nick in the church with him and his daughters and a few members after his confirmation >)

Sister Liu, Sister Thomas and I hanging out on the beach waiting for our pizza which never came.  At least we got to appreciate a beautiful sunset.

These last two are of my last Monday in St. Pierre we went on a hike up the St. Joseph River to see the waterfalls!

:DDDDD

September 29, 2014

I have always openly recognized that I am very spoiled, but it amazes me how I continue to realize more and more just how blessed I have been in my life.  Maurice's population is more poor in general than la reunion but often the people who are the most poor are the most generous and it is very humbling.  I love the branch here.  I had to laugh at myself this last week because I realized that my concept of time is way off and that quite frequently I have heinously high expectations for myself.  For example this past Saturday evening there was a dance at church for everyone and we were there because we had a lesson with someone and then we stayed to eat dinner and talk in the garden.  I had a very good time and as we were driving home I thought to myself "ahhh, finally I am starting to feel like I belong here." (like that I am starting to know the people and feel very comfortable around them) -then just after that thought it struck me that I had only been at Mauritius for 8 days......  I am glad that I grew up moving around a lot because it taught me how to make friends and become a part of things quickly:)  I am also grateful for all of the wonderful people here who have accepted me so openly and who enjoy all of my nonsense:)

I love the sunshine and always being warm:)  we are headed into the summer season now which will be exciting.  Things are going well with Soeur Berchel and I and I am grateful for the opportunity that the Lord gave me to be able to work with her again after having learned so much from/about her the first time around.  When you try to/come to understand someone it is amazing how smoothly things can go:) 

I love sharing the Gospel, and the love of Christ, and the good principles that people so desperately need.  The more I come to see how truly blessed I have been/am by the restored gospel the less hesitant I am to share it with others because I know that it is a good thing and that it helps people. 

I will try to share more stories next week but I am so tired that my brain feels fuzzy (like a tv that doesn’t work, you know with the black and white screen that sort of buzzes duly?) -anyways, forgive me for the lack of details and I wish everyone a fantastic week! 

Love,

Soeur Wilson

September 22, 2014

This was a great and a crazy week ( I feel like I say that every week...).  Things are going great at St. Pierre, everyone has been talking about how they can’t believe how much the branch has progressed since January, it’s like magic has started happening:D  That made me super happy and grateful because sometimes it can be hard to see if things are progressing when you are in the middle of them, but I am proud of how hard my companions and I have worked and of how far things have come. 

Thursday morning I got an unexpected phone call from the zone leaders that changed everything. They had just gotten my visa for Mauritius and had bought my plane ticket for the following morning.  So I packed my bags and had one last afternoon in St. Pierre before heading off to ST. Denis to spend the night before heading to the airport Friday morning.  I did not get to say goodbye, but I think I prefer that because I am a big crier.  I wrote a few letters to different members/investigators with my testimony in it, and I wrote my testimony in a Book of Mormon and gave it to our neighbors Natalie and her son tom (who plays piano like Mozart:)  whom we had become very good friends with.  She was very touched and it was a tender moment.  In the car my companions told me that I should call a few people to say goodbye but I ended up having to abandon this idea fairly quickly because I was crying too hard to speak.  I had been worried at times that I may not be serving with my whole heart, might, mind and strength but in leaving St. Pierre I knew that I had.  My heart broke as I thought of the life I was leaving behind that I would never have again and I prayed that I would be able to see all of those people that I love again one day.  My companions, sister Liu and Sister Thomas spent the whole day plotting about how to keep me from going and I was touched by their love for me and their sadness to have me leave.

The flight went well and I got to Mauritius safely.  It is a whole new adventure and a whole new life here and I am excited and ready to love the people just as much as I did in reunion.  I am grateful that I grew up in the army because I think that it helped me to learn to really live where I am and to appreciate the beauty and the depth of human relationships and then to rely on the Lord to know that when we have to leave that it is not the end because we will be able to see each other again with our Heavenly Father after this life.

Mauritius was colonized by England (it is its own country now), so everything official (government related) is in English but all of the people speak French.  Also there is a creole here which is totally different from the creole a la reunion so I feel like I’m starting all over, but it’s pretty exciting:)  it is super different here, I feel like it’s a whole other world but I am not exactly sure why it feels so different.  The money here is called rubees:)  We live in an absolute palace, I will have to try to send pictures next week.  I love the people already and we have a super cool branch:D  I am in a city called Rose Hill:)  I will try to tell you more about it next week, but I am happy and doing well and wish everyone a fabulous week as well!

Love,

Soeur Wilson

September 15, 2014

It was a very good week like always:)  I can’t remember any more if I already shared this thought last week but I was listening to a little video two weeks ago and one phrase really struck out to me.  It was a young man that said that he had learned from his grandmother the importance of learning how to live happily.  It is so true.  That is what this life is all about.  We need to have goals for the future, and look forward to the big picture, but the important things and the things that get us to our end goals are the little moments of everyday life.  The constant day to day efforts, in short the journey.  It is hard not to wish away our life sometimes waiting for some moment in the future where we think we will finally be happy.  But the simple secret is to love every minute along the way:)  Every religion talks about heaven and paradise, but if we live correctly right (correctly) now we can live in heaven right now.  Heaven is not some obscure, unknown concept, it is simply a state of living happily and in peace and it is what we are working for in this life, and what we will be able to enjoy in this one and the next if we listen to Gods great advice on how to obtain it:)

The highlight by far of the week was the baptism this last Saturday and then the confirmation of a young man (33) named Gregory.  I have felt very close to him and his journey in the church even though it was the elders who taught him, because his first time at church was my very first Sunday in the branch at St. Pierre:)  He comes to English class, we all went up to spend the day with him once in Ciloas (on a Monday with the missionaries in our district), he is at all the activities, we pick nick sometimes the Sunday afternoon with his two adorable daughters (lucy-8 and alice-6) whom I love, and we ran into him several times in town and answered some questions at some crucial points in his conversion:) I can say without a doubt that it was the most inspiring baptism I have ever been too; it increased my appreciation of what it means to become a member of the church and my desire/understanding of the need to establish Zion on the earth a hundredfold.  When he bore his testimony after being baptized I don’t think there was a person in that room who didn’t feel the spirit and who did not cry with him and he expressed his love for the savior Jesus Christ.  He really did shine with joy and couldn’t stop smiling, and it made everyone else smile as well:) We had three of our investigators who have a baptismal date that came which was great:D

Also, yesterday at church during sacrament meeting sister Liu, Sister Thomas and I played a musical number for the intermediate hymn.  Sister Thomas and I played a flute duet and Sister Liu accompanied us on the piano:)  it went super well and everyone loved it.  It made me think of playing duets with my mom which made me smile:)

I’m doing well and staying happy.  I hope that you all have a great week!!!!

Love,

Sister Wilson

September 8, 2014

Okay what a week, what a week.  I don’t even know where to start.  All of our investigators still have their baptismal dates and are progressing well which is super nice.  It is such a nice feeling to have some people who our grateful for us bringing the gospel into their lives and for all of the happy changes that they are making:)  Jean marc is super motivated about it and brought his lady friend to church this past sunday:)  Also, we met Simeon's wife and she accepted to be baptized as well:D  We tried something new this week from preach my

gospel because I have always wanted to but never found the chance to do it, or maybe never had the faith to try.  I explained my idea to Sister Liu and Sister Thomas in the morning and Saturday morning we prayed a ton to be ready for the lesson with both Simeon and André (who have baptismal dates in oct).  At the end of the lesson we invited them to pray, with all of us kneeling, to know if the Book of Mormon was true right then and there.  It is important that they know because if someone doesn’t have their own testimony it will not do any good to be baptized (they have both been reading their scriptures every day and praying and have been feeling more and more sure that this is the right path for them but neither of them felt like they had gotten a direct answer yet).  They both agreed to try and they both got there answers and it was a super powerful moment:D  When we opened our eyes after Simeon’s pray he had tears in his eyes and just said "thank you."  I prayed so hard that I would be able to have the faith that they would have their answers and it was not easy but it was a beautiful experience.

Also, this last friday we had a nice surprise.  We were on our way to Minelli's house (16) to visit her mom sister Delnard when she called us to say her mom was still not at home.  we asked if we could stop by anyways to see her and she said of course.  She has been inviting one of her friends to church who should be there but the friend (Eloisa:) and also her cousin Salima!  We got to have a lesson with all three of them so it was a nice little girl party and it was such a happy moment:)  We talked a bit about who God is and how they are his daughters, we talked a bit about the restoration, and we talked about how to be happy in this life:)  they are such sweethearts and participated well and invited us back this coming week:) 

Saturday there was a baptism of a lady named Marie Therese whom the Elders taught.  She shared her story and it was super amazing.  She had started looking for the true church when she was 19 because she had a very powerful impression that it was on the earth somewhere.  She prayed and looked for thirty years and got to a point where she was mad that God had not yet answered her prayers and she wanted to give up.  One day she met the elders on the bus and they talked to her and she said she felt something warm, and her heart sort of stopped, but when she found out that they were "Mormons" she shooed them away.  A few weeks later she got a Liahona (a church magazine) from her good friend Editte who looks after her handicapped son (and Editte had gotten the Liahona from Sister Boivin, but didn’t want it).  Marie Therese read it and something changed.  She started looking for the missionaries everywhere. She prayed to ask God to put them in her path again and heard a reply "what are their names?"  She said she didn’t know but one of them was short and had glasses (Haha Elder Estrade:)  A month later she got a call to go to her eye doctor appointment early, and who should be on the bus but Elder Estrade and Elder Clousse!  She had all of the lessons and has an incredibly strong testimony of the restored gospel and was so grateful to be baptized by the priesthood authority:) 

On sunday we had a great fast and testimony meeting.  Frere Celeste (whom we've been working with for seven months) came back to church for the first time in ten years three Sundays ago and has staid active since.  He got up to bear his testimony and it was so touching and so powerful and he thanked us and he thanked his wife:)  Then Frere Argien bore his testimony and welcomed back Frère Celeste and almost cried, and it was just so beautiful.  I LOVE LOVE AND I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!!!!

I hope that you all have a lovely week and always look for ways to love everyone around you more and more and to serve them, because that is true happiness:)

Love,

Sister Wilson