April 28, 2014

Wow, wow, wow, it was a super crazy week.  What can i say?  Human relationships are strange things I will tell you, and communication is key.  This week we worked A TON, like usual, but we had a surprise last Sunday night which was that the transfers would be happening, so Soeur Thomas arrived on Wednesday.   I was super excited, and still am.  We have a ton in common and get along well and easily and I can’t wait to work with her and see some miracles:)  But the other two sisters are still here waiting for their visas before they can go to Maurice and no one really knows how they want us to work in our area (split it up by places, by people,?).  Who knows, so we did what we thought was best this week and went all around teaching lessons changing who was with who, trying to make good transitions for the people.   It is really hard on Sister Packer and Sister Berchel right now I believe, because it is an awkward transition period and so tensions have been a little high, not to mention I would not have tried to fit four girls into our apartment but it is exciting and cozy;)   On wednesday my heart just about broke because a less active member who has come such a long way with us left for france and it was the last time i will see her possibly ever.  We shared a spiritual thought and then just spent some time together enjoying each other’s company.  Her name is Gislene Miriamou.  She made us promise to write and of course that is not at all a problem; we took some pictures together and had a good laugh as we picked her up for one of the photos.  The cliché is really too true, parting is such sweet sorrow.

One super cute moment from the week is when soeur packer and I had finished a lesson with a less active (we had read scriptures together and then I played a song on the guitar --sister thomas brought down from st. denis--for her) and walked outside and in a few seconds about fifteen children had run over and wanted to touch the guitar.  I let them each play it and then played a song for them.  They all gave me a hug after and we started walking away and as we got to the gate and looked back they all ran over to give another hug and say goodbye and ask if I would come back again.  They are SOOOOO sweet:)

we had an awesome church activity again this past friday by the seaside and three times as many people were there this time as compared to the last one:DDDD things are really starting to move here --I couldn’t believe how many less active families were there and how many investigators and how well everyone got along!!! it was an incredible night and everyone really enjoyed themselves.  We got to watch general conference finally!!!!!!!  it was in french but that is okay, the spirit is the same;)  we had some investigators come to that as well:) 

Today we hiked to the volcanoes crater which was cool!  Eventually I'll send home some pictures:)   I love everyone and hope that you have a fantastic week!!!!  love, Soeur Wilson

April 22, 2014

Well it was an extremely long week, but it also went by fast.  Oh time, such an odd thing.  I feel like we are finally starting to see progression in the area, which is so awesome.  My companions came into the area just three weeks before I did and had no contacts, no investigators, nothing, so we really have come a long way with a lot of hard work, and things are just starting to blossom:)   I feel so happy with the relationships we have built with the members here in our ward, it is like a little family:)  We had the opportunity to do a lot of service this week for members who are generally very strong and self-sufficient-one had a knee surgery and needed help cleaning her house, the other is pregnant and her husband works and she just needed a friend.  It is amazing how little it took for us to just take some time to help them/to be with them and to see how much that meant to them even though it isn’t always easy to accept help.  Sister Argien (the one who had knee surgery) is actually one of my favorite people in the ward because she is soooo vivacious:)  and she is so sweet while we were cleaning she was giving us all sorts of life advice;)  I’m going to write maybe about a few investigators in a letter because I find it is hard to be inspired while rapidly typing away for these emails, but one moment I want to share right now is with two investigators I talked about last week I believe --Abel and Marguerite.  Marguerite is the lady who is teaching us how to weave baskets out of vacoua:)  well this past saturday our visit with them was fantastic:)!!!!  Their daughter was there again with her two kids and she had made us a corn muffin cake which was super cute of her and super tasty:)  She had to leave, but near the end of our time (we usually weave for two hours and chat) we again had the opportunity to talk about the Gospel.  It ended up being such a sweet and spiritual moment, Marguerite especially opened up to us in a way i had not anticipated.  I was able to bear my testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ and his infinite Atonement, there on the floor with bits of leaves around me, and the Spirit truly testified.  It filled the space around us in a manner that cannot be denied and left a profound silence and I was blessed to be a part of that moment.  God loves us.  He loves each and every one of his children, and his Plan of Happiness is for you, it’s for me, it is for everyone and I have the blessing and the sacred opportunity to be able to share what I know to be true with others.  And I share it because it works.  I share it because I know that it is true.  And I share it because I love the people around me and I don’t want anyone to be lost. 

An interesting thought I had this week about personal progression is how interesting it is the effect that we let other people have on our lives.  Don’t get me wrong, there are many things that we can’t avoid, but there is also a lot that we let affect us that we don’t necessarily have to.  This led me to think about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really all about setting us free.  There are so many scripture references I could add in here but I'll have to leave the research up to the reader (because there is never enough time;).  But really, if we work to understand the atonement and work to have faith that the blessings it offers are for us, we can learn how to repent and to forgive--and both of those actions have the exact same result:  liberation from the past.  What a beautiful thing.  We can’t decide how other people will act, and we can’t decide what they will think of us, but we can choose to let it go and to pray to our Heavenly Father for comfort and for strength.  I find myself praying for that quite often, and it is amazing how swiftly peace can come into the heart if we just trust in him.

One last thing, I have the feeling that things in this mission do not work like they do in other missions because the president has to work with moving people around three islands in the middle of nowhere;)  but apparently transfers never happen in the same manner twice.  This time around what happened is we got a phone call this past sunday evening from the zone leaders telling us about the changes that would be happening this wednesday (not much time to prepare :o).  I will be getting a new companion-Soeur Thomas from Belgium whom i worked with my first day here in Reunion.  I am SOOOOOOOOO excited, secretly (although now that I’m writing it it isn’t a secret) I prayed for her to be my next companion and I can’t believe that I am actually getting the chance:) my two companions will leave for Maurice in three weeks to a month but for the meantime things are going to be super.... exciting;) our apartment is pretty small and it is going to be hard sharing investigators, but it will all work out.  Love you all:)  love, Soeur Wilson

April 14, 2014

mmk this week:)  =awesome!  I had a cool learning moment while reading the scriptures this past week.  I think one of the hard things to learn in life is to give up the desire to answer back defensively to people when you feel like they've addressed you abrasively or like they have said something unjust or hurtful.  But answering back defensively never does any good, and I adore a scripture I read in mosiah 14:7 that talks about Jesus Christ and the perfect example he sent for us and it saws "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth."  I felt like the scripture was talking to me and I wrote it on the top of my planner and tried to live by it all week.  It isn’t necessary to be right, it isn’t necessary to explain ourselves, what is necessary is that we get along and that we continue to progress and move forward together.  If Jesus, who suffered a lot more calumny, derision, and just general unkindness, was able to hold his peace, so can I through the strength that he gives me:)  also I felt really inspired last week by the emails and letters I had received from the good friends I have who are also on missions (all around the world :D  utah, hawaii, spain, france).  It is just so cool how we share stories and experiences with each other that strengthen and help one another with the things we are going through even though physically we are so far apart --it just makes me feel so strong and cool how we are united for the same great cause and how we can find support in each other--- I don’t know, ahhh, it’s just so cool!!!!!!!

some funny things from the week:  we were taking back a bag of laundry to one of the really old members who can’t do the laundry themselves, and before we realized what exactly was happening a dog in the street had peed all over the bag..... we just about died laughing because we shooed it away but it was too late and there was nothing we could do, luckily the lady had a good sense of humor about it:)   also, we make lots of funny friends here because people start to recognize us, but it’s cool and they’re super friendly, and one nice man and his wife gave us some fresh grapes from their vine this past week which was awesome:)  Also, we have a super awesome new investigator :D and i am not lying in the least when I tell you that he looks exactly like captain jack sparrow from pirates of the caribbean, its super awesome;D  Lastly, I gave my first talk in french in church yesterday:O  i was nervous, but it went well and I talked about Jesus Christ and his atonement:)  I love you all, and hope you have a good week:) !!!!  love, soeur wilson

April 7, 2014

Mkk sorry this is again going to be brief, but at least this time you have pictures to enjoy:)  umm, so we worked super hard again this week.  We have lots of new investigators which is super exciting and it is super crazy the effect that missionary work keeps having after missionaries are gone.  we were teaching a women named Nicolita for the first time and halfway through the lesson her husband came home and went straight to his library when he saw us and came back out with a book of mormon that he had read almost completely, sat down and said 'I have a lot of questions' perfect!!!!! we love to answer!  Arthur, eleven, has a baptism date for the 26 of april:)  we get to do lots of service here which is awesome! also, we ran into a super awesome lady who has started to teach us how to weave baskets :D  and today, we went to Cilaos which is super beautiful and we hiked, and played ultimate frisbee and got lunch together and played more games and just had a grand time.  I brought my ukulele and got to play a lot and sing which always makes me happy:)    ----that was my draft from last week (april 1) I never got to send.

mmk so one funny story from ultimate frisbee last week is that I believe that my reputation for snacking all the time has gotten out of hand;)  there was much pleasant taunting between the two teams (everyone was super into it but also super good sports it was way fun:)  and the elders on the opposite group to distract me start shouting things like ''sister wilson, think about baguettes'' or ''think about some nice chicken'' and everyone just about died laughing when at one point when I had just got the frisbee elder estrade (canadian) ran by me and said ''psssst! sister wilson, I have some rice in my pocket for you'' ;) wow, good times:)   also, this week during one of my lessons I got to hold baby chicks in my lap while I taught :DDDDD hurry for cute baby animals!!!!!!!!  we found lots of new people to teach and talk to this week:))  also, we had out interviews with the mission president which went well.  I asked him about how i could learn more about/understand better the atonement of Jesus Christ and he referred me to a talk ''His Grace is Sufficient'' by Brad Wilcox which is just awesome!!!!  I got to teach primary again yesterday which is such a joy:)  I love the little children and they are soooooo cute when they speak french:)   we did more basket weaving with Abel and Marguerite.  She was teaching soeur berchel this time so I talked with abel (the grandpa:) he fills my heart with joy he is so sassy!!!! everything that comes out of his mouth is a joke, but he is such a sweetheart.  we had a good time harassing each other:)  and its cool, because the first time we met him he wanted nothing to do with us or religion, but after we were excited about her basket weaving and took a sincere interest in them, they let us in, and now they let us pray and they even ask us gospel questions:)  love  and sincere interest in others, that is the way to teach:)  hope you all have a lovely week!!!

love, soeur wilson:)

"His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLXr9it_pbY

Transcript/audio: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966

Me and the little boys:)  at the home of Anaelle (part member family).  They are super cute!

Me making crepes at night:)

Being on a mission (thus far) has re-highlighted many things that I already knew about myself. There are plenty of things that go on (just like in life) that can be hard or stressful depending on how you take it: a rigid/rigorous schedule, waking up early, being in a foreign country with a new culture to adapt to, learning a new language, talking to strangers all day, being rejected, being far from home and families and loved ones. The list could go on and on, and in the last two months (yes I know it’s not that long of time) I’ve been through a lot. We’ve been rejected, we’ve been stood up many-a-time for a lesson, we’ve been chased away (don’t worry there has also been a lot of kind people!), and we’ve listened to terribly tragic stories of real people’s lives—but none of it has the power to get me down. I don’t know if it’s my personality, the way I was raised, or strength from God, but although I feel very sad for the people in those cases and I worry about them and pray for them, it does not affect my own happiness, my own self-esteem, or my own bright hope that I have for the world and for the future. Studying hard for four hours a day, waking up early, having a tight schedule, talking to strangers all day, etc. is nothing new to me and is a welcome challenge. No, none of those things bother me, what is the hardest for me I realized (and I knew this before) is when there is tension between myself and those closest to me—in both the physical and emotional sense. Those who are close to me physically at the moment are my companions and—due to the nature of the work here—we became emotionally close very quickly as well. But it is not hard to imagine that three females living together, 24/7 (we are literally never out of each other’s presence except for when we take a shower or go to the bathroom), who didn’t know each other at all two months ago, who have different cultures, and speak different languages—no matter how good of friends we have become—face their fair share of tension amongst the group. And it’s sad to me the times when we become upset or frustrated and shut each other out because it isn’t necessary and it’s hurtful (not to mention that it takes away from our effectiveness as missionaries when there are unhappy feelings between us). I can’t stand the moments like that. I’d rather just have it all out right then and get over it than to dwell on it and become more upset. It makes me feel awful inside when there is a determined silence between myself and someone close to me (especially when you can’t just go crawl in a hole and stay there for a while like you’d like to ;) –the reason why you’re upset in situations with loved ones is almost always a misunderstanding or a moment of carelessness on someone’s part (NOT that they did something expressly to hurt your feelings). If you love them talk it out and forgive readily à that is the secret to successful and happy/strong relationships.

                When I am on a good standing with the people close to me in life, I feel like everything in the world could go wrong and turn against me and I’d be strong enough to take it because of the love and support of those dear to me. When someone close to me withdraws from me and turns cold, I feel the opposite—like nothing else matters until that is fixed. But my question is why weaken the people close to you that you love? It is not necessary, and it takes away from so much potential good. Fortify those around you; notice the good in them and let them know that you appreciate them. Be careful about the advice you give—that it is not too much, that you give it lovingly, and for the benefit of the person, not just because you think they should change.

                --And just as a clarifying statement it takes two (or in our case, three) to have difficulties and I have a lot to learn and to do to better myself—so that heavens for each new day I’m given to try harder! I love you all J             

                                              Love, Sister Wilson 

"I'm glad that I am strong -- because I see how easy it would be to become seriously depressed or discouraged.  Luckily for me as soon as I've slept at night, eaten a good meal, or just taken a second to appreciate the sunshine, I feel better.  I have had lots of wonderful experiences already and am starting to feel like I know the people in my branch which makes me happy :)"

"Yesterday was the 172 anniversary (I believe) of the Relief Society and we had a District Activity to commemorate it, and the District = the whole island so that was exciting to have all of the ladies together :)  The sister missionaries (we) all sang "Daughter of a King" in french and Sister Gardner accompanied us on the violin.  The whole event was super awesome with great talks and powerful testimonies!!!  And of course a good deal to eat afterwards.  There is always a meal to go along with any activity here ;)"