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