June 8, 2015--One Last Post 

Okay, so I am sitting in front of the computer screen and thinking to myself "Can it really be?  Am I really at the end of my mission?"  It does not feel like it.  As a missionary it is hard not to count the months and weeks, everyone knows exactly how many months they have until they go home, but now that it is here it does not feel real.  I just decided that I needed to do some groaning ;) and said to my companion Sister Liu "je vais avoir une crise cardiaque!" or "I am going to have a heart attack!" 

The members here were so sweet on Sunday.  I got lots of hugs and lots of nice words.  My last week was wonderful.  The work continued along, we had plenty of struggles and got to see lots of wonderful miracles:)  You will not believe how many things I lost at the end of my mission.  I think that God had been protecting me all along from one of my (I think it is actual a family) weakness(es), and that near the end I started to lose this power.  I lost a notebook that we keep all of the numbers of the people we meet in the street in.... then I lost my daily planner.... then my companion and I lost our phone driving one night we think it fell out of the car as she got out to help me turn around in the street.  Yep, so my last few days were sort of apostasy (sorry for those that will not understand this joke).  We took all of these losses as attempts from the adversary to discourage us, but we kept on enduring and ended up having lots of success for the week.

Eleven people who have been investigating were at church yesterday:)  There were two families, and lots of wonderful individuals.  One of the most cool things is an investigator named Jean Paul who will be getting baptized next Saturday.  We met him about a month ago, he is 26, works and is a musician at the hotels, and is super super nice.  When he started reading the Book of Mormon it was incredible how much he was touched and how much he has been learning.  He has been sharing with everyone that he knows and we have started teaching other members of his family and they were there this Sunday and had a great time.

I am excited to come home but yesterday it started to hit me that I will not be able to see these people that I have come to love so much for a long time.  Loving people is hard because during this life there are often moments when we have to say goodbye, but it is so worth it because it is not over and life becomes so much more profound when we get to know and love one another.  I have learned a lot of my mission.  Patience (and I have lots more to learn;) .  I have come to love even more studying the scriptures, what a great blessing!!!  God does not want us to not understand, he gave us a way to understand all of his plans for us and the reason for why we are here and how to succeed.  All we need is faith and a little effort.  I also learned how incredibly lucky I am to have the family I have and to have grown up with the Gospel.  I will keep sharing it because I know it is true and the path the happiness.  I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves us:)  I love you all and will see you soon!

Love,

Soeur Wilson

June 1, 2015

So I believed that this would be my last email, but it will actually be the second to last because next Monday I'll have the chance to email before leaving. 

So last Saturday there was a baptism:)  Her name is Eda and she is the sister of one of the members her in our branch.  She actually lives in France, in a tiny village in the country, and came back to Mauritius in March after the death of her husband.  While she was here (during two months) she came to church every Sunday with her brother.  We asked her if she would be interested to learn more and take the missionary discussions.  She said yes, and even though we knew she would be going back to France after not too long, we went for it with the lessons.  It was an incredible experience, because she is such a spiritual person.  As she started reading the Book of Mormon she was extremely touched by a person named Moroni (who was the last prophet to write in the Book of Mormon -and the angel who came back to in a vision to show Joseph Smith where the ancient records were hidden).  Her testimony began to grow, and before leaving back to France she had accepted the invitation to be baptized.  We got all of her contact information and sent it to the mission home in Madagascar to be transferred to France so that the missionaries could meet up with her over there and continue her lessons.  Unfortunately the information ended up not being transferred correctly, and after a few weeks I still had no news of if the missionaries had been able to get a hold of her.

In the meantime, one of the crazy back and forth transfers occurred, and I went back to St. Denis for two weeks.  On arriving back in Mauritius we had a missed call from a number out of the country.  When I called back it was Eda who had called me to tell me the great knews:D  In her little village she had managed to run into some members of the church who invited to come to church that Sunday and to give her a ride:D  She had been and someone contacted the missionaries for her and would be coming that week.  She has continued to learn and to grow her testimony right up until this past Saturday when she entered into the waters of baptism.  How beautiful!  She called me about once a week to tell me how it was going, and we got to talk the evening before her baptism.  She was so ready and so grateful for everyone who had helped her along the way.  It was a very touching story for me because of how much it all means to her.  She now has plans to be able to go to the temple next year to be sealed to her husband for time and all eternity:)  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so beautiful and brings so much comfort and joy.

We have three people preparing to be baptized here in June:)  It will be the week after I leave but I am so excited for them:)  One of the people is named Jean Paul.  He is 26 and has such an incredible testimony of the Restoration of the Church.  He taught a lesson with us last night to his younger sister and her boyfriend and the spirit and the love was so strong.

I only have one more week, what craziness.  It will be a great week whatever God has in store for us.  I really liked the lesson in Sunday school this past Sunday:)  It was about being grateful.  The more grateful we are the more blessed and happy we will be.  It is a choice to be grateful or not, but when we choose to be life becomes so much brighter.  Trials are great blessings because they help us to learn and grow; so may be always be grateful:)

I sang in sacrament meeting yesterday for mother’s day:)  also, when we tried to start the car in the morning we realized that we had left the light on all night and the battery was dead.  Everyone had a moment of panic because we needed to get to church on time, but then I remembered that I had learned how to push start the car:D  we pushed the car out of our driveway into the street and got it going again.  Super cool:) 

I hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

May 25, 2015

Okay, so I had a pretty heinous experience this morning.  I thought about not sharing it, the first reason was to not make anyone worry needlessly, and the second I believe at its true source was out of pride, but the lesson that I learned from the story is so incredible that I cannot help but sharing. 

I know that there are a lot of beliefs and religions and philosophies in the world, and that especially in our day there are many people that do not believe in God, in miracles, and in answered prayers.  I do not judge anyone, because faith and religion our personal things and take times, but I want you all to know that I do not believe in chance and coincidence.  For almost 17 months now I have prayed every single morning without exception with my companion before leaving the house.  We pray for many things, but we always ask Heavenly Father to protect us as we are driving during the day.  I have often said incredulously to my companions here that it really is a miraculous miracle (sorry for the redundancy it was necessary to help you understand at what point it is really a miracle) that we have never had an accident here.  The streets are so narrow that anyone from the U.S. would believe that they are one way roads, which is not the case.  People walk everywhere in the streets, there are dogs, people selling things on the sides of the roads, crazy/stressed taxi drivers, and at night there are not many street lamps.  Anyways, this morning we left the house to go to the grocery store not far from our apartment and there is a big round about that is part of the highway that we cross to go to the store.  I stopped at the line and watched to my right to see when I could go.  As soon as it was clear I started to pull out.  To my horror, I had not noticed a man on a motorcycle pull up next to us and he started to yell.  We thought that we had just scared him, but in rolling down the window we were able to distinguish one word in his screaming "FOOT!"  We were on his foot:O  (this is just my pride speaking, but I want you all to know that before today I had never had an accident driving)  we asked him if we needed to reverse or pull forward, he said to pull forward, and he got his foot out-_-

He got off his motorcycle and limped to the side rail to take off his shoe.  I was expecting blood and bones sticking out at odd angles, but luckily his foot still looked like a normal foot, just a little swollen and a bit purple. I had rolled over his toes for about thirty seconds QUELLE HORREUR!!!! I felt super bad, the poor man, all he wanted to do was go to work in the morning.  Well, there was a police man nearby (who had been directing traffic) and he came over and explained to us calmly that we needed to go to the police station to report the accident so off we went.  At the police station they told us that reporting the accident would cause a lot of nonsense with the court because of his injury and so it was better to just work out an agreement between ourselves.  Well the rest of the details aren't really important (we went to the hospital with him, he got an x-ray, he will get the results tomorrow, he could still walk--with a limp--, we called our leaders, it should all work out fine with insurance --luckily the hospital is free here and we didn’t touch the motorcycle, although I would have preferred that to running over his poor foot!), but in the space of about five hours we were finally free to go eat lunch. 

At this point Sr Liu and I felt pretty tired.  Everyone had been very nice which was a blessing, but as we were eating and reflecting on the day up until that point it struck us as obvious as could be where we had gone wrong.  Like I said, every single morning for 17 months we have prayed and humbly asked for protection in the car and that morning we had not prayed.  Now some of you may say that that is coincidence, but I testify to you that it is not.  What an incredible and a beautiful lesson.  Heavenly Father wants to help us and can, but he expects us to ask (and to thank him of course when he gives:) .  We had not prayed and so we were left to our own capacities and in the craziness of the roads here that was not enough.  I know that God is there and that he can protect us and will if we ask him in faith.  We felt very dumb to have forgotten to pray/to ask him, but be assured that we will not forget again.  I am grateful that it should all work out and that no one was hurt more, but I will be even more careful in driving from now on.

Anyways, I hope and pray that you will be able to feel the spirit as you read this true (and unfortunate) story.  I know that God lives, that we are his children, that he loves us, that he hears and answers our prayers.  You can just test it out this week, it’s simple, and it is like talking to a friend.  You say "Father"  and then you say whatever is in your heart (ask him for something, thank him) and you finish by saying "in the name of Jesus Christ amen" because it is thanks to our big brother and savior that we will be able to go home one day to our father:)  Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

May 18, 2015

I apologize in advance that this will be a short email.  We had another good week.  We met lots of new people and made lots of new friends:)  We are still walking a lot because the second car is still afar off in the land of paperwork I fear.  But it is good for us to walk, and sometimes when the sun is super strong and we are walking down a dusty road I have the impression that I am in Africa and it makes me happy.  I love the idea of Africa.  One amazing miracle this week is with an investigator named Chris.  We met him three weeks ago when we went to teach his girlfriend Virginie.  He is very interested in religion because he studies a lot in the Bible, but he does not belong to a particular confession because he has not found one that really follows what is in the Bible.  He was sort of hesitant and strange during the lesson, and has had a very hard past, but we testified about the sacrifice of Christ and how we can really learn of how to use this sacrifice to heal our hearts in reading the Book of Mormon.  He said that he could not believe in the book because he had never heard of it before but that he would read it.  Well, we didn’t see him for three weeks, but yesterday we stopped by and had an incredible surprise.  He and Virginie have been reading it every day.  He spent twenty minutes testifying to us about the power that it had had already in changing his life.  I can tell you completely honestly that this was not the same person we had met three weeks ago.  Instead of looking like the wait of the world was on his shoulders, he was beaming from ear to ear as he talked about how much happier he felt in reading and in applying the stories to his own life.  He even had a friend at work that wanted to read and who took the time to photocopy the entire book page by page!  He is so excited that this is only the beginning of this new knowledge:)  I am excited for him too!  I know that the Book of Mormon is an inspired book of God given to us through his holy prophets.  I love reading it every morning.  It is a light in my life and it brings me such peace:)

I only have three weeks left which is crazy for me to think.  I am not really worried about slacking off at the end; I don’t have a problem with working hard, I like to work, but what is hard is to not think about home now.  Three weeks is a lot of time, in which a lot of good can be done, and a lot of growth can occur and I hope not to miss/to waste a minute of it.

 I had a bit of a rough day yesterday.  We have been working so hard but sometimes when you don’t see the results of your work it can be discouraging.  But what is the most important is that we do our best and keep moving forward.  I know that this is God's work and his plan/timing and that I need to be grateful with what he gives me:)

I think what is most beautiful about this island is the people.  They are so friendly, kind, and humble.  The branch is not super big (60 active members) but it is like one big family:)  I love the people who I have met, and the person that I have been able to become from being here.  What a great blessing it is that Heavenly Father gives us to grow up and learn together and from one another.  A life is such a rich blessing and adventure.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Wilson

May 11, 2015

Okay, so I didn’t really take many pictures this week hence the moderately lame selection, sorry!  But we did go to the zoo again because my companions had not been yet:)  It was fun and I absolutely love being surrounded by animals and by the nature, it makes me feel so happy:)  My spirit really feels at peace when I am surrounded by the beautiful and incredible creations of my heavenly father.  How lucky are we that he made such a beautiful earth for us to live on during our mortal existence?  It is just like me with my earthly parents, they are too good to me and I am spoiled rotten:)  We are all spoiled rotten by our heavenly father.  

Monkeys are such funny creatures:D  I have always, always, always wanted a pet monkey but my mother always said I could only have one when I grew up and had my own house.  Unfortunately, the apartments at college have rules against pets, and so I suppose that one day I will have to convince my husband that it is a good idea to have a monkey;)  Or I can build a house in the jungle and have wild monkey friends:)  Okay, sorry, thus far my email has not been very inspiring.

It was another great week.  I only have four weeks left on my mission.  That is craziness for me to think about.  I don't really think about it.  When I look around at all of the familiar places and when I am at church Sunday with the members sometimes it begins to hit me how much I will miss them.  When you serve people you can learn to love them very quickly and that is exactly what happens during the mission.  We serve the people every day.  Every single hour of the day is scheduled so that we can be effective and efficient in serving and teaching others and what an incredible blessing it has been to be able to consecrate all of my heart, might, mind, and strength for these people.  And I am sure that you already know this, but when you serve you always get so much more back than you ever gave.  I know sometimes in the world it seems very dark, with all of the news reports of wars, murders, thefts, etc. we can easily think that there is so much more evil in the world than good.  But I believe that there are more goodhearted, sincere, kind, and loving people out there then we believe and that we just need to take the time to get to know each other.  I love getting to know people, it is such a fun and enriching adventure:)  So get the time to know people, even a simple stranger waiting at the same bus stop as you or in the same check-out line of the grocery store.  You will see, you will not be able to help but to smile if you make another person’s day brighter.

I love you all and wish you a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

May 4, 2015

This first picture is one of our many adventures in walking.  Sister Liu and I decided that we looked absolutely ridiculous walking across this huge open field in the middle of the little city across the highway where our apartment is.  In fact, it was because we got off at the wrong bus stop (like usual;)  and were trying to find the shortest way home.  It was pretty funny and we decided to stop and have a little photoshoot by ourselves;)

The second picture is of a fun activity that we had last Saturday.  It was with the young adults of the three branches here in Mauritius and we made homemade pizzas:D  It was super fun, everyone enjoyed themselves, and I love eating dough:))) 

The third picture is from yesterday.  We are teaching a new family, a father with his three children and one niece:)  The kids are so incredibly intelligent and have a lot of faith and it is soooooo much fun to teach them:)  Afterwards the daughters decided that they wanted to paint our nails and so we decided to take some pictures to show off how stylish we were;) 

We had another good week:)  Our branche missionary leader got us motivated to try and work even harder, and this week was CRAZINESS but super fun:)  We worked super hard and have 16 new people that we are teaching:)  We talked to everyone, everyone, everyone and it is very interesting to have the opportunity to talk with so many different people and to hear about what they believe in. 

My favorite moment of the week was on Saturday.  We were headed to a lesson and saw an investigator outside his house that we hadn’t been able to see that week because of his work schedule.  We decided to stop just for a moment to see how he was doing.  As we were talking I saw a BUNCH of bananas that he had lying on a table.  I said "hey cool, that’s a ton of bananas!"  He asked if I liked bananas and I said yes but instantly regretted because the people here are too nice and always give.  Before I could stop him he had called his dad to invite us in the house and to give us some bananas.  His dad had actually met missionaries years ago and still has an old Book of Mormon.  We have only had one lesson there and the dad was in the room but did not sit down with us.  Anyways, so the dad, who is rather old, let us into the living room to sit down and began to cut us of bananas with great care.  It took him about five minutes and I think he gave us about 40 bananas, or all types of maturity so that we could eat some now, some in a week, some in two weeks, etc.  As I washed him I felt a very strong feeling/spirit of love come over me.  This man who has so little was so willing to give of what he had to complete strangers. I began to cry as I watched him and thought of his good heart.  People have the capacity to become some beautiful creatures, and we really all are brothers and sisters.  As he handed us the sack just before leaving he said simply "mo'en juste anvi ou dir merci pou la priere, mo'en ressenti heureu pou la premie fois dans longtemps" or "I just wanted to thank you the other week for the prayer (the lesson) I felt happy for the first time in a long time."   That is when I really lost it.  What a humble and beautiful man, I hope that he will always be able to be happy.  God created us to be happy.  God is our father and he loves us, and if we will just believe that we will never have to feel alone.  I know that God lives and that he loves each and every one of his children, he knows us personally and perfectly and he wants us to feel his love.  I pray that everyone will be able to feel his love.

Have a great week and be happy and safe!

Love,

Sister Wilson

April 27, 2015

So I would like you all to know that I would never be able to have a job where I am required to be in front of a computer screen for more than one hour.  Well, maybe that is not true because at school already I have had to do it to write papers and so forth, but it really makes my eyes and then my brain feel tired.  I don't think it is good for our health to be in front of screens for too long.  Anyways, I had another good week.  I say that but in reality I already can’t remember what happened and will have to look at my weekly planning to be able to share something uplifting or interesting;) 

Awwweee yes, it was a fun week because we had to figure out how to organize ourselves between two companionships of missionaries and one car. The thing that is difficult is that the majority of our lessons start after five p.m. because that is when people start getting home from work, but public transportation stops between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.  Anyways, we switch who has the car every other day and the days without the car have been quite an adventure.  It is a trial and a blessing like most things in life;)  a trial because it is hard to get to all our lessons, but a blessing because we meet more people:)  Figuring out the public transportation has not been too hard, except that sometimes I am too lazy to figure out the buses and just want to walk and I have a tendency to think that things are a lot closer than they really are.  Last Thursday I think that we walked about a total of five hours.  I am not really sure if that is a lot compared to some people but for us it was a lot. 

As a companionship we are always trying our hardest to keep improving the manner in which we work. This past Sunday was very productive and we had a large collaborative effort with the branch auxiliary leaders to get the ward mission plan in place and to make sure that our goals (as missionaries) are in line with the wards so that we are really working side by side to accomplish this marvelous work:D  Auxiliary leaders just refer to the president of each group in the church.  So there is the Branch President who looks over the whole branch, and then there is a group for the men, a group for the ladies, classes for the teenagers and classes for the children and each organization has someone who runs it.  It is fun to get things organized and to really work towards a goal together and it is so much more effective when everyone is on the same page.

We are trying to meet a ton more people each week to get things moving even more and  things are going well and we hope to help the branch here grow and progress.

I was talking with a friend and just had one thought to share.  One secret to success in life is to forget ourselves and go to work.  I agree whole heartedly, but this does not mean neglect ourselves.  The more clear our own spirit the more easily we will be able to accomplish the other goals we have.  So, we need to take time for ourselves as well and step back and appreciate the beauty and the fun of life. What a great adventure!  I hope that everyone has a fun week.  Keep being positive!

Love,

Sister Wilson

April 20, 2015

Hmmm what can I share from this week?... I am not really sure.  I do not know why but I always have tons that I want to share during the week but when I get in front of the computer screen my mind feels blank.  It is a miracle that week after week I manage to share something;)

Already I can give you some updates.  Sister Isham got to Mauritius this last Wednesday; we picked her up at the airport Wednesday night.  It has been fun being four sisters in the apartment:)  Nice and lively.  What is even more fun is that we are all such good friends:)  I love the missionaries that I serve with and think that it is one of the biggest blessings that we all get along so well.  I think that that is one of my favorite lessons that I have learned being on a mission:  we really can love anyone, it is just a decision that we need to make. 

There are feelings of closeness or friendship that come more naturally for some than for others, but what really makes a strong relationship is when we just decide to love the person and we work at their side.  It is like our family.  We don’t remember choosing what earthly family we were born into, and there are definitely things about our siblings and our parents that bother us and even more things about ourselves that bother the other people in our families;)  and yet somehow we learn to love each other, to confide in each other, and to really appreciate each other for who we really are.  Its seems like the fact that we didn’t have a choice really that made it easier to overcome our differences.  Well on the mission we don’t really have the choice either of who we will be living with 24/7 and so again we learn to love and appreciate someone with whom we may not have chosen to be friends with otherwise.  And so I say why not just decide that we don’t have the choice anymore and that we just need to love everyone and that way we will be able to have so many more deep and meaningful relationships with our brothers and sisters, to share so many more moments of both joy and hardship together, and to help each other with what really matters: becoming perfect like our savior, older brother, and perfect example Jesus Christ so that we may return home safely one day to our loving Heavenly Father:) 

Anyways, they have been doing a great job of being positive in trying to find their way around a whole new area and getting lost tons;)  They are incredible missionaries and everyone is going to love them:)  Things have been going well for sister Liu and I.  We got to watch general conference this last weekend:DDDDD  This is a moment when the living, modern day prophet speaks to us with his twelve apostles to share new revelation, talk about Gospel principles, and fortify the faith of the saints.  I loved listening to the talks and everyone can listen to them on the church website:  www.lds.org 

and/or 

General Conference

We have been meeting/teaching lots of new people, many of which are families which are so fun to teach:)  I hope you all have a great week!  Love you:DDD 

Love,

Sister Wilson

April 13, 2015

I am not sure if I already sent this first picture (if I did you will just have to forgive me;)  It is of our District (all of the missionaries) here in Mauritius.  Well, it is out of date now because it was when sister Thomas and I were here together.  But anyways, we have a meeting once a week to discuss the missionary work that is going on, to work on teaching techniques, and whatnot.  Afterwards, we usually eat lunch together, and just before heading off we decided to take a picture and I wanted to be a monkey:)

The second picture is of one of the families in the Branch here in Rose Hill.  It is the Family Whittle and they are super fun to be around.  Their daughter served a mission in Congo back in the days and has the most incredible stories. 

The third is another family in the branch named the Family Jules.  The son on the right hand side of the photo is named Leroy and he actually left this past Tuesday to serve his own two year mission and was called to serve in England English speaking.  He was super excited and is going to be an incredible missionary!

So back to where I left off the last week with the picture of myself in sunglasses;)  When I was in St. Pierre we had the trip to the volcano museum.  This is a map of Reunion and we are all pointing to where we serve.  In the picture you can see my companions Soeur Woods (she is very tall:)  from Oklahoma, and Soeur Liu (from Tahiti).

The next one is a picture from the anniversary of the Relief Society.  The Relief Society is an organization for the women of the church that was organized in the early 1800's by the prophet Joseph Smith. It is (if I heard correctly) the largest women’s organization in the world today and has for its theme/purpose:  

“For the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes,” and "The purpose of Relief Society is to help prepare women for the blessings of eternal life by helping them increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need."

What was crazy for me to think was that I was in that same chapel for the same celebration just one year before as a new missionary.  So many things have happened since.  We (the sister missionaries) were asked once again to prepare a musical number.  Sister Thomas and I played our flutes and the rest of the sisters sang.  The sisters are (in order from left to right):  Sister Thomas, Sister Isham, Sister Olivarius, Sister Madsen, Sister Willardson, Sister Woods, Sister Liu, and myself:)

This one is just for silliness. It was after a lesson with the son of one of the less active members in saint Pierre.  His name is Teddy and he is adorable and amazing.  He is only twelve years old and it is sad how grown up he is because of the harsh circumstances of his life.  marriage is a sacred engagement and should be honored, especially when there are children involved.  There are too many broken families in this world.  Selfishness and pride are such powerful tools of the adversary.  I hope and pray that every child who has had to suffer a difficult childhood will be able to feel their Heavenly Father's love for them, know that he is there for them, and confide in him through prayer in order to find the peace that does not come from this world ( John 14:27)

This is from a district activity in St. Pierre.  We went up hiking in a region called Longevin where there are lots of pretty waterfalls:)  There is Elder Sanchez and Elder Thia (who--crazy side story--has a brother that is one of Mark's good friends in France-the world is so small!) and Lisa Van Loon one of the youth in the branch of St. Pierre.

This one is also just for silliness.  Sister Liu and Sister Woods found the pictures that papa had sent me of our family and they found this picture (from a youth activity in Yakima when I was only 13 years old;) and thought it was hilarious.  The took it and taped it above our goals which made me laugh so voila;)  And yes I know that my name tag is crooked, don’t worry I check to make sure it is on straight before leaving the house;)

From a hike here in Mauritius with our new companionship, Sister Willardson, Sister Liu and I.  Well, I say hike but that is not really true.  The elders promised us they knew how to find this place (we were hesitant to go without a Mauritian because nothing--roads, streets, etc.--is marked here), but we could not in the end find the trail head and hiked around in the cane fields;)  I may have already shared that story as well.

Does anyone recognize who is on my back?  Soeur Berchel:DDD She got back this last Monday and it has been super fun seeing her and working with her again:) 

Mauritius is beautiful:) <3

I have to go now but I hope that everyone feels pleased and spoiled with all of the pictures I got to send:)  I hope that everyone has a great week!  I am doing well and working hard.

Love,

Sister Wilson

April 7, 2015

Bonjour tout le monde! 

I hope that you had a great week.  I sure did here!  It has been super fun being back yet again.  I really feel like I have lived here for so much longer than 6 months.  We saw and taught a ton of people this week which was fun; I am a bit worried about my companions’ heads exploding from taking in so much new information but they are doing great and loving it here!  One cool thing that we did this week was go on an adventure to find people that used to take lessons but stopped for one reason or another (often because they get too busy with work, or get scared of changing).  The past missionaries will write down there address hoping that maybe later they will be ready to accept the message.  So we went address hunting and Wednesday afternoon we had a super cool miracle.  We started looking for the address of a family named Akumbeeha and knew that it was somewhere in Rose Hill.  What you need to know is that in Mauritius the roads very rarely have a street name, there are tons of tiny impasses, side roads, roads that curve, and whatnot.  Also, almost none of the houses have a number on them and when they do they are not in order (13, next to 64, next to 2B, etc…).  Lastly, the Mauritians, while very friendly and helpful, for the most part do not even know the name of their own street that they live on (probably because it is almost worthless to know street names as there are no street signs).  Anyways, we stopped every few yards to ask another person if they knew where the street was.  Everyone pointed us in a different direction, and finally we stopped at a little boutique.  They told us encore a different direction and we decided that we didn’t believe them anymore.  We walked around the corner and lo and behold they had not lied:D  The street was right there!  And so we rejoiced!  What was even better was that the first house we saw had a number and it was the number of the family we were looking for!!!! What luck!  Then we started to shout.  The neighbor heard us and said that there was no family living there... no!  But we did not believe her because she did not seem too sure.  So we kept walking down the street and asked a different person if they knew the family.  They said yes and pointed us farther down the road.  We went but it was not the right number, so we decided that the first lady didn’t know what she was talking about.  I remembered a lady across the street who had been watching us and we went back and decided to talk with her.  She was very friendly and her husband (Nicolas) had just gotten back from work.  As if by magic, he knew the family and remembered that 15 years ago the family had lived there and there were often missionaries who came over (white shirts and ties;).  They had moved a while back but he said that he thought he knew where they had moved too and was willing to show us the way.  So off we were following our new friend :D  We got to the house and found out that the family we were looking for had lived there but had moved again some years back.  But the sister was still living there and was very friendly as well.  She gave us juice and gave the phone number of her sister to Nicolas who called for us and found out her new address and set up a lesson for us.  He then showed us the way again to the meeting point with the family we were looking for and headed off.  We got out of the car and starting asking people if they knew the family.  We were at a little fruit stand and asking the man who worked there if he knew the family and you will not believe it but the father (of the family akumbeeah) showed up behind us and said "hey that’s me!"  And walked with us to his home where we met his wife and had a lesson:)  They were super happy to see us and motivated to start learning again about God and how to come closer to him:)  It was a crazy fun adventure and a big miracle.  I know that God knows his children and that when we are ready and willing to take part in his marvelous work (sharing the Gospel and the love:) that he will guide us by his spirit:)  I wish you all another great week! 

Love,

Sister Wilson

March 31, 2015

The picture is of me pretending like I am cool and know how to rock sunglasses but this is not the case;)  I am with a sister at St. Pierre named Lisa who is super cool.  She works a lot with us sister missionaries and is preparing herself to go on a mission before the end of this year.  The picture is in front of the volcano museum in Reunion that we went to for a young women’s' activity that turned into more of a branch activity because everyone wanted to come:)  It was a super fun time and it was good to get to talk with the members.

So, unfortunately we had computer problems so there will be no more pictures for this week:/  and also I don’t have much more time to write.  But I wanted to give a little update.  You will probably not believe me but I am once again in Mauritius!  What craziness!  We got a phone call last Wednesday night and found out that we were leaving Friday morning.  I am with Sister Liu and Sister Willardson (a new missionary who is from Utah).  It has been fun working with them and fun being back in Mauritius.  This makes the fifth time that I was told it was my last time and yet I still came back;)  it’s a bit embarrassing to say goodbye so many times, but I hope it was the last, and the members are super super happy to have us back:)

We tried to go hiking yesterday with the elders.  They promised us many times that they knew where we were going (lion mountain) but in the end we got lost in the sugar cane fields and never got to go on the real hike;) 

Oh, also Sister Berchel came back to Mauritius yesterday and went with us on a lesson this morning:D  It was super cool and great to see her again:)  We went and ate crepes together afterwards for lunch.

Well, I am happy and doing well.  I know that God loves us; we are literally his children and all we have to do is ask him if he is there and he will help us to feel his presence.  God is love, he is joy, peace, and charity.  Don't forget to love, forgive, appreciate and accept those around you, and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

March 24, 2015

So I had a fun week back in St. Pierre.  For this week I just wanted to share two stories with you.  The first is about the process of repentance. Repentance is one of the major teachings that Christ taught during his earthly mission and that every prophet that has ever been called by him has preached.  It is a process with five steps that helps us to recognize and regret mistakes that we have made (in religious terms I would say sins that we have committed or things that we have done contrary to the commandments of God), ask God for forgiveness in a prayer, repair any damage we may have done, and then to abandon or change the action that was not good in order to become better.  Often as members of the church we think about repentance as being for "big sins" like stealing, but it is for every little thing that we would like to change about ourselves and it is possible thanks to the infinite sacrifice that our Savior Jesus Christ made (Alma 34:9-10) in taking upon him our sins and weaknesses, dying on the cross, and being resurrected. 

      I got to put this to the test in sort of a funny way this past Thursday.  We had walked to an investigators house in Terre Sainte for a lesson, and as we were walking back up the hill I was eating an orange that I had cut before leaving the house (I like my mother never leave the house without preparing a little pick nick because I always get hungry;).  I normally toss my peels to the side in a bush because they are biodegradable and my conscience feels alright with this.  Then we passed by a trash can that was open and I threw my peel in and kept walking.  For some reason I looked back and realized that the can didn’t have a lid which meant that I couldn’t determine whether it was for recycling or garbage (the lids are color-coded here) .  I felt sort of guilty thinking that it may have been for recycling but I tried to justify myself in thinking that it may well have been for the garbage.  We kept walking and I thought "I’ll just do better next time." but then I thought "no!  If I did something wrong I need to fix it because that is one of the steps and I would be stupid to have that on my conscience when the way to repair what I had done was so simple.”  Just then Sister Woods and Sister Liu stopped to talk with a man waxing his car.  I set my bag down and made a sign to them to say "give me a minute" and ran back down the street to fish back out my orange peel.  I am sure that I looked crazy and my companions had a good laugh but I felt so much better afterwards and know that it is this same peace that we can feel each time we follow these five inspired steps that the savior taught, whether it be for a big mistake or a little. 

Anyways, I ran out of time again, but know that I am doing well, that I got my stiches out on Sunday at church by a brother who happens to be a doctor:)  have a great week!

Love, Sister Wilson

March 17, 2015

Okay, so I debated for a good moment about whether or not I would share this story...  I don’t want anyone to be afraid for me or my health but it really was such a crazy happening that I wanted to tell it.  Friday was Sister Thomas' and I's last day in Mauritius and everything was going well.  We had a lesson in Port Louis with one of the coworkers of Brother Bastien that went super well, but we were a bit late in finishing and were speed walking all the way back through the market to get to the buses.  It was about 5:30 and the market was closing down so there were lots of vans packing up boxes and out of nowhere as we were passing by one van the man let the trunk door go and it fell rather heavily on my head.  I was stunned and let out a loud scream as it hit me and the man quickly lifted it back up.  I touched my head and felt a deep cut and knew what was coming next.  Luckily Sister Thomas is a licensed nurse;)  She got a cloth instantly and pressed it against my head as the blood started to run.  Someone called an ambulance, but another lady said that they take too long and the man whose van it was decided to pay a taxi to take us so off we were.  One of the sisters was in Valiee (the down just over) and was waiting for us for a lesson.  We called her to say sorry that we had to cancel and she decided to come to the hospital with us.  She was a ton of help and so nice, it was like having a mom with us.  I ended up getting stiches and they gave me some medicine and it was all over in about an hour and we went back out to work to finish the evening.  We called our zone leaders that night to tell them the story and it took them a long time to believe us-they thought we were joking.  It is a pretty heinous story but I am fine now.  I will get the stiches out this Saturday (thank heavens because the doctor did a weird thing and sewed a bandage to my head as well which I have been trying to cover with headbands, but that is testing my pride;).

Anyways I am back in St. Pierre with Sr Liu and Sr woods.  They are both super easy going and nice so the transition has been easy.  Also all the members were super nice and happy to see me on Sunday:)  I hope that you all have a good week!!!

Love,

Sister Wilson

March 9, 2015

The first is a picture of Patricia and her two daughters whom we have been teaching for about five months now.  Patricia's sister (Soeur Avrilene) has been a member for years and Patricia knows that the Church is true and has started making huge changes in her life this past month.  It’s incredible to witness and the spirit is so strong in her home especially when she prayers.

The second is a picture of our investigator Jean. I am not sure if I already sent the picture... but it is of us at lunch last week and he had brought us strange fruits that you eat with salt and chili.  Fun fun.  Don't be fooled by the picture, he never smiles in pictures, but he is super nice and happy and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.  He is also the person that I talked about in the email last week who got his testimony about the living prophet:)

The third is a beautiful family that we recently started teaching.  We met the dad while standing in a line at lunch time to get dalpouri (an Indian thing).  They are super friendly.  The dad believes in God but does not practice a religion (he was raised Indian) and the mom is Catholic but both are very open and there two boys are SO adorable:D   

This is another family that we are teaching which is super fun:) the main person we are teaching is Nathalie who is the mother of Richard one of the recent converts in the branche.  In the photo there is a sister who accompanied us and then all of Nathalie’s granddaughters and grandson:) 

This is a little boy named Adriano who is super precious and always runs up the street when he sees are car coming yelling "bann missionaires pou arrive!!!!" or in other words "the missionaries are coming!!!!" so so cute:)

The last is a picture of the members who stayed late after church last week for a lunch together.  This is something that often happens in LDS culture because the first Sunday of every month is a Sunday where the majority of the members fast (do not eat or drink) for 24 hours to consecrate ourselves more fully in prayer often for a specific reason (a question that we have or a need) and then we can offer the money we did not use to eat to help the poor or another such cause.  It was also the senior couples' last Sunday visiting our branche.  They go home this next Monday which is craziness!

Sister Thomas and I are headed back to reunion this Saturday and I believed that it was for good but our mission President was here this past weekend for a conference with us (the missionaries) and we found out that he and one of the general authorities (the member of the 70 for South Africa) and one other brother are coming back next week to have a meeting with the prime minister of Mauritius about missionary visas and hope to be sending sisters back very soon (from one week to three months they are sure).  So who knows how these next few months will work out or where I will be sent?  Only the Lord, and thank heavens that he knows because it is his work and everything is in his hands.  I have no more preference now of where I would like to be which is good because that means less disappointment and I can just appreciate each step as it comes.

I love teaching people and trying to help people and love them.  I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I hope that everyone will open up their hearts to it to be able to find the same peace that I have found.  Have a great week and love,

Soeur Wilson

March 2, 2015

This has been another good week. These past few weeks have been an interesting learning experience for me. There have been many beautiful and many sad moments. Teaching people is such a wonderful experience because you also learn so much yourself. But it can also be sad when the people you teach understand what has been taught and then act contrary to the testimony and knowledge they have of the truth. But what is interesting is that though it has made me feel very sad I feel very at peace within myself. I know that my companion and I do our best and what we could for each of them, that we were important parts of their progression, and that only God sees the beginning and the end of his eternal plan.  We never know what effect we have on the lives of others and only time will tell.

We have an investigator named Jean Nanette that we have been teaching for about two months.  We met him one day when we were in town walking along and talking to people in the street.  It started to rain hard so we ran to find some cover and then talked to the poor people who now had no way of escape (just kidding;).  Jean was one of them and we had a little conversation and invited him to learn more another time.  He has been coming to church ever since and has been learning so much and progressing.  He has some good friends in the branch and he has such a high spiritual sensibility it is amazing.  Well we were teaching this last week about how there is a living prophet on the earth today.  He was surprised --he had already prayed about Joseph Smith and knows that he was a prophet chosen of God to restore the church to the earth but he did not know that the revelation has continued.  Each time a prophet passes away the twelve apostles come together to prayer to learn whom God has chosen as the next prophet and that this organization continues to this very day just like during Christ’s life and with the prophets of old. 

We showed him a clip of President Monson and he prayed on his knees to know if he is the prophet today.  He got his answer right then and there with a great burning in his heart.  This is often how Heavenly Father answers us when we want to know if something is true, he sends his Holy Spirit to testify to our hearts (D&C 9:8-9).  Every time that Jean has asked for an answer he has received it and it is because his heart and his actions are sincere.  And that is the promise that God has made to each and every one of us.  That if we ask with a sincere heart we can know the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:3-5).  That strengthened my testimony that President Thomas  S. Monson is the prophet today and the God and the Holy Ghost truly testify of that.  What a great blessing:D

Alyssa Despain has been one of my great friends for many years and recently got home from her mission and I wanted to share a thought from her:  "One of my very favorite scriptures is D&C 100:4-8. I used to share it with members so often that even my companion knew it by heart. It tells us that where we are right now is where God put us to save someone: sometimes ourselves. And, no matter how simple our words are, the Holy Ghost will testify if we speak of Christ with a sincere heart. I had a blessing once that told me ‘you do not need to be scriptural or eloquent. Just do your best.' And I found that I didn't need to find just the right words: I need to testify of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word. Words are so powerful and are the way God works."

What a powerful message and it made me think about what one of my own strong convictions is.  I think for me what has been the most important thing that I could give to the people I have met here during my mission was my love because it is something that the world has such great need of.  Also, because love is the greatest motivation for change and the very essence of God and of Jesus Christ:)  We just need to love people:)  And each person on this earth has something unique to offer, their own talents and convictions that can help those around them if we just share.

A funny story from this week is that we had our District Meeting in the church building like usual.  The Elders got their first so they unlocked the church and we didn’t take our keys.  We ate together afterwards and then the Elders had to hurry off for a lesson.  Soeur Thomas and I kept eating a l'aise (in peace) and when we went to leave we found that the Elders had looked the door to the church after them thinking that we had our set of keys..... Hmm yes, we looked at each other and said "haha how is this possible?"  We thought about trying to climb out one of the windows but in Mauritius ALL building have bars across the windows and so there was literally no way out.  Luckily we reflected for a moment and had a more reasonable idea come into our minds than trying to break ourselves out.  There is a long driveway leading up to the church with a big garden and we could see the gardeners sleeping a ways off on the benches.  We called them over and gave them the keys to our car and they kindly got the keys to the church out for us, unlocked the door, and we were saved:D   It was pretty funny:)

Hope that you all have a great week:D

Love,

Soeur Wilson

February 23, 2015

Today we went to the crocodile park in the south with the elders and Jessica and her friend (Jessica is the senior couples-the Conrad’s-daughter who just got back from her mission in Ukraine and is here with her parents until the end of their mission the middle of March).  It was super cool!!!!!!!!!!!  

There was a building with a super cool insect collection and with tons of butterflies from all over the world-they were so beautiful!!!!!

The second picture is a picture of pure joy.  That is me sitting on the back of a giant turtle:DDDD how cool is that?  I look like such a little kid:)  There was a huge open park with over 500 giant turtles and you could pet them and sit on them and love them:)  

Again a manifestation of joy and love, he was such a friendly turtle:)

This is of a family home evening with the family Larauce:)  We played a game called "si j'etais" which is a type of guessing game and then talked about how our Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us personally and perfectly.  One of the scriptures that we shared was in Job 34:21 that says in French;) "Dieu voit la conduite de tous, Il a les regards sur les pas de chacun."  Which means  He sees all of us and even notices each and every one of our steps.  Also in the book of Moses 1:35 it talks about how vast the creations of God are and yet how everything to him is accounted for because we are his.  He truly knows us and loves each and every one of us:) 

Me at the zoo (again;) because Sr Thomas had not been yet) on a little safari bus ride:D  I got to touch the zebra when he came closer:DDDD  Being at zoos and animal parks makes me super nostalgic for animals to be working with/studying/and or cuddling with them;)

This is from contacting this past Saturday.  It was return of the sidewalk chalk!!! thank you again papa:)  It was a fun moment with two of the youth from our branch--Kevin and Anastasia.  They had a blast and it was their first time talking with people like that about their beliefs.  They liked it so much they asked if we can do it this coming Saturday and we said of course and will invite the other youth as well:)

This is a picture of the four missionaries on the island (Elder Estrade from Canada, Elder Clousse from Utah, Sister Thomas from Belgium and Sister Wilson from Washington;) with a giant turtle:D  At this point you are probably wondering why so many pictures of the turtles especially because the name of the park is crocodile park but unfortunately that was not the last picture of a turtle that you will get to see:D  

There you have it, another picture of a turtle!  Two turtles even:D  With Sister Thomas and I on them:) 

And, just for the name's sake, a picture of the crocodiles:)  There were also monkeys at the zoo which made me happy:) 

This was a good week.  There were a lot of intense moments, and lots of sad stories that we learned about, but sometimes all you can do is cry with those who cry and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.

A funny story from the week was during a lesson with a newer investigator named Shela. We had decided  just to share the Book of Mormon with her--which is an incredible volume of scriptures with the writings of ancient prophets living in the Americas-- and her friend who was there.  We thought that we had brought two copies, but no....  As we were teaching I grabbed the book and held it up to show it as I was talking about it and Sr Thomas and I accidentally burst out laughing because it was a more serious moment and what was in my hands was the journal of one of the missionaries who wanted us to write a little note in it for him.  It just so happened to be the same size and the same navy blue with gold writing... we recovered quickly and had a good lesson but it was pretty funny at least for us:)

I hope that everyone has a good week!

Love,

Sister Wilson

February 16, 2015

So this week I would like to share sort of a funny little story from which I learned a good lesson;)  On Saturday we went to Port Louis (which is the capitol and biggest city in Mauritius) to find a friend of one of the members while she was at work so that we could meet her and set up a lesson.  It went super well, she is very nice and seems quite interested.  Then we decided to eat in a little restaurant that sells pizzas and fried chicken.  We were waiting in line and a bus boy asked us if it was out first time and if we needed help.  I gave him sort of an incredulous look because he wasn’t in uniform so at first I didn’t even know that he worked there and I felt like fast food restaurants are pretty obvious things all you have to do is walk up and order so I wondered what his intentions were in offering help.  It was the 14 (Valentine’s Day) and so there was a promotion on the menu items.  I wanted a sesame chicken thing and Sister Thomas wanted a little pizza.  As we were ordering the boy at the cash register said that we could have a free pizza in buying a pizza and a free sesame chicken in buying the sesame chicken.  They were both the same price so we asked if we could buy the pizza and have the chicken free.  He said "No it doesn’t work like that" and at that point (I’m not exactly sure why at that moment sometimes it just happens) I became a bit sassy and told him that that was ridiculous.  If they are the same price there should be no problem, but he insisted that it didn’t work like that so I told him fine, we didn’t care and would take one chicken and a pizza and that they could keep their free food.  It is a funny feeling when I become uppity because it really wasn’t that big of a deal but I felt like they were being unreasonable and became unreasonable myself.  Sr. Thomas reflected more wisely and asked if we could take the free things home as take away and they said no problem and we went and sat down to wait.  It was at that moment that I felt a bit of shame creep into my heart for the way I’d reacted. 

Sr  Thomas laughed pretty hard at the little scene I’d created and I laughed a bit as well at how ridiculous we can be as humans.  The workers had all rested calm and super nice and so I wanted to apologize.  I did and they laughed and said it was fine.  The food was super tasty and they brought out the free pizza/chicken in boxes.  We sat next to a lady who had been to the hospital and was clearly very poor but who was full of smiles and laughter and were able to share our meal with her.  Then before she left we saw the bus boy come out with a little bag of food and give it to her quietly and my heart just felt full of emotion.  What a kind and humble person he is and how quickly I had judged him.  We have so much that we can learn from those around us and there are so many beautiful people in the world.  I am happy that that boy is my brother and that day he was a better representative of the Savior Jesus Christ than I was.  We humbled ourselves and asked him if he was croyant (believing) and if he would like to learn more another time about our message of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and he said he would love to and normally we will see him again this week. 

So yes, life is full of funny moments and if we are willing we can learn so much even from little things:)

This past Sunday a less active member that we have visited a couple of times now came back to church for the first time in over ten years and brought his wife:)  I cannot tell you how that filled my heart with joy.  The best part was how excited he was to be there and the light in his face as he participated in Sunday school and wanted to know more:)

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!!!!

Love,

Soeur Wilson

February 10, 2015

Okay what could I say about this past week?  The first half was in Reunion in St. Denis and the second half in Mauritius.  Life is a crazy adventure but I like it that way :)  It was sad for me to leave St. Denis.  At this point you are probably all shaking your heads and thinking "I am tired of hearing this, she is always sad to leave," but it is true.  I think my problem is that I get attached too easily.  The second week a St. Denis was such a good week and it was sad for me to leave the people that I had already started to love.  Luckily, getting back into the swing of things here was seamless and a great blessing and miracle from above.  All the same, I feel a little bit like a yo-yo.  I say this not to complain but just to explain my feeling.  But that is okay, there is so much to learn from every situation that we live through. 

It was lots of fun working with sister Olivarius and sister Thomas and it felt like we were together a lot longer than two weeks.  We took a plane to Mauritius Thursday afternoon and Friday morning we hit the ground running:)  We were able to get back in touch with all of the people we have been teaching and had lots of wonderful lessons.  It felt so natural to be back here.  I even prefer driving on the left side now (I was always flinching in reunion because my brain felt like we were on the wrong side of the road and were going to get hit).  It was funny to watch sister Thomas' reaction to our heinous apartment.  It really is like a palace for princesses. 

Everyone was so happy to have sisters back in the branch and there is just so much love, love love^-^  I love the people here so much and it is such a joy to work.  I found out that one of the people we teach (her name is Patricia) was at church last Sunday and got up to bear her testimony, she is so cute!  The first Sunday of every month is a moment where we as members of the church fast-abstain from food and drink- for twenty four hours and concentrate on praying at the same time for something specific.  That could be a question that we have and we are looking for an answer, maybe we are praying for a miracle to happen, or even just a fast of gratitude to our heavenly Father.  Then during the church service Sunday morning everyone who wants to has the chance to share a little testimony (say what they believe in or share a little spiritual experience) to help strengthen their own faith and the faith of everyone there:)

I think that we are going to have an awesome week this week and will be good and tired:)  Hope that everyone is doing well and that you have a good week.

Love,

Soeur Wilson

February 3, 2015

I had a good week this week:) I was able to get myself into the swing of things here in St. Denis and was back to my motivated self which made me happy:)  It has been super fun working with Sister Olivarius and Sister Thomas; are personalities are super different but we are all quite silly and we spend most of the day smiling and laughing:)

We decided to go treasure hunting for former investigators this week (that means looking up addresses of people who took the missionary lessons in past years but stopped taking them for one reason or another) and had a lot of success:)  We found about ten of the people we were looking for and were able to either have a lesson or set up a lesson with them:)  One of my favorite of these experiences is with a young woman (in her 20's) named Sandra.  She welcomed us in warmly when we knocked on her door and as we were talking/introducing ourselves we learned that she had sort of lost her faith but in this past year a number of experiences led her to believe in God again and it is only really in the last two weeks that she has become active again in her faith and she could not believe our timing in showing up on her doorstep again.  Well I can promise you that we had no idea what had been happening to her in the last year and a half but that God did and he has such an incredible way of guiding our lives. She cried as she told us this and the spirit was very strong.  We had beautiful lesson on the plan of happiness that God has prepared for each of us and she wants to be baptized:D

Another of my favorite stories happened with a lady named Stella (44).  We met her one morning while looking for a former investigator. We found her apartment door but she wasn’t home. I decided to knock on her neighbor’s door to ask if the person even still lived there.  Stella opened the door and the first thing she saw was our nametags.  She said "Oh my goodness!  You are wearing the name of my savior! Come in come in come in!!!!!!!!"  She ushered us in and said that she did not speak French and I said "all the better me neither;)"  She is from Nigeria, lives in Italy and comes to reunion one month every winter to escape the cold and she had just gotten in the day before:D  Some may said "what luck!" but I say what incredible planning and maneuvering skills God has when we are willing to follow the spirit:D  We had an incredible lesson and she had already met the missionaries in Italy but never had the time to have them over.  She was at church this past Sunday and I was able to translate for her:)  We took the bus with her to church and were at the bus stop pretty early and passed the time singing gospel hymns (I love Africans! :)  she loves God so much and has such a good spirit:)  She has been reading the Book of Mormon and just wants to learn!  It is such a pleasure to teach people who want to learn:)  She wants to be baptized as well so hopefully we will be able to help her meet up with the missionaries in Italy!

Life is cool and life is beautiful:)  I am headed back to Mauritius this Thursday and am excited:)  I hope that you all have a great week! 

Love,

Soeur Wilson