June 24, 2014

This week was good.  We had lots of lessons and lots of beautiful moments and lots of sad moments.  We worked are butts off and were exhausted every day which is what I like:)  I realized that we are very blessed here in St. Pierre this week as I listened to the reports of the missionaries in the other areas during our district meeting.  Every other group has only one or two investigators at most and we have over twenty....  so I really can’t complain. Still, my heart hurt a lot this week because of some investigators that we lost.  One was patrick (a forty year old man that we had met while buying candy at a little shop in St. Joseph), who had decided that he wanted to be baptized!!  However, he recently re-got in contact with his mother (they had had a falling out five years ago and hadn’t talked since) and when his mom found out about his interest in the Gospel she flipped out and said he had to choose between her and religion.  He prayed about it for a week and told us saturday that he can’t see us anymore because he cannot bear to lose his mother again-_-  You cannot imagine how much i just wanted to help him understand that if he wants to be with his mother forever he needs the Gospel!!!!  But everyone has their own choices to make and we have to respect that and just keep loving them. It is cool to have so many investigators, but a bit stressful because I don’t want to lose any of them because I grow to love them more and more each day and I want them to find happiness!!!!! but the lords will not my will be done;) 

Also another moment that was super sad (also saturday) is that when we dropped Lisa van loon off (the daughter of a less active family who accompanies us all day every saturday--she's eighteen and wants to go on a mission and just got the answer that she needs to go in september, not wait a year:D!!!!!  It is super cool to be able to help her). We were going to give a spiritual thought to her family, but we learned that Ophesia (an older daughter-20) is having a really hard trial right now.  She came out and we gave her a big long hug and her mother as well and we just cried together.  We sang two hymns and read a scripture passage and then we knelt together in a circle holding hands and I prayed as we cried and just asked for comfort.  As I walked away I thought to myself that about how in the scriptures when people suffered Jesus wept with them and how he counseled us to "mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort." I felt closer to him as I reflected on how that is what we had tried to do-- to do what he would have done.  It was a humbling experience and really made the reality of the fact that we are sisters in zion and that we do need to be there for each other penetrate my heart more deeply. 

Also, just an hour ago we had a surprise.  It is sad, but one of the sister missionaries is not doing so well emotionally and decided that it is best to go home.  So the area of St. Paul closed and they sent her companion to St. Denis (which already had two sisters) and we aren’t quite sure why but they are sending one of the St. Denis sisters to join us, so the threesome will be here in St. Pierre.  So I got to experience being in a normal companionship for one week and it was marvelous to work just as two, but apparently it was not mean to be;)  That is okay, I already know sister Isham and she is super nice and easy to get along with so things will go well.  Keep on shining! I hope that you all have a great week!!! Love, Soeur Wilson