November 3, 2014

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

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

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

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

Love,

Soeur Wilson

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

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

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

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

I keep taking flexibility pictures for my papa.

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

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

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

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