Week 61

Hello Family!

I am glad you had a good time here in WA :)  I figured you wanted to surprise me or something so I didn't say anything! but don't worry it didn't take away any focus or anything because I can see you in like 4 months! So I wasn't stressed :) Don't you just absolutely LOVE the people here? I am so happy to hear about the fun you had :) I LOVE WASHINGTON!!! haha I love these people so much and I'm grateful they still love me back :) Anyways I guess you would like to know about what's happening at transfers :) So Sister Flanigan is being transferred to East Tacoma in the Lincoln ward and I am staying HERE! and follow up training a sister that came out with sister Flanigan named Sister Jensen! :) I don't know her at all!  but I am excited :) Sister Logan is going to silverdale and Elder Genereux is going to Port Angeles (the other side of the mission.) but! Sister Hall is coming to Olympia!!!!!! I'm excited!  She's not in my district but she is in my zone! :) So I'm pumped!!! :) I am excited for transfer meeting :) It will be the last "mission wide" transfer meeting...after this one only people who are transferring will be able to go! SAD DAY!!! Which means I probably won't be able to see many people I love until after my mission :( but that's ok! Because sometimes the Lord asks us to be obedient and when we sacrifice everything and turn to the Lord, He will bless us. So I think sometimes our missions are meant to be endured without the people we love. :) (at least that's what the ZL's tell me :) ) haha I am way excited to stay here in Olympia though!!! A few weeks ago I kinda wanted to leave, but I was being selfish because I knew Elder Genereux and Sister Logan would be leaving and I felt like our investigators were kind of in "neutral" but now the work is picking up like crazy! and I have accepted the fact that my friends are leaving because the work is not about that, it's about God and His will and I know that this is part of His plan for me. So I am excited! :) I have actually gotten a sudden motivation and excitement to be here in Olympia with the people we are working with! Gary and C & J and A bunch of little kids! haha we are teaching Domonic he's 10 and Niah and Alaysa they're 10 and 8 and Cassidy she's 9 and alexus she's 8 and I am excited! I love little kids! :) And we also Teaching a part member family the walkers He's the one who's the x-Jehovah's witness! and he loves the church!!! but he has a lot of health problems...But they're all so great and I love them!!! :) Oh we are not teaching Maria anymore because SHE GOT BAPTIZED!!!! :) It was a wonderful service :) Elder Pierce and Genereux came to help cuz Maria LOVES them and a few people from the ward and sister flanin and I sang "be still my soul" and Maria was just crying and crying. That is the first time I have ever seen her cry. And it was so sweet. She just felt so relieved and at peace and happy and it brought her to tears. I was over joyed! It was beautiful. And after she came out of the water she just had the biggest smile on her face! It was the greatest thing ever!!! :) so other than that we've just been working hard this week. a good part of this week though was my personal studies!!! I am feasting on the Book of Mormon!!! it's SO good! :)  I've just been getting so much out of it! this morning I read Alma 44 and the Nephites are at war with the Lamanites and the leader of the Nephites (moroni) is talking to the leader of the Lamanites (Zarahemnah) and he tells him about how God has spared them because of their religion and their faith, and it was just so inspiring to me because I feel like because of my faith God has strengthened me and that if we do what's right and continually strengthen our faith and our testimonies we will win. I also read about the war in Heaven and how it was a war of testimonies. And the war is still being fought, we still have to build and fortify our testimonies! :) And I want to bear my testimony to you that I know that this gospel is true. I know that Joseph Smith literally saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and was the prophet through which God restored His gospel. I know that Joseph Smith was a great and amazing Prophet of God; and that Thomas S Monson is the latter-day prophet on the earth. A true prophet. And because of this, I know that Christ lives, I know that He is my Savior, I know that I have a plan for my life and that Christ is there every step of the way. I love Him with all of my heart. I know that what I am doing is the right thing to be doing. I am grateful to be a missionary. I LOVE it! I miss all of you, and I love you so very much! I can't wait to talk to you in just 2 short weeks!!

 

Love always

Sister Wilkins :)

Week 60

Hello Family!

This week was quite the adventure... I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!! :) I know I did!!! :) It was wonderful! Monday I finally got a haircut!!!  Sister Farnsworth cut it in the gym at the church for me! :) I was going to get it sooner, but I didn't want to get bangs in the winter and always look like a drowned rat :) haha But I really like it! :) Then that night we had FHE with the Howes and they made us yummy pancakes! I love that family! :) I wish brother Howe would just get baptized :) but we are working on it! :) Then Tuesday Maria had her baptismal interview and she did great! She's way solid! :) and that night we had a lesson with Gary! He's so close! now he is saying that he'll be baptized, but he doesn't know if he wants to be Mormon. haha I guess what he doesn't know is that you don't become Mormon you become a disciple of Jesus Christ! :) But he's still so close :) He'll get there! :) Wednesday was the BEST DAY EVER!!! The temple was absolutely amazing! :) It was a ton of fun too! :) We woke up at 5:30 to catch the bus at the Lacey stake center and then traveled to the house of the Lord! :) Once we got there we gathered in the chapel to sing some songs and talk about the "Because of Him" video :) And just tried to prepare to feel the spirit and then we went over to the temple and oh my goodness! It was amazing! I just love the temple! It is a house of learning and as soon as you walk in the first thing I feel is an abundance of love! and joy!  I love the temple so much! One cool revelation that I got was that I need to trust in God more. I went with a question of how I can put my heart into the work more. And He answered me by helping me remember when I got my confirmation to come on my mission. I was sitting in the baptistery at the Provo temple and I was just praying my heart out! and I had this overwhelming feeling come over me and I just felt like everything would be ok and that God would help me. And I got reminded of that. Then I walked past this picture that they also have in the Steilacoom building and it's Christ beckoning to someone and when you walk past it His foot follows you. And I know that Christ is always right next to us, no matter where we walk He is always there. But anyways, it was absolutely amazing. I cried during the endowment session :)  I love it so much! :) I can't even explain it :) anyways I was filled with so much knowledge and power!!! I felt a sincere desire to help people make it to the temple. It's such a wonderful place. :) On Thursday we got a surprise call from the STL's and Sister Allred came to Olympia to hang out with me :) It was fun! It was nice because I got to talk to her and she knows what I'm dealing with!  So it was fun! she's from my hometown of Springville! :) it was a lot of fun :) We tracted down some intense hills though...I thought I was going to die! :) Friday was a hard day for me...we found out that Maria hadn't stopped drinking coffee so she couldn't get baptized. I called President and he said that we had to wait til at least Tuesday to baptize her. And I was just heartbroken! I don't know why, but I was so sad.  It was even harder to tell Sister Flanigan and then we had to tell Maria. It was awful. I won't go into details cuz it was just so sad. President called us that night and I cried to him and he helped us to understand a little bit more. I know that it is so important for people to repent before they can be baptized. Saturday I woke up feeling way sick. So I called Elder Genereux and asked for a blessing and it was one of the best blessings I've ever had. Basically God told me that I needed to stop worrying about all the things going on in my head and just love!!! :) and that Heavenly father loves me and that I need to remember the Savior and also He told me that a lot of people look up to me for an example and that made me feel like I want to be better and push myself more! But I know the priesthood works because immediately after I felt so much better! :)  Sunday was the best day ever! We had 6 investigators at church and I ate more food than I ever should!!! haha we had 2 dinners back to back and oh man, I felt so fat :)  Cheesecake and cake and lots of ham and potatoes and rolls and veggies! haha I was absolutely stuffed!!! and as you already know Juan and Jon showed up to the YSA ward with Easter baskets for Sister F and I! I can't even tell you how much I love them! and appreciate them!!! They're amazing! And Anthony also sent me a basket in the mail! I seriously have the BEST Rc's in the whole world! God blesses me so much more than I deserve. I read Alma 26-29 this morning and I love those chapters! It's all about missionary work!!! :) Transfer calls are this Saturday! Pray really hard that I get a good call :) If there's one thing I've learned in Olympia it's patience! Patience with Greenies, Eternal Investigators, and so many other things!!! :) I really just have to be patient! :) haha I'm so grateful for the Christ like attributes that I get to learn about on my mission. It is such a valuable lesson. I learn new things every week! :) I love being a missionary! I kind of want to stay in Olympia because some good stuff is going on :) but at the same time I don't!  because Elder Genereux and Sister Logan are probably leaving and they keep me sane sometimes! :)  but actually....anyways! I am so grateful for Easter and for the time we have to remember the Savior and that because of Him we can live again, and we can have hope and love and joy and everything good in our lives! He lives! and I love Him with all of my heart! :) I love all of you so much! and hope you have a wonderful week! :)

Love always

Sister Wilkins :)

Week 59

Hello family!! :)

Alright I have to start with the most exciting thing of the week...I GOT TO GO BACK TO STEILACOOM!!!! :) It was the greatest thing of my whole life!!! :) There was a fireside and I got to sing "lead kindly light" in an acapella (however you spell it) group :) It was a lot of fun! :) And a bunch of people from Steilacoom and Chambers creek were there! :) It was de best! :) Both of my old bishops and their families and the Tangaro's and Stowers and Gherrings and Grandma Perkins from Steilacoom and recent converts from both! Juan Jon Kyle Anthony and Aiden his mom Emma and papa rich and emerald (his granddaughter)!!!! It was SO great!!! I love those people SOOOOOOOO much! Seriously they make my heart a puddle!!! I can't even handle it! I was so overwhelmed with spirit and love that I slept great last night! :) It took it out of me!  I was so happy! :) It was definitely the highlight of the week :) Emma came up to me after and she was crying like crazy and she told me that she was going to the temple soon!!! :) When I was in Steilacoom and we baptized Aiden she wasn't coming to church and drinking coffee and her house was a wreck! and she turned her entire life around and is going to the temple!!! I was so happy!! :) I was crying like a little baby :)  I love those people so much...it was the greatest thing ever! :) Almost like going home! :) I miss Terrance and Myk and Mike and Doug and Luis and Timothy and Michael and all those people (the list would go on for a while :) ), but I'm glad I got to see a few of my buddies! :)

anyways I’ll get to the rest of the week! Last Monday was way fun! It was the p-day that we could do stuff with the elders! And so we went to the driving range and hit some buckets of balls! It was a blast! I was pretty good! I think it's on behalf of TC constantly practicing his golf swing in the living room!!! ;) hahaha! Good times...it was fun though! I want to do it again! :) That night we had a way fun FHE with a part member family and they loved it! We got to play apples to apples with them and I won every time!  I told them we used to play games all the time so I was really good at it they didn't believe I was competitive :) on Tuesday we went and visited our wonderful old people in the nursing home! We are going to start a bible study there! with singing and such! it will be fun!  That night we had a lesson with Gary! He is doing better than he was last week...he's still kinda stuck in a rutt...but I think we helped him..I just want SO badly for him to be baptized!!! I don't really know what else to do...but I won't ever give up on him! He will be a Mormon one day! :) On Wednesday we had a way spiritual zone meeting! :) I cried. So there's this video called "Because of Him" that you HAVE to watch! Right now! It’s about the resurrection of Christ it can be found on Mormon.org/BecauseofHim or facebook.com/Mormon :) but the zone meeting was completely dedicated to the life and atonement of Christ. And I don't know why but it was just amazing! I love the Savior! and I'm so grateful for His love and sacrifice for me. And that because of Him I can stand in the presence of God, clean and pure! :) How amazing is that?! That night we had a lesson with Maria and she is just the sweetest lady ever! :) She gave us chocolate bunnies for Easter!! :) and she has no money...I swear she is SO giving. I love her :) on Thursday we went and saw our old in love couple June and Don! They’re the sweetest! and Don always quizzes us on our Book of Mormon knowledge! It's a good thing I've read it a few times cuz he asks hard questions! haha and to tell you the truth I still know very very little...but I'm workin on it! :) I have learned a lot but we know we learn line upon line precept upon precept. I never understood that phrase until my mission!  On Friday we had apartment checks and of course ours was clean! :) I may throw some things on the floor sometimes but actually I'm a very clean person :)  so we passed! Then in preparation for the temple we watched "between heaven and earth" and it's so cool! The temple really is the only place we can be closest to God! SO GO!!! :) cuz it's awesome! and some of us don't get to go very often :) so don't take the temple for granted...because not only are you serving others (and service is the substance to our souls) but you are filling yourself and getting answers and solutions for your life. And it's THE biggest blessing God has given us on this earth. It is a little piece of heaven on earth. SO make a time this month to go and go! because I promise you it will help you in your life! (there's an exception to pregnant ladies who have to pee every 2 seconds :) ) haha (go do inititories! however you spell it! :) ) then we went and saw this lady who Sister Horge and I knocked into and she was always busy, but then the Spanish elders knocked into her and she was still interested so we got the referral and went back and God taught me a valuable lesson, I didn't have faith in her. But we went to her apartment and she invited us in and she poured out her soul to us basically. She NEEDS the gospel. so badly. so she's going to read the book of Mormon and we are going back on Thursday. She’s way prepared. And God showed me that miracles do happen and I really need to have higher expectations :)  then we got to go to dinner with the falters! They’re one of my favorite families here! The Falters, Opdahls, and some other people who I can't think of right now :) haha but it was fun! :) Then we visited one of our investigators sisters in the hospital and on Saturday we went with the elders to give her a blessing! We were at the hospital for over an hour visiting all sorts of people! It was fun! :) I love the elders! (Genereux and Pierce) they are seriously my best friends! :) It was sunny that day so Sister Flanigan and I walked everywhere! Then we went and visited sister Mcowen! She is so lonely and very pregnant! So we helped her do her dishes :) She's precious! We love her! :) Sunday at church we sat by the Arnold family and they have 2 little kids and the youngest Lori shouted when we sat down "it's the sister missionaries!!!" haha it was so cute! Then all throughout sacrament she passed us notes and gave us a cute little bracelet (one of those wonderloom bracelets they're big in WA I don't know about UT :) ) and so I wrote her a little note and she loved it! After sacrament she came up and gave us a BIG hug! :) She's the cutest! :)  I love little kids! And being a missionary because they love you back! :)  Maria came to church and it was good...she is still planning on getting baptized this Saturday!!! :) So that's exciting! :) I'm way PUMPED! :) and Gary was there too :) we got to teach gospel principles in the family ward and it was about the life of Christ. I bawled like the little bawl baby I am when we talked about the Atonement. I am just SO grateful for the Atonement. It really truly is everything to me. I could not be the person I am of it weren't for my Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him SO MUCH!!! It makes me weep every time I think of Him and what He did for me. :) I love Him!!! :) and I am grateful for the opportunity we have next Sunday to celebrate His Resurrection. I know that because of Him I can be truly happy!!!! :) Because of Him, I am who I am! :) and I get to experience opposition! and it's just so great...I can't even express my feelings so I just testify that He lives! and I know that because of Him I can reach my potential! :) I am SO EXCITED!!! because we get to go to the temple on WEDNESDAY!!! :) I can't even wait I'm so pumped!!!! and I've been reading the preparing to go to the temple pamphlet. It’s amazing! One of my favorite parts was that it says something to the effect of the more temples that are built the less power Satan has to tempt us. I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!! This week is going to be the best!!!! :) Anyways times up!!! I love you more than you know!!!

Love always 

Sister Wilkins :)

 

Week 58

Hello Family!

Wow! Wasn't that conference amazing??!?!?!?!?! I will be focusing pretty much all of my words on that!  Because that's pretty much all that happened this week :) We didn't have a ton of stuff go on because we didn't have our car, it was in the shop getting fixed, but we found a lot of new and had a lot of lessons! But not much else :)  But one thing that I wanted to tell you about was our investigator Maria! She is one of the most prepared people I've ever met! She came to 3 out of 4 sessions of conference :) she is on date for this weekend! So we are hoping and praying that she will take the big leap of faith. On Tuesday we stopped by the hospital to talk to her (she was in the psych unit for depression.) and while we were there she told us that she had gotten a confirmation that the church was true! It was so cool and the spirit was SO strong! We all started crying! And I shared the story about when Peter walks on the water toward Christ and he gets scared because of the distractions and such around him and he starts to sink, and as soon as he realizes it he cries out to Christ and immediately Christ reaches down to save him :) And I related that to her situation to just be able to focus on the Savior and keep looking at Him as she struggles and trust him. And if she starts to sink then as soon as she cries out for help Christ will be there to lift her up. This is a true principle for all of us in our lives. When we focus on Christ and trust Him we can do anything! We can walk on water! But when we get scared or distracted or frustrated or discouraged we will begin to sink. And as SOON as we ask for help Christ will immediately be there for us. He will go to the end of the universe for us. So trust in Him, rely on Him, and focus on Him. There are many people in the world who don't reach out for the help and they are miserable. But we can't let our pride get in the way of letting God help us. Let Him help you! :) It was very cool! It’s always a sacred moment when someone realizes and gets revelation from God to know that it's true! :) It's AMAZING!!! :) The church is true :) and then on Thursday she got out of the hospital and our bishop checked her into a motel for a week while she looks for a job! :) It was so cool! And then we had a lesson with her on Saturday! And we taught her about the plan of Salvation. She just loves it she loves it so much!!!! It was really cool because while we were there I was just pondering. We’re sitting between tiny walls of a motel room, with someone who has gone through so much, she's here because she has nowhere else to go, and she has every reason to be upset, or angry or discouraged and yet she is full of love and gratitude and she is focusing on Christ. One of her very few possessions are a picture we gave her of the Savior. And she keeps it close. My challenge to all of you is to keep Him close as you go through life and continue to draw closer to Him. I LOVED Elder Holland’s talk; God is not a comfortable God. He does expect things from us, but it is all for our good and learning and if we are obedient we will be exalted and receive eternal joy! This might be a short e-mail.  I've been watching some of the videos mom sent and crying cuz I love it! Thank you! and Elder Genereux is distracting me. Haha And tell the ward I absolutely LOVE them and can't wait to come home and see them all! :) It is crazy how much I miss all of you :) but I want to talk about conference! OH MY GOODNESS wasn't it just the biggest spiritual feast of your life?! Do you like the title of the e-mail? "you are infinitely more precious to God than a tree" oh elder Andersen!  Elder Genereux and I got a good kick out of that one and out of the "One should not roam through garbage" hahaha! :) we were rolling :) those can be likened to the funnies of the newspaper :)  anyways but I think my top 4 favorites were President Monson, Elder Holland, Elder Hales and President Uchtdorf. But they were all so amazing! I took so many notes and am just WAITING for the ensign! :)  President Monsons was good, I have been striving my whole mission to "look through heavens eyes" or "see people in white" and it's not that I can't do that, but there's always room for improvement in everything! But I think that it's so important to strive to have Charity for all men. And to just be kind to one another! I loved when he said "arise each morning determined to be loving and kind" We choose! And that's what I want to choose :) Elder Holland’s was AMAZING!!! haha I laughed, I cried, I felt the spirit like CRAZY!  I think the story he told about the missionary was so hilarious! I was sitting there thinking "I bet mom is thinking that stuff like that doesn't happen to me, but I've had worse"  I loved the advice he gave to defend your faith with love and courtesy and courage. It's hard sometimes to be nice to people. Because sometimes people are seriously rude. I'm not gonna lie, it's so hard! But, self control is a Christ like attribute :) He bore our grief with courage love and courtesy. He never acted out of anger when someone abused or mocked him. He always acted out of love. It IS worth it to defend the faith :) and I love doing it :)  being a missionary is the greatest thing ever! :) I was eating up elder hales talk! I love obedience!!! :) That's the first law in heaven guys! :) I loved when he said "there's no such thing as selective obedience" and we need to obey the commands of God. I feel strongly after this conference that we need to do everything in our power to fortify our faith along with those around us. Just like when Captain Moroni fortified the city of Zerahemla for a war with the Lamanites we also need to fortify our testimonies and our neighborhoods for a war with the adversary. He is fighting strong to win the battle. But guess what? God already won! So as long as we are on His side we will never fail. Rely on Him trust Him. Let Him into your life in all things, pray with your whole heart, be grateful in your circumstances and remember how merciful the Lord has been to you. He loves you so much! You are not just a human being; YOU are a child of God!!! So I have been creating a list of goals of the person I want to be when I get home and I'm starting now to become it. Because as Elder Scott says we become what we want to be by consistently being who we want to become. :) So I am being who I want to become but I'm making a list of guide posts from the conference so if you have any good ones send them to me! :) Last of all I loved the words of Elder Holland when he said something like he was more sure about the restoration than he was sure that he was standing at the pulpit in front of us. The church is true. I know the restoration is real, and we have living latter day prophets and apostles of God. They are real. This gospel is real. I invite you to continually read and ponder their words and you will feel the realness of the restoration. Time’s up!!! The church is true! And I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Love Always

Sister Wilkins :)