Our baby girl is growing up!
When she first arrived:
Hey y'all!
I am in Fort Collins!
Kinda awesome that I'm in the town my mission is named after. We had a great
flight to Denver and met President Brown. It was really fun. On our first day
here we had a day-long training sesh. It was pretty long, but really exciting
too. I got pretty overwhelmed. I don't do very well with change so it was an
interesting day for me. And I had been up since 3AM and didn't get to
bed until after 10 that night. So THAT was fun....not.
My trainer's name is
Sister Seaborn. She is AWESOME. And from Alberta, Canada. So Canadian jokes are
thrown around a lot. But then of course, so are Cuban ones. Haha. She has an
incredible story on how she came to be on a mission. She's very admirable for
the things she's been through and that she is still here. It's awesome! Both of
us click really well and get along great. She laughs at me a lot, but then
again, who doesn't? Haha. Yeah.
We are serving in the
Terry Lake Ward. We had a meeting yesterday with the Ward Missionary Leader,
Brother Briscoe. He should be sending you (Dad) a photo soon. He is very
determined to get missionary work done in our ward! He has like 3 kids out
right now on missions, I think. It's pretty awesome! We also met Sister Fox,
who we will be living with. We are currently living in an empty house owned by
Sister Fairbank, until we can move in to the Fox's home. Sister Fairbank is a
sweetheart. And she has a huge dog, which of course I love. I miss my
Goot.
We also met the Relief
Society president, Sister Kahl. She and her family are very pro-active in
trying to get less actives active again. We are going to be mostly focusing on
less actives since there are so many in this ward. This is an English ward, but
has a Spanish group. It seems that the Spanish members are kinda wishy-washy
and need some strengthening. So we plan on really working with them. And asking
them for help with our Spanish! Sister Seaborn is pretty fluent, (she's been
out for 7 months) and says that if we practice talking with the Spanish
sisters, I will get pretty familiar with how to speak and what not. So that
will be great! I'm pretty nervous though.
Anyway, we also had
dinner with the Parry's last night. They are a sweet little family. Sister
Parry teaches at a bi-lingual elementary school and is very proactive in
missionary work too. I think this is gonna be great! However, we have heard
that the majority of the members here aren't missionary-minded at all. Well,
that's gonna be changed by the time we're done with them! You all know me
pretty well, and they're gonna do it whether they like it or not.(Of course,
they will like it once they figure out how to do it :)) I think the biggest
reason why people don't fellowship others with the church is because they don't
know how or where to start. So we will definitely be focusing on doing that
too!
After one week:
This
week has gone by SO slow. Just FYI.
But it's been great! Sister
Seaborn and I met quite a few families and went to a ward activity as well. We
are meeting some pretty awesome people. We went to visit some of
the Hispanic members of our ward but no one was home! It was pretty
lame. Haha, but now that we met most of them on Sunday, we'll know when to see
them.
I can tell the ward
here is trying to be missionary minded. I can see they want to do it, maybe
they just don't know how. I hope that when we get to meet with each of the
families, we can help them better. I think Bishop Walton said that one of us
will be speaking in Sacrament meeting about how to be a good member missionary.
So hopefully that'll help too!
So on Saturday, Sister
Seaborn had a major migraine and slept most of the morning. So I was like, super
productive and did A LOT. I studied some Spanish, read in my Spanish Book of
Mormon, watched the Restoration in Spanish, watched Finding Faith in Christ (which
is SO good, I recommend it to EVERYONE to watch), cleaned the kitchen, made
lunch, studied out of the training booklet, and made a help-sheet for when I
have to give messages in members homes. I'm put on the spot a lot since I'm
brand new haha so I made a chart with scriptures on different topics (faith, be
of good comfort, prayer, obedience, etc.) so when I have to do the message at
member's homes, I can just use that instead of trying to come up with
something. Smart, I know. So I did all of that between like 9:30 and 12:30.
Then Sister Seaborn woke up and we went and did some community service. We
volunteered at Goodwill. It was pretty fun. I wasn't really looking forward to
it, but it was actually fun! There were other Elders there and we made up a
system to help the work move along faster. I got to practice my Spanish with
Elder Calquin (who's going home this week, crazy!), who lived in Chile until he
was 10! It's so comforting to have people willing to help and are so patient
with me when I'm trying to communicate.
Sister Seaborn and I
get along really well. We laugh a lot together, which is definitely needed. We
are working hard, but having fun too. We've had a few hear to heart
conversations and she's very mindful of me being new, so she's not too hard on
me. She's helped with the adjustment really well. We are pretty good friends,
I'd say.
Yesterday was NUTS. We
went to ward council in the morning, and then had Spanish Relief Society with
the Hispanic group in the ward. I know the lesson was on tithing, and that's
all I got! It was so hard for me to understand what's going on. They talk so
fast and the words are like, slurred together so I can't differentiate what
they're saying. (HELP!) and then we had Sunday School with the Hispanic group
as well. Man, I have a lot of studying to do. We talked to a few sisters and
they all said we can go to their houses and practice with her and that they'd
help us become more fluent. Sister Seaborn is already really good. I just want
to know it! Bah. It'll come with time. We haven't even really been using it
since we're in an English ward. Towards the end of Sacrament meeting, the
counselor that was conducting invited me and Hermana Seaborn up to tell the
ward about ourselves and share our testimonies. I didn't really know what to
say, but I guess I said what I needed to. Sister Seaborn really stressed that
we can't do this work with out the members. WHICH IS SO TRUE. All of you should
find someone and give their name to the missionaries. Just sayin'. After church
(Sacrament meeting is last) at least 10 people or so came up to us and talked
with us or gave us referrals. It was pretty sweet.
Anyway, after church
we went to the Bishop's house. His son is leaving for the Argentina MTC on
Wednesday, so they had a BBQ party for his open house. It was fun. Hermana
Seaborn found a guitar and knows how to play so we were jamming out a bit.
Haha. After that, we went to the Barrow's for dinner. They are a sweet couple.
They've been married for 10 years! You can just tell they love each other so
much. It was nice to talk with them for a while. After that, we called the
Parkwood Ward elders to help us move a bed (we're in the process of moving to
another house) so we can put twin sized beds in there. And then we went back to
the Fairbank's, packed up all our stuff, and moved! So now we're in a basement
of a member's home. The basement is pretty much their grandkids play room, but
there is a full bathroom and a bedroom that we're gonna be staying in. Her name
is Sister Fox; her husband isn't a member and her family are all inactive. She
is a wonderful lady. I'm really excited to spend time with her and get to know
her family better.
Two weeks ago:
Whew!
What a week!
Things are really
picking up. We did 15 lessons last week. And we visited a lot of people! I'm
really enjoying getting to know everyone. And the Elders here are super fun
too. Doing service with them is always great. I'm making friends! Y'all should
be proud. ;)
We have been doing a
lot of service. Volunteering at Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. It's nice to
get our hands dirty and help people out. I love doing Habitat because something
always needs to be done. Last week, Elder Gerber, Elder Calquin, and Sister
Seaborn and I organized this tile shed. It was insane. Well, Elder Calquin and
I did most of it. Haha but it was just fun to do physical work. We went again
on Saturday and pretty much our whole zone was there. We were breaking glass
for them and clearing things out. It was so fun! Definitely one of my favorite
parts as a missionary.
So there were two
lessons that super stuck out to me this past week. (All of them were great, but
these two hit me pretty good.) We had a dinner appointment with the Swensen
family. They are so cute! Brother Swensen is a student at CSU and Sister
Swensen is 6 months pregnant, and they have a 4 year old named Allen. He is
precious. That kid is ridiculously smart. He knows the first 10 articles of
faith by memory! Better than me. But anyway, we were doing our message, and I
was in charge of it this time. So I shared my favorite scripture, D&C
61:36. "And now, verily I say unto you, and what I say unto one, I say
unto all. Be of good cheer, little children. For I am in your midst, and I have
not forsaken you." Allen really wanted to help me read it to
everyone, so he came over and I would say a few words and he'd repeat them. I
don't know what it was, but it just really hit me. It reminded me of my kids at
the YMCA and how important it is to be an example and teach them the gospel.
The faith that children have amazes me. You all know that already, so I won't
get too into it. I almost started tearing up when he was reading with me.
And now for the other
lesson! It was on Saturday. There is a family here, the Enriquez family, and
they were baptized a couple years ago, I think, and are less actives. Sister
Enriquez randomly called us on Saturday to come over, so we did! She is
hilarious. I love her already. They have 5 kids. We had a good time talking and
getting to know them and then we were sharing a message! Sister Seaborn told me
it was my turn to be in charge (oh goodness) and I was like, "AHHHH!"
because I was nervous. Haha. I was going to just do my favorite scripture, but
during the opening prayer, the word "Restoration" came to my mind. I
was not prepared for a different lesson than the one I had been doing. So after
the prayer, I took a minute or so going back and forth between the D&C
scripture and the scripture of the first vision. I felt so prompted to do the
first vision, so I was like, "Alright, help me out though, will ya?"
and I started it. And it. was. AWESOME. Like holy cow! We talked about Joseph
Smith and what he did for us as a church and it was so good! I told them I only
had the first vision memorized in Spanish and that I'm working on it in
English, and they said, "Just do it in Spanish! That's so cool!" So,
I did. And it was incredible. The spirit was SO strong. I felt so good about
it. Bah! It was just great.
Anyway, so since
Sister Seaborn is the Sister Training Leader. We have to go on exchanges A LOT.
Which means when someone new comes to our area for the day, I'm the senior
companion. Which freaks me out. I'm not ready for that! Haha. But the first
exchange last week went really well. We're going on 3 this week. I'm wondering
if this is preparing me for something. I feel like it is. I'm scared. Hahaha.
On the exchange last week, I was with Sister Passey. She came out from the MTC
with me, so we're both new. We had about an hour of nothing really going on, so
we went to the Stake Center parking lot to do some companionship studying. We
found Sister Seaborns list of "Signs of the Second Coming" and HOLY
COW. We spent over an hour on that thing! Y'all, this stuff is legit. We were
reading scriptures and cross referencing like crazy. It was awesome. :) We both
decided that it made both of us really want to be as faithful as we could on
our missions and in our lives.
Now, I'm gonna share a
scripture I really like! It's from the Book of Mormon. It is Alma 32:21-22.
Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge! We don't know what exactly is going
to happen or what is in store for us. But if we have the faith that God will
provide for us, He will! I am really learning to rely on Heavenly Father for a
lot of things since I've been on a mission. Especially as far as my future is
concerned. I can't be in control during this time in my life, and I have been
kinda freaking out about it. Like where to go for school, if I'm getting
married, etc. I can't do that! I'm learning to truly give it all to the Lord
and just do the work. It'll all work out the way it needs to. I'm trying my
best and I know He'll cover what I can't do. And that if I do this right and
the best I can, He will bless me tremendously. I feel his support and comfort
every day.
Last week:
Whew! Holy man this
past week went by so fast! I hope time keeps flying! So let's see, what
happened this week...
We have been visiting
people like crazy! I've really been thinking about my patriarchal blessing and
I've read it a few times. It says that I will have the ability to see people as
children of God and why they are special to Him. And I'm beginning to see how
true that is! There have been a lot of times where we'd talk to people and I
can just feel my heart soften towards them and it comes to my mind that they
are a son or daughter of God. It throws me off a lot, actually. But I'm seeing
myself be more Christlike because of it.
We went on splits with
a couple ward missionaries. I was with Sister Swenson, she's 25, married, has a
4 year old, and another one on the way! She's gonna pop any minute, I feel
like. She's so little! We visited a member together and we worked pretty well
together! She is a wonderful woman. We had a very deep discussion while we were
driving around and like I said before, I could just see how special she is to
Heavenly Father. These members we're working with are really trying, it seems.
They're all very relieved to have sisters here (they say that one set of
sisters is equivalent to 5 sets of Elders haha) and seem to be very receptive
to us. So that's great!
We actually went to a
funeral for an 18 month old on Friday. I know we went to Papa Ernie's funeral,
but I don't remember much of it. The little boy passed in his sleep a few
nights before. It was pretty emotional. Sister Seaborn and I were sitting with a
bunch of Elders and we all teared up. It was so sad. The service was very
heartfelt and also uplifting. I'm so grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel
and the knowing that that little boys family WILL see him again. The Plan of
Salvation is an amazing thing, let me tell you.
On Saturday we went to
visit a member in the hospital. She was getting groceries out of her car and
then got her 10 week old out too and fell and dropped him on the driveway. We
found out Friday night and went to see her as soon as we could. The baby is
fine, thank goodness. A couple Elders were there the night it happened and gave
him a blessing. He's bruised up pretty good, but he is going to be fine! What a
blessing. Seriously. We talked to his mother and she was being pretty hard on
herself. It was an accident though, and we know she is a wonderful mother.
Seriously, I've been taking notes watching her with her kids. She's incredible.
We also had Pioneer
Day! Yes, they celebrate it here. Haha that's new. It was a stake activity so
our whole zone was there. It was SO much fun. We all got facial hair
face-painted on us. Haha it was pretty legit. It was fun seeing members of the
stake all get together and talk about their heritage. There was one woman who
is related to Elizabeth, from the movie 17 Miracles, that escaped her abusive
husband and then found the jerky with the man in the wilderness. That was
pretty sweet.
So TODAY. We hiked a
MOUNTAIN. Horsetooth! It was SO ridiculous. It rained haha. It was super fun
but man it was hard! Remember our hike at Mt. Zion's National Park? NOTHING on
that. Seriously. I'm gonna be way sore tomorrow. At the very top you're legit
rock climbing. But the view was AMAZING. Of course, I was kinda freaking out
because I'm scared of free-falling/heights/falling off to my death. I felt so
very accomplished and like I conquered something incredible when I got to the
top. It was a great feeling. It was cloudy, so we were literally high enough to
be in the clouds. A cloud came up over us and were like, in it. It was crazy.
:) I'll attach a picture so you can see.
I know I've said it
before, but I just LOVE my zone. All of us get along great and I'm so glad to
have awesome people around me. Hermana Seaborn and I were the only sisters
hiking today, with like 12-16 Elders. It was so fun. It rained, we got in a mud
fight, you know, normal stuff like that. I'm glad to have opportunities to do
things like that though. It's definitely needed!
Please write her at:
Sister Yiselle Wilson
Colorado Fort Collins Mission
5285 McWhinney Blvd
Suite 100
Loveland, CO 80538
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