HELLO EVERYONE!
As you all were probably dying to know, I have arrived safely in TEXAS!!! We got up at 1:30 am from the MTC and drove to Salt Lake on a charter bus. The plane rides over were pretty interesting. We flew out to Denver and then connected over to Houston! It was my first time flying commercially and I got a little motion sickness but not too bad. I had sour patch watermelons which actually were really great!! And I got a window seat on the flight to Denver. So that was awesome.
Oh. And. I just have so much to tell that I don't think I will have time for it all. So. Here's some cool/ important stuff.
President & Sister Drake picked us up from the airport- but we ended up splitting up part of the group because two missionaries lost some of their luggage and some had to wait for the missionaries who were coming from the CMM (Mexico MTC). So Sister Cooper and I got to head with Pres Drake and some Elders to the church in Kingwood. There we got to have lunch and an orientation and a quick interview with the President. After the rest of the missionaries came we all had like a quick lesson type rotate thing where the AP's and other helpers taught us important stuff. We then had a meeting with all the trainers and we got I Pad minis! (WOHOOO loving it). Then we all went into a transfer meeting and they basically called the trainer and called the greenie (all the newbies like me) and then they went and sat together. My trainer is SISTER CASAS!
Sister Casas is pretty much amazing. She has been out for about 9 months now. She is a convert from UTAH and she has like the strongest testimony ever. She is SO Christlike and loving and I want to be a missionary like her one day! Growing up she was Catholic and all her friends were LDS but they never shared the gospel with her. But then in college she made friends with returned missionaries (who actually knew how to share the gospel) and then she started meeting with missionaries and ended up getting baptized (about a year ago)/ And the she shared with her whole family and now like tons of people are members because of her. She is super organized and very professional but also knows how to have fun! She is also a FANTASTIC teacher and trainer. Basically I lover her to pieces.
We were assigned to labor in DAYTON which is right next to LIBERTY Texas. Basically the two coolest towns in Texas. The ward is SO GREAT. No joke. Seriously. Like we have dinner appointments EVERY NIGHT! AND. They are missionaries. They totally do missionary work and help us teach lessons and find people and it is SO AMAZING.
So our apartment was kind of a cluttery mess when we finally found it. (GPS's don't like to work on county roads... haha) but we got to work right away! We had like (I kid you not) over 10 bags of trash (big ones) just from all the clutter of random unneeded stuff that other missionaries left behind. But the apartment is in good shape now!
Also, we have 2 Elders living in the same apartment complex. They are the Spanish Speaking Elders for the area and they are awesome! They have helped us so much! They helped me with my bike lock and with our apartments' light bulbs and with finding things in the city and just all kinds of stuff. They are super Christlike in their service as well!
So! News with the WORK!
The first appointment we had was set up by the Sisters who were teaching before us. (Both went home, so we were "white washing" the area. Which means neither of us had ever been there before so we knew NO ONE and had no idea where anything was). The appointment was with a Mom and her two daughters who are friends with the Bishop's wife and wondered about our church. They have been coming to church about 5 times before and they are feeling fellowshipped and loved! The Sisters before us committed them to baptism and on Tuesday we committed them to a date! Sis. Casas and I were floored. We couldn't believe the blessings! We were both like. Wow. This is HUGE. 3 Baptisms in my first transfer and in my first area! (She has had 4 baptisms total and she's been out for half her mission). We just feel to happy and humbled to be the Sisters to help this wonderful family learn of the gospel! :)
One more thing. This is like totally the Lord's hand. So cool.
We were driving home Thursday night after tracting (my first time! It was hard but good!) and we drove past this random person on a cell phone standing on the side of the road with a mattress. We were like...what the? So we got closer and we saw that is was this nice young lady around our age and so we asked her if she needed any help. She was like, yes! Please! I need to get this mattress to my apartment! We were like um we can't haul this in our 2014 Jeep Compass... then we were like, OH! ELDERS! They have a pick up truck! So we told her we could call someone with a truck. So we called the Elders and they came and helped her haul her mattress to her apartment. Luckily it wasn't that far. So we unloaded it and she was so grateful and talked to us for a while. We didn't get to really talk about the church, but it was a super cool service opportunity. We knew that we were supposed to stop and help her. It was really cool!!
ANYWAY!!! So much to say and so little time.
That's all for now.
The church is so true, everyone!! Keep praying, keep reading. Love you all.
-Sister Wilson
P.S. One of the Elders who lives by us says like THE FUNNIEST STUFF EVER. So we started writing them down because they were so hilarious. For example:
*He walks by a fan and hits his head on it* (he's pretty tall)
His Comp: Did you just hit your head on that?
Him: (in all seriousness) No. That was the wind.
He sits down. No more was said.
We died laughing.
Have a fantastic week. :)
