SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

Well, it seems like so much has happened this week! I hope I can remember everything, because at the same time I feel like I was just sitting here at this computer last week...

Well last Monday we went to Philly and it was so fun! We got to see the Liberty Bell because the line was all but non-existent this week. Which was awesome! Last time it wrapped around the building almost. So we got to spend some time walking through the hall reading the history of it, and listening to the 'Liberty Bell March' by Sousa. I love that song, we played it every year at Mountain View.

We also got to see one of the original printed copies of the Declaration of Independence owned by Washington, and we walked past the house where it was written and man there is a lot of History down town there. We didn’t go to the Temple because we already saw it just a few days before, we still haven’t seen the Rocky steps because they are pretty far from everything else in Philly. But I have gotten to see a lot of the other things which is cool. 

We also ate in Reading Terminal Market again, SO GOOD. We got Amish pretzels at Miller's Twist, a MUST eat when visiting the market. And we got cheese steaks, I love steaks! They are delicious, so I am eating them all up :)

But you should all be proud of us! We correctly boarded two trains and even used the subway to get to one of them! I am honestly terrible with ANY and ALL public transportation and navigation of it. But we were given directions and I was the one who remembered them so I was in charge of getting us on our correct train. And I did it!

Sounds dumb right? But it was a big accomplishment. Trust me! :)

Then we were on our way to our dinner appointment when this guy asked us what our tags were all about. So we shared with him all about what we do as missionaries and he has been trying to start some inter-faith groups in the area. It’s the elders portion of the ward but it will be an awesome opportunity for the elders to get involved in the area and get the name of the church out there! You never know where or when you are going to meet someone, being a missionary is sooo amazing.

We have been meeting a lot of people as we are out exercising too. People always ask us what our badges say when we are out walking around. Its amazing how friendly people are at 6:30am. So I ALWAYS wear my badge for exercise, some missionaries don’t and I just don’t get that. You only have 18 months to wear that badge, so DO IT!

Just my two cents...

We have had some really awesome lessons this week with the people we are working with, recent converts, less actives and a fun one with our investigator. We have really been able to connect and enjoy the time we share together. I am sad to go, but I know that Sister Sagers and her new companion are going to continue to make changes in the lives of these amazing people. I am just so lucky to be able to have been a part of their journey!

Sister Hammons came to church again this week which was SO AWESOME! We felt bad because there were 6 missionaries in the Doylestown sacrament meeting because the elders brought their investigator there too... so we are going to have to talk about that and see what we can do. Its kind of confusing for the ward to have so many missionaries in the congregation...

But as we were leaving Sister Hammons asked if I was going to call her, I told her I could not call her but we could be pin pals and she was so excited! I am so lucky to have meet so many wonderful people I love here! There are a lot of letters coming up when I get home :) So that will be good too.

Well the funny story from the week was when our investigator gave us snacks after the lesson... and I was 100% on the word of wisdom before my mission...

So she is 83 years old, and we have not taught her about the word of wisdom yet (the commandment that talks about why we do not smoke, drink or use drugs etc.). Just keep that in mind.

So after we taught the plan of Salvation she offered us some cookies and juice. Harmless right? Until she pulled out a gallon of apple cider that was quite fermented. Well I did not know that fermented apple juice became alcohol. I do not know the process of making anything of the sort right?

Well she pulls it out and we have to shake it up to get all the sentiment in the bottom redistributed into the juice. kind gross, and its bulging... like about to burst. Which is kinda gross, so I am super excited (rolls eyes) at this point and thinking this is going to be lovely.

So we pour the juice and I just start drinking mine because I know she is not letting us leave the house without finishing it, it tasted like apple cider vinegar so it was kind of strong and really not pleasant any more.

So I am half way done when the relief society president who is with us makes a comment about it being slightly alcoholic. I thought she was joking, so I finish mine because its gross.

Then she asks if Sister Sagers is driving... and I thought, wait, was she serious? She was I guess. Come to find out she was a waiter and she said she knows what alcohol tastes like and it was becoming alcoholic. 

Which explains why it was gross. So then I say I am taking mine to the sink, and as I pass by sister Sagers I grab her glass from her and dump it in the sink so she doesn’t have to drink it. 

Then we said good bye to our investigator because we had to take our car into the auto shop to get checked out, and as we were hugging her the Relief society president was able to dump hers down the sink. 

I know it was not actually strong alcohol but it was becoming more than just juice... so they will be teaching her the word of wisdom next time to explain why we were trying to explain to her that we really did not want the juice. And why we didnt let the kids drink it.

So there you go.

The adventures of the missionaries and our lack of knowledge of worldly things. So now we joke about the alcoholic missionary I am.... and how ridiculous it all was.

So anyhow. Well I dont know if I actually spelled it out, but I am being transferred tomorrow. It will be my last area and my last companion. I am feeling as though I will be released as a Sister Training Leader, and we shall see where I end up. Maybe in Jersey? Maybe an area I have been in before? Who knows! I could end up in Broomall at the mission office! Anything is possible :)

I love you all! Thank you for everything you have, are and will do for me. I really appreciate it, and I can feel all of the prayers being sent my way. Love you! And I hope to be able to write back to some of you soon. Know I think of you often and love you dearly! And hopefully next week I will be able to write some letters. Today we have to go wash the car, grocery shop, laundry, clean and pack.

huzzah! Gotta love missionary prep day! Its the bestest ever!

Love you! 

Sister Wilson

SEPTEMBER  22, 2014

Well I I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Life is moving along for everyone and that's what I like to hear. I'm glad Stuart was able to be laughing about the harassment from the CO. Hopefully he keeps that lightheartedness about him. He is such a great example and I hope he enjoys his experience with the Air Force.

Garret got his slow poke computer, well that's good to hear! Glad he will have access to more people and things to do. Even if it came by boat to China! Haha. That's awesome.

Clara is a dancer huh? Well that sounds like Heaven! How long is the class? I hope I get to see her dance once, that would be so fun to see! And thanks for the pictures! They are so cute! Little girls dancing and having fun. Hopefully Clara and Kennedy will become good friends :) that would be fun for her to have. Friend her age whenever she comes to grandmas house! 

That's fun that you got to work in the Temple. How neat! I am excited to be able to go to the Temple when I get home :) that is a blessing I need in my life! Especially when it is so close to home! I am still hoping to be able to go to the Temple with Ashley, we shall see when the Temple prep classes get started... I hope soon! 

Well transfer calls come this week. So we will know who is leaving and who is staying for our last transfer. I am hoping sister Sagers gets to stay and be with these people we love. She is such a hard worker and loves these people so purely, it would be nice for her to get to stay and train someone else to take over the area.

We shall see what happens with me. Maybe I will die a STL? Maybe I'll become a trainer for a golden, maybe I'll be companions with someone who is struggling, maybe I'll get sent back to Scranton and die up there. Anything could happen really! 

Okay my week:

MIRACLE!

Last Monday as we were doing our laundry we talked to a man named Justo, and gave him a pamphlet, invited him to church and to the Chilli cook off, and swapped information. 

Pheasant text us on Saturday to say he couldn't come to the chilli activity but that he could come an hour into church. We told him it started at 9 but if he couldn't come until 10 that would be okay too.

Well we got through Sacrament meeting with no sign of him. So we waited for. Few minutes before going to Sunday school, but after a while we figured they weren't coming and went to class. After all we hadn't even taught them yet and no one comes to church without at least a discussion....

And then THEY CAME! It was a miracle!

A brother came and grabbed us out of English Sunday school and said here was a Spanish couple looking for us. So we went to Spanish Sunday school and there they were. Justo and his wife Ana came to church,

HUZZAH!

And they stayed for the third hour, even though she had just met us, and they were in different classes and they don't speak very good English, they stayed!

We had sister Amaya translate during RS for her so she could understand what was going on. It was awesome! 

Ana said she wants to come and see the women's meeting on Saturday too, so that's awesome! I am soooo excited for them! 

 Bunch of the Spanish members were starting to fellowship them without us even asking. It was awesome! 

So we are excited for Justo and Ana :) we are trying to set something up to teach them tomorrow, we shall see what happens. When you need a translator things get more complicated...

Sorry for the terrible spelling errors. We are typing from our iPads as we are going to Philly today so we are trying to double task...

Also we had the chilli cook off. We had two not as solid investigators come, but they loved it! And they beat us to the building so our members were great in helping them find everything they were needing.

We had a bunch of non members and less actives at the activity which was awesome! A Lutheran woman came with one of the members, and she does not know much at all about our faith.

She asked if we believed in marriage...

GOLDEN QUESTION!

So we talked about eternal marriage through the authority of God and being able one together forever. She loved it and said that her husband died 3 years ago and her minister or pastor told her they would not know each other in the next life... Which she said doesn't make sense. And she is right! Because that doesn't make sense... Why would God give us families here just to take them away when we die? God makes sense, and that does not!

So then we got to talk about how it is in Temples and through the Priesthood authority that we are able to be sealed together for time and all eternity. It was really neat!

Our member is going to try and set up dinner with all of us so we can continue our conversation. 

Miracles are happening!

We also got to go on exchanges this week. Last 2 for the transfer! And our sisters are awesome. We ended up exchanging back together in Philly at the Temple sight. It was so fun! On Wednesdays the sister that is called to be a missionary at the Temple sight (her husband is the over seer for the Temple construction) bakes and then gives cookies to the Temple workers as they come off the sight for lunch. 

So we got to help with that which was so much fun! It was neat to be able to thank them for their service. We got to talk to one of he workers and ask what he did and thank him. He started asking about what the building was so we were able to teach him a LOT about the church, it was awesome, us 4 missionaries were able to answer questions, teach and testify together.

Man. I am such a spoiled rotten missionary! I love it :)

Well as I I said we are going to Philly again today, so I'm gotta run. But thank you for your emails and support! I love you all and am so great flu to be here serving The Lord at this time. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. I live, miss and pray for you all constantly.

Love,

Sister Kindra Wilson 

Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission

721 Paxon Hollow Road suite B

Broomall PA 19008

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

The beach looks Gorgeous! Glad you were able to enjoy some different
weather while there. You have to get a good windy stormy day at the
beach and then one nice one where you want to be out and about. Glad
Rissa was able to come one more time before heading out, she is
definitely in for some warmer weather... Lucky her.... Glad it's not
me! Humidity comes from the devil I swear....
Anyhow.

Thanks for all of the videos! I watched Loris first which is why I
responded to that movie and no other ones, but they did all work! So
thanks :) it was fun to see everyone and hear your voices, thanks for
the messages! I am excited to see everyone soon as well :) and wow, you
got the flight papers? 12:30... I knew it was going to be an early
morning... But that's enough trunky talk!

We had a TON of meetings this week, with two 4:30am wakeup calls to
travel and be there in time. Let's just say by the time Sunday night
rolled around yesterday I was exhausted and planning was a little
slower haha. But it was an exciting week. We had Elder Wilford
Andersen from the second quorum of the 70 come and speak to us. He did
a mission leadership council and with all of the Zone Leaders and
Sister Training Leaders which was great! We did an hour of question
and answer session and it was neat to hear what people asked and how
he responded.
One of the things that stood out to me was when he said "you choose to
serve a mission eons ago, not a year or so" but eons ago. Knowing that
this is what I wanted to do before I even came here, it was neat to
hear him talk about that and comforting to know, I chose this! And I
man so grateful I did!
I have learned and changed so much on my mission, and I can't imagine
who I would be if I had not come. The experiences I have had and the
people I have met have changed me. They have helped me to rely more on
the spirit and his guidance and to realize that he really can be with
you always, but we have to want it, and we have to act in a way that
allows him to be with us.

Another thing that elder Andersen talked about was the difference
between head, heart and soul knowledge. And I am without notes and
trying to explain this through email so forgive me if this does not
make sense. But he talked about how as missionaries we teach a lot of
head knowledge, and so do all teachers. Head knowledge is the
information we need to know, the 'cold hard facts' if you will. We
learn the doctrine and then we teach the doctrine to others.
Then comes the heart knowledge. This is where we rely heavily on the
spirit in the lessons to change their hearts. The spirit is what helps
them take that head knowledge and apply it in their lives and know
that it is true. This is gaining our personal testimony, and is
something that everyone needs. We need spiritual experiences which
confirm to us the truth or the falsehood of whatever we are learning
and thinking about. As we ponder and act on the doctrine of Christ,
our hearts are touched and our lives are changed. We know who we are
and why we are here and what we need to do. We start to study the
scriptures, pray daily, attend church and other meetings etc. All of
these things help to strengthen our conversion to the gospel.
Then there is the last step, soul knowledge. Elder Andersen said this
isn't what the brethren call it our doctrine but it is the best thing
he can think of to call it. I call it conversion.
When the spirit confirms something to us, then we are changed. But
what do we do about it? This is where soul knowledge comes in.
When we recognize that we have been changed, and then when we apply
that change in our lives and truly live it, that's conversion. We each
have to make the conscious decision to act in such a way. This is the
difference between reading your scriptures every day, and loving your
scriptures. Between praying over your food to communing with you
Father openly and honestly. The difference between showing up at
church every week, and coming prepared to be deified.
I don't remember who said it, but one of the general authorities were
asked "what do you do when you find yourself in a boring sacrament
meeting?" He pondered for a moment and then replied, "I don't know, I
I have never found myself in one".
Conversion: It's living it because you know you need it,  it obeying because you
have been advised to. Now being obedient because a leader, or your
Savior asked you to is a perfectly good reason to be obedient. I have
done it many times, but once we let it change us, then we become
converted and we want to obey because we know it is what we need for
Salvation. We see that not reading our scriptures today DOES hurt us!
That missing his Sunday DOES hurt us, that forgetting to pray about a
decision DOES hurt us!
Conversion helps us to have that long term perspective and
understanding of who we are as a child of God, our loving Heavenly
Father. And then knowing why that matters. It's great to know you are
a child of God (head knowledge), and it's good to follow what He asks
because We love Him (heart knowledge) but it's best to live it, love
it and share it because we know this is the only way we can truly be
with our families for eternity (soul knowledge) and knowing that
everyone needs this understanding.
Soul knowledge, or conversion, it changes you! But it is your decision
to let it.

So that was a tie bit about what we learned from Elder Andersen this
week! He is great and it was awesome to have him here in the mission,
the spirit he brought is going to keep us moving onward and upward.

Also this week we got to attend district meeting which was good, and
conduct two exchanges with two different sets of sisters, and we were
asked to attend Stake correlation which was awesome, we are going to
help the Stake Relief Society train the RS presidencies on how to work
with their sister missionaries more effectively, especially after the
changes from the first presidency. Then we got to go to church, and
then we attended Doylestown ward again his week with sister Hammons
because she came again!

She is doing marvelously! She is reading and praying and solving
pretty much all of her concerns. She is ready to come back and receive
the blessings of being an active member of Gods church. It's awesome
to see how the spirit is working with her to help her resolve concerns
on her own.
Man the gospel just makes so much sense! I love it :)

Well. Life is good, working our tails off and keeping busy. I got a
letter from Marnie this week and I didn't even get to read it for 3
days again, which is a good problem to have! We have been able to
focus a lot on some of the members who are not as active, and it has
been a really neat experience. It's all about helping them gain that
heart knowledge and the hat into soul knowledge.

So everyone work on that soul knowledge. That is the most important
thing for you to learn here on Earth and it will take your whole life
to gain it, so start now and get going on it!

Sorry for the random typos, this one is coming from the Laundromat via iPad.

Love to all!
Sister Wilson :)

Sister Kindra Wilson
Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission
721 Paxon Hollow Road suite B
Broomall PA 19008

September 8, 2014


Well its another great week here in Souderton. Kinda cool to find out that you and Dad had been to Doylestown before, we still go there since the chapel is there. So itll be fun to think about you being there before! 

Well this week was fun. We had Zone Training, which is where all of the missionaries in the zone come together and the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders train on what we discussed at Mission Leadership Council the week before. Well we did not have MLC last week because of Elder Andersen coming to do a mission tour and wanting to do MLC with us, so we instead got the subject via conference call 2 days before zone training. Which is fine, but the Zone Leaders do the bulk of the training and so we got our subject the day before. 

So that was fun. We were up until 11 planning our portion of the training and then we were up early and on the road to arrive to the meeting early. So it was a lot of sacrifice, but it was so neat because the Lord truly does bless us.

The training went SO well! We were able to base our portion which was: the motivation behind goal setting- love! Off of a quote Sister Carrigan emailed to me last week that really was powerful and I was thinking about for a few days.

"Some people I have had the privilege of working with over the years have had a hard time reconciling the fact that healing requires suffering and yet is a gift from our Savior. How is it that a loving God would allow us to suffer? I have come to realize that my Savior cares more about my growth than He does about my comfort. One evidence of His love is that He does not spare me from the suffering I need for my development and progression, even when I get mad at Him. As a client once told me, “I used to feel guilty for getting mad at God. Then I realized He can handle it.” - Jonathan G. Sandberg, Healing = Courage + Action + Grace"

I love the line that says: the Savior cares more about my growth than He does about my comfort. Because that is what I am called to do as a missionary. I am called to help people grow, to help them get out of their comfort zone and realize that they need to be there in order to achieve all that God has in store for them. But being bold and loving is a great balance, one that every missionary learns.

But it is one that gets good use. For example, we were visiting a family in the ward we are working with. They are making HUGE progress through baby steps, it has been really neat to watch them. But we found out through our conversation that they were drinking de-cafe coffee.... because the elders told them that caffeine was against the word of wisdom.

*Sigh*

Why are there so many things taught incorrectly? Its ridiculous really.

There was that awkward time where Sister Sagers and I were trying to figure out if we address it now, or if we plan it out and address it later, but coordinating this without talking of course because we are in the lesson... well the only thing holding us back was the fear of how they would react, and the spirit told me to start talking, so I did.

So we completely changed our lesson plan and were able to explain that cafeine is not agains the word of wisdom... I had enjoyed a Dr. Pepper that day in fact! But that coffee was, then we were able to talk about the wisdom of God v.s. the wisdom of man. We used the example of smoking cigarettes previously being a perscription from doctors to loose weight, but if we follow Gods commandments we are protected, even before the world understands. 

And committed them to stop drinking coffee, that was the scary part. But she responded with: "sisters dont worry, I can stop drinking coffee, that is the least of my worries right now." 

So listening to the spirit and caring more about peoples growth than about peoples comfort helps us to show them how much we truly love them. Even when its hard.

This week we also had a cool experience when we were using wifi at the laundry mat to download videos we were wanting to teach with. A woman walked past us a few times before stopping and asking: are you mormons?

GOLDEN QUESTION!

We asked her how she knew the mormons and she launched into her story. Turns out she was living in Arizona and meeting with missionaries there, working towards a baptismal date but then ended up moving out here suddenly and has been looking for the mormons for over a month. 

Coincidence? 

I think not!

Tender Mercy! It was neat. We exchanged info and decided we would set up a time to meet next week at church. So we text her on Saturday to make sure she is coming, yup! She is. 

Then Sunday morning comes, and we get a text that her car battery is dead. DANG YOU SATAN. So we grab the ward mission leader and we both start calling members to see who could pick up her and her daughter, then she text us and says she got it jumped. So we tell her to come to church, we can jump to get her home. So she is running late, we get through sacrament meeting and see we have a missed call from her. We call her and she is only minutes away and asked if it was okay that she brought her friends daughter with her. During sacrament meeting her friend had been checked into the hospital and she was watching her daughter for her. 

So she fought to come to church and got there in time for Sunday School to start. And boy did she need church yesterday! She had awesome questions and you could tell that the things that were shared really had touched her. 

So all in all, she is a miracle! We are so excited. We had a quick lesson with her last night and then we are seeing her again tonight. She is so ready for this gospel! She is in a rough situation though, so we are doing what we can to help her. 

She needs this, and it has just been so cool to see how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Everything is panning out how it needs to for her at the right times. What more could you ask for?!

Man. Life is good! 

Then Sunday after church, we went and were drawing with sidewalk chalk in a park. We have been trying to figure out different ways to find people instead of just knocking doors. So we thought if we went to a park and started drawing with sidewalk chalk about mormon.org, or temples, or familes etc. then people could read it after we left, but we would probably get some kids that wanted to draw with us, which would give us an opportunity to talk to some parents :) And it WORKED!

We had a cute little girl come over and draw with us. We were able to talk to her dad, explain a little about who we were, what we were doing out here and what we believed. He ended up taking a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet. He lives out of our area, but as he was walking away he said "Ive been looking for some enlightenment recently."

It makes you feel good to know that you are in the right place at the right time, helping people find the truth and deepen their understanding of the Role of their Savior in their lives.

This is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.

And well, my iPad is acting up so I need to email everyone from the library today, and we have to run soon. But I Love you all! Thank you for your emails, letters, love and support. I love and appreciate you all! Your prayers are felt all the way over here!

LOVE YOU!

Love, Sister Wilson

September 2, 2014

Well, it sounds like home is keeping busy and lots of people in and out. I hope you are enjoying seeing everyone and that you will be able to enjoy the slow down soon.

Lets see, what even happened this week? 

Well on Tuesday we went on exchanges, I went back to Milford and I didnt even get poison ivy this time HUZZAH! We went to dinner at this diner that was kinda fun, and we talked to lots of people. We met a guy who was previously married to a member in a ward I have served in, he gave us botterscotch candies :) And a crazy woman who knew me showed up at the diner, which was odd because its kinda far from her place and not great enough to travel that far.... but it was fun. We also talked to a few ladies as we were in line to pay for our food. The sister I was with tried to give her a pass along card, but the lady was very Catholic and refused to take it. 

Life goes on.

But it was fun to walk around that night, lots of people out and about enjoying the beautiful fall weather we are already getting all August! Before school starts. No one super interested, but a few who were willing to talk with us.

Then we exchanged back and got to go see Sister Hammons :) We love her! She is such a cute nice little old lady. She is so awesome, she reads a TON every week, and then is able to teach us what she is learning from reading the Book of Mormon again, and how it applies to her, without us even asking many questions! Then she asks us questions, this week her question was "how were spirits created?"... that was a fun conversation. People dont really like to hear the answer 'we dont know' but when its all you have, its all you have!

We also have had some awesome lessons lately with our recent converts. We talked about how the church was organized and the Priesthood authority etc. Then we were able to talk to both of them about Patriarchal blessings, which is neat to be able to teach someone. Thats not a lesson you teach an investigator...

I also FINALLY got some letters written to Cheryl and Katherine and some other people from previous areas. The first Presidency of the church has raised the standards and asks us to remain in close contact with those we taught and who were baptized, and I havent been doing a very good job with Katherine or Jennifer :( I get to talk to Ashley and Cheryl on Facebook usually.

Ashley is doing awesome! She went on the ward Temple trip to do baptisms for the dead, and she really enjoyed it! Then I have been able to talk with her about preparing for the Temple. She can go through the Temple in November! So we are hoping that scheduling works out so that I can go to the Temple with her! So if you could keep that in your prayers everyone, that would be awesome! I would love to be able to go and see her make those covenants and receive those blessings. She is doing so well! I just love her SO much! 

Also one of the recent converts here in Souderton got to take 11 family names to the Temple and have their baptisms and confirmations performed. It was awesome! She is doing FANTASTIC as well :)

Souderton ward is really on top of helping their recent converts attend the Temple and be able to do baptisms for the dead. We hope that they will all be able to go with the ward in November, so I hope that as we are working together as missionaries and members, we can help them prepare, plan and attend the Temple and receive the blessings of going and to be able to feel the strong spirit that is there in the Temple.

Man. Life if grand isnt it?

I love fall. I have realized that this week. I almost love fall more than spring now... its just so happy and beautiful! And I get to wear leggings, tights, scarfs, cardigans and boots. I love layers :) But we have had an unusually cool August, instead of the deathly humidty and heat we have gotten a fall like August. The trees are all sorts of confused, loosing leafs already and changing colors. Its fun, maybe we will get an extra long fall this year? That would be nice! I am praying that winter does not come early... I think we all had enough of that from last years treachery! So I am hoping for a nice long fall :)

Its just so happy! And so many things are happening :) We have Elder Anderson coming to visit the mission in ... 9 days! After that transfers.... then we will have general conference, then we will have another mission leadership council, then we will have zone training, and another zone conference, then my birthday, and going to the Temple with Ashley (hopefully!) and then going to the Temple with the other departing missionaries. SO many exciting things are happening! 

I am just loving life. It feels like time is speeding up! Which is good and bad. I am excited for everything that is happening but sometimes I feel like I am going to blink and this is going to be over! And I want to enjoy every last minute of it that I can! 

Its been neat to be working with the leadership here in the PPM (Penn Philly Mission). I have been able to see changes happen in the mission based on suggestions that are given. It feels like President hears and cares about the things we discuss with him. And I feel that part of my purpose in being in the leadership is to help them establish how we work together. Sister Training Leaders are a fairly new calling, and it seems as though you do not serve for very long, so about the time that the sisters are comfortable talking to President about the concerns or changes they feel should be made, they are released or go home. So I have decided life is too short to hold concerns in. Its been neat to work closely with the elders and sisters around here and to know that President is focused on moving the mission forward. And that is what we are doing.

As we come to council together I feel like I can be open with my concerns, and questions, and even if the elders dont agree, understand or care President does, and thats when changes happen.

I am so blessed to be here in the Philly mission. I am so grateful for the people I have been able to meet and talk to and develop friendships and relationships with. Its been such a great experience and I am so excited  to be able to continue to develop such friendships. I am excited to see who else I am here to meet, and who else will impact my life as I am endeavoring to change theirs as well. 

There is truly nothing like this experience. It is something that has changed me for eternity, and for that I am grateful! 

That you for all of your love and support everyone. I can feel the prayers, love and support. The letters are wonderful, thank you for sharing a little bit of home with me. I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you enjoy the experiences you are having.

Love you to all from Philadelphia!

Sister Wilson :)

August 25, 2014

OKay first off two things:

There is an Elder Menlove serving somewhere in Beaverton OR, and his sister is serving here in Philly! So if you see him say hello from Philly! And be nice to him!

Also, mom, did you ever serve with an Elder Zowtiak? From Canada? He served in Holland, he wouldnt give me years and assured me I was too young to have a parent who served at the same time as him. But if you remember him, he is in our ward! Kinda fun to have another connection to Holland :)

And now onto the week. It was a pretty good one. Lots of finding, but it was nice to see some miracles happen as we were seeking to be diligent in our finding efforts and not trying to find anything else to do before knocking doors, like previous companions and I have done.

This week was the first week I have knocked a whole neighborhood. Usually we dont have enough time to do that, but we set aside a 2 hour block and we did it! We might have talked to 5 or 6 people because no one was home, but we knocked every door in that neighborhood! It was kinda neat.

Well while we were there we talked to two youth aged people. The first we gave a Book of Momron to and talked about where it came from and how it is a record like the Bible, that doesnt replace the Bible, but is another testament of our Savior Jesus Christ. She seemed like she was interested in reading it so we left one with her, and I hope she does read it! 

The second girl we asked if she had ever heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and she said yeah I actually went to that church last week.

That was a shocker! 

We did not see her! Turns out she is friends with some of the youth in the ward and they invited her to come to the ward after us because thats where some of the YW her age would be, I guess ours were all out of town. But we asked what she thought of the service and she said she really enjoyed it, she liked the Sacrament meeting even though it was really different from her Catholic church ( a lot less up and downs). But anyhow we had an awesome conversation with her, she knew quite a bit and really enjoyed the lesson on Temples and how we can be sealed together for eternity in the Temple by the Priesthood authority. I asked her if she would consider coming to church again and she said she would. We gave her a pass along card and told her we would love to see her come again! She took our card and we found out that she took a picture of it and text the picture to the guys who invited her. 

It was really cool to knock into someone who knew members and had come to church with them.

Our ward is awesome at talking to people and inviting them and all that jazz. So its nice. Now we are just working on getting introduced to some of these people.

WELL This week we also had Stake conference down towards Philly. The adult session on saturday was all about missionary work. It was a neat meeting! A wife of a member of the Stake Presidency had written a readers theater called 'if it happened' it was really neat. And she wrote it over 30 years ago, so it was neat to see how well it is still relevant today. It went through an experience of a guy asking his friend at the grocery store why someone had come up to his family and asked where the closest mormon church was (the family was on vacation and trying to find a chapel) only to find the family was not LDS. The vacationers said sorry, they were sure that the family was LDS, they just looked it!

She he asked his LDS friend what that meant, and what they thought they saw in their family that was similar to the LDS faith. It was neat and went through the experience of both the member and the friend and how they worked together to learn about the church. 

It was pretty cool, unique for a chapel but cool for a Stake Conference meeting.

Then they put together a slide show showing all of the Elders and Sisters who are serving from the Philly Stake. They have 11 sisters out and I think 23 Elders? Yeah. It was pretty cool. It showed a picture of them before their missions, when they left and then a few from on the mission. It was really neat to see all of them. They had a few videos of people opening their calls which was neat too. And it was funny, because I knew a lot of the missionaries or their families. Its neat to be able to serve within a stake for such a long time. Stake conference was fun because I was able to see a lot of people from the Doylestown ward there :) I love them dearly! IT was weird to see people after leaving the area. But it was so good too.

Oh also we invited an investigator to come to soccer, or rather a person who we are trying to work with to become an investigator, to come to soccer on saturday. It went really well, he was enjoying it and was a good soccer player, but then he hurt his knee. No bueno. It was sad. He probably wont be coming again... but we will hope that he does after it heals!

We play soccer in the park on saturday mornings, yes I actually play soccer, not well but they still give me the ball and let me try! Also, I am a terrible goalie when it is raining and the ground is muddy.... probably other times too, but that was rough! But I have come to rather enjoy soccer on saturdays! Its nice to be able to switch up the exercise routine, and to get to play and exercise for more than 30 minutes... even if it is killer.

Anyhow, soccer saturdays are good. And I am learning that I am not very good at team sports, or kicking a ball with my left foot. Also no Bueno.

OH Also this week we found Cathy. We were going to reschedule an appointment with a less active sister when we saw this lady walking along with a walker and some bags and we decided to ask if we could help her. She said no at first, then asked us if we were the Jehovah's Witnesses, we told her no, and then she let us help her. 

For some reason everyone thinks we are Jehovah Witnesses, but once they learn we are not they are usually more willing to talk with us. Funny. 

So we helped her get her things inside, she shared a scripture from the Bible about building our life on Christ as our rock and Redeemer. So I shared Helaman5:12 with her: "12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."  

She loved it! And then we talked with her about the Book of Mormon again and how it is another testament of Jesus Christ. She was excited to read it and asked when our church started. We told her 9, she said perfect! I can go to yours and then mine, it starts at 10:15. So we told her that ours was 3 hours long, she said she would still like to come some time. So we will invite her to come when we see her this week. 

She told us we can come back on Wednesday so we will call and set up a time. Then a day or two later we saw her at the library which was fun! She was ready for us to come again, so we are going to keep working with her. She is awesome and very open to learning and really just wanting to talk about how she gained her faith and how we gained ours which was cool. So we will go back and talk more about it :)

Anyways. It was another great week here! 

OH and I forgot to finish the stake conference thing. So after the adult session which was all about missionary work, we had a couple come up and ask us to come over tomorrow so they could introduce us to their neighbor! So we did, it was not a good time but they set up a dinner for tonight. So we are going to go back and talk with her a little bit about how she has gained her faith and any questions she has about the LDS faith. We are excited, and we get dinner! Win-win! 

Well. I shall leave you at that. I love you guys! Hope all is well,I am praying for you daily and individually.

Love you bunches! 

Love, Sister Kindra Wilson :)