ROUND 2 IN PERU!

hola everyone!!! :)
FIRST THINGS FIRST.
shoutout to my papa bear!! happy fathers day! thank you for supporting me 100% in being out here. im so blessed to have your support and to have had you as my dad. you have definitely been a big influence in teaching me life lessons and getting me where i am today. im just a tad bit too far away to tell you in person but ill tell you over the snail internet, happy fathers day! go on an adventure & tell me all about it so i get jealous. ;) just dont get stranded anywhere.

to everyone else...
i hope you enjoyed my long email last week! :) i ran out of time & didnt have time to reply to (or even read on the computer) my emails.. so, from now on, shorter emails! :p i did have time to take a picture on my camera of your emails and got to read them later! no printing in peru (syd) but thats okay. maybe in bolivia. to those who wrote me, THANK YOU! and to those who didnt.. repent and write this week. ;)

not so important things:
-were not allowed to ride rollercoasters as missionaries but we can ride the buses and really, its the same thing if not better. such an adventure everytime! you jump on and you jump off and theres people touching you on all sides and its just so great! as hma burnham said today.. "its just so exciting! just the thrill and not knowing if youre going to die!" haha if you knew her, itd be even funnier. theye great though and it gives you a nice chance to talk to someone without them running away!
-supermarket browsing is awesome! there are fish of a million different kinds including sqwuid and octopus and the eyes are still totally there! theyre really pretty but not tempting at all to eat, hah.
-look up these fruits: maricuya (is my favorite tasting. you can only drink the juice though bc if you eat the fruit itll hurt us norte americanos.) granadilla (its a slimy fruit with the weirdest seeds inside. you eat it if you need to..... go to the bathroom, well say that. elder gerkin, the equivalent of elder calhoun, stuffed an entire one into his mouth and ate it. gross. the outside is orange, so sorry bryce, one more to learn hah. ) and chirlmoya cumbe (i thought it looked pretty, no idea what it tastes like).
-sidenote : how do you pick out a good pomegranite? dad? limarys? ayudame por favor?
-p days are stressful! haha my entire pday last week was spent trying to get my laundry done. lots of exercise though! happinss!
-there are more hermanas than elders! yes! go hermanas!
-today we got the new batch of missionaries. 37 norte americans and guess how many elders??? ONLY 3 ELDERS. santa baca! holy cow!
-the Peru MTC (CCM) is the 3rd largest MTC. which is weird because there are only three buildings and the third building is used for staff only, we dont go in it.
-my AC doesnt work in our room but its ok bc its finally starting to get cold and feel like winter! i still only sleep with a sheet, hah. i did bring my blanket though and people like reading that. josh barlow, your message brightens our day. thank you. :p
-if we were allowed to have nicknames mine would be lion (with the accento). i stopped counting how many times people talked about how lion ish my hair is, big, thick, etc. my hair is all natural every day plus humidity so.. yup. its fun stuff. :) (no convertyer = no straightener).
-the flowers in the CCM dont smell (i checked) but they sure are pretty! tons of different kinds!
-its impossible for me to wash my hair within the 4-5 min suggested shower time. i might have to go bald mom. im sorry..
-no, my teeth are not yellow and rotten yet but thanks for being concerned (josh.)
-HUGE CRICKETS HERE. one is stalking me. im so paranoid its going to end up in my bed one of these nights.
-team nunca vs team siempre... its a real thing. i wont explain it in detail, but it has to do with the digestive system..
-ive decided the hardest rule for me to follow is not being competive in sports. oh its so hard. especially in futbol. but obedience recieves blessings, so im doing my best! the no cabesa rule is a struggle.
-i have neveer used so many books to study in my entire life!!! but im grateful for them bc theyre super helpful! so many grammar books and frases books and helpful hints and just a million more! i think it weighs 12 lbs total haha.
-the word for hiccups in spanish is hippos, but the h is silent. trust me, i know. i had them for an hour straight yesterday. my maestra couldnt stop laughing at me. it isnt eaasy to teach a lesson and be serious when i couldnt go fifteen seconds without sounding like a shrieking frog. :)
-i got futbol jerseys, finally! happiness.
-last week i got a bottle of INCA COLA, syd & david! i made everyone try it. no one liked it haha but i dont mind it. to everyone who hasnt had it, picture a yellow soda that tastes like bubble gum.

blessings
--the pictures at the lime temple are amazing. my favorite is on of christ coming to the children. there is a girl whos reaching out for christ and the look on her face is just sincere innocent and pure love. i love it! my child will look like her someday.
-we sang outside of the supermarket. spanish hymns and english primary songs. my favorite was singing there is sunshine in my soul today" and elder riddiks beat boxed. somehow it worked. it was awesome. we placed a BOM. converting while beatboxing, thats the way to do it!
-we found the previous elders names who used to be in our room in our ceiling! it was like hidden treasure :)
-fiesta de amoyo. not sure if thats how you spell it but we got real peruvian food and it was amazing. no dancing but im sure there is for the rest of peru!
-read about the savior and His exact words in D&C 93, go read it, its great. theres ´powerful promises in there. and there isnt much that brings the spirit more than reading of the savior.
-hma cicotte gave me a picture of the story of jesus and the adulturous woman. its one of my favorite stories of christ. i love the lessons taught in there. john ch 8. go read it. in the footnotes, for stone, it says gossip. i thought that was super interesting. watch you words bc they can hurt just as much as a physical rock being thrown. love is the answer. stop judging others bc they sin differently than you do. :)
- if i do in fact have to go through the removal process of my 3 little plantar wart friends on the bottom of my foot, at least im in the ccm and there is less walking. that will be a blessing. :)
-went "shopping" w hma cicotte and she let me wear her skirt. hermana fun.
-learned it doesnt matter if your right, if youre able to avoid contention. its not worth it.
-im so grateful for hugs. im fine with not being able to hug the elders as long as i can still hug the hermanas. hugs can make anyone feel better. hma sabir gives the best hugs! shes gone now but i still love her! beuna suerte!
-hma cesar, our maestro, commutes 1 and a half hours each way to the ccm everyday to teach us. by bus. he sacrificies so much for us and just gives us so much love and patience. he is such a blessing to us all.
-strong revelation moment in relief society. this gospel is worldwide (obviously, im in peru..). singing hymns as an entire relief society was just amazing and it hit home with me how powerful love really is.
-devotional from jeffrey r holland. talked about the needs for opening our mouths. challenged us to find scriptures about it. you can find so  many in  just 3 minutes. his scripture was the first vision. i thought that was interesting. joseph smiths tongue was bound bc the opposing team knew how powerful joseph smiths words would be. words are our greatest weapon. we can share the truth and change peoples lives with them. but not if you  dont oym first!
-got to play el futbol with the presidente of the ccm!! haha it was great. hes super old but he can still run! i crossed the ball to him at one point and if he had made it in (just barely missed) it would have made the top 10 of the ccm ;)
-being able to say goodbye to the latinas! it would be so hard if i didnt run into them and they just left. SUCH  hard goodbye. first time crying so far. its amazing how much i grew to love them after only knowing them for less than 2 weeks and having a language barrier between us. again though, love... serving each other, and spending quality time with each other... we truly are going to be eternal friends. im so grateful for them in a million ways. keep thjem in your prayers!
-i have been given the gift of love. it hurts sometimes, like having to say goodbye, but.. im so grateful for it. i can see in others the love that heavenly father feels for them and in turn it helps me love them and help them through their difficulties. i have  abig heart and it gets hurt often, but i wouldnt have it any other way bc love is the strongest weapon out there.
-el espiritu santo guided me through a leccion with my investigator marita. shes amazing. she had an abusive bf and got ´pushed down the stairs, lost a baby, but is just such a strong woman. the spirit helped me know what to say and it was just amazing to really see the lord working through me. im just one little 5,3 blonde haired girl yet with the power of the spirit with me i feel larger than life.

funny moments:
1 you could snuggle w elder cleverly if youre cold
yeah you can. get over here baby boy.
2.when i kicked elder hilderbrandt straight in the shin and he expressed his love -repentance for not wearing shinguards
3 my whole body is betraying me -h cicotte
4 ella quiere mi-e. hilderbrandt
que en el freaky mundo -h cesar
5so when you say goodbye to someone youre really saying hi to god? e. hilderbrandt
6 a certain hma in my district iddnt know she was supposed to brush her teeth everyday until she was 11. she thought it was just before you had a dentist appintment.
7. arent you sscared of driving hmo cesar?
no way! its like fast and furious!


highlights of the week:
1. watching ephraims rescue on sunday. GO WATCH IT. the pioneers were so so so amazing. they are such an inspiration. i feel so guilty for ever complaining after seeing what they went through. there was one scene at the end that especially touched me. on one esp hard night, one of the members after receiving a blessing danced a jig for everyone.. it bore testimony to me how much of an impact we can have on others esp when they are struggling. love and happiness and the light of christ can make any dark situation lighter. choose to be happy.
2. sunday night i felt impressed to sing as a floor. i got ppl out of their rooms and we sang god be with you tilll you meet again (in espanol) humno 89 i think. the gringas AND the latinas sang, in one big circle. tears came out before the first verse was gone. (the latinas and oldest group of gringas were leaving the ccm for their missions). it was so powerful. powerful bc of the love that was shared, the spirit that was present-felt, and that we were UNITED. i do not like how segregaded the latinas and norte americans are. but in that moment... we were one. we are all hermanas. skin color does NOT MATTER. god loves each of his children and we are all in this work together. it was such a powerful moment. we sounded like angels. i wouldnt be surprised if the angels were singing too.

I LOVE YOU ALL!
thank you for sending me love! im praying for you!
xoxo / abab,
hermana wilson

 mi y hermana cicotte

all the hermanas in my district at the temple (burnham, collins, kingston, wilson, cicotte)

 in bus. elder wilstead, elder hilderbrandt, h. collins, kingston, me

latina amigas! mi hermanas por la eternidad! dont remember how to spell the left two names, but espindola, pabon, puchette, me, ascoy, cicotte. check out our friendship rings!

some not all of the ppl i came here with