Monday, July 27, 2015

! I left my mom and went to America !

intercambios in america. a little offended none of you came and said hi to me...

not so importants
ive discovered my dust line is not a dust line after all, its a tan line.
i have also discovered that the white specks on our floor are NOT paint, theyre some type of mold
cada dia i have braids in my hair, an average of 3. needless to say im gettin creativa.
theres one place in the city central to send letters and i have to pay for each letter.
i shall be a professional j walker at the end of my mission. we frog hop the highway (one of two roads i metnioned last week) weekly. its not even scary anymore. :) (wed use the crosswalk if there was one mom, dont worry. )
ive decided spanish has a MILLION meanings to one word and english has a MILLION words to one meaning
bolivians definitely know how to party. every night. EVERY. night.
peru independence day is tomorrow, bolivian independence day is 6 de agosto. yall better celebrate, ill be playing futbol and eating free food with our investigadores.
tiendas. little shops right in the middle of the houses as you walk. theres a gate in front of them, the tendor says digame (tell me), you ask if she has what you want, she looks you up and down and names a price, you get the item.
bolivia doesnt have set prices. gringa = higher prices. too bad im NOT RICH.
the fruit is way sweeter here. i have decided bananas are my favoirite but only bc i cant find granadillas
soccer goals are uder ever basketbol hoop. YES.
and night people bbq on the street and ppl join in. aawesomeeee.
drink juice from bags. rip off the corner wit your mouth and suck away.
its a tradition to wear black every day for a YEAR after someone dies. bolivians have LOVE, let me tell ya.
no room in a taxi? no problem. theyll get in anyways haha
handwash clothes. always. workout. definitely.
MUSIC! our neighbor blasts it. its ok though i can still focus bc i dont understand it. when a random backstreet boys song came on (kylie) the other day it caught me off guard. sometimes the radio will play an english song,makes me wonder.
whistles. always. i tell my somp theyre for her, after all shes BEAUTIFUL.
doors have little flaps in them. makes it harder to shove your foot int he door and keep teaching
fireworks are way easy to see from our house bc were way high in the air. its awesome.
i dont believe in flirt to convert but i defintiely believe in sports to convert. use your talents right?
its a good thing we cant hold babies bc id be too tempted to run away with one, i swear babies and little kids are cuter here. maybe one day ill marry a bolivian.
black or brown shoes? no matter. theyre the same color with the dust :)
parent of a  mish brough 50 pounds of chocolate chip cookies here. we are FEASTING next week when we go to the TEMPLE, chocolate chiop COOKIES, my mouth is already watering
we live by a cemetary mas o menos, and theres always lots of awesome flowers for sale
saw a dog with 3 legs the other ady hobbling, it broke my heart

bendiciones

hna gaby and sisters braiding my hair. theyve never seen blonde hair before. i felt like rapunzel. it kept her little sisters quiet while we taught her.
playing volibol with hno luis and his daughter rosaurio. way fun, and helped her not be so shy. afterwards we placed a folleto and its perfect bc aparently his wife died a year ago and we were inspired (before we knew that) to give him the plan of salvation. so amazing, such a tender moment, definitely one of my greater blessings of the mission so far. so grateful for the love they already have and the hope that their family, INCLUDING his wife, can be together forever will bring.
found a cookies and cream ice cream cone with half choc half vanilla cone and hot fudge for the eqwuivalent of a dollar. YES.
we got our agua tanks!!!!! not a good feeling to live from bottle to bottle.
if we open up our windows the fresh air comes right on in bc were so high and its a natural way of ibuprofen
hna ipanaquè and i are close after only one week! it was way hard to say goodbye to her for intercambios but way great to see her aftwer! i love that we have unidad, it makes it way easier to teach. we literally walk down the street with our arms around each other laughing or arm in arm 80% of the time. love her to death.
i saw hna cicotte, elder wilstead, and elder rincon on viernes while doing migration and fingreprint goodies! way good to see familiar faces.
for intercambios, i wasnt sick! such a blessing. the day before and after i was, but the lord knew i needed the experience of intercambios and he DEFINITELY BLESSED me in it. i learned so much! hna routsong is the greatest. america is a city and usually people are receptive at all but that day they were! she says its bc of me but thats the silliest thing i ever heard, this is the LORDS work. we found 4 new investagadores and 2 menos activos and it was just great. we visited an elderly woman, betty. i read to her the libro de mormon ( i had to scream it, shes kind of hard of hearing, hna routsong took a video haha) and cut her food and we sang love one another together. it was great. shes the sweetest old lady. i hope i dont ever have to live alone. god definitely takes care of her though.
were going to play futbol on friday! were bringing our jovenes (teens) investigadores to mingle with the youth of the ward and i get to break the ice / language barriers by playing. when my comp tells ppl ive been playing since i was 4 they look at me with new eyes. hah. anything for a leccion right?
the random moments when hna ipanaquè touches my arm and looks at me. its always at the right moment when i need a little sign of love.
WE HAD 7 INVESTIGADORES COME TO CHURCH, 5 MENOS ACTIVOS, AND WE RECIEVED ONE NEW INVESTIGADOR AT CHURCH FROM A MEMBER. YESSSSSSSS. ah, the greatest feeling. my heart grew like the grinch with each member that walked in.
after church we got another new investigador, marcelo. he was definitely prepared for me. and i could understand EVERYTHING he said. another testament to me that hes prepared for me. gif tof tongues is definitely real when i need it most.
we incorporated CCE (ask an RM) more in our lessons and DIRECT results. ppl are opening up to us way more about their problems. i cant understand eerything when they explain but i try my best and i get the main idea. man the people here have hard lives. so grateful i have the chance to help them.
i can literally see in the eyes of our investigadores that they are waiting for waht i have to say, and that they believe what i say, and i can see the change in their hearts. its the greatest thing. this gospel is the message of HOPE, and LOVE, just waht these people are missing.
even though we were sick this week and went to the hospital, etc, we met our goals somehow. amazing what we can do with the lord on our side. my expectations for this next wee (how is it already my 3rd week) are way high and positive.
meeting hno javier (remnids me exactly of david T, its a little weird.). at the end of last night, i was inspireid to talk to him, i said como esta he said bien on the way to liliana and her familia.  the lord rejected our other apointment so i could go back and talk to him, i asked again, he opened up. his heart was BROKEN, but after we left i could see the change in his eyes, hope for the future. this gospel can change lives. i see it everyday.

funny moment
"tenemos agua ahora". (we have water now).
they may or may not have been my tears but salty water is better than no water right?

lessons learned this week
from being sick, my desire to work hard has increased ten times. i want the strength to serve and find the people waiting for me.
PATIENCE. im so hard on myself. my compañion is very supportive.

pray for my compannion. i wont say waht she has but shes sick and its the worst thing not being able to help her. i try to find ways to serve her but she always finds ways to serve me first. she has so much love its ridiculous.

its hard to believe this week is my third week. i love it, i dont want to be anywhere else. im grateful to be in a poor area. its so humbling and rewarding and challenging and more all in one great, incredible experience. everyday i see the lords hand guiding me. its hard but i know with faith im able to accomplish all He has in store for me, and let me tell you, theres BIG THINGS ahead.

scriptures
we owe all our happiness to god alma 44:5
desire righteousness untl end of days alma 41:6ç

i love you alland have a great week! dont forget to celebrate peru & bolivia <3

--
Hermana Wilson
Cristo from my first day

mi casa! from a distance

 
front door of mi casa

house 

these little flowers smelt SO GOOD. my comp made me do a foto op. your welcome momma

our baby bananas!!! :) 

Rapunzel moment. they were literally braiding it on all sides, with their mouths hanging wide open. they have the cutest smiles ever but Bolivians dont like smiling in pictures so you have to catch them off guard. oh, the tender moments of the mission.

we found a random american suites happy hour hotel in the middle of nowhere, literally. MURRICA.

tan lines after ONE WEEK. the fun is just beginning.

 
saving the pot from falling into the sewer

my comp does it cuter, por supuesto :)

hermana routsong and i after intercambios. shes awesome! also way tall, 6 4 i think, maybe thats why she wanted to sit down. who knows haha. way respect for her, she does insanity. :) plus her spirit is SUPER strong. 

hermana marianely. shes coming back to the church, shes so strong. i think secretly shes hermana ipanaquè favorite. ;) i was so sick in this picture, it makes me laugh looking at it haha. 

SOMEWHAT of what they were doing (mouths open). shes seriously so cute... 
luke can marry her if he wants

can ya say happiness?

hermana ipanaquès favorite orange flowers

learning animales, me in spanish her in english. yay. :) 

were not robots i swear

 
best ice cream cone everrrrr 





Monday, July 20, 2015

MILAGROS, !SIEMPRE!

literally, miracles are with me. always. not only is my compañera´s first name Milagro (sh, dont tell anyone) but i have literally experienced SO many miracles in getting me here and also in my every day i see miracles happen and the lord hand in my life its amazing!

im supposed to fit two weeks into one email not sure how thats going to work but ill try.

so we exerienced more than enough problems in travleing here. but with everything that went wrong, the Lord blessed us with a miracle. for example..
when the airport didnt have seats for 5(including me)/11 missionaries headed to cochabamba, they arranged for us to go to a hotel. when all of our bags were overweight bc the measurements were wrong from what w were told, we had money from two other separate miracles i wont say at to the public so just believ me :) instead of going on a different flight to paraguay, which would be dangerous &we couldnt leave the airport for an enire day, we were sent only an hourish away to a hotel. none of us had money for food, but the airport provided us meals. when we didnt have a flight from santa cruz to cochabamba and were in the airport from aboiut 2 am to 10 am, we were able to arrange something and the church somehow sent someone to help us as well. when our baggage was lost and we didnt recieve it until friday, we were able to pick out necessary clothes / hygiene from the mission home. theres a ton more but seriously it was fascinating to me to see satan trying his hardest to prevent us from coming here and doing the work he knows were going to do & helping all these people who need the gospel so badly. our group wasnt in the best s`pirits necessarily but i was blessed to be calm and have my heart full of love, knowing the lord was with me & providing a way for us. and he did.

the second i stepped off the plane i felt so much love. it hit me like a tidal wave. it was amazing. i felt like i was home. it more than made up for the claustrophobia of a small plane. :) and when we walked out of the airport (still with no luggage) and there were elders holding a sign saying "welcome to the best mission in the world" singing called to serve and president/sister hansen themselves there to greet us.. even more love. more smiles. more happiness.

so yes. im here in bolivia. i loved peru and i loved the people and my district was a second family in a way to me, but i know this is where im supposed to be. i have seen so many little miracles and blessings.

so i dont have to answer all of your questions separately, heres info about bolivia /where i am..

bolivia has a ton of mountains. anyone whos from utah and claims those mountains are pretty, cochabamba will pùt you to shame! :). it was fun flying in the day bc i couldf actually see them! :) theres little houses scattered everywhere on the mountains. google pictures bc this computer is too slow to send them. we flew over a big body of water, no i didnt see any face rippers but i do live by a lagoon so ill take a look in there for you. :) the streets dont have names here so its slightly difficult to find where people live but makes things interesting bc its a memorization game :) there are only two main roads that are asphalt as far as i can tell the rest are dirt or rocks. theres dogs everywhere. craig and luke would be in heaven. at night it sounds like the barking train (is that what its called?) from 101 dalmations. mi casa is up straight up 50 stairs (i counted) which means great exercise and its awesome bc we have a balcony out front and back where we can see all the houses and moutnains and cristo (google it) in the distance. we have our own bathroom and our own shower which is awesome. you cant flush toilet paper. the mornings are freezing, even colder than rexburg. my hands are ice, it always surprises people when i shake their hand haha.  we cant shower in the mornings bc the water is literally too cold and we will get sick. the days are hot and dry. we eat lunch and dinner everyday with two other hermanas, hna Cruz and Silvano. our pensionista (not sure how to spell it, sorry, but shes a member who cooks for us) is hna Ancalle and she is literally amazing. shes going to teach me how to cook bolivian food but wants to learn how to cook american food so send me recipies! :) we travel there by taxi but other than that we mostly walk everyday.

i literally LOVE my compañera. she is such an incredible blessing. she is from a little town near chiclayo, peru. shes 22. she has two brothers. she likes to draw landscapes and cook. she gives me more love than i deserve and is way patient with me always. the lord has big plans for us. she is the companion ive been praying for. neither of us have boyfriends so were both focsued on the work and its great. on sunday we had FIVE investigators attend church which was the best thing EVER. she told me that shes never had an investigator attend church before. so... yeah. :) like i said, were working hard and the lord is blessing us and putting people in our path. we have 3, possibly even 4 families that have potential. i got a blessing from my bishop sunday (who reminds me of uncle john, hes great!). t was in spanish of course but from what i could understand , the lord is going to help me achieve my goals and tis awesome! :)

im out of time but im already finding ppl im meant to serve. i love it here. i love this work. im out of time.


i love you all!

send me addresses please
hna wilson

 President Hansen y mi mi compañera Hermana Ipanaquè 

Hermana Ipanaquè 

mi y mi compañera Hermana Ipanaquè after paintballing

mi y some of the misioñeras at the bbq with our zone after paintballing

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

DEAR ELDER ME!!! :) AHORA, POR FAVOR!

i know im a hermana but stop reading this and go Dear Elder me ASAP!!! its free and if it works how it does in provo itll get to me today! or at least hopefully before i leave! rumor has it im leaving on monday but im not sure, i find out details on sunday! (talk about last minute haha). send me a dear elder letter and ill read it on the plane!! send your favorite "bolivia babe" (nickname from hna stone) some farewell\good luck! <3 just ask a mormon how to do it, its a website. all you need is my name (hermana NATALIE wilson, theres another hna wilson here) going to BOLIVIA COCHABAMBA MISSION at the PERU  CCM/MTC.

how do i know this?
last week i got MAIL!! oh how incredibly happy that moment was! rumor was that its impossible to get mail here but i got two letters from zack (thank you!!) and one from my FAMILY!!! craig and luke your pictures were so cute! thank you! youre so creative! i showed all my friends here! :) and then today i got another one and one from emma!! thank you! i miss you!

and right afterwards i met my BROTHER IN LAW! :) it was weird not being able to hug him but we shook hands a couple times and took really special and awkward pictures! im sure you have already seen them but if not ask for them! thank you mom and dad, i got it okay!

just a couple of my favorite things, because its my LAST WEEK here! :
-here in the world of Español, they use the tú form. so instead of words like thine and thy and thou, they use more familar and friendly words. i love that. it was weird at first, an adjustment definitely, but it makes prayers even more personal. Heavenly Father is our friend. he wants to listen. so talk! :) prayer has been so helpful to me and im so grateful for it! <3 when no one else is there.. He always is!
-people for the most part are so friendly here!! ive been ignored completely, thats always pretty comical actually, but for the most part peruvians are SO nice! and theyre so humble!! they have the love of christ in their smiles and eyes and laughs and hugs and kisses (and theres LOTS of those)
-they will hug and kiss you even if you dont know them! talk about love! :) theres two hnas in my district who HATE being touched so its kind of funny to watch them be greeted, but im all about hugs and love so i love it! :)
-theyre SO GOOD AT FÚTBOL. oh man. street soccer and undercover players might just be better than the pros.
-when somoene sneezes in a row.. its salud, dinero, amor! bless you with health, money, and love! makes me think of you mom haha you sneeze about ten times in a row, i guess thats just lots of love for you!
-its been so humbling. im definitely going to be leaving a piece of my heart here in Peru and with these people but i will never forget themn and i shall continue to pray for them!

quotes
"if the only prayer you said in your whole life was "thank you" that would suffice" - <meister <eckhart. no idea who that is but it was in my gratitude journal on one of the pages and its so true! never forget to count your blessings and thank Him for them!
"if you judge people you dont have time to LOVE them" -mother theresa. <3

funny moments
(only a couple bc i dont have  alot of time)
1 IS THAT JESUS? hna cicotte
   no.. thats bob marley.. hna wilson
2 i cant tell if this is chocolate or a bruise- hna wilson
3 sweating comes naturally for me. actually, its my best sport. elder hansen, 1st counselor
4 hugging you is like hugging a little rock! youre so hard and muscley! hna cicotte
here, i think squishy thoughts for you. hna wilson
5MUERTO! elder cleverly
no... oración.. hna cicotte

blessings (only some, too many to count!)
-as soon as i start my prayers, padré celestial, the spirit hits me so strong. ill say it again. if you think youre alone you ARENT. pray, hes there. have faith!
-hna newbold (reminds me of riley affonso, miss you!) left me her flashcards when she left. its almost 3 inches tall! definitely helpful!
-churros for lunch! ive never had a churro before peru. theyre so good here! they have this carmelish filling. yum.
-we put pictures up in our classroom, better late than never. different pictures of christ. all the same good feeling!
-elder murray came and shook my hand one day in the hallway. i was smiling. he said "what a nice smile! thats what i like to see!" hes the branch president and one of my favorite people ive met so far. he is so inspirational and sincere and loving!
-mi y my compañera are having a lot more unison, especially in lessons and planning! such a blessing. weve come so far!
-BOYD K PACKER. what an incredible man. we got news that he passed away. i along w the rest of the world have benefited and groen through his service and teachings. he will be missed but he will also be loved forever. i was able to read something on him from lds.org, not sure if it counts as an obituary, but it was powerful! so grateful also for the plan of salvation. hes in a better place now! we get to watch the funeral on friday, that will be amazing! i expect to cry. it hurt knowing he passed but im happy hes no longer in pain.
-grateful my comp wants to study and not waste time
-i can pretty much understand a verses in español now without having to look up words! such a blessing! so grateful for the gift of tongues, siempre!
-intermedios gave me M&Ms! bless their hearts. chocolate is so rare here. enjoy it! ;)
-hna minson is going to draw the pic of christ i sent last week (by my ultrasound) with the pic of luke smiling instead of the childs face, the pic from when bryce came home from his mission! so excited! shes an incredible artist! and hna ellisonis going to draw me captain moroni and the cochabamba temple! theyr both so incredible! use your talents!
-mourning monday! all opf the alvozandos girls wore all black in preparation for toasty tuesday, solo un chiste! grateful we dont have drama on the girls side of things. only love and smiles!
-i got lots of little breaks on martes to study! so grateful!
-ive been finding scriptures that PERFECTLY fit what i need or am feeling or thinking! its incredible. if you have a wuestion or a probelm g read the ldm! (bom). it will help you in ways you didnt think popssible!
-a latino told me that ill be able to attend the temple twice every six weeks!!!! say WHAT! oh icant even tell you how excited i am for that! thats once a month! <3 today we went to the temple for the last time for a lot of people for 2 whole years! so heartbreaking! the temple is INCREDIBLE. theres no better place to be! :)

highlights of the week:
-hna stone,s stories. ill save them for a later time. :)
-the 4th of july!!! oh my goodness it was such a special day! they cociñeras decorated the comedor in all red white and blue, everyone wore patriotic colors, we had american burgers and hotdogs and potato salad, the elders played americano footbal and the hermanas plauyed kickball, we sang the national anthem in english, our maestra hna luna even wore red white and blue, it was amazing! i felt so much love for my country! were so blesed to have so many rights and privelages! and people who risk their lives for us! never forget those before you who are the reason you have what you have!
-devotionals with the latino branch president on domingo and w elder nelson on tuesday night. i forgot my notes, :( but theyw ere inspiring words!!! two things from nelsons... one, he talked about howour converts become a pyramid. theyre almost like our spiritual children in a way. they begina  new line of families brought into the gospel. they will look to us as heros forever... it just really touched my heart! knowing that through just one person, (ex, abinadi only had one convert) i can make sucha  difference! except im not settling for one person! my goal is to have 5 families baptized & take them to the temple at the end of my mission to be sealed as an eternal family! that was another thing he talked about... thinking about enduring to the END, but the end being the ENDOWMENt (going through th temple). im so grateful for tempples and the blessings they bring! i challenege you to go this week! even if you cant go in, just go walk around the grounds! there truly is a special spirit there and it will bring peace joy and love into your hearts and souls!
-monday night i was a little down. im my worst self critic. i wont go into details.. but when i came upstairs a latina asked me to bear my testimony to her. i was confused at first, and i almost said no, but she insisted so i did. and as soon as i started talking, i knew it was the answer to my prayer. it was exactly what i needed.

ihave a testimony of this church. of this gospel. of jesus christ and god the eternal father. i know that this is the only true church and im so grateful to be a part of it. im so grateful for the atonement and the ability i have to be here today because of it. its funny.. i came on a mission to try and give a little back for all I had been given and blessed with, yet i feel like im the one whos constantly getting blessed and given more and more each day! im so grateful to have Him by my side every step of the way. thank you for your support and love! its going to be hard to leave Peru, ive grown to love the people here in a very real way, but im on to Bolivia to give them the joy that  comes from knowing their savior lives, and they can live with Him again! with all of the bad things happening around us, we can find peace knowing that it wil be okay. He has a plan for each and every one of us. and for me, right now, i am supposed to  be here. i know it with all of ym heart. im so excited to serve and love and teach the people of bolivia. im going to come home with my shoes worn out (if i come home at all!). my soul truly is filled with joy, and theres nothing id rather be doing. <3

have a safe & happy week! :)

te quiero,
hermana wilson.

scriptures to look up:
John 13:15, follow His example and love one another (ISIAH QUINTERO. read the whole chapter! its the story of the feet you love so much!)
-DyC 19:23
Alma 26:8 sing praise & thanks to His holy name forever!
Isiah 41:10 (did i send that already?)
Alma 26:27 go fwd w patience!
Mos 27:36&37 as long as we do what eve been called to do well be blessed

p.s. send me pictures! through email, but also through mail so i can have hard copies! i dont have any of my farwell. also still dont have any addresses!

Hermana Wilson

my BROTHER IN LAW! :)
 


 mi y mi leóna hermana, hna esser! i love this girl so much! she brightens my life!

mi y hna miles, my other favorite! shes in my ditrict and reminds me of traci fletcher!!! even looks a lot like her i think!


HAPPY 4TH OF JULY PICTURES!




mi y mi maestra, hna luna! im going to miss her so much!

the girl alvocados!!! weve come so close these last two weeks!

nutella is $50 here!! say what?

look at peru, im leaving but theres another hna wilson now! ;)

our failure at a cute picture haha


jerseys from hna cesar!

HERMANA WILLLLLSON! :) my little treasure

my favorite little flower plant here in the CCM! isnt it pretty?

hand stand: check. next step: flip throw in

i wasnt exaggerating when i said the fire extinguishers were HUGE! (this ones for you julia)

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

SOY UNA ALVOCADA AHORA (I'm An Alvocada Now!)

i have officially reached the alvocado level of the CCM! only dos semanas mas!! so crazy!! time is going by so fast! (advanced in español sounds like alvocado to all you english speakers hjaja) and not JUST an alvocado.... im going to be...

AN AUNT!!!!! :)
now that the secret is out i can tell the rest of you! sydnee & david are having a baby!!! i have their ultrasound on my desk and i blow it a beso (kiss) every day! all the hnas think its super cute haha. and i finally am able to explain in spanish it isnt my ultra sound so in two weeks when i have a latina companion it will be ALL GOOD in the neighborhood!! hjaja :)

questions for the public:
anyone have knee strengthening exercises?
ways to heal shin splints?
and the back tendon (if thats the term) on a han? i tweaked it doing cartwheels, tee, ive never been so good at those. :)

not so important things:
people have been asking what lima is like, heres some small things for yall:
-during stop-rush hour traffic a guy walks between cars like you would at a baseball game selling snacks, its brilliant, someone start that business back home just dont get hit por favor!
-no idea if theres drivers ed here or not. drviers are crazy but i havent seena  crash yet so thats good!
-their 5 lane freeway is the size of a 2, maybe 3 lane road. theres literally only inches between cars
-its a goal for me to understand what the graffiti means
-tons of landscaping. ex: they made a snake, out of grass and whatnot. its awesome.
-i remember getting a letter from elder davis that he wrote on a bus.. no way would that be possible here, youre smashed against everybody and its constantly stop go stop go side to side motion
-they build the houses straight into the side of the mountain-boulders
-the windows on the buisness bldgs open out for air, so brilliant. kind of scary though.
-the houses are small cement squares all stacked on top of each other, its beautiful, some are painted colors. so humbling.
-they hang laundry on top of them.. so good thing it never rains in lima!
-trees! everywhere! i saw a pine tree the other day, but the leaves were palm style. so cool.
-i saw a hard rock cafe. made em think of you mom.
-every so often there is a very very very strong fish smell that fills the air
notspecifictolimaothernotimportantthings:
-i straightened my hair the other day and i have never been touched by so many people in a single day. i went from being a lión to a tigré.
-never too old for stickers! the notebooks here come with a sheet of stickers. so fun.
-i kept my Delta blanket from the airplane and use it in calss when the elders crank the AC .

bendiciones:
-learned a Perú football chant from hna luna. GO PERU!! (we get updates on whos winning haha. they lost to their rivals chile apparently, hna cesar was NOT happy.)
-my mission blanket! so many of you signed it i didnt even realize! i dont want to read them all bc its a nice little surprise just picking a few random ones and reading them! i love you all!
-"we didnt die today." -hna burnham
-COOKIES!!! the new hnas said they had extra cookies if anyone wanted them. OBVIOUSLY i want them. so i went upstairs one night to their room and they gave me like 4 packs of 4, bless their souls! :)
-i woke up on saturday with complete peace in mi corazón. such a blessing. the day before i had been pretty stressed and was deciding if i was going to ask for a blessing or not but i just prayed and woke up with such peace and felt the support of my Father. such a blessing.
-hna luna and hno cesar BOTH came to wish us luck on saturday! it made me choke up a little bit, just realizing how much they really do love us! i have the best maestros EVER.
-my district sang the prelude music in church on sunday! and we sounded good!! haha in class thats not always the case but it was awesome. we ended singing ocupela himno 14 (the jose smith vision one) to the tune of come thou font of every blessing, it was awesome. (en español of course)
-hna gonzales didnt make me pay for the wart medicine. im super low on money bc of my nice little bank card experience so that was definitely a tender mercy. and the fact that ill be in the ccm for two more weeks before i have to walk on these bad boys all day long! another blessing!
-i feel confident in the preterit (one of the past tense) forms!!! it was more of a miracle than that but i dont have time to explain!
-hna cicotte got me juice at dinner. bless her heart. i limp everywhere bc of these plantar warts and so she did a littl act of service for me, thank you compañera! amor!!
-i can hold a handstand for almost 5 seconds! its not a lot but its a solid hold so im happy! little successes make the world go round.
-i found hidden exercise playfround area, but theres no weights jaja .maybe ill use the stone bricks i found. cameron? any workouts? i cant run anymore bc of my foot but i can do abs for days!!
-I FOUND ANOTHER HERMANA GOING TO COCHABAMBA! (in the new group that came in). i think i completely scared her jajaj. i found out she was going there and i screamed and kind of hug-attacked her. but its okay! :) amor y mas amor!

highlights:
1) while fasting for proselyting, i prayed for help in preparing myself for the experience. i figured i would be able to get help w espñol. nope. heavenly father always knows best. i was blessed with a stronger love for the people of peru (and bolivia). never shall i EVER complain again about being hungry. such a tender experience but such a strong experience, and a stronger testimony that we are ALL gods children and He loves us ALL, VERY much.
2) saturday (im sure youre wondering what was so special about that day by now) we went PROSELYTING!!!! in other words, we left the world of the CCM and were unleashed to lima south for a day and it was wonderful, so wonderful!! the gift of tongues is REAL! we got kindly rejected all day long, but we set up apts for later. the last place we went, was a miracle! a lady let us into the locked allyway and we were able to get to the door we needed. angelica & her 11 year old daughter, lisa. they let us in and we had a lesson! my first real, real one! :) the spirit was so strong. we sang a hymn at first. apparenty angelica used to be a member, she got baptised and everything, but the missionaries didnt really teach her they just wanted a statistic. sad. BUT. we gave her and her daughter a libro de mormón and taught them about the book & families and it was great!!! i gave my LDM to lisa. she was adorable! the spirit was so strong! and when i went to speak, the words just came! i didnt question myself at all i just taught and testified and it was all by the spirit and just wonderful!!! :)
3) TODAY! oh, today!!! (im smiling just writing thise, in case you couldnt tell!) I PLACED MY FIRST REAL LIBRO DE MORMÓN! mi y hna cicotte were walking with the other missionaries from the temple to the market store. but im a little slower bc of my foot. anyways. a man named eric crossed the street and started talking to us, wondering why were there, etc. he guessed correctly we werent from lima :p  he brought up españa. i brought up that mi hermana served a mission there. we talked a little about that. then i said that thats what im doing, serving a mission. such a golden oppportunity! :) and that was just the first opportunity today!! we handed out 4 folletos total, taught the restauration (first vision), got a commitment to go to chruch on sunday, and wrote the names&numbers for 7 people! there was a lady we talked to , my favorite, her name was angelia and she was "looking into all the churches trying to find out for herself which one was true." ah, so golden. OURS. :) we helped her out, dont worry. ah! it was so fun and so amazing and literally all this happened within about half an hour, we were FLYING! i felt like i really could fly, i was so happy and i knew that i had the power of the spirit with me! i had the words! i spoke from my heart! i can see in investigators eyes that moment when the spirit is testifying to their hearts that what im saying is true! i can see a start of a change! its amazing! :)
sidenote.. a lady helped us when we came to peru, her name was angelina. the lady i taught proselyting was angelica. and the man i gave to LDM to today was Angel. angelia in the metro today. what a fun little coincidence, but not so coincidence, (sorry i really canot spell anymore in english its super hard) eh? all sound like angel! :) theres no coincidences in the hand of God! i know that this work is not my work, but His! im so blessed to be able to be a part of bringing souls unto him! to be able to bring pure joy and the love of christ into the hearts of all these people who so dearly need it! its incredible the stories that people have, yet they all have such tender and loving hearts! so wonderful!! :)

i love being a missionary! its hard work but its also the most rewarding! im exhausted at the end of each day, but its the best feeling of exhaustion ever! i have two more weeks to learn all i can and then its go time! :) im so beyond excited to go find the people and families waiting for me in bolivia!! :) my goals are high, my spirits are high, my smile is huge, my heart is full! :)

i love you all! thank you for your support!
amor y paz y mas amor!
hermana wilson
(the original. apparently theres another hna wilson now. hm.)
ps, please send emails to wilson.natalie@myldsmail.net and NOT natalie.wilson bc theres a hna in tokyo who has natalie.wilson and she is gettingall my emails! i want them, and she doesnt! :)

scriptures:
DyC 58:2-4
DyC 84:83&88 (from hna luna before proselyting, they were perfect!)
Jacob 3:1-2
Alma 13:27 (perfect to send to missionaries! fyii)
--

Hermana Wilson

The ping pong tables (tourney going on today! winner takes all cookies!), the houses we practice teach in (theyre so nice! built in january!), y the grass volleyball court. theres a beach one by the futbol field

futból field! isnt it a beauty??

shoes worn out on toes from JUST prayers! hah! it made me laugh. im constantly praying here!

fly like a bird!  & don't worry mom i didnt fall out

i found out my skirt does awesome things when i spin. this ones for you craig!!

hna esser, me, y hna russell. theyre my favorites!!!

shoutout to my future niece\nephew!! ¡te quiero!

shoutout to emma cheek, mark campbell, dee lugo, y syd/david! thank you for my wonderful desk decorations! blessings to you all!