Week 4: First In-Field P-Day

This week has been pretty strange, leaving the MTC and getting into the groove of in-field missionary work, but I think I'm starting to adjust.

So much has happened and I'm not good at telling stories but basically there's lots of tracting (which, btw, is it called tracting or tracking? - my companion and I aren't sure) and lots of reactivating those sheep who were once of Christ's fold but now are lost and need to be re-found. So, while every missionary imagines baptizing like the sons of Mosiah in Helaman 5, sometimes we have to trust that the Lord puts us where we need to be and just get to work doing His will and forgetting our own. 😊

So, this week we've been working a lot with a less-active members who struggle to live all of the standards that Heavenly Father has commanded, and- in my opinion- it's interesting to see that they pretty much always still associate themselves with the church (even if it's been decades since they've last stepped foot into a church building) because they still have that testimony and witness that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ restored to the earth in this dispensation. For example, Sis. Abbott and I were tracting in two different areas this past week (we try to meet and share the gospel with at least 10 new people everyday) and found two different women whose stories were very similar, as they both knew the lds church was true, still used terms like "we" and everything when referring to it (because they still feel a part of it, as it's never too late to come back and they both acknowledged that) and basically only stopped going because they struggle to keep all of God's commandments and things that He asks us to do. But it was cool to see that, although they weren't active in the church anymore, they still held their testimonies dear to their heart and respected Christ's church and I thought it was sweet.

We also knocked on a door last night that a guy named Ben and four of his young daughters (he said that he and his wife have 6 kids and only one is a boy) answered, and as we shared our testimonies of Christ with them he said that they weren't interested in joining our church (they are strong in their other Christian church, which you can tell, because they were very Christian, and at first I even thought they were lds) but that he respected our church and appreciated that we give our time spreading the message about Christ to everyone and thanked us for it! So, we invited him to go to the Meridian temple open house (people always accept that invitation, because it doesn't sound like too big of a commitment and their curiosity of what a temple looks like inside usually kicks in) and maybe they will. Then, as we walked to the next door his daughters (the oldest was maybe seven) were watching us from their driveway and their mom was like, "Is that what you're going to do when you grow up? Are you going to tell everyone about Jesus?," and their daughters were all excited to be missionaries for Christ and it was the most unexpected but sweet experience ever! Tracting is the best because you never know what'll be behind every door (but I find that 99.9% of the time- at least here in Middleton- it's a dog; everyone here has dogs).

We also meet a lot of other people while tracting, too, but I like to share the best experiences and not dwell on the others (but the weird/funny ones I write down in my journal so when I get home I can share them when there's more time).

P.S. Sister Seibach (my MTC teacher) wasn't lying when she said your mission is basically taking your most awkward moments in life and multiplying that by every day you're out here. People are crazy! But it's funny/great/cool to see how different all of Heavenly Father's children truly are. 😸

Missions are great and I hope everyone gets an opportunity to serve one or do something like it at least once in their life! Sincerely think about it,

Sister Wilcox 🤗 Me and my companion

Keeping track of our work

Week 3 Now in the field--but no potatoes

So I learned something new already being here,

Apparently potatoes are just grown on the east side of Idaho and on the west we have sugar beets and corn.... It's a bit disappointing (I like potatoes lol) but hey, you learn new things everyday. 🤔

Anyways, we missed p-day on Tuesday because we left for the airport at 3:50 in the morning (also, our building (R9) was evacuated for a fire-drill the night before we left which was a lot of fun) - (I'm still recovering from my lack of sleep) and so my lovely companion Sister Abbott is letting me email today really fast, and then I'll go back to the normal Mondays-are-p-days thing.

It's a bit scary out here in the real world, compared to teaching in the MTC and our first appointments are today so all I've done so far is a bit of tracting when we first got here (it's so cold rn) and it was cool to talk to people about the gospel and see their actual opinions and thoughts about it and the questions they have. Which, by the way, our mission has an average of 18.5% member population, so, believe it or not, we do teach and baptize people (but it is a lot of working with in-actives as well, depending on the area).

So, to let you know, my first area is Middleton, Idaho and it's a cute, small town with one grocery store, no Wal-Mart, and a bunch of trailers and little houses in packed communities, and it looks so different than Florida but it's pretty cute in it's own way. 😉

I haven't experienced much else other than flying here and getting settled and starting missionary work, so that's all I have to say for now.... but I'll keep you posted. 😊 Just keep working hard and remember that we're all on missions here- every member a missionary!

I love you all and Jesus loves you,

Sister Wilcox 😁💛✌

P.S. I'm putting all of my photos in a google drive folder so you can just see them all whenever you like so here's the link and you might need to request access but if you do I'll just grant it next time I check my email! Okay, gracias, adios! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByUy-XKpdKNKNUNRZVhBMFNGYTg

Middleton, Idaho, I thought we would be in the mountains!!

No potatoes here!

Week 2 MTC: Last P-Day at Temple

Hello all of you lovely people 💟,

Today was our last p-day where we'd have the opportunity to go to the temple (at least while at the MTC). It's always so beautiful and peaceful there and words cannot describe how much I love it- but we might have the opportunity to be called to help with the open house of the one in my mission (fingers crossed). My district is still cool and I'm not sure if I mentioned this last week but my companion and I are STL's now (not that that really means anything but it's still pretty fun).

So last week we had the opportunity to teach a lovely elderly woman named Jacqi and she was just the sweetest person ever! I literally wanted to hug her like everyday and it was such a joy helping her come unto Christ and commit to being baptized and to help her commit to making that first covenant that is really just the starting point of a life of following Him in joy and love and being able to make it home to our Father in Heaven. 💛

Also, we taught a woman named Paula who was 9 months pregnant and who's probably had her baby by now (a baby girl she wanted to name April)- we have to switch to new investigators once they commit to baptism because some of our MTC investigators are actually members who work for the MTC while others really are real investigators, but we don't know who is who so that we can teach everybody- it's great! But she had such a sweet spirit as well.

This week, my companion (Sis. Millington) and I had the opportunity to meet the sweetest lady ever, her name is Erica and she's visiting from Brazil and the love I feel for both her and our other new investigator Rebekah is so fulfilling and joyous that my we sometimes- like a lot of times actually- just have to talk about how great Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are to us, smile, and do some spins on the empty sidewalks. Lol....

But in all honesty: God is great and missions are the best, and, as President Harold B. Lee said,

“Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members” (Improvement Era, Dec. 1964, 1078, President Harold B. Lee (1972–1973).

So we all get to be missionaries! Isn't that great?

Callings are but an invitation to come closer to Christ so always consecrate yourself in all things you do and do them to your fullest and you'll never feel unfulfilled.

P.S. I'm sorry this is a lot longer than I wanted it to be because no one likes to read essays but I wanted to also say a quick thank you to all of the loving people who sent me food and candy and love in the short time I've been here already (you know who you are 💛😸). You're angels sent from heaven above!

I love everything and everyone,

Sister Wilcox 💛✌😊

Week 1 MTC: Heaven on Earth

So, the MTC is basically heaven on earth.

My companion is really nice- her name is Sister Millington and she's from Alabama (shout out to Sister Sanfilippo, serving in her home mission!). My teachers are great- we had a girl teacher, but she switched when BYU started for scheduling reasons, and even though she was cool our new teacher is even better for me and for what I was praying for because he's all about making us spiritual, good missionaries which is what I want to be, instead of just being our friends and letting everyone goof off like they're at EFY.

My district has 6 sisters in it, all going to Nampa, Idaho and staying in the same room and they all have such sweet spirits. The Elders are all going to Washington and Oregon and they're really funny so sometimes it's hard for our district to remember reverence which can be hard, but they're getting better, and they're not nearly as distracted as many other districts' Elders are so they're good. The food is good imo- at least 90% of the time- but some people don't like it. We went to the temple today and it was special because it was only the second time I've had the opportunity to do an endowment session and I had been dying to go. It was interesting though, because it was the first time I've left the MTC campus since getting here last Wednesday and just walking outside in the world to get to the temple (literally across the street) you could feel a difference as you stepped through the gate- and we're in Utah.

Anyways, the first day I got a couple of Dear Elders from my mom, Aunt Kim, and Aunt Debbie, and it was really fun, and I wrote back to them in letters, but I'm not sure Aunt Kim will ever get hers because I forgot to seal the envelope and I think she moved, so I'll probably let her know by email that I appreciated her thoughtfulness...

Also, I think that I needed to go on an English speaking mission to learn the things of the spirit that I've already gotten to learn, not having to be distracted by a new language (I guess my brain can't handle that haha). The Lord really does know us all and what we need and we just need to trust Him and walk with faith, and then will the power follow.

I've already grown so much in the spirit, and I love it here (even though it's a lot of really hard work). I kind of don't want my mission to ever end 😅 But it doesn't have to, if we truly convert ourselves to the Lord and remember that His work is never done. I invite you all to consecrate yourselves to the Lord, which we've covenanted to do (meaning giving all of our time and talents to the Lord), and I know you won't regret it as you literally feel your nature being changed through our savior Jesus Christ.

The church is true and I love you all,

Sister Wilcox (Summer not Aurelia) P.S. Everyone should listen to/read the talk by Elder Benson called Character of Christ (a BYU-I devotional is the only version of it online as the MTC one was never released, though they're similar I've heard), as it's a life-changing talk that makes you realize how to truly be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and what it truly means to become as He is.

Also, Moroni 7 is amazing if anyone needs a scripture to read :) The MTC (Missionary Training Center)