Week 33: Transfers: Nampa to....Nampa?

So, we had transfers this past week, and I had been in my area of Nampa 20 and 24th wards since December, so a good 4 months (3 transfers) and we all basically knew I was going to leave. And Saturday afternoon came along and we get the transfer board on Facebook (that's how they do it now.. no more calls, which is sad- but anyways....) and I'm transferred to Nampa 30, 34, and 9th wards. Literally our stake center, right down the road from where I was! Sister Welsh, who I've lived with for the past 4 months, is now in one of the wards I'm serving in (so, even though I had to move houses, I'm still her missionary!).

It was so weird and unexpected, haha. I felt like I was going to go somewhere close, but not that close!!

Anyways, Sister Bradshaw is still in my district. Her and her companion have both been out 3 and a half months (they came out at the same time and both just finished being trained) and I'm excited for them to lead my old area. They'll do great (though it'll be so weird hearing weekly updates at DM on my old investigators as I'm in another ward I think..).

But, all is well and my new companion is an STL so there'll be a lot of traveling this transfer. I'm killing her (meaning she goes home in 6 weeks) and she's super fun! Her name is Sister Moa Sam-Fong (but we all call her Sister Moa lol). She grew up in California, so we both miss the beach together, lol.

And Sister Abbott (my "mom"/trainer) and Sister Campbell are companions now! And they're STL's together. So cute. 🤗

Here's everyone I said goobye to.. hopefully it works! Love Nampa 20/24, and excited for this "big" adventure (lol) of moving across the street.

President Sorensen (MP) is in my ward now sp that's cool. 🙃

Have a great week,

Sister Wilcox

 1. Isn't she adorable! This is Amelia and she wants to be a Sister Missionary and takes our badges whenever we go over! 🤗😁

2. When your camera's facing the wrong way lol.. still looks good 😉😂

3. Sis Bradhsaw and I (mother-daughter photos I suppose 🙄😳)

4. The District Part 3 

5. District Meeting: Elder Johns and Jones comp support

Week 32: Just another day in paradise

This week has been another crazy one, but I'm starting to realize it'll probably never be "not crazy" as you constantly experience so many new things as a missionary so you're always going to be on a steep learning curve of craziness. And, your path is the Lord's, not your own, so unexpected things are always happening!

Elder Nattress of the 70 visited our mission and I got to be one of the few he interviewed, and he asked if he could personally write a letter to my mom and send it home to her, to thank her for her hard work and the great job she did raising us! So many people throughout the world work so hard to be righteous disciples of their Savior and never get recognition for it here on this earth (though Heavenly Father will/does reward them openly from heaven!) so this was a cool experience and she definitely deserves it, so that was awesome! 😊

Also, we were correlating with our ward mission leader last week and he said he felt like we needed to all three meet together with one of our investigators as soon as possible and talk with her about any questions she has at the moment, and not plan a lesson or anything but just meet with her to figure out what she needs right now and then help her. So, we set-up an appointment and two days later we went over to her house and just started talking to her and she told us she had googled some things on the internet and had gotten into a lot of anti-mormon literature and wasn't sure this was what she wanted anymore! As fear and sorrow shot into my heart Brother Conde asked if we could say a prayer and as he was praying I felt a confirming peace from the Spirit take the place of where the fear had been and I knew it'd all be okay. As we testified to her and the Spirit continued to help her understand the truth, she eventually came around and now has an even firmer testimony as she overcame the doubt with her faith and re-committed to follow her Savior and trust Him. Thank heavens for inspired WML's!

Also, while on exchanges in Emmett a couple of weeks ago, another WML was talking about how he'd been going through old progress records to find former investigators or people the missionaries have visited in the past so they could re-visit them to see if their hearts have become more prepared to receive the truth of the gospel since years have passed. I thought it was a great idea! So, I went back to my own area and started going through the old progress records and found a lady the Elders used to do service for who wasn't super interested (and possibly even moved) but felt like we should give it a shot. We knocked on her door a couple of times, but she was never home. So, just yesterday, we decided to give it one more shot as it was the weekend and people are more likely to be at home. And she was! But, it wasn't who we were looking for- a woman named Yolanda and her family had moved in just a month ago (they said the lady from the progress record was long gone) and that they were looking for a church for their family to go to so their kids could grow up around a good crowd of people. We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to church and to youth activities on Wednesday and they said they were excited to go!

So many of Heavenly Father's children are constantly looking for truth and as we are trying our best He leads us to find them, and a lot of times we don't even realize how He's preparing us to find and help them! His plan is so perfect, it's awesome to think about.

He knows us all. He loves us all. He wants to help us find Him.

Have a good week!

Sister Wilcox😊✌

-- 

1. A pretty driveway

2. Prayer rocks!

3. More prayer rocks! Cuties 😊

4. Elder and Sister Nattress of the 70 (he said the prayer at GC last week.. and gave a talk in 2016 that was cool if you want to check it out!)

5. Half of the Sisters in our mission and Sister Nattress

6. Thanks family! Cute card 🤗

Week 31: Miracles of Gerneral Conference

So, recap- in case you don't remember- last general conference in October of 2017 Sister Abbott and I were watching the Saturday morning session of General Conference with our friend Sherry Hubbard, a lady we had been doing service for who had not been super interested in committing to the church. However, after the session we talked with her and- through the miracle of the Spirit of General Conference!- we were able to put her on date to be baptized, and she entered the waters of Mormon soon thereafter.

Anyways, after seeing the miracles that come from listening to our living prophet and apostles speak the words of God to us, we had lots of faith that something miraculous would come of this past weekend as well. So, putting forth all of our efforts to watch it with as many of our investigators as possible, the Sunday morning session we were able to watch with the Subieno family at their neighbor's home (the members who referred them). They have come to church faithfully since we first met and invited them 4 weeks ago, and have invited them to be baptized twice in the past, but they had some questions about why they needed to be baptized again and just struggled to commit to one church, so we were never able to get a date set. But, after watching General Conference, we were able to talk with them about the truths that they already know by the power of the Holy Ghost (the session was largely given to talking about the HG!💛 Inspired!) and they said they knew the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith is the prophet he called to Restore His gospel to the earth again in these latter-days! And they committed to being baptized on April 21st, just 20 days away!

The faith of this family is so inspirational, and I'm so grateful for the miraculous opportunity that we have to listen to our prophet's voice semi-annually, at the least! The Lord loves us and gives us leaders to help guide us through the rocky paths of life. He will never leave us alone. 😉 Ever.

Also, the new changes that were announced in conference? Love it! As missionaries we always seek to "minister to the one," as no other way is effective to get through to people. You discern what they need, and then- by the Spirit- you are able to help them fulfill their needs and feel the Savior's love for them- you take Christlike action. And that's exactly what the replacement HT/VT program is! You follow the Spirit to really help people according to their needs. It's great! We're all just missionaries fulfilling our calling in our own ways with our own abilities. 😁

Anyways, here's some pictures to update you on other minor events that weren't important enough to write about.. 😅

Love,

Sister Wilcox 🙃

1. Sister Bradshaw doesn't like her hair to get wet when it rains 😂

2. Ees a coww (green slime came out of it's mouth as it almost bit me..lol)

3. Our new car! It's a brand new Nissan Rogue (it had less than 30 miles on it when we got it! sweet)

4. Mimi's Easter package- so cute! 😄 Thanks Mimi! I got it by Easter! (she called Elder Waller and went through lots of hassle to make sure it'd be here on time, haha- I feel the love 😊💛)

5. We watched General Conference with Carol and she wrote us a note on her whiteboard! How cute!
6. I got this package from home while writing this email! Thanks
Happy Resurrection day! Hallelujah 😊

Week 30: Craziness

This past week was awesome!

So our investigator family who we met because of a member's referral came again this week, and have attended all three hours of church and mutual every week since we met them! And they said they've all been reading the Book of Mormon, both alone and as a family! I'm so excited to see them progress as they continue to feel the love of the ward and the Lord in their daily lives. 😊

We also were asked to speak again at church yesterday in 24th ward and it turned  out one of the bishopric counselors brought a friend that he and his family had met at an airport 2 years ago and  they had had a gospel conversation with him and he had taken a few of the discussions and gone to church with them a couple of times, but nothing stuck at the time. But, now that he's going though a different stage in life he's been prepared and is looking to receive the gospel into his life, and we're going to be able to help him on that path of accepting it and following his Savior Jesus Christ!

There's only 3 weeks left in the transfer and, while I think it'd be fun to have a new adventure, I don't want to leave Nampa! 😥 We've worked so hard in this area to help these of Heavenly Father's children progress and learn of His Restored Gospel and we've found so many new people and taught them and  have had to watch some turn away from the truth, and to find these who actually accept and desire to have it is inspiring! But, I know that whatever happens it's the Lord's will and He knows what He needs in this part of His vineyard at this time, and Sister Bradshaw would do great if I left the area over to her care. 😊 She's a caring missionary, which is what all children of God need 😁✌

Anyways, I walked into the family history center today and an older couple came up to me and asked if I was Sister Wilcox and I was like, "Yes..?" and they pulled out their phone and showed em a picture and said, "Do you know these people?" and it was a picture of my family! With them! I was so surprised, I thought they had just taken it for a second and that my family was here but then I realized that that didn't make any sense and they explained that they had just come back from a vacation in Mexico, and they had gone on a Book of Mormon tour and they had spent 2 weeks with my family (and they said you were all well-behaved- and possibly a bit bored at times, haha 😉 gj)! They live in the stake right next to ours (which, being in Idaho, is only right down the street) so they said if we ever have an opening for dinner we can give them a call and they'd love to have us over! Since they live so close the zone leaders said it'd be okay! So mom, I might be getting to hear about all of your experiences vicariously through them! Cool, right?!

Anyways, I suppose the tender mercies of the Lord really are over all those whom he hath chosen because of their faith.. and diligence 😊

So keep on trucking!

Love you all- here are pictures of us at the mission office, the Swaynes that met both me and my family when they were in Guatemala visiting Book of Mormon sites, and some girls we teach that we gave CTR rings to!

😊✌💛

Sister Wilcox​

Week 29: Fasting works miracles

So last week we had a temple trip and we carpooled with the member we live with (Sister Welsh 💛) because she's awesome and we wanted to make a day of it with her. So she drove us there and we were talking and having a good time and she goes, "There's the temple!," and we look and it's the Boise temple! We had left mission boundaries because she thought we were going to the Boise temple instead of the Meridian one! We were like, "Oh, no!" and had to rush over to the Meridian one to make it to the session on time. We did and everything worked out okay, but we just won't tell President that we were out of our mission for a detour (and we got to see 2 temples in one day, so that was fun! 😌😂). That's why there was no email last week: pday was all out of whack!

But, things are normal again now. :)

So last week we taught a family who a member referred and they had just moved here and were looking for a church so we invited them to ours and taught them the Restoration and they came! Unfortunately, however, all of the members of that ward have been fasting with our 40-day ward fast for missionary opportunities and when they saw a family, decided to go up and bear their testimony on fasting and how they've been fasting and praying for a family to come to church and that THIS FAMILY (and called them out from the pulpit! multiple times!) was an answer to their prayers!

Sister Bradshaw and I were laughing so hard, we couldn't believe that this was really happening. We thought all was lost (as no one likes being called out from the pulpit, especially not by strangers on your first day at a news church), but went back to their house this past Saturday to see what they thought, and, though they were slightly overwhelmed, said that they were planning on going again and giving it a second try! We were so glad, and went they came to church yesterday everything went a lot smoother and hopefully they'll keep having that desire to come and to learn more about their Savior and His Restored gospel! They've also gotten their kids involved in scouts and mutual already, so it's all looking good!

Members are essential in the success of missionary work, whether it's referring those you know who've recently moved in, referring friends who you know are going through a hard time or who you've been working with to prepare them to meet with the missionaries, or reaching out to those who the missionaries have already found to help them feel welcomed, your effort helps a lot! And when we all work together to make every Sunday experience a good one, miracles can happen!

Love you all,

Sister Wilcox

Maybe there is a bit of time for pics :) Click on the picture for a better view.

1.  Chalked sidewalk.

2. 6 lbs of gummy bears- we went to Costco!
3. Meridian Temple

4. Our zone going to the temple  :)

5. Pokemon missionary

lol

Week 28: No letter this week

We were at the temple on P-Day so we didn't have time to write a letter. Expect one with pictures next week!

Week 27: Transfers

This week is transfers (so p-day was moved to Tuesday) and next week we get to go to the Meridian temple as a zone! (so p-day will be Friday). It's a long stretch, but well worth it for the temple! It'll be cool to go inside now that's it's dedicated, after all of those hours of helping with the open house!

Sister Bradshaw is still being trained, so we're both staying in Nampa, and I'm glad. I love the people here and it's too soon to leave! She just started driving, so I'm happy (it stresses me out; and I got a ticket 😑 so that stunk) but things have been going great with the work!

This Thursday, we planned on doing our weekly planning and then wanted to catch up on 12-week training (for new missionaries) and, just as we were about to start, the other Sisters called needing our help for something. So, we dropped everything and went and helped them for a bit, then, when we got home, attempted once more to start our planning. Again, however, as we were about to start, we got a text from one of our investigators saying she wasn't feeling well and we offered to find someone to give her a priesthood blessing! She said that that sounded good and we spent the next hour or so helping her with that. Then, after the blessing, she asked if we could help her out with dinner. She gave us a soup recipe that we offered to help her make for dinner and ran to Wal-Mart for some of the ingredients. One our way out, we saw a needy woman with a sign that said, "Single Mom, Anything Helps," so, naturally, we went and bought her a hot chocolate and when we went back to give it to her we had a long discussion with her about where she was from and her story and she said she was familiar with the church and had recently thought about going, and saw this as a sign that she should! We gave her a Book of Mormon and said we'd pass her info on to the missionaries that cover her area and she was excited about learning more about the peace and comfort that comes through Christ our Savior! 😁 It was cool to see how the Lord made us instruments in His hands to bless and find His children who were in need, even though it wasn't what we had originally planned on doing that day. As we were willing to go where He wanted us to go, simply by being willing to help those in need, He let us see His hand in the guidance He gave to us that led us to touch the lives of people we didn't even know! But He knew them! And He knew we'd listen and would help them. 😊

In Bunnell, some of our missionaries a couple of years ago did a 40-day ward fast for missionary opportunities that ended on Easter Sunday (which my mom signed our family up for the last day, so we were all sitting in our beds listening to General Conference with chocolate tempting us downstairs all day long that Easter) but miracles came! So, we suggested it to our ward council a while ago in the ward that we cover that has a bit less work going on, and as the families have been fasting day-to-day, the miracles have been coming! 😊 (and, again, we have the last day on General Conference and Easter Sunday 😌)

One miracle was that a referral that we finally were able to contact, we taught the first discussion to, and they've moved in recently and are looking for a church to go to and said they'd come with us next week, and, also, that they'll read and ponder the Book of Mormon for themselves and they'll ask God if it is His word! I'm excited for them to add to the truths they treasure and to come to know their Savior and His gospel even more through the revealed truths that were restored through the prophet Joseph Smith that are found within the Book of Mormon. 😊

We also were trying to contact some potential we met a few weeks ago, and decided to knock on the house next door when they didn't answer, and a Christian family was home who, though the parents said they weren't super interested themselves, their 9 year old daughter, R, said she wanted to learn more and they said it's her choice and gave us their number so we could come back and teach her. When we saw her outside playing a few days later, she thanked us for the Book of Mormon we had given her and said that she was still super excited for us to come back!

As we teach her, I hope the Spirit will bring the truth of our message to the hearts of her parents as well, so they can all draw closer to their Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ and they can all choose to make those covenants that will allow them to be together as a family forever and have everlasting joy and eternal life. 😊

Also, Jaidyn's baptism is this Saturday morning! I'm excited for her to enter the gate of baptism and embark on the straight and narrow path that leads to endless peace and comfort and blessings from her Savior and her loving Father in Heaven!

I invite all of you to look for ways to be the Lord's instruments this week by simply being willing to lift others who are in need, and I know the Lord will use you as an instrument in His hands to bring forth mighty good in the world and to touch those who are hurting or in need!

Love you all- sorry it got long,

Sister Wilcox

 

 1. Bailey is the cutest guard dog- she sits on her chair and watches out the front window 24/7! She's adorable 😊

2. Cutest calendar everrr! Thanks family!

 

3. Reindeer thingy I saw..

 

4. We thought the horse was dead..... it was just sleeping apparently. 🙄

 

5. Sister Jensen is going home! 😭💛