10 months in the mission!

Breann Celebrated 10 months and her companion celebrated 9 months.

What better way to celebrate than with a family baptism.

She loves these kids!

May 26 2014

Man family, this week has probably been one of my favorites in the mission. It had its moments of stress as usual but probably some of the happiest moments I have felt as well. So I am going to start you off with some funny stories that happened this week and then I am going to talk about the miracle of May. 

So I was in divisions with Hermana Ewing (another white girl) this week and we were walking down the street to go to an appointment when we heard the truck that has all the fumigation coming. The problem was that we didn't know what dirrection it was coming from. So we walked to the corner and out of nowhere comes the truck right at us spraying this horrible gas, so we took one look at eachother and just started bookin it the other direction. It was like a movie moment haha and you know what the bums in the truck did... they started driving FASTER!!!!! Luckily we are missionarys and we are super fit so we outran them haha but once we got to a safe spot we just started laughing pretty hard. Ok... so that story probably wan't that funny for all of you but it was funny for me... guess you had to be there. This next one is a good one though.

So I was riding in the bus this week and this old man came on and sat in the seat next to me. After about 30 seconds I started hearing this chirping noise so I was like hmmm that must be someones weird ringtone on their phone or something. But the noise kept going and I realized it was coming from the old man sitting next to me so I was like what the.... old chirping man.... right as I looked over at him he pulls out a baby chick from his pocket!!!!!! I was like what in the world?!?!?! Ya a real live baby chick. He then tells his little chick to be quiet or he wont give him dinner and then puts the baby chick back in his pocket! Poor little chick... so I just sat there looking at him all astonished and then he looked over at me and winked!!! I bust up laughing. 
Another funny bus story, we were heading over to one part of our area and on the buses they sometimes play really old music in english. I was sitting there thinking about where we were going and what we were going to teach and things like that when out of nowhere this little boy stands right next to me (the bus is moving by the way) and starts singing to me. The song is the one that says "I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS, I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME!!!!" He just stood there singing me the whole song and at the end of it pulled out a little flower from his pocket and asked me to be his girlfriend. I asked him how old he was....7 years old ladies and gentlemen. He was adorable but I told him I was a missionary and that it just wouldn't work out between us... I felt bad... haha so I bought him a chocolate. 

Alright well now that hopefully you all got a little giggle from my stories I am going to tell you the best part of the week. SO remember last week when I talked about the family we met that we were planning on baptizing this weekend?? The single mom with 6 kids?? Well, they got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO. It went like this, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we taught them everything. First we taught the W.O.W so that they would stop drinking coffee (because all 6 kids and the mom drank coffee, they even gave it to the 9 month old baby) So they all agreed to stop drinking it and we bought them some stuff that they could use to replace it. Then Thursday night we were getting everything ready so that on Friday they could get interviewed by our District leader. As we were leaving Sindy (the one that talked to us first, she is 12) told us that she didn't want to get baptized anymore. We were shocked because she was the one that found us and said "hey when can I be baptized" but something that I have learned in the mission is that there is always oposition before the miracles. SO we left her some homework in the Book of Mormon to read. That night we started a fast so that Arlen (mom), Sindy(12), Oscar (10) and Hector (9) would all be baptized this weekend. We took the elders to interview them on Friday and Sindy told us that she still didn't want to be baptized but she agreed to be interviewed anyway. We put a lot of faith in the Lord that He would answer our prayers and our fast. Saturday morning we went to go pick up the family to get baptized. When we got there Sindy went to go "buy corn" and didn't come back for about 45 minutes, I was praying the whole time that she would feel in her heart the desire to come back. Right as we were walking out the door to go baptize the other 3 she showed up. She told us that she didn't want to get baptized so I said "ok but at least come support your family." so she agreed and we left. When we got there I said to her "Sindy what is it that you are afraid of?" She then told me she was scared of drowning..... hahahahahahahahahahahaha I explained to her that I am a lifeguard and I would never let that happen. But she was still insistant that she wanted to wait. So my companion and I said a little prayer. When we gave the white clothes to her mom and brothers she came up to me and said. "ok give me my clothes I want to be baptized!" Family, I have a STRONG testimony in the power of fasting and prayer. When these things are done WITH FAITH, there is no stronger power. Before in the mission I had fasted, but this time I did it with a different attitude and with lot of faith, knowing that if I did my part the Lord would do His. The baptism of this family was a little piece of Heaven here in Matagalpa. Watching Arlen start to put her life in order, Sindy overcoming the obstacles, Oscar and Hector having such great faith. I love this family more than I can describe and I feel unbelievable grateful with my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be the one to teach them and know them. I love the mission more than anything, I love that I am able to be here learning the things that I never would have been able to learn at home. I am grateful for this Gospel in my life and for who it has turned me into. Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support. I love you all!!!!

Hermana Willardson 

Pics from 5-19-14

Breann with Snow White

This is the view out her new house.  She believes she is Guatemalan. 

Preaching to the cows with a new convert.

New Companion that she loves!

Actually eating soup because it is colder in Matagalpa

Nicaraguan meal

Yeah well she sent it so I posted it.

5-19-14

Well family, here we are again! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was writing you guys last. I know I talk about time every time but it just flys by and it scares me. Haha. Anyway...  some funny things have happened this week. First off I am going to start you all off with the funny quotes of my companion. She learned english listening to popular songs in english so the phrases she knows are SO FUNNY!!!!!!

Ok so on Monday 2 hermanas more slept with us because it was the day of changes and their area is super far so they stayed the night with us. The owner of the house came to talk to us at 9:30 and he is super...annoying... and he got mad that the other 2 hermanas were there... so when he left my companion looked at me and said "Sorry for party rockin." Hahahahaha I laughed so hard.

Last night we were taking out the numbers of the week (which is really boring) so I pulled out the coke that we had in the fridge and my comp said "hmmm I`ll drink to that!!" Hahaha its so funny because she says it with her little accent and everything. Holy cow she keeps me laughing constantly. I am seriously so happy to be with her because she likes to work. The other day she said "Willie you are like an "Uh Oh Oreo"... White on the outside but black on the inside, and I am like a normal oreo, black on the outside but white on the inside. That is why we get along so well" Hahaha I am also super excited to be with someone that is ready to work!!!! It makes things so much easier, and the best news is that she hasn't even throw up!!!!!!

In other news WE CHANGED HOUSES!!!!! Wahoooooo!!!!! We were done with waking up with animals in our beds and flees so ya we changed... oh by the way I had flees for like a week haha but don't worry we have changed houses and I got rid of them. Flees are the worst by the way.... So this is how we found another house to live in. We were contacting one night and I really wanted to contact a super rich house so I was like "Hey Gonzalez lets go contact that rich house" so we went and we were talking to this super cute old lady and I asked her who else she lived with us. She told us that she lived alone and I was like WHAT??? But your house is gigantic... it has 2 floors..... and she was like I know.. it is kinda lonely sometimes and I have been thinking about renting out the second floor... SO I was like... well hey... we are looking for a place to live.. how about we pull the ol' switcheroo and live with you!!!!! (That rhymed...) and so today we changed houses... yall would have been impressed with us. Moving all our stuff ALONE (all of the elders were in Manauga) up and down mountains. Ya. I am exhausted but we are happy.  Ok I don't have tons of time today so I am just going to finish off with our miracle of the week.

We have been fasting and praying for this area because... well it is kinda a hard area... and this week we were hiking up a huge mountain... dead middle of the day.. the sun killing us... fasting... and I thought for sure I was going to die. And this little girl stops us and says "hey is it true that you guys are baptizing people in your church?" we were all like "YA!" and she says "when can I be baptized?" We were like... ok little girl why you be playin with our minds like that... so we asked if we could talk to her parents. She was like YES PLEASE!!!! Well she lives  with her grandma (Maria Luisa) her mom (Arlene) her (Cindy) and her siblings. And we talked with her mom and grandma and the siblings that are older than 8 and all of them had gone to church before but before they could get baptized they had to move and lost contact with the missionaries. They expressed thier desires to be baptized and we put a goal with them to be baptized this saturday :) On Sunday ALL of the family came to church!!!! It was so beautiful and such a big miracle. We are now going to be working with them to help them reach the goal of this weekend. Family PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM. We are going to be fasting and praying so that we can help this area become a better area and help strengthen the branch here in Matagalpa. 

I am still doing great, loving my new companion and working hard. I promise to work hard until the end!!! I hope you know I love you all so much and I pray for you everyday.

I love you

Hermana Willardson 

5-12-14

Hey Fam!!!!     5/12/14

So we all just talked on Saturday so I don't have a ton to tell yall but I will tell you about the rest of Saturday, Sunday and Today.  :) 

First I just gotta tell you all that skyping was really funny, even if we had a couple difficulties and you all just laughed at me for this "accent" ya crazies. hahaha. Just because I couldn't remember (and still cant remember) what that thing outside is called. paragola or something like that. But that is a HARD english word ok???

Anyway Saturday night I was feeling really happy and just glad I got to talk to you guys. I didn't feel sad at all just an emotional high :) So we went to all go eat hamburgers because we were starving. When we got there I was just chilling and i looked out the window and saw a little boy in clothes that were super worn and he was super dirty... this wasn't the first time that I had seen kids like that but it just kinda caught me off guard again. (Talking to you guys threw me back into america for a second.) And my District leader went outside to give him some fries and I just felt so guilty, seriously I just felt awful, so I bought him a roasted chicken and told him to take it to his family. He told me that his parents are in the Hospital but that he was looking for money with his brother. I don't know if it was a true story or not.. but it just threw me back into reality... Nicaragua has made me so so so grateful for the things I have back home. It was easy for me to adapt to my surroundings because I knew that I wasn't going to be living here forever... But now I honestly love Nicaragua because it has changed my life. Anyway, so he ran off with his chicken and I felt so happy inside. So here is a little hint, if you are ever feeling down, do service. 

Sunday was a pretty good day, we got up early and went to go get our investigators. Hilda and Ronald came with us to church and also a little girl named Jaqarelis (good luck saying that one mom haha) She is the daughter of some less actives and she went ALONE with us. I know she is going to be a huge help to her family. Her other sister was going to come with us too but when she saw my companion she ran away and started crying.. so I went to go find her to figure out what happened and she told me that she was scared of my companion because she has freckles hahahahahahahahahaha it was one of the funniest things I have ever heard... so she promised me next week she would come because I will have a new comp. Then we were walking down a mountain and I fell.... yup skirt came up and I flashed a couple dogs... haha but I got some good scrapes on my hands and legs because it is all rocks. So I fell on some sharp rocks and I got to church all bloody haha... what do you do right? Then that night we were walking around saying goodbye to people for my companion and the lights went out.... that was scary because we were walking in pure darkness. I didnt like it so much. Jaja. But anyway, Morales was pretty sad. Then we were up all night packing her stuff. Oh you just gotta love changes. 

This morning we got up at 5 and I took her to the bus stop with all of her stuff... i was very tired. Then I went with Hermana Cahan and hermana Janzen (two white girls) and we went and spent pday together. We took a little nap in the morning and then when I went to shower the most incredible thing happened IT WAS HOT WATER!!!!!!! YA!!!!!!!! The first time in 9 and a half months!!!!!! I scared me a little because I forgot what it was like jajja. Anyway then we had an american day. We went and bought donuts and waited for my new comp to come from Managua. We went and looked in tourist shops haha things that normal americans would do if they were here. Then at about 3:00 I got a call saying that Hermana Gonzalez was here so we ran to the terminal and when I got there she came running towards me to give me a big hug!!!!! I AM SO STINKIN EXCITED TO BE HER COMPANION!!!!!! She always says "my willie" when she is talking about me to other people. Seriously she is so adorable. Then all of the hermanas were together so we went and got some Pizza and now we are here writing yall haha. So that is what has happened the last 3 days. 

Anyway I hope you are all still doing good and don't miss me too much haha. Thank you for all your support and love, I couldn't do it without you!!!

Hermana Willie. 

           

Another goodbye!

Saying Goodbye to Hermano Thompson and Hermana Morales

 Breanns cute little boyfriend!

Pics from May 5th

P-day activity to the waterfall with her zone!

Hanging with new converts

Piled in a bus

Making tortilla's with a convert

Malgapa

H. Morales

This little guy was being punished

The spider she found in her bed.....ahhh

The whole zone!

Loving Matagalpa May 5th

Whats up family!!!! I hope you are all doing well!!!! First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY and GRANDPA LANIE!!!!! Hope you celebrated hardcore... but not too hardcore haha. Lets see how do we start you all off for the week.
Ok so remember when I had that streak of people throwing up when I did divisiones with them?? Well the streak continues. Monday night my companion and I were leaving from writing and we got right outside the church and she threw up. So that was lovely. I am learning how to deal with it better though. I have been SUPER blessed to have never been that sick on the mission. Seriously huge blessing and I am SO grateful. Lets see what else happened this week. I gotta whip out my agenda to see haha all of the weeks seem to blur together.

Wednesday we had to go to Managua, by the way I finally got my package from mom with all the birthday letters, thank you to those who wrote me for my birthday. That was enjoyable :) Anyway we went to Managua for a leaders meeting and when we got there the APs were like ok everyone we are going to go play some kickball!!!! And I was like WHAT?!?!?! WHOOOHOOOO but I secretly doubted we were going to play. But we went outside and there was President ready with the ball. So we played some kickball with President haha it was so awesome!!! Don't worry though it did have a purpose. Later in the meeting we changed a whole bunch of how we are going to do the numbers so that we can have better results and playing kickball helped us understand why. I would try to explain it to you but that is a little boring haha. Anyway I am actually secretly professional at playing kickball in a skirt. Hidden talent that I didn't know I had. haha. Later that night we missed that last express bus again so Elder Ochoa Elder Rigby Hermana Morales and me all went on the normal bus again. 3 hour bus ride back home to Matagalpa haha. Luckily I had all my birthday letters to read so I wasn't bored. 

Thursday we had our zone meeting to teach what we learned in the leaders meeting and we played kickball again.. unfortunately my leg had had enough of kickball and I did something that it didn't like and I believe that I may have torn something in my leg... haha needless to say it was a painful week. Then we did divisions and I was in an area in Matagalpa called Yuguares. It is 100% stairs.... and with a hurt leg it was difficult, haha but the Lord blesses those who serve Him and I made it through the week. But seriously these stairs are unlike anything you have ever seen before and the area is like you are walking through the middle of the jungle haha  Matagalpa is a whole new world I tell you.
Friday I sent my companion to Esteli again haha and I was with an hermana named Hermana

Castro, she is new and it really made me miss training I am praying that I will get the chance to train again because I loved it so so much! We found this family and the husband when we first got there was accusing us that we thought that Jospeh Smith is God and blah blah blah but I asked him if he had 15 minutes in which we could just sing for him. So he said yes, we sang a hymn and the Spirit came so strong. We then taught him about the restoration (I don't know how to spell in Ingles) and he was touched by the Spirit and was asking us much better questions to understand. By the end of the lesson him and his wife had a baptism date for the 17 of may (crossin our fingers) Their names are Vilma and Holman. But this was such a big lesson to me that the Spirit is really the one that teaches. Without the Spirit I really am nothing!! Right now we are also teaching this awesome family named Hilda and Ronald. I don't remember if I talked about them in my last email... but we found them through the popsicle lady... I am pretty sure I talked about that. Anyway they are ADORABLE: Every time we go to teach them they talk about what they read in the Book of Mormon!! Seriously I sometimes just stand in awe at the blessings I am recieving, This family is a HUGE blessing. We have plans to marry them and baptize them this weekend. I am becoming quite the wedding planner haha. But PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM!!!!!! I am really really praying for this weekend for this family. They are so cute.

Saturday was a crazy day because I had to go get my companion from Esteli and we didn't end up getting back to Matagalpa until 3:00. (that is the stinky part about buses) BUT we actually got a ride back with some members from Esteli in their car, and I actually got car sick because it was the first time in about 9 months that I have been in a car. hahaha. But funny story, we forgot to start our fast after lunch so as we were working I was like CRAP WE FORGOT TO START THE FAST!!!!! SO we went to a little cave and started our fast haha, it was pretty sweet to start a fast in a cave. Then we went to the house of a convert and her little boy was kneeling on the floor with his hands on his head, so I was like ummm why is your son on the ground. Then she told me that he had stolen ice cream from another kid so he was being punished haha. I thought it was rather funny. SO Mom and Dad the next time you need to punish Alyssa just make her kneel in the kitchen and put her hands on her head. I will send a picture for and example haha. I think it is rather effective.  

Anyway that was this week for you.. I know I had more to say but I forgot... I will be better about writing down the things I want to tell yall haha sorry. OH today we went to a sweet waterfall for PDAY. It is just one of the million reasons that I love Nicaragua. SO BEAUTIFUL.
Anyway I will be calling around 3:00 your time on Sunday.. I mean if everything goes well at least... (heres to hoping there is electricity.) If something goes horribly wrong I will find someway to communicate with you. Haha but as for now that is the plan. And I secretly practice my english to myself so that on sunday it wont sound so bad. Haha. Anyway I love you all and I am nervous/excited to talk to you on sunday!

Be good read your scriptures hehahehaheha. 

Hermana Willy.

April 28th

Well hello there family!
This week was a pretty great one if I do say so myself.. but it had its fair share of emotions, I guess thats what I get for being a girl hehe. SO I will start this letter off with a joke... ok I have been sitting here for about 5 minutes trying to think about a joke and I can't think of one haha. I should just delete this whole sentance... but I am not going to.
ANYWAY!!! Tuesday was an interesting day.. we are starting this new thing in the mission where we get certified to teach. If you pass the certification you get this cool little card. Anyway all of the leaders need to be certified (obviously.) So on Tuesday we had to head down to Managua to all get certified. To be certified we had to teach 3 lessons and in these three lessons we were teaching the other leaders and the APs were judging us. INTIMIDATING??? maybe a little. haha. SO they actually judged us pretty hard and only 3 companionships passed. All of them Hermanas haha... So I got my certification and it felt pretty sweet. But it was a little stressfull. Haha. Then we missed the last express bus so we had to go in the one that takes 3 hours.. we got in at about 7:00 hahaha needless to say I took a nice nap. When I woke up it was just the zone leaders and us in the whole bus and we still had about an hour left in the ride. So we all took our own row and it wasn't that bad anymore haha. They love to play OLD american music on the buses so mom and dad when I come home I will be able to jam with you!!! haha.

(right now I have to look at my agenda because I do not recall what I did this week.)

Wednesday in the morning we got all of the paper work ready for Mario and Juana so they could get married and baptised (that is a good story that I will tell you later) and then we had an AMAZING lesson with Judith. She has been reading the book of Mormon and sometimes I honestly think she knows more than I do. She was an investigator that was sent to me as a miracle. A 100% blessing. She has become one of my best friends and I am just so grateful that God let me teach her. She is one of a kind. I know she is going to help this branch a lot too. She is wonderful. I know she is going straight to heaven. Anyway, then we had a "noche de hermanamiento" that the elders were supposed to teach... but their bus got in a car accident and they were super late.. SO Morales and I got to teach a message to everyone and we hadn't prepared anything haha luckily I have been studying conference talks so I knew what I could talk about and it actually tearned out really good. That is the blessing of a missionary... haha. This day we were walking to an appointment and this random lady was like hey muchachas I sell popsicles!!! So we were like oh thanks good to know!! Then almost instantly I got this hardcore craving for a popsicle so I was like hey lets go get one!!! While we were buying we did a little contacting and found out that she actually used to be a member and her husbands brother was baptized recently in the other branch and her husband is now really interested in the church. She also told us that her husband had another brother that lived close and that we should go visit him. So we were like sweet!!!! Can we come back and teach yall tomorrow!!! They said yes. Then the last bus was about to leave so we booked it outta there.
Thursday we did divisions with some members so that we could cover more ground and get work done. We went with these two families that I talked about and another family that was a reference from a member and they are all SUPER receptive!!!! We put baptism dates with all of them and they are all now progressing just great :) It was a miracle... It was preparing us for what happened later that night. We went to go see Mario and Juana and get the final things ready for saturday for their baptism and wedding. And when we got there I imidiately felt that the spirit had changed in the house.. They then told us that their old pastor had come to their house and told them a bunch of crap about the Mormons and they didn't want anything to do with us... I was a little caught off guard and my companion started fighting with them. So I took her arm and said "lets pray and go." So we didn't fight with them because I knew it wouldn't do anything. We told them we would come back tomorrow so we prayed and got outta there. It was pretty sad to see them fall... but I still have hope for them.

Friday in the morning we prepared a lesson for Juana and Mario to try to save them. We got to their house and told them that we had been thinking a lot about them and we loved them which is why we want them to know the truthfulness of the gospel. We had a really powerfull lesson and at the end of it they told us that they knew we were right but that they just wanted a little more time to think about all of it. So we are giving them a little more time. But I know that they are going to do it someday. Pray for them please!!!

Saturday in the morning I surprised my companion with pancakes in the morning and then we started getting stuff ready for the baptism of Judith!!! She is just the best. Her baptism was really spiritual and after she was baptised she shared her testimony and it made me so so so grateful that I get to be here. Helping people like her change their lives and feeling the love and joy that the gospel brings. There is nothing quite like seeing someone you have come to love get dressed in white. If I could be a missionary forever I think I would. I am so grateful to have been blessed with the opportunity to be here, especially in Nicaragua where the people are so incredible. I have no doubt that the mission has changed my life forever and I will always be grateful to my Father in Heaven for this chance He has given me to not only help others find the truth but to be able to find it myself. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week and we will be chatting soon :)
Love you all!!

Hermana Willardson