Carmichael again!

SURPRISE FROM HEAVENLY FATHER!!  I have been transferred to Carmichael back in the Deaf branch, 2 weeks before transfers!!  The new Sign Language sister came from the MTC and sister sellers is training her in Stockton, so they kicked me out!!  My heart broke a little.  or a lot.  but guess what else???  KATHY IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!  SHE CONVERTED FROM WICCAN TO MORMONISM!  December 1st is her baptism date and I am sooo excited for her!!  She feels the gospel and even though we haven't been able to teach her everything, she FEELS like its true.  I love the Holy Ghost.  

Dianne, on the other hand...has been postponed in her baptism.  It will happen soon, but we just dont know when.  Her family came into town and freaked out that she was going to be baptized Mormon.  She told them she liked us but they are purposely staying another week to make sure she DOESNT get baptized.  So, we'll just wait til after they leave back to Louisiana and we'll baptize her!!  

Sister Larson, Sister Oliphant and I are in a trio until Sister Larson flies home next week.  boooo.  We carved pumpkins today as a district.  Mine was supposed to be the angel moroni....We had a tour at the temple last weekend and it was interesting.  Kathy came up from Stockton so I was able to see her again.  Its only been 4 days and I miss her already so much.  We interpreted the tour for the Deafies and the spirit was felt.  I miss the temple.

 I finished the D&C and then I whipped through the Pearl of Great Price.  The only book I havent read on my mission is the Old Testament.  I might put that one off until after my mission, and take it as an institute class.  The Deaf branch gets a new senior couple tomorrow to help us.  YAY!  Im actually really excited.  Hopefully they can help our little branch.  Last Sunday, we only had 10 Deafies...its threatening to be shut down.  We're trying to be positive, but its hard to have so little support in a group that needs a TON of help.  

I love all of you!!

Love,

Sister Wilson

baptism!

I love being a missionary.  I am beginning to feel an overall sadness that my mission will soon be over and I'll never be able to be the same again.  I have learned some amazing things here, thats for sure.  Things I will cherish for the rest of my life. 

 DIANNE IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!!!!!  She came back into town this week and she called us.  We were on the road and the interpreter told us (for Dianne) that she was considering suicide.  She got robbed AGAIN and she was going to be kicked out of her apartment and be homeless.  She said she would prefer death than living on the streets again.  (Shes done it before.)  Dianne did years and years of hard-core drugs.  Then, she did 13 years of prison to pay for it, but she has been clean 7 years and never wants to go back.  We drove STRAIGHT to her apartment to talk to her.  She just sat there and cried.  "Wilson, Wilson, I missed you.  I miss you so much, I love you."  She basically has no family because they all cut her off because of her addictions and the rest of them live in Louisiana.  I just held her as she cried and cried.  She said she wants to be baptized and we talked about suicide and explained that its not a better option.   I had some crackers in the car and I gave them all to her because she only had one can of soup left.  Lucky for us, bishop approved her for some church funds, and so everything should work out for her financially. 

 We had to make sure that she wasn't just taking advantage of the church's money, but she promised the bishop that she would never again ask for help, it was just this one time.  She is so excited to get baptized, its all she talks about.  We explained the sacrament to her and she said "I know!  Thats why I didnt take it on sunday because I get to take it AFTER I am baptized!"  Her brain surgery was a success and her seizures have stopped!  The only problem is...we cant get her stitches wet.  Problem solved: she is going to wear a swimming cap.  I am so excited.  My 3rd Deaf baptism!!  She loves church and she keeps telling us "I will NEVER miss another Sunday!  I missed 3 months! I love Jesus!" 

 Kathy is still doing well, she knows now that Heavenly Father loves her and she is asking questions about baptism.  The church is true!!

 

Love, Sister Wink

 P.S. I cut sister sellers hair.  Hmm....maybe I should start doing this more often, eh?  (it was just a perfectly straight line and then some higher layers for her)  With her curly hair, you dont even have to cut straight because it doesnt matter.  It was still fun, though. 

Conference news

Yes, I DID freak out at the new missionary ages.  Its so exciting.  Especially since it will mean MORE SISTER MISSIONARIES!!!!  YA!  You know whats amazing about conference?  Its always about whatever is going on in your life.  For me, it was all about missionary work.  Everything related to my life and the wards participating in missionary work.  Then, sister Sellers looked at me and said "gosh!  This whole conference is about Family!"  haha.  I am thankful that the Holy Ghost can whisper to each of us the exact words we need to hear!  Its just like the Book of Mormon.  Every time you read, it applies to your life and you learn something new!

This week was basically amazing.  We added 3 new Deaf investigators, two of which are a married couple who dont use ASL, but rather, Spanish sign.  Its going to be interesting to teach them!  We had 2 days last week in the 100's but now its cooled down much to around 75-80, which is sooo much better.  I love it.

In the spirit of Halloween, I have a scary story: We were sitting during companionship study when our doorbell rang.  I heard men's voices and we were confused who was at our door.  We live across from a kind of freaky park, so we are cautious who we open the door for and who watches us.  Sister Sellers looked through the peephole and she whispered "they covered the peephole!"  uhhh....NOT. ANSWERING.  So, a few seconds later, they knock on the door again.  Sister Estrada ran to another room to see if she could see who it was out her bedroom window, but she couldnt see.  Then, the knocking turned into POUNDING on the door!!  My heart was racing and I was so scared I just kept saying "dont open the door!  Dont open it!"  Sister Sellers opened the door.  There, we see 3 elders standing innocently with a stack of ASL cards for us.  I was so mad.  I yelled at them.  "DONT YOU EVER DO THAT TO SISTER MISSIONARIES IN STOCKTON!!"   augheaghh.  Elders.  They laughed and appologized, apparently they didnt mean to scare us, they were just teasing by covering the peephole because they thought it would be funny.  We all had a good laugh. 

I have another halloween story.  We went to see some Deaf people who live in Galt, CA.  (Galt is the very tip top of my area, about 30 minutes in the car)  It was the first time I've ever been to Galt, and Ive been here for 4 transfers.  Come to find out, Galt is all farmland.  There is nothin out there, and its so dark and far from the city lights.  So we went one night to find these two deaf people.  They first one was a confused hearing lady, not sure why we had her name because shes not deaf, and the second one was a struggle to find.  There was a road where we were supposed to find the 2nd Deafie, but we had to drive by again and again because there were literally NO houses on the road.  The GPS took us to a random place in a field with nothing.  We drove up to a dirt road thinking that maybe it would take us to the house if we followed it, but it dead-ended at a field of hay.  Upon driving back to the paved road, we realized that we drove OVER the foundation of a used-to-exist house.  There it was, a cement slab where a house was long before.  Weird.  Needless to say, we assumed that the Deafie had moved and we took the name off our map.  That night was a waste of time, but it reminded me of Halloween because there were creepy fields and it was pitch black.  Then, there was a random mystery house that disappeared.  hmmm....

I got chased by dogs for the first time on Friday.  I got out of the car to knock a specific door, and there were these two scroungy dogs waiting for me, growling.  One of them had a limp and they were probably filled with immense amounts of disease.  They barked and barked and I was sure to keep my face to them.  When we walked down the sidewalk, they started chasing us and I didnt know what else to do other than RUN!  (which, I later realized, is the dumbest possible thing to do)  Good thing they were both little tiny, so I outran them and made it to the door.  I guess I needed to have this happen at least once on my mission, right?  ;) 

This email is all super random...oh, and I saw my first-ever real live prostitute.

 Kathy is doing well.  She watched conference on Saturday morning with us and cried.  I think she'll be baptized.  Still waiting for Lynda, she needs about a month to recover from some personal stuff, but she does want to be baptized as well!  Dan has to wait until January, he's been in and out of the hospital.  We are so overdue on a baptism its rediculous!!  I will see baptisms happen soon!!!

 

 This morning I had a struggle.  We woke up early to go grocery shopping and as I stood at the ATM to withdraw money, a homeless lady approached me and asked if I'd watched the news the night before.  I answered that no, I hadn't.  She seemed bothered because Im sure that was her usual opening line to her explain how she needs money.  I told her I dont watch the news, then I told her it was depressing.  "Dont you care about starving children?  Do you donate money??" she asked.  I explained that I donate through my church, yes.  She then made a bad decision to then offend me and say a few blankity-blanks about church.  I would like to now make a comment to all the homeless people who read my blog:  IF YOU WANT SOMEONE TO GIVE YOU MONEY, DONT OFFEND THEM BEFORE YOU ASK.  I just started ignoring her as she asked me more questions and I simply didn't answer.  She continued "Do I have to go to church to get money?!"  I thought for a moment, realizing that only those who obey commandments will get the blessings.  She obviously isnt obeying the commandments.  So, I told her "yes. you need to come to church to get money."  She just yelled at me.  "GO TO CHURCH!!!"  Then she left.   Thanks, I think I will.  Church makes me a lot more happy than you are, right now. 

I was quite offended by that woman and it was at the beginning of my day.  Sister sellers was confused at what happened, but I didnt want to talk about it, I was so frustrated and offended.  I prayed in my heart to Heavenly Father for peace and comfort.  He whispered to me "Its okay, she's just mad at Me."  Then, I read D&C 95:6 and 12.  Its funny, because D&C 95 is basically a boring yet necessary section about how to build the churches and what dimensions they need to be.  Yet, the spirit spoke to me as I read the verses.  "They who are not chosen have sinned a very greivous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day"  Verse 12: "If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness."  Its sad that the woman was walking in darkness.  And though I was troubled for a time, Heavenly Father gave me peace and joy again soon thereafter.  I love the gospel.  I was a bit afraid to leave the store for fear she would be waiting for me outside but she was gone. 

I love you all.  I love conference.  I love my Savior. 

Sister Wilson

oh wow

Its been a Cah-ray-zee time here in Stockton.  But good.  I got my "depressing mail" this week in the mail and I was shocked.  (Missionaries call "depressing mail" the one that says when you go home.  The next one to come has my flight information and everything.)  I got the first of 3 to come.  Boooo.

Dan was in the hospital so we havent taught him for like a month!  He called us and we asked if he needed anything.  His reply?  "Tithing slips.  I cant go to church, but I HAVE to tithe!!"  Talk about true conversion!!  I cant wait to baptize him in January.  He's so ready.  Lynda is still struggling with smoking, but I know deep inside that she WILL  be baptized.  She will.  She wants it so bad. 

 Now I wish to talk (more) about Kathy.  I have never seen anyone change themselves and their faith so quickly.  She has gone from praying to some goddess of the night to praying to Heavenly Father who she didnt even believe in 2 months ago.  She LOVES the Book of Mormon and she loves church.  She hasnt stepped foot into any kind of church for 16 years.  We went to teach her the other night and she shared an amazing story.  Kathy said that every time we are set to teach her, or she is scheduled to come to church with us, she gets sick.  EVERY. TIME.  She says its quite strange but we just told her its satan.  (and no, satan, I dont capitzalize the first letter, even if it is a name.)  Anyway, so she said that day when we were coming to teach her, she woke up with a terrrible headache.  She was considering calling us and cancelling, but she prayed (to God) that He would help her headache go away.  She got out of bed and by the time she took 5 steps to the bathroom, her headache was gone.   A small miracle, but it made us so happy!  She is beginning to see God answer her prayers!!  Kathy came to Womens conference and she felt the spirit.  I love that woman so much.  I love EVERYONE so much.   Part of being a missionary, I guess!  Guess what else?!  Kathy just set up a scholarship called the "Kathy's Just-Because-You-Deserve-It scholarship that pays for all of your college books.  She decided that Sister Sellers was her first recipiant of the scholarship and she is now in the process of writing a contract that will stand up in a court of law to prove that she really means it!  Too bad I'm graduated, eh?  haha.

Womens Conference was AMAZING beyond all reason.  I sat by Kathy and I clang to every word, hoping she felt it.  She did.  She does every time.  During the intermediate song when all of us stood and sang, I was listening to the loud woman behind me.  She had a pretty voice, and she slid on her notes up and down, just like Mom does sometimes.  The spirit overwhelmed me and I cried because I realized that at that exact moment, my Mother was in Utah, listening to the same broadcast, and singing the same song.  The spirit reminded me that Mom always went to Womens conference.  Mom always taught me right things and showed me good examples.  I have a mother who loves me, unlike Kathy had.  I had a bout of missing my Mom, but yet I felt joy and thankfulness in my heart. 

I have begun to read the D&C cover to cover, just because I never have.  I'm on 78 right now.  WOW!  I realized the other day how important that little book of scripture is!  I can now proudly say that I have a testimony of the Doctrine and Covenants.  It took me 78 sections to get it, but I have one.  Joseph Smith needed all the help he could get from Heaven to organize this church and preach the gospel.  Its so amazing. 

 I love you all!  Go share your testimony with someone!

Sister Wink

Random:

Sister Seller's hearing aid has a bluetooth that connects to our car when someone calls us on the phone.  She can kind of hear them.  Cool.  We also play "name that tune" because she's memorized some of the hymns so she can recognize some of the words when we listen to the CD in the car.  Who'd a thunk I would be playing "name that tune" with a Deafie, eh?  haha.  She has lost more hearing recently, even more than she lost in the MTC, so now she only hears 20%.