Bezi - Week 12 - "Missionary Work is Miracle Work"

August 3, 2015

All is well :) 

The area presidency has asked our mission (and other missions as well I'm sure) to talk to three times as many people. So in order to do that, Sister Sotnikova and I have began talking to men too :) President said that sisters should focus on woman, and that elders should focus on contacting men, but if there aren't any women for us to contact then we should still talk to those around us. I can't say that I fully encourage the idea of talking to men... I've never so many awkward situations on my mission as I have had this week. 

I remember looking out our open window and seeing massive raindrops, smelling wet asphalt and wet bark, just taking in my surroundings :) and then two seconds later hearing two boys about nine years old riding their bikes home and one yelling repeatedly to the other, "Aaahhhhh, aaaaahhhhh I can't see anything!" Russian rainstorms are crazy. 

Two elders went home from our district this week, Elder Myers and Elder Weber. So Elder Myers decided to buy sharma for everyone, sharma is a russian burrito. There are mexican burritos, breakfast burritos, but Russian Burritos are pretty good too :) There is tomato, cucumber, mayo/sour cream, and chicken and other wonderful spices in them. It doesn't taste like a mexican burrito at all though. It's Russian somehow. Parker should look up a recipe for them online, they are great :) 

We had 4 member present lessons this week :) That's better than 2 (which was last week). We are trying to help our investigator, H, who is the father of a new convert, to stop smoking. He love love loooves church, but he feels embarrassed cause he needs to take a step out between hours to take a smoke break otherwise he gets antsy sitting in there. Also L came to church yesterday :) she is finally home from Moscow, and I am sure that she will be baptized this cycle. 

I have noticed an awful weakness that I have this week, which is that I have a really hard time finishing things that I start. I can finish it, but the quality at the end is always much lower than the quality that I start with in the beginning. I noticed that a little bit in my mission this week and I realized that it is a trial of my faith :) Will I finish the race strong? Will I sprint to the end? Or will I let myself go and loosen up and slow down? I think many of us can find the same problems in our every day lives... with school, with projects, even with fasting! The thing about enduring is that it really does test our faith, and holy cow is my faithfulness to God being tried! It's really not important whether or not you finish a mission, school, a fast, exams. What matters is what you learn. You don't fast just to get to the end of it. You don't take a biology class just to take a test at the end, you take the class to learn something during that period of time. We're not living just to get to the end of our lives. This is in fact a probationary period. We are being tested in every way. I feel like the closer a missionary comes to the end of his mission the stronger Satan tries to work on them. As long as I keep my covenants to remember Christ, I do not fall. As long as my faith is based on the Savior and not in myself, there is no failure. I know that clinging to Christ is the only thing that will allow me to endure WELL to the end of my mission.

We got transfer calls on Saturday night. I will be training this cycle :) there are 5 new sisters coming in, I get to meet her on Wednesday! I am also going to open an area that's been closed a while, beautiful Kazan :) I have heard that it is gorgeous there, I'm so so excited! I will get to see it in the Summer and in the fall and maybe even in the winter. Honestly my guess is that I am going to end my mission there, but we'll see. I am also going to be sister training leader. So yeah, president really dumpted a load on me. This will be a really interesting cycle :) My native companion, sister Sotnikova, will be serving with the only other Russian native in the mission, Sister Matakina. I am SOOO excited for them, it will be a blast. 

I'm sad that I won't be here to see the baptisms that will happen this cycle, L, H, and others. But I am just a worker in the vineyard, and the Lord tells me where to go. And I can't complain that I'm going to Kazan :) I've never heard anything bad about that place! 

Thanks for the prayers this week. I honestly felt real support. There are times on a mission where you know that the only thing that is keeping you going is the prayers of others, that's me right now :) And I'm grateful for those prayers. Cause now I'm on my feet again. And I'm ready to kill it this cycle! Missionary work is miracle work :) 

Loooove, 

Sister Wilson 

In a recent General Conference, Elder Kevin W. Pearson gave a talk entitled "Stay by the Tree". The following is a quote from that talk:

Enduring to the end is a hallmark of true discipleship and is essential to eternal life. But when trials and challenges come our way, we are often told to simply “hang in there.” Let me be clear: to “hang in there” is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him.

Click HERE to find out what it means to "Stay by the Tree"

Bezi - Week - 10 "Russiaaa"

 July 20, 2015

All is well,

I will forever be amazing by how much can be done in a 24 hour period on a mission. And what happens in a week is insane. I feel like Nephi, saying that my journal cannot hold a hundred of the things that happen out here. 

We've still been doing loads of contacting, but honestly with the way I've been eating lately it's probably okay that we've been doing a lot of walking. The weather here has been HEAVEN lately. It's been constantly in the 20-25s (I think that's about 75 degrees F). This week while contacting we met a lot of people who gave us the magic phrase, "I'm interesting, and I want to know more." I have heard that so rarely on my mission that I literally feel overjoyed whenever I here it and it's hard not to freak people out with my excitement. 

This week early in the morning we stopped a girl who seemed to be in a hurry, her name was I. We told her who we were and she quickly asked us, "do you know where I can find a fortuneteller?" We asked her why, and she said that she wanted to know the future so that she could get revenge on her husband. They've been married 6 months and have been fighting constantly. We quickly responded that revenge will not help anything. Instead we opened up to Moroni 7 with her in the Book of Mormon and told her that charity and love is the only thing that will heal their relationship. Her heart was immediately softened. She took the Book of Mormon and came to church with us this Sunday :) She's a bit of a hooligan and took a few smoke breaks before and during church, but we'll work on that. I'm so excited to see the changes in this girl's life thanks to Christ. I love meeting people that the Lord has prepared for us! Another time she may have rejected the missionaries, but the Lord's time is so perfect, and he sent us to her in a time of need. 

Brooklyn in 2003 showing her Patriotism

This week I found a little hymn book that I bought in the MTC. I haven't sang hymns in english in foreverrrr and I miss it so much. So lately at night I've been locking myself in the bathroom for 10 minutes and just singing hymns to myself in my lovely native language. I have to admit that I almost cried when I sang, "America, America God shed his grace on thee...." (I'm pretty much asking to make myself homesick). Buuut... honestly I've never felt more at peace that I need to be on a mission at this time. I looove America, I love my homeland, but I am so grateful to be in Russia for right now. I know that as long as I am here, I am needed here. 

I love my companion so so much. I have never laughed more in my life I think. Last night we had a lesson with a less active member whose legs are too old to bring her to church. Sister Sotnikova spent half the lesson trying to convince this 75 year old woman to do online dating. She is the funniest person, and the nicest and the most selfless and most humble and patient. 

Also, sitting on the bus the other day, I turn around and see that my companion started a conversation with the largest man I have ever seen in Russia. He told her that he is a championship body builder, and then she asked for his autograph. He asked her what her name was and was probably expecting something like, "Katie" or "Lena" but she said, "Sister Sotnikova" she was laughing so hard when she thought about how absurd and nerdy that sounded later. Her next question was, "shouldn't you have body guards or something?" and in the cockiest voice he says, "за чем мне охраник" which in english would probably mean, "why would someone like me need a body guard?" ah... people. 

We are writing at the office in Samara right now and in 3 hours we will be on a train to penza to do exchanges with the sisters there :) it's a 5 hour train ride, yaaaay! So much better that marshootkas. I remember taking 5 hour bus rides in those last summer, such a nightmare. 

Love you all :) 

Sister Brooklyn Wilson 

Bezi - Week 9 - "Choose to Believe"

July 15, 2015

All is well!  

This is probably the longest letter I have and ever will write... so bear with me :) 

This week flew by. We had exchanges with the sisters in Avrora and it was so so fun :) I love going on splits to wherever sister Twede is because we always live like kings when we are with her. Every morning we were there we had crepes because her companion used to work in a crepe shop. We even had buttermilk syrup and nutella with bananas, just like we used to do at home! I really miss dad's breakfast foods. I really learned a lot from working with these wonderful sisters and it honestly just felt really good to get out of my area for a bit (I can't imagine how Sis. Sotnikova feels, she's been in this area since October!). 

It's been really fun speaking with my companion in english this week. Her vocabulary is still small so she uses the words that she already knows, so she says things like, "It's my turn to give the dishes a shower." She also always says, "amathing" instead of "amazing." It's so funny to hear a 28 year old woman talk like that :) I really love working with her. 

This week the Zone Leaders also asked Sister Sotnikova and I (she is the STL) to do a presentation on how to have more joy while contacting (the area presidency has asked that we spend a minimum of 3 hours contacting every day). We decided to concentrate on having happiness in the companionship, because honestly how fun is it to contact when your companion isn't happy. Sis Sotnikova was sooo so nervous all week and especially in the beginning, but after a few minutes the Spirit really took over and everything went great :) 

After training we had interviews with President Schwab. That man is a tank of knowledge. I also did some translating for Sister Sotnikova during the training and every single time President Schwab opened his mouth it would get very difficult to translate because the Spirit works through him so strongly, it was distracting haha :) I admitted to him that I have been experiencing feelings of hopelessness lately. I guess you could say that even though I've been on a mission for 14 months I still don't quite understand hope and faith. Our area has really been struggling and I haven't seen many consistent lessons or investigators since the day I've come here. I see a miracle like meeting someone wonderful and being sure that they will be baptized, and it turns out that we only meet with them once, and after that they fall off the face of the earth. 

First of all, he reminded me that faith is not based on past, present, or future statistics, faith in based on Jesus Christ. President Schwab then reminded me that the results to our faith can be affected by 3 things. First, insufficient faith. Second, the Lord's timing. And third, agency of others. Three thirds of our brothers and sisters chose Satan's plan, but that doesn't mean that God didn't have sufficient faith, it means that he respects our agency. That knowledge really brought me comfort. 

Usually I don't include passages from conference talks.... and usually whenever other people include such passages I skip over them (oops) but our mission president has asked us to read this talk and doing so helped me to better understand what exercising faith looks like and how the Savior acts as a light in my own life. It is called "Choosing to Believe" by Whitney L. Clayton. 

"Every day each of us faces a test. It is the test of our lifetimes: will we choose to believe in Him and allow the light of His gospel to grow within us, or will we refuse to believe and insist on traveling alone in the dark? Belief and testimony and faith are not passive principles. They do not just happen to us. Belief is something we choose—we hope for it, we work for it, and we sacrifice for it. We will not accidentally come to believe in the Savior and His gospel any more than we will accidentally pray or pay tithing. We actively choose to believe, just like we choose to keep other commandments."

Something else that I reeeeally really loved was from general conference one year ago from "Claim the Blessings of your Covenants" by Linda. S. Reeves. 

"Almost three years ago a devastating fire gutted the interior of the beloved, historic tabernacle in Provo, Utah. Its loss was deemed a great tragedy by both the community and Church members. Many wondered, “Why did the Lord let this happen? Surely He could have prevented the fire or stopped its destruction. 

Ten months later, during the October 2011 general conference, there was an audible gasp when President Thomas S. Monson announced that the nearly destroyed tabernacle was to become a holy temple—a house of the Lord! Suddenly we could see what the Lord had always known! He didn’t cause the fire, but He allowed the fire to strip away the interior. He saw the tabernacle as a magnificent temple—a permanent home for making sacred, eternal covenants. 

My dear sisters, the Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones—and maybe our own—figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving and caring Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But He does not leave us in the ashes; He stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to Him. He is building our lives into magnificent temples where His Spirit can dwell eternally. 

In Doctrine and Covenants 58:3–4, the Lord tells us: 

'Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. 

For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory.' 

The Lord has a plan for each of our lives. Nothing that happens is a shock or a surprise to Him. He is all-knowing and all-loving. He is eager to help us, to comfort us, and to ease our pain as we rely on the power of the Atonement and honor our covenants. The trials and tribulation that we experience may be the very things that guide us to come unto Him and cling to our covenants so that we might return to His presence and receive all that the Father hath."

I really don't understand God's plan. Almost 100% of the time I don't understand why things are going "wrong" until after the trial is over and I see that actually everything was going right, because it was exactly what God wanted for me. I am so grateful for hard times. I am grateful for this hard mission. Just like the pioneers, who experienced starvation, disease, and death... I wouldn't trade my hard times for good times, because during those times are the times that I come to know my Loving Heavenly Father. 

Love, 

Sister Wilson 

Bezi - Week 7 - "Latvia!"

June 29, 2015

All is well..... 

This week was absolutely insane. So Sister Twede was supposed to be serving with us because her companion didn't get her visa, but apparently there was a mix up. President Schwab wrote the MTC about the trainee not getting her visa, and a couple hours later President gets a call from the MTC and says, "We have a problem..... that sister that apparently did not get her visa, just landed in the Samara Airport 20 minutes ago." That poor girl landed in Samara with no greeting party. I can't imagine how scary that would be, especially because she was all alone! But some people noticed that she was a bit distressed and let her use their phone and she was able to get a hold of the Schwabs and the Schwabs let her know that they were coming to get her. So, Sister Twede is not in a trio with us, however that would have made for quite an interesting companionship seeing that we are all the oldest sisters in the mission. By the way, my star of a companion, Sister Sotnikova is sister training leader. She has been beaming the last few days, it has been so fun to see how happy the responsibility makes her. 

Next cycle 6 new sisters are coming in. And By October half of the mission will be filled with missionaries who have been out 2 months or less. That is crazy. As of right now there are 51 missionaries here and pretty much all the senior couples are going home in the next 2-3 months, so sad :( They might have to call some office missionaries. 

Tuesday and Wednesday are always contacting days here in this area. They can sometimes be verrrry long, but I have gotten used to contacting 7 hours a day :) Uuuuuhhhhhhhhh tell me about the heat. It's like 105 degrees here I swear. I am costantly soaking wet. Thank GOODNESS we have been contacting in the mornings. I would die if we weren't allowed to do that. We have A/C in our apartment, one of the only apartments that does have A/C and it is a HUGE blessing. Seriously I remember last summer how hard it was to fall asleep because you were so hot,  and yes we had fans blowing on us all night. It probably doesn't help to fight to heat that I drink burning hot tea and eat hot Russian borsch every day... By the way, here in Russian the sun starts coming up at like 2:30, it's really interesting. The sun is already up by 4:00.

On the way to the airport I was with a couple missionaries I had never met and some who are really new. Man, I love love looove the missionaries in this mission. They are all such champions, I feel like on a mission its such a privilege to be around other missionaries because we are all trying to be as Christlike as possible out here. I couldn't help but laugh at some of the topics that came up... talking about Marshootka drag races (Marshootkas are these EXTREMELY old and broken down buses that are just filthy and usually in really poor condition). And also, talking about "Bab squads". More than often, sitting right outside of every apartment is a group of about 4-6 babushkee. They just sit outside on these benches all day long and chat with each other, and every time you try to get into the apartment building they ask who you are, why you are trying to get in the building, and who you are going to. They either end up being your best friends or they hate you :) 

Sister Sotnikova and Sister Wilson

On Thursday we had a visa trip to Lativa, I was supposed to be on a flight with Elder Graf to Moscow and then to Kiev, but the APs called me and told me that that was a mistake... and that I'd be leaving 4 hours later than everyone else on a flight to Moscow and then to Lativa. I was a bit bummed actually when they told me that because I'd been working myself up to see him. But, God awards us according to our desires and provided a way ;) When we landed in Moscow, turns out that Elder Graf's group going home to America had a really long layover and we ended up running into them. However he had gone to get some food with another elder and some of the other missionaries going home stayed to watch over their belongings. Our group going to Lativa had a 2 hour layover ourselves, so we just plopped ourselves down with them and decided to wait and surprise him. A few minutes later he came walking up with his companion and a big smile on his face. Oh man it was SO WEIRD seeing him in the beginning, it was like, are you a real person standing right in front of me? I haven't seen him in 2 years!! He's been such a good missionary, so hard working and all missionaries love him so much, especially the mission president. It's impossible to cover 2 years in twenty minutes, but we were able to do some good catching up. He's still one of my closest friends and it was such a blessing to be able to see him on his way home. So interesting to know that the next time I will be in that airport, I too will be going home. 

 

Elder Graf and Sister Wilson ...
high school friends serving in the same mission

Our area is really struggling right now... and our investigators really just aren't progressing much or taking things as seriously as we'd like them too. I am praying that we'll find some new investigators this week. 

I am so so grateful for my mission. There's nothing I'd trade this experience for. I'm grateful for opposition, I am grateful for the good and the bad days here. I am grateful for bitter and for sweet, because the contrast with it all just makes everything so much richer. 

Be good :) 

Love, Sister Wilson 

Bezi - Week 6 - "Transfers"

June 22, 2015

Bezi branch meeting house
tucked behind all those beautiful trees

All is well :) 

We got transfers this weekend and it was one of the first times on my entire mission that I wasn't extremely nervous to know where I would be going. I had a feeling that I would probably be here with Sister Sotnikova another cycle, and we were right :) However.... there is a catch. I am going to be in a trio. Sister Twede is supposed to be training this cycle, but her trainee didn't get her visa, so Sister Twede will be with us until her trainee comes. I've never been in a trio, and honestly I kind of felt like Joseph Smith when he found out that he needed to practice pologamy. It seems like it would be so hard to share your love with another person! However my companion has been in a trio a couple times, and she says that its like having children... you love all of them sooo much, just in different ways because they are all different :) Sister Twede and I knew each other before the mission and she is SUPER humble and creative and I'm not afraid of her at all, it's the word trio that scares me. I am sure she probably felt the same when she heard she'd be in a trio! But the next morning when I woke up I just felt peace and I have a feeling that I'm going to learn a lot about compromising opinions (between 3 people now) and that this cycle is actually going to be a blast. I'm so excited to be learning from another missionary! 

Sister Sotnikova really helped me with my accent this week. It seems to me that an accent isn't about learning how to speak like a Russian, but learning how to speak every single word correctly. We were reading together and she'd pick out about 5 words that I needed to work on. It's so weird because a lot of the time I can't even hear the difference when she tells me the correct and incorrect way to say a word.  

Of course we're praying for miracles. And we've gotten a lot more specific in the miracles that we are seeking. Last week the morning started out real tough. I had the biggest black cloud over my head. I felt that I couldn't do the work because I knew that the Spirit wasn't with me. So I asked that we sit down a moment and I prayed until I felt the Spirit return to me, and the Spirit returned to me when I remembered that we need to always look to Christ. But anyway Heavenly Father is so wise, he totally knew that Sister Wilson was going to take a minute and sit on a bench and pray and he planned a miracle into our day. About 30 minutes later we ran into a member who was on his way somewhere. We stopped him and talked a minute, and then before departing my brilliant companion asked for a referral. This member gave us TWENTY referrals. He went through his phone with us and picked out people that he thought were good candidates, these people are spiritual and he has talked to them about us. What's cool is that one of those people came to english and showed great interest in the Book of Mormon and has now become an investigator. 

Another miracle, I called Sister Martinez this week to ask for some numbers of new converts to call in their area and she told me that N, one of the people that we stopped on the street last cycle, was baptized. Which is super interesting. I vividly remember that day. I had thee worst mood ever, and we were hurrying to a lot of lessons and I remember that we only contacted like 5 people that day. Well, N is one of them. And now she's a member :) so that's cool. 

Our area isn't doing so hot right now. We had about 4 member present lessons this week. My friend told me that in Mexico last week they got 13 new investigators in one week. That would be a HUGE miracle if that happened here during the period of a 6 week cycle. We've been doing a whole lot of contacting, my feet are always killing me by the end of the day, but it's a good kind of pain :) 

The other night while I was praying I realized that my urgency to obedience could still be stronger. I also came to the realization that, you know what? Obedience is not something that only applies to a mission. I will not only have to be obedience to rules that I don't understand on a mission, but I will have to submit myself to commands or promptings from God later down the road. When my child wants to go out with friends and the Spirit compels me to say no, I must say no. I must be obedient. I am praying for that desire and urgency to not slacken or loosen up on obedience. Sometimes it just seems like things would be easier by trying to get around the rules. But that is the way that Satan works. He is the father of all lies. He is the great deciever. He has no power to fulfil his promises the way that God can. 

With Love,

Sister Wilson