I Don't Love Technology

I'm parked outside the church leeching WiFi from them because when I tried sending my email earlier son the other WiFi, IT DIDN'T WORK.

So I'm trying again.

This week we pulled weeds in a lavender field (best day of my life, most relaxing weeding I'll ever do) and got to hang out with tons of chickens! Love the country life for sure!

On Sunday we saw a less active family come back to church. We visited them a few days ago and I guess they decided to come! It was awesome!

Kita, a cute gal we're teaching, is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and seeing the similarities in her own life of some of the people in the stories. Like Nephi. It's so cool to see her progressing as she is, she's amazing!

We just went out tracting because our p-day is flipped all around due to new years eve. We met this lady named Pam who let us in outta the rain and found out she met missionaries before, but they never went back to see her! She may not have been home when they tried by, but how cool that we met her today. And even while I was grumbling along because of some slight inconveniences today, we still got to meet her. The Lord is so good to me.

Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful New Years! Like you!!!!

With love,
Sister Wilcox 😙

Christmas in Soupville

Hey y'all!

The sun is blaring down right now and it's the end of December! Where's the snow??

Campbellsville is wonderful! It's so huge that some of the towns we go to are in different time zones! It's crazy! We have so many miles, and there's lots of scary country roads with deer. The surrounding missionary areas are even more boonies though. Our neighbors, the Sulpher Well elders, are 40 minutes or so away and in another time zone. Their area is entirely boonies. They live inside an old church! It's super cool.

There's plenty of members here who own chickens too, this is my kind of town I tell you.

The members are wonderful! It's a little branch, but man they are so giving. They gave the sisters before me (which was a trio) a ton of food and then this last Sunday they did it again! What am I going to do?? One sister makes this bread called angel bread that is so light and fluffy, I didn't know that was possible!

This apartment is huge. I  know I just came from living in a house, but this place is big. And fancy. We have a garage. I feel like the apartments keep getting nicer as I go further along the mission? It's funny to remember my first one, the little getto one in Hurstbourne. Miss that place.

I've been baking since I got here. The best way to get in doors is if you have a plate full of sugar! We've met a lot of less active members that way and it's been so much fun getting to know them. They are so sweet! And hilarious, all of them have such an interesting personality and I just love it! Hopefully we can build up good relations with everyone and help them come back to church!

Sister Young has only been here for 5 weeks, so we're both trying to learn everybody's names! 😂

I had to give a little talk on Sunday, again. It was okay though, I hope. It was weird only going to church for an hour.

This ward is real musical too. There's a member named brother Kelly who ropes everyone into singing or doing some kind of musical thing, and it's really fun! On Wednesday we went to the church to help with family history and he pulled us outta there to go practice some songs for an 8 year old baptism coming up. He then taught us a gospel "rap" song, it was interesting. But I loved it!

There's also a senior couple in our ward, the Karrens, who just got out of the MTC. They are super cute and we found out they're going to be moving in right next door to us! I'm scared, this means the apartment could be inspected at any moment! I have to keep things tidy! No it'll be fine, and really nice to have them so close. Elder Karren worked construction for a long time and so whenever something starts acting up in our apartment we just ask him to fix it😊

We're going to a few different places for Christmas! We're going to the Rodenburg home tonight, and then the Caldwells and the Jensens tomorrow! I'm excited! Things are going to be busy!

I hope y'all are enjoying Christmas and the spirit that is felt all around us this time of year. People all over are remembering Christ, giving as he gave, telling his story, gathering as families and friends, and serving selflessly for those in need. It's beautiful. It's so unifying. I feel like it gives me a tiny glimpse of what it will be like when the gospel is shared and accepted in every nation, kindred and tongue. What a miraculous time that will be to live in, and one that I know is coming soon.

I love you all and I wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!! Can't wait to talk to my family tomorrow!!!

Remember, He is the Gift.

With love,
Sister Wilcox🎄🎁🎉

Stuff has Hit the Fan

Hey y'all,

I know I just did this on Wednesday, but it feels like it's been a whole week since I've emailed. Crazy.

So I got the most bizarro news on Saturday, I'm being transferred! I've been totally jipped. I haven't even been here in Jasper for a real transfer! This one is only 5 weeks cuz of Christmas! It's fine though, I'm just sad I didn't really get to know people yet. And I have to leave Hermana Hall, and that just is the worst! I have absolutely loved being her companion! She's a riot! I guess thats why they had to split us up 😂

No, the reason is my MTC companion, Sister Ashmead, is going home early. She has been having a lot of health issues and decided it's time to go. She'll be home for Christmas! So I'm taking her place in Campbellsville, Kentucky. This transfer is awesome for people going home, but not for everyone else.... getting moved right before Christmas is so not bueno, but it's all good. Esta bien!

Not much happened since Wednesday. We had exchanges on Thursday and while waiting in the car for the other sisters we saw WHITE SQUIRRELS! We spent half an hour watching them, I got a few videos. It was so random!

Our ward Christmas party was on Saturday and I spent the morning baking for it. There were a ton of food there, and we had three of our investigators come! Woohoo!

Sunday I gave a talk, I think bishop secretly knew I was going to be transferred... but it went ok. I though I wouldn't take long enough but I ended up taking exactly 15 minutes! Perfection! I had been asked to speak on a topic in between "the worth of souls" and "the rescue." I decided to talk on charity, because we have to have that pure love for others in order to "rescue" and "see the worth of souls." I just hope I made sense. Oh and Norma came to church with her son Noah again!

I have my luggage and clothes all over the floor, I'm really bugging out seeing this again. I just packed y'all! We're going to French Lick again today to celebrate Sister Lloyd's birthday, she's one of the sisters in Paoli. It'll be fun!

I love y'all! I hope you enjoy the Christmas break that's coming!

With love,
Sister Wilcox ❤❤❤

I have a TON of pictures

I'm Just A Gringa

Hey y'all,

First off, transfer calls are this upcoming Saturday, so that's scary. I don't want anybody to leave me!

So, I've been in French-Lick all day long, a fancy little town 45 minutes from Jasper. We toured a restored hotel and walked through this other fancy hotel with a giant dome. It looked very very expensive and I was afraid to touch anything. Oh, I forgot to mention that today is district p-day and that's why it's taken me so long to write an email today, sorry!

We were also going to go do lazer tag, but instead we talked to a guy driving a carriage and talked to him about horses and church, which honestly I liked doing that better than the thought of lazer tag. His horse, Sadie, was an American Belgian and I think he said she was 18 hands? She was beautiful! He wasn't really interested, but he invited us to come back and see the stables next p-day! The sisters and I are totally coming back!

This last week and this week was a blur. We mostly prepped for the Mission Tour that happened on Monday. We had to coordinate rides and all that jazz. Hermana Hall and I stayed the night with the Paoli sisters, which was awesome! Slumber party!!!! Then we drove at the crack of dawn to get to Crestwood and we were still late!😅 Elder and Sister Costa were amazing, I felt like they taught us so personally and I really needed a pick me up. I feel like I've been lacking drive lately, so this was great!

On Sunday we had Jo at church and Norma from our English class with her two kids! They all stayed for all three hours!

Yesterday was cool because we planned on being in Huntingburg for awhile, but then we thought we needed to go to Holland instead, so we did! We went to the same neighborhood we had been in last time and felt we needed to go to the very end of the road and see the house we didn't get to last time. There was a lady outside and we just barely caught her as she was about to go inside. We talked to her for an hour! She was so cool and everything she believed in was what we believe in, she totally agreed to have us back over! Also, she had a German shepherd mix and I played with him that entire time. So cute!

I can't remember what else happened. I love you all!

With love,
Sister Wilcox

Its December!

Hey y'all,

Can you believe it's like the 3rd day of December? Isn't that crazy?! I think it's crazy.

I'll get right cracking at it. So our lovely older roommates went to Michigan for Thanksgiving 2 weeks ago I think? Well they were supposed to come back last week but had an accident trying to get back last Monday. They were alright, but the car wasn't. They had an extended vacation until they could get transportation back home which by the way, some members down here drove up there to get them. That's like an 18 hour roundtrip! People are amazing! We have our ladies back now so yay! The house was really starting to freak me out without them!

On Tuesday we went way down to this tiny town called Holland. Now, tiny town folks get real weird about people they don't know. Since everyone knows everyone, when they meet someone they don't know they get so suspicious! I don't know I just always feel like I'm being watched when I go to these tiny towns... anyways, we were in this one little neighborhood and we weren't having much luck. It was cold, people were either not home or not interested (or weirded out that we were on their doorstep), and we were ready to jump into the warm car and get outta there. But I kept feeling like we should stay. So we did. We met Melanie at the last house we stopped by. She immediately had a bunch of questions, and I started telling her about the first vision. For some reason I felt like my lungs were going to burst, like I couldn't breathe? I was fighting through it the whole time and once I got out the first vision the feeling went away. I felt like something was trying to suffocate me! Melanie ended up accepting a Book of Mormon and I feel like she really wants to know what we believe in. I know we needed to meet her that day 😊

Also we had 12 people come to English class. 12! That's unheard of. Like, none of the other Spanish missionaries believe us😂😂😂

Wednesday we raked mountains of leaves! Boy am I glad that I like pine trees because what a chore! However, leaves like that make a lot of compost... so maybe I'll want a few leafy trees in the future. We practiced for the darn Christmas Zone Conference a lot because it was the next day!

Thursday we got up at 5am so we could look halfway decent, and left at 6 to drive to Paoli. From there we carpooled with the Paoli sisters to Crestwood (which is past Louisville) and nearly died a few times because Kentuckians are terribly rude drivers. But we made it and I got to see all 3 of my MTC elders who I came out with. They're doing so good! Singing was terrifying. I knew my voice would break at some point and it did, but I just laughed my way through it so at least it was amusing. The trainings were great, they really wanted us to focus on helping people come to church. I liked that change. They talk baptism baptism baptism, but people can't be baptized if they don't come to church y'all! There were a bunch of new faces and I realized I've gotten to the point where most of my friends have gone home and now I don't know anyone again😅😅😢

English class was huge, again! What a fiesta!

We had an awesome lesson with a guy named Jo on Friday, and he said he would come to church! Also, he had the cutest little pitbull/terrier mix! I loved that little guy! I had to run intervention with him a lot cuz he was a busy little pup, so I let him chew on my thumb for a bit. Good thing he was cute😣

On Saturday we ran around with Hannah again and contacted a whole bunch of people. We had a lesson with Aleida, this Cuban lady, and she was playing some muy muy bien Latino music when we got there👌 across the street from Aleida we contacted this guy who was not super thrilled that we were talking to him. We offered him a Book of Mormon , which he accepted, but said, "I'll take it, even though I believe nothing in it" so that was interesting. Then we ran around the area, came back to our car, and the same guy called out to us again. This time he was a little more gentle mannered and asked what made our church different from others. We explained how we have modern day prophets, a quorum of the 12 apostles, we have the book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ, and we just talked with him and answered his questions. I missed the rest of the conversation cuz Aleidas pitbull "Leo" got out and was running around so I ran him back across the street to her 😂 But the guy apologized for how "rude" he was to us earlier (which honestly wasn't as bad as what we're used to) and it ended up being kinda cool that we met him. Maybe one day he will be interested in meeting with missionaries?

We took cookies out to some people we're teaching, and that was fun! We have 2 Julie's. Julie #1 has a big, beautiful Rottweiler. Julie is so sweet and we got to visit with her for a bit (and pet her gorgeous dog) and Julie #2 was the one we went to a craft fair with 2 weeks ago, which I may or may not have remembered to mention... oops. She is amazing. She works full time, has a bunch of kids, still manages to make time for other people, and she just never loses her patience or kindness. I love her! She also owns a ferret, so of course I had to hold the ferret. I had no idea I could like ferrets, it was kinda cute.

Ohhh also, on Tuesday or Wednesday we had to Skype in our missionary apartment inspectors, elder and sister Mortenson. That was scary. They told us they would call in a bit, so we rushed home and blitz cleaned everything. I attacked the bathroom until it was all shiny and then they called us and it was like, a 4 minute long tour. I freaked out for nothing! But at zone conference we won Clorox wipes for how clean we were. I feel kinda bad cuz we cheated by cleaning just before the call, but also we got clorox wipes- those are gold. So it was worth it.😁

Things are good, life is great in Jasper! I feel like I'm in a never ending slumber party with Hermana Hall, we just have way too much fun! If they split us up I might start a riot. Just kidding, it's all according to the Spirit and I can't beat that.

I'm so grateful I get to spend each day sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others and that I have this opportunity to meet and serve so many people. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints IS the restored church that Jesus Christ himself established in his day. It blesses the lives of all those who know it, and the lives of people who are learning of it, and it will continue to bless and change the lives of all those who come unto Christ and wish to be a part of his church.

I love you all! Have a fabulous week!

With love,
Sister Wilcox❤