Spring is Coming

Hi Family!🤓

So currently Sister Wilcox Sr and I are in the hermanas apartment helping our Hermana wax her legs. She hasn't shaved since December... apparently I'm really good at ripping off the strips unexpectedly.

Anyway, this week has been an interesting one. Sis Wilcox has been sick pretty much this entire week and has gotten herelf dependent on herbal teas. The J-Town elders are enablers because they bought her some. Last transfer we got a new set of hermanas, so now our building has 4 sets of sisters running around. I'm not the youngest missionary out here anymore! Woo! No it's weird. I'm mostly weirded out by that.😨

Tuesday we weren't going to go out at all but we got a plea from a less active, Sis Holloway, to walk her beagle Willow. We haven't had hardly any contact with this gal after trying several times to meet up with her, so we headed out despite my companion's lethargy. We walked her dog for about 2 hours before getting back. Sis Wilcox and I then took like a 3 hour nap.😴

On Wedenesday we had our zone conferenece that lasted for 8 hours. I developed a pinched nerve or something in my shoulder by the end of the first half and my companion was soffocating herself trying to hold in the coughs... the training was awesome though! I learned how to plan better and how I need to be more bold. There was this cool sister who told us that we are like the iron rod guiding people to the tree of life. We need to be firm and straight up with people about our purpose and what we are out here to do so that there is no questioning where it is they are going or what is at the end. I really needed to hear that and since then, I have been less afraid of talking with people. I've actually, a couple times, been the one going up to people and chatting it up! The Lord is a worker of miracles everyone! You just need a little faith and trust! 😉

That wasn't all though. We went and did our Dare to Care service and afterwards went back to the church for Pie Day. Pie Day is apparently a thing on March 14th because the date reads 3/14, like 3.14... yeah that went over my head until someone explained it to me yesterday😒. Oh man. We helped clean up afterwards and there was all this leftover pie, so Sis Wilcox was suddenly like, "I know what to do with this!" She convinced Elder Johnson to join her in her little scheme and they each took a pie, went outside, and smashed eachothers faces into the pies! I barely got it on camera! My companion keeps surprising me, and boy she hit him good!😂

Thursday was produce day at the Jeffersonian church, but the produce truck was 2 hous late (big surprise there😐), but we got to do some odd jobs though and met this really adorable old man from Moscow named Gregory. He told us how, growing up in Russia, they were told there was no God and religion wasn't allowed, but he always believed there was a higher power. We totally got his number and contact info! And he waved us goodbye and told us to be safe biking with his little accent. SO CUTE!

Friday night we got our investigator Tim to come to dinner with us and a member family, the Browns, and it was awesome! He came all dressed up and he got along with them so well. We all bore our testimonies at the end of the lesson, and Tim did too! He told us that he needs to come to church, and we were like YEAH! Then he told us that his boss is having him come in at 10am instead 8 for work. We have been prayng about this forever! AND he agreed to come for half an hour on Sunday! I love him so much!

Saturday was a bust, but we shamrock attacked one of our sick investigators and got a member family in on it. Then she totally posted it ON FACEBOOK and it was just adorable!

Sunday was flipping awesome! Tim came! He said he was able to get to work on time which was exactly what we promised him if he took a leap of faith by coming to church! Sooooo coooool! We also got our other guy, David, to come who's from a part member family and he stayed for second hour. He's like, already a member, but not... he knows so much already he just needs to be baptized!

After church we got called by our referral Julia who immediatley drove over and picked us up so we could help her clean her house. I washed a mountain of dishes and Sis Wilcox dusted and vaccumed and stuff. Her marital situation is rough, so we'll see how this all goes. She became an investigator though, so that was cool. I just hope we can help her.

Next we visited our man Kuria who's been sick this whole time and then got in a car wreck! He has a fractured rib, so we offered him a blessing of healing and he was like, "yes please!' Two sweet guys from our Louisville 2nd ward came and we taught him a bit about what blessings are and what priesthood authority is. This man though, was like, "please bless my children, they're having a rough time and it hurts me more than my rib." He just amazes me. This man turns outward instead of inward. He couldn't even be angry with the crazy lady who hit him either!

We visited our favorite lady Kim on our way over to a missionary farewell party to check on her. Then we talked to a few cool guys and got a return apointment with a dude named Randy. He rapped for us. The party was great and a bunch of missionaries came to wish Livi (the cute gal leaving for her mission) good luck and stuff. She's going to Redlands California, Spanish speaking.

Sorry this is so bleeding long! It's just that I actually remembered everything that happened this week and I feel so much more optimistic and happy. Not gonna lie, I think the naps helped! Also, the suns coming out, the daffodils and hyacinths are blooming and I just feel so much better about everything right now. Prayers are being answered!

Thank you all for bearing with me in this email, hopefully it was entertaining and not boring!😶 Thank you for your love and prayers! I love you all so much and I pray for y'all all the time! God loves you!

With buckets of love,
Sister Wilcox Jr ❤❤❤

Dropping Like Flies

Hey y'all

So, as the title implies, sorta, people around here are getting sick. It's very bad cuz it's the flu and apparently a few people have already died from it, so fun stuff there! Mi companera is also sick, but not to that level. She's has a cough and headaches, she's been taking lots of naps and I've been cleaning. She loves herbal teas now too!

Tuesday was another big tracting day, we biked all over and tried contacting a bunch of people and it wasn't going so great until the very end where we met some awesome peeps. We got a new investigator and it really made our day😊. We had dinner with this awesome lady in our ward and her little girl Clair. So, on the car ride home I sat by Clair who's like, 3, and she was asking me why we were riding with her and her mama. I said, "cuz it's cold" She goes, "why?" So I'm  thinking oh no what have I done, but I respond, "because the temperature dropped" "why?" "Because it's winter?" "Why?" "Because the Earth is farther away from the sun right now and maybe we're going to go through global freezing??" To which she says, "ohhhh, yeah." So that was my deep, confusing conversation with a 3 year old but I still laugh about it! She was such a character!

Wednesday we did our regular service routine and after we went to visit a single sister in our ward with Parkinson's disease. Sister Wellings is such a strong, faithful woman despite all that she has to deal with, and she is angelic. We were able to do some service for her, but she was mostly concerned about us helping her diabetic son who no longer believes in the church. He's lost his faith in God because of his trials and doesn't believe in a God that would allow bad things to happen to good people. I was about in tears after we left because he didn't care for anything we tried to help him with. There are people who don't have hope and don't believe they ever can.

On a good note though, we did a lot of service and I love it so much! We made dinner for one of the sick sisters in our ward, and it was awesome! I also was asked to bear my testimony on the Atonement on Sunday. I was terrified, and then I got up there and everything was fine and I was able to testify things I didn't know I needed to say, and without crying! It was great. All things considered, I feel pretty good about this week!

I love all y'all! Thank you for your letters and love!

With love,
Sister Wilcox❤❤❤

Transfers Ahhhhhh!!!!

Hellos,

So we found out who all is getting transferred this week, no one in my disctrict!😛 Woohoo!!! I love my district and I don't think we're ready to part ways just yet!

This week started off great. We did a ton of tracting on Tuesday and met with an inactive family. They were super nice! People are funny too. This one guy we talked to really encouraged us to only read the Bible, and he was worried for us because we also read out of the Book of Mormon... it was super adorable but he would not let us explain that both books testify of Christ and that the Book of Mormon is not a replacement for the Bible. It's like he only heard every other word we said?? Catholics are great too. Especially old Roman Catholic gals, they're the best. We got stared down by a whole group of em when we were checking up on a referral. Awesome!

We started meeting with a part member family, the Knowles, and they are so sweet! The husband is the non-member and he attends church more than his wife does. We're trying to get the whole family, but she doesn't feel as welcome as he does. So we told like, the whole ward that they were coming this Sunday and it worked out so well. Only the husband came again though with his boys, but it was all good. We've realized that we as missionaries need to communicate better with the ward. Our members are awesome and we need to let them know what's up.

Our new smart phones have been such a blessing! Group texts are amazing! We've been able to connect with our peeps so much easier and we loves it! Sis Wilcox Sr is way more excited about them than I am though, it's pretty funny actually.

Sis Wilcox Sr totally popped her front tire after thinking she could make it over this huge curb and didn't quite make it. I felt bad cuz I saw it happen in what felt like slow motion, but I let her do it!😆 Luckily we were right outside a Wal-Mart, but none of the workers knew anything about bikes so we ended up calling our elders for help. It was such a fiasco, but we laugh about it now!

Ha, I haves a funny story. We had this one investigator that was pretty cool and kinda progressing, but we felt it would benefit him to meet with the elders instead. So this gator has been avoiding the elders like the plague since, and we ended up dropping him cuz he's super flakey. Anyways, Wednesday Sis Wilcox Sr and I get a message from this guy on facebook that goes, "do you believe in love at first sight?" And we happened to be in our district meeting at the time and we told our zone leaders, and they were like "DO NOT RESPOND!" I was dying! 😂 poor guy! So yeah, that's my story.

Also we had a sister take us out to meet her neighbors and it was fabulous! We got a new investigator because of her and an 11 year old girl from another member family, Chelsea. These gals just went out and pretty much bore their testimonies to everyone they saw and it was so inspiring. You members have more influence and power than you think! You are a force of nature, and you are the ones who help investigators feel welcomed and loved. Open your mouths and don't be afraid to share what you know! I need to follow your example better!

We got to do a ton of service this week. My prayers were answered! We helped a family move and worked in a food pantry. And we have some more opportunities to work in the community coming up and I loves it! God really does listen and answer our prayers, even when they seem random. 😉

Anyways, I love y'all! Have a wonderful week and do some yard work for me! I have yet to meet someone who will let me pull weeds with them!😢

With love,
Sister Wilcox😘

That pic of my face is apparently my planning face, hahaha??? Oops.
Also, we play missionary "Guess Who" it's awesome!

The Nickname Sticks

Hello my loves!

I have mixed feelings about this week, hahahaha??

We had an awesome lesson with our man Kuria on Tuesday. He is so prepared it's incredible. He has been on a spiritual journey for most of his life, he's just felt like something is missing. He loves his family and he's been sober for 14 years! Sis Wilcox and I were like whaaaaat??!! He read the pamphlet we gave him and had questions prepared AND he took notes throughout our lesson on the Restoration. He asked when church was and where. The best part was that when I asked him if he would be baptized HE SAID DEFINITELY! I have to admit I wasn't expecting that... anyways, we love him so much and we're super excited to continue meeting with him and helping him increase his knowledge and faith.

Also, had a pretty cool/ sobering experience after one of our lessons. We were in a neighborhood longer than we had anticipated because we had to move our next lesson to a later time. So we helped this cute old lady with her cat and then we saw this guy hanging out the front of one of the apartments. We went up and did our thing. This poor guy was going through a rough time and kept saying over and over how of all the days we could have stopped by, it was when he needed God most. We told him that God knows and loves him,  and I cried (surprisingly) while telling him something my MTC teacher had told me. That we are not given trials to break us, we are given trials because Heavenly Father trusts us enough to not let our trials overwhelm us. He accepted a Book of Mormon and our number. I'm so grateful that we were in the right place at the right time to give him comfort, and that I actually had the courage to say something!

Sorry these paragraphs are giant. 😕

I had new missionary training on Friday! It was way fun and so uplifting, and I saw a few of my homies from my MTC district. President Hughes, our mission president, is the kindest man and you can tell that he loves all his missionaries. We had to drive to Indiana for the training though and everything is so flooded! I had major anxiety about getting stranded somewhere!

I also got to go to the Temple which apparently isn't common amongst the trainees. Sis Wilcox Sr found out that a guy she taught was going to the Temple for the first time and we got to go see him do baptisms for the dead. It was such a spiritual experience, and Sis Wilcox was so happy! I can't wait to go to the Temple with people I have taught, and be a part of something so special and sacred with them. One of the Temple workers said that Sis Wilcox looked like a proud mother!😆

My nickname is officially Sister Wilcox the Younger, even among the other missionaries. So yeah, don't know what I'll do when Sis Wilcox gets transferred!😢

Oh! One of our investigators is in the hospital right now. She's worried that she might have stomach cancer. Her name is Miranda, it would be so awesome if y'all could pray for her!

I love you guys so so much! Have a wonderful week, God bless you!

With love,
Sister Wilcox😙

Also, Sis Wilcox hit her halfway mark this week and we celebrated/ mourned for her at Olive Garden. I ate some Italian donuts...

Sister Wilcox the Younger

A new week, a new email!

Actually I keep forgetting what I've already told y'all, so there may be repeats hahaha😅. I have heard of the crazy weather back home, but get this. It was 60 degrees and super humid on Friday. Then on Saturday it started snowing... I've never felt more betrayed. Except for last year when it started snowing in Rexburg in April.😐 Saturday had the biggest plans though and we were gonna bike out to this hard to reach place, but the weather was like nooooope. Instead we planned our lessons and cleaned.

I mean we deep cleaned. This apartment has housed elders for YEARS. It's disgusting, and Sister Wilcox Sr and I haven't had enough time on p-days to really do anything about it. So I busted out the rags and Clorox and mopped the kitchen & bathroom by hand and scrubbed the walls! Super gross but super worth it! I can walk through there barefoot now.😁

We had a few disappointments this week, some people have been hard to get a hold of and others flat out won't meet with us. My favorite is when people message back saying "I will let you know when we can meet." Yeah no you won't. We did however heart attack some doors and found some less active members, so that was fun! Actually we got a new investigator because of this! We were sitting on the bottom steps to an apartment complex trying to cut out more hearts (we rushed out the door and forgot a few) and this guy started coming down so we hurried to get out of the way meanwhile striking up a conversation with him. This super sweet family guy, Kuria (pronounced like Korea), ended up wanting to meet with us again. Later on in the week he CALLED us to let us know he had a last minute thing come up, but he wanted to reschedule. This never happens! He is indeed a very cool, classy guy.

I had exchanges this week too. It's where zone leaders or STL's (Sister training leaders) swap out with your companion and you go tracting/finding with them. I had sister Sheperd who is just a doll face and I love her! She was so crazy fun yet focused and spiritual. She only has 3 weeks left on her mission though!😲 Anyways, we went out to teach a mother and her disabled son, but the mother wasn't there and there was a nanny instead. We were rescheduling with her when this little Latino guy comes up behind us and starts rambling on about how he can't get into his house and he needs to get in, then he started talking about needing to go to Bardstown and it was hard to understand, and we were all like, "We can't take you anywhere buddy" because really we can't as missionaries. But he was so high it wasn't registering with him at all. So the nanny's husband came and walked us to our car because the guy followed us thinking he was getting a ride! Fun stuff!

Also, the bike routes around here are insufferable and I feel like I've already talked about this, but they're just so bad! Anyway, we stumbled upon this ginormous sidewalk and thought "wow this is great!" And thinking it was gonna take us where we needed to go. Instead it ended. Right next to a highway. So I call it the Great and Spacious Sidewalk because it's big and beautiful but leads you astray and leads you to believe falsely that it will take you where you need to go...

Lately we've been teaching a part member family. The kids are all very active, but the mom not so much. She has a very sad story, and we're simply trying to be there for her and let her know we love her. Our spiritual thought for the night was the Plan of Salvation or the Plan of Happiness where we get to talk about where we came from, why we're here, and where we go after this life. I ended up singing O My Father to the Come Thou Font tune because we both felt like I should. It talks about the pre-mortal existence and it's just a sweet song. It immediately brought the spirit and the kids were really focused. The mother told us that she always cries when she sings that song and it was such a spiritual lesson.

I've written way too much! I love you all!

With love,
Sister Wilcox😙

Wilcox & Wilcox

Hiii!

I don't even know if I can remember what we did this week... so I'm gonna give some more background on the area because I realize I haven't done that yet and it's been three weeks.

So Hurstbourne is smack dab in the bustling city. We neighbor Jeffersontown which is just as crazy. Every building here is brick or some other stone, and the sidewalks are in mostly crummy condition. Woohoo! We live up the street from a liquor store and apparently the guy that works there, Frank, gives the elders free slushies... super jealous, but sister Wilcox Sr is pretty sure we're not supposed to go in there. 😐

There are no mountains or even large hills in sight. The bike rides would say otherwise, however, and my thighs are not happy going uphill all the time. We're getting used to public transportation though. The bus is pretty fun, and by fun I mean that I don't understand how anyone around here legally obtained a license. There was an ambulance that had to sit in an intersection WAY too long before anyone decided to stop moving! Actually, I got a story about this (don't freak out). We went to visit this Latina lady Sayra, with the elders and she had apparently lost her dog a week prior to our visit. We were helping her clean the house when randomly she received a tip on the whereabouts of this dog and she was like "everybody in the car!" So we drove all over town following this lead going from shelter to shelter, going like 80 miles an hour and I was holding the "Oh crap" bar so so tight! It was scary! All the while she had this fantastic Latino music on, so that was a plus. We have yet to find the dog though.

I saw a giant fork the other day. It was the most random thing ever, and I'm pretty sure it was for a bank. I haven't gotten to go to see the Sluggers museum yet, but we can visit it which will be awesome! I think we'll go on a district P-day?

The weather is just weird. Oregon's weird, but this is so much worse. It'll be bright and sunny one day and super warm. Then at night, it snows or just plain rains down ice, and the next day we have to bundle up big time! It can go from the 50s to the 20s in two seconds I swear! Sister Wilcox Sr got to see freezing rain for the first time though. She was super excited, but super worried about biking that day.😥

The main foods around here that I've never heard of but everyone says I have to try are Hot Browns and Grits. Grits are some kind of porridge, I think?? But Hot Browns are fantastic! They're like these turkey sandwiches covered in sauce and ohhhh man! Sounds weird but it's muy bien! We actually just tried them today at this super cute restaurant called "Wild Eggs." We were all skeptical at first, but seriously I want one of these in Oregon! We went to celebrate Valentine's day there with the Hermanas.

It's been rough this week, and yet also amazing? We haven't had a lot of progress finding, but we had some awesome lessons with some of our investigators and I felt really good about them. We've been able to meet more of our members and seriously, they're amazing. Brother Velasquez loves farming and really wants to start his own homestead! I had so much fun talking with him, and he was super surprised to meet another crazy person who wants to study dirt! It was great. We also had an emergency with trying to get an investigator to a baptism (It didn't work out), but the Jones's family came flying to our aid in their mini van with their kids and a bunch of groceries. We felt so bad! But sister Jones said that if her daughter was on a mission, she would want someone to come flying to her rescue as well and I just love her so much!!!

The Wilcox & Wilcox thing came from our ward. Apparently in all the meetings last Sunday they decided that Sister Wilcox Sr and I sound like a law firm.. so yeah. They're funny!

I love you all so much! I love hearing from you and I can't wait to get all your emails! You inspire me so much, and you all bring a little bit of home with you when you write. Thank you so much, and have a Happy Valentine's Day!

With love,
Sister Wilcox

What it's February??

Hello from the South!

Another week down, how is this possible? And it's February!

This week was full of just biking. Everywhere. Sister Wilcox Sr and I have been trying to navigate using 3 different apps because we're trying to get accurate timing AND directions... It's a little stressful I won't lie. I'm sore in places I didn't know was possible, and I'm starting to appreciate Portland's insane love for Biking. That's how bad it is here. There's no shoulder, ever, and the sidewalks just end in random stupid places. Who does that? Oh, and there's this road that is just notorious called Watterson, and I hates it.

Biking has its perks though! We come into contact with more people than you would in a car, we talk to everyone we see! Most people kinda blow us off, but every now and again we meet someone and have a meaningful conversation with them and sometimes find an investigator, it's just great! 😊

We are out here to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are also representatives of him. It means that, though we don't always meet nice people or have much success,  we must still have charity for others. Love those that hate you or would spitefully use you, because that is what Christ would have us do. It can be so hard!

This one gal we met (she doesn't hate though) she was put down as a former investigator in our book, so we decided to stop by and check up on her. She was this spunky older lady who told us she was "over the Book of Mormon." But she let us in anyway because it's freezing outside (always) and we had a long conversation with her. SHE STILL HAS HER BOOK OF MORMON, and I had a feeling she wasn't "over" anything. Getting to know her and her interests and letting her know that we would do anything for her, Mormon or not, I think it opened her heart a little. I'm glad that we didn't let her lack of interest discourage us!

I love this Louisville ward almost as much as my home ward! It's pretty darn close! All the members I've met have been so amazing and generous, and you can tell that they're really wanting to reach out more to the community. There are quite a few converts here, and we got to meet a whole family who joined the Church only 5 years ago! And the mother was a former atheist! It's just so cool and inspiring I love It! 😆

I just read this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley and I thought it was pretty great. It goes, “Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in this Church is small or of little consequence. All of us in the pursuit of our duty touch the lives of others.” We are all called to serve, no matter what it is you do, and no effort is wasted. You will create ripples that will turn into great waves. What you do and how you serve matters. It matters a lot.

I feel like I had more to say, but now I can't remeber.. Oh! My address is:
9913 Grassland Dr., Apt 1
Louisville, Kentucky 40299
I hope I did that right.😅 I love you all so much! Pray, love and serve!

These top two pics are of my first zone conference! All the missionaries in Louisville!

The weird statue dude was a challenge from our zone leaders, so yeah.