When 91 degrees with zero humidity feels like 70

Hello lovely people,

The week has blown by yet again. And we almost got by with no storms! Almost.

We did a ton of tracting this week and it was awesome! Never thought those words would ever come from me. Actually I think I've said that before but whatever. You can meet so many different people in just a few hours! It's the bomb! It's crazy the things you learn to love.

So Tuesday Mary Helen was getting her baptismal interview, which we biked to of course. Along the way it seemed like Satan was trying to stop us! Or at least put us in a mood. We nearly got hit by this very rude jeep that honked at us till we stopped in the middle of the road so he could make his left turn... We made it anyway, so ha! Mary Helen passed with flying colors and she was just so excited! Her baptism is scheduled for tomorrow actually. Did I forget to say that before??

On Wednesday we visited some less actives and that was cool because even though they're struggling with their testimonies or church attendance or whatever, they are still loved by the ward. We get those people as referrals from the ward. You may feel like no one's gonna notice if you leave, but there are always people who will miss you and want to see you come back.

That's one of the important things about going to church that I think a lot of people don't realize. Of course we go to take the sacrament and renew covenants we've made, but we also receive strength from our brothers and sisters and we can comfort those who need comfort and uplift those that need upliftment. We can't do life on our own, and you can't fulfill your purpose if you don't share your light with others.

We had exchanges on Thursday and I led the area again, but hey it's good for me! I wanted to work on confidence anyway so it worked out perfectly. Sister Cook was my 24 hour companion and she was super chill. She's been out a year already, and she's been in all city areas which kinda freaked me out. I want the boonies!😣 We tracted an apartment complex and got a new investigator and a potential! I didn't even know what to do with myself I was just like holy cow exchanges bring forth miracles! Then we had a lesson with an investigator we met the day before. Her name is Summer, and I couldn't help but think of Napoleon Dynamite!😂 I miss that movie! The lesson went well and we set a baptismal date with her which was crazy! I wasn't expecting to do that!

Friday we nearly missed the bus for district meeting and I got us off on the wrong stop... but we ended up being right next to Sister Cook's apartment so we just went there, dropped off her suitcase and got to study with Sister Shumuy and Sister Mitchell. So things worked out! Plus I got to read President and Sister Nelson's address to the youth. It gave me chills! The entire time I was like YESSSS!!! Our prophet is amazing and he is pushing the work forward! He is on fire! I know he is our prophet meant for us in these latter days. We need to be doing everything we can to follow our prophet and the revelation he is receiving is precisely for us at this time. He is here to guide us and to warn us and to tell us the things God would have us know.

Our meeting went over and Sister Mitchell and I were just a little frazzled cuz we had a lesson with Mary Helen at 2 and we didn't quite know how we were gonna make it. Our wonderful STL's rescued us though and took us to lunch AND got us to our bus on time. I love our sisters! We had to walk to the assisted living center with a suitcase and an extra bag that Mama Wilcox passed down to me, but that was okay! We made it exactly on time. Mary Helen was playing bingo.😊 We had a lesson on blessings and immediately she wanted Brother Kessler to get one. We called up our elders and they just so happened to be a mile away from us so it was all meant to happen! Woohoo! She got a blessing too and right after they left she was like, "I immediately felt everything relax as soon as he opened his mouth!" It was a very spiritual experience for her and I am so grateful we get to see her grow in the gospel.

We also had our lesson with Jennifer and Will who are both progressing so well! They've grown so much from when we first started meeting with them. Will wasn't even interested, but he's seen the difference in his wife and now he's asking questions and following the Word of Wisdom with her! He's reading the Book of Mormon and prays, he even helps Jennifer remember things she's working on! We are just so blessed with the people we get to work with!😄

Saturday we tracted into another investigator! She may not be super interested right now, but she lost her grandfather a year ago and she really needs some closure about it. So we're gonna see how we can help. We were planning on visiting an inactive member, Brother Green, so Sister Mitchell asked me if we should finish the row of houses or go to his house. I was like, "let's finish!" Which I never say, and sure enough we get a honk, turn around, and there's brother Green! He and his girlfriend were heading to Lowe's for some gardening supplies. Of course I immediately perked up to that! Then we got ourselves invited over to help them weed their garden! Aww yeah! It was the best, and we got to talk to them A LOT about everything. Gospel included. 😉

Our Sunday was the best because WILL CAME TO CHURCH WITH JENNIFER!!!😆😆😆 we've been trying to get him to come for like, 3 Sundays. It was awesome! So church was the bomb, more so than it usually is, and Mary Helen came with her little Allie again. That dog is cute! We wanted to go out finding but then it decided to pour, and we did weekly planning instead! It cleared up enough for us to go out later and check on some people, and then this black cloud started moving in fast so we were like nooope and biked home just before the waterbaloon droplets could get us. It was fun!

Today we got a call from brother Kessler who told us that he and Mary Helen got in an argument and he isn't sure about her baptism tomorrow. We're calling her tonight to see what's up. We may or may not have a baptism tomorrow folks, I'll letg you know next week! We are currently sitting on the porch of a members home using their WiFi. It is also pouring. Surprise there!

Also, I think I've gotten so used to the weather here because this week was in the 90's but I couldn't feel it cuz there was no humidity miraculously and I was loving life! I am seriously blessed I don't know how I'm not dead yet!😅

I love you all so much! Bye!

With love,
Sister Wilcox😘

The Nothing... oh wait, that's just a hurricane

Hello!

It's only been like, four days since the last email.

So on Thursday we went out all morning, to what felt like the edge of the earth, and were graced by the sight of an incredible lightning show. The only comforting thing was knowing that we were on rubber tires. Then we were going to bike to our lesson with Mary Helen, but we kept getting all these warnings from people along the way. "There's rain coming" "We hope you get to some cover quickly" and we were like, "what is going on?" Meanwhile, the sun's out and it's pretty hot, things are looking good. Then this thunderhead catches us out on the back roads and we got soaked once again! Yeah, we got a ride to our lesson. It was some kind of freaky backlash from the hurricane that hit Florida, or something like that. Oh and then AND THEN at our ward coordination meeting one of our elders was like, "We biked 5 miles and no one was home!" and he was so mad and Sister Mitchell and I were trying to keep it together! Buddy, we biked 14 miles and it was all hills, and ain't nobody was home! NOBODY!

I mean, it's not a competition......🙂

We have a lot of rich neighborhoods too that are out in no-where's ville. Fun to look at but not to tract. We mostly do finding in those places, but even that can be hard. It's especially encouraging when the maid opens the giant French doors and goes, "no sorry, you'll have to make an appointment." Right... appointment... who are these people and what the heck do they even do for a living?

Our district meeting was on Friday and we got to have interviews with President and Sister Hughes! We also had this wonderful training on how we need to let go of the things holding us back from being all in. Just what I needed!👍We did some finding before our lesson with Jennifer and found a new investigator! Her name is Stephanie and we contacted her on the street, she seemed pretty cool.

Saturday was a day that started out weird and I didn't know how to feel, but it ended up being awesome. I thought I had annoyed Sister Mitchell all morning, (and I was annoyed at myself for being so insecure and timid) so I asked her about it while we were out tracting this neighborhood. She told me she wasn't annoyed at all and I was like whaaaat. Then we spent the whole day while we were finding having the longest companion inventory ever! We have been able to be so much more unified because we just tell each other everything! I have become so much more confident and bold just because of it. Well, mostly from being around Sister Mitchell- cuz she's awesome. 😊

Yesterday we had both of our investigators at church, and Mary Helen brought her cute service dog, Allie. Mary Helen is getting baptized on the 12th and she's engaged to brother Kessler! They're getting married on August 20th which is just crazy to me. After church we got a ride home with the Hill's, whom we love dearly, and then we got invited to the bishops massive house for a break-the-fast dinner. It was awesome, and there was this adorable little boy named Tommy who was trying to see how many stuffed animals he could balance on my head.

I started color coding my scriptures because I'm sick of being disorganized, and I decided I'm not going to second guess myself anymore, I'm just gonna do things on the first instinct I have! I could save myself from a lot of stress if I was more confident in my decisions!

Well I think that was it. I feel like I might be forgetting something, but oh well!

I love you all so so much and I think y'all are just the best! Have a beautiful week!

With love,
Sister Wilcox❤❤❤


Sorry but some of these pics are from last week and probably the week before because I'm terrible.

The feet belong to sister Mitchell. Just thought I'd keep y'all updated on her ridiculous tan line!😜

 

I guess you're wondering where I went...🤗

Greetings loved ones,

So our mission president asked us to proselyte on memorial day, so our p-day was moved to today... well I didn't find that out till p-day was over last week so sorry y'all! It felt like the never ending week!

So this week was pretty eventful. We had district p-day last Monday and that's always fun! Then Tuesday we had exchanges with our sister training leader Sister Rogers! I got to lead out the area with her and teach Mary Helen about tithing! However, on our bike ride over there Sister Rogers wiped out down a hill and I'm starting to feel like I'm bad luck... She scraped her hands pretty good and I had disinfectant wipes and right as I go to help her a bird pooped on her hand! Not on the scrape but we were both like, "is this for real?!" Good thing I had wipes!😂😂😂

Wednesday was the end of exchanges and our district meeting which was excellent. We were trained on charity and how we can help our investigators have charity as well, which I thought was interesting. What better way is there to feel closer to Christ than by learning to have charity for those around you? Charity is the pure love of Christ, that I know of for sure!

Hermana Bever did this cool scripture comparison with the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I want to do that with charity scriptures:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Moroni 7:45
And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Isn't that cool?! The Book of Mormon and the Bible are truly companions. They don't take away from or disprove the other. They hold the same truths because Jesus taught his gospel to the Jews and the people of the ancient Americas. Why would it be different? His gospel wasn't just for one people or one nation, it was for all. The Book of Mormon and the Bible testify of that, and I know that's why we have them both and that they contain the words of God.

So anyway, on Thursday while we were finding in the morning hours we met this gal named Carolyn. She was setting up this mini dumpster thing and we asked if we could help. Usually people say no, but she said, "If you want." Oh heck yes we want to. 😲 We helped her clean out a bunch of junk from her outdoor living space that the previous home owners left, (and we did it in dresses so I can check that off my mission bucket list). She felt so bad that we were helping her clean and she kept apologizing, and we were like "this is what we do! We wanted to do It!" Which led to her asking what we actually do and we explained that we were missionaries and we help people come closer to Christ by reading the Book of Mormon. She accepted one and said she'd read it with her little girl! She said she wants her children to have a relationship with Christ. She had this crazy accident and has seen things working in the medical field that have shaken her faith, but she felt we met her for a reason and seems very ready to hear the Gospel. We got a return appointment!😀 service is the BEST! ❤❤❤

Friday was a whole bunch of finding and we got to visit the Wightmans again! Cutest old couple ever! We're trying to encourage them to go to church again, brother Wightman does but not sister Wightman. We had a little lesson/spiritual thought on the Atonement and how the Savior gives us hope. It was exactly what needed to be heard because Sister Wightman jumped right in and helped us more than I think we helped her!😂 And she made us delicious smoothies!

Saturday was more finding, lunch with Katie and her husband Eric, and service at the Ball's home! May 28th is Sister Mitchell's b-day so Katie wanted to take her out to Chuy's for an early birthday lunch. Chuy's is amazing!

On Sunday we found out that brother Kessler was in the hospital and Mary Helen went with him! We were trying to get a hold of anyone who could tell us more and finally we got a hold of brother Kessler himself, who said he was released and doing good. We were only freaking out for 3 hours🙃. We visited our investigators Jennifer and Will who we've been having darn good lessons all week with. Jennifer seems to be understanding more and more each time we meet. We got to go to a fireside that night with Jennifer too! It's where recent converts share their stories and their testimonies and it was just fabulous! There were many converts who told us missionaries to never stop being annoying and persistent. It was everything I needed to hear. We do make a difference whether or not we see it or people want it.

Monday was insane because it was Sister Mitchell's birthday and memorial day. We did some gardening in the morning at the Friley's! It was flipping awesome and I got soooo sweaty! And Murphey (their dog) got a hold of a glove and so we chased him around the yard for a bit😉. Then we went out to lunch with a couple from Sister Mitchell's first area from Salem Indiana. They're converts and she just adores them! Afterwards we had a lesson with Carolyn. We taught her the Restoration and she had such an open heart, and her sweet family just makes me melt! We don't know how ready she is to join the Church, maybe in the future, but right now she's definitely ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Most investigators I've come into contact with (the really prepared ones) all seem to be able to relate to Joseph Smith on some level. Whether it's wondering why there are so many churches or if God will really answer their prayers or what is after this life and so on. Literally no one else could have restored the fullness of Christ's gospel except for Joseph Smith. No one else could have spoken to the hearts of millions of people years after the Restoration the way Joseph Smith's story does. I know it was all by divine design, and it's really special to see someone find that connection with him.

As soon as we walked out of our lesson it dumped on us. It was the kind of rain that soaks you to the point where you may as well have just jumped into a pool you're that completely drenched. Carolyn was like "stay here till it stops!" but we were like "we can't we gotta keep going!" We were already wet anyway. We had another appointment which we ended up cancelling cuz the weather read our minds and it got worse... so we biked home, changed, and went to our lesson/dinner appointment at the Ball's home. We went over the Plan of Salvation with Jennifer and Will again to make sure they really know it, then we had an awesome barbeque inside and birthday cake!

Tuesday was weird and a little rough but I think it's just because we really needed a p-day. Yup. Oh I forgot about transfers! We didn't get any calls because obviously Sister Mitchell and I are meant for each other and this area! They couldn't split us up yet!😬 but they rearranged our district again, now we have the ZL's AND the STL's in our district. That's not intimidating or anything... our ward was holding their breath though it was pretty funny! They were like, "none of you can leave!" It's gonna happen one day just not this time!😎

That was my week and a half story. I believe next p-day is normal, if I'm wrong I am so sorry!

Shout out to my cousin Djeryd who just got his mission call to FIJI! WOOHOO!🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉 I am so so sooooooo excited for him! Missions are the greatest experience anyone could ever have! I'm totally not biased or anything!😜

Happy belated Memorial Day! Hope everyone had a nice barbeque and got to celebrate the lives of our fallen heroes!😘

Have a wonderful week!

With tons and tons of love,
Sister Wilcox❤💕💕❤

I almost drownded!🦑

Hey y'all, another week down!

Can you believe it's nearly June? I can't! We'll be getting transfer calls I think this Saturday?? But Sister Mitchell doesn't think either of us will go since I just got here and we've only been companions for one transfer... but you never know!

We've been tracking down as many less actives as possible this week. With ministering kicking into gear there's a lot of members who don't know who their people are or if they even still live here. Sister Mitchell and I go and find them and it's so much fun! We had one guy last week who said, "man, y'all are like bloodhounds!" I just told him it was the spirit. 🙃 Which is true because most people aren't home, so the odds of us meeting anyone is next to never!

This week has been very cloudy and cool, as in the 80s. The thing I can't get over is the rain is warm, and we'll probably have more rainstorms throughout the summer. But anyways we got dumped on. We were absolutely drenched and I was like, it's a good thing it's so warm right now because this is no bueno! Then this man let us into his home, and we felt bad because we were dripping, but he just gave us some towels and said not to worry about it. He kept saying he could toss our bikes in the back of his truck and take us home, but we were like nah it's okay we'll bike. He was baptist and not interested at all, but he let us in anyway. Eveyone has the light of Christ, and everyone is capable of charity and kindness no matter where you come from.

Service is my most favorite thing to do ever. Especially when someone wants some yard work done!!! The Miller family in our ward is adorable and they have 3 young kids. Brother Miller is fighting off cancer, but he won't show his illness, he just refuses to and he's amazing for it. Anyway, they wanted a plot to put their garden in so Sister Mitchell and I and the Huss family (Sister Huss and her 3 hard working little boys) dug out a patch of their lawn for them. It awesome and I love those boys oh my gosh! They were helping us work the whole time, and they were so smart and cute! I told Sister Huss I wanted her secrets because I want my kids to be like that!😆 She's a return missionary and she just said to center your home on the Gospel, find ways to tie daily life experiences to the gospel, and keep to a schedule! Oh man I'm so bad at that last part!😂

We've been doing a ton of tracting too, which I haven't done in a while. It was actually fun because Sister Mitchell and I bonded the whole time and talked about everything. I mean, we do that all the time, but we did more of it because we had a lot of hours! Then she insisted on climbing a tree, in a dress... nothing can stop you after you've mastered riding a bike in one I guess. Ooh that rhymed!

I got to play with so many cute dogs this week! I'm loving life! The Friley's have this giant shaggy black dog named Murphey who is crazy, then there was this red merle leopard dog, with the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. Lastly there was a puppy who was a cross between a chocolate lab pitt mix and a daschund, if I spelled that right?? Her name was Roxie and she was flipping adorable and crazy but I love her!

James 2: 17-26 was everything I've ever wanted because it teaches us that faith without works is dead. I've had too many people tell me that that is wrong, but it's right there in the Bible they read out of. Works and faith go together because faith makes us take action. It's not an idle thing at all, and those who truly love God and His Son want to show their love by doing all they can to serve him and obey his commandments. I've come to realize that acting on our faith makes it so much stronger and unshakable.

I love you all so very much! Have a blessed beautiful week!

The lady in the picture with the silo is one of the less actives we found last week who took us out to lunch and then to a park... she's awesome!

 

 

Muy Caliente! 😣

Hi everybody!

This week was great! It was a little rough at first but everything is awesome! We got to call home for Mother's Day and that was the absolute best thing ever!!! Technology is amazing! Getting to talk to my family was even more amazing I love them!

We did a ton of finding this week because that's what we do every week, and we've been dong a lot of groundwork trying to find people who have fallen off the face of the earth basically. It's been fun! I feel like a detective!

Oh there was this one lady who is the wife of a less active who was so venemous at the door oh my goodness! We asked if he was home and she was like "ummm no, he's at work" (said it like we should know), we asked if there was a better time we could come by, "why? I don't, I don't understand??" and we were like "because there are some members who wanted to see how he's doing?" and then she went nutty and said "he's not a member ok? He's not a member anymore!" (also said as if we should already know that) and we were only there because people were worried about him!

We met a really sweet guy named Michael who was very interested in our beliefs because we told him we believe in miracles. He has seen many miracles in his life and recognizes God's hand in all things. He's a very humble, tender guy. We met another gal last night, Sara, who had met the missionaries before and said she really needed to read the Book  of Mormon, so we gave her one and she became a new investigator. The whole encounter was really cool!

We were going to the Mays home for our phone calls home and found out that Jerry, Sister Mays son, got in a car wreck just before church ended! He plowed through some trees and a chainlink fence after swerving around a lady who stopped too quickly. He's okay though, he drives too fast so maybe he won't do that anymore??

On our way over to the Mays, Sister Mitchell hit a mailbox and wiped out! She got all scraped up and bloody, but she's such a trooper! This guy across the street saw it happen and ran over to us to make sure she was okay, some people can be so nice! You can't be in a bike mission and not have a good crash n' burn story!

It's really hot here. Like, really hot and I'm not sure how we're going to bike in this weather and not die? But it will be fine I suppose, we haven't died yet, and the Lord will provide in all things! Also, I have a wicked biking tan line that I'm not sure I want to give up!

I love you all! You are amazing, beautiful souls and I hope y'all have a fantastic week!

With love,
Sister Wilcox😘

 

 

Monsoons, Scabies 2.0 & Justify Wins!

Hello my loves!

Oh my gosh it's May! What is going on??

Here's my address, it only took me 3 weeks and an email from my dad to get it to y'all😅

7723 Hogans Run Louisville Kentucky 40228

I've made some animal friends, lots of em. There's a quartet of Canadian geese that come hang outside our apartment every morning and a trio of mallard ducks. It's like a Disney princess movie or something. This morning when I opened the door there were squirrels, rabbits, doves and ducks all right there. I don't know what it is maybe they just sense the spirit strongly here...

Our bus that we usually take to district meetings on Wednesdays got side swiped by a school bus so we were an hour late for the meeting. We were supposed to be doing a training AND had interviews with President Hughes, so that was fun. We made it to our lesson with Mary Helen afterwards and that's all that mattered to me!😥 She is awesome and she loves Joseph Smith, it's adorable! She's read all she can on him and his history as a side to everything else we have her study. She just thinks it's incredible that a boy of his age could be so open to revelation, and willing to act on whatever revelation he received. I just like to think how perfect it all was.

Christ's church was restored in a new and free country, with freedom of religion abounding. A young boy with a pure desire to do whatever the Lord would have him do, restored the true church at a time when people were searching for the truth and was called to be a prophet to lead and guide the saints by the power of God. He translated the Book of Mormon, and had other revelations that would later come as the Doctrine & Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. He and the early Latter Day Saints were driven and persecuted and threatened, Joseph Smith was martered, and the saints suffered so much. Finally they reached Utah, and from there the rest is history.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is called such because it is His church, and we are his people in the later days. It is all over the world in nearly every nation, in tongues and cultures across the globe. There are temples all over, new ones being dedicated every year. There are saints in Africa, Chile, Japan, Thailand, Tonga, Portugal, Ukraine, Mongolia and so on and so forth. The Church isn't for one nation. It is for all God's children and it the one thing that unifies us all, because it is of God and not of man. It would not work if it was all made up in some little boys mind. I know it's true and I KNOW that this gospel is true. It is the only way to real happiness, to eternal families, and to live with God and our Savior again at the end of this life. The world cannot deny the testimonies of the millions that have come to know the fullness of the gospel, and it cannot deny those who gave their lives for it.

Sorry I got on a little rant.

On Thursday we went to a doctors appointment for Sister Mitchell (shes okay) and I went to the clinic because I found out I still had scabies (I cleaned EVERYTHING and used the medicine and it's clearing up now). We had dinner with this cuuuuute family, the Storms. Great name. Anyway, they have two little kids at 2 & 4, James and Scout. I seem to have made more little friends because the entire time we were over there they were trying to get my attention. I think it's because I'm new. James would run down the hall at me and then latch onto my leg, then do it all over again! Scout held my hand the entire car ride to ward coordination. She refused to let go until I told her we'd see eachother at church!😆 They also showed me their super cool cat that had a green eye and a blue eye. He's a graceling! (Scout totally hunted me down at church it was adorable).

Friday we had exchanges with our one Sister Training Leader. I was with her companion who she's finished training after this transfer, Sister Goddard. Sister Goddard was really nervous about leading her area for the day and she didn't like the idea of biking (but they're trying to save miles on their car) or finding, but we did it! I told her to just pick an area and go for it. So that's what we did. We met this cool mechanic who loves his family, and maybe one day he would like to meet with missionaries, and this other lady who was out walking and accepted a Book of Mormon. It was weird to think that I just barely got out of training, really it blew my mind!

Saturday was Derby and yes, we did go to a derby party and saw parts of different races. Also, we got to watch a horse called Justify win the derby. I found out that I just like watching the horses run, not so much the racing part and betting part. Oh and it dumped rain so it was pretty funny seeing all the people in the crowd with their crazy outfits covered in rain ponchos. Seriously it was like a monsoon! We had another lesson with Mary Helen that night and that was the highlight of the day. Love her!😍

Sunday we biked and got yelled at on the road. "Could you effing move faster?!" Only he said the actual word of course. I couldn't help but think that they wouldn't have had to drive at a snails pace behind us if they went to church and then STAYED HOME CUZ IT'S THE SABBATH. I almost offered to drive his car so he could bike instead. It must be so difficult to drive with air conditioning behind two cyclists in skirts in the heat who wouldn't be on the road in the first place if there was a bleeding sidewalk or alternate route. Life is so hard. 🙂

We did get to see two less actives though, and we got to hang out with one because as soon as she opened the door if started raining. Then it pulled the whole monsoon madness like it did the day before and we were stuck inside! She was so nice though and gave us some stew. Her name was Kathy, not that y'all would know her I just wanted to put that down.

There is honeysuckle growing EVERYWHERE! It's like the blackberries in Oregon! Also, the air is getting thick and the rain here is warm, what is this place?