The Best 18 Months

Well...this is it.

These past 18 months have flown by so fast. I dont even remember what it is like to not be a missionary. Tomorrow I will be traveling with President to Ocotal, where 18 months ago I started my mission. It will be a day of tears and memories!

I am so blessed to have been able to be a missionary. For my whole life it has been a dream and goal of mine. As of next week, that goal will be completed. When I first started my mission, I lived with a sister named Hermana Wilkins, who was about to finish her mission. One of her last nights we stayed up talking and she said, "I just want to know if I did everything I was supposed to and If i have changed enough." As the weeks have gone by, I have found myself with the same question in my heart. Have I done everything the Lord wanted me to do?

In the MTC I heard a talk by Elder Holland. He shared a story about a man on a cliff that heard the voice of God. God said,

"Come to the edge."

"No, I'll fall.", responded the man.

"Come to the edge.", God said again.

"No, I'll fall."

"Come to the edge!" God told him one last time.

And in the story the man says, I came to the edge.

He pushed me.

And I flew.

As I have thought about the people I have met, the miracles I have seen, and the spirit I have felt, I truly have flown. Before we do something great, we always feel fear. Fear always tries to hold us back. But our Heavenly Father pushes us to limits we can't even imagine so that we can become more like Him. Like Jean A. Stevens said, "The gospel is not weight. It is wings." On my mission I have seen Heavenly Father work miracles, change hearts, and bless those who obey his commandment.

I know that I have done what I needed to do here in Nicaragua. But it doesnt end here. President Nelson has said that as you teach the gospel, you will learn more. It is the Lord's way of helping us comprehend the gospel. After teaching about Jesus Christ for 18 months, I understand a lot more about who my Savior is. I understand a lot more about the plan of Salvation and how important the gospel is. I am excited to continue to share this message even though I will be doing it without my plaque.

I know that Jesus is the Christ. And I know that God is a God of miracles. And like Nephi,

... my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

They say that you can take the girl out of Nicaragua, but you can't take the Nicaragua out of the girl. The experiences that I have had here have changed my life forever. I will treasure the memories that I made here for the rest of my life because on my mission I truly came to understand the beautiful plan of our loving Heavenly Father.

See you all next week!

--

Hermana Willes

Me and my MTC comp, Hermana Speas

FHE with the Poncios

Watching Conference

Reading the Book of Mormon with Fransisco

Puerto Cabezas

Hi Everyone! 

This week was SO awesome!

I was able to travel to Puerto Cabezas!! Woohoo! It is a place on the coast of nicaragua. We flew there in the tiniest plane ever, only 10 passengers, and got to see the missionaries there. It was so cool. The houses there are on little stilts and you have to walk up wooden stairs to get up to enter the house. It is so cool! And there is no running water so everyone has a little well outside their house. I helped one of the women there pull up water from her well and it was so fun! I would have loved to serve there. But it was fun to be there for a couple days! I loved seeing how humble the people are. If you only thing you have in your life is the gospel..that is enough!

This week we will be traveling to Chinandega and Matagalpa! It will be really fun because I will able to see Hermana Zafra, my old comp! woohoo!!

I loved the Womens Conference this week. President Eyring said that if we cant see our weaknesses, we cant progress. I love that! President Poncio always says that in the mission we see a dashboard of our weaknesses, because all the distractions of the world are gone. So when President Eyring talked about it, it made me feel a lot of peace. The mission has helped me see all the things that I can do better, so that when I go home I can apply everything I have learned and become the person that Heavenly Father knows that I can be. 

-- 

Hermana Willes

Inside the little airplane

Getting water from the well

Watching closely

The Hermanas

Miguel Got Baptized!

Miguel got baptized!!!!!!

It was such a special baptism because it was the birthday of Hermana Jimenez too! So fun. Miguel is so funny. He was so happy to be baptized 😊

This week was really fun! We did all the interviews for the zones that are here in Managua. I love being able to talk to all the missionaries. All of the missionaries are so cool and have something special to bring to the mission.

This week will be a week of traveling! Tomorrow we are headed to Leon, on Wednesday we are going to Matagalpa, and then at the end of the week I will be headed to Puerto Cabezas!! I am SO excited to go to Puerto! I will be headed there in a plan on friday morning and coming back sunday after church. Woohoo!

We also had the multizone for the three zones here and I had to share my last testimony in front of everyone...I cried haha. I talked about how when my older sister got home from her mission she shared the quote about how we dont have to walk the shores of Galilea or the streets of Bethlehem to know the Savior, but how she went to Bolivia. And how I came to Nicaragua 😊 There are no words to express how grateful I am for every minute here in the promised land! I love Nicaragua!

I hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!

-- 

Hermana Willes

Miguel's Baptism

Fransisco Got Baptized!

This week was SO wonderful! So busy and so wonderful.

On Tuesday, we headed up to Chinandega for the multizone there. I was able to see my old companion, Hermana Zafa. It was so fun! Chinandega is SO hot. I love traveling to see all the missionaries. The missionaries from one zone did a musical number that was a mix of Joseph Smiths first prayer and praise to the man..it was SO beautiful. Music has a special power to touch peoples hearts.

On Wednesday, we had the new missionary meeting. I love being with the new missionaries! I taught about the manuals of the first 12 weeks! We built a tower of cups with all the fundamentals of missionary work with the top cup representing baptizing. The new missionaries shared some of the spiritual experiences they have had already in the mission and it was so fun to hear about what they think about the heat here in Nicaragua! All of them are sweating like crazy snakes.

On Thursday we headed up to Esteli! It was so much colder there..we were all in heaven! The meeting went really well and the drive home was so fun. We were all so tired that we were just laughing the whole time. I am so blessed to be with the Poncios. After the meeting we were playing with the soccer balls that we use for an activity in the meeting and Hermana Poncio kicked the ball and it hit me so hard on my wrist! She just started apologizing and apologizing but we were all just laughing our heads off. Hermana Poncio has good game!

And last but certainly not least...on Saturday Fransisco got baptized!!!!!!!! It was such a beautiful baptism. He was waiting for us at his house when we picked him up, all ready. The bishop baptized him and they were both just so happy.Watching him enter the font was so special. Fransisco came to church yesterday in a white shirt and tie. 😃 He is so excited for General Conference in April!  

This week I was studying about service and I read a quote by Elder Carl B. Cook that I loved. He said, Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.- I can testify that missionary service is the best form of service! Haha. I love being a missionary SO much. I was talking to Hermana Lee, one of our office missionaries, and I was explaining to her that on the mission everything is put into perspective. The plan of our Heavenly Father really in the most important thing. So the most important thing that we can give to someone is the knowledge of this plan.

I love you all and have a great week! Shout out to my little brother spencer that will be cumpliendo anos this week! Love you!

-- 
Hermana Willes

Fransisco's Baptism

Celebration after with crackers and soda

Love my Companions!

Love my New Companions

Hola!

This week flew by fast and was SO FUN! I was able to work with my new companions, Hermana Apen and Hermana Jimenez for most of the week and it was so fun. We spent most of the time laughing and finding new people to teach in the early afternoon and visiting our investigators in the evening. This week we are going to baptize an Hermano who is named Fransisco! He is so cute. He is like a Nicaraguan Grandpa! Haha. He has stopped drinking coffee and loves the church. We showed him one of the churchs videos about Joseph Smith and He just loved it. He said that when he is with us and when he goes to church he just feels in his heart that it is true and that when he goes to church he feels something out of this world. I am so excited for him!

I found two quotes that I LOVED this week. One by President Monson that says, Joy if a gift for the faithful. I love that. We can have joy in every circumstance, as long as we are faithful to the covenants that we have made! Also, Faith is trust. Trust is that God sees what we cannot and that He knows what we do not. :) Isnt that so beautiful? I know that our Heavenly Father has so many plans for each one of us, and we cant even imagine how great those plans are.

I love working with my cute comps! This week I will be traveling to Chinandega and Esteli for multi zone conferences! I am excited to see the sisters! I have taught one of my companions a phrase in english this week..God is Good. God is great. :) I know that God lives! And He has great things in store for us.

-- 

Hermana Willes

My cute Companions!

Having Fun at our apartment

Americanos

Changes

Buenas!

I hope everyone had a great week! The weeks are going by faster and faster and I dont know how to stop the time from going so fast.

I was able to work with a lot of different sisters this week because Hermana Zafra was traveling to her zones for interviews. It was so fun to see how they work and get to know them a little bit more. We are teaching a man named Fransisco right now and I just love him so much. He is the sweetest man. He drank a lot when he was younger up until about a year ago. Now he is looking for God and is preparing to be baptized. He was able to come to church with us today and see a baptism this week. We have had really spiritual lessons with him and I just love seeing him! He loves reading in the Book of Mormon and is just soaking it up. Teaching people like him just makes my heart so full it could burst!

Well we got news of our changes! Tomorrow all the missionaries will be running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get to their new areas :) haha changes are always fun! My companion, Hermana Zafra, is getting changed to Chinandega. I am sad she is leaving but happy for her to go start throwing fire in her new area! She is a killer missionary. I will be staying in the office but now there will only be one TL! Zafra was a TL of the mission with me but President has changed things a bit and so I will be in charge of all the sisters in the mission. Crazy snakes!! I hope that I will be able to show each of the sisters how much I love them. I am so humbled to be able to finish my mission here in the office working with President and being able to get to know the sisters of the mission. I will be in a trio with two sisters from Guatemala! Their names are Hermana Apen and Hermana Jimenez! They will be able to cover the area when I will be gone traveling with President. I am excited for this change! I cant believe that it is my last...where did the time go?

This week we will be having all of our regular meetings with the new missionaries, the leaders meeting, and everything! It will be loads of fun! Things are getting HOT here in Nicaragua and I am sweating like crazy snakes trying to work hard and give everything I have every day.

I love you all so much! I know the church is TRUEEEEEEE. So true. I love being a missionary!

-- 

Hermana Willes

I love being a Missionary!!

Elder Rasband

Hey everyone!

This week flewwwww by so fast. It was full of spiritual experiences!!

Elder Rasband came and talked to our mission and the south mission! As soon as he entered the room I could feel the spirit testifying that He really is a special witness of Jesus Christ. He came with his wife and they wished us a Happy Valentines Day! It was so cute. Sister Rasband blew us a kiss and said, Thats the only kiss you will get today! Hahaha. They actually talked about marriage? It was really interesting. Elder Christensen, who also came, talked about how the mission helps us prepare for after..and that the most important day of our lives is when we get sealed in the temple. President looked at me from the stand and started nodding..HAHA but I am still thinking about how much time I have left here and how many more of Gods children I need to find!

Elder Rasband talked about how we need to always be finding new people to teach and it is so true! There are always more chosen people to be found! Last night we has SO many good lessons and I was just full of the spirit. We were teaching a young woman named Veronica and her mom, Martha about Joseph Smith and as I shared the first vision (I always cry when I share the first vision because its the first thing I learned in spanish) I just had a thought that I was so grateful that the gospel just makes sense. Everything. I just love this gospel so much! I know that the same church that Christ established has been restored to the earth and that we have the same authority that He had. What a blessing!

I read a quote by Elder Ballard that I LOVE. He says, "How is it that we show the Lord that we have symbolically put ourselves upon today's sacrificial altar? When we overcome our own selfish desires and put God first in our lives and covenant to serve Him regardless of the cost, we are then living the law of sacrifice."

This week this change ends. I will be starting my final 6 weeks of being a missionary. I had an interview with President Poncio and we talked about how the participants of a race always sprint towards the end..I am ready to give everything I have a put everything on the altar of sacrifice to show the Savior how much I love him. I know that I am not the perfect missionary, but I love the Savior with everything I have. 

Cuidanse mucho and have a great week!

--

Hermana Willes

Love my Comp!

With Elder Lee in the Office

MTC district reunites at the Mulit mission conference