Another Great Week

Well first off..i think everyone has heard that my brother Joseph was elected Prom King..and you are all responsible to not let that go to his head. haha but CONGRATS JOE! :) That really is so exciting! And my other little brother Spencer is now a sacrament passing, temple going 12 year old! Im so proud of you Spence!

This week was another great one here in Ocotal. We had a miracle yesterday..we brought a family of 4 to church! Woohoo! We are going to their house tonight to do a family home evening so wish us luck. :)

Other than that nothing too crazy happened this week..yesterday we were woken up by Hermana Chow (our landlord) in our house because we had left the faucet open and the water came at about 5 in the morning..oops. :) 

The trip to Managua on Tuesday was a success..i got to see my Wally Bear! #bestfriendsforlife

I also will finish reading the Book of Mormon this week! YAY :) I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I have no doubt. The people in the Book of Mormon are INCREDIBLE and I am so pumped to meet them all one day. 

Also my recent convert, Melba, came back to Ocotal! She is the daughter of Melvin. It was so good to see her! She left this morning but I was just reminded of how cute and special she is. :)

Anyways, I love you all so much! I hope everyone is doing wonderful!

-- 

Hermana Willes

With Melba

Recent Convert Arlen.  She wants to serve a mission

Breakfast with Hermana Chow

I got to see Wally!!!

I Love the People Here

What a crazy week it has been in Ocotal. First off, we found a lizard in the house on Tuesday. I hate lizards so much. Whenever I see them I just think of Parent Trap when the daughter puts it on the water bottle and then when Meredith screams it goes into her mouth..so gross. So you can imagine how i felt when we found one in our house..So Tuesday mornings we were going to have divisions so we are waiting for the other sisters from Esteli to come to Ocotal and we find this lizard in our bathroom. We are trying to kill it and it keeps jumping and running so we are just screaming our heads off. Well then the Hermanas from Esteli were here so we picked them up from the bus station and when I came back with Hermana Landaverde (our TL) the lizard was on a shelf in our bathroom..so Hermana Landaverde just takes some toilet paper and grabs it. haha. No bid deal. Then she put it in a bag and threw it in the garbage. haha just thinking about it makes me smile. She was like why are you scared? uhh because its gross! haha.

We are working with a couple right now, Julia and Rojer and they are awesome! They need to get married but they are praying about it and I have faith. Julia came to a baptism with us on Saturday and she came to church yesterday for the full time. On Saturday when we went to pick her up for the baptism I was expecting her to put up a fight because on Friday she told us that she sells tortillas and cant leave the house..but she was all ready to go! She is so prepared. I love her so much!

We were in a lesson with my convert, Bayardo, and for some reason we got to talking about beans. I asked Bayardo if he thought that God likes beans and he was like well of course! We can read in the Bible about the prophets eating beans! HA I love Bayardo. I was like Hermano, you are crazy. next time we come you are sharing the scripture so you can show us where the bible talks about people eating beans. :)

So here in Ocotal I have always been the missionary that leads the music in sacrament meeting because we dont have a member do it. (still working on establishing the church haha) and Every week we sing hymn number 118, I stand all amazed. I LOVE leading the music because I get to see and the faces of the beautiful members that I love so much. Yesterday after I led the music I sat down during the sacrament and thought about how crazy it is that before my mission I had no idea about this little place named Ocotal that I love so much. I testify that God has so much in store for us..and we have no idea. Words cannot express how much I love the people here. Ocotal has become another home for me. I have learned so much walking these streets. Trying to learn spanish, crying because I am happy or because I am sad, and giving my all to this work every day. I testify that God really is our Father, and one day we will have the opportunity to live with Him. But here, right now, is when we are given the opportunity to become like Him. I am trying each day to better myself, so that one day when I stand before my Father, I can thank him for every blessing and experience he has given me. How sweet it is to be a representative of His son!

I love you all SO much :) We are headed to managua tomorrow (4 am bus WOOHOO) and I will get to see Hermana Wally and all my other friends in the mission! I am so excited! Pray that we get subway :) hehe

—

Hermana Willes

I love Nicaragua!

Me and My TL, Hermana Landaverde

Two members: Ivete and Biielka (sisters)

So Happy!

A Week of Miracles

Another week gone here in the most beautiful place on earth :)

I hope everyone tells my beautiful inspiring perfect momma HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She really is all i aspire to be in this life. I love you Mom!!!!! :) (dont tear up hermana willy..dont do it..)

This week we had a miracle!! Yesterday we were passing by for people to get them to come to church and I had this impression to pass by for a certain house. We had gone to this house on Saturday and the mom had told us that she sells food on Sunday and that maybe she could quit working for an hour to come to church. I thought..why not? When we got to the house we actually found the daughter and when we told her we had a church meeting in 40 minutes she was like ok I will go get ready! (miracle number 1) We told her we would come back in 15 minutes for her. We went back and she hadn't done anything to get ready, but then ran to throw clothes on and was ready within 10 minutes. (miracle 2) We had testimony meeting yesterday and another missionary bore their testimony about the Book of Mormon, and instantly she got curious. (Miracle 3) My inspired companion had happened to have an extra book of mormon with her so she gave it to her to read during the meeting and for her to keep! (miracle 4) She wants to learn more and we are going back to her house tomorrow to explain what happened with Joseph Smith and how we have the Book of Mormon! (Miracle 5). My favorite miracle was that my cute comp had an extra Book of Mormon with her..Hermana Le Starge loves these people so much and had been struggling to feel like she was actually fulfilling her missionary purpose with the language barrier..this was such a tender mercy that she can still change lives as she learns spanish. I love my hija :)

Also something funny that happened this week..we got locked out of our house this morning. hehe. my fault. We went to go buy more minutes on our phone and i forgot to bring the keys with us.. But the lady that owns our house (Hermana Chow) called the locksmith guy and he broke into our house for us and replaced the lock. Hermana Chow is the cutest..she speaks english and so we hung out with her while we waited for the lock guy to come. She isnt married and I told her that one day she will find a husband and she told me you just cant find good christian men. So i said..Well what about a Mormon? She laughed and said as long as he doesnt try to baptize me. hehe. We are still working on her..slowly but surely :) Nah but really she is the best! One day my parents will meet Hermana Chow. Moral of the story..dont forget your keys in the house!

I love you all! Keep being amazing!

-- 

Hermana Willes

Beautiful Nicaragua!

Hermana Willes and Hermana LeStarge

I love my companion!

Happy Birthday Mom! 

Jumping for Joy because it's my Mom's birthday!

Mi Hija

Another week down..like what? On Tuesday I got my INCREDIBLE daughter from Managua. She is so prepared. I love her so much. She will change lives like crazy. Her name is Hermana Le Starge and she is from Utah too. She is so special and her testimony is just like fire.

My poor daughter..when we got to Ocotal we didn’t have lights..or running water..hehe culture shock to the extreme. :) But I still love my Ocotal! Tuesday was Karina (a member)s birthday and we got to share what we loved about her and I cried..I know that I knew Karina Lagos in the Premortal Life :) She is the best.

I hope that everyone enjoyed conference! We have been working like crazy this week to open this area again and its been hard work but I know that the Lord is helping us every step of the way. 

ALSO...MY CONVERT FROM NEW YORK CAME BACK! Jimmy is back in Ocotal! I totally cried when I saw him. He is the best. He is here visiting for two weeks and we are pumped to try and get everything ready for his temple recommend so when he goes to the states he can do baptisms for the dead. When I saw him again I was reminded what a miracle he was and what a miracle he is. I know that just bringing one soul to the Lord brings so much joy. Incredible joy that cant be expressed :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

Shout out to my BEAUTIFUL sister Abby who turns 14 today!

Shout out to my cousin NATE who will be headed to California on his mission mandarin speaking...congrats Nate! you will kill it!

--

Hermana Willes

Zone Meeting

My poor daughter...no lights

Sharing the gospel with the world :)

P-day soccer

Generations: Hermana wally is my mom..

         hermana marquez (yellow dress) is my daughter

           hermana le starge (next to me) is my daughter 

                   to the left of wally is her daughter 

               and markys comp is my grandaughter!

6 months, 2 daughters, 1 area

Well...everyone hold on to their seats because changes happened yesterday..and Hermana Willy has 6 more weeks in Ocotal! :) WOOHOO!

We had a baptism on Saturday (the son of a member) and we are just about to wrap it up (we were at the river) and our TL calls me and goes, ¨Hermana Willy and Hermana Marquez..I just need to tell you that you guys are both training this change.´ WHAT?! Tomorrow I will be picking up my hija in Managua! :) I hit 6 months in the mission on Wednesday! 6 months in the mission, two daughters, and one area here in my little Ocotal. I will be returning to the other side of Ocotal with my daughter :) Opening an area will be quite the adventure but I am so excited! I know the Lord will help us a lot!

This week we had the Meeting for the Women (sorry i cant remember what it is called in English) and so we watched in on our little computer in the church. We had about 15 women and it was so beautiful! Bexua (our investigator) came and loved it. She is so great! I am so excited for General Conference. It will be weird to watch it in Spanish but I will love it nonetheless :)

Funny story...so last night we are sitting outside the house of two members, Iveth and Bielka. We finished the closing prayer and two geckos fell on me shoulder! I screamed like a little girl and Beilka (14 years old) screamed right with me. I felt like I was the lady in Parent Trap when the gecko is on her water bottle. haha.

Crazy story..Yesterday I was sitting in sacrament meeting and we are about to sing the intermediate hymn when one of my Zls, Elder Cedeno, comes up to me and goes, do you want to talk? (in spanish of course) So..after the intermediate hymn I gave a talk. With about 30 seconds notice. That was a first :) haha Good thing I had a story up my sleeve to share about the Atonement so it wasn’t too horrible. Or at least I dont think it was..

Inspiring story..on Saturday before the baptism we were all ready to go and the family was piling in the truck when I had a moment where I had to decided if I would be obedient. There is a rule that we cant ride in the back of trucks (which makes sense) and so I hesitated. One of my ZLs, Elder Hirshi, knew this was rule too and lucky we both wanted to be obedient. We knew it would be a hassle because we had to walk about 20 minutes to a river where we would have the baptism, but we talked to the mom of the family and she walked the whole way with us and our companions so that we could be obedient. Right after that I got the news from President that I would be training and he asked me if I am perfectly obedient. It felt so good to be honest and say yes! :)

Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful week and watch Conference in english for me! hehe. Wish me luck with my hija tomorrow! and also, I know that our Savior Lives. And because He lives, We all can live again too. How beautiful is that?

-- 

Hermana Willes


Baptism of the son of Hermana Fatima and Hermano Fransisco! His name is Stylon and his baptism was the same day of his eight birthday. He was so excited! The river was so beautiful!

Hermana Fatima...
the hermann that walked with us so that we could be obedient!

My favorite drink in the whole world..one of these bags costs like 5 cents here and i drink at least 5 every day. It is the best. you just rip the edge open with your teeth and drink..love it! its called yupi!

Watching the Women's Conference

Another Beautiful Week in Ocotal!

Beautiful Family and Friends!

Another beautiful week here in Ocotal has gone by! SO CRAZY. This week I did divisions TWICE and I learned so much. I love how the Lord works differently through each missionary. Hermana Melendrez (Guatemala) and Hermana Gabriel (Guatemala) are both incredible missionaries. Hermana Gabriel dies in this change (She finishes her mission) and she is my TL. It was so fun to talk and work with her. She only has one more week as a missionary..crazy snakes!

Yesterday was a crazy Sunday! We are working with an Hermana named Bexua. One night we went to a less active member’s house and she was there and told us she would love to come to church. But, we weren’t able to pass by for her last week and remind her so she didn’t go! Luckily, my comp still had faith though and we visited her this week and committed her to come to church. Well, yesterday morning we were doing divisions to try and bring more people but one of the hermanas we were going to do divisions with slept in..oops. So we were scrambling trying to figure everything out and didn’t have time to pass by for Bexua until 15 minutes before church started! (Hermana Willy was really stressed) And when I passed by for at her house her daughter told me she had already left. Naturally, I thought this was a lie. (Repent Hermana Willy) but if you knew the Nicas..no one wants to tell you no so they just lie. haha. BUT I ran to the church and she was waiting outside!! She told me, I was in my house and thought the hermanas haven’t passed but I told them I would go so I need to go. That is gold as a missionary! I was SO happy.

Also yesterday a WHITE MAN came to church. haha. with an ipad. I was like WOWWW and actually got a little overwhelmed. I love my simple life here in Ocotal. He is here with a group of university students for an engineering project and he treated us to dinner last night. It was really weird sitting and eating dinner. But He was really nice! I love members of the church.

WELL this Monday we have changes. I might be leaving my dear old Ocotal. Whatever happens, I know that the Lord has a plan for me, and He knows best. I also know that serving a mission was hands down THE best decision I ever made. No doubt about it. I LOVE the gospel and I want to share it for the rest of my life. I am so excited for the General Womens meeting on Saturday. We are going to try and watch it..haha pray for us! :) 

I hope everyone has a great week!

-- 

Hermana Willes

Dinner with "the white man" and the university students

I Love Ocotal!

Wow another week has flown by... I was talking to another sister on Thursday because we had to go to Managua for a meeting and she was like "wow you have almost 6 months?" and i was like....we aren’t gonna talk about that. Its going too fast! But I’m so happy because I’m in my little town of Ocotal. The taxi drivers will now yell my name out the window when they see me.. "adios hermany willy!" haha i love it so much. 

So Thursday we had to go to Managua for a meeting and at one point we were doing practices and PRESIDENT COLLADO WATCHED MINE. I have never been so nervous in my whole life..haha I saw him come up out of the corner of my eye and I thought "oh no oh no PANIC!" but I kept going and did the best I could. Afterwards he was like, "Excelente Hermana Willes!" I think he was just being nice though.. :)

Things are doing great here in Ocotal. The work is hard but I love it so much. Semana Santa is coming up (hottest week of the year) so the people all get a little grumpy around 1 in the afternoon when its the hottest. Its so cute.

We made a dish from El Salvador as a district today so that is what the first picture is of..the elder holding the camera is Elder Hirschi and small world he lives about 15 minutes from my house in Draper :) The rest of the district is a little farther..haha all latinos!

I hope everyone is doing GREAT! Love you all!

-- 

Hermana Willes

Making the dish from El Salvador with my zone

 The older lady in in the picture is named Ramona. She walks about 15 to 20 minutes every week to go to church. She is AMAZING. Straight pass to the celestial kingdom. One Sunday i asked her how she feels when she comes to church and she just goes, "ALEGRE!" :) I think she is like 80 years old..haha. She will be best friends with Grandma Bingham in the afterlife.:)

Me. making a papas!

A PS.—I said to Sarah “the latinas are so little.” (she is often a whole head taller than they are)  Her response: "oh mom i am a giant..they are so tiny here! I feel so tall!”