Well this week was good!!! An Elder taught me how to rope so I am basically gonna be a professional roper when I get home:) haha I Love it! A member was teachin us all the tips and it was way fun! We also had an old country singer singin at Floyd Valley Apartments this week and me and Sister K were asked to sing "A Childs Prayer" at it. It was sooo cool!! umm We also got to put a bunch of insulation up in an attic for a couple hours.....I was covered in spider webs and dust and itching cuz of the insulation. haha it was way fun though:) So that was some fun stuff! But this week was also full of a lot of amazing experiences!!! So we met this lady at the Floyd Valley country night and got to talkin to her...she has had such a hard life.....her husband abuses her real bad...we shared a couple scriptures with her and testified to her that the message we share can heal her in a way that nothin else can....we ended up talkin to her for an hour and got a return appointment...she was cryin and loved everything we shared. We went back and had a really cool lesson with her :) We will see where that goes:) Another amazing experience was with F. She is the super stubborn lady who wanted nothin to do with our message but listened anyways....but this week has done a complete turn around. We were watchin a church video with her...the spirit was super strong and afterwards she asked if we could teach her the lessons....we were like...whatttt?? haha but we did...we have gone back a couple times this week...taught her the plan of salvation...oh wow that was powerful. We were all tearin up and she said that it all makes complete sense....and she believed it! Then we shared with her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she asked a TON of questions about baptism and the priesthood authority! Then get this....at the end she asked us if she could get baptized!! haha sooo crazy!!! We did nothin!! IT was all the spirit!! So amazing how powerful the spirit can touch people. The problem is she is on oxygen and not doin good at all with her health,..so we don't know how we are gonna get her to church and then get baptized...we will just have to see what happens:) Another really cool lesson I loved this week was with C. C is this super sweet lady. She was real sick this week and just layin in bed when we came over. She invited us in and had us sit on her bed with her and we all watched the Restoration...she loved it. She then had us sing to her...(she always makes us sing to her) so we sung "Joseph Smiths First Prayer". She said she felt something....we explained about the holy ghost and how he testifies of truth. She said she felt it every time we came over and knew God was tryin to tell her something:) Its so cool! She wants to come to church when she gets better! So we just pray that she does! Another really cool experience was the other day some members took us out to lunch. We were at this small town little café called "bob's". We were eatin our lunch and havin a really deep conversation about trials. The member we were with had just lost her mom and was tellin us how she feels her whenever she is at her lowest. She knows that Heavenly Father sends her to comfort her when she feels alone and when life gets hard. This lady came up to us and told us that she couldn't help overhearing our conversation. She saw our name tags and started askin all these questions about life after death. Me and the member bore powerful testimony of life after death and how we know that our loved ones are on the other side, waiting for us and that we will see them again. It was cool cuz when I was testifying to this lady....I started havin no idea what I was sayin....I just was testifyin and testifying then afterwards we asked if we could come visit her again and share with her our message. She said yes....she needed this in her life!! It was awesome! Afterwards, Sister Kent was all teary eyed and said, "now that was one of the most powerful testimonies of the plan of salvation I have ever heard." It was sooo sweet of her!! But the crazy thing was I didn't know what I said.....The spirit took over completely. I felt it.:) It wasn't me at all:) I gained a stronger testimony of bearing testimony:) When we start bearing our testimony the spirit is able to take over and do the rest! He is the real teacher....He is the one that touches hearts and makes people feel something within them to want to change. Well I am runnin out of time....but there was so many other amazing experiences I will have to share someday with yall! But one simple scripture that I have really loved this week is Alma 17:10. It says "And the Lord did visit them with his Spirit and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted" I love that! I have felt that so many times in my life. When we are struggling with trials we are facing in our lives, when we are feelin like all hope is lost and life is just too hard, or if we are just simply havin a bad day...all we have to do is turn to our heavenly father and He will simply tell us, "be comforted" and we will feel comforted. He has the power to heal us completely. He is the only one who can make us feel whole. And all we have to do to feel that....is ask. That's it! So simple yet I know I tend to forget too a lot. Anyways I hope yall have a great week!! Love you!!!:) P.s. Tell Grandma Ruth I LOVED her St Patrick's day package!!! It was sooo sweet!!!

Pictures - Ashley with the Headid's (Member family that feeds Ashley all the time) at Blue Bunny Ice Cream Museum, driving with the Headid's (Ashley wants Darrin to marry the girl in the picture!), Sister Weston (Ashley's Mission President's wife) just put the Mission Olympics on Facebook so I just got these pictures this week.

Hey family!!!! So this week was interesting!!! Lots of drama....first We got to tour the Methodist church and meet the pastor who absolutely HATES us....He was nice to our faces though!! It was cool cuz we were able to tell him that we are Christians and what we believe because he has been telling his congregation all these lies about Mormons. Then we were able to meet with A and F a bunch this week. F isn't doin good at all.....she is super sick and is most likely gonna pass away here soon. It breaks my heart.....She is LOVING the lessons though and knows its true!!! She wants to get baptized but can't cuz shes super sick....but I know that Jared will take care of her on the other side if she goes. Please keep her in your prayers. Another sad thing is Sister W's Dad passed away. She has been super depressed because they are losing their house, job, office and her Dad all at once. We have been over there holding her while she cries and talkin to her a bunch this week. It's so sad. Please keep them in your prayers as well. Another really sad thing was L. I can't really give details but a lot of stuff is goin down with her....she is bein scammed by some guy online....pretending he "loves" her and because of that has gotten herself in this huge mess. She is losin her house and the cops are gettin involved now.....She is sooo depressed....like we are havin to go there every day and share spiritual messages tryin to get her away from the drugs and drinking. Its sooo sad. Please keep her in your prayers as well. And one other really sad thing....is J. J is real real sick.....she isn't doin good at all. She is most likely not gonna make it....but we will see. She called us the other day sayin she was comin over to see us but we found out she was confused and just tryin to get out of the hospital. We are gonna try and go see her this week:( Please please keep her in your prayers!!! So now that all the sad depressing stuff is done with...:) Let me tell ya the good stuff!!! So me and Sister K got an opportunity to go up to Orange city (Which is in the middle of nowhere, in a dutch community) We got to teach a high school class about our religion! It was awesome! none of them had ever heard of Mormons so we taught them the restoration and plan of salvation. The spirit was really strong and so many kids asked such good questions! It was weird teaching a high school class cuz I'm their age....but it made it fun:) Then Diane's lesson was awesome!!!! She believes that this church is the only true church on the earth and that Joseph Smith was a prophet...she wants to come to church but can't cuz she works...so we are working on her!!!! Shes soooo close!!!! Pray for her!!! Then P told us this week that she knows we are sent to her for a reason and that she feels something so special every time we come over. She listens soo intently when we teach her....She is gettin it, I know it!!! Anyways, so many miracles happenin! Well so much happened and its so hard to be able to tell it all in an email!! But one thing that I have been thinkin about a lot this week is that when we are teaching the gospel we are teaching people transformation not information. I think a lot of times us as missionaries, get caught up in teaching the lessons and all the information they need to hear....instead of realizing that what we are sharing with people is the ability to transform their lives into something amazing. Something worth living. I think that life is hard enough as it is, and we are giving these people something that makes it so much easier, so much happier. We give them something worth living for. I was readin in Alma 44 this week and in verse 3 at the end it says, "and now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith." I think that's so powerful because in this chapter the Lamanites are tryin to take away all they have; their religion, families, right to worship, lands. But the important thing the people of Moroni realize is that they cant take away their faith. I think that's true in our lives....life is so unstable and we can lose everything. We can lose family members, our health, friends, jobs, anything...but the one thing that we are in control of, and the one thing that no one can take away, and that life can't take away, is our faith. It is the one thing that is stable and constant in this ever changing world. That brings me such peace to know that I can always rely on my faith. And if we have faith...we have everything. Faith is all that we need. Faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. If we have that, we have everything. And there is nothing to be afraid of or to worry about:) Ok sorry one more thing I wanted to share....so we have been dealin with a lot of sad horrible things. These poor people are goin through so much in their lives right now. A bunch of women that we are teaching all have been, or are currently, bein abused by their husbands. The women in our ward are all members but their husbands are not. It breaks my heart because you see their lives and their children's lives bein torn apart and it makes for so many problems. I just really have the strongest testimony of the priesthood and the importance of having it in our home. I am so grateful for my Dad and the amazing example he is to me of being a loving father and husband and a worthy priesthood holder. I want that in my future family. Women should want someone who puts the Lord first, before her. If he does that then he will treat her right, and their children. I have realized the HUGE need to center our homes on the gospel and there wont be as many problems. Life will be so much easier and we will be able to find the happiness life has to offer. The gospel is ALL that matters in life.....that's what life should be about. Last thought....Ive also been thinkin..that pain helps lessons stick and makes them more valuable. We shouldn't be afraid of pain and hate it....we need to learn from it, let it make us stronger:) .....and also that blessings withheld may teach more than blessings granted. I have learned that a lot this week! We just need to remember that God knows what He is doin and trust in Him and life will all work out:) Sorry I preached a lot this email....haha I love you guys soooo much! Have a wonderful week!!!:)

Hey family!!! So this week was soo amazing!!! We had so many cool experiences but I will only share a few. So we have been meetin with this less active A and because of that have been teachin her mom F. Her mom is really stubborn...but Its been AMAZING. We taught her the restoration and watched a video with her and she loved it and believes it and felt the spirit so strong. It was a really powerful lesson. Then we did a ton of service for the W's.....so they are losing their job and their house and her dad is dying right now...she has been having the hardest time. Sister K and I went down and were cleanin out her office and helpin them pack stuff away and she just broke down hysterically. I feel so bad for her....I just hugged her while she cried and then Brother W was so sad and we just talked with them and comforted them. It was heartbreaking...I just want to take their pain away. Yet through all this Sister W has such strong faith. Its amazing......she always asks us for spiritual thoughts for the day:) Just like Grandpa did:) Then there is the H....Sister H is raising all her kids in the church while her husband is super anti and he is battling cancer. He never would allow missionaries in their house...but for some reason he has let me and Sister K in!!!! We have gone for dinner twice and are goin again tonight!!! Its amazing!! He isn't as rude as he was. He used to say real inappropriate things to us and make fun of the church....but now he listens to what we say. Its cool. So ya know how a couple of weeks ago I felt prompted to go knock on this specific door? Well me and Sister G went back and she let us in....and she ended up completely opening up to us and telling us about her life...her sons are all hard core into meth and drugs and so she is raising her grandchild....She has lost a lot of family members and just feels completely alone and against the world. We bore strong testimony to her that God loved her and was aware of all that was goin on in her life. We shared scriptures with her....we talked about the Atonement and how she doesn't have to face anything in life alone....She has someone who loves her more than she could imagine and that He is always there. She has the ultimate best friend. She was crying and then said that she knew God had to have a plan for her cuz whenever she is about to give up on life, He sends someone to her. She said she knew that we are God's angels sent to her and thanked us over and over for coming and just hugged us and cried. It was sooo powerful...we gave her a bunch of pamphlets and the Book of Mormon and are goin back tomorrow:) oh it was also cool cuz we had come before looking for her but her husband answered the door....and so we offered him a book of mormon and told him about it and he was real nice about it and took it. She then told us how surprised she was that he was nice!!! She told us that he HATED missionaries...like when the Jehovah witnesses come over he yells at them to get off his property but for some reason he was real nice to us and even took a book of mormon. :) One other amazing experience I'll share real fast is with the L. They live in a trailer park and have had such a rough life. B is struggling really bad with her health...and they just have had a rough life. We went over a couple nights ago and were just talkin with them. There was a little girl named D who just kept smiling at me and came over and held my hand. I asked her if she knew who Jesus was....she said she didn't. I then showed her a bunch of pictures of him and told her about Him while Sister K was talkin to B. I then told her about God and how He was her Daddy up in heaven and how He loves her so much and just wants to talk to her. I told her that He wants to be there to hug her when shes sad or scared and that He just wants to help her. She was like "REALLY?? Well how can I talk to my Dadddy? I want to talk to him" So then I taught her how to pray...we practiced and practiced till she felt like she could do it. It was the most precious thing ever. Then as we were gettin ready to leave we asked if we could leave with a prayer. D asked if she could say it......but if I would help her. So I helped her say the prayer and the spirit was SO strong.....After the prayer B started crying and said, "How did you know how to pray?' D said, "My missionary taught me how" B got up and hugged me and thanked me and said, "We need this in our lives....will you guys please keep coming back." It was AMAZING!!!!!! Ah watching someone pray for the first time is the most special thing....then as we were walkin out I looked back at D and she was praying in the corner again....soo precious!!! Well there was sooo many other amazing experiences....one involved meeting a witch and getting a tour of her house....that was sketchy! Haha but it was really such an amazing week involving tons of miracles!!! I absolutely love this mission!!! I have met so many amazing people and been able to feel so close to my Heavenly Father. I know that He really does love each and everyone of us so much and all we need to do is turn to Him to feel that love. I know that whenever we have trials in our lives...that if we turn them over to our Heavenly Father He will strengthen us to be able to handle them and make our trial not so hard anymore....but turn it into a blessing because you feel Him so close. I'm sorry this email is all over the place! I have no time!!! But Just know you are all in my prayers and I love yall so much!!! :) Have a wonderful week!!! The E's made me Brown E's...haha get it?? Then made me actual brownies!!!:) I love them!!!!:)

Hey family!!! So this week was really good! We finished moving S in last Monday and Tuesday so now the house is just FULL of a bunch of stuff! But its slowly coming together!!:) So on Tuesday we went to Christian needs where we do service for 3 hours every Tuesday and this lady came in and she was talkin to this guy and out of the corner of her eye she saw me...and she said" Hey you look familiar!" I had never seen her in my life...we got to talkin and she kept sayin over and over how she swore she knew me....we got a long really well and I explained that I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and what that meant....she was like "Oh so your bringin back the good in the world?" I was like "yea....yea that's exactly what were doin" And she then said she would love to meet with us again....she loved us already she couldn't explain it!! So cool!!! So we just hope she actually will! Pray for her!!:) Then later this week we went and saw J. J is amazing. We watched "Consider the Blessings" conference talk by President Monson and the spirit after we watched that was SO powerful. She kept saying, "Wow....I have never felt my son so close to me...hes here. he's here." ( Her son was named Z,...he died of leukemia when he was 5) The amazing thing was....I also felt Jared that close too...it was crazy. I then bore my testimony to her that her son Z loved her so much and was right here and wanted his mom to have this gospel, this happiness, in her life. She shook her head and said..."yea you are so right...he wants me to have this" IT WAS SO COOL! She is going with us to the relief society general broadcast at the end of this month and we are going to watch conference with her!:) We are tryin to get her to come to church with us too! The spirit was soo strong.....and when we left...Sister K said that she knew Zach spoke through me to her today. I felt it...I felt Z's love for her....and I knew that's what he wanted her to know. It was cool cuz when we left we prayed and she said, "Let Z and Jared know we love them and are tryin our best to make them proud" It was sooo sweet. I just know Z and Jared are friends up there:) And that means we have 2 angels helpin us with Jane:) It's all gonna work out:) We met with A a bunch this week...we have been teachin the Plan of Salvation with her. She has been strugglin a lot lately. We talked about how sometimes we pray and ask for help for others but not for ourselves...how for some reason we don't feel worthy enough to ask for ourselves because we should/could be doing so much better than what we are already doing....but that we need to realize that we DO deserve his love and help. He knows were human and not always gonna be doin the very most we can. He has mercy and compassion on us and all we have to do is ask and He will pour out blessings to us....anyways it was really cool. That also reminded me that ANY blessing we ever receive is because of our obedience to something God has told us to do. In D@C 130:20-21 It tells us that. All blessings come because of obedience. So if we want more blessings in our lives...then we just needa be more obedient:)

We met with soo many people this week and had AMAZING lessons with ALL of them..I don't have time to tell all of them ...but I wanna share what happened Friday night....So all day Friday we could just feel Satan workin on us.....so many weird things kept happening...J (the 22 year old who we used to teach and almost baptized but then went all weird and creepy) met up with us and it was the worst meeting ever....the spirit was not there and so I just kept readin out of the Book of Mormon to keep the spirit there....but the second I stopped readin that horrible feeling was back...then we met with a bunch of ladies in Floyd valley apartments and they were bein all weird and it was just a horrible day...but AMAZING whenever we taught..Anyways we get home and are helpin S prepare her training for The Stake Relief Society meeting and S just started crying (She NEVER cries...toughest person i know) saying, "I can't take this anymore...I have felt Satan ALL day...He is right here and I can't do it anymore." We begun to tell her that we had felt the exact same thing all day... So she commanded Satan to leave with SUCH strong force...she was shaking and crying and I have NEVER felt the spirit so strong as I did right then. Most amazing feeling in the world. Immediately I felt peace and comfort and then right after that we were able to come up with the PERFECT training for the Stake Relief Society and then me and Sister K were able to have the most powerful lesson with C and then with others. Then the rest of this week we have been able to have such AMAZING powerful lessons!!! It's been sooo cool!!! But in my priesthood blessing I got a week ago I was told that Satan would be all around me but that Angels would also be all around me and I would need to draw upon them to keep Satan from attacking. Its been cool cuz me and Sister K have been SO exactly obedient so that Satan can't get in Anywhere into God's work.....Its crazy....we seriously have to be EXACTLY obedient or else he gets in. Ok so another cool thing is we went tracting and I felt real prompted to go and knock on this specific door...so we did and this man opened the door and looked SO sad.....I started bearing my testimony on the Book Of mormon and how you can feel God's love for you when you read it and apply its teachings in your life....He took it and thanked me so much and said its what he needed right then. It was cool:) We will see what happens:) Last thing I been thinkin about lately...I think the most important thing we need to understand is how the spirit speaks to us individually...to YOU. you can't do anything or make correct choices without knowing how the spirit speaks to you. It may be feelings, it may be thoughts coming to your mind, it may just be a peace from all the confusion in your head but whatever it is...try and figure it out. God speaks to each one of us differently because each one of us is different. He speaks to us in our language. If we get that down...then life will be easy!! we will be led and guided every day by The One who knows the long run, the whole perspective. The One who knows whats best for us and The One who knows the best way for us to be most happiest. I know that if we find out how the Spirit speaks to us that we will ALWAYs be making the right decisions in our lives and have no need to worry. I love yall and your in my prayers!! have an amazing week!!! Love, Sister Wilson:)

Well this week was crazy! So at the beginning of this week, a resident at Floyd Valley Apartments died...:( He visited with the Elders a couple times but was "not interested" S found him watching General Conference in his chair....how cool is that?? So anyways we had a memorial service for him and the pastor of T's church asked us to sing "How great thou art" So me and Sister K got to sing that together!! It was fun!! The spirit was so strong and then afterwards we talked to the Pastor for quite awhile. He is thinkin about havin us come teach about our church cuz a lot of people are wondering what 2 young girls are doin walkin around in -20 degree weather all day every day! haha so that would be super cool!!:)

Alright so S had to be completely moved out of her apartment this week and sense we are clear up here in Le Mars we couldn't get help because the roads have been closed because its been such bad weather. SOOOO me, S and Sister K moved ALL of S's stuff by OURSELVES. Haha ALL the furniture and everything!!! We would work literally ALL day Thursday Friday and Saturday and half of Sunday till 10:15 every night.....I Have never been so dang tired in my life but we finished it this morning!!! We woke up and finished patching holes and drilling and takin all the shelves off and everything from 6:30 to 11 today!!!!:) WE FINALLY FINISHED!!!! It was awesome!! I will send pictures of the house today!! We just had to pile everything in it....haha but I feel soo bad for S!! She is 72!!! and the only help she had moving was me and Sister K!!! Ahhh I feel so bad for her!

So the Olympics were this week!!!:) It was Zone Conference and it was AWESOME! President Weston gave an amazing training and I learned sooo much! Then afterwards we had the Olympics!!! Haha I WON!!! I got a medal and everything!! It was sooo much fun!! I'll send pics of the winners! I was the winning running/ladders sister in the mission!!!

Alright well our cars were grounded because of the weather this week....its gotten down to -30 ...its freezin!!! and the roads are all iced over bad! but we have had to move S so we been out in it all day everyday!! haha its kinda fun tho!!! We got to go and see the G earlier this week....M made me this really pretty bracelet!! Its amazing how we are friends!!! Sister K said she would never talk to them AT ALL whenever they went over and now she even made me a bracelet!!! I love her!! Then we also have been workin with this lady named T. She's a less active but doesn't come to church because of family situations. Her husband is abusive and its such a sad situation....we are tryin to figure things out. She's really hard and won't let anybody in and tell us anything...but me and her have gotten a long REALLY well this week and were finally gettin somewhere!! but I'ts so sad.......most of our investigators are single women and all of them are abused by their husbands either emotionally or physically or in most cases, both. It breaks my heart....but I know that with the gospel in their lives that it can heal the pain they are feeling. I see it in their eyes every time we go over there and teach, the glimmer of hope they are still holding onto. I just hope we can continue to reach them so they will accept and their lives will be blessed. We haven't been able to see J....shes real real sick....Please keep her in yall's prayers. Well sorry this email is all over the place....the computers not workin well so I'm tryin to hurry!!! But one quote that has been stickin out a lot to me while helpin these girls who have all been abused by their husbands and who because of that are completely broken....they have no respect for themselves and have no hope. It breaks my heart. But Elder Holland said, "Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgemental, and kind" I think that is such an amazing quote and something we can all strive to do. One thing I would like to leave with yall is in Alma 33:4-11 it has an amazing example of prayer. If yall can please look it up. It shows that God hears our cries no matter where we are or in what situation. Then in Verse 11, my favorite, it says that He hears us because of our sincerity , and He can hear us all because of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, Our Loving Heavenly Father CAN have mercy on us and CAN answer our prayers and all His judgements can be turned away. All of this because of Christ. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for all He did for me and does for me everyday. I know that this gospel and living the way it teaches, is the only true way to be happy in this life. I know that if we just turn to Our Loving Heavenly Father that He will be there to comfort and love us when no one else is. He can make us feel whole. He is all we need. I love yall and pray for you every night!! Have a wonderful week!!!:)