Sister Ashley Wilson

Nebraska Omaha Mission

11027 Martha St

Omaha, NE 68144


Monday, May 26, 2014

Hey family!!! Well this week was different! Haha so Im just gonna tell ya all a funny story. So on Tuesday I started feelin real sick...we were teachin some investigators and I just kept fallin asleep and coughin but we stayed out until 9! I was sooo proud....then all that night I couldn't sleep. I kept fallin asleep then bein jolted awake cuz I would stop breathin....so then my companion said it was gettin a lot worse so we needed to go to the ER. Haha so we got up at 3 in the mornin and went outside to get in the car and realized we forgot the keys and were now locked out of the house. Then this car drove by real slow playin real nasty music and then turned around to drive by us again. We got a real bad feelin so we both ran to the back of the house....By that point I wasn't breathin well AT ALL.....my companion was freakin out....we were prayin like crazy and then we called S (the 73 year old lady we live with) and she came and unlocked the back door and took a look at me and said "I have no idea what you 2 are doin out here at 3 in the morning but we need to get you to a hospital." Haha she didn't even ask why 2 missionaries were chillin outside at 3 in the morning. It was so funny! We got to ER and I dont really remember anything after that. Sister Bertrand got a bunch of videos of me....I was super drugged up. The only part I remmeber was wakin up 13 hours later and being alone.....without my companion. I was freakin out to the nurse saying "I NEED MY COMPANION. I CANNOT BE ALONE." Hahaha the nurse thought I was a crazy person.....but 30 mins later they found my companion waiting in the wrong waiting room. Haha. Well long story short they took a scope on my throat and saw somethin weird so they took a biopsy of my throat and I'll find out the results on thursday...they also said I had an infection so currently I am on like 6 drugs. Haha its awful. But a super funny story!!:) So this week has been kinda dull since then....the day I got home from the Hospital we had to drive down to Omaha for Zone Conference. The doctor told me I probably shouldn't go but I really wanted too......ha so we went. That whole day I was feeling awful.....so sick.....President was super worried about me and told me to go and lay down on the couch outside. One of the Elders had asked me to bear my testimony earlier before they knew I was sick and President told them to take me off cuz I needed to rest but somehow they messed up and called my name so I went and bore my testimony.....on drugs. Haha suprisingly I didn't embarrass myself too bad!! Haha then for 3 days after we got home I slept and slept and slept....We have been able to manage 2 lessons every day though!!! So thats awesome!!! :) And yesterday I was even able to go to church.....and 2 investigators came!!!!! IT was AWESOME! J came we were talkin about the plan of salvation and she had a son die of cancer when he was 5...She asked a ton of questions!!!! Ahhh it was awesome!!!! She started cryin and huggin me sayin that she believied all this!!!! IT was awesome! C was the other investigator who came and last night before bed she called and thanked us so much for such a wonderful day. She has never been happier:) She wants to go again!!! It was so cool! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father is still blessing us with success even tho we are unable to go out and work our best. Well I have been able to read the Book Of Mormon a lot lately and I just wanna share a quick insight I got the other day. I am readin in 3 Nephi chapter 3 and 4 and they are awesome chapters. In verses 20-21 The people are askin God to deliver them and carry out how they think their plans should go. When God forbids it and tells them that if they do it thier way that they will be destroyed but if they do it God's way then He will deliver them. I was really thinkin of that and seein how often we do that. We pray for the things we want when really we should probably be prayin to align our will with God's and let God's will take place. God has it all figured out. He knows whats best for us. He will never put us through somethin we can't handle WITH the help of Him.(cuz we sure can't handle a whole lot on our own...) Goin through these tests and trials in life, is only gonna make our relationship with Heavenly Father stronger. So shouldnt we be grateful for these hard things we go through? ITs just hard to see things that way though. We all know that challenges will come to us all....life wasn't meant to be easy, but as we trust in God, these challenges will strengthen our faith and lead us closer to the people we were sent here to become. I think of this whole health trial I have been dealin with this week.....its been real hard....but I can honestly say that it really has brought me closer to my Heavenly Father. No one else could help me through this, no one else knew how scared I was, and no one else could comfort and be there for me better than He could. I know that I needed to let go of all fear.....and just have faith and trust my Heavenly Father and all would work out, HIs way, the best way:) Anyways just awesome couple of chapters!! I love you guys sooo much and thanks again for all you do for me! When you go to Jared's grave today please let a balloon go for me!! I love you guys!!! Love, Sister Wilson:)

Monday, May 19, 2014

Hey Family!! So this week has been amazing!! Its amazing the success we are seein!! Ok soooo first off...we have another baptismal set!!!! haha 2!!! Its amazing! Its sooo cool to be a part of this amazing work. Both of the baptismal sets are from the L Family. (A family that lives in the trailer park). I absolutely love them! They are so humble and down to earth. They have been goin through a real tough time lately. They have lost 3 family members in the past month and B was goin in for open heart surgery this week. (They all are super less active and haven't come to church for like 20 years.) B asked if she could have a priesthood blessing. We were sooo surprised and soo happy!! She then told us she was terrified for the surgery and didn't think she was gonna make it through. So we got some priesthood holders and went over there on Thursday night. (She was getting surgery on Friday). Their WHOLE extended family was there. The trailer was PACKED with people. We were not expectin that at all. But wow it was soo cool! We taught on the Atonement and the spirit was there so strong. Everyone in that room could feel it. Then Brother Bates gave her a priesthood blessing. Wow it was so amazing. He promised her that she would make it through and that all would be well. It was a really cool experience and I am soo grateful I was able to be a part of it. Everyone in her family just came up to us huggin and cryin and tellin us how much they loved us.....I love that family. We were able to go back 2 other times this week and meet with different members of their extended family. So neat. God is allowing me to see miracles. Another really cool experience we had was one of our investigators, G, invited us to teach at her Methodist womens group. We were able to teach the Restoration to 25 Methodist women!!! Ha it was amazing!! We had a GIANT Question and Answer session.....and I just prayed like crazy that I would answer all their questions correctly. Ha it was cool cuz Heavenly Father always gave us the answer to every question they asked. (And let me tell ya....some of em were questions I honestly didn't know the answer too....but the answer just flowed out of my mouth...:) soo cool) Then afterwards 4 different ladies came up and asked if they could have a Book Of Mormon.....then one of the ladies asked about learning more!! They all asked for our number and wanted us to come back in a couple of weeks and learn more!!! When we were drivin home, Gladys told us that they absolutely LOVED us and said that was the most interesting thing they have ever heard and really want us to come back as soon as we can! G was so happy that we came and asked if we would come to another womens group she has and teach them!!! haha soo cool!!:)
One last thing....so we went and helped S serve food at a country music thing, and were able to talk to a BUNCH of different people. They all asked a ton of questions and we now have 5 new investigators who want us to come and teach them more!!! So what I learned......is that country music...is of God. The end:) Well one scripture that I have been studyin a lot about this week is in Helaman 5:8 where it says "that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away;" I really really like that. It made me think of my intentions for doin things. Like.... Do I serve others so I can look better? or because I honestly love these people and want to help them? Do I share experiences to boast of myself? or because I want to share my testimony? I think a lot of times we catch ourselves boasting of ourselves and glorifying ourselves and not God. I know I am guilty of this.....its human nature...but I really really want to purify my intentions. To purify our intentions, I think a good place to start is to purify our hearts. If we have a pure heart that would mean that we are humble, and willing to submit our will to God's will. I think it means we do things for the right reasons. We do things out of the goodness of our heart. We do things with Christ like love.....charity, the pure love of Christ. Wanting or expecting nothing in return, just doin it out of love. In order to have a pure heart we need to desire pure things. If we start with desiring to have a pure heart....its amazing how that desire will turn into action. Love is an action word. If we truly love God, then we need to show Him, in all we do, say and even desire. I know that if we truly take the time and effort to purify our hearts,intentions, and desires that we will be a lot happier with ourselves and find it a lot easier to love others as well. I don't know....just something to think about this week!! haha I love ya all sooo much and hope you have a wonderful week!!! Love, Sister Wilson:)

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

hello family!! I felt like I basically already told you everythin yesterday when I talked to ya!! haha so this is gonna be a shorter email....lucky for you!!;) Well this week we were able to get 4 new investigators!!!:) 2 of em are kids. I absolutely love teachin kids! We were able to teach them how to pray and who Christ was and we taught them the song, "A childs prayer" It was so cute!! Another lady that we are teachin was a Nun for 28 years! We been helpin her move in and been teachin her the lessons but then a couple days ago she fell and broke her hip and is in the hospital...not doin so good:( Then we were visitin with a less active family in the trailer park and one of the girls husband walked in and started listenin.It was a powerful lesson. Afterwards, we asked him if he was a member and he said no. Then we felt strongly prompted to ask him if he wanted to be baptized.....and then he said "YES! I really would love too....I need this. I been waitin for this. This is the answer to my prayer!!! " haha we stood there in shock....didn't even know what to say. Then told him that he would have to take all the lessons and come to church. He said "Ok!!! Can you come back tomorrow and teach me?" It was such a miracle!! It was awesome cuz we had been prayin for a baptismal set because we have never had one in Le Mars...and we have been workin so hard and tryin our hardest and fasted and prayed that we would get one THAT day and then it happened!! God really does answer our prayers if we are tryin our hardest and doin our best...then He will make our efforts enough. It was such a testimony builder to me that God can make ANYTHING happen. Anyways then one other thing I want to share with ya is what happened on Saturday night. I was really struggling with my throat and havin a hard time. Brother W and the Elders gave me a Priesthood blessing. It was one of the most amazing blessings I have ever received. I really felt like every word was directly from God. He told me that I would be healed. That a solution to my problem would arise in the next couple days and that I would know it was my answer from God. He repeated again that I would be healed. I felt so much peace. Then He went on to say that I had so much here that I still needed to accomplish...that I had people I needed to find and love. He said that I had a way of brightenin peoples lives and that way will be the way home to so many people. He then said that after my mission I had much to accomplish as well. he started talkin about my family life....he said I would find much joy in my family life. That my home would be a joyful home full of love and laughter. He said I would have many kids and love them with all my heart. It was soo cool. Afterwards everyone was teared up and I just felt soo much peace. Heavenly Father had answered my prayer once again. I loved it because He answered me in a way that to others didn't make any sense...but to me, meant the world. He talks to us in the way that we understand. I am soo grateful that He loves us and cares about each of us so much that He would take the time to answer and calm our worries and concerns. One last thought I would like to share with ya before I leave is somethin I learned the other day while readin "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage....What did Christ die from? We all know that He died because he voluntarily let go.....but one interesting fact that I learned is that when he had the spear thrust into his side it could have punctured his heart...which then would mean that in a physical sense...Christ literally died from a broken heart. If you really think about it....that's super symbolic. In order for Him to return back to His Father In Heaven He had to have a broken heart. (He had to die). So it is with us. In order for us to be near Gods presence and return to live with Him someday....we need to have broken hearts and contrite spirits. Christ really did set the ultimate example. So what does it mean to truly have a broken heart? I have been really thinking about that lately....I think to have a broken heart means to be truly humbled. It means you are willing to submit your whole will to God. You are willing to submit your whole self to God. You truly desire to be one with God. A broken heart is not a sad one...its a submissive one. Michael Wilcox explained that it in a way that I really liked. "So just as broken horses follow the slightest commands of their master, so does a person with a broken heart. They are willing to submit to all things which the Lords seeith fit to inflict upon them." I absolutely love that. I hope to be able to have a broken heart. I know that if I submit to all that God sees that I need..that I will become all that I am meant to become. I know that God knows whats best for each of us and I trust Him with all my heart. I love you guys sooo much and hope all is goin well with all of you!!! Have a wonderful week!! you are in my prayers!! Love, Sister Wilson

Monday, May 5, 2014

Hey Family!!! I hope all of ya had a really good week this week!! This week was really awesome again! haha I feel like I say that every week! But it really was cool...so at the beginning of this week we were servin at Christian Needs and sortin through all the clothes and then I noticed that I recognized all the clothes I was foldin....then I looked on the tag and they had J's name on all of em. Her family had brought all her clothes to Christian needs!!!:) P (the Lady in charge) told me that I could take as many sweaters of J's I wanted home!! So I have a sweater or J's Im gonna keep forever now:) It was a little tender mercy:) Another cool thing was P (The Lady at Christian needs) is now an investigator!! We ended up sharin the restoration with her and a bunch of scriptures and she is now readin the book of Mormon and LOVING it!! Its sooo cool! we will see where she goes with it:) Another highlight of this week was we got our investigator D to fast with us for her answer to know if this is the true church. We went over after church to see her and she said it was a really good opportunity but she didn't have her answer yet...I know her answer is gonna come...just not quite yet. Its after the trial of our faith that miracles happen...so we just told her to not give up:) She said she wouldn't and is gonna come to the Elder's baptism with us on Saturday!!! We are really excited!!! Plus she said she wants to come to church too!! So she is moving forward!! She will get her answer if she keeps pressing forward with faith! Another highlight was one of our investigators/Less active family called us over to help do M's hair and makeup for prom. It was so sweet....she was soooo happy that she had someone do it for her. She had never gone to prom and was soo excited! We were also able to have one of the best lessons with them while we were there. The spirit was so strong. We really learned a lot more about their concerns and how we can best help them. M shared with us that she finally feels like there is a God because he keeps sending us to her when she needs someone the most. It was a huge step up with her and her family!!:) another cool thing was we went over to the "lock up" last night to see "the girls". They are the 2 that have been molested and abused their whole lives and are now in a care center. It breaks my heart every time to go over there....but its also always the most amazing experience. One of the girls was real upset....a lot of stuff was goin on and she just couldn't calm down...we then started to share a scripture with her and bear our testimonies and she started to calm down. She asked if we would sing to her so we sung a bunch of hymns...afterwards she got all teared up and said, "Can you stay forever? You always bring the spirit with you when you walk in...Please never leave me...It will go away." We then shared with her that it wasn't us.....if she read her scriptures and sang these songs...then she can bring that exact same spirit into the room and she will never have to leave that feeling. It was so sweet....they are soo special to our Heavenly Father...I know it. I love them so much:) One other thing that happened this week was we got a call from Mission Presidents wife sayin that Sister B (my companion) her aunt passed away in a car accident. It was soo sad....Sister B was really strugglin at first...she had never lost someone and it just really hit her hard. It was so sad...that night she cried all night and I just held her hand and hugged her all night. But now she is doin so much better. Death really doesn't seem as hard out here on a mission. I guess you see the whole persective a little more clearer. Its been cool the conversations we have been able to have:)
So another really awesome thing that happened this week was Stake Conference!! Our stake got a whole new presidency so 2 Area Seventies came!!! Elder Gifford Neilson and Elder Stanfield? or somethin like that. The Saturday night Adult session was ALL on missionary work! It was amazing!!!!!!!! He had all us missionaries come up and shook our hands and thanked us for the work we were doin and how much the First Presidency loved us. It was sooo powerful. :) well I am so grateful for the decision I made to come on a mission. Its crazy the things I am learning everyday and the experiences I am able to have. One thing I have seen a lot of is trials and hard times in life. It made me think of a plane ride and how we all are goin to go through our storms and winds in our lives. There will be times when its "gonna be a rough ride." But we need to remember who the pilot is. Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Yes there will be turbulence, but we also need to remember that there are beautiful times up ahead. And that the destination is all gonna be worth it in the end.:) We WILL land safely with Christ as our pilot. I think we need to remember that Christ is always offering his Atonement to us. And I think we need to extend the benefits of the Atonement to others. How can we do that? By living as Christ lived. Loving everyone, comforting them, forgiving them, strengthening them. We need to help others feel the Atonement in their lives. We are all goin through our own "turbulence" in our lives. We can't do life alone. We need Christ. We all need to find a safe place in a troubled world that's only gonna get more challenging. That safe place is Christ. He will never leave you. He is the definition of safety. Cling to Him and you WILL find peace and safety. I have such a strong testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Atonement that He made for each and everyone of us. I have seen the miracles His Atonement does. It changes lives. I know that if we all take the opportunity to utilize the Atonement in our lives, and also help others have the benefits of the Atonement that life wont be as hard, in fact, life will be full of peace and happiness:) I love you all so much and hope you all are doin sooo good!! you are in my prayers!! have a wonderful week!!! Love, Sister Wilson!!:)