Christmas Baptism!

Hola mi querida familia! It was so wonderful to see all of your beautiful faces. I know I have gotten a little missionary weird haha but seriously I loved every second talking with each and everyone of you guys. The time went by to fast. Well Christmas turned out to be wonderful. On Christmas Eve we had a little pajama party haha only with me and my companion but THANK YOU mom those PJs were so stinkin cute. We also went and ate at a members house. It was pretty chill. Then we started Christmas day at 5:30 AM because we had a baptism before church. We had to travel to a small town outside of Baños called El Placer to get our investigator named Victoria. We have been working with Victoria for about 2 1/2 months now and she finally jumped in the water yesterday haha it was so wonderful to see her make this decision. She has actually been kind of a tough investigator but there was always something special with her so we always kept working with her. But anyways we show up to her house about 7 in the morning and find that she is sicker than a dog. We where like well hermana you have two choices. First every Saturday of this month she had a baptism day but every time she had some emergency. It has been crazy with her. But we told her that she could wait another week or she could fight this opposition. We read in Moroni 7:33-34 here it talks about if we have faith we can pretty much do anything if it is within the will of God. She was like I want to get baptised. At this point she was in a lot of pain and hadn't gotten alot of sleep the night before. I think she had gal stones considering her symptoms and her health history. We told her that someone could give her a blessing and she was like of course. So we called two hermanos who lived near by and had a car. They gave her a blessing. She still had a lot pain but got up and dressed to go to her baptism. We left at about 8 with hna victoria, her daughter, and her grandson to go to the baptism which was at 8. We finally get to the church and the President of the Rama said that we were to late and that we would have to wait until after the meeting. So Victoria sat all through the Sacrament meeting then finally after we had the baptism. It was such a relief to finally get her baptised haha I cried like a baby. Seriously this was one of the best Christmas presents i could have asked for. Hna Victoria is such an example for me. I feel like all though out my experience teaching her I have grown with her. But after the baptism a member took her and her daughter to the hosptal. She is doing better though now. Well that is how my christmas was. I feel so grateful to be here on the mission and witness little miracles. I love each and everyone of you. THank you so much for writing haha I will write next week. Chao!!

Dreaming in Spanish!

Hola! I really enjoyed all of your letters. Thank you so much! This week has been kind of crazy with our investigators and with a new companion. we have been working extra hard so that she can know the area and so we can find more people to teach. This week I dreamed in spanish for the first time. It was actually last night but we were fasting and I remember in my dream that I said ¨Yo tango sed¨ (Im thirsty) Í think I dreamt more but I dont remember. I just remember waking up this morning being really thirsty. It has been a pretty chill pday. We are both pretty tired from this week so we just cleaned the house and walked around Baños. Spanish has gotten a lot better. I love being able to compunicate better and understand more. Its not perfect or anything but I think that with the responsiblility of helping out my new companion this week has help a lot. Sorry this email will be kind of short. I have emails from all of you that I need to respond to. I love you all. I can´t wait for Christmas!

Goodby Hermana Jaramillo

Hey Everyone! Sorry I am writing so late. It has been a crazy crazy Pday here in Quito. Yesterday I came with Hna Jaramillo because she is going home tomorrow. I am so sad. She has been the best companion for me. Seriously she is wonderful. We have become best friends.  She hopes that she can attend BYU after the mish. I hope that one day all of you can meet her. But yes I have met my new companion. Her name is Hermana Gonzalez. She is from eruigue and has been in the Mission for the same amount of time as me. She will be the senor companion. I will still be serving in Baños. We will be staying the night here in Baños then tomorrow early in the morning we will go to Baños. All this week has be really emotional because we have been dreading tuesday. We had many wonderful experiences  with our investigators and the members. One day we were walking down the road and Hna Jaramillo looks down at her shoes and finds 5 dollars. Of course she picked it up and shouted in joy. Later we had a FHE with a very awesome family in the rama. We made cookies and watched the lava sput out of the top of the volcano. We could only see a little bit because there is a mountain sheilding the town of Baños. Also the Volcano is pretty far away.  But there was one point in our time with them that the hno of the family took Hna Jaramillo aside and asked very humbly and quiet if he could barrow 5 dollars for food for the next day. Hna Jaramillo said yes of course. After Hna Jaramillo and I couldnt help but smile. I know that our heavenly father is aware of each of our needs. I know that if we need help he will provide it in some way. Just like the 5 dollars that Hna Jaramillo found in the street that was destanted for this family. I also know that the lord never gives us things that we cant handle. This change in the mission has been pretty hard. But I know that I have been given divine help in speaking spanish so that I can inform and help my new companion adjust to banos. Its not perfect but lets just say I feel blessed.
Also I recieved christmas ordaments from so many of you. Thank you so much. I loved each and everyone. Also I have recieved one package from lara just to let you guys know. Thank you. I cant wait until we can talk this christmas. We WILL be able to skype. So I AM EXCITED. I love hearing from each and everyone of you. It sounds like mom and dad had a really quick trip up to Idaho. I wish I could have been there to see spencers concert. I love BYUI. I am so glad that he has enjoyed it so much. But Ive g2g love you all! XoOxoOxXOXO

Hna Wilhelm

Hola! I have been so excited all day to read your emails. Thank you! It has been another great weeks in Baños Ecuador. First I want to tell you what I got to do today:) Today we went and hiked a retired volcano named Chimborazo as a zone activity. It was way fun because there was snow! I hope I will be able to send pictures. It was the first time for Hna Jaramillo and a lot of the missionaries to see snow. Hna Jaramillo and I built a snow man. Then we all had snowball fights. We had great fun. Then afterwards we went to the mall in Ambato and ate pizza. There is a super max grocery store there and I got to buy peanut butter. Seriously I have been craving peanut butter so bad. I only bought a small jar because it was expensive. But it was so worth the 4 bucks. I got home and had a nice cold glass of milk and a PB&J. Now I am writing my wonderful family. I just want all of you know how grateful I am to be in this family. I know I have been blessed tremendously. I often see a lot of broken homes and sad circumstances for children. I have also seen the change in a family when they start to recognize blessings from God. It has been a pretty good week. We visited with the Iglesias family and got a ton of great ideas for activities. This next week we are going to have a FHE were we are going to have a short lesson then play games and then a fireside on Thursday. I am excited to see how these turn out. Every Friday the Branch has a basketball night. Hna Jaramillo and I usually go because we invite investigators to come. I didn´t really play this Friday with all of the adults because I was in my dress clothes. Instead I played with the little kids. They are so funny. Actually the are perfect tutors when it comes to Spanish. They speak in such a simple way and they usually can understand me. Oh I almost forgot. I spoke in church in sunday. It was so stinkin nerve racking. haha My spanish is still rough and simple but I spoke on charity in mission work for the members. I am just so glade to get it over with. Hna Jaramillo prepared a talk because she thought she was going to have to speak. We got to church and the president said that no only I was going to speak out of the two of us and that I was going to be the last speaker. I am glade that the members are really long winded haha because by the time it got to be my turn to speak I only had about 10 minutes which turned out to be perfect. Today Hna Jaramillo only has 15 days left on the mission. Crazy! She is getting so anxious about going home in that she is kind of sad to go home. She is a wonderful and powerful missionary. She has been a great example for me and has taught me many things. I am getting kind of anxious to see what happens when she leaves. Like who will be my new companion or if I will be staying in Baños. I probably will stay here because they usually don't like sending to missionaries to a new area. But a little bird told me that possible they will be sending elders here in Baños because there isn´t many priesthood holders. Sooo it will be interesting to see what happens. 

Mom to answer your questions. No we have a pretty nice apartment and don´t have to take bucket showers. We do wash our clothes by hand. We walk or talk a bus every where we go. We are the only sister missionaries besides the nurse companionship to have a cell phone. We only have a phone because we live by a volcano. We have 6 different mamitas who feed us weekly. Sometimes  our food appointments fall through then we eat little snacks. The mission life has been pretty good. 

I need to go now I love you all!  

11/14/11

Hola! Every week all of your letters are so up lifting. I am getting so excited to speak with all of you this Christmas. It has been a pretty chill P-day today. We hopped on a bus to Rio Blanco which is about 20 minutes away and hung out with a girl named Esther from the Branch. The highlight today definitely was getting emails from all of you:) As it is always. So thank you! This week has been a good week with lots of traveling. We had a conference in Ambato with President Ghent-his wife and Elder Useda-his wife (a member of the seventy). It turned out to be a very powerful and inspiring conference. We started at about 3 and ended at 7:30. Elder Useda talked to us about the importance of obedience and also revelation. The conference was great but by the end of it I was about brain dead from trying to understand everything:) This Sunday Hna Jaramillo and I helped out in the primary. It was crazy ha but fun. We practically had to put a few of the boys in head locks to keep them from getting in trouble. Every once in a while we will be walking down the street and then all of the sudden someone comes hugging us from behind. We look back to find a little primary kid from the Rama. Anyways I want you all to know that I am doing good. I am getting so excited for spencer. He will be a wonderful missionary. I love you all! Cant wait for next week. 

Hna Wilhelm

10/31/11 Post

Hola my lovely family!

It has been a wonderful Pday. Hna Jaramillo and I had pizza today. So it has actually been really awesome. Along with a wonderful pday this week has been awesome. Really I have seen miracales and the power of God at work. This week we had the Romero family get married and bapitised! Seriously. On Tuesday Edison and Norma confessed that in fact they were not married. Hna Jaramillo and I were both stressing out all week over this because some how the Romero´s needed to get married before saturday because their baptism was this day. If they couldn´t get married we would have to push back their date. On top of all things Edison said he needed to file for another ID because he had lost it. This week we have fasted and prayed a ton. I know that our prayers have been answered. On thursday we invited a member, Hno Iglesias to come with us to the Romeros. During the lesson Hno Iglesias was like ¨you need to get married-I have a buddy who is over the civil marraiges in Baños.¨We were like sweet! And on top of that Edison found his ID. So straight from the lesson we went on a wild goose chase around Baños Ecuador. Norma, Edison, Hna Jaramillo, and I along with Hno Iglesias as our leader set out at 6 pm on this rainy thursday night with a goal to get a marriage done. We first walked to the Hno Iglesias buddies house. It turned out that he wasn´t there and that he was actually at the office...how convinent...So all 5 of us set out again. OUr eager leader Hno Iglesias was very energetic and walked super fast. Every two minutes or so he would yell back'Vamos Hermanas...Tenemos una matramonio.' Finally we make it to the office and Hno Iglesias fiend is their. He was super kind and said he would be glade to marry them that night. We just needed to find another witness. So Hna Jaramillo and I set out again in the rain to find another member. By the time we got all the paper work and witnesses ready it was about 8:30. It was such a fun and memerable experience because we were all soaking wet and Norma and Edison were super happy. Saturday the Romero Family and Miguel were baptised. On sunday it was such a relief to see each on of them recieve the HG and be confermed a member of the church. I know that we couldnt have got this done if we didn´t have the help of the lord. Seriously it seemed like satan was working really hard on our investigators. I know that this is the Lords work and I am so thankful to be apart of it. On another note the Branch held a basketball night and it turned out to be a blast. Hna Jaramillo and I couldn´t resist the temtation to play so we ended up playing full out in our sunday clothes.

Thank you everyone! I love you all. I am sooooo excited for Spencer. I was happy to hear that he will get to go home for thanksgiving and go through the temple. G2G XOXOXxooxOXoxOOxxXXOo


Hna Wilhelm

Cookies

Hola Family! 

It has been a great week here in Baños Ecuador.The weather here is getting hotter. Its kind of a weird thought that it is getting colder in AZ. Anyways we have many very awesome investigators. Remember how I said that we are teaching the Romero Famly? Well great news. They are getting baptised this next Saturday. They are very special and I think will become super strong members. The father, Edison, I think will be an awesome leader in the church someday. We have also come in contact with a new investigator named Miguel. Miguel has special needs and it has been awesome teaching him. He understands a lot in the lessons. We take things super slow for him and then repeat a lot. He has such a sweet spirit. I am grateful to get a little more of a taste for what I´m going into for my degree. 

Today for pday we ended up not going to the Zoo. Instead we made cookies at a members house. Hna Jaramillo wanted me to teach her how to make cake cookies because one time Hna Ghent made them. The ingredients that are available here is kind of different but hey they turned out pretty good. It was a little different cooking with a gas oven but after the first batch they turned out perfect. Other than cookies it has been a pretty chill day:) Tonight we have three appointments with investigators. I love finding new people. Hna Jaramillo is such an awesome example. She is very sincere when she helps people. The Spanish is still rough but I am ok with it:) I am just trying to learn more and not stress. I read an article in the Liahona I think it was this months. But anyways  it was a story about a sister missionary who had served in France. It talking about how she was learning the language and how important it is to be worth of the spirit. A lot of times with a new missionary and now with me people some times cant understand when we speak. I have found that the spirit is a universal Language. It is our best teacher. I know the language will come with time and that people will start to understand me more. I just know that the power of the Holy Ghost is real. I am so grateful to be here on the mission and to experience the hand of God in this way. I know that we have a very loving Heavenly Father that knows each and everyone of our needs. I have seen the gospel change and help many people. 

I am short on time but please know that I LOVE YOU ALL. Thank you for your suport! 

Spencer's mission. 10/16/2011

Man has it been a week. I have been so excited all week to hear were Spencer is going. The other night I even had a dream that Spencer got his call to Ecuador haha but I guess Africa is pretty cool too. This week has been crazy up and down. A lot of our investigators have not progressed much. Its crazy how things can flip flop so quickly. Satan is working hard. This is why we have to work even harder.  I am so grateful for this time on the mission. I have learned so much about people, the gospel, and work. 

Remember last week when I said the Branch needs a lot of work-well we met with the President to see how we could help. Hna Jaramillo got right down to business and told him what needed to go down. haha. I think she 'shook his potty chair'. But this sunday was 100 times better. It is great what a little tough love can do. The president and his family are great though. He is actually pretty young. They have two kids, Jose (5) and Abish (3). The other night when were having our meeting-Abish fell and cut her head open. We ended up ending earlier so that she could go get stitches. Jose is funny every time he sees us he says 'Hola Hermanitas.' He even can say Wilhelm. I think he is the only one here, besides Hna Jaramillo, that can say my name. Seriously. Its funny when I meet someone and say my name- they just kind of go oh and smile then call me Hermana the rest of the time. Its pretty funny. Or they try reading my name and pronouncing it like wil.....em. I just smile and say muy bien. 

Our investigators are awesome. Our mission president really wants us to find families to teach. We are teaching this one family that is sooo awesome and sweet. They have five kids and a mom and a dad. I love going to visit them. We are also teaching some other people. Yesterday we had Rosita come with us to church. It was so funny because we walk in and she sees a friend and goes sits with them- there wasn´t any room so we go sit in front. Through out the meeting I would look back and she would be with a different friend. It was like she was playing musical chairs. It was great to find out that she had a lot of member friends. This week we also met this older man named Vicente. He is super cool and he actually came to church this Sunday too. Which is amazing because he came all by himself. It was funny in our first lesson with him Hna Jaramillo was saying the closing prayer and she mixed up Vicentes name for Carlos. So through out the whole prayer she would say something like thank for this visit with Carlos or please bless Carlos..... I was having a hard time not busting up laughing because just this week she has been mixing everyones names up. But after the pray Vicente said that was a nice prayer. I am sure Carlos is very thankful. She was a little mortified but we all ended up having a good laugh.  

It is so great to hear how and what all of you are doing. Dad congrates on the new calling. I was super excited to hear that Josh will be coming home in December. Oli and Kirsty need him. Oh yeah today we were walking to the bus terminal when I met two members from Utah. Actually the girl I was talking too said she knew where Saint Johns was and she has been there. Crazy small world. She said that her dad actually married some lady named patty from SJ. She couldn't remember her Madden name. 

I love you all! I am so excited about Spencers call. He will be an awesome missionary. I caculated that by the time I go home he will have about ten months on the mission. Crazy. Anyways. Got to go! OxOXxoXoooxxo

P.S. Mom I am sending a envalop full of stuff and letters with an elder from my mission that is heading home to AZ next week. He is actually a Hamblin from RV. So I think I will tell him to either just drop it off at Uncle Garys house or have him call you guys to go pick it up. I'm not sure which yet but just so you know:)  Love you!

Conference Weekend

It has been a great week in Baños Ecuador. General Conference I think now is my favorite week end out of the whole year. There was many wonderful and inspiring talks. I think with every talk I could apply to either my life or an investigators life. We had to catch a bus to a town called Ambato that is about 40 mins away to watch General Conference at the stake center. We also got a family that we are teaching to come with us. Their name is Romero. They are so nice and I think are excepting the gospel really well. 

Between sessions on Sunday an elder from Mexico made Barritos for our whole Zone. They were so stinkin good. Today for Pday all of the Elders in our zone came to Baños and we did a tour of all the water falls in the area. It was so fun. We were in a double decker bus and while we would drive around in town we had to be careful not to get clothes lined by a powerline. I dont think I sent all the pictures I wanted too. But we got to crawl in a tunnel to the back of a waterfall. Our tour guide had us all pose and look at the camera. He took along time on purpose because we were all getting soaked. So It has been a really fun Pday. 

 Oh yeah this week Hermana Jaramillo and I had our first baptisms. Olga and Malu Suares. We have been teaching these two since we have come to Baños. They always greet us with wide open arms. Olga is an older lady who takes care of two Granddaughters- malu and Catalina. Olga told us something pretty cool the other day. She said that three days before she met us that she had a dream. In her dream she said she met two angels who taught the truth. One was really short and the other was very tall. So when we met her she immediately excepted the gospel.  I thought that was pretty cool. We are also are teaching a lady named Narcisa. She is so funny. She is like a latino version of a soccer mom. Everytime we teach her she always feeds us and is chalk full of questions. Also when she found out that I played the guitar she said wait a minute- and ran up stairs and got two guitars. She played some old Ecuadorian Folk Music. She is having a hard time with believing in prophets. I think that she will come around. We hope because we really enjoy visiting her. 

Thank you for all of you letters. Mom I got the package that you sent me. Thank you very much! Everything is good here. Spanish is still a little slow but all is ok. I am slowly picking it up.   I hope that all is well at home in the states. I miss all of you! 

XoxOxoXXOO

9/26/11 - 2 weeks in Banos

We have been here for almost 2 weeks now and it feels like we have been here forever. Things are good. I have a really awesome companion so we have been working our little tushies off. We have been doing a ton of contacting and teaching. The second day here we found two investigators named Olga and Mula. Olga is actually the grandma and guardian of Malu who is 9 and then Catelina who is 6. They are so sweet and have really excepted the gospel. I love going and visiting them. Their baptism is this Saturday.

We also have been really trying to work with the branch here. There are alot of in actives and the ward just needs help. So we have been visiting alot of members. So we have a TON of work. The language is coming VERY slow but all is well. My companion encourages me alot and is very helpful. We have a deal were we talk only spanish in the day time and then only English at night. It has help us both out alot. It is crazy how time flies no the mission. I have been out almost 2 1/2 months.  Hermana Jaramillo will be done in 2 months. Its crazy. She has been kind of sad today because she has come to the realization that it is almost over. I hope she will be able to go to BYU after the mission. I also realized the other day that Sean has hit is year mark and Alec will be hitting it here shortly. It seems like they just left yesterday.

Today for PDAy we have just kind of chilled and looked around at the stores. It has been raining on and off. We took our clothes to a laundry business because we both didn´t want to wash by hand this week:)

Thank you for all of your emails! Oh Yeah! and Spencer! You can turn your papers in soon huh? Ok I´m guessing that Spencer will be called to the Mexico City Mission. What do I get if i´m right? That would be sweet if we had four spanish speakers in our family. Ok Well I´ve g2g. I love you all! Cant wait to hear from you next week!

9/19/11 from Banos Ecuador

Hola Family! I am here in my area of Baños Ecuador! It is beautiful. I really cant use other words to describe it. Its a kind of a touristy town that is at the base of a volcano. President Ghent said that it erupts about every 4 months and the last time was in April. So its about due for another Eruption. Dont worry there is a mountain that shields the town and I guess they are use to it. Today for PDay we went to see a beautiful huge waterfall. The tran here is like jungle. I think you guys would really love it here. I really think I have been blessed to be sent here and to have my companion. We have been here for 5 days now. We have been contacting a ton because both me and my companion are new  to the area. Oh yeah my companions name is Hermana Jaramillo. She is from Ecuador and she is awesome. She is very paceint with my language and is a super example to me. She only has until December left on the mission then she is done.Crazy! I guess after the mission she wants to go to BYU. So I have been helping her learn English. It has been a nice trade.  We will have to see what president does after she leaves because we are the only missionaries in this area. Hopefully I will have a handle on things by then. We have come in contact with four families that look to be very promising. Sorry I dont really have much time to write. We need to go to an appointment. It sounds like all is very good at home. Thank you for all of you letters and emails.

9/13/2011

Hola Family!
 
I am here in Ecuador. Just flew in about 12:30 PM and now all of us newbees are hanging out at the mission presidents home. My mission president and his wife are so nice. There name is Ghent and they are from California. I found out that they are scuba divers also. I got the chance to chat with hermana ghent will working in the kitchen. Quito is sooooooo beautiful! The view from the Ghents apartment is crazy. I guess they say on a clear day you can see 5 volcanos from around just from there window. Anywho the just gave me five minutes to let you know that I am alive. I will have you know that I am suuuuper happy to finally get here in Quito. I love you all! Thank you for all of your support and letters. I just got my mail here that has been saving up for two months. Anyways Ive got to go! You will hear from me monday which will be my Pday. xoXoOxOOXX:)

9/31/11

Hola FAMily!! Thank you so much for all you emails. I also loved the pictures! Little Bridges is like an angel. He looks like a minnie Davis. Its cute. It sounds like you have all had fun with the boat....of course you get one a week after I leave haha jk It sounds like a blast and I cant wait to go after the mish. Have fun on your way up to Idaho! Are you guys stopping at lake powell?
 
Guess what they fixed all the enter keys on the key boards so now I can make my letters look nice:) Ok Whats new with me? Well last week on P-day we had a Fireside with President Dallan H Oaks and it was awesome. He basically did a discussion thing were they passed around micraphones. We talked about revelation. There was probably only 300 missionaries there so it was pretty cool. Before he started his talk a wanted to shake everyones hand. ha I got to shake his hand. Kind of funny thing-they made a new rule right before he came that we cant shake hands with anyone at the MTC because they dont want sickness spread. We all thought he had the higher authority in this situation and he wanted to shake our hands. Anyways that was waaay cool. Yeah mom! I think you are thinking of the right Cavanaughs they are from California and I think they did serve a mission in like the 90s with their whole family.
 
Also I didnt get a latino companion this time around. So Im in a trio with Hna Johanson from AZ and Hna Eldridge from UT.  Sorry this letter is going to be short. I LOVE you all!!!!!!!!! Thanks again for your letters. I really enjoyed them!
 
Love
 
Hermana Wilhelm

8/24/2011 post from Karen in Peru

Hey FAmily! We just got back from a small tour of Peru. Where we got to go out and do some shopping, see the ocean, and see some cathidrails. It was awesome. I got a sweet beenie for 4 bucks that says Peru on it....be jealous haha jk This week has been wonderful as usual. It sounds like you all had fun in the valley with mom and dad. Lots of new things have happened here at the mtc. We got a new MTC president because the old one, president whetten, got sick and isnt able to serve anymore. The new ones name is president cavanaugh. Its nice to get some guidance again. We havent had a president here every since we got here. Yesterday our latino companions went out into the field. That means I only have three more weeks in the MTC. Crazy! We got to go proselyting again. It was wonderful and I learned alot. It was neat because we taught this one lady that we came across that was an inactive member. It was good because we got her to pray. She had such a sweet spirit. The spirit was so strong in her little home when she started saying her prayer. She thanked Heavenly Father for her life and for the church.  Afterwards she said she was going to go to church the next day. Another thing that was cool this week is that I got to see the elders in my district give a blessing. The priesthood is so powerful. It reminded of when dad and spencer gave me a priesthood blessing before I came to the mission. Oh yeah! Also tonight Elder Oaks is coming to the Peru MTC. I am super excited. Sorry this letter will be a little short. I love all of you very much. Know that everything is good here. I want to hear from all of you. Also I want to see some pictures of little Bridges-Please:) and thank you! Hermana Wilhelm Ps mom and dad can you update me Address on facebook. My mission address Misión Ecuador Quito-Calle Robles 640 y Amazonas- Quito -Ecuador. Ok Talk to youll later!

1 Week in Peru

Hola Family, It has been a great and busy week. They sure keep us on our toes here in Peru:) We are learning lots and I love learning here alot better than Provo. Today is Pday and that means we get to go out shopping. Im so excited to see the outside world. This will be the first time since being here that I will see the streets for real. The temple is closed this week unfortunatly but we will be able to go next week. One thing that is really cool about this MTC is that on every Saturday they have everyone and their latino companion go out and teach REAL people. Im super excited and kinda nervous. One thing that was kind of sad this week is that my Latino companion, Hermana Velez, left for home this morning. She had a really hard time being away from family. She is the only member in her family so I think that made it even harder. She is so sweet and awesome. So probably today they will re-assign me a new companion. Its sound like you all had a very crazy week at the family reunion. A little about Peru and the MTC: it never rains (just a super heave mist), the sun comes out probably 3 times a week, there is a sweet soccer feild with lights and everything, sand volleyball court, and the food is pretty good. Oh yeah dad sorry I totally spaced telling you about what scripture I like and my service dates. I dont have my scriptures with me right now so I will just have to tell approximately were its at because I dont remember exactly. Its the scripture on charity in Moroni 8. I really like that scripture because it really applys to my purpose right now as a missionary:) My service dates are from July 2011- January 2013. Also I was going to send you a ,letter in the mail that I wrote in the plane but now I cant find it. So sorry haha. I sent maria a letter - that has my mailing address and all of that information. She should get it in like a week or so. So ask her for my address and PLEASE write haha Im loving it so far.) You all are very wonderful. Thank you so much for everything. Im running out of time. but I am still kinda companions with Hermana Eldridge from the Provo MTC. We are in the same district and do everything else that we dont do with our latino companion. There is also another Hermana with the name of Johanson. She is from AZ also. There is actually three Arizononions that I know of haha. Love ya all! Cant wait for next weeks email time! Love Hermana Wilhelm

Peru!

Hola Family!! Im in peru! Sorry this key board is really weird so if I have many typos please disregard them. It is nice here. All of the hermanas and Elders are super nice. I have a new companion who is a native to ecuador. She is seriously like half my height. Its awesome. I think she is taller than Aubrey but just by a few inches. I havent had much time to spend with her because she is in a different district. We will be doing teaching times together and companion sudy. The rooms are actually alot nicer here then they are in prove mtc. They still have bunk beds but they are wooden and the mattresses are wider. Today Im pretty tired. We got in at 2 AM last night  and didnt really get much sleep on the plane ride over. It was sooooo nice to talk to-mom, dad, kirsty, and spencer! Its sounds like everything is going pretty good at home. Im so happy little Bridges is here. He sounds so cute! I would love to see pictures of him.) I wrote a letter on the plan last night to all of you. Hopefully you will get it next week or so. I am also sending a small picture of me and my last district. Everyone is pretty chill here in peru. The food is pretty different but its ok. I love all of you so much! It sounds like the boat is awesome. I told kirsty over the phone that she should totally redo the interior like her friend did to her trailer. I think I will learn a lot faster here. I like the schedule alot better. They have it broken down into thirty minute incraments instead of having hours of study time like they did in provo. So this letter is really random. I didnt know I was going to write just this minute. Anyways. I got to see alot of Lima last night on the bus ride over to the MTC. The drivers here are crazy. Im so glade that I dont drive. From what I hear I guess Quito has alot pretty senery around -with green mountains and stuff like that. In lima there are tons of advertisment boards every where and its lhas a really getto down town pheonix type look to it. All the people are super nice. I got to talk to a native peruvian on the plane ride over.... Well Ive got 2 go. I love all of you. Be expecting a letter in snail mail from me... Oh yeah the very first thing they told us when we got here was to tell family NOT to send packages. I guess the packages have to go through customs and its a big pain in the bum. Any whoo love yall. Love Hermana Wilhelm. XxXxoOxOo

Subject: One more week then Peru!
Date: Thu 7/28/11 9:36 AM
Hola Family!
 
It was great to hear from so many of you. Thank you so much. It sounds like the 24th week was a blast. I'm so glad to hear everything ran so smoothly with the 24th show.  I almost forgot it was the week of the 24th until we had a fireside on pioneers. haha I got to sing in the MTC missionary choir. That is the biggest choir I have ever seen in person- let alone sang in it. It was amazing. I sat right in front of the director. He was crazy! haha I guess you have to act a little out of the ordinary to get five hundred missionaries attention for a full hour. Anyways we sang come come ye saints. I love that song. I am so grateful for those who sacrificed so much to make this church work.
 
Class this week has been good and hard. We got two more investigators. Its hard but I know that being out of my comfort zone only means that I'm growing. I will probablby say this in every letter but- I am soooooooo grateful to be here. It is an extremely humbling experience but I know that it has blessed me in so many ways already. Its great to here about the missionary efforts in the ward right now. I know mom and dad are doing great! Man we have a boat now?! That awesome! You guys better be super careful and don't have to much fun:)
 
This week me and my companion Hermana Eldridge got our travel plans for peru! We are leaving next wednesday- August 3rd. My flight leaves here at 8:30 in the morning. I don't have my flight info but they say we have a five minute phone call home when we travel. I forgot my travel plans so I will write home letter with the time's that I will be on the ground- and possible times I will be calling. I'm so excited to get to peru. Its probably going to be like drinking out of a fire hose again but its ok. I will learn alot faster.
 
Two nights ago we had an exciting night in our building when we were waken up at 2:30 by the fire alarm going off. It was kind of funny because know one seemed worried as they walk half alseep to the outside parking lot. Of course this had to happen on the night that I wore moms moo moo haha. I love that thing. Everyone is super jelous. Anyways it wan't until we go outside that we realized that know one grabed a key. So when it was cleared to go back in we had to get a security guard help us get in. We told the elders in our district that we broke back in because I guess they do that all the time with their room. They told us how to do it. All you need to break into a MTC dorm room is a long long piece of floss, vacum cord, and an envalop. haha Try piecing that together in you head. haha I love the district that I was put in. The elders are goofy and the hermanas are sweet. haha
 
Anyways I love all of you! I love to hear from you.
 
Love,
 
Hermana Wilhelm

July 21, 2011 from MTC

Hello Family!
 
It has been so great to hear from all of you. It sounds like a busy week in SJ. I am sure everything will turn out for the program. Man I've always wanted to go to the SRP party haha oh well maybe in two years:) Well the MTC is still wonderful. I am learning lots even though the langauge is hard but people keep say that we will catch on....I am taking their word for it. Mom that is so funny about Spencer trying to dive down and get the wrench. He is a brave soul to do that in Lyman lake. He is a smartie. I know any employer would be lucky to have him. Also, Yes mom- I got the rest of my shots the day after I got here. Lately we have still been learning more Spanish in class haha and me and Hermana Eldridge are on our 5th lesson with Edmundo-the investigator. Things are going pretty well. Communcication is still rough but he is mucho paciente. There was one time in one of our lessons when he was using the word quiero and me and Hermana Eldridge couldn't remember what that word meant. So Edmundo spent like five minutes trying to explain, in spanish,  what quiero meant. Finally he said Yo quiero Taco Bell (I want taco bell). Then we were both like oooohh ahhaha It was pretty funny- and we all got a good laugh out of it. Today was our P-day and it has been wonderful. We run ragged through out the week and it seems like I'm tired all of the time. I got to do some laundry, lots of catch up studying, and took a 15 minute nap. It has been awesome. The food is super good here....a little to good. So me and the Hermanas from my room get up a 1/2 hour earlier to go exercise and running....so we can keep our eating habbits:) Also today Hermana Eldridge had a physical theripy appointment for her neck so we got to go see the outside world haha. Anyone who has been in the MTC for more than a week were super excited for us. Anyways I am just rambling on about what its like in the MTC. It is simply AMAZING!
 
I love all of you and love hearing from you. It kind of hit me hard the other day when I was think about how are our family will be together forever. I am so grateful for that knowledge. I am so grateful to have the family I have. Also with that realization it made me realize even more how important my time is on the mission. I can't wait to share this same happiness with other people. I know that this church is true and I know that our heavenly father loves us. I know this because he has blessed me with such a wonderful family. Time is short so I've got to get going. Love ya!
 
 
Love,
 
Hermana Wilhelm
 
oo xx oX xO XX OO
(hug, hug, kiss kiss, little hug, big kiss.....) You get the Idea:)

First Letter From MTC

Dear Family,
 
Hola! It feels like for ever ago that I saw you but it has only been 3 days. Things are wonderful at the MTC. The spirit can be felt here so strongly. Mom and Dad- Thank you so much for you letters. They were so nice to get. Things are busy here. There is never a spair moment. I love the district and zone that I have been put in. I room with all of the Hermanas in my district. They are awesome. My companion's name is Hermana Eldridge. She is from prove and only lives five minutes from the MTC. We became friends really fast and she is great. Last night we were talking in our room about how our lives where before...Like what we did for fun and things like that. I told them about living in a small town and about the things we did for fun. They all probably think I am a redneck now but I'm ok with that;) Hey mom thank you and please tell Aunt Ellen thank you for the skirts. They are perfecto!
 
Yesterday, Hermana Eldridge and I got to teach our first "invesigator". It was hard because we had to do it all in spanish and the "investigator" only spoke spanish. The investigator's name is Edmundo and we already have an appointment with him this Monday at five. Alright maybe he is not a real investigator but he is a really good actor and I would say it is just like a real situation. It was also a very good and humbling experience. I have a lot to learn but know I will get there someday. It's amazing how much spanish I have learned since being here. I would say I have learned more than double the amount of high school spanish in two full days. I know this would not be possible if we didn't have the spirit to help teach us. They have asked each of us to prepare a 3-5 minute talk in spanish about faith tomorrow and they will just call on random elders and hermanas. I am so grateful to be here. I know that this gospel is true and that this is were I need to be right now. I know that I am blessed to be in such a wonderful family. This is true....I have the best family! Let me know when Ria has her baby por favor:) I am mucho Feliz here. I love you all! 
 
Love,
 
Hermana Wihelm 

The Mission

Most of you probably already know about my mission coming up in July. I have been called to serve in Ecuador Quito. I am so excited to start and canNOT wait to get out there. Right now I'm home and life is kind of boring...not gonna lie. It has been great being with the family. I love to do yard work, organize and clean the house but  I am so excited to finally get out and do some real work. I am so grateful to serve the people of Ecuador. This is one decision that I can say feels perfect.

I know..

I stinketh at blogging. Tomorrow I will begin once more. Simply because life is good ;-)