I've been meaning to do this forever, but wanted to share the emails she's sent since leaving for her mission. I was going to share all (she's been seving for 21 weeks), but think I will divide it into five week chunks. We love and miss our girl so much! Enjoy!
Weeks 1 and 2: Gozo
Hola amigos!
Welcome to Hermana Wheeler's mission email list. I feel like the way I would hope to describe these updates is the same way I would describe the Mission Training Center (MTC) : crazy, chaotic, and spiritually strengthening.
I've decided that since I'm going to Spain, I'm going to teach you all a word in Spanish every week. This week, I want to talk about gozo. Gozo means joy. For the last two weeks, I have learned how to find real joy and rejoicing in the gospel. I've explained to some of you that that's the real reason I'm serving a mission (it's not the churros, believe it or not). The gospel, the atonement of Jesus Christ, and repentance bring so much peace and joy into my life every single day. They help me to know that I have worth, am infinitely loved by a divine father in heaven, and can be forgiven for my mistakes and grow to be a better person. I am so privileged to have that knowledge, and I want to share that gift with everyone I have the chance to meet in Spain (and hopefully, a little with you all too!).
Leaving my family this week is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but it's also such a privilege to get to serve the Lord all day, every day. Because I'm a missionary, I'm learning all about invitations, so I'm going to practice by giving one to all of you: find the gozo in your life. Find the joy in Christ if He's someone you believe in, or our incredible world or the people around you. Find joy in your family, and give them a hug if you can. I know the light's always there if you want to find it.
Usually this is the point where I'd send funny stories, scriptures and photos but I'm out of time so that will have to come next week. God loves you and so do I!!
Love,
Hermana Wheeler
Week 3: Gozo
Hola everyone!!
How's life back in the normal world? It feels like the MTC is just a bunch of teenagers playing dress up as missionaries, but I better get used to it pretty quick, because guess what? I am headed to Spain on Tuesday!! I picked up my Visa on Wednesday and as far as I know, I'm set to go!
Life in the MTC is crazy busy, but super rewarding. Every day, I wake up at 6:30 and go work out with my beast of a companion Hermana Zuñiga. She's so strong, patient with me, and she inspires me to work hard and push myself out of my comfort zone. As a side effect, I don't remember what it feels like to not be sore. Then we go shower, change, and get ready. Thus begins the mad rush to eat breakfast, plan out the day, study in the scriptures for an hour on my own, study for half an hour with my comp, and complete the never-ending list of invitations, workshops, memorizations, and errands. We don't always hit everything perfectly, but we do our best.
Lunch is a riot, especially eating with my district. My district (classmates) are mostly native-Spanish speakers and all legendary, though we're also pretty ridiculous. The guys usually end up beat boxing and challenging everyone to freestyle rap contests. Hermana Pursglove is the reigning champ. Then comes class, dinner, and more class. My teachers are amazing and I'm really coming to love Preach My Gospel and searching for answers in the Book of Mormon.
Today's word of the week comes from a question I had been struggling with for pretty much all my time in the MTC. As a missionary, I have very high expectations for myself. I literally wear the name of Jesus Christ on my nametag, and that privilege comes with a lot of responsibility. I feel like I often really struggle to be as obedient, spiritual, and diligent as I want to be, and I'm insecure about my shortcomings in those areas. At the same time, I know I'm not as humble and willing to trust in the Lord as I should be. How do we learn to be humble, not insecure, but at the same time confident, and not prideful? A couple verses that really helped me are Alma 26:11-12:
11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.
12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
Humility doesn't mean fear. It doesn't mean I consider myself incapable of accomplishing anything, or insufficient to do the work of the Lord. It means I recognize that my strength comes from God, that without Him I am nothing, but with Him I can do anything. So, this week, I'm relying on confianza. Confianza means both confidence and trust. I am trusting in the Lord and having confidence in His ability to shape me into the missionary He wants me to be. I know that as you all have trust in God, he will give you the strength and confidence you need to get through whatever you're going through.
I am so grateful for the MTC and everything everyone here does to help us missionaries prepare to serve and teach. I'm grateful for the funny moments, like the day when all the sisters dressed up in black pants and white shirts and pretended to be elders and when the entire dorm of girls did a curly hair routine on Hermana Gibby. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to go to Spain and share my testimony, and I'm so grateful to all of you for supporting me in my journey! Thank you so much!!
Te quiero bastante,
Hermana Wheeler
Week 4: Consuelo
Hola, ¿qué tal?!
This is it!! The first email from Spain! It feels like forever since the last time I wrote, and there's a lot to catch up on, so I'll get straight to it.
The last few days at the MTC were absolutely insane! Honestly, being in the field feels totally chill compared to it. We went to the temple Friday and Saturday, and then I spent Sunday and Monday playing crowd control since my incredible companion was the most popular missionary on campus after singing at devotional Sunday afternoon. Saying goodbye to my district and teachers was teary, packing was a drag, and we were off to the airport at 3:30 am Tuesday!
Getting 2 elders, 11 sisters, and approximately 39 suitcases on and off a bus, frontrunner, and a train without leaving anyone or anything behind was a little terrifying, but I think we pulled it off. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of JFK airport. When we finally arrived in Madrid around 8:00 Wednesday morning, we realized that 9 missionary suitcases (including both of mine) hadn't made it onto our new plane after the layover in New York. My first two hours in Spain were spent with a customer service agent sorting out that entire mess. A million thanks to my parents for the 7 years of dual immersion Spanish, seriously.
When we finally managed to make it through customs with a promise our bags would be in Spain the next day, we walked right into the Madrid North Mission welcome party. From there was a whirlwind of meeting the mission leaders, dropping bags at the office, paperwork, packing lunches, and shuttling right into the center of Madrid. It made me so happy to be back in Europe with the narrow, windy streets and gorgeous buildings. What made me less happy was that it was the hottest day of the summer so far, but we got chocolate and churros anyway. HIGHLY recommend.
After doing a little sightseeing, President Eastland took us into this big square and told us it was time for our very first street contacting session. Street contacts, or "calles" in Spanish, are where you start conversations with random people on the street with the goal of sharing your testimony, a gospel principle, and an invitation to meet with missionaries. In other words, I was scared silly. The sister training leader I was with knew I already spoke Spanish, so she made me go first. Guess what happened though! I got immediately rejected. However, I also realized that being rejected would not kill me and that if you talk to enough people, eventually you find some that do want to hear what you have to say.
Wednesday night was interviews with the mission president, and then Thursday we met our trainers and got our assignments!! This is where it gets crazy. My trainer is Hermana Herbst and she's an absolute legend. She's 15 months in, so I will likely be her last companion.
I live in southwest Madrid in Leganés, so I won't be escaping the heat any time soon. I also don't really have a specific area. I'm being trained as a JA (pronunciation: ha) Hermana, so I work with the jovenes adultos or young adults of basically the whole Madrid West stake. It means that instead of proselyting or teaching lessons, I work with less active members and go to all the activities and such. Honestly, I feel like I'm having way to much fun.
Friday we went to volleyball in Carabanchel and came home soaked to the bone because people starting throwing buckets of water on everyone, and then Saturday was a big party in Alcorcón for Peruvian Independence day. Yesterday I went to 3 sessions of church and a bunch of meetings, so we definitely stay on our feet.
This week's word is consuelo. Consuelo means comfort, and I most use it in the context of something that is given. This week, Christ has given me comfort. My first night in Spain I felt like I was shaking for hours because I was so terrified that I wouldn't be able to do what was asked of me. That first street contact kind of left me reeling, but in that moment where I felt so vulnerable, I started seeing all the ways in which God has been in the details of my life, watching out for me. I can count the tender mercies of consuelo He sent my way.
First of all, I had one change of clothes in my carry on bag, and then my second day I was able to go through piso trash (clothes left in missionary apartments) to find another outfit. Right after walking through Madrid, we went to temple grounds and then I got assigned to a zone where I can attend a temple session this transfer. I got to take the sacrament not once, but three times yesterday. I already speak Spanish! The young adults are so friendly, and they love the missionaries. I got to go to the Prado art museum today, and a member from Arizona we ran into at a restaurant insisted on buying our lunch. Food is soo much cheaper than I expected. My companion and I are even exact birthday buddies a year apart! I can testify that if you count your blessings, you'll see the hand of the Lord in your life.
I hope you're all doing well!! Sorry for the essay of an email.
Best,
Hermana Wheeler
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Hola hola!!
How are you all? I just finished my first month as a missionary and holy cow it's going so fast! 17 months still feels so long but I know it'll be over before I know it.
Highlights from this week:
On Tuesday I had exchanges with my amazing stepmother Hermana Turner! Basically, President Eastland wants to make sure I know how to do normal missionary work as well as the young adult assignment while I'm training, so every week Hermana Herbst and I are going to swap companions with the hermanas who live with us. Exchanges this week consisted of mostly studies and contacts though so it wasn't crazy different.
Wednesday I did my first door knocking (well, doorbell ringing) and we found addresses for a couple inactive members! Definitely not as scary as I anticipated.
We went to Villalba on Thursday for a games night, which was an hour and a half away but sooo fun. I got to play ping pong and wackee six which is a blast but so stressful. The best part though is our friend Jenifer from Alcorcón decided to come with us! She's a legend. We were planning on staying the night, but we went back early so we could take the bus with her. We did forget the salsa the Villalba sisters made for us though, which was lowkey kind of half the reason we went. XD
Friday we played volleyball in the morning (I'm terrible) and then texted all the young adults in the Leganés ward (haha I wish, there's 300 and we barely made it through like 4 letters of the alphabet).
On Saturday, I had my first member meal! We met with a family from Honduras and they made us baleadas, which were incredible. I'd describe them, but I have no words so you'll just have to look them up. We helped make the tortillas, which I'm awful at but learning how to do. Hermana Herbst made a baby tortilla because there was one tiny ball of dough left over, so when they brought out our food I had two huge baleadas and she had one mini one. See photo below. Long story short, baleadas are my new favorite way to start a fast.
Saturday evening we played voleibol with members again (I'm still terrible) but more importantly got to know a few girls we hadn't met before! A couple are less active, a couple are nonmembers and we're all going to ice cream tomorrow. I love my job.
Sunday we went to church in Leganés which was great. We set up some more meetings with members, then in the evening we taught lessons! One of them was just ten minutes, one we rescheduled, and the last one was for a Venezualan man living in Trinidad and Tobago. Not really sure how he ended up in our referral system, or how the very much non-Spanish speaking elders in Trinidad are going to teach him, but he seems really great!
Today we had district P-Day (aka the Elders spent a very ridiculous amount of time barbecuing very ridiculous amounts of meat) and then the hermanas went to the mall. I may or may not have bought a jumpsuit and also a stool from IKEA because I'm too short to reach the top shelf in the kitchen. Or, honestly, the second one.
Being a missionary is amazing. It's so much more fun than I thought, but it's also really really hard. It's hard in different ways than I expected. In my head, missionaries were always these perfect people who were more like marionettes for God. Since getting out here, I've realized I'm still human. Going to bed on time is still hard. Getting out of bed on time is still hard. Sometimes, I work as diligently as I can all day and I still don't get everything done. So this week, I'm trying to keep things sencillo.
Sencillo means simple. In my personal studies, I've been studying a lot about the simplicity of God's plan for us and what our part in that plan is. Ultimately, God loves us, so He wants us to live with him again. To live with Him again, we need to be made clean of our sins. To be made clean of our sins, God asks us to have faith, repent, make promises with Him, listen to the Spirit, and keep repeating that for our whole lives.
That's it. That's the doctrine of Christ, and that's my purpose as a missionary. When I can't do anything the way I want, I can take comfort in that everything I'm doing is to help people do that. I'm small and simple means, but God can work through me.
I'm so sorry for these rants of emails! Hopefully I'll figure out how to keep them shorter.
Hope you're all doing amazing and can focus on the simple things
Hermana Wheeler
P.S. For my new missionary friends: if you haven't discovered it yet, there's a 24 hour Christian radio station on the church's Gospel Stream app. Not only is the selection more varied than the Gospel Music app, so far I've also heard Star Wars, Les Mis, and Owl City on there (sorry, not Fireflies. Iykyk ;) ).
Oops I forgot the photos!
1. My companion is a gem and wrote me notes for my cumplemes
2. View from our balcony
3. Hermana Hebst looking cool and me in piso trash
4. My new best friends
5. The baleadas my new best friends made me
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Mmm, que rico! Well, it's not Thanksgiving Dinner, but wrapping up with baleadas seems appropriate. Plus, I think I see some holiday themed pillows in the background. Brooklyn, we missed you at our Thanksgiving table and placed a glass in your honor. I'm hoping that you got to eat some tasty food and felt the love. We love you!
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