Hi y'all,
I hope you had a WONDERFUL Christmas, and that you were able to focus on Christ and all of the things he has done and continues to do for you. I had a GREAT Christmas here! This week we taught a lot of people, and met many of God's elect.
 
Like I said, the area here seemed to explode this week. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent finding and teaching many whose hearts seemed to be softened with the spirit of Christ. On Christmas Eve we found a man named Cory and his family. We had a unique experience with this family. We received them as a referral three times that day. It seemed to us as though it was a sign from God telling us that Cory and his family are his elect. We prayed with Cory, and taught him The Restoration. He mentioned that his family recently moved, and has been looking for a new church to attend. He asked if our church had programs for children. We explained primary and the family centered atmosphere our church has. As we taught the Restoration he was interested in the priesthood, and the fact that our curriculum is taught in the same manner all around the world. Instead of preachers in the same church teaching different doctrine. We will be seeing them this week, and I am excited to go through the Restoration with all the family members listening.

On Christmas Day we found a couple who is also the elect. Tim showed us his tattoos after we extended the invitation to pray with him. I think he is bothered by his decision to get them. He mentioned that he isn't as close to Christ as he should be and was previously. In response to the tattoos I said, that a believer in Christ is a believer in Christ. I think my remarks shocked him because I was non-judgemental. He is interested in rekindling his relationship with Jesus Christ. He was quick to accept our return appointment. We weren't able to see him and his wife again though. But I look forward to teaching them about the Restoration of the church and gospel of Jesus Christ.
On Christmas we also met a lady named Kim. We taught her The Restoration the next day and she seemed to be quick to understanding. I extended the baptism date of January 16th and she said yes. She seemed to understand the Priesthood (which seems to be everyone's hold up). Our appointment fell through with her the other day but I look forward to getting back in contact with her. I know how much this gospel can bless her and her family. After these 3 pretty remarkable teaching days though (Dec. 24, 25, 26). The 27th was a really rough day. We knocked on at least 15 doors, and people either didn't answer, or they weren't interested at all. It was quite rough. It definitely was a trial of my faith. Luckily, I remembered President Petersen telling us. That when we are having a rather rough day. We need to DOUBLE our Faith instead of Halfing it!! The silver lining in the day though was that we met a lady named Susan. Who we will be seeing this week. She is quite familiar with Mormons I am just not sure to what extend yet though.. We will be figuring that out this week though.

Hermana Ives has been a joy to serve with. I will miss her positive attitude, and optimism she shares with all those we talk to. It is great to see the progress she made as a missionary this transfer. She went from not talking at all, to talking on door-steps, and we have been working on talking in lessons. It's been great to see the progress she has made, and her GO and DO attitude. I have learned a lot from her, and I am grateful I had the opportunity to be her companion.

On Friday we went to visit Anna & Patrick. Patrick is a non-member, and Anna was baptized years ago but quickly fell away. She told us that she had been reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to discuss things AFTER Christmas. So on Friday we knocked on the door, and immediately got bashed. She told us how she is never going to convert back to "Mormonism". Because she doesn't believe the temple is secret not sacred, and she believes in "beware of false prophets". She made these points several times wanting an argument from us. We didn't give it to her though. We walked away sad that her heart is so hardened.

This week in studies I have been really trying to liken the scriptures to myself. As I have done so it has helped me to get more out of the Book of Mormon. It has also helped me to further my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that as we make the Book of Mormon a priority to read in our life we will be happy, and we will feel and notice God's presence more in our lives.
 
I pray that y'all will have an AMAZING start to the New Year, and will think of ways that you can come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ this year. May we all rededicate ourselves to the Lord. 

Love y'all!!
Sister W. Williams

Merry Christmas (two days early) y'all!!
I hope this season has been a good one for everyone. Filled with Family, Friends, and Fun. I hope you have been able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Meaning, CHRIST. After all, he has given us the greatest gift we could have ever been given; the atonement. The only thing that makes it possible to return to live with Heavenly Father, our families, and himself for all eternity. 

Yesterday, I gave a talk in church. I titled it "The Greatest Gift." I talked about how we all should make it a goal this year to give Jesus Christ a miraculous gift this year. Which is following his example, and giving God our whole-self and will. I pray that we all can be a little better, and trust in the lord so much. That we are willing to do anything he asks, no questions asked. It is definitely something I am working on ,and will continue to work on.
The area seems to really be picking up, and we are focusing on the elect. We had a lot of good things happen this week. Yesterday we had two really good lessons with the Leathers and Heather Spears. Park Leather asked us, "Why the Book of Mormon? Why another book?" So we read with him 2 Nephi 29. We then asked what he learned, and he got a little side tracked. So I invited him to read it again, and we will discuss it next time we have a lesson with him. The good news though is that he is still searching for the true church. He hasn't been able to come to ours yet because of his health (he has cancer) but he likes what he sees of our church so far. He loves how happy the missionaries are, and the members are. That he has come into contact with. I know that it is through attending church that everything will click for him. So we are just continuing to invite him to attend church.

With Heather, we taught her the commandments. The lesson went really well. Sister Ives and I taught in unity, and we asked lots of questions to make sure that Heather understood all that we were talking about. It's amazing to see how much knowledge Heather has just at 10 years of age. She knows exactly why she wants to be Baptized, "to be forgiven of all sins, and to start on the path of eternal life." She is reading the Book of Mormon, and notices the increased knowledge she has gotten from doing so. She also recognizes the happiness she gets from reading it as well. She is continuing to be a light in her families life in re-activation.

Sister Ives and I are doing pretty good. This week was a little slow in the beginning though. I studied for two days straight because she had to sleep the flu off. But we have been doing a little better on unity in lessons. The only problem is that I am doing most of the talking. Hopefully that changes F.A.S.T.

We had an interesting day on Friday. We went to have a lesson with Sister Fills, and she dropped us. We knocked on the door, she said, "Come in, I will give your stuff back to you." All I could do was testify that I know this gospel will bless her life. But I couldn't save it. Needless to say, that one cut to the heart. We then spiritual harvested a door, and got rejected once again. But we asked for a referral and this referral ended up golden. We knocked on the door and a man named Jason or Justin (not sure which one) came out on the porch. We prayed with him, and taught him the Restoration right at the door step. When I asked him what he would do if Christ's church was on the earth today. He was immediately drawn into what we had to say. He said he would come to church, but unfortunately didn't. I am grateful for this tender mercy God blessed us with. I look forward to continuing to teach him because I know that he is the Elect.

This week in studies I studied James. I particularly pondered James chapter 5. A couple of things stood out to me as I read James 5. First, it talked about being Patient in afflictions along causing us to be happy in enduring. It talked about how all of the prophets have had to patient in suffering. I likened this to me because as a missionary I have to be patient. With myself, companions, and investigators. Missionary work is a trial of Patience. Patience is something I am continually working on, and it gave me strength to know that prophets throughout all the ages have had struggles just like me. What really stood out to me though was verse 20, "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." I like this because this sums up missionary work. As we have our purpose written on our hearts. That is inviting all souls to Repent, and enter the gate we are saving them from spiritual death. I am grateful for this incite because it re-emphasized the importance of having my purpose written on my heart.


Hope you have a great holiday! Love y'all!!
-Sister Whitney Jo Williams

Hi y'all!!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season, and are focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. What's interesting is that many people we have been talking to lately. Are constantly bringing up how much the world is ruining Christmas. They dislike how materialistic the world is coming during this season. So my hope is that y'all focus on the true meaning of CHRISTmas being CHRIST himself, and all that he has done for you. Especially the greatest gift that has been given to us, being his birth resulting in his great atoning sacrifice.

The area here is really starting to pick up. We found two Spanish Investigators this week which was exciting. One of which is Juana, a 16 year old from Guatamala who is really progressing. We have taught her two lessons so far, and she loves to learn. When we first met her, Sister Ives taught her The Restoration. (She forgot that she wasn't telling me what was going on. So I wasn't able to testify at all, unfortunately.) As it turned out though, Juana has already heard about The Restoration. So she remembered a little from what she had been taught. We then took Sister Whitlock with us to teach her yesterday. The lesson seemed to have gone really well. Sister Whitlock taught Juana about The Book of Mormon, and it was amazing to see Juana's eagerness to read it. It was also neat because Juana is really excited to come to church on Sunday. We are going over to Juana's house again tonight, and I am excited to finally be able to testify in Spanish. I am also excited because we have plans to set a Baptism date with her.

We have seen quite the Miracle take place with the Ross/Spears/Patterson family in the Branch here. This home has 4 generations living under it. The grand-daughter is 10 years old, and her name is Heather. We have been teaching her the discussions so that she will be ready for Baptism at the end of this month. This family is Less-Active and Part-Member. What's amazing is that Heather is getting her Mom; Sister Patterson to start reading the Book of Mormon. She is also getting her Grandmother; Sister Spears to read the Book of Mormon with her. It's amazing to feel the spirit that is now in there home as they are all coming closer to Christ together. It's been a testimony to me of how we all can be examples to those around us.

Sister Ives and I are doing great. We have for the most part been working better in unity. Our lessons have been stronger, and we are getting better at talking 50/50. Spiritual Harvesting is becoming a lot better with her participating more and more. She has an amazing testimony, and it's neat to see how many hearts it has touched.

The interesting thing has been that we have found a lot of investigators who the previous Elders have taught. They didn't leave behind an Area Book. So we have completely found them again by the Spirit. So it's been amazing to see how the Spirit works. Many of them aren't ready to talk to us until after the Holidays.

This week in my studies I have been reading Matthew. Focusing on the things that Christ did in his ministry. That I am able to do as a missionary. As I have done this, I have come to recognize how I really am a Representative of Jesus Christ. I am doing many things that he did himself. Christ taught, preached, and healed. This is repeated many times through Matthew. That is exactly what I am doing. I am teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am preaching Repentance, and I am helping those I teach become healed. By inviting them to Repent and accept Christ's atonement along with the healing that comes from Baptism. I have also reflected on how Christ completely did the will of the father. That is something that I am continually working on. I am grateful I can read about Christ, and see how I can more fully REPRESENT him.

May we all remember that we all have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ at Baptism. May we all more fully represent him, and make sure we are true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Love,

Sister Whitney Jo Williams

Hi y'all!
 I hope you are having a GREAT Christmas Season this year, and are enjoying the many festivities that occur during this time of year. I am doing great, and have had a pretty crazy week! On Friday, President Petersen kept all the missionaries inside all day. So we studied for 4 additional hours. It was nice being able to study for that long but it was hard staying inside all day. This week we have also been on bike week so we have been walking on ice. They don't have snow plows here so that's been interesting...I am grateful for the snow though because I wasn't sure that I would see it for 18 months! 

 I can tell that some amazing things are going to start happening in this area. We are working a lot on re-activation, and our efforts are working. We had two really neat experiences with Less-Active / Part-Member families. We went and visited Sister Lowtharp this week, and as we shared a thought it was great hearing her bear her testimony. We then stopped by her house later in the week to help her clean her house. As we did this she mentioned to us that she knows that she needs to start coming back to church. She brought up her concern about how her husband who hasn't been attending church for about 3 to 5 years. Is finally attending with her at Living Waters. She is worried that he might not come as she tries to come back to our church. But we testified that things will work out as she heeds God's counsel. She is really opening up to us with her concerns, and it's been a great experience being able to help her. She also is a great member missionary, talking to her colleagues at work, and I know she will be a huge asset to the church. 

 Last night we watched the First Presidency Devotional with the Browns. Afterwards, I asked Brother Brown what his favorite part about the devotional was. He mentioned that he really enjoyed Sister Wixom's talk, and the music that was sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He then shared with us how at Thanksgiving. He had a great missionary experience with sharing our true beliefs with his mother-in-law. He shared that she had some misinformation and he felt good being able to clear some of that information up. 

 We found a really neat couple this week; Park and Lynda Leathers. Everything Park has a belief of is found in our church even though he doesn't fully know it yet. He hasn't attended yet, but is really interested in coming. He reads from the Book of Mormon but his main hang up is that we call ourselves Mormons instead of just Christians. He also has a hard time about Joseph Smith being a prophet. So we are inviting him to pray, and continue reading The Book of Mormon. We feel that once he comes to church everything will come together for him. 

 Sister Ives and I are doing great. We are getting better at working in Unity although, we do still have a bit to go. Sister Ives is slowly starting to talk more and more, and I can tell that she is growing as a missionary because of it. Her testimony is so strong, and I can tell it touches the people that she shares it with. 

 The interesting thing about walking around in this bad weather has been that many people feel "bad" for us. They wonder what we are doing out in this weather. So we are able to get in a lot of doors and state our purpose clearly. Many haven't gone anywhere but it's been great being able to talk to a lot of people. 

 This week during studies I have been focusing on reading from the General Conference Ensign issue. It's been a great learning experience going back through all the talks. I especially like Elder Dube's talk about Looking up and pressing forward in Faith. It helped me realize that I just need to keep my faith up. Knowing that the future always contains something better and more for us. 

 I hope y'all were able to enjoy the First Presidency's Devotional last night. I was reminded through it that Christmas should be a REMINDER to keep our lives focused on Christ. It should be the season that we re-commit ourselves to be disciples of Christ. May we give Christ the ultimate gift this season. By giving him OUR WILL and complete devotion. I know that as each and everyone of us do this. We will be blessed tremendously. 

Love, 

 Sister Whitney Jo Williams

Hi y'all!!
I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and enjoyed the company of family and friends. I had a great Thanksgiving, and am truly grateful that I have this opportunity to bring many of my brother and sisters the truth.
The area here is really coming along. We are finding a lot of people. But even greater news than that is that the Members are on FIRE. They are all about missionary work, and are sincerely praying to find people for us to teach. Yesterday we Spiritual Harvested into two homes that belong to the same family. The son and his wife are in one home, and his parents are directly across the street. We had a great lesson with the father; Dennis Bounds, and found out that his wife has read a little about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he hadn't so we offered him the Book of Mormon. At first he didn't want to take it because he said that he can't read very well. Well, by the end of our discussion he had the Book of Mormon in his hand, and was excited to read Alma 17. He said that he would read it when he had a break at work.

While on exchanges, Sister Hogan and Sister Ives found a woman named Kathy and her 8 year old Ashley. We went over on Saturday and had a great first lesson with them. We invited them both to be Baptized on December 21, and both said Yes. Ashley is really excited to be baptized and to read the Book of Mormon. We invited them to church but unfortunately neither of them came. Kathy had to work, and the ride situation got mixed up for Ashley. I can't wait to go back, and see how their Book of Mormon reading went.

Sister Ives is doing really great. She is opening her mouth now, and is really finding joy in the work. We are going 50/50- I will do one door, and she will do the next. There have been awkward moments at doors when she has looked at me to say something. But I have stood firm, and haven't spoken. It's interesting because since I haven't been "backing her up" she is becoming more confident in door approaches. She realizes that she can DO IT! It's amazing to see the wonderful change in her. She is becoming a Fabulous missionary, and her smile and personality really touches those we talk to. They really want to hear our message because of the excitement and energy we have been able to portray just through smiling.

Yesterday we had an interesting experience with a man named Jim Atkins. He offered him a Spiritual Harvesting prayer, and although we didn't end up doing it we had a great discussion with him. He asked for our purpose, and we stated it. He then asked if we left any media. So we left him with a Book of Mormon and Restoration pamphlet. I was able to share how likening the scriptures to myself has changed my life. Which got him excited to read The Book of Mormon. I can't wait to go back, and see how his reading went.

During studies I have been focusing on aligning my will with God's. I am really trying to make sure I am fulfilling my purpose because it's God's will, and it's what he needs me to do to help his children. In Mosiah 5 it talks about a change of heart. That those who are truly Repentant, and come unto Christ change their desires. As a result of that they become more like God. My goal this week is to continue to move forward in aligning my will with God's. To pray for guidance, and to lay down "my weapons of rebellion". To go about this work with God's mindset not my own.
May we all draw nearer to God by seeking him honestly through Prayer. As we align our will with God's we will win, and we will become the creature that God knows we can be. May we bring many to the truth by proclaiming the gospel to all those around us. May we simply "Open Our Mouths!"
Love,
Sister Whitney Jo Williams

Hello Y'all!!

I hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving this week, and enjoys the company of family and friends. I am doing well, and am learning Spanish slowly but surely. I remember a few things from High School which is helpful. We have ran into one Spanish speaker so far. But a lot of Branch members have told us how many Spanish speakers are here. So we just need to find them.
The area here in Pocahontas has a lot of potential. While we haven't had a lot of success yet, I know that it will come. The Branch here is small because the majority of the branch is Less-Active. We had around 45 members there yesterday. So we have a lot of work here to do with re-activation. The Branch consists mostly of Grandparents right now. Since the middle-aged individuals aren't coming. The ward is really into Missionary Work which is exciting. They really want to find people for us to teach, and as a result we have gotten quite a few referrals. We have quite a few part-member families that we are really trying to work with right now. One consists of a 10 year old girl named Heather who is wanting to be Baptized in December around Christmas. So this week we will be starting to teach her the lessons.

My companion and I are doing GREAT! She is teaching me Spanish, and it is a great companion building activity. We are working hard to find people to teach, and to re-activate many members.

My story this week comes from my last area; Bartlett. On Tuesday we met with our investigator, Angela. When we went in and asked her how her Book of Mormon reading had been going. She said she hadn't been doing it because work, and life had been so stressful. So we read Ether 12 with her, and what happened was remarkable. The Spirit was so strong as she read. When we asked what God was telling her she wept, and said that she needs to read his word. She could feel God's love for her so strong. She kept saying how she knew God placed us in her life for a reason, and that this is the path she needs to be on.

I loved being able to "Go Vertical" this week. As I had my two hour personal devotion. I really felt a connection with my Heavenly Father like never before. I really tried to study what Heavenly Father would have me learn. I prayed and really was guided. I could really feel God's arms around me as I studied. I am loving being able to participate in the 40 day Fast- as I turn my will over to God, and try to become a new creature in him I feel strengthened. Although, I am not perfect at doing or not doing every behavior I have listed. I love being able to re-covenant with God to do better every morning and evening. I hope that this week you really thank Heavenly Father for all that you have, and seek his guidance on who you can reach out and help during this season.

Love,

Sister Whitney Jo Williams

Hi Y'all,

Well....It's to Pocahontas, Arkansas I go!! I will be opening this area with my companion and will be learning Spanish! President Petersen said that we will primarily speak English. But, there are Guatamalan people there so my companion will be a Spanish speaking missionary. I will be said to leave Bartlett because I have gotten to close to all the people here. But I know that the Lord needs me in Pocahontas.

The work here is really exploding. We had a really great lesson with Alex this week. We were even able to have Christian-one of the young men in the ward come with us. Alex was really impressed with Christian, and could tell that there was something different about him. He said that he could tell that Christian was "calm." We did the cup demo with Alex to re-iterate The Restoration. As we pulled out the cups for the death of the Apostles and Jesus Christ he said, "that makes sense!" He really like this visual aid. He understood how all the churches took what they wanted from the gospel, and mingled it with their own thoughts. It was neat having Christian there because he bore his testimony on holding the priesthood. He shared what it meant for him to hold it, and how it helps him to be a better person. We are now working on getting more young men to his lessons because he says he is just used to his old church.

This week we were able to have two great lessons with Kayla, Kayla, and Quintez. They are all 14 years old. We met Kayla Lewis about a week ago, and she wanted her friend Kayla, and cousin Quintez to learn about this gospel with her. We gave them all Book of Mormons and they were so excited to get them! We taught them the first half of the Plan of Salvation lesson on Wednesday, and on Friday when we asked them what they remembered they summarized everything perfectly. It was great to see how much they really remembered. They all had Baptism dates for November 23. But they are going to have to be pushed back because none of them were able to attend church on Sunday. They all really want to be baptized, and learn more. We tried everything to get them to church but unfortunately weren't able to get them there.

Sister Olsen and I have been getting along great! I have learned a lot from her this transfer. I have learned to be more optimistic about every situation I am in. I also have learned to not get so stressed out. That with Heavenly Fathers help I truly can do anything. It is great to see how big our teaching pool has gotten from the beginning of the transfer. I know that we were only able to do it through unity, diligence, and hard work.

On Saturday we helped Bartlett 2nd ward with a service project. During it two girls ran into the room, saying that someones car was getting towed. One of the members started yelling outside to not tow the car because we all thought that it was hers. However, it turned out to be a young girl named Tresela who purposely needed it towed because it was breaking down. We were able to give her a pass-along card, and a Book of Mormon. She is interested in learning more, and I know that she didn't end up in the church parking lot on accident.

This morning at Walgreens I was able to hand the cashier a Book of Mormon and pass-along card. She had read our name tags, and was unfamiliar with our church. She asked us where we were from, and when we said Utah she smiled and said, Utah?!? She was so excited she even gave us a hug. We just got talking and I told her how she could learn more. (See, missionary work doesn't have to be that hard. :))

This week during studies I studied Ether 12 and Moroni 7. Through these chapters I really recognized that Miracles are only wrought by our Faith. In order for this work to progress I need to increase my Faith. I have been struggling with Faith but I have really learned that by praying and really leaning on the Lord I can do anything. From reading these chapters I am going to focus on really praying for strength. I know that as I really rely on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ I will be made an effective instrument in God's hands.

I hope you all are doing well. May you all continue in your efforts to do missionary work. It doesn't matter whether big or small. Every Member a Missionary!! :)

Love,

Sister W. Williams

Hi y'all!!

 I hope you are all doing well, and are in good health. I am doing GREAT, and am LOVING the work!!

 We had a lot of exciting things happen this week in this area. We had a lesson with Angela and it was do or die. She was on the chopping block. We had been praying to know if we should drop her. Or what we could share with her that could get her progressing again. Right before the lesson I felt like we needed to ask her how her Book of Mormon reading was going. She replied by saying that she hadn't been reading so I had her read 2 Nephi 29:11. I asked her what she got from the verse. She said," that we will be judged for our works". We then asked her what the second part of the verse is. We explained that we will be judged from the words that are contained in The Book of Mormon. She smiled at us because she knew what she needed to do. She said she knew she needed to "Repent" by reading The Book of Mormon everyday. We then invited her to read The Book of Mormon everyday for 5 minutes and to attend church this Sunday. Now this was a big step because in the beginning she said she never wanted to come to our church. At first she kept telling us that she probably wouldn't come. But we just kept telling her that we would call her Sunday, and would see her at church at 10:00 a.m. The good news was that She Came!! We asked her what she thought about it after Stake Conference, and she said that she knew she was supposed to be there. I am so glad God enlightened our minds so that we could get Angela progressing again.

We had another investigator attend Stake Conference whose name is Alex. Alex is 17 years old, and he LOVES The Book of Mormon. He has told us numerous times that by reading it it helps to calm his anger, and he knows that it's Gods word. He is also really in tune with the Spirit because he feels it in every lesson we have taught him. He even had his cousin come to church with us yesterday! The only problem is that he was bored at church. He told Sister Olsen that he wasn't sure that he could come to church with us next week because in his "home church" they catch the spirit a lot. So this week we are going to try to get one of the young men to go to the lesson with us so that we realized that young men's will be an exciting program to be a part of.

Sister Olsen and I are doing Great. We are really teaching by the spirit now, and really love doing this work. Neither one of us dominates, and I have learned a lot from her. I have learned to always be positive and optimistic even though it may be hard at times.

This week I had an amazing experience with following the spirit. As we were driving on Tuesday to contact some referrals. A distinct impression came to my mind to visit an investigator named Dana. We had not been in touch for a couple of weeks now, but I felt like we really needed to stop by and see how she was doing. So we knocked, and she invited us in. She told us how her brother died last week and how it has been really hard for her. We then testified about the Plan of Salvation, and how he is hearing the gospel right now in the Spirit World. We testified of how Heavenly Father knows her personally because he gave us the impression to go see her. I am so glad we followed the spirit, and were able to comfort her when she needed it.

This week in studies I have gotten a lot out of Alma in The Book of Mormon. One thing that I have been trying to work on is Patience, particularly in the Lord's timing. As I have been reading Alma I have learned that I need to just keep working hard, and things will come. If it wasn't easy for Prophets and Missionaries back then it shouldn't be for me now. They went through a lot of afflictions much worse than I will ever get. So I just need to smile and bare it. I know that with God anything is possible, and as long as I keep working -things will start happening.

I hope you all know and continually remember that God loves you and knows you personally. There is no trial that he gives you that you can't get through. (1 Nephi 3:7). Continue to rely on him and look to the Savior for the comfort he can offer you through the atonement. I hope that in this season of giving we all can reach out to those who are in need of comfort and know that they are loved.

 Love,

 Sister W. Williams

Hi Y'all,

I hope you all are doing well. I am doing GREAT!

The good news about the area here is that we are finding a lot of Potential Investigators. The bad news is that not a lot of them are Progressing. This week my heart was broken when Danielle dropped us. We had a great lesson with her on Tuesday when we re-taught her The Restoration by using the cup demo. When we asked her what she learned she told us that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church. However, on Thursday the lesson started out with her telling us that she is going to follow her heart which is telling her to stick with her friends, and stick with attending the church she grew up attending. What really hurt was at the end of the lesson she again told us how she knows that this church is the only true church, and even asked Sister Olsen and I if we would come to her Baptism if she ended up getting Baptized next year. On the bright side though we met a young girl named Kayla this week who was walking home from school. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she immediately hugged it and got a big smile on her face. We also handed her The Restoration video and she said that "everyone will be watching this tonight." Meaning that she wanted her family to watch it with her. We were able to teach her the Restoration on Saturday and she seemed to understand everything really well. We invited her to be Baptized on Nov.16th and she said YES with a big smile on her face. The interesting thing that happened at this meeting was that she asked for another Book of Mormon because she said that her mom took hers to work. Kayla also told us that she had gotten in trouble for trying to read The Book of Mormon instead of focusing during class. Sister Olsen and I are excited to teach Kayla again on Tuesday. Since we are teaching her at the school because Kayla wants us to teach her friends as well. It's amazing to see how Kayla is already acting as a young missionary-she has her mom reading The Book of Mormon with her, and wants her friends to hear about the gospel as well.

Sister Olsen and I are getting along really well. She is a great listener, and genuinely wants to help me when I feel stressed. It's great to have a companion who really cares, and I feel like I can tell anything to.

This week we Spiritually Harvested into a lady who we introduced The Book of Mormon too but wasn't too interested because she has bad eye sight. However, she did have us talk to her Granddaughter because she wants her Granddaughter to come to our church, and to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I look forward to being able to teach her Granddaughter because I know that she will love the Young Women's program, and her whole family will truly benefit from the message we share as missionaries.

This week during studies I read the chapters in the Book of Moron about the Doctrine of Christ. Which are 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 11, and 3 Nephi 27. I read these with the question in my mind of "Why my purpose (inviting others to come unto Christ through Baptism) should be written on my heart?" I learned that my purpose needs to be written on my heart because it is only through Baptism that we can enter into that straight and narrow gate that is the path that leads to living with God again. Also, Baptism is the way that we truly follow Jesus Christ. He has commanded men of all time periods to come follow him and be Baptized.

Love,

Sister W. Williams

Hello Y'all!!

 I hope you all are doing well, and that everything is going great! I am doing well, and am loving the work. Although it is hard it is so worth it. Seeing people change for the better is always remarkable to see.

 The area here is slowly starting to develop. We are constantly trying to build up our teaching pool. The thing that we are having a problem with is that we find a lot of people. But we have one lesson or interaction with them and then we can't get back into contact with them. I feel as though Heavenly Father is trying to teach me a lesson about Patience. Things were going really well with Danielle until yesterday. We taught her the first three lessons, and got her committed to living the Law of Chastity. She even came to church for the 2nd week in a row. Then she informed us that as of Saturday night she decided that she wants to just stick with her church. Sister Olsen and I were heartbroken. We asked her why she felt that way because she consistently tells us how she loves coming to church, wants to go to the Temple someday, and loves how warm and inviting all the church members are to her. She has been so excited about her Baptism date on November 9, and she feels a change coming over her. She then said that she still wants to do "bible study" with us. But that she talked things over with her Aunt and she just wants everyone to be happy. We then told her that that's what we want. We want her to make her own decision. Not for us, and not for her Aunt. So this week we are going to really ask inspired questions, and see what the real obstacle is. Between her and entering the waters of Baptism to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We also are going to re-teach the Restoration and Plan of Salvation and really hit on the points of the Great Apostasy, and living together with her Mom again (sealing in Temple). Our investigator Laddie, that we found Spiritual Harvesting (Tracting) is really progressing. We taught him the Restoration on Wednesday, and really taught by the Spirit. It was incredible! Sister Olsen and I both said things that really touched his heart. He understood everything that we were explaining, and he could feel the truthfulness of the message. We went over yesterday to teach him again but unfortunately he had to reschedule because he need to take his grandson back to Ole Miss. However, we did find out that he is reading The Book of Mormon consistently, and he really has a desire to learn more. When we got there he immediately said he was sorry for having to cancel, and wanted to know when we could have a lesson with him. It's amazing to see his excitement to learn more about the gospel, and to see his desire to read The Book of Mormon. I can't wait until we get to have the Plan of Salvation lesson with him this Thursday!

Sister Olsen and I really get along. We are quite the opposite but in a good way. I am high-stress, hard-working and she is Patient, and Positive. We really balance each other out, and we keep each other going. Our lessons are getting better in terms of Unity the more we are able to teach.

This week we were asked to help with the Primary Program rehearsal. We were asked to sit with the kids and make sure they behaved and paid attention. This was an incredible experience for me because the spirit was so strong in that program. The children bore their testimonies through short talks, and singing. It was great to see how innocent and wise little children are. They are so close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It was a good reminder to me that I need to always be like a child. Humble and willing to follow his footsteps just as little children are.

This week in studies I have really focused on reading and re-reading Chapter 3 in Preach My Gospel. So that I can teach with better confidence, and can rely on the Spirit more as I teach. I also re-started The Book of Mormon 30 day challenge with a goal of writing down every scripture I come across that has a reference to the bullet points in the first 3 lessons we teach investigators. As I have done this I have realized how full the Book of Mormon is of references to The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Makes sense right!?!) By doing this I also feel better equipped to share scriptures that will really apply the doctrines we teach to investigators.

Let us all become more child like. Willing to submit to the will of our father, and endure our trials in Patience.

Love,

Sister W. Williams

Hello y'all!!

 I hope you are all doing well and that everything is going good for you. This week has been one of the hardest and best weeks of my mission. Within this past week I ran into 2 Bible bashers. Those encounters were the hardest things I have ever experienced. Being from Utah you never experience that type of thing. All I have to say is that I am glad that it isn't like that in Utah. Through those experiences though, my testimony grew. They couldn't tell me that what I believed was false. We just politely sat through what they were saying, and didn't tried to bash with them at all. My hope is that they realized how we acted (with dignity and respect), and that a seed was planted in them.

With lots of Hard Work and Perseverance the area is starting to grow here. It has been a little slow, but is now rapidly moving. We have been talking with everyone we see, and we have been able to get many New Investigators. We met a girl Friday, named Danielle. She is 18 years old, and we ran into her by the park on our bikes. This was no coincidence because we were trying to find a Less-Actives apartment that ended up being the opposite way of where we were going. We talked to her, and gave her a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment up for the next day. We taught her Lesson 1 (The Restoration) on Saturday, and invited her to be Baptized November 9 which she said YES to. We asked her to pray to know if the things we had taught her were true, and she said, "I already believe they are." We invited her to attend a Baptism Saturday night but she was unable to attend. However, she did come to church yesterday, and loved it. The members were so welcoming and loving and she really appreciated their friendship. She told us that she can really see herself loving going to our church. What is even more exciting is that several members have invited Danielle to come with us at our Dinner appointments. It is great to see how much the ward here is embracing member missionary work! While Spiritual Harvesting we ran into a lady by the name of Dana. Dana just moved here, and is looking for a church to go to. She doesn't have a set religion although her husband is Baptist. We taught her about The Restoration on Saturday, and she said that everything makes sense. Her husband has told her some anti-mormon literature but she asked us about it, and we were able to overcome those concerns. We invited her to church and to the Baptism but she was unable to attend both because of becoming sick. She is really into reading The Book of Mormon, and I am excited to be able to teach her more this week.

My companion and I are doing great, and are working well together. This week was pretty rough until things got moving this weekend. But through it all Sister Olsen was upbeat, and positive. This really helped me since I am easily stressed. She has helped me to believe that I can do it, and to remain optimistic even though things have been hard. We are still trying to get used to how each other teaches but I know that with more practice, and teaching more investigators our Unity will increase. 

Last Monday, I was able to give a Book of Mormon and a pass-along card to the cashier at Old Navy. It was the neatest experience because I normally would not have the courage to do such a thing. As the cashier was scanning my clothes she was reading my badge. I then asked her if she had ever heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints before. To which she replied, No. I then asked if she had ever heard of Mormons. To which she said, Yes. She then asked me what the difference is between what we believe and the Baptists. I told her (as I was scanning my card to pay) that we believe the Bible to be the word of God, as well as The Book of Mormon. I then gave her a pass-along card and told her to go to www.mormon.org, and she asked if it would talk about "the book" on there .So then I handed her The Book of Mormon, and as I was in the process of saying that she could call us if she had any questions she finished my sentence for me. I am so glad I was able to have this experience because it build up confidence in me. 

This week in studies I have focused on The Book of Mormon and reading Preach My Gospel Chapter 3 everyday for 30 minutes. I was able to finish The Book of Mormon challenge (read it in 30 days), and was able to once again feel the truthfulness of the message it contains by doing Moroni's promise. I prayed to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and felt a tingling sensation in my arms and legs. It was strange but I know that it was the Holy Ghost manifesting the truth of The Book of Mormon unto me. I have also noticed that as I read Chapter 3 in PMG everyday I become more confident in teaching, and I feel better equipped to teach.

Love you all!! Go and find people you can share this wonderful gospel with!!

-Sister W. Williams

Hello Everyone!!

I hope you all are well, and that everything is going well for you. My new area is Bartlett, Tennessee and I LOVE it here!! It is a little rough right now because we don't have a big teaching pool, and we go Spiritual Harvesting a lot ("Tracting") but I am still loving the work. I do have to admit, it has been a rough couple of days because I am 6 weeks out, with another 6 weeker and are re-opening this area for sisters. It is a lot of hard work, but I know that God gave me this challenge because he knows that I can do it! The members are really friendly here, and have welcomed us with open arms.

Right now we are working on trying to build up the Area here. We don't have a lot of Investigators, so we are trying to build up our teaching pool. We did Spiritual Harvest into a house owned by a man named Sammy. The first visit we had with him went great. We summarized all three of the Lessons because he wanted to know all about what "mormons" believe. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and he couldn't believe it was his! We invited him to read it, and he said that he will read it with an open mind. He also wants to do more research on the church so we gave him www.lds.org and www.mormon.org to look up information. We invited him to church and said that he couldn't come (yesterday) but taht he will really try to go next week. We also Spiritual Harvested into a house owned by a lady named Angela. Angela is one of the happiest people I have ever met! She works with Disabled individuals and loves her job. She finds joy in everything that life has to offer. We told her how we felt prompted to knock on her door, and how we knew she was God's elect. She answered with, "I know I am!" She also said that she knew that God sent us to her for a reason. We gave her the Book of Mromon and invited her to read the introduction along with the testimonies of the witnesses and Joseph Smith.I am looking forward to being able to share more about the gospel with both Sammy and Angela along with their families.

Sister Olsen and I are getting along well. We both are working hard, and have the same goal in mind of building up the area here. We work well together, and are having fun re-opening this area for sister. I am glad that I have this opportunity to serve with her, and am excited to learn how I can become a better missionary from her.

Coming into this area Sister Olsen and I decided that before church on Sunday. We would try to meet some ward members and get a feel of the area. Also, to let them know that we are here to help and serve them. This turned out to be really effective for us because we got a lot of referrals (10!!) from the members, especially the Less Actives. It was amazing to me that as long as I am obedient and am aligning my will with Heavenly Father he will help me in this work.

This week in studies I have been reading up on The Restoration so I can teach it more effectively. The interesting thing that I found out about is that Joseph Smith prayed three times about giving Martin Harris the manuscripts. The first time was a solid no, and the third Heavenly Father told him yes. I then read about how Joseph Smith after receiving the news of the 116 pages being lost that he was tormented, and was truly repentant in order to further the translation of The Book of Mormon. I know that this is information that isn't needed for investigators but it really built my testimony up of Joseph Smith being a prophet of God. I also have been studying 3 Nephi, and what caught my eye were the verses that say, "he wept" and "his countenance smiled." It brought Christ more to life, and really made him more personable to me. It helped me to know that he prays for me, weeps with me, and smiles at me when I do what is right.

Yesterday I had a really amazing spiritual experience. Elder Breckenridge, my District Leader gave 3 of us Sisters Priesthood Blessings. (My companion and I are over 1st ward, there are two sister over 2nd ward, and we have Elders over both wards). I have been really stressed out because I didn't think I would be re-opening an area, and we are needing to find many people to teach. The blessing was so powerful! Heavenly Father was truly communicating with me through Elder Breckenridge because he said things that God would only now right now. The blessing was such a comfort because it let me know that God knows I am nervous, but knows that I can do this. Please all of you at home take advantage of Priesthood Blessings, they are such a comfort, and can truly bless you in your lives.

My challenge for each of you this week is to recognize God's hand in your lives. Recognize the little miracles that you experience everyday because of his tender, loving hands. I KNOW that he is always with us, and that we are never alone. We all can do HARD THINGS because with God, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is possible!

KEITH was BAPTIZED!!! He had to go under twice because Elder Henderson didn't have him go far down enough the 1st time (knees showed) and the second time on the way up Keith nailed his head on the bar in the font because Elder Henderson wasn't paying enough attention...

Love you all!!

-Sister W. Williams

Hello y'all!!

 It seems as though Arkansas is kicking me out....it's had enough of me. I say that because I am supposed to be getting transfered to Bartlett, Tennessee on Wednesday (right by the Memphis Temple!!) I say "supposed to" because President Petersen originally said that I was staying in Danville then on Friday said I was getting transferred, and I haven't got a transfer call yet today. So we will see....If so, my companion will also have been out here for 6 weeks, so it should be interesting...Anyways, I hope you all were able to watch General Conference this weekend. It was AMAZING! I learned so much, and wished it could have been longer...I loved how on Saturday the focus was on Member Missionary Work. I just want to re-emphasize what they shared. We (Missionaries) cannot do this work alone, the members are the key! How great will be YOUR joy when you bring your friend, neighbor, or family member into the gospel! We need you, and the Lord needs you! Get. to. work.! :)

 The area here is really starting to grow. A lot of exciting things are happening, and I can feel the work progressing rapidly here. Keith is our main focus right now since he is getting baptized this Thursday! He has not had a cigarette for about 4 days now, and it's amazing to see how focused he is on quiting cold turkey. He neither confirms nor denies that it is easy or hard but he says that everytime he has the temptation to smoke he prays, and it goes away. What's remarkable to me is the great Faith he is, and how strong he is. He has Faith that God will get rid of the temptation and as a result God does. He came to the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference and loved it! He said what great talks they gave, and I could tell he was uplifted by what he heard. He is excited for Baptism, and looks forward to being able to go to the Temple when he is able. We have another investigator; Chelsea that has said yes to Baptism. But it is really hard to catch her because she is never home. However, when we have been able to have lessons with her she just radiates the spirit, and listens very intently to the message we share. Our main goal right now is to get her reading the Book of Mormon every night.

My companion and I are doing well. I am constantly learning from her, and she has definitely helped me to become a better missionary. As we have strived to teach more in unity, I have noticed that the Spirit is a stronger presence in our lessons. The great thing about my companion is that she challenges me to do hard things. We went street contacting this week, and she had me start a conversation. I was hesitant but after I did it I recognized that it isn't as hard as it seems. What's also great is that she uplifts me when I am down, and keeps me from dwelling on the negative.

This week we had a remarkable experience with Violet. The last time we had seen her she wasn't too keen about talking with us. This time she came out and actually seemed happy which is unusual. As we were talking with her I was really trying hard to listen to what she needed. As she spoke I noticed how charitable she is to her family. I also noticed how even though Violet has gone through some really hard things, she has Faith that it will get better. All because according to her, "it has to." As I listened I felt prompted to share Alma 7:24, "And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works." I told her how she inspires me because of her faith and hope that things are going to get better. Also, how I can see the love that she has for her family and that that's a great quality to have. As I shared this, her countenance changed even more, and she laughed and smiled. Sister Martell built on that scripture and shared a little more. After sharing those scriptures Violet said, "I found that book in my closet" and mentioned that she has a lamp so she can read at night. She hasn't been reading it, but as she said that comment I knew that she was going to read The Book of Mormon.

This week during studies I have really been trying to study the scriptures. As I have, I have been able to recognize how great of a book The Book of Mormon really is, and how God truly reveals things that we need to know in our lives as we do so. I have also studied the notes that I took during General Conference. What really stuck out to me in Conference was when Boyd K. Packer mentioned that "the scriptures hold the keys to spiritual protection." The word keys really stuck out to me because keys are usually associated with the Priesthood. This helped me recognize that as I immerse myself in the scriptures I will be protected from evil, and that it will provide me with the tools to better myself.

 I hope that as you watched General Conference something pricked your heart, and that you recognized what God wants you to do right now to better yourself. I know that as you take what you learned and apply it, you will receive blessings beyond measure. I also know that your relationship with God will be stronger than ever before.

 Love you all,

 Sister W. Williams

Hello everyone!!

I hope you are all doing well! Things are going great right now even though there have been some struggles. I am so grateful to know though that all trials and challenges that I go through are to make me stronger. (Trust me I definitely have needed to remember this this past week). I hope that you too recognize that God makes us stronger by pushing us to be what we are capable of.

The area here is progressing rapidly right now, and I am so Grateful I have this opportunity to be a part of it. We have quite a few investigators with baptismal dates and it is great to see the progress they are making. We taught Keith the Word of Wisdom earlier this week, and the lesson couldn't have gone better. We asked him what he understood the Word of Wisdom to be, and he replied with, "I need to quit smoking." He then made goals in the back of the Word of Wisdom pamphlet of how many cigarettes he would smoke per day until he quits all together on October 3rd. We challenged him to only smoke 10 the day that we saw him, and he himself decreased the number by 2 every day as a goal. What is amazing to me is how willing he is to quit. That is a sign to me that he is the elect, and that he is ready to make the covenant of Baptism. He is totally immersed in the Book of Mormon, and reads chapter after chapter. The day we went over to teach the Word of Wisdom lesson he told us that he wanted to re-read a couple of chapters to understand what was going on. I love his excitement to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and how badly he wants to change his life for the better! With Selena we have hit a bump in the road. Her family has told her that she is not ready for Baptism, which has resulted in her not believing that she has fully repented. This past week has been a roller coaster with her. At first she was getting ready to be baptized last saturday, and then she wanted to wait till October 5, then she again was ready to be Baptized September 28. This all happened within the space of a couple of days. What broke my heart was that she KNEW without a doubt that God was telling her that baptism was the next step for her, and that she would be ready on September 28. She willingly disregarded that witness, and it tore me up. I have such a great love for Selena and it hurt me to know that she denied not only God but Jesus Christ. Ever since she denied that, she also has doubts about the Book of Mormon being the word of God. We have decided to put her and her family on pause since they aren't keeping commitments, and I hope that as we do this she will realize that she wants this gospel in her life.

My companion and I are getting along great. There are times when we don't totally agree, but we are able to compromise and that way the work isn't inhibited in any way. We have been working on teaching in Unity, and although we still aren't the best at it we continue to work on it. We have been coming up with ways that will help us achieve this. As we have put these ideas into practice the lessons we teach are more powerful.

We had a remarkable experience with an investigator by the name of Chelsea this week. We haven't been able to see her in awhile because of her work schedule. But we were finally able to meet with her this past week. We talked with her about the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon to read. When we gave it to her and invited her to read it every night she was ecstatic! She said that she knows that the Book of Mormon will help her in her life, and she was so excited to be able to read it. We invited her to come to church and she told us that she would love to if she wasn't working. So yesterday before church we texted her, and she said she was sick with the flu. However, she mentioned that she really wants to come this week. The amazing thing to me is that she genuinely wants to read the Book of Mormon, and wants to come to church. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes. So this week we are going to follow up on that with the date of October 19th.

This week I have been totally immersed in the Book of Mormon. I am learning so much, and principles are jumping out at me that have never before. Something I have also noticed is how many times the sword of laban is mentioned in the Book of Mormon. I can't help but wonder what the significence of that sword is, because it appears to be passed down through the prophets. This week I also studied Chapter 10 in Preach My Gospel. I learned that I need to make sure I apply the scriptures to my investigators, and help them to understand how the scriptures apply to them in their lives. I also learned that members are the key to missionary work. Without them progress cannot be made. From what I have learned I am going to be better about apply the Book of Mormon stories to my investigators lives, and working more with members along with serving the members.

I challenge each of you to be actively participating in the missionary effort. Try to find those around you who need the gospel in their lives. Don't worry about offending, if you do it out of love there will be no offense. We as missionaries are here to ASSIST members in missionary work. What great joy will you experience when you brought someone into the gospel. You also will help them feel welcome into the ward, and they will remain active members of the church. Remember "EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY!"

Love y'all!!

-Sister W. Williams

Hey y'all!!

I hope you are all doing well, and that life is treating you well. I am loving every second of my mission although there are a lot of ups and downs. There are a lot of things that are out of my control out here but I am slowly learning to not stress about those things. I know everything happens for a reason, and I am so glad I have all your support back home!

The area here is really starting to grow. We had 63 people at church yesterday which is the high since I have been here! We have 5 Baptism dates set, and are helping our Investigators work towards that goal. The Vargas Family is doing well, and  they are surely but slowly starting to recognize the importance of coming to our church and reading the Book of Mormon every night. There understanding and desire for knowledge is starting to increase. Selena, the 15 year old daughter is really progressing. It is amazing to hear her testimony, and to hear all the trials she is overcoming as she is getting so close to the truth. She tells us how she feels happy on one side of her body, and the other half feels hate. We told her yesterday that Baptism, especially receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost will help with that because the spirit will fully immerse her, and take away that hate and temptation she has within herself. It is interesting to hear from her how big a battle it is between the two sides of her, and we are helping her to the best of our ability to help her see how God is helping her to develop hapiness on "both sides" of her body. This week we will be helping Selena to prepare for Baptism this weekend, and help her know that she is indeed ready to make this covenant in her life. This past week we were finally able to come into contact with Keith. This was the first time I have met him because he has been gone for 2 months. He mentioned that he still has the desire to change his life, and to come unto Christ. Also, that he wants to continue hearing the gospel. So I invited him to be Baptized, and he said yes! Sister Martell then followed that up with extending the Baptism date of October 10th and he said YES!! We also invited him to church and he accepted that invitation as well. He came to church yesterday, and I could tell he was uplifted and learned a lot.

My companion and I are doing well. We are working on teaching in Unity this week. I am going to be starting out the lessons that we teach this week to hopefully help with me "teaching" a little bit more. We are growing closer, and are really getting along. We work well together and as a result we can see that we are able to accomplish a lot. Together we are working on the Book of Mormon challenge and are helping each other remember to carry the Book of Mormon in our hands at all times. (Both challenges from President Petersen from Specialized training on Wednesday). We are also helping each other to read the Book of Mormon in 30 days. I am so Grateful to be able to be doing these challenges with her so that we can help each other accomplish them. She is helping me to become a better missionary everyday. She is helping me to become a better teacher with role plays, and I am grateful that she challenges me to do hard things.
For my story I would like to share the background of how we were able to come back into contact with Keith. All of our early afternoon plans on  Saturday fell through. So Sister Martell and I knew that God obviously needed us to be somewhere else. So I told Sister Martell that one of our Investigators names; Violet kept coming to mind. She then shared that she was experiencing the same thing. So we then decided to stop by Violets, however, Violet was not in a good mood to talk and told us to not bother her. We then decided to drive by Keiths and his door was opened! He gladly decided to talk to us, and his friend Tommy even became interested with learning more about the message we share. I am so glad we followed this prompting and were able to be where God wanted us to be at that moment in time.
This week for studies I have been really "diving in" to the Book of Mormon. I am staying on pace with reading the Book of Mormon in 30 days and I am learning a lot from the scriptures by doing so. I also read D&C 33 this week. I found verse 6 interesting because God is talking about gathering his elect from the 4 corners of the earth. This is really applicable to our companionship at this time because we are really focused on finding the elect and teaching them. Verse 17 also jumped out to me when it mentions that we need to "(have our) lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with (us)". I cross referenced this with Matthew 25, and found a handout from seminary. The handout talks about the oil being Fasting, family prayer, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures, and deeds of kindness. ALL of these applying to me as a missionary. It hit me hard that as long as I am doing my purpose as a missionary and are obedient my oil will not run out, and my lamp will indeed be full.
I want to tell you all how much the Book of Mormon challenge is helping the work progress. I have the Book of Mormon in my hand everywhere I go, and as a result, since Wednesday I have giving away 4. Having the Book of Mormon consistently in my hand reminds me that everyone of God's children needs to be fully immersed in the word of God which is only possible by inviting them and giving them the Book of Mormon to read. I invite all of you back home to really study the Book of Mormon daily. I haven't realized until coming out on my mission how important the Book of Mormon really is. Let me remind you that WE WILL be accountable at the judgement bar for reading the words contained in it. (Read 2 Nephi 33 vs. 11-15, it will help you understand this very important principle!)

Love you all, and hope to hear back from everyone,

Sister W. Williams

I cannot believe it's been a month! Time is flying, and I am so glad I am on God's errand right now. There is nothing I would rather be doing. The Area here is doing quite well. This week was a roller coaster. Everything seemed to be going quite well with Sondra until Tuesday. Monday we taught her the Word of Wisdom, and mentioned that she needed to ask her husband for permission to be baptized. She was totally into obeying the Word of Wisdom, and understood why she needed to quit smoking and was really willing to quit. She was a little hessitant at first about the coffee and tea but we told her the importance of obstaining from them and she understood the importance of that. Then Tuesday she texted us and told us that her husband won't allow her to be baptized, and that she isn't sure she wants this gospel anymore. So we went over to her house and answered all her questions. Now many of the questions arose because she got antied hard. Her husband had her go onto the internet and found a website with false information about the church. If this wasn't bad enough her husband sat in the lesson -glaring at us. Now, this was a problem because he usually doesn't want to hear a word we say, and he made her uncomfortable. She wouldn't even say the closing prayer for the lesson loud for fear of he would hear. At this moment in time we are not allowed to go to her house because her husband forbids it. We have texted her a couple of times, but are waiting it out. I know a miracle will happen, it's just hard because I saw the happiness in her that came from the gospel. Now, the Vargas family on the other hand is really progressing! We have set up baptism dates with 4 members of the family, and are working on 2 more. They are a remarkable family. We seemed to be in a rut with them because they weren't quite understanding where we were coming from. This is all changed when the Hansens felt prompted to stop by their house with the Elders. Dora knows Spanish and they Elders were able to make everything connect. That has made all the difference. They just glow with understanding now, and Dora, Selena, and Emily (Dora is the mom with the two daughters) even came to half an hour of church yesterday before going to see the Jacinto who is in a hospital at Little Rock. The lessons we have with them are remarkable, and the spirit is ever so present with every lesson we teach. Sister Martell and I are working even better now. We are getting to understand each other better, and the work is progressing because of it. She continues to help me grow as a missionary, and teaches me the importance of doing the things we do. She pushes me in order to help me become a better missionary, and helps me along the way. I am so grateful to be her companion, and am learning so much from her. The story I would like to share is one that is simply amazing. The other night Selena told us how when she has previously tried to read the Book of Mormon like we have asked she just couldn't understand it. She proceeded to tell us that she prayed to Heavenly Father for understanding before she read the other night. She then said that as she read he gave understanding to her. She read and read! The stories made sense, and the words were not a problem for her anymore. I am so glad she shared this experience because it reminded me of how I always need to pray before reading the Book of Mormon. So I can have an increased understanding of God's word. I have learned a lot this week in studies. We watched a couple of Mormon Messages this week, and the one that really stood out to me is the story about a Gardener. Now, the Gardener was pruning a tree and the tree asked why the gardener wanted to cut it down. The Gardener replied by saying that he does it out of love. He does it so that the tree can grow stronger, and blossom. This was likened to us as children of God. "God loves us enough to cut us down. He is the Gardener." He knows our strengths and weaknesses and what we can handle. He loves us so much that he cuts us down so we can come back stronger than ever. He makes our weaknesses strengths. This hit me so hard because I realized that with missionary work you get cut down a lot, but the blessings you get from it are tremendous. Now, you may be wondering if I have heard or experienced any crazy things here yet. The answer is YES! Satan has a remarkable hold on this people. That show "Sister Wives" is really causing a problem along with random showings of anti-mormon material. The Vargas family and a family we just met have told us about polygamy and how people are saying we still practice it. It drives me crazy!! Now, yesterday we literally got "swept off a porch". We went spiritual harvesting, and everything we tried to explain to "THIS BASHER" went in one ear and out the other. He took our information such as having a modern day, living prophet and tried to twist it so that we would rethink our beliefs. I wanted to leave as soon as he started acting this way Z(because you could tell the spirit of contention was there) but my companion tried to help him understand. I just kept my mouth shut. Eventually he "swept us off". Love you all, and hope you all are doing well!! Sister Williams

Hello y'all,

I hope everyone is doing well, and everything is going great for you. The work here is really starting to progress! I love it here in Danville, and the members here are so into missionary work it's great! So my challenge to you would be to GET TO WORK! Help the missionaries if you can, it is such a blessing to be able to work with the members, and the work becomes much more effective because of it.

The area is really starting to grow right now. We had 64 members at church with 3 investigators. One of the largest groups that has been at church in awhile. We have two investigators now that have baptismal dates. We have Sondra September 14- this Saturday! We also have Carolyn September 28! Sondra is an amazing person, and she just loves the gospel. She constantly tells us how the Book of Mormon has helped her to understand the Bible. When we walk into her home the Spirit is ever so present, and she knows when it's the devil and when it's the
Holy Ghost telling her to do something. She loves to learn, and is so excited for her baptism this Saturday. Her husbands heart is softening, and she already acts like a member of the church. Carolyn is also one who loves to learn. With every word we say the Spirit manifests the truth of it unto her, and she wants to learn more about the Plan of Salvation, and all of the other lessons we have to teach
her. She has an open heart and mind which I am grateful for, and is really receptive to the spirit.

My companion, Sister Martell and I are really getting along. We work well together, and I am constantly learning from her. She pushes me so I can be a better missionary. We do role-plays almost everyday, and she helps me to be well prepared for the lessons we plan to teach that certain day. She is teaching me how to teach simply, and is really enforcing the idea of having the investigator teach themselves (which is something I struggle with). But with her help, I am getting better at it everyday. When something needs to be improved she does it kindly and lovingly and I know that she is here to help me. It seems as though we have been companions for months, and we truly feel that we are sisters. We are alike in a lot of ways, and others not so much. But we are both learning from each other, and are helping each other improve ourselves.

The story that I want to share was truly incredible. Sunday morning Sondra texted us, and said that she would be unable to come to church because her daughter; Libby and cousin; Mandy were sick. Her son Aries would be attending another church with a friend, and her husband would not be home. So Sister Martell and I prayed and prayed that God would heal her cousin and daughter, and she would have a change of heart to come to church. We sent Elder and Sister Hansen to go pray with Sondra and her family. We then got a text about an hour later saying that
Mandy, Aries, and her would all be attending church. Sister Martell and I felt like crying, we were so grateful that God helped us, and that he answered our prayers. Sondra glowed all through church because the members were so inviting, and showed their excitement for her baptism this week! Before Relief Society Mandy stated that, "every time she closed her eyes she saw angels in , and that Heavenly Father was telling her that this is the correct and true church." I was
ecstatic! This family is truly the elect of God. I know that God has prepared them to receive the gospel, and I am so grateful I have this opportunity to be a part of it. After church Sondra, Mandy, and Aries all shared with us how much they loved church. I believe it's only a matter of time before her whole family comes unto Christ. Now, Sondra's husband has never been too keen on missionaries coming to their house. But as God has allowed his heart to be softened he is really coming around. He is actually talking to us, and is really friendly. Yesterday, Sondra told us that her husband mentioned that he loves the sisters (us!)  This is so exciting because I know that this experience with her husband will help Sondra as she makes the changes in her life by being fully converted to the gospel.

So once upon a time I spoke in church yesterday...it was one of the most stressful things of my life preparing for it. It takes me a long time to prepare for talks, and because of being constantly on the move it took a lot of time management to get it done. I did a lot of studying for my talk, and you will probably never guess what it was on. It was on the Articles of Faith. I had such an amazing experience studying for this. I have never really understood the importance of the Articles of Faith; being that they tell us what we need to believe in. I also don't think that a lot of us understand the principles and
doctrine mentioned in all 13 of them. I did a general overview of the Articles of Faith, and then I was able to go into detail with the first 4 Articles of Faith. I felt like it ended up being a pretty good talk. My testimony has grown tremendously because of it, and I challenge each of you to memorize or re-memorize them along with me, because I know that as we do we will come closer to Christ because of it! Now, you know how I talk 90 miles an hour....well that didn't happen! Want to know why? It's because Elder Keyes was translating right in front of me for Sister Chavelez, and I wanted to make sure he was able to do it. So it really slowed me down haha....However, it was also distracting because as I talked their was a background voice in spanish...haha

Love you all, and I hope you are all doing great! This is going to be one crazy week for me, but I know that it is going to be a good busy because it's for Sondra's baptism!!! :)

Love,
Sister Williams

Hello Everyone!!

I hope you are all doing well, and that school is going GREAT for those of you in school right now. The area that I am serving in right now is Danville which is on the border of the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission needless to say....I am kinda in the middle of nowhere....;) But I LOVE it here!! God has blessed me with a Love for this people that is indescribable. I have always struggled with the Christ-like attribute of love so I know that he is blessing me with that because of my service. I have not run into any Bible bashing yet...and for that I am Grateful for. The area is 900 square miles long (which is HUGE coverage) and I have a bike but luckily we have a jeep so we can drive everywhere!! :) HUGE BLESSING right there- but eventually we will have a bike week so that will be real interesting.... Anyways...back to the area. The branch we have here is approximately 50 members (including children) so it's really small. Since we have a small branch we are in charge of doing ward activities once a week. BUT the really amazing thing is that the members here are so into missionary work! They really want to help us so I invite all of you at home to help the missionaries!! Members are such a blessing to the work, and it helps out the missionaries a lot! What's also cool about this area is that we have 6 missionaries here! Along with Sister Martell and I we have a missionary couple; Elder and Sister Hansen. We also have Spanish speaking Elders (because there is a huge population of Spanish speaking individuals here in Danville) the Elders names are Elder Keyes (who has 6 weeks left in the mission field) and Elder Henderson (fresh from the Mexico MTC).

I LOVE being a missionary! I am learning so much, and I am a super happy person! (Crazy right?!?) The work is a little hard here because NO ONE wants to answer their door it seems like... But I have had some amazing experiences already here with not even a whole week in!! So  I will share some of them. 

1. The first afternoon in the field I did the door approach myself! My trainer was a little shocked and I was a little too. But I know that God is giving me the Courage to speak up, and I am not afraid of getting told "no, I am not interested.'

2. We are having great success here! Our two top investigators are Sandra and the Vargis Family. Sandra is incredible, she told us how she "hungers" to learn more. I shared with her how she is living "feasting upon the words of Christ" and how she is a great example of "likening the scriptures" to ourselves. She wants to be baptized and we posed a date for her but she wasn't sure about it because she feels like she needs to learn more. But we told her that if she prays God will help her and we will be here to help her too in order for her to feel better prepared for baptism. We asked the Vargis Family if they were praying and reading the Book of Mormon and they didn't seem to quite get the importance of doing these things. So we watched a few mormon messages with them, and shared with them the importance of praying and reading. We invited them to continue reading and praying and I really feel like they understood those principles better.

3. I was worried about meeting the Bishop here because they tell you in the MTC to make a good impression, and to make sure he knows that you are here to work with and for him. So we had dinner at his house the other day and I shared D&C 84:88, and explained how I love the part about "angels' and how I want to be an angel here and help others come unto Christ into this area. He had me share this again in PEC yesterday so I am glad I was able to make a good impression, and let him know that I am here for him and the Lord.

4. On Saturday we went Spiritual Harvesting for a couple of hours. We weren't really getting into doors because no one was home, or just didn't want to answer. After knocking for an hour I explained to Sister Martell of how badly I wanted an experience of us knocking and the person saying they were waiting for us and that we were the answer to their prayers. So we kept on knocking on houses, and we ended up driving straight up to one house, and the lady explained she was Baptist but she let us say a prayer with her and her husband. She then explained that most of her neighbors were Baptist but wasn't sure about the lady who just moved in. So we drove down the street trying to look for that house but instead were prompted to knock on another house. So we knocked and a lady by the name of Carolyn answered and let us in. We told her who we were and that God sent us to her, she cried and said she knew it. We listened and talked with her for a good 30 minutes or more and left her with the Plan of Salvation pamphlet because she doesn't think she has a purpose. We are going back there today and she really seems to want to hear what we have to say. I really believe she has been prepared for our message.

Now for what I am learning: During personal study this week I read all of "Lock Your Hearts", and "The Fourth Missionary". From "Lock Your Hearts" I learned that I am responsible to protect my companion no matter what. I also learned that the mission belongs to all missionaries in that area and that we all have the responsibility to protect it, and to make sure Christ's name doesn't go to shame in an area. (So an area doesn't get closed because of what a missionary did). I learned A LOT from the Fourth Missionary as well. I finished reading it this morning and I learned that by developing Charity I can become a true disciple of Christ. I also learned that I shouldn't compare myself to other missionaries which is something I struggle with. God really wanted me to know that, and he wanted to also let me know that as long as I do MY BEST that's all he asks of me. My best isn't going to be anyone else's best. As long as I am obedient and serve God with everything I have INCLUDING MYSELF. I will have no regrets and will become the missionary HE WANTS me to become! 

Well I have to go now...sorry I can't tell you more. But these are all the important things that have been happening. Love and miss you all! Again, I hope that everything is going well for y'all!!

Love,

Sister Williams