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