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