CHRISTmas

Sister Williams & Sister Farnsworth - First Snow 

This past week was one for the books. For starters me and Sister Farnsworth were blessed with a glorious gift known as bronchitis haha So that sure added some flare to the holidays. Other than that little setback, this week was great.

Right now this area is a little bit slow.. Or a lot a bit. We are focusing most of our efforts on finding, and on the never ending battle of getting the members more involved in missionary work. The holidays made it harder for people to want to let us in their house. But I have faith that as we continue to put forth our whole effort, the Lord will bless us with people to teach.

Christmas was great! On Christmas Eve we were on shift at the jail, 4 different member families stopped by and dropped of things for us... It was so sweet. We also watched Nora's Christmas gift and bawled like babies. On Christmas morning we got together with all the Visitor Center Sisters had breakfast and a little party together. We acted out the nativity...I was a sheep (pretty good casting if I do say so myself)

Nativity

Obviously the best part of the day was when I got to talk to my family. Wow. I've decided that I'm the luckiest person on the planet, because hands down I have the best family in the world...they have all been such great examples to me, and have made me who I am. I would not be on a mission without them.

Christmas Morning Skype

Anyway.... After our shift, on Christmas we went to the Bishop's house with the Elders and ate dinner, played games and they gave us gifts in handmade stockings Christmas on the mission has been one that I'll remember forever. I've been so blessed to meet and share the gospel with so many wonderful people.

Thank you to all those who sent Christmas cards and stuff, it really means a lot! I hope you all have an amazing New Years!

Sister Williams

The happiest of holidays

This will be a really short email, I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and tell you how amazing serving in the jail has been. This past week we've really picked up and we've been able to have some incredible experiences. When people look at you at the end of a presentation with tears in their eyes, thanking you for answering their prayers....it's a feeling you cannot describe. This truly is sacred ground.

Alright, well thank you to those who sent me fun cards and packages they really mean so much! Love you all!

My bad..my bad

So I'm sorry that I haven't emailed in a while, haha so I'm just going to give a quick update on what happened In the last little bit. Last week we had a all mission conference for Christmas, and it was awesome to see everybody. The conference focused a lot on the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Haha which on a mission is relatively easy, but the world is becoming desensitized to the concept of religion in general, and Satan is going to tempt us within our comfort zone, which means he is going to slowly persuade us to do things that aren't always necessarily bad...but we could do something better. The leaders of the church have been stressing this topic so strongly; we need to be prepared to do everything we can to observe the Sabbath day. Anyway the conference was so amazing.

Mission Conference at 
Independence Visitors' Center

At the beginning of this week me and Sister Maxwell were able to find quite a few new investigators, and on Monday night a family from the Ward had a Christmas family home evening that they invited a few other families in the Ward to. And every family brought something to share, weather it was a tradition, story, gift or musical number. The spirit was so incredibly strong, and I felt strongly that this was going to be one of my last days in that area. And best thing of all, one of our investigators (who is always incredibly busy) was able to come!

The next day the Elders waited as long as they could before letting us know the transfer information, so we were sitting in the Jacksons living room..waiting..,painfully waiting. Then we got the text that said I would be transferring to the Liberty Jail with Sister Farnsworth. I knew it was coming...but yup I cried a little anyway :) haha so we opened early Christmas presents with the Jacksons and  I mentally prepared myself to say goodbye to all these people who have become like family...worst.

 Early Christmas presents 
with the Jacksons

Luckily it wasn't actually goodbye....and I'm so excited to be serving In The Liberty Jail, I have already been able to meet such amazing people, and the spirit is so strong here. By the second day, I was able to give a presentation, and the spirit was able to bring all these history facts to my memory...crazy.

 Goodbyes are the worst 
- Sister Maxwell

Agh!! I'm going to miss Sister Maxwell and all the lovelies in New Mark. Sister Farnsworth is awesome, she has been through A LOT, and is so incredibly strong. I love her lots.

      Sister Farnsworth and 

         Sister Williams

Okay, thank you all for the love and support, and I'll try to be better at emailing!

Sister Williams

New Area, New Companion

A Christmas Family Home Evening

Make Room For The Savior

Click here for a free Joy to the World Christmas

DVD https://bitly.com/Joy-to-the-World

 ‪#‎ASaviorIsBorn‬  ‪#‎CHRISTmas

Thanksgiving and the First full mission selfie!

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

December 1, 2015:

First full mission selfie!

of The Missouri Independence Mission

Turkey Week

Sister Williams - Sister Maxwell

I'm so happy! This Ward and the members we live with....are pretty much the best. And I'm super hoping that I get to stay in this area for Christmas!!

We found 4 new investigators this week! And have return appointments set with all of them; I'm so excited for these people who all seem pretty prepared. We're not really sure where to go with Amanda right now; she's kinda at a halt...but still progressing. I think the main thing that she needs right now is a witness that the Book of Mormon is true.

In sacrament meeting this week, someone talked about recognizing the blessings that come from trials and weaknesses. So I sat down and made a giant list of weaknesses and trails that have happened in my life, then on the other side wrote what specific blessings came from it. It was so eye-opening to see how God shapes and molds us and how we always have SO much to be grateful for. No matter how great things are going or how much good you are doing, you just can't be happy without gratitude. As we notice our blessings not only will our gratitude grow, but our testimony of our Heavenly Fathers love will grow also. I would challenge you all to do it, because it really puts things into perspective.

This week I was focusing a lot on the apostasy and the blessings of the restored gospel. I'm pretty sure we are one of the only religions that practice the things the Savior taught after he was resurrected. He talked about anointing, and baptisms for the dead, and the binding power of the priesthood. Many things that have completely changed our lives and bless us and our families so much, many people simply look over. We can't take these wonderful revelations and blessings for granted. This is the only true and restored church. And I'm extremely humbled to have it in my life.

Hope y'all have a amazing thanksgiving! Thanks for all the love and support :)

Sister Williams

 The Jacksons bought us stockings for Christmas :)

they're honestly like my mission family.

Sister Ecchels and the baby blanket she made for 

my first child...haha so cute

The clouds were insane. 

" I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"

.... Don't worry I'm not skipping Thanksgiving,

Picture of my face (so my mom doesn't get mad)

Agh!!

I'm so excited for the holidays :)

Alright, this week we went to the Liberty Jail with Logan and his family and Logan decided with his mom that they needed to push back his date a little bit, which at first was very hard..Because we've had many investigators be on date and then circumstances don't allow it.

But Logan will get baptized :) his mom just wants him to feel a little more prepared, and understand his commitment. The B. family (extremely RLDS family) had a big breakthrough this week. Sister Maxwell and I were having a rough time, because they weren't really progressing, so we went to go and reiterate our purpose..Then while we were there Jim brought out their version of the Doctrine and Covenants, and Sister B. eyes were opened a bit as she questioned the differences and as we read from Section 121 in ours...the spirit was so powerful! It made me SO grateful for the power of the priesthood and the fact that we have a living prophet on the earth today.

This week was while I was reading a talk titled the 4th missionary. There was a section that said “He will make of you, immeasurably more then what you will ever, ever in all eternity make of yourself "Then he goes on to say" He will create a masterpiece..... You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God” that hit me so hard, I think too often in the Church we feel like we have to "work" our way to heaven... Which works are involved but all to often we forget about the grace of God. We need to completely turn ourselves over to God. Only through the grace of Jesus Christ are we able to perform the works necessary.

Our area is doing good, we were able to find 4 new investigators this week! So we're just continuing to pray for opportunities to teach. And get to know everyone that is on the Ward roster. And then talking to everyone we see, of course!

Sister Maxwell is incredible. She is so in tune with the spirit, and gets along with everyone. She has helped me come out of my "mission shell" completely, and as we talk to everyone we've been able to see miracles. :)

This week was a big learning experience for me (haha hopefully I'll say that every week) but as I've been studying the atonement... It has taking on a much deeper meaning in my life. Our savior Jesus Christ suffered through everyone's personal unbearable pain as he suffered in the garden. He did more than just suffer for our sins * which would have been enough, but he suffered for everything else so we could change! *because "no unclean thing can dwell with God, and no unchanged thing will want to."  Then on the cross he suffered through his own, as the father left him momentarily and he was alone. We are forever indebted. Everything he asks of us…is for our benefit.

 Everything else is great... And I'm just so happy!

 Sister Williams

Our gratitude board, and our happy little Christmas tree :)

Melancholy to Miracles

Wow! 

I could sum up this week by just saying wow I love being a missionary! Haha but I guess I'll explain a little bit more about why. 

My little revelation this week was on Conversion. Too often people say that what they want is not always what God wants, but this week I've realized that if you are truly converted those things will always be the same. Your will and his will, will be aligned. You'll constantly want what he wants for you. A conversion to the gospel is so important right now, the handbook change really shook some people up, but on a mission if a minor is going to be baptized they have to have written permission from both parents ...so I personally think that there isn't a huge waiting list of same sex couples waiting to give permission for their children to baptized. But things like this are going to continue to happen and the worlds views are going to continue to drift. We must be firmly planted in our beliefs.

Our area is doing well, we are striving to talk to at least 5 unknown people a day and always leave them with something. We have also started teaching the lessons to members in their homes and helping them recognize the spirit testify names of people who need this message. We have been able to see our teaching pool begin to grow and with the Christmas parties and fire sides coming up, it give us opportunities to have something to invite people to. So that's super exciting.

Sister Maxwell has been a big blessing, she has a really driven personality and has helped me have a deeper understanding of how to magnify my calling. She gets along with everyone, and we've been able to find more people to teach as we've been really able to teach in unity. Haha long story short.. I love her and she's fantastic.

This week I've learned the importance of first contacts. With both members and non-members, the first time they meet you they need to know your purpose, and feel the spirit. We represent the church and our Savior Jesus Christ. The have to trust us, before they allow us to teach either them or the people they know. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Everything else is going really well, I had a rough patch this week after everyone was canceling their appointments and people weren't coming to church... It was easy to feel like it was my fault that the success kind of hit a halt. But while at church when I was taking the sacrament I recognized the many miracles that we were able to see this past week, and remembered what success on a mission is defined as, giving our all and better yourself every day.

Sister Williams

Sister Eccles famous pumpkin cookies

Flower pots or hats...?

A few of the young women from the Ward after we taught at mutual

Moroni 7:12

This is from the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. 
We invite you to get a free copy at http://bitly.com/ZVb27O

Green and Greener

Transfers!

Pre transfer picture

Sister Olsen got transferred to the Independence Visitor center, So my new companion is Sister Maxwell!  She is such a cutie and we pretty much just go around singing all day haha it's great. She's been out for about 4 months and is from Spanish Fork. Agh I love her! We've already been able to see so many miracles.

This past week was a little bit harder to get in with people and a bunch of people canceled their appointments..but what can you expect when the Royals are in the World Series! Haha there has been fireworks going off almost every night this week and even on Halloween people sat in front of their houses passing out candy while the game was projected on their house. So pretty much I'm just a giant bandwagon Royals fan now ;)

But the work is amazing, and this week I've had a huge testimony building experience on the topic of recognizing the spirit. Okay so this is something that I know I'll be working on for the rest of my life. But this week I've realized that we must act upon the promptings that we do receive...otherwise we'll stop receiving them. I sometimes still struggle with the whole “is that the spirit or is that just my own thoughts" thing, but my mind this week continued to go back to something that I heard in the MTC. It talked about how if we are living righteously and living in a way that allows the spirit to be with us...then we don't need to question it. Everything that is good comes from God.

Which leads me to something that happened this week, we had just finished lunch and started to drive out of the parking lot, as we were driving I waved to this guy who was just sitting outside. At that moment both me and Sister Maxwell received a prompting to stop and talk to him, so we stopped the car and talked to him, and as we talked to Wayne you could see the light in his eyes as he was recognizing the truth. It was so cool.

The more we learn to listen and have the courage to act upon promptings the more we will be blessed to have the guidance of the spirit.

Sister Williams

"Learn it, live it, love it"

 Me and Sister Maxwell in our super original Halloween costumes ;)

(They Switched Name Tags)

Catch up email :)

Hey everybody!

Lunch with the Sister Training Leader's

I feel like it's been FOREVER since I wrote a real email soooo

Today will be a little catch up of the main things that have happened in the last few weeks.

A while back I wrote about Leah, and how before she could be baptized her dad wanted to have proof that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

Well.....Last week we got a frantic text from her telling us that we aren't able to come over to her house anymore, and that she is not allowed to get baptized. We called her and she told us about all this Anti- information that her dad has been giving her, and how she still REALLY wants to be baptized. So that was heart breaking, and then Amanda told us that she doesn't feel ready to be baptized either......

BUT there were many miracles that happened too :) one day some Elders in a different area were talking about a women that called them for service and as they were talking we realized that she lived in our area, so we went over and helped Fran clean and organize her house. After that we had a first lesson with her, when we started we she said that she has felt lost for a very long time...and a few minutes into the lesson she said that she felt home,  So at the end of it we put her on date for baptism on November 14th!!

This past week I have gained such a strong testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon, it is one of the things that we talk about all the time on and off the mission, but the past few weeks we've had to testify and defend the Book of Mormon over and over again. So I would quote the promise from Moroni and promise that if they study from it daily they can receive revelation. Then I had to ask myself "do I even do that?"

So this past week I have tried to make every single verse in the scriptures mean something to me, so I can testify with even more convection that this book can change lives.

This coming week I challenge you all to put more effort into your daily reading. That book is what sets us apart, and the fullness of the gospel.

(Okay FUNNY story)

Sooo lately we've had many men try to hit on us haha and I don't think it has anything to do with me...but when you see two girls walking down the street I guess we're easy targets. Haha so we've become masters at turning it into a gospel related situation. A few weeks back this car of guys drove passed us then they turned around an pulled next to us, they yelled " hey my homie thinks you're cute" then they said can we get your number...so I answered with " only if you want to know more about the gospel" they replied with whatever works.

Then two days ago this guy flagged us down then he realized we were "Church Girls" so we ended up getting his number and inviting him to church hahaha so funny.

Sister Williams  

Great Things

This week was full of great things...but it was also full of some really hard experiences. A few emails back I talked about how we had three people on date, which was awesome, but in this past week two of those people fell through. Leah's dads forbid her from getting baptized and Amanda said she just doesn't know.

BUT this week was also a historic one, cause on Sunday we had a multi stake conference because they will be creating a new stake!! That's huge! So everything kinda got switched around, but it was so cool to be a part of that :)

I also went on exchanges this week and it was amazing for me! Because it helps me realize that I have been being a little too hard on myself when I comes to missionary work (haha big surprise) but Sister Quido talked to me about how I remind her a lot of how she was when she first came on her mission...agh! It was amazing!

I'm doing great!

Sister Williams

"Sis Williams trying to get over her fear of birds! Ha"

Bribery Works!

This week was awesome!

Last time I wrote I talked a little bit about a sweet young lady L... Well sadly this week after we had a lesson with her to set up stuff for her baptism, she called us and told us her dad would not let her get baptized until she proved to him that Joseph Smith was a prophet....um well at first I was super crushed but I realized that hey if he finds out the Joseph Smith was a prophet then we'll have a 2 for 1 situation haha but really If all goes well then we'll have that whole family in the water

Anyway now for the subject line...well this week me and Sister Olsen did a musical number at church (yes mom and dad...I sang aren't you proud) ;) we sang with a few other girls from the ward, and then used that as a bribe to get some of our investigators to come to Church. Haha and it worked!! We had six investigators show up to church! And it was an awesome experience as so many people came up to us and told us how it really moved them, and how the bishop cried, SO COOL!

And quick little miracle! We have been really trying to talk to everyone that we see and today when we were walking to the store a guy stopped us and asked us what we were out here doing, and he invited us over to dinner with him and his wife...and said he was interested in learning more.

Sorry this email is super short but I haven't had much time to email the last few weeks, so I'll send a good one next week :)

Love,

Sister Williams

Picture from a a birthday party for a member in the ward

What Lack I Yet?

General Conference Oct. 2015

Saturday Morning Session

"What is keeping me from progressing?" ‪#‎LDS‬ ‪#‎mormon‬ ‪#‎quotes‬ ‪#‎genconf‬

“Our Heavenly Father knows our divine potential.

He rejoices every time we take a step forward.”

Elder Larry R.Lawrence

Transfers

Sharing this sweet video

Missionary Transfer Meeting
"Go forth with faith to tell the world of Jesus Christ our Lord." Missionaries inspire us all, and we are thankful for their service and smiling faces.

Posted by ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย(มอรมอน) on Thursday, October 1, 2015

The work is hastening

from Sister Williams

The work really is hastening, and it's time for everyone to realize that it is not "missionary work" or "member work" this is God’s work, and we all have a part to play in it. I can not explain my excitement for General Conference this week, big things are happening! And it is more important than ever to heed the words of our leaders. 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week.

Roller Coaster of Emotions

Wow, What a week!

First things first. TRANSFERS! Um I don't think people understand how much anxiety comes along with transfer week; you're just waiting for a phone call that is going to determine your fate for the next six weeks....terrifying to say the least! And of course our zone leaders decided to sit on our voicemail until the end of the night on Tuesday, so we were kept impatiently waiting.

We had just gone with an investigator and her daughter to Independence Visitors' Center with Sister Furrow (a ward missionary) and had decided to get some "celebratory" ice cream on the way home...because there's always a reason for ice cream :)

Anyway we were all in the car when we got the voicemail. They dragged it out as long as possible...but the car erupted in screams when they said we were both staying!!! And it took us a few minutes to realize that they said our ward was getting Elders as well. So when we got home we realized that hey now we have to share the ward. Not okay with that. *Joking* I was actually really excited, because this Ward is amazing and I think Elders are really going to help the work pick up even more. So on Thursday we meet them.  Elder Tippets has been out for over a year and Elder Griffiths was straight off the plane...yeah that's right Elders Griffiths and Tippets haha quite a mouthful. But they're awesome, as long as the ward realizes who the "original" missionaries are ;)

Sis Olsen, Sweet Friend, Sister Williams

"Pure Joy"

Okay friends well God really has a sense of humor, as he answered my prayers to not get super fat on my mission, by making it so we have to share our car with the Elders and only have it every other week....um maybe I shouldn't try and tell him my plans, because he always seems to have different ones. ;)

Alright well now for the subject line...Well this week was exactly that. A roller coaster of emotions, when President calls you, it's usually something pretty serious. So when he asked if he could talk to me alone....a million thoughts went through my head, and I was almost in tears before anything came out of his mouth. My heart went out to my family as he told me that one of my uncles had passed away. It was a testament to me of why I'm out here in a mission. Because a lot of people don't know what we know about God's plan. That plan mostly referred to as the plan of salvation, has taken on its less common name in my missionary work, as the plan of happiness, because that is what the gospel brings. HAPPINESS!

 Uncle Jason

Right after that phone call I had the opportunity to go and teach this 13 year old boy about the plan of salvation. I was able to truly feel the spirit as I testified of this merciful plan, and couldn't help but smile ear to ear when this young man decided to be baptized on November 21!

That tender mercy showed me how mindful God is of each of his children, as that lesson was not only for him, but for me as well, as I was comforted by the spirit and knew that what I was teaching was true. In this life we probably won't ever understand why some things happen, but all we need to do is hang onto what we do know, and continue to nourish that. All we need is the basics, the things we're been taught since the very beginning. Studying, praying and attending church. I don't know everything and in fact my testimony is very simple. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and redeemer of the world, that he lives, and through him and only him are we able to receive salvation. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that it is central to returning home again someday. We don't need to know everything in order to continue in faith.

There is a talk titled "the Candle of the Lord" where it says something along the lines of "a testimony is often found in the baring of it" and I can testify that, that is true.

So I challenge everyone this week to share what you believe with someone else. The Lord is preparing people all around us, and his work is hastening. What a great work we ALL get to be involved in! Love you all, and thank you so much for all the prayers and support!

-Love Sister Williams-

Haha and if there are new rules about missionaries having races on blow up 

obstacle courses...blame it on me and Sister Olsen. And while at the members

house who has the squirrels s)...I may have gotten quite competitive on 

this obstacle course...and there's definitely a picture of the evidence. 

Long story short if that rule pops up...you can blame it on us. :)

Squirrels that a member family has as pets, 

Sister Olsen loved them....

Me, obviously not so much haha.