Sealings and Books of Mormon

The fact that it is already p-day again is seriously insane to me. Time does not work on a mission the way it normally does, having said that this week was full of lots of learning experiences. 

On Tuesday I had my first exchange. I was put in trio that was over both an YSA and a family ward. Oh I love those sisters so much!, being there with them really helped reiterate the importance of talking to everybody, because obviously you can't know if someone is interested unless you talk to them. Okay well “talk to everybody" is a lot easier said than done, because it is honestly so much easier to fear men then to fear God. But we are promised so many blessings if we open our mouths to declare this sweet message. 

On that topic, this week we have been helping many members in the ward set up a "family mission plan" because as we all know missionary work extends so much further than just the full time missionaries. In this mission plan there are goals to help the family pray and read scriptures daily, and to invite less active and non member friends to church activities and to learn more.

In D&C 24:12 we are promised as we declare the gospel that we will be given strength that is not known among men. Sharing the gospel can be scary, but most of the time our Heavenly Father answers prayers through other people, you could be that answer. No matter who it is, you can leave them with something, an invite to a ward activity, dinner at your house, a Book of Mormon or something as simple as your testimony. 

Okay now as for the subject line...some recent converts in our ward got sealed on Saturday!! Sadly because we weren't the ones to teach them we didn't get to go, but we were able to help with the luncheon after. Anyway there was SO much opposition while they were preparing to be sealed. The husband had a herniated disk and was scheduled to get cortisone shots the day before the sealing (which didn't happen) there was also a bunch of drama with the kids, because they are a mixed family and some of the kids weren't going to be able to be sealed to them. But they realized the blessing that would come from it. So during the endowment they actually brought in a huge foldout lazy boy chair for the husband and it all worked out.

But it really got me thinking of the importance of temples and how sacred they are. And that actually happen to be the lesson we had on Sunday. Temples :) so the rest of this email is going to be a bit about a talk that Brad Wilcox gave at this last education week. Haha don't quote me on this...these are my notes from the talk. “You’re Not Alone: Come to the House of the Lord”

 The “Five S’s” of the temple for Latter-day Saints to remember about the House of the Lord.

1 The first “S” of the temple is sanctuary. The temple is a spiritual sanctuary. “We can go there and escape the cruelness of the world and the pollution of the world and the evil of the world. … Our spirits feel like they’re going home.”

2. Our second ‘S’ is school - a wonderful school where we’re taught the lessons of eternity, the beautiful lessons that matter in this life and beyond.” In the temple, individuals are taught in the Savior’s way — both directly and indirectly. We all can go and learn something else. We must be a participator not just a spectator. There is a Chinese saying that says "tell me and I'll forget, show me and I'll remember, involve me and I'll learn and understand" 

       

3. The third "S" of the temple is salvation. The temple is where we receive saving ordinances, done as an offering of love. When we go to the temple for the first time we "receive" our endowment, just as when we are baptized and confirmed we are told that we "receive the Holy Ghost, this means it is an action, and that it is up to us to accept it! 

       

4. The fourth “S” of the temple is sealing. “The temple is a place of sealing where couples and families can be sealed together forever.” An act the can only take place in the temple

 5. The fifth “S” of the temple is The Savior. There is no other place where we can feel so close and understand our Savior; we can feel complete, clear, and the truest indicators of our deepest feelings of Christ.

Okay I'm sorry this one is SUPER long, and is all spiritual. I promise I'll add more stories next week. Love you all, and thanks for all the prayers and support!!

Sister Williams

More pictures of our face...because it seems to be the only pictures we take ;) 

Try a Little Harder To Be a Little Better

…"Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can put behind us our weaknesses of the past, and go forth with new energy and increased resolution to improve the world about us, in our homes, in our places of employment, in our social activities.

We have work to do, you and I, so very much of it. Let us roll up our sleeves and get at it, with a new commitment, putting our trust in the Lord."                                                                                  

We Have a Work to Do

from Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

April 1995

Baptisms, Fireflies and Visitor Centers

This week was incredible! Okay first off warning, this email will be kinda scattered because I'm super short on time and have a billion things I want to say haha, so bear with me :)

So Monday, something happened that has been on my bucket list for awhile... we were in the middle of a lesson on this guy's porch when I screamed like a child... I got to see fireflies! haha I apologize if you expected something more exciting, but for me it was awesome :)

Moving on, I feel so blessed that there are two Visitor Centers that we have access of using in our missionary work. On both Wednesday and Friday we took investigators to the Independence one. The spirit there is always so strong as we look at the history of this place where they live. Oh I love it! And both of those investigators came to church this Sunday!!

Later that Friday night was Steve's baptism, I've been told stories of golden investigators and through some miracle I was able to see one in my first three weeks. It was incredible! He found the church because his friend was LDS and while he was at a disc-golf course he found a Book of Mormon on a bench and that was that. The only reason he "was kept from the truth, is he knew not where to find it" His testimony at his baptism was one of the most powerful I have ever heard. It was also a miracle that his wife was able to attend. Oh I know that they will be sealed as a family sometime soon, as we were at the baptism you could see her countenance change as she felt the spirit. Agh, I love them so much! Sadly they don't actually live in our area, so now it's up to the Elders in his area to teach the rest of their family, but I'm so excited for them :)

Well on a mission you definitely learn something new every day, one of the things I learned most this week was how knowing the truth causes people to change. I've seen this so many times already! In an email earlier I talked a little bit about the K. family, oh they are seriously the best :) Anyway the dad is very set in his ways and even from the time I've known him, I have seen the gospel change him and his family. Last night when we were teaching them I called him out on some sass he was throwing at me and he said something along the lines of " I like this one she's not afraid to talk" haha well I told him I'm not shy about his salvation. He always says things like "I've been thinking about getting baptized, but I'll probably wait 18 months" haha then I'm like seriously don't mess with me like that. But I truly know that this gospel makes people desire to be better and do better.

So that's my little challenge for this week, is do better! Because it's our actions that often define who we are. Don't just know the gospel, but live it!

Sister Shelby Williams

Independence Visitor Center

Blurry picture, but Steve's baptism!!

Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

                                                                  Matthew 5:7 

#mercy #service ‪#‎servingthelord ‬‪#‎MissouriIndependenceMission‬

How to be a Missionary

Sister Williams & Sister Olsen

Once upon a time me and Sister Olsen were out tracting, and although I talked

every time someone opened the door, I had yet to be the one to knock. So the next door was my turn, and needless to say I was excited… a little too excited, because as I knocked, it was so stinking loud that poor family probably thought the cops were outside trying to knock their door down haha lucky for me no one was home or they ran away out of fear, either way the moral of the story is. Use the doorbell.

The funny thing about that subject line is the fact that I still have no idea how to be a missionary....but If there's one thing I want to share this week it's that God is not a respecter of persons, it does not matter what you've done, where you live or how long you've been a member, His love knows no boundaries, there is nothing that says you have to fit into a certain mold to be loved, and nothing qualifies one more than the other.

As we've been teaching some of our investigators this week that's come up a lot, many feel that they are loved less because of things that they have done. That's why having the pure love of Christ is essential to missionary work, not only on an actual mission but as we are "missionary's" in our daily life's. Many times truly loving someone comes from looking at them in not only terms of who they are, but in who they can become, trying to see them as the Lord does. With that love comes the desire to serve, which is actually a covenant we make when we are baptized, we promise that we will render service to our fellow man.

When it comes to teaching the gospel I've come to realize that no one really cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. As we really strive to follow Christ we will have the overwhelming desire to serve, because no one else is a better example of service. In the same topic be willing to accept service....now that's one I've had a really time with, because the ward out here is so good to us missionaries, and is always trying to give and do stuff for us. For the first week I HATED it...but I've begun to realize that denying other people the opportunity is really denying that person blessings, which sounds extreme but it's true. We must be able to give service, accept service and in times of need be humble enough to ask for

service.

We are all on the same hard trip back to our father, we are here to love and help each other get back home like Elder Uchtdorf said “in the end it's the merciful that will receive mercy."

Sister Williams 

Car selfies with special guest yellow air freshener. 

 ‪#‎pureloveofchrist‬‪ #‎MissouriIndependenceMission‬ ‪#‎sohotandhumid‬

Welcome to Zion!

This week was super eventful!  My last day in the MTC was amazing; at the Tuesday devotional we had the chance to hear from Elder Russell M. Nelson.... It was incredible; the Lord truly does know each of us
individually.

Then that next morning we got up at 3am and got packed up to leave, the airport was a new experience for me to say the least ha ha, due to circumstances I had to get a full pat down and since it was my first time flying I was terrified to say the least. BUT I actually loved it...then as soon as I stepped off the plane I felt like I was soaking wet. Humidity is something else. 

Our first day me and the other 20ish missionaries went to see the temple and also went to liberty jail, oh how I love those places, the spirit there is so strong. That night we all stayed in the mission home and the next morning we went to the visitor center (my new favorite place) then that was it, it was time to get to work. We were assigned our companion and that was that.

My companion Sister Olsen is the cutest; she's from Ogden and has only been serving for two months. We are assigned to the New Mark area in Kansas City....oh man this ward is incredible! They work hand in hand with the missionaries, in fact almost everyone we are teaching are referrals from members and members come to almost every lesson we teach.

Okay so now a little bit about our investigators. Right now we are teaching some amazing people. We actually have our first baptism on the 21st!!! His name is Steve and he is seriously a golden investigator, he is an ex- marine and has two kids. Last lesson we talked to him about the word of wisdom and he said something along the lines of "well I'm already this deep, I'm not backing out now." Agh he's fantastic. 

We are also about six other families or people. Oh man there's a family I meet last night named the K. family, and being at their house felt like being at home. He's an ex marine as well and is pretty intimidating. I love them so much they're so sarcastic and whitty.... needless to say I fit right in ;) 

But in all seriousness it's hard to teach them a "real" lesson because he's pretty  determined that he's never getting baptized...but I let them know that they're not going to get away with that so we'll make one step at a time. We made an agreement that if they go to church they can call me Sister Nikki and that I'll only talk to them in a Jersey accent....sounds like a deal to me. Oh I really do feel a strong spirit in their home and believe they have the desire to come closer to Christ. So we do have quite a few investigators but most of the work we do is with the less active in the ward. A mission pretty much gets rid of all normal social boundaries. You have to be bold and awkward is a feeling you have 1000 times a day. But long story short I LOVE being on a mission.

The spirit you feel in a lesson is comparable to no other. I have already witnessed many miracles and can't explain the numbing responsibility this calling has. I love you all!!

Sorry no pictures this week, we email on our iPads which means no pictures from my camera...but I'll send some next week.

Love, Sister Williams 

My 3rd day in Missouri

This is my 3rd day in my mission, meet my new companion and trainer Sister Olsen

Getting right to work!

Week 2

So this week was honestly such a blur, every day feels super long...but at the same time you blink and it's done. My MTC experience has been one that I will remember forever, and i'm sad that tomorrow is my last day, but I am more excited then ever to go and tell people of this amazing gospel. I have been put through the refiner's fire, and have felt my heart change so much. 

This week was pretty great, me and sister Harvey have been teaching Rachel a TRC investigator, and this Saturday she committed to baptism. It was incredible and the spirit was so strong, granted we don't know for sure if she's already a member or not, but regardless we helped her come closer to Christ and that's filling our purpose as a missionary :). 

This week I have been focusing a lot on the character of Christ and how we all have a calling to share the gospel, so I decided to share a little bit about what I've learned. Our Savior Jesus Christ has every attribute that we could ever wish to obtain. He deserves all the praise in the world, yet is humble, submissive and selfless. A king of kings, yet a servant to all his fellow men. His name itself a description of his power. A savior for us all. He turns outward when us as natural men would turn in. That's exactly what all of us need to try to do, turn outward. 

Each and everyone of us has the responsibility, once we have the gospel in our lives, it is our job to share it. I think we all need to think about how much of a conversion we really have, how much we truly love this gospel. Because if you truly understand the importance of it, you couldn't bare the thought of not  sharing it with everyone you know. 

Please reach out to the less active and the non-members, and work with the missionaries. It is incredible the power a simple testimony has. Well I love you all and next time I write it will be from the great state of Missouri. 

Love, Sister Williams 

P.S. Thank you Green family for the cookies, you guys are the sweetest. And thank you everyone who has sent me letters, they truly make my day. Also this is how I look when I get them...so please keep sending them