The District at College Station August 2013

Transfersssssss!!!!!

So here we are once again at transfers week and my future is once again unsure. I'm thinking that I will definitely stay in College Station, but I'm also definitely getting a new companion. I have an eerie feeling that I will be training again which is...... fine, I guess. We'll see what happens though. 

So I love where I'm at right now. The people are awesome and their hearts are just so soft and willing to let us share our message, even if they politely decline to learn more...haha. Also, I absolutely love the Elders we work with in our ward. They are so fun and such good missionaries! One of them, Elder Wible, is from Carlsbad, California, and he also goes to BYU. Our high schools played each other! We talk about the fun little mission reunions we're going to have after we both get off our missions all the time. It's gonna be a party. It just blows my mind that there are so many awesome people I would have never gotten the chance to meet had I not decided to serve a mission. Really though, let's be honest. I would have never had a reason to come chill in Texas otherwise. I mean, Texas is great and all, and I love it with all of my heart, but, no. 

Speaking of awesome people, let's just talk about Herilala for a sec because he is pure gold. This guy is so ready it's painful. I just know that he will accept this gospel and that it will change his life FOREVER! Alright, I'll calm down, but really though it's the truth. 

If you can't tell by this post I'm kind of all over the place because I have a ton of energy, but that's only because life is so stinking good right now. The way I feel just seriously strengthens my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ a thousand times more. There's a scripture in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 2:41 that tells us to "consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God". It's so true! Is being on a mission a walk in the park? heck no! Do I still have problems out the wazoo? Definitely. Am I happy? Absolutely. That's the thing. God never promised that your life would be easy if you were obedient, he just said you would be happy. There's a difference. Carrying your burdens on your own is way harder than letting the Lord carry them, not only with you, but sometimes for you. It's such a cool thing. We still have trials and hardships so that we can learn and grow and gain experience, but at the same time we can have peace and happiness during those hardships if we trust in the Lord, have faith that He is who He says He is, and that He can do what He says He can do, and are as obedient to those commandments as possible. Ahhh the simplicity of the gospel. 

Anyways, like I said, I'm full of energy, so we're going to go food shopping and then play some dodge ball to cure that...haha. 

I love you all more than anything!

Love, Sister Williams
(foot note from Sister Williams' Abuelita...her camera is broke and she promises pictures next week)

(to all who read this blog:  ANOTHER WEEK WITH NO PICTURES FROM SISTER WILLIAMS.  It's time to write to her and ask "What's the deal?".....and I will.   From Sister Williams' Abuelita)

Howdy!

 

So because we serve in a college town we get to proselyte on the Texas A&M campus and the only way people are allowed to greet you on campus is by saying "howdy". Needless to say I feel like such a tool saying it, but hey, when will I ever get this experience again? Also along the lines of funny southern things, is my almost perfected southern accent. Haha Sister Flanders and I talk like we'er from the deep south (she is) more than we do in our regular voices. It is so funny, and if you don't think so, I would ask you to please remember that as missionaries you have to find new and diverse ways to keep yourself entertained and accents are one of them. Anyways, so I would just like to start by saying I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!  Seriously College Station is like the only place I ever want to serve for the rest of my mission. It is seriously so awesome here and things are about to get crazy because school starts today and that means 65,000 brand new shiney faces to meet. Let's GOOOOOO!!!! So over the past few weeks we have accumulated, through our own efforts and the grace of God, a fairly decent sized teaching pool. Get this, we are teaching a kid from China, a girl from Switzerland, a girls from the Middle East, a guy from Madagascar and a few Americans. Who says you have to go on a foreign mission to teach foreign people. Talk about language barriers!! But we are making it work. Lots of visual aids. So a quick story about the guy from Madagascar. While I was in the MTC I had an allergic reaction to something and I ended up having to go to urgent care. There were a few other missionaries who had to go as well for various reasons, and three of them we going to Madagascar on their missions. So while we were waiting for forever in the waiting room to be seen I asked them to teach me some words in Malagasi (that's the name of the language) so I ended up spending about a half an hour learning gospel terms in malagasi and they left me with a few flash cards so I could remember. I never thought there would be a day when I would actually get to use it. You should have seen Herilala's face when I said some words in his language (that's his name hahaha). He almost passed out he was so happy. He took like a billion pictures of me holding my flashcards to send home to his family in Madagascar. Apparently he never thought he would meet someone who "spoke" his language in America. Seriously though, what are the odds? So I have officially been able to use every language tidbit I learned in the mtc within the first 3 months of my mission. I love it! But really though missionary work is where it's at. I have gotten to a point where this feels like my real life and my home life feels like the alternate one which is a blessing for sure. It makes not being with those you love so much easier and allows you to lose yourself in the work. Well my friends and family I love you all more than you'll ever know and pray for you on the reg. Keep the fire, keep pressing forward with a perfect bightness of hope in Christ and a love of God and all men. Endure (well) to the end. Check out 2Nephi31:20, such a gem. Talk ya'll next week!

 

Love, Sister Williams

 Week 12....

So for some reason I really just haven't been able to think of anything to write home about lately. Must be because my mission feels like old news already haha. I'm kidding. Speaking of old news, by the end of this transfer I will have been out for 100 days! That is so weird. I feel like I have been out forever and like I just got here yesterday all at the same time. I'm pretty conflicted. Anyways I'll try and report on something. 

So our many hours of tracting are finally starting to pay off. We are teaching a little group of investigators now, and I love all of them with all of my heart. Clay, the guy who we extended the baptismal invite to last week, came to church yesterday. I seriously felt like I was going to pass out because I was so happy. He told us afterwards that he really liked how friendly and kind to him all of the members were (go members!) and that he wanted to come back. I literally had to hold myself back from hugging him there on the spot. We taught him the Plan of Salvation that night, and while he was a little overwhelmed he still wants to continue meeting with us. These are all good signs! 

We are also going to begin teaching a girl named Stephanie who just came from Sweden to go to grad school at A&M. Her boyfriend is a member and she was taking the discussions in Sweden and wants to continue here. This area is seriously the best and I love it! But transfers are coming up in 2 weeks and you never know what's going to happen, as I found out last transfers. Anyways, I would write more, but I don't really have anything else to say. I'll write a better one next week for sure! 

I love you and I hope everyone is doing well, and if anyone is wondering, I would never say no to a package full of food ;) 

See ya soon! 

-Sister Williams

WEEK 4 IN COLLEGE STATION

 

Okie dokie,

 

So Sister Flanders and I have been conquering College Station one block at a time. By that I mean we are pros at tracting because that is all we do. While it may seem pretty terrible to be out in 500 degree weather for hours everyday, we have found joy in the journey. The first 2 weeks were pretty rocky, but we have finally started to figure out how to be missionaries in this area, and how to be good companions. Boy am I learning the importance of effective communication, and how to communicate effectively. It's awesome, and about time! Also I'm learning how to become a decision making member of society. Seriously, I feel like the things I'm learning out here will help me out for the rest of my life. It's a pretty bizarre experience serving in a YSA ward. I have to keep reminding myself that while I may be in the ward, I am not of the ward. It's easy to forget though when you're in a college town with a bunch of people your age who you would normally be friends with. And that's the thing, I am making so many friends out here! I love our ward members dearly. We have so many converts and everyone is so eager to help out with the missionary effort. Plus the ward is going to explode in numbers in about 2 weeks here because the school week is starting. I can't wait!

 

So something really cool that happened this past week was that while we out tracting, it was the end of the day and we decided to knock one last apartment complex. The thing about the summer in a college town is that most of the students are gone for the summer so most of the apartments are empty. So it is not uncommon to knock an entire building and have like 4 people answer the door. This time was no different. We knocked door after door and either no one answered, or the people that did answer weren't interested. It was super tempting to just call it a night and start the hour and a half walk home, but we decided to stick it out and knock every door. The very last door we knocked on was opened by this guy named Clay. When we asked if we could share a message he said yes, and after we shared we asked him if would be interested in receiving the missionary discussions and he said yes! Miracle number one. Miracle number 2 was he didn't cancel...haha. So we taught him the restoration yesterday and after we finished (he had zero arguments) I felt prompted to invite him to prepare to be baptized and so I did, and he said yes! It was so awesome! So we are teaching him the plan of salvation on Sunday and bringing him a Book of Mormon today. We forgot to bring one yesterday. We are such dorks sometimes...haha. Anyways, that's all I got for ya. We have another lesson with an investigator tomorrow and I think we are going to invite her to be baptized as well. We'll see how it goes! Have a good week!

 

-Sister Williams