Week 3

Oi, everyone!

Best Portuguese word of the week: diligentemente. It's pronounced "jilly-jent-chi-MEN-chi." We have a little chant for it in our district because it's the most fun word to say with an equally amazing meaning (dilligently)! :) I am definitely a Portuguese convert by now. Spanish is just okay. :)

The MTC is ever amazing! I heard that the sister to elder ratio is now 50/50! SISTER POWER! It's so exciting! We all share a similar motivation and love for the Gospel that the atmosphere is thick with an ecstatic spirit. I feel blessed to be here every day!

The most amazing spiritual moments from this week were all in meetings. On Tuesday, Elder Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us! After the choir sang, he said that he felt like he "died and went to heaven!" We sang an incredible arrangement of "Nearer My God to Thee." Anyway, my favorite part from Elder Scott's talk was when he said, "I love the Savior. I love him because I KNOW him." When he said that, I felt the spirit touch my heart so strongly... I felt in my heart that he is so close to our Savior. Hearing Elder Scott's talk made me feel closer to the Savior. I wondered if I could be so close to the Savior myself that my investigators would feel closer to Him JUST from speaking with me. So, that is my new goal.

I had to - I GOT to give a talk in church on Sunday! In Portuguese! They don't tell anyone who is speaking until 5 minutes before they speak! So, everyone writes a talk. That way, you have many talks to draw from when you're in the field. Anyway, I spoke about recognizing the Spirit. Of course, I have only been learning Portuguese for three weeks, so my thoughts were expressed very simply. That's okay! I just bore my testimony about how I know that I feel closest to the Spirit when I have love in my heart for those around me. My dad shared a scirpture with me that was awesome. It's Mosiah 5:13 in the Book of Mormon: "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served...?" This goes along with what Elder Scott said about knowing the Savior. I have been praying heartily to understand how to become closer to my Heavenly Father, and this is how He answered my prayers - service and love. So, needless to say, I am so happy and grateful to be on a mission and in a position to serve serve serve. I couldn't be happier to be here right now.

I made a friend in the shower!!! That is, I forgot my towel, and so a sister had to go and get it from my room for me... :) Then, a week later, I forgot my towel again, so I had to be brave and speak up again... This is how that conversation went:
Me: Um... Is anyone leaving the bathroom anytime soon?
Mystery sister: Yeah, do you need something?
Me: Yeah, I forgot my towel! Can you please go get it for me?
MS: Yeah, what is your room number?
Me: 353! Thank you so much!
MS: Wait... Sister Williams? \

Me:... Oh my gosh, are you the one who got me my towel last time!?
MS: Yeah! That was me!
Me: Darn it, my companion is going to make fun of me so much! Ha ha... Thanks!
MS: Yeah, no problem! Ha ha ha.

So, we're totally friends now. And we've never eve met each other in person. My forgetful nature has given me a friend!

I am currently in Alma in the Book of Mormon. If anyone is wondering about what God is like, just READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. He loves His children, and He implores us to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and return to Him. The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. Those who truly have a testimony of Jesus Christ will know of its truth when they read it. I am so grateful for this book - it truly is a miracle and an amazing gift from God. :)

Thank you to everyone who sends their encouraging words my way. If you ever have any interesting spiritual insights, let me know! I drink that stuff up here. :) I know that I'm in the right place at the right time, doing the right things. It's all thanks to the Lord. :) Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Sister Williams

Week 2

Week 1!!!

Ola!!!

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing so very well. As you may have guessed, today (Tuesday) is my P-day, and so I have the blessed opportunity of using a computer. I have so much to tell you!

One day here feels like one week. We are so productive all day (6:30am-10:30pm) that it seems like I've been here for way longer than six days! It is AMAZING to be here. I love it. I love it!!! I don't want to be anywhere else or doing anything else right now. Everyone is so kind, and the atmosphere is amazing. I know that many of you heard all of the comments about missionaries during conference. The amount of missionaries here, especially sister missionaries, is unprecedented! Imagine being able to be here among all of the excitement! I just sit there while we're singing hymns or listening to talks and I almost cry because the Spirit is almost tangible. My heart has been completely full since I've been here, and therefore I have been very content and happy. :) I can honestly say that I'm not sad at all about not being in Brazil. In fact, our district is already so close that I would be very sad to leave them at this point. The five elders in our district decided that we are the "boa constrictors" because "boa" means good in Portuguese... It's just kind of funny. On a more serious note, everyone in my district is INCREDIBLE. In bearing our testimonies to each other last time, I started my crying about my testimony of faith, and then everyone after that (including ALL of the elders!) bore their testimonies in tears. We ALL know that we are in the RIGHT place, at the RIGHT time, doing the RIGHT things. This is because the Gospel is true, and we WILL share the happiness with those we come in contact with.

I am the oldest person in my district of 12! The next oldest person is a 21 year-old sister. It is both exciting and humbling to be serving among so many 19 year-old sisters. Their spirits are so strong! Their excitement and energy is contagious. I feel humble to be here with them because they were among the wave (shout out to Elder Nelson!) to jump at the chance to serve a mission as soon as the age change occurred. This means that they were already spiritually ready to answer the Lord's call, and so they are amazingly strong. My companion is a doll - she's 19 and she's way better at Portuguese than I am. She has already helped me so much and has been really patient with me.

Dad, the Lord answered the unspoken prayers of my heart through your letter. The first few days at the MTC were spiritual bliss - the adrenaline helped me wake up on time and stay alert all day. We were also spoiled with General Conference. However, yesterday (Monday) was basically the first day of real nitty gritty working. At one point during the day, I got really discouraged about the language. There is just SO MUCH to study and we only have a teacher for 3 hours a day. I was pretty bummed out for awhile. Then, I read your letter and I just started crying (it was the first time that I partly cried since being here) because of what you said about learning the language. You reminded me that the Lord is with me and that I shouldn't be discouraged about where I am compared to others. You also reminded me that the Lord called me to Brazil for a reason. These are things that I should tell myself, but it was different coming from my dad. So, thanks dad, and I am once again ready to be patient with myself and the language. I do love learning and speaking Portuguese, after all. I just have a long way to go, with the Lord's help.

I am grateful that missionaries have fun - we played volleyball in gym yesterday and I made all of my serves! Simple joys, simple joys. Also, a Samoan elder spiked the ball at my head. Such fun!

I am also grateful that Sister Clark is here - whenever we see each other we give each other a huge hug and just a check up of how things are going. I do not envy her learning of Russian!!!

Being here has only solidified my testimony of EVERYTHING. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much. I know that this is true, because I don't feel alone here. I wouldn't have been able to give up seeing my family and friends for 18 months if I felt alone, though I miss all of you very much. I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father more than ever before, and in such a strengthening way. I have been working really hard to keep all of the mission rules, and so I have seen blessings from this obedience. It has been really rewarding to use every minute of every day for productive things. I am so grateful to have this opportunity. So, thank you mom and dad, and everyone else that is making it possible for me to be here. I love it here. I love it. And, I love you guys. :)

Love love love,
Sister Williams

I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go!

Less than 48 hours to go! If my visa had come through, then I would already be on my way to Brazil. However, I am just as excited to go to the Provo MTC (Missionary Training Center)! I've heard that it is a wonderful place. I have no idea how long I will have to wait there, or if I'll be assigned to another area while I wait. As of now, I am happy to go wherever I am needed. I can't deny that I am still stoked to go to Brazil at some point! 

I am packed and waiting for my report time to come! I am excited to see Sage in the MTC and to meet whoever my first companion will be. After giving my talk in Sacrament meeting, I realized that it was the event for which I was most nervous! Now, I just have excitement leading up to my entering the MTC. I am so excited to learn Portuguese, and I cannot wait to listen to general conference with all of the other missionaries in training. 

I am so grateful to the Lord for blessing me with helpful family and friends, because I wouldn't have gotten to this point without them. I hope that I can serve Him to my fullest capacity as I spread the amazingly good news of His son!