Week 2 in the Field

I have definitely gotten into the flow of missionary work a little bit better by now! I have learned to really put my efforts into reading the scriptures every day, because that's how I keep my testimony strong and ready to be shared at any moment. This is something that EVERYONE can do! :) 

Every day, we talk to so many strangers. It has become easier and easier for me to see them as children of God though. Since the first week I've been here. I no longer fear rejection and I can talk about the Gospel to anyone I see. I know that this is Heavenly Father answering my prayers. Also, since my companion and I have put a lot of effort into studying faith, He has blessed us to feel more confident in Him when talking to people about the Gospel.

Sister Young and I have had some amazing experiences with talking to people on the streets here. Many times, the people teach us just as much as we're teaching them. We have gotten the contact info from a few people, so I'll have to let you know how that goes. We can't wait to teach M, who has two sons that are our same ages!
Our favorite person was W. He is in a wheelchair, but we don't really know why. Anyway, he was the happiest person that we have met so far. He was just a ball of sunshine!!! :) He made us cry because of his attitude. We gave him a Book of Mormon and sent him on his way. Because of the circumstances he's in, we can't teach him more. But hopefully he will read the book and find even more happiness from it. 

Two days ago, I became very grateful that our mission is just a contacting mission and not a tracting mission - Sister Young and I knocked on someone's door and asked to see Sister so-and-so in the ward. Well... The guy looked at us for three seconds, said, "Bye." And slammed the door in our faces.... AWKWARD!! Ha ha. It was kind of awesome in the sense that we can check this off of our list as another missionary rite of passage. Also checked off on our list is being chased by a dog. Fortunately, we have bikes. :)
We have two investigators right now and they are both teenagers. We love them! They are the best! We have only gotten to teach them each once so far. 

I am still finding so much strength in simply reading the Book of Mormon every day. I have so much faith in this book and I know that it changes lives. Since being here, I have seen how faith really does change things. And I have only been here for two weeks. Less than that! I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store as we continue to work here. Right now I am reading and highlighting in my Book of Mormon with these questions in mind: "Why should we trust in the Lord? How do we trust in the Lord?" I have seen miracles there that I have never noticed before because of this mindset.

New word of the week: DOGTACTING. Dogs + contacting. It's my favorite thing. All you have to say is, "Oh my gosh, your dog is so cute! Can I pet it!?!?!?!?" And of course, they say yes, and then while you're petting Sparky, you just ask them a few very inspired questions. :) My companion doesn't like dogs, so this is always my job. It works wonders though. :)
Thank you so much for the love and support. I am so happy to be here and doing this work. 

Sister Williams

First Week in the Field!!

HELLO!!!
Wow. WOW! The field is so different from the MTC!!! But. It is amazing. Let me just say that I wanted to cry probably every 10 minutes when being out and about because that's about how often someone would be NOT interested in anything that I had to say. BUT! Since praying my heart out to Heavenly Father for faith and bravery, I have gotten pretty used to talking to complete strangers about the things which we hold most dear. I have placed two Books of Mormon - one on the plane ride to San Jose (YEAH!!!) and then one in McDonald's. :) 

I saw this woman (J) reading a Bible. A BIBLE! I couldn't resist! I just walked up to her and started talking to her about the Book of Mormon. She has a cousin who is Mormon but hasn't investigated the church at all because the things she knows are "wackadoo." Yes. Wackadoo. :) That really made me smile. :) She also said, "Mormons don't believe the same thing that I do about Jesus." And I said, "Oh, what do you believe, if you don't mind me asking?" And she said, "Christ is my Savior. He died for me so that I can live." :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :D Yes. "That's exactly what I believe!!!!!!" And then I read a verse to her from 3 Nephi 11. :) So. I didn't ask for her information at all because she still seemed very skeptical, but I gave her a Book of Mormon and I told her that she can pray to know if it's true. :) So who knows what will happen with that.

That was basically the highlight of talking to strangers here. We are whitewashing our area, and so we are starting fresh. We need to find people to teach at this point! Most people politely take a card, but don't listen to us say much more. That's okay. I have been working on having such great faith to know that the Lord has prepared people for us to find and teach. :) I have to admit though - I've wanted to cry many times because of fear and lack of direction at times. But I still feel like overall I'm still content and peaceful in the Lord.

My companion is this awesome 6'2" blonde volleyball player from Arizona. We get along super well! I am delighted to be with her. She is 19 and has only been out for 6 weeks though! And she's training me!!!! We are going to have a lot of adventures. Her name is Sister Young and she's a convert of 3 years. AWESOME!!!
OH MY GOSH I FORGOT TO MENTION!!!! I AM IN A BIKING AREA!! I'm so so so so so happy about it! We don't have a car at all!! All of the other sisters do. But President Watkins found out that I love biking, and so he put me in this area. YAY! :) We got to pick out a bike from his collection, and I have a basically brand new white amazing bike that is amazing. :) It's all decked out with lights, and I'm going to get a basket today so that I can stuff it with pass-along cards. We literally stop whenever we see anyone on the street. I'm sure that we are quite a sight trying to bike in our skirts. :) Wind is not our friend. Ha ha. But since there are basically no crazy hills, we're just cruising along, staying in shape instead of riding in a car all day, and we love it. :) 

We have so much work to do, and we're so involved with the Lord and the ward council. I am happily busy doing this great work. So, thank you to everyone who is making it possible for me to be here. It is a privilege.

Please let me know how you're doing. I love you!
Sister Williams

Week 5

Ola!

This past week has been so amazing. Basically, I have cried every day since being here, but they are happy spiritual tears. Even though our investigators are just our teachers, my companion and I still pray for them and treat the lessons as if they were real people. This has paid off since we have had some amazing experiences here so far. I know with more conviction that God helps us grow in the areas we need to most, especially when we ask Him specific questions. For example, we were learning how to teach the Plan of Salvation, and I wanted to have a stronger testimony of eternal families. Of course, I love my family so much, but I know that there are a lot of people out there who are part of broken families. I took my questions with me to the temple and I had a lot of time to think there. I felt the Spirit so strongly in my heart when I thought of my own family and how much love is present there. Then, I had the opportunity to bear my testimony of how much I love my mom and how much I know she has influenced our family for the better because of her spiritual example. In these ways, Heavenly Father helped me understand more about why it's so important to have our families all centered around Christ.

Last Sunday, I was in a small choir with other people in my district. We sang "Come Thou Fount" and it was so much fun. The lyrics of that song are amazing. My favorite line is: "Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; here to rescue me from danger..." I can't remember the end of that part, but every time I hear it, I feel the Savior's love in my heart again and I am ready for another week!

I can't believe how much I love the Book of Mormon now. Before, I had a testimony of the book and I loved it. But since reading here, I have grown to cherish every chapter in the Book of Mormon. When I hold it in my hands, I think about what a miracle it is that we have it. Also, the feeling that I get when reading it is different than any other feeling that I ever have ever. This is because it is true and it's from God. I just got to read 3 Nephi chapter 17. I love this chapter because the love that Christ has for us is very plainly yet significantly stated. Whenever any verse in the Book of Mormon or Bible talks about Christ healing people, I feel SO MUCH love, peace, and comfort in my heart. It really is so important for people to at least hear (if not accept wholeheartedly) the message that Christ lives. The fact that Christ lives means that our pasts can be reconciled, we can have strength in the present, and we can have so much hope for the future! I am trying to continue my strong testimony that the Atonement applies to everyone and everything, and that we are the most safe and happy when we are truly in God's hands. Something that I will be praying more about in the next few weeks is how much power we actually have when we have faith in God. If anyone questions the fact that having faith in God gives us more power to do things, then they could come talk to me and I could tell them a few stories. I just know that having faith isn't just a fantasy that cushions life for people who believe in God. No. Having true faith in God and Jesus Christ means gives us the power to be free from our own weaknesses and shortcomings and become something much more empowered and strong with God's help. This is what I will be reminding myself when I'm knocking on doors next week - scary! But I can do it, with the Lord's help. :)

My district here is truly my family away from home. We are definitely brothers and sisters. I have heard that not every district is as close as ours. Last night and for the past few nights, we choose two people to spotlight. We go around the room in a circle and say our favorite things about that person. There is so much love here, and it's all because of the Spirit! Really, we don't know each others past lives. All we know is the amazingly strong conviction that we all have in knowing that Christ is our Savior and that our Heavenly Father loves us so much! The only thing that could have made us this close in less than six weeks is getting to hear everyone's testimonies every single day. I am also just impressed with how much the elders in our district treat the sisters with respect. We are already excited for our district reunion. :)

The sisters in our district also know how much the Lord loves us because we all got re-assigned to the SAME STATESIDE MISSION! I am going to call my family tomorrow and tell them where I'm going. But anyway. The Lord is keeping us all together for a little longer, and then we'll all eventually be in the same mission in Brazil. I definitely feel a sense of love and security since I will be traveling with my new family here. The elders in our district are all going to different missions, but they will have no problem with keeping in touch.

The most fun thing that I did this past week was clean the showers. Yes, clean the showers!!!! I got to clean with other sisters in my district and we were singing Disney the entire time. Everyone knows that bathroom acoustics are AMAZING! :) So yeah. Scrubbing the showers was a good time.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. I'm sure that my mom will post my reassignment as soon as I tell my family. I leave the MTC Wednesdaymorning at 5am.

Love,
Sister Williams