Tanake Elder Williams,
That is a greeting from the Catawba Tribe from Oklahoma. I thought since we are celebrating our heritage this month and the history of the pilgrims and Indians, I would give a Catawba greeting.
Today in church we had our sacrament meeting where if inspired, the members can share their favorite hymn at the pulpit and then we sing it as a congregation. I was prompted to go and share, "Called to Serve". It was emotional for me, because I'm so grateful that you are serving a mission and standing as a witness of Jesus Christ. You are engaged in the eternal work and glory of God. You are engaged in the work of changing lives for generations and eternity. It is such an honor and responsibilty to be a missionary. You are going about "your Father's business." I'm so happy that you are an instrument in His hands.
Called to Serve---we are all called to serve and we are all on missions. My mission is called "LIFE". I hope that I can be an obedient and worthy missionary. I hope I can be submissive to the will of the Lord and fulfull my callings. I hope I can return with honor and hear the words, well done thou good and faithful servant. You are a great example to me and I'm thankful to have you serving and sharing the gospel with our brothers and sisters.
Please send me your mailing address. I send you my love.
Hugs,
Mom
Tanake Mom,
I'm glad that you had a good experience at sacrament meeting. It means a lot to me that I have so much support from home. I had a good sacrament meeting too. Elder Penman and I gave talks, and I spoke on the what, why, and how of missionary work. I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. Missionary work simply put is sharing light, joy, and love. Why do it? Because we are all brothers and sisters. Heavenly Father blesses others as well as us beyond what we can comprehend. How do we do it? We simply testify. Testifying of truth brings the Spirit. We create an environment where God can speak to our brothers and sisters. That is a way that we can express our love for them. We give them an opportunity to be blessed, and we in turn are blessed in so many ways.
The people in McKinleyville are so wonderful. So many people have been prepared to receive the gospel. The person that I am really excited for right now it a lady named Tina Graves. She was a member referral. She approached this family and wanted to find a church. Tina is a Native American and has some of those beliefs, but she has a faith in Christ. She has gone from church to church for many years without finding a place where she felt at home. She has five children and a husband, so we are hoping to baptize the whole family. Tina came to Relief Society yesterday, and hopefully she can stay for all of the meetings next week. I'm continually grateful to see how Heavenly Father blesses His children. She is so prepared. We plan on setting a baptismal date with her this week.
Erik is doing so very well. We have a Book of Mormon class every Wednesday that he comes too. We were talking to him, and he brought up his desire to be baptized. His father is very hostile to the Church and will not allow Erik to be baptized. But, Erik turns eighteen on November 29th. His dad was going to kick him out if he got baptized, but now he is going to kick him out when he is eighteen either way. So, Erik said that since he is getting kicked out he might as well get baptized ASAP. His birthday is on a Thursday so he wants to be baptized on the following Saturday, December 1st. He dropped that announcement, and Elder Penman and I were ecstatic.
I had an experience this week that made a deep impression on my spirit. Elder Penman and I were looking for a less active member's home, and it was hard to find. Elder Penman and I are new to the area, but we were finally able to get there. We knocked on their door, and a lady answered. She said that missionaries had come a few weeks earlier, and that things hadn't changed for her and her husband. We didn't walk away, though. We were prompted to ask questions that led her to open up and tell the story about why they weren't active members in the church anymore. Her husband was offended. They had been baptized for a short while when her husband was called as the ward mission leader. He poured his heart and soul into that calling. He worked a full time job, but spent many nights out with the missionaries. There was a big meeting, we think stake conference, and she said that after it her husband received a phone call. The person who called said some things that cut her husband very deeply, and so he turned away completely from the church. This story broke my heart, and she could see that on my face. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her that my heart went out to her and her husband. I was tearing up, and she did too. We said our goodbyes. It was bittersweet. We could tell that she felt the Spirit. It was so tragic, but I have a lot of hope. They are endowed and sealed. I hope that we were able to stir up memories in her that will bring her and her husband back to church. It may not be while I am here, but I felt so honored to be an instrument in the Lord's hand to say things that she needed to hear. God's arms are always extended.
Thank you for your wonderful service to me in your mission, your life.
My address is 2421 Central Ave. #A, McKinleyville, CA 95519.
I love you.
Elder Williams
I'm glad that you had a good experience at sacrament meeting. It means a lot to me that I have so much support from home. I had a good sacrament meeting too. Elder Penman and I gave talks, and I spoke on the what, why, and how of missionary work. I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. Missionary work simply put is sharing light, joy, and love. Why do it? Because we are all brothers and sisters. Heavenly Father blesses others as well as us beyond what we can comprehend. How do we do it? We simply testify. Testifying of truth brings the Spirit. We create an environment where God can speak to our brothers and sisters. That is a way that we can express our love for them. We give them an opportunity to be blessed, and we in turn are blessed in so many ways.
The people in McKinleyville are so wonderful. So many people have been prepared to receive the gospel. The person that I am really excited for right now it a lady named Tina Graves. She was a member referral. She approached this family and wanted to find a church. Tina is a Native American and has some of those beliefs, but she has a faith in Christ. She has gone from church to church for many years without finding a place where she felt at home. She has five children and a husband, so we are hoping to baptize the whole family. Tina came to Relief Society yesterday, and hopefully she can stay for all of the meetings next week. I'm continually grateful to see how Heavenly Father blesses His children. She is so prepared. We plan on setting a baptismal date with her this week.
Erik is doing so very well. We have a Book of Mormon class every Wednesday that he comes too. We were talking to him, and he brought up his desire to be baptized. His father is very hostile to the Church and will not allow Erik to be baptized. But, Erik turns eighteen on November 29th. His dad was going to kick him out if he got baptized, but now he is going to kick him out when he is eighteen either way. So, Erik said that since he is getting kicked out he might as well get baptized ASAP. His birthday is on a Thursday so he wants to be baptized on the following Saturday, December 1st. He dropped that announcement, and Elder Penman and I were ecstatic.
I had an experience this week that made a deep impression on my spirit. Elder Penman and I were looking for a less active member's home, and it was hard to find. Elder Penman and I are new to the area, but we were finally able to get there. We knocked on their door, and a lady answered. She said that missionaries had come a few weeks earlier, and that things hadn't changed for her and her husband. We didn't walk away, though. We were prompted to ask questions that led her to open up and tell the story about why they weren't active members in the church anymore. Her husband was offended. They had been baptized for a short while when her husband was called as the ward mission leader. He poured his heart and soul into that calling. He worked a full time job, but spent many nights out with the missionaries. There was a big meeting, we think stake conference, and she said that after it her husband received a phone call. The person who called said some things that cut her husband very deeply, and so he turned away completely from the church. This story broke my heart, and she could see that on my face. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her that my heart went out to her and her husband. I was tearing up, and she did too. We said our goodbyes. It was bittersweet. We could tell that she felt the Spirit. It was so tragic, but I have a lot of hope. They are endowed and sealed. I hope that we were able to stir up memories in her that will bring her and her husband back to church. It may not be while I am here, but I felt so honored to be an instrument in the Lord's hand to say things that she needed to hear. God's arms are always extended.
Thank you for your wonderful service to me in your mission, your life.
My address is 2421 Central Ave. #A, McKinleyville, CA 95519.
I love you.
Elder Williams
Hey Talon,
Well another week has zoomed past us. I can't believe how fast the time flies by. Everyone here is doing well. The girls will perform their play this week. I think they will be glad when it's over. Raina gets to wear a hot pink wig and Aubree will wear an electric blue one. They are excited but glad the time is near. Raina got a 4.0 last quarter and Aubree got a 3.9. She had an A- in college biology. I can't believe how smart all you guys are. Aubree is going to start studying for the ACT. She gets good grades but I think she needs to have a higher ACT score to get a full ride to SUU like she wants.
Brandt's games started last week. His first game was in Richfield. He is unkown to most of the kids over there and he tore it up beating the other team that has Richfield's best player on it . The crowd of Richfield kids was stunned. He practically scored anytime he wanted to. Mostly layups because he could penetrate so easily. His second game was in Monroe, they lost to Cates King's team, that's Lynn Parsons grandson. Cates hit about 5, 3 pointers and that was the differnce. Brandt still played well and scored a lot but his team here isn't that good. Lynn was practically gushing about Brandt's level of confidence. And finally he played again Saturday. I ended up coaching his team that day. We won thanks to Brandt who again can score about anytime he wants. He shot his first 3 pointer in a game and nailed it. I had parents coming up to me asking me how he got to be so good. All I can say is he practices hours every week, and he tries to focus on the things he is weak at. He averaged about 17 points over the 3 games. Right now I would say he is the 3rd best player in South Sevier behind Cates and Tyson Chisholm. They are both a grade ahead of him so next year he will be the man in the 5th and 6th grade league.
We are still finishing odds and ends on the family room. I took some time off last week to install the chimney and the wood stove because the forecast showed cold temps for the weekend with snow. We now have a little snow on the ground and it was 8 degrees this morining. I ended up just bringing the Jotul upstairs instead of buying a new one. We plan to buy as used natural gas free standing fireplace to put down stairs. Saturday I closed in part of the patio to keep the snow off all of my tools and things.
I decided not to wait on doing a garage, so I applied for a home equity line of credit last week. Once approved I will have some plans drawn up and have it built. I will wait till spring to have the driveway done so it doesn't freeze.
I was profoundly disappointed in the election. I think our nation has tipped in favor of those who expect government to provide the essentials of life and they vote accordingly, I believe we are moving toward one party rule as a result. Like I have said before, maybe more church members need to be democrats to change the party from the inside out, but enough about politics.
I was surprised to hear you were transfered again so quickly but as you now know thost things happen. Your new place looks beautiful and more in line with where I would like to be. You mentioned building trust with members and it reminded me of a time on my mission. I was transfered with a greenie to train to a town called Ridgeway in north west Pennsylvannia. The previous elders were a couple of goof offs who didn't follow the rules and acted like they were on vacation instead of being missionaries. The left the appartment in shambles. The members had a very jaded view of the missionaries. We were able to quickly turn that around and gain trust but being obediant to mission rules and working hard. The members rallied around us and were a great support but we had to prove ourselves first. The members are always watching.
Talon we are very proud of you and pray for your continued success and safety.
Love Dad
Dear Dad,
Thank you for the update on the kids. I'm so glad that Aubree and
Raina are excelling. Knowing Aubree, she will prepare for the ACT for
months. How is their play going?
It is so cool that Brandt tears it up like he does. I tell all of my
companions that my brother is a baller.
The house is going to be very different by the time I get back. It is
sweet. Brandt is about old enough to do some good work for you.
The strange thing about the election for me was the lack of people
approaching us and finding out what we believe. That was my hope. We
are in strange times these days. I've come to appreciate more the
importance of being spiritually prepared for everything. I still have
a burning hope, although the election turned out like it did. I don't
think this was the "Mormon Moment". Talking to the mission president
and seeing the things that are changing in the church leads me to
believe that big things are going to happen really soon. Prophesy is
being fulfilled. It has been a great privilege to serve at the time
that I am now. We are anticipating the wave of missionaries. There
will be an increase from 165 missionaries in my mission to about 250
in the near months.
Thanks for sharing that mission story with me. I'm grateful for your
example of obedience. That's what separates the wheat from the tares
among missionaries, I've seen. Elder Penman and I are getting a lot of
referrals from the ward, and the dinner calendar is filling up.
Hopefully I can email you about some baptisms soon. We're working hard
and seeing miracles.
There are a couple of things that would be great if you could send
them to me. I could use things like Mucinex and Sudafed and whatever
would be good. I've been trying to kill a cold for the last few weeks.
Also maybe for Christmas a GPS would be nice. I have the feeling that
I'll be training soon, and Elder Penman will take his. A feature that
would be nice on it is if it could take multiple destinations and
chart the shortest route between them. Could you check my bank account
for me again? Thanks.
I love you Dad. Thank you for everything.
Love,
Elder Williams
Thank you for the update on the kids. I'm so glad that Aubree and
Raina are excelling. Knowing Aubree, she will prepare for the ACT for
months. How is their play going?
It is so cool that Brandt tears it up like he does. I tell all of my
companions that my brother is a baller.
The house is going to be very different by the time I get back. It is
sweet. Brandt is about old enough to do some good work for you.
The strange thing about the election for me was the lack of people
approaching us and finding out what we believe. That was my hope. We
are in strange times these days. I've come to appreciate more the
importance of being spiritually prepared for everything. I still have
a burning hope, although the election turned out like it did. I don't
think this was the "Mormon Moment". Talking to the mission president
and seeing the things that are changing in the church leads me to
believe that big things are going to happen really soon. Prophesy is
being fulfilled. It has been a great privilege to serve at the time
that I am now. We are anticipating the wave of missionaries. There
will be an increase from 165 missionaries in my mission to about 250
in the near months.
Thanks for sharing that mission story with me. I'm grateful for your
example of obedience. That's what separates the wheat from the tares
among missionaries, I've seen. Elder Penman and I are getting a lot of
referrals from the ward, and the dinner calendar is filling up.
Hopefully I can email you about some baptisms soon. We're working hard
and seeing miracles.
There are a couple of things that would be great if you could send
them to me. I could use things like Mucinex and Sudafed and whatever
would be good. I've been trying to kill a cold for the last few weeks.
Also maybe for Christmas a GPS would be nice. I have the feeling that
I'll be training soon, and Elder Penman will take his. A feature that
would be nice on it is if it could take multiple destinations and
chart the shortest route between them. Could you check my bank account
for me again? Thanks.
I love you Dad. Thank you for everything.
Love,
Elder Williams
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