Happy Hanukkah Elder Williams,
We are going to celebrate Hanukkah for Family Nght. I love to light the candles and eat latkes and doughnuts. It's a beautiful tradition. I love the story surrounding Hanukkah and the symbolism of the lights.
It is Charles Dickens 200th anniversary this year. I love Dickens and his stories. Have you ever read The Chimes? I'm reading it now and it's thought provoking and a bit melancholy, but I love it. I am also reading out loud to the family, The Life of Our Lord by Dickens. President Hinkley mentioned this book several years ago, and I thought it would be a great year to read it. Brandt and I also went to the Dickens Festival in St.George and it was a fun day.
I have been teaching a class this year about Tolkein and we have read the LOR trilogy over the past 14 weeks. I have learned so much about pride, power, mission, calling, duty, and other things. It has been an epic adventure. I have used the EPIC as a layout for my classes. E for experiences, P for patterns, I for inquiry, and C for connections. I've been immersed in Middle Earth and all the while been learning many things about the regular ol' earth we live on. The battles are the same....over ideals, freedom, truth, and what is the summum bonum or greatest good. I'm not a fantasy fan by any means, but I can see how the symbolism and parallels can teach powerful lessons. It is a story and stories are how we humans are wired to learn.
I was able to participate in baptisms for the dead yesterday with the youth. It has been many years since I've had that experience---the last time was when I was in Young Womens as a young woman. It was neat to watch the baptisms and listen to the names. I wonder how many years it took to find their names and how long the deceased waited for this opportunity. Think of all the stories connected to these people....it is fascinating to wonder about them.
I hope you are well and hope that the Spirit of Christmas is in your heart.
With much love,
Mom
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Dear Mom,
I'm glad that you are celebrating Hanukkah. There aren't a lot of Jewish people up here in McKinleyville, but there were a lot down in San Rafael. I feel like it is part of my heritage, spiritually and family.
I haven't ever read that book, but I always think it is so wonderful that General Authorities mention people like Dickens in their talks. It shows me that they read out of the best books, and can lead us to
some of the best books.
I'm kind of jealous to hear that you have been teaching that class. I've always been interested in Tolkien, but there is so much to know with him. You'll have to teach me someday about him.
I love the temple so much. I've been learning a bit about becoming a Savior on Mount Zion. There is so much to do in the temple.
We've had a successful week. A lady named Tina is going to be baptized on Saturday, and she came to church. Also, one of our recent converts, Erik, has been coming to lessons with us and blessed the sacrament yesterday. It was so wonderful to see him progress in the gospel.
The bishop gave a wonderful talk that helped me catch some more of the Christmas Spirit. I feel like this time of year will be very fruitful for missionary work.
Love,
Elder Williams
I'm glad that you are celebrating Hanukkah. There aren't a lot of Jewish people up here in McKinleyville, but there were a lot down in San Rafael. I feel like it is part of my heritage, spiritually and family.
I haven't ever read that book, but I always think it is so wonderful that General Authorities mention people like Dickens in their talks. It shows me that they read out of the best books, and can lead us to
some of the best books.
I'm kind of jealous to hear that you have been teaching that class. I've always been interested in Tolkien, but there is so much to know with him. You'll have to teach me someday about him.
I love the temple so much. I've been learning a bit about becoming a Savior on Mount Zion. There is so much to do in the temple.
We've had a successful week. A lady named Tina is going to be baptized on Saturday, and she came to church. Also, one of our recent converts, Erik, has been coming to lessons with us and blessed the sacrament yesterday. It was so wonderful to see him progress in the gospel.
The bishop gave a wonderful talk that helped me catch some more of the Christmas Spirit. I feel like this time of year will be very fruitful for missionary work.
Love,
Elder Williams
Hi Talon,
These weeks keep flying by between emails. Soon we will be able to speak to you on Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I spoke in church yesterday on Christmas. I was the last speaker and time was about gone so I had to give an abreviated version of my talk but it went OK. Also had tithing settlement. It is nice to be able to say we are full tith payers. I don't dare get behind on it ever. This coming Saturday we have the ward Christmas party and the Elders are doing the decorations.
Brandt is getting very excited for Christmas. I don't even know what he thinks he's going to get. Mom and I plan on keeping things simple this year.
As you can see we are in the design phase of the garage. It will be puny but that's just the way it is.
Not a whole lot going on at home in the last week. Brandt had 3 games. He had 12 points in Richfield, 23 and 9 in Monroe. I ended up coaching the first 2 games. He won the first two games and lost by 2 pts in the last game. His Richfield team is pretty good and he works to get everyone involved. Every kid on that team scored points last week. His Monroe team isn't too good. I call it Brandt and the 7 dwarfs. When he comes out of the game they always seem to get way behind and then have to fight hard to catch up. He has made 6/9 3 point shots this season. He has capsilesed his basketball saying last season was, LEARNING, this season is, BREAKOUT, and next year will be, DOMINATION. These are his words not mine but it may be an accurate description.
Hope you are getting over your cold. If not I suggest you get to the doctor and get checked out. The doctor's office can just call me or mom and we can give them payment infor over the phone or perhaps your mission office has somone the missionaries all see. Just take care of yourself.
We pray for your safety and success.
Love,
Dad
Dear Dad,
The weeks really do fly by. I've been out for a long time already, it seems. Speaking of that, I can actually Skype home. So, I'll look more into that and maybe you could get an account figured out.
I'm glad to hear that your talk went well. There were some good ones yesterday in church for us, and I think that it helped my mindset.
It has been a blessing to have you and mom keep the commandments. I'm glad that you pay your tithing and can go to the temple. I'm learning more and more that the blessings of obedience far outweigh the small sacrifice.
Simple is good. I feel lots freer when I'm not weighed down. I've been in houses of people who are hoarders and they are so trapped by all of their stuff. Simple is good.
The garage plans look really good. I bet it will be nice just to be able to park inside, even though it will be small. I'll have to help you build a shed or something for storage.
I'm glad Brandt has that little mantra. I hope he keeps going for it. I challenged him to read the Book of Mormon before he gets the priesthood next year, so maybe you could help him out.
I'm going to see the doc soon. The Church takes care of all of the medical stuff. I've just gotta do a small copay. I've been getting some stuff on my debit card. Should I worry about how much I have, or do you monitor it?
I've been having some great experiences. I feel like God is trusting me with more things. We've blessed a lot of people, and we are having more success. I'm learning so much out here. I want to be able to say that I did all the Lord wanted me to and have no regrets. There are just so many blessings to be had for everyone. We have another baptism for this Saturday. Her name is Tina, and she is the mom of five kids. We hope that we can baptize the ones that are old enough. Her husband has been supportive of her decision to join and her kids like church. It has been a blessing to see her come close to the Lord.
Thanks for everything.
Love,
Elder Williams
The weeks really do fly by. I've been out for a long time already, it seems. Speaking of that, I can actually Skype home. So, I'll look more into that and maybe you could get an account figured out.
I'm glad to hear that your talk went well. There were some good ones yesterday in church for us, and I think that it helped my mindset.
It has been a blessing to have you and mom keep the commandments. I'm glad that you pay your tithing and can go to the temple. I'm learning more and more that the blessings of obedience far outweigh the small sacrifice.
Simple is good. I feel lots freer when I'm not weighed down. I've been in houses of people who are hoarders and they are so trapped by all of their stuff. Simple is good.
The garage plans look really good. I bet it will be nice just to be able to park inside, even though it will be small. I'll have to help you build a shed or something for storage.
I'm glad Brandt has that little mantra. I hope he keeps going for it. I challenged him to read the Book of Mormon before he gets the priesthood next year, so maybe you could help him out.
I'm going to see the doc soon. The Church takes care of all of the medical stuff. I've just gotta do a small copay. I've been getting some stuff on my debit card. Should I worry about how much I have, or do you monitor it?
I've been having some great experiences. I feel like God is trusting me with more things. We've blessed a lot of people, and we are having more success. I'm learning so much out here. I want to be able to say that I did all the Lord wanted me to and have no regrets. There are just so many blessings to be had for everyone. We have another baptism for this Saturday. Her name is Tina, and she is the mom of five kids. We hope that we can baptize the ones that are old enough. Her husband has been supportive of her decision to join and her kids like church. It has been a blessing to see her come close to the Lord.
Thanks for everything.
Love,
Elder Williams
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