July 22

Good Morning Elder Williams,

 

I've been thinking a lot about the young man you baptized and hope that he will be able to feel the hope of the gospel message and accept it deep in his heart. What an exciting time to be part of the growing church. This young man is part of an emerging wave of righteousnes that will fill the earth and bring about Zion.
 

I've been thinking about relationships and how we are interconnected. It's like a web...and when we make a choice it can be felt in the outer regions of the web just like how a spider can feel the slightest movement reverberating back to the center. For example, my relationship with my Grandpa Wilson is still felt by me even though he's been gone for several years now. Time and space isn't a barrier because I have my memories. Another example is how the young man you baptized has touched my life. I don't know him, but I care about him, pray for him and love him. I hope my love can resonate to the people you are teaching and that they can feel the spirit. Your mission has influenced so many people including your family. We talk about you and pray for you daily. Thank you for your example of service.
 

We will be celebrating the 24th and our pioneer ancestors. I'm glad we can pay tribute to their courage, faith, and perserverance. What strong and valiant people they were. What a great heritage we have from their examples and we can still feel their spirit today.

 

 

Tell me how the Facebook experience is going with your contacts. How is the guy in Mexico doing? I'm glad you can stay in touch with him.

 

I love you and send you my hugs.

Mom

 

 

 

Dear Mom,

Thank you for thinking and praying for Lethan. I know that it helps. He could especially use prayers right now. He was supposed to be confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday, but that didn't happen. I'll tell you the story.

Elder Bliss and I got out of our meeting with the priesthood leaders in the ward, and we called Lethan's house. His brother Kyle answered the phone and said that he wasn't there. He was at his aunt's house across town. So, we called his aunt's phone and Lethan answered. He told us that he wouldn't be coming to church because his aunt died and he had to take care of his uncle, who is really frail. We called our mission president and he said that Lethan could be confirmed next week, so that'll all work out. After church we went over to his aunt's house and gave him a blessing and talked with him for a while.

I'm grateful for this experience, even though it threw us for a loop for a while. I feel like Lethan is going to be okay because he is building his foundation on the gospel and he has a strong ward family that will take care of him.

I like what you said about the web. I never met Lethan's aunt, but she was influence on him and her passing does ripple throughout the web. When Lethan joined the church he connected himself to more people, so they will be able to help him. Those connections will help him be strong in this time of trial.

Facebook is going well. It has been a wonderful tool to connect with contacts. Even if they aren't interested in talking with us, we can still be a positive influence on them on Facebook. I've already heard about some stories about people softening because of a video or picture and choosing to investigate the church because of that.

Unfortunately Chris hasn't contacted us on Facebook yet. I don't know how much access he has to it in Mexico. We're praying that he contacts us.

I had an experience this week that strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon. We were biking along and we contacted this man at his house. It turned out that he was from Russia and was a professor. As our conversation progressed, he began to attack us with arguments designed to undermine our faith. We simply bore testimony and left. The next day in my personal study I read Alma 30. As I read the dialogue between Korihor and Alma I saw that the arguments that the professor used were the same that Korihor used. Verse 17 says that it is by our own strength and knowledge that we prosper, and that there is no crime. Survival of the fittest. In verse 13 he said that man cannot know of things to come.

I love Alma's reply. Verse 44 talks about how the prophets, the scriptures, and all things in heaven and earth denote that there is a God. I know that is true. The Spirit has testified to me of all those things. God is our Father and Jesus is His Son. That's the core of my testimony.

I love you Mom. Thank you for being a pioneer for me and making it possible for me to learn and serve out here.

Love,

Elder Williams

July 15

Happy Summer Elder Williams,

 

I have been busily engaged in weeding the garden, admiring my flowers, and enjoying the fresh vegetables that are starting to produce abundantly. :) I love this time of year....early morning walks, working in the yard, and splendid days of sunshine. I hope you are feeling the same joy for the work you are accomplishing. Tell me about your people. We are thinking of them and pray for them every night.

 

I spent 3 days in Salt Lake at a conference being trained in a new project. I hope I can teach it this fall. It's really cool because it's all about self-direction, mission, and pursuing your own individual goals.It's something I want to work on personally because I feel the need to deepen my knowledge of the founding fathers, the Constitution, and our government. I am going to start on the book, The Real Thomas Jefferson.

 

I actually just finished reading a book titled The Happiness Project and it has many of the same principles that Ben Franklin used to improve his life. I liked it because it was about implementing incremental changes into your life in order to develop habits of happiness. It was excellent and really went along with what I learned this weekend in my training. It's funny how so many things are connected and how you can see relationships between science, history, government and living a good life. That's why I love reading....you discover classic ideas that help you grow and develop. Well....if you use them anyways. I love the scriptures too and I've finished the New Testament. I've never read the Old Testament completely through, so I'm going to give that a try.

 

 

I send you my love and admiration. Thank you for the service you are giving to our brothers and sisters.

Love,

Mom

 

 

 

Dear Mom,

It sounds like you've had a lot of good experiences last week. Your conference sounds like it was a good jump start on your studies.

I've had an eventful week! We had Zone Conference on Thursday, and the whole mission, all 220 missionaries, are going online. That means I'll be able to keep in touch with Chris while he is in Mexico. We can even teach him and help him prepare for baptism when he comes back.

I'm really excited because there are so many more resources available from the Church then there has ever been before. The work is hastening in so many new ways.

On Sunday we had a wonderful miracle. One of the people we have been teaching for a long time got baptized. His name is Lethan, and he is the brother of Kyle, my recent convert. He wasn't progressing, so we dropped him a long time ago. We went over to his house on Tuesday, but we weren't planning on teaching him. We were planning on teaching his brother, Kyle. Lethan came out, and I asked him of he wanted to be baptized. He said yes, so I asked him if he wanted to be baptized on Sunday. He said yes. The Spirit had changed his heart. I had the opportunity to baptize him yesterday, and it was a peaceful, powerful experience.

His mom is in a rehab program and has had a lot of struggles, but she was able to come and support him. Lethan even invited some of his friends, so they were able to share a spiritual experience with him.

I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of Lethan's journey to this point, and I'm hopeful for the day when we can rejoice in Heavenly Father's kingdom.

Love,

Elder Williams

 

July 8

Elder Williams,

 

Faith, family, freedom....I'm grateful for the blessings we are given. I'm so thankful for our liberty and hope to be a good steward of these gifts.

We had a fun holiday on the 4th. We hiked Kanarraville and enjoyed the beauty of the water and canyon. What did you do? I hope you had a nice day.

This month in Young Women's the focus is on ordinances and covenants. I taught yesterday and we talked about how they can protect and guide us. The gospel is like a castle within a kingdom. In order to enter the castle, we must first enter the gate and pledge our allegiance to the king. Baptism is that first step in entering the kingdom of God. We are so blessed to have the protections and guidance that comes from being His people.

How are your people doing? We pray for them every night. I hope they will enter into the kingdom of God and choose to be baptized. They will receive so much protection and safety as they enter the fold.

My garden is growing and the flowers look gorgeous. I'm sure you are enjoying the beauty of a California summer also.

I love you and send my hugs.

Mom

 

 

Dear Mom,

It was a wonderful 4th for me this week. We had Chris, our investigator, come to the ward breakfast and he enjoyed it. Then we got to go and meet many people. We set up some appointments that I'm excited for. We had a really good dinner at a member's home, and we got to eat with the sister missionaries in our district. Then we got to see some of the fireworks from our apartment deck.

We had a miracle on Sunday. Christ got up and bore his testimony to the ward. The Spirit was powerful and wonderful. The looks on the members faces showed the impact that his simple testimony had. I know we are going to see some wonderful blessings from his faith,

The thing that is a bummer is that Chris is going to Mexico on Wednesday and wont be back for a while. But, he has his baptismal date set for August 17th.

Thank you for all your prayers in behalf of our people. We are always searching for the elect.

I love you Mom. Thank you for everything.

Love,

Elder Williams

 

July 1, 2013

Dear Elder Williams,

 

I hope you are enjoying the sunny California summer. Since you are further North, it is probably absolutely beautiful and not too hot. My garden is growing and starting to produce lots of vegetables and my flowers are looking exquisite. They are so lovely and they make me happy.

 

I just finished a book about the tyranny of Trujillo and his despotic reign in the Dominican Republic. The book was about 4 sisters who fought his regime in an underground movement, were imprisoned, and eventually 3 of them murdered. It was a powerful read. It makes me so grateful for freedom and our Constitution. I'm so grateful we get to celebrate the 4th of July and think of our founding fathers. We are so blessed as a nation and people. We have such a big responsibility and stewardship over our liberty. God has granted us so much.

 

How are your people? I went to the temple on Wednesday and thought of you and who you are teaching. I hope they will feel the prayers and open their hearts to the spirit.

 

I love you and send you my blessings. Let me know how you are doing.

With love,

Mom

 

 

 

Dear Mom,

It has been good in Cali. We've got a heat wave going through the area, but it is supposed to cool down on Tuesday.

I don't remember if I told you that we had a car in this area last transfer. Well, we got 28 new missionaries last week, and 14 of them were sisters. They needed our car more than we did. It has been good on bike, though. We get to talk to more people on the street.

Speaking about freedoms, it has been really interesting being in California as the Supreme Court made its decision last week. We live in troubled times, but I'm forever grateful for the eternal principles of the gospel and the liberty it brings. I'm grateful that I get to stand by the Lord in defending and proclaiming His gospel.

Thank you for praying and thinking about our people. I know they make a difference.

We picked up a new investigator this week. His name is Chris. He is 17, and he is going to be a senior this next year. We contacted him on the street and offered him a blessing. (We've been doing that in our mission for a while now. We offer blessings as servants of Jesus Christ, and if they accept we say a prayer with them or set up a future appointment. It brings the Spirit powerfully into their homes, and it gives them a clear choice to follow the Spirit or not.) He accepted, so we went over a while later and knocked on his door. He had warned us that his dad wouldn't accept it, and sure enough, the dad answered the door. He told us to leave, and as we were about to depart Chris intervenes. He tells his dad to let us stay. So, we do. Then Chris's mom came out and said she was so glad to see us. She wanted her son to learn about Christ. We gave a powerful blessing, and we helped Chris recognize the Spirit. We asked him if he wanted that more in his life, and he said yes. So, a couple of days later we had a lesson with him and it was awesome. He is going to come to church with us, and he said he'd get baptized once he knows the Church is true. I love this work.

Could you and the family pray for Jessica too? Jessica's husband has become a hindrance to her progress. His heart needs to be softened. She is prepared for baptism, we have just got to overcome this challenge.

Love,

Elder Williams