Hi Talon,

Well it's a very windy day today. I hope our shingling job hold up. Rain and snow forecasted tonight and tomorrow. We've had a beautiful fall though. 

The kids finished their first quarter of school. I think they all got straight As, but there might be a B+ or A- for one of them but I am blessed to have kids that take school seriously. All of you are much better students than I was in high school. Fortunately you were all bless with you mom's intellect.

I've been waiting all morning for the building inspector to show up and check out the roughed in electrical. I would have gone to work but I need to ask him a few questions about the remainder of the project.

My calling is going OK. The missionaries have been teaching Ian Louder the discussions and he was baptized over the weekend. Bo is being ordained a Deacon. They are a good family and seem to be trying.

Brandt starts b-ball practice this week for both teams he is on. His games start in 2 weeks. I am coaching his Jr. Jazz team. I hope we have some fun with it. 

Grandma Shirley is struggling with the chemo treatments and is considering stopping. She's afraid she getting to week and may permanently lose what mobility she has left. I think the decision is very hard to make so keep your grandparents in your prayers.

I hope all is well with you. We think about you all of the time and pray for your continued success. I am proud you are meeting your challenges with the Lord's help. You have a tremendous capacity to do good in your life.

Love Dad

Hey Pops,

It has been nice here. The leafs are falling and the fog hangs around longer and longer. 

I'm glad that the kids are doing so well in school. They've got their heads on straight. That is thanks to you and mom both.

I hope everything goes well for you. It will be nice to have that garage done, I'm sure. 

It is good that things are going okay with your calling. I like this video. Tell me what you think. http://bcove.me/xowyxybh 

I messaged Bo on Facebook to see if I could help him a bit, but I haven't heard from him yet. 

I have been praying for them every day. I get to go to the temple this transfer, so I'll put her on the role when I go. 

One exciting thing that happened is that our car got egged, ha ha.

Thank you for everything, Dad. I appreciate all you do. 

Love,

Elder Williams

P.S. I'm going to be in Rohnert Park for another 6 weeks. Got transfer info last week.

Hi Elder T-T,

The wind is blowing and taken the leaves with them, so I would say we're in the downside of autumn. It's been so pretty with mild, warm weather. I've enjoyed it. I hope you have too.

How is Darla doing? Do you get to stay in contact with her? I hope she can feel the love of the ward members and that they take good care of her. Do you have any one getting close to baptism? you teaching any others?

 What have you been focusing on in your studies? Book of Mormon? Doctrine and Covenants? Have any insights or personal revelations? I've been reading a little bit of the New Testament which was directly translated from Greek. There are so many awesome free books I can download on my Kindle. :) I've also been reading in the Book of Mormon. The scriptures are the foundation of truth. 

To be honest, I get confused and have "wonderings" sometimes. But I remember the experiences I've had with the Holy Ghost and it reminds me of my core beliefs. Don't think I'm a heretic--I'm just a believer who is very fallen and full of imperfections. I want you to remember this when you get off of your mission and aren't immersed in the gospel. You might have doubts creep up or "wonderings", but always go back and look into your heart of hearts. You will be filled with the thoughts and feelings of truth and be reminded of the witness of the Spirit. Conversion is a life long process and we need to be continually turning our hearts to God so he can sanctify us. 

I love you and am proud of the work you are doing. 

Tell me how things are going with you.

Love ya,

Mom

Dear Mom,

Darla is doing well. She got up in church yesterday and bore her testimony. Stake Conference is next Sunday, so we had fast and testimony meeting yesterday. She expressed her thanks to everyone in the ward. She said that she was grateful for the love she feels from the missionaries and the members. She testified that the church was true. It was wonderful. Right now we are in a period of transition for her. We are going to be working with the ward teaching her the new member lessons. In PMG it is lesson 5, and then we go through lesson 1-4. She has a home teacher now, so we will be working with him. We want to baptize her daughters too. I think that will happen here shortly.

We have been working with a guy named Tyler. His wife is a member who recently came back to the church, and they have a 1 year old named Trey. We had an awesome lesson with him yesterday at a member's home. They had us all over for dinner, plus our ward mission leader and his wife and baby. We talked about the Savior, and the members bore their testimonies about how they know that the Gospel is true. He is going to be baptized this month. He has come to church with us for the last two weeks, and this Sunday he had a spiritual experience. We talked to an elderly less active lady on Saturday night, and on Sunday she came to church for the first time in years and she bore her testimony. That touched Tyler, because she reminded him of his great-grandma. The Spirit has been working on him a lot. It has also been so awesome watching his wife's facial expressions as we teach.We will teach something, he will like it and it will light her up. It has been a sweet experience.

We have been finding some new investigators too. Hopefully they make it. Would you pray for Lori, Michael, James and Jennifer, Kevin, and Dale?

This last week I've been finding out how God feels about the Book of Mormon. Here are a few quotes from the talks I've been reading. 

"From the Book of Mormon we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war. From the Book of Mormon we see the evils of secret combinations portrayed in graphic and chilling reality. In the Book of Mormon we find lessons for dealing with persecution and apostasy. We learn much about how to do missionary work. And more than anywhere else, we see in the Book of Mormon the dangers of materialism and setting our hearts on the things of the world. Can anyone doubt that this book was meant for us and that in it we find great power, great comfort, and great protection?" The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion Ezra Taft Benson

"Ponder the truths you learn, and it will not be long before you know that Lehi and Jacob excel Paul in teaching the Atonement; that Alma’s sermons on faith and on being born again surpass anything in the Bible; that Nephi makes a better exposition of the scattering and gathering of Israel than do Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel combined; that Mormon’s words about faith, hope, and charity have a clarity, a breadth, and a power of expression that even Paul did not attain; and so on and so on." What Think Ye of the Book of Mormon? Bruce R. McConkie

"The plain fact is that salvation itself is at stake in this matter. If the Book of Mormon is true—if it is a volume of holy scripture, if it contains the mind and will and voice of the Lord to all men, if it is a divine witness of the prophetic call of Joseph Smith—then to accept it and believe its doctrines is to be saved, and to reject it and walk contrary to its teachings is to be damned." What Think Ye of the Book of Mormon? Bruce R. McConkie

I have been feeling lately like reading the Book of Mormon is like peering into the mind of God. I feel like I'm learning what God would do if He were in any given situation. I'm learning more what He wants for me. It is like the Book of Mormon applies the eternal and perfect concepts to our lives in a way we can understand. 

I didn't know you had a kindle! That is so cool that you are reading the Bible as translated from the Greek. I bet that gives you some wonderful insights. Someday I want a complete copy of the JST of the Bible. I think some of the churches that apostatized from ours has one. 

I have wonderings, but I don't think they are bad. Elder Holland talked about that last General Conference. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng

So long as we deal with our wonderings with faith God gives us answers. I've had a few experiences like that. The Lord has answered me in some surprising ways. 

I'm glad that you look back on the strong spiritual experiences you've had. I do that too. I'm so grateful for my journal. I've found that I can have a spiritual experience reading my spiritual experiences. God has confirmed things for me that way. 

Thank you for all you do. I love you, Mom.

Elder Williams