Hi Talon,

So how are things in your new area. If I'm not mistaken you aren't too far from Benicia. How's the new companion? Will he be your last you think?

I'm taking today off work to get a few things done around the house that have been neglected.

We are all well here. Grandpa Val has had some heart concerns the past couple of weeks but the docs can't find any problems. Getting old stinks.

Played 2 games over the weekend and won both of them. Brandt continues to play well. Friday and Saturday we play in a tournament. I think we stand a good chance of being challenged by a couple of teams that will be there.

In 2 weeks I speak at stake priesthood leadership meeting on hastening the work through home teaching. Do you have any words of wisdom from the mission field to share?

It's great your are getting into BYU without losing too much credit. I was surprised. Still planning to join the air guard this summer?

How's your mood been lately? Let me know.

Be well and have a great week
Love Dad


Hey Dad,

I am really loving the new area. The members are some of the most solid I have ever met in my life. This will be a great place for me to end my mission strong. I'm still on bike, so I am glad I bought a new wheel for my bike. It will be well used. Benicia is really close. Vacaville is pretty much half way between Sacramento and San Fran. One nice thing about it is that Vacaville has its own Stake, so it is a really close knit community of members. The ward I am in, 3rd, is as big as our ward home. Most of the time I have been in really small congregations.

Elder Blackhurst is my new companion. He is from Grantsville, UT. I don't think he will be my last companion. I think they will bring in someone new next transfer. I might be surprised, though. He is a good guy, and our personalities click alright. We have differing priorities, though. I am a little more hardcore.

It's good that you are taking some time to do some projects. What have you been working on recently?

I hope Grandpa's health holds up. I hope he can retire sometime soon.

I'm proud of Brandt. He seems to be the foundation of the team. MVP.

That is really awesome that you have the chance to speak in Stake Conference. Here is my all time favorite quote on home teaching. This is in Preach my Gospel chapter 1.You can find it in the quote part in the back of chapter one.
“Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members” .-President Harold B. Lee
Ultimately, we are all still in the process of conversion, and home teaching gives us the opportunity to become more converted ourselves as we seek to strengthen our brothers and sisters. In a very real way, we are helping God "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Home teaching is ministering. Ministering is meeting needs. Ministering is taking care of someone. Ministering means we show and express love. People can feel it. Ministering is loving like Christ.

So, the way we hasten our work is by getting better at the basic things. It is learning our duty, and doing it better every day. Our job as priesthood holders is to preach the gospel. That means we teach our friend who aren't members of the church, as well as our less active friends. When we work with less actives we baptize more. Less actives know more nonmembers than active members do, typically. You reactivate someone, and you bring many more people in closer contact with the gospel.

So much of my work as a missionary would be done already if members were dutiful in there home teaching. We would be light years ahead of where we are now if people did their duty. Of course, it isn't a robotic visit every month. Home teachers need to seek revelation for the people they are assigned. They need to meet their needs.

That's just a few things off the top of my head. Hope that helps.

I am pretty happy that BYU accepted my credits too. I think it will still take me 3 years to graduate, but that is fine. It would be the same story at SUU, unless I stuck with philosophy.

The Air Guard recruiter said that the Air Guard would pay for my schooling. I am planning on joining this summer. One super awesome thing is that Vacaville is super close to Travis AFB, so tons of the members I have met are in the AF. I will be able to pick their brains. Tender mercy for me, you could say.

My mood has been pretty good. I feel a lot of peace about everything. I was excited to get transferred. I am glad to be here. One thing I am grateful for is I am not anxious to get home. Trunkieness isn't a problem. I've learned a lot about living in the moment on my mission, and I am going to soak in as much as I can while I am here. I'm going to work as hard as I can and serve the best I can. At the same time, I feel confident that everything is going to be okay when I board the plane. God is going to still take care of me, even when I take off my tag.

Love you Dad. Thanks for everything.

Love,

Elder Williams