Invitations are here! Plans are being made here at home. We are so excited!!

March 24

well SO MUCH happened this week... 

i'll start with last monday because almost every day was filled with something crazy. on monday we went to the zoo with mishel! animaya is like 40 minutes away from our area and we had to take two different buses to get there but it was so worth it! we got to go on the safari tour and we got really close to the giraffes. 

tuesday and wednesday were pretty normal and then thursday was so scary. my companions and i were starting language studay when the assistants called and asked for me and they told me that i had special changes and that i needed to pack all of my things nd be in the offices in one hour. i was so sad and so were my companions, especially hermana smith. we hurried and packed ALL of my things and i called mishel and emmanuel and a few others to say goodbye but i couldn't stop crying and then we called the franco's to come help us take everything to the offices in their van. while they were coming to get my things my companions told me to call president to ask if there was anything he could do and he told m no because an hermana had to go home for health reasons and that there wasn't another option. we all layed in the hammock and said our goodbyes and cried a little and then suddenly president calls and told me that he figured everythign out and that i didn't need to leave anymore. best call ever! io am so grateful that i'm finishing my mission in chichen! it's like home. 

on friday the zone leaders and my companions and i had a meeting with president and the assistants in centro to talk about the zone and things we can do to help the missinaries to meet thier goals. while we were finishing the meeting the assistants were going to go work with our zone leaders and president told us that he wanted to come work with us in our area. president drove us around in his van the whole day and visited all of our investigators. it was so fun being with president all day! i learned so much from him. he invited ALL of the people that we visited to be baptized the next day and mishel and marcos both accepted! mishel was baptized on saturday!!!!! marcos had an interview with president and president decided that it would be better to wait a little bit longer but we are hoping the he gets baptized before the transfer.

saturday was so great! it was the anniversary of the refief society so the stake did an activity where each ward presented a traditional dance. mishel danced with the relief society and then right after the activity she changed and her baptismal program started!!!! her family came and the room was so crowded and it was so sweet. while she was changing we had everyone in the room write her little notes and we collected them all and made her a little book so that she can remember everyone who was in her baptism. alo emmanuel baptized her! 

on sunday all of the missionaries in chichen ate at emmanuel's house!

on monday elder flores our district leader called us and told us that he had special changes and we didn't believe him because we had joked with him about my special chnages but then we went to eat with his invesigators and found out that it was true. we were all really sad and we told mariana to get baptized that day because she was going to be baptized on sautrday and she told us that she wanted to so we planned a last baptism and finished all of her lessons for elder flores hahaha. 

and today we woke up at 3:30 to go to the temple at 5! it has been a suxh a crazy week but i love it and couldn't ak for anything better!

i love you all! aslo see you in 3 weeks!

hermana williams

March 16 zoo

hola mi familia y amigos,

well it's been another really great week here with hermana smith and hermana janco, and all of the other members and investigators in chichen! on friday emmanuel had friend home evening in his house and he invited mishel and pedro. they are both so great! a couple weeks ago we watched the restoration with pedro at the palma's house and the other night pedro told us that he had a dream that heavenly father and jesus appeared to him, just like joseph smith and then heavenly father told pedro that he is talking to him through hermana smith and i and then hermana smith and i appeared in his dream! my mouth was wide open the whole time he told us about it, i have never heard of such a clear answer before from any of my investigators but i am so glad that he received his. after pedro told his story to everyone the lesson just kind of turned into a testimony meeting and mishel shared her testimony too! she is so cute. 

also a couple weeks ago while hermana smith and i were looking for someone we met marco! marco is 50 and lives with his mom. he has had a really hard life and has been looking to change. we showed him mormon message about a man that rescued a bird and gave him another opportunity to live because god had given him a chance to live and start over thanks to the gospel. he really felt the spirit and ever since he is doing everything possible to change, he's read the scriptures and he even came to church yesterday and the baptism on saturday! i am so excited for him.

i wish i had more time to write today, but we're going to the zoo with mishel and possibly emmanuel! 

i love you all, have a great week!

hermana williams

three musketeers

so we broke a mission record this week! hermana smith, janxo and i found 27 new investigators! the assistants have been sending out little texts the entire week that say "find, teach, find, teach" and "eat a good lunch so that you can keep finding new investigators #assistants" so we decided that we were going to talk with as many people as we could this week. on saturday we found a family of 11! we started out by talking to a few of the kids that were by the gate playing soccer while their family was eating and then they let us in and we invited their whole family to listen. it was the first time that they had ever talked with missionaries! the lesson was really great and they all seem really interested. when we started the lesson we explained to them that god is our loving heavenly father and played head, shoulders, knees and toes to show that he has a body of flesh and blood. 

it has been so awesome to be in a trio again! i love it, and hermana janco is a wonderful addition. we have so much fun. we laugh all the time and then try to be serious and laugh again but we also work really hard. we have aqlso been able to do a lot more divisons with the hermanas in the other zones that we are over. i went to alta brisa this week and got to work with the other hermana williams and hermana jimenez!

ohhhh also we took mishel and her older sister to the temple this week! mishel's sister kati has listened to missionaries before back when she was 15 and went to church and even seminary but never chose to be baptized because she was so young. we met her the day before our temple trip that we had been planning and she accepted and even stayed for the family home even that we did afterwards with the palma's. it was so great that she was there to support mishel and mishel finally told us that she's ready to get baptized this month! also kati works a lot, and even works on sundays but really soon we are hoping that she'll come to church.

well that's all for this week, have a great week! i love you all.

hermana williams

t r a n s f e r s

well last night hermana smith and i were in the middle of watching the joseph smith movie at the palma's house with our new investigator pedro when we got the phone call about our last tansfers. we ran outside and found out that we are staying together for six more weeks! i am SO happy! this will be our fifth transfer together. we are also going to be in another trio with hermana janco! hermana janco is really great. she's from bolivia and has about 14 months in the mission. we are training her to be a sister training leader so that she can take over when we leave.

this week has been really really great! yesterday was fast sunday and mishel gave her testimony in church! she talked in front of the whole ward for a few minutes about how she finished reading 1 nefi and how her testimony has become so strong and how she has experienced a lot of changes in her life in the two months that she has been listening and going to church. i love seeing her progress and i am hoping that really soon she will decide to be baptized! we are planning on taking her to the temple sometime this week and the esteve's (my cute grandparents from my first area that work in the temple) are going to come with us and then after we're going to go back to their house with mishel for a treat. today we ate lunch with the esteve's and they are just so great! they finish their mission in june and they are already making plans to go serve another.

on saturday there were three baptisms in our ward, one in the morning and two at night! the elders have been working really hard and chichen keeps on growing. 

wellll as of now that's everything but i'm sure that there will be a lot to talk about next week. as for now i'm just really happy with my transfer! i love you all have a great week!

hermana williams 

Campeche and 16 month mark

this week hermana smith and i and the other four sister training leaders road tripped to campeche! campeche is SO beautiful. we were there for two days and hermana smith and i happened to be in the area closest to the sea! I LOVE THE SEA. we could see it from the window of hermana argueta's house and we passed by it a few times while we were working and exercising in the morning. oh and when we ate lunch with one of the members we ate fresh fish while looking out at the ocean! i didn't want to leave. also campeche is FULL of giant hills. we walked up and down so many hills and our legs were so sore after the first day there. it was a really fun adventure and i checked off one of my mission goals because i've always wanted to go and see the sea in campeche. i also got to work with hermana argueta all day and help her which was really awesome because her and her companion are having a lot of problems together and in their area.

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surprise! emmanuel and manuel received the melchizedek priesthood last night! there were 8 recent converts in the brisas stake that had been preparing to receive the priesthood, and four of them were from chichenitza! when emmanuel and manuel told us that they were going to receive the melchizedek priesthood yesterday when we were driving home from church hermana smith and i almost died. i am so happy for them and i am so happy for the opportunity that they now have to bless their families. i also love seeing them grow! emmanuel came with us this morning to our district meeting and he's getting more and more excited to serve a mission. 

also happy late valentines day! hermana smith and i celebrated by making little valentines for our recent converts and all of the sisters in our zone and the other sister training leaders. we also tried to make heart shaped pancakes in the morning but that didn't really work out hahaha. 

also today is my 16th month mark, it's so hard to believe! i love it here. everyday i feel closer to the lord and i feel my testimony of the gospel of jesus christ grow. i love sharing it with others. 

i   l o v e   y o u   a l l ,

hermana williams

bye bye hermana cruz, hello hermana carrasco!

so last night at about 9 the assistants called us and told us that hermana cruz was leaving to go train in a little town called baca! we were all sad when we got the call because this week has been really great being in a trio, we've had a lot of success and we've been able to do divisions almost every day! we took her to the offices at 11 this morning so that she could meet her new companion and go to her new area. then today about 15 minutes ago we got another call from the assistants saying that we are going to be in another trio with hermana carrasco! we are going to pick her up right now. i am so excited! this is the 7th time that hermana smith will be in a trio hahaha. so great.

we went to the temple at 4:30 tuesday morning with our recent converts and a few recently activated members so that they could do baptisms for the dead! i think that was one of the greatest moments i have had so far. it was so amazing to walk in the temple and see manuel. emmanuel and miguel dressed in white waiting to be baptized. i am so happy that they have gotten to this point and i know that they will keep progressing! i am so grateful for the opportunity that i have had to be here in chichen. i love every minute here. i am also really grateful that our converts sacrificed so much sleep so that they could go to temple because they realized hwo important it was. manuel and emmanuel also found a bunch of names of their ancestors to take to the temple with them, go family history! 

well hermana smith and i have to go pick up our new companion right now! i'll send pictures of her next week. she's really great and we've done two divisions before so i am really excited to be with her again! 

love you all,

hermana williams