hola mi familia!

what a week.

right now the only thing i can think about is the amazing spiritual experience hermana infante and i had in the gardens of the temple last night. im not sure if i have told you about maria or not but we have been working with maria for about 3 weeks now. she is one of the most amazing people i have ever met. about 2 years ago she was deathly ill and could hardly walk for a year and a half. 6 months ago she started recovering from her disease and is now back in full health. the first time we met her she told us her story of her sickness and recovery and the important role god had in her recovery. i really have never seen anyone with such great faith. last night we had a lesson in the gradens of the temple and we started to talk to her about the restoration of the gospel and in the middle of the lesson she started crying. she said that while we were talking she felt something she never has felt before, even during her recovery when she was closest with god. she said she wanted to feel this feeling more. we then invited her to be baptized and she accepted! she has attended church with us two times before so she can be baptized in two weeks. i feel so lucky to know maria and to help bring her to the gospel of jesus christ.

the rest of the week has been so great too. hermana infante and i have talked with EVERYONE that we have come in contact with. we have found 16 new investigators this week and 10 of them are living with their entire family. they are all bien potente too. i am so excited to start teaching families because most of our investigators right now live alone or live with one other person. 

well this week truly has been so great. i am so lucky to live here and to be preaching the gospel here. oh and i am also lucky to be alive because hermana infante and i were contacting a family in the street and they offered us a few of their tacos and i was deathly ill for 2 days -___-

oh also! my first baptism is this thursday. hermana infante and i have been visiting an inactive family and they have a son who is 8 and a half years old. we invited them to have their son be baptized and they accepted. they have been preparing enrique and have come to church every week since our first visit. i am so excited for cute enrique and for their family to once again feel the blessings of the gospel in their livies.

i love you all so much!

hermana williams

hola familia!

this week has been SO great. it also has gone so quickly.

well first of all grandma and syd, i finally received your package this week! it was well worth the wait! i wanted to die when i saw Candy cane joe joes. the necklace is so beautiful too! muchísimo gracias. i am so grateful to have such a sweet family. i am also so grateful that you included hermana infante in your package. she started to tear up when she saw that one of the packages was for her. she has never received a package or a letter since she left home and she has been out in the field for more than 6 months.

the work has been so great. we have has so much of it too! a couple times this week we have had to split up with members from the ward so that we could make it to all of our appointments. at first i was so nervous to teach lessons without hermana infante. so so nervous. luckily all of the lessons that i taught with members this week went so great. i am very grateful for the gift of tongues.

our investigators are doing so great too. im not sure if i have told you about jhony or not but jhony is 74 and he accepted our invitation to be baptized a few weeks ago. at first he wasnt progressing very rapidly because he hadnt been praying to know the truth of our lessons. well, we taught him a powerful lesson about the impotance of prayer and at the end invited him to give the closing prayer. he accepted and finally prayed in front of us. we visited him the next day and asked him if he had prayed that night. he told us he had forgotten to pray and we were devastated. but then, he said that he woke up at 3 in the morning and was so bothered by something that he couldnt fall back asleep. he finally remembered that he needed to say his prayers. he said he said during his prayer he felt something he never has felt before and knew that he needed to be baptized. it was such an amazing experience to listen to. i wanted to cry.

the rest of our investigators are so great. i wish i had hours to tell all of the stories that happened this week. i promise im writing in my journal every night so that i wont forget to tell you all of these amazing experiences that i am having.

i love you all so much! have such a great week. ugh especially you jake.

hermana williams

oh i forgot to mention.. hermana infante and i killed a scorpion in the house of our neighbor this week. she is from france and lives alone. she knocked on our door at 11:30 at night and could hardly speak enough spanish for her to tell us that she had a scorpion in her house. it was so scary and i thought i was going to die but we went over to her house and hermana infante was so calm and casually killed the scorpion with one of those broom things that you use to clean the shower. 

i am lucky i am alive hahaha.

January 13, 2014

mi familia!

hola!

this week was a bit of a hard one, but i realized last night during my prayers how thankful i am for the difficult times because i am learning how to be more thankful and grateful. 

the baptism didn´t end up happening this week. adrian had a problem with a more serious sin that we didnt know about until his interview for baptism. he had an interview with our president after we found out and our president decided that it was best to wait. he is now going through the process of true repentance. i am grateful that we helped adrian to get to this point so that one day in the future he can be baptized. it is also a good reminder that the baptisms of my investigators aren´t my baptisms but the baptisms of the lord. 

also, all of my pictures got deleted off of my camera yesterday. i left my camera out during lunch and one of the valencia boys accidentally deleted all of my pictures. after we left their house i think i cried more than when i left you all hahaha. hermana infante and i said a prayer of comfort in the street and when we got to the house of our investigator trini i was so comforted. she was hit by a car in the street three weeks ago and has to stay bed for the next eight months. while we were talking to her she said that she is so thankful to have her life and that her little trials in life before her accident don´t even compare. it was EXACTLY what i needed to hear. it made me realize how small of a trial it is to lose a few pictures. plus i have 15 more months to take pictures. i am actually very lucky it happened now and not later. 

i love being a missionary because i have the opportunity to learn from each person i talk with. last night after our lessons i came home and started a gratitude journal and i am writing down one thing i am grateful for each day. 

ahhhh i promise this week wasnt as bad as i am making it sound. it was really great too! hermana infante´s birthday was on tuesday! we had such a great day. in the morning i gave hermana infante her present and we made pancakes and after our lesson with glendy later in the day she took us out to lunch. then we went and took pictures at the temple before our next lesson. i am so lucky to have such a great companion. we are more like best friends than companions. 

oh also there was a holiday this week. rosca de reyes. its this tradition where you buy this bread and get togther with your family and everyone cuts their piece and inside is a baby jesus and if the baby jesus is in your piece of bread you have to buy tamales for the whole family on february 2nd.. we celebrated rosca de reyes with the burgos family and other young couples from the ward.... and i got the baby jesus -___- hahaha.

also the work here is unbelievably great. we have four investigators right now with baptismal dates and all of them are progressing so rapidly. also we had so many investigators and less active members at church yesterday. again hermana infante and i were practically running around the chapel to make sure everyone was taken care of. i love being a missionary.

i love you all so much. hopefully my email wasn´t too big of a downer hahaha.

hermana williams

hi all!

well i have some major news.. 

MAJOR NEWS.

i am leaving centro for the pueblos and learning mayan! i am so nervous i hardly know spanish. i leave cento tonight.

chiste.

i am staying in cento!!!!!!! and the best part is i am staying with hermana infante. gracias a dios. i am so so so so grateful. hermana infante and i found out we were staying last night at 8 with a phone call. we both screamed and ran danced in the middle of the street. its also her birthday tomorrow so i am so glad i get to be with her. i bought her the cutest case for her hymnal. and we bought food to make pancakes in the morning. 

well this week can basically be summed up in one word. WATER. the first reason is because i have NEVER experienced rain in my entire life like i have this week. the first of many rainstorms this week started on the 31st. hermana infante and i walked out of a lesson and into a downpour. we had a 30 minute walk home and in 2 minutes i was completely soaked but we made it so fun. we sang hymns, jumped in the huge puddles in the street, oh and got splashed by cars... exactly like the movies -__- after the first storm i started bringing my rain jacket with me and honestly i have never loved an article of clothing more. which says a lot.

the second reason is because my first baptism is this FRIDAY. our investigators name is adrian and we met him last TUESDAY. adrian works in the gardens of the temple and has for about a year now. he works with 8 other men and 7 of them are members of the church. he has learned so much about our faith through his coworkers and has even attened church with them. the first day we met him he took a quick break to talk with us and expressed that he has a hunger to learn more about our faith. he then took another break so we could start teaching him the lessons. our first lesson was IN the waiting room of the TEMPLE. i cant even describe how strong the spirit was. while we were teaching one of the little pictures of christ on our pamphlet was hanging on the wall right behind him. it was so amazing to watch him turn around and look at the picture and lit up. we then invited him to baptism and he accepted and asked how soon he could be baptized. heavenly father has prepared him so much for baptism! i am so grateful for the opportunity i have to be an instrument in the hands of the lord for the baptism of adrian. so soon he will be able to feel all of the happiness and blessings of becoming a member of our church. he also wants to be baptized in the sea and hermana infante and i can go because its not too far. i am so excited!

there have also been a few small disappointments this weeks. the baptism of ana fell through because she has been out of town for so long and..... the baptism of jesus. we found out that he hasnt been staying as strong as he was telling us. we are still working with him and helping him but it will be a long process for him to truly change but hermana infante and i have so much faith that one day he will change. however we have been working much more with javier, his friend. javier is so great! he came to sacrament this week and then asked if he could stay longer. so great. we are inviting him to baptism tonight. 

the work here is so great. as always! this sunday we were practically running around the chapel helping our investigators, less active members, and meeting references from members. we met 8 new investigators this week! so so so so great.

i have to go. i wish i had more time!

i love you so much family! te amo muchisimo. 

hermana williams

hola de mexico

my sweet family!

i cant believe its p day again.

i swear i skyped all you yesterday. i loved seeing your faces and hearing your voices. it was a little weird too because after the first two minutes it felt like a normal conversation. it was like i left home last week. i cant believe i almost have 3 months in my mission! holy cow. time is flying. 

this week has been so great. the rest of my christmas was so great too. i had such a wonderful day.. except i am really missing movies. i hope you all enjoyed your christmas movie! there is a theater in santiago park and the movie pictures are displayed outside and frozen looks so cute. temptation is real hahaha. 

hermana infante and i made a new best friend this week.. our investigator glendy. she is the owner of a small convience store. we met her last week and after we introduced ourselves and talked to her for a few minutes she practically offered us her entire store. juice, popsicles, bread, chocolate, suckers, cookies. at first i only wanted juice and when glendy wasnt looking hermana infante hit me because i was being rude. help me hahaha. glendy is so great. the day we met her we had a small lesson with her and invited her to come to church. after church she thanked us a million times for inviting her and asked us if we could have lunch with her and teach her sometime this week. we went to her house on thursday and she had christmas presents for us. new bath towels and a bunch of chocolates. she is the sweetest. during our next lesson we got to know her a little better and found out that 5 years ago her son died and she struggled with depression for years until her daughter was born. we taught glendy the plan of salvation and how she can see her son and live with him again some day. it was such a wonderful feeling to see so much happiness and light come into her eyes while we were teaching.

jesus is also so GREAT. hermana infante and i visit him almost every day even when we dont have an appointment to remind him to stay strong and remember his commitment to be baptized. we also had a really powerful lesson with him and the bishop this week. before we started the lesson the bishop gave him a blessing of strength to not give into his addictions. so far he is staying so strong. it is so amazing to watch him change. 

this week has also been a very humbling week for me. hermana infante and i met and are teaching a family with almost nothing. the mom, son, brother and grandma live in a small one bedroom room inside of an old hotel. the brother is sick, mentally retarded and handicapped. the room they live in is about half the size of an average bedroom and contains their clothes, hammocks, the little food that they have hanging from a wire in grocery bags and a a small bucket for a bathroom. their situation is so hard. after we taught them the first time i have never felt more humbled or more grateful in my whole life. there are so many simple things i take for granted like a healthy body, running water, fresh food, and a home. i said the longest prayer of gratitude the night of the day we taught their family. 

i know i say this every week but i love living in mexico. i wouldnt trade these experiences that i am having for anything. i am so so thankful for all of you. i love you all so much!

hermana williams

ps. hermana infante has spanish disney songs on her little music player so i am learning tangled songs in spanish. it is the BEST way to learn spanish hahahaha.

Christmas Day!

Today we got to skype with Bre for an hour!!  It was wonderful to see that bright smile of hers and to see how truly happy she is.

Merry Christmas Bre!! We love you!

felicidades

oh mi familia. 

this week has been SO GREAT. maybe its the special christmas spirit... but its the best week ive had on my mission. last monday after a long day of shopping and our district meeting familia burgos took us out for REAL mexican tacos because i hadnt tried them before... which by the way lonestar taquiera doesnt even compare... and helped us coordinate members in our lessons this week because we are doing WORK. really. one day we left the house after personal study because we had an appointment at 8:30 and didnt get home until 9:30 that night. surprisingly, it was such a great day. i love the work here! 

i dont have any updates for josephina or silvia because they both left at the start of the week for christmas but... i have another great update... jesus accepted our invitation to be baptized! i dont remember if i told you about jesus or not. he is 19, so great, but has struggling with an addiction to drugs for many years now. during our first lesson he told us that he didnt believe god had love for him because he is a "bad person" so we taught him about the love and mercy of god and after our lesson he made the decision to stop using drugs. since then he has stayed so strong. it is amazing to watch someone change their life. 

on thursday we had a christmas program and dinner and invited jesus who invited two of his friends, angel and javier. before the program started we walked over to the temple grounds and had a short lesson and the spirit was so strong. i am so blessed to have a temple not only in my mission but my area. after the lesson we were walking into the chapel and jesus stopped hermana infante and i and took out his piercing and gave it to us because he didnt want it anymore. ahhhh he is a miracle. i love the people here. 

this week has also been so great because my spanish has improved SO MUCH! i am really starting to realize how blessed i am to have a native companion and a companion who is so willing to teach me spanish. we talk to eachother all day long and whenever i say a word wrong or use the wrong verb she'll always help me. she is an angel. i love hermana infante so much. i never want to leave hermana infante or centro. i am praying we stay together for another transfer. 

so... yesterday was christmas! missionary christmas. it was the BEST. we were with our mission presidents and all of the other missionaries in the merida mission the entire day. which means i saw hermana smith! oh and guess what? she didnt even recognize me. im not kidding. apparently i am blonde now. after she realized it was me she screamed and ran and gave me a big hug! it was so so great to see her and hear all of her experiences. ahhhh the entire day was SO GREAT. in the morning we had a christmas program. each zone sang a hymn and two people from each zone shared a spiritual experience from their mission. most of the missionaries who spoke are finishing their missions in the next month or so. some in two weeks! presidente and hermana garcia spoke at the end of the program. i love presidente and hermana gracia so much! i couldnt imagine having any other mission presidents. theyre more like our second parents. they are so sweet and loving and kind and always refer to us as their hijas and hijos. after the program we had a christmas lunch and then after lunch we had a talent show. a group of elders did magic tricks, one hermana played the flute, another elder played the harmonica, and a whole bunch of missionaries sang. it was so much fun. after the talent show we exchanged gifts and i got bright eyeshadows... so it might be even more difficult to recognize me tomorrow... chiste. then after the gift exchange we talked and talked and talked and took so many pictures. it was such a wonderful christmas. it truly is an amazing experience to spend christmas with 150 other missionaries and my mission presidents who arent able to spend christmas with their families. 

spending christmas away from home also makes me so grateful for my dear family. i miss and love you all so much! i am so so excited to skype you all tomorrow. hermana infante is skyping her family right now and i just met them! i got teary eyed while i was talking with them because i thought about tomorrow. HOLY COW. i am so excited. i love you all so so much! 

¡te amo ustedes mucho!

hermana williams

oh ps i forgot to mention....... i doubt anyone will believe this but i am now the navigator of the companionship. im not kidding! somehow i understood directions one day and ever since then i have been the navigator. 

oh pss sorry for crashing christmas dinner hahaha