Ohhhh Mexico

mi familia!

holy cow. ANOTHER great week in merida. i love it here! 

to start off with some interesting news... i finally got sick from the food... and that food was dominos pizza at mission conference. im not kidding! out of ALL the food that ive had here... which is basically everything the travel clinic said to not have... i get sick from pizza -___- 

also, mexicans here are crazy! this week was the start to a mexican holiday that is apparently bigger than christmas to some people. people decorate huge shrines of mary with flowers, candles and lights and then set up rows and rows of chairs to worship. and then they have a huge party. the first night of the holiday there were fireworks and music the entire night. luckily its died down but apparently some people celebrate the holiday until christmas. so crazy. 

also, im not only a missionary but a house hunter. we received a call TWO DAYS ago saying that we have until today at 6 to find a new apartment. holy cow it has been so hard. mom i wish i had your house hunting skills.... or maybe just the internet. yesterday after sunday lunch and a few lessons we had a few hours to go and visit all of the apartments that we found. every apartment was terrible... tiny. scary. dirty. community bathroom. you name it. we got to the last apartment at 8:30 and it looked even worse than some of the others. we knocked on the door and no one came and then we saw a sign that said info aqui so we went and knocked on the door and a cute old lady came out. when she went in to grab the key to the apartment we prayed and prayed and prayed and basically said "HELP" well the lady came outside and started slowly walking in the wrong direction of the apartment. hermana infante and i looked at each other and we were both trying our hardest not to laugh because we thought she didnt know where she was going... well it turns out she did know where she was going and i am so grateful she did because the apartment was PERFECT... clean. spacious. oh and BEAUTIFUL. heavenly father answers prayers. this week has been so great. 

our investigators our so great! our newest investigator is azael and his wife lady. we found azael in our old area book. he had taken a few lessons from the missionaries and had followed through with all of his commitments but stopped because his wife was very against it. we decided to visit their house the other night and met their niece that lives with them. she is so sweet! as we were leaving lady was just getting home. we were kind of nervous but introduced ourselves and talked with her and met her cute two month old baby. we talked with her more and then gave her a small message about the plan of salvation. surprisingly, she really liked it! she invited us to come back over next week. we teach her tomorrow! i am so excited. i will update you all on their progress next week. 

oh mi familia! i love you and miss you all so much. the other night hermana infante showed me a picture of the salt lake temple decorated for christmas and she asked me what it was like. i couldnt even explan how beautful the temple is during christmas time. i am so lucky to live in salt lake, but right now i am so lucky to live in merida! i love it so much. 

my christmas is on the 23rd! all of the missionaries in the merida mission are having a christmas dinner, devotional and a gift exchange. i am so excited! oh and i bought my christmas present so thank you all very very much for the christmas money! i bought beautiful hand stitched cases for my book of mormon and bible! i will show you all on skype. holy cow! we get to skype so soon! i am so excited. i love you all so much.

have a great week!

hermana williams

oh my gosh. i almost forgot! today is my two month mark. time flies when you're having fun!

oh and also... the other day that gangman style song was playing in santiago park and i didnt even realize it was a popular song until the end hahaha, i thought it was just some random mexican song lol. 

mi familia!

its been another great week in mexico. i am so lucky to live here! i love the people here. especially the members of the ward! 

on monday night after our district meeting we were walking home hna infante had the impression that we needed to stop by and visit the valencia familiy. lin valencia is a single mother with six kids. she has very little and has been through many trials. when she opened the door her face lit up! she let us in and gave us fresh fruit and bread. she said she had been praying for us to come visit her the entire day but that she hadnt wanted to call and bother us. we sang a few navidad songs with her family prayed and shared a scripture and to cheer her up and towards the end of our visit she called us her angels! i am so grateful for the peace and comfort this gospel brings. i am also so grateful for the spirit of chirstmas cheer! it is everywhere! it is in our lessons when we sing hymns. in the lights covering centro. in the nativity scene outside of the merida temple! i really am so lucky to be spending the christmas season in mexico. 

last night was the church christmas devotional! did you all watch it? i loved seeing the conference center. it is so beautiful! i was in awe. i am so lucky to live 20 mintues from the conference center and from the salt lake temple. 

the work here is also so great! there is a lot of it too. we have two investigators, josephina and silvia that are good friends who take zumba classes together with hermana garcia who reffered them to us. they are both very catholic but have very open hearts. they are both reading from the book of mormon and josphina´s entire family is reading from the book of mormon. it os so amazing to see both of them and jospehina`s family grow and become so happy and close to god. 

i love the work here! i wish i could write more, i had to write my president a long email and i still need to send picturtes but i love you all so much. i hope you are all having great weeks. oh and we get to skype for 40 minutes on christmas!

i love you.

hermana williams

oh also funny story for the week. we got on the bus the other day and i handed the man my money and i turned around to grab the pole to make my way over to my seat and the bus driver stopped suddenly to pick someone else up and i fell right to the floor. im not kidding. the whole bus was laughing and i was laughing so hard that i couldnt breathe. i guess the only thing worse than that is tripping over a basketball -___-

1st week in Mexico

hola familia!

im in mexico. can you believe it?

it hasnt even been a week but i feel like ive lived here for years hahaha.

my companion. she is an angel! she is so sweet. so kind. so patient. she only knows about 30 words in english so it is hard at times but its forces me to learn. people talk so fast here! i thought i was pretty okay at spanish in el CCM but the first day here i could hardly understand a word. i can understand much much better now. it is still hard to speak but the more i speak the easier it gets. i am also studying the BOM in spanish! it is so helpful. and so amazing!

the work here is so great. we are opening an área so we are so so so so busy. the first night together we met with the first counselor of the barrio and him and his wife took us around to 7 or 8 houses or members and they all gave us so many referrals. it is so great! by the end of the day my feet feel like ive been at disneyland hahahaha.

one day while we were on our way to contact a reference we stopped to buy bread.. holy cow the bread is delicious.. and we met ana. ana is 19! we introduced ourselves and she invited us to come over the next day. when we went to her house we sang a hymn together, prayed and then hermana infante explained the book of mormon. her eyes lit up when while hermana infante was talking. it was amazing! then hermana infante nudged me and i bore my testimony of the BOM and said that even though i dont know the language very well and that it is hard to be here that the góspel brings me so much happiness and it is worth the hard times to share that happiness with others. the spirit was so strong! afterwards hna infante invited her to be baptized on the 4th of january and she accepted! we are visiting her again tomorrow and she is coming to church with us this sunday! holw cow. miracles.

i love it here! i live a mile from the city. its so busy and so loud all the time! the houses are right next to each other and they are all so colorful! when we ask for someones address we always ask for the color of their house hahaha. my house is green! the weather is so nice right now. it feels like Newport beach in the mornings.. but everyone here says its muy frieo......... so i am going to die come May. seriously! people are cold here. they wear sweaters and jeans.

oh i need to tell you more about the burgos family! hermano burgos is the counselor of the ward. they are seriously the best. they are 26 and 24 and remind me exactly of a mexican Emily and Travis hahaha. hma burgos has had us over for lunch every single day! her food is so so so so so so good. i ate the yummiest meal of toastadas and homemade horchata on thanksgiving so dont feel bad for me. luckily we dont have time to eat dinner or i would come home muy gorda! chiste. we walk so much i dont know it thats possible! 

oh the temple. ill send pictures! its so beautiful and clean. the chapel is right next to the temple! the chapel is so beautiful too. and the chapel is ALWAYS busy. seriously! if we ever stop in really quickly there is always something going on. the people are so amazing.

i love it here. it is really hard but really rewarding. everything is so different from home. i really love it so much though! this is the greatest experience in the world.

oh! also... everyday is a big temptation. hahahaha there are coke stands on practically every corner and were not allowed to drink coke. ever -___- its so hard. luckily i have horchate to tide my cravings over!

merida really is so pretty. there are chirstmas decorations and lights everywhere! it makes me so happy! everything is great. i wrote a letter for you all this morning! i love you.

hermana Williama

ps i did my laundry by hand this morning. i am an entirely new person.

pps jake! the sandals you bought me save my life. the shower is so scary hahahahaha and my feet kill by the end of the day. youre the best!

ppps send letters!! from everyone please!

I LOVE YOU ALL

Last week in el CCM

Hola!

so this morning after we all got home from laundry i was putting everything away and then grabbed my bag to get out the letters i had written during laundry and guess what?!! my water bottle opened and spilled ALL over my bag. my bag was full of my letters, stationary, journal, ipod, speakers, camera.... the works. i was just about lay on the floor and yell "why me" when i grabbed my jounal and realized that all of the pages are wet but they didn't bleed through or stick together or anything! i knelt down and said a prayer of gratitude. luckily everything is okay too. my companions helped me dry off and blow dry everything. all is well! except the letters are all a little crinkly. lo siento!

this week has been absolutely amazing. i don't want to say i'm ready for the field because i have so much room to grow, but i am ready to be out in the field. yesterday we were practicing the invitation to be baptized with a member who is having doubts. Hermano Cuadra paired everyone up but me because our district has an odd number. well i guess who my partner was? Hermano Cuadra. i was so worried! i started out by saying "seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo ser bautizado en el primero de Decembrie?" which means "will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized on the first of December?" well he said no and i asked him why he felt that way and he said because he had only been to church a few times. i then asked what he felt like when he went to church. he said he felt peaceful and happy. i said that if he made the decision to be baptized he could have that feeling with him at all times. the spirit was so strong and he told me that's what he wanted but that he was scared. i opened up to proverbs 3:5-7 and i told him that he had to TRUST the lord. i then asked him if he had the faith to pray right then to know if baptism was the right choice for him. it was so amazing! the spirit was so strong in that 5 minute lesson. i could feel my tongue being loosed by the spirit as i was teaching. i can't even imagine how wonderful that experience will be with an actual investigator! i am so ready to get to the field. in 5 days too! holy cow.

now for a funny story....... oh SUNDAY. so here is the back story..... every single day i tell my companions i want to chop my hair off. hahahaha. so on sunday after sacrament we had a free hour and went back to our apartment to write in our journals. well..... hermana schweitzer came in with her actual hair cutting scissors (her only experience with them is cutting her bangs) and goes "okay i'm ready to cut your hair!!!" i laughed and then went..... "wait. okay. as long as you promise not to ruin my hair" well we set up newspapers in the kitchen and i sat in the chair and she cut off three inches -___- i yelled the whole time hahahaha. but guess what??! it's my most favorite haircut i've ever had. mom don't worry, i'll send pictures later! oh man i have the best companions ever.

sunday night was also really great! the oldest district left on early monday morning to Uruguay. so we all gathered in the vending machine room sunday night for a song, prayer and testimony meeting. it was so sweet! we sang god be with you til we meet again so of course everyone was crying. those elders are the best! we were all best friends. it's so hard getting so close to other districts and getting ripped apart each week. we all wrote in each others journals and exchanged emails so i hope we stay in touch.

oh also.... thanks for the pressure to go to BYU mom. between you, HS and HD, and the elders, it is really working. what is happening!? dad write me an email and talk some sense into me!

oh my sweet family. i love you all so much! i keep having dreams about seeing you at the airport so come to the airport! i'll send you my travel plans but if you can't make it i understand! at least i'll be able to call you. i love each of you so much. i miss you but i love the MTC and i know i will love Mexico even more. serving a mission has been the best decision i've ever made!

oh i forgot! i'll be quick. in TRC last Friday, HS and i taught a couple who served in the Merida temple and got home two months ago. it was so neat to talk to them. they were so sweet! i've always wanted to serve a couples mission but after talking with them i KNOW i want to serve a couples mission. oh and one of the first thing they said was "mucho calour" which is VERY HOT. however right now it sounds a lot better than freezing. i'm so excited! i wish you could see how big i'm smiling right now thinking about mexico. go listen to that James Taylor song for me because i keep singing it and no one knows what i'm talking about and i don't have it on my ipod. hard life right?! it is KILLING me! i love you! so so much. have a great week.

Hermana Williams

PS pray for the people of Mexico with me

I LOVE YOU

Week 4

HOLA! 

how are you all?!! this week has FLOWN by. we do service every thursday morning and on saturday night i said "holy cow you guys i can't believe we did service this morning, what a day" and HS and i fell on the floor laughing when she told me service was THREE DAYS AGO. my time in the MTC has gone so quickly!!

we get our travels plans on friday!!!! and BTW..... you all better be at the airport! i would love to see you. please please come! it will just be happy and fun and you can listen to me speak Spanish lol. i can't believe i'm really going to Mexico in 12 days!!! i don't want the MTC to end. i love it here! the district that came the week before i did is leaving THIS MONDAY. i am so sad. everyone in our district is so close! it's not fair that we might not EVER see them again! not fair at all. the only hope i have is to go to BYU when i get home. everyone is our zone is really the best of friends! our lunch table is so crowded with only our zone. it's always a race to get to the table. 

well this week has been so great. my companion and I teach a lesson almost every day and our lessons are getting much MUCH better! i am really learning how to rely on the spirit to guide me in my lessons. at first HS and i would write out a "script" of things we wanted to say but now we go into our lessons with a few small notes on a index card and teach with the spirit. the difference is amazing! i LOVE our "investigators" and i can hardly imagine what it will be like to teach the people in Merida. CHILLS. 

oh and exciting news! on friday we stopped by the creamery after gym (how horrible are we?) and i found out that the girl working went on a study abroad to MERIDA. she said it's amazing and the prettiest place and so so HOT.... which right now sounds much better than the freezing cold morning and nights. 

MOM! thank you SO much for the boots. you're the best! okay what else what else? i forgot my journal! 

OH FUNNY STORY. both of my teachers are out to embarrass our district. saturday morning Hermano Harris made us go out into the middle of the courtyard to start class and sing "angels we have heard on high" as loud as we can. all of the other missionaries walking by either stared or joined in hahahaha -__- and Hermano Cuadra to ANYONE that walks by or into our classroom says "mi misioneros solo habla en espanol" or something of the sort which means "my missionaries only speak in spanish" and he says it really sassy and it's so embarrassing. hahahahahaha i love them both so much. 

i am learning so much from my two sweet teachers! every lesson is the best lesson. my spanish has also really improved this week! my companion and i carry around a ring of vocab and quiz eachother wherever we go. i still can understand spanish much better than i can speak it though! i am so excited to be in mexico and to be fully immersed in the language. actually i'm really nervous too. i'm so bipolar about my feelings towards going to mexico! i am SO excited but i LOVE the MTC! however i know it's just a matter of leaving and once i'm in mexico it will be the new best place ever. i'll leave you with a scripture quote from revelations 3:16 "be hot or be cold, but don't be warm because God will throw up" it's real lol. look it up! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. i am losing sleep because of the long prayers i say for each of you every night and that's not even including the 30 other prayers i say throughout the day. i love you i love you i love you! 

see you soon (actually really because i'll see you in 12 days)

Hermana Williams

I finally figured out how to add pictures!!

HALF WAY THERE!!

HOLA!

okay okay i realized how much my emails suck, so i decided to bring in my journal so i can remember all the things that i have done this week. here we goooooo. 

so Wednesday was the best p day ever! some guy paid for our food at burger surpreme (I must be living right) and then we went to the temple and did sealings for daughters!!!! spiritual high. i can't even imagine how happy those children are that they get to be with their families forever!! it made me miss you all so much. i love you guys! 

HALLOWWEEEEN. k mom you're the best ever! the mustaches were a hit and there was enough for each person in my district to have one and, surprisingly, we didn't get in trouble. LOL. my companion and i also dressed up as hippies and jake i wore socks and jesus sandals and no one yelled at me hahahahah, but i had to teach a lesson and felt so AWKWARD but like who cares right? no judgement at el CCM. 

on Friday we did TRC's which is talking to volunteer members in Spanish and holy cow it was amazing. we talked with three different ladies and the first one was the cutest mom of 9 and half of her kids have already served missions and when i was struggling to find a word she would say it for me or say a few sentences in English. she was so sweet! the two other ladies we talked to were from chile and it was reallllly hard to understand them at times but i would just say "repitia por favor" with a big smile and they would slow down so i could understand them. 

i honestly can't remember Saturday right now but Sunday was fast sunday and it was so amazing. i fasted for each of you! it is amazing that the day after i fasted for you all i got your dear elders about your job interview dad! i am so happy for you. would you all move to Idaho?  i want to hear more details so i hope your letter comes soon mom. i had a really strong feeling that it could be a blessing to our family. good luck dad! 

OH and..... BIG NEWS....... on sunday i was called to be a sister training leader with my companion for our entire ZONE! i am so excited. the STL's helped me so so much when i first got to the MTC and they would visit us and say goodnight every night so that is now me and HS job! I LOVE IT. seriously. we go to bed so much later because we talk and talk and talk with the other hermanas but i love it so much! oh and we also get 4 new hermanas and 10 new elders tonight! so we'll be in meetings and playing get to know you games and showing them around all night so..... NO CLASS. lol jk i love class. it's the best! 

we teach a lesson almost every day and it's always really nerve wracking but i feel so great afterwards. 

oh also other big news..... BIG BIG NEWS........ i got my visa on monday!!!!! i get to go straight to Mexico! ayayayayaya! i am so excited. HS and i took the front runner into salt lake city to visit the mexico consulate to get our visas. i waved to your work mom! i was hoping that you would be looking out the window and thinking of me even thought you had nooooo idea i was out there. oh also to consulate was right by the bee's stadium! so chill, so many memories. i took a picture in front of it! 

i have so many pictures to send. tuesday night was amazing as usual. the devotionals at the MTC are amazing! seriously. i wrote down two pages of notes because i was so inspired. oh and that reminds me... mom could you send my anthropologie journal so i can use it as my spiritual journal? i want to put all of my devotinal notes into a journal so i can keep them safe intstead of the random notebook i've been using. 

you guys! i miss you all and i love you so much but i love the MTC so much too. i love everything about it. classes, my companion, devotionals, movies, mormon messages (WATCH MORMON MESSAGES. we get to watch a few everyday after we do our grammar on the computers and OH MY GOSH they are GOLD), scripture study, speaking "spanglish" 24/7, and everything else. the MTC is truly the greatest place on earth! i am happier than i've ever been. i could tell you how much i love it 1,000 more times and that wouldn't be enough. 

 thank you all for the dear elders and letters and notecards! they keep me going. also let the rest of the family know how much i love them!

I LOVE YOU

Hermana Williams (HW in my district)

PS no one ever gave me Jake's email so someone HMU with it or forward this to him please

PSS THREE WEEKS. like what? where has the time gone? i'm not ready to leave the MTC. CAN YOU BELIEVE I'M HALFWAY THERE???!!!

week 2 feeling great!

hola todos!

holy cow i am so flustered when i write emails and letters because i cant ever remember what i did this morning, let alone last week!! THE DAYS ARE LONG BUT THE WEEKS FLY. thank you for the packages everyone! they save my life.

ready for some funny stories_ (sorry the question mark doesnt work this keyboard is crap) but okay here it is, soooo i didnt have an alarm clock so i bought one here,,, come to find out it TICKS SO LOUD AT NIGHT so the next morning i took it to go throw it away before class and my companion had the best idea to hide it in the other districts room and set it to go off at random times so hahahaha the alarm clock is the best prank the MTC has ever seen. we still laugh all the time. i love mi companara! shes so cute. every night we jam out to the lower lights and eat pumpkin bread. alsoooooo shes the best singer ever and is teaching me how to read music so choir practice this week was really fun! ahhhh i love her. the MTC IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD. the food is still gross. thank you for the almonds mom! send more snacks please! nate just told me that i needed to enjoy the food because the food in the field is 1000x worse sooo i might die in Mexico -____- 

hmmm what else! well sundays and tuesdays are my favorite days! we get to go up to main campus for devotionals. we walk and it takes like 20 minutes and its freezing but its so so fun!

classes are getting better! i am learning so much. i can pray bear my testimony and teach parts of a lesson in spanish! we teach almost everyday now and i get anxiety every time but they're getting better and better! i didn't even use notes last time! the gift of tongues is real. however you have to put in so much hard work to receive it. we study so much every day and when were not in class we have a ring of flashcards that we stick to our skirts to practice. i really do love it here! its freezing but part of me doesn't ever want to leave the mtc. best place on earth!! 

i am so thankful that i chose to serve a mission. its hard at times but so worth it! i love my other teacher Hermano Cuadra tooo! hes the best!!!!!!!!! gosh i love and miss you all. mitch and jake dont be shy to write more than two sentences hahahahaha. holy cow tell me how halloween goes and mitch send me screenshots of monstermash pictures! 

was there a utah game_ there was a byu game and there were people everywhere. if i come home and want to go to byu don't let me hahahahha I LOVE YOU GUYS! best family ever. i miss you! im always praying for you!

The first P-DAY letter

HI EVERYONE!

I LOVE THE MTC SO MUCH. best please in the world. i love my companion. she's my best friend.

we laugh ALLLLL the time. the MTC is one big party, with a lot of learning, studying, and reading. i just love it all! 

i wake up every morning at 6:15 so i can have enough time to get ready (who's shocked or screaming?) then we have personal study at 7 (which i live for!!!!! best time of the day. the BOM is so true) then we eat breakfast, laugh, study, language study, lunch, study, language study, exercise, dinner, LANGUAGE CLASS (tied for the best part of the day) and then go back to our apartments and get ready for bed! YES APARTMENTS. we are living the good life over in west campus. at first i was a little mad that we aren't really apart of the MTC but i LOVE IT. it's a true testimony of how much heavenly father KNOWS me. my companion and i have a huge room (im on top bunk lol) closet and bathroom! i love it. we also walk everywhere so basically i have chills 24/7 because its so cold but also because the spirit is so strong, i love it here!!!!!

i know that i wouldn't be able to go throughout my day if it werent for the spirit to guide me and help me to wake up happy and be happy throughout my day. holy cow what else. i am learning so much spanish! i have taught two lessons, and surprisingly one went really well and the other i could barely get words out. we are teaching again tonight and i am so excited! i love my spanish teacher. he only talks in spanish and i can finally mostly understand what he is saying. hes the best ever! hes hilarious. i am always laughing here!!!!!!! 

sunday was the best day so far. HOLY COW. go watch the character of christ. it's the movie we watched on sunday and it was the best thing i have ever seen. i cried! oh and also my companion loves to sing so she made me go to choir practice on sunday and holy cow i dont know why i havent been singing my whole life hahaha. im born to sing. I JUST LOVE THE MTC.

 ive never been happier. i am writing a big letter today too for our family and a few others. i wish i had hours and hours to write and email! there is so much to say. i cant picture my life without being here, the days are long but the weeks are short! i feel like i got here yesterday. oh my gosh everything is so great. well except for the food! MOM. please send me almonds, and any other healthy snacks! i can't eat the food. i have been eating salad, soup, apples and PB and that's about it. except for ice cream hahahaha! but don't worry i'm not getting fat because my companion loves to run! we run every day. sooooo FOOOD por favor. 

gosh what else? here's a funny story! we have these dividers in our classroom so we dont get distracted and i left a pile of things over by the divider and i was reaching over to grab them and put my hand against the divider and KNOCKED THE WALL OVER IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS. i screamed hahahahahaha. so i am the same person lol. 

i just love all of you guys so much. i miss you all so much but luckily i'm not homesick. my companion has been keeping me soo strong. i love her! BLESSING. okay i am sending pictures. a lot of pictures hopefully. i love all of you so much! thank you for all that you do. i did my laudry at 5:45 this morning and realized how much you do for me mom. you're the best ever. i am sorry im the worst typer. i love you. my letter will be better and more detailed. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Hermana Williams

She's alive!...and HaPpY!! Our first letter...

Hola familia!!!

HOLY COW.  What more can I say than I LOVE THE MTC.  I'm not kidding.  It's only my first night but I've never been happier.  The only time I've cried is when I read the sweet letter you put in my suitcase.  Other than that I'm tear free!!!

I LOVE my companion.  She is perfect.  She's from Gilbert Arizona!  She is so cute.  I saw her from a distance when we gathered as new members and noticed her nametag and wanted to scream!

We are also the missionaries that are in the raintree apartments, so I have a huge room/closet with Hermana Smith and the other Hermanas are outside the door and we share a bathroom (way better than the main campus) and we have a couch, oven, freezer, and fridge!  LUCKY ME!!  I love it here!

Also there is a small creamery here by the apartments that we can go to on P-days, which is Wednesday btw, so I will always think of our fun lunch before we said goodbye!

I love you all more than you know.  I miss you, but it's a different kind of miss.

I love you all!
Sister Williams

farewell pictures