9-30-13 Howdy! 72 hour work week! 40 Day Ward Fast! Miracles and Valuable Lessons Learned! PREACH MY GOSPEL and Ward Members Are Key to Missionary Work! Three-Step Program!

Howdy!

 

Well another beautiful week has gone by here in the wonderful Texas Dallas Mission and we are exhausted. The Zone Leaders threw us a challenge to work a 72 hour work week. Typically due to studies and meetings, we missionaries will be out proselyting for about 50 hours a week so we turned it up a notch! We did our studies outside in parks, ate lunch on the road, stayed out late, and either ate dinner with nonmembers or brought investigators to dinner with us. We ended our week having worked a total of 75 hours and 50 minutes! And to add to our increased efforts we started a 40 day fast in the ward where 40 families each fast for one day each, 40 days in a row and this was our first week and boy did the Lord bless us in so many ways. We doubled the number of lessons we taught, found 8 new investigators (2 families and an individual), and were strengthened daily by the Lord. As Elder Andersen of the 12 would say, "It's a miracle!" 

We are incredibly excited and we want to keep working harder to bring the restored gospel to the good people of Allen. One of the families who became formal investigators was the one I talked about last week, Kala and Val and their children. The ones that call us Batman and Robin. We showed them a short film on the Joseph Smith story and testified of the truthfulness of it to them and they said they would come to church to check it out and read the Book of Mormon. They are a wonderful family, might as well be Mormon! ON Saturday they texted us saying they might not come to church because the family was at spiritual warfare with themselves and we haven't heard from them since but we are praying constantly that the Spirit will testify of the truth to them and give them peace of mind about joining the church. I will keep you updated on the warfare. 

We also taught a less active mother and her nonmember children the restoration and the  youngest son, about 11, asked where we came from, a perfect lead into the Plan of Salvation which we will teach next week. The Lord truly blessed us with many miracles this week and I learned a valuable lesson about working diligently towards worthy goals and waiting for the Lord's timing.

 

In answer to Dad's question about how we do missionary work, we use all tactics that he mentioned in his email to find but something we are really pushing in the ward is getting the members more actively involved in finding. Preach My Gospel tells us that the members are our best source for finding new investigators and it is true. 

We have come up with a three-step program for our ward where:

1. The members get to know their neighbors, 
2. Then learn how to invite them over for Family night (i.e. games and a treat), 
3. Then they prayerfully set a date when they will have someone over to hear the missionary lessons. 

We are kicking it off this week but we feel very confident about it and we know that the members really are our best source. We need them. If all the members were actively finding, we would have about 200 people searching for the elect instead of two 19 year old missionaries. Sounds like a good plan to me!

 

Other than that it sounds like all is going well on the home front! I am proud of Chase for being a stud at basketball and football but probably more so for his diligence in reading the Book of Mormon. Keep up the good work bud! How tall are you now, 6' 2"? It sounds like y'all are having so much fun, I'm glad to hear it and can't wait to join in on the fun when I get home! I love you all so much!

 

Until next week,

Elder Williams

9-16-13 Batman and Robin spend time with a lovely family

Family!!

Hey! So we survived transfers, Elder Smith and I are here in Allen for another 6 weeks. Our district has gotten bigger, we picked up another set of Elders and Sisters so there are now 12 missionaries in the district. The only problem is that the Elders live almost an hour away and are closer to other districts than ours, I'm going to talk with President about it.

 We had a good week this past week. An update about the guy we found riding our bikes, we taught him the first lesson and committed him to be baptized on October 12. Unfortunately he is 22 so we had to pass him off to the YSA missionaries. He went to a YSA activity on Saturday and church on Sunday, he is looking solid but we won't get to teach him anymore. That's okay though. 

I don't know if mom got the picture of Elder Smith and I on the couch with 4 kids but that picture was sent from a nonmember who loves us. We tracted into their family when Elder Hoopes was here and have been developing a friendship with them and now they tell us how they stick up for Mormons and how we totally changed their perspective on us. Well we had dinner with them on Saturday and the littlest boy loooves batman and I wore some of my batman dress socks and they know I love batman too so now they call me batman and Elder Smith robin, it is awesome!! Kala (the wife), and Val (the husband) and the two of us talked about all sorts of things and we ended up showing them pictures of all the different temples and we hooked them, they looked at all 150 of them that night. Kala was concerned that we would get transferred so we went back on Sunday and they were all happy to know we were staying and we showed them part of President Monson's talk where he tells the story of lighting the field on fire and while her kids were playing Kala and us had a huge discussion about the church and she kept talking about how her church is failing and everywhere she turns she sees Mormons, she is ready and there family is basically Mormon anyways. That is the best thing that has happened in a long time! So that is my highlight for the week.

Well I am doing well, I am tired all the time but I love it, I can't believe it has been 7 and a half months since I left. I miss you all and love you, have a great week!

Elder Williams

September 9, 2013 "Never worked so hard in my life." - Healing by the power of the Priesthood. - Miracles

Note from the Mom.  In this email, Elder Williams states that he has never worked so hard in his life as he is on his mission. These missionaries must be absolutely exhausted because Hunter is one of the most hard working individuals I have ever known. I have no doubt the Lord powers them on. Coach Burns was Hunter's Varsity B-ball Coach. The man was dangerous and almost drove the boys into the ground.

Well hello there,

 

So another week has flown by, time is passing very quickly out here, we only have one more week left in the transfer. I am more tired than I have ever been in my life. The Lord has to be sustaining me because I have never worked so hard so consistently in all my life. I'm just glad it is my choice and that I don't have Coach Burns on my back all the time. 

Being a missionary is great, I feel a sense of peace and accomplishment. A lot of people have been asking what I am going to do when I get home but all I really tell them that I don't think about it much because I am serving the Lord and I know He will guide me as I give myself to Him. It's quite comforting. 

Elder Smith and I are getting along better lately. Things were far from bad before but it's starting to feel more like a friendship instead of a "I'm stuck with this guy I better be nice" type of thing. 

This week I did something that I never thought I would on my mission. I went to the Allen High School varsity football game in their $60 million football stadium that is ridiculous on all accounts, it was amazing. Now I will let you know that I did have permission from President Durrant to go and we went with an investigator so don't worry, it is legal. We actually had quite a few positive contacts from it and had a fun time as well. We were with some other missionaries and I ticked one of them off because he wanted to stay the whole game but I made us leave. I told him that we are missionaries, not high school students, he didn't like that very much but I think he respects me a little more for it so it worked out.

On Saturday we did some service for one of our favorite people. We raked his leaves and helped him build a dog house. The only problem was that it was outside at the hottest part of the day. I'm getting quite the tan. Earlier in the week we were at dinner with some less active members and Elder Smith ate way too much of a blazing hot sauce and just about died, I found it humorous. 

We are teaching a recent convert mother and son and the mom was pretty sick and experiencing vertigo like symptoms for a few weeks and asked for a blessing at the beginning of the week. Elder Smith anointed and I gave her a blessing and a few days later she was completely better. Just a testimony builder about the power of the priesthood. 

Oh and we talked to this guy who said that Christ never talks about faith, that he has seen the original scrolls of the bible and the plates that the Book of Mormon are on and that our leaders are manipulating and lying to us and apparently he is going to live forever. We confounded a few different times and he just kept making up more stuff, it was so weird, and he was a walking contradiction. That was interesting.

 

Lastly, we had quite the miracle yesterday. We were fasting because we needed some extra help with the area and we were supposed to be having dinner with some members and investigators that night. Well the investigators ended up cancelling so we were a bit sad all day but, on our way to dinner we were riding and this car flew by, the man waved at us and then parked at a house. We were just going to ride by because he was fiddling with things in the car and got about 10 feet past it and then we both just flipped around and went and talked to him. It turns out that he has LDS friends and had stayed with them for awhile and loved it, he thought the family was amazing and they gave him a book of Mormon. Their Bishop offered missionary visits but he said he wasn't ready yet. Well for the past week he felt like he was finally at a point to talk to someone and thought about going down to the church and we just happened to ride by! He is now ready to talk about the church, he has been reading the book of Mormon on his own and wants to meet with us! We were freaking out, it was amazing. His name is Aelias (like Elias in the bible), what?? It was quite the miracle, it made our week.

 

It sounds like things keep on keeping on at home, that is great. Nicely done with the toothpaste Chase, I hope Mom made you clean it up. I love you all and hope you have another great week!

 

Love,

Elder Williams

A lovely member in Allen Texas sends greetings from our Missionary.

Monica Burns, an earthly angel living in Allen Texas, sent this to the Williams Family. Elder Williams sends his emails from computers in the local libraries and the library was closed today on p-day (short for Preparation Day.)

---

Good Morning Cindy!

It's Monica Burns.  Just wanted to let you know that the library is closed today so the missionaries can't email. However, they WILL be able to email tomorrow. 

By the way, your son bore a beautiful testimony yesterday!  I hope that my boys grow up to have such strong testimonies as your son does!  Good job on the teaching and training!  We sure enjoy having them in our home!  They stopped by last night on their way home to use the restroom and get some water and joined us for scriptures.  We made them a bit late getting home so we threw their bikes in the truck and took them home.  I hope they didn't get in trouble but it was really great to have them with us!  We have 8 children and are down to the last 2.  Our boys are 10 and 12 and it's so good for them to see the missionaries and listen to stories from home and listen to their testimonies!!  Our last 2 girls went back to college a couple of weeks ago and it was so nice to have a few more bodies in the house!!  Thanks for sharing your son with us!  

Happy Labor Day!

 

Hope you have a good day!

Love from Allen, Texas!

Monica

August 27, 2013 - Stalker Guy - Dog Threats - Not so secret Admirer, Baptist Preacher's false directions - What a crazy two weeks!

Hallelujah for working internet service!

 

Hey everyone, thanks for all the birthday wishes!! I find it ironic that the one day I really want to read some emails that the internet isn't working but that's just how it goes. Well first of all I had a great birthday, I will send some pictures home of our little celebration. The members took great care of me and gave me some presents too. We played basketball and had a great day, even though Elder Smith beat me 1 on 1 for a talk in church on Sunday. He had some extra motivation because he doesn't like speaking in church and he is a half foot taller than me but still, on my birthday? Tough love I suppose. It was a great day though!

 

As for the last two weeks, they have been eventful! No baptisms unfortunately but last transfer there was some random joe who pulled over Elder Hoopes and I and told us we needed permits to solicit and all this nonsense. Well Elder Smith and I were tracting and this guy found us again! He and Elder Smith got into it and he threatened to call the police on us and we told him to do it! So he did and sounded ridiculous describing missionaries to the police and when they showed up they let us go again. So we thought things were settled but the next day we were taking a get well card to one of our favorite part member families and this guy found us again and started yelling at us again! He is ridiculous, we are going to just ignore him from now on. Oh and we contacted this 30 ish year old lady and she kept going off about how attractive I was, it was a bit creepy... And we had another guy threaten to set dogs on us. And a Baptist preacher who told basically told is we are going to hell. So yeah, we have had a good 2 weeks. Oh and we had the 2013 Texas Dallas Mission Olympics and Elder Smith and I took gold in the free-throw shooting, represent!

 

On a more spiritual note my talk yesterday went well and we made some progress with teaching people. We had an investigator at church on Sunday finally. And I conducted my first baptismal interview last Friday which was a very humbling and spiritual experience. Aaaand there is a lot more to say but I really don't have the time to say it. I love you all, thanks again for all the birthday wishes and I'm glad you are all doing well! Happy Birthday to Cole, and Heather and Jordan! I'm getting behind on all these cards I need to make!

 

Oh and I have now gained 10 pounds in my legs from the biking and I have either grown or my pants have shrunk because they are shorter than they used to be. I could use another pair of slacks and I also need a new pair of black nike gym shorts like dad has, mine are getting a little beat up. I love you all!

 

Elder Williams

August 19, 2013 - Elder Williams Birthday - 19 Today and already served 6 months!

Today is Elder Williams first birthday - EVER - away from the family. (Tough on the Mom for sure.) Here is a chain of emails. NONE FROM HIM. The missionaries in his mission use the public library computers on P-Day to write home. This day, the computers were out. What a day for this to happen. How blessed we are to have a lovely Sister in Texas, Monica Burns, caring for our missionary!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Hi Williams Family!

     My name is Monica Burns.  Your son is serving in our Ward here in Allen Tx.  I spoke with him and his companion Elder Smith just a few minutes ago for your sons birthday.  They told me the internet was down today at the library so I offered to send a note for them to their families to let y'all know.  The Mission President won't let them come to a members home to use  a computer.  They doubt they will be able to email later this week so you probably won't hear from them until next Monday but they don't know for sure.

      So your son told me to tell you that he loves his birthday pkg., he is doing well, and...Happy Anniversary! 

     If there is anything you would like me to convey just let me know and I will be happy to do so!  We love you're son and think he is a great missionary!

p.s.  We are doing our best to take care of the Elders here so don't worry!!   I have a homemade Dutch Apple Pie in the oven for him right now for his birthday.  He told me he didn't really care for cake.  :)   I ask all the missionaries when they get here what they are allergic to and when their birthday's are. We try to do a little something for them if their birthday is while they are in our Ward.   

 Love to your family,

 Sis. Monica Burns

* * * * * * * * * * *_

WOW Monica!

I just jumped onto my computer to see if Elder Williams had written yet. I was so excited to see if he got his birthday package. This is his first birthday ever, away from our family.

How can I even express to you how grateful I am for your email?

How grateful I am that you are making him his MOST FAVORITE PIE!

How grateful I am that you take such good care of all of our missionary sons that are serving near you!!!!!!!!

The best I can do is to return the love by taking care of the missionaries here in Gilbert Arizona.

As a mother, I sit here with tears running down my face so humbled that you taken your time to assist and serve our son in all these ways.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  Our family will sing your praises in our family prayer this evening.

Much love and appreciation,

Cindy Williams,

Elder Hunter Williams Mother
Catalina Ward,
Arizona, Gilbert Greenfield Stake

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Oh Cindy,

It is our pleasure!!!   

When one of our daughters was on a mission that was my greatest hope  that she would be taken care of by her Ward families and it would help her not to be homesick.  I, like you, can only repay those who were so kind by taking care of these young men and women here in our area.  

We love the missionaries!!

We have 2 sets of sister missionaries in our area now.  They texted me this morning for a ride to the Stake Ctr. to play basketball with the Elders for P-day.  They had made chocolate chip cookies for Elder Williams birthday  today.  Hopefully he's had a good day!

I contacted the family where he is having dinner to let them know it's his birthday just in case they didn't know so maybe they can sing him Happy Birthday or something.

I hope the pie turns out.  It's been probably 5 years since I've made it.  Yikes!

Please let me know if there is anything else we can do for you!!

Love,

Monica

* * * * * * * * * * *

Again, I thank you, Monica. How wonderful that you let the family where he will dine today know that it's his b-day. Sounds like he had a good one thanks to you!

Isn't the Gospel of Jesus Christ amazing. If you and your family ever get to Phoenix, you have a place to stay at our home.

Much appreciation and love,  Cindy

August 12, 2013 - New Comp, Testimony, Door Slammed in Faces, You Tub - Missionary Ballers

Hi everyone,

 

We had a rough week this week but we planted a ton of seeds. My new companion is Elder Smith, fresh from the MTC. He is about 6' 6" and makes me look like a midget but he is skinnier than me so I've got him there. He is from St. George, Utah. He played basketball and he has a good desire to serve the Lord but has a lot of growing up to do. We get along well enough, he's willing to contact people and he teaches when it's his turn, it's just a little scattered but will come together. So he's basically just getting the hang of being a missionary. We have some work to do.

 

We didn't teach too many lessons this week and our teaching pool is shrinking but we have been planting a lot of seeds and I can see how much I have changed. This past week there were two instances where I found myself explaining our beliefs, correcting misconceptions, testifying, and using scriptures and historical information to defend our faith and to teach some very well versed and religious people who I couldn't have held a candle to a few months ago. The Lord was working through me and giving me the knowledge that I need, especially since I have to take more responsibility for teaching than ever before. It's amazing what the Lord can do and both of those people are now committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. We also met a man who presumed to tell us that he believed in God and Jesus Christ and when we told him that we believed the same he childishly exclaimed that they our God and his God are different and that he wasn't talking about it further and shut the door in our faces. He showed us! Oh and another man driving by slowed down enough so he could make direct eye contact with us and then flipped us the bird so we just waved and went on our way. It just goes to show that there are great people and very silly people in our diverse world.

 

I'm glad everything is going well back home, I pray for you all everyday that the Lord will bless and keep you. I love being out here and seeing what the Lord can do with my life and I'm so grateful for the support of you all, I love you! And congratulations on starting school Chase, I'm sure you are loving it. And one more thing, there is a video on youtube called missionary ballers or something like that, it's gone viral. Well that video was made by some missionaries in our mission a few months ago. Apparently it's pretty funny, check it out!

 

I love y'all

Elder Williams