It's me again and things are still going good up in the "north country" of Upstate New York. Yes, Carthage is considered to be the most southern part of the 'north country" of New York. Here is where the average snow accumulation in inches is about the same as the number of trees and shrubs per acres of land. The leaves are even now starting to turn and hints of red and orange are starting at the top. I cannot wait until the autumn colors hit in full force. It is going to be gorgeous! The bad thing.. better get the winter gear back. Predictions are for a bad winter this year and this last one was the coldest in the last 50 years. I also learned that at Ford Drum, it's the arctic climate pre-training Fort for the military. So, all the solders getting sent to Russia and the arctic and sometimes other frozen tundras get sent to my area... because apparently Alaska is too balmy compared to New York... Go Figure!!
This week, I was down and out with a summer virus. I am still recovering and so is everyone else. The whole mission kinda got it. Sister, Elders, Ward Members.. so unfortunately, I spent 2-3 days asleep with a mountain of tissues around me and my bed. My companion paced around like a caged animal and watched Legacy ten times over. It was not fun. I have never had to stay inside and not work and it was very different. Wednesday, I decided that I had had enough and did not want to be inside. We went back to work and it's almost killed me off.
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| Pulling a tooth! Hooray for my skills from Reunion Brighton Orthodontics :) |
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| Success!! Bring on the Tooth Fairy ! |
We saw some less-actives and an investigator. I even went with the youth to a judo class and got to wrestle my companion and had an awesome dinner with the Relief Society President and PULLED OUT HER CHILD's TOO. (That was awesome. I still got my skills!) #Toothfairyreturns. It kinda made my soul happy and it felt like I was back at work. He wouldn't let his Mom pull his tooth and it hurt when he touched it. I said that I could pull it out without it hurting and he ran right up and said, "Please Sister Williams, do it!" The kid didn't even flinch.
Thursday, I thought I was doing better. Ha! We had 7 lessons that day. We saw some less actives/recent converts and then helped a member who is ill with thyroid stuff clean her house and we had the best FHE with the Sanchez family. We learned about Joseph Smith and played games and asked if we could teach their 9 year old and get him baptized. They are still thinking about it, but we hope we can.
Friday, we taught Wayne and he's a super cute old guy. Bless his heart, he is old, but at least he is still alert mentally. We taught part of the pre-earth life and he'd never thought about heaven before this life and his face was priceless! So in awe. I then crashed after 2 days of hard work and slept more. We saw a Sister and made fried chicken and then had a lesson with another less active and shared a video, but then for some reason, we also committed her to watch the Princess Bride because her dog's name is Buttercup. She said she hadn't laughed that hard in a while. So not only did we help her spiritually, but also socially and emotionally :) Everyone must watch the Princess Bride at least once in their life.
Saturday, we saw the Bryant's who are a less active family, but the kids are not baptized. It is tough because they were so tired that they didn't learn anything and their baptismal date is coming up fast. GRRR for agency. Just kidding. But hopefully they will get there soon!
We also taught this family that moved from Virginia. They were baptized in January and are super solid members. We love them. The 7 year old wants the lessons. So, we teach the family once a week and even with the craziness, they learn so well. I love teaching the kiddos.
Sunday was even crazier. The Elders planned out our whole day. They had some people to teach on post and transition them to us to teach. So, we helped clean/move a deploying soldier to IRAQ and then we went to another family's house to teach Cameron and Gabby. They are teenagers/young adults and the Mom is a member. The Dad isn't and the daughter who lives at NYC and is a Julliard ballet dancer is visiting for the summer and wants to learn more. So, we taught them the Plan of Salvation and the Mom is pushing hard to get them baptized. They are super awesome and our best investigators. They are smart and have been to church before. We will be teaching them every other day for the next 3-4 weeks. and try to get them on date for baptism. It is super fun to go to their house and they feed us a lot. Then, we went and taught some less-actives that are moving soon, but their desire to be good is like next to zero and that always makes us sad.
I reach my halfway point for my mission in a few weeks. it is almost scary. I am at the point in my mission where I am starting to realize how much faith really goes into missionary work. Because, after leaving two areas, things can go really bad or really good depending on who follows behind you, or unexpected things happen. Many people that I love that were investigating the Church, I have learned are no longer progressing or have lost contact with the missionaries. It breaks my heart. But, in a blessing, I was once promised that the seeds that I had planted would one day be harvested, and in my head I would want all of them to be harvested in the next year or so. But it doesn't work that way. God's plan is perfect, and it's perfect because it factors in the human variable and how imperfect we are. Because we are stubborn and not as humble as we should be, sometimes things take time. But time does not matter to God. He sees who we can become in this life and also in the next. So yes, it is easy to get worked up about things and people. But it is much more peaceful when I simply trust God and not try to play God. He is much more capable than I am and maybe someone may take 10 years to accept the gospel, or 25 years, or even not until the next life. But, I at least have done my part and taught them what I could when I was with them and gave them an opportunity to be blessed and have the Spirit in their lives.
Faith in Christ matters. Yes, we need to believe IN Him, but how many of us believe HIM, when he says that something is going to happen and promised blessings will come?? As a missionary, I am but a stroke of paint on a huge and beautiful canvas of what God has in store for all of us, but every stroke matter, and that is what keeps me going strong!
The gospel is true, and everything along side of it :)
Love you all!!
Sister Kylie Williams
