Why Faith Matters

Hello Everyone!!

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.

Pulling a tooth!  Hooray for my skills from Reunion Brighton Orthodontics :)

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

Keep on Keeping On

Hello Everyone!!

This week's letter is going to be shorter due to a nasty cold.  I think that some chicken noodle soup and hot cocoa is calling my name. :)

So, I have come to decide that one of the funnest things I have done on my mission was last week when I played ultimate Frisbee in the rain then went to the mall for food.

Being goofy while doing a cleaning service project

Tuesday was the all day Mission Conference where President Rogers told the whole mission what the vision for the next three years was going to be.  I had already known pretty much of what he was going to say, but it was great to see some missionaries that I had not seen since the MTC or for months.  It was a fun reunion.

It was also really good to hear from the missionaries that are currently serving in my past units. (Corning and Utica) One of my fears was that after I left, that things never changed and that I didn't play a strong enough role in the area to make a difference in the 3-4 months I served there.  HA!!!  Wrong.  Corning is on fire!! They have 6 progressing investigators, 4 of which I found and taught and a few are even on date to be baptized.   The Branch is doing great and they are opening up the over flow to the Chapel for the first time for Sacrament :) Also, less actives that didn't want to meet with us are all of a sudden back at Church and the members are plunking along doing good.

In Utica, Jim, (The half naked guy I found while he was washing his car) is progressing and has been to Church every week.  He is getting baptized on September 20th!  The Ward is also doing splendid.  It was the best thing that I could ever hear.  Because, the measure of a missionary can sometimes be found in the 'after effects' of how well an area is doing 2-3 transfers after you leave.  It really strengthened my testimony that I was really making a difference even when I thought I wasn't.  More and more people are coming into the church  So, my week was made :)

On Exchanges with Sister Munez

Then, when we weren't learning about our new mission expectations and standards, we were driving.  It was a 4 hour round trip from Carthage to Liverpool and back.  It was good to see more of the countryside, but there is a slight changing of colors now.  Yayy!  The fall is going to be so pretty.

This week was a little slower, lots of families moving in and out and returning from vacation.  We lost 4-5 member families this month and gained 6 just this past Sunday.  So, just when I thought I knew who everyone was, ha ha, there is a switch-up.

Many of our investigators are busy this week with family and job problems.  So we did a lot of less active family work.  We do have some of the sweetest less actives, but it is so frustrating sometimes with the "Why don't you come to Church?? You know it is true!"  But laziness and complacency is a killer.

When we weren't busy we had to go find people, because that is one of the key aspects to President Rogers new vision.  We honestly aren't teaching enough people and not putting our faith in finding others.  So, we went one evening and tried some former investigators in the area book.  The only real success story is an older man named Wayne.  He is super sweet and we kind of broke into an Assisted Living Apartment complex to find him.  He couldn't figure out how to buzz us in.  We went in, talked to him for a little while and he gladly accepted us and wanted us to teach him.  Because we didn't have another female with us, we have an appoint with him tomorrow to teach the Plan of Salvation and also family history because he wants to learn where he came from.  It is actually the only real success story I have from using the Former records.  Normally, people are listed as former for a reason or move.  But he is the sweetest and we can't wait to start teaching him.

We also went to the middle of no where and gave a Book of Mormon to this guy named Kim who is neighbors with another former who wasn't home.  Hopefully, we can teach him this week too!  We also have to contact 3 other part member families with people that we can pick up as investigators this week.  Hopefully all goes well with that, because we really need to pick back up our investigators pool because they either got baptized or moved.  So yayy, more 'finding'.

I know that the Lord's hand is in our lives all of the time, even in the little things.  This is the last week before transfer calls and I honestly have no idea what is going to happen.  Lots of sisters are leaving and not a whole bunch are coming in, so there will be a shift in demographics and areas for sure.  But the Church is true and I love the gospel and being able to follow the impressions from the Spirit to help people in their lives.

Toodles!
Sister Kylie W.

Changes Around the Corner

Hey Everyone!!

It is that time again.  Time seems to be going too fast.  I feel like I have been in Carthage my whole life, but it is only been like 4 weeks!  CRAZY!!!

Most of the week, I was out of my assigned area and was either in Watertown or Utica, so that was fun.  I have come to realize that after being in the country settings the last 4 weeks, how much I love serving in the cities and more populated areas.  Ha Ha, who knew!!  Anyway,

Last week was great.  One of the Elders in our Unit had a birthday and he turned 21.  So, we made the Elder dinner on Monday.  We actually have been using cookbooks and recipes in Carthage to make food.  (Anything is better than PB&J's, quesadillas, and tuna salad every day. #YoungAdultProblems  Then, we went visiting teaching with some of the members in the ward to try and help improve the numbers.

Tuesday came around and we had a really spiritual District Meeting about the four cornerstones of testimony that we use to get someone converted.
A.  Pray about Joseph Smith,
B. Receive revelation while reading the Book of Mormon,
C. Witness Priesthood power at Church,
D. Jesus in the Plan of Salvation
Part of our training was to pray in different rooms.  I just felt kinda awkward and didn't want to do this again, but I did anyway and the prayer kinda went like this; "Hi there, it's me again... and I already know the answer... but I am just doing what I was told and I would like to receive a confirmation that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  Sound good?"  I then had to sit there for a little while.  It was still super awesome because even though I didn't have a super overwhelming experience or see an angel or get smacked by a dove, I felt REALLY peaceful.

This transfer, I have also been re-reading the Doctrine and Covenants cover to cover and I am currently in Section 60.  The answer I got when praying about Joseph Smith, was just what Jesus said to Oliver Cowdrey, "Did I not speak peace concerning the matter?  What greater witness can you receive than that?"  So.. it's always good to continue to pray about the simple things.  Because they do matter!!!!

I had to give a training on relating every teaching point to Jesus Christ while teaching the Plan of Salvation.  It is actually the main way that we should actually teach the Plan of Salvation and not just jump into things like, "so...before you were born there was this council in Heaven..."  Your investigators will run away if you do that!!

Flowers Memorial Public Library, Watertown NY

Then, it was off to Watertown and we went to the coolest library ever in New York.  I highly suggest that people look up the Flowers Memorial Watertown Public Library.  It's an amazing building.  It's both a museum and a library.  Sometime I wish I wasn't a history nerd... or architecture nerd too.

Balcony Area

Main Foyer

We ran into some recent converts, one of which is Brother Kelley, who is an older gentleman, but bless his heart, he tries really hard.  He just needs a lot of help.  We then got to teach a lady that was actually baptized on Saturday and even though she struggles with some emotional handicaps, it was awesome to see someone who was so touched by the Spirit.  

Then, it was off to Sackett's Harbor (also another super cool historical place, only this time its naval military).  We taught some members and had dinner.  It was one of the prettiest places I have been on my mission.  The next day we continued to work with some other investigators and less actives, but we also tried to find people at the local farmers market.  That was NOT the best place in my opinion.  People did not want to talk to us.... even the vendors told us to go away in the most polite way possible.  That was really funny.  It was also hotter than any other day here on the mission, and if it was that bad in Watertown, then I wonder how bad it was down south.  Ha Ha 

The funniest part was when we went to go get some water.  This guy was walking down the street and he wanted to talk with everyone and I said "Hi" and we ended up talking to him for like 20 minutes.  The funniest thing is that this man is a "character".  He acted with a certain flare.  His jobs growing up have been for acting in Renaissance Festivals and he is a huge movie nerd and can speak Elvish and Klingon.   He was contracted by Paramount Pictures (I think) and was an "Ork" for the first two movies for the Lord of the Rings.  So, he tried to impress us with his Ork and Elvish language skills.  That was weird.  But, he is also a Wiccan (which is one type of witch) but he is open to learning and experimenting with Christianity.  So, we gave him a referral card and the local Sisters are hopefully going to teach him over Faceboook.  It's kinda funny... I told the other Sister that if she can convert a Wiccan Ork, I'd buy her dinner...  but you never know!  Good luck with that. 

We then got to meet this lady that the Elders in Trumansberg accidentally 'butt dialed'.  Turns out it was a a former investigator and she wanted to meet with us.  She was super cool.  The lesson went well, but she ended up dropping us later.  We knew we were climbing an uphill battle when the first thing we hear is "Wait, wasn't Joseph Smith's mother a witch?" We know that things are going to get tough.  People are so crazy and they truly surprise me... like all of the time.  But, lesson learned!  If you ever butt dial someone, ask if they want to hear the gospel.  It may work out!

On Thursday, we continued to work and we went down to Utica for MLC.  President Rogers is awesome.  He has been the President for a month now and he brought the Spirit and ended up sucker punching us all in the face with the attitude of "I love you all, but we are not living up to our full potential."  He has reorganized all of the mission leadership and has brought a new vision.   He basically wants us to become a 'finding mission'.  Not a whole ton of people are wanting to become members.  So, when we are not teaching, he wants us to trying finding people instead of filling the time with administrative duties, or working in area books or goofing off (yes, some missionaries do that) or just always working with the members and less actives.  It was good.   

We have an ALL mission conference tomorrow in Liverpool and it is going to be sweet.  I have never been at at meeting with ALL of the other missionaries before.  So it will be great!  Saturday and Sunday we did our best to seeing some less-actives and recent converts that have been struggling.  :)  Today we played ultimate Frisbee in the rain for 2 hours and then went to a mall as a District Activity to get food.  We were wet and looked so "non-mormonish" and had to listen to normal music.  It was weird.  I am expecting to feel weird when I get home from my mission.  HA HA! I live in a protective mission bubble.  Hopefully other good things happen this week!

All things are good when you are on the Lord's errand!

Love Sister Kylie Williams

Climb to Glory

Wow-za!!  This week has gone by so slow and yet so fast.  It has been jam packed with lots of little activities.  It wasn't the most productive week when it comes to teaching, but we did do a lot of service and working with members, so yayy!  Work with what you got!  :)

My Military Pass :)

So, at the start of the week we went back on Post (Ft. Drum) and we knew that it would be our main day to proselyte for the week.  So wanted to try to see everyone.   But, life happens while you are making other plans... and the Lord had 'other plans' that day for us.  We stumbled upon some very sad circumstances for one of the recent converts here.  She is only in her teens and has a very hard family situation.  She also hasn't been coming to church.  Typically, when we see her, we would read scriptures with her.. (which is slightly a pet peeve of mine.  I do much better as a missionary teaching doctrine and making things more interactive.  However, most people in New York struggle with their ability to read.. yup high illiteracy rates here.)  Her Mom slipped the hint that she has been suffering from depression and it has lead to self-harming.  We had a really powerful lesson with her about prayer and how when things get tough, we can't leave the safety of the 'tornado shelter and run into the storm/tornado' just because we are mad at God.  It does way too much harm to do that.  Overall, we had a good discussion and now we know how to help her.

Later, we visited some members homes.  By the way, mission rules do not allow us to hold any child under 6 years of age.  :(  I really struggle with that, I love little kids!  I interact with these families with the cutest kids and my internal mothering instinct has been screaming to play and hold these kids--but I can't.  I have quickly made a few primary age friends in the ward and we draw pictures during Sacrament Meeting when our investigators don't show up.  It is so fun to watch the parents resolve conflicts and teach them.  I've been taking mental notes on what does/doesn't work with kids.  Maybe it is because I am going to be turning 20 soon and the hope is to have a family within the next 6 years... so that's been really interesting.

But anyway... back to members.  This week I had this strong impression that we needed to visit one certain member.  She is in a position of leadership.  But something just seemed off.  Another member gave us the referral to go see her too.  When we got there, everything seemed to be fine.  And then... she just broke down.  Like literally broke down in tears.  If we hadn't visited her that day, she may have quickly went down the path of inactivity or done something tragic that she would regret later.  In many ways, I couldn't relate to what she was feeling, but I could testify that the gospel was the answer.  I then had the impression to take her two kids who were in the room and go play with them.  That was definitely needed to help the situation.  She couldn't fully open up to my companion and get guidance and help until I left with her kids.  So while my companion was providing a shoulder to cry on, the kids and I made "I love Mommy" letters and made lunch.  The feeling... of having an impression, following it, and knowing that you did what Jesus Christ himself would do in that instance is the most powerful feeling in the world.  It energizes you from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

My companion and I were in better spirits this week and yeah, we may not have a huge pool of investigators, but we have many members who struggle and they matter just as much too!  :)  Work where you are needed!!

Wednesday was even crazier this week.  We drove down to Utica (which was so weird) and we had a zone training meeting on working with members.  Which is quite funny for us.. because as of right now... we have a brand new Bishop in his 30's, new counselors, no mission leader and the auxiliary leaders are either deployed or leave at the end of August.. well all except for the Young Women's leader.  So we just laughed and dreamed of a day when we can have a full Ward Council :)

Krysten's Baptism

We then drove back for the baptism of Krysten!! Yayy.  Her family is funny.  Typical military family with three kids.  They've been less active and the Elders sorta found them 2 months ago.  Krysten is 10 yrs old.  They have been slowly taught and before I got to Carthage, they were very lukewarm towards the Church.  But, apparently, the change just astounds my companion.  They went from almost no activity before to now  they now want to get sealed in the temple and pay tithing.  They also had us over for dinner.  They are super sad that they have to move to Texas for a month and one of us may be transferred next rotation.  Her baptism though was so fun!!

The Ivy Family 

Thursday we started with moving a super funny couple in the Ward. We moved a total of two families this week for a total of 10 hours of service.  Most of our appointments cancelled, so apparently that must have been what the Lord wanted us to focus on.  I am grateful for the years of moving with my family... (even though I hated it then), because #1) I am very flexible and I can form a relationship very fast with new people.  (That is probably why I don't stay in an area for very long, unlike some missionaries) and #2) I know how to pack and load a moving truck.  Thank goodness for Tetris.. it has helped too.  I spent most of the time rearranging cabinets and chairs and mattresses to maximize all of the square footage in the truck.  It  was actually kind of fun!

We also have the greatest elders serving with us right now in the whole mission.  They made it fun to work with them.  :)  Apparently, I will be getting my biceps back if I have to move a family at least once a week.  It will make up for not working out as much.

Moving families in Carthage

Friday was a carfast...and since we didn't live in our area, we decided to focus on administrative tasks.  Study up for our exchanges, make mini area books for the car and study for training's.

We also taught Young Women's this week.  It went awesome!!  We also have to train for District Meeting on the Plan of Salvation. So we have been busy and also having fun.

Hmmm... what else happened this week??  Oh and Bev, the Filipino Medic, came to Church again.  She loved the meetings and came with us for Young Women's.  She loved it!!  She said yes to an official lesson this week.  YES!!  Success!!  She also fractured her finger unexpectedly, so she won't be deployed now.  HA HA, God does work in mysterious way!! :)

The Church is true!!  This week is a trip to Watertown!! I am so excited!  Woop Woop!

Love ya!
Sister Kylie Williams

Behold A Royal Army

Hey Everyone!!

Just another week in Carthage.  It has been a relatively calm week, which I am okay with because the next two weeks are going to be crazy!  :)  However, this week I did have a baptism and a wedding!!  Fun Fun!!

Lexis' Baptism with Sister Duke and myself

 Now we are preparing for another baptism and wedding this week on Wednesday.  The girl getting baptized is named Krestyn and her family is coming back into reactivation and she is 10 years old.  Her 8 year old brother is being baptized as well.  They live on base and have quickly become our friends.  The kids are quirky and cute and I have gotten to teach Krestyn most of the commandments and ordinances.  That has been the main teaching focus.

Also this week, we got a completely new Bishopric.  There was no leadership when I first got here.  So all there was when I arrived was a 2nd counselor over 150 active members.  Kinda hard to do much.  Now that we have a Bishop, hopefully we will get a ward mission leader, but things are a little slow to catch up here, so we will have to patiently wait.

We have been visiting a ton of less-actives and recent converts on base.  That is the bulk of this area, part members and less actives.  Most of our investigators are still out of town on vacation, so we haven't been able to contact them.  People will start coming back and moving in around August so things will go much faster.  A big thing here we have focused on is temple attendance.  Not many of the members have been to the temple. So me and Sister Duke are trying to get everyone on a "Yayy!!  Temple and Family History are great" kick!  We should be helping some people with their Family History soon.  :)

Another big thing for us has been making banana bread for some less actives or people that won't let us in the door.  We did get into a door that we haven't gotten into lately and we taught the "B___" Family.  They are slightly crazy and suffer from poor financial circumstances, but we taught the whole family the Restoration and the son who is 10 is scheduled to be baptized at the end of August now.  So that was fun!

I also got to meet an investigator named Mary Lou.  She is super cute and came to church for the first time ever!!  She also paid $100 dollars in fast offerings and kept asking me when the 'basket' was going to come around.  I just laughed and said, "We do things a little more privately and orderly in the Church."  She LOVED that so much.

And Bev came!!  Even though we hadn't seen her all week, she has all of these crazy field tests coming up.  She mentioned a possible deployment within the next three months and now the goal is to get her scheduled to be baptized within the next 6-8 weeks.  She feels the Spirit and without really being taught by us, she knows that the Church is the "safest and happiest she's ever been in, at any church."  So once she understands everything, she will be a super solid member.

We had 3 investigators at Church!!  Neither of us have ever had 3 investigators at Church at once before.  It was so sweet!  We also had some great dinner lessons with members.  A member said that she is going to teach us some self-defense and how to get out of kidnapping situations.  She then began providing us with certain legal striking weapons for the State of New York, since pepper spray and stun guns are illegal.  One of the pros of being in a military ward, everyone thinks that we are either starving or going to get kidnapped, so they feed us or teach us how to break someone's hand in certain situations.  I am not complaining, if I ever get transferred to downtown Albany or East side Syracuse, I won't be worried at all. :)

Me and Sister Duke

This next upcoming week is going to be crazy.  A 5 hour Zone training meeting, a baptism, helping members move, a carfast (I have to walk and not use the car.. and we don't live in our teaching area.. yikes) and we have a ward pioneer celebration coming up.  There will be a watermelon eating contest and we get to run some of the activities.  Then, the week after that, I will be on a 3 day exchange in Watertown (which I am so excited to go and see).  Then, Mission Leadership Council and President Rogers is going to lay down the hammer, and change up everything.  Hopefully nothing too crazy.  President Wirthlin has done a great job with the mission.

There are about 5 billion mosquitoes here and we may be slowly eaten alive... we purposely eat garlic powder to keep them away...but if our investigators also start being repelled, we may have to cut back on the garlic.  Haha.

And hmm.... what else is new... here is a shout out to the awesome friends back home in the Reunion Ward that are going out on their missions this month.  Go get 'em Kacee, Erin and Chandler!!

Love you all, The CHURCH IS TRUE!!
Sister Kylie Williams

We are all Enlisted... Literally !!!

Hello everybody!

Greetings from my new area of Carthage, New York.  Nothing like being in my third area and being on my 4th Companionship in 8 months!  Most Sister's have 3-4 areas their entire mission.  I am pretty sure that the Lord just likes to spread me around everywhere.  At my current rate, I will have close to 6-7 service areas for my mission.  HA HA.  But, it just means I get more people to love !!

I really do consider myself really fortunate.  The Lord has blessed me with really amazing experiences and people.  Now, I get the unique opportunity to work with one of the bigger wards in New York and serve on a military base and the surrounding ex-military areas.  It is super cool.  I just love it.  This area has the most members, less-actives, part-member families than any other area I have served in.  We work primarily with the Army wives and the families so I need to brush up on the kid lessons.  I haven't really taught families or kids on my mission.  It is always been single adults or older couples.  That is a new learning curve for me.

6 days a week, we work on the Fort Drum Army Base.  It is so cool once we are inside and we've cleared the security gate/clearance--because it looks like I am back out west.  Cute maintained homes and everyone is nice and friendly.  The only weird thing is that we cannot actively proselyte on the Base.  We even have to take off our missionary name badges !! Another weird thing is that when we go to meet someone we made an appointment with, we can only say our names and ask if someone is a certain person/name.  Then we have to wait for them to invite us inside before we can start talking about anything like Church.    I feel so naked without my name tag on, it is  FREAKY !!  Instead of the standard Missionary Name Tag,  I have to wear a "military clearance pass" tag.  Yes, they did a Dept. of Defense background check right in front of me...slightly freaky, but thankfully, I am as clean as a bar of soap :)

Due to recent changes in boundaries and apartments, we are living in the wrong area and are currently burning through our monthly miles allocation just to get back to our service area.  All we need to do is give the Watertown, NY Elders a new apartment and everything will be solved.  Everyone here within a 45 miles radius is army or ex-army.  We go outside and everyone is either in military fatigues or in redneck clothing with a shotgun.  Hooah!!    Soooo.. that's been new.

My area is so very different compared to the rest of New York.  There are actually young families here.  We easily had like 120+ people at Church this week.  Most families had 2-5 kids and/or were pregnant.  Since it is the summer block leave and PCS (when soldiers get deployed or change forts) the ward was actually thin.  It was scary to have to learn so many more people.  Sadly, most people were standoffish because they move every 6 months to 3 years.  So, I grabbed a 6 month old ward list and my companion laughed and said, half of those people don't even live here anymore.  CRAZY.  Everyone we work with for the most part (90%) are super cool and normal.

We also have one of the coolest investigators.  Her name is Bev and she is a PV-class two Army medic that is best friends with some recent converts.  She just started investigating the Church.  She has already come to Church 3 times and I gave her a Book of Mormon to read.  We just need to get her to switch from being agnostic to being a Mormon.  She is my favorite 22 year old Filipino I've ever met.  Such a firecracker... but trying to work to clear her dirty mind after living on the barracks for the last 2 years will be a challenge.

Speaking of baptism, we had a 9 year old get baptized on Saturday.  Easiest baptism of my life!  I just showed up... taught her about tithing and temples and filled a font and took a picture.  I wish the others would have been that easy.  HA HA.  She didn't take the lessons until her father got back from deployment.  We also have 2 more potential kid baptism this month depending on the father's plans and if they show up to Church.  Boy, I love part member families. The are so cool.  We are teaching a Korean wife of a member who is deployed and she will get baptized soon; but the language barrier is hard.  Thankfully, we have a few Korean military members in the Ward who come to translate for us.

Oh... also.. on base .. every couple of hours a loud siren goes off.  In Carthage, the sirens go off every hour to remind the soldiers what time of day it is so they can program their bodies to sleep right at 8:30 and wake up at 4 am. IT IS SO WEIRD.  I feel like an airstrike is coming or something.. but it is just a time clock that the military uses.  Weird.  I don't understand military lingo at all and feel so dumb sometimes it is hilarious.  Thankfully, that is why we have companions.

Also, the other big thing this week, I went to a vow renewal of some members and that was a BLAST.  It was a barn wedding and it looked like something straight off of Pinterest!  So this week, I had my first wedding, my first kid baptism, and lots of military clearances, protocol and sirens.  CRAZY!  Hmm....  and the rest... trying to unpack, catch up on sleep and figure everything out.  Good things to come... love you all.

The Church is True :)
Love Sister Kylie W.

Permanent Change of Station

Hi everyone,

This week has been a little on the mild side.  With holidays and everyone traveling, it has been harder for us missionaries because people are either gone or are busy with family visits.  But, we went to many very cool events this week.

Me and "Livvy" (Olivia) 

However more importantly... I got a call to serve in Carthage, New York and will work a lot around Fort Drum on the Army military base.

 I am so excited!  I have LOVED every single member service man/woman since coming to New York!  My new companion is Sister Duke.  She is very laid back so that will be fun!!  I get to go way up north and I hope to see the autumn colors at their finest come fall! :)  Yayy!  But, with the trend of how the Mission President  keeps moving me, it looks like I will be up in the Potsdam area by Thanksgiving.  Show Shoes anyone???  Potsdam would put me in the top northern part of the mission/State of New York.  BRRRR!

I am very excited through for the new assignment and I get to be a Sister Training Leader again!  YESSS!  I also get to experience Watertown, NY and Gouverneur, NY.  I will be working with lots of Sisters and also with the military relations senior couples.  They are my favorite.  They have the best sense of humor and make a mean bowl of chili.

I got to meet President and Sister Rogers on Wednesday for the first time.  President Rogers is a beast.  He stands at 6 ft 6 inches and is this jolly, bald guy that isn't afraid to tell you to 'straighten up and fly right'.  He loves planning and wants to change up the leadership in the mission.   That will be so exciting because now I can return to the monthly leadership meetings and help shape the mission for the next couple of years.  Sister Rogers is very business like and slightly overwhelmed and homesick.  But, I'll give her 3 months and she will be awesome at everything!

I am so happy and kinda glad to be leaving the urban setting of Utica.  I was starting to pick up slang that wasn't the best.  Back up to rural country for me!  I will have to pack more bug spray though.   Apparently, the Lord likes to send me to an area for 3-4 months, tear it up and get things moving, and then I get transferred.  But, now I get to see a lot more of the mission territory which will be fun!

The less-actives are doing great.  We have two progressing families that are slowly changing and wanting to come back to church.  Yay!  As for the  investigators, we did some tracting, placed a few pamphlets and Books of Mormon.  But, Tim who is an Ojibwa Indian, is committed to be baptized in August and he is doing great.  I am going to miss him.  Meg, sometimes drifts back into her St. Louis harsher ways and even though she puts up her tough "I used to be a drug dealer, gang member" facade... I have come to see the squishy spiritual side of her that loves the Church. Sadly, she had a chance to be a full ride scholarship to play soccer at UCLA and become a lawyer also.  I have learned a lot about choices.  Don't give up on the things you want later down the road, to sacrifice for the desires of today. It doesn't work out.  But, I am hoping she gets baptized within the year.  Heather, our pot belly pig-- roller derby manager, is doing great and loves the Church.  Hopefully she will want to get baptized soon.  She acts so much like a member already, it is crazy.  Greg the woodcarver is up north and we miss him a lot.

This week we did member work also.  Especially with the 4th of July.  We went to a flag retirement ceremony and also a huge BBQ at a members house.  The members are ex-air force intelligence and they live on this big farm.  For about 4 hours we hung out with the members, retired the flag (the right and proper way; it was very respectful and even a spiritual moment; we had speeches and everything).  We did relax and have fun.  I have probably eaten like 10 hot dogs this week. HAHA.

Flag Ceremony and BBQ - Utica

Also on the 4th, we had other appointments here and there, but we hung out with some members that just returned from Sweden this week (and we got Swedish Viking souvenirs!)

The Beauchet Family - One of my favorite families!

 We also made flag cakes and watched all the fireworks!

The devotionals this week were mostly dedicated to agency and how when we use our agency and freedom appropriately, we protect our liberties.

Saturday I got the call to be transferred, so many of the members wanted to get together and eat and take pictures.  That was fun!  I have a lot more packing and cleaning ahead of me the next 2 days.

Remember that 'hairy' guy we found on accident and referred him to the Elders?? Well, apparently, he had some personal revelation with the Book of Mormon and really wants to get baptized now.  He called us and thanked us over the phone for finding him.  (ha, more like the Lord found you!)  That kind of phone call, totally made our day. It also compensated for the sadness we had over losing 2 other investigators that we were very attached to.  I have never cried about getting dropped before.  But, I learned so much looking back on the experience.  I realized that they were not really prepared.  They were looking for a church that reflected their beliefs instead of trying to find a church that had the truth.  Yeah, ice cream was eaten that day.

Sign in Bridgewater, NY

I also got to go on an exchange with Sister Dahl and worked the day in Waterville and Bridgewater NY.  It was sweet.  We just worked hard and found some great potential investigators.  My favorite experience during the exchange was with this man named Kirk.  He was a nice guy, but when we knocked on his door, he was like.. "eeh, I don't mean to be rude... but, I don't know what I believe and I don't want to waste your time."   Then the Spirit kicked in... the next thing I know, I am talking to him about the apostasy and how anciently, organized religion was a way to get money and power from people.  But Christ's Church has been restored, and it IS NOT about getting power and money.  Instead, it is about spiritual direction and help.  Then, I quoted JS-History and the next thing you know, he wanted a Book of Mormon and said he wanted to read it.  So finally after being out on my mission for 6 months, I finally know how to answer the questions of "I hate organized religion" and how to answer that by relating it to the restoration!!!  It was so sweet.

Also, we have this semi investigator named Rob.  He will be a Stake President one day, but he is only 22 and is going to college.  We found him tracting like 2 months ago and he left for college and we thought that we would never see him again.  HA!  On the 4th we both kept having the impression to go to his house and check up on him.  He was home for the holidays and it was great that we went because we taught him how to pray and how to spiritually seek for truth and not just read everything in the internet.  He was researching religions like you would research for a new car.  You CANNOT do that.  It can only come from spiritual witnesses that accompany the act of agency.  Ask direction questions in prayers like "Is this true?  Should I do this?  Read the scriptures with the question "Is this true?'  Go to church and ask, "Does the Lord really want religion to be organized this way?  Live the commandments and notice the difference and BOOM, you have a testimony.  So instead of him stopping his search, he then wanted a plan of salvation pamphlet and said that he'd pray about everything every night. He said he was praying about other religions while away at his college classes.  He wanted to become fully committed to the Church if he received a witness if it was true.  Spirit of the Lord for the Win!!  That was so cool!

As of next week, I will be in Carthage, New York surrounded by the Thousand Lakes region and more trees than in Utica (which was a lot to begin with).

I love you all and have a happy Summer!