Rolling On

Hello Everyone!!

Toilets toilet toilets.. everywhere...

I am halfway done with this transfer..  which is kind of weird.  I feel like I just got here.  The weather has been crazy.  It is cold and snowier here in the month of April than when I was down in Pennsylvania from December to February.  Spring please come!  That way with all of the walking we have to do, it will be more enjoyable and people will be out.

Fun fact... I learned that my area/branch is St. Lawrence County.  Which is the biggest geographical county east of the Mississippi. I have been trying to develop a super hero talent of teleportation so that we don't have to worry about car miles, and be able to go from farm house to farm house.  That hasn't quite worked out yet... but we will keep trying. :)

lots of rivers up north.

We did a lot of trying to find investigators this week, we just weren't very successful.  However, we did have some bright spots this week.

Blessing #1)  I got to eat dinner with President Rogers and we had our President/Missionary interviews at their hotel and go to work with them throughout the evening.  That was fun!  At first I was really intimidated, because I wanted to act my absolute best around the Mission President and I held my breath...   But, I ended up having a lot of fun and it felt like hanging out with family.  I event to hand wash the Rogers' car and we went to a nice Chinese restaurant  They don't' really talk much while eating, which is awkward... but I do love observing their relationship between them.  So much love and concern is expressed. So, I asked about some dating and marriage advice.  I asked Sister Rogers what I need to do to snatch someone like President Rogers.  Her advice:  to see their reactions in all circumstances (stressful, happy, sad, discouraging etc.)  and see how they treat their family.  All good points of wisdom.  Sister Rogers then went with us to see Nick and Hannah who are college students we teach.  I really like Hannah.  She has potential and asks great questions.  She is however, very logical and skeptical, but her heart is in the right place.  We will be seeing her more after college finals which are happening in the next 2 to 3 weeks.  We tried some other potentials, without any luck  We saw the Mathie/Atchie Clan.  They are my favorite people to work with.  They have struggles and have a ways to go before baptism but they like to be silly and we have pretty good gospel conversations.  We see them the most frequently, and I am just about ready to build them a house so they can get married and be debt free and get baptized.  Anything is better than tracting for 5 to  hours.  but o well!

Blessing #2)  We had a wonderful Zone Training meeting this week on Tuesday.  The missionaries in the Potsdam Zone are great!  They work had and are obedient.  First tie I can say that about a zone here on my mission.  We did a first time experiment of Workshops and we practiced certain skills.  I loved it..  President taught us about being urgent missionaries and living the program and then connecting to heaven.  I repented and committed to do better which is always a joy!  We then saw two new less actives who haven't met us before.  they live about 15 miles away, but they are willing to meet u and they want to come to church.  So more power to them!  We went to the only diner by us and saw some former investigators and also ran into some other less active members.  It was hilarious.  We should just go to the local diner and wait for people to come to us.  It is easier to find the there than at home.

Blessing #3)  We had a fun missionary fireside with the Branch this weekend  It is the first missionary fireside I have attended.  It was very poorly attended.  We happened to get Al there, but we did have like 5 members come and it basically turned into a conversion testimony fireside for Al.  The Spirit was really strong and we had fun.

So... in between all of those, we have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for any names of people that are potential investigators.  We did quite a bit of tracting and OYMing.  We talked to a few Italians, and picked up a ton of referrals for other missionaries.  We have the most up to date area book in the whole mission.  Everyone has been tried so we have been trying to be creative and calling random contacts on the phone and also just trying to offer up service to anyone and everyone.  Things are slowly coming around  We should be building a few fences and retaining walls soon.

We've been let in a few homes to teach the restoration, but they do not want to investigate further.   We are still planting seeds!  Trying to have people read the Book of Mormon and also trying to teach people how to read so they can read the Book of Mormon..  That is a extra challenge.

But, God has still been very good to us this week.  He has reminded me in Mosiah Chapters 23 and 24 that those he loveth, he chasteneth and tries their patience and also their faith.  But, if we submit cheerfully to all of the will of God, we will gain from our afflictions and also grow in many ways than one.  I am glad that Heavenly Father gives me trials, it means he trusts me and he loves me.  It's a tough love, but a better kind of love.

This week we are going to continue to find, to find service opportunities and try new areas on the corners of our area!  The weather should also be warming up!  Yayy!!

The gospel is true!
Love you all!
Sister Kylie Williams

The Lodge, the Campus and Conference

Hello Everyone!

Another week has passed and now we are in the month of April.  Exactly one year ago, I was getting transferred from Corning to Utica.  It seems like forever ago.

This week did go better.  We had some good lessons and I found a handful of new people.  We also had General Conference and I was reunited with my love.. Stewart's Ice Cream!  Potsdam has also stated to grow on me, it is  just so pretty.  Once it gets green it is going to be breath taking.  Unfortunately, the bugs will also be breath taking.  Apparently ticks and beetles are a huge problem in the spring.  Yikes!

We started this week on Monday with the usual P-day activities, I also did an Insanity workout with some women in the ward.  My calves were sore until Friday.  Ha ha.  Not good.  But, we had some funny experiences that day.  We tracted along a lake, with the cabins and met a lady named Moriene and she said we could come back.  We hope to teach her this week!  We also saw our friend Al.  He is doing great and is giving up coffee.  Al knows the Church is true and has a greater desire to live the covenant path than his recently reactivated  girlfriend.  Crossing our fingers that we can strengthen their faith to get them to be married.  Al is a great guy and I would love to see them be able to be sealed in the temple.  We then had to walk the streets of Norwood at 8 pm in the rain.  Nobody was outside except for a few Masons that were leaving some kind of a lodge meeting.  We went over, said hello, complemented their patriotic ties and now we are going to start meeting with one of the leaders of that group once a week.  Pretty interesting guy.  I feel like I am in part of a National Treasure Movie when we talk with him. j We will see where it goes, but I did have some Norwood pie at the local cafe (the only one in town) before heading in and that was good.


Tuesday was also fun. We headed over to Sunny Canton on the college campus of OYM and met with college students.  It was scary at first and slightly intimidating.  We got through it and actually met some really nice young college girls and hopefully we can see them more in the future.  President loves the idea of us and the Elders finding college kids on campus, so that is what we are trying to do.  I actually had fun, and we will be planning on doing it again in the future.  We then left the college and headed to a members to help them clean and move out.  The house was built in 1850 and it was pretty sweet to see the architectural details inside.  Most houses in Canton are from the 1800's.  If only most people took care of them, upstate New York would look so classy!  We then picked up a new investigator named Tracey.  She is nice and has unique views on religion but her kids want to know God, so she is willing to learn.  Not to bad.  Also chatted with Anita who is a very cute older lady that has been investigating for a long time.  she was sick and hurt her back, so we had to stick to phone lessons to talk with her all week.  We then also had an awesome less active lesson with Bro Murray.  Spirit was so strong, and he has the desire to come back to church and he is living everything, he just got out of the habit.  I am excited to keep teaching him.  He might be one of my favorite less actives.

Liz is also one of our most solid investigators, and she just befriended a lady in the ward and was introduced to Sisters in March.  She just gave birth to her little daughter yesterday.  But before that, we were able to still teach her twice.  She has strong desire to know Christ more and also to be accepted and have a future. j We hope that we can get her baptized in May of June.  That would be sweet.

Jessica, is my favorite person in the area.  We just picked her up this week.  Divorced Mom who is looking for that connection to God, but hasn't fount it in other churches.  She feels the Spirit, keeps commitments and wants to meet frequently and looks like a member and has the cutest home and kids.  I am so excited to keep teaching her.  I had a good Book of Mormon Lesson last night.  I really love her so much.

We are also teaching Karena, who was also a solid Mom, but she just dropped us this morning for no reason.  She does not want to see us anymore.  So sad, we were having good lessons, but last time she brought up polygamy concerns and thought we were FLDS.  :(  She's been looking up the wrong things.  Gonna have to put her back into the Lord's Hands.

Thursday we had District Meeting in Ogdensburg.  I SAW CANADA!  :)  It was pretty sweet!  We had a good spiritual meeting in a tiny branch building (Stage 1 & 2 I think).  We then went out to lunch at a grill and had Canada Fries.  It is kinda weird in the North country, because half of the radio stations are French Canadian (we tried to find General Conference on the radio for someone and that's how we found out).  We teach a few people that always say "eh!"  We then saw Gary and Trevor later.  Investigators that have a loonnggg way to go, but it was good to finally meet them.

Friday we ran around with planning and library service and seeing our investigators.  We also had to fill the font for the Massena Elders, they had a baptism.

Saturday and Sunday was mostly General Conference in the Potsdam Chapel.  the themes of the temple, humility, service, kindness and focusing on the Savior really stood out.  I enjoyed the talks on the Restoration of the Priesthood and lost truths.  People are struggling with their faith and their lives , so the Church is counteracting with helping us see that when we help others, we help the Savior, who in turn heals us spiritually.  "Jesus is the World's greatest leader, because He is also the best follower". Priesthood Session.  The only time, a tear was able to get squeaked out was when Elder Kernon spoke about the refugees Sunday afternoon.  I don't know why, maybe it was the accent, or maybe just the power of the message, but I really like how the church is trying to help the world and love people of other faiths and cultures, when the world is becoming more hateful and full of prejudice.  I am excited to find ever more ways to serve after my mission, because service is an eternal principle.

I know that the Church is true and that we have inspired leaders, called of God.  I love them and if everyone would just watch conference, then how could anyone deny the goodness and the truthfulness of the Church?

I am grateful for my family and for my faith.

FIND WAYS TO APPLY CONFERENCE THIS WEEK! :)  Application brings wisdom and understanding.

Love,
Sister Kylie Williams

North Country

Hey Everybody!

Another week in the good old mission field.  A lot of changes have been happening the last few days and unfortunately, I won't have a much to talk about this week because that is just how things happen during Transfer week.

Sister Munoz and Sister Kylie

So, after getting the call, I quickly started to see people and say goodbyes.  I did a few final lessons, called up some members and ran around trying to fit the accumulating pile of clothes in 3 suitcases and clean.  I don't think that I ever stopped to take a breath from Monday to Wednesday.  Crazy Crazy.  I am thankful for my time down in the Owego Zone.. I loved it! :)

Another cool thing that happened this week is that I finished reading through the Book of Mormon and highlighted any reference to Christ.  I did it in 4 months to complete the challenge from President Rogers.  First time in my entire life that I read the whole Book of Mormon and didn't miss a single word.  (Ya, I admit that I skipped the Isaiah Chapters before.)  I was the most through study and I loved it.  I love the Book of Mormon.

Wednesday was spent driving from the southern tier to the north country... nothing like 7 hours of driving.  Woop woop!  I then got to meet Karena, an investigator in Potsdam and she is pretty cool.  She struggles with her life and being a single parent with a highly autistic child.  We also met the Branch Mission Leader and had coordination meeting and got to meet a few of the branch members.  We have a mid sized branch... like around 70-90 people.

My new companion... Sister Geary

It is super gorgeous up here.  Everywhere it is so peaceful and full of cows and the green grass/leaves haven't even started yet so I am excited to know what it will look like in a few months

Since then, I have been transitioning.  I am trying to learn my new area, see a few of our investigators and such.  Due to Spring Break problems, I haven't met them all yet.  However, I did get to met Nancy and Brother Al Mathie.  He looks like "Wreck it Ralph" with a backwoods kinda fair.  He wants to be a member and we just have to help him marry his LA girlfriend.  We will see what happens :P  I met Anita and she is adorable and has been taught all of the lessons, She also needs to get married to her boyfriend of 20 years.  I also met Ray and Ann.  They are the only recent re-activations in our area.  The just talk and talk and talk.  We taught about family history and the lesson went for an hour and a half.  Ray started crying when he found out that he previously had done his father's temple work before going less active a few years ago.  We also teach this 11 year old named Brandi who is the daughter of a less active.  Well, she is quite funny and full of energy, and as been taught on and off for  the last year or two.  Unfortunately, she does not have permission to be baptized until she is older.  However, I do have a testimony of baptizing people that have support systems and the ability to be old enough to not be swayed by those who have responsibility over them.  So.. seed planted.  We also have a few others, but I am still trying to learn who they are and how to get to see where their hearts really are.

We have a lot of finding to do in the future.  However, a lot has already been done with not much luck.  The Catholic Church is the most prevalent than any other place I have been in.  Catholics make good Mormons, they just have to be willing to first listen, and then change.  Very hard combo to have.  Many people have either talked to so many missionaries that they are sick of us, or they think we are JW's and won't even shake your hand.   I have had a few people already just see the name tag and run away in fear.  It is a little unsettling.  But we have also gotten in with a few others through tracting and at least they let us in and listened once.   I think we are going to have to do more on the outskirts of town to find more.  #Farmers4dayz.  I have also seen a lot of Amish up here too.  I need to brush up on my Dutch.

We also have the area of Canton in our area.  It is a little college town.  Not very open either, but they are funny.  I tried to OYM this lady from Montreal, and she also ran away.  But, at least I got her to laugh.  It is the only thing you can do in that situation.  Also, street contacted this man named Larry on the street.  He said he would read the Book of Mormon and also had this beard that touched his belly button... and I thought Jim's was bad.  haha

On Easter, we went to Church.  We taught 2 lessons that day and also had Easter dinner at the Pittmans.  They set up an Easter Egg hunt, so I thought that was really fun.  I found 14 eggs and I  had to beat the Elders.  We do have some really great Elders in the Ward, and we have a District of 3 companionships--Norwood, Potsdam and Ogdensberg.  So small, but we will get to know each other pretty well.

Also got to know about Church History in Potsdam.  Did you know that Joseph Smith's Grandfather and uncles are from the Potsdam area and many converted and started the Kirtland settlement.  Just more and more Church History roots.  :)

I know that the Church is true, and that the Book of Mormon is also true.

Love you all,
Sister Kylie Williams

Finishers Wanted

Hey everyone!

Well, life is exciting as always.  This week has been full of conferences and teaching.

Today is super busy and hectic because I just found out that I am getting transferred to Norwood on Wednesday to be with Sister Geary.  So, I am running around seeing people and packing.  I am excited.  I am going to leave Horseheads and finish my mission up in the north country by Canada.  Kinda weird knowing where I will be on the end of my mission. I actually like it because now I can just focus on the people in the area and be in my own little world and go to work.  I will no longer have the added stress of exchanges or being a Sister-Trainer-Leader.  Woop Woop!

I am sad to leave Horseheads.  It has been my favorite area on my mission.  I had 2 stellar companions, a loving ward, plenty of receptive people and made some of the greatest friends with those we taught and baptized.  I have been the happiest here, but i also realized that I have been the most obedient and worked the hardest.  Goes to show... that when we put in our effort and give it our all, we truly do lose ourselves in the work.  But, now on to bigger things, or maybe smaller ones.  Potsdam and Norwood are actually quite rural.  There are however a few people that need a little push to be baptized and brought to church. The Mission President has asked that I go and get 3 people baptized. So, I am going to work on that.  There is a lot of hard work ahead.

We has Stake Conference this weekend (which I will talk about more later) and I talked to some old friends from the Corning Branch.  It was great to see them, and a few are actually RM's.. and I asked them.. "What advice do you have for those that are leaving their mission soon?" They both said, "Charge ahead till the very end and don't look back!"  Endure to the end.  I have seen many missionaries give up or go all out on their missions, and I have total respect for those that go all out.  In Stake Conference, the focus was love, and one of the counselors mentioned an old talk from President Monson from a 1972 General Conference talk entitled "Finishers Wanted".  I decided to go and read it because lately, I have been trying my hardest to stay focused and run to the finish line and not falter.  I highly recommend that everyone reads this.. it is amazing!  The 6 marks of a finisher and not someone who falters are:  Vision, Faith,  Effort, Virtue, Courage, and Prayer.  So, all 6 things I hope to work on over the next three months.

Don

Back to the week in review.  We have been teaching some investigators of ours.  Lynn let us back, and Don is progressing well.  He is a lonely old man and I hope that one day he joins the church.  I really do love the guy.  I am excited to hear what the Sisters are able to do with him in the future.

Rachel, Jim and Will are all doing awesome... and they all came to conference.  I am going to miss them the most. I am so grateful that we have a next life, because I really want to hang out with them then.

Brian and Sabrina Holis-Polley

The Holis-Pooley family...aka the Holy Poleys are doing so well.  Brian accepted to live the law of Tithing before even having to teach him.  He is getting baptized April 23rd and I am so excited for him.  Gage is praying more and he likes meeting with us.  Sabrina reads the Children's Book of Mormon and they all have real intent.  Such real intent.  It may take a while for full conversion, but I can't wait for the day that they are sealed in the temple!  I can see it happening.  We brought the Elders over yesterday to give them both priesthood blessings and the Spirit was super strong.  They both felt better afterwards.  Hopefully Brian's feet heal up nicely.  I am also going to miss them.

We did go on exchanges with the Corning Sisters and that was fun.  We did this service project at a Presbyterian Church and filled close to 1000 plastic Easter eggs.  10 missionaries in total, and we did it in an hour and a half.  I think we scared the Presbyterians.  They were nice but acted really weird around us... ha ha, oh well!  Also I got pulled over by a cop... I was in a new part of town and was speeding in a school zone.  Thankfully, he just gave me a warning. He said because we were missionaries and doing a 'good thing' that he would let us go.  Thank You Lord!!

We also have the coolest new investigators named Kate and Kimberli.  I am so sad to see them go.  They are both going to get baptized one day.  Kate is 1000% excited to learn and she is so happy that she just wants to cry everytime we are over.  Kimberli  has the member connection and is just really humble and cool.  We had great restoration lessons with them this week. I know they will do well.

First time ever, I am also leaving the area better than I found it... normally I just come in, tear up the place and then there's no more investigators because either they get baptized or dropped.  But now, I can walk away and know that this area is in safe hands and plenty good things are to come.

I tried Wendy's multiple times in an effort to find Nakora, but I couldn't find her again.  But hey, I got Frosty's!

We tracted, we tried new people, we also went to Zone Conference and learned about prayer.  Prayer is super important!  It really boils down to if people know that God is their Father, and He wants to talk with them.

Stake Conference was great.... lots of driving and partying with the  Websters who drove us.  They are like cute adopted grandparents and we laughed the whole time.  Back and forth!!

My new address in Norwood is:
4 Harrison Street
Norwood NY 13668

Love you all!
Sister Kylie Williams
.....yes, the Church is still true :) (And it always will be)

The Hand of the Lord

Hello!

Another good week in this part of the Lord's Vineyard... it was a fast week, and this week will probably be even faster with some crazy service projects, a zone conference, a blitz and upcoming transfers... who knows what is in store for the future!  I looked at the calendar today and I officially have 3 months left.. crazy how fast times goes!!

This week we have been really blessed and I have really come to see the Lord's hand in missionary work.  He has a sense of humor and also sends us very tiny rays of sunshine to keep us motivated to keep working hard and doing His work.  Definitely seen that this week.  He guides, He protects and He inspires.

He protected me this week when I decided to finally repair all of the broken lights in the apartment.  I fixed the bathroom and started in the kitchen, but because we have gone so long without light in the kitchen, I assumed that the light switch was in the 'off' position... it wasn't :(  So, I get up, pull out the bulb, and the next thing I know I see a spark, pop and a bang.  The light bulb, somehow short circuited or something and the surge ignited something on the inside sending a piece or two of broken light bulb everywhere.  But here is the cool thing....I was completely protected.  Nothing touched me, or hit me in the face and even though I was only 6 inches away, I didn't get shocked either.  All of the pieces of glass just happened to have exploded into the trash can that was just to the side.  It was hilarious, but scary... but also really cool.  Guardian angels exist, that is for sure!

Monday we did the usual and saw the Enright's.  We are trying to get them to Church, which is hard.  Finally we met her less active mother also for the first time ever.  I don't see them coming back anytime soon though.  So sad!  We saw Don Davis and had a good discussion with him.  We talked about how we can receive a spiritual witness and know truth!  He had never had any kind of a moment where he knew that God was speaking to him.  I never knew how hard it is to describe divine personal revelation, because it is so personal.  You have to experience it to know what it is.  Unfortunately, he is moving soon this summer down south!  But that is okay, seed have been planted!

Tuesday we had a District Meeting and those are always interesting.  I can only spend so much time with a large group of Elders, before I want to get out of there!  We saw our friend Pat, and she came to Church this Sunday!  We also saw Will and he is recovering with his leg and just loves church.  Jim blessed the Sacrament this Sunday and was a boss at it.  He memorized both blessings and was sad that he could only bless the bread and not both.  :)

We then just tried to go finding... that wasn't too successful and people were mean.  But God with his Sense of humor gave me a Frosty craving, so we went through the drive through and the cashier asked for our card and said she would call us because 'she was excited to see Sisters again"!  Her name is Nakora and is a sweet southern girl and we are going to do "operation: Stalk the Wendy's" so we can get her to call us or get her number!  I really want to teach this lady!  She was awesome.  So what I learned is that Wendy's Frosty's make for a good finding situation.  We watched the LDS Face2Face with Elder Holland with Rachel that night, because we are all young single adults and it was really good.  Everything was on marriage.  Which has it's pros and cons.. but my favorite quote of the night was, "Love is what you go through together" and I loved that.  Bonding through hardship... that's why it is so important to have the same goals and aspirations so that you can endure trials, because you are holding out for something greater, like the Celestial Kingdom.

Wednesday we did more finding and we met and taught this surfer bum named Mickey.  Nice guy, but we taught him outside his apartment complex while he was taking out the trash.  Hopefully we get to teach him again; he was pretty open...but I think his roommates don't like us!  Grr!  We did more finding...nothing was working out....  but we kept going.   Thankfully, it's been warm this week, like 60 to 70 degrees.  So tracting was nice.  Our bodies are not used to the warm temps, so we were dying and now everyone is sick again because the temps went back down to the 40's.   Up and down, up and down!  We teach this really cute new less active named Sister Peckham and she is a cute grandma, but now we have to get her inspired to go to Church too.  We also have started teaching Gage, who is Brian and Sabrina's son separately on Facebook.  He does pretty well, and he has had neat experiences with prayer.

Meeting with Brian and Sabrina was tougher this week due to them being crazy busy.  Brian goes in for foot surgery today and they had a lot to do, but we will have the whole next month to teach him at home!  We had a good lesson on the plan of salvation with Sabrina and have started to get her to read the Book of Mormon verse by verse so she can understand.  We will get there with them.  I am so proud of their progression!

We then had a little miracle.  After all of the tracting, we got a call from a member who then handed the phone over to his coworker and she is interested in the Church.  Her name is Kate and she is the most excited person I have every met who wants to learn about the Church.  I am excited to start teaching her, I just hope that her family doesn't "anti" the Church a ton... that's not good!

We picked up some new investigators on Thursday, this cute Mom named Samantha that is looking for a church and has a crazy family, but is sincere and very tired.  She needs this.  Also Dotty who works at the nursing home by the Church.  She wants her granddaughter to come to Church and we also got a few referrals... so not to shabby!

Friday we went on Exchanges with the Ithaca Sisters.  So much fun!  I got to work with Sister Gilstrap and we had a blast.  We found this lady named Kimberli and she has read all of the Standard Works and used to go to our Church 20 years ago.  But, with her kids, she left and couldn't handle it.  But with her life being so crazy now, she is open to us teacher her and letting God help her amidst trials.  Super cool.  We taught a few others that were kinda weird.  Like this Nigerian OBGYN that wouldn't allow us to speak hardly because he had so many questions.  We got back in contact with Leandra, a promising former investigator, and she said we could come back.  I hope she lets us teacher her, she has a ton of potential.

Saturday we went to this intense service project at the food bank where we packaged and gave food to about 400 households as they drove by.  That was fun!  We also went to the Horsehead's St. Patrick's Day Parade.  I didn't know there was so much "Irish Pride' in our part of New York!  I totally forgot to wear green,, but it did make people look at us more.  ha ha.

Well, that was the week basically.  I have learned a lot about the importance of prayer and how essential it is for revelation... real sincere prayer is the key and it is the first thing we do to invite the Spirit to help us learn!

I am grateful for the gospel and the peace it brings!  I know the Church is true.

Be good!
Love Sister Kylie Williams

The week in two words... Joseph Smith

Hello Everyone!

It is me again :) This week was probably one of the fastest that I have had in a while.  But it was fun, spiritual, crazy and tiring... hmmm that sums up about my whole mission.  haha.

We have been working really hard, and we are starting to see tangible results and see the Lord really work on some peoples lives here.  Yes, there are still times when people drop us, or miss appointments, but when one door closes, another opens.

On Monday, we tried some of our most recent potential we found.  And eehhh not so promising.  But, we were walking the other day and saw this family need help collecting cans.  We stopped and helped.  The Mom was thankful and the kids thought we were pretty cool.  We are seeing them this Wednesday!  I hope that goes through.

OOOhhh Brian and Sabrina just make us so happy.  They are currently my favorites.  Brian had some great lessons this week.  We covered some of the deeper things in the Plan of Salvation, we answered questions that he had had for a long time.  For a religious guy, ti is interesting to see that most religions know what "to do's" but don't know the "why's or hows".. cough, cough... apostasy.   He never knew why we need to take the sacrament or what it represents.  He never knew why Adam and eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  He never knew that keeping the commandments is what allows us to repent and feel the Spirit.  If most people would just open their hearts and eyes, then it would be almost instant for them to know that the gospel is true.  Everyday I learn of things that open my eyes to how awesome this Church is.

But, anyways, back to Brian.  We taught him about he Sabbath, and how we are commanded to keep it holy.  We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he accepted both and is now striving hard to live them.  It was hard for him at first, but he understands, so now he is applying it.  The missed Church this week due to a friend getting hurt 15 minutes before  Church started.   So what do they do, they pray to  HF and ask for forgiveness and commit to be there next Sunday and then tell us how bad they feel.  I love watching the repentance process.  It is soooo cool!  Still a work in progress, but they are making leaps and bounds and that is through the Spirit.  We also committed Sabrina to watch the 1 hour Joseph Smith: The prophet of the Restoration Video.  So after our lesson, we watched it with her.  Oh my, the Spirit was so strong in our little family history library.  Our testimonies were strengthened of Joseph Smith and the restoration.  But then we thought... how many of our people have seen this??? So we started inviting all of our people to watch it.  Everyone who did had a better week and they understand more about our purpose and the church.  Those who truly understand the restoration, progress!!

What i am trying to say is, don't take for granted your testimony of the restoration.  It is one of the most important things to know, along with the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ.  That's why Satan is working so hard to muddle up Church History and attack the beginning of the Church.  So, that was one of the greatest things that I learned this last week.

We had district meeting with President Rogers. That was fun, I love them so much.

Jim, Will and Rachel are all doing so well.  We are still trying to strengthen them and get them to the temple in April.  Jim is supposed to bless the Sacrament this next week and I am so excited to see that.  He has been practicing the prayers in his head for the last few days... :)  Preparation and Commitment!!  Love it.

We picked up two cool investigators this week.  One is named Suzanne and she was tracted into.  Open... kinda, but she smokes a tons, but she is open to learning and keeps her appointments!  Long process, but this will be a good opportunity for her.  Then we picked up Christ.  SO SOLID.  Member referral.... went over at the right time, let us right in, we taught her and she is looking for a Church and loves the members and is super spiritual.  Basically the Gray family is one of the most classy elegant families I have ever met and they will be super embers!  Now we just gotta break the ice and get in more with their crazy schedule.  They remind me a lot of Brian and Sabrina.  So more to come with them.

We did more tracting and finding and everything on Wednesday, we also taught the Baptist family... they have a long way to go too!  Then we had coordination.

Thursday we saw our typical recent converts and less actives.  Then, that night we went on up to Syracuse to sleep before MLC the next morning.  We went and had  a party and a half with those Sisters!  Sister Seader, then started to not feel so well.  :P

Front row was in the MTC together, Back row were in the MTC together too!  

Friday was MLC.  The best part of MLC was President Rogers giving us a "hell-fire & damnation" talk teaching us what we actually need ot know on the specifics of what hell actually is.  I learned so much. It was awesome. I finally know what/when/where that is... it is just confusing because of all of the different contexts that it is used in the scriptures and names.  Basically if you want to know, just read D&C 19 and then the bible dictionary.  We then had testimony meeting at the end.  Great testimonies.  Most of us at MLC have 2 to 3 months left and you could tell that we wanted to be out teaching, instead of being in a meeting.  Then Sister Seeder got really sick... like stomach flue sick.  I was basically without a companion.  She fell asleep on the couch and I went to the meting. I felt kinda weird. Unfortunately, she proceeded to get even sicker as we had to drive back and deliver all of the Syracuse missionaries in the Van.  Nothing like taking care of a sick, emotional companion in a car with 4 other missionaries.  That was stressful.  Thankfully we were allowed to stay the night in "da Cuse."  aka Syracuse...   I went to a Rite Aid and got supplies.  I am SO GRATEFUL TO BE SERVING IN HORSEHEADS AND NOT SYRACUSE.   Everyone I met that night in Syracuse looked dirty, sick and unhappy.  #Ya'llNeedTheGospel!!

Anyway, we came home on Saturday and basically crashed.  I think I got the bug too, but because I had taken so much Pepto, I didn't get sick like Sister Seader.  I just got really tired.  We slept close to 14 to 16 hours on Saturday and we slept great that night too.  I think the Lord allows us to get sick sometimes so we can take a break without feeling really guilty.  But then when you aren't teaching, the Spirit is not as strong.  Thankfully with Facebook, I was still able to do some things and get in contact with a few people!  :)

Sunday we felt better and actually worked!  We taught this super cute older lady named Bonnie that wants to be baptized.. but has a memory problem.  Ahhh!  I've see the Spirit work with Will, so I hope that it works with Bonnie!

The Gospel is True!!

The picture of me is in Ithaca on Saturday, in my pajamas on the famous graffiti walls.

Love Sister Kylie Williams

Finding the Elect

Hello Everyone !  :)

It is me again, just another week in the Mission Field, finding and teaching despite the struggles and opposition that Satan throws our way, we were very blessed this week and have been able to see the hand of the Lord in this work.  He has a sense of humor, because lately he has been putting us in the right place, at the right time, for people that we are trying to teach.  even when they are avoiding us, the Lord will prompt us to knock on a door in another city and there they are... ha ha!!  It is like the Lord is saying, "You cannot hide from ME!"  People still unwisely use their agency, but it is still so cool.  So much can happen in just 7 days.

Monday, we did the normal stuff.  We did Zumba with the ladies in the ward.  They are so funny.  I also needed a haircut badly, so I went to Walmart for a cut... I look like a presentable person now.  Yea!  and then we started teaching.

The biggest miracle this week is Brian and Sabrina.  I nick named them the Holy-Poleys due to their last name.  They have been investigating very slowly for the last 4 to 5 months.  We have put our sights on them.  They have been in the back ground but with the business of work, and everything, struggle to meet with us.  Well, we finally go to teach Brian on Facebook all alone, and we just starting teaching.  I had been praying really hard lately because they needed a very specific but different formula of the lesson organization to progress.  Some thoughts and ideas came about 3 weeks ago and I wrote them down.  (Hint:  Always write down spiritual promptings!!  It helps!)  We felt prompted to focus on the priesthood and the restoration.  He understood everything and we got pretty deep, which is what he needs, because his brain is like a gospel sponge.  We committed him to watch the 1 hour version of the prophet of the restoration.  And then everything changed... The next thing, he texts us and we meet and he loved the movie so much that he watched it twice.  Brian said that he loved the Book of Mormon, but now he loves Joseph Smith and said that he knows the Church is True!!  We would baptism him in March, but due to a surgery, we have to wait until April.  That's okay, he needs the surgery too.  So, later in the week, we set up a church tour with him and his wife.  They agreed and we showed them around.  It was the first time they had been in a church for many years.  Sister Seader played " I believe in Christ" on the piano in the Chapel.  They opened up and asked a few questions, and without us knowing they decided to take us out to dinner and we got to know them more.  They are really cool... and they really need the gospel.  Both have had many crazy difficult things in their lives.  They also came to Church.  Both came for first hour, then went to more.  We took the Ward Mission leader over that night and had a good lesson.  Brian loved it.  Sabrina is feeling the Spirit, but is still confused about many things.  Brian said he will most definitely be coming to Church!  People that come to church get baptized!!!  Woop Woop!  Still going to be a slow process with certain commandments, but we will get there.  Huge miracle for us.  It is not every week that you have a breakthrough with investigators.  Go Brian!

Another miracle... the Spirit led us to an apartment complex in front of the Church and we have been tracting there lately and finding some super cool people.  We are trying to work with schedules, but the people we found are sweet.  First, we found this older lady who let us right in.  She is a Methodist, but loves Mormons and had actually lost her copy of the Book of Mormon.  So I gave her a new one and she was so happy that she cried because she missed her old copy so much.  She lives all alone and has lots of health problems, and has lots of questions about the afterlife.  We should start to work with her slowly.  Her name is Lynn and for a 78 year old, she is as bright and smart as a 30 year old.  Fun fact, her deceased husband invented the windows for the space shuttles.  We saw his 7 US Patents on the wall.   Also, another fun fact, they went to a MENSA Meeting a few year ago (MENSA is the Super IQ Think Tank) and it has been scientifically proven that when a person takes their last breath, the body becomes lighter.. not weight wise, but energy wise.  So, super smart people agree that the spirit leaves the body at death and goes somewhere... how cool is that???


Hmm, lets see.  Jim, Rachel and Will are all doing great.  Jim loves ringing the bell, and Rachel is pumped up with family history and is getting her patriarchal blessing.  We also did 2 to 3 generations with Will for his family history and he loves it.  He does it on his own now and he might even get a family history calling.  He developed a sore on his leg, so he couldn't come to Church due to all of the pain....  the poor guy.  He cried because he was so sad that he missed Church.  And then in his prayer, he repented and committed to be there next week.  :)  If only everyone did that !!!!

Wednesday was kinda slower, we did some finding. and found potential investigators.  I can't believe that last year, I was paralyzed to go knock on someone's door and talk with them.  Growth!  We did get to go down to Pennsylvania in a thunderstorm to the Cicotti's for dinner.  It was awesome, we got to watch the storm in this valley in this log cabin with huge windows and ate cookies.  If only I could have stayed there for more than an hour, I would have loved that!!  :)

Thursday was exchanges with the Owego Sisters.  I spent the day with Sister Hawkins, and she is really awesome.  Quieter and super sweet!  We did some finding again, and we taught two really cool older ladies again.  I hope we can get in again this week.  We then did more tracting in a snow storm... which is fine.  Snow doesn't even bother me anymore. :)  Also, we taught that family that we shoveled the driveway about 2 weeks ago.  They let us in and were very nice.  They preparedness for the gospel is kinda 'iffy' though.  They love alcohol and are strong Baptists.  But, we will see what happens. It is so weird, just being in someone's home, you get to know a lot about them.

I had a few interesting less active lessons, I haven't had a whole ton of less active success on my mission.  That is why we try our hardest to have people really converted before we baptize them.

Friday was Jim's birthday.  We took him out to eat at Denny's and it was great.... until later that night when Brian told us to never eat there again and several other places due to unhealthy kitchen conditions.  (Brian is a manager at a Friendly's which is a restaurant out here.)    Apparently Denny's got closed for 3 days 2 months ago for cockroaches, thankfully that is why we bless our food!  LOL.

We taught Roger, a super social awkward yet super adorable 70 year old man.  He loves the gospel, but is so afraid of going to Church, that he doesn't want to learn.  Then there is Jeff, the super humble construction worker, that loves the restoration, but also doesn't want to go to Church yet... So many people are in the beginning stages.  We do a lot of finding and dropping, but at least we are still teaching and not just picking our noses.. haha.

The Lord is good.  I have been reading in 2 Nephi and I can understand about half of Isaiah now!  Improvement!! Better than nothing!  This week will fly by with MLC and a trip to Syracuse... but plenty of time to teach the gospel!

The Church is True!!
Love,
Sister Kylie Williams