Christmas Fun !!

Hello Everyone !

I hope that everyone had a safe and great holiday week !!  I know I did. With the Christmas week and the cold virus going around, we did not do as much proselyting as we hoped, but I still saw a lot of miracles happen during the week!

Christmas Eve was a blast :)  We spent the afternoon with some of our recent converts and got to do some much needed cleaning up around the apartment.  Then, it was time to start going to members homes and eat dinner with them.  We stayed at one family's house for 5 hours because they had their annual Swedish Christmas Eve Extravaganza!  It was a fairly large party.  I have never spent Christmas Eve with 24 other people eating and singing carols for 5 hours, so that was new and exciting!  We ate a TON of food !  I am glad that I own a stretchy skirt.  LOL.  The family had us try all of the Swedish delicacies (Lutfisk, pickled herring, beef tongue, rye bread with lingonberries, Swedish meatballs and potato sausage etc)  It wasn't actually that bad... except for the beef tongue... that was gross.   Afterwards, we practiced caroling and then caroled to all of the neighbors which is part of their tradition.  It was amazing to see the tears well up in the neighbor's eyes as we sang to them.  Everyone needs a little cheer on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day came the next morning and as a special present, we got to sleep an extra 30 minutes... which ended up just making me more tired.  Funny how living the Mission Rules changes you.  We opened our presents and ate chocolate for breakfast :)    We relaxed and enjoyed our time to take care of ourselves and prepared for the rest of the day.

I got to call my family!!  That was so much fun!  I am glad to hear that they are all doing good.  It was very interesting to hear their voices.  These last 3 weeks have gone by so much faster than the 3 weeks at the MTC!  

Next, we got to spend time at a hospital in Corning and we sang to those who needed it most.  Even though I am not the best singer, we continued to spread the Holiday Cheer.  I did lose my voice for about 2 hours after all of the singing though!  We then went to 2 other member's homes and ate and ate.  I loved getting to know them better and we even listened to a few conversion stories!  Those stories are the BEST!    I was full, happy and very tired when we got back to our apartment late that day.

But, no time to waste... after a day or two of relaxing it was back to work!  We had companion exchanges, and I took over the area with a Sister in the southern Ward below us.  I had to set up lessons, contacts, teach, lead the discussions, make travel plans and extend invitations to those we taught.  We even had time to street contact and tract.  By the end of the day, I was exhausted!  But, I gained so much more confidence in myself and the Lord.  After a short period of learning, I had to quickly start using things tools and principles that I have learned over the last month to teach and bring the Spirit into peoples' homes.

I have seen miracles EVERY TIME that we ask either members, less actives and non-members to pray after we teach an inspired lesson!  As long as we do everything in our power to have the Spirit with us, people feel it and the Spirit teaches them and makes them feel so good and peaceful.  I have even had a few members start crying during the lessons this last week as they have prayed for specific things and God answered their prayers as we sat in their homes or at other gathering areas.

I have learned this week that the gift of Agency is one of the most important aspects of the gospel.  As we ACT, as we make choices and do things, we experience changes and feel power in our life to change anything we desire.  But, we also need to focus on the small and simple things first to experience the greatest changes:   prayer, scripture study, church attendance etc.  Just as the story of Aaron and King Lamoni's Father in Alma 22, God answers our prayers as we turn our hearts to Him and forsake our sins and humble ourselves.

Well, I got to go!  Love you all!

The Church is True!

Sister Williams

Serving as a Bell Ringer

Service, Charity and Personal Growth

Hi Everyone!!

Well, this week has been a real roller coaster.  My companion has been sick and we got a few screws in one of our tires.  We have had a couple of set backs, but we've been doing a lot of service this week.  We got to ring bells for the Salvation Army again and that was so much fun.  We also served at a food pantry, Meals on Wheels, and helped out at a Senior Center.  Service always puts a smile on my face!

But, more importantly, I have learned a lot about myself and who I need to become this last week.  Things might have been hard, but me and my companion try to find things we are grateful for each day and stay happy and positive.   Working hard is the best way.

We have also been teaching members and reaching out to a lot of recent converts and less actives and getting to know them.  With Christmas this week however, everyone has been super busy.  We had a great Christmas program on Sunday and we even sang in the Choir!!  But, I have learned lots about humility, charity and how to better put my trust in God this week.  Lots of opportunities for personal growth and more to come this week!  I take over the area on Friday and go on an exchange with a Sister Missionary from the Elmira area and try to teach as many lessons as possible within a day or two.   Wish us luck :)

Well, gotta get back to work.  Ha Ha.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and be safe !!

Love, Sister Kylie Williams

Born in Corning!!

Hi Everyone!!

What a crazy and wild week it has been!  Thankfully I did make it safely to New York after 13 hours of travel time from Salt Lake City, Utah to Utica, New York.  On the way to the Mission Home, we stopped for dinner and got the famous Utica pizza and chicken wings.  Apparently, the food of choice for Upstate New York is pizza and chicken wings.  When a slice of pizza is the size of a full dinner plate, things get serious! :)  The food here is great.

Once I arrived at the Mission Home, I got to meet the Mission President and his wife.  They are truly the Lord's angels, the sweetest people ever!  That first night I slept at the Mission Home I was in a bunk bed where the mattress was like sleeping on a heavenly cloud.  Either that, or I think I was just tired from traveling.

The next day was crazy.  We (the newbies/greenie missionaries) had office training and got an orientation.  Then the moment of truth... transfers !!!  I am serving in the Corning Area  in the Owego Zone as a Sister Training Leader !!!  Me, a 1 week green missionary.   I am over 4 other Sister Companionship's in the Owego Zone and I have a few exchanges coming up in Ithaca, Binghamton, and Elmira soon! It will be fun to help the sisters I am over and get to learn their areas and their investigators.

Thankfully, I already LOVE THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK!  They are so humble and so willing to work!  I love the members here in the Corning Branch.  They are examples to me of excellent member missionary work!  Thankfully, I have already memorized most of the members in my Branch.  I also had to speak in church this Sunday!

Obviously, the Lord is giving me a lot of opportunities to grow and to learn... and to stretch and to overcome fear.  No time to wait, just time to open my mouth and teach.  Thankfully I have an amazing companion and trainer named Sister Yancey.  She is from Idaho and we get along so well.  We are like twins!  We both love sports, food and the gospel, so it works out great :)   We both help each other with being better teachers!

The days here are cold and the snow is thankfully not to high down here in the southern tier, but it is gorgeous country here in New York.  I just love it.  My companion and I have done a lot of service here this week.  I got to be the bell ringer for Salvation Army, and I got to help several members decorate their homes for Christmas.

I have also learned of the "Restored Teaching Method" used here in the Utica New York Mission.  It is an approved way to teach the lessons from Preach My Gospel.  It works sooo well!!  I have learned more in 5 days here in New York than I did in 3 weeks in the MTC... and I thought I learned a lot there too.  I have a testimony that everything happens for a reason and that I am here in Corning for a reason.

We have great members and great investigators.  I gave away my first Book of Mormon with my testimony in it.  I also taught the Restoration and the woman we taught committed to be baptized after our lesson!  Miracles!!!  It was awesome and I know that the gospel can help the people of Upstate New York, because the people throughout the State have a lot of struggles.  Thankfully, the hope and healing power that comes from Christ can fix all of those if we turn to Him.

So much to do...so little time.  Hopefully we are going to go to the famous Corning Glass Museum and have a blast today and do some other fun P-day activities as well.

Love you all!
Sister Williams

Sister Kylie Williams, New York Utica Mission

Mission President Joseph B. Wirthlin Jr and his wife with Kylie and her new companion.

My Awesome Companions

Off to New York

Hello Everyone !!

It is that time again (P-day) and today is my last day at the MTC.  Tomorrow morning, (more like night... I don't consider 1:30 am to be morning), I have a long journey to the great State of New York..with a lot of flight time.

Tomorrow will be the first time that I will be out in the general public with my missionary tag.  I am interested to see the responses I will get from people as my traveling companions and I have to travel to 4 different airports tomorrow! I will get lots of practice talking to strangers, and passing out "Pass-Along Cards."

I am crossing my fingers for good weather and would love to be able to catch a few ZZzzz's.  I won't actually be arriving at the Mission Home until about 6 or 7 pm tomorrow night.  I am so super excited to finally meet President Joseph Wirthlin Jr. in the flesh and shake his hand.

Transfers are also on Wednesday, so it will be time to say goodbye to all of the new friends I have made here.  Some will be off to San Diego.. and others will be scattered throughout the New York Utica boundaries.  I have been so grateful for all of them and the bonds we have created.  Three weeks is the longest I have ever been away from home, and with my awesome new friends and MTC companions they have made the transition all that much easier.  We keep guessing where we are going to end up.  My guess is Oswego/Syracuse area.  So, I will have to see if my prediction is right!

This week has been a little more normal, lots of classes and practice with members!  This week I have had to say goodbye to my great teachers Sis. Smith and Bro. Chipman.  They have taught me a lot.  After the new missionaries arrived last Wednesday I and the other Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders showed then around.  The next morning we got to role play with them and practice teaching lessons.  I WAS AMAZED by the growth I have had in just 3 short weeks.  I could sit down with a pretend scenario, change up lessons, relate to their lives and struggles and teach doctrine in 5 minutes without getting too deep or getting confused.  It was awesome.  I also got to help a new sister and help her to realize the connections in the gospel between the restoration, the commandments and the Plan of Salvation.  It was so cool.  Looking back, I am glad for the extra week I got here at the MTC instead of the standard 2 weeks for English speaking/US missionaries.  Everything would be a lot harder.  Me and my companion also continued to teach a lady named Sydney and "Matt" (my teacher).

It is sad to leave the MTC, I didn't realize how attached I would get to people in less than a week.  We have also continued to go to the gym, sing in the choir, and attend the devotionals.  Sunday was great to experience not only testimony meeting with 30 other missionaries, but also listen to the Christmas Devotional given by the General Presidency.  I also got to listen to a past MTC Devotional by Elder Holland.  I learn so much from these great men in the Church.  One day, I want to be able to speak with as much power and conviction as they do.

Well, time to go pack!!

PS:  I highly recommend that everyone see the latest video "His the the Gift", great Christmas Short Video about the true meaning of Christmas!!

Sister Kylie Williams