Family and Friends,
To say that this week was an emotional roller-coaster is an
understatement. We dropped Evelyn. It
was hard, but we feel at peace about it. We just kept having this feeling, she
wont change, she wont change, and sure enough. We came to her house for a lesson
with the kids, and ended up talking to her for two hours straight. Heavenly
Father totally prepared her for it because she kept saying, “I knew this was
going to happen. I kept thinking about this conversation all week”. And we were like, “Yep, where are you at?” It
came down to the fact that she enjoys drinking and smoking. By the end of the
conversation she was so upset at herself. She said that Jesus literally knocked
on her door and told her to change, and she told him no. We went and saw her on
Friday to see how she was doing and she was all timid and shy. But we just told
her that we loved her and that we know that she will make the change one day.
It is hard because we still have the kids to teach and we are
worried that now it’s not cool that nana is not taking the discussions, so now
they won't want to either. We don't know what to do at this point with them. We
have a feeling that they will drop us. It is hard because they were our first
investigators and I love them so much!
Emmanuel is STELLAR!!!!!!!!!!! He loves what we are teaching him
and he loves the spirit he feels when we are teaching him. He is progressing
nicely. He has learned The Restoration, and the Plan of
Salvation. He seems to grasp it pretty good! We keep telling him
to read and pray, read and pray. I think he is starting to grasp how important
reading is to his conversion. The only problem we are having is that he is so
shy. It has been better communicating with texting, but he takes forever to
reply to anything. Anyway, it is getting better and he is getting excited. We
were able to take him on a church tour. You could tell that he felt the spirit.
It was so cool!!! Later that night he sent us a text and told us that he talked
to his stepdad, who told him that he should stay with his own church. We were
frantic!! We sent him a Mormon message that Sister Acker and I both had been prompted
to send him. When we did, he text us back that he watched it and he was going
to do as the video directs and fast and pray to know which church to join. We
let him know that we were also going to be fasting and praying for him. So
Saturday we fasted. We didn't text him that day, but on Sunday we texted him
and told him that we missed him at church. We then sent him an invitation to
listen to General
Conference to get his answer, and he said that he would. We took
that as a good sign. Then later last night he text us that he wanted to know
more about us. We realized that he was freaking out, not about the gospel, but because
we really didn't know him, and he didn't know us. :) Haha! J So all last night we talked about our
lives over text and I think that we have officially been upgraded to friend
status with him because he texted us good morning!! He told us yesterday that
he thinks that he got his answer, but he was going to pray and sleep on it one
more time. I feel really optimistic! You can tell that he is so open hearted
and willing to learn, and more than that, he really wants to know the truth for
himself.
So this week has been kind of a crazy week as far as
investigators go.
But for everything else, it has been pretty good. Sister Acker
and I are still sleeping in the living room on blankets, due to the distrust of
our beds. We are constantly cleaning them, but we still prefer the floor. Our STL's
are coming this week so we are now putting our beds back together. We went to
the Laundromat today and literally washed everything we owned; clothes,
bedding, everything. I ended up spending 20 bucks to do the whole thing. But
the lady there is sooooo sweet. In her words, these are my adopted Mormon
girls. She has made it a point to take us under her wing, and make sure we are
taken care of. She isn't a member, but she is happy to take care of a fellow Christians.
She is a doll!
We have also been adopted by the Jones', they were a referral
who we went and saw my first day out in the field. They were so happy to talk about
the bible and you could tell how much they loved Jesus, but we both were
prompted to not teach them in a traditional sense but to lead by example. So
now they feed us and take care of us, but we don't teach them. It’s weird to be
a missionary and not open my mouth and
Share my testimony of the gospel. But I have been comforted to know
that in due time, they will come with questions. So for now, they are our
adopted mom and dad. Oh funny thing, we are almost positive that D. Jones
taught my Uncle Clint in Dental School. He says that his name sounds familiar,
and that he still remembers the people he taught when the program was still
pretty small. Sooo cool! They are wonderful! The members in the ward are great
as well. Two of the ladies in the ward took us to the zoo! It was AWESOME!!!! I
loved just having fun!
The only thing that we are having issues with it being fed. We
are spending a lot of money on food each week because we are not really being
fed. In the three weeks I have been here, I have been fed 3 times, and one of those
was yesterday night. It is a bit of a struggle, but I have faith that the more
they get to know us, the more they will have the desire to feed us and have us
over.
I freaking love it out here so much!!! It is amazing, my
understanding of the goodness of God increases each day. And serving people
does something to the heart that makes you love them so much. It is incredible!!!!!!
I have been here for 3 weeks, and it feels like I have been here for a life
time.
I love you! God loves you! Please write me!
❤️-Sister Emily Williams
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