November 14, 2016

Hello friends! 

This week has been great!! It started Monday when we had the opportunity to go to Louisville for the first time! A lady from the Methodist church took us as well as the elders. We went to the slugger museum, it was so cool and had so much history behind every baseball bat created. It made me wish I was into baseball so I could appreciate it more! We toured the factory and at the end they gave us mini baseball bats! The coolest part of the slugger museum was after the tour was finished and people had kind of dispersed, the tour guide came up to me and asked where our church was located. She explained how she had wanted to attend for some time now but didn't know where the church was. I was so excited! This the first time someone had come up to me and asked to learn more, not the other way around!  I was able to get her information and I told her that we would refer her to the missionaries in the area. We later found out that she was going to be taught by the assistants to the President, so basically the missionaries in our mission. Then I got more excited because I knew that they would take care of her, and she would be receiving the message of the restoration by two of the greatest missionaries. The believe it or not museum was also on display at the slugger, and we were able to see some crazy cool things!! One thing that I absolutely loved was the duct tape Chewbacca, I have a picture of it below.

We then went to the science museum; it was a ton of fun! I learned so much and we were able to be ourselves and just have a good time! The whole place was cool, but it hadn't been updated since the nineties, so basically we were going to each thing and laughing how times have changed! 

Literally every appointment fell through at the last minute so I didn't even teach this week. The only cool thing that has happened was I got to go on exchanges with the Sister training leaders. I went to Shelbyville and got to do Spanish work. We met some really cool people while we were there. So most of the night was spent going around and putting up fliers for English classes. Every storeowner we asked said we could put up flyers, and were so sweet about it! Went into a laundry mat to ask the same thing and they said yes and gave us two places where we could put them up, then gave us permission to proselyte in the laundry mat itself! That never happens! We are not even allowed to talk to people in the Kroger parking lot! This lady was so sweet and I felt the spirit so strong when I was talking to her. She told us that when the time is right everyone will know what church is the true church of Christ but for now we were just trying to make our way. It opened the door for me to testify to her that the true church that she has been searching for is here and that we were here to spread the message of the restoration of Christ church again on the earth in it's fullness. She seemed excited by the thought. 

We also had interviews this week. It was so fun, but I was shaking in my boots before them and it ended up turning into a great conversation! Sister Brough also loaded us up with healthy treats, which is awesome!!!!!! But in our interview, the President came out and told us that we're wasting our time with Cassie and that we needed to be focused on people who are willing to change and become better. We were super sad and we both were tearing up, but we knew he was right. 

Anyway this week has been good! We only have 2 more weeks of this transfer so I am almost out of training!!!!!! 

I love you all so much!!! 

-Sister Emily Williams 

November 7, 2016

Family and Friends,

This week was long, and hard. I had one of those weeks; it was long, difficult, and not very spiritually uplifting. We spent a good amount of our time at the library finishing the video and trying to get the last minute people to be in it. I don't know how networkers do it. I felt like such a nagger by the end of the week, and guilty for the constant pestering. But the video has been posted and between my page and my companion’s, in three days it has over 3.8 thousand views, and 57 shares!! That is super exciting! We are happy that this is actually getting the views we were hoping that it would! Thank you to everyone who participated!!!! Please if you have not shared it, please go and do that! Ok, enough about our rockin’ video.

We taught Cassie twice this week and each time it was, again, crazy!!!! Her kids were rambunctious, and the spirit was not there. She is so scared to receive an answer about whether or not she should marry her boyfriend that she tries to keep us distracted with kids and random non-gospel related stories. And she has canceled on us twice. So, the next time we meet with her, it will be a hard conversation. Sister Acker and I have decided that the next time we meet, we will talk about how she needs to come to church, and how she needs to be actively trying to receive an answer. Because if she is not trying to make the necessary changes to come closer to God, and live the commandments, then us teaching her is a waste of our time and hers. It is so hard because she knows it is true. But when it came to choosing the harder right, she was too scared to act. We continue to tell her that if it is what you desire, and it is in line with God’s will, He will provide a way for you it achieve the thing that you need. But in order for God to be able to act in your life, you need to ask in prayer, with full purpose of heart, and real intent, willing to act on the answer you receive. Only then will he open the doors for you.

It seems like in Kentucky, the southern hospitality went out the door along with the warm weather. We're all bike now and it has been rainy and cold. People have been rude to us all week. It has been hard because both sister Acker and I have felt ourselves getting sick, and so, we're  tired and our bodies are so drained, and people are so rude. Last Sunday we rode past this homeless lady on the way to church, Sister Acker was in front of me, and she said hi to the lady as we passed. The lady screamed back: SHUT UP!!!! I was the awkward caboose that she glared at as she passed. Well we saw her a couple of times this week. The second time we saw her was at the library. Luckily she was too focused on her computer screen to notice us. We saw her again at the library, again she was too focused on her screen to see us there. But yesterday we passed her on the way to church. She started waving her arms and yelling even before we got close to her. She started yelling to us and she said: GET OFF THE SIDEWALK YOU STUPID GIRLS, BEFORE YOU GET CAUGHT!!!!!!! Then she hit my back as she passed by me. It didn't hurt, but I was in shock! This lady, who we were already scared to run into went from harmless crazy women who is most definitely on drugs, to potentially violent women who is most DEFINITELY, on drugs. We have come to the conclusion that when we ride to church, we need to bring the elders with us to be safe.

CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! I feel as though I have finally been initiated into mission life. Too funny!

That's all that happened to us this week!!!! This super nice lady from the Methodist church we volunteer at has offered to take the elders and us to the museums in Louisville, so I will tell y'all about that next week!!!

Love,

Sister Williams

October 26, 2016

My last weeks email wouldn't send and then dropped off the face of this earth so this week I am having to play catch up. 

Last weeks highlights:

Cassie became an investigator 

Elder Stephenson of the 12 came and spoke to the mission 

New missionary training 

Splits in Shelbyville

This weeks highlights:

Stake Conference 

All bike 

Temple 

Facebook video: IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS PART AT THE BOTTOM!!!!!! 

So I approached this lady (Cassie) sitting on the porch of the apartments where she lived and she said that we could come back and teach her more, the first time we came to her door and she wasn't home to make the appointment, but later that week we found her again sitting on her porch, so Sister Acker and I decided to go teach her there. We did and she loved it! She said she got cold chills when we said the closing prayer, and when I asked her how she felt, she said that she felt relief! AHHHHHHH yes!!!!!!!! She is sooooo awesome and she loves everything we have taught her. The only problem, is that she works on Sundays. So knowing she couldn't go on Sunday when church was scheduled, but with Stake Conference this last week it provided a unique chance for her to come to a meeting at night time. So she came to the adult session. It was all about temples and families being sealed together in the temple. And we thought: oh great, she doesn't understand any of this, she is going to be frustrated! Turns out she LOVED it!!! Family is incredibly important to her and she just loved it, she actually cried a few times!!!  We asked her: is the church true? And she said yes!!! We were so happy! The next night was Sunday night and we asked her to come to a new member, investigator fireside. She agreed to come and she ended up baring her first testimony..... A NEW INVESTIGATOR OF TWO WEEKS!!!!!!  She is so awesome! Yesterday, we taught her the chastity lesson (she has been living with her boyfriend for 4 years) we ended up basically asking her to get married. She, you could tell was sooo terrified of talking to her boyfriend about it. It ended on a good note when we talked about 1 Nephi 3: 7 and we promised her that the lord will provide an opportunity for her to talk to her boyfriend. And because it is doing what the lord has asked us to do, all will work out in the end. We are again nervous because we have to teach her the word of wisdom next, and she smokes.  

So 2 weeks ago Elder Stephenson came! The whole mission came together! Which only happens when a member of the twelve apostles come. So all 200 ish missionaries came to hear Elder Uceda (who came and spoke while I was in the MTC) our area seventy, as well as Elder Stephenson!!!!!!!!!! It was incredible, and we sat on the front row!!!!!!!!!! They shook ever Missionaries hand. And spoke to us briefly about where we lived, how long we had been out, family ect. Then Elder Uceda spoke, and he is just the sweetest, kindest man, and so humble! He spoke about how we as missionaries are taking part in creating disciples of Christ. What a humbling moment, to know that I am a tool in the lords hand in creating disciples of Christ! Then Elder Stephenson stood up and started out with a brief talk, before coming down off the stand and giving us a training. He expressed the importance of teaching with the Holy Ghost. He said always teach in a trio, you, your companion, and the Holy Ghost. He said when we don't teach with the Holy Ghost it is like taking Elder Holland with us and never letting him talk, and then at the end apologizing saying that there just wasn't enough time to fit him him. He was like NO! You wouldn't do that, you would show up say the opening prayer, and then say: take it away Holland! It is the same with the Holy Ghost. Teaching by the spirit is the only way that an investigator is going to feel anything. 

I also got to go to new missionary training this week in Lexington, it was awesome! It was a training/ stop beating yourself up, your new. They showed a video called missionary work and the atonement that left us all sobbing (even the elders). If any of you have not seen that video, go on YouTube!! 

I was also able to go to Shelbyville with sister Acker to go see our sister training leaders in there area. We split off and I went with Aermana Castillo and we walked around and talked to people, we ran into a group of guys, one of which was split faced drunk. He was all over the place and his friends were all laughing we tried to talk to the ones who were lucid, and get out of there as fast as possible. But there was a moment when I got the distinct impression to testify how much the gospel has changed my life and how it will change yours. I also expressed how much their Heavenly Father loved them and wanted them to make the right choices. One of the guys' face changed and his whole body grew still. And I knew that the spirit was working on them. It was so cool!!!! 

So we lost the car on Tuesday. It was the saddest parting from it and knowing we were all bike. As soon as we were all bike, the weather changed and it has been rainy and cold all week. We look like total weirdos biking around in skirts and tights with helmets on. I love contacting someone on the street and having them look at you like: what in the world are you wearing!?!? Haha it's awesome! I have officially strained my back because of how much we do bike. I had to get a blessing from the elders because I couldn't stand up straight, my lower back hurt so much. We have been able to talk to so many more people now that we are on bikes, so it is awesome!! 

We went to the temple today, and it was the most incredible thing!!! I forgot what it was like to be completely enveloped in the spirit and Heavenly fathers love. The peace I got to feel, I hope I can carry with me always. It is crazy how small the Louisville temple is! It is one story high and just so small! The angel Moroni looked HUGE!! 

FACEBOOK VIDEO:

We are making an awesome video to put on Facebook and hopefully to help others understand our gospel a little bit more. SO WHAT I NEED YOU ALL TO DO IS TAKE A QUICK VIDEO OF YOURSELF, ANSWERING A QUESTION,  LANDSCAPE STYLE AND SEND IT TO ME ASAP!!!!!!!  

THE QUESTION IS: what is one word you think of when you think of Jesus Christ? 

Here is an example:

October 26, 2016

My last weeks email wouldn't send and then dropped off the face of this earth so this week I am having to play catch up. 

Last weeks highlights! 

Cassie became an investigator 

Elder Stephenson of the 12 came and spoke to the mission 

New missionary training 

Splits in Shelbyville 

This weeks highlights 

Stake Conference 

All bike 

Temple 

Facebook video: IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS PART AT THE BOTTOM!!!!!! 

So I approached this lady (Cassie) sitting on the porch of the apartments where she lived and she said that we could come back and teach her more, the first time we came to her door and she wasn't home to make the appointment, but later that week we found her again sitting on her porch, so Sister Acker and I decided to go teach her there. We did and she loved it! She said she got cold chills when we said the closing prayer, and when I asked her how she felt, she said that she felt relief! AHHHHHHH yes!!!!!!!! She is sooooo awesome and she loves everything we have taught her. The only problem, is that she works on Sundays. So knowing she couldn't go on Sunday when church was scheduled, but with Stake Conference this last week it provided a unique chance for her to come to a meeting at night time. So she came to the adult session. It was all about temples and families being sealed together in the temple. And we thought: oh great, she doesn't understand any of this, she is going to be frustrated! Turns out she LOVED it!!! Family is incredibly important to her and she just loved it, she actually cried a few times!!!  We asked her: is the church true? And she said yes!!! We were so happy! The next night was Sunday night and we asked her to come to a new member, investigator fireside. She agreed to come and she ended up baring her first testimony..... A NEW INVESTIGATOR OF TWO WEEKS!!!!!!  She is so awesome! Yesterday, we taught her the chastity lesson (she has been living with her boyfriend for 4 years) we ended up basically asking her to get married. She, you could tell was sooo terrified of talking to her boyfriend about it. It ended on a good note when we talked about 1 Nephi 3: 7 and we promised her that the lord will provide an opportunity for her to talk to her boyfriend. And because it is doing what the lord has asked us to do, all will work out in the end. We are again nervous because we have to teach her the word of wisdom next, and she smokes.  

So 2 weeks ago Elder Stephenson came! The whole mission came together! Which only happens when a member of the twelve apostles come. So all 200 ish missionaries came to hear Elder Uceda (who came and spoke while I was in the MTC) our area seventy, as well as Elder Stephenson!!!!!!!!!! It was incredible, and we sat on the front row!!!!!!!!!! They shook ever Missionaries hand. And spoke to us briefly about where we lived, how long we had been out, family ect. Then Elder Uceda spoke, and he is just the sweetest, kindest man, and so humble! He spoke about how we as missionaries are taking part in creating disciples of Christ. What a humbling moment, to know that I am a tool in the lords hand in creating disciples of Christ! Then Elder Stephenson stood up and started out with a brief talk, before coming down off the stand and giving us a training. He expressed the importance of teaching with the Holy Ghost. He said always teach in a trio, you, your companion, and the Holy Ghost. He said when we don't teach with the Holy Ghost it is like taking Elder Holland with us and never letting him talk, and then at the end apologizing saying that there just wasn't enough time to fit him him. He was like NO! You wouldn't do that, you would show up say the opening prayer, and then say: take it away Holland! It is the same with the Holy Ghost. Teaching by the spirit is the only way that an investigator is going to feel anything. 

I also got to go to new missionary training this week in Lexington, it was awesome! It was a training/ stop beating yourself up, your new. They showed a video called missionary work and the atonement that left us all sobbing (even the elders). If any of you have not seen that video, go on YouTube!! 

I was also able to go to Shelbyville with sister Acker to go see our sister training leaders in there area. We split off and I went with Aermana Castillo and we walked around and talked to people, we ran into a group of guys, one of which was split faced drunk. He was all over the place and his friends were all laughing we tried to talk to the ones who were lucid, and get out of there as fast as possible. But there was a moment when I got the distinct impression to testify how much the gospel has changed my life and how it will change yours. I also expressed how much their Heavenly Father loved them and wanted them to make the right choices. One of the guys' face changed and his whole body grew still. And I knew that the spirit was working on them. It was so cool!!!! 

So we lost the car on Tuesday. It was the saddest parting from it and knowing we were all bike. As soon as we were all bike, the weather changed and it has been rainy and cold all week. We look like total weirdos biking around in skirts and tights with helmets on. I love contacting someone on the street and having them look at you like: what in the world are you wearing!?!? Haha it's awesome! I have officially strained my back because of how much we do bike. I had to get a blessing from the elders because I couldn't stand up straight, my lower back hurt so much. We have been able to talk to so many more people now that we are on bikes, so it is awesome!! 

We went to the temple today, and it was the most incredible thing!!! I forgot what it was like to be completely enveloped in the spirit and Heavenly fathers love. The peace I got to feel, I hope I can carry with me always. It is crazy how small the Louisville temple is! It is one story high and just so small! The angel Moroni looked HUGE!! 

FACEBOOK VIDEO:

We are making an awesome video to put on Facebook and hopefully to help others understand our gospel a little bit more. SO WHAT I NEED YOU ALL TO DO IS TAKE A QUICK VIDEO OF YOURSELF, ANSWERING A QUESTION,  LANDSCAPE STYLE AND SEND IT TO ME ASAP!!!!!!!  

THE QUESTION IS: what is one word you think of when you think of Jesus Christ? 

Here is an example:

October 10, 2016

This week has been super uneventful. One thing that did happen, is that I hurt my hand. Because I am not the driver, I have to stand behind the car and back her. So we were in a really get to neighborhood/ apartment complex, and I didn't see a giant pot hole behind me and tripped and fell. Legs went flying, and everything!
My hand got all bloody. It didn't look like much, and I didn't cry, but it hurt so bad my hand went numb. Washing it out was he worst thing of my life. But because of the area I hurt my self in, I didn't want to get an infection. Other than that, nothing much to report. We spent all of this week biking and talking to people so that was cool! I love biking so freaking much! The hills are so much fun!

Love,

Sister Williams

October 3, 2016

Hey y'all!!!

This week has been interesting and awesome and freaking weird. Monday came and we washed our entire wardrobe. It cost so much money but we wanted to make sure that the bed bugs are gone. We still are sleeping on the ground and I doubt there will come a time where we completely trust our beds again. When 6 came around and p-day officially ended, we were so tired and out of it that the rest of the day was pretty much wasted.

Tuesday came, and this is where things get fun. We had an early morning text lesson with Emmanuel that went great. We were all anxious because he hadn't given us his answer. We had fasted and prayed for him and we knew that he had an open heart to receive the answer. Later that day we asked him, and he told us that he thinks that he moved to Kentucky to receive the word of god. He said that he believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of god, as well as the Bible, and that he wanted to be baptized by that proper authority. We were so stoked we literally screamed when he texted us. So we went over to his house at 3 and Sister Acker and I both got the prompting not to go in, that we needed to go home, get on Wi-Fi and just see what he had text us. But we were already there so we knocked on the door and we were let in and Emmanuel was acting awkward. We sat down and we tried talking to his mom but she had decided not to let him get baptized. She kept saying: one baptism, not two.  She speaks Karen (Myanmar) so the language barrier made it hard to understand her, and she doesn't know English well enough to be able to teach. So we have basically cut off all communication from Emmanuel trying to respect his mom’s wishes to not let him be taught anymore. He is having a hard time with it and it is killing us. We are going to get someone in who speaks Karen, to help us teach but for now we’re stuck in a hard place.

We went by Evelyn's and she was so busy she couldn't talk and the kids were too riled up to teach a lesson to.  So we left and went to our dinner appointment with David and Diane Jones. Our self-proclaimed adopted parents while in Louisville. We show up and Diane opened the door and called to David that the Emily's were there, even though we have told them a bunch of times to call us Sister. For the first little while everything was fine. The food was awesome, all was well, until we told them that part of what we do is when we come over to someone's house for dinner, we share a message. They both agreed to hear it, but then David got a phone call and had to step out to take it. We showed them the Character of Christ video, something we considered pretty faith neutral. We started a discussion about it and she contradicted everything we said. She basically told us we're going to be in trouble when Christ comes. We were starting to feel uncomfortable. She then fixed us a piece of pie, and while she was doing that she announced that the reason her son moved to Utah was because he loved the Mormons so much that he made it his life's mission to save them by dissuading them from their faith. Sister Acker and I had a hard time keeping our composure. I asked her, to draw the conversation away from us, what faith she was and what she believes. She then told us that she is Southern Baptist. Our stomachs sunk and we were like, crap. She then proceeded to tell us how in her faith, They believe that adding and taking away from the Bible makes us Heretics, and the fact that we have the Book of Mormon makes us a cult. We politely thanked them for dinner and got the heck out of there. We have come to the conclusion that we will never go back to their house. We felt like Hansel and Gretel, being fed and then eaten alive. Not a fun experience. Southern Baptists are mean! This is the second middle-aged Baptist woman that has chewed us out.

We also found Popelick Road, the place where the Popelick monster lives; a half man half goat. People have died on the train tracks trying to find the Popelick. Go online and look what it is because all we have to go on is what the locals have told us. We feel that we have officially become part of Louisville. J

Conference was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved the inspiration I received and the spirit that was felt. My favorite thing is how they inspire us to do better. I filled literally 21 pages of notes in the conference journal my Aunt Kristin gave me. My hand was exhausted after each session, but it was oddly satisfying to see how many pages I filled with the things I loved. My favorite talk was the one by Elder Uchtdorf. He outlined the Plan of Salvation in the most incredible way possible. My favorite thing he said was that: we chose this plan; we knew what would happen. We had knowledge of our savior, and we had faith that we would and could be saved. I felt so rejuvenated and spiritually fed! I wish it was Conference every week!!!

It was also sisters conference this week!!!! All the sisters of the mission come together and we get to hear from President and Sister Brough. It was freaking awesome!!  And I got to see my MTC girls!!!!! Sisters conference is one of the highlights of my mission so far.

This week has been awesome!!! I love you all!!!!

-Sister Emily Williams