Hello Family!
Thank you once again for your emails and It’s good to hear from/about all of you. I appreciate the photos that were sent and particularly like the fact that Cami broke down and got a marshmallow jacket!
I have a lot of random information to include in this email so I will do a little bullet point of interesting facts:
1. Elder Alder (one of the missionaries in my MTC district) is training a new missionary this transfer! I cannot believe that I have already been out on my mission long enough to possibly be put in leadership positions. I feel like I just came out and continue to feel like a greeny knowing there is so much to learn! Elder Alder however happens to be a legend. I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn with him in the MTC and hope to be able to serve around and learn from him in the future.
2. Elder Nielson who went home when we were in the MTC arrived back into the mission this week. I was not able to see him but apparently he decided to come back. I am a little worried about him though because the zone leaders were saying that he was very shy and appears to still be more homesick than normal. I hope that he was put with a great trainer so he can be shown the joys of a mission.
3. Can someone ask Brother Smith if my letter ever arrived? I am sending letters out of Botswana and they give me different stamps every time I send a letter, so I am hoping that mail actually is getting to the states.
4. Elder Hughes and I have a new goal for the next couple weeks. Here in Africa there is a large division between the blacks and whites, and between the whites and whites. White people keep to themselves a lot here, and missionaries ,including myself, gain a fear of speaking to white people. I do however have at least 10 white people in my new area, so occasionally we see them around, but because of that division of whites and whites, they do not like to even look at us let alone speak to us. In the past weeks I have challenged myself to say hello to a few white people, and our goal for the next 2 weeks is to contact a white person! It is a large goal and one that comes with much fear, but as motivation, whoever does not contact a white person must buy the other KFC. So I look forward to Elder Hughes treating me to KFC in the near future.
5. Another comment on Elder Hughes. As I said in my first letter, he is a bit of a nerd ha-ha. Because he wears glasses, he shows his nerd side a bit and recently people have been asking if he likes math and science (I die laughing inside when they ask this). It is also funny because Elder Hughes gets frazzled knowing that he has to say yes, because he loves math and science! That's my joke for the day...I am laughing just telling you about it!
6. It has come to my attention today that my mission information still reads that my address is in Texas. In case of emergency I need this to show the Canadian address, so if you could send me all the information I need about Canadian address, that would be appreciated.
7. I had another funny experience about 30 min ago when we were in the mall trying to buy index cards. I went to the counter and asked if they had index cards. The lady looked at me as if I just asked what color aliens are. She then wanted me to describe them to here which required me to try out my charade skills, which for all of you who what had the privilege of plating charades with me knows that this was a disaster. I had to tell about how if I cut a square out of a piece of paper and put it in a stack with 200 other squares, I would have index cards. She then asked what I stick it to? I realized at that moment that it was a lost cause. No index cards.
8. I have officially gone through my first pair of shoes. Note to future missionaries. Do not buy Rockhopper shoes. I purchased some new ones today for the equivalent of about 15 US dollars. But in my next package you send if you could include some DR Sholes shoe liners, that would be appreciated. I am roughly a size 10 US.
9. The sisters here in Botswana run out of days today. They are at the immigration trying to get residency, but are not sure what exactly is going to happen because apparently the first presidency will not allow them to serve in South Africa. I will update you on what actually ends up happening next week. But pretty much, Botswana is worries about different churches sending "missionaries" into the country and getting jobs and stealing away money from the country. Because of this, all churches are under investigation and they will not allow most of us to stay in the country past 90 days.
10. Last but not least! I only have a couple min to tell this story so I will type fast! But I am currently teaching this great family at the moment. They are the ones that just randomly showed up to church one week. I found out this week that she has been reading this book from a religion leader that she has come to love. She told me it was a little book with a scripture that you read every day and he has commentary on it, and that they are wonderful messages. I asked her who this religious leader was and she said his name is Gordon B. Hinckley. Sound familiar anyone? YES! This family is so prepared for the gospel and I am so grateful to be about to teach them.
This week we stopped by to check on them and we walked in only to see the whole family huddled around a TV watching the General Conference DVD that we left with them!
I will be kicked off in the next min so I must go
The church is true!
Love you all!
Elder Williams
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
FAMILY DAY... Radium, British Columbia Canada 2-2011
Canada has a day set aside every year called "Family Day". It a holiday for all in Canada to spend time together as a family. What a great idea and I think that EVERY country should have a "Family Day!" I packed the kids up and headed to Radium BC. After you go through this little pass you drop right down into Radium. Beautiful! 
Our school district put all the teacher staff days together so we actually have an entire week off school. Steve has been working on a big project at work and was not able to come with us but we decided to go anyway. It was fun to explore this beautiful country. We left Thursday after school was out and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Radium.
Playing games and getting ready for dinner...Steve and Camille had to leave Monday afternoon to head back to Calgary but Grant and I stayed for one more day. We had a great time together.
The left overs of Grant's black eye. He says he hit his eye on the garbage can. We could never figure out how he got his eye down by the garbage can! ;)
Camille has turned into a great little photographer! I loved helping her find fun thing to photograph. I will post some of her pictures in the next post.
One Day Late!
I'm sorry this is one day late mom!
Although it is transfers, our district did not go to South Africa. We did however go to the Botswana mission office which is supposed to be about an hour away to pick up some supplies, but we ended up going a couple hours in the wrong direction and getting lost in Botswana...life of a missionary!
We eventually made it to the mission office and we had mail! I got a letter from Axel and a package from the Rousseau's! The got my girl scout cookies! The RIGHT girl scout cookies! I am so excited to eat them, so if you could please tell them thank you for me that would be great. I will write them a letter, but I am sure that will take quite a while to get there from Botswana.
Sounds like you are having fun with Family week? Not sure what that is, but it sounds pretty nice. The world needs family weeks! Make sure to keep me filled in on the family activities. Other than that it sounds like everything is going well. Tyler and Kaylee lucked out with a Keller trip! Oh, and Tyler, I have been able to view a few photo's of possible matches for my "mini cheetah" and so far the closest match is a "Serval". It looks like that, but the photo of the Serval that I have seen has a short tail, and the animal that I saw had a fat long tail. The search continues... If it was a Serval though I am glad that I wasn't 4 inches further down the road or I would have hit it and it probably would have been mad!
Mom, as a side not, did you know that our mission has a website? I have never been on it, but Elder Hughes mother was making reference to it.
Another Side comment, I have decided that I really like those "merona" ties you sent me a while back, so if they are cheap and you happen to be buying me other ties, you should search those out.
I'm sorry, I will be a little scatter brained today with this email, but dad asked about the differences in my South Africa and Botswana areas, so I would like to talk about that for a moment.
South Africa is kind of crazy. It is not a beautiful country, very flat, brown, poor. It is a nice place, but if you are looking for some beauty, South Africa is the wrong direction to look. Botswana however is very sweet in terms of Beauty. It has rolling hills which closely resemble small mountains. It is a green country and has a lot of those flat topped Africa trees.
Life in South Africa (by the way when I mention South Africa I am referring to the townships where most missionaries are and where I come from) is fast and people everywhere, while Botswana is slow. Life just kind of rolls along here and I really enjoy that.
Wild life in Botswana is actually existing. In South Africa, not so much. Everything cool has been either killed or put into a game park.
The Church in South Africa is definitely growing, but it is also already built up. My ward where I come from has about 8-900 members while the Branch I am in has about +-100, average attendance is 45-55.
South Africa definitely has its up sides. It is a different world, and there are stories after every day. You always run into new things all the time, and your joy comes from the people.
Botswana though is definitely the place that missionaries like to be. It is new, and what you would think of when you think of Africa. I would say most missionaries don't get the opportunity to serve here though. It is very far from the main mission office, so president has to trust you quite a bit before he sends you to a new country. As well it is away from the good medical, so if you are always getting sick they will probably keep you near the office.
I have not had any promising news on residency though and I suspect that I will be transferred back to South Africa in about 5 weeks time. It will definitely be sad to go, but I am grateful for the time that I have been able to serve here. And I have also been blessed with one of the coolest areas in all of Botswana! Wild life, town, village, rich, poor, pretty much anything you could want in an area, it's here!
AH! time is out, got to go.
Love you
Elder Williams
ps. Dad, can you try to salvage my password vault information from the computer before you get rid of it? I realized that I did not back that up!
Although it is transfers, our district did not go to South Africa. We did however go to the Botswana mission office which is supposed to be about an hour away to pick up some supplies, but we ended up going a couple hours in the wrong direction and getting lost in Botswana...life of a missionary!
We eventually made it to the mission office and we had mail! I got a letter from Axel and a package from the Rousseau's! The got my girl scout cookies! The RIGHT girl scout cookies! I am so excited to eat them, so if you could please tell them thank you for me that would be great. I will write them a letter, but I am sure that will take quite a while to get there from Botswana.
Sounds like you are having fun with Family week? Not sure what that is, but it sounds pretty nice. The world needs family weeks! Make sure to keep me filled in on the family activities. Other than that it sounds like everything is going well. Tyler and Kaylee lucked out with a Keller trip! Oh, and Tyler, I have been able to view a few photo's of possible matches for my "mini cheetah" and so far the closest match is a "Serval". It looks like that, but the photo of the Serval that I have seen has a short tail, and the animal that I saw had a fat long tail. The search continues... If it was a Serval though I am glad that I wasn't 4 inches further down the road or I would have hit it and it probably would have been mad!
Mom, as a side not, did you know that our mission has a website? I have never been on it, but Elder Hughes mother was making reference to it.
Another Side comment, I have decided that I really like those "merona" ties you sent me a while back, so if they are cheap and you happen to be buying me other ties, you should search those out.
I'm sorry, I will be a little scatter brained today with this email, but dad asked about the differences in my South Africa and Botswana areas, so I would like to talk about that for a moment.
South Africa is kind of crazy. It is not a beautiful country, very flat, brown, poor. It is a nice place, but if you are looking for some beauty, South Africa is the wrong direction to look. Botswana however is very sweet in terms of Beauty. It has rolling hills which closely resemble small mountains. It is a green country and has a lot of those flat topped Africa trees.
Life in South Africa (by the way when I mention South Africa I am referring to the townships where most missionaries are and where I come from) is fast and people everywhere, while Botswana is slow. Life just kind of rolls along here and I really enjoy that.
Wild life in Botswana is actually existing. In South Africa, not so much. Everything cool has been either killed or put into a game park.
The Church in South Africa is definitely growing, but it is also already built up. My ward where I come from has about 8-900 members while the Branch I am in has about +-100, average attendance is 45-55.
South Africa definitely has its up sides. It is a different world, and there are stories after every day. You always run into new things all the time, and your joy comes from the people.
Botswana though is definitely the place that missionaries like to be. It is new, and what you would think of when you think of Africa. I would say most missionaries don't get the opportunity to serve here though. It is very far from the main mission office, so president has to trust you quite a bit before he sends you to a new country. As well it is away from the good medical, so if you are always getting sick they will probably keep you near the office.
I have not had any promising news on residency though and I suspect that I will be transferred back to South Africa in about 5 weeks time. It will definitely be sad to go, but I am grateful for the time that I have been able to serve here. And I have also been blessed with one of the coolest areas in all of Botswana! Wild life, town, village, rich, poor, pretty much anything you could want in an area, it's here!
AH! time is out, got to go.
Love you
Elder Williams
ps. Dad, can you try to salvage my password vault information from the computer before you get rid of it? I realized that I did not back that up!
Monday, February 14, 2011
v-day 2011 from Botswana
Hello Family!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine’s day today. They don't celebrate that here so you will have to have fun without me...now that I think of it, I'm not sure how missionaries would celebrate it anyways?
Before I forget, we have some small world connections to make. So Elder Hughes is from Nampa and his father's name is David Hughes and was apparently in dads ward while Grandpa Williams was bishop. And then he says that his Uncle coached your (dad's) church basketball team. So pretty much we have a lot of connections with Elder Hughes (he wear glasses so all the kids here call him Harry Potter ha ha).
I am happy to hear as well that we have connections with Elder Albertson. He is the man. Missionaries here in Botswana are pretty sweet.
Mom, thanks for the photos of the green mamba and the cobra. I have not seen any more snakes, but I saw the coolest animal the other day! I to this moment do not know what it was so I will just refer to it as a mini cheetah because that is kind of what it looked like. So I was riding my bike down monkey hill at about 8:30 on my way home for the night so it was pretty dark. All the sudden this animal jumped out of the bushes and I was about 4 inches away from hitting it! It was about as tall as Missy and maybe a little longer, with a very long thick, not bushy tail. I call it a mini cheetah because its fur was exactly like a cheetah with the yellowish and then the large spots everywhere. Elder Hughes kind of saw it, but the only thing he could make out was that it was definitely not a dog or a cat, but everyone that I ask about it is convinced that I am just crazy and that all I saw was a dog. It was NOT a dog people of Botswana!
So this week kind of flew by and I don't have TOO much to say today which is good because I don't have much time due to African computers. But this week, Friday night I got a call from the Zone leaders saying that they were getting the districts of the zone together and meeting with all the district leaders (which I am not one) so they wanted me to teach all the other missionaries of the Zone while they were having their meeting. I was assigned to teach about one of the "new fundamental 8 lessons", "how to begin teaching". I was a little worried because we have been taught about these SO much lately that it just becomes repetitive and everyone gets bored. And then as you do as a missionary you never have time to prepare for anything. So for the meeting, instead of doing the EXACT same thing that we do every week, I mixed it up a little bit to see if I could get the missionaries to participate. I focused the lesson on what our goals are when we walk out of a first appointment and how we can focus our teaching around showing the individual why it is that our message is important to them. That is one of the main differences that I see with these new lessons. Instead of just going into someone’s house and teaching the restoration, it is going into the appointment and showing the person why the restoration is important for them and why they need it in their life.
I thought the meeting went very well. Most the missionaries were participating and we had some good discussion about how to improve. I am glad that I have these opportunities to give lessons because before my mission I didn't have a clue how to stand up in front of people and teach them something! ESPECIALLY something they are already familiar with.
I also had the opportunity to teach Gospel Principles this week. The lesson was about family responsibilities. It was neat because we had 17 investigators at church this week (which even for us is quite a bit. 12 of those came from our companionship which is one of the highest thus far on my mission). People really enjoy Gospel principle class so it is always nice to be able to teach that. We had 5 Baptisms this Sunday, only one of them from our side, but it was a nice service.
Oh and talk about being put on the spot this week! The branch president was talking with us before Sacrament started and he was like so did someone tell you about your talk today? I was like..no, what would you like me to speak on? And he said, oh I don't know, whatever you feel is right, but I am still not sure if your speaking or what’s going to happen. So pretty much I MIGHT be speaking in a few min over a subject which is unknown to me. I was actually pretty excited (I have come to love relying on the spirit in those situations), so I was getting all excited and then he didn't end up having me speak! It was kind of a downer.
As well, I was able to study my Elder Holland notes that I took when he visited us. One of the many quotes that stood out to me was that "you will live to see the lord pour out his blessing on Africa". I thought that was a neat quote, and this was when he was referring to the scriptures about how the first will be last and the last will be first, and his point is how Africa has pretty much been last in everything in the world, including one of the last to receive the gospel, so he was mentioning how they will be first in the future...I could expand on that, but I am out of time. Oh and dad, the second counselor in the mission presidency was educated in the States somewhere and then returned to Africa, and is now a church leader. I hope that makes sense in reference to your email a few weeks ago.
Well family I got to go
Have fun
Do good
Love you all
Elder Williams
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine’s day today. They don't celebrate that here so you will have to have fun without me...now that I think of it, I'm not sure how missionaries would celebrate it anyways?
Before I forget, we have some small world connections to make. So Elder Hughes is from Nampa and his father's name is David Hughes and was apparently in dads ward while Grandpa Williams was bishop. And then he says that his Uncle coached your (dad's) church basketball team. So pretty much we have a lot of connections with Elder Hughes (he wear glasses so all the kids here call him Harry Potter ha ha).
I am happy to hear as well that we have connections with Elder Albertson. He is the man. Missionaries here in Botswana are pretty sweet.
Mom, thanks for the photos of the green mamba and the cobra. I have not seen any more snakes, but I saw the coolest animal the other day! I to this moment do not know what it was so I will just refer to it as a mini cheetah because that is kind of what it looked like. So I was riding my bike down monkey hill at about 8:30 on my way home for the night so it was pretty dark. All the sudden this animal jumped out of the bushes and I was about 4 inches away from hitting it! It was about as tall as Missy and maybe a little longer, with a very long thick, not bushy tail. I call it a mini cheetah because its fur was exactly like a cheetah with the yellowish and then the large spots everywhere. Elder Hughes kind of saw it, but the only thing he could make out was that it was definitely not a dog or a cat, but everyone that I ask about it is convinced that I am just crazy and that all I saw was a dog. It was NOT a dog people of Botswana!
So this week kind of flew by and I don't have TOO much to say today which is good because I don't have much time due to African computers. But this week, Friday night I got a call from the Zone leaders saying that they were getting the districts of the zone together and meeting with all the district leaders (which I am not one) so they wanted me to teach all the other missionaries of the Zone while they were having their meeting. I was assigned to teach about one of the "new fundamental 8 lessons", "how to begin teaching". I was a little worried because we have been taught about these SO much lately that it just becomes repetitive and everyone gets bored. And then as you do as a missionary you never have time to prepare for anything. So for the meeting, instead of doing the EXACT same thing that we do every week, I mixed it up a little bit to see if I could get the missionaries to participate. I focused the lesson on what our goals are when we walk out of a first appointment and how we can focus our teaching around showing the individual why it is that our message is important to them. That is one of the main differences that I see with these new lessons. Instead of just going into someone’s house and teaching the restoration, it is going into the appointment and showing the person why the restoration is important for them and why they need it in their life.
I thought the meeting went very well. Most the missionaries were participating and we had some good discussion about how to improve. I am glad that I have these opportunities to give lessons because before my mission I didn't have a clue how to stand up in front of people and teach them something! ESPECIALLY something they are already familiar with.
I also had the opportunity to teach Gospel Principles this week. The lesson was about family responsibilities. It was neat because we had 17 investigators at church this week (which even for us is quite a bit. 12 of those came from our companionship which is one of the highest thus far on my mission). People really enjoy Gospel principle class so it is always nice to be able to teach that. We had 5 Baptisms this Sunday, only one of them from our side, but it was a nice service.
Oh and talk about being put on the spot this week! The branch president was talking with us before Sacrament started and he was like so did someone tell you about your talk today? I was like..no, what would you like me to speak on? And he said, oh I don't know, whatever you feel is right, but I am still not sure if your speaking or what’s going to happen. So pretty much I MIGHT be speaking in a few min over a subject which is unknown to me. I was actually pretty excited (I have come to love relying on the spirit in those situations), so I was getting all excited and then he didn't end up having me speak! It was kind of a downer.
As well, I was able to study my Elder Holland notes that I took when he visited us. One of the many quotes that stood out to me was that "you will live to see the lord pour out his blessing on Africa". I thought that was a neat quote, and this was when he was referring to the scriptures about how the first will be last and the last will be first, and his point is how Africa has pretty much been last in everything in the world, including one of the last to receive the gospel, so he was mentioning how they will be first in the future...I could expand on that, but I am out of time. Oh and dad, the second counselor in the mission presidency was educated in the States somewhere and then returned to Africa, and is now a church leader. I hope that makes sense in reference to your email a few weeks ago.
Well family I got to go
Have fun
Do good
Love you all
Elder Williams
Sakting at Bowness Park
We invited Grant's friend Jordan over to play on Saturday. It was a beautiful day outside so I decided to take the boys ice skating. I have to tell you my perspective of what a "nice day" is has changed! In Texas I would think that 40 F was pretty cold but here in Calgary it is a "nice day"! Anyway I took the boys and drug Camille with me. I know that we all had a good laugh and it was a fun day!
 |
| Jordan and Grant |
 |
Jordan was so funny because he skates fast and then just falls. He got back up like it was nothing
and then it would start all over again. Camille caught this action shot of one of his famous falls.....
|
 |
This is one of may favorite pictures. Camille is taking a Media Arts class and is really talented in it.
She brought her camera along that afternoon. I got this picture if her taking a picture.
|
 |
| Tired boys and a GREAT DAY!! |
Monday, February 7, 2011
Feb. 7th Alredy?? From Botswana
Hello Family!
Thank you Mom for sending me the picture of the Black mamba. That is definitely the snake that I saw last week. Now I just need to search for a cobra!
How is the family doing? Your emails shrunk this week! What happened there? However, it sounds like you always have eventful weeks up in Canada, so keep having fun!
I finally have a companion! It’s pretty sweet, and dad, he is from Nampa. I thought that would mean that I had a sweet hick companion, but he is definitely a nerd. In a good way of course. He reminds me of the kid on Best 2 years! So his name is Elder Hughes and let’s just say that he is a Thomas S. Monson scholar! He has a photo with the Prophet! Now I have made a few dollars in my life, but that is nothing compared to a Thomas S. Monson Scholar! The best part is that he doesn't realize that he is a nerd, but I use that in the best way possible. If you have a full ride to BYU studying chemistry and music, then it is OK to be a nerd. This is my first companion younger than me. Well, he is older than me, but one transfer younger on mission than me. He is a funny guy, he has a "don't tell mom" journal (stories that he won't tell his mom). Don't worry mom, I don't have too many of those stories.
I might as well mention a bit about the others in our house/district. In the other companionship we have yet another American, Elder Finlinson. He is also a transfer younger than myself and he is a funny guy as well. He is from the middle of nowhere in Utah and he works on a dairy farm! Speaking of Elder Finlinson, he went to school with Elder Neilson (the one in my MTC district that went home) and he said that Elder Neilson is coming back out to the mission! That is pretty sweet! It’s a little weird to think that I am old enough to be his trainer though!
Then we have Elder Chidzow. He is about a year on mission, and he was just made our district leader. He is from South Africa and is not too excited about being in the same flat with only Americans. I could describe him more, but he is pretty much an exact copy of Stanly off of the Office. Looks, facial expression, attitude, everything! I am LIVING with Stanly! It’s pretty cool.
So last week I mentioned that I was expecting a trial this week, well that happened this morning....it’s called an ELECTRIC mower! I mowed with a mower for the first time, but it was embarrassing to have a cord following you. Other than that It was once again a pretty good week.
I did however get a letter from Tyler this week that described his mission in Spain. Not to put down Spain, but I am grateful that I got called to South Africa. South Africa definitely has more than a handful of difficulties, but Spain sounds pretty rough. I shared a few of Tyler's comments with the other missionaries, and it made us grateful that we are not out tracing all day! Saturday was a "Spain day" for my companion and I. We only had 2 appointments and s service project. I know that is a busy day for Spain, but that is a waste of a day here so we had to spend a large part of the day contacting...it was not productive.
Speaking of, I don't know if I mentioned last week, but happy birthday Tyler! I'm not sure how old you are now, but you’re getting old!
Tyler Morrison is Engaged!? That's exciting. What’s the story on that one? What is her name? etc.
On a side note, I was looking over the family tree that I located a couple weeks back, and I was wondering if we have access to any of the Patriarchal Blessings from the Grand parents/great grandparents.
Oh! I wanted to share a story before I rap up. So as missionaries we pray for and expect daily miracles. I just wanted to share one with you. It was pretty much a Brother Connel story (speaking of, how is he? I sent him 1 or 2 letters but haven't heard anything). So my first Sunday here, this lady just randomly came to church with her kids. We had never seen her before, and so the next week we arranged to go see her. She said that she came to church simply because she liked the name and it says visitors welcome. She continues to come because she feels something at the church. Fast forward a bit, We were talking to the Branch Presidents wife and she said that Tabello (the lady), loves and participates in Relief Society. We are really excited about this family, but fast forward again and we were able to meet with her husband as well. We had his wife tell about why she continues to come to church and she mentioned this "peace" that she feels at church, and this "peace of mind" that comes to her throughout the week when she comes. She has also had the Book of Mormon in the home for about 10 years, she is not really sure how they got it, and she doesn't know much about it other than that she loves it. To this moment she does not fully understand what she has stumbled upon. I fear that sometimes, we that grow up in the church don't fully understand what we have either. If you feel that way, read the Book of Mormon more.
The husband will be slightly difficult, but he came to church with the family yesterday! They are on Baptism date for the 13 March.
Alright well I am going now.
Have fun with life!
Love Elder Williams
Thank you Mom for sending me the picture of the Black mamba. That is definitely the snake that I saw last week. Now I just need to search for a cobra!
How is the family doing? Your emails shrunk this week! What happened there? However, it sounds like you always have eventful weeks up in Canada, so keep having fun!
I finally have a companion! It’s pretty sweet, and dad, he is from Nampa. I thought that would mean that I had a sweet hick companion, but he is definitely a nerd. In a good way of course. He reminds me of the kid on Best 2 years! So his name is Elder Hughes and let’s just say that he is a Thomas S. Monson scholar! He has a photo with the Prophet! Now I have made a few dollars in my life, but that is nothing compared to a Thomas S. Monson Scholar! The best part is that he doesn't realize that he is a nerd, but I use that in the best way possible. If you have a full ride to BYU studying chemistry and music, then it is OK to be a nerd. This is my first companion younger than me. Well, he is older than me, but one transfer younger on mission than me. He is a funny guy, he has a "don't tell mom" journal (stories that he won't tell his mom). Don't worry mom, I don't have too many of those stories.
I might as well mention a bit about the others in our house/district. In the other companionship we have yet another American, Elder Finlinson. He is also a transfer younger than myself and he is a funny guy as well. He is from the middle of nowhere in Utah and he works on a dairy farm! Speaking of Elder Finlinson, he went to school with Elder Neilson (the one in my MTC district that went home) and he said that Elder Neilson is coming back out to the mission! That is pretty sweet! It’s a little weird to think that I am old enough to be his trainer though!
Then we have Elder Chidzow. He is about a year on mission, and he was just made our district leader. He is from South Africa and is not too excited about being in the same flat with only Americans. I could describe him more, but he is pretty much an exact copy of Stanly off of the Office. Looks, facial expression, attitude, everything! I am LIVING with Stanly! It’s pretty cool.
So last week I mentioned that I was expecting a trial this week, well that happened this morning....it’s called an ELECTRIC mower! I mowed with a mower for the first time, but it was embarrassing to have a cord following you. Other than that It was once again a pretty good week.
I did however get a letter from Tyler this week that described his mission in Spain. Not to put down Spain, but I am grateful that I got called to South Africa. South Africa definitely has more than a handful of difficulties, but Spain sounds pretty rough. I shared a few of Tyler's comments with the other missionaries, and it made us grateful that we are not out tracing all day! Saturday was a "Spain day" for my companion and I. We only had 2 appointments and s service project. I know that is a busy day for Spain, but that is a waste of a day here so we had to spend a large part of the day contacting...it was not productive.
Speaking of, I don't know if I mentioned last week, but happy birthday Tyler! I'm not sure how old you are now, but you’re getting old!
Tyler Morrison is Engaged!? That's exciting. What’s the story on that one? What is her name? etc.
On a side note, I was looking over the family tree that I located a couple weeks back, and I was wondering if we have access to any of the Patriarchal Blessings from the Grand parents/great grandparents.
Oh! I wanted to share a story before I rap up. So as missionaries we pray for and expect daily miracles. I just wanted to share one with you. It was pretty much a Brother Connel story (speaking of, how is he? I sent him 1 or 2 letters but haven't heard anything). So my first Sunday here, this lady just randomly came to church with her kids. We had never seen her before, and so the next week we arranged to go see her. She said that she came to church simply because she liked the name and it says visitors welcome. She continues to come because she feels something at the church. Fast forward a bit, We were talking to the Branch Presidents wife and she said that Tabello (the lady), loves and participates in Relief Society. We are really excited about this family, but fast forward again and we were able to meet with her husband as well. We had his wife tell about why she continues to come to church and she mentioned this "peace" that she feels at church, and this "peace of mind" that comes to her throughout the week when she comes. She has also had the Book of Mormon in the home for about 10 years, she is not really sure how they got it, and she doesn't know much about it other than that she loves it. To this moment she does not fully understand what she has stumbled upon. I fear that sometimes, we that grow up in the church don't fully understand what we have either. If you feel that way, read the Book of Mormon more.
The husband will be slightly difficult, but he came to church with the family yesterday! They are on Baptism date for the 13 March.
Alright well I am going now.
Have fun with life!
Love Elder Williams
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Who's Having A Baby??
 |
Grant loves it when the house is full of commotion. They girls are always so good to him.
|
 |
The girls have decided to host a ward baby shower for her in a few weeks. It should be fun!
|
 |
| Of course no activity is complete without treats! |
Surprise!!!! 1-26-2011
Carly and Joel had a few days off school and wanted to come up for a surprise visit.
They had the whole thing worked out with Steve but of course I figured it out a day
or two before they came. We didn't tell Camille or Grant so they had no idea.
When we drove up to the house I asked the kids to go get the groceries out
of the car. You should have heard the screams coming from the garage.
Boy were they surprised and happy to see Carly and Joel. Camille was
out of school for finals and Grant just took a couple of days off...here are
some of the fun things we did:
 |
One of the ski resorts was having a homemade cardboard box sled race. The Young Men in
our ward had entered the race so we went up to watch and support them. One of our teams
even took first place. It was something we had never seen before. Fun!!
|
 |
| Carly, Joel and Grant at the races. |
 |
| Camille trying to sled down on her coat. She didn't get very far! |
 |
It felt a little like an extension of Christmas because we played games and watch movies and
just hung out!
Notice my crazy son in law Joel.
|
 |
We tried to make a snowman but the snow is so dry here you cannot make a ball with it.
So we made a ice fort!
|
 |
We went ice skating one day in Banff. One of my favorite places. It is so beautiful there.
We walked around the shops and then went swimming in the hot springs.
It was a fun day and I know we all slept well that night.
|
 |
| Joel getting ready to do his triple lux!!:) |
 |
| The kids after skating in Banff |
 |
| Carly and Joel in Banff |
 |
| Camille getting ready to rip up the ice. |
 |
| Beautiful Banff |
 |
A huge snow buffalo outside the hot springs swimming pool we went to. It was such
a nice treat to have the kids come and visit if only for a few days!
Now Tyler and Kaylee need to come!;)
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
playlist
