This May Be My Last Week In Botswana!

Dear Family!
I am a little confused about what happened last week in terms of our emails. I have a few emails here from mom saying she didn't get an email and then emails later on responding to my email. I also got dad's email, both the one he sent and when you re-sent it. Something happened last week with the emailing. Elder Hughes did not even get a letter from his family, but I think it is all sorted out now, please let me know if I need to resend an email. If you don't get an email from me in the future for any reason don't worry about me, I will get an email off each week somehow, someway.

I apologize for not answering all the questions that are asked. I get a lot of questions each week and I tend to forget to answer them until my hour is already up so if you have questions that I continue to overlook, please just put them in a list form so that I can answer them.

This week was one of the best on my mission. Not because I saw any sweet wild life but because it was simply a good week for missionary work. It was also a little disappointing because this is the first month on my mission that I have not baptized anyone. This week started off with our training meeting on Tuesday. That was definitely a highlight. President/ Sister Poulsen and the AP's came up for leadership and I was able to attend with about 15 other missionaries. I have gotten to feeling the past couple weeks that they are preparing me for some kind of leadership in the near future, so I will find out this week whether or not that is the case. Transfer news is this Saturday so I will find out at that time. I expect to be leaving Botswana in 8 days. Hopefully they will find a way to keep Elder Hughes here for a bit longer so we do not need to be white washed. They were able to get the Sister missionaries residency so I hope they can pull some strings for Elder Hughes group, although I am not holding my breath for my group.

Back to the Leadership training! It was a great meeting covering every topic possible. It was the entire day, so I was exhausted at the end from taking so many notes, but it was extremely beneficial. Some of the key points of the meeting were learning how to be an effective leader in terms of motivating other, sorting out conflicts, focusing on our goal, and striving for exact obedience for ourselves and those around us. They also gave many suggestions of ways to improve our areas. One of the suggestions that I particularly liked and that Elder Hughes and I have tried out this week is called Book of Mormon Loan. It is just what it sounds like. Finding people, spending about 1-5 min introducing the Book of Mormon and then leaving it with them for about a week. If they read it, then they will get interested in it and we will continue to teach them. If we return and they have not read it then we just thank them for their time, take the book back, and give it to someone else. We have loaned out a lot of Copies of the Book of Mormon this week, so I hope we see success this next week.

Elder Hughes and I have really enjoyed this week because we have been thinking of new ideas for finding people. We plan out our days with finding activities and back up plans to our appointments. We are also striving for EXACT obedience. This is one I don't feel like we struggled with before, but in the training meeting they just emphasized the little things such as waking up at 6:30. Not 6:33, but 6:30. You work out till 7, not sleepily walk around till 7, but you work out till 7. We are striving for exactness in all that we do and we are beginning to see success and happiness from it.

Before I forget, I had to opportunity of Conferring the Melchizedek Priesthood to Malepa Herbert Mpesi of our branch, so I need a copy of my priesthood line to give to him. I don't mean to be bossy, but I absolutely need this one next time I get on the computer next Monday. This might be the last week I am ever in this country. You ask about spiritual experiences, this was a very powerful experience where you get to be a part of the priesthood line that the Lord has established on the earth.

I know I asked about my g-mail account a few months ago and you said that it was not in my password vault, but I am certain that I made one. Can the family check their emails and see if I have ever sent them an email from my g-mail account? I just need that address to give to others that I wish to keep in contact with in the future.

Other side not, you both seemed to be concerned about us not going to the game park. I would have paid the Elders way but he is making me dig deep in my pockets for all the times I pay his way ha-ha. One of the main reasons that we didn't go is because the animals they had there were not as exciting as you would have thought. They just had warthogs, springbok, and a few other random animals. Even in South Africa they have better ones then that so I will have the opportunity to visit one some time.

We are teaching many people, but there is one family in particular that I am attached to and that is Leslie and Tabello. They are actually married which is much less common here than it is in America. This is the family that randomly showed up to church for my first week here. It is exciting to see how the Lord has prepared this family for such a long time. Their home was filled with Literature from the church long before I came on a mission and they have both had personal promptings to stop certain things in their life (word of wisdom), long before they were taught these things by this missionaries. I was planning on Baptizing Tabello and her daughter this week and then working with Leslie (the father), but they decided that they wanted to wait until the entire family was ready (which I thought would be months if not years). We urged the family to go to Stake conference 2 weeks ago and it was a very positive experience for Leslie. He said while he was there he felt a peace that he had not felt in a very long time and he was prompted that he should be baptized in 2 weeks. This was great news until he got home and started doubting what he had felt, so he fell back into his thought that he would not be ready for months to come. We did not want the family to have to wait that long, so we arranged for President/Sister Morgan (mission presidency) to join us for this weeks lesson. Much to my surprise it felt like WE were joining THEM instead of the other way around. They really connected with the family and took an approach 180 deg. the opposite way of what I personally would have done. After the lesson I was a bit worried not knowing whether it really helped them, or pushed them in the wrong direction, but last night we stopped by and spoke with Leslie, and he said that he is still not set on a date, but he thinks it should happen in the Month of April. (That is RIGHT after I will be leaving!!!!!)

I am a little sad that this area really seems to be taking a turn for the better and I will have to leave right at that turn, but it is alright. I am very excited for the family and know that they will go far in the Gospel.

Last side note, last night while we were visiting people we ran into members multiple times out doing their home teaching that we organized just 2 weeks ago!! That felt good to see!

Love you All

Elder Williams