Letters from Elder Williams

Momma Lama

I got your birthday package just in time! I we had Presidents interviews on Friday, so I got it then, RIGHT before my birthday. Elder Finlinsons birthday was also this week, so after the interview, us and our companions went out for a VERY classy lunch. It was a nice restaurant that even the mission presidents wife approves of (which is saying much because she is still used to American food). When we got there they were out of the Pork chops that we were hoping for, but seeing as how I have been trying to eat healthy lately I decided to get a classy salad. It was nice, and then my companion surprised me by paying for all of us. That was really nice of him...till he runs out of money for the month and I have to help him through it like usual hahaha (its pretty funny actually, African companions ALWAYS run out of money, so we have to help them out haha).

After this sickness (which by the way President Omer told me that 2 days after I got hospital level of sick, he got a call from Elder Fisher at 4:30 in the morning with the same sickness that I had, he also had to go to the ER) but anyway, after that I have been eating healthy, so this week instead of living off of pasta, salt and water like normal, I bought a package of tomatoes, and even found avocados! I surprised myself by putting both in almost everything I ate. I will get you a picture, but I made toast with butter of course topped with mashed avocado, mashed boiled egg sprinkled on that and then signature with freshly cut tomatoes! It was delicious!

But then right before going to bed I decided to try a piece of that "Maynard's Canadian liquorice" that you sent me, and no offence to you, but to the company, it was horrific! I would have rather eaten all the insides of a chicken, cleaned my teeth with the foot of a chicken, and then eaten the entire foot...Canadians should not make liquorice...

I also got a couple Christmas cards from Canadians! That puts my Canadian Christmas card count at 3 and Texas card count at 1 (not including the package the Rousseau's sent me). And in one of the Canadian letters was some "Canadian chocolate"!
You asked if we are teaching anyone and the answer is YES! I have been mentioning the difficulty of finding those that have been prepared, and how amazing it is to see just HOW prepared they really are! Well we found one of those people recently. It is a lady named Virginia. We were tracking when we started talking to this lady, she did not seam TOO interested so we were going to just leave her with a pamphlet when her sister came out (both of them are upper 20's to early 30's). Her sister asked us why we worshiped on Sunday (because they are from the 7th day church, which is a big deal here). Not wanting to get into a Bible bash like they want to, I told her that I already knew what scriptures she was going to try to throw at me, explained why we worship on Sunday, and then left her with a few scriptures that support what I said for her to look at when we left and to pray about. Thinking that this would get nowhere we invited them to church and then left. Last Sunday the first sister actually came to church! I was quite surprised. We met with her last week with the Mosses and taught her the restoration and left a Book of Mormon. STILL not realizing how prepared she was. When we came back this last week she explained to us in perfect detail the intro to the Book of Mormon and the testimonies and the only question she had was about the four different books that make up the Book of Mormon! CRAZY! We were amazed and then reminded her that she would have to pray about these things. She said she already had. She said that as she read she could find no fault in anything she was reading, but she wanted to be sure so she decided to pray about it. We asked her how that went and she said: "I got this......feeling. This un-describable feeling that these things are true....the feeling left no doubt in my mind". WHAT! Yes, that really happened! She will be baptised on the 12th of Feb.

Well Momma, thank you for everything.
Love you

Elder Blake Williams
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Dad,

Well, birthdays have lost the excitement they once had. To be honest I felt 21 a long time ago. It's odd to think that I have only had a year and a half on my mission, I feel as if there has been 20 years of growth.


It is interesting to hear that you took another Options trading class. I will need you to teach me everything you know about that when I get home. Did you meet any new friends that wanted you to spend 25k with them like at the last class we took together?


How has the business been? From your last e-mail you made it sound like you went ahead with the expansion of the business. Has it been enough time for you to regret or appreciate that decision?


You asked once again about the goals for my last 6 months on mission. I have really struggled with this actually. Throughout my mission I have been setting goals each 4 months on things that I would like to accomplish like writing in my journal more often, becoming healthier by exercising more and eating better, and not missing a day of reading the Book of Mormon. But this last 6 months has been more difficult for me to set goals for some reason. I do have a new goal, but I am working on making it a "smart" (more specific) goal. While reading from an Ensign, I came across the testimonies of previous prophets. In this, President Spencer W. Kimball referred to the saviour as his friend. That struck me as something new. We often hear people testify that the savior lives and that he is real, etc. But you rarely hear him refereed to as a friend. That communicates to me something much deeper than simply knowing he exists. I have been studying lately how I make him more of my friend, and honestly it usually starts with our thoughts. This is something I did about two months ago with the Holy Ghost, and it was a pretty powerful time of my mission for me. I need to bring that back, and then take it to the next step.


I have also been reading one section of the D&C a day so that I can read it while on my mission, but not so much that it takes me away from the Book of Mormon which should be my main focus.


Well I have spoken a lot, I need to get on to my other e-mails


Thank you for writing


Love


Elder Blake Williams

PS: We have a new senior couple in Lobatse that I have made good friends with, the Mosses. Elder Moss is a big fisherman from Idaho and he would like to go fishing with you in a year when he gets home.
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Grant Bo bant fe fi fo fant

What do you mean about the different animals? If I were an animal though, I would be a bald eagle. That would be my animal.

I saw a new bug this week! Have you ever seen a fire fly? It is a fly that looks like it has a light on it. I saw one of those this week accept it was a worm! We just saw this little green light from a long ways away. It was pretty cool dude if you ask me. That is a pretty exciting house, because the last time we were there a bird poo'd on me while I was teaching someone about repentance...I was so shocked that I stopped talking mid sentence and did not know what to say after that!

Good job at taking piano! Make sure you stick with your piano so you can play it as a missionary. I have been in two branches so far where no one knows how to play the piano, so we have to sing without one! Make sure you get really good at it.

Mom tells me that you got to see the Angel Moroni being put on the temple this week! How come you got to see it and I didn't? I have never been able to see that happen before! Tell Cami that she is supposed to send me a picture.

Stay well little man!
Love you
Brother

PS: You asked when I will be home. Ask me that when all the snow in Canada melts! :)