Family Time

It was nice to have all of the kids home even if it was for only a short time.  We had a FULL weekend planned but I know that we all enjoyed being together again.  Carly and Joel flew in on Tuesday night and Blake arrived late Wenesday, Tyler and Kaylee arrived Thursday afternoon.  We baptized Grant on Thursday night, Blake reported to the High Council after the baptism.  Friday morning we headed to the mountains and Banff for a couple of days.   Blake spoke in church Sunday and then did a youth fireside.  Tyler and Kaylee had to get back so Tyler could start his 3rd year of med school. The weekend went way too fast but I am so glad that we had the time together.

The kids hiking to the Tea House over looking Lake Louise

We stayed at a great little place called Bakers Chalet. 
This Elk hung around and we all got way too close for my comfort.



Over looking Mistia Canyon.
One of the most beautiful places on earth.



The kids canoing at Lake Moraine.
 I love this lake and those kids! 

I am so thankful for a wonderful week with all of the kids and I feel so blessed to have such great kids!

Special Delivery From South Africa!!

Well, two years is finally here and Blake is really coming home!  All of the kids are traveling here for the big reunion. (Tyler and Kaylee made it the next day)  Blake flew from South Africa to London (10 hours)  He had an 11 hour layover and then a two hour delay and then a 10 hour flight from London to Calgary.  It took him forever to clear customs and we started to worry that he was sitting in some Canadian jail!  ha  Actually he told us that he was just back there chatting it up with the customs agent and making friends so he could get all of his trinkets through customs.  He would do that as his family is on the other side of the wall pacing!

All of us waiting at the airport.
 Grandma Emery even flew up for the event.

Camille and Grant
Blake didn't want any signs at the airport
so...Carly painted Grant's face like a
South African flag...It was awesome!!

FINALLY!!

Grant and Elder Williams

It is so good to finally have Blake home safe and sound and have all of my kids under one roof.  I worried so much for Blake's safety while he was gone.  I hear stories NOW that let me know I had very good reason to worry.  I am thankful that I didn't know about those stories or I am sure I would have chartered a plane to go get him.  But like Blake said.."The Lord protects his missionaries!  I am thankful for that!  MY BOY IS HOME!!!!

On His Way!!!

07h00 Monday morning, packed and ready. Only our pleasure, your son has been an excellent example of what a young man should be like, naturally, you get all the credit.

von Brughan family

LAST E-MAIL FROM SOUTH AFRICA!

It won't be long now....

Dear Family,

I mentally have had a challenge with comprehending the fact that I will be arriving home soon. I do not feel like I will have a very big struggle adjusting, but it has been a shock to my system the last couple days when I have caught sneak peaks that I will be going home soon. The first sneak peak was during my final interview with the mission president on Friday. He offered the prayer during the interview and he prayed for nearly 5 minutes just pleading with the Lord that I will be blessed for my service. It was a good interview, about 30 minutes. He complemented me on many things, from my leadership, to example, etc. But the one that hit home to me the most was when he said that he has never had a moment of worry about me. That he has never once seen me step out of character. It was something I appreciated, and I am thankful that I was able to serve under President Omer. His leadership styles are far different from mine, but because of that I was able to grow so much.

I also gave two talks in Sacrament meeting this week. The first one I knew about in advance and I stressed over it the whole week. My topic was simply missionary work. It was alright, My companion rated it a 77 out of 100. I felt that was a fair rating. The second one was quite spur of the moment. In the second ward they asked me to give a departing testimony, but it was implied that they wanted me to take quite a while. I decided to just take about 6 or 7 minutes, but instead of giving the same talk as I had 2 hours previous I decided to rely on the spirit. I found myself basing my remarks around a young man in the ward who was passing the sacrament for the first time. For some reason it just filled me with joy looking at this short, chubby 12 year old kid who was so excited yet so nervous to pass the sacrament. I saw that as a perfect example of the progression that we are supposed to experience in the gospel. I thought back to my first time passing the sacrament and fast forwarded all the way till now when I am leaving my mission. I really feel like I was led by the spirit on that talk and my companion gave that one a rating of 95+ out of 100. This young mans family also thanked me later for my comments.

A man in our ward that I had copying my pictures from that area onto a CD turned my pictures into a slide show which he showed me last night. It kind of hit home at that moment that this was real and I was able to see how much my mission truly meant for me. I have had many experiences for the good and bad. Through them I have gained a firm testimony in each member of the God head. They are real and this work is real. I am grateful to be apart of it and look forward to adding to it in a new way. Thank you for all your support during my mission. It has been the most difficult thing I have ever done. Nothing I have ever done can compare to the challenges of a mission, yet I am very grateful for every moment. Just like the young man taking his major step from Primary to Deacons quorum, it is time to take this step from the Full time missionary service to test me and see if I will continue to progress in the gospel, remain worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, continue to Share the Gospel with Others, and eventually help my children on the path of progression as well.

I love you all very much and look forward to seeing you in the upcoming days.

Elder Blake Williams

PS: No balloons or posters aloud in the airport. If Grant would like to make some, please keep that at the house.

See you soon!

It Was What They Call Powerful!

OH man! I have so much to tell you and about 10 minutes left!

First of all, I had a baptism yesterday! A sweet part member family that we have been working with was ready for baptism. We brought the father back to activity and then he got the priesthood yesterday and then shortly after baptised his wife. It was what they call powerful!

My search for a sweet African painting has come up empty handed. Slightly disappointing, but its cool, just one more reason to travel the world later.

Diamond....Diamond diamond diamond....Well I had an appointment with the Diamond guy this morning, but in true African fashion his shop got broken into last night and they stole a large portion of his diamonds. I am planning on stopping by there throughout the week and then updating the family on particulars. I will need money transferred into my account. I would appreciate it if you make sure this transfer of money is truly from one of my accounts. I don't want my family paying for my future wife's diamond like everyone else does. This needs to come from my money. I have made a change in plans with the diamond though. Originally I was planning on getting a .7c or bigger, but I have changed my mind. I have been observing many couples that I highly respect. One example is Elder Cook from the 70. I was wondering what kind of diamond an area 70 would be giving his wife. Turns out that she does not even have a diamond! Many of the other couples that I respect, although they have large amounts of money, have very small, if no diamond at all. I am planning on just going for a very clear half caret diamond. I am planning on only spending about 1,000. I will have to stop by the e-mail shop throughout the week to secure that plan.

T.I.A. for the week. we had a meeting with someone from the Stake this week and he wanted to know how the teaching is going in the investigator classes throughout the stake. And whether it is the Ward mission leader who is doing that or if someone else was called to do that. We set out to gather this information and the first set of missionaries we spoke to informed us that they assign investigators to teach the investigators class. I was like....are you serious? And he was like "oh absolutely, they are given advance notice and they are usually great lessons!" T.I.A.

This fireside in Canada, is it a youth fireside or general? I would like a projector, and preferable sound equipment. I plan on showing at least one short video if possible.

I am sending myself a package home, so I hope that works out!

Bishop Smith has asked me to speak the last week of July in Texas. If that would logistically work with the family's schedule than I will be OK with that. Dad, no need to worry about cars in Canada. I am willing to help you with that. I could buy one in Texas if needed. They seam to be quite expensive in Canada. Do you want to buy it or do you want me to? There is a Kia that I see driven around here that I am quite keen on.

I would like to go through those investment classes you mentioned as well. Please arrange that for me if possible. I need to put a lot of thought into finances once I get home.

I think that is it, but I will have to stop by the e-mail shop in a day or 2, so if there is anything else, please just send it to me quickly and I will get back to you.

I love the Gospel
Stay Classy

Love you all

Elder Blake Williams

Peter and Debbie have made large steps of improvement. Debbie who previously smoked more than our chimney (45 a DAY!) has quit smoking after only a few weeks.

Dear Family,

I am excited to hear about all of these family party/gatherings that are going on. I fear that everyone will be all partied out come mid July...Not that anything intense is going on during mid July or anything. Speaking of Mid July though, everyone failed to inform on whether or not Tyler and Kaylee will be in attendance in Canada or if I will consolidate them into my Texas trip. That is of course if operation Texas trip is still in motion.

Elder Byrnes informed me this morning that he spent last night in the Hospital. I tell you this story simply because it happened in my first area. But Elder Byrnes is the Zone Leader over my first area and one of the members of his zone got hit by a car last night. It is a classic miracle because this wasn't a near miss, but it was a full on hit that caused the missionary to hit the windshield and apparently shatter the windshield before flying over the car. Pretty horric!? yes, but it's alright! They took him to the hospital to get him all checked out and apparently he is doing quite well. He only has a bruised leg. The car was much more damaged than he was. In classic Africa fashion the lady driving did not slam on her breaks until after she hit him. That's a TIA. I wonder if he is going to tell his mother about that! Speaking of, I have a close call with a car story that I will have to tell you when I get home. Just remember to ask me about it. It actually also happened in Daveyton.

Speaking of T.I.A's. I was in the township the other day and I saw something for the first time. In the middle of the market on the dirty street there was a guy just sitting there like there was nothing out of the ordinary. Mean while he had about 5 or 6 cow heads that had been skinned. He was busy chopping the meat off of the heads and selling it. That is a definite T.I.A.

I am going to have a baptism next week! Thabo is being interviewed on Tuesday, her husband will be interviewed for the priesthood on Thursday, he will get the priesthood on Sunday, and then he will baptize his wife after that! It is going to be sweet. They are a great family. Elder Byrnes and I are planning on coming to their temple sealing whenever that occurs...

In other great news, Peter and Debbie have made large steps of improvement. Debbie who previously smoked more than our chimney (45 a DAY!) has quit smoking after only a few weeks. Peter who was equally as bad has significantly cut down but it still on his last stages of quitting.

In regards to this fireside that will be going on when I get home will I be able to show 1 or 2 short videos on a projector? I am debating on whether I want to show them or not, but I was considering arranging a couple video clips from our transfer meeting.

I will be putting some thought to the fireside, but if there have been any stories that have stood out to you during my mission that you think would be good, feel free to let me know.

In other news, I am so sold on scarfs! That mentally handycap place I told you about made me a scarf and it is SO sweet. I have gotten a few more, and everyone I see is asking me to get some for them. Lucky that it is winter here and it is normal to wear scarfs. It would be a little awkward if they were supplying me with scarfs during the summer.

Alright family, I hope everyone has a fun safe week. Please just let me know about any of the major plans coming up. I would much rather just know than to wonder. (for example, who will be at home, am I going to Texas, if Grant is still the silliest, etc.) PS. Would there be any visa restrictions if I wanted to tour london for the 11 hours that I have for my layover?

Love you all

Stay Classy

Elder Blake Williams

Stay Classy

Elder Williams and Robinson from Saint George, Utah

Dear Family


1. That is sweet that Tyler and Kaylee surprised Mom! Does that mean that they will not be there when I get home? When do you go home and what are the plans while you are in Texas?

2. I have arranged to take Elder Alder Golfing today since he enjoys golfing. This will be the second 18 holes of my life. Our tee time is in 30 minutes so I literally have to go in a couple minutes. Elder Alder is SO sweet! He called me this morning speaking Africans and telling me how he will have to make our call-in short because he has a tee time scheduled for 12. He is so excited. We invited President as well, but he is busy today so he will have to take a rain check on that one.

3. Happy Fathers day dad! Everyone at church was asking us how our fathers day phone calls were....ha

4. Mom, I would say just to buy a ticket to Texas whenever you think is best. Then if Dad wants me to buy a car, I would probably do that in Texas and just drive the car up to Mormonville (ha ha my comp is from Utah so all the members have brought all the Utah jokes back to mind...they are said to Utahans).

5. I am glad you got your letter from President. I wonder what kind of things he said, maybe some of it had inside jokes involved? Elder Alder and I are still going to arrange some pop and chicken for Sister Omer to eat before we go home. It is the staple diet of  like 90% of our missionaries because it is cheaper than rice! But she has not had it yet and is not really planning on having it either....so we are planning on it for her.

6. Elder Hare and I took my favorite member of our zone to the dentist this week and it was one of the highlights of my week. He was singing "Going to the dentist and I'm, gonna get slaughtered" To the tune of "Going to the chapel and I'm gonna get married" He is the man. I have 3 exchanges planned for this week, so that is going to be...interesting.

7. Oh I was expecting some kind of details on my talk and or fireside this week, but nothing came. The talk should be no worries, but I have not so much as attended a fireside in the last 2 years, so I need a little heads up on what my topic is so I can prepare, and how long are firesides?

8. This week was sweet in terms of church attendance. We had 3 part member families that we have been working with attend church this week. We also had 4 less actives come that we have been working with. One of them we saw just for the first time this week. He is a 50 year old man who is divorced and lives alone and he said he was having one of those days where he just got on his knees and prayed that something would happen to make this a good day for a change and right when he said amen his phone rang, he picked it up and heard "Hello, My name is Elder Williams, we are the missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we were wondering if you would be available for us to come see you today." That made him pretty excited.

9. I am planning on spending around 1,400 on a Diamond. Is that too much? It should get me something around a .7K, SI3, H, Pretty sweet diamond. Thoughts?

10. Sister Moss apparently was serious about getting her grand daughter in touch with me. I saw the Mosses this week and she said she passed on my details... ha ha that's a dot dot dot situation...

11. Eish well I got to go! I am going to be late for tee off which will not be acceptable by Elder Alder! Elder Hare and I are taking them to the Temple Presidents house tonight as well...
Love you all
Stay Classy
Elder Blake Williams

PS: WHATTTTTTT!!!!!!!  WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!!  somebody PLEASE tell me how I got left out of the loop on this one!  Since when has Lincoln even been dating anyone!?  Now he is getting married!!??  Tell him that I am not too impressed that I have yet to receive a wedding invite!  What else is going on in the world that I do not know about!?  Is Cami also getting married next month?  What else don't I know??!!

It's REAL....He's Coming Home!!!

15 June 2012

Brother & Sister Stephen Todd Williams
3 Windmill Way
Calgary, Alberta T3Z1H5
Canada


Dear Brother & Sister Williams,

I am pleased to inform you that your son, Elder Blake Taylor Williams, will soon complete his honorable mission in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission. A copy of his itinerary is enclosed.

Elder Williams has served diligently in each of the areas and responsibilities to which he has been assigned. He has brought the gospel of Jesus Christ into the lives of many people. Those he taught will be blessed both in this life and throughout eternity. He has done much to build up the Kingdom of God in this part of the world.

In addition to spreading the gospel through his own efforts, your son has helped numerous missionaries learn to magnify their callings through his leadership roles as district leader and zone leader. Sister Omer and I will always be grateful for the kindness and courtesy extended to us by Elder Williams. He has set an example of faithfulness and obedience in each of his assignments and has consistently exhibited the characteristics of a trusted servant and leader.

Sister Omer and I have truly enjoyed our association with Elder Williams and we are thankful for the support which you have provided him during the past two years. We know you are looking forward to a wonderful reunion with your son. Please know of our love for him and our profound appreciation for the service he has rendered.

Most Sincerely,

S. Craig Omer, President

South Africa Johannesburg Mission

I am SOOO busy! It is crazy! and So sweet at the same time.



One of my favorite pictures from Blake's mission.


Dear Family

I am SOOO busy! It is crazy! and So sweet at the same time. I tell you this because I do not have much time to write today because a member of the ward is taking us out to golf today. We planned this one in advance so we knew we would have a fun event on a Monday. It will be a nice relaxer. I hope I do not loose all the golf balls I just bought! but it is a very good possibility.

To answer moms questions:

1. Yes I took the medication this week. I do not remember the name of the medication, but i will get that to you once I know. Elder Byrnes has gotten quite sick since he left me. It is a little awkward because he has the exact symptoms that I had, but the sickness that I have is not contagious. He had a blood test this last week so I will let you know what happens with him. I am SO lucky that my body got over my sickness relatively quickly ( a few months and only 9 lbs). There is an elder in our mission who has been sick probably upwards of a year. He has lost I'm sure somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 belt loops if not more. They have doctors going crazy to figure out what he has. So I am lucky!

2. Thank you for the shoe sizes. I told Carly I have not seen these shoes for quite some time, but I don't really have anything to bring back for the family yet and most the things you can buy here is just too main stream for me so I have the zone keeping their eyes out to see if they can find this.

3. I have not bought a diamond yet. I am planning on doing it July 9th with Elder Robinson and Elder Yougawa. They both want to get Diamonds before they leave as well. I am getting a specific diamond price checked in the states from Elder Yougawa's mom and then I will probably get that one. It is pretty funny though, I think I have gained a reputation for knowing the most about diamonds in the mission. I am simply educating missionaries on what to purchase to prepare themselves for future events....and I have not even bought one myself yet! HA

Other questions mentioned:

-Yes, South Africa is getting a bit cold. It is in the neighborhood of 0c and above. In the states that is not too cold, but here it is pretty cold because the houses are not designed for the cold so it is just as cold inside as it is outside. that is pretty hard to get used to. Elder Tamale still has my jacket, so I just went out and bought one that I will wear when I get home. It is pretty sweet.

-Piano. Yes, Piano is so sweet! there are a few youth in our ward here that are so talented with the piano! It just confirms my goal of getting a grand piano. I think that they are pretty sweet so I have decided that I will buy one at some point. The only problem is that I do not play, so I will have to marry into that skill? It would be a bit awkward if neither my wife or I could play the piano and yet we have a grand Piano in our house...

-Tyler's test this week. Do good brother! We are praying for you! Elder Hare and I actually missed our fast (it is actually quite hard to fast on mission...I will explain later). But we are planning on starting our fast tonight! You will do good!

Well like I said this week has been crazy busy. But that is exactly what a missionary wants! Yesterday was quite hectic because we had the whole day planned out and it was already looking like it would be a crazy day and then we got a call from a district in our zone right when we got into church and they were having car problems, so we had to miss church for our first ward to go transport them to church and then we had to fix a few phone problems in the zone. (I am so glad that we are dealing with material things breaking down instead of missionaries breaking down...it is a nice change). Anyway, we missed church accept for the last hour of our second ward. We had a lunch and then two important lessons (one was to a super posh lady!). We then dropped off our member present, got feed, and then had to run back to the rest of the zone. It was a crazy day and we did not get back to the flat until later than we are supposed to, and then we had all of the weekly records to keep so that we would not have to do all that today. We did not get much sleep last night....

This week we went to what is called Irene Homes. An Afrikaner family that we are teaching has a 27 year old daughter with down syndrome. She mainly stays at these homes which are quite popular around here, so we decided to go check it out and see if there was any service we could do. I was SO impressed by this place. It is a large place with 80 Special needs ladies from all different backgrounds. The part that was so great about it was that they always have these workshops going on for them so that they always stay busy. And it is worth while things. For example they have a knitting workshop where they make scarfs and gloves and sweaters and other things and then they sell them to the community. So they are doing things that they enjoy while putting a step towards supporting themselves financially. There were many other workshops, but it was a good experience and everyone was so happy to see us, and there were even a couple of the ladies that were teaching me how to knit. I was worried because they actually do very good work and I was afraid that I would mess it up!

question: Do you know what I am supposed to speak about yet?

Other highlight in the week. We got permission to meet an investigator family at the distribution center this week so that they could purchase some nice scriptures. They enjoyed it and we took this opportunity to walk them around the temple and explain a bit about that. They were then introduced into the family history center. I took this opportunity to log in for myself and our genealogy goes back SO far! It is intense! I did not follow it all the way back but I did get to A sir Williams something or another. It was a good experience for the family. The Father (who we are bringing back from many many years of in-activity) is panning to baptise his wife on July 1 and then she will be confirmed on my last Sunday in Africa.

Stay classy

Love you all

Elder Blake Williams

Do good on your tests this week!

Super Posh

Dear Family

Mother allowed herself to Bold portions of her e-mail, so I feel that I should probably address that portion so I don't get in trouble later. About my Bilharzia. I collected my Blood work on Wednesday after our Zone leader council and took them to the Area Office to have a chat with the South East Africa Area Dr. His name is Dr. Calliahn and he is pretty legit. He deals with all the crazy sicknesses that all the missionaries in the lower half of Africa have. I took the reports to him and told him my concerns. He said that he felt much like the Dr did in the fact that I had nothing to worry about, but I told him about all the silly little comments all the members keep saying about Bilharzia and how it is a horrible sickness. He decided to look into it further and found out that although the sickness is not active in my body at the moment it is impossible to tell from the blood test whether or not it has fully passed. He and I decided that it would be better to just go ahead and treat the sickness anyway just in case there is any trace of it left in my body. He says that the treatment is actually quite simple. It is a day full of pills. He is currently organizing the series of pills for me but it is just a few pills at breakfast, a few at lunch, and then quite a few at dinner. He said that I should expect to feel a little sick to my stomach for about two days after that, but then we know from that point on that it has been completely cleared. So I have taken motherly advice, done my research, and will complete the process in the next couple days.

 Some of my highs include:

-One of our District leaders mentioning how he has been working hard to improve himself ever since something I said in a Zone meeting.

-Looking back on the family sealing that we had last week (I assume I already told you about that.) It was so sweet, so that high carries over to this week.

-We have had a few new investigators this week which is very uncommon.

-The members have decided that they love us, so we are booked for the month already and starting to plan out July.

-We are just so busy which is so sweet!

Also from yesterday, we had a lesson with a less active lady. her sister (who is super posh) is starting to stay there and we had a good lesson with her. She is getting into Ministry school and she said that she had one question for us that she has never found a good answer for. She wants to know how is one able to tell if they are on the right path or not. Our times are much different from those in the bible, so how does one know if they are living a good life for the time. Her question revolved perfectly around The For Strength of Youth. The best part was that I actually had a for strength of youth pamphlet with me! It was the first day of my mission to ever randomly carry one. So it was pretty cool how I obviously brought it for a reason and it fit perfectly with her question.

That leads me into an assignment for the family and for anyone else that reads this e-mail. Read the new for strength of youth pamphlet before I get home. Cami can do it twice. It is so sweet! I have not yet read every word, but if I can find the time I will!
-Can everyone in the family tell me what shoe size they are? Can everyone send me the size in Male American sizes. I am going to try and get these sweet Africa Sandals for everyone if I can find them again.

-Mom, how long is my layover in England? My neighbor just got off his mission from England and he wanted to know to know if he should be giving me somethings to see in my time.

-I have a new companion this week. Elder Hare from Delta Utah. He is a bit quiet, but I should be able to open him up a bit soon.

-I think that is about it.

Stay Classy Family!

Love

Elder Blake Williams

The Laughter That Comes From Being Around Elder Black Increases My Life Span And Then McDonald's (as delicious as it is) Steals That Away....

Zone Conference

Dear Family

Well mother, I think you would be happy to know that I have done a little more research into the bilharzia. I did this because all the members that find out about bilharzia kind of freak out and act like I will have it for the rest of my life and say it is a horrible disease. I don't feel sick anymore, but I thought you would be worried so I contacted the South East Africa Area doctor an hour ago and told him about what they have been saying and he said that it is true, it can be something that is life long and not enjoyable, but it is also possible to overcome it, and he says that it sounds like I have overcome it. But just to make sure I am collecting my blood samples for him so he can do some more research into the subject, but he says I have nothing to worry about, that he is quite confident that I was just lucky and got over it. So maybe that is a mission blessing that I happened to overcome it instead of struggling with it for the rest of my life! But just encase we are still looking into it to make sure it is all taken care of.

I went on exchanges into one of the townships this week to do a few baptism interviews. I was with Elder Black who is the funniest missionary I know. He is kind of a quiet kid but then the smallest thing will make him laugh for like 10 minutes straight NO exaggeration! It was actually kind of an intense exchange. I have a few stories from that evening, but I will wait until I get home to tell you about that (nothing to big so don't worry), but just remind me to tell you.

Mom, I realized this week that I am on the McDonald's diet without even really knowing it. Elder Byrnes and I have to travel out of our area quite a bit, so when we do we always go out to eat. We realized that each week we eat out at fast food at least 4 times a week...probably more though. I cannot imagine that is too healthy, so I have come to the conclusion that during the 2 months when I come home and am not at BYU  I will take cooking lessons from you. I will need you to teach me quickly to be a sweet cook so I don't ever have to live off of fast food. The laughter that comes from being around Elder Black increases my life span and then McDonald's (as delicious as it is) steals that away....

Dad, don't be worried about whether or not I am focused for these last few weeks of the mission. That is a valid concern because we see missionaries loose it very often towards the end of their mission. I won't mention names, but I am seeing it from Elders that I have worked very closely with. It is sad to see and makes you wonder if they understand the importance of their mission. We put a lot of thought and action into motivating those that seem to have lost the motive. Do we have any thought toward when we go home? Absolutely. At first I stayed as far as I could away from those discussions, but lately with Elder Byrnes we have had very productive conversations about after mission life. It came about because we see these sweet missionaries go home and then the first thing they do is grow their hair out and get a beard and slip into the way of life they had before mission. I don't want to sound holier than thou or act like beards are of the devil, but a mission prepares you for the rest of your life. You cannot simply go on a mission for two years and then set it aside. I judge a successful missionary by his actions after mission. Does he make mission a part of his life and implement the things he has learned, or does he simply set it aside with the "been there done that" attitude. Because we both go home fairly soon we have many discussions about life after mission and how we are going to adjust back into life. What type of music is good to listen to? Obviously your not going to just listen to Motab for the rest of your life, so what kind is good then and what kid drives the spirit away? TV? Work? Many things. We are teaching many people and we are busy with missionary work, but yes my mind does occasionally turn to home. Not in a countdown kind of a way, but in a way that will help us to prepare live aspects of mission life while back at home.

Sorry I don't have time to expound we have a full day ahead and we need to get going.
Love you all

Elder Blake Williams

This is a picture of Blake when he was serving in Botswana. 
That is cow intestine in the bowl in front of them.



Gaborone, Botswana



Stay Classy

These pictures are from Blake's last area but they are all I have.

Dear Family

Thank you for the e-mails this week. That actually reminds me of the first story from the week. On Wednesday Elder Byrnes and I had to go to the office, nothing new. But we had both written quite a few letters in the past weeks and we had calculated that most of our replies would be in the box when we got to the office. It had been a while since we had checked mail, so you can imagine our surprise when we looked in the box and it was practically empty (accept for a dear Elder letter from Erika Brown, which was greatly appreciated). But we were like what is going on? This is the box for the whole zone so it should have a ton of letters and for a change there should be a ton for us. We asked one of the senior couples what was going on and they were like, yea....someone broke into the post office this week, took all the post they thought would be valuable, and then destroyed the rest. While at the same time someone else was at the main post office where all of the post goes and they did the same thing! Someone thought it would be REAL MATURE to go and destroy all of our post, RIGHT when we were actually expecting some ha ha. So yea, the local post office said that this is the 4th time it has happened since December, so they are not accepting any of the post until they have an armed guard stationed at the post office. So Pretty much at the moment, the only post we are getting are the dearelder.com letters. Eish....

Anyway, Mom, did you ever get those photos from Elder Alder's Mom from our exchange? And please send photos next week of Zach's wedding!

Another Semi funny story from the week was that I made Elder Byrnes go on exchanges with the Tembisa Elders (large township). Elder Byrnes was not too excited about it but we had been putting it off for too long, so somehow I talked him into it. He has somehow never served in a township before so he thought he was going to get mugged, and I just added on to him thinking that (sorry, I couldn't resist). He changed his watch and everything just in case he did end up getting mugged. Well, fast forward to the next morning I gave him a call and the first thing I asked him was whether or not he got mugged and of course he didn't. but he was like "no, but I got bit by a dog instead!" ha. I found it kind of funny in the moment. It was nothing to serious, it just bit through his shoe. I thought it was a funny phone call....

I think I am going to do some further research on a diamond today, so I will let you know what I have decided next week.

We had a large Stake activity this week. The stake put on something called the mini MTC for the priests. It was aimed at giving the priests a sneak peek into missionary work. Elder Byrnes and I worked pretty closely with the stake leaders to organize it. The way it worked was that Friday evening all the priests, their leaders, Elder Byrnes, the assistants, and myself went to the MTC where we acted as investigators for the new missionaries. We did it twice and the first one was quite awkward because there were five of us in there all about the same age and they did not believe for a second that we were actually investigators...especially because Elder Byrnes and I were in full suits and everything ha ha. But the second one was so Good! Elder Byrnes and I went into a teaching situation with just us two being taught by a brand new companionship. One was from southern Cal. and the other was from Madagascar and he didn't know how to speak English too well yet. We somehow convinced them that we were car salesmen at Mercedes Benz and that we were just at the MTC with one of our friends who was a member of the church, but we somehow became separated with him and now we were asked to be taught by them. It was so sweet! It explained why we were in suits and why our accents were American and Australian (because we were both recently transferred to the Johannesburg branch). It was SOO good! The Elder from Southern Cal was so nervous because he thought we were real investigators. Even when the teaching was done we tried to give him the Book of Mormon back and he was like, no no! Those are for you to keep! Make sure you read and pray about the message. ha ha it was good. But ANYWAY! the priests then were in pre assigned companionship's. They went back to the house of one of the individuals in the companionship where they were asked to do their own cooking/cleaning/prep for the next day. They slept over at that individuals house and then the next morning they had to get up at 6:30, work out, do their studies, etc. Just the normal Missionary morning schedule. Then at 11 they all met together at a chapel and we also had the missionaries from our zone join in for this part. Elder Byrnes and I put 1 or2 priests with each missionary in our zone and then the district leaders gave them training on what they were going to be doing that day. After training we had lunch and then split to the different areas. I had a very shy kid with me who just turned 16 so I took him to go tracting in a somewhat wealthy section of the township that we were in. It wasn't really a township though because it was larger houses and white people and stuff. But anyway I told him that in our 2 hours together we were each going to try and place a Book of Mormon. He was very shy so I had to do all the talking. and for some reason it was so hard that day to give people a Book of Mormon! I would start talking to them and it would be going SO well, and then I would mention the Book of Mormon and they should shut off! After being rejected time and time again for like 45 minutes I finally convinced this kid to try the next gate. He knocked on the gate, this lady stuck her head out the window of the house and he was just like "hey...we are missionaries. Do you want a Book of Mormon?" And she was like"....um, yes! That would be great!" I was Dumbfounded! I have given out SO many book of Mormons in he last 22 months and then this kid comes and shows me up...it was pretty funny. I finally gave mine out right before we had to finish. After finishing we all met back at the chapel and they had a little testimony meeting for the priests. Which by they way they were all dead exhausted after only two hours of working. It was a pretty good success!

Last thing to mention for the day. This little girl in our ward, the daughter of the man we play squash with, she is 5 years old and she just passed off her last article of faith. All 13 done and she is 5! I hope Grant is done with his and has moved on to scripture mastery!
Stay Classy Family!
Love
Elder Blake Williams

May 7, 2012

Family,
Man, I still cannot believe the news about Zach. That is just SO sad.

Well,  it is sad news on top of other sad news. This week started with one of the missionaries in our zone being sent home. The saddest part is that he is 15 months on his mission and shows no sadness for going home. He is from Australia.

-Mom, did you ever get those pictures from Sister Alder? It would have been a few weeks ago. It is from a dinner we had with the assistants.

-Well, I feel kind of down at the moment so sorry if this e-mail does not sound too exciting, because we really have had an exciting week. One of the most exciting things from this week is that the BYU Young Ambassadors were touring South Africa this week, so President Omer Arranged for every missionary in the mission to attend. Elder Byrnes and I actually attended 2 times. The first one was Thursday night that we attended with the rest of our zone. It was pretty classy because Elder Byrnes and I some how ended up on the front row with Elder and Sister Cook (of the 70) and President and Sister Omer. I think this performance was a wake up call for me. I felt awkward during many sections of the performance. It was all about marriage and love so I was hoping I felt awkward because the performance was awkward, but I get the impression (the wake up call) is that it was just weird to me because I have been a missionary for so long and now I am going to be SO awkward when I go home and have to date....

President invited about half of the zone leaders to the Pretoria performance because there were quite a number of government officials invited as "VIP's", so we went to escort them around. Not to many of the VIP's ended up even coming, but there were no complaints because once the performance started we got to sit on the top level which was the VIP section. The church goes all out for these events so that they can build strong relations with others. Since we were in the VIP section we enjoyed some Sushi platters and some grapetizer (which has been my new favorite). That event was quite fancy pants and we had a few investigators there. Don't take this the wrong way, but I feel like my standard of living is actually going to drop when I go home. In Centurion we get treated SO well. For a hobby we play squash in the golf estates on Mondays, we get fed very nice meals pretty much daily, we go to fancy pants shows and get treated like VIP's, I am driving a brand new car and speaking on a brand new fancy pants phone. My experience here is FAR different than the first 18 months of my mission. I had a LARGE drop in the standard of living, which went up slightly when I went to Nelspruit, then hit an all time low when I got to Kanye, and now it is at an all time high in Centurion.

Well, I was planning on spending most of my e-mailing time talking about the sweet studies and insights that I have had this week, but I will simply over view that. We have quite a few investigators that we are working with at the moment and helping them to experience true repentance in their lives. Naturally, because of this I have spent a lot of time studying about repentance and I have realized the great need that I have for it in my life. This realization came as I was looking further into sins of omission. The purpose of this life is to become more like Jesus Christ. We spend most of our time discussing and struggling with the things that we are not supposed to do. But what about those those things that we ARE supposed to do. It is in the action that we develop more Christ like attributes and as a result become more like Jesus Christ. I thought back on my life and feel sorrow for all that I have let pass me by. The biggest example is seminary. Obviously I went and graduated from seminary, but I kick myself every time I think about all that I could have learned if I took advantage of the situation. If I had simply prepared a little bit and then fully participated in class, my gospel knowledge would be far greater than it is at the moment. I also think about daily scripture study. Before my mission I viewed scripture study as a good thing to do if I had time. I cannot believe I went 19 years of my life without realizing that going a day without studying your scriptures is actually a sin. We are instructed by the Lord through the prophets that we are to study our scriptures daily. It is by studying the scriptures and applying what we learn that we make those steps toward becoming more God like. From experience I have realized that if we are not making steps toward this goal we are in reality sliding away from it. Like always I do not have more time to get into this fully, but I would challenge the family to look at your individual and family lives and see what ways you are slacking. Acknowledgement is the first step in repentance. Sorrow will come, forgiveness will be granted, and improvement can begin.

Love you all

Elder Blake Williams

Remember that we are supposed to find joy in this life!

Family

It sounds like everyone has crazy lives at the moment. Kaylee graduating, Tyler doing 4 weeks of tests, Carly working out my schedule and being a nurse, Joel staying classy, Cami getting ready for school, Grant picking out a dog, Mom going on Women's conferences and having birthdays, and Dad making decisions worth tens of millions of dollars(I just realized that I did not write you back on this point that you mentioned, but be sure to do the morally right thing. I cannot remember who was telling me this, probably the temple president, but he was discussing how all of us have at least one very large trial in life. One that stands above the rest. And as hard as it is and whatever the consequences of this decision, whether good or bad, it is there to test us. To see if we will make the right decisions, even when the world is turned against you. Lucky for you it is just 10s of millions of dollars, and PriceWaterhouse instead of the entire world. Keep that same mind frame that you mentioned, where you can see what is right after 10 seconds of pondering. When you have been guided to know what is right, then act upon it)! I hope everyone is still finding time to read their scriptures every day and not allowing themselves to become TOO stressed. Remember that we are supposed to find joy in this life!

I have about 20 things written here for me to share with the family and about 10 minutes left, so I will try and hurry.

-I got Grants letter! And I also got a package from this girl back at BYU and it was full of cereal. When I opened the package I was like, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! An entire package and all that is in it is cereal and smilies? Turns out that American cereals have been missed more than I thought and it turned out that it was a pretty delicious package. Just an idea for anyone sending any packages to any missionaries out of the states anytime soon.

-Mom, we had a TOTAL recreation of what you did to the sister missionaries! Not sure what happened on Friday, but we had 3 meal appointments scheduled (scheduling error!) and we showed up to one of them and the family seemed really excited to see us....but something was not quite right? It was so awkward, but the wife eventually just brought us out WAY too much food. And she was like, Elders it is a great surprise to see you here. Did you see in your calendar that you are also coming here on the 27th? And I was like yea....today is the 27th. She was SO embarrassed. Elder Byrnes blames it on our family forgetting about the sisters. Just a funny little side story.

-Man I have alot to say, but it is all quite insignificant. Just know that things are going very well in the zone. There were only two zones that hit their April goals and we were one of them with 133% goal achievement. Pretty exciting!

-Yesterday it hit me how blessed I am to be in this area. This is my fifth area and it is the first were I feel the missionaries are not playing a significant role in the ward or branch. Instead we are actually fully focused on missionary work. It is sweet! Although it is kind of selfish I realized that in every other area people were always dependant on us, planning activities, giving last minute talks, activating members, etc. But in this ward It is not like that at all! I am learning SO much from all those around me. I have fairly frequent contact with Elder Cook of the 70 (he will probably be joining me when the Motheo family is sealed on the 25th of this month, that is the family I baptised in Bots), We have become close friends with the Temple President (I had a nice discussion with him in the temple this week and he wants us to come to his house again sometime soon for family home evening so he can teach us more about the sealing power and anything else we would like to know about), We are teaching the Stake Presidents daughter in law, There are SO many "classy" people that I have SO much to learn from! Our teaching pool is also growing because the support of the ward, and it is full of well established, well educated people who have become successful in this life and simply have not found that happiness. We stopped by a family in the ward yesterday to give them some of their dishes back and they had a "snack" for us. It was a full on crape and waffle meal, so much food! This family is very strong in the church and you can feel the spirit simply be stepping into their home. But when they heard that we were both going home soon they spoke for 2 or so hours about 1. Finishing strong on the mission ( I have decided not to pack until the Tuesday morning that I leave) 2. Picking the right career. He was quite helpful in giving many tips about what we should be looking for in a career. 3. They spoke about marriage forever! It was pretty funny because everyone has been speaking about marriage to us lately! But the difference was, was that this family gave very good advice for getting home and deciding who to marry.

My point in all of this is that I am learning from everyone because I am surrounded by the best people!

Got to run
Stay classy
Love,

Elder Blake Williams

It is because of those hard times that my testimony has been strengthened and we get to prove ourselves to the Lord.

Dear Family,

There is quite a bit to write about today so I will combine the e-mail and try to go quick!

The week started with a phone call from the Mission President saying that one of the missionaries in our zone needed to be to the airport in 2 hours because he was going home for an un-expected funeral. Missionaries do not usually go home for funerals, but most of the family is not members and they pleaded that he be aloud to go home, and the area 70 agreed, so he went home for a few days and he came back on Saturday. I felt bad for him. It was his grandpa and he was very close to him before his mission. He is a strong missionary though and I am sure he will deal with it well.

• Elder Byran's and I's request was granted and we are staying together for another transfer. That means that we will be together until the 29 of May. My prediction is that he will then go and replace Elder Alder as the AP when he is transferred at that time. Then I will have a 6 week finishing companion.

• I FINALLY baptised yesterday! Had my first two white baptisms and they went very well. It is a part member family so it was another part to that family. The only person in the family not yet baptised is the father and he is a strong Afrikaner. Very intimidating man who could care less if he was your friend or not. That one will take a lot of work.

• Elder Alder was supposed to tell his mom about our exchange that we had, and she was supposed to pass on the word to you so that you could hear about it. But since you did not make mention of it I will give a quick run down before you get the full scoop and pictures. On Friday after going on exchanges in one of the townships in our zone, the Assistants went on splits with us. I first of all went with Elder Hill (Such a spiritual missionary, it is crazy how obedient he is! Elder Alder is like the definition of Obedient and Elder Hill just takes it multiple steps further than the definition of obedient) but anyway I took him to a first appointment with a part member family. Very Very wealthy youngish family. It was probably the nicest house I have ever been in my life. There are quite a few that we have been in lately that are nicer than anything I have been in America, but the only reason I mention that is because Elder Hill did not know what to do around rich people ha ha. Then we all met up at a Child of record baptism our ward was having and it was SOO intense! The Stake Presidency was even there and the chapel was pretty much full! THEN instead of some cookies after the baptism it was a full on dinner where the gym had been converted to look similar to Carly's wedding reception! Actually a step or 2 down from that, but it was way nice! We skipped out on the dinner though because Elder Byrnes (being labeled as the 2 classiest missionaries) had to treat them to a dinner we had provided. You will see photos of it, but we converted our living room to a very up scale dining room with full out cloth napkins and everything. We served Escargot (snails) for appetizers, lasagna,.....anyway, not sure why I am wasting time on this but it was very nice! and then in the morning we played touch rugby with the ward.

• Diamond: No I don't have anyone in mind! That may or may not be the reason it is so hard to pick one out!

• Dad, it was sad to hear about the kid in Canada Ward who came home. It is sad when that happens, but there is no question about it, a mission is hard. People who have not been on a mission have not the slightest clue what trials people go through. That is why they grow so much in 2 years! You grow through trials, how do you grow so much in 2 years? INTENSE trials like you have never faced before. It is sad when it drives the Elder to go home. I feel we have multiple Elders in our zone right now that are going through trials like they have never experienced in their life. It is during this time that they need so much support so that they know how to get through the trial. Once they do, they become so much stronger. It is sad watching them go through it. I look back on those experienced in my mission. I have definitely had that happen many times in these 2 years, and I am so glad that I was able to look heavenward and get through it. I needed to learn those lessons in this life, and although hard, I would not trade those experiences for the world. It is because of those hard times that my testimony has been strengthened and we get to prove ourselves to the Lord.

• This trip you mentioned sounds fun but I would try to shorten it to a 2 or 3 days if possible. I am leaning towards simply spending time with the family until I start school like you were saying. Money will come later.

• We had General Conference this weekend and it was SO good! a few of the talks that I really enjoyed were: Elder Holland (that is just a given), Robert D. Hales (stellar talk), Elder Ballard. Between the sessions we had lunch with that family I told you about that fly helicopters to work (no big deal). The Temple President lives with them so I went over and decided to have lunch with the Temple President (it was a picnic setting). What a man! We talked about so much in our 45 minutes together. He is quite a scholar so I picked his brain a little. We talked about study habits and he said that the turning point for him in his studies was when he realized that what is on TV is garbage and he decided to replace that time he makes for TV to study. Because of the lack of time I cannot get into everything that we talked about, but he invited us over to his house next Monday so that we can further our discussion on the Covenants of Salvation and Covenants of Exaltation. Something very interesting out of our discussion though was when he looked down and saw an African spider on his pants. I have seen pictures lately of what an African spider can do to you and it honestly kind of scares me. Instead of swatting it away he did something very similar to that painting of Christ and the butterfly. He helped the spider onto his finger and then set it gently on the grass. It was something very interesting that I have not ever seen anyone do before.

• Anyway, I am over time, but I have an assignment to give before I log off. I continue to be surprised at who is actually reading these e-mails, so my assignment goes to everyone who reads this to please simply let me know about it. If you don't want to write a physical letter, then simply log onto dearelder.com and Simply let me know that you read these e-mails. I would appreciate knowing who reads this... :)

Well family, that is all I have for you today. We have an exciting week. Our recommendation was also granted and Elder Tamale will be training starting Tuesday! He has only been out for 3 months but we feel he is ready. I am excited for him.

Stay Classy
Love you all,

Elder Blake Williams

I'M GOING THERE SOMEDAY.....WITH MY LADY!

ONLY BLAKE...........

CLASSIC  BLAKE!

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

 Dear Family,

Well, we had a very good week this week. It started off by having dinner at the temple presidents home. He unfortunately was not there, but he wants to meet with us soon. We had dinner with their daughter and her husband who are a very wealthy couple. He does something to do with Mining. He either owns the mine or manages the finances or something like that. It was something that was quite interesting for me. We talked a bit about his work and that may be something I will give a second look at some point. Do you know anyone in that field that I could talk to when I get back?
Anyway, my comp and I left that appointment very impressed with the family. We both agreed that they are very classy and we first contributed it to the fact that he flies a helicopter to work, has an E class Mercedes, lives in a huge house, etc, but we quickly realized that those things although kind of cool, had nothing to do with why this couple was so classy. When we got back to the flat where we are staying with 2 other zone leaders we started talking to them about why this family impressed us so much. And we quickly made the link from joking about classiness to quite a serious discussion about covenant keeping. Kind of a big jump, yes, but that was exactly it. The first thing we realized about the family is that everything about them is clean. Their house is spotless, their clothing, speech, everything about them was clean. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. The outward appearance of cleanliness reflects a lot about the true person. After Cleanliness we got into a discussion about reverence, and keeping our covenants. (I know it is probably hard to follow any of this but I am quite late to go get a missionary companionship so I have to type fast). But we tied in our whole discussion about Classiness and Covenants with my favorite quote from Elder Christofferson "People should be able to see in us something of Jesus Christ. The way we act, speak, look and even think should reflect him and his ways." This has been the theme for our flat this week. Living in such a way that people can sense something of Jesus Christ. This comes as we truly honor our covenants. Its been a bit of an eye opening week for me and I am very grateful that I was able to learn that lesson while on my mission.
I am sorry most of this probably did not even make sense. It does not help that I have been rushed.

I hope all goes well this week.

Momma, Thank you for your support while I am in the mission field.  I know I do not have much time to update you all that you would like to know but, I do appreciate all that you and the family do for me.
 
I Love you all
Elder Blake Williams



Dosen't this look like so much fun?!



I feel quite spoiled in a way, but I have learned to Embrace that and use it in the work.

Momma Lama

I am glad the e-mail from the mission office got you excited...so, where did you tell them to fly me home? haha I would assume Canada, but is it in your plans to let me spend some time in Texas before school starts? I am glad they asked you IF you would be at the airport. You would be surprised. I have known an Elder or two that have gone straight back to BYU instead of going straight home to their parents. Differnet thought process? YES!

I am glad to hear about Cami. I am hearing about more and more kids that are going to BYUI. There are many kids that are in her same situation that are going to BYUI and she will learn to enjoy it. She will need to get rolling on all of the details for BYUI. The only bad thing I have ever heard about BYUI is that there are a ton of kids that go there so everything fills up very fast. Housing, classes, etc.

Things are going very well in Centurion. I feel quite spoiled in a way, but I have learned to Embrace that and use it in the work. We get fed almost every day, if not a couple times a day, all the zone leaders got brand new cars a couple weeks ago (that is like the 3rd new car I have received on mission), Elder Byrnes and I decided to get a new phone last week, so we did and I am blown away at the technology that is in this thing! I honestly cannot imagine technology being this intense in the States. It is called a C5 Nokia if that means anything to anyone, but it blows my mind how I was using a flip phone 3 years ago and now I have a phone that is more like a computer and can pretty much read my mind! We get a new flat in a week and a half, our wards are working very closely with us which is the SWEETEST thing in the world. Our members actually care about that whole sharing the gospel with their friends thing and it has blessed us so much. We cover two well established wards and it is amazing how well the work goes when everyone puts even the slightest effort into it! Our companionship has been simply challenging families to forward a Mormon message to one of their friends. That is something very simple to do, but we are teaching a very prepared family at the moment and one of the main things that got them prepared was simply family members from all over the world sending them a Mormon message every now and then...

Eish...I cannot go into further detail. Everyone is leaving so I should go

Stay Classy momma lama
Love you

Elder Blake Williams



This picture was just emailed to me from one of the SR. Couples on his mission.



I guess one of the highlights of the week is that I got De-wormed!

Family

Well, what a week. I guess one of the highlights of the week is that I got De-wormed! Apparently it is quite common for Elders to get worms, but they usually just take the mandatory pills at the end of the mission that kill all of the worms. Elder Byrnes (especially) and myself (a little bit) had not been feeling very well, and even when we were well we would just get VERY tired very early on in the day. They got a hold of the area doctor and he thought we had worms, so EVERYONE in our flat took some worm killing pills. Pretty exciting. I am doing good though and I feel like I am gaining some weight, so that is quite exciting.

Another highlight of the week was meeting with Elder Cook (of the 70). I have seen him quite often on my mission, but we found ourselves at the area office this week so we stopped in to the area 70's offices to say hello to him and he gave us a nice spiritual thought out of his ipad.

I have gained a pet peeve(?) since being in Centurion. I dislike it when people show up to church with their ipads each week. It is like a competition to see who has a cooler ipad (which they are all the same, and everyone has them, so no one wins). So I was waiting for the Brethren to come out and say something about the ipad fad that is going on. So last week when Elder Renlund visited our ward I was excited, until I saw his wife on an ipad. I was dumbfounded so I looked on the stage to see what Elder Renlunds thoughts were of his wife having an ipad at church, but he did not seem to notice because he too was on his ipad ha-ha. I did not see what was so special about them until we were with Elder Cook in his office and he could not find the scripture he wanted so he pulled out his ipad and showed us all the intense (church related) things you can do with an ipad. I must say I am sold. I will have to get an ipad when I get home, but I still disagree with them being IN church. Although it HAS the scriptures on them, it does not seem like anyone USES the scriptures on them.

Anyway, enough about my ipad thoughts. I have another assignment for mom if she is willing to accept. Next time you are in the States can you arrange for a small package to be sent to an Elder T. Once again, keep it anonymous, but just anything you think would put a smile on an Elders face that rarely gets mail. Little background on him. He is from Uganda which has a reputation for sending prideful missionaries, but he has got to be the most humble missionary I know. Just the most sincere person! He has been on his mission for about 6 weeks and him and his companion are leading our zone in almost every category. He came to the mission without a backpack and jacket, so my companion and I went out and got him a back pack and I have lent him my jackets until we can arrange some from missionaries going home. He was SO grateful when we gave him these things. If you could just send him something small it will go a long way.

I am loving my mission and we are seeing success. The church is true!

Gotta run.

Stay well family

Thank you for your support!

Elder Blake Williams

Happy Day For Getting Into BYU!

Dear Family,

I will try to answer your direct questions real quick so I do not forget any of them.
1. I am serving in Centurion
2. I have not received the package from Botswana yet, but Elder Alder is doing a Zone Conference up there this week and he will bring down the mail so I should get it then.
3. I lived in Botswana more than 6 months. I served there for a little over 4 months, then lived in south Africa for a little over 4 months, then back to Botswana for a little over 4 months.
4. Happy day for getting into BYU.

I must first start by apologizing to the family if my e-mails this week and lately have not seemed, I don’t know, Spiritual? Or Full of amazing teaching opportunities. We are teaching great people, preparing many for baptism, having spiritual experiences, loving my companion, the area, and the zone (which is also improving and had 5 baptisms yesterday). But especially today, when I sit at the computer I feel that there are many things I need to coordinate from back home, which takes my e-mailing time, but not my time once I leave the e-mail shop.
I have little time but I should share a story from the week. This week we had an area in the zone that was setting up a booth in front of their church and talking to people as they got off the train(because it was close). They asked Elder Byrnes and I for help so we decided to make time for that. We were first with these 2 other elders who were bother quite young on their missions. It was sure funny for Elder Byrnes and I who have both been out for a long time to see these missionaries sheepishly slide a pass along card to someone as they walked by and mumble something under their breath. After watching them for a minute or two I started walking with a few people and talking to them about 1 thing or another for a few minutes. One of these Elders in particular must have wondered how I got people to stop and talk to me because he came over and observed a few of my contacts. It made my week when he walked away from me with a new level of confidence and stopped the first person that walked by and chatted with them for a few minutes! Within the hour that we were together his confidence went from one extreme to where it is supposed to be. It was a neat experience.

I had the area doctor look at my eye this week. I have some kind of growth on it. He said that it is called a pengueculaum? and that it is nothing to worry about. It just looks a little awkward and causes my eye to go blood shot on occasions. But he said I don’t need to do anything about it. He seemed like a very legit doctor so I will believe him.

Well I am far over time.

Love
Elder Blake Williams

PS. Fishing trip sounds fun!