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
Monday, March 5, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
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!
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!
Monday, February 20, 2012
I feel like this week was an intro into parenting course 101.
Dear Family
Come now, Momma was the only one to write this week. I know that I have been on the other side of the world for a long time, but I still check my e-mail once a week. I guess this is a good week for you to slack though because I don't really have too much to write this week.
Maybe we can start with a funny/sad experience for one of the missionaries in our zone. His name is Elder S and he is one of the most humble guys you will ever meet. Like Elder A level of Humble. Seeing as how Elder B and I are at the mission office quite often, that means that we get to check post quite often as well, which is great because all the young guys in our zone get TONS of mail while Elder B and I.....well, lets just say I am getting more e-mails right now than mail...and I only got one e-mail. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the story. Elder S got one of those large envelopes sent to him from his family. The large envelope had a large slit on the side where everything inside was taken out, and then over the slip was a little sticky note that said "package received WITHOUT anything inside". And then It was put into a plastic bag by the US post service that had a note on it titled "We Care", and then it went on to say sorry about the inconvenience, etc. So pretty much someone from the post office stole all of the stuff in his package and then instead of throwing the envelope away they decided to just send him the envelope with a message saying that the US post service cares. It was a good laugh for everyone accept for Elder S. It was definitely a TIA, accept this time It is "This is America" because it was torn apart before it left the states...
Dad, I have everything you requested. I even got the pictures taken, but even though I gave them the paper you told me to, it looks like the measurements were a little off. I am going to go get new ones taken and then send them off this week.
Well, to be honest this was a tiring week full of companionship problems in the Zone. I feel like this week was an intro into parenting course 101. Mom, back in the day you used to put quotes on my mirror. I used one of those quotes with one of the Elders this week but it was definitely miss quoted so I was wondering if you could get me the full quote. It was something along the lines of "It takes a lifetime to build a reputation but a single act to destroy it". This particular Elder asked me if I am a sociologist ha ha. I took that as a complement of how much I have learned from dealing with countless of these situations. You just need to dig deep into someone and then ask them how they feel about what is going on...its getting SLIGHTLY easier, but not any funner. Oh! I also used the quote, "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." It is important to realize that this quote is not just for missionaries but for all members of the church.
Grant: I have decided that I have a request for you. You need to make sure you stay with your piano lessons! A big regret of mine is not sticking with piano from when I was young. It is actually quite classy for someone to be able to play the piano very well. We are trying to have a Classy Zone Conference this week, but I don't play the Piano so I will have to somehow have to get Elder Hughes to Play something highly classy for us or something. Grant Bo bant fe fi fo fant, you need to stop loosing teeth! What are you going to do when you have no teeth! That would be a little awkward!
alright family.
Love you all
have a good week
Elder Blake Williams
Come now, Momma was the only one to write this week. I know that I have been on the other side of the world for a long time, but I still check my e-mail once a week. I guess this is a good week for you to slack though because I don't really have too much to write this week.
Maybe we can start with a funny/sad experience for one of the missionaries in our zone. His name is Elder S and he is one of the most humble guys you will ever meet. Like Elder A level of Humble. Seeing as how Elder B and I are at the mission office quite often, that means that we get to check post quite often as well, which is great because all the young guys in our zone get TONS of mail while Elder B and I.....well, lets just say I am getting more e-mails right now than mail...and I only got one e-mail. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the story. Elder S got one of those large envelopes sent to him from his family. The large envelope had a large slit on the side where everything inside was taken out, and then over the slip was a little sticky note that said "package received WITHOUT anything inside". And then It was put into a plastic bag by the US post service that had a note on it titled "We Care", and then it went on to say sorry about the inconvenience, etc. So pretty much someone from the post office stole all of the stuff in his package and then instead of throwing the envelope away they decided to just send him the envelope with a message saying that the US post service cares. It was a good laugh for everyone accept for Elder S. It was definitely a TIA, accept this time It is "This is America" because it was torn apart before it left the states...
Dad, I have everything you requested. I even got the pictures taken, but even though I gave them the paper you told me to, it looks like the measurements were a little off. I am going to go get new ones taken and then send them off this week.
Well, to be honest this was a tiring week full of companionship problems in the Zone. I feel like this week was an intro into parenting course 101. Mom, back in the day you used to put quotes on my mirror. I used one of those quotes with one of the Elders this week but it was definitely miss quoted so I was wondering if you could get me the full quote. It was something along the lines of "It takes a lifetime to build a reputation but a single act to destroy it". This particular Elder asked me if I am a sociologist ha ha. I took that as a complement of how much I have learned from dealing with countless of these situations. You just need to dig deep into someone and then ask them how they feel about what is going on...its getting SLIGHTLY easier, but not any funner. Oh! I also used the quote, "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." It is important to realize that this quote is not just for missionaries but for all members of the church.
Grant: I have decided that I have a request for you. You need to make sure you stay with your piano lessons! A big regret of mine is not sticking with piano from when I was young. It is actually quite classy for someone to be able to play the piano very well. We are trying to have a Classy Zone Conference this week, but I don't play the Piano so I will have to somehow have to get Elder Hughes to Play something highly classy for us or something. Grant Bo bant fe fi fo fant, you need to stop loosing teeth! What are you going to do when you have no teeth! That would be a little awkward!
alright family.
Love you all
have a good week
Elder Blake Williams
Monday, February 13, 2012
Before my mission I did not like sushi, but after eating cow stomach I realized that eating sushi is nothing and I actually enjoyed it a lot.
Dear Dad,
Mom did not e-mail me for the first week of my mission. (I actually did write to him. I just sent it from my itouch and I sent it to the wrong address) I assume that means she is quite busy in Arizona. Did grandma already get there, and if so how did it all work out? I cannot imagine it was very pleasant to be there during all of that.
Thank you for the residency information. I will get that printed out and see what I can do. I can get the papers signed and sent via a some kind of nice mailing company, but I will have to look around for a bit to find the camera shop. I suspect that I should be able to get everything mailed off by the end of this week if not early next week. Saying that, I must also note that we are VERY busy! This is the first week of my mission where I have had literally almost every hour of the following week (mon-fri) booked before Sunday was even over. Although this area has a reputation of being very difficult and baptizes very little, the ward has gotten very excited about missionary work and everyone is anxious to help with missionary work. Apparently the missionary I replaced was having a few problems and rubbed the wrong way with the members AND investigators, although they do not know me very well yet, they seem to enjoy our new companionship and we are receiving a lot of excitement about the work. Yesterday we had FOUR men from the ward including the bishop come up to US and ask US to come and meet with their families for a meal and to talk about the work and we had to tell all of them but one that we were sorry but we were already booked for the entire week. This is a first for me, but it is exciting to have the work going this well. We are going to request from the mission president to keep our companionship together as long as possible.
I realized I have not mentioned much about my companion yet, but he is the man. He has an interesting past. He is literally a beach bum from Australia. He would live on the beach for months! Definitely a different life style than I had growing up, but he is a humble guy and has a way of connecting with everyone. I thought that was one of my strengths, but I have been put to shame by his talent. His humility is expressed the most when he prays. He is one of those that you look forward to hearing him pray, not because of fancy words, but because you can tell that he knows he is talking to his Father in Heaven. He is 3 months younger on mission than myself.
Do I have frequent interaction with the mission president? Yes. I feel like I see him at least once a week now. I agree with the comments that you made and that is something that I have given a lot of thought. In fact there is a guy in our ward that for work he meets with CEO's and gives them advice about how to make others work better together/how to read others, etc. It is kind of weird, but he is a close friend with us missionaries and I was talking to him just yesterday about what you mentioned. Because he is so good at reading people I told him that he and I will have to sit down and have a discussion about what he sees as my strengths and weaknesses and what type of career he sees me getting into. He is very excited about that because that is where he excels.
I look forward to meeting with many of the men from back home as well and simply talking to them about what they do, how they got into the line of work and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of it.
Wow, I just realized I am behind time quite a bit!
Thank you for the e-mail.
Love
Elder Blake Williams
PS: We are e-mailing a little late today because it is Asian day today. Each of our p-days have been having a theme lately because Elder Clark who I live with only has 3 weeks left on his mission so we are making all of them count. We were planning on going to this Asian place where you put your feet in a tank of fish and they eat the dead skin off of your feet, and then have sushi, but the fish were not ready today so we just had the sushi. Before my mission I did not like sushi, but after eating cow stomach I realized that eating sushi is nothing and I actually enjoyed it a lot.
Mom did not e-mail me for the first week of my mission. (I actually did write to him. I just sent it from my itouch and I sent it to the wrong address) I assume that means she is quite busy in Arizona. Did grandma already get there, and if so how did it all work out? I cannot imagine it was very pleasant to be there during all of that.
Thank you for the residency information. I will get that printed out and see what I can do. I can get the papers signed and sent via a some kind of nice mailing company, but I will have to look around for a bit to find the camera shop. I suspect that I should be able to get everything mailed off by the end of this week if not early next week. Saying that, I must also note that we are VERY busy! This is the first week of my mission where I have had literally almost every hour of the following week (mon-fri) booked before Sunday was even over. Although this area has a reputation of being very difficult and baptizes very little, the ward has gotten very excited about missionary work and everyone is anxious to help with missionary work. Apparently the missionary I replaced was having a few problems and rubbed the wrong way with the members AND investigators, although they do not know me very well yet, they seem to enjoy our new companionship and we are receiving a lot of excitement about the work. Yesterday we had FOUR men from the ward including the bishop come up to US and ask US to come and meet with their families for a meal and to talk about the work and we had to tell all of them but one that we were sorry but we were already booked for the entire week. This is a first for me, but it is exciting to have the work going this well. We are going to request from the mission president to keep our companionship together as long as possible.
I realized I have not mentioned much about my companion yet, but he is the man. He has an interesting past. He is literally a beach bum from Australia. He would live on the beach for months! Definitely a different life style than I had growing up, but he is a humble guy and has a way of connecting with everyone. I thought that was one of my strengths, but I have been put to shame by his talent. His humility is expressed the most when he prays. He is one of those that you look forward to hearing him pray, not because of fancy words, but because you can tell that he knows he is talking to his Father in Heaven. He is 3 months younger on mission than myself.
Do I have frequent interaction with the mission president? Yes. I feel like I see him at least once a week now. I agree with the comments that you made and that is something that I have given a lot of thought. In fact there is a guy in our ward that for work he meets with CEO's and gives them advice about how to make others work better together/how to read others, etc. It is kind of weird, but he is a close friend with us missionaries and I was talking to him just yesterday about what you mentioned. Because he is so good at reading people I told him that he and I will have to sit down and have a discussion about what he sees as my strengths and weaknesses and what type of career he sees me getting into. He is very excited about that because that is where he excels.
I look forward to meeting with many of the men from back home as well and simply talking to them about what they do, how they got into the line of work and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of it.
Wow, I just realized I am behind time quite a bit!
Thank you for the e-mail.
Love
Elder Blake Williams
PS: We are e-mailing a little late today because it is Asian day today. Each of our p-days have been having a theme lately because Elder Clark who I live with only has 3 weeks left on his mission so we are making all of them count. We were planning on going to this Asian place where you put your feet in a tank of fish and they eat the dead skin off of your feet, and then have sushi, but the fish were not ready today so we just had the sushi. Before my mission I did not like sushi, but after eating cow stomach I realized that eating sushi is nothing and I actually enjoyed it a lot.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
From Blake to Grant :)
Grant bo bant fe fi fo fant,
It is pretty ironic that you asked about cobra's today. I saw dozens of cobras about an hour ago. One of the members from our ward offered to take us to a snake park that another member owns. Elder Burns, Elder Clark, Elder Hughes, and myself went this morning and they had over 500 snakes there! They had all kinds of Cobras there, even an albino one which is apparently really rare. We saw green and black mamba's, Asian snakes, American snakes, all kinds of snakes! Then we got outside where the REALLY big snakes were and they got out a couple of them just so the missionaries could hold them. I have a few pictures where we are holding a 5 meter anaconda! It was pretty intense. I was afraid that he would want to bite me!
Then they had a crocodile and since we were somehow friends with the man who owned the place he let Elder Clark feed it a rat. It was very cool. They had meerkats that we also fed. And they was a HUGE snake, probably 9 meters long, but they would not let us hold that one because they said it could easily kill us...It was fun though I will try to get you pictures!
Love you
Elder Blake Williams
It is pretty ironic that you asked about cobra's today. I saw dozens of cobras about an hour ago. One of the members from our ward offered to take us to a snake park that another member owns. Elder Burns, Elder Clark, Elder Hughes, and myself went this morning and they had over 500 snakes there! They had all kinds of Cobras there, even an albino one which is apparently really rare. We saw green and black mamba's, Asian snakes, American snakes, all kinds of snakes! Then we got outside where the REALLY big snakes were and they got out a couple of them just so the missionaries could hold them. I have a few pictures where we are holding a 5 meter anaconda! It was pretty intense. I was afraid that he would want to bite me!
Then they had a crocodile and since we were somehow friends with the man who owned the place he let Elder Clark feed it a rat. It was very cool. They had meerkats that we also fed. And they was a HUGE snake, probably 9 meters long, but they would not let us hold that one because they said it could easily kill us...It was fun though I will try to get you pictures!
Love you
Elder Blake Williams
Sunday, February 5, 2012
From Grant to Blake :)
Dear Blakey bo bakey fee fi fo fakey:
Is your companion okay? I hope one of your companions doesn’t kick the soccer ball in your head so you lose your memory.
Uhm, we are going to do the sledding races again next year. Do you want to try it with us?
Let’s see. How are you doing? What’s your favorite animal that you have seen so far? My favorite animal that I have not see so far is a cobra.
This week at school we painted a polar bear out of water paint. Yesterday me and dad went on a bike ride. The weather is really sunny and warm here now.
Tonight we are having some families over. We are having desert – ice cream and cookies, and for dinner we are having tacos.
My friend Bruin came over and we built my Hero Factory (a lego project). It is a scorpion and it is really cool. I will see if Cam can send a picture. It took 30 pages to build.
Love,
Grant
P.S. The ground hog saw his shadow. That means there is 6 more weeks of winter, but it doesn’t feel like winter.
Is your companion okay? I hope one of your companions doesn’t kick the soccer ball in your head so you lose your memory.
Uhm, we are going to do the sledding races again next year. Do you want to try it with us?
Let’s see. How are you doing? What’s your favorite animal that you have seen so far? My favorite animal that I have not see so far is a cobra.
This week at school we painted a polar bear out of water paint. Yesterday me and dad went on a bike ride. The weather is really sunny and warm here now.
Tonight we are having some families over. We are having desert – ice cream and cookies, and for dinner we are having tacos.
My friend Bruin came over and we built my Hero Factory (a lego project). It is a scorpion and it is really cool. I will see if Cam can send a picture. It took 30 pages to build.
Love,
Grant
P.S. The ground hog saw his shadow. That means there is 6 more weeks of winter, but it doesn’t feel like winter.
It's Great To Be Eight!
Grant is in class with a whole classroom full of boys! How delighted we were to see his primary class when we moved to Calgary. Last week they had a wonderful program for the boys who are getting ready to be baptized this year. Can you imagine these boys at 16?!
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| I love this picture of these darling boys. They are full of energy and good to the bone! |
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