Another transfer coming............

iHola de... Walla Walla?

      So as you've probably guessed... I'm getting transferred... again... to an English area... again... I wish I could have a "normal transfer"... I'm not sure what's that's like. So now this will be my 5th area... in 4 transfers... That's more than the average missionary has their entire mission! I just decided I'm going for a blackout at this point. Just go to every area in the mission (and at this rate... its totally possible). I'm going to be with SISTER B (I'm guessing I'm going English because she's a sister, not an hermana). I heard she's awesome so that's good!

    On Saturday, we were doing companion study, all 4 of us, when we get a text from our district leader saying that President Ware wants to have a special meeting for our district at 9 o'clock that night... long story short: if you heard a bunch of girls screaming at 9:30 Saturday morning... it came from Kennewick... So of course we were all freaking out that entire day. We got there a couple minutes early (wouldn't want to be late to a meeting with the President) and he was in a pre-meeting with the district and zone leaders. They were in a room for like 20 minutes (heard they were there like an hour prior as well)! Eventually, we were able to go in. And of course, he went on for like another 20 minutes about a story in the Book of Mormon, and I'm thinking "Oh my gosh... get on with it!" Eventually, we began. #1.) He wants us to double our keys of conversion ( people we talk to, the amount of lessons we teach, number of baptisms, and so forth) #2) He is making 2 all Spanish zones in Wenatchee (so sad I left!) and in Yakima. #3)He's splitting the area. Originally, there were 4 companionships who covered all the Spanish work in Kennewick. So he's splitting the area now. And Hna J and I are getting transferred and Hna M and O are going to be companions. So now we are back down to 3 companionships. So we all huddled around a table figuring out how to split it, and got home at 11:30 that night. So we have to hand off a bunch of investigators to the elders because they are no longer in our area. We already did weekly planning on Friday... so we had to pretty much redo those 6-7 hours it takes to weekly plan...

      Christmas was hard. Don't get me wrong, I loved talking to my family, but that hour was like 5 minutes, tears were shed, and I was not the most pleasant person after hanging up... Totally snapped at Elder W. In my defense though; he asked me straight up "Did you cry while Skyping?"... he totally deserved it. After the pity party, we made a zillion cookies and went caroling to all of our investigators and my mission president! (maybe that's why he's moving me. He finally got the hint that I cant sing worth crap) and gave them cookies.

     Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Stay safe on New Years! Oh shoot... I just remembered that transfers is on New Years Eve, and I have to be home by 6 because it is New Years Eve... Hello migraine! Any whoosie.. love you all!

-Hermana Rebekah Williams

(cover pic is of Midas, a dog at the local animal shelter where we volunteer.  I want him.

 The STLs that we live with and us

 Hma M's mom sent us matching PJs!

Awesome pic of the Columbia River temple that I took last week.

Feliz Navidad!

iFeliz Navidad de Kennewick!

   So its that time of year again! Where everyone runs around like a chicken with its head cut off at the mall to find the perfect gift for everyone. Where everyone goes bankrupt. The time of year that everyone saves up for then blows it all within a week. Well this Christmas, I'm not going all out on the presents (mainly because missionaries have no money). I will be giving out a present to everyone I come in contact with. A present that was already paid for 2000 years ago. I will be giving the gift of Christ to those who need Him. He is the Gift. (If you have not yet seen it or shared it someone, I highly recommend doing so.) He is the reason for the season, as well as every day of our lives. Without Him, there would be no reason for us to be here. I won't be getting fat off of sweets and desserts on Christmas Eve. On Wednesday, I will be out, spreading the word of God. Giving my brothers and sisters what I have, and they don't. Going out to work for those Christmas Miracles!!!!!!

    This is the time of year where we need to remember Christ the most. I have met several children who do not know why we actually celebrate Christmas, that is sad. In Spanish, m`as (with the accent over the A) means "more". So, Christmas, literally means "More Christ". I invite all of you to make a conscious effort this week to remember the Savior at all times. Serve someone else. Remember why we celebrate Christmas and what the Savior means to you. 

    I wish I could be with you this week, but I can't. There will be other Christmases. I know it will be extremely hard, but I know this is where I need to be. Stoked to talk with my family though! I love you all and I wish you a muy Feliz Navidad!!!!

-Hermana Rebekah Williams

Busy week! (and she's sounding more and more like a missionary:)

Hola de Kennewick!

        Crazy week! To help us learn the area, we have been switching and going on exchanges with the other hermanas. Can I just say that I am completely related to my dad? I got laughed at by some Hispanics this week for being white. One day, I was with Hna. O (who of which, is Hispanic) and we went to dinner at the T's. She made sopes, offered if I wanted a fork, I took the fork... ya... you're not suppose eat sopes with a fork... Hna. O laughed at me as well as Hna. T. Lesson learned: Sopes are to eaten with hands! How am I suppose to know? She offered me a fork! Then we went over to Brenda (member) and Azalia (nonmember)'s house. They were making temales for the Christmas party so we offered to help... got laughed at there too. Turns out, you're suppose to put the dough on the fat side of the corn leaf, not the small. White chick problems...

    But the days when I was with Hna O, I got to drive! Only the senor companion gets to drive (the one who has been out longer or in the area longer) and she is both, but she is from Mexico and doesn't have a license. So I got to drive for the first time in 5 months!

     While we were at Brenda's, her chickens somehow got out of their cage and ran into the neighbor's garage... So, I went chicken chasing... those things are so fast! And their beaks are hard... Another thing to check of the mission bucket list (not really)!

     One of the investigators the other hermanas are handing off to us is on date to be baptized on January 25th and Hna M met a 15 year old girl and put her on date for the 10th, so we have 2 on dates already! Its so exciting that we can actually do work here!

     So you know how I am not musically talented whatsoever? Well, this week, I got volunteered to sing at our mission Christmas devotional, a little kid's baptism and the branch Christmas party. Then my ward mission leader's wife volunteered all the missionaries to play "Joy to the World" with bells during sacrament meeting. The bells were especially awkward because when we were done, all the investigators in the chapel started clapping... 3 musical performances down, 1 more to go! I am not musically talented... at all! You'd think they would get the hint after the first performance...

       The Christmas mission devotional was so awesome (minus my singing)!!! So many wonderful musical talent (minus me) in this mission! So many wonderful things about the Savior and what he did for us!

       Hna J and I were in a lesson with Bernice a days ago. She has depression and is feeling very down and overwhelmed lately because she feels like she can't do anything right, especially around Christmas time. Hna J is the kind of missionary that talks A LOT! Like, I have to fight to say something when I was with her. Eventually, I was able to talk. Not exactly sure what I was saying, but out of no where the words "If you're trying you're best, you are being perfect in God's eyes" No idea where that came from, but its true! God only asks us to do our best and repent. That's all He can ask for! He knows us. He knows our weaknesses and that we are human so we are going to mess up. That's why that's all He can ask for. God doesn't command us to do something that we physically cannot achieve.

     I have not used the Bible Dictionary until my mission. No idea why, it is the best thing ever! I was reading under "prayer" and the last paragraph or two are absolutely amazing! It says it way better than I do, but it talks about how when we pray, we are acting for Jesus. God does not hear our prayers, unless they are how Jesus would and for things that He Himself would be asking for. That is why we close in the name of Christ. Many prayers go unheard because they are not done correctly. Like I said, the Bible Dictionary explains it a lot better than I do so y'all should check it out! Yet again, didn't have a whole lot of time to take pictures this week. I'll take a lot these next two weeks!

Con amor,

Hermana Rebekah Williams

(the cover pic is at the mission Christmas devotional, with a cutout of the mission President)

Moved to Kennewick!

This is her letter from 12/8.  Sorry I'm late:/

iHola de KENNEWICK!!!!

    So I got et-ed (emergency transferred)... otra vez! So I am now in Kennewick! The Lord really does like to move me! So now, this is my 4th area... in 3 transfers! I am still with Hna. M though. Went from the top of the mission, to towards the bottom.

    We got et-ed because our area was practically dead. Hna. M was there her entire mission so far (we came out together) and pretty much knocked all of the Hispanic areas (which was already super small). So we were just referral machines to the English elders. We had no investigators and we had one active family in our group; who is now moving. We sent about 10-15 referrals away a week so we were getting no where. We have both been telling President Ware about this. Last Tuesday, he called us and said that he wanted to move us somewhere where there was work to be done. He said he was going to make some phone calls and to call him back the next night. We did... and he didn't answer or call us back. We also texted him, no reply either.

     So last pday in our emails to President, we both brought up the fact that we called like he said we never heard back (we may or may not of said it that nicely). You can't tell us you might move us and never get back to us! So on Wednesday during studies, he finally called us back. He said he was prompted to call us (more like got called out) and we explained our situation more. He then said "Well then, we need to get you out of there!" he then said that he will make some phone calls then he will call us back. I'm sure no one can blame us for not thinking he was going to actually call us back... but he did! He said "Well, there are some sisters in Kennewick who have too much work to do. They have too many people wanting appointments that they can't fit all of them in, are you two willing to come over to help them out?" We said absolutely and asked when he would like us over there his response was "Can you come over tomorrow morning at 8?" D: Not like we had much of a heads up. So now we are here!

     Its a good thing we got moved though. First of all, we actually have work to do here! The sisters that we are now working with, have 8 people on date for baptism and had one Saturday! What the heck?! There are actually people here... and they're Hispanic! They have a 100 person Spanish branch that is trying to become a ward! They teach like 20 lessons a week! Which is like 3x the amount that we did! There are actually Hispanic investigators here! And they are coming to church! What they heck is this? We saw our mission president and his wife on Thursday. Their welcome to us was "Welcome to the Promise Land!" Ya, that about sums it up!

   Secondly, Ephrata is pretty sketchy... we knocked on doors with a picture of a gun pointed to you that said "If you shoot the problem, it goes away!" or "No trespassing! Violators will be shot, survivors will be shot again!" My companion was knocking on a street one night before I came, she had this feeling to leave so they did. Turns out, there was a murder that night on that exact street. She also got held hostage one time and was forced to watch an anti-Mormon video for 2 hours (you wonder why my emails were so short?). It's also fun talking to a guy who is holding a fat bag of weed in his hand (turns out, pot is legal in WA). So ya, I'm glad to be in Kennewick!

  

    So, I might not have Pday again until next Thursday. In Ephrata, temple Pday is the 18th and they already had theirs here. We are going to try and get permission to go to the temple (now that it is 5 minutes away instead of  and a half hours :D) on the 18th. So don't freak out if you don't hear anything on Monday.

   Love you all! Sorry, no pictures this week. I forgot but I will make up for it next time!

Con amor,

Hermana Rebekah Williams

freezing in Ephrata

iHola de Ephrata!
      

       Such a lllooonnnggg week! To be honest, I don't remember the majority of it, haha. I finally figured out how to get pictures though, haha. I got a card reader at WalMart.

    For Thanksgiving, We got invited to someone's house to have pie for breakfast, "dinner" at 1 at my ward mission leader's house, and dinner-dinner at an investigator's house... long story short: I ended up tossing it all back up. At least I had to be in by 6. The morning was pretty hard. I was pretty out of it and homesick in the morning but it got better later in the day. The stake mission leader told us to go see all of his neighbors practically to share with them the "He is the Gift" video (if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it). So that is what we did from 10-12 pretty much. Besides that, people pretty much just shoved the door in our face and told us to get lost because they have family over.

   Are you ready for an awesome story? One day we were tracting in the middle of nowhere, and we saw this guy working with his cows, so we go over there. We taught him the Restoration and he said "Can you come back when my wife is home?" Umm... DUH!!! So we went back on Saturday. Turns outs... he's been a preacher the past 15 years! So he started to bash us, saying we are wrong because we don't recieve the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands (which we do) and how we baptize wrong because we don't do it by immersion (which we also do) and that we are taking away and adding to the Bible (he doesn't believe in the Old Testament so the BoM did not fly wit him). So we shared 2Ne. 29:1-12. He was silent, then said "When are your services?" D: No one ever asks when and where church is! We also helped an old couple with alzheimers and cancer put in a fence so that was fun!

   Sorry or the extremely short letter, but I only have an hour on these computers.  I honestly do not remember much of the week. While I am here, I will probably not email the majority of you but will do snail mail if I have your address. Love you all!

-Hermana Rebekah Williams

(top pic: giant pretzel in Leavenworth.  Leavenworth is a little German town they visited the day before she was transferred)

Good bye to Sister B and hello to Hermana M

More pics from Leavenworth

It's freezing cold!!!!