Monday, August 24, 2015

August 24, 2015

iHola desde Milton Freewater!

    This week has gone by so fast! I feel like I just emailed! Well on Tuesday, we went on exchanges and I stayed in the area and the sister who came here with me didn't speak Spanish! SO it was pretty much up to me the majority of the time to teach in Spanish... so that was... fun... One time, we were sitting on this lady's lawn and out of nowhere this white guy pulls up and asks me to translate for him to the lady. He liked the colors of her house and wanted me to ask her the exact color and tints of the house so he can build his son's house those exact colors... how the heck am I suppose to know that kind of stuff? It was interesting haha exchanges are always amazing though! I love going on exchanges and learning from the sister trainer leader.

    A couple weeks ago we met a man named Carmelo and we had a super awesome lesson with him! He is recently divorced and sees the need for God more in his life. He said when he knows the Book of Mormon is true, he will be baptized, but wouldn't set a date. We went over to our next appointment, but he wasn't home. His son Eric was though! Eric is super cool as well! He is only 14, but loves Christ so much and always wants to learn more. We had a second lesson with him, taught him the restoration, and but him on date to be baptized on September 26th! We went back last night, but he wasn't home. His 16 year old brother, Ernesto, was! He was super solid too! We taught him about the Book of Mormon and put him on date to be baptized on the 26th as well! This family is so golden and prepared, they are just NEVER home at the same time! We will just baptize all of them on the 26th and they wont even know that the other members of the family are as well, haha.

     I have been thinking a lot lately about Christ's love. I grew up in the church, singing 'I'm a Child of God', but lately I have felt more and more of His love. I am so far away from perfect, it's ridiculous! And yet, He stills loves me. No idea why, but He does. He also loves the people in Milton Freewater and wants them to know that He loves them, and that's why He sent me. He loves every living thing and desires their salvation and return to Him, so He created the missionary program. I meet people who don't believe in life after death or even believe in God, and that just makes my heart break! That's just so sad! It's true, our finite minds cannot even fathom Christ's unconditional and infinite love for us. And I am so thankful for that!

  Hope you all have a fantabulous week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

August 17, 2015

iHola desde Milton Freewater!

   I can never really remember anything that happened during the week, haha. On Tuesday, we had to go to Tri-Cities to go to a meeting, we asked a lady from the English ward to take us. In exchange for the 3 hour ride there and back, she had us work in her garden. She is a math teacher, but not your average, boring math teacher, she had a motorcycle! Its called a 'Spyder', its one of those that has 2 wheels in the front. When we were done, she introduced us to her hispanic neighbors. The dad is in the hospital and asked her to take his kids to church so she decided to introduce us :)
     About a week ago, we were walking out of an apartment complex and we saw a lady swiping her porch, so we went to talk to her. She said she was busy but to come back this past Sunday. When we went over, we also met her husband. They had a lot of good questions and desired to know more. And now they are on date to be baptized on September 12th!!!!!! Whoo!!!!!!!!!! You will never guess their names... Jose and Maria haha. Its SSSOOO exciting!!!!!!!! 
     I love you all and hope you have a fantabulous week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams



Tuesday, August 11, 2015

August 10, 2015

Hola desde Mormon Freewater!

   I am still determined that they are going to change the name of Milton Freewater to Mormon Freewater. There's going to be so many members that they are going to make a temple here and the main language will be in Spanish! Haha, Milton Freewater only has about 6,000 people. About half of them are hispanic though.
   This week, we made a kazillion cookies and delivered them to all the members of our branch! It really isn't that big haha like there was only 20 people who weren't missionaries at church yesterday. Usually there's like 30 so it wasn't that hard. We are really striving to have the members trust us more, and to ultimately go with us to lessons and give us referrals of their friends and family to teach. As you can probably guess with only about 30 members, it's hard to have people come out with us! The majority of them live in Walla Walla and the sisters don't drive so that makes it even harder! Members are so important because we aren't going to be here forever and they need friends in the ward! They aren't going to go to church if they don't know anyone or feel comfortable.
    In addition, my companion and I are looking into creating a scripture study class! Most hispanics work like all day, even on Sundays! So if we have a scripture study class about once a week, it's kinda like church! We will invite the members too to strengthen their testimonies (usually when we ask them if they have read, they say "I've already read it" so they don't read anymore, or they can't read at all) and so they can friend the nonmembers! MEMBERS ARE SSSOOO IMPORTANT IN MISSIONARY WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     It's crazy I only have about 4 months left!!!! I have to go home a little early for school so it's even sooner! AAAHHH!!!!! I just gotta give these last couple of months all I have left and then some! I love you all and hope you have a fantabulous week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

August 4, 2015

iHola desde Mormon Freewater!

    These past couple of days have been awesome! Remember Sandra and Jose from Walla Walla? THEY GOT BAPTIZEDON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I WAS ABLE TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sandra didn't remember me haha oh well! I pretty much only met her twice. But Jose was very appreciative about us finding them and not giving up on them. On top of it, I got to see lots of my Walla Walla ward!!! Walla Walla will always have a place in my heart. :) It makes me so happy! The sisters who were actually teaching them at the time, surprised me by having me help with the interlude thing and conduct the music. Oh well! I pretty much just shared how we found them. It made my day being able to go to their baptism. Makes me feel like I have actually accomplished something haha.

       Today, we got to go to the temple :) Temple p-days are always amazing and stressful. Amazing because its the house of the Lord! And we only get to go there once about every 3 months! And stressful, because it takes about 6-7 hours to get there and back and we still have a lot of stuff to do before pday is over, still worth it though! I have been very exhausted and fatigued the past couple of weeks, so a trip to the temple was definitely needed!

      Hard to believe it's already August!!! Where has the year gone?! And I go home at the end of this year!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Well, I just gotta make these last 5 months worth it and make every minute count!
Love you all!!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams


July 27, 2015

iHola desde Milton Freewater!

    Hey guess what! I'm NOT getting transferred!!! Apparently, the Walla Walla stake is the only place I can actually stay! I'm ok with that though, its my favorite :) and a couple that I found and taught when I was in Walla Walla are getting baptized on Saturday! And I get to go!!!... hopefully... their baptism has been post-poned like 3 times now.  Well, they have 6 more weeks to pull it off! I'm so happy I get to stay :)

     This week for service, the city decided to build a "community gathering place", so I got to do more construction! I put it in quotes because its not big enough for an entire community and it is literally right next to the high school, so it will probably be a hang out for high schoolers. Then again, it is Milton Freewater, so it might be big enough for the community. So my hands are super dry and I'm super sore from all of this, but hey! I love community service! And I got to wear jeans almost everyday :) That's just an added bonus ;)

     On Tuesday, we were literally on our feet for 3 hours! We had 4 lessons from talking to people and trying by people, but they were all on the door step so we were still on our feet. We were super exhausted and decided it was finally time to leave. 4 lessons in 3 hours in and of itself is a miracle! but, as we were walking to the car, we saw a man sitting on his porch, so we went to go talk to him. His name is Alvaro and he has like the deepest voice I have ever heard in my entire life! He is also very big for an hispanic. Anyway, we had a very awesome lesson with him. He believes Christ to be the Savior of the world, but he doesn't understand what that means to him on a personal level. We shared the Restoration and bore testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ coming to Joseph Smith and restoring the same church that Christ established when he was here. Then we put him on date to be baptized on August 15th! :) 3 hours on the feet definitely pay off!

    Thousands and thousands of miracles happen everyday! We just have to open our eyes and hearts to see them. Today I was reading in the Book of Mormon when the Lord is prophesying the Americas to be the promise land and all the blessings and liberties that we have. It made me think of all the blessings that I have and I take for granted a lot of them. We have to open our eyes as well to our blessings and be grateful for them! Love you all!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams 

July 20, 2015

iHola desde Muddy Frogwater!

     Nothing really super exciting happened this week. We got to do a lot of community service. which was awesome! Twice a week we help out with the rehabilitation center and help the elderly with BINGO and stuff like that. Old people are so funny! There's this one old guy who has a horrible memory and hearing and this is pretty much how our conversation goes every single time:
Me: "Hey Lonny, how are you today?!"
Lonny: "I'm doing alright... hey... what's your name, again?"
Me: "Sister Williams!"
Lonny: "What?"
Me: "Sister Williams!!"
Lonny: "Ginger Lee?"
Me: "... Yes, Lonny..."
Lonny: "You'd think I would remember... but I will next time!"
... he never remembers... oh well! Once you get to a certain age, you can pretty much say and do whatever you want! Then there's always the ones who fall asleep or blurt out"Uno!" while playing BINGO... fun times!

    In Athena (A super small town kinda by me) they are restoring an old movie theater so we got to help a couple times this week! We did everything from sorting giant piles of bricks to making cement and filling holes in the wall. The head guy is super weird and crazy. He was explaining how to mix the cement then out of nowhere he looks up, stops, and says "I think that old guy in the scooter is a spy!" or he tells us how he met a lady who poisons animals and then tried to poison him because he found out... he was really weird.... funny though! So I have been super sore and tired like all week from doing construction stuff.

     Oh ya, guess what?! I hit my year mark! AAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm an oldie now :/ I don't want to be at my year mark! I'm still trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing! I don't want to go home... My year mark was nothing special. We did service in Athena, then after dinner, I felt nauseous so I spent the rest of the day feeling like I was going to hurl. So that was fun... It's weird to think I have been on my mission for a year, but it's also weird because being home seems like forever ago...

Well, I gotta go, peace!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

July 13, 2015

iHola desde Milton Freewater!

    This week has been very weird... we have one investigator named Amador. We shared the restoration with him and after the first vision, it was dead silent for literally half an hour and the Spirit was super strong. He had Moroni 10 opened up and was reading it all be himself. He finally broke the silence and started talking about how much he loves his dad and started crying. 

     Remember our on-date, Zoila who is "supposively" in California? Well One day we were driving down the street past Zoila's house. SHE WAS SITTING OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we slammed on the breaks to go talk to her. She came home the day before and was missing her family a lot. We had a super powerful lesson and she was crying... so we put her on date to be baptized again haha.

    One day we were having lunch at the church and I heard the door open, I turned around and guess who it was?! MY OLD BISHOP IN WALLA WALLA AND HIS WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I threw my sandwich to go give his wife a giant hug! :) That made me so happy! And I also saw my old elder quorum president too! I love seeing people from Walla Walla!

    On Sunday, I gave a 20min talk in church all in Spanish... probably half of the conjugations were wrong... 20 minutes is a long time to talk about forgiveness. Oh ya! I may or may not of let my companion cut my hair... Surprise!

 Love you all!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

July 6, 2015

iHola desde Milton Freewater!

      Fun fact for ya: when they were decided what to name Milton Freewater, Muddy Frogwater was an option for a name... surprisingly enough, that name didn't win!  Places in my mission have some really weird names... Anywhoosie, I saw more Walla Walla people! I saw two less actives at WalMart today (one didn't really look happy to see missionaries...) and on Saturday, there was a baptism for the YSA branch and a girl from my Walla Walla ward who just graduated high school was there! She said I was one of here "favoritist sisters eva!" Hehe :) that made me happy! :D Walla Walla feels like home to me :) Probably because its the only place I have actually stayed haha. Being here is awesome as well because we help visit the sister less actives in Walla Walla WHO SPEAK SPANISH!! So I get to go back to my old area! This week, our branch president asked us to visit a Luisa, so we did. Turns out, she lives in the exact same apartments that I lived in! She's right behind me! I could of been talking to her the entire 4 and a half months I was there! Oh well, we are visiting her tomorrow :) I love the people here!

     We went on exchanges this week and I stayed in the area with a STL who doesn't speak Spanish... so that was interesting! It's ok though, because we found 4 new investigators that week and put 2 people on date to be baptized! There are ALWAYS so many miracle on exchanges, its awesome! My Spanish is a work in progress, but I still love it! Sorry for the short email, but I gotta go make Muddy Frogwater into Mormon Freshwater! I love you all and have a fantabulous week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

June 29, 2015

iHola desde Milton Freewater!

      iPuedo hablar espanol otra vez! So ya, my Spanish is a bit on the rusty side, but its ok! Because I'm in a Spanish area again! Hispanics are so much nicer than white people.... its been in the 100s here the past couple of days and kinda humid, and the majority of hispanics I have met, offer bottled water, soda, ice cream, or something! White people just complain. The hispanic culture is so loving and friendly. Most of them don't have a whole lot, but what they do have, they give willingly with a smile on their face. They love talking to anyone who will listen, especially about God. If you walk up to a random white person and start talking to them, most of them will look at you weird, but hispanics love it! I dont catch 100% of what they say, but I can tell that they are passionate about what they are. I can usually get the general idea of what they are saying since I can understand my companion's Spanish.

       We are teaching a lady named Zoila, and in the middle of the lesson, she goes "Actually, I'm pretty sure I was baptized into this church when I was 16 and in El Salvador!" , but we can't find her records... so she has to be baptized again! So that will be fun explaining to her haha. And Yesterday, we were teaching a couple Emilio and Horina. In the middle of the lesson, he gets up and starts "baptizing" me... it was really weird...

   On the plus side, one day Hna. R had to go to the bathroom, so we went to the church. While we were there, I saw a couple that I knew in Walla Walla!, but they were in a meeting.... so I didn't interrupt and it made me sad I couldn't say hi. Afterwards, we wen't to a lesson, then she said she had to go to the bathroom again, so back to the church we went! As we were leaving the second time, the meeting got out and I got to see the couple I knew! It made me so happy :) I know this sounds weird, but the fact that I am here, in the Walla Walla stake, speaking Spanish is a testimony builder to me that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me. He knows how much speaking Spanish and Walla Walla means to me, so He combined the two! I know that He loves me :)

    Church was fun! I love the sacrament prayer in Spanish, it sounds so pretty! Well I gotta go, love you all!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

June 22, 2015

Hello from... MILTON FREEWATER, OREGON?!?!

    So... as you've probably already guessed... I got emergency transferred... again... for the third time... Third time's a charm... right? Emergency transfer #3 and area #7! Whoo... Operation Black-Out The Mission is back on! I'm ok with this one though, because I'm back in Spanish and I'm back in the Walla Walla stake!! We go to the church in Walla Walla on p-days so I get to go back to Walla Walla every week!!! iMe encanta Walla Walla! So I'm ok with this emergency transfer :)

   So our bishop in Yakima kicked us out of his house a couple weeks ago because his sons were getting too old, so we didn't live in our area any more. We found out (by experience) that it takes an hour walk to get to our area. We usually shared a car, but on Wednesday morning (also transfer day) we got a random call from our mission president saying that one of the sisters we shared the car with was having knee problems and if she continues walking, she will have to go home 1 transfer early to get knee surgery... so we gave her the car full time. President keeps re-confirming my statement from a while ago that random calls from him are not usually a good thing... So we didn't have a car, period! (Another reason why I am ok with being emergency transferred this time...) So on Sunday, instead of walking for an hour to get to church all hot and sweaty, the bishop's wife gave us a ride to church. In hope she would catch on to what I was hinting at, I mentioned the fact that we didn't have a dinner that day... and she caught on :) So she invited us over for steak! At the end of dinner, she asked us if we needed a ride somewhere, so we went over to look at our planners. Sister K saw that we had a text from our mission president that said: "I am witnessing a miracle in the making! Call me when you get a chance." So we ran frantically to our bishop's deck to call him. He explained that one of the hermanas down in Milton Freewater has to go home for medical reasons and asked if I was ready and willing to 'fully immerse' myself in Spanish... DUH!!!!!! So here I am :) He said he wanted to correlate with our bishop and we were like"...we are literally at his house!" so he was a part of it too. Then he said to correlate with our ward mission leader and relief society president... who are married to each other and literally one street over. I am glad I'm on this side of the emergency transfer and not in Sister K's position... She isn't getting a new companion! She has to take sisters out with her all day, everyday from the ward to be her companion. That would be so hard! When I found out I was going back to Spanish, I got so excited I starting jumping up and down and dancing around my bishop's deck, then I realized I was being emergency transferred, then I started laughing, then I realized I was being emergency transferred back to the Walla Walla stake right before the mission split so I will be in the Kennewick mission like I was talking about a while ago,... then I started laughing even harder! Funny how these things work out... iHasta luego!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams


Monday, June 15, 2015

June 15, 2015

Hello from... YAKIMA!!!!!

   So as you can tell...I didn't get transferred... which means I am now in the Yakima mission and still speaking the white-man-language. So my mission president lied to me... I'm still in an English area! Now I will spend at least half of my mission in an English area and I now have twice as many English transfers as Spanish... iQue en el mundo!... I think God forgot that I'm an hermana... not really, God has a better memory than an elephant!

On Saturday, we got kicked out of out bishop's house because their sons are getting too old (mission rule) and moved in with the Spanish sisters (:D) until we can move in with our ward mission leader in a month... apparently, I'm not getting transferred, but I still have to move around a lot... figures... My plan for when I meet my new mission president is to make it super obvious that I am a Spanish missionary. I wont have a new mission president if I get emergency transferred back to Walla Walla before July... hmm...

     Whenever I get worried or overwhelmed about being English or whatever the case may be is, all I have to do is repeat to myself a quote from Joseph Smith called 'My Missionary Commission' 

   "I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the Earth. By revelation, I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master, and He has chosen me to represent Him. To stand in His place to say and do what He himself would say and do if He personally were administering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice. My acts are His acts. My doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done. To say what He wants said. To be a living, modern witness, in word and in deed of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter day work. How great is my calling!"

... sounds about right. Think that about sums up what a missionary is. Or there is: "It doesn't matter where you serve, but WHY you serve" - Pres. Spencer W. Kimball. "Peace be unto you, my servant [Rebekah] for thine afflictions be but a small moment. An if thou endureth it well, it will be well with you" -God to Joseph Smith. Aren't latter day prophets the best?

    On Thursday, we did some yard work for service. I asked to borrow a rake and they said ' that rake would be too heavy for me' and gave me a different one... so I grabbed the heavier rake and started working my butt off. I have lived with too many boys for too long to accept something is too heavy for me. I also learned to use a drill and built our bunk bed in our new apartment. Don't tell me I can't do something! I am too stubborn and will just prove you wrong. I did get super sunburned though. It got into the 100s here and we were doing yard work for like 3 or 4 hours. And now I have my gnarly watch tan back... WHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Well, I gotta go, peace!

Con amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams


Monday, June 8, 2015

June 8, 2015

Hello from Yakima!

     This week has been SSSOOO long!!! But this transfer has gone by super fast! On Saturday, we find out if we are being transferred which determines which mission we will be in! Our mission is splitting from the Kennewick mission to the Kennewick AND the Yakima missions! Pretty much no one wants to go to the Yakima mission haha. Obviously, I will go where the Lord sends me. This transfer has been very challenging, I'm not going to lie, but it is a good break from tracting all day everyday! 

      We finally went on exchanges this week! I love going on exchanges! I have been waiting all transfer to go! The opportunity to be companions with one of your leaders to learn, grow, and get advice. I have some pretty awesome sister training leaders! The one I was with was born in Mexico so I got to use mi espanol :) We also met a guy who only spoke Spanish so I finally had a Spanish lesson! It was also super cool. We were walking down the street and we see this lady so we went over to go talk to her. She said she met with missionaries before and she wasn't interested, didn't want anything to do with the Book of Mormon, just completely shutting us down. As she was going back inside her house, we asked her if she new anyone who could use a message of Jesus Christ. As she was pointing to her neighbor she said "We got in a fight with them the other day. They could use Jesus!" (It's funny how easily people push their neighbors under the bus) So she went inside and we went to knock on her neighbor's door. As we were standing there, the same lady comes back outside and says "Actually, can you do me a favor?... Can you pray for me? I have been praying for peace in my life and I know God sent you here to give me peace." (Its also funny how easily people come running when they need something.) So we prayed with her then she went on to say how the other day there was a swarm of bees that was only at her house, but she didn't feel panicked at all. She knew it was from God. Then every morning she wakes up with new scratches on her and she says their from Satan. So obviously, something is wrong in her life! Definitely going back. Exchanges are awesome though! They are always miracle-filled.

       Summer has officially started here! There was high school graduation, and it got up to 105 degrees... I felt like I was in the green Arizona (if that exists). I liked it though. Wasn't a fan of it being fast Sunday without a car though (we share a car). So walking everywhere without food or water in 105 degrees wasn't the highlight of my day, but I still enjoy the heat. :) Yes, I know I'm weird.

      For the first time like ever, I finished my email early! Nothing really all that amazing happened this week besides that. So since I have time to spare, I would like to share my testimony with all of you since it was fast Sunday yesterday!

      I know that this church is true. I would not be 900 miles away from home if I didn't. I am grateful for Joseph Smith and for everything that he endured for all of us so we can have the fullness of the everlasting gospel on the Earth. He translated the Book of Mormon using the power and authority of God and it is the word of God. Through Joseph Smith, the priesthood has been restored. The power and authority of God to act in His name for the salvation of his children and I am grateful for all the priesthood holders in the world. Christ is the literal Son of God and the Savior of the world.

       I love you all and have a great week!
Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams


Walla Walla Street in Yakima

Thursday, June 4, 2015

June 1, 2015

Hello from Yakima!

      Oh my gosh, this week has been NUTS!!! We had 2 baptisms on Saturday! Normally, the ward mission leader does a lot of the planning and such, but ours has his two sons' weddings within a month of each other and was needless to say, very preoccupied! So we pretty much planned both of them. It seemed like everyone and their mother was busy this weekend. So literally, the bare minimum people showed up. For Patty's, the guy who was suppose to baptize her was on call and couldn't make it because someone was like dying and the only people who showed up were us, the pianist, and a lady who was giving a talk. At the very last minute though, the 1st counselor showed up so he asked him to baptize her (he didn't have a change of clothes...) and then we saw two elders walk by and we were like "ELDERS!!!!!!!! WE NEED YOU!!!" So we had them witness. So literally... the bare minimum amount of people showed up... Sister K ended up giving the other talk. For Ron's baptism, same story, the bare minimum amount of people showed up. I gave a talk on baptism. He was the only baptism I have been to where the person being baptized pretended to be drowning! No one believed him though. Everyone knows what a goof he is! He is a 56 year old child. If you think I'm childish, you should meet Ron! Baptisms are awesome! :)

      Since next Sunday is fast Sunday, we are doing a mission-wide fast! Normally, we are not allowed to ask people at home to fast for a specific superpose, but, our mission president said to invite everyone (even people back at home) to fast for the thousands of people who are being prepared to receive the gospel. There really are thousands of people being prepared so that is why next Sunday, we all are going to fast for them!

        So that has pretty much been my week. Running around like a chicken with it's head cut off to pull off 2 baptisms! But, they worked out!... barely! This just proves that we are not in control whatsoever! Heavenly Father wants all of his children to return to Him and He WILL provide! All of His children are special and He loves them all very much. The more I read the scriptures, it just testifies to me more and more that God's church CANNOT be run by man! We sadly lost one of the 12 apostles this week. Keep L. Tom Perry's family in your prayers! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams



May 26, 2015

Hello from Yakima!

      This week has been REALLY LLLOOONNNGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My birthday was definitely one to remember... We were sitting in a lesson with a lady who is going to be baptized this Saturday, having a super good lesson, then out of nowhere, her cat bring me a present... a live mouse, drops it in the middle of the three of us, then runs away. Our investigator runs clear to other side of the room and wouldn't go anywhere near it. So we spent the next hour on a mouse hunt. The mouse somehow found it's way to be under the carpet behind the heater. That was... fun... Can't say I wouldn't do anything for our investigators! Happy birthday to me...

        On Thursday, we had Zone Conference! Those are always the best! Except we now have a new friend that stays in our car 24-7... his name is "Elder Tiwi". A Tiwi is a box-type thing that is stuck to the windshield of the car and it corrects you on your driving. It will go off if you are not wearing a seat belt, speeding, or driving aggressively...  It tells that mission office whenever it goes off and at the end of the transfer, you will be graded for your driving based on how many violations you get, and if it goes of for "aggressive driving", it immediately goes to the office and the vehicle coordinator calls you. And if you go too much over the speed limit, it calls the cops on you. BUT!!! The Tiwi has not gone off on me :) my zone leader says it goes off on him all the time haha.

       On a somewhat less scary note; we were in groups, doing a pretend teaching situation. In the middle of it, my mission president's wife comes and sits right next to me. Then during lunch, I was throwing away my trash and my mission president pats the empty seat next to him. So I go and sit next to him and this is our conversation: Him: "My wife tells me you did really good on that role play" me: "Thanks" him: "Are you comfortable teaching in English?" me: "Yes" him: "Do you find it easier to teach in English" me: "Yes" him: "Are you ready to go back to Spanish?" in my head "I was ready as soon as you took me out..." What I actually said: "Yes" him: "Are you willing to fully immerse in it?" me: "Yes" him: "Ok, I just wanted to congratulate you on your role play" Uh-huh... sure... So my mission president pretty much told me I'm leaving after this transfer. When lunch ended, he gets up and says, looking right at me: "I just got off the phone! We are getting a brand new sister next transfer who speaks fluent Spanish!" Don't do that to the poor child, President... Don't make her deal with me. That's not nice. So it will be interesting to see how this all works out! Apparently, unless I am in Walla Walla, I can't stay put. Goal to black-out the mission= back on! Well I love you tons! Have a fantabulous week!

Note from mom:  all of last week's schedule baptisms fell through.  One is scheduled for this coming Saturday.  Fingers crossed:)


May 18, 2015

Hello from Yakima!
     
    iFeliz Cumpleanos a mi! Its pretty awesome to have a birthday on P-day. Even better bday present: my cough is finally gone! 6 weeks!  We went to Red Robin for lunch and the other sisters forgot to make them sing to me so that was a good thing! And today is "The Washington Kennewick Wax Your Car Day!" as the vehicle coordinator calls it. So we have to wax our car by hand... I dont even know how to wax a car! Oh well, this will be an adventure...

       This week has been nuts! So originally, Ted's baptismal date is May 23rd. He might be going out of town though. He is going out of town to visit his grandkids and doesn't know when he is leaving and wont be back til mid-June. We started talking about a June date and out of nowhere Sister K goes "How about this Saturday?"... he has social anxiety... the look of fear on his face... He didn't say 'no' so we took it as a 'give him some time and space to take it in' (this was on Wednesday). Then he found out that when you are confirmed, you go up in sacrament meeting and everyone can see you... the look of terror on his face= priceless! He still never said straight up no so we told him to think and pray about it then we would follow up the next day... he ran away from us until Saturday so we took that as a no. Sister K said that wasn't from her and she had no idea where it came from so it had to be from God. He's still planning on baptism this Saturday unless he's out of town. So he got the panic attack out of his system. 

      Immediately after that, we met with Ron, who's original baptismal date was June 6th. We had his lesson at his home teacher's house who is going to baptize him. The home teacher said his daughter graduates high school on the 5th so they are going to be super busy. So we moved Ron's baptism to this Saturday, the 23rd. So possible 2 baptisms on Saturday? BEST. BIRTHDAY. PRESENT. EVER!!!!!!!

    Patty is still awesome. She called us randomly to say she had a cup of coffee and felt horrible so we scrummaged through her kitchen and took all of her coffee and tea. She didn't go to church because her granddaughter was spending the night and threw a fit for not wanting to go. She called us literally 5 minutes after church and said that she felt like "a piece of crap" (her words) and was never going to not go to church ever again unless she is on her death bed... she is so AWESOME!!! Her baptism is next Saturday :)
   Hope you have a great week! Love you all!


Monday, May 11, 2015

May 11, 2015



Hello from Yakima!

     I'm trying to figure out why on Earth you would name a place called Yakima? Washington in general has weird sounding names for cities... I think most of them are named after Native-American tribes.

     Anywhoosie... this week has been nuts! Monday night and Tuesday were crazy with saying goodbyes to everyone :'( Goodbyes stink! I have never really gone around saying goodbye to people before I left. Then again, I never really stayed in an area long enough to get attached to anyone... They are horrible! Sherry started crying and gave us flowers at church. If the new sisters don't take care of her... they will not be on my good list! (Trying to sound like a dignified representative here...) Goodbyes are such vacuums...
 
       Transfer days are always super hectic and crazy! Since no one is currently living in our apartment, we got to scrub down our apartment from top to bottom on top of both of us packing everything up... so that was... fun... NOT!!! Even ask my mom. I just LOVE cleaning oh so much... :/  I really didn't want to leave Walla Walla! But I am needed here in Yakima! It's weird here... there's like actually people who live here... so we like actually have investigators who actually WANT to learn about the restored gospel... it's weird and foreign to me. We have 3 people on date to be baptized! Ted for May 23rd, Patty for May 30th, and we put Ron on date for June 6th on Friday... its weird! We also have Sam for July 27th but that's like forever away! I will probably be in my 10th area by then.

      Friday was... interesting... So I live with my bishop and his family, but they were out of town. We have our own fridge in their garage... they have a big fancy security system... long story short, I set off the alarm while getting my breakfast... Sister K somehow didn't hear the alarm since she was in the shower. So our bishop got a notice on his phone that the alarm is going off and that the cops were coming... (awesome first impression btw) So ya... we got a call from them letting us know so Sister K made me answer the door... luckily, he was super nice and he said that happens all the time. Then we went to do service at a food bank. We were sorting apples and a group of people wearing suits were walking around and he went to talk to me and asked what group I was with and such. People took pictures then eventually, they left. I asked who they were and everyone was like "... that was the governor of Washington..." So I got to meet him without knowing! That was cool! My first Sunday here, I "got" to teach the Sunday school class... I ran out of stuff to say after 40min so I just rambled the last 20... I'm good at rambling. Anyways... peace out!

Con Amor, 
Hermana Rebekah Williams

May 4, 2015

Hello from... YAKIMA?!?!

    As you probably guessed... I'm getting transferred! I don't want to go to Yakima! It sounds like you're throwing up when you say it... I mainly just dont want to leave Walla Walla! I am super depressed I have to leave! I don't want to leave! Even though the work is hard and bit dry right now, I love the people here so much that I don't want to leave them! Out of my 5 almost 6 areas, Walla Walla is my favorite and it will probably forever be my favorite! Sister B and I are getting doubled out. So when I go to Yakima, she is going to Richland. The funny thing is, her new companion's name is Sister Williams! She is going to get so confused haha. The 3rd ward sisters are now going to cover both wards. So no one will be living in our apartment, so we get clean and pack everything up in our apartment! Yay... The mission is splitting after this next transfer to the Yakima and Kennewick missions. So the odds are, I will be in the Yakima Mission :/ And it gets EVEN better! I am going English speaking... again :/ So this will be my 7th transfer, of which, 5 will be in English... :/ I thought my call packet said "in the Spanish language" Ugh! I don't want to leave Walla Walla. :/

     So... my cough is still here... My poor new companion haha has to deal with this! Its super cool though! Because I don't cough when I read the scriptures or pray! Power of the scriptures and prayer! Nothing sounds appetizing still too. On the plus side, I'm not eating a lot and my abs have been sore the past couple weeks from coughing so much, so maybe I'm loosing weight! Gotta learn to look at the positives, right?
     
   Sherry finally came to church! And it was Fast and Testimony meeting! A lot of people were baring testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was PERFECT!!!! I looked over a couple of times, and she was crying! AND we put Jose and Sandra on-date to be baptized for May 30th! Of course, as soon as things start to come together, I leave. Because that always happens to me... Que en el mundo? I'm going to miss Sherry! When we told her one of us might get transferred, she started crying! She told us we made such an impact in her life and she gave us flowers on Sunday! She better be baptized before I have to go to the Yakima mission and I better be able to go to her baptism!

      Well I gotta salir... Love you all and hope you have an awesome week!
Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

April 27, 2015



Hello from Walla Walla!

      What a week?! I'm still coughing all the time, so I went to the doctor :P he said my bronchial tubes were irritated so he gave me some heavy duty cough syrup with codeine in it (horrible stuff!) that I have to take every 4 hours and an antibiotic that I was suppose to take for 5 days... they didn't work. On Thursday, my cough got worse. I couldn't last more than 3 minutes without coughing and they sounded worse and deeper. So we had to come home at 2:30 because its not like I could be coughing like that at someone's doorstep... Friday wasn't much better. It was actually worse... I am a Williams and we always get all the side-effects for medication. Whoo... Which in this case is dizziness (which I got every time I stood up) and drowsiness. I have not been hungry the past 2 weeks and this week, no food whatsoever ever sounded appetizing. Starting on Friday, when I did eat, I felt like I was going to throw up and sometimes when I coughed, I felt a sharp pain in my lungs. We texted the doctor (he's in our ward) to ask him if it was normal. His response was "Burning in the chest is never normal"... super it said it might be a little pleusy (whatever that means!) So I asked my zone leaders for a blessing on Friday night. So that should help. It was super weird saying and hearing my whole name... This week has been the most I have heard my first name in a long time! My forehead was strangely cold, but my cheeks were hot, it was weird... We had dinner at the doctor's house on Sunday. Him "How's the cough?" me "still here" him "did the cough syrup help at all?" me "nope!" so he said he will prescribe me something else :P

        A couple days ago, we were walking down the street and we see an older man going outside from his house so I say hi, he didn't hear me, so Sister B asked him how he was doing then he says "iHola!" so my response was "OOO Spanish!!!" So I ran over to talk to him. He kept asking the same 4 questions and saying the same things over and over again (you could tell he was drunk). He also made like a spanking motion a couple times.... I didn't pick up on it the first 2 or 3 times. Finally, he said we were his little friends and he loves us then made the spanking motion again and just stared at me and said "Si?"  I started at him for a couple seconds, then it clicked "NO!!!!!" then we walked away. Poor Sister B goes "What happened?" "You don't want to know" "Tell me" "Sister, I promise you, you don't want to know!" "Just tell me!" so I told her... Hey! I warned her! Creepy, gross, drunk, old, Hispanic man!

         On a positive note, when I was on exchanges a couple weeks ago, we met a man named Julio, up until this week, we haven't been able to meet with him. On Saturday, it was about 8:30 at night and we still had 30 minutes before we could go home. We already ran through all our plans and back-ups and everything so we were pretty much walking around aimlessly hoping to be prompted as to what to do. So I say "We could try to set up an appointment with Julio?" So we go to his house and opens the door and immediately invites us in. His wife wasn't home so we talked to him outside. He was just rambling on then he wife pulls in so we went inside. As soon as we started talking about the restoration, he shut up and started listening! Him and wife are super cool! They were asking the perfect questions and giving the perfect responses! So now they are 2 new investigators! Yay!!! And some of her family members are Mormon! 

      You remember Jose from a while ago? Well we ended up dropping him a while ago but yesterday, we took the lady out with us who use to take him to church when he was little and she goes "How about we go visit Jose?" so we did. It was like a mini family reunion! He opened the door and went right up to her with a big ol' hug! They were talking, catching up, it was awesome! So we are going to start teaching him again! Hopefully, I can control my cough this week! Hope you all have a great week!

Con amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

April 20, 2015

Hello from Walla Walla!
       
     Craziness! I hit my 9 month mark this week! Half way done! So for my "hump day" (meaning my half way mark, I'm 'over the hump'), we saw a camel! Don't ask me what a camel is doing in Washington, because I have no idea! But, it was cool! Her name is Izzy the Camel... and she is massive. Most sisters put a ball or something in their shirt to make them look pregnant and take pictures, but I saw a real camel! Still confused about all the weird and random animals that are here but oh well! It makes life more interesting!

    We also did service at the food bank! Its always fun! I get to use my Spanish there :) because some people who get food there don't speak English. The head guy has to start asking people what nationality they are. Once he was done, he over heard me speaking Spanish to someone then he was like "...you speak Spanish...?" me "...ya... you didn't know that?" him "no!" me "my name tag is in Spanish!" him "Well I could of utilized you a couple minutes ago!" So that might be my new new job when I go over there now... Oh well! Its still helping people and I will get to use my Spanish :)

      So I'm still coughing up a lung 24-7... On Monday night, we were walking down a street a we walked a member's home who was having a FHE group. A man comes out and invites us in, so we did. When I'm around members, I try not to cough, but sometimes I can't hold it in. So they all heard me cough as if I were dying, including my ward mission leader... We had dinner with some of them and so they gave me soup or something like that because they all thought I was super sick. I don't feel the slightest bit sick though! We had to call our district leader every night, so every night he hears my cough. He told me to call our mission president's wife, who told me to go to a doctor. The 1st counselor in our bishopric is a doctor, so we just went over to his house last night. He said I have an upper respiratory infection... So I get to go to his office on Wednesday so he can prescribe me some antibiotics... yay... I have had bad lungs for like ever so this doesn't really surprise me a whole lot.

    Chad came to church again! This time, it was intentional! Last week, he came to pick up his grandpa and wasn't planning on staying, so he had jean shorts and a jean jacket, this week, he had a white shirt and tie! Sherry is sick so she couldn't come :( but! Chad came to church all by himself! Since Sherry was sick, she had to cancel our appointment on Saturday. But Chad called us from his grandparents house to invite us over to his grandparents' house for lunch! (his grandparents are active members of our ward). Chad likes us :) When I first got here, he always left the room. Yay Chad!

    This week, I read about Rebekah in the Bible! It was super cool because, well, I'm named after her! She is talked about in my patriarchal blessing so it was cool to read more about her. I won't be as mischievous as her though...  She's a sneaky little thing! There really is such great power that comes from reading the scriptures and the words of the prophet. Before my mission, I just read them because I was suppose to, I'm not going to lie. But reading with real intent and meaning and IN FAITH makes all the difference in the world!
   Well, I gotta split, but I hope you all have a fantabulous week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

April 13, 2015

Hello from Walla Walla!

        This week has had ups and downs! Then again, what week doesn't? For once, I actually remember what happened earlier this week!... ish... A couple weeks ago, we got a new investigator named Therese. She was super cool! She is 7th-Day, but very open and was willing to listen to us. She is a junior at high school and knows a bunch of Mormons and hangs out with some from our ward at school. We went to stop by on Tuesday. She opened the door super happy and cheerful! We asked if she had time to visit, and then... she dropped us... She said she has her own church :/. So we are going to get on the youth to get her interested again :) About 2 weeks ago, we got a new investigator named Sarah. She has cancer and was super solid! We read the Intro to the BoM with her and asked her when she comes to know that it is true, if she will be baptized, and she said yes! She wouldn't let us set a date though :/. We have been trying to get in with her since. She hasn't been home. On Friday night, we took our ward mission leader with us. We went through all our back-ups with no one home so we thought we would try to see Sarah. She was home! We asked if she had time to visit... and she dropped us... in front of our ward mission leader... awesome... About a month ago, we got a referral from the church. The Matson family was taught in Nevada, but recently moved here. We went to go meet them when we got the referral. They said they were super busy with moving and such and to come back a little later. So we came back 2 weeks later, his wife was sick. We gave them our number and they said they will call us when things settle down. 3 weeks later... no response... So we went by on Wednesday! His son was sick this time... we talked to him outside though. He was super cool! He kept saying that he really does want to learn more and said when he feels ready, he will be baptized! We made an appointment to come back this next Wednesday. On Saturday, we got a text from them. And you will never guess what happened next... we got dropped again... How did you guess? Ugh! They said they want to explore Life Church! I don't like Life Church... they take everyone!

      Like all week, I have been like coughing up a lung! I don't feel sick at all though... Its like the painful ones that are like deep in your throat. My district leader gave us permission to go to the store to get cough syrup and such :P its so gross! Sunday was the worse though... I strained my voice so it was all raspy during church... it was awesome. It was so bad and I was coughing so hard so much, I lost my voice... did you know its hard to be a missionary without a voice? Especially on Sunday?

      Are you ready for a miracle?! You know my one investigator Sherry? Well her boyfriend/man she has been living with for the past 25 years, Chad has a grandpa who is a member of our ward. Sherry can only come to church every other Sunday since she works every other weekend. She couldn't come this week because of work. Well we were sitting in the middle of sacrament meeting and I look over because out of the corner of my eye I saw a person walking down the aisle. It was Chad!!!!!!!!!! Turns out, he was just taking his grandpa to church and taking him home but still! Chad came to church for a little bit!!!! He usually runs away when we come over! MIRACLE!!!

      We had exchanges with the sister training leaders and interviews with President Ware, both are always so good and great learning experiences! Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

April 6, 2015

Hello from Walla Walla!

       Wasn't this weekend great! General Conference is always amazing! I think it gets better and better every time, don't you agree? We are certainly blessed for the opportunity we have twice a year to listen to the words of a living prophet of God and His apostles! To hear the words that the Lord wants us to hear so we can further improve our lives to be in more harmony with His. I love viewing it at the church! There aren't very many people, but you can feel the Spirit that dwells in the chapel.I don't know why, but Saturday afternoon sessions always end up my favorite! I don't know why, but they are always so great and inspiring! 

      Then we had Easter! The time of year we can celebrate our Savior and what He did for us so we can all return home and rise again, perfected! And through the Doctrine of Christ, we can live with our families, forever! Beyond comprehension! Our Father in Heaven and the Savior love us so much that they were willing to do that for us! As individuals, and as a whole! If He carried His cross to His own death, the least I can do is share His gospel! As a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is my responsibility to make sure every single person in the Walla Walla first ward area hears about it! Its just frustrating when people don't want anything to do with it! Agency is a gift and a curse, I swear!

      On Thursday, we went to Dixie! Dixie is a tiny, ity, bity town where it takes literally less than a minute to drive through it! It is where people go that don't want to be found. So we went there to find them! No idea why we cover Dixie, but we do! We went down 2 entire streets and literally not a single door opened! Sometimes I think people call their neighbors and tell them we are coming so they don't open the door. Even the horses were giving us the "get the heck away from me" look (we get that look a lot). That agency! All I can do is knock and the rest is up to them!

     We do our laundry at a member's house. Today, she taught us how to make sopapillas! They are actually super easy and only have like 4 or 5 ingredients! They are good! Hope everyone had a great week and will have a fantabulous one!

Con Amor,
Hermana Rebekah Williams