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

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

March 30, 2015

Hello from Walla Walla!

     

        I survived the transfer! Its a miracle! If I last this transfer, it will be like twice as long as I have ever spent in an area! Kinda sad... but its awesome here! We had to say good bye to some pretty awesome missionaries here though! Sister M got transferred to the 2nd greatest area in the mission! Wenatchee! She's English though... so its not as sweet. She's only been out a transfer longer than me.

      A sister serving in the mission office had surgery this week and requested the mission fast for her so we all fasted on Wednesday. So of course we were all starving, and we didn't have a dinner! But! we were suppose to have a lesson with a less active on Friday. He called us on Wednesday and said "Sisters, do you have a dinner tonight?" and we said no then he said "Well, my uncle is here and we are having a BBQ, and you are invited!"... MIRACLE!!!! So we went over, and there was only 5 of us: Sis B and I, a member, the less active, and his uncle (who didn't eat at all!) so really there was only 4 of us. We get there and he uncovers a giant bowl of chicken, another giant bowl of ribs, a bowl of different ribs, a giant bowl of hot dogs, potato salad, and an entire slice watermelon! (They are Polynesian so of course there is going to be a ton of food!) We were so stuffed then he was like "Eat more ribs sisters!" So we had to because we didn't want to offend him then he gives us giant bowls of ice cream because it "fills in the cracks" (of which, I'm not complaining) so ya, we didn't go away hungry!

      Later that night, we were knocking. We saw that there was a lady sitting at the kitchen table, but she didn't move when we knocked, so we knocked harder. Finally, a little kid opened the door. We asked if his mom was home and he ran to get her. We started talking and she just looked super confused and was like "Me no speak English..." so of course I got super excited and started babbling in spanish! Yay spanish lesson! Her name was Luz which means 'light' in English! That made my day :) even more than the food! The next day, we were knocking (as usual) and this lady opened the door, same thing 'Me no speak English..." So I started speaking spanish again, then she starts Bible-bashing me! Turns out, she is a Jehovah Witness missionary who was teaching her little girl when we knocked on the door. Since it was all spanish, I got to deal with the Bible-bashing all by myself. So eventually, when it started to get a little too heated, I said "I don't want to fight with you. Is there anything we can do for you before we leave?" then walked away. I like Luz better...

      I love Easter time! And General Conference time! It's so exciting! And the "Because He Lives" video! Its so good! The General Womans Broadcast was also so good! I just love to church so much! I hope everyone has a fantabulous Easter and remembers the true reason behind it. Our Savior and what He did so we can return home. Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Rebekah Williams

March 23, 2015

Hello from... *drum roll*... WALLA WALLA!!!

       I get to stay here another transfer! Sister B is staying here too! I'm so happy! Our poor bishop... he cant get rid of us! The members here will be so tired of us after 6 more weeks... oh well! I'm glad I can stay in one place for the first time in like my entire mission! "For the first time in forever!"  Like the entire ward thinks the luau was because one of us was leaving so we through a party... and we are both staying! Proves them right! 

        On Friday, we volunteered at the Food Bank again. They were having a give away thing so we pushed carts of food to people's cars. I got to use mi espanol a couple of times! Some people didn't speak English so the guys who worked there used me as a translator. So that was pretty cool. It feel so good doing service for people! I love serving!

        Saturday was busy! I helped out at the stake Family History Fair for a couple hours then we had a lesson with Sherry! Yay Sherry! Our only like real investigator! We were walking down her street to our dinner on Wednesday who lives farther down on that street and her boyfriend Chad was outside and was like "Go talk to Sherry!" so we knocked on the door, no answer, so we went to dinner. On the way back, he was still there "Go talk to Sherry!" so we tried again, and she opened the door. She jut started venting to us! She feels like she is changing (gospel wise), but she is alone. She isn't clicking with Chad anymore, when she has been with him for 25 years and has kids with him. She didn't feel like she was good enough. I shared Moroni 10:32 with her, and she just started crying. Hopefully that what she needed. On Saturday, we stopped by again with a member and showed the Restoration DVD to her and a miracle happened! Chad sat in on the entire video! Chad always runs away whenever we come over! He went to drop off his son at drivers school and said "Wait till I get back!" Don't know if he was serious or not, but we waited. When he came back, he prayed with us! Talk about the Lord softening hearts!

        It's officially Spring! Yay!! Which means General Conference is in 2 weeks!! And Easter!!!! I love Easter!!!! The time of year when we celebrate what our Savior has done for us! What He had to go through so we can return home to be with our Father again. The fact that He died so we could live again. There is a Mormon Message called "Missionary Work and the Atonement". I don't know where they found the video, but if you can find it, I would highly recommend watching it! Especially if you have a missionary out! A truly touching video that depicts what He did for us and why missionaries do what we do. Nothing can even come close to what He did and nothing can come close to repaying Him. A year and a half is a small price to pay to help other comes unto Him as a representative of Him. I gotta go, but I love you all and hope you have a fantabulous week!

Con amor,

Hermana Rebekah Williams :)

March 16, 2015

Aloha desde Walla Walla!

     Such a good week! As usual, I don't remember Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, but Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were good!

      On Thursday, we were knocking some doors (as usual). We were knocking from noon to about 4:30. As you can imagine, no one was home! It was about 4 o'clock and pretty much no has opened the door yet. We decided to go another apartment complex. We knocked the entire first building, with literally no doors opened. My companion said to go somewhere else. I said we should stay in the area because that is what we had planned and its going to be the same everywhere we go. So we went to the next building. No joke, the first door we knocked on opened! Her name was Isabel. We introduced ourselves and started talking and she just looked confused and finally said "I no speak English" then my companion asked if she spoke Spanish and she said "Si" and my jaw about hit the floor! I got so excited! So I went into the Restoration and she was just soaking it in! I got to do the first vision in Spanish!!! I haven't done that in months! She was just taking it in the entire time! But sadly, we have to hand her over to the missionaries over the Spanish branch :'(. That made me so sad! But I got to teach the Restoration all by myself in Spanish for the first time like ever!!! That made like my entire life!!

       We went to the Food Bank that day and sorted moldy oranges... it was gross!

      On Friday, we had a ward luau!!! Sister B and I wanted a ward party because church intimidates people so parties are less intimidating and we wanted people to get involved in the church... that and we just wanted to have a party! So we brought it up to the bishop like two weeks ago. We had everything planned out, we just needed his approval. He said to do it this week! It wasn't announced in church since last week was stake conference so we told like everyone on our phone and it got on the ward Facebook page. Just praying it would get around! And people came!!!!! The two investigators we have came and brought their families! A ton of less actives came too! I haven't seen the majority of them before! We had a less active who loves BBQ-ing do pulled pork sandwiches, and another less active who is Polynesian teach some of the men how to do the Haka (however you spell it) and his non-member wife came who is anti-Mormon! We got permission from our Zone Leaders to watch Johnny Lingo! It was the super old one! It was so much fun! I came dressed normal, then our Elders Quorum Leader gave us leis and the Relief Society president put a sarong on us as soon as we came in. We went to our bishop's house the night before to finalize everything, we felt bad though! We felt like we made a bunch of stress on him, so we bought him an ice cream cake :) that makes everything better! He showed us his Hawaiian shirt... his shirt... it's hard not to laugh! It was a super fun party though! 

      We are trying to have members more engaged in missionary work, so we have a goal of getting a member with us everyday. We don't really have investigators, so we took our member knocking the other night! He is a super good missionary! He is super bold, it gave us the goose bumps! He took over a lot, but he's super good, so we just let him take over! The key to getting people to teach is members!

        On Sunday, we were knocking, like always. We have been a bit discouraged lately since there are like 30 people on-date on zone with 10 companionships, and we have none... and we haven't had a new investigator in like 3 weeks where missionaries get about 2 or 3 a week... Our district leader calls us every night and on Saturday, he promised us, if we worked our hardest, we would find a family to teach the next day! Pretty lofty promise! Well on Sunday... we got a new investigator!!! Her name is Sarah and she has diagnosed breast cancer. We taught her the Restoration (in English :/) invited her to be baptized, and she said yes! She wouldn't accept a date though :/ she's catholic. We have a return appointment on Sunday though! We are super excited!!!! We have our fingers crossed so she cant fall through them this time!

    Well... I gotta go, but I love you all! Have a great week!

Con amor,

Hermana Rebekah Williams

March 9, 2015

Hello from Walla Walla!

     Wonder who names the cities in Washington? I know that a lot of them are Native American, but regular Walla apparently wasn't enough. They had to name it twice. I love it here though! Nice little small town. Transfer calls are coming up on the 21st D: I will probably cry when i get transferred. The odds are I'm going to spend a year here, so I'm going to have to leave here eventually :'(. iQue triste!

    I don't really remember anything that happened during the week... as usual. So it must not of been that exciting. Whitney dropped off the face of the planet... as usual. I'm really good at finding super solid people, then have them fall off the face of the planet. So now we have 1 investigator... whoo... She's been an eterna-gator for over 2 years. Her name is Sherry. We go over every Saturday since that's the only day that she can because of her work (she's a baker). She has a lot of worries and concerns for her family. She usually just vents to us every week and we find a way to tie it into the gospel. This week we showed her the "The Hope of God's Light" Mormon Message video. I love this video so much! It shows a man's journey on how he found God in his life. It wasn't a big, dramatic experience as most people imagine it to be. It's a little lengthy, but it's a really good one!

     After the video, we invited Sherry to come to church! She figured that she has been taught for over 2 years so she should go and see if she likes it or not. She is debating between us and Life Church since they don't have as many "rules". She gets every other Sunday off and she had yesterday off so she actually came! It was Stake Conference too :)! She loved it! Elder Craig Cordon from the 70 came so my mission president came too and introduced himself to Sherry. She said she felt more welcome than she thought she would and that she is definitely coming back in 2 weeks. We gave her a church tour and introduced her to Bishop and such. It was so good!

     Hope you all have a fantabulous week!

Con amor,

Hermana Rebekah Williams

March 2, 2015

Hello from Walla Walla!

    I hope everyone had a good week! Mine has been rough and no one ever listens, but hey that's mission life! What else is new? All I gotta do is keep plugging along, keep knocking doors, and keep a positive attitude! (Which is a lot easier said than done!) I feel like once someone finds the secret to being positive all the time, even in difficult times, they have the faith sufficient to make their positive attitude become their reality. Just trying to find the secret and faith (which is one in the same sometimes) to do that!

     On the plus side, we got a new investigator this week! :D Her name is Whitney. She has had Fibromyalgia (however you spell it) like her entire life pretty much. So she is in major pain everywhere 24/7. We were talking to her about the pain she is always in and she's already had a lot of surgeries and she's only 28. There is never a day when she is not in excruciating pain everywhere. She sat in on a lesson once when her friend was investigating. I asked her if she has ever heard of the priesthood, she said no. So I talked about how it is the authority to act in the name of God and the authority to perform miracles. It is the authority that Christ has and gave to his apostles and worthy men in our church hold that authority. Then I asked her if she would like a priesthood blessing. She said she is willing to try anything to lessen the pain so tonight we are bringing 2 priesthood holders over to give her blessing! Fingers crossed all goes well!

    We had exchanges again on Tuesday! I went to Pendleton again. In Pendleton, the sisters there teach both English and Spanish so I got to teach a lesson in Spanish! I stuttered every other word but hey! what else is new? I'm just happy I got to use Spanish! Baptismal invite, referral, lesson, everything! We had lessons, people actually listened to us, there are always miracles on exchanges... then I came back to Walla... then everything went back to normal. Where like 99% of people wont give us the time of day. Oh well, we got Whitney!

     Then there was Thursday... ino me gusta! iFue dificil! We walked over to Dan's house. We were unable to meet with him the week before so we stopped by to set up a return appointment,  then he dropped us! "I'm just not interested in learning more about Mormonism any more" iiimi corazon!!! We were both on the verge of tears! It crushed us! If Baskin Robins wasn't on the other side of town and it wasn't a forever away walk, we would of totally went there! So then we did what we do all day everyday... knock! And of course no one was home or listened to us since it was 1:00 in the afternoon. We were devastated so we texted Sister G, haha. Her texts always make us happy. Her response was "Back at 'cha sisters!"... that didn't help! All of our appointments cancelled (even with an active family!) so ya. Thursday wasn't very fun.

      Hope everyone has a fantabulous week! Love you all!

-Hermana Rebekah Williams

Cover Photo:  Welcome to Walla Walla

Saw this while knocking doors.  I like it....