Best Week Ever

It's so exciting to be in Weymouth! Steve is a superhero, and has been to church three times in a row (including General Conference) and loves the scriptures and told us to Book of Mormon is true in Subway on Saturday. He's set to get baptized on the 29th of October, and Sister Housley says she's never known anyone so prepared to accept the gospel. He was saying he wished he'd known these things earlier, and not had to wait until his forties--but ascertained that perhaps he wouldn't have accepted it. Man. Every teach with him is the best teach ever, and we just sing You're the Best Around from the Karate Kid after it's over. New Young Men’s President for sure. Also Gospel Doctrine teacher :)

Other happenings in Weymouth:

-After Sister Housley disappeared into the loo after teaching Martina, Cohen apparently snuck in and all we could hear was yelling upstairs. Next time she's in the john I'll have to play bouncer. At least Ryan was clothed this time.

-Sister Housley is going to be an auntie!

-We got DVD players and Preach My Gospel films to study during comp, and during mealtimes we watch the other church films. In an attempt to make it more interesting, we hit mute on the Testaments and filled it in with our own interpretation. Most I've laughed in ages.

-No more battered Mars bars. No.

-We got a call from Barbara last night, who after years of being less-active and her husband's death in December, is determined to do whatever it takes to get her worthy to go to the temple and get her family work done. We are so excited for her!

General Conference was so fantastic--I still have yet to see the last session, but we'll get an Ensign soon enough. Did anyone else love Elder Callister's diagram of the Book of Mormon? It was so rad! We had three investigators attend, and everything was geared toward them and their questions for sure. How do they do that?

Ever since we saw Elder Bednar, I have so much more respect for the members of the 70. It's not often you get to see an Apostle, but that's what the 70 are for. They deliver the same messages that the Apostles would had they been there. So Conference was a much cooler experience this time. I made a to do list of spiritual impressions I got and I've been discovering some really cool imperatives to follow, things to pray for specifically and things to study in the scriptures.

Another fun time from General Conference is that it's our twice-a-year opportunity to go to another church (we get invited to so many here.) The Weymouth Family Church is held in a colorful Primary School, just like the Seventh Day Adventists. They had a band and a powerpoint putting up words without music (I can't sing without notes, unless it's camp songs. Those aren't artsy.) We saw Mike and Morag, Makela and her husband, and Matthew and Aaron. It's a very grace-oriented church, with singing and clapping and standing up and playing electric during the prayers. The sacrament featured several people going up and taking a hunk of bread and a goblet of wine and having people come to them (I nudged Sister Housley, "Hey! You want to go pass the sacrament?" She said it was against the word of wisdom, and it was really hard not to laugh.) Everything was very informal and pathos reigned supreme. There's definitely a lot of love in the congregation. They're looking for the truth and don't realize it's down the lane.

Thanks for posting my pictures :) We spent some of comp inventory recording ourselves doing the Cinnamon Challenge. Here are the instructions:

1. Get a tablespoon of cinnamon.

2. Eat it.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough, so we substituted cocoa instead. Housley had the bin ready, and as soon as cocoa hit her tastebuds she spat it all back out. Silly me, I tried to SWALLOW the stuff and my throat STILL feels like the Mojave Valley. Sheesh. We'll see if we can't send those videos home :)

Thanks so much for praying! Steve is cruising and the branch is doing just swell. The Lord will make things happen in His own good time--He tends to give specific answers to specific prayers, and if it's not best that your prayers be answered now, know that He'll answer them when the timing is right :)

Love from,

Sister Willard

Quick Post

So I've got 15 minutes to go before District Meeting starts, so I'll have to go into detail next week. Basically we've got one baptismal date (he's awesome) and we had 4 investigators to sessions of Conference, the last of which I couldn't see because it went from 9 to 11 pm. Really fantastic week :) Zone conference talked about the baptismal commitment and how it's like the law of sacrifice in the OT and how it's central to everything we do. We've got a lot on the cusp here in weymouth, and I'm requesting prayers for the following people to COMMIT and be BAPTIZED:

Stuart

Derrick

Steve

The Pooles

Naomi

Thank you so much for all your prayers, and there will be more emailing next week, I promise!

Love,

Sister Willard

Loads of Pictures

Ready for some fun?

Flickr Pics of Sister Willard

Katie mailed home a CD of 185 pictures from her mission. Most of them feature her making faces at the camera. I posted them all on Flickr, so feel free to enjoy!

Mum

Mission Call

Neither of us is going to Idaho! That's so exciting! Porto Alegre will probably be a bit chillier than up north, which will make the work a bit easier. Less mosquitoes.

Quiet week looking for all our referrals from last week. Have contacted ZERO thus far :(

News on investigators:

Katrina came to church after many weeks of visiting their family. The children are asking all sorts of questions about heaven and how they'll recognize each other (they're five and six years old) and it's becoming such a bother to the parents that they're actively seeking out the Spirit in their home. It's so cool to see!

Steve we met on the street, taught the Restoration the next day, and the day after THAT he came to church. So cool. He hasn't been since his school days, back when he was 12. He's a recovering addict and so in tune to the Spirit. We spent a lot of time explaining the Atonement to him and why Jesus was so important...naturally Sunday was about the law of the fast and the law of tithing, but apparently he felt the Spirit and wants to come back next week. We got a good one!

In other news, we've got the Road Show. Theme this year: Dr. Who. They're going back in time to see why Weymouth didn't win for the last three years running...we got to watch the DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean, and I'm amazed they didn't win. It was like a proper musical you'd pay MONEY to go see. Unfortunately we were told we can't be in it because it would take all day Saturday, which really bothers me, seeing how we've got nonmembers participating in it.

We love this branch. They keep telling us about their friends and giving us referrals and calling us to say so and so accepted a Book of Mormon or accepted to come to church. So exciting! And since Leigh's farewell is this week, everyone in the youth is talking about potentially serving a mission, especially the young women. Leigh will be the very first missionary to come from Weymouth, and she'll be quickly followed by Mike, Tom, and Joe. It's so cool! The branch is so proud. The timing for us to come was impeccable.

President Shamo and Levi asked us to strengthen the branch and build their confidence, especially in basic things like family prayer and scripture study. The basics. But it can be difficult to strengthen the branch when certain activities don't directly influence your key indicators--we do our best to bring investigators to mutual and such, but sometimes we're asked to help out. I think it's working--our testimony meetings just get better and better each week, and the Primary is so smart, and the youth are so excited about missionary work since the missionary prep class went up :) I will be so sad to leave this place, but I know that it'll be much stronger when we leave it.

Funny happenings from this week:

-We cleaned the carpet in our flat today. I felt like I was back on crew at BYU.

-There's a famous singing group here called the Qwangle Wangle Choir. They're very serious about their music. Don't laugh.

-Sharing time was "I Want to Be a Missionary Now", and naturally we were put in charge. So we reenacted Ammon (complete with cardboard sword, Indian tie, and companion) serving King Lamoni (myself) by defending his poster of sheep from the Lamanites (Elliot, Rosina, and Gracie with scarves around their heads and wielding frying pans). Claire narrated from the Book of Mormon. There was even a slow motion fight sequence and everyone lost their arms. I got baptized in the end. After the play, we showed them a map of the world and used sharpie to point out where missionaries were from, and on the back we had a schedule of what missionaries do each day, which mostly amazed the teachers. It was the best Sunday ever, except they gave us really nice cupcakes to each on Fast Sunday.

-People that intimidate me don't intimidate Sister Housley, and vice versa. We make a really solid companionship :)

-Elder Day's new greenie is from Arizona. Himelright--being a little apostate--ignores "McCook" and calls him Elder Emcee instead. The Zone Leaders are just bothered that they didn't come up with it first.

We're really excited for General Conference and we're doing our best to invite anyone who'll come.

One stellar investigator can carry a whole week of stupid, and one baptism can carry months of hard work. You never know what seeds you'll plant, and you'll never know what fruit will come falling out of the sky. Just hold up your basket and watch your head.

Love from,

Sister Willard

A Brother's Call

This is a little addition to Katie's writings. I know you are all enjoying her adventures in Weymouth. Her brother, Howard, received his call this week to Porto Alegre South, Brazil. Naturally, his website is: http://elderwillard.blogspot.com/ and will continue for two years.

Onward and Upward,
Kristi

We're Famous!

Since it wasn't cool enough that we've met the sailing teams from Japan, Argentina, Poland, Austria, and Hungary, they had to go post a photo of us on lds.org! The choir was really fun to sing in--it was Hark All Ye Nations, and we wanted confetti and fireworks and a giant backdrop of Elder Bednar's FACE to unscroll in the back--but that felt a little too like Mussolini (Elder Botta: "Hey, don't say that!") It was so cool to meet a lot of missionaries that have been out nearly a year. The big question is who I go home with, seeing how they're out 11 months already. We'll have lots of fun reminiscing on the plane, for sure. That Bednar conference was one of the big highlights of the entire mission ;) My question is how you become one of his bodyguards. Do you apply online or...?

Mission news: INVESTIGATORS
-Delvin: Mum is less active in Swindon, and we found him on the street wondering about God and religion. Very smart, very receptive to the spirit. Needs to read the Book of Mormon to settle his puzzling thoughts.

-Derrick: From London, a painter fresh off His Majesty's Holiday and ready for a new start in life. He'd been going to the Weymouth Family Church (we've taught 8 members so far off that flippin congregation--they're all searching, and so help me, SOMEONE is going to get baptized) but the last two weeks he's gotten lost on the way there. So we had him come to church this week. Solid, cool guy.

-The Pooles: We're off to teach them now that school's started up. I think we've been falling down explaining why this is important. I just figure that if you believe in God and want His approval, of COURSE you want to know His will. But people are asking us why we need to know His will, or what's in it for them. For Adam and Katrina, their little children are asking them about heaven and will they recognize each other, and their parents have no answers for them. I want them to get sealed so BADLY! They're such a sweet family and they absolutely know what's important. We just need to make the Restoration more of a reality for them.

-Nina: Friend of Melanie Drinkwater, who is the best missionary ever. Nina came to the Primary Program and LOVED it--those kids are so reverent! Elliot stood at the front with a banner like Miss Congeniality, except it said "Reverently" on it. Brilliant. 3 year old Jack's just picking his nose and putting the Book of Mormon on his head during Scripture Power, and when asked who we follow (while looking at Greg Olson's painting of Jesus holding the sheep) he said, "Follow the deer" because that's what the sheep looked like. I was crying, I was laughing so hard :)

In other news:
-While talking to a homeless guy about God, his pitbull came at me. Stupid dog. No blood, but that's what he was going for. The tramp couldn't care less.
-Sometimes I have to go to the loo in town, and because it's England, public toilets aren't often. If we're in a bind, we'll buy chocolate cookies in Subway so I can use theirs. America also has drinking fountains.
-Because it's getting darker earlier, we keep getting told off for knocking doors late, even though it's barely 8 o-clock. We do keep seeing fireworks though--if we climb the garden wall, we can get a better look and annoy the neighbors by singing American anthems.
-They sell onesies that look like monkey suits.
-Members of the branch keep calling to report member missionary work and they're getting so excited!

It's so fun to be a missionary! As of Thursday, I will have been out 5 months--it feels like NOTHING, like April was last month, and we're getting ready for October conference already? So crazy! I'm excited to see Elder Bednar again and be like, "I talked to him!" He asked us how his QandA teaching was effective, and I said it worked only because we kept our commitment to read his talks beforehand, just like regular missionary work cannot go forward unless the investigator has read and prayed. Don't read the Book of Mormon, and whatever you do, don't pray about it. That's how they get you. It's strange that it's such a simple bit of direction, and yet so many people don't make it happen. I wonder why that is. For those that do read and pray, like Katrina, they're the ones that are benefiting and getting the influence of the Spirit into their homes. 

Me and Sister Housley have been talking about the biggest fear missionaries have, and that's that as soon as we come home, every good quality we attained during the 18 months will erode away and we will be the same person we were before we went. I think that it's difficult to see the vital changes in yourself from moment to moment, and even from week to week. It's easier for those on the outside to see it. I think if we set goals to change in specific ways, like learning how to more readily recognize the Spirit, how to pray more specifically and with more earnestness, or understanding the Savior's Atonement and applying it more frequently, the Lord will see those desires and grant us divine help in attaining them. It's impossible, if your heart is in the work with your companion, the members and with your investigators, to come back the same as when you left. I definitely hope to gain lifelong qualities and become a better disciple through this work, and I know that if the Lord helps me, that's exactly what I'll be.

Thank you so much for post and all your support! Keep writing and keep learning--that's the purpose of this life, is to learn to be like God. In the words of Elder Paraso, "You're doin it!"

Love from,
Sister Willard

Pday has come at last!

Huzzah! It took ages, but we finally get to rest up from a really hectic week. We've got so many teaches happening on Friday, I don't know how we'll make them all :) It's nice to have an hour lunch and hour dinner (never had that from a proper paying job), and usually I sleep through the lunch break and make it til bedtime. It took us until half four on Tuesday to get our moves calls, and we are both staying yet again! That's six months with my trainer, but it's not uncommon when you whitewash in. So one third of the mission is planned for! I celebrate 5 months in one week (do they have kebabs in the States? They're well good.) When you have a baptism, you have to have a kebaptism. Tis a rule. Although battered Mars bars are also a good idea.

It's so nice today! I think we might go check out the rides on the Esplanade again and get some ice cream. You really want that soft serve all week, but you can't share the gospel with vanilla dribbling down your chin. I've given up on the old people. If I have to stop them, I talk about family history and give them the website. It's a little too much like Miami, so we get really excited to see a pram pushed by two young people on the boardwalk.

Some people are able to reject us really nicely--I'm pretty sure those people will accept it later. When people are rude, their comments revolve around sarcasm and patronizing comments regarding where we're from and how old we are--oftentimes they don't want to hear what we've got to say because we don't have the life experience they've had, and how they're so misunderstood or whatever. I'm sure it's the same in every mission. What we've got to convince them is of our experience with the Spirit and with the Lord answering prayers and the blessings of baptism. THAT experience, in the case of most people we stop, far outstrips their own. And when the Spirit can't get to their hearts, they reject our testimonies like moody teenagers, saying we don't know what we're talking about and that we made our feelings up. I never realized that people really can write off a heartfelt testimony--it's cases like that when you really just have to walk away. You have to use the Lord's time effectively, and if you're trapped in a conversation with an atheist trying to convince you that God isn't there, there are potential investigators walking by unnoticed. Cut it short, and go find the elect.

We've had some really cool miracles in the last week--the mornings seem to be the most successful, and when we know we planned by the Spirit the night before, every person is a potential convert to us and we find loads of people who are going through divorce, death in the family, moving, or some other life-changing event that makes them question the meaning of life and whether God is really there.

A nonmember asked her member son-in-law, "Why did Jesus have to die? Why was it necessary, and what did it change?" She has never asked him these questions before. I hope we'll be able to teach her. The problem is that loads of people tell her that He died for us, and they bear testimony of the feelings they have as they consider His sacrifice. I know that's the Spirit testifying that yes, it did happen, and yes, our salvation depended on it. But because they don't understand the Fall, they can't put into logic why it was necessary or why He did it in the first place. We are so lucky to be members, to understand what we're doing here and why the Fall occurred and why the Bible was changed and what happens after this life is over.

It's so good to know that the Lord has provided a way for all of us. So they drop us, or don't want to listen, or are too busy. That doesn't mean that had they been in a different circumstance that they wouldn't have. It doesn't mean that had they grown up hearing the words of Jesus that they wouldn't be stalwart in the faith. We look for the elect, but because we don't have angelic eyes, we just have to assume that everyone is elect. And we don't know what effect we have on the people we meet. As missionaries pray to consecrate their efforts, God will use them to accomplish the most good, not to mention bless them, their families, and everyone else immediately. I'm glad to be here and to know that we are being successful in Weymouth.

I shall email on Monday! Hopefully I'll have something cool to say :)

Love from,

Sister Willard