John 15:11

 Dear Family and Friends, 

This was such an amazing week full of great things! First of all we had Zone Conference down in Bismarck which was fun. It is always great to see other missionaries and the trainings we received were inspired. I'm excited to apply them in our area. While in Bismarck I was able to go to the Temple and take a family name through an Endowment session. It was so great to be in the Temple! As soon as I crossed the threshold of the Temple, peace entered my heart and I felt at home. The Temple is such a sacred place to me and I feel very close to my Heavenly Father, my Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost when I am there.

We have had some great lessons with our investigators this week and one of them was with Rosalind. She is an older woman who is in a nursing home because she broke her leg and I love her. She has been hesitant to pray in front of us since we started meeting and so we shared 2 Nephi 32:8-9 with her:

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

After we read this we asked her to pray and she was hesitant but willing and she offered one of the sweetest most sincere prayers. One of my favorite parts of being a missionary is listening to investigators pray. When they are able to open the windows of revelation for themselves and start strengthening their relationship with our Heavenly Father it is one of my favorite moments.

I love you all so much and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Williams

         Name Tag Picture of the Temple--Bismarck ND Temple

The Bismarck North Dakota Temple

Taking a family name through the Temple was great! I love the Temple.

Road Trip to Bismarck with the Wiliston Sisters for Zone Conference

I get to drive a truck today!

I love the North Dakota Sky! 

I Love to see the Temple!

Dear Family and Friends,

So many things happening this past week and this week! Transfers came and went and I now have a new companion, Sister Clegg. She is AMAZING! She is from Spanish Fork, UT and has been out for about a year. She is super hard working and organized. We have very similar interests and personalities and we are building a great friendship already. Teaching together is awesome and I love having her here.

We have Zone Conference in Bismarck this week and I received some very exciting news that I would be able to go to the Temple while we are there! I haven't been to the Temple in 9 months and I am so very excited to be able to go and experience the peace and love there. I was reading from this past conference a talk, by President Thomas S. Monson, called Blessings of the Temple in which he said:

"The blessings of the temple are priceless. One blessing which I am grateful every day of my life is that which my beloved wife, Frances, and I received as we knelt at a sacred altar and made covenants binding us together for all eternity. There is no blessing more precious to me than the peace and comfort I receive from the knowledge I have that she and I will be together again."

We met with a less active member, Sister Webb, yesterday whose husband had recently passed away. He had many health problems and was in a lot of pain and discomfort before he passed. However, he like President Monson, understood the blessings that come to us as we make sacred covenants in the temple. Sister Webb told us how before he had passed away he would always say "Baby you need to stop smoking so we can get sealed in the temple." As we met with her last night she committed to start quitting this week.

I know the Temple is a holy place where I have made sacred covenants with my Heavenly Father and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be able to go to the temple this week. I'm so happy to be able to teach others about the importance of preparing to make sacred covenants there and I'm excited to be able to help Sister Webb get to the temple to be sealed.

I love you all so very much!

Love,

Sister Williams

My new companion Sister Clegg! She is awesome and amazing!

 Reunited with one of the elders from my MTC District, Elder Melville.

 My new bedroom in our new apartment! Look Mom, I actually make my bed every day of my life now =D

 Finally a full kitchen again!  Yea, I can cook full meals now!

                   Baby Birds in a nest!

Cha-Cha Changes ...!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, this was a great week full of changes. Gilbert is doing super well and will be getting baptized on May 30th! The ward has been great making him feel part of the ward family. Our Ward Mission Leader and his wife took him to get some church clothes for his baptism this past weekend and he really enjoyed it. He is loving the Book of Mormon and is sharing it with his family and friends. In fact, his family might start taking the missionary discussions soon.

It has come to my attention (with the kind reminders from my family) that I haven't been putting my musical  talents to much use since I've been out so I decided to volunteer myself to sing an a Capella version of Nearer My God to Thee at Zone Conference in a couple weeks! I don't know if it is a done deal yet but I'm pretty sure it will be so I will keep you updated.

 Also exciting news! We got a transfer call this morning and I'm getting a new companion.  Her name is Sister Clegg and I've met her once. She is super sweet and I'm really excited to serve with her! We are also moving this week to a different apartment because the family we are living with right now is moving this summer, so lots of changes. I love change though so I'm very excited. I know right, I'm probably the only person on the planet who loves change =D

It was such a fun treat to talk with my family on Mothers Day! I'm so grateful for them and the love and support they give to me. I truly have been given much and I'm happy to have this time to be giving to others.

Love,

Sister Williams


We went to the Zoo last P-day.

 The Beautiful colors of a peacock.  God's creations are amazing!

 This is called a red panda. It has the cutest face!

 It's spring time in North Dakota!

 This is a less active member and she is the sweetest woman.  She feeds us dinner all the time. Her name is Wendy and I love her!

My daddy always signs his letters and emails to me with this phrase: I love you to the moon and back again! This one is for  you Daddy!

Nursing Homes and Moving Trucks

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this was an awesome week full of great things! The mission boundaries officially changed this past Tuesday and I'm now serving in the North Dakota Bismarck Mission. 

We got the approval for Gilbert to be baptized and he will enter the waters of baptism on May 30! I'm so grateful to have met Gilbert. I know he is one of the specific people I was called to find. It has been amazing to witness the light of the gospel and the power of the Atonement change his life. He is so hopeful and has a strong testimony of prayer. I wish you all were able to hear him pray. It is a special treat to hear Gilbert pray, he is so humble, full of love, and sincere as he prays. He is very excited for his baptism and so am I.

We also have an investigator named Rosalind. She is 70 years old and Native American. She is the sweetest and reminds me of my Nana (Great-grandma) who passed away two and half years ago. Well, Rosalind fell and broke her leg this past week. She was able to receive a priesthood blessing and is now recovering in a nursing home for a month. We went to visit her and found out she has no family in the area and nobody to come and visit her while she is there. I'm grateful to my Mother and Grandmother and my Nana because she (my Nana) had been in a couple of these situations before and my Mom and Grandma always knew how to make her comfortable and made sure she had the things she needed. We were able to go to her apartment and get her a few things and to stop in a couple times and make sure she is doing okay. We are going to teach her again this week. She has been very prepared to receive the gospel and is excited to come to church when she is mobile again.

Being a missionary is an experience that can't be described, but needs to be experienced by every able bodied Young Adult. I love being a full time servant of the Lord!

Love,

Sister Williams

This Four leaf clover brought us luck this week!

 This is Sister Valdez a member in the ward who is moving to California around the Sacramento area. She has three super cute kids: Jacob is on the left, Esme is on her lap, and Emily is next to her. I'm going to be an expert packer/mover by the end of my mission =D