The Week of Many Miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been truly amazing. In fact I can't believe it has only been a week. It feels like a month has gone by. The work is hastening here in the Moorhead area and we are excited to be so busy. There were multiple miracles occurring all day everyday this week so I am going to share a couple of them with you.

First, we had been really working to get home on time because we usually have lessons at night and have been getting home a bit late. On this certain night we made the goal to end our lesson on time. The lesson was great and full of the spirit and we had plenty of time to make it back home. We had driven to the lesson with a member and as we approached her car and she was searching her backpack for the keys, she realized she had locked them in the car. Being the resourceful person that I am (aka following the promptings of the Spirit) I felt we should ask the guys playing tennis across the parking lot if they knew how to break into a car. Luckily, they were more than willing to oblige. Well, Amy, the member we were with, had left her scriptures out on the hood of her car and one of the guys said, "Hey what books are these?" and I thought to myself...well let me tell you about the gospel! I said oh that's the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Turns out he had been meeting with missionaries for two months and had lost contact because school started. He seemed interested to learn more. We ended up getting home the latest we ever have. I know this work is done by the Lord's time, not ours. =)

Sunday night we have something called Prayer Power Hour, where the ward prays for us missionaries by name as we tract. Well the ward must have been praying hard because we
were able to meet three people and set return appointments with each one for the coming week. Had we not followed the Spirit and been in the right place at the right time we wouldn't have found these people.

So many miracles so little time, but I wanted to leave you all with a commitment. This week is General Conference and I am inviting you all to prepare to watch conference by doing two things:   1) Write down a couple questions or concerns you are seeking answers for and pray to receive answers to them as you watch General Conference 2) Read the talks from last General Conference

I have a goal to read all the talks from last General Conference before the first session on Saturday and as I have done this I know these talks are the words of God. Every talk holds an answer or insight I have been searching for and I know as you prepare to listen to General Conference you will be able to receive answers. I love you all and I want to know what your favorite talk is from Conference!

With All My Love,
Sister Williams

                                                           I Love being a Missionary!!

     This is Myriam and her daughter Sasha. We taught her in French and she went back home to Haiti  this week. I love them!

                   This is Nicole, she is a recent convert and a fantastic member missionary!

It's Like Magic!

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been an incredible week. I've put my first investigator on date for baptism! His name is Mark and he has been so prepared to take this next step in his eternal progression. It is amazing to witness a person find the truth of this gospel and watch how they change and develop into the person our Heavenly Father knows they can be. It is the closest thing we have to magic.

I love the area where I am serving. The people are fantastic and diverse and the ward members are great. We had a ward potluck on Friday and it was a great time to get to know each other. I loved getting to know the young women. I love young woman's so much and it was great to meet these amazing daughters of God. I want everyone who is reading this to know you are a child of a loving Heavenly Father and no matter what your circumstances are He knows you, He is aware of you, and He loves you. Go to Him and allow Him to help, comfort, love, and assist you to become the person He knows you have the potential to be.

In this months issue of the Ensign there is a page about studying the book of Isaiah. It is encouraging us to study and feast upon the words of Isaiah. In 3 Nephi 23:1 Christ actually commands us to read Isaiah, "And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yes, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah." I have accepted the council of the Savior and have started to study the words of Isaiah. My invitation to you all this week is to follow the council of Christ and begin a diligent study of Isaiah. In the August issue of the Ensign there is an article called "Technicolor Isaiah" where there are study tips to help you accomplish a successful study of Isaiah. I will follow up with you on how it goes and we can share what we have learned together.

I love you all and I'm so grateful to be serving the Lord's mission.

Love,
Sister Williams

                                       This a quote on my bedroom wall that I wake up to every morning.

                                  Me and my companion, Sis. Rodriguez from Mexico.

Spiderman is Real!

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a great week! It's strange how time on a mission works; a day feels like a week and a week feels like a day. It is a good thing we have planners other wise I wouldn't be able to keep anything straight. Last week I committed all of you to read from The Book of Mormon everyday and to pray about it, how has it been going? I was reading 4 Nephi this morning and something I learned was we always need to be aware of our choices and the direction we are allowing ourselves to go. The adversary is always working against us and the only way to protect ourselves is if we are aware of their efforts. Take notice this week of how the adversary is getting to you; if you are aware of your weaknesses they can't be used as weapons against you. I know this to be true and I know when we are aware of our weaknesses, we are able to turn them into strengths.

This week we had dinner with an amazing member, Sister Brooks. She is a scientist teaching at Minnesota State and I am grateful to have had the chance to meet her. She is currently experimenting with spider silk. Spider silk is extremely interesting and it is made up of protein and there are various kinds of protein depending on the spider. Well Sister Brooks is researching how to produce enough of each type of protein to build limbs or bones for people. When she said this I was like Wait! so you telling me that the science behind Spiderman is actually real? You heard it here first folks Spiderman could potentially become real. We talked with Sister Brooks about the debate as old as time between Science and Religion and I loved her response. She said "I can't look under a microscope without seeing the hand of God in every part of it. To me, science proves there is a God." I love this. To me religion explains the why questions; why are we here? and science explains the how questions; How did God create the world? When you look at science and religion with a perspective that they go together you mind is opened to innumerable possibilities.

I love our Heavenly Father's children, my brothers and sisters. We all have so much to offer each other and I know as we strive to gain the perspective of our Heavenly Father we will be able to see our potential and the potential of everyone around us. I love you all so much!

Love,
Sister Williams


             This is a family in the ward who speaks French! Bonjour!

 I get to see this every night!

 I couldn't stop smiling! On my way to my first area on the Transfer Train!

God Sure Does Have a Sense of Humor!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I'm now out of the MTC and officially in the Mission Field. My whole stay in the MTC I was saying how all I wanted was to serve in Minnesota, but as it came closer to leaving for the field I felt I was going to be assigned somewhere in North Dakota. Well Heavenly Father is amazing as we all know and He made it possible for me to serve in two states all at once. I am serving in Fargo/Moorhead which is on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota! It was about a 10 hour road trip from Rapid City to Fargo, they call this the Transfer Train. When I arrived in Fargo I met my companion/trainer Sister Rodriguez ( I love her! She is fantastic and a very hard worker). It was actually very funny the first five minutes of knowing each other. She told me that I would be teaching in French...wait for it... and Spanish! I thought there had been a mix up and I was in the wrong area, but I trust in my Heavenly Father and I know He knows what He's doing. ( I also know He got a great laugh out of my reaction). You wouldn't expect this, but Fargo is an extremely diverse place. In a lesson we had on Friday just in one room we had two Americans, a Mexican, a Thai, a Chinese, and a Vietnamese person! I actually extended my first baptismal invitation in the mission field in French on the second day of being in Fargo. It was such a powerful lesson to be a part of. Sister Rodriguez speaks four languages, one of them being French, and she took the lead in the lesson. Even though I couldn't fully understand what was being said I could feel the spirit that filled the room. I was able to use my limited French abilities to read a few versus from the Book of Mormon and Myriam, the investigator, said I read very well and asked if I had practiced. I hadn't, but I knew it was the Spirit helping me by way of the gift of tongues.

 On Sunday the ward does something called Prayer Power Hour every Sunday at 7pm where they pray for us missionaries by name that as we are knocking doors we will find success. Last night we had decided to tract on the college campus so we went to a condominium complex near campus and began knocking and we found great success. We met a young woman who invited us in and was very friendly. She is studying nursing and grew up Lutheran. We talked about the Atonement and left her with a Book of Mormon and Restoration pamphlet. We exchanged contact information and planned to call her Tuesday for a return appointment. As we were getting up to leave she told us that she has been wanting to focus more on her faith recently and how funny it was we should knock on her door that night because all day she had been thinking about God and she was even wearing a church camp shirt. We testified that God is aware of her and her needs. She then told us she has a Latter Day Saint friend who is going to BYU and planning on a mission. She said they hadn't talked since high school, but we encouraged her to reach out to her and talk to her about the gospel. I'm hopeful we will have a return appointment this week.

I love being a missionary! I know this is what I need to be doing at this time and I know I was sent to this area by divine inspiration. I love this gospel and I love having an hour everyday to study from the scriptures. It benefits me so much and others because I am able to share what I have learned. I want to extend a commitment to everyone reading this, I want you to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and pray to know if what you have read is true. If you need some places to start I would recommend 3 Nephi 11 or 2 Nephi 9. Write me and tell me what you have learned and about your experiences. I love you all and I will follow up with you on this commitment! =)

Love,

Sister Williams