Dear Everybody,
Well it's laundry time which means I get to send e-mail! So how is everybody doing? Things have been a little busier so I wasn't able to take any good pictures to send to everybody this week. Hopefully by next week I'll have some good pictures. Pretty much just take the date on my old pictures and put a more recent date on them, and that's probably what I'm doing right now. We've had a few districts move out and we'll get two new districts this Wednesday. It's weird how the advanced Spanish districts are here for only 3 weeks so they come and go while I'm still here. The two missionaries who left our district to move up to Advanced Spanish left for Argentina on Monday so now our district of four seems like a smaller district of four. We only really ever saw them during gym anyways, and they were actually supposed to leave 3 weeks ago, so it's alright. At the very least that means all their visa work was done in 6 weeks so I'm not as worried about my visa. I ran into a number of people from BYU here at the MTC including one who works in the cafeteria. She went home and told my old BYU ward and I got a letter from a friend there. I guess she had to remind them that I really am on a mission, not just ditching school. Besides, this is a pretty good school here (and it's operated by BYU anyways so I'm practically at BYU). Has anyone figured out if Hotmail is still rejecting my e-mails? Maybe I sent too many e-mails with pictures but all the pictures are too big to put more than one in an e-mail. Anywho, this week in the TRC is our second time teaching in Spanish. I'm excited because not only will we have no idea who we're teaching, but we'll have to plan a lesson in about 10 minutes between finding and going back to the room to teach as if following up on our appointment. It'll be good, definitely. It's really cool teaching in Spanish and actually knowing the words I want to use. The gift of tongues is real. Every so often a whole string of Spanish will come out and I'll be thinking "wow, that was better than I thought." My Spanish is far from perfect but it's coming. Hopefully I'll start sending letters in Spanish but we have to get Abuela to e-mail me too (or DearElder, whatever's easier for her). Well, the scary red numbers are getting ready to kick me off of the computer so I should probably get going. Have an amazing week and I hope to hear from you soon! Bye!
Love,
Elder Williams
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
A Firm Testimony
MTC Mailbox #91
ARG-MEN 0414
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Dear Family,
Thank you so much for your letters Mom and Dad! I'm sorry the computer wasn't behaving, Mom. If DearElder.com isn't working on one computer, hopefully one of the other two computers will work. Are all 3 set up? I'm glad to hear you're learning the art of fiddling with the computer because, really, that's how I learned half of what I know about computers. My time in the MTC is going by really fast. It's crazy how people I saw come into the MTC are already leaving. Elder Earl is finally safe and sound in the Dominican Republic MTC and hopefully he's having fun down there too.
The MTC is still amazing, Dad. That's nice to hear Bishop Jones is reading my blog. The funny thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if Windows Vista or our scanner could read my writing, maybe not perfectky but pretty close I'd bet. Yep, I've seen Christopher a bunch of times before he left. Did you get the picture he took in the bookstore before he left? That's awesome that the guy from work's interested in a Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit is the most powerful tool in conversion we have (Preach My Gospel, Ch. 5). We just have to do everything we can to get people to actually read it and not just take one, so that the Spirit can have something to testify to. If they sincerely pray, they will know, not just maybe, that it is true and if the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith is a prophet of God.
It's good you finally got the Camry back. Can you notice any differences? Is is nicer than before the accident? That's not just the Daddy Williams theory on tasks but God's principle of salvation. We cannot save ourselves through our own merits but if we do our best and do everything we can to work towards Celestial Glory, Christ will make up the rest because he paid the price none of us could pay for ourselves. No matter how good we think we are, I know Christ has done more for our salvation than we could even dream of doing. Christ descended below all things so that he could raise us to Celestial Glory and give us the opportunity to return to God. As Christ's representative I'm working to give people the opportunity to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My work won't be easy but what part of the Atonement was ever easy? Christ had to be separated from His Heavenly Father and I must be separated from my family, but just as He could pray, I can write these letters. Isn't prayer like a letter home?
Lots o' Love,
Elder Williams
Happy St. Patty's Day!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Another Lawrence Sighting
Tonight Joel had an activity at the MTC that Jacob and I got to go to. I got to meet the missionaries he is teaching, and pretend I was an investigator for the church so they could practice teaching. While we were there, I kept wondering if Lawrence would pop out of a building somewhere, and if I would see him. On our way out, Joel pointed to the window of the classroom Lawrence was in, and I tried to see if I could see anyone. A missionary came into view, and I recognized him from some of the pictures Lawrence has sent home as Elder Barnes. I felt like I was looking at another one of his pictures, since he was in the classroom, and he couldn't see me. I hoped that Lawrence would stand up too, since they were on the second floor, and I couldn't see anyone sitting down. Finally Joel asked if I wanted him to go up and tell Lawrence to look out the window. At first I told him not to, but I realized I would probably regret the missed opportunity later on. Joel ran upstairs to Lawrence and told him to look out the window. I actually had my camera on me just in case something like this might happen. So I snapped a couple of pictures of my brother waving to me from the upstairs window. Because it was dark outside, the pictures didn't come out well at all. I fiddled with the lighting so that you could at least see a little better. Unfortunately, this is as good as I could get. It was so fun to see him!
Abruptly, Lawrence stopped waving and disappeared. I wondered if someone had told him to get away from the window. Nope! He had come out to see us. Our meeting was very brief. We got to meet his companion, Elder Widdison (who is very tall!), and talk to him for just a moment. I didn't even think to speak to him in Spanish, it would have been interesting to see how well he's doing in that.
Abruptly, Lawrence stopped waving and disappeared. I wondered if someone had told him to get away from the window. Nope! He had come out to see us. Our meeting was very brief. We got to meet his companion, Elder Widdison (who is very tall!), and talk to him for just a moment. I didn't even think to speak to him in Spanish, it would have been interesting to see how well he's doing in that.
I'm so proud of my missionary brother! See you in two years, Lawrence!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
This Week's Pictures
I've had these for a couple of days, but I've been having some computer problems as of late. Where's Lawrence when you need him??
I think it's so neat that Lawrence can take these pictures, send them to us through email, we can get them in a matter of seconds, and then I can post them here for anyone to see. I think technology is pretty amazing! Here are the shots from this last week.
Not sure what this is about....although it is just about the same car my dad has. Was he feeling nostalgic?
I think it's so neat that Lawrence can take these pictures, send them to us through email, we can get them in a matter of seconds, and then I can post them here for anyone to see. I think technology is pretty amazing! Here are the shots from this last week.
Not sure what this is about....although it is just about the same car my dad has. Was he feeling nostalgic? 
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Let me explain...
As I mentioned previously, Lawrence's letters often refer to things that you wouldn't understand unless you'd read all the letters written to him. This time I will try to make sense of some of the things he mentions throughout the letter. My comments will be in brackets and italicized.
MTC Mailbox #91
ARG-MEN 0414
2005 N 900 E
Provo, Utah 84604-1793
3-11-08
Dear Family,
The MTC is still doing great this week. Actually, I even ran into Joel today while he was looking for a classroom to do interviews in. Poor Elder Earl's passport got lost between the Dominican Republic and Salt Lake so he's going to be here for another week and a half. At least we get to hold on to him for a while longer so hopefully he doesn't mind. He was warned they'd speak all Spanish there so I think he's fine. [Lawrence has two companions right now because one of them is supposed to go to another MTC in the Dominican Republic. He is having passport troubles, so he will stay in Provo longer than planned] Speaking of Spanish, one of the districts in my branch had a funeral for English a few days ago. Maybe our district will have one of those soon too. Lisa and Julie are indeed sending a bunch of packages and I'm really grateful for the wash rags, they're amazing :). Thanks for putting my address in the Ward Program but please ask to take out my e-mail. Even if it was right, they don't want me to e-mail anyone outside of my immediate family. Maybe for those who do want to e-mail they could use Dear Elder. [Everyone, send my brother a letter through DearElder.com! It's free!] Thanks for doing that for me by the way. Yay for the Camry! Hopefully you've already gotten it back by the time you read this letter. [My mom was in a minor car accident about three months ago, and the mechanic fiddled and played so that it's taken them this long to finally get the car back to them! My dad finally gets a new car, and something like this happens. Of course!] I assume the Nissan and Tercel are still chugging along so remind them to be there when I get back. That's awesome that the temple record databases are public now, or at least more so. [Many genealogy records that the church has had are now open to public use. I believe you can access them through LDS.org] High Priest work should definitely be fun with Brother Tolman, Dad. [My dad has just begun working with a new member of the ward in his church calling] You've got to tell me who replaced Brother Tolman as Ward Clerk though. Oh and please don't kill yourself over band Dad. It's not worth it. [My dad is working as the treasurer for the high school band that my sister is involved in. He's ending up doing a lot more work than he originally thought he'd have to. They have something like a $675,000 budget for the year. A high school band! Can you believe that?? ]
Well now I'm in the travel office with Elder Earl and they found his passport, but now he has to cancel his application for a new passport. Anywho, on to Mom's letters: I've been trying out the Shea Butter you sent and it seems pretty good so far. Thank you! Maybe I'll overcome this dry Utah weather after all. A little of that goes a long way so you shouldn't have to send more any time soon. My other companion is pointing to Cordoba and his name is Elder Widdison. [He's referring to the picture he sent home with the three missionaries pointing to their missions on a giant map. My mother served in the Cordoba mission] He seems to be doing alright and he's also a Star Wars fan which is nice. Thanks for your hug and testimony. This gospel really is amazing. Silly 99¢ store and their lack of raspberry chips. Oh well, the cookies and chocolates are amazing so I'm alright. [My mom makes these raspberry chocolate chip cookies, and she gets the raspberry chips from the local 99¢ store. Last time she tried to get them, they weren't there. That was a jump in subject matter, huh?] Isn't 12 hours on a Saturday against the Fair Labor Standards Act or something? You should protest. [A couple of weekends ago, the band had some kind of event that my parents helped out at. They both worked a good portion of that Friday and Saturday] That's hilarious that Sean loves you even if he can't remember your name. [A little boy at the preschool my mom works at told her that he loved her, but that he couldn't remember her name] Elder Earl is from Northern Utah and he went to BYU Idaho before his mission. Maybe I can convert him to the true BYU after his mission. I am currently wearing the BYU shirt you sent me. It smelled [I can't read this. Can you tell what it says?] when I first opened the package. It'll be especially great when I see all my BYU friends in the MTC. I swear I've run into half my ward. If they aren't serving missions they're working somewhere at the MTC. I can't wait to get to Argentina either. It's going to be so weird using Spanish with actual Spanish-speakers and I can't wait to feel their spirits in Argentina. It's going to be exciting.
Speaking of exciting, Jennifer's letters: All I can say is that is absolutely not fair. Why are they going to let you drive the company Porsche?!? I never got to drive nice cars when I was learning how to drive, although the van is indeed a nice tank...I mean car. [At the driving school my sister is currently attending, the owner owns a Porsche. At the end of training, they can drive it for 15 bucks. Not a bad deal, huh? Apparently most everyone takes him up on the offer.] Oh, Elder Barnes liked your letter but I can't get him to write back, he thinks it's weird. He has been getting mail from his family finally though. [Previously, Lawrence mentioned an Elder in his district who wasn't getting any letters from his family. Jenny decided to write to him] I'm very sad to hear I've been replaced in tech support but it's probably for the best since I can't really help much from this end anyways. [Lawrence is absolutely the tech support guy in our family. I'm not sure who replaced him] I'm glad to hear you're using Mikogo though. It's definitely helpful. [Look up Mikogo online. It's a very cool thing] Devin Miller might be of some help too if you need it. Power Point is very picky software. The Linux might have another alternative to Open Office but I'm not sure. [My sister had to do a Power Point presentation in one of her classes. Apparently the family computer doesn't have Power Point. She used Open Office as an alternative, but it gave her quite a few problems.] It was crazy seeing Christopher here, I ran into him all the time. It'll be cool, though, because we'll get home around the same time. [Our cousin Chris is serving in New Zealand. He reported to the MTC a week after Lawrence did, but because he didn't have to learn a language, he's already out in the field. ] Section leader is much cooler than AP but AP might be cheaper. [I'm not quite sure what he's referring to here, but perhaps Jenny wants to be section leader? Or she is the section leader? And perhaps he's referring to the $675,000 band budget??!?!?] Whatever works. If ya'll get a Wii while I'm gone I just might say "Not cool" but I don't know if I'll go that far.
So this week, my teacher Hermana Higginson asked me to teach about the Atonement in Spanish. It was a little out of the blue because I forgot she'd mentioned it a few days earlier. It was really interesting because the message hit me a lot harder in Spanish and I got a little choked up. I think I was forced to use a bit more of my own words while trying to translate in my head. It really personalized the Atonement for me. Christ suffered for my sins and did it out of love for me. Everyone abandoned Christ during the time of the Atonement so we must not and cannot abandon Him now. As Elder Holland said, "Don't you dare turn your back on Him." He bore a powerful testimony.[Both Lawrence and our cousin Chris got to hear a talk from member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Both of them were deeply affected by his words. You get many spiritually uplifting opportunities in the MTC]
Love,
Elder Williams
Ok, I'm never doing that again. Just let me know if you're curious about something in a future Lawrence letter :)
ARG-MEN 0414
2005 N 900 E
Provo, Utah 84604-1793
3-11-08
Dear Family,
The MTC is still doing great this week. Actually, I even ran into Joel today while he was looking for a classroom to do interviews in. Poor Elder Earl's passport got lost between the Dominican Republic and Salt Lake so he's going to be here for another week and a half. At least we get to hold on to him for a while longer so hopefully he doesn't mind. He was warned they'd speak all Spanish there so I think he's fine. [Lawrence has two companions right now because one of them is supposed to go to another MTC in the Dominican Republic. He is having passport troubles, so he will stay in Provo longer than planned] Speaking of Spanish, one of the districts in my branch had a funeral for English a few days ago. Maybe our district will have one of those soon too. Lisa and Julie are indeed sending a bunch of packages and I'm really grateful for the wash rags, they're amazing :). Thanks for putting my address in the Ward Program but please ask to take out my e-mail. Even if it was right, they don't want me to e-mail anyone outside of my immediate family. Maybe for those who do want to e-mail they could use Dear Elder. [Everyone, send my brother a letter through DearElder.com! It's free!] Thanks for doing that for me by the way. Yay for the Camry! Hopefully you've already gotten it back by the time you read this letter. [My mom was in a minor car accident about three months ago, and the mechanic fiddled and played so that it's taken them this long to finally get the car back to them! My dad finally gets a new car, and something like this happens. Of course!] I assume the Nissan and Tercel are still chugging along so remind them to be there when I get back. That's awesome that the temple record databases are public now, or at least more so. [Many genealogy records that the church has had are now open to public use. I believe you can access them through LDS.org] High Priest work should definitely be fun with Brother Tolman, Dad. [My dad has just begun working with a new member of the ward in his church calling] You've got to tell me who replaced Brother Tolman as Ward Clerk though. Oh and please don't kill yourself over band Dad. It's not worth it. [My dad is working as the treasurer for the high school band that my sister is involved in. He's ending up doing a lot more work than he originally thought he'd have to. They have something like a $675,000 budget for the year. A high school band! Can you believe that?? ]
Well now I'm in the travel office with Elder Earl and they found his passport, but now he has to cancel his application for a new passport. Anywho, on to Mom's letters: I've been trying out the Shea Butter you sent and it seems pretty good so far. Thank you! Maybe I'll overcome this dry Utah weather after all. A little of that goes a long way so you shouldn't have to send more any time soon. My other companion is pointing to Cordoba and his name is Elder Widdison. [He's referring to the picture he sent home with the three missionaries pointing to their missions on a giant map. My mother served in the Cordoba mission] He seems to be doing alright and he's also a Star Wars fan which is nice. Thanks for your hug and testimony. This gospel really is amazing. Silly 99¢ store and their lack of raspberry chips. Oh well, the cookies and chocolates are amazing so I'm alright. [My mom makes these raspberry chocolate chip cookies, and she gets the raspberry chips from the local 99¢ store. Last time she tried to get them, they weren't there. That was a jump in subject matter, huh?] Isn't 12 hours on a Saturday against the Fair Labor Standards Act or something? You should protest. [A couple of weekends ago, the band had some kind of event that my parents helped out at. They both worked a good portion of that Friday and Saturday] That's hilarious that Sean loves you even if he can't remember your name. [A little boy at the preschool my mom works at told her that he loved her, but that he couldn't remember her name] Elder Earl is from Northern Utah and he went to BYU Idaho before his mission. Maybe I can convert him to the true BYU after his mission. I am currently wearing the BYU shirt you sent me. It smelled [I can't read this. Can you tell what it says?] when I first opened the package. It'll be especially great when I see all my BYU friends in the MTC. I swear I've run into half my ward. If they aren't serving missions they're working somewhere at the MTC. I can't wait to get to Argentina either. It's going to be so weird using Spanish with actual Spanish-speakers and I can't wait to feel their spirits in Argentina. It's going to be exciting.
Speaking of exciting, Jennifer's letters: All I can say is that is absolutely not fair. Why are they going to let you drive the company Porsche?!? I never got to drive nice cars when I was learning how to drive, although the van is indeed a nice tank...I mean car. [At the driving school my sister is currently attending, the owner owns a Porsche. At the end of training, they can drive it for 15 bucks. Not a bad deal, huh? Apparently most everyone takes him up on the offer.] Oh, Elder Barnes liked your letter but I can't get him to write back, he thinks it's weird. He has been getting mail from his family finally though. [Previously, Lawrence mentioned an Elder in his district who wasn't getting any letters from his family. Jenny decided to write to him] I'm very sad to hear I've been replaced in tech support but it's probably for the best since I can't really help much from this end anyways. [Lawrence is absolutely the tech support guy in our family. I'm not sure who replaced him] I'm glad to hear you're using Mikogo though. It's definitely helpful. [Look up Mikogo online. It's a very cool thing] Devin Miller might be of some help too if you need it. Power Point is very picky software. The Linux might have another alternative to Open Office but I'm not sure. [My sister had to do a Power Point presentation in one of her classes. Apparently the family computer doesn't have Power Point. She used Open Office as an alternative, but it gave her quite a few problems.] It was crazy seeing Christopher here, I ran into him all the time. It'll be cool, though, because we'll get home around the same time. [Our cousin Chris is serving in New Zealand. He reported to the MTC a week after Lawrence did, but because he didn't have to learn a language, he's already out in the field. ] Section leader is much cooler than AP but AP might be cheaper. [I'm not quite sure what he's referring to here, but perhaps Jenny wants to be section leader? Or she is the section leader? And perhaps he's referring to the $675,000 band budget??!?!?] Whatever works. If ya'll get a Wii while I'm gone I just might say "Not cool" but I don't know if I'll go that far.
So this week, my teacher Hermana Higginson asked me to teach about the Atonement in Spanish. It was a little out of the blue because I forgot she'd mentioned it a few days earlier. It was really interesting because the message hit me a lot harder in Spanish and I got a little choked up. I think I was forced to use a bit more of my own words while trying to translate in my head. It really personalized the Atonement for me. Christ suffered for my sins and did it out of love for me. Everyone abandoned Christ during the time of the Atonement so we must not and cannot abandon Him now. As Elder Holland said, "Don't you dare turn your back on Him." He bore a powerful testimony.[Both Lawrence and our cousin Chris got to hear a talk from member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Both of them were deeply affected by his words. You get many spiritually uplifting opportunities in the MTC]
Love,
Elder Williams
Ok, I'm never doing that again. Just let me know if you're curious about something in a future Lawrence letter :)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Jedi Knights in the MTC?
Some of Joel's missionaries once showed him some pictures they'd taken with lead for a highlighter pencil to look like they had lightsabers. Joel came home and showed us, and of course, being the Star Wars fan that he is, Lawrence had to get in on the action. We took a few pictures like this right before he went into the MTC, and now that he's there, he helped to pass the mantle on by showing other missionaries this impressive photographic trick.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Random Musings
I've started to notice a trend in Lawrence's letters. Unless you've read every letter that he's gotten from every member of the family, parts of the letter aren't going to make sense. So again, if you have any questions about anything mentioned here, let me know!
Dear Family,
Thank you so much for the letters and Dear Elders and packages. Sorry if it's taken me a while to respond to them. I'm sitting and writing while I'm waiting for my laundry to finish. The MTC really does have the longest days but the shortest weeks. Time really is flying right now. It's not fair that they let Dad go jogging in 20°F weather and the field is still closed just because of a little snow :). The track in the gym is still alright though, even if the 28th lap looks suspiciously like the 27th lap (it's ten laps to a mile so they go by often). It really is true that the more responsibility we have the less time we waste. I have never worked more effectively than at the MTC. It really is amazing how much we manage to get done in a day. I love the new color-printing calculator already. I'm quite sad I don't get to play with it but I'll just have to focus more on the work. I like Dad's calculations too, though I'm sorry the Camry's still out of commission. Hopefully we'll save a bunch of miles on the Camry though. Tell the Nissan to behave, I might need it in 2 years. I'd say let Jennifer do practice driving in the van because she moves full time to the Nissan if you want her to drive that car. She'll be able to see over traffic more and get a feel for the road. The Nissan's too easy to drive, plus people are more afraid of and notice more the van. Go van! :) Oh, and nice Porsche font Dad.
Good luck with the book work, Jennifer, it's a beast, but then again, afterwards you can get your permit!!! It's going to be so weird when Jennifer starts driving. I feel old already let alone I'll have a [younger] sister who can drive. We'll see if Jennifer's personality comes out when she starts driving. That's so awesome that Jennifer's doing missionary work. Just remember, all the logic in the world is mere dust to a powerful testimony. The church is true and the Book of Mormon is God's word for us in this day. Moroni wasn't kidding when he said those who prayerfully study it will gain a testimony of it through the Holy Ghost. The true and faithful converts are often the ones who actually read the whole Book of Mormon. I know Lisa just sent me a talk on pride, but I'm proud of you, Jennifer. Hopefully this round of pictures will make it through but make sure to tell me if you get all 24 or if you want me to send them to a different e-mail address. I'd hate to kill off Jennifer's e-mail. My Spanish is coming alone. Did you understand my testimony in Spanish? I haven't taught any lessons in Spanish yet but we have been doing missionary things like contacting and finding people among volunteers at the Teaching Resource Center (TRC) in Spanish. This Friday will be our first time teaching lesson 2 so hopefully that'll go well. The chocolate milk is still amazing too but in the sack lunch area I found cookies-and-cream milk which is awesome too. It really tastes like liquid cookies-and-cream. Tell Rob congratulations on his first baptism. That reminds me I should probably send an e-mail to the Priests Quorum but I don't now Bishop Jones's address. Wow 712 days seems like a lot now, but by the next time I realize what's going on, I'll be on a plane headed home. That's crazy. I can't even believe how fast Robert's mission is going by let alone my own. I really can't let any time go by, which is probably why they emphasize planning so much in the MTC. It works wonders. Planning is when you find all the time that almost slipped by. Planning is procrastination's greatest foe.
Well, our TRC experiences have been pretty nice so far. Even though the people we're teaching aren't really investigators (that we know of) everybody walks away from the lesson with a really strong Spirit even if we weren't perfect. Even in the TEC when we're teaching teachers or watching a teacher teach a lesson, we can feel the Spirit really strong. It's so nice to be out of the usual hub-bub of the world and actually take time to dive into the gospel. Anyone who has as much as a vital sign is drawing so much closer to Christ. Our work really is focussed on Him. I'm so blessed to be a part of his work. I got to go to the temple today finally. The past two times when the zone went to the temple I was stuck doing visa work. We spent a little more time there than usual and I had the opportunity to read scriptures while I was there. Temple work and Missionary work, how awesome is that? Also Awesome (with a capital A), supposedly for Easter someone big's coming to give the devotional talk. The rumor is it'll be someone from the First Presidency. Well things are awesome as usual at the MTC but I'm sitting waiting for the Devotional today to start and I should probably be getting ready for the Prelude Hymns we sing. I Love You!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
So, um right after I finished my letter we went to the devotional scheduled for today. Guess who was speaking? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland!!! I don't have a whole lot of time to write right now but I'm definitely sending you a copy of my notes. It was an amazing devotional. Afterwards, we had District Devotional Review and everyone was choked up.
Oh and if the day wasn't crazy enough, at that very meeting I was made District leader! Ok so, granted, the other companionship in the district is the zone leaders and we're about to lose another elder, then be down to only 4 elders, and the other elder's the senior companion... The MTC is just plain amazing. If it was anymore amazing we'd have angelic messengers giving Devotionals. They're really angels at the MTC, we just can't always see them. Don't believe for a second we don't have angels watching over all of us.
3-4-08
Dear Family,
Thank you so much for the letters and Dear Elders and packages. Sorry if it's taken me a while to respond to them. I'm sitting and writing while I'm waiting for my laundry to finish. The MTC really does have the longest days but the shortest weeks. Time really is flying right now. It's not fair that they let Dad go jogging in 20°F weather and the field is still closed just because of a little snow :). The track in the gym is still alright though, even if the 28th lap looks suspiciously like the 27th lap (it's ten laps to a mile so they go by often). It really is true that the more responsibility we have the less time we waste. I have never worked more effectively than at the MTC. It really is amazing how much we manage to get done in a day. I love the new color-printing calculator already. I'm quite sad I don't get to play with it but I'll just have to focus more on the work. I like Dad's calculations too, though I'm sorry the Camry's still out of commission. Hopefully we'll save a bunch of miles on the Camry though. Tell the Nissan to behave, I might need it in 2 years. I'd say let Jennifer do practice driving in the van because she moves full time to the Nissan if you want her to drive that car. She'll be able to see over traffic more and get a feel for the road. The Nissan's too easy to drive, plus people are more afraid of and notice more the van. Go van! :) Oh, and nice Porsche font Dad.
Good luck with the book work, Jennifer, it's a beast, but then again, afterwards you can get your permit!!! It's going to be so weird when Jennifer starts driving. I feel old already let alone I'll have a [younger] sister who can drive. We'll see if Jennifer's personality comes out when she starts driving. That's so awesome that Jennifer's doing missionary work. Just remember, all the logic in the world is mere dust to a powerful testimony. The church is true and the Book of Mormon is God's word for us in this day. Moroni wasn't kidding when he said those who prayerfully study it will gain a testimony of it through the Holy Ghost. The true and faithful converts are often the ones who actually read the whole Book of Mormon. I know Lisa just sent me a talk on pride, but I'm proud of you, Jennifer. Hopefully this round of pictures will make it through but make sure to tell me if you get all 24 or if you want me to send them to a different e-mail address. I'd hate to kill off Jennifer's e-mail. My Spanish is coming alone. Did you understand my testimony in Spanish? I haven't taught any lessons in Spanish yet but we have been doing missionary things like contacting and finding people among volunteers at the Teaching Resource Center (TRC) in Spanish. This Friday will be our first time teaching lesson 2 so hopefully that'll go well. The chocolate milk is still amazing too but in the sack lunch area I found cookies-and-cream milk which is awesome too. It really tastes like liquid cookies-and-cream. Tell Rob congratulations on his first baptism. That reminds me I should probably send an e-mail to the Priests Quorum but I don't now Bishop Jones's address. Wow 712 days seems like a lot now, but by the next time I realize what's going on, I'll be on a plane headed home. That's crazy. I can't even believe how fast Robert's mission is going by let alone my own. I really can't let any time go by, which is probably why they emphasize planning so much in the MTC. It works wonders. Planning is when you find all the time that almost slipped by. Planning is procrastination's greatest foe.
Well, our TRC experiences have been pretty nice so far. Even though the people we're teaching aren't really investigators (that we know of) everybody walks away from the lesson with a really strong Spirit even if we weren't perfect. Even in the TEC when we're teaching teachers or watching a teacher teach a lesson, we can feel the Spirit really strong. It's so nice to be out of the usual hub-bub of the world and actually take time to dive into the gospel. Anyone who has as much as a vital sign is drawing so much closer to Christ. Our work really is focussed on Him. I'm so blessed to be a part of his work. I got to go to the temple today finally. The past two times when the zone went to the temple I was stuck doing visa work. We spent a little more time there than usual and I had the opportunity to read scriptures while I was there. Temple work and Missionary work, how awesome is that? Also Awesome (with a capital A), supposedly for Easter someone big's coming to give the devotional talk. The rumor is it'll be someone from the First Presidency. Well things are awesome as usual at the MTC but I'm sitting waiting for the Devotional today to start and I should probably be getting ready for the Prelude Hymns we sing. I Love You!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
So, um right after I finished my letter we went to the devotional scheduled for today. Guess who was speaking? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland!!! I don't have a whole lot of time to write right now but I'm definitely sending you a copy of my notes. It was an amazing devotional. Afterwards, we had District Devotional Review and everyone was choked up.
Oh and if the day wasn't crazy enough, at that very meeting I was made District leader! Ok so, granted, the other companionship in the district is the zone leaders and we're about to lose another elder, then be down to only 4 elders, and the other elder's the senior companion... The MTC is just plain amazing. If it was anymore amazing we'd have angelic messengers giving Devotionals. They're really angels at the MTC, we just can't always see them. Don't believe for a second we don't have angels watching over all of us.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lawrence Sighting
Today Joel ate dinner at the MTC, and while he was standing in line, heard a familiar voice calling his name. Lawrence was just starting his dinner as well, so they got to eat together. Joel met Lawrence's two companions, and talked to him about all sorts of things. He says Lawrence seems really happy, and that he's enjoying himself. Lawrence also told Joel that he was just made district leader! So that's really cool. One of Lawrence's companions made a jab at how many packages Lawrence is getting. After three weeks in the MTC, he's gotten about five from my mom, myself, and my sister. It's true that we've been corresponding a lot, but I think once he leaves the MTC, that will be a lot harder. We're so glad to know that our missionary is being well taken care of!
What the MTC looks like
Lawrence took my advice and got us more pictures with his face in them. So here they are!
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