Seis De Mayo (May 6, 2013)

Also, mom, mom, and grandma, Happy Mother's Day! But, of course, I'll tell you again on Sunday! I am excited to call and I look forward to hearing all of your voices! I want to cry just thinking about it! So yeah. I guess, just expect me to be a mess on Sunday! (Also! Tell Joshua I said Happy Late Birthday!!!!)

 My testiomy on each must have only been maybe a couple sentances each, but as I sat across from him I could feel the burning in my heart from the Spirit testifying to me, as I testified to him, that I know that these things are true. I felt the power of the Spirit work in me as I spoke. And of course I cried. After I finished I paused, wiped away my tears, and took a breath: "Wow!"

     My mission president smiled. "That's not 'wow', Sister Willis. That's your testimony. ...You didn't know you had that kind of testimony did you?"

     I shook my head, "I guess not."

     I love my mission! Even though it's tough, I love it! 

Missions have a way of shaping missionaries, but, I have also learned that you really can't be shaped unless you let Heavenly Father shape you. You have to hand everything over so that He CAN shape you. In short, when I come home, I hope that I have no heart, no mind, no might, and no strength because I've given it all to our Father in Heaven. People often ask me what I'm going to do when I get home and I never know what to tell them, I'm here and this is where God needs me to be. I love you all and I encourage you ALL to stand up this next fast sunday and to bear your testimony on one of those five things.

     I love you all and I thank you for your prays, your letters, your love, and everything else!

 

All My Love,

Sister Willis

 

I can't think of a good subject line... (April 29, 2013)

She's doing much better now and I'm sure things'll be good from here out with her health. ALSO! I'm pretty sure God knew I was getting down because of being shut in so much,  so He's blessed us with FIVE investigators this week! ...Did you read that? FIVE! - F. I V. E. - !!!! That's more than I've EVER had! And in a week!

It's stressful! But, so long as the Spirit's there it's not overwhelming. He REALLY does a good job at keeping me in check! He's such a great guy!

When we opened his door, the stench of alcohol poured out of the apartment. Brother Beall pulled open the door and we knew in an instant that he was drunk. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were pierced with blood. We talked for a little bit and learned that not only was the man drunk. He was totally wasted!

     As we stood there talking there was really nothing more we could do but to testify to him. And as we did we could both feel the Holy Ghost working in us. We testified with a power we had never felt before and of things we'd never testified of before.  

     "Brother Beall, have you been drinking?" He denied and we told him not to lie. "The thing is," he said sheepishly, "the devil made me do it."

     We testified like crazy! We talked about the covenants he made at baptism and how he now has greater responsibilty.

     Sister Marlow testified. She spoke with great power and authority and as I stood there watching between my companion and the Lord's son, I felt the Holy Ghost. I remember thinking 'Wow, my companion is totally speaking by the Holy Ghost!'

     I could see the guilt on Brother Beall's face. He looked at the ground and would not make eye-contact. Brother Beall told us that things had been hard for him and that that's why he started drinking.

     ....And then it was my turn.

     "Brother Beall, yes, things can get hard. But the Savior died on the cross for you. He suffered more than any human would ever have to suffer. Jesus loves you. Do you know that? He loves you! And when you drink you are telling Him that you do not love Him! Do you understand what he did for you? He suffered so much because he loves you. Do you understand? He loves you SO much! And there is nothing -NOTHING that you are giong through that is too hard. The Savior knows what "too hard is" and you don't. You HAVE to stop drinking. You HAVE to stop!"

     We testified again and made Him promise we'd come to chuch. "Look at me, Brother Beall," I said. "Look at me. ...Do you promise you will go to church tomorrow?"

     It took him a while but he did, straight in the eye he told me.

     "Brother Beall, I am a representative of Jesus Christ and when you lie to me you are lying to Jesus. Do you promise you will come?"

     For a long time he was silent, his blood-shot eyes unblinking.

     "I promise I'll go."

     The entire time I could feel the Spirit, bearing me up. Almost as if I was not standing on my own legs.

     "Okay, I trust you. You have just promised us and Jesus Christ that you will go. I trust you."

  I love ALL of you and I think of you often! All of you! Thank you for your letters and your emails and everything! You guys are amazing! I hope you all have a fabulous week! I'll be thinking of you and praying for you! (The other sisters got a flat tire today on their way to pick us up. So yeah! It was fun! Anyway. I love you!!)

All My Love,

Sister Willis

Crazy Week! (April 22, 2013)

Boy do I have an update for you! This has been a CRAZY week! Good things and ...not so good things.

But also, maybe a little clarification. I LIVE in a barn and I WORK at the Visitor's Center. They both don' mix. (hopefully that makes sense) We work a LOT at the Family Tree Center and it's been WAY good! We get to call people over the phone and have lessons (we invited a guy last week to be baptized and he said YES!) and we get to talk to people over chat too (we invited a boy from England to be baptized too!) so yeah, LOTS of missionary opportunities!

Anyway, we talked for a little bit and she told me the story of why she was in a cast (she had been making the sisters dinner and nearly sliced her index finger off!) Anyway, it was icky and we talked about other things too. BUT. As I was standing there the room started spinning and it suddenly got WAY hot in the room! I set my bad down, hoping that it would help with the pressure, but it didn't. The room kept spinning and I could see a thin dark cloud starting to cover my vision. The only thing I could think was "NO! I can't pass out! Not here! Anywhere but here!" I tried sitting down to see if that would help. When they asked me if I was alright I shrugged it off and told them that I'd be fine. So we talked a little more and Sister Marlow pulled out her hymn book so that we could sing a song to the sister. She pulled out my favorite hymn and it took every ounce of everything to get thorugh the first two verses. I HAD to stop before we reached the last verse. My brain and heart were pounding and I could feel the sweat start to bead out of my face and arms and everything. My lips felt like ice and my body was starting to shake. I pushed the hymn book away, shrugged off my coat (which felt like a million pounds) and flattened myself on the ground. My companion was at my side in a second and so was the other sister. (They did a really good job at keeping calm while I was just on the floor freaking out and trying not to pass out!) I heard the sister ask my companion to get her some alcohol, which she did. The next thing I knew, was that an oxygen tube was going into my nose! She told me to lie still and to breath through my nose. I felt terrible! All I wanted to do was cry! Which I did. A lot! I'm pretty sure that it was only my will power to NOT pass out that kept me from passing out. We sat there for the next twenty minutes as my color started returning and I felt a little better. Anyway. WAY embarassing. I feel MUCH better now and the sister mentioned to us that it was probably the altitude. She said that her mom ALWAYS has to have oxygen on her because of that very reason. But who knows. Maybe I'm just weak sauce!

 

Anyway. I think it's funny now. Don't panic or anything! I'm really fine! I've been taking it easy for the past couple of days and I'm sure things will be great! Anyway. I'll be sure to update you more in letters and such!

Update (April 15, 2013)

Howdy Y'all!

SOOOOOO.... I GOT TRANSFERED!! Yup. I'm in Park City now at my vistor's center. And it is snowing like the dickens outside! Crazy weather!

I'm not sure if this next bit falls under "best" or "worst" (and I know Zach will love to hear it!) but ....WE LIVE IN A BARN!!!! Like a serious, tractors in the barn, mud all over the place, we have to climb a ladder to get to our beds, kind of barn! And there's even a horse on the side (whom everyone calls Scruffy)! Isn't that funny?? I just can't get over it! And its WAY different area wise because in Sandy you were lucky if you even HAD a back yard! Here in Park City EVERYONE has like thrity acers just sitting around. It's HUGE! I feel like it's been a giant road trip since I got here! 

I have gained a HUGE testiomony of my Savior, of the great apostasy, and of the vital imprtance of the priesthood on the earth, and the restoration of the Church and of the Book of Mormon. This Gospel is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me! That's ever happened to the WORLD! And it's our job as members of the Church to go out and flood the earth with the knowledge of this Gospel! How great a work this is!

Love Like Rain (April 8)

First off, thank you all SO MUCH for your birthday wishes! It was a good day yesterday! Although, with my companion's brithday RIGHT after mine it more feels like we've both had THREE birthdays instead of just one! So yeah. Obviously it's been good!

So yes. Conference was AMAZING! And watching it as a missionary really changes things! You see things differently, you think about your investigators, and about how this can help them. Did anyone else notice how each of the speakers spoke as though they were speaking to people who were not yet members? Anyway, I thought it was like that, which I loved!

Also, WE WERE ON TV YESTERDAY! We only watched a small portion on KSL. We had to R.U.N.N.O.F.T to make it to the next session so we didn't see the whole thing. But yeah. Nearly EVERYONE in the stake (which is most everyone we passed on the street) was saying things like "I saw you on TV!" and "You're famous!" We had a LOT of cars just pull over (against traffic) just to tell us that they saw us! It was fun!

Sending ALL my love in the raindrops! (or, in case it's not raining there, I'll send it in the sunshine!)

Sister Willis