Fall is Here? - October 26th

So here we can´t really tell any difference that the time is passing into fall. They only really have two seasons here. It´s still hot and sunny, like always. It´s going to be interesting to be in cool weather again soon, wearing sweaters and, bueno, normal clothes in general.

Last Sunday we had the baptism of Rafael. It was a bit stressful. Saturday night Jairo filled up the font with the mission leader of the other ward but when we got to the church at 7am, the font was empty. So we had to start filling it up again and it takes forever! They had to fill it up with buckets too so that it would go faster. Rafael got baptized at 8:50 and Church started at 9:00. I´m glad that day is over!

Tomorrow Oswaldo is getting baptized. He´s one of the people that I know the Lord sent me here to find. He is escogido (chosen). We found his wife one day tracting. She has been inactive for several years and has never attended this ward for the three years she´s lived in this area. We got her coming back to church but we never really saw her husband because he worked a ton. Then finally one night he happened to come home while we were at the house teaching Yolena. He immediately committed to stop workin gon Sundays and come to church. He went to General Conference and he´s just been making all of the changes in his life to be better. He´s so humble and willing. It makes me so happy! So he´s getting baptized tomorrow and then I can finish my mission a happy missionary. And his family is so happy too! It´s amazing the light that the gospel brings to a home and to the soulds of those who live there.

I listened to a video clip of Elder Bednar this week. He was talking about being sent for "the one." He was saying that as servants of the Lord--apostle, missionary, etc--we aren´t sent to save the world or baptize the world, but we are sent to find one. Someone specific. And that one will go find one more, and one more, and one more... And that´s how it works in the Lord´s work. So Oswaldo is one of my "one"s.

I hope that all of yáll have a fabulous week. I love you all very much!

Love,

Hermana Williams

Friday! - October 18th

Tomorrow we have an activity with the ward missionaries so they changed our P-day for this week to today. We`re going to MIDUVI tomorrow with pan de guineo (banana bread) to get references. I`m basically just excited about the bread because it`s good!

This Sunday Rafael is getting baptized before church. He`s so excited and I`m so excited for him! He has changed a ton. Next weekend Milton and Oswaldo will be getting baptized. I`ll tell yàll more about them later.. they are both super special.

This week has been pretty chill. We`ve just been teaching and taking care of sick people. A lot of people have been asking when I go home. I usually don`t like to talk about it. I just tell them that I still have time here. Actually my whole group is going home a few weeks early, at the end of October. I`m staying my full time to help out with nursing. One of the elders that is leaving told me he was sorry that I had to stay longer but that the Lord would bless me for my extra time. And I was thinking--I`m sorry that you have to leave early and don`t have any more time! I guess he`s ready to go home though. Maybe I`ll be ready too... I just feel like it`s gonna be a big shock and that scares me.

But I am also super excited to apply evreything I`ve learned and to keep progressing. God has pu tin place such a wonderful plan for all of us. We just need to help everyone realize that reality--and especially the infinite LOVE that God has for each and every one of us. I wish everyone understood that. It hurts me to think that there are people in the world that don`t know their true worth. But I guess that`s why we`re here--to help each other figure it out.

I love yàll so much. I hope everyone has a great week next week. We should be writing on Saturday again. Yàll should listen to this talk from President Monson in the Relief Society session of Conference... http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/general-relief-society-meeting/2013/09/we-never-walk-alone?lang=eng

Love you all!!

Hermana Williams

General Conference - October 5th

Today is P-day so we only went to the first session of Conference. My poor companion still doesn´t understand enough to be able to enjoy it that much but I could get everything! I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talk. I don´t know exactly what it is in English but I loved the quote--Doubt your doubts before doubting your faith. I wish I had heard that a long time ago. It might have saved me a lot of worry haha.

Everything is pretty normal here in Ecuador. I still love the ward and my companion and my president and everyone. We had two birthdays yesterday--Sarah, President Dennis´s daughter, and Hermana Blas, my old companion. So there was lots of cake going around! And I smashed Hermana Blas´s face in her cake. It wasn´t as bad as when Hermana Sanchez put my facein my cake last year but it was pretty good. I kind of felt bad for doing it but it had to happen--Ecuadorian tradition.

Recently we´ve met some cool new people and I am so excited to be teaching them. There are a lot of families to be completed here in La Florida. Hermana Lyman and I have so much fun together. She is progressing quickly in Spanish but she still has so much to learn. We laugh a lot together though. I am so grateful to be her companion in this time.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week. Be looking for that subtle blessings of the Lord in your lives every day. He loves us so much and it really is amazing and humbling the seamingly insignificant blessings that He grants us to show this love.

I love you all!!

Hermana Williams

In Northern Territory

It looks like P-day is going to be Monday for now... Not that it really makes a difference. I`m used to things changing every other week now haha.

A new sister, Hermana Blas from Nicaragua, came to be with us this past week. But now she and I have gotten changed and we are with Hermana Ayala in a ward called La Florida. This ward was part of the North Mission. We arrived yesterday and went to Ward Council. The Bishop is pretty focused in missionary work and he expects a lot of work. That`s cool, that`s why we`re here.

Recently I`ve started rereading the Book of Mormon as a challenge from President Dennis--to finish it before November 19. I really love the books of Nephi. I think I`ve always taken them for granted. This morning I was reading in 1 Nephi 16 and 17. This is when Nephi breaks his bow and his brothers get mad and even his dad (the prophet!) starts to murmur. But he keeps a straight head and with the help of the Lord fixes the problem. And then he goes to build a boat and once again his brothers are jerks and only the power of the Lord makes them humble. It made me think about, like Nephi, even when we are being completely obedient we are going to face challenges and obstacles. The question is if we are going to let those challenges beat us or with the help of the Lord we are going to overcome the challenges. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Trust in the Lord and look for his blessings daily.

Love,

Hermana Williams

Life in Ecuador Lately..

Recently Hermana Pérez and I were in a trio with a girl named Hermana Saucedo. She is from Arkansas although her parents both have roots in Mexico so she looks Latina and talks Spanish pretty well. She as only with us for 2 weeks and now she has left to be with her real trainer in the coast. It was neat to have some time to teach her and learn from her. She has a lot of faith and hope that everyone, no matter their challenges, can progress. She has a lot of love for the people.

Hermana Saucedo taught us something cool from 2 Nephi. I had never heard it before but in chapter 5 there are 6 principios por una vida feliz (principles for a happy life)...

2 Nefi 2:6- Familia (families)

2 Nefi 2:10- Obediencia (obedience)

2 Nefi 2:12- Las Escrituras (the scriptures)

2 Nefi 2:16- Templos (temples)

2 Nefi 2:17- Trabajo/Servicio (work/service)

2 Nefi 2:26- Sacerdocio (the priesthood)

When she showed this to us, I absolutely loved it. There are people in the world that are looking for some sort of secret to be make their lives happy but really the only true happiness comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it`s not anything complicated or difficult--it´s simply being obedient to the commandments of the Lord. He takes care of the rest.

We are doing alright here in Colón. The members are so awesome and every day we get to know new people that are also wonderful. I love being able to feel how much love God has for the people we meet and teach. It is such a comfort to know that He loves us all perfectly, that nobody is ever too far out of reach for Him.

I love being in the mission and I love the people that I am serving with--members, non-members, missionaries, President, etc.--they are all so great. This is God´s work. I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful and happy week. :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Williams

Agosto!!

I can´t believe the summer is over! These last couple of months have really flown by. I always joked around with my old companions, counting down their time until they went home and now the joke is on me.

This past weekend we had the baptism of Alancito in our ward, Colón. His family has been less active for a while and are just coming back to church. It´s been super special to watch their pogress as the family reactivates and Alan´s baptism. They´re remembering all of the stuff that they had forgotten--that families can be eternal, that through the Atonement we can be cleansed of sin, the peace that comes from being in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I am so happy for them.

Also, I love this barrio we´re in--Colón. I especially love the baptisms here. For Jesús, Gabriela, and Alan, they all had such special services. And the people in the ward here sing really well. I guess it has to do with the acoustics of the room where the baptisms take place... but when the members harmonize, it literally sounds like there are angels singing with us. And I´m sure they probably are. These have been some beautiful experiences.

Not much more to report here now. All is well in Ecuador. I hope everything´s going well for all of you at home. Love you all tons!!

Hermana Williams

From July 8th.

Hey!! So today we are starting our second week as the Guayaquil West Mission. We have three stakes from the South Mission and I think five from the North. It`s pretty much the coast of Ecuador. I`m here to help out as the nurse. It`s really cool to be part of a new mission. I`m grateful that I got to see most of the South of Ecuador (Milagro,South Guayaquil, Machala, Cuenca) because now all of those cities are outside of my mission and I can never go back before leaving.

My new mission president is President Dennis from Utah. His parents are from Mexico. He and hsi wife are extremely awesome. They had conferences with all of the zones last week. When they spoke to us the first time I almost cried. They love the missionaries (us) so much, you can feel it so strongly when they`re with us. I`m really happy and grateful to be serving with them.

Right now I`m in a ward called Colón in Guayaquil with Hermana Sanchez, my companion from a few months back. The ward is super awesome-- the members and the area. It`s  blessing to serve there.

It`s weird to think that I have less than 5 months left here. I have mixed feelings when I think about the clock ticking down.. One thing that President Dennis mentioned to us was our time.. Our time in the the mission as well as the time we have in this life. If we waste it, there`s no going back. If we choose not to take advantage of opportunities, more than likely they aren`t going to come back to us. So we need to choose to do the will of the Lord today so that tomorrow we`ll be that much closer to who/where we want to be.

I love you all and I hope yàll have a great week!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Williams

A Busy Week

July 20, 2013

 

 

Hey! There have been a lot of changes going on here in the mission recently and I´m super excited for all of them. First of all, I have a new companion. And although I absolutely love Hermana Sanchez who left me, I am super stoked to be with Hermana Pérez from Peru. She only has 2 months in the mission but she is super awesome. I´ve been so blessed with the companions I´ve had and I know that she and I are gonna have tons of fun together.

Since we´re the nurses we have Pdays Saturdays and today we also have a wedding. John and Gabriela are getting married tonight!! It´s been a long time coming.. And then tomorrow Gabriela and our friend Jesús are getting baptized in the morning. I am so happy for this weekend. :)

As the nurses we work pretty closely with President and his wife. I am continually amazed at their love and care for each and every one of us. The missionaries of Ecuador Guayaquil West are in good hands! Every day I talk to Hermana Dennis on the phone and I always feel like I´m talking to Mom. She reminds me of you, Mom. She always comes to the conferences when President is teaching us and she is always given a bit of time to share something with us. I am amazed and strengthened by her testimony of the restored gospel. I´m really grateful to be able to serve with her.

I think that´s about all I have for now... But just to mention something cool.. We were reading in Alma 36 the other day to help someone understand about the principle of repentance. I don´t think I´ve ever really read this chapter to understand it, but it is so beautiful. Yáll should read Alma 36. He talks about how he was so weighed down with his sins and a lot of people in the world are like that---they don´t see any way out of their problems. But then he remembered something that his father had taught him.. Even though he hadn´t paid attention at the time, in this pivotal moment he finally understood the significance of the Savior, of the Atonement. And through his faith he was able to put all of the bad stuff behind him and move forward--to be converted--to be a new person and to help others find the same happiness. Hopefully we all can truly understand the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives as well. It´s never too late to make a change and take a stand for what we know. It´s never to late to come unto Him.

I know that my Redeemer lives and he leads His church today. I am so grateful for the guidance of His holy scriptures and His chosen servants. This is the work of God. John 5:17

I love you all!!

Hermana Williams

 

 

P.S. NEW ADDRESS:

Mission Ecuador Guayaquil West

Casilla 09-04-206

Guayaquil, Guayas

Ecuador

Send me mail before it´s too late!!! haha

El Templo de Guayaquil

So today we went to the temple in Guayaquil (bueno, I live in Guayaquil but I've never gone..). Some converts of Hermana Sanchez got sealed today.

It was so awesome to be at the temple again. It's been a year since I've gone so it was quite refreshing. And while we were there we saw many people from our old wards, even Porvenir where we were companions before. Hermana Sanchez made the comment that it's what it's going to be like in Heaven. You'll just be sitting there waiting and all of a sudden in will walk all of your loved ones. I really love these people.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I love y'all!!

 

July 13th

Hey!! So today we are starting our second week as the Guayaquil West Mission. We have three stakes from the South Mission and I think five from the North. It`s pretty much the coast of Ecuador. I`m here to help out as the nurse. It`s really cool to be part of a new mission. I`m grateful that I got to see most of the South of Ecuador (Milagro,South Guayaquil, Machala, Cuenca) because now all of those cities are outside of my mission and I can never go back before leaving.

My new mission president is President Dennis from Utah. His parents are from Mexico. He and hsi wife are extremely awesome. They had conferences with all of the zones last week. When they spoke to us the first time I almost cried. They love the missionaries (us) so much, you can feel it so strongly when they`re with us. I`m really happy and grateful to be serving with them.

Right now I`m in a ward called Colón in Guayaquil with Hermana Sanchez, my companion from a few months back. The ward is super awesome-- the members and the area. It`s  blessing to serve there.

It`s weird to think that I have less than 5 months left here. I have mixed feelings when I think about the clock ticking down.. One thing that President Dennis mentioned to us was our time.. Our time in the the mission as well as the time we have in this life. If we waste it, there`s no going back. If we choose not to take advantage of opportunities, more than likely they aren`t going to come back to us. So we need to choose to do the will of the Lord today so that tomorrow we`ll be that much closer to who/where we want to be.

I love you all and I hope yàll have a great week!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Williams

Mother Day

Hey!!

I hope everyone is doing well in Carolina. Happy Mother´s Day to all of the wonderful women there who have influenced my life. :)

We have the baptism of Norma today. She´s a really sweet lady that we met a few weeks back. And she´s finally ready! I´m also attaching a few pictures from Joseph´s baptism last week. That kid is so legit.

Hermana Chavez and I are rocking it as the nurses. We don´t always understand things 100% and people always get us confused because we´re two gringas but it´s cool. We have SO much fun together and I´m super grateful that we´re companions.

I´m about to hit my year mark in about two weeks!! That´s crazy! The time has gone by so slowly but at the same time flown haha. Every day I´m learning a little more about how to be a better person and who the Lord wants me to be. It´s not always easy but it´s worth it.

I love you all! Follow the Spirit and look for the will of the Lord. Have a great Mother´s Day!

Love,

Hermana Williams

More pictures!

Sisters!

Missionary kids, (:

How cute, (:

I'm pretty sure these pictures were taken during Christmas time.

Sorry for the delay!

Merry Christmas! Haha (:

Time Flies

Hey, Everybody!!

Time seems to be moving quicker lately. I hit my nine month mark and I have half of my mission left but I don´t feel like it´s much time. 

Yesterday we had a conference with Elder Waddell from our area presidency. I think he´s from California and in one of the quorums of the seventy. He is amazing and it was such a privilege to have him here to speak with us. He served his mission in Spain and later was a mission president there. His Spanish is a bit different (Spaniard) but he speaks really well. Some of the things he touched on yesterday (all of this is my translation to English)...

He asked the question: ¨Why do we meet together in church?¨ And I think this is a question that a lot of people have---why do people need to go to church if they can have Jesus in their heart wherever they go? We looked at a lot of scriptures to come up with the answer to this question... Jesus Christ taught His gospel when He came to the earth. There are a lot of doctrines very specific and precious. It´s important that we learn together to obey His commandments with exactness. Like it talks about in 1 Samuel 15--sometimes we think our way is better than the Lord´s. But really His way is always best and we need to follow His commandments with exactness to receive His blessings. For this, we have to study the pure doctrines, strengthen and prepare ourselves together so that we can do His work in His way and not our own.

He mentioned a story of the Martin and Willie handcart companies that were stuck in the mountains in the winter. The prophet sent a group to search for them. After making an effort they couldn´t find the companies so they headed back for Salt Lake. They met up with Arza Hinckley and a group that was also going to search for the companies in trouble. They told Arza that it was in vain to continue on because they were nowhere to be found. His response was, "I have been called by a prophet of God... I will find them or I will die trying." Wow. It really makes you think about your responsibility as a missionary... or even in any other calling. We need to have this same confidence and drive--that this is our responsibility and we need to give everything we have to complete our calling.

Sometimes I talk to people here about my "real life" before the mish. But Elder Waddell made a comment about this too... How sometimes we think that the mish is just a period of time that we serve but I love what he said... "Life doesn´t get any more real than this. There is nothing more real than the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing more real than the priesthood and the power to seal families together for eternity. There is nothing more real than Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. There is nothing more real than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This is real life."

Those are just a few of the highlights from what we went over yesterday. It was such a good experience. I love the gospel. I hope everyone is doing well at home. I love you all!

Love,

Helena

I forgot to post this in Feburary.. sorry y'all.

Hay fam and friends...

It`s already February! Time is going by super fast, and even faster since I´ve been in the office. They brought me in to be a nurse a couple of weeks ago. It´s a more stressful job than to be a normal missionary but overall I feel more comfortable here. I think it´s because my real calling is to be the nurse, not to be a normal missionary. It was really interesting the change I felt when I came from the field to the office. I know this is where I´m supposed to be.

I´m with Hermana Riera from here in Ecuador. She studied public health before the mish and I think she wants to be an OB nurse or a midwife after the mish. We have a lot of fun together, trying to figure out what we´re supposed to do and make sure that all of the missionaries are taken care of. It´s like having 200 little brothers to look after haha. And my Spanish is definitely improving. I can´t remember if I dream in Spanish or not... there are some times that it´s definitely in Spanish but other times I can´t remember.

This weekend and Monoday and Tuesday is Carnival here. Everyone is going on vacation and planning fiestas. Apparently there are a ton of traditions here for carnival... face painting, fiestas, throwing water on people, etc... I´ll let yáll know how it is after I see it.

My new sector is called Las Peñas. It´s basically downtown Guayaquil. The people are more well off than those in Milagro. Most people live in huge buildings of apartments. It´s pretty much the exact opposite of Milagro with the houses of caña. There´s one street that almost looks like it could be New York and there´s a riverside park-walkway that´s cool. Basically this area is more touristy. But the ward is pretty nice and I´ve enjoyed being here. The people aren´t as open but that´s to be expected. Not everyone can have the same love as the people in Milagro.

I guess that´s about it for now. I hope all is going well for everyone in the States. Take care!!

Love,

Helena

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to everyone from Ecuador!!!

Things have been really good here in Ecuador. The schedules around the holidays were kind of crazy but we all survived. Hermana Sanchez and I watched them burn their monigotes (they make large dolls and burn them as if burning the old year and stating over). It was pretty interesting. Just before midnight they pour gasoline on their dolls and throw a flame on. While it´s burning they throw in handfulls of fireworks. There were tons of explosions to start off the new year in Milagro.

Last night there were transfers but Hermana Sanchez and I are still together in Porvenir. Everyone, including me, thought I was going to Guayaquil but thankfully I get to stay a little bit longer. I have 5 months here so far and I love this ward, these people. We are working really hard and teaching a lot of people. We´ve been working with a woman named Mara for a while. She´s 20 years old and is going to get baptized in a couple of weeks after she gets married. She´s got more faith than almost anybody I´ve seen. She truly is converted. Yesterday she came to church alone with her 3 girls because her fiance didn´t want to come. Hermano Carillo and I both passed by for him at different times to bring him to church but he wasn´t dressed and gave us excuses not to go. It was testimony meeting. Even though she isn´t baptized yet Mara wanted to share her testimony. She went to the front and shared her simple but powerful feelings and her desires to be with her husband in Christ´s church so that they could both share the joy of being a family together forever. She asked for everyone´s prayers for her family that her fiance would open his heart and feel what she feels. A few minutes after she sat down from giving her testimony, her husband walked into the chapel. He had gotten ready and come on his own. She immediately started crying and praying, thanking God. I am so happy for Mara because she has had tons of reasons the past couple of weeks to give up but she keeps holding on to her faith and her prayers are being answered. She truly is an inspiration for me.

I finished reading the Book of Mormon in español today. I love that book. Now I´m going to start on the New Testament in Spanish. It´s a bit harder to understand but it´s super interesting. I absolutely love reading the scriptures in Spanish. It´s almost a whole new perspective on Christ and the gospel.

I hope everyone at home is doing well, enjoying the cold weather. It´s gotten a bit hotter here lately and it´s started raining sometimes. I am so grateful for the rainy days when it doesn´t feel like we´re in an oven haha. Good thing the South is pretty warm so I won´t miss that part when I come home. And I come home this year!

I love you all and I´m praying for you!!

Love,

Hermana Williams