Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Temple Blessings!!

Dearest Family & Friends!!!! 

The weeks keep flying by! It’s kind of scary! This Saturday will be transfer calls... I hope and pray that I will be staying in Cochran with Sister Schmidt for another transfer!! The odds really are not good though. I've been here for 6 months/4 transfers and 2 of those transfers with Sis. Schmidt! But we love each other SO much! And I really don't feel like my work is done here... We will see what the Lord has planned for me/us though. 

This week we had Zone Conference!!! It was the BEST ZC so far!!! The new movie "Meet the Mormons" ( http://meetthemormons.com/#/filter-all/page-1 ) Was the first thing we talked about. Missionaries are not allowed to go see it in the theaters or even proselyte near them! So as a gift from the first presidency, all missionaries (maybe just in the US...?) got to watch it! President Cottle was given a copy and a time (30 days) that all his missionaries had to see it by! So that’s what we did in the first 2 hours!!! It was so awesome and inspirational!! I hope all of you will go see it! It is worth your time! Plus all the money is being donated to the American Red Cross! So that’s pretty neat! But warning! It’s a tear jerker! lol! All the Sisters cried... and a few Elders too! ;) 
I've been studying Presidents Uchtdorf's talk "Living the Gospel Joyful" From the General Women's meeting a few weeks ago. This paragraph stood out to me: 
"Once you understand the true nature of God and His commandments, you will also better understand yourselves and the divine purpose of your existence. With this, your motivation for following the commandments changes, and it becomes your heart’s desire to live the gospel joyfully."  

This is SO true! I feel like this is what we teach less actives the most, but it is true for all of us, no matter how firm our testimonies are. 

Some way exciting news!!! My convert Brittney went to the Temple on Saturday!!! Oh it was so beautiful talking with her after and just seeing her GLOW! She is doing so great! She now has a calling, she is the Primary secretary and she is going to be speaking this Sunday in sacrament meeting!!! I am SO proud of her! She is so ready to be sealed to her family! She really wants to be sealed in SLC temple... but first we got to get her hubby Glen baptized! He know it’s true, just isn't ready to make this change in his life. :(  But I know he will be baptized one day! He just needs to make it a priority in his life! 

Bethany and her whole family are struggling. It reminds me of the quote: "On this mortal journey we must never think that our choices affect only us." - Elder Kacher. It truly saddens me when the mother makes a decision (and she knows it’s not the best) without thinking of her children. The ward and us are doing all we can to help this family. Bethany's desire has gone down. :( She still wants to keep learning but there is no motivation behind it anymore. Please pray for her and her family, that her Mother will make the right decision, that she will receive an answer to her question, recognize it and be brave enough to act upon it! Thanks Y'all! 

I love y'all SO much! Keep praying for missionary experiences! Don't be afraid to share what you know, we are all missionaries working together! Much love! XOXO

Pictures!
1: With most of the sisters in my zone, the AP's and ZL's after Zone Conference!
2: I LOVE Cochran SO SO SO MUCH!!!!! 
3: With Ken and Wendy! :) 

~ Sister Willie
 With most of the sisters in my zone, the AP's and ZL's after Zone Conference!

I LOVE Cochran SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!  




With Ken and Wendy! :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

"The best paths in life are rarely the easiest." - Elder Godoy

Well Howdy Y'all! 

This week was great! On a random note... we got to pet some llamas!!!! :D lol! We did more service with the Elders fro Tabby and John. I love Tabby so much! Service is so great! We had ZTM! Fantastic! I love getting "revamped" on what I can do to become the best missionary ever!!! A miracle happened after ZTM when half of us missionaries when out to eat at a Chinese buffet. We had all just sat down when this sweet Chinese lady came up to us. She has been praying to find the church! She is a member and moved to Georgia from New York 2 weeks ago. Her English is limited, but she has a beautiful testimony! Four years ago her husband and her were baptized. She is all alone right now till the rest of her family can move down. She was crying and said a pray of gratitude. It was a really neat experience! Heavenly Father is very aware of each and everyone of us! 

We had a fantastic lesson with Ken on the Plan of Salvation! He had great, deep questions and his heart is softening A LOT!!! He is now reading the Book Of Mormon!!! Wohoo!!! He is progressing great! And we taught this sweet older women named Miss. Wynell. A few months ago Sister Abad and I did service for her, but we were never able to find her home or it wasn't a good time. Well last week Sister Schmidt and I were able to teach her the first lesson! She isn't to open to it, but her heart will be soften. Miracles happen every day! :) They do all the time! A part member family we've been visiting opened up to us last week and are allowing  us to come back to teach a lesson to the husband! He expressed gratitude for us always showing love to his family, especially as they've been having a lot of trials thrown their way.

One of my favorite lessons this week was with Edie!!! She is SO awesome! I instantly loved her when we first met a week ago! She is Scottish and "saved" us when we were caught in a downpour and walking! :) We went back and visited with the pretense that she doesn't want to be preached to. We went in and just talked to her, but she kept asking us questions about our religion and beliefs! So we were able to teach her! :) She has had a ruff life, but she is a fighter with spunk! She is a widow and has 7 cats too! lol! She isn't sure what she believes in, she says she would call herself a mix between Christian and Jewish. She is the first person I've met here in the south that doesn't have some level of faith/belief in our savior Jesus Christ. So this is a new challenge for me in how to teach her! I am way excited! She has great potential!!! :) 

Yesterday we had two BAPTISMS!!! We received special permission to do them on Sunday from President Cottle. SO many ward members showed up too! Gabi (13) and Riley (20) were both baptized! We've been helping Gabi since August! She is sweet girl! It was the most spiritual baptism I've ever been too! So sweet and powerful! The Priesthood is so wonderful and truly is the power and authority to act in God's name. This is His church here on earth today! I testify that this Church is lead and guided by our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be apart of this church and spread this glorious news! I love watching this gospel change people! It is such a humbling experience to watch them be baptized and become clean! 

I love y'all very much! Keep smiling and sharing your testimony! xoxoxo 
~ Sister Tara Willie
 At lunch w/ half the zone and with that sweet Chinese lady!  
Beautiful Georgia!
w/ Gabi at her baptism!!!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Happy Fall Ya'll :)

Hey Y'all!

Its fall! Its fall! Its fall!!! Fall is my favorite season! It just makes me super happy to feel the (somewhat) crisp cool air, see the leaves changing and smell the fires burning! :) This past week was kinda a 'struggly' week, but it ended with a bang cause of General Conference!!!  

Us and the elders did service on Tuesday! Man it was hard and long, but so much fun! I love serving others! We painted a very ugly house. It is falling apart and should be condemned, but hey its a place where they at least have a roof and 4 walls. While we painted and killed TONZ of bugs, the elders were cleaning up the yard and it was a jungle out there! They got eaten alive by mosquitoes! There is such a joy from doing service! You are putting other first! Do y'all know what JOY stands for? J - Jesus first, O - Others second, Y - Yourself last. This is how you should be living your life. Now I am not saying this is easy, this is why we have a life time to work on it. To progress and become better! The Atonement comes into play each time we fail and get to try again! Oh how glorious this gospel is! 

On a sad note we got dropped by someone we've been teaching since June! :( It is super sad when this happens... and she did it over text too! Its like breaking up with someone over text, you just don't do it! #lamesauce But we aren't gonna take it lying down! Nope! We are gonna (nicely) go over and see whats up! 

We were (finally) able to teach a full lesson to Ken this past week! His heart is truly softening! He is now a lot more open to reading the BOM and he even watched and recorded conference!!! Wow! Didn't see this coming! He enjoys half of conference and was surprised with how much Christ was mentioned... lol! Its not like I have Jesus Christ's name on my badge every time I see him. lol! There is such power when the prophet and apostles speak! 

Conference was a blast! We watched all the sessions at the church and many members were there. Bethany, Brittney, Gabi, Riley and Janean all came for at least one session!!! I loved all that I personally learned and also hearing from my gators, recent converts and returning members what they learned! General Conference really does answer our questions and concerns when we are truly listening. We can only get out of a meeting by what we put in and/or how much we prepared (by praying) and listen. I hope y'all were able to get something out of conference?! If not, I would encourage you to pray and then watch a talk or two online and see if you do get something personally out of it! I can promise you that if you pray before that you will be enlighten and willing to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, you will receive an answer to your questions or learn something new that will help you grow and progress. 

 I love all y'all very much! Keep smiling and praising God even in our times of trials. 1 Nephi 18:16
 xoxoxoxo

 ~ Sister Tara Willie
 With S. Schmidt, E. Allen & E. Greene after our service project! 

They had just plowed up these peanuts! 

In a cotton field, that is almost blooming. We are with a members grandchildren. :)