Tuesday, February 24, 2015

3 peas in a pod! ;)

Hey Family and Friends!!

This past week a dream came true for me! I was able to go on exchanges with both Sister Jeppson and Sister Ellison! Two of my best friends out here in the field! They are in a trio so we were all together and had a BLAST!!!! We were in their area: Aiken, South Carolina and it was the coldest day ever!! The cold goes right through you! So I never felt warm that day! But we worked hard and had great success! We taught a lady out on her porch and man was it hard to teach the Restoration when you are shivering! lol! We met a few crazy peeps! One guy looked at me and said "I feel like we have met before? ...I know! YobYu were my girlfriend in a past life!" aaahhhh.... We all were speechless for a bit then we laughed! lol! We had dinner with this sweet OLD couple! They have been members for 12 years and are so dedicated! They had met the Elders in California and they wouldn't give up! Almost everyday they went over and after 6 months they were baptized! Hearing these stories helps me to keep having hope in "low" times. :)


Cheryl is progressing so much now! We went over and did service for her! Her niece was having a b-day party so we helped make decorations for it! It was very good and needed so that Cheryl can spend time with us and see we are "normal"! lol! ;) She is excited to come to another Sunday service, but she wasn't able to come yesterday since it was the b-day party. But she promised us that she will be there this coming Sunday! And she is so good at keeping her promises! :) She is enjoying the BOM and is asking such good questions! She is slowly gaining a testimony!!! She is so great! I just love her! :)


Amelia is just doing great! And Stephanie is doing much better! We saw her last night and Samuel (age 9) was there! He loves it when we come over, so we try to stop by every Wednesday and the weekends since he will be there then. Stephanie told us that today is the day that her divorce will be finalized, unless she chooses to keep fighting for custody... She was still not sure about her decision when we left last night. But we did pray with her so that she can receive guidance and to be calm and comforted.


On Saturday Sister Dunagan took us out to Johnston! We met a few peps, but mostly we are focusing on the LA's out there. We talked with a LA who says he is an alchemist/white wizard. He says he sees angels all the time and is preparing food for high vibration bodies when we "transform" during the 2nd coming. He also told us that if we get the ringing in our ears it means we will be alive for a good time, but when we don't hear it anymore it means we are gonna die soon... lol. We just took it as a grain of salt. The sad thing is he served a mission back in the 70's and its crazy to see how Satan gave plant a lie amid all the truth and how far, over time he can twist and use you if you don't notice it. This is a great example to learn from! NEVER stop reading your scriptures and saying your prayers daily! Attend all of your meetings and go to the temple frequently! By small and simple things, great things come to past! Or when we don't do the small and simple things then we can get WAY off course!


I love y'all SO much!!! Keep doing the small and simple things, for you truly will be blessed! xoxoxo


~ Sister Willie

  Having fun with trains! (Sis Ellison and I)

 A wall mural! I fit right in! ;)

Sis Jeppson, Sis Ellison and I just cruzin'!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A SUPER busy, but AMAZING week!!

HEY Y"ALL!!!

This week was jammed packed and flew by SO fast! Not only did we have lessons and service, we helped with a funeral, had interviews with President, had ZTM and stake conference!

We are having great success with Cheryl! We had a super great lesson with her on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is starting to recognize the spirit more and more! She is a little skittish tho, so we are taking things slowly with her. She was at church for the first time this past Sunday!!! And it was stake conference and Elder Kopischke was there! He is a great speaker and Cheryl was excited to listen to a general authority. She enjoyed church and all that was said, but she was getting overwhelmed with all of the people there, so she was ready to book it out at the end. lol. But we have another appointment with her today and she loves when we come over! She is reading the BOM and has great questions! She is great and it is only a matter of time and love till she excepts this gospel! :)

ZTM was great! I love this zone and having so many mission buddies! I gave a training on charity and I feel like it went very well. I really enjoy learning more and more about charity! 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is all about charity and I also love Moroni 7:42-48! I just love the scriptures! The perfect example in our life for charity is Christ! And I know if we all can think of someone in our own lives who is a great example of charity to us. Just like I did with the missionaries in my zone, I would like to also invite all of you to pray to have more charity and to see others through our Heavenly Father's eyes. Even if you feel like you are good at charity, you can never have enough charity! For when you love others before yourself, you truly will be blessed. One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Peter 8:4 (look at footnote 'a') cause charity prevents a multitude of sins! wow!!!

Stake Conference was awesome! it was about ward council and how the entire ward can be involved. and on Sunday the theme was on testimony and conversion. My mission President was on the stand with his wife! I love them both so much! His testimony and the Colombia temple President's testimony touched me the most! :) I am super glad that President Cottle is my mission President! I feel very lucky indeed! :)

I love y'all very much! xoxoxo Keep praying for charity!

~ Sister Willie
 Southern Girls! :)

@ the Savannah river rapids!

Hanging with missionaries on P-day!

Mermaids and Plantations!

Hey Y'all!!!

Last week was super great! We had exchanges with the Stevens Creek Sisters and MLC!!! Plus some awesome miracles and adventures!!! :)

I was with Sister Call in NA! I just love her! We found 3 new people to teach in 10 minutes!!! Woot woot! What a miracles! And the cooler part is that they all gave us return appointments for Thursday, within 30 minuets of each other! Well on Thursday Sister Gray and I went back and only one of them was able to really meet up with us then and her name is Ariel!!! We LOVE her SO much!!!!! She is 23 and going to college and working at target. We taught her the restoration and she is so smart! We talked about the priesthood and how men can receive it and late on we talked about Joseph Smith in the grove and his experience and how he would eventually become the prophet. She pipped up and said "So that means he got the priesthood then?!?" Super smart girl! Most people don't pick up on it that fast! She said she would like to be baptized by a man who has the priesthood and says yes she thinks there should be one true prophet here om Earth today!!! She is great! :)

Sister Call and I went and visited a sweet older lady named Elaine. She is barely out of our area and we have a RC that lives 2 streets down from her. I met her on exchanges last transfer with Sister Cano, and they closed that sisters area. :( I kept feeling like I needed to go see her, so of course I am going to follow the spirit! We knock on her door and she is so happy to see us! She is adorable! We talk with her about what has been going on since the sister have left. She tells us that the Elders visit her and call her but is not the same since she feels awkward. :( But we helped her feel better about it and read the scriptures with her. She is cute! I am so glad that we went since she really needed that! Hopefully it helps her progress more! :)

We had MLC on Friday and it was great like usual! I love seeing President and Sister Cottle! Plus all of the other leaders in the mission! :) I really love being a missionary and I really enjoy MLC, even tho it means I have to give training's the next week in ZTM! :)

So last week Amelia took us to see a plantation!!! Redcliffe plantation is super neat!!!! It was built in the 1850's and has slaves quarters and a beautiful driveway lined with 50+ Magnolia trees!! I was in history heaven!!! :) lol! It is super cool serving in a very historic area! I love it! I really love my mission, for many many reasons! I love you all! Hope you have a great week! xoxoxo

~ Sister Willie
Yup I'm an expert at climbing trees in a skirt!! :)


Sister Gray and I on the Plantation Steps!!


We are pals! I love Sister Gray!


With Amelia!


This is the Plantation House!


We ate crab legs at the Plochas! yummy!


Inside the library! I was in heaven! #nerd


Celebrating Sister Gray's year mark!!


Happy Valentine's Day!!! lol! I love all ya'll! :)

Monday, February 2, 2015

Peace and Hope!!

Dearest Family and Friends!

So this email will be short..... but we had miracles this week!

We spent time with Amelia and her family! We met her husband James and he is awesome! He was kinda in shock that there are "girl" missionaries! lol! But he asked us a few questions and relaxed around us. On Sunday Amelia and Peyton were at church again Amelia was feeling the spirit strongly and turned to us and said "I keep feeling like I need to get up and bear my testimony..." And she did! It was so beautiful and I am so proud of her! Plus it helped the ward know who she is! That evening Bishop called us and just thanked us for finding her, he said he had a good chat with her after and he was just glad that we found her. Super neat!

We saw Erin, a old media referral! She and her daughter Emily were excited to see us! woot! They are super busy but told us their schedules so we can try and catch them home! Erin is a good mom and we had a great talk about modesty. She is very good with helping Emily be modest, we are very impressed since that isn't something I have seen here in the South.. unless they are LDS.

We are continuing to help the Plochas! And Brother P.'s heart is softening! Us and the Elders went over and did service for them last week! That sure helped too! And We took them out on a "lunch date" last week! I just love them SO much! We asked Bro. P. What was his hold up from being baptized? He said it isn't just one thing, he cannot pinpoint it... We think he is just stubborn! lol Plus when he is ready be be baptized he will let us know. :)

Yesterday is Relief Society we had a great lesson on Hope and Peace! I loved it and it reminded me of some of my favorite scriptures! John 14:27 and 1 Corinthians 14:33! They bring me so much peace and comfort! I love y'all so much! Keep smiling and know your Heavenly Father love you! XOXOXO

~ Sister Willie
 Sometimes you find hidden treasures! :)

I just thought this sign was cool! lol ;)

 Coloring with Peyton!