Miracles bring couches!

Hey Y'all!!! 

 

Hope ya had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Cause I did! We were thoroughly stuffed! The Dunagans fed us and we met their extended family who are all non members! We  enjoyed talking about missionary work and He is the Gift video, which we showed them. We also ate at a recent converts house, Sharon! Very sweet of her to feed us even tho she is struggling financially. 

 

So awesome miracles! Our trailer doesn't have much in the way of furniture and I really missed sitting on a couch, I was tires of a chair that has wheels! lol. So I told my comp that we should ask the members and see if they know of a cheap one at a yard sale or something like that. Well my comp really didn't care if we got one cause she is going home at the end of this transfer so it was all up to me. I asked some members they said they would look around but they didn't find anything. Well my comp jokingly told me to pray about it, so in our next companion prayer I prayed for a couch! haha! She just shook her head at me. Well the very next day we had dinner at a members (they didn't know we wanted a couch)  house and they asked us if we knew anyone who needed a couch?! Umm We do!!! Prayers were answered within 24 hours! :) lol Yup Heavenly Father really does care about the 'silly' things! :) 

 

Jessica is getting baptized this Saturday!!! She had her baptism interview and is all set! We are all excited! 

 

Terry... She is struggling with quitting smoking and her desire/motivation is very little. Well Sister M and I have decided the best way to help her and show her we care about her is by giving something up. We both are going without SUGAR! Yup no sugar and it is over the holidays! Thanksgiving day was g=hard! I really wanted a lemon bar! lol ;) We told her about it on Tuesday and she was touched. The next time we saw her, her motivation was a lot stronger! Woot woot! So little by little she is coming along. 

 

And of course Stephanie, Well last week we saw her 4 times and man she has had a complete turn around from Monday to Sunday! She went from having no hope and being upset to having hope and peace that God will take care of everything! That is the first time in 5 weeks she has said anything like that! Last night we were not planning on seeing her but she texted us asking us to come over and pray with her! Not only did we pray with her but she said the prayer and her boys had been asking about us and wanted us to come over! Also she asked us to read the BOM with her! WAHOO!!! Thank y'all for adding her to your prayers! Hopefully it is a continual upward and onward climb!   :)

 

Yesterday was just a good day! We had many miracles, but another one was when we went to meet this part member family. They've been on our list of peeps to see but we've never had time or something else came up, so meeting the Haucks happened at just the right time! They are a young family and she is the member. Her husband wasn't home, so we got to know her. She is super cute and very friendly! She is from Oklahoma and her father is dying from cancer... he lives in Lindsey OK and is pretty active. She told us that she feels like it is time for her to come back to church. She said she knows Heavenly Father sent us now cause being surrounded by a church family will help her at this time. They just moved here in March. She is leaving this week to say goodbye to her father. She is gonna be ok, I can just feel it. :) 

 

Welp it is December! I can't believe how fast this year went! Keep looking for missionary opportunities! Or better yet! Pray to have them! Love y'all! xoxoxo

 

~ Sister Willie

 South Carolina pride!

 

 The ZL's & STL's... L is for leader.... ;)

 

With Sharon after getting stuffed!

Alchemist, Missionetts, Ice storms, ZTM and One Year mark!

Tara is in the middle of no where now, so she asks that you send any letters or anything to her mission home address which is:

400 Northside Crossing
Macon, GA 31210

Holla! 

This past week was an interesting one! The week went by fast, but the days seemed forever long! I hit my year mark last week... crazy! So of course I had to burn a skirt! (it was a pretty ugly one too!) lol! :) 

We had ZTM (zone training meeting) on Thursday. My companion and I gave two training's since we are the STL's. I have realized that I really enjoy teaching large groups of people, but i don't like giving talks cause no one talks back! lol We re-vamped the zone to be better at updating their area books and to have successful exchanges. When we update the area book it shows our love for our investigators! We had a few role plays that the ZL's were in charge of. We had one Elder teach us about the role of chay-chay.... ya none of use have every heard that before either... it was kinda awkward to be honest. lol 

 After ZTM we went on exchanges! Sister Ellison was with me in NA. I just love her! She was my STL back in the Macon zone and we have become really good friends! Together we taught two really amazing lessons! We saw Jessica and taught her the Plan of Salvation using a puzzle! She was more involved and is super excited for her baptism! She chose December 6th! (I told her she could always do it the day before since thats my B-day. lol ;)) Then we saw Cheryl! We introduced the BOM to her and explained more about the role of the Holy Ghost. She  told us that she believes there can be more scripture out there and she is excited to read the BOM!!! She is the first person I have met on my mission that has said (at lease out loud) that they believe there can be more scripture besides the Bible! I almost fell off the couch when she said that! lol! She is so ready for this gospel! 

We visit this sweet older/part-member couple, the Polshas! Bro P. is very sarcastic, but sweet. He calls us the mission-etts since we are girls. lol I have never heard that one before. Sometimes we are called lady-missionaries or the sister-elders or even the missionaries and the Elder are just the Elders. haha :) But anyways, while we were there he kept looking out the window and getting distracted by something. Finally he stands up goes outside on the back deck and takes a gun with him. He starts shooting at the squirrels!!! HAHAHA!!! It was a funny site to behold since he just had surgery a week ago and was in him pajamas. His wife had been a member for over 30 years! And they have been married for 54 years! He is a stubborn man but he fully supports his wife in the gospel. I wonder what is holding him back? It takes a lot for him to open up about religion. 

We had a miracle last night! We stopped by to see Stephanie and she was super happy! That is not her normal since she is going through a divorce and messy custody battle. But she is starting to get hope! She is reading the BOM and is looking on the bright side. We committed her to have daily family prayer and scripture reading. We started right then! She called her two sons downstairs and we had a prayer with all of them! It changed the feeling in their house and the boys even noticed! Also a member invited Stephanie (on her own accord) to go with her tonight to watch "Meet the Mormons" since it is in Augusta for 5 days! woot! She is pretty excited! :)

Well I hear y'all are getting lots of snow! Thats pretty awesome! Its been getting really cold here too! But its just ice storms... we just have to be careful about where we park our car at our trailer since last winter a tree fell on the car! We live in the middle of the woods! Hope y'all are doing great! I love ya! Joshua 1:9 is one of my favorite scriptures! xoxoxo

~ Sister Willie

One Year mark! w/ Sis Porter & Elder Porchatis. We were in the MTC together! 

w/ all the sisters in my zone! 

Burning that skirt!!

Gypsies in SC... what the?

Hey y'all!

This last week we spent a good amount of it driving. We had MLC in Macon, a 3 hour drive, 6 hour meeting and then anther 3 hour drive. MLC was AWESOME!!! We helped establish (written down) what our mission culture is. "We are Macon Miracles by... Loving One Another, Being Obedient and Working Hard." That was super neat being part of that. It is also cool seeing the "behind the scene" of stuff. Mostly what we learned about was how to teach and train other missionaries. It was fun spending more time with President and Sister Cottle, plus seeing a lot of mission buddies! 

We are working on getting two town: Edgefield and Johnston, that are way out in the boonies full of investigators so eventually missionaries will be placed out there. Its hard work, but I am really enjoying it! I like being out in the smaller towns and just knocking doors. People are a bit more receptive in smaller towns from my own experience. Plus the scenery is beautiful! 

We just started teaching Jessica. She is a cute 9 year old that comes from a semi-active family. She was/is terrified of having lots of people watch her while she gets baptized. So her family put it off and now we get to teach her! She wants to be baptized, we are just helping her get over her fear as we teach her. But she participated yesterday in the primary program. We were very proud of her! 

Miracle happen last week! It was 8:30 and we had no idea who to see. We happen to have a old media referral so we went over and this lady open the door and told us now is not a good time. We weren't pushy, we just told her we had a bible for her. She open the door and told us to come in. We started talking with her. Cheryl is a widow and drives ambulances for a living.  She is pretty active in her baptist church but she is sorta interested in learning more. We talked about the restoration and what she has heard about our church. She doesn't believe that God or Jesus have bodies of flesh and that men can have the priesthood power. I really liked talking with her. She is searching and is SO ready to learn more! At the end of our lesson I wasn't to sure if she would be willing to have us back, but I knew we needed to come back! We asked her and she said she would love having us back! She even told us her schedule so we would never miss her! woot woot! I am excited! NA is getting on fire!!! :) 

Now if you think that gypsies live in wagons and are part of circus you are wrong! At lease thats not the gypsies in NA. There are about 4000 of them and they... well lets just say they know how to work the system. They all are catholic and live in a certain part of NA. They all build BIG houses, but have little houses behind them that they live in for the first year or two so all of the "bad" spirits leave the house. Its pretty cool to be honest! And you can recognize them when you are out shopping or something.  They all look a like and wear a lot of make up. We are not allowed to knock their streets... IDK but its President's rule. But if they request us to visit, then we can go over! I really want to teach one... almost as much as I want to baptize someone named Willie!!! lol :) 

I love y'all so much! Keep focusing on everyone's positives, uplift others and help those in need! XOXOXO 

~ Sister Willie

 Fall time in a peach orchard! 

We are pretty pro at washing the car in our skirts! lol 

Back in South Carolina!! :)

Welp Fam and Friends I am back in South Carolina, I didn't see this coming at all. I am serving farther up north than last time. I am in North Augusta with Sister MacDuff. She goes home after this transfer.... I really don't like killing peeps off, but she isn't truncky so thats awesome! She is from West Valley Utah, a few streets away from Keri and Matt. She says she is in a different stake tho. And we both went to USU! We even had a class together... but there was 500 students in it. We really live in a small world. lol.

Leaving Cochran as to have been the hardest thing I've done! I bawled! I feel like I left my heart there... I need it back so I can truly love NA too! Its tricky business, but I know that I will come to love this place! This area is pretty populated compared to my last two areas, but has the smallest ward out of all 3 of them. So there is a lot of work to be done here! I am excited to be here tho! It feels like BIG things are gonna happen! Sister MacDuff and I have a few themes for our transfer: #NAonFire #17miracles #SistersonFire Yup we have entered the hash-tag stage! lol :) 

We have been working with this Italian lady, Stephanie. She is going through a very messy divorce right now and has a lot of anger and resentment towards many people. We have listen to her vent and talked with her about repentance. She is very willing to listen, but when she starts feeling the spirit you can tell she feels uncomfortable. :(  I know the gospel will help her and it truly will change her life for the better. Its gonna be a long process, first she needs to have sorrow for her actions. Its been hard trying to know how best to help Stephanie out and know exactly what she needs. We are only two single girls who have never dealt with something like this at all! It is so amazing having the spirit tell us what she needs, because Heavenly Father knows what she needs. He loves us all very much and knows us so personally. It is so beautiful to be able to help some one realize this. I just love being a missionary!!! 

This past week we have been getting to know the area and work on maps and meeting members. The last sister didn't leave behind any good records so its been a struggle but it has helped Sister MacDuff and I bond a lot faster. :) We also have been setting exchanges up with the Sisters in the zone! I am way excited to be a STL! This is a great zone! 

Y'all should know that NA is like 10 degrees colder than Cochran! I have no idea how that works, but I've been freezing! Every morning its been 30 to 40 degrees and during the day it hasn't gotten above 70! Haha! I think Heavenly Father has a sense of humor, I wanted a cooler area during the summer and a warmer area during the winter. lol! Yesterday they had a record! It SNOWED!!!! Yup I am being honest! Apparently this is gonna be a very cold and strange winter here! 

Hope y'all are just doing fabulous?!! I found a new favorite scripture! 2 Nephi 9:49.... delighted = desire! It truly is our desire if we want to be righteous and follow our Savior! So beautiful!!! :) 

~ Sister Willie

 Sister Schmidt and I with our new comps! (Sis Smith & Sis MacDuff)

Driving to NA we stopped at a cotton field! (Me, S. MacDuff, S. Call & S. Porter)

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! :)

"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!!!

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. :)