Happy Valentines

I am feeling great. Seeing as this week we celebrate valentine`s day just want to start off by saying I Love you all. Here valentine`s day is el dia del amor y la amistad,( Friendship). So I have just been thinking that Ihave the most supportive incredible and loving group of family and friends in the entire world.

This week was interesting. We had to baptize some people who had lost there....registros...records!!!!! yes that`s the word... um.... and it was cool to be present. I sorta reflected back on what I’ve done in the mission and thought about what I need to do better.

It has been kinda fun to read about how my other missionary friends are going through things that I’ve gone through in the mission.....

any way i sorta wanted to do something different this week...mostly cause we did so much this week i have no clue where to start.... so i figured i would just share an experience from the week that i thought was...special...


Sunday we got to church a little confused. We had gone to pick up F. to go to church. I guess he slept in cause he didn`t come out to meet us.... anyway we were there doing the normal stuff on a Sunday in Church. Singing Hymns, preparing for the sacrament. And when one of the deacons ( H. V. He`s a funny kid. sorta reminds me of one my Little Brothers=) ) passed by with the little piece of Bread that we take sometimes mechanically every week, I started to think and... I really don`t know how to describe what I felt.... it was different this week. Something that made me tear up a bit(which rarely ever happens) and I started thinking about why I`m here. Not just in the mission, but here at all. And it’s all because of a perfect plan and One perfect Being. And I have the great opportunity to represent Him. And Isorta feel sometimes that I’m nowhere near worthy of such a responsibility...but I know that because of Him and His love I am here.

This Valentine`s day I hope that we all can remember the only perfect love that there has ever been.... the Love of Christ for each and every one of us.


I love you all,

Elder Williams

What's new?

Elder Villasboa

he is a great missionary and plays soccer ridiculously well. i haven´t seen anyone who can control the ball so fluidly. He is a newish missionary and he is still getting the hang of mission life and is kinda timid with the people. I´ve come to learn that you can tell who is an experienced missionary by how they act around people they don´t know. Old missionaries (like me) are really open and we talk a lot. New missionaries take a while to gain confidence with people and are really focused on just teaching. Not that that is a bad thing.

ok. 5 people came to church Sunday and they are all progressing to baptism. I figured i would talk about them because they are the most likely to be in parts of my life in the near future.

E. He is incredible! He reads the Book of Mormon, shares the gospel comes to church and he has told other people that he is going to be baptized... the only question is when.

F. Is 62 years old and is a great man. He has a great desire to change and is making decisions in his life to be closer to God. He is one of those people that has had contact with the church for...forever. He just needed a little something to help him have the desire to learn more about it.

Y. She is a great person. Her life is tough seeing as she is 21 and has three kids(oldest 3, youngest 5 months) and her mom and brother live with her. Her brother(Martin) has to have dialysis (kidney stuff...i think its like a blood cleaning) twice a week.

C. Is an older lady who doesn´t quite understand things as well as she should. i think Sadie could understand us faster. why? because she left school in third grade. She´s had a tough life and wants to be closer to God but doesn´t know exactly how. So we are showing(de alguna forma) but can be a challenge to teach her sometimes.

S. Will be baptized in one year. He is great.

In other news, i learned that president has plans of leaving me here in el sol(my ward) for the rest of my mission. of course that can change but i am super excited. why? because i will be able to see things grow here. its going to be great and i know it.

I love you all and hope that all is well. Pray daily and look for the answers in the scriptures...cause they are there.

Elder Ben Williams

In the Zone

Sorry time got away from me.... I just sorta...read everything you sent me and that was fun..... so yeah,sorry in advance.


So um fast.... miracles are happening. I second what Lindsay said about the simple act of opening one´s mouth. We found like 5 people this week who are willing to listen to us. kinda cool.

*I read missionary emails from 5 different missionaries today and every single one of them talked about the miracles of finding people to teach over the past week…more people than any of them had previously come across in any given week in their missions. I just found that very intriguing –Lorene Williams

What else.... OH! right I have a new companion... Elder Villasboa... he reminds me a lot of Elder Grant for some reason. He is fun to be around even though he doesn´t talk too much. He is very direct and very new in the mission(7 months) but that doesn´t mean anything. I always learn a ton from my younger companions... we actually haven´t taken a picture together yet but I will say this: he looks real young.....

on a side note: he says I look like Jim Carey(...the dude in Ace Ventura)

The work is going well. I did sorta got a slap to the face this week... we saw saw the President the other day by chance(digo {or in other words} the will of God) and he told us a lot of things about the Zone. He told us very clearly that our zone has to become the zone that baptizes the most because we have the ability to do so. He also told me that I am a great missionary (cool right?) but he followed that by saying, "you still aren´t an excellent Missionary. Work on that" and that´s what i am doing=) I won´t be saying much about investigators this week . Just know that we need to help a ton of people and that it is only possible with our Heavenly Father´s help, something I learned yet again this week.
I love you all tons, more than argentines love meat (they reallly, really, REALLY...reallly. love meat)

Elder Ben Williams

PS sorry for the lack of pics....

Photog; A day in the life of Elder Williams

First things first....
changes...
Elder Cuevas is leaving me. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! i don`t want him to go cause 1) he`s awesome 2) imma miss him 3) he is chileno!!!!!!
My new companion will be elder Villasboa de Argentina. fun right... still haven`t even met him yet....they changed the way changes(aka transfers work) and now they are on Tuesday. so pictures and info about the new elder next week. anyway that`s fun. oh and did i tell you that there were 6 missionaries in my ward (up until now...) And like 200 members. awesome. doesn`t even touch the 9 missionaries that are in Lindsay’s ward of 60 but whatevs... elder Perkes and Elder Percino are also leaving. they are going to close one of the areas of El Sol which means my new companion and i will be making new area changes soon.... that will be way interesting and kinda tough but doable and exciting really.

Fast before i get into other stuffs.



I. i am pretty sure they moved.

M & M. did i tell you about them before? just know that they are awesome but can`t come to church because monse`s kid gets gravely ill way easy when its cold out and since chuch is at 8 am its tough. bleh.... we just pray that something will work out.

R. working out concerns and progressing.


and now for the most normal day ever in pictures....

Enjoy!

Love Elder Williams

P.S. Love ya`ll more than Steve jobs loves technology

My Neighborhood

He wants to eat me...

don't climb in there #mexicansecurity

Street Art

Daily

Taste of Colombia for lunch

They feed the whole district....THANK YOU!

Doctors orders...ewww.

Forging a river

Dog on roof...still there

Sometimes plans fall through and you take a takis break and regroup.

This is Lupita and she gives us free guajolotes every night.

Guajolotes are turkey sandwiches. Yum!

Short

so um... i did something i haven`t done in a long time....I read every single one of the emails i got before starting this one so um...its gonna be short... but next week imma make up for it with a ton of pictures just like you asked mum=) anyway... quick rundown...
R. didn`t come to church this week.
I. Is currently lost, we can`t find her she is not at her house...
B. speaks only English. Doesn`t want anything else. luckily elder Cuevas and i HAVE THE GIFT OF TOUNGES (oops caps lock) so its not that bad.... he is awesome(elder Cuevas...and beto too)
C. went to church and told us she just wants patience. we are going to have to take it slower than normal with her but at least she goes to church.
M. & M. New this week WOOOHOOO!

cool um we sorta have to go and well.. um... sorry this is a terrible email.

funny story: I hit my head on the ceiling in the house. got bored and decided to jump. Mexican ceilings are really low. and i jump way high (even as overweight as i am) i may have a concussion(just kidding ma don`t freak out)
Yep that is all.
I love you all
Elder Ben Williams

Feliz Dia De Reyes!

Weren`t expecting that were ya? =) Let me explain. the (Mexican) catholic tradition is that the three oriental kings got to the Christ child the 6th of January. so its a day of celebration. and Santa doesn`t come to some houses here, but los Reyes get to the kids who Santa doesn`t. So basically its an excuse to give more gifts! woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I`m not gonna say happy 2014. every day is another day to form our eternity. the new year doesn`t change anything. we are the ones that have to change. and change is a daily thing. if not, its not fun. President told us that we need to wake up in the morning and say "today determines my eternity. What am i going to choose to do?" Boom! So I`m sorta just stealing that and applying it to me, making it mine(which is a key. If the doctrines of the church aren`t OURS first, How on earth can we expect to share with others.) President always says that you can`t share what isn`t yours. So make IT yours. whatever it is.

For me IT is the Salvation of Souls; the message of the Gospel of the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

Anyway, this week was betterish. R. has some things to work out in her personal life in regards to marriage...however, she is doing great and every time we are with her i feel like she is progressing well. Just keep her in your prayers.

I broke one of I.'s cups. That was bad. she was really mad at her husband for some reason and didn`t actually come out to talk to us. We were awkwardly talking to her husband until we figured out it was a bad moment (it only took us like an hour or so... we are way smart right?) There seems to be some relationship challenges and that`s where the gospel comes in.

Yeah that`s the fun stuff that`s happening right now. M. ( an investigator that we haven`t seen in forever) told us that she wants time to figure things out before continuing in the lessons of the Gospel. She was really nice about it and all....which just makes it worst. I would rather have people yell at me and kick me out of their houses than have them tell me nicely that they feel like it "isn`t their time". Its like being stabbed but in slow motion....it hurts. but that is ok. everyone has free agency. I love that about God`s plan. He leaves it to us to decide what we want, even when he knows what is best and constantly tells us what He wants. at the end of the day the choice is ours =)

I love you my Friends and Family and wish the best for you all. I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Ben Williams

Ps i love you more than Messi loves soccer=)

Best. Week. Ever.

Dec 30 2013
this week was like last week...only a little bit better. mostly cause i got to speak to y´all.... but other than that it was sorta tough....Elder Cuevas was sick when you saw him the other day. he was sick for three days so i was there in the house for three days straight. best. week. ever. let´s just say staying with a sick companion is great and not great at the same time. The sick one gets to sleep all day. I CAN¨T SLEEP UNLESS ITS TEN THIRTY AT NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! so i just sorta looked for personal revelation. it was a good time i guess. i learned a ton and i felt like i was a little bit closer to knowing God. Why? because as i learned from a good friend this week the tough times help us grow.
so i decided to ask My Father the first day of my companion´s illness WHY?. and i got an answer. i had to learn some things. so i did =) I listened to john Bytheway and Elder Holland as they explained and helped me see what i needed. i like the whole ask and ye shall receive seek and ye shall find thing... that sounds borderline weird....but anyway its way true. all we have to do is ask with our hearts and He will answer. I know it.
Good news is that elder Cuevas is doing fine =) he is almost 100 percent himself again. but we only worked on Saturday...and we had a ton of success. taught some new people.
C. and B.
They are family too a member and we just barely started teaching them. C. went to church Sunday. They both have a catholic background and have tons of questions about the saints and Christ and tons of other things. But i think its their time.
R.
Girlfriend of a member in our ward. SHE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED:) wantsto get married first.... no biggie. she went to church even though she was sick and is progressing slowly but surely...

cool stuff right...
suggestion. this year make one or two big goals, nada mas. anything more is way too much... and we all know that half of the goals we make are....just....there...they actually never happen. don`t make that kind of goal...
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!
Elder Ben Williams