Remodeling!

I can't believe that tomorrow is MAY! Whoa....  Thank you all SO much for the birthday wishes/cards. I added another "Hoops and Yoyo" card to my collection--those things crack me up.  Thank you family!

On my birthday I went to Mikulas where we taught our investigator who has a baptismal date (What more could a missionary ask for?) and on the way there Sister Bohne from the office called and her and her husband sang happy birthday and then told me that Logan got his call to the Boston, MA Mission!! WHOA!!!! I am SO excited for you Logan! I have so many questions that you will need to answer for me. I'll be shooting you a letter soon, neboj sa. It felt like Sister Bohne had just called me about Emily's mission call.

Logan's call was definitely the highlight of my week. I will be looking forward to Monday emails with two missionary updates. I'm grateful for missionary siblings who have been examples to me for a long time. 

Another exciting thing this week is our shower. We have probably the worst bathroom situation in the mission-- it's close with the Kosice West apt-- and it's all getting remodeled this upcoming week! All the new tile and shower supplies are in the center of the living room and we're looking forward to when it gets in order. We have plastic bags all over the walls so that the water doesn't peel off the paint. No more getting hugged by the shower curtain the the plastic bags!  (I'll send some pictures, some before and after. It's actually horrendous) President Irwin was pleased-- he hates our apartment. Only problem is that the shower will be out of order for 10 days. We'll be showering at the other elders apartment... it'll be interesting.   Missions are so much fun Logan!! :) 

Hope everything is good and everyone is happy. It is summer weather outside and I am loving it.It doesn't get dark until 8:30 or 9:00pm. I love this time of year here in Europe!

Love you all!

Elder Williams

Looking for people

Hello everyone!!
I hope you are all doing well. Things are good in Zilina. Not much,
per usual. But we are happy. :)

Thursday we had a District Meeting with President Irwin, went really
well. I just love that man. I will be forever grateful that I served
under such a mission president.

On Saturday we had a Family History class that the Stiles taught. A
lady from our apartment building came and it went really well. Sister
Stiles has a very good class on how to start looking for people on the
internet. (Takes facebook lurking to a whole new level really.) It
made me kind of homesick for Kosice being around them-- oh well, we
have to move on every once in a while, right??

Its been really hard to find people to teach lately. I'm willing to
talk to literally anyone now. Even to those that are CLEARLY not
interested- just so I can talk to someone. I don't understand really,
why more people aren't interested in what we are talking about. Our
message is actually outrageous: That God and Christ showed themselves
to a boy in upstate New York and called him to be a prophet-a man just
like Moses, or Abraham. That God had prophets in ancient America, just
like he did in ancient Jerusalem. That he has prophets walking the
Earth today. How outrageous is that?? I think it's at least worth
learning a little more about, right? Ale každy má svoj, však? But in
the midst of this lack-of-a-teaching-pool situation my desire to share
has grown and Elder Johnson and I are practicing in comp studies a lot
more. That's good.

Shout outs: I turn 23 on Friday!! I expect some love. And Happy
Birthday to Aaron on the 28!!

Notes:
Mom-- tell me how many eggs you want. I found them- they sell them
year round. The wooden ones are around 2 euros a piece and the ones
made from real eggs are about 3. Not very expensive.

Logan- looking forward to the call that's on the way!! Here are some guesses:
Ja-- Atlanta Mission speaking Creole
Elder Johnson-- Kansas
Elder Sell-- Brazil
Elder Peterson-- Paraguay

Hope you all have a good week! Talk to you soon!

Elder Williams

The Slovak Front April 16, 2012

Hello everyone!
First up, thank you for the letters/ emails. I always appreciate them. :) It's good to hear how things are going.
This has been a pretty good week-- all around the mission things are happening and we're moving forward and it's exciting to watch. In my particular area it's been a little harder to get the fire going. But we're working hard and working smart and amidst it all we're happy. God doesn't expect us to only have success, he's the giver of it anyway- instead he just wants us to do our best and not be idle. And that is what I am trying to do. Do my best. :) As a country we have about 20 people on date for baptism- which is absolutely amazing. The country baptized 7 people my first year here. We have one investigator on plan that we are really excited about-- she has a lot of things to work through and lives pretty far- but she has a firm testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. When we know that, ain't nothing standing in the way. So I'm confident she'll make it. Send me some good vibes!   She is extremely anxious for Uncle Randy and asks about him constantly. She's amazed at the faith he has -especially in the priesthood blessings he's received.  We're pulling for you Uncle Randy! :)
I don't have much else to report, just a thank you in advance to Grandma Marilyn for the upcoming birthday package! You all know you don't have to send me anything, right? Just spoil me when I get home. ;) But I do love presents.
I forgot to mention something from a couple weeks ago. I got a call from my favorite AP, Elder Nichol and apparently when was introducing himself to some members in Prague this woman came up to him and said, "I know who you are. You served in Bratislava with Elder Williams" He was surprised and asked how she knew that. She introduced herself as MARY! You remember the secret postcard and birthday card I got from a random person??-- turns out she is a member in Prague! She found my blog when she was living in London and was really lonely-- but felt better reading after my letters home. That mystery has finally been solved. I feel like we helped each other. Her cards made me feel like I wasn't alone either and that I there were people hoping and praying for my success. So thanks again Mary!

Shoutouts!!:
Happy Anniversary Justin and Stephanie Morris! Is it the 2nd one already? I've lost track of time... And happy 23rd to Katie Watkins tomorrow! Whoa, you're old.

Love you and think of you all!
Elder Williams

Happy Easter!

Hey all!

So sorry for the late email. Everything was closed yesterday for the holidays so we had to wait to email today. I am doing well. Happy and healthy and grateful. :)

The Easter holiday is a big one here in Slovakia. It's celebrated by the men whipping women and splashing water on them. It was explained to me that it is a favor, as it gives them health and beauty. "You should do it in America if you want beautiful women there too!" Something tells me, at least from the women I know, that they wouldn't appreciate it. Yesterday was a "visiting" day. Slovaks literally visit people throughout the day. We visited one of our English students who had other visitors for lunch- then they left to visit some other people. It was a fun time for sure. I just love Slovaks here and it's a fun time when they are all together. Just relaxed and comfortable. It's a culture I can definitely appreciate.

This past weekend was general conference for us. We are a week behind as we have to get it translated first. We got to have an English room for the missionaries so that was nice. It was a fantastic conference and I'm pumped for the next 6 months. Isn't it amazing that we have living prophets and apostles???

Things are slow right now- but we are working through it. G.C was a nice time for me to slow down a little and think about the more important things. I am grateful for the chance I have to lose myself in the work of the Lord. The atonement of Christ is such an amazing thing and takes an eternity to understand. And I am excited that we have an eternity to understand it. The Church of Jesus Christ is such a blessing for us and I'm thankful to have it. I have been thinking about grace a lot lately-- as I feel like I need A LOT of it right about now- I know that it's always there for us at every point of our lives. Not just at the end. We can plead for that power to see us through everything.

I wish I had more than an hour to write to you all and that I had stronger writing skills. :) Know that I love you all and miss you all even more. Thank you for the Easter letters and packages! I forgot I liked jelly beans as much as I do. :p Hope everything is perfect for you all! Praying for you daily!

Elder Williams

Adoj!

This has been a good week-- like every other week really. I just love being a missionary.

Our referral that couldn't wait to see us had to go to the Czech Republic for two weeks- so we will see. But we did meet a couple whose daughter is a member in America- she had called us to tell us to visit her parents and give her father a blessing. Which we did. They are a very nice couple and would be such an insane addition to the branch. There was a very sweet spirit as we gave him a blessing. Priesthood power is real and it is such a blessing that we can have that in our homes. We're hoping to see them again. This weekend is Easter and everything is a little crazy. (Easter is a big deal here) So we will see. The daughter happened to be outside the Conference Center on Temple Square when she called us, so I told her to go to the Beehive House and look for a Sister Williams.

On Friday we had Specialized Training and we got a Zone Leader Training from Elder Romero and an Assistant's training from Elder Nichol. I realize that none of you know who those people are, but it was by far the best Specialized training we've had so far. Then on Saturday Elder Johnson and I were off to Brno for Leadership training for the Brno district. We traveled with some members so we wouldn't have to spend money on a train or spend the night in Brno. (I miss having my own car). I love seeing members here get together for meetings like this. They get so excited about seeing each other. On the way home Sister van Dalen made the comment, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all were in the same branch and meet every Sunday with each other??" That's the vision. It was a fantastic training- I'm getting a lot better at understanding Czech, so I'm actually getting something out of these meetings.

I hope you all are happy and healthy. I'm praying for you all everyday. Hope conference was good (I'm sure it was) we get to watch it this weekend--very excited. I just like it because I get a little break from planning church. :)
Love you,
Elder Williams