The Last Ahoj!

Let's just get this out of the way: I have no idea how to start this email. So I'll just jump right into it.

Elder Osterloh and I had another good week. This transfer has just been kind of a breeze. We've been working hard and enjoying ourselves. It's kind of disappointing that I have to go home just as things feel good and natural. It really doesn't feel like this is the last email you will all get from me from Slovakia. But it is! AHH! Elder O and I are pushing for a miracle week. It is the last week for both of us in Slovakia (he has to go back to the Czech Republic) and we are determined to make the most of it. We both love these people so much. From the people we meet on the streets to our insane English class and down to every member here. They all have their quirks and I adore them all SO much because of them. They have left an indelible impression on me and I hope I can internalize and remember the lessons they've taught me forever.
This last week I had another visit to the foreign police. I don't know if I mentioned it in my last email, but Elder Bacon and Nichol had quite the adventure trying to leave the country; they were thrown in a holding cell, missed their flights and was banned from Europe for a year. We don't want that same experience for me so our attorney here has been working hard getting applications and everything for me to renew my visa properly. She was going nuts because she was sure they were 2 year visas. Turns out our visas were good for 2 years after all! It was just the sticker in our passport that expired at the end of 2011. So I got an official paper saying that my visa is still good and everything is just fine so I won't have trouble traveling home.
Church yesterday was great as well. I gave my last Slovak talk. Hallelujah. I hate speaking in church in Slovak. Everyone just listens and picks up on every mistake--at least that's what I imagine. Turns out everyone was surprised I was leaving already. They were surprised I stayed behind when Elder Bacon and Nichol left ("I thought it was about time for you to leave already!") and then they were surprised again when they learned I was actually leaving next week. ("Already?!")

It really hasn't sunk in that I am leaving these people.

This whole experience of a mission is impossible for me to articulate on a keyboard within an hour. It's been hard enough to describe week by week. I will be eternally grateful for the decision I made to go on a mission. I'm grateful for bishoprics who worked with me and helped me prepare to serve. I'll never forget the army of youth leaders who never gave up on me, even though I desperately wanted them to at times. I feel like I had a hand in helping some of God's children come to know Him better. To feel like they are loved and appreciated and that He has sent his restored gospel to save them. But like all service, I've come away with so much more than what I could have possibly given. I love these Slovak people, their culture and even their impossible language. I'm walking away from this incredible country with a sure knowledge that God still works with us and really wants us to be happy. He lives, isn't that great?!?

Look out for some more quick updates on my Eurotrip. I'm not really thinking about it too much. Members get a little annoyed when I tell them I'm not sure where I'm going or for how long-- so thanks for the itinerary Dad. Jana and Dagmar want to meet up for lunch in Blava when we go through.

Thanks for the emails Sister and Elder Williams! Glad to hear things are going well and that you are HAPPY!! That is always most important.

Love you all and talk to you soooon!

Elder A. Williams

September 3, 2012

Is It Labor Day?

Message flagged

Monday, September 3, 2012 8:10 AM

Cau Cau,

Hope you all are doing fine this fabulous Labor Day. (We ran into an American today who let us know that today is Labor Day-- otherwise I had completely forgotten)

This past week was kind of a whirlwind. On Monday we had a fantastic day. We taught two new investigators and taught our recent convert. The meetings were SO good and the people were SO sweet. Investigators have been coming up out of the woodwork for us. Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty normal, (English class was a hoot as it always is with a rousing game of Bunko) but Thursday was awful. We taught a lot but some of our investigators just kind of turned on us. Just one crazy lesson after another. We have the weirdest teaching pool. Half of them are miracles that will grow the branch, and then the other half are seriously crazy. (I really need to update my journal....) But then on Friday we had another miracle day. We contacted this young girl, like 17 years old (Slovaks look older then they really are) We invited her to take a tour of our building (BIG hit lately). She was kind of scared-- thinking we would kill her (*Note: usually I would say NEVER go alone into a building with 2 foreign dudes, but we're missionaries, so it's a little different, right? right.....) She agreed to go up with us for a couple minutes and we gave a quick tour and set up a meeting for the next day saying we would invite one of our members who is a girl and a recent convert, blah blah blah. We planned to introduce the restoration but we mostly wanted them to become best friends. So we dedicated some time for them to have "girl talk" (Missionary work is hard, you taking notes Logan?) Our member is a little late so we are doing our best at small talk. When our member walks in she drops her bag, the investigator screams, they both jump around and hug each other. We were SO confused. Turns out they were already bffs from grade school. They went into girl talk straight away- but only lasted about 2 minutes as their Slovak went from a normal speed to a speed I have never heard before. So that was easy.

After that meeting we run into P, another 17 yr old kid. A boy this time so less "scary." He readily agreed to take a look at the building. After a tour we sit down with him (We can give tours to girls, but we have to stay on our feet without another man in the building). He was way cool and so open to hearing the message and starting the Book of Mormon. So we are starting this week with some more normal kingdom building investigators! 

Hope everything is perfect for you all!

I love and miss you! 

Elder A. Williams

2 Year Mark

Hello family, friends and other blog buddies!

Hope everyone is doing well! We had another great week. The weather has been warm-- but last night got really cold and I was able to sleep! Yesterday at church we had 4 visitors-well, not really visitors, but 2 American couples that just moved to Bratislava and will be living here for 8 months! Wahoo! So we got some more help for the branch for a least a little bit. The two guys are playing volleyball for the Bratislava team and their wives are bored here so we are going to try to take them out on teaching appointments. Will be great! Now we just need to find English speaking investigators....

My companion and I are doing well, I really do love Elder Osterloh. We are having a good time with each other. I couldn't have asked for a better companion. The last couple of companions I've had have been perfect. I wish I had been able to recognize the quality of the missionaries I served around sooner. I'm trying to be a better than I am for Elder Osterloh. Don't know what I would do without him.

Last week we had a specialized training, my last as a missionary, so I bore a "closing testimony." A tradition here for departing Elders and Sisters. It was a weird experience. Almost felt anti-climatic. I still have testimonies to share people! But it is a mile stone as a missionary I guess. Saturday was my 2 year mark. We celebrated by contacting all day after weekly planning... fun. :) But today we are hitting up the all you can eat Chinese place in town. My favorite. :)) 

Thank you for the email Joe! I will tell everyone hello from you. Elder MacNeish and Meredith are in the Czech Republic so I prob won't be seeing them. :( But I'll relay the message.

Not a lot of time today, so I will talk to you all next week!

Elder A Williams

A Car Ride

Hello everyone!
Hope all is well. Thanks for the emails and updates. I'm so excited for Logan to actually get to Boston. Will be exciting!
This was a pretty normal week. I did have an exchange in Brno- a nice little switch-up. I drove with a Brno Zone Leader so that was definitely the highlight of the week. Do you know when the last car ride was for me??
Elder Osterloh and I are doing great! He really is a great companion and I'm grateful to serve with him. I'm trying to be a good companion for him-- but I'm really difficult sometimes ;)
Our investigators have been doing really well actually. We've had some breakthrough lessons where they "get it" now. That is the hardest part. Getting a person to that realization. Until a person realizes how important the gospel is if it's true they have to find the answer themselves. It's hard because I'm convinced there ain't nothing we can do or say that can convince a person, or change a persons mind. We just have to invite the spirit and allow it to work the person's heart. I love the people we're teaching right now. They are all really special to me and I really hope they keep hold to that desire and keep reading the Book of Mormon and keep asking God if it's true. Then everything else will fall into place for them.
Tomorrow we head out to Brno for a Zone Conference. If I wanted to be trunky I would let you know that it will be my last. (But I'm far from "trunky" :) ) It's weird-- because on Saturday I hit my 2 year mark and I still have a month to go. But I'm excited for the next couple weeks. I'm SO glad I decided to stay just a little longer.
Love you all! Hear from you soon!

-Elder A. Williams

13 Augusta 2012
Service

Can I just mention how much I can't wait to be able to write you all without having an hour on the clock??
With the "going home comment" out of the way I can say that we have had a pretty good week. Saturday we had another service project where we picked up trash along the canal. Went pretty well. A TON of trash. I'm sure you'll see some pictures on the internet soon. (By the way-- I apologize for NEVER sending pictures) I just never use my camera... Logan- you can do better at that.

Yesterday Elder Bacon and Nichol had their last talk in church. I secretly cannot wait until they leave. It's been hard focusing with them around. They hop on the train to Prague tomorrow morning and it will be much easier to live in denial that I will be released in a few short weeks. 

We've seen some more cool things with our investigators, one of them is doing extremely well and finally came to church! There was a visitor who asked him how long he had been a member, the visitor was visibly surprised when he heard that it is was his first time at church-- thought he was already a member! He had such a good time. It just feels good as a missionary to have an investigator at church. :)


So Elder Osterloh and I had this really cool investigator who was just excited about everything we were teaching him. We were SO stoked for our meetings. He accepted a date and everything the very first lesson. But then he never responded to our messages/calls. We were so confused and little torn up. Elder Osterloh ran into him on exchanges and set a tentative meeting up for yesterday-- he seemed excited to see Elder O and for meeting with us. Over the weekend we had the same problem with reaching him. Then Sunday evening comes around and we find his name in the phone again under a different contact. The number is exactly the same, only it has the area code in the number-- so we try it and he answers in the first two rings! After we hang up we tried the other name we had for him and we got the same result from before-- a dead line. We COULD have contacted him this entire time under this other contact! We were just thankful for the breakthrough that we had finding his actual number. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

I'm excited for the 2nd half of this transfer. There will be some exciting thing happening soon, I'm sure. :) We are going to start doing "power exchanges" where we go out with a different companionship in the city once a week for an hour for some intense finding. Should be good!

Love you! Miss you, see you soon!


Elder A. Williams    

 August 6, 2012
Baptism Anniversary
Hello everyone
I woke up this morning unable to believe that it was August 6-- again. A year ago today Marek and Ivet were baptized! It was really nice to remember that day during my studies and I couldn't believe that they have been active members of the church for a year already. Time really does fly and in a couple weeks will be Lenka's anniversary too. I have a feeling that these dates will forever be imprinted in my mind. :) I was in a little bit of a slump-- but remembering what this is all about has helped me put things in perspective. And in 2 weeks we'll have another baptism! This work seems a little insane at times. We see so little obvious success that any normal person would feel like quitting. But instead it refines us into better people who are more equipped to serve. Instead of feeling like this is useless I started seeing success in other areas. That is what the Gospel of Christ does to us though, right? It transforms us and, as one that needs a TON of improvement, I am grateful for that. This week my area hit standards for the first time. I have NEVER hit standards before. (Standards are mission-wide goals for our "key indicators" things like # of lessons taught, # of investigators, etc). Our investigators are progressing and coming to church and are loving the gospel. Elder Osterloh and I found one woman last week and he had a lesson with her whilst on exchanges so I wasn't there. But she was really excited to come to church and both her AND her husband came. They had a son who drowned at 19 so she had a lot of concerns about post-mortality. It was fast and testimony meeting and BAM! first testimony was all about the plan of salvation and forever families. She LOVED church and the atmosphere and wanted to bear her own testimony but we ran out of time. (NEVER happens) It was such a good Sunday and I am really excited to start teaching her and her husband this week. Elder Osterloh and I are having some great experiences together and I'm looking forward to the next couple weeks as our people start meeting with us more. Glad to hear Logan made it to the MTC ok. Gooooood luck with the food. It got old for me real fast. You're lucky you're there for only 3 weeks.... It's gotta be weird at home with just Aaron and Mom and dog. (Let's face it, Dad pretty much lives at the airport) What am I going to do??

Love you all!!
Elder A. Williams (<--- the "A" is there so we don't got confused with the other Elder Williams!) :)

The Slovak Front

  July 29, 2010

Hi!

Thanks for the emails this week! (I missed you all last week...) And
the letters, Family, I got your card the other day, and Julie, I got
your letter/pictures. Thanks!

This past week was a good one. Elder Osterloh have been able to find
some cool investigators this past week-- we were just shy of our goal-
but we've been pretty good. We have a goal of getting 3 new
investigators every single week of the transfer-- which would do
wonders for this area. At first I was a little peeved that I got sent
to such a slow area-- but it'll give me some more opportunities to
work as hard as I can to the end.
On Friday we had Specialized Training in Brno and among a lot of
things we talked about our studies and how we can improve. It was
definitely inspired because that has something that has just died for
me this transfer. I used to love my personal studies, but very
recently I can't get into them. At the end of last transfer I finally
finished all of the standard works and the missionary library, so I
think that had something to do about it. But now I have some new found
motivation to get some more things out of my personal study. :) I hope
that is something that will stick for me post mission; personal
scripture study. The scriptures are really full of stuff that we need
in day-to-day life.

Glad to hear things are good at home. It'll be an exciting week,
that's for sure! I'll be thinking of you Logan Tueday night! (Well,
early early Wednesday morning for me) I'm kind of bummed I miss yet
ANOTHER setting apart of one of my siblings. But oh well. Aaron will
get a lot of attention... per usual.

Reasons why Logan will be a great missionary:
-He is a Williams
-He has excellent examples of missionary siblings ;)
-He works hard
-He likes (and knows how) to have fun
-He knows who he is and he is confident around others. He has a clear
place in his peer group and is fearless with them. He doesn't let the
teases or the taunts of an older sibling stop what he wants to do. He
goes out and does it. I've always been impressed with how consistent
he is. Growing up he lived for scouts and would insist on setting the
timer for when it was time to go (often times it was set to go off in
2 or 3 hours). It used to annoy me SO much because Scouts was, and
continues to be, the bane of my entire existence. But Logan never
allowed himself to be influenced and kept doing what he enjoyed. (even
though it was something as dumb as scouting <-- my own opinion :) And
that's how he has always been. Doing what is right because he wants
to.
He is going to see a ton of miracles if he keeps that up. The
opportunity to serve like a full-time missionary comes once and I'm
confident Logan will make the most of it!

I love you all! Hear from you all soon!

Elder Williams

July 19 2012

Another Transfer!!!

Hey everyone!
I am way short on time this week-- I'm sorry about that. But I am
alive and happy in Bratislava still. :) I am serving with Elder
Osterloh who has been serving in the Czech Republic for the past year.
I'm pumped for a new transfer and excited that it's my last. (A good
kind of excited. Not a OMG-I-just-want-to-go-home but a
OMG-I-can't-believe-it's-already-here) I'm not going to get "trunky"
so don't worry about that. (that being said, I have been craving Taco
Bell a lot more frequently...)
Our investigator will be getting baptized on Saturday! We are all so
excited about it! It's been a long time coming, but he is so prepared
and excited for it! I just love it. I love being around people who are
coming to know that these things are true and are getting EXCITED
about it!

I'm in a very large district this transfer:
First is our fearless District Leader Elder Osterloh and I together. Elder O is from Utah
then Elder Robison (my boy :) and Elder Nichol who are
training Elder Marriot together. Elder Marriott is from CA 
My old companion Elder Clem and Elder Bacon are
together (again) training Elder Hammond, a cowboy from Logan, UT.
With the Senior couple we are quite the group! Some really new missionaries and some really old ones. Love it. But Elders Nichol and Bacon are leaving in 4 weeks for school so we'll become a normal Bratislava district soon.

Everything is good. Hope things are good with you all! Glad to here
the CA trip was fun. Happy Birthday Grandpa! Sorry I missed out.
Buuuut I will see you all soon. :)

Love you,
Elder Williams

July 9, 2012

Hey everyone!
Another week has flown by for me in Bratislava. All of them seem to
mesh together now. Nothing too exciting to report. It's been hot, but
it rained all night and was drizzly this morning so we have some
relief. It'll get hot again... The heat here isn't quite as bad as
Phoenix (though the humidity kills) but the lack of AC is what gets
you. You truly can't escape it. We happen to have AC in the chapel
of the branch building so sometimes we'll run in there and just
sit for a little bit during the day. We just live with the fan on day
and night.
On Saturday we did a service project with the Ostergaards picking up
trash around the city. My trash bag was 90% cigarette butts. The street
we went down and the park we went to to looks a lot better now. It
felt good to do something a little different and to see some physical
results of my service. We did some good in the world and had fun doing
it! :)
Hope everything is going well for you all back home. Transfer calls
are coming next Monday so I will email you all next Wednesday. Isn't
it amazing how fast this transfer went?? It's my last transfer and I'm
already anxious about it. I'm looking forward to not having to worry
about the "transfer call" anymore... Hear from you soon!

Elder Williams

Fried food night

Cau cau,

Hope everyone is happy and enjoying their summer! Elder Clem and I,
per usual, are having a blast and working very hard! We have seen
amazing results this week-- 3 of our investigators are on track for
baptism and I have taught more this week then ever before. I feel like
the worst Slovak speaker as a result-- I'm using it a lot more now lately, so that's
good. We never improve if we don't practice-- right?? We are very
thankful for the success the Lord has given us seeing as we were
walking into this week with pretty much nothing concrete on plan.
Today we are planning on working out with one of the other Elders'
amazing investigator. A woman who just walked into church a couple
weeks ago who was dying to know everything. She's getting baptized
this Saturday and is SO excited for it. The whole branch is really
pumped for her too. She is a personal trainer and owns her own studio
so she is going to beat up all the missionaries today. We're excited.
Do you know when the last workout was for me??
I'm grateful to be in Bratislava and seeing that there really are
people here who are looking for, and recognize, the truth. Sometimes
you find someone who is already radiating with light and as they learn
about the gospel, as they start learning and living the commandments
they start to shine even brighter. They are happier than they thought they
were before. It's amazing to see and is humbling and exciting to
witness first hand.
Other than real missionary work, something Elder Clem and I have been
experimenting in the kitchen and we've come up with fried food night.
On Wednesday we fried all sorts of stuff: peppers and cream cheese,
mushrooms, sausages, byndza (how jealous are you Joe?), onions,
cheese, etc. It was quite the feast and we went to bed absolutely sick
(pictures coming soon). We can't wait to do it again. :) Right now we are
trying to perfect biscuits. My dream is biscuits and gravy. Uvidime.
I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week! Don't be
afraid to write me! ;)

Elder Williams

Hot in Blava

Hellooooo everyone!

It is getting hot in Bratislava. Today was pushing 32 degrees
(Celsius, I'm in Europe, remember??) Which is better than the
impossible winter, but still. It is better for finding, but harder during
studies. I miss studying with a hot mug of caj....

As far as new things, nothing much to report. (weekly updates make it
hard to come up with something new) The work in Slovakia is still
taking off-- especially in member lessons. We hit 50 as a country-not
sure if that ever happened before- so that's exciting. Elder Clem and
I are still plunking away and working hard. We have an exciting day on
the plan with some lessons with some new people/ people we're trying
to get progressing. Our baptismal date dropped off the face of the
Earth-- again. So we'll see about that...

On Friday we had Zone Conference that was fantastic! I love when we
get together. It was with half the mission in Brno. I'm crossing my
fingers that we have another one next transfer. I always hear what I
need to hear and I am reminded of what I need to do.

Sunday was a busy day for us. We had Branch Conference so it was a
packed house. President and Sister Irwin were there as well as some
other leaders from the District. My companion and I had nursery duty
for some of the Czech kids that came. Nursery kids are very
uncooperative-- especially when they speak Czech and we speak Slovak. We just
drew pictures on the black board and then their mom sang songs to them
in Czech. After church we jetted off to Nitra where we hold church for
about 5 members once a month. It was a different experience and I'm
already looking forward to next month. On the way there I left
my scriptures at a bus stop. :(  That is the third set of scriptures I've
misplaced. I think I'm just going to wait until I go home to get
another set. I still have my blue paperback Book of Mormon-- so that's
good. BUT I had just started the D&C and I wanted to finish it by the
time I go home. Oh well.  I could order another set-- but by the time
they come it will be time for me to go.

I love you all and I hope to hear from you all soon!
Elder Williams

Losing Track of Time

Hey everyone!

It's been another great week for us in Bratislava. Elder Clem and I are having a blast together. We are starting to lose track of time--which is always a good sign. It means you're too wrapped up in what's happening around you to worry about how long it's taken. I had an exchange with Elder Nichol--that was fun. It's amazing to me that we've known each other for nearly 2 years already. Two years is a long time--but it flies by. Elder Clem and I are getting close to breaking some Bratislava district numbers, and that is very exciting. We've been really motivated to go out and just do our best and it's paying off. We are meeting with a lot of interesting people that are progressing nicely. We're just hoping and praying that they continue and start coming to church! That's been a huge challenge for us lately: getting people to church. They can't join the church if they don't go to it. Part of the big mission vision is to get a new building in Bratislava-this one is a little too small for what we want/need, but to get it we need to start getting around 50 people to church every week. We're about 10 people short of that goal, so we're just plugging along trying to invite the in-actives back and finding new members. I love being back here- I wasn't here for very long last year and it's been good to get back and see how much the branch has changed and grown and help it move along. The members here have supported us so much in teaching with us and fellowshipping our investigators. Nothing beats member work :) Emily: did you know that both of our companions are from Florida?! He's from Tampa. Where is yours from? ps if I send in a referral to HQ do you get those?? We have an investigator from Georgia (the country, I'm in Europe you know) who is going to the US to work and then to Holland for school. Logan: I'm so excited for you! So much is happening for you right now! Isn't it exciting?? (I sent you a letter, a response would be nice, but I won't hold my breath...) Aaron: Hi. I hope you all have a great and happy week! Looking forward to talking to you next time!
Elder Williams

ps Mom, I got the picture book from Aunt Patti-- I sent them a letter thanking them. It was perfect! I got it right before I left Zilina.

 pps My address is:
Radarová 8
821 02 Bratislava
Slovakia Now you can all write me letters! :)

June is Busting Out All Over

Hello rodina!
Nothing too much to report this week. Elder Clem and I are doing well.
I'm really sorry for the quality of my emails. It seems that as time
goes on my emails get more boring. I hope I don't get too boring for
you all before I get home...
Elder Clem and I have been working hard and literally running around
trying to meet with as many people as we can. We had just as many meetings
this week then I had my entire last transfer. So it's refreshing. :)
One of our investigators is an older woman who is in the hospital and
we've been trying to meet with her throughout the week. We planned to
go out there on Saturday with the Ostergaards (the AMAZING senior
couple here). We took the bus, obvi, and when it came time to do a bus
transfer Elder Clem got off and then the doors shut and the bus took
off. All I saw was my companion waving us off. It was quite the ordeal
getting back together, Elder Clem waited for us to just get on the
next bus back to that stop--but that particular bus only goes in one
direction, and we were already at the end of the line.  (Sometimes I
wish we had separate phones like we did in Zilina) So the Ostergaards
and I went on some other buses trying to get back to Elder Clem (It
was great bonding time, I adore them both)  and when we FINALLY got
there maybe 45 min later he was gone! So Elder Ostergaard went ahead
to see if he went on to the next stop or the church building and
Sister Ostergaard and I went to the hospital. With prayers in our
hearts we opened the hospital room door and there he was chatting with
our investigator! He had waited a long time and figured that we went
on to the hospital. He was there for maybe 10 minutes when we walked
in. We agreed never to separate again. I really do love the guy.
We also went to Nitra this past week to visit with some members. Its a
beautiful city about an hour outside of Bratislava. There used to be
missionaries there and we're trying to start a branch-- but the
members are few and not terribly thrilled at the thought of callings
and running everything-- so maybe that will have to wait. But my
companion and I have to go down once a month and have a little
sacrament meeting/sunday school. It will be fun and I'm looking
forward to being there more.
Nothing much more to report-- thanks again grandma for the package, my
companion and I polished off those oreos no problem ;)
This is going to be an exciting week for sure-- nothing too much on
the plan, yet. We have a baptismal date that we are trying to get
solid and we know he will get there. In our district we have about 6
people planned for baptism on June 30! It's going to be a huge day! We
got lots of work ahead of us :)
Love you all!

Elder Williams