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

28 maj 2012

Hello family!
Hope everything is good with you all! Elder Clem and I had a very busy
week-- one of the busiest of my mission I think-- at least in recent
history. We taught as many lessons this week as I did the entire last
transfer. And we will continue to push ourselves and teach more! I'm
looking forward to it. :) I'm sure I mentioned it last week, but we've
heard prayers in like 5 different languages the past couple days-- and
we can add sign language to that list again. Remember that deaf member
in Bratislava? We're meeting with him again-- he pretty much only
turns up when someone knows asl or is willing to communicate with him
by writing.
I absolutely love it here in Bratislava. Elder Clem is a great
companion and I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks with him.
We are having a ton of fun and working hard.
Thank you Grandma for the package and the note! My companion and I
have been enjoying them. :)
Shout out to Logan on the graduation!! WAHOO!! I loved the pictures--
and you should send me that video of you taking a dive! I can't
believe I graduated 5 years ago already- time flies! (Elder Clem was
shocked when I told him that-- he was still in middle school when I
graduated...)

I love you all!!

Elder Williams

ps thanks for the emails and updated addresses-- I will try to get to
you all sooooon!!

 May 21, 2012

Back in Blava

Everyone,

The past couple days have been a complete blur. It's been a trip. I
spent 3 days in Zilina training Elder Bateman as my replacement-- he's
already doing a fantastic job. It was an exhausting couple days of me
just talking and going over everything there is about the branch here.
But E. Bateman is as ready as he can be. It runs itself, really, you
just have to do it once and it all makes sense. He didn't believe me.
And now I'm back in Blava!! I don't know my address yet, sorry. I'll
include it in a future email. I am serving with Elder Clem from Tampa,
FL and I just know that this will be one of the best transfers of my
mission. He has a ton of energy and is ready to work. He was hanging
out with Elder Nichol and Fenn waiting for me to get here and he had
the area ready to go. We got meetings and investigators coming out of
our ears. I lOVE it! Elder Rhodes and Wykoff were here before us and
they found a ton of people. So our job is to keep them progressing
towards baptism. Church yesterday was great and the branch has grown a
lot in the past year. It has matured into a completely different
branch and I am really looking forward to the next two months here and
seeing it continue to grow. I am all excited to be a "regular"
missionary and not worry about anything else but "my people".
In other news, Slovakia placed second in the World Hockey Cup
yesterday and the town is a blaze in celebration. Elder Clem and I
will be inside during the festivities trying to call all of these
people in our phone.  :) I just love missionary work sometimes and its
crazy to think that I DIDN'T think this would be a good thing for me
to do. :)

I love you all and talk to you soooon!!

Elder Williams

Switch-up

Hello family!!

First off it was great to hear from you all on Sunday! Can you believe I have no more phone calls left??

So as you all know, its TRANSFER WEEK! President Irwin has, true to form, shaken things up. My companion, Elder Johnson is staying here and I am serving with Elder Clem..... in Bratislava! (I was really confused about it too) Elder Bateman will be taking over as Branch President here and I will be hanging out with him til Saturday giving him a little crash course on how to run things. He goes in and out of "freak outs". I keep telling him he'll be fine.

I'm really nervous for him.

But he is going to do a fantastic job! It just feels right. He's a 4th transfer missionary and is ready to get to work. This city/branch is ready for a missionary like Elder Bateman and I'm looking forward to what he'll do. I'm just sad I won't be here for it all.

It's been a weird time for me- trying to get everything packed and ready for Elder Bateman. I know how Elder Tomlinson felt I think. Kinda relieved, but at the same time like old garbage. lol      I CANNOT wait to get to Blava with Elder Clem. I've heard a lot about him and I'm looking forward to hit the ground running with him. He's heard some things about me and I'm preparing to prove them all right! (or wrong if they're bad things.... :)

It's been a wild ride here in Zilina. I love this city and these people. I'll think about them often, I know I will. I've learned a lot about myself and what I'm capable of--and a little of what my potential looks like. This upcoming transfer will be one of expanding and unlocking that potential. I'm SO excited to be 100% dedicated to missionary work-- it's what I was sent to do. :)

I love you all. Stay close to the Lord, read your scriptures, say your prayers, and remember, I'll see you soon. :)

Elder Williams

ps Mara, I miss you toooooooo!

Baptisms, new bathroom and a wedding?

I'll explain the title later....

Hello everyone! I hope this week was a good one for you. The excitement came Wednesday when our landlord's brother came over and demolished our shower room (Toilet and shower are in separate rooms. It's brilliant) Everything out. That was fun for us. I learned some new words as they asked for tools. (I've already forgotten them all. When will I use "sandpaper" or wire cutters" again?) I'll attach some before and after pictures next week. We've been going to the other Elders apartment for the past couple days for showers. 

This Friday we will be having 4 baptisms in Zvolen! It's about 2 hours away from Zilina--but they are the newest members of the branch! We're excited for them all. It's been a long time coming for them all and two will be getting married that day as well before hand. I'm still a little confused about who will be performing it... Uvidime. It's been quite exciting for them though. And for me up here. I gotta figure out what new members need from a branch president that lives 2 hours away.. anything?? It's been a learning process for me. I'll let you know how everything works out. :) 

Our baptismal date is doing really well. I'm so excited for her. She's so special and will be such a boost for the branch here. she has a ton of faith and just loves the church and the restored Gospel. She's facing a ton of opposition-- mostly from her husband who changes his mind whether or not she can be baptized. But we are moving forward with faith. We've been praying for him to have a softer heart. I'm certain she will be baptized.  

I have been thinking a lot about missions and the gospel lately. Why me? How do I have the gospel in my life? Why does the Lord see me fit to do the things He asks me to do? I'm grateful that He doesn't look at me as I am right now-- but that He looks at me in terms of who I will become. At what I am capable of- not what I've done in the past. To God it's all about the future. His is an eternal perspective. One that I lack sometimes. But that's why we are here. To learn how to stretch ourselves and become something. 

I love you all and I promise I don't need anything. Looking forward to talking to you about 6 my time!! 

Elder Williams

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