July 27, 2015 - Work, Work, Work

Hola familia y amigos,

I have to start off with some bad news. starting in August the internet time for the missionaries in Chile Santiago Norte will be cut to one hour. So be patient with my abilities to write you all and also the slow internet we have here in the island.

This week we gave the church a good deep cleaning. A mission representative is scheduled to come in a couple more months, and some of the rooms in the church were disorganized, so we dedicated two mornings to cleaning it up. It was kind of fun to see what was hidden away. We found a newspaper clipping from the church newspaper of when Elder Holland visited the island, and we saw a couple familiar faces in the foto. 

We were working a lot this week with the activity we have coming up in two weeks. It is an activity about family history so we are trying to get the members to invite their friends.

Also, Elder S got a call on Thursday from one of the counselors of the mission president calling him as the branch president here on the island. We have a leader now!!!!

Left to right: Elder A, Elder E and Elder S in Orongo

We also spent Friday morning trying to fix our shower. the water doesn't stop coming out so we ended up buying faucets that didn't fit. It still doesn't work right, but we are working on it.

We stopped by to visit T on Friday. He is a recent convert. We sat down with him to set a couple of goals with him. He isn't doing to well in school, so we are helping him understand what his priorities are, so his mom will keep letting him go to church.

We also taught english to M and L. L is one of our investigators, and we had been looking for a way to teach his girlfriend as well. She asked if we could teach her English, so we did, and we taught the gospel afterwords. It's  a good way to meet people here. We teach a lot of English in order to teach the gospel.

Saturday morning we were knocking doors, and I asked elder E where we should go. Elder E is a very good missionary, but sometimes he struggles to know what to do. I asked for his guidance, and he suggested that we knock a certain street, so we went there, and the first door we knocked had a guy that came out and let us in right away. Apparently he had been baptized about 20 years ago, and just had a baby girl. We were able to teach him, and pass the reference to the other missionaries because we found M while he was visiting his mom. well done elder E!

Elder Williams and Elder E on their trip to Orongo

On Sunday we had Elder S sustained as branch president with hno T as first counselor and elder A as second counselor. Elder E was called to be secretary, and I am the pianist now! I have a week to learn the piano. Pray for me!

The island is the most beautiful place in the world, and the best part about being here is that I can enjoy the beauty while I teach the gospel. We get rejected, and then we see a moai or an awesome sunset. It is like God is saying "well that didn't go too well, but remember that there are more important things that I have in store for you" I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I have dedicated my life to Him. I love Him. I am not perfect, but I am trying to get better everyday because that is what He expects of me.

Love,

Elder Williams

July 20, 2015- Baptism

hola familia y amigos!!!!

This week was awesome because it ended with J's baptism!!!

During this week we were knocking a lot of doors and teaching J everything she needed to know before this Saturday, but there are a few things to report before the baptism.

On Wednesday, our land lord, Hanana, wanted to take us to the country part of the island before she took off to the United States on Sunday, so we went with her and showed the island to Elder A we visited the Moai factory and then we went fishing. I caught 3 big ones (picis se llaman) and they were super tasty. We ate them for dinner the next day.

On Thursday we visited J, who is a less active member here on the island. She is into her 70´s and when we visited her she asked if we could come back the next day to do a service project. We came back Friday and raked leaves for her.

On Friday, we ate lunch at B´s house. She is a recent convert that we are reactivating. We ate lunch with her and had to explain about the church´s stance on plural marriage. There is a show that everyone watches here called "Case Closed" and they had a couple that came on, said they were Mormons, and then had a Judge Judy- like battle because the man had 3 wives because supposedly it was a commandment. B was the 5th person that asked us about the show. We had to explain that even though they said they were Mormons they were not and they belonged to a different sect.

On Saturday we had J's baptism. There were a ton of people that came. We invited the whole branch and almost everyone came. There were about 30 people that came. Considering that there are only about 15 people that come to church regularly it was a good turn out. 

J was super happy with how it turned out. She was baptized in Tehai which is right next to big Moai. The day was beautiful and the water was calm. We were all really happy. After the baptism we had a big party at her house and the whole branch came. It was great because it gave us a chance to have the ward members know the rest of her family that aren´t members.

Yesterday we had J's confirmation and we spent the rest of the afternoon knocking doors. We got to have a lesson with A, who is a less active member and we are going to help Alex get back into the swing of things.

It was a great week for us, and we are so happy with J's decision. She really has a strong testimony, and it was made possible through the Book of Mormon. That book changes lives. I invite all of you to study it and really ponder about what it says. It is the proof that God loves all of his children, and that he communicates with them.

Love,

"J" and her family

Elder Williams 

July 13, 2015 - Lluvia

Hola familia y amigos,

I need to start out with a huge shout out to nephew #1 Christopher Rob Williams who was born this week. I was waiting anxiously the whole week to see his photos, and it was worth the wait because he is the cutest baby in the world! Congrats to Evan and Lizzie!

On Monday we said goodbye to Elder M. which was sad because he has really helped the branch here in the Island grow.

On Tuesday we got to do a service project for P and J. We teach english to them, and they asked if we could help them in their garden. We were chopping off dead palm leaves with a meat cleaver (because they didn't have a machete).

On Wednesday the new missionary arrived!!! His name is elder A. He is from Farmington, Utah. He was actually a friend of Elder S in Junior high school, so it´s cool to see them back together again as companions in the mission. Elder A is really awesome and a hard worker, and was really excited when he arrived.

That night, we had a soccer game. I was the goalie again, but I don't think I´ll be playing anymore for what happened. It turns out that while we were playing I rushed up to grab the ball, but in the process one of the other players hit me in the head with his knee, so I actually got knocked out for about 15 seconds. I woke up with everyone standing around me and looking down at me. I didnt remember what happened, so I went to the hospital, but they told me everything was ok!

On Friday we spent the afternoon preparing a powerpoint presentation for a family history activity we are going to do here on the island. We are going to teach the members how to use Family Search and we are going to mix it with a cultural night as well with music and food. Its going to be a lot of fun.

Service project at the cemetery

On Saturday we had a service project in the morning with our land lord. After that we left to teach english to V. Tuesday morning we were studying the scriptures and we see that there was a woman who came up the stares to our porch. Elder S answered the door and she told him that she was looking for the Mormon missionaries so they could teach her English. She was pretty concerned about learning, so we set up a day to go and teach here. She is very nice and very religious, and we have another appointment with her to teach English and the gospel this week.

we are thinking that we are going to start up english classes again. here on the island, learning english is very useful for tourism and it is a great way to get to know people and teach them as well. people contact us in the street to ask about english classes.

Saturday night, a storm passed through the island, so we had to hide in the house, because it was dangerous. the storm raged through the night and kept going through church. not a lot of people came to church because it was so bad. 

Sunday in the afternoon, we visited T which is a less active member that we have been helping. It was her birthday, so we came with her favorite dessert and the Relief Society President to celebrate with her. She commented to us during the week that she is waiting for a visit from the sisters in the church. Mission accomplished!

Sunday night, we taught J with the H. Rapu family. We taught them in them in the church and we talked about the Sabbath day, obedience, and obey and honor the laws of countries. We have a lot to teach J. in a short time, and it can be difficult to throw so many commitments and doctrine at one person in such short time. She is doing well, but has some butterflies for her baptism.

The work here in the island requires a lot of patience. We have a lot of responsibilities to fulfill with the church and sometimes it doesn't leave us with a lot of time for missionary work. We are doing the best we can because we know who we are serving. We serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't do everything perfect but we are trying to get better because through Him we can.

Love,

Elder Williams

July 6, 2015 - Niño Maravilla (Alexis Sanchez)

Iorana familia y amigos,

First off, let me give a huge shout out to Evan and Lizzie who are going to be having their first child (my first nephew) on Wednesday! It will be a great birthday present to my dad who has his birthday on the same day!

This week was pretty crazy because it was Elder M's last week on the Island and the last week of his mission starts today. This morning we dropped him off at the airport and said goodbye to him. He will be missed, and he has been a great missionary and servant of the Lord here on the Island.

I'm just going to tell about what happened this weekend because all of the most important events happened in the past 48 hours.

Saturday morning we went to work at the cemetery here on Easter Island. The church teamed up with the city to do a service project and clean the cemetery. They gifted us a lunch afterwards, which was steak and bread and sausage. In the afternoon we visited our investigator A, whose brother passed away last week, and he invited us to come to a kuranto. we went to visit him there, and he gave us more steak to eat, and steak to take to the house. That night we held a surprise goodbye party for Elder M, and we ate more meat and fish there. There was a lot of meat this weekend!

The island was pretty happy Saturday as well because Chile won the American Cup. That is the first time they have won, and they beat Argentina, with whom they always lose. Everyone was driving their cars around and honking their horns and waving flags. We had to hide inside because it wasn't too safe for missionaries on bikes.

Sunday morning, we had some surprises in the church. first is that an ex missionary that served in Elder E´s ward about 10 years ago, came to church! She is a teacher and was taking a tour of Chile with 3 girls from her school. She knew Elder E  when he was about 8 years old, so she was thrilled to see him again.

Also, the recently released mission president from Santiago Este came to our ward. he and his wife wanted to visit Easter island before heading home to the states. it was a real help to our ward, and we had a lot of people bearing their testimonies this sunday!

in the afternoon Alberto called us again to eat lunch at his house. it was more steak. we got to teach him this time and he told us that he has some doubts about the word of wisdom, so we invited him to pray about and ask god if it really is one of His commandments.

After that, we got to take the sacrament to Bro. C. He is an older man in our branch who isn't able to go to church for his health. We arrived and he pulled out a bag with a cloth, a plate, and pansito, and told us that he was waiting for us. L is awesome

that night, we had a lesson with Tonga, a recent convert in the branch, and his sister Jake. Jake has been participating more in the church, and last night she pulled out her calendar and she said "Yeah, I want my baptism on this date"! she chose her own baptismal date, and it is coming up quick. I dont want to mention it for bad luck. she was beaming after she said that and it was awesome because she recognizes that she has received her answer.

It was a real blessing this Sunday because the mission president that visited with his wife (Brother and Sister Wright) were already known to me. During the devotional we had in Santiago with Elder Nelson in November, this mission president bore his testimony about the Restoration. It was so strong, and I remember sitting in that room and feeling the spirit of the Restauration. I have always looked to that moment as an example of how to teach and testify. His testimony is one of the strongest examples I have of the power of the message we teach. It was great to have the opportunity to thank this mission mission president for his testimony and bear mine to him in sacrament meeting.

Before I end, I just want to bear my testimony that I know that this church is true, and that God has not stopped talking with His children. He talks with prophets, and He talks with us as well. I know we can hear Him as we read the scriptures and as we pray.

Love,

Elder Williams

June 29, 2015 - A Little Under the Weather

Buenas dias buenas tardes familia y amigos,

This week was a great week that was full of the Spirit and fun. On Tuesday we were able to teach T, a recent convert here on the Island, and his sister J. J has been going to church and participating with the missionaries for a while, and when we arrived to teach them, they were having some family problems. they were fighting a little bit as a family. We taught them afterward and as we shared our testimonies of the work that the Lord has in store for the two of them here in the island. J said that she really felt the Spirit strong enough to recognize it, and now she is seriously considering baptism. 

On Wednesday, we were able to visit L in the afternoon. he is a little discouraged because he hasn't been able to work for the past 3 weeks. We taught him about the Sabbath day and how the Lord promises that the abundance of the earth will be ours if we keep the Sabbath day holy and go to church. He went to church this Sunday, and I know the Lord will bless him for it.

That night, during our dinner time, we made brownies for L and his girlfriend M

 and we stopped by to share a message and dessert. It was a nice lesson, and they were very thankful.

On Thursday we were in the house all day because Elder E woke up sick, and it was raining a ton, so it wasn't the best idea to go outside. I spent the day cleaning the house and reading the scriptures, so it was nice to learn more about the New Testament.

On Friday, we had an awesome lesson with B. She is a recent convert in the church, and was inactive for about 8 months, but now she has started going to church again. She stopped going to church a while ago because she didn't want to pay tithing. She told us that a lot of people from the church had come to teach her to pay tithing. Some had even shouted at her to pay it. The Spirit doesn't work like that. We shared our testimonies about tithing, and I shared the story about L and C. when they started paying tithing they saw more miracles. When they didn't have enough food, they would discover flour and rice hidden away in their cupboards. L received a raise in his job. L was now just given the opportunity to study law! After sharing this experience B said "Ok now I understand. I will pay tithing" we were pretty pumped!

on Sunday, a family from Chicago visited the church, and all three of them father, mother and son bore their testimonies (they were all also RMs and two had served in Guatemala and the other in Chile). they were awesome, and they are headed to Valdivia in two weeks, so watch out Meli! 

We got to teach a man named R yesterday. He is a naturalist, but he ended the lesson with a question, "I just want to know why there is evil in the world?" We have an appointment set up for this next week.

One of the things that R mentioned is that he wasn't sure if Jesus really is the Christ. He looked at him as a teacher, but not the Son of God. if there is anyone who has this doubt, I would ask you to go to the scriptures. Look at the miracles He preformed, the prophecies He fulfilled, the pains He suffered, the love He showed and the death He conquered. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and He has not ceased in His work on the earth. He has His church here on the earth, and He is calling his younger brothers and sisters to come unto Him. I know that this is His gospel that I am sharing.

love,

Elder Williams

June 22, 2015 - Feliz Dia del Padre!

hola familia y amigos,

Let me start off by saying a Happy Father´s Day to my Dad! Thanks for all you've done for me and all you've taught me, and I wouldn't be here without you!

On Wednesday we had the chance to teach one of the recent converts here on the island. Her name is B, and up to this moment in her time in the church she has had some doubts about Joseph Smith. When we arrived to teach her, she told us that she was able to talk with a member about her doubts, and la hermana E was able to explain it all to her, and now B is doing great. the members here are awesome and the members are essential to the work here on the Island.

That night we were able to have a ward activity and play basketball. we went to the municipal gym to play; it didnt end well. One of the other players who wasn't a member of the church headbutted Elder S in the chest while he was shooting. Elder S didn't do anything to deserve it, but we weren't left with the greatest desire to keep playing so we left.

On Thursday we were able to do a service project for a couple that we are teaching. We teach English to P and J and they asked us to help them clean out their garage. They just bought a new puppy named bernardito. He is so cute it is ridiculous.

After the service we were able to teach a woman named I. We have stopped by her house many times, but for one reason or another we haven't been able to really dive in and teach the Restoration to her. We were finally able to and it went really well, and she committed to reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it! 

On Friday, we were able to have a lesson with R.  R is a recent convert in the island that hasn't gone to church in a while. She is very nice, and very funny, and we were able to teach her in the house of R who is the first counselor in the branch here. The spirit was way strong and we were able to discover some of the doubts she was having,  R testified so powerfully about the church and the restoration. It was awesome! 

On Saturday we helped a family mow their lawn. They don't have lawn mowers here because there are so many rocks, so everyone uses weed wackers. It was fun.

We went to F's birthday party that night. She is an investigator of the other elders, but she is a good friend of ours, and we were able to eat cake and celebrate with her.

Yesterday I was assigned to speak about fathers in sacrament meeting. It got a little emotional, but I remained in control. there was a surprise as well at church. A pilot from the Chilean Air Force came. Where was the pilot from?  Idaho! It was fun to talk with him. He is doing a pilot exchange thing with the Chilean Air Force and he and his family are living in Valparaiso. He was really cool.

The rest of the afternoon on Sunday we spent visiting people. A lot of people were busy with Father´s Day parties, so we were biking around a lot, and calling to see who we could teach. We also had the blessing to bring the sacrament to a couple of members in the branch that were sick, so that brought back a fair amount of memories from the Bothell Ward.

That's it for this week. just want to end with my testimony of the importance of this work. I was reading Jesus the Christ and it talked about the parable of the workers of the vineyard. There were some that worked all day and others that worked no more than a couple of hours. Talmage talked about the importance of serving for the work and not for the wage, and that is a true principle. I am here to work in the Lord´s vineyard and it my blessing and privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. He is what drives me when I am tired and foolishness enough to get discouraged. I love Him and I am trying to prove it one righteous decision at a time.

Love, Elder Williams

June 15, 2015 - Paciencia

Hola familia y amigos,

Whoo, this week was definitely an intensive exercise of patience. We had a lot of appointments fall through and a lot of activities in the branch that got in the way of our proselyting time. We are still doing well though, and we are excited for this week.

On Tuesday we received a phone call in the morning from Sis. B. She is a sister from my stake that is visiting the Island, and she said she had a package for me from my mom, and she wanted to take us to dinner. We accepted right away. It was a ton of fun to see her and talk about Bothell, and she was so kind to bring a package with her. I was really impressed by all of the English that Elder E understood. He was talking with us like he was a gringo!

After eating dinner with sister B, the church soccer team had a game. we lost, but we played a lot better than the past, and I am definintely improving as a goalie.

On Thursday we were knocking some doors and we met the most famous sculptor on the Island. He was pretty cool and he told us that he had traveled the world and been to more than 100 countries. He was way cool. He said he wanted to come to church this sunday, so we invited him. He didn't come, but he is still really cool.

That night we had a class in the church for the teachers in the church. I was called as the teachers for the teachers in the church. We should have seen 10 people there but only 2 came. It was a bit of a downer, but the class went well, and everyone understood.

There was also a lightning storm that night which never happens on Easter Island

On Friday we helped set up for and celebrate J's  birthday.She is an investigator of the other elders, but she lives in our sector. It was a fun time, and there was a lot of food that was eaten. 

on Saturday we got to teach R. He is the owner of a grocery store close to our house. we found his house on accident and we were able to teach him. the lessons here are difficult to control. we usually have to spend the first lesson with people getting to know them and their beliefs. the people here like to talk and it takes about 30 minutes to establish trust between us and the people. we have an appointment with him for next week to teach the restoration.

On Sunday we found out that the other missionaries are giving J. and her family to us to teach. They said that they need to spend more time looking for new people, and that we could use someone to visit in the night (because we usually are left without people to visit in the night time). It will be exciting to teach them, because they are a wonderful family.

That is the big news of this week. Big shout out to Lizzie Williams who is having a birthday this week! her present his coming a little later this month (her baby boy). 

I just want to end with my testimony. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ. I am a pretty weak imperfect person, and that is why Christ has a gospel and a church to help us. we are all weak and imperfect and we need His help. We just need to come and follow Him. I am trying my hardest to be the best missionary I can. 

Love,

Elder Williams