Dear Family!! WOW! So school started today! That is pretty crazy! I hope you all loved it and love your teachers and your classes! Remember that everything is what YOU make of it! You will all have a fantastic year! Time really is flying by! I can't believe we already have Nate and Justin coming back! And Logan and Haili are leaving! Ah I'm so excited for Haili!!! She is just going to love it here in Michigan!!!! Thanks mom, for going to hear her speak!
So Virginia, that sounds pretty fun! Make sure you take lots of pictures and tell me all about it :) Happy Early Anniversary!! It's weird with football season here, not hearing much about it! Keep me updated on all the goods :)
So this week we had some pretty exciting things happen. On Wednesday we went over to Nancie's and we were all ready to teach the lesson on tithing and fasting, but for some reason we just felt like we should read Mosiah 2. We read the chapter together and Nancie just broke out in tears, it really had touched her. Her family has been going through surgeries and she has been trying to be really strong these last couple of weeks. She told us that the night before she was tempted to overdose on her pills and then she wouldn't have to wake up with all of her problems. We had called her that night and left her a message on the phone, leaving her with our love! She told us that what is keeping her going is the gospel! It really is hard to stay strong through trials but Mosiah shows us that the Lord will make our burdens feel light, just like Alma's and his brethren. No matter what struggles we are going through we can be given that strength to help us through and it is all because of our Savior! I have never felt so close to my Savior as I have had to rely on him completely! Make sure you are relying on the Lord as well, it is what he wants from us, and it makes things easier! (Oh and Nancie has not had any coffee since the day we taught her the Word of Wisdom! And she is getting baptized September 8th! Please keep her in your prayers!) Anyways we were running super late to our next appointment with a member because we were talking to Nancie, so we were trying to just leave quickly, on our way out a woman named Anaya stopped us and asked us all about our church. Long story short we have a new investigator and her daughter, Zanaya is really interested as well and we taught her on Friday. We learned how important it is to follow the spirit! We were not where we thought we should be but we were where the Lord wanted us to be. Sometimes in life we just go, go, go. When we step back and are in tune with the spirit we are put where we are supposed to be.
On Thursday we had a recent convert get married, so we went to his wedding! My first wedding on the mission. I just love weddings!! Everyone is just so happy and it just makes me so happy! It was really fun! :)
Saturday we went trackting and every single door we knocked on, we taught lessons and the spirit was just so strong! We met a man who actually went to the same church we attend when he was 9 with a friend. He doesn't know anything about our church though, we taught him a little bit but he said he is too old and stuck in his ways. The gospel really is for EVERYONE! You are never too old or too anything to have the amazing gospel in your life.
Anyways, we had another short training on Saturday all about how our purpose as missionaries to be a Blessing not a Burden! We are here as missionaries 24/7 and our whole purpose is to SERVE! I love serving! I really just don't know if in a year and a half i'll be ready to come home :)
So on Tuesday we got a call saying we would be speaking in church on Sunday. The next day we were asked to do sharing time in primary. So we were going to be speaking, giving a musical, and teaching primary. Oh and I went to Ward Council for the first time. Wow that is intense! It's amazing how much the wards care for each individual though! So we had been trying to get a hold of Sis. Haynes ALL Week and she was never home, or never answered our phone calls, or returned our messages. So we prayed she would come on Sunday but she didn't show, so we canceled the music number and hopefully we can get in touch with her and do it later. If we don't get a hold of her, I guess we will just get to keep her electric piano forever :) Anyways so I spoke in church on the Restoration and how important it was. It just happened that our Stake President was there and President and Sister Gerber were all there! Nothing like a little pressure! I talked about how just like the gospel needed a restoration, in a sense we all need our own restoration. We all were lost when we came onto the earth and we must be brought back to the gospel. We must also help our brothers and sisters find their way as well. We spoke with our ward mission leader and he is just so awesome! I have never felt the spirit so strong in sacrament meeting! There were not any babies crying, which was just a miracle! Our stake president stood up and said, "Sis. Williams I need to correct you on something. You said we as missionaries need your help. When it actually is the opposite, We as members need the missionaries help!" He shared how he had a 4 hour conversation with President Holland on a plane ride. Pres. Holland said that the number one thing he wanted to share was how the work is hastening. He said that it has never been more important to be missionaries. I have never heard so much talk in a ward about missionary work!! Then we went to Primary and what did we talk on???? Missionary Work!! :) It was fun we had my little suitcase and had objects that represented things we had to do to prepare to go on a mission. Like being healthy and reading your scriptures, and going to the temple, and waking up on time (which surprisingly I have had no trouble with :) ) We shared how they don't have to wait to be 18 or 19 to be missionaries, that they can be missionaries now. We gave them all pass along cards and it was so cute how excited they all were to be missionaries! I miss the primary a lot!! They are so stinkin cute!
The major thing I've been studying this week is called "The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence E. Corbridge. I don't know if you have ever heard of it but it is AMAZING!!! It talks about 4 different types of missionaries and how we should be the fourth type. The 4th missionary gives himself completely to the Lord. It talks about how "your heart and your will is all that you have to give that the Lord does not already have." I love this!!! "Only in losing yourself, may you find yourself; only by enriching others, may you be enriched; only by giving may you recieve; only in surrendering, may you become free" "The only way to win is to Lose." We must lose ourselves to the Lord, to give ourselves completely to him and we will Become the person our Heavenly father can see us becoming! I know this does not only apply to missionaries! If we truly want to become like Christ we must give ourselves to him and he will mold us into something truly wonderful! If you get a chance look this talk up, it is Wonderful!
Love you lots,
Sister Samantha Tracy (Or as in our Sunday program, Sister Taylor (I obviously need to make myself more known to the ward)) :)
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