I love you all!

 

HELLO!!! 

OH i just love Wednesdays!

i just love you and miss you. I love being here and am really working on staying focused but the idea i get to see you so soon just creeps up sometimes and I get SO EXCITED! Not too excited that I loose focus but just im so excited. I feel like I never thought it would happen, it still doesn't seem real, but im excited. Just love you both.

So before all of the good stuff - I am so upset about ky's situation. Honestly Im gonna fly down there and knock some sense into his companion. I will send his email over but I didn't get anything about it. It was short. But hearing that his comp has been giving him the silent treatment and all that stupid stuff literally makes me so angry. I had something similar.  If i voiced my opinion on something or felt we shouldn't do something It would result in her not talking to me for ages. and it was the hardest thing. Mostly becuase the spirit was not there - she was angry and I was annoyed and it was just awful. And so my heart just sinks that he is having to go through it too. He didnt say anything about it but I will try and drop some advice or help him stay possitive. OH IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY! I just can't even focus - i just love him and want him to be happy. I always thought being a missionary was the hardest but Im getting a glimpse of how hard it is to have a family member away on a mission - I wish i could go through it for him. BUT yes. I KNOW it will all work out! Only 3 more weeks!! THREE MORE! And i am SO PROUD of ky for sticking to the rules. He will be blessed. Hopefully with a new companion that he will jsut love. OH he is so good. Love him. 

Anyways... this week has been great! A rollercoaster week but really good. It was really good because FREDDIE GOT BAPTISED!!! I don't know if you saw it on facebook or not! But how exciting is that? OH i just love him. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE! That is something I have recognised lately. Anytime we leave a lesson or leave a members home or even just after meeting them I find myself talking about how much I love these people. I really do just have the strongest feelings of love for them - I remember you talking about how much you love the people of chile and every other missionary who serves just talks about the love that they have for the people and the place. I know it will be that way for me and England. THese people and this place will always hold a very special place in my heart. But oh it was the best to see him get baptised!! He is so happy! ANd today is his birthday so we are having a lesson and then celebrating!! OH its just so great. And then another miracle is... rememeber charley? The Irish man i told you about last week. WELL HE IS ON DATE!! YAY!! THe 9th of Decemeber he is set to be baptised. We had the GREATEST lesson with him this last friday. The spirit was so strong and we just testified that baptisms is what he really needed and honestly I think he has just been waiting for us to ask him. OH i wish you could meet him. He is the funniest man but oh I love him. And am so excited for him! He came to freddies baptism and then to church on sunday and it sounds like he had a really powerful experience when freddy recieved the holy ghost. He described it as this really warm feeling just overcame him. :) LOVE IT! So so neat. SO charlie is doing great. Love him. And just incase you were wondering Zasha and her family are still the greatest blessings and the very best. I just LOVE THEM! We have to come back to see london and all the other friends but especially zasha and her family. RIcardo went and did baptisms for the dead and LOVED it and Zasha has met with the bishop and getting her patriarchal blessing. THey are just so great.So things are good. We are doing a lot of finding since we are getting to the point where a lot of our friends are now baptised! WHAT A GREAT PROBLEM TO HAVE!! So lots of finding but its the best. We jsut get to walk around and have sweet africans and jamiacans tell us how much they love jesus christ as well. Its so good. 

I have noticed with all of the miracles though that I need to be careful as well... this week was a little bit of a rollercoaster because it has been a lot of finding. We went out and had a full day and talked to great people but didn't find anyone super solid or any new investigators. the same thing the next day - we were still seeing great blessings and finding great potentials but I wasn't seeing the results or things I felt that I should be seeing - a new friend that jsut wanted to be baptised! :) I was reading Elder Utchdorfs recent general conference the other morning that talks about how as members of the church sometimes we take things for granted becuase they have always been there for us. I was touched by the spirit on the fact that I had become a little like that - we have been SO blessed with finding people here but I was getting to the point where I was almost expecting it - or feeling like I was entitled to those miracles. SILLY SISTER GWILLIAM! There were some rough mornings and harder days before I realised it but Im grateful for studdies in the morning and words of living prophets that help us put things back into perspective. So things are better! I did open the need a really good laugh this week while i was trying to figure everything out... haha oh it is HILARIOUS! I love you all so much! I also opened lacking faith... thank you so much dad for writing all of that. It helped SO MUCH!! so so much. just what I had needed. so thank you. AND MOM! I got your sweetest package. IT IS SO FUN!!! oh thank you so much! I love love love it!!!!!! Brightened my day up so much! And helped me to rememeber to be thankful! We have so many things to be grateful for. So you both are just perfect. I'll keep reminding you over and over but really thank you for your help this week! you probably didn't even realise but you saved the day multiple times over here in england this week. 

Something funny about this week though is that one of the members daughter returned from her mission - Holy (Yes her name is Holy and her little sisters name is angel! :) Got to love the african names!) But Holy came home from serving in Canada on Thursday and then we met her and took her on some teaches with us which was a huge blessing but oh my goodness. If i am like that when I go home heaven help all of us. She was so lost. Poor thing had this deer in the headlights look all the time. It made me so nervous. What if I am like that? Ive thought about it though and something that president gubler has taught me, and one of the reasons I feel like I have enjoyed my mission so much and that our friends have progressed, is that he has taught me to share the gospel like Megan would. Just to be myself. So something I have loved is the longer I have been on my mission the more i feel like there is less of Sister Gwilliam and MEgan but we are just the same now! Being a missionary and loving the gospel is just me! So hoepfully i wont be like her when I go home and if i am knock me out of it quick!!! 

OH and exciting news is we found a crockpot in our flat! YAY!!! So would you send over some yummy crock pot recipes! Healthy please! :) Trying to be good before coming home! :) 

Another great thing about this week was the example of mary! Mary is a byu student here on study abroad. I dont know if I have told you about her... but she is INCREDIBLE! My RM role model. She has been home now for almost 2 years but she just lives the gospel. Sits with memebers, not the other byu students, in sacrament meeting. Offers to do service for the members here, comes to our baptisms to bring cookies for after, and has taken us out to eat a few times while she has been here. It has amazed me her example of service. Even with life being so busy while studying and being in london - instead of doing other things she is feeding the missionaries and supporting the ward here as well. I just want to be just like her when I go home. I will set good goals to make it happen. AND a huge blessing is she will be at BYU! Maybe you can meet her too! She is great though. So grateful for her good example espeically with coming home coming up. 

BUT another funny story for you all this week - there is a recent convert in the ward - her name is marly - and she is hilarious. just a funny lady but she just got baptised earlier this year and was called as a ward mission leader so she comes out and loves to help us teach and will even knock with us. knocking is the funniest. she will yell through the doors when she knows someone is home or just funny things like that. I love taking her out. Just makes it fun! :) But sweet marly being a new convert is still learning the doctrine a bit. SO we went to teach this man this last week and when we got in he started telling us he had heard about mormons before and specifically asked about polygamy. So we cover it and just direct the question to the restoration and start teaching. After the lesson we are about to leave and marly cuts in and says how the restoration ties back to what he was saying about polygamy. (in my head i am thinking WHY!? Dont bring this up again!!) But she goes on telling the man that the church used to practice polygamy but then the gospel was restored through the prophet joseph smith and so that false teaching and evil ways was done with becuase the true gospel was restored.... AND THEN she goes on saying how she knows that joseph smith was a prophet becuase she met her own joseph smith. Apparently a year ago a "prophet" came up to her on the streets in peckham (got to love peckham - lots of prophets and prophetesses go around and preach to you! Its exciting. ) and prophesied things that would happen in her life. She then said how those things actually happened so she knew that man HAD to be a prophet so joseph smith had to be a prophet as well. I just sat there and wanted to laugh! Sweet marly knows the restoration is true becuase a false prophet (APOSTATE PROPHET) prophesied about her life. But at least the gospel was restored so the church stopped being evil by practicing polygamy, right? Ha i just didn't even know what to do to help the situation. Got to love it. 

So yes! Being a missionary here is the best thing. Its so funny the situations and stories that come. At least the man was wearing clothes though, right? 

But that is SO FUN that sister Barnes came to our house! When i saw the pictures I was SO EXCITED! Haha she is so funny huh? she was such a good missionary and companion. We just got on and had fun and would just laugh and laugh. She laughs a lot too... if you noticed that. But some of the funniest memories are with her. She taught me to work hard but that it was fun too! Hoping to train my sweet companion that same thing. So glad you got to meet her. AND I ALMOST SCREAMED when I saw the email from the englands. OH I AM SO EXCITED!!! ARE YOU? I just can't wait for you to experience real english people. you will just understand so many more of my stories. They are the funniest people. OH it will be so fun! So yes! Definitely will plan on staying home when they are here! We will have to have so much time to laugh and talk about all of the mission stories. Fun fact about english people - THEY LOVE to hear themselves talk. Its great. We will have fun! :) But oh im so excited. And I would love to take her to class with me too! I was thinking it iwill be over finals wekk... lame. But hoepfully my schedule will be easy enough that it wont be bad! And with that I have been checking on preparation days about byu. Looks like it is going down but i will check today and try to find some backups just incase!

And i loved seeing hte pictures of linds playing volleyball! OH i will be ALL OVER here about it when I gt home. I can't believe they had a game at 6 am though? PAINFUL! but dont worry. I'll talk to her about it and DEFINITELY be there to help with all of the satruday chores soon! :) A mission has taught me to work as well so get ready. We will be doing lots together. 

Speaking of that thank you for both always reminding me how proud you are of me. I know it is a little thing but it honestly means the world to me. I was fighting back tears when I read it. One of the biggest motivations for me to serve and to work hard is 1st off for my saviour and heavenly father of course - just for all that they have done for me but 2nd was to make you proud. I feel SO BLESSED to have had you as my parents. I owe the world to how you raised me and what you taught me and I know i havent always made choices that made you proud of me but I wanted to come to try and redeem those To change and make choices that you would be proud of. So thank you!! I am working hard- and will continue to until the end to thank my heavenly parents and brother and to make my earthly parents proud. I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH! 

I have also decided that I would love to teach the discussions to you all when I get home. can i have the teaching assignment for family home evening for the first couple of weeks I am home. And also the dessert assignment. I cant wait to cook again. 

But yes. Im just trying to work hard and stay ontop of things. Im not going to lie i feel like I am getting more tired. My body and just mentally it can be harder somedays but I AM FIGHTING IT SO HARD! I have a little less than 2 months and I am making the most of it. 

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! Thanks for all of the updates! 

Sister gwilliam