THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXXI

ahh.. another email.. mmmm.. *we had a zone conference that went like 3 hours longer than normal, because the new presidents hadn't ever done one before *we've known elder townsend was going to leave this area this next wednesday, because he's finished his mission *buttt we weren't exactly sure what was going to be happening in our house *we are in a house of 4, and we share the ward, but the areas put together are pretty gigantic, which is why there has been 4 elders here for a while *and then we got a call on friday, that me and my companion are both leaving the area *they didn't tell us where we are going *we later learned that there will only be 2 elders for this entire ward (so the area is gonna be hUge) *sooo basically we've spent the last few days showing elder oyervides (the one who's staying) all of our area (because he only knows the people on his side) *annnd on wednesday, we'll show up to a chapel, and they're they'll tell us where we're going *which is super weird for a lot of reasons, buttt we set up for the other elders to have a baptism this saturday, so that will be cool.. maybe they'll send pics anyways, have a good week.. love you guys! alma 14:13 And Alma said: Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore they burn us not.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXX

his palmser swety, nees week armser hevy, thers vomit onis sweter alredy, moms spageti, ees nervis, but onda surfice he looks calmin redy, dadrop boms, budee kepson fogetin thu wors thatee rote down, the hole crous goinso loud, eeopens is mouth butha wors woncum ou, hes chokin now, times up ohferkow, snap bacto reality... ummm.. so anyways.. *we had a couple exchanges this week *on one of our exchanges we played this game.. and basically you "aren't supposed to talk about it".. but it's one of those kinds of games where you have either played, orrr it makes no sense.. howEver if you've played before, you can kinnnnda cheat.. so anyways, this was my third time playing.. and i had everyone convinced that i had never played.. annnd basically.. a couple people got bags of water thrown at them... *i did a couple baptismal interviews this week, which was super cool, and on saturday, we went to the baptism of the other elders in our house *on exchanges, we had some very interesting talks with some of the elders from the other house in our district *it's kinda hot in this country.. the other day, the weather app said it felt like 115.. the sun mElts the life out of you, but once it goes down it's fine as long as the power doesn't go out *the other elders had a baptism, and that was lit *bro that's all i got man.. anyways, have a good week, love you guys! mosiah 1:7 And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXIX

remember milk?.. cuz i don't... *on p-day we went to the american embassy here in the DR, since it's in our zone *basically just a super secure little villiage (wellll.. more like a super fancy rich community).. and you go in there and there are all these giant houses, and a bunch of american families live there.. so it wasn't for the 4th, but it was super sick to step on american soil for a little while.. even fake american soil *but it was crazy, cuz they had AC, and carpet, and they spoke english, and the had a community basketball court, and tenis, and they made us a whole BBQ lunch, and cookies, and they were just super nice, annnd it was just basically the equivalent of the celestial kingdom *and then we went on an exchange (that happens every week, buttt.. idk.. it still happened) *i think i've mentioned this before, but.. whenever i'm having a hard time, or something is going slow, god just sends kids in our path, to cheer me up *so anyways, on the exchange, just almost everything fell thru, and we didn't have any rEal lessons, and i was having a pretty good time honestly, becAuse.. i think it's pretty funny actually when just everything falls thru, cuz it just means we need to be somewhere else at that time, annnd it's just funny to me when everything goes wrong *sooo what do you do?.. pray, and ask where you actually aRe supposed to be right then *i've done that a cOuple times now, and it always works.. sometimes it takes a while, but it works *so anyways it was one of those days, and we diD end up finding a couple people for them over in their area, but it still was a very unproductive day.. in some ways.. but also in a billion other ways, that day definitely needed to happen, cuz it ended up leading to a lot of other things.. annnd i'm seriously trailing off now.. but anyways *the other reason i was having a good time, was because whenever you have a day that looks horrible like this day did, it means you're abOut to have an amazing day *sooo anyways the next day, was super good, we taught super good lessons, and it was crazy some of the things that ended up happening *but anyways, we finally get back to the point of the kids *so basically in one of the lessons, there was this 4 year old girl, and she is sUper smart, but the kind where she's also really ADHD, so it was the funniest thing ever *and then once the lesson ends, i say the prayer, and i get to the end, and look up, and then she just jumps up and gives me the biggest hug and says "GRACIAS!".. it was so funny, but stuff like that actually happens pretty often, like kids will just see missionaries, and just run up and give them a hug *but anyways, right after this lesson, we're walking to another, and this other 4 year old girl sees us, walks up to us, and asks me "are you going to my moms' house?".. and i was like "well.. where does she live?" (cuz when someone invites you to their house, obviously you don't say no.. especially if it's a kid).. so she was just like "come with me" and then she took my hand and led us to her home.. so that was funny too.. her mom was taking a shower or something, but were going back on another day *my birthday was pretty sick! *i made pizza rolls, which is a little harder than you might think, if you don't know how yeast works, and the ovens here are just unevenly heated boxes.. so they turned out pretty bad, but the other elders liked them a lot *and then 2 of the elders in my house made a brownies cake thingy, and bought a giant tub of ice cream *and then we had a day of just inviting the whole universe to church *so now i'm 19 ig that's all.. have a great week.. love you guys! moroni 10:7-8 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever. And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXVIII

another week... *i have now become unsickened *we met the new president and wife *they're super cool, we'll have to see what they do with the mission *we've had a couple very small pranks recently *elder townsend put kool-aid in our shower head, but it didn't get me, cuz i saw the red coming out.. i was a bit confused for a little, but i put it together pretty quick *we put his bed on the roof *he has a recorder (one of those silly flute thingys for 9 year olds).. we froze it in a block of ice *they cut out little words from chastity pamphlets, and put them all over our desks *we taped a bunch of their belongings to the ceiling and flipped a bunch of things on their desks *we came home one night to our beds covered in leaves *sooo we'll see what happens with that *i had an actually good dessert the other day.. which was the first time that's happened since i got here love you guys, have a great week! ether 4:7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXVII

ahhhhhh!!.. that's how i feel right now.. it's saturday night.. i'm laying on the floor.. i am starving.. but i am also sooo nauseous.. so.. what do i do?.. i already took 3 ibuprofen.. no help.. i tried waiting it out, annnd that's only gotten us here.. more hungry.. sooo i have ordered a cheese pizza from little ceasars, if not only to give me hope.. yes i am fully aware that that probably will not help with the whole nausea situation.. however, i must try, because i've tried fighting the nausea, and it didn't work, so i'm working on the hunger now.. annnd i've come to the conclusion that i'll get the pizza.. i will smell it.. if i proceed to not throw up, then i will take a bite.. i will wait various minutes depending on the results of the one bite.. annnd then i'll either eat a little more and save the rest for tomorrow, orrrr just stick it in the fridge, and then go to bed hoping that the nausea goes away in the night... *so anyways, let me explain a little bit *i realize that this format with the little star things is not even relevant with this email, but as i stated a little earlier.. i am not exactly in a safe and comfortable state of mind or body *anyways.. basically all night thursday was just straight throwing up and diarrea (almost at the same time, but i somehow managed to stagger it) *and basically i'm still sick up to this point *we didn't go out at all on friday, but we went out today for like 75% of the day, and it was pretty bad honestly.. like i was hobbling around like a hunchback for the whole day, trying not to throw up *anyways, my pizza has arrived, so ig i'll continue this tomorrow *well it's monday now.. and yah, that whole pizza thing got shut down when the guy didn't even show up, causing me to lose like $9 or so.. *sunday i woke up not amazing tho, cuz i had ofc.. eaten nothing *so i drank a protein shake thingy, and then trudged up to the church *that was pretty bad *but then the other elders gave me a blessing at church and i felt better from the nausea *but i still was starving ofc *so we went to a members house to eat after, and for some reason it took like 2 hours or something for this lady to make the food, and it was like barely any, which was fine cuz i was feeling nauseous again, but after that we went home and i collapsed in bed again for all of yesterday *and then by the night the nausea had gone away mostly again, and i wasn't tired because i had just slept all day, and then i was the most hungry ever, so i was up till like 3 just laying in bed thinking about all the foods i was going to but today.. *but anyways, while i'm waiting for the rest of my house to get ready, maybe i can think of some other things that happened this week... *ahh yes.. our president and wife went home, and we have a new president now *we're still doing a lot of finding *also i am taking over cooking again, cuz apparently when my comp said he knows how to cook, he meant he knows how to cook one meal.. and i'm pretty sure that's what got me sick.. soooo i think that's pretty much it tho.. love you guys, have a good week! alma 53:18-21 Now behold, there were two thousand of those young men, who entered into this covenant and took their weapons of war to defend their country. And now behold, as they never had hitherto been a disadvantage to the Nephites, they became now at this period of time also a great support; for they took their weapons of war, and they would that Helaman should be their leader. And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXVI

hello there.. *we got transfer news this week *my comp is leaving to go be a zone leader, so i'm getting a new comp *my comp also went to the dentist *there were a couple of people burning stuff randomly, and we don't know why *like some tires in the street.. i got a video, but it's just confusing *my new comp is super cool *he might not be the largest in stature, but he's a spiritual giant *annnd he cooks our food now, so i don't have to debate whether i'm going to eat pancakes for the 97th time or just order uber eats.. also for the 97th time *for some reason he likes running too.. so he's trying to kill me now *we're working with a lot of members, so we can get people to church more effectively *we heard there was a cyclone coming, and it was gonna be pretty big *soooo thAt was cap, it bArely rained this week *it's kinda hot here that's pretty much it.. have a good week, love you guys! alma 17:10-12 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted. And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls. And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXV

i am completely out of intros.. i think that's been pretty clear for the past couple months... anyways.. *we had our district pday, so we played a lot of basketball, and i ate an excess amount of smashburger *i went on an exchange with elder foster and he's a beast, super good teacher *and then we found 14 people on wednesday cuz we're trying to find a ton of people this week *then thursday we had a temple trip!!!!! WOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *it was super cool as always *hung out with my boy elder vancott for a sec *and then went on an exchange with elder ashcraft in our area and we found 7 more people *and then we found 6 more people the next day *and.. then like 6 more the next day *sooo anyways we found a decent amount of people this week, cuz we kinda need to go thru people really fast in this area to be able to find the people who can make the journey to church *also, my eggs from only a week ago, that i had never opened or anything, somehow turned to liquid.. and they became covered.. like cOvered in maggots.. so idk if they were somehow iN the eggs before i bought them, buttt i'm actually pretty glad i hadn't tried to eat any of them *they also spread to my bread, so i've been living off of smoothies and uber eats for the past week *this next week will be pretty interesting too tho.. they changed the transfer days to friday or saturday, so we now get transfer news on tuesday or wednesday.. i won't be leaving anyways, cuz i just got here, but my comp thinks he's gonna leave.. he's a little tired of the area, and he wants to go be a zone leader.. we'll see tho *i've shaven my head again, and maybe given up on having hair in this country that's all tho, have a stupendous week, love you guys.. 2 nephi 25:16 And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind—and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should Dude you want to learn something cool about Adam-Ondi-Ahman????? So I just recently stumbled onto Andam-Ondi-Ahman. This is the location where Joseph Smith revealed that Adam and Eve existed after the Garden of Eden. Now I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to this place because someone told me, "It's just a big field." Well when I got there they weren't wrong, but they were also not right. It wasn't just any ordinary big field. It was a giant field that was in the middle of very dense trees! Not a little mountain meadow but a huge one! In addition, I have never understood the name Adam-Ondi-Ahman. BUUUUUUUUT I know a little more now. When Joseph was learning more about languages he inquired of the Lord what God's language is. We have learned in the Bible that God's name is Elohim or that is the pure name we have called him. In this instance though Joseph Smith learned that his name is Ahman. Through further translation and investigation one of the possibilities of the meaning of Adam - Ondi - Ahman is: Where Adam became like God. If you think about that, this isn't where Adam was resurrected, this wasn't his place of judgement, this wasn't heaven. This is the place Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden and became Mortal. They became like God once was. Very interesting. Love you T. Caleb Perkins 801.425.3487

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXIV

welllll.. basically our whole mission is changing now.. we all got our own phones.. sooo it's just like the states now.. it's super weird.. only one of the phones has a chip tho, so i basically just have an ipod, buttt... *we had zone conference, and it was super weird, cuz it's the last zone conference of the president and his wife.. sooo we all have our own phones, and we're getting a new president *also all of our senior missionaries are leaving, and we aren't getting new ones.. sooo they're gonna have to start sticking elders in the office to do those jobs *we we're all kinda sick again this week.. i slept for like 4 hours on wednesday, so i didn't end up going out.. and the two who did go out were back after like 2 hours cuz my comp was dying *i finally found some protein powder to buy, and it's pretty expensive here, and it probably won't do much, since typically people lose weight in this mission, buttt may as well try *ok ok, one day.. umm lets see.. sooo.. basically my comp and i are walking from a lesson, and we're just down the jungle road that we take to get to a far off part of our area, and somewhere along the way this random lady on a scooter pulls up.. and she just says something about her eye, and how we can give her company for a sec.. or something like that idk.. and her eye looks pretty swollen, but i'm thinking she's about to ask us to drive her home or something (people here are very trusting with their bikes) then she kinda drops her helmet into the road (cuz they mostly don't really wear their hemlets here but they a lot of the time hAve it with them on their bike).. sooo i go grab her helmet and hand it to her, and then she just goes "there's something in my eye, can you see it?".. i look at her eye, and sure enough there's a little bug on her eyeball.. so we're like "oh wow.. yah there's.. uhh.. something..".. so naturally she just looks at me (yk, with the eye without the bug) and she's like "take it out!" and i'm like "uhmmm" and she's like "can you not? just take it out?".. so i do a speed scan of possible reasons of why that might not be a good idea, buttt there wasn't reAlly any real reason not to.. sooo i was just like "uhhh.. ok".. so anyways i'm digging around in her lower eyeball, and she's just sitting there all casual, and i'm asking her if it hurts and stuff, and she's all nonchalantly "no no it doesn't hurt, get it out tho".. so a little later i pulled out a tiny bug covered in.. ummm.. eyeball juices? orrr.. ig maybe it's tears technically? i'm not sure.. but she just thanked us, and said something about how the bug was a tiny mosquito, and then she just kinda drove away again, and we kept walking... *this week we've had some really good lessons.. were still cycling thru people kinda quickly, because we're having a bit of a hard time finding people who are willing to make the trip to church.. hOweverrr.. we have one guy who walks an hOur uphill (on that same jungle road as bug in the eye lady, he's the reason we were out there) to get to church.. and he's getting baptized in like 3 weeks, because he is sooo elect.. he dropped all of his bad habits after our fiRst visit, and he is blasting thru the book of mormon.. and also he walks an hour to church.. uphill.. *we have another lady who is truly searching for the truth, and she's so awesome! she told us yesterday that sometimes satan comes to her in dreams, and she tells him "i know who you are, and in the name of jesus christ, i will fiGht you!!" so were working on getting her all the lessons and everything so she can get baptized *and another lady is literally already a member (meaning she comes to church every week, and she loves having us over, and she's already doing missionary work) she just hasn't been baptized, because she lives with her x-husband (cuz she makes all the money, and he has a lot of medical bills and can't support himself or live on his own).. sooo we're working on getting that sorted out *buttt anyways, things are getting super cool here! andddd that's all folks, thanks for joining us on... anyways.. have a good week, love you guys! moroni 10:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXIII

this week i have made a rather unfortunate discovery.. you know when you are eating cheetos, or doritos, or takis, or any kind of chip that gives you "cheeto fingers"?.. welll apppppArently there is so much humidity here, that when you get cheeto fingers, the air makes the dust that is caked on your fingers start to get wet.. and then it becomes soggy.. and i didn't wait long enough to find out (i was too terrified) but i'm pretty sure that if i had let it, it would have just started dripping everywhere and making a sort of chip dust soup.. which now that i'm thinking about it, that might be super fire actually.. buttt i'm not sure i would trust a soup that is made from only chip dust and soggy air... *we went to a little garden thingy on monday *my comp thought he could beat up the ceiling fan on full speed with his head... ceiling fan 1.. comp 0.. *we watched an old man sit in a chair.. then we were teaching the family.. then suddenly a giant angry duck came to fight the old man.. the old man won, and the duck was thrown back outside *on this same day, i got some kind of rash thingy on my neck because of a cat ig? *a different day there was some kind of giant spider on my neck *i went on an exchange with elder townsend *got sick this week for a couple days, but not bad enough to not go out.. sooo i just spent a couple lessons asleep, or just in a different universe *at this very moment i have the hiccups *i watched a lot of gospel library videos and movies and stuff this week, and there are some really fire ones *we had stake conference, and it was super cool.. a ton of people showed up from other wards and everything, and we got.. 3 investigators i think? but that's the most we've had since i got here, sooo we're making progress!! anyways, that's all i got this week.. good luck, love you guys! alma 53:7 And it came to pass that he did no more attempt a battle with the Lamanites in that year, but he did employ his men in preparing for war, yea, and in making fortifications to guard against the Lamanites, yea, and also delivering their women and their children from famine and affliction, and providing food for their armies. what are wE doing to prepare for war? to build up our fortifications? to guard against that which we know to be wrong?...

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXII

hi... *this week we've been rained on a ton *this week at smash burger i got a chicken sandwich *i did an exchange with my boy elder lewis over in pantoja *i also did an exchange with elder oyervides, who is brand new, and lives in my house.. that was super fun, he's a beast *having uber eats here is super dangerous.. especially cuz i have a ton of money right now (there were various problems with my mission money card, and basically i didn't get money 2 pay periods ago and had to use only personal money, whichhh meant i got payed double this last time).. annnd my card is the only one in the house that works for uber eats, so whenever anyone wants food, they just use my card and pay in dominican pesos (monopoly money) *this week i've been working on following spiritual promptings with exactness, and just dOing something i'm prompted to do, especially when it's inconvenient or doesn't make any sense.. i'm still working on the spEed part of it, like just doing it immediately, sooo usually it takes me walking past someone, getting pretty far down the road, and then having to say "ahhh great, we have to go back".. or like when i'm prompted to share a scripture that doesn't seem like it has anything to do with what we're talking about... howwwever.. every time that i'm willing to follow a little spiritual prompting (a ping) i'm getting the opportunity to show god my faith.. especially when i can't see whY i did something.. sometimes that's when it's the hardest.. maybe we send a text or call someone because we felt a ping, and it just seems normal, or even a little weird, but just because we can't see the whY never means that it was without reason.. as missionaries we do a lotta stuff that doesn't look to us like it was effective.. maybe we have to stop teaching someone because they aren't keeping commitments, or we talk to someone and they say they don't wanna learn about the gospel.. but god knows why that exact person in that exact time needs that.. soooo i wanna challenge you.. if your up to the task.. follow a ping today.. and if you feel like you don't get pings, prAy to get one, and when it comes aCt.. with speed and exactness.. don't put it off until you finish the laundry, or until you get home, or until.. idk.. just do it immediately.. and if you can't tell if it's from the spirit, ask yourself a question.. "is this from satan?" cuz if not, then what's the harm in doing it?.. just doooo it! that's all, have a good week, love you guys! mosiah 13:6-9 And he spake with power and authority from God; and he continued his words, saying: Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefore I finish my message. Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities. Yea, and my words fill you with wonder and amazement, and with anger. But I finish my message; and then it matters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXXI

good day, how do you do?... *went to smash burger *kicked a metal thingy of sorts with my shin, and i think it got infected and stuff, so i might lose my leg soon *walked around in a pOuring rainstorm and found 5 people on monday *we got completely soaked, and my shoes are still drying (it's thursday) *we had some zone council *went on an exchange in the zone leaders area (my comp is the district leader, so i'll be going on a lot of exchanges this transfer (like 6)) *we found 4 people on the exchange *president is just really wanting us to find a ton right now, but that also means dropping people who aren't ready right now *we got soaked like 2 more times (apparently we're in some kinda drought tho) *but it's super crazy when the roads turn into rivers, and the rivers turn into.. ummm.. bigger rivers ig? *i'm just now on saturday connecting in my head how the wound on my leg got infected *this place is very dirty *so when everything floods, it turns into "poop water" (a term coined by my comp) *and then we have to slosh through it.. sooo i basically just walked through the most germ infested waters ever to be known, and it probably just seeped right into my leg *we also found the jungle that is in our area, so apparently this place has everything.. besides the beach, but that's useless to us anyways *also there is a gigantic cemetery here (the biggest one in the DR) have a good week tho, love you guys! mosiah 2:20-21 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another— I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXX

how'sss it goin.. *we finished it off in cambita by saying goodbye to everyone, and having some good lessons with people *annnd now we're here in los girasoles (i'm in the capital now) *ok ok, i live in a residential area in an apartment *we have wAtEr pReSsUrE *we have a real washing machine *our desks are flat instead of slanted *my shower puts out water *my bEd is nicer for some reason *the other elders cleaned it sUper well before we got here *this used to be a sister area, so we live in a sister house *the mirror in the bathroom isn't broken *we have a basketball court like 3 minutes from our apartment *this area is super interesting tho, cuz we're in the residential area, but we teach in the ghetto *buttt i haven't seen any shootings or anything yet, so it's probably not that bad *there are some really cool people here tho, and we're about to make this area pop offff *also, since we're in the capital, we have regular restaurants *the first thing we did after getting here, was smash burger (and they go on every pday apparently, sooo.. basically i'm about to get used to this, and then my next transfer is gonna hurt (i'm here for now tho)) *soooo i'm basically just in a states mission now.. sorrrta *when i saw president at transfers he kinda hinted a little bit that i was going to the capital to be a little closer to real doctors and stuff, in case my body decides to die again at some point *i got my cards and everything, so i'm no longer just using coins to buy everything anyways, that's really all, i think, probably.. have a good week, love you guys... ether 12:29-30 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith; For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith go move mountains

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXIX

*we went to muchas aguas.. it's 2 hours walking, but we hitch hiked a lot of the way there and back.. and then we did 2 more hours walking once we were actually there too *it's pretty cool, and everyone who goes through my area always has to go there, so now i can say i went right before leaving *yah so there's supposed to be transferrs news again this sunday, so we'll see if i actually leave, or if i stay for a 5th transfer *we had a "mission tour" which was just a regular zone conference, but with elder gabarett and his wife there.. he's some kind of 70s guy (mayyybe the area 70 president? i think someone was saying that? *we always get sick after the food at zone conferences which is super fun *we went to a surprise birthday party for a member, that wasn't exactly planned super stratigicaly, so it was a lot of rolling dough into tiny football shaped things to make "domplin" (sort of a dumpling soup?) and then throwing them into the giant pot over the fire.. and playing with the three crazy kids there.. and then playing with a bunch of random kids who live in the little neighborhood thingy sort of? that's around the house we were doing it at.. and then a lot of waiting for the member who's birthday it was to show up.. whichhh didn't happen before we had to be home, but it probably turned out well *we had a baptism on saturday.. first one of my mission.. it was super cool to be able to find someone, teach them all the lessons, and then watch them be baptized *we got transfer news, and i'm leaving for the first tlme.. going somewhere called duarte? so this will be interesting anyways tho, love you guys, have a good week! 3 nephi 14-15 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me. Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXVIII

dodadooo.. dadodeedooo.. *played a lot of games with kids this week *i'm super poor, but i have like $2,000 or so built up in coins, so i've been using that *had an exchange with elder macdonald (which will probably the last time that ever happens) *i have been finding maria cookies in my clothing pockets all randomly *at first i thought it was my comp playing some kind of lazy prank on me *turns out the same thing was happening to him, and he thought it was me doing it *sooo we connected the dots like the geniuses we are, and realized that the only person with maria cookies is elder macdonald *and then also realized that he wasn't doing it consistently or anything, he had just done it all at once, and it took me like 5 days to realize that there wasn't someone just sneaking cookies into my pockets as i was walking around, they were just in my pockets when i was putting on the shirt *so anyways we made this connection finally, on the day that the other elders had to go to the capital *perfect day for retaliation *soooo we looked in the pantry for possible methods of getting him back *beans (probably too messy).. more maria cookies (pretty good, but overused).. dry oatmeal (super funny, especially if we put it in the pockets of his dirty laundry, and then he washed them, and then it turns into legit oatmeal.. again too messy) *so anyways we decided on dry corn (like popcorn kernels) *we put them evvvverywhere.. on top of the ceiling fan in their room (when they turned it on it rained corn).. in his shoe (just one of his shoes).. one in his deodorant (just one kernal).. a ton in his shirt pocket.. a ton in his pants pocket.. in his thingy of vasoline.. in his jar of shampoo (it's a mason jar full of shampoo, idk either).. some on his bed (but under the sheet, so you don't know till you lay down on it).. annnnd one maria cookie on his pillow just for good measure *so the point is, if i wake up dead one of these days (it was probably elder macdonald).. (probably not even on purpose, but because he took whatever prank he's gonna do back, way too far, and i end up suffocating under a giant pile of salamis or something *we also had a war with a gigantic bug that looked like a lobster mixed with a cockroach (see google photos for a video of me yelling at it, and us torching it to death) *we've had some super good lessons this week too tho, we're really growing this area (right as i'm leaving, which is how it should be, like leave it better than when you did be done finding it (i thing that's the boyscout slogan or moto or something (i'm not super sure, i think i'm still like a star or pear scout or something))) that's all tho.. love you guys.. do something christlike this week... alma 62:49-51 But notwithstanding their riches, or their strength, or their prosperity, they were not lifted up in the pride of their eyes; neither were they slow to remember the Lord their God; but they did humble themselves exceedingly before him. Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had delivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions, and he had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXVII

welcome.. so it's wednesday, and i'm the most tired i've ever been on the mission.. lemme explain... *monday was zone pday, we started the day out by going to san cristobal to a park to play some games.. i call my family pretty early, so i usually miss whatever the first hour of what they're doing is.. this time it was frizbee, and it was raining, so it was a bit muddy and stuff, and it looked fun, but once they started spikeball that's when i went over for real.. i played a tiny bit of that, and then i was talking to our ZL, and he's just like "hey i've got some cups and a tenis ball and an idea for a game".. so i'm like "uhhh ok, let's see it" so he gathers some other people, and goes and gets his cups and tenis ball, and it starts off with us just throwing the ball around, using the cups, annnd then we start thinking of ways to make it a little more fun.. so anyways we ended up with two teams, and a giant tire in the middle of the field, the objective of the game, is to use your cup and your team to put the tenis ball through the side of the tire that is on the other teams' side, from a minimum of 6 or so feet away.. sooo kinda like lacrose, but with the goal in the middle, and it's with cups, and the field is sUper wet and muddy because of the rain... so it was super fun ofc, i scored like 3 goals or something, which makes sense because i'm only good at fake sports.. i diD fall at some point and posssibly sprain my wrist, but i haven't decided yet.. hopefully i'm just being a baby and it's actually fine in a couple more days, cuz i've already been to too many doctors here... anyways tho, after that game i went to play spikeball again, cuz a new hermana from el salvador (shoutout to hyde) wanted to learn, and no one else who was over there knew the rules ig.. so anyways, it's safe to say she still doesn't know how to play the game, because there were just a couppple spikeball words i didn't know in spanish, and i'm not sure she understood my hand signals and weird faces super well either.. but the point of all this, is that i got pretty badly sunburnt.. yes ik i need to wear sunscreen, and a hat, and i'll get skin cancer, and all those things, and i hope i've learned my lesson too.. so anyways skip to monday night, and i am sunburnt, and my wrist is a little out of whack, and my legs are sooo stiff and sore from running and jumping, and my back is sore from bending down to grab a muddy tenis ball with a muddy cup, annnd i'm just barely moving in general... *and then tuesday comes, and i feel it all twice as bad ofc, cuz that's just kinda how it goes somehow, and walking around with my legs super straight and the sun burning my burns and all that stuff.. and then we had a couple super long talks in our house about our areas, and we went to bed at a time that i don't know because i was too afraid to look, because i knew that we had to get up at 5:30 the next day... *ok so i sleep really light this night, and then we get up at 5:30, and i am just a tinnny bit tired.. we walk down to the little stop to wait for the bus, we get on, the driver tells us we can't be on the bus, my comp negotiates and we get a spot on the bus.. we are standing again.. that was like an hour.. we are now in the capital again.. we pass by the temple and get a couple pictures, but don't go inside, because we need permission, and we only go as a whole mission.. we get to the doctors' office on time and we're waiting for him.. we call him to see where he's at, and apperently he had some sort of emergency funeral or something to go to.. sooo he says he'll be ready around 1.. sooo we text president to ask if we can get special permission to go do some ordanances in the temple, and while we're waiting for the response, we decide to go to wendys for some food, so we start walking towards the metro, and about 4 or 5 minutes later i realize i don't have my wallet.. so we go back to where we were sitting outside, and it's gone.. we ask everyone all around, and no one knows where it went.. sooo we start walking to the metro again, and my comp sees one of those street vender guys who sells tubberwares, and he's across a super busy highway, but he my comp thinks he saw this guy over there, and he's a very likely subject.. sooo we decided to start following him just as a last resort.. so we slowly make our way across this highway, and the guy is probably 100 yards away, but he starts wAlking.. sooo we're following this guy, and we're gaining on him, but he's super far ahead.. and then he turns a corner, and by the time we get around this corner, he's still ahead, but we almost have him (his tubberwares don't really permit him to go very fast) so we are now within yelling distance, and my comp says "hey bro" and he turns to look, and then starts walking a little faster.. sooo we start walking faster too.. we eventually catch up to him, and my comp asks him first if he was at that same park, and he says yes, and then he asks if he saw any wallets, and then he says "no no i haven't seen annnything, no i haven't seen anything".. and then he's like "here check my stuff" so he drops his bags to the floor and is trying to get us to look through them to look for the wallet.. so at first i just think, wellll he probably just has it oN him, like in his pocket or something, so my comp just says "no no we believe you, we don't need to look through your stuff, you don't have it on you tho?" so this man proceeds to lift up his shirt, and show us his fanny pack, and pull out his pockets, and then pull down his pants and very thoroughly show us that he didn't have it in his underwear either.. sooo at this point i realize that anyone as smart as this guy, would actually just take out the cash (which was $2500 (that's dominican pesos, so like $50 USD) at this time, to pay for anything in the capital) and then chuck the wallet somewhere.. sooo we help this guy put all his stuff back in his bags that he's been taking out, and say sorry for bothering him, and he gives us the whole "i'm christian i would never do anything like this" speach.. sooo while we're walking back we're kinda looking around for anywhere he could have dropped it, annnd i wish this was a cool story where you pray and you find the thing, and it all turns out ok, buttt sometimes the answer is just no.. so anyways, i'm now a little short of a wallet, $2500, my drivers license, my mission prepaid card thingy, my personal card, my metro card, annnd i watched some guy strip down to his underwear pat himself down, and we aren't even sure if it wAs this guy... so anyways we walk back to the metro, my comp buys me a new card, we go to wendys, and then president actually gave us permission to go to the temple!.. sooo we got to go do laundry, cuz that was all they had open, but we did that for a while, until around 1.. and then we get to the office again, and call the doctor, and he's been held up again, so he's coming at 3 now.. so we just did a little bit of studies, and i fell asleep on the concrete floor cuz i was so dead.. and this guy finally shows up around 4, and we go in, and he's dealing with a ton of random stuff, and we meet his boss lady, and she crazy, super funny, but crazy.. annnd eventually he got to us, and he gave me a couple prescriptions, and then offered to give us a ride back to san cristobal, and to take us to subway.. sooo we went with him through a ton of traffic and stuff to subway, and then he decided to just take us to a metro station instead because the traffic was so bad.. so we say thanks to him, go back on the metro, take all our connections to get to the busses that get to san cristobal, and finally got on the bus.. we get to san cristobal, and we get some lil ceasars again, and then walk to the cambita car station thingy, and get a car, and we finally make it back to cambita at like 8... soooo we didn't do too much that day besides phone contacting, buttt i was the most tired i've ever been here... *i went on an exchange with elder taggert which was fun *hung out with my best buds juan daniel and francesca (they're kids in the ward that are just super funny) *ok ok i don't think my wrist was actually sprained, which is fire.. it's almost back to normal.. i think *yah no, it totally could be actually, i have no idea, but it kinda hurts *we had another pretty big rain storm anyways, have a good week, love you guys! alma 11:40 And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXVI

we got a new phone finally! but nothing is configurated yet, so typing is super difficult.. *we went to san cristobal on pday and got some food and toys and stuff *we've been finding some new people, and starting to get a lot closer to baptism with the ones we've had for a while *we had an all out war with a bunch of flying beatles at an investigators' house, where we would smack them out of the air, and the kids would collect them and feed them to a lame (as in can't walk) chicken *and then on thursday we woke up at 5:30, walked to the secret bus stop, stood on the buss the whole time, the bus broke, we got on a new bus, we arrive in the capital, we walk to a doctors' office, we wait for a long time, we talk to him, he refers us to another doctor in san cristobal, we go on the metro (insane underground train system), we go to the biggest mall in the DR, we eat some mid tier KFC, then my comp bought a bag of rice for some guy in the mall who was asking for it, and it was super weird, we go on the metro again, we go on another bus to san cristobal, we pay lots of money (sortttt of.. relatively) we go to another doctor, i get a CT scan, we have to wait for an hour and a half for the results, my comp buys a blanket, we get some frozen yogurt, we go back to the doctor, the CT scan comes back completely normal, we go upstairs, we pay even more money, we wait, i take a nap, we mess around on facebook for a few minutes, facebook is the worst, we go back to waiting, we are let in, they check my eyes and dump yellow goop in them, my eyes are fine as well, we wait more for a receipt, we leave and go to lil ceasers (also mid, but way better than the states), my comp also gave some guy a peice of pizza who was asking for money, we pull more money out at the bank (we used it all buying doctor things), we go home in a car, we get back around 6, meaning the whole thing took about 12 hours, and we now know i don't have anything wrong with my brain that would show up on a CT scan, and my eye sight is normal.. sooo stay tuned ig, cuz that's what we're doing that's kinda it tho, love you guys, bye.. mosiah 9:17-18 Yea, in the strength of the Lord did we go forth to battle against the Lamanites; for I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers. And God did hear our cries and did answer our prayers; and we did go forth in his might; yea, we did go forth against the Lamanites, and in one day and a night we did slay three thousand and forty-three; we did slay them even until we had driven them out of our land.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXV

aghhhhhhhhhhhh.. this week.. has been.. an entire week?.. *we did nothing again on monday, cuz that's how things go here (we at least played a lil house frisbee golf tho) *we had zone council, and it's a bit boring and sad now cuz almost all my old friends left, and now it's just me and elder macdonald (and one of the sisters) who have been here the longest *i read a lot of the friends magazine in spanish now as language study *i fished for water from a well *i had "beans with sweet" for the first time.. basically just baked beans but like half as good, and it's another thing that they put random stuff in (including raisins) *i went on an exchange with elder macdonald and went over to his area, and that was super fun (still haven't done any rEal exchanges where i actually leave cambita, buttttt) *it's a tradition here for holy week for the little kids to go sit in little kiddie pool, and everyone goes to the rivers and the beach and stuff *someone flooded our house again, but we caught it a lilll sooner than the last time * saturday night, most fire night everrrr!!.. basically first we are walking by the play (a park where everyone plays all of the sports) and we see a helicopter just sitting in the middle of it.. sooo we go to see what's going on, and we get to watch it take off, and blow a bunch of dirt in our eyes.. and then we are walking to our next visit avoiding all the people drinking, and blasting unholy music for holy week and easter and stuff, and we finally come to what is supposed to be our 2nd to last visit of the night.. so we're talking to the lady we're teaching (caroline) (she has 4 kids, 3 boys (carlos: he has an extra finger on one hand, and he's super nice, but a bit of a punk around his family) (bravelis: he's super chill, and probably my favorite of them) (and then chiquitín, he's craZy, he's covered in roadrash cuz he leaves the house naked all the time, and just does crazy stunts and stuff, and he gets smacked by people so often that he is literally immune to pain, and he's how we found all these people) (who are crAzy and some of my favorite people ever) and one girl who died of cancer a couple years ago) and carolines' boyfriend (josias) just got put on date for baptism, so we're working really hard on these 2, and it's chAos.. fortunately, i LOVE chaos.. so basically we're there, and her boys are running around creating havoc, and making a ruckus, and she's yelling at them to stop, and then 2 of carolines' friends show up, and one of them has a gigAntic "6 month year old baby".. so caroline is yelling at her 3 boys to go clean up the mess they've just made (she says she's already cleaned the house 3 times today), and to shower, and to put on clothes, anddd it's all just hilarious to me and my comp.. and they're playing with the giant baby, and they're all getting slapped at random times because they're doing dum stuff, and not cleaning, and we're trying to talk to the 3 ladies, and the kids are trying to talk to us, and thennnn... it starts raining... and at first we don't think about it too much, we're just talking, and we've been here for a bit now, and my comp says "we gotta go", and i'm like "you wanna go in this rain?" and he's like "you wanna stay here?" and i'm like (in my head) "uhhh yah man, this is super fun" but i just say "well where's somewhere we could go, where they'll still let us in if we are absolutely soaked?" and then we think about the lorenzos (the family we had plAnned to visit next, but they live super high on a very steep mountain (which would have been a fun slip n slide i'm sure, but we also may have ended up being impaled by trees and machetes and haitians and dominicans and all sorts of rabid animals on our way down)... so anyways we decide we can't go there, and there aren't really a lot of other places that will be productive.. so we decide we probably need to go home, because at this point the water is getting a bit high outside.. and i think it was around then that the oldest kid runs in and says "THERE'S WATER COMING IN THRU THE BACK DOOR!" and caroline says "WELL CLOSE THE DOOR THEN" and he says "IT ISSS CLOSED" (i may be paraphrasing a tiny bit cuz this was in spanish).. so anyways my comp jumps up to go see the water coming in thru the back door, and i follow him and sure enough, there is water coming in thru the closed back door.. so we're looking for why, and we're sloshing around in water, and the oldest kid goes "mom, you left the straightening iron on" and she is like "oh i forgot about that" and my comp goes "how is the water getting in?" and she opens the door to look at what's happening, and she gets absolutely pummeled in the face by wind and rain "wow it's kinda windy" she says.. and we aren't really sure what's going on, so we're looking for something to stop the water from coming in, and then we get distracted helping the boys clean their room (which means shoving all the stuff in their closet, cuz that's obviously the best way to clean a room) and then 2 of the boys go out to look at the other side of the door, so my comp makes his way towards the front door, and i ask what we're doing now, (cuz i'm always lost ofc) and he says we're going outside to fix the problem, so we go outside, and it's kinda wet out there, but we're having a blAst, and the lighting is striking all around, and the thunder is so fetching cool, and we walk to the back of the house.. so i hold the phone under un umbrella (cuz it's super cracked and not waterproof in any way, and we forgot to leave it inside), and my comp climbes up the side of the house a little bit and reconnects some pipe on the side of the house that was causing the problem, and then we go back inside.. they the ladies are all super shocked that we had gone outside and gotten wet, but it was super fun, so we don't care.. so anyways fast forward, and we're eating some food, and playing with the kids, and then one of the kids runs towards the front door (cuz why not), and lighting struck (and i swear it was right outside, because there was no delay between the flash and the boom) and this kid got so shocked he slipped on the wet floor, and it looked like he got absolutely just struck down (and that was the funniest thing i've ever witnessed in that house, which is saying a lOt).. and then they are throwing a ball, and it flies close to some breakable things, so i smack it away from there, and it smacks one of the kids right in the face (causing his tubberware of soup to spill all over the couch).. and then one of the kids pours me a tall plastic glass of some cold bean "juice", and i'm playing a type of dominican patty cake with the kids, and my comp is beating the kids up, and the 3 ladies are milling about cleaning up water and eating food, and the giant baby is just vibing and spitting up everywhere.. and then some man in a terrifying yellow rain coat (from the movie IT (or demille)) appears with one of the flashes of lightning, and this man has a plastic bag of eggs, and he sells them to the lady, and then disappears again... annnd that's pretty much the whole night, we walked home in the rain after that, and just had a fun time *and then we had easter.. we didn't hunt for eggs or anything (cuz thAt is sUper weird) but we had only an hour of church but hey, congrats, you got a longer email this week again.. it might be a sec till that happens again, we'll have to see.. love you guys tho, have a great week!

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXIV

hey 👋 .. it's already saturday morning and i haven't started my email (usually i write it slowly throughout the week) *saw another snake, this one was promptly stoned by various teenagers *we started a jumping wall in our house (we high jump and stick a card on the wall) mine is the lowest of those who have participated, but it's getting higher *i mayyy have gotten super bad at doing laundry last week with going to the hospital and stuff, which lead to me mayyyybe wearing the same pair of pants like 9 days in a row *i found out that the power actually just goes out cuz the power company (for some reason there's only like one in the whole country (ig monopolies are allowed here)) decides they wanna turn it off.. so they do *we're gonna have conference, and it's gonna be insAne, cuz we're gonna go all around for every session and make sure everyone possible is watching it *my comp and i are dodging the ward drama like keanu reeves dodging all those bullets in the matrix *ok ok, idk how these emails are sounding, like maybe boring, or maybe super chaotic and random, orrr idk.. but the mission is sOo fun man! and when it isn't, it's even better, because you can chAnge that any time you want.. you choose how much you get out of it (same with everything in life (uhhh i think, i haven't really been here that long (in life i mean (or in the mission buttt)))) *one thing we've been doing with a couple of our friends, is having them write down questions that they want to be answered in conference, and the coolest thing, is that we already know that if they are listening and searching with real intent, they're fr gonna get their answers.. because we have aCtual prOphets of gOd.. that's so sick!!! *the first session of conference was a bunch of technical difficulties, and then me playing cards with a bunch of kids so they wouldn't run around and make a ruckus (we were doing it in the church with a projector and stuff) *but the conference was super good anyways, hope you guys had the chance to watch conference, if not, it's always on the gospel library and such.. love you guys! ether 4:12 And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.

Spring Break at Universal Studios!

James and I had a great surprise/trick planned for the kids for Spring Break this year1 We told them that we were going to go to Siesta Key, FL like we had for Fall break last year (they really didn't like that vacation for some reason). When we told them, they all kind of grummbled and complained. Paul told Jackson about the vacation and was complaining, and Jackson said "Paul, you are so spoiled!" and then I reminded Jackson that he was probably the worst complainer about that vacation, and he said "Yeah, I was pretty spoiled back then too!". I loved hearing that1 We took our flight to Orlando and waited and waited to see if any of the kids would notice that we weren't actually headed to

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXIII

yawwwwn.. ok.. ok.. anOtthhher email... *i gave another talk in sacrament *we drank some smoothies *we went on a "hike" ..for pday *we played some "capture the flag" (more like "cAncer and hAg"... haha jk, it was actually fun) ..also pday *we played a ton of basketball ..pday again *i got sunburnt for the first time here, and apparently it's difficult for black people to comprehend thAt entire concept (one girl told me i should just wash water over it and it would go away) *went to the hospital againnn! wohooo! *they kept trying to stab me to give me different drugs and an IV and stuff, and for some reason my veins are hard to stab, so they ended up stabbing me like 8 or 9 times *and then i threw up everywhere *it was a migraine?.. probably? apparently we're supposed to go back tomorrow when there will be a real doctor who can aCtually diagnose me? we'll see if we do tho.. (nope we didn't...) *i ate an entire pint of icecream in like 27 seconds just cuz i was bored one time *the power is going out for longer periods of time now, idk if it's because of the recent earthquakes or what *we saw a 7ish foot python that got taken away on a motorcycle.. no idea to where or why, just the usual dominican tomfoolery *ig i might just gEt migraines? (that's what the hospital people said) like it might be cronic or something, who knows honestly *the nurses just kept on saying "god is the only real doctor"... which like yAh sure, but also like.. uhhh.. you diD gO to med school right? *annnnd then i woke up on the night where i ran out of meds, and ig i still had a migraine.. sooo i took some advil.. nowww we're waiting to see what happens... *anyways, i'm still alive *we get transfer news tonight, and for the first time, i'm not exactly sure what's gonna happen to me.. i could stay, buttt i might leave too, idk *ahhh looks like i'm staying lol have a good week tho, love you guys.. i learned a new spanish word this week.. "adiós" helaman 10:4-5 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments. And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXII

Hello.. wow i seriously died on these emails.. oh well... *we've had some super fire lessons this week *our phone continues to become more broken pretty much daily *we've watched a lot of chicken fights (not on purpose, they're super uncomfortable, buttt usually there are just kids who think they're funny, and make them fight each other) *same thing with beta fishes *we've watched a puppy go from recently dead to almost completely a skeleton in about a week (it's just on the side walk, and no one has moved it) *we found a couple more part member families, so we're working with them now *we played uno with this random lady who kept introducing her random wack house rules as we were playing, so in the end my comp and i just teamed up to finish the game *we took some gatorade and soup to one of our friends, cuz she's "allergic to the sun" so she's been sick (cuz we made her come to church, and you have to go outside to do that)... and i've heard that's a real thing, buttt she nEver goes outside, so we're trying to help her with that *we've been eating sUper badly lately (yesterday i had icecream for lunch) *the other elders keep sAyinG they're seeing rats, but i haven't seen one yet, so idk if they're messing with me or not *we had one day where the other elders left to do something at the church, and me and my comp were left at home (we found out how dangerous thAt is... there was a lot of burning of things, and throwing flaming matches, and that sort of thing) *we had exchanges with the zone leaders, and our zone leader that was here made us run like a mile first thing in the morning (i almost died from having consumed no sort of food or water, buttt i won the race sooo)... yah completely not worth it, cuz i spent the next half an hour or so trying not to throw up *the other elders had a baptism this week which was cool *that was followed up by an "activity" at the church *we were playing basketball, and macdonald dunked.. it went in and everything.. it was super cool.. however, the hoop is a littttle less functional now butttt.. love you guys... pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBG3LdEZPyA1oQN96 alma 34:17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you.

Mommy Alanna!

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XXI

aha! mmmmmmmmmmmmmkay.. yah idk what this intro is, but i got nothing else... *we're working a ton more with members *we had zone conference *we focused a ton at zone conference about being "all in" (not being flaky, and lukewarm.. but all in completely.. 100%) *we didn't get a new phone at zone conference, but it's fun to have a destroyed one with glass shards everywhere (i can see the glowing inside of the phone from... the outside of the phone) *elder vancott made fun of me for carrying around my basic core (but i still don't know spanish.. what do you want from me?) *basic core is a missionary spanish learning thingy *we learned how to make dominican spaghetti *we had another earthquake *we made some nasty tamarindo juice (a silly bean fruit that tastes like nail polish, but a little more sour) love you guys! pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBG3LdEZPyA1oQN96 mosiah 3 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent. And even at this time, when thou shalt have taught thy people the things which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, even then are they found no more blameless in the sight of God, only according to the words which I have spoken unto thee. Sarah Williamson Mon, Mar 13, 5:13 PM to Heidi, Becky, Rebecca, Kazie They just aren't as entertaining now, but they are getting a lot more done with this new companion, so I'm thankful for that!

Celebrating Uncle Paul...

Cool Paul Experience

Hello Elder Jacko! I had a cool experience that I wanted to share with you. I was out last weekend with 3 of my childhood friends. We have gotten together at least once a month for the past 5-6 years and spent hours talking. They are like sisters to me as we have shared so many experiences together over the years and we understand where each other has come from. Last Friday night, Angela was telling us about her sis-in-law, who lives in her basement apartment. She has told us about her before and is often concerned about her because she deals with a lot of anxiety and depression. Her father died suddenly, around Thanksgiving time this past year. The family has been really worried about how this sis-in-law would handle loosing her father since she doesn't cope well with other things in life. Anyway, Angela was telling us that it's been amazing to see how strong this sis-in-law has handled everything and how her testimony has become so much stronger since losing her father. Then, Angela started talking about the day Paul died, and how she remembered calling me from Okinawa, Japan, where they were stationed at the time. She said that she was in such shock and sadness over Paul's sudden death, and she said that she couldn't believe how much I was able to offer her comfort. I remembered the phone call a little differently...I remember I couldn't stop crying that day. I was so dehydrated and had a headache from crying and not eating. I remember feeling bad that I didn't ask Angela about her new baby, or about living in Japan. My mind wasn't clear enough to really have a conversation, and I felt very selfish. Looking back, I know that my reaction was normal just having lost a brother, but at the time I felt really badly about that phone call. Then, Angela said " I don't know if my sister, Kara (who was Paul's age and they grew up together) would mind me sharing this, but she often has dreams where Paul comes and talks to her and brings her a lot of comfort. So I would have loved to hear these memories any day of the year, and it's funny that she had never shared them before. But, it was a real tender mercy that she happened to share these memories on the 17th anniversary of Paul's death! None of my friends at that table knew that it was the anniversary of Paul's death that day, but when I said that, we all got teary-eyed and knew that Angela was prompted to share at that time! It was a great reminder to me that Paul is very involved in the lives of those he loves. He is engaged in good work on the other side, and I will see him again someday! I know that he is with you sometimes! He loved you so much, and I wish so much that he was still here. But, I also know that he still influences your life, especially now on your mission! So if you are ever feeling frustrated or wondering why you are out there, think of your Uncle Paul right there with you! We know from modern-day prophets that our ancestors are sent to help guide us and protect us! -- Sarah Williamson

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XX

okkkkkkkkk.. this week.. *there was carnaval, and independence day, which meant more dressing up in weird costumes to smack people, and there was a big event thingy in the main square part of cambita *we drank juice *elder taggert who's in my house, is a big dnd guy (dungeons and dragons) he's basically just a gigantic nerd *we are now also learning how to play dnd and become gigantic nerds *i gave my first blessing of healing (i've done the first part with the oil a couple times now, cuz it's just a thing you have to read, but this was my first time doing the blessing part) *i pretended to be a stone mason for like 15 min, and built part of a random wall *we drunked juice *did an exchange with elder macdonald and stayed in our area *had a family home evening *did some crapy magic tricks *did some cool object lessons (includingggg "MAPESO" basically you put 6 pesos on the ground in a row.. and then one elder goes out of the room, and the other stays with the family or whoever you're doing it with.. the elder who stays, explains that the family needs to choose a coin (without touching it, so the other elder won't know which one they choose).. then they call the elder back in, and let the family choose a scripture for the elder who stayed to read.. once he's read it, the elder who doesn't know anything, tried to choose the same coin that the family chose before, annnd ofc, gets it every time.. everyone goes crazzzzy! how is it done? welll you don't really need to know that part, but the important thing, is that the lesson you can learn from this, is that we need to listen to the still small voice of the spirit.. i'll explain.. the elder who stays with the family while they are picking the coin, knows to make a certain indistinguishable sound, to let the other elders know which coin to chose.. this works, because the other elder is listening and paying attention, but the family isn't... this is the same with the spirit, the spirit might speak to us many times, in many different ways, but if we aren't paying attention, and we aren't going to be able to hear or understand him.. it's important for us to be always listening and paying attention to the spirit, to recieve the revelation that god has for us.. anyways, back to the email...) *we drunkenedeth juice *i walked a cow on a leash *we heard about josias' dream about the BOM (basically a week after we started teaching him, and had invited him to pray about the book of mormon, he had a dream where someone handed him a book of mormon in a park kind of place where he used to live.. he realized this was his answer to his prayer) *heard from woscar/wascar about some criminal activities (sorry, the details aren't very nice, so i'll keep them out) *we cracked our phone, so i'm trying not to cut myself on the glass rn *we had another fast (we've had a ton, but this was different) because we had a really weak lunch before starting it, and we didn’t drink enough water.. annnnd we walked to a tOn of our investigators and stuff for church reminding... basically i'll just leave it at "i died physically many times over" but i eventually survived *we had the highest attendance in church this sunday in.. like a year basically, so the ward is finally growing again! yahhh, sorry they're so boring now, buttt.. at least it won't take you guys aaaas long to read them now right? love you guys! pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBG3LdEZPyA1oQN96 once upon a time, god said: And I will also be your light in the wilderness; (whatever struggles we might have) and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; (happiness, in this life and forever) and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. 1 nephi 17:13

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XIX

  wowww.. i did nOt realize how much less time i was gonna have, when i'm actually functioning as a regular missionary! it's super cool! buttt it's friday, and i'm just now starting my email.. sooo i think i'm gonna do one of those speed ones with the bullet points.. gettt ready...

*had zone council (ate pizza right before for "zone lunch" and tried not to fall asleep for the hour long council)

*heard a story about a completely flattened road dog, but there's no picture, so idk how true it is (sorry vancott) 

*our 2 gallon tub of icecream was gone at the beginning of the week (sooo it lasted like half a week) (scratch that, the other elders went and bought another one on that same day actually)

*we were invited to our cuban, pastor, neighbors' house, but we "don't have enough time" (meaning we actually don't have time, especially since his families' income depends on him being an adventist pastor, so he probably doesn't wanna listen to our beliefs)

*we've been focusing more on families as a whole (rather than just one person who is there)

*i made fajitas, but i accidentally grabbed bone in (and tendin in, and talon in, and skin in, and cartilage in, and other bothersomely questionable substances) chicken.. basically super gross, and we forgot to buy tortillas 

*i am beginning to become fat, which is interesting, because that has never once before been a possibility (it's because the food here is seriously like 70% soybean oil)

*i'm accidentally learning creole as well as spanish now (because we're teaching a lot more people in our hatian village now)

*after finally getting the food quantities right after the first 2 transfers, we have new people in our house, so we're back to not knowing how much food we need (we're basically out again (friday))

*we've played lots of "unstable unicorns" in our extra time

*the power went out everywhere from saturday night at like 8pm, until like 3pm on sunday (so our icecream all melted, and now it's not as good cuz it's refrozen and stuff, buttt that's fine, cuz it's almost gone, and we can get a new one)

*i got to invite someone to baptism (that was super cool i thought, because our friend is progressing a lot, and she's super cool, buttt she's someone who dEfinitely needs the gospel in her life)  (like we all do)

 ok cool, love you guys, bubuy 

pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBG3LdEZPyA1oQN96

  mormon 6:22

O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.

      this chapter is honestly super depressing, i was counting the amount of people who die here, and it's around 220,000 people.. at least.. just out of nephites, and not counting lamenites... all they would have had to do, like it says, is repent, and become clean... don't let yourself wait till it's too late

THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER XVIII

 sooo.. we have this buddy.. and he has his own barber shop, he's super cool, and he likes us, because he lived in argententina for 3 years (where my comp is from).. he gave the other elders haircuts a couple of weeks ago, and then he was talking with my comp about argentinian bbq, and my comp was saying how much he misses it, and all that.. sooo anyways suddenly we get invited to a random bbq with this guy at his friends' house.. that was a couple weeks ago, and we some things happened (probably, i never know why things happen or don't happen here) so it didn't happen till this monday... so we played basketball with this guy in the morning, which was pretty fun, and then we went back to the house for a little, and my comp was texting this guy and trying to figure out where it was gonna be and stuff, and he gets directions and a time and everything... so anyways we get all dressed up fancy in our t-shirts and shorts and crocs, and start walking down the road a little, toward where it's supposed to be.. my comp is way ahead, and the rest of us are kinda behind talking, as he's leading us off the main road and down a path that i've been down before.. down this path is a bunch of garbage, and the usual shacks and all that (all super normal here).. sooo anyways i'm really not expecting much, but we just keep walking down the path, and we just see this gate, and a nice car parked outside of it.. and there our friend is, unloading his car of bAgggs of food.. and we're like whAttt theee.. so we walk thru this gate, annnd this the friend of our friend.. and he's just super rich basically.. he's got a nice house, giant landscape stuff in his backyard, a pool, a bbq, and a kinda umbrella/pavillion thingy with a table and stuff.. sooo i'm just super stunned, and idk what to do, cuz we literally just walked into the kinda place where you would rent for a niCe vacation, and this man just starts making a fire in the grill and unloading his bags and bags of meat.. sooo we just sat there for 2 or 3 hours, listening to music, drinking soda, talking to our new rich buddy, and the bbq/barber/dominican/argentinian/guy who apparently has a super rich friend... annnd the bbq was reallly good! there were 2 different kinds of sausage, and ribs, and some kind of steak, and bread, and this sauce that he was using to put on all the meat, that was kind of a green salsa kind of thing, with a ton of salt and stuff... annnd we ate sooo much meat, he bought and cooked a tOn.. it was sooo weird, because we just went out of the garbage and super loud motercycles, and all that, into a vacation house to have a bbq.. sooo that's the best pday i've had, everyone kept saying i looked "concerned" or "like i was going to die" annnd i think that was a mixture of the shock of going from a 2nd or 3rd world country (idk what this technically is here) into just some resort or something, annnd i probably ate like 30 pounds of salt, and idk if i've ever eaten that much meat at one time (my mom is vegetarian, sooo we were kinda deprived as children)... super cool tho, probably the closest i'll get to a vacation here...

      so we had transfers on wednesday, annnd turns out i got someone who is sUper old in the mission, and knows exactly what he's doing! which is pretty nice, cuzzz i gotta learn from sOmeone, and our area is really needing this kinda person right now, so that's great.. annnd people told me my comp was cool, and i would get along with him.. turns out i got one of the best missionaries in the mission (i think at least) and hopefully i'm not jinxing it or anything, but this is gonna be a good transfer... 

      he also is probably the heaviest eater i've ever seen tho, which is super awesome.. when we bought our groceries, he put like 7 gallons of juice in the kart, annnd he lOves ice cream.. sooo idk who remembers bon, but we have one of those in our area.. annnd we made a house fund and bought a 2 gallon tub of ice cream (for like $30) the other night.. that's not gonna last long, buttt technically it's the cheapest way to buy ice cream here sooo.. i think we're gonna have a lot more fun shopping now tho, cuz elder palmer never let us buy anything fun.. 

     okkk... sooooo... good news.. and bad news.. good news.. with my new comp we're actually dOing stuff now, so i'm no longer bored, annnd our area is pOppppping off now, even tho it's only been like half a week.. bad news.. these are about to get super short and probably more boring, because i no longer have time to write giant emails... sooo i'm just gonna recap things from this week...

      we started visiting our friends that are progressing as much as possible (instead of before when we would go once or twice a week).. we have people who are progressing fAssst.. we had 5 friends at church (before this, my record was 1 or 2).. my comp now listens to my ideas.. he has better ideas, so we're thriving now.. i now no longer want to leave, and it's going to be sad when it happens.. annnnd, i am now having fun in the mission! i also forgot i was scheduled to give a talk on sunday until it was sunday morning, so i wrote a talk in like 30 minutes, buttt i put a ton in there and i didn't use all of it, but it was a good 12 minute talk or so.. annnnnnd i'm out of time but i have a ton of super cool stories just from this half week.. it's interesting how that much of a small change can change things, buttt sUper cool i think...

      we also already had interviews with president (the first in the mission for some reason).. annnd i probably won't respond to every single persons' emails anymore.. unless you ask questions ofc, buttt just know, i read them all, annnd i will keep them forever...

      buttt yah, sounds good.. this could change if i'm ever bored again, buttt we'll just have to see... have a good week, loves yous, bye...

pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBG3LdEZPyA1oQN96

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