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