Wake me up when September Ends

Okay this is really embarrassing. Like to the point where I don't even want to write about it, it's that embarrassing...

Oh, wait, that wasn't what I was talking about!

   

I know I said last week that I'd have a longer email this week because more things would happen. Unfortunately, I feel like I can't remember a lot of things that happened this week...

...Why is that??

oh yeah, I remember. 

Because I got a flippin concussion, that's why. 

I am seriously so embarrassed about this, I don't want to write it. The more I tell the story, the stupider it sounds. Plus my head is still a little bit fuzzy and so I can't really think straight haha. 

Alright. I just have to face the facts that I do stupid things and that my stories are going to be stupid. 

So last Monday. A week ago today. We were having a family home evening with this cute spanish family. Johnathan and Yaritza have been married and baptized for just about two years now. They have two of the cutest kids in the whole world. I love spending time with their family. So we were having family home evening with them, and all the sudden Johnathan pulls out this white handbook and he was like saying something and telling a joke and we were laughing. Then I asked, "So, is that your white handbook? Where did you serve your mission?" 

And then I realized what a dumb question that was, since he'd only been a member for two years, so how would he ever have served a mission? So my face went bright red and I tried to hide my face behind the couch (because I was sitting on the floor) and I accidentally smacked my head on the side of this dumb metal table that I didn't even realize was there. So now I was even more embarrassed but I just tried to laugh it off because it was just... really awkward. But seriously my head just started reeling and I got this giant lump almost immediately and I had to just take a step back from everything. I didn't want to say anything, so they just kept going with the lesson. MY head was hurting so bad. When we got home I had like a mach 5 migraine and I was just done for the night. We planned for the next day and I went straight for my bed - no brushing teeth, no jam jams, no washing my face. Nothing. I slept the whole night and through studies in the morning. When I woke up, I ran to the bathroom and just dry heaved over the toilet for like 20 minutes and just cried. I was so dizzy and nauseous and my vision was blurred. It was awful. I told the sisters and they called Sister Johnson. I remember feeling like really confused and like irritable. The mission doctor called, and I talked to him for a while. He told me to go back to sleep. 

I slept a lot. 

For like 3 days. 

I remember periodically waking up throughout the day and feeling confused. Sometimes I thought I was in American Fork, sometimes I thought I was staying in a random hotel... I thought I was in like all these different places.

Wednesday night was the worst. I tried to get out because we were so bored in that little apartment, but that ended up being a really bad idea. We were driving home and I seriously felt like I was going to lose it. I told myself that if I just took deep breaths, I could make it back to the apartment. 

Well the elders dropped us off, and I was waiting while Sister Canseco was backing them, and I knew I couldn't wait anymore. So I ran to a nearby bush and just started puking. Well not really puking, it wasn't actually that bad. But anyway. The elders started freaking out and they said we needed to go to the ER. I said I was fine, I just wanted to go to sleep. We called Sister Johnson, she said we didn't need to go to the ER, but if we wanted to find a MedXpress we could do that. So we tried to find one, but they said they couldn't do anything for a concussion cause they didn't have any equipment or something. I don't remember. I was crying in the back seat. 

We ended up just going home. 

Luckily I'm feeling a LOT better right now. The worst seems to be over. 

In other news, Elder Stanfill from the quorum of the 70 came to visit our mission. We had a big half mission meeting on Friday with all of the people that I love and I was seriously so happy. It was so fun and amazing, and so spiritually uplifting. Sister Stanfill was seriously the biggest answer to my prayers. There have been so many things I'm struggling with or have questions on, and she just answered all of my prayers. She rocks. It was a great day. 

Then yesterday there was a big fireside for the Harrisburg zone, and President Johnson asked that everyone from Lancaster zone attend, so we got to go and I SAW SO MANY PEOPLE FROM LEBANON WARD! I saw Joe and I saw Sebastian and I saw the Gards and the Behunins and the Boggs and the Johnsons and the Laudermilch's and....

It was literally the celesital kingdom up in that hizzle. 

Then we got up to sing the closing song and everything was amazing because it was the EFY medley and wow. 

That was something else. 

As a missionary, you get to feel the spirit pretty strongly, and pretty frequently. But I have not felt the spirit THAT strong for a long time. That was amazing. 

I was just crying... being able to see all those people that I love. I remember kneeling and saying my prayer and thanking the Lord for the people that I have met on my mission and for how incredibly blessed I've been and how grateful I am that He sent me out here... I am the luckiest girl alive. 

I love this mission. So much. 

Love, Hermana Bills 

   

 

Drip drip drop, little April Showers . . . oh wait, its September!

Hey, I don't have a lot to say this week. We had a really good week, it was slow - there was a lot of rain. The leaves are changing colors and I seriously have anxiety attacks whenever I see them because I realize how close I am to going home and I have serious bipolar issues when it comes to the idea of leaving the mission. Like on the one hand I don't think I could ever see myself doing anything other than missionary work for the rest of my life. And on the other hand I'm super excited to see everyone again and just be able to hug everyone and go to college and further my education and all that good stuff. 

Anyway. 

Enough about that. 

This week we had a super legit lesson with our investigator David! He is sooo cool. In the middle of the lesson he just stops us and is like, "Guys. I just got goosebumps. This is the Holy Ghost, can you feel it?" 

Woah, wait... I already wrote this story.

Oh yeah, I just remembered that last week I started writing on Tuesday! Ah, that's why I feel like I have nothing to write about. 

Well anyway. We had another great lesson with Ramon. We invited to be baptized on a specific date. He said that he knows he wants to get baptized, but he wouldn't set a date because he felt like he wasn't ready. And Hermana Paulino came to church, but he wasn't there! So we're just really sad because we don't know what to do! We can usually get in to see them if we just drop by, but if we ever happen to set a return appointment, they like never keep it! Which is really sad, because how are we ever supposed to get member fellowship over there? Ah... But we are praying really hard for them. We had a lesson with just Hermana Paulino and invited her to pray for each of the members in her family by name and she said she would. I have such a testimony of the power of prayer! The Lord can work miracles for us if we turn to Him. 

We've also been working with the Rodriguez family - they are amazing!! Waldo, Yara, Tammy, Waldo Jr. and Gingy. They are the cutest family. We had a dinner appointment with them this week and it was so delicious and they gave us food to take home and I was so happy. 

Their kids are so spiritual and have the strongest testimonies. It's amazing.

So here's what happened. 

On Sunday we had to report to the branch council that Jose is no longer going to be able to get baptized on September 26 since he hasn't been coming to church, and we were really sad. But then our branch president was just like, "I expect there to be a baptism on the 26th anyway." So we were just like blown away cause we couldn't think of ANYONE at all who would be able to make it to baptism so soon. No one had come to church enough times and we definitely haven't taught people the lessons well enough to have someone get baptized. 

But then during sacrament meeting we were thinking about it and looking around and then we realized... YARA! Yara isn't a member yet! 

So right then and there we started praying for a miracle, because President Gogna still expects us to have a baptism on the 26th and SO HELP ME we are going to get it!! 

We were also able to have a super awesome lesson with that guy Lewis that randomly texted us. He's super interested to learn more. We had a lesson out in front of Prince Street Cafe which was really weird but hey, you gotta make it work ;) 

We should be meeting with him tomorrow in the church building though, so hopefully he'll be able to feel the spirit. He's really awesome and I actually just saw him walking through the library! Hard at work :) 

In other news, it is finally getting cool outside and I LOVE IT! 

IT POURED RAIN like 2 whole days this week and on Thursday we were out walking in it, and Hermana Davis and I forgot to pack umbrellas so we were SOAKING wet!! But it ended up being a great way to start conversations with people. We kept telling them, "go hard or go home." hahaha it was so funny. We made so many friends and it was such a fun experience. 

But we had this dinner appointment at a members house and we were soaking wet... they thought it was the funniest thing ever. 

Other good news... we have been listening to Christmas music and I just want it to snow. I love the snow. Can someone please make sure there is snow in SLC on December 30? Please and thank you. 

Okay... well I'm really sorry this email is so short! I just don't really have anything to talk about. I will have more to write next week, guaranteed. 

Love you all,

Hermana Bills 

La-la-la-labor Day

This week absolutely flew by! But at the same time I feel like this week was a year long! So many things happened. 

So. 

Many. 

Things. 

Monday we had our  #blandis exchange which was really good but also really bad because it made me wish that #blandis was a real thing...

It was just so easy and fun. We talked to like everyone on the streets and it was just normal and triple testifying was something that is just out of this world. I'd forgotten how good of a missionary Hermana Landa is. She is amazing for reals. She is one of my best friends in this whole world, and I know that she's had a hard mission and that she feels like she just needs a break. 

THIS LADY SITTING NEXT TO US PUT ON AT LEAST A GALLON OF PERFUME THIS MORNING AND I CANNOT BREATHE.

Anyway. The #blandis exchange was fabulous. We walked all over the streets of Lancaster PA. We OYMed, we got rejected, we laughed, and we found a lot of success. 

THREE AMAZING STORIES

Monday night as we entered into hour 1 of #teamblandis we were walking out of a dinner appointment and I got this prompting to go check up on a LA sister who had been in New York all week the week before, and since she didn't have a phone, we hadn't heard from her. She was home when we knocked on the door, and so was her nonmember husband, Ramon! We had set a goal in one of our companionship studies, that if we had a chance, we were going to invite him to sit down and have a lesson, so I did not mince words. I reminded him that he had told us in the past that he wanted to learn, and that we'd love to sit down with him and have a lesson. So he sat down! And we had a great lesson and the spirit was amazing! He said that he would be baptized and we were like crying. So that was awesome. 

The Tuesday we were coming up on the 11th hour of the #blandis exchange and we were on our way to the church and we were saying hola to every hispanic person we saw, but then all of a sudden this one guy got super excited that we were speaking in Spanish, and we told him about how we were missionaries and we were learning so we could preach the gospel. Then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and told him what it was and that Christ's church had been restored to the earth. He said, "I've been looking for this. This is the best thing that I've heard all day." It was so amazing. We set a return appointment so we could come back the next day, and we brought a member with us to fellowship him. The lesson was amazing. His wife even came in mid lesson and started listening and accepted a Book of Mormon and was super interested. He had so many great questions and everything made so much sense to him. We had a kneeling prayer with him at the end of the lesson and invited him to ask if the things that we had taught were true. He just said, "I already know that they're true." I was like freaking out!! Who is this guy!! He accepted a baptismal date for late September but he wasn't able to make it out to church, so we're gonna have to push it back a little bit which made me sad! But he is still going to get there, and hopefully with his wife as well.

Also on Tuesday we were walking, trying to contact some less active families that no one has ever met, and this guy was walking behind us and all the sudden Hermana Landa just whoops around and says, "Can I share a book with you?" It was crazy, this gospel conversation broke out and turned into this great street lesson. At first he said, "Well I'll take the book but it will just go on top of all my other bibles back at home." But then Hermana Landa smacked down with, "Well why would you do that? If God sent you a text message to your phone right now, wouldn't you want to open it and know what it says? Well this is God's message for you, and if you don't read it, you will never know." I was just like stunned into silence, and so was the guy. So he promised to read it, and we wrote our number in the front, not thinking he was too interested. 

WELL. 

A couple of days later we get this text from a random number that says "Hello. My name is Lewis. We met on Prince Street. You gave me a book to read. I had a few questions." We started freaking out! It was so amazing! So we're meeting with him tonight, and we're really hoping that he read the book! I can't wait to see what happens. 

A few more amazing stories from throughout the week....

On Thursday morning we were walking to our weekly service and this lady stopped us and started complaining about how rude people are, and all the sudden she just started crying and we just testified to her that God loves her and knows she is there. She said she really needed to hear it. She told us her name was Misse and she'd be interested in meeting with us. We called her that night and she was so surprised to hear from us! She said, "I didn't think you guys actually cared." Hopefully we will see her today as well! Stay tuned.

We were able to do service for Hermana Carcamo this week to finish painting her house. It was so fun, I love painting. We were laughing and joking with her and each other. Then her husband came out - I've never met him! Him and Elder Andrade started talking and really hit it off. They bonded over the what's happening with the mafia in Mexico, and it was so amazing. I was really happy because I don't know if Hermano Carcamo has talked to anyone from the church in a really long time! Then they paid for us to go out to lunch at Olive Garden! I was so happy! 

       

Last but not least we have David. 

DAVID IS AMAZING, PEOPLE.

We had a lesson with him last night and he just stopped us mid lesson and said, "You guys. I just got goosebumps. The Holy Ghost is here right now, can you feel that?" Then we took that opportunity to invite him to be baptized and he said that he would, but he needed to be sure about everything first. The only problem with David is that he doesn't have ANY time. He works 7-7 every single day of the week. So we are praying for him that something changes with his job! We know how amazing and prepared he is for this gospel! When we were teaching about priesthood authority, he TOTALLY just got it - he compared it to like a doctor that goes to college for years and then gets that degree and they have the RIGHT and like the certification to perform surgeries or write prescriptions because they had been certified to do so. It was so cool. He said an amazing prayer thanking the Lord for, "sending his servants to preach the good word" and asking for help to be faithful in studying the scriptures... guys. He is golden. 

It was just such a good week all in all. 

The funny thing is that for like 2 days straight we were just cooped up in the apartment. Sister Canseco had to go to the ER one day... THAT was an adventure. 

She woke up with a swollen eye and a headache in the back of her head. I told her to take a nap and drink some water...hahahaha. This is why I'm not a doctor. When we called Sister Johnson about it, she called the mission doctor and he told us to go to the ER right away. So we called the Lanc elders and they drove us to the hospital. We were there for a whole like 45 minutes was all, I think. The ER doctor rolled his eyes and seemed super annoyed that we were there. He said it was nothing, gave her an advil and some ointment for her eye and then we went home. Sister Johnson was so annoyed with him haha it was funny. 

Sister Canseco didn't start feeling better until we had to drop her off at a members house because we needed to go teach a lesson and she still wasn't feeling better. Hermana Martinez told her that she was stressed. She gave her some medicine, we started icing and heating her neck, and Hermana Martinez gave us like this massage stick thing that we did on her back and her neck and head and she is all better now. 

I would be stressed if I had to be Hermana Bills' companion, too!! hahaha. 

Yesterday was such a good day. We had a huge branch party at a park and played football and frisbee and beach volleyball and sang songs on the ukulele and guitar and had a bbq with the best food in the world and I was the happiest person alive. It was so fun we had like 70+ people show up! It was an awesome success. 

Then we had dinner with some members in the Lancaster ward and they taught us how to eat crabs and it was so fun and hilarious and we even ate the eyeballs! I felt like survivor man.

But anyway, that's pretty much it for this week. It was super awesome and really fun and, as usual, full of laughs and happy moments! 

I am thankful for the positive example that each of you are in my life! I am so grateful to have you all and for the way you support me and help me out!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!! 

Love, 

Hermana Bills

 

This Week Though

I feel like the last time I wrote was like a lifetime ago. Something pretty big happened this week.... Something monumental. Never before seen in this mission...

We have been called as the assistants to the assistants.

Yeah. 

It's pretty legit. We're kind of a really big deal. People are coming to do a photo shoot and we're going to a have a whole segment written about us on LDS.org and a second missionary apartment in bora-bora with a private jet and unlimited free salads at cafe rio and it has just been such a blessing but also a huge responsibility to have this new assignment... I'm just asking that everyone pray for us because this is so huge.

Hahahahahahahahaha oh my gosh no I am just kidding. But seriously we have been joking about this all week. It started last Monday when we were trying to figure out the transfers, and the assistants - Elder Birrell and Elder Gates (we are like best friends) - Skype'd us to talk about logistics or something, and we were asking them to show us the transfer boards and he showed them to us super fast and we got really excited but we didn't actually see anything that was worthwhile... So that was disappointing. 

Anyway. The joke started about us being their assistants somehow, and it has just escalated ever since. We know have like a good portion of the missionaries in the mission backing us up and saying that we are the assistants to the assistants and it is SO funny. President Johnson even called us the other day just to check up! 

"I just wanted to know how the assistants to the assistants were doing."

Like he seriously had NO purpose for his phone call, just to laugh about us being the assistants to the assistants. 

But... yeah. this probably won't even be funny to anyone but me. But it has seriously escalated from us joking about being in charge of transfers to saying that like we'll be speaking in General Conference and hahahaha the apartment in Bora-Bora was probably the highlight... we are always just joking and laughing about the glamorous life of assistants to the assistants. It has been so fun. 

Fun fact, though! The assistants actually gave us an assignment to find people to do musical numbers for zone conferences. 

So we're pretty excited. 

Okay but for real this week has been amazing. Sister Canseco is our new companion and she has been the absolute most chill, amazing, easiest person to get along with in the entire world. I love her. She is from California and she's a native Spanish speaker.

There is a guy sitting next to me drinking fanta and reading a book and listening to smooth jazz and dancing and he is fantastic, I think I'm going to invite him to get baptized....

There is no way he's getting anything out of that book he's reading.... 

Back to business.

We have loved working in the walk area this past week. It is so fun. We're meeting some of the coolest people. We talked with each other as a tripanionship about how important it is to follow our promptings, and we're getting a lot better at recognizing and following our promptings and we have seen some really cool things come from it! We are being really blessed. 

One of the miracles that happened this week... we had a prompting to go visit this less active sister who, the last time we went to visit her, she told us she wanted her name removed from the records of the church and everything, and we were so sad. But we volunteered to help her paint her house, and the members have just kept reaching out to her. And it was so amazing, she has changed so much! She wanted to download the gospel library onto her phone and she was willing to sit down and have a lesson with us and... honestly it was just the biggest miracle. She is so cool!! We're going to see hertomorrow morning and help her finish painting! The elders are going to start working with her.

OH YEAH! There's another thing! We have another set of elders here in Lancaster - that's 7 missionaries serving in this branch! That is a TON of missionaries! 

AND FURTHERMORE, we now have 11 missionaries in our district and so we have a mega district! There is only one other district in the mission that has more missionaries than we have and they have two senior couples so if we're just talking like young, full-time missionaries we have the biggest district in the whole mission and it. is. a. party. every. dang. day. 

I love this. 

We were so mad stressed out that our district was going to get split and we were going to be really sad but we are all still together just +3 more! 

It's fantastic! 

District meeting was insane, we had to bring in one of the big tables from the gym cause we didn't fit around the table in the relief society room haha.

Anyway. Other than that... nothing really happened this week. Transfer meeting on Tuesday was really fun. President Johnson decided that he wanted transfer meeting to be done via skype but it ended up not working out very well because right as he decided to announce the transfer board, the video and sound cut out so we didn't even know what was happening and the Zone Leaders ended up having to announce them. But at least we got to hear the introduction. President talked about how an "inspired companionship" isn't always one that just clicks right away. Sometimes it's the ones that take a little more work. I really liked that. 

Another thing that changed... after transfer meeting, we used to go work in someone else's area for the day, but they decided to stop doing that. So we just hung out at the chapel and waited for for 5 hours for people to show up from Pittsburgh. So that was... fun. I love spending time with missionaries. 

We are going to be seeing the missionaries so many times this transfer! We have a member of the 70 coming to visit the mission so we'll have a big meeting for that, and then we have a zone conference, and then there are two missionary firesides! It's going to be way awesome! 

Also, since our district is so big, we started doing pday eve sleepovers which has been legit. The sisters come to stay at our apartment and we watch like 17 miracles or ephraims rescue or the testaments and eat popcorn and then in the morning we make waffles and study the scriptures together. It's a blast. Then we all have pday together! 

This is seriously the funnest time of my life. I love everything about this area - walking, riding the bus, going to subway cause we don't have any dinner appointments and having my companion spill her ice water all over me, this #MEGADISTRICT, our beautiful apartment, the incredible members of this branch...

I don't know. I have felt so close to the spirit lately. Yesterday in sacrament meeting I just felt such a strong love for the people that I have met on my mission, and the people that I have in my life. I have really started to understand the way Heavenly Father feels about us, and the love that he has for us... obviously it's just a small portion of the love that he has that he allows us to feel. I am so grateful for my Savior and how he comforts me and helps me to feel so loved and blessed. 

I hope each of you feel the joy that the gospel brings and openly share it with others.

I love you! I would write more but my district is nagging me to go. 

#BLANDIS is on exchange starting tonight.

#blandis is go

Love, 

Hermana Bills 

Three's a Crowd

This week. 

Cake?

Wow. 

I just do not know where to begin. 

Let me think... 

AH, I found a good place. 

This week was insane. On Wednesday we got a phone call from President Johnson, indicating that WE ARE IN FACT GOING TO THE WALK AREA. So that was much rejoicing had in the land. 

Beside the rejoicing, there was also much cleaning and packing and moving had in the land. Which I hate moving so that was really stressful. Our new apartment is on the third floor of this old building so that was fun carrying loads and loads of furniture and things up those stairs. Doesn't get much funner than that, my friends!! 

Khloee

BUT! The apartment is suuuper nice and recently refurbished and I feel like I'm living in some sort of bachelors pad or something. Like it's a dang nice apartment so we were pretty spoiled. 

However, something was slightly different in this apartment than in any other missionary apartment I have previously lived in... 

This apartment had...

3 tables

and 3 beds. 

YOU GUYS.

WE ARE GOING TO BE IN A TRIO.

I have had like 12,007 mini panic attacks. 

I do not know how to do missionary work in a trio...

SO I need your help! All of you returned missionaries that served in trios or know people who have served in trios that were good and that worked out really well, I NEED TIPS! 

INFORMATION PRECEDES REVELATION, FOLKS. 

So if you guys could help me out with that this week, I would sincerely appreciate it. 

PS - you guys were the best this week. I got so many wonderful and kind emails all throughout the week that made me feel like the most incredibly loved person on the entire planet earth. So thank you for that. I love you all. 

But anyway! So at first the idea of a trio was a little bit alarming. But when we thought it through, we realized that it had to be Hermana Landa coming! (Since there are only 7 Hermanas in the mission - Me and Hermana Davis, Hermana Sears and Hermana Busath are in the middle of training, Hermana Blackwell is an STL, and Landa and Hermana Smith just got done training so Hermana Smith was going to train a new missionary) And we got really excited. Because I have been wanting to serve with Hermana Landa since the moment I left Lebanon 7 months ago. So we got really excited and we smooshed our three last names together and called ourselves #blandis and that was suuuper trending (in our minds) for like a whole two days until Saturday night came and President Johnson called Hermana Landa and told her that she was going to be a Sister Training Leader and we were really sad because that means that #blandis is officially dead. Along with all of my dreams. 

So then we were really unamused so I grabbed the phone and texted President Johnson "that was not funny." because he knew that we had thought Hermana Landa was coming to Lancaster all along and he just let us believe it. Cause even before we moved into the new apartment we had a feeling that we were going to be in a trio because of something the assistants said to us on the phone... So anyway President texted us back saying that we are going to love our new companion and she is going to make a big contribution to the area and all this stuff and I answered back with, "We love you, President Johnson. But that was still not funny." So then he called us and talked to us on the phone for like 20 minutes but half of the time he couldn't even talk because he was laughing so hard saying that he knew that we thought Hermana Landa was coming and how funny he thought he was... We were just so done with his attitude. 

Well anyway we eventually hung up the phone with him and the next day in the middle of our lunch hour he texts us, "Is is funny yet?" 

That wily old man.

He thinks he's so clever...

So we replied with, "Yes, President. We haven't stopped laughing. You're hilarious." 

Then I called him this morning to ask him about whether or not I could get permission to start applying for college and all dat fun stuff and he answered the phone, literally, didn't even say hello, just answered by saying, "Is it funny, NOW?" hahahaha

That guy. 

He told me, "Are we on speaking terms? No. You're just like my children. They only talk to me when they want something." hahaha

But anyway. Aside from all the bullying coming from our mission president, we actually were really really sad that Hermana Landa is not going to be here with us. 

Another super sad thing that I found out (and who knows if this will mean anything to anyone but it was really really hard for me) is that Lebanon is being closed for sisters. I cried for like 20 minutes. Not only because Lebanon is really near and dear to my heart as the place where I was born into this mission life, but also because there are only 2 Spanish areas for sisters in the entire mission, and now there is only one, and it's this branch. 

It's just so hard. I remember the struggle while I was in Hanover and I only taught 2 Spanish lessons my whole 4 months there and I always wondered, "Why in the world was I called Spanish speaking to Pennsylvania. Who ever uses their Spanish in PA?" But serving in Lebanon and in Lancaster have been amazing. I have truly been able to magnify my calling. That means everything to me. I mean, I know that we do missionary work all the time in English as well, and it's just as important. But you just wonder why you got YOUR call, you know what I mean? And now there are 7 Hermanas and only 1 area that they could possibly serve in and so I just know that not all of them are going to have the opportunity and it breaks my heart. 

But also because... gah. It's Lebanon! That's my home!! 

Well anyway. There's nothing we can really do about it. 

So I was seeking comfort from the Lord last night and this morning through my prayers and the scriptures and something just stuck out to me... I read several chapters in Mosiah this morning and I couldn't help but notice the difference between the people of Limhi and the people of Alma. Both were in bondage, both ended up looking to the Lord and being free from bondage and got their happy ending and were strengthened and ended up better people because of their trials. But something was different. 

Limhi and his people were subject to the Lamanites because of their personal wickedness in turning away from the Lord and not keeping His commandments.

But Alma and His people were taken into bondage for a different reason. As it says in the book of Mosiah, 23rd chapter, 21st verse, sometimes, "the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith." 

I just really needed that this morning. It reminded me that there are three different kinds of trials that we go through in this life

1- trials because of our own poor choices

2- trials because of the poor choices of others

3- trials from the Lord because he knows we are prepared to grow

I love that we have a God who works that way. Who trusts us to go through trials and troubles and afflictions and things that scare us because he wants us to rely on him and he wants us to grow. 

I know that my Heavenly Father adores each and every one of us, and that His plan is for us to become like Him some day. If we just have faith in the things that He asks us to do, everything will work together for our good. I know it. Just like in D&C 121 when the Lord is comforting Joseph Smith - these things will only be a small moment, and if we can endure them well, we will be exalted. We will receive more blessing than we could ever imagine. That will be an incredible day. 

I know it's something small that I'm going through right now. But if it's important to me, it's important to Him. And that applies to each one of you. It doesn't matter what trial or tribulation you're going through, it matters to Him. But it's important to identify what kind of trial we're going through. 

If our trials are because of our own poor choices, we can repent.

If our trials are because of the poor choices of others, we can forgive.

and if our trials are because the Lord is ready to help us grown, we can be faithful and trust that He will take care of us.

He loves us incredibly. I know it. I hope that you all know it. 

I love you, too :) 

Love, Hermana Bills

  

The Fruit of My Vineyard

Hey guys! 

So the title of my email this week comes from Jacob 5, I was studying this chapter of scripture in my personal study this morning and it really spoke to me. I love the story in Jacob 5, even though I know that I don't fully understand the significance of everything that's being said. But anyway, verse 75 stuck out to me this morning specifically. I just want to share one excerpt with you, 

"And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold he shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard."

This week has been amazing! 

Saturday Jorge was able to get baptized. The spirit was so strong and we had tons of members from the branch come to show their support. Jorge was so happy, and at the end of the service, he was able to stand and give his testimony... Honestly if you'd heard that testimony you would probably think that this guy had been a member all his life. He talked about his gratitude toward Joseph Smith and how grateful he was for a living prophet Thomas S. Monson, and how he loved the Book of Mormon, and even though he had yet to finish it all the way, he knows that the things he is reading are true. Then he shared one of his favorite passages of scripture with all of us and it just blew me away. 

What he shared is found in 2 Nephi 25:16-17 and it says: 

"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 believe these things.

And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men."

That was the most incredible thing! To hear our investigator reading those words and bearing his testimony of the restoration of the gospel!! 

So anyway. Other than the fact that we just baptized the next prophet.... The baptism was pretty normal :) his confirmation was really cool. We were small numbers this week in sacrament meeting - only about 27 people. So pretty much the whole congregation stood up to confirm him ;) hahaha just kidding. 

But when he came to sit back down he had the BIGGEST smile on his face and he just looked like the happiest person in the entire world. He said his heart was beating so hard and he just felt this warmth and joy, and I knew that he had really felt it! That he really had received the Holy Ghost. 

Out of all of the amazing and prepared investigators that I have found and taught and baptized... Jorge Salas has got to be the one who gets it the most. At times I'm pretty sure that he gets it even more than I do... And I've been a member of this church my whole life! Explain that!?

Anyway. Hopefully next week Jorge will get the priesthood and be able to start helping with passing and eventually blessing the sacrament. That will be an amazing opportunity for him. 

The only thing that breaks my heart is that Diana decided not to be baptized. Not only does she not want to get baptized, but she also decided to just keep going to her other church. I was completely devastated... And completely baffled! The week before she had just been telling us over and over "I am SO sure I want to be baptized into this church." And we just don't know what happened! :( we just hope that she was able to feel the spirit at the baptism and that the Lord will continue to look after her and continue preparing her to accept the gospel. She's got Jorge, though, so we're not too worried. 

But ALSO we just found out that Jorge is probably going back to Ecuador for a couple of months to work and save up some money. He will be leaving mid September. 

The first counselor in our branch presidency is also leaving mid September to move to Florida. 

AND our branch mission leader leaves for Utah to go to college... 

Not the three people going home!

So someone please explain to me how we are ever supposed to build this branch up and help it grow if we baptize one person and three people leave!? 

Well that's exactly what we have been thinking about, and the Lord gave us this great idea to do a 40 day fast for missionary work and opportunities. So we explained the idea a couple of weeks ago to the branch council and the idea was implemented and everything is set to begin on September 6. 

So what the 40 day fast is, is that each day for 40 days, a member of the branch signs up to fast for missionary work and for opportunities to share to gospel and things like that. Or if they have people in their lives that aren't members or are less active or something like that, then they fast for their hearts to be softened or whatever. 

So every day for 40 days there is at least one designated member of the congregation fasting for missionary work. 

We sent around the sign up sheet on our side of he branch yesterday and already over half of the slots are filled! We couldn't believe it! 

Next week it will be passed around the York side of the branch, and hopefully all of the slots will get filled!! 

This branch is so amazing. We really think that this idea will help the work take off as the members become more aware and as we become more unified through this fast. 

Meanwhile we're just trying to do our best to move forward with the work! It's been really amazing! We have been praying so fervently to know what the Lord's will is for this area and to follow his direction in the work. The past couple of weeks we have just felt so strongly that He's been telling us to focus on working with the ward members and the less active or part member families. We have been a little bit confused because we also need to be getting baptisms if we want this branch to stay open, but we knew that it's what the Lord wanted so we just decided to go with it! And we have had some amazing blessings! 

The other day we were going over to visit with a less active sister that really seems like she's ready to be reactivated. We had an awesome lesson with her and then felt prompted to ask if she had anyone that we could share our message with, and right away she brought up her neighbor who just moved in from another country! We got super excited and said, okay! And asked if she had a name and an address or a phone number or something. But she was like, "hey! let's just go over and visit with her right now!" we were just baffled. 

So we walked over to Dolores' house and she was just heading out to visit with someone, but Hermana Paulino told her who we were and why we had come over, and Dolores was just like, "Oh that's awesome! I've been looking for a church! Let's go upstairs in my apartment so you can talk to me!" So that's what we did! And we had a super great member present lesson and the spirit was really amazing, and Dolores said how much she loved the Lord and appreciated that we had come. Then she gave us these little pears and we walked back to our car and drove home and we were just dumbfounded. We could not believe what had just happened.
 

It was our little miracle. 

Not Eduardo's Pitbull!

Another miracle that we had... we were going to try one of our recent converts who has been borderline less active lately and there was this guy just standing with his dog by the place where I usually park the car, and I felt prompted to talk to him, so naturally I strike up a conversation about his pitbull and ask if I can pet it and then we got into this long conversation about God and how He loves his children and all His creations and we shared a Book of Mormon with him and he said, "Oh my gosh! I used to have one of these, I read a little bit in it, but then I lost it. I will definitely read it this time, thank you for the copy!" And he told us we could come over to talk a little bit more about the church! His name is Eduardo. 

We love the Book of Mormon! We had an awesome Zone Training this week about the role of the Book of Mormon in conversion. We talked about how it is absolutely essential for our investigators to be reading if we want them to have true and lasting conversion! Now the whole mission is doing a competition which will be really cool - each day you have to ready 1 chapter of the BOM, one of your investigators or LA members has to read 1 chapter of the BOM, and you have to give out one BOM. Every day that you do ALL THREE of those things, you get a point. Each night, the Assistants are going to call EVERY companionship in the mission and find out how many points you got! The score will reset every single week! We're so excited, we've already been committing people to do it! We have been getting a lot of really positive responses! 

When we tried to commit Jorge to do it, he just looked at us and was like, "I've already been doing that!" Haha we were just like, "Who are you!?" 

Anyway. Things have been going amazingly. Since we decided to work with the members and LA's, we have been getting super tight with a lot of the people in this branch. They're really starting to love and trust us. The scary thing is that I know eventually I'm just going to have to leave this area, and I never want to!! I'm probably just going to find an apartment and move in to Lancaster, PA and be in the Spanish branch forever and go on team ups with the Sister missionaries every single day! I already have a family who said they are going to adopt me! Actually they said that they already DID adopt me. So that's an important first step! ;) hahaha

I love this work! I love the Book of Mormon! That book has played an incredibly large part in my personal conversion, and I invite each of you to read it over and over and over - to study the message that it contains, and to fall in love with the Book of Mormon! It will help you with any problem you are facing or question you have.

A chapter a day keeps the devil away ;)

LOVE YOU GUYS! 

Love, 

Hermana Bills

A straight shot home!

Investigators

Chair Soccer

Purging

Buffalo Wild Wings

  

Holy cow! So many ups and downs this week! 

This morning, Hermana Davis and I were studying in John 15:1-16 and we loved verse two which says, 

          "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." 

We absolutely loved that scripture this morning because it just described our lives this past week. There were so many amazing incredible moments and so many "purging" moments as well. But just to read that scripture and know that the Lord is not purging us because He doesn't love us or feels that we're not working hard enough. He is purging us because we're bringing forth fruit, and He wants us to reach the fullest of our potential. 

We are praying for charity. 

We are working on becoming more bold. 

We are developing our faith.

It has been such a wonderful experience serving with Hermana Davis. Because we work so hard and we try so hard but at the same time it just comes so naturally because she is such an outstanding missionary. It's so easy to work the area because we really don't have to work at our companionship. It's exactly what this branch needs right now. We can completely focus all of our time and love and energy and just put it all into the branch because we don't have to worry about getting along or being disobedient or anything. 

It's amazing.

So that's exactly what we've been doing. Putting everything we have into the branch. The work is exhausting, but it is well worthwhile. 

Some of the lows that we hit this week...

on Monday we got cut 300 miles which was a real hit for the area. We have been praying to know how to work the area and last transfer we received 300 extra miles so that we could get to each of the sub areas that we cover. But now with the cut, we're not sure how we're supposed to make it work. We've been struggling a little bit because we don't understand how there are missionaries who are only covering the boundaries for half of a ward who have 900 miles, and we're supposed to cover the boundaries for half of a STAKE and we only have 1000 miles - only 100 more than those other areas. Someone tell me how we're supposed to cover 4 enormous wards with 1000 miles. Hahaha. Soooo it's just kind of stressful and we're trying to pray for patience to deal with the situation. We've just been spending a LOT of time walking around from appointment to appointment and getting better and better at planning things closely together so that when we have appointments in our far out areas, that we have the miles to get there. 

BUT I guess it's just preparing us for our new area!!! 

We were just confirmed this week that we're DEFINITELY getting moved to the new walk area that's opening up in the branch and honestly we are just so stoked. We have wanted this so bad and just prayed and prayed to receive it and the Lord was all like, "Knock and ye shall receive." And we were all like, "OMG did that really just work?"

TOTES DID. 

So that was a highlight and definitely not a low light so it shouldn't have been included in this section but it was just such a good transition so it had to be done. 

But I guess I shouldn't really focus on the negative things that happened this week. I do what you guys to know that I definitely have days where I struggle and cry and that things are really hard but in spite of all of those things I always focus on the one guy who pulls me through and that is my Savior Jesus Christ. Why should I be focused on the bad things that happen or the trials that come when I have a God who loves me and is perfectly aware of me? Who directs me in the work and has prepared a plan for my life that is perfect and beautiful beyond anything I can ever imagine on my own? 

And I truly have felt that. 

This week we had the amazing opportunity to go to the Washington DC temple. As I sat in the Celestial room I was just overcome with this incredible joy and feeling of love that the Lord has for me. I am becoming (slowly but surely) more and more aware of His watchful hand, guiding and directing me in my life. Always for the better. I know that He prepares each of us for our great callings in life. My love for the Lord and His commandments has never been stronger. This gospel is so amazing. I am so blessed to be a part of it! 

The temple was incredible. I learned so many new things as we went through the endowment session. I was grateful for the opportunity to go. It has been hard to only go every couple months as a missionary. I have made a goal to go weekly when I get home, and I'm so excited for that! 

Something else that I will never take for granted LITERALLY EVER AGAIN is Cafe Rio you guys. 

That place. 

Is.

Amazing.

We went there on Saturday on our way back from the temple and I literally wept tears of joy. 

Cafe Rio is the food of choice in the celestial kingdom. 

I know it. 

I have leftovers in the fridge back home and I am planning on eating them within the hour. 

I haven't felt this excited about anything in a long time. 

Jk.

Speaking of excitement, though! Some exciting news! Diana and Jorge got married on Thursday this week!! There was so much support and love from the members of the branch. Hermana Martinez (our hispanic adopted mother) called us on Wednesday night and we spent a little under an hour getting things set up so that Diana and Jorge felt special and loved! It went really well and looked really nice! It was a super short ceremony, and there was a little gathering afterward. We met Diana's daughter and son-in-law! They were really nice. 

More excitement, Jorge finished the lessons and passed his baptismal interview, so he'll be getting baptized this Saturday! We're so stoked! 

We were able to work with some awesome families this week and so see a lot of success! Honestly it's something that is so exciting to be able to work with FAMILIES rather than individuals. So cool. So we'll see what comes out of some of those things. Stay tuned.

We were also able to pick up a new investigator living in Elizabethtown! He doesn't speak any English so he wants to come to the branch with us! But it's like a 45 minute drive! He has a car and everything, he's just got to be willing to make the sacrifice! So we're hoping that as we teach the gospel to him boldly and with love that he will understand the importance of coming to church! He seems like a seriously great guy, and hopefully we can start teaching his son as well!! 

Anyway! This work is amazing! I'm out of time for the week, I feel like I could go on and on and on! 

You guys are so amazing! I hope that you feel my love and that you know how spectacular you are! We each have a purpose in this life - we are so important in the Lord's work!! He needs us! 

So go out there and change lives! 

I'll be doing the same right along with you! 

I LOVE YOU GUYS! 

Love, 

Hermana Bills