Howdy do!

Email: 9/30/2013

Hi family. I'm dead. Sorry for the sad news, but it's true. I'm just sluggish like you couldn't believe. So yes. And we've been getting home too late for me to write in my journal at all this week, so I'm sincerely apologetic that I can't give you a rundown of the week. Haha But anyway... let me begin from memory.

I'M GOING TO GENERAL CONFERENCE ON SATURDAY. Afternoon session. And would you like to guess how we're traveling to SLC? Well, no. I'm just going to tell you. WE'RE TRAVELING ON TRAAAACKS! I'm going to ride on a train. Please explode in excitement with me :) So I'm so incredibly stoked. Saturday morning we're going to our landlord's daughter's house for breakfast and then we're watching the first session with them. Our landlord's children are my favorite people. I can't wait to be friends with them. Haha Their other daughter was staying at the house this weekend, so we got to talk with her a lot at dinner last night. She's awesome. We talked a lot about her past pregnancy, so I was like in heaven. Birth stories are my favorite! Sorry if that's weird for anyone... I was so excited. I kept asking questions and she would talk about things and I would know what she was saying because hello... that's my major! I was so happy. I just love their whole family (our landlord's). All of them! They're the best. Oh, then on Sunday night (conference), we're going to eat dinner with them and their entire family is going to be there. This will be like 50 people. It's going to be a blast!

Also hi dad... I've felt slightly prompted to submit my BYU application while I'm out here. President McCune completed the ecclesiastical endorsement, so whenever you give me the ok I'm going to pay the $35 fee and submit away. Also, my mission card wasn't working when I was buying groceries the past little while so I used a bit of the money you put on my card. So we're going winter clothes shopping today and I've got about $100 on the card. Sooo I hope that'll be enough! I don't have to spend money on a coat, so I should be ok.

Adam, when you came home from Michigan, you had a lot of Christian rock cd's, and if I remember correctly you had a lot of Phil Wickham. Soooooo, if you know where to locate those, could you send me some? He's my favorite. My companion has a few of his songs, and I'm just dying for more. He has some of the most inspiring music I've ever heard. I love it.

We had a Spanish speaking missionary meeting, which was AWESOME. I had a hamburger from the BYU creamery (who knew it was a crogery store/ice cream shop/burger joint?! It's the cutest little place!!) I love Provo. We went to the temple that morning. We went to the one in Provo this time. HELLO! I've always loved the Provo temple, but inside it's SO indescribably beautiful. I didn't expect it to be so incredibly darling! I just expected it to be pretty like all of the other temples. But this one is now one of my very favorites. For real. It's amazing.

The Elders got some apples from members (there are A LOT of apple/pear/pumpkin/everything trees/plants. Some belonging to people, some not!) But they had so many, so I took some from them! Or, they gave me some. However you want to say it...

So here's the deal where the work is concerned... We got to see President McCune at a multi-stake leadership training by Elder Terry (area 70, I believe) and I guess he thinks I've been depressed or something because he kept telling me "It's going to work out. Some areas you'll be working non-stop, and in some areas you'll have to build and prepare it for the next missionaries down the road." This, I already knew. But let me explain why I don't mention all of our investigators in my email... We're down to two. We have a family who still isn't coming to church and won't get married (but otherwise progressing), and we have this one man who we can't ever get an appointment with. We have a lot of less active families we're working with, but only one that's really progressing. So I would talk about the work we're doing, but it would make my email really short... Haha We're working though!

So! HOW ABOUT THIS WEATHER, HUH? This week it'll be in the 70's during the warm parts of the day, but last week it was freezing during all parts of the day. Soooo yes. The Elders got snow where they live (right by the mountain) but we just got really really cold. Haha There's still a little bit of snow on the mountains! My lanta, I'm going to die. THERMAL EVERYTHING!!

Our first day as a branch was the sweetest, most darling thing ever. It's bigger than the branch we had going in our ward. Just a little bit bigger than we had when we had a lot. I'm so excited about it! And we have the best WML! His family is one of my favorites. He's the one who pressured me into eating the chile de arbol. They're great.

Family history is one of my new favorite things. Did you know someone traced our family line all the way back to God (on grandmother's side)? Because I found it. And also, Elder Stevenson and I are related! So fun. Hahaha After I found my link all the way back, he wanted to see if he could too. Well, when he found the name Evildoer (I remembered it from when I was looking), we found the same person who was in my line! Then he was able to trace his all the way back to God, too. Anyway, I'm in love with FH work, and I can't wait to come home and get Uncle Darren to teach me his ways! G-ma's side hardly goes back at all, and I want to get to the bottom of that! Soooo... that's going to happen in 2015.

I think that's all I have this week, so get ready for a flood of pictures, because it's a-comin'!

Love love love!

Hermana Willis