HAPPY EASTER!

So here's the thing. I've always loved Easter, and I've always thought I had a good understanding of the resurrection and the meaning of Easter, but whoa. This Easter I've come to understand the atonement, the resurrection, and really REALLY understand and KNOW Jesus Christ. It's CRAZY. I posted something on FB about it. It's amazing. Have y'all seen the Because of Him video? I'm obsessed with it.

HEY DAD! YOUR BIRTHDAY IS SOON! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I was talking to someone about their relationship with their parents, and I was just SO happy because I've almost always agreed with you and mom, and I feel like y'all are literally my best friends. I LOVE YOU!

I've come out of the closet recently... I was never really in a closet about it, but I'm accepting the name that comes with the thing... I am... a... TREE HUGGER. I just love this planet so much, so tomorrow... HAPPY EARTH DAAAAAYYY!! Go recycle something for me! (We don't have a recycling bin, and it hurts my heart.) Speaking of living things... Mommy... how's my avocado plant? Is it dead?? :(

I've had dreams about washing dishes, recycling, and our new vacuum. WE GOT A NEW VACUUM!! Holy smokes, IT IS AMAZING. Anyway... I'm weird.

Here's three things I miss:
-Fox news (My landlady watches it every night)
-Pinterest (My tree-hugger part of me wants to find eco-friendly ways to do everything I normally do here in the mission, but it'll have to wait another 9 months)
-JESSICA WILLIS. So you sure know how to make a person trunky! Hahaha Just kidding, mostly. You posted that little 1D picture on FB and I almost died. I WANT TO GO COUPONING WITH YOU FIRST THING WHEN I GET HOME, YOU HEAR? And baby clothes shopping, and thrifting. Ok? Ok.

You know someting cute about Utah? Orem, especially? The "community" activities. So this stake is literally not even as big as our ward boundaries. It's literally not even 6 square blocks. I kind of feel claustrophobic here, but it's ok. I think it's the lack of car, but it's not too bad. Hahah

Easter! I endured the two piano pieces I had for our Easter program (WHICH WAS AMAZING), and right when I was in the middle of a sigh of relief, the Elders Quorum president comes up to us, and tells us he wants to do a musical number for Mother's Day... SERIOUSLY? I LOVE being able to play the piano, and I love learning new songs, but if I'm being 100% honest, I DO NOT like to preform. So after the musical program in March, I was so excited to be done with music for a little while. Then we started preparing for Easter, of course. And RIGHT after the Easter program, when I was SURE I was done with music for now, we're starting on something new. I'm going to play the piano, and my companion's going to lead them and organize the musical number. Holy cow, I've never done so much music in my life. I love music, but I think after Mother's Day, I'll be just about burnt out.

OH, HECK YEAH! Mother's Day is in THREE WEEKS!! Do you know what that means?! YOU HAVE TO TALK TO MEEEE!! I can't wait.

OH YEAH! I never told you about this! A couple weeks ago the mission announced that we are now allowed to go to some other temples out of the mission. If there's a family member receiving a living ordinance, or a recent convert or less active we were working with going to the temple either in Utah or Salt Lake county (or the Manti temple) we can go with them, with permission from President McCune. LOCO CRAZY, RIGHT?! We don't have anybody going to the temple too soon, but whenever we do go to an outside mission temple, I'll take a bunch of pictures :)

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something, but that's ok. I LOVE YOU ALL, A WHOLE BUNCH.

Hna Willis

P.s. This "Spring" thing is beautiful. TULIPS EVERYWHERE! Florida should try it sometime :)

I love James C. Christiansen, so when I saw this notebook I was so sad about being broke :( Then my tax return came in! Woot woot! I don't think I'm going to buy it, but I like not feeling poor :)

Still obsessed...

HAPPY EARTH DAY!! :D

No transfers, and lots of pictures!

Did I ever thank Jacob for the letter I got over a month ago? Because I did appreciate it! Haha

So, nobody's getting transferred here! We're both staying. Good thing, because we're carrying half the Easter program for the ward. The struggle of being musically talented.

This week it's been SO WARM, but then yesterday it got mega cold and windy... ihateveryone... It's ok, WARMTH IS COMING!

SHOUT OUT: Jessica Epperson, Sariah Swartz, Rachel Polley, Nate Livsey, Kylie O, and the rest of Jax institute... I LOVE AND MISS YOU! Y'all's awesome, and I miss your faces in my life.

Our RS president is an angel. Saturday morning, we didn't have any clean dishes (we have no sink, so they pile up for a week until we have time to go upstairs and use our landlady's kitchen to wash them), so I didn't eat breakfast. We were biking, and it was warm, so I was fixin to pass out... But then we went to our RS' house, and the first thing she said was "Quieren un liquido?" YES, I WOULD LOVE A SMOOTHIE. She put flax, chia, almonds... I was in weird people food heaven! So I didn't die that day... I love her :)

Saturday night, Henry got baptized! He's so coooool! It was an amazing baptism. He's so special. He's a rock solid member now. We were running around like headless chickens though... We had the baptism at 6, then stake conference at 7. HOLY SMOKES.

We had stake conference, which was cool. DO YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME PRESIDENT KEELE IS? He gave the boss-est talk in stake conference, and it was awesome. My companion also gave a talk in the Saturday night session, in English <---which was awesome. Then she sang Savior, Redeemer of My Soul while I played the piano, and a stake member played the cello. It would have been amazing if I didn't screw it up... It's ok though. I'm used to that, I always mess up. Nobody noticed though, so it's all good.

Not much happened this week... SORRY MY EMAIL IS SO SHORT! This is a weird change... Hahaha

I love you aaaallll!!!

Hna Willis

Here's a picture of the baptism! The tall American man is the one who invited him to hear from the missionaries. HE'S AWESOME. The one with glasses is our WML, the one in the suit is Henry, and the other one is Hno Diaz. They always let us have lessons in their house. I LOVE THEM ALL! Wooot :)

Did you know that I'm obsessed with family history? Because I am. I can't wait to blow up on it when I get home.

This is me and other members of the Diaz family. They're awesome! :)

They made big banners for stake conference... WELCOME TO UTAH!

So one time, I sat on a lawn chair, and it broke. Then I got this awesome bruise :)

This is me with the Diaz/Olivan family. They're amazing! And there seated next to me is Henry. He's awesome!

I still do hair! Ya tu sabes! She was so frustrated with her hair, and just wanted it UP. But her hair is literally super huge. But guess who could do it anyway! I could. Boom.

So you know how I love eco-friendly things? (I promise I'm not a closet liberal <--- no offense to liberals though, I'm just not). Well I FOUND THIS AWESOME PEN. Pilot pens are my favorite, and they came out with a pen made of water bottle plastic! Say whaatt?? Yes. It's my favorite pen now.

One of our STL's drew this. She's awesome. She's from Germany. Guess which is me! (Hint: I always have glasses on...)

Holy canoli!

WHAT A WEEK!

Let me begin from... the beginning.

Monday: I spent almost all of my money on bike things, but I have a basket on my bike! WOOT WOOT! :) Then... WE WENT TO THE KEELE'S FOR DINNER. And not only were the Keele's there, but my Krasno's were there tooo!!! So I FINALLY got to meet Sergio... ahem... Elder Krasnoselsky (<----SAY WHAT?!) He's such a boss. I always knew he'd do great things... Hahah But really, I love them so so so much. I saw them Sunday morning at church for a quick minute but had to run to a meeting, then had dinner with them. It was so good to just talk to them, instead of always being in airports or whatever... I loved it. Saying bye to them wasn't fun, but it was ok, because I'M GOING TO ARGENTINA.

Speaking of Argentina... Dad... can we go pick up Luke when he finishes his mission? Because I would love that... a whole lot.

We went to an FHE on Monday night with the ward, and they couldn't figure out how to get their iPad to connect to theie Apple tv... Nobody (out of around 30 peopel) knew how to do it... GUESS WHO SAVED THE DAY! I did. Thanks for learning me some technology! :) Also, at that FHE, I slipped going down the stairs and bounced down like 4 or 5 steps. So my butt was sore for awhile. And I think heard my back pop a time or two while I was bouncing down... That could have been a bad thing. Hahaha

Anyway, back to business...

So that was Monday. No lessons that day. OH WELL, because the next day was...

Tuesday: We had every hour blocked up with set lessons! Some of them canceled, pero ta bien. We have a new fellowshipper. He texted us one day and asked if he could come out with us. He's from BRAZIL! Whaaat! So my desire for other languages is kicking in again, and I really want to read my Portuguese Book of Mormon (because I have one), but I'm resisting temptation. MAN, that's hard! Hahaha

I cut my hair again on Tuesday... Why did I bring these shears? THEY'RE JUST TEMPTATION!! Well, I have used them to serve other missionaries (I've cut around... 5 sisters' hair), AND my ends are healthy again... MOM: Thank you for giving me your love of learning, and desire to do everything myself. DAD: Thank you for teaching me your "If you want it, go for it" attitude. Otherwise, I never would have taught myself how to cut hair, or do half the things I know how to do. Y'ALL'S THE BOMB! :)

Oh, but Tuesday... I woke up and my whole body hurt (which has been pretty normal these past two weeks). I asked my companion for some ibuprofen (because this was like full body aches, and I don't have enough essential oils for that), which she had... but it was weird. It was like a powder you mix into water, and it tasted like mint. Now, I love mint, but that junk was NASTY. Sara, Adam... If I said "Power in the Powder" would you start singing? I hope so. But there was indeed, not power in this powder. -_- That's what I get for trusting in modern medicine, I guess... Haha

OH! Wednesday, our branch president (who is dad's twin, but looks like a Mexican Sylvester Stallone) took us to Outback with his family. They changed the menu, so I wasn't sure what to get, so he made me get a steak. AND MY LANTA, WAS IT GOOD. But I'm so glad I was raised with 6 men, because I know how to order a steak! Medium. Mmmmm. Man, oh man, that was some good steak. That family is a miniature version of our family. I LOVE being with them.

OH YEAH! And our branch presiden't wife is from COLONIA JUAREZ! What whaaat! She said she knows Todd Romney! Does the name Araceli Vizciano ring a bell?

I FOUND MY BOOK OF MUSIC! Just thought I'd let you know... RELIEF!! :D

We had interviews with the mission president, and he is like a WIZARD or something. I'd been stressed, but NOBODY could tell. I asked my companion if I looked stressed that day, and she said I appeared happier than normal... So I can fool people! But the second we went into the room for the interview, he said "Sister Willis, you look like there's a lot on your mind." WHOA. So I started crying, and had an awesome interview, and now I feel like a regular human missionary again! Yesss!

STORY TIME! President told us this story, and I cannot get over how much I love it.
He was finishing up business school at BYU, and he was so ready for it to be over, because he'd been working, schooling, and nothing else non-stop for almost 4 years. He was married, so money was hard, as can be expected... He really just wanted time to relax (that sounds familiar... Hahaha) So he goes into his final examination, which was a 3 hour essay, where they're given case studies, and they just had to work things out... FOR THREE HOURS. So rewind: first day of that class, the professor was teaching about risk taking in business, and told a (true) story of a student as an example. When he was teaching at Harvard. They were getting ready to take this same final. They got their case studies, and they all began to start their final. It was a spring day, just like the one I was in, and the one president was telling us about. One of the girls came down and handed her final in, not even 5 minutes after getting it. The professor looked at her like she was crazy, looked at her paper, and all it said was "It's a beautiful day outside, I think I'll go and enjoy it." She got an A. So back to president's time... He came into the final, having already calculated his grades... If he completely flunked this final, he would still pass with a descent grade, so he decided what he was going to do. Everybody was sitting, slaving over their case studies, and he began to walk down to the professor's desk. He handed in his final, and his professor looked completely bewildered. He looked at my brilliant mission president, looked at his final, and looked back at president and said "What are you doing?" President just looked at him and said "It's a beautiful day outside, I think I'll go and enjoy it." His professor just looked shocked. He told him that nobody has ever actually done that since the first girl. President McCune looked at him, smiled, and said "I guess I'm a risk taker, then." His professor asked what his standing grade in the class was, and he gave him that as his final grade. WHO'S A BOSS? My mission president is. That story just made my day.

So just think about that... Jacob, YOU WANT TO BE LIKE HIM. Hahahaha

So remember how I mentioned that I bounced down stairs, and my whole body hurts daily? I'm going to the chiropractor! Wohooo!! I'm not dying, My body just hurts, especially my back (don't worry, not serious stuff). President told me to go, but the mission will cover it, so I don't have to worry about that. I can't wait to be able to walk and sleep like a regular person! :D

SO LET'S GET DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY:

General Conference was MIND BLOWING. I've never felt like people were speaking to me so directly in my LIFE. I can't wait to tear those talks up over the next few months :)

Some things I wanted to share from my conference experience:
-I always feel a little bit of pride when anybody mentions Col. Juarez... I JUST LOVE IT!
-I was with another sister because our companions were in SLC, and we were watching a session at their stake missionaries' house (I'll explain what stake missionaries are later). Here are a few highlights from that visit:
*They have brown towels on their recliners, JUST LIKE DAD! I loved it.
*There was a small garbage can half way under a small table next to the recliner I was sitting in... I imagined dad throwing candy wrappers to the garbage can and missing... Then I wanted chocolate.
*The husband did his masters thesis on homeschooling. COOL!
*He also spoke Spanish and complimented my Spanish a lot! Yesss!
*The wife said she loved my smile... YES! I still got my teef!
*And finally... THEY'RE TOTES BEST FRIENDS WITH UNCLE GEORGE AND AUNT LAURA COPELAND. What?! Connections... EVERYWHERE! Hahah

-When Pres. Uchtdorf said Sergio's name, I sat there for a second... then almost jumped out of my seat. It was awesome!
-Kaleb: DO FAMILY HISTORY! Most of mom's side is really good because of Uncle Daren, and dad's dad's side is good because of those angel islanders, but grandma's isn't so advanced I don't think. Will you get it started for me? Because I want to do family history SO bad! Let me live vicariously through you... :)
-I miss guessing accents with dad. I thought Elder Zivic was FRENCH, and Elder Aidukaitis was some eastern European! Man, I'm bad at that game!
-Who else saw Jarna Knickerbocker?? I DID! She's so cool.

After General Conference, I'm so filled, and so empty... Filled with new things learned, filled with the spirit, filled with gratitude, filled with love, etc... And empty? That's just the sad feeling I get when I realize it's over and I have to wait another 6 months until the next one! :\ IT WAS AMAZING!!! The Sunday morning session hit me like a ton of bricks! It was awesome!

SHOUT OUT TO BEN AND JESS! I was thinking about y'all the other day, and I miss youuuuu, shnookumses!!

But that's mostly it... I LOVE YOU ALL! Sorry my email is SO LONG!

Hermana Willis

PS: ALSO, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FAILED TO MENTION, WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS WEEK! I can't wait. This kid was 100% prepared way before we met him. MEMBERS PLAY A REALLY IMPORTANT ROLE IN MISSIONARY WORK. You prepare them, we baptize them. This is how we do iiiitt... Yes, I was singing NSync... :D

MY FAMILYYY!!! I am in SUCH a special mission. How many people get to see their extended relatives?! ;)

It was snowing... BUT TODAY IT'S NICE AND SHINY AND WARM! I thought Florida was bipolar? Sheesh...

This is my companion's hair. IT'S REALLY LONG. This art work? That's my doing. I'VE STILL GOT IT! :) Hahaha

This is my favorite human on the earth! He served with me in Eagle Mountain for 3 months. We've seen him TWICE this week. Utah is such a weird place to serve! Hahaha So glad I got to see him!

This girl! Sister Briscoe! She's so cool, and we're twins! :) She was homeschooled, and is the youngest girl in a family of 8! She's the one I was with while our companions were in SLC.

When Cameron was in Egypt land... let my Cameron go.

Sorry about that... I just love that so much. Hahaha I have a Lower Lights cd (hipster Mormon music) and they sing the Moses song, but all I hear is Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. LOVERLY.

I had a thought the other day... sometimes being away from home isn't easy... WHEN YOU'RE FROM THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD. I just appreciate Jacksonville so much now they I'm away. It's so pretty :)

You wanna hear about some tender mercies? So here they are. I AM BROKE. Like... I have two dollars in my wallet and 86 cents on my mission card. If anybody tries to rob me, they're going to have an unsuccessful day... But here's the thing.
We went to Chuck-a-rama last week: Random guy gave us $20!
We went to get groceries on Monday... Random guy paid for our groceries!! His sister is serving in Slovakia. SHOUT OUT TO YOU, SISTER!
Members gave us helmets, so we've been able to start using the bikes! :D
So although I don't have money, HF keeps providing for me!

Thursday we had 8 lessons... I just thought that was interesting. Fun fact...

Oh, about those bikes. They were old, but functioning. The man who gave us a referral (and said referral is getting baptized in two weeks) saw our bikes and offered to take us to a pawn shop to get whatever bikes we wanted... You know why? Because he served in Argentina, which means he's CORPORATE! So we went to this pawn shop and picked out some nice bikes, then the manager or whoever worked out a deal with the fellowshipper later, then we went back the next day and picked them up. ONE of the many amazing things about this is that the seat on this "new" bike is MEMORY FOAM, and is SO much bigger than the old bike. So the first few days on the old bikes, my butt was SO sore. Then I got this other one, and it's like sitting on a cloud. It's like it's not even real. I LOVE EVERYTHING!

Now let me tell you something sad.

I HATE THE WHOLE EARTH. The binder of my sheet music that mom sent me for my birthday... I can't find it. I KNOW it's in Orem, but I don't know where. I must have left it at the church building and somebody moved it. DON'T MOVE THINGS IF THEY'RE NOT YOURS. But also... DON'T LEAVE YOUR THINGS IN CHURCH BUILDINGS... <---- I need to learn that one. Haha But that means that my recital songs from eons ago, and other songs I will never find anywhere else... I WILL NEVER GET BACK. It's like someone went into my life movie and deleted my childhood... Uhhhg. Life is hard.

Saturday morning. Let me tell you what happened Saturday morning. My landlady turned on Josh Groban cd and BLASTED it. LOOUUUDDDDD. And downstairs we can hear everything (igual for her, she can hear us from the basement), so mientras I was doing personal study, I was also reliving that year when Courtney, Sara and I woke up at 5:30 every morning and went to the YMCA to work out. We would listen to that cd on the way there. REMEMBERS! :)

Oh yeah, once upon a time I saw Flo and Sergio Krasno. I WAS SO EXCITED! We are having dinner with them and the Keele's tonight. I'M SO HAPPY. I love them. I finally met Sergio, so I only have the boys and Vero to meet, and I know the whole family! Well, I haven't met Ma, or any of the in-laws... I'LL JUST HAVE TO GO TO ARGENTINA! :D

HOW ABOU THAT WOMEN'S CONFERENCE THOUGH?! I was crying like a baby THE WHOLE TIME. The whole thing was just INCREDIBLE. And 100% TO THE T, exactly what I needed to hear. Man, people are inspired sometimes!

We went to the temple on Thursday... Man I love it! I always feel so much better after going to the temple. I hope I always live near a temple.

I read "More Than Conquerors through Him That Loved Us" from General Conference of 2011. MIND=BLOWN. Remember how people are inspired? This guy was MEGA inspired. A lot. Home smokes, this talk changed my whole brain. I SUGGEST YOU READ IT. All of you, fellow earthlings. You will be glad you did.

I am currently learning 4 songs on the piano because of all of the special musical numbers, Easter, and everything that is happening. Baptism, Stake Conference... TA LOCA, ETA VIDA, I tell you... Sorry. That was my Dominican accent. I miss Hna Morla. Hahahaha But anyway... Here's another shout out to Sister Shirley... I still remember all of that D.C. al coda stuff, which is revealing itself as SUPER useful in life... THANK YOU! :)

Pero anyhow, I loff you all. DON'T FORGET TO PRAY AND STUFF!

Be good, and remember who you are and what you stand for! :)

Hna Willis

SPRING! I'm in Cherry Hills, Orem. You know why they call it Cherry Hills?! GUESS!!

This seat... YES! Hahah

MI FAMILIA! Me and the Krasno's. I LOVE THEM! :D

Engaged... UVU... It's funny because it's Utah!

One time, we were walking in a hail storm. It was pretty cool. (Companion is wearing the helmet because she wanted to... We weren't on bikes, we were really walking. Haha)