Anything I forgot yesterday?

I'm pretty all of the bases were covered yesterday, soooo...

That's all! Bye! :)

JUST KIDDING!

Something I didn't tell y'all yesterday was that my brain was EXPLODING with revelation... Or something like that. When my companion's sister was asked what she's learned the most on the mission, she said the importance of sacrifice.

Yo, slapped me right on the tush. With a paint paddle.

I realized I HAVEN'T REALLY SACRIFICED ANYTHING. Well, I've sacrificed time and effort, but although my heart and mind are in the work, I really could be more focused. A lot. Don't get me wrong, I ain't no heathen missionary. I'm obedient, but I know I have a lot of improving to do. Shoot.

So I was talking to my companion about what her sister said, she said she'd been thinking about it too! So we decided a few things that we have to do better, and we woke up this morning READY to do things better. I didn't realize how much the little things can effect the outcome of everything else. This week we were both distracted lazy (mostly because she was sick) and by the end of the week, we both were overwhelmed with guilt.

BUT GUESS WHAT.

My call home HELPED!

You hear about the missionaries who get trunky after talking to their families, but let me tell you, Y'ALL ARE THE BEST. After talking to you, my sweet darling family, it gave me more motivation to do better. And Courtney, you'd better believe that I started writing in my journal LAST NIGHT again. It's been almost a month. SHOOT. I know I'll regret it if I don't, so I'm getting back into that habit.

Also, after dressing up for the first time in A WEEK, I realized I'd let myself go a bit... I stopped caring about how I looked, because I'm not out to attract people. But what I AM out to do is represent Jesus Christ, and I don't think Jesus Christ should be represented by my face without makeup. Think about it. My face. Uh-uh. *shakes head "no* Just a thought...

Anyway, I'm SO glad I got to see Ben's family, AND grandmother and granddaddy. I LOVE Y'ALL A BUNCH. And ENSERIO, you all motivate me to be better (although I'm really not heathen status.)

This email is short and refreshing... You're welcome! ONLY ONE MORE CALL HOME TO GO?! Holy snot... See you on Christmas!

I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Willis

HI! I'm in Delaware! (Just kidding, I was in SLC. But SHOOT, it felt good to be in a big city!)

This is proof that I'm turning into my dad. I went through all of our supplies and made a box of things to send back to the mission office. They get funds to the mission when they send excess materials back to SLC. You KNOW we've only got a box half this size in out apartment, and everything is organized... GoodNESS, it felt to good to get all of that out.

This is my succulent plant. The one that I stole, and repented later of. It's in a half of a water bottle, because I don't have money or time to go buy a real pot for it. OH WELL, I'm a missionary, not a horticulturist.

This is my avocado. We'll see how he does :)

THIS is our Mother's Day dinner! Our dinner had to cancel last minute, but they brought us food. Aaaand we almost ate this whole thing. Dang, that was good.

HAPPY APRIL 28TH! It's snowing... -_-

GUESS WHO'S CUTTING THEIR COMPANION'S HAIR TODAY!!

I AM! And I am SO stoked! Her hair is super thick, SUPER LONG, and she wants me to layer it, she wants bangs (which is my favorite thing to do!) and she wants length off. I'm going to go to town!! :) We drove by the Paul Mitchell school here, and I may have drooled a little bit... ANYWAY...

Once this week, my companion's mp3 player was playing music, and she doesn't really know what's in there. I was sitting on the couch while we were writing some thank you notes, and then I hear a familiar sound... We were both silent, but I say loudly "OH MY GOSH..." And before she knew it, I hopped off the couch and started singing every word to "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted. HOLY COW, I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life. I immediately thought of Jeff Williams. MAN, I love that kid! New P-day morning song, fo shizzle.

OH YEAH, I never mentioned that one time... Two weeks ago, I think. We were at dinner with our RS president, and they had friends over. We walked in, they stood up to shake our hands, and they both looked at me and immediately said "We know your sister!" I looked at them, and the wheels in my heart started turning... These friends were from HOUSTON TEXAS, and Courtney served in their ward in Louetta! WHAT?! So the wife got her iPad and called her daughter on FaceTime to see if she would think I was "Hermana Willia." Well, I am, just not the one she knows. She took a screen capture and said she'd send it to Courtney, but Courtney never said anything, so I don't know if that ever happened. AND, I don't know their names... I forgot. Hahaha Anyway, fun facts :)

Mom. You raised a HIPPY FREAK. I can't explain to you how my life has changed since I bought a bottle of olive oil. I haven't had any since I was in Eagle Mountain. LIFE WAS SO HARD IN SPANISH FORK. Hahaha False. I love SF, but I wish I had had oil. My face, my hair, my skin, ERRYTHANG. Life is better when you've got olive oil... Oh, and I've been oil pulling. You said you'd tell me about it, but you never did. So I'm blindly obeying. After the first time though, I did notice that my teeth were whiter. Yeah, my already white teeth EVEN WHITER! BOOYAH BABY!! So if you could remind me why I'm doing that, that would be great. I remember when you had just started researching that, I was fascinated, but I never learned much.

In other hippy freak news, one of my favorite families took us to SPROUTS today. You know what that is? That's Orem's version of Whole Foods. I ALMOST EXPLODED OF HAPPY. And I think I may have seen a relative of mine there... One of Ben & Fran's daughters maybe. She looked JUST like MaryAlison, but shorter. Anyway, I felt like I was RIGHT at home. I was looking for some melatonin so I can SLEEP (because I'm having the toughest time sleeping), and my companion was... looking for ibuprofen. I told her they wouldn't have it, and I was suggesting some natural alternatives. WHITE WILLOW BARK, WHAT WHAT!! I started talking to one of the old guys and he was like "Holy smokes lady, you know your stuff!" I just belong with people like that... I bought a little baggy of chia seeds, because let's be real... I NEED THEM. Hahaha I almost bought a basil plant, but I imagined myself traveling at transfers... with a potted plant. But I really want tomatoes and basil with oil and vinegar! (I'm not going to even pretend like I was about to buy fresh mozzarella cheese... Too expensive for a missionary!) Hahaha ;) But everything was beautiful and I loved it. They even put our groceries in paper bags... Oh my heart!

OH, so how about Mother's Day! We need to set a time! President told me I could use Google Hangout again, so we can do that. Mom, I wrote you a huge letter that's going to make you cry for days. I hope you enjoy it :) I've had "I often go walking" stuck in my head! There are so many flowers here... I JUST WANT MY PLANTS! Oh, mom... you didn't respond to me. Does that mean yes, my avocado plant is dead? It's ok mom... just own up to it. All I want is honesty... Anyway back to Mother's Day!

Remember that one time that the branch asked my companion and me to help them with a musical number for Mother's Day? Well here you go...

WE RE-WROTE "LOVE IS SPOKEN HERE!" It's now a song of a husband singing to the mother of his children. Here you go...

"Veo a mi esposa hincarse cada dia en mi hogar
Escucho sus palabras cuando se inclina a orar
Su virtud y su pureza se refleja en su faz
Nada a ella se puede comparar

A toda hora hay en mi hogar de Dios bendiciones sin cesar
Ella la familia guia al bien; ensena siempre a obedecer
Y esta claro cuanto aprendemos pues lo hace con amor
A menudo siento al salvador donde ella esta, mi amor."

Now, just imagine a choir of grown men singing this to a congregation of crying women. IT'S GOING TO BE DARLING!

Saturday we spent almost 11 hours at the temple. DID I MENTION THAT I WANT TO BE A TEMPLE WORKER ASAP WHEN I COME HOME? Because it's going to happen. We were in every part. Wandering the halls of everywhere, doing baptisms, confirmations, and all of the big kid stuff. I love it. We had a former less active go to the temple to receive his endowment, then someone my companion taught is getting ready to be sealed, so we did all sorts of things with them. Hey, did you know the cafeteria food is amazing? Or at least in Provo it is... Anyway... WE'RE GOING TO SALT LAKE CITY...

What? Yeah. I told y'all about the rule change and stuff, right? Well, the couple getting sealed are getting sealed on May 6thIN SLC! And we get to go. I CANNOT WAIT. Y'all know I love SLC, right? IT'S REAL LIFE, I DO!

Oh, and that morning when we were at the Mt. Timp temple, I SAW HNA MALDONADO! I knew she lived in Saratoga, but I never got to see her when I was in Eagle Mountain. It was so nice to see her :)

Let me tell you how Heavenly Father takes care of his missionaries... For breakfast every morning I ear plain oatmeal (no sugar, ni nada) with chopped pineapple (fresh). I buy one, chop it all up, and leave it in the refridge. This ONE pineapple lasts me TWO WEEKS exactly. AND it doesn't go bad. THAT is not a normal thing... Heavenly Father preserves my pineapple because I'm a missionary, I just KNOW it!

Back to life, back to reality. Last night we had an FHE with a family and some less actives. We watched the full length Restoration movie (or the "Joseph Smith" movie, as I like to call it.) So when it got to Nauvoo, in my head I thought "Holy smokes, I've been there TWICE!" But I realized that having visited there and seen all of it, having even walked down the same streets Joseph Smith might have walked down, would mean NOTHING if I didn't know who he was, or if I didn't believe in what he saw and what he did. It was amazing though. After the movie ended, we were almost late for curfew, but I was able to share quickly that thought I had. That I've seen that temple, I've seen the jail in which Joseph Smith was killed, and I've walked the streets he walked. I told them it's an amazing experience, being able to see all of these things, but none of these experiences compare closely to the confirmation that the Holy Ghost brings, testifying to you that it's true. It was so cool, and really powerful. I just thought I'd share that!

I love you aaaallll!! Will somebody please make Jess email me? I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU, COCKATOO HAIR! If you don't email me, I won't go couponing with you when I get home... JUST KIDDING! :)

Anyway, love love love!

Hermana Willis

The clouds on the mountain made me think of LotR... I don't know why, they just did. Haha

This is cool... I LOVE FAMILY HISTORY!

SNOWING. Why?!