Heed Not

May 30, 2022

Good Morning!

Someone is disrespecting chickens. I am not pleased, but they aren't my chickens so I can't do anything about it. The chickens in focus are contained in a cage so small they're almost standing on each other. There were a lot of chicken interactions this week, come to think of it, but chickens were not the best thing to happen this week.

We baptized a young man named Kutler, he's super committed to the gospel and the family has great support from their ward. We started teaching him the second day I was here, it was a wonderful experience to see him get baptized. I had the privilege of doing the confirmation, that was a really special spiritual experience.

I won't mention every exchange I do, but this one left Elder Fiame and I together for 48 hours. The first day we worked in my area, and the second we split even further with our Zone Leaders. I was in La Verkin, Toquerville, and Pintura throughout the day. I enjoyed seeing a new area and learning from Elder Glenn's experiences, it's definitely rounding out my training.

In St. George there is still a very high LDS population, but I've met so many people from different religious backgrounds. I've met a couple individuals who knew nothing about the church, some FLDS families, a family of Jehovah Witnesses, and more notably, a family that is approachable, but very anti. Though I enjoy hearing others perspectives, it's critical to remember your own spiritual foundation.

With the family who is Anti, they were good people. They didn't try and shove anything down our throats, which was appreciated. We had scheduled a lesson with them because their children were in our records, but hadn't been baptized. When we met, however, they had some very strong opinions on Joseph Smith, his teachings, and the Book of Mormon. We talked for a bit, but the conversation wasn't going to lead anywhere productive. Elder Bailey and I kept the Spirit with us, and stayed of a sound mind, and were blessed to have the knowledge we needed when necessary, but it was a relief to leave the home.

I gave a talk in the Washington 3rd Ward about overcoming doubts and building a strong relationship with God. This was 7 or 8 hours before the anti family, and I'm grateful for the witness my talk preparation gave me before entering that discussion. I know that it's super critical to recognize God's hand in our life if we want to stay strong in our faith.

When Elder Bailey was driving home from Cedar City, he noticed that the van was a bit shaky. He didn't have time to pull over and check it out, but he said a number of mental prayers for safety and protection. Upon arriving home, he found that the back right tire only had 13psi. It was all deflated by the morning. Though it was an effort to fix and work with the repair shop, the real miracle was the safe ride home. If the tire had blown when the van was going 80mph, it would have been an unfortunate experience.

Another miracle came during a teaching lesson with one of our investigators. I shared the account of Joseph's first vision with him, and the Spirit was sending waves through me and through the room. It was encouraging because it strengthened my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and the message we carry. Lastly, the Spirit at Kutler's baptism was phenomenal, I don't remember much about my own baptism but Kutler's was definitely something special.

Elder Bailey has repeated a certain phrase a number of times this past week. "Heed not". It's a reference to a hymn, and a conference talk from April 2022. It was the inspiration for my talk, and the perfect motto for this week. These miracles have come because, as a companionship, we're striving to "heed not" the temptations around us, and to heed the Spirit's influence in our hearts.

Despite my 3 weeks of experience, I've learned a lot. I've had the chance to bear my testimony and seized it, and it has grown because of that. I know baptism is the start of our journey to God, and that we need to nourish our relationship with God to grow in the gospel, grow personally, and in grow in our social lives. And I know that miracles come as we heed the promotings of the Holy Ghost. I've loved these three weeks, and I'm excited for everything to come!

One final note, the evenings have been quite beautiful out here. I've had a few minutes in the evening to enjoy the fresh air, and walk by the temple. St. George is really awesome, almost everyone is super friendly. I know I still live in a desert, but it is a pretty one!

If you want to hear my talk, let me know! I can send a recording to those who want.

Have a great week!

- Elder Williams

Mailing Address:

881 South River Road,

St. George, Utah 84790

Pictures:

1. The poor chickens :(

2. A fluffy Pinturan rock, they're all the rage nowadays!

3. Some artistic sculpture to decorate a local roundabout.

4. There's something about buffalo out here, I think it's the local college's mascot.

5. The spare, after we figured everything out!