531 Pages of Truth

Good Morning!

Happy New Year! We started off strong, with a fantastic Zone Council! Then on Friday, Elder Koyle was temporarily out of commission, so we cleaned our apartment all day and did menial computer work. We didn't find any new friends to teach this week, but three of our current friends attended church! This is the week where everyone should come back for school (to be converted of course). So it might not be an exciting week until the weekend, but that's okay! 

I mentioned Zone Council. Elder Koyle and I put it together, and all the missionaries in the Zone gathered to receive some skill training! This was a first for the mission that I'm aware of, but I think it was a pretty big hit! I loved spending more time with missionaries in the Zone, and building missionary skills with them. Maybe I've said this before, but I just love being a missionary, and I especially love all the fantastic missionaries I've served around. They've been such a blessing to me throughout my missionary experiences, I love them all.

It's now 2023. Congratulations, we made it! If you pondered on some new goals, that's fantastic! If you are continuing to work on previous goals set, even better! I'll just share one comment on new years goals that may help inspire you to take action:

"If you fail to plan, plan to fail."  - Elder Pearson, Utah Area President

Moving on, I finished the Book of Mormon on December 31st! President Staples issued a challenge to read 6 pages a day for 3 months, starting on October 8th. We were marking references to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (any word that said faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost). I finished a few days early, but that means I have time to take a slower study of the Book of Mormon. I have a little study guide that works over the course of 365 days. I plan to learn how to better apply the scriptures in my own life and understand them more fully. Reading at a faster pace told me the story, but didn't give me a ton of insights. 

While on exchanges with Elder Quist, I learned the value of helping others feel understood. He gave me some perspective on other missionaries, and allowed me to better understand them. I know that's super important, because if we don't feel understood, we will just draw inside ourselves more and more. Everybody deserves someone to love, and everybody deserves to be loved by someone. 

I will strive to better understand others. Not just for this year, but throughout my life. We don't know a stranger's unique perspective on life, but that doesn't mean we can't understand them better. Everyone is going through something. Reach out and show them you love them. That's what the Savior did, and that's what we should be willing to do. 

I'm excited for the new year! It's going to be a great one. No matter what happens, or what trials and triumphs come our way, remember that your Father in Heaven loves you, and that he gave us 531 pages of truth to help clear our path and show us the way back to Him!

- Elder Williams

Mailing Address:

881 South River Road

St. George, Utah 84790

Pictures:

1. The Institute on a rainy day. We spend a lot of time here. 

2. This is Crimson Ridge; here you can see the Redcliffs temple and the biggest mountain by St. George!

3. Sunset in Crimson Ridge!

4. Morning sky outside the Institute! You can see a hot air balloon in this one.

5. Zone Council in action!

6-7. A view on one of the ridges, you can see the Redcliffs temple in the background of one, and part of Washington (one of my old areas) in the other!

8-10. Speaking of clear paths, here's some photos of the fog we've had in St. George the past 2 or 3 days! It's been nice because it's rained a bunch too. The roads don't drain well at all, but we haven't crashed yet so that's good!