Focus on the Covenant Relationship

Good Morning!

There are now two dedicated temples in the Utah, St. George Mission! The Red Cliffs Temple Dedication yesterday makes St. George the only city to ever have the oldest and newest active temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love that little fact. 

I had the privilege of attending the Manti Temple Open House on Tuesday. It was a beautiful temple, I loved the murals and all the intricacies in the design. It was a beautiful place to be, and I got to go through with all the Elders in the mission! That made it even more special. 

One thing our guide shared at the start of the tour stood out to me. He said that "Today, we are only presenting the box. What really matters is how the ordinances inside bring us closer to Christ." That's a loose quote, but I loved the ideas behind it. I love the architecture of the Manti Temple. Yet I was informed that the ordinances inside are more personal than other temples because of the time it takes to transition from room to room. I look forward to returning one day after the Manti Temple is a dedicated House of the Lord. 

President Staples promised that we would witness miracles despite the few hours the Manti Open House took us out of our area. Later that day we drove to Milford and met with our friend Lily. She's ready to be baptized, but wanted her dad to perform the ordinance. Towards the end of the lesson her mother makes the decision that Lily needs to not wait for baptism. So we set her on-plan for the 13th of April and the new Milford Bishop will be performing her baptism! That was super awesome to experience, especially since we've been trying to help Lily for my entire time here. 

On Monday last week, we met our new friend Kaley. She was busy loading stuff into her car, but stopped long enough to ask if we really believed the Joseph Smith story. I responded that yes, we do believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. She contemplated that and decided to have us over again!

For the return visit, I was on exchanges with Elder Bagley. We were doing our best to work hard, and we were seeing some fruits, but the miracle of the evening was visiting Kaley at 8:50pm. We brought some Relief Society ladies and they connected with Kaley very well. Then we answered some of her questions about the church, shared Alma 7:9-12, and Moroni 10:3-5. Kaley has a strong potential to progress in the gospel, the Spirit I felt in that lesson was super sincere. It was wonderful to teach with Elder Bagley again, he's grown a lot and I'm very proud of the missionary he's become. 

There's a lot to do in the Utah, St. George Mission! I'm excited for this week, it will be my final Zone Conference as a missionary. Lots of 'lasts' are coming up but that's okay, because it usually leads to many 'firsts' to come. It's been an honor and a privilege to serve God these past 24+ months. It's helped me become who I am today. 

We have some potential miracles this week, Minersville is an amazing area and hopefully one of our friends follows through on his baptismal date for this weekend! More on him next week. 

Jesus Christ and His gospel is the most powerful force on Earth, but only coupled with our faith to act on His teachings. I'm forever grateful for the miracles I've participated in and the opportunities that have come. If you really want to learn why I say all this every week, you should pick up the Book of Mormon and read it with an honest, sincere heart. It will teach you how Christ can continue to work in your life, and help you recognize the little ways He strengthens you every day. 

Give it some thought! I know it would be a blessing for you and your family. 

- Elder Williams

Pictures:
1. The Manti Temple!
2. Elder Richardson, myself, Elder Young, & Elder Dale in Manti.
3. This is not a posterity photo. It is simply a picture of the missionaries who I trained, and their new missionaries, and their new missionaries and . . . yeah so maybe it is a posterity photo. 
4. District Council.
5. This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Elder Bagley. 
6. The sunsets here can be subtle yet majestic. 
7. Exchanges with Elder Bagley!
8. I had to film another video this week. So naturally we took a selfie. 
9. Walking in windy Greenville.











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