Christmas Phone Call - 12-25-08

[Christmas Day at 10:45am William was allowed to call home and talk for 40 minutes. I knew that I missed him, but I didn't realize how much, until I got to hear his voice.]

Merry Christmas, to everyone. I miss you all so much. Sorry that I wasn't able to call you during my layover in Georgia, my phone card didn't work. My companion and I are at Br. Rheems Home (the organist at church) doing laundry. Benson, you will never guess who my companion is! Nick Davis from my first year working on staff at Scofield scout camp. We are getting along great and are working hard from morning till night.

The weather is taking a little getting used to, It was Sunny, no snow and 32º. You just don't expect it to be that cold outside when you are looking out the window. The Bishop here is really cool and he is very pro-missionaries. He is an optometrist at the Naval Base. He spends a lot of time helping us get exchanges and appointments from the members. Wednesday, since it was our P-day he took several of the missionaries along with his family to historic Williamsburg. We got to see alot of what it life was like in Colonial America. It is so cool out here, I can understand why Br. Campbell likes history so much. We have it all around us out here. At 5 o'clock they started firing cannons to celebrate Christmas eve, big blasts of smoke and loud bursts. The Bishop and his family have a Christmas tradition. They go to the "Blue Chicken" restaurant in Colonial Williamsburg, and get a hamburger, that has a fried egg and bacon on it. They said that they love it and the only get it at Christmas time. But you should try it sometime, it was delicous. While we were in Williamsburg all of the missionaries (7 in our district) played a game of freeze tag, I was silly but we sure hade fun, Because we were at Williamsburg, we didn't get to the library to get our emails, so the Bishop printed them out for us. I like getting emails, and really appreciate you sending them, but I would like to get some regular letters from you also. That way I can read them whenever I want.

The ward boundaries out here are really large, most of our members live in huge apartment complexes, or are part of the large Naval Base our here. Our ward boundaries are equal to Orem and Lindon combined, yet we have fewer ward members then our ward back home. Virginia is very different from Utah. It is pretty flat, at least where we are, but that is ok since we are riding bikes to get around. They have several bikes that are available for the missionaries to use, so I didn't have to buy one, I just picked out the one I wanted to use and will return it went I leave the area. Also. they don't have numbers on the streets, you just have to memorize the names of the streets and know where they go, and they don't have any sidewalks, and the streets are really narrow. The street system in Utah is much better.

This week we have a baptism, it is really amazing all the work that is going on out here. We will be biking around and then stop in an area where there are a bunch of people. We talk to people, answer questions about the church, and hand out cards, but we haven't got anyone the really seems to be interested just yet. There are so many people out here, a lot more then we have in Utah, and a lot more churchs too. Some of the churchs have buses that go around and pick people up for church. I told Elder Davis that in Utah instead of having buses they just plant another church there, or that the families have so have so many kids that they have their own buses.

I thought that the buildings out here would be older and historic. But I was told that they have "Community Burnings". If a neighborhood becomes rundown they move everyone out and burndown the entire neighborhood. Then they rebuild new houses and new people move in.

It is really weird to think that I have 1 month down, already. There is a saying that we learned in the MTC, "The days go by like weeks, and the weeks go by like days." While I was in the MTC for four weeks, all I could think about was, this is taking so long, I want to get out there and start teaching people about the Gospel, and now that I am looking back my time at the MTC seems like it was so short. The Mission President, (Pres Milburn) is pretty cool. I have only met him a couple of times.

On the flight out here they played "Wall-E", but I couldn't watch it, and there have been a couple of times that I have gotten a little homesick, like not getting to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve.

Benson, make it easier on yourself, start studying "Preach My Gospel" now. David and Andrew told me a couple of times to start but I didn't. So I am telling you that I wish that I had, and that you will wish that you had at least read it before going into the MTC. It will help you prepare you talk before you leave as well as help you to talk to people once you are out in the mission field. It will really help you to feel a lot more prepared once you get out on a mission. It sure is funny to think that Benson will be leaving on his mission just after I get back.

My day starts at about 6:30am when I wake up and exercise. At 7:00am I get dressed and eat some breakfast. At 8:00am I start my personal study time. At 9:00am elder Davis and I start our companionship study time. About 10:00-10:30am we are out the door to go tracting, proselyting, meeting with inactive members or doing splits with members until about 9:00 each night. Sometimes we take a dinner or lunch break but then we get back to our apartment and are in bed by 10:30pm. The next day it all starts over again. We spend a lot of time knocking on doors, but we haven't had any "slammed" in our face yet.

For dinner earlier this week I made "Katsu" and yeah, I burned it a little, but that's because we have a gas stove and it heats up the pan faster than I am used to. My companion and I are the only ones in our apartment. we have 2 bedrooms, one the we use as a bedroom and the other that is used for a study area.

We talked with a guy, this week that seemed really interested, we are planning on talking to him again next week. I am praying that he will want to hear more about the church. He had some questions, so I hope the we can meant with him again and answer them. It is amazing what you learn out here, we are literally studying every single day. We are praying that he will be interested hearing more about the church, and the message that we have for him. We also got a referral from another neighbor about a inactive wife and her nonmember husband. We went to their house and talked to the husband for a while, his name is Jim. We had a nice talked and he said that his wife would probably be interested in talking with us more but that he was not interested in coming to church. We left and my companion decided that we should tract around the area for a while. We went around the neighborhood and knocked on every door, but no one was home. When we got back to our bikes the husband that we hade been talking to called over to us and asked us if we were cold and if we wanted something for lunch. His wife had gotten home and we were able to spent lunch talking with them while he made hamburgers on the grill for us. His wife said that she was going to ask him how he felt about have the missionaries come over and talk with the both of them. We are praying that his heart will be softened and his mind prepared for the gospel.

Well, my time is up and I want you to know how much I love you. Merry Christmas to you.
[William]

Merry Christmas, William - 12-22-08

William,

Merry Christmas, Son. It is really weird not having you here for Christmas. But, I know that you are where you are supposed to be, and doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. I am very proud of you.

We got hit with a couple of major snow storms this week. Today alone we got about 8 inches of heavy, wet snow. Garth and Tricia are here and they are having fun sledding and playing. We planed on going to Salt Lake on Saturday to se the Temple lights and go see the Joseph Smith Movie, but I got called into work. We did a major software upgrade and rebuild a server. Fortunately I will get to use the extra time spent as “Comp Time” over the next couple of weeks.
Mary Ann and I got a chance to go to the Temple on Saturday and we did sealings for a bunch of people on my line. We had a very special experience when one of the names we did was great grandma Simonsen, Grandma Boy’s Grandmother. It was very special to have Mary Ann as the daughter when GG Simonsen was sealed to her parents.

This is what it is all about, the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ, seals families together forever. I know that you have been taught correct principles and that now you have the opportunity to make your own decisions. So far you are off to a pretty good start.

Anneke and Benson will be here at the house on Christmas morning. So if you are able to call in the morning we will all be able to talk to you (Phone # 1-801-224-8964). I really am excited to hear about your first week in the mission field.

I want to leave you with a message from President Monson. How simple, straight forward and true his testimony is. And his love for the missionaries is clear and honest. I think that it will give you a lot of food for thought of the next several days.

Take care of yourself and know that we love you very much. I hope that you like what we got you for Christmas. I think that you will have a lot of fun using everything.

Merry Christmas, and we’ll talk to you on Christmas day.
Dad, Mary Ann, and Benson

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Feeling the Lord's Inspiration
"I know without question, my brothers and sisters, that God lives. I testify to you that this is His work. I testify as well that our Savior Jesus Christ is at the head of this Church, which bears His name. I know that the sweetest experience in all this life is to feel His promptings as He directs us in the furtherance of His work. I felt those promptings as a young bishop, guided to the homes where there was spiritual—or perhaps temporal—want. I felt them again as a mission president in Toronto, Canada, working with wonderful missionaries who were a living witness and testimony to the world that this work is divine and that we are led by a prophet. I have felt them throughout my service in the Twelve and in the First Presidency and now as President of the Church. I testify that each one of us can feel the Lord's inspiration as we live worthily and strive to serve Him."

William's Address 12-22-08

Hurray! We finally have an address for William in Virginia. Mary Ann called the Mission home and got it. It is:


Elder William Boy IV
12944 Biltmore Ct. #F3
Newport News, VA
23602