Tuesday, May 31, 2016

May 30, 2016

STRAIGHT OUTTA CHICAGO WEST SIDE. 'Y'all better WATCH OUT, cause we got some serious moves! πŸ‘ŠπŸΎ and we gonna use our Books of Mormon too.
Bert & Joey
Bro & Sis. Mulnix
My awesome district !!!


The Ensigns. Sis Ensign is the sassiest elderly lady I've ever met. I
love it! Bro Ensign, her son, reminds me of Bob Fergy. The Ensigns
are awesome!

Creepy lady whose eyes always follow you
Enjoying my last ice cream in Freeport
I LOVE ART! THANK YOU BROTHER GEDDES for helping me appreciate it
more fully! It was so cool cause I saw so many things I learned about
in art history. I was basically fan girling over art.... It was great!


Sis Kenney &




Goodbye Freeport

Brother stepp , he's the coolest!
Aaron's baptism was a success!



WOW!   I cannot believe I'm training!  I'm humbled and honored and nervous all at the same time.  The Lord has given me this call, but I also am  kinda nervous.   I wanna do my very best to teach this missionary, but I still kinda feel inadequate myself.  But I know that I know enough for now and I'll try to do better each day. 
 πŸ˜³πŸ˜³πŸ˜³πŸ˜³ WHAT THE FUN?! I thought I was still a baby missionary. Haha jk. But I still feel like it most days. 


Usually the assistants call us for transfer calls, but if you're training presidente calls.  We were anxiously waiting for the call on Saturday and it's about 10 minutes from having to be in bed.  Then BOOM.... Presidente calls .... Kinda ironic cause Sister Turner (my companion) joked about me training before.  She said even though I may not have been out super long, I am "way more prepared than most missionaries".   I said "Willis you crazy!"  She kept saying, "no you're an amazing missionary & you seem like you've been on your mission forever. You could do it."   Then I again said "Willis so you understand the words coming outta my mouth?"  Geez haha 
I am pretty nervous cause  its a lot of responsibility, but I know I can do it!  I know the Lord is on my side. I can do this. I just cannot believe I'm actually training a new missionary. I feel like that was just me yesterday but I also feel like I've been doing this for YEARS now. It's just a weird feeling all around. Very humbling...I am grateful. 

There was a super less active lady we were working with for the past 5 months and within the last 2 months she's been to church every week.  At the beginning she was super negative and very harsh on herself, but now she's always smiling and saying hello to people. She's one of the sweetest people I've ever met.  She told me yesterday  when I was telling her goodbye, "thank you for not giving up on  me!  I've had so many missionaries come, but you never gave up on me. Thank you!" Oh my goodness... that hit me so hard (in a good way of course).  Because if I don't bring anyone else into the gospel or do anything else while I'm on my mission I know I helped Sister Merkle come back and it made a difference for her.  A BIG difference,  because she's always at church now and is super happy and positive.  I've seen a huge change, and I couldn't be happier to see her pushing and walking through the challenges she's facing. She amazes me!  Planting seeds is so very important! Not giving up on people is important.  Even if we have to stop teaching the person...as we continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers and do things for them...miracles happen.  I know this to be true because I've seen it within people like Sister Merkle. 



Oh man the Reid's made us the best southern meal the other night. 
And Bert made us her apple dumplings that are totally to DIE for! And now I have the secret recipe...I'm stoked! Since it was my last week Bert cooked steak and other good fixin's just for me.  Oh the people in the Freeport area rock! 


We were listening to the song " Beautiful to Me" by Mercy River and part of the song says, "has anyone told you that you're beautiful to me?"  It really hit me...a lot of times when we look in the mirror  we rag on ourselves and wish pieces of us inside and outside were different. We wish we could be something we are not. We beat ourselves up when we make mistakes.  We sometimes lose sight of ourselves and often feel we're inadequate.   Nelson Mandela once said: 

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. You're playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 

We are ALL children of God and He LOVES us a LOT...more than we could ever imagine.  He sees the bigger picture.  He sees our potential and our full beauty...inner and outer. We often look too far for the beauty & talents right within us.  So when you feel inadequate...when you feel like you're not handsome or beautiful, first of all do what Brigham Young said: "If you have a bad thought about yourself tell it to go to hell because that is exactly where it came from."   Then pray and ask God for that help to see yourself as the wonderful and beautiful sons and daughters of God that you each are because He will NEVER EVER let us forget that we are "beautiful to him".   DONT let the world drag you down.  STAY STRONG because God is ALWAYS on your side.  With Christ's help through his Atonement you can let go of the bad thoughts & feelings about yourself because HE wants to help you.  So if no one has told you today, "YOURE ALL BEAUTIFUL"!   Remember...it doesn't matter what we look like on the outside as it does on the inside. When life gets too hard to stand,  kneel and ask Father in Heaven for help.   HE LOVES YOU. 

THIS also reminds me of this cool mask we saw at the art museum here it was entitled,  "BEHIND THE MASK".   I absolutely loved it because the artist talked about how as humans we "hide" so much of who we are behind our own masks.  We SHOULDN'T be ashamed of that because we are each so special and unique and beautiful regardless of our past or who we are now or what we've done. 
So the ultimate question is: "WHAT IS BEHIND YOUR MASK?" Give it to the Lord.   Who are you really? 



Aaron was baptized on Saturday! Holy cow,  I've never once in my life seen someone so prepared!  He loves the Lord and is working towards the temple. His wife is having some interest, so that's good! 

CHUNKS GRANDKID: (no joke) 
We met Shawn and his wife.  They met with missionaries in the past. 
We thought we'd try them again with a short "get to know you",  a video  BUT NOPE.   3 hours later he's told us his family's WHOLE life story way back to his deceased ancestors.  He was like Chunk off "Goonies".  He just told us everything!  haha it's crazy how much people trust full time missionaries with just everything. 


I know this gospel is true.  I am so grateful to be training and learning over and over again the importance of Christ and the things we share and know to be true.  I love this gospel and getting the opportunity to be a missionary.  I love each of you!  Thanks for all the support !   Let us all march on in this good work! 

Love always, 
Hermana Γ„llowitz 

1319 Butterfield Rd. #552 
Downers Grove, IL 60515




Tuesday, May 24, 2016

May 23, 2016 SISTERS OVERLOAD ON ICE CREAM: ice cream happiness

The Best ice cream a girl could ever ask for ....

More ice cream .... Don't worry I only had ice cream 3x this week 😊
Exchanges with sis Davis one of the sister training leaders (STL)


"Yes look we're missionaries". FINALLY, I've grown a foot or 2 😊
I take my ice cream seriously :)
Amber taught us self defense moves so y'all better watch out cause ....We SISTERS "COMIN' FOR YOU! HIDE YOUR KIDS, HIDE YOUR WIVES, WE COMIN FOR YOU"
With the gospel of course .... Pssh!
The Kuntzlemans -- Bro Kuntzleman is the REAL hipster!
#relationshipgoals. He still treats her like a queen...he's a real gentleman. Opens her
door and everything. Now all you young men and men and boys got no excuse!
Treat women and young women and girls with the respect they deserve!

❤️HERMANA WALTON & HERMANA Γ„LLOWITZ BFFS FOREVER ❤️πŸ‘―
Illinois sunsets are SO GORGEOUS! TO DIE FOR 😍
Zone preparation day we played ultimate frisbee & volleyball.
"My favorite sport is bolleyball.....ah, no way! Everything you just said is my favorite thing to do." YEAH WE HAD LOTS OF FUN getting farmers tans!
My championship ultimate frisbee team would be happy to know we WON today! Y'all would be proud! Yeah co-diddy you would be!!!!
The Elders are hilarious! They cooked us burgers and stuff. I was like "whaaaat? For freeeeeeee? For me???" πŸ˜‚ They're all super respectful. It's nice all the Elders in the mission are so nice and respectful. They take care of us. See again.....boys and men you can still be respectful of women...it's possible!!! The Elders in the icwm ( Illinois Chicago West Mission) are the best!
(I've had enough of the sisters though πŸ˜‚ If I don't get another hug until the day I die I'll be fine.

Being a missionary is like being a parent.  Pieces of my heart are broken b/c my investigators, "my children",  don't wanna make the changes and choices needed. They just drop you like it's hot sometimes. Dang, Satan needs to just BACK OFF! Yes it's hard to make changes to fully repent, but it is SO WORTH IT !!! People slip or disappoint you and it hurts, but it's exactly what happened to the Savior.   Except I'm only experiencing a small piece of what he experienced. I know the Savior gets me and knows EXACTLY what I'm feeling. That's so comforting. I'm so grateful for my wonderful big Brother whose always looking out for me.   Jesus... EVERYONE NEEDS HIM! 


Sometimes people say things that really get my Spirit bruised. Ya know...things that are not in harmony with God and the Savior's teachings. But my spirit heals through uplifting music (no I don't mean Macklemore) and scriptures and, most importantly, PRAYER. 


I got to use my Rindercella story in a teaching my comp and I had been asked to do at a district meeting. It was seriously the greatest. 
Everyone was so confused. But they got it after I explained how it relates to missionary work. You see we're working on getting names from members and turning them into referrals cause missionaries LOVE referrals (solid investigators).  Just like Rindercella's shoe "fidn't dit",  not all the "who do you know" questions or ways to get referrals is gonna work for everyone.  It's not gonna fit everyone cause everyone's different.  So I told everyone they needed to SPICE up the way they ask for referrals and make it more personal.  But seriously, y'all should've seen everyone's faces haha. 

So many of my friends are getting "mawwied" or already married and I'm sooo happy for all of y'all! And it also scares me cause I can't even pick what cereal I wanna buy let alone pick a Celestial hubby. 
I'm for reals..."is it gonna be cocoa pebbles or cracklin oat bran?ooooh marshmallow Mateys?" A few weeks ago I bought cereal just cause it had Dory and Superman on it.  How old am I?  Haha, mawwiage is a big deal! How wonderful for those of you getting married soon...how exciting! 


I'm where Joseph Smith and early saints were martyred. They sacrificed so much so that I and so many missionaries worldwide could be out spreading the gospel.  For that, I am eternally grateful! 


We got Union Dairy Cedarcrest ice cream THREE times this week.   Ah it just makes me so happy!  Whoever said money can't buy happiness surely never tried this celestial ice cream. 


Sis. Jeffrey made us like 1000 skirts it was awesome! I asked her if she could mend a few skirts for me, then before we knew it she made us a lot of skirts! She is so wonderful.  And I am really grateful for her skills and help. What a tender mercy!  Now I don't have to wear black all the time. 

Aaron is gonna be baptized Saturday and I'm sooo happy! 
Within just a few weeks he's been taught and baptized. He picked his own date and everything. He just straight said, "hey I wanna be baptized."  I was like, "wait what? Did I hear you correctly?" Haha you don't hear that too often.  So I'm PUMPED.  He's been through a LOT, but really come so far.  I'm happy for him and his wife. 
More pictures of that to come next week:)

I was reading in Mosiah about the Savior and all he went through for us to be here. It's one of my favorites now. The Atonement is sooo real and can be used everyday and should be. I am beyond grateful for the Savior in my life.  I love being apart of the Lord's work. 

Mosiah Chapter 14
1 Yea, even doth not Isaiah say: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.



Love to hear any questions, comments,  questions  or things y'all would like to hear more about. 


Sending love from Illinois, 
Hermana Γ„llowitz 

1319 Butterfield Rd. #552 
Downers Grove, IL 60515



Tuesday, May 17, 2016

May 16, 2016

I FOUND MY NEW CAR 😍



For Preparation Day we got to go to this EPIC car show! There were cars from all over!!!!!
I loved it! I almost snuck away with one ....haha just kidding, just kidding.
I really wanted the black one though 😍
Someone PLEASE buy me a vintage antique vehicle after my mish 😍 I'll love you forever !


JAMES BOND STYLE. RUNS IN MY BLOOD. SO YALL BETTER WATCH OUT, Book of Mormon's coming left and right !!!!

Scott and Amber are hilarious! Amber is so wonderful! And so is Sister Turner!
❤️❤️❤️




How old am I? Haha, yeah exactly. I really feel like I'm 6 somedays, but hey it's ok. Somedays you NEED it 😊" WHOOP DER YOU ARE! " haha
Preparation day fun!  We went with Amber to get mani pedi's. OH MY GOSH how I've missed them 😍
Especially getting your feet all massaged and prettified.



Hermana Walton feeds my soul ❤️❤️❤️




















Graffiti galore ! We are twinning , like my glasses ?
Sour patch kid didn't wanna be my friend ... PUNK..." WHY CANT WE BE FRIENDS? Why can't we be friends ?!.... 😭 Finally he let us be friends!
MOVIES. MOVIES. MOVIES. This is a CLASSIC theatre! I wanna check it out when I come back. SOMEONE PLEASE "take me to the movies! Let's go see the stars!!!"
Haha jk Jk, I can wait till next July.... "You're killing me smalse!"
So I guess adios, I'll see you in the movies 😊
Yeah the frog told me he was my prince I laughed.....
The old insane asylum πŸ˜πŸ˜³πŸ˜πŸ˜ˆπŸ‘Ή .... Pretty rad eh ? It would be even MORE RAD to get to go inside. Night games anyone?....😏
Missionary work makes us jump for joy cause it's the BEST!!

Sister Turner, Sister Havey and I.
Love them ❤️
Cool chalk art
We twinned.....TOTAL ACCIDENT. EVERYONE @ church had to comment haha.
But hey .... This is what companion unity looks like haha

INVESTIGATOR PICKS OWN DATE TO BE BAPTIZED 

When we knock ppl always yell, "who is it" instead of opening the door 

*** on date = on date to be baptized 
Aaron 
Is on date for May 28!!! He picked May 24 but we had to move it. That's good cause we'll have some time to teach him more and make sure he's really prepared for his baptism. He's so solid!  He's been getting prepared for awhile now. He just got married and really wants to make changes in his life. I'm so excited to see him be baptized! He's always at church and family home evening and always really great at participating and he wants to. He's ready to be dunked!  SERIOUSLY though... who picks their own date?! Haha that's crazy amazing!!!   I'm PUMPED!!! 
Duane 
Was super solid and golden but we haven't been able to be in communication with him. Satan & his buddies seem to be working on him cause things have totally changed!  It makes me sad cause people have been planting seeds with him for a long time now and he's so ready! He's on date for May 28, but since we cannot get in touch with him idk if that'll work. 
Eric
He's on date for May 21 but same thing.   It's been hard having lessons with him...to even be set up.  There's some things he's struggling with but he's working slowly, but surely, through them. 



My companion and I sang this song at the beginning of our studying today.  It's always been one of my favorites cause everytime there's something so profound I get out of it. 
I wanna challenge each of y'all to ask yourself everytime you act ..."IF THE SAVIOR STOOD BESIDE ME, WOULD I DO THE THINGS I DO?!" Cause the Savior is with us always. He's the BEST company (as well as the Holy Ghost) we'll ever have so let's treat HIM like it instead of living in ways we are ashamed of! 
YES...we'll all make mistakes.  No one is perfect,  but we can strive to do the best we can. DON'T compare yourself to other people! Compare yourself to who you were  yesterday! It is possible to become better. Keep it up! This life isn't easy, but it's so worth it! 

If the Savior Stood Beside Me
1.
If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously
if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
2.
If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind if He was never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more rev’rently
if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
3.
He is always near me, though I do not see Him there,
And because He loves me dearly, I am in His watchful care.
So I’ll be the kind of person that I know I’d like to be
if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.

I'd also like to invite y'all to go to "Preach My Gospel".  You can find it in the Gospel Library app.   Go to chapter 6 "Christlike Attributes".  At the very end of the chapter there is an "Attribute activity"--do that and then pick a Christlike attribute to work on. Will y'all do that? I know you all said YES so Goodluck & lemme know how it goes:)  I'm excited for each of you!!!! 

I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT this Church is sooooo true & I'm soooo grateful for it in my life. I know I am where I need to be and that God has a plan for Each of you. So stay strong and remember to be more Christlike and strive for perfection! I know Christ loves each of us cause he suffered for each of us individually. He knows our trials, struggles, and weaknesses.  It's through Christ we''re made strong. I love being a missionary! 

Love always, 
Hermana Γ„llowitz ❤️

❤️ love Seester Γ„llowitz
1319 Butterfield Rd. #552 
Downers Grove, IL 60515