August 15, 2011

Hey family! Thanks for all of the emails. I appreciate them a ton! It is so good to hear from you all each week. It is so funny seeing pictures of Jake and Luke. I dont even know them! They are kinda like those distant cousins that you have heard about but never have met. But I love them so much! The are cuties. I am so happy for KC and Stacy!

Things are going well. We are in the process of finding people to teach. It has been a tough process but I know that the Lord is preparing us for something great. We have been tracting a ton and talking to everyone we see. I feel so grateful to even be apart of preparing people to accept the Gospel later in their lives. We have been trying our hardest to be sincere with everyone and bear a true heart felt testimony with them. We are trying to help them feel the Spirit right away. It doesnt matter what we see in reality, it only matters how THEY feel. As we have been doing a lot of finding I have been thinking so much about the missionaries in the Book of Mormon and the Apostles after Christ's death. I have found great strength in the words of the Lord to Ammon and his brethren in Alma 26:27. He tells them to go forth amongst their brethren, the Lamanites( who were a pretty rough group of people) and establish His word, and he told them to be patient in their afflictions and they would have success. I love this so much. As I was reading it I realized that it is a promise for me and Elder Barrus. We have to be patient during our efforts to find and we will have success. I know this is a true promise form the Lord. I love how Ammon tells how the promise was fulfilled in the later scriptures. (v.30-31) They did have success! They were able to convert the people who were knwon as the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. The Lord will not lie. It is just a matter of if we have sufficeient trust in Him. I love the Book of Mormon. It is true and it is "dripping with significance" (-Elder Neil Maxwell). We need to use it in all that we do because it honestly answers all of the questions that we have in our lives and when we read it with the Spirit we will become even more converted to the Gospel of JEsus Christ. Read it EVERY day!

I hope you all know how much I love you. I am so grateful to have such an awesome fam. You guys are the best! It makes me so happy to hear about Kevan and Kelly at BYU. Keep working hard guys I love you so much. Thanks for everything you all do. Please let allof the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins know that I love them.

With all my love, Elder Craig Bills

August 8, 2011

Hey family! Its the big day for KC and Stacy! Man what an exciting event. I am so happy for them. It will be cool for them to be in a new ward and stuff. They will have missionaries in their ward! So awesome! Things here are going well. We are in the finding process. Our whole zone is. For some reason all the missionaries just dropped a bunch of investigators because they were not progressing. I know that things will pick up soon if we stay obedient,positive, and happy!

We were tracting a lot yesterday and I had an experience that really had an impact on me. It was with 4 mexican guys in their front yard. One had the biggest mullet I have ever seen ha and another was just laying on una maca ( a hammock). Two of them were drinking too. Usually I will just give them a card an invite them to call it in situations like that but we went up and started talking to them. We started to ask them about their beleifs and stuff and I felt like testifying of the Plan of Salvation. Elder Barrus then testified of the Plan of Salvation and the importance and peace it brings into our lives. When he testified I knew and felt the confirmation that one of these men needed to hear about the Plan of Salvation. I asked one of the guys if he had ever wondered why he is here and what God wants him to do and he said no and that he had never thought about it and the other guys to said they didnt have a ckue. Then one of them pointed to the other and saaid that he told him he diodnt even want to live anymore. We asked him why and he said he has mental problems and doesnt have any hope in his life. I could ho0neslty see and feel the pain he hd. It was so sad! All that I said was of the profound Love EHavenly Fther has for him and that he does have purpose. I testified that he has great importance and worth to iur Father in Heaven and that he could find that if he would open his heart and learn of the Plan. I felt so much compassion for that man. I learned that when we try to help people and when we listen with love, we can say the things people need to hear because the spirit will give us the things they need to hear. We can be instruments if we recognize first the role of the Holy Ghsot and then our role in inviting him into our lives and allowing him to teach. I love the Gospel . I know that like you said mom we need to savor the times when we feel the spirit. We need to remembeer the times when we have and find wehat we did to qualify for his presence. I love you guys so much. Thanks for all that you do for me!

With Love Elder Craig Bills

Wonderful Missionaries

Dear Family of Wonderful Missionaries -
We just spent a lovely day at the LA Temple with your sons. We love them. We
are from the Highland Manor Ward in Bakersfield where three of the four have
served. Elder McCarey and Elder Stoecker and Elder Barrus all worked with the
Barnes family and were able to go to their sealing yesterday. Elder Bills is
currently serving with Elder Barrus in East Bakersfield Stake and so we had the
pleasure of their company for the trip. What great missionaries they are! We
miss them in our ward.

They remind me of the scripture in Alma 48:17 "Yea, verily, verily I say unto
you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto [these young
men], behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the
devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." They are
that good!

I've attached a picture of the event and I apologize to the Bills family as I
realized later that he was busy taking pictures, too and did not make it in the
picture. (But he still looks great!)

I hope you enjoy your sons ... soon! I heard they are headed home in the near
future. Our son just returned in May so we know your joy. :)

Sincerely,
Bishop and Sister Musick

August 1, 2011

Hey fam! Hope all is well. Things here are great! The weather is HOT and has been kind of humid the past couple days. This past weekend was great! We have struggled to find new investigators for the past 6-7 weeks and we found five this weekend! It was wonderful. I feel so confident in The message that we have. I know it is for every single person that we see. I did a lot of thinking to why we werent finding people to teach and I realized I wasnt doing my part and taking every single opportunity to teach. So this past week we honestly were teaching everyone. It was the best!! This work is incredible. I love it more every day.

I gave a talk in church on Sunday. The Bishop asked me thursday night to give the talk in Sacrement so I didnt have much time to prepare. The person who was going to talk went out of town so I was grateful he had the confidence to ask me. I gave it on Faith. I learned a lot as I prepared for the talk. I was really praying for understanding on what I needed to talk about. There are so many directions to go with the topic of Faith. I felt good about talking about the importance of this principle in our lives and how we develope faith. As I was studying I found a scripture in D&C 8:10. The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith that without faith he could do nothing. That is how important faith is in our lives. I have realized that on my mission. Faith really is a principle of power and most important Action. I talked about all we need to have is desire. If we have even a little desire we need to let that work in us enough to act on that desire until it starts to grow into faith. Alma 32:27. This is huge! Desire is such an important aspect. It has to be a true desire though. Then I finished by reading about king lamoni's father and the desire that he had to change his life to come to know the Lord. Alma 22:15-17. I Know thatr faith is vital to having a successful life. I have seen so many people who have little or no faith who are so unhappy. On the flip side I have seen those with great faith in the Lord and they are confident and happy. Faith in the Jesus Christ leads us to do the works of righteousness. It is such and awesome thing to study.

I know this work is the Lords. I know the message that we share is His. I am grateful for the Gospel and my mission. We are having a lot of great experiences as we find and talk to people. Elder Barrus is great and I am learning a lot from him. Thanks for all that you guys do! I am going to Ventura tonight because we have Zone Leaders council tomorrow. I am excited. I love you guys tons!

Love Elder Bills

July 25, 2011

Hey Fam! Thanks for all the emails and especially the pictures of the wedding! Man it looks like it was so fun! The pictures are so beautiful. Everyone looks so awesome and happy too. It was cool to see all the returned missionaries in the pictures. I could feel sdo much love by just looking through the pictures. I love you all so much. Dad, your hair looks way good! It is such a blessing to have such an incredible family. What a blessing to have even another amazing person join our fam!

This past week was good. We worked hard and took every opportunity to teach the gospel. I learned so much this last week. I learned things that honestly have changed the way I think. I was thinking a lot about all my weaknesses because I had set so many goals to be better and to be honest I felt a little bit overwhelmed. I was trying to think a lot about what I needed to do to reach these goals and how I needed to change myself. I realized that I was thinking the wrong way! I was thinking about how I was going to change myself and I had neglected to put my focus on how the Savior will give me the strenght to do so. I started to study more about Grace and the strenghtening power that comes through Christ's Atonement. I realized that I need to make goals prayerfully and rely on Christ to reach them. It will only be after I exort my best effort and do all I can that I will recieve the enabling power that comes through the Grace of Christ. I was thinking about all my weaknesses and I realized if we think about our weaknesses as things that we alone have to deal with we will soon realize that those weaknesses will bring us down and we will not progress. But when we look at weaknesess as things that will humble us and bring us closer to Christ, we will realize that He will make our weaknesses to become strengths. What a blessing it is to have the Gospel of Jesus Chjrist and the true knowledge of our the Lord can strengthen us. The Lord loves us so much and when we rely on Him to make us stronger we will feel the strength that comes through the Atonement. I love the Book of Mormon so much! It brings so much joy to my life.

the work is going well. We are in the process of building up ouyr teachionmg pool . We are doing a lot of finding right now and we are truly trying to find the elect. Something that i have learned is that it really doesnt matter what we say to these people, it only matters how they feel. If they feel the Holy Ghost they will hear Christs voice. The elect hear His voice. Our responsibilty is to bring the Spirit with us, and we qualify for the spirit as we have love and we fill our minds with truth. We have to be virtous and have love to qualify for the Spirit and have him as our constant guide. D&C 12145-46.

I love you all so much thanks for all you do! Mom, thank you so much for the Hymn book. That is perfect!!!! I love you guys so much! Love, Elder Bills.

July 18, 2011

Hey family! Looks like the wedding was incredible! The pictures were great. I am very grateful to have another awesome siter in law. It is such a blessing! It is really so incredible. It was great to see the picture in front of the Temple. So pretty. The weather looked perfect. I am glad everyone had a great time and enjoyed the wedding.

Things here are great! We had 2 baptisms on Saturday, and it was so special! The couple who we baptized was so ready to be baptized. Before the service they were reverent and patient. The Spirit confirmed to me that they were being baptized because of their love for our father in Heaven and that they were doing it for the benefit of their children. I was so grateful to be apart of their baptism. Elder Barrus gave a great talk and I was able to baptize Jose and Elder Barrus baptized Angela. Jose offered the closing prayer and it was a humble heartfelt prayer. The biggest blessing from the wholde teaching process up to baptism is the confidence that I felt in them that they were doing all they could to prepare themselves to be baptized. They made sacrifices set goals and the blessings followedf and they continue to follow the changes they have made in their lives. The gospel is true, the Atonement is real, and it is evidence in those humble seekers of truth who honestly try to come unto to Christ with all their hearts and with all their strength.

I have been focusing on searching for Christlike attributes as I read the Book of Mormon and it has enhaned my study of it. It has been so exciting to look for how the prophets of the Am,ericas were applying the teachings of Christ into their lives and in turn blessing the lives of others. In Mosiah 29:39-40 I found a Christlike attribute that stuck out to me a ton! Mosiah wanted to respect his peoles agency and he let them choose who would be the judges of the land rather than haveing a King. I love in the end of v 39 it says the people were grateful for what they had been intrusted with and in v 40 it says how much they l;oved Mosiah. The chirstlike attribute of trust is shown here! I love it! The book of mormon is true!

I love you guys so much~! Thanks for all you do. Thanks Johnathon for the talk! I love yall so much! Love Elder Bills! Mom could you semnd a sopanish hymn book with La Familai Lopez typed on the front??

July 11, 2011

Hey family! Things are going great here! We have a wedding this Thursday! Our investigators are getting married then they are going to be baptized on Saturday. I am really excited. These people are awesome. When we teach we never have to tell them what to do. The spirit teaches them everything! They make goals for themselves right during the lessons. They have come so far since we first met them! Their names are Jose and Angela. So awesome! The baptized will be at 6 p.m.

Yesterday at church we got a tap on the shoulder at sacrement and it was a man I baptized in Santa Paula named Joauquin Gaytan.(he has a facebook Kevan. You could look him up!) He came up to see us. I was shocked! It was so awesome though. His whole family was there. He has such a strong testimony. He is so solid. He has learned so much. It was such a blessing to see him and how much he has grown in the gospel and how much direction it has given him and his family. They have so much confidence in the gospel. His wife, Liliana, was baptized about a month ago and she is so happy! It was a blessing to be able to see them and see the fruits of our work in Santa Paula. It reminded me of D&C 18:15.

I am staying another transfer with Elder Barrus. I am excited! I am learning a lot. Could you guys send me some talks on Humility? I have the one from President Uchdorf, but I would really appreciate some talks about humilty! President Castro is so awesome!!!! He has such a strong spirit. I have had two meetings with him and each time I have lefty with a desire to become more Christlike! He knows the scriptures so well. I know he is called of God. I love this work. I love the Book of Mormon so much.

I hope you all have fun this Friday! I love you all so much. Thanks for all you do! Love Elder Bills