Open-House Granny

There may be as many approaches to missionary work as there are members of the Church. Katie Williams of the Dallas Tenth Ward is a great missionary known affectionately throughout the Dallas Texas Mission as “Granny.”

Sister Williams gained the nickname from offering her home for cottage meetings, where missionaries could bring investigators to teach them. She receives stacks of letters from missionaries thanking her for her part in teaching and converting this person or that. And she corresponds with many. Her shelves and walls contain mementos expressing love and appreciation from missionaries and converts. Granny Williams, who was born Katie Myra Carpenter in Corsicana, Texas, on 21 October 1909, was baptized in July 1982 by her son Jack. “I am so grateful for what the gospel has brought into my life and what it has done for my children and grandchildren that I would do anything to help the Church grow,” she beams.

Katie Williams surrounded by mementos. (Photo by Gerry Kano.)