SERVE SOMEONE

 Ok so obviously one of the highlights of the week was the oportunity to be able to talk to the fam! It was awesome to see all of you!  So glad we could find a time when dad wasn't working.  It's crazy that so much snow has fallen over there in SLC. 

Also I got the package you sent from that Argentina Missionary Package Place.  I guess they had accidentally sent it to the North mission so that is why I didn't get it before Christmas.  The guy called a member that he knew in Ezeiza and they gave him our number and then he rang us up!  We met at the church. So it was awesome!! Thank You!!

So here for Christmas is a little different, I have realized that it is actually more similar to the 4th of July in the States.  There are a bunch of fireworks, and people just get together to eat an asado. The fireworks that go off are not the pretty colored ones that we are used to, they just make noise.  And they go off for hours, so we were up until about 1:00am just listening to fireworks.  I just thought wow...I have to wake up in 5hours. Haha 

Asado!

Things are so great with Elder Funk. He is the best!!  I don't think we will be together for very long though.  President gave me a hint that I wasn`t going to be here in Ezeiza for a long time.  I assume that I will leave and Elder Funk will receive a new missionary. 

Well we are pretty much in the hottest week of the year here in Argentina.  The humidity just makes it even worse, we are just drenched like the whole day and there is nothing that you can really do about it, just suck it up and keep going, haha  

  

This week we didn`t really have a lot of the time teaching because a lot of the time we had to be closed in the pench.  We had to stay in for the whole day.  But something that was really nice was something that I learned from the scriptures this week that actually Grandma and Grandpa Shields sent to me in an email! There is a Scripture in Matthew 25:40 that says ¨Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it unto me.¨ which ALSO goes along with the sripture in Mosiah 2:17 that says ¨When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.¨ So where I am going with this is that it is super important that we serve others! So I invite you to serve someone this week! If it's someone you know or that you don`t know, just do it! You will feel awesome!! But yeah that`s all I got for this week, haha not too much but I vented my mind of stuff when I talked with the fam, haha.

Have a good week!!!

Elder Ward

CHRISTMAS MIRACLES

Ok so this week we had some MIRACLESSSSSSSSSS. We found an old investigator that wants to fast for a week to know if the Book of Mormon is true, Elder Funk was sick and I had to clean it up (miracle that I cleaned it up), we had some investigators at a live nativity, and this week is Christmas. AND IT IS SO HOT!!!

We got to know someone new. We had a lesson with her and really the missionaries stopped by to talk to the husband and the missionaries were going to baptize him but he died before he could get baptized.  His wife said that she never touched the Book or Mormon and never would. We taught about how the true church has been restored and at the end of the lesson out of nowhere she grabbed her big print bible, slapped it down on the table opened up to a random verse and read a verse that said something like ¨Don`t reject those that I send to you.¨ No idea where it said it, she never told us. But then she said that the Lord has spoken to her and that she really does need to read the Book of Mormon. I was just shocked. Haha I freaking love Heavenly Father!! HE IS AMAZING!!!

I think Elder Funk has been feeling a little stressed, because one night he threw up out of no where, and the next day he just looked terrible, but none the less he wanted to go out and work. WHAT A CHAMP! He is so awesome, he just really loves this work, I am so blessed to have such an awesome comp!!

The struggle is real - haha.  Elder Funk in Priesthood meeting

This Saturday we had to sing in a live nativity over at the stake center... It was really weird because I was sweating while watching the nativity... WHERE IS THE SNOW?!??! and out of no where some investigators showed up! We had invited them but they were very uncertain if they were going to go. We had to leave early but we called them after and they said they loved it! They felt so good being in the church and they can`t wait for the appointment we have tonight!! YAY FOR MIRACLES!! 

Tomorrow we are going to have a mission party with the zone and it will be pretty chill! Just a little activity and then we are going to meet the family of Pres. Thurgood!! It will be awesome! 

My companion and I have made a goal to make 130 contacts in 6 days.  Wish us luck!!

That just about sums up my week. I hope that you all enjoy your white Christmas and that you really remember WHAT Christmas is about.  If you didn`t see the videos yet I invite you YET AGAIN to see them, 

christmas.mormon.org

And when you see the videos share it with someone that needs this message of GREAT REJOICING! That A SAVIOR IS BORN.

It looks like I will be coming home on August 15th!! I talked to the President today so it is set in stone!!

Love you all!!

Elder Ward

p.s. hey so yeah wow there is a lot of snow, and man everytime I see Josh and Erin they look bigger every time!! IT NUTZZZ! And wow they did a gingerbread house together? Haha, without fighting? That would be a Christmas miracle! 

WHY A SAVIOR WAS BORN

This last Saturday we had the "white storm" in a place called Cañuelas, and it is super super close to where I started my mission here in Argentina! LOBOS!!! It`s a 20 minute train ride to Lobos, so I was super tempted to go hop on that train to see how the branch over there is doing!! But that day it was seriously SOOOO HUMID. My companion and my faces were just soaked with sweat. The whole morning we were looking for old investigators and less actives and no one wanted to go outside to talk to us because it was so hot, haha. But then in the afternoon we were looking for a less active and we clapped a house to ask to see where the direction was, and we just asked them if we could come into their home like out of routine, and they said YES!! It was a family of 5, the parents, and their 3 kids. We taught the first lesson and it was SUPER powerful.  The mom and one of the daughters started crying when my comp was saying the 1st vision and at the end of the lesson they all accepted to be baptized in January... After the lesson I wanted to be the missionaries in the ward so bad!! The family was awesome! And I was so happy that I could have played just a little part in giving that family the gospel!!

We have been trying to go through and try and contact some old investigators and see if we have any luck. And at least 4 of 10 people we chose are listening to us again! We had a member of the Seventy talk to us and something he said that was really powerful was that ¨20% of your old investigators are ready to be baptized.¨ That was awhile back in the Gira Missional or Mission Tour. So we decided to apply it and we are having a ton of success! Obviously, because a promise of a servant of the Lord it is a promise of him ¨Whether it be my voice or the voice of my servents it is the same.¨

Things are great with Elder Funk.  He came out early from the MTC because he knew Spanish really well !  And probably because they couldn't to afford to keep him there... Because he is a BOTTOM LESS PIT!!! This kid does not stop eating! Sadly they don`t really give missionaries too much money to buy food, but yeah, he`s a skinny little guy but his metabolism is just off the charts!!  And he is just killing it, he has adapted really easily to the missionary life and is just always making goals to get better and always wanting to do his best for the Lord! HE'S AWESOME!

So that has been us this week Me and Elder Funk have given ourselves some new goals for this new transfer.  One thing we are going to do is we are going to chose a Christlike attribute each week and study and improve that attribute in our lives! That could also be a different challenge, chose a Christlike attribute for this week (you can find them in Preach my Gospel Chapter 6) and study it and try to improve it! It will really help us be able to be better disciples of Christ and appreciate more his example that he set for us!

I love my mission president!! He is very WISE. He was a religion teacher for the church at BYU- IDAHO for like 30 years.  He just knows so much stuff it`s crazy. His knowledge of the scriptures is just awesome.  I mean I have really loved all 3 of my mission presidents.  I just found out that the last transfer or 2 I will have another mission president! Wow! 4!! 

WATCH THIS VIDEO IF YOU HAVEN`T SEEN IT YET!!!

https://www.mormon.org/christmas

And discover why A Savior Was Born.

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/purpose-of-a-savior

Love you all and hope you all have a good week!

Elder Ward

MONTH OF MIRACLES

Hello Family!!

Elder Carrion headed out for Mexico!  He was pretty excited to go, but he was sad to say goodbye to the people in this ward.  So now it is just me and Elder Funk.  We are getting along really well!

My District 

This week was great except for all of our bike problems, they seemed never ending.  One of my favorite things that happened this past week was The White Storm!  A White Storm (Tormenta Blanca) is when all the missionaries of a Zone go to one area on a day and they all go and do contacts, look for less actives, old investigators, and just a little bit of everything. It was so awesome. I went on division with a kid in the ward and we had a lesson in the morning.  My comp had a lesson with a guy that they gave a blessing, and wanted to be baptized that first lesson!! Then at night we found ANOTHER family that wants to get baptized! And it was a family of 9, so the elders of that ward were fairly content when we told them about that!!

White Storm

I went on divisions during this last week 4 times. It was super awesome!  We were able to get done so much more especially because there were 3 missionaries, so we just needed one guy from the elders quorum and we got double the stuff done.  This morning some Jehovah Witnesses knocked on our door, and when we came outside they just left!! They didn't even stop to talk to us or share their message.  As soon as they saw our name tags they just bolted! It was pretty funny.  At least it is funny for a missionary, haha sorry if I am losing my sense of humor.

So a miracle that we had this week was definitely yesterday and I wasn't even there to witness it because I was with a member.  My companions found some guy in the street and decided that they needed to talk to him, and long story short he was thinking of committing suicide with a chain that he was holding in his hand.  A lot of things had been happening, his wife left him, he got fired, he never sees his kids and it is all because he is a alcoholic.  SO tonight we are going to go by to have a lesson with him and try to help him to have a little hope and give him a plan to help him stop drinking so he can be baptized and just the whole Sha-Bam. Just think what would have happened if my companions wouldn`t have talked to him. So when the spirit tells us something... I think we should follow that feeling! Because if we don`t it could have a HUGE Effect on the people around us.

So that was what happened this last week! I hope that you all had an amazing fast Sunday and that you have an even better December! One way to have a good Christmas is to share the gospel with people!!

Go to christmas.mormon.org and share this video with a friend that isn`t a member and ask if they missionaries can go by! This is a month of Miracles! TAKE ADVANTAGE!!!

Elder Ward

WILLINGNESS TO SERVE

So this week my bike was acting a little like my bike in Lobos (the rusty steed) because I swear every day this week my tire popped.  So the whole week I had to carry around the pump and I had to pump it every 20 minutes. That was fun.  Luckily I got it fixed and all patched up so now it works like a charm. Almost. But close enough right?

Today me and Elder Carrion recieved a new companion! His name is Elder Funk from Tucson Arizona. ELDER CARRION LEAVES THIS NEXT SUNDAY FOR HIS MISSION IN MEXICO!! Wow it all happened so fast!  Elder Funk got to Argentina TODAY from the MTC!  We spent most of the day picking him up and helping him get settled, that`s why we are writing a little late.  We had a great trip to the capital last week for Elder Carrion's visa interview.  It was super awesome! Obviously the interview went well, since he got his visa.  Elder Carrion loves Ezeiza and all of the members.  He will be coming back to visit them for sure when he comes back home after his mission.

This last Sunday was the best!!  We had a super awesome Church attendance of 170 and we even had 7 investigators that came!! Wow it was awesome! I could not wipe the smile off my face. It was also ward conference and after the meeting the new stake president wanted to meet with us. In the meeting he wanted us to tell him what we were doing to increase church attendance so that he could have other wards do the same thing. Wow what a humble stake president.  He asked a whatever missionary from Utah that has no idea what he is doing for advice. I was amazed at his humility! I was speechless, I literally had no response.  I mean I feel like we are doing nothing out of the ordinary.  It was a super cool experience. 

One of the things that I noticed about this ward is the unity that they all have. The friendship they all have and the willingness to serve one another! I think that`s the key!  I mean if I have done something it`s nothing compared to what the members of the ward do here. So that`s the important thing, because 170 Members can do a lot more then 4 missionaries!!!

Sounds like it is pretty chilly in Utah.  Today it was so hot here.  We had a zone activity today and we played tag and capture the flag. It was super fun, but I got burnt in the face a little. :/ oops

Well that was everything from my week.  I love you all and I hope you have a good week!!

Elder Ward

THE HAND OF THE LORD

So this last week we challenged a lady to pray for her divorce to go through so that she could get married with her boyfriend.  Then  he can get baptized.  She said that 2 days after she started praying she got a call from her lawyer saying that it had gone through! WOO! So we are hoping that they can get married this next month and that the guy and their daughter can be baptized then too!!

This Sunday we were sitting in the priesthood class and one of the families that we are teaching showed up! WE WERE SO EXCITED! This last week we taught the ten commandments and when we got to the 4th commandment we explained that we shouldn't work on Sunday so that we can reserve that day solely for the Lord.  The husband said "Really?  I never knew!"  So this last Sunday he told us that it  was going to be the last Sunday that he was ever going to work in his life again! MIRACLES PEOPLE! MIRACLES!

So remember that my comp is from Buenos Aires.  Well, funny thing is that here in Argentina you have to go vote, so we had to go down to where he lives and vote or else he would get a HUGE fine, and President let us go over to his house for like an hour, so yeah, that was super weird. But it was good! I think it gave him a little push to see all his family there and they were super supportive and all the goods.  His family is amazing! And it was awesome to see Elder Carrion bearing testimony of the truthfulness of these things. It was just super powerful. I was moved. And his family was too.   I'm not sure how long it will take him to get his visa so he can go to Mexico.  We are going to capital this week to go and do like a visa interview, like they are gonna ask what he`s gonna do over there and blah blah blah, haha it should be fun. We are getting along really well!  Sometimes I think that he completely hates my guts, but I mean it`s hard to adjust to the mission life, so I take it easy on him, but at the same time I am firm because if he doesn't learn now, then it will hurt him later!!

Oh and we also got our hair cut this week so that`s pretty neat.  We are liking our bikes,  they are much nicer then the Rusty Steed that I had in my first area.  But they are a little feminine....

Well have a good week everyone and we`ll see ya next week! Just keep recognizing The Hand of the Lord in your lives! It is there always, even if it doesn`t seem like it!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to Grandpa Shields and Davie Ward!!

Elder Ward

GO SHARE IT!

Ok so we found a person this week. Her name is M****, when we contacted her she didn`t want us to come in. We were sad, but then my comp felt prompted that we should go back and offer her a Book of Mormon and tell her to read it, so we went. And she accepted and she said if she got an answer from God she would come to church the next day. Well yesterday in church she went. Sadly we didn`t get to talk to her after sacrament meeting (it`s at the end here) because she left super fast out the door! Almost running! But wow that was a miracle! I am glad for a companion that is sensitive to the spirit!! WOO!!

We contacted some people from the ¨Open Chapel¨ don`t know what it`s called in the USA, but it`s when they open up the church and people from the ward invite friends, family and neighbors to go get to know the church.  We explain things like service, baptism, the organizations, Sunday worship, and then there is food after. But we got a lot of reference from that ( it was like 3 weeks ago we weren't even here) but we contacted like 5 of them and 3 of them said that they wanted us to keep coming! Which is a super good rate for references! at least for me that`s good! So we just keep geting people here and it is super awesome. The ward only lacks 3 tithing payers to split the ward so that`s gonna be awesome, i hope i am here to see that!!! 

This last week we also had the meeting for new missionaries and their trainers and I learned a TON even though it`s the 3rd time that I have been there.  Every time I go I keep feeling the strongest impression that  being an example is the best way to help someone know what is the right thing to do. 

I really like my area! It is super big, there is a lot of progress even though I have been here for 2 weeks, and we almost have food everyday!!! There are police EVERYWHERE! The township even has their own police here on top of the regular police from the government... Because there is an area super super rich. it`s called the¨Clover¨ but in Spanish obviously. And another one called Bamboo village... But that ones in English, so yeah even more rich. Places that are rich here are in English... not sure why...

Obviously Argentina does not have Thanksgiving but  practically every time there is a game with Argentina playing is a holiday.  And when ever the twos biggest teams of Argentina play (River and Boca). The whole world just goes dead because everybody is sitting in front of their tv or their uncle`s TV.  Here it is soccer, or die.

The weather  is really heating up so fast.  These last days I  have been sweating so much, and it hasn`t even hit the hottest part of summer yet!! CHRISTMAS!! NOOO!!! I think living here in argentina is the only time in my life when I didn`t want Christmas to come. Cause man... it`s just hot.

Also I would like to invite all of you to do something special! This morning I read something super awesome in Preach My Gospel! It said that we as members should REGULARLY be praying and asking God to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God! It`s not a one time thing! It is something that needs to be asked over and over and over again!! So if you haven`t done it in a while I invite you to do it! Read and pray to see if the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. And when you receive your answer... GO SHARE IT!!!

Love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Ward

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

I picked up my new companion on Tuesday.  His name is Gabriel Carrion and he is from Buenos Aires Capital.  He is actually a visa waiter like I was in Ventura, California.  He is waiting for his visa here and then he is heading off to the Mexico Cuerna Vaca mission. He was baptized at 12 and he was the only member for a while.  His sister got baptized later and  then a week before he went to the mission his mom got baptized!! so cool right!?!!?

Me and my new comp Elder Carrion, Elder Avila and his new comp Elder Kofford

I  went to the mission home to get him and then we headed out to our area.  We wrote down some directions, took a map and hit the road! It was a super good experience, I am glad that we hit it right off the bat. We are seeing a ton of miracles here in Ezeiza!!

We are working with 3 families. They all have a baptismal date for the 28th of November, because here in this stake the whole stake does one day for all of the baptisms in every ward ( no idea why) they they are called ¨white doors¨.... it is different then I have done in the past, but we will see how it goes.

The ward is GIANT!!  It has about 140 members and here in South America that is pretty dang good!! And yes they do feed me very well, there is a super sweet sister that sets up our lunches for us! But really this is a great ward, we are getting a lot of help from the members.  They are helping us by giving us references and places to go, and it is just all around awesome!  The members are telling me that the majority of the elders that have come here to this ward stay a long time and finish up their mission here,so i don`t know.  I still have 9 months left! HOLY COW! 9 MONTHS LEFT!!

Our pench is pretty great.  It used to be a sister`s pench so it is niiiice.  We are back on bikes which is both good and bad.  They both have their ups and downs, it`s easier to talk to everyone walking, but the bike is SOO much faster.  But they are sister`s bikes. They have little cute baskets on the front... Whoopee.

This last Sunday we had the stake conference and the stake presidency here in Monte Grande (the stakes name) and the president of the area South America South came here, he name is Elder Walter F. Gonzalez. He talked about a lot of stuff... He actually talked for 45 minutes almost, haha but 2 of the things that stuck with me were:

Keep the Sabbath day Holy.

Be an example to the coming generation. 

Actually the first presidency is trying to focus a lot on Sabbath day observance. The Elder Gonzalez told us to make a positive list of things that we should do on Sunday, and that we should avoid making a list of things that we shouldn't do.  So we should all do it!

He also explaned that the coming generations will be a light in the darkness to come. We can also be that light right now, but who will be it tomorrow? or after we have gone and passed away? We have to assure that the youth (yes I know I am included in that group because I am only 9) need to be like the song... I can`t remember what it is called in English, but it goes like this, the chorus...

Al erante marinero, ayudemos al salvar.

If we are light houses on the coast. we will save those lost sea men!!

HAVE AN EXCELLENT WEEK!!

Elder Ward

ROLLER COASTER

I am getting transferred!!!.  Well I  am now heading to a new area called Ezeiza.  It is right next to the airport that brought me here to Argentina... Not going to try to escape! I promise! But it`s going to be good. I will be opening up the area with my new fresh Greenie!! WOO!! It is going to be a ROLLER COASTER!!

Of course yesterday was hard.  We went to church and then I said goodbye to 3 families. Luckily I was kind of  prepared because I had been thinking a lot that I was going to leave so it didn't hit me very hard, but I was still super sad! 

Transfer days are super crazy!  I woke up at 5, finished packing, got ready, and then a taxi came and picked us up at 8. We got to the offices around 9. Waited for an hour, and then the transfers started at 10. Everyone left and found their new comps, I talked to some mission friends (Ellie Holt says thank you so much for the package!!).  Then I left with other trainers to stay in their areas tonight.  We went to eat at an all you can eat buffet and it only costed 95 pesos (which is like $9.50).  It was super awesome! They had an Argentine grill, sushi, fish, just like everything, we stayed there for 2 hours eating. And I am. SO. FULL. 

Well 2 days this week my comp and I were doing exchanges and being with other missionaries in other areas. It was really good, honestly there were a lot of miracles that happened in both areas. Where I was  we found a guy that wants to be baptized as soon as possible, and we found other less actives that said that they were for sure coming to church this Sunday! The area that Elder Avila went to had 2 youth commit to serve missions that didn't want to before! He also taught and almost made a whole family cry from the spirit being so strong in a lesson!! Just miracles all around!

There were also 2 little kids in our area that had birthdays, the first was at the home of  a sister that feeds us every Tuesday.  Her daughter got baptized and turned 8.  The other birthday was the Bishops son that turned 1!  Man do Latins go serious with their parties! Even for 1 years old!  He`s not even gonna remember that party! Haha

Ok so super super bummer this week. We had set an appointment and we planned to go have a lesson with a recent convert, her 2 cousins, her brother, and her aunt... 2 new investigators, and they all wanted to come to church on Sunday. So we called them in the night and we set up the appointment. The next day we went through our  routine, had some lessons and then that night we had a Noche do Hogar at the Church.  As we were walking back to the pench we had realized that we had completely forgotten about the appointment that we had with the family. We called her that instant and asked forgiveness. She said that her family was really disappointed that we didn't come, and said they thought they had heard that we were ¨Representatives of Jesus Christ¨. When we got back to the pench I just dropped to my knees. I couldn't take it anymore, and I think that was the hardest I have ever cried in my whole mission. That night I asked for forgiveness from my Father. Hopefully I can do better and remember to be more organized!! 

I am dying laughing at Dad and Davie in their Kiss costumes!! Oh man those 2 are too funny. Literally I am only a little ashamed I have their blood in me... na just kidding, haha.

And wow. I can`t believe it about that shooting that happened with the Jacobs dad.  I know both of the Jacob kids. Sadly in Laferrere that happens like... 2 times daily. When we left to go to church in the morning on Sunday we saw like 4 fights that were super bad, and we just walk so fast so that we didn't get caught in them!!

But I am super glad that you all are safe and that nothing happened to you guys! I always have you all in my prayers! 

Love you guys so much! I`ll tell ya more about Ezeiza next week!!!

Elder Ward

PLANTING SEEDS

This week we went to the temple, I would send pictures but I forgot to take my camera to the temple and Elder Avila`s Camera isn't working. But we went to the temple and it was so good! One of our converts  brought 2 of her cousins and they both are super awesome! They all said wanted to come to church on Sunday but....they didn't.  The whole ward was talking together and laughing.  It was just a way good experience! I got to see the niece and nephew of  one of my favorite families so I sent them some pics and a What`s Up (a texting/audio message app). And then 2 minutes later they had drawn a poster saying we miss you and everything! It was so awesome! The tender mercies of the Lord to keep pushing me to help other people have a conversion like theirs!!

On Sunday, Argentina voted for a new president, and Saturday night we received a message from our zone leaders that we had to stay in the pench all day Sunday because of the voting.  So we went to church, came back, cooked, slept a little, studied, and yeah.  I guess in some way it was nice to be in the pench all day but it was also terrible, haha.  I did fall asleep for like an hour but after that I was just on my feet wandering around the pench the whole day. But it was good! A little weird especially as a missionary.

You asked about a typical P-Day.  Here is our schedule today:

6:30 wake up and exercise

7-8 shower and breakfast

8-10:30 studies

11 we had a district activity.  We made tacos and watched the movie Singles Ward.  We only watched a little of the money because it took a TON of time to cook the tacos.

3:30 writing you guys, haha

And yeah that`s about it this week. It wasn`t really a super eventful week. We went and did some proselyting with some members of the ward, and we had a BUNCH of appointments planned but all of them except one on Friday fell through. It was a bummer because the members were super excited to go and visit our investigators and just none of them were there.  Luckily the members were still super motivated to teach and we were able to talk to a lot of people that weren't in our plans. I guess sometimes the Lord has different plans.  For example..We left on Wednesday with the Bishop to visit 2 families that we had appointments with, and they both fell through.  On our way to one of our citas we talked to a cabinet maker because the Bishop wanted some more cabinets in his house.  We ended up talking to him about the gospel.  He didn't accept us, but I just think that a lot of this work is about us planting seeds.  So that when the time comes and the plant has sprouted future missionaries can swoop in and save the day!!

Well I hope you guys have a great Halloween.  They don't really celebrate it here.  I mean you might see some candy that has a Halloween theme but that is about it. 

 Have a good week!! 

Elder Ward

WAYS TO IMPROVE

Transfers are in two weeks and I have NO idea what will happen, I would love to know right now, but I can´t!!!!! I would love to stay here a little longer! I feel like a lot of good things are going to happen this next month! But I have no idea what will happen, I haven´t quite got a hold on what President Thurgood likes to do in transfers too much so yeah... I am just left here hangin.  It will be hard to leave here though.  This is the longest time I have spent in an area, and I have to really come to love the people here a lot!! And this is my 4th transfer here, so I have been here almost 6 months!!

Last P-Day we watched some movies as a district, we have 3 hours for our district activity and everyone just wanted to watch some moives, so we watched The Minions and Inside Out, and i made some delicious Sloppy Joe for the whole crew. It was a super lazy P-day, but we were all tired and hungry, haha. 

We also got to teach the family that I think I mentioned in the last email, they have 3 daughters (the mom is a less active) that want to be baptized!! WHOO!! We also found a friend of a member, and then a cousin of a member! So we are just getting loaded of the new people and the help of the members!! Really that is the only way to be a successful missionary! Is work with the members! There are an average of 100 in every ward that are active and at least 2 missionaries! 100 people can do a lot more then 2!

Elder Avila woke up one morning and said as if we were a TV show ¨Elder Ward, I know what we are gonna do today!¨ He had a dream that at 4 we went over to the house of a recent convert  (I was here when she got baptized) and there in his dream we started teaching her cousin. So this dream seemed too good to be true.  So we had to find out what would happen.  Lucky enough we went to her house, and her cousin was there and we taught her the restoration! What a miracle!

Also other miracle I got a letter from John Nelson... With a killer Thai tie in it... Haha Thai tie. 

And last night we ate some waffles after a  Family night with a family! It was good, I brought Peanut butter and Jam, and they bought NUTELLA!! Oh man that was good, it´s been a while since I had that stuff!!

We had a super good lesson with some recent converts.  Elder Avila and I studied up on commitments and what they really mean for somebody and how they truly help them progress in the gospel. Preach my Gospel said that leaving commitments with people is helping them with their process of repentance. If they complete with these commitments then it is a way to repent.

So this week we talked about having daily prayer with the family and between the husband and wife. They are going on vacation so we commited them to do it every day of the vacation. I think that we can also give ourselves commitments to keep getting better at the things in this life just start with the basics. There is always ways to improve in that area.

I love the mish!  the hardest thing to overcome has been Myself, haha. Just dropping it all on the plate and making the Lord´s Will mine. COMPLETELY. I still have a long ways to go. 

Well that was about everything that happened in my week! Hope all you guys have a good week!!

Elder Ward

AMAZING SCRIPTURES

Well this week we had interviews with the Mission President. They were really good! Short, sweet and to the point. I talked to him about college and all and he said it would be super good to just get home and get started, I am thinking on just coming home a week early home.  But I have time to figure that out.  The theme of the interviews was faith and exact obedience and we needed to look up some scriptures about the two subjects, especially about obedience...

Alma 53:16-21 

Alma 56:44-48 55-56 

Alma 57:20-21 25-27

These are amazing scriptures! I encourage all of you too read them! They are truly inspiring! They really helped me out!

I finally got the package that you sent with Mike Hatch.  I loved it! It was so nice, everyone in the pench loved Hi-Chews so those are already gone, haha they don`t like candy corns so much.  But that means more for me!! WOO!!  I gave Stella the peanut butter.  She was so excited!!  She loved it!!

We were asked to give a noche de hogar (Family Home Evening) about patience, especially patience with other people. It was good, and we had a good turn out, lots of people came! We also found a couple new investigators that the people had invited! 

Everyone says it`s supposed to get warm soon, but it is still pretty cold. Luckily we can warm up at members homes with a cup of  malta.

Ok. So when we went to General Conference there was a lady that came that is a less active.  She had recently found out that she has cancer, and for that reason she has come back to church! We are going to start teaching her 3 daughters, and her husband! Sometimes God gives us a good kick in the butt to make us remember who he is and why we are here on this earth. Yes the kick kindof hurts at first, but if we follow what he wants us to do we will have ETERNAL BLESSINGS!! ETERNAL!!! YEAH!

Well I hope that you all have a good week!!  Love You All!!

Elder Ward