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