I'm a Disciple of Jesus Christ

Hey fam!!!!

Man, you guys had a lot goin on this week! It was good to hear from you, like always. Connor, congrats for receiving el Sacerdocio de Melquisedec. Just remember the quote from Spiderman, ¨with great power comes great responsibility.¨ It truly is a blessing to hold the very same power that Jesus Christ used to create innumerable universes and that God himself used to create us. That power is one of the very key things that makes our church the true one. That’s awesome that you went to the temple and stuff too. I wish I could’ve gone with you guys.

Today I’ve got 11 months in the mission. Almost done! haha jk. This week was a good one. I stopped my pointless whining and realized that no matter what the circumstances are, I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ and will keep serving Him. On Tuesday night we opened up the church and shared a ten minute message with a whole bunch of young kids and then they played soccer. I think we’re going to play with them tomorrow.

This week my testimony of the Book of Mormon was strengthened quite a bit. Unfortunately one of the families we are teaching (Denis and Yira, the soccer player and his wife) read just about all the material you can find about anti-mormonism. Right when we sat down they fired off accusations about Joseph Smith, polygamy, the Book of Mormon, garments, the temple, they even said that we worship idols because we have a pure gold Angel Moroni on one of our temples. I thought, wowwww...I’m gonna have to talk about all this stuff?!?! But I thought for a second, and the Spirit told me what to say. “Listen, I could answer every one of those questions that you have, OR I can ask you one question that will resolve all your doubts...have you prayed to ask that the Book of Mormon is true?” They couldn’t really say anything from there, because really if the Book of Mormon is true, then everything that we believe in is too. I love that book!  It really does have all the answers.

Yesterday Milton showed up to church with a white shirt and tie and a smile on his face. It was pretty awesome to see that. He already had his interview to receive the priesthood yesterday. This week we went to go teach a family that is super humble and awesome. That didn’t even have chairs to offer us, and as we sat there in the dirt talking about eternal families there was a sweet spirit. There’s nothing more rich than knowing that we can live together with our families and with our Heavenly Father again.

A new month is starting and we’ve got a lot of hope for September. We’re teaching lots of awesome people and we’re going at it with even more motivation after the things we’ve suffered lately. Thank you, guys, for being examples to me and for your words of encouragement. I miss you guys a bunch and love you a bunch too!

Love,

Elder Ward

El Salvador Temple Dedication

August 22, 2011

Hey guys!

It sounds like everything is going super well over there. It’s still weird to me to hear about what everyone is doing and not be there to see it, but it makes me happy. This week has been pretty busy with challenging moments and also with spiritual ones as well.

The highlight of this week was the El Salvador, San Salvador temple dedication yesterday. It was such a spiritual experience and I felt so happy for all the Nicas that will have a temple that much closer. It was interesting because they talked a lot about how the people from here and El Salvador used to sell practically all of their possessions to make the journey to the Mesa, Arizona temple. That really touched me and I’m so grateful that we have temples that allow us to be instructed from on high, and more importantly, where we can perform ordinances that allow us to be together forever.

It makes me so happy to read about how awesome our ward is and that our family is all active in the church. I think sometimes we take for granted that the church is so well established and with lots of good, faithful members. We have been having a really hard time with the members and the leaders here......... I don’t want to focus much on this, but I’m realizing that one of the biggest things here is strengthening the members too. It’s really sad to see great people ruin their lives with pride and money, but I’m learning to be patient and to correct people with love. Seriously, these past two months have been rough, but I’m so thankful for them and all that I’m learning.

Remember that girl, Margarita, I talked about last week? Well she got baptized on Saturday. It was really touching to see how emotional she was before and after her baptism, knowing that every horrible thing she did before was completely cleaned away. It truly built my testimony of the scripture that says, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” I asked her how she felt after and she said. “I feel completely clean and forgiven.”

What else...Nicas are HORRIBLE at skateboarding. Some of the kids like to try it here though. A bunch of less active kids from the ward came up and one had a skateboard. They asked if I could skateboard and I said no, which is the truth, but just did a little trick and they all started flipping out and yelling. I said if they go to church I’d teach em all that I know.  I’m basically a skateboarding god here now. pfff....

Miss you guys a bunch and thanks for sending that package mom! Also, dad, last but not least, ¡feliz cumpleaño! Gracias por ser un buen padre siempre y por ser un buen ejemplo de un poseedor del sacerdocio. Casi estàs muerto, pero no te preocupes, creo que voy a verte antes que eso. Son bromas jajaja pero te amo!

Love,

Elder Ward

It was a miracle!

Hey guys!!!

Just like every other week, I was super happy as I read your letters. It’s so crazy to think about what everyone is doing. Mom and Dad, you guys are basically like grandparents already, my little brother is getting ready to be a missionary, Collin is a junior in high school, Aubrey is in junior high, and Ava is in KINDERGARTEN! I wish I could be there for all of this, but at the same time there is nothing better than what I’m doing here in Nicaragua. This week was almost like starting a new school year. A new change brings new missionaries, new goals, new friends, new things to learn, new challenges...I’ve been praying a lot too.

Mom and Dad, both of you talked about miracles in your letters. Those happen a lot on the mission. This week a big one happened. At the beginning of this week we contemplated whether or not we should continue visiting Anabel and Milton. Earlier this week we went to go visit them and the Lord had changed Milton’s heart just a little bit. He was actually considering getting married...we were super stoked about that. On Friday, Elder Muzo went with my comp to do the interview and they were good to go!!! We were so stoked that all of our work with them was going to pay off. On Saturday we got everything ready: filled up the font, bought a cake, gave all the papers to the lawyer, invited the members, got the clothes, everything. Then we get a call from Anabel saying that Milton refused to come. Our hearts just sank...because when he says no, he will not change his mind. We closed ourselves in one of the small classrooms and pleaded and begged the Lord that he would change his heart. When we showed up to their house they were fighting and he said he wouldn’t go. We only said a few sentences to him and he just sat their thinking...and thinking...and I’m sure that in that moment the Spirit really got him. He said, ¨alright, let’s go.¨ It was a miracle! Before entering the church he was still a little unsure so we waited for him as he stayed outside asking the Lord if he was doing the right thing. I imagine that he got a solid ¨yes¨ because there was no doubt when he walked into the church. It was such a happy day, and last night they invited us to a dinner and their faces were just beaming with joy. They’re already talking about going to the temple. :)

I don’t really know what else to write about...well, this week will be kinda weird because we can’t bring investigators to church. They’re going to broadcast the El Salvador temple dedication. This week I interviewed a 19 yr old girl who had done some pretty bad things in her life and she just kept saying, “I don’t know if the Lord can fully forgive me for what I did”. We read quite a few scriptures together about repentance and how the Lord forgets our sins if we truly repent. I received a strong witness from the Spirit that the Lord had forgiven her and it felt so good to tell her that.

Other random thing...a missionary that left from this ward just got back from Guatemala. It made me just a little bit trunky seeing how excited his family was, and you could just tell how much his mom and dad missed him. Well...I’m not saying this to make you cry mom, but it made me think about you guys and how grateful I am to be your missionary son. Thanks for helping me get here. I love you guys a bunch and be attentive to the miracles that the Lord performs every day.

Love,

Elder Ward

Anabel & Milton.....marriage

...and baptism

The Lord Always Fulfills His Promises

Heyyyy Pipi´s!

Hey, how’s it goin? It sounds like it’s been a good week. Hahaha I could just feel the love that mom has for the new cats. Connor I think it might’ve been better if you brought a child molester home. I’m sorry, mom, that you feel that way about those poor creations of our Heavenly Father, but its alright. Hopefully they’ll go to heaven after getting eaten by the owls.

Anyways, the adventure of the mission continues. Changes are already here again on Wednesday and I’m staying here and so is my comp, so nothing too exciting. I honestly can’t believe how fast this change has gone. Unfortunately, the families that we were teaching ended up not progressing. Honestly, it’s a bummer that we didn’t baptize this change, but now I’m at peace. I know that the Lord wanted ME to learn something, so that I would be more converted. I think if I understand one thing a little better, it’s the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

At 8:30 PM Friday night we went to go talk to Anabel and Milton as a last effort to baptize them this Saturday. Only Milton was awake and no matter what we said he just kept saying no, even though he understood what he should do. As we were teaching I remembered something that I think I learned in a seminary class a while ago. I took out a small pack of Oreos and asked Elder Muzo (other missionary we were on divisions with) if he wanted one. He said yes so I said, “well, I’m gonna have to pay the price.” I got down in the dirt and did about 15 pushups. Coming back up out of breath, I turn to Milton and ask if he wanted one. He said no, because you’ll have to do more pushups. I quickly replied, “well here it is just in case you want it later”, and then struggled to do 15 more (yes, I’m fatter now). We then explained that that is how it is with the Atonement. Jesus Christ already suffered for us, more than we can even imagine. He already did the pushups, and we are the ones that choose if we want to repent and experience the joy that comes from eating the cookie. After all that, he just said no straight up. Coming back to the house I was pretty bummed, not because we wouldn’t have a baptism, but because I think I felt a small portion of the sadness that Christ feels when we don’t repent and don’t take advantage of His Atonement. I really can’t put in words all that I’ve learned this change, but I’m so thankful for what the Savior did for us and I know that I will be a better missionary and person for what I’ve learned.

Well...the Lord always fulfills his promises. We suffered with patience, and now He´s starting to bless us. We had 6 people in church this Sunday and two of them were families so we were stoked about that. The Lord is starting to perform miracles in our area now and we’re working harder than we ever have. We had interviews with President this week which was pretty cool too. This month on the 20th they’re showing the dedication for the temple in El Salvador, which is basically the temple for everyone here, so that’ll be cool. Today we got permission to watch the movie ¨Cars 2¨ and ate funnel cake and tacos. Anywayssss….that’s pretty much it for this week. Love you guys a bunch and miss you!

Love,

Elder Ward
 


Zona Corazo



The food causing the fatness



The Lord Protects His Missionaries

Dear Barrios (Wards),

Hey guys:) how’s it goin? Its true mom, time is flying. I can’t believe that you guys just passed a whole summer. It’s good to hear from everyone though. It’s crazy how grown up Ava looks. I’m glad everyone is doing well though.

Honestly, this week was probably the toughest of my whole mission. I don’t really like to write home about the not-so-good parts of the mission but I’ll write about it because I learned a lot as well.

Haha...first crazy story...one of the families that we are teaching lives super far away out in the middle of the jungla. We don’t like going there at night cuz there are no lights but we’ve been making sacrifices to go out and visit Duglas, Guadalupe, and their kids because they get home late sometimes. It was about 7:30 one night when we were coming home and we saw a group of six guys walking in front of us. All of a sudden three fell behind us and three went in front. We were thinking oh crap...my comp being from El Salvador smells danger before it even happens, so he books it. One of the guys whipped around grabbed me by my shirt and yells in my face ¨Da me lo que teneis maje!¨, which means, ¨give me everything you’ve got man!¨ Oddly enough, I’d usually be kinda freaked out, but I wasn’t scared and I felt like I should just be still. One of the other guys told him to leave me alone and they just walked off. I don’t really understand what happened still but I know that the Lord protects His missionaries. We decided we’re not gonna go there at night anymore.

Well...starting the week off we had 5 people that were gonna get baptized (keep in mind that we hadn’t baptized yet during the month). At the beginning of the week everything seemed good but on Friday, despite lots of fasting, prayer, and hard work, things started to get ugly.  Long story short, we ended up baptizing 0. It was a huge bummer because they were things that we really couldn’t control, like a pastor coming and telling them that our church is of the devil.

It still hurts to think about that, but I learned something that may be of even greater value to me than if we would’ve baptized. The Lord loves us enough to hurt us and to test us. I know that I’m more humbled than I ever have been in the mission. I realize even more now that this is HIS work, that we don’t do very much. I also thought a lot about the Savior and how He must feel when the people reject His gospel, and reject His Atonement. I’m even more grateful for my Savior and for his sacrifice. Sometimes we can give everything that we have and we don’t get the blessings that we want, when we want them. I love the scripture in Alma 26:27. The Lord lets us suffer, but if we do it with patience, he will bless us with success. But...that’s in the past now. It’s a new month, starting today. Last month we had a goal of baptizing 5 families, and I think that the Lord has humbled us enough to be able to do it this month.

This Sunday was pretty cool. We had Yira and Denis Espinoza, ¨El Pulpo¨ (or the octopus), at church. He’s the guy from the Nicaragua national selecion soccer team. It was funny because everyone was like oooooh El Pulpo!

Anyways, I love you guys a bunch and mom I totally forgot about those pictures. I’ll send you some next week though. Glad my grandmas are doing well and tell them I said hi. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Ward