My Soul Delights in the Words of Christ

Dear fam,

Hey guys! Sounds like it’s been another good week for you guys. Can I just say that those first two sessions of conference were amazing.  I particularly liked Elder Holland’s and Elder Erying’s talks. I have felt the Spirit so strong and can say that my soul delights in the words of Christ and receiving inspiration. As you can imagine, we haven’t really had P-Day today, which is ok because its for conference, but I had to come and write you guys really fast. Before I forget mom, I was actually just sitting with Hermana Bunting in the "English Room" watching conference and we were just talking about our siblings (who are both supposed to be going to the same mission in New Zealand). We are in the same zone and she seems like she is an awesome missionary. Her Spanish is coming along really well and she handles the pressure of being the nurse really well. Her companion is known as "The Asistenta" (or the woman Assistant to the President) so she’s in good hands.

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT I SAW THIS WEEK!!!!! I was driving along and I saw a gold 1994 Toyota 4runner (Trevor’s car during high school) with an ARIZONA license plate that said "NICASRF" on it. It may have been one of the trunkiest, if not the trunkiest moment of my whole mission. Blast from the past anyone? Other story from this week...I parked at Pricesmart and was getting out of the car when I hear someone from behind say something. I turned around and it was a crotchety old gringo man with an army hat and aviators on that was actually yelling at me in English.  He repeated again...”Move your !(/&%#" car!”  It appeared that one of my tires was on the line. Well...let’s just say that it took every once of strength not to say something super feo to him, but the Spirit sharply reminded me that I was one of His servants. I smiled, re-parked the car, and went on with my day.

Remember Norma and Tonio (the alcohol guy)...well they went to chruch on Sunday and LOVED it. Hermana Norma told us that same Sunday that she knew the church was true and that she was going to get baptized in our church along with her whole family. She, Tonio, and her daughter Ruth have a date for the 14th of this month to be baptized. Tonio hasn’t drunk this week and we took him to the LDS employment center to help him find a job this week. It truly is amazing the power that the Atonement has in our lives. The family that went from complete devastation and darkness is now happy, smiling, and preparing to be baptized. That is the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only that, she introduced us to some more of her kids and now her son, his wife, and their 8yr old daughter have a baptismal date for the 21st of this month. They basically told us in the first visit that they wanted to be married and baptized.

In honor of 18 months in the mission, Elder Call and I (who also completed 18 months) drove around one of the main rotundas 18 times. I almost threw up, but it was a good time. You’re right mom, its time to get down to business. If there is one thing that I notice as I go on through my mission, it’s that I need to keep doing more...that "becoming a saint" like it says in Mosiah 3:19 requires an eternity...and the mission counts for more than just two years of experience.

I love you guys so much and I’m praying for you. Keep being good and keep readin them scriptures!

Love,
Elder Ward

PS Mom, what’s Connor’s e-mail address cuz I just get his letters from you but want to write him too. Also, something to think about...have you guys thought more about coming to pick me up? Because next change I will have to fill out some information about that if it’s going to happen.

Another Adventurous Week

Hey!

BE AN INSTRUMENT NOT A TOOL! Haha…I like that phrase, Dad. I know exactly what you mean about developing other skills besides a strong testimony. But seriously...this week I had to go buy some stuff for our mission activity in one of the biggest markets in Nicaragua. We stuck out like a sore thumb with our white shirts and ties...but even then I got to work on my bargaining skills. Almost every time they gave us the first price I said, "¡¿Que va a ser hombre?!" which here means, "Dude, are you crazy?!".

Elder Pace, Elder Galvan, Elder Ward (Arizona boys)

This week was another adventure. We had a conference for the whole mission for the first time ever since I’ve been here. So, as you can imagine, planning for 180 missionaries was pretty crazy...from buying 10 Spiderman kites from a street vendor to hiring a gay guy to take an aerial photo of the whole mission...(at least the picture turned out really good). Anyways, the activity was a success and everyone had lots of fun. We did it at this Jockey Club in Granada. It was hard work but it definitely paid off.

Time to work in our area was pretty limited this week. We did have a couple of good experiences though. We got a referral from a member of a mom whose son was just killed about 2 weeks ago. All of her other adult children live their too and they’ve been having some pretty tough times, especially because one of her 19 yr old sons, Tonio, continues his heavy drinking even after the death of his brother who was killed for the same reason. It felt good to be able to talk to them about the power of the Atonement and its fruits, such as forgiveness and life after death. Norma (the mom) was so happy to hear that her son would have the chance to hear the gospel in the Spirit World. Tonio went to church with us on Sunday and loved it...he said he wants to be a missionary. I think I really got to see how our Heavenly Father feels about us this week. We committed Tonio to stop drinking, nevertheless, we’ve seen him drunk, usually laying down in the middle of the street, every day this week. It broke my heart every time we saw him, so we would walk him back to his house, sometimes carrying him. Yesterday he was with his "friends" and had a bottle of alcohol in his hand. I said, "ahh man...again?? alright, how much does that cost?" he told me that it costs 10 cords (less than 50 cents). I gave him ten cords, took the bottle and dumped out all of the alcohol as his friends winced in pain and hollered as if I was pouring out liquid gold. I made him promise that he wouldn’t use the other 10 cords to buy more alcohol. I got to thinking that that is how the Lord works with us often times. He always directs us back to the right path and lets us repent by carrying us to the house or dumping out the alcohol, but he always gives us those 10 cords back (the ability to choose) and lets us do what we want with it.

Unfortunately Ricardo and Sobeyda weren’t confirmed last week because we had stake conference and they won’t be able to this week because they have another commitment and next week is general conference. Trying hard not to get down about that...guess the Lord has His reasons.

By the way, sorry I complained about going to Disneyland so many years ago (what a spoiled brat right?)...I know kids that would kill to just go see a movie here in Nicaragua. Oh and...GO GET EM HAWKS!!!!!!

Love,

Elder T WARD

PS: Mom, you won’t believe this, but that other package came THIS WEEK. Something has got to be wrong with the mail system. I also got a letter from Joey so tell him thanks. I already started to give away the stuff from the last package, so don’t worry.

I'm Just an Instrument

Hey!

Dad, just so you know, "pitchers" was intentional (i just wrote "intencional" and erased it), and sayed was an accident (Mike was giving Trevor a hard time about his poor English). I can no longer speak English. Oh well, don’t need it that much anyways. I think that it’s a bad idea to read your letters and Connor’s letters at the same time because afterwards I just have a ton of ideas bouncing around in my head.

Ricardo and Sobeyda

This was an AWESOME week. The Lord continues to do miracles. I don’t even think I’ve talked to you guys much about this family, but their names are Ricardo and Sobeyda and their daughter’s name is Luisa. Anyways, they had accepted a baptismal date before but we weren’t really sure about how serious they were about it. Well turns out that even though we’ve only taught them a couple of times (mostly just for lack of time and they aren’t home much), they were serious about it. We found out on Sunday that they weren’t married, which is usually a pretty big obstacle. We had a super awesome lesson on the law of chastity and eternal families. Long story short, they got baptized yesterday. I seriously love this family so much. We were waiting in the church for them when they called and said, "hey are you guys comin to pick us up??". So we went and got them with Elder Galvan (the one from AZ, who is our zone leader). All 6 of us crammed into a taxi which was hilarious. The driver was a pretty serious Evangelical so he says, "Why are you guys all goin to the Mormon church?" Ricardo, the husband, who is super hilarious, says “cuz it’s the best church!” and he went on to talk about how we have prophets, apostles, and how Joseph Smith restored the church. I can honestly see him being a stake president or something one day. The best was that Miguel, the guy that we baptized last month baptized all of them. :) He had to repeat a couple, or a lot of times, but everything went well.

Ricardo, Sobeyda, and Luisa's baptism

 I honestly can’t explain the joy that comes from seeing a family be baptized. Dad, what you said is right; if there is one thing that I’ve learned, its that missionary work is something very interesting. In a way, we are very important because if we don’t preach the gospel, nobody else will. At the same time, I’m just an instrument. I just have to make sure that I’m well-tuned and ready to be played, but the master is the Lord. It’s been a blessing to see His hand bless the lives of His children.

On a lighter note, I got pulled over twice in one day this week. Once was for doing an "illegal u-turn" and the other for turning left into the middle lane instead of the far left lane. The police are really corrupt here so they’re just looking for money. It was super, super hilarious though...the 2nd time they took my license and he asked. "If I gave you a ticket for 900 cords, could you go to the bank right now and pay it? Cuz if not, you could just give the money to me to get your license back." I explained to him that we were poor missionaries and that we had a special assignment to bring all the missionaries their bibles and take missionaries to the hospital when they get sick. I told him that if he took my license that there would be a lot of sick people spiritually and physically. He gave my license back pretty quick.

Not sure what else to write about, but I’m glad that you guys are doing well. Tell all my buds that I said hi. Mom, thanks for your reminder to give the best that I can all the time. We’ve got an activity for the whole mission this week, so it’s going to be a busy one. I love you guys a ton and choose the right!

Love,

Elder Ward

Financier Rap

(This is a "rap" song that Trevor wrote and shared with his brother, Collin, about his financial secretary duties)

You listen up, I aint no normal missionary

Got da dolla dolla bills, financial secratary.

My vehicle of choice is the pimped out HILUX

Rollin’ to da bank in my brand new black tux.

Hittin’ up Pricesmart, that’s my favorite part

I got checks, I got debts, and an infinite card.

I’m in charge of ya house, I’m in charge of ya food

If ya wanna nice lunch, then I’m the right dude.

People always callin me sayin "Bro, need some money!"

I got shirts, I got ties, but I aint got no honeys!

Trust in the Lord and His Miracles

Querida familia,

Hey guys!!! Sounds like life is going well for everyone. Mom, I just want to say thanks for all that you do. I think I’m really starting to understand what life for a mom is like. There are days when I find myself thinking...alright in a little while I can rest, but the rest never comes. I’m grateful that the Lord has given me an opportunity to serve. This week, like every other, has been super busy with changes. Things are a little different now in the office. Elder Reyes went home, one of my best friends that I’ve had on the mission, so that was pretty tough. The other Elder Ward went home along with a bunch of other people. It’s starting to hit me that the mission doesn’t last forever and it motivates me to be better every day.
I’ve got a new companion! His name is Elder Santana, and I love the guy! We worked together one day in Masaya and we were on fire that day. He is from Nicaragua, from Leon (a city in the North Mission), and is super nice. He’s really humble and I know that I’ll learn a lot from him. I will miss Elder Talla, but that’s just part of the mission. Elder Santana pretty much scored because we had Christmas in March. THAT’S RIGHT, MY CHRISTMAS PACKAGES CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha, about time right? I think they went around the world like 8 times before coming here. But I loved everything! Thank you guys so much! I think it came late for a reason too. Elder Santana got the package you originally sent for Elder Leiva (a former companion), and he told me that he was so happy because nobody has ever sent him anything on his mission. So, nice thinking mom! I think that made me more happy than getting my own package.
This week we only worked in our area like 2 days this week :(...but the Lord has done miracles in our area and I know that he will continue to do so. With seeing the new missionaries come and the old ones leave, you think a lot about the mission. I’m still amazed by how much these 2 years can influence our lives. I will be eternally grateful for my mission.
A return missionary got interviewed by President Monestel yesterday for his release. He served his mission in Panama and was headed back home to Bluefields (east coast of Nicaragua). It was cool hearing him talk about "Presidente and Hermana Ward" (Uncle Craig and Aunt Lonna). We even got to see some of their mission videos. It sounds like they are having a great mission too! :)
This week we have an activity for the whole mission planned so its gonna be another busy week. I’m learning more to trust in the Lord and his miracles. When we serve and obey he blesses us in ways that we wouldn’t even imagine. The nice thing is knowing that I CAN get everything done and that we will baptize at the same time.
I love you guys a bunch!! Here are some pictures for ya.

Love,

Elder Ward

Losing Myself in the Service of the Lord



Sunset Ometepe

Hey Fam!

First of all, I just want to apologize for not writing you guys yesterday. Not that this was the highlight of my week, but we had the best P Day I’ve ever had in my mission. We went to the Island of Ometepe with President and his family. It´s that island that is in the middle of the HUGE lake. Anyways, we left at 4am and got back at like 7:30PM so there wasn´t any time to write you guys last night. This letter is gonna be a little short because we gotta get out and do some soul savin´pretty soon here.

Jaime and Juana

Jaime and Juana's Baptism

Sweet Pricesmart Cake

I could basically just send you guys pictures to explain everything that happened this week, but I forgot my camera in the house. But...I’ll start with last Saturday. Jaime and Juana´s baptism was amazing. It was cool to see how happy they were after waiting for so long to get baptized. They love this gospel so much and they are already talking about going to get sealed in the temple :). We got a sweet Pricesmart cake made for them and everything and about 70 people from the ward showed up, so it was a success. In our meeting with President on Monday he told us that he wanted to take us for a trip with his family to thank us for the work that we’ve been doing. It was pretty funny because as he was saying that, Ometepe Island popped up on his little digital photo frame and I received revelation. We proposed the idea and that explains yesterday´s events.

Another Long Day...

This week has been another super busy week...I feel like the more I get the hang of things here in the office, the more work there is for me to do. It doesn´t surprise me though because life is never really going to be just smooth sailing, especially when you´re doing the Lord´s work. There have been a couple of days this week where I fell asleep in my missionary clothes and last night I woke up at 3am with my knees killing me...fell asleep again praying. It can be tough sometimes but this week I couldn’t help but have the overwhelming feeling of joy that comes knowing that I´m losing my life in the service of the Lord. Dad, I liked your mountain analogy. There are days where I feel like I can’t hike anymore...like a sressful day in the office, and when I get to the field I´m tempted to just give a half effort. It´s amazing how the Lord gives us strength when we think we can´t anymore.
The Lord continues to work miracles in our area. Two days ago we were walking to an appointment when some punk kid says, "Hey, this guy wants to talk to you!" He did it as a joke, probably to bug the man, but we went and talked to him anyway. Welp, this Sunday he went to church with his daughter out of nowhere and he loved it. We also started teaching a family named Yubelka and Carlos. The wife read the Introduction of the BOM and Joseph Smith´s testimony and said that when she read it she felt so much peace and happiness. They promised that they would pray about the BOM. I think I already talked about Agustin and his grandkids but they accepted a baptismal date for this Saturday. We found out that his doubt was that he can’t read and felt like the Lord wouldnt accept him in His church. As we testified that he was a child of God and that all he needed was a willing heart the Spirit was super strong.

Ouch!!!

I learned something valuable from President this week. I´ve found that when someone has so many things to do at one time that it’s pretty stressful, and it’s easy to lose your patience. President called me this week, laughing as he told me that he had backed his car into a pole on the basketball court at the church. He came to drop his car off at the house...the back of his car looked like a smashed tin can, windshield broken, the whole deal. He just said..."It was the pole’s fault!" and was pretty calm about it. If it were me I probably would’ve been super bummed, but President just laughed it off. Maybe he´ll react differently when he sees how much it costs to fix it.  :)
This letter is getting long...but yesterday was super legit. We took two of the cars on the ferry over to Ometepe and went and did all this stuff on the island. Went and drove around the volcano, went to some museums, had a super good lunch, did a hike, and just enjoyed being with President and his family.
Welp, all my bros (friends) are coming home. I’m not gonna lie, I wish I could be there to see them come home but I wouldn’t ever give up my time here. I still love being a missionary and I’m trying super super hard not to ever be trunky haha. My bud, E. Reyes (one of the AP´s) is going back to El Salvador this week so that’s kinda a bummer too. Every now and then I think about that day and how I will feel and it motivates me to give all that I can to be able to say that I fought the good fight. Tell all of them that I said hi and that I love them.

Love you guys!!!!!!!
Elder Trevor Ward

Ferry to Ometepe

President Monestel and family and The Office

Volcano on Ometepe