The Holy Ghost Testifies the Truth of All Things

Dear Family,

Hey! Haha Mom, I liked your story about the whole being sealed to a Ward thing. When people really struggle with my name here I just tell them to call me "Elder Barrio", which they think is a strange name, but it’s a lot easier to pronounce. I’m so glad to hear that you guys are busy with lots of good things.

This week was a very busy one. Honestly, I’m so grateful for the time that I’ve got to spend in the office. One, because I have grown so much spiritually and have had the opportunity to help lots of families come unto Christ. And two….you guys know that ever since elementary school if I have a lot of things to do I stress out big time.  Well, I feel like the Lord has helped me to change that. This week I had about a million things to do: prepare a marriage and a baptism, look for a new house, help other elders look for new houses for new areas that we’re opening up, pay the hospital, etc.  I’ve learned that the Lord really takes interest in our lives and I’ve come to understand that, "The Holy Ghost testifies of the truth of all things". Whether we realize it or not, if we’re living righteously and pray for the Lord’s guidance, He gives us that help in even our little every day affairs. A lot of times they’re just little ideas that pop into our heads. It truly is a blessing to have the Spirit to guide us.

I think I went and saw about 15 houses this week and unfortunately none of them really worked out. The good thing is that I talked to the owner of our house and we have until June 15th to move out now. Just gotta keep looking! President said something interesting to me the other night, "Well, Elder, you might have already thought of this, but have you been praying to find a house?" He assured me that if I was doing that we’d find one. Today we are going to baptize Juan and Mirna along with 3 of their nephews that live with them. They are seriously such an amazing family and it’s cool to see how much they’ve changed.

Also, I don’t know if you guys remember me talking about Henry and Maricela, but they’ve been going to church for a while and have just been waiting on some papers to get married and baptized. Well they’re done waiting and they’ve got a date for this next Saturday! The Lord is seriously so merciful with us.

I got a call yesterday from my friend Franklin telling me that the little girl that we gave a blessing to in the hospital, Francela, passed away. I was pretty sad at first but the Spirit affirmed that she was with her Father and wasn’t suffering anymore. Knowing the faith that she had, I’m positive that she will have eternal life. The Plan of Salvation really is amazing and I’m so thankful that our Savior made it all possible through the Atonement.

Mom, to answer your questions...I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do after the mission (I don’t like to but I guess I kinda have to) and I’m not totally sure what I’m going to do yet, but I think I might move up to Utah before winter semester starts to maybe take block classes and maybe find a job. I’m not sure if there will be much for me to do in Arizona. It might be tough to find someone to live with though if I did that. Give me more time to think about that. And with the whole flight thing…I’d like to stay till Saturday, but if it’s going to cost a ton more don’t worry too much.

Anyways, I love you guys a bunch and "Put your shoulder to the wheel" on the trek. It’s gonna be sweet for you guys!

Love,

Elder Ward

The Book of Mormon Saves the Day

Hey family!

Well this is going to be a pretty quick letter because we have a baptism that starts in one hour. Yes, it’s pretty much a miracle baptism. We are teaching this 71 year old lady named Josefa who loves coming to church with her daughter. The first time we taught her she said that she didn’t want to get baptized because she had already been baptized in another church. We simply invited her to pray and ask if this was the true church. After talking to you guys on Sunday, we met with her and she said that she had a dream that she was in that church and that she just felt peace. The Lord truly answers prayers.

Remember how I told you guys about that little 5 year old girl, Francela, that has lung cancer and we went and gave her a blessing in the hospital? This week a psychiatrist came and told her about a duck that had so much pain in her life that he asked God if he would take his pain away. God did that by letting him die and go to heaven. Basically, they were preparing her mentally to die from her cancer. Afterwards, she told her mom, “Mom, I’m not like that duck. Even though I have a lot of pain, I’m going to keep fighting. It turns out that she is out of the hospital now and that she will make a full recovery. I know that if we have faith in Christ, he truly can perform miracles...I’m grateful that I was able to witness that.

I don’t remember if I’ve told you guys much about Juan and Mirna, but they’re getting married and baptized next week and we’re super stoked! It’s amazing to see how drastically people change from living the gospel. Before, Juan would go off for days and even weeks drinking. Now, he’s always smiling and super excited for his wedding and baptism.

This week has been super tough with the members. One of our solid families was really shaken up because some members tried to SELL them food from the Bishop Storehouse...(they’re trying to start the 2nd apostasy basically) But anyways, we told them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. Well, they did, and once again the Book of Mormon saves the day! I love that book and it truly is the keystone of our religion.

Other little things...we have to move because the owners are kicking us out of our house. I feel like I’m growing up way too fast looking at houses online, calling real estate agents to ask about prices, blah blah blah blah....anyways, next week is gonna be busy! :) Played volleyball this morning...still can’t jump. President Monestel invited us over to have lunch with his family and it was awesome to spend time with them. My old comp, Elder Mejia, came back to Nicaragua for a visit and I got to see him for a bit. It was pretty awesome and it made me stoked to finish the mission strong and move on to the big tests of life.

Alright, there is a lot more to write about but I gotta go. Love you guys a bunch!

Love,

Elder Ward

My Mom

Dear Family (but especially Mom),

I think this may have been the busiest week that you’ve had in a long time! Sorry to hear that the volleyball team didn’t win, but no biggie. I’m sure you had a bunch of fun this season C Dawg. Zach’s on his mission which is super awesome, you guys practically planned a wedding reception for Grandpa and Grandma, …the fun just never ends. Anyways, I won’t take too much time to write because I’m going to talk to you guys tomorrow, but I just wanted to say a couple things about my mom.

1. There is a famous saying that goes something like, "You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone." This is the farthest I’ve been away from my mom and for the longest time and let’s just say that I realize just how much she does for me. I’m just talking about the temporal things: cleaning, washing clothes, grocery shopping, you name it...

 2. I think that my mom is so amazing that when I was growing up I just thought that was how all moms were. I was oblivious to the fact that a large majority of the families in the world have so many problems. In my mission I have met so many women that grieve for their children that have serious addictions or have traveled so far off the path that it seems that they won’t ever come back. They admit that it was because they didn’t teach them the right things. I’m so grateful to have a mom that teaches and lives the gospel.

3. Maybe one of the reasons why I never truly appreciated all that my mom does is that she gives the purest kind of service that there is: the kind that goes almost entirely unnoticed by any earthly being. I can’t imagine how many hours my mom has spent in the service of the Lord and of his children. My mom has taught me that when we serve we are storing up treasures in heaven. I’m sure that I will leave my fairly sized home in heaven quite often to go and visit my mom’s elaborate mansion. When I got called to serve in the office, it wasn’t the first thing I wanted to do and often I’m asked to do things that I really don’t want to do (like grocery shopping, etc.), but I’ve learned from my mom’s example to just do it and do it with a smile.

4. My mom has taught me to love people unconditionally. When I’ve had tough companions or tough investigators I’ve often reflected on the example that she gives. I don’t think my mom has ever said a bad thing about anyone and she loves just about everyone. She has helped me to love those that are hardest to get along with.

 5. My mom has taught me to trust in the Lord with all of my heart. I’ve read the story of the stripling warriors many times on my mission and it’s amazing how much I can relate to a story that happened so long ago. As I’ve prepared and served a mission my mom has given me the courage to face my spiritual battles. She has always encouraged me to battle sin and fight with diligence for the Lord’s cause, no matter how big the other army is.

6. I am a missionary because of my mom.

Mom, I love you a bunch and I’m happy stoked to talk to you tomorrow. I’ll tell you guys a little more about my week tomorrow because some awesome stuff happened.

Love,

Elder Ward

I've Fought the Good Fight

¡¡¡HOLAAA!!!

Hey fam. You guys have had a lot of stuff goin on over there this week. Aubrey, I’m glad that you are ok. This may sound bad but I just got an image of when Napoleon Dynamite takes Pedro’s "sweet bike" and takes it off a plywood and cinder block ramp and totally eats it. Just be careful. By the way, that was a good idea to do the Rube Goldberg OUTSIDE this time. Collin, good luck with V Ball mi amigo.

The office staff and their "trunky" papers

Time is flying by. This week we had interviews with President Monestel. Over these past couple months of working close to him, I have come to respect him and his family so much. It is awesome to see examples of other eternal families, apart from our own, and to watch as they diligently and joyfully serve the Lord. One thing that he said that made me happy was that, in the past, the financial secretary was the one who spent most of their time in the office and baptized the least, and that I had found the way to change that around. He thanked me for my hard work and told me to keep it up. I think that I felt good not because I was being praised by him, but I felt that the Lord has accepted my work here in the office. How awesome it will be to be able to tell the Lord that we "fought the good fight". The other awesome thing is that he told me that there was a good chance that I would be able to train a new missionary after leaving the office.

This week we’ve been preparing for the mission tour with Elder Martino, the new area president. I had to go to Masaya to buy a gift for him and it was NUTS. First of all, you guys can’t even picture what the markets are like here. Sick dogs everywhere, smells horrible, people yelling out names of random products and prices everywhere you go...anyways we were looking for a certain guy and ran around for like an hour. Turns out that his little stand was closed! haha Oops!

As far as things go in our area, this week has been a little slower. Honestly, it’s been pretty tough: Toñio continues drinking along with another investigator, Stacy and Henry were out of town all week, but I’ve learned to have patience in those times and to just keep working. We’ve had a lot of time to visit our recent converts and I’ve got to tell you that it’s so awesome to see how their lives change after their baptism. All of them are excited to go to the temple and are reading the Book of Mormon like crazy.

I think that you guys can call me at 3:00 PM my time on Sunday, and the number that you can call is: (505) 2254 7554. By the way, I think we’ll talk more about this on Sunday, but it’s for sure that the earliest I can see you guys is at like 9 in the morning on Wednesday of changes when you come to pick me up. You guys also need to call the travel office in Salt Lake to arrange flight plans and stuff like that.

Love you guys a bunch and choose the right!

Love,

Elder Ward