An Action Packed Week!

Elder Leiva, Elder Ward, and Elder Pace

December 12,2011

Hello Beloved Family!!!!

Just so you guys know, this might be the most action packed letter that you’ve gotten for a while, so hold on to your seats. I feel like I say this every week but I feel like this week is the week that I’ve learned the most in my whole mission.

On Tuesday, we did divisions with 2 returned missionaries from the ward who are super awesome. One of them was the AP in Guatemala and another was a ZL in Taylor McBride´s mission. Haha…even said he knows Taylor and they did divisions once or something. His name’s Alex Cruz if you wanted to mention that to Taylor. Anyways, we’ve been helping out the ward a lot so we decided to spend a whole day just looking for less active families (to give you an idea there are more than 1000 people on the records of our ward but usually about 150 attend church). It turned out being an awesome day and we found new people to teach that are part of part member families. Also, we had a super powerful lesson with Edwin and Mercedes who FINALLY ACCEPTED A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!!!! for the 24th of this month. More about that in a second...

¿Quien causa tanta alregria?...la concepción de Maria!" That’s the phrase I heard about a million times on Wednesday. It’s a national holiday that’s a mix between the whore of all the earth and halloween. It’s called la Purisima. Everyone sets up like these shrine things with the virgin Maria in the middle (the mother of all of Nicaragua supposedly) and the whole world make huge lines to come and sing to her because the people from the house give you free stuff (candy, juice, sugar cane, you name it). I realized just how lost the world is and how grateful I am that we have the gospel. Elder Leiva and I, just to joke around started saying "Quien causa tanta alegría?...¡¡¡¡La Gran Apostasía!!!!

This Saturday we got a call from Edwin, who never calls us, saying that he needed to talk, but not in his house. He came to the church building with a preoccupied look and we sat down in the baptismal font room. He just started to break down crying...which isn’t something you see very often (a grown man that works construction start bawling). He went on to tell us that his mom has a bad illness that she’s dying from, that he doesn’t have enough money to pay for the exams, and to tell us about all the trials that he has passed through in his life. He said that he was just about to go accept an illegal job to pay for the medical tests of his mom and then go smoke and drink to forget about it, but he felt prompted to call us. It’s amazing how the Lord knows His children and sends His angels to help. Earlier that morning, I was doing sit ups when I felt prompted to text Edwin to encourage him not to smoke that day. Next, when I was studying the Book of Mormon later on...a random talk from the April Conference Edition Ensign kept popping into my head, so I read it. Its called ¨More Than Conquerors Through Him That Loved Us".  Anyways, Edwin said that the text made him think to call us and I feel like what I studied is EXACTLY what he needed to hear. We had the most spiritual lesson I’ve ever had in my mission. He asked, "Why do I have to suffer so much if I’m just trying to do what’s right?"

We read this scripture together:

6 “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

The Spirit was so strong as we promised him that if he persisted and gave his trials to Christ that He would lift his burdens and that he would have an ETERNAL reward for all that he suffers now. We gave him a blessing in which the Lord made many promises to him. All in all, it was a super spiritual experience that I can’t even explain, and if there’s one thing I know, its that our Savior loves us and knows us and our Father in Heaven as well, and that whatever suffering we have in this life will be paid for in the next.

I love you guys so bunch and I can’t wait to talk to you soon! I think I’m going to have you guys call a members cell phone or something. I’ll give you the number next week but I think the 25th would be the best probably like at 2 or so...I’ll give you more details though. We haven’t found out yet if I have changes but I think one of us definitely will.  Keep being good and Ava keep a look out for my clothes! haha

Love,

Elder Ward

Elder Leiva, Elder Ward, and Elder Pace