Farewell to Nicaragua

Here are some pictures from our trip to Nicaragua.  We had an amazing experience visiting the country that Trevor served in for 2 years.  We were able to meet his mission president and family and many of the missionaries that Trevor served with.  The highlight though was meeting and visiting with several families that Trevor taught and helped to convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were such humble people living in very humble circumstances, but you could certainly feel of their joy and happiness!  We grew to love these people in the few days we had there just as Trevor did as he served them faithfully over the last two years.   

He's ours again!

President Monestel and family

Departing missionaries

Top of Cerro Negro Volcano

Ciudad Sandino

CTR ring gifts

Managua

Masaya

 

Jinotepe

 

 

 

 

WELCOME TO MY COUNTRY!!!!!!

HEY NICAS!!!!!!

 

Well, I'm going to make this extremely short, but WELCOME TO MY COUNTRY!!!! You guys have no idea how excited I am that you are here. Why? Obviously because I get to see you and spend time with you after not being able to for two years, but also because there are some things that words can literally not describe. You guys are experiencing the very things that I`ve come to love about Nicaragua. You understand what its like to not speak Spanish, being completely lost, eating weird food, get accustomed to the extreme poverty...but there is one HUGE thing that you`re missing and it`s what makes all of it worth it. Being able to bear witness of Jesus Christ every day. I`m sure you got a small taste when you took that old couple home from church, but I`m hoping that I can give you guys a little taste of that when we visit some converts this week.

I was thinking about sharing more thoughts about finishing my mission, but I will just talk to you about that in person. Just got back from Managua from my last interview with President. It was amazing and I feel such a good peaceful feeling knowing that I served the Lord with all I`ve got. Kinda crazy getting back because all the taxi drivers were on strike over the gas prices...you know...the normal in Managua (burning tires, road blocks, policemen in combat uniforms). AWWW MANN!!!!!! I'm so stoked that I'm gonna see you guys in two days. Went with Elder Jovel and Gaitan by the way. Haha...they said they saw you guys at church. Supposedly your Spanish isn`t too bad, Dad.

I`ll just say that this week has been amazing. Ana and Adonis`s baptism...SO AWESOME!  I love that family so much. Well, you guys will just have to wait anxiously until you see me on Wednesday morning to hear about the rest.

Wednesday at 9:00AM changes meeting starts so I would maybe try to get there like half an hour early. Here is my phone number if you guys need help getting there:  (505)8403-9058. That will end at about 12:30 or so and then we have to be at President`s house at 4:00 pm for a little meeting followed by a dinner. Before and after that I think we`ll probably just go to the hotel and visit a couple of converts here in Managua close by.

See you guys on Wednesday! I'm SOOOOOOOOO STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SALVAJE!!!!

Love,

Elder Ward

It's Gonna Be Hard to Get Me to Leave

Dear Family,

Happy Anniversary!!! Dad, you’re right, one of the many things I have learned on my mission is the importance of our families. I don’t think I ever REALLY appreciated that sealing power, but now I know that it is truly amazing. I’m so grateful that our family will be together forever.

Well...you guys are coming to Nicaragua THIS WEEK. NUTS!!! It’s really weird because I feel like you guys are coming to visit my country instead of you coming to take me back to mine. You might want to bring some handcuffs because it’s gonna be hard to get me to leave. I’ll talk more about that in a sec, for now I’ll share some experiences from this week.

Tuesday afternoon was pretty slow. All of our appointments had fallen and we weren’t quite sure what to do (that’s when your plan A, B, C, and D all fall) so we started to contact. We went walking by what I would say competes for the humblest home in our area. There was a slightly gorda woman lying down on a wood pallet that she used as a bed with a very skinny, dirty-faced girl. She smiled and let us come in...her situation touched my heart. She had NOTHING. A blanket, a bucket, some sticks to make a fire to cook if there was any food, a couple items of clothes and her flip flops. We asked if we could help her with anything and she ashamedly confessed that she didn’t have soap to wash the little girl’s clothes. We went to the nearest pulpería (that’s what the little stores in people’s houses are called) and bought her soap that cost 50 cents. We came back, gave it to her, and she just started crying. She said that two minutes before that she had prayed asking God that somehow she could have soap. God loves His children...how different the world would be if everyone could just understand that one principle.

Other story….did divisions this week with the Zone Leaders. We went to go visit a family that they’re teaching that has really had some hard times. The husband is unemployed and they are having a hard time just to get food for their two daughters. We were in the middle of talking about why the Lord allows us to have trials when he started speaking to me in English (used to live in the states). He said that he was so desperate that he even had thoughts of hanging himself. I bore a simple testimony of the Atonement and Jesus Christ’s plan. He said, "I guess I am still supposed to be here because the tree branch snapped when I put the rope around it”. Sorry, I know that’s kind of disturbing, but my point is that Christ will carry our burdens, and I felt good leaving that lesson knowing that we could set a lost sailor on his course again.

Alright...I feel like I’m going to just make everyone cry. To lighten it up a bit…this week Elder Comfort was running away from the dog that lives by our house named Persa. He tried to fake her out or something but turned the wrong way and the dog totally took his legs out. He FLEW. You had to be there but we laughed for a long about that.

Ana and Adonis are so awesome. They love the church and complete every commitment that we give them. President has to interview Adonis on Tuesday so we’re praying that everything goes well so they can be baptized this weekend.

Mom, to answer your questions you can just bring some old vans...it doesn’t matter much to me. I’m a size 36 waist now so...JK haha…I’m still the same size, so you can just bring whatever size 32 pants. Maybe you can bring a new razor head too. I’ll give you the details next Monday, but you have to be at the church in Reparto San Juan before 9:00 am on Wednesday. The address of the church is "de la rotonda universitaria 1 cuadra al sur y 1 cuadra al este". I’m super excited for you guys to come and we’re gonna have an awesome time!

Also, I didn’t end up going to San Juan del Sur today :) but you guys will like it there. Welp...see you in Nicaragua!!!

Love,

Elder Ward
 

Finish My Course With Joy

Ramon's Baptism

Dearest Familia,

I’m not going to lie it feels really weird knowing that I have very little time left to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. I don’t want to focus too much on that but, just to get it out of the way, here is my response to your encouragement to "finish strong":

Elder Ward, Elder Comfort and their District

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Just trying to finish my course with joy :) And this week has been a very joyful one. Let me start off with an interesting story...We had an appointment to go and visit a family that was a referral from the members. The husband’s sister just passed away about a week ago and we knew that it was going to be a good experience. We came to the door and the wife told us to come in. That’s when a crazy old woman, who appeared to be unhappy that we were there from the very first sight, came up and said in English, "Do you know what really pisses me off??? That you guys can come to my country but that I can’t go to yours!" Elder Comfort and I were pretty shocked. She went on to explain how the US government (and when she referred to the govt. she said "you guys") had taken away everything she had, had tried to kill her, etc. When she finally gave us a chance to talk I explained that even though we were from the United States and Canada (go figure) we were representing Jesus Christ and that our purpose was simply to help people like her that had had hard times to come closer to Him. Well...no matter what we said she was COMPLETELY convinced that we were spies from the govt. and that we were there to ruin her life. A taxi came up from behind us and our potential investigator asked us to help take the food in that they brought from the market. As we went to grab the sacks of food the crazy lady grabbed our arms and told us not to touch the food. It was a crazy experience but I feel like the Spirit really helped us to know what to say. We kind of just laughed about if afterwards. We still call each other "Agent Comfort and Agent Ward" every now and then.

Elder Ward, Ramon, Elder Comfort

We had a baptism this Saturday! Haha…I don’t even think I told you guys that we were going to have one but our investigator, Ramon, got baptized. He’s a really good guy and had a tough past so it’s really cool to see how the Lord has changed him. He even showed up to church with a white shirt and tie yesterday and looked like a stud. I’ll send some pics. Our whole zone is pretty excited because everyone is starting to see that this isn’t really the "No Baptizing Zone".

Ana and Adonis are so golden. I love that family so much and they have an unbelievable amount of faith. They came to church yesterday and LOVED it. The members came and welcomed them, including the bishop. They are super excited about getting married. They read the BOM every day and they said that they know it’s true. When we taught them about the Word of Wisdom they said, "Well...we drink coffee every day but it looks like we’re not going to do that anymore." And that was the end of that haha. Adonis even said that he doesn’t want to go back to the military because he wants time to be with his family and go to church. They even asked us what they have to wear to their baptism and at what time it’s going to be at in two weeks haha.

I’ve taken some time to think about them along with the other amazing people that have changed my life on my mission and I’m so grateful for their examples of faith. After seeing miracles like that it’s impossible to not know that this is the true church and that Jesus Christ lives. I’ve come to realize that what was at one point a belief for me has turned into a sure knowledge. THAT is what should motivate all of us to finish strong.

Question? What day are you guys coming again? Haha because I think our zone is going to San Juan del Sur next Monday. I’m pretty sure you won’t be there yet (which is probably good) but maybe I’ll leave you a note in the sand or something. I was gonna ask if you could maybe bring a pair of tennis shoes for me and some jeans (mine don’t really fit anymore). Anyways...I love you guys a ton and I’m super stoked for you to come!!! In the meantime...still going strong.

Love,

Elder Ward

Never too old for a crown at Burger King!

 

Elder Ward and Elder Comfort (Jinotepe)

 

Elder Chacaj & Elder Ward in Granada

 

It's Gonna Be Really Hard to Leave This Place!

Dear Familia,

Hola mi querida madre! Parece que has estado practicando tu español para venir a Nicaragua. Esooo!! (Hi, my dear mother. It appears that you have been practicing your Spanish so that you can come to Nicaragua.) I can’t believe I made it out alive of that crazy earthquake this week! JK...There was an earthquake this week but as far as I know nobody was harmed. They evacuated a lot of people because of a tsunami alert in Puerto Sandino but other than that it wasn’t a huge deal. It was nuts though. I was sitting their studying when I started to feel really dizzy. I realized that I wasn’t dizzy but the whole house was swaying back and forth!!!! Also, we haven’t been affected by the volcano erupting but there is a lot of talk about it.

To answer your questions:

1. The North Mission office is pretty close to where we will be so it really wouldn’t be a problem to drop those things off.

2. I feel like those things are perfect to bring. I was thinking that maybe you guys could bring some old white shirts as well if you’ve got any that no one is using.

3. As for me...my shirts are destroyed except for like 3 so maybe just like one white shirt to wear home...I really don’t need much though I’m going home...haha

4. I think that you and dad would really like Ometepe. You can take a car over on the ferry for pretty cheap. I really had fun there. There are museums, nature hike type things, I think there are kayak tours, and it’s just a cool place to be.

This week the Lord truly has done miracles in our area. Dad, you’re quote pretty much sums it all up. We’ve been being obedient and working hard so I think he had to bless us some time or another. We’re teaching a family named Armando and Angela who are super awesome. Armando is very humble and really, really wants to be baptized. He loves everything that we teach him and says that he feels like his life is changing. Angela was a Jehovah’s Witness for about 20 yrs. She listens intently when we come and I think she is slowly realizing that all the terrible things she’s heard about our church aren’t true. She has a lot of strong roots from her other church but we’re leaving it up to the Book of Mormon to help her find out the church is true. They went to church on Sunday!

Remember Ana, the girl we walked back to go contact? Well, her companion’s name is Adonis and it turns out that he went to church when he was 15 and was almost baptized. The first night we taught them together they accepted a baptismal date for the 29th and are so freakin awesome! They have such a strong desire to have a happy family and last night when we were teaching them they said, "When we get baptized we have to get married before right?" So they’re pretty much good to go. We’re having FHE in a member’s house with them tonight.

So many awesome things...I’ve felt so happy this week just knowing that we’re doing the Lord’s work and helping people come unto Christ. I think it’s gonna be really tough to leave this place behind. But in the mean time...I’ve got about 3 1/2 more weeks to go and we’ve got some people to baptize! :)

I can’t say it enough but I love our Savior and His gospel. By the way, thanks for the pics. They’re hilarious. I love you guys and don’t get too trunky! :)

 

Love,

 

Elder Ward

 

Nobody Else Can Do It

HEY!!!!

I hate to start with this as well but at some point of this week I realized that I have about a month left of my mission. I think I’ve mentioned this before but it made me think about Jesus Christ and the last month/week of his life. I imagine that sometimes He felt weary at times, but nonetheless thought, "Well, it’s time to finish strong." I feel like this week I got to take a couple of steps in the Garden of Gethsemane. I’ll talk about that in a sec.

It’s funny that we’re going to Canada on our trip because Elder Comfort and I always joke around and talk about how dumb the United States/Canada is. We argue about how to say words like "bag", "pasta", "tomorrow", and I usually make a comment or two about hockey being the only sport. It’s really all just friendly but I said out loud just now, "What the heck, we’re going to Canada?!?!" Elder Comfort said, "That’s awesome!" At the same time that I said "That sucks!". Good thing we won’t be there for too long. ;) I’m really starting to love the kid. That’s awesome that Mitt Romney is doing so well...to be honest with you nobody ever talks about that here. The big news here this week was who won the soccer match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Real Madrid won if you guys wanted to know. I haven’t been very inclined to exercise either on my mission but, like you two haha, I’ve been rockin the work out sessions. I don’t know what’s harder...trying to figure out ways to exercise without any kind of weights or doing the actual exercise. (Elder Comfort woke up to me bicep curling two metal chairs once).

Anyways...back to what I mentioned earlier. I read something in Preach My Gosepl this week that really got me. It’s a quote from Dallin H. Oaks, "Nobody else can do it." If I decide to "give up" now that means that nobody else is going to do the work that the Lord wants me to do. So...despite our seemingly fruitless efforts we kept working. Every time we see a family we contact them, and it finally paid off in these last couple days. On Saturday we had an awesome lesson with a family whose handicapped son came and grabbed my hand as we went walking by his house. If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is. Just one of God’s angels who by simply leading us to his house may have completed the most important mission he was sent here to do. Another story…. we were walking down one of the main streets in our area...and I remember just being a little down in the dumps because we weren’t finding anyone to teach. We walked past a humble tin house and through the crack between the sheet metal door and a wooden post I saw a young woman quickly glance at us. We walked about 4 more blocks but the woman stayed in my mind. One voice told me..."Go back, this is a prompting from the Spirit." Another told me, "You’re four blocks away already and she probably doesn’t want anything like everyone else that lives here." We turned around and a different lady came to the door. She said that she already went to a church and wasn’t interested and paused..."but my daughter-in-law doesn’t go to any church." We had a lesson with her last night, Ana, and she accepted a baptismal date and is super excited about coming to church. I thought about that afterwards. How many little decisions do we make every day that determine our eternal destiny or the eternal destiny of another person. Lesson learned: make the right decision.

This morning we went to Managua so that I could get my ingrown toenail out (for like the 5th time). We went to Burger King for breakfast right after. Even though I’m finishing my mission, I’m still not too old to ask for a crown from Burger King. I’m super happy here and I know that we’re doing what the Lord wants.

I don’t like to think about this much but I’m just trying to plan a couple things for when you guys come. On Wednesday, I was just thinking that after the changes meeting, which ends at like 12:30pm, President will probably invite us to lunch with the other missionaries that are leaving (like from 1-2:30) and then I thought that it would be easiest to just go visit some converts from my office area since it’s right there. President always invites the missionaries and their families to his house at around 7 for like a little goodbye thing (don’t know if you’d want to go to that or something else). Thursday and Friday are pretty much open. I`d like to go to Masaya, Ciudad Sandino, and possibly Jinotepe to visit people from the areas I served in. I figured that we could maybe do like two or three touristy things like: 1. Cerro Negro 2. Las Isletas de Granada 3. Market in Masaya (that we can do when we go to Masaya) 4. Volcan Masaya 5. Whatever else you can think of. So just be thinking about what you guys want might to do the most or talk to Elder Pace’s family to see what they liked the most...Just let me know what you’re thinking.

Also, we’re doing a presentation and I need a huge favor. I need a couple pictures from when I was younger (I remember one where I have my Easter suit on and the car keys which is awesome) and just pictures of some things I did before the mission. I need them for next Monday.

Anyways....I love you guys a bunch and excited to see you sort of soon. But for now...I’ll be on the Lord’s errand. :)

Love,

Elder Ward

The Good Samaritan

Hey Family!!!

Man...sometimes it’s a lot to take in when you guys write me: volleyball tryouts, funny stories, spiritual counsel, car crashes, you name it...More than anything I want to thank you for your spiritual counsel. I was asked to speak in church on Sunday and I actually
used that same quote:

“If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty”

It was basically about the importance of "rescuing" inactive members since it’s a big problem here. I also talked a little about Eddie Aikau (Dad might appreciate that). I’ve thought about that quote and the quote that you sent me, Dad. Honestly, I feel like we’ve worked hard these last two weeks but that we haven’t made much progress. It may be the week that I’ve gotten rejected the most in my mission. I feel like what the Lord really might be doing is testing if I really will push through all the way. One big success is that Elder Comfort is coming along pretty well. When you’re in the service of the Lord you can’t really lose because if nothing else we’re coming out better people than we were when we started.

All right, enough crying on my part. Here’s a funny story told in scripture form because that’s how Elder Comfort and I thought of it:

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain drunk man went down from Jerusalem to Jinotepe, and fell down in the middle of the street, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain man selling bread that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a taxi driver, who almost ran him over, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But two certain missionaries, as they journeyed, came where he was: and when they saw him, they had ^bcompassion on him, and said, "Dude, Elder Comfort...this drunk guy is gonna get rocked by a car...let´s move him to the side of the road!"

34 And they went to him, and tried to wake him up, when suddenly he woke up kicking and punching the air violently...saying every kind of obscenity that you could ever imagine, causing all of the neighbors to come out of their houses. Then, without further hesitation...the two missionaries departed saying amongst themselves..."So much for the Good Samaritan."

Anyway, that’s my story for the week. We’re working hard to find some new families to teach and going strong with the one investigator that we have. He has a baptismal date for the 8th so we’re going to do all that we can to get him there. By the way, we didn’t feel any earthquake or anything. This week a missionary came home from the Panama, Panama City mission. It was cool being able to tell him that I know President Ward. Anyway...not much else from me...love you guys and be good!

Love,

Elder Ward

The Gospel Blesses Families

Oye quates!

It’s good to hear from you guys! Dad, I’m pretty impressed by the yard work you did. It reminds me of an example that I used in our district meeting this week. We talked about how in a harvest it’s better to use a harvesting machine rather than a lousy sickle and compared it to the work we do by ourselves and our work combined with the members.

This week was awesome, but in a different way haha. Tuesday was our first full day and I remember being super excited for our first full day to get out and kick some butt in the new area. Well...I think we might have contacted over 20 people that day and not one of them wanted anything to do with us or our message. There are a lot of churches here and a lot of very deep Catholic roots. In the mission this zone is known as the "zona de castigo", or the punishment zone, because nobody gets baptized here. I realized pretty quickly that Elder Comfort was going to need lots of help with his Spanish since he is a brand new missionary, and I felt a little overwhelmed by all of this. I thought a lot about that talk that I sent you guys and I’ve been trying to have the faith to make things happen. So, we approached things from a different direction. We started visiting all of the members that live in our area and to get them excited about doing missionary work. Many of them were shocked that we were even visiting them and lots of them are working with people that will eventually be referrals. I’ve had to have extra patience and humility this week, giving Elder Comfort opportunities to learn and teach, and it’s awesome to see how much he’s grown in just this week.

Wednesday we had a meeting in Managua and it was kinda weird seeing all the office elders and President and his wife. I missed them a lot and it seems like I left the office so long ago.

There are a bunch of other people living where we do and there is a family there that we’ve started talking to a lot. Since day one I’ve felt the need to share the gospel with them and this week little miracles have happened. The other day I was talking to Marcela, the wife, and she got to talking about marriage and families and stuff. She explained how she feels like she can never find true happiness in her family as tears welled up in her eyes. It felt good to bear my testimony of how the gospel blesses our families and to be able to talk about my family and the blessings we’ve received. As we were walking out last night her husband called us back and asked us for a pamphlet. We have an appt. with them tomorrow morning. I think I was sent here to baptize that family :)

Yesterday was pretty funny. We have one of those automatic pianos in our chapel where if you just touch the keys it plays the hymns. Well, Elder Comfort doesn’t know anything about playing piano but he can touch the keys with a decent rhythm (or so I thought). We couldn’t help but laugh as the members sang about 4 seconds ahead or behind the piano. I’m really starting to love this area, even with its difficulties, and I don’t even want to think about leaving it yet haha. Don’t worry, I’ll keep going strong and yes, time is going way to fast. Love you guys a bunch!

Love,

Elder Ward

The Good News and The Bad News

Dudes!!!

Honestly, this letter couldn’t describe what could be the most eventful week of my mission, but I will make an attempt. I will try to write it in a way so that you can feel a little bit of what I did. This week Elder Chacaj and I worked like I have never worked on my mission. I found out pretty quickly that there weren’t really any investigators...so we got to work. We started out teaching short, powerful lessons to the members and many of them gave us referrals of their friends, family, and neighbors. We talked with EVERYONE. On Tuesday morning a miracle occurred. We prayed hard in companionship study for a family that was ready to be baptized and within a half hour the phone rang. It was one of the leaders of the Church in another city who said that his nephew and his wife had just moved to La Estación, Granada, that they had gone to church various times, and were already married. Few times in my mission have I felt so strongly that we had to go visit a family. It was tough to find them, but we did, and they were so happy to see us. They accepted the invitation to be baptized and were committed to read the BOM.

Other story...we were walking along and saw a bulky, young bald guy with his wife sitting out in front of their upper-class home. My first thought was...hmmm, probably not interested, but the Spirit told us otherwise. They happily agreed for us to return and that first lesson was amazing. The wife, Karen, explained that she had gone to so many churches but felt that she hadn’t found the truth. She also had a fond memory of when she visited a temple in the United States. The Spirit was super strong and I think that we all felt it was true.

We had a FHE with an awesome member family and the referral that they gave us. They’ve had a lot of tough problems in their marriage and are thinking of splitting up. We also talked about the Atonement and forgiveness. Really...I’m glad that we have an obligation to forgive others and that Christ makes forgiveness possible.

On Saturday night, I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about the awesome week we had had when the phone rang...AP´s: "Dude, I’ve got good news and bad news." (It’s never good to hear from the AP.) "Bad news: You’ve got emergency changes again. Good news: You’ll be training." So...long story short, my first Sunday in Granada was my last and I’m now here in the beautiful Jinotepe with Elder Comfort, a gringo from Canada. I wasn’t really disappointed but just asked myself why...then I remembered the story of a new untrained missionary (myself) whose first month of the mission was pretty miserable and how his "step dad" [second companion] changed everything around. I’m super happy to be here with him, and yes, it’s going to be an opportunity to grow. He is struggling with the language and his companion basically just taught him a lot of patience. It feels good knowing that I could make a difference in Granada though and I’m really starting to realize that sometimes the Lord needs us for very exact purposes. That’s why we’ve got to "Be the man He wants us to be." My comp’s name is Connor and he is about Connor’s age...I’m already starting to see him as a brother and I know that the Lord will bless us with success. I’m also the district leader of four sisters....WOO HOO! Haha jk, that’s bad...It’s going to be fine.

I love my mission more than ever. I feel like I am a completely different man than the one I came as and I love the Lord. Pray for us :) and have fun with all my friends :) hahaha.

Love,

Elder Ward

CHANGES!!

Hey!

I know this probably seems really weird that you have an e-mail from your missionary son on a Monday afternoon. Well, the unthinkable happened. I had changes! It basically just came out of nowhere. I was about to go to bed on Saturday night when the two APs, Elder Payne and Elder Cabrera come running into the room yelling, "Dude! It’s what we’ve all been waiting for!" I was super confused. They went on to show me a text message from President that said I would have changes the next day (on Sunday). I honestly didn’t believe it. I didn’t think it would be so hard to leave that area. On Sunday morning, I spent time saying goodbye to all of the amazing people that had changed my life in one way or another. I don’t think I could have asked for a better farewell because I was leaving right after sacrament meeting and it was fast and testimony meeting. The tears started coming as I looked out over the congregation and saw the faces of many of the people that I could baptize as I bore my last testimony to them. I felt so happy and so blessed for the opportunity that I had had to be there, but most of all I just felt a deep love for them and for the gospel.

And now....I’M IN GRANADA!!!!!!!!!! Seriously if there was one zone that I wanted to come to before my mission ended, it was this one. Granada is super beautiful. My companion’s name is Elder Chacaj from Guatemala. He’s a short, quiet, hard-working, happy missionary and I already love him. I’ve got a lot of adapting to do though. 1. It’s much hotter than an air-conditioned car or office. 2. No more McDonald’s every day. 3. Working the WHOLE day. 4. Not having any assignment like district leader, zone leader, etc. 5. Not living in a house with eight people. Honestly though, it’s all worth it. I’m so excited to just be able to focus on baptizing a ton of families for the last two months of my mission. Well, don’t really have much more to write, but you guys can write me on Monday next week, just a heads-up. This is Christ’s true church and it is the only way to have true happiness in this life.

Love,

Elder Ward

Mountains to Climb

Hey Fam,

How´s everyone doing? First off, Dad, don’t worry about your letter. A lot of the time you have to make sacrifices to have missionary experiences. Ava, thanks for your letter! That’s so awesome that you have some new dogs and that you’re going to be in first grade! I bet you are like 100 times smarter than when I left. I miss you so bad too and what do you mean I’m almost home? I only have two months in the mission. J Love you Ava!

Well, the Lord has given me some mountains to climb this week. I’ve known since the beginning of the change that a missionary was going home halfway through the change and that there was a good chance that I would go take his place in the field. I was super stoked just because I feel like I’ve been pretty useless in the office lately (folding letters, going to get the mail, washing the car, etc.). Well, the missionary went home and I stayed in the office. It was hard for me to understand why my righteous desire of going out to the field wasn’t being fulfilled. It hit me that I could either waste time complaining about it or I could just forget myself and go to work. That’s when the miracles started happening...

We stopped by an investigator named Mariella that we hadn’t visited for like a week because she just didn’t seem very interested. When we sat down she excitedly said, "I read that book that you gave me!" (referring to the Book of Mormon). That caught us off guard. She opened the introduction and began to read where it invites everyone to read, ponder, and pray about the book. She said, "That´s what I did...and do you know what my answer was?" She began to bear a simple testimony that she knew that everything the book said was true. She has a baptismal date for the 25th of this month. J

Mom, I’ve thought a lot about what you told me last week: "Be the man that the Lord wants you to be." I had a hard time understanding why I was in that area still, especially because nothing was really going on. So, I asked Him what to do. We felt prompted to go and visit a member family that we had never really taken the time to visit. We had a great lesson prepared for them and in the end we invited them to share the gospel with their friends and family. They said that they would think about it, and a little disheartened, we said that we would come back to help them with that process. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the miracle that was taking place. We came back two days later and there was a 19-year-old girl in the kitchen. We began talking to her and she explained that she had been living there for about three months with her boyfriend, who is the member’s nephew. She also explained that she went to church a few weeks ago and that her sister was a member from another city! Long story short...We left Yeseña and Alexander a Book of Mormon after the first visit and they both read and prayed about it and both received an answer. The members that live there are very involved in our lessons, which makes all the difference. We thought they would have a hard time with marriage since they’re a young couple that met through texting about five months ago...but they really want to get married! They have a baptismal date for the 18th of this month. J

I know that when we accept the Lord’s will and work diligently, even if it’s not what we want to do, there are many blessings that come. It was pretty funny because I had already accepted that I would be here until the end of the change but we had interviews this week and President said that he was considering sending me to the field this week. I’m not even going to get my hopes up, but if it were to happen...I’ll know that maybe the Lord just wanted me to witness a couple more miracles in Memorial Sandino.

Well, I’m really not sure what else to write about. I can’t believe how fast time is flying by now. Have fun getting ready for school, playing volleyball, doing mom stuff, etc...

Love,

Elder Ward

Why Do I Do What I Do?

Hey!

How is everyone doin? It was good to hear about your trip to California and Dad and Collin’s camping trip. We just got back from a little trip of our own. We went to San Juan Del Sur this morning, which is SUPER beautiful...played some volleyball on the beach and hiked up to the big Jesus statue that is there.

Before I forget, I want to answer Dad’s question. Why do I do what I do every day in Nicaragua? I’ll share an experience that I had this week to answer that question. We didn’t have much time to work in our area this week because we had training meetings from Tuesday till Friday and we had to be there to translate. This week I’ve been trying really hard to "be the man", like you said, and just work as if I had been in this area for only a couple of weeks. Well, all of our appts. fell through but we had one appt. that was going to be crucial. I know that I’ve talked a little about Henry and Maricela, the family that I’ve been teaching since I got here (about 8 months). Henry is still struggling with his alcohol addiction. We went with a recent convert, Jaime, who had also overcome a serious addiction to coffee. We had prepared so well, and I knew that the Spirit was there. Even with all of that, Henry, who I really have come to love, seemed to just shake it off and just kept changing the subject. When we invited him to repent of his sins he just said, "We’ll see."

We came home, planned, and I just threw myself onto my bed, completely exhausted and still in my missionary clothes. I began to think about the events of the day…oh, I had lost my bag with my scriptures in it that day as well. Anyways...I just asked myself, "Why am I doing what I’m doing if I don’t seem to be making a difference?" In that moment I got a call from Elder Call, who is serving in my old area in Ciudad Sandino. He began to tell me that a family that I baptized that had become inactive was active again and that he had given them some pictures that I had sent to another family, Edwin and Mercedes. He said that when they saw the photos they began to cry and express how grateful they were for the gospel and for us missionaries and that they would continue strong for the rest of their lives.

Well, that pretty much changed my whole attitude. That was my answer to WHY I was there. So here is my answer. First, Jesus Christ. I could never REPAY Him for all that He has done for me and you, but I can MAKE IT WORTH IT. Two, the joy that comes from seeing people come unto Christ is unlike any other.

Anyways, that’s my experience from the week. As you can tell, I’m still here in the office.:) I learned SO much from the training meetings we had this week. Our AP’s sister, Alisha Payne, was one of the sisters that was in the Preach my Gospel DVD’s, "The District". So she came and taught us a bunch of stuff. The gift of tongues is something real. I had never translated for anyone before and I was amazed that I could with the Lord’s help.

Um...well, I think that’s pretty much it for this week. I love you guys a bunch and here is a challenge for this week. Pray for missionary experiences and ACT on them. I promise that you will have them and that you will feel the joy that I do. :)

Love,
Elder Ward

Here are a few pictures that Sister Pace sent to me from their visit to Nicaragua to pick up their son, Collin, at the end of his mission.

Elder Ward with Elder Pace and his parents.

The "goodbye" as Elder Pace heads home to Arizona

Elder Ward (right) with Elder Pace (middle) and other office elders.

Quote Sister Pace found at Trevor's desk.

I AM SO READY!

Hey Family!

Honestly, even though I’ve been getting these e-mails every week for about 22 months, I still love them. HAHAHA Dad, let me just say that I’ve always respected Carl Bloomfield for his engineering skills and was thoroughly impressed on a number of work trips, but I could’ve told you guys that that was a bad idea from the start. I know that because of experience...let’s just say that we didn’t exactly get to that bend in the river on our homemade "pirate ship".  Mom, thanks for your Ava story and for the parts of that talk from Elder Uchtdorf.

I guess I’ll answer some of the questions that you guys asked. To be completely honest, I’m not sure when I’m going to the field, but I AM SO READY. Haha…I’ve been training Elder Miller super good so that he can just completely take over. Honestly, this week was really, really a tough one, not so much for things that happened, but it was more of just an internal battle. I feel like Satan really tried to get me down by saying that I had been in that area for too long to do anything else and that the people we were teaching probably weren’t going to get baptized while I was there anyways. Somehow we don’t have as many families to teach like we always did...a bunch of things. I spent a lot of time on my knees and in the scriptures and this is what I’ve learned:

A person’s faith is truly measured by how well he works after all the warm and fuzzies have gone away. Also, the true test isn’t about your diligence when things are going just fine but when everything is telling you to just give up. I thought about how Christ, the creator of thousands of worlds, the Son of God, could become weary as he approached his crucifixion. A lot of the time the Lord gives us tests that are optional...we can either stand up to them or just sit back and say...ehh, it won’t really matter if I go out and work a couple hours later today. I think the greatest lessons are learned though when we faithfully face up to those tests.

This week Ricardo, one of our recent converts, gave us a referral. It was a younger woman named Mariela, who explained to us that her child that was born with severe disabilities had passed away a couple of years ago. It felt so good to explain to her that he was automatically saved and to see her tears of sorrow turn into tears of joy. She told us that she was ready to change her life and accepted a baptismal date before we could even finish giving her the commitment.

Funny story from this week….remember Tonio?  Well, sadly he continues to drink, A LOT. Anyways, we were having FHE at Norma, Carlos, and Delvia’s house with lots of other members and investigators when Tonio shows up TOTALLY WASTED. He starts yelling something about how we were in a war...luckily we had just sang the closing hymn and it was time to play a game. Long story short, we ended up playing "escond te" or hide and seek.  We had finished for about ten minutes when we hear something fall from the mango tree on the side of the house. It was Tonio, and seemingly unphased by his 10 foot drop, stood up and screamed, " I WON, I WON, I WON!!!!!" It was super hilarious.

Well, I should probably finish. I love you guys a ton and love your lives!

Love,

Elder Ward

I'm Training a New Financial Secretary!

Dear Ward Clan,

Que me diciembre? Hey guys! Man, I feel like you guys were just waiting for one or two kids to leave the nest until you guys decided to go on vacation every week. No, I’m jk, really that’s awesome that you guys are spending lots of time with the family. Thanks for the pictures by the way, everyone looks pretty much the same except for those two little blonde girls that aren’t so little anymore.

Well...lots of news for this week. I’m training a new financial secretary! Mom, you’re right. Even though I’m ready to go back into the field and experience new things, I’m really going to miss this assignment and this area. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to Elder Santana. I know I don’t talk a lot about my companions, but I have come to love and appreciate every one of them. Honestly, I think Elder Santana was one of my favorites, maybe just because he’s Nica. Not once did he get mad at me, he always went with me to do the tedious things that nobody else likes to do, he loved the people from his own country, and he changed a lot of lives. We had a family night with almost all of our converts in the area and just about everyone got up to say something about Elder Santana. I think that we were all in tears. The sweetest part was them promising that they would go to the temple and Elder Santana promising that we would go with them.

I think it was about equally as difficult saying goodbye to 25 missionaries on Thursday morning. Many of them had been in my district or zone, and Elder Leiva, one of my companions too. I felt a sweet spirit as our mission choir sang "God be With You Till We Meet Again".  It’s good to know that if we all continue faithful that we will not only be with our eternal families but with our eternal friends. It really hit me that that will be me in 3 months, and that I’ve really got to give my all in the time that I have left.

IT’S MILLER TIME! My new comp is Elder Miller from St. George, Utah. He has about 8 months in the mission and he just came from Las Flores, Masaya, my first area in the mission. He’s a very reserved, quiet, hard working missionary and I’m pounding every darn thing he needs to know about being a good financial secretary into his brain. By the way...something terrible has happened in my life. Eating the following foods ya no me gusta (I do not like): McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, and just about anything else that you can find in Nicaragua. I’m ready to go eat gallo pinto again.

This is starting to get long but let me just tell you guys about a little miracle that happened this week. I think I had told you guys about our convert, Magali, who started going to a different church right after her baptism. Well, last night we went over to Norma, Carlos, and Delvia’s house and Magali was there. She apologized for not having come to church and explained that her friend that was letting her stay in her house for free would kick her out of the house if she continued going to our church. Long story short, she dreamed about her baptism day and felt a strong desire to move out and continue going to church. I know that the Lord answers prayers and helps His children come back to the path when they get lost.

By the way Mom, it was tough seeing Elder Pace go. Also, when I said hi to Sister Pace the first thing she said was, "Hi, Elder Ward, how are you...I know that this isn’t really allowed but I promised your mom that I would give you a hug..." and boom she gave me hug...so whether it was allowed or not I didn’t have time to think hahaha. But, thanks for the hug, Mom. If I’m bright red in the pictures she sends, that’s why.

Love you guys a bunch!

Love,

Elder Ward

I'm Still Going Strong

Volcano Boarders

Hey guys!

Cerro Negro (Black Hill)

Sorry that it took me a while to write again. President gave us a nice little surprise on Thursday. He asked what we had planned for today (Saturday) and we told him nothing because President’s counselor had to take the truck to visit one of the branches. He told us that he was going to take us to Leon, so that’s where we were all day and where we just got back from. I think my companion was the most stoked about it, considering that that is where he’s from haha. It was super weird; we saw his house, his high school, every now and then he would say, "Hey, I know that guy!" The highlight was Cerro Negro, or Black Hill, which is an active volcano. I’ll just say that volcano boarding is pretty sweet :).

Anyways...this week has been very busy. Sadly enough it was one of those weeks where we didn’t get out to our area as much as we would have liked. Sunday was NUTS. I think that we really take for granted how awesome our ward is. Sunday, as you know, was fast and testimony meeting. Some of my most fervent prayers in the mission have been that our investigator’s eyes and ears will be miraculously closed in those meetings…haha. First speaker: Harold Castillo. Crazy old man, no teeth, cusses like crazy and says the most ridiculous nonsense in the world about how he sold his soul to the devil for 50 million dollars blah, blah, blah. 3rd speaker: An evangelical-mormon lady who apparently had some bad feelings towards a member that stood up and SCREAMED about hypocrisy and love. Elders’ quorum was the same talk about how we’ll be condemned for not doing home teaching visits. Also, I learned that you can only get the Priesthood if it is given to you in the room where the Elders’ quorum class is. Interesting... We’re working hard with the members too.:)

Our recent converts are awesome! Everyone is starting to give us referrals and we’re starting to go with them to teach lessons. It’s truly amazing how much they help in the work. Last night we taught a lady with one of our sharpest converts, Juana, and she bore a powerful testimony of how she wanted nothing to do with the church at first but really became converted when she read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. A cool little miracle happened this week. Ricardo, another recent convert, took us to a family and at the end of the lesson we gave a blessing to the daughter’s sick child. The next day she was running around just fine and now the whole family is very interested in our message. We taught them how they would get an answer from the Spirit and the daughter said, "honestly, that’s what I felt when you gave my daughter a blessing and when you guys were teaching me now." I love it when the investigators recognize the Spirit!

Mom, to answer your question the whole office still lives together in the same house. It’s a way cool house and we’re excited about being there. Also, I’ve already been told that I will start training a new financier starting next Wednesday. It’s kinda weird since I’ve been here for so long. Random comment...I’m so glad we get circumcised when we’re born because there is an elder staying in the office house because of that. OUCH!

Don’t worry about me though, I’m still goin strong. I taught the lesson in district meeting on "enduring to the end".  I used the example of a marathon runner. I’m sure dad is familiar with this phrase known as "The Wall", when your body has used up all of its nutrients and is basically just going on empty. It’s the time where you either drop out of the race completely or give it your all and just keep pushing. We’re all gonna hit "The Wall" various times in life, but the question is what will we do when we hit it? I love you guys a bunch and let’s keep running towards our eternal finish line.

Love,

Elder Ward

volcan=conquistado

PS. I hate to talk about this but here it goes. There is a young bishop who helps us out in the office who is a really good friend of mine and is offering to drive us around for free when you guys come to Nicaragua. In other words, we would just have to pay him with meals. I know everything pretty well so I could do it, but I want to know what you guys think. He’s done it for quite a few other missionaries and he says it’s nice because they can just sit and talk while he drives. He’s also offering to come pick you up from the airport and stuff when you get here and could drive you around so you don’t get lost. You’d probably have to pay him a little for those days that you’re here without me. It’s up to you guys though. Just let me know. LOVE YOU!

Welcome to my City (Elder Ward and Elder Santana)

The Horsecream man

The Lord Visits His People in their Afflictions

Hey!

The Big Move (Trevor's on top)

Happy Tears and a True Friend

Man, you guys had a super awesome week! That sounds like a super awesome family reunion. Seriously, I think that sometimes we really take for granted how blessed we are to have an awesome eternal family, and to have the resources to do fun trips like that. Oh! …and sorry I didn’t write until now. Today was super busy. We got up at 5:30 and started the big move to our new house. We did that ALLLL day until about 2:45 when we frantically started getting ready super fast in time for our baptism at 4. I don’t know if I told you guys but we married and baptized Judith and Cesar today. It truly was a miracle. When we first taught them the law of chastity Judith said, "There is no way that I will ever get married in my life". They would fight all the time, Cesar smoked like a chimney...but...Christ and His Atonement continue to surprise me every day. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again...the gospel changes lives for eternity.

Judith and Cesar's Baptism

Well, I can honestly say that this has been one of the harder weeks of my mission. I don’t like to talk too much about the tough times, but this time I will because I feel like I’ve learned in one week what one might learn in years of experience. Throughout the course of this week it seems like ALL of our recent converts and some of our investigators have had some kind of difficult test.

1. Carlos and Delvia got kicked out of their tiny little tin house because Carlos got rubbed at gunpoint right after getting paid.  

2. Henry and Maricela this week also got kicked off of their land by the government, had to destroy their house and then rebuild it, and after rebuilding it that same day it rained really hard and EVERYTHING got completely soaked because the roof got built bad. As a result Henry drank and when we showed up he had the beer right in his hand.

3. Doris was hospitalized with a really bad illness.

4. Norma had a problem with the 2nd counselor who said some really ugly stuff to her.

5. Henry and Stacy have been really struggling economically but got offered a job for one day of the week to sell cheese in the market. That day was Sunday.

6. And the big crowning event of the week...Juan is in prison right now and he did absolutely nothing to bother anyone. Turns out that he was walking home from dropping his daughter off at her cousin’s, stopped to talk to a group of old friends (from when he drank and stuff) and the police came and took all of them because someone had just been robbed at knifepoint in that area. No questions asked, no investigation, nothing. It’s sad, but the police and the law are very corrupt here. It turns out that he will be there for at least 3 months until they have his trial.

This all happened in about 2 days...and as you can imagine I was just hurting for our investigators and our converts. I felt completely hopeless, unable to do anything for them. I asked myself...WHY? WHY, if they were new members and were trying to so hard to do the right thing, WHY was this all happening? Throughout the week I was reminded of what I’ve learned on my mission. The Lord gives trials to those that He loves. He sees the things that we can’t see. We see ourselves as the little pieces of coal being passed through fire and pressure that seems unbearable at times, but he sees us as the finished product, the diamond. I loved sharing these scriptures with our investigators:

13 And it  came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the  burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as  witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

One thing I love about these verses is that the Lord said that He would remember the covenant that they had made with Him. Also, He never took the burdens away but just strengthened them so that they could bear it so that they would KNOW WITH A SURETY that the Lord visits His people in their afflictions.

Sorry, that got really long but I felt like I should share that with you guys. I know that suffering is an important part of our eternal progression and that we should be grateful for those learning opportunities. It’s amazing to see how our converts are becoming even stronger because of these trials. I love you guys a bunch and keep being good.

Love,

Elder Ward

Elder Santana and Elder Ward....so cool!