Mission Pictures

Lee the Man got baptized!

The Peace Cactus

Dear Family,

Hope you all have had a fantastic week! It has been an amazing one here __! Lots of miracles for sure.

Gabriel came to church!! Gabriel came to church!! And he liked it! I probably shouldn't be so excited and surprised by such things, because the church is true and the Spirit is powerful, but I still am, a little bit. I feel at least somewhat justified in those feelings though because it was fast and testimony meeting this week. I used to think that they were the most boring of our meetings, but now that I'm a missionary, they are far too entertaining and eventful in all the wrong ways when you have investigators.

We were also able to make some progress with Gabriel's parents as well! Although it did not appear that way at first... Lots of stuff happened,and we thought we weren't going to be able to teach him anymore. But we decided to delay ending our fast and go talk with his parents. At the last second, we remembered we had a potted flower that the Relief Society had given us, and that his mother liked gardening, so we brought it as a peace offering. So we walked up to the front door, and she came out and was so touched by us giving her the flower that she gave us a little cactus and is going to let us keep teaching Gabriel! Apparently it's a sign of friendship to trade plants in __!! Then we took artsy pictures with the cactus. I was so so grateful, though, that her heart was softened as we'd been praying for. I hope that soon, she and the rest of the family will be prepared to receive the fulness of the gospel as well!

So these last few weeks we have been having a little bit of a hard time filling up our 8 o clock hour with good activities, because it's getting dark earlier. And everyone seems to go to bed around 7 o clock here. But this week, I totally learned that you just have to have faith and rely on Spirit and that you will be led to the place you need to be. Sister C. had this prompting that we needed to be on a certain street, and lo and behold, we meet this awesome man who was enjoying the beautiful stars. We taught him a brief Restoration lesson, and he said that he would love to read the Book of Mormon. His name is Mauro, and he is Sicilian. (Never compete with a Sicilian, when death is on the line!)

We also got to give lots of service to members this week. We helped our Ward Mission Leader's wife inventory, clean, and sort her food storage. It was an overwhelming job, and we didn't even get close to finishing. But hopefully it will give her a good head start! We also helped a less active sister move into her aparment. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Ward

A Great Week in the Vineyard!

Dear Family,

Hope all is going well at home, it's been a great week in the vineyard!

We got to share a lot of lessons with our investigators this week, so that was awesome! We also found a lot of new people to teach!

We have this one lady, Amanda, who we talk to, who requested a Book of Mormon on the church's website. We delivered it to her a few weeks ago, and she told us she didn't have time to meet with us. But, in the mean time, she has read 3/4ths of it, and she texted us saying she thought it was really great! I just love the convincing power that the Book of Mormon has! It is so true that reading the Book of Mormon will bring you closer to Jesus Christ than any other book, and how clearly and simply it teaches and testifies about our Savior Jesus Christ. Hopefully we'll be able to meet with Amanda and share our complete message soon :)

Our investigator Gabriel continues to do awesome as well! He is excited to listen to General Conference, and so am I! It is so neat that our Heavenly Father loves us enough that he gives us prophets and apostles to give us direction and counsel specific to our day. I am so excited to hear what Heavenly Father wants me to hear today.

I love you all so much!

Sister Ward

The Miracle Week

Hey Family,

I hope you have all had a great week! And that you are staying warm. It's starting to get cold here at least... Tight season has officially begun! Also I wish I had some cool fall leaves pictures to send you, but the leaves went straight to brown this year in West Virginia. Everyone is upset about it. Come on nature!!

The work here in ___ is going fantastic!! I feel like we've been trying to light the fire here these last few weeks, but we'd only gotten the kindling to catch flame- none of the logs that make for a great missionary work bonfire though. But this last Saturday, a log finally caught flame! The work here has just exploded, all in one day! We taught 6 lessons (which is A LOT for our mission) and picked up 4 new investigators. All in one day. And these investigators are awesome.

One of those investigators is Nora, and she is the perfect example of a person who has been kept from the truth because she "knows not where to find it."  For years, she has thought that Mormons were crazy polygamist fundamentalists who have as many kids as is humanly possible, and therefore avoided it. But recently, she has been praying that God would lead her to the church that she needs to be attending, and voila, He provided the way for her to run into missionaries! We were trying to contact her neighbor, and she was outside on her balcony. We started talking to her, and she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and set up an appointment with us. At the appointment on Saturday, she told that when see saw us, the Spirit told her that we were the people she needed to talk to. And then we had come and talked to her and dispelled her misconceptions, and so she knew that God had sent us to her. God truly does answer prayers!

Another really cool experience from the week was meeting JC. He is the father of this awesome little family, and they have been so prepared for the gospel. A number of years ago, some missionaries had stopped by his house after a storm, and had helped him clear away a fallen tree for free. They apparently were never able to begin teaching him, but that experience obviously planted a seed because he was so open to talking with us and hearing our message. It gives me faith that even when things don't lead to immediate conversions like I sometimes hope, that none of my efforts are being wasted.

In my studies this week, I have come to a deeper understanding of humility and agency, or ability to choose. They are both so important!! I kind of always thought that they were conflicting principles though...(Until this week!) I had always wondered why God would give us the ability to make our own choices and be agents unto ourselves if he wanted and expected us to surrender that gift to follow Him. This week though, I realized that it was just the next step in our progression! From the very beginning, there has been only one way to get where we want to go, and that the commandments are just the trail markers on that path. Choosing to follow Jesus Christ doesn't mean with give up our freedom of choice, it just means we trust God enough to make our decisions based off his counsel. It takes humility, but it will always leave us happier in the long run. 

Love you all!

Sister Ward

...because I am His daughter.

Dear Family,

The libraries were closed yesterday, so sorry for the delayed email. I have good stories to make up for it though! And no, no apartment yet... Almost though! So maybe by next transfer, which, holy cow, is in two weeks. I've just resigned myself to being homeless the whole time I'm in Charleston, so I don't really worry about it anymore.

This week was another awesome one! Lots of fun going-ons! The West Virgina Power baseball team had a Mormon night at the ball park, and so we got go watch some baseball!! I fully used my knowledge of the in-field pop fly rule. The other team was the Lexington Legends, which is the feeder team for the Royals (so I heard...hopefully I'm not misinformed) so that was fun. Cheering for the feeder team is like actually cheering for the Royals, right? :) It was a really great activity though, a great chance to get out there in the public and show everyone that Mormons are real people too.  

So yesterday I got to see some true backwoods West Virginian country! We drove up to a resort called Hawk's Nest in the top of the hills and had a barbeque. The view was incredible!! We could even see a small, tiny New River Gorge Bridge 80 miles up the river. I have never been so car sick in all my life, though. I'm glad I'm in the city. 

I have learned so much about who I am as a daughter of God this week. He loves me and knows me-my worries, hopes, dreams, and concerns. I had the chance to look back over my life this week, and I realized how involved He has been in the daily ups and downs of my life. He has given me everything I've needed, with the perfect timing and placement. He wants me to succeed in life, and He will help me every step of the way.  And this is all because I am His daughter, a spiritual child of God-as is everyone else who walks this earth. It's such a privilege to be able to share that message with others.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Ward

No subject this week, sorry no funny phrased from WV

Dear Family and Friends,

I love you all so much! And I love your emails and letters a whole lot too! Some day, in the grand expanse of eternity, I will get to respond to them all. But today is not that day... Sorry. Keep it up though!

This week was so fantastic! And guess what?! We are getting an apartment! (Trumpeting and applause)! They have to repaint it first, but after that we get to move on in. It's a good thing too, because we caught, not one, but two mice in the current apartment this week. It is not my favorite thing ever...

Another week spent in a whole lot of finding. But we did find some really cool people! One guy looked just like a pirate, too. He had the earrings, bandanna, build for it, and everything. He looked like he stepped out of a movie (minus the period clothing). So that was fun! Another kind of cool story. We were out and about, and a lady comes speed walking our way on the street. Before she even gets to us, she calls out to us, asking for directions, so we point her in the right direction, and she speed walks off. Then we kept working for a while more, then got in our car to get to our next place. As we are driving, we see her out walking on the main road, so we wave as we go by. And then we go to our next place and start working there, and lo and behold, 15 minutes later, she speed walks into that neighborhood and just cracks up when she sees us. So we actually get her stopped, and talked to her. I guess third times the charm, right?

Today has been a really great P-Day as well. Sister Campbell and I went on a hike with one of the members in our ward named Karla. She was park ranger down in Georgia, and she is so cool! We learned all sorts of environmental and conservationist stuff-it was like having your own private tour of nature. It was also so incredibly beautiful I love the hills. Fall is also about to hit here, and I am so excited for the leaves to change. It is going to be awesome! Also, it's nice that it's not so hot anymore. 

Hope you all have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Ward

This gospel is true, and truth makes sense!

Hey Family!

This week has been an awesome one! Lots of experiences that I will definitely have to write down (if I ever get time for that)

So since we are in a new area, we are kind of starting from scratch again. We've been trying to find more people to teach in the new area, but instead we've found like 5 more people in the old one! I guess our work in the West Side isn't complete yet :) Also we still don't have an apartment in our new area, so we're still kind of floating around. 

The Sisters we live with also had a baptism on Sunday so we got to go and watch! I was on exchanges with them a month or so ago during this lady's first meeting with the missionaries, so I knew who she was too! It was so cool to see the difference in her, see how much happiness and peace this gospel has brought into her life. 

Interesting things that happened this week... We knocked on the front door of a house, and a cop answered the door with his gun in his hand. Good thing Sister Campbell and I aren't too intimidating, because he holstered it pretty quickly. Haha at least it was a cop, and not just some random person! These West Virginians do love their firearms...

This week we also had a zone conference, which was so amazing! We talked about Alma 32 a lot, and how faith truly comes from action. You can say what you believe all you want, but that faith won't stand against the winds of life unless you have acted upon it as well. As a missionary, I am really starting to understand that! Our investigators who choose to act upon this gospel message-those who read the Book of Mormon, pray, and keep their appointments with us- progress so quickly! It's amazing to see how their faith in Jesus Christ just mushrooms! But those who don't take action either don't progress, or they progress SO slowly. If you want to know if something is true, you gotta try it out!

So we just started teaching an older couple, and they are awesome! We taught them about God's plan of happiness, and they ate it up! They said it made so much sense, and that they believed it immediately! I love seeing people get it, and understand the message, and say it makes sense. This gospel is true, and truth makes sense! 

I love you all, thank you so much for your support!

Love,

Sister Ward

You can only be as happy as you have been sad.

Dear Family & Friends,

I hope you all have been having an awesome week, because I sure have been having one! It's been challenging one, too, but I've come to realize that in life you can only be as happy as you have been sad, as excited as you have been discouraged. Opposition in all things, and whatnot. So the challenges and hard things aren't bad, it just means that super awesome things are happening, or about to happen, too! And awesome things are happening!

Now that Sister Campbell and I are opening an area, for the second time in two transfers, life has been pretty crazy. We've been trying to tie up all our loose ends in the ____ Side and start moving our focus (and finding an apartment. Maybe one of these transfers we'll get one of those) to _________. On Saturday, we got to go to lunch and then drive around the area with President and Sister Salisbury. It was such a cool experience-they truly are called of God, and given the inspiration they need to keep this work moving. I learned a lot just in those few hours we spent with them.

One huge downside of being moved is having to give some of our investigators to other missionaries! Lee the Man is continuing to make phenomenal progress-we were even thinking about moving his baptism to a closer date-but we realized he wouldn't be ours anymore! The Elders get him now. I'm still going to count him as one of my baptisms, he only has like one more thing to learn, and he probably already knows and believes it. Before he even referred himself to the missionaries, he had already read "Mormonism for Dummies" and done extensive research, so he's known pretty much everything we've shared so far. He even already has his tithing budgeted into his finances for the year, so yeah. I know that he and our other investigators will be in good hands, but it just tears my heart a little bit.

This week, I have gained a stronger testimony of the importance of prayer. It truly is an incredible opportunity that we have to speak directly to the Almighty God, the Creator of everything, a being whose glory is beyond our comprehension. And as Richard G. Scott put it, "we need no appointment." We can turn to Him in any time or place, for any problem. And he responds! It is not just a one way communication, just a expression of praise to satisfy an egotistical god. He loves us, wants to hear about our lives, and will always answer the honest seeker.

I love you all dearly, have a great week!

Sister Ward

God Still Provided a Way for Us

Dear Family,

Transfers were this week, so life has been crazy around here! We also still haven't found an apartment, so we had to slide our suitcases over and make room for the incoming missionaries in the basement. It was fun to see them, all brand, spankin' new. I can't believe I was there just 6 weeks ago. It feels like it's been forever. And I'm already a ninth the way through this whole mission thing, so that's weird. 

Sister Campbell and I didn't get transferred, but we kind of sort did at same time. President has decided that the reason we can't find an apartment is because we are supposed to be in ______ area, and not the ____, so we are shifting our area of focus over about 20 miles. It's cool, because we are going to be covering parts of 3 different wards, so we get to work with lots of members! Also we will be able to find a nice apartment (finally) and work in our area after dark, so that's good too! The area we are going to also hasn't really had missionaries in the past, because it was too far out of the way for other missionaries to get to regularly, so we have a fresh, new, white field to work in! I'm really excited for the change.

Our investigators are doing so well. I'm such a proud mountain missionary momma. Lee the Man came to church for the first time last Sunday, and he loved it! Also, we decided to test his faith by throwing Word of Wisdom (no drinking, smoking, etc) and the Law of Chastity on him during the same lesson, and he totally accepted it all! He even gave away his full bar to his friends. I'd love to be able to take credit for him being so awesome, but it really is just him. He has such great faith and desire to follow the Savior, he is converting himself. Sister Campbell and I are just the random church girls who come over and check on his progress periodically. The field is white!! There are people out there who 'are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.' All we have to do is find them.

 We have also been blessed to be led by the Spirit in finding people this week. Remember that guy we helped by carrying his couch in? His girlfriend was there a few days later when we stopped by, waiting in the car and reading a book. At first, we were  hesitant to talk to her because she looked busy, but a minute later, she popped her head out of the car and asked who we were. We told her, and she was like, "Yeah I want to listen to you guys, too"  Looking back, I am so humbled, because we really should have initiated the conversation, even if it was awkward, but God still provided a way for us, imperfect people, to share his message with her. I have a such long way to go to become the missionary I want to be!

I love reading all of your emails! I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to them all, but I really do love reading them. I love you all so much!

Sister Ward

His message is powerful, it changes lives.

Dear Family,

Today starts the last week of my first transfer!! I can't believe that I have been here this long. We've kept so busy that time is just flying by!

The work has also been moving along so great! We found more people this week in an inspired manner. One day, we were out looking for people to talk to, and we walked by a dead end road. Normally, we skip those because there usually aren't very many people on them, but this time we felt like we needed to walk down it. When we got the end of the road, there was a set of stairs that led to a different road, which we descended and found a family trying to carry their couch into their house. We offered to help them, (and they said no at first because we were in dresses, but that's a good lesson we've learned about service: be persistent, and they will let you help eventually) and ended up moving their couch into their front room. When we got in there, we saw a Book of Mormon on the side table!! We asked them about it, and it turns out they were former investigators! And they want to see missionaries again! But we only found them because we followed the Spirit, and walked down a street that looked like it was going nowhere. As our mission president simply put it, "If the Spirit is telling you to turn right, don't turn left!!"

Another exciting event of the week was that Lee is now on date to be baptized!! In September, too, so Sister Campbell and I will almost definitely be here for it! It was funny because we were planning on putting him on date, and then when we showed up at his house for a lesson, and he asked us right away how he could get his baptism scheduled, without us even bringing it up! And so we were like "Oh please, let us help you with that!" :) He's so great.

Last P-Day we went on a hike! It was so beautiful, and so much fun. During the hike I caught a salamander, but we couldn't find any crawdads in the river. Apparently they can get as big as your fist out here though, so I'll have to go get one sometime. Our entire district of missionaries went and several of our investigators, and it was great. One of our investigators might take us to a Harry Potter museum next week, and I'm excited for that too.

This last week, I have gained such a testimony of the power of the gospel message. I am so lucky to have the privilege of sharing it. Every time someone has accepted the invitation to learn more, my initial reaction has been slight surprise. Why would this person be interested in hearing something two young, Mormon girls have to say? I really shouldn't be surprised though.  Even though Sister Campbell and I are the small and simple things of this Earth, even though we don't say things perfectly and we aren't particularly educated about religion or philosophy, our commission is greater than the kings of the earth and our Master is fully capable of doing His work. His message is powerful, and it changes lives. It sheds light into the darkest of corners, and can rescue the most lost of souls. And because of that, why shouldn't people want to know more? They should!!

I love you all dearly, keep in touch!

Sister Ward

West Virginian Funerals

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been another great week! West Virginia and the Lord's work continue to keep me in absolute wonder. 

I guess the biggest news of the week is that our investigator, Justin, died. He was the one who was in the later stages of muscular dystrophy, and so while his passing wasn't entirely unexpected, I think the timing of it caught his family by surprise. I am so grateful to have known him for the few weeks that I did, he had a really great heart. Through this experience, I have gained such a testimony of God's timing; we were able to teach him and his family about the Plan of Salvation just two days before he passed on.  I can only imagine the pain they must be going through, and knowing that through the gospel of Jesus Christ, their family can be together forever must be such a huge relief, and at the perfect time. I also believe his death was part of Heavenly Father's plan for that family. Because Justin passed away, his parents will be able to participate in the gospel, (they were his 24 hr, 7 days a week caretakers before) and he will be able to be baptized by proxy in a temple. Mine and Sister Campbell's goal is to help his father and brothers get ready to perform that baptism. We went to the funeral on Thursday, and it was interesting-definitely West Virginian. Everyone but Sister Campbell and I were wearing football jerseys. 

On a lighter note, we have found so many more people to teach this week! We found one couple by helping them carry their groceries into their house, and they are super funny. The husband told us that he used to make sport of the Elders in the area by inviting them in and Bible bashing them, but he apparently likes us, because he hasn't done that yet! We also have had quite a bit of success by talking to men who are working on their cars, we were able to teach two mechanics outside their houses this week.

One of the members had us over for dinner this week, and we roasted marshmallows in their backyard. Apparently I looked super contemplative as I roasted mine because my comp took a pic haha. She also tried to force feed me one.

I have gained such an appreciation for the scriptures this week! I love having an hour of scripture study scheduled in every day. I don't know how I survived all these years without it. Reading the scriptures is such an anchor when the storm gets rough, and it helps remind me why I am out here every day. And more than just bringing me peace and direction, I am learning so much! We had a lady tell us this week that she doesn't need to read the Book of Mormon again because she has a photographic memory, but I get so much out of it every time I reread. Things that I have read countless times before take on new meaning and nuance the millionth time I read them. They truly are from Heavenly Father, no man could have made these up.

I love you all!

Sister Ward

Member Missionaries

Dear Family,

Oh my goodness, it has been such a crazy, eventful week that I don't even know where to start. Sister Campbell and I have been so blessed, and we have learned lots.

We had an additional, temporary companion this week! Her name is Sister Sorenson, and she was such a great missionary and so much fun. Her companion went home suddenly, and so she got to come work with us until her new companion came up from Virginia. Also, we went on exchanges (I went to the South side of Charleston) this week in the midst of the emergency transferring, so it definitely wasn't a run of the mill week! Ironically, I went on exchanges with a different missionary named Sister Sorenson. She just lives upstairs, though, so I already know her and stuff. But I loved going on exchanges, it has given me a lot of new ideas and plans for our area.

We had another miracle self-referral this week! His name is Lee, and he just decided he likes his Mormon friends, and is looking for a new church, so he requested to have missionaries come see him. He is progressing so well, and is accepting everything we give him. He has been so prepared by the Lord, and I am so excited to continue teaching him. He has been a living proof to me of the importance of being a light to the world and how critical members are in missionary work. Because his Mormon friends had always lived the way they should, he has noticed, for years now, the happiness and light that they enjoy. Because of them, he wants to find out more. On the other hand though, Lee could have been a member of the church years ago. He is so ready. But none of those friends ever invited him to learn more. It makes me wonder how many missionary opportunities I have passed up (and I'm not perfect, it's been a lot) that could have opened the door to the light of the gospel for someone. I would invite all of you to take a self evaluation of your member missionary efforts-you can and will make an impact beyond what you can imagine!! You have no idea how important you members are in the work of the Lord. But I guess everything happens in the Lord's timing, and this must be Lee's time. He is so great, and I am excited for his baptism. Plus, he has an awesome house. It's decorated like you are inside of Mario's video game world, plus there is Star Wars furnishings. So much fun. :)

Another cool thing from this week! We have been trying for weeks to contact this lady, Tina, who we met a while ago, but she is never home. But, yesterday, she finally answered the door, and we were able to help her through a really hard time she was going through right then. If we had been able to contact her earlier, we probably wouldn't have knocked on her door at that perfect moment that she needed an uplifting message and someone to comfort her. God is really good at timing everything perfectly. Even though we won't be able to continue teaching her because she is moving, I felt that Sister Campbell and I were doing the Lord's work-comforting those that need comfort and lifting the heads that hang low. I am humbled more and more every week by the greatness of my calling and the things the Lord lets me do for him here.

I love you all! Still no apartment, but that's OK. Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Ward

Awesome Week!

Dear Family,

This week was so awesome!! It was amazing to see the Lord's hand in everything that you do as a missionary. Sister Campbell and I are so blessed.

We don't have an apartment yet, so we are still staying in the other sisters' basement. We have upped our apartment-finding game though, because we'll probably be transferred out of the area if we can't find one soon. It's turning out to be pretty difficult because the members are helping us find one, but they really want us in their area but we're supposed to be in (where there aren't that many decent apartments anyway). So they have a lot of suggestions, but none of them are where we actually need to live. We had a pretty funny experience with apartment hunting, though. We (I) had accidentally taken a wrong turn up this long, windy drive, and then when we got to the top, there was a bunch of really nice, clean, apartments right there. Sister Campbell and I were like, "Whoa, these are actually nice!" so we got out to ask someone about them. We found this lady sitting outside, and asked her if they were leasing any, and she looked at us really weirdly, and said, "They are, but you ladies are a little young to live here." Haha turns out, it was an senior assisted living place. But the lady was really nice, and we talked to her for a while. 

The work has been moving along great in our area! We have been getting so many referrals from the members, and also finding a lot of people by just talking to everybody. The family we are teaching right now came to church yesterday, and we have a baptismal date for their 2 boys. Their dad always tells us he is not interested in hearing anything we have to say, but we've also noticed the window to the porch is open more and more every time we come over and teach. The mother also said that since we've starting coming over, she feels less depressed and doesn't crave cigarettes like she normally does. It's a powerful witness to me that Jesus Christ's Atonement is working on them and changing them into the people that God wants them to be. It is so exciting to see this family who has been struggling in so many ways for so long, become happier and more united. Eternal families are the best!!

Another really cool experience from this week. A lady called the mission office asking if she could have missionaries come to her home. We were so excited, because, that doesn't happen very often. When we got there, we found out that she had really called in behalf of her son. He is bedridden with muscular dystrophy, and he just wants someone to come by once a week to share a religious message with him, since he can't go to church. He is such a neat person, and the spirit he brought was humbling. I felt so privileged to teach him that God loves him, knows him personally, and has restored his gospel and priesthood authority again on the earth. 

Sister Campbell continues to be the best companion ever! She is such a hard worker, she loves everyone she sees, and she is so good at teaching. I learn stuff from her everyday. And her birthday is on Thursday, so think of her then!

I love you guys lots!!

Sister Ward

Arriving in the Mission Field

Dear Family,

Thank you for all the letters, I love reading them! This week has been an awesome, and I have seen so so many miracles in the last few days!

We got to West Virginia last Wednesday, and it is so beautiful here. I was in awe as we flew in over the mountains. God loves me, there are flowers everywhere! President and Sister Salisbury are such and inspiration to me, and the power and authority they teach with is incredible. They took us to a West Virginia museum on Thursday, and I was shocked at how cool it was. West Virginia is awesome!

My companion in this area is Sister Campbell. She is from Aurora, Colorado, and she is so cool. She only has 3 months left of her mission, so we might be together until she leaves. She works so hard, and motivates me to be better all the time! 15 months in, and she still has her greenie fire going strong, which is so cool. I am learning so much from her. :) 

So the first area that I have been assigned to is a new one, the West Side of Charleston! Which makes Sister Campbell and I the West Side Sisters, so that's fun! It is an interesting area. President especially felt that sisters needed to be here, so I'm excited to see what this transfer brings. They haven't found a non-ghetto-y apartment for us yet, so we are staying in the basement of the Sister Training Leaders apartment the next area over. It is fun to have other sisters to talk to at night, but we are burning so many miles on our car each day just to travel to our area. Also, Sis Campbell doesn't have a driver's license so I have drive everywhere, and the roads are terrifyingly narrow and windy. So... please pray that I will not die and/or wreck the brand new car. We are really hoping to find some younger families to teach, because the average age of the ward is about 70, but they are a sweet old bunch. One lady in particular, Betty June, is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She is 86, she served a mission when she was young, and she is all over Facebook just so she can keep in contact with less active members and investigators in her ward. She also hosts a family home evening every week for 25 other senior citizens who don't have families nearby. I hope I'm that awesome when I'm 86. 

The people here are so great. Everyone has such great faith in Christ and God, and they are so fun to teach. Sometimes I almost bust out laughing at the things they say, but I'm starting to understand it all. :)  One little boy gave me a sand dollar and a hug when I gave him a Book of Mormon for he and his brother to read. It was adorable.  Because it's a new area and our area book is 15 records long, we've been knocking a lot of doors. Luckily though, it hasn't been too hot and we have actually found a bunch of new and potential investigators from it. Also miracles do happen! We were walking through a neighborhood, and 4 vicious dogs came running out into the road growling at us, but we said a prayer and just kept walking, and they didn't bite us or follow us anymore! We also found a family who has met with missionaries before and are interested in seeing us again, and they seem awesome! And, their next door neighbor saw us talking, and she wants to meet with us too! Somehow, the fact that we aren't allowed to go swimming came up, and now she wants a copy of the white handbook for herself, which is kind of funny. She is very concerned about how we'll keep cool when it gets hot. :)

I love y'all! Have a great week! 

Sister Ward

MTC Letter

Dear Family, 

Hi!!!  I'm at the MTC and I still love it, so that's good.  The classes that we go to are so uplifting, and I feel so much more able to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I never realized how much I didn't know about missionary work, but I'm learning. :) One thing that I have especially appreciated learning about is how critical accepting this gospel is; it is so important!  Knowing this makes me way excited to get to West Virginia and tell all the people there about it. 

So my companion is absolutely awesome! Her name is Sister Tafea (Ta-fey-a) and she is super cool! I love her vibrant personality and her amazing testimony. We teach well together, (or at least as well as us greenies can), and have so much fun together. Also she played rugby with the American team before she came out here and was hoping to go to the Olympics next time around, so that's just really really cool!!  She is Tongan, but has lived in Oregon for a long time. Last night she gave all of us girls in the room a cultural lesson on Tonga, and we all call each other Tokoua (sister) now. The rest of our district is pretty cool, too, but only us sisters are going to WV. The rest of them will be off to the Richmond, Virginia and Houston, TX missions. 

Things around the MTC campus are a little crazy this week because they are having the New Mission President training conference, and we aren't allowed in some of the buildings. Plus, 615 new missionaries reported for duty yesterday, so things are getting a little cozy here. It is fun to be constantly surrounded by people who are so spiritual and focused on preparing to do the work of the Lord. We joke that the Spirit at the MTC is so strong, you could cut it with a knife, and it is so true! Even during gym time and meals, you can feel how holy this place is. Speaking of meals, the food is.....interesting.... I'm excited to buy my own food again. 

Anyway, I'm out of time. I'll have to practice writing faster.  I love you guys a lot, I miss you, and I appreciate all the mail and packages you are sending me!!

Love ya lots,

Hannah

Reporting in 6 Days!

Here I am.  Writing the first post to a blog chronicling the events of this great adventure of the mission I am about to go on.  I have T-minus: 6 days until I report to the Missionary Training Center, and I am so excited!!  Many people and events have brought me to this point in my life, and I want to share a just a little bit of my journey.

I am not one of those people who has always wanted to serve a mission.  In fact, until the LDS missionary age change a few years ago, I didn't really consider it a possibility.   Even after the announcement, though, serving a mission still didn't seem like my cup of tea.  Here I will have to give to credit to my wonderful older sister, who faithfully and valiantly served her mission and showed me what sister missionaries actually do and the great blessings a mission can bring to the missionary, her family, and most importantly, the people she helps teach.  When I saw the joy that came into her life as she served the Lord and the light that she helped bring into other peoples' lives, I began to realize that I wanted that for myself.

When it came time for me to start filling out the paperwork, though, I still wasn't sure if a mission was the right thing for me pursue.  I knew that I wanted to go, but I didn't yet know if a mission was part of God's plan for me--and I wanted to know without a doubt that this was what Heavenly Father wanted me to do.  But as I prayed to know if I should go or not, I soon came to feel like the heavens weren't listening.  For weeks I continued to pray, and I didn't understand why I was not being given an answer to my sincere question.  Finally, I decided to move forward, submit my application, and trust that I would later receive a confirmation, or that things just wouldn't work out if it wasn't right for me.  I think that this act of faith was crucial for me to receiving my answer, and the confirmation has come, time and time again!  Throughout these last few months, I have received countless moments of peace, love, and confidence from the Lord as I have prepared to serve a mission.  I know, without a doubt, that I have been called by the Lord to teach and serve the people of West Virginia.

And so here I am, pumped and ready to go! I can hardly wait to leave, and even though it will be hard to leave my family, friends, and life behind, I know that I will return a better woman.  I look forward to the day when I will be able to see and talk with all you again, and write me until then!!