He saw that it was possible, and that if he did his part, the Savior would take care of the rest. Suddenly living the gospel became joyous. I know that following Jesus Christ is the best way of life. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Dear Family,

I'm so happy for ya'll. All starting school! Why has everyone grown up so much?? How can my baby brother be 10 years old?! Double digits and everything. 

We had a great time this week here in F.! M. continues to do so well spiritually! He had cancelled his appointment with us Saturday night, which had us a little worried, but Sunday morning 20 minutes before church he calls us telling us he would be there! And he came, and absolutely loved it! I have such a strong testimony of the power of sacrament meeting. It truly is a sacred meeting, and it is God's command that we go every week.  Not if we have time or if it's cold to go boating, camping, etc. It is what God gave us Sunday for, and the promised blessings are incredible.  

We had some opportunities to do some service this week, which was refreshing! We showed up for a lesson at a members house, and they had the largest pile of firewood I have ever seen was sitting in their yard. So we helped them stack it! It's amazing what you can do in a pencil skirt if you really put your mind to it!  

The S's. are continuing to do super well, too! They both came to church, and they even ordered themselves the quad version of the scriptures on Amazon! What a great couple! 

So as missionaries, our paramount purpose is to teach repentance and baptize converts. And this week I learned that knowing how to truly repent can make a huge difference. We've been teaching Brother B. for a while now, and he's been great about keeping some commitments but struggled with others. This week we'd made a lesson plan and gone over to teach him, but when we got there we felt impressed to talk about repentance instead. We taught him the steps of repentance and that when we repent, we are completely forgiven and that we don't have to re-earn our place in God's grace. Because of Jesus Christ, we are simply and completely forgiven. And the result was amazing! Instead of repentance seeming like an overwhelming hole he had to dig himself out of, he saw that it was possible, and that if he did his part, the Savior would take care of the rest. Suddenly living the gospel became joyous. I know that following Jesus Christ is the best way of life. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10.)

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Ward