2-19-13

Oh my gosh I made it here!  My mission president and his wife are incredible and I have heard that they spoil the sisters rotten which is comforting to hear.  ;-)  I am so excited to be here!  I'm sending an attachment to go along with this as well.  This is my mission president and his wife the day we flew in.  Love and miss you all!

 

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2-15-13

Leah wrote a bunch of family stuff that you probably won't be interested in reading, but I thought I would include the end of her letter:

I just want to end this with my testimony.  Family, I am so grateful to be here.  As I've been in the MTC, I can clearly see why the Lord wanted me to serve a mission.  I know that this gospel is true.  The Spirit has testified this to me countless times in the past 2 weeks.  I could never deny that this gospel is true because of the experiences that I have had here!  Joseph Smith DID restore this gospel in this last dispensation.  He saw our Heavenly Father and His Son, my brother, Jesus Christ.  The Book of Mormon is ANOTHER doctrine of Jesus Christ and I know that it speaks the truth.  Lastly, I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and He loves ALL of His children.  The trials and tribulations we go through are because God wants us to learn and grow, but He will NEVER give us more than we can handle.  He knows us, and He knows our deepest desires and needs.  He truly loves us all.  I hope you all know this too.

I love you all and I miss you so much.  When you write me next, I would recommend you mail the letters to Florida since I'm leaving the MTC in 4 days!!!  I hope to hear from all of you soon!

Love,

Sister Leah R. Ward

2-8-13

So I have to share with you an amazing experience!  It was so great and I just continue to grow in my love for the Priesthood.

So this past week, I've been sick with a horrible cold.  I started feeling symptoms last Thursday and it's just been getting worse.  Anyway, on Wednesday night, I was so frustrated because I knew that I was unable to learn and focus to my full capacity.  Don't get me wrong, I was progressing, but I knew that if I was healthy I would be doing even better and progressing further.

Finally, on Wednesday night, I was just so frustrated, I hadn't had a full night's sleep in the last week, and I was STILL sick!  I finally broke down in tears and all the sisters in my room were super concerned (it was so embarrassing!).  Anyway, the zone coordinating sister is in my dorm room and she asked me if I would like for her to arrange for me to receive a blessing.  I ended up telling her that I would like two of the elders in my district to give me the blessing.  The next day, those elders approached me and gave me a blessing.  My favorite elder (Elder Carter) annointed me and his companion (Elder Mayberry, my other favorite elder) blessed me.  Both of these boys are 18, and it was just so cute.  They both took a minute to allow the Spirit to be with them and I loved how they weren't experienced.  But here's what was really amazing; they blessed me to get better and all, but my favorite part was this:  "Leah, turn to your scirptures.  for not only will you be strengthened mentally, but also physically."  How cool is that?!  It was just so powerful to me and I HAD to share it with you!

My companion is awesome, she's a great example to me and she pushes me when I don't feel like it anymore.  I think that we even each other out.  What I'm weak at, she's strong and helps teach me.  The same goes the other way as well.  Plus, we are now comfortable enough to tell each other what we think the other needs to improve on.

I love you and I miss you so much.  But I am so grateful to be here and experience this.

Love,

Leah