October 28

Hello!  Oh my goodness this last week has just been crazy!  I am so grateful to be finally serving with a sister who has been out longer than me and has experience because Sister Heiner is totally changing the face of this area!  As STL's, we are expected to have higher numbers than the rest of the zone and also to go on 2-4 transfers a week.  Pretty stressful especially because the numbers in this area haven't been all that high although we are working with some pretty solid investigators.  However, Sister Heiner came in and told me the numbers that we are expected to receive and somehow we're well on our way to reaching them. Heavenly Father has definitely blessed us tremendously this last week!  We've been busy teaching a ton of lessons to members and also some lessons to investigators and also had the time to knock on doors and exceed our goal for how many new people we contact weekly.  I don't know how it happened except that the Lord was totally the one in charge.

We're going on exchanges this week and I'm looking forward to getting to know the sisters and seeing what we can do to help them progress as missionaries in their effort to do missionary work.  I'm a little nervous because I don't feel super qualified for this but I know that I must be or else the Lord wouldn't have called me to this!  It's pretty exciting to be able to go and meet sisters and get to know them one-on-one. Hopefully we can help them out!

Dad, that's awesome that you had such a great missionary opportunity!  I will definitely pray about this and see what the Lord wants me to do with this information.  It is pretty hard and scary for a member to send missionaries to their friends and family so I will definitely remember that as I pray and ask Heavenly Father what He wants us to do for Linda.  Thank you for following your spiritual promptings and being bold!  That is something that I've been striving to improve my entire mission because being bold but loving is the best way for the Spirit to come and testify to both members and non-members alike.  It's exciting to hear about everyone's missionary moments because it testifies to me that members are so important in this missionary effort!  Members and full-time missionaries can't do missionary work as effectively without each other!

We are pretty excited about our investigators.  We have 2 that are definitely getting baptized which is exciting.  One of them is a husband of a less-active woman and he is just so excited to get baptized next month!  The other is the woman we've been working with for a while now.  She's so solid and excited about her baptism too!  It's a slower process because of her work schedule but we're hoping that she'll be able to get baptized before Thanksgiving, it'll just depend on her work schedule!

Haha no mom, I did not receive a Halloween package from the Moore's.  In fact, I haven't received anything in a package from anyone since August.  Honestly, I love receiving packages and such, but it also doesn't bother me if I don't receive one.  The only time I get annoyed is if people say that they're sending one and they take forever to send it because then I'm just waiting in anticipation and that's what is distracting for me.  But usually I don't even really think about it.  I just like hearing from you guys on occasion!

Being a Sister Trainer Leader is kind of like a District Leader...but not at the same time.  The sisters still report and discuss the missionary work with their DL, but the STL goes on exchanges and counsels with the sisters because the sisters can't counsel with their DL.  Basically we don't have any stewardship over anyone but we are there to help and assist in any way that's needed.  It's awesome.

Sister Heiner is the trainer I had when I got emergency transferred to Leesburg.  We struggled while we were together because I was super prideful so I was excited to be able to have another chance to redeem myself!  ;-)  She's just great and is doing so much for this area that I couldn't do in the past!  I'm super excited to see how things go.

We did service on Saturday for an elementary school in our stake boundaries.  The picture is from that.  We loved wearing the Mormon Helping Hands vests!

I'm so sad that President Trevort is leaving!  But I know that the new stake president is going to be just what this stake needs.  :(

Anyways, I'm out of time.  Love you all and I hope that everything is going great!  Thanks for the updates!

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October 21

So big news!  I get to serve with my trainer again!  They just called me as a Sister Trainer Leader and my companion is Sister Heiner again!  I am so excited to redeem myself and serve with her again.  I'm not getting transferred which is nice so we get to continue to serve here in Olympia.  I am so excited for this incredible opportunity and I hope that all goes well this transfer!  I'm sorry, I am too excited to be able to think clearly so this email is probably going to be really short today.

I'm looking forward to having this experience and learning from the other sisters!  It's more responsibility and stress but I think that this will be really a benefit for the sisters and for this area.  We've been seeing so many miracles lately and I'm excited to see where this goes!

I'm sorry, this is so short because I need to get going and let my companion pack, but I love you and I'm so grateful for all of you!  I hope that all is well and that you're enjoying your lives right now.  Love and miss you!

With love,

Sister Ward

October 14



Hello from warm, sunny Florida!  It's weird that it's October and the leaves are still green outside.  Kind of a bummer, but I love that it's still warm so I don't have to wear a coat or anything like that.

The other day, we were biking to the church and while biking, I looked to my right and noticed that there was a plane writing words in the sky!  Naturally, I stopped my bike because I have never seen that before and I wanted to see the message that was being shared!  ;-)  The pilot had written "LOVE GOD" in the sky.  I had no idea why it was written on that day and how we were biking right at that time, but it just made my day all day long!  It reminded me why I am a member of this church and why I'm serving a mission; because I love God so much and I want to do whatever He desires of me.  It made me look at myself and ask what I do to show Heavenly Father that I love Him?  And now I'm turning the question to you, what do you do to show your love for your Heavenly Father?  How can you do more for Him?  

I am so grateful for inspired leaders!  We went on exchanges this week with our Sister Trainer Leaders and it was just what my companion and I needed.  I am so grateful for leaders who receive promptings from the Spirit and then follow them constantly.  Heavenly Father truly loves each of us and has a plan for every individual living today.

I am also grateful for the inspiration that we can receive!  Last transfer, Hermana Allred and I were prompted to drop by a less-active member's home and see if there was anything that we could do for her.  When we got there, we realized that she had just had a baby 2 weeks ago.  There wasn't anything that we could do for her at the time, so we left feeling like we did what the Lord wanted us to do even though we felt like we didn't do anything.  We told the Relief Society presidency about this woman having a baby and as far as I know, they dropped off a gift for her and did what they could to serve her.  Yesterday, this woman came to church and told the missionaries that her husband wanted to take the discussions!  I felt very strongly that it was because we had followed the promptings that we had received 2 months ago and the Lord worked in His mysterious ways after that.  It truly was a miracle.

I love all of you!  I truly do feel your love for me often.  When times get harder, that is usually the first thing that I feel.  However, I have been feeling it more often this week.  As I've told my companion stories about my family, I can't help but feel the love that I'm sure you've been asking Heavenly Father to help me feel.  I hope that you are feeling my love for all of you as well each day.  You are in my prayers right alongside with our investigators!  I love you all and I thank you for the Spirit and love that you help me to feel each week.  

With love,

Sister Ward

October 7



Wasn't General Conference just wonderful?!?!?!?!  Don't worry mom, I talked about your doughnuts to many missionaries and they were ALL envious and decided that they would just have to come to my house for Conference someday so they could enjoy that deliciousness.  I especially loved basically all of the Saturday sessions (can you guess why?).  Most of the talks were about member missionary work!!!  As a missionary, I definitely know that it is much easier for ALL parties when the members and the missionaries come and work together in the missionary effort!  We as full-time missionaries are not on our missions to find those who are ready to hear the gospel.  We are here to teach.  We are here to help the members learn how to do their missionary work and then teach those that the members are working with.  The members are supposed to find those who are ready to hear the message of the restored gospel.  Coming here, I realized that I had sorely failed at this before my mission because I used the excuse of "I'm from Utah, almost everyone's Mormon and those who aren't don't want to be."  That's SO not true!  Being from Utah doesn't mean anything.  There are still people we come in contact with all the time who aren't members and we should be fearless in sharing our testimonies with them and inviting them to repent and come closer to Jesus Christ.  Not only are there people who aren't members, but what about the less-active members or the members who are struggling in staying worthy to hold a temple recommend?  They need missionary work as well!  A lot of the work that we do as full-time missionaries is work with the less-actives and serve those members who need a little extra help.  Shouldn't the members be helping with that as well?  What's great, is that if you don't know what to do for missionary work, you can always ask you Bishop, Stake President, or the full-time missionaries for opportunities that they may know of for you to serve.  That, or they will help you develop and refine the skills that you already have in sharing the gospel to those in your daily life.  There is always more that we can do than just being a good example.  It is time for the members and the missionaries to be bold but loving at the same time (Alma 38:12).  But always remember to follow the promptings of the Spirit.

We only have one investigator, but man she is so ready and excited to be baptized!  Oddly enough, she was referred to us by a member and they have been working very closely with us to help her progress.  She is so excited!  She is a very intelligent woman and she's going to a Seminary right now and is very knowledgeable in the Bible.  It's amazing to see how throughout her studies, she's been feeling more and more like she was missing something big, and she has now found that through the message of the restored gospel.  It's so contagious to experience her excitement.  My favorite comment that she made was when she was holding my Quad combination and she said "This feels whole!  This feels so right."  At our next lesson after she had accepted a baptismal date, she asked where she could buy a quad combination and the member told her that he'd buy her a nice leather set with her name on it.  She jumped up in the air and yelled with joy.  How incredible it was to see her excitement over a set of scriptures!  I realized in that moment that we should ALL be that excited!  We have truth in that quad combination that nobody else has!  Shouldn't we be jumping for joy at having the fullness of the truth right there in our hands?

Mom, to answer your question, yes I have to remind myself everyday that I need to let the Lord take charge.  It's hard to have that same desire that He has sometimes though.  Oh my goodness, but that's why a mission is so wonderful because the Lord is so good at humbling us to a point where we simply know that we can't do it any other way.  But I guess that it's a lesson that I still haven't learned because He has to remind me constantly that this isn't my way, it's HIS way!

I got Kenna's email this time from you!  No pictures, but that's OK.  I am glad to hear that she is doing so well along with everyone else.  I missed ya'll while watching Conference, but I hope that you had questions and prayers answered along with revelation received while watching it.  I know that I certainly did and I am excited to get my hands on the upcoming Ensign to re-read the talks and learn even more from those.

I love you all!  I hope that you strive to be member missionaries!  You've been called to build the kingdom of the Lord, are you ready to accept that call?  I would love to hear what you plan on doing in order to be missionaries and serve the Lord.  Love and miss you!

With love,

Sister Ward

September 30

I never did get Kenna's email.  But I'm glad that she emailed.  I hope that she's doing OK and I miss her so much.  She's basically awesome.  But that's great that she gets to go to London!  Yes, I am SUPER JEALOUS that she gets to go!  Ooh a little envious, but that's OK.  I hope that she totally loves it.  When does she leave again?

Oh I hope that Savannah does well today!  It is a bummer to end your high school experience with a poor sporting year.  Trust me, I know how she feels!  But I hope that she did what she could to make it the best experience possible for her this year.  Did she get my letter?  I felt so bad for her last week so I hope that she got it.

How are all of the kids doing with school?  It's amazing to me how old and big they're all getting.  I was looking at our family picture that we took last year and it amazes me that that was already almost a year ago!  It doesn't seem like it's been that long!  I'm honestly a little scared about coming home and seeing how much everyone has changed by the time I get home.  Especially the 3 little ones because they grow and change so quickly!

We got to bike in the dark and in the pouring rain this week.  As we were going along, I couldn't help but smile.  In that situation, I knew that there wasn't anything I could do except have a good attitude.  If I stopped or complained, how much would that help me?  It wouldn't.  So, instead, I started singing Called to Serve while we were biking.  I'm sure that my companion thought I was crazy but what else could we do?!  I was smiling because I noticed that right then, I was living in a missionary moment.  No one else would be as crazy as us to bike in the rain when it's dark in a skirt!  

Mom, did you get to go to the Relief Society broadcast?  I thought it was so good!  I especially loved Sister Reeves' talk and of course President Monson's talk.  I thought that they were so good and I felt the Spirit so strongly.  I think that my favorite quote was the one by Thomas S. Monson; "God's love is there, even if you don't deserve it."  I loved that so much because I knew that God loves us no matter what.  To Him, we always deserve it.  However, it is us who feel like we don't deserve His love.  But that quote told me that even though I may not always feel like I deserve His love, it's always there nonetheless.  

God works in the most mysterious ways.  We are His children and He loves us so much more than we can ever imagine.  I had the privilege to watch a 9-year-old girl bear her testimony yesterday and basically all that she said was that she gave a Book of Mormon to her friend last week at school and that missionary work is easy.  Out of all the testimonies that were given, this one touched me the most.  That little girl knew that her Savior was on her side and because of that knowledge, she was fearless.  She knew that He would bless her if she shared the gospel to all she knew.  With the Savior on our side, missionary work is easy!

Anyways, I'm basically all out of time.  But I love all of you, and thank you for being awesome.  Today's my 8 month mark, and I can't believe that the time is flying by so quickly.  I love you and I miss each and every one of you.  Thank you for your strength and your testimonies.  They are a blessing.  Love and miss you!

With love,

Sister Ward