February 3, 2014

Well allright, sorry for the last e-mail, it was short and not very much info was in it. But anyways, this past week has been very busy. Me and Elder De Kock have been doing our best with teaching lessons, and keeping Progressing investigators progressing! Mace, as I mentioned in the last e-mail has been a tough one. He has changed, however he is having a difficult time trying to leave behind his old ways completely. We have really encouraged him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon,so he can gain a testimony about it. Because I know that if he gets a testimony of the Book of Mormon, the rest will fall into place, he will then have that complete desire to really change for the better. So I guess if you guys could pray for Mace that would be wonderful! and also Rob. He is really good guy. His girl friend is a member, and he has started taking the lessons. He is progressing very well, and is excited to learn more. We are hoping that he gains a very strong testimony of the BoM for sure. We also met Dora a few weeks ago. Me and Elder De Kock actually had the wrong address, however she answered the door and we where persistent in being able to share a message with her later, she accepted. Pretty amazing miracle! Anyways, we where unable to contact her for about 2 weeks. When we finally were able to, we shared the message of the restoration and her face just lit up! She had known about the Mormon Church but never really knew what it was all about! So that was a good experience for me to see someone feel the spirit in the lesson. But we are still trying to set up another time to come by and share more!

Anyways, I have been doing good here in New Zealand. I have had some difficult people to talk to on the streets. It's tough having people bash against your church. I pray for my testimony to built up every day, because it can be discouraging. I am still putting my best effort into into the work though! Mom if you could send me those pics again I would grateful! They didn't come through quite right, and where degraded quality. Thanks for the package also! I look forwards to receiving it! I will try to send some stuff home also. They have some cool chocolate here! Love you all so much please pray for me and the investigators. I pray for you guys always as well! Take Care!

-Love Elder Ward!

Handwritten letter written December 29, 2013

Dear Family,

So I got a chance to write another letter and I figured that I better take the chance to despite not knowing when it will arrive.  I sent one before this so hopefully it has made it or will arrive soon.  I can't imagine where it is or where it has been.

This is the last letter that I am writing before I leave the MTC.  They give so little time to try and understand how this all works.  I think I got a pretty good idea of how to teach investigators.  It's pretty cool how they do it here.  The teachers are all returned missionaries.  What they have us do is pretend they are investigators,, and we have to plan according to their needs.  They have separate rooms where they do this, and even have cameras set up to record the teaching.  It's full on, you can't stop in the middle of the lesson and ask a question and then keep going.  If you do they will continue to play the role of the investigator and act puzzled.  So it's a great learning system.  We sometimes would look at the tapes to see what we can do better and what we did good.  It's kind of cool they got a whole network setup so they can watch the footage from the classroom (that's for the teachers) but also play back any of the lessons.

I hope that it has helped me enough to be a good companion for my first trainer companion.  I don't want to be quiet and not contribute to the lessons.  i will be all right.  I'll figure it out.  So far it's been a great testimony builder to be in the MTC.  A lot of which I have realized I have to rely on faith.  i remember the apostle Elder Bednar said in one of the devotionals that I watched, "Don't let what you don't know unravel what you do know."  Those words brought some comfort to me.  I'm still learning a lot about the scriptures and they go hand in hand, or the Book of Mormon, and Bile.  Stuart make sure that you understand how the Bible contains "truths" and the Book of Mormon contains the "fullness" of the gospel, and know the scriptures in preach My Gospel.  These scriptures explain a lot of specific principles and doctrines that are in the Church.  That's another thing, know what a "principle" is and a "doctrine".  These are just some small things that you can do to be better prepared for the mission.

I don't know where I will be assigned to work in this next week.  These letters may be repetitive, it is hard to keep track of what I have said already.  I should be e-mailing soon before I leave.  Can't wait to hear from you guys finally!

Lots of Love,
Elder Ward

PS The Tongans, and all the Pacific Islander people here are crazy cool!

Oh!  I got to go through the Hamilton Temple!  It is amazing and it was wonderful.  I would send a picture I bought there but it is to big to fit in the envelope.  I will send you guys a package soon when I get out in the field.

January 26, 2014

Well all right. We have been quite busy with this P-day so I don't have much time! So I will only be sending home this e-mail for today. But I have read all of your e-mails, so I will try to respond to kind of everything, next week I will do better!

Any ways, today has been a good week. As usual. There is a guy named Mace, and he is a fantastic guy. He has really taken all the lessons to heart, and has great faith in the church. He needs to pray about the Book of Mormon, and really gain a testimony that it is true. He doesn't always like to pray, but we know that he will be really committed, once he gains prays! He has a few issues with the word of wisdom, so we have been able to give him a blessing, and he feels wants to make changes, so I am sure that the Lord will bless him with strength. 

Oh dear I am sorry for the short e-mail, next week I will be able to give a much better report!

Things are good here though!

Love you all, 

Elder Ward