Elder Samuel Ward: Missouri Independence Mission: #2k16

Hello family and friends!

This week was great!! Our Investigators are

doing pretty well also. Theresa is still on date for baptism January 15th!! She is loving the gospel and came to church the last two weeks. Our ward mission leader is setting up plans for retention and they are already assigning home teachers to her!

We haven't heard from Monica this week. We were supposed to give a church tour but we couldn't get a hold of her so it didn't work out. We took Sheryl to the VC (vistor's center) yesterday with her member husband and non-member grandkids. It was a good time. I'd say she DID feel the spirit and we set up another time to come see her, and she is going to make us clam chowder! So a win-win! Jan is doing fairly well. We are starting the lessons over with her because she seems to have forgotten a lot of them. We invited her to baptism again last week. She won't commit because she is afraid of

losing friends and family relationships, but we are still trying though! She is beginning to cut ties with her old church so that will be a big stepping stone. It is amazing to see how much these people progress, and I LOVE being a part of it and that I have been able to meet and

get to know them.

I have been reading lots of the Book of Mormon this week. I am in the book of Mosiah learning about King Noah and Abinadi. I love that story so much. Abinadi was such a great prophet and missionary. He never lied and would never give up, especially if he hadn't finished his mission yet. He stood up for what was right and endured to the end to carry out the words of the Lord. The Lord preserved him in all things and he was able to fulfill what he needed to do because of his righteousness and determination to do what the Lord commanded. I hope to be like that and strive everyday to become so.

I love this work and that story definitely shed a whole new light on what it is I'm doing. I love

all of you! Thanks so much for everything!

~Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

P.S. I also meet someone that works on the Da Vinci surgical robot! She's super cool and is going to show me some day. SO AWESOME!