Wood Heights Warriors- Week 30

Hey family!

This has been a splendid week.  Like I said on Friday, we didn't have P-day on Monday this week because we went to the temple!! That was so amazing!

The missionary work last week was good as usual! We saw a LOT of less active and recent convert members. It was really good! A lot of them we have invited to work towards receiving a temple recommend! And I think a few will!!

We had some pretty good adventures this week. I went on an exchange with Elder Kirkham to the Kearney 1st Ward. We did some good stuff. Their apartment was disgusting though haha. So we spent a little while cleaning it and making it more worthy for the Holy Ghost to be there.

It was really nice, and I think it helped out their companionship a little bit. But while we were there we had an AMAZING dinner appointment with a family in their ward. It was actually really great because the dad of that family actually came to Kylie's Baptism!! It was way awesome!! Their last name is Romero. He works with Robby on the rail yard and they are super cool. We had pizza and had a wonderful lesson with them. The kids were super nice and very smart. We showed them the Mormon Message "Reclaimed" which is probably my most favorite one. They had lots of great comments. We of course asked if there was anyone they had been working with to share the gospel with. And they hadn't, but they said they have a friend who once took the missionary lessons, and even had a baptismal date. But something happened and she kinda stopped with everything. So they said they are going to try to get her back in action and have her and the missionaries over. SO that will be great for them! 

Other events that happened, Elder Taylor and I drove out to a less actives house past Richmond, way in the middle of nowhere, #AllTheDirtRoads.  Well we wanted to invite him to stake conference. He hasn't been to church for years! So we get there, he's peeking from his front door, and I initially actually thought he had a shotgun haha. But luckily he didn't. We went and talked to him, he was very nice, and even asked for a Book of Mormon! So we gave him one. It was a great chat and we will probably go back this week!

On the way back we stopped by a place called "Taylor roadside park" Elder Taylor wanted a pic by the sign, it was pretty cool. Kind of a gross little place, but the idea is nice!! I even attempted to skip a rock in the muddy crick. Haha. 

Well, the highlight of the week was of course the Temple as well as General Conference. We went to the temple early Friday morning. The Kansas City Missouri Temple is such a beautiful House of the Lord. I love the architecture and all the beautiful symbolism. We went there and did a session. The rooms inside are SO beautiful. For those who may not know, there is a room inside every temple called the Celestial Room, this room is meant to symbolize eternal life, in the presence of God. It is truly the closest place on Earth to Heaven and there is so much peace and revelation there. My favorite thing about the temple is that it's quiet. People talk in a whisper, and nobody bothers you haha. I Truly did feel so much peace there as always, and have gained so much insight about how God cares and loves all of us, and that he has a plan of happiness for us all.

General Conference was also a very big testimony builder to me. The Prophets and Servants of God always shed a new light on Gods Plan for us. I loved that the theme for this conference was mostly focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Eternal Families. I know that Families can be eternal, because of Christ and the Holy Priesthood. I know that the Holy Temples are the place where we can obtain such blessings of eternity. I am so grateful for this knowledge, that Christ lives, He is the Savior of the World, and that my family can be united forever, for time and Eternity. Heavenly Father truly Loves each of us, and as we seek And live the restored gospel, many many more blessings of eternity follow. I witness that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Gods true and living church on the Earth today, it is organized the way He intends, and is more importantly run by the

Savior himself.

I love you all. Thanks so much for all you do! Have a wonderful week!!!!!

~Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

We didn't have time to take sweet pics at the temple because someone offered to take us out to lunch, so this is the only picture I got. I promise I will get better ones next time!

This is the guy that took us to lunch! He is the uncle of Ashley Smith-
the Chapel Hill Ward Snowball fight and Nerf War family ;) 

We baked Sister Peterson a cake for her birthday!

Taylor Road Side Park

This is Stacy. He is super blind and couldn't read with us until the state provided him with this new gadget! 

Merry Easter!

#RopinRascles 🐂- Week 28

Helloooooo family!!

This has definitely been an interesting week. We got a lot done! It was sort of a long week. But was good!

Monday we helped the Parkins a little bit more with their kitchen. That was really good! Tuesday was really good too. We all had interviews with President Vest (#Mission President) it was great! I got to talk to him about the work and my own personal self. It was really great. We also got to talk with Sister Vest as well, it went great but she took Siri off of our iPads. Which I was a little sad about hahaha... but some missionaries had been using that feature not wisely. So, everyone gets to pay for it! :)

Then the next day I got to go on exchanges with Elder Kirkham! It was way super awesome! He was one of my ol MTC companions, so it was really cool to catch up and work together again. We got some pizzas and walked over to sonic. Kimberlyn Parkin gave us some free drinks and it was a great day!!! 

We taught Kylie earlier this week. We were supposed to have a campfire with them but of course it started raining :(. So we had some hot dogs inside and had a little lesson. Her Baptism is coming up this Saturday! And it looks like her husband Robby is going to be able to baptize her! It's so exciting! This will definitely be a super busy
weekend! 

Later this week we went to the Dunlaps to do some service! They are super cool. Bruce is a real interesting guy. His wife Leta is also really cool. She's already a member, we are working on trying to help her get to church more often. She leaves on a cruise this week. But we are going to try to get her to the Visitors Center when she gets back. Anyways, we did some service at their house... their middle level floor was sagging down pretty hardcore. So we spent like 6 hours in the basement putting in new support beams and hitting stuff with heavy hammers. It was pretty fun. My body hurts, but we got it about halfway done! Haha. We also ate egg and Spam sandwiches there ;) .

We also did some service at the Ray County Museum which was also really cool. 

But probably the Most interesting thing that happened to me this week is two things. We ate at a family restaurant with the Conner family. Well, it didn't taste bad, but it didn't taste good either. We got the tenderloin and we survived. Buuuuuttttt. We definitely payed with some severe gastroenteritis the next day 😅. But we Still went to the Dunlaps and did all the things. 


The next thing, is that we met a REALLY interesting couple, we've talked to them a few times on the phone in the last couple months. We have been trying to find his records so that our Branch President can marry them. But I don't think he was actually ever baptized. But that's besides the point, we went and finally met them in person the next day. Well we had a lesson with them. They have some really interesting beliefs to say the least. But they are definitely very nice genuine people. Hopefully potentials to join the gospel some day, but there are some things we will need to clear up first haha. 


Spirit time!:  I read through some of the Book of Helaman this week; and of course came across Chapter 5. Where Nephi and Lehi devote themselves to preaching. They help convert a lot of people, but are eventually cast into prison, and 300 people are overshadowed with a cloud of darkness. I love the verses  40-41 

40 "And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?
41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you."
42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed."

To find the way back as Aminadab had remembered, one must repent and pray until doubt and darkness disappear. It is possible to return. And to see that Heavenly Father focuses on who we are, and who we are to become, instead of who we once were. Doubt and darkness can be removed from all of our lives. We can always overcome darkness.  The Lord will help us! I know that is true. I know that Heavenly Father truly loves all of us, and that he is willing to help, especially if we just simply ask, and have faith. I love all of you!! Thanks for all that you do! Have a marvelous week! 

~Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

Elder Kirkham and I 

Flying the Millennium Falcon kite!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is my super awesome district- "The Ropin Rascals"

New Door Approach- Week 12 (part 2)

Still Doing the Missionary Thing! -Week 11

Hello all! 
Holy cow! What a crazy and amazing week! Lots and lots happened! We had a pretty regular day on Tuesday. Everyone canceling on us. 
But we did some street contacting and met lots of people. We met someone named Bernadette last week and we have an appointment next week! 


We saw the Burmese family! They were awesome! I hope they keep commitments this week though, it was cool. We sat on a Burmese rug thing the whole time. I am a little worried however that they may just be being nice and letting us come in to teach, like maybe it's apart of their culture, I don't know, but we are not giving up yet! 

Also, We got SUPER awesome referrals from the church and Kaw River Ward sisters. I was on the phone with the MTC for about an hour talking about one of them. I didn't think I'd ever have to talk to any of those people again haha....But the contact's name is JR. We were supposed to meet with him yesterday but something came up. 

But Monica, (the one we got from the Kaw River sisters) is #Gold. She is in a very rough patch of life. She has been contacted by like 5 members she has never met and 3 sets of missionaries in the last week. Sssooooo, she recognizes that it's God organizing that, and we are teaching a lesson tonight! Soooooooo sweet! 

We also went on exchanges this week, I went with Elder Llii from Samoa! He is so awesome! It was his 1 year mark so we went and got food, and I baked a cake and hung a birthday thing. It was great. We also went to Oklahoma Joes, which was obviously a life changer. 

None of our 7 people that committed to come to church came, buuuuttt, there's always next week! It's been a good week! Starting to get pretty cold and wet. It been raining all week and there were 4 tornadoes warnings, I thought I was going to die. But I'm sure it only gets worse! Hahaha. 

We also have Theresa on date for baptism! So that is awesome! I can't remember if that was last week or not though. But it's January 15!! I hope to be here still! Things are great in good ol Kansas., thanks for all that you do! I love you all!



-Elder Ward 

#service #buildingbricks- Week 8

Hello Hello! This was a very good week! We had lots going on! We did a ton of service! We helped out a partial-member family a few times, the Pehrsons. The husband is a member, but the wife is a strong Catholic. They are very nice. They are finally selling their old house after

keeping it for like 20 years. We went and chopped down some trees and are going to build a stone wall tonight. They also took us to an awesome Mexican restaurant last week and we gotta see a smidgen of the Royals game while there... I restrained from watching more than 5.3 seconds... Royals won though! I guess they are going to the World Series or something? NBD. So it's going to be CRAZY here soon. We also did some service for members of our ward, we did some street dimming and brick stacking....reminds me of my old Job! I even saw a couple goat heads I GOT to

pull. haha. 

Also, pretty much all of our appointments cancelled on us this week. 😔 Ron had to take care of his friend who just had major surgery, and Derek Flint cancelled. But we popped by Derek's House and

gave him a Spanish Book of Mormon and Spanish Plan of Salvation pamphlet, his brother just died and he was wondering what we think goes on there. It was good though! We are going to try to take him to the awesome visitors center in Independence this week. That's ALWAYS a great place to really get investigators to progress. 

We also met with our Burmese investigator Van and his family this week. Unfortunately

we didn't get to play Cheen, but we had a great lesson about the restoration.  The parents don't really speak English very well. But Van and his sister Khin do, and they liked it. They are going to try to

come to trunk or treat as well as church! I'm excited. We also got an appointment set up with their Burmese Neighbor. Unfortunately the Book of Mormon is NOT translated into Burmese yet. So that needs to get figured out ASAP. It causes a bit more difficulty for sure. But nothing we can't handle. 

Our investigator Cedric has pretty much ignored us all week. Which is really depressing. But we will pop by and see what's up.

Overall a really Really good Week! Lots of service and teaching! It's what we do! The work here is amazing. I never realized how important member present lessons were until recently. It

just always makes things go better. An example:

 We went on a team up with our new ward mission leader Brother Tady. We went to go see potential investigator Teresa. She wasn't home so we called. She was around the corner helping her best friend move in, so we went and helped! It only took about 40 minutes so we shared a brief message about service and how it is the Lord's work and benefits both people. We showed a message, testified, and they were in tears. They are also going to come to trunk or treat and church! They seem prepared and we have an appointment scheduled with each of them this week. Had Brother Tady not been there it wouldn't have been the same. They now have a member fellowship in the ward for when they come to church. It's also a great way to see how normal people are part of the gospel as well. That is not all just full time missionaries. How members also want to share their love for this gospel, and how important it is. It was awesome! A great week! It went by really fast! 2 month mark next week! Holy monsters! It's going by quick! Aargh. 

The Lord is our Savior. He knows what we are going through and that is what prepares us to see Him! Make sure you share what you know! Go with the missionaries! They will be blessed from it, so will you, so will the investigator. Love you all! Thanks for the packages and letters! Until next week!

-Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

(P.S. If you are going to send Christmas packages I've been asked to ask you to send them to the mission office by November. 20th. They want them at the mission office because transfers are right before Christmas and that could get REALLY confusing haha.) 

I'm hoping to not get transferred until after Christmas, but you never know, I'd imagine because I'm new and opening an area I wouldn't be transferred. But I guess president is very unpredictable, so that's what I was asked to ask you! Thanks for your cooperation! I love you all! 

Also. We are going to have a missionary car for trunk or treat, details and pics next week, buckle up!

Hard at work: 

Elder Kolacz's amazing sweater

BEFORE 

AFTER

TEETER TOTTER

#Burma - Week 7

Another one down! This week was good! Elder Kolacz and I moved into our new apartment! It's REALLY nice. We live more central in our ward now so we will be saving a lot of miles and time on driving. And we can utilize bikes more! We live in a place called royal ridge apartments, fancy... I know.  It is actually the nicest apartment in the mission right now because we are the first elders to live in it! We also have brand new everything too. New pots, pans, plates, an iron, beds, etc.  It's really awesome, we feel super spoiled. It's going to suck to get transferred and have to live in gross places. The best part about it, is that it's CLEAN!  and we have new carpet!

As for missionary work, it was also a really good week! We met some new people, got some referrals, and had some lessons. A couple things awesome that happened is 1. We met with Ron Wilhelmi again last Tuesday. Ron only has a reading level of about a 3rd grader. So he doesn't really like to "read" the Book of Mormon, so we told him to download the gospel library app and listen to it instead. He has taken missionary discussions for a few years now, and has only gotten to lesson two. So we are going to start changing stuff up with him. We started talking about the beginning with him to see if he even had a testimony about the Book if Mormon at all. He definitely didn't. He thought that you had to read the entire thing and THEN pray about it. We told him no. Pray about what you read everyday! Even if it's just a verse! He had never thought about that and is going to start trying it. He also made a commitment to come to church, and he CAME! I think he liked it! He was really happy and talked to a lot of people, he also had some very good discussion in the lessons as well. He works for the Royals and is working a lot. He usually leaves early in the morning and doesn't get back till way late at night. So he finds it hard to find time to pray. But we told him other wise. If he just does it, He will be blessed and WILL receive the truth. Hopefully he does it! 

Also, we went on exchanges this week. I went with our district leader, Elder Hansen, we stayed in my area and talked to a lot of people. One of them being a man named Cedric. We met Cedric by visiting a member and when we were leaving, he was walking out to his car across the street. So we stopped him and talked a bit. We then went to see him again a week later (this last week) on exchanges. We knocked on the door, he let us in, we gave the entire first discussion in his entry way. He asked if he could come to church, we said uh, yes! Aaaannnnnnddddddd, he didn't show up.....  so we walked over to his house right after church to see what the deal was, he had "surprise company and wasn't feeling good" which he really didn't look good, I may have detected some pink eye. So we set a return appointment for Wednesday afternoon and will get him going!  He is a super cool black guy school bus driver, with a HUGE goatee. 

That's basically been our week! I guess another thing is we were at the library doing some iPad training and a guy came up to us and said, "I've been thinking about being a Mormon, do you guys know how I might be able to do that?" We set an appointment. I'm not sure what it is about our missionary get up, but it seems to draw people in I guess. It's pretty great, we also get free food a lot. #MissionaryLife. 

We also met a guy in an apartment complex down the road named Van. He looks about 15 yrs old with the dirtiest mustache I've ever seen. He was out back in a sandpit with a million Burmese people playing a game of schin? (Cheen) idk how to spell it. Burmese. But we talked to some of them, they are Baptist. They were really interested and we set an appointment with like 15 people for Thursday. So we will see how that goes! They need to teach us how to play their game! It looks like a mix of volleyball and hacky-sac. They were ninja kicking a bamboo ball over the net at lightning speed. I must learn. It was a good week! The Lord is good! Thanks for all the support at home! I love you all! Keep the faith!

-Elder Samuel LaVar Ward.

 Leaving the Lees house.

 Goodbye to the beloved screen porch!