My first born son in the wilderness! -Week 33

Hello family! Another great week down in the books!

We had dinner at the Offields last Monday! We finished all of the lessons with Mason and he will be getting baptized this Sunday! Woohooo!!! So maybe we can bring some investigators to it!!

The next day we met a super interesting guy named Lanney. Elder Taylor and I were knocking a few doors. He didn't answer, but then right when we were heading back to our car he comes running out after us. I had a mix of fright cause I thought he was going to kill us, but also joy due to the possibility of a solid gator!! Well when we went inside, he takes us to the basement. There was only like one chair and a radio and it was basically pitch black almost. Elder Taylor and I grabbed some chairs from upstairs where all the furniture is, and we sit down to have a discussion. He told us

his whole life story of high blood pressure, and then talked about the bible for like 3 hours, and how he is pretty much the only one going to be saved haha. Luckily I had a Snickers bar in the car waiting for me after that. It was a little rough haha.

We found out that Elder Taylor was going to be transferred and that I am training a new missionary. So Wednesday we mainly were going around saying goodbye to people. We also went to Liberty Jail with Jay and Aaliyah Fanning, which of course was amazing as always.

So, on Thursday we drove to the center place of Zion (Independence) to drop off Elder Taylor and pick up Elder Nakatsu!! Haha. He is going to go by Elder Parker though. His new tag just hasn't come in yet. So Elder Parker is fresh off the plane from the MTC! He is from #Hawaii, and is way super cool!! He is super laid back, but a very dedicated missionary! He and I had an AWESOME rest of the week! We found 3 new investigators!! 2 of which are actually pretty darn solid!!

A lady named Elizabeth self referred herself. She is a very very nice lady. Late 20's with a kid! She had been searching for something new and really wants to get back to Christ! Which is so awesome! She ordered a Book of Mormon recently, and then BAM, the missionaries show up! She has now had

the first lesson, and it was sure great! We are meeting again on Tuesday to teach the Plan of Salvation!!

Elder Parker and I went tracting on his first full day and ran into a lady named Judy!! Judy rocks!! She loved learning about the Book of Mormon, and what we told her about the Plan of Slavation. She said she WANTED to read it, and now we are going back Wednesday to teach her!

Also that day, Elder Parker, myself, and Pres. Dial went to go teach Karrin the First lesson. Which doubled as being Elder Parkers first lesson as well! And WHOA! Holy cow it was awesome! Elder Parker did fantastic! And Karrin definitely felt the spirit!  We are meeting with her again this week! And are definitely going to see how she is feeling about joining the church!

#Spirit: With all this talk about the good ol' Book of Mormon. I wanted to share what I learned this week!  My reading took me to 3rd Nephi 9-12. Which contains the crowning event of the Entire record. The appearance of Jesus Christ to the Nephite and Lamanite nations! This event is what the WHOLE record points to and prepares for. This is my most favorite part of the Book of Mormon for a few reasons: 

1. God the father speaks to those people. And 

2. Jesus Christ sets forth his gospel among those people and allows EVERYONE of them to feel the marks in His hands, feet, and sides. This is what we as missionaries testify of. That Jesus Christ went through what He did. And that these events of the Book of Mormon are REAL and actually happened! I realized that his mortal wounds are tokens of his sacrifice. Elder Holland taught that "He retained for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in His hands and feet as signs, if you will, signs, that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect (The ONLY perfect person being Christ),...that pain in this world is NOT evidence that God doesn't love you, but rather signs; if you will, that problems pass, and happiness can be ours through our Savior Jesus Christ. I KNOW that this is True, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I KNOW that everyone can know that. It has truly blessed my life.

I LOVE YOU ALL!! HAVE  A WONDERFUL WEEK!!

Love, Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

There was a REALLY big wasp! 

My SON and I!

We helped some people move!

Reilly McPherson!

#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"

Constructing Zion! - Week 24

Hello Family and friends!!

This was a super duper good and busy week!! Lots of things happened!! We taught quite a few less active members, and committed them to come to church and some of them came! So that was cool!! It's also been a really nice week weather wise! 70 degrees or so most of the week! Which was good because most people were out and about doing stuff so we had more opportunity to talk to people!  We also had the chance to do some service a few times!

I went on exchanges again with Elder Pope to the Kearny 3rd area again. It was pretty fun! We tried some potentials there that I have actually met before on the last exchange, and one of them became a new investigator! So that was really exciting to see and be a part of. We went to a member of the Far West Stake Presidency's house, President Meyer. I also went there last time. They are such an awesome family. One thing that I really like about them is that they have such a clean house!! They are just as nice as nice can be. They remind me a lot of my old boss Dr. Cole and his family. And a lot of members from the Chapel Hill Ward and Victory View Ward back home. Just very very nice and friendly and Christ like! I met their son Cole both times. He has been going out with Elder Thompson and Elder Pope a few times. He is really cool. I outlined the Plan of Salvation for him and gave him some parts to talk about for the next lesson he goes with.  There aren't many families like that in the Wood heights Branch. And I'm certainly missing that a little bit haha. It may not seem like it to outsiders, but Missouri is definitely a huge culture shock, and I love it! Although, I'm dreading the summer humidity time coming up haha.

One other thing. WE GOT KYLIE ON DATE FOR BAPTISM!! It was so awesome! Kylie is super solid. Loves the gospel and just can't wait till the day she can be sealed to her husband. She wants her husband Rob to baptize her!! Rob is working towards that!! We don't know exactly how long it will take for him to get there. But we set a goal for them to baptize Kylie on March 26th!! I sneakily suggested that day because it is my Brother Ethan's Birthday and I just think that would be cool! Also, it's the same day as the Women's General Broadcast. So that will be a busy day for her! Just keep her in your prayers that all will go well and that that day can happen!

Also. We stopped by Cheryl and Stevens. That one referral. Last week we weren't able to set up another appointment because they were super busy. But we stopped by this last Friday. And Cheryl came to the door.
She said sorry she never called back haha. But she said that she has read HALF OF THE BOOK!! Not sure if she meant the whole book or first book of Nephi. But we are gonna call it the whole Book of Mormon until we hear otherwise! Haha. It's so amazing! Definitely an answer to prayers! She said she has a couple questions, but that she really liked it! So we have an appointment for Tuesday!! So exciting!!

On Saturday we helped a recent convert build a new deck for his porch. Brother Arnold is his name. He is really cool. And can build anything! So we helped him with that and nailed some new tin roofing onto his shed! So that was fun!

This week I was reading in the book of Alma. And came across Alma 36:30.  This chapter is Alma telling his son Helaman about his conversion after seeing an angel...towards the end of the chapter, after the story of the conversion he says: "But behold, my son, this is not all; for ye ought to know as I do know, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence. Now this is according to his word." I realized that the word "prosper" in there also refers to the spiritual meaning. Of course it may refer to material things as well. But I think namely things of the spirit. If we keep the commandments, we prosper. We are successful in obtaining the blessings of being close to the Lord. We are on the track to entering the Lords presence. And if we don't keep the commandments, of course the opposite effect happens, and we are "cut off from his presence." I love how simple the gospel really is.  And how wonderful the blessings are if we live it. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son Of God and that he is the only way for us to return. I Know the commandments are holy and truly are for our benefit. To keep us happy, have eternal families, and to return to Father in Heaven.

I love all of you so much!! Have a splendid week!!
~Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

Brother Arnold's deck! 

The Filthy Font -Week 12

Hello everyone!
It has been a fantastic week! We have done a lot of service as usual and ended up actually teaching a fair amount of people! We taught Ron on Tuesday! He's been wondering about kicking his roommate out because they got in a huge fight about a precious gallon of milk. He asked what we think and we were just like...uuuuuuihhhhhh. I didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure how to make a decision. So we kind of told him about the story of the brother of Jared. How sometimes we just have to make a choice and then take it up with the Lord. Which he thought was interesting. He decided to kick him out, we prayed, and so far he has decided that that is the way to go... I guess it was just meant to be. 


But a few weeks ago he said that if our purpose was to baptize him, we may as well leave. Which is partially true. But not. Our purpose is to invite him to come unto Christ, but that can only be done through baptism. So the last couple weeks we have just been reading scriptures and such with him. Kind of taking it easy. But this week we are going to start easing back in to things. So wish us luck! 

We also saw Cedric this week! We taught him the plan of salvation! He loved it! He seemed truly interested! So we invited him to go on a church tour with us. And so he did! We got to scrub the filthy font and make it pretty, ew! There was so much mold and hair, it definitely hasn't been used for a while. We really should've just filled it up and surprise baptized him. But we decided against it. haha! But the tour was SOO spiritual! We showed him the nursery, primary, family history center, spent a solid half hour in the chapel talking about the sacrament and music. And then went into the foyer, showed the picture of the beautiful temple, and ended up in front of the font. 
We talked about the importance of baptism, and priesthood authority. He really understood and we invited him to be baptized when he finds his answer. He accepted! So he better read and pray this week! I am so excited for him! 

We also raked Brother Black's lawn and he wants to take us to Cables for lunch this week! So that will be way super awesome as well! 

We also met with Sheryl. Who is probably one of my most favorite ladies ever! She's not a member but her husband is! We talked to her about family history. She is going to come to the family history center next week and learn more! She also committed to taking her family to the Independence visitor center this week for the Christmas lighting and spoken word program! It will be so cool! The Lord has and is blessing us all! 

I'm so grateful to be out here! It's so beautiful to see the way the gospel touches lives! I couldn't be more excited for these people! Thanksgiving this week is going to be awesome! We have like 4 dinners, so that will be interesting, but good! I love you all! Thanks so much for the love and support! All is well! Love you!

-Elder Samuel Ward

I took some model pics.... enjoy!

  We met someone obsessed with legos.

   Someone loves X-Files as much as I do!

#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

#HitTheDeck - Week 6

HEELLOO!! 

What a crazy week! There has been a lot happening! We have done a ton of service this week! We painted yet another deck. It took like 7 hours because it was so huge, the paint was really thick, and they wanted texture. But it was nice to be outside and doing something. We are going back next saturday to do coat #2. This time the sisters will be there, and I guess we will have some other things to do there as well. We got a new bishopric in the ward last Sunday! It was kind of weird, people were crying, and sacrament went 2 hours with all of the testimonies. Is that even church legal? Oh well. You can really tell how much the people in this ward love each other! It's  awesome, and they are so awesome at being missionaries! They always take us places and they talk to EVERYONE about the gospel. It's really cool. I finally got a bike. So now we can go to an area somewhere, park the car, and bike around to people. That will be really refreshing and I think a better way of contacting people. We only got to meet with one of our investigators this week, Ron Wilhelmi. He is a man that struggles with some pretty severe anger management, and has a lot of personal issues. I usually get some sort of headache whenever I go there, but that just shows how much he really needs the gospel! He is content to never be baptized he said. He said if that was our purpose we may as well leave beacuse we are wasting each others time. So that posed to be a bit awkward, but that's what they all say before they actually get baptized. so we are going to keep going. haha. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He has met with about 5 sets of missionaries but they never followed up! So he only got to half way through lesson 2! SSOO LAAAMMEE!! But that's why we are here now! We have set appointments with him EVERY Tuesday at 10. So we can always follow up, and encourage him. He is pretty awesome. he works with the Cardinals baseball team. So thats his only day off. I guess they are pretty good or something. Instead of everything being BSU its either Royals, Chiefs, or Cardinals. Never heard of any of them before I got here. But that's cool that there is something cool here too! So we taught the 3 Kingdoms of Glory to him. Which he didn't seem to like at first. He didnt like the idea that his father in jail could potentially be in the same kingdom as he. But we explained that you cant worry about that. His salvation is his, and yours is yours. The atonement is for EVERYBODY! Which is so awesome! He said that makes more sense, and I said even if he did get into the same kingdom, he didn't ever have to see him if he didnt want, that made him feel better! haha. And we don't usually talk about outer darkness when we teach, because it is so hard to get into, and really kinda drives the spirit in our teaching out in a way. But I felt we should talk about it, so we did. He liked that there was in fact a "Hell" for people and that not EVERYONE can have a degree of glory. We further explained the requirements to get there, and really how difficult it is to get there anyways, but he was really intrigued by it, and it made the kingdoms seem very much more pleasing and acceptable to him. So we will see if he kept his commitments on his reading for the week, and see what happens tomorrow! This week will be good! We have more service lined up, and will get to see Megan again and teach her lesson 2! The Alpha and Omega mission is doing well, we have over 350 baptisms this year so far, with a goal of 400 something. So we are working hard to meet it! But it's all about enduring to the end! So we spend just as much time, if not more time contacting and trying to reactivate less actives! We got a few to come to church this week! I think they enjoyed it. We'll try to get them to come more often...hopefully every week soon! Thanks for all the letters and prayers! I feel them working! Time is going by fairly quick! It's crazy to think Halloween is already coming! I look at my pumpkin Matilda everyday and get so excited! I guess Halloween is sort of our "day off" because we have to be inside by 5pm. Hopefully we can go to a trunk or treat or something. Thanks for everything! Hope all is well!! I Love you!!

~Elder Ward

(Also the tornado sirens go off every first Wednesday, try not to freak out as much as i did) ;)

Also, we found a sword.

#AllTheService - Week 4

Helllooo!!! This week has been pretty grand. We have done so much service this week!! Holy cow! We helped 2 people move this week, I hate moving, but somehow, it's a lot easier with 15 missionaries helping! haha. So that was one of them, but another person we helped move was only Elder Kolacz and I, and the Sisters haha, so that was a little slower, but it was still awesome! Then, we went to paint a deck! It was me and Elder Kolacz, and the sisters again... we ended up doing it twice because I guess they didn't like the first color, so they changed it and had us come paint a new color on haha. It was a good time and they were a super nice family! Mainly this week, Elder Kolacz and I have been hunting down these potential investigators that were on our list... turns out they were ALL bum addresses! So lame! But at least we were able to clear up the list for the future missionaries going to serve here, and now we can focus more on finding people. We met one new guy named Jamek! He was a very nice guy and let us in, he was intrigued at the idea of missionaries in general; he let us in, we shared the video "choose this day" with him and talked about the restoration and where the Book of Mormon came from. He was very interested in it, and we have a return apportionment with him on Saturday! So i'll let you know how that goes! We have another appointment with our another investigator Derek, tomorrow. He has some issues with certain members of the ward, so we will try to clear that up. He commited with us last week to read 3 Nephi 11 and pray about it. The reasoning is that he didn't think Christ came to the Americas and ministered here, so that chapter talks about that, and what Christ did here. So we will talk this week about some more concerns he may have, and what his testimony of the Book of Mormon is right now. Elder Kolacz and I are still getting along well. It's been tough not really having any luck finding many people, but hopefully that will turn around this week. Also, what is the deal with people being jerks? So lame! But it's worth it, because every now and then we meet someone who is the nicest person as can be. Even though they may not be interested in the gospel, there is a pleasant conversation, and you can see the plain good in them, it's great. We had pizza 5 days in a row this week. Oooohhh my gosh haha. I thought I liked pizza, but that's beginning to change. It just ends up being the easiest thing people can feed us. But that's okay because we meet their awesome families, and generally walk most of it off. I. GOT. MY. IPAD!!!! It's so beautiful!! It's an Ipad mini 2, space grey, 32GB. I've got a sweet picture of Jesus in the background..on my retina display ;) Things are definitely going pretty swell here in Lenexa. The ward is humongous, but that definitely is a good thing, especially for investigators. Being able to have a few hours in the morning to read the Book of Mormon is definitely one of my FAVORITE THINGS. I'm in 3 Nephi right now. I love that book so much. It talks about Christs ministry here, and what his Character was. I hope someday to have the Character of Christ and to be like him. I love being out here in the Mission field. It's so cool to be meeting new people and finally getting some sort of routine. I love the Lord, and I love you!! Thanks so much for all the letters, emails, packages, etc. I'm not sure if you know how much, but it helps A LOT!! I love it, and am so thankful for it. So thanks again. Be sure to read your Book of Mormon this week, and to pray about it! You'll be glad you did! I know I am! and I know other people here soon will be as well; until next week!! love you all!

~Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

                                                              iPad of life!

                               I saw the Lunar Eclipse last night, so that was pretty cool!