Kolob- Week 18

Hello family! 

This was a pretty awesome one! Lots of things happened! We had a great lesson with a lady named Teresa and her  husband Ron. Not the same Theresa getting baptized soon though. This one was a good lesson! We had Bro. Black with us and he answered a lot of questions that I definitely couldn't, so it worked out well. We are meeting again this Tuesday! 

We also taught Jan! it was pretty good! We had Brother Bruce with us to reteach the restoration because she has forgotten it a little bit over time. It was a good!  We asked her to be baptized again, but she said "nah... someday!" She is beginning to move away from her old church, so... baby steps!

We also took Theresa to Liberty Jail! It was great! Bro. Reynolds took us. It was very spiritual as usual, and she said multiple times how pumped she is for her baptism on Friday! She is so excited and I'm pumped for her! It's so amazing to see the progression she has made! I love it. 

The next day we helped the Kaw River Ward with a "lost sheep" activity and they gave us pizza! 

We had Theresa come to church this last Sunday, and we taught "Exaltation." Which she LOVED. But Liberty Jail was amazing, and other than that we mainly were trying to find people this week. And we also had a good zone training. 

One night this week we went to dinner  at Patrick Bruce's house, aaaaannnndddd he bought a

PRACTICE CHANTER!!!!!! aaaaahhhhh and I even got to play it! I have been missing my pipes  sooooo much lately, and that was definitely a blesssing...  This work is truly a blessing of the Lord, I love seeing the changes not only in my life, but others as well. I'm so glad to be here.  

I finished the Book of Mosiah this week. The Book of Mosiah has always been one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon. I love that it shows how influential people are to each other, especially when they are in some sort of leadership position. Mosiah was a righteous ruler, King Noah was a wicked one. Both of their people followed in their ways. But the Lord only helps one way. The people of Mosiah prosper and the people of Noah perish. it is also amazing to see how Mosiah didn't care to be king, and that he even set up the Judge system for after his time. I learned that those who are truly humble are definitely favored of the Lord and receive many blessings. Also, that they are able to help others even when they are gone. He set up a system where people could dwell in righteousness, but more importantly have the agency and ability to do so. He helped bless the lives of many. I hope to be like him someday and to always strive to be a righteous and humble servant continuously forever. 

I know the words of the Book of Mormon are true, and I love sharing it with others. Thanks so much for all the love and support! 

FYI--- Transfers are on the 21st of January, so if you are going to send something, and it wouldn't get here by then, I'd recommend waiting haha. 

BUT THANKS SO MUCH!! I LOVE ALL OF

YOU!!

~Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

HI!

Our car got PUNKED!

With the Zone Leaders at KC Joes. SOOOOO good! 

Elder Torrico and I.... and a daughter of God in the background.

Stopped by the 9/11 Memorial

Best Zone EVA!

Liberty Jail with Theresa, Bro. Reynolds, and Elder Kolacz

and FINALLY.... BAGPIPES!!! (practice chanter) "If You Could Hie to Kolob"

Shout out to Grant Harbison... Wish we could have them harmonies! haha

#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! 

Here we are with Will Dilullo!

And now with Captain Kirk and Freddie Kruger

Here's Theresa- she is super sassy!!

Us right now on P-day! COOLEST zone everrrrrrr!

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!

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 

Liberty to our souls - Week 10

Hello hello! 

What a good week this week! We got lots done! We also got a couple of new investigators! HOORAY!! Unfortunately, a lot of our investigators cancelled. But we did a lot of member work, and committed a part member family to take the missionary lessons as a family! It was awesome! They are the Pehrsons who we helped cut down a few trees for! 

Also, the Tuesday birthday was awesome! Thanks so much
for all the letters and packages! But the best birthday present of all was the new investigator we found at the mailbox! His name is Richard,he's had a pretty rough time but we know how to help him! We are going to hopefully meet with him today, he lives in the same apartment complex as us. He is really cool and has a sweet mustache. We had dinner one night this week at the tadys, our ward mission leader. We had the splendid meal of pizza. And we stayed way too long. I think it was like 2.5 hours. We just got caught up so much in talking about the temple. Which was so awesome! I learned so much from them and we are going to try to go in the next couple weeks. I'm so excited! The Kansas City, Missouri temple is so pretty! Y'all need to come!

 Also, the wonderful Will Dillulo and Linda Clayton took us to Historic Liberty Jail and the Visitors Center! Those places are so awesome and so spiritual! I love the Liberty jail. You definitely know that that is where the prophet Joseph Smith was and more importantly, where he received revelation in the Doctrine of Covenants Sections 121, 122, and 123. I advise all of you to read those sections. And remember that everything that was revealed to Joseph applies to us individually as well. Also, our investigator Theresa committed to baptism! She is doing very well and is planning to get baptized in the next couple months. She wouldn't set a specific date, but we are planning to fix that this week.

 A great week over all! Lots of member work and other lessons. It was great! One quick thought. In the historic Liberty jail it goes through the story of the saints persecution out here in the Midwest, and what Joseph and the other prisoners in jail experienced. The last couple weeks have been a little hard with homesickness and such. But when I was in the rotunda of the jail, and the presentation of the Lord talking to the prophet played. They read a quote from section 121 that really brought peace unto my soul, and changed my outlook on many things in life. It says "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." (Section 121 verses 7-8) I love that. I know it's true, it is the words of the Lord our God. If we endure, we WILL be exhaled and we will find that everlasting peace and comfort. This IS the church of Jesus Christ. And I'm so glad to be sharing it. Thanks again for all that you do! I hope it is a great week! Thanks for everything! Love you!

-Elder Samuel LaVar Ward

 Birthday French Toast!

  Liberty Jail!

           Will and Linda took us to an Indian Buffet!

                             New coat, thanks mom and dad!

 Go Cups

Do or do not, there is no try- Week 9

Hello all! What an amazing week! Lots got done this week! The Lord is truly hastening his work! 

Elder Kolacz and I got 2 new official investigators this week. Theresa and Maria. We met them like 2 weeks ago on a trailer park. We have helped them move a lot of stuff into a new trailer. We finally got to teach Maria the restoration last night. Brother Tady,  our ward mission leader came as well. It was awesome. She had a lot of good questions and brought up some things from other bible translations that I had never heard of before. It was really weird, but really interesting... I think I now know where vampires come from...Long story.

But she liked the restoration! She also has really never learned anything about Jesus Christ. So we got to teach her some of that before anything, because He is the man. 

Along with that, we had 6 appointment cancellations this week... The Kansas City Royals games have taken this place over! Blue crowns all over the place, fireworks literally every night, and lots of gunshots. I'm not sure why though... 

One of our investigators, Ron Wilhelmi has had to cancel on us three weeks in a row because of the games. I'm ready for them to end. But I have no idea how it works. Hopefully soon. It's probably bad that I have seen more baseball games on my mission than I have my entire life. ITS EVERYWHERE! BUT ITS SO COOL! I refrain from it though.... 

Also. Trunk or treat was awesome. None of the people who said they would come, came. So that was depressing. But Elder Kolacz and I bought some candy and taped pass along cards to all of them. And then gathered everyone at the end to tell them to pass it along. The even was inside because it was

hardcore raining. So we ended up decorating a classroom instead of a door. We shared a classroom with the Wills, who are from Boise. They are awesome! I need to get me some BSU gear to show off to them someday. 

But it was also a really sad week for the Chapel Hill Ward. We lost the sister missionaries. :( Sister Currie went home and Sister Fletcher was transferred to Iola. So that was depressing. But

we got all of their investigators! We have already been dropped by one. Haha but in our transition lesson with one named Ricardo, WE PUT HIM ON DATE! (For baptism) Sister Currie suggested the end of January, But Elder Kolacz and I are going to try to help him move it up to December sometime, or at least beginning of January..... But all his family is anti and pump him full of lies. So we will see how that goes. 

But over all a really good week. We are so excited for this week because we've got some really solid appointments. So I'll keep you posted! Thanks so much for all the wonderful Halloween packages

birthday packages/cards and letters! They mean so much to me and definitely help things move along. Keep on reading scriptures! I love you all!

-Elder Samuel LaVar Ward.

Also, everything is Star Wars just as much as it is Royals. Shout out to Whitney Brewer and the tribe for all the awesome Star Wars candy, thanks! I love you!

Our Halloween present from Will Dilullo and Linda Clayton

Our Trunk or Treat room

RSL hat from Whitney Brewer... plus a Harry Potter chocolate frog, complete with Professor Quirrell trading card. YES!

#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