01/25/2010 (Ponce)

01/25/2010

HOLA FAMILIA
so sounds like things are going great and time really is moving at home too. haha sometimes I think everyone at home is just stuck and it will be the exact same when I get back until I hear things like getting a new stake center, people getting married, and even Eric driving -- STAY OFF THE SIDEWALK!!

But anyways it was amazing to hear from Elder Bednar. There were about 100 missionaries that were there and he comes in and he’s like ok we are going to work together today and he just invited us all not to be scared and just open up and we were going to discuss things. Like 2 weeks in advanced we all had to read two talks from elder bednar "seek learning by faith" and ''ask in faith" so we really studied hard before hand and it was great he just started with "does anyone have a question?" and then the discussion started and we listened and learned and it was amazing! It was really like a one on one experience with a prophet. It was amazing and it lasted 3 hours it was really really really great and I LEARNED A TON!

but anyways what’s new … me and elder Wilson are still working really really hard and we are learning about faith haha there is something elder bednar talked to us about that really hit me hard that I love! he talked about this kid that he went to his mission and did a thing like he did with us well the kid really admired Elder Bednar a ton. he returned from his mission got married and was married for about a year and then got really really bad cancer so the kids family sent a letter to Elder Bednar and just asked him if he could send the kid an email or a note or a letter or something just to cheer him up but what Elder Bednar did was show up at his hospital and spent the day talking with him for a while and at the end the kid asked for a blessing and Elder Bednar said yes but before I do I want to ask you if you have the faith not to be healed (in the Bible it always asks for the faith to be healed) but he asked if he had the faith not to be healed. He said if I put my hands on your head and seal you to die and cross the veil and start your work in the spirit world could you accept it? So the kid thought about that! Elder Bednar told him to talk to his wife and then he would come back and give him the blessing. so what I learned from this is that if I ask myself “do I have the faith to continue working really hard without seeing the fruits of my labors or without seeing baptisms” -- it’s something cool to think about but me and Elder Wilson are just really trying to work hard and forget ourselves in the work loose ourselves in our faith :)

but that’s awesome about everyone getting their mission calls and it sounds like everyone is doing really good! Way awesome that Sami’s dad is giving that talk (Our former Mtn. Home Stake President - President Waddoups’ is speaking at the BYU-Idaho Devotional next Tuesday). I would love to listen to it - I bet it’s going to be really really good. Crazy as well that Reed (Borgholthaus) is home too but that’s cool he knows a lot of Papiamento! It’s really an easy language. I don’t know too much of it yet but yeah that’s cool! They also encourage the missionaries to learn Dutch while they are down there too so I guess if I ever go I will maybe learn a few words. (Matthew’s mission takes in the ABC Islands – Aruba, Bonaire, & Curacao – so if he is ever transferred to one of those islands he will have to learn some Papiamento, French, & Dutch!)

But yeah life is going great and we are doing good!
Tell everyone hi for me!
love ya
elder ward

WOOHOO! Pictures! 01/20/2010

Hey mom -- I thought I would send you some pics!

Elders Cramer, Stanley, Ward, & Pliler!

Outside Elders Ward & Stanley's apartment!

(Ponce 2 District)

Elders Cramer, Ward, & Pliler!

This one is probably my favorite picture of my whole mission (so far)! You have to send it to everyone. Two "bums" sleeping on the cement under the mattress store sign! HAHA!

(This MOM doesn't think this is very funny! Quite sad if you ask me!)

Hope you enjoy and I think I forgot to tell you I did get the backpack and it's awesome. I think it's way better than the other ones and it was cheaper so I am way stoked!

THANK YOU!

Love ya Elder Ward

01/20/2010 (Ponce)

01/20/2010

Hola Familia
ok so sorry its been a little while again we've just been really busy and there has been some holidays again and yeah kinda crazy but now its p-day haha

Sounds like everyone is doing good up there and that Eric is enjoying wrestling and everything. I got my shoes and my bag so thats good. the shoes are a little stiff :( but im wearing them on p-day to try and break them in a bit :) but yeah elder pliler told me that his mom talked to you on that thing too it was kinda funny he's still in our district. it's me my comp, elder wilson, and elder pliler and elder lamb. so yeah we have a little district again. it's kinda crazy!

that's awesome Chris (Vogl) is getting married. make sure you tell him that i said congrats and keep up the good work :)

so about my Gator what happened? how come he has to get rid of him? i say eric takes him. i still haven't seen a picture of him haha but i hear he's pretty big but i dont want him to get sent away i want him to be a 3 foot whopper when i get back :)

but thats so crazy that everyone is coming home. i don't like it -- it's nuts when you get out on your mission time just goes too fast. it's weird!!! WOW! i just like to pretend that its still my first transfer haha

but anyways yeah here they have water and we can drink it and all that stuff really the only sickness that i hear of is dangay which is a sickness that you get from the mosquitos and it really messes ya up for a while. but yeah not too many people have gotten it but yeah ive never been sick. I'm pretty sure my stomach is a rock now ever since i got the bug in Ecuador because i was like the only one that didn't get sick in the ccm either so yeah kinda crazy but my comp had some stomach problems all last week and we had to make a couple pit stops every day if you know what i mean haha! But i just told him we could get out and work really hard and then he would sweat it all out :)

But yeah everything is going good! me and elder wilson are working really hard and having some good success. we have found some really cool investigators and we are working whith them. one guy Hiram he wants to get baptized but he can't go to church yet because he takes care of his cuyado every weekend and then we have another guy Felix el gato Redondo (he was a pro boxer but now he's 80 years old). He's awesome and a great guy except he doesn't believe in the God in the bible he believes in a God of nature or not even really a God just nature but yeah its kinda crazy. It's been really good and he is progressing well and starting to understand a little bit better and really those are the best ones but we also found this lady from Germany and she is way cool she speaks German, Spanish and English so we are just starting to teach her and I'm really excited about it so tell kyle to tell me some German words so i can talk to her :) but yeah everything is going good and I'm having fun and the MISSION ROCKS!

love you guys!
elder ward

Week # 01/12/2010 (Ponce) 4th Transfer

4th Transfer
New companion: Elder Cody Wilson from Ogden Utah
Area: Ponce

Address directly to his apartment:

Elder Matthew Ward
Calle 3 Casa # C-21 Altos
Jardines de Fagot
Ponce, PR 00716-4017
Puerto Rico

January 12, 2010

HOLA
ok so sorry its been so long but I promise I can explain so what happened was that on Monday we ended up having to do our transfers and we had to drive to Bayamon and then we got lost and ended up clear over in the other mission on the other side of the island then we bought a map and made it haha it was kinda a little adventure but yeah pretty funny but then when we got back the library was closed for some reason I have no idea why but yeah it was all closed up so we didn’t get to email and then yesterday we went and it was a holiday so it was closed but yeah so we called president and got permission to email really quick today but yeah I kinda got to hurry cuz we have citas but
yeah anyways life is great and we are doing good! Celeste GOT BAPTIZED! That was way amazing it was kinda funny though because he had to try and do it 4 times and he had to repeat the words three times it was kinda crazy! She’s old so I can understand but yeah so finally after a long experience she got baptized and she was so happy she just kept saying how young and clean she felt it was pretty cool but anyways that was awesome my new companion his name is elder Cody Wilson and he is from Ogden Utah He is in the same group as my trainer Elder Kolar and my second comp Elder Maxwell. I’ve had a bunch from their group but yeah so anyways he is awesome and we are doing great its so so so so so so AWESOME when you have someone that is just as excited about working and getting out and working as hard as you are because its just fun and WOW I love it! We are working so so hard and having fun at the same time its amazing and we have found some awesome people :)Samuel the limber man is doing great and is reading the Book of Mormon and I’m pretty sure he will go to church next week. We found a guy and we taught him a first lesson and we asked him what the true church was and he’s the first person I’ve ever met that said it was our church on the first lesson. That was pretty crazy he told us he’s been trying to get a hold of a Book of Mormon for years and that he has gone to church a couple times so I don’t know what people were doing when he went the other times but yeah kinda crazy so we just taught him like an hour ago and he wants to get baptized so we are pretty excited about that the only problem is that he goes to Orlando every weekend to take care of his cunyado who is like completely handicap so yeah some how we have to figure out how we are going to get him to church but he says they are going to move his cunyado in the near future here to Puerto Rico :) so yeah those are some really cool people we have been teaching and we are doing great. I have gotten the shoes or the backpack yet but I’m sure I will get them soon I bet they’re in the mission home and the next person that comes down to Ponce will bring them :)o yeah and last but not least ELDER BEDNAR IS COMING TO TALK TO US!!!!!! I’m so excited he will be here on the 23 but yeah I’m way excited pretty crazy!!
Sounds like Jason is doing great and he has some cool buddies at the mtc! That’s so awesome – he’s going to love it! I’m so excited he is out I’m going to have to write him a letter soon! Well I love you guys and I will talk to you next week!
Elder Ward (Matthew)