Faith Isn't Simply Believing...It's Doing

COLLIN?! DA HECK???  You Dog you! Give me the deets!!! I want to know how volleyball went too! I did get Nate Rogers letter though. I will write him back today. Man that kid is hilarious. Oh and poor Ava! Do you know what movie it was that she accidentally rented on “video on demand”? The Atonement is so amazing and Jesus was right when he said that children are the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. Make sure to tell her that I love her and Aubrey and well everyone... Collin you dog! Oh and Taylor McBride?! Who is he engaged to? Blake was with Annie... Annie Rossel? This is weird... Oh, and MOM I NEED KARSON AND ROBBY"S EMAIL ADDRESSES!

Anyways though, this week was as spectacular as ever! I started it out by meeting my Grandpa (Elder Bills Trainer, Elder Masters). he is a short guy with red hair and he is hilarious! He just has a ton of energy and reminds me of well me... We had 4 zone leaders come down from a far away area to stay with us before they went to their zone leader council the next day. So Elder Bills and I, Kamalu and Schofield took the other 4 zone leaders through one of our crazy workout sessions! I'm pretty sure they all cried because I know I did. :) I almost threw up after too... and I don’t think they will be able to straighten their arms out for awhile.

But enough of the dibble daddle! This week we set Bernard on date for baptism!!! April 28th! We are taking him to the temple open house tomorrow with his 10 year old son, so I am super pumped! Other that that, nothing too special happened this week. We met a UFC fighter who used to be investigating. He was huge! When he saw us at first, he just wasn't happy and didn't want to talk to us. Then he saw our name tags, and he got a big smile and just said OH ELDERS! We also taught another huge guy who had been in a motorcycle accident last year that humbled and prepared him big time! He lives next to a lady named Sister Jarvis in our ward, and she said that he would have slammed the door in our face a year earlier. In fact, we had a hard time leaving his house to make our next appointment.  He has got real potential and we’re going to go see him again on Wednesday.

This week though I learned a lot of stuff... go figure right? We ran into a ton of people who don’t really understand 2 Nephi 9: 28-29. These people study the scriptures so much, which is good, but as President Keyes put it, “people are going to know more and more and more until they know less and less and less until they know nothing at all.” It's so true and we ran into a ton of those people this week (as in 3 or 4). I hate it when they say the bible and your Mormon bible's gospels completely contradict each other and then throw completely meaningless arguments out that have nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder Bills and I will be good boys and listen and when they are finally done, we ask them if they have read the Book of Mormon... it's usually a no, but either way, we just testify that everything that God wants us to know and do are in these two books. If they read what these prophets so desperately try to slap into our brains and actually APPLY them into our lives, there is no way that you could say that the Book of Mormon isn't true.

I also learned a ton on faith! Faith isn't simply believing…it's doing! If everyone TRULY had a complete understanding of the BOM, the world would be perfect... so I really want to increase my faith and do everything I can to be a legendary missionary. So Collin I need you to do me a favor. In my “do no touch drawer” I have that blue and white racquetball racquet. I need you to return that to the school please. Don’t judge me. ;) I want to do everything I can in the next 21 months to bring others to the gospel of Jesus Christ. THERE IS NO GREATER BLEESSING! MMMMHHMMMMM! Family I love you a ton and think about you a lot. Sometimes, (I think I’ve said this before), I’m kind of like Jake the Dog from Adventure Time when he can’t focus. Finn will be talking to him and then he will ask him a question and he has Ice Cream in the toaster... haha not really. But I am not going to lie, Thursday night I did wonder how Collin’s game against Gilbert went and then on Tuesdays I like to picture you guys chillin at Morenos after a good temple visit.

Thank you for your e-mail Collin. Write me ya bum! Mom, please send me that info. Ava, don’t watch PG-13 movies. Dad, keep on flexing those golden pipes. Aubrey stay away from boys and Trevor, my fellow representative of Jesus Christ, stay strong and learn to drive!

Love,

Elder Ward

p.s. I am going over to talk to a young man today, mono e mono, because he threatened to kill his parents the other day... So wish me luck! I already prayed, but at least 5 more couldn't hurt!!