Elder Ward update

Hey everyone!


So, I only have a few minutes right now to email- so my plan is to email now and then try to get back on later to write some more emails and whatnot. We had a baptism this past weekend of Moises and Alejandro Toledo. Moises is 9 and Alex is 8, their parents are already members but they weren't very active. It is a crazy story how they were found. One day in Clearfield, I was knocking a lot of doors in this trailer park. This old hispanic lady answered to door to trailer 52, yes I still remember the number. She told her name was Senora Gonzalez and that she used to be a member of the Church, but due to some family problems she wasn't going to Church anymore. So, we set up a return appointment to come back that Sunday night. Well, we show up on Sunday night- very punctual and right at 7 o'clock. We walk inside and there are like 30 people jammed in this small trailer for a party. She asked us to share a message with her whole family, including the 12 or so kids that were there. My companions were kinda in shock, so I remember just teaching a really basic message about Baptism and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I later found out that Moises and Alejandro were there and they really liked the message and they wanted missionaries to come to their house to visit their parents and them- they wanted to be baptized. I got the address and sent it to the missionaries in the area. Now, I come here to Jefferson 2nd and I realize that address is in our area! We go by and teach them some more and now they got baptized this past Sunday! Their whole family came in for it, some even drove 15 hours from California! After the baptism, the grandma came up to me and she was almost crying. She said (in Spanish), "Did you serve in the Clearfield Ward?" I told her yes. Then she asked if I remembered her and coming to her house, I told her that I did. She said, "Do you remember me? I am Sister Gonzalez and you came to my house and shared a message" I again told her that I did remember her and that I did remember coming to her house- I wrote about it that night in my mission journal. And then she almost cried and just kept saying "thank you, thank you." It was a really humbling experience for me, it almost brought me to tears. It was a really humbling experience for me. Every time that I see someone change on my mission it is just so humbling to see how the Lord has used me as his hands. He wants to succor them, He wants to save them, and He wants them to know of His love; and it is such a blessing that I have to be able to be His hands and his servant.
I went by the other day to visit the Rubio family, one of the families that I taught and baptized in North Ogden. They are doing really well and everything. They gave me a rough time because UNC lost to Dook. They don't even like basketball, but they saw it on and they remembered how much I like UNC Basketball. It was pretty funny. I told him that we are going to have to watch and America Soccer game after the mission. America is a soccer team from Mexico that is pretty popular. Cruz is a huge fan, so much that he named his daughter America (not because of the USA, but the soccer team...haha).
Well, I gotta run right now and go play some soccer, but I will write you all some longer emails later today and so forth. I'll talk to you all soon!


Love you!


Elder Ward

Life with Tory

Last night after already saying good night, Tory came back downstairs, put his arms around both of us and said, "I just had to come back down and tell you how much I love being with you both. I love having time together, studying scriptures, and just getting you all to myself. I am the luckest on of all, because I get time with just you". Wow! That made our night. We had been out that night and we just laughed so hard with him, he is so funny. And we were feeling the same about him. Thanks so much Tory for letting us know that time with just us isn't so bad, infact it can me fun. We love you!

Happy Valentines Day!

We had a great Valentines Day this year. It was simple as it usually is, but it is hard to top when you feel like almost everyday is Valentines Day :)Thank you Steve for always being the man who makes me smile everyday. I love you!
Here are a few thoughts on how to make your relationship even stronger. I have been working on a few of these things and thought they were worth sharing.


GO TO BED AT THE SAME TIME. If you go to bed at the same time, you get to have "pillow talk" which leads to communication, to laughter which leads to other things :)

Find at least a few of the same things to be INTERESTED IN TOGETHER.

LEARN WHAT HIS "LOVE LANGUAGE" is from the 5 Languages of Love

Never underestimate the POWER OF TOUCH. Even just a touch on the shoulder or a hand on his knee at dinner.

Tell your kids how excited you are to GO ON A DATE TOGETHER with STARS IN YOUR EYES.

HUG in front of your kids. (or better yet let them see you dancing all night together to the Commodores)

Tell you kids WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT THEIR DAD. All the time!

SAY YOUR'RE SORRY before he does. (working on that one)

Continue "DATING" regularly forever, even if it's an at home date after the kids are in bed. Sometimes those can be the best ones.

Drop everything you're trying to juggle some evnings and just SNUGGLE ON THE COUCH.

Text him LOVE-NOTES in the middle of the day. (He needs something to smile about while sitting through all of those meetings)

TUCK LOVE-NOTES in his suitcase or briefcase or bookbag, so that he will find them through out his day.

Show that you VALUE HIS OPINION by giving in more often.

Keep any complaints or things we are bugged about BETWEEN US. (Not with friends, family. We figure it makes us stronger to work through them together and to KEEP OUR RELATIONSHIP SACRED.

Make an effort to give a him a sincere COMPLIMENT beofre you go to bed each night...something you noticed during the day, so be watching for the good instead of the bad.

TALK ABOUT YOUR BUDGET OFTEN and make sure we are on the same page. We are on the same page, but find it hard to find time to talk about (not pillow talk for me :)

FORGIVE. And the FORGET. Don't hold grudges.

IF SOMETHING IS IMPORTANT TO HIM, MAKE IT IMPORTANT TO YOU

LAUGH. A lot!

Elder Barrio (Ward)

(Elder Ward was in (Elder) Kyle Ashby's area. SO cool that they met up. Hey everyone! Well, I hope you all have had a good week and are all ready for Valentines Day! This year, my valentine will be........Elder Nielsen (yeah, we're not too excited about that either! haha). We've joked about that a few times, how we have to celebrate together, it's goofy. So, the coolest thing that happened this past week was that I got new name tags! Well, you might not think it is pretty cool but it is. So, it has been really hard to get hispanics to say my last name correctly, 'Ward' is just really hard for them. They have been saying "Elder War" or "Elder Barrio" my whole mission (Ward literally translates to Barrio in Spanish). So, a couple of weeks ago I got permission from one of President Hier's counselors in the Mission Presidency to ask for permission for me to get new name tags. This guy is super cool and he really likes me a lot. So, yesterday I went to the office to pick up the new tags that say "Elder Barrio". It's pretty funny. There are only 2 other missionaries in the mission that got permission for a change of nametag. Both are Spanish missionaries. Just an fyi an elder named Elder Lindsey (he is from Greensboro, NC) got his nametag change to "Elder Linzy" and an Elder Ganschow got his nametag change to Gancho (Gancho literally means clotheshanger in Spanish, like the thing you use to hang clothes in your closet). So, mine has been the biggest change. It is pretty funny. A lot of missionaries are kinda jealous just because I got to change it. I'm pretty pleased and a lot of the hispanics out here think it is pretty funny. So, we went to a Dickey's BBQ for lunch on Saturday and we saw that UNC was getting plastered by Miami- I wasn't too happy. Though, I did get some BBQ beans and Coleslaw, so that made up for the heartbreak. This is the most tired I have been on my mission, holy smokes! But today should be a lot of fun, we are going to go to Clearfield and go to the hair salon and then we are going to a trampoline park in Roy! We still don't get to drive on Pday, but the Assistants to the President do and we are good friends with them- so they are going to give us a lift. Just proves it isn't what you know, it is who you know! Haha. I'm super excited for the trampoline park- it should be a lot of fun. We still go to the gym every morning, but that just makes you more tired too! Ha, but it is all worth it because it is going to be a ton of fun! Then, I wanna take a nap! We will see what happens though. Last week, we went to play soccer- but I was too tired, so I played one game and then went to an Chinese Buffet (and I wonder why I am gaining weight! haha). Seriously though, I'm losing a little bit of weight and gaining some of the muscle back that I lost after we lost them gym. The work is going well here, but there is a reason that this is called one of the hardest areas to work in the mission. It's going well though, just a lot of knocking doors. Well, I think that is about all there is to report from this past week- I'm gonna respond to your emails real quick and hopefully grab a nap before haircuts! Haha. Love you all! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Love, Elder Ward

Look who is 49 today!

Happy Birthday my dear Steve!!!! 49 looks so good on you :) I hope you get a little time today to think about all that you have accomplished and been blessed with over the last 49 years. (So much) Maybe you will get another 49 years to add to that list. I love you so much! We celebrate you today for being such a great husband and father to us all!!! Happy Birthday!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy dear DaLliN

The years are going by much to fast. Dallin is 24 years old today! I just can not believe it. Dallin what a great man you have grown up to be, and the wonderful things is that you are still growing :) you are going to be marvelous when the Lord is all done with you :) I hope you know what a joy you have been to us. You are a great big brother, son, and now Husband! May you always be on the road to happiness Dallin, and take many with you along the way. Love you and happy birthday!