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