IM HERE!

WELL WELL WELL hahaha wow this is crazy!! WHOEVER told me I was going
to the states is wrong!!!! haha People around here ALL speak Spanish.
In our proselyting and stuff honestly I have probably only ran into 3
people. Our ward is 85 percent spanish. It's crazy but I love love
it!! The people are so so so nice. We have a members house to eat at
literally like everynight. K so I am in Riverside North. This is in
MIAMI :) ya baby!! I am literally in the big city of miami! I have
riden my bike around the Marlins stadium probably 15 times now. It is
like right in the middle of my area. Then the Heat arena is also in my
area and I have riden my bike around that probably 2 times haha So
there is A LOT of excitement around here all the time!! Miami is
sweet. My apartment is on the 12th story of a building and I can see
all of the big buildings of miami (downtown) It's so much fun to ride
our bikes through the sky scrapers and just talk to people:) I will
send you a few pictures that I took. I don't have that many yet but I
will continue to take a lot. My companion is ELDER DIAZ hahaha oh man
I love him already!! He is mexican and is from mexico. He speaks a
little bit of english haha it's like broken up english. The only
problem is, his broken up English is better then my spanish! Its
brutal haha my hardest thing is understanding people. I can speak okay
but understanding people and what their saying... MAN ITS HARD. It
will come though I know it will and I have a native to speak to all
the time. We talk more spanish then english so thats always good. He
really is a hard worker though and he baptizes people so he does a lot
right:) There are so so many different ethnicities around here. I
honestly think it's impossible to keep track of them all haha
Hispanic, cuban, nicaragua, argentina, puerta rican, Blacks, and more!
We had a party one night that the members put together and it was
called like the day of Espana, but it was more or less just everything
bringing foods of their culture and their country and then we all eat
and have a good time!! These people sure do LOVE their food. I haven't
had to cook at all yet! It's great haha Members always go with us to
investigators homes and teach with us... It's amazing. The members
here are seriously amazing. Such great great people. I don't know how
many times i've got from kids and their parents.. This is YOUR house
now and WE are your family now!!! haha I just want to cry because they
mean it and you can tell they do. ELDER DIAZ is just like their kid.
Of course he can talk to them all in spanish and crack jokes and stuff
with them haha so hopefully one day i'll get there. We are supposed to
be baptizing 2 investigators this week so it will be a first for me:)
I am so excited haha Whoever has heard our mission has been the
highest baptizing mission in the U.S. and Canada this past month was
correct haha The Elders here really get after it and the people are
such good people. Anyways I'm loving it and seriously love the people,
miami, food and everything. Love you all and have a great week.

Love ELDER OVARD

Austin's pictures didn't come through but here is a picture from his mission president. Him and his companion!!!

WOW IT'S HERE!!!!!! I leave on tuesday at 3 in the morning! I'm so excited! This past week in the MTC has been so good though. One of my goals was to finish my time out here in the MTC strong. I wanted to show the Lord that I am here for him and i'll do whatever it takes to do his will! I am always working and trying to be the best missionary I can be!! Yesterday I had in-field orientation and it really helped me understand more of what the field is going to be like and I think it really helped me prepare more. I never knew members were such a big help to missionary work. Also planning and finding.. it's all done by the Lord. I'm so excited for tuesday and to get there in Florida and meet my Mission President and my new comp. It's going to be so sad leaving Elder Hunter. He is a stud and is going to be such an effective missionary. He's is committed to the work and I loved that about him. He taught me so much. Our studies together were amazing and we each taught each other the different things the spirit taught us. I honestly look forward to after the mission when I will be watching him play ball for DSC! Were going to be such good friend I just know it and I love him. I'm pumped for a trainer though. From what I have been learning here these past few days.. sometimes the trainers aren't always the best haha and they can get lazy. I learned that that first day I get there it possibly could be up to me. I may be the one telling my trainer what we should do. It's possible but I feel as if my comp is going to be amazing. I have a good feeling about him and I look forward to working with him. I already love him and I don't even know him. Also my mission President! Wow! From the things i've heard here at the MTC he is an amazing leader and he knows how to find and teach people what they need. I look forward to him and all the stuff I will learn from him that i will take to the lives of others. I dont know if you all are as excited as I am haha but it's like i'm speechless and don't know what to so because I am so excited!! Little Shy boy Austin will be in Florida preaching and talking with everyone:) It's hard to believe I know but I have made it one of my goals!! I want to talk with everybody that I come in contact with! Anything I say to them will be from the lord and you never know what person he has prepared for us. It's better to talk with everyone then to miss that one person he has prepared right :) haha anyways I better get! I love you all and will see you in Florida :) Next week will be a lot more excited email I promise!!
HASTA FLORIDA!

CON AMOR,
ELDER OVARD

Hola Familia y Amigos

Como estan todos? I can't believe i am officially down to my last week here in the MTC. It is so crazy! like seriously! I'm getting so exctied though, I want to do everything I can to finish out my time here though and learn all I can and all the Lord has in store for me. I know there is a reason we are in the MTC before we head out to the field. I have learned so so much and it will be sad to leave! This week was AMAZING though! I will never forget this past week. We had the privilege of having Chad Lewis, a professional football player for the eagle, come and speak to us! He was so cool. He told us experiences he had in football, on his mission and in life. He is a guy that I definitely want to be like! One think I really really liked though that he said was.. As missionaries and children of god we receive instructions, rules and principles that are like practicing a drill in sports. We do the best we can but drills sometimes are boring and they are hard to give it all we have sometimes. He explained though a drill is something we practice and do because when we need it at that crucial moment in our life or in a game... what we have been practicing and doing as "drills" will come into reality and that game and our lives will be on the line. We have to always be practicing what the lord has commanded of us. They are like drills, hard to follow sometimes but in the long run if we do what were supposed to our drills and the lord with help us in all we do. I loved this and it really stood out to me when Chad Lewis was talking about it!
Another great opportunity.. :) on Tuesday night for our devotional we had the opportunity to hear from one of our beloved apostles. Elder David A. Bednar!! WOW it was amazing! We all stood up when he walked in that big gym filled with thousands of missionaries! The spirit was so strong just being in his presence. He taught us a few important things that i also loved. Since it was only 2 days after conference he chose to talk to us about conference and the importants of it. Then he taught us how to study each of these talks and how we can get everything out of them that is intended for us. He gave us 3 things in which we are supposed to look for. 1. What is the Doctrine or the Principle being taught. 2. What Invitation is there? What are they asking us to do. 3. What is the Promised Blessing that will come if we do what they say. These three things are so so true! We watched a few talks while he explained all of this to us and in every talk there were these 3 things!! It really was a blessing to have him there and help us! I encourage everything to rewatch a few talks and really focus on this way and PATTERN of studying and learning!

Well I better get! The last week here in the MTC and i'm getting so excited to get out there to FLO-RIDA:) I love you all and have a wonderful week!!

ELDER OVARD

Another wonderful week!! I love having all my buddies here! It makes it so much fun! Dillon and Connor are doing amazing. They have adjusted well and are loving it now! I wasn't able to make it out to see Cody Parry come in unfortunately. I have been asked to serve in a new position now in my zone and we had a meeting and stuff when he was coming in. So I was pretty sad about that, but I did go searching for him at dinner that night!! I found him and he had a big big smile on his face! haha he looked so happy and looked like he was ready for the experience of being a missionary! It was so cool it see and he will do a great job. I love Elder Parry:)

So Jenny Gubler I have some news for you. Do you know a Hermana Haglund?? haha I don't know her first name!! anyways I was talking to her and we made a connection. That you were my cousin and you and her went to jerusalem (however you spell it) together. She said you and her were really good friends! She is in my zone and we talk all the time. She is really funny. Anyways she wanted my to tell you hi and hi to the newly born baby :) Olivia she thought it was!!

This past Tuesday we heard a wonderful talk about conference and I wanted to share it with you all quick because I loved what they said. While watching conference you know how a talk comes up and your like WOW i hope... so and so... is watching this talk right now because it is perfect for them. They need this in their life right now because it will help them with the problems they have. WELL familia and amigos please please don't do that. Brother Ellis encouraged us to instead of thinking of others ask ourselves, "Lord is it I"? This is what the apostles asked Christ. It is what we need to ask Christ. Focus on things that will help us and that will keep us from doing our problems. Don't worry or judge others about their problems. This make sense? anyways I hope it does! 

I love you all so much! Have another amazing week! Love you and I'll catch ya next week:) ADIOS

CON AMOR, ELDER OVARD

Hola Mi Famillia y Amigos

Birthday in the MTC!! Couldn't have asked for anything better right!! I loved every bit of it! After classes and stuff me and my district partied it up in my room!! haha Birthday hats and ALL! It was a birthday that I will never forget and that is because a lot of you had a lot to play in that! Thanks for all the BDAY cards and packages!! Wow we as missionaries truly are loved! That and I have the best fam and friends around! So thank you all! It was a party that is for sure :)

This week Connor Livingston and Dillon Cook came into the MTC! Let me just say... WOW it's good to have even more friends here now!! They are both so ready and so prepared! You can tell just by talking with them. Elder Livingston is actually in my zone! How cool is that. Two of us little ST GEEZY boys in the same zone as missionaries! What a blessing. I will see him everyday and i'm sure we will do study every so often together!! Dillon is in the building next to me so I should see him a lot too. He only has three weeks in here! He is missing out haha but he is ready! I will about be leaving the same time Dillon does. or sorry Elder Cook. Thats crazy to think about!

This week Elder Echo Hawk a General Authority come to our class and talk with us! It was sooo cool. He talked about having exact obedience and the blessings we get from it! Then he also talked about the ripples affect. And how if we convert one, that stays active and lives the gospel. Years down the road that one person could be up to the teens and then the twenties! It's crazy! He shared this with us because that is what happened to him. He was a convert and his whole fam and kids and grandkids are active in the church now. 

This work is so so real and I love it!! Spanish is such a cool language and as hard as it is to learn, I think it is slowly coming and with the Lords help I will get r done and I will be in Flo-Rida bringing the lost sheep out of babylon! For after all... My purpose is to invite others to come unto christ, by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in the lord Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the H.G and enduring til the end! That is what we do as missionaries!

I love the Gospel! I love the MTC! The food is amazing :) haha HASTA LUEGO

Love ELDER OVAR

Hola Mi Familia y Amigos

Birthday in the MTC!! Couldn't have asked for anything better right!! I loved every bit of it! After classes and stuff me and my district partied it up in my room!! haha Birthday hats and ALL! It was a birthday that I will never forget and that is because a lot of you had a lot to play in that! Thanks for all the BDAY cards and packages!! Wow we as missionaries truly are loved! That and I have the best fam and friends around! So thank you all! It was a party that is for sure :)

This week Connor Livingston and Dillon Cook came into the MTC! Let me just say... WOW it's good to have even more friends here now!! They are both so ready and so prepared! You can tell just by talking with them. Elder Livingston is actually in my zone! How cool is that. Two of us little ST GEEZY boys in the same zone as missionaries! What a blessing. I will see him everyday and i'm sure we will do study every so often together!! Dillon is in the building next to me so I should see him a lot too. He only has three weeks in here! He is missing out haha but he is ready! I will about be leaving the same time Dillon does. or sorry Elder Cook. Thats crazy to think about!

This week Elder Echo Hawk a General Authority come to our class and talk with us! It was sooo cool. He talked about having exact obedience and the blessings we get from it! Then he also talked about the ripples affect. And how if we convert one, that stays active and lives the gospel. Years down the road that one person could be up to the teens and then the twenties! It's crazy! He shared this with us because that is what happened to him. He was a convert and his whole fam and kids and grandkids are active in the church now.

This work is so so real and I love it!! Spanish is such a cool language and as hard as it is to learn, I think it is slowly coming and with the Lords help I will get r done and I will be in Flo-Rida bringing the lost sheep out of babylon! For after all... My purpose is to invite others to come unto christ, by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in the lord Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the H.G and enduring til the end! That is what we do as missionaries!

I love the Gospel! I love the MTC! The food is amazing :) haha HASTA LUEGO

Love ELDER OVARD

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 7:28 AM, Austin Ovard wrote:
I know I just sent the other half



On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 7:27 AM, Austin Ovard wrote:
sorry idk why that sent the first half of my letter but anyways...... So i was able to get to the Curb and meet up with Dillon! Although I had to like fight with one of the lady workers to get there haha so i was able to say hi to Dillons dad and mom but then I went and met Dillon after he got all his stuff. The I walked Dil around for a little bit, took him to his room and then took him to class. I will never forget that first day of class haha thank goodness though he was only english speaking!! After I dropped him off to class I went to wait for connor. Sounds like you already heard but i was able to get him as well! I was so happy to see Boyd! oh man that man is great! So Jordan Bozarth and Treyston Frazier and me were all there to get him. After Elder Boz left with connor I hurried and told Boyd and his wife the good news.. I said DONT WORRY, he is going to be great! He is in my zone!!! hahaha they both started to cry and were so excited that he was going to have me there to help him ALL THE TIME! I'm so happy he is in our zone. I see him everyday and he lives in the same building as me so we talk every night :) They are both a little overwhelmed still though but making progress haha It's hard until you get about a week down then I know they will be GREAT!

How is Lonne and his Elk? and Grandpa hahahaha man I laughed probably for 10 min after I read that. Feel bad chad made him try and hike. why would you do that with a grandpa? oh well, but just how he couldn't find the elk in the scope hahaha I have done that a few times in my young days and I know exactly how he must have felt afterwards!! It's alright, as long as he had fun thats all that matters!

So we were able to have that General Authority come and wow it was amazing. His name was Elder Echo Hawk. He was like indian. But he commented on some points that will help us succeed. He told us if we were 100 percent obedient then we will be blessed with 100 persent of the blessings!! if were 30 percent obedient then we will only be blessed with 30 percent of the blessings. I thought and pondered on that and it's so true!

Well my Memory of grandpa gub is always the one about me and mason! How we would go work with him as a kid. Mason would always guzzle his drink down and have to have some of grandpas! One day maynerd asked gpa if he could have some of his drink and grandpa said ya. Then maynerd said what is it? grandpa look at him and said its fruit punch! Maynerd took a swig and said grandpa just because it's red doesn't mean its Fruit Punch hahaha It was Code Red Mountain Dew!!

Thats all I got and my times running down! I love you all so much! I really do have the Best family! I Will write letters again!

Love you!

Elder Ovard


On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 7:14 AM, Austin Ovard wrote:
WELL hello again my wonderful family!!!

I swear I was just barely on this dang computer in the laundry room emailing yal haha but I love it because that means I am learning and time is going by and pretty soon I will be in Flo-Rida preaching the word of god and saving the lost souls of babylon :)

Just like to start out by saying THANK YOU all for the BDAY wishes and the package! I have been eating like a king! All of the best candy and my mints and my cupcakes and of the best of all the party supplies haha believe it or not but we DID use it all!! I got pictures that I will send after I get done writing this!! It was so much fun though! If I had to choose between my favorite BDAYS I think my MTC one and that whole experience has to be up there at the top of my list! My day was full of warm heart felt hugs! Then one of my best buds