The Pure Love of Jesus Christ

FAMILIA!!!!!!

Here i am once again... haha Sounds like you've been getting A LOT of Elder Ovard time this past week! I'm glad to hear you got the pictures and Christmas card. Sorry it was a little late haha but funny story with the christmas card. So obviously that was back when I was with Elder Hall, but funny part about it all is that there are some sister missionaries in our zone. Sister Sablan and Sister Bean, both are hilarious. So they are serving in a rich ward right now and the people there have some money haha One of the members offered to take Christmas pictures for them and then print them off for their Christmas cards. ALL FOR FREE!!! soooooo long story short Sister Sablan and Bean say "We have to get a Christmas card to our FAVORITE zone leaders" hahaha so they gave us one. WELL funny part of it all is the picutures they used on their card were of them holding book of mormons up to their faces. Then they had one of them both in front of a christmas tree or something. SOOO Elder Hall and I said how funny would it be if we copied their pictures but made our own cards?? HAHAHA soooo as you can see thats what we did!!! We took the pictures then went to Walgreens and had them made. Then the Monday before transfers elder Hall and I gave these sisters a card. THEY LAUGHED AND LAUGHED AND LAUGHED hahaha It was hilarious!!!!! I sure hope this story all made sense haha but it was so funny!!

Okay on to the good stuff now! I loved talking with you all on Wednesday! Gotta love the technology now a days! I remember the old fashion way of just talking straight over the telephone like we did with Blake haha it's always fun to see you guys in person though. I was getting a little worried when the camera wasn't letting me see you though! BUT HEY it all worked out! Thank you all though for everything! I had a lot of fun talking to you and it was by far the best Christmas present ever :) As far as last year and how nervous I was?? haha I don't remember. All I remember is being nervous to speak spanish in front of yals!! Maybe thats why... OH and hence you all telling me I'm fat!! hahahaha jk

Okay onto the work. SO you wont believe it but we fell a LITTLE BIT short of reaching our goal. It was such a bummer. We got 29/32 baptisms here in Ft Lauderdale! Something that has never been done before here in our zone. It was amazing to experience and be a part of but it was sad to see at the same time. The zone worked soooo hard. Everyone was converted to our goal and that's what helped us get so close. It was amazing to see the heart break throughout the zone though after telling them all that we fell short. Each companionship immediately made plans to improve and hit our goal next month. We still haven't came up with the goal yet but we'll get there!

As far as our area goes. We had a goal of 8 and we got 6!! Which is really good! God blessed us soooooo much and we feel blessed. Our goal for our area will probably remain the same but his month we are going to reach it :) I love the mission because it helps you learn how to set goals and then make plans to achieve them! Soooo going into the NEW YEAR each of you should make goals. Make plans that will help you accomplish your goals. THEN always have the vision of these goals. A constant reminder of the things you need to do so that you may reach your goals. For example, type out your goals and plans... then print out a paper and put it on your bathroom mirrar or on your wall in your room or something. Do something to help you stay focused so you can earn what you so dearly desire!! Anyways ENOUGH preaching ;)

OKay story for the week!! So the day after Christmas we had a rough go at it! We got a phone call from a member. We weren't able to anwser and so she left a voicemail. In the voicemail she said her friend/family was in the hospital and she needed a blessing. So she texted us the room number and her name and stuff to the hospital. After receiving all the info we called her and she filled us in on the details. So off we went to give this lady a blessing in the hospital. WELL family right as we got to the hospital and found the room there was a calm feeling that came over me. A calm feeling that let me know that i need to be strong. I didn't know what it meant but i felt it. As we approached the room there were friends and family outside, a big big group gathering of people there outside this room. We were a little confused. Everyone looked sad and we didn't know what to do. Thats when the member that called us came up to me and said.... "Elders it's too late, shes gone. She passed away minutes ago." So there we were with this family that just had a 26 yr old mom pass away. It was sooooo sad. I wish i could express my feelings to you all. So we walked into the room where this girl lay as the family and friends were crying over her dead body. The nurse then came in and explained to this girls parents how there was nothing the doctors could do. She was basically dead right as they left the beach. (all this was in spanish by the way so I had to do everything because elder loucks speaks creol... haha) So the parents argued the cause a bit trying to get the doctors to do more but hey.... there really was nothing they could do. So they proclaimed her officially dead and began talking to the parents about the process that would take place now. As this is all going on I asked the mom of the girl if it'd be okay if we said a prayer with the entire family around her daughter. She said yes lo me encantaria. So I offered a prayer with all these latins in this room. probably like 25 people in all. We prayed and prayed and all I could say in the prayer was to please touch the hearts of all the family members there in the room. That they may know their daughter and friend is okay, she is with God, etc... After I prayed the room was filled with the spirit and it was soooo neat to see everyone have a different outlook on things. Obviously crying and sadness continued, their was a life lost BUT at the same time it just felt different. So the member and family and friends thanked us. Then the member asked the parents of the girl if they would like a priesthood blessing. They both willingly did accepted and wanted one. So after waiting for 30 min or so while the nurses cleaned out the intestines and stuff of this girl we watched the family cry and sorrow over their loss. Then once the nurses were done we went inside the room again with the daughter that had passed. Smelly it was but that didn't matter. The love of Christ was still in the room. I then went on and blessed the mother and the father of the girl. Shortly after other family members that we didn't know began sitting in the chair waiting for a blessing upon them as well. So it went for 5 more people. A lot of blessings we gave that day but family let me tell you how amazing it was to be there. To feel the spirit with that family and to HELP them and LOVE them in a time of need. What joy the plan of salvation brings.

As i ponder on that story I can't help but think of the new year! The new year of struggles. The new year of tribulations. The new year of tests. The new year of hardships. THEY WILL HAPPEN. THEY WILL BE THERE...... but........ as i ponder on the story it's not the hard times of the new year that i focus on or that catch my attention the most. It's the pure LOVE of jesus christ. It's the pure KNOWLEDGE of knowing my potention. It's the pure UNDERSTANDING that i'm a child of god. It's the pure EXCITEMENT of knowing that god has designed a plan for me! Family focus on those good things. The good things that each one of us have been blessed with! I know that as we do that, Christ will be in our lives and he will be the one lifting these burdens off of our shoulders (mosiah 24:13-15) WE CAN DO IT! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I love you all and always remember that :)

ELDER OVARD