Newsletter from President Anderson

Dear Missionaries,

 

We will start interviews this week with Fort Lauderdale Zone on Friday May 30^th, Miami and Homestead Zones on Saturday May 31^st , and Stuart on Tuesday June 3^rd. The Zone Leaders will give you the times that we will meet at the Chapels. Please bring with you your 72 hour kits and your Area Books.

 

Friday before the dedication of the Temple, Sister Anderson and I, along with the Temple Open House/Dedication Committee, Stake Presidents, and dignitaries from Salt Lake, went inside the temple to observe the insertion of items that would go into the Corner Stone Box of the Temple. We were able to witness the names and signatures of all of you missionaries, along with our promise, placed in the Corner Stone Box. That promise being the personalization of D&C Section 4:

 

“Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

Therefore, [We will] embark in the service of God, [We will] serve him with all [our] heart, might, mind and strength, that [we] may stand blameless before God at the last day.

Therefore, [we] have desires to serve God [and we] are called to the work;

For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, [we will] thrusteth in [our] sickle with [our] might, the same layeth up in store that [we] perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to [our] soul;

And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify [us] for the work.

[We will] Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

[We will] Ask, [so we may] receive; [We will] knock, [that it may] be opened unto [us]. Amen.” (D&C 4)

And the blessing from it as pronounced by King Benjamin to his people after all we can do:

 

“Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.” (Mosiah 5:15)

Sister Anderson and I were very humbled as we were able to help carry the Corner Stone Box to the Corner Stone, place it into the cavity, and help seal it up (see enclosed pictures). Our names will be in that Corner Stone as long as this Temple stands. 

 

President Hinckley describes well the importance of the tradition of the Corner Stone:

 

“In each new temple we have had a cornerstone ceremony in harmony with a tradition that goes back to ancient times. Before the general use of concrete, the foundation walls of the building were laid with large stones. A trench would be dug, and stones would be placed as footings. Starting at a point of beginning, the foundation wall would be run in one direction to a cornerstone; then the corner would be turned and the wall run to the next corner, where another stone was placed, from which the wall would be run to the next corner, and from there to the point of beginning. In many instances, including the construction of early temples in the Church, cornerstones were used at each junction point of the walls and put in place with ceremony. The final stone was spoken of as the chief cornerstone, and its placement became the reason for much celebration. With this cornerstone in position, the foundation was ready for the superstructure. Hence the analogy that Paul used in describing the true Church:

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

“In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19-20). ( President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign February 2004)

 

Christ is our Chief Cornerstone and others recognize it immediately:

 

“We were harvesting and her answer [questions] to the approach [was] ‘Do you have a place I can go to pray? How did you know I needed a prayer? Where is the church? Can I come? Can my kids come?...’ We slip in a card between her words [and she says]... ‘Tomorrow at nine?  I will be there.’ [We then say]: ‘awesome!! Can we say a prayer here?’ her reply ‘yes! ...[we invite] will you be baptized?’ her answer: ‘yes, yes, Yes!’"  

 

Christ is our Chief Cornerstone and they will do all they can to keep commitments as they recognize Christ in you:

 

“We have an investigator who found a ‘Finding Faith in Christ’ card on the ground, picked it up, and called the number on the back. Over the past couple of weeks we have been working with him, he has become so happy! We taught him the Word of Wisdom so that he can start making the steps to living that commandment. He sold his cigars and used the money to take the bus to church yesterday. He loved church and is being baptized on Sunday!”

 

Christ is our Chief Cornerstone and the influence of His Spirit and Atonement will bring them to Him:

 

“It started last Friday... , we had talked about following promptings of the Spirit, especially with OYM'ing.  We were towards the end of the day and we had met a lot of people through our efforts, we had just locked up our bikes to go and see a scheduled appointment that we had, we were running a little late, and so we were hurrying.  A few doors down from our investigators house there was a couple outside on the front porch, we both felt like we should keep up with our OYMing and we both felt the Spirit telling us that we needed to contact them... we knew we couldn't deny the Spirit.  We approached them and told them that we were representatives of Jesus Christ that we were there to say a prayer with them.  They accepted, and we prayed.  After the prayer they both were quiet and peaceful, we explained to them the Holy Ghost and that those good feelings were from the Spirit; we then challenged them to be baptized.  They at first weren't sure, and started to back down, but we testified and used doctrine to help overcome their concerns.  After that, the husband said, ‘If you get me a ride, I will be ready at 9:30’.  We got him a ride and he came to church, we continued to teach them, and the husband was baptized yesterday, and he was so happy.  I was very grateful that I took that opportunity to open my mouth, when I could have just passed it by, and said that we were late to our appointment.  It was a miracle.”

 

President Hinckley goes on to describe the importance of Christ being the Chief Corner Stone and the other three essential cornerstones of the Gospel that we testify of every day:

 

“We have basic cornerstones on which this great latter-day Church has been established by the Lord and built, “fitly framed together.”

They are absolutely fundamental to this work—the very foundation, anchors on which it stands. I should like to speak briefly of these four essential cornerstones which anchor The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I mention first the chief cornerstone, whom we recognize and honor as the Lord Jesus Christ. The second is the vision given the Prophet Joseph Smith when the Father and the Son appeared to him. The third is the Book of Mormon, which speaks as a voice from the dust with the words of ancient prophets declaring the divinity and reality of the Savior of mankind. The fourth is the priesthood with all of its powers and authority, whereby men act in the name of God in administering the affairs of His kingdom. “(President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign February 2004)

 

The power of these Cornerstones with Jesus Christ being chief among them is a tremendous foundation of this Glorious Gospel that we have to share and declare to the entire world. Christ lives and loves us. As we access His Atonement, we will also live again with God, Him and our families. God has spoken to us today and has revealed His Gospel to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is truly another Testament of Jesus Christ and another witness of His divine purpose. The authority of God has been restored so that we may know of His love as we are able to receive and participate in his holy ordinances such as baptism and Temple blessings. 

 

Every time you missionaries see this Temple, I pray you will remember that your names are sealed in the Corner Stone similitude of the Chief Corner Stone of Christ, and reflect on your promise and the great blessings that God has and will give you. This also signifies our calling as “Representatives of Jesus Christ” and no one in the world knows that better than all of you missionaries in this mission. Let us show Christ that we know how to keep a promise by proclaiming his Word with all our “heart, might, mind and strength”.

 

 

Missionaries, “Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone!!”

Let us be resolute to achieve 175 Baptisms !!! June is now our Vision month! We need 200 dates and 200 I@S. All must contribute! You are Amazing!!! You are Incredible!!! You are Wonderful!!! And you are in the “Exciting Legendary Mission”!!! Remember our promise and that our names have beensealed in the Temple!!!

We Love you, We Pray For You, Elders and Sisters, We can do this!!! We have work to do!!! “[We will] embark in the service of God, [We will] serve him with all [our] heart, might, mind and strength!!!”

 

 

President Don E. Anderson

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

954-817-5256

PresidentAnderson@establishingzion.com

http://mormon.org/me/36J7/

 

 

Anderson's Celestial LOVE!

Family!!!!!!!

Whats good in the hood?? haha Boy oh boy your weekly letters just make me smile! They help me become more dedicated and I just love it so much! Thank you for that!

I don't even know where to begin in all honesty this past week was hectic!! BUT A BLAST!!! :) haha It was the final week we prepare for transfers. Kinda a bitter sweet moment because i realized the next time we do it it'll be a completely new Mission President. The Andersons will be packed up and on their way to Texas the next time. It was really good though. President and Sister Anderson are incredible. Honestly SO SO INCREDIBLE. This past week we had Dinner with them at their home. It was fun going around the table and sharing what we've learned on our missions so far. There is just a level of love that they have that is just CELESTIAL!!! It really is. I have seen a perfect example of what i wish to be someday with my wife. They support and help each other in everything! I love it! While Elder Harris was in his departing interview this past week we had a chance of talking with Sister Anderson for about 45min straight. Just about life and family and plans after the mission, etc... Really just getting to know each other even better. I loved when we asked Sister Anderson, "What was the thing that you loved most about president when you were dating? What peeked your interest most out of anything?" She smiled and without hesitation she stated, "I could see in his eyes and in his actions how much he LOVED his mission. I could see that the love for his mission would someday make an incredible amount of love towards a future family." She told us it was as easy as that. That inspired me and helps me to really look at my own personal mission. I LOVE MY MISSION TOO!!! I LOVE IT!!! It was fun just to be able to spend some time more 'personal' time (so to speak) with them this past week.

Also at dinner President asked me if Uncle Shan was able to apply harvesting to his stake to try and reactivate people and what not... I wanted to follow-up with shan as well. It interest me to know if it worked haha Will you ask Shan for me? THANKS i would love to let president know also. I know if it was applied then the answer i'll receive is YES IT WORKED!! :) It is inspired and a tool produced by god!!

Anyways... Transfers. So they're this week. We made all the calls last night and told the missionaries whether they are staying or transferring. :) We are going to pick up the new missionaries once again today! Our pday will be cut short but HEY it's all worth it! It's so much fun! I'm excited. Also as you know Elder Harris is leaving so Elder Oneill and I will be getting a new companion. Don't say anything to anyone haha because these missionaries don't find out until tomorrow but the new AP will be Elder Tesch. He was my last companion as a zone leader in Hollywood. I'm excited to be with him again and we are going to do work together :) We are pumped!!! We also have crazy things happening in transfers haha a few white wash areas, others that are transfer training, and then even a 3 some sister trainer leader (STL)!! It'll be fun and we are anxiously awaiting tomorrow. I love it! 

MIRACLE TIME!!!!!!

One day we prayed about a location to go and harvest. We felt prompted to go to a certain area and so we did. There we met a guy named Ian. He opens the door in a bright pink skinny tank top that says 'Not anybody can be a queen!' If that isn't scary then I don't know what is.... haha Immediately i began judging. I would say to myself "oh no this guy is gay. Another gay guy is going to be trying to hit on my. oh nooooo!" to add onto his pink tank top though he also had a very very feminine voice. Honestly sounded like my sister. I didn't know what to do. Keep in mind this is all happening immediately after he opens the door. Thoughts like this going through my head. It was hard to try and refrain from these thoughts. I knew however that he was a son of god. He is equal. I then began to look for good in him. As i began changing my mindset miracles began to flow. We said a prayer with Ian. Afterwards he said he felt relieve and forgiveness. WHAT AN ELECT RESPONSE!!! My mindset and thoughts toward Ian began changing even more. I truly began to see him as a son of god that had potential at this point. The devil still tried possessing my mind and telling me he is gay.... stay away... he likes men.... etc.... The devil did everything but interestingly enough at that moment none of it mattered. The spirit was in the room and I knew he was a son of god prepared to receive this message. Ian then went on and accepted the invitation to be baptized!! He said he would prepare for the 8th of June. That's when he said, "I will see if my sister and family want to prepare also!!" Obviously we encouraged that and set a return appointment. When we went back to see him. His sister was there. She also being YSA aged. We ended up teaching the entire family. During this lesson the mother asked a question that any any any missionary would love hearing "Do you guys believe that we will actually get to see our families after we die?" We told her yes and testified of the plan of salvation. We expounded on it a little bit and left her with a pamphlet to read. We even talked about family sealings in the temple. All DOCTRINE that she needed to understand at that time. The mom also after that lesson said "YES I'LL PREPARE FOR THAT BAPTISM!" So now we have the mom the sisters and Ian all preparing for a special service of baptism! 

It was a miracle that at the time i NEVER would have seen coming. But it did. It did because god is good and helped me and my companions to see Ian as he could BECOME not as he was or is but looking deeper at his eternal progression and life!!! It was a miracle!!!!

MIRACLE TIME!!!!

A member named Sabreena (she's from trinidad haha) has her boyfriend that she has been bringing to church for weeks now! He went to the temple open house and he is just a boss!! His name is Andrew. Andrew is in the Marines and he's such a cool guy! Sabreena never wanted us to meet with him just because she was scared we were going to have a lesson with him and just invite him to be baptized and then baptize him and leave him. She wanted us to first and foremost love him and be friends with him and then work in the baptism. So we respected that and we needed Sabreena to be on our side so we began becoming friends with Andrew. It all started when i began complimenting him on how big he was haha His muscles are HUGE!! He's a beast! So i slowly began complimenting him and asking him what his secrets are and what not. Long story short I have him like giving me work outs and stuff. Truth to be told however... Andrew loves helping people get big. He wants to open his own gym actually. So immediately we became friends. We hit it off and ever since then we have been tight. My companions as well eventually began getting to know him a bit and now we are all solid. Well, yesterday we had our first lesson with Andrew. Sabreena and another member named Ryan were all present! It was such a powerful lesson. It was scary though because we as missionaries KNEW without a doubt we were bringing up baptism. We didn't know how we were going to do it but we KNEW it would happen and we'd invite him to be baptized. (keep in mind he has seen baptisms and confirmations. He's seen it all) So the lesson began. He asked a few questions about health and what we are allowed to drink and not drink, etc. He asked about wine and water with the sacrament, etc.. So we ended up teaching him the word of wisdom. That was officially the first thing we taught Andrew haha the word of wisdom!! URGENCY!! Then we asked Andrew what he desires most in life. He said, "I desire a happy family that i can provide for and love!" Immediately once he said that we because talking about temples. We talked about how he could live together with his family FOREVER!!! He loved it and ate it all up. So now would be a perfect time to bring up baptism. HOWEVER remember us as missionaries were a little scared just because Sabreena was there and she specifically told us she was scared of us chasing him off with baptism. Well family God is good. The other member Ryan that was with us. Him being a returned missionary jumped in and said, "Elders is it okay if i say something?" He then went on to testify and teach Andrew "Families are together forever through the temple Andrew because we make covenants with god there. Covenants are promises we make with god. The first covenant we can make with god before anything is BAPTISM!!!" At that moment the member (Ryan) brought up baptism and covenants. We were perfectly set up to invite him and set him with a date. So we did :) We set him with a date and Andrew is now preparing! It was incredible. God was soooo perfect in that lesson. He not only worked through his missionaries on a perfect lesson plan but ALSO he worked through the member just as powerfully if not more powerfully!!! It was incredible!! Something that i'll never forget! God is a planned god and one that wont let a minute go without allowing someone to come unto him!!!

Family i love you all! May we all continue to see these miracles in our lives. May we help God be Urgent in his work. May we have courage and the Boldness to do as christ would do! I know if this is the mindset we have then we will see the Eternal potential that each of gods children have. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THEY DO HAVE POTENTIAL AND THEY DO NEED TO BE INVITED!!! Trust in god and he will make it all work out!! That is what i learned from these 2 experiences!

Love you all ELDER OVARD

p.s. Did you guys go to dinner yet with the Richardsons?? haha

Also what are the odds you buy plane tickets and fly out to El Paso texas to watch President and Sister Andersons homecoming?? I'm sure they'll feed you dinner ;) haha love you all!!!

Damas Cherefrere Baptism

Family!!!

Where to even begin??? Okay housekeeping as always! So i did hear from Tanner. He is currently looking for a place. I will plan on living with him. He sounds confident in finding a place that will be in between SLCC and UofU. He also was told about scholarship money that i'll get for housing and stuff. Mom i think you told him that i get 1000 a month or something like that? Wasn't it something like 1000 per semester? That is what i remember haha but i'm not sure. So if you can double check with coach wad for me that would be great! I think TDAWG was just wondering because he didn't know the price range he was looking for and stuff. He is a good kid though and i can tell just through an email that he's changed a lot because of his mission. So it'll be fun rooming with him!

Also I talked with the senior sister thats in charge of flight plans and she hasn't bought mine yet so were good. It is all set up though i believe. Not 100 percent sure on the date yet still but i'll be around like the 7th or 8th. It wont be a big deal. Here in a week they should have it all finalized though.

Okay good. Finally done with Housekeeping!!!

This past week was amazing! Zone Conferences from 9:30am-3:30pm on Tues, Weds, Thurs, and Friday :) It was a blast!!! Really though. I was able to tour the entire mission once again and see every single missionary. Zone conferences are the best. President is such an amazing leader and example. The conference was on likening the scriptures. He likened different stories in the scriptures to us and then he related it to our investigators. From there we went into role plays. My comps and I did a powerful role-play using mosiah 24:13-15. We likened it to our investigator who is facing a lot of trials and afflictions. It was awesome!! Really it was such a unique experience. I took so many notes in my study journal. All which are different because the spirit teaches different things every time :)

Also this past week God blessed us tremendously! We were busy and honestly didn't get much time in our own area but GUESS WHAT!!!!! BAPTISM!!!!!!! haha Damas Cherefrere was baptized yesterday. I was the blessed one that performed the ordinance. It was so cool. Damas was a referral we got from the Ft Laud West sisters. Damas is a funny guy. He has to take medication to keep his excitement level down. Trust me we have seen him when he doesn't take medication and boy oh boy!!!! #ADHD

I must admit though. I can tell you deep intense details about him because I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!! He is amazing. There would be times we would go teach him and i'd bear my testimony or something and he'd just say... "Wow you have beautiful Blue eyes.. or he'd grab my tie and just holds on to it during the entire lesson.... or he would just start jumping up and down in the air waving his arms like a little girl.... or After i baptized him and he looks out at the crowd and says THAT WAS MARVELOUS.... or the time i told him i play baseball and he says oh Ovard don't you be juicing now.... haha the list goes on and on!!! He is really a smart smart guy. Extremely intellegent but just has a little ADHD problem when he's not on his meds. He repented though and he was as ready for baptism as anybody in the past! He was baptized and now one soul mas will enter the kingdom of god someday! I love Damas so much. He taught me great lifelong lessons that i'll cherish forever. One which was the culture of Compliments. Damas is always complimenting people. Sometimes it may be a little inappropriate haha but he compliments them!!! For example, my eyes.... or the ability we have to teach.... or the power our testimonies have.... or the people at church that he contacts.... how he tells girls straight to their face that their beautiful and something special... or how he tells men at church he loves their ties... The list once again goes on and on. People love Damas because he is friendly and loving. He COMPLIMENTS even those that normally wouldn't get compliments. He finds the good in them. He focuses on the good more then the bad or the weakness in someone. I love Damas for teaching me this lesson. He is the man and i will forever remember him.

Each one of us faces these bad things about ourselves or even better put we all STRUGGLE and become DISCOURAGED in our lives but truth to be told just as Damas has taught me.... "We don't need to be!" Each of us has infinite potential. One of my favorite scriptures states: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, THEN am I strong." (2 Cor. 12:10) We all will become strong. What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger right haha I know this to be true. I KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE!!! The mission has brought to pass many of these things(infirmities, reproaches, persecutions, distresses) BUT it's when they come that I Elder Ovard, THEN gain and am strengthened. I someday want to be able to state just as Paul of Tarsus, I enjoy weaknesses. I enjoy infirmities. I enjoy trials. I want this mindset because I know that when i do have it and can state these things. I WILL KNOW who I am. I WILL KNOW that i am a son of god. I WILL KNOW that my Lord and savior is there and that he loves me!

Family this is what i've learned this past week. Not only from mission conferences but also from my new best friend DAMAS! The lost child that was brought into the fold through baptism! I love this gospel. I invite myself and all of you to remain positive. Shoot for the stars. Never give up. Trials and Tribulations will come but we CHOOSE our status and nature through it all!! This is my prayer for all of us :)

Love you 
ELDER OVARD

p.s. many more miracles occurred this past week but not much time left. We had an investigator named kristen read the introduction of the book of mormon, the testimony of Joseph Smith, All the witness testimonies, 5 chapters of the book of mormon and watch the restoration dvd ALL in one night. She is boss. Also Randy who has been waiting on First Presidency permission because of probation has now got it and were working with him. Also a member Sabreena has a friend named Andrew that were working with. Andrew and i are tight haha He is progressing rapidly towards baptism!!! Like i said we are blessed and so many exciting things are happening in our area and mission. This past week the mission baptized 32 people in one week. Thats incredible and we will only ONLY give praise and gratitude to god for it all. Love you Family!!!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!

                                       AP's with President and Sister Anderson

#BLESSED

Family!!!!

What an Honor and Privilege it was to skype with you all yesterday :) I always look forward to it. I love it for many reasons. One being i get to see your faces work with your mouth and NOT just try to imagine it while i read emails..  haha Another reason being because it is a time for me to reflect on how blessed i truly am. It causes me to think of the love that god has for me! He truly blessed me with the best family in the whole world. Really though, To be born into the church with parents and siblings like i have.... #BLESSED ;)  (paige) hahaha I want to thank you all though for the support and love. 

 

This past week was exciting haha I told you all about the Sunday Morning Round-Up. It was a blast haha we knew walking into a home and waking people up STRAIGHT FROM THEIR BEDS for church could get a little sketchy but HEY they need the gospel and eternal life. We will do whatever it takes to give it to them!!! After all that is our purpose, "Invite others to come unto Christ by HELPING them receive the restored gospel...." If walking into someones house and literally pulling them out of bed isn't (HELPING) them then i don't know what is!!! haha It was an experience that i'll never forget. Yes images may have been seen and craziness may have happened... BUT the images that paint a permanent picture in my mind is the fact that they ALL came to church. The image of god allowing all 6 of these people to arise from bed with laughter and smiles. The image of (Jaime, Emma, Chichoye, Ace, Shawn, Mike) all walking into the chapel dressed modestly with the spirit bulging into their souls for actually showing up to church!! The image of us doing something thats never been done before by getting so many YSA people to church in one Sunday. These are the images that i will always remember from this experience. These are the images that will be a part of my testimony for eternity :) So mom.... no worries haha love you :)

 

This upcoming week is one that i am truly looking forward to. Zone Conferences are from Tues-Friday. President has entrusted us once again and is allowing us to put together a few slides. We are arranging the slides for the Role Play. We are excited about it because it's a complete focus on likening the scriptures to our investigators. Something that if we all apply and learn how to do effectively will increase even more the amount of baptisms our mission has!! We still have our goal of 175 in a month and we gotta do it before president leaves. Remember June is a 5 week month ;) President is an inspired man. He is my best friend!! 

Our job as Presidents Assistants is to create a role play from presidents training and then be able to demonstrate it in front of everybody. YES AT FIRST IT WAS SCARY AND INTIMIDATING haha Every missionary expects it to be the best with NO mistakes haha Obviously were not perfect and we will make mistakes but thats why the preparation is so important. We have already been practicing the one we will do. We will use Mosiah 24: 13-15 to liken it to our investigator that is going through burdens and hard times with his life. Then talk about how Alma and his people were strengthed from their burdens because of the covenant that they were in (v.13). Then explain in the role play how this covenant was baptism :) We will then commit the investigator to be baptized. It should be good and were excited about it!!

 

Start Role Playing with Aynsley :) It'll help her be way prepared for when she hits the field. haha EVERY new missionary hates role plays. Including myself when i entered the mission... NOW they are the best!!

As far as meeting up with President and Sister Richardson.. I really want you to do that. I think it would be so fun to have him enter the mission and already have that connection. As you know life is all about connections haha i would love to be able to bond with him through that immediately and as a result be on top of our game so we can help our missionaries here in the FFLM. 

 

Transfers are coming up and we are beginning preparations for that! Can't believe it's already here again. Time just doesn't get any slower. I will talk with President today about coming home on the 7th or 8th. It should be good and hopefully they haven't already bought tickets. If so.... It's their fault cause i told them months and months ago i'd have to go home early. 

 

I love you all dearly!! Let us all push forward feasting upon the words of Christ (Scriptures) and Likening them unto ourselves! I know as we do this that we will be HELPING ourselves receive the celestial kingdom just as is stated in our missionary purpose. The purpose that The God Almighty himself created. "For this is my work and my Glory to bring to past the Immortality and Eternal Life of Man!" I love you all and may God Bless!!!

 

ELDER OVARD

Fort Lauderdale Temple Dedication!

FAMILY...... Guess what time it is??????

Time to DEDICATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha all i can say is WOW!!!! I am extremely grateful to email you all today and let you know of the joy, happiness and spirit i felt this past week here in Florida.

I wanna start by telling you something special though. Something that only me and my companions have ever done in the history of our mission.... WE PLAYED BASKETBALL WITH PRESIDENT ANDERSON!!!! hahahaha yes!!!!!!!!! We literally balled with him. He has never ever allowed anyone to do that. It was last pday! It was so fun! Sister Anderson had us watermelon waiting in the house afterwards. President is good though. Lets just say i'm rusty as can be and he had a crazy looking shot that just always goes in ;) haha It was fun though. It was funny because the other day we had a meeting with him on pday at like 5:00 before pday ended. So i sent him a text and said this "Okay sounds perfect President! Does that mean we can show up about 4oclock and we can get a quick game of horse in before pday ends?? :)" Anxiously waiting on a response this is what he sent back. " I think you all are humble enough!!!!!" Thats it. haha thats all he said. haha we couldn't believe it!!!!! We responded with a scripture reference. I believe it was      Alma 5: 27 or something like. Hoping he would read it and respond and say okay elder we can come over. BUT he sent nothing! We were bummed. That all happened on sunday. So monday roles around. We come into the office to email and president and sister anderson are here. We confirm with president that we will be to his house at 5 for the meeting then his response was simply "Elders i thought we were playing horse before our meeting?" With mouths wide open jaws dropped we jumped up and down in the air we were pumped haha!! Okay enough of this......

So lets start with giving gratitude. I am the most blessed man in the World. I love love my Heavenly Father! I love how he grants us blessings as we are obedient to him. I don't know how or what it was that i did in the pre-mortal life but what i do know is that i am BLESSED. I am blessed to be a member of this church. I am blessed to have been part of a historic event. An event that has changed southern Florida forever. This past week was one of joy and happiness to say the least. It was full of heartfelt hugs and kisses! It was as though i got a glimpse of Heaven.

It started Saturday Night at the Florida Ft. Lauderdale Florida Temple Cultural Celebration!! Paige said it best in her email to me, "It was a Party!!!" When in my life did i ever think i would get to party with an apostle of god? When in my life did i ever imagine seeing MY RECENT CONVERTS out dancing and singing sounds of grace and love to their heavenly father? When in my life did i ever think a dedicatory prayer could convert me and change me for the rest of my life? When in my life have i ever been so blessed...... :) :) :) Honestly these questions i ask myself is truly how my week went. 

On Saturday Night i got to attend the Cultural Celebration!! It all started as i got there. I began helping missionaries get organized.. As i was doing it i got an arm around my neck. I looked over and i realized it was Jeison, my recent convert from my first area, Riverside. He is like 12 yrs old and lets just say he is converted. I began talking with him and soon i found out that he was part of the celebration. He was one of the kids in the orange shirts down on the court. I talked and talked with him. We exchanged emails and stuff and it was a "party" of reuniting so to speak!! It was interesting, before he left after the celebration was over he ran up to me and said "Elder Ovard when will i see you again?" I told him how i will be finishing my mission in a few months and how i will be back to florida to visit him as soon as i can. He looked at me with joy in his eyes and said "okay good. I love you man and i want you to be able to come back and see me before i go on my mission!!!!!" I looked at him with heartfelt love but confusion. That never hit me. I never thought or really had the thought that he would serve a mission. It's not that i didn't think he loved god enough or anything like that. It's just it never crossed my mind that he COULD serve the Lord. Basically crying at the point i said to Jeison "your a stud! I love you and nothing would cause me to miss it!! I will be here when you go on your mission!!!:)" That alone was a testimony builder for me and it helped me to see the relationship that i will have with these wonderful floridians for the rest of my life :)

So that went down.... Then lets say 5 minutes later i get another little tap on my shoulder. I look over and it's Mayte Gamboa from Homestead. Excited as could be she was smiling and smiling and jumping and jumping!!!! She's like i never thought i was going to see you again. haha She is like 11 yrs old also. She as well is one of my Recent converts. I helped her and her family get baptized down in homestead. They were the miracle that just walked into church on sunday. SOOOOO.... i talked with her for a bit and next thing i know is SHE ALSO IS IN THE CELEBRATION!!!!! She was down there on the courts singing songs of praise to god too!! It was such a miracle and an amazing thing to see. I asked her about her family. I heard from other missionaries that they went less active for a little while but she told me that they go to church like every week now!!! She said they are strong as ever and converted to the ways of the Lord!!!! :) The is another witness to me that gods work is real and that my testimony has helped yet another family.

Well the Celebration went on and afterwards I began rounding up all the missionaries trying to help them get home back to their apts. Some had a long drive. And lo and Behold guess who i ran in to..... ELDER JOSE DIAZ my trainer!!!! hahahaha Elder Diaz was there with a member from miami. Hermana Carranza. One that we went and ate with every sunday! Elder Diaz couldn't believe i was Assistant and we just talked and talked. It was sooooo good to see him. It hit me the amount of love that i have for him. Also i could feel of the love he has for me :) It was such a miracle to see him. I got his email address and now we will stay in touch. :) I realized once again the love and friendship that i will have for each of my companions after the mission. I had the same experiences like this with members as well. SOOOO many members that i knew and worked with were there. It was a blessing. I learned from that night many things! I learned from the spirit from the songs the kids sang. One thing that i learned that will stick with me for the rest of my life though is that these children of god are now MY BEST FRIENDS!!!! I saw the bigger picture. The bigger picture of all of us reuniting like that someday in the celestial kingdom. Even most importantly though i saw the bigger picture of the responsibility that I have in helping each of them get there. Even after my mission is over :) Together we will reach the heavens and be there with our beloved master!!!

Alrighty... onto the Dedication!!! There were 3 sessions. We went to the first 2. They were incredible. It was so cool to see the dedication take place. Especially after having been to the open house so many times and what not. I loved it! The sessions were boss but i have to say the part i loved the most was the dedicatory prayer that President Utchdorf gave. It was beautiful! He blessed everything. The walls, the windows, the carpet, the baptism font, the hallways, the people that work there, etc.... It was incredible. Honestly one of the most beautiful prayers i have ever heard. Never in my life did a prayer touch me so powerfully. There was one thing though that he said that I am applying to my life that i wanna invite yall to apply as well. He said "God at this time we not only dedicate thine house to thee but Also we RE-DEDICATE our own personal lives to thee!" It was so beautifully put. As soon as he said that the spirit told me that there is so much to be done. So much i can do to dedicate my life even more to god! I loved it!!

To top off the dedication though we got a phone call from President Anderson. He said, "Elders the people at the temple need help taking down chairs and moving furniture back into the temple. Can you go?" haha without hesitation we said yes and we went. We helped take down tvs from the dedication. We took down chairs. We dusted and wiped down floors. After it was all clean we moved all the furniture back into place. We took all the couches and chairs into the celestial room. We moved dressers into there as well. ETC... the list goes on and on!!! We can now say that we helped god move into his house :) It was an experience i will never forget!!!!! Even though there was talking and moving heavy objects the power of the spirit was still there :) I love this work so much! I'm so blessed as i mentioned before!!! May we all dedicate our lives to attending the temple! I know we will be blessed in all things. Especially our FAMILY!!!! 

Last quick miracle before i go. This past week we were preparing for a role play we were giving in MLC. It was thursday night and we had institute at 7:00pm. We went to see if members brought friends and what not. Sure enough they did. We wanted to talk with these friends of the members so we couldn't decide on whether we plan the role play or we go to institute. We decide to go find a classroom and to prepare the role play until institute got over then we would talk with the friends. So long story short we found a room. It was a room back in the corner of the chapel. Down the deepest darkest hallway in the building at the time. No one was back there. It was quiet and peaceful. We went into a random classroom and knelt down and started our planning with a prayer. Minutes after standing up from the prayer we heard a knock on the door. A dude opens the door and says "Guys i'm a visitor here and i just wanted to stop by and give a donation to the church. Can i leave a donation?" We then told him yes but we were super confused. We asked him a few questions and got to know him a bit. He went on to tell us that he was hoping that there was some sort of spiritual service that night also. We told him about institute. He sounded interested and so we took him. HE FOUND US!! HE WAS YSA!! GOD LEAD HIM TO US!!! He just so happened to knock into our door. The door down the darkest hallway in the building!!! It was a miracle. He is now preparing to be baptized!! 

See the miracles i get to deal with!! God is sooooo good! I am the most blessed man on earth as i stated before :) I love you all and i want you to know that god lives. God is dedicated to us NOW lets dedicate to him :) LOVE YA!!

Elder Ovard

#BESTMISSION

FAMILY!!!!!!!!

 

May please don't come........... :) haha if only if only we had a button we could push to stop time a bit eh? (yes i've been practicing saying eh for ayns haha)

 

I can't believe another month has already passed. It amazes me each and every week when i sit down here to email you all. It feels like i was here yesterday.. but at the same time god has performed so many miracles that i can talk and talk about since the last time i was writing haha

 

It truly was an amazing week though. It all started with taking missionaries to the airport that have been waiting on visas. Their headed to brazil and their excited. Sad to see them leave the FFLM though #BESTMISSION (paige i did it for you)

 

Really though this week was different. It was different in many ways but the way that i would like to touch on today is the ability that our Loving God has to compensate us for our efforts and labors!! 

 

This past week in our meeting with president he addressed a few concerns with certain missionaries. He encouraged us to go on exchanges immediately with these companionships. SOOO basically what was happening is there is a district leader that isn't showing love to his district. He bags on them constantly. President was concerned and knew it needed to be resolved. WELL family needless to say i felt as though i should go with this District Leader. So i bring him on to exchange in my area. We started with a comp study. This missionary knew that he was being watched and lets just say he has a hard heart and some pride. haha so i addressed the problem with an enormous amount of love. I have never NEVER loved someone so much in my entire life. I complimented him, praised him, told him great things president mentioned about him, etc.... I was doing everything i possibly could to help this missionary repent and better his district. Lets just say (to keep it short) he took everything in what i was saying... BUT he wanted to rebel and not accept anything. He would straight up say how he hates a certain missionary or how he didn't wanna be a district leader and how president just didn't understand his situations. It was honest to say an immature site to see. I love this missionary so much though. I love this missionaries District so much as well. I wasn't going to let him suffer and be a disgrace to god. SO i continued to help him. Showing him scriptures and quotes and all sorts of things. I even related his entire problem to football because he loved football haha I WAS TRYING EVERYTHING!!! I wanted to help him! He knew what he needed to do he just didn't want to do it because he wants to be lazy and be a JR comp again. So after 2 hours of this Finally i was drained i couldn't do any more and i couldn't help but give up and let it all be in gods hands. I then had the impression, just stop helping him and have him say a prayer. So we stopped i invited him to pray and he said okay. He said a prayer, stands up and walks over to me and gives me a hug. He states "Thank you so much for caring. I was being a bum. I was giving you a hard time. I was testing you." I responded "your good no worries man i love you too" he then said once again. " No elder really, not for a long time have i felt like a leader has cared for me in my mission, but i can tell you care!"

I was extremely humbled and really confused after that all happened. I didn't know if he retained the information we had just talked about or what was happening. I decided though, lets just go out and work and we will talk as we go. So thats what we did. We worked and worked. As i drove this missionary back to his area i began asking him just simple questions. So Elder after everything we talked about today tell me 2 things you wanna try and do to help your district. His response was 1. Increase the amount of love i have for the missionaries in my district. 2. i want to be positive.

When he said those words i couldn't help but think that we had accomplished SOMETHING haha he truly was listening and he truly did care. He just had to get over himself. 

 

It was a tender mercy for sure.... BUT come to find out this was only half of the miracle.... Because of the hard work and the dedication to helping missionaries god provided just as he promises!!! I was drained from that exchange and thats when it came time to round people up for church. We went around to each investigators house knocking their doors to get them out of bed. Sadly enough NONE of them woke up and all of them slept in and missed church. HOWEVER god remember our efforts and hard work from the week sooo just as church is about to start we get a phone call from a random number. I answer and lo and behold these are the first words this guys says to me, " Hey i met some girls yesterday and they told me to call this number and you guys would be able to get me a ride for church. Can you get me a ride? Please I really really want to come and experience what your church has to offer!" Stunned and confused of course i was speechless. I looked at my watch and realized it was 9 oclock. Church was starting. I didn't know what to do. I told him "Yes we can have someone there to get you in about 45 min after the sacrament meeting is over." Happy as can be he said "okay I will be waiting!!!"

This guys name is DAMAS. He is a stud haha he loved church so much! Turns out the day before he actually contacted the sister missionaries yelling and saying "HEY GOD SENT YOU TO ME COME HERE!!!!" It was such a miracle to see. Damas accepted baptism and is currently preparing for the 11th of may! He will be ready and he will follow Jesus Christ into the waters of baptism. He wants it sooooo badly. He wants it JUST as bad as i wanted to help that missionary.... God compensated my efforts!!!!  

 

Wait it doesn't stop there.... After church we needed to go and harvest. We prayed and god directed us to a street. We were so excited to meet new people. We knocked doors we prayed with people and all was great!! Thats when our time for harvesting was over and we looked at each other and said wait... One last door. We knocked on this house and this lady answers with a baby boy in her arms. We introduce ourselves and tell her we are representatives of Jesus Christ. She then stated "no way where did you guys come from?" We told her that god directed us there to her house through his holy spirit. She then began to cry. She cried and cried and said, "This is going to sound funny but guys i was actually just barely in the back room praying with my baby boy asking god to get me outta the situation i'm in. Tell him that i needed his help!" She continued telling us how she's on house arrest and her officer is mean and how things just aren't going well in her life. We were able to testify to her letting her know that god loves her and he will cause things to get better as she does her part. She agreed and we were able to say a prayer with her. She cried and thanked us. She knew god answered her prayer through us. SHE KNEW THAT WITHOUT A DOUBT! We invited her to accept that help from god by following Christ example and by being baptized. She said without even any hesitation, "Yes i will!!!!"

God is real. God hears our Prayers. God knows us! God compensates our efforts!!

 

FAmily i love you all! It is my prayer this week that we all can go about doing GOOD EFFORTS. Good efforts done out of true love for the people and also true love for God. I know as we do this god WILL compensate for our efforts just as he did for me this past week :) I love you all and may god bless!!!! :)

 

Ovard