Travis' Mission

Travis' Mission

Monday, December 5, 2011

Christmas Devotional

This week was another fantastic week.  I love being a missionary so much.  The area that I am in is wonderful, and the ward is really supportive.  Being a missionary is such a wonderful experience, and i have learned and grown so much.  Many things have happened this week, and I have no idea where to start. 
 
The black people in Honduras are amazing, and they definitely have a lot of soul power.  It is so much fun to talk to them and teach them the gospel.  There are many black people here, and there is a whole colony full of them.  In Honduras they are called Garifunas, and they have their own language.  They share the Spanish and Latino culture, but they also have their own culture and swagger.  When i am with them i stick out so much, and they love talking to us white kids.  We have had some pretty interesting people come up to us.  Some drunk, some crazy, and some really funny people.  Overall, the people here are wonderful, and i love them so much.  I had no idea that i could love the people so much.  I try to do everything i can to soak in the culture and everything that comes with it.  I love asking the people about their culture, and they love teaching me about it.  it is so great.  I seriously couldn't ask for anything better on top of being a missionary. 
 
One interesting thing that i have had to deal with this week is a guy named Elvin.  he was baptized a few months ago but recently fell away from the church after seeing general conference.  We now believe that he has gone mentally crazy.  he came to our house in the morning 3 days in a row (how he found our house, i have no idea).  Long story short, he believes that he is the Reincarnated Christ.  He gave us his revelations a long with his "Third Testament" that he wrote talking about the end of the world.  He also has a list of things that he wants us to do, and he wants us to be his apostles.  We also believe that he is following us during the day.  Long story short we talked to the bishop and things have cooled down.  Overall, this experience has only made my testimony stronger about the truthfulness of this gospel.  I know the Jesus Christ lives, i know this Church is true, i know the Book of Mormon is the words of God, and i know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith.  I love the crazy interesting things that i see every day as a missionary.  I am so grateful for the opportunity i have to be a missionary and be an instrument in the hands of God. 
 
Sundays are always the best day of the week.  We fasted for our investigators, and our faith was able to help many investigators.  We had many of our investigators and recent converts at church, along with a new family that we have never talked to before just showed up because they were interested.  Having our investigators come to church has been a really big problem, and it was so grate to see our investigators received the promised blessings of going to church.  I pray daily for each and every one of our investigators, and i love them all so very much.  One big problem we have is that not a lot of our families and investigators are married.  Marriage is a big problem here.  We have two marriages planned for this weekend along with their baptisms, and we are doing everything we can do to get the paper work and money ready.  Anyways, our investigators loved church, and the ward is really supportive and helps us a lot because we cant help all of our investigators at the same time.  Also this Sunday was the Christmas Devotional.  Our whole ward took a bus to the stake center to go see it.  Many of our investigators also cam too.  The devotional was amazing, and i love hearing from the Prophet and his counselors.  The spirit was very strong, i learned a lot, and i loved how they talked about the importance of Christ during Christmas.  I am so grateful for Christ and everything that he has done for me.  I know that he lives and that he suffered for each and every one of us.  Our investigators and recent converts love it so much, and it really helped their testimonies.  they loved hearing the prophet and how it was all about Jesus Christ.  It also strengthened my testimony because i have the wonderful opportunity to bear my testimony every day about Jesus Christ and how we have a living prophet on the earth today named Thomas S Monson. 
 
Here are some things that I loved from Conference...
 
Uchdorf
"Christmas is really about Christ"
"Christmas should point your heart to the savior"
 
Erying
"Choose the right and walk in the light"
"God knows our every need"
"Remember the gifts God has given you, and share them with others"
 
President Monson
"Christmas is what we make of it"
"let us not spend Christmas, let us keep the spirit of Christmas in our Heart"
"May Christ be the center of our celebrations and the center of our lives"
 
I want you to know that i have a strong testimony, and that i am so grateful for the opportunity i have to share my testimony with others every day.  Overall, i am doing fantastic, and i have never been happier in my life. 
 
Also, today for Pday our Zone played another Zone at soccer at a legit field with turf.  Their zone was full latinos, and we were half and half white and latin.  We won, and i scored 4 goals.  all the Latins are really surprised at how i can play for a white kid.  we had a lot of fun, and i love playing soccer so much. 
 
With much love,
 
Elder Travis Jay Ward

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