Merry Christmas from Elder Heward

so yes i did get transfered back to roseville actually. im in the singles ward now as a zone leader in roseville. we actually cover 2 wards. a family ward and then the YSA ward. its so much church. i love it. we have meetings and church from 8:30 to 4:30 on sunday. its so intense. we just forget about lunch because we're so busy. my new comp is elder cox. he does parcore and he reminds me of kade. im always trying my hardest to do my best but of course, i fail everyday. so we are both trying our best to do our best. the problem is that we are both competitive. its a good combo though. he goes home in february though. so only 3 months we'll be together. so i have a question ya gotta ask everybody. if they were ever the Assistant to the President, or AP. ask all the brothers that. well this last week was probably the busiest week of my entire mission. i had to go from corning to roseville (about 2 hours) from 8 to 10. when i got there we had to wait for the leaving missionaries ride to get here. when it got here, we went and talked to people in the walmart parking lot with the brand new missionaries for their first night in the mission field. the next day we had to drive a few missionaries around because president had some difficulty pairing missionaries up that neither of them could drive. and then the next day we had to have a couple meetings with the missionaries. and then on friday we had to go to gridley (about an hour away) and meet with all the other zone leaders and with president weston and recieve some instruction. then on saturday we actually had some time to do some stuff. it was so crazy though. its wierd to be back in roseville though. i remember when elder coburn and i would bike all over the place. we worked hard here. also, one of the missionaries in 1st ward (the ward i started in) is brand new so i'll be going on exchanges with him. so i'll be able to go see my recent converts and the other people that i know. its gonna be awesome. well im glad to hear that grandpas funeral went awesome. ya know, i cant believe how easy it was to deal with that trial. if i had been lazy and not studying and praying and doing what i was supposed to be doing then i think i would have been devestated hearing about his death. but when we do the right thing then we have more understanding of the plan and we can take those hard trials. it was a learing experience for me though. well family thank you for all you do and all the support you give me. i hope yall have a good week. tear it up in basketball kyle. show em the way they need to be playing. take it all the way to the "ship" (championship). have a great week. talk to yall next week. Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Merry Christmas From Sister Heward

OKay so let me quickly tell you about some awesome stuff that happened this week (i know this email is long) First of the little boy's baptism is still on for the 28th.....REALLY EXCITED! ALso we should have another baptism date set with Dave. We just had dinner at their house on Friday and had planned on a lesson after dinner but dinner went later then planned so we just hung out and talked for awhile. It was actually really good and i think needed. He expressed to us how much he really has appreciated us coming over and the different feeling he feels when we are there :) spirit? Then he said that he has thought more about the pre-earth life and has decided that it really just 'makes sense' and that he knows we are knowledgeable people and speak truth......first off the spirit is really helping us cause knowledgeable people??? haha whatever. but he also said he thought more about baptism and even though he has been taught his whole life that we only need to be baptized once that maybe it would be good to just 'start new' again and have a clean slate. I thought that was pretty cool he said that but we still need to teach him about the priesthood and that we must be baptized by the correct authority. ANyway they also came to the ward christmas party and found out someone in our ward works with him so thats always good to find connections within the ward for fellowshipping. Okay so now we had a miracle this week where we now have a new family of 3 that we are teaching. the mom tracy and her 2 daughters bailee (11) and charlee (8). the dad wasn't there but they do have one so hopefully we meet him. They are such a cute family and really seem very ready for the gospel. The mom has a friend that is a member and also her mom's best friend is a member so she has heard of us but no really familiar with everything. They aren't going to church right now but in the process of looking. We are so excited to start teaching them. Man i was just blown away after meeting with them for the first time seeing how ready and prepared they are. Well i think this email is long enough so i better go but im looking forward to talking with you all soon too!! woohoo for oovoo! haha Love Sister AMber RUth Heward oh ps the pic of me holding the cookies is when we went around with our ward missionary leader and took cookies and cards to less actives and members. It was soo fun and reminded me of home :) It was his idea though so i told him how much it meant to me that he had come up with this idea. It made me really happy.

Hey! Well here's he jyst on what happened....i'll just get right to it. haha okay so we had actually just come from the denkers home for dinner and as we were walking up to the door i was using our phone for a light to see the the door and all so we could unlock the door well i got there before my comp and as soon as i shined the light on the door i saw it cracked open and the whole door jam was busted open. I totally flipped right away and just turned around and ran and my comp was like whats wrong cause i had just ran right past her haha i said "our house has been broken into! the door is all busted!" she was like "get into the car!" so we just drove away and i was like now what? and i instantly thought of chris and told him what i had seen. I told him it could be a mistake cause i saw it so fast and maybe i just saw something that wasn't there but the point was i was really scarred and didn't wanna go back. So he was like okay ill come over right now and check it out. So he did and he was like "yep its been broken into so you need to get in the car and drive down the street a little ways and we'll come get ya in a little bit. He took complete charge and called the police and all. Ya i was pretty scared but it was nice having chris there. The lady we live with got a few things stolen but eventually got them back and me and sister miles didn't have anything stolen. The chris offered his home and now thats where we're at. Its actually been pretty fun haha. They're so funny and i actually feel like im at home now. Last night we were down in the kitchen hanging out and talking to ethan and riley for awhile before we went to bed and they totally remind me of kyle. It was kinda weird but fun. Then they went and played the xbox haha (halo 4 by the way kyle......yep riley just bought it) and we went to bed. Anyway mom im SAFE and sorry but we do have to still live in our home because honestly this place is not safe wherever you are. Its just the way san bernardino county is.....sorry. If you haven't found out yet san bernardino county is one of the most unsafe counties in the U.S. just fyi. haha i know that doesnt help BUT always remember we have the best security ever....THE LORD!!! He will protect us i promise. Nothing can stop the work of the lord. Not even some stupid 15 and 17 year old boys who rob houses. You can call president if you want and that'll make you feel better but he'll probably say the same thing. We're still living here :( Ok so this week,other then the break in, was pretty good! So i did tell you about David in my last letter and so we had an appt with him yesterday and he is totally reading the bom! So cool! He was saying how he likes how straight forward and simple it is. and then we watched the restoration video and dicussed that for awhile. He is really coming around FAST. Im pretty sure he'll be baptized before HE knows it. haha then the wife will start coming back and they will be SEALED! anyway also we're still having alot of success with the less actives always remember monson's motto of TO THE RESCUE. Something he said to his apostles in a meeting once (our stake president was at our ward yesterday and was telling us) he said "NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER give up on the less actives" I will never forget that. He said 'never' FOUR times. That has to mean something if it came from the a prophet. People really can change. They just need the constant support and when THEY are ready they will be back. Oh also i did some family history this week.....i actually had alot of fun! I have a whole fan chart of my ancestors. Not sure if you've heard of it but you can go to createfan.com and they make a cool looking pedigree chart. haha anyway today is sisters exchange and im going to rancho so if that makes you feel any better at all i'll be in rancho till wedneday. well i better go cause my comp needs to get on but I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! also tell grandpa i love him a ton and miss him too. :) This work is GREAT!!!! the CHURCH is oh so very true. Everything proves it is. Everyday it becomes more clearer to me. Have a wonderful week and thanks for all the prayers. Believe me they work......they keep me safe and i feel the Lord's hand in my life everyday. Love Sister Amber Ruth Heward

we were teaching a less active the other day and she basically asked how we get through trials and i said when we have more light its easier to get through trials. when we have more understanding its easier to get through the big trials. jack r. christensen said that. my comps uncle is jack r. christensen. kinda cool. but when we have a knowledge of the plan and what gods will is for us then everything makes sense and we dont focus on the view that us humans focus on sometimes, which is whats happening here and going on here with us right now. instead we focus on the whole view and realize, for example, that grandpa doesnt want to have his life extended becasue he is suffering and he proabably knows that when he dies he'll be able to have rest. in jack r. christensens talk, The Mortal Christ, he says that when joseph smith was killed and hyrum and later his brother samuel after a month, lucy mack smith was just crying hysterically over there bodies and the whole family was there and she prayed "my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken this family?" then the lord responds with basically dont worry and that he has taken them unto himself so they can have rest. then he focuses on joseph finally having rest and that they have had to "work" from the time joseph came out of the grove and said that he saw the father and the son. so my point is, when grandpa dies, which he might do soon, dont worry, he has worked so hard its not even funny. he deserves to have a rest from his mortal life. he will return to god and he will be so much happier (alma 40:11). then use it as an oppourtunity to spread the gospel. when people that arent members come to his funeral, talk about the plan of salvation and teach people where he is at and what will happen to all of us. then testify to them that the only way we can have lasting peace in this life and the life to come is through having the understanding of the plan and obeying gods commandments. well..im done. so this week was good. i was able to work well with other missionaries in my district and help them with whatever they need. we have zone conference tomorrow and it should be pretty sweet. so i asked my president this last week about my spiritual gifts and how i can develop the ones i have and the ones i want to have and he basically read back to me my patriarchal blessing. it was so cool. it was a testimony that those that preside over us truly can recieve inspiration for us and help guide us in our live. when was the last time you and dad asked bishop to know about your spiritual gifts? you should try it. anyways, we're gonna go sledding today for pday activity in lassen national park. yea sledding in california. now ive been to the beach, mountains, and city in california. well family thank you for all you do for me and the wonderful cookies you sent mom. those are good. i eat them with the whole milk :) i look forward to the other package. Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

So a lady in my ward who teaches seminary (who is seriously my favorite family EVER, they are like my parents on the mish & they wanna come visit the farm when i get home) anyway she asked if we would sub seminary for them!!! yikes im kinda nervous but i think it would be fun to do it. It reminded me of you mom! i think we might do it but its up to my comp too if she wants to do it. Oh so this week was Stake conf & it was AMAZING! we have a great stake president who is seriously like a prophet or something when he talks. I hope that isnt wrong to say. but it was great! oh yeah also we got transfer calls on saturday and we're both staying 6 more weeks. honestly i know its the right thing cause i have been fasting and praying that things happen the right way & yes things have really gotten better. I promise. im not just sayin that. but we're doing great! She has really changed alot and is alot easier to be around. We're actually having fun together. Yes fasting and prayers really do work. Well i gotta go but have a great week and i love you all!!! -sister heward

yes im getting transfered tomorrow to a little place called Corning. so i heard the members give the missionaries whole milk there. and one of the part member families owns a dairy so i'll doing some awesome service there. i'll feel right at home. well, im not a district leader anymore which is kind of a load of my back. im just the senior companion and gonna do some awesome missionary work in Corning. this last week was a really pgood week. we had a double baptism. One of the people were about 50 and elder clanton dunked him and the older one, about 86, was dunked by his son in law and elder clanton and me. it was so awesome to have all us in the font.. He cant walk so we were basically his walker. hes a stud. he has like 5 years to live but he still has a good sense of humor about things. it was a really good experience. anyways, i dont really have anymore to say other than it really hasnt hit me that im leaving yet because ive been here so long. ive been here since the beginning of the year. a little over 8 months. ive grown to love this ward so much. there's a member here, virgil atkinson, he has a HUGE house and he has some guitars and a theatre room and he is really spiritual. i think WHEN we come to visit yuba city we can stay with him haha. well family thank you so much for all you do. thanks to whoever shoveled those taters for me. i will let you know how my new area and comp is next monday. hope you all have and amazing family night and an amazing week. Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

howdy mom and dad and kyle and anybody else that is listening, this last week was so awesome. ya win some ya lose some right? so this week was a winner. so district meeting this week was really good. i used alma 22 and talked about aaron and how he was asking questions that he was recieving from the spirit and how it affected the outcome of the lesson. it was so spiritual and the best part was the spirit was there so strongly. thats what i try to do in my district meetings. as long as the spirit is there and everybody feels it then i feel like im doing my job. other than that we had one of our investigators give us a call sunday night and say he wanted to be baptized. hes really cool. and really old too. he has lung cancer so he has like 5 years to live but hes a stud. he reminds me of grandpa. he tries doing things on his own but he cant because of his body. its funny. but hopefully we'll get him baptized soon. so this upcoming wednesday is going to be a half mission conference and elder cardon from the seventy is gonna be there and its going to be on the spirit. so it should be pretty dang intense. You should ask dad or kurt about mission conferences and how they go when a general authority comes. its the coolest thing that can happen on your mission probably. anyways, yea ive been in this area, at the beginning of next month, for 9 months. its crazy. i know just about everything there is to know about this area. im gonna miss it really bad when i leave which will probably be in a couple weeks but if i leave then the lord needs me somewhere else i guess.Well, you guys have an awesome week and. read the book of mormon. i promise you'll be happier if you do :) talk to ya'll in a week. love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

(this is a insert from Ambers mom explaining the email from Amber) One of Amber's most recent trials have been with her new companion. She is negative and difficult. ANd deals with depression She has had 6 companions in 6 months. Its been hard , She has learned a lot from this trial. Its taking her a few weeks but things are starting to turn around. I just want to mention this sister missionary specifically asked to be companions with Amber. Maybe she knew that Amber would be someone with enough patience to help her. So here is a email about where she is now with the companionship.

(Amber now has been with this companion for about 1 month ) Now i have learned My companion just needs to feel loved so im really working on that. And things this week have been GREAT!. She is really starting to loosen up & laugh & have fun so we've been doing great. I'v learned that if you have a problem with someone or just getting along with someone then look first at YOURSELF and see what you can work on and make sure you are being very christlike & are being the person you want them to be then they will (hopefully) start changing and wanting to be better too. Its weird how that works out but IT WORKS! oh & also prayers works miracles. I know Heavenly Father has had his hand in this. We need the spirit in our companionship so He has definitely made that happen. WE are learning how to work together and i could even see myself being with her another transfer which is crazy cause i didnt feel like that at first at all. I love you guys. Have a great week. Love sister Amber RUth heward

Hi Everyone, i have some awesome news! WE got a 2-week missionary!!!!! SHE IS AWESOME! really she is...she's tongan so shes pretty legit. We are having so much fun with her..maybe too much. She actually was signed up by her mom so didnt really wanna do it but now she is really really glad she's here cause man we're havin a ball. She's got that ghetto black attitude but so funny. She cracks us up! We've had some pretty good talks & told her that there is hope & the atonement is real & for us to really use. She just needs to learn to forgive herself & change your life so you're not doing those wrong things anymore. She was just telling us last night how she really feels like those people who believe there is no hope for them cause they've done so much wrong but after we talked our first day she feels so much better. Its neat that we can help her. oh her name is Kalolaine Fa'anunu. OH WE HAVE GREAT NEWS!!!!! The Keserich family set a baptism date for September 1st! Well just Jessica (mom) logan & emily but not Luke (dad) and Jasmine (14) yet but im pretty confident they'll come along. Jasmine is a wonderful young woman but is in that stage of her life where she "wants to make decisions on her own." & she said she wants to wait till shes done with school & everything but we told her the sooner the better cause the crucial time in your life & NEED the holy ghost is when you're in high school so we told her to pray about it & she'll know if its right for her or not. And we told Luke the same thing too. Honestly i feel like Luke knows its true but is being WAYYYY more cautious and wants to think about it. But Jessica said she is ready & is doing it with or without him. He'll come along because he is friends with every man in the ward & they talk to him about the gospel in ways we cant cause they are more similiar in life. Oh also we had a baptism on Saturday with Joseph who is autistic & it was 'different' of course but so cute cause he is so funny & has such a special spirit. The spirit was very strong there & even though Joseph didnt need to be baptized you could still feel that Heavenly Father was proud of what he was doing. Its like Jesus, He is perfect & doesnt need it but he was just 'fulfilling all righteousness' :) So yeah i heard about Levi's crash. Poor kid. I told him that he is really being tested right now & that his mission is gonna turn around & he's gonna have an AWESOME comp that'll be best friends & he'll be in a bomb area where he'll have baptisms everyday. The Lord WILL bless him for his efforts. Mom be excited for Girl's camp cause its important years are cause i seriously gained my testimony there & those memories always hold a special place in my heart, so make it fun for them & know they will always remember you & the memories they made with you. Well later today we're goin to a Maveriks baseball game :D. We're goin with some members in our ward cause theres a lady in our ward, her ex husband owns the stadium so she gets free tickets. We're pretty excited. Well i better go but i put some pics on so you can see the 2-weeker & other things. Love you all! & I hope your enjoying you cereal Kyle.....Have a great week! Love , Sister Amber Heward

Hi Family, this last week was actually one of the best weeks ive had since ive been in yuba city. weve been working with a less active for a really long time and every single time he said the same thing "im still not going to church" so i would just laugh and in my mind im saying "its only a matter of time" so this last week we said he just needed to take the sacrament and he didnt even need to come in and that he coudl just stay out in the lobby and take it and leave. so i was doing one of the doors for sacrament and i opened it up to see if anybody was there and i saw brother ferrin, is his name, sitting out in the lobby. i about crapped myself. after the sacrament i went to just quickly shake his hand cuz i thought he would leave but he stood up and came in and sat by his wife. at the same time there's this other family that has the wife with hotile feelings towards the church and the husband avoids contention and so hes been trying to get her to come slowly. well they came too. i started crying. it caught me off guard cuz it didnt think i would be here to see either of them at church but i knew without a doubt they would both come back someday. we were all fasting as a district so it just goes to show that fasting works. i was so grateful at that point to have been a part of them coming to church and taking the sacrament for the first time in a long time. it was a miracle family. i cant really describe it to you well enough but lets just say that i would give up going to church for them to start going again. i wanted whats best for them and now i know even more the definition of "loving the people" means. anyways, that was my highlight. so i got my cast off today and i have to go get a catscan so i dont know what the heck is going on. its still a little sore but its good to have my hand back. elder clanton and i are getting along really well. its fun being a district leader huh dad? it might be a little different but its still the same thing. i love it. ....... Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

well here is the whole story...so we were biking to go do service and one of the other missionaries had his chain fall off his bike so i was pulling him wwith my hand. we were coming up to a hill so i told him we werent gonna make it with the momentum we had so i was gonna throw him up the hill and then bike up and keep pulling him. well when we did it, he pulled hard and i pulled hard too and i turned the tire accidentally and lost control and flew off the front. we were going pretty fast so when i tried to catch myself with my hands, my wrist folded underneath and then i smacked my chin on the road. i landed in the middle of the road so i hurry and looked back and thankfully there were no cars coming. im typing one handed by the way. so i have a pretty nice goatie now cuz i cant shave but its all good. so transfers came in yesterday and elder allred is getting transfered and im the new district leader now. my new comps name is elder clanton and hes from georgia. havent met him yet but we'll see. elder gheen is not my zone leader. hes just a regular missionary but hes probably the coolest one ive met so far. hes getting transfered too so its really sad. it was like we've known each other forever. anyways, im learning how to do things left handed now and im a little slower with about everything i do now. i cant ride a bike so we're just walking and hitching rides. anyways, well keep the prayers coming please. i really need them really bad. i have to be a leader now so we'll see how that turns out. i'll let you know how that all goes. well thank you for all that you do family. it helps me get through the multiple trials im going through. i hope you all have an amazing week. the church is true and the book is blue. Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Hi Everyone... .the news with transfers...........We"RE BOTH STAYING!!!!! :) :) So happy. So the lesson with the Keserichs went really good. They really enjoyed the video & like i said before the family is all on board & ready to be baptized but just workin on the dad. We asked him if hes read & prayed about the BOM & he said he's read here & there but doesnt like to read it straight through....hmmm ok. He's not praying i dont think either. Its just tough cause we can say all we want but it comes down to his decision. I wish i could just make him to what i want him to do. haha oh Yeah also i think i found where that lady & daughter we met at the hot tub before my mish live. I think. I was talking to Sister Smith (the lady that moved to grandmas ward) and she actually used to house missionaries up till now since she moved & she said there is a mom & daughter who live across the street from her.....So we've try to go & meet them but havent answered. It would be pretty cool if it was them. Well gotta go but have a wonderful week! Love you ALL!!! Love Sister AMber Ruth Heward dear family,

so elder allred and i get along. the only problem is that he is definately out here for the wrong reasons and its stupid cuz i feel responsible for it. but i know its not my fault. anyways, to the puch. i wrecked on my bike on saturday. i have a cast now haha. dont worry mom its all good. i just got a hairline fracture in my wrist and then i messed up my chin and i got it glued back together. i need everybody to pray for me so i can heal like im supposed to so i can get back to work asap. this will be short cuz its hard to email but just know that everything is going great and the work is awesome and transfers are coming up next week so i'll keep ya posted. the church is true. Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

HELLO HELLO 

Grandma & Grandpa....now what am i going to do about them...hahah those 2 little stinkers surprising me. wow! haha i was in a meeting & came out of the door & right around the corner they were sitting there on the couch. (i'll attach a pic) it was so funny. Grandma started crying of course. & the coolest thing was that they could meet so many peopel in the ward (especially Devon & jen) Jen was actually getting confirmed that day so it was neat she was there. They were hilarious though & of course everybody was just telling them how much they like me & i was like THATS ENOUGH! stop it! haha The ward is so incredibly awesome! I hope to never leave..haha yeah right. They left after sunday school & after they walked out the door one of the elders that is in the singles ward that im really good friends with saw them & asked who they were & i said my grandparents & hes like "i wanna meet them!" haha so we ran out real quick & introduced him to them. Grandma was crying cause she wasnt wanting to leave....It was fun! though for people to meet some of my family.  okay so now about the higlight this week........JEN'S BAPTISM!!!! couldnt have gone better! Okay you know how i cried the second i stood up to the pulpit for my farewell talk & then cried the WHOLE time?? well thats pretty much how it went. I cried the second devon started saying the prayer for her baptism & then i was in charge of showing a video while Peavler was in the dressing room with Jen & i introduced the video through my tears then bore my testimony after & i seriously couldnt talk cause i was crying so much. It was kinda embarrassing cause i was pretty much bawling haha but man the spirit was HUMUNGOUS there! :) Gosh this church is without a doubt TRUE!!!!!!!!! In my testimony i joked about how this baptism pretty much makes everything worth going on a mission & if i went home right now i would be perfectly fine haha then i thought 'Wait! no i want many more of these moments' haha Also Jen recorded Me & peavler singing so ill try to find a way to get that to you. OH YEAH i have some other good news!!! We have another baptism with a girl, Joua Yang, for May 26th!!! :D :D we taught her 3 lessons and on the 3rd lesson she set a date. So cool! She is such a cutie & we have so much fun with her & her boyfriend, Johnny, who is a member & introduced her to the church.Well family things couldnt be goin better right now & i love you all way way way WAYYYYY alot!!!!!Well have a wonderful week everyone! Keep being the awesome family you all are! 

Love Sister Amber Ruth Heward   

Enjoy the pics. That cake was made by someone in the ward for Jen's baptism. Its so cool! 

so this last week was amazing. elder allred and i had a baptism of 11 year old twins. a boy and a girl. they are so awesome. i cant describe how excited they were to get baptized and to do everything. it made me more excited about life every time i saw them excited. their mom was less active but now shes active so everything in that case is going awseome. so about the teaching thing, we're finding a few good people. a lady that we've known for a few weeks has a few problems and we were trying to address that and then just yesterday we found out that she belives in the trinity still and that she is prideful about the gospel. i couldnt believe it because shes not smart at all. i just dont know how the heck we're gonna do this one. i know we can but i just dont know if shes gonna use her agency correctly and its gonna be a while. we found a mom with two children, 22 and 26 and they said they'd come to church but they didnt. the usual. but this last week was the best week in this area as long as ive been here for 4 months. the reason why is becasue of your letter dad. when i read the part about you and your trainer and how he worked the crap outta you and then you said to just work his butt of and see what hes made off just wanted me to work 24/7 without any sleep. i worked so hard this last week with him and thats why this was the best week. we did so much work and taught so many people and have just been tearing it up and its all because of your letter dad. so thank you so much for giving me that advice. if i ever train again then i'll be sure to take that advice into effect way before 4 weeks. i hope you all have and amazing week in cold burley idaho when im soaking up all the 90 degree sun rays hehe. love everyone of you. Elder Levi Bowen Heward

 well this last week the weather was about 90 and humid and really sunny. i was like biking all day and i got a little sun. i have a line from where my watch is haha. we were sweating all day. seriously. but it was such and amazing day. i was on exchanges with the zone leaders and we tore it up haha.  so about me and my comp. we are getting along so much better.  now we get along so much better and things are starting to pick up in the area and its so much more exciting now. it makes me want to work harder now. he still has a hard time paying attention but its all good. thats the next thing we're working on. well  please keep praying for me cuz i really need the prayers from you all. those are the only things keeping me going sometimes. thanks for the email and the update. i'll talk to you all next week.  Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

 okay i just wanna say it has been an awesome week! actually just this last weekend has been some of the greatest days on the mish i think. Its sisters activity & we did a service project this morning so were at the library now so all 3 of us can email at the same time so we can go get stuff then to the activity. Then exchanges....im heading to the oleander ward over in Fontana. should be good i hope.  Okay so as you know Elder Ballard was here to speak to the missionaries & man that meeting was INCREDIBLE!! I dont know how to say it in words but i have never felt the way i have felt ever before then what i felt in that meeting. The spirit was so strong & i learned so much. Excatly what i needed to hear. I just wish you all could have been there so i figure thats the best way to do it since i cant even tell you all about it in person. He is such a funny person too. Loves to crack jokes. Also he came out before he spoke & wanted to shake each missionaries hand!!! Cool huh! SOOOOO i asked him about Willie haha :) he asked him if he remembered an elder heward in the toronto mission & he goes who? and i said elder heward & he waits about a sec & says "Oh yeah i remember him".....haha yeah right. do you really? haha then he says "tell him hi for me". so tell kurt to tell willie hi for him when he's out working with him & that ELder Ballard is such a cool person! He seriously made me so happy to be on a mission! Its like one of those things where you're in a meeting but the spirit it talking to you & telling you things to your heart that hes not saying but you feel it. As he was talking i just kept feeling how much i love being a missionary & that i honestly dont ever want these days to end. haha yeah i know pretty dramatic but its really how i felt. I love serving a mission! Also we got to go to the later meeting that day for the recent converts & investigators & Devon & jen were there & also some other investigators & that meeting was awesome too. A little different focus of course but great.Also on Sunday i had a neat experience, first off Devon gave a talk :) so cool! i felt like a proud little mom hahahh he talked on priesthood in the home. He cried almost the whole time & it was just such a neat experience to watch him up there giving a talk about how much he appreciates the priesthood now cause he has been inactive for about 6 years and has missed out on so many blessings he could have done or received. and jen was sitting down next to me crying too. so sweet. Then the next speaker spoke on marriage & parenthood & the same thing happened again where the spirit spoke to me but the talk really didnt relate to me in my life now but i felt a very overwhelming feeling of how much i appreciate my mom being a stay at home mom & that is something i will never forget & hope i can do when i have kids. Also Jen had her baptismal interview :D :D SHE WAS SO CUTE!! before she went in she said to my district leader "now you're not gonna make me cry are you?" haha and laughed then after it was over she came out teary eyed & said "see! he did make me cry!" haha she has such an incredible testimony! oh things with pat and valerie are ok. Something is goin on with Pat & we're not really sure. We're kinda taking things slow & being cautious but we know the Lord will help us. Hes moving cause the Land lord kicked him off but he found a new place not too far from where he was. Ill keep you updated. so much for keeping this email short haha but i gotta go have a wonderful week & i am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for prompting me to serve. This is the best thing ever! I love you all more then anything & for ETERNITY! adios!

-Sister AMber Ruth Heward     

Levi

I have to kinda vent to the other elders a little bit because it’s like working with someone with pride so strong that they think they are never wrong. Ive never met anybody like this before. its kinda crazy how prideful he is. I’m trying to turn every opportunity into a teaching one and trying some other different methods with him and I called president for help and I’m just pushing through it. I’m learning a lot and I love the challenge. President eyring said something along the lines of "bring on the mountain. bring on the challenge" we all have challenges and the funny things is we don’t like them. but if we realize why we have challenges, which is to make us smarter and to strengthen our testimony, it makes them not even hard. it makes them a literal challenge and I get the competitive nature with it and just attack it, Ive been really mentally tired though from thinking about how to help him . It’s funny how Ive never thought about how to help someone be a missionary before and then all the sudden I have to think about it all day every day. Anyways, the work is going though. I keep working and studying and praying. I love the emails and especially the pictures mom. and dad whenever you get the free time (which is like never) another letter wouldn’t hurt one but :) I love unexpected hand written letters. thank you so much for all you do family.
Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Amber's Easter

Things with our trio are doing awesome! I can testify that if you honestly try to be loving and patient with people then heavenly father WILL help you love them! We had a neat experience on Tuesday. A lady in our ward teaches seminary & their lesson on Tuesday was on Jeremiah 16:16 missionary work......yeah as you know that scripture is close to my heart. Well she asked if we could come & talk to the class & share experiences with them. It was EARLY seminary! I told the class this was the FIRST time i had been to early seminary before & that it was kinda cool....okay actually its not & im glad i had seminary DURING school! They all started laughing. I told them my experience i had of what made me go on a mission & how much i LOVE the scripture Jeremiah 16:16. OF COURSE i was crying as i was talking to them. I just told them how important it is that we have missionaries out & that there are millions and millions of people searching & praying for guidance & Heavenly father is preparing them for us so WE NEED TO SERVE!! It was a cool experience & it reminded me of when mom used to teach :) So Pat is doing ok. He still his awesome self but hasn’t been feeling good these last weeks. he has a lot of problems with his body so he has been in & out of the hospital & in a lot of pain. :( poor guy. But spiritually he’s doing pretty well. He’s having a big stumbling block right now with the commandment of tithing. We're just being patient & helping him along but he needs to do his part & pray for help if he really wants to progress & be baptized then the Lord WILL help him. He had 2 neat experiences: He said one night he had asked Heavenly Father "so are these things really all true? Are they real? Is it right that I believe all this? He opened his scripture randomly to Alma 5:12!! Go read it!! :) Then he also asked "so why are Sister Heward & sister Peavler really here? (yeah these questions kinda seem funny and strange but they're normal investigator questions I think) well he opened his scriptures to Alma 11:31!! :) check this one out too! pretty cool. Well Easter day was really fun! We actually got invited to sing with the Young Womens in sacrament :D it was so nice & it made me miss young womens ALOT! It was a really pretty song. Then the AWESOME ward has such cool families that a couple of them invited us to their house to 'crash' their family parties & hang out with them. We had a lot of fun and we laughed so hard! They are one of the coolest families EVER! We also went & decorated Devon & Jens door cause they were getting home from the Philippines that night. We have missed them so stinking much bad though.. I’m grateful! Well happy late Easter to you all! I love you so much & am grateful for our brother Jesus Christ who did suffer in Gethsemane, was crucified, & DID rise on the 3rd day so we can all be resurrected also & be with each other FOREVER!! THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!!
LOVE Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Amber's Easter

Things with our trio are doing awesome! I can testify that if you honestly try to be loving and patient with people then heavenly father WILL help you love them! We had a neat experience on Tuesday. A lady in our ward teaches seminary & their lesson on Tuesday was on Jeremiah 16:16 missionary work......yeah as you know that scripture is close to my heart. Well she asked if we could come & talk to the class & share experiences with them. It was EARLY seminary! I told the class this was the FIRST time i had been to early seminary before & that it was kinda cool....okay actually its not & im glad i had seminary DURING school! They all started laughing. I told them my experience i had of what made me go on a mission & how much i LOVE the scripture Jeremiah 16:16. OF COURSE i was crying as i was talking to them. I just told them how important it is that we have missionaries out & that there are millions and millions of people searching & praying for guidance & Heavenly father is preparing them for us so WE NEED TO SERVE!! It was a cool experience & it reminded me of when mom used to teach :) So Pat is doing ok. He still his awesome self but hasn’t been feeling good these last weeks. he has a lot of problems with his body so he has been in & out of the hospital & in a lot of pain. :( poor guy. But spiritually he’s doing pretty well. He’s having a big stumbling block right now with the commandment of tithing. We're just being patient & helping him along but he needs to do his part & pray for help if he really wants to progress & be baptized then the Lord WILL help him. He had 2 neat experiences: He said one night he had asked Heavenly Father "so are these things really all true? Are they real? Is it right that I believe all this? He opened his scripture randomly to Alma 5:12!! Go read it!! :) Then he also asked "so why are Sister Heward & sister Peavler really here? (yeah these questions kinda seem funny and strange but they're normal investigator questions I think) well he opened his scriptures to Alma 11:31!! :) check this one out too! pretty cool. Well Easter day was really fun! We actually got invited to sing with the Young Womens in sacrament :D it was so nice & it made me miss young womens ALOT! It was a really pretty song. Then the AWESOME ward has such cool families that a couple of them invited us to their house to 'crash' their family parties & hang out with them. We had a lot of fun and we laughed so hard! They are one of the coolest families EVER! We also went & decorated Devon & Jens door cause they were getting home from the Philippines that night. We have missed them so stinking much bad though.. I’m grateful! Well happy late Easter to you all! I love you so much & am grateful for our brother Jesus Christ who did suffer in Gethsemane, was crucified, & DID rise on the 3rd day so we can all be resurrected also & be with each other FOREVER!! THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!!
LOVE Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Levi's a Trainer

last transfer my comp went down to roseville and my new comp is straight from the MTC haha. yea hes a new missionary so it means that I'm training. its so freakin hard. hes 22 so i don't know what the deal is with getting older missionaries but he thinks because hes older that he knows what missionary work is already and Ive been trying to convince him what it really is. honestly hes kinda annoying..and is random on conversation and he tells me what i need to do and i say okay I'll try harder and then i ask him to think about changing something and he gives me a reason why hes doing it and justifies it. it think its because he waited until he was 22 to go maybe.. well I'm gonna need your prayers more than ever now family because the only way this kid will learn is through the Holy Ghost. well that's the way any of us learn .

oh yeah, conference was so amazing !! and one thing i got out of it is the Holy Ghost told me that Jesus Christ is the Savior by giving me chills.

talk to you later.

love elder heward

Amber's no chicken!

now I'm in a new tri companionship......its getting better & better the longer we're together. To be honest we got put with the only girl we really didn't wanna be with. but you know what, This has really strengthened my testimony of not judging (& that was talked about ALOT at conference. The thing is this girl Sister Dodge doesn't have the best reputation here, not many sisters want to be her comp or like her cause they think she is a very negative person & talks alot & is kinda annoying, but yes some of those things are true :) BUT if you are patient & try to understand why they are that way you can get along with ANYONE! We learned that she has had a very hard life growing up & has depression :( well me & peavler will definitely change that! ha ha we are very happy people so she seems to be doing really well. I also learned that i need to not base my judgments on people from what other people say. That's so not fair to other people. Especially being new i didn't know many sisters so the only thing i knew about them came from what other people said. Well i have a completely different view on Sister Dodge now. I actually am OK being her companion & grateful that she is here cause i think its good for our area to have someone new & a new perspective. The Lord definitely knows what he's doing. shes been out 10 months & is from Washington.

Okay so Friday we did the funniest thing!!! We killed chickens!!! Like the whole shebang! Chopped the heads off, plucked them & cut them up into pieces of meat! haha It was so crazy! I attached some pictures. It was a good activity for Easter i think :) haha Also i have some freakin AWESOME NEWS!!!! Elder M. Russell Ballard is coming to my mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet huh!!! We're so stinkin excited! He's coming April 21st & also an Elder Shane Bowen from the seventy will be here too. Yeah we're all pretty stoked & feel pretty lucky! :D



love sister amber ruth heward

Levi

we had a misssion conference and Elder L. Tom Perry came and he talked and i was praying so hard for my comp to hear somthing that will spark him and when we got back he was all excited to go out and to do this and that and i was like holy cow, He does answer prayers haha. it was so crazy. the only thing that changed him was the spirit. its awesome. so this last week was pretty nice. we did work and we had a nice time at church and im starting to get warmed up to how some of the people are in the ward and just working with their sarcasm its funny that we think other people have a problem when most of the time we can just change how we act and it make it fine. us humans are so dumb sometimes.
i am so glad i decided to go on a mission . ive met so many cool people. my comp game me a fijian suva tenga. its spelt differently but thats how it sounds. and its just like a skirt thing that says "fiji islands" on it and it has a british flag on it. its awesome. my testimony is growing each and every day soooo much.
you'll learn something at church and say wow thats cool. and then like a couple weeks later it'll happen again. well that happens every single day. more than once and more than twice and more than like 6 times honestly. ask adam about it. ask kurt about it. ask dad about it. go ahead ask him right now. ask him really quick and then finish the letter.......i can wait haha......welll i love being on a mission
the greatest work ever at the greatest time of my life in the greatest time of the world. thats what elder Perry said haha. love you alltil next week.
love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Amber

so with the baptisms, jen is getting baptized april 28th! it is kinda far but she picked it all on her own & said she just felt that was the day it needed to be. This
week has been so exciting & happy with her! She just glows & loves talking about her baptism. They are planning it all already & telling HIS family but not HERS yet cause they're not mormon. His family is SOO excited but her family is from the phillipines & they are heading there for 2 weeks on the 23rd of this month. We are REALLY REALLY sad they're leaving us for 2 weeks. WE pretty much see them every other day cause they call us alot to go out to lunch or to just come over & have a little lesson. This week we went & had lunch with them at a real indian food restaurant. Like food from India. It was so good. & then after we went to their house & watched President Monsons biography "On the Lord's Errand" it was way good! Also with Pat & Valerie....Valerie wants to get baptized SOOOO bad but of course she will need her mom's permission cause shes only 11 & that might be hard since it took her mom a YEAR before letting her go back to church. Its a long stupid story but just a couple sundays ago she was able to go! so awesome & shes loving it! & with Pat, he knows its all true but he is really afraid of making a committment & he knows its a completely 360 turn on his life! He was seriously one of those people that was sooo bad! like the worst you can imagine. Part of a big biker gang & part of the secret people in the military haha anyway he is an incredible man so dont get scared or anything. i promise we're being safe. We feel the spirit so strongly when we're with him. Yesterday was actually kinda cool cause in sunday school (he's coming to sunday school now! :D ) we talked about prayer & the teacher said something about how sometimes prayers take a long time to be answered & pat raised his hand & said "well i have to say that also prayers sometimes take 5 minutes to be answered cause when i prayed for guidance on how to repent & be completely clean so i dont end up going to 'hell' i walked out the door to take the trash out & there was sister heward & sister peavler talking to my neighbor!" then the rest is history :) pretty cool huh. he will be baptized but no date yet. Actually just last night we were at his place & we asked him why he hasnt set a date yet & what reasons are holding him back. (We are so chill with him) he just said hes really trying to cut ALL ties with his past life with all the bad things. He doesnt want any connection with it. It think thats pretty cool. anyway i better go & write some other people i love you all & know i am doing the work of the Lord for His TRUE church! have a wonderful week!
Love Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Levi's Week

this last week was a pretty rough week. i still have my same comp and president has been telling me to hang in there and all and i was praying really hard to have something to help me with this trial that im going through and when we went to church the enitre sacrament meeting was on patience haha. i thought alright, if thats what you want me to do, i'll do it. i took that as my answer so now im doing pretty dang good. its funny, sometimes when were going through trials we think "man im not happy right now. im sad" just because were going through a trial but we are happy. we just have to realize that its all part of HIs plan for us to go through this and realize that we have so much to be happy for and it makes those "bad days" not so bad haha. anyways, im learning alot being with elder rakuita. i love the kid quite a bit. i never knew i would care for him so much bit hes really cool. anyways, i hope your all doing fine and everthing is great
Love Elder Levi Bowen Heward


Levi with his family pillow

Amber's awesome week

Hello Hello!
Another week and things are awesome!! Okay so yesterday was probably the best day yet on the mission!!! first off YES, valerie got to go to church!! Pat actually asked us if we would go shopping with them on saturday to help her pick out church clothes cause he knows theyre supposed to be modest & stuff & he just didn't know exactly what to get. We had a BLAST with them! Pat is just so funny! He kept talking about getting baptized on march 17th & how thats sister peavlers bday but how he didnt wanna do for her bday but we tell him over & over that it wouldnt be FOR her bday but he already knows its true & it would just be an awesome added thing. He kinda reminds me of dad how he wants to kind of be a mystery and not tell us he wants to be baptized but that hes thinking about it & makes up an excuse (peavlers bday) for why he wouldnt but then i wouldnt be surprised if he just sprang it on us one day. haha guess we'll see. So also some other great news!! Jen is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So heres what happened: Sunday at church was a WONDERFUL day for her. She bore her testimony in gospel principles & told how she came to gain her own testimony & i could tell she was so ready but of course we have to be patient & wait till they feel ready. Well later that day Devon called us & said, "hey whats your plans for today cause i was wanting to talk to you about something?" i said we didnt have any appts so we could go over to his house after dinner. So of course me & sister peavler get really nervous & start wondering what it could be. we start brainstorming & the idea of jen telling us that she wanted to get baptized seemed like a dream but we were like that would be awesome if thats what they want to talk about!!! haha well we got to their house & a little into the conversation devon says, " so how does April 28th sound?" me & sister peavler just sat their shocked for a couple seconds and asked, "BAPTISM?" they both smiled & said YEP! sister peavler jumped up & hugged jen & i just sat their shocked & tears started coming in my eyes. I could not believe what was happening! It honestly felt like dream & i was waiting for them to be like JUST KIDDING! haha but it was all real! The rest of the night we just hung out with them & talked about everything they had coming now! All the wonderful blessings Heavenly Father has been waiting to give them! :) We are just so open & close with them that we started talking about everything we have been through these past months & how we just thought Devon was LAZY when we first met him! he just laughed & was like yeah i was. & jen started telling me how she couldnt believed i asked her to be baptized a few lessons into teaching her & i told her thats what they teach missionaries to do but that i was so scared to do it. :) Its just so incredible to see someone beginning to end & the whole progression they went through. I honestly didnt think it was possible in this area when i first got here but NEVER underestimate the Lord! They told us they want to be sealed in the SLC temple & as we were talking about it, it hit me that the year mark will be so close to when i go home (may 21st)!!!!!! & they were like well we could probably wait for you to get home & then we would have a whole reunion with everyone at the sealing!! cause sister peavler only lives a couple hours from there too! :D so AWESOME how the Lord works isnt it! anyway thats the highlight of this week! Transfers are the end of March & of course we're hoping to stay together AGAIN but the odds really arent good haha so if someone leaves she'll have to travel back for the baptism. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!
Love, Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Amber

Me & sister peavler are staying together this next transfer!!! Words can't explain how happy we are! The thing is that the odds werent on our side at all! They almost ALWAYS separate the trainer & greeny after the 12 week training is over & also peavler told me that this is the longest she has been with a companion so the Lord really answered our prayers of staying together & some of our less actives & investigators prayed for us too :) they didn't want us to leave yet. So yay another transfer together!! :) We literally started screaming & jumping up & down when we found out we were both staying!!!!!!

okay so missionary work haha we had a cool time tracting one day: we were driving & all of a sudden i just yell "we should tract that street!" & i was like WHOA where did that come from haha so peavler goes okay & turns around. So we went & parked our car & as soon as we got there this lady was getting in her car about to leave & when we went up to her she just starts crying & telling us how she is going through some hard times & would love to talk with us so we told her we would come back when she got home. We also met the coolest people EVER! We met a couple families saying they were actually in the process of looking for a religion! SWEET HUH! The spirit really prompted me to tract that street! Also on sunday there was a missionary farewell.....me & peavler almost started crying when we realized it was a farewell cause it brought back all these memories & throughout sacrament i would get teary eyed remembering my day & my talk. it was cool. Also i invited Jen (devons wife) to be baptized but she said no cause she really wants to be solid in the gospel & know FOR SURE that this is true & i think thats a great answer cause she is doing the things necessary to have that strong testimony. She said she is praying about Joseph Smith & also is reading the BoM on her own. I'm so proud of her.& now she is going to relief society with us!! :) Also Pat came again & he has this way of slipping out of sacrament right when the closing prayer is done SOO in sacrament as soon as the prayer was done me & peavler jump out of chairs & jet to the back to catch him & people were like where are you running off too? haha & we ran down the hall to catch him & he hid behind a corner & scared us! haha anyway that was really funny! I really hope he gets baptized this transfer! Well i better go write some people back but have a fabulous week! I'm grateful to be here serving the Lord & im so grateful to have the best family ever that supports & prays for me! BYE!!

-Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Levi

sooooo transfers came in and im staying, thank goodness, and my trainer is coming to be my new zone leader! im stoked because this zone is having a problem with being obedient and hes a really obedient missionary. im looking forward to the monthly exchanges haha. we're gonna work our tails off and its gonna be awesome.
so mom just a hint, if you ever want to send me a tie, try to make it a paisley one please :) haha
so this last week we had a dinner with a less active which was crazy to begin with and then her daughter, whos not a member, asked for a blessing and told us that she wants to change her life and she said that she was feeling at peace when we were there and it was completely the spirit though. but about my comp, hes still doing the same. im learning alot from him still but its so hard to get him to work because his policy is "he wants to do it HIS way" which is the exact opposite of humility. anyways, president thinks im changing his life so i'll put my trust in the Lord and in him and know its for the better. keep praying for me please because i need it badly because i know i wont be able to do this on my own. love you all. Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Levi

.....so this last week has been amazing. we interviews with the president and it went so well. he helped me realize that im a leader and he said that he could feel my leadership when i walked into our first meeting and i was like "holy cow " , ive been getting my comp to be more obedient and our whole apartment to be more obedient. It wasnt easy but i knew i could do it with the help of the Lord. im kinda like senior comp even though im not but the president told me he put me in that position because he wanted me to do that so. ive been learning alot though. its so crazy how much we learn by studying and pondering instead of just reading. like thinking about what your studying and cross references and other sources of info. its insane. so the members here are pretty annoying. they think they know how to do everything so they tell us how we should be teaching and question our decisons all the time and i got a little frustrated but its all good now . im having my comp teach me some fijian and im learning how to talk in fijian. its so cool cuz nobody else knows

i'll talk to you next week. Love Elder Levi Bowen heward

Amber's awesome week

Yesterday at church we had 3 investigators come to church!! AWESOME HUH! Jen was one who i just talked about, Lulu kirbo who is 9 & really wants to be baptized & go to church but her family is less active. Such an adorable girl & LOVES the gospel. She had a lot of fun at church & then PAT CAME!!! YAY! our favorite investigator haha (even though we shouldnt have favorites.) ANyway he came but sat in the back & we didn't even know he was there until after sacrament he called us & sister peavler answered & he goes "well of course they talked about that dunking in the water thing (baptism)." hahaha & she does YOU CAME TO CHURCH!? he goes yes i did but im leaving now so she RUNS outside to catch him & talks a little while. WE were sooooo excited to see him. That was a huge step for him because 1st off he doesn't like being around alot of people 2nd he didn't wanna go without his daughter but he went even tho she doesn't have permission from her mom to go. We were so proud of him but it doesnt end there. We went to his house later that day & he starts telling us an experience he had. So we had left a sticky note at his house to remind him to pray about knowing whether the things we are teaching him are true or not. Well he says "you know that sticky note that you left here, well its like following me around haha so i decided to pray, well i grabbed my BoM & just flipped it open to a random page then just pointed at a random verse & the verse was Alma 30:41. It reads 'But, behold, i have all things as a testimony that these things are true; & ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; & will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?' ISN"T THAT INCREDIBLE!! How more direct can you get!? That scripture was no doubt an answer to his prayer. These things ARE true & Heavenly Father is listening & answering his prayers. He knows these things are true but just has some other things he needs help with but it was such a spiritual experience & there is no doubt that was a coincidence. Prayer really does work! & this church is TRUE! He really is being blessed for going to church & doing those things hes supposed to do. I was thinking yesterday about how excited i get when i see people come to church & it really hit me that the way i feel is only a PORTION of what Heavenly father feels when he sees his children go to church, member or not. It shows that we have a belief & faith in God & we trust him to guide & help us if we are doing those things we need to do. Thanks for taking me to church all those years growing up :) really its bigger then we realize. Going to church is important.
Keep doing whats right & God will keep blessing you. I promise he is always there leading & guiding us if we are listening & paying attention. GOODBYE!!
Love, Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Last week's post (sorry it's late)
So GOOOOOOD NEWS!! We have a new investigator & she is soo great! She is actually the wife of devon who i think i told you about towards the beginning of my mission. Hes a return missionary who stopped going to church when i got off him mission & his excuse was that he was just lazy. haha well its his wife & she is a non member/catholic & she has been going to church with him every sunday the last month. Its awesome & we had dinner with them a couple days ago & she told us she wants to start taking the lessons!!! We about flipped haha Devon has been teaching her alot & answering alot of her questions but she wanted us to teach her because she told us she feels a really good feeling whenever we come over & loves having us around! isn't that so cool! i loved hearing that! So yesterday we taught her the first lesson & it went incredible. She talked about how she can see a difference in devon when he started going back to church & has always thought devons family was such a great family & started crying. She said she could see how religion has really made an impact in his families life. Devon also began telling that he has loved feeling the spirit back in his life & realized how much he missed that feeling! I recited the 1st vision in the lesson & it was my first time!! :D let me just say i was way nervous but i only kind messed up once haha it all went well though. She said she would pray about joseph smith that night to see if its true & were gonna go follow up on that on tuesday! yay!! Also we have gotten really close with a couple less actives lately, Amanda, is married to a buddist but she has told us she is gonna start coming back to church cause she wants her 2 boys to go. Shes blessing her baby soon & asked us some quesitons about the sacrament. We told her she can be forgiven of past sins & just needs to talk to the bishop & she can get on the right track. She said that is a huge comfort to feel. She said she didn't know if she could be forgiven or not. Isn't that sad that some people don't think they can be forgiven?? It breaks my heart! Everyone has the same opportunity & is all able to us the atonement in their lives! Thats why Jesus came to the earth & performed the atonement for EVERYONE!! & i love Him for it!!
Also update on dennis: not very good. He is kinda goin downhill & i think were gonna stop going over to see him. He just never progresses & i think is even getting worse. Its sad but sometimes that happens. He has alot of bad influences around him & alot of anti mormon friends. kinda sad. Anyway thats that. Well i better go write some other people! Love you all & this work is true! I love having the spirit with me constantly & know with all my heart it is true!!
Love Sister Amber Heward

Levi's from last week

holy shmoly this week has been insane. so my comp is teaching me alot even though we arent doing as much work as me and my trainer. im still trying to learn from him. he likes missionary work but he wants to do it his own way which sucks but i just make sure he doesnt veer off too far from what the spirit is trying to say. we havent ben having that much success mainly because we dont work crazy hard and just because of the area and people. so all in all its still pretty crazy.One of the good things about it is ive been studying alot lately and ive been learning alot about the prophesys of the BOM and they are so crazy. theyre in 2nd nephi 28 and 29. check them out. so we played basketball on pday and my zone leaders are really good and two of them are pretty good and really big and so when i play i play as a point gaurd and i shoot threes and pass the ball like steve nash its fun. so im on exchanges right now with my MTC companion. its crazy and awesome because i forgot how well we got along and how awesome it would be if we were comps. we would tear it up.....

....well im doing really well and the ward im in is Sutter Buttes ward and there are trees and mountains and the people are cool except theyre kinda racist against my comp a little bit which is ok cuz hes tough and it doesnt get to him. so this member we went to for dinner on sunday ives in a mansion and he has a homemade river around his house and he has jet skis to drive in them and he has a lexus and his house echoes when you talk in it and he has like 5 guitars and theyre all nice and he has a movie room. .it was crazy. anyways, im doing well and thank you so much for writing and updating me. and i pray for you and everyone else. hope you have a really good week. read the BOM. love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Amber's letter from last week

Okay so the update with Pat, I can't remember if i told you but i INVITED HIM TO BE BAPTIZED!!! it was my first one & sadly he didn't say yes but he didn't say no either. The thing is he knows he should be baptised but he doesn't feel completely ready & still wants to know more. We try to set a date to have a goal to shoot for but he was still a little weary. He knows he should be baptized so its just a matter of time :D We did go play minigolf with him & his daughter the other day cause we made a deal with him that we would go play with him if he promised to pray about being baptised. I think thats a pretty good deal right?
.....reading the BOM. ITS EVERYTHING!! Everything hinges on that so always stay close to the scriptures & your testimony will only grow & you'll feel God's love more & more. Also always remember one of the greatest gifts Heavenly Father has given us is our agency. It is up to us to make sure we are doing the things to have eternal life cause we're all going to live forever but eternal life & immortality are not the same so we must make sure we are CHOOSING eternal life & exaltation so we can be with God & our families FOREVER! the quote i have on the back of my planner is "Your eternal destiny will not be the result of chance but of choice. It is never too late to begin to choose eternal life!" -Elder Randall K Bennett of the seventy. Well i love you all so much
Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Note from the Editor

Just for all of your information, the address's listed for Levi and Amber are for their mission homes. That is where all of their mail and packages are to be sent. Because of this the addresses should stay the same for their whole missions! Happy reading!

Amber!

SO this week is transfers & listen to this. Me & my companion are staying but since our ward is a new ward that was combined from 2 other wards there were 2 sets of missionaries covering each side of the previous wards BUT the 2 missionaries were transferred out & the rumor is that we heard from my zone leaders is that they're not sending in 2 missionaries to replace them but were covering both areas on our own now!! CRAZY! we both were pretty shocked & we are kinda nervous about it but it gives us a lot more to do now. We'll see how it works out. Keep me in your prayers :) So let me just say that my piano talent has really come in handy on my mission. A couple days ago the spanish missionaries were looking for somebody to play the piano at their baptism & they called me....that was an interesting experience. It is way different playing the piano for spanish people then english. Then on sunday they were looking for somebody to play the piano in primary & the music lady came looking for me & asked if i would play. I say of course i would & told them it reminds me of when i was home & played for the primary. Well let me just say that this week has been kinda interesting. We kinda had a lot of problems throughout the week but we also had the best numbers we have ever had this week! me & my companion both got sick (but i'm feeling fine now) So those days we didn't get much done & also our car was having problems so we were without a car for a day & then had the zone leaders car for a day,but we totally had a great lesson with Pat!! (He is dennis's neighbor) He would come visit sometimes when we would teach dennis & one day we began talking to him & he had told us that he had just prayed to God asking for some direction & then we showed up. He tells us we just knocked on the wrong door :) I agree with him cause dennis isn't progressing at all but Pat soaks everything in & i'm pretty sure he'll get baptized sooner or later. Well anyway the mission life is going good of course. I always seem to keep a positive attitude through everything & it helps alot.

we need the BOM in our lives DAILY, we need God in our lives DAILY!! In Exodus 16 it talks about the people of Israel & how God had tested their faith by giving them bread everyday. By doing this, the people had their minds towards God everyday & had faith that he would give. It took them awhile because they tested him by trying to store some bread but it just became rotten haha anyway its important to do those things daily to have God in our hearts & mind every single day! not just when we need him most!I love you all so much & i know your prayers for me our being answered! Wish us luck with this other area we are in charge of now! oh & btw today is my 2 MONTH MARK!! WOOT! :D have a good week!
Love Sister Amber Ruth Heward

Levi's First Transfer

.....im getting transfered :) to Yuba City, Sutter Buttes. . im really excited to go. im going to be in the same district as my MTC companion too so its gonna be fun. My old companion is gonna be training again actually. My new comps name is Elder Rikuta. Hes from Fiji (cool) so im pretty stoked. i dont have very long because im driving up there in about and hour so i'll be able to tell you more info next pday. So i honestly cant believe how fast and how much ive grown in the last while. ive gone through so many things like speaking in sacrament meeting about the BOM and talking to certain people but it certainly wouldnt have happened if i wouldve stayed home.
i bore the strongest testiomny about the BOM last night to and Investigator. it was amazing. my heart was about to blow up out of my chest haha. i gotta go get transfered.
thank you for the emails. i love you all
love Elder Levi Bowen Heward

Correction to Amber's Zipcode

It is 91701