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