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