April 12, 2015 Happy Easter and Happy Conference

Hello Po!!!:) 

Regarding the Suits I got my old suit fitted. And I am going to get pants made for the suit and then I will make 1 suit. So I will come home with 2. But I am only going to get 1 made because I will not use them every day.  But what are some souvenirs that you guys might want. I have a few things that I am getting for you all but if you have some Ideas tell me.:) Oh yeah and guess what grandma just told me I have less than 100 days.....that is scary!!!!! And then another scary thing happened earlier today......well I have had a crazy last past couple of months but earlier this morning President called me and told me that I will be a Zone Leader this coming transfer. So I will be leaving my son and will be transferring. It will be interesting. I am definitely going to need the help of the Lord with this!!! You guys should probably pray for me. We don't want the zone I will be assigned to fail right!;) 

HAPPY EASTER....Last week and HAPPY CONFERENCE!!!!:) 

This week was awesome!!!:) And it ended well with conference and then we had 6 Investigators come to church yesterday! That is the most we have had in this area!!! And they are all awesome!!!:) I am sad that I will be transferring in a week and a half but my son and his new companion will have a lot of baptisms in the next 2 transfers! We were able to do a lot this week and We also went on exchanges and I went with an Elder named Elder Patterson. He is from Idaho and fairly new. But he is awesome! He is training also right now, his own son! He is one of my best friends in the mission right now. We will definitely be keeping in contact after the mission haha but he goes home in 2016 so that is far away still. But this conference was my LAST conference......That is insane to think! 

I love conference so much and LOVED this conference. Even though there were some stupid people who opposed the sustaining when it happened, the spirit testified to me again that they are truly called of God and I was so proud to be able to sustain them as prophets seers and revelators!:) I loved their messages and every single one of my questions got answered and with awesome answers!!

One of my favorite talks was Elder Bednars’ talk about fear. Because I am not going to lie. I am kind of scared and nervous to come home because here in the mission if you are obedient you are in like this safe bubble from the world. And you see and know very little. And it is easier to feel the spirit and be more focused on the things that matter most in life! I just don't want to come home and then lose the spirituality that I have gained here in the mission. Elder Bednars talk was perfect for me in having faith and building on the Foundation of Christ. Like my Favorite scripture says that "it is upon Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation" and if we do that the "devil shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless woe" Awesome right!!!:)

So I am thankful for Prophets and Apostles and all the Leaders that are there to help us make it back to our heavenly home! And I invite you guys to review the talks as I will be doing and applying the things you learn into your lives. It is so easy for us to overlook the blessing of conference. Like Gerald Clausse said that sometimes when we have things so close or they are so common he didn't recognize how wonderful they are and how thankful we really are for them. So that is something I need to work on and be better at.

I know that conference is inspired and of God and it is to help us prepare and be more able to combat the temptations and hardships of life and to be happy and joyful while doing it!!!!:)

Love you guys and hope you have a great week!!!!:)

Elder Ball

Helaman 5:12 

April 5, 2015 "We should be the happiest people in the World"

April 5

(While visiting Jeffrey’s grandmother Joyce , his cousin Kyler was there also. Kyler just returned from the Bacolod Philippines mission a couple of months ago. While there one of Kyler’s mission buddies/companions came to the house to drop off some things for Kyler. He had this adorable girl with him, Jamie Gregory, who had just returned from the Urdaneta Mission and knows Jeffrey.)

HELLO MOM!!!:) That is Crazy that you met Sister Gregory. Whatever she told you it’s not true;) Well as far as needs I don't really need anything. I pulled out more money and I am going to try not to pull out anymore money until I come home. I think it will last me until I get home. Hopefully.:)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!:)  How was your Easter!:) I had a good Easter! Me and My companion took our Sunday after church to travel 3 hours to get my comps patriarchal blessing and when we got there my comp realized he left his recommend at home, so then we left and traveled another 3 hours haha it was a great joy ride.......;) It was insane but I got to relax a little but it was a waste of time and now we get to go back in 2 weeks haha:) Be positive and grateful for everything right ahaha:) 

Well this week was crazy! It was VERY busy and we didn't really get to work in our area that much because of everything that happened. So first on Monday that is our P-day and we don't go out and work until 6. Then on Tuesday we had Exchanges with our Zone leaders and we both worked in their area so nobody worked in our area then on Wednesday we had a full day of work and it was fun, it was WAY HOT!!! We walked around a lot haha and then on Thursday we had zone conference and it was AWESOME!!!!:) We got to watch Meet the Mormons and it was a great movie! I really enjoyed it but it made me want to play football WAY BAD!!!:), then on Saturday I was able to do my first interview to a baptismal candidate. He was awesome and the spirit you feel in those interviews is wonderful! It felt like I wasn't the one speaking. He passed and will be baptized this week!!:) We also had exchanges again this week on Friday to Saturday I was with an Elder who goes home in 2 weeks and really learned a lot from him but he is definitely ready to go home!!!!:) Well I am sorry this is so short! Tell Katie and Matthew that I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!:) Hope you guys enjoyed conference and have a great week!!!:) LOVE YOU GUYS! The Church is true! President Monahan said something that I really liked this week. He said that we are members of the only true church in the world, we have the gospel and our families can be together forever. We should be the happiest people in the world. Even if everything is going wrong just remember you are a member of Christ’s church, that should put a smile on your face!!!:) 

Scripture for the week: Genesis 22 and Alma 22:15-16

Elder Ball

March 29, 2015 - "Think about the way Nephi prayed"

March 29

Alrighty! So for this week we had a great week!:) We are doing some serious planting. We found 8 new investigators last week and 9 more this week so hopefully those new investigators will turn into new members!:)

My comp Elder Sta. Maria is a stud and really put a lot into his preparation for coming on a mission! He is already a pro at teaching and loves the work we are doing! This week we found another family and the Father is very good in the Bible and doesn't really have a religion because he hasn't found one that has everything he has read about in the Bible so that is awesome! I am excited to continue teaching them and watch them progress. I am really enjoying the mission and love how it is helping me become a better person as we help others to get back to our Heavenly Father.

This week I learned a lot about persistence and not giving up. On Friday this week we had exchanges and I went with another elder who is brand new is the mission just like Elder Sta. Maria but he is from Washington State. So we had a full solid plan with lots of backups. I thought for sure we were going to teach like 7 lessons in that day but as we went out we started getting punted or in other words the people weren't home or were busy, stuff like that. So we went through our entire plan for the day by about 4 o’clock. We hadn't taught anyone and it was Blazing hot and very humid. So what we did was we sat down got a drink and we started thinking. Then the member we had who was working with us remembered a man who had been taught before but the missionaries hadn't gone back. But he was on the other side of our area and pretty far. So we got up and started the long journey to the other side of our area. We got there around 5 o’clock met the guy the member had talked about. He was awesome and believes that the church is true and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and wants to become a member. So that was awesome and then we were able to go teach another 2 lessons to investigators and we got a dinner appointment. So even though the beginning of the day was the hardest I have experienced in a while, we listened to a prompting and didn't give up and we were led to an elect child a God and got dinner from a member!!!!:) So, it was awesome and it all paid off. I know Heavenly Father won't leave us out to dry. If we try our best he always provides a way for us to be successful.

I have also been studying about the Enabling Power of the Atonement this week. If you have the March Liahona Elder Bednar has a talk in there that is AWESOME!!!:) I read it a long time ago and am reading it again right now! It is called "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality"!:) It is awesome! Read it! Well I hope you guys have a great week also and keep reading in the scriptures and sharing your insights with each other!:) I love you and will talk to you next week!!!:) 

Scripture of the week! 1 Nephi 7:17-18 Think about the way Nephi prayed.

Oh and Grandma Just told me that next week I only have 100 days left........That is scary....... Trunkiness never was Happiness:)

Have a great week!!:) 

Elder Ball 

March 22, 2015 - Missionary work is the most important thing we can do

March 22

So this week was another crazy week!!!:) Me and Elder Santa Maria have had lots of opportunities to use the Priesthood this week. Like this week we were able give blessings to people. I am not supposed to send weird things that happen so just remember to ask me about it when I skype you in May. I will tell you all about it:) Well actually about the 2 blessings we gave this week and why we had to give them. We were guided by the spirit to the places so I know that we were supposed to be there in order to help them. We also found some new investigators at one of the places we gave the blessing. I am so grateful that I am worthy to use the Priesthood and act in the name of our Savior.

This week we also were able to go to Urdaneta for a " New Missionary Training" and learn from some workshops and training given by the assistants, one of them being Elder Giblette:) And from President Monahan. I love listening to President Monahan and learning from him! It really is a goal of mine to be a Scriptorian like him. He knows so much and I think he is going to become an area seventy when he gets home or something because he is like elite compared to other mission presidents that I hear about. He has helped me to understand more how important the scriptures are and now I absolutely love the scriptures and they can help us with anything we are going through in our lives and will help us to prepare for the everyday trails and challenges that we face! I never thought I would literally LOVE the scriptures but I do. And I am so thankful we have them and so thankful for the hardships and trails the prophets went through in order for us to have them right now!!!

Oh and this week I gave my first workshop as a District Leader and President Monahan happened to come and he attended in our district....So yeah at first I was like.......OH NO......but then I was okay with it. He actually added some great insights to the workshop. I talked about gratitude and I know it was inspired and I had fun being the mouth piece for the spirit to work through:) Missionary Work is the most important thing we can do and I continue to see how that is so true, every day!!!:) 

I am so grateful to be here and LOVE what I am doing!:) 

I love you MOM, DAD, KATIE, MATTHEW!!!:)

Elder Ball

Weekly Scripture: 2 Nephi 2:6-8     Mosiah 16:5

March 15, 2015 - Picked up new "Son" and made a District Leader

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!!:) 

Well this was an interesting week! Full of lots of unexpected things! So this week Elder Flores Transferred and I was left here in Mangaldan to train my son:) His name is Elder Santa Maria. He is from down south where all the civil wars are happening right now. He is FIlipino. He is awesome! He used to work with the Missionaries every day before he came so he has a lot of experience already! And I was also called as a district leader. It should be fun. I know I am going to learn a lot and will definitely be tested these next 2 transfers but I am way excited for it.

Me and Elder Santa Maria had a good week this week. I will just share one little experience that happened to me and Elder Santa Maria 2 days ago on Saturday. So we had just finished eating at a members house. It was 8 oclock. We had no one else planned and we were both tired. The first thing that came to my mind was "alright we had a good day...lets head on home" but instead me and Elder Santa Maria thought where else we could go. Then after a few seconds one name popped into our heads. It was the name of a semi-less active member. So we started off for his house. As we were getting closer I was not exactly sure where his house was and we were just about to pass it unknowingly when the brother walked out and saw us! I was like “wow, that was cool”!!. 

We started talking with him and he told us that his wife was there and wasn't a member and didn't want to talk to us. We asked if we could just meet her and not teach. He still said no, so then we asked him if we could just wave hi to his wife. He gave in and took us to his house. We saw his wife and we waved.........and then...........A huge smile came to her face she said come in come in......She pulled up 2 chairs for us and was VERY NICE! I was expecting mean but it was the complete opposite. We had a good lesson with here and invited her and her husband to come to church. and guess what.......SHE CAME! It was awesome and she actually has a lot of friends that are members!

So it was awesome to see the blessing that heavenly Father blessed us with for listening and wanting to know where he wanted us to go. This week was cool and I hope you have a great week fam!!!:) LOVE YOU GUYS!!!:)

Elder Ball    

Weekly Scripture: D&C 64:29-30

March 8, 2015 Training another son and went to Manila

HELLO FAMILY!!!:)  So sorry I never got a good email out last week! But this week and last week where pretty good! We have been finding like crazy! A great blessing is we have been finding a lot of men and families. I don't want to offend women but I love when we are able to find men who are willing to listen and it is the BEST when you find a family! We have 2 complete families that we are teaching right now.:)  One we found last night. It was the end of the day at the end of a hard week and we went and contacted them. They were a referral from a guy in our ward. They are a Mom a Dad and 3 young children! It is awesome!!!:) And last week we found this guy! again a REFERRAL!!! He was happy to listen. We taught him 3 times the first week. He always says that he is happy when we come over. He went to Church the very first Sunday. March 1, 2015. It was a great experience for him and after he said he would never forget that day because he said he had finally found the True Church!!!!!!!!  CRAZY RIGHT!!!!:) That is just a huge testimony to me how important member missionary work is. We would have never found him if it wasn't for that member. He now has a baptismal date for Apr 4, 2015!!! He truly was prepared by the Lord. Amazing blessings! He came to church again yesterday and said he will never miss. We haven't even taught the Restoration yet! He truly is GOLDEN!!!!:) And then this week. I was surprised when I was called on Wednesday and told I am training again. That will be fun and I am excited. And my MTC companion Elder Giblette just became one of the Assistants here so that was awesome as well!:). Then on Friday we had a meeting in Urdaneta for the Missionaries training and then we were told that we would not be going back to our area yet because we had to go to Manila on Saturday to do fingerprinting. So I was able to work in my first area last Friday! It was awesome I saw people I had taught and members! They were all way surprised! And then on Saturday we went to Manila. Me and some others that are going home with me and a little after me were able to finish documentation so we can stay here and so we will be able to go home when it is time!!! It was crazy. The world is SO WORLDY! It made me actually kind of scared to come back to such iniquity haha Well that is all part of it!!:) A scripture that I really liked this week is Mosiah 27:25. Becoming converted is a life-long thing and we will be held accountable for. If we keep progressing and if we truly put off the natural man and desire righteousness, like The people King Benjamin taught, that had no more disposition to do evil:) I  KNOW that the church is true and that it is the only way to be truly happy and return with our families to our Heavenly Father. Please tell Grandpa Brent that I love him and hope he is doing okay!!! I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!!:) THE CHURCH IS TRUE!:)  Elder Ball

Feb. 22, 2015

What was your biggest challenge this week? 

This week we had so much going on. We were not able to work in our area for 2 days because we had exchanges with our Zone Leaders on Tuesday and with our District Leader on Friday. And then we had zone interviews on Thursday and so didn't get much work there either. Then on Sunday after church we had a meeting for 2 hours with all the Branch Mission Leaders and Missionaries about how our Missionary Correlation meeting should be done. So very little work done this week. But President told me that I might be training again this next transfer so we will see. 

What has been your biggest concern this week?

I was humbled with the knowledge that I have a lot to work on with my teaching skills so its hard to find out but good to know so I can improve!

What was your biggest success?

We found an entire family. They are 10, all together. They were the next door neighbor of a member. The mother is the neighbors sister. They were way nice and we got a return appointment for this Thursday!:)

And we found this guy. He was born in Hawaii and speaks English. He came here to the Philippines to study. He liked here so he told his parents he was going to stay. He is 29 and owns a few businesses. We met him one night when we were eating dinner at his restaurant. It was actually the night I went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Arrington. That was cool. I miss him being my comp. Our teaching still just clicks when we are together haha!:)

Who was your favorite person this week and why?

President Monahan, He is one of my role models. He just knows how to help you improve and make you motivated to do it. And he is insanely knowledgeable in the scriptures. I want to be good in the scriptures also!

What has been your most significant tender mercy?

That family I talked about earlier. Because a few plans fell through and we didn't know where to go and then the thought popped into our heads to visit a member. We went there shared a short message and then asked to meet there neighbor. And we met the family!!!:)

What are you looking forward to this week?

Teaching the guy we found at the restaurant! He is way nice and wants us to teach him! He is so prepared to hear the Gospel!!!:) and he is Rich!!!::)

Do you have a goal set for this coming week?

We have a lot of goals. But one is to get the guy we found at the restaurant to go to church

Which scripture had the biggest impact on you this week?

D&C 68: 2-4

 Should we continue to pray for the same family or someone else? The guy from the restaurant and the family of 10.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!:)

Elder Ball

Feb. 15, 2015

What was your biggest challenge this week?

We got punted or in other words we were not able to teach a lot this week because a lot of people were not home or didn't want to be taught so. We dealt with a lot of rejections this week which is hard.

What has been your biggest concern this week?

This week we have determined that our branch is not very unified so that is one of our goals right now is to help them be more unified to make missionary work better!:) I am giving a talk in sacrament this week about unity and missionary work!

What was your biggest success?

5 souls were baptized and 2 of them were a husband and wife!!!:) The other 3 were children of a member who went less active but is now active again!:)

Who was your favorite person this week and why?

Elder Tad R. Callister and an old Mission President but I can’t remember his name. Because I read 2 talks by them and it helped me a lot this week realize a lot of things about myself and my progression. And about make my life consecrated!:)

What has been your most significant tender mercy?

Yesterday we went to a family who is all members but they had become a little less active. But because of one of their sons he came to us and said "hey can you come visit my family" so we went and had a very spiritual lesson with them and the mother and father both felt like for their children to go on missions they had to be the example for them. It was a great lesson and the spirit was so strong and as I testified about how I will never regret serving a mission and how thankful I was for you guys as my parents in helping me and guiding me I felt the spirit testify to myself that this is where I was supposed to be and I will never be able to repay you guys for your help in guiding me and Heavenly Father for giving me you and my parents and helping me to serve a mission.

What are you looking forward to this week?

Giving my talk in sacrament. I hope it helps the Branch and we have Interviews with our Mission President which I am excited for also.

Do you have a goal set for this coming week?

Yes to be more consecrated and to help the Branch be more unified.

Which scripture had the biggest impact on you this week?

There are so many but I think maybe Moroni 7:48 /  D&C 46:30 / 3 Nephi 19:24

 Should we continue to pray for the C. Family or someone else?

You can continue praying for them :) 

Thanks! I love you guys and have a great week!!!:) 

Elder Ball

Feb. 8, 2015

1 What has been your biggest challenge this week? 

Our Biggest Challenge this week was that our daily planning was not as efficient as it could have been.  My companion has only been in the mission for 3 months so he is still learning a lot so we spent a lot of time walking and were not able to go to all the people we wanted to but we have talked about it and have a game plan to fix it and be more efficient:)

2 What has been your biggest concern this week?

We only had 3 Investigators at Church yesterday and we have like 20 we are teaching so we are looking at what we are doing and trying to change our teaching a little to teach more like the savior taught and get out of the way of the spirit testifying of the things we are teaching!

3 What was your biggest success?

We had 5 Investigators pass their baptismal interviews so they will be baptized next week!:) I always feel like I did nothing to help the investigators when I get into an area and they are already pretty much ready to be baptized. That is why I enjoy finding people more and watching their progression!:)

4 Who has been your favorite person this week? Why?

A member who gave us a great referral to a family who has truly been prepared by the Lord! MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK!!!:)

5 What has been your most significant tender mercy?

Having the strength to do missionary work every day because I know that I am not physically capable to do what I am doing right now with the amount of rest we get, so It has been a blessing to me for the Lord loving me enough to literally carry me through every day!:)

6 What are you most looking forward to this week?

I am looking forward to our Baptism and finding new people to teach:)

7 Do you have a goal set for this coming week?

Yes to teach more like the Savior and for people to see a little bit more of the savior in my today than they did yesterday.

8 Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week? A few did. D&C 20:31 D&C 76:5-10 D&C 76:116 3 Nephi 27:21

9 Which investigator or member may we pray for this week? For the C. family. They are awesome. They just need a little bit more faith so that they can go to church:)

Have a great week!!:) 

Elder Ball

February 1, 2015

Hello!!!:)  Man that is so weird for me to think that Kyler is over there in Utah but that is okay. I still have 6 months to get A LOT OF work done!!!:)  I was transferred this week to an AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME Branch!:) It is no doubt the most smooth running and organized Branch I have been to. President Monahan has a goal for the District I am in to become a Stake before he goes home. And that will happen when our Branch splits. It is close but needs a little more progress. They need a few more Melchizedek Priesthood holders and a little bit higher attendance and they can split. So me and my companion feel a pretty heavy responsibility to help make that happen. That would be a steller ending to a mission. To be somewhere and help it become a ward and stake!

My new area is in Mangaldan. It is above Urdaneta. It is pretty cool here but because I am not close to mountains anymore it is way hot here haha. And my companion is Awesome as well. I think Heavenly Father gave me a break this Transfer because my last area was......well lets just say less than par and my Son was cool but I really learned to have patience and be more humble than I have ever before.haha.  Its was a tough 2 transfers but still great so now I have an companion that I get along great with and in an area where you don't have to worry if they will actually prepare the sacrament or if the teachers will show up at church ahaha:) So I am excited to be here and my Zone Leaders are 2 really good friends of mine. One of them is Elder Arrington, the Elder I was companions with before. So it will be a fun Transfer!:)

My companion is Elder F.  from Mindinao Philippines. And yes mom, we do have a water filter system:) I was joking about only drinking water that had flown over rocks and gone through a strainer thing!:)

LOVE YOU GUYS have a great week!!!!:)

Elder Ball