Ware, Josh P

What is up everyone? This has been a miracle-packed, testimony-building, and crazy-fun week! Prayers and fasts have been answered like I've never seen before. We still had our health struggles along the way and I got to take my comp on his first hospital trip here in Brazil, but God always provides a way! It's been a few weeks since I've gotten a little spritual on here, so let's start off with a spiritual thought... This week, I've been studying a ton about the significance of the Book of Mormon. Like why do we even need it, and what role does it play in our conversion to Christ?  Well first off, it acts as a another witness of Christ. It "acts as a confirming, clarifying, unifying witness of the doctrines taught in the Bible so that there is only “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” If the Bible only had one translation, there would only be one church. But there are thousands of translations, meaning there needs to another witness to specify the first.  And se...

What's up everyone, how y'all had a good week! Here in Brazil we experienced some big changes this week! First off, had to say good bye to the promised land after only six weeks there. It was honestly super sad, but I guess my work there was done and I'm on to the next chapter of my mission. And this chapter is about to be a fun one! Since day one on the mission, Elder Bradford and I have been begging the Mission President to put us together. (He's from Texas, we were in the same room in the MTC, and he's an insane worker). Well, the time has come, and by a miracle, God has trusted us to be companions.   Yeah so this transfer is about to be way different! Let's talk about it... big changes Okay so let's talk about some of the big changes: - Went from using a blanket at night to absolutely sweating my pants off. - Went from a ward with 50 members to a ward with nearly 80. - Went from teaching four families and having four baptisms next Saturday to absolutely ...

I'm in the promised land, it's official! Another tough and blessed week here in Monte Castelo. I have learned so much this week and have seen the hand of God in just about every aspect.  Those of you who have been wondering about my health. I went to the hospital again this week and took seven hours of tests, but now I'm chilling. And had another surgery on my toe this week because the inflammation doesn't seem to stop. But I'm praying that this is the last time at the foot doctor, because now I'm down to half a toenail and it hurts worse every time. But that's enough complaining, let's get right into it.  zone conference We had our zone conference this week and it's always so nice to see the other missionaries on our half of the mission and get that must needed end-of-the-transfer energy. The trainings were really focusing on getting out of the house and getting to work, and about the high and loving expectations that we have here in João Pessoa. Le...

This was a super tough week again. But what I've learned is that God really provides in the hardest moments! Here in Campina Grande, literally everyone is sick. Me, my companion, the other elders in our apartment, all of our investigators, everyone is sick. This made working pretty hard. But like a said: God always provides!  Baptism One way I saw God's hand prevail in the work this week was through Lucas's baptism! Since I arrived here four weeks ago, we've been fasting and praying for Lucas's baptism. He's gone to church for about two months now, but his grandma did not like the idea, at all. It was so cool to watch her heart change and soften this week! We were able to mark the baptismal interview, the baptism, and she came! It was truly a miracle! The spirit was super strong during the baptism and he and his grandma were smiling so much! After the baptism, his grandma turns to Lucas's cousin and says, "You're next". Lucas is going to be an ...

You know those half-days at school? Well this was one of those half weeks on the mission. After months of pain in the toes, I finally listened to doctor's orders and took a break. It was sad. It was difficult. But it helped me in so many ways.  SPIRITUAL THOUGHT Being trapped at home for two days gave me a ton of time to study and reflect on my mission. Something that I focused on was our conversion to Christ. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am constantly trying to continue to be converted to Christ. As a missionary of Jesus Christ, I am constantly trying to help others take the first steps in the conversion process. So what is a conversion?  Conversion: a change that occurs in our beliefs, heart and lives as soon as we accept and follow the Will of God. We are converted when we recognize and accept God's Will in our lives. And we know that God's Will for all of His children is called the Plan of Salvation. In other words, God put us on this Earth so that we can return to ...