1st Baptism!!!

Wow I can`t believe another week has already gone by!! It has been a great week. Yesterday was Onodera`s baptism!! It was so awesome. He was definitely one of our Heavenly Father`s prepared children. I had the priviledge of baptizing him. I was a little nervous because I had to memorize the prayer in Japanese and I didn`t start learning it until like 15 minutes before!! Haha. It went well though. I got it on the first try and everything was perfect. The Spirit was so strong while we were standing in the water. I`m so thankful the Lord blessed me with that opportunity so early in my mission. When we first met Onodera San on the street, I kind of thought he would spooke our appointment with him. He wasn`t the cleanest, or best dressed guy in the world. He just didn`t have much. I judged him from the outside when on the inside he was as prepared as anyone could be! It was a big testimony builder to me that you never know who is ready and who is not. You have to talk with everyone! Heavenly Father loves all of His children the same.

The members here in Iwaki are awesome. They do so much for the missionaries. We have been going out to eat with the ward members so much recently! It`s a dang good thing I`m on a bike, otherwise I might be in trouble! Haha jk. Japanese food is so good though. Friday night we ate sushi and let me tell you- this was legit sushi! Ha. It`s fun to eat everything though, and get a taste of all of the Japanese culture.

I love you all and thank you for all your prayers and support. I appreciate everything. Take Care till next next week!

Elder Ovard



This sister is a non member but loves the missionaries and took us to lunch where we had the legit sushi!

Woo Hooo!!

Hello everyone!

I`m in Japan! Haha. Things are going great. It took me a couple days to overcome the jet lag but after that everything was back to normal. My companion is Elder Warren from Heber City. He has been out almost a year. We are serving in the city of Iwaki. I believe it is the most southern part of the mission.

We have been working really hard the past couple of weeks! We both have bikes. I like riding them because it`s good exercise :), but it`s tough stuff! We talk to everyone we see and have been teaching a lot of lessons as well.

About a week and a half ago we found a new investigator while streeting! His name is Onodera San. I thought he was like 30 years old but I found out he`s actually 40. People in Japan look much younger than they really are! We have taught him 4 lessons and He is getting baptized this Sunday!!!! I am so excited! He came to church yesterday and it was awesome. The members here are so kind and friendly. He is a golden investigator. We gave him a BoM when we met him and by the next time we met he had read all the way through 2 Nephi! Wow. I am so excited for him to be baptized. It is the best feeling in the world knowing that you have helped someone come unto Christ.

It has been raining really hard these past couple days. It makes riding a bike a little bit of an adventure! Ha. After dinner on Saturday night we were walking to our bikes and noticed that Elder Warren had a flat tire. I just laughed and said, "We`re jinxed on Saturday nights!" Haha. Last Saturday night I got a flat and now it was him! Ha.

I am so thankful to be serving the Lord at this time. It isn`t always easy, but I know it will be worth it. My testimony has already grown so much. I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life. The members here in Iwaki are awesome. They are all so kind to the missionaries. We don`t have to do a whole lot of shopping because they give us so much food! They are so sweet. I love you all! Thanks for everything.

Take Care,

Elder Ovard

Left: picture of my first "HUMMER" a bike that a member let me use until I was able to get me a bike.  Right: picture of my new bike. Imamiya Shimai helped me buy this bike.  I only paid $50.00 for this bike and she paid for the rest of it.  She is so sweet and does so much for the missionaries.   I was planning on paying $600 to $700 for a bike.                                                 

First phone call!! written by mom

We had a wonderful telephone call with Elder Ovard.  He was able to talk to us three times!!! Yeah yeah!  We talked to him on Monday evening at 8:30.  He sounded so happy and he said he was so ready to leave the MTC. He even liked the ride to the airport and was able to see the world. :)  He spoke in Japanese.  He said he Loved his Family!!!!  (he had to translate that of course) He told us that he was so excited to meet his mission president and he had heard how nice they were.  We had a conference call and then he wanted to speak to his brother and sisters privately.  Austin said he was a little nervous to talk to his brother but said it was just like normal and Elder Ovard made him feel so comfortable. (They had boy talk)  His Grandma and Grandpa Gubler were able to make it down just in time to say hi and he had to go.  He wanted to know when Austin's state playoff game was.  When we told him tomorrow at 4:00 he was so excited because that was just when his lay over in South Korea would be and he would be able to call us back. Yes he made it to Korea 16 hours later.  Then he had a 5 hour lay over in Korea.

When he was in Korea it took him a few hours to make it through customs.   I didn't think he was able to find a pay phone or a calling card.  Then at 4:00 right when we were pulling up to the ball game we recieved a call from South Korea.  We were so excited to talk to him again.  He did sound a little tired but still very happy and excited.  It was so fun to give him a little play by play of the ball game.  I asked if it was making him homesick and he said no.  He says he misses the games for sure but knows that he is where he should be.  We were able to let so much family talk to him because a lot of his aunts and uncles and cousins were at the game.  It was so perfect.  After talking for a while he hung up to go get himself something to eat and drink.  He wanted to call back after the game so he could talk to Austin . (Boy talk again)  It was great  when he called for the 3rd time.  He talked to everyone  privately.  I didn't know when I passed the phone off that it would be the last time for me so I didn't get to say a good goodbye. Yes his mothers heart was broken.  I was hoping when he arrived in Japan his mission president would let him email us to let us know he arrived and he would find my email.  This is what I wrote:

Elder Ovard,

Hey I didn't get a chance to tell you how proud I was of you and how wonderful you sounded. I don't know if you were faking it or anything but you sounded so happy and confident and ready to go. It really warmed my heart and I am not worried about you. I know you will be great. I am praying for you and all of the other missionaries in Japan and especially the people of Japan that they will want to hear your message. Everyone loved loved loved talking to you. It was so fun! We all feel so good. I hope you feel really good too!!! Enjoy this new experience. We can't wait for that first email. Share details with us and please write in your journal. You'll forget things if you don't write it down. Obey the president with exactness. Love your companion. Okay enough from me. You know what to do . Live it up Elder Ovard and enjoy your bike.
Lots of Love....and SMILE :) when all else fails. It's the universal language.
Mom

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next morning we did recieve an email back and this is what he said:

Hi Family!!

Well I made it to Japan! Things have been going really well. President and Sister Tateoka were at the airport waiting for us when we got there. They are so awesome! I love them. I don't have any more time but I'll get back to you soon! Love you!

So fun and so good.  I will cherish that first phone call!!

Elder Ovard just arriving in Sendai with President and Sister Tateoka.

Last Week in the MTC!!!

Only 1 more week in the states for 2 years!!!! Wow it's crazy. This past week has been awesome. We got our flight plans on Thursday!! We weren't expecting them till Friday so it was a surprise. We leave Monday evening. We fly out of Salt Lake at 9:47 and arrive in L.A. at 10:39. We fly out of L.A. at 12:10 AM and arrive in SEOUL, KOREA at 5:10 AM. We have a 5 hour layover in Korea, then we fly to Sendai. I am SO excited!!!!! We are flying on Delta Air Lines. There are 12 missionaries in our travel group. We are all going to Sendai. 5 of them are Japanese.
Last Tuesday Elder L. Tom Perry spoke to us at our devotional. It was so good. He talked about the Book of Mormon. I loved listening to him bear testimony of it. Afterward we had our usual district testimony meeting. The Spirit was so strong. I love bearing my testimony, especially on the Book of Mormon. I know it is true and I love to read it everyday.
We hosted the new missionaries on Wednesday. It was fun! It brought back a lot of memories from when that was me. I hated that!!! Haha. If I only new what was ahead of me. This place has been great. We will be hosting tomorrow as well.
This past Fast Sunday was awesome. We had mission conference in the morning. It was pretty boring as usual. Ha. But sacrament meeting was great. All of the Senpai (older missionaries who will be leaving next week), sang a special musical number to "A Child's Prayer". The first verse was English, and the second was Japanese. One of the sister missionaries was the accomponist on the harp. It was so cool. I was also the pianist during sacrament meeting! It was so much fun.
Other than that we've just been getting ready to go!! We have had a lot of boring meetings. We are all super excited though. I can't wait to get to Japan. Thanks for all of your love and support. I appreciate everything. Next time we talk I will be across the world!
Sayonara!
Elder Ovard