Elder Ballards Facebook

Quick thought for the night –

There is so much circling around about missionary changes, this upcoming general conference, etc. but this message goes out to those who do not understand why we have all of this in the first place, those who do not have a strong testimony for themselves, and wonder why they are not obtaining one. Know I was in the same place, just a little bit ago.

Back in High School, I thought there was no need for religion, God, scriptures, Christ, commandments? If you are a good person, that is all the really matters. You can do you and Christ will understand. These were my thoughts. I remember thinking if this Church of Jesus Christ was true, I needed a sign from God to tell me. Now after studying, I wish someone would have told me, “Now I ask, is this faith? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath cause to believe, for he knoweth it” (Alma 32:18). In order for us to find out if this is true, we have to exercise our faith unto action, as described by the prophet Ether, “ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

My friends, I have worked my tale off to find out if this is true. In the short 6 1/2 months I have been out on my mission, I have read, studied and pondered The Book of Mormon 5 times through. I do not say this for any kind of praise, I tell you this because I can NOW, after countless hours of quiet prayer and scripture study, say I have received my personal witness and can declare that The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Jospeh Smith was a prophet of God. Without a shadow of a doubt I know these to be true. A testimony does not just randomly come, you have to actively seek it, then once you have obtained one, you have to maintain, nurture, and constantly grow it.

If you think you can come to the knowledge of the truthfulness of the restored gospel by cracking open The Book of Mormon a couple times and praying every once and a while, I am sorry, but you most likely will not. Due to the sacred nature of Jesus Christ, we need to give everything we can, sacrifice worldly pleasures and desires, consistently read, ponder and pray, THEN, Christ will manifest himself through the Holy Ghost in accordance to his will and timing.

I can testify that the church I represent is the only true church on the earth. I can testify Jesus Christ is the Savior of this world. I testify we have a living prophet today that leads and guides this church. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the sacred grove. I know The Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible, are the word of God. I know that I am happiest, as I better myself through the atonement of Jesus Christ and follow His teachings. I am so thankful to be a fulltime representative of God’s son.

Please, do the spiritual work now to
HEAR HIM!

Elder Ballard and the Virus

Elder Dallin Ballard is doing wonderful!  He sends his love and appreciation to all of you.  He is very positive and optimistic during this stressful time for our country.  He was counseled to get a two weeks supply a food in his apartment and make sure to keep distance from others.  He said the problem was that there was no food left in any of the stores for him to stock up with!  I sent him plenty of Cliff Bars so he can survive on those.  Kidding.  But not kidding.  So far they are not isolated to their apartment but as all of us know that could change any moment.  His mission president is awesome and does a great job keeping the parents updated about what is happening.  Currently, any missionaries in the mission who would be going home by September 1st are now going home on the next transfer.  This is so new missionaries who have been reassigned can come into the mission, so they are making space.  Dallin is going a great job in his trio companionship and working hard to learn Spanish so he can communicate with the people he teaches.  
His commitment and passion for the Savior grows each day and we are overwhelmed with gratitude every time we talk with him.  We see so much growth and maturity and he is truly such an example to our family.  Mikey and him talk each week and this by far is the highlight for us in having two missionaries out at the same time.  We miss them terribly, but seeing and hearing them support each other is like nothing else. 
Thank you for all your support for Elder Ballard!! His email is dallin.ballard@missionary.org if you want to write to him!
Lots of love,
Momma Kel

Still in Arizona

Elder Ballard is doing great in South Pheonix! There was transfers this week and he is staying where he is but getting a new set of companions, he will be in a trio. He is a little nervous about it but we know he can get along with anyone and will be just fine. He had a great experience this week when sharing his testimony of God and is really learning how to share his knowledge with love instead of forcefullness. The members feed is dinner every night and they enjoy finding new places to eat out for lunch. Late night snacks include all the healthy stuff like mac and cheese, top ramen and cereal. He sends his love and is so grateful for your support!

PS – he found a skate park in his mission and they go there often to ride with the kids. He loves it and they have had so many chances to share the Gospel there.

Elder Dallin Ballard Update

Hey sorry I am getting worse and worse at sending these weekly’s I will step it up 😤 We are holding it down in South Phoenix! God is overflowing our area with miracles. Everyday day you have the realization that God has been preparing people to hear about the gospel. 
Lately as I have been studying The Book of Mormon, I’ve been so impressed with Nephi’s example. Literally there are a million lessons that can be learned from him but one I have been impressed by is his willingness to listen, and go do what he is told. In 1 Nephi 17:8-10 we read about an exchange that happens between Nephi and the Lord, dice;
8 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship. After the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry they people across these waters. 9 And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which those hast shown unto me?10 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should to find ore, that I might make tools. 
As opposed to asking why or taking his time, Nephi immediately goes to work, being lead by the spirit. Building an entire ship would seem like such a daunting task, but he puts his head down and goes. I have really tried hard to apply this principle in my work as a missionary. So often I am asking why? Or how? Instead of just going and doing. This leads me to a quote I heard in a talk this week, “Do not pray for your circumstances to be changed, pray for you to be able to change your circumstances.” This rings so true. So often I find myself asking God for so many things and then I hardly put the work in to see a change. May we all apply this incredible principle in our lives this week and see the impact we can have. 
I am forever grateful for the chance I have to serve. I love my Savior and all he has done for me. Thank you to everyone who is striving to be like Christ. He is rejoicing in your efforts. 
Love where you are at in life right now. You are never going to get this moment back ♡,Elder Ballard 
Alma 32:15-16 

Elder Ballards second area

Hey sorry it’s been a couple since I’ve done a group email, the whole writing emails thing is super hard for me lol 
So many experiences have happened and lessons have been learned over the last couple weeks. A guy named Hector that we are teaching shared a crazy story with us a couple days ago. He used to be on all sorts of drugs and he couldn’t control himself. He had committed some serious crimes and police looking for him for a couple weeks. He was able to evade the police for a while, but about a year later he wanted to change his life and turn himself over to God, so first, he turned himself over to the police. As he tried to tell the people at the police station his name and the crimes he had committed, nothing ever came up on his record. His life was changed from that point on, he said, God was giving him a second chance. Now, lots of lessons can be learned from our friend Hectors experience, but one rings very true to me; as we are honest in all our doings, the lord will direct ours paths for good. I am not saying that as we commit crimes, we will never be punished for them because police will lose our records, I am saying that as we truly turn our lives over to God and strive to be better in all things, he will provide a way for us, all of us, even Hector. He could not control his drug habits, was homeless, had a horrible relationship with his family and neighbors, and thought he could never find happiness again. Now, just a couple years later, he is completely sober, takes care of his mom and siblings in a house that he worked to get, gives everything he can back to the community, has a homeless man living with him that he takes care of, has refound hope in Jesus Christ, and cannot wait to finish learning about the church so he can be baptized. This man is such an inspiration to me. The grace and atonement of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all individuals, however far off they have wondered. If Christ loves us perfectly, he wants us to be perfectly happy, as he is. Do you think he gets sad, when we are sad? Oh course he does. He knows how difficult challenges and temptations are in this life because he experienced all of them. He knows exactly how to comfort us in the midst of our trials, however this requires us to be humble enough to realize we need his love and redemption everyday in our lives. 
I am praying for everyone back home everyday, thank you for the support, please be an example of righteousness this week. “Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and giveth light to all that are in the house; Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (3 Nephi 12:15-16) 
Love y’all, be safe Elder Ballard 
Mormon 9:21