Chimps

So we had a lesson with a referral named Frank. He's way cool! He told us he requested to meet with us because he wanted to hear the word of God and feel more peace in his life. We met him at an abandoned bakery shop thing. We read Moroni 10:32-33 and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and he was crying the spirit was so strong. Then, later in the week he told us he read The Book of Mormon, he said he knows it's true and it's just a part of him. He said it's so real and he loves it. 

 So we found our 5 friends...Anita, Sandra, Edith, Belem and Mercedes. They're all friends and they all wanted to learn English but now they're also learning the Gospel haha. We had two really cool lessons with them this week. They read The Book of Mormon and came back ready with notes and questions each time. It was so cool! They actually study it, and their Faith is incredible. I'm so excited for them! 

 We had a lesson with our friend Nydia, whose boyfriend is an inactive member. She is really struggling right now trying to figure what church she should be baptized in, and we're trying to get her whole boyfriends family reactivated. We had a really cool talk about prayer, and the power of the Holy Ghost. She then told us that she wants to be baptized in our church, but her mom is in a different church and she doesn't want to disappoint her. So we told her to read the Book of Mormon, and specifically pray and ask! 

 We had Zone Conference this week and it went really well! One thing I liked is president talked about the importance of goals and planning. He said lots of us have desires and hopes but you'll never get anywhere in Life if you don't set a goal and a specific plan. We have to do like everything depends upon us, and then pray and read like everything depends upon God. That's how we'll see results! 

 Also in Amarillo I went to an animal sanctuary and hung out with Chimpanzees, Monkeys, Tigers and Lions. It was so fun. I played tag and dance with the chimps, and they would chill with us, then I got to feed the lions and Tigers which was scary but so cool. Also I got spit on by the chimps haha and one of them sucked my finger haha. Super crazy! 

 On Sunday, we got Edith to come to church! And she brought her husband and two kids! I'm super excited for that. She came with a few questions about 3 Nephi where she's been reading. It's so fun to answer questions haha. Anyway sorry for the super quick email! Didn't have tons of time so I just wrote the quick highlights. 

Love yall! Love, Elder Ryan

Yeehaw!

So it was transfers last week so we had to go down to Amarillo. We went and at a restaurant called The Big Texan. I had a 27 dollar Ribeye and so yes not the smartest choice I've ever made, but one of the more delicious ones. It was incredible. It was a super fun old fashioned Tavern. They had taxidermy everywhere and the grill pit is in the middle of the dining room. It was so fun. 

 On Tuesday we had to wait till 5 oclock to pick up the new Elder so we kind of just sat in Amarillo and did studies all day and on Wednesday we had District council and and literally every one of our lessons fell through so that was a rough day. 

 On Thursday we had an English class with Anita, and she brought 4 of her friends! It was way cool and at the end we read John 16:33 which talks about how Christ has overcome overcome world. And they were participating and it was great. They are all Catholics but they have amazing testimonies on Faith in Jesus Christ. They told us we should hace a class the next day to talk more! 

 Then we had a lesson with Nydia, who is the girlfriend of JW, an inactive member. She wasn't interested but then she called us, and told her she was interested in The Book of Mormon, because we go over and share messages from it. How incredible! Lessons are hard in this house because it's utter chaos. They have 11 dogs, a duck and 6 chickens that roam in and out of the house. But It was a cool lesson about The Holy Ghost, and two members of the family shared incredibly powerful testimonies about how the Holy Ghost has helped them through hard times when no one else was there. The spirit was so strong during their testimonies. And then, Nydia told us the only time she feels happy right now is reading the book of mormon. Such a powerful testimony builder of the divinity and strength of the Book of Mormon. She ALSO told us to come back tomorrow to talk more! 

 So Friday we had 3 Huge lessons. We had our lesson with Anita and her four friends, and we explained The Book of Mormon, it's role side by side with the Bible in bringing people unto Christ. We read a few passages, and read from the Introduction. They loved it, they all wanted one and they were so excited to read it. They said they couldn't come to church on Sunday but they would the next one. 

 Then, we had our lesson with Nydia. We talked about Baptism, and she wants to be baptized but her Mom is also a pastor so she doesn't know what to do. But her boyfriend, told her if she gets baptized in our church then they can be sealed in the temple and be with each other in heaven. It was a super cool experience. Kind of funny because he was just talking to us about his favorite alcohol to drink, and he's not active at all but everyone can improve haha. The temple is at least their goal! Also, JW, the member, agreed to start praying and reading the book of mormon again!! The spirit was so strong so I know he was touched by it. 

 Then we had a lesson with David and Dianna Meeker. They are from Utah and do Come Follow Me and listen to Conference. But they don't read the Book of Mormon. We had an awesome lesson with them about Christ, and his Grace and Mercy. It eventually led to Baptism, to which I simply asked what are their thoughts about being baptized in our church. They told me they love our church, but they're comfortable as Catholics. They said they don't see the point, because our two churches basically teach and are the same. Everytime someone says something like that, I get a feeling in my chest and I know I have to Defend the Faith. So I explained Priesthood power and authority, the Book of Mormon, key doctrine about the Atonement and some other major differences. They then said that everything man touches is corrupted, so all organized religion is corrupt and he mentioned Blacks and the Priesthood. So I told him that yes, true our church is not perfect. The men who run the church are not perfect and the members certainly are far from perfect. But the Book of Mormon is perfect. The Bible as far as translated correctly is perfect. The Priesthood authority and power are perfect. The Gospel and it's teachings are perfect. And Christ is perfect. And He is the head of our church. They didn't say anything more, but I know they felt the spirit, and they did come to church on Sunday. 

 Sorry for the longer email...we just had some really cool experience and lessons this week!

 I love y'all! 

 Love, Elder Ryan

Los dos Ultimos semanas

Sorry y'all I've been bad at writing emails. I'm making a goal to be better haha. This week was a good week but we did a lot of member lessons because our mission is pushing that so nothing too crazy to write about. It was transfers and I'm staying in Dalhart! It's a small town but we have a lot of promising people so I'm so excited! 

 For the week I missed, the craziest parts were that we had a few of our friends tell us they want to get baptized, but they're just not quite ready yet. So we just gotta keep working with them! We had a CRAZY 3 and a half hour meeting with 7 Baptist pastors. They were very disrespectful but we stayed calm and shared our beliefs and testified of Jesus Christ. I think they were very mad that every time they attacked us, two 19 year old boys stayed calm, brought the spirit and testified using the scriptures and personal experiences. They were very angry that they couldn't "beat" us haha, but it's because we weren't trying to "beat them" we were just testifying of what we know to be true. Even though they had a lot of outlandish claims about our church and our beliefs differed. The spirit was not there as they were attacking and talking, and it was a huge testimony builder for me that our church is true, and that's all that matters haha. 

 We went to a restaurant in Amarillo called The Big Texan. So sick. It was delicious and it was built as an old fashioned Western Tavern thing. Super cool. 

 So on Tuesday we had exchanges and I was with Elder Allen in Dumas. He's from Kaysville so that's fun. We had a lesson with Elisabeth and Daniel that night and they told us they've been reading the book of mormon! They said they wanted to learn more but we didn't have time. They said they feel so good when we read the Book of mormon so im excited for them! 

 On Wednesday we woke up and it was -18 degrees outside and a good foot of snow. It was FREEZING. Our house doesn't stay warm either so our house was in the 50s. And we couldn't go and exchange back because of the snow we ended up doing a 48 hour exchange haha. We made a lot of contacts and had a lesson with an inactive member and his non member girlfriend, and she said she wants to be baptized! But her mom is some type of pastor so she kind of wants to be baptized by her. But then she said she would read the Book of mormon so we'll see. 

 On Thursday it was still FREEZING and snowing but we had to drive down haha. So we drove all the way down and exchanged and came back up and it took most of our day haha. 

 On Friday we had to set up for a funeral and we visited a member who takes care of his parents with dementia. He looks the scientist on back to the future and lives in a bomb shelter. Like a literal one four stories in the ground. Way cool. We had a way cool talk about finding peace in christ and he's very faithful but can't leave his parents alone to come to church. 

 Saturday wasn't too crazy but on Sunday we finally got two people to church! It was our friends Elisabeth and Daniel! We had to translate for them (we translate every week) and they loved it! It was such a spiritual testimony meeting, everyone just bore their testimony on Jesus Christ. Everyone kept it so simple, and it was so perfect. Pretty much everyone was in tears. They loved it! And also our friend Nydia texted us and she read the chapter we gave her and that she loved it!

 Love yall! 

 Love, Elder Ryan