Land of Odessalation

 Hey yall! I apologize I don't have tons of time to write, and this week wasn't too eventful. It was full of hard work, but not too many outward results and that's alright! They will come! 

   This week I did exchanges down in Odessa! Now Odessa is super hot, you can't drink the water because oil leaks into the water system, and that's about it haha. Hence the title. It was actually really fun though! And I genuinely enjoyed it down there. We were street contacting and I had the impression to yell at this guy like two blocks down so I did, and we had such a great conversation. He had just moved here from California, and he was living in a duplex with a member and he was really interested in the church. He said he wanted a "new start", and he wanted to get "closer to God, and have a good community around him." We told him we knew the perfect place, and we were able to teach him the Restoration. He loved it and wanted to read and know more. Such a cool guy!

   So something really weird happened this week. Elder Tovey and I were in the mission office, and this lady came in in tears. We sat down with her and she began to tell us about her son, who is suffering with major depression and self confidence issues about himself and who he is. We went and sat down with him and got to know him better. It was super sad because he's not looking for change and isn't interested in the Gospel but it was cool to sit with him and talk. The miracle is that his parents want the gospel in their lives! So we're hoping and praying the son will get that desire.

   We had a lesson with Angel and Chloe, our friends preparing to be baptized. They told us that when they get temptations to break the word of wisdom they go bird watching haha. They didn't make it to church but please pray for them!

   Anyway the week wasn't too crazy! We found a new friend Omar and it was good. He is super awesome and really wanting to learn more. Sorry I don't have much time.

   I love this scripture in Mosiah 27:29 "My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more."

   This is after the conversion of Alma the younger, and it perfectly contrasts the greatness and joy of the gospel versus the hardships and misery that comes from not following it. Christ truly is the Light of the world, and by following him we can be partakers of that light. Love yall! Talk to ya next week! 

Love, Elder Ryan

Elder Schofield is a professional photographer and took some sweet pics

MOE - Modern Day Korihor

  Hey yall! This week was another packed one. We've been really busy lately. Sorry in advance for the long email, but like I said a lot happened, and there is a crazy story at the bottom. 

   The fourth of July last week was so fun! We got to walk in a parade through downtown Lubbock and we handed out over 7000 pass along cards and a few hundred copies of The Book of Mormon. Along with candy. Could've been wasteful but we will see haha. Our YSA also had a huge fourth of July barbecue and it was so fun. Our friend Angel, who's on date right now, came and we all played spikeball and cornhole and Angel made some good member friends.

    I got to go back to Roswell!! We went there for Zone Conference and it was so fun. That place is so weird and dangerous but I love it. I went on exchanges and it was super weird to be back in my first area. So worth it though because I got to see Margaret and her son Mauricio! I taught Margaret when I was there and she's recently been dropped. We decided to stop by and she got so excited and we had a lesson with her. We read out of 3 Nephi 11 and then asked her what she felt in the room. She said peace and calm. We testified it was the spirit and it was there because The Book of Mormon is true. She said she knows it is, and knows our church is! We invited her to be baptized and she said she wants to, but she wants to go to church more and meet people there. It was such a blessing to go teach her again! Please pray for Margaret!

    We also had the Lubbock zone conferences this week. I got to go on exchanges with Elder Checketts!! It was so great to go back with him. We got a call during the exchange and their had been a huge semi truck accident and two members were involved who wanted blessings. We went to the surgical ICU in the hospital at Texas Tech and it was gnarly. I've never seen people that beaten up and mangled. We were able to give them both blessings in between their emergency surgeries. They each had around 8-10 surgeries they needed. It was a super humbling experience and reminder to just enjoy life, because you never know how fast it can change.

    We had a lesson with our recent convert who keeps getting tattoos and won't cut it out haha. It was a super powerful lesson about relying on the Savior, not anything else for help when he's going through hard times. 

    We had basketball night and it was sweet. Pretty much the whole hood showed up. Some of our friends came too, and we actually started teaching two new guys who came to play, Juan and Daniel. We played ball and just talked with them the whole night. Then at the end we shared a spiritual thought and the room got super light and peaceful. They came over to us and told us they want to come to church! We testified that they can have that peace with them always through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray for them too!

    On Sunday we got another call to go to the hospital to give a blessing. The family wasn't members, and their cute little two year old daughter has a tumor on one of her adrenal glands. We got to talk with the family for a bit and comfort them, tried to cheer them up a little. Then the little girl came into the room after some tests, and we were able to give her a blessing. It was a powerful and sweet experience. 

    Okay now for the exciting part...the anitchrist, aka MOE. He is modern day Korihor. So we've been teaching our friends Angel and Chloe, Chloe is praying about baptism and Angel is on date for July 23rd. They used to be taught by different sister missionaries, but then they said they would rather go to the YSA, so we have them. Anyway, there is also this guy named Moe. He is of the Muslim faith and he is notorious around here for calling and showing up to missionaries to bash them. We've had a few run ins. He claims that Christ isn't the Son of God, that no one can pay for your sins but that we all must do it ourselves, that the Bible and Book of Mormon are fantasies leading us to damnation, that our church is of the devil, and the list goes on. Here's where it gets crazy.

    So he's been going to church where Angel and Chloe used to go. He goes and just minds his business in the back, and he's using an alias, Lee. On Sunday, he apparently asked that whole ward where Angel was, and they pointed him to our sacrament meeting. So our church ends, and we walk outside the classrooms and see him standing there. We go up to him, he introduced himself as Lee, and asks where Angel is. Angel wasn't able to come to church, so he asks for his address and number. We tell him we can't do that, and he gets all offended. He gives us his number, and that's when we figured that Lee is Moe, because we already had Moe's number and it was the same. 

    So we call him later, and ask why he's looking for Angel and he talks about how he's concerned for his soul, and wants to warn him. So he is the literal Korihor, trying to convince our friend Angel against being baptized. Sorry for the long story, but it's a crazy one haha. Please pray for Angel!! And pray that Moe won't find him!

    Sorry for the long email but I want to end this spiritually haha. Part of Mosiah 15:10 says "...Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed..." 

    This verse is so awesome but I had to do some deeper studying. "When his soul shall be made on offering for sin" is referring to when Jesus Christ will be performing the Atonement, and it says he will "see his seed." Earlier in Mosiah, and later on, it explains that when we are baptized we become the "children of christ" or "his seed", because he is "the Father of all righteousness." So it means that while Christ was performing the Atonement, he saw each of us. All of his children! It's an awesome reminder about how personal His Atonement is, and how much he loves and cares for all of us. Love yall!

Love, Elder Ryan

    

1. Margaret and Mauricio

2. Sunburns 4th of July 

Lots of Miracles

 Okay I'm not gonna lie this was a WILD week. On Tuesday I went down to Midland and had the Midland/Odessa zone conference. It was super super good. Elder Alvey, my first comp, gave his departing testimony and it was super good. I'll miss him tons! Then the sickest thing ever, Tanner and I got to go on exchanges! It was so fun.

  So we drove back to Lubbock to start exchanges and it was so surreal. I never thought I'd be able to go proselyting and contacting with one of my very best friends from home. We went contacting on Tech and I felt prompted to talk to this family and then Tanner shared a scripture about the Atonement. After, one of the girls started crying because her dad had just passed away. It was a super tender experience. They explained they were just talking to her about Jesus Christ's ability to help her, and this is was exactly what she needed!

   On Wednesday we drove down to Midland which was about 2 hours, then we drove all the way to Abilene for Zone Conference which was about 3 hours. Super long drive, but on the way I called the cops about a drunk driver and they got him, so it wasn't totally wasted haha.

  Abilene is super green and pretty, so it's definitely different from what I'm used to. I had a super awesome miracle on exchanges there. We were looking for a referral named Ashley Hunter, but she only gave her apartment complex, not her apartment number. We also didn't have her number. We sat there thinking, then decided to pray and let the Lord guide us. After we drove around and I saw a girl walking, so I rolled down the window and called out asking if she knew an Ashley Hunter, and she goes "Yes! That's me!" It was SO COOL. She said she had been waiting for us. We taught her the Restoration, and she wanted them to come back the next day! Such a cool miracle.

   So on Friday we had a training meeting with President and Sister Child and 30 other missionaries over zoom. The whole day before, President Child kept telling us he knew what we needed to discuss, but other than that he wasn't receiving any spiritual prompting about what to do.

 Meanwhile, Elder Tovey and I had so many ideas flowing but couldn't order them. So we went to the meeting without any plan, and then 30 minutes into the meeting, Sister Child started having back spasms and couldn't breathe. We gave her a priesthood blessing, and she was able to breathe but couldn't walk very well. President Child said "I know why the spirit wasn't speaking. It knew we weren't going to be here." Then they went to the hospital, and Elder Tovey and I led the meeting. All the ideas we had before started flowing and it was super successful. It really taught me to trust in the spirit, and to listen to it. The Lord guides us in all things!

   We had a lesson with our friend Angel, who we put on date for July 23rd! He also came to church with us and to a fourth of July activity with the ward. He is so cool, and so prepared. He has such a strong testimony of sacrificing and obeying the Lord, and receiving blessings from those sacrifices. He still has some struggles, so please pray for Angel!

   We had a few other lessons and found some really promising friends this week. It was amazing to see how much the Lord is willing to guide us if we just put our trust in Him. Love you all! Talk to you next week!

Love, Elder Ryan