Mission Tour

 This was a DANG busy week. We had Mission Tour! Two seventies came to our mission, President Paul B. Peiper and Elder Mark D. Eddy. It was so incredible. We had 3 different meeting sites, one in Amarillo, the other in Hobbs and the other in Abilene. All of those are 2-3 hours apart and it was wild to drive to every one I was so tired. 

    So on Monday it was crazy. We drove around the mission picking up elders who were going home. We totally got a huge 12 passenger van stuck in a swamp. We all took off our shoes, hiked our pants above our knees and pushed her out haha. It took about 30-45 minutes but it was totally worth it haha.

    On Tuesday we drove everyone up to Amarillo. We had the Mission Tour conference up there and it was great. They taught us how to follow the spirit, discern need and find where "their heart is open" and the keys to getting our friends converted. They focused on us getting our friends to make conscious decisions to follow Christ. It's also how we ourselves become converted! As we make conscious decisions to follow Christ, the spirit will testify to us that we are doing is good and true!

    We also went to Tech on Tuesday night and talked to a few people. Then on Wednesday morning we woke up 4 to take elders to the airport. I had to say goodbye to Elder Checketts and Elder Holgreen. That was a tearjerker for sure. We then drove straight to Hobbs and had another conference. It was great! They gave great insights and asked questions. We then drove straight to Abilene!

    The Abilene conference was great. They talked a lot about effective lessons, and particularly how we can work with members to get more people to teach. Then I got to go on an exchange with President Peiper!

   It was unreal. I talked to him a lot about what it's like speaking in general conference haha. But he gave me some incredible advice. He also is just such an awesome example of Christ. He's so cheerful, so spiritually led, and so charitable. He was an incredible example of a type of disciple I want to be! We taught a member lesson with him and at the end he gave them all hugs, and with tears in his eyes told them how much he loved them. It was such a powerful and special moment. 

   We got to go on Tech last night and it was great. We prayed to know "if there is someone we could find right now" and we got an answer that there was. So we went out and we found 4 people, and got 10 numbers! It was so so cool. The 4 people who we found, said that they have been looking for a church to call home. So exciting!!

   Love yall! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Ryan

Busy Busy

 Hey yall! This week wasn't anything too crazy, but it was a fun week!

    So I went on exchanges with an Elder named Elder Pett at the beginning of the week. His area is a super rich area here in Lubbock and it was honestly difficult. We prayed a lot and constantly during the exchange to find someone who was prepared. We kept getting yelled at and doors slammed for hours on end haha. Finally, at the very end of the night we found a guy who they met earlier that week, and we scheduled a lesson for the next day. The elders went over the next day and put him on date! So sick!

    On Wednesday we had to drive to Amarillo and back to pick up a missionary headed home, so that was a bummer. But it ended fantastic because we ended up getting permission to do a temple session with him! It is seriously such a huge blessing to have temples here on the earth.

    On Thursday we got to spend a lot of time at the Tech campus! It was great. We were able to find four new potentials to teach, which is a huge blessing. There are so many students on Tech and we seriously get ridiculed walking around them haha but it's always worth it once we find someone who's willing to talk to us.

    We had a sacrament DISASTER. Our friend Kennedy came to church, and we didn't have anyone prepare talks. So it was really rough as far as the talks go, but we can't control that. At the end of the meeting, a member in the bishopric was making an announcement, and someone in the ward yelled something out about the announcement. They then continued to scream at each other back and forth from the pulpit and the seats. Long story short, Kennedy didn't love it. But we taught him a Restoration lesson after and he really enjoyed it so hopefully it'll work out! 

   Sorry I know this week wasn't super eventful! We spent over 19 hours on the weekend preparing for our Mission Tour this next week. We have two members of the seventy coming so it should be great! Have a great week! Love yall!!

Love, Elder Ryan

I met the Texas Tech Masked Rider!

 Hey yall! This week was a good one. Nothing too crazy happened, but just a solid week of missionary work!

This week I went on exchanges with an Elder Guymon who is serving in Roswell. It was such a great time! We taught our friend Loica from Cameroon the Plan of Salvation. It was a super powerful lesson and she loved it. She had lots of really deep questions about it, but it went well! We really focused on Christ's Atonement, and I've discovered as I do that on my mission, almost nothing else brings the spirit as powerfully as that does. We invited her to be baptized, and she said she'd have to think about it. She hasn't been taught The Restoration, so she doesn't understand why she has to be rebaptized. But pray for Loica that she can receive an answer as she reads and prays about The Book of Mormon!

We were able to teach a bunch of inactive members this week. We've been trying for weeks to get in touch with them and we were finally able to, and we had some great experiences with them. Two of them even came to church on Sunday, which was the first time for them in over a year, so that was huge!

Texas Tech campus is starting to get really really exciting. School is starting up so it's getting super busy, which means there are way more people to talk to. This week we prayed everyday that God would guide us to many people who are willing to let him prevail in their lives, and we found 9 people on campus!! It was so incredible to see that miracle and receive such an immediate answer to prayer. Three of the people we found even told us that they have been looking for a church to call home here in Lubbock. So awesome!

Our friend Omar has been in Mexico, so we haven't met with him for 2 weeks and we've been really stressed. We've been praying for him and the other night he texted us saying he's read The Book of Mormon and prayed about it every night! He's loving it, but he's still waiting for an answer about when he should be baptized. Please pray for Omar!!

That's about it, sorry for the quicker email. Wasn't too eventful, but I definitely see miracles everyday out here. A scripture I loved this week was Alma 31:38 "And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith."

Love yall!!

Love, Elder Ryan

The top pic is "The Masked Rider" and the horse that leads out the football team from the tunnel every game. Super sick!

                                                     

                                     

Ermina got baptized!

 Hey yall! This last week was a pretty good week! We had an awesome lesson, and it was so cool I wanted to share it in a bit more detail. 

   I went on an exchange down to Midland, and I really liked it there. It's a super sweet place. I got to be with my old comp Elder Holgreen and with Elder Griggs. Seriously so fun to be with Elder Holgreen again! I ended up being down there for 2 days and we taught one of their people on date, and taught some member lessons. I got to hold this huge snake named Japan, and I taught a lesson with this snake around my neck haha. That was definitely a first. 

   We found a girl named Loica this week and this was one of the coolest lessons ever. She's from Cameroon. We met and got to know her, and then she explained that she doesn't believe in Jesus Christ and she doesn't really even believe in God, she just believes in a superior being. We started off by sharing that there is a "superior being" and he is our Heavenly Father.  We testified of His love for her and how he created the earth for us, and everything in it and around it. We talked about how we are here on this Earth, and it is God's greatest desire to have us back with him! But there are a few obstacles to getting back with him, and that's why he sent Jesus Christ. It was really powerful and the spirit was so strong, especially as we explained The Atonement of Jesus Christ. We read Alma 7:11-12, and asked if she's ever had any pains, sickness, affliction, temptation or infirmities happen and how she felt. She told us she felt so alone and didn't even want to continue in life. We were able to share that Christ suffered all those things so that she would never be alone, and it was insanely powerful. By the end of the lesson, she wanted to come to church and grow closer to Christ. So cool to see such an instant change in someone!

   The other big thing, Ermina got baptized!! Ermina is the mom of Evelyn, the little girl who we were able to baptize. Evelyn gave a talk at the baptism, and said "I'm so happy that my mom is becoming a part of God's family with me." It was the cutest thing and so powerful. Ermina was so happy and so ready! It was such a great experience.

   Those were the few main things that happened this week. Love y'all! Talk to ya next week!

Love, Elder Ryan

A Good Week

 Sorry yall I missed last week! I know most of you don't care except my mom and dad haha. Last week wasn't too eventful at all, we spent the whole working on the logistics of transfers. It was a mess because the amount of missionaries we were getting kept on changing while we were midway through planning, it was frustrating haha. 

    We got to take the new missionaries contacting on Tech straight from the airport! It was a blast they were so funny haha. I took two new ones with me and we got in a bash. I kindly ended it and the new missionaries were so bugged at me hahah they wanted me to start pulling out scriptures and get him back it was great haha.

    This week was a good one! We had a great lesson with our friend Omar. He loves Christ, but he has a lot of guilt and regret. He feels awful about the sins and mistakes he's made, and he wants to be clean before God. After teaching him the Restoration, we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit was so powerful as we testified of Jesus Christ and his Atonement, and the power it has to rid us of those feelings. We felt super prompted to invite him to be baptized, and he said yes! He wants to pray and pick his own date, so I'll update yall next week.

    Our friend Angel who was on date then ghosted us, reached out! He apologized and explained that he relapsed and felt too embarrassed to reach out. But he read The Book of Mormon everyday he wasn't talking to us, and told us he felt he should reach out. So he will baptized soon! So exciting!! Pray for Angel and Chloe pleaseee.

    We found 4 new people to teach at Texas Tech this week! We fasted and prayed for God to guide us to prepared people, and we totally saw miracles. We met new friends Benjamin, Shams, Josiah and Loica. They are all so awesome and super genuine. 

    Sorry I don't have tons of time, but that was the quick update for the week! I challenge yall to go read Alma 14, the account of Alma and Amulek enduring persecution in prison. It's an awesome testimony of the power God has to deliver us from any sin or temptation we have, and a great example of how to endure trials and temptations. Please go read it! I love yall!

Love, Elder Ryan