Day 62

Best Moment?

Best moment of the Last week was probably when I was writing a letter and I caught just a tiny glimpse of how much our savior loves us, and how completely undeserving we are of that love. 

Are most people kind?

Yes, everyone is pretty nice.

Do you play piano much?

Yeah I play some, and it's enjoyable, sometimes I wish that I had practiced more..

What is one aspect of your testimony that has been strengthened since you've been on your mission?

All aspects, but I think the one that I have been trying to focus on is how we can better show faith in our loving heavenly father and Jesus Christ. 

How are your suits holding out? 

They are good, I don't have to wear them much, just to meetings.

If you are cold knocking, do you just go to neighborhoods, or are there parks, places where its easy to meet and talk to people?

We are told that tracting will do more harm than good, we do it sometimes but usually we try to shy away from it.

Have you had dinners at members houses recently? 

Yes yesterday.

Did you ever make cookies?

Nope.

Ok, I'll get this sent, I'm sending a pic of ties.  Let me know which is your fav. (Bonus toe included)

I'll take the purple paisley, the light blue one, the two tone purple one, the toe, the dark purple one next to the paisley (I know it's broken but I've got a guy ;)  and the black one with spots one it.

This week I've had a renewed desire to serve, I try to commit myself everyday to serve the lord. I'm excited to be out here. One thing this week I've noticed and I might have mentioned it before, is how the Lord has prepared me to come out and serve a mission, Something I enjoy about being out here is that it allows me to be out here without burden and think a lot more about others. I love that.

Ryus and Elder Allred (on his left) with the other elders in the district and
Mission President Thomas

Ryus and Elder Allred (again stollen from facebook page)

Day 55

Yesterday was pretty interesting, Elaine came over to the branch presidents house for dinner, and we spent about three hours there eating and then trying to get her to come to church. The branch presidents wife was very persistent and managed to get her to agree to go. It took nearly two hours. During the course of that two hours, the branch president had to explain to her why missionaries couldn't come inside her house because of some missionaries in Texas that would teach single ladies, and then some lawyers got a hold of them and told them if they claimed that these missionaries had done anything they weren't supposed to than they would give them some of the money from suing them. So now missionaries don't go in houses, even though nothing ever happened. Elaine said "If you think that I would take one of these boys to bed than think again!" She also explained that she had just recently learned what a cougar was and told us "If you meet a cougar with four legs than it's OK, but if you meet one with two legs you better run the other way!" I was so beet red, and the branch president and his wife are both fairly young (late twenties) so they were in stitches as well. So I was a little embarrassed. She always says that I seem mischievous and that my eyes are piercing and that I can tell what she's thinking before she thinks it.. I don't really get it but it's ok. It's not the worst thing that she's ever said, but It was kinda shocking. especially in front of our branch president who we are trying to impress. Other than that the lesson went fairly well. She believes the Mormon church, but it's hard to get any commitment out of her. 

Did you do anything fun for your birthday?

Not really, we got ice cream twice that day and a member took us out to dairy

What do you do for exercise?

Usually I just do push ups, but I've been trying to find a good way to work my back so that it will pull my shoulders back and my back won't get so tight.

What was bestest last week?

Elaine probably

Have you had to speak in your branch?

Yeah I spoke for about seven and a half minutes last time 

We saw some pics of you and your mission president, where was that, where those APs with you?

I'm not sure what picture it was.

Do you have an iPad?  Will you get one?

I'm not sure about that yet. if I get one I'd have to buy it from the church.. :P

How many people do you write to?

Not too many

Do you take your camera with you frequently?

Not really 

Is it getting cooler?

Not really yet.

When does it start getting chilly?

Probably around September

How tall is your companion, he looks very tall?(I saw him on his facebook page)

he's six three

Have you gotten your gift yet?

Nope packages usually take a month, and then the mission office has to send it to me. which reminds me, if you want to send a Christmas package it has to be sent by the first of November, I guess the post service in Canada goes on strike every December

I sent grandma an email with about a billion questions. I am glad to hear that you sung in church. send me some veggies. Wish Kate and Korinne the best with cross country.

Day 48

So I have one assignment for you, and it's more important than any questions that you want me to answer ;) so you put it on the blog. Your assignment is to prayerfully select a family who is either less active, or non-member, you tell them you want to share just a little bit of what you believe in and you invite them and the missionaries over for dinner. I expect that as my family who values missionary work enough to send their firstborn on a mission that something like this would be cake. I also challenge my extended family to do this as well. since you'll be blogging this I expect that it will keep you accountable, but I will follow up as well.


(Notice the implied guilt, must have come from his father...)

What is the best thing about your companion?  Tell us more about him.

The best thing about my companion is that he is selfless, I have to be on top of my game if I want any service opportunities for my companion. He is also very obedient, so a great example.

Best thing that happened this week?

The best thing that happened this week is on Saturday we had a branch BBQ, one of our investigators who has been investigating for something like six years, who if we try to get her to do anything it's like herding cats. So the bbq started at four o'clock and we got to her house at 2:30, we spent the next hour and a half bothering her with going to the bbq, she never said she wouldn't go but every time we asked her to she would change the subject, she's about eighty years old, she smokes and she's a widow, since she's a single lady we meet with her on her porch. finally our conversation went something like this "Elaine, are you ready to go to the BBQ?" and she'd say something like "oh I couldn't go in my pajamas! did you hear what happened on the news today?" and my companion would say "no I didn't, but did you hear about the BBQ today?" finally I stood up, opened her front door, and said "Elaine, go change your clothes, do you need help standing up?" she said "I can get up by myself!" and then we said "perfect, now go inside and change your clothes and we'll meet you around back" (most people's garage is in the back.) so we got her to the barbecue and the branch did an excellent job of fellowshiping her. now the branch president's wife wants both of us and Elaine to come to dinner next sunday, because she liked Elaine a lot, and even offered to come pick her up from her house. so we meet with her tomorrow and we'll make her come. She's a super sweet old lady; she cut my hair and we do service for her a lot. I really hope it works out well.

Do you run into Americans much?

I don't run into many Americans, but a few, This town is a lot like Emmett, it's predominately white, but there are some black people, one of our members is from south Africa but he's white.. We have Mennonite and hutterite colonies around here, so that's a little different.

What is Canada known for?

Canada is known for syrup, hockey and being scared when the lights turn off (not sure about that one but I've heard jokes about it.)

 

Do you ever eat out?

I rarely eat out, I mostly just eat bulk food from a store in town.

Is school going? When do they start?

School starts about the same time.

Are there lots of kids in your branch or is it older people?

the branch has a lot of kids, but a ton of them want to move away. about half the branch has plans to move within the next year or so.

We are trying so hard to get the branch to like us more, missionaries have a bad reputation out here in Swift and the gains we've had have been small but we are grateful for them.

Other than that, I don't do very much, I've been having fun and I enjoy missionary work. I hope everyone back home is doing well and I'm glad I've had a couple.. decades to get to know y'all. I love and miss you and I hope you're having a good one.

Day 41

What was the best thing this week?

 best thing about this week was when we were in the store and some lady approached us in a store about the gospel, then introduced us to another lady in the store and told her that we were great people to take out for coffee. nothing has came of it so far but thats ok.. another experience from this week was that one of our investigators who is almost eighty, cut my hair, we did some service for her and then we taught her a little bit, she said she thought the mormon church was true but she didn't know if she wanted to join it. (she claims she's scared of water.) she smokes. (oh and she fed us pizza..)

Any luck with the couple from the week before?

 We recommitted them to come to church, but they didn't come.

When are transfers?

Transfers are in two weeks, but don't worry, nothing will probably happen here. 

Can you go to the temple even if you aren't being transferred?

Maybe, I don't know so much about that. 

Tell me about some of your service opportunities?

Oh just odd things, we work in a bookstore a little, we go to old folks homes, we've helped people move, we've mowed a few lawns, just things like that. 

Korinne wants to know what you eat for breakfast?

Blueberry pomegranite wheat cereal, it's really cheap at the store, it's one of those brands like malt o meal where they just copy other cereal. that's my source of fiber.  

What has been your favorite dinner so far?

We've had a few meals, not a ton, but a family had us over yesterday for roast beef and potatoes, the little potatoes that they had grown in their garden. it was really good especially after fast sunday 

Have you seen anything that is uniquely Canadian?

McDonalds has a little tiny maple leaf on their sign, other than that not really... I'm not sure if you can get the cereal I buy in the states.. does that count? 

Does anything surprise you about Canada or Canadians?

Not really, I'm surprised at how many people just wont look at us or sometimes they wont wave back... probably just cuz we are missionaries..... but I just try to smile at everyone. 

How long has your companion been in the area?

four and a half months. 

Does his mom have a blog for him?

Nope. blogs are for lame people, and wendi. #wendiisntlame

How often do you hear from your president?

Every week. I email him.

So how do p-days work, do you have the whole day to do what you need/want?

I get from ten to six

What do you do in the other hours, before ten, and after 6?

study in the morning and proselyte from six to nine :)

Are there many sister missionaries out there?

I don't think that I have any in my Zone. but out of the 150 missionaries out here I think that 30 of them are sisters

This week we mainly just worked, we did more service this week than usual, so that was good. nothing monumental has really happened, I'm just nice to the members because I love them, and a little bit so they'll love me back. Service is probably one of our most powerful tools to gain investigators here in swift current. I miss you all tons and tons, I hope you know that.