Day 111

(I went to see the movie "Meet the Mormons" and asked if he had seen it yet)


I would love to see that movie, I'm wondering if president will let us watch it.. I bet he will especially if we watched it with investigators. lately I've been trying to work on things that impact other things, that way I have to worry about less things.. (eg. if I get up on time, work out, and am on time to studies, and study well, the rest of my day I know I'll do my best because I have my heart and mind in the right place, or something that a regular person might do, I've been trying to drink at least three water bottles of water a day, or about 3/4 gallon. that way I eat less and what I do eat is healthier.) just focus on a few things that impact the rest of the things and do those, then everything else will fall into place. It's kinda a bummer that dad didn't get to go hunting though :( too bad I don't get to see the birdies, I love those little guys...

So tell me whats going on with you?

Today is thanksgiving in Canada, so we didn't have a lot to do, we don't have a lot to shop for, so my companion and I played chess for three hours or so.. he knows how to play, and I usually play with one of the other three missionaries in my district anytime we have lunch together.. it's pretty fun, they've beat me a few times, but they are getting better quick and it makes me nervous..

So the mission fb page says 2013-2015, does that mean you will get a new mission president half-way through your mission?

yes ma'am. kinda nervous about that, but it's ok

Best moment?

best moment? we are still teaching Elaine, and she is still progressing. she came to church this week, I think she's starting to come because she wants to, not because we want her to.. we are working on getting the branch to love her, and I think it will work because she is a very lovable old lady, we are trying to help her quit smoking and I think it will happen, maybe not while I'm here but It should happen. 

You didn't answer my question about your conference shirt, how did you get monson and are those their ages on the front?

haha, yes those are their ages, and a member of my district said "Hey elder peterson, get in this picture and put this shirt on.. I love president Monson, but I didn't really have a choice.. 

Are you cooking more, with this new companion?

yes, it's not very hard, it doesn't really bother me. just mac and cheese, spaghetti, bananas, this morning I had a baked potato for breakfast, we got some little hashbrown patties for pretty cheap at the store.. Perogies, usually just pretty simple things to make, I like to make eggs and just flip them in the pan and pretend I'm some chef or something..  

How do you want me to send the recipies?  on paper, or email, thumb drive?

Just email them, paper would be fine

Can you print things out there?

yes I can, we just use the clerks office at the church

Do you ever do any family history stuff?  Elaine might like that.

we should work with her on that, but she does know that the church is big into that.

We are pretty much the only ward feeding our set of missionaries, so we kind of know how your branch feels, kind of.  Best meal this week?

no meals this week :(

Do you ever go sight seeing (on pday of course)?

haha, there isn't anything to see around here...

Did you ever get to go to the temple during the time you had transfers?

no ma'am, I haven't been to regina yet.

 

Day 104

This week has been good, not a lot went on, drove to moosejaw, spent a few days there, I really enjoyed General Conference, my favorite talk was probably that jorge guy. Elder Bednar was good, and I really enjoyed that talk. It seemed this conference was focused on leaving behind excuses and being the best kind of person you can be. This transfer I feel like I need to work a little on how I respond to direction, I've been trying to be better about making small course corrections, it's been going alright, you just have to pay more attention to your thoughts and desires rather than your actions and words, then you catch and correct before you even have to worry about anything.

Hows the new companion?

He's really great, His name is Elder Hawkins and he is a good guy.

Best thing about him?

He's really Laid back, but still a hard worker, We've just been watching conference so.. that's fun

Where's he from?

South Jordan Utah, same town as Elder Allred, but they don't know each other.

What kind of car do you have? Is it 4 wheel drive?

A Chevy Malibu.. not four wheel, and it's kind of a massive car..

Do different areas have different types of cars?

Yeah, but not for any rhyme or reason that I can tell, some people have Subarus, and they're pretty nice. A couple Elder's have trucks, and there are a few Equinoxs  

Did Elaine go to conference?

We watched the sunday afternoon session at her house, so she got to hear Elder Bednar's talk, I think she enjoyed it, I don't remember if I told you, but she also watched the Woman's broadcast and thought that was good, although she thought the women were a little whiney, she liked President Ucktdorf.

Best Moment?

The best moment was watching conference with Elaine, she made us a ton of bread! it was pretty good and we have tons left. Afterward we spent some time with her and discussed it I spent some time in Moosejaw this last week and that was fun, I was with an Elder Hornberger. He's a really nice guy from tremonton Utah, He's about as tall as I am, but he's an Ox. He wrestled throughout Highschool and really strong. I tried to surprise him and take him down, but he just manhandled me like I was a child. I got him back though, he's a little bit awkward, and I teased him that he had a crush on a sister missionary in his district.. he doesn't (that I know of) but he still went a little red and got defensive.

  

With your new comp, are people still excited to feed you?

So far, we've been fed once, it's been good, mostly we've just been watching conference... so much conference, I don't know if I've ever sat down and watched all ten hours of conference...

Have you gotten a new coat yet?

I did, I got a down vest from a thrift store for two dollars.. but it's a womens vest, but you can't really tell, it just says "firefly" pretty small under the back collar, but it's warm (duh it's down). also I bought a nice looking brown leather coat from Salvation Army, it is great in the wind and has a wool Liner. I'm still looking for coats because the leather one is pretty nice and I might just want a regular coat, but I'm pretty set at this point, I won't be cold..
 

Getting cold yet?

it hasn't decided weather it's going to be winter or not.. (get it? weather?) it was around zero degrees last weekend (Celsius) ps. metric system is stupid.

Any news about Ipads now that its oct?

no news yet, we'll find out.

When you drive do you do the 'get out and watch while I back out' thing?

Yeah we do that, it's kinda dumb, but I don't really mind.

Snow?

it tried to snow a few weeks ago, but it was so insignificant that I didn't mention it.

Other than that, everything has been really really good, no complaints at all. I hope you're having a great one! 

so much Love,

Ryus

Day 97

Transfer news, Elder Allred is going to Kanora Ontario, and I'm getting a missionary named Elder Hawkins, a little short guy (I'm thinking 5'4") which is pretty funny because Elder Allred is 6'3" So on Wednesday we drive to Moosejaw to drop Elder Allred off. he's got a ways to drive. 

This week was good, Elaine went to watch the Women's broadcast, and then used it against me on sunday claiming that "I said she didn't have to go to church if she came the the broadcast" pish posh like I would tell her that... Everything has been good here, It's been picking up a little speed. The nice part about Elder Allred Leaving is that all the members have wanted to feed us! Elaine embroidered a towel for Elder Allred before he left.. first time she's done that for a missionary in the six years she's been taught. so he must have done something right, I usually just try and steal her cigarettes. The most important thing is that Elaine is progressing and that is wonderful. 

Other than that I've been enjoying myself. I write little notes when I study and that has made all the difference, it forces me to slow down and analyze what I am reading. there really is a wealth of knowledge in the scriptures, I shouldve taken better advantage of that all along. I forgot to take a picture, but I recently aquired a tie that has a little rooster on the back, and the brand is Rooster, so I should probably just send it home so no one steals it from me.  (Ryus' nickname from is dad is Rooster, 'cause his hair, when it was too long, always stuck up in the back like a rooster tail)

So onto questions

Transfer stuff ? (duh) all the details please 

see above.

Hows Elaine? see above

Best moment?

I like it when Elaine is at church functions, we didn't get to see brother B this week because he was sleeping, but I'm going to try to go either on the way to moosejaw or on the way back.

Best meal?

The T's ( a crazy old couple that got baptized a while back) fed us dinner yesterday, it was so good, they're about 80 and it was a good home cooked dinner, just chicken and vegetables and rice. it was really good

Weirdest meal (food)?

Come on mom, it's Canada... 

actually I take that back, I haven't had really any weird food, but I guess there is a large Philippine population here, and they sometimes have balute, which is a partially formed duck in  an egg, but I've never had it. We'll see how it is when it comes around. 

Do you interact much with the Amish-type communities?

Not much. I say hello in walmart and such, but they mostly just keep to themselves.

Funniest moment?

...well.. sometimes I flip the breakers off while people are showering.. but that's not really new.. there hasn't been anything over the top funny this week. The other elders in our district come over sometimes because they have church in our town.. and sometimes I can get them to dump cold water on each other while they are showering.. That's about it.

Does your "people to write" list get bigger every time, or has it leveled off?

It's leveled off pretty well, not everyone is diligent and writes me every week so I write different people each week, I'm not a fan of the big mass emails that most missionaries do, so I try to write something personal to anyone who emails me.

Ps. I thought you might appreciate my nerdiness, but I've got my inbox set up to where it automatically sorts the emails I get into folders, just a little reminder of what a little nerd your son is..

The coolest nerd I know!

Sorry in this mission we would say "the Neatest nerd"

Day 90

I pulled this picture from Ryus' Facebook page.  His companion gave a nice

thought about "sleeping through the restoration" and used this picture. 

I've seen him like this many times, hmmmm.

Today I'm in a really good mood, as I've said in other letters today, I've been the happiest I've ever been here on my mission. Everything is great. How are you? how's the family doing? I hope that you're having fun with all of the canning that you do.. Do you worry about me out here? I wouldn't think so but I wouldn't be really surprised if you did.. 

This week has been good, we finally got Elaine to come to church, she enjoyed it although she thought it was a little long, that was really good and I am excited about that. Elder Allred has been teaching her for six months, and she's been meeting with missionaries for probably six years, but we are finally seeing progression, I'm always excited to see her, she's my favorite. She's kinda fun to tease, when we went to her house last, I told her that there is something wrong with her house, she said "what's that?" and then I told her that it didn't smell like freshly baked bread for me to eat.. She's really sweet though, she has cut my hair twice and mended one of my shirts.. so she's really done a lot for us. I'm excited to see her progression and I hope to see a lot more while I'm here. other than that, we help with the young men activities, so we got to go this week to a research station and play laser tag with the young men and their leaders. that was probably the most "fun" thing that I did this week.

So just some things I thought of that I would like from home, I understand that it's expensive to ship them and I can definitely do without.

One, My retainer. on my trip from North Carolina back to home the bottom retainer was broken, so somewhere in the expanse of my closet, I have a bottom one that is clear and was the first retainer that I had, the top metal retainer is still good though so you can send that with the bottom plastic one.

Two, that buzzy electric toothbrush, I was thinking about how I really didn't use that very much and feeling guilty because its a good one, make sure you send the charger and all if you decide to send it, and if you do make sure you don't value it as over fifty dollars, because I think there is a 30% tax at the border if it's over fifty

Three, my Carhart beanie. I sure miss that thing!

Lastly, if you decide not to send it, there are some members that might go down to the states sometime in the next while that always take things from missionaries to their parents and back, so there is that possibility.

and I want the recipe for crepes, gyros, pizza, I think I had some simple recipes book with like five ingredient recipes, so just type up any of those you think look yummy. also rice pudding, and 

Oh! just got some questions to answer!

Are you all prepared now for winter?

The coat I have isn't that great (it doesn't zip up) so we will go to sally anne's today. otherwise pretty much, I might buy some Kaki (that spelling isn't right) pants because I hear they are better for winter

Best moment?

Probably Elaine coming to church, I loved that.

So I didn't recognize the tie you were wearing at your training meeting, you must have traded that with someone.  Is it silver?  Who gave it to you?

yeah I traded for it, from Elder Sorenson, the Blonde missionary in my district.

Are transfers next week? this week?

We'll get transfer calls on friday, and we'll see which one of us leaves.

Is Elaine reading on her own or just when you guys visit her?

She does pretty good on her own, but we do remind her often.

How come you are online so early today?

We had a recall on a car part from our car, so we dropped it off and went to the church.

Have you had your ice cream yet?

Not yet, I should have got it today, but the other missionaries in our district aren't coming to town today.

Do people move in/out of your community much?

A lot of people are moving out, I haven't seen a lot moving in :( a lot of our branch is going to move out in the next couple years.

Are there any universities nearby?

I guess grandma emailed me and said there is a tech school somewhere nearby, but I have no Idea where it would be...

Anyway, I love you tons and tons and I'm proud of what you've done. I hope you're having a great day and don't miss me too much!

Love Ryus

Day 83

This week has been good, a little bit chilly but that's alright. I've been having fun, and I've been picking up the pace a little bit. We'll see how it goes. I miss all of you and I think of you often.. (but not too often) Here are the answers to your questions, I've tried to be more detailed than normal, (as per GB's request)

How was your training in Moose Jaw?  Tell me all about it. ( I keep thinking it was like the DVD the mission home sent that we watched, Ill have to watch it again)

The training was good, for a lot of it we just practiced. President Thomas went over a few things with us about winter driving and all that stuff, we practiced a lot about extending commitments to members in order to help them be more missionary oriented, one funny thing I think I've mentioned before is that missionaries like to trade ties, and the tie I was wearing I had a bunch of people try to trade it from me during the training.. I found out later that Elder Allred had been telling people "you'll never trade that tie off of him.." so naturally everyone wanted it. Needless to say I still went home with the same tie.

Practice, practice, practice

 I got these pics from the Canada Winnipeg Mission facebook page.  

Ryus is in the very back on the left.

This is the Moose Jaw zone. 

Did you get to see any of your buddies from the MTC?

Yeah I got to see Elder Ringger, He's my favorite from the MTC, so that was a lot of fun.

Any progress with your investigators?

This week we were able to get Elaine to say a prayer, which is the first time that I know of. She also kept her commitment to read in the Book of Mormon this week, which was really good, I was a little annoyed because I didn't think she would be doing it, and I was planning on being a little more stern with her this time about it. but she did a good job and read a few times this week. whoo hoo ;)

Best Moment?

probably Elaine praying and doing her reading.

Best dinner this week/with who?

We went over to a members house on Saturday and had Chinese food, it was really good, they are really good cooks.

What do you get to do with your face book page?  Are there limitations?

we use it for online proselyting, I can't just get on and talk to anybody anytime. we are supposed to use it for a maximum of an hour each day. I guess soon we are supposed to be getting IPads.. the bad part about it is we have to buy it from the church even though I have one at home. I guess they want their's to be wifi only and have some sort of software on them. It costs 400 dollars to purchase one from the church. although It's not supposed to happen till sometime in October.

I saw that it was chilly today, did you get some gloves yet?

I found some new gloves at the thrift store, I bought them even though I felt bad in case someone else more needy than I might need them, they cost me five dollars, I found a nice bag in the thrift store that cost me 4.50, and I found a trench coat for 50 cents.. so I bought them all. ha

Do you ever have disagreements with your companion?  If so how do you resolve them?

Well, I get along with my companion very well, but when we have disagreements we usually work it out very quickly, we are both fairly mature. (kind of)  

Have you had to buy ice cream yet? or have you eaten any yet?  (seems more like sabotage, to me)

I haven't had to buy any, I rightfully should be eating some right now, but I've allowed a grace period for the day.

I love you all tons and tons and tons <3

Day 76

This week was pretty good. We just did the normal stuff. We've been trying to find new investigators and improve our relationship with the members. Tomorrow we have some training in moose jaw a city about an hour and a half away. still been kinda slow, my training is coming to a close and in a few weeks I'll get a new companion, I like my trainer so I don't know how I'll like my next companion, I'll just do my best to love him I guess. I'm excited to be out here doing the lord's work. I've been doing Burpy's every morning because I don't want to get fat, I have a deal with another member of the district that if one of us misses a day of working out that they'll owe the other Ice cream, and I don't like buying other people ice cream so I'm pretty determined. I seriously love you all and I'm glad that you all are my family. I pray for you often. Let's hang out in a few years!

Best Moment?

We were trimming some of Brother B's trees, and one of the members of my district was up in the tree cutting down some branches. Brother B wanted a branch cut down, but he didn't want him to do it with the axe while he was in the tree. So he said he was coming down, and when brother B left, he snuck back up and cut down this branch that was way up there. Brother B was impressed.

How is Bro B?  What service did you guys end up helping him with?

We went to his house and cut down a bunch of limbs off of some of his trees. The other set of Elders went inside and helped make his shop more accessible to him

How is Elaine?

Elaine is well, we are bringing her a large print Book of Mormon today.

How many miles do you get and do you usually use them all up. 

We usually get somewhere about 1500 K's, we pretty well use them up every month.

Do you ever need rides?

Oh not really. we only have Swift Current and the town isn't that big.

Are transfers coming up again soon?

yeah after this week it'll be halfway through transfers.

Are you thinking about Christmas yet?  Needs?  Wants?

I don't know, I've looked around at things, I need to purchase a pair of gloves but I'm not too worried about them.

That was really nice of that guy to carve that chess set for you.  How did that come about?

I asked him to and he did it.

  Thanks to Sister Parsons who keeps me supplied with photos.  Ryus with a recent haircut is on the far right kneeling. 

Day 69

So if you have some free time, whether its P-day or not, what do you enjoy doing?

Sometimes it's fun to play uno, or chess. an investigator carved that chess set on facebook for me, we trade ties sometimes which is also fun. other than that I enjoy reading church literature or my patriarchal blessing, it has been great for me. 

Are you guys pretty good about keeping your apartment clean? (it would be nice to have some pictures : )

we are really good about keeping are apartment clean, unless the other elders from the district are over. Also in that picture with president thomas the other Elders there are just the other Elders in my district.

One reason I'm so bad about pictures is I need to charge my camera, and my camera is kinda acting up.. I guess it's just old.

Do you have any senior couples serving up there, besides the Menloves?

Yeah a few, the only other ones I know of are from some other part of canada.. I don't even know what part. 

What Canadian holidays do you know of?  Labor Day?

Canadians have a long weekend at least once a month, so having P-day is kinda lame sometimes because everything is closed. 

Would you wish to speak French on your mission?

Nope, I don't know where I would use that in life except out here. 

Are there French speaking Canadians where you are?

Not really, everyone speaks English here. 

What is the best meal you have cooked?

I made some Gyros, but they were just ok. I didn't have the recipe right. 

What is your favorite kind of missionary work to do?

I love it when someone is honestly looking for the truth.. and we can give it to them, the spirit abounds in those conversations. 

Your companions? 

I would assume the same..  

Have you had any scary situations?

No, Everyone is nice here. no complaints.

This week was mostly service based, we didn't find any new investigators, we always try to visit potential investigators and it seems like they're not often home. we go to an old folks home and visit them and play games, we serve at a bookstore, we mow lawns, all sorts of things like that. this week we are headed out to help a man named Brian. Just imagine a biker dude, with a long scraggly beard, thinning long hair, and a little ponytail, the most piercing blue eyes and about three teeth on the bottom. Except Brian has no legs. He's Diabetic and he has to go in for Dialysis two or three times a week. They had to cut them off mid thigh because they were poisoning him. He has the most positive attitude that I can imagine, he's always very chipper he's a convert but he can't always make it to church, always loves to see us and he and his wife are working on going to the temple. We are planning to drive out there this week, all four of us and just go nuts doing stuff that he needs around the house. I'm really excited for that. We usually go visit him in the hospital and he always wants to have a little prayer with us before we leave. This is a man who has less than most, but few people have as good an attitude on life as he does. I think we can all learn a little something from him.

I love you, and I'm glad that I have such a loving and supportive family back home to love me. I miss you, but I'm glad that I am out here. Do great things.