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.

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.