Ryan will arrive in Tucson late Wednesday evening and be released from his calling as a full-time missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Thursday, December 17th.
Ryan's homecoming talk will be given at the North Stake Center building in the Casas Adobes Ward Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, December 20th at 1:00pm.
We couldn't be more proud of our returning missionary and pray his travels home are swift and safe. Thank you for all your support and prayers over the past two years.
See you tomorrow, Ryan!
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Ryan's last e-mail before flying home!
12/14/2015
Hello everyone!
I really don't know what to say. The last two years have been hard but
well worth it. I have never felt so spiritually strengthened. I have
learned so much. I want to thank all of you for the support hat you
have shown to me. I couldn't have done this without your prayers and
letters of encouragement.
My mission was a success because I have come to know without a doubt
that Jesus Christ is my Saviour. I know that He lives and that His
Church was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. I
have had so many experiences that testify to me of that truth and I
look forward to the opportunity that I will have to share them with
you when I arrive home. I love you all and will see or speak to you
soon!
Hello everyone!
I really don't know what to say. The last two years have been hard but
well worth it. I have never felt so spiritually strengthened. I have
learned so much. I want to thank all of you for the support hat you
have shown to me. I couldn't have done this without your prayers and
letters of encouragement.
My mission was a success because I have come to know without a doubt
that Jesus Christ is my Saviour. I know that He lives and that His
Church was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. I
have had so many experiences that testify to me of that truth and I
look forward to the opportunity that I will have to share them with
you when I arrive home. I love you all and will see or speak to you
soon!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
More from Ry
10-12-2015
Elder Celestini and I are still buzzing off of last weeks miracle with
Miyi. A member picked him up and he came with us to church yesterday.
He really liked it and wants to go to Stake Conference next week. We
told him that it was a two hour drive, a two hour long meeting and
then another two hours of driving back. He replied, "No problem."
Haha. He is awesome.
We had another cool experience this week while finding. We were
talking one morning about how cool it would be if we found someone
that spoke Italian. And later that day we were street contacting
people. About an hour in we stopped to evaluate how we were doing and
then I jumped up and said, "Let's find you someone that knows
Italian!" The very first person we talk to spoke Italian and Elder
Celestini was able to speak with them for 5 minutes or so. He looked
so happy! It was a great moment. She didn't become a potential but
it was still a cool miracle. God knows His children!
We went to Zone meeting in Llanelli and we talked about the Doctrine
of Repentance. It a very good and the Spirit was so strong.
I don't have much more to report on. Have a great week! Love y'all!
Elder Celestini and I are still buzzing off of last weeks miracle with
Miyi. A member picked him up and he came with us to church yesterday.
He really liked it and wants to go to Stake Conference next week. We
told him that it was a two hour drive, a two hour long meeting and
then another two hours of driving back. He replied, "No problem."
Haha. He is awesome.
We had another cool experience this week while finding. We were
talking one morning about how cool it would be if we found someone
that spoke Italian. And later that day we were street contacting
people. About an hour in we stopped to evaluate how we were doing and
then I jumped up and said, "Let's find you someone that knows
Italian!" The very first person we talk to spoke Italian and Elder
Celestini was able to speak with them for 5 minutes or so. He looked
so happy! It was a great moment. She didn't become a potential but
it was still a cool miracle. God knows His children!
We went to Zone meeting in Llanelli and we talked about the Doctrine
of Repentance. It a very good and the Spirit was so strong.
I don't have much more to report on. Have a great week! Love y'all!
Monday, October 5, 2015
10/5/2015
This week was so cool.
On Wednesday Elder Meier and I went to the mission home early in the
morning so that I could be there to meet my trainee! I am the only
Elder training so it was quite obvious that I was his trainer
throughout the meetings. haha
But my new companions name is Elder Celestini. He is from Rome,
Italy. His English is way better than I expected it to be but there is
still the occasional awkward silence when when don't understand each
other. haha But we just laugh it off and keep trying.
The drive from the Mission Home to Aberystwyth is just over 3 hours
and he was mesmerised the whole journey by the green hills, sheep, and
small Welsh roads. We arrived in Aber around 5:45 and the first thing
that we did was stop by the Branch President's home. I love their
family and it was so good to see them. We had a dinner appointment
after that and did a few more stop bys to finish the night.
On Thursday we drove down to Newcastle Emlyn for District Meeting. We
talked about the Doctrine of Finding. Immediately after we drove to
Aber, jumped out of the car, and started to street contact. After 30
minutes of finding I noticed that Elder Celestini looked very
uncomfortable, as most missionaries are on their first full day, so we
sat down and started to talk. After reading from PMG and encouraging
him for a bit I asked if we could say a prayer. He agreed. So on a
bench, with loads of people walking by, we said a prayer. We asked
for strength, courage, guidance, and finished by asking if we could
find someone that would be Baptized this transfer. After the prayer
we both look up and there is a guy standing off to the left just
watching us. I made eye contact with him and with a huge smile on his
face he introduced himself. His name is Miyi and he began to explain
why he was watching us. He said that he moved to Aber three weeks ago
and that ever since he arrived he has been praying to find a church to
join. He said that when he saw us praying the Spirit told him to stop
and talk with us. He then said, "I Would like to join your church."
It was a miracle. I was smiling from ear to ear. Elder Clelestini
was in such shock and so grateful for this miracle that all he could
ask was, "Can I hug you?" It was such a cool experience. It really
got us pumped up for this transfer.
On that day the Lord answered many prayers and I am so grateful to
have witnessed such a miracle.
I hope that everyone enjoyed conference! I gained a lot from it. I
specifically liked Elder Anderson's talk of Faith.
"Faith does not fall upon us by chance nor stay with us by
birthright...The future of your faith is not by chance, but by
choice."
I definitely can't disagree with that one.
Well I hope that all you have a great week! Love you!
This week was so cool.
On Wednesday Elder Meier and I went to the mission home early in the
morning so that I could be there to meet my trainee! I am the only
Elder training so it was quite obvious that I was his trainer
throughout the meetings. haha
But my new companions name is Elder Celestini. He is from Rome,
Italy. His English is way better than I expected it to be but there is
still the occasional awkward silence when when don't understand each
other. haha But we just laugh it off and keep trying.
The drive from the Mission Home to Aberystwyth is just over 3 hours
and he was mesmerised the whole journey by the green hills, sheep, and
small Welsh roads. We arrived in Aber around 5:45 and the first thing
that we did was stop by the Branch President's home. I love their
family and it was so good to see them. We had a dinner appointment
after that and did a few more stop bys to finish the night.
On Thursday we drove down to Newcastle Emlyn for District Meeting. We
talked about the Doctrine of Finding. Immediately after we drove to
Aber, jumped out of the car, and started to street contact. After 30
minutes of finding I noticed that Elder Celestini looked very
uncomfortable, as most missionaries are on their first full day, so we
sat down and started to talk. After reading from PMG and encouraging
him for a bit I asked if we could say a prayer. He agreed. So on a
bench, with loads of people walking by, we said a prayer. We asked
for strength, courage, guidance, and finished by asking if we could
find someone that would be Baptized this transfer. After the prayer
we both look up and there is a guy standing off to the left just
watching us. I made eye contact with him and with a huge smile on his
face he introduced himself. His name is Miyi and he began to explain
why he was watching us. He said that he moved to Aber three weeks ago
and that ever since he arrived he has been praying to find a church to
join. He said that when he saw us praying the Spirit told him to stop
and talk with us. He then said, "I Would like to join your church."
It was a miracle. I was smiling from ear to ear. Elder Clelestini
was in such shock and so grateful for this miracle that all he could
ask was, "Can I hug you?" It was such a cool experience. It really
got us pumped up for this transfer.
On that day the Lord answered many prayers and I am so grateful to
have witnessed such a miracle.
I hope that everyone enjoyed conference! I gained a lot from it. I
specifically liked Elder Anderson's talk of Faith.
"Faith does not fall upon us by chance nor stay with us by
birthright...The future of your faith is not by chance, but by
choice."
I definitely can't disagree with that one.
Well I hope that all you have a great week! Love you!
Sunday, October 4, 2015
9/28/2015
I have had such an amazing week!
On Monday I was called to whitewash train for my last two transfers.
I was kind of freaking out at first but now that it has sunk in I am
super excited.
There was a self reliance class on Tuesday for all of the missionaries
that will be going home in the next 6 months. So I drove down to
Birmingham with 3 other Elders in my zone to attend. It was very
interesting. We took a test that will determine our interests and
tell us what field we would be best in. We should get the results
back soon. I am super excited to see what it says.
On Thursday I had to go back to Birmingham for the Trainers meeting.
I am the only Elder training this transfer. Crazy stuff. After the
meeting I was pulled to the side by one of the Assistants, Elder
Swinemar, and he told me that I will be whitewashing Aberystwyth
again! wohoooooo! I am so excited to be going back! Not only that
but I was told that my trainee is from Italy! He will be my first and
only European companion. It will be really fun.
We traveled a lot on Friday. In the morning we drove to Derby so that
I could give training in their District Meeting. After that we drove
back to Nottingham, ate lunch, and as we were getting ready to leave
we got a call saying that we needed to go into Birmingham to pick up a
knee brace for a missionary in our zone. When we got there we were
able to meet President Leppard's son who just got off his mission the
day before. He served his mission in Greece. Cool right? But after
having a nice chat with all of them, we jumped back in the car, and
drove to Derby to drop off the knee brace. We Made it back in time
for us to set up the ward movie night. We watched 17 Miracles with
members and investigators. It was great! I really love that movie.
So this is where the week gets really good. We have been teaching
Michal for the past 3 weeks and he is soaking up the Gospel. On
Thursday he seemed really upset but didn't want to talk about it. He
said that it was something that he would have to deal with. We were
really worried because we didn't like the thought of him being so
upset but we felt like we needed to move on so we continued to teach
him about fasting. Anyway, On Friday he was supposed to come to the
Movie night but never showed up... Again, we were really worried
because we had no way of contacting him. His Baptismal Interview was
scheduled for Saturday evening so we were freaking out because we were
going talk to him about it on Friday and arrange it with him. But
again we decided to keep the Interview scheduled and to pray that he
would show up. And on Saturday evening he showed up! It was
fantastic! And he passed his interview!
The cool thing is that the miracles don't stop there. He was
scheduled to be Baptized at 9am Sunday morning. And he told us that
he would meet us at the Church at 8:30. But there was a problem. The
Robin Hood Marathon was going on in the morning and nearly all of the
buses were behind schedule or running different routes. So 8:30
rolled around and he was no where to be found. We thought that he
missed his bus so we got together with some of the members and said a
prayer that he would make it. At 9:10 we see a car pull up and Michal
jumped out of it! He was Baptized yesterday and it went so well!
It wasn't until after church though that he was able to tell us
everything that happened. He was on a tram headed for city centre so
that he could jump on the bus. But his tram got delayed. He saw that
the tram wasn't going anywhere so he got out and ran nearly a mile to
the bus stop. Michal waited there for 20 minutes but no bus came. He
started to freakout so he just started to run for the church which is
4 miles away. As he was running he was praying that he would be able
to stop someone and catch a ride but felt that wouldn't work so kept
running. He was about half way there when a complete stranger pulled
over and offered to give hime a ride! It was a miracle! The stranger
saw him running in a suit at a dead sprint and wanted to help!!
MIIRACLE!!! Even though everything was working against Michal getting
Baptized yesterday he still made it. I have no doubt that the
Church is True. How can it not be after something like that?
I have had such an amazing week!
On Monday I was called to whitewash train for my last two transfers.
I was kind of freaking out at first but now that it has sunk in I am
super excited.
There was a self reliance class on Tuesday for all of the missionaries
that will be going home in the next 6 months. So I drove down to
Birmingham with 3 other Elders in my zone to attend. It was very
interesting. We took a test that will determine our interests and
tell us what field we would be best in. We should get the results
back soon. I am super excited to see what it says.
On Thursday I had to go back to Birmingham for the Trainers meeting.
I am the only Elder training this transfer. Crazy stuff. After the
meeting I was pulled to the side by one of the Assistants, Elder
Swinemar, and he told me that I will be whitewashing Aberystwyth
again! wohoooooo! I am so excited to be going back! Not only that
but I was told that my trainee is from Italy! He will be my first and
only European companion. It will be really fun.
We traveled a lot on Friday. In the morning we drove to Derby so that
I could give training in their District Meeting. After that we drove
back to Nottingham, ate lunch, and as we were getting ready to leave
we got a call saying that we needed to go into Birmingham to pick up a
knee brace for a missionary in our zone. When we got there we were
able to meet President Leppard's son who just got off his mission the
day before. He served his mission in Greece. Cool right? But after
having a nice chat with all of them, we jumped back in the car, and
drove to Derby to drop off the knee brace. We Made it back in time
for us to set up the ward movie night. We watched 17 Miracles with
members and investigators. It was great! I really love that movie.
So this is where the week gets really good. We have been teaching
Michal for the past 3 weeks and he is soaking up the Gospel. On
Thursday he seemed really upset but didn't want to talk about it. He
said that it was something that he would have to deal with. We were
really worried because we didn't like the thought of him being so
upset but we felt like we needed to move on so we continued to teach
him about fasting. Anyway, On Friday he was supposed to come to the
Movie night but never showed up... Again, we were really worried
because we had no way of contacting him. His Baptismal Interview was
scheduled for Saturday evening so we were freaking out because we were
going talk to him about it on Friday and arrange it with him. But
again we decided to keep the Interview scheduled and to pray that he
would show up. And on Saturday evening he showed up! It was
fantastic! And he passed his interview!
The cool thing is that the miracles don't stop there. He was
scheduled to be Baptized at 9am Sunday morning. And he told us that
he would meet us at the Church at 8:30. But there was a problem. The
Robin Hood Marathon was going on in the morning and nearly all of the
buses were behind schedule or running different routes. So 8:30
rolled around and he was no where to be found. We thought that he
missed his bus so we got together with some of the members and said a
prayer that he would make it. At 9:10 we see a car pull up and Michal
jumped out of it! He was Baptized yesterday and it went so well!
It wasn't until after church though that he was able to tell us
everything that happened. He was on a tram headed for city centre so
that he could jump on the bus. But his tram got delayed. He saw that
the tram wasn't going anywhere so he got out and ran nearly a mile to
the bus stop. Michal waited there for 20 minutes but no bus came. He
started to freakout so he just started to run for the church which is
4 miles away. As he was running he was praying that he would be able
to stop someone and catch a ride but felt that wouldn't work so kept
running. He was about half way there when a complete stranger pulled
over and offered to give hime a ride! It was a miracle! The stranger
saw him running in a suit at a dead sprint and wanted to help!!
MIIRACLE!!! Even though everything was working against Michal getting
Baptized yesterday he still made it. I have no doubt that the
Church is True. How can it not be after something like that?
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
The latest from Ryan
8/31/2015
I had a really great experience this past week that I wanted to share
with all of you. I was in Derby this week on exchange with one of the
Elders. And for those that aren't aware, Derby was my first area. And
while I was there we met up with a recent convert that I taught named
Sam. He is preparing for a mission and will be putting his papers in
in 2 weeks! We met with him in a park and talked about his mission,
about his fears, his expectations and we answered questions that he
had. While talking with him, sharing experiences, and bearing
testimony, I was filled with so much gratitude. It opened my eyes to
a lot of the blessings that the Lord has given me. It gave me an even
bigger appreciation for serving. I am filled with so much joy in being
able to see Sam prepare for a mission. If teaching him and seeing him
go on a mission were the only things I saw happen on my mission then I
would have gone home happy. But the Lord has blessed me with so much
more. I have seen so much. I have felt so much Joy. I will never
forget this experience. I love my mission. I love my Saviour. I know
that He lives. I know that He suffered and died for all of us. I know
that Joseph Smith was the prophet that he called to restore His church
to the earth. I know that He has a living prophet on the earth today.
And I challenge everyone to find that out for themselves. Do all that
you can to figure that out. It makes everything you go through worth
it.
Love you all! And hope that you have a great week!
9/7/2015
This week was an adventurous one. I will tell you about it a day at a time.
Tuesday: It started with us teaching a new investigator named
Michael. The lesson went extremely well. We left the lesson smiling
from ear to ear. After that we wanted to celebrate by getting a few
snacks at a place called I.C. Discounts. In order to get to the store
we had to cut through a really ghetto part of town called St. Anns.
While walking through we hear some yelling up ahead. A guy and this
girl come raging around a corner. She is yelling at him to stop but
he going crazy. Elder Meier and I moved to the right side of the path
so that he could pass on the left. And right before we passed each
other, i made eye contact with him. That was a mistake because he
charged at me and tried to push me. He is smaller than me though so
when he came at me I just put my arms out and stopped him. He then
kept yelling, "Get out of my way!" His eyes were super crazy and he
was definitely on drugs but eventually he stormed past us, and started
to push another guy. That guy wasn't going to take it though and he
started to throw punches. So we continued on... We went to the
store, got our snacks, and then started back for a Chinese place to
get food for the rest of our lunch break. On the way....a Bird pooped
on my head. But it didn't just stop on my head. It went all over my
shirt, a little got on my trousers, and somehow some landed on my
backpack. It was so disgusting.... So we had to go back to the flat
so that I could shower and change. Anyway, the night ended with our
Bishop taking us out to a really nice restaurant and spending 200
pounds....it was sooooo good!
On Friday we had Mission Leadership Counsel. President and Sister
Leppard are so great. They are so in tune with the Spirit and they
came up with a lot of great ideas to try. After MLC we gave someone a
Baptismal interview and then went straight to a ward activity. It was
a Wild West Night. They had a mechanical bull! So of course I got
permission and rode it. haha I also joined in on the pie eating
contest and won like a true American. ha Our investigator Michael
showed up and we were able to give him a tour of the Church. He
really liked it and the activity. So yeah that was great.
On Sunday we went to the bus stop to meet Michael for Church but he
barely missed the bus by 30 seconds! Elder Meier and I were so torn.
But he ran to the next stop! And missed that one as well.... It was
sad but then he sprinted over a mile to another stop and made it! It
was insane! He is so dedicated and awesome. It was a miracle.
That all I really have for you this week but it was great. Love you all!
I had a really great experience this past week that I wanted to share
with all of you. I was in Derby this week on exchange with one of the
Elders. And for those that aren't aware, Derby was my first area. And
while I was there we met up with a recent convert that I taught named
Sam. He is preparing for a mission and will be putting his papers in
in 2 weeks! We met with him in a park and talked about his mission,
about his fears, his expectations and we answered questions that he
had. While talking with him, sharing experiences, and bearing
testimony, I was filled with so much gratitude. It opened my eyes to
a lot of the blessings that the Lord has given me. It gave me an even
bigger appreciation for serving. I am filled with so much joy in being
able to see Sam prepare for a mission. If teaching him and seeing him
go on a mission were the only things I saw happen on my mission then I
would have gone home happy. But the Lord has blessed me with so much
more. I have seen so much. I have felt so much Joy. I will never
forget this experience. I love my mission. I love my Saviour. I know
that He lives. I know that He suffered and died for all of us. I know
that Joseph Smith was the prophet that he called to restore His church
to the earth. I know that He has a living prophet on the earth today.
And I challenge everyone to find that out for themselves. Do all that
you can to figure that out. It makes everything you go through worth
it.
Love you all! And hope that you have a great week!
9/7/2015
This week was an adventurous one. I will tell you about it a day at a time.
Tuesday: It started with us teaching a new investigator named
Michael. The lesson went extremely well. We left the lesson smiling
from ear to ear. After that we wanted to celebrate by getting a few
snacks at a place called I.C. Discounts. In order to get to the store
we had to cut through a really ghetto part of town called St. Anns.
While walking through we hear some yelling up ahead. A guy and this
girl come raging around a corner. She is yelling at him to stop but
he going crazy. Elder Meier and I moved to the right side of the path
so that he could pass on the left. And right before we passed each
other, i made eye contact with him. That was a mistake because he
charged at me and tried to push me. He is smaller than me though so
when he came at me I just put my arms out and stopped him. He then
kept yelling, "Get out of my way!" His eyes were super crazy and he
was definitely on drugs but eventually he stormed past us, and started
to push another guy. That guy wasn't going to take it though and he
started to throw punches. So we continued on... We went to the
store, got our snacks, and then started back for a Chinese place to
get food for the rest of our lunch break. On the way....a Bird pooped
on my head. But it didn't just stop on my head. It went all over my
shirt, a little got on my trousers, and somehow some landed on my
backpack. It was so disgusting.... So we had to go back to the flat
so that I could shower and change. Anyway, the night ended with our
Bishop taking us out to a really nice restaurant and spending 200
pounds....it was sooooo good!
On Friday we had Mission Leadership Counsel. President and Sister
Leppard are so great. They are so in tune with the Spirit and they
came up with a lot of great ideas to try. After MLC we gave someone a
Baptismal interview and then went straight to a ward activity. It was
a Wild West Night. They had a mechanical bull! So of course I got
permission and rode it. haha I also joined in on the pie eating
contest and won like a true American. ha Our investigator Michael
showed up and we were able to give him a tour of the Church. He
really liked it and the activity. So yeah that was great.
On Sunday we went to the bus stop to meet Michael for Church but he
barely missed the bus by 30 seconds! Elder Meier and I were so torn.
But he ran to the next stop! And missed that one as well.... It was
sad but then he sprinted over a mile to another stop and made it! It
was insane! He is so dedicated and awesome. It was a miracle.
That all I really have for you this week but it was great. Love you all!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Elder Bos
3/9/2015
Hello everyone!
Hello everyone!
I was going to send you pictures of the District P-day that we had last week but I forgot my camera cord...But I will tell you right now that it was the most beautiful place I have ever been. It is called Rhossili Bay. I was blown away by how nice it was. We had a really powerful testimony meeting out there. I loved it.
On Tuesday Elder Lowe and I drove to Birmingham to receive training from President and Sister Rasmussen. It was a great meeting. It was focused on us making more detailed lesson plans and having more spiritually uplifting studies that focus on our investigators and their needs. On Thursday we had Zone meeting and gave the same training to the missionaries in our Zone. It went very well.
We were also told this week that we would be moving flats so we have been packing up ours and getting ready to move everything. We don't know where we are going yet but we hope that it's close. We find out tonight if one of us leaves. My prediction is that Elder Lowe will. He has been here for 6 transfers which is just over 8 months. I would be very surprised if he stayed.
I was on an exchange with Elder Magda this week. I went to their area which in a different part of Swansea. It went well...except I think I broke my nose. ha So...I was jumped..just kidding. That would have been a less embarrassing story. I was doing pull ups on a bar that you hook onto the doorframe. While pulling myself up, it unhooked itself, and all of the force that I was using to pull myself up came down and hit me right in the nose with the bar. It hurt really bad and there was a lot of blood but I am okay! ha Elder Magda sure thought it was hilarious.
It was Elder Thompson's and Elder Harris' last Sunday yesterday and the ward sang them a Welsh song called, "We'll keep a Welcome." It was a beautiful song and I don't think I've ever heard anything like it. What a great tradition! I am going to miss serving with them. They are fantastic missionaries.
This week is going to be great. I can feel it. I hope that you have a great week as well! I love all of you! Zai Jian!
3/16/2015
I feel like a lot has happened this week. On Monday night we got the call telling us what was going to happen for transfers. Elder Lowe was sent to Harbourne which is near Birmingham. And I was sent Elder Debeikes from Thousand Oaks, California. I was sad to see Elder Lowe go but Elder Debeikes is an awesome missionary. We get along great.
The few days before transfers were crazy. Elder Lowe and I had to wake up early for a few days just so that we could prepare our flat to close down. We lost one team in Swansea and we were moved into their flat. So on the actual transfer day I had to spend time with a couple of missionaries in the flat organizing and cleaning it. It was really hard because we had all of our stuff plus what was in the flat when we got there. But for the most part it was ready for when Elder Debeikes came in.
Shaun and Caitlin and doing better than ever. We had a really good Family Home Evening with them on Monday. They asked us to do the lesson so that they would know how it works. We are going again tonight and this time Shaun will be teaching us. I am very excited.
On Thursday we were told by Shaun that his brother Jack wanted to speak with us. Jack is 13 and was almost baptized when he was 9. He ended up canceling it the day of the Baptism. He brought a friend with him and both of them were asking some good questions. Shaun brought them to Church on Sunday and they seemed to enjoy it. Our goal is to get them involved in youth so that they have a good set of friends.
We also did a lot of stop bys with investigators this week so that Elder Debeikes could meet them.
There was really cool miracle in the District a few days ago. The team that was sent out left an investigator with the other Elders. On Friday while meeting with him they felt prompted and invited him to be baptized the next day. And guess what? He was! It was an amazing story and I'll have to tell you the rest of it another day.
Here's my new address by the way!
65 Gelli Rhyden
Fforestfach
Swansea SA5 4BD
Wales
Ta for now!
4/3/2015
This past week may have been the most beautiful week I have seen on my mission. It was sunny all week and I now have an awful neck tan. Just what I have always wanted! ha
We had Mission Leadership Council in Birmingham on Tuesday. It was a very uplifting and inspiring meeting. It focused on our 3 main invitations. Church, Prayer, and Reading the Scriptures.
On Thursday we were going to have our Zone Meeting at the church but there were people there working on the Electric...Soooo we decided to change it up and have the meeting outside in the sunny weather. It turned out great. We pulled the tables, chairs, and whiteboard outside and then we had the piano in the doorway. I'm pretty sure that half of the zone now has a sunburn but I have never seen so many happy missionaries. It was great.
After Zone Meeting I went on an exchange with Elder Kezele. He stayed in Swansea with me while Elder DeBeikes and Elder Roundy went to Merthyr Tydfil. I really enjoyed the exchange. He is one of the most diligent missionaries in the mission. He goes home in 3 months and is still very motivated. I learned a lot from him.
We have been meeting with Shaun and Caitlin everyday so that we can read through the whole Book of Mormon with them before she is baptized. They have officially set the date for their wedding! They are getting married on June 20th! And the following weekend Caitlin will get baptized. We are so excited!
Janine has been doing really good. She came to conference last week with a whole list of questions. The first one that she had was about fear and why the scriptures always tell us to fear God. She loved Elder Bwednar's talk! It was perfect for her. We even watched it again with her during a lesson and she told us that it helped even more the second time.
We had our mini missionary aka Assistant Roberts with us all last week. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully he will be putting in his papers at the end of May.
I can't think of anything else to talk about right now...I was planning on sending pictures but I grabbed the wrong camera cord. Awkward right? I'll just send them next week. I love all of you and want all of you to know that I love my mission. I love proclaiming God's simple truths. The Church is true. I know that and if you do not know that, today is the day to find out!
With Love,
Elder Bos
5/4/2015
This past week we went to a mission wide conference in Birmingham. Two General Authorities came and talked with us. It was a very powerful conference. And it only strengthened my testimony that there are people here ready to hear about the Restored Gospel. I know that with all of my heart and I want to promise all of you that I will do everything I can to find them. These last 8 months will be my best yet.
I also have a challenge for everyone. That is to prayerfully identify someone that you can give a Book of Mormon to. Not only that but include your testimony it.
I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that it was translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith and that abiding by it we may gain a stronger testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The only way for people to come to know this for themselves is through study and prayer. I encourage everyone to take up Moroni's challenge in Moroni 10: 3-5. I promise that you and those you give this to will receive an answer.
I love all of you. Have a great week!
6/8/2015
Hey Everyone!
I haven't sent a group email in a long time so there is a lot that I
need to catch up on.
I was moved a couple of weeks ago from Swansea, Wales. I am currently
serving with an Elder Ross in Nottingham, England! And before anyone
asks, No I have not seen or met Robin Hood... But he does have quite a
few people running around pretending to be him.
This week we drove to Birmingham for our monthly meeting with
President and Sister Rasmussen. This was their last Mission
Leadership Council and it was very powerful. It was definitely an
inspired meeting. Sister Rasmussen gave a great training that was
based off of the Good Samaritan and "Talk With Everyone" from Preach
My Gospel. I won't type out everything that she trained on but I will
tell you a couple of things that stuck out to me.
1. We must all pray for the Spiritual sensitivity to recognise opportunities
to share the Gospel. She gave the example of Sister Teixeira who was
found by missionaries on their P-Day. Her Brother was baptised and
the missionaries went visit with him and to play a few games. While
there they struck up a conversation with her and not long after she
was baptised.
2. When we pray for missionary work, we should not pray for people to
be prepared, but pray that missionaries have the desire to find them.
The Lord already has people prepared. We just have to have the desire
and faith to find them. When Sister Rasmussen was training on this a
talk popped into my mind. It's called, "Conversion of a Catholic" by
Bill Carpenter. You'll know how it applies if you have heard the
talk. If you haven't heard it then I suggest you listen to it because
it is fantastic.
President Rasmussen gave some great training on helping our
investigators Open the Windows of Heaven. Everything he spoke about
are principles that we have heard before but are also things that we
sometimes forget. 3 of the Principles that he spoke about are
attending church, reading the scriptures daily, and praying daily. It
was fantastic but what stuck out to me most was the final scripture
that he shared with us which was, 3 Nephi 17.
On Thursday we had Zone Meeting which went well. The Zone here is very
focused and a lot of great things are happening.
On Sunday we had a Stake conference broadcast from Scotland. Elder
Holland was presiding. It was so amazing. He spoke on the Book of
Mormon and how he would die before denying the truthfulness of it. It
has really pumped me up and I am so excited to see him this Thursday!
For those of you who don't know. Jeffrey R. Holland, who is a member
of the Twelve Apostles, will be coming to our mission to speak with
all of us. We will each have the opportunity to shake his hand and
speak with him. I am so excited!
Anyway, I am loving the work out here. I can see the Lord blessing me
left and right. Expectations are being raised and miracles are being
seen.
I love all of you and hope that you have a great week!
I haven't sent a group email in a long time so there is a lot that I
need to catch up on.
I was moved a couple of weeks ago from Swansea, Wales. I am currently
serving with an Elder Ross in Nottingham, England! And before anyone
asks, No I have not seen or met Robin Hood... But he does have quite a
few people running around pretending to be him.
This week we drove to Birmingham for our monthly meeting with
President and Sister Rasmussen. This was their last Mission
Leadership Council and it was very powerful. It was definitely an
inspired meeting. Sister Rasmussen gave a great training that was
based off of the Good Samaritan and "Talk With Everyone" from Preach
My Gospel. I won't type out everything that she trained on but I will
tell you a couple of things that stuck out to me.
1. We must all pray for the Spiritual sensitivity to recognise opportunities
to share the Gospel. She gave the example of Sister Teixeira who was
found by missionaries on their P-Day. Her Brother was baptised and
the missionaries went visit with him and to play a few games. While
there they struck up a conversation with her and not long after she
was baptised.
2. When we pray for missionary work, we should not pray for people to
be prepared, but pray that missionaries have the desire to find them.
The Lord already has people prepared. We just have to have the desire
and faith to find them. When Sister Rasmussen was training on this a
talk popped into my mind. It's called, "Conversion of a Catholic" by
Bill Carpenter. You'll know how it applies if you have heard the
talk. If you haven't heard it then I suggest you listen to it because
it is fantastic.
President Rasmussen gave some great training on helping our
investigators Open the Windows of Heaven. Everything he spoke about
are principles that we have heard before but are also things that we
sometimes forget. 3 of the Principles that he spoke about are
attending church, reading the scriptures daily, and praying daily. It
was fantastic but what stuck out to me most was the final scripture
that he shared with us which was, 3 Nephi 17.
On Thursday we had Zone Meeting which went well. The Zone here is very
focused and a lot of great things are happening.
On Sunday we had a Stake conference broadcast from Scotland. Elder
Holland was presiding. It was so amazing. He spoke on the Book of
Mormon and how he would die before denying the truthfulness of it. It
has really pumped me up and I am so excited to see him this Thursday!
For those of you who don't know. Jeffrey R. Holland, who is a member
of the Twelve Apostles, will be coming to our mission to speak with
all of us. We will each have the opportunity to shake his hand and
speak with him. I am so excited!
Anyway, I am loving the work out here. I can see the Lord blessing me
left and right. Expectations are being raised and miracles are being
seen.
I love all of you and hope that you have a great week!
6/22/2015
Hey everyone!
I am still smiling ear to ear because of what happened yesterday! So
we have always struggled getting members out to help us teach
investigators. But this last week we invited a Hungarian member to go
with us to visit a Polish family. He did and unfortunately the lesson
didn't last long because one of the kids had to go to the doctor. But
yesterday, during Testimony meeting, he got up and bore an extremely
powerful testimony. He said, "I went out with the missionaries and I
saw the confidence that they have in their message, and I say
happiness. But I also felt impressed that they need our help and that
we aren't doing enough. It is just as much our responsibility as it
is theirs." It was so amazing and he finished by bearing a simple but
powerful testimony. Following his testimony, quite a few converts
stood up and bore their testimonies. It has been one of the best
Testimony meetings I have ever been to.
Later we were in Priesthood and we were asked during opening exercises
if we had any announcements. We just simply asked everyone to let us
know if they are available this week. Right away a Member told us, so
that everyone could her, that he would make time this week to go with
us. That is exactly what needed to happen because I really feel that
encouraged others to do the same. By the end of church we had loads
of people approaching us, telling us when they are free, and how they
could help. I am stoked to see where this week goes. We needed this
sort of spark and it is finally here.
I also went on three exchanges this week. It was a chaotic week. I
was with Elder Lowe from Tuesday to Wednesday, Elder Lawson from
Wednesday to Thursday and Elder Magda from Friday to Saturday. I
really enjoyed the time that I had with each one of them.
I really don't have much more to tell. The rest of my week was good.
I had a really cool dinner appointment this week with a lady named
Priya. She is from Sri Lanka. We ate curry...with our hands! ha It
is a traditional thing in her country so we went with it. It was
great.
Yeah...have a great week! Love you!
It has been one of the busiest weeks of my life this week!!! But it was absolutely amazing and worth every effort!!! We had loads of running around to do and we had one of our investigators have her wedding this last Saturday. She asked Elder Ross to play the Piano at the wedding and asked me to be an Usher. I got to stand at the door and signal the Bishop and the piano for her entrance. It was an honour to be able to help out with all of the things on their special day! We ended up being the catering service doing everything from Serving food to washing dishes to cleaning tables and just making things run smoothly. I had no idea we were going to be doing all of that so it was a nice surprise to be able to offer so much help! They were incredibly grateful for all the help we gave them and couldn't thank us enough so it was nice to be appreciated. It was my companion and I and the Sister missionaries helping for the afternoon with everything and we all made a great team!!!
The downside to this week was that an Elder in our zone was in a bike wreck on Wednesday evening. He hit his head pretty hard on a kerb and had memory loss for a couple of days. He also had a few bones in his wrist go out of place and they pinched a nerve that was causing a lot of pain. On Thursday, I went to the hospital and took his companions spot so that he could get some rest. I was there all day. It was the perfect time to just sit and read the scriptures while he rested. Just to speed up this story, he had surgery on Saturday and was released from the hospital yesterday. He is still in pain but is recovering well. He is a huge Tongan and a Pro Rugby player. I was on an exchange with him the day before it happened and he literally did 100 pushups in a row to warm up for our morning exercises. I even got it on video. He's a legend. His companion is also Tongan and also a pro rugby player. Insane right?
The work is getting better and better each week. We have been seeing a lot of cool miracles within the zone. The teams are really stepping up and working hard. This last week we decided to go finding in a new area and it was great. We went to a huge square that has fountains all around it and we would just walk over and sit next to people and teach them. One person that we did talked to was from Italy and she used to meet with missionaries all the time! She will be here for 2 more months and will meet with us as much as she can.
I don't have much more to say for this week. I love you all! Bye!
8/3/2015
we have always struggled getting members out to help us teach
investigators. But this last week we invited a Hungarian member to go
with us to visit a Polish family. He did and unfortunately the lesson
didn't last long because one of the kids had to go to the doctor. But
yesterday, during Testimony meeting, he got up and bore an extremely
powerful testimony. He said, "I went out with the missionaries and I
saw the confidence that they have in their message, and I say
happiness. But I also felt impressed that they need our help and that
we aren't doing enough. It is just as much our responsibility as it
is theirs." It was so amazing and he finished by bearing a simple but
powerful testimony. Following his testimony, quite a few converts
stood up and bore their testimonies. It has been one of the best
Testimony meetings I have ever been to.
Later we were in Priesthood and we were asked during opening exercises
if we had any announcements. We just simply asked everyone to let us
know if they are available this week. Right away a Member told us, so
that everyone could her, that he would make time this week to go with
us. That is exactly what needed to happen because I really feel that
encouraged others to do the same. By the end of church we had loads
of people approaching us, telling us when they are free, and how they
could help. I am stoked to see where this week goes. We needed this
sort of spark and it is finally here.
I also went on three exchanges this week. It was a chaotic week. I
was with Elder Lowe from Tuesday to Wednesday, Elder Lawson from
Wednesday to Thursday and Elder Magda from Friday to Saturday. I
really enjoyed the time that I had with each one of them.
I really don't have much more to tell. The rest of my week was good.
I had a really cool dinner appointment this week with a lady named
Priya. She is from Sri Lanka. We ate curry...with our hands! ha It
is a traditional thing in her country so we went with it. It was
great.
Yeah...have a great week! Love you!
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