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!
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