Ryan's Entire Mission

Ryan's Entire Mission
ryan is in the far right corner

Ryan at a Zone Conference...

Ryan at a Zone Conference...

Ryan and President Brubaker

Ryan and President Brubaker

eating raw fish -- eeewww

eating raw fish -- eeewww

Ryan at temple - day before MTC drop off

Ryan at temple - day before MTC drop off
handsome guy!

Ryan and President Smith

Ryan and President Smith
getting set apart as a missionary

Welkom all friends and family of Elder Ryan Leash

We welcome you to the first edition of Elder Ryan Leashs' missionary blog. We hope that you will find the information included fun, informative and memorable. Please make comments and show Ryan your support by writing him often!







Tuesday, November 30, 2010

October and November Letters

10-20-10

Dear family,

I liked your reference to Psalms 82:6. I can definitely see how it gives you comfort; if you look at the subtext for this reference it puts it even more simply, ‘a spirit child of Heavenly Father’. What a comfort having a Heavenly Father is. A Father who wants the best for us, who has an eternal plan for us!~ The next part of that sub-text, ‘potential to become like Heavenly Father; that certainly is a standard for us!

I think that second part is not only a standard but I also find comfort and relief through that 1st word, ‘potential’, yes, we have Godly Heritage and as a result we have seeds of that Godliness within each and every one of us, but at this point we are just seeds, a ‘potential’. Luckily we aren’t held to that standard just yet l.o.l. and we have plenty of time to reach that potential! Fortunately!

Thanks for sharing that one with me – awesome little ‘treasures’ from the scriptures! I think something True to the Faith says really ‘walks hand in hand with this scripture and the thoughts it provokes. It reads, “You are a literal child of God, spiritually begotten in the pre mortal life. As his child, you can be assured that you have divine, eternal potential and that He will help you in your sincere efforts to reach that potential. I think this statement adds another facet to your scripture, ‘sincere efforts’ – this adds a little more to that standard found from that particular scripture.

Danielle, keep bring friends to church. This brings another scripture to mind – D&C 18:15! Check it out~!

For Ian, I have some advice on relationships. Elder Ballard gives us some simple council on that matter “we have young people say that they will postpone marriage of having children until they can afford them. Let me tell you as a father of seven children, you will never be able to afford them. Just trust in the Lord as Sister Ballard and I have. Somehow it works, with His help. Elder Hales says about “some debt incurred for a modest home, an education, a basic car may be necessary to provide for a family.


The work here is pretty touch n go, I love Elder Johnson, he is a very funny guy, a great friend, and the best companion – sadly he will be transferred in three weeks. But we do have a baptism this week, an 11 year old girl, that daughter of a woman who wrote herself out of the church. We do have some other possible baptisms, including a former Muslim that will be postponed for awhile. We will see what happens with the others.

10-17-10

O.k. I did not have a very diligent companion, but you were right, this next one is a real go-getter!

Things here in Belgium are good; we just had a baptism last Sunday and should have another pretty quick.

We had a little bit of a miracle and I will tell you about it while the memory is still fresh. We had an appointment in Ieper yesterday with an inactive member from the Congo. He wants to be active now and will be at church this coming Sunday. He name is Henry. Well, after the appointment with him we had another appointment with another member immediately following and seeing a great opportunity for Henry to meet some members we invited him along. We had a GREAT appointment, the Spirit was present, and we all had a good time!

Time comes for us to leave and Henry decides to walk to the bus station, upon arriving Henry ends up seeing an acquaintance of his and introduces us. After a short chit-chat we find that she needs the same bus we do and that she is taking it all the way back to Kortrijk as well. During our hour long trip with her we learn a few things; normally she always takes the train home, it’s less crowded and stinky and she gets home in less than half the time. Coincidence? I don’t think so, she just said for some reason she ended up on the bus this evening. For some reason, she just ended up on the bus. We learned about her religious background and history, she is Christian but hasn’t been to church in several years, but she recently got a new job and has a close co-worker there that is very strong in her faith and has been encouraging our friend to get involved and find a church again. In any case, we got her contact info of course. The Lord is guiding us as missionaries, but also those around us. And He pumps them up for us to share our unique and urgent message.


Mom, I love the fact that you are studying the life of the Savior in the scriptures right now! I’m doing much of the same, mostly because of something Pres. Uchdorf said in conference, “Balance and stability come through developing and cultivation a relationship with your Heavenly Father”, it’s a pretty general statement or promise but I think accurately so; balance and stability in all avenues of life come from developing a strong relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Bill Crans sent me a letter about his wife passing on; I sure do feel for him. How is Grandma Thackeray doing? Please keep me posted.



I love you all so much,

Elder Leash



p.s. We are doing a lot of member work; over half the branch is inactive. The weather is very cold here! It is not supposed to be above 5 degrees this coming week. Chance of snow

Friday, November 12, 2010

Belgium or bust

November 6, 2010

Dear Family!,


It was, as always, WONDERFUL to hear from you :)! It sounds like things are both good and bad, good because it sounds like all there in Sac is well and that you and Danielle are being able to have some quality time together but tough with grandma - please send some love to dad and also to grandma!

Send congrats to Lauri, that is great!

As far as things here – they are good and bad, Elder Johnson is leaving Kortrijk, Belgium, :( i love him! We had a great run, but anyhow I will be staying here and I will be companions with Elder Kramer, I’ve heard a lot of good things about him so it will be great!!! The work, well, we will probably have three baptisms this transfer so that is awesome. Adrianna is coming this Sunday for sure! And then Sabrina will come very soon - she is having some stress with whether or not she will be able to stay here in Belgium with immigration and all so she should be baptized shortly, but we will see; then last, but not least Audrienna an old french lady about 70 or so, and she is very sweet, a little tough to communicate with, but she wants to be baptized so we should get her in the water this transfer as well! Great stuff! I love you very much, you too Danielle! BTW I’m waiting on a response boo boo :) i hope you have a great week and I’ll probably write some time this week! Until then,

Love Always,
Elder Leash

Saturday, September 25, 2010

September news from Kortrijk, Belgium

September 20, 2010

Hello there family and friends,

Boo Boo, I saw your picture with John Bytheway – cool. That’s cool…did you get to talk to him at all? I heard you had a great time at EFY, but no details – how was it? How is school going? What classes are you taking? Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Junior year can be tough but I know you’ll do great? What is new with boys? Any dates recently? How about the license? Will that happen anywhere in the next couple of years? What are you studying in the scriptures – in seminary? I would kill to be able to get back and re-do seminary! Mark up those scriptures eh! Are you, mom and dad hitting the gym? What is up with the gym? Is Ian still stopping by and eating a lot?

Well, here is what is going on here. Elder Johnson is a very funny guy! He is definitely a ‘country bumpkin’ l.o.l. he is a goofy guy in my opinion and he thinks he is a good dancer. When he thinks I am not looking he will “bust a move” it’s very entertaining. He reminds me of Mitch Thackeray – big buy. He thinks Danielle is pretty judging by the family pictures.

The city is beautiful here in Kortrijk, Belgium. It is wonderful! We see miracles every day! The branch here is tiny but lively at the same time. We probably have as many kids under 10 as we do adults over 20~ Lots of babies! It is your dream ward Danielle. They speak Flams here which is another dialect. It sounds a lot like French, just that they are using Dutch vocabulary; it is tough to follow. There is oh so much history here! The awesome cobblestone roads are everywhere. You hardly ever see a house built out of wood anymore – they are all brick. There are a lot of cars everywhere and this country was not built for cars, but somehow they manage to squeeze around all the buildings etc. It is scary though. It be honest the people are not as open here; I try to ‘speed talk’ through all of my contacts so they don’t have a chance to tell me they don’t believe in anything, or that they are Catholic; definitely two of their favorite responses “well…I’m Catholic soooo…” and then I don’t believe in God. I ask, “do you believe in your family…?” Them “no” oh “do you believe in yourself at least?” at which point the answer is pretty much 50/50 yes or no, it’s kind of sad to be honest.

The, you get the foreigners who say ‘yes’ to almost everything! I love them!!! There are a lot of African immigrants here! They are wonderful! What we hear from them is “Yes, I love Jesus Christ!” This is a wonderful area, I love it!

Now, a little bit about me. Yesterday was church and we miraculously had 5 (wow!) investigators in church, but in spite of this there was just one thing missing…our Branch President. Turns out that he was in a bike race. The church in Europe at its best…no really the church is good here! Because the Branch President wasn’t there things were not organized at all and we had to scramble to pick up the pieces, my companion and I ended up teaching the Young Men class, teaching our investigator class and then giving literally last minute talks in Sacramento meeting, crazy to say the least. It was good though. I spoke about how the Lord blesses us so abundantly and His hands are in our lives in so many ways and yet we are often caught in our ‘worldly cycle’ and don’t notice the blessings. I also talked about how we have to do our part to be worthy of these blessings as well. I shared D&C 130:20, 21. Then I gave a very long testimony …my companion helped out as well too.

I love my mission, I love the scriptures, I love my Father in Heaven, I love you too! Can’t wait to hear from you!

Elder Ryan Leash

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Birthdays in Belgium

August 30, 2010

It’s official; I’m out of my teens – I’ve got to step up my game now I guess. Well, I am sorry I was a little short in my email lately, but with transfers and a birthday…I had a great birthday; one of the members who is from the Congo actually had his birthday on the same day and I did and he had a birthday party and invited us over. We had a good time, the food was interesting…we had ‘foo foo’ a pasty material l.o.l. like mashed potatoes that you eat with your hands, actually you eat everything with your hands. It was o.k. I got to the point where I was full and they brought me out another plate of equal size. Then, after dinner we played a little football with the kids and it was a miracle in and of itself that I was able to keep that food down!

Also, Haary, the older man from Eindhoven, called a few families in the ward here to let them know it was my birthday and they baked me a cake! I felt so spoiled. To top it off, the next day for church services the Branch President’s son was baptized and he invited a ton of friends and neighbors, it was awesome! I got two phone numbers and a D.A. out of it! They all seem very positive also! What a great birthday!!!!!!!

Now, about transfers, I was a little depressed and somewhat excited all at once. Eventually, just a little sad. Harry took me to the train station to see me off, walked me to the train, tucked me in and what not and as the strain started rolling away he pulled out a white handkerchief and started waving it and running (as fast as an 80 year old man can) along the train and by this point I am balling my eyes out and he is crying too…definitely a ‘Kodak moment’ I love that man!!!!!!!

In other news, I think that two or three of the people that I taught there in Eindhoven will get baptized at some point. I will keep you posted, but just being a part of that was an amazing experience!

Kortrijk Belgium – well, there is no Haary so there is no car, we bike everywhere! It’s good though. I think I told you most everything about the area, South Belgium, not very many investigators (our work is cut out for us), very nice ward. Hmmm Flams (Flemish) is very tough but I’ll get used to it. Anyhow let me know what is going on there. Danielle are you excited to be 16? Any dates yet? Remember to make room for Heavenly Father! How is scripture study for everyone? Any missionary experiences? What is the weather like? We have a ton of rain.
I love you three sooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Yours in the gospel,

Ryan


p.s. I should tell you about one other thing that was really special. The Sunday after my birthday, my mission President came and visited our branch and after church he and his wife came and pulled me aside and make a big production of singing Happy Birthday to me! I thought I’d share that – it was really special to me!!!

Much Love,
Elder Ryan

p.s.s. I look forward to hearing from all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

August 17, 2010

Mom and Fam,
First off ive got some BIG news! But that will have wait, mom, im very sorry that you had to go through so much trouble to get me that pic! Im not sure if i said that or not but it did not have to be that specific picture, just a family wallet pic.....i feel...really... bad you had to go through so much trouble to get it off the thumb drive! Also about the pants etc. i too thought that it would be super expensive to mail things like that but another elder here mentioned to me that he had just got some new pants from his fam back home so i knda assumed that it would not be that bad, anyways it is completley neccesary that i get a new pair of pants i will make due just fine with the ones i have it just was a thought. Dont worry about teaching aid bookmarks, shirts or ANYTHING else, both were also just thoughts as well! Im very sorry you have been having to go through so much trouble! lol please dont buy, or send ANYTHING :).

Well now onto the BIG NEWS: TRANFERS!!!!

I am getting transfered to...............Kortrijk! lol Now you are asking yourself what the significance of this area will be; Kortrijk is the furthest south this mission goes! I will be as close to France as will ever be possible for the next two years! Its so close that what i have heard is the the church was either in France itself or that the ward there has alot of ppl from France come up for church services! Point being that it is very close! It is almost a surety thati will get into France at some point! I am a little nervous because i have heard a little bit of Flams by now and it is VERY different! I could not understand anything! lol, time for me to learn another language, Flams and also a little French for that matter! i will be companions with Elder Johnson who has been out over a year now so he will be the senior comp ofcourse. Lol life, just when you feel like you have things more or less figured out, you get something new thrown at you :) such fun!

The next piece of news which was kind of eclipse by your having L tom perry at st conference lol; we will be having Quintin L Cook coming to our mission in the very beggining of september! I am very excited!...... well those are the highlights, oh one more we have several ppl who have had baptismal dates namely; Cliff, Caroline, Ramses, Antoine very soon, Inti soon etc. but Ramses is getting VERY close, he hasnt smoked or blown in almost a month now and has been taught just about everything! I am just bummed i will not be here for that one :(. What else......i think ive hit just about all the high points oh one other thing. Latley we have been taking more interest in others and their beliefs which has been very enlightening because of the fact that i have not ever really been to another church service before! In the last two weeks we have been to the Jehovas Witness, a mosque, and to a Catholic mass was our latest visit; it is so very interesting to see what others belief and to see it from their perspective and what a blessing it is to have modern day revelation! I ofcourse just wish they could see things from our perspective and know what we know lol,well id better get going, i love you three very very much and hope all is going great!
love ryan

note from Sister Brubaker

Dear Moneen,


We are so grateful your son is in our mission. He is doing really well. It is wonderful that we have two countries in our mission. They are so different from each other. He will enjoy serving in Belgium. it is a beautiful country.


Elder Leash's new address is:

Jan Persijnstraat 20/B3 bus 1
8500 Kortrijk
Belgium


He arrived in Kortrijk last Wednesday. We look forward to talking with Elder Leash on his birthday. It is our tradition that we call on the missionaries' birthday and sing Happy Birthday and let them know how happy we are that they are in our mission.


Thanks for letting us have your son for two years. We'll do our best to take good care of him.

Monday, July 26, 2010

I love my mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 18, 2010
Dear family and friends,
Important items first, my address:
Kluizenaar Straat 13
5641 H.E. Eindhoven
Netherlands
Love your letters!!!

Wow! Danielle is off for two weeks in Utah for EFY!! That will be a lot of fun for her and a good experience! The reunion sounds like it was a lot of fun! I didn’t realize it was back in Etna. Who all showed up? I really like the game you played about stuff you don’t know of each other; so you went to the loony bin? :) My heart really goes out to the Hiett family! They will be in my prayers. I got Tracy’s letter and I will write back very soon! That is an amazing story about the elder who lost his hearing, very inspirational! It sounds like everything is going really well that way :)

Things are going very well this way also :). We almost reached Standard of Excellence this week! Ummm, I’m working hard, and as I’ve heard so many times about mission, it’s one of the hardest things you will ever do and yet also the most rewarding, I can’t say I’m feeling the full affects of that statement yet, but I’m definitley starting to understand it more and more with every passing day! I love the work I am doing and the ppl I am being able to serve and try to bring to the gospel! It’s an amazing time!

Now, for some specifics! We have had a great week! We finally got some investigators to church! Caroline was able to come this week and it was great to be able to share that first Sunday with her and to walk her through it. As it turned out, we had two come to I was able to fellowship and translate (one speaks only English) etc. for her and I think she had a good experience; better yet I think she felt the Spirit!!!

Our other investigator is Ramses and he is from Kuri Sao and is 33 yrs old. He has some mental issues, but I really do love him! It was interesting. At one point during the lesson in Priesthood Quorum Ramses was apparently feeling the Spirit because he got up and randomly yelled “Praise Jesus!” I don’t think he got quite the reaction he was used to because he has a P.K. background.

On a more personal note, I’m still learning lots about the scriptures, I had not idea how much I would learn. I’m also learning how to work with difficult personalities and about being personable. I’m so grateful for this time to search and in so doing better myself
My companionship is leading the district in our personal goal numbers – it makes me feel good to work hard and to not abuse the trust that our mission president has put in me and also the success the Lord has sent our way. I feel very blessed – thank you for your support!

A few notes:
Mom, thank you for the pillowcase – I love it! Here are some answers to your questions:

1. The weather is crazy! It is very hot and yet very wet also. Today was an especially odd day with very strange winds and many trees that blew over!
2. The Netherlands lost the cup – yes – but they haven’t been in the finals for 37 years!
3. For my birthday…maybe a tie! Some pictures of family.
4. The food is still buttery and a lot of sandwiches, but I think my body is getting used to it.
5. I am learning a lot from my companionship and I am grateful to be working with him.
6. Please thank Ian for his crazy eagle story!
7. One of our investigators is close to baptism; he has a problem with smoking and ‘blow’ cocaine and we are working that through.



Thanks mom for your last remarks about your testimony and your prayers on my behalf. I am so grateful to you and dad for pushing me to be the best I can – for encouraging me to go on a mission; I really am so grateful.

I love you all so much~!

Ryan

Saturday, June 19, 2010

testimony of companioship unity~!

6-7-2010


Dear Family and friends,

I decided to start copying some things out of my journal and sending that with a little note – this will save me on time and I can still let you know what is going on. One of the missionaries told me about this. On Sunday we brought the sacrament to two members, then we went finding for the rest of the day – it was a terrible day for finding. I have no idea why. We did, at least plant some seeds. Some odd things happened: a lady who lost her teeth, but wears a metal bar device fell off her chair and stumbled out of church as if she had been drinking. She has many physically challenging limitations, but she is often so very happy! Later, toward the end of Sacrament meeting an autistic boy in the ward got up and after mumbling a few words, very quietly, and then yelled “BBBBOOOOO” very loudly into the microphone, leaving us all temporarily deaf.
Guedo Arts, the elder in the ward who practically owns the wards invited us for dinner! That was exciting. He teaches gospel doctrine and I am intimidated. Well, that was a wrap for that day.

The following Sunday was solid in that we had stake conference and we went to Belgium and listened to Brother Bednar and Brother Packer speak to us. Brother Bednar addressed us with thought, or rather council, from the Lord on how we often don’t know how much something we do can affects those around us and then he told a story that involved Brother Packer. Brother Packer then finished the story and had some similar thoughts. It was a great stake conference! Haary, the old Dutch man who helps us so much, took us to the conference and we were packed in with two others, but we made it. We had a member referral to follow up on and had a very friendly conversation with this person.

My comp and I have been going to the centrum – shopping center- to find people. We don’t always have a lot of success, but we are still trying. We also went to the older sisters’ houses, and the one sister who never comes to church. She actually is the lady who gave us the old juice the other day. Holy Cow! She is a character. She really is just a bully – bottom line. She called us asking to have us over to answer some questions she had while studying the scriptures and she is essentially inactive so we went. We knock on the door and she then tells Haary (our member helper) that she needs to go grocery shopping and that he will take her and that we need to break this pile of sticks she had in the backyard while they are shopping. I am not suicidal, but I did question her and asked her about the scripture study and she flipped out! She got right up in my face – eyes ablaze, spit flying everywhere – I don’t even remember what she said………………………….we broke sticks. She ended up buying us some food and we did (bible bash almost) talk over the scriptures, very interesting appointment!! I am very scared of her!!!!!

We did go over Stephan’s house and he has a 1 year old. He is begging for religion for his family. He is pretty promising, we will see. We shared the Book of Mormon and taught the Plan of Salvation as his father just died. A great day!!!

I will have more for you soon, but I will share with you that I know the Lord loves us I have such a strong testimony of companionship unity. My current comp and I were not on the same page for some reason and our day was not clicking. So right there in the town square I told him that I felt that we needed to have a ‘heart to heart’ so that we could get the Spirit back together with us. We did and it completely turned our day around. It was amazing!!
I love you all,
Elder Leash

Saturday, June 12, 2010

June 3, 2010

June 3, 2010

To everyone who loves me~!

I love it when you tell me about the talks at church mom! It sounds like you get a ton out of them. And two sacrament meetings; mom must really miss Cottage Park ward!


Notes of interest:

I can’t get used to the raw fish here…I could only get one bite down – the texture is just too slimy!

Our bishop is from Australia and he is a really nice guy! He served a mission in Indonesia, so he is a big help as far as missionary work. We are over at his place for dinner this upcoming Monday. Yes, our investigator from Kenya DOES want to get baptized…yippee!

Let me say again that I love my area, Eindhoven. The longer I get to stay here the better! My companion that is leaving the mission will soon come by with his parents and I look forward to that!

We have worked really hard this week! This area is doing o.k. work wise but we are trying to turn it wound. It’s actually the 5th largest city in Holland, I had no idea! A random fact you want to save mom from; Eindhoven has the most crime out of any other city in Holland, more than Amsterdam – go figure. Anyhow we love working hard her and I love being a missionary and simply helping people, it’s an amazing call!

I love you lots!

Elder Leash

Sunday, June 6, 2010

drinking mold spore/juice concoction

5-19-10

Dear everybody,

Things are very good. Yesterday was our district meeting, after which we went on exchanges – I stayed in Eindhoven with a new comp. and it went really well; I felt like I was about to get a confidence boost out of it because I was the one calling the shots and taking charge. It was really fun!

We went and did some service for an older lady in the ward. This went great right up until I saw the expiration date on some juice that Elder Brockbank had just drank. He felt kind of sick for a while as we finished up the project she had us on but soon felt fine. As we had finished we were about to leave and she stopped us and insisted that we come in and have some “tootjes” – sweets l.o.l. We went back in and Elder B., Henry, myself and the elderly lady all pilled into her tiny kitchen, at which point she pulled out ‘you know what’. I figured “no problem”, I’d just have to shake some down, but then she served us our three big glasses of juice and I noticed bits and chunks of mold floating in mine…eeewww I couldn’t fo it, so I motioned for Elder B to dump ‘em while I distracted her, so I told Zuster Lusdt that I needed to use the bathroom but that I thought she was out of toilet paper. Upon arriving in the bathroom we saw a whole role – at which point, for some reason, she got really upset.

It all worked out though when we got back into the kitchen our glasses were empty and I suddenly remembered an appointment we were almost late for before she could refill our glasses or pull something else out of her ancient food storage. Luckily none of us had to get our stomache pumped and we made it in one place.

Later that day we had an amazing day on the doors of the college campus. We knocked at maybe 15 doors or so and we had some great talks and then some numbers and follow ups. I felt so blessed. The work is good; I LOVE my mission!


5-22-10
The day before yesterday I gave my first blessing. An investigator of ours from Kenya named Caroline told us during an appointment that she needs surgery – though we did not get details about that, but she was very emotional about that. In any case, we sang some African hymns to try to confort her and shared some scriptures and then gave her a blessing. It was a last minute and I didn’t expect it at all so I know that the words I spoke come from Heavenly Father; I certainly didn’t have any time to think of words before hand, which was good. It was a warm experience for both of us, Caroline and I, because obviously she was receiving a blessing and I was exercising my priesthood. I felt the Spirit strongly and I know she did too because she was crying when we had finished. I just thought I would share that with you. I’m still good, fat and happy preaching the good word.

5-24-10
This morning was transfers. It was a big surprise and neither my companion or I expected; Elder Stringham is going to Amertart and I have a really young elder that noone knows about. I hear he has red hair and is very skinny – this is the big news. I received a wonderful letter from Grandma Thack yesterday. It was great to hear from her.
Here are some random factoids about life in Holland/Belgium:
-butter is spread on everything!
-lots of fatty foods.
-drink juice with everything and get offended if you don’t drink it.
-insane drivers
-hair styles are crazy.
-if your house stands alone without being attached to another, you are well off.
-everybody talks and thinks in a literal way.
-nobody is afraid to hurt somebody’s feelings.
-racial diversity
-small cars
-love their sweets
-beautiful architecture
-million ways to say goodbye and go through them each time you say goodbye
-lots of tulips
-rabbits in place of squirrels

5-27-10
Great news!!!! Yesterday was the first day with my new companion. We went to say hi to Caroline the investigator – our lady from Kenya. We shared the story of Paul and receiving those baptisms and then we felt the Spirit and asked Caroline to get baptized. She agreed! Words cannot describe how estatic we were. We actually got the first baptism date of the mission for this transfer. This was a real gift!
We are going to get a lot done here, and I will have more good news for you really soon.

To all, I love you very much! Same address, don’t be afraid to write!
Or email:

Love,
Elder Ryan Leash
Kluizenstraat 13
5641 HE Eindhoven
Netherlands

Monday, May 24, 2010

May 17, 2010

May 17, 2010

Dear Everyone,

How is everyone? Life here was crazy earlier on this week, my companion enjoyed it, but things are still pretty new so it was not my favorite week, but with zone conference and zone p-day back to back…I did get to know a lot of the people in my district! Zone conference was very cool because we had the departing missionaries bare their testimonies and it was moving to see how much their mission meant to them and how much it has helped them grow and mature and how they have been able to help other; a real testimony booster for me and the work I’m doing to be sure! Well, after our craziness earlier in the week, we came back Thursday and we did our weekly planning that we didn’t have time for earlier in the week and while we were planning my companion and I baked some chocolate chunk banana bread for some of the ward members who help us a lot. We made three loafs, but somehow only two made it out to the ward....lol. We had ward conference yesterday and the stake pres came, of course. It was very nice because while I was on splits in Brada, I actually had dinner with our stake pres. and after dinner we went to a memorial service for those who died in WWII - he insisted we go to, so in any case, I got to know him and his family pretty well!

What else....... I chopped off all of my hair yesterday (myself and pretty much butchered it lol) and I have been packing on the pounds also so know I don’t have to worry about keeping the girls away! But don’t worry mom I’m still healthy! Oh and warm too! Don’t worry :) Well, transfers are in about a week and I’m starting to get a little nervous just because I love this area! I love my comp too; - we are getting along great :) As far as work goes it was a little slow to start out with just because of the crazy schedule, but we came back and been making some amazing strides with an investigator of ours from Kenya. Her name is Caroline and we have gone through the Restoration and the BOM with no real issues which I feel is a miracle in and of itself, but she also reads the assignments we give her and she is really sweet; I always look forward to our appointments with her!

Today we are out on our bikes because Haary is taking a much needed day off (at age 80) and so we are on bike:/ lol this wouldn’t be as much of a bummer if it wasn’t hailing out lol so I got all decked out with a sweater and my rain slickers and regretted it not 5 minutes later just because of all the layers I had on I started sweating like crazy and it was a really gross feeling and anyway, in sum..........I love missionary work! I can’t believe I am already coming to the close of my first transfer! Where did that month and a half go?! aah!

We have been doing much service lately just because it is that time of year, so lots of yard work etc. We also have been getting a lot of blessing too which I feel so privileged to take part in! Its funny because I was just talking to my companion the other day; I definitely feel the spirit while we give blessings, but often after those we have given a blessing to have been crying, and just seemed overwhelmed by the spirit and my comp and I have come to the conclusion that because we are doing what we are supposed to and because of the calling we carry we almost always have the spirit with us -- what a blessing! Yes, things are good here :) I’m alive and well or rather fat and happy ha-ha (really immersing myself in the culture ;) and I can’t complain! I love you and miss you lots! Please write!

Elder Leash (Ryan)

May 24, 2010

Dear everybody,

I haven’t read your emails to me yet just because i want to make sure I have a little bit of time to fill you in on what is going this week. Well, lots to fill you in on! I’ll just touch on them briefly because I have a letter headed to you as we speak that will give more details BUT today was transfers and I am taking over Eindhoven and another elder is coming here; I can’t remember the name at the moment, but he is apparently a hard worker, but a very young elder also :/ lol we are in for a lot of learning and growth this transfer! Both of us -- he has only been in the land 4 transfers!

I always get so stressed when I have email time lol the question mark is not working for some reason. Today we had a ward picnic and we had a lot of fun! It was really good for me to develop more rapport with the ward and we also got to play a lot of games including my first go at rugby! I had a blast! Oh, another thing that happened that you will hear more about in my letter is a blessing I was able to give to an investigator of ours! That was a first for me and I felt really privileged to be able to give it, a great experience!!! I am very excited for my new companion, of course im going to miss Elder Stringhambut it will be good to be able to get more experience of my own and kind of step out of his shadow so to speak. This week is going to be very busy! My comp Stringham is still District leader and we have to go do some interviews in Heerenfein tomorrow and then we have a lot of appointments with the ward and investigators to say goodbye and what not so we will be VERY busy tomorrow and then Wednesday is transfers and Elder Kettler that is his name - he will come down here and we will get to know etc and then we have a few appointments already for the rest of the week also :)!!! Busy is good!!! Did you get my email last week or any of my emails for that matter....? How about my letters have you been getting any.......? Well in any case, all is great here and let me know if you are getting my emails etc!!! I love you very much,
Ryan



MOM DAD BOO BOO,


Mom can you try remember to put stuff up on the blog, I know it’s a lot to ask but it helps A LOT and I would appreciate it very much!!!! Did you get those pics I sent you......? Please that would be a huge help!!!! Well you have a letter coming your way also so just know that and that I love you and anything you can put up on the blog would be great! Love you three very very much and pray for you every night!

Love,
Ryan

Friday, April 30, 2010

April 22, 2010

Dear family and friends,

I’ve been in this country for ten days now. I really like the Netherlands and feel as if I have been in a daze for five of the ten days due to the jet lag. It is slowly getting much better. Upon getting to this country, we just jumped right into the work! The day of and until the next morning we were able to spend time with the mission president and his wife which was great. We did some quick paperwork, had dinner and went to a popular square out in Brussels, Belgium where we did some tracting! The architecture was just gorgeous. Most of the people I spoke with spoke in English just because it is a big tourist spot, but I caught a lot of French and that day I only spoke Dutch once. This first area is basically all Dutch though.

This area is called Eindehoven; a relatively big city – it is called the City of Lights. This city is built around the Phillips factory that was started here and it employs a lot of the city. Our area is quite big – it goes all the way out to Germany and all the way out to Belgium. It is fairly modern as it was burned down during WWII and they decided to rebuild it, and as a result we have seen some very interesting architecture; it’s fun though.

The flowers are in bloom; its awesome! They have tulips all over the place here! I love it and I love Brussels. Tomorrow I will be back in Belgium on an exchange with the elders near Antwerpen. I will be able to see a little more of the country, but more importantly I will be able to meet some new people and share some very good and important news!

The weather is amazing here! It is very much on and off for the first half of the day. It will be overcast and dark, but it will clear up and turn out to be beautiful the next day!

I really lucked out on my trainer. He is very nice and easy going. He is hard working and I learn a lot from him. I love out ward too! We have about 100 members or so and maybe 75 at church each Sunday – maybe a little less but they are all really sweet and welcoming people. They called me up on Sunday and I had to introduce myself and bare my testimony. It was a little stressful though because I had to do it in another language. They seemed to understand and that was success in my book.

By the time you see me I may be a fat boy – they do eat some fatty foods here …oh well that’s o.k. small price to pay.

As for the work: there is a decent sized centrum or mall basically and we do a lot of our finding there which is fun. This week we have been really blessed! We have three progressing investigators and others with a lot of potential. Of the P.I.’s we found an Asian family that has been really receptive and we are going back tomorrow when they will be cooking us some authentic Asian food! The have two children – 5 and 9 yr. old sons. Another P.I. that we found who seems to be really excited about the gospel is Woter. He is 21 and a really nice guy. I’m excited to see what happens with him! I also contacted another guy while on the bus day before yesterday. It was really a boost for me. We ended up having a great discussion and I ended up teaching him the first discussion and he was really excited about it. He understood my Dutch and things were great, and then he gets up to get off the bus and I realized I didn’t not get that contact info. I am determined to find him again…

I love getting letters and I miss and love you all!!

Elder Leash

Monday, April 19, 2010

Ryan's first letter from the mission field

April 19, 2010

Dear everybody,

I am really missing Dear Elder now, but its good to be able now to focus more!
The flight was good, but the jet lag - terrible lol. I’m still really feeling it, but I’m hoping it will pass here soon! My trainer, he is great! His name is Elder Stringham and he is from Utah . He has two transfers left so there is a good chance that I will send him home, but even though he is about to head home he is not trunkie at all! We are working hard, it is great! I think you would like him a lot! He is really nice and very laid back guy that just takes things as they come. I’m learning lots from him!

My mission president is great! He and his wife were very nice with us. When we got here they took us out to eat, went tracting with us and it was gorgeous everywhere we went! Some of the most beautiful architexture I’ve ever seen and I met a lot of great people! It was wonderful. I can’t really remember much of the first few days just because I was half asleep lol, but I’m beginning to acclimate now!

I think the Brubakers are French though I am not sure, they were serving in France when they were called to be Mission Pres so I know that they at least speak French! I love the country and people here and I KNOW that I will love it even more when I can communicate and understand things more fluidly lol, but I have to get going for now! Well I love you all and I will send a letter later today, hopefully filling you in a bit more -till then much love.

Elder Leash

My address:
Kluizenaarstraat 13
1516 HE Eindhoven, Netherlands

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Leaving for Holland - April 12th, 2010

Hello Everyone!

This is where letters will find me after this coming Monday:

Elder Leash
Mission Home Address:87, boulevard Brand Whitlock1200 Brussels, Belgium Belgium General Phone: 027-369933


It is conference weekend! How great is it that I’m able to get to listen to conference here at the MTC? I’m very excited about it! I listened to the tape you had, no offense but the messages from Amy’s kids were the best! Danielle’s piano playing was also noteworthy.

I have to say that all the candy and food here in the cafeteria, combined with sitting on my bum all day is really started to get to me – I am feeling like a real blimp. I have my flight plans! I will be leaving for Belgium this Monday – my first area with probably be in the Netherlands because they speak Flemish in Belgium and they don’t want us to have a curve ball thrown at us for our first area.

Mom, did you like Julie Beck’s talk in the first session? I thought it was really funny how she essentially said to the women of the church to ‘buck up’ and stop being pampered! That was a real tickler. How about Brother Ballard’s talk? I know that talk didn’t just apply to the mother-daughter relationship and you were a great example to me.

It seems that all the talks were directed to family and influences in the home! There was a lot of wonderful advice (Brother Bednar’s among others) on that topic! I hope you were all able to see all the sessions!

I would have to say that my favorite talk would have to be Brother Eyring’s talk – you can feel from his words how strong and fervent his testimony is. He does really care about what he is teaching us. Brother Holland is always a great speaker, great sense of humor that doesn’t hurt.

Did you catch how President Monson said that this session was probably the best conferences to his talk he has ever attended? Wow, he isn’t a young guy either l.o.l.he has seen a few. The talk I needed the most was Brother Uchtdorf’s talk on patience. This is an attribute that I need to develop more of – I will start with his wise counsel. Anyway, I could go on and on about conference.

Thanks to everyone for letting me know you have been thinking of me! It is nice to know that I’m remembered and loved back home. I love you too!
Easter Sunday was great! Mostly because of conference, but your package was also great too. I’m jealous of Easter dinner at Grandma Rougher’s! I love her sweet potatoes. Four months to go for Megan …that’s exciting!
I’m really sad to hear about Uncle Mike’s fish Scrappy. That’s tough. Oh, I forgot I really appreciated Pres. Uchdorf’s talk and President Monson’s story about the young boy who had a brother going on a mission and how ‘they were both on their way to serve the Lord’. This made me cry!
Yes! Brother Rasband did give a very interesting talk as far as extending mission calls! Just another great affirmation to the importance and truthfulness of this work that I’m in!
It is definitely not easy, but worth it.

Here are a few items of importance:

I leave April 12.
I will call on Mother’s Day! Something to look forward to! I can’t wait!
I’m warm enough, don’t worry!
I’m healthy as a horse.
I’m getting mail.
You can keep me in your prayers – keep sending me letters and telling me you love me, you can give dad and Danielle a hug for me; dad give mom a hug for me!
I love you so much! I hope to hear from you soon! @

Saturday, April 3, 2010

One week to send off!!!!

March 31, 2010

Hello everyone,

Our district is doing well; actually we are all in pretty good spirits! The new Dutch district came in day before yesterday so we are grateful for the company, but we feel good in looking at them and seeing how far we have come.

Mom, you have to tell Sister Ellis (Lyn) how sweet she is; I really appreciate her letters! So, I’m guessing Uncle Chris said is going to climb Mount Shasta??? Well, I hope he is tough enough (not everyone can be like dad and I). The climb is definitely not for the ‘faint at heart.’
As far as responsibilities in the MTC – they made me senior comp right away, but nothing since them. We do have service responsibilities every week; last night I was asked to be an usher for the devotional which actually entailed standing around for about an hour so I am getting off pretty easy. I’m grateful for it because it gives me or allows me to focus more on the language for now. We will see what happens when I get out in the field.

Thanks for the thoughts on the Lord’s tender mercies – an introspective view on how the Lord blesses your life always – this makes me feel so optimistic and happy! Thanks dad.

Danielle, you are fortunate to have mom and dad and the traditions they have in the home for us. I hope you can remember to count your blessings often!!! I like the part in your letter when you refer to “a cute new guy in the ward…BUT he hasn’t been coming to church every week so that automatically scratches him off the list.” This gave me the biggest smile! Good decision Danielle. I am glad to hear that you miss our “bonding sessions”. Love you tons.

Mom, thanks for the missionary articles that remind me to think about how I view my mission. I know it is a privilege to help the Lord and His purposes and to fulfill my own. I enjoyed the second message as well. I realize I have an amazing message to share; I’m learning how to share and serve in the MTC. I look forward to getting out in the field to share this. Thanks for including the things you learned from Lauri’s talk – I’m happy that it had such a good effect on you. Passing notes back and forth with Denise on the other hand….I don’t know mom. L.O.L.
I’m sure your perm looks good. I love the fact that you are making it a Sunday tradition to have Ian over! It sounds like things are going really well – new R.S. calling, weekly bike rides, all awesome! Good luck on your one week B.O.M. athon goes – trying to read it in one week sounds challenging, but doable. That’s awesome!!!!!!
Thanks for the Chia and chocolate chip cookies.

I love you,

Elder Leash

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Musings from the MTC

March 24, 2010

Dear Family,

Mom – thank you for keeping up the blog…it is so helpful, and is keeps everyone updated on the ‘goings on. Things are going really well, it is becoming second nature to say how I am doing in Dutch now. I feel good about everything as a whole. To answer your questions about what I might need – ties would be o.k., but you don’t have to send any of the ‘CTR’ ties or bookstore ties in general as you usually do..l.o.l.

I get up at 6:15 every day, go to the gym, shower and to breakfast. It is a beautiful day, and we are going on another English fast, which is where we have to speak our new language, no English. These days are usually very quiet days. I must say that I love our schedule. I thrive on organization and planning.

Mom, yes the sisters are very nice! My comp and one of the sisters are a little too friendly at times, at least in my opinion. We don’t hear from the MTC president much, although he seems to be a nice guy. I am very impressed with our Branch President, President Laugherty. He has such a great spirit about him! He makes me really want to be a better person! The other day he pulled me aside; he didn’t say anything extremely profound - it was more feeling behind it! He said, “Elder Leash, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you; you always have a good spirit about you and all in your district testify to your diligence…you are a good young man.” Again not so much the words, but the sincerity behind it that meant so much to me; this makes me want to be a better man! You don’t have to put this in my blog.

The devotional last night was great as usual. Brother Robbins of the 70 spoke. Here are some things that stood out to me:
-anything we do for the Lord will be paid back tenfold – not a sacrifice, but an investment.
-fight fear with faith and love
-you can’t gain a testimony through the five senses,
-you obtain a testimony by doing!!
These were the highlights – my p-day is coming to a close…I will write after laundry, my work out at the gym, my spiritual work out with the scriptures…and then the temple (best part of my p-day) I love you.
Later,
Another devotional I was going to tell you about…our Director of Training at the MTC spoke – Brother Mark Jarmin. He and his wife gave us general missionary advice; his wife also spoke. He had some great insights. Here are the bullets points that stood out:
-forget yourself and go to work (classic advice, but key)
-commit 100%, I thought of this as not having one foot in the world and one foot in the work; I don’t need to keep track of who is in the world.
**the submission of oneself is all we have to give! Everything else in not ours to give!
-work, give time…I like this one a lot.
-mighty prayer – usually comes from trials – it cleanses the soul!
Mighty prayer=pouring out your whole heart to the Lord, baring your soul and pleading with the Lord!
It was a great talk!

Oh, you talked in your letter about blessings we do receive every day. I know we all take them for granted. Something that I’ve started that I’m going to try to make a habit of is in my journal, every night, writing/listing the blessings that I have received that day. I read a talk about this recently – I think it was Brother Bednar who referred to these blessings as the Lord’s tender mercies, this seems really fitting – to think of blessings as the Lord’s tender mercies.

Mom, Dad and Danielle – I love you three so very much and I just wanted you to know that! We are in the Lord’s course which is one eternal round that we are in together. I take great comfort in that thought.

I love you all very much!

Elder Leash

Monday, March 22, 2010

March 16, 2010

Dear everyone,

I am glad that you are enjoying my letters because your letters are definitely the highlight - the ‘top ten’highlights of my day! I know that the Lord is hearing your prayers on my behalf and I am thankful for that. I am very thankful for them!
I am really excited to be leaving for Holland in one month. I will be getting my flight plans soon so that is soo exciting.
Thanks for the scriptures and tips you sent on obedience! I can definitely see how important it is, especially in missionary work. I heard an analogy I really liked. Basically that obedience is like a kite – the rules that bind you also set you free and you can fly!~
Dad, thanks for your promise re: the Lamanites and how true growth comes when you think you can’t take any more! I know at times I will hit a brick wall…and then a great devotional comes along or I receive a great letter and I am renewed and things look a lot better.
Speaking of devotionals, last evening was our devotional and we were able to hear Quentin Cook. Most of what he said pertained mainly to missionary work, but I figured I might as well hit the highlights for you.
Sister Cook spoke first. She spoke of her love for music, that the Spirit speaks to her through music! I love this part: she said that she tries to link each Christ-like attribute to a hymn. Like this: Obedience – “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go”
Humility “Let The Holy Spirit Guide” and “Be Thou Humble” Patience “Be Still My Soul”

I enjoyed her appreciation of hymns. Each week we try to focus on one Christ like attribute to work on. I plan on picking a hymn each week to hum or think on whenever I can. Music is amazing!

Next, Brother Cook spoke: I thought it was very interesting that he said he had an outline or plan of what he would say, but on arriving he knew he should talk about something else. He had no notes! This meant a lot to me and testified of the fact that his words were an inspiration from Heavenly Father; his words were specifically for us, for me!

He spoke about D&C 112; he said that Pres. Hinckley told him it was his favorite chapter of scriptures! That all the apostles love this chapter (I don’t know about you, but I am definitely going to study it!) He said that in the verses 30-33 it talks about how we are teaching in the last days and this is the last dispensation. This is the time of gathering.

He also told an interesting fact: that he and President Holland served as companions on their mission! Imagine their presence on your doorstep!! Wow!

He gave an amazing talk; I am only hitting the highlights.
He closed and left us with a blessing. He told us of the sacredness of our call and he bore his testimony. In his blessing he said that regardless of what is going on at home, we are where we ought to be. We are blessing our families here and now and soon to come; that this mission will bless me all the days of my life! He spoke of the fact that even as an apostle he has doubts about his call and then said, don’t doubt yourself, I am adequate.
Then, he shared the 6 d’s: Doubt, Discouragement, Distraction, lack of diligence, disobedience and disbelief.

Don’t fall down this path – do not doubt yourself. I am so glad that I was able to have this experience! Wow! I love you everyone and I hope all is well!

Sincerely,
Elder Leash

Saturday, March 13, 2010

March 9, 2010

March 4, 2010

Dear mom/family,

I was just reading my scriptures! It seems like the more I learn and read from them the more I realize how much more there is in them. Same thing happens with the language, the more I learn the more I see that I still need to acquire. The scriptures are beginning to give to me soo much more now than I have ever seen in the past…its amazing what is in them! I hope you are all taking advantage of these awesome blessings that I know people members take for granted so often.

Everyone knows about my past life as a body builder. They are asking for a lot of advice about body building. Yes, I am reading the thought book you sent me! Only a page a day though, if I start to read much more I begin to get homesick! Two days ago I read the last few pages and began to cry…if was if front of my roommates and I was extremely embarrassed. There is a lot of insight in it and I love it! Thank you so much, I know you worked hard on it.

I found my favorite missionary scripture. It is D&C 84: 77-88. In verse 77 it says that I need to be Christ’s friend as a missionary – it is a commandment. In 79 is says He sent me out to prove the world. In verse 80 he promises that if I am faithful as a missionary, He will not let me be weary in mind, body, limb, or joint. And that not a hair on my head will not be lost without Him knowing it. I take a lot of comfort from the fact that the Lord is keeping such close tabs on me.

There is an awesome image that I have put in my mind - that goes along with verse 82. I like to think of myself as a lily – growing, not turning to and fro with the ways of the world. Glorious in testimony, in the clarity that I need to have.
Verse 85 says that I should not worry or think about what to say and that if I’m faithful the words will be put in my mouth.
Verse 88 I love how this verse reads! Essentially it says that He will be with me protecting me; so not to worry mom – Heavenly Father and his angels are my bodyguards!

I am so grateful for my district – I honestly think that we are at least in the top 10 most unified district here at the MTC. I was really blessed with them all!
We had devotional earlier in the evening. It was Bruce Hafen of the 70. I received some great analogies and insight from him. Something that pertains to you all are two things he said would increase kids/teens changes of staying active and getting married in the temple; those being:
Marriage of parents in the temple 2) Parents who have a testimony

Way to go mom and dad! Boo Boo I hope you know that mom and dad have a testimony! I know they do! You ought to ask to hear it sometime. Here are some other gems: these are things about testimony: the pre-requisites for a testimony are: desire and worthiness. The analogy is of a stool. The reason are the one leg to hold it up. The experience is the other and feelings are the last leg of the stool. For a testimony, we need to find or have a reason to have a belief or know. The feelings include being receptive to the feelings we get and the experience includes studying it out and pondering on it – to test the truth of it. This analogy can also be applicable to love. If ye have not charity, ye are nothing!

Mom, sometimes I really do miss everyone so much, but I know I’m where I am supposed to be! Please pray for me to learn this language – it is very hard!

Much love,
Elder Leash

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

March 10, 2010

March 10, 2010

Hello everybody!

I have a kool quote to share, ".. sitting in church won't make you a saint any more than sitting in a garage will make you a car." lol I really like that one; you have to take action! On that subject, Dad, I just want to thank you for the work ethic you have given me! I have a little bit of a slower learning curve and I am sure I would have fallen really behind if it hasn't been for my working so hard. It seems I get compliments on my dilligence and hard work literally 2-3 times a day lol. I know I owe that to you and I am so grateful for the time you took with me on that. lol I love you all! My time on the computer is up in 30 seconds lol so I have to go, but I love and miss you all a ton

Elder Leash!
P.S. I wanted to let Aunt Rosemary know how much I loved those yummy, healthy cookies - I need her address to send a thank you note!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Learning Dutch...Feb. 27, 2010

2-27-10

Dear Family and friends,

In class I was just thinking of you all! As for my language skills – up to date they are pretty good. Vocab: 300-600 words and some simple phrases. The cool thing is that I am able to string some sentences together! Actually my district and I are on a ‘district fast’. It is helping us learn more so that is a real positive!

My companion and I have taught and become very comfortable with teaching the first lesson! We teach the second lesson on Monday in the TRC – a place where members come to volunteer to be investigators for a little difference, but so far all good experiences! I always feel the spirit very strongly while teaching there. Tomorrow is Sunday – Geveldik! (smashing). I LOVE Sundays! Later tonight my comp. and I are teaching a progressing investigator on the existence of God (he isn’t sure there is a God). The really ticky part of this is that we have to teach him in Dutch – Jammer (bummer).

My teacher told us that we are ahead of his past group by two full weeks!!! This is very reassuring for me to say the least l.o.l. Our teachers are great and we are learning quickly. I think my companion and I have been blessed with the gift of toungues during the last discussion. Oh, interesting fact (depressing for me) – the average height in the Netherlands is 6 foot 3. It is the tallest group of people in the world.

Please let Amy know I love her letters very much – I appreciate them to no end! I am proud to have a cousin (Chelsea) who is a chess champ from the 5th grade!

Guess what? Mitchell Vest is working in the MTC (from our home ward). That was a great surprise! I was able to catch up with him.

Mom, I miss you very much! I am beginning to miss you more and more!~ I miss the ‘boo boo’ and dad too!!!!

Sincerely,

Elder Leash

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

More positive news from the MTC

March 3, 2010

Well, today is p-day we get to get out of the stuffy classroom and do some laundry and go to the temple :) Tonight at 6:30 p.m. on the dot its back to work! I have this great feeling that I have recognized lately, and the only way I can describe it is -- clean. I just feel so physically, and emotionally, and mentally so clean – it’s awesome! Last night we had a district devotional and our President was talking to us about an experience he had where the spirit was so strong that he was fatigued and tired and kind of hot or burning... when he said this I thought of the first vision and how Joseph spoke of this experience and how the leaves and the very trees themselves - he thought would catch fire...I think that burning and that spiritual fire is a cleansing fire, that it burns the evil impurities from us -so to speak....I then thought of the phrase 'burning in the bosom' and how that correlates with the cleansing fire too. I have felt while teaching - that burning in the bosom and a feeling of almost/kind of floating kind while in lessons, its is a crazy feeling and sensation. I have also felt really tired, fatigued, and really hungry afterwards lol (I think these were a kind of cleansing experiances :). I hope to have more of them! I love you so much mom and hope all is well! I love you too dad and you boo boo I miss you three a ton! Oh and btw about the email it’s a lot easier and simpler if I write my letters out like a little each day, last p-day I was writing letters for probably 2-3 hours no joke so I’m way sorry, but I think you should just hit the high points of the letters you shouldn’t have to type them all out!
Anyway,
I love you all ----- Sincerely, Elder Leash

P.S. I love the health food!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Still at the MTC - singing in the choir!

February 24, 2010

Hello there,

My district decided that mom gets the “best mom” award because I have gotten the most letters out of all the Elders in our District. Is now the long-standing joke –“Elder Leash gets the ALL the letters l.o.l. I feel so loved. I really enjoy what you say in your letters.

We are going to be getting a new mission home; it will be call the Amsterdam Mission home and we will soon have a new mission president. This is all very exciting.

I have to tell you the Elder Osmond (D Osmond’s son) and I are a lot alike – both physically and in personality-wise. We are going to send a picture so that you can see.

The language is coming slowly but surely. I feel like I’m spitting all the time – the guttural noise is more pronounced that it is in German. Yesterday we had our Tuesday devotional and we heard from Brother Jensen of the Seventy. He gave a very powerful talk, in it he said…”don’t use music like bookends to a meeting. Hymns can be the Spirit quicker than anything else. Hymns can be used to introduce, to clarify and as a capstone. And then, “take away the Book of Mormon and what is the keystone of our religion? We Have None. The foundation has to be just right. Never let a day goes by without being in the scriptures.”
It was great. The spirit was very strong during the devotional. I sing in the choir for the devotionals and I really love that. Mom, I have a scripture for you, it is Philippians 1:3-5. I love you all. Thanks for the blog mom, people really like it.

Oh, quick note – missionaries don’t get to go to B.Y.U. anymore – bummer. And my companion snores, but I figured out that if I clap it disgruntles him enough that he will roll over and stop lol.

Love you,
Elder Ryan Leash

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Hallo Mijn Familie! Feb. 2010

I have sent some letters out that you will receive soon. Aunt Amy is so sweet, she has told me that if the food in the MTC is not healthy enough for me she will work something out on my behalf. The food isn't really that bad, I get 3-5 food options per meal. I have kinda pulled back on the complete health food nut for now - I need to store some fat for winter.
Mom, I am so happy about your calling! This will be great for you and I know you will do well in Relief Society. I am worried about Sister Crans...she will be in my prayers!
I have some news - they have split my mission now. It is called the Amsterdaam, Netherlands Mission and it includes the Northern half of Belgium, from Brussels up, as well as all of the Netherlands. Anyway, I miss you all and hope all is well.
P.S. I love this quote: "The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be in the walls of your own homes." Harold B. Lee

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

First Letter - WwwwAAAAYYYY!

Ryan sent a letter and told me he already feels at home in the MTC. He says, "I love it...and the MTC is awesome." He told about how he had to jump into the missionary work within fifteen minutes of getting to the MTC and they had to 'role play' - he told me the role play was different and that he had a story to tell, but he will tell me on a tape and send it for us.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Waiting to hear...

I am in that funny space between the "drop off" and the "wondering" ....I am continually thinking of what Ryan might be doing in the MTC and what he might be learning. I know that learning a new language is very intense, and I am sure that he doing a great job! I can't wait to hear from him and know how it's going. I am thinking of all the things he might want in a care package..does anyone have any fun and creative ideas?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Drop Off

I must warn all the missionary moms out there - the MTC "drop off" is like going through a fast food drive in - except that you aren't ordering and picking up junk food - but rather dropping off your most precious sons and/or daughters.
Another mother was next to me dropping her son off, sobbing because the 'host' elder said that he couldn't take a pic. of she and her son (?) and so I took it and gave her a comfort hug. Ten minutes later I saw her at the same gas station, hunched over her steering wheel, continuing to sob. I rapped on her window and she got out and we hugged again - this can only happen in Utah - anywhere else and they think you have a mental illness....
I have been praying non-stop since yesterfay and sending positive feelings for him. For those of you that may wonder if I am overprotective and a worrier - the answer is "yes".
To my wonderful sister-in-law and her beautiful family who put up with my emotions for five days - I love you !

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Missionary Training Center

O.K. today is the day. I am an emotional wreak, as I am sure, more missionary moms are. Ryan is taking everything in stride and "just wants to get out there and go to work." I am very proud of his having this priviledge. I know that as long as he is in the service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ he will be safe.
The day is going to go like this: 1:15 p.m. curbside drop off
1:30 dump things in room
1:40 meet teacher
1:50 meet President Smith (I think that is his name)
the rest of the day will be a lot of talk about the "White Bible" and rules.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Twenty Six Hours and Counting
Elder Ryan Leasht is making news in River City...(actually Alpine City, Utah) This handsome, charmin, well-groomed young man will be entering the MTC for his missionary training on Wednesday, February 10th at approximately 1:15 p.m. His mother will be freaking out and his aunt will try to console her with hugs and well wishes. Elder Ryan has always had a secret desire to become a flying Dutchman and finally his dream will come true. He loves tulips, daffodils, wooden shoes, raw fish eaten in the town square and Dutch brothers and sisters searching for the joy of the gospel. God speed good elder - we are praying for your success!