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
Ryan's Entire Mission
ryan is in the far right corner
Ryan at a Zone Conference...
Ryan and President Brubaker
eating raw fish -- eeewww
Ryan at temple - day before MTC drop off
handsome guy!
Ryan and President Smith
getting set apart as a missionary
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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