Dear family,
Mom, well it sounds like Danielle is staying busy with work and synchro etc and dad is definitely busy with his big bike trip, what are you doing to keep busy? Keep me posted on Dad's trip! I will definitely be prayerful about his trip :).
This week was a little crazy. We had fairly ''normal'' days Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Thursday we went out to Belgium to look up a referral. This was really tricky because, to begin with, the info we got for the referral was spelled wrong, but we eventually figured that out. We take a bus to the station and a train from the station to sittard station which is north east of Heerlen which brought us somewhat closer. From Sittard there is no transportation over the border into Belgium so we had to walk 30 minutes in a heavy rain lol to get over the border and then another bus towards Dilsen, where the referral lives. We ask the bus driver where to get out and he assures us the it is at a certain stop. We get out and ask directions again and find out that the street is some 3 miles from where we were.
Coincidently, the place we stopped to ask directions for was a taxi service so we asked him how much it would cost us to get there and it was some 5 Euros. We finally get there after about 3 hours of traveling etc and then have to wait till he got home cuz he was at the dentist. We have a good talk with him and walked in circles about opinions and interpretations of the bible and doctrine etc and finally tell him that that was exactly why we have so many churches today and that such confusion etc is cleared by the book of Mormon and we introduce the book to him and he is going to read and pray about it. We will see what comes of it. We make our way back to Heerlen the same way we came and get back at 7 pm after leaving at 1130 lol. We taught then Guido and had a solid lesson and that was our whole day.
The next day was much the same except we ended up doing service the whole day for our previous ward mission leader helping him and his family put in a kitchen.
Saturday was a ward picnic and we were able to bring Lillian along and I think she had a good time; we played sports and ate and ate more and played some more sports and I am simply kaput (dead!). At one point during our football playing (soccer) someone had the bright idea to play North America players vs. the Europeans. We were out numbered and playing their bread and butter sport and yet we were able to hold em off and put em away 6 to 5 us. I am SO sore! I can feel every muscle in my body...I am SO out of shape lol! Then Sunday we had good mtings and we were able to bring Guido to elder’s quorum and translate for him there and I think he really enjoyed it so that was great! After church we had a dinner appointment in Germany with the Woodburys whom I love! We came home did some planning etc and later that night we get THE CALL aka yesterday was transfer night. Elder Brown and I are both staying in Heerlen and are going to be District leader. I am nervous but I think it will work out just fine, however, I would appreciate any advice or words of wisdom and I take on the new calling :).
On the whole things are just peachy and we are continuously being blessed guided and strengthened. I hope things for yell are something similar! I love you lots and will talk to you next week!
Love Elder 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
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Many missionary opportunities
Dear family,
It sounds like yall had a good week, Ian’s home made banana ice cream and dad's rice and bbq chicken made me drool lol! Sounds like the bike trip were a success; I have no doubt that dad was leading the pack and showing those little deacons how it’s done! It sounds like petite momma vs. boo boo was a success, as well seeing as you both survived Dad's absence as well lol, I hope the conditioner was found before anyone got hurt lol! The sight seeing sounds just great, I’m down as long as I can visit a day or two with some ppl from Kortrijk and Heerlen :). As for the b-day package, I could use maybe a few garment bottoms, dry lux; do they have a brief style of garments? That would be awesome (size s). COOKIES sound good!
Well, we had a solid week. I felt really good about it. We stayed pretty balanced this week in what we did and hard work really paid off. The week started out with a bang. on Monday we had a consecrated hour of finding, during which we found a lady and had a great discussion with her about scripture and truth, about how when we read things we can follow either the light of Christ or the Holy Ghost to recognize and learn truth. She has a B.O.M and we will visit with her this coming week and see how it went with her and her experience with reading the BOM. Tuesday was also nothing short of awesome. We had another C.H wherein we accidently tracted out a member’s home and had a great talk with them. While we were talking to them I received a call from someone who 'received a card(pass-along card) from the elders and he said 'I think I want to learn more, actually I think I want to come to church, in fact, when can I meet with yall' lol. We met with him the next day and had a great and open talk about Christ’s church, certain things we do differently than others, in general just got a feel from where he was coming from. At the end of our lesson we introduced and committed him to a teaching calendar. His name is Tennison. Also, during that next day we met with Brother Barodka, whose son Denis, will now be moving to the Netherlands and who will now be taking the missionary lesson. He comes from Belarus where the church is viewed very poorly for political reasons.... he now is ready to learn more! Directly after this appointment, I got a call back from an investigator we hadn’t seen in a while and we were able to set up an appointment for Saturday! The appointment Saturday went very well! We were able to get two joint teaches about her age and they really hit it off and seem to be good friends now :), she is praying and reading – a.k.a progressing!
Game Day, we were able to see 3 investigators in church. Lillian is still hanging around. We thought we were going to have to drop her, but she is still coming to activities and to appointments and I think very slowly, but surely, the Lord is working in her and she is progressing, slowly but surely. Guido was in church as well and he made some great strides as far as fellowship goes. He really hit it off with brother Van Gemeert and bro De Vylder during ward potluck! Awesome guy, we are going to have dinner at his place tomorrow night and share a lesson on the organization of the priesthood. Last, but not least, we saw Tennyson in church and I think he had a good experience; many were on vacation in the ward and all the empty seats made me a little nervous, but I think he really liked the meetings etc. During investigator’s class nobody was around to teach the lesson (we are without ward mission leader at the moment) so we ended up having a great discussion at a very elementary level, our Heavenly Father, Our Heavenly Family. It went really well and we had great participation!
A solid week in the books :), I love yall lots and look forward to hearing how your week goes.
Love,
Elder Leash
It sounds like yall had a good week, Ian’s home made banana ice cream and dad's rice and bbq chicken made me drool lol! Sounds like the bike trip were a success; I have no doubt that dad was leading the pack and showing those little deacons how it’s done! It sounds like petite momma vs. boo boo was a success, as well seeing as you both survived Dad's absence as well lol, I hope the conditioner was found before anyone got hurt lol! The sight seeing sounds just great, I’m down as long as I can visit a day or two with some ppl from Kortrijk and Heerlen :). As for the b-day package, I could use maybe a few garment bottoms, dry lux; do they have a brief style of garments? That would be awesome (size s). COOKIES sound good!
Well, we had a solid week. I felt really good about it. We stayed pretty balanced this week in what we did and hard work really paid off. The week started out with a bang. on Monday we had a consecrated hour of finding, during which we found a lady and had a great discussion with her about scripture and truth, about how when we read things we can follow either the light of Christ or the Holy Ghost to recognize and learn truth. She has a B.O.M and we will visit with her this coming week and see how it went with her and her experience with reading the BOM. Tuesday was also nothing short of awesome. We had another C.H wherein we accidently tracted out a member’s home and had a great talk with them. While we were talking to them I received a call from someone who 'received a card(pass-along card) from the elders and he said 'I think I want to learn more, actually I think I want to come to church, in fact, when can I meet with yall' lol. We met with him the next day and had a great and open talk about Christ’s church, certain things we do differently than others, in general just got a feel from where he was coming from. At the end of our lesson we introduced and committed him to a teaching calendar. His name is Tennison. Also, during that next day we met with Brother Barodka, whose son Denis, will now be moving to the Netherlands and who will now be taking the missionary lesson. He comes from Belarus where the church is viewed very poorly for political reasons.... he now is ready to learn more! Directly after this appointment, I got a call back from an investigator we hadn’t seen in a while and we were able to set up an appointment for Saturday! The appointment Saturday went very well! We were able to get two joint teaches about her age and they really hit it off and seem to be good friends now :), she is praying and reading – a.k.a progressing!
Game Day, we were able to see 3 investigators in church. Lillian is still hanging around. We thought we were going to have to drop her, but she is still coming to activities and to appointments and I think very slowly, but surely, the Lord is working in her and she is progressing, slowly but surely. Guido was in church as well and he made some great strides as far as fellowship goes. He really hit it off with brother Van Gemeert and bro De Vylder during ward potluck! Awesome guy, we are going to have dinner at his place tomorrow night and share a lesson on the organization of the priesthood. Last, but not least, we saw Tennyson in church and I think he had a good experience; many were on vacation in the ward and all the empty seats made me a little nervous, but I think he really liked the meetings etc. During investigator’s class nobody was around to teach the lesson (we are without ward mission leader at the moment) so we ended up having a great discussion at a very elementary level, our Heavenly Father, Our Heavenly Family. It went really well and we had great participation!
A solid week in the books :), I love yall lots and look forward to hearing how your week goes.
Love,
Elder Leash
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Happy Father's Day!!!
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, mom as far as the release date goes, that sounds pretty accurate and about y’all going to Germany first and then coming to meet up with me, that also sounds good; I don’t have too strong of an opinion whatever we do, it will just be great to see yall, and other than that, I’ll just be along for the ride more or less :).
Work goes well, Lillian is still coming and learning and growing, we haven’t committed her to a new date yet but it will come soon, she asked for time so we are really not trying to rush things. Guido was at church again and we have an appointment this week and we are thinking of giving him a baptismal calendar but we will see, if it feels right :). Anyhow on the whole things are good! On the other side of things this week my bike was stolen :/, I'm now going to be on my fifth bike lol. My first was stolen, my second one broke down, my third broke down, and my fourth was stolen. It was locked to a light post and we were only gone an hour while we were doing a consecrated hour! Bummer! Anyhow, mom and dad money is a little tight; do you think you could send me money for a new bike?
I’m glad y’all had good meetings. I had a great Sunday as well. For Sacrament meeting we got to take the Sacrament, we also were able to hear from a new family in the ward here, the Kitchens. Their topic was the priesthood; the young kids gave some funny and sweet remarks and that was fun. Papa Kitchen gave some great and very bold and inspiring comments as well. He started out his remarks by stating that Father's day was his least favorite holiday and that he hated it, lol naturally we were caught of guard lol but he explained why. Fathers day is his least favorite holiday because it reminds him of the roles and responsibilities he should be playing and magnifying and should be doing. It was funny and yet at the same time I imagine that all fathers have similar feelings etc on such a day. Anyhow he talked of prioties that need to be set and quoted someone and certain priorities that they had outlined namely 1. family 2. employer 3. church and 4. yourself.
I thought about this and remembered a talk I had read that talked also of balance and the role priorities play in finding balance in life. Brother Eugene Hansen of the 70 wrote it and in his he had almost the same priories suggested only in a different order he had them as 1 wife and personal 2 family 3 church and 4 works. I had read Brother Hansen’s talk last October and wrote and studied a little on it and found a lot of things that suggested to me that this was the "correct" order of priorities. I wrote down that it made sense that personal and wife should be first because if WE aren’t where we should be how can we help anyone else even our family, and I thought that family should of course come second because we are counseled "family first". Then in Jacob 2:17 it tells us before ye seek riches seek ye the kingdom of god.
Then, yesterday, I heard Papa Kitchen's remarks and that really struck a cord with me as well, in Luke 9:23 and 24 it tells us that as we lose ourselves we will find ourselves - that if we think first of others our Father in heaven will meet our needs, so of course that priority should fall last. Then again, we are counseled family first, so family should then come in number one spot and we have also been counseled that if it comes to it and we cant get Sundays off we should go to work even if we cant make our church meetings and fulfill our callings which would lead tne to believe that work should come before church.
When I was thinking about these differences in priorities and how important priorities are, I realized that some of these things are very conditional, do we have a steady, flexible, and reliable job where we can get Sundays off for instance? If so then that can fall further down on our list of priorities. Do we have a solid and healthy relationship with our spouse? If things are a little on the rocks with our sweetheart then that should be our first priority. Is one of your children really struggling with their testimony, school etc. then in that case Family should be first etc etc.
I finally came to the conclusion that we really just need to stay close to the Lord, evaluate our lives, and make changes where needed so long as they are in line with the will of the Lord. As I thought about these things, I then thought of the church and the priorities and teachings that we have in our church; not all that long ago we had polygamy in our church doctrine as something that was accepted and lived, this is just one example I could think of, but if we look to other faiths and to their priorities and teachings we find a very wide variety, the Seventh Day Adventists feel very strongly that the Lord had pinpointed one specific day, Saturday, to be the Sabbath day and that it was to remain so always; by the Catholics babies are baptized at birth, the Jehovah witness feel that strongly that certain things in the bible were not accurate and saw it fit to change and adjust their version of the bible etc etc.
What a blessing it is to have a living church with a prophet that counsels with the Lord as world circumstances change as same sex marriage becomes an issue, as wars come about, as natural disasters occur, as the adversary adapts and evolves and finds new ways to tempt us, so do we change adapt and evolve to defend ourselves against such things. How blessed we are!
I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the one true church. I know that the church of Christ of was lost from the each at one point and that it was then restored in the year 1820 to the earth through Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is physical evidence of that event, and that it testifies of Christ our redeemer but that also the way it was brought forth testifies of the mantle the Joseph Smith was called to as prophet of the restoration. I know that the church that was restored by Christ through Joseph Smith yet lives and that we have a prophet today, and that this organization will continue to adapt, to change and to guide us safely back to our Heavenly Father. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Love, Elder Ryan
Well, mom as far as the release date goes, that sounds pretty accurate and about y’all going to Germany first and then coming to meet up with me, that also sounds good; I don’t have too strong of an opinion whatever we do, it will just be great to see yall, and other than that, I’ll just be along for the ride more or less :).
Work goes well, Lillian is still coming and learning and growing, we haven’t committed her to a new date yet but it will come soon, she asked for time so we are really not trying to rush things. Guido was at church again and we have an appointment this week and we are thinking of giving him a baptismal calendar but we will see, if it feels right :). Anyhow on the whole things are good! On the other side of things this week my bike was stolen :/, I'm now going to be on my fifth bike lol. My first was stolen, my second one broke down, my third broke down, and my fourth was stolen. It was locked to a light post and we were only gone an hour while we were doing a consecrated hour! Bummer! Anyhow, mom and dad money is a little tight; do you think you could send me money for a new bike?
I’m glad y’all had good meetings. I had a great Sunday as well. For Sacrament meeting we got to take the Sacrament, we also were able to hear from a new family in the ward here, the Kitchens. Their topic was the priesthood; the young kids gave some funny and sweet remarks and that was fun. Papa Kitchen gave some great and very bold and inspiring comments as well. He started out his remarks by stating that Father's day was his least favorite holiday and that he hated it, lol naturally we were caught of guard lol but he explained why. Fathers day is his least favorite holiday because it reminds him of the roles and responsibilities he should be playing and magnifying and should be doing. It was funny and yet at the same time I imagine that all fathers have similar feelings etc on such a day. Anyhow he talked of prioties that need to be set and quoted someone and certain priorities that they had outlined namely 1. family 2. employer 3. church and 4. yourself.
I thought about this and remembered a talk I had read that talked also of balance and the role priorities play in finding balance in life. Brother Eugene Hansen of the 70 wrote it and in his he had almost the same priories suggested only in a different order he had them as 1 wife and personal 2 family 3 church and 4 works. I had read Brother Hansen’s talk last October and wrote and studied a little on it and found a lot of things that suggested to me that this was the "correct" order of priorities. I wrote down that it made sense that personal and wife should be first because if WE aren’t where we should be how can we help anyone else even our family, and I thought that family should of course come second because we are counseled "family first". Then in Jacob 2:17 it tells us before ye seek riches seek ye the kingdom of god.
Then, yesterday, I heard Papa Kitchen's remarks and that really struck a cord with me as well, in Luke 9:23 and 24 it tells us that as we lose ourselves we will find ourselves - that if we think first of others our Father in heaven will meet our needs, so of course that priority should fall last. Then again, we are counseled family first, so family should then come in number one spot and we have also been counseled that if it comes to it and we cant get Sundays off we should go to work even if we cant make our church meetings and fulfill our callings which would lead tne to believe that work should come before church.
When I was thinking about these differences in priorities and how important priorities are, I realized that some of these things are very conditional, do we have a steady, flexible, and reliable job where we can get Sundays off for instance? If so then that can fall further down on our list of priorities. Do we have a solid and healthy relationship with our spouse? If things are a little on the rocks with our sweetheart then that should be our first priority. Is one of your children really struggling with their testimony, school etc. then in that case Family should be first etc etc.
I finally came to the conclusion that we really just need to stay close to the Lord, evaluate our lives, and make changes where needed so long as they are in line with the will of the Lord. As I thought about these things, I then thought of the church and the priorities and teachings that we have in our church; not all that long ago we had polygamy in our church doctrine as something that was accepted and lived, this is just one example I could think of, but if we look to other faiths and to their priorities and teachings we find a very wide variety, the Seventh Day Adventists feel very strongly that the Lord had pinpointed one specific day, Saturday, to be the Sabbath day and that it was to remain so always; by the Catholics babies are baptized at birth, the Jehovah witness feel that strongly that certain things in the bible were not accurate and saw it fit to change and adjust their version of the bible etc etc.
What a blessing it is to have a living church with a prophet that counsels with the Lord as world circumstances change as same sex marriage becomes an issue, as wars come about, as natural disasters occur, as the adversary adapts and evolves and finds new ways to tempt us, so do we change adapt and evolve to defend ourselves against such things. How blessed we are!
I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the one true church. I know that the church of Christ of was lost from the each at one point and that it was then restored in the year 1820 to the earth through Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is physical evidence of that event, and that it testifies of Christ our redeemer but that also the way it was brought forth testifies of the mantle the Joseph Smith was called to as prophet of the restoration. I know that the church that was restored by Christ through Joseph Smith yet lives and that we have a prophet today, and that this organization will continue to adapt, to change and to guide us safely back to our Heavenly Father. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Love, Elder Ryan
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Transfer to Netherlands!!!
April 27, 2011
Dad,
It was really good to hear from you. My mission president did give me call and let me know that Grandma had passed on; I'm glad that I was expecting it at least. It sounds like she had wonderful support and little pain in her last few days. I’m sure it will be a bit of an adjustment getting back into to the swing of things after such an emotional ordeal, I love you lots dad.
I am getting transferred :), and your guess was right, I am going back to the Netherlands, barely lol. I am headed to Heerlen tomorrow morning. Heerlen is in the very bottom right corner of the Netherlands, and also lies very close to Germany and France. In fact, there is a place in Heerlen where you can stand in all 3 countries at once :) I’ll do it for sure! I will be serving with Elder Mohrmon lol, pronounced as Elder Mormon ha-ha. I have heard only good things. Heerlen has a very large American army base, and because of it, the ward there is English speaking! I’m excited to speak some English! I don’t know much else at this point, but I’ll keep you posted. Oh I lied, I do know my address:
Vesweglaan 295
6412 HK
Heerlen, Netherlands
Well, my week was not too shabby. We had more of a working P day, and then on Tuesday we went to the temple, had a picnic, and went to the famous Keukenhof Tulip Garden :). It was very beautiful! Very packed also, ppl from all over the world there!!! It was just great! Sunday, we had a pretty good service, and had two investigators in church that we hadn’t seen in a long time, however Alain and Richard were not able to be there because of conflicting schedules :/. My companion Elder Bjork is nervous about taking over the area but I have confidence in him, he will do just fine. The new Elder coming down speaks French and I know he will be a huge blessing to this area!!!! In any case, the work of the Lord continues to go forth! I know that Christ leads and guides this work and His church in this day! I love you all and am so looking forward to TALKING to you very soon!
Lots of Love
Elder Ryan Leash
Dad,
It was really good to hear from you. My mission president did give me call and let me know that Grandma had passed on; I'm glad that I was expecting it at least. It sounds like she had wonderful support and little pain in her last few days. I’m sure it will be a bit of an adjustment getting back into to the swing of things after such an emotional ordeal, I love you lots dad.
I am getting transferred :), and your guess was right, I am going back to the Netherlands, barely lol. I am headed to Heerlen tomorrow morning. Heerlen is in the very bottom right corner of the Netherlands, and also lies very close to Germany and France. In fact, there is a place in Heerlen where you can stand in all 3 countries at once :) I’ll do it for sure! I will be serving with Elder Mohrmon lol, pronounced as Elder Mormon ha-ha. I have heard only good things. Heerlen has a very large American army base, and because of it, the ward there is English speaking! I’m excited to speak some English! I don’t know much else at this point, but I’ll keep you posted. Oh I lied, I do know my address:
Vesweglaan 295
6412 HK
Heerlen, Netherlands
Well, my week was not too shabby. We had more of a working P day, and then on Tuesday we went to the temple, had a picnic, and went to the famous Keukenhof Tulip Garden :). It was very beautiful! Very packed also, ppl from all over the world there!!! It was just great! Sunday, we had a pretty good service, and had two investigators in church that we hadn’t seen in a long time, however Alain and Richard were not able to be there because of conflicting schedules :/. My companion Elder Bjork is nervous about taking over the area but I have confidence in him, he will do just fine. The new Elder coming down speaks French and I know he will be a huge blessing to this area!!!! In any case, the work of the Lord continues to go forth! I know that Christ leads and guides this work and His church in this day! I love you all and am so looking forward to TALKING to you very soon!
Lots of Love
Elder Ryan Leash
Monday, April 25, 2011
Grandma Elsie and missionary work
April 18, 2011
Dear Dad,
Just thinking about your last week moved me to tears, I felt the spirit so very strongly when you talked of grandma and her experiences being so close to the veil..... I can only imagine at this point how that would be to say goodbye to your mother. My thoughts and prayers are with you dad, I love you very much, I love grandma very much and I know without a doubt that we will see her again. Please let me know how things further unfold.
Yes, your right it is getting close to transfer time, I will find out this coming Sunday or Monday if I will have to leave my home here in Kortrijk :(, I think I will probably be transferred. As to where I go I have no idea, my first choice would to stay here in Kortrijk, but if I can’t get that then I hope that I at least stay here in Belgium. I've really come to love and appreciate the Flemish ppl and culture that live here in Belgium, but I am sure that I will love wherever the Lord places me. Things continue to move forward and progress here in the Kortrijk area. Day before yesterday we had an appointment with 18 year old Richard, a friend of a member; Richard has agreed and desires to be baptized on may 28th! Upon inviting him to be baptized he requested that I baptize him and that would be such an awesome experience, I told him that if I was still here when the time came that I would absolutely do that, we will see :/. Richard has some obstacles to overcome, namely smoking, however he already has a budding and blooming testimony of the restoration and the plan that our Heavenly Father has for us; I really think that he will be able to defeat these struggles and partake in the happiness and peace that the Gospel brings! Exciting!
Alain is also growing and making great strides in the gospel, we had a good time getting to know each other a little better yesterday on the way to and from Stake Conference and he is still excited for his up coming baptismal date! Faustino and his son junior are still doing well, however, we are having issues lately with getting French joint teacher their way, but I think that we may have to move their baptismal date back a little while. When we do get some regular joint teaches established for them and things really start to sink in for them that they will really take hold and will be baptized! Elder Bjork is doing alright, we are still plugging along. I’m sure that it will be difficult learning this area for him just as it was for me, but that he will get oriented quickly and do just great.
On a personal level, I just finished 2nd Nephi this morning, and I remember thinking not long ago that I didn’t know how my testimony could grow any more, but I realized that it has, I just KNOW that these things are true, that this Book of Mormon is true and that I have a loving Heavenly Father who sent his literal son to help us learn and grow here while we are away from Him.
Well, I’d better get going, but again dad I love you dearly, and I know that things will come to pass according to the Lord's will! I will talk to you soon, and talk to you literally not long thereafter!
Much love
Elder Ryan Leash
Dear Dad,
Just thinking about your last week moved me to tears, I felt the spirit so very strongly when you talked of grandma and her experiences being so close to the veil..... I can only imagine at this point how that would be to say goodbye to your mother. My thoughts and prayers are with you dad, I love you very much, I love grandma very much and I know without a doubt that we will see her again. Please let me know how things further unfold.
Yes, your right it is getting close to transfer time, I will find out this coming Sunday or Monday if I will have to leave my home here in Kortrijk :(, I think I will probably be transferred. As to where I go I have no idea, my first choice would to stay here in Kortrijk, but if I can’t get that then I hope that I at least stay here in Belgium. I've really come to love and appreciate the Flemish ppl and culture that live here in Belgium, but I am sure that I will love wherever the Lord places me. Things continue to move forward and progress here in the Kortrijk area. Day before yesterday we had an appointment with 18 year old Richard, a friend of a member; Richard has agreed and desires to be baptized on may 28th! Upon inviting him to be baptized he requested that I baptize him and that would be such an awesome experience, I told him that if I was still here when the time came that I would absolutely do that, we will see :/. Richard has some obstacles to overcome, namely smoking, however he already has a budding and blooming testimony of the restoration and the plan that our Heavenly Father has for us; I really think that he will be able to defeat these struggles and partake in the happiness and peace that the Gospel brings! Exciting!
Alain is also growing and making great strides in the gospel, we had a good time getting to know each other a little better yesterday on the way to and from Stake Conference and he is still excited for his up coming baptismal date! Faustino and his son junior are still doing well, however, we are having issues lately with getting French joint teacher their way, but I think that we may have to move their baptismal date back a little while. When we do get some regular joint teaches established for them and things really start to sink in for them that they will really take hold and will be baptized! Elder Bjork is doing alright, we are still plugging along. I’m sure that it will be difficult learning this area for him just as it was for me, but that he will get oriented quickly and do just great.
On a personal level, I just finished 2nd Nephi this morning, and I remember thinking not long ago that I didn’t know how my testimony could grow any more, but I realized that it has, I just KNOW that these things are true, that this Book of Mormon is true and that I have a loving Heavenly Father who sent his literal son to help us learn and grow here while we are away from Him.
Well, I’d better get going, but again dad I love you dearly, and I know that things will come to pass according to the Lord's will! I will talk to you soon, and talk to you literally not long thereafter!
Much love
Elder Ryan Leash
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Baptism comping!
March 27, 2011
Wow! I received some great letters this week! Even some pics! I feel loved :)!
Thanks so much! Well mom about being transferred, anything that arrives here in Kortrijk before the 27th of April will find me. My address, I’m
Anticipating will change at that point. I’m glad that you enjoyed the pics etc; I have another set when you send that one back, oh and thanks for sending them all back out - I like to look back at the pics every now and then so I really try not to delete them. Thanks again! That’s very cool that Khris stopped by, how are things with him? Be sure to send some love his way for me! You and dad sure do look great over there at the sock hop :). Danielle is looking as pretty as ever, very exciting stuff happening with her, Getting a job, and the license, Miss Independence!
Scripture reading is going good here! I’ve put my Book of Mormon reading on hold as conference comes closer. I’m trying to get prepped for this coming conference by making sure that the messages and counsel from last conference are fresh in my mind. I’m so excited about next week!!!!!!!!
Well, in other news things the work is going pretty well :). Carmen will be baptized on the 9th of this next week! I am so excited! Then Alain had some real concerns earlier this week and he told us he did not want the lessons anymore, we had no idea what the issue was; thereafter he had received his first Liahona he found a talk directly addressing his concern which was tithing. To further clear the matter we took President Lemon on joint teach to his house and we were able to completely clear up his issues :)! What a blessing! He will be baptized on April 30th!
This week we did a look up out of the area book and found this man home, his name is Faustino and he speaks some Dutch and some English so we were able to communicate and have a great first lesson at the end of which we extended a baptismal invitation and he accepted :), we will keep you posted as Faustino progresses!
We helped the same member of the ward again with some moving etc and were again able to enjoy each others’ company and talk a bit about the gospel etc and unfortunately were not able to find time to share a formal message and yet inactive Sarah, and investigator Richard were in church again, along of course, with Alain and Carmen! It was great!
Things with Elder Byork are still interesting and yet we are making this work and that is all that matters. Those were mostly the highlights of our week :).
I love ya’ll very, very much and am looking forward to talking to you soon!
Much love,
Ryan
Wow! I received some great letters this week! Even some pics! I feel loved :)!
Thanks so much! Well mom about being transferred, anything that arrives here in Kortrijk before the 27th of April will find me. My address, I’m
Anticipating will change at that point. I’m glad that you enjoyed the pics etc; I have another set when you send that one back, oh and thanks for sending them all back out - I like to look back at the pics every now and then so I really try not to delete them. Thanks again! That’s very cool that Khris stopped by, how are things with him? Be sure to send some love his way for me! You and dad sure do look great over there at the sock hop :). Danielle is looking as pretty as ever, very exciting stuff happening with her, Getting a job, and the license, Miss Independence!
Scripture reading is going good here! I’ve put my Book of Mormon reading on hold as conference comes closer. I’m trying to get prepped for this coming conference by making sure that the messages and counsel from last conference are fresh in my mind. I’m so excited about next week!!!!!!!!
Well, in other news things the work is going pretty well :). Carmen will be baptized on the 9th of this next week! I am so excited! Then Alain had some real concerns earlier this week and he told us he did not want the lessons anymore, we had no idea what the issue was; thereafter he had received his first Liahona he found a talk directly addressing his concern which was tithing. To further clear the matter we took President Lemon on joint teach to his house and we were able to completely clear up his issues :)! What a blessing! He will be baptized on April 30th!
This week we did a look up out of the area book and found this man home, his name is Faustino and he speaks some Dutch and some English so we were able to communicate and have a great first lesson at the end of which we extended a baptismal invitation and he accepted :), we will keep you posted as Faustino progresses!
We helped the same member of the ward again with some moving etc and were again able to enjoy each others’ company and talk a bit about the gospel etc and unfortunately were not able to find time to share a formal message and yet inactive Sarah, and investigator Richard were in church again, along of course, with Alain and Carmen! It was great!
Things with Elder Byork are still interesting and yet we are making this work and that is all that matters. Those were mostly the highlights of our week :).
I love ya’ll very, very much and am looking forward to talking to you soon!
Much love,
Ryan
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Still in Kortrijk, Belgium
March 21, 2011
Hello Hello,
Who is that girl in those pictures?!!!! I know that is not my boo boo sister! Wow...anyways it looks like she was having fun :), where are your pics petite momma? It sounds like life is going well your way :) I’m glad; I’ve been thinking about you this week!
Things are good here, at the moment we are enjoying some wonderful lekker sun! If you all don’t mind I’m just going to gloat while I can about the fact that I have good weather and you don’t lol, by the time I walk out of the library here it will probably be back to rain and clouds lol. I am most definitely getting enough to eat, more than enough!!! I am very happy that I was able to stay here another transfer! The wedding was just great! There was a weird Belgian tradition that we did where we waved this napkin around for like 5 to 10 minutes while we sang some songs etc. It reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding lol. A blast! We just had a great time and there were some non members there that we were able to talk to a bit as well, great stuff! The only drawback was that my stomach was not so happy I was on the we all night lol.
Carmen the principle is enduring and growing and is a continuous joy to be around and to be friends with, I love her very much! Alain on the other hand called us out of the clear blue the other day and says he doesn’t want lessons anymore; I think that he must have come across some anti material but we are not certain at this point, we will go by this week and see what happened. Please pray for us and our next appointment with him!
On a better note this week we were helping a member move and a family friend as well as an inactive member of the family were there and we built a good friendship and had a nice time working and talking with each other, both came to church yesterday! The family friend wants to start taking the lessons! At one point during the service he told me of the spirit that he felt and how wonderful it was, it was a great service! Further, another inactive member of the Lemon family came to church yesterday and would like us to come by his place this coming week! Exciting stuff! I know this is the Lord’s work and that He is busy directing us and those around us! I am so very grateful for the gospel and for the new perspective it gives us!
This week I got my new comp Elder Byork.. Elder Byork is a great guy and has some great qualities! Anyhow, I love you lots and oh, before I go - mom you asked about the Easter package; I guess I’m a really sloppy eater because I have stains all over my ties and shirts lol, do you think you could send me 2 or 3 Tide To Go pens? That would be awesome! Oh and one last thing, I have an sd card ready to send you as soon as you send the last one back!
much love,
Ryan Leash
Hello Hello,
Who is that girl in those pictures?!!!! I know that is not my boo boo sister! Wow...anyways it looks like she was having fun :), where are your pics petite momma? It sounds like life is going well your way :) I’m glad; I’ve been thinking about you this week!
Things are good here, at the moment we are enjoying some wonderful lekker sun! If you all don’t mind I’m just going to gloat while I can about the fact that I have good weather and you don’t lol, by the time I walk out of the library here it will probably be back to rain and clouds lol. I am most definitely getting enough to eat, more than enough!!! I am very happy that I was able to stay here another transfer! The wedding was just great! There was a weird Belgian tradition that we did where we waved this napkin around for like 5 to 10 minutes while we sang some songs etc. It reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding lol. A blast! We just had a great time and there were some non members there that we were able to talk to a bit as well, great stuff! The only drawback was that my stomach was not so happy I was on the we all night lol.
Carmen the principle is enduring and growing and is a continuous joy to be around and to be friends with, I love her very much! Alain on the other hand called us out of the clear blue the other day and says he doesn’t want lessons anymore; I think that he must have come across some anti material but we are not certain at this point, we will go by this week and see what happened. Please pray for us and our next appointment with him!
On a better note this week we were helping a member move and a family friend as well as an inactive member of the family were there and we built a good friendship and had a nice time working and talking with each other, both came to church yesterday! The family friend wants to start taking the lessons! At one point during the service he told me of the spirit that he felt and how wonderful it was, it was a great service! Further, another inactive member of the Lemon family came to church yesterday and would like us to come by his place this coming week! Exciting stuff! I know this is the Lord’s work and that He is busy directing us and those around us! I am so very grateful for the gospel and for the new perspective it gives us!
This week I got my new comp Elder Byork.. Elder Byork is a great guy and has some great qualities! Anyhow, I love you lots and oh, before I go - mom you asked about the Easter package; I guess I’m a really sloppy eater because I have stains all over my ties and shirts lol, do you think you could send me 2 or 3 Tide To Go pens? That would be awesome! Oh and one last thing, I have an sd card ready to send you as soon as you send the last one back!
much love,
Ryan Leash
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