Email from Elder Lofthouse 12/16/13 Life is So Good!

Life is so good right now!!  It's about 60 outside, and we had a fantastic day yesterday.  And in a little bit, we're going to go play ultimate frisbee.  Can't get much better than that!

Let me tell you about yesterday!  Yesterday we had 9 investigators at church.  Nine!! Three of those were M, her son S, and her mom, P.  M finally is getting work of of Sundays and is going to work Thursdays instead.  We went over the baptismal interview questions with her last night and she is super prepared! we just need to teach tithing and the Law of Chastity, which I am absolutely certain she will accept without question.  Ever since the church tour we went on with her she has had strong desires to join the church, she recognizes the Spirit, she's knows it's true and that we're servants of the Lord (last night she accepted President Monson after we basically just said, "Joseph Smith was a prophet, and today we have a living prophet named Thomas S. Monson.  Do you believe that?"  "Yep!" And she has such strong desires to share the gospel.  Her whole family will follow her soon, I'm sure.

And N came to church again, and said that if her mom gives her permission to get baptized she will totally get baptized.  And Ml (J's wife) said that the only thing keeping her from getting baptized is she's still holding grudges against various family members and she's trying to forgive.  She's so close!  She used to have so many doubts, but this is the last obstacle.  I'm so excited for this transfer!

President Gelwix asked us to give each other blessings before transfers.  Oh yeah, good news!  I'm staying in Merced again, with Elder Moody!  Woohoo!  Elder Pugh is heading to Winton, which is still in our zone.  We gave each other blessings last night and it was such a wonderful experience.  I know that there is power in the Priesthood.

A thought from a lesson we had with Nancy last week.  We were going to teach the Word of Wisdom and we started by asking, "Why does God give us commandments?"  Her answer was simple and profound and exactly right.  "To follow them.  To become more like Him.  I mean, if He wants us to become like Him, He has to give us instructions right?"  She's exactly right!  All the commandments are are instructions to become like Heavenly Father! It's so simple!  The commandments aren't a fence along the pathway.  They ARE the pathway!  We can step off the path anytime we want, but the path (the commandments) is the only way to get back home.

I love you all so much!  I love being a missionary.  I want you all to know that I know that THE ATONEMENT IS REAL!  Don't ever doubt that.  We can  change, we can become like God, and He will always be there to help us.

I love you!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 12/9/13

Hello again.  First off, we had zone conference with Elder Porter on Saturday.  It was short, about 2 1/2 hours, but it was good.  He talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end).  I learned that I need to be humble and full of love if I am to assist in this work.

This Wednesday we have a Christmas conference in Fresno with almost the whole mission.  3 of the 11 zones are having it on Thursday because it's kind of far for them to come all the way to Fresno.

It should be good.  It's been getting cold.  I hear it's a cold winter everywhere.  It's been 26 degrees when we run in the mornings.  I feel really bad for the elders on their bikes.  We're lucky to have the car.  And chances are I'm going to get transferred next week (transfer calls come Saturday) and who knows if I'll get a car.  Brrr!

M (J's wife) and her friend S came to church (again) on Sunday!  They're progressing!  And M let J pay his tithing this month!!!!  I was so happy to see him filling out a tithing slip on Sunday!  Her faith is growing, and I'm sure she'll be baptized soon.  S will probably follow her.  

I can't remember which investigators I've talked about.  N, a sophmore on the high school basketball team, was one of the investigators who came last week with a less-active member who also plays basketball.  She loved church, and was going to come again this week (despite saying that she was only going to come once) but I guess she had some family problems and her mom wanted her to stay home.  However, she committed herself to coming this week.  And the last time we met with her, we showed her mormon.org and she let slip, "So all these peoples are members of our church?"  It's always a good sign when investigators start thinking subconsciously that this is their church.  

This is the Lord's work,and he knows what He is doing (see 2 Nephi 27:20).  We can only assist in His work if we are humble and full of love (see D&C 12:8).  How privileged we are to have this opportunity to assist in this great work!  God is so patient and full of love.  He knows all things, He sees the end from the beginning, and He has a perfect plan for His imperfect children.  I'm slowly seeing that more and more.    

I love you all!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 12/2/13 December Already!

What a long week!  I'm not even sure why.  It just feels like Thanksgiving was weeks ago.  At about 6:30am that morning, we played football up in Atwater for a couple hours (approved by the mission president of course).  It was so much fun!  But we are all super sore the next few days.  Apparently 20 minutes of running each morning just doesn't cut it.  After that we had a zone meeting and then a regular proselyting day.  The only problem is they didn't tell us it would be a regular proselyting day until late the night before, so we didn't have any plans.  We didn't get much done, but we ate a ton of food.  First we ate with J, then we had some pie at the Ps' and then we ate with a less active member named T.  We were so full!

We had two investigators at church as well as a less-active member and her non-member boyfriend. It was so great to see them there! We put a lot of effort into getting them to church. Fast and Testimony meeting went over 20 minutes which was kind of frustrating, but I don't think our investigators minded too much. We have some good potential for baptisms this month, and the members are starting to help us find investigators. We didn't make any of them new investigators this week, but there are a few potentials that members have directed us to that could become investigators this week.

We have zone conference with Elder Bruce D. Porter this week and then we have Christmas Conference next week, and then after that is transfers, and then after that is Christmas.  This month is going to fly by!  

I read today in President Eyering's talk from the Sunday morning session of Conference a quote by President George Q. Cannon: “There is not one of us but what God’s love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save, and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are the children of God, and that He has actually given His angels—invisible beings of power and might—charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping.”

Then President Eyering said, "What President Cannon taught is true. You will need that assurance, as I have needed it and depended on it.

What a promise!  I love you all!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/25/13 Thanksgiving!

This is one of those weeks where I don't really remember what happened.  BUT we did teach seven lessons with a member present and found eight new investigators, which are both records since I've been in this area.  We also had a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and we're planning on about 40 people coming.  At 6:00, when it was supposed to start (which meant it wasn't really supposed to start until 6:30), there were about 40 people there, NONE of which were active members.  We ended up with about 80 people coming.  Sadly, hardly any of them came to church the next day, but it was still awesome to get so many less-actives and investigators out to the church.  We barely had enough food!

Well, that's about all I have to report for this week.  Sorry it's not much.  Elder Moody almost got transferred mid-transfer, but the assistants texted us yesterday morning saying they no longer needed him to move.  Yay!  It helped both of us realize how much we appreciate each other.  He was going to have to go be with a disobedient missionary and he was not looking forward to it.  He is SO thankful to still be in Merced right now.  I am too!  He's so great!  So is Elder Pugh.  President says that Elder Pugh doesn't have an insincere bone in his body and that he should be called Elder Nathaniel (if you don't get that, look it up in the new testament).  I have such great companions!  I can't believe we're already half-way through the transfer.  I hope it doesn't keep going by so quick.  

I love you all!  Remember that conversion is a process and it takes consistent application of gospel principles.  We'll get there as long as we just keep going.  

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/18/13 Rise Up!

Too many e-mails, not enough time to read them all and respond!  

I'm not sure what to write about this week.  No one is really progressing, though S came to church and his mom, M still said that she wants her family to join the church even if it's only a couple at a time.  She's for sure getting baptized, but it looks like it might not be until December.  She's still working on getting work off on Sundays.

Yesterday there were two baptisms at our building, one of which was for the other elders in our branch.  That's three baptisms in three months for this little branch, a lot more than they've had in a long, long time.  I also got to see a man named J get baptized in the singles' ward.  J contacted Elder Neave and I in Walmart a couple weeks ago.  He asked if we were latter-day saints.  We said yes, and gave him the address of the church and our number.  He called a couple days later and asked if he could meet with us.  We gave him the zone leaders' numbers and he then took them out to Ihop.  Apparently, he worked with some returned missionaries on a fishing boat in Alaska.  He mocked their values at the time, but when he got back he was affected by their good examples.  He said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to lead him to the missionaries if that was the way He wanted him to go.  Shortly after, he saw us at Walmart!  I'm sure those members have no idea the effect they had on Joe.  So always be an example of the believers!

Today, I was reading President Uchtdorf's talk from the Priesthood session. "You can do it now!" His promise at the end touched me the first time I heard it and again as I read it today. "I give you this promise, in the name of the Lord: rise up and follow in the footsteps of our Redeemer and Savior, and one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the Atonement and its power to lift you up and give you strength." Trust in the power of the Atonement. Let it lift you up. In that talk, he also talked about not getting got up in our daily success and failures but to focus on higher goals. We need to keep an eternal perspective. 

As I continued my studies I came across D&C 43:33: "And the wicked shall go away into unquenchable fire, and their end no man knoweth on earth, nor ever shall know, until they come before me in judgment." As I read that, I understood that the reason that no man knows their end is because no one can comprehend or imagine the pain, heartache, despair, and regret that one would feel knowing that there are no more chances, that they are cast off forever. Suddenly, I felt like Ammon. "Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal despair? Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought." And I began to understand him and his brothers who "could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them."

How blessed we are to know that all is not lost! Jesus Christ suffered for us so that we would not have to suffer an endless torment of regret. I can hardly imagine being in that position and I imagining anyone of my brothers or sisters feeling the same makes me begin to feel like the sons of Mosiah. With that thought, it doesn't seem to matter how many people come to church or listen to our message or who are baptized. As long as someone does, anyone! We want to help as many as we can, but even one is a great victory. Contemplating eternal misery vs. eternal happiness is what I think God means when he talks about letting "the solemnities of eternity rest upon [our] minds."

I am so grateful for the privilege I have to be a missionary and even just to be a member of this church. Heavenly Father is so loving and merciful. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for His patience and everything He gives me. I can never repay Him, but I will do what I can.   

I love you all so much!  Keep pushing on!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/11/13 One Year??

One year ago today, I gave my farewell talk.  Crazy huh?  Time flies when  you're having fun!  

Today's e-mail probably won't be as great.  As you may see, it is later than usual.  This was because we were required to get flu shots and we kept putting it off and today Sister Gelwix texted everyone in the morning asking them to report to her when they got their flu shots today.  So, we went and got those, but then everyone in our zone was e-mailing later than usual.  So, here we go.

We had stake conference this weekend.  I got to translate a few talks and it was super fun!  I got a lot of compliments on how well I did.  It was a huge confidence booster.  I love being able to speak Spanish!  Sadly, none of our investigators came.  That's four weeks in a row that we have had ZERO investigators at church!  J came though, and he loved it. (He's the one who got baptized in September).  He's so solid.  All he does all day every day is study the scriptures, Gospel Principles, and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. However, he (or rather his wife) is still struggling with being able to pay tithing.

So I have a favor to ask everyone:

If you have any stories, whether personal, from church magazines, or from people you know, about someone who paid tithing even though they were struggling financially and really saw no way they could meet all their expenses if they paid tithing too, please send them to me.  That would be so, so great!  I think it would really help build his wife's faith if she saw that people today in similar circumstances have showed their faith and were blessed for it.  

You can either e-mail me or send me a letter at:

Elder Ryan Lofthouse

1814 N Echo Ave

Fresno, CA 93704

It would be much appreciated!

I love you all so much!  I'll send a better e-mail next week! (Maybe)

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/4/13 Transfers!

First, I just want to say how happy and proud I am of the Salem Hills marching band.   State champs!!  My little brothers are the best!  That made my week!

Not too much to report on this week.  On Halloween night we went to Elder and Sister Packs with some other missionaries.  That was fun.  Elder Benson said that someone saw him and Elder Taufa and pointed and laughed.  Apparently they thought they were dressed in their Halloween costumes.  Interestingly enough, a pair of "mormon missionaries" won the costume contest at one of the high schools here.  And they were wearing shoulder bags!  I can't believe they caught on so fast.  That policy just barely changed a month or so ago.

Transfer calls came Saturday.  Elder Moody and I are both staying, but we're getting a new companion, Elder Pugh (pronounced "Pew").  He's Elder Taufa's MTC companion, so he just finished getting trained.  We have no idea why he's getting put in a trio with us.  Usually it's the visa-waiters that get put in trios.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  We don't have very much room in our apartment as is.   It should be fun though!

Somehow, we once again didn't have ANY investigators at church.  Three weeks in a row!  And we were focusing on that all week long.  We had several who were for sure coming and then didn't show up!  It's kind of frustrating.  I feel like Sister Boyles on "The District."  "Just come to church!  It's irritating!"  Ah well, we'll keep trying to get them there.

 I love you all!  I hope you have a great week!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/28/13 On to November!

This has been a really great week for us.  We've had some rough moments where nothing is happening and we're not sure where to go, but as we have done our best to be diligent and keep working our best, good things have happened.  We were able to set six baptismal dates this week, all for November.  One thing that we have really been struggling with though is getting investigators to church.  For the second week in a row we had zero investigators attend.  We've prayed and discussed this and we believe the key to changing this is going to be working with members.  We plan on setting up church tours with some of our baptismal dates and having a member family invite them into their home for a lesson.  I'm certain that this will help increase our sacrament meeting attendance.

Three of those dates are for Nov 17 with M and two of her kids, J and S (17 and 20 respectively).  They're the ones I wrote about last week.  Maria usually works Sundays at a flea market in Madera.  Yesterday, her car wasn't working, so they were going to go to church.  But they needed a ride.  So they tried to call us, but for some reason couldn't get a hold of us.  Super sad!  They're for sure coming next week though.  S really wants to be baptized and it sounds like Maria is just going to stop going to the flea market on Sunday so she can go to church.  I'm really excited for them!    

I was studying about patience the other day and it turned into a study of diligence.  I've never really thought about how closely linked those two attributes are.  It seems to me that there are two types of patience:  Patient diligence and patient endurance.  Patient diligence has to do with consistently working on things that are in our control and patient endurance has to do with being long-suffering with the things we can't control.  Diligence also has to do a lot with hope.  We are much more likely to consistently work at something when we have a sure hope that the end result will be worth it.  As we work hard but consistently we can patiently hope for the Lord's promises to be fulfilled.  I feel that that attitude and that diligence has been key to the success we have begun to find in the last couple of weeks.

I'm excited for November.  We didn't baptize in October, the first month I haven't baptized since I got to the mission field.  Part of that was how I'd let discouragement weaken my faith like Preach My Gospel warns you not to do on page 10.  You just don't baptize in Merced!  That's how it's always been.  Well, that's not how it's always going to be.  My faith has been increasing as we have started inviting more and more people to be baptized right from the start.  There are prepared people even in Merced!  We've been finding more and more investigators and teaching more and more lessons.  I really, really hope that when transfer calls come on Saturday we'll find out that Elder Moody and I are staying.  I would also love to keep Elder Benson as a district leader.  We have plans for this branch!

I love you all so much!  I know this church is true and I know that as we patiently endure our trials and patiently work to overcome our weaknesses, we will see miracles and blessings.  Don't ever lose hope!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/21/13

This week felt super long.  We had Specialized Training on Wednesday which was really great.  W talked about following spiritual promptings, dealing with stress and adjusting to missionary life, applying the Atonement in our lives, controlling our thoughts, and knowing when we've been forgiven of our sins.  It was a really great conference!

Only really great experience I had was on Friday. We were on exchanges Thursday, and as I was planning for Friday I was considering when would be the best time to see an investigator named M and her daughter, J. I thought about 4pm, but something told me I should plan them at 7. When I got back with my companion, we reviewed the days plans, he said they sounded good and we went to work. When we went to M's at 7, they were waiting for us with their copies of the Book of Mormon. Turns out, when our appointment for them fell through on Wednesday, my companion had rescheduled for Friday at 7 and had forgotten to tell me. But the Spirit told me!

Then, about 15 minutes into the lesson, a member knocked on the door. He was the one who had referred us to M. We had not been expecting him, but he was a great help in the lesson. When we told them about the First Vision, the Spirit filled the room and both Maria and her daughter said they felt something in their chest, a warm, peaceful feeling. We testified that that was the Spirit of God and invited them to be baptized. They are progressing very well.

This work is hard, but if you focus on the positive and you express gratitude for all the blessings you receive, you realize how wonderful it is.  

I hope you all have a great week!  I love you!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/14/13 11 Months Already?

Today is exactly 11 months since I entered the MTC.  How crazy is that?  I still feel like a such a new missionary sometimes! 

This was a pretty good week.  We found 6 new investigators and taught 21 lessons, finally passing the 20 mark that's supposed to be the minimum for each week.  And our goals for this week feel so inspired!  We're pretty excited.  We also have Specialized Training on Wednesday and it's going to be great.  I have the feeling that things are going to really start rolling here in Merced if we'll just step it up and keep moving forward.

Earlier this week, we talked briefly to a man named J who said that he first met Mormon missionaries many years ago in Alabama.  He said we could stop by on Saturday.  So we knocked on his door and a woman named F answered.  She said J was out of town and probably wouldn't be back until next week.  We asked if we could say a prayer with her and she said yes.  The Spirit was strong as we prayed and she thanked us for coming.  I asked if their was anything we could do for her.  After hesitating a bit, she confided to us that her husband had gotten deported the day before.  We read a scripture in Alma 7 about the atonement with her and taught her how to pray and invited her to say a prayer.  She did, and she invited us to come back the next day.  She has a beautiful family of 6 kids, and I know that it was not coincidence that we were led to them during this difficult trial.

I've been thinking a lot about humility lately.  I never used to get it.  To avoid become proud and arrogant I would always beat myself up, emphasizing my faults and minimizing my strengths.  Anytime that I would start feeling confident and good about myself, it always seemed to slip into arrogance and conceit.  So I thought it was better to just be down on myself.  However, I recognized that that wasn't really humility either.  I just couldn't figure out why exactly.  

I had my "Aha!" moment a few months ago when I read about humility in True to the Faith.  It says, "To be humble is to recognize gratefully your dependence on the Lord."  That is the key!  Gratitude!  It is not enough to see ourselves in our fallen state.   If we recognize our dependence on the Lord, but resent it, we are proud.  If we see the many blessings our Heavenly Father gives us but then say that we aren't deserving, we aren't worthy, then we are resenting those blessings, and we are showing pride, not humility.  

So how do we develop humility?  Expressing gratitude!  As I have made more effort to express gratitude for my blessings, as I have tried to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life and then tell Him how thankful I am for it, I have not only come to realize that I cannot do this work without His help, I have also come to realize that with His help, I CAN do it!  For in His strength, I can do all things.

I love you all so much!  

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/7/13 I Love Conference!

That was a great General Conference!  I loved Elder Scott's talk (I'd never thought about the fathers of the stripling warriors before), Elder Uchtdorf's talk from the Priesthood session, President Maynes' talk, and several others too.  There seemed to be quite a few talks about enduring to the end and persevering so that we have no regrets at the end of this life.  "You will be eternally grateful that you made the choice to rise up," said President Uchtdorf, or something like that.  That is so true!  We can either push forward and do uncomfortable things now, and then experience eternal joy and gratitude that we did, or we can give up now, stay down, and regret it forever and ever.

We've been struggling to find new investigators and to set baptismal dates.  We've also noticed that there has been a lack of the Spirit in the work.  We can't do anything without the Spirit!  We have some potential for baptism here.  An investigator just moved here who already had a baptismal date for the 19th and we're going to meet with her tonight.  V seems to want to be baptized but has some deeper concern we haven't addressed yet.  We think it has to do with his catholic family.  M, J's wife is reading every day, she came to the last session of conference, but she wants to read the Book of Mormon three times before she gets baptized.  What each of these people need is a witness from the Spirit, and honestly, we have not been doing a good job of inviting the Spirit into our lessons.  We've gotten lazy and uncaring and have not been using our time wisely.  So I'm fasting today, to humble myself and to know what specific things I need to change so the Spirit can be my companion in this work.

All of us need the Atonement of the Savior in our lives.  No matter how good we are or how far we've come, we aren't good enough and we haven't come far enough to have no need for repentance.  Also, I just heard this from Pres. Uchtdorf as I'm listening to his talk. "One of the adversary's methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire."  What do we really want?  Do we want to be Christlike, have the Spirit with us always, and inherit eternal glory?  Or do we want to express our frustrations, indulge in the natural man, and accept temporary comfort over eternal peace?  An eternal perspective is the only way to progress in this life.  We must remember WHY we are here and WHO we are.  What is the most important?  What is essential?  And while we will fall short and lose focus, we must keep going, rise up, and not quit until the very end.  

I love this gospel, because as many times as we fall, we can get back up.  The Atonement is real, and everyone needs it.  Through that Atonement we can become better, we CAN change, we CAN correct our course and one day we WILL attain perfection.  It is only possible through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, but it IS possible.  Never give up!  No regrets!

I love all of you so much!  We are so blessed!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

 

Here's the quote:

"I give you this promise in the name of the Lord:  Rise up, and follow in the footsteps of our Redeemer and Savior, and one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the atonement and its power to lift you up and give you strength ... no matter how many times you have slipped and fallen, rise up.  Your destiny is a glorious one."  - President Uchtdorf