Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/29/13

Well, almost one week down here in the mission field.  It's been great!  Though, I have to apologize in advance, I can already tell these e-mails might not be the greatest.  I just have such a terrible memory. 

 

Well, first day here we met President Gelwix, the Assitants to the President, and the Coordination Sisters.  Then we went to the mission office, were assigned day companions and we went tracting.  I talked to quite a few people and a lot were accepting.  Then I took care of a bunch of paper work (mostly health things) and we went to the mission home for dinner.  We had a great meeting with President Gelwix and his wife afterward.  The next morning, we had some training and were assigned our trainers.  My trainer is Elder Hernandez, who was born in Mexico and grew up in the Los Angeles area.  He was baptized 3 years ago and goes home in about four months.  Working with him has been great.  I also live with two other elders, Elder Vera from Chile, and Elder Peacock from Utah.  They're all very friendly and are great missionaries.  

 

Church was in Spanish on Sunday.  We have a Spanish branch in my area.  A small one.  I want to work to help it grow.  I don't have a whole lot of stories after only six days, but once I do, I'll be sure to share.  We have six investigators with a baptismal date, but none of them are solid right now.  But the members of the branch are great, my companion is great, and I know that if I will do my best to rely on the Lord and let Him guide me, miracles will happen.  I have every intention of writing home about miracles as often as possible.   Hopefully I'll have more to write about next week.  I hope everything is going well at home!  And feel free to ask me questions.

 

I love you all!

 

-Elder Ryan Lofthouse-     

Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/23/13 (From Fresno!)

I am so, so sorry I didn't call this morning.  Too many missionaries and not enough time!  :P  I might be able to call later, but I don't know if you'll be home or not.  It might have to wait until Mother's Day. Sorry!

But I am here safe and sound!  I just spent several hours talking to people and knocking on doors.  We placed several pass-along cards and three Books of Mormon. It's amazing how much you can love complete strangers.  I am so excited to finally be here in Fresno doing the Lord's work!  It's going to be great!  I know this church is true and I so excited to be sharing the gospel with people for the next two years!  Again, I am so, so sorry I didn't get to call.  I feel so bad!  I hope you weren't worrying!  Have fun at the wedding!

I lost my address book.  Do you think you could find me Elder Kimber's and Elder Hatch's addresses?  I think I have the rest.  Thanks!

I love you so much!  Yesterday, Elder David F. Evans spoke to us about faith and miracles.  Faith really does cause miracles!  When we exercise it, wonderful things happen.  Exercise it and let it grow, because if you don't it will be replaced by doubt.  Let miracles happen!

Again, I love you!  Stay true to the faith!

-Elder Ryan Lofthouse-

Email From Elder Lofthouse 01/16/13

One more week!  First off, we're leaving here at 8am on Wednesday.  My flight leaves at 11:30 (or something like that).  So, if I were to guess, I'll be calling somewhere around 10am, but it could be anywhere between 9 and 11 probably.  I'm so excited to finally get to the field, and I'm going to try so hard this week to give everything I have to learning and progressing.  

Here are some pictures.  There's our Christmas tree, opening presents on Christmas, a picture with me and Elder Palmer who I went to Snow with (he plays trumpet), a picture of my district before Hermana Prince left, a picture of me and her, and some others. (Future missionaries:  Apparently you can make lots of money at the MTC if you have someone buy lots of SD card-readers in bulk for cheap, send them to you, and then you sell them for $4 or $5 dollars.  There is a lot of demand here! :)  That's what an Elder in my district has been doing the last week or so and that's why I'm finally sending pictures.  I got one!)

This has been quite the MTC experience for my district.  Hermana Prince left to Guatemala on Monday.  On Sunday there was a departure devotional and guess who showed up for a few minutes?  President Uchtdorf, who was doing the CES devotional down the road!  The First Presidency rarely comes to the MTC and he showed up at President Brown's door unannounced.  How crazy would that be?  But the best part is that before she and her companion, Hermana Kennard, went into the devotional, Hermana Kennard helped a lady with a German accent with the paper towels.  It was President Uchtdorf's wife!  So we've had Elder Holland, Elder Nelson, and President Uchtdorf here while we've been here.  

But it gets better.

Last night, for our Tuesday Night Devotional guess who came?  There was President David F. Evans, Bishop Cousseau (spelling?) and many others from the missionary executive council including Elder Holland again!!!  I don't think I've ever seen so many general authorities together besides at conference.  Elder Holland spoke to us.  He talked to us about how there has never been a more exciting time to be a missionary.  "I don't know what you did in the premortal life to work your way up in the cue to be able to serve in 2013, but congratulations!"  Elder Holland feels so strongly about missionary work and he has gone around the world testifying that no one could ever be more affected by a mission than he was.  He also always talks about his theory that every prophet and missionary from ancient days who knew that their dispensation would eventually end in apostasy were able to keep going because God showed them our day and they knew that finally it would work.  Finally we would win.  Finally the gospel would never again be taken from the earth and the Savior would come in glory to inherit his kingdom on this earth.  We will not fail!  This gospel is going to roll forth to fill the earth and it is just starting to pick up steam.  So the future of the church rests on our shoulders.  Who in this world would entrust the future of their organization to 18,19, 0r 20 year-olds?  Yet God has done just that in His infinite wisdom.  And we, the youth of the church, need to be better than Elder Holland was, better even than Nephi, Alma, Helaman, and Ammon.   We need to be mature, spiritual, strong, and bold.  We must be converted!  Elder Holland cannot live with an inactive returned missionary.  If anyone was supposed to get it, if anyone during a mission was supposed to be converted, it's the missionary!  You don't want to return from a mission "to real life" go inactive, "get a tattoo, braid your hair or whatever" and then meet Elder Holland in a dark Alley. :)  This is the Lord's work, and we are to do it His way, and if we do, our missions will change us.  "This IS real life!!  capital R, capital L.  You don't take a break from life for two years to serve a mission and then return to 'real life!!'"  So, if you've returned from a mission and you aren't studying your scriptures, praying, and fasting like you did on a mission you need to take a  look at where your at and figure out who's work you are supposed to be about.  As a missionary, I need to teach with power and authority, but so does every parent, Sunday school teacher, and church leader.  And we can't teach with power and authority if we don't have the Spirit, and we can't have the Spirit if we're not being obedient.  If we strive to be obedient and invite the Spirit into our lives and become more converted each day, we will be succeeding.  It is a simple formula.

And then Elder Holland offered a dedicatory prayer for three completely renovated buildings on this campus.  And it was unlike any prayer I've ever heard.  It's almost unrepeatable, much like the prayers the Savior offered among the Nephites.  But I do want to mention that in his prayer he asked Heavenly Father to protect the doors and windows of the MTC with angels, so that, in light of recent events, no weapon or bomb would ever enter here, no act of violence or vandalism would ever be commited, EVER!  I started crying at that point.  There ARE angels here and they aren't mortal.  Very real, very Heavenly beings watch over the MTC and every missionary throughout the world.  We are not alone.  We are not unprotected.  Yet, as Elder Holland prayed, cement and steel, and even angels will do us little good if we are not faithful and converted.  And he asked Heavenly Father to help us be as stalwart as the buildings here.  The Spirit was incredibly strong.  I have never seen so clearly in my life.  I have never felt so affected by a prayer.  Elder Holland is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and he has very real power and authority.  This is God's church on the earth.  The Second Coming has already begun.  When it will end, we dont' know, but we CAN now that it is happening.  The gospel is going forth.  God leads this church.  We will not fail!  

I am so thankful for all of your support, your testimonies, and your help.  I am so humbled to have been called to be a missionary, a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Youth of the church, Rusty, Sam, Finlay, NOW is the time to prepare!  Now is the time to start being converted.  Study the scriptures every day, with purpose.  Pray sincerely and mightily.  Read the words of the living prophets.  Watch Mormon messages.  Go to Seminary.  Go to Young Men's.  Go to church.  Be good, say good, do good.  This is the Lord's work and it is what life is all about!

I love you all so much and may we all still be brothers and sisters in the Lord when we are again re-united!

-Elder Ryan Lofthouse-

Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/9/13

Hello from the MTC!  Two weeks from today I will departing to the California Fresno Mission!  Woohoo!!
I'm definitely feeling better and I hope all of you are too.  Whatever was going around here was a 24 hour thing.  Lots of missionaries got sick, but everyone's fine now.
Guess who I saw the day after I sent my last e-mail?  Katie Davenport!!  (Or Devenport... I can't remember...)  She's one of the first of the 19-year-olds!  So cool!

They've been re-arranging things here at the MTC.  We lost our two teachers and got two new ones. Luckily, Hermano Clark and Hermana Arbon are still in our zone, so we still see them every day.  Our new teachers are Hermano Boyack and Hermano Lucas.  I really like Hermano Boyack.  These should be a good last two weeks.

I should be getting my travel plans tomorrow, so I'll be sure to let you know when I'll be calling.  I'm so excited to get out into the field!  I'm going to buckle down and work extra hard so these next two weeks pass quickly.

I'm not sure what else to write about.  So much happens and I learn so much and I can't possibly write all of it, and at the same time I can't think of anything to write...  Oh, before I forget, if it's not too much trouble, could you send me my orange duffel bag?  I'd like to have a larger bag than my backpack as a carry-on.  If not, I can probably find something at the bookstore.

I've only been here 8 weeks, but a mission is a wonderful thing.  Elder Holland says that the mission isn't two years away from real life.  "This is as real as life is ever going to get!"  The mission is training for the rest of my life.  One of the Seventy, Elder Faleballa from Guatemala (side note: I asked Hermana Prince how to spell Guatemala because that's where she's going (she leaves on Monday :P )  and so now she and her companion want me to mention her.  They're awesome.  I have the best district ever!)  spoke at the devotional yesterday.  He said that missionaries who come home and stop doing missionary habits, such as daily scripture study, did those things out of obligation and didn't make it a pattern of living.  I want this mission to change me.  Elder Holland claims that no one can be more effected by a mission than he was.  I want it to have that effect on me.  I know that I can be closer to the Lord than I've ever been before and that I can develop habits that will bless the rest of my life.  He also talked about setting goals.  If we don't set daily, weekly, short term, and long term goals, we will get to the end of our lives and realize we didn't reach our full potential.  Set goals!  Make them specific and attainable, but let them stretch you!  Goals give focus to our energies and help us accomplish things we couldn't do otherwise.  

I'm sorry my e-mail was less than stellar this week.  I'll do better next week, okay?  :)

Hope everything is going great back home!  Trust in the Lord and seek to become more converted each and every day!  

I love you!

-Elder Ryan Lofthouse-

Email from Elder Lofthouse 1/2/13

Happy New Year!  To celebrate here at the MTC, we all got sick!!  New Years Eve, everyone was fine, and then the next morning I think somewhere around a quarter of the MTC was throwing up.  I was feeling alright until last night, and right now I'm not feeling so good.  I hope I'm not infecting everybody here in the laundry room.

There are several things I could share with you this week, but I have one that I'd like to share that might take up my 30 minutes.  On Monday, Elder Montgomery and I were teaching Victor, one of our investigators.  Victor is supposed to be getting baptized on Saturday.  The only problem was we hadn't taught him any of Lesson 2 (The Plan of Salvation) and hardly any of Lesson 4 (The Commandments).  So we decided we'd do what they call a "shotgun" lesson, which isn't the best way, but we don't want to push his baptism back on our account.  Before our lesson we said a prayer, telling God that Victor was planning on getting baptized Saturday, and asked for His help in preparing him.  We were teaching fairly well, very balanced (which has been a challenge for us) and we were covering a lot in a short amount of time, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but we've usually been taking way too much time teaching just one principle.  We taught the first four principles of Lesson 2 with Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and the Law of Chastity.  So far, so good.  We then starting teaching the Word of Wisdom.  As my companion taught that coffee was prohibited by the Word of Wisdom, Victor showed surprise and concern.  "Why coffee?  Coffee's not bad, is it?"  Victor loves the Book of Mormon and has a strong testimony of it and of Joseph Smith.  So I explained that I believed a reason was that it is addicting, but that the important thing is that it was revelation from God given to Joseph Smith.  If Victor believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and he believed that God knew better than us and that He loves us and gives us commandments for our benefit, then he would want to keep the Word of Wisdom.  He said he understood and believed that, but didn't think he could stop drinking coffee before Saturday.  He'd been drinking it every morning since he was very young.  In his words, he needed it.  My companion read I Nephi 3:7 and suggested that he drink just a little less each day until his baptism.  That was a great idea, but I knew we didn't have time.  I told him that if he couldn't stop drinking coffee this week, we'd have to change his baptismal date.  

The Spirit prompted me to say more.  "Yo creo en milagros."  I believe in miracles, I said.  "If you want to follow Christ and be baptized, and God wants you to be baptized this Saturday, then you can stop.  We will pray for you, and if there's anything else we can do for you, please let us know.  We are here to help you."  We were out of time so I asked if we could close with a prayer and if he would offer it.  I told him to ask God if he could stop drinking coffee before Saturday.  His pray was the most sincere, heartfelt prayer I have ever heard.  He said something along this lines: "Heavenly Father, I want to be baptized this Saturday with all my heart.  I cannot do this without you.  Please give me strength and help me to stop drinking coffee."  The Spirit was so strong!  I know he can do this!

Now I get to the most amazing part.  I've mentioned before that our investigators are actually our teachers.  Hermana Prince and Hermana Kennard were supposed to teach after us, but Hermano Clark (victor) asked if they could teach him the next morning instead.  He wanted me and my companion to share what we had just experienced.  He said he couldn't focus after that.  We shared our perspective and then he shared his.

He said that as an investigator, he was honestly confused.  We were throwing a lot at him.  And when we mentioned coffee, he knew he couldn't stop drinking it.  When Elder Montgomery suggested that he stop little by little the thought, "Okay, I can do that" and was about to suggest that we delay the baptism until he could stop.  And then "out of nowhere"  I said, "I believe in miracles."  He said that often it's hard to find the balance between being investigator and being our teacher.  "Which one am I right now?"  At that moment, that all fell away.  He saw the miracles the Savior performed in the New Testament.  He saw Christ walking on water and Peter asking to come out to him.  But Peter's faith faltered and he began to sink.  However, as He cried out to the Lord, Jesus reached out and pulled him up.  He said we will have moments like that when the Spirit teaches them something we just can't on our own.  He also said that he often mixes in parts of himself with his investigators.  So we were no longer teaching Victor at that point.  We were teaching Hermano Clark.  He and his wife have been having a struggle with having kids, and it's been hard.  But in that moment, He knew the power of God, and he said that was one of the most powerful experiences he's ever had. The Spirit was so strong and was clearly guiding that lesson.  I am so humbled to think that God allowed me to be a part of that, that I got to experience the Spirit teaching through me to the blessing of a very real child of God.  I have already begun to touch real lives as a missionary.  I'm so excited to get out in the field!

I am so excited for this year!  I think it just might be the greatest year we've ever had!  They're expecting 800-1000 more sister missionaries to arrive here at the MTC in January alone.  There are 2000 total missionaries here right now.  I'm going to get to see the beginning of the huge wave that is coming, but I won't have to experience the craziness that will be here during the summer.  The work IS hastening and I'm so happy to be a part of it!  I think that I have learned more here in the last 7 weeks than I have the last 19 years of my life.  I haven't necessarily learned anything knew (except Spanish) but I've come to a deeper understanding of doctrines I've already known.  I can't imagine where I'll be at in two years if I continue to learn and progress like I have here at the MTC.  

I hope everything is going great!  I really enjoyed the letters you sent last week.  They made my day. :)  My family is the best!  Read your scriptures and pray every day, seek for the Spirit, and you'll be just fine.  I love you!

-Elder Ryan Lofthouse-