Most recent email!

Hello Family and Friends!!!!!

How is everyone doing? I'm doing just fine down here in the beautiful Tucson, Arizona!!!! The weather here has been a little weird lately. It has been very rainy. They said before that this winter would be a dry one but for the last couple of days it has been nothing but drizzles. But it feels like home so I won't complain. This week has been super super super slow. With people going out of town so we don't have many people to see. Also, it has been a hard week because we went from 8 investigators to about 3. Its because they decided they weren't interested or their family doesn't agree and things like that. It was so hard. When we got a call from our new investigator and she told us her and her daughter were no longer interested...I just broke down in tears. I didn't know what to do for them to help them. I wanted to just say please give it another chance or something like that but nope... they just said no we don't want to continue the lessons. My heart just broke...so we went to our Ward Mission Leader and he helped me out a little bit. I think that this the worst thing for me, is when people drop us or don't want to hear from us...it just breaks my heart because they don't know what they are missing in their lives. Oh well.

Everything else has been going really good. I'm loving this area and the people. Our ward is kinda small but thats ok. I love it. I'm so excited for this Christmas. It never really hit me how important it really is. It really is so much about our Savior. I love that so much. How wonderful it is to think that there is a Savior. Someone we can fully rely on. I love Him so much and everyday I thank Him for what He did for us. I know that He loves us all every single one of us and he knows us by name. I am so eternally grateful for Him and the knowledge I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is everyone doing for this Christmas? Anyone who wants to write me by snail mail you can... I love to get letters! 

939 Chapala Drive Tucson, Arizona 

My scripture...It is 3 Nephi 1:13-14...it says
" Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the ^asign be given, and on the ^bmorrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be ^cspoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

 14 Behold, I ^acome unto my own, to ^bfulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the ^cfoundation of the world, and to do the ^dwill, ^eboth ^fof the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given."

This is what its all about. I love my savior so much. I'm so thankful for him. I love you all and hope everything is going great on your end. God loves you all so much and i know that.

Remember "The Church is True, the book is blue, and Moroni is always on the ball!!!!"

Please look at the  attached photo Ryan sent to us. We have laughed so much wondering what was he thinking? Oh, well the statement on the back of the card was "Elders doing what we do best!"  We are still trying to figure out the if he really did get a bit of snow or a white roof. The towel under neath them is great!  This is his "MORF" suit he got the year before for Halloween. Hopefully that means working hard more and still having fun! We hope you all have a great holiday season!

Hey Everyone!!!

I got a personal email from Ryan saying to stay up on the blog! hahahah Sorry its taken 2 months to get caught up. I have made myself a note to update the blog every week. I also told Ryan to send more pictures so hopefully he will soon!!! :)

Please remember to write Ryan and send him goodies in the mail.

Email - ryan.mortimer@myldsmail.net

Here are some pics from Ryan!

September 25, 2011

September 25, 2011
Lakeside Ward/Tucson Arizona

HEY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!

 

How are all of you doing? I sure do miss you all!!! How is the weather where ever you are? Here it has been really nice lately. I really like it because at night it cools down to about 75 or 80 and it feels so good. I just love that. Everything here is just dandy. Loving my companion and serving him in all ways. Also so everyone knows...I am keeping my hands on the handle bars while riding my bike, so no worries there. I am just enjoying this work soooo much. It is the best thing that I have ever done in my life yet it is the hardest for sure that I have ever done.

 

So my scripture this week is Proverbs 3:5-6. This scripture really hit me hard this week. I really am having to learn how to trust in him and let him do what he wants done on his time. None of this work is up to me, it is up to him and how he wants it done. We are just his mouth pieces. But...when we are obedient we can qualify for the spirit and be the best mouth piece that we can be. So that is why it is so important to be obedient. I believe that is what Heavenly Father wanted me to learn this transfer. BE OBEDIENT and the Lord will take care of the rest for you. I know that to be true. I have seen it already so much this transfer.

 

Elder Robison and I watched a video called "17 Miracles." It was AMAZING!!! It was all about the miracles of the Willy Martin Handcart Company. I have never heard of those stories and what happened to them except that they got stranded and needed help. When I watched it my heart went out to those people. I think to myself look what they went through and I complain that i am a little to hot. They were literally freezing to death and i can go into a store with air conditioning. It really brought a lot of things to perspective and how i can do better. I cried so hard in that movie it amazing you all need to watch it.

 

So an amazing experience I had. The gift of tongues really works for missionaries. Some of you might be wondering what that is...it is the power that god can give people to speak in a language they do not know for the benefit of others not yourself. So i had an experience with this. On Thurs I went on exchanges with the American Sign Language missionaries and went to teach with Elder Karlson. It was a day of a lot of driving and doing those kind of things. But at night we went to awomen's house and we talked to her. After Elder Karlson was talking to her she looked right at me and said something. All of a sudden I was signing and I didn't know what was going on. It just flowed so naturally. Afterward I found out what she asked and what I said. She asked what does this church mean to you, and I responded I know this church is true, I know Joesph Smith was a prophet and I know the Book of Mormon istrue. WOW. When I was signing all I could do was cry. I couldn't control my emotions. It was amazing. In the car, he looked at me I looked at him and we just smiled at each other said well I guess it works and went on with our day. In my heart I said a prayer of thanks because we both knew that a miracle just happened right in front of us. IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL.

 

Well its been a great week and I love this work. I hope all of you are doing wonderful and I miss you all dearly.

 

I love you all!

 

Love,

 

Elder Ryan D. Mortimer

September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011

Lakeside Ward/Tucson, Arizona Mission

 

Hey there!!!!!!!-

How is everything going where ever you are? Things in Tucson are wonderful and I am in love with it here. It is a little scary though because my body is becoming accustomed to the heat. I was sitting in our apartment and it was about 70 or 75 degrees inside. I WAS SHIVERING AND I WAS SOOOO COLD. I HAD SWEATPANTS AND A SWEATSHIRT ON!!!!!!! That's not good hahahahahahaha. Oh well I guess I'm just getting used to the weather out here.

So...I've decided to email a scripture every week about how it describes my week. I will be doing this for the rest of my mission. The first scripture I want to share is in the book of Alma which is in the Book of Mormon. If you do not have a copy of the Book of Mormon... You can get your own copy by requesting one online at mormon.org and you will have one delivered to you. The Book of Mormon is a volume of Holy Scripture comparable to the Bible, but it takes place in the Americas during the same time period. Read Alma 26:26-27. This scripture has meant a lot to me. WE as missionaries need to go out every single day with "an eye single to the glory of God" and go talk to every single person so that every one has an opportunity to hear about the gospel. Do you know what gospel means in Hebrew? It means Good News. So WE bring the Good News (gospel) of Jesus Christ. If you really think about it, this gospel is amazing news. We know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and we know that we have a Savior who knows us and what we are going through every single day. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have. That is why I am here on my mission away from my family. To spread this knowledge and Good News about Jesus Christ and His Gospel. This has brought me such happiness; sure I miss my family, but there is no other place or thing that I would rather be doing than spreading this Gospel to all the world.

So onto our investigators...they are all doing really well. We set a baptism date with Anthony the 12 yr old, for Oct 7. Hopefully that date holds up and we are able to baptize him. We pretty much told his mom (who is less active and smokes) that we will not baptize her son unless she shows her willingness to start coming to church and showing a commitment to live the gospel standards. We believe that she got the point. The reason for that is we do not want to baptize him to an inactive member right away. He needs a good support system, actually a huge one. But like it says in the scriptures "through God ALL things are possible." That is so true.

Another family we are teaching, well kinda teaching, we are just trying to get in the home and have a sit down lesson. We had a set appointment with themlast Sunday but they were not there so that was a bummer but its ok we will see them again. Kevin and Vivi are doing really good. Kevin knows so much about the Bible. It is amazing how much knowledge he has already. But the problem with him is that he is just going with an intellectual standpoint and wants to learn that way. Not spiritually so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know how I can help this man grow in the knowledge of the Lord. 

Oh okay, so I found out something interesting. There is a Sister King in the area, AKA Hermana KIng, she is a spanish speaking missionary and her brother married a McAdams girl. Her sister in-law's parents are guess who... the KILBYS!!!!! They live in the Elkhorn Ward. It's such a small world here let me tell you.

No cool stories to share... just doing the work one day at a time. I am keeping both hands on the handle bars I PROMISE. hahahahah. I've learned my lesson for sure. It is so nice to be back on my bike. It sure makes you more tired but I feel like a better missionary when I'm on my bike. I think its funny when people have to shout things at us. We usually just smile, wave, and say God Bless You.

I love this work, I love this gospel, and I love my Savior. Thank you for all the support you have given me over the past 4 months. I can't even believe its been that long. 4 down 20 to go. I love you all and miss you dearly. You are all in my prayers and I think of you daily. God Bless you in all that you do and be safe.

Love,

Elder Ryan D. Mortimer

September 12, 2011

September 12, 2011

Lakeside Ward/Tucson, Arizona

Hey everyone!!!

So another week down and a lot more to go :). This week was a lot of fun. I loved it. We taught a few more lessons and had some really good contacts with a lot of cool people. Some people are a little more interesting than others but oh well, we are called to teach everyone here no matter what thy look like or who they are. I'm so thankful for that wonderful opportunity to do that. I just love it so much.

Sorry I'm emailing you all today yesterday was so busy that we didn't have a chance to email. But I'm here now. Thanks for all of your support and love so far on my mission. It really means a lot to me and there is no way that I can repay you for all that you have given me thus far on my mission. I am so thankful that everyday I can call you my family.

So a neat experience for ya. Yesterday and this morning I was having a rough time. Just thoughts of mine and feeling that I was failing as a missionary because some of our recent converts are not doing what they should be doing so its a little hard for me. So in the middle of personal study I decided to go and pray. I went into our room and shut the door so I could be alone and I just knelt down and begged heavenly father to help me. I had the same experience I had when I was 16 in Michigan. I knew that Heavenly Father was there and that he was watching over me. So I kept kneeling there and pondering many things. Thoughts and impressions came to my mind that never had before. So after that I went back to reading the scriptures and the very next verse i read was 2 Nephi 2:27. WOW. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I have read that many times before but never did it hit me like it did this morning. I have to realize that people do have their agency to chose if they want to accept the gospel or reject it. Some days I wish I could just shake the people into believing this because I know what it can do for them. I love this gospel so much. It means the world to me. I know that I am who I am today because of it. I'm so thankful that I was raised on the principals of the gospel, without them I do not know where I would be. Every day I see people that can use the gospel priciples in their life but they choose not to. Its so sad. It breaks my heart every day. 

A really great experience that Elder Robison and I had. So we were coming back from the Bishop's house or a dinner appt. I don't remember which one, but we stopped at a Walgreens to look at where we wanted to go. So as we were stopped there. I was on the phone and Elder Robison was just standing there. Then out of no where two girls come up to us and said are you mormon missionaries? I said yes we are and we started to talk. They said we used to be Mormon. I said ooohhhh reeealllllyyyyyy. Then they went inside to go get something and we stayed outside and I told Elder Robison that we need to find out who they are. So when they came back we started to talk to them again. I found out it was a less active family that Elder Stapley and I have been trying to see for the past 2 months. Yesterday we met up and we talked and they promised us that they would read the Book of Mormon again and pray about it. The reason they gave why they stopped coming to church was they really didn't understand it and they felt they were forced to do it so they backed off. Now we are going to help reactivate them and  I'm so excited. I love this work. Also, after we met them for the first time, they said they felt like they needed to talk to us. I WONDER WHYY AHHHHHH. I love it. 

Well thats pretty much how my week has gone. I promise I have been keeping both hands on the handle bars and I am staying safe. 

I love you all so much.

Love ya,

Elder Ryan D. Mortimer

September 6, 2011

September 6, 2011

Lakeside Ward/Tucson, Arizona

Hello All :)

How is everyone doin today? I hope all of you have chosen today to be the very best day of you life. If not...why not? You should make every day better than the last one. This is something that I have learned today. Today was a day of a lot of reflection, sorrow, pain, yet happiness. A sister missionary named Venessa Bentely was killed on her mission in Uttica, New York. She was from the Tucson area and she actually is from our Stake. Her father is the 2nd Counslor in the Stake Presidency. Our Mission President asked all of the Missionaries in the surrounding area to attend to support her family and the work that she was doing. We had over 90 missionaries in attendance. Hearing her family speak was humbling to say the least. She was 13 months into her mission and she was 5 months from coming home. You can tell that her family loved her so much. After one of her sisters spoke and her mom and dad, the stake president spoke and then an area seventy spoke. But then a member of the first quorum of the seventy spoke. His words were so amazing. You can tell that he really did have a firm knowledge of the plan of salvation and the power of the atonement in someones life. As I was reflecting about you my family, I was brought to tears when I thought about you. I want to say to you all that I love you all so much. I'm sorry if I have ever hurt someone that is reading this, or if I have every offended someone. That was not my intent. I am truly sorry for any hurt that I have caused anyone. I love all of you my friends and family so much. I am so thankful for this wonderful support that I have from every single one of you. I feel your prayers every single day, every single moment in my ministry here. So thank you from the bottom of my heart thank you for everything. I have seen the miracle or missions and what they can do for your life.

On a happier note :) Things here are going really well here. I am in love with my area and I love serving Gods children. A bummer though is we had a really good lesson with Reggie (the black guy) and we had to drop him a few days latter because he wasn't progressing forward. He just would not listen and he was very firm in saying that he had the Holy Ghost in him already. We tried to discuss with him about the proper authority and things of that nature but he just would not listen. So we had to drop him and hopefully later on some missionaries can touch him in a way that I or Elder Robison cannot. This week has also been a lot of decision making for me. I have decided on many things of how I want to be as a missionary. I also received a call from the Mission President and he said I am now the Senior Companion so I make all the decisions in our companionship. This is a very scary thought. I have only been out 3.5 months. I am very scared about this, because every single person in this area is under me. It is a huge responsibility. I am so humbled and ready to get to work. I know t with the Lord by my side all things are possible and I can't wait to get to it. Elder Robison and I have some really good ideas on finding. We decided to have a scripture study class, so hopefully that will work out good.

Have a great week!Pray!Read the scriptures!

Love,
Elder Mortimer