Recent Letters...

Here are three of Ross's recent letters....enjoy!!


May 3, 2011


Hi Mom

Ha yeah I heard. We were at the Mission President's Fireside when the Elder next to me in the choir got a text that said, "Elders good news. The U.S. killed Osama Bin Laden and they have is body." That message got forwarded around the mission pretty quick. Then we went and ate yesterday and it was even on ESPN hahah big news I guess.

1. Stake Conference was amazing. I think that our stake president, President Mitchell, will be a General Authority soon. He is the man! He gave an awesome talk about looking up and realizing how far off the path you are and getting back to the straight and narrow. Then Elder Bennett spoke (newly called member of the 70) and after him Elder Bednar. I'll talk more about his talk later.

2. Things are looking good for Skyping on Mother's Day. I'm going over to a member's house and using their laptop so everything should be set up. I'm going to finalize the plans today with them.

3. The Service project was awesome. Me and Elder Lawter were pulling weeds and cleaning out an area and I told him that when my mom told me it was time to pull weeds that meant it was usually time for me to leave hahah but I actually liked it. It was fun to get down and dirty and work with my hands aha so when i get home, lets pull some weeds (I'll probably regret saying that when the day actually comes) hahaha

So this week was great and really busy! On Friday, we had a lesson with one of our investigators that were having been working really hard with. She is always saying that she wants to change her life and needs more help. We invited her to be baptized at the beginning of the lesson (no point of waiting till the end) and she said that she wanted to learn more and know more. We then taught her more about baptism and really relied on the spirit to guide where we needed to go. We talked about her family, we talked about her life. I told her that she didn't have to know everything to get baptized. Too many times people think that an investigator has to know a certain amount of things in order to be baptized. False. Baptism is a covenant of willingness. Nowhere in the baptismal questions does it ask about knowledge. They all ask if they are willing to follow commandments and live the gospel. Baptism is a covenant of willingness and the temple is a covenant of obedience and knowledge. Anyways hahaha, so we explained that and then invited her again to be baptized on the 15th. The spirit had worked on her so hard, that she looked at us and said, "I dont know...can we do it sooner?" haha I laughed. So she is getting baptized this Saturday and all of her family from the desert will be there. Its going to be great.

Elder Bednar was awesome. He rebuked and called to our stake to repentance. He talked about the difference between a testimony and true conversion. He told all the members that if they think that only their testimony will help them when things get tough, they are wrong. We have to be truly converted to the Lord, rely on the spirit, bury all of our weapons of rebellion and become truly converted to the Gospel. A testimony leads to continuing conversion. It was really good. He quoted from our stake president's talk a lot. Thats why I think he is gonig to be a general authority. He also said that our stake has great missionaries and they are working hard. So give them a break and rely on your home teachers to help you move. haha. It was a great weekend.

Well the big move finally happened. Our mission grew by 50% yesterday. We now have 2 more stakes making 10 total stakes in the mission. So we only have 2 companionships in our district now. I stayed where I am and so did my comp, but Elder Lawter got moved up north which is tough. We were best friends down here because we have been in the ward longer than anyone else but its all good. There is nothing I can do about it now except put my head down and work.

Well that's about it. I am definitely looking forward to Sunday. It should be great! I'll call on Saturday to set everything up. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Ross



April 26, 2011

Hey Mom

1. To tell you the truth...I forgot it was Easter until I went to church on Sunday haha. That goes to show you how holidays are on the misison. But it was good. We had dinner with a family to celebrate Elder Lawter's birthday and then chilled with Elder Williamson. He went home today so he was packing and saying bye to people on Sunday.

2. Yeah I wear them both. I've really cracked down on working out in the morning and losing weight agai, so you can get me a mix of both. (see birthday list)

3. This saturday is Mormon Helping Hands in California. Every stake in California is doing a service project in the community. Ours is cleaning up an old school and turning it in to a rec center kind of thing. And yes we get the cool vests.....but they're yellow haha

So this week was pretty chill. We went and saw old members and investigators of Elder Williamson since he was going home today. It was cool to see people he taught and made a difference for...it kiind of got me excited for when i get to that point...8 months.

There was a big hit to the ward this past week and to me. One of my favorite members was deported this past Thursday or Friday. I'm not too sure how it happened but it happened. It was tough to see the family come to church by themselves. But, he is supposed to try and come back soon, so we will see what happens.

And yes, our meeting with Elder Perry was today. It was AWESOME! It was him and his wife with Elder L. Whitney Clayton (on of the presidents of the 70) and his wife. Pretty awesome. Elder Perry was pretty funny and talked a little bit about the Broadway play "The Book of Mmormon". He said that if the church did it we would have taken a little different approach but we are thankful for the publicity. He also talked about Jimmer and the publicity he brought the church (i just put my head down for that hahah). He then talked about the restoration and how there are 1000s of people that need to hear that story/doctrine in San Diego. It was a way cool experience. And it is definitely true....his voice is really booming when he bears his testimony...It was pretty legit!

Here is my birthday list that you wanted:
-Pillow
-White shirts (long sleeves and short. 18 or 17 1/2)
-Pants(black or pin stripped)
-MONEY (To buy stuff out here)
-MOJO Balance band (Ok...these band things are really cool. They help your balance and it uses the waves that pass through your body to keep your muscles from spazing out and relax....they are way cool. You can order it online at mojofuturtech.com)
-Gift Cards
--Socks(athletic and church)
-Ties(summer colors)
-Nike sandals (like dads old adidas sandals)
-Anything else anyone want to send me

Thanks for everything and I love you. I am way excited for May 8. It is going to be awesome!!!!!!!

Ross



Monday, March 18

1. Yeah I will call yall the day before Mothers Day to let you know what the plan is. Are you planning on making me trunky and going to the Rangers game again like lat year? haha

2. So about the whole Skype thing....I had an interview with President yesterday and asked him about Skype and if I could do it or not.....he told me that his answer was no.....until he asked the Missionary Dept about it and they said YES! hahah so dont be freaked out, everything is good to go. He gave me the ok, so I will be Skyping in 3 weeks. This is what I was thinking. Yall could set me up a Skype account and send me the info and everything. I can log on with that and then find yall or whatever. So just have Hillary make me a Skype name and send me the name and password and then I'll take care of the rest. If I dont have a member with a web cam, I'll probably just buy one. They are like 20 bucks at Wal Mmart. But I'm pretty sure I can find someone who has one.

3. Things are good with my comp. we have a 3rd wheel right now, which makes things better. The guy that is with us is going home next week. He is going to play football at Utah St so we get along just fine haaha Most of our nights are spent telling football stories and talking about football....we get along really well so its all good.


Well this week there is not too much to report. Just the good news on Skype. Our investigators are doing great. We have 4 people with a baptismal date right now and soon to be 5. We are teaching my recent convert's boyfriend now. He is a way cool guy. I like him a lot. We bonded pretty quickly and we just joke around all the time hahaha.

But yeah, Easter is coming up this weekend then after that I have Elder Perry a week from today, then Mormon Helping Hands service project on April 30 and then Elder Bednar for Stake Conference on May 1, then Mothers Day on May 8 then my birthday on May 22. And somewhere in between there I'll hit my 15 and 16 month marks hahahah its finally starting to pick up hahahah.

Well I love yall a lot and appreiciate everything you do. I'll send you some pics of me at the temple. They are pretty good. LOVE YALL


ross