March 4, 2013

Mother Dearest,

                 
How is grandma Velma doing right now? Back home again? Let her know that I love her next time you see her! Sounds like work is going pretty good lately! There was seriously still 50 bucks in there from when I left? Wow that is pretty sweet! Enjoy! Are all of the kids at school usually pretty well behaved or do you have to call them bird brain occasionally and whip them into shape? 

All is well here in Xinying! Elder Liu and I are working hard to build God's kingdom here! This week we saw some pretty cool miracles. Brother Hu is doing great! He is reading the Book of Mormon pretty often and is seeing alot of blessings from it! We also working with a knew investigator right now, Brother Liu! (Yeah it is kind of confusing, my companion, our investigator, and I all have the same last name :D) Fun stuff. He is such a cool guy. He has a huge desire to learn and has come to church twice now! 

                   

As far as our living conditions go, We live in an apartment building on the tenth floor! It is just my companion and I that live there. Yes I have been using quite a bit of the stuff that we bought from Pomeroys!  I am doing good on floss and dryer sheets for now. We cook in the mornings and on Sundays but lately I have just been eating cereal and bananas because I have so much of it! I am loving it! To do laundry we just...throw our clothes in the washer and then take them out and throw them in the dryer! Haha. And yes we still teach English every single wednesday night! It is going pretty great. We have actually had quite a few new students come lately! It is a great way to help people who have interest in English (Which is a ton) have a chance to hear the gospel! 

             

My companion wants the Risk board games. I am not sure why, he just loves them I guess. I will be sure and send those pictures soon. I keep forgetting!! Sorry!! Well I hope everyone has a great week! Love you all! I know the Savior lives. I read an awesome article from the Ensign this week. From last years general conference. Being a more christian christian! What can we do to be more like Christ? Go read it! Have a great week Momma!       

-Elder Ripley

February 25, 2013

Hey  Momma,

Sounds like you guys had quite the busy week last week! Hope all is going well at home and at work! A new math program huh? Sounds pretty rough, I am glad I got out of there sooner than later :D

Things are going pretty great over here! We had a super cool miracle yesterday! We have been talking to alot of people on the streets and haven't found many willing to meet with us, but on sunday we had a guy who was previously contacted on the street just show up to church! Huge blessing! We are going to meet with him tonight! Also, a members friend that has started coming to church recently is going to meet with us this week as well! We are being blessed with some teaching opportunities even though we are having trouble finding investigators.

My companion and I went over to Sister Chen's house this week and helped them paint some walls in their house and afterwards we had a lesson with her.  Pray for her! 

This week we also rode out to Guantian! Our second furthest secondary area. It was pretty awesome! One of our new investigators lives out there so we met with him and he accepted a baptismal goal for March! We got a little lost on our way back and took a big detour (It was kind of dark, it's not my fault :D) but it was worth it to be able to meet with Brother Hu. He is a miracle investigators that just showed up to English class one day and said hey I want to learn more about Jesus Christ! Sweet! 

Elder Liu and I have some great goals this week and are working hard to accomplish them. We are going to continue to see miracles as we ask for God's blessings as we participate in His work. 

This week while reading the Book of Mormon I was especially impressed by some scriptures about the atonement and our Savior. As I reflect on what Christ had to endure on this Earth I am more grateful for His atonement, because I know that no matter what trial we have, through the atonement we can overcome them all. I will always love my Savior and serve Him faithfully. Because of our savior, there is nothing we can't do! 

                   

Love you family! Hope all is going well! Oh and to answer your question, missionaries from Taiwan go to the MTC in the Phillipines. It depends on where they are going on their mission as well though. Oh and is the guitar music by Rachelle pretty good? If so send that to please! And my companion wants to know how much it costs to buy Lord of the Rings Risk and the Risk that takes place in the future? Haha he likes Risk a little too much and apparently Taiwan doesn't have those.
Anyways tell Kalvin he is a stud! I wish I could be there for his farewell! Let me know when he leaves and what his address is! That is so awesome!!!!!! 

Elder Ripley

February 18, 2013

Hello mother dearest! I am sorry I did not get a chance to say much last week! So here is whats going on. This Monday we had Elder Watson from the quorum of the seventy as well as Elder Evans come to our mission and do a training. All the missionaries headed up to Taichung for the day so our preparation day this week got moved to Wednesday. Next week it will be on monday just like usual! I am little but further away from the temple so we do not get to go on the temple trip! Bummer..but I got to go twice already which is super awesome. I did recieve the two boxes today! I am not sure if they will cost me or anything, they came just as we were heading out so our guan li (the guy who sits at the front counter at our apartment complex) said we can just pick them up on our way in. Sounds like work is going pretty well! That is awesome! 3rd and 5th grade math is going to be pretty rough for me when I get home as well...

This past week and a half has been pretty great! We found some cool investigators last week but one of them moved out of our area on monday and anothers dad called us and told us we can't meet with his son anymore, so that was pretty rough, But! This week is power week! For this whole week we just have personal study from 8 to 8:30 and companion study from 8:30 to 9 and then we leave the apartment and proselyte the rest of the day! We also have missions and goals for each day, for example mondays mission was set up a family home evening and the goal was to get at least 3 investigators there. Yesterdays mission was ride forth into the streets armed with as many Book of Mormons as possible and the goal was to place 15 Book of Mormons! (Includes getting their information, giving them a Book of Mormon, and setting up a follow up date with them) Elder Liu and I hadn't been seeing aton of success contacting on the streets in our main area (xinying) so we headed out to one of our secondary areas after district training meeting yesterday (liu jia) and hit the streets hard! We made our plans and prayed for the Lord's help to hit our goal and we had just enough time to hit our goal and ride back to our apartment in time! Even though it was a bit harder to set up lessons, (most the people there don't go to xinying often and we don't ride our bikes out there often) we were able to give all these people an opportunity to read the word of God and got their information as well as set up follow up dates with them! Pray for these people that they will feel the spirit as they read the Book of Mormon and will have a desire to come to church and recieve the Gospel! One of the best parts, during power week, if you hit the goal you call President Bishop that night after planning and say "this is Elder___, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!" So sweet. Elder Liu and I had a fun time with that one.

Hey quick question: Did you buy that CD from Rachelle? Please send me the rest of the music from that CD! My companion really likes her music as well haha. Well I love you! Have a great week! Talk to you on monday!   -Elder Ripley

   

Hey Dad,

I did get the two packages today but they came to the apartment on our way out so we are going to pick them up on our way in tonight. Where are you working at right now? Sounds like you guys did a great job with the flags this week! I know I can always count on my dad to get things done right :D

Have a good rest of the week! I know this Gospel is true. The savior lives and loves us! I am so grateful for the happinness and blessings the Gospel has been brought into my life. Love you Dad! 

Your friend -Elder Ripley