May 20, 2013

May 19, 2013
Hey Mom! Celeste is working on sundays that stinker! Tell her to shape it up abit! We usually try and email right out the door so usually about 11 taiwan time but sometimes things come up and we don't get around to it until abit later. I am super glad I got to skype you guys too, always love to see your guys' faces! I can't believe how fast time went by, before I know it we will be skyping again! That is so awesome that Dustin got that job! Wow I bet it pays pretty good! Haha tell him by the time I get home he better have that house with the Helipad on top he was talking about so he can come pick me up and I can go chill with him.
This last week was a pretty good week! My new area is so great! I am loving it! I miss xinying and the people there alot but I know this area is going to be just as amazing. The ward here is super great! The church is really strong here. My companion is super great too. Elder Casperson! He is such a stud. We work together really well and are having a great time doing missionary work here in tainan. I am pretty sure Bro. Smith served in part of tainan before. It is really such an awesome place. This last sunday we saw a pretty cool miracle. I was contacting people on the street in xinying one day and I ran into a guy. He started meeting with us and it turns out he is in xinying mon-fri for work but lives in tainan so he goes back on sat/sun. We met with him a few times and then I left to come to tainan! Turns out he lives on the same street that the church is on here in tainan and came to church yesterday! That street is the other Elder's area so we won't be able to continue teaching him but we introduced him to the other Elder's and talk with him for a few minutes which was super cool. Pretty crazy! Elder Casperson and I found quite a few potential investigators last week too so we should have some super good lessons this week. We are pretty pumped! Everything is going fantastic!
I was reading the Book of Mormon this past week and was impresssed with the example of Ammon! Just as all of the sheep are scattered King Lamoni's servants start crying and talking about how they are so dead for letting the sheep get lost but Ammon just gets super excited and tells them hey lets go find those sheep! And then they do it! It is all about attitude. As we pray in faith and then have a good attitude through all of our trials we will see miracles happen.
Love you momma! Hope work is going well! I bet it is abit tiring, working with that many kids everyday, but you have got to be immune to anything seeing as though you raised Ripley kids. Thanks for being the best Mom ever! Love you bunches! Have a fantastic week! Your favorite child,    -Elder Ripley


Hey Dad!
I can't believe Jack is already getting home! Time is just flying by, it is a super weird feeling. You sent out 300 post cards? Wow...Oh yeah I keep meaning to ask, what is the average number of people that attend sacrament meeting in our ward? We are always keeping track of that here as missionaries so I am just curious as to how many our ward usually has. The church is growing so fast here in taiwan it is amazing! I am so grateful to be a part of it!
Today for P-day we are celebrating a few peoples birthdays by going to pizza hut. All you can eat pizza hut pizza for less than 10 dollars...can you believe that!? I will take you there when we come back to taiwan together. Hope you had a good week this week! My new companion is enjoying those snacks you sent. We have almost got them finished off. We have been working out pretty hard in the mornings to keep in shape haha.
We had a good church meeting this week as well. We had a joint meeting and had a workshop on family history! Really cool! I got to talk in sacrament this week too. I made em laugh a little bit as well as got a pretty good gasp out of everyone when I told them I am the youngest of 8. They really liked that. The ward here is really great, I am loving it already! Taiwan is such a great place.
Hope you have a good week Dad. Love and miss you.     -Elder Ripley