July 22, 2013

That is funny that you bring that song up, my companion loves that song too! Yes you did resend it to me and I downloaded it again so I have the full version but thanks for sending it again, I can forward it to Elder Washburn!

Yes you are right, you not only see whole families on scooters, but somehow the manage to fit their two dogs as well! So crazy! I will have to send you a picture sometime.

That is pretty exciting about your medical history being changed! That is super cool that they remembered yours and changed it!

I can't believe Hunter is already leaving! Time is flying! Where is he going again? I am sure he will make a very great missionary. He has always been a smart kid.

We are emailing at the college in our area right now and one of our investigators, just saw us and came up to say hello! He say Hi! He is super great. Teaching him is a blast. Everything we teach just clicks for him. He is so prepared! His baptismal date will be on the 10th of august! The same as Blake too! Sweet! Elder Washburn and I are doing pretty great! We are lovin the work and are just having a fun time teaching the Gospel. I read more about setting goals and making plans this week in Preach My Gospel and there is one part I would like to share with you. It says something to the effect of- setting goals and making plans is what transforms our hopes into action. Super awesome. I have realized more and more on my mission how much potential we have, we just have to learn how to use it! I Thought about how far we come in two years as messengers of the Gospel and even as chinese speakers and it made me realize how we can seriously do anything we want to do, we just have to master the simple principles of setting goals and making plans! With the Lords help in developing these skills we can learn to find those prepared souls who are ready to recieve the Gospel and invite them to learn, we can find a new job, we can learn to play the piano, or whatever it is! We can do anything! You just gotta have the motivations there and ask the Lord to guide you. I am super grateful for how much these principles have blessed my mission and I know they will bless me for the rest of my life.

I know that Heavenly Father loves me because he answers my prayers. As long as we are seeking for answers to our questions and solutions to our difficulties, we will find them! I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who answers my prayers, and helps me to align my will with His as I humble myself and pray.

Hope you have a great week this week! Love you momma! 

July 15, 2013

     I listen to music on my translator, that is why! The translator came with a free 4g memory too which was super nice, so I can hold abunch of music on it. Thanks for the lyrics to that song and the idioms! I actually just found out that I have a dictionary full of idioms on my translator as well so all the ones you sent me should be enough for now! Thanks so much! My english class is super excited to learn this song haha its going to be super sweet. I got a pretty good laugh out of your new method of beating dad in phase ten and about recieving those packages and giving it all away hahaha I bet Stephen III thought that was pretty funny as well! What is Dad's new job anyways? Sounds like you had fun with all of the birthdays last week! Tell Blake and Darci that I love them and say Happy Birthday to them for me! Tell Dusty he is going to have to take me in a ride in that one when I get home. That helicopter looks pretty sick!

       One of the coolest experiecnes from last week was meeting with our investigator, who has a baptismal goal right now. He is currently 11 years old and although he enjoys playing with toy swords and battling me in yugioh cards, he surprised me quite abit with his maturity this week! We went over some baptismal interview things with him this last week and set up a time for his upcoming interview. When we asked him why he wants to get baptized he said something that threw me off. I was definitely not underestimating him , but I was just not expecting it, he said "I want to recieve the Holy Ghost!". I just got the biggest smile on my face and we read a few scriptures together about the Holy Ghost, and talked about why we should seek for the Gift of the Holy Ghost as well as His daily guidance. He is such a stud and is ready to be baptized and confirmed! We are super excited for him! While talking about the Holy Ghost he even cited a few scriptures from Moroni that talked about Him which impressed me!
       This last week during studies I loved reading in Alma 43. Moroni is battling against the lamanites and the first place he turns for guidance is to the prophet, Alma! Just like in our lives, we fight all sorts of battles against the adversary, but we can always look to our church leaders, especially our prophet Thomas S Monson, for guidance. Also, Moroni prepares everything he needs to be able to take on the Lamanites and follows the counsel of Alma without one bit of hesitation. During the battle the Nephites struggle but because of their righteouss motivations for fighting the battle they muster up the courage to press onward and by working and praying in unity with "one voice" they win the battle. Much like missionary work today! Their will be struggles but if we always remember our motivations of why we are out here we will have the courage to press onward and never look back. I love a saying that is on a poster at some tire stores here in taiwan- "Power without control is nothing" We must use careful planning and preparation, just like Moroni, to give our motivations a direction. This way we can reach our highest potential and see the greatest outcomes/successes in our missionary work. That applies to every other aspect of our lives as well. Just like every missionary will tell you, set goals and make plans. 

July 8, 2013

Got your letter this week! I love to read those stories, but don't stress too much about it because I can email them now. I just love to hear from you! Thanks so much for your prayers momma, we feel them here everday! No we have not had the chance to meet President Blickenstaff yet but they called us yesterday night to wish my companion happy birthday! (yesterday was his birthday!!) We have interviews with him this wednesday so that should be sweet! I know he is going to really press forward the work here in taiwan, because that is what God has called him to do! We are excited to meet with him and work with him. Yeah I don't have flour on my face because I didn't lose :D Haha that was a fun day! 

(Caleb was playing a game that you have to get flour all over your face if you lose) 

Sounds like you are keeping busy like usually! Hope everything is going smooth.

As for Elder Washburn and I everything is going super great! We are working hard and really seeing lots of miracles! We are talking to tons of people every week and finding those people that are prepared to recieve the Gospel. We have also been strengthening our relationship with the ward as well which has been going great. Right now we have a few investigators with baptismal goals who are doing really great! 

I am growing to love missionary work more and more every single day. I feel like time is going by to fast and I don't have enough time to accomplish everything I want to do! I love being on the Lords errand and telling everyone about his Gospel. It is the most rewarding and compelling work we could ever do! I love my mission!

Well Our time is about up! Love and miss you mom. Hope you have another good week this week! Thanks for all the music too! No special requests, My translator was getting fixed so I haven't been able to listen to it for awhile but I just downloaded it all today so I will listen to it soon. Thanks so much!!!! Love you!!    -Elder Ripley

Wow the temple looks great! That is super cool that Jack is going to be painting the leaves, bet he is pretty excited about that!

I loved your story about putting up flags, I can just see everyone laughing so hard at that because it is so true!

I am also really excited to go swimming in that pool when I get home, leave the last part, (at least filling it up) for after I get back so I can remember starting it as well as finishing with you :D Love you dad! You are the best. It really is amazing how the church continues moving forward in such powerful ways. The gospel is being proclaimed to the ENTIRE world! What an exciting thing to be a part of! I am so grateful that I could be on the Lords errand during this special time. I love my mission so much. I am already scared of the thought of taking off my badge Dad. Hope everything is going well. Have another great week. Love you! -Elder Ripley

July 1, 2013

Wow it is smokin' hot over there! It is pretty hot here as well, I am not really sure temperature wise all I know is I am wet all of the time! Its alright though, you get used to it pretty fast. Yes President Bishop went home last saturday and President Blickenstaff is here now! I have not seen him yet but I am pretty sure we are going to have interviews this week. I will have to tell Elder Washburn that, he makes all of the decisions! That is right Dad always told me that I make the decisions so I do! I Will be sure and pass that down to my new companion, because I know it has helped me accomplish alot on mission. Elder Washburn is such a stud. He has a super great attitude and always has a smile on his face. We are going to accomplish alot these next few move calls! I am not surprised that this is the place Brother Smith enjoyed the most, it is such a great city! I love it! I will have to ask him which ward he served in. I am glad you are enjoying your stretching, and not streaking..hahaha I read that over once and though hmmm I wonder if she typed that wrong? Way to go mom, streaking again! (In my letter to Caleb I told him I was streaking...meant to say stretching) Haha that is good though excersize is huge! It gives you alot more energy every day too!

       This last week was a pretty good week for us! We ran into quite a few really prepared people on the street last week and started meeting with them! Two of them accepted baptismal goals too! They are so great.  One of them lives in a close by city so he will be going to church there but from mon to fri he is here so we are continuing to teach him. He is so great, he is getting his masters degree from the college in our area. Really awesome kid. He gave us abunch of peaches the other day that I am now putting in my cereal..yum! He is such a great guy. His biggest concern when we invited him to be baptized is that his pants might get wet! Haha he is really awesome, learns things really quickly and really enjoys learning about the Gospel. The other one is such a stud. He came to church yesterday and went to FHE and hung out with the people in our ward without us even there. Super great, that is how we hope it happens with all of the investigators we find. It is hard sometimes because almost all of the investigators that we have we find from contacting on the street so sometimes it is hard to help them get to know people in the ward if there is no one there they really click with.  We are also meeting with this kid lately. He is an 11 year old who comes to church every week and his older sister is a member. Last wednesday his mom came and picked him up from the english class so we talked with him and his mom for alittle but and by the end we set a baptismal date for him in august as well! Super awesome! He is a cute little kid and is super excited for his baptism. The work is moving forward here in tainan! Pray for these people when you get the chance. Hope you have a good week! Love and miss you mom!    -Elder Ripley

Bobbing for cupcake party? I dont remember that! (We saw some pictures of Caleb at a Church activity and they were sticking their faces in these flour type things and we didn't know what to call it. It looked sort of like bobbing for apples, but instead of having water all over the face, they had flour all over their faces)

That is awesome, when is Kellen headed out? He is going to Idaho right? I wish I could have been there for Kalvin's farewell talk, but I am happy I will be able to be there for his homecoming talk!

Sounds like it is getting pretty hot these days! It is heating up over here as well. Your right it is all mental though. We have gotten pretty good at forgetting about the heat during proselyting out here. The occassional mango or peach smoothie helps as well :) yum! They are less than a dollar too which is so awesome. The food here is so delicious and so cheap. I am excited to bring you and mom here to try everything!

The stash should last me at least a few more weeks but I will be sure and let you know when it gets low. Thanks so much Dad, you have no idea how much I am enjoying the cereal!

I am sure everyone got a good laugh from your explanation on the "hickup" haha that is pretty funny. You are a fartsmeller! Err I mean smartfeller!

Well I love and miss you dad! Hope you have a good week this week! I am so grateful for my mission experiences thus far and I know they have turned out this way because of everything you taught me. Love you pops     -Elder Ripley