February 14, 2011

Dear Family:

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!

First off I am very sorry that the email did not send last week! I will send it again, so hopefully it will make it this week! Everything is going great here! Other than the fact that the internet is awful everything is going great! So I am very sorry! If you don't get an email from me it is not because I am sick, or too busy (I will always find time), It is just the internet is a joke here! So once again, I am very sorry and hope all is well!

I am doing great! I am in good health! I am taking my medicine, and am doing great! I am getting very fit and strong which is also great so hopefully when I return I will be looking great!

I will be sending a CD soon with the all my pictures soon! Hopefully, you will enjoy them!

Tell Jenny Happy B-Day! I love you, Jenny!

Oh and I never heard a response from my idea a week our two ago about after my mission:) a little Disney World/Florida/Indiana adventure!!!! It will be perfect timing too! Kids in school, well have the whole place to ourselves and the beach! Just think about it :)

We came to the internet cafe early today so I might get the package today, but I am not too sure! Other things that would be great are: a journal, a wallet with a pouch for coins, the sticky velcro stuff for my bag, razor blades (gillete fusion), colored bed sheets (because white is really showing the dirt), a new camera case, and really anything else would be great!

Let me know when I need to submit the next newsletter entry so I can actually write something legit.

So now for my week:

I gave my lesson on Tuesday in district meeting on the Book of Mormon. I think it went well. Everyone said that it was very good! One thing that I said though, I wasn't planning on, but I like to think it was ASD (as the Spirit directs) was this, "As missionaries, we need our investigators to have a love and testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is the foundation of there testimony and will be their crutch throughout their life. The bases that they always turn back to. They can not base there testimony on us. Missionaries come and go, but the Book of Mormon will remain with our investigators after we leave." Kind of a good thought huh? Dad you can totally use that when you teach:) Other than that I think it was really good!

One thing I have noticed is that I am become a lot better teacher. I am able to adjust better based on the investigator, and help meet the concerns or issues that they may have. At the beginning I was always a little bit nervous or shy when a difficult question was asked. But now I love answering those hard questions. I feel like I am becoming like Pres. Packer. If there is ever a topic that is some how difficult or anything Pres. Packer always says I will take this one. He tells it like it is and that is that. I feel like in a way I am becoming that way. If there is a hard question, I tell it like it is, and then help the investigator see why and come to know/feel that it is true. It is really cool. I know the Lord is helping me to become a better instrument in his hands. I pray that I will continue to be the best i can be and strive to improve continually. I really can't wait to come home and have gospel discussion with all of you! It will be great!

Tomorrow we will have Zone Conference too! It will be great to here and learn there what we need to do, and what will be happening in our mission. Let me know when they announce who the new Pres. is here. Oh and will you also send the Conference addition of the Ensigns when they come? We get them but not tell a month our two after everyone else.

One day this week we were teaching a lot of recent converts about missionary work. A really cool thought came to me while we were teaching that is another thing you can use Dad. I was teaching them about how they don't need a tag to be a missionary and how it is by being an example and sharing their beliefs with others. I then said that they already have a tag as well. When we are baptized we covenant with God to take the name of Jesus Christ upon ourselves. This is our tag. We may not where the tag like the missionaries, but each of us bare this tag after we have been baptized and we show this tag to the world through our example of living the teachings of Jesus Christ every day. That is our "missionary tag." Kind of a cool thought don't you think?

So right now, we have a really solid investigator. His name is Frank and he approached us one day as we were on our way to an appointment. He said he wanted to learn about our church and join us. So we set an appointment with him and have been teaching him every since. This week we have had three really powerful lessons with him. One was on Tuesday and we were teaching the Plan of Salvation. I was teaching about the purpose to life and shared Alma 34:32 with him. While he read that verse the Spirit was so strong and truly hit me. I have read that verse countless times, with countless people, but for some reason it really hit me this time. I saw that that is the reason we are here on earth and I knew he felt the Spirit too. It gave him that sense of purpose and reason to life. It was great. Then we met with him on Thursday and taught where do we go after this life. We met at his friends shop and his friend is a Muslim. The entire time his friend was trying to cause problems. Asking about the Atonement and repentance, saying that the death of Jesus Christ was just for His sins. Frank's friend was difficult. Frank kept telling us, don't mind him, just keep teaching me. It was neat to see Franks desire to learn and change despite his friends ignorance. My companion and I bore a very powerful testimony on the Saviour and the Spirit guided our words. I told him about how Christ died for everyone, including him even if he did not believe. It was a powerful experience for everyone. Though Frank's friend was not changed at all, I know that my companion and I felt the Spirit, and more importantly Frank. It was really cool. We met with Frank Saturday and had a great lesson on faith and repentance. I pray and can see him being baptized at the end of the transfer.

Our mission president came to our branch yesterday. He gave a very powerful talk in Sacrament meeting on how if the branch wanted the building they needed to pay tithing. It was great though because the branch was packed, over 110 people, people sitting in the hall due to lack of space and we had 11 investigators there too. It was great. Pres. Sabey said, "We are not trying to bring as many people into the church as we can, but the church into as many people as we can." Cool huh? He also told our investigators that Elder Bunker and I truly were representative of Jesus Christ and how when we shared a message with them, it is the same message Christ would share if he were here. It was an awesome thought! But it was great for him to come and see the hard work we have been doing. We taught about 40 lessons this week too! The work is great here.

Maybe you can use some of these last two paragraphs for next months newsletter? I think they would be good ones.

Fun thing. I heard Ryan Shupe and the Rubberbands "Dream Big" song yesterday and it reminded me of home. It was sweet!

Well time is up! I have to go but I love you all very much! Happy Valentines day!

Love your son and brother,

Elder Ryan S. Alba