Skip to main content

The happiest day so far this week! (9/16/13)

So this last week has been a week of overcoming, and I'm not ashamed to say that it hasn't been easy. I love my Heavenly Father, I love Jesus Christ, and I love the Holy Ghost. Without them, I would literally be nothing. I am not a perfect missionary, nor am I a perfect person, but I know through Christ's Atonement for us, I have received strength.

Emails in the mission are always a plus. Letters are even better (but I don't expect people to waste money on postage). 

At this time, I'd like to make a declaration of my faith. I don't really care if you don't agree, but it helps me to put it out there.

I know that Jesus is the Christ; the anointed of God to come and cleanse us from our sins. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows us intimately, and we knew him before this life, and through a concerted effort, we can know him again. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know it, I know it, I know it! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God to restore the church that Christ established. I know that through making and keeping sacred covenants that we can not only attain salvation, but that we can become something greater. We can be joint-heirs with Christ in our Heavenly Father's kingdom.

I've recently had people try to state that my religion is false, that Joseph Smith was a liar and cheat. I stand as a representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and tell you know that I know that Joseph Smith was an inspired prophet. I am willing to stake my eternal salvation and soul on it. I know this because I have studied it, I have read about it, I have prayed about it, I have lived it. If you have doubts, get on your knees and pray. Ask God, the source of all truth. 

At this point, you have two decisions, you can either claim that I am stating the truth, or that I am lying. If I'm telling the truth (which I know and believe I am) then this Gospel is true. God is real, he has called Joseph Smith as a prophet and restored his true church. If I am lying, I am guilty of condemnation, I am a blasphemer and shall be consigned to the depths of misery and woe in the life to come. I'm willing to take those stakes. I'm willing to, because I have felt the love of my Savior, I have come to know God. I know that he loves me and that he reveals his will today through a modern prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.

I love you all,

Elder Ryan

Popular posts from this blog

7/28/13

So, After an awesome week following a hard week, I've had another trying week. Things seem to work that way. We have a few really solid investigators right now, but we also have some that are going through difficulties in finding faith and keeping that faith that they have already found. They claim to have experiences, they're not sure what they're feeling, and they're not sure if it's coming from God. Unfortunately, no amount of testifying, no amount of smiles and warm greetings can substitute for that foundational belief of faith. The only way to gain that faith is through action, through calling upon God, keeping His commandments, reading His scripture. Without doing these fundemental things with patience and forebearance, it is impossible to gain a solid faith in God. If you are currently struggling with your faith, seek God and you will find him. I promise you will.
Read more

The Warmest December

Hello all you on the mailing list and blog followers!   I have a pretty good amount of time to write, and someone called me out on not really putting substance in my correspondence, so today you're getting the whole enchilada.   So, this last week we had a baptism with a really awesome person named Trung. He's a really great person, his family is from Vietnam, but he was born here in Australia. He's led a pretty crazy life, having a lot of fun, has a lot of great stories, but decided that fun wasn't really bringing him happiness, so when some missionaries asked him if he wanted to be baptized, he said yes! Because he's Vietnamese he was referred to us, and we began to teach him. We started slowly and went thorugh each of the lessons making sure that he understood what he was learning, and the commitments he would be making when he entered the waters of baptism. He committed to read the Book of Mormon each day, and for the most part, did read it. He really p...
Read more

Another Day, Another Destiny - 11/25/13

So, this week has been a good one. The weather (while crummy this week) is going to get HOT by Wednesday. I'm mostly over a cold that I managed to get from my companion (side note: I know it's good to share, but sometimes I wish people wouldn't). Our awesome investigator came to church this week. We even got permission to go into the city to show her the International branch there. It was great to get to visit the ward where I served and know everyone. I'm likely to return there in the future as well.    A tender mercy of attending the branch this past Sunday, was that, while at the branch I had an investigator that said they wanted to join our choir. At the time, no one had even thought about a branch choir, but I didn't want to tell him we didn't have one, so I got to work talking to the branch music leader. She didn't really want to, and thought that too many people would join, but I insisted. I encouraged her nearly every week. My last week in the b...
Read more