RED NECK GPS

THIS IS A MISSIONARIES IDEA OF GPS

 

 

I KNEW ELECTRICAL TAPE WOULD BE HANDY - BUT COME ON THIS IS GENIUS..



LOVE IT!!

This week has been so great! We were able to go back to Lilburn for a zone conference. My first zone conference. There wasn’t anyone from my MTC district there but I got to meet so many new people it was great. Also there was so much said there that really helped us work this week. I learned so much from that zone conference it was so great. Truly inspired by the lord of what was said.

So we were tracing a lot this last weekend and we actually got a lot of success from doing it. We first came across this guy with a family. He was nice as usual. And we asked if we could share a message of Jesus Christ with him he was very excited and asked if we could come back another day because he had family coming over. So we gladly made an appointment to meet with him and his family again and we will be seeing them this week to teach them and answer their questions.

Then we were in a different neighborhood and we came across a Spanish family luckily they spoke some English and they asked us to come back as well. So we gladly set up a time to come back. So yesterday we walked for hours up hills to get to this families house after church and we got all the way there and he had company and asked us to come back next week.... I was heartbroken after walking all that way. I tried to have a good attitude and the lord showed me that I was supposed to be there at that exact time. As we began walking out of this neighborhood we came a crossed a guy changing his brakes. We started talking to him asking if he needed any help and what not. And then he started asking us about our church he had seen our building and was wondering what it was all about, he had been wanting to come to church and check it out. I and my companion were like WOAH! Umm yes you are always welcome to come. We gave him the time and he gave us his contact information. we invited  him to church this next week and said he could go with us so that he would know someone and so this next week we are going to call him on Saturday and give him a friendly reminder and we hope and pray to see him at church. That would be so great.

Also this week we were out knocking doors and we came a crossed this guy who happens to be a Baptist preacher....he talked to us for over an hour right there on his door step he gave us pamphlets form his church he gave us books he wrote for his church he was quoting scripters at us telling us how his church was true and ours was wrong. It was funny though because he would quote a scripture and totally take the meaning of it out of context so then after he did this for a while he would quote scriptures and he ended up proving himself wrong because all his references began to go against each other in the way he was saying them.

I am so glad was raised in the church and I know the truth. I am so grateful that we have the fullness of the gospel not just a little of it but we have the entirety of it. I can’t imagine my life without it. It has given me so much and continues to give me everything each day. While talking to this preacher he refused to take a book of Mormon. And it got me thinking we were willing to take and read every pamphlet he gave us. I was willing to do that because I have already found the true church and absolutely nothing could shake my testimony of it not even a pamphlet or book of another church once you know the things I know nothing could even come close to shaking this testimony, and then I thought of him how he wouldn’t even take a book of Mormon and that goes to show how powerful the book of Mormon can be and how true the church is that he must have known or been scared that if he read it maybe he would like what he read or get that feeling the it is true and he had been wrong all along. That he would get that confirmation that the book of Mormon is the word of god. Which it is. It is so great. Just my little thought for the week. But read the book of Mormon if you already have read it again. Pray about it pray to know if it is true again even if you already have then you can feel that wonderful feeling of the truthfulness of it once again or for the first time. It is such a great feeling, that you will always strive to feel every day.

Thank you for all the love and support I get from you! I love you! I am doing so great and am loving every minute. Hope everything is going great I love you!

Love Elder Ross

 

STILL IN HAMILTON MILL

Thank you so much for all the love and support!!

 This week has been amazing! I was able to go to Lilburn to the mission home and go to a follow up meeting with all the new missionaries that came out with me. it was nice because I got to see all my friends from the MTC and I have really missed them.my companion has really been a struggle for me but this week has been the turning point we got to work through some things and now we are doing so much better. We actually talk laugh and enjoy each other. It is so great. We were able to get so much more done this week and we even found this hidden neighborhood. We call it Narnia. It is within walking distance of our apartments and we had no clue it even existed. We felt a prompting to take this trail behind our apartment and it led us straight to this neighborhood it was way exciting. We traced a little bit of it so far and in the little we did tract we got a new investigator and we are scheduled to come back this week... i will let you know how it goes and I am so excited. This isn’t a small neighborhood either so it will keep us busy for a while.

 The ward members have somehow found out about my deathly fear of snakes and they think it funny to take pictures of monstrous snakes they find in their backyards and give them to me. It is horrible. They think it is hilarious. One of the families their kids actually caught one while I was there and I refused to leave the house until they had hid it deep in the forest. It has been so nice weather here this week so rainy and cloudy which usually isn’t good weather but the humidity has been gone and it has been pretty cooler so I love it reminds me of home and it is great.

 It seems that everyone from Georgia gets mission calls to Utah and almost all the missionaries out here are from Utah so we are pretty much just swapping kids is what everyone tells me. And back home people talk about going to college here and there and in different places. But here if you go to church you go to BYU no exceptions. Almost every single kid here that has graduated this last year or no matter how long ago has and or is going to BYU it is crazy. They all get accepted too.

We had this meal I got help make it’s called a low country boil. pretty much you have a big pot on a fire and you put water and spices in it and get it boiling then you put potatoes and corn on the cob and carrots and sausage and shrimp and anything else your heart desires once all of them are cooked you strain the water out and then you just dig in and eat all you want with your hands it is so freaking good way easy and a great thing for like a family cook out. They just poured it on a big plate on the table in the backyard and everyone just sits around and talks and eats and has a great time doing it.

We started helping to teach a mission prep class for some of the young men in the ward. On Sundays. It’s weird for me because really the only mission prep class I had was the MTC I didn’t really go to a specific class. But at the same time compared to these boys I was Thomas s monsoon. So we are trying to help them build their testimony and giving them the resources so that they can find it for themselves and learn through the spirit which always the most efficient and the way you learn the absolute most.

this last week, well the last two weeks I guess we have been working on this very less active guy and trying to get him to come back to church wave gone andvisitied him and yesterday he finally came to church. I was so happy that was just as good as a baptism in my book. He said that he really enjoyed it and that he didn’t realize how much he was missing and just by those simple 3 hours he gave he could feel just a new spirit about him and he felt so much more alive and happy. I almost jumped out of my shoes and was close to running around the church in excitement.

I love you so much! Thank you for all you do! Keep the letters and emails coming it really is like Christmas morning when I get a letter. Or email. It’s so great. Hope everyone is doing great. Love you all.

Love Elder Ross

A FEW WEEKS IN GEORGIA

I will do what I can do you have his address so I can know where to send it too this week has been really hard but through a lot of prayer and patience I have made it through with a good attitude and yes I am always smiling because no matter how bad it gets I know why I am here and this work is always good enough reason to put a smile on my face. my bike freaking broke this week which was horrible but the guy at the bike shop got it fixed for me and I think he felt bad for me because he only is charging me $30 for the part and to put it on so that is not too bad at all. when they put it together after being shipped here they cross threaded the pedals when they screwed them on so it totally stripped it out and fell off and since it was stripped and they didn’t have any in the shop just alone I had to get an entire new gear system for the front but the guy had one that he just gave me so I was happy oh yeah and before all this went down I was riding my bike early that day and could tell something was wrong so I was riding while looking down to see what was the matter and I didn’t see the fire hydrant that was in the middle of the sidewalk I hit it and flipped over the handle bars. luckily I wasn’t hurt just my dignity because it was on the busiest street in Georgia at like one of the busiest times of day so  I got up as fast as I could and rode off fast. I felt stupid. I’m having a lot of trouble with my companion but I know that it’s for a reason and I can learn and grow from him so I am always just trying to look on the Brightside. this all may sound bad like it does to me but don’t worry mom I am loving it and doing wonderful hard days are inevitable and you just grow from them. Don’t go panicking or anything. I love you so much thank you for all you do for me.

<3 your baby boy ELDER ROSS

yeah it is  nice to just get it off my chest and I am dealing with it pretty well luckily we get to work out every morning and p day basketball is a great thing without them I might go crazy it’s a great stress reliever  the only problem is he is the kind of guy that if it is not his idea then it is not a good idea and when I give an idea and he doesn’t like it he just gets mad and won’t talk to me for days on end and he won’t talk to me about it to try and resolve it or anything  but I don’t want to talk too much about it if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all thank you I will get grandpa an old man birthday card I have one that is really funny I almost bought the other day and now I have a reason too ha-ha.

Arrived in Georgia

Thank you yes I did get the greeny package it was great. Ha-ha my man is growing up going to be serving the sacrament here in less than a year what a boss. Your babies are all growing up its amazing. I was reading the book of Mormon and was reading about the stripling warriors and one of my favorite parts is when it says they did not fear for their mothers had taught them that if they had faith that they would be delivered and it mentions that they were taught well by their mothers and that goes the same for us ross chillins we do have a pretty fantastic mother who had taught us very well and we would be lost without her. I love you mom. yeah my companion is cool sometimes I feel like we could be doing so much more than we are but he is way cool just sometimes doesn’t want to work all that hard. But I am here to hopefully change that. I actually went on exchange this week and was able to work with another missionary and I learned so much in that one day that it helped me see what we are supposed to be doing. But don’t get me wrong we are doing work. it’s hard were I am because we are right by the mall of Georgia so were in the middle of the city far away from any houses. And then when we get out to the houses like 90% of the neighborhoods are no soliciting so we aren’t allowed to really go in there which really sucks. And like you said rich people are less likely to accept the things we have to say and that’s most of the people who live in this area. So I mean it does get hard some days but we just keep on trucking and do all that we can do. I love Georgia so much but I miss the mountains so much. And the grid system. The roads here are all windy and curvy there is no system with them I get lost every single day lucky my companion has a GPS or wed never know where we were. Even people that have lived here their entire lives have GPS mainly because they get lost on a daily basis it’s so crazy. And usually I am used to looking and seeing other roads but the trees are so thick that you can’t see through them whatsoever. It’s amazing though I love it. I get to see light bugs. I always thought that they lite up and stayed lite up but they just flash light for a second then it’s gone. But they are super cool to see and watch. There is a letter coming in the mail. So look for it. Sorry if my hand writing is horrible I am trying to work on it especially when I write to you guys.  That is great for the cheer team though I’m glad things are going good in that area hopefully the drama is not too much of problem but it is a cheer team so it’s probably inevitable. hah joke Sundays are my favorite I love going to church especially now that people are actually starting to know me and I am not just a stranger. But it is great. Thank you for all you do for me I love you so much.

 

 Love your forever baby boy elder Ross

 My Companion :         Elder Barrett                 From Rigby Idaho

 

 

At the Airport

MTC

 

MTC

Mom and Dad

 I am so grateful for the example you have set for me. I love you so much. Probably the hardest thing so far is having all these wonderful feelings and thoughts and experiences and the first thing I want to do is call you and tell you or go find you to talk to you and I cant. It’s really the hardest struggle I have come across so far. I am doing wonderful and am loving it. Learning so much. Some days are overwhelming but are definitely blessings in disguise. The days are weird. You talk about something with your companion and it feels like it happened two weeks ago when in reality it happened early this morning. So they seem like they drag but at the end of the day I look back and realize that the day is flying by. It’s hard to believe that I have already been here five days because it doesn’t seem like it. I am not really homesick. I am staying way busy so my mind is not focused on the thoughts of home. I am so happy to be here. Never would I have thought it could be this amazing. I knew that it would be a great experience but I haven’t been for even a full week yet and this has already been the most life changing thing I could ever have experienced. My companion is pretty great. He’s from California and pretty much could be my twin. We both love sports and both are obsessed with football. He can be kind of cocky in thinking he is above others but he is still way cool. Our district is the life of the match. We are always having so much fun and laughing. but one great thing is we may laugh and have fun but we can go from that to having one of the most spiritually inviting moments in a matter of seconds. It’s amazing. My companion and I were called to be zone leaders and that seemed overwhelming at first but we are doing great and just devoting all our might mind and strength to the lord. I have loved the power of prayer. But now I see its full capability. We have learned to see others how our heavenly father would see them. I have never loved people I’ve never even talked to so much. I imagine them all dressed in white. Coming out of the waters of baptism or walking out of the temple with a smile on their face and can’t help but feel a strong love for everyone. There is a sister from Georgia the missions were going to and we have made her tell us everything about and what we have to look forward to. Just know I am doing wonderful and love every second of this. I cannot thank you enough for the love you have shown me and all you have done for me. Without you I would not be here you have showed me the love I need when I have been in the darkest of times. Most importantly you never gave up on me and always knew I could become something great. I love you so much. I leave for Georgia on Tuesday the 23rd our plan leaves at 7 in the morning and I will be at the airport at 5 I might get the opportunity to call either when I leave or when I am in Georgia but I am not positive. So just look out. Tell everyone I love them

 

Love elder Ross