Thank you for visiting my mission blog. I completed my missionary service in the Texas Houston East Mission on August 4, 2015. Please browse the postings and pictures from my mission.
Brendon Ressler
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
Lockwood - August 3, 2015
Here is my last blog post. Yeah, it's hard, but it needs to happen. I feel like I'm just getting transferred to a new area, so I'm excited. I really am sad to leave all of these great people, but right now I feel very optimistic, and now I'm going to have a good rest of my life :) The best part is that I get to see y'all again. I feel like it's been a very long time.
Yeah, I went on exchanges with Elder Woodruff and it was a blast. I was able to sell my bike so that's nice.
I'll see you guys tomorrow! I've got a ton of different emotions right now and I'm super excited to see you guys. I hope you know how much I love y'all! I'm so excited to talk with ya! Thanks for all of your support!
Love,
Elder Ressler
Yeah, I went on exchanges with Elder Woodruff and it was a blast. I was able to sell my bike so that's nice.
I'll see you guys tomorrow! I've got a ton of different emotions right now and I'm super excited to see you guys. I hope you know how much I love y'all! I'm so excited to talk with ya! Thanks for all of your support!
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, July 13, 2015
Lockwood - July 13, 2015
I remember reading about the Zoramites and how they basically walked in and out of their meetings after saying the same thing over and over again and then they wouldn't do anything else to worship God for the rest of the week. I kind of stopped and thought about how much I get out of the sacrament and church services. I've been trying to think more about the savior during sacrament and it's been helping a ton.
There are a few people that I've met on my mission that it would have been cool if they had just stopped talking. I haven't had a ton of bible bashes because after a while we just leave. It's fun.
Yeah I was sad to hear that President Packer died but it's good because I know that his health wasn't very good. I'm so grateful for all that he said in his talks and I was reading on lds.org and found this quote: "Home is the center of the Gospel-and my life. Of all the places in the world-and I've see some interesting and enticing ones-I'd rather be home than anywhere else". I thought he was an awesome guy and someone who really loved God and his family. Sad to see him go.
This week was one of the best of my mission! This last transfer I'm really putting everything in. We have been able to see a ton of miracles and I'm SO HAPPY! The first off is that we had two awesome investigators at church yesterday! One is the 15 year old brother of a member who is super cool! He's trying to get more faith in God and he has a date for the 1st of August The other is the girlfriend of a member returning from inactivity. They're awesome! Yesterday we fasted together to help them see if they want to get married or split up and it was awesome. One of the first things that he told us when we had a lesson is that he wants his little daughter to be sealed to him in the temple. I already love them a ton!
The Spirit is so central to everything that we do as missionaries. You can really feel the difference when the spirit is in a lesson. A couple of days ago we were teaching this lady and we asked her if she has ever felt the spirit and she told us about this time when she was struggling and she prayed and it felt like her grandfather who passed away was wrapping his arms around her. The spirit was incredibly strong! We could feel the entire atmosphere of the room change and it was an awesome experience.
These people are amazing and I wouldn't rather have gone anywhere else. I've really come to love this place and to me my mission is a sacred place. This place is always going to have a very special place in my heart.
Love,
Elder Ressler
There are a few people that I've met on my mission that it would have been cool if they had just stopped talking. I haven't had a ton of bible bashes because after a while we just leave. It's fun.
Yeah I was sad to hear that President Packer died but it's good because I know that his health wasn't very good. I'm so grateful for all that he said in his talks and I was reading on lds.org and found this quote: "Home is the center of the Gospel-and my life. Of all the places in the world-and I've see some interesting and enticing ones-I'd rather be home than anywhere else". I thought he was an awesome guy and someone who really loved God and his family. Sad to see him go.
This week was one of the best of my mission! This last transfer I'm really putting everything in. We have been able to see a ton of miracles and I'm SO HAPPY! The first off is that we had two awesome investigators at church yesterday! One is the 15 year old brother of a member who is super cool! He's trying to get more faith in God and he has a date for the 1st of August The other is the girlfriend of a member returning from inactivity. They're awesome! Yesterday we fasted together to help them see if they want to get married or split up and it was awesome. One of the first things that he told us when we had a lesson is that he wants his little daughter to be sealed to him in the temple. I already love them a ton!
The Spirit is so central to everything that we do as missionaries. You can really feel the difference when the spirit is in a lesson. A couple of days ago we were teaching this lady and we asked her if she has ever felt the spirit and she told us about this time when she was struggling and she prayed and it felt like her grandfather who passed away was wrapping his arms around her. The spirit was incredibly strong! We could feel the entire atmosphere of the room change and it was an awesome experience.
These people are amazing and I wouldn't rather have gone anywhere else. I've really come to love this place and to me my mission is a sacred place. This place is always going to have a very special place in my heart.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, July 6, 2015
Lockwood - July 6, 2015
I'm doing great! This week was awesome! I really enjoyed it and we saw a lot of miracles . We talked to the most people I've talked to in my whole mission and we found a ton of new investigators. Elder Harker is doing a good. We're having a blast. It's been really hot here but it's okay I'm getting used to it.
This fourth of July was pretty great. They needed us to go in at 8 and it was a definite no to fireworks. It was cool though. We went with Elder Woodruff and Elder Strong out to lunch.
I was very sad to hear that president packer passed away. That's really tough to hear that we have had 2 pass away in the last few weeks. I'm going to miss hearing from them.
That's awesome that Harrison is going to the temple! I remember that the day I was there I felt something telling me that I didn't want to go but when I went in I felt this incredible feeling of peace. I love going to the temple and want to go just about every week when I get back. I'm super excited to go with him a few times and also to go to YSA with him.
Just so you know I had my backpack give out on me this last week. The zippers broke and there was a hole in the bottom and the other Elders said it smelled super bad so I was pretty much forced to get one from Wal-Mart and it turns out it is super nice and I got it at a great price.
Yeah Elder Woodruff will probably be there as well as a few of my other friends. It's weird exiting my mission so close to the friends I've made on my mission. I'm going to go on exchanges with Elder Strong this next week and then our last Saturday Elder Woodruff and I are going on another. It's going to be super cool :)
Thanks so much for your support. There have been many times that I've felt like you were praying for me and I'm sure that it's true.
I've had a lot of people give me souvenirs. Honestly the best birthday present will be to go home and see y'all two weeks later.
Your mole is probably pretty close to the same. It's chicken with a sauce on it right? I could eat that stuff all the time. Now all of the members know that I like it so they always make it for us. I'm in heaven!
Yeah it's come so fast! I'm really excited but I'm really sad too. It's going to be crazy but I'm really excited to see y'all.
Love,
Elder Ressler
This fourth of July was pretty great. They needed us to go in at 8 and it was a definite no to fireworks. It was cool though. We went with Elder Woodruff and Elder Strong out to lunch.
I was very sad to hear that president packer passed away. That's really tough to hear that we have had 2 pass away in the last few weeks. I'm going to miss hearing from them.
That's awesome that Harrison is going to the temple! I remember that the day I was there I felt something telling me that I didn't want to go but when I went in I felt this incredible feeling of peace. I love going to the temple and want to go just about every week when I get back. I'm super excited to go with him a few times and also to go to YSA with him.
Just so you know I had my backpack give out on me this last week. The zippers broke and there was a hole in the bottom and the other Elders said it smelled super bad so I was pretty much forced to get one from Wal-Mart and it turns out it is super nice and I got it at a great price.
Yeah Elder Woodruff will probably be there as well as a few of my other friends. It's weird exiting my mission so close to the friends I've made on my mission. I'm going to go on exchanges with Elder Strong this next week and then our last Saturday Elder Woodruff and I are going on another. It's going to be super cool :)
Thanks so much for your support. There have been many times that I've felt like you were praying for me and I'm sure that it's true.
I've had a lot of people give me souvenirs. Honestly the best birthday present will be to go home and see y'all two weeks later.
Your mole is probably pretty close to the same. It's chicken with a sauce on it right? I could eat that stuff all the time. Now all of the members know that I like it so they always make it for us. I'm in heaven!
Yeah it's come so fast! I'm really excited but I'm really sad too. It's going to be crazy but I'm really excited to see y'all.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, June 29, 2015
Lockwood - June 29, 2015
Yeah it's really interesting to see how we learn from other people by their examples. You figure that out when you're a missionary. It's kind of hard to miss 2 white guys in shirts and ties on bikes. There are a few missionaries that do stupid stuff and people notice it. Lately we've been hearing some stories about missionaries that would do stupid stuff and then put it out on face book. It's pretty lame because they seem like they are just out to have fun. It's no bueno. We have a bigger impact on people than we think.
I love all the pictures you guys have been sending! That's cool you guys went boating! I don't think I've ever seen mom go.
It's always really strange to see different wards. I've seen a lot of differences between the wards I've been in just because everyone has a different feel. Broadway 2 had a really social feel. Galena Park had a lot of really strong members that kept the ward going and it was amazing to see. It gave me an idea of what kind of person I want to be after my mission. Cleveland Spanish Branch was very tight knit. Once they get to know you it's like you're part of the family. There are a lot of older people here in Broadway 3 and the members remind me a lot of the Galena Park ward. There are a lot of really strong members and it's helping to prepare me for after my mission.
That's cool that you got to see so many missionaries. I love being one and I'm going to miss being on my mission when I leave.
This week was great! My new companion is Elder Harker. He's a really hard worker and a great guy. This week we talked to TONS of people! I'm really giving it my all this last transfer. I don't want to get home and feel like I slacked off. We had this great lesson with an investigator who's been listening to missionaries for 3 years. We showed him the Because of Him video and he loved it! The spirit was really strong.
We saw a lot of crazy stuff lately. The first full day of the transfer we saw a dog get run over and it scared me for life. We've met a lot of really funny people though.
Here it has been pretty hot. We've had some rain too so it's really humid. I heard that today is supposed to be 82% humidity.
The work is going well! It's been kind of tough because of all the changes that have been going on but we've got a lot of ideas about what we want to do this transfer and we are going to try and figure this all out.
Love,
Elder Ressler
I love all the pictures you guys have been sending! That's cool you guys went boating! I don't think I've ever seen mom go.
It's always really strange to see different wards. I've seen a lot of differences between the wards I've been in just because everyone has a different feel. Broadway 2 had a really social feel. Galena Park had a lot of really strong members that kept the ward going and it was amazing to see. It gave me an idea of what kind of person I want to be after my mission. Cleveland Spanish Branch was very tight knit. Once they get to know you it's like you're part of the family. There are a lot of older people here in Broadway 3 and the members remind me a lot of the Galena Park ward. There are a lot of really strong members and it's helping to prepare me for after my mission.
That's cool that you got to see so many missionaries. I love being one and I'm going to miss being on my mission when I leave.
This week was great! My new companion is Elder Harker. He's a really hard worker and a great guy. This week we talked to TONS of people! I'm really giving it my all this last transfer. I don't want to get home and feel like I slacked off. We had this great lesson with an investigator who's been listening to missionaries for 3 years. We showed him the Because of Him video and he loved it! The spirit was really strong.
We saw a lot of crazy stuff lately. The first full day of the transfer we saw a dog get run over and it scared me for life. We've met a lot of really funny people though.
Here it has been pretty hot. We've had some rain too so it's really humid. I heard that today is supposed to be 82% humidity.
The work is going well! It's been kind of tough because of all the changes that have been going on but we've got a lot of ideas about what we want to do this transfer and we are going to try and figure this all out.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, June 22, 2015
Lockwood - June 22, 2015
This week was great! I learned a ton! We talked a lot about how to baptize and how to work with members. I've got a lot of great ideas for this next transfer.
That's awesome that you guys are have such a great time in Pennsylvania! I love visiting all of the church sites. I definitely feel like what Newel K Whitney said is true. I read a talk this week by a seventy who said that when he was called to be stake president he looked at all of the pictures of the past ones and said that he was not in their league. He told the General Authority that and he expected some reassurance but instead he just said. "You're right you can't do it. But the Lord can". That's totally true.
Yeah Elder Danielson is going home tomorrow!!!!! This has been the fastest transfer yet and I've heard the last is the fastest. I LOVED spending my time with him. We have a list of like 30 movie marathons we want to do when he comes to Utah to go to BYU. I loved being comps with him.
Nah looks like I'll be spending 5 transfers (7 1/2 months) in Lockwood now renamed the University of Lockwood because it was combined with the University of Houston area. Long time but I wanted to stay and finish up here. I'm going to be in the same district with Elder Woodruff and Elder Strong which is funny because we started in the same district and now we're dying in same one (except for Strong...Hopefully it won't be too hard for him) I really wish he could go home with us but I guess the Lord said otherwise.
Love ya,
Elder Ressler
That's awesome that you guys are have such a great time in Pennsylvania! I love visiting all of the church sites. I definitely feel like what Newel K Whitney said is true. I read a talk this week by a seventy who said that when he was called to be stake president he looked at all of the pictures of the past ones and said that he was not in their league. He told the General Authority that and he expected some reassurance but instead he just said. "You're right you can't do it. But the Lord can". That's totally true.
Yeah Elder Danielson is going home tomorrow!!!!! This has been the fastest transfer yet and I've heard the last is the fastest. I LOVED spending my time with him. We have a list of like 30 movie marathons we want to do when he comes to Utah to go to BYU. I loved being comps with him.
Nah looks like I'll be spending 5 transfers (7 1/2 months) in Lockwood now renamed the University of Lockwood because it was combined with the University of Houston area. Long time but I wanted to stay and finish up here. I'm going to be in the same district with Elder Woodruff and Elder Strong which is funny because we started in the same district and now we're dying in same one (except for Strong...Hopefully it won't be too hard for him) I really wish he could go home with us but I guess the Lord said otherwise.
Love ya,
Elder Ressler
Monday, June 15, 2015
Lockwood - June 15, 2015
I was thinking a lot about Fatherhood and the priesthood side of it. I remember mom saying that one of the reason's she chose you to marry was because you were someone who honored your priesthood. Thanks for always being a great example to me. I loved that talk last General Conference about Fatherhood and the silver dollar. A lot of times we don't see it as a priesthood responsibility. Thanks a ton for everything. All of the lessons that you have taught me and all of the time that you have spent with me. I'm so excited to see you again. I have so much I want to talk to you about. I feel like I've learned a ton about the priesthood and the kind of person that I want to be for the rest of my life. I don't know if you have seen the Mormon message Earthly Father, Heavenly Father but it's my favorite. I've seen a lot of different types of fathers on my mission. Some good some bad. I've seen what happens when we don't live the gospel and so now I really know for sure that I want to live it the rest of my life.
It's hard for us Spanish elders because practically everything in the Hispanic diet is not good for you. I love it though :)
This summer has been HOT! It's fine though :) I'm loving it. You just get to a point where it doesn't matter anymore. We've been drinking a lot of water and you just get used to it. I've been here for a long time so it's whatever.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Ressler
It's hard for us Spanish elders because practically everything in the Hispanic diet is not good for you. I love it though :)
This summer has been HOT! It's fine though :) I'm loving it. You just get to a point where it doesn't matter anymore. We've been drinking a lot of water and you just get used to it. I've been here for a long time so it's whatever.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, June 8, 2015
Lockwood - June 8, 2015
This week was great! We worked super hard and are really tired. It's pretty funny being with all of these other older missionaries because we all seem a little worn out but we are holding on don't worry :) I love being able to be around such great missionaries. I'm a lucky guy.
I went to a leadership meeting on Tuesday and it was strange because I realized I don't know very many people anymore. I went on exchanges with Elder Woodruff on Wednesday and that was cool to catch up with him. I told him that we need to figure it out so that we go on exchanges a couple weeks before we go home. It's pretty cool to be around all of my buddies on the mission. I don't get to see some but I love being with the ones around me right now. I love being with Elder Danielson because we get to keep each other in check. Sometimes I'll catch him just staring off into space (thinking about home) and I get to tease him but also he does the same for me. We have a blast.
On Saturday we were able to paint one of our neighbor's walkways so that was cool.
I'm trying to stay as focused as possible during these last few months. I'm figuring out what I want to work on during the time that I have left. Mostly I just want to help out as many people as I can.
Don't worry I think that I'm fine on everything. Some of the seams on my clothes are falling apart but I'm learning how to sew better and there is a nice lady in the ward who is helping me so I think that I should be fine. If anything I think that everything should last for the last 2 months.
I've really seen a lot of blessings on my mission. It's been awesome and I know that I am where I should be. I've learned a lot about who I am on my mission. I've seen a lot of my strengths and weaknesses (They're pretty easy to find out on the mission). It's been incredible.
One of our investigators is in Monterrey Mexico but they should be coming back soon and hopefully he gets baptized. These last 8 weeks I've made a lot of goals of how I want my mission to end. I just want to be as prepared for the rest of my life as I can. Everything is up to Heavenly Father but I'm going to do my best to figure out what he wants me to do.
I love the priesthood a lot. I've given a lot of blessings and I've seen a lot of miracles. It's very humbling to give a blessing.
Yeah this mission has been an amazing experience for me. I'm definitely going to remember it for the rest of my life.
Love,
Elder Ressler
I went to a leadership meeting on Tuesday and it was strange because I realized I don't know very many people anymore. I went on exchanges with Elder Woodruff on Wednesday and that was cool to catch up with him. I told him that we need to figure it out so that we go on exchanges a couple weeks before we go home. It's pretty cool to be around all of my buddies on the mission. I don't get to see some but I love being with the ones around me right now. I love being with Elder Danielson because we get to keep each other in check. Sometimes I'll catch him just staring off into space (thinking about home) and I get to tease him but also he does the same for me. We have a blast.
On Saturday we were able to paint one of our neighbor's walkways so that was cool.
I'm trying to stay as focused as possible during these last few months. I'm figuring out what I want to work on during the time that I have left. Mostly I just want to help out as many people as I can.
Don't worry I think that I'm fine on everything. Some of the seams on my clothes are falling apart but I'm learning how to sew better and there is a nice lady in the ward who is helping me so I think that I should be fine. If anything I think that everything should last for the last 2 months.
I've really seen a lot of blessings on my mission. It's been awesome and I know that I am where I should be. I've learned a lot about who I am on my mission. I've seen a lot of my strengths and weaknesses (They're pretty easy to find out on the mission). It's been incredible.
One of our investigators is in Monterrey Mexico but they should be coming back soon and hopefully he gets baptized. These last 8 weeks I've made a lot of goals of how I want my mission to end. I just want to be as prepared for the rest of my life as I can. Everything is up to Heavenly Father but I'm going to do my best to figure out what he wants me to do.
I love the priesthood a lot. I've given a lot of blessings and I've seen a lot of miracles. It's very humbling to give a blessing.
Yeah this mission has been an amazing experience for me. I'm definitely going to remember it for the rest of my life.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Lockwood - May 27, 2015
It's kind of weird because we are both going home super soon but we are able to stabilize each other out so we don't get too trunky. Yeah the way everything is lining up I will be super surprised if I get transferred because we started up a pretty new area (they combined University of Houston and Lockwood to make what I call University of Lockwood) and Elder Danielson goes home at the end of the transfer so they will want to keep me here. I'm pretty sure that I'm in my last area and down to my last two companions.
I know of a couple people flying in with me to SLC (one of them being Elder Woodruff) so that will be cool.
Wow sounds like we are going to have an awesome garden this year. I'm excited to see the tree and I'm SUPER EXCITED about the Habanera plant. We'll have to be careful though. That stuff is super spicy.
We weren't able to email on Monday because of Memorial Day and then yesterday all of the schools and Libraries were closed because of flooding. It didn't really hit our side very bad at all. In fact we didn't even know it was that bad just that there was a lot of water in the ditches but in the South West part of the city it's flooded pretty bad.
Elder Danielson and I are having a great time! He's a super cool guy and we get along great! This last week was a little rough because we had a hard time getting in contact with our investigators. We decided that we needed to tract and so we pretty much spent all of Friday and Saturday tracting. For pretty much the entire time we didn't have any luck but Saturday evening we met this guy who told us to come back on Sunday. When we showed up the next day we taught him a great lesson and the spirit was super strong! We are going to go back soon and I'll let you know what happens.
I can help y'all out a lot when I get back! My advice is to just focus on the basics. Have a waterproof jacket. Eccos have really worked for me. As far as music I've been able to acquire a really good list of approved music so I'll hook him up when he gets home. As for dogs the thing was helpful but if not you just learn some tricks and you'll be fine. As for the bike, I've had problems my whole mission with cheap rims. Right now I have a really nice one that is super strong and I can send it to his mission if he would like it. The bike itself is not the nicest but I can fix it up if he would like to have it too. Don't worry too much. I can help him out later and I'm going to give him my GPS for when he is in a car area. Also our mission is finally getting ipads these next few weeks. We just had a mission wide conference explaining it so I can hook him up with that too. Kind of cool because everything is lining up in my mission so that I can go home and help him out. Trying to figure out how to help him out is keeping me sane too so I guess it's a win win situation.
Love you,
Elder Ressler
I know of a couple people flying in with me to SLC (one of them being Elder Woodruff) so that will be cool.
Wow sounds like we are going to have an awesome garden this year. I'm excited to see the tree and I'm SUPER EXCITED about the Habanera plant. We'll have to be careful though. That stuff is super spicy.
We weren't able to email on Monday because of Memorial Day and then yesterday all of the schools and Libraries were closed because of flooding. It didn't really hit our side very bad at all. In fact we didn't even know it was that bad just that there was a lot of water in the ditches but in the South West part of the city it's flooded pretty bad.
Elder Danielson and I are having a great time! He's a super cool guy and we get along great! This last week was a little rough because we had a hard time getting in contact with our investigators. We decided that we needed to tract and so we pretty much spent all of Friday and Saturday tracting. For pretty much the entire time we didn't have any luck but Saturday evening we met this guy who told us to come back on Sunday. When we showed up the next day we taught him a great lesson and the spirit was super strong! We are going to go back soon and I'll let you know what happens.
I can help y'all out a lot when I get back! My advice is to just focus on the basics. Have a waterproof jacket. Eccos have really worked for me. As far as music I've been able to acquire a really good list of approved music so I'll hook him up when he gets home. As for dogs the thing was helpful but if not you just learn some tricks and you'll be fine. As for the bike, I've had problems my whole mission with cheap rims. Right now I have a really nice one that is super strong and I can send it to his mission if he would like it. The bike itself is not the nicest but I can fix it up if he would like to have it too. Don't worry too much. I can help him out later and I'm going to give him my GPS for when he is in a car area. Also our mission is finally getting ipads these next few weeks. We just had a mission wide conference explaining it so I can hook him up with that too. Kind of cool because everything is lining up in my mission so that I can go home and help him out. Trying to figure out how to help him out is keeping me sane too so I guess it's a win win situation.
Love you,
Elder Ressler
Monday, May 18, 2015
Lockwood - May 18, 2015
That's great that you had dinner with my missionary trainer! I love that guy! He really helped me to set the tone for my mission and I was so blessed to be his companion.
Yeah just so you know I have gone crazy over spicy stuff. I can't eat food without it. My favorite kind of pepper is a Habanera. I've eaten one plain before and it was awesome even though I got wrecked.
So about my new companion. On the mission you have a lot of friends that you are around but you never to get to be companions with. There's this one guy who I have always gotten along with really well and we were on exchanges the Friday before transfers and we were talking about how we never got to be companions. Then we got called up and we were super shocked. There was pretty much no chance that I was going to be with him because he had already been in the district and he had gotten a call that he was going to be transferred. Also he is older than me in the mission so we thought that I was going to be put with a younger missionary. He is from Santa Monica. CA and this will be his last transfer. It's been a ton of fun this last week and it's going to be a great transfer! He went to BYU for a year before he went on his mission. He likes a lot of the things that I like and we've always been friends and so it's cool that we get to be companions!
Spiritual impressions can be sometimes really hard to hear but that's why we always have to be in tune with it and then if we are always ready to hear it, we will. I love to go to the temple! It's incredible to be able to go every couple of months.
So our mission president is focusing a lot right now on getting the mindset to baptize. It was good because we had interviews with him a couple of weeks ago and I have a lot of respect for him. In personal study I study a lot for the district but I just try to study for my investigators. What I like doing best in district meetings is to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and talk about a certain principle. I like that book a lot.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Yeah just so you know I have gone crazy over spicy stuff. I can't eat food without it. My favorite kind of pepper is a Habanera. I've eaten one plain before and it was awesome even though I got wrecked.
So about my new companion. On the mission you have a lot of friends that you are around but you never to get to be companions with. There's this one guy who I have always gotten along with really well and we were on exchanges the Friday before transfers and we were talking about how we never got to be companions. Then we got called up and we were super shocked. There was pretty much no chance that I was going to be with him because he had already been in the district and he had gotten a call that he was going to be transferred. Also he is older than me in the mission so we thought that I was going to be put with a younger missionary. He is from Santa Monica. CA and this will be his last transfer. It's been a ton of fun this last week and it's going to be a great transfer! He went to BYU for a year before he went on his mission. He likes a lot of the things that I like and we've always been friends and so it's cool that we get to be companions!
Spiritual impressions can be sometimes really hard to hear but that's why we always have to be in tune with it and then if we are always ready to hear it, we will. I love to go to the temple! It's incredible to be able to go every couple of months.
So our mission president is focusing a lot right now on getting the mindset to baptize. It was good because we had interviews with him a couple of weeks ago and I have a lot of respect for him. In personal study I study a lot for the district but I just try to study for my investigators. What I like doing best in district meetings is to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and talk about a certain principle. I like that book a lot.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, May 11, 2015
Lockwood - May 11, 2015
I loved talking with y'all and I'm so grateful that I have such an awesome family! You guys are going to go crazy because I have a lot of stuff that I want to do in Spanish when I get home so you'll just have to be patient with me!
(Transfers) We kind of had a curve ball thrown at us because we were just about all packed up when we got a call saying that we are staying in the same apartment and the other guys are moving. It's all right though we don't mind too bad. I'll let you know who my new companion is next week!
Yeah I think that it will go by really quick. I am just going to keep going and keep working. That's what will keep me sane I think. Yeah I keep trying to remember that I am still in the middle of my mission. It's helping. I think the only thing that helps is tracting.
Love,
Elder Ressler
(Transfers) We kind of had a curve ball thrown at us because we were just about all packed up when we got a call saying that we are staying in the same apartment and the other guys are moving. It's all right though we don't mind too bad. I'll let you know who my new companion is next week!
Yeah I think that it will go by really quick. I am just going to keep going and keep working. That's what will keep me sane I think. Yeah I keep trying to remember that I am still in the middle of my mission. It's helping. I think the only thing that helps is tracting.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, May 4, 2015
Lockwood - May 4, 2015
It's going great! This week was awesome! This week is the week that Elder Wilder gets to lead out and he did great!
I'm super excited for Harrison! He's going to be an awesome missionary. I've only got a little while left but it still seems so far away. My mission means so much to me and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
If we are not careful in even the little things than it will be easier for us to mess up in the big things.
I am super happy that you guys did family council and FHE. I know that it made a huge difference. I really want to do that when I am older and I know that it will make a huge difference in my life and the life of my future family.
Yeah so transfers are coming up on Wednesday and I will be able to talk to you on Sunday and let you know if I'm heading out or not (though I'm pretty sure that I am)
Our investigators are doing pretty well. We are working with this one great family. The mom is a member and her husband is investigating. He seems like he's got a sincere desire.
I'm going to keep this a little short because I know that I'll get to talk to you this weekend! I'll probably be calling in the evening around 7. It'll be great to hear from you guys.
Love ya!
Elder Ressler
I'm super excited for Harrison! He's going to be an awesome missionary. I've only got a little while left but it still seems so far away. My mission means so much to me and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
If we are not careful in even the little things than it will be easier for us to mess up in the big things.
I am super happy that you guys did family council and FHE. I know that it made a huge difference. I really want to do that when I am older and I know that it will make a huge difference in my life and the life of my future family.
Yeah so transfers are coming up on Wednesday and I will be able to talk to you on Sunday and let you know if I'm heading out or not (though I'm pretty sure that I am)
Our investigators are doing pretty well. We are working with this one great family. The mom is a member and her husband is investigating. He seems like he's got a sincere desire.
I'm going to keep this a little short because I know that I'll get to talk to you this weekend! I'll probably be calling in the evening around 7. It'll be great to hear from you guys.
Love ya!
Elder Ressler
Monday, April 20, 2015
Lockwood - April 20, 2015
We are seeing some real success in our area. We are just working really hard on finding people. We have a couple dates coming up and I will let you know what happens. Elder Wilder and I had a lot of fun biking home in the rain these last couple of days. I'd say every day in the evening it started to pour but we had a lot of fun with it.
The bike is doing really well. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my old bike and I might have to sell what I can to other missionaries. I'll let you know what happens. The other bike I have is doing fine though. It's in really good shape and I don't think I'll have any axels broken. It was sad, I was talking with another missionary who has been breaking a lot of axels too and I could totally feel for him.
What?! That's great! I'm so happy that Harrison sent in his papers! That's so exciting! Let me know where he goes. I'm hoping Spanish speaking but I guess that we will see. I remember that these were some pretty nerve wracking weeks. I know that wherever he goes will be where he is meant to go. What the greatest thing is about getting your call is that you feel like that is the place you are supposed to go.
Yeah I think that it is really strange to think of him going on a mission. I really know that it will be an amazing experience. I think that he will do great!. I'm happy that he is going to mission prep. I feel like the best thing to prepare anyone for a mission is just to have a strong testimony and to not be afraid of change. A lot of people get worried because they don't know exactly what is going on and it is not what they are used to. Really the "I'm just going to have fun with it" is the best mentality to have but to always remember that you are on the Lord's errand. I've learned a lot on my mission and it hasn't always been easy but it has always been worth it. I definitely have come closer to my Savior more on my mission than at any other point in my life.
I will be coming home in August. Still pretty far away but I feel like it's going by really fast which is good and bad because I love being a missionary!
I think that this summer is going to be a hot one so pray for us! Yeah we did go to the temple. Honestly going to the temple is a huge battery charger. I love it and will probably go a lot after I get home.
Love,
Elder Ressler
The bike is doing really well. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my old bike and I might have to sell what I can to other missionaries. I'll let you know what happens. The other bike I have is doing fine though. It's in really good shape and I don't think I'll have any axels broken. It was sad, I was talking with another missionary who has been breaking a lot of axels too and I could totally feel for him.
What?! That's great! I'm so happy that Harrison sent in his papers! That's so exciting! Let me know where he goes. I'm hoping Spanish speaking but I guess that we will see. I remember that these were some pretty nerve wracking weeks. I know that wherever he goes will be where he is meant to go. What the greatest thing is about getting your call is that you feel like that is the place you are supposed to go.
Yeah I think that it is really strange to think of him going on a mission. I really know that it will be an amazing experience. I think that he will do great!. I'm happy that he is going to mission prep. I feel like the best thing to prepare anyone for a mission is just to have a strong testimony and to not be afraid of change. A lot of people get worried because they don't know exactly what is going on and it is not what they are used to. Really the "I'm just going to have fun with it" is the best mentality to have but to always remember that you are on the Lord's errand. I've learned a lot on my mission and it hasn't always been easy but it has always been worth it. I definitely have come closer to my Savior more on my mission than at any other point in my life.
I will be coming home in August. Still pretty far away but I feel like it's going by really fast which is good and bad because I love being a missionary!
I think that this summer is going to be a hot one so pray for us! Yeah we did go to the temple. Honestly going to the temple is a huge battery charger. I love it and will probably go a lot after I get home.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, April 6, 2015
Lockwood - April 6, 2015
This week was a great week! We were able to see a ton of miracles. We were able to get back in contact with a lot of our investigators.
Right now we are having a really great time in Lockwood. I really love being with Elder Wilder and it's fun to see all of the changes that happened this last week. So right now in the District we have Elder Strong, Elder Woodruff, Elder Wilder and me, Elder Danielson (really good friend of mine), Elder Heath (the only other son of central besides me), and Hermanas Johnson, Davies, and Rogers. We have a great district and it has been really fun so far.
I loved conference! I thought that it was one of the best ones that I've ever watched. I really thought that the talks were super powerful. Some of my favorites were Elder Holland's, President Uchtdorf's, President Monson's but in the end they were all amazing. I'm going to download the talks and I will have to listen to them throughout the week. I especially love all of the talks about family. It really got me thinking how grateful I am to have such an amazing family.
It was super great and we heard some very powerful testimonies this General Conference. I really am so thankful for a living prophet and I know that they are all inspired men. I thought it was funny how you can see that each person has a sense of humor.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Right now we are having a really great time in Lockwood. I really love being with Elder Wilder and it's fun to see all of the changes that happened this last week. So right now in the District we have Elder Strong, Elder Woodruff, Elder Wilder and me, Elder Danielson (really good friend of mine), Elder Heath (the only other son of central besides me), and Hermanas Johnson, Davies, and Rogers. We have a great district and it has been really fun so far.
I loved conference! I thought that it was one of the best ones that I've ever watched. I really thought that the talks were super powerful. Some of my favorites were Elder Holland's, President Uchtdorf's, President Monson's but in the end they were all amazing. I'm going to download the talks and I will have to listen to them throughout the week. I especially love all of the talks about family. It really got me thinking how grateful I am to have such an amazing family.
It was super great and we heard some very powerful testimonies this General Conference. I really am so thankful for a living prophet and I know that they are all inspired men. I thought it was funny how you can see that each person has a sense of humor.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, March 30, 2015
Lockwood - March 30, 2015
I'm doing great! We had a really great week this week and I really feel like I'm starting to understand how to do missionary work. Kind of funny but I think it's just because there is always something to improve on right? We were able to have an investigator come to church this week! I was so excited! I think he really enjoyed it. He has so much potential he just doesn't really know if it is true yet.
I really do enjoy Fast Sundays because I get to really ponder on things. We were also able to go to a baptism this Sunday and it was super great because I got to see an Hermana who was in my district last transfer. She's super cool. We also had the stake president come and talk to us about Scouting and the importance of it and why the church uses it so much. He said that the reason why is because it is very hard for boys to get a testimony of something when they are distracted by technology. You get them out into the woods and wear them down and then you can really help them to feel the spirit. It was really interesting. I really love Scouting. It made me happy because they asked all of the Eagle Scouts to stand up and the other Elders and I all stood up. Kind interesting how many people who get their Eagle go on missions.
That's awesome that Harrison is asking questions when he teaches! Honestly the best way is to just role play. It's a little strange at first but you just roll with it. It's a super important skill that can help a ton in the mission. Focusing on questions that make people think. I'm sure Harrison is going to be a fantastic missionary and I'm very excited for him! I'm sure that Jacob is hoping that he'll go Polish but I'm totally hoping he goes Spanish. Watch he'll be going to Germany or something.
Yeah I am super stoked for conference. It's going to be awesome. I remember there was a goofy rumor going around the mission at the beginning of my mission that they were going to extend the missions of everyone to three years. It was super funny when it didn't happen.
Training is going good. It's a little stressful sometimes. If I could have chosen I would have just been a regular missionary when I trained because I have to put the majority of my focus on the district. It's all right though. It's different from just being senior companion because now I have to help him learn how to really be a missionary. It's fun though.
So a couple cool experiences this week but I'll make it pretty brief. About a week ago we met this El Salvadoran man. He came to church this Sunday! It was super great! He even stayed for a baptism!
We also had a luau on Thursday which was super fun. Elder Wilder and I did the Hakka and I think that I did better than last time. Everyone said that they were surprised because I sounded like a Tongan. I lost my voice after though.
Love,
Elder Ressler
I really do enjoy Fast Sundays because I get to really ponder on things. We were also able to go to a baptism this Sunday and it was super great because I got to see an Hermana who was in my district last transfer. She's super cool. We also had the stake president come and talk to us about Scouting and the importance of it and why the church uses it so much. He said that the reason why is because it is very hard for boys to get a testimony of something when they are distracted by technology. You get them out into the woods and wear them down and then you can really help them to feel the spirit. It was really interesting. I really love Scouting. It made me happy because they asked all of the Eagle Scouts to stand up and the other Elders and I all stood up. Kind interesting how many people who get their Eagle go on missions.
That's awesome that Harrison is asking questions when he teaches! Honestly the best way is to just role play. It's a little strange at first but you just roll with it. It's a super important skill that can help a ton in the mission. Focusing on questions that make people think. I'm sure Harrison is going to be a fantastic missionary and I'm very excited for him! I'm sure that Jacob is hoping that he'll go Polish but I'm totally hoping he goes Spanish. Watch he'll be going to Germany or something.
Yeah I am super stoked for conference. It's going to be awesome. I remember there was a goofy rumor going around the mission at the beginning of my mission that they were going to extend the missions of everyone to three years. It was super funny when it didn't happen.
Training is going good. It's a little stressful sometimes. If I could have chosen I would have just been a regular missionary when I trained because I have to put the majority of my focus on the district. It's all right though. It's different from just being senior companion because now I have to help him learn how to really be a missionary. It's fun though.
So a couple cool experiences this week but I'll make it pretty brief. About a week ago we met this El Salvadoran man. He came to church this Sunday! It was super great! He even stayed for a baptism!
We also had a luau on Thursday which was super fun. Elder Wilder and I did the Hakka and I think that I did better than last time. Everyone said that they were surprised because I sounded like a Tongan. I lost my voice after though.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, March 23, 2015
Lockwood - March 23, 2013
This week was fantastic! We were able to find a lot of people and had a lot of crazy experiences! It was a long week but it was a good week! Elder Wilder is doing great! He's a great guy. Investigators are doing great! I really love being a district leader. It's a lot of fun. Elder Ek texted us on Friday and we went to a great place called Whataburger! It's funny because the first time I had it was with him and we didn't know what to get so we got a plain hamburger and we didn't think it was super good. Then later we found out it's amazing! I loved talking with him. He's a great guy and everything seems to be going well. I had forgotten a lot about the things that had happened to us when I was being trained but just being with him brought back a lot of memories. Something I always liked about him was he was always really optimistic and really calm about things. I look up to him a ton. It was funny because when they were dropping us off we said goodbye and that we'd see him in four months and then he showed up on Sunday at stake conference. We got a great posterity picture too so I'll have to send it to you. That's awesome that you learned how to make Hawaiian sushi. Is it spam, rice, and seaweed wrap? It's good stuff!
Man sounds like the stake is getting really missionary minded which is awesome! That's really cool. I bet that it is getting everyone really excited about missionary work. We just had stake conference here and the last one that I went to we were all about missionary work and right now they are talking a lot about strengthening the family which is great. We had a lot of amazing talks and I think that it was awesome. I didn't really appreciate a lot of the things that the church has until I became a missionary. I'm really happy to be here. This week we had some guy trying to bash with us. Still lately I've been having a lot of great opportunities to bear my testimony about Joseph Smith and I really do know that he was called to be a prophet. I think that my mission is helping a lot. So we had a lot of crazy stuff happy this week that I thought I'd tell y'all about. 1. We were walking and we got called over by some drunk guys and it turns out this guy has a real strong desire to stop drinking. His son is also a former investigator so that's pretty cool. 2. We talked to this guy who was on his doorstep and he had us talk with his friend who turns out to be interested. He lost his leg in an accident, had two strokes, and forgot his Spanish so he is relearning it. 3.We saw a guy who was riding his bike with his dog slung over his shoulder. 4.Elder Wilder tried to jump a foot gap in the side walk and got a flat. 5.We had a zone conference and got something called a tiwi which monitors car speeds and should be getting iPads in a few months.
I have had a great time on my mission. I keep on thinking back to before my mission and I realize that I've changed a lot. I definitely know that this church is true.
Love
Elder Ressler
Man sounds like the stake is getting really missionary minded which is awesome! That's really cool. I bet that it is getting everyone really excited about missionary work. We just had stake conference here and the last one that I went to we were all about missionary work and right now they are talking a lot about strengthening the family which is great. We had a lot of amazing talks and I think that it was awesome. I didn't really appreciate a lot of the things that the church has until I became a missionary. I'm really happy to be here. This week we had some guy trying to bash with us. Still lately I've been having a lot of great opportunities to bear my testimony about Joseph Smith and I really do know that he was called to be a prophet. I think that my mission is helping a lot. So we had a lot of crazy stuff happy this week that I thought I'd tell y'all about. 1. We were walking and we got called over by some drunk guys and it turns out this guy has a real strong desire to stop drinking. His son is also a former investigator so that's pretty cool. 2. We talked to this guy who was on his doorstep and he had us talk with his friend who turns out to be interested. He lost his leg in an accident, had two strokes, and forgot his Spanish so he is relearning it. 3.We saw a guy who was riding his bike with his dog slung over his shoulder. 4.Elder Wilder tried to jump a foot gap in the side walk and got a flat. 5.We had a zone conference and got something called a tiwi which monitors car speeds and should be getting iPads in a few months.
I have had a great time on my mission. I keep on thinking back to before my mission and I realize that I've changed a lot. I definitely know that this church is true.
Love
Elder Ressler
Monday, March 16, 2015
Lockwood - March 16, 2015
This week was great! I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Strong and we had new missionary training which was fun.
Elder Wilder is doing great! I'm really enjoying my time with Elder Wilder. We are getting along really well. I'm super excited for Elder Ek to come and hopefully we can get a posterity photo. That would be really cool. Our investigators are doing really well and we are just finding a lot. We met this great guy from Honduras and I can see him having some potential.
We see a lot of family problems out here. Tons of people who don't talk to their family members or who have siblings that struggle. I'm so happy that I was born into such a tight knit family.
Bike is doing really well. It's not like a brand new bike but it works really well and I'm hoping to get my other one fixed up really soon.
It's kind of weird being a missionary because we get to know the bishops and leadership pretty well. The Denver Harbor Elders usually get super tight with the Galena Park ward's bishop he's one of my favorite members. Our Bishop here is pretty great but it's different because he doesn't really have much communication with the missionaries. Mostly we talk with the ward mission leader which probably is how it should be anyways.
Yeah I'm getting down to the end of the mission. Just before we came here to email I was talking with Elder Monson (no relation by the way) who is a little further along in the mission and he told me that I'm at the point where I decide if I'm going to be trunky or not. I decided that I'm tired but I still want to do my best with the time I have left.
Love you tons!
Elder Ressler
Elder Wilder is doing great! I'm really enjoying my time with Elder Wilder. We are getting along really well. I'm super excited for Elder Ek to come and hopefully we can get a posterity photo. That would be really cool. Our investigators are doing really well and we are just finding a lot. We met this great guy from Honduras and I can see him having some potential.
We see a lot of family problems out here. Tons of people who don't talk to their family members or who have siblings that struggle. I'm so happy that I was born into such a tight knit family.
Bike is doing really well. It's not like a brand new bike but it works really well and I'm hoping to get my other one fixed up really soon.
It's kind of weird being a missionary because we get to know the bishops and leadership pretty well. The Denver Harbor Elders usually get super tight with the Galena Park ward's bishop he's one of my favorite members. Our Bishop here is pretty great but it's different because he doesn't really have much communication with the missionaries. Mostly we talk with the ward mission leader which probably is how it should be anyways.
Yeah I'm getting down to the end of the mission. Just before we came here to email I was talking with Elder Monson (no relation by the way) who is a little further along in the mission and he told me that I'm at the point where I decide if I'm going to be trunky or not. I decided that I'm tired but I still want to do my best with the time I have left.
Love you tons!
Elder Ressler
Monday, March 9, 2015
Lockwood - March 9, 2015
This week was great! I'm doing fantastic! We had a really great week this week! My area is a little rainy right now but I'm still having a lot of fun. Here the weather is going back and forth and lot. This week I actually went to this crazy leadership meeting and it was funny because I felt like I was in congress.
I love having mom's food but I think it will be a change from what I've gotten used to. I just realized that I won't be eating Mexican Food every day after my mission so I'm going to have to treasure it here. I'm going to tell Elder Ek to scout out some good taco trucks for when I get home. We'll probably have to go to one after I get back. I had a crazy realization today. We were doing our laundry and I realized how much time has gone by. I've had some amazing experiences on my mission and I've been blessed so much. It's been great so far and I can't wait to see what happens during the rest.
I was super tired for the whole day (Daylight Savings) but I like it being light at night too. It is better for us too because then people don't ask what we're doing out so late when it's only 6.
There are a lot of really nice people and I really love this ward. It's cool too because I am right next to Broadway 2 and I get to see a lot of my recent converts:) As far as funny stories this week we had a crazy thing happen. We were biking along this bike path that goes through our area and we saw a guy on a park bench. We go up and talk to him and it turns out that he's a drug addict who was in a gang in El Salvador who was questioning if God existed and we testified that he did and we all started crying. We've tried to get back in with him but haven't been able to yet but we'll keep trying!
We had a lot of great experiences this week. Some of which include: us praying to find a family of six and then finding them, running into the cousin of a member who said he'd like to listen. It was really amazing how many miracles we were able to see. There are a lot of great things happening right now and I'm very happy to see all of the miracles.
That's great that Harrison is on his way!!!!!!! I'm so excited for him it is ridiculous. He is going to love going on mission. It really is life changing. I'm hoping that he goes Spanish speaking and I'm sure that Jacob is hoping Polish but we'll see :)
I love being a member of this church. I really do know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Jesus is the son of God. I know that we are all children of God and that he is calling out for us.
Love you,
Elder Ressler
I love having mom's food but I think it will be a change from what I've gotten used to. I just realized that I won't be eating Mexican Food every day after my mission so I'm going to have to treasure it here. I'm going to tell Elder Ek to scout out some good taco trucks for when I get home. We'll probably have to go to one after I get back. I had a crazy realization today. We were doing our laundry and I realized how much time has gone by. I've had some amazing experiences on my mission and I've been blessed so much. It's been great so far and I can't wait to see what happens during the rest.
I was super tired for the whole day (Daylight Savings) but I like it being light at night too. It is better for us too because then people don't ask what we're doing out so late when it's only 6.
There are a lot of really nice people and I really love this ward. It's cool too because I am right next to Broadway 2 and I get to see a lot of my recent converts:) As far as funny stories this week we had a crazy thing happen. We were biking along this bike path that goes through our area and we saw a guy on a park bench. We go up and talk to him and it turns out that he's a drug addict who was in a gang in El Salvador who was questioning if God existed and we testified that he did and we all started crying. We've tried to get back in with him but haven't been able to yet but we'll keep trying!
We had a lot of great experiences this week. Some of which include: us praying to find a family of six and then finding them, running into the cousin of a member who said he'd like to listen. It was really amazing how many miracles we were able to see. There are a lot of great things happening right now and I'm very happy to see all of the miracles.
That's great that Harrison is on his way!!!!!!! I'm so excited for him it is ridiculous. He is going to love going on mission. It really is life changing. I'm hoping that he goes Spanish speaking and I'm sure that Jacob is hoping Polish but we'll see :)
I love being a member of this church. I really do know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Jesus is the son of God. I know that we are all children of God and that he is calling out for us.
Love you,
Elder Ressler
Monday, March 2, 2015
Lockwood - March 2, 2015
This week was really good! We are working a lot on finding new investigators and it's been going really well. We just met this guy from Mexico who said that he really wants to change his life because he has been addicted to drugs and alcohol for a long time and he really wants to stop.
Right now I'm using the other Elder's bike that I bought and it is working great! I'm really excited and hopefully everything will work out. As for my bike I'm going to try to transfer that over. I'll let you know what happens :)
That's great that Harrison is working on his mission papers! I'm so excited for him! He's going to be a great missionary. That's great that he got accepted to BYU! Wherever he wants to go will be awesome.
This week we were tracing along this road and a young guy opened the door and invited us in. At first he took it all really well but we really didn't have a good feeling about him. When we got to Joseph Smith he said he thought that he was a false prophet and then he prayed for us to know the truth. While he was praying we got some really bad spirit vibes. Then we offered him a prayer in return. I walked out feeling a little creped out but with a super strong confirmation that Joseph Smith really was a prophet and the Church is true. Kind of funny because I think his plan back fired. Honestly it strengthened my testimony instead of wavered it.
Training is great! It's a little different because you pretty much teach them everything about missionary work. I'm lucky because Elder Wilder already knows a lot but you pretty much have to help them become a missionary because the MTC teaches you hardly anything! Either that or I just didn't understand because it was all in Spanish ;)
It's weird to be training because it's almost like everything is a put on me. I don't mind it though. I'm down for whatever. Elder Wilder is great! He's really funny and really easy to get along with.
Si voy a cumplir 20! Es cierto padre soy viejo! Yo tengo muchas canas en mi pelo y no se que voy hacer. Estoy muy animado a hablar contigo en Espanol! Vas a ver que hablo Spanglish.
That's great that you guys are doing some missionary work! That's awesome! I actually heard that a mission in Utah is about the highest baptizing mission in the world. I'm not sure how factual that is but that's what someone told me.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Right now I'm using the other Elder's bike that I bought and it is working great! I'm really excited and hopefully everything will work out. As for my bike I'm going to try to transfer that over. I'll let you know what happens :)
That's great that Harrison is working on his mission papers! I'm so excited for him! He's going to be a great missionary. That's great that he got accepted to BYU! Wherever he wants to go will be awesome.
This week we were tracing along this road and a young guy opened the door and invited us in. At first he took it all really well but we really didn't have a good feeling about him. When we got to Joseph Smith he said he thought that he was a false prophet and then he prayed for us to know the truth. While he was praying we got some really bad spirit vibes. Then we offered him a prayer in return. I walked out feeling a little creped out but with a super strong confirmation that Joseph Smith really was a prophet and the Church is true. Kind of funny because I think his plan back fired. Honestly it strengthened my testimony instead of wavered it.
Training is great! It's a little different because you pretty much teach them everything about missionary work. I'm lucky because Elder Wilder already knows a lot but you pretty much have to help them become a missionary because the MTC teaches you hardly anything! Either that or I just didn't understand because it was all in Spanish ;)
It's weird to be training because it's almost like everything is a put on me. I don't mind it though. I'm down for whatever. Elder Wilder is great! He's really funny and really easy to get along with.
Si voy a cumplir 20! Es cierto padre soy viejo! Yo tengo muchas canas en mi pelo y no se que voy hacer. Estoy muy animado a hablar contigo en Espanol! Vas a ver que hablo Spanglish.
That's great that you guys are doing some missionary work! That's awesome! I actually heard that a mission in Utah is about the highest baptizing mission in the world. I'm not sure how factual that is but that's what someone told me.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, February 23, 2015
Lockwood - February 23, 2015
I'm doing great! We had a pretty cool week and I'm super tired. I've heard from a lot of people that training is the time that you are most tired. It's been fun so far though. My companion's name is Elder Wilder. He's from Portland Oregon and he's 20. He said that he had a lot of medical problems before he came out so it took him a bit. He's a really cool guy though.
Yeah I love teaching the Plan of Salvation because it really helps us to see the vision that God has for us. We don't even realize our full potential but God does.
Haha yeah you guys really need to meet Elder Ek. Someone told me that he's been super busy with everything though so he hasn't really had a whole lot of time but you got to meet him. Yeah he's pretty good at emailing me just about every week so I've been able to keep in contact with him for a while. He still calls me Mijo too.
Broadway 3 is pretty awesome. There are a lot of really good people and our ward mission leader is hilarious. He's down to help out whenever we need him. He always jokes about taking trips to Utah. One time he called us to check up and we didn't answer so when we called back he said, "Solo les llame para ver como estan y pense que fueron a Utah!" We told him that we did and that our families are doing great. He just laughed. Honestly most members are great. It would be awesome to have everyone review Preach My Gospel because then they can know exactly what the missionaries are going to talk about next. There was this one legit hermano and we went into a lesson and he pretty much taught the restoration for us just because he'd been with missionaries so often.
Thanks so much for praying for our investigators! A lot of them are doing really well. We had a great week and we are really trying to help them to come to church. We'll see what happens.
Thanks for being such a great support for me! I'm really lucky to have such an awesome family. I hope that everyone is doing well and have a great week!
Love yall so much!
Elder Ressler
Yeah I love teaching the Plan of Salvation because it really helps us to see the vision that God has for us. We don't even realize our full potential but God does.
Haha yeah you guys really need to meet Elder Ek. Someone told me that he's been super busy with everything though so he hasn't really had a whole lot of time but you got to meet him. Yeah he's pretty good at emailing me just about every week so I've been able to keep in contact with him for a while. He still calls me Mijo too.
Broadway 3 is pretty awesome. There are a lot of really good people and our ward mission leader is hilarious. He's down to help out whenever we need him. He always jokes about taking trips to Utah. One time he called us to check up and we didn't answer so when we called back he said, "Solo les llame para ver como estan y pense que fueron a Utah!" We told him that we did and that our families are doing great. He just laughed. Honestly most members are great. It would be awesome to have everyone review Preach My Gospel because then they can know exactly what the missionaries are going to talk about next. There was this one legit hermano and we went into a lesson and he pretty much taught the restoration for us just because he'd been with missionaries so often.
Thanks so much for praying for our investigators! A lot of them are doing really well. We had a great week and we are really trying to help them to come to church. We'll see what happens.
Thanks for being such a great support for me! I'm really lucky to have such an awesome family. I hope that everyone is doing well and have a great week!
Love yall so much!
Elder Ressler
Monday, February 16, 2015
Lockwood - February 16, 2015
This week was a pretty good. Just a little interesting. We're working hard with a family and other investigators. Sadly one of our investigators mothers doesn't want her listening to us. We are working with a lot of new people, one is from Honduras. Speaking of Heart Attacking doors some Hermanas in my district heart attacked ours on Valentine's day. It was pretty funny. I'll make sure to send you a picture. Everything is going great over here! I decided to save the good news for last. I got the call to be a trainer! I'm pretty excited and I'll let you know what happens. Elder Knudsen will be leaving and I will be staying in Lockwood.
I'm lucky I've never had to stay in because I was sick. Haven't really had too many problems on my mission health wise. It's actually really cold but a couple of days ago was really hot.
Kind of a long story but it turns out that a small but super important piece of my bike frame broke off and so I need a new frame. So here is the plan. I'm going to buy another Elder's bike that is super good and has a really strong back wheel for 100 and then I'm going to transfer the parts of my bike onto a different frame that some Elders found and then sell that to a pawn shop so that I can't get some money off of it. Then when it's time for me to go home I'm going to sell the other Elder's bike and get some money off of that too. Hopefully it works out. I'm pretty sure that this could be the end of my bike problems. I'm going to have a lot of help from some other Elders that know a lot about bikes and it's all going to be just dandy :) Funny thing is that when it broke off I expected to feel really frustrated but I honestly felt at peace. I knew that everything was going to work out just great and that it was for some reason meant to happen.
I feel like I've changed a lot on my mission and if anything it has made me into a much more patient person. Anyways I hope that you had a great week. I've pretty much figured out what is going on with the rest of my mission. I'll be staying in Lockwood for at least 2 more transfers and I'll probably head out after that and then I'll go to my last area. I'm definitely enjoying my mission and I'm so happy with everything that I've learned. I miss yall but I'm super excited to see what else I'm going to learn.
Love,
Elder Ressler
I'm lucky I've never had to stay in because I was sick. Haven't really had too many problems on my mission health wise. It's actually really cold but a couple of days ago was really hot.
Kind of a long story but it turns out that a small but super important piece of my bike frame broke off and so I need a new frame. So here is the plan. I'm going to buy another Elder's bike that is super good and has a really strong back wheel for 100 and then I'm going to transfer the parts of my bike onto a different frame that some Elders found and then sell that to a pawn shop so that I can't get some money off of it. Then when it's time for me to go home I'm going to sell the other Elder's bike and get some money off of that too. Hopefully it works out. I'm pretty sure that this could be the end of my bike problems. I'm going to have a lot of help from some other Elders that know a lot about bikes and it's all going to be just dandy :) Funny thing is that when it broke off I expected to feel really frustrated but I honestly felt at peace. I knew that everything was going to work out just great and that it was for some reason meant to happen.
I feel like I've changed a lot on my mission and if anything it has made me into a much more patient person. Anyways I hope that you had a great week. I've pretty much figured out what is going on with the rest of my mission. I'll be staying in Lockwood for at least 2 more transfers and I'll probably head out after that and then I'll go to my last area. I'm definitely enjoying my mission and I'm so happy with everything that I've learned. I miss yall but I'm super excited to see what else I'm going to learn.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, February 9, 2015
Lockwood - February 9, 2015
I've been doing really well. It feels like summer out here. I love being back in the city! Yeah it's been a really nice winter over here too. We're around 80 today and honestly I haven't had to touch my jacket very much so that's nice.
This week was a pretty good week. Right now we're just being patient with some of our investigators. We were able to get to some of the concerns for our investigators. One of them is having a hard time leaving the Catholic Church and another 2 are worried about getting married even though they have several children. Please pray for them.
I'm starting to become one of the older missionaries and it really freaks me out. I'm just trying to do the best that I can with the time I have left.
This week we were trying to find new places to tract in our area and we went all the way to the border which is the border of down town! Yeah it's not the mountains but it is still pretty cool :)
Spanish is good just trying to speak it more.
I haven't had a whole lot of new stuff here to eat lately. I don't know if you have ever had menudo, but it's a type of soup with cow stomach in it. It's pretty hard to eat. I think it's the only meal that I've had a really difficult time with. We've had a lot of yuca which are kind of like potatoes. They are super good. This week I got mole each day for three days. It was super good. I'm trying to make some more Mexican dishes to so it's pretty fun.
Yeah honestly I've come to realize just how important the temple is. It's like a spiritual battery charger. We go to the temple once every few months and every time I come back feeling a lot more focused. I really want to go there more after I've finished with my mission. Probably a couple times in the first week.
I really feel like I've grown a lot on my mission. I feel like I've changed a ton and somehow I'm the same person. I've noticed how before I really missed things like movies and music. Now I still miss them but I don't focus on them very much. Kind of weird. I definitely have enjoyed my time here so far and am so excited for the next 6 months.
It's a little weird to think that sometime you'll be meeting my trainer but I won't think of that too much. It's always a little strange to see missionaries who've gone home and then come back. It's almost like two worlds colliding together.
Ha-ha that's funny to think of dad in there with you at ward council. I bet it was crazy. I feel a little weird at ward councils because it's like 8 missionaries and then all of the ward leadership. Kind of weird to think that we have a ward council too back home.
Thank you guys for being so supportive. I really appreciate it. It's really great to know that y'all are rooting for me and I love you guys and miss you.
Love,
Elder Ressler
This week was a pretty good week. Right now we're just being patient with some of our investigators. We were able to get to some of the concerns for our investigators. One of them is having a hard time leaving the Catholic Church and another 2 are worried about getting married even though they have several children. Please pray for them.
I'm starting to become one of the older missionaries and it really freaks me out. I'm just trying to do the best that I can with the time I have left.
This week we were trying to find new places to tract in our area and we went all the way to the border which is the border of down town! Yeah it's not the mountains but it is still pretty cool :)
Spanish is good just trying to speak it more.
I haven't had a whole lot of new stuff here to eat lately. I don't know if you have ever had menudo, but it's a type of soup with cow stomach in it. It's pretty hard to eat. I think it's the only meal that I've had a really difficult time with. We've had a lot of yuca which are kind of like potatoes. They are super good. This week I got mole each day for three days. It was super good. I'm trying to make some more Mexican dishes to so it's pretty fun.
Yeah honestly I've come to realize just how important the temple is. It's like a spiritual battery charger. We go to the temple once every few months and every time I come back feeling a lot more focused. I really want to go there more after I've finished with my mission. Probably a couple times in the first week.
I really feel like I've grown a lot on my mission. I feel like I've changed a ton and somehow I'm the same person. I've noticed how before I really missed things like movies and music. Now I still miss them but I don't focus on them very much. Kind of weird. I definitely have enjoyed my time here so far and am so excited for the next 6 months.
It's a little weird to think that sometime you'll be meeting my trainer but I won't think of that too much. It's always a little strange to see missionaries who've gone home and then come back. It's almost like two worlds colliding together.
Ha-ha that's funny to think of dad in there with you at ward council. I bet it was crazy. I feel a little weird at ward councils because it's like 8 missionaries and then all of the ward leadership. Kind of weird to think that we have a ward council too back home.
Thank you guys for being so supportive. I really appreciate it. It's really great to know that y'all are rooting for me and I love you guys and miss you.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, February 2, 2015
Lockwood - February 2, 2015
Happy Groundhog Day! This week was a great week! I love being with Elder Knudsen and my district is awesome! It's from Harrisburg to the bayou touching Denver Harbor (yeah so close, but so far). It's a great area. I'm going to be able to get some really good pictures of downtown because our area literally touches it. It's SO pretty! Not exactly mountains, but it's close enough right?
My Spanish is okay. There are a lot of words I don't know but I can carry on a pretty good conversation and understand pretty much everything. I even have picked up some Spanglish, for example: Vamos a parkear la trocka en la parking lot! Pretty silly but as long as you learn how to say it in real life your fine to mess around with it.
Whoa that's weird if you are about to sign me up for classes. Lately I've been having this weird thing about me where I'm a lot more focused as a missionary. I think that it's because I'm getting closer. I'll be hitting my 18th month mark pretty soon and I can't say that I'm a young missionary anymore.
Thanks so much for praying for our investigators. There is one investigator in particular who really wants to learn.
Yeah I'm super happy that my bike is working. There is this Elder who knows a lot about bikes and I'll probably take it to him if I need anything. I really do like riding bikes. I've honestly learned to just laugh when I have problems with my bike. I don't really feel like a lot of the problems we sometimes have as missionaries get to me as much. "Like a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream," right?
Ha-ha yeah I've never been a big fan of early morning meetings. It's cool though. It's kind of nuts to work with some of the stake leaders around here because I just think to myself, "hey he's like my dad". I can imagine that it's pretty much just like being a missionary, right?
Wow that's pretty nuts about Sister Bradshaw being assigned to Lancaster, PA! Grandma and Grandpa sent me an email. It's weird because I feel like High School was a while ago. I'm getting to the point on my mission that I'm kind of freaking out just because I don't have a whole lot of time left. I'm going to miss my mission a lot when I leave. Right now I'm in Broadway 3 which meets in the same building as Broadway 2 which is where I started out. It's nice to be able to see all of the people there and it brings me back to when I had just started out. It's been great to see how everyone is doing.
Love,
Elder Ressler
My Spanish is okay. There are a lot of words I don't know but I can carry on a pretty good conversation and understand pretty much everything. I even have picked up some Spanglish, for example: Vamos a parkear la trocka en la parking lot! Pretty silly but as long as you learn how to say it in real life your fine to mess around with it.
Whoa that's weird if you are about to sign me up for classes. Lately I've been having this weird thing about me where I'm a lot more focused as a missionary. I think that it's because I'm getting closer. I'll be hitting my 18th month mark pretty soon and I can't say that I'm a young missionary anymore.
Thanks so much for praying for our investigators. There is one investigator in particular who really wants to learn.
Yeah I'm super happy that my bike is working. There is this Elder who knows a lot about bikes and I'll probably take it to him if I need anything. I really do like riding bikes. I've honestly learned to just laugh when I have problems with my bike. I don't really feel like a lot of the problems we sometimes have as missionaries get to me as much. "Like a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream," right?
Ha-ha yeah I've never been a big fan of early morning meetings. It's cool though. It's kind of nuts to work with some of the stake leaders around here because I just think to myself, "hey he's like my dad". I can imagine that it's pretty much just like being a missionary, right?
Wow that's pretty nuts about Sister Bradshaw being assigned to Lancaster, PA! Grandma and Grandpa sent me an email. It's weird because I feel like High School was a while ago. I'm getting to the point on my mission that I'm kind of freaking out just because I don't have a whole lot of time left. I'm going to miss my mission a lot when I leave. Right now I'm in Broadway 3 which meets in the same building as Broadway 2 which is where I started out. It's nice to be able to see all of the people there and it brings me back to when I had just started out. It's been great to see how everyone is doing.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, January 26, 2015
Lockwood - January 26, 2015
Right now my bike is fixed, but we are going to have someone bring it down to us from the store. Right now we are walking but it's okay because our area is really small. I like walking too so it's good.
Thanks for praying for our investigators. They are all really great people and we are praying for some miracles.
Thanks for your confidence. Being a leader is different because now I'm having a lot of people looking to me for things and it takes some getting used to. I've got a lot to learn but I'm just taking it step by step. All I am going to do is just do my best.
I'm SO excited that Harrison is going to be serving a mission! It's the best thing to do. I've learned so much on my mission that I couldn't have learned anywhere else. He's going to love it. I'm going to love seeing him before he goes too! It's fun being with Elder Knudsen because it brings back a ton of memories of when I just started off. He's still got a little greenie fire so it's a lot of fun.
Yeah there are a lot of really great people in this area. Honestly this is a trip down memory lane. It's strange to see how much everything has changed. There are a lot of really great people who left and now the mission is really young again. I'm starting to freak out because I'm almost at my 18th month mark and so now I'm getting a little anxious to just go out and teach. I really want to get as much done as I can with the time that I have left. This week I was thinking about the part on the Best Two Years that when he's at the train and he says, "These moments go by so fast. Just don't let one moment pass you by". That's kind of how I am right now.
It's really fun being with Elder Knudsen. He's a really cool guy and it's fun to talk with him. He did a lot of marching band before his mission so we talk about AF a lot. Whenever we go to Logan we are going to have to stop by and see him. As of right now I've got companions that live in Florida, Virginia, Hawaii and a lot in Northern Utah. It's pretty cool.
Lockwood is legit! It's a really small area but there are a lot of cool people. This week we met this really fun guy he was really nice and bought us a soda and some subway and in exchange we attempted to teach him the first lesson. It's funny because we ran into him twice in the same day. I think that he will probably become an investigator too but we'll see.
Right now most of my companions are all over the place but I know a couple of the missionaries here. It's weird because everyone around me is super young and the zone has changed a lot. I'm just across the bayou from DH and I'm only a couple minutes away from Broadway 2 Central (which by the way are now hermanas). Houston is full of churches. There's pretty much a church on every street. I'm still getting that Latino food so I'm really happy.
I like being a district leader though it's a lot different. It's taking a little bit to get used to it. My district is AWESOME though. They are really good missionaries. District meeting is different but I like it and I'm sure I'll figure it out.
Yeah my mission has been a great experience.
Love you a ton!
Elder Ressler
Thanks for praying for our investigators. They are all really great people and we are praying for some miracles.
Thanks for your confidence. Being a leader is different because now I'm having a lot of people looking to me for things and it takes some getting used to. I've got a lot to learn but I'm just taking it step by step. All I am going to do is just do my best.
I'm SO excited that Harrison is going to be serving a mission! It's the best thing to do. I've learned so much on my mission that I couldn't have learned anywhere else. He's going to love it. I'm going to love seeing him before he goes too! It's fun being with Elder Knudsen because it brings back a ton of memories of when I just started off. He's still got a little greenie fire so it's a lot of fun.
Yeah there are a lot of really great people in this area. Honestly this is a trip down memory lane. It's strange to see how much everything has changed. There are a lot of really great people who left and now the mission is really young again. I'm starting to freak out because I'm almost at my 18th month mark and so now I'm getting a little anxious to just go out and teach. I really want to get as much done as I can with the time that I have left. This week I was thinking about the part on the Best Two Years that when he's at the train and he says, "These moments go by so fast. Just don't let one moment pass you by". That's kind of how I am right now.
It's really fun being with Elder Knudsen. He's a really cool guy and it's fun to talk with him. He did a lot of marching band before his mission so we talk about AF a lot. Whenever we go to Logan we are going to have to stop by and see him. As of right now I've got companions that live in Florida, Virginia, Hawaii and a lot in Northern Utah. It's pretty cool.
Lockwood is legit! It's a really small area but there are a lot of cool people. This week we met this really fun guy he was really nice and bought us a soda and some subway and in exchange we attempted to teach him the first lesson. It's funny because we ran into him twice in the same day. I think that he will probably become an investigator too but we'll see.
Right now most of my companions are all over the place but I know a couple of the missionaries here. It's weird because everyone around me is super young and the zone has changed a lot. I'm just across the bayou from DH and I'm only a couple minutes away from Broadway 2 Central (which by the way are now hermanas). Houston is full of churches. There's pretty much a church on every street. I'm still getting that Latino food so I'm really happy.
I like being a district leader though it's a lot different. It's taking a little bit to get used to it. My district is AWESOME though. They are really good missionaries. District meeting is different but I like it and I'm sure I'll figure it out.
Yeah my mission has been a great experience.
Love you a ton!
Elder Ressler
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Lockwood - January 20, 2015
Lockwood is really good. Pretty fun being back in the city. My area is SO close to downtown. Yeah I'm a little nervous about being DL but that will be all right. In the end I'm just another missionary. I tried to explain to Elder Knudsen that I'm one of those missionaries that likes to do things without a lot of people seeing me and so it's different for me to be called to be DL.
Yeah lately it has been really nice here in Houston. There was a week that we had a lot of rain and it was really cold but lately it's been sunny and high 60s It's pretty nice. I'm really happy to be back in the city. It's super great though it's weird to see how much everything has changed. When I left Broadway I was one of the youngest missionaries and now there is only one missionary older than me. Weird huh?
It's been really great with Elder Knudsen. He's a great guy. He's doing a really good job on learning Spanish and it's crazy because I can remember when I was at that stage. Pretty nuts. Elder Knudsen is from a place just outside of Logan but I forgot the name. I'm his second companion and he graduated and then left pretty much just like I did. I'll make sure to send some pictures. He was in marching band and played drums. He's really good too. He has three sisters and a brother who went to Argentina and is married now. He said that he lived in Orem for the first part of his life then they moved to Cache Valley.
I really give credit to learning Spanish to reading in the Book of Mormon in Spanish. It's been amazing to see the blessings. I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I'm starting it again. I also have the Book of Mormon on tapes so I listen to that too. It's been amazing learning Spanish and it's been a huge blessing to learn as I read. Sometimes I don't have a whole lot of time to read during personal study and so I really love the time I have to just read during language study.
Right now my bike is in the shop in Kingwood and the pedal fell off the first time from normal wear but the second time was because the guy in this other shop didn't tighten it enough. It will probably cost about 30 dollars. I talked to the mission office and they said that if I need to I could borrow a mission bike and use that for the rest of mission. If I keep having problems with it then I might just do that. It's been cool because I've seen a lot of miracles happen with my bike too. It has never cost the amount that they told me at first. I'm sure that the bike problem will be fine. If anything I might end up using a mission bike but we'll see. I just know that I'll be all right :)
So right now we are teaching a lot of people with some really great potential. There is this one family we're teaching and they are really great and are doing well. The mom and dad aren't married but we invited them to get married on Valentine's Day and baptized the next day. Right now they are thinking about it. Hopefully it will go through because that would be great.
Honestly I have seen so many blessings from going on a mission. I've had a lot of incredible experiences and I can't imagine not having gone. The people that I have met have really changed me and I hope that I have made a difference in their lives too. Above all I've really come to know my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ on my mission. It's been incredible.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Yeah lately it has been really nice here in Houston. There was a week that we had a lot of rain and it was really cold but lately it's been sunny and high 60s It's pretty nice. I'm really happy to be back in the city. It's super great though it's weird to see how much everything has changed. When I left Broadway I was one of the youngest missionaries and now there is only one missionary older than me. Weird huh?
It's been really great with Elder Knudsen. He's a great guy. He's doing a really good job on learning Spanish and it's crazy because I can remember when I was at that stage. Pretty nuts. Elder Knudsen is from a place just outside of Logan but I forgot the name. I'm his second companion and he graduated and then left pretty much just like I did. I'll make sure to send some pictures. He was in marching band and played drums. He's really good too. He has three sisters and a brother who went to Argentina and is married now. He said that he lived in Orem for the first part of his life then they moved to Cache Valley.
I really give credit to learning Spanish to reading in the Book of Mormon in Spanish. It's been amazing to see the blessings. I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I'm starting it again. I also have the Book of Mormon on tapes so I listen to that too. It's been amazing learning Spanish and it's been a huge blessing to learn as I read. Sometimes I don't have a whole lot of time to read during personal study and so I really love the time I have to just read during language study.
Right now my bike is in the shop in Kingwood and the pedal fell off the first time from normal wear but the second time was because the guy in this other shop didn't tighten it enough. It will probably cost about 30 dollars. I talked to the mission office and they said that if I need to I could borrow a mission bike and use that for the rest of mission. If I keep having problems with it then I might just do that. It's been cool because I've seen a lot of miracles happen with my bike too. It has never cost the amount that they told me at first. I'm sure that the bike problem will be fine. If anything I might end up using a mission bike but we'll see. I just know that I'll be all right :)
So right now we are teaching a lot of people with some really great potential. There is this one family we're teaching and they are really great and are doing well. The mom and dad aren't married but we invited them to get married on Valentine's Day and baptized the next day. Right now they are thinking about it. Hopefully it will go through because that would be great.
Honestly I have seen so many blessings from going on a mission. I've had a lot of incredible experiences and I can't imagine not having gone. The people that I have met have really changed me and I hope that I have made a difference in their lives too. Above all I've really come to know my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ on my mission. It's been incredible.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, January 12, 2015
Lockwood - January 12, 2015
So right now I am in a place called Lockwood. It's named after a street in downtown Houston. We were walking to a member's house a couple of nights ago and I realized that we were right next to downtown! Crazy stuff. My companion's name is Elder Knudsen. He's a really great guy from Logan UT and he's been out for about 4 months. As far as mission heritage goes he is the brother of Elder Woodruff.
Yeah I love that Mormon message with Elder Holland telling about the little league football team! It's so true.
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/sanctify-yourselves?lang=eng
We are going to be called at any time to give a blessing and we may not know when. There was a time at the beginning of my mission. We had begun to bike to our area when we both had the impression to go and grab my oil vial in the apartment. We had already begun so we just kept biking and ignored the prompting. Then late at night our dinner appointment asked us to give a blessing to her daughter who was sick. We felt awful knowing that we hadn't listen but we gave her a blessing of comfort. Now from now on I always have a some oil on me.
I've given a lot of blessings on my mission. It depends on the area that I'm in but I remember giving tons. There was a really great experience that Elder Mamea and I had in my last area. There was this guy who we found while knocking. He was really nervous because he had just gotten out of prison and he was going to have to go back for a couple months. The night before he was super agitated and he said he just wanted to calm down. We had the impression to give him a blessing and when we did he sat up and looked at us. Then he said "whoa what did you do?" He said that he felt great and there was a cool change in him. I hope that he does all right. It was just awesome to see the change that he had.
Thanks for being such a great example to me dad. You are a really great Priesthood holder and I really look up to you.
I'm on a bike again and it's a funny story but for some reason my left pedal kept falling off so I took it to the shop and got a new one and it started to fall off too. I'm thinking about having the mission lend me a bike or something but we'll see. I was thinking about the options but I feel like I should keep using the one I have now
The church can be like a big support group. The youth go through a lot of really tough challenges but if you work hard then you can have them help each other out.
I really want to go and do temple work when I get back. We had a really cool opportunity last night to teach a couple who aren't married about the plan of salvation. They really want to be good examples to their children and we told them that they have the opportunity to be sealed together forever. It was really cool and the spirit was really strong.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Yeah I love that Mormon message with Elder Holland telling about the little league football team! It's so true.
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/sanctify-yourselves?lang=eng
We are going to be called at any time to give a blessing and we may not know when. There was a time at the beginning of my mission. We had begun to bike to our area when we both had the impression to go and grab my oil vial in the apartment. We had already begun so we just kept biking and ignored the prompting. Then late at night our dinner appointment asked us to give a blessing to her daughter who was sick. We felt awful knowing that we hadn't listen but we gave her a blessing of comfort. Now from now on I always have a some oil on me.
I've given a lot of blessings on my mission. It depends on the area that I'm in but I remember giving tons. There was a really great experience that Elder Mamea and I had in my last area. There was this guy who we found while knocking. He was really nervous because he had just gotten out of prison and he was going to have to go back for a couple months. The night before he was super agitated and he said he just wanted to calm down. We had the impression to give him a blessing and when we did he sat up and looked at us. Then he said "whoa what did you do?" He said that he felt great and there was a cool change in him. I hope that he does all right. It was just awesome to see the change that he had.
Thanks for being such a great example to me dad. You are a really great Priesthood holder and I really look up to you.
I'm on a bike again and it's a funny story but for some reason my left pedal kept falling off so I took it to the shop and got a new one and it started to fall off too. I'm thinking about having the mission lend me a bike or something but we'll see. I was thinking about the options but I feel like I should keep using the one I have now
The church can be like a big support group. The youth go through a lot of really tough challenges but if you work hard then you can have them help each other out.
I really want to go and do temple work when I get back. We had a really cool opportunity last night to teach a couple who aren't married about the plan of salvation. They really want to be good examples to their children and we told them that they have the opportunity to be sealed together forever. It was really cool and the spirit was really strong.
Love,
Elder Ressler
Monday, January 5, 2015
Cleveland, TX - January 5, 2015
I'm doing great! This week was a super weird week but luckily everything is starting to settle down. As far as stories we had something really cool happen. We were having a hard time finding people to teach so one day I felt impressed to go to our area book and look at some potentials. On the first page we looked at we found a name and in the note part we saw that she was baptized a long time ago and after that fell off the deep end. So we decided to go by and try her later at night. When we did we got kind of lost looking for the house and were about to give up when a guy came out of the house across the street and started to shoot what sounded like a .22 which ended up being a pellet gun (so don't worry mom) to scare us away. We started to walk away so that he would stop and then about 15 minutes later he came by in a truck because he thought we would call the police. It turns out that he was the son of the woman we were trying to find and that he was also baptized. We set up a time to meet with him and when we came back he let us in. The house was made completely out of plywood and you could tell that he didn't really have much. We began talking about church and he told us that he wants to start coming back and to quit smoking and drinking. He also really wants to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. So yeah it was pretty much a miracle.
As far as my Spanish, I think if it hadn't been for Elder Gamez, I'd be concerned about my Spanish. We didn't really speak Spanish a whole lot to each other but the way that he said things made me fix a lot of my errors. And if I was losing my spanish here it's all good because I got a call that I'm being transferred and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be going back to the city so exciting stuff. I'm going to miss Elder Mamea a lot but it's all good. I'll see him around some time.
I can't believe that it's happening. I'm going to miss Cleveland a lot. I feel like I had a lot of things happen here that helped me to change and hopefully it's for the better. I'm really going to miss the Torres family which are the ones related to Grant. They are a really great family. I really enjoy being around a lot of people and there are a lot of things that I miss about it. I'll probably go back though I'm not too sure how far into the city I'll be. I may be in Broadway but I could also go back to a place called Cloverleaf which is right next to Denver Harbor so that could be fun. There is also an area that is called West Lake which is a big possibility. I really agree that you have to look for the good in every place. Elder Woodruff was always saying that I was super optimistic and that I need to keep it up. There are a lot of times on my mission that I've been too serious but I've always had to put myself in check. It's hard sometimes but I've had a lot of help from my companions and there is always something that will happen that will make me smile.
You can always tell when a missionary is trunky because they will always be talking about home and they just stare off into space a lot.. I am right with you dad. I was super blessed to be born in the gospel and out here I feel like I am way too blessed. I've seen A LOT of really horrible living conditions. It just makes me so grateful for the life that I have. Honestly we don't know how blessed we are until we go on a mission.
Elder Mamea and I have talked a lot about missionary work and the styles of missionary work that people have. I try my best to be like chill and loving as well as obedient. It all just comes back to really loving the people and not being selfish.
I really do feel your guys' prayers and I am so grateful for your support. Honestly missionary work would be really hard without people rooting us on and I am so grateful that we have this church and this gospel. Thank you so much for your example. I love you a ton.
Love,
Elder Ressler
As far as my Spanish, I think if it hadn't been for Elder Gamez, I'd be concerned about my Spanish. We didn't really speak Spanish a whole lot to each other but the way that he said things made me fix a lot of my errors. And if I was losing my spanish here it's all good because I got a call that I'm being transferred and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be going back to the city so exciting stuff. I'm going to miss Elder Mamea a lot but it's all good. I'll see him around some time.
I can't believe that it's happening. I'm going to miss Cleveland a lot. I feel like I had a lot of things happen here that helped me to change and hopefully it's for the better. I'm really going to miss the Torres family which are the ones related to Grant. They are a really great family. I really enjoy being around a lot of people and there are a lot of things that I miss about it. I'll probably go back though I'm not too sure how far into the city I'll be. I may be in Broadway but I could also go back to a place called Cloverleaf which is right next to Denver Harbor so that could be fun. There is also an area that is called West Lake which is a big possibility. I really agree that you have to look for the good in every place. Elder Woodruff was always saying that I was super optimistic and that I need to keep it up. There are a lot of times on my mission that I've been too serious but I've always had to put myself in check. It's hard sometimes but I've had a lot of help from my companions and there is always something that will happen that will make me smile.
You can always tell when a missionary is trunky because they will always be talking about home and they just stare off into space a lot.. I am right with you dad. I was super blessed to be born in the gospel and out here I feel like I am way too blessed. I've seen A LOT of really horrible living conditions. It just makes me so grateful for the life that I have. Honestly we don't know how blessed we are until we go on a mission.
Elder Mamea and I have talked a lot about missionary work and the styles of missionary work that people have. I try my best to be like chill and loving as well as obedient. It all just comes back to really loving the people and not being selfish.
I really do feel your guys' prayers and I am so grateful for your support. Honestly missionary work would be really hard without people rooting us on and I am so grateful that we have this church and this gospel. Thank you so much for your example. I love you a ton.
Love,
Elder Ressler
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