Monday August 29, 2011

During weekly planning I have to call all of the companionships and get a "board update" or update on each of their gators

Mis cuates!

First, to answer your question mom, no it does not make me sad when you talk about your trips and reminiscing! I really appreciate it actually. It makes me feel good knowing that you are all still there thinking about me...that helps me be able to focus on the work because I know everything is well with with you so thank you! Looks like Orlando is treating you well. Thanks for the great pictures. Yes we will get in plenty of vacationing next summer! Yeah my journal writing has dropped to once or twice a week, but I am covering most of the big stuff so I think I am doing alright with that.

So this was a pretty great week. As I was sending off last week's email, we got 2 phone calls from English members with references for us! They have Spanish friends that seem very interested in the gospel, and we will be meeting with them this week! There are 3 weeks left in the transfer, and Elder Dutson and I have a goal of 3 baptisms in the transfer...which means Sep. 18 is the day to do it! Our faith is really strong and know that good things are going to happen. I can imagine singing "In the middle of September, we helped 3 people get saved..." hahaha (inside family joke!). On Tuesday we met Elder David Baxter of the 70. He is from Scotland and taught us a lot about finding investigators. He has a very strong personality.

Pretty crazy thing happened last night as well...another companionship in our zone got in a car accident coming home. Everybody is safe and nobody was hurt very serious at all, but a pretty messy crash. When I got the call I got super worried and I think my first "father instinct" kicked in. It was a crazy realization of how much I love our elders and that I have developed some life long friendships with them. Although it can get stressful, it is great to be able to serve them through church assignments, because I come to learn a lot about myself. I don't know why most of the car crashes that friends have been in (including mine) have happened during the mission but I'm grateful because the Lord definitely protects his missionaries.

We are definitely excited for this week with teaching all these new people. Saturday we are going to the Cardston temple! I love being there and being able to receive revelation. The next time I go to the temple will be in March when Rocky gets his endowment! The time is going so fast, and I am learning so much. Next week we will email on Tuesday because of Labor Day, even Canadians celebrate that.

Well I love you all and thanks so much for your prayers and support, it really means a lot to me. I feel like we are all serving this mission together, because it really isn't mine. All the credit to Heavenly Father.

Have a great week! Love Elder Draper

Monday August 22, 2011

One happy guy!
Calgary is so pretty in the summer
Summer storm on the way
This is the day Jorge was baptized!

Hello fam!

It is crazy to see that summer is coming to a close! That went by so fast! Looks like you have one more trip to go, then back to the grind. I know you'll have a great time in Orlando, don't get caught in that hurricane! So Salt Lake came out with a statement that missionaries are including too much information about investigators and people from their missions, and stuff is getting posted on the internet (like my emails going on blogs) which is creating problems. So I have to vague up my emails a little bit ha, sorry mom.

This week was just a little better than last week, which is a good sign. Still slow, but moving nonetheless. Francisco says he is not ready to progress yet, which is just fine. We are going to continue working with their family and building their faith. We don't have any other solid investigators right now, but that is not going to last long. This week was packed full of times where the Lord guided us to Spanish people or cars/houses with Spanish flags or signs in the windows. I mean there are only about 20,000 latinos in the whole city, so it is pretty crazy that we are able to find them. I was able to interview a couple for baptism and it tuned out to be one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission by far (you'll have to ask me about it when I get home sorry).

Crazy that elementary school is over for the Draper kids, wow Maddie is off to middle school? She'll do just fine though I have faith! Congrats Rachel! That is so awesome that she is behind the wheel now!!! It is hard for my brain to register that haha. I don't know why our district is without district leaders, but I have been handling it okay. Obviously it would be nice to have a little help and more time to focus on our area, but the Lord is making up the differences. I feel super inadequate a lot of times, and it is a true thought haha. I am still trying my best and working to get better, but ultimately it is the Lord that fills in the gaps and shapes us into who we really are. It is not that we are becoming a different person, but we are actually becoming the person we really are with the capabilites that we will have.

Pues los quiero mucho, disculpenme por la cartita, voy a trabajar mas duro esta semana para que tenga mas cosas para compartirselas. Me da gusto estar aqui como representante de Jesucristo y espero que me recuerden durante estos meses jajaja. Y orale, nos vamos a ver en 9 mesitos! Cuidense!

I love you all,

Elder Draper

Thanks for the email dad! Yeah I am super busy but having a great time. Yes, Elder Davies and I are the oldest in our Zone which is still so hard to believe. The time is passing so quickly. We usually are fed 4 or 5 meals a week. Still loving the food! Yeah I knew Tyler Bench and cannot believe his mission is done. That was so fast! Nice to see DBH launching the new site, hope that goes well for you. The temple is coming along well from what I can see. I will be gone for the dedication for sure, it's taking longer than they planned. That would be fun to come back up for the dedication! Sounds like you've got Orlando all planned out, I hope you all have a fun time through the humidity haha. Just don't go to a Daughtry concert without me ;) Well thanks for all your advice dad! Love you and talk to you next week!

Monday September 15, 2011

Last picture with good ol' Elder Rudd
First picture with new comp Elder Dutson from Delta, Utah

Found these on Facebook, Sister Cisneros tagged Ryan in these pictures with this couple at dinner for their Anniversary

How sweet to invite the missionaries along to your anniversary dinner!

Ryan thinks the Magic Bullet is the best invention ever
He's opened his own Jamba Juice franchise in his apartment :)

Que onda!?

So the conclusion that I have come to is that the farther along you go in the mission, the harder it gets haha. Makes sense, but I always imagined it would get easier because of all the increase in knowledge you acquire. That definitely is not true haha. Well not that it gets harder, but there is more responsibility I guess that's the difference. I am so busy with zone responsibilities (still the lone ZL) and our own proselyting area, its insane. I just need more time!

News this week: Ricardo has not gotten back from Edmonton so he didn't get baptized. I don't cover that area anymore but the missionaries there are still working on it. Elder Dutson is my new missionary and he's a stud! He is from Delta, UT and we have so many things in common. He is a big basketball player, loves working out, and is studying the same thing I want to start studying in school. He is a super nice kid and very humble and I have already learned a ton from him just the way he goes about his business. His Spanish level is very good too so he is helping a lot by adding to our lessons. We expect to see some big things over the next 2 transfers together. We will probably be together for 12 weeks with the new training program that was implemented.

This week of missionary work was very slow, just due to transfers and me trying to figure out how to help the whole Zone without district leaders. I really love doing regular missionary work, so having to take time for Zone Leader stuff is definitely a sacrifice, but of course I am willing to do that. We taught Francisco this week, his wife is Canadian and currently is inactive. He took lesson one very well and is taking the necessary steps to be receive a confirmation about the church and baptism. The Lord had a huge hand in that lesson and we feel really good about the situation. He is our only progressing investigator right now though. We are trying hard to work with a couple members who have friends that they want to invite. One of them is a family of 5 or 6, so that is a lot of potential! I didn't hear from Rocky so I don't know if he received the Melchezedik Priesthood yet. I don't remember if you have to wait until stake conference so they can announce it, maybe that is what's happening. He works in construction, like rock work and landscape, stuff like that. I have not seen those pictures yet. I haven't seen Sister Amaya in a long time so who knows. I'm glad you see pictures the members post on Facebook and yes I'm sending a few more today.

But despite everything, I am happy and having a great time. I finally bought a MAGIC BULLET...best purchase of the mission by far haha.I love making milk shakes and smoothies to have at every meal. I am enjoying the work and being able to serve all of the Spanish missionaries here. I could not have learned some of the life lessons I have learned here anywhere else.

Blake! Glad to hear provo treated you well! WOW that was so fast! I can't believe you are already back! It felt like 3 weeks seriously. Nice work with the grades ;) And thanks for updating the music and movie list, we'll enjoy all that next summer, should be fun. How was weight training? I am sure I will have to take that for the major I want to pick. Well have a fun August and keep it up! Love yaaa

Booya! I get to interview two more baptismal candidates on Tuesday. Those are the neatest experiences ever! I love you all so much, and hope and pray that you have a great week!

Love Elder Draper

Tuesday August 9, 2011

Switching places - Juan teaches the missionaries about planking
Proudly showing off his farmer tan
Calgary is soaked in a sudden summer storm...
flooding everywhere...
but every storm has a rainbow!
Tomorrow marks the end of the road for Elder Rudd! Elder Rudd was Ryan's first comp in the field and Ryan was Elder Rudd's last.

Good morning family! Dang sounds like everyone had a blast on the trek! I am so glad everybody survived and had a great experience! It sounded like lots of hard work but rewarding in the end. My week was not as great as yours probably haha. It was just rough trying to get in with investigators and keep them progressing. Elder Rudd is going home tomorrow. It was really great to serve with him again, but really tough too because it was his last transfer. But I am excited for the next few months and look forward to the opportunities that will come my way! So I will be staying in the same area! I am training another new missionary here in downtown! (They split up downtown and the west stake again so it makes more sense that way). I am the only zone leader so it'll be a challenge that but I'm up for it haha. Also the church has come out with a new Training Program for trainers. Over the next 12 weeks I have to follow this specific schedule in training my new missionary. We are going to get portable DVD players in the apartments so we can watch training DVDs with our greenies. Companion study is also 2 hours now for new missionaries!! Crazy! I am going to attach the article about it. Should be an experience!

The week was alright, not much to report but here you go: We have not been able to contact Ricardo who has a baptismal date for this Sunday, which is scary. He is has been back and forth in Edmonton helping out his sister. We are praying we can get a hold of him today and figure things out. We met a new couple from Colombia in English class this week, and taught the husband yesterday. It was a really great lesson, but he declined to set up a return appointment. We will keep working with him, they are very humble and receptive to the spirit. So in my area, we have this Colombian couple, Edgar and Gloria, and Francisco, a Mexican man married to an inactive Canadian. Patricia has basically dropped off the map, which is super sad. We are going to have to shift our focus to finding in this next transfer to get out teaching pool up.

Couple random crazy things this week: So I had sushi for the first time in my life, and it was pretty good! It did not bother me too much. I actually want to hit up some sushi bars in Cali! Also, there was a freak rain/hail storm during the week. The whole city was completely flooded. Good times in Calgary. Also Rocky has an interview with the stake president tonight for the Melchizedek priesthood! He has been a member for just 6 months but Bishop says he is ready. They almost always make new members wait one year to receive the Melchizedek priesthood. It's just been such a blessing to become his friend the last 6 months. That's funny Mom, I had never heard of planking before actually! Juan was telling us about it and it was the first time I had heard of it. I am sure it is the cool thing to do, but obviously being shut out from the world it doesn't make sense to me haha just sayin. And funny trek story about Brock, he is a funny man! I hope you gave him that hot dog Mom ;) Yeah I really want to see all of my pics from the beginning of the mission! I will ask Marisol about it.

Maddie! Thanks for telling me about your summer! You crack me up! Sounds like you have so many good things going on, and that makes me happy :) That is awesome that you are going to ride Everest without crying! Go on it twice, once for me please haha. Have fun in Orlando. I love you and miss you! See you in 10 months!

Hey Nick! What's up buddy!? Wow weather is looking good here! Yeah I want to get the new Kobes so bad haha. I think we went to Hearst Castle a longgg time ago, so I really don't remember anything about it. I have had 5 baptisms so far, but hopefully more are on the way! Thanks for everything Nick I love you!

Well everyone that is all I got. I am excited for what the Lord has in store for me this transfer with my new trainee! Take care and have a great week!

Love, Elder Draper

Hurrah for Israel! Hurrah for Israel! Hurrah for Israel!

I.LOVE.THIS.MISSIONARY.

Monday August 1, 2011

The Calgary Temple and views of downtown Calgary

Hello Family!

I am doing great! Today should be some great weather…holy cow I have heard what has been happening in the US the last 2 days with the budget crisis and how if nothing happened by Tuesday the world economy would have collapsed…maybe the Canadians went overboard explaining it to us haha. I am going to save the last 10 minutes of email time for tomorrow so I can send you pictures. Today is Heritage Day and the libraries are all closed so we are at a members house emailing and can’t upload pictures. I love Canada but man some days I really miss the good old U.S.A.!

Really, really great week! We have not been in touch with Patricia...we are a little bit scared because we ran into her fellow shippers at Wal-Mart last week. Basically they said we taught a false doctrine and Patricia was confused about it and so this couple got offended and left the Spanish branch. They are super sketchy but we will see. There’s a lot more to the story unfortunately but I don't have time, 10 months you'll know what happened.

So Ricardo from Nicaragua is getting baptized on the 14th of August! He is a superstar and is almost as cool as Rocky haha! Juan from Argentina is progressing as well. He came to church and really likes what we do. He is looking to join a church and is willing to follow the will of God so it is just a matter of time before he accepts a date. We are teaching a few other people that aren't making too much noise yet.

Lately the Lord has poured out a ton of revelation to me during personal studies and other parts of the day. I don't know if it's because I am seeking it more or if I need more at this time in the mission. Pretty interesting realization though. Amazing that I could have been receiving revelation since I was 8 but have not understood it well enough to receive it. What a neat thing that we can be taught by the Spirit and literally have thoughts and feelings put into our minds and hearts. The Lord has definitely blessed me throughout my entire mission. I’ll be honest, it is hard being away and everything but number one, it will all be there after and number 2, why else do we have the Atonement if you are not going to rely upon it and use it! If you really ask Him to comfort you and support you, He does it. That is one thing I am sure about because I have had to do it. It’s so overwhelming what you learn, how much you grow and totally recognize the blessings you receive while on a mission.

Yeah transfers are next week so p-day is Tuesday. Elder Rudd is from Garland, UT which is right at the border with Idaho. He is tripping out about going home haha so we are trying to help him out a little. This Thursday we will find out who is training the 4 new missionaries that come next Tuesday. I am pretty sure I will get to train again, which would be great.

Hopefully the SD card gets there soon! Well I will definitely be praying for you during the trek! Well I better take off and email President, but I love you all and pray that you have a great week!

Love Elder Draper

What's up nick!? Dad told me about Vegas and how you killed it! Hopefully you can find a more competitive team and show them how to do work. Wow I did not hear about Klay! That is crazy that somebody I played with in high school is playing in the NBA! Too bad we are still in lockout for the NBA! Well thanks for writing Nick! I heard you are an awesome home teacher so keep it up!!! Love ya!

Thanks for the email Rachel! My week was awesome! I don't feel like I'm getting taller...you are doing that! Advice for the permit test? Not really haha. I think you can miss like 8 questions and that is how many I missed so I lucked out. Yeah I never had that experience of the trek but I am glad you get to! I am sure you will grow spiritually during it. I am pumped to hear how it goes for you! Thanks for your kinds words and support Rachel. You will never know how much that helps me being away from you all :) I love you and miss you! Have a great week!

Hey! Could you send Kitrick a note saying that the Sri Lankin man that we met (his wife already got baptized) is getting baptized this weekend by Rocky!! Rocky gave him a Book of Mormon and he decided to get baptized! Thanks :)

New SD card with pictures and videos!

I can't wait to have him home so I never have to call an appliance repair man again!

Is he warming up a pizza on top of the dryer?

Well here is my SD card. I hope you enjoy it! Today marks my 1 year anniversary in Calgary, but I don't believe it one bit! Yesterday I completed 14 months in total. It has been the most rewarding 14 months of my life. I could not get the knowledge I have now from any other place. The mission is jammed packed with ups and downs, and that keeps things interesting I guess haha. I love you all so, so much and miss you. Thanks for all your support and prayers. I am really looking forward to spending a fun summer in 2012 with you all! Take care, Elder Draper