The day after Boxing Day email

Sharing some laughs with the Amaya family Christmas Eve
Elder Rios being his funny self
Everyone's getting their cameras ready for the group shot...
"Merry Christmas!"

It's all smiles on Christmas Day at our home after our phone call with Ryan

Boxing day is traditionally the day following Christmas when wealthy people in the United Kingdom would give a box containing a gift to their servants. It's a public holiday in Canada as well. All libraries were closed so today we got a late email from Ryan:

Merry Christmas again!!

That was such a fun phone call!! Haha now having gone through 2
Christmas phone calls, the one from last year was way weird for me.
This year it seemed more normal, I guess because I am used to only
talking to you twice a year, or because everybody changed more during my first year. Anyways it was great to hear your voices and it has rejuvenated me for the time I have left.

Yeah Mom I was thinking about the same thing you were on Sunday. This being my last Christmas as a missionary and Blake's last with the family for 2 years. I think it was inspired that we were just 2 years apart, so we can have 4 straight years of being reminded of the importance of missionary work. Blake is in for the greatest experience of his life! I know it was hard before I left too, but this is exactly what I needed in my life.

Ok so nobody told me that the NBA just started up again!! How did that work out? Will there be playoffs? Just wondering ;) Yeah so Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. Right after the call we went to church and had a special music and the spoken word type program, and I think that it was a church-wide thing. Then we had dinner with the Morales family: pasole, tamales, chicharon. I don't know them very well but we had a really nice time. Yes we went by the Amayas on Christmas eve right before dinner, and she shared a sweet message about what the gold, frankincense and myrrh represent. It was nice to be in the home of members to get a little taste of being with family for Christmas. I was able to write the Corbins a thank you yesterday, so grandma and grandpa will be next Monday but if you could tell them thank you for me in the mean time...Like I said on the phone, Heavenly Father has blessed us so much, I can't believe it. When Elder Christofferson came to our mission, I remember him saying something like the mission puts you way in debt with Heavenly Father, but He is not collecting. Wow thank goodness ha. I know that all He requires is a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Nothing much really happened during the week. We talked to a man from Peru for quite a while, trying to resolve his doubt of Joseph Smith having 10 wives ughhh. He was so hung up on that even though he loves the teachings of our church. We could have argued our point all day long using the scriptures, but it just turned into a back and forth thing. We brought it back to the BoM and he is not willing to read and pray to find out if he was actually a prophet. Missionaries are called to teach the elect, so we dropped him. There are a lot of promising things happening though. Remember that man Fanor we found, and he and his wife Adeleida got baptized this summer? Their 18 year old son is now getting baptized on the 8th!! So sweet to see the chain
reaction happen just by inviting one person to learn about the gospel. Luisa and her son Brandon came to church and they loved it! We went by their house and sang a Christmas carol, and the husband who is against any religion really appreciated it, which is not like him. Hopefully he will start to come around!

Well I hope that you have a safe trip to Utah and all have a happy New Year! I know Blake will have the time of his life in Provo this winter!

Thanks for all of your love and support and letters :) Love you all!

Elder Draper

Feliz Navidad & Merry Christmas from Canada

I don't know where Ryan's pictures are - I guess floating around in cyberspace - but sadly they never got to me. I decided to post a few of our last Christmas together (in '09) for the next 4 years. Blake started his papers this week and as excited as I am to have another son serving a mission, it has made me start dreaming about what Christmas 2014 will be like with all my kids home...they are, no doubt, the best presents that I've ever received. May the infinite love of our Savior abide within our hearts and homes this Christmas season and always...

Feliz Navidad!!

Well I love my new area and all the new people I get to work with! Today we are going to eat lunch at La Casa Latina, it's the traditional Christmas lunch made for the Spanish Zone by the Menjivar family at their restaurant so I'm looking forward to a feast!

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season and I am SO excited to talk to you all this Sunday! The time has gone by so fast since the May phone call. So Christmas Eve we will be with the Jaramillo family...they are Colombian and they got baptized this past March. It is a single mother and her two teenage daughters. Our district of 6 missionaries will be there. Then Christmas morning I am going to make a big breakfast for Elder Brandon and I. I'm thinking either a more traditional one, like banana pancakes with eggs and Canadian bacon (ha) or a latin theme like huevos rancheros and arepas. We'll see what I buy today at the store. Then yes we will be calling!! Elder Brandon's family is calling at 10 Cali time and you are up at 11...yesss! Then hopefully after we will have the baptism of Luisa (she is having a ton of opposition right now, mostly fear, so keep praying that she makes her date!) then after we will go to the Morales family, who are from Mexico. They are a family of like 6 or 7 so it'll be a blast being around so many people.

I didn't know that the NBA started up again!!! Dang too bad about Kobe...don't know what to say! Another Tiger woods?? Quien sabe. So this week was pretty slow as I was just trying to get to know the area. But we did have our branch Christmas dinner and I had a lot of fun there. I will have to explain all the ward and stake stuff again to you on the phone. I didn't switch branches or stakes. It is the same, but I cover a different part of the city that's all. I'll explain it all Sunday. I am going to be sending a package in a few weeks. It is just going to have stuff I want to send home, keepsakes from the mission basically. I didn't have time to get anybody anything this year so I apologize! I still love you the same :)

I love my new apartment oh my gosh! Such an upgrade...I am sending pictures today (*no pictures ever showed up in my inbox from him). I don't have the address, but we live on Canfield Rd SW. It's like 11743 or something. But hopefully on Sunday I can report on some investigator lessons we have lined up right now for this upcoming week. I thought that as the mission goes on, it would get easier because of all the knowledge and more experience I've gained. But, the Lord puts more on your plate and expects more faith, so that is what I have been noticing lately. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and throughout our lives we have to continue to make more (and bigger) sacrifices to receive the blessings. I'm grateful I've been able to learn that principle. I have learned how it all works...I know that right now I am building up the kingdom of God and that is the only thing I really care about right now...as I put that first, everything will happen the way God wants to. Anyways I will save some of this to talk about Sunday. Have an amazing week!!! I hope that it goes well for you and that you have opportunities to ponder about Christ and share His love with others.

Merry Christmas!!!

Elder Draper

4 more Transfers to go!

Ryan's ready for his close up
Ryan was watching an old church video and look who he saw - Peter Vidmar, the Olympic gold medalist was our old Bishop in the Santa Margarita Stake. He still looks the same!

Que onda!!

Dang this has been a crazy day so far!!! Transfers don't ever leave a lot of time for emailing so I'm just warning you in advance. Yes I am moving to the Foothills Stake with Elder Brandon, who I served with here last June. We will be in the far south west part of Calgary. Anyways he just got called as the second ZL so now we can really talk about where we need to improve and how to help strengthen the Spanish Zone...right on! That will be a fun Christmas apartment for sure. I don't have the exact address yet but I'll find out by next Monday and let you know.

Yeah Mom I've known my release date since I started my mission haha. Last day of May...I'll talk to you about it on Christmas Day. I don't have any time left so I wil try to write fast...

Luisa is doing great! We finally got her out to church this Sunday and honestly I have never been happier seeing an investigator at church. She loved it! She even brought her 9 year old son Brandon! During the week we asked the Primary to do a lesson on baptism, so we could get Brandon a little more interested in doing that. After church we asked him what he learned in church and he said they learned about going under water or something haha. Baptism! He said that he want to be baptized like his mom too! So both of them should be good to go for Christmas day :) It has been so great teaching them. We picked up a new couple from Mexico this week, Marta and Josue. She is super prepared too and hopefully will be baptized on the 25th. Next week I will update you on the Foothills area and the new investigators we'll be teaching.

I got your Christmas cards and thank you for the extra money! Everyone looks so grown up! I love my family!!! Ok so I gotta go, these days are going by so fast...oh and Elder Brandon's parents are going to call at 11 am our time, so 10 in California. The only time you could call would be right after that, at noon our time, 11:00 am your time. We have church at 1 and baptisms after. SO plan on that! We get 45 minutes so that's perfect. I'll email you my number next week.

Love you all!!! Have a great holiday week!!!!

Elder Draper

Hey Nick! Wow weird stuff happening in the NBA!! Hopefully the lake show gets some good trades. I can't believe we are here again for your birthday! I remember last year so clearly when you got the priesthood. Keep doin work man! Come prepared with some things to ask me on Christmas...and we gotta speak spanish to each other! Love you Nick!!

Thanks for writing Dad! Thanks for your testimony about the Atonement. It is such a great blessing to know that we have that to fall back on, that Christ knows how to succor us and as the scripture says "always has his arms of mercy extended" to us. It has been neat to see and experience how the Atonement can take effect in my personal life. I didn't really know how to take full advantage of it before the mission. I love you so much and thank you for all that you have taught me. I am always remembering little things you always say to me :) Have a great week and get ready for CHRISTMAS!!!! Cuidate

White Christmas anyone?

A fresh snow fall is so pretty - easy for me to say as I enjoy living in sunny southern California!

The spiffy Spanish Zone elders won cleanest cars award this month!

I don't think I've seen Ryan look more happier than in his mission pictures

Que onda?!

What an amazing week!! It was full of miracles and this next week is going to top it! That was a neat experience you had mom! Thanks for sharing that with me. Yeah it is just the craziest thought, even for me, that for 2 years I am walking up to random people and telling them about the restoration of the gospel...I don't know if that will ever set in for me! It is so much fun though and it just really makes you feel so good knowing that you are doing what Jesus Christ would do. You know how much I love trips to LA, so that was fun to hear about and see the pictures. All the girls that I knew look basically the same, just older. There seems to be a lot of new faces though!

I have not gotten the Christmas card, and Sis. Pitcher is holding the Christmas packages until December 14 at transfers next week, so that is when I should get everything. Maybe you should send packages through USPS because it isn't fun paying money for every package I get. Yeah transfers are next week, I am pretty sure I'll be moving. 7 months in one area is a veryy long time, that is about 1/3 of my mission! We'll see where the Lord needs me. Sooo, this week was basically amazing like I said. The blessings are pouring in. Here is the first miracle we had, and I will just cut and paste it out of my email to President:

We were working with a lady named Luisa a while back (she's the lady who we gave a blessing to, but she wanted her husband to do it). A couple weeks ago her husband answered the door and was very upset, telling us to never come by the house again. That shot our spirits down but we decided to respect his decision. Last Monday night we had the strongest impression to put Luisa's name down at 1:30 pm, right after DDMs. When went by, she answered and lets us in. We made sure that her husband was home, and yes he happened to randomly be home, but he was not sitting in the discussion with us. She asked us why we had not passed by in a while, so I guess her husband did not tell her that he had kicked us out basically. Anyways we get talking about a few different gospel topics, and Luisa says that the doctors still do not know what she has, and she is wondering why God has not taken her yet. She says "Well I have not been baptized before, and I know that I need to do that". We firm her right there on the spot and she accepts 100% to be baptized on Christmas Day! It was really neat to see that sudden committment and we are excited, she has changed so much this week. Her 9 year old son should be joining her in the font, but it is not quite a firm date yet for him. Seriously though, how interesting is it the way the Lord works. I thought all hope was lost with Luisa, but the Lord knew all along the situation and kept prompting us. We had been praying that her husband's heart would be softened, and now he doesn't say anything about us coming over and teaching Luisa. She is so prepared! And yes we did get in and were able to teach Diana and her family. We took Sis Amaya with us and her son Brian who just got back from his mission! (I now understand how mom is going to be when I get home haha, but I mean that in a good way mom!) Her husband was working, but her 3 kids (13, 11, and 9) listened in. The lesson was all over the place. We planned on the plan of salvation with all the rough times their family has had with cancer, and about half way through it switched to the Doctrine of Christ, then it went into apostasy and restoration so we could explain authority to her. Then all of a sudden she looked at the time and said they had to go, so the kids jumped up and started to get ready to go. Then the Amayas began to exchange info with her, and we had not fulfilled our purpose yet in inviting them to be baptized! So I got her attention and said this was the most important part of the lesson! So I started to go into it and we invited her and her family to be baptized on the 25th of December....and she said yes! She wants to do it, but she said she wants to talk to her husband, she wants to have her kids learn more before they make that decision. Probably the biggest issue is that she is having surgery on Dec 16 and again in January, so she is on pool restriction right now! We are praying so hard that the Lord will make something happen so that she with her family can be baptized on Christmas Day.

So there you go, it was a pretty legit week. Just sayin. Heavenly Father is really blessing His children in this area, and I have been an eyewitness. White Christmas anyone??

Real quick mom...you can call us Christmas day between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm for 45 minutes, so figure out what time would be best! (so between 9 and 1 your time) love you!!!

Love you all!! Have a great week!

Elder Draper