A few pictures

Elder Furtney and Elder Garner (brand new missionary Ryan is training)

I believe Ryan was in the MTC (over a year ago) with a few of these Elders

At the Kirtland Temple with Robert, whom they baptized

September 5, 2012

 Hey Mom and Dad,
 I am doing great here in Ashland.  Sorry it took a while to email back; we had something going on on Monday and were not able to email until today.  Everything is great here and I love it so much! We have two investigators at the moment but they are really hard to get a hold of and so it’s still pretty much the same here.  Ashland has a ward, and it’s the most active unit that I have been in my whole mission... pretty sad but true. I have been getting to know the members pretty well. This is a great ward and I am enjoying serving here because the members here are really great. Elder Garner is doing great so far and enjoying being a missionary. He may not be in the best area but he keeps his attitude up and works great.
 So I generally try to avoid the topic of football around here because I am way to close to Ohio State to be saying I’m a Michigan fan.  Yes, Warren the gnome is still always on display and I will never take him down. haha.

So Jordan is going to Virginia -- that is sweet!  One of the members in Warren moved from that area right when I got there and her husband still goes down there all the time and talks to the missionaries in their area.  He takes them out to lunch every time he can. haha. Well, that is so cool though--he is going to love it there for sure. But warn him about the humidity -- it is crazy in the East! haha.
 Yes, Mom my testimony has grown a ton out here... more than it could have anywhere else. I have been able to see more of God’s love in my life than I ever have before and it is amazing. Well I love you all and hope everything is going great back home. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Ryan Furtney

August 2012

August 31, 2012

Hey Dad,

Good to hear from you and maybe one day you will find me! I am probably back at the old house haha just kidding. I am doing great here in Ohio and enjoying serving each day.  So I guess I will be ok with the move.  It will just be kind of a shock when I get home and we go to a different house. But I will get over it and it’s not like I’m not moving all the time already!
 I do remember that article and I really liked it because I was already in the middle at that time and I plan on keeping it that way! I love it out here and I try not to think how little time there is now. I am excited to continue to serve and enjoy it as much as I can. And the best way to do that is to keep a positive attitude!

 So now Cedar needs to get a temple really bad -- then everything will be great and wonderful haha! Or maybe a temple here in Ohio would be nice too. But that’s cool to see the Brigham City temple dedication!

 Ya, and I am pretty excited to see Dillon again when I get home! Hope he isn’t already married by that point, but I can see it happening.  haha. Well, thanks for the email and hope the family is doing great love you all,

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

 Hey mom,

Thanks for the pictures.  The new house looks great!  Well, I also hope that the moving will end soon -- that is not fun although that is pretty much my skill now for the amount of people I have moved!  Well, things are going great here but the area is very dead at the moment! But I really hope soon enough that it will be doing much better in the future! So being a trainer is pretty stressful but it’s not really as bad as I thought it would be! I really am enjoying it!  Well I don’t have much else to say but ALL IS WELL!  Everything is going great and I love you all! Thank you for all the support and prayers! Hope you have a great and wonderful week in Utah!

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

August 20, 2012

Hi Mom and Dad,

I am doing great here.  Sorry to say there is really nothing new in Ashland. My new companion is Elder Garner. He is from Fruitland, Idaho and yes it’s another one from Idaho! haha  They just keep coming to me haha. Training is going great. It’s not too bad cause Elder Garner has got  a lot down compared to what I had when I came out.

So that is so crazy to hear that Dillon is already back and gave his farewell talk. He is probably doing great and will be married in a matter of months because he is going to BYU Idaho haha. Oh well, it’s good to hear about Dillon. So, ya, I got an email from Dad about Eric’s new girl... Should be interesting! Yes, I would think that Cedar has been wearing on him for a long time! haha 

That is crazy that school has already started... Wow! Well I hope Jesse does well this year and enjoys it as much as he can!

Well, love you all and hope that you have a great week! And thank you for all the updates about the family.

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

August 14, 2012

Hey Beloved Parents and Familia,

 I am doing great so far and surprised to hear the news of moving! Pretty much a shock to the system for me over here! haha   Well as long as it’s not a new ward, I am cool!  So I know exactly what house that is by the way; I looked it up on Google maps :)! I like it but it will still be weird and I may be like Alyssa for a while on this one and not want to change haha!

It’s good to hear about all the guys working and getting ready to serve.  I am super excited to hear where Jordan goes!  So, I don’t start training the new missionary until Wednesday and then the fun begins, but I am very excited for this and it’s going to teach me a lot. Well, the baptism went great last week and we were both very excited about it.

Well, tell Arlee happy birthday for me and tell Eric hello from Ohio from me!  I will try to send pictures next week.  I forgot to grab my camera today.  Love you all and have a great week!

Love,

Elder Furtney 

August 6, 2012

Hey, sorry I don’t have tons of time to email and I’ll try to do it maybe on Wednesday, but some quick news... I got called to train a new missionary so that is why I am in a hurry.  Other than that, everything is great!  LOVE you all and I’ll write more sometime this week!

LOVE,

Elder Furtney

July 30. 2012

Dear Family,

 It’s been a great two weeks and I am  loving this area more and more each day. Sometimes it does get tough but I get over it quick and keep working. We don't have a ton of investigators here but we are always looking for them. We do have a lot of potential though from the members in the area.  We don’t meet too many people on the streets but there are a few, it’s still not that big of a city but it’s big enough that we see people walking around. We have been working a lot with the YSA's in the area and I can honestly say I have no idea what the main industry is here. A lot of people work either in Cleveland or surrounding area. There isn’t much in the city of Ashland except the university. We have seen the new mission president a few times these past few weeks and talk to him a lot actually. He is doing great and helping us all grow as missionaries. We are really excited for the baptism coming up on the 11th, and she is being interviewed today so we hope everything goes well. She seems very prepared and ready for the gospel. She saw the change in her son which made her want to learn more. So he invited her to church and then the lessons and she did both and now she is ready for baptism.

 Well sounds like Cedar is getting pretty exciting with those crazy storms haha. We have had some rain but not a ton. But it’s nice to see some rain.  We did have one of those freak Ohio storms that came out of nowhere while we were tracting... we were soaked in seconds haha but not too much excitement here with weather. It’s great to hear about Eric and I hope he is enjoying his time in Europe and hope everything goes well.

 So Brooke is going on a mission; that is cool. Sounds like it will be a hot one down there in Arizona haha. That is exciting to hear.

Well, love you all and thank you for both your emails Mom and Dad! They help a ton every week! Love you all so much and hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

 

PS- I want mail  -- you should suggest people to write me :) haha! Love you!

July 23, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

The new area is great and we are starting to find investigators. Sadly, just like the past few areas, there was not too much going on before, but we do have one really great investigator who will be baptized on August 11th.  So Ashland is an interesting place to be as an LDS missionary. It's the world headquarters of the Brethren Church which is Born Again Christians... and if dad knows anything about Born Agains, he knows that they love to bash! HAHA!  So, yes, a lot of the people here in Ashland DON'T LIKE US!  But that is not too bad because it’s actually the most active ward I have been in so far and I really like it here.  Plus we just got an add on area so we have other places to work that aren’t so anti. I have enjoyed my time here so far but I don’t think I have seen so much hate for our church in my life --  it’s a different experience. But you know me, I am just laid back and just smile at them and tell them we are true and they aren't and then just walk away... just kidding I’m much nicer than that haha. But really this isn’t too bad of an area even though I may have made it sound bad. It’s a great place and many people are nice or at least they are to our faces :).  I am just over one set of elders just like before and, yes, I will most likely be riding my bike here as well.  Oh and Elder Simmons does not know Luann and Butch - sorry...
Well tell Jesse happy birthday for me and tell him to start preparing for his mission TODAY! I wish I had read more and actually prepared more because it took me pretty much the whole first year to figure out why I was out here.  Also, if he is reading scriptures, it will make it easier to get out here. I really love it out here though and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world than where I am now.

Well, mi familia, I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week in the good ole town of CC. Oh also, on another note, Robert got the priesthood this week! I was pretty excited to hear that and he is excited to go to the temple to do baptisms. YAY! Well ,talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

July 16, 2012

Hola Mi Famila,

 I am doing so great in my new area and enjoying the new ward . I am in Ashland, Ohio on another edge of the mission but just right in the middle of Ohio. haha. My new address is 325A Hillcrest Dr. Ashland, OH 44805. My new companion is Elder Simmons from Shelly, Idaho. haha  Ya I know another one from Idaho haha. He is a great missionary though and I am excited to be working with him. And, yes, I am still district leader over here. I don’t have any pictures yet but soon enough. Also I don’t have the Lemon’s computer anymore so it makes it a little difficult to send pictures now over the computer.

So it’s great to hear about everyone and to know everyone is doing great. I can’t believe that I only have a year left and I know it’s going to go by way too fast.   Also on the blog, I just put the mission home address so anyone can send me stuff and no matter what, it can get to me. And then just the family can have my home address so you can just leave the one on the blog the same. So here there is a bit more rain than my last area so that’s nice but it’s still not that much compared to last year.
Well, love you all and hope you are all doing great. Thank you for all your support!

Love,

 Elder Ryan Furtney

July 10, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,
Thanks for the congrats and the support from you. Things are going great and Robert has been confirmed into the church and is doing so great. We are excited for him and it seems that he will do great in the church. He is so excited to serve and he will be serving soon. Robert’s baptism went great.  His best friend is the one who baptized him and Elder Moffett just got lucky enough to come out the day Robert was being baptized. Other than that not much is happening except... I am being transferred on Wednesday so surprise haha! I will tell you where I am as soon as possible. It is great to hear from both of you and I hope that you start getting rain... this is Ohio's worst summer ever on record as well. There hasn't been rain for like 6 weeks.  Oh wait, there was one storm that did a lot of damage but other than that, nothing.  The heat has been in the 100's and that is not fun let me tell you that. I have a picture of a sign that says 113 haha.  We tracted that whole day... ya not that exciting... I don’t think I have ever sweated so much in my entire life!
Well, I love you both and I don’t have much time to email but hope you have a great week and I will tell you the new area next Monday! Love you all.

 

Love,
Elder Ryan Furtney