October 15, 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,
We are doing great here in Ashland, just not much is going on. We tracted the most I have ever done in a single week this last week; so not the best week. Our investigator is down with her family in southern Ohio so we weren't able to meet with her, however, she is still doing amazing and progressing a ton. We have challenged her to be baptized already and she said yes but didn’t want to set a date yet. So do you mean Cameron Lefevre got his call because I don’t think Mason can go out again yet :) haha just kidding mom just having fun with you haha. That is way cool though we hear a lot about Louisville. So Trevor Smith got his papers in; that is so cool... Hopefully he goes into the states like The Ohio Cleveland mission haha. That is cool that Heather is preparing to go.  She will do amazing in the mission field. The change is very exciting I really can’t wait to see how it changes everything here in this mission!

 Ah, Jesse gave a talk huh?  That’s great.  Now he needs to get ready to prepare the 20 minute talks like we do out here haha. I gave a talk about 3 weeks ago.  Luckily, I was the second and final speaker because Elder Garner took a ton of time so my talk was only a few minutes long haha. Well, it’s good to hear that everything is going great and I hope that it keeps going that way. Love you all!

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

October 10, 2012

Hello Dad,

 It’s good to hear from you two weeks in a row haha just kidding. I loved conference so much it was an amazing and historical one. I can tell you now that we are very excited for the change of age this will give us more missionaries in the coming months, and we need them we have been closing down a lot of areas it seems like these past few transfers. I was able to enjoy all sessions of conference and loved every single one. I will have to admit that Elder Oaks's talk was one of my favorites but, of course, Elder Holland’s was equal, if not right behind it. Sounds like everyone had a blast shooting to bad I wasn’t able to attend but soon enough I will haha.

 Ha I could tell that would scare a few of the 18 year olds; but it is inspiration and the need for more missionaries is definitely there. I am really excited to hear how this goes in the next few months; if we see some more going out. Thank you dad for your words of encouragement and mentioning my spiritual gifts sometimes it doesn't always feel that way but it’s good to hear from someone else. Thank you for all you are doing.  I would tell Jesse not to worry about the change but pushing it off makes it so much harder to get out. That time between high school and getting out here was the hardest part of my life. This is more of a blessing than a burden I can tell you that. Well thanks for the letter and love you so much.

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

Hi Mom,

 Things went pretty well last week I would say! We now have a new investigator and she seems pretty solid to be baptized so we are pretty excited. It’s a big lift for your morale when we finally have someone to teach. haha. So her name is Deb Miller and she has basically read through all of the Book of Mormon and half way through the Doctrine and Covenants. She just soaks everything in and loves it. Also she just barely gave up smoking and is planning on giving up coffee.

 I can say that President Monson's announcement is very exciting here in the mission. I can’t wait to have more missionaries soon.  We were told that we would have an influx of missionaries soon so I guess this is what our Mission President was talking about haha. I really loved Elder Oaks’s talk because we talk to a lot of people about that. I don’t really like getting into a political discussion but people bring that up so much. Also I did love Elder Holland’s talk as well; it was very good. Well thanks for the update and also for the letter. I was planning on asking for the voter registration form for a while now but I kept forgetting. A lot of the missionaries vote in Ohio because they need the votes here haha.  It’s too late for me to register here. Love you all so much and have a great week.

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

October 1, 2012

Hey Dad,

It’s great to hear from you and thank you for all that you said, it really does help. I am trying to always keep working hard and showing my love and desire to find gods children that he has prepared. It sometimes is difficult but I should know that it’s not going to easy all the time. Of course, because it wasn't easy for the Savior why should it be easy for us? We have been having some success this past week and it seems that one of our members may have found one of those Elect! We are teaching her tonight and she seems so sincere and wants to know the truth. I am working harder than ever and I hope that I can only improve on that! I don’t want to stop serving the Lord because I love the joy I feel and I don’t want that to go away! Thank You so much Dad for all you have done and are doing for me now. You are a great example to me and I am so glad that you are always caring for all your children. I love you dad!

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

P.S.- Didn’t know if mom was writing or not so that’s why I only wrote to dad but if mom doesn't write then Love You both and I am doing Great!

Also, Jesse, the best prep you can do is study your scriptures, and Preach my Gospel (not only the lessons though)! You should know that doctrine. Chapters 1, 4, and 10 are my favorites and I wish I had known these before I came out! (If you don’t know all the doctrine in the lessons then go over it but don’t focus only on that!) Chapter 4 is very important because you are teaching by the spirit! If you don’t know how the spirit feels, it makes it a little more difficult. This chapter will help a lot. And try to do the study helps! And don’t expect to have everything down perfect because it is impossible; just know the basics.  Also, if you can, try going out with the elders in the area; that helps a ton. I know it’s a ton, but a little at a time is better than nothing... Love ya boy!

Hey Mom,

 Things are great in Ashland and we are going to be teaching someone tonight. She seems pretty solid about joining so we are pretty excited. So the trees are changing which makes me sad because that means the snow is coming and it seems way too quick! But I will for sure take some pictures... this is my favorite time of the year in Ohio because the colors really stand out in Ohio. It’s been getting a lot cooler here. We are wearing coats now so it’s soon for us to get snow and I'm expecting a lot of it this year. I can email the Lemons our new address. So thank you for sending me the Lemons email.

 So that’s pretty exciting for Jesse, and always could tell he would be interested in army haha. Oh tell him if he is planning on joining and then going on a mission they can take the money away from him for school... It’s something they don’t tell everyone but the deferment; they will take that money away! Or at least ask the recruiter about it. Well thank you for the update on everyone and hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

September 25, 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,

 Everything is going great here. We are doing great and getting by great as well. I am really enjoying the Ashland ward and even though the area is hard; I do love it here. We haven’t been up to the mission home for a while but we should be going up sometime in the next few weeks I believe. Elder Garner and I are doing great just trying to find some people to teach and both pretty much sick of tracting haha. So I do wear your ties all the time, I just haven’t been taking a ton of pictures until this week haha. I have to get one of them cleaned though because of an unfortunate event with some food and the tie haha. Ah, the temple dedication would have been amazing.   The Lemons wanted to be there so bad but they are still out. Oh hey, if you still have their email, it would be great if you could send them our new home address because when I was in Bryan I gave them the old address and haven’t been able to see them since.

 That is so cool that Danielle Wynn is going on a mission; that is some good news. Yes, I know it’s tough on moms but you are much stronger than us haha. I will keep taking pictures and trying to send them all the time just for you mom haha. I don’t have anything that I can think of that I need. Maybe if you could, I would like to know how much is actually left in my bank account (savings) just so I know. I feel like I am spending too much so if I know how much it would be nice. But other than that, I think I’m good.  I probably won’t ask for anything until around Christmas time and even then, it won’t be much haha. Love you all so much and have a great week and thank you for your support and testimonies!

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney

P.S. - Yes we got to ride in an Amish buggy but not with Amish... That is not allowed :) haha. It was very exciting!

September 17, 2012

Hey Mom and Dad,

I am still doing great in Ashland and always trying to keep my head up.  Ashland is not the most exploding area in the mission, that is for sure, but it’s a great ward and there is always some success; even if I don’t see it.  I know that there will be much success in this area very soon; we will just have to be patient. So it sounds like both of you had a great week up in the Salt Lake area. I have heard a ton about the new City Creek Mall and I am in Ohio.  It’s pretty funny. Of course Dad liked the free breakfast that sounds just like him. haha.  I am jealous though that you get to see those amazing temples out there. I am just dying to get into one again but I will survive for a little longer. We, unfortunately, will not see anything about the Brigham City temple dedication. We are a little too far out of the reach to be able to watch that.  I do remember the Oquirrah Mt. temple open house.  That was an amazing tour and I also remember going to Nauvoo open house as well and that was even farther back.  haha.  Sounds like you had a great week.  So I decided to send some random pictures. The first is Deb Bryant’s baptism that we had on August 11th and then the second is me and Elder Hapairai and then the last is a picture of Elder Garner. Hope you enjoy them! Well great to hear from you and hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Ryan Furtney