Back home again... more to come.
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Nick will be back in our midst again next week!
Please drop by our house Saturday, August 13 between 7 and 10 pm and/or hear him speak at church Sunday, August 14 at 2:50, Milo Chapel.
Cactus
We go and eat with an investigator on Thursday and he freaks out and takes me right to the hospital. The doctors kinda freak out and give me some creams, pills and wrap me up.
The sad part of the story is because I was all wrapped up I couldn't get it wet, meaning I couldn't baptize Richard on Saturday. Elder Hughes did it for me. But Richard is doing amazing. He loved his baptism and many of his friends came and all want to be baptized.
This week we passed by a woman we contacted and she said "Sorry I can't listen right now. I am going to move a fridge into my apartment." We offered to help and got ourselves into a task bigger than expected. The fridge was in another apartment about three blocks away and we had no way of getting it to her house except by carrying it. We could not lie it down either so it was an awkward hour of carrying a fridge down the street, dodging signs and people and sweating our faces off.
Valencia
Nick's having a great time in this lovely city, Valencia, that hosts a crazy festival.
In emails, he wrote:
"my companion is Elder Hughes. He is a very good teacher and very effective with examples - we get along well. I am in a four man piso. The other two are both from St George and happened to know each other before the mission.
Ted, your prophecy will come true. I am going to get really fat. All the missionaries that come through this city gain at least 10-15 pounds because the members feed us wayyy too much and wayyy too often. Here's some Paella that served 80 people!
Daniel's baptism sounds like a nightmare: "We got lost on the way to the interview and showed up late. Then on the baptismal day he had trouble getting there but finally we found a member that could pick him up. We spent about an hour and a half before the baptism looking for a place to make the programs and copy them. Then they copied them and did it upside down on the inside. After that we found out the person that was going to baptize him didn't know he was doing it! We call him... turns out he hurt his chest and couldn't lift heavy things. So we had to find someone else to baptize him. The speakers didn't show up so my companion gave both talks. The oven was messed up so it took forever to make cookies for afterwards. The clothes were too big for him so they were all baggy. We didn't have towels for them to use to dry off. It was just one giant mess but the important thing is that he was baptized. I will remember that baptism forever for all of the crazy things that happened."
Nick's last night in Badalona - some members held a going away party for Nick.
In emails, he wrote:
"my companion is Elder Hughes. He is a very good teacher and very effective with examples - we get along well. I am in a four man piso. The other two are both from St George and happened to know each other before the mission.
Ted, your prophecy will come true. I am going to get really fat. All the missionaries that come through this city gain at least 10-15 pounds because the members feed us wayyy too much and wayyy too often. Here's some Paella that served 80 people!
Daniel's baptism
Nick's last night in Badalona - some members held a going away party for Nick.
Happy Birthday!
She described Nick as a "wise and seasoned missionary. His comments are so solid. He teaches well, he's a good example. He can take a special assignment from President Hinckley, who trusts him."
I'd be happy to play it for you if you want to hear it (proud mom).
Valencia
Mother's Day Phone Call
Nick sounds and looks great. The work is challenging but the members work hard to help them. There is a lot of reactivation occurring in Badalona. Many people have moved to find employment. Nick's companion, Elder Cannell,is coming home in one transfer; Nick in two. One of their diversions was to create a chain of ties that was long enough to go the height of a 9-story building. His advice to incoming missionaries is that they shouldn't believe that Spaniards can't be baptized. He hopes that Alberto, the husband of a recently activated sister, will be baptized.
Check out our Ryser family blog to see his reaction to Maggie's engagement.
Radio is for the birds
Not really.. just trying to get your attention.
Nick and President Hinckley participated in a live radio broadcast from the Badalona Chapel. President Hinckley posted this picture and compliment: "Elder Ryser got some airtime and did a great job!"
They also found this falcon sparrow? on their balcony and hoped he found his way back to safety.
From March 21, he wrote:
"This week we did splits and they have the most interesting man ever. They're teaching a guy named Miguel Angel, from Madrid. He called up the elders one day and told them he had a spiritual confirmation that the Church is true and wants to be baptized. The most interesting part is that he lives an hour and a half up the mountain on foot (we hiked in our suits and tennis shoes)... in a monastery! Yep he was training to be a monk that lives in solitude and when he was meditating in the chapel there in the mountains, the spirit said "What are you doing here? You know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true." So he is going to escape the monastery and be baptized in Madrid this week."
Nick and President Hinckley participated in a live radio broadcast from the Badalona Chapel. President Hinckley posted this picture and compliment: "Elder Ryser got some airtime and did a great job!"
They also found this falcon sparrow? on their balcony and hoped he found his way back to safety.
From March 21, he wrote:
"This week we did splits and they have the most interesting man ever. They're teaching a guy named Miguel Angel, from Madrid. He called up the elders one day and told them he had a spiritual confirmation that the Church is true and wants to be baptized. The most interesting part is that he lives an hour and a half up the mountain on foot (we hiked in our suits and tennis shoes)... in a monastery! Yep he was training to be a monk that lives in solitude and when he was meditating in the chapel there in the mountains, the spirit said "What are you doing here? You know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true." So he is going to escape the monastery and be baptized in Madrid this week."
Package from Spain
We received Nick's old shoes and a flashdrive with accumulated photos and a few movies. Enjoy!
Badalona
Church was amazing. I think it was the most powerfull testimony meeting I have ever been in here in Spain. It is because of just one man's testimony. He was an old Spaniard who got up and told us that it had been a year since he had given his testimony and he said that he had over the years gained many testimonies but was going to share his strongest one. It was about geneology work and the temple. As he spoke the room was filled with the spirit and everyone was listening silently as he testified of the work and how important it is. I loved it and I am very excited to be with these members here. They are all great. They are much more organized and dedicated to missionary work than any other ward I have been in.
Clementine was baptized two days ago.
Risk took most of a pday.
View of sunrise from apartment
View of studying
Hermana Roerig came out with me. This was her last night as a missionary.
Anca and her family in Zaragoza
Transfer
Nick has been transferred to Badalona, near Barcelona
Elder Cannell is the second from the left, back row.
Learning a new version of Spanish will be interesting for Nick too. And he thought he knew what he was doing! ha ha. Check out this sample of Catalan for tourists It looks like a mixture of Spanish, French and Italian.
Three Kings
Three Kings is celebrated on January 6th and is almost a bigger holiday than Christmas. They eat a King's Day Cake. Inside the cake is a tiny king statue and a bean. Whoever gets the king in their piece is king for the day. The bean has to do the dishes.
Elder Jacinto got the bean, Nick's the king.
El Alma del Ebro was created for the International Exposition
last August. It is eleven meters high, the sculpted letters represent cells of the human body which is over 60% water. Its white letters and hollow structure invite the view to look inside and reflect on the relationship between human beings and water.
This porcelain statue was created by the Lladró company in Valencia, using two
Spain Barcelona Missionaries as models. Looks like Nick eh?
On January 11, he wrote:
The Lord has blessed us with some amazing miracles this week. There is a quote from an apostle that says "To reach a goal that has never been reached you must do things that have never been done." As I said before we have been having a hard time finding new people to teach and well we have been doing almost everything. We contact, we visit old investigators, we ask for references, and set up activities and things to get the members involved but there was one thing we discovered we were not doing... knocking doors. I have always figured knocking doors is not very effective because well my entire mission I have gotten one investigator out of it... until this week. So we decided we were going to do that and the first door we knock was Maybis, Frostina and Desmond. After that we found a man one floor beneath them named Starling who told us that he has been waiting for a long time to come back to church and raise his family with God! We go to another house and knock the building and found a Romanian family who is incredible and they all were asking us for Books of Mormon. In the end because we knocked doors and the fast that we did without agreeing on it was to find new investigators we received 15 new investigators this week! I have never met so many good people who are willing to listen to the gospel in just one week but the Lord has blessed us for our efforts.
The Lord has blessed us with some amazing miracles this week. There is a quote from an apostle that says "To reach a goal that has never been reached you must do things that have never been done." As I said before we have been having a hard time finding new people to teach and well we have been doing almost everything. We contact, we visit old investigators, we ask for references, and set up activities and things to get the members involved but there was one thing we discovered we were not doing... knocking doors. I have always figured knocking doors is not very effective because well my entire mission I have gotten one investigator out of it... until this week. So we decided we were going to do that and the first door we knock was Maybis, Frostina and Desmond. After that we found a man one floor beneath them named Starling who told us that he has been waiting for a long time to come back to church and raise his family with God! We go to another house and knock the building and found a Romanian family who is incredible and they all were asking us for Books of Mormon. In the end because we knocked doors and the fast that we did without agreeing on it was to find new investigators we received 15 new investigators this week! I have never met so many good people who are willing to listen to the gospel in just one week but the Lord has blessed us for our efforts.
Christmas phone call
We got to Skype this year! It was soo fun! He and the other missionaries went to an internet cafe and they were all lined up with their earphones on, talking to their families.
At home, we all sat around, facing the monitor, and it felt just like a visit in the kitchen! We even showed him a picture Maggie gave us for Christmas, and other things, like sticky buns, Millie, etc.
Christmas in Zaragoza
The best part of Nick's Christmas was a baptism! Joshua is from Nigeria and his baptism was delayed because his marriage was tribal and wasn't legal. However, by Christmas, things were worked out and Nick said it was the best gift ever.
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