August 24, 2015

So we had a Temple dedication here. And boy it was good.

But we will get into that later. This week was like any other week in the mission life. Knocking doors, trying to find people, and getting kicked out of trailer parks. We had quite a lot of bad luck this week with getting kicked out. This does cause some problems because we only have about 4 trailer parks out here that house the majority of the Hispanics in Columbus. We have been kicked out of 3 of them so far. One of the parks in manage by members of one of the English wards and they came over and told us to leave. Which was a little annoying but oh well I guess their just doing their job but grrrrrr.

On the brighter side of news we have 3 people progressing towards baptisms and are steadily making their way. One is a man named Jose who is married but not legally so we are making them get married. His wife is a member and they have been together for several years. He is in his late 40's and has trouble with his eyes (probably due to his drinking problems in the past) and is not blind, but has a lot of trouble with them. His date is set for the 5th of September.

We also have another part member family that we are working to get their daughter Delayne baptized the 12th of September. She is about 18 and is finishing highschool. Other than just praying in the mornings she is progressing and will make the date.

The final person is another teenager named Jessica. She is friends with Delayne, and learned a little about the church from her. Then the missionaries found her and now she is on date for the 12th of September as well. Originally no one knew about this little tad bit of info (till I dug into why her mom avoided us, it took time but I found out something huge) her mom is a member. Or was baptized a member with her family at a young age and was active up till she came to the US at the age of 15 in which she stopped being active. So technically this would be a part member family. I'm not to sure how it would be called since the mom has in a sense apostatized but not a big deal. We are going to try to teach her. I came up with a funny idea which she thought was funny to. I and Elder Schonemann will eat the hottest chile she has to offer without milk, in return she will come to church.

So because of the dedication of the temple we were not going to have church. So we figured we should go to Mass, or communion. Hahahahaha so we were invited to attend the local Catholic mass from some of our investigators. It was a little hard to understand in Spanish and the Father did not speak Spanish very well which made it a little more difficult. 

This last Saturday we had the great opportunity to watch the cultural celebration of the Temple which was very good and fun to watch. It was a little short which was disappointing but good none the less. I think if you want you can watch it on Youtube or go to the churchs website.

Now I will finish this email out with what happened with us and the dedication. We went to one of the local church buildings that was broadcasting the final dedication. Boy what a powerful experience. It was a perfect way for us to finish the day out. The spirit was so strong. Its a little bittersweet for us that it if done the work for opening the temple is finished. But now begins the work to fill it. 

I loved the words of President Eyring when he said (this isnt exact) when we truly understand the blessings of the temple then the sacrifices that the early saints and the current saints have done are are not sacrifices. They are prices willingly paid for the eternal blessings we can receive, the guarantee that Families Can Be Together Forever.

August 17, 2015

So first things first here is my new address.

963 Lapwing Dr

Columbus, IN 47203

USA, Planet Earth, Solar System Milky Way

Now we here is some other information that I thought would never happen. I am back with Elder Cruz my companion from Elkhart, and we are working with Elder Schonemann here. Yep we are in a trio, three missionaries which honestly we are all scratching our heads a little to know why president is making so many trios and one especially in Spanish (It makes things difficult). But that's okay. Out of all the trios we could of been put together in this is by far the best.

You see Elder Schonemann is my brother. We both had the same trainer so we have known about each other for a long time. He is a good guy from Utah with about 14 or 15 months in the mission. A avid football player back home he is soft spoken but is really nice.

Now here is another interesting thing. Our new home is with members. Their names are the Nehrings they have been housing the Spanish missionaries for about 6 years now. We live in the downstairs section of the house and it is really nice living conditions. They will also quite often feed us as such living is pretty easy. Me and Elder Cruz made the joke that we had been living in the worst house in the mission only to change to one of the best housing situations. Oh and by the way (Trapps will know them) do you guys remember the Johnsons. They were in Medford until sister johnson passed away and brother johnson moved to portland. Well their daughter Amber Johnson is married to the oldest son of the Nehrings and she remembers Bobbie and Christina from highschool. So you probably should remember them.

Now as for the new area. There recently has been a lot of success in the area with baptisms about six (a family, and lady). The members are something a little strange in Spanish land... rich. Rich and all fluently or sometimes more comfortably speaking English. Columbus is the home of the company Cummins or at least one of its headquarters along with several other major companies. Its weird because even the trailer park people here are fairly well off. Its a major change to the areas I have been. The members are all very good, and nice. We have a Portugese family who are awesome, and we get along with them great.

Now for some news about a recent baptism back in Elkhart with Cenovia Cruz. This last sunday we had the pleasure of hearing she was confirmed a member of the the Church and as such is now preparing for the temple. YES.

Now back to Columbus. We have at least 3 solid people getting ready for baptism. One is a partmember family who needs to get married.

And the other two are teenagers who are already starting to get their families at least reading the scriptures with them.

I like Columbus, its small but as the Spanish missionaries we cover the Stake so techniqually its huge. The only thing I dont like is the mosquitoes. They are horrible.

As a side note we are supposedly getting 25 Hondurans coming to church in the next couple sundays. They literally crossed the border and traveled to get up here. 7 of them are members and rest people we need to baptize. So thats pretty exciting.

Well its a start of a new area and a new experience. I was blessed (or cursed) with the opportunity to talk this sunday last second. And literally it was just me and elder cruz giving the talks. So I just winged it for the very first time in spanish I was proud though the talk was a little rough with the language. I talked about the importance of the sabbathday and participating in the sacrament. Also I mentioned the gratitude I had for my parents forcing me to go at a young age and being that influence in my life. And the importance of the parents incouraging attending church.

 Which is great because now I dont need to give a talk for at least another month.

Pictures August 10, 2015

August 10, 2015

Okay so before anything else is said I am leaving Elkhart so don't send anything right now till we find out.

I am going to write rapidly because now we have to get a lot of things done because Elder Cruz is also being taken out of the area. So we have to get all the paper work in order and get the area prep for the new missionaries.

So we went to the temple Wednesday with Jose Luis the boss of our ward mission leader. It was really good and we didn't expect him to take us specifically to lunch and then dinner (Subway, then Cheese factory). He really liked it, and wanted to get some of the couches from the entrance.

 

We also went to the temple Saturday with some members and less actives for the final day. It was really spiritual and I got to say hi to Pres Cleveland and get a picture with him. Over all a pretty good way to end the weekend with the best coming.

This Sunday we had the baptism of Cenovia Cruz. It was simple, and short. But was very powerful, and spiritual. There was a lot of tears though I didn't cry, I just got a little sweaty in the eyes.

So there are new pictures and I will let you know where my new address is when I get it.

August 3, 2015

So we will jump into first with some news. We went to the temple Saturday with some of Elder Cruz's friends from Chicago. That was pretty good.

We also introduce our investigator to a different coffee (non caffeinated). She loved it, she likes it more than regular coffee. And then she shared some with her daughter or niece and she now wants to stop drinking coffee as well.

Now with some news about Cenovia our investigator on the way to baptism. She needs to be taught one or two more lessons, and to have her interview. But other than that she should be ready to be baptize this Saturday.

We have finally gotten a less active to go back to being active. His name is Luis he is in his 50's and is the only one in his family who is a member of the chuch. We are working with him to get the Melchizedek priesthood.

This Sunday we were privileged to hear from the Temple president of Indianapolis. This fireside was planned about two weeks ago when after some discussions he asked if he could come and talk. He and his wife previously had served in chile or peru, so they could speak spanish. It was really good. And we were able to get one of our investigators to come. They talked specifically about the eternal prospectives that temples bring in our life's. The unique opportunity that the temple open house brings to us. 

It was really good. Very spiritual and everyone enjoyed it a lot.

So overall a pretty good week. This upcoming week should also be pretty good because we have planned to go to the temple on Wednesday and Saturday. And with a baptism planned on Saturday, its looking pretty good.

Are new apartment is pretty nice. I celebrated by cooking some pork and noodles. They were pretty good.

But sorry that this week letter is pretty bland. I hope everything is going well for everyone. And that you guys are enjoying the end of the summer.

July 29, 2015

Well I hope I was able to get everything you guys needed. I suppose I could go into even more detail but its hard to do that in a short portion of time.

Suffices to say I have delivered the most important portions of the news.

As such I don't have much else to say.

I do want to remark about something dad mentioned in a email concerning Legacy. Recently I have been watching a lot of the church history videos, specifically about the pioneers. I think of our own ancestry paving the way across the plains. But more significant for me is the pioneers I have for parents. My dad the only one serving a mission, in many ways preparing to make it possible for me to serve a mission. And my mom being the one out of her whole family to hold true to gospel and to raise us kids up in a household of the gospel. We have pioneers in both sides of our family from centuries ago. But for me you guys will always be the pioneers I look up to. Perhaps not the ones who braved the wilderness of the Mid Western United States or the ones who crossed the Oceans to come to Zion in Utah. But the ones who have braved the treacherous spiritual wildernesses of the world, and the seas of uncertainty where the questions of whether there is ever a God abound.

You guys paved the path for Shannon, Nicole, Christina, Bobbie, and I Ryan to live life in accordance to what the God wants for us.

As such I view you guys as the beginning of a legacy that I am proud and eternally grateful to be a part of.

I love you Mom, I love you dad.

Sincerely from your son and missionary, Elder Ryan James Trapp

P.S. I loved the pictures of the pets, I would like to see one of Chip though I know it can be hard with her.

July 29th, 2015

Well this is a little weird to email on Wednesday but were doing it because today is our day off. The reason for this is rather simple. While the temple open house is going on the Sister Missionaries depending on the areas, are working many of the days including Mondays, as such there P days are moved to Wednesday, or other days depending on the schedule.

Now onto very important stuff. My new address, mi nueva direccion es.

2621 Decamp Ave, Elkhart, In 46517 apartment 312 (letters only)

SEND ONLY LETTERS HERE!!!!! There have been previous thefts in the past. If you want to send a package please send it to.

2229 Stevens Ave, Elkhart, In 46517 (packages) This is my mission ward leaders house so they will be safe. He was the one who suggested it.

Sorry it has to be complicated but living in the areas we live makes it fairly unsafe for stuff like that.

But now onto some news. Cenovia a investigator will be getting baptized August 8th. Yes that's right. She is fully committed and is trying to bring her grandchildren to church. She is honestly pretty much a member just needs to be baptized. We have another man by the name of Jose Luis. He is a humble, funny, and just overall good guy. His story is fantastic he is the same guy who we met at his work, then hired our mission coordinator when we suggested him, reads everyday the BOM, and has expressed he wants to go to the temple open house next week probably Wednesday. They are rare but they happen he is golden and ready for the gospel.

Now in terms of the move. The missionaries came and we enlisted the help of the other local missionaries to help move. It was fast, but was also boiling hot. We had to hurry because we needed to go to our English class which I will get into in a sec. Our new apartment may be one of the nicest places I have ever lived in my whole mission. I have uploaded two videos, one of the old apartment and another of the new. The difference is pretty big.

Now we started teaching English classes a couple of weeks ago in a effort to introduce people to the church. At first just nobody, the second time 2 people, the third 6, and just recently 12 people. I don't know how many will stick with us but we have a solid 4 to 5 people we know will usually always come. This last one I scared the class a little by telling them I had a guy by the name of Bob coming to talk with them. He couldn't speak Spanish and so they needed to talk only in English. I went outside to get Bob and came back with my tie undone and a tag saying Bob. I got quite a laugh out of that and there was a lot of relieved faces. We offer at the end of the class the opportunities to tour the church if they would like at the end or before class as a way to get they more interested in the gospel.

But I am afraid that's pretty much all the exciting news. I hope the new addresses are clear and that you can differentiate between them.

As always I want to close by saying I love you all and miss you all.