Well, I guess Merry Christmas again too! :D

It was great seeing you on skype. The reason why my companion called and not skyped is because he is going home in 2 weeks and he didn't want seeing his family make him trunky so he just called. Crazy to think next year I'll be in the same situation. hehe

It was so great to see the family! Expecially Grant :D Sad though i wasn't able to see Drake and Emily.

Man I miss those elders i used to go out with. Is there any way you could get a picture of them.. Well I guess not anymore Elder Thomas, but the other elder from Colorodo i think it was. 

Its sad to hear that Elder Curran is having a hard time. I have been trying to email him more often, I think me being there for him will be great, since i am currently on a mission and i have had to go through my own trials. 

Would it be alright if i can get Elders, Curran, Menser, and Fallons mission address? I want to send them some letters or things. Think it would be fun.

wish you luck on your trip! sounds so fun... A little cold for me though :D I don't know if drake would be able to survive...

A sister missionary here has something that i could use to get some pictures on my email so i will use it, the problem is she isn't here emailing right now, so if you see pictures then that means she got here if not she wasnt here when i was.

Thank you for all your love and support! And thank you SO much grandma for the new socks! They are so comfortable and GREAT! Now i can throw away a few pairs of socks with holes in them :D 

How are you doing grandma!? Sorry I wasn't able to hear from you much when we Skyped.

I love you,

Elder Ranquist

Pre-Christmas Letter 12-23-13

First off I am going to Skype at 4:00 p.m. California time, so I guess that would be 7:00 p.m. Kentucky time. I'll be Skyping at a recent convert’s house who is fellowshipping our investigator Gervie, so hopefully the family and Gervie should be there. They're great!

Our mission doesn't do luncheons as a whole mission. It’s too big and spread out. We have lunches when we go to Zone Conference, like the one we just had, where the 3 zones meet together. For this Christmas lunch we all brought white elephant gifts, and I got a face massager. 

This week we got a little, live Christmas tree from a member and started to put our gifts under it. Thank you dad for sending the Christmas Story. I was going to ask about that so I could keep in the tradition. 

This week we’re going to go out as a zone and sing Christmas Hymns.... The only worry is I hope I'm not the only bass that sings :D

I'm excited to SEE you this time, since last time I couldn't see you!

Love,

Elder Ranquist

Great Week 12-16-13

I've just been having a great time!

We had a ward Christmas party Saturday and I was able to meet a lot of the Ward members that way which was so nice. Sorry I didn't take any pictures.

Also, we had Zone Conference Thursday where 3 zones (San Francisco, San Francisco West, and Hayward zone) went to a church building in San Francisco and had training all day long. Elder Packer came (no, not the General Authority, but our Area authority). He is awesome and talked about Moral Authority, basically meaning you have to practice what we preach. And right before then, me and my companion had a training on How to Baptize Weekly and principles on how we can achieve that high goal. We’re committed to doing it.  It's going to take a lot of hard work. 

I am a little bit cold. The only bed sheet I have is the thin blue blanket we got that I brought out with me. And I accidently left my Mr. Mac jacket in my old apartment. Thankfully, I’m not on bike. I would be freezing. There are actually bike sisters now. We feel so bad for them.

We were able to go up to the temple yesterday with our new investigator, Gervie. She loved it and is super excited about getting baptized!

Our responsibilities as a zone leader are basically to give trainings to our zone, account to the assistants and the mission president on how the missionary work is going in our zone. We also have a monthly coordination meeting with the Stake Presidency and the mission president on how the wards are doing with missionary work. The funnest thing to do is go on exchanges with our district leaders and be able to see how they do missionary work and learn from them and they learn from you. I really like how everyone is patient with me. I feel like I don't really know what I am doing but everyone is helping me out and it makes it a lot easier and less stressful, especially my companion is patient. I still don't know the area really well, still trying to do better at that as well. 

Also I met Elder and Sister Weeks again at zone conference, weren't they the parents of Bishop Shumway?

Thank you for all of your love and encouragement! And say hello to the Ward for me!

Love,

Elder Ranquist

Cold Week 12-9-13

This has been such a great week! My companion, Elder Hamilton, is great. He's from Idaho. I heard it was -30 degrees there on Sunday.  He is actually going home this transfer so he'll leave in January and I’ll have to be the senior Zone Leader. Actually, ALL of our zone leaders except me and 2 others who just got called as zone leaders at the same time I did, are going home either in January or March, even our Assistants are going home at that time. The mission is going to drastically change in the next few months as all of our leaders leave and we get brand new leaders.

  This week we taught a lesson with a new investigator and she is committed to baptism! We have taught her twice and doing so well. She is living with her boyfriend so we taught about the law of chastity and she is going to kick him out or marry him. She came to church and has great fellowshippers. We’re so excited! 

     Actually something for Jessica... Someone on the folk dance team is out here and he is in the zone. His name is Elder Dotimas. Don't really know his first name. But he says he knows you and has seen the family before. He's Pillippino and really awesome! :D

     My last area in San Leandro we did not get a lot of dinners, but in Hayward this ward is really supportive and just one big happy family so it is looking good for dinners for now.

I am so thankful I am in a car area! :D It gets cold here and I would hate to be on bike. In our zone we actually have a companionship of sisters who are on bike, and a few elders on bike. I feel sorry for them!

I'll see if we can do Google+ or not, I’m not exactly sure. 

Have a great week!!!!

Love,

Elder Ranquist

Grant's Blessing 12-2-13

Hello!

This week has been one of the best. We have been able to get closer together and love one another. But, sadly, I am being transferred! I have been called as a Zone Leader in Hayward. I don't feel ready :D I haven't been out on my mission that long! But I am looking forward to it and know I’m going to have some great experiences. 

     At the beginning of the week, we thought we were only going to go to one member’s house for dinner, but Wednesday, two more families signed up so we got really full!! 

     Saturday, the temple puts on a show at 6 and then lights up the temple Christmas lights at 7:30 so we got one of our investigators to go up there with us. They enjoyed it and so did we. It was sad listening to a singer who sung I'll be there [home] for Christmas...... Well, if only in my dreams. I will Skype you though! I really want to show some pictures, but I lost my USB memory card converter thing. Maybe my new area has a way I can. 

And about cameras, I got a new one! It’s awesome. A man just moved into our Ward and he is a retired photographer. So he gave me and my companion one of his professional cameras and on P-Days he is teaching us how to use them! Sadly, this will be my last photography class because I’m being transferred.

I have loved this ward so much. I have spent most of my mission in it. I will definitely come back when my mission is over and visit some of the members.

Actually, I almost forgot, this Sunday we had a baby blessed too. It was our 2nd Councilor's baby. (It was a girl though). But, while he was giving the blessing, I was thinking about Grant and you guys, how you are doing the same thing! So I kind of felt like a part of Grant’s blessing :D

I thank you for your emails and pray for you always. I am looking forward to this week and the experience it brings and I am looking forward to Christmas!!

Love,

Elder Ranquist

Thanksgiving Week 11-25-13

Dear Family,

This has been the hardest week on my mission with out a doubt. I will not dwell on that because it is Thanksgiving week and I am thankful for my blessings.

I love D&C 58:3-4 and, of course, my personal favorite, Genesis 29:20 "And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her."..... It made me smile :)

Anyway, this week has taught me a lot of Christ-like attributes that I have gained and still need to focus on. For me, I love working on things by myself :D... but for this week, I have had to call on my leaders for help and that way we have received counseling a few times this week. I like how one of them said it. “It’s natural, think about it like you bought a car, no matter how nice it is, whether it’s a Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Audi, any super car, no matter how good it is, you always have to do what’s called constructive maintenance; change the oil, refill other things, re-align the wheels so it doesn't brake.” I guess that’s what we have had to do this week; re-align our companionship with the Lord because we let Satan put his foot in the door and we couldn't get him out. 

  We are going to have a great week though. Excited for Thanksgiving! I know of 1 dinner we’re going to right now. Should be fun. And Christmas is right around the corner! :D One transfer away for us missionaries. "Things seem unto me but a few days, for the love I have for my family!” Time is flying by for the love I have for you and the family and the Lord!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Ranquist