Talk to you soon!

Dear Mom and Den,

10606 N. Windham Ct
Spokane, WA  99208

I figured you would want that first!  ;)   Thanks for that card.  I got it and Sis. Engstrom called me and told me she got the package and should be dropping it off to me later today. 

Things here are pretty good.  Elder Bernards is a really good guy....mostly quiet and keeps to himself.  I hope after a little bit he starts to warm up and starts talking more.  The wards are good.  We spend all day at church from 7 am to 6 pm and lots and lots of meetings.  LOL...enough to give you a headache after sitting for so long, but we have lots going on here with one person on date for baptism in each ward and a few other people who are really close. 

The first is Emmy Rodgers.  She's 9 and she's really excited about being baptized.  Next is a guy named Russ and we put him on date for baptism last night for the 5th of February.  He's an awesome dude who is like a spiritual giant!  Then we have the Houstons, and Chet (the husband) is really close.  You can tell he's always absorbing information and thinking a lot.  Great family!!!

We live with the Hallers.  Nice folks, really nice.  Their house is filled with all sorts of super expensive stuff and I feel like I'm always going to break something, so I just usually stay in our room because I would HATE to break something! 

That's really all I can think of right now.  I love ya tons and I'll TALK to you soon!!!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Happy #22 To Our Favorite Missionary!

Happy Birthday Elder Ririe!!!
We LOVE you!!!

Birthday Snow!

Hi Mom and Den,
Loved the birthday package!  It was legendary!  I don't think I've taken the hat off yet!  Good birthday so far and the holiday was good.  A little lonely, but I guess that's just how it goes sometimes.  Got the package and the letter...both were good!

It's not snowing anymore right now, but we should be getting 6 - 9 inches tomorrow.  It's crazy how it snows here...just dumps and dumps.  Then it gets cold and icy.  I think its like 22 degrees right now.  That's cold!  And yes, since it's P-day I'm in shorts and sandals.  (Sis. Crump can verify!)

We had another slow week.  People really didn't want to come outside with the cold or they weren't home for the holiday.  Not sure.  But the good news is that we have the nativity this week and we get to sing outside for three 4 hour shifts during it.  Funny cause I really can't sing, so my thought was that between me and the cold, people will be rushing inside.  Ha Ha

Love you guys tons!

Elder Lance Ririe

**** BREAKING NEWS ****

WE HAVE A RELEASE DATE!!!  HE'LL BE HOME MARCH 7TH!!!!!!!!

"Coming Home Soon Papers in the Mail!"

Hey Mom and Den,

Sorry I wasn't able to write much last week.  The internet kept crashing before I could get a letter out.


That's awesome that Nicki made the team again!

Things here are pretty good.  We found a new family to teach.  They are awesome!  The Keipe's.  They are Catholic but are really open and have lots of sincere questions about the church, so we look forward to teaching them more.  We found them through a family in the ward that invited them over for dinner, so we are very excited to be teaching them.  Other than that things have been pretty slow - lots of appointments canceling.

Glad to hear you guys are doing great.  I got yours and Gramma's letters, so let Gramma know that I got it.  Not too much of an exciting week other than the Keipe's, but things are good.  It hasn't snowed yet, just getting colder and rainy.  But it just won't snow.  They say maybe on Thursday, but I still saw somebody  mowing their lawn yesterday so who knows.    And I got the Ensign.  Thanks a bunch!!  That's fun for Hunter getting asked to the dance.

Oh.....I got my "going home soon papers" in the mail last week.  They need to know which airport I'm flying into, Pres. Welch's address, and the bishops address.  So if you could get me that stuff that'd be great!

So that's whats up here!  Love you guys a tons and miss ya lots too!

Elder Lance Ririe

November Rain!

Dear Mom and Den,

Well, all it did this week was rain - just hasn't been cold enough to snow except for when it's NOT raining.  Then it's just windy and cold.  The work is starting to pick up and we have an awesome new ward mission leader, Bro. Cribbs.  He's an awesome convert to the church.  Awesome story how he joined and so he's really gung ho about the missionary work here, so we're glad to have him here.

Halloween was uneventful.  We had to go inside as soon as trick-or-treaters came out, so we were done at like 4:30.  We had dinner at the Sosa's and then went home.  But with transfer calls....we are BOTH staying here, which will be great!  I'm way excited for that, but it has me a little worried for the next transfer that is 5 days before Christmas.  But I'll try not to think about that one right now.  I'm really excited for next Sunday!  It will be Sis. Futi's one year mark since she was baptized!  That's amazing to look back on that whole experience with them and how they are still coming to church.  And she's getting ready to go to the temple with Sis. Sosa!

That's all that really happened this week.  We tracted an apartment complex and it was filled with Iraqi immigrants....they don't like us too much so we got chased out of there.  But, hey, that's the fun of tracting!  Right?  Ha Ha

I miss you guys tons and love ya even more!  For my birthday I would love some peanut butter cookies (in a plastic container only cause they don't get hard as fast) but that's all I can think of.  At least for now!

Love ya tons,
Elder Lance Ririe

Change is in the air~

Hey Mom and Den,

It was a pretty good week. We had our whole ward leadership change here, so it has been pretty crazy! But it's all good.  The weather here has been super rainy but not even close to being cold enough to snow. I'm hoping its not like last year where it just rained all winter... that was pretty lame. But because I want it to snow it probably wont. haha  Anyways... the work is still about the same. My most recent struggle seems to be helping the ward get involved in missionary work. It's SO much easier when members invite their friends to take the lessons because tracting seems to only be good for stories, although I think back and I have had an amazing experience tracting with Si. Futi and the kids. But those seem to be a one in a million chance. Anyways, I love being here and we have so many great members that love to help us out and love to feed us even more. One of which is Sosa.  She's a Samoan lady that helped me when I was teaching Sis. Futi. She lives on the border of our ward and another ward here, so she calls us to make sure we have a dinner and if we dont she makes sure we get fed. She's great. She wants to go through the temple the same time as Sis. Futi, so that would be really exciting. So the reason I mentioned her is because she wanted the house number so she could call you guys and tell you how I was doing. So I hope that's ok.

I'll send pictures,  You might be having a November visitor coming too. Sis. Crump.  She's the allover super mission mom.  She offered to take a box of things home for me in November so I thought that would be something you might look forward too. Sis. Crump is great!  She and Bro. Crump have us over for lunch every Sunday. They are soo great! Needless to say we love them out here.  Good to hear that James is doing good. That was a bit of a scare, but glad that he's alright.

Well I love you guys and I miss you even more!!!

Love  Elder Lance  Ririe

Rough Road This Week!

Dear Mom and Den,

Well, this week was a rough one.  Not too many new investigators and most of our teaching pool has dropped us, so it's been harder lately.  And on top of that they rearranged our boundaries Sunday and so we have to make adjustments there.  Otherwise, things are good.  Elder Warnick is great!  He's optimistic about all of this, which really helps, so I'm glad about that.  Sorry not too much going on here.  It's just been harder.  But we did meet a great family, the Berman's.  Bro. Berman asked us to give him a blessing and after that we were able to get to know him a little.  And then we ended up helping him build a new wheelchair ramp for his back porch, so that was nice to be able to get to work with my hands a little bit.  Sorry there isn't much else going on, but things are still great out here!

Love and miss you guys!
Elder Lance Ririe

Our purpose in life...

Dear Mom and Den,

Wow!  That's some crazy stuff for the week.  It sounds like Elder Allridge is from Deer Park - at least that's the only Deer "something" that I know of.  That's a huge bummer about James too.  I hope he's alright.  I'll spread the word out here to some of his former companions.  I'm glad the elders were able to come over.   That's funny that Elder Allridge is from Spokane and you could talk about his home.  I haven't heard about the games (football) for a while.  Everybody here in this ward are students and don't have time to watch the games, so I don't know much unless Den or Bro. Flink (Shade Park Ward) gives me an update.

Our week was fast but slow.  Time is cruising along, but when you're sick and can't do much time starts to slow down.  But I'm getting better and I totally sprayed the apartment with bleach again (to kill the mold).  Same bottle I bought 6 months ago.  Ha ha  But I started to get better on Saturday just in time for stake flag football.  We had a great showing from our ward and they brought tons of non-members that came and played with us.  It was awesome!  I love when they have activities that people feel comfortable enough to invite people so we can get to know them.

As for teaching, our teaching pool has dried up somewhat.  Lots of people who we were teaching are either just not around or have been avoiding us, so we haven't taught Abby or Gavin (park bench guy) since the first time we taught them.  So it's a bummer, but we're still keeping our heads up and keep  looking for people to teach.  Last night I had a neat experience.  Sis. Futi called to tell me about how she shared an experience about back when Elder Itgel and I had taught her.  She told me they were sitting in class talking about our purpose in life and she shared how when we were teaching her we asked her that question...and she said she knew...or at least she thought she knew.  Her thoughts were that we should be good people, get up early, and work hard.  But as she shared with the class and eventually with me, as we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and God's plan for us and why we are here, she came to know that she was a daughter of God and that there was more for her than to just work and go about life, but to develop a relationship with Christ and to keep the commandments and to be baptized.  It was great to hear that from her and she wanted me to tell you about it today.

Well, I hope everybody is great.  I love you guys tons, and miss ya even more!!!

Love,
Elder Lance Ririe

The Trail Less Traveled

Dear Mom and Den,

Ha Ha!  Sounds like things are great at home...lots of good stuff going on!  I did get Tanner's letter and am working on sending him one back.  Conference was spectacular!  The favorite of my mission!  We watched it at the Stake Center.  There's something really amazing about watching conference at the stake center.  Sure it's a little more work, and you have to get all dressed up, but I really enjoy watching it there.  Who knows, might even do that at home.  It's crazy that Nicki's letter is that long!  Geeze!  I'll probably be home by the time she finishes it!

Elder Warnick and I had an amazing experience this weekend.  When we went out to tract, we found a trail that we had never before noticed, so we decided to walk down it. It was a beautiful trail.  As we continued down, we saw a man sitting on a bench and we started to talk to him.  He told us his story and all the things he had been through.  We then were able to share how the gospel of Jesus Christ could bless his life and we invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.  Before we could even get to it, he asked us if we could pray with him.  Then immediately after the prayer he asked if we had a church service he could attend with us.  Unfortunately, he couldn't make it to conference, but we plan on meeting with him again this week.

So that was our awesome week in a nutshell.  I love you guys and miss ya tons!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Back in the saddle!

Hey Mom and Den!

Well things here are awesome!  I had to give a talk Sunday (found out Saturday night) so little time to prepare but I think it went well.  But wished it could have been a little bit longer because one of the speakers wasn't there as she ended up going into labor.  So I guess that's a pretty good excuse for not speaking in church.  Anyways... I got to see Sis. Futi and the kids.  They are doing great.  It was really good to see them.  And I got to see a few member of the Glenrose Ward the other night (The Clarks and the Hainesworths) so that made for a good weekend.  The work is going good.  It's funny just kind of picking up where I left off here, but it's nice.  I was surprised at just how many members remember me because they don't seem to remember Elder Smith and he was in this ward longer than I was.  Kinda funny...but like I said, it's good to be back.  And our address is:

2004 E. 34th
Spokane, WA  99203

The knee is doing good.  Biking really hurts, but that's how we have to get around for now until next month when we can get bus passes.  Ummm...trying to think of other things going on but my mind is blank right now.  OH!  Almost forgot our awesome experience of the week!  We saw some major blessings!  As we went tracting, we found a wonderful lady named Abby.  Abby is from Ethiopia and she has talked to the missionaries before in her country and she loves what they do there.  When we knocked on her door, she let us right in and we began to teach her about the restored gospel and how it blesses our families.  Abby is a mother of a two-year-old little girl.  We told her about the Book of Mormon and her face lit up with excitement as we shared how prophets wrote it in Ancient America and how it is another testament of Jesus Christ.  She asked if we had a church service she could attend and also when we would come back.  So we are going back tonight.  Unfortunately, she has to work on Sundays but we are going to ask her if she will ask for Sundays off so that she can come to church.  So that is just some of the good things that are going on here.

I love you guys and miss you tons!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Spokane/Lincoln Heights Part2!

Hey Mom and Den,

Transferred again, but back to Spokane (Lincoln Heights Ward).  That is the ward I was in before I was transferred here to Wenatchee.  Caught me by definite surprise!  I thought for sure I'd be here a while and not back to Spokane, but I know there is a reason for it.  Just what that reason is, I don't know.  My companion is going to be Elder Warnick (?sp).  I think he's newer.  I haven't heard of him before, so it'll be good I guess.  I called Sis. Futi to let her know and the whole family was way stoked!  But I know there are more reasons to go back than just them, though it will be really great to see them again.  But I really am sad to leave Wenatchee.  It was just starting to grow on me and everything.  And I haven't been able to tell Brother and Sister Haley about the news yet, but I'm really sad to leave them.  They are such a good family and I know that Sister Haley will make a great member of the church someday, but until then she's just one of the best people I've ever met.

So, that's the news.  I'm pretty sure its the same address for the missionaries that it was before...at least I think so.

Anyways...I love you guys and can't wait to hear what's been going on with you guys.  And I loved the package with the cinnamon rolls and the monkeys.  And the pictures were good too!

I love you guys tons and miss you even more!

Love,
Elder Lance Ririe

The Best Two Years!!!! And a little "trunky"

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, we are still struggling on finding more people to teach, but the Haley's are doing great!  The friendships you make with some of the families out here are just so awesome.  They remind me alot of the experience with Sis. Futi, except I don't get fed nearly as much!  But it's just so great being able to be around good people and being able to serve them.

I did get my letter and one of the packages, as well as the pics from the lake.  Geeeze...you guys go off and do all this fun stuff without me!  Bummer!!!  hahaha  Not really, cause I'd rather be here anyways cause I really love it here.  Wenatchee is growing on me, but I still like Spokane better.  Its kinda funny cause I can reflect on all the great people I've been able to meet that have changed my life and that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't done this. I'm so happy that I decided to serve a mission!!!

Well, not much else to say cause we're still struggling on finding people to teach, but we're working hard.

Oh...and on football...HUGE bummer!  I had to hear about it all weekend!  So my hope is that BYU redeems themselves this week, but it sounds like it'll be a rough game.  And I'm not really surprised that BYU stuck with Nelson cause he's got the experience and its usually better to err on the side of experience than have the new guy get too anxious and try to force a big play and have it blow up. 

Well, love you all and miss ya tons!!!

Love,
Elder Lance Ririe

Labor Day~

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, this week was alright.  I hate holiday weekends as a missionary.  You have to go out and work and either nobody is home or having family parties that you can't go to, most of which out here have involved football games - which was kinda fun to hear that BYU beat Washington.  The Lewis' are HUGE Washington fans, so that made for some fun trash talking this weekend. 

Unfortunately, not anyone new to teach this week.  Still working with the Haleys, but they were out of town...stupid holiday.  But as for everything else, it's great!  Sister Lewis showed me the email that you sent here.  I'd hoped you guys liked the video.  I thought it was one of my best yet.  I'm hoping we have some more good things happen out here, but I guess I just gotta do what I can to make them happen. 

I miss you guys a ton!  I can't wait to hear how things are back home this week!

Miss ya'll tons!  Love ya!

Elder Lance Ririe

Feeling left out :(

Hey Mom,

Answers to your questions.....

#1 The charge on my debit card was for x-rays for....guess what?
#2  I got the email pictures and our new address is:
1725 5th Street
Wenatchee, WA  98801
#3  I got the package with the G's and the cookies, but the cookies had gotten hard when they got around to me (9 days after being originally post marked)

Well, this week was really good except for hurting my knee again, so never going to play soccer ever again - stupid game.  Got your last letter today actually, so it was good to hear about the first day of school and so forth.  Pretty fun to hear about the waitress at Pizza Factory.  Maybe the missionary she's waiting for is me?  Haha...yeah right.

Umm...well, the work this week really picked up.  We found a few more people to teach as well as an awesome part member family that we have been helping out, the Haley's.  They are great.  Brother Haley is a convert and a super good guy.  And is wife is awesome. We have been helping them with their backyard and garden.  They both happen to be RN's, so that has been good cause they know about a lot of good things to help me with my knee....ice, heat, elevation.  And Sis. Haley is an awesome cook.  In general, they are just a super family, so I always look forward to helping them out with their yard and being able to have gospel discussions with Sis. Haley.

It's really weird being the only non Spanish speaking missionaries in the district and 1 of 3 in the zone, so we don't do much on P-days because everyone else has a car, is far away from us, and speaks Spanish so we usually only see them at district meetings and on Sundays, which we don't understand half of because of Spanish jokes.  I'm never going to exclude anyone like this ever!!!!!!!  I'm glad that Elder Card and I get along so well or else I'd be going crazy!

Well, that's about all I can think of off the top of my head, but I love you guys and think about you tons!  Just think, only 6 more months!!!

And on top of that, I had a crazy dream last night that I somehow came home as a missionary and Tanner was the only one home, so I gave him a hug and then left.  Weird!

Anyways.....love you guys!
Elder Lance Ririe

Wenatchee....And then some!

My cool apron from the primary kids back home!

Hey Mom and Den,
So first things first, sorry i didn't e- mail 'til today because we had a meeting yesterday with Elder Christensen from the 70's and so continues the story of our week.  We didn't end up getting to go to the temple because the group that was going got too big.  So since we are the only English missionaries  we didn't get to go. So maybe we can go in the next couple weeks but i don't think we'll get to. Other than those lets see, we don't have too much going on in our teaching pool just the same rebuild that I've been in a lot, which is kind of a bummer but I guess I probably wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't in a situation like this one. So yeah, but Wenatchee is great!  I think I told you about the Lewis'.  They are awesome! Elder Card is pretty cool.  We are still getting along.  Oh so we helped a local HOA build a park that was pretty cool.  We were going to help a member with his yard and then we saw all of these people building a park so we just asked if we could help.  We are gonna go back next week and lay sod, but it was pretty cool to be able to do that and help more people see just how good the church is when it comes to helping out. Well I love you guys.  I loved the back to school pictures, Hunter needs to fix his unibrow a little bit (haha just teasin) Let me know how the vacation went. I love you guys and miss ya tons.  Did ya'll get my pictures? Please tell me you did, cause it feels like I sent them forever ago. Anyways love ya!

Elder Lance Ririe

Hey Hey!

Hey Hey!

Well the trip to Wenatchee was forever long, but I really like it out here.  My companion is Elder Card and he's from Orem.  He's a really good guy and we get along real well, which is great because we are the only English speaking missionaries in the district and 1 of like 3 in the zone.  Not sure why but there's always a weird rift between the Spaniards and the English missionaries.  But, anyways, not a whole lot of work out here at the moment.  We have a few potentials, but we have set a really high goal this month of being able to baptize 5 people...we just have to go and find them.

I got your letter that you sent and am working on sending some out to the kids (just need envelopes).

Wenatchee is pretty cool.  Well, it's really HOT but is a neat place...the third largest city in the mission just behind Cd'A.  And the work out here is just exploding!  The stake has almost doubled it's baptisms for the year and it's only August.  So we're stoked about that!  Umm...oh, the family we live with is super awesome!  The Lewis'.  They have 5 boys and one is on a mission right now another is in the military and then the rest are at home.  It's like having three little bro's..haha...but I love mine more!

Well, I think that's it for this week.  Hope it was enough info.  Oh...wait!  Going to the temple tomorrow (Tues) so maybe I'll get to see some people in Spokane on the trip there or something, but I don't know.

I love you guys!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Separation Anxiety!!!

Hi Mom and Den,
Well, it finally happened...I'm being transferred out of Spokane.  I'm going to Wenatchee.  It's on the far west border of the mission, so that will be something new and exciting.  But even more exciting than that was we had a conference with Elder Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy.  It was a special conference for recent converts and the best part of the whole thing was I got to see just about everyone I've known for the last 14 months there!  It was great!!!  I can't even describe how awesome it was to see one person after the next.  I don't think I've been that happy in a long time.  So that was the highlight of my week, but I don't know anything else about who I'm going to be with or what else Wenatchee is like other than flat, hot, dry, and farms.  So I guess I get to go play farmer this next transfer and probably learn some Spanish.  (All the Spanish speaking missionaries are out there.)  So that's what's new on this end.  I'll be sending some pictures this week!!!  Look for em!! 
Well, I love you guys!!!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Thanks Mom!!!

Hey Mom and Den,

Thanks a bunch Mom!!!  The G's helped out great.  A little big...but I guess that's okay.  So I got the letter and the packages on Saturday.  They were awesome!  I was kinda shocked to hear about Nicki getting busted!  I don't think I'd do something like that though.  My stupid ideas usually involve more fireworks and less police.  haha  But...anyways....things are ok.  I called the mission office and they are going to try to get us out of the Butter's A.S.A.P.  but with our bishop out of town it may not be for a little bit.  It's weird staying there.  I've never stayed with anyone who wanted nothing to do with the missionaries.  Anyways, as for our dinners, I had a small council with a few of the "mission moms" in our ward (especially Sis. Flink) and they are still going to feed us some of the time.  They were appalled to hear about no member dinners, so as soon as the bishop gets back they are going to talk to him.  So, yes, there are some awesome families out here making sure I'm being taken care of. 

Anyways...Faith is still on date for August 14th and life is just chugging along.  I've referred to Elder Wirthlin's talk, "Come What May, and Love It", so that's been a source of help. 

I love you guys!
Elder Lance Ririe

Hey Hey Hey!

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, it's been a rough week.  Things are good numbers wise; we are finding and teaching but our ward mission leader just canceled all of our dinner appointments for the month because he said that its ineffective.  So that's frustrating, as well as Bro. Butters has been getting worse about everything; complaining about everything that we do and he's been withholding our mail.  So I'm very frustrated as of late and not having zone leaders that care is rough too.  I did FINALLY get the package last week though.  It was awesome!  You guys are great!  Helen, our recent convert as of about a month ago is now having us teach her granddaughter and she should be baptized here pretty soon.  And Dean received the priesthood yesterday.  Its so cool to see all these little blessings that happen around us all the time.  So its things like that that help me realize why I'm here and that I can be a part of something so great.  I love the people out here and just how great they are.  Lots of great things going on.  Have you guys talked to Futi at all?  Just been thinking about them lately.  I think I'll always reflect on how I met them and how much they helped me in gaining a love for the gospel because I applied it so differently with them than I ever had before.

Well, I hope things back home are going awesome.  I'll write back to the kids when I can.  And there should be a little sum'n sum'n for the Nerm in the mail.  Nothin much, just a little sum'n.

Love you guys tons!

Love,
Elder Lance Ririe

Whoo!

Hi Guys!

Well, Kathleen was baptized Saturday and it was awesome!  Really good baptism.  Her brother, who is pretty anti, ended up coming and he like it so that was good.  Still coming along with Elder Sorenson.  He still doesn't talk much and if I do something that bugs him he completely shuts down, so I've tried talking to him about it but it stays quiet most of the time....which makes this transfer feel a lot longer.  But our district leader is pretty good about things so we'll be going on exchanges for a day this week to help break the silence. 

Umm, as for other people we are teaching, we found a great little family, the Turnidges.  They have four little kids who are amazing.  And the dad, Doug, he's a less active member who wants to come back to church.  His fiancee, Amanda, is amazing.  She soaks up the gospel like a sponge.  The only hiccup is they aren't getting married until August of next year so she can't be baptized until they are married, which is a bummer.  But they're great!

Umm, so that's really it for what's been going on here.  Just keep me posted on how everybody is doing and such. 

Thanks a bunch!  Love you guys tons!
Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Happy Late 4th!

Hey Mom and Den,
Yours is the first one I'm responding to today so that you can have a big long email!!!  Well, our 4th wasn't anything special - just out and about trying to find more people to teach.  And it's been super hot lately - ugh!!!  Not fun for me - I'd much rather it be 65 or less all the time, but hey, when I rule the world one day!  I'll change that then! 

But, anyways, other than it being really hot and having a nonexistent 4th things have been good.  Kathleen is great.  Her baptism is gonna be Saturday at 4 and we're super stoked for her!  I love hearing her talk about how she knows that the church is true and that she loves the feelings that she gets when she reads and prays.  It's just awesome! 

Elder Sorenson is still pretty quiet.  He doesn't talk much or help much in lessons, which gets frustrating, but he's a really good kid.  I' glad to serve with him.

There are some things that I could really use ....some new G's.  Mine area falling apart - lots of wear and tear....mostly tear.  Otherwise, maybe a new pair of basketball shorts.   But that's really all I need.  I got a letter from Uncle Shane so I'm starting to write him back.  Hopefully I get to finishing it before too long here.  Other than that, that's just what I'm up to.

Well, I love you guys tons and I miss ya'll even more!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

New Companion!

Hey Mom and Den,

Things are good.  I didn't get transferred, so that's a bonus.  And Helen and Dean's baptisms went great, except that they printed the wrong last names on the program.  Whoops!  But they were so happy afterwards.  I'm getting a new companion, Elder Sorenson.  I guess from what I hear he's a little different, but he tries hard and that's good.  And has fate would have it, more leaders that don't like me too much, but I don't give them much thought - other than that they frustrate me at times.  Things here continue as always though.  We have another lady on date for baptism on the 17th.  She's awesome!  She was raised Catholic and absolutely loves the Book of Mormon.  The more she reads it the more she says, "That chapter is just was I believe!"  So we're excited for her.

Sorry this one is a little short.  Lots of packing to help Elder Nelson with.  I love you guys and I'll try to write a real letter later this week. 

Love you tons and miss you even more!
Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Things are good!

Hi Guys!
Things are good.  Did Den get his card?  It sounds like Hawaii was fun, at least it sure looked like it from all the pictures that got emailed to me today.  My knee is holding up ok.  Haven't been biking too much unless you count the Butter's exercixe bike.  Elder Nelson's bike was stolen so we are walking most of the time.  But good news is I'm losing a little weight now.  Elder Nelson is doing a little better every day.  I think that things will get a lot better after transfers, which are like next week.  Whoa!  Where did all the time go?  As for the baptism last week, our mission leader postponed it because it wasn't announced in Sacrament meeting, but then it didn't get announced again yesterday.  But we're going to go ahead anyways because they're ready and I donn't want to explain why they had to wait to get baptized again.  Hoopfest is this weekend.  Kind of exciting.  I'm no where near it this year, unlike being in the middle of it last year.  But if I get the chance I'll try to get permission to go down for p-day and maybe get a t-shirt or something.  I loved the package and the cookies were awesome!!!  But my favorite are still the peanut butter ones, but really they're all good...mmmmm good!  And I'll keep all that stuff in mind when it comes to my homecoming talk.  I probably won't even mention the indian reservation, which having since happened that story has been blown WAY out of proportion since missionaries talk! 
I love you guys and I hope this week goes great!
Miss you tons!
Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Poor Elder Nelson :(

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, let's start with the good news!  We have a teaching pool now!  Well, with at least two people - and they are both on date for baptism!  Helen and Dean.  They are both awesome!  Helen's son was baptized down in the second ward (where I was this time last year) a few months ago and has since then convinced his mom to take the lessons, which as been awesome.  So they are on date for the 19th.  We are stoked about that!  And the bad news - I've sat around the apartment for most of the week due to my companion being super sick.  We aren't really sure what is wrong with him, but he's been sick since last Sunday - so it's been over a week.  The mission doctor told us it was probably just acid reflux but we don't think so seeing that he hasn't been able to keep anything down for ten days now.  So I've been going crazy around the apartment.  I wrote some letters but ran out of stamps, so I'll be getting more today and sending those out.  I got your mail!  They finally fixed the address problem.  Our new address is (see side bar).  So there ya go!  I'll send more later.

Love ya tons!
Elder Ririe

Crazy!

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, things have been super crazy with transfers.  And for whatever reason mail doesn't seem to get to the house where they have us staying.  Instead, it goes to the houses of other missionaries...which means mail takes forever!!  :(  Bummer!  But things here are good.  It seems, as fate would have it, I am yet again to establish a teaching pool for this area.  Since this area is also affected by the stake boundary change, everything is awry here as well.  But the good news is that my companion, Elder Nelson, is awesome and we seem to get along other than the fact that he's a Cowboys fan!  But I think we can get past that though!  The family we are staying with is a little strange.  They like to get upset about little things like "us washing our own dishes".  They don't want us to.  I guess they might be afraid we'd break something.  I don't know.  But they're a little  odd.  Like, the other night...  Bro. Butters came into our room at midnight and then turned on the light and then told us how we need to clean up the apartment.  (Minor note:  I had been in the area all of 4 hours!)  So, yeah, things are a little crazy right now, but I did get Hunter's letter and will be sending him something back soon.

Love you guys tons!
Elder Ririe

Transferred Again!!!

Hi Guys!

So, I'm being transferred again.  Ugh.  I don't really want to move, but I guess I have to.  This time I'm being magically whisked away to...you guessed it...SPOKANE.  haha  Yeah, still here, just two wards south of where I'm at now.  But the news is that I'm all bike now, so no more luxury of a car.  Oh well, it'll be nice not to have to worry about mileage or gas tanks or that kind of stuff.  My new companion is Elder Nelson from Oklahoma.  He's pretty cool.  (He was in my district before so that's how I  know him.)  So, yeah, things are good.  Loving it up here and will now have spent over a year in Spokane alone!  haha  more than half of my time here!  Whoo!  It's awesome!  I'm almost out of time today with transfers and all.

I love you tons!
Elder Lance Ririe

Treasured Phone Calls!

Mother's Day and Christmas are my favorite holidays....as any missionary mom will tell you!  We had a FANTISTIC  phone call with Elder Lance yesterday.  He sounds great, is doing awesome, and sends everyone his love!  His knee seems to be doing much better, but still bothers him a little.  The stake he was serving in just had their boundaries all realigned so now he covers two brand new wards.  Also with the changes to the boundaries they lost all their current investigators they were teaching, as well as their apartment (its now in a different ward).  With having to find a new place to live and no one to teach in their teaching pool, this week will be a busy one for sure.  Transfers are next week, so he's not sure what will happen with those.  He is still loving his mission and feels more than blessed to be there.  He said words just can't describe.  He had a great time talking to the kids, who were actually all pretty chatty this time.  I had a hard time getting them off the phone!!!  I asked him if the calls home make him more homesick...and he reassured me it helps the homesickness go away.  He said, "You just have no idea how good it is to hear you guys!"  Only 9 short months left to go!  We both agreed it would go by fast, but I'm definitely counting the days till Christmas!  haha

Awesome!

Hey Mom and Den,

Things up here have been pretty crazy to say the least.  We found an awesome family to teach, the Steiners.  Jim is a great guy but he has post traumatic stress from the war and his wife left him for a younger guy, so he's going through a lot.  But his daughter came to a member's baptism and loved it and wants to be baptized, which is great!  So we have started to teach both of them.  However, they just changed all the ward boundaries and so now we cover two wards in two buildings both with church at 9.  So President is working on possibly moving some of the missionaries around the wards, so we are kind in limbo until we are told which wards we are to serve in.

My knee is doing lots better.  I have this massive metal brace - makes me feel like Robocop.  And I have been fighting the urge to play or do anything on p-day because out here all anybody does is play basketball.  So sitting and watching for 3 hours is not so fun.  But maybe I'll get around to some letter writing, although its hard to know what to write when I write out all the stuff I've gone through this week in my email  :)  Oh...and I'm getting my mail too!  It's great!  And we are currently staying with the Browns.  They are awesome!

I love you guys tons!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Ouch!

Hey Mom and Den,
So the knee is hurting pretty bad.  Same one as before.  But the good news is I MIGHT not need surgery but maybe and MRI if it still hurts through the week.  So I'm in a killer brace.  It makes me feel like Robocop.  I'm just waiting for a gun to pop out or something.

Sounds like Tanner is doing great and I can't wait to get to watch all the kids' games.  It's way cool that Hunter is playing varsity once in a while.  And how have Nicki's meets going?  It's way cool that she medaled! 

Things up here have been crazy.  They are redoing all the ward boundaries in the stake up here, so both the wards I cover are being rearranged.  And in one of the wards they have an entirely new bishopric....we had no idea!  I feel like I've been emergency transferred, kinda.  Other than that, not too much else.  It's been hard to tract with only one leg.

I love you guys tons and I miss you even more!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Letters to "Da Boys" - April 15, 2010

Dear Hunter,

Things here are awesome!  Nothing beats being a missionary - not even free tickets to the super bowl!  The experiences here are almost unbelievable.  Kinda like the idea you'll have a license to drive kind of unbelievable!  haha  But, really, a mission is awesome!  It's way hard work, but totally worth it.  I've met so many people that have changed my life forever!

Easter here was okay.  Conference was awesome!  I had 4 meals that day.  It was crazy!  All the conference talks were about family, which made me miss home - but its all good.

That's cool you're saving up for a mission.  It'll do you real good to go.  I wish I would have gone sooner, but I'm glad I'm here now.  Let me know how work goes for you.  You got huge from the picture Mom sent.  You're almost as tall as the fridge!  But you should bulk up a little more - start lifting and build some muscle.  But that's only if you wanna beat me up when I get home!

Hawaii sounds fun, but I bet I still have more fun out here!  But let me know how it goes.  The upside to getting fat on the mission is that I can turn it all to muscle in a matter of weeks when I get home.  haha

Love ya buddy,

Love, Elder Lance

Hey Tanner!
I had a great Easter!  IT was way cool to share it with people from church.  It sounds like your Easter was fun.  I'm glad school  is going good.  How about baseball?  Let me know what team you are on.  Hawaii with Dad sounds fun.  Tell me all about it when you get home.  I loved my Easter package!  The Peeps were the best!  I miss you little man.  Write back soon.

Love,
Elder Lance

Fazookies on me!

AWESOME!!!!!  Way to go Nicki on the medal for jav!  Fazookies on me!  hahahaha

Hey Everbody,
Things this week are good.  They announced that all the ward boundaries will be changing soon.  So as soon as I finally learn where I am, they'll change that up on me.  I wrenched my knee in basketball today, so, Mom, don't be surprised if you get a phone call from Sis. Palmer.  Oooops!  Ummm, as for new news, nobody to teach seriously as of yet, but we're looking pretty hard.  Talking to tons of people daily but not too many interested.  As for other things, covering 2 wards is pretty hard.  Trying to stay awake in one Sacrament Meeting is hard some weeks....2 is even worse.  BUT..I DO still manage to stay awake in both, though I did start to nod in the second one.  Anyways, things here are awesome!  I loved all the letters!  It felt like Christmas!  Most of them came on the same day so trying to figure out the order and everything was fun!  I enjoyed them all! 

New stuff, let's see...I decommissioned a pair of pants.  And, no, I didn't burn them.  That's not for another 4 months or so!  haha  But I had to get some new ones.  You mentioned maybe some new clothes for summer.  All I need is a pair of shorts.  I'm like a size 34 now.  Ugh!  It was nice being fit.  I'm not fond of being fat. 
Anyways.....

I love you guys tons.  And miss you a whole bunch! 

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Up North! (And feelin a little lost)

Hey Mom and Den,

Things here are going good.  I hope you got my pictures okay.  And I got all the kids' letters on Saturday and I'll be sending some back soon!  For the most part things up here are good.  It's weird not to know where I am anymore, but I guess that's what happens when you are somewhere for 10 months.  Unfortunately we are not doing too much teaching right now - just a whole lot of finding!  And we cover two wards!  I thought it was hard enough to remember everybody in one ward, so needless to say my brain has exploded a couple times from trying to learn everybody's names.  My companion is Elder Thomas.  He's a pretty good guy and he's been out for about 8 months.  He's way bigger than me so its kinda funny because he towers over me.  It's a bummer to leave the South Hill.  Its making me miss everybody a ton.  Although I'm sure its probably for the better, but we'll see how things go.

It sounds like everybody is doing good, but I did miss getting a letter from you this week Mom.  I figured that the mail system just happened to make it that way....but its all good.  I miss every body a ton and I love you even more.

Love, Elder Lance

Gone the way of the Dodo!

Dear Mom and Den,

I'm headed north!  I figure most birds go south, but in my case it's more like I'm like a Dodo.  I'm not sure quite what I mean by that, but all of us here think its funny.  So I am FO SHO being transferred, which is a bummer but I guess its all good.  I'm off to little Spokane River, which is about halfway between the South Hill and Colville, so that's cool.  My new companion is Elder Thomas.  He came out with Elder Smith's group so he's cool from what I hear.

Matt didn't make his interview and was really bent out of shape, so we are going to go try to help him out.  It's a bummer buts it's all for the better and he can still be baptized in a few weeks.

Conference was awesome!!!  We enjoyed it all!  Talks were amazing and made us all miss home because everything was about family and about mothers.  So yes I do in fact terribly miss mom...a lot, but I loved it all the same.  They mentioned an elder in our mission (Elder Reier, who happened to be in the Lincoln Heights ward before I was so everybody gets our names confused)  in the priesthood session, which was crazy awesome!!!  It was Elder Rasband's talk.  He came with Elder Bednar last October.

Anyways, so that's all the news from up here.  I love you guys tons and miss you even more!!!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

On their way to a forever family!

Hi Mom and Den!

Thanks for the pics Mom!  I can't believe how the kids have changed!  Things here are awesome!  We're gearing up for conference and transfers and Easter.  It's crazy how things have to all fall on the same day!  I'm hoping I'll still be here, but you can never guess transfers.  We're stoked about Matt!  He's on date for the 10th of April, so we'll have to hope that one of us is still here to see him baptized.  Other news - the Richards family (an awesome family in the ward) invited the Albaughs over for dinner/bbq and they had and awesome time, and so they're gonna come back come back on Easter and we're gonna have and Easter egg hunt and conference party.  So that'll be way cool!  The Campos family is still doing good.  They're all moved in now and they went to Ulu's baptism which was awesome!  Ti was able to baptize her so that was way cool to see and be part of.  Futi is really excited to have a "Forever Family" now  - that's all she was able to talk about all week.  It's such an amazing thing to be part of.

I love you guys and miss you tons!  I'll try to write more later.

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Whoo!

Hi Mom and Den,

Well, Carol was confirmed yesterday.  She's just awesome - soaks up the gospel like a sponge!  And we have another person on date for baptism already!  A really good guy named Matt.  He's got a few little bumps in the way, but we know he'll be ready by the 10th of April!  Which, it'll be a bummer if transfers happen, but it's all good just to be part of the process! 

Other things going on here - um unfortunately some of our best investigators just moved right outside of the ward (just a couple blocks) really suddenly.  But the husband goes out of town a lot for work (he leaves on Tuesday) and so we were able to help them move just in a day.  We went to visit them and they had a U-Haul outside and were loading they're stuff into the truck.  So I just jump right in and start helping while Elder Smith finds out the situation.  (It's been designated that I do a lot of the grunt work - ha ha)  Anyways, we ended up helping them move and they were so appreciative.  It was awesome to be a part of that. 

Well, not sure what else is new but maybe I'll think of more later.

I love you guys a tons and miss you even more!

Love, Elder Ririe

Another good week!

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, things are great here.  Carol's baptism was awesome!  And Ulu, Futi's daughter, is on date for the 20th so I've got my fingers crossed that all goes well with them!  Hopefully, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to go to that one.  Other than that things have been crazy busy trying to find more people to teach.  We have a few more people that we are working with.  One is an awesome family, the Albaughs - really nice.  So we hope to help them towards a date for baptism soon.

I loved the package!!!  And the boy's letters!  Kinda bummed I didn't get one from Nicki but I just figured she was busy.  Other than that things are awesome!!!  I miss you guys tons, and love you even more!!!!

Love,
Elder Ririe

Whoo!

Well, it's crazy to think it's been more than a year now!  Time here is really flying!  Saturday, we had an unexpected baptism happen.  There was an investigator from a different ward that just happened to live in our ward, so we ended up having a "switch up".  That was neat to be part of, but I really prefer when I know that person and have taught them a little bit at least.  And now........Carol is on date and ready to go for baptism this Sunday!  We're stoked for her, and I'm pretty sure she'd baptize herself if she could.  She's just so ready and studies even harder than most missionaries.  Crazy awesome! 

Well, that's about all from the front lines here!

I love you guys, and miss you more!

Love, Elder Ririe

It's Grrrrrrrrreat!

Hi Mom and Den!

Things are going great!  Carol is almost ready for baptism.  Just a few more things to cover and then she's good to go!  Only thing really holding us up is that the Bishop is going to Hawaii for 3 weeks...ugh...so that puts a damper on things.  But we have a few more people who are getting close to being baptized.

One year mark coming up!  I promise not to burn anything expensive, costly, or nice looking, so that doesn't leave me much but I'm sure I'll find something.

Other things going on right now...not a whole  lot.  Just finding more people to teach and stuff.  I heard the Olympics were good and that BYU lost to New Mexico...and that's the gist of it.

Love you guys tons and I miss you even more!

Love, Elder Ririe

Prayer Changes Things~

Hey Mom and Den,

Well, we dodged transfers this week, which was good!  Our golden investigator, Carol, is awesome and is soaking up the gospel like a sponge!  She's way nice and loves everything that we teach her.  It's awesome!  Other than that there's not much different this week.  Elder M--was made Assistant to the President, so not really excited about that.  It just doesn't feel right to me.  I've been praying and trying to look on the bright side of it, but it just doesn't seem right that a missionary that I'm supposed to look up to is one who tries to tear me down in front of recent converts who love me.  So that's been bothering me a little, but I'm excited about everything else.  :)  It's crazy that I've been out almost a year now!  It doesn't really feel like it's been that long, but at the same time it does!  I hope everyone is doing great!  I heard the Jazz are back in the swing of things and have finally found their groove again.  But I don't know much else sports wise (I only get what I hear in Elder's Quorum)

I love you guys and hope that everything is great!  I miss you tons!

Love, Elder Ririe

It's All Good!!!

This week was Great!  Ti's baptism went like clock work...and it was only one dunk!  (He's a really BIG guy!)  So that was awesome!  It was great to see everyone from the Glenrose Ward.  It made me miss that ward a lot, but I like this ward too.  So, other than the baptism, we had a good week!  I could probably use my other pair of shoes.  Just send them in my one year package.  :)  Not too much that I can think of that I need from home.

We have a new investigator that is just golden!  Her name is Carol Brown.  She came to church and totally loved it so we are hoping to put her on date for baptism.

Did the kids get my letters I sent?  I loved the cards you guys sent!

I love ya tons and I'll try to write more later!

Love, Elder Lance Ririe

Time's Flyin!

Hey guys!

Eleven months already??!  Wow!
Well, how was the Super Bowl?  I haven't heard much of how the game was, but I did hear it was like 34 - 17 Saints, which sounds like it was a good game.  Trying to work on the Super Bowl was way hard.  Nobody wanted to hear about the gospel, but they were way friendly in that they would try to invite us in to watch the game.  So, we ended up studying for most of the day.  Other than that it was a pretty average week.  I hope  you got my letter okay since I didn't send an e-mail last week.  I get to baptize Ti on Sunday, the 14th, so I'm way stoked.  That's gonna be awesome and I can't wait!  We are finding tons of people here to teach, but we can't get anybody to come to church.  That's been rough, but other than that it's all good.

Well, I love you guys!  And miss you even more!

Love,  Elder Ririe

Exciting News!!!

We received exciting news in an email From Sis. "Futi" last night letting us know that her 18 year-old son, Ti, is getting baptized on Valentine's Day!  Ti wanted Elder Ririe to baptize him even though he's since been transferred out of the area.  When his mom asked him why Elder Ririe, Ti said, "Because he's family."  They received special permission from Pres. Palmer to have the baptism on Sunday, Feb 14th and Elder Ririe gets to perform the baptism.  We haven't heard from Lance yet, but I bet he's thrilled.  We know this was a big decision for Ti and we want him to know how proud we are of him and that we truly do love him and his family.
Congratulations Ti!

A Letter to Nicki

Hey Nicki,

How was the birthday?  I hope you liked the card.  I thought it was humorous (well, that is if my picture next to Jennifer Aniston was still there!)  Mom says you made the winning shot the other night.  It sounds like you're having a blast.  Junior year was my favorite year in high school.  It's a bummer that I don't get to see any of your b-ball anymore, but being a missionary is awesome.  It's great to see how the gospel can make people's lives better.  I've been loving every minute out here, no regrets.  Well, maybe I regret not writing as much, but everything I've done out here has been totally worth it!  Let me know if I can get anything for you out here.  I hope I'm still around in June so I can get you a Hoopfest shirt or something.

I love ya a bunch,
Love Lance

It snowed today!!!

Hey Mom and Den,
Well, this week was awesome and we found 5 new investigators to teach!  We set up appointments with all of them, so I'll tell you how those go next week.  Last week we weren't able to do much that was really exciting because we didn't have anybody to teach.  We spent most of our time finding people, but it's all good.  Elder Smith is cool...really knows his stuff, great guy, but a little shy when it comes to talking to people.  And I have a tendency to have lots of people come up and talk to me.  Our ward is awesome!  The Bishop took us out to breakfast and told me about the ward and how we can better help it grow.  I love it here!  It's awesome!

I'm glad Nicki liked her card.  Was my picture still there?  I thought it was pretty funny.  Let me know how I can help you guys.  (I sent letters to the kids, so be expecting those)

I love you guys.  Miss you tons!

Love, Lance

Letter to Dennis January 25, 2010
Hey Den!
Well, things up here are great!  We found 5 new investigators to teach this week after a huge fallout the week before.  All the investigators we had fell off the map, but its all good now that we found some people to teach.  I absolutely  love the area here.  Its great, the ward is awesome and has tons of great tools that we can utilize to increase our work.  The only real setback here is that we could really use a car, but we make due without it.  It was almost warm enough to start biking, but Elder Smith had his bike stolen.  It sounds like BYU is still on a roll, although I don't get as many updates here as I did in my last ward.  I did however hear they beat a pretty good SDSU, but I don't know about anything else.  I figured the SB would be Saints and Colts.  I think it'll be a good game.  I wouldn't mind if either team won.  I look forward to hearing about it.
Well, I love you tons.  Thanks for all you do for me.

Love, Lance

Welome to the LH!

Hey Mom and Den!

Well, the new apartment is way gross!  Missionaries have been living there for 10 years now.  We spent all day Thursday cleaning it....Oh man that was gross!!!  And we only got the main room done!  Elder Smith is pretty cool.  We get along pretty well.  He hasn't seen like any movies, so trying to quote movies with him doesn't work too well  :s

Unfortunately, we aren't teaching anyone right now.  I got here and all the investigators had been dropped.  And then one of the elders from a different ward got sick and we had to go on exchanges with them.  So I don't know the area at all yet.  Now that I'm senior I can make time for writing letters.  I've been writing the kids back and they should get theirs any day now.

My first Sunday in the ward was Stake Conference and so most of Glenrose still thinks I'm in their ward.  My knee is okay.  It only hurts on days when we go walking a lot, but other than that it's good and I've been way careful about it.

So, our week was pretty uneventful due to the lack of being able to work with Elder Howell being sick, but this next week should be great!

I love you guys and miss you tons!

It's Picture Day!

Email AND pictures!  It's a good week!!!  He looks like he's happy and healthy and enjoying every minute of being a missionary!

Sister "Futi's" Baptism Day!

 

Pres. & Sis. Palmer

 

Sis. "Bonita's" Baptism Day!

 

Singing away at the Christmas Nativity.

Elder Ririe and Elder Itgel by their Christmas tree and snowman.

They dubbed this "The Christmas Corner".  This was their official tree and as close as they could get to an official Spokane snowman this year!

 

Reunion with Elder Smith, his first companion in the mission field.

 

Sis. Palmer, Pres. Palmer, Sis. Futi, and Elder Ririe