Ryan Lott's Status Updates: one year down... one to go

5-31-15

Hey everyone! Well that week went by pretty fast. My companion is going home this cycle. He is my first companion that I have killed in my mission. That means that I was just his companion when he goes home. He lives in redding california. I don't know if you know where that is mom. I told him I have some cousins that live in tracy. He said that isn't to far from him. So this past tuesday we worked in the zone leaders area because he had to be in cauayan pretty early the next day, so we stayed the night there. The elder that I companioned with on wednseday, his companion is going home to so he went to cauayan with my companion. I can't remember which day it was, but my comp ate balut. He got it free because he is a foreigner. They were trying to get me to eat it to, but I don't want to. I will eat it before I go home though. Then on sunday in class I was looking through the 2015 may ensign and I saw jen flint!! I was like sweet that lady is in my ward. This is really a funny experience. So this is what happened when we oymed a lady yesterday. So we start talking to her and this is what she said. I was woken up this morning at 4 am and the Lord appeared to me in a vision. she says that he looked pretty young maybe 16 or 17 years old. Then when she saw his wings she was like oh my those are so beautiful. Then when we tried to give her the pamphlet she said, oh thats alright. I am on my mission right now, which was really weird because it was just an old nanay going to buy some food. She said give them to the people that need them. I was just trying not to laugh when we were talking to her. Then the we taught a lady after that and a drunk guy was sitting in the lesson. After he was like let me give you a ride...we were like you are drunk. He said I am not drunk, we said ya you are. Then he just pretended to drive with his hands in the air, as if he was trying to give a demonstration. It was pretty funny. Some interesting things have happened this week. It was really good work wise to. We have 4 investigators with a baptismal date. We have a lot of potential in this area. Which is good because I will be here for another cycle...haha thats alright though. One year, two areas! I love you guys. Have a great week!

Love Elder Lott

6-8-15

Well this week was transfer week! On tuesday Elder williams went to cauayan. So I went on splits with the zl's. Then on wednseday morning we went to cauayan. My new companions name is Elder Pandaog and he is from zanboanga city. It is down at the bottom of the phillipines. So down by the muslims...actually he was a muslim before he got converted. He came into the field in december. So this is my first time being the senior comp! Ya buddy! It is still super hot. Apparently we have a water schedule at our apartment now. it is so hot and we need water to shower, eat and drink. It is just a big pain. Something that is really cool. I don't know if you guys remember ashlyn. She came to my farewell. I met her at that efy, but she said that she sent her mission papers in. I was like that would be awesome if you got called to the philippines, but that is a very small chance. So she emailed me and said that she got her call. She said she is going to the Philippines Legaspi Mission and she will be speaking tagalog. She goes to the mtc in october. I was like ...thats awesome. She asked me to help her learn tagalog...haha thats funny. I can barely help myself haha just kidding. Oh teaching went good this week. Hopefully we will have 2 baptisms this cycle. Which will be good. On thursday I bought a nice big fresh pineapple! Dang was that good! Well anyways I hope that you all have a great week! Love you all

Love Elder Lott

6-15-15

Wow how the time has been flying by! On my ministry card in my white handbook it says that I am released on june 15th 2016! I can't believe that I have already been out a year. I remember laying in my bed in the mtc and thinking...holy cow I still have 2 years left. Now I only have 1 year left! So this past tuesday we had zone conference. President and sister ralhlf came, we had lunch, listened to their talks, and had a testimony meeting. Sister ralhf had something wrong with some gland in her neck, so they had to go back to the u.s so she could get surgery on it. They said hopefully its not cancerous and they will come back asap. So hopefully everything goes ok. Then yesterday we had a philippines area broadcast. Elder Anderson spoke in this broadcast. I was bummed to hear that L. Tom Perry died. I really liked him. It will be cool to see who the next apostle is. The work is going good as usual. Nothing really weird happened this past week. We are still trying to finish all of the lessons and prepare our investigators for baptismal. At least the 4 that have a baptismal date. It has been pretty hot lately. Not like that is any new news. I hope that it will start raining soon. They say that we are in a drought. And its hot even without the drought...haha. Here is something pretty funny. So our shower water comes out pretty warm, like hot most of the time. Except for like early in the morning. So when I take my shower I shower with the door open and I have the electric fan pointing into the bathroom. That helps a lot. That swim suit comes in handy! So my companion is really cool. I am hoping that my tagalog will improve, because it had been 4 and a half months since I have had a filipino companion. Oh ya happy birthday jaime. Hope you got my card. I did send one so don't be sad if you haven't gotten it yet. I didn't forget you. Well I love you guys have a great week.

Love Elder Lott

6-22-15

Happy fathers day dad! This week went really good. We did a service project for some members in our ward. We made like a little hut that they could cook in. We did it with bamboo. It was a pretty fun service project. I got to use a knife so it was fun. Oh ya we also went on splits with the zone leaders. It was really good I worked with one of them in our area and my comp worked in their area. Our work is going good. We have a lot of investigators. None of our investigators attended church this past sunday which is a bummer. We had some fellowshippers work with us yesterday. One of them is going on a mission. So my comp had her contact someone. I guess its good practice. I definitely wouldn't have done it before my mission. It is still pretty scary. This morning we had a zone activity. We went to a dam. We got to ride a boat and then we went on a little hike. I wanted to jump in the water so bad. On the way back there was not enough room in the jeepney so me and another elder hung onto the back. It was pretty fun. It was the first time that I got to do that. Things are different here. You can pretty much ride wherever there is room...even on top. I haven't done that yet though. We got a little rain yesterday, finally. It has been so hot. They say that we have been in a drought. Like we need that. Me and elder pandaog are getting along great. This may be weird but his name reminds me of panda express. Man I want some orange chicken!! Well I love you guys have a great week!

Love Elder Lott

6-29-15

Wow I can't believe that I have already been out a year! Well this week has went by pretty good. The only problem is that I have like no money at all, my companion to! So we can't wait for support this week. Then we will be saved. It is a good thing that I had some food in the fridge. Or else we would have starved. Our work is going really good. We were pretty close to having a baptism, but he missed church 2 weeks in a row so we have to start over. Which is a bummer because I will probably be transferred this next cycle because I have been here for 6 months. But who knows! I would be fine staying here, but my apartment. I can't take it!! It is so bad! It is like a sauna! If I transfer I will be happy that I will have a new apartment! Language wise. Everyone is saying that my tagalog is improving. I hope that is the case! It would be really sad if I came home and didn't know how to read those books I sent you when I was in the mtc. I still have time though. So something me and my companion have been doing is buying some fresh pineapples. We can get a whole pineapple for like 40 pesos. He said it isn't even pineapple season yet so they will get cheaper when there is more of them. They are so good! Well I love you all have a great week!

Love Elder Lott

349 DAYS!!!!

for some reason my card reader wasn't working so I will send pictures next week

Hey dad. I don't remember if I told you happy fathers day. So Happy fathers day. Thank you for everything that you do for me and thank your good example. It is crazy how fast the time has gone buy. It says that my ministry card expires on june 15 2015. I don't know if that is the last day for me, but I know that the transfer closest to it is when I come home. It feels great to be half way done. I am halfway done with the hardest thing I will do in my life. I think that would be cool if you guys came to pick me up, but what would we do? What would you want to do? I remember laying in my bed and thinking to myself...man I have 2 years left and now I am halfway done. I love you dad. Have a great week
Happy late fathers day

7-6-15

So last week I printed some pictures for some investigators and something went wrong with my camera card. So all my pictures got removed from my card. I was like great I have been out a year and I have no pictures. We went back today to the photoshop. So the pictures weren't deleted they were just in the computer somewhere. So I got them back today, but some of them have been ruined or corrupted. So I hope the pictures that I have been sending home, you guys have been saving them or something. I was really relieved but I wish i could have gotten them all back. So thursday was my year mark...ya buddy! We also had splits with our district leader. So I was in my area and my companion went to their area. I made some chicken tacos for dinner. They were so good. I hadn't had tacos in so long. It looks like you guys all enjoyed the 4th. I totally forgot that it was the 4th on saturday, because nobody celebrates it here. I noticed all your shirts in those pictures. I like those bass pro shop shirts. I can make rednecks out of you all yet!! I bet that drive in was nicer with a big truck. Maybe I will do that for a date when I get home haha! Anyways, this cycle is going by really fast. Next week is transfer week. It just seems like that just happened. There is a pretty big chance that I will transfer since I have been in this area for 6 months. Before we know it I will be home. I love you guys have a great week!

Love,

Elder Lott