What A Miracle

(Note from Denise:  When Ryan left on his mission, we hoped he would always have a companion that is good with directions because that isn't Ryan's strong suit and he can get lost quite easily, but maybe in some cases it is a blessing.)

Letter from Ryan:

My companion is so hilarious and I feel like my Spanish is improving much faster because he is my companion. Elder Sumano actually knows quite a bit of English and it is hilarious whenever he sings in English. Wow, I cannot believe how hot that it is down in Utah. I really want to know what the temperature is down here.  I feel like I am starting to adapt to the heat. My week was really good and really hard. This week only five people came to church. I could not believe that no one came to church. It shows that we have a lot of work to do. We got a new Mission President.  His name is President Valez. We went to Mazatlan to see him and I think that he is really awesome. While we were in Mazatlan we ate at a Chinese All You Can Eat Buffet. I loved it.  It tasted so good. I had another really cool experience this week.  We were trying to find an investigator's house, but I could not remember where she lived. We ended up getting a little bit lost and we found someone named Alicia. We talked to her and I could tell that something was wrong with her. She started crying and told us that her husband died that day.   We gave her a blessing and my companion said some really comforting words to her. I felt so bad for her, I cannot describe how bad I felt for her. I think that if we would have found the investigator that we were looking for, then we would not have been able to help Alicia. What a miracle. I cannot describe all of the feelings that I have felt so far on my mission.   Thanks for everything that you have done for me. Love, Elder Cannon.

  Ryan's companion also sent us an email along with some pictures:

Hello Elder Cannon´s Parents, i´m the companion to your son, he´s very great!!! and very funny, we´re workin´ very hard every day!!! thanks for your son, he´s very good and i´m glad ´cause he teach me something new every day!!!!

Bye!!! we´ll see some day....Elder Sumano         

 

 

 

 

  We can't tell if they are comparing muscles or tan lines?

 

New Companion

A lot has happened lately.   I am getting a new companion today.  His name is Elder Sumano and he is Mexican. I heard that he can actually speak English pretty well, but I am  really excited to work with him.

I had a really awesome experience this week, when we went on Divisions with other companions, and I went with Elder Hon.  We had a really spiritual experience, this experience did not happen in Rosario it happened in Escuinapa. We went to go teach a man named Sergio.  He was very excited to see us and he told us how good he felt when he read the Book of Mormon. Sergio went inside his house to go get his Book of Mormon, and Elder Hon told me that he would nudge me when I should challenge him to be baptized. We started teaching him about the Book of Mormon.   I have never felt the Spirit so strongly when I bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon, and then Elder Hon nudged me and I challenged him to be baptized. He accepted very excitingly and I could tell that this was something that he really wanted to do. I have never felt the Spirit so strongly while I was speaking before. Elder Hon is leaving this Wednesday back to his home with quite a few missionaries. I am so scared that I am going to wake up one day and my mission is going to be finished. Time is going by way too fast.   What can I do to make time go by slower? I feel like I need an extension of at least a year to be able to learn and do everything that a missionary needs to do. I was able to get a picture with Elder Blood  yesterday before he left.  He is not a picture taking person.

Tell Zach that I am doing really great and that he is going to love France. It sounds like you have been really busy lately. The missionary work is good and hard.  Rosario is green and it has a lot of hills that kind of look like mini mountains. The homes in the city are small but they are decent homes, but once you leave the city there are a lot of shack looking houses. Send some good American food snacks in the package (I asked Ryan if he wanted me to send anything specific in a package I'm putting together for him this week).  Talk to you next week, I will probably have a lot to talk about next week.

Love, Elder Cannon.

Mangos

Hello!
  Everyone sounds like they are doing good back home. My week has been good and busy.  We are trying to find more people to teach.  Also a lot of members in our ward are really struggling to come to church. I cannot believe how strong that the wards are in Utah and I hope someday that our ward in Rosario will be more like the ward that we had back home. Spanish is still Spanish.  I am improving and growing a lot from having to learn Spanish. It seems like being a missionary in the United States speaking English would be too easy. I have really grown so much from all of the struggles that I have had with Spanish.

 I think that I have lost a decent amount of weight here, because my shorts are so loose on me. In the MTC my pants were tight on me and now they are a lot more loose.

I wish that I could see that  new video of Dad, I bet that it is hilarious. (Jacob recorded Steve in the car trying to make the sound that Chewy makes from Star Wars--quite entertaining).

 That raspberry pie sounds amazing and also the meal for Fathers Day sounds so good. I tried a mango for the first time and I absolutely loved it.  I am starting to get hungry from talking about food. I think that once I go to a different area with different computers that I might be able to send pictures to you. I am not sure when we get the new mission president, but I know that it is really soon. My companion is in the picture of Elder Holland.  He is the second person to the left of me and has glasses. Is Isaac getting his eagle before I got mine? I cannot believe that he is already doing his eagle project. That carnival sounds really fun.  I cannot believe how time is flying by. I am worried that once I can speak Spanish, time will go by even faster.  Maybe I just won't learn Spanish, just kidding.  Don't worry about me.  All is well in Mexico. Talk to you next week.   Love, Elder Cannon

Summer

Monday, June 10, 2013

 

My week has been really good and really hard. I have learned so much and my body is starting to adapt to all of the walking and the heat a little bit. Right now we do not have very many people to teach and we have been working really hard to find more people to teach.  Also our ward is really struggling and there are some members that are struggling with coming to church. We are also working a lot with the members in the ward and trying to get the members converted.

 

 I absolutely loved that quote you sent  by Bruce R. McConkie.  It is a really good quote. My shirts are starting to come out of the wash still looking like they need to be washed.   I think that means that I am working hard.  I realized that when times are hard, those are the times that you learn the most, so now I am going to try to look for hard things to do so that I can learn more.

 

We are also getting a new mission President.   President Cantu was so bold and strong with his words and I learned a lot from him. I hope that our new Mission President can speak English because I still email everything in English.  If I had to do Spanish it would take me a lot longer.

 

 How is good old Tremonton 9th ward doing and Elwood 1st ward? I knew that missions were hard, but I did not expect it to be anything like this. Elder Holland said that the reason missions are hard is because it was not easy for Christ.  If we call ourselves disciples of Christ, we need to experience a portion of what Christ went through. Thanks for all of the letters that you send me. They really help a lot. I cannot believe that it is already June.  That means everyone is out of school.  I cannot believe how fast time flies. Thanks for everything.   Love you, talk to you next week.

Tortillas and Frijoles

(We didn't get an email from Ryan last week but got both of them this week--I'll just combine them and  put them on the same post)

My companion is from West Virginia.  He is as thin as a twig and eats at least twice as much as I do.  Yes, I have been using sun screen.  I put on a lot and I have not been burned yet.  Yes, I am drinking a lot.   I chug water like there is no tomorrow every single night. I love the Apple juice in Mexico.  It is kind of like apple cider. I am probably going to drink some once I go back to our apartment.  It is so hot here in Mexico, I sweat quite a bit. I know that I will get used to all of the walking and the heat with time. I have started dreaming. I think that it is because of how tired that I am at the end of the day. (Before he left, Ryan claims he never remembers having a dream).   It feels like it is Summer here; the highs are in the 90s and it is really humid. I love the cold showers in the morning.  They wake me up so much.

I usually have little parts in the lesson or I get to bear my testimony. Spanish is really hard, and I am being stretched a lot. I gave a 10 minute talk on Sunday on Tithing and Fast Offerings in Spanish. It was the hardest thing that I have ever done in front of a lot of people and I struggled quite a bit because I tried not to read a lot of the talk. All of these hard times are really good for me and I am growing a lot from them. I love the people here.  In Rosario we are doing a lot of work with non-active members because the ward here is not very strong. I love how I can still feel the spirit even when I do not understand everything that is being said.

Dad, what was the first few weeks of your mission like? What words of wisdom do you have for me?

Mexico is awesome and I am starting to adapt to everything a little bit more. Mom, do you have a lot of experiences or stories of how this gospel has specifically blessed our family, things like tithing or just how this gospel has blessed our family?  I know that this gospel has blessed our family a lot.

 This is hard, but it is really good for me. I am being stretched quite a bit and I am learning so much. I have so much to learn still.  Spanish is still really hard, but I improve everyday. I really like the food down here.  We eat a lot of tortillas and frijoles. I heard that it takes awhile before my stomach is used to the food, but so far I really like the food in Mexico.  This last fast Sunday was the hardest fast Sunday of my life. Fasting for 24 hours in Mexico is not easy. How is everyone back home doing? I love the people down here.  They are so nice. There is a man named Felipe Reyes that reminds me so much of Grandpa Cannon.   Felipe is a really nice older man and he received the Aaronic Priesthood a week ago. I cannot wait until I can understand what everyone says and when I can say everything that I am trying to say in Spanish.   Talk to you next week.

This is the picture taken with Elder Holland at their mission conference the first week Ryan was in Culiacan.  Ryan is on the 2nd row down from the top--third over from the left.  You'll probably have to click on it to enlarge it and see him.

It's Hot!

My first week was so awesome and it was really hard.

 Elder Holland came to Culiacan and I got to shake his hand and hear him speak.  It was so amazing. I was smiling so much before I shook Elder Holland's hand and he said to me, "Your cheeks look a little pink, are you okay?"  I said to him that I was doing great.  He spoke with so much power and he was so bold when he spoke. I even took 6 pages of notes.  My hand was really tired of writing after that. I felt so lucky to get to hear from him.

Mexico is awesome, I love the people even though I can not understand hardly anything that anyone says.  When people speak Spanish to me and I have no idea what they just said,  I just smile really big at them.

It is really hot here.  I have never sweated this much in my life before.  Our apartment is good. The greatest thing in the world to me right now is a cup of cold water.

I am only reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish now.  It takes me quite a bit longer to read than in English. Spanish is a lot of fun.   I improve every day. Everyone says that the first three months of your mission are brutal, I can not wait until I am fluent in Spanish.

Talk to you next week.
For Dad--I did whip out my Merrell shoes.  In fact I am wearing them right now.  What was your first week of your mission like? Was it hard, because I am not going to lie this is hard. I have learned and grown so much from my first week, and I am loving Mexico.  Do you have any words of advice for me?

I'm here!

I am here!   I made it to Mexico.  It is really awesome.  It is just what I expected it to be like. The name of my companion is Elder Blood.  I know it is a cool name. He is really nice. Elder Holland is coming to Culiacan to speak to the missionaries.  I am so very excited!   I am serving in a town called Rosario.  I cannot talk very much now, but I am safe and happy and I will tell you all about my adventures on Monday.   Love,  Elder Cannon

Here is a little info on Ryan's first area:

El Rosario, a small town about 31 miles (50 km) south of Mazatlán, is famous for the altar in the town church. The altar alone makes a visit to El Rosario somewhat worth the drive. El Rosario was once the richest town in Southwest Mexico because of the local mining operations. This small town was the home of the famous Mexican singer, Lola Beltrán. They have built a small museum in her honor although the museum is open only sporadically. The local economy produces pottery, furniture, and leather goods.

Rosario Sinaloa is the town referred to as Tres Camarones in the writing of Luis Alberto Urrea. The area now is known for growing amapola (flower below)  and marijuana in the hillsides (joy) considered now the new gold mines for the area.