Don't worry...be happy! Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Hi ya Family,

Well I have some news for you! Now brace yourselves for this, it is big and I don't know if you will be ready for this...I don't even know if I am ready for this! Alright it is coming and I know that you are expecting something great, but really its not that great but it is great at the same time. So what really is it great or not great..or maybe it is just good. Now you are questioning if I am actually going to tell you something, you were probably sitting on the edge of your seat with your mouth open, eyes wide...even a fly could scare you, that is how focused you are! I don't know if you are ready to hear this I sure wasn't! Alright...It was transfer calls, I am staying here, Elder Stringfellow is leaving me and President Pilkington has asked me to train a new missionary. So I am getting a new Elder here in Bridlington. Crazy right! I definitely am not ready at all! So pray for me! What was President thinking! Well looks like it is a step for me to learn and grow! All week I have been worrying how I am going to do this but I came to the conclusion that I just need to be happy and positive. Heavenly Father with help me! So here is to a new start and new experience. Coach Drury is retiring??? Well I guess it is good for him! Who is the new coach? Do you know if he is good? I did home teach Sister Allman, but it is good for her to get out of where she was. Sounds like you are all staying busy and loving life! I am as well! So many things are happening here it crazy! I can't believe the work that is taking place. I am excited for the next few weeks and what it holds. I love you all and hope you are doing well!

God be with you until we meet again. On our way. #10sof1000s. Lets go do good work!

Love, Elder Tyler Rife (ty-dye)

Hi Ya Everyone,

Well well well so many blessings, tender mercies and miracles! Really too many to count. It is amazing how many people are prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and are ready to come unto him. Heavenly Father is definitely hastening the work. It is our job to go out and do the work. Be his builders of the kingdom. He is the architect and we are the builders! This month is soon ending so I encourage and invite all of you to make some goals on how you can do better physically and spiritually! You can always improve and become better. If you put your mind to it you can do it.

A few miracles this week. Carl-he was a referral and we taught him the Plan of Salvation first, because we felt prompted that it is what he needed to hear. The Spirit was so strong and it was bearing testimony to him that it is all true. He told us that it all sounded familiar and that he liked it. Elder Stringfellow and I were both prompted to schedule him for baptism. At first we were a bit hesitant but we invited him to work towards March 27th to be baptized he on the other hand did not hesitate in saying yes. What a blessing it was to have the spirit with us in the lesson we had with Carl. He is one who has been prepared, he already knows that the Church is true and right, we are just having to refresh his memory with what he already knows!

The Seckars-This family have been honestly a pretty hard family to teach. They are happy with what they have and are willing to learn more but say they are not going to be converted. Well I have been stressing and stressing on what we can do to help them, we have prayed and studied and still had no idea how we can help them. We decided to go over and hopefully teach them the full restoration and with the spirit they will be moved. Well we walked in and they sat us down and said we found this Book of Mormon and we decided it was a sign from God. They were being 100% serious and so we started talking about the Book of Mormon and praying and how they will receive an answer. We are going to now start teaching them the lessons out of Preach My Gospel. WOW! I guess the saying keep calm and carry on is somewhat true. Sometimes we just have to be patient! Heavenly Father knows his children and knows how they need help and when they need it, and when their hearts will be open to it! Heavenly Father always accomplishes a way for his work to go forward!

Paul and Sue-These two people are in their late 60's and the nicest people you could meet! Our first lesson with them we talked about the Book of Mormon and a bit about their own faith. We invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and they said yes! We went by this last week and taught them the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they were in tears! Sue said Why have I not known that their was a living prophet on the earth today! They agreed to having a chapel tour on Thursday and there we have planned to schedule them for baptism! Miracles are happening my friends and I don't know why!

Let me just say that being able to be in the service of my Heavenly Father and Savior is the best thing that has ever happened. I am growing, my testimony is growing, I am becoming more of what He would have me become. I love the Book of Mormon, it is true! The Atonement is true. This gospel is true. I invite you all, to read the Book of Mormon and pray to ask if it is true. Even if you have already done it, read it again. You will receive an answer and your testimony will be rooted stronger in Jesus Christ. I know that! I love you all. I pray for you all. Be safe and do good work.

God be with you. On our way. #10sof1000s. We are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Love, Elder Tyler Rife

"Posh knocking!"

Not sure what Tyler means by this.  We will need to ask him and have him explain!

"Say what.....you want a Book of Mormon???"

Love, Love, Love, Love, Love Love!!!

Hi Mum, Dad, and Family!

Well another week has passed and it sounds like you are all having so much fun and doing so much good! "Adam fell that men might be, men are that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25 Life is supposed to be enjoyable while we are learning to become like our Father in Heaven, so I am so glad to hear of all the fun things that are happening! Valentines day sounded mushy as it always is in the Rife family! I love the traditions that our family has done, I think that it truly shows that we love each other. Going out of our way so we can enjoy each other and have good memories. I will definitely carry on many of the traditions that our family has done! Man it sounds like everyone is taking this exercise thing very seriously! Haha I'm going to have to pick up my game!! New February Resolution time!!! Starting today I am going to exercise harder in the morning!!! :) Well Kendra I'm going to have to say...although you will probably, maybe not like it, be careful. Even the appearance of evil will drag even the strongest, most righteous down to misery. If you take it in a sense of Peter walking toward the Savior on water; never look away, always be looking forward to the Savior and when we do this we can be "in the world (have fun, 2 Nephi 2:25) as well as keep our hands tight on the Iron Rod! We don't really understand how many blessings our Father in Heaven has in store for us but know that we do and that they only come if we are obedient, faithful, and endure to the end! Well Family I love you so much and I hope you are all doing really good and staying strong in the goodness of the Gospel! It truly is so beautiful, we have been blessed so much! I love you...write me. Sorry you guys haven't gotten letters in a while...the post system is so weird in Bridlington...they keep messing up and sending letters back to me, but we got it all sorted so you should be getting letters soon!

God be with you until we meet again. On our way. #10sof1000s. Hold tight to the word of God, we are representatives of Jesus Christ.

Love, Elder Tyler Rife (Ty-dye)

P.S. Tell Connie thanks for being my Valentine and show her the picture of me on the Piano! :) I got to play while Jamie (a member) was singing for all the women for a Valentine Dinner.

Ya alright everyone,

I can see whats happenin'....what? and They don't have a clue! Who? They'll fall in love and heres the bottom line our trios down to 2. OH! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! So much love going on, but nobody wanted to talk to us because of it! haha it was awful! We would go and try to talk to someone in the street and they would just brush us off or say they couldn't talk! It was a hard day on Valentines day...and they say it is supposed to be a day of love...hahahahaha I laugh in your face! Well I guess those people were just missing out on real love they could feel from Heavenly Father! But it was a fun day all the same!

Elder Stringfellow and I have had loads of success this week! So many miracles have happened! The first, we were given a referral by the name of Carl. We haven't been able to get a hold of him for weeks and finally we did. We met with him for the first time and were able to talk to him about his beliefs and his expectations from us. We didn't have much time with him so we decided to talk to him about the Book of Mormon a little bit. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and he accepted willingly! We then felt prompted to invite him to be baptized. He said straight away "yes, if I found out it was true" We left with a prayer and he promised to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We are seeing him Tuesday and will teach him the Restoration. I know felt the presence of the Spirit and that soon as he tries and puts in an effort to find out if what we are bringing him is true he will have a desire to be baptized.

We had a lesson with Paul and Sue Taylor. They are probably in their 60's and are very religious. We met them near the beach and after talking to them for a while they invited us over. We went over and talked about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We talked about how we have testimonies of the Book of Mormon and that we each have to go through a conversion process. We were able to talk about loads of other things. It was amazing. We then with them were prompted to invite them to be baptized. It went silent for a bit but then Sue said, "If I find out that this is all true then I will be baptized again into the true Church" Paul then said " At this moment I will say no, but maybe there will come a time when I will change my mind" WOW! So many miracles and I know that these people have been lead in the right direction by Heavenly Father and that we were placed in their path to help them come to a better knowledge of the Gospel. Hopefully they too will progress and as they read and find out for themselves if it is all true they will be baptized.

Good things are happening in bridlington and it is all because of Heavenly Father. He has blessed Elder Stringfellow and I and we are seeing many miracles happening and many people coming to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel. The work is definitely going forward. All because the Lord LOVES us immensely, beyond any other kind of love. This is the true love that is in the air.

Well I hope you are all doing good and I hope to hear from you soon! God be with you. On our way. #10sof1000s. We are representatives of Jesus Christ.

Love, Elder Tyler Rife

Elder Stringfellow and Elder Rife on Valentine's Day wearing their RED and PINK Valentine's Day ties!!!

 Tyler playing the Piano with Jamie Ackroyd (a member) For a Valentines activity.

It's looking like spring!

Hi ya family,

 

This will be quick because I don't have much time. Your e-mails are never boring! I love getting them and I love getting letters! :) So thank you! Is everyone feeling better, Tanner, Kylee's mouth, and anyone else that was sick? I am glad to hear that you are all dieting and getting healthy and strong! I think I put on a few pounds...but I also think that it is because I am growing and because I have been sticking to a really strict morning exercise and trying to eat healthier...so we will see! Congrats to Kylee on her science project...goes to show hard work really does pay off! Well I am definitely going to talk to that guy for University when the time comes because I want to figure these things out as soon as possible. In the mean time I made it a goal to forget everything like Uni and a career and the future and just loose myself in the work. Thinking about all these things has I think held me back a little bit from giving the work and the Lord my all. But I have made some goals and am starting fresh again. I like being in a foursome...yeah sometimes it can get distracting but it is fun and we all help each other to be obedient. It is good. Pros and cons about it all. Well I hope you are all doing really good! I hope you guys are staying strong in the gospel and that your testimonies have been growing as much as mine. I love you all.

 

God be with you until we meet again. We are on our way. #10sof1000s. We are disciples of Christ, keep him in our heart always.

 

Love, Elder Tyler Rife (ty-dye)

Hi Everyone!!!

 

How are you all? I hope doing well. I hear the weather there is just fantastic!! The weather here is really warm now as well and the sun is shining which is not normal for England but I am loving it! So many things have happened in the week it has truly been a blessing and we have had so many miracles!

 

We are meeting with a family called the Seckars, and they are very religious but they are comfortable with what they have. We have been praying to figure out how we can best teach them and bring them closer to Jesus Christ. So we went over and had such a good discussion with them. They were asking us loads of questions and we were able to bear strong testimony of enduring to the end, becoming happy and reaching one's potential. We were also able to bear testimony of why we are out here, why we sacrificed all we had to come to a foreign place and try to teach people why we are happy. The spirit was so strong and hopefully it pricked their hearts and they will gain a testimony of the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. We were still trying to figure out how to best help the Seckars and the Spirit definitely lead us in the right direction. We got into a discussion with the Seckars within 10 minutes. Dave (the father) started asking us questions out of the bible. He asked us our thoughts. We answered, and I know the spirit worked through us. Words were placed in our mouths, and we were able to bear testimony of truth. Dave agreed with what we said, which was the first time he ever has. I think that it got him more interested in the church and his heart was definitely opened. HE then started talking about how there are so many different translations of bible messages and how he is looking for a sturdy structure. Well we explained it to him this way: When given one dot you can draw an infinite amount of lines through it. But when given two dots you can only draw one line through both; giving doctrine 2 witnesses and testimonies, which are comparable to each other, and which are about Jesus Christ. We then explained to him the Book of Mormon. You could really feel the spirit. We are going to teach them the full restoration next time we see them and the spirit will bear witness to them as we bear our testimonies of what we know that it is true.

We also have 2 other investigators called Heidi and Zoe, they are friends and are really kind. both have children and are unmarried. Well they told us they have an open mind and if they feel that what we teach is true they will get baptized. Elder Stringfellow and I decided to teach them the Restoration of Jesus Christ. We were able to start with a prayer which immediately invited the spirit. We got to Christ's ministry and we felt like we should show them the Mormon message "Because of Him", Zoe was in tears. She said that it touched her heart. She described to us that something is telling her that it is true and we told her it was the spirit. We then started talking about Joseph Smith. Everything went silent. The whole time the spirit was so strong and we were just bearing testimony of what the spirit was teaching them. The spirit was piercing their hearts and telling them, especially Zoe that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth, Jospeh Smith is a prophet and he translated the Book of Mormon. That we have a living prophet today and his name is Thomas S. Monson and he leads the Church and receives direct revelation from God for us in this day. It was such a wonderful lesson. I can't wait to teach them again, and I know that the spirit will direct them down the path to baptism.

We had such a good week and so many miracles are happening. I know Heavenly Father was using us as tools in His hands to bear testimony of truth and hasten his work. This is an amazing blessing we have to be in the Latter-days, to be able to preach the gospel to all nations, kindred, and tongues. Hopefully we can all take the opportunity that is right in front of us and be disciples of Jesus Christ. This Church is true, I know it and I love it.

 

God be with you. On our way. #10sof1000s. Be a disciple of Christ in all that you do. Lets do some good.

 

Love, Elder Tyler Rife

A War Memorial 

Bridlington in February

a license plate..."the church is true" well DUH! :)

Love this last picture and the caption Tyler gave it....It is so my son !!!  :) 

He is loving life as a missionary but is still Tyler!!! 

He makes me SMILE!

Miracles in Little old Brid

Hi ya family,

 

Again your week sounds busy but especially this past week. I'm glad to hear that Mom's lessons went well. I would love for you guys to send the Plan of Salvation things to me. I have been trying to draw stuff on my own and well....I will leave it at that. But I think if there is a visual aid it helps so much. At least that is how it is for me, I am a visual learner. Congrats to Tanner for taking 1st and 3rd! That is so good. What were the times? Are you feeling better? I love to hear about Tyler Haws and BYU basketball. Something that helps me  to know that we are blessed. Tyler Haws gave up his career in Basketball to go on a mission,He left thinking he probably won't be as good when he gets back and now look at him,He is doing amazing and very close to being the top scorer in BYU history! It helps me because I will admit I have worried about things that I really shouldn't be worrying about right now, but those things are, what am I going to do when I get home? I won't have a job, I have not been accepted to school and things like that. It has worried me but seeing Tyler Haws tells me that Heavenly Father will bless me. I am in the service of my God and he will provide a way for me to be successful. I have been thinking about all this recently and honestly it has been getting me down, so I made a few goals the other day and that was to first do as President Hinkley did "Forget myself and go to work" Loose myself in the work. Give it my all. Work as hard as I can and when I am tired...work even harder! The past couple of days I have been so much happier and have had a positive attitude in everything that I do. But I think the best thing is that I have felt the spirit so abundently in the work. I have definitely recognized it. I hope Kylee gets a good grade on her science project. Maybe she should put it in the science fair and win!! :) She has put so much effort into it! Good job Kylee. Austin sent me the pictures he is looking good! Have you heard from Matt? If not, He is doing really good. He says he is learning a lot and is loving the MTC! I hope you all are doing really good and if there is anything I can help you with please let me know! I love you. Let me know the comings and goings of the family! Tell Kynsie and Kendra and everyone to write me if they have time, if not don't worry about it.

 

God be with you until we meet again. We are on our way. #10sof1000s. Lets go do good work!

 

Love, Elder Tyler Rife (ty-dye)

Hi ya mate,

 

Well there have been many miracles this week! Lots of good work is happening and I am learning and growing every second. This unfortunately will be a bit short! But bear with me!

 

We stopped by multiple potential investigators but unfortunately we weren't let in. But that doesn't stop us from trying and stopping by in the future. We had an amazing member present a lesson with our investigators Heidi and Zoe. Jamie Ackroyd (the member) came with us to teach them. We got in, Heidi and Zoe both started asking questions right away. They were asking us about the Word of Wisdom and about Priesthood. So we stopped them asked if we could open with prayer and kind of start at the beginning with the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We promised them that the questions they have will be answered. We then began the lesson and the spirit was so strong. We only got to prophets before we had to unfortunately leave. But we were able to explain so much and they were asking questions left and right. They invited us back over on Tuesday to finish the lesson. It was a really good lesson. We were able to talk about families being together forever and how the gospel has blessed our lives and in the lives of our families. In the end we invited them to download the gospel library on their phones. They did it right in front of us. Zoe has read a few chapters so far and Heidi has read the introduction.On Tuesday we will invite them to pray about Joseph Smith and to come to church and if the spirit prompts us, we will schedule them. That was probably the highlight for my week. So many other things are happening though. We were able to talk to quite a few people and get return appointments with them this upcoming week. Good things are happening in little old Bridlington.

 

Another miracle that strengthened my testimony. We were walking alone the promenade and we passed this guy named John who I had a feeling to go talk to, We kept walking and I had the feeling again. So we turned around and started talking to him. We had a good conversation and talked about the gospel a bit. We then asked him for his contact information, He said he can't have us at his home, so we asked if he wanted to meet us at the chapel, he agreed and set up a time to come by. He then gave us his phone number to call him. He has never met mormons before and he said we are "okay" guys! Well hopefully when we see him on Tuesday good things will come. Miralces are happening everywhere. This church is true and we are doing His work. Lets keep doing good work. Love you all and hope you are all well.

 

God be with you. On our way. #10sof1000s. Lets do good work.

 

Love, Elder Tyler Rife

This son of ours......

No pictures again this week...SAD!!!  :)